level_0,index,text,label,source,set_label,topic7,topic4,random_label,full_BERT_predictions,random_BERT_predictions,Sarcasm,Sensationalism,Sentiment,Verb
2,2,"The mother of comedian Tracey Ullman has been killed in a fire caused by the ' careless disposal ' of a cigarette .  Mrs Ullman has been left ' deeply saddened ' after discovering Doreen Skinner died in the fire at her ground floor retirement flat in Holtspur , Buckinghamshire , on Monday .  The 85 year old was discovered by firefighters around 11 . 20pm .  The comedian allegedly visited the building which has 28 flats for the over 55s on Thursday to survey the damage , according to residents .  Earlier this month it was revealed Mrs Ullman left in 1982 , right in January this year is to make a new six part  One series , The Tracey Ullman Show , almost 30 years after she moved across the Atlantic  She became a huge star in the  and the United States in the 1980s .  Earlier this month it was revealed the 55 year old is to make a new six part  One series , The Tracey Ullman Show , almost 30 years after she moved across the Atlantic .  A spokesman for Mrs Ullman today said : ' Tracey and her family are deeply saddened by the death of her mother , Doreen .  ' The family would like to thank everyone for the kind messages they have received and ask that their privacy be respected at this difficult time . '  Mrs Ullman , who was born in Slough , Berkshire , described her mother in a previous interview as ' very funny ' .  She said : ' My mother was always doing strange things like driving parts around for a garage , all covered in oil .  ' But she was very funny and our defence against hardship was having a great sense of humour .  ' Mum worked in a laboratory , testing food , and would bring home samples for our dinner . Sometimes she ' d have to report that formula X had been found unfit for human consumption . '  One of Mrs Skinner ' s neighbours said : ' The fire started in the middle of the night and the poor lady died . We are all very shocked . '  Another added : ' One of her daughters was here . I don ' t know if it was Tracey Ullman because I didn ' t see her myself . '  A spokesman for Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service confirmed that a cigarette had started the fire in the bedroom late on Monday night .  ' Crews from Beaconsfield and High Wycombe were called to an address in Kiln Court at 11 . 21pm after an automatic fire alarm activated . The fire had started in the bedroom .  ' Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus entered the flat and dealt with the fire and discovered a body .  The flat is one of 28 designed for over 55s in the area . Its windows are still blacked out from the smoke ( above )  ' Investigations have concluded that this fire was caused by careless disposal of cigarettes .  ' This covers a number of scenarios , including falling asleep while smoking and not putting cigarettes out properly . '  Roger Brinklow , group commander at the rescue service , added : ' Our thoughts are with her family and friends , and the local community . '  The investigation into Mrs Skinner ' s death has been passed to the coroner who opened an inquest yesterday .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
4,4,"Federal , state and municipal agencies staged an elaborate drill in the waters off New York City on Tuesday to prepare for the possibility of a nuclear or dirty bomb attack from the water .  A U . S . Coast Guard vessel passes a container ship in New York Harbor as part of Tuesday ' s terror drill .  "" We ' re a big city , and there are vulnerabilities , "" said Ray Kelly , commissioner of the New York Police Department .  Agencies involved in Tuesday ' s test emphasized they did not undertake it because of a specific threat against the city . However , Kelly said the city was taking no chances after a proclamation years ago by Osama bin Laden . "" We do know that Osama bin Laden several years ago obtained a fatwah to use nuclear weapons , and our goal is to make certain that that fatwah does not come to fruition , "" he said .  In addition to increasing various agencies ' preparedness for a seaborne radiological attack , Kelly said Tuesday ' s well publicized drill was meant to deter those who would perpetrate such an attack .  "" It pays to advertise to a certain extent . We want anyone who would do us harm to know that we ' re out there , that we have the capability to detect , "" Kelly said .  Eight government agencies participated in the drill , ranging from the  to the U . S . Coast Guard . The exercise took place at the entrance of New York Harbor , just south of the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge linking Staten Island to Brooklyn .  Per the drill ' s plan , eight boats were to cross a checkpoint set up by authorities . They were on the lookout for abnormally high concentrations of radioactivity a telltale sign of an improvised nuclear device or a radiological dispersal device , more familiarly known as a dirty bomb . Some of the boats were decoys with no radioactive substances aboard , while others had actual radioactive isotopes planted in them .  A radioactivity detector in the hull of the authorities ' boats was to identify which vessels had radioactive substances in them . The devices are highly sensitive so much so that people who have recently had certain medical treatments can set them off .  It was up to the authorities participating in the drill to sort the good boats from the bad and to intercept the bad .  Only minutes into the six hour exercise , equipment aboard a police boat detected radioactivity within a small white pleasure craft passing through the checkpoint .  Two patrol vessels then converged on the pleasure craft , while officials began to question the driver and his two passengers . Soon after , authorities boarded the boat and used a radiation detector , officially known as a radiological isotope identification detector , to produce a "" spectrum "" of the radiological material . They then transmitted the spectrum to the Department of Homeland Security ' s Joint Analysis Center (  ) in Washington to determine precisely what radiological material was aboard the boat .  Within moments , the  radioed back with a positive identification : Caesium 137 , an industrial radioactive isotope that if used in large enough quantities could power a devastating dirty bomb .  Sure enough , when a separate boat containing press and police officers sidled up to the apprehended craft soon afterward , the portable radioactivity detectors of officers onboard began to sound excitedly .   Sgt . Art Mogil said that , in part , the agencies chose to practice on leisure craft to illustrate that radiological weapons could be transported in deceptively benign looking boats . "" It doesn ' t require a large vessel . A device can be just a few pounds and still be a major threat , "" Mogil said .  James Waters , counterterrorism chief for the  , said exercises like Tuesday ' s were vital because the stakes involved are so high . "" Someone bringing in a radiological or nuclear device would be very serious if not catastrophic , "" he said .  On an average day , not all incoming maritime traffic in New York City is subjected to the radioactivity tests performed at Tuesday ' s drill . An  official declined to specify what percentage of boats normally undergo such screening .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
9,9,"A link has been posted to your Facebook feed .  To find out more about Facebook commenting please read the Conversation Guidelines and FAQs  Bell : One pressing question for every  playoff team  Jarrett Bell ,   Sports 10 : 27 a . m .  January 6 , 2016    Sports ' Lindsay Jones breaks down what to watch for during wild card weekend in the  .   Sports  Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers ( 12 ) reacts after the Packers were called for a penalty that nullified a touchdown pass against the Oakland Raiders in the fourth quarter at O . co Coliseum .  The road to Super Bowl 50 has been treacherous , full of potholes , speed bumps , obstacles ? and the unpredictability that is the mark of the  brand .  Is there really a favorite ? Depends on the week .  Surely , there s no shortage of playoff questions to address ? that might provide some clues . . .  Will the Bengals finally win a playoff game ? with or without Andy Dalton ? For all of the anticipation Cincinnati might advance after four consecutive January setbacks , Dalton likely won t get that chance as he nurses a fractured thumb . That puts the onus on unproven  McCarron , while the Bengals can only wish Dalton would be available against the pesky Steelers , who have won on 14 of their past 17 trips to Paul Brown Stadium . Survive Pittsburgh with McCarron , and then the storyline of whether Dalton can win the big one can resume .  Will the Packers patchwork offensive line hold up to give Aaron Rodgers a chance ? Green Bay s star quarterback was sacked 13 times the past two games , when incidentally , left tackle David Bakhtiari was sidelined by an ankle injury . It s critical that the blind side protector make it back the emergency line shuffling cost the Packers the chance to repeat as  North champs . There s nobody better than Rodgers at making the most from busted play , but that can t be expected on every other down .   Week 17 overreactions : Will Peyton Manning rescue Broncos ?  Are the Seahawks the most dangerous team in the playoffs ? You d have to go back to the 1993 Buffalo Bills to find a team that made it back to the Super Bowl after losing it the previous season . Maybe Seattle ? is just the team to pull it off . They rode home field advantage to get to the past two Super Bowls , and would need to win three consecutive road games to make it back again . But they still have a defense that allowed the fewest points in the  ( again ) , and a big difference is Russell Wilson s growth as a pocket passer .  How far can the Steelers go with that inconsistent defense ? With Ben Roethlisberger winging it and wondrous receiver Antonio Brown heading a deep cast of playmakers on the other end , Pittsburgh is equipped to engage in any given shoot out . The prolific offense is that good , although the ankle injury of running back DeAngelo Williams provides concern . On the flip side , the Steelers 30th ranked pass defense knows a thing or two about shootouts , too . These are not your father s Steelers , who won championship with a defense nicknamed the Steel Curtain . Now it may be a matter of the Steelers needing to have the ball last .  50 things we learned in Week 17 of the 2015  season  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
59,59,"Collins called the decision to leave Harvey in to pitch the ninth "" inexcusable , "" but the right hander tried to deflect ? some of the criticism away from his manager .  "" I think there ' s a lot of fingers you can point at , but I wanted the ball , "" Harvey said . "" In that situation , I did everything I could to go back out there . In a perfect world , it would have been a lot different , but that ' s kind of how it played out . I wanted the ball . Obviously he wanted to go to Familia there , but the way the game was going and the way I felt , I felt like I wanted to control the game and go back out there for the ninth . ?  "" The last thing I wanted to do was not finish what I started . It ' s obviously disappointing . I felt so great all game . I felt so great in the ninth , wanted the ball , and I gave it everything I had . ""  When asked if he would still ask to pitch the ninth if he could have a redo , Harvey said , "" I would ask for the ball every time . ""  The demoralizing ending sullied what was an otherwise impressive season for Harvey . In his first year ? back from Tommy John surgery , Harvey went 13 8 with a 2 . 71  in the regular season . While he ? sparked controversy with his innings limit drama in early September , he regained his standing ? among the Mets faithful ? by honoring his subsequent commitment to pitch in the postseason .  "" I wasn ' t going to let the innings limit or tempo of how the season thing played out with all that stuff get in the way , "" Harvey said . "" So for me , it was easy to go back out there inning after inning . ""  In the aftermath of raw defeat , Harvey wasn ' t quite prepared to offer his thoughts ? on his roller coaster season . Reflection was for the days to come . ?  "" I think looking back , it ' s going to take a couple days to kind of go over everything , "" Harvey said . "" But this team has been awesome to play with . It ' s all been such an honor . "" ?  Maria Guardado may be reached at mguardado njadvancemediaweblink . Follow her on Twitter mi guardado . Find NJweblink on Facebook .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
60,60,"But in these late hours , who will those candidates be ?  I just don t know , said Don Kass , Republican chairman of Plymouth County , Iowa . I ve been wrong about just about everything for a year .  Said Dubuque County Democratic Chairman Walt Pregler : I d hate to predict the outcome . The game is different this time .  Polls help , but just a little . Brassy New York real estate tycoon Donald Trump , reborn for this race as a Republican , and crusty Sen . Bernie Sanders of Vermont , an independent asking Democrats for their nomination , have strong shots heading into the campaigns first test .  If both Trump and Sanders were to win , Iowans will have said something profound : Disgust with Washington is so high that candidates well outside the mainstream are worth the risk .  But other outcomes loom as possible . Democrat Clinton s experience could win , or Iowa s conservative religious community could lift Texas Sen . Cruz .  Or an outright surprise may await . Republican Sen . Rubio of Florida might finish close to the top and steal the headlines . Maybe a complicated Democratic caucus will be so close it won t provide a definitive front runner .  The Des Moines Register Bloomberg Iowa Poll released Saturday night showed Trump with a 28 25 edge over Cruz . Rubio registered at 15 percent , Ben Carson at 10 percent and the rest at 5 percent or less . Trump appeared to be drawing support that would ordinarily go to establishment candidates , Cruz from the religiously motivated .  On the Democratic side , Clinton held a narrow , 45 42 lead over Sanders . Clinton fared best with older voters , Sanders with the young and self identified independents .  Ann Selzer , who directed the poll , showed that voters across the board appear desperate for political change .  But pollsters , and the pros in Iowa , offer a warning : Surveys can t tell us how many Iowans will caucus or how they might change their minds in the final hours before the caucuses kick off at 7 p . m . Monday local time .  People are going to decide at the caucus , when they re talking to their neighbors . Art Behn , Democratic chairman of Dallas County , suburban Des Moines  Trump and Sanders will rely on first time voters , so a high turnout helps their campaigns . A lower turnout may mean a more recognizable outcome .  Whatever the result , the anger and frustration of Iowa voters is a certainty . The Star talked with dozens of Iowa political operatives and voters over the past two weeks . Virtually all spoke of worn patience , on one matter or another , with Washington .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
64,64,"John Howard is a more contentious topic than fascism , 9 11 , and the theory of evolution .  At least , that ' s what ' s suggested by the results of a new study ranking the most heavily edited pages on Wikipedia .  WikiWar Monitor , made up of researchers from Oxford , Rutgers and the Central European University , totalled the most re edits to pages in a cache of 4 . 7 million to find the 100 most polarising English language pages .  Former Australian Prime Minister Mr Howard ranked 44 on the list , above a number of widely controversial figures such as round earth advocate Nicolaus Copernicus  Mr Howard ' s page ranked as a more controversial topic than human evolution  The former Australian Prime Minister Mr Howard ranked 44 on the list , above a number of widely controversial figures such as round earth advocate Nicolaus Copernicus .  The 25th Prime Minister of Australia also proved more controversial than topics such as Evolution ( 49 ) , Fascism ( 62 ) , Afghanistan ( 63 ) and 9 11 ( 84 ) .  The authors used a systematic approach to ranking the articles : ' we define a controversy measure M , which quantifies size and intensity of the edit warring taking place at a certain time and on a certain article , ' the study authors wrote .  ' Our results indicate that Wikipedia is more than just an encyclopaedia it is also a window into convergent and divergent social spatial priorities , interests and preferences . '   Marines fire mortars at Taliban in Afghanistan , number 63 on the WikiWar Monitor list . Researchers from Oxford , Rutgers and the Central European University used a systematic approach to ranking the pages  The 25th Prime Minister of Australia also proved more controversial than topics such Fascism ( 62 ) , and 9 11 ( 84 ) . The researchers said Wikipedia is a window into ' social spatial priorities , interests and preferences '  The list also divided the most provocative topics based on language , with Mr Howard ' s friend George W Bush topping the list for the English Language .  Ironically , the bottom of the list , 100 , was the ' truth . '  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
96,96,"There was some good news for Democrats in Pennsylvania , however . Democratic candidates for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court won all three seats up for election on the seven person court .  Voters decided major races there and in four other states .  The Republican victories came despite a major advertising push by Democrats and the independent political groups that back them . Democratic affiliated advertisers spent more than 155 , 000 on political ads on average compared with the 85 , 000 that Republicans spent on average in the mainly red leaning states , according to a Center for Public Integrity analysis of data from media tracking firm Kantar Media  .  The ad spending in these races can almost be like trench warfare , said Kyle Kondik , a political analyst at the University of Virginia s Center for Politics . You put in a bunch of resources and the lines don t move that much .  Altogether , more than 73 million had been spent on  airtime for 2015 state level races through Monday , according to Kantar Media data . The firm monitors 211 media markets around the country . The figures do not include ads for radio , the Internet , direct mail or  ads that air on local cable systems . The estimates do not include the cost of making the ads .  The win in Kentucky means that Republicans will hold the top job in 32 states depending on what happens in Louisiana . Voters there go to the polls on Nov . 21 to vote for governor . Republican David Vitter is behind in the polls .  Conway spent nearly twice as much as Bevin on  airtime to no avail .  This race was less about money and more about partisanship and a growing Republican advantage in that part of the country , Kondik said . You also often see the party that lost at the presidential level winning these lower seats , like governorships .  Voters elected three Democrats David Wecht , Kevin Dougherty and Christine Donohue to the state s highest court in Pennsylvania , giving them a 5 2 majority .  They will rule on the state s court of last resort , which also helps redraw political boundaries after the U . S . Census , deciding what the future state legislature looks like .  It was the most expensive state supreme court race on record , according to the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice and Justice at Stake , advocacy groups that are highly critical of judicial elections . An estimated 10 . 8 million alone was spent on  airtime .  And the race was decidedly partisan , with the Democrat backing Pennsylvanians for Judicial Reform , the Republican State Leadership Committee and the Pennsylvania Republican Party buying an estimated 2 . 4 million , 850 , 000 and 7 , 900 in  ads , respectively .  The three winning Democratic candidates spent an estimated 5 . 9 million combined compared with 1 million from the three Republicans .  The  held control of the state Senate 21 19 , as well as keeping a wide lead in the House . The races spawned thousands of ads , which cost more than 10 . 1 million .  No incumbents lost their elections and no seats flipped party control in the state Senate .  Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund , the gun control group created by former New York City mayor and billionaire Michael Bloomberg , poured an estimated 2 . 1 million into  ads supporting state Senate Democratic candidates in close races , while conservative Koch connected Americans for Prosperity spent 40 , 000 .  Both parties used this off year election to experiment with campaign strategies and messages ahead of the 2016 presidential vote , where Virginia could change the game .  Virginia will be one of the two or three states who will decide who the next president is going to be , so there is a greater interest paid in state politics , said Quentin Kidd , director of the Wason Center for Public Policy at Christopher Newport University in Newport News , Virginia .  Virginia has become the most competitive battleground in all of state legislatures , said Tim Storey , election expert for the National Conference on State Legislatures . It s switched back and forth between both parties multiple times in the past five or six years .  It was a day for incumbents in Mississippi , with Republican office holders winning re election in major state offices , including the governor s mansion where Gov . Phil Bryant handily beat a truck driver .  Democratic Attorney General Jim Hood also kept his seat as the state s sole Democrat in a top office .  His Republican opponent , Mike Hurst , spent an estimated 680 , 000 on  ads and was boosted by an estimated 78 , 000 in ads from the Public Integrity Alliance , a nonprofit based out of Arizona that focuses on attorneys general races . But Hood dominated the airwaves with nearly twice as many ads , spending over 1 million .  Hood won with 56 percent of the vote to Hurst s 44 percent , with 79 percent of the precincts reporting .  Although most of the state s assembly seats weren t competitive and Democrats already held the majority , the liberal leaning General Majority  poured an estimated 3 . 1 million into election ads , more than half of all spending in the state and well above any individual candidate .  Most of General Majority  s funds come from Garden State Forward , a  created by a major teachers union in New Jersey .  The spending push helped Democrats gain even more Assembly seats .  This story is from The Center for Public Integrity , a nonprofit , nonpartisan investigative media organization in Washington , D . C . Read more of its investigations on the influence of money in politics or follow it on Twitter .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
98,98,"All day long , Lucia looked forward to her favorite weekday ritual : putting the kids to bed , changing her clothes , and pouring herself a generous glass of Pinot Noir . "" My friends and I joke that motherhood ' drives us to drink , ' but sometimes it really does for me , "" she said .  "" I feel like I need it to unwind , "" she said . Most nights she had three or four glasses , though never , she insisted , more than that . "" And on nights that I don ' t have it , "" she said , "" I really wish that I did . ""  For a long time , Lucia saw nothing wrong with her drinking . It didn ' t interfere with her parenting , or her relationships . She got done what she needed to get done . But lately , Lucia had been starting to wonder about her daily habit looking as forward to it as she did , and the anxiety that consumed her when she could not have it left her feeling unsettled .  Part of her concern related to a history of alcoholism in her family . "" My father was an alcoholic , and I always have in the back of my head this idea that I could become one , too it ' s in my genes , "" she said .  Although men have historically been heavier drinkers than women , there is plenty of evidence to suggest that the gender gap is shrinking , and fast .  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , more American women are drinking more heavily than ever before : one in eight women binge drink defined as four drinks or more in one sitting about three times a month .  A forthcoming study in the October 2013 issue of the journal Alcoholism : Clinical and Experimental Research found that college aged women are drinking more often than their male counterparts , confirming a January 2013 study of college students in Spain found female students were more likely to binge drink than male students .  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that arrests for women driving while drunk are on the rise , by about 30 from 1998 to 2007 . And according to the  , white , college educated woman ages 18 to 24 with 75 , 000 or more annual household income were more likely to binge drink than women of other races , ages , and socioeconomic categories .  Part of this rise in alcohol consumption may have something to do with young people staying single longer presumably women are out socializing more often than women their age were likely to do 20 years ago .  They ' re also working more , and drinking is often part of the job in male dominated industries , like banking and tech . A study that appeared in the December 2011 issue of Alcoholism : Clinical and Experimental Research , which tracked alcohol consumption in those born after World War  , suggested that the move toward gender equality may correlate with higher drinking rates . This suggests that more women have the opportunity , and the pressure , to socialize for work and "" drink like men . ""  After all , although the three martini lunch is a "" Mad Men "" era relic , alcohol undoubtedly still plays a key role in many work functions . Entertaining clients is one way colleagues compete , while after work socializing is an ever important part of the professional culture . Many who don ' t participate in the interoffice networking often feel left out of the group , or even suffer professionally .  And yet women with careers aren ' t the only ones getting a bigger buzz than ever before . A University of Cincinnati study found that , surprisingly , married women actually drink slightly more than their single counterparts .  Sarah , a stay at home mother , began to drink more frequently after having her third child . She was often drinking alone , because her husband traveled a lot for work . "" My social life is just so restricted I ' m home every night , "" she said . "" I used to have an active social life . Now , most of my evenings are about feeding kids , cleaning kids , putting them to bed and then collapsing in front of the  . "" Sometimes , she said , having a drink was a way to remember some of the excitement of her old life . Other times , it was just something to do .  Sarah certainly isn ' t unique and , in fact , there ' s been a movement toward a certain acceptance in some cases even glorification of mothers who drink . Popular Facebook groups like "" Moms Who Need Wine "" and ""  I So Need a Glass of Wine or I ' m Going to Sell My Kids "" have tens of thousands of fans , inspiring one winemaker to create a label of wine especially for stressed out moms . "" Put your kids to bed , "" the label for MommyJuice Wines reads , "" and have a glass of Mommy Juice . ""  Though meant , as a concept , to relieve mothers of the pressure to be perfect , the promotion , even half seriously , of alcohol as an escape , something deserved as a reward for a long day of parenting , has helped make evident the biggest issue of all : That many women don ' t realize what problem drinking looks , or feels , like .  Like Lucia , many problem drinkers will never find themselves hitting "" rock bottom "" or facing any sort of trouble . Instead , they may experience far more prosaic effects , which prevent them , and their family and friends , from recognizing their over consumption . A recent  study of more than 22 , 000 people published in the European Journal of Public Health found that the average woman underreports her weekly drinking by 60 , and that up to 80 of women exceed the recommended daily intake .  Are they alcoholics ? It ' s hard to say . But if you believe that alcoholism is defined by a preoccupation with drinking , a steady increase in the amount you need to drink in order to get the same effect , and an inability to give it up and most in the medical profession do then more and more women fit the profile quite nicely , though often come to the realization on their own .  "" My husband only ever commented on the number of bottles in the recycling , "" said Lucia , who eventually quit drinking altogether . "" He ' d be like , ' You drank all that ? But you weren ' t drunk at all ! ' Except , looking back , I sort of was . ""  The opinions in this commentary are solely those of Peggy Drexler .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
101,101,"RIYADH/ (Reuters) - U.S. firms attracted by Saudi Arabia s plans to build nuclear reactors are pushing Washington to restart talks with Riyadh on an agreement to help the kingdom develop atomic energy, three industry sources said.  Saudi Arabia has welcomed the lobbying, they said, though it is likely to worry regional rival Iran at a time when tensions are already high in the Middle East.  One of the sources also said Riyadh had told Washington it does not want to forfeit the possibility of one day enriching uranium - a process that can have military uses - though this is a standard condition of U.S. civil nuclear cooperation pacts.  They want to secure enrichment if down the line they want to do it,  the source, who is in contact with Saudi and U.S. officials, said before U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry holds talks in Riyadh early next week.  Another of the industry sources said Saudi Arabia and the United States had already held initial talks about a nuclear cooperation pact.  U.S. officials and Saudi officials responsible for nuclear energy issues declined to comment for this article. The sources did not identify the U.S. firms involved in the lobbying.  Under Article 123 of the U.S. Atomic Energy Act, a peaceful cooperation agreement is required for the transfer of nuclear materials, technology and equipment.  In previous talks, Saudi Arabia has refused to sign up to any agreement with the United States that would deprive the kingdom of the possibility of one day enriching uranium.       Saudi Arabia, the world s top oil producer, says it wants nuclear power solely for peaceful uses - to produce electricity at home so that it can export more crude. It has not yet acquired nuclear power or enrichment technology. Riyadh sent a request for information to nuclear reactor suppliers in October in a first step towards opening a multi-billion-dollar tender for two nuclear power reactors, and plans to award the first construction contract in 2018.  Reuters has reported that Westinghouse is in talks with other U.S.-based companies to form a consortium for the bid. A downturn in the U.S. nuclear industry makes business abroad increasingly valuable for American firms. Reactors need uranium enriched to around 5 percent purity but the same technology in this process can also be used to enrich the heavy metal to a higher, weapons-grade level. This has been at the heart of Western and regional concerns over the nuclear work of Iran, which enriches uranium domestically. Riyadh s main reason to leave the door open to enrichment in the future may be political - to ensure the Sunni Muslim kingdom has the same possibility of enriching uranium as Shi ite Muslim Iran, industry sources and analysts say. Saudi Arabia s position poses a potential problem for the United States, which has strengthened ties with the kingdom under President Donald Trump. Washington usually requires a country to sign a nuclear cooperation pact - known as a 123 agreement - that forfeits steps in fuel production with potential bomb-making uses.  Doing less than this would undermine U.S. credibility and risk the increased spread of nuclear weapons capabilities to Saudi Arabia and the region,  said David Albright, a former U.N. weapons inspector and president of the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS). It is not clear whether Riyadh will raise the issue during Perry s visit, which one of the industry sources said could include discussion of nuclear export controls. Under a nuclear deal Iran signed in 2015 with world powers - but which Trump has said he might pull the United States out of - Tehran can enrich uranium to around the level needed for commercial power-generation.  It would be  a huge change of policy  for Washington to allow Saudi Arabia the right to enrich uranium, said Mark Fitzpatrick, executive director of the Americas office at the International Institute for Strategic Studies think tank.  Applying the  golden standard  of not allowing enrichment or preprocessing (of spent fuel) has held up a 123 agreement with Jordan for many years, and has been a key issue in U.S. nuclear cooperation with South Korea,  said Fitzpatrick, a nuclear policy expert. The United States is likely to aim for restrictions, non-proliferation analysts say. These could be based on those included in the 123 agreement Washington signed in 2009 with the United Arab Emirates, which is set to start up its first South Korean-built reactor in 2018 and has ruled out enrichment and reprocessing.  Perhaps Saudi Arabia is testing the Trump administration and seeing if the administration would be amenable to fewer restrictions in a 123 agreement,   s Albright said. Saudi Arabia s nuclear plans have gained momentum as part of a reform plan led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to reduce the economy s dependence on oil. Riyadh wants eventually to install up to 17.6 gigawatts (GW) of atomic capacity by 2032 - or up to 17 reactors. This is a promising prospect for the struggling global nuclear industry and the United States is expected to face competition from South Korea, Russia, France and China for the initial tender. Hashim bin Abdullah Yamani, head of the Saudi government agency tasked with the nuclear plans, has said the kingdom wants to tap its own uranium resources for  self-sufficiency in producing nuclear fuel  and that this is economically viable. As a nuclear conference in October, Saudi officials declined to comment when asked to expand on the topic. In 2015, before the Iran deal was signed, Prince Turki al-Faisal, a senior Saudi royal and former intelligence chief, said Riyadh would want the option to enrich uranium if Tehran had it. In October, Maher al-Odan, the chief atomic energy officer of KACARE, said Saudi Arabia had around 60,000 tonnes of uranium based on initial studies and that the kingdom wanted to start extracting it to boost the economy. Asked what would happen to the uranium after that, he replied:  This is a government decision.     ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
121,121,"Senator Mike Lee gives it right back to  s Martha MacCallum when she grilled him on why the Senate won t accept a Supreme Court nominee:   (HOST): The president has laid out I think what anyone would say is a very fair set of circumstances for nominating someone, so why not give this person hearing?SEN.   (R-UT):  that all sounds great. We do have to remember Martha, we re talking about a lame duck president in his final months of office who is talking about making a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land, a court which in recent years has played an increasingly large role in the development of public policy. And we think the American people have a voice, that voice should be heard and the American people ought to be able to choose their next president and have the next president, whether that s a Republican or Democrat, make the choice.MACCALLUM: Yeah but I think, senator, with all due respect, wouldn t the American people say we elected President Obama? We also elected the senators who are currently in office, and we expect them both, on both sides to do their job. The president s job is to name a nominee, your job is to give that person a hearing and either appoint or not. Either consent, to give consent, or not. So why not go through the process? Why do you get to decide that?LEE: You re absolutely right that elections have consequences. President Obama was elected again as president in 2012. Senate elections also have consequences and when Republicans were elected to the majority in the Senate after the 2014 elections, we had an increasingly large role to play in the system. Now you re also absolutely right, the president has the right to nominate. That is his prerogative. It s also the Senate s right to decide when, whether, how, to what extent, to confirm someone and here what we re saying is, we think that it s very important to maintain a tradition, a tradition that goes all the way back to 1888 by the way. 1888 was the last time you had a Supreme Court vacancy arise during a presidential election year, and the last time that that vacancy arising during the presidential election year was filled during the same year, and confirmed by a Senate that was run by a party opposite the president s party.MACCALLUM: I think everybody listens to that and understands what you are saying and that there s   but I don t think that gets around the basic requirement to do the job, to go through the process and if you all decide that you don t want to give consent to that person, well that s absolutely your right. And just given your background and being such an adherent to the Constitution, it seems somewhat surprising I think to some people to take that attitude. And it also feeds in perhaps to the notion that people in your position don t want to   are blocking things from happening on Capitol Hill.LEE: We are blocking this from happening, make no mistake about it. We are blocking this one. And we feel it s our obligation to do so. We think that especially with this president who has overstepped his constitutional boundaries so many times   [CROSSTALK]MACCALLUM: But then why does it make it right on to do that on your side? You can look at this person and say  no thank you, we don t like this person,  but why the hesitation to have a hearing? To do the process? I think that s what people have a hard time understanding.Via: Media Matters",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present
125,125,"In a powerful new web  video, female sports writers have some of the hateful tweets directed their way read by male sports fans. The ad was designed to highlight just how over the line online harassment has become for women, who are often the targets.The video features sports writers Sarah Spain and Julie DiCaro.Spain is a columnist for  and has appeared on  radio and on the network s premiere program, SportsCenter. She s written at length about the sexual assault allegations about  superstar Peyton Manning, pointing out that  for years the story had been treated with kid gloves. DiCaro is an anchor on a Chicago sports talk station, and has written about rape allegations against  player Patrick Kane.For their work, and for simply being women in the male-dominated sports media, Spain and DiCaro regularly face dehumanizing, threatening, sexist comments from men online. The website Just Not Sports worked with the writers to produce this video to highlight the problem   which is often dismissed as casual criticism, but as the video shows, is actually much sicker than that.#MoreThanMean hopes to open guys  eyes   by having them open their mouths. The video shows what happens when real sports fans read real online comments made about women sports reporters   right to their faces.In reading the statements out loud to women journalists, guys are forced to experience, sometimes for the first time, the shocking online harassment happening to women in sports day in, day out. It serves as proof most sports fans would  say these things to another person   so we shouldn t type this garbage, either.The video is a strong example that shows that while relations between men and women have obviously come a long way over the last century, there is a toxic culture that tries to bully women away from issues that some men feel they own.Featured image via YouTube",fake,dataset,validation,Football,US elections,fake,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
141,141,"Northern Ireland midfielder Steven Davis admitted he could not have envisaged the ongoing strife Rangers would suffer as he prepared to return to Glasgow almost three years after leaving Ibrox .  Davis was sold by Rangers to Southampton in July 2012 , just after they were relaunched in the Scottish Third Division following the club ' s liquidation crisis .  He returns to Glasgow for Northern Ireland ' s friendly against Scotland with his former club having come through more off field drama and struggling to complete their journey back to the top flight of Scottish football .  Northern Ireland captain Steven Davis returns to Glasgow to play Scotland in a friendly on Wednesday  Davis trains ahead of Northern Ireland ' s clash with Scotland at Hampden Park  Rangers ' win at Hibernian on Sunday was only their second in 10 games and it inadvertently clinched the Scottish Championship title for Hearts as they battle to go up through the play offs .  Davis has watched the drama unfold from Southampton and hopes the rise to power of Dave King and his allies , along with the arrival of Stuart McCall as manager , will get the club back on course .  ' I think it ' s positive for the club , ' the 30 year old said . ' For any fan it ' s nice to see with people who obviously have the interest of the club at heart .  ' Obviously we knew it was going to be a difficult period but I don ' t think anyone foresaw how hard it was going to be .  Davis returns to Glasgow almost three years after leaving Rangers for Southampton  Midfielder Davis in action for Southampton against Burnley on Saturday  ' I think Stuart McCall is going to be a really good appointment as well , it was nice to see them get that first win on Sunday . Hopefully they can build on that now and finish the season strongly . '  When asked whether he would consider a return to Ibrox one day , Davis said : ' In football you never know . I spent four and a half really good years there and I loved my time there .  ' If the opportunity arose it would be something I would definitely have to consider . It was a great time . '  Davis and his team mates face Scotland on Wednesday in preparation for their European Championship qualifier against Finland in Belfast on Sunday .  David has backed the appointment of new Rangers manager Stuart McCall  He added : ' I am delighted to be back . I have not really had the chance to come back up for a game of any magnitude so it ' s nice to be back up and get the chance to catch up with some familiar faces and get another chance to play at Hampden .  ' I was lucky enough to play there quite a few times and had some success there so I ' m looking forward to going back .  ' It ' s a good friendly for both ourselves and Scotland . I expect the game to have a bit of an edge because both sets of players are used to playing against each other at various stages of their careers .  ' The mentality of both sets of players is always to give 100 per cent and I think it ' s good preparation for the Finland game . '  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
153,153,"Home World Iran detains and then frees 10 in the  Navy  Iran detains and then frees 10 in the  Navy  Iran detains and then frees 10 in the  Navy  The American sailors , including one female service member , were picked up by Iranian officials after their two small boats allegedly drifted into Iranian territorial waters near Farsi Island on Tuesday , reports  News . State Department spokesman John Kirby said in an interview on Hannity the quick release of the sailors occurred because of improved relations between the us and Iran .  "" I want to express my gratitude to Iranian authorities for their cooperation in swiftly resolving this matter "" , Kerry said .  General Firouzabadi confirmed that the  Secretary of State , John Kerry , had talked with his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif , who demanded a formal apology for the breach of Iranian sovereignty .  The incident had the potential to increase tensions between the two nations and damage the historic nuclear deal , which is expected to be formally implemented within days , according to Reuters .  Sen . Barbara Boxer , D Calif . , said on  that the pending release of the sailors shows how diplomacy between  and Iranian officials "" is working "" .  A senior Navy official said the Navy was beginning the process of reintegrating the sailors after thorough medical , psychological and mental health examinations .  "" We will find out more what combination of factors led to that navigational error , but they were clearly out of the position that they meant to be in "" , Carter said . Iran ' s Revolutionary Guards said the sailors had now been set free . The sailors were then taken ashore by a U . S . Navy aircraft while another group of sailors took over the Riverine Command boats as they made their way towards the boats ' original destination , Bahrain .  After first suggesting that a mechanical failure had disabled at least one of the boats , they acknowledged that there was no mechanical problem . "" No , and there was no looking for any apology "" , Biden told ""  This Morning "" . "" This was just standard nautical practice "" , he added . "" My assumption is that they were in Iranian territorial waters when they were detained "" .  The 10 sailors were back with their American fleet on January 15 .  "" It was a mistake , that was our fault , and we apologise for our mistake "" , the sailor , who was introduced as a U . S . navy commander , said in English on  state  on Wednesday .  The sailors were released early on Wednesday after being held overnight on Farsi Island in the Gulf , where the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps have a base .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
154,154,"New Chelsea signing Fernando Torres said his transfer deadline day move to the English Premier League champions from division rivals Liverpool was a "" step forward "" in his career .  After much media speculation over the striker ' s future , Torres joined the Blues on a five and half year contract on Monday , in a deal secured just before the January transfer window came to a dramatic close .  "" I felt that I needed a step forward in my career and for my ambition as a footballer , "" the 26 year old Torres said in an interview with the club ' s official website on Tuesday .  "" I am joining a team that is at the top level there is not another level after Chelsea , "" he added .  "" When I played against Chelsea there was always a big motivation because it was a special game always one of the biggest games of the season . This is one of the reasons why I wanted to join Chelsea because I want to be part of this kind of team . ""  The Anfield club compensated for the departure of Torres by signing two new strikers shortly before the 23 . 00  transfer deadline Uruguay ' s Luis Suarez moved from Dutch side Ajax while England ' s Andy Carroll signed from Newcastle .  Chelsea meanwhile coupled their Torres capture by completing the signing of defender David Luiz from Portuguese club Benfica .  The best and worst deals of a dramatic deadline day  The fee for Torres ' transfer has not been disclosed although British newspaper The Daily Telegraph speculated he had cost 80 million a figure that would break the previous British record set when Manchester City paid 53 million for Brazil ' s Robinho in 2008 .  Chelsea ' s big money signing had spent three and a half years at Liverpool scoring 81 goals in 142 matches .  But following the side ' s failure to qualify for the Champions League and poor form in the league , Torres felt he needed to move to have the chance to challenge for silverware .  "" The Champions League is a big ambition , it is a very important competition , "" the former Atletico Madrid player said . "" But also Chelsea have the chance every season to win all the trophies that they play for , so when you have the chance to play in a team like this you cannot say no . ""  Ironically , Torres ' first match in a Chelsea shirt could be against seventh placed Liverpool at Stamford Bridge in a league clash on Sunday . It is not thought he will feature in Tuesday ' s away fixture against sixth placed Sunderland .  "" It is like the destiny , "" he said after a group of Liverpool fans were seen burning Torres ' number nine shirt outside Anfield when the news of the transfer broke .  "" It is not perfect for me but we will see what happens and I only have good words about Liverpool . They made me a top player and gave me the chance to play at the top level . I will never say anything bad about Liverpool , I have been very happy there .  "" But now the history is different and I am playing for Chelsea . If I have the chance to play I will do my best for Chelsea and hopefully I can score . ""  Madrid born Torres added that his move had been made easier thanks to the support he had received from the London based club ' s loyal fans .  "" They really want me and it is important you have the support of the people in the club , and the support of the fans I have seen them very , very happy with me for joining Chelsea . Now I am very happy to be a Chelsea player . ""  Will deadline day spending buck European transfer downturn ?  With Torres ' record breaking deal and Liverpool reportedly paying in excess of 53 million for Carroll , the Premier League showed little sign of being affected by the current economic situation .  According to statistics from  business advisory firm Deloitte , English clubs spent a record 363 million in the mid season transfer window smashing the previous record of 282 million set in January 2008 , and far exceeding amounts spent by leagues in Spain , Italy and Germany .  However , Dan Jones , a partner in Deloitte ' s Sports Business Group , said this can be solely put down to a handful of lucrative deals made by just four clubs .  "" When you scratch beneath the surface you find that around 80 of the total spending is concentrated across Chelsea , Liverpool , Aston Villa and Manchester City and spread across only six players .  "" So this was a particularly polarized window , with only a few clubs flexing their financial muscles , on what was a deafening final day of an otherwise quiet window . ""  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
157,157,"The Epsom Derby is the most famous horse race in Britain and , arguably , the world .  Dating back to 1780 , it has spawned many imitations 140 countries now have a "" Derby , "" perhaps most notably in the U . S . state of Kentucky . Indeed , the word "" derby "" is now generally used to describe any race for three year olds .  "" To me it ' s the most significant race in the world , "" says trainer Andrew Balding , whose Kingsclere stables have yards named after great Epsom Derby winners of the past , such as Ormonde and Flying Fox .  "" There are more valuable races , but you can ' t buy 200 years of history . It is a very special event for anyone who is British . It ' s still very much the race that everyone wants to win . ""  The Epsom Derby counts the Queen of England as one of its biggest fans . She has attended all but two Derbies during her reign and will be there on June 2 as she kicks off her weekend of Jubilee celebrations with a visit to Epsom Downs .  The race is named after its founder , the 12th Earl of Derby who , along with his friend Sir Charles Bunbury , conceived the idea of a race to establish which horse was the best of his or her generation .  Today it draws crowds of up to 200 , 000 people , attracted by the sight of the best three year olds from England and ever further afield competing for a purse of more than 2 million .  Ormonde won the race in 1886 , while fellow English Triple Crown champion Flying Fox also stabled at Kingsclere did so in 1899 .  But there ' s one name that means more to the folk at Balding ' s Kingsclere headquarters than any other Mill Reef . Trained by Balding ' s father Ian , Mill Reef was considered by many to be the greatest racehorse of his day .  He easily won the 1971 Derby by two lengths from Linden Tree before going on to capture the Prix de l ' Arc de Triomphe in Paris later that year . He doesn ' t just have a yard named after him , he has his own statue .  Now , 41 years after Mill Reef ' s victory , Balding believes he has a colt capable of emulating the feats of one of the greatest racehorses of the last century a sleek dark bay by the name of Bonfire .  The horse booked his place in Saturday ' s race thanks to a sparkling performance in the Dante Stakes at York in May . But Balding concedes that his spirited personality makes getting the best from the colt something of a challenge .  "" He is very talented but he is quite a character not the most straightforward to train ! ""  As such he has been only lightly raced , and will go into Epsom with just three starts under his belt .  "" It ' s not ideal , "" concedes Balding . "" At least he ' s got Group 1 experience ( the sport ' s top level of competition ) from last year , so we know he is the caliber of horse that should be running in the Derby . ""  Balding took over the reins of the racing operation from his father in 2003 and tasted immediate success when his filly Casual Look captured the Epsom Oaks the fillies ' equivalent of the Derby in June of that year .  Ian remains a familiar presence on the yard , riding out every day on his retired racehorse , Pinch of Salt .  He is an avuncular figure to many of the young exercise riders , although where training matters are concerned he is happy to defer to his son these days .  The legacy of Mill Reef is harder to shake off . His statue takes pride of place at Kingsclere , an imperious presence watching over his young pretenders as the mist rolls in from the South Downs .  Bred in the United States , the half cousin to the great Secretariat was sent to the United Kingdom as a yearling as it was thought that his action was better suited to the turf tracks of Europe than the dirt courses of his native continent .  It was a gamble that paid off . In 14 starts , he failed to win just twice , most memorably in the 2 , 000 Guineas the first of the English "" Classics "" when he was beaten by Brigadier General , who would go on to prove himself one of the greatest milers of all time .  But it was his performance in the Epsom Derby that year that earned Mill Reef his place in the pantheon of greats : cruising around Tattenham Corner in fourth place , any doubts over his ability to handle the mile and a half distance were dispelled as soon he passed the two furlong pole . From that point on the result was never in doubt .  But if it was his exploits in the Derby that brought him to the attention of those outside the racing world , it was what happened to him next that cemented his position in the public ' s affection .  It was during a routine training gallop that the colt stumbled and shattered his leg , bringing his racing career to a grotesque and bitter end .  An injury such as Mill Reef ' s is almost always fatal . But rather than euthanize the colt , a veterinary specialist was flown in to operate .  During the course of the six hour operation , a metal plate and three screws were inserted into the damaged leg . He would never race again , but his life had been saved .  If Bonfire is to emulate his illustrious predecessor , he will have to get past a strong field including Aiden O ' Brien ' s unbeaten colt Camelot , who goes into the Derby having already captured the Guineas . O ' Brien ' s second and third strings , Astrology and Imperial Monarch , have both impressed on recent outings .  In any other year , Bonfire would probably be considered the favorite to land England ' s premier Classic , but Camelot holds that position with the British bookmakers .  Bonfire will be partnered in the Derby , as usual , by Jimmy Fortune , who will be hoping for better luck in running than their last outing at Group 1 level , when he finished third behind French Fifteen .  Fortune is adept at managing Bonfire ' s quirks but he ' ll need all his experience to cope with the famously fast Epsom course ( the track rises 150 feet in the first half mile , leveling out before a downhill stretch round Tattenham Corner ) .  "" My father managed to win the Derby with a great horse , who was one of the most famous horses of the last century , "" says Balding . "" It would be lovely to do it again . ""  The stone masons of Kingsclere had better be prepared to work overtime after Derby Day , because there might just be a yard with Bonfire ' s name on it .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
161,161,"New York The flight attendant whose dramatic departure from a JetBlue plane at a New York City airport has transformed him into a folk hero to some wants his job back , his lawyer told reporters Thursday .  "" That ' s his life , "" Steven Slater ' s Legal Aid defense attorney Howard Turman told reporters outside his client ' s home in Queens , near John F . Kennedy International Airport , where Slater ' s exit via an emergency slide vaulted him to national attention . "" His father was a pilot his mother was a flight attendant . That ' s in his blood . That ' s what he likes to do . ""  Whether Slater can regain his wings was unclear . "" We ' re conducting an internal investigation regarding his status as an employee at JetBlue , "" said airline spokeswoman Jenny Dervin , who added that Slater has been removed from duty pending the outcome of that internal inquiry .  She described Slater ' s behavior as unlike that of the New York based airline ' s other 2 , 300 flight attendants . "" I would say this is highly unique , "" she said .  During the defense lawyer ' s remarks , the 20 year flight attendant stood at his side and smiled occasionally but made only one brief remark : "" Thank you all so much , "" he said . "" It ' s been amazing the support and the love and everything that ' s been brought to me and given to me by my community and my friends and the industry at large . It ' s been absolutely wonderful . ""  The incident may not have appeared so wonderful when it began unfolding Monday morning at Pennsylvania ' s Pittsburgh International Airport where , according to JetBlue spokeswoman Dervin , Slater was one of two flight attendants aboard an Embraer 190 flight that was scheduled to depart at 10 : 35 a . m . and arrive 84 minutes later at  .  Problems began before the flight , carrying a full load of 100 passengers , took off .  "" A number of passengers were competing for overhead carry on luggage areas , "" Turman , Slater ' s attorney , said . "" With great difficulty , they were shoving the bags around , attempting to get it in . Steven came over to assist and either the bag or the overhead ( bin door ) hit him in the head and at that point he suffered an injury . ""  Turman offered a more graphic description of events on Wednesday , when he said a woman "" started cursing and based on the information slammed the overhead luggage bin on his head . ""  Then the woman said , "" F you "" to Slater , Turman said .  After the flight landed at  , Slater approached the woman as she attempted to retrieve her bag from the bin while the plane was still taxiing to the gate , according to a source familiar with the incident . Passengers are required to stay in their seats with their seat belts fastened until the pilot has reached the gate and gives the all clear sign .  The passenger cursed Slater again , Turman said Wednesday . Her fury grew upon learning she would have to wait at baggage claim to retrieve luggage she had been forced to check at the gate in Pittsburgh , he said .  At that point , Slater got on the plane ' s public address system . Passenger Phil Catelinet wrote on his blog that Slater said , "" To the passenger who just called me a motherf : f you . I ' ve been in this business 20 years , and I ' ve had it . ""  The plane was blocked into the gate at 12 : 07 p . m . , eight minutes late .  After making an expletive filled announcement , Slater had a confrontation with another crew member , according to passenger Gib Mendelson of Cape Elizabeth , Maine .  Slater then grabbed some beer from the beverage cart before deploying the emergency slide and leaving .  The flight crew reported the slide deployment at 12 : 12 p . m . , according to Maruster ' s memo .  Turman sharply denied a JetBlue passenger ' s assertion published Thursday that the flight attendant instigated the confrontation .  "" It ' s not so , "" said Turman .  "" Sometimes , some people in our society are not courteous and are impatient , "" Turman said . "" For 20 years , Steven has been very patient , has dealt with the passengers in each of the airlines he worked for in an effective and courteous and polite manner . Sometimes that point can be taken advantage of by others . ""  He added , "" If you think it ' s easy for flight attendants to get on a plane every day and be concerned for the safety of each and every passenger without a tension , without a stress you ' re fooling yourselves . ""  Slater has pleaded not guilty to charges of reckless endangerment and criminal mischief both felonies and criminal trespass . If convicted , he could face a maximum of seven years in prison .  But Turman said Thursday he had spoken with the district attorney ' s office , "" and I believe there will be a favorable outcome for my client that should satisfy all parties in this case . ""  A spokeswoman for the prosecutor did not respond directly to Turman ' s remarks . "" We will prosecute this case in the court , "" said Meris Campbell of the district attorney ' s office . "" We ' re not going to respond to every press conference the attorney gives . ""  Slater has a court appearance scheduled for September 7 .  Meanwhile , Slater had amassed more than 191 , 000 "" fans "" on a public Facebook page as of Thursday evening .  ",true,text,validation,American football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
172,172,"One day after South Korea staged exercises near Yeonpyeong Island marking the anniversary of North Korea ' s deadly shelling , the North ' s military threatened "" a sea of fire "" upon the South ' s presidential office , the South ' s Yonhap News Agency reported Thursday .  A year ago Wednesday , North Korea launched an attack on the civilian island of Yeonpyeong , killing two marines and two civilians and shattering the sense of security that South Koreans had enjoyed for almost 60 years .  The island shelling came half a year after North Korea torpedoed a naval ship , the Cheonan , killing 46 sailors .  North Korea ' s military supreme command denounced the South ' s anniversary exercise as a rehearsal for war against the North and warned that the North ' s armed forces are ready for "" a decisive battle to counter any military provocation , "" Yonhap reported .  If South Korea dares "" to impair the dignity of ( the North ) again and fire one bullet or shell toward its inviolable territorial waters , sky and land , the deluge of fire on Yonphyong Island will lead to that in Chongwadae and the sea of fire in Chongwadae to the deluge of fire sweeping away the stronghold of the group of traitors , "" the command said in an official ( North ) Korean Central News Agency account , according to Yonhap .  The North Korean statement used a different spelling for both the shelled South Korean island and Cheong Wa Dae , Korea ' s presidential offices , Yonhap reported .  South Korea ' s defense ministry had no immediate comment , Yonhap reported .  North Korea invoked identical rhetoric in 1994 , when Pyongyang had expelled international nuclear inspectors and threatened to turn Seoul into a "" sea of fire . ""  With the United States mulling air strikes on North Korean facilities in 1994 , former U . S . President Jimmy Carter flew into Pyongyang to meet Kim Il Sung , and that set the scene for the so called "" Agreed Framework "" under which North Korea would give up its nuclear facilities in return for light water reactors from the international community .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
173,173,"| October 29, 2016 at 10:52 am | Reply  The Great Climate Change Bamboozle  “The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.” H. L. Mencken  Earth’s carbon cycle contains 46,713 Gt (E15 gr) +/- 850 Gt (+/- 1.8%) of stores and reservoirs with a couple hundred fluxes Gt/y (+/- ??) flowing among those reservoirs. Mankind’s gross contribution over 260 years was 555 Gt or 1.2%. ( AR5 Fig 6.1) Mankind’s net contribution, 240 Gt or 0.53%, (dry labbed by  to make the numbers work) to this bubbling, churning caldron of carbon/carbon dioxide is 4 Gt/y +/- 96%. ( AR5 Table 6.1) Seems relatively trivial to me.  et. al. says natural variations can’t explain the increase in CO2. With these tiny percentages and high levels of uncertainty how would anybody even know?  Mankind’s modelled additional atmospheric CO2 power flux (W/m^2, watt is power, energy over time) between 1750 and 2011, 261 years, is 2 W/m^2 of radiative forcing. ( AR5 Fig SPM.5) Incoming solar  is 340 W/m^2, albedo reflects 100 W/m^2 (+/- 30 & can’t be part of the 333), 160 W/m^2 reaches the surface (can’t be part of the 333), latent heat from the water cycle’s evaporation is 88 W/m2 (+/- 8). Mankind’s 2 W/m^2 contribution is obviously trivial, lost in the natural fluctuations.  One popular  theory power flux balance (“Atmospheric Moisture…. Trenberth et al 2011jcli24 Figure 10) has a spontaneous perpetual loop (333 W/m^2) flowing from cold to hot violating three fundamental thermodynamic laws. (1. Spontaneous energy out of nowhere, 2. perpetual loop w/o work, 3. cold to hot w/o work, 4. doesn’t matter because what’s in the system stays in the system) Physics must be optional for “climate” science. What really counts is the net W/m^2 balance at ToA which 7 out of 8 re-analyses included in the above cited paper concluded the atmosphere was cooling, not warming (+/- 12.3 W/m^2). Of course Dr. Trenberth says they are wrong because their cooling results are not confirmed by his predicted warming, which hasn’t happened for twenty years. (“All of the net  imbalances are not tenable and all except  imply a cooling of the planet that clearly has not occurred.”)  Every year the pause/hiatus/lull/stasis continues ( AR5 Box TS.3) IPCC’s atmospheric and ocean general circulation models diverge further from reality.  As Carl Sagan observed, we have been bamboozled, hustled, conned by those wishing to steal our money and rob us of our liberties. Hardly a new agenda.   I have a  same as Bill Nye so I’m as much a scientist as he is.",fake,news,validation,Football,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
203,203,"Hundreds of lunchtimes later , the 2012 caucus winner looks tired .  Rick Santorum , the defending champion of the Iowa caucuses , shambles into the Mason City Pizza Ranch on Wednesday , less than a week before the caucuses , looking for hands to shake . One of his staffers is mid debate with a cashier at the regional pizza franchise the back room is reserved for Santorum to bribe voters into listening to a final week pitch from the former senator with free pizza , but there s some confusion because the staffers have bought whole pizzas but Pizza Ranch is a buffet joint at lunchtime . ( So are you paying for pizzas separate from the buffet , or are you paying for the buffets ? asked one attendee . ) Santorum pays the matter little mind and instead starts heading for the nearest table of voters . He spots a woman heading toward him .  Full ! she exclaims , patting her stomach as she walks out into the cold .  Four years ago , Santorum won the Iowa caucuses . We didn t realize that at the time ? Romney Wins Iowa Caucus by 8 Votes , ? said the ? New York Times ? but it turned out , after a final count , Santorum was the winner . This was not Santorum s only victory . In early February , he won Colorado , Minnesota , and Missouri , and later on , he added North Dakota , Oklahoma , Tennessee , Kansas , Alabama , Mississippi , and Louisiana . Glenn Beck called him the next George Washington . Twelve men have won Republican primary states in the last 40 years , and Santorum is one of them .  Now , though , on this freezing January afternoon , he is standing in front of the dessert pizza tray ? as people are trying to get by . Santorum has gone from being the alternative to Mitt Romney to being the guy who is interrupting everyone when they are trying to eat .  Of course , this is what retail politics is , heading from one desolate location to another in order to drum up as many votes as you can . But the contrast between Santorum and Senator ? Ted Cruz , who filled up an Ottumwa banquet hall on Tuesday ? let alone Football Stadium Trump ? is nonetheless profound . Santorum has been stuck at the kiddie table debates ? his words , not mine ? since this election cycle began , and he came in 11th ? in the most recent Bloomberg Politics Des Moines Register Iowa Poll , ahead of only Jim Gilmore . This guy won this state last time . Now he can t even beat John Kasich , who not only isn t campaigning in Iowa very much , he s even holding a town hall in New Hampshire on caucus night .  Members of the Red Hat Society listen as Rick Santorum speaks at a Pizza Ranch restaurant in Mason City , Iowa , on Jan . 27 , 2016 .  It has to be demoralizing , and to be honest , Santorum is beginning to show it . After making his way to every table in the front of the restaurant ? one guy , a carpenter , actually asked him if he d ever met Donald Trump ? he began a speech to the loyalists in the back by saying , wearily , I think this is my 750th Pizza Ranch restaurant . That s a joke , I think , but Santorum has essentially spent the last four years of his life in Iowa . After losing the nomination , and after Romney lost to President Barack Obama , he was back in Iowa within a matter of months . He estimates that he has been in Iowa more than 300 days this cycle , and more than 300 for the 2012 election , which means he has spent roughly 4 percent of his life here . He s had plenty of time to spend here : Santorum has not held elected office in more than nine ? years .  This has led him to some rather crusty anecdotes on the campaign trail . He spent a good portion of his speech discussing battles he had with Senator Barbara Boxer way back in 2004 . Santorum lacks the energy that he had in 2012 , ? and this even shows in his wardrobe , with an unbuttoned jacket hanging awkwardly over his famous old sweater vest that frankly is doing a lot of work these days . At several moments of his speech , he attempted to call back and remember other appearances he d made in Iowa , but he couldn t quite conjure up the name of the town . He punctuates a high percentage of his statements with as I ve said before , as if he can t even lie to himself anymore that any of this is new .  Please , eat the pizza , he says at one point , before catching himself . Oh , I suppose it s probably cold now . He s still a practiced retail campaigner : He makes sure to give every questioner his full attention and an impressively complete hearing , no matter how nonsensical or confused the question . He s good at it . But the fire isn t there , and he has to know it .  Rick Santorum speaks with members of the Red Hat Society at a Pizza Ranch restaurant in Mason City , Iowa , on Jan . 27 , 2016 .  What happened ? Well , 2012 might have been a special circumstance . The Santorum boomlet may have been little more than an anyone but Mitt wave landing briefly on his shores . But since 2012 , other candidates have taken over the territory that Santorum had considered his ( and was once considered Mike Huckabee s ) . The valued Bob Vander Plaats Christian conservative endorsement that Santorum got last time ( and Huckabee did in 2008 ) went to Cruz this time . The insurgent religious candidate lane was taken over by Ben Carson .  The debate format placed him on the junior varsity team before he ever had a chance to argue otherwise . And there is of course Trump , whom Santorum referred to constantly , was asked about repeatedly , and whom he was reduced to claiming had stolen my ideas ( via an anecdote about Trump calling Santorum to New York to tell him he loved his book Blue Collar Conservatives ) . ? It was always going to be a bank shot for Santorum this go around , but this was a particularly poor showing for the defending Iowa champ . The contours of the race simply never bent his way .  Santorum has spent more time in Iowa over the last four years than any other candidate in the race , so I asked him if he was starting to feel like a phase of his life was coming ? to an end , if he was gonna miss this place . The caucus , after all , is only a few days away . But Santorum , who had just Monday hammered  Today on Facebook ? for trying to force us out of the race , was particularly wary of this line of questioning . It s just another step in the process , he said . It s this state , then the next one . I ve had a wonderful time in Iowa . I look forward to having a wonderful time in New Hampshire . But you ve spent so much time here . Surely you must be somewhat ? This race is moving forward , he interrupted . Iowa s just another step in the journey .  But considering Santorum s place in the race , and how much he seems to have been eclipsed by Cruz , Carson , and Trump ( and really , everyone else ) , the last four years of trips to Pizza Ranch Mason City and Pizza Ranch Urbandale and Pizza Ranch Jefferson have to feel , ultimately , like a waste of time , money , and energy . Santorum still has a few days left in this state ? he has actually upped his appearances in a last week push ? and obviously won t say so . But his eyes ? say ? otherwise . He looks tired , and how could he not ? Santorum has been campaigning in Iowa for the past four years , a candidate for president of the United States . And as ? a guy in a jacket , imposing on people s lunch .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
232,232,"—   The development of   cars in recent years has been primarily a competition between technology companies and automakers working independently of each other. But that dynamic changed markedly on Tuesday, when Google said it would expand its testing of autonomous vehicles by installing its technology in a fleet of minivans made by Fiat Chrysler. The deal is the most prominent example yet of a Silicon Valley company collaborating with a traditional automaker on   vehicles. It could also prove to be a breakthrough in the generally wary relationship between technology and auto companies, and prompt more collaborative efforts. The deal is a major departure for Google, which previously had chosen to work mostly on its own in creating and testing   vehicles. For Fiat Chrysler, the arrangement allows the company to gain access to Google’s expertise in driverless cars rather than develop its own technology. Analysts said Fiat Chrysler needed a partner to catch up to other car companies that are investing heavily in   vehicles. “It couldn’t have picked a better one than Google, which is far down the road with   cars,” said Michelle Krebs, an analyst with the firm Autotrader. No financial terms were disclosed for the deal, which calls for Fiat Chrysler to provide Google with 100 Chrysler Pacifica hybrid minivans built specifically to accommodate   features. The companies said that Fiat Chrysler would design and engineer the minivans, and that Google would then integrate sensors and computer systems into the vehicles. The arrangement is the first time Google has worked directly with an automaker to adapt   vehicles for   purposes. Until now, Google had used an automotive supplier to build its own   prototypes. John Krafcik, the chief executive of the Google   Car Project, said the deal was a critical step in efforts to create autonomous vehicles for everyday driving. He said the collaboration “will accelerate our efforts to develop a fully   car that will make our roads safer and bring everyday destinations within reach for those who cannot drive. ” Sergio Marchionne, Fiat Chrysler’s chief executive, has been outspoken in recent months about his company’s desire to form technology partnerships, partly to defray the cost of developing   systems on its own. “The experiences both companies gain will be fundamental to delivering automotive technology solutions that ultimately have   commercial benefits,” he said. Other automakers, such as General Motors and Ford Motor, are also moving rapidly to develop   cars. G. M. for example, has agreed to buy the technology company Cruise Automation to begin outfitting its cars with   systems. At the same time, federal regulators are working on setting new guidelines for   vehicles. Google is part of a coalition  —   which includes Ford and Volvo  —   that supports swift passage of rules to allow for driverless cars on the nation’s roadways. Google is testing its own   prototypes in California and elsewhere. The company has also modified sport utility vehicles produced by Toyota to accommodate   systems. But the Pacifica hybrid minivan is a larger vehicle that can accommodate more passengers. With features like electronically controlled sliding doors, the van could be well suited to ferrying larger groups of people without the need for an actual driver. There was no indication that Fiat Chrysler had an inside track to mass produce   vehicles for Google one day. For now, the collaboration is said to be strictly for testing purposes. The companies said their engineering teams would work together at an unnamed location in Michigan. “It is a deal that should benefit both parties,” said Jack Nerad, an analyst with the   firm Kelley Blue Book. Mr. Nerad said adapting a   hybrid vehicle like the Pacifica was a logical extension of Google’s testing efforts. For Fiat Chrysler, the deal highlights the attributes of the new version of its bellwether minivan, which is going on sale this year. “It’s hard to look at this as anything but a ” he said. The nation’s top   regulator, Mark Rosekind, said last week that   technology had the potential to reduce traffic fatalities  —   currently 33, 000 a year  —   on American roads. The technology has also been supported by those who advocate   vehicles for disabled people who cannot operate a car, as well as by groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving that aim to reduce accidents involving alcohol consumption. Opponents of fully autonomous vehicles have said the safety of driverless cars has yet to be proved, and they cite wrecks involving Google prototypes on public streets. Currently, there are no federal rules that expressly prohibit autonomous vehicles. But California has proposed that   cars require an actual driver behind the wheel to take control if autonomous systems fail to operate safely.",true,news,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
241,241,"This group of Black Lives Matter supporters marched at the Minnesota State Fair chanting,  Pigs in a blanket, fry  em like bacon!  The media, and the former President Barack Obama ignored it.Watch:Watch Michael Brown s stepfather encourage  rioters to burn down the city of Ferguson, MO:Daily Mail   Black Lives Matter and five of its leaders are being sued by a Baton Rouge cop who blames them for  inciting  Gavin Eugene Long s murderous rampage in the city last summer.The officer has not been named, but his description matches that of East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff s Deputy Nicholas Tullier, 42, who suffered severe brain damage in the attack.Tullier, a father of two, was shot in the head, shoulder and neck, and was left in a vegetative state.He has since returned to consciousness, regained some motor control and can now communicate non-verbally.His attacker, 29-year-old Long, was shot dead by a  team member around ten minutes after the mass shooting began.Long, a black military veteran, shot six officers, killing three and seriously injuring one, on July 17 last year in response to the shooting of unarmed black man Alton Sterling by white cops.The suit, filed on Friday, says that  leaders  incited violence  in retaliation for the death of black men killed by police  and its denunciations of the attacks came  all but too late ,  News reported.Long had left a note before the shooting in which he said he wanted to hurt  bad cops as well as good cops in hopes that the good cops (which are the majority) will be able to stand together and enact justice and punishment against bad cops. He also said in a YouTube video that he was only affiliated with  the spirit of justice. Don t affiliate me with nothing,  he said.  Yeah, I was also a Nation of Islam member, I m not affiliated with it  They ll try to put you with  or some other terrorist group   no. Among the five  members named in the suit is DeRay Mckesson, 31, a former school administrator turned civil rights activist.The suit claims that Mckesson, who took part in nightly protests after Sterling s death on July 5, was  in charge of  a march on July 9 that turned into a  riot.    Daily Mail ",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present
257,257,"—   President Trump blamed the news media on Monday morning for “making Obamacare look so good” as he spoke at a listening session with nine people he characterized as “victims” of the health care law. Mr. Trump repeated his declaration that “Obamacare is a disaster”  —   a sentiment echoed more specifically by White House and cabinet officials in the past few days. While it is undeniable that the law has not been universally beneficial, many of the criticisms from Mr. Trump and his team are   or misleading. This needs context. In 2017, premiums for the benchmark plan increased by 22 percent on average across the states that use the federal marketplace or have their own exchanges, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Some places had higher increases (116 percent in Arizona, the only state with a   increase) and some lower (9 percent in Wyoming). That’s much higher than the 7 percent increase in 2016 and 3 percent increase in 2015, but looking at premium increases alone does not fully capture what people are paying. About 84 percent of enrollees qualify for tax credits that help blunt the costs in 2017, meaning the government picks up the tab for any increase. Factoring in this financial assistance, a    nonsmoker making $30, 000 would see no change, or even a slight reduction, for the benchmark plan in all but two states, the Kaiser Family Foundation estimated. False. About 20 million have gained insurance under the act. The uninsured rate fell to 10. 9 percent at the end of last year, according to Gallup, compared with 17. 1 percent at the end of 2013. Analysis from the Commonwealth Fund concluded that the Affordable Care Act was responsible for a majority of the decline. This is misleading. Researchers at the Urban Institute estimated that roughly 2. 6 million people reported in 2013 that their plans were being canceled because of noncompliance with the A. C. A. But half of these people were eligible for Medicaid or subsidized insurance plans. A 2014 study from the  corporation, a nonprofit think tank, concluded that fewer than one million people, not “millions,” ended up with no insurance at all. Most polls also contradict Mr. Trump’s claim that there is a “very small number of people that are happy. ” A majority of enrollees reported satisfaction with the health care law in three national surveys, though some expressed concern with lack of choice and affordability, according to a September 2016 Government Accountability Office review. (The outlier is Black Book Market Research, a public opinion research company based in Florida, which found just 22 percent of enrollees were satisfied.) This is misleading. The Affordable Care Act mandated that businesses with more than 50 employees are required to offer health insurance to employees who work 30 hours or more per week, or pay a penalty. Though there are certainly some anecdotes of employers reducing hours to get around the mandate, studies have been unable to find much evidence of a widespread shift to   employment. This is misleading. Out of the 20 million people who have gained insurance under the law, about 14. 5 million received coverage through Medicaid, 3. 3 million of whom were previously eligible. A majority of these Medicaid enrollments, 11. 2 million, occurred because of the Affordable Care Act’s expansion of the health care program. The health care law raised the eligibility cutoff to adults under 65 who made less than 138 percent of the poverty line. This is misleading. Health costs for   plans have risen in the years since the law was implemented. Independent estimates for the rate of increase hover in the 3 percent to 4 percent range. But this trend was occurring in the years before the Affordable Care Act as well. The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that premiums increased by 20 percent from 2011 to 2016, compared to 31 percent from 2006 to 2011 and 63 percent from 2001 to 2006.",true,news,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
299,299,"Before the Brooklyn Nets and Cleveland Cavaliers faced off on the basketball court Monday night , several players were already scoring points with protesters outside the arena .  As they warmed up for the game , Cleveland Cavaliers LeBron James and Kyrie Irving were among the players wearing T shirts that said "" I can ' t breathe "" Eric Garner ' s last words , which have become a rallying cry for protesters after last week ' s grand jury decision not to indict an officer in his death .  Outside the Barclays Center , a large crowd of demonstrators swarmed the streets , chanting "" hands up , don ' t shoot "" and "" black lives matter . ""  The crowd erupted in cheers after an organizer told them about the players ' T shirts .  The  players ' show of support for protesters comes a week after five players from the St . Louis Rams walked onto the field and raised their palms in the air , demonstrating the "" hands up , don ' t shoot "" gesture that protesters have been using in demonstrations over the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson , Missouri .  Activists have been threatening to disrupt the visit of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge , who are visiting New York and attending the Nets Cavaliers game .  "" They need to know this is what America is . . . . America is a system where those who benefit from others neglect to see the underclass , the people who are underprivileged , and that ' s why we ' re out here , "" said Jibri Nuriddin , a protester from New York .  Demonstrations , he said , aren ' t going to stop .  Amanda Jack , a public defender in New York , said she joined protests after seeing many of her clients suffer at the hands of what she called a racist system .  "" There can ' t be any more business as usual when this kind of injustice continues . I think this ( basketball game ) is one of the examples of consumerism and excess , so it ' s time . Shut it down , "" she said . "" We ' ve got to address our broken justice system . ""  Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams , a former New York police officer , said protesters have a right to take a stand .  The New York demonstration was one of a number of protests across the United States Monday night , days after a grand jury in New York City decided not to indict a police officer in Eric Garner ' s death and two weeks after a Missouri grand jury decided not to indict former Officer Darren Wilson in Brown ' s killing .  In Washington , demonstrators protesting police violence laid down in the street several blocks from the White House on Monday , blocking rush hour traffic .  Protesters chanted , "" black lives matter "" and "" off the sidewalks , into the streets . ""  One woman held a sign that said , "" Stop killing us . ""  The demonstration blocked traffic at cross streets along Connecticut Avenue , a major thoroughfare that connects the White House to upper northwest Washington .  Collette Flanagan of Dallas told protesters her unarmed son was killed by police .  "" Our babies should be here in the prime of their lives , "" she said .  And Berkeley , California , protestors temporarily shut down the I 80 freeway in both directions Monday night .  New York mayor praises police  New York Mayor Bill de Blasio praised police officers ' handling of the protests .  "" They ' ve respected people ' s right under the First Amendment to express their views . They ' ve kept the peace . They ' ve kept order , "" he told reporters Monday . "" We had only a handful arrests the last two days , which is extraordinarily impressive given all of the activity that ' s happening . ""  De Blasio says he understands parents who are worried about what might happen if their kids encounter police . The New York mayor says he ' s had to warn his own son about that possibility .  "" When he was just becoming a teenager , you know , the conversation was a difficult one and a complicated one , because you ' re trying to say to a young person who obviously looks up to police , you know , be careful and be smart and respect the police , but also recognize that there are these realities to be grappled with and that ' s a tough conversation to have with a young man , "" he said .  De Blasio is white . His son is biracial .  "" This is a national reality . It ' s not just a New York reality , "" de Blasio said . "" And that , unfortunately , is further evidence of how much more we all have to learn from each other . . . . The goal is to get to a day when no parent feels they have to have that conversation . ""  Protesters flood California streets  A day after a heated standoff on a freeway between protesters in Oakland , California , and the California Highway Patrol , demonstrators in the area took to the streets again Monday .  It was a peaceful scene ,  reported . But violence erupted in earlier Berkeley protests Monday .  Some protesters looted and vandalized businesses , police spokeswoman Jennifer Coats said .  One protester was struck in the head with a hammer when he tried to keep fellow protesters from damaging and looting a Radio Shack , she said . The man was hospitalized , but his injuries are not believed to be life threatening .  Two Berkeley officers also suffered minor injuries . Coats said five people were arrested , but she did not know the charges .  On Sunday night , demonstrators flooded a highway in Oakland , California . Some threw explosives , bottles and rocks at officers , authorities said . Officers responded by deploying gas and arresting eight protesters . In the end , two officers suffered minor injuries .  Police said five patrol cars were damaged .  Not everyone is on their side  In Imperial , Missouri , demonstrators staged a different kind of protest Sunday .  "" Why would you do something like that ? It ' s utterly ridiculous , "" said Larry Magee . "" I think the Rams ought to pack their bags , and I ' ll give them a plane ticket back to L . A . ""  Daughter : ' This is not a black and white issue '  Garner ' s daughter Erica said she was deeply moved by the diversity of protesters who have demonstrated across the country .  "" This is not a black and white issue . This is a national crisis , "" Erica Garner said .  U . S . Attorney General Eric Holder has announced a federal civil rights investigation into Garner ' s death .  And on Monday , New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said he was asking the state ' s governor to issue an executive order to change the way the state reviews cases such as Garner ' s .  The order , Schneiderman ' s office said in a statement , should direct the attorney general "" to investigate and , if necessary , prosecute cases involving unarmed civilians killed by police officers . ""  "" The horrible events surrounding the death of Eric Garner have revealed a deep crisis of confidence in some of the fundamental elements of our criminal justice system , "" Schneiderman said .  Unlike with the Michael Brown case , a video showing the moments leading up to Garner ' s death has been widely circulated .  Erica Garner says that video has struck a nerve with many .  "" For white people to come out and show how deeply they was hurt and like Asians and , you know , different people from different nations and different parts of the world to come out and show that they felt the same way I felt on that video , I greatly appreciated it . It ' s like a sense of I ' m not the only one that feels this way . ""  This story was based on reporting by Julian Cummings , Athena Jones , Joe Sutton , Holly Yan , Dan Simon , Stephanie Gallman , Wayne Sterling , Laura Ly , Daniel Verello and Deborah Feyerick and was written by Catherine E . Shoichet , Holly Yan and Ralph Ellis .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
309,309,"Schools must crack down on the teaching of Islamic Sharia law and promote English criminal law as part of a ' British values ' drive .  New ' strengthened ' government guidance , published yesterday , demands that pupils are ' made aware of the difference between the law of the land and religious law ' .  The Department for Education document on ' actively promoting ' British values in state schools stresses the need for action within lessons as well as extracurricular activities .  The government is demanding schools crack down on teaching Sharia law and promote English criminal law  It came as it emerged that a second rural school has been marked down after effectively being judged too English .  St Lawrence School in Horncastle , Lincolnshire , was criticised by Ofsted for failing to promote British values in the wake of the Trojan Horse scandal an alleged Islamist plot to take over schools in Birmingham .  This is in addition to the six private Muslim schools that were warned by the education watchdog last week that they were at risk of closure because their pupils could be vulnerable to radicalisation .  Pupils at one school in the East London borough of Tower Hamlets were unable to tell the difference between Sharia and English law and told inspectors that a woman ' s job was to ' stay at home and clean and look after the children ' and ' cook and pray ' .  The latest DfE guidance says that pupils ' must be encouraged to regard people of all faiths , races and cultures with respect and tolerance ' .  It adds : ' It is expected that pupils should understand that while different people may hold different views about what is "" right "" and "" wrong "" , all people living in England are subject to its law . The school ' s ethos and teaching , which schools should make parents aware of , should support the rule of English civil and criminal law and schools should not teach anything that undermines it .  The St Lawrence School in Horncastle , was criticised by Ofsted for failing to promote British values in the wake of the Trojan Horse scandal  Middle Rasen Primary School in Market Rasen , Lincolnshire , has missed out on an ' outstanding ' rating from Ofsted because it is ' too English ' . Pictured : Headteacher Melonie Brunton ( back middle ) with pupils  Inspectors penalised the 104 pupil school for not being multicultural enough , despite 97 per cent of the town being white and the majority of pupils not being from ethnic backgrounds  ' If schools teach about religious law , particular care should be taken to explore the relationship between state and religious law . Pupils should be made aware of the difference between the law of the land and religious law . '  Since September , private and maintained schools have been expected to ' actively promote ' British values as part of a drive by Education Secretary Nicky Morgan . The new guidance for state schools says pupils must be able to ' distinguish right from wrong and to respect the civil and criminal law of England ' .  Examples of actions schools could take to promote British values include considering ' the role of extracurricular activity , including any run by pupils ' .  Revised guidance for independent schools was also published simultaneously by the DfE .  Members of the Sharia Council of Britain , in their east London headquarters , as they deliberate over a case  Meanwhile , St Lawrence School in Horncastle was criticised by inspectors because youngsters ' awareness of ' wider Britain and other cultures ' outside of rural England was too weak .  Ofsted said the school , which caters for 140 special needs pupils aged five to 16 , was ' good ' , but it could not be rated outstanding .  Executive head Lea Mason told the  it was a ' big challenge ' finding cultural diversity in the countryside because some of the school ' s pupils were unable to ' sit on a minibus for a long time to get to somewhere that has more cultural opportunities ' .  A week earlier , a nearby school Middle Rasen primary also came under fire from Ofsted because its mainly white pupils had a ' lack of first hand experience of the diverse make up of modern Britain ' .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
311,311,"The United States will phase out its stockpiles of landmines designed to target people , moving closer to joining a global ban on a weapon that kills more than 15 , 000 people a year most of them civilians .  U . S . officials made the declaration at an anti mine conference in Maputo , Mozambique , according to a statement issued by National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden .  Activists have long pressured the United States to join the international treaty banning the production , stockpiling and use of anti personnel landmines the kind meant to kill or maim when someone steps on them .  Such mines are easily triggered when stepped on , unlike anti vehicle mines . Those weapons can still kill , but only go off when heavy vehicles pass over them .  Anti personnel mines , many of them placed during earlier conflicts dating back years , kill more than 15 , 000 people a year , according to the United Nations . Thousands more are maimed .  As of last year , 161 nations were parties to the treaty , commonly known as the Ottawa Convention , but major powers including the United States , China and Russia are not , according to the Arms Control Association .  In a statement , Hayden said , "" Our delegation in Maputo made clear that we are diligently pursuing solutions that would be compliant with and ultimately allow the United States to accede to the Ottawa Convention . ""  She said other aspects of U . S . landmine policy remain under review .  The White House later issued a statement saying "" the United States shares the humanitarian goals of the Ottawa Convention . ""  Activists welcomed the U . S . statement .  "" The message to the international community is clear the Mine Ban Treaty is the only solution to eliminate the suffering caused by landmines , "" said the head of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines delegation to the Maputo conference .  But some criticized the United States for failing to commit to a ban on the use of its current stockpiles of mines , and chastised the Obama administration for failing to set a date to join the treaty .  "" By not setting a firm date to complete this task , the U . S . runs the risk of allowing its landmine policy review to drift beyond President Obama ' s term in office as president , "" said Elizabeth MacNairn , executive director of Handicap International U . S .  More than 100 million mines are believed to be in stockpiles around the world , with millions already in the ground in 59 countries , according to the Arms Control Association .  In 1997 , the Clinton administration made a goal of joining the treaty by 2006 , but President George W . Bush reversed the decision in 2004 , according to Human Rights Watch .  In a policy announced that year , the United States said it would no longer use mines made to be invisible to metal detectors and those that don ' t self destruct after a set time .  In 2009 , the United States announced a comprehensive landmine policy review . Anti landmine activists had been pressuring the Obama administration to announce the results of that review before the Maputo conference .  Despite not being part of the treaty , the United States is the largest donor worldwide to efforts to combat landmines and help victims , providing more than 2 billion in aid since 1993 , according to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines .  Landmines : Explosive remnants of war  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
326,326,"China Chinese officials in the northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region reported the death of a fourth baby Thursday in the country ' s expanding contaminated infant formula case . The tainted milk powder has already sickened more than 6 , 200 babies .  Earlier in the day , authorities announced the arrest of 12 more suspects in the investigation , provincial police said .  The arrests bring to 18 the number of people detained , according to the Hebei Public Security Bureau .  Twelve of those arrested are involved in the collection of milk and the production of milk products , authorities said . Authorities accuse the other six of illegally selling the chemical added to the milk .  More than 1 , 300 infants are hospitalized , said Li Changjiang , China ' s director of quarantine and inspection , on Wednesday . Their conditions include malnutrition , kidney stones and acute renal failure .  Inspectors have been deployed across the country to test producers ' inventories .  Of China ' s 175 baby milk powder production companies , 66 have stopped production , Li said . Watch parents scramble for safe milk  Two brothers who sold fresh milk used to produce contaminated baby milk powder were arrested by Chinese investigators Monday . They could face death if convicted , according to China Daily , a state run newspaper .  The raw milk had been watered down and a chemical added to fool quality checks , the newspaper said .  Investigators said the brothers confessed to watering down the raw milk and mixing in tripolycyanamide , also known as melamine . They said they did it to recover losses suffered when the factory rejected earlier milk shipments , the paper reported . Learn more about the chemical melamine  The brothers are charged with producing and selling toxic and hazardous food , which carries a possible death penalty , the paper said .  Health experts say ingesting melamine can lead to kidney stones , urinary tract ulcers , and eye and skin irritation .  Thousands of tons of the tainted milk powder have been recalled , including pullbacks by Mengniu Dairy Group , China ' s largest milk producer , and the Sanlu Group .  Chinese investigators have found melamine in nearly 70 milk products from more than 20 companies , Li said Wednesday . Products made by Sanlu had the highest concentration of the chemical .  It is not the first time Sanlu has been connected to a scandal involving tainted milk powder , according to China Daily .  In 2004 , at least 13 infants in the eastern Anhui province died of malnutrition after drinking milk powder that had little to no nutrition . The illegally manufactured milk was falsely labeled with the Sanlu brand , according to the paper .  The vast majority of the tainted formula was consumed domestically , but it is known to have been exported to Taiwan , Bangladesh , Myanmar , Yemen , Chad and Burundi , according to Li .  The U . S . Food and Drug Administration said no Chinese baby formula has been allowed on the market in the United States . In a statement on its Web site , the  said it had reached out to all five companies making formula in the United States and none has used formula or source materials from China .  This episode marks the latest in a string of tainted products produced in China :  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
351,351,"A team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology won 40 , 000 in a high tech scavenger hunt on Saturday by discovering the location of 10 red weather balloons .  The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency announced that the  team was the first group in the contest to report the latitude and longitude coordinates of all 10 balloons , which were scattered across the United States .   is the U . S . military ' s research arm . Saturday ' s challenge is the latest in a series that the agency has hosted since 2004 .  This contest was designed to test the way social networking and lesser known Web based techniques can help accomplish a large scale , time critical task .   said in a written statement that the  team discovered the locations of the 8 foot wide balloons less than nine hours after they launched , around 10 a . m .  .  It did not say exactly when the task was completed or how many groups had participated .  Johanna Jones , a spokeswoman for  , said the hunt was designed in part to give the military new ideas on ways to operate in a range of situations , from natural disasters to combat .  The agency said it plans to meet with teams to discuss their approaches and strategies used to build networks , collect information , and participate in the contest .  The challenge was announced on October 29 40 years after the first message was sent on  , the precursor to the Internet .  said it hopes the contest will lead to advances in the way the military communicates and coordinates activities among multiple geographically separated groups .  On  ' s Web site , a link was posted inviting people to sign up to help find the balloons and urging them to invite their friends . It said the  Red Balloon Challenge Team "" is interested in studying information flow in social networks , so if we win , we ' re giving all the money away to the people who help us find the balloons ! ""  It detailed a chain for giving away the money , beginning with 2 , 000 given to each person who first sent in the coordinates of each balloon .  iReporter on balloon challenge  "" We ' re giving 2 , 000 per balloon to the first person to send us the correct coordinates , but that ' s not all we ' re also giving 1 , 000 to the person who invited them . Then we ' re giving 500 whoever invited the inviter , and 250 to whoever invited them , and so on . . . "" it said .  It was not immediately clear how many people participated for  .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
376,376,"Virginia Beach , Virginia ) Star Wars memorabilia collector Ted Peterson collects action figures and posters from the popular movie series and considers himself a veteran of the on line auction website ebay .  "" Mostly I like to collect the original , or vintage , line of four inch action figures . I began my hobby about five years ago , but I really got going when I found out about ebay in 1999 . My first auction victory was for a mint on card Empire Strikes Back Princess Leia in Bespin Gown outfit . "" Said Peterson .  Peterson has been making winning bids on a regular basis since his initial purchase . Yet , as of late , he has been on quite a roll . "" Three weeks ago I won a loose , complete vintage A wing pilot on my opening bid . Can you believe that ? Since then , I ' ve won several original posters and some nice Droids  series figures . But the most impressive part is the vintage Amanaman figure I won with one second left in the auction .  "" You don ' t know what a rush it is to hit that ' place bid ' button and just feel that rush of adrenaline as you just know you ' ve got the winning bid . It ' s almost euphoric .  "" When I see ' DarthTed ' his ebay screen name listed under the winning bidder , I know I ' ve accomplished something . ""  Asked about what others think of his hobby , Peterson replied , "" My girlfriend supports my interest in action figure collecting . ""  When pressed further about this statement , Peterson admitted he had not had a girlfriend since junior high school , but claimed to have several "" buddies "" on his  Instant Messenger who were quite possibly females . He later broke down in tears as this reporter crept quietly out of the apartment .  ",satire,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,fake,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
402,402,"Donald Trump infamously went further into the gutter than usual at a recent debate, where he talked about his  hand  size, which we all know was just code for the size of his d*ck. Well, one Chicago hot dog stand has taken this horrible comment and run with it   and now their customers can literally take a bite out of Trump s little wiener.Dubbed the  Trump Footlong,  the hot dog from the Wiener s Circle hot dog stand is pushing something that is definitely false advertising, because the hot dog is anything but a footlong. In fact, it s only 3 inches. They tweeted out their new product, and it will likely drive up sales just because people are so eager to humiliate Trump regarding his grossly unpresidential remarks regarding his own genitals:The trump footlong! At te wiener's circle starting tomorrow! Just look at those long, resplendent fingers! pic.twitter.com/kYezqMT5De  The Wiener's Circle (@DOGSnSHAKES) March 10, 2016Of course, most people would still be hungry after just one 3-inch hot dog, so most folks will likely opt for the Trump Super PAC, which is four of these little buggers for just $12.56. Definitely a deal, if you ve ever eaten off of a food truck or stand of any kind in a city the size of Chicago. Besides, your hard-earned money would be going to infuriate and humiliate the biggest buffoon in American politics. Definitely well worth it.Just wait until Trump gets a load of this one. I bet that s the last time he alludes to the size of his d*ck on camera during a presidential debate or anywhere else.Featured image via screen capture from  archives",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present
423,423,"We are proud to live in a multicultural and multi faith society , and we stand for the unity of all communities .  Lyndsey Telford is at Gatwick Airport where she reports that North Terminal is still evacuated .  Flights departing from the North Terminal , where a man was arrested after a suspicious item was found , have been suspended . Entrance to the terminal is cordoned off with a small police presence .  Hundreds of confused and frustrated passengers have formed a winding queue unsure of whether their flights will depart at all . Passengers arriving on flights into the airport have described scenes of "" chaos "" and "" mayhem "" .  Alex Pollock arrived this morning on a flight from Bordeaux into the North Terminal . He said : "" As soon as we got off the plane , we were met by Border Force security guys who told us the area had been evacuated and we had to get as far away from the North Terminal as possible "" .  He said staff at Gatwick seemed to have "" no idea "" about the security alert . "" It ' s been absolutely chaotic , which has made the whole experience all the more unnerving . ""  Separately , passengers trying to leave Gatwick have been told public transport was in "" lockdown "" , but it is understood trains are in fact arriving and departing from the airport  Suicide bomber identified by his fingerprints and was known to authorities   , a French  channel , reports that police have identified one of the suicide bomber via his fingerprints , but he has not yet been named .  He was a French man , known to security services .  L ' un des terroristes morts au bataclan identifi par adn . Jeune homme fran ? ais connu des services pour sa radicalisation .  ",true,text,validation,American football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
430,430,"After 13 11 , Belgium s tribal squabbles come to the fore  Belgian soldiers patrolling the neighborhood of Molenbeek , in Brussels last Sunday . Molenbeek has long been notorious for being a haven for jihadis . File photo  The country , divided along linguistic and ideological lines , is being blamed for failing to respond quickly to the terrorist threat .  A month before the Paris terrorist attacks , Mayor Fran ? oise Schepmans of Molenbeek , a Brussels district long notorious as a haven for jihadis , received a list with the names and addresses of more than 80 people suspected as Islamic militants living in her area .  The list , based on information from Belgium s security apparatus , included two brothers who would take part in the bloodshed in France on November 13 , as well as the man suspected of being the architect of the terrorist plot , Abdelhamid Abaaoud , a Molenbeek resident who had left for Syria to fight for the Islamic State in early 2014 .  What was I supposed to do about them ? It is not my job to track possible terrorists , Ms . Schepmans said in an interview . That , she added , is the responsibility of the Federal Police .  The Federal Police service , for its part , reports to Interior Minister Jan Jambon , a Flemish nationalist who has doubts about whether Belgium ? divided among French , Dutch and German speakers ? should even exist as a single state .  As Brussels remained locked down for a fourth day , facing what the authorities say is its own imminent terrorist threat , the failure to stop two brothers clearly flagged as extremists before the Paris carnage highlighted the tribal squabbles of a country that holds the unenviable distinction of going without a functioning government for 541 days .  Flemish nationalists , ever eager to show that Belgium in its current form does not work , have jumped on the mess , with Karl Vanlouwe , a member of the Belgian Senate , writing in the newspaper Le Soir on Tuesday that 20 years of laxity by the French speaking Socialist Party had turned Brussels into a rear base of Islamic barbarity .  The perennial dysfunctions of a small country with just 11 . 2 million people would not normally transcend its borders , but they are now blamed for having helped turn Belgium into a hub of terrorist activity that is threatening lives as well as the Continent s troubled enterprise of integration and intelligence sharing .  Belgium has a government , unlike the long stretch of limbo after inconclusive elections in 2010 . But with its capital paralysed and its political elite pointing fingers over who is to blame for letting jihadis go unchecked , the country is again being ridiculed as the world s most prosperous failed state .  An Italian newspaper called it Belgistan , and a German one declared Belgium kaput . A French writer , ? ric Zemmour , suggested in a recent radio interview that instead of bombing Raqqa , Syria , the self proclaimed capital of the Islamic State , France should bomb Molenbeek .  Belgians , accustomed to being derided , particularly by the French , have , in the main , not risen to the bait , although the editor in chief of the newspaper La Libre , Francis Van de Woestyne , complained on Tuesday that French condescension has no limits .  But Belgians , too , are wondering what went wrong in Molenbeek and in the system as a whole .  With three uneasily joined populations , Belgium has a dizzying plethora of institutions and political parties divided along linguistic , ideological or simply opportunistic lines , which are being blamed for the country s seeming inability to get a handle on its terrorist threat .  It was hardly difficult to find the two Molenbeek brothers before they helped kill 130 people in the Paris assaults : they lived just 100 yards from the borough s City Hall , across a cobblestone market square in a subsidized borough owned apartment clearly visible from the mayor s second floor corner office . A third brother worked for Schepmans borough administration .  Much more difficult , however , was negotiating the labyrinthine pathways that connect ? and also divide ? a multitude of bodies responsible for security in Brussels , a capital city with six local police forces and a Federal Police service . ? New York Times News Service  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
436,436,"The Supreme Court is used to having its decisions publicly criticized , but rarely in R rated language spouted by a federal judge , who says the justices should just "" stfu . ""  The remarks come from Nebraska based Judge Richard Kopf , who has a reputation for provocative commentary on his personal blog .  Kopf , an appointee of President George H . W . Bush , criticized the high court ' s ruling last week in the so called "" Hobby Lobby "" case .  The decision gave some for profit businesses the right to deny birth control coverage to their employees if they opposed on religious grounds . The 5 4 decision against a provision of Obamacare was predictably divided in public opinion .  The senior judge made clear his views on Saturday .  "" Five male Justices of the Supreme Court , who are all members of the Catholic faith and who each were appointed by a President who hailed from the Republican party , decided that a huge corporation , with thousands of employees and gargantuan revenues , was a ' person ' entitled to assert a religious objection to the Affordable Care Act ' s contraception mandate because that corporation was ' closely held ' by family members , "" he wrote . "" To the average person , the result looks stupid and smells worse . ""  And he went further . "" Next term is the time for the Supreme Court to go quiescent this term and several past terms has proven that the court is now causing more harm ( division ) to our democracy than good by deciding hot button cases that the court has the power to avoid . As the kids say , it is time for the Court to stfu . ""  Kopf helpfully linked to the Urban Dictionary to help decipher the popular acronym .  It is not the first time his words have attracted attention on his blog , which he describes as enlightening "" the role of the federal trial judge . ""  During last year ' s budget battle in Washington and partial government shutdown , Kopf spoke for many federal judges in expressing frustration over forced furloughs and reduction of court services .  But most judges hold their tongue on such matters , in an effort to appear above the fray .  Not Kopf : "" Tell Congress to go to hell all federal court employees are essential . ""  And he was criticized for a March blog posting entitled : "" On being a dirty old man and how young women lawyers dress . ""  He later offered his regrets at the comments , saying , "" The only thing bigger than my ass is my ego . ""  There was no immediate reaction from the Supreme Court to Kopf ' s latest comments , and unclear whether the 68 year old judge would be subject to some internal sanction .  Federal judges in particular have to adhere to a Code of Conduct , which says in part they "" should respect and comply with the law and should act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary . ""  Moreover , it also says they must avoid even the appearance of impropriety . This prohibition covers professional and personal conduct .  The wide ranging and often deeply personal thoughts on Kopf ' s blog which he has authored since February 2013 reflect what he says is a desire that "" federal trial judges be seen as individuals with all the strengths and weaknesses ( baggage ) that everyone else carries around . ""  In the wake of the "" stfu "" comment , he is again rethinking his online future .  He wrote on Monday : "" Blogging will be light while I figure this out . While I will make up my own mind , advice ( anonymous or otherwise ) , particularly from experienced lawyers and judges , would be welcome . ""  Supreme Court women lash out at birth control decision  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past
450,450,"The  says it is deploying Facebook and Twitter to find "" a wanted terrorist "" who grew up near Boston and may now be living in Syria .  He is Ahmad Abousamra , 31 , a French born dual citizen of the United States and Syria . Abousamra was indicted in 2009 after taking trips to Pakistan and Yemen . The bureau is offering a reward of up to 50 , 000 for information leading to his arrest .  "" Knowing that the public is the  ' s best ally in finding fugitives , we ' re requesting their assistance to locate Ahmad Abousamra , "" said Richard DesLauriers , special agent in charge of the  ' s Boston division .  The  said Abousamra allegedly attempted to get military training for the purpose of killing American soldiers overseas . It also said he traveled to Iraq with the hope of joining up with forces fighting against the United States .  Read more : Family asks Ahmadinejad for help finding former  agent  A federal arrest warrant was issued for Abousamra after he was charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists , providing material support to terrorists , conspiracy to kill in a foreign country , conspiracy , false statements , and aiding and abetting .  Abousamra and a co conspirator were charged in a superseding indictment in 2010 "" with an additional single count each of conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization , namely al Qaeda , "" the  said .  DesLauriers said Abousamra is from Mansfield , Massachusetts , and left the United States in 2006 .  Abousamra is of Syrian descent . Agents think he might be living in Aleppo , Syria ' s largest city , with his wife , at least one child a daughter and extended family .  Read more : Not one  Agent in Benghazi Embassy Crime Scene  The  launched a campaign on traditional media and social media such as Facebook and Twitter to garner tips about his whereabouts . The  also said it will use "" limited advertising on a social media site to reach an overseas demographic . ""  The  has posted on its website three head shots of a bearded Abousamra two from 2002 and another from 2004 . The bureau says he is fluent in English and Arabic and has a college degree "" related to computer technology . "" He had been employed at a telecommunications company .  "" Conspiring to use force or violence to achieve a political or social goal violates our cherished ideal of peaceful dissent . Our goal is to find and arrest Abousamra so he can be tried by a jury of his peers , "" DesLauriers said .  "" We believe publicizing Abousamra ' s photo and characteristics will lead to a tip about his whereabouts and , ultimately , to his arrest . ""  Abousamra ' s co conspirator , Tarek Mehanna , was convicted by a federal jury last year on four terrorism charges and three charges related to providing false information to the government . He was sentenced to 17 years in prison in April .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
456,456,"Austin , Texas Sometimes , a little inspiration can come from unexpected places .  In an article on the Atlantic website earlier this month , Fidel Castro was quoted as saying "" The Cuban model doesn ' t even work for us anymore . "" Then last week , the Cuban government announced plans for the elimination of about 500 , 000 state provided jobs . And comments from Raul Castro have indicated that that number could rise to a million . At the same time , it has said it will encourage foreign investment and privately run firms .  The new economic policies in Cuba represent a major turn away from a strict economic ideology and toward a more practical approach .  But while the Communists in Cuba are becoming more practical in their economic policies , in Washington , any discussion of economic policy is becoming more ideologically entrenched . The Tea Party wing of the Republican Party , fresh off primary wins in Delaware and New York , are adamant in their call for lower taxes and reduction , or elimination , of government regulation . They want to roll back the Obama administration ' s health care reform and financial market reforms .  On the Democratic side , we have the Obama administration ' s economic advisers who , for the most part , seem bent on increasing spending at any cost . This die hard Keynesian approach would have Lord Keynes turning in his grave .  Maybe it is time for us to admit , like Cuba , that there are parts of our economic system that do not work . The Great Recession surely should be a wake up call . We must address some of the fundamental misalignment of incentives that exist in our economy .  One of them is the economic role the housing industry plays . While public policy that encouraged home building may have made sense during the last century , particularly when America needed more new houses to accommodate the post war baby boom , does it still make sense today ?  Today , the American family is shrinking , and yet many continue trading up , and new houses are getting larger and larger . Vast amounts of this country ' s financial resources still go to the housing market . We should ask : Are there better uses for these resources ?  Chief among the subsidies the housing industry receives is the income tax deduction for home mortgage interest . According to the Tax Policy Center , this is estimated to cost the Treasury 131 billion in 2012 . By eliminating or scaling back the deduction , not only would the government generate more tax revenue , but it would also remove an important distortion in our financial markets .  In addition , we need to address the problems these housing industry subsidies have caused . We can do this by establishing special temporary bankruptcy courts that have the legal power to force write downs on delinquent mortgages . Here in Texas , we had temporary bankruptcy courts in the 1980s to deal with all of bankruptcies resulting from the oil bust . We should do the same thing in states now hit hard by the subprime mortgage crisis .  In these temporary courts , those who speculated on the mortgage market should be financially punished , while those who were duped should have their mortgages restructured . This would greatly increase the flow of money through the mortgage market and help revitalize our financial markets .  Second , we must address the issue that our financial markets are not doing a very efficient job in allocating capital . Entrepreneurs and small businesses find it difficult to get the capital they need to start and expand their businesses . This is because of misaligned incentives : Banks can borrow money from the Federal Reserve at an interest rate of essentially zero and use those funds to buy and sell stocks , bonds and currencies for a profit .  Under this setup , why would banks go to all the trouble of lending money to a small business ? It is much easier and profitable for the banks to simply trade financial securities . And that is what they have been doing making huge profits without lending to small businesses .  Instead of limiting banks ' ability to trade securities for their own profits , something former Fed Chair Paul Volcker has suggested , Washington seems interested only in protecting the big banks ' profitability .  This is not to say we can let the financial system collapse . We need a functioning banking system to make sure workers ' paychecks don ' t bounce . But if , as the big banks claim , they cannot provide basic banking services at a high enough profit level , and thus need to sell complex and risky financial products such as derivatives , then nonprofits should be afforded a larger share of the market . Perhaps credit unions should be allowed to grow in size and in the types of financial products they offer .  In addition , to pay for additional regulation , we should work with the Europeans , British and Japanese to establish a worldwide sales tax on financial transactions the often discussed modern version of a Tobin tax , named after the late Nobel Laureate James Tobin .  A Tobin tax may reduce the amount of financial transactions and even cost jobs in the financial markets . However , as Simon Johnson of  has shown , there has been an excessive increase in the amount of resources our financial markets consume . A Tobin tax could reduce this distortion .  Making structural changes to our economy will not be easy and , yes , some of them require some people to pay more taxes . But we , like the Cubans , need to realize that parts of our economy are simply not working .  The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Michael Brandl .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
467,467,"The head of Energy  has claimed the Big Six energy firms do not make large profits despite the 3 . 7billion they raked in last year .  Angela Knight , chief executive of the body that represents the energy giants , made the claim as details emerged of the widespread tax avoidance employed legally by energy firms .  It was also revealed that companies are making an estimated 36million a year in interest on the credit built up by customers paying via direct debit .  Angela Knight , chief executive of Energy  , has said power companies ' profits are not that large , as details of legal tax avoidance start to emerge  Politicians including former prime minister Sir John Major and Labour leader Ed Miliband are clamouring to rein in the energy firms .  But Miss Knight , a former Tory  , said : ' They might be politically popular , but price freezes have never worked and never will work , ' she said .  ' Windfall taxes have taken place in the past where there have been windfall profits . The profits here of four or five pence in the pound aren ' t particularly big . '  But her claims were immediately dismissed by Caroline Flint , Labour ' s energy spokesman , who said : ' Last year the Big Six energy companies made over 3 . 7billion in profits , so the idea that these companies aren ' t making any money is completely and utterly ridiculous .  ' The public know they ' re being ripped off and they ' re not going to be fooled by lobbyists working for the energy giants . '  While the Big Six British Gas ,  , nPower , E . On ,  and Scottish Power make profits of around 4 or 5 per cent from supplying energy to households and businesses , they make an average of 22 per cent from generating electricity , sourcing and storing gas , and transporting energy .  Big firms are also believed to be stockpiling as much as 2billion in credit from those who pre pay via direct debit .  While firms make around 5 or 6 per cent profit supplying energy into homes , they make nearer 22 per cent for generating power  Energy Minister Greg Barker promised to ' come down like a ton of bricks ' on energy providers accumulating cash from householders ' direct debits .  A whistleblower at British Gas told The Observer that the energy giant boosts its own profits by using millions of pounds of credit built up by former customers .  The provider has taken 20million from customers with outstanding credit over the past year .  Despite huge profits , firms can legally reduce tax bills by exploiting loopholes that allow their owners to lend them money via the Channel Islands Stock Exchange .  It emerged that Scotia Gas ,  Power Networks and Electricity Northwest avoided paying a total of 140million in tax by racking up interest on debt to their owners .  The Chief Secretary to the Treasury , Danny Alexander , said on yesterday ' s Andrew Marr Show on BBC1 that he was ' livid ' about tax avoidance , adding : ' Everybody needs to pay their fair share . '  More than three million older people are worried about staying warm indoors this winter with six million anxious about rising fuel bills , says Age  .  But the charity said many are unaware of the potentially fatal consequences of living in poorly heated housing .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
470,470,"Financial Times ) A senior Chinese auditor has warned that local government debt is "" out of control "" and could spark a bigger financial crisis than the  housing market crash .  Zhang Ke said his accounting firm , ShineWing , had all but stopped signing off on bond sales by local governments as a result of his concerns .  "" We audited some local government bond issues and found them very dangerous , so we pulled out , "" said Mr Zhang , who is also vice chairman of China ' s accounting association . "" Most don ' t have strong debt servicing abilities . Things could become very serious . ""  The International Monetary Fund , rating agencies and investment banks have all raised concerns about Chinese government debt . But it is rare for a figure as established in the Chinese financial industry as Mr Zhang to issue such a stark warning .  "" It is already out of control , "" Mr Zhang said . "" A crisis is possible . But since the debt is being rolled over and is long term , the timing of its explosion is uncertain . ""  Local government debts soared after 2008 , when Beijing loosened borrowing constraints to soften the impact of the global financial crisis . Provinces , cities , counties and villages across China are now estimated to owe between Rmb10tn and Rmb20tn ( 1 . 6tn and 3 . 2tn ) , equivalent to 20 40 per cent of the size of the economy .  Last week , Fitch cut China ' s sovereign credit rating , in the first such move by an international agency since 1999 . On Tuesday , Moody ' s cut its outlook for China ' s rating from positive to stable .  Local governments are prohibited from directly raising debt , so they have used special purpose vehicles to circumvent these rules , issuing bonds under the vehicles ' names to fund infrastructure projects .  Investment companies owned by local governments sold Rmb283bn of bonds in the first quarter of 2013 , more than double the total for the same period last year . Such an increase would normally be expected to boost the economy , but China ' s growth unexpectedly slowed to 7 . 7 per cent in the first quarter of 2013 .  Mr Zhang said many local governments had invested in projects from public squares to road repairs that were generating lacklustre returns , and so were relying on financing rollovers to pay back their creditors . "" The only thing you can do is issue new debt to repay the old , "" he said . "" But there will be some day down the line when this can ' t go on . ""  Mr Zhang added that he grew alarmed when smaller towns and counties discovered that investment vehicle bonds were an easy way to raise financing . "" This evolution was quite frightening , "" he said . "" China has more than 2 , 800 counties . If every county issued debt , it could lead to a crisis . It could be even bigger than the  housing crisis . ""  Beijing has taken steps to control bond issuance by the local governments ' investment companies . In December , the finance ministry barred them from injecting public assets such as hospitals and schools into the special purpose vehicles they use to sell bonds .  Bonds issued by government owned investment companies almost always receive top tier credit ratings from domestic agencies because they are seen as being guaranteed by the provinces and cities that back them . But Mr Zhang puts little faith in official guarantees , saying ShineWing only audited bonds if it was very clear that borrowers were able to make repayments : "" When the time comes , it won ' t be the government that assumes responsibility . It will be the accounting firms and the banks that do . ""  ShineWing ' s caution is an example of how an elite group of Chinese accounting firms are trying to establish reputations as responsible , well managed entities capable of challenging the global Big Four in the industry . ShineWing has been the most aggressive Chinese firm in expanding abroad and is now planning a move into Europe .  The Financial Times Limited 2013  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
474,474,"Supreme Court Justice Breyer on the death penalty 01 : 23  Clinton said that the United State needs to be "" smarter and more careful "" about how the death penalty is applied  Clinton supported keeping the death penalty during her 2008 run , and said it had her "" unenthusiastic support "" during her 2000 Senate bid  Hillary Clinton said Wednesday that there is evidence the death penalty has been applied "" in a discriminatory way , "" but told an audience here at the Politics and Eggs forum at she doesn ' t support abolishing it .  Clinton has long been supportive of the death penalty , but is rarely asked about it and her comments on Wednesday are her most comprehensive in years . This is the first time she has been asked about it during the 2016 campaign .  "" I think that we have a lot of evidence now that the death penalty has been too frequently applied and very unfortunately in a discriminatory way , "" Clinton said at Saint Anselm ' s College . "" So I think we have to take a hard look at it and a lot of states are doing that . ""  Clinton said that the United State needs to be "" smarter and more careful "" about how the death penalty is applied , but that in some "" egregious "" cases , capital punishment is still needed .  "" I do not favor abolishing it , however , "" Clinton said , arguing that it should be used in "" very limited and rare "" instances .  Clinton supported keeping the death penalty during her 2008 run , but the issue rarely came up . During her 2000 run for Senate , Clinton said the death penalty had her "" unenthusiastic support . ""  The Democratic Party base has started to move against capital punishment . Vermont Sen . Bernie Sanders , Clinton ' s biggest competitor for the Democratic nomination , has long been against the death penalty , and former Maryland Gov . Martin O ' Malley abolished capital punishment in Maryland when he was the state ' s chief executive .  States have started to move against the death penalty , too , concerned over its application and the possibility that innocent men and women could be put to death . Nebraska , one of the most conservative states in the nation , will vote on abolishing the death penalty next year . The unicameral legislature in Nebraska earlier this year did away with the death penalty over fervent objections by the state ' s Republican governor .  "" States are beginning to pull back from either applying the death penalty or narrowing the scope of the cases where it can be applied , "" Clinton said approvingly .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
475,475,"England Britons including Prime Minister Gordon Brown have leapt to the defense of their creaking healthcare service after President Barack Obama ' s plans for a similar system in the United States were branded "" evil "" by Republicans .  British Prime Minister Gordon Brown issued a heartfelt message of support for the  via Twitter .  Tens of thousands of people have joined a Twitter group expressing pride in the  ' s National Health Service (  ) , which offers free taxpayer funded medical care to all British residents , while leading politicians have spoken out in support .  Republican former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin earlier this week condemned Obama ' s plans to introduce a public heath insurance scheme as an "" evil "" move that would result in "" death panels "" deciding who would live or die .  Her criticism has been echoed by fellow Republicans in direct attacks on Britain ' s  . In an article , Former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich said British healthcare was run by "" Orwellian "" bureaucrats who put a price tag on life .  Sound off : What do you think of the British healthcare model ?  The comments caused a storm of protest in the United Kingdom , with Prime Minister Brown wading into the argument via micro blogging site Twitter , where a conversation chain , "" welovetheNHS "" , is generating huge online traffic . Britons react to the U . S . healthcare debate  A posting on the 10 Downing Street Twitter site on Wednesday read : ""  :  often makes the difference between pain and comfort , despair and hope , life and death . Thanks for always being there . ""  The message was followed by another , from Brown ' s wife Sarah , adding : "" welovetheNHS more than words can say . ""  Professor Stephen Hawking , author of "" A Brief History of Time "" , also spoke out in favor of the British system , telling the Guardian newspaper that he owes his life to  treatment for the neuro muscular dystrophy he has suffered from for 40 years .  "" I wouldn ' t be here today if it were not for the  , "" he said . "" I have received a large amount of high quality treatment without which I would not have survived . ""  Despite the support , the 51 year old  is regularly the target of criticism at home , with opposition politicians accusing Brown ' s government of mismanagement resulting in long waiting lists and a "" lottery "" in deciding who gets life saving drugs and surgery .  Nevertheless , opposition Conservative Party leader David Cameron also added his voice to the defense campaign with a posting on his party ' s Web site .  "" Millions of people are grateful for the care they have received from the  including my own family .  "" One of the wonderful things about living in this country is that the moment you ' re injured or fall ill no matter who you are , where you are from , or how much money you ' ve got you know that the  will look after you . ""  His statement followed comments from one of his own party members backing the Republican criticism of the  . Dan Hannan , a Conservative member of the European Parliament reportedly said in an interview that "" he wouldn ' t wish it on anyone . ""  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
481,481,"claims responsibility for deadly Baghdad mall attack  At least 18 killed in car bombing and assault on Iraqi shopping mall .   claims responsibility for deadly Baghdad mall attack At least 18 killed in car bombing and assault on Iraqi shopping mall . Check out this story on USATODAYweblink : http : usat . ly 1P4pBxZ  A link has been sent to your friend ' s email address .  A link has been posted to your Facebook feed .  To find out more about Facebook commenting please read the Conversation Guidelines and FAQs   claims responsibility for deadly Baghdad mall attack  Gregg Zoroya ,   3 : 09 p . m .  January 11 , 2016  Iraqi government troops took back control of a shopping center in Baghdad on Monday , Jan . 11 , 2016 , after gunmen stormed the area . The Islamic State claimed credit for the attack .  The Islamic State claimed responsibility for Monday ' s ? car bombing and assault at a Baghdad mall that killed 18 people and wounded 50 others .  Shortly after the attack , the ? militant group posted a statement online , saying a car bomb and four of its fighters had targeted the area where many Shiite Muslims gather and warned of worse to come , the Associated Press reported .  The attack comes two weeks after the Islamic State was driven out of the western city of Ramadi by Iraqi government troops . The militant group still controls parts of northern and western Iraq , as well as a parts of Syria .  Monday ' s assault began with a ? car bomb being detonated and gunmen assaulting the mall for more than an hour ? before Iraqi security forces surrounded the building , landed troops on the roof and re gained control over the shopping zone , according to the  .  At least four police officers were killed , as well as two of the attackers , Iraqi officials told the  . ? Major roads , bridges and other shopping malls were closed to guard against further attacks .  Reuters reported another car bomb in Baghdad killed five people and wounded 12 ? three were killed and in a car bomb attack in Baquba , northeast of Baghdad ? and 20 died ? and 50 were wounded in twin bomb attacks in Muqdadiya .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
482,482,"Caretaker boss Andy Dawson gave incoming Scunthorpe manager Mark Robins a welcome boost as the Iron romped to a 3 0 victory at Gillingham in League One .  Russ Wilcox paid the price for a poor run of results earlier this week , but United responded to the news that Robins will take over on Monday with a resounding success .  Aided by the dismissal of Doug Loft , Scunthorpe ended a run of four straight defeats with goals from Paddy Madden , Neal Bishop and Gary McSheffrey , the latter deep in stoppage time .  Scunthorpe ' s Rory Fallon ( top ) is challenged by Gillingham ' s John Egan during the Iron ' s 3 0 win on Saturday  Basement dwellers Crewe also enjoyed a change of fortune when beating Coventry 2 1 , with Febian Brandy and George Cooper putting Alex in control before an Anthony Grant own goal gave City hope , only for Jack Finch to see red and the fightback fade .  Meanwhile , Bristol City moved five points clear at the top of the table after a Wes Burns strike three minutes into stoppage time earned them a 3 2 win over Chesterfield at Ashton Gate .  The leaders twice went ahead through an Ian Evatt own goal and a Derrick Williams effort , but were pegged back by an Eoin Doyle double , the first from the penalty spot , until substitute Burns secured the victory .  Crewe ' s George Cooper ( left ) celebrates scoring with Adam Turton in his side ' s 2 1 win against Coventry  With Swindon not in action , Peterborough were promoted to second thanks to a 4 1 triumph at Crawley , where Michael Smith , Christian Burgess , Marcus Maddison and Conor Washington netted for Posh after they had fallen behind early on to an Izale McLeod opener .  There was late drama at Bramall Lane as Sheffield United scored in the 90th minute and then in the first minute of stoppage time through Marc McNulty and Paddy McCarthy to take the lead against 10 man Leyton Orient , but Romain Vincelot leveled it up at 2 2 when netting for the visitors nine minutes into time added on .  Jay Simpson had earlier put the O ' s in front in the first half , but caretaker boss Kevin Nugent then saw Jobi McAnuff sent off before the action packed closing stages .  Peterborough ' s Christian Burgess ( wearing mask ) heads home Posh ' s second goal as they beat Crawley 4 1  Gavin Massey bagged a brace as Colchester came from behind to edge out Fleetwood 2 1 after Liam McAlinden had put the visitors in front .  Oldham beat Walsall by the same scoreline as Conor Wilkinson and Mike Jones responded to Jordan Cook ' s opener .  Tome Pope ' s double put Port Vale in charge versus Yeovil before Chris Lines and Colin Daniel also struck in a 4 1 home win , with Aaron Martin providing the only reply by the visitors .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
489,489,"Morten Storm is a former  Double Agent who s shocked by the ineptness of our former Secretary of State in her lack of security with top secret info related to American spies: He said that during his time infiltrating Al Qaeda for the  if he had learned that U.S. government officials were treating highly classified intelligence so haphazardly, he would not have worked with them. ",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
496,496,"Arsenal are exploring the free transfer market in a desperate attempt to ease their defensive problems .  The Gunners ' lack of depth in defence was apparent on Tuesday night when Arsene Wenger was left with just three senior defenders for their 2 0 defeat by Borussia Dortmund .  Arsenal are considering signing former West Brom defender Diego Lugano  Joseph Yobo played for Everton for nine years before leaving in 2012  Former West Brom defender Diego Lugano is available on a free transfer  Joseph Yobo formerly of Everton is another option for Arsenal  The club are looking for a central defender to provide cover for Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny .  Clubs can still sign free agents despite the transfer window closing on September 1 .  Scouts have been asked to examine short term options Diego Lugano and Joseph Yobo , who are both available and have been discussed at the club ' s London Colney  .  The pair have Premier League experience Yobo for Everton and Norwich and Lugano with West Brom which is key for the Gunners .  Any moves , though , are a way from fruition with the club still considering their options .  Uruguay defender Lugano could be a short term option as he has Premier League experience  Former Everton defender Joseph Yobo is a free agent after finishing last season at Norwich  There was at least some good news for Wenger on Wednesday when scans on the right ankle of Jack Wilshere , injured in Germany , revealed no serious damage .  Also , Mathieu Debuchy who came off against Manchester City , confirmed he has avoided a broken ankle .  ' No fracture but one broken ligament , ' the Frenchman posted on his Facebook account . ' I have to wait until Friday in order to know if I must have surgery . '  Mikel Arteta , meanwhile , admits Arsenal have no chance of winning the Champions League if they cannot solve the problems which led to their defeat in Dortmund .  ' We have to react , ' Arteta insisted . ' If you make errors like we did against the top sides , we know there is no chance to win the Champions League . '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
512,512,"Allyson Felix restored pride to American sprinting on Wednesday by claiming gold in the women ' s 200 meter and denying Jamaican rival Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce an Olympic double .  Felix used her elegant stride to good effect down the finishing stretch to pull clear of Fraser Pryce , who won Saturday ' s 100m race while the U . S . runner missed out on a medal .  Carmelita Jeter joined her compatriot Felix on the podium by claiming third place ahead of Jamaica ' s two time defending champion Veronica Campbell Brown .  Felix had been forced to settle for silvers in 2004 and 2008 behind Campbell Brown , but this time made no mistake as she added to her three 200m world titles with a fast time of 21 . 88 seconds .  "" Finally , it ' s been a long time coming , I ' ve waited so long for this moment , I ' m just overjoyed , "" she told  broadcaster the  .  However , Jamaica looks set to claim gold in the men ' s equivalent as defending champion Usain Bolt cantered into the final by winning his semifinal in 20 . 18 seconds .  Bolt has already made a successful defense of his 100m title in London and again the main opposition to another 200m triumph looks to be in the form of his teammate and training partner Yohan Blake .  Blake won the first semifinal in 20 . 01 , jogging across the line , but Bolt is confident he will double up .  "" No doubt about it , "" he told  Sport . "" This is my favorite event and I ' m really looking forward to it . ""  In other final action Wednesday , Aries Merritt won the 110m men ' s hurdles for the United States in a fast personal best time of 12 . 92 seconds .  His teammate Jason Richardson , the world champion from last year in Daegu , took silver in 13 . 04 second with Jamaican Hansle Parchment earning a surprise bronze in a new national record of 13 . 12 seconds .  Defending champion Dayron Robles of Cuba made a good start but pulled out at halfway with a hamstring injury .  The third track and field gold of the night for the U . S . went to Brittney Reese , who won the women ' s long jump with a leap of 7 . 12 meters .  Russian Elena Sokolova took the silver with 7 . 07m , with American Janay Deloach in bronze with 6 . 89m .  America ' s world 400m hurdles champion Lashinda Demus was denied Olympic gold as Russian Natalya Antyukh led from the start to win the women ' s event in a brisk 52 . 70 seconds . Czech hurdler Zuzana Hejnova claimed bronze .  Antyukh took bronze in the flat 400m at the 2004 Olympics and used that speed to triumph over the hurdles .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
560,560,"Leon Brittan died at the age of 75 following a lengthy battle with cancer . Today friends said the former Home Secretary ' s final days had been ' dogged by allegations '  Explosive claims that Leon Brittan conspired to cover up an Establishment child sex ring are ' wholly unjustified ' , a senior peer said yesterday .  Only days after he died from cancer , the Tory former home secretary was also the subject of wild allegations of ' multiple child rape ' .  The second , toxic , claim was made in a newspaper yesterday by Labour  Tom Watson , who even compared the Tory grandee to Jimmy Savile as he accused him of abusing three boys .  Lord Brittan , who died last Wednesday aged 75 after a long battle with cancer , remains under investigation by Scotland Yard . He was questioned under caution last summer after a Labour activist came forward and accused him of raping her in 1967 .  The grandee has long been accused of failing to act on an abuse dossier passed to him by Tory  Geoffrey Dickens in 1983 .  Yesterday Liberal Democrat peer Lord Carlile said the claims were ' based on no evidence ' , adding that Lord Brittan was ' an important political figure ' whose final months were ' very sad ' .  Lord Carlile , a former counter terrorism watchdog , highlighted how Mr Dickens repeatedly praised Lord Brittan over his response to the ' dossier ' . He said : ' Geoffrey Dickens praised him explicitly both in the House of Commons and in correspondence .  ' Leon Brittan has been the subject of a smear campaign in the media which is wholly unjustified and based on no evidence .  ' We know now there ' s a further very important point . We know now because it ' s been revealed publicly that he was interviewed by the police about an alleged offence not long before he died . No action was taken on it , he was never arrested let alone charged . '  But there are mounting allegations that Lord Brittan was himself embroiled in a sick world of child abuse . Mr Watson said one alleged victim told him Lord Brittan raped him and described him as ' as close to evil as a human being could get ' .  Mr Watson suggested that , as with Savile , the  and  presenter who was a prolific paedophile , the former minister may have been protected by a reluctance to examine the affairs of the powerful .  Lord Brittan pictured as British Trade and Industry Secretary with Margaret Thatcher in 1986  Writing in the Sunday Mirror , he called on the police to investigate the claims and described those victims and witnesses he has spoken to as ' sincere ' . And he attacked those who have stood by Lord Brittan and said they do not believe the victims ' stories .  Mr Watson said : ' Their comments were a cold dismissal of those who believe it ' s a travesty that Brittan will never be asked the truth to answer questions about his conduct under oath at a public inquiry .  ' It is possible to spend a lot of time with a person and yet know nothing of their true nature . '  Speaking about the reaction to his death , he added : ' All the glowing tributes reminded me of the media coverage immediately after Jimmy Savile ' s death  ' Savile was protected by a media culture that worshipped at the altar of celebrity . Was Brittan protected by a misplaced sense of deference to the powerful ? '  One key witness , known only as ' Nick ' , claims Lord Brittan raped and abused him more than a dozen times at an apartment in Dolphin Square near Westminster in the 1980s . Mr Watson claims two others have made similar allegations of being raped by him . In his strident statement , Mr Watson also said : ' Leon Brittan stands accused of multiple child rape . Many others know of these allegations and chose to remain silent . I will not . '  Last week Scotland Yard said its investigation in to the 1967 rape remains ' under review ' .  But it is widely believed that Lord Brittan is also under scrutiny in the separate investigation , known as Operation Middleton , into historical sex abuse . This work is far from complete , but senior officers are understood to be considering how best to reveal their findings if prosecutions cannot be brought .  Simon Danczuk , Labour  for Rochdale , said : ' I think the Met Police should share what information they do have on Leon Brittan so that it can help clear his name or help encourage other alleged victims to come forward . '  Senior politicians have paid tribute to Lord Brittan . David Cameron described him as a ' dedicated public servant ' .  Leon Brittan abused teenage boys during sex parties which are at the heart of claims of an Establishment paedophile ring , it was claimed yesterday .  The Tory peer was accused of attending the orgies at the now notorious Dolphin Square luxury apartment complex in Westminster .  A key witness ' Nick ' , who has been described by police as ' credible ' , told investigative website Exaro he was raped ' more than a dozen times ' . He said Lord Brittan ' would treat me like I was not even human ' . And he added that the peer was ' nasty , cruel , sadistic and hateful ' .  Dolphin Square : The scene of the orgies involving Leon Brittan , according to claims  Asked how he had identified him , Nick said : ' Well , he told me . Not his full name . He told me that it was Leon . And it was only later in my adult life that I knew who it was . '  He alleged that Lord Brittan attacked him from the age of 11 . He said he witnessed other boys , all aged under 14 , being abused as well .  Shocking claims : Leon Britan  Nick has been interviewed at length by Scotland Yard detectives investigating allegations of sex abuse by the rich and powerful . Last month they sensationally revealed that they found his claims of abuse , rape and even the murder of three boys to be ' credible and true ' .  Lord Brittan has now been accused of being present at three venues where the alleged abuse of underage boys took place . In a separate development yesterday , a former police officer claimed he was photographed entering a second sex den .  The Tory former Cabinet minister , who was also a former European Commission vice president , was said to have been caught on camera during a surveillance operation focusing on rent boys around King ' s Cross in North London .  Police suspected young men were being trafficked around the capital and preyed upon in rented flats and garages by groups of men .  And a schoolboy has claimed he was repeatedly molested at the Elm Guest House in Barnes , South West London , by a man called ' Uncle Leon ' .  The youngster made the comments in a police interview in 1982 but they were left out of his formal statement , despite being witnessed by officers and a social worker .  The mystery omission , suspected to refer to Lord Brittan , came to light when the Met began an investigation in 2013 into activities at the guest house , where a  paedophile ring is said to have operated .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
563,563,"Unless the Democrats can figure out a way to effectively steal the vote from millions, we predict Trump will win in a landslide election. Despite what the media would like Americans to believe, Hillary will be lucky to have Chelsea vote for her in November   CITY, New York   Meet the  Trumpocrats,  or so the sizable collection of lifelong Democrats breaking with their party because of their disgust with nominee for president Hillary Rodham Clinton and supporting instead Republican nominee Donald J. Trump call themselves.Christian Rickers, the Virginia-based executive director of the Trumpocrats  a Super  designed to help his like-minded lifelong Democrats abandon the sinking Democratic ship due to Hillary Clinton s nomination and join the Trump movement walked Breitbart News through why he is leading the effort among Democrats who support Trump for president.Rickers  argument centers on trade policy, and Trump s ardent opposition to the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) that Clinton supported publicly more than 40 times but now claims she opposes. He points back to Bill Clinton s backing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) from his time as president, and Rickers says Democrats everywhere should be terrified of how much further Hillary Clinton would go if she s elected president.Rickers said in a phone interview:Rickers said in a phone interview:I m a lifelong Democrat, really since I was a little kid, and I still am a Democrat. But the Clintons for instance, where I am from, my hometown, when I was a kid we had 15 manufacturing plants and we now have one. Nobody does anything there anymore, and that s the same thing happening in a lot of small towns across the country really. The Clintons are really the cause of this, the cause of manufacturing going overseas with  and the trade deals and all of that. Donald Trump, he says a lot of crazy sh*t, but the one thing that he does say, that he really does want to do something about that and that he wants to protect our people with better trade policies and new trade policies.On the Trumpocrats  website is a video of David  Muscat  Saunders, another lifelong Democrat, talking with Fox News.  Breitbart",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
574,574,"People shop at a market in Molenbeek , where Belgian police staged a raid following the attacks in Paris . Image Credit :   A woman walks past the bar "" Les Beguines "" , owned by Brahim Abdeslam , one of the suicide bombers implicated in Image Credit :    : Just eight days before Ebrahim Abdeslam blew himself up in Paris as part of an elaborate terrorist operation that killed 129 people Friday , the authorities in the heavily immigrant Brussels district of Molenbeek had the future terrorist in their sights .  Unfortunately , they had identified him not as a potential killer , but as the proprietor of a bar that played host to drug dealers and drunks . Under an order signed by Molenbeek s mayor , the bar was shut down Nov . 5 for compromising public security and tranquility through the spread of illegal substances .  Molenbeek is well known as a haven for extremists , home to dozens of young men accused of leaving to wage jihad in Syria and , in some cases , plotting attacks against Europe . The area has now been linked to at least four terrorist attacks in two years .  But the inability to stop Abdeslam was just one example of the missed opportunities by the Belgian and French authorities and intelligence services , a list that also included allowing Abdeslam s brother Salah , 26 , another suspect , to slip through their fingers .  Salah Abdeslam rented a car in Brussels that was apparently used to transport some of the gunmen who killed 89 people in a Paris concert hall . He had a criminal record , which outlines his suspected involvement in organized crime , but there was no arrest warrant linked to his file . Because of that record , his name popped up during a routine traffic stop by the French police Saturday . But he was allowed to drive on because he had not yet been linked to the attacks . He remains at large .  The near misses raise troubling questions about the Belgian intelligence service and their French counterparts , not to mention concerns about Europe s system of open internal borders , which has allowed terrorists to move freely between countries while outpacing the intelligence sharing needed to stop them .  Every time there is an attack , we discover that the perpetrators were known to the authorities , said Francois Heisbourg , a counterterrorism expert and former defense official . What this shows is that our intelligence is actually pretty good , but our ability to act on it is limited by the sheer numbers .  The missed opportunities before and since the attacks in Paris , intelligence officials and experts say , pale when compared with the fact that the attackers were able , at least in part , to organize their plot under the noses of the authorities in Molenbeek .  Ebrahim Abdeslam , the suicide bomber in Paris , and Abdelhamid Abaaoud , the suspected mastermind of the attacks , had each lived barely 200 yards from Molenbeek s main police station and had had brushes with the law .  The Paris attacks indicate that few real steps have been taken to keep the neighborhood under surveillance adequately and break up its small but lethal extremist underground .  Investigators believe that the massacres Friday , the worst terrorist attacks in France , involved at least three people from Molenbeek , including the Abdeslams and Abaaoud , a foreign fighter in Syria for Daesh ( self styled Islamic State ) who investigators believe orchestrated the carnage .  Abaaoud has appeared regularly in gruesome recruiting videos issued by Daesh . But by his own account , he , too , managed to slip in and out of Belgium without being arrested , despite being stopped at one point by an officer who let me go , as he did not see the resemblance to photos of himself published in the Belgian news media .  Posing for pictures holding a Daesh flag and the Quran , Abaaoud boasted in an interview this year with the militant group s magazine , Dabiq , of outsmarting security services . We spent months trying to find a way into Europe , and by Allah s strength , we succeeded in finally making our way to Belgium , he said .  He added that we were then able to obtain weapons and set up a safe house while we planned to carry out operations against the crusaders .  One of their biggest allies , however , may have been a Belgian security system ill equipped to deal with a tight knit community like Molenbeek , where a mostly white police force has only tenuous links to a largely immigrant population resentful of being labeled as potential terrorists .  The police have on occasion pounced , but mostly for petty crimes unrelated to extremism .  Ebrahim Abdeslam , the bar operator turned suicide bomber , was convicted of criminal activities as far back as 2010 , and even stood trial for minor offences with Abaaoud , the accused mastermind of the Paris attacks , according to a people briefed on information from the federal prosecutor s office . The mayor of Molenbeek , Francoise Schepmans , said Ebrahim had been convicted of crimes involving drugs .  This is a small place we all crossed paths with them , the deputy mayor of Molenbeek , Ahmad Al Khannouss , said Monday , referring to the three suspects from the district . But , he added , We are all totally shocked that they could have been involved in something so terrible .  Family members and friends voiced surprise , too , highlighting how difficult it is to penetrate a small group of determined extremists .  Mohammad Abdeslam , the brother of one of the Paris suicide bombers , was picked up Saturday by the police and released Monday . An employee with the municipal government , he told reporters in Molenbeek on Monday that he first learned of his brother s extremist affiliations from news media reports of the Paris attacks .  He said he previously knew absolutely nothing , absolutely nothing .  The father of Abaaoud , the Daesh fighter from Molenbeek who is suspected of orchestrating the Paris attacks , was so shocked and appalled by his son s embrace of violent jihadism that he filed a civil suit against him in Belgium in May , asserting that the son had kidnapped another sibling , who was just 13 , and lured him to Syria .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
625,625,"The  is out of control. It is stunning that the   found  these Clinton-Lynch tarmac records only after we caught the agency hiding them in another lawsuit.    Judicial Watch Tom Fitton. hid 30 documents related to Clinton-Lynch tarmac meeting. weblink  Real Jack (@RealJack) October 14, 2017BUSTED!     WATCH!Judicial Watch was informed yesterday by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) that the  has located 30 pages of documents related to the June 27, 2016, tarmac meeting between former Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former President Bill Clinton, and proposes non-exempt material be produced no later than November 30, 2017 (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:16-cv-02046)).The new documents are being sent to Judicial Watch in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed after the Justice Department failed to comply with a July 7, 2016,  request seeking the following:All FD-302 forms prepared pursuant to the Federal Bureau of Investigation s investigation of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton s use of a private e-mail server during her tenure. All records of communications between any agent, employee, or representative of the Federal Bureau of Investigation regarding, concerning, or related to the aforementioned investigation. This request includes, but is not limited to, any related communications with any official, employee, or representative of the Department of Justice, the Executive Office of the President, the Democratic National Committee, and/or the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton.All records related to the meeting between Attorney General Lynch and former President Bill Clinton on June 27, 2016. The  originally informed Judicial Watch they did not locate any records related to the tarmac meeting. However, in a related case, the Justice Department located emails in which Justice Department officials communicated with the  and wrote that they had communicated with the FBI. As a result, by letter dated August 10, 2017, from the  stated,  Upon further review, we subsequently determined potentially responsive documents may exist. As a result, your [FOIA] request has been reopened (Surprisingly, the Trump Justice Department refuses to disclose the talking points developed by the Obama Justice Department to help it respond to press inquiries about the controversial June 27, 2016, tarmac meeting between Loretta Lynch and Bill Clinton at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.)On June 27, 2016, Attorney General Loretta Lynch met privately with former President Bill Clinton on board a parked private plane at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona. The meeting occurred during the then-ongoing investigation of Mrs. Clinton s email server, and mere hours before the Benghazi report was released publicly involving both Mrs. Clinton and the Obama administration. Judicial Watch filed a request on June 30 that the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General investigate that meeting. The  is out of control. It is stunning that the   found  these Clinton-Lynch tarmac records only after we caught the agency hiding them in another lawsuit,  stated Judicial Watch Tom Fitton.  Judicial Watch will continue to press for answers about the  s document games in court. In the meantime, the  should stop the stonewall and release these new records immediately. This case has also forced the  to release to the public the  s Clinton investigative file, although more than half of the records remain withheld. The  has also told Judicial Watch that it anticipates completing the processing of these materials by July 2018.There is significant controversy about whether the  and Obama Justice Department investigation gave Clinton and other witnesses and potential targets preferential treatment.The Obama administration extended numerous immunity agreements, including: Clinton s former Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills; John Bentel, former director of the State Department s Office of Information Resources Management; Heather Samuelson, Clinton s executive assistant; Brian Pagliano, an  employee at the State Department who serviced the Clinton non-government server; and an employee at Platt River Networks, the company that maintained it. It is not clear whether Hillary Clinton received some type of immunity.In 2015, a political action committee run by McAuliffe, a close friend and political supporter of Bill and Hillary Clinton, donated nearly $500,000 to Jill McCabe, wife of McCabe, who was then running for the Virginia State Senate. Also, the Virginia Democratic Party, over which McAuliffe had significant influence, donated an additional $207,788 to the Jill McCabe campaign. In July 2015, Andrew McCabe was in charge of the  s Washington, DC, field office, which provided personnel resources to the Clinton email probe. Judicial Watch has several lawsuits about this McCabe/FBI/Clinton scandal.Via: Judicial Watch ",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
628,628,"Pink Floyd are not who you think they are .  With effects laden production , Hipgnosis illustrated concept albums and expansive live shows , the band is famously associated with rock ' n ' roll excess . It wasn ' t for nothing that the Sex Pistols ' John Lydon scrawled "" I  "" on a Pink Floyd T shirt ( though he later admitted he loved the band ) .  But , almost 45 years on , a closer look at the band ' s catalog reveals as much hardcore pile driving ( "" Run Like Hell "" ) and wistful melodies ( "" Wish You Were Here "" ) as the long form "" Interstellar Overdrive "" space rock with which it ' s frequently classified .  Still , drummer Nick Mason says , it ' s hard to escape the pigeonholing .  "" I think these labels are generally delivered by people who sometimes haven ' t listened to the music , "" he said in a phone interview .  Longtime fans and new listeners will have another chance to size up Mason ' s words . The band ' s entire studio catalog , including the Syd Barrett led 1967 debut "" The Piper at the Gates of Dawn , "" the Roger Waters dominated "" The Wall "" ( 1979 ) and the career concluding "" The Division Bell "" ( 1994 ) , has been remastered and is scheduled for release on Tuesday .  "" The Dark Side of the Moon , "" the band ' s 1973 classic , which still holds the record for longest run on the Billboard album charts , will be issued in three versions : a single  , a two disc "" Experience Edition "" that includes a live album , and a six disc "" Immersion Edition "" boxed set .  Mason : The answer is , I would never willingly put on one of our old records at home for entertainment . But with this project , that all changed and I was forced at gunpoint to listen to everything , again and again . ( laughs ) Actually , it ' s really interesting . It ' s a bit like a diary looking at old photographs . What you get is not only the music but the memories that come with it of what you were doing , and how it was in the studio , and all the rest of it .  Mason : One tends to try and reject any labeling anyway , as a matter of principle . And I think the labels tend to reflect whatever you were doing before . So we were labeled psychedelic well , "" Dark Side of the Moon "" was the least psychedelic album you could hope to listen to . It ' s terribly specific and measured and not floaty off anywhere .  I think these labels are generally delivered by people who sometimes haven ' t listened to the music sometimes by just looking at the photographs . If the band have got curly hair and flared trousers , then they ' re prog rock or space rock , and if they ' re very , very grubby , with waistcoats and jeans , then they ' re an R B band .  Mason : Yeah . Always be very careful if you ' re listening to country and western and doing drugs .  Mason : I don ' t think so . My opinion was that we knew we ' d done the best thing so far . But as I ' ve told people , even if you think you ' ve done the world ' s greatest record , that does not guarantee that the public will feel the same way .  What happened with "" Dark Side "" was we were out touring with it and it began to come up the American charts , but we were actually on tour , so there wasn ' t that time to reflect and bask in the glory of being No . 1 . It was much more , "" Where are we tomorrow ? Dallas .  . "" We were slightly disjointed from its success . What the success really bought for us was the thing of moving up a notch . You suddenly go from playing theaters to playing arenas . And in some cases , arenas into stadiums .  So that ' s the way things catch up with you . Sometimes they catch you out . If you ' re used to playing smaller venues , and you suddenly find yourself in a stadium , it ' s not necessarily the best place to be working .  Mason : No . I don ' t think there was a wish to go back . But I think stadiums make quite a lot of bands feel a little uneasy . There is that sense that you ' re not really connecting with the audience as well as you would . I think arenas are fine I think arenas are really suited for rock concerts . But stadiums , it gets away from you a bit . There ' s too many people at the back not listening .  Mason : I ' ve always been happy with the way it operates . I have no wish to be the fearless leader . And interestingly , I think even David found it pretty wearing when he was sort of in command on the last couple of tours . It ' s not always easy being the chief . I ' ve always felt that I have my say and I am a partner in it , rather than an employee .  Mason : To be honest , after this long and this many releases , there ' s not much that ' s been overlooked . I was telling someone yesterday , I feel like a stately home with people taking tours around me .  Mason : Fine , I think . We haven ' t had any fights recently . David and I pitched up for Roger ' s show in London . And it was really nice we had dinner together . There ' s a lot of shared stuff as well as plenty of aggro .  The fact of the matter is you grow up together . The problem is when you start in a band you think it ' s all going to be like the Monkees four lovable moptops running around at double speed . But then you get married and have children , and being rock and roll often the marriages break up . People change as they grow .  Mason : Yes , it ' s very unsatisfactory . ( chuckles )  Mason : Yeah . I still really like playing music , and playing with other people is terrific . I was talking with someone about a charity record we did a year or so ago , and the rhythm track was Bill Wyman playing bass and me playing drums . I ' ve known Bill for 35 years or something , and it was great to finally end up playing together . It ' s always a little bit nerve wracking you ' re always alarmed at the prospect of f ing up and if you get through it , and someone says , "" It ' s good , "" it ' s a very warming feeling .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
632,632,"On New Year ' s Day , after months of suffering from debilitating headaches , I learned that I had brain cancer .  I was 29 years old . I ' d been married for just over a year . My husband and I were trying for a family .  Our lives devolved into hospital stays , doctor consultations and medical research . Nine days after my initial diagnoses , I had a partial craniotomy and a partial resection of my temporal lobe . Both surgeries were an effort to stop the growth of my tumor .  In April , I learned that not only had my tumor come back , but it was more aggressive . Doctors gave me a prognosis of six months to live .  Because my tumor is so large , doctors prescribed full brain radiation . I read about the side effects : The hair on my scalp would have been singed off . My scalp would be left covered with first degree burns . My quality of life , as I knew it , would be gone .  After months of research , my family and I reached a heartbreaking conclusion : There is no treatment that would save my life , and the recommended treatments would have destroyed the time I had left .  I considered passing away in hospice care at my San Francisco Bay area home . But even with palliative medication , I could develop potentially morphine resistant pain and suffer personality changes and verbal , cognitive and motor loss of virtually any kind .  Because the rest of my body is young and healthy , I am likely to physically hang on for a long time even though cancer is eating my mind . I probably would have suffered in hospice care for weeks or even months . And my family would have had to watch that .  I did not want this nightmare scenario for my family , so I started researching death with dignity . It is an end of life option for mentally competent , terminally ill patients with a prognosis of six months or less to live . It would enable me to use the medical practice of aid in dying : I could request and receive a prescription from a physician for medication that I could self ingest to end my dying process if it becomes unbearable .  I quickly decided that death with dignity was the best option for me and my family .  We had to uproot from California to Oregon , because Oregon is one of only five states where death with dignity is authorized .  I met the criteria for death with dignity in Oregon , but establishing residency in the state to make use of the law required a monumental number of changes . I had to find new physicians , establish residency in Portland , search for a new home , obtain a new driver ' s license , change my voter registration and enlist people to take care of our animals , and my husband , Dan , had to take a leave of absence from his job . The vast majority of families do not have the flexibility , resources and time to make all these changes .  I ' ve had the medication for weeks . I am not suicidal . If I were , I would have consumed that medication long ago . I do not want to die . But I am dying . And I want to die on my own terms .  Brittany Maynard , advocate for ' death with dignity , ' dies  I would not tell anyone else that he or she should choose death with dignity . My question is : Who has the right to tell me that I don ' t deserve this choice ? That I deserve to suffer for weeks or months in tremendous amounts of physical and emotional pain ? Why should anyone have the right to make that choice for me ?  Opinion : When assisted suicide is not the answer  Now that I ' ve had the prescription filled and it ' s in my possession , I have experienced a tremendous sense of relief . And if I decide to change my mind about taking the medication , I will not take it .  Having this choice at the end of my life has become incredibly important . It has given me a sense of peace during a tumultuous time that otherwise would be dominated by fear , uncertainty and pain .  Now , I ' m able to move forward in my remaining days or weeks I have on this beautiful Earth , to seek joy and love and to spend time traveling to outdoor wonders of nature with those I love . And I know that I have a safety net .  Dying young and on her own terms  I plan to celebrate my husband ' s birthday on October 26 with him and our family . Unless my condition improves dramatically , I will look to pass soon thereafter .  I hope for the sake of my fellow American citizens that I ' ll never meet that this option is available to you . If you ever find yourself walking a mile in my shoes , I hope that you would at least be given the same choice and that no one tries to take it from you .  When my suffering becomes too great , I can say to all those I love , "" I love you come be by my side , and come say goodbye as I pass into whatever ' s next . "" I will die upstairs in my bedroom with my husband , mother , stepfather and best friend by my side and pass peacefully . I can ' t imagine trying to rob anyone else of that choice .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
645,645,"Florida prosecutors will not charge George Zimmerman after a domestic dispute with his girlfriend last month , State Attorney Phil Archer said Wednesday .  The decision not to pursue the case comes days after Zimmerman ' s girlfriend , Samantha Scheibe , said in a court document that she didn ' t want him to be charged .  "" Upon reviewing the recent affidavit of the Ms . Scheibe and taking into account the conflicting statements about what occurred , the failure to cooperate with the ongoing investigation , and a lack of any other corroborating evidence or witnesses , there is no reasonable likelihood of successful prosecution , "" Archer said in a written statement .  Zimmerman ' s lawyer praised the move .  "" On behalf of George Zimmerman , I am pleased that I was able to present credible evidence to reasonable prosecutors who took the time to listen and that justice prevailed , "" attorney Jayne Weintraub said in a written statement . "" This demonstrates how great our system is . ""  Zimmerman was arrested on November 18 at Scheibe ' s Apopka , Florida , home after the two had a heated fight .  According to a sheriff ' s office report about the incident , Scheibe said that after an argument , Zimmerman broke a table with a shotgun and then pointed it at her "" for a minute . ""  Authorities said he was arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault and misdemeanor counts of domestic violence battery and criminal mischief accusations that Zimmerman denied .  "" I believe that the police misinterpreted me and that I may have misspoken about certain facts in my statement to the police , "" Scheibe said in a signed affidavit this week . "" I do not feel that the arrest report accurately recounts what happened . ""  Authorities had probable cause to arrest Zimmerman last month , Archer said .  The Seminole County Sheriff ' s Office , he said , "" as usual , did a thorough and highly professional job of investigating this case . ""  In the court document filed this week , Scheibe accuses authorities of pressuring her .  "" When I was being questioned by police , I felt very intimidated , "" she said . "" I was not allowed to call an attorney nor was I allowed to eat or drink anything for a very long time . ""  Heather Smith , a spokeswoman for the Seminole County Sheriff ' s Office , denied that claim .  "" As you know , we provided media with the 911 call from Ms . Scheibe , which occurred prior to deputies responding , "" she said . "" Apparently , Ms . Scheibe may have misspoken about the facts of her interview as she had access to her phone and was provided with food . ""  Zimmerman ' s arrest in November came four months after the former neighborhood watch captain was acquitted of second degree murder and manslaughter charges in the death of teenager Trayvon Martin .  The high profile case sparked a heated nationwide discussion of race as well as debate over Florida ' s "" stand your ground "" law .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
674,674,"We Are Change  With only days away from the most followed and extraordinary Presidential election of all time, the debate has devolved into the sexual behaviors surrounding the candidates more than ever. Donald Trump, the  nominee, Hillary’s husband Bill Clinton, the former President of the United States, and now Anthony Weiner has somehow entered the fray. It is quite sad indeed that the media has chosen to run with this angle, and it speaks volumes about the tabloid celebrity obsessed nature of the United States, but if we are going to go there, let’s go there. First we have Donald Trump, a man who has been married 3 times, has been very open and frankly arrogant about his opinion of women, especially in televised interviews over the last 3 plus decades, and is now being crucified for grabbing the world by the pussy. Seriously? Folks everybody knew what they signed up for when he announced he was running. He ran beauty pageants for Christ’s sake. Has Trump been a misogynist in the past? Absolutely . The truth is how many men out there can say they haven’t acted in that manner at some point in their lives, let alone yesterday? It’s not something I, or any other man should be proud of, but lets put the shoe on the other foot for a second. If a group of women were having a conversation and the most attractive one of them stated “Sometimes I just walk up to the hottest guy at the bar and grab him by his cock, they let me do it,” would anybody really be outraged? I highly doubt it. Now let’s take a look at Bill Clinton. Ever since Bill Clinton first ran for President in 1992, his sexual promiscuities and alleged predatory sexual behavior, including rape , have been widely available to the public. I would never defend any type of unwanted sexual advances, but once again we all knew this years ago. Although the mainstream has underplayed this, perhaps the most striking thing they have failed to detail in any depth is his relationship to Jeffrey Epstein.  It was revealed in May that Clinton’s flight logs had him traveling with Epstein at least 26 times during his presidency. Epstein, a billionaire, flew in a private jet dubbed “The Lolita Express” . Those unfamiliar with Epstein should note that he is a convicted pedophile who allegedly ran what many refer as “Sex Slave Island” which trafficked in underage girls for the upper echelon of society in the Virgin Islands. To be fair, there have been allegations of Trump being tied to it as well, but so far there is no hard evidence. Meanwhile, Hillary reportedly went with Bill to the sex island – six times .   Where is the outrage regarding the sexual abuse of children among global heavyweights including the political elite? Now this brings us to some of the latest revelations regarding Anthony Weiner who is now somehow involved in the email scandal with his regards to  A 15    ! Huma Abedin happens to be married to Weiner and up until the scandal hitting the news, Hillary’s top aide. Weiner is probably the worst of the worst at being caught in his serial deviant sexual behavior, but those in the know understand this is par for the course. Little is yet to be reported on what is actually in these emails other than they apparently contained classified information, and the fact is we can’t be expected to know before the election what’s in them…unless of course Wikileaks is planning on one last dump in the next day or so. It is again worth noting of the under-reporting of the pedophilia angle of this story. So what’s missing here? Um, well, how about Hillary Clinton herself? The mainstream media has  strayed into the possibility Hillary has been unfaithful to Bill, or that their is an open marriage arrangement between the two of them. House of Cards anyone? Those unfamiliar with the show should note that the protagonists of the series, the Underwoods, a political power couple, have an open marriage that also take part in all sorts of sexual decadence , the type only reported upon briefly in the media, if at all. The truth is that Hillary has been rumored to have a plethora of sexual partners outside of her marriage , both male and female, the latest of which is her aid Huma. However we are not here to speculate in such matters. Instead let’s look at one case in particular. Webb Hubbell.  Those unfamiliar with Hubbell should note that he, Hillary Clinton, and Vince Foster all came up together in the Rose Law Firm during the 70’s. By all accounts they were a tight knit unit that spent countless hours together in their quests for social mobility. Hubbell would become the Mayor of Little Rock, Arkansas in 1979. Bill Clinton, who married Hillary in 1975, would take the Governorship the year prior.  So what evidence is their of an affair between the two? Many believe the existence of Chelsea Clinton, based on looks alone. Chelsea appears to have no physical resemblance whatsoever to Bill, however she looks  like Hubbell.  The interesting thing is that Hubbell has refused to deny that he is her biological father! When asked by World Net Daily Hubbell responded “No Comment” . Truly bizarre if indeed their is no possibility of such a thing. In the end why would this matter? It just goes to show you the level of secrets the Clintons have kept for decades upon decades in their continued quest for more and more power. It also gives a very candid portrayal on how the media has handled scandals involving the Clintons over the years. When you go to the voting booth keep that in mind. The post The Sex Scandal That Could Change The Election appeared first on We Are Change . ",fake,news,validation,US elections,US elections,satire,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
683,683,"An attack of the giggles can sometimes appear at the strangest moments .  Whether it ' s during a speech or in a meeting , helpless laughter is one of our most insightful behaviours , according to neuroscientist Sophie Scott .  In a recent Ted Talk in Vancouver , Professor Scott revealed that laughter often isn ' t to do with comedy value , but with our relationships with others .  Laughter is often used as a tool for social bonding rather than in reaction to something that has comedy value , according to  Professor Sophie Scott . Pictured are Prime Minister David Cameron and  President Barack Obama during a basketball game  According to David Robson at  Future , Scott ' s study of people in Nambia revealed that laughter is a key cultural mechanism that helps social bonding .  When Scott asked indigenous Namibians and English people to listen to recordings of each other and describe the emotions , laughter was the most recognisable .  ' People genuinely think they are mostly laughing at other people ' s jokes , but within a conversation , the person who laughs most at any one time is the person who is talking , ' she told the  .  The University College London professor ' s current research aims to distinguish the difference between fake laughs used during conversation , and involuntary giggles .  She has carried out brain scans on volunteers listening to expressions of disgust , a real belly laugh and a realistic fake one .  Laughter activates the brain ' s mirror regions that mimic other ' s actions , and she says this is the reason behind why laughing can be so contagious  So far , her research has found that volunteers were almost always able to identify a false laugh .  She has also discovered that less authentic tones are more nasal , and belly laughs never come through the nose .  Researchers from Indiana State University found that with laughter can boost the immune system by up to 40 per cent .  The study tested 33 healthy women .  Half of the women watched a comedy video together while the others watched a dull video on tourism .  When the films were over , scientists took samples of the women ' s immune cells , known as natural killer cells , and mixed them with cancer cells to see how effectively they attacked the disease .  They found that the women who had found the comedy funny enough to laugh out loud had significantly healthier immune systems afterwards than those who had watched the tourism film .  Meanwhile ,  scans revealed how hearing real and fake laughter activates two different areas of our brains .  Fake laughter triggers more brain activity in the medial prefrontal cortex , associated with problem solving as we try to work out why the person is doing it .  Genuine laughter simply activates auditory areas in the temporal lobe where we process all sound .  But both activate the brain ' s mirror regions that mimic other ' s actions , and she says this is the reason behind why laughing can be so contagious .  ' You are 30 times more likely to laugh if you ' re with someone else , ' she claims .  To further her work , Scott has recently set up an experiment at London ' s Science Museum , where she will be asking visitors to judge the authenticity of different clips of people laughing .  And she believes far more research needs to be done on this cultural tic .  ' If you search on the Web of Science database for papers on the emotion of fear , you ' ll get back 6 , 477 published papers , ' Professor Scott writes on Ted .  ' Search for papers on laughter and you ' ll get a paltry 175 . Why the disparity ? Well , one reason might be that laughter , like other positive emotions , feels less important than negative emotions .  ' Sometimes people think that laughter is a ridiculous , trite , pointless topic to research I think it ' s a fascinating social behaviour , it is essential to study . '  In a separate study last year , psychologist Dr Carolyn McGettigan from the Royal Holloway University of London measured brain responses of volunteers as they listened to genuine laughter on YouTube clips .  Each participant was asked to pick clips they found funny .  This ranged from comedy shows , such as Flight Of The Conchords , and even the Eurovision Song Contest .  The results were then compared to how their brains responded to fake laughter .  The findings revealed participants , none of which were told the study was about laughter perception , could unconsciously tell when the chuckles were insincere .  Dr McGettigan said : ' It ' s fascinating to consider the way our brain is able to detect genuine happiness in other people . ' Our brains are very sensitive to the social and emotional significance of laughter .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
719,719,"Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, will become a senior White House adviser working on trade and the Middle East, transition officials said on Monday, in a rare case of a close presidential family member taking a major job. Kushner, 35, who is married to Trump’s daughter Ivanka, is taking the post after receiving legal counsel that doing so would not violate U.S. anti-nepotism law, transition officials said. The position, unlike Cabinet posts, does not require U.S. Senate confirmation, and Kushner will not be paid. Trump, in a statement on Monday announcing the choice, said Kushner was a “tremendous asset and trusted advisor throughout the campaign and transition.” Kushner, who like Trump is a New York real estate developer, emerged as an important voice early in his father-in-law’s presidential campaign and was involved in almost every aspect of it from personnel decisions to strategy and fundraising. Ivanka Trump, who like her husband has been a close adviser to the president-elect, will not take on a role in her father’s White House but will focus on settling her family in Washington. Kushner and his wife will undertake significant divestments of their wide-ranging financial portfolios as they prepare for their move to Washington from New York and face inevitable questions about a potential conflict of interest. Senior transition officials and a lawyer for Kushner laid out the arrangement in a conference call with a small group of reporters. Kushner is to work closely with incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and senior strategist Steve Bannon in advising the new president, and the officials said he would focus at least at first on trade policy and the Middle East. Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, has vowed to rewrite international trade deals to make them more favorable to the United States. He has also pledged to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv, where it has been for 68 years, to Jerusalem, all but enshrining the city as Israel’s capital despite international objections. Jamie Gorelick, a New York lawyer who served as deputy attorney general for Democratic President Bill Clinton and helped advise Kushner, said his new post would not violate a 1967 anti-nepotism statute.  She said Congress in 1978 authorized the president to hire personnel for the White House office “without regard” to federal personnel laws like the anti-nepotism statute and that court rulings had determined the White House was not an “agency” under the anti-nepotism law. “I’m not saying that there isn’t an argument on the other side, and I respect the people who have made the argument on the other side. I just think we have the better argument,” Gorelick said. Richard Briffault, a government ethics expert at Columbia Law School, disagreed, saying: “Given the fact that the president is specifically mentioned, you would think that someone that is working for the president would be covered” by the anti-nepotism law. Bill Clinton aroused controversy in 1993 when he named his wife, Hillary Clinton, to lead his healthcare reform drive. She lost the Nov. 8 election to Trump. After John F. Kennedy was elected president in 1960, he chose his brother Robert as attorney general. Late on Monday, a group of six Democrats on the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee said they had written to the Justice Department and U.S. Office of Government Ethics asking them to review concerns about nepotism and conflicts of interest arising from Kushner’s appointment. In order to comply with federal ethics laws and after consulting the Office of Government Ethics, Kushner will take a number of steps to divest substantial assets, Gorelick said. Kushner will resign from his positions as chief executive of the Kushner Companies and as publisher of the New York Observer newspaper and divest from any interests in the New York Observer, Thrive Capital, the 666 Fifth Avenue office building in midtown Manhattan and any foreign investments.  In addition, Kushner will recuse himself from participating in matters that could have a direct effect on his remaining financial interests. Those interests include real estate in the New York area, Ivanka Trump’s interest in the new Trump hotel in Washington and the Ivanka Trump Brand fashion business, the officials said. Kushner will file a public financial disclosure form. Norman Eisen, a former ethics chief under President Barack Obama, said in an email that Kushner’s ethics and disclosure moves appeared to be a “positive step.” “I hope his father-in-law takes a page from his book and does the same, as presidents have for the past four decades, by divesting into a blind trust or the equivalent,” Eisen said. Trump has said he would transfer control of his business to his children, but he has given no details. A planned news conference in December on the topic was canceled. Trump is expected to take questions from reporters this week.     ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
722,722,"Baseball ' s biggest stars are in New York for Tuesday ' s All Star game , as the sport says goodbye to one of its most famous landmarks .  Joseph Cornacchia , left , used to play with Babe Ruth when he was a kid , his son Jim says .  It ' s the Yankees ' final season at the "" House that Ruth Built , "" and MLBweblink reports that 40 Hall of Famers are expected to attend the historic event .  iReporter Jim Cornacchia of Rye , New York , says his grandmother taught Babe Ruth to "" make a mean batch of chili . ""  He said the legendary slugger would come to Greenwood Lake , New York , during the off season and would visit with his family . iReportweblink : Ever met your favorite player ?  Cornacchia ' s father , Joseph , who just turned 76 , would play wintertime games with "" The Babe "" as a child , and even built a snowman with him .  Patrick Palmer , 43 , has been a Yankees fan since he was a kid , even though he grew up in Iowa .  "" My father was a Yankees fan , and it was just handed down through the generations , "" he said .  Palmer has a baseball signed by about 20 Yankees players and other memorabilia , but said his biggest thrill was meeting relief pitchers Sparky Lyle and Rich "" Goose "" Gossage .  "" It was also amazing to shake hands with one of the most feared pitchers of his day , Goose Gossage , and really see what a gentle person he could be , "" See what Palmer wrote on iReportweblink .  New Yorker Matthew Friedman said he met Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg last August after singing "" God Bless America "" before a Peoria Chiefs minor league game .  Friedman was in town as part of the Broadway touring production of "" Movin ' Out . "" He said he would sing at the game only if he could meet Sandberg , who was managing the Chiefs .  "" He was such a nice guy , "" he said .  Friedman is a Mets fan , but said the Cubs legend was "" the kind of player I thought other players should be . ""  He said it was a meeting he ' ll never forget , and one he ' ll tell his children about again , and again , and again .  "" I have a child on the way , "" he said . "" I can ' t wait . ""  Meeting a childhood hero was a test of courage for many young fans .  iReporter thedeke almost didn ' t get to shake slugger Roger Maris ' hand during a trip to Yankee Stadium as a 10 year old .  "" He was only 3 kids from me when he turned and started for the field , "" he wrote . "" Why I said what I did , I will never know , but I actually yelled at Roger saying , ' Roger Maris ! Don ' t you dare walk away with out shaking my hand ! ' ""  Maris smiled , walked up to him and "" grabbed my hand with both of his and without saying a word he gave me a wink and off he went , "" thedeke wrote .  Phil Miller was a 17 year old bat boy for the Tacoma Rainiers in 1995 when he got to meet star outfielder Ken Griffey Jr .  Griffey was playing for the Seattle Mariners at the time and was in the minor leagues while he was recovering from a wrist injury .  Chasing fly balls Griffey hit during batting practice is something Miller said he will never forget . "" I wish I could freeze time and relive that 15 minutes over and over , "" he wrote .  Miller was nervous about talking to Griffey in the locker room , but he said he broke the ice by asking him about his wife ' s pregnancy news that wasn ' t out yet .  Griffey laughed when he found out his mother in law had shared the news with Miller ' s mom in a Tacoma hair salon , Miller said .  Even baseball ' s most controversial figures provide fond memories .  Kenny Lucas met Barry Bonds , the all time leading home run hitter , in 2006 at a Colorado Rockies game .  The former Giants star has been dogged by steroid allegations and has a reputation for being difficult , but Lucas said "" he was a very cool guy . ""  "" I used to think of Barry as another arrogant athlete , but he treated me as an equal and invited me into his conversation , "" Lucas said .  iReporter natsmom24 met Pete Rose at a golf course when he was 11 years old .  In 1991 , Rose and other members of the Cincinnati Reds were at a golf course near his house , so natsmom24 tried to get some autographs .  Several players ignored him and walked past , but he said Rose approached him and asked to sign his ball . He talked to him and then took him to the clubhouse and bought him a Snickers and a Coke .  "" I was on top of the world ! I was hanging out with Pete Rose ! The Hit King ! Charlie Hustle ! No one was going to believe me when I told them this , "" he wrote .  He said that not even his parents believed him until he showed them the autographed ball .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
728,728,"Производственная гимнастика уже не та… 16 ноября 2016 Общество  Физкультминутка – залог продуктивного труда и бодрого настроения. Активные, неунывающие сотрудники – это гордость любого коллектива. Нормальный человек не может постоянно чахнуть под завалами работы. Всем нужен хороший отдых. Кстати, отрываясь от серьёзных дел, нам нужно не кофеёк хлестать под унылую ленту новостей, а прыгать, приседать, разминаться, делать успокоительные вдохи-выдохи! Это же так здорово! После «производственной гимнастики» у любого нытика поднимется работоспособность, появится желание творить и развиваться. Но, оказывается, в наши дни безобидный фитнес на работе может стать поводом для позорного увольнения…  Талантливая белокурая девушка из Иркутской области Анастасия Мякина, вопреки стереотипу о глупости блондинок, трудилась одновременно в двух серьёзнейших областях. Симпатичная леди занимала пост депутата Думы Шелеховского района и дополнительно подрабатывала директором муниципального предприятия «Бытовые и ритуальные услуги». А кто-то ведь ещё смеет говорить, что чиновники бессовестно воруют! Работают они – в поте лица!  Несмотря на загруженность и плотный график, барышня не собиралась превращаться в неухоженную начальницу, эдакую «нашу мымру». Современная леди-босс подключилась к участию в интересной онлайн-программе по снижению веса. В задачи спортсменки и просто красавицы ежедневно входила запись видеотчёта о выполненных физических упражнениях. Эх, знала бы наша героиня заранее, что любовь к спорту закончится для неё грандиозным провалом в карьере!..  Активная женщина в один прекрасный, не предвещающий беды день во время обеденного перерыва в родном похоронном бюро решила немного подкачать свою «пятую точку» – заодно и снять видеоподтверждение для виртуальных единомышленниц. Ну не весь же день ходить ей среди гробов с поникшим лицом!.. Разрядка сотрудникам домов печали тоже, знаете ли, необходима.  Включив зажигательную композицию группы «Бандэрос» про красивую жизнь, Анастасия удобно расположилась рядом с венками, крестами, гробами, оградками – и начала отжигать! Улыбка до ушей, эффектные приседания, море оптимизма – просто пример для подражания всем измученным женщинам России. Как в песне поётся: «Нет времени ждать, всё хочется взять… Жизнь удалась – ещё чуть-чуть и прямо в рай. Ла-ла-ла…»  Истратив калории и попотев, Мякина незамедлительно выложила видео своей физкультминутки в Интернет. Говорящее название ролика звучит весьма оригинально и позитивно – «Горижопинг». У блондинки получилась наглядная творческая видеозарисовка, призывающая всех нас радоваться жизни, активничать, несмотря на печали и утраты. Мол, гори оно всё огнём! И ты, гори скорей, мягкое место! Правда, мэр Иркутска креатив Анастасии не оценил. Несмотря на все оправдания поклонницы здорового образа жизни, девушку без разговоров выгнали поганой метлой сразу с обоих мест работы.  Бывшая «единоросска» не унывает и не собирается отказываться от любимого фитнеса. Хотя Насте, пожалуй, придётся сейчас нелегко – надо же сначала как-то реанимировать карьеру. Тренировать одновременно и пятую точку, и мозги – непростое дело. Чего доброго, случится полнейший «горижоп» – и на красивой жизни придётся поставить огромный крест.  Источник информации: infpol.ru , картинок:weblink Теги:",fake,news,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
736,736,"China In the decade since the 1997 handover of Hong Kong to China , local movie makers have faced daunting changes in the industry . A trend of fewer films being produced each year in Hong Kong at the time of the handover has continued into the 21st century .  Stephen Chow ' s "" Shaolin Soccer "" is one of Hong Kong ' s all time top grossing films .  People in Hong Kong ' s industry point to several causes for the comparatively leaner times : a lack of opportunities for new acting talent , inadequate training and schooling for people who produce movies and changing tastes within the Hong Kong public .  At the same time , local film makers have had to refocus their cameras for a new audience : mainland China .  "" The Hong Kong film industry came to a rude awakening in the late 1990s that the world was changing faster than it was in the age of new delivery systems for home entertainment and the Internet , "" says Bede Cheng , a local film archivist and curator . "" Unfortunately , it seemed to be blinded by the ' golden age ' of the ' 80s , where any film could easily rack in over 1 . 3 million . ""  The box office numbers are sobering . In the early 1990s , Hong Kong released around 200 local features a year . By 1997 , that number dropped to 85 films grossing 69 million , according to the Hong Kong , Kowloon and New Territories Motion Picture Industry Association (  ) .  By 2006 , those figures slumped to 51 films grossing 37 million . Ten years ago , the top 10 grossing films accounted for 47 percent of the total box office return today , the portion is 58 percent .  "" 1997 , unfortunately , coincides with the beginning of the collapse of the local film industry a well documented fact , "" says screenwriter Jimmy Ngai . "" On the other hand , it also commenced the opening up of the mainland market .  "" The result is that the industry has grown more and more accustomed to looking north for both investment and box return nothing political , but more of a survival instinct . What needs not to be spelt out for film makers venturing north is that one plays according to what goes with the territory . ""  The new Chinese market has translated into an emphasis in contrasts of Hong Kong made films , says film archivist Cheng .  "" Today production is down , with many majors like Chinastar and Golden Harvest scaling back , "" he says . "" Most films are high end productions with big stars , or low end made with a shoestring budget for an easier return .  "" The number of screens is also down , with the consolidation of more multiplexes , usually owned or partly owned by distributors , which already have a steady supply of foreign films to fill the screens . Some once video distributors like Mei Ah and Universe have gone into production as a way to keep the pipeline flowing . ""  In 2006 , Hong Kong closed five small cinemas and re opened one multiplex . Gary Mak , director of Broadway Cinematheque Hong Kong ' s last remaining alternative screening venue remains optimistic about more adventurous programming and distribution . But Mak points to a shortage of creativity in the local industry .  "" No talents , no formal training , in most areas such as script writing , directing , acting , etc , "" he says . "" Even the independent scene still needs more real talents or at least , real producers to pull together a really good project . ""  Tim Youngs , Hong Kong consultant for Italy ' s Far East Film Festival , says changing tastes among Hong Kong movie goers has also affected the industry .  "" Audiences have become increasingly dismissive of local movies , often referring to them as poor quality , and there are much fewer paying cinemagoers these days .  "" So the hometown audience shows less support for local movies , whether by not seeing local films or opting for piracy , while the declining number of films means less opportunities for film makers , fewer chances to try out new things , and damage to confidence . ""  Elizabeth Kerr , film critic and curator formerly based in Seoul , South Korea , agrees with Youngs ' assessment .  "" For all the risk taking businessmen out there in Hong Kong , no one is willing to put their money where their mouth is and throw in some support .  "" The industry for the most part suffers from the cleave between that fluff which makes money and the more adult film making of the smaller studios , distributors and indies . ""  How is South Korea ' s film industry different from its Hong Kong counterpart ? "" The drive to attain world adoration , "" Kerr says . "" Koreans truly believe they ' re making great art all the time . South Korea launched an active campaign on all levels corporate , government , education to train and cultivate a modern film industry . ""  Still , Kerr sees reason for optimism . Films that best retain a Hong Kong style , Kerr maintains , likely carry "" Category  "" ( under 18 not allowed ) ratings : Movies that are "" grown up and smart , "" she says .  "" Even if the films don ' t work , someone tried . ""  In the end , it may be culture that poses one of the greatest challenges for Hong Kong ' s movie industry .  "" Around 1997 , like lots of Hong Kong people , I kind of lost myself , "" says independent film maker Chan Wing chiu . "" The film industry was already almost dead in the ' 90s . Why work for a sunset industry ? ""  Chan ' s own first feature in 2005 , "" A Side , B Side , Sea Side , "" includes a scene with a gaggle of girls on Hong Kong ' s Cheung Chau island who are unable to communicate in Chinese with an Australian man speaking fluent Mandarin . The two parties end up conversing in English .  "" That ' s me , "" says Chan , referring to the girls . "" I speak English better than Putonghua China ' s official common language , also known as Mandarin . Many Chinese say that now that Hong Kong is part of China , Hong Kong people must learn Putonghua . I disagree . In Hong Kong we all speak Cantonese . Hong Kong already has a bad reputation for Putonghua , but I don ' t feel ashamed . I ' m proud to have grown up during the transition between 1997 and  .  "" Why do we have so many problems with China ? Because our language , our culture , our values , our way of thinking are different . So we are not good at speaking Putonghua . Even in the cinema , we see Western movies , Japanese movies , Korean movies . . . but not many Chinese movies . ""  Adds independent director Yan yan Mak : "" We are monsters . China says : ' You are not Chinese . ' Gweilos Hong Kong slang for Caucasians say : ' You are Chinese . ' After 1997 , we lost the confidence to be Hong Kong people . "" E mail to a friend  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
742,742,"Kabul , Afghanistan Hundreds of inmates , many of them insurgent fighters , slipped out of a southern Afghanistan prison early Monday through a nearly quarter mile tunnel dug beneath the compound from the outside .  The Taliban issued a statement taking responsibility for the escape from the prison in Kandahar , the Taliban ' s birthplace . Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahed said digging the tunnel took five months . The escape took four and a half hours , he said .  The Taliban claimed 541 prisoners escaped . The  led International Security Assistance Force said the number of escaped prisoners was closer to 470 . The Taliban said 106 of the escapees were military commanders , but there was no immediate government confirmation of the claim .  Police recaptured eight of the escapees , the Kandahar governor ' s office said .  Monday ' s break was the second dramatic escape at the prison in three years . In 2008 , as many as 1 , 000 prisoners nearly half of them Taliban members escaped after militants detonated a truck bomb against the side of the prison compound .  "" It ' s , I think , quite a black eye for the U . S . and  and the Afghan government , who have put quite a lot of resources into trying to improve the prison systems , and here you have this massive prison break , with sadly , some pretty hardcore Taliban prisoners who escaped , "" he said .  Waheed Omer , a spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai , called the mass escape "" bad news and a disaster . ""  Although the Taliban said some of the escapees were military commanders , it ' s unlikely the escape will have a significant impact on military operations in Afghanistan , said Thomas E . Gouttierre , director of the Center of Afghanistan Studies at the University of Nebraska in Omaha .  "" I don ' t think I would see this as a big blow to Western efforts in Afghanistan , "" he said .  Instead , he said Afghanistan ' s government is likely to bear the brunt of criticism for failing to anticipate or prevent the escape , especially after previous escapes at this and other prisons .  In the 2008 escape , militants used a truck loaded with about two tons of explosives and driven by suicide drivers to blast holes in the mud brick walls of the prison .  A gun and rocket battle followed , lasting several hours and ending with militants rushing into the prison on motorcycles to free prisoners , according to Taliban accounts of the attack .  Nine guards , seven prisoners and one civilian were killed in the attack , according to the provincial government .  Security forces said they tried to track down the escaped prisoners , but said the large Taliban presence in the region and the numerous hideouts located there made it difficult to hunt down militants .  Kandahar is the birthplace of the Taliban and has been the site of fierce fighting between international forces and insurgents .  It has been the site of numerous anti Western demonstrations , recently over the burning of the Quran , Islam ' s holy book , by a pastor in the United States .  On April 15 , the police chief of Kandahar province was killed when a man wearing a military uniform detonated a bomb at the entrance to the police headquarters .  In February , 10 people died when mines exploded at a playground during a picnic hosted by a former police commander . In a separate incident , 19 people , including 15 police officers , died when armed attackers targeted police headquarters .  After attacks on the country ' s ministry of defense , the assassination of the police chief and now Monday ' s prison break , Kandahar resident Kari Ghar said it ' s "" impossible to call this system a government . ""  "" This is the worst possible weakness of the Afghan government that almost every single political prisoners escape from the central jail in Kandahar , "" Ghar said .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
756,756,"In a new book , a "" 60 Minutes "" interview and other recent public statements , Jose Rodriguez , a three decade veteran of the  who rose to become head of the National Clandestine Service , has stoutly defended the  ' s use of coercive interrogation techniques on al Qaeda detainees .  Rodriguez asserts , for instance , "" Information obtained from senior al Qaeda terrorists , who became compliant after receiving enhanced interrogation techniques , was key to the U . S . government learning of the existence of a courier who was bin Laden ' s lifeline . ""  Let us turn to what is available on the public record to consider if this is true . Between November 23 , 2002 , and January 11 , 2003 , the man who al Qaeda was grooming to be the 20th hijacker , Mohammed al Qahtani , was interrogated at Guant namo for 48 days , more or less continuously , rousted from bed at 4 a . m . for interrogation sessions that went on until midnight .  If he dozed off , he was doused with water or given a sharp blast of some especially annoying music by Christina Aguilera . He was forced to perform dog tricks , often exposed to low temperatures , made to stand in the nude , and whenever he seemed to be flagging , he was given drugs and enemas so the interrogations could continue .  This abusive treatment caused marked changes in Qahtani ' s behavior . An  official later noted that he began "" evidencing behavior consistent with extreme psychological trauma ( talking to nonexistent people , reporting hearing voices , crouching in a cell covered with a sheet for hours on end ) . ""  From the secret summaries of Qahtani ' s Guant namo interrogations made public by WikiLeaks , it appears that it was only after the weeks of abuse that he told interrogators that the operational commander of 9 11 , Khalid Sheik Mohammed , had introduced him to a man known as Abu Ahmed al Kuwaiti , "" the Kuwaiti , "" who had instructed him how best to communicate covertly with al Qaeda members once he was in the States .  In July 2001 , the Kuwaiti had taken Qahtani to an Internet caf in the Pakistani city of Karachi and given him some lessons in secret communications . The admission from Qahtani that the Kuwaiti had given him training in operational security seems to have been the first time that U . S . officials realized that the Kuwaiti was a player in al Qaeda and a confidant of Mohammed ' s .  American interrogators now knew that the Kuwaiti had helped train potential hijackers for the 9 11 mission , but as yet there was no sense that he might be bin Laden ' s key courier .  Jose Rodriguez : Harsh interrogations were necessary , legal and effective  Mohammed himself was then captured in Pakistan in March 2003 and was transferred to U . S . custody . Despite being waterboarded 183 times and at one point kept up for 7 days straight while diapered and shackled at a  secret prison in northern Poland , Mohammed did not confess to the Kuwaiti ' s key role in al Qaeda , instead telling his interrogators in late 2003 only that the Kuwaiti was now "" retired . ""  Mohammed ' s assertion that the Kuwaiti was retired was curious , as not too many members of al Qaeda were known to have retired . After Mohammed told his interrogators that the Kuwaiti was retired , an al Qaeda courier by the name of Hassan Ghul told  interrogators a quite different story .  Ghul , a Pakistani , was arrested in mid January 2004 in northern Iraq carrying a letter addressed to bin Laden from al Qaeda ' s leader in Iraq urging that he be allowed to embark on a full scale war against Iraq ' s Shia population .  Ghul obviously had access to al Qaeda ' s inner circle in Pakistan and so was taken to a secret  prison in eastern Europe , where he was subjected to a variety of coercive interrogation techniques , including being slapped , slammed against a wall , forced to maintain stress positions and deprived of sleep . At some point , it isn ' t clear when exactly , Ghul told interrogators that the Kuwaiti was bin Laden ' s courier and frequently traveled with al Qaeda ' s leader .  It is quite possible , however , that Ghul gave this information up to his interrogators before he was subjected to coercive interrogations . The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has undertaken a multiyear study of the  interrogation program and has generated a 6 , 000 page report that will likely be released in some form later this year . Once that report is made public it will surely definitively answer whether Ghul gave up this key information about the Kuwaiti while he was being subjected to coercive measures , or not .  For the moment , we will have to content ourselves with a press release from the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence dated April 27 that says , "" The  detainee who provided the most significant information about the courier provided the information prior to being subjected to coercive interrogation techniques . "" This detainee appears to be Ghul .  Peter Bergen : A visit to bin Laden ' s lair  Mohammed ' s replacement as the No . 3 in al Qaeda , Abu Faraj al Libi , held that position for only a couple of years before he was arrested in Pakistan on May 2 , 2005 , in the city of Mardan , 100 miles from Abbottabad , where bin Laden himself would soon arrive to live for the next six years .  A month after his arrest , Libi was handed over to the  . Coercive interrogation techniques ( though not waterboarding ) were used on him . Libi also told his interrogators that the Kuwaiti wasn ' t an important player in al Qaeda and that it was in fact "" Maulawi Abd al Khaliq Jan "" who was bin Laden ' s courier . Counterterrorism officials later concluded that Maulawi Abd al Khaliq Jan was a made up name .  So , did coercive interrogations lead to bin Laden ? Such techniques were used on Qahtani , the 20th hijacker , and on Ghul , the Pakistani al Qaeda courier who was captured in Iraq .  Certainly both Qahtani and Ghul gave interrogators information that led the  to focus on the Kuwaiti as a possible avenue to finding bin Laden , which to defenders of these interrogation techniques would seem to prove that they were effective . That said , it is quite possible , however , that Ghul gave up the information about the Kuwaiti before he was coercively interrogated .  Critics of the coercive interrogation techniques can point out that harsh methods were also used by the  to get Mohammed and Libi to talk , and both those men gave their interrogators disinformation about the Kuwaiti .  Since we can ' t run history backward , we will never know what conventional interrogation techniques alone might have elicited from these four prisoners .  And there were other key steps along the way to finding bin Laden that had nothing to do with the information derived from al Qaeda detainees , whether coercive measures were used on them or not .  The name "" Abu Ahmed al Kuwaiti "" is an alias meaning "" the father of Ahmed from Kuwait , "" which is hardly a good clue as the population of Kuwait is around 3 million and Ahmed is a very common name .  The first really big break in finding "" the Kuwaiti "" came in 2007 when another intelligence service provided the  with the courier ' s real name , Ibrahim Saeed Ahmed , a man whose father had hailed from northern Pakistan and had moved to Kuwait decades earlier .  Still there was as yet no sense that this was bin Laden ' s key courier . The next big break in the case came when the Kuwaiti in June 2010 made changes in the way he communicated on his cell phone that suddenly opened up the possibility of tracking the location of his phone .  Soon the U . S . National Security Agency was able to trace the Kuwaiti ' s cell phone to the large western Pakistani city of Peshawar . But the courier practiced very good operational security and would turn off his phone and remove its battery far from where he was living in Abbottabad .  On one of his occasional visits to Peshawar ,  agents on the ground tracked the Kuwaiti and followed his distinctive white jeep 2 hours ' drive to the east to where he was living in a compound in Abbottabad . Living there , too , as we of course now know , was Osama bin Laden .  In sum ,  ' s "" liaison "" relationship with another intelligence service , signals intelligence by the National Security Agency and good old fashioned spying by  agents on the ground provided the critical leads that led to bin Laden .  The role of interrogations , whether they were coercive or not , seems to have played only a partial role in the hunt for bin Laden , a tale that is more Agatha Christie than it is "" 24 . ""  ",true,text,validation,American football,Conflict,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
768,768,"While much of the nation s attention has been focused on the horrors of the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, there has been a revolt growing in the state of Michigan. Darnell Earley, is not only the unelected emergency manager who created the Flint water crisis, he also is in charge of Detroit s public schools. Earley has done to Detroit s schools, what he did to Flint s water system.The conditions of Detroit s school system are so bad, that teachers are on the verge of going on strike. They have been increasing their resistance to the attack and mismanagement of Detroit s schools over the past week. They have been engaging in a tactic called the  sick-out.  That s a protest where so many teachers call in sick, the school is forced to close.A picture is worth a thousand words. Here are some photos that show the deplorable conditions that students and teachers are being subjected to.Does your school look like this? #supportDPSteachers pic.twitter.com/jBGbkqoM4z  Detroitteach (@teachDetroit) January 15, 2016#supportDPSteachers pic.twitter.com/JJPDlBRPfG  Detroitteach (@teachDetroit) January 15, 2016Mushrooms in a classroom. #SupportDPSTeachers pic.twitter.com/97FZ53fxxe  Detroitteach (@teachDetroit) January 12, 2016No empowered school board. No justice. No peace. This is what you eat for breakfast. Moldy bread thing. pic.twitter.com/SWwVouIkqr  Detroitteach (@teachDetroit) January 16, 2016#supportDPSteachers pic.twitter.com/sHzD0D9TNI  Detroitteach (@teachDetroit) January 17, 2016In a computer lab. #supportDPSteachers pic.twitter.com/fuZo44LYlW  Detroitteach (@teachDetroit) January 17, 2016Classroom @Cody  #supportDPSteachers @DreaMcCoy @DetroitEducator @PedroniTom @ktwomeyMEd pic.twitter.com/mDg19aLHjG  Detroitteach (@teachDetroit) January 13, 2016Here is a video that is just as damning as the photos. It shows what life is like for teachers and students in Detroit.Detroit s mayor, Mike Duggan recently went on a tour of  schools. He was  heartbroken  over what he saw. I saw 4-year-olds in a classroom where it was about 50 degrees,  he said.  They told me they usually wear their coats until lunchtime, when they warm up a bit   because there s a part of each day they actually expect to have to wear their coats in the classroom. It s nice to hear that Duggan still has enough of a heart left to be broken. The tour was nothing more than a publicity stunt created to make it look like the state is trying to do something to fix the problem. Now that the nation is watching the state of Michigan and the Snyder administration s corruption and incompetence that has infected the entire state on every level, they really, really need to convince people that they care.Even with the Flint water crisis, the Detroit water crisis, the shame that is the DPS, Snyder cannot even bring himself to criticize emergency manager Earley. Here is what Snyder had to say about Earley and the teacher protesters last week: He s been doing a good job. He s been working hard. If you think about it, our goal is to get the Detroit Public Schools to be successful. I ve proposed a package that involves an investment of over $700 million to improve education in Detroit. I m not sure why people would want to go out and protest against a solution like that. The state of Michigan has been in control of Detroit Public School system for almost seven f##king years. The cries of anyone who have spoken out against the Snyder administration have been meet with silence. Snyder s $700 million dollar proposal should, at this point, be seen as nothing more than a last-minute attempt to try to bribe his way out of being lynched by a growing mob.Snyder and all his cronies must be brought to justice for their crimes against humanity.Featured Image Courtesy: Detroitteach via Twitter",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
788,788,"Zimbabwe Zimbabwe ' s inflation rate has soared in the past three months and is now at 11 . 2 million percent , the highest in the world , according to the country ' s Central Statistical Office .  Zimbabwe ' s inflation rate has soared to a world high .  Official figures dated Monday show inflation has surged from the rate of 2 . 2 million percent recorded in May , despite the government ' s price controls .  The country ' s finance minister confirmed the new figure in an interview but said the rising inflation rate was not confined to Zimbabwe alone .  "" While our case has been aggravated by the illegal sanctions imposed by the Western powers , rising food prices are a world phenomenon because of the use of bio fuel , "" said Samuel Mumbengegwi . "" But we will continue to fight inflation by making sure that prices charged are realistic . ""  In February , the price of a loaf of bread in the country was less than 200 , 000 Zimbabwe dollars . On Monday , that same loaf of bread cost 1 . 6 trillion Zimbabwe dollars .  Analysts have said the Zimbabwean government ' s official inflation rate figures are conservative . Last week , one of Zimbabwe ' s leading banks , Kingdom Bank , said the country ' s inflation rate was now more than 20 million percent .  The locally owned bank predicted tougher times ahead for Zimbabwe in the absence of donor support and foreign investment in an economy that has been in freefall for almost a decade .  Once considered the breadbasket of Africa , Zimbabwe has been in the throes of an economic meltdown ever since the country embarked on a chaotic land reform program that has decimated commercial agriculture .  Analysts say the crisis has worsened following President Robert Mugabe ' s disputed reelection in the June 27 presidential run off . His challenger Morgan Tsvangirai boycotted the race over widespread allegations of violence and voter intimidation .  The economic crisis has destroyed Zimbabwe ' s currency and made it difficult for Zimbabweans to buy basic commodities , electricity , fuel , and medicines . Many Zimbabweans have left the country amid rising unemployment and deepening poverty .  Last week a summit in South Africa of regional African leaders failed to persuade Zimbabwe ' s political parties to agree to form a government of national unity , which observers view as the best way to end Zimbabwe ' s record recession .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
802,802,"Burmese model May Myat Noe , 18 , was crowned winner of Miss Asia Pacific in May but has been dethroned  A Burmese beauty queen has allegedly disappeared with a 120 , 000 jewelled tiara after being dethroned as Miss Asia Pacific World for ' being rude ' .  May Myat Noe , 18 , was crowned as the most beautiful woman in south east Asia in May by the South Korean pageant , but the organisers wanted her to have breast enhancement surgery before they could get her a record deal .  David Kim , director of media for Miss Asia Pacific World , said Miss Noe had been a disappointment from the outset .  Following her victory , the organisers and sponsors wanted the 5ft 7in pageant winner to change her looks so she could become a singer .  Mr Kim said : ' We thought she should be more beautiful . . . so as soon as she arrived we sent her to the hospital to operate on her breasts . '  Adding that the competition ' s sponsors paid 6 , 000 for her breast enhancement , Mr Kim said : ' It ' s our responsibility .  ' If she has no good nose , then maybe , if she likes , we can operate on her nose . If it ' s breasts , then breasts . '  From there it went downhill . The pageant organisers say they paid for a 10 day trip for her and her mother to Seoul , South Korea , but that quickly turned into three months , incurring extra cost .  She ' lied ' and ' never had respect for the main organisation , the national director , the manager , media or fans who made her the winner , ' organisers said in a statement .  Miss Noe was given a flight back to Burmese capital Rangoon , but did not show up , with Malaysian news sites reporting that she got on an earlier plane .  The pageant organisers are now demanding she hand back the jewel encrusted Swarovski tiara worth between 60 , 000 and 120 , 000 .  Mr Kim said : ' Everyone knows she is no longer the queen , but she thinks as long as she keeps this crown she ' s the winner . She ' s not . '  Organisers bought her a 6 , 000 boob job to make her ' more beautiful ' after she won the beauty pageant  Miss Noe ' s icture has been taken down off the competition ' s website and it says ' dethroned ' next to her name  Her picture has been taken down off the competition ' s website and it says ' dethroned ' next to her name .  Miss Noe was unavailable for comment and her phone was switched off , local reports said , but it is believed she will hold a press conference soon .  Hla Nu Tun , who initially acted as her unofficial manager , said Miss Noe and the organisers had disagreed over who should oversee her career . Miss Noe ' s mother wanted control but so did the organisers , she said .  Burma , which only recently emerged from a half century military rule and self imposed isolation , started sending contestants to international beauty pageants for the first time in decades in 2012 .  British model Amy Willerton took part in Miss Asia Pacific in 2011 , but left the competition early , labelling it ' a shambles ' .  The beauty queen ' s plane back to Burma from Seoul was paid for by the pageant , but she took an earlier flight  British model Amy Willerton took part in Miss Asia Pacific in 2011 , but chose to leave the competition early  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
808,808,"Reuters) - U.S. senators from both parties this week have criticized the Trump administration’s decision that government agencies do not have to provide information to Democratic lawmakers, saying the step will prevent Congress from carrying out its constitutional duties.  During budget and nomination hearings, senators have pressed current and prospective officials about a Justice Department legal opinion dated May 1. The opinion said information requests to executive agencies from senior Democrats on congressional committees, called ranking members, “do not trigger any obligation to accommodate congressional needs and are not legally enforceable through a subpoena or contempt proceedings.” The opinion, largely unprecedented, says agencies are required to give information to only committee chairs, positions held by members of the majority party in Congress. Currently, Republicans control both chambers of Congress and the White House. Most lawmakers first learned about the guidance in media reports last month. Now, they say agencies under President Donald Trump are becoming less responsive to them, making it harder to check whether the executive branch is correctly carrying out laws, as required by the constitution. Some Republicans also have questioned allowing agencies to ignore requests from Congress. Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill, a Democrat who is ranking member of the governmental affairs committee that looks into waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government, grew enraged on Wednesday when a nominee for the White House’s budget office would not commit to respond, without reservation, to her inquiries.  The nominee for Office of Management and Budget Deputy Director, Russell Vought, said that if he is confirmed for the post his responses to her would be “subject to the discretion of the director and advice of legal counsel.” He added that he was “merely reflecting the administration’s policy.” Calling the legal guidance “hogwash,” McCaskill cast withholding information from her as the administration’s attempt to hide problems and wrongdoing. “Welcome to the Big Leagues, administration. This is what happens, you get oversight,” she said, adding she has had a “few problems” with receiving information but not to the extent of other Democrats. A Republican on the committee, Ohio’s Rob Portman, said that when he headed the budget office under former President George W. Bush, he found dealing with Congress was often frustrating. “But I felt it was my responsibility to provide information,” he said, adding he hoped Vought would do so if confirmed for the job. (This version of the story corrects to show Senator McCaskill is from Missouri, not Michigan) ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
821,821,"Reuters) - Former Connecticut Governor John Rowland on Friday urged a federal appeals court to overturn his conviction on charges that the Republican tried to use sham contracts to hide his political work in two U.S. congressional campaigns, saying prosecutors went too far in applying the law. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York heard arguments over whether Rowland used illegal consulting contracts for candidates who in 2010 and 2012 ran unsuccessfully for the House of Representatives. Rowland, who was sentenced to 2-1/2 years in prison in March 2015, is free on bail during his appeal. He had previously spent 10 months in prison following his 2004 guilty plea to separate charges arising from his acceptance of illegal gifts while he was governor. Rowland resigned from office that year. Andrew Fish, Rowland’s lawyer, told the appeals court on Friday that a draft contract rejected by one of the candidates, Mark Greenberg, did not constitute a falsified document. “Frankly, the government saying that a contract proposal is a falsified document makes little sense,” Fish said. He said prosecutors went too far in trying to criminalize Rowland’s conduct under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, a governance law passed after Enron Corp’s collapse, that prohibits falsifying documents to hide financial wrongdoing. Assistant U.S. Attorney Liam Brennan countered that the case was in the “heartland” of the statute. “This is creating a fake record to have in the file in case there is an investigation,” he said. A federal jury in New Haven found Rowland guilty in March 2015 on charges of conspiracy, falsifying records in a federal investigation, causing false statements to be made to the Federal Election Commission, and causing illegal campaign contributions. Prosecutors said Rowland, 58, sought to advise Greenberg, who testified that in 2010 he rejected Rowland’s offer and a contract to conceal the ex-governor’s role. Rowland was also accused of negotiating a deal to work for a nursing home company owned by Brian Foley, the husband of 2012 congressional candidate, Lisa Wilson-Foley, and receive $35,000 intended to compensate him for advising her campaign. Wilson-Foley and Foley pleaded guilty to conspiring to make illegal campaign contributions. Wilson-Foley received a five-month prison term, while Foley was sentenced to three months in a halfway house. ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
822,822,"ST. PETERSBURG, Russia  —   Quietly, the number of Russians who have received a positive H. I. V. diagnosis passed the one million mark this year. There is, however, little indication that the government will commit adequate resources to stem the acceleration of the virus from   groups into the general population. About 850, 000 Russians carry H. I. V. and an additional 220, 000 have died since the late 1980s, said Vadim Pokrovsky, the longtime head of the   Federal  Center, who estimated that at least another 500, 000 cases of H. I. V. have gone undiagnosed. Although the label “epidemic” prompts denials from some senior officials, experts on the front lines like Mr. Pokrovsky are calling it just that. The overall estimate of victims constitutes about 1 percent of Russia’s population of 143 million, enough to be considered an epidemic, they argued. Beyond that, they said that heterosexual sex would soon top intravenous drug use as the main means of infection. “This can already be considered a threat to the entire nation,” Mr. Pokrovsky said, noting that the caseload is increasing by about 10 percent a year. In 2016, 100, 000 new infections are anticipated, about 275 daily. It is the largest H. I. V. epidemic in Europe and among the highest rates of infection globally. Despite the grim milestone, experts do not expect much change in Russia, where victims still face the kind of stigma prevalent in the 1980s in the West and where continuing trench warfare between the Kremlin and independent nongovernmental organizations saps collective efforts. In addition, some prominent voices push “family values” as the ideal prevention program. In many ways, Russia’s fight against H. I. V. is a case study in the constant tension between civil society and a Kremlin under President Vladimir V. Putin public activity outside government control is considered inherently suspect. Tensions heightened this year after the Justice Ministry blackballed a number of bantam N. G. O.s involved in combating H. I. V.  as “foreign agents” because they received grants from abroad. Anton Krasovsky, a prominent talk show host fired in January 2013 after coming out as gay on air, says he has spent his personal savings building an N. G. O. that tries to bridge that divide. “Since we are not talking about fighting Putin, but fighting a virus, people have to understand that they can fight this virus only if they are on the same side as Putin,” Mr. Krasovsky said. “It is impossible to change the situation without coming to some kind of an agreement. ” The president has remained largely silent on H. I. V. Over all, activists said, the combination of indifference toward victims, government financial austerity, hostility toward foreign funds and a powerful camp of  deniers all amounts to the lack of a coherent national effort. Experts criticized a new, rather vague Russian government strategy on fighting H. I. V. that was released in October for lacking a plan of execution or any new money. Despite that, both sides in the H. I. V. battle agree that Russia has made some progress. The fact that a national strategy exists  —   as well as an advertising program promoting H. I. V. tests backed by Svetlana Medvedeva, the wife of the prime minister  —   at least implies some   interest. In St. Petersburg, one married couple, Dr. Tatiana N. Vinogradova and Andrei Skvortsov, straddles the  . G. O. divide on the issue. Dr. Vinogradova, slim beneath her white coat, with bobbed brown hair and beige stilettos, is a   H. I. V. warrior. Her grandmother, an   specialist, treated one of the first patients in St. Petersburg in the late 1980s and pushed the city to establish an  Center. Dr. Vinogradova’s mother ran it, and she herself is now its deputy head of scientific research. Mr. Skvortsov, wiry, scrappy and H. I. V. positive  —   a reformed drug addict and    —   runs a small N. G. O. called Patients in Control. It was founded in 2010 to try to cajole, pressure and embarrass both federal and local governments into providing   treatment. At the St. Petersburg  Center, Dr. Vinogradova, 41, has seen the prevalence among drug addicts shrink while cases among heterosexual couples soar. “Calling it an epidemic would be akin to admitting that the government let the problem get out of control over the past 30 years,” she said, explaining why the government avoids the term. But she uses the national strategy and any official statements she can find to try to wring more money out of politicians. “This is Russia, so everything has to be top down to get anything done. ” The couple has tried to use their marriage to help break the stigma that the disease is an untreatable plague limited to drug addicts, homosexuals or others likely to die anyway. “I watch people jump back a meter when he says he is living with H. I. V. ,” Dr. Vinogradova said, with older medical professionals particularly still fearful despite the raft of evidence that anyone taking antiviral drugs is not infectious. “Now whenever I hear about H. I. V. discrimination, I take it as a personal offense. ” When her husband needed an operation last year to repair with a metal implant a collarbone broken in a motorcycle accident, the surgeon refused after discovering his H. I. V. status. Mr. Skvortsov, 37, recently appeared on a talk show with Evgeniya Prokhoda, an H. I. V. activist in the southern city of Krasnodar, and one of the first Russians to speak about carrying the virus on national television without hiding her face. She detailed the gantlet of fear and discrimination she had faced, including when authorities put her son in an orphanage for about a year after her own mother sued to have him removed from home. The day after she appeared on television, Mrs. Prokhoda was fired. Activists and experts always come back to the lack of government support as the root problem. Under World Health Organization guidelines, to reduce the spread of the disease, at least 90 percent of H. I. V.  patients should receive antiviral drugs. In Russia, a little more than 37 percent receive such treatment, according to government statistics. “The prevention programs are not working, the coverage is not sufficient to break the curve,” said Vinay P. Saldanha, the Unaids regional director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Russia is among five countries that account for almost half the new infections globally the others are South Africa, Nigeria, India and Uganda, according to Unaids figures, although in some of them, a much higher percentage of the overall population is infected. Most of the $338 million annual Russian federal H. I. V. budget is spent on medicine, and almost nothing goes to preventive education. Veronika Skvortsova, the health minister, has repeatedly called expanding treatment programs a government priority. (The minister is not related to Andrei Skvortsov.) After a deep recession, however, little new money has materialized. At the same time, the Russian Orthodox Church and some politicians promote “conservative values” as the best way to combat H. I. V. Patriarch Kirill called for “moral education,” stressing that the “establishment of family values, ideals of chastity and marital fidelity” should be at the forefront of curbing the virus. Both the government and the church staunchly oppose sex education for children. One senior government official stated that classical literature was the best teacher. The state also adamantly opposes methadone for drug addicts, sometimes denigrated as a “narcoliberal” scheme. In other countries, methadone programs are used both to treat and to monitor patients infected by intravenous needles. The emphasis on traditional values dismays those fighting the disease. “Traditional values just means leaving everything as it is,” Mr. Pokrovsky said. “If we have traditional values and do nothing, the epidemic will keep spreading. ” Compounding the problems, the federal government has tried to silence organizations that challenged its policies, labeling them “foreign agents” for receiving grants from abroad, forcing some to close. The Andrey Rylkov Foundation for Health and Social Justice, which hands out free needles and condoms in southern Moscow, now has to staple a small label to its plastic bags saying “Foreign Agent” as required by law. Recipients said they could not care less, but it means that the foundation cannot work with government organizations. “H. I. V. is not a personal problem, it is a social problem, and it should be solved as a social problem,” Elena Plotnikova, who works for the foundation, said as she handed out supplies. “The basic attitude of the government is: You made a bad decision and we are not going to help you. ” N. G. O.s are considered crucial to reaching populations that avoid government contact, including drug addicts, prostitutes and gay men. Help varies widely from city to city. St. Petersburg is perhaps the most enlightened, treating all comers to its clinic and sponsoring an advertising campaign. Dr. Vinogradova and Mr. Skvortsov appear together on one poster encouraging people to get tested. The couple is startlingly open about their sex life, stressing that his being on antiviral drugs means that she remains H. I. V. negative even though they do not use condoms. In the poster, wearing navy blue shirts, they stare into each other’s eyes. “I know that there are no barriers to my love,” reads the text. “H. I. V. is not an obstacle to creating a family it’s possible to live a long life with H. I. V. ”",true,news,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
827,827,"The American-led  Command just released very dramatic video showing a North Korean soldier trying to escape across the border into South Korea. The tricky thing is that four soldiers were firing on him the entire time The video starts with a lone soldier driving a dark olive-green jeep  down a straight, tree-lined road, past drab, barren fields and, headlights shining, across the replacement for the Bridge of No Return, which was used for prisoner exchanges during the Korean War,  the Associated Press reported.Fellow North Korean soldiers realize that one of their comrades is trying to defect to South Korea and start chasing the jeep through the Korean Demilitarized Zone, or DMV, until the defector crashes and exits the vehicle under fire. He then sprints across the border before hitting the ground in critical condition but alive.The four soldiers unloaded an estimated 40 rounds from multiple types of firearms.The defector a 24-year-old soldier surnamed Oh, according to  was taken to a South Korean hospital in critical condition from the gunshot wounds and lost nearly half of his blood. Oh s surgeon, Lee Cook-jong, said that he found four major wounds on the soldier, who received four pints of blood.The soldier underwent multiple surgeries to repair damage, and in doing so, surgeons found dozens of parasites including a 10.6-inch roundworm, possibly indicating improper nutrition in North Korea s military. His condition has become much better since yesterday. We ve turned on the  for him since yesterday,  Lee told reporters.Read more: WFB",fake,dataset,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
837,837,"South Korea ' s first female president Park Geun Hye will take office on Monday in the shadow of two giants the first is the specter of a nuclear armed North Korea and the second is the legacy of her father , former military dictator Park Chung Hee .  The daughter of the assassinated strongman of South Korea , Park , 61 , will be sworn into Seoul ' s presidential Blue House promising a conservative policy of "" trustpolitik "" with its volatile northern neighbor a concept that emphasizes what she has called "" mutually binding expectations "" between the two sides .  The policy stands in contrast to that of former President Lee Myung bak , who demanded an end to Pyongyang ' s nuclear arms program as a condition of economic aid .  His hard line stance came under fire towards the end of his tenure for having achieved little , and for even having further strained relations between the two Koreas .  It ' s hoped that Park ' s softer carrot and stick approach will tease concessions from Pyongyang at a time when relations have reached an all time nadir .  In 2010 , the North shelled the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong leaving two marines and two civilians dead . Pyongyang claimed Seoul provoked the attack by holding a military drill off their shared coast in the Yellow Sea .  That same year , North Korea was also accused of sinking a South Korean warship , killing more than 40 sailors . The incidents caused widespread anger in the South .  "" As one Korean proverb goes , one handed applause is impossible . By the same token , peace between the two Koreas will not be possible without a combined effort , "" Park told Foreign Affairs magazine before winning December ' s elections .  "" For more than half a century , North Korea has blatantly disregarded international norms . But even if Seoul must respond forcefully to Pyongyang ' s provocations , it must also remain open to new opportunities for improving relations between the two sides .  "" Precisely because trust is at a low point these days , South Korea has a chance to rebuild it . In order to transform the Korean Peninsula from a zone of conflict into a zone of trust , South Korea should adopt a policy of ' trustpolitik , ' establishing mutually binding expectations based on global norms . ""  Fiscally conservative and advocating tax cuts for business to boost investment and jobs , Park also has plans to restructure welfare programs and boost the country ' s flagging birth rate .  Regarded as a cold and somewhat distant figure , the 61 year old president elect is no stranger to politics and personal tragedy .  Although she was well known in South Korean politics she was effectively the de facto first lady after North Korean agents killed her mother in 1974 Park only launched her political career in 1998 .  In the wake of the disappointments of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis , she took a seat in the National Assembly on a wave of nostalgia for her father who was assassinated in 1979 . Park one of the founders of modern Korea who assumed power in a coup d ' etat was shot by his own intelligence chief .  The memory of Park Chung Hee still divides South Korea some regard him as the cornerstone of South Korea ' s present prosperity , others as a dictator who ignored human rights and crushed dissent .  While she has apologized for human rights violations during his rule , Park has been criticized for not doing enough to distance herself from his legacy .  Park , who is unmarried , has won plaudits for being the first woman to win an election in a deeply patriarchal South Korea .  "" I have no family to take care of and no children to pass wealth to . You , the people , are my family and your happiness is the reason that I stay in politics , "" Park told a press conference after winning the election .  "" That a woman could be elected in South Korea is historic and important . At the same time , what you basically have to do is be political royalty . I think gender roles are changing in South Korea . It ' s a step forward , but let ' s also remember how unique she is as a person . ""  While relations with North Korea play better overseas than on the domestic stage , where many voters are now inured to the daily threats that emanate across the border , analysts say Park may be better equipped than her predecessor at coaxing concessions especially in its nuclear program from the North .  Park visited Pyongyang and met with former leader Kim Jong Il in 2002 .  She is considered among a small coterie of South Korean insiders who have the confidence of Pyongyang , and analysts believe Park will pursue a policy of economic concessions with the North , promoting commercial ties and promoting trading zones in a bid to ease tensions .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
844,844,"Huw Jones , 18 , admitted drunkenly urinating on a war memorial in Porthmadog , Wales  A teenager who urinated on a war memorial was told by magistrates that ' boys your age were being killed ' exactly 100 years ago .  Huw Jones , who was spotted drunkenly relieving himself on the steps of the monument , could now face having to clean it as part of his punishment .  The 18 year old , who had been drinking heavily after a game of rugby , was given a stern lecture in court on the sacrifices made by his forefathers .  ' This was a disgusting offence on the community and the punishment must reflect that , ' Peter Lunt Williams told Jones when he appeared in court in north Wales on Monday .  ' This is a sensitive time not only is it Remembrance Sunday at the weekend , but it is 100 years since the outbreak of the First World War when boys your age were being killed and injured in their thousands .  ' Last week we saw soldiers returning from Afghanistan and during that war many soldiers were killed and injured .  ' You should be ashamed of yourself and I am sure the community of Porthmadog are not happy at all . Although we can ' t order it , we ' d like to see you clean the war memorial . '  The memorial , which was erected in 1922 , records the names of 156 men and women several of them teenagers who lost their lives in two world wars .  It bears a moving verse by a Welsh poet that translates as : ' Let there be everlasting memory of their costly brave work , for the freedom of the neighbourhood , the civilisation of the world . '  Police officers found Jones urinating on a wall at the war memorial on October 18 , magistrates were told  Jones was ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid worker and handed a weekend curfew , but will not be forced to clean the war memorial  Among the names is that of David Morris Williams , who was a 32 year old cook on a merchant ship sunk by a German U boat in the Bay of Biscay in April 1917 .  Last night his granddaughter , Carol Foster , who lives near Porthmadog , said : ' I cannot understand the mentality of anyone who desecrates war memorials in this way , and I wonder whether people like this fully understand the significance of war memorials , or even care ?  Remembered in Porthmadog : Among the names on the memorial is David Morris Williams ( above ) , who was a 32 year old cook on a merchant ship sunk by a U boat in 1917 Picture : Courtesy History Points  ' I have only recently found out what my grandfather looked like , and also more about how he died during the First World War . The fact that his name is on the Porthmadog memorial means a huge amount to me . '  Diane Williams , prosecuting , told Caernarvon magistrates that  Kevin Roberts saw Jones urinating on a wall at the top of the memorial steps on the afternoon of October 18 .  The jobless joiner admitted outraging public decency and was ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work , put on a curfew for eight weeks and told to attend an alcohol counselling class .  His solicitor , Carys Parry , said : ' He had been drinking alcohol and did not think what he was doing . He did not mean to be disrespectful and apologises for what he has done . ' The hearing was adjourned while prosecutors seek a criminal behaviour order requiring him to clean the memorial regularly .  Local poppy seller Ifan Buckley , 83 , said : ' They should have locked him up or put him in the Army and let them teach him some respect . At 18 , he ' s old enough to know better . '  A spokesman for the Royal British Legion said : ' War memorials honour the memory of the British armed forces who have made the ultimate sacrifice and those who defend the freedom we enjoy . They deserve to be treated with the utmost respect . '  The memorial will form the centrepiece of Porthmadog ' s Remembrance events this weekend .  In 2009 , student Philip Laing was told he had narrowly avoided being jailed after he was pictured urinating over poppy wreaths at a memorial in Sheffield after a drunken night out run by the infamous Carnage organisation . The 19 year old was instead ordered to carry out community service .  The minimum age to enlist in the Army during the First World War was 18 but many children lied about their age in order to join the fighting with the result that boys as young as 14 died in combat .  According to one historian , 250 , 000 signed up for the Army despite being underage and many of them were sent home without seeing action when they were found out .  Recruiting sergeants were paid two shillings and sixpence for everyone who enlisted following the outbreak of war , and with the minimum height being only 5ft 3in it was easy for taller teenagers to lie about their ages . Among those who slipped through the net was Sidney Lewis , who was just five months past his 12th birthday when he enlisted with the East Surrey Regiment in August 1915 . He was fighting on the Somme by the age of 13 .  The youngest killed in action is believed to be Private John Condon who was also 12 when he lied about his age to recruiters in Waterford , Ireland .  He died two years later in the Second Battle of Ypres and his grave is now among the most visited on the Western Front .  Boys could be sent to sea by the Royal Navy when they were just 16 , while the mercantile marine took them from even younger ages , facing the perils of the German U boat campaign .  The youngest recipient of the Victoria Cross was John Travers Cornwell from East London who was just 16 when he suffered fatal injuries at the Battle of Jutland in July 1916 .  The ' boy first class ' had remained at his post on  Chester when it came under heavy shellfire from German cruisers .  Analysis of First World War casualty records from one regiment found one in eight were killed when they were 19 the most dangerous age but 4 per cent were 18 or under .  For more information about the Porthmadog war memorial click here to visit History Points  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
860,860,"A 10 year old Georgia girl may have been dead for days having likely been starved well before that before her charred body was discovered in a trash can , police said Tuesday .  Eman Moss , the father of young Emani Moss pointed Gwinnett County police early Saturday to her body in the trash of a Lawrenceville apartment complex .  By then , she may have been dead for days , authorities say .  Emani may have died as early as October 30 , county police said Tuesday while reporting the results of an autopsy .  The state of the girl ' s body indicated she was severely underweight , with investigators determining she had been denied food for several days before her death .  Detectives found Emani had been isolated from everyone but her family in recent weeks . Officials said she had not attended school this school year .  Detectives said they believe Emani was burned to cover up her killing .  The Gwinnett County Medical Examiner ' s Office ruled her death a homicide , though it is waiting for additional test results before pinning down a cause of death .  The episode began with a 911 call around 3 : 40 a . m . Saturday from a man now believed to be Emani ' s father . Police first reported he was suicidal , but on Tuesday indicated that was not the case .  The man told dispatchers there was a body with him . His young daughter , he said , had drunk some type of chemical and died .  Gwinnett County police headed to the family ' s residence in Lawrenceville , a city of about 29 , 000 people some 30 miles northeast of Atlanta .  They found the man who apparently had made the call standing outside a building in an apartment complex . Police said he directed officers to a trash can in a recreation area where the girl ' s body was found .  The slain girl ' s father and her stepmother , Tiffany Moss , were arrested . Gwinnett County police announced Saturday evening that both are charged with felony murder , first degree cruelty to children and concealing a body .  In July : Man admits killing Louisiana girl found in trash can  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
863,863,"One thing is for certain when it comes to Donald Trump s *presidency, he s failing miserably and his approval rating is reflecting exactly that. According to Gallup Daily, Trump s approval rating has plummeted to 34% with 61% of the country disapproving of the job Trump is doing.via GallupWhat better way to make himself at least look like he s doing a good job than to appear to be helping the people of Texas after Hurricane Harvey. Of course, he could just go and help, but it appears that he s brought along quite the press team and perhaps even a video production team to record his actions.Watch the video here:WATCH: President Trump loads a man s pickup truck with supplies in Houston weblink   News (@NBCNews) September 2, 2017Don t be surprised that if in the coming days we see a  video come out on Trump s Twitter feed that will show all the  good work  Trump is doing for the people of Texas. And of course, people will fall for it, as they fall for most of his schtick. However, it s clear he s trying to rebound from a dismal approval rating that continues to sink fast. Pretty sad that he s going to such great lengths to make it look like he s doing a good job. He could, you know, actually do a good job. But that s unlikely.(*pending ongoing investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 election)Featured image via video screen capture",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,present
869,869,"agents interviewed Musa Khadjimuradov and searched his Manchester home this week , said the official , who spoke on condition of anonymity .  Authorities have cast a wide net in the investigation into the Boston bombings , examining everything from the suspects ' movements to people they knew , to determine whether Tamerlan Tsarnaev or his younger brother , Dzhokhar Tsarnaev , received help in carrying out the attack .  "" I am sure the  knows by now that I have nothing to do with the terrible act in Boston , "" Khadjimuradov said in the statement .  "" I would like to state that I barely knew the Tsarnaev family , and only met them for the first time after we moved to the U . S . During the very few encounters , which were initiated by Tsarnaev , we have never discussed political or religious issues , so I could never guess what ideas were in their minds . ""  What we know about Chechnya  Khadjimuradov , 36 , said this week was the second time he has been questioned by federal authorities about his relationship with the elder Tsarnaev , who visited his home about three weeks before the April 15 bombings that left three dead and hundreds wounded .  Investigators first talked to him on April 29 , he said .  In an interview this week with Voice of America , Khadjimuradov said he believes federal investigators questioned him because they wanted to know whether Tsarnaev had used a shooting range in the area .  "" Because they say he has shooting practice here in New Hampshire . That ' s like two or three times . So he bought fireworks here , from New Hampshire , you know ? And he buy some ammunition for guns here in New Hampshire . And before the attack , like three or four weeks , he came to my house , "" he said .  Suspect : Boston bombing was payback for hits on Muslims  "" So now I believe they ' re thinking like he was coming here to New Hampshire and that I try to help him or something . ""  He told Voice of America that he met Tamerlan Tsarnaev at a Chechen Society gathering in Boston in 2006 , he had seen him only three times in three years , and the discussions were never about religion or politics .  What was Tamerlan doing in Russia ?  "" Nothing . Never . He never talking about the religious , politics or anything like that to me , "" he said .  Authorities have said the surviving Tsarnaev brother told investigators that no one else was involved .  In addition to questions about how the bombings were carried out , investigators have been trying to determine how the Tsarnaev brothers were allegedly radicalized .  Authorities have said they believe the brothers acted alone , but are investigating whether they could have learned from or been aided by terror groups , including groups overseas .  The Tsarnaev brothers , ethnic Chechens , lived in Kyrgyzstan and Dagestan in Russia ' s volatile North Caucasus region , where Islamic insurgency has taken hold in a fight for independence .  Troubled North Caucasus region plagued by violence  Of particular interest has been Tamerlan ' s 2012 trip to the semi autonomous Russian republic of Dagestan , home to numerous Islamic militant groups that have warred against Moscow ' s rule .  Russian authorities asked U . S . officials to investigate Tamerlan before the trip , saying they believed he was becoming increasingly involved with radical Islam . The  investigated , but found no evidence of extremist activity ,  Director Robert Mueller told a Senate committee .  In his statement , Khadjimuradov said he understood why authorities wanted to talk to him and that he fully cooperated .  "" These guys need to do everything they can to solve this case , so they can prevent anything like this horror from happening again , "" it said .  Khadjimuradov told Voice of America and The New York Times he was paralyzed after being shot in the back by Russian security forces in 2001 .  Opinion : Suspects ' culture of migration and machismo  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
876,876,"Turkey clash : Nato power shoots down Russian fighter for first time since 1950s  Nato calls an emergency meeting after Turkey shoots down a Russian combat jet along Syrian border  Nato has called an emergency meeting after Turkey shot down a Russian combat jet , in the first incident where an alliance member has downed one of the country s fighters since the 1950s .  The shooting down of the  24 attack jet by Turkish F 16s along the Syrian border was the first verified Nato downing of a Russian aircraft since the Korean war .  F 16 plane belonging to the Turkish Air Forces   jets operating under a United Nations mandate clashed several times with Soviet pilots and jets operating covertly with Chinese and North Korean forces during the Cold War conflict .  Thomas Newdick , an aerospace analyst , said the Soviet Union tried to hide its involvement in the air war over Korea . Soviet jets flew under Chinese or North Korean markings . However pilots could be heard clearly talking in Russian over their radios .  Mr Newdick said : Russia at the start did try to make some effort to hide their role . It was pretty clear to those involved in the fighting what was going on .  He said there were also persistent rumours that covert Soviet pilots and planes had fought British and French forces during the Suez Crisis , and against the  in the Vietnam War , but this has never been confirmed .  Nato said it would hold the emergency meeting later on Tuesday .  A statement said : At the request of Turkey , the North Atlantic Council (  ) will hold an extraordinary meeting . The aim of this extraordinary  is for Turkey to inform allies about the downing of a Russian aeroplane .  Shashank Joshi , an analyst at the Royal United Services Institute , said both Russia and Nato had a strong interest in playing down the incident .  He said neither side would want to jeopardise warming diplomatic relations as the rivals try to assemble a united front against Islamic State terrorism and there would be a general desire to avoid escalation .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
878,878,"Kobe Bryant on Lakers beating Warriors : ' I ' ve seen stranger things happen '  Kobe Bryant on Lakers beating Warriors : ' I ' ve seen stranger things happen '  Warriors interim Coach Luke Walton talks to star guard Stephen Curry during a game against the Clippers on Nov . 4 .  Warriors interim Coach Luke Walton talks to star guard Stephen Curry during a game against the Clippers on Nov . 4 .  Can the 2 11 Lakers beat the 15 0 Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night ?  "" I ' ve seen stranger things happen , "" ? said Kobe Bryant after the Lakers ' Sunday night loss to the Portland Trail Blazers . "" We ' ve been playing like a bad team , we might go up there and play like gangbusters . You never know . ""  With a win in Oakland , the Warriors can set the record for best start in  history .  Bryant gave credit , and ribbed , his former teammate , Luke Walton , who has coached the Warriors this season while Coach Steve Kerr recovers from a back injury .  "" I used to tease him all the time . I told him he was the next Phil Jackson because he was an average player , with a messed up back . If this is not Phil , I mean , ' You ' re a hippie , ' "" said Bryant of Walton .  "" Honestly , he had a really brilliant mind in understanding flow , tempo and spacing and how to manage a team the right way , "" Bryant said . "" I couldn ' t be happier for him . He looked very comfortable in that role . ""  Walton ' s 15 wins are officially credited to Kerr ' s coaching record .  Bryant and Walton won two titles together , under the coaching of Jackson . Walton struggled to stay healthy through his later years with the Lakers because of recurring issues with his back .  "" I think Phil saw a lot of himself in Luke , honestly , "" said Bryant . "" Luke was part of the coaching staff meetings . Phil kind of brought him along , and I think he still does . If you ' re going to have a mentor , Phil is a pretty good one . ""  The Lakers are the prohibitive underdog on Tuesday , even as Bryant correctly notes that his team has at least a chance even if it ' s a very , very small one .  Email Eric Pincus at eric . pincus gmailweblink and follow him on Twitter EricPincus .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
897,897,"Reuters) - Any moves by Donald Trump to ban Muslims from entering the United States or bring back waterboarding to interrogate suspects could have repercussions for some of his sprawling foreign business interests — from his golf course in Scotland to luxury resorts in Indonesia. A review of press releases published on the Trump Organization website shows that 15 of 25 new acquisitions or joint ventures announced over the past five years were overseas. These include the purchase of golf courses in Ireland and Scotland and deals to license his name to developers and manufacturers in Dubai, Indonesia, India, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Mexico and Panama. The deals underscore the potential conflicts of interest Trump will face after he is sworn in as president on Jan. 20 and his vulnerability to criticism that he is open to foreign influence. Foreign governments could potentially seek to exploit Trump’s business interests to affect his decision making, or to punish him through his pocket book for decisions they object to. Trump’s transition team declined to comment for this story. In the 16 months to May, Trump earned up to $23 million from licensing his name to developers in emerging markets, according to a filing with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics. “The licensing deals are the best of all because there’s no risk,” Trump told Reuters in an interview in June. “I have 121 deals right now, going forward, right now, 121, all over the world, in China, in Indonesia,” he added. (Trump's foreign business interests: tmsnrt.rs/2gakiTQ) Trump has said he will hand control of his company to his children.  However, when he met with his Indian business partners last week it prompted a chorus of criticism that the wall between Trump and his company was still too porous. The Trump Organization has said a business structure will be set up that complies with “all applicable rules and regulations.” Trump has yet to commit to setting up a blind trust that would formally sever his ties with his business.  “I’m very confident he’s not breaking any laws,” Kellyanne Conway, a senior adviser to Trump, told reporters at Trump Tower in New York on Monday. Trump could face a backlash against his business interests in Middle Eastern and Asian markets if he follows through with his campaign promise to ban Muslims from entering the United States, and continues to be open to restoring waterboarding - a form of interrogation widely viewed as torture - or creating a national registry for Muslims, analysts said. “If the Muslim registry is introduced, he will have serious issues finding Muslim local partners,” said Professor Koen Pauwels, a marketing specialist at Ozyegin University, Istanbul. There would be a “backlash” if Trump substantially tightens visa restrictions on Muslim visitors, Pauwels added. In December 2015, Trump’s anti-Muslim comments cost him business in the Middle East when a major chain of department stores halted sales of his glitzy “Trump Home” line of lamps, mirrors and jewelry boxes in the region. Trump has long identified the Middle East as a major growth market, and his company is working with Dubai-based real estate giant  Properties to build two golf clubs - including one with a course designed by Tiger Woods - and a gated island community outside the city.  His daughter Ivanka said last year the organization was in talks on deals in Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Trump has a licensing deal with a developer for a Trump-branded retail complex in Istanbul. He also has signed deals in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim country, to put his name on a redeveloped luxury golf resort in Java and a luxury cliff-top hotel and residential development in Bali. And it is not just in the Middle East that Trump could face repercussions for any foreign policy decisions. Trump’s $1.5 billion billion-pound golf and residential project north of Aberdeen in Scotland could also be affected, warned councilor Isobel Davidson, who sits on the panel responsible for approving planning applications for the project. If Trump proceeds with any anti-Muslim proposal, it could make it harder for him to advance his development, she said. “Councilors are not supposed to take the character of the applicant into consideration when we are making a planning decision but sometimes it’s quite hard not to,” she said. Analysts said they saw more potential upside for Trump’s business from his election than downside. Very simply, people would want to be associated with the personal brand of the U.S. president. “It will have a boost because he has become more famous that he was before,” said Professor Chiranjib Sen, Azim Premji University in India’s Bangalore. One test case could be China, which the Trump Organization has identified as a “top priority among high-potential emerging markets,” according to a 2013 press release. On the campaign trail, Trump threatened to label China a currency manipulator and impose import tariffs on Chinese imports.  Suisheng Zhao, a China expert at the University of Denver, said if Trump did impose tariffs and more robustly challenged China’s interests in the South China Sea, Beijing could tell Chinese businesses to abandon any talks or deals with the Trump Organization. Trump-branded property could also present a target for bombings or other kinds of attacks, said Professor Peter Neumann, of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence at King’s College London. “From a terrorist’s perspective, it’s a very attractive target,” he said. What Trump does not do could also affect his foreign business interests.  Mehmet Ugur, Professor of Economics and Institutions, at the University of Greenwich Business School, said that Trump’s businesses could benefit if he takes a softer line on countries accused of human rights violations.  Countries such as Turkey, China and Indonesia would “be more than happy to welcome Trump Organization,” he said. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
903,903,"Sen . Evan Bayh , D Indiana , said Monday afternoon that he won ' t seek a third term in the Senate a major blow to Democrats worried about losses in the midterm elections .  "" Congress is not operating as it should , "" Bayh said at a news conference in Indianapolis , adding there ' s too much partisanship and "" the people ' s business is not getting done . ""  Bayh said he loves public service but does "" not love Congress "" and is "" not motivated by strident partisanship or ideology . ""  He cited the Senate ' s recent failure to pass a jobs bill and legislation that would have created a deficit reduction commission as evidence of what he characterized as a broken political system .  President Obama released a statement praising Bayh for devoting "" his career and his life to serving his fellow Hoosiers . ""  Bayh , a former two term governor , was first elected to the Senate in 1998 , taking 62 percent of the vote . He won re election with 64 percent six years later .  In his two terms in the Senate , Bayh cut a centrist path and worked across party lines , which at times frustrated liberal Democrats .  "" He hates the Senate , hates the left bloggers , "" a friend and longtime adviser to Bayh said . "" They are getting their wish , pure Democrats in the minority . ""  While Bayh had been mulling retiring for a "" good part of last year , "" he made his final decision not to seek re election Friday , said another source , who spoke on the condition of anonymity .  Bayh is the third Democratic senator to announce he is retiring when the curtain drops on the 111th Congress . Sens . Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota previously said they would not seek re election .  Democrats will have to defend five open seats in November , as Roland Burris of Illinois and Ted Kaufman of Delaware have said they will not run for their own six year terms . Burris was appointed to Obama ' s former Senate seat , while Kaufman was appointed to Vice President Joe Biden ' s old seat .  Meanwhile , Republicans will be forced to defend six seats in the midterm elections . Sens . Judd Gregg of New Hampshire , Kit Bond of Missouri , Jim Bunning of Kentucky , George Voinovich of Ohio and Sam Brownback of Kansas are all retiring at the end of the year .  Sen . George LeMieux of Florida who replaced Sen . Mel Martinez after he resigned before the end of his term also will vacate his seat .  Former Republican Sen . Dan Coats recently announced a bid to challenge Bayh this year . Coats served from 1989 to 1999 but chose not to run for re election . Bayh won that contest .  Former Rep . John Hostettler and state Sen . Marlin Stutzman also are bidding for the  Senate nomination in Indiana .  Bayh probably would have faced a difficult re election due to the anti incumbent political climate , but an Indianapolis Star  poll conducted in November indicated that 61 percent of Indiana voters approved of the job the senator he was doing , with 24 percent disapproving .  Bayh also had nearly 13 million in his campaign war chest .  He seemed to face the same frustration many former governors experience when they are elected to the Senate . Instead of being able to make singular decisions , they find themselves members of a slow moving legislative body where political lines are dug deep .  "" I ' m an executive at heart , "" Bayh said . "" I value my independence . I ' m not motivated by strident partisanship or ideology . These traits may be useful in many walks of life , but they are not highly valued in Congress . ""  A source noted that Bayh is unclear about what his next step might be but said he would entertain the idea of becoming a university president , running a private business or heading up a charitable endeavor .  Another source added that Bayh could consider another bid for Indiana governor .  A White House source confirmed Bayh discussed his retirement with Obama well before announcing the decision .  However , a Democratic Party source said Bayh ' s announcement took national Democrats by surprise . The source added that Democratic Reps . Baron Hill and Brad Ellsworth and Evansville , Indiana , Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel all may consider making bids for the Democratic Senate nomination .  "" I appreciate the support of those Hoosiers who have already encouraged me to run for Sen . Bayh ' s seat , "" Ellsworth said in a statement .  "" The next step will be taking a few days to talk to my wife and to folks in Indiana about where I can best serve our state . ""  The deadline for a candidate to submit the required number of signatures to have his or her name placed on the Indiana primary ballot is noon Tuesday .  But if no candidate meets that goal and no Democrat is expected to do so then the Indiana Democratic Party will be able to choose its nominee .  Bayh , a centrist Democrat , reportedly was considered a possible running mate for Obama in 2008 . Bayh ' s father , Birch , served three terms in Senate .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
906,906,"Marouane Fellaini ' s long awaited emergence as a contributing member of the Manchester United squad was confirmed by the Belgian ' s goal in the  Cup at Preston on Monday night .  Fellaini ' s increasing importance to United , however , perhaps says as much about the learning curve being experienced by his manager Louis van Gaal in English football than it does about his own improvement .  Van Gaal arrived at United last summer intent on playing a certain style of football . Almost immediately he instructed United chief executive Ed Woodward to try to sell Fellaini , saying privately that he was ' not a Manchester United player ' .  Marouane Fellaini celebrates scoring their second goal for United against Preston  The Belgian midfielder scored from close range after his initial header was saved  Fellaini came off the bench to rescue United as they booked their place in the quarter final  Had a foot injury not got in the way of a subsequent loan move to Napoli last August , Fellaini would no longer be at Old Trafford . Van Gaal , however , has realised in recent weeks just how useful the Belgian can be when he needs to change his team ' s style of play .  At West Ham in the Barclays Premier League recently , Fellaini ' s introduction as a substitute earned United a goal and a point . On Monday in Lancashire , Fellaini ' s switch to the focal point of a hastily restructured 4 4 2 formation earned him what was effectively the winning goal .  ' I have used Fellaini a lot of times already more than ever and he scores more than ever , ' Van Gaal said .  ' He ( Fellaini ) is a player that when we cannot beat the pressure with quality , we can always beat the pressure another way .  ' Now I have played him for the first time in his preferred position . '  Those who remember Fellaini at his best for Everton and for Belgium will recall him using his height and physical presence high up the field . He was , during his time under David Moyes at Goodison Park , a talented and effective attacking outlet .  Fellaini looked to be on his way out of Old Trafford in the summer when Louis van Gaal came in  A foot injury in the summer prevented Fellaini from moving to Napoli on loan  Moyes once described Fellaini as having the best chest trap in world football . It was a peculiar statement and sounded almost as though the 27 year old was being damned with faint praise .  More interestingly , it was a talent that Moyes seemed to negate after he brought Fellaini to United by trying to turn him in to a holding midfield player . It was a plan that didn ' t work and it is from positions in the final third of the field that Fellaini is now beginning to exert an influence once again .  ' The manager is the boss but of course I like that , ' said Fellaini yesterday when asked about a role up front .  ' I can score goals from there so I am happy .  Radamel Falcao started the game against Preston but was taken off in the second half  ' We changed the game when the manager switched things and I went forward . It worked well . '  Van Gaal certainly didn ' t envisage finding a place for Fellaini in the forward line when he replaced Moyes last year . The Dutch coach understandably felt that Wayne Rooney , Robin van Persie , Angel di Maria , James Wilson and Radamel Falcao would provide him with enough options in those positions .  Van Gaal didn ' t think there was room in his midfield for Fellaini either but , as time has passed , the United manager has realised that English football and particularly the Barclays Premier League asks so many different questions and requires so many different answers that players like Fellaini can become useful .  Van Gaal will talk all day about his love of attractive football but he is , above all , a pragmatist and always has been .  David Moyes signed Fellaini from Everton and described the player as having the best chest trap in football  This is the man who shunted the great Brazilian striker Rivaldo out to the wing during his years at Barcelona , the man who used Dirk Kuyt is five different positions in one game including right back and centre forward during a World Cup knockout game last summer .  Currently the United manager has players like Falcao and Van Persie who are by their own standards failing to do their jobs . Falcao was wretched against Preston and , with Van Persie expected to be fit for the game at Swansea this weekend , one wonders when we will see the Colombian in the starting line up again .  It is , therefore , at times like this that players like Fellaini start to become rather useful indeed . For reasons that are not entirely his fault , United ' s big Belgian will forever be associated with Moyes ' troubled tenure at Old Trafford . He will be known as the big money signing who bombed .  Footballers are allowed more than one life at a club , though , more than one chance . Fellaini will never be an iconic Manchester United footballer but his contributions are becoming frequent enough to have already proved a few people wrong , including his own manager .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
921,921,"Reuters) - The issue of human rights and alleged extrajudicial killings in the Philippines was not discussed during a meeting on Monday between U.S. President Donald Trump and counterpart Rodrigo Duterte, a Philippine spokesman said.  Harry Roque, Duterte s spokesman, told a news conference Duterte had explained his anti-drugs policy at length to Trump, who  seemed to be appreciative of his efforts . Roque described the relationship between Trump and Duterte as  warm, friendly and candid  and said they shared similar feelings about former U.S. President Barack Obama. Roque also said the plight of Myanmar s Rohingya Muslims was discussed between leaders of  and that Myanmar responded.       ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
924,924,"Ted Cruz decided to smear present-day Democrats as supporters of the Ku Klux Klan in defense of Jeff Sessions, and it spectacularly backfired.When Donald Trump nominated Sessions for Attorney General, an uproar ensued because of Sessions  racism over the course of his career.As a United States attorney, Sessions attempted to suppress the black vote in Alabama by prosecuting three civil rights activists for helping black people vote.Sessions  racism is so bad that Republicans rejected his nomination for a judgeship in 1986. Even Coretta Scott King strenuously opposed his nomination in a letter that has since resurfaced.King wrote that Sessions  lacks the temperament, fairness, and judgement to be a federal judge  and has  used the awesome power of his office to chill the free exercise of the vote by black citizens. She continued by warning that Sessions  would irreparably damage the work of my husband. When Senator Elizabeth Warren attempted to read the letter on the Senate floor on Tuesday, Republicans silenced her in defense of their racist colleague, who if confirmed, would gut the Justice Department and prevent it from protecting civil rights and voting rights.Cruz joined his colleagues in silencing Warren and he defended Sessions during an interview on Fox News by trying to link Democrats with the KKK. It s one of the crutches  when the left doesn t have any other arguments, they go and just accuse everyone of being a racist. The Democrats are the party of the Ku Klux Klan. You look at the most racist  you look at the Dixiecrats, they were Democrats who imposed segregation, imposed Jim Crow laws, who founded the Klan. The Klan was founded by a great many Democrats. Now, the Democrats accuse anyone they disagree with of being a racist. That was a false smear of Jeff Sessions and I think he will make an extraordinary attorney general. Here s the video via YouTube:While it s true that Democrats of the past did, indeed, support the KKK, it should be noted that the Dixiecrats Cruz speaks of became Republicans after Democrats pushed for passage of the Civil Rights Act. Later on, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan would employ the  Southern Strategy  to complete the Republican abandonment of Abraham Lincoln.Democrats have worked hard over the last 70 years to recover from their racist history, and have successfully done so by passing landmark legislation protecting voting rights and civil rights.Cruz is also wrong about Democrats being  the party of the KKK.  That claim may have worked in 1870 or in 1930, but it definitely won t work today, especially since the  formally endorsed Donald Trump and celebrated after Trump nominated Sessions.In fact, Sessions once said that he liked the  until he found out that they smoked marijuana. Apparently he had no problem with their racism and hate and terrorism against black people.In response, Twitter users roasted Cruz.#morningjoe Ted Cruz said democrats are the KKK. The Republicans have nominated  leaders. Who represents the  now?  Riley2u (@tawnylinda) February 8, 2017At what point do people like Ted Cruz come up with new lines besides  Soros did it  and  Dems are the party of the  ?  Andrew Kirell (@AndrewKirell) February 8, 2017OMG @tedcruz        FLIPPED?     A @BetsyDeVos SCHOOL?        CANDIDATE?  Emma Catherine (@emmstarr) February 8, 2017Irony: @tedcruz says dems started kkk whom  just removed from violent extremist watch list & their confederate flag waving voters cheer  Joey Toledo (@joey_toledo) February 8, 2017dear @tedcruz democrats were the party of the kkk yada yada yada barack obama  Oliver Willis (@owillis) February 8, 2017Hey, Ted, what was that name again of that head of the Ku Klux Klan who endorsed @realDonaldTrump? weblink  Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) February 8, 2017Read more:Featured Image: Flickr",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
926,926,"Alt-Market – by Brandon Smith  When people unfamiliar with the liberty movement stumble onto the undeniable fact of the “conspiracy” of globalism they tend to look for easy answers to understand what it is and why it exists. Most people today have been conditioned to perceive events from a misinterpreted standpoint of “Occam’s Razor” — they wrongly assume that the simplest explanation is probably the right one.  In fact, this is not what Occam’s Razor states. Instead, to summarize, it states that the simplest explanation    at hand is probably the right explanation.  It has been well known and documented for decades that the push for globalism is a deliberate and focused effort on the part of a select “elite;” international financiers, central bankers, political leaders and the numerous members of exclusive think tanks. They often openly admit their goals for total globalization in their own publications, perhaps believing that the uneducated commoners would never read them anyway. Carroll Quigley, mentor to Bill Clinton and member of the Council on Foreign Relations, is often quoted with open admissions to the general scheme:  “The powers of financial capitalism had (a) far-reaching aim, nothing less than to create a world system of financial control in private hands able to dominate the political system of each country and the economy of the world as a whole. This system was to be controlled in a feudalist fashion by the central banks of the world acting in concert, by secret agreements arrived at in frequent meetings and conferences. The apex of the systems was to be the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland; a private bank owned and controlled by the world’s central banks which were themselves private corporations. Each central bank… sought to dominate its government by its ability to control Treasury loans, to manipulate foreign exchanges, to influence the level of economic activity in the country, and to influence cooperative politicians by subsequent economic rewards in the business world.” – Carroll Quigley, Tragedy And Hope  The people behind the effort to enforce globalism are tied together by a particular ideology, perhaps even a cult-like religion, in which they envision a world order as described in Plato’s Republic. They believe that they are “chosen” either by fate, destiny or genetics to rule as philosopher kings over the rest of us. They believe that they are the wisest and most capable that humanity has to offer, and that through evolutionary means, they can create chaos and order out of thin air and mold society at will.  This mentality is evident in the systems that they build and exploit. For example, central banking in general is nothing more than a mechanism for driving nations into debt, currency devaluation, and ultimately, enslavement through widespread economic extortion. The end game for central banks is, I believe, the triggering of historic financial crisis, which can then be used by the elites as leverage to promote complete global centralization as the only viable solution.  This process of destabilizing economies and societies is not directed by the heads of the various central banks. Instead, it is directed by even more central global institutions like the International Monetary Fund and the Bank for International Settlements, as outlined in revealing mainstream articles like Ruling The World Of Money published by Harpers Magazine.  We also find through the words of globalists that the campaign for a “new world order” is not meant to be voluntary.  “… When the struggle seems to be drifting definitely towards a world social democracy, there may still be very great delays and disappointments before it becomes an efficient and beneficent world system. Countless people … will hate the new world order … and will die protesting against it. When we attempt to evaluate its promise, we have to bear in mind the distress of a generation or so of malcontents, many of them quite gallant and graceful-looking people.” –  Welles, Fabian Socialist and author of The New World Order  “In short, the ‘house of world order’ will have to be built from the bottom up rather than f rom the top down. It will look like a great ‘booming, buzzing confusion,’ to use William James’ famous description of reality, but an end run around national sovereignty, eroding it piece by piece, will accomplish much more than the old-fashioned frontal assault.” – Richard Gardner, member of the Trilateral Commission, published in the April, 1974 issue of Foreign Affairs  “The New World Order cannot happen without U.S. participation, as we are the single most significant component. Yes, there will be a New World Order, and it will force the United States to change its perceptions.” – Henry Kissinger, World Action Council, April 19, 1994  I could quote globalists all day long, but I think you get the general idea. While some people see globalism as a “natural offshoot” of free markets or the inevitable outcome of economic progress, the reality is that the simplest explanation (given the evidence at hand) is that globalism is an outright war waged against the ideal of sovereign peoples and nations. It is a guerrilla war, or fourth generation warfare, waged by a small group of elites against the rest of us.  A significant element of this war concerns the nature of borders. Borders of nations, states and even towns and villages, are not just lines on a map or invisible barriers in the dirt. This is what the elites and the mainstream media would like us to believe. Instead, borders when applied correctly represent principles; or at least, that is supposed to be their function.  Human beings are natural community builders; we are constantly seeking out others of like-mind and like-purpose because we understand subconsciously that groups of individuals working together can (often but not always) accomplish more. That said, human beings also have a natural tendency to value individual freedom and the right to voluntary association. We do not like to be forced to associate with people or groups that do not hold similar values.  Cultures erect borders because, frankly, people have the right to vet those who wish to join and participate in their endeavors. People also have a right to discriminate against anyone who does not share their core values; or, in other words, we have the right to refuse association with other groups and ideologies that are destructive to our own.  Interestingly, globalists and their mouthpieces will argue that by refusing to associate with those who might undermine our values, it is  who are violating  rights. See how that works?  Globalists exploit the word “isolationism” to shame sovereignty champions in the eyes of the public, but there is no shame in isolation when such principles as freedom of speech and expression or the right to self defense are on the line. There is also nothing wrong with isolating a prosperous economic model from unsuccessful economic models. Forcing a decentralized free market economy to adopt feudal administration through central banking and government will eventually destroy that model. Forcing a free market economy into fiscal interdependencey with socialist economies will also most likely undermine that culture. Just as importing millions of people with differing values to feed on a nation after it has had socialism thrust upon it is a recipe for collapse.  The point is, some values and social structures are mutually exclusive; no matter how hard you try, certain cultures can never be homogenized with other cultures. You can only eliminate one culture to make room for the other in a border-less world. This is what globalists seek to achieve. It is the greater purpose behind open border policies and globalization – to annihilate ideological competition so that humanity thinks it has no other option but the elitist religion. The ultimate end game of globalists is not to control governments (governments are nothing more than a tool). Rather, their end game is to obtain total psychological influence and eventually consent from the masses.  Variety and choice have to be removed from our environment in order for globalism to work, which is a nice way to say that many people will have to die and many principles will have to be erased from the public consciousness. The elites assert that their concept of a single world culture is the pinnacle principle of mankind, and that there is no longer any need for borders because no other principle is superior to theirs. As long as borders as a concept continue to exist there is always the chance of separate and different ideals rising to compete with the globalist philosophy. This is unacceptable to the elites.  This has led not so subtle propaganda meme that cultures that value sovereignty over globalism are somehow seething cauldrons of potential evil. Today, with the rising tide of anti-globalist movements, the argument in the mainstream is that “populists” (conservatives) are of a lower and uneducated class and are a dangerous element set to topple the “peace and prosperity” afforded by globalist hands. In other words, we are treated like children scrawling with our finger paints across a finely crafted Mona Lisa. Once again, Carroll Quigley promotes (or predicts) this propaganda decades in advance when he discusses the need for “working within the system” for change instead of fighting against it:  “For example, I’ve talked about the lower middle class as the backbone of fascism in the future. I think this may happen. The party members of the Nazi Party in Germany were consistently lower middle class. I think that the right-wing movements in this country are pretty generally in this group.” – Carroll Quigley, from Dissent: Do We Need It?  The problem is that these people refuse to confront the fruits of globalization that can be observed so far. Globalists have had free reign over most of the world’s governments for at least a century, if not longer. As a consequence of their influences, we have had two World Wars, the Great Depression, the Great Recession which is still ongoing, too many regional conflicts and genocides to count and the systematic oppression of free agent entrepreneurs, inventors and ideas to the point that we are now suffering from social and financial stagnation.  The globalists have long been in power, yet, the existence of borders is blamed for the storm of crises we have endured for the past hundred years? Liberty champions are called “deplorable” populists and fascists while globalists dodge blame like slimy slithering eels?  This is the best card the globalists have up their sleeve, and it is the reason why I continue to argue that they plan to allow conservative movements to gain a measure of political power in the next year, only to pull the plug on international fiscal life support and blame us for the resulting tragedy.  There is no modicum of evidence to support the notion that globalization, interdependencey and centralization actually work. One need only examine the economic and immigration nightmare present in the  to understand this. So, the globalists will now argue that the world is actually not centralized ENOUGH. That’s right; they will claim we need more globalization, not less, to solve the world’s ailments.  In the meantime, principles of sovereignty have to be historically demonized — the concept of separate cultures built on separate beliefs has to be psychologically equated with evil by future generations. Otherwise, the globalists will never be able to successfully establish a global system without borders.  Imagine, for a moment, an era not far away in which the principle of sovereignty is considered so abhorrent, so racist, so violent and poisonous that any individual would be shamed or even punished by the collective for entertaining the notion. Imagine a world in which sovereignty and conservatism are held up to the next generation as the new “original sins;” dangerous ideas that almost brought about the extinction of man.  This mental prison is where globalists want to take us. We can break free, but this would require a complete reversal of the way in which we participate in society. Meaning, we need a rebellion of voluntary associations. A push for decentralization instead of globalization. Thousands upon thousands of voluntary groups focusing on localization, self reliance and true production. We must act to build a system that is based on redundancy instead of fragile interdependencey. We need to go back to an age of many borders, not less borders, until every individual is himself free to participate in whatever social group or endeavor he believes is best for him, as well as free to defend against people that seek to sabotage him; a voluntary tribal society devoid of forced associations.  Of course, this effort would require unimaginable sacrifice and a fight that would probably last a generation. To suggest otherwise would be a lie. I can’t possibly convince anyone that a potential future based on a hypothetical model is worth that sacrifice. I have no idea whether it is or is not. I can only point out that the globalist dominated world we live in today is clearly doomed. We can argue about what comes next after we have removed our heads from the guillotine.",fake,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
947,947,"For years , the Medicare Part D coverage gap or "" donut hole had always left senior citizens with a less than sweet taste in their mouths . There is good news on the horizon . According to federal officials , the Affordable Care Act (  ) plans to close the gap completely in 2020 with a delicious homemade strawberry filling .  "" Americans love donuts , but they hate that hole in the middle , "" explains John Astro , a spokesperson for the Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services (  ) in Washington ,  . "" People are very upset . Instead of a donut hole , there could be more like more doughnut or even a filling . ""  "" I ' m okay with a donut hole only if it ' s accompanied by doughnut holes , "" said senior citizen Mary Shipley from Houston , Texas , while eating a piping hot , glazed , sugary confection of goodness . "" Something like Munchkins , you know what I mean ?  Since 2010 , the  has gradually closed the gap . But senior citizens are quick to point out that though the gap is smaller , there ' s still a hole in the middle .  "" See it , see it ? asked Richard Voodoo , a senior citizen from Portland , Oregon , while pointing at the donut hole . "" I can stick my finger through it . "" Voodoo left abruptly as an addictive Maple Bacon Bar distracted him .  According to provisions of the  , the donut hole will completely close in 2020 , leaving our elderly with a whole tasty doughnut to enjoy . Both Democrats and Republicans support a yummy strawberry jelly filling . But this could easily change with several election years in between and numerous candidates showing passion for custard .  Until 2020 , each state does offer at least one plan to help provide partial or even full coverage of the donut hole .  The Doughnut Plant ' s Tres Leches and Dough ' s Blood Orange are the most sought out and delectable plans in New York . Sublime Donuts ' Orange Dream Star is a favorite among Atlanta natives . Chicago ' s Doughnut Vault has an incredible selection of fresh baked plans , though they sell out well before lunchtime . South Carolina residents are wowed by the coverage options at Glazed Gourmet Donuts in Charleston , while New Orleans faithful turn to beignet based plans at Cafe du Monde .  Other favorite coverage gap plan providers include : Round Rock Donuts ( Round Rock , Texas ) , Randy ' s Donuts ( Los Angeles , California ) , Dynamo Donuts ( San Francisco , California ) , Top Pot Doughnuts ( Seattle , Washington ) , and Federal Donuts ( Philadelphia , Pennsylvania ) .  As it stands , the Medicare Part D coverage gap issue is best summarized by Springfield resident and donut lover Homer Simpson : "" Mmm donuts . ""  ",satire,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
949,949,"Drew Brees had a pretty good day for the New Orleans Saints , tying an  record with seven touchdown passes and throwing for a career best 511 yards . Here is a look at three more Saints who were "" up "" and three who were "" down "" in Sunday ' s 52 49 victory over the New York Giants .  K Kai Forbath : Forbath is now 1 for 1 on field goals as a member of the New Orleans Saints and what a 1 it was . Forbath drilled a 50 yarder as time expired and he actually earned the game ball from Saints coach Sean Payton ahead of Brees , who said that was perfectly fine by him . Forbath deserves plenty of credit for making all seven extra point attempts as well , since they all mattered in a tense shootout .  Tight end Benjamin Watson reached a new career high with 147 receiving yards in the Saints ' win over the Giants . ?   Benjamin Watson : Oops . I went on the radio Sunday morning and suggested that Watson ' s career high 127 yards in Week 6 were a bit fluky , but that he could still have nice performances with something like six catches , 60 yards and a touchdown once in a while . Shows what I know . Watson had nine catches for a new career high of 147 yards and a touchdown . . . . I still don ' t think you can count on 100 yard games consistently from the 34 year old for fantasy purposes , but maybe Jimmy Graham really was the only thing standing in his way these last few years .  WRs Marques Colston , Brandin Cooks , Willie Snead : They deserve to be singled out individually , but too many guys loaded up on big days for the Saints ' offense . Colston , 32 , found that same fountain of youth that Watson has been sipping from with eight catches for 114 yards and a touchdown . It was his first 100 yard game of the season but the 28th of his career , tying him with Joe Horn for the franchise record . Cooks had six catches for 88 yards and two touchdownss . Snead had seven catches for 76 yards and two touchdowns . Snead lost a critical fumble in the fourth quarter , but he got drilled with a perfectly placed hit before he had secured the ball .   Delvin Breaux : Breaux had a rough time trying to stop two other guys from his shared hometown of New Orleans Eli Manning and Odell Beckham Jr . Breaux gave up three touchdowns to Beckham , two on pick plays close to the end zone and one on a 50 yard bomb where he gave up his tight coverage late while turning to locate the ball in the air . Breaux was also flagged for a crucial defensive holding penalty that nullified a sack fumble in the fourth quarter , but Payton made it clear he disagreed with the officials ' call repeatedly in his postgame press conference .   Brandon Browner : Browner had too many penalties to blame the officials four of them for a guy who was already leading the  in penalties this year . He got way too overzealous on a tackle out of bounds early in the game , had a pass interference and two defensive holding penalties all on touchdown drives . The Saints embrace Browner ' s physical style , but he has to be smarter about it .  S Kenny Vaccaro ' s tooth : Vaccaro was missing one of them after the game . He said he lost it on the first play of the game .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
953,953,"For the first time in two years there will be a winner of a Masters 1000 event who is not ranked in the "" Big Four "" after Andy Murray suffered a shock defeat in Paris on Thursday .  World No . 3 Murray , who was the highest ranked player remaining in the draw , squandered a match point before going on to lose to Poland ' s Jerzy Janowicz .  Halloween horror for ' Darth ' Djokovic  Murray had been expected to lift the trophy in the French capital after Novak Djokovic ' s defeat and the withdrawals of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal .  But he somehow contrived to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory after allowing Janowicz , ranked 69 in the world , to emerge triumphant .  The hard hitting Pole looked to be heading out of the tournament when Murray served for the match in the second set .  But the Olympic and U . S . Open champion fluffed his lines and from serving for the match at 7 5 5 4 and 40 30 , he capitulated in dramatic circumstances to lose the second set 7 6 .  The Briton was then swept aside 6 2 in the final set and will now head to the end of season finals in London which begins on Monday .  It is the third consecutive tournament where Murray has lost after holding match points .  Djokovic beats Murray in classic Shanghai final  Murray was beaten by Canada ' s Milos Raonic in the last four at the Japan Open in Tokyo after holding two chances to win , while he also went down to Djokovic in Shanghai after failing to convert five opportunities .  "" I didn ' t play a particularly good game and missed a couple of shots that I would have hoped to have made , "" Murray said on the  website .  "" He probably gained some confidence from that and started playing better . He played a good tie break , played aggressive .  "" I have to make sure I tighten that up next week , if I get that opportunity in the matches . Make sure I don ' t let it happen at The O2 . ""  Janowicz , who had already beaten Philipp Kohlschreiber and Marin Cilic before defeating Murray , has enjoyed a stellar year and will now hope to make the semifinals when he faces Janko Tipsarevic who clinched the eighth and final place for the season ending championships .  "" In the beginning of this year , I had many changes in my life , "" Janowicz said .  "" I changed the racquet . This racquet which I ' m using right now is helping me a lot . Even if I have some weak days , this racquet is actually helping me . So this is one change .  "" The second one is , I have a new fitness coach this year , and he ' s helping me a lot . I ' m doing a lot of fitness . When I ' m at home I ' m actually doing more fitness than tennis .  "" So there is this other change . My behavior on the court is also a little bit different . I decided not to give up , whatever the situation is . I ' m fighting right now for every single ball . ""  Federer to surrender world No . 1 ranking after pulling out of Paris Masters  There was also another shock as home favorite Michael Llodra overcame seventh seed Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina .  Former U . S . Open champion Del Potro , who has already booked his place at next week ' s end of season finals in London , went down 6 4 6 3 to the 32 year old left hander .  Tipsarevic , who played in London last year as an alternate when Murray pulled out with an injury , ensured his second appearance by defeating Juan Monaco 6 3 3 6 6 3 .  "" The World Tour Finals last year was one of my best experiences ever on the tennis court . "" I was always dreaming of playing the World Tour Finals and I ' m excited to be back there , "" the Serbian said .  Elsewhere , the 2005 Paris champion Tomas Berdych overcame big serving South African Kevin Anderson 1 6 6 3 6 4 to secure his place in the quarterfinals .  Berdych , who will also play in London next week , will now face France ' s Gilles Simon after his opponent , Japan ' s Kei Nishikori , withdrew with an injury .  World No . 8 Jo Wilfried Tsonga guaranteed his place in London after defeating Spain ' s 11th ranked Nicolas Almagro 7 6 ( 7 4 ) 7 6 ( 7 3 ) .  "" It ' s really important for me to have qualified , "" said the Frenchman , who will next face world No . 5 David Ferrer following the Spaniard ' s three set win over Stanislas Wawrinka .  "" With the big four at the moment , it ' s not easy to get rewards in tennis , so for me this is one of my rewards . It feels good to be a part of it .  "" I have some great memories from last year where I played the final against Roger . It was huge for me , one of the big moments of my career . ""  Canada ' s world No . 13 Milos Raonic was dumped out at the third round stage after going down 6 3 7 6 ( 7 1 ) to Djokovic ' s conqueror , American Sam Querrey who will play Llodra in the last eight .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
960,960,"Siberia ' s Lake Baikal , the world ' s largest and most biologically diverse lake , faces the prospect of severe ecological disruption as a result of climate change , according to team of U . S . and Russian scientists .  The Baikal seal is the world ' s only freshwater seal .  Publishing their analysis in BioScience magazine the team found the most pressing threat came from the dependence of the lake ' s food chain on microscopic algae .  Lake Baikal ' s algae are particularly vulnerable to expected reductions in the length of time the lake is frozen each winter .  The lake is considered a treasure trove for biologists and was designated a World Heritage Site by  because a high proportion of its rich fauna and flora are found nowhere else .  The report ' s authors say Lake Baikal ' s climate has become measurably milder over recent decades , and that annual precipitation is expected to increase .  The average ice depth in the lake is believed to have decreased in recent decades , and the ice free season to have increased . Changes in the lake ' s food chain composition have been noted , the scientists say .  Shorter periods of ice cover is expected to slow the growth of the lake ' s algae , the authors say the organisms bloom under the ice in springtime and are highly dependent on ice cover for their reproduction and growth .  Algae is the principal food of tiny crustaceans abundant in the lake , which in turn are food sources for the lake ' s fish . The crustaceans could also be affected by changes in the transparency of the ice , an expected result of shifting precipitation and wind patterns .  Shortened periods of ice cover and changes in the ice ' s transparency may also harm the Baikal seal , the lake ' s top predator and the world ' s only exclusively freshwater seal . Because the seals mate and give birth on the ice , premature melting forces them into the water before molting and drastically reduces their fertility , the authors say .  A warmer , wetter climate may be the principal threat to Lake Baikal ' s unique biological heritage , but it is not the only one , say the report ' s scientists . The secondary effects of climate change , including greater nutrient inputs and industrial pollution from melting permafrost , may also exact a toll on an already stressed ecosystem .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
984,984,"Tracy Orr sat in the back of the room and prepared to watch her foreclosed home go up for auction this past Saturday . That ' s when a pesky stranger sat down beside her and struck up a conversation .  Tracy Orr faced losing her home to foreclosure when Marilyn Mock , a stranger , stepped in to buy it .  "" Are you here to buy a house ? "" Marilyn Mock said .  Orr couldn ' t hold it in . The tears flowed . She pointed to the auction brochure at a home that didn ' t have a picture . "" That ' s my house , "" she said .  Within moments , the four bedroom , two bath home in Pottsboro , Texas , went up for sale . People up front began casting their bids . The home that Orr purchased in September 2004 was slipping away .  She stood and moved toward the crowd . Behind her , Mock got into the action .  "" She didn ' t know I was doing it , "" Mock says . "" I just kept asking her if her home was worth it , and she just kept crying . She probably thought I was crazy , ' Why does this woman keep asking me that ? ' ""  Mock says she bought the home for about 30 , 000 . That ' s when Mock did what most bidders at a foreclosure auction never do . Watch why a woman would buy back a stranger ' s home  "" She said , ' I did this for you . I ' m doing this for you , ' "" Orr says . "" When it was all done , I was just in shock . ""  "" I thought maybe her and her husband do these types of things to buy them and turn them . She said , ' No , you just look like you needed a friend . ' ""  "" All this happened within like 5 minutes . She never even asked me my name . She didn ' t ask me my financial situation . She had no idea what the house looked like . She just did it out of the graciousness of her heart , just a ' Good Samaritan , ' "" Orr says . "" It ' s amazing . ""  Orr says she had taken out a mortgage of 80 , 000 in 2004 when she first bought the home . At the time , she says she worked for the U . S . Postal Service . But she lost her job a month after taking out the loan when she says the Post Office fired her over a  while off duty . She says a wrongful termination lawsuit is pending .  Without a job , she fell behind on her home payments . She sold some property in 2006 for 12 , 000 and paid it to the mortgage company , thinking she had done enough to save herself from foreclosure but to no avail , she says .  "" It ' s just been a bad deal , "" says Orr , who now works at All Saints Camp and Conference Center , a Christian group with ties to the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas , Texas .  With the foreclosure auction approaching , she planned to make the nearly 80 mile drive to Dallas this past Saturday with an investor friend . But she says he ditched her at the last minute . She went to the auction with her family , and suddenly found herself in the back with Mock .  "" I always talk to everyone around me , "" Mock says . "" I mean you can always find out all kinds of interesting things when you talk to people around you . So I just asked her , ' Are you here to buy a house ? ' ""  Mock , who is known as the "" Rock Lady "" for her small business selling flagstone and other rocks in Rockwall , Texas , says she went to the auction with her 27 year old son to help him buy his first home . He bought his home , and soon afterward Mock came across Orr .  Mock says she ' s using one of her business dump trucks as collateral for the 30 , 000 sale price . "" I can ' t afford to just give the house to her , "" she says .  As for Orr ' s payments , Mock says , "" We ' ll just figure out however much she can pay on it . That way , she can have her house back . ""  Why be so generous ?  "" She was just so sad . You put yourself in their situation and you realize you just got to do something , "" says Mock , who says she has trouble walking by homeless people on the street and not helping them out .  "" If it was you , you ' d want somebody to stop and help you . ""  When she told her husband of 30 years that she ' d just bought a home for a stranger , she says his reaction was : "" Whatever . ""  "" He ' s used to it , "" she says with a booming laugh .  Mock says she ' s excited for another reason too . Orr ' s house is located near a Texas fishing hot spot . "" She says I can come up there and fish , and I love to fish ! ""  Orr , who nearly lost her home , says her newfound friend has "" given me back faith and hope to keep going and hold my head up . ""  "" Things happen for a reason , "" Orr says .  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
994,994,"If Joseph Kony wasn ' t the most wanted man in the world , he may be now .  In the past week , a documentary detailing accusations of vile acts committed by the Ugandan warlord has spread like wildfire on social media ( at the time of writing it has had more than 50 million views ) , prompting international outrage and a groundswell of support for his capture .  In the documentary , "" Kony 2012 , "" which was posted online by the U . S . based group Invisible Children , the tales of atrocities are horrifying : armed supporters force abducted children to kill their own parents , brutal mutilations include the hacking off of lips and limbs , and the sexual slavery of young girls stolen from their families . The group says its aim is to raise awareness and bring Kony to justice .  While some critics question whether the film captures the full scope of the conflict , one matter is without debate : Kony now ranks as one of the International Criminal Court ' s most wanted men , facing arrest on charges of crimes against humanity after a 26 year campaign of brutality in his failed bid to overthrow the Ugandan government .  How did Kony rise to power ?  Kony , a former altar boy , was a young man in his early 20s when he was caught in the storm of violence that marked the final years of Milton Obote ' s presidency .  Obote was deposed in a military coup in 1985 , and soon after Yoweri Museveni ' s National Resistance Army (  ) seized power . Kony ' s Lord ' s Resistance Army was among those who rose up against Museveni ' s  .  Kony was a spiritual leader , known as a healer among the Acholi people . He inherited a powerful support base from Alice Lakwena , a spirit medium .  Lakwena ' s followers would "" daub themselves in shea butter crosses which they believed would protect them from bullets and they believed that stones would explode like grenades , "" explains Matthew Green , author of "" The Wizard of the Nile The Hunt for Africa ' s Most Wanted , "" about Kony .  "" It was a mystical rebellion , "" Green says , adding that Kony "" was very much an inheritor of her mantle . "" Lakwena fled to Kenya after Museveni ' s forces launched a brutal attack on her and her followers .  Staying in northern Uganda , Kony rallied Lakwena ' s remaining supporters and recruited more with a powerful mix of mythical claims , charisma and unconscionable violence .  What is Kony like ?  Green describes being one of the few journalists to ever meet Kony when the rebel leader briefly emerged from his jungle hideout in 2006 .  "" Although he was surrounded by phalanxes of child soldiers with Kalashnikov rifles and bayonets fixed to them , he actually looked terrified of meeting strangers , "" Green said .  Despite Kony ' s apparent fear and paranoia , Green says the rebel leader was charismatic and clearly a "" very powerful orator "" when speaking to his people .  "" He had an almost musical voice as he spoke in his Acholi language and you could see that the people listening were completely captivated . ""  What are Kony ' s tactics ?  If Kony attracted supporters through his "" mystical powers "" and charisma , he kept them through fear .  "" Certainly the violence is what made his movement so terrifying , "" Green says . "" These attacks were carried out often with machetes or clubs and the violence was designed with a very clear political purpose . It was designed to illustrate to the people in northern Uganda that the government of President Museveni could not protect them . ""  Kony ' s forces are believed to have abducted thousands of children to join his cause however the exact number is unconfirmed . At the height of the violence during the mid 2000s , parents tried to protect their children from harm by sending them to sleep in towns , away from Kony ' s ruthless kidnappers .  Brutal punishments were inflicted on those who were accused of disloyalty by an increasingly paranoid leader , Green says . "" Kony once gave an order that anyone caught riding a bicycle should have their legs cut off . Bicycles were a very common means of transport in rural areas and he was worried that informers , if they saw the rebels , would rapidly pedal away and alert the nearest army post . ""  And similarly he would cut off people ' s hands as a kind of warning not to raise any hands against the rebels , "" Green adds .  How organized is the Lord ' s Resistance Army ?  Kony created the Lord ' s Resistance Army with the intention to lead , based on his version of the Ten Commandments . Since then it has grown into a "" disciplined fighting force , "" says Green , explaining that its members occupy a rank and are rewarded for loyalty .  "" He cultivates this image of himself as a medium for the power of the spirit and at other times , he presents himself as a ruthless military leader . So he ' s able to maintain cohesion as a group and maintain the loyalty of his fighters , "" Dalby said .  He noted that some former  fighters from northern Uganda have given clues as to why some outside the group stayed loyal to Kony . "" They expressed the feeling that because they were given a rank , they were given a certain purpose , and respect and authority , "" Dalby says . "" And then , once they ' re outside the  , they find they ' ve become just another poor person , trying to survive . ""  Where is Kony now ?  "" Kony fled back into Sudan probably in late 2005 , 2006 and he has not been back into Uganda since , as far as we know , "" Green said .  He is believed to be accompanied by a small band of supporters , though his followers are still said to be terrorizing people elsewhere on the continent .  "" The mass abduction of Ugandan children and the terrible atrocities , the massacres that Kony committed have not occurred for some years now , "" added Green . "" However , his forces are still on the loose in places like Central African Republic and Eastern Congo , and they still retain the capacity to kill large numbers of civilians . So although they ' re not a threat to Uganda now , they certainly are a threat to the region . ""  The U . S . has listed the  as a terrorist group and in October , Washington authorized up to 100 U . S . Special Operations trainers and military advisers to assist African forces searching for Kony and other leaders of the  .  The activities of the group are tracked on a website that uses information from the Invisible Children ' s Early Warning Radio Network , U . N . agencies and local NGOs to map and document recent crimes .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
996,996,"A veteran House representative from Texas is under fire for awarding charitable scholarships associated with the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation to her family members and relatives of an aide .  Todd Gillman , The Dallas Morning News ' Washington bureau chief , told ""  360 "" that new documents show Johnson awarded scholarship money to her grandsons , David and Kirk Johnson , as well as the children of her Dallas district director , Rod Givens , last year . Each of the relatives were awarded two scholarships last year .  Johnson is a former chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus and is a former board member of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation , which gives each member 10 , 000 every year to award as scholarships to students in each member ' s district . The scholarship money comes from tax deductible charitable donations .  The newspaper reported that Johnson has awarded more than 25 , 000 in scholarships to two grandsons , two great nephews , and Givens ' children in the past five years .  David Johnson received scholarships three years in a row , and Kirk Johnson won scholarships four years in a row .  Johnson ' s great nephew Preston A . Moore received scholarships for three consecutive years , and her great nephew Gregory D . Moore  received money for two consecutive years .  The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation ' s rules state eligible students must attend school in the district of the caucus member and not be related to anyone affiliated with the caucus .  In addition to violating the latter rule , none of Johnson ' s nor Givens ' relatives who received scholarships lived in Johnson ' s district , according to the newspaper .  ""  360 "" invited Johnson and Givens to appear on the show Monday night , but was told they were unavailable .  "" Rep . Johnson told us that she did not know the rules of our scholarships , and that once she realized she erred , she would make retribution to the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation in terms of returning the money , "" she said .  "" This is the first time , to our knowledge , this has happened . ""  When asked about oversight and whether the foundation has ever investigated where the scholarship money goes , Cooper said , "" We ' ve had no reason to investigate . ""  She said the foundation ' s board members will examine the situation , and board members will go back and review applications to ensure students met the qualifications . But Johnson is a former board member of the foundation , and some wonder whether an independent investigator needs to be involved .  "" I can ' t address that issue , "" Cooper said . "" All I can say is that we will send it back to our board . But certainly we don ' t want this to happen again . ""  Johnson has told the newspaper that when she signed off on the list of names of students who were to receive scholarships , she recognized the names , but also said , "" immediate family doesn ' t include grandchildren . ""  But according to her website , "" Congresswoman Johnson counts among her greatest accomplishments her son , Kirk , and her three grandsons , Kirk Jr . , David , and James . ""  Johnson told the newspaper if there had been more "" very worthy applicants in my district , "" she probably would not have given the scholarship money to the relatives .  Some students in Johnson ' s district may not have known the opportunity existed . Unlike other members of the Congressional Black Caucus , Johnson does not publicize the scholarship on her website .  Scholarship applicants also have to sign off on an agreement saying they are not related to anyone associated with the caucus or the caucus foundation . It ' s unclear whether the relatives of Johnson and Givens were instructed to say they were not related .  Johnson is running for her 10th term as representative of Texas ' 30th Congressional district , which covers parts of Dallas and the surrounding area .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past
998,998,"Washington Just two months after the brinksmanship of the "" fiscal cliff , "" on Friday Washington faced yet another deadline to avoid yet another fiscal calamity of its own making .  But this time , something is different .  As congressional leaders met in the White House on Friday for what was little more than a photo op on the day forced budget cuts went into effect , this time there are no 11th hour negotiations to save the day . There is no last minute effort to call in Vice President Joe Biden on behalf of Democrats or Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on behalf of Republicans to get things back on track .  Obama : ' I am not a dictator , I ' m the president '  Instead , for the past few weeks , all sides the White House and Congress , Democrats and Republicans have done nothing but squabble like a dysfunctional married couple about who is responsible for the bad policy that is the forced budget cuts , all while avoiding dealing with the real issues .  National leaders ' apparent lack of interest in working out an alternative to the cuts was symbolized by the meeting Friday morning at the White House . As if to check off the "" we did everything we could "" box , say couples counselors , President Obama and congressional leaders from both parties met to show that they met even though earlier this week , Obama told Hill leaders they needed to be "" ready to talk solutions . ""  As expected , the meeting produced no breakthrough and Friday night President Obama formally began the process of implementing the forced budget cuts he and Congress have been criticizing for weeks .  If it feels like a child helplessly watching bickering parents repeat a dysfunctional cycle of disagreement , recrimination and contempt while not addressing the root cause of what ' s wrong in their relationship , there ' s good reason .  Spending cut politics : D j vu all over again  "" They ' ve lost sight of the big picture because they ' re so determined to be right and to win the argument , and that ' s what happens with couples , "" said Sharon Rivkin , a California based marriage counselor and author of "" Breaking the Argument Cycle . ""  The need to be right , shaming and blaming are the three major obstacles to a healthy relationship , Rivkin said . "" And that ' s exactly what they ' re doing the Democrats and the Republicans are doing with each other . They ' re attacking and defending and really just want to be right . And are not looking at the impact that it ' s going to have on children and the economy and the country . ""  Spending cuts : When they ' ll really bite  In addition to the contempt that seems to be building on both sides , Rivkin flagged misdirected disagreement as another sign that the relationship between Democrats and Republicans has become dysfunctional to the point of needing therapy .  "" They ' re arguing about the wrong things , and that ' s what happens in couples : You ' re not even arguing about what ' s really going on . You ' re just arguing to win , "" Rivkin said .  "" They should be talking about economic growth and how to reduce the budget deficit and how they can be fair , "" the therapist observed . Instead , both sides are squabbling over who originally had the idea for the forced spending cuts . "" You can ' t win in an argument like that , because it ' s he said , she said , and they ' re not getting to the root of the issues . ""  Teachers : How will you be affected ?  Then there is Obama and House Speaker John Boehner , a couple that seems to have the most strained relationship in a dysfunctional Washington . Rivkin says that if the two men came to her for therapy , she ' d first listen to their gripes about one another . "" And then I ' d try to make it more human "" by getting away from their superficial disagreements and appealing to their shared concern for the well being of the country .  "" If I talked to them long enough , there ' s got to be something that they agree on , "" Rivkin said , adding that finding a point of agreement in a quarrelling couple is "" very powerful . ""  Obama signs order activating deep spending cuts  Rivkin also said that Boehner ' s recent announcement that he will no longer negotiate directly with Obama is another sign that the relationship between the two men is in serious trouble .  "" The healthiest relationships are the ones where you can negotiate , "" the marriage counselor said , "" where you feel safe to put everything out there . ""  Laurie Puhn , a couples mediator and author of "" Fight Less , Love More , "" likens Friday ' s meeting at the White House to a couple ' s mediation session where both spouses come into the room but refuse to speak .  ""  , "" Puhn said , "" you got the image . You can check off your list ( that ) you did couples mediation , but clearly nothing could possibly be accomplished . ""  Like a married couple desperately in need of outside help to understand and resolve their differences , Puhn noted , "" each political party the individuals within them is all about what I want . Here ' s what I want . Here ' s what I need . Here ' s what I won ' t do . Here ' s what I won ' t give up . Everybody ' s making demands , and they ' re each just completely thinking about themselves . ""  In mediation , Puhn tries to avoid the personal acrimony between a couple and instead focus on identifying a list of underlying issues or concerns in their relationship . Then she focuses on areas of agreement about those issues and sets those aside so the couple can focus on the areas of disagreement .  "" You narrow it down . . . and what you ' re left with are the sticking points , "" Puhn said . Then the task becomes avoiding focusing on a single sticking point and , instead , finding some give and take amongst all the sticking points .  "" Most of the time , people can ' t identify their actual problems , "" Puhn said of her work with distressed couples . "" And I think that ' s what we see between the president and the speaker . ""  Obama and Boehner and both political parties seem to be suffering from another affliction Puhn sees in struggling couples . "" If we ' re going to fight , let ' s have a good fight . . . . Let ' s make our goal in a fight to reach a solution . The goal is not to win . . . not to persuade your mate . ""  As a mediator , Puhn said , much of what she does is to control the environment where a couple is brainstorming tradeoffs between their sticking points on critical issues so that one spouse isn ' t given the opportunity to see the other ' s willingness to compromise as leverage or weakness . In so doing , Puhn often acts as a substitute for the trust between the couple that has broken down by the time they seek her help .  Puhn said Obama and Boehner and Democrats and Republicans in Washington "" absolutely "" need a mediator whom both sides trust who can get them refocused from their entrenched positions to their underlying interests and goals .  "" As a politician , you should be able to understand and mediate through what your interests are , "" Puhn said . "" And if you really can ' t move away from the words and the specific rules on the table and the ( governmental ) programs you ' re discussing , what it means is that you ' re truly just focused on what it ' s going to look like what the image is of whatever you agree to . ""  Suffering from sequester burnout ? You ' re not alone  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
1017,1017,"Paul Scholes is used to plaudits from his peers as one of the greatest midfielders of his generation by now but not usually at half time during a game .  World Cup winner and Bayern Munich star Bastian Schweinsteiger sought out the legendary midfielder during the break at an all star game at the Allianz Arena with one thing on his mind : claiming Scholes ' shirt .  The former England international obliged and took his fellow midfielder ' s shirt too as a memento from the occasion before playing the second half in a blank replica .   : Scroll down to watch Paul Scholes talking about Bastian Schweinsteiger ' s request  Paul Scholes fan club : Bastian Schweinsteiger asked the United legend for his shirt at half time in Munich  Good workout : Scholes was captaining a United  in a charity game vs Bayern Munich at the Allianz  Big fan : Schweinsteiger made a swift move to nab the legendary midfielder ' s shirt at the break  ' I ' ve given it to Schweinsteiger , ' Scholes said when asked about the whereabouts of his numbered shirt .  ' He asked me for a shirt at half time so I gave it to him . He gave me a shirt too which was nice because he ' s an amazing footballer , he ' s just won the World Cup . It was nice to speak to him .  ' It ' s nice to swap a shirt with such a great player a man who ' s won the World Cup and many trophies with Bayern Munich and been a fantastic player to speak to him for a few minutes was nice . '  Scholes scored United ' s second goal in a 3 3 draw at the Allianz and spoke about the tough task of completing 90 minutes at the age of 39 .  ' It ' s very difficult when you get to 40 but it was very enjoyable six goals , hopefully the crowd enjoyed the game . '  Interview : Scholes told a reporter after the game about where his original shirt from the game had gone  Give us a spin : Scholes shows off the back of his jersey now numberless after the swap  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
1030,1030,"A British adventurer rescued after a failed attempt to sail solo around the globe says she is relieved to be back on land .  Sara Outen tweeted a photo of herself late Saturday from a Japanese hospital where she is undergoing evaluation after the nation ' s coast guard rescued her when her boat became disabled .  "" Relieved to be back on land and with friends , "" Outen tweeted .  Outen began her solo circumnavigation April 1 , 2011 , in London with plans to cycle , row and kayak more than 20 , 000 miles . She hoped to finish in London in autumn 2013 .  She was traveling alone when her boat was damaged during a tropical storm , rolling several times . A nearby merchant vessel and a coast guard plane kept watch on her until the rescue ship arrived .  Outen kept followers apprised of her ordeal in real time , tweeting from sea : "" Focusing on calm trying2 block out wind and waves . Visualizing family and friends pulling us in . ""  More from Mainsail : The sailing world ' s hardest race  She was rescued Friday , though rough waters made it impossible for the Japan coast guard to tow her boat Gulliver back to port .  "" As expected , due to adverse sea conditions , it was not possible to tow Gulliver back to land . , "" Outen ' s support team , London2London , said in a blog post Saturday . The team was "" looking at options regarding Gulliver . ""  Outen was halfway to her goal when her boat was damaged . Her team says she has cycled and kayaked more than 11 , 000 miles , going through countries including Germany , Poland , Ukraine , Kazakhstan and China .  Meanwhile , a second solo British rower who was stranded about 280 miles northeast of where Outen was found has been rescued , according to his website .  Charlie Martell was attempting to row 6 , 000 miles across the Pacific when his boat was disabled by the same tropical storm that damaged Outen ' s Gulliver .  He was rescued late Friday by a Russian crew , his website said .  "" Charlie spoke briefly to his support team to confirm that he is in good shape and uninjured , following a 36 hour wait since issuing the mayday signal , "" according to a posting on his website .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
1074,1074,"Aaron Hernandes ' s new lawyer , Not Joan Baez , has been fighting the trial date for the double homicide case against the former New England Patriot . Move over , Erle Stanley Gardner .  Baez has rejected Halloween , Thanksgiving , and Christmas , as starting date for the trial . He has been insistent that the trial cannot begin before next summer . By his claims he has to read 20 , 000 pages to prepare . This is almost as dangerous as submerging 20 , 000 leagues under the sea . Or playing in one league , the  , under the terrifying Roger Goodell . So Baez held his ground during the hearing yesterday . And after a long sidebar , where they had time for a couple of martinis , he came away from the judge with a Valentine to give to his client .  You guessed it . The trial won ' t start until Aaron can put an arrow into the hearts of his jurors .  Hernandez sat stone faced , sandwiched between his lovely attorney and his attorney ' s version of Della Street . If you put a porkpie hat on Hernandez , he could pass as Buster Keaton , waiting without expression for a house to fall around him .  The rest of him seemed simian , with his lineless face under a brow that would make King Kong proud .  We suppose Hernandez was happy to be next to any woman after his previous all male board of defenders .  This version of Della Street came complete with a yellow legal pad , and the occasional whisper to the lead attorney on the case . We almost thought we were watching Perry Mason in rerun , except that Raymond Burr always provided more avoir dupois to his character .  And the prosecutor in this case is more Wally Cox than Ham Burger .  Nonetheless , we must now wait until 2017 and open this Xmas present with bomb squad care when the little cherub delivers candy to Aaron ' s heartthrob female fans in February .  ",satire,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
1092,1092,"In a sobering example of life imitating art , the chaos sweeping the streets of Baltimore may have been partly inspired by a series of action horror movies .  Baltimore police said rioting at a shopping mall and elsewhere Monday afternoon started amid rumors , spread on social media , of a "" purge "" led by large groups of marauding high school students .  The term appears to be a reference to 2013 ' s "" The Purge "" and its sequel , last year ' s "" The Purge : Anarchy , "" about a dystopian future America where on one day each year , all laws are suspended for a 12 hour period and all crimes , including murder , become temporarily legal .  In the movies , set in Los Angeles , people barricade themselves in their homes at night while gangs of violent "" purgers "" roam the streets . The government markets the sanctioned mayhem as a catharsis that reduces crime on the other 364 days of the year when in fact it ' s really a means of population control , mostly against people living in poor urban neighborhoods .  Both "" Purge "" movies were box office hits and a third installment , "" The Purge : Vengeance , "" is planned for 2016 .  The Baltimore Sun reported that a flier circulated widely among city school students via social media touted a "" purge "" to begin Monday at 3 p . m . at Mondawmin Mall and end downtown . The flier included an image of protesters smashing the windshield of a police car in Baltimore on Saturday , the Sun said .  How Baltimore police , protesters battle on Twitter  Maryland ' s largest city has been on edge since an African American man , Freddie Gray , died April 19 from a spinal cord injury he suffered while in police custody . Peaceful protests gave way to violence Saturday night and again Monday , as agitators threw bricks at police , looted stores and set fire to cars and buildings .  Scattered references to purge and ThePurge began appearing in Twitter and Instagram posts Monday about the unrest in Baltimore .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
1114,1114,"The Revenant , about a fur trapper mauled by a bear and left for dead by his companions , brought nominations for DiCaprio , who has never won an Oscar , and supporting actor for Tom Hardy . . ( Source : Still )  Grueling revenge movie The Revenant emerged as the Oscar front runner in nominations that pit big budget movies against small personal dramas and once again shut actors of color out of the industry s biggest honours .  The hashtag OscarsSoWhite was quickly revived on Twitter . It had emerged last year , when only white actors received nods .  Will Smith , who stars in football injury drama Concussion , and Idris Elba from Beasts of No Nation were among the black actors who were not nominated this year . The black cast and director of hip hop biopic Straight Outta Compton were also left out of the race .  In a year with an extraordinary number of great performances by black actors that were embraced by audiences and embraced by critics , for them all to get ignored is tragic , said Reginald Hudlin , who will produce the Feb . 28 awards ceremony hosted by comedian Chris Rock . ( Read : Oscar nominees , complete list )  The Revenant , an ambitious pioneer era saga , led with 12 nominations , including best picture , best actor for Leonardo DiCaprio and best director for Mexico s Alejandro Inarritu , who won the top Oscar last year for the dark showbiz comedy Birdman . ( Photos : Oscar 2016 nominations : Best Actor , Best Actress , Best Picture  The Revenant will compete with gritty action adventure Mad Max : Fury Road and space film The Martian . All three boast budgets above 100 million .  The best picture nominees also include independent films Room , Spotlight and Brooklyn as well as studio productions The Big Short and Bridge of Spies , which had budgets in the 20 million to 40 million range . ( See Pics : Oscars nominations ? Best Supporting Actor Actress )  Amid the excitement from nominees , others in Hollywood were nursing their wounds . Straight Outta Compton and Star Wars : The Force Awakens were left out of the best picture race , while Ridley Scott , director of best picture nominee The Martian , did not make the grade in the director category .  20th Century Fox led the studios with a total of 30 nominations , including for The Revenant , The Martian and Joy , as well as its Fox Searchlight independent film arm s Brooklyn and Youth . ? The tally also includes six nods for Bridge of Spies , which it shared with Walt Disney Co .  The Revenant , about a fur trapper mauled by a bear and left for dead by his companions , brought nominations for DiCaprio , who has never won an Oscar , and supporting actor for Tom Hardy . .  We gave it our all on this film , and this appreciation from the Academy means a lot to me and my colleagues who made it possible , Inarritu said in a statement . Champagne and Mezcal will run tonight !  The Oscars , chosen by the 6 , 000 members of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences , can have up to 10 best picture nominees , but voters selected just eight .  While diversity was lacking in the acting race , the films nominated reflect a variety of genres .  Look at the range of movies we re discussing , film critic Leonard Maltin said . A lesbian love story , a brutal story of survival and everything in between .  Previous Oscar winners Cate Blanchett and Jennifer Lawrence returned to the best actress race , which has no obvious front runners . At 25 , Lawrence , is the youngest four time acting nominee .  This year , she was recognized for playing the Miracle Mop inventor in Joy . Blanchett was nominated for lesbian romance  Carol , although the movie was overlooked for best picture .  The best actress field also includes rising star Brie Larson for Room veteran Charlotte Rampling , who is hoping British drama 45 Years will bring her first Oscar and Saoirse Ronan for Irish immigrant tale Brooklyn .  Sylvester Stallone , enjoying a new wave of popularity , scored a supporting actor nod for reprising his career defining role as boxer Rocky Balboa in Creed .  I was not expecting it especially at this time in my life , the 69 year old actor said in a statement .  Stallone with his Golden Globe Award 2016 for Best Supporting Actor .  Director Inarritu will face off with George Miller for Mad Max Adam McKay for The Big Short , about the 2007 U . S . financial collapse Lenny Abrahamson for Room and Tom McCarthy for Spotlight , about the Boston Globe s probe into child abuse by Catholic priests .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
1117,1117,"A humble wooden deckchair recovered from the doomed Titanic has sold for 100 , 350 at auction .  The Nantucket wooden chair , which once sat on a first class promenade of the ill fated ship , was salvaged by a search team from the Atlantic Ocean after the Titanic sank in 1912 .  Dubbed ' one of the rarest types of Titanic collectable ' , the chair is too fragile to sit on , but has been carefully preserved , having been owned by a British collector for the past 15 years .  A 103 year old deckchair recovered from the wreck of the Titanic is expected sold for 100 , 000 at auction  The ship ' s log records six or seven deckchairs being picked up and taken back to port in Halifax , Nova Scotia .  One was given by a crew member to Captain Julien Lemarteleur , who had previously worked on board the Mackay Bennett .  The anonymous seller kept it by a large window overlooking the sea at his home on the south coast , never sat on it due to its fragile state and instead used it as a display item .  It was sold yesterday at Henry Aldridge and Son auction house in Devizes , Wiltshire , to a  buyer .  Andrew Aldridge , of auctioneers Henry Aldridge and Son , described the piece as one of ' the most important bits of Titanic memorabilia around ' .  He said : ' It is incredibly rare to find something of that size that was on Titanic , was salvaged and that still exists today .  Six or seven recovered deckchairs were stacked on the deck of the Mackay Bennett as it arrived in Nova Scotia  Titanic ( above ) sank with the loss of 1 , 522 lives four hours after it struck on iceberg at 10 . 20pm on April 14  It has a five pointed star on top of it , which was the emblem of White Star Line the company that owned the Titanic  He said that he was ' very , very pleased ' with the price .  The chair is made of teak wood and has an adjustable footrest at the front . It is 57 inches long , 23 inches wide and 35 inches tall .  It has a five pointed star on top of it , which was the emblem of White Star Line the company that owned the Titanic .  Upon his death in 1973 , Capt Lemarteleur gave the chair to colleague Captain Robin Lee . The current owner acquired it in 2001 .  Sold with the chair was an in depth ' provenance package ' that authenticates history and association with Titanic .  Captain Julien Lemarteleur ( above ) , who collected the chair from the Mackay Bennett more than 100 years ago  It includes a signed affidavit from Margarete Pennington , who was Mr Lemarteleur ' s housekeeper in the 1960s .  In it she states : ' I personally saw the deckchair that Captain Lemarteleur told me about on many occasions . He said that various pieces of debris taken from the ocean including this Titanic deckchair he acquired .  ' I recognise the chair as the same chair I saw in the captain ' s garage and of which the captain identified as coming from the Titanic . '  Craig Sopin , 57 , a lawyer from Philadelphia , owns one of the world ' s largest collections of Titanic memorabilia .  He also authenticated the chair and said : ' It isn ' t often that one has the opportunity to acquire such an important part of Titanic ' s story .  ' For such a significant item to have such a meticulous chain of custody is nothing short of astonishing . Its history can be traced from the auction house back to Titanic itself . '  Titanic sank with the loss of 1 , 522 lives four hours after it struck on iceberg at 10 . 20pm on April 14 .  A ship , the Carpathia , picked up more than 700 survivors in lifeboats hours later and took them back to New York .  White Star Line chartered four ships , including the Halifax based cable laying vessel the Mackay Bennett , to recover the bodies .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
1127,1127,"Brasscheck TVNearly 30 years ago, two criminal enterprises known as the Democratic and Republican parties hijacked the presidential debates process. Previous to that, presidential debates were run by a non-partisan, non-political group.No more, now the two criminal parties get to shape the show to their liking. LINE: No hard questions and the parties get to pack the audience with their brainless operatives. No real people allowed.Watch the discussion on the Jimmy Dore Show here: ",fake,dataset,validation,World conflict,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present
1133,1133,"I don ' t know what ' s in Donald Trump ' s heart . I don ' t know what the candidate for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination truly believes about anything , as opposed to what he says and does for presumed political or financial advantage .  I know that we don ' t make fun of people with disabilities . That ' s not because of political correctness . It ' s because making fun of people with disabilities is mean , ugly and stupid . Our parents taught us that . It ' s because decent people understand that there but for the grace of God or the rearrangement of the sequence of a few chemical bonds in our genetic code go we .  Serge Kovaleski , a New York Times reporter formerly with the Washington Post and the New York Daily News , has a congenital muscular disorder called arthrogryposis that distorts the position and flexing of his joints and affects the movement of his arms .  Trump made fun of him at a campaign rally in Myrtle Beach , S . C . , on November 24 .  During his remarks to a crowd of supporters , Trump did an impression of Kovaleski . "" You should see this guy , "" Trump said , flailing his arms , contorting his wrists and affecting a distorted voice .  Justifiably criticized , Trump later said he "" would never mock a person who has difficulty "" and couldn ' t have been making fun of Kovaleski because he didn ' t know him , had never seen him , had never met him and knew nothing about his condition .  As a business reporter at the Daily News in the 1980s and early 90s , Kovaleski covered Trump , interviewed him one on one , quizzed him at press conferences and even spent a day traveling with him in 1989 when Trump launched Trump Shuttle , an airline service that failed after about three years .  Trump made fun of Kovaleski in connection with a different untruth the candidate had told three days earlier at a rally at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex in Birmingham , Ala . Trump said he had been watching television on Sept . 11 , 2001 , in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on New York . He said he saw footage from across the Hudson River in Jersey City , N . J . , a city with a substantial number of residents of Middle Eastern heritage of the Muslim faith . "" I watched in Jersey City , New Jersey , "" Trump said , "" where thousands and thousands of people were cheering as that building was coming down . ""  No such footage has ever been found or shown , despite the 9 11 attacks having been among the most thoroughly documented events of recent history . Past and present New Jersey law enforcement and elected officials and news organizations have said there never has been any evidence that such an event occurred .  But Trump continued to insist that he saw televised celebrations taking place in Jersey City and produced a story co written by Kovaleski and published by the Washington Post on Sept . 18 , 2001 , that he said proved he was right .  The 2001 piece merely reported that law enforcement agencies had investigated allegations that some people had been celebrating on a roof in Jersey City . Subsequently , the investigation found nothing to support the allegations .  When news organizations contacted Kovaleski and asked him about Trump ' s assertion , the reporter stated the obvious : His story did not say what Trump claimed it did .  Trump then accused Kovaleski of exploiting his physical condition : "" He should stop using his disability to grandstand . . . "" Trump said .  It was Trump who dug up and publicized the 14 year old story , not Kovaleski .  Trump ' s fantasy about Jersey City a false memory at best televised news footage of some Palestinians celebrating in East Jerusalem might have confused him wasn ' t the only problem with the November 21 rally in Birmingham . During Trump ' s presentation , a local protester with the Black Lives Matter movement , Mercutio Southall Jr . , began repeatedly shouting from the audience , "" Black lives matter ! ""  "" Get him the hell out of here , will you please ? Get him out of here . Throw him out . . . Yeah , you can get him out . Yeah , get him out . Get him the hell out of here ! Get him out of here ! ! ! ""  As recorded on a  reporter ' s cell phone , before security personnel could reach Southall , audience members pushed him to the floor and began punching and kicking . The guards got him up on his feet and out of the hall .  After the rally , a Trump spokeswoman , Hope Hicks , told reporters that "" the campaign does not condone this behavior . ""  "" Maybe he should have been roughed up , "" Trump declared to Fox News personalities the following morning , "" because it was absolutely disgusting what he was doing . . . . I have a lot of fans , and they were not happy about it . This was a very obnoxious guy who was a troublemaker who was looking to make trouble . ""  I don ' t know if Trump really believes that .  But I know we don ' t assault people for shouting , and we don ' t assault people for doing things we think are obnoxious . It ' s not because of political correctness . It ' s because doing violence to people except in self defense or to protect others is wrong . Our parents taught us that . Oh . . . and because it ' s illegal .  I also know what the incident with Southall looked and sounded like . It looked and sounded like a hoodlum boss telling his henchmen to take care of a troublemaker who was bothering him . It looked and sounded like eager to please goons doing just what the boss wanted : getting the troublemaker "" the hell out of here . ""  I don ' t bring this up because I care whether any particular candidate ends up winning the presidential nomination of his or her particular party . I don ' t mention it out of exasperation with the speculative filler that has passed for much of political coverage and analysis for the last year . I understand the need to be selective about media consumption , especially when it comes to political coverage . So I ' ve limited my exposure to occasional news pieces , columns and relevant televised coverage . ( And the work of satirist Andy Borowitz for The New Yorker . Sample headline : "" Trump : I would attack  on Twitter . "" )  But the Trump campaign ' s contempt for truth , pride of ignorance and sheer thuggery have become its defining characteristics . It seems to me that Trump should be honest enough to take personal responsibility for what he ' s doing , instead of trying to weasel out of it .  I shudder to think that the general election is still 11 months away .  A version of this column originally was published in print and online by the St . Louis Jewish Light .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
1158,1158,"Police dog killed in suburban Paris raid . Are they properly honored ?  Are we doing better at honoring and valuing the animals we use for security ?  Diesel was seven years old when he was killed on Wednesday during a police raid in a Parisian suburb that targeted the suspected mastermind of Friday ' s Paris terror attacks . The Belgian Shepherd was killed and five police officers were injured when a woman detonated a suicide vest full of explosives .  Police tweeted Deisel s death on Wednesday , stating assault and explosives search dogs are indispensable in the missions of the operators of the raid .  The raid , which took place at 4 : 45 a . m . in St . Denis , a suburb just outside Paris , was the closest French authorities have come to retracing the trail of Abdelhamid Abaaoud , the Belgian militant suspected of planning the attacks . Two were killed during the raid , including the woman who detonated the vest and another suspect who was shot . Seven people were arrested . ?  On social media , many others shared photos of Diesel , a dog specially trained dog to sniff out explosives , creating a hashtag JeSuisUnChien ( I am a dog ) . Others tweeted NotAllHeroesAreHuman , and RipDiesel . One user wrote : Goodbye Diesel live well in a world without men .  Photos of the Day Photos of the Day 11 20  Diesel s death ? and the surrounding support on social media ? illustrates changes in the way that the world thinks about the animals we use for security , once treated as disposable . After the Vietnam War finished , American soldiers euthanized or abandoned thousands of their own canine soldiers after the war .  The dogs weren t a piece of equipment to us . I think I can speak for around 95 percent of the dog handlers that I have talked with since the war , and everybody said , I loved that dog , Rick Clagget , a Vietnam veteran who went on to work for the Vietnam Dog Handlers Association , told Vice . It wasn t a piece of equipment like a gun or something like that . It was a living , breathing thing that had emotions and played and did all kinds of dog things . You just fall in love with that dog . ?  Dogs have been used as animal soldiers for millenia . In the 1930s , the Soviets reportedly used dogs to deliver explosives to German tanks ? blowing them up in the process . Other animals , like carrier pigeons , have been used in war to communicate , and even to spy , with camera holsters attached to the birds stomachs .  Regulating animal rights during tense security situations has also been a blurred line , though some are offering better service protection .  Services to protect animal war veterans have since sprung up . Efforts are underway that would reunite dogs who assisted in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with their former handlers in the United States . The United States War Dogs Association offers K9 Care , including medical care , memorials and helps find homes for veteran animals coming home from battle . The group help set up a 22 acre sculpture park that has a famous bronze statue of a Vietnam soldier kneeling next to his dog .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
1172,1172,"Pointing to Donald Trump s recent comments on abortion and controversial appointment of an extremist right favorite to the White House, Mayor de Blasio on Monday urged all Americans to continue protesting the President-elect.De Blasio, speaking after days of roiling protests against the country s yet-to-be-sworn-in 45th president have sprung up in New York and other cities, said resistance is necessary, especially since Trump is likely to lose the popular vote   and therefore doesn t have a mandate to rule.De Blasio said,  We need to hold Trump accountable for anything he does that encourages hate and division   The more extreme he is, the more people fight back, the more it takes away his power. With Bill de Blasio making headlines for fanning the flames of racial tension between police and protesters it s worth recalling newsworthy information about the New York City mayor s dark past; that he was an active supporter of a brutal communist regime well known as one of the worst human rights abusers in Latin America.Judicial Watch uncovered and reported the scandalous details last year. De Blasio was an active supporter of the communist Sandinista regime in Nicaragua in the 1980s. He was so enamored with Soviet-backed revolutionaries that he traveled to the capital city of the war-torn country, Managua, to aid their cause by participating in a relief mission. Upon de Blasio s return to the United States, he joined the Nicaragua Solidarity Network of Greater New York (NSN).-JWThe mayor also said that Trump s comments on the campaign trail about stepping up stop and frisk wouldn t happen in New York as long as he s mayor. That s not going to happen on my watch,  the mayor said.  NYDN",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
1173,1173,"When Paul Williamson got back together with his former college sweetheart last May after 30 years apart his story had all the makings of a fairytale .  But the concert pianist ' s joy was snatched away just months after rekindling the relationship when he was given the devastating news that he had terminal cancer .  After hearing his prognosis last August , Mr Williamson , 48 , made it his mission to marry Anne Hope before he died and yesterday the couple wed in an emotional Valentine ' s Day ceremony in the West Midlands .  Rekindled romance : Paul Williamson and Anne Hope wed yesterday fulfilling the groom ' s wish of marrying his college sweetheart before he died . The couple are pictured together aged 15 in 1981 , left  They first dated when both were 18 year old students at the old Coventry School of Music .  But their two year relationship fizzled out when talented Mr Williamson moved away after winning a place at Birmingham Conservatoire .  Three decades later , Ms Hope , also 48 , spotted Mr Williamson ' s name on a directory of music teachers and the pair decided to meet up soon picking up where they left off .  Yesterday they tied the knot at Elmdon Church in Solihull in a service organised in just a fortnight .  The venue was particularly poignant as it was where Mr Williamson ' s parents were married 56 years earlier .  Emotional service : The couple , both 48 , tied the knot at Elmdon Church in Solihull in a ceremony organised in just a fortnight  Released doves : The newlyweds released the birds into the sky outside the church in the West Midlands  He bravely made his vows despite struggling to speak as a result of his mouth and throat cancer .  His sister Lynda Crabb said : ' I understood every word he said . It was wonderful . '  Describing the couple ' s decision to marry , she previously said : ' Both Paul and Anne were very emotional . I was with Anne and she got upset and said that all she wanted to do was marry Paul .  ' When I took Paul to the doctors , he got emotional and said that he wanted to marry Anne too . We just take everything one day at a time .  ' He never gives up . He ' s full of spirit . He still plays the piano and can drag me around and then out to the pub . Anne is so good with Paul . She cares for him so much . '  The venue was particularly poignant as it was where Mr Williamson ' s parents were married 56 years earlier  The ceremony began at 1 . 30pm with the bride , wearing a white dress with red and diamant detailing , arriving at the church in a cream Beauford Open Top Tourer .  Mr Williamson wore a tailored suit from the Suit Lounge in Coventry provided after his family had struggled to find one that fitted him as his cancer has caused his weight to plummet to just eight stone .  Ms Hope was walked down the aisle by John , Mr Williamson ' s father with the groom ' s twin brother David acting as best man .  The theme of the service , conducted by the Rev Toby Crowe , was a line taken from The Beatles ' hit All You Need is Love .  During the ceremony , the vicar said : ' All you need is love . Who better is there to give that message to the world than you ? '  The bride and groom held hands throughout the readings , given by friends and family , including Ms Hope ' s teenage daughter Ellie .  30 years apart : Mr Williamson and Ms Hope first dated when they were both students at the old Coventry School of Music  Talented : Their initial two year relationship fizzled out when musician Mr Willliamson moved away after winning a place at Birmingham Conservatoire  When Mr Williamson felt tired his bride was seen supporting him by wrapping her arm protectively around his waist .  As they signed the wedding register , two flautists performed Brian Adams hit Everything I Do and Take That ' s Rule the World .  As they left the church , the newly married couple released two white doves into the sky .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
1183,1183,"A contest to turn ' nuisance ' grey squirrels into burgers had a cold reception from animal activists who accused it of being a smear campaign against the so called ' chicken of the trees ' .  The cook off in the Forest of Dean , where the animals are accused of damaging trees , attracted wide publicity in its search for the tastiest squirrel snack .  Volunteers cooked up quarter pounders using three minced carcasses each , and one triumphed with a ' cajun melt ' surprise complete with a mozzarella and chutney topping .  But they were criticised by vegetarian groups who said grey squirrels were being unfairly maligned , while the  issued a warning over how the animals were caught .  Tasty : It took at least three grey squirrels to make each quarter pounder at a contest yesterday in the Forest of Dean , prompting complaints by animal rights activists who said it unfairly maligned the little loved species  Popular : The contest was hosted as part of the Forest Showcase Food and Drink Festival ( pictured )  The contest was held at the Forest Showcase Food and Drink Festival yesterday near Coleford , Gloucestershire , in a bid to get the animal on British menus .  Dozens of would be chefs submitted a recipe to the Extraordinary Squirrel Burger Challenge , and four finalists served up their version of the dish .  Each contestant was handed three ' locally sourced ' squirrel carcasses and added their own flavours to make a quarter pounder .  Introduced to Britain in the 19th century , there are now around 100 , 000 grey squirrels in the Forest of Dean a population the Forestry Commission claims is ' huge ' and ' extremely destructive ' .  Although the agency does not cull the animals , a spokesman said : ' Grey squirrels do cause considerable damage to the trees through extensive bark stripping . '  Trio of carcasses : At least 12 squirrels were killed , skinned and gutted for the family event ( file photo )  Hotly tipped : A poster for the event yesterday promised prizes including a 55 cookery school voucher  Rachel Thomas , one of the event ' s organisers , said : ' It is here in the Forest and we should be using it they are a nuisance at the end of the day . '  But the Bristol based charity Vegetarians ' International Voice for Animals said the ' victimisation of grey squirrels ' was ' totally misguided ' .  Juicy : This image was one of those used to advertise the squirrel burger cooking contest last week  Spokesman Justin Kerswell added : ' This smear campaign against the grey squirrel reeks of both cruelty and irony . Red squirrels themselves have previously been tarred as pests and killed in huge numbers .  ' Favouring and massacring different species of wildlife continues to be a brutal fashion which cannot carry on . '  And People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals attacked the ' desperate for attention festival organisers ' who were ' swimming against the tide ' .  ' Our shops are brimming with healthy and delicious grains , pasta , beans , rice , nuts , fruits , almond milks and soya puddings , ' a spokesman added .  ' More and more Brits are realising that these are not only far kinder choices but also far more nourishing than the dead bodies of squirrels , ponies or any other animal for that matter . '  The  also raised concerns over how the animals were found . A spokesman said : ' We would hope that these particular squirrels had been killed humanely .  ' We would also be concerned about ordinary members of the public possibly trying to capture and or kill grey squirrels and would not advocate this . '  Festival organisers defended the event , insisting it was fair to eat animals that roam in the woods .  The Forestry Commission said the grey squirrel population in the area is ' huge ' and ' destructive ' ( file photo )  Ready for lunch ? Nicknamed the ' chicken of the trees ' , squirrel also tastes a little like rabbit ( file photo )  Ms Thomas said : ' It is no different to going out and having rabbit . It is also kind of an educational thing . It shows that it is a good food source here in the Forest .  By Pascal Aussignac , of the Michelin starred Club Gascon in the City of London  ' I think people seeing it at the competition were fascinated and curious . We had a lot of positive reaction . We haven ' t come across any negative comments as it happens . '  Nicknamed the ' chicken of the trees ' , squirrel meat is gamey and mostly tastes like a cross between chicken and rabbit .  The first prize in yesterday ' s contest was won by Holly Hayes , who won a 55 cookery school voucher for her ' cajun melt ' burger seasoned with jerk spices and topped with melted mozzarella and chutney .  The runner up was Sophie Drinkwater who called her creation ' chicken of the tree surprise ' a garlic and herb burger with melted Gloucester cheese in the centre .  The Forest of Dean is already at the centre of animal rights campaigns because it is the focus of Britain ' s largest wild boar cull .  The cull which is taking place all winter and could claim as many as 500 animals , say activists is set to be sabotaged by up to 30 locals who will inform each other whenever government approved marksmen appear .  The ancient forest is also the focus of the government ' s highly controversial badger cull , which campaigners have accused of doing more harm than good .  Lawrence Jefferies , a catering lecturer at Gloucestershire College and one of the judges , said the grey squirrel was ' obviously a nuisance within the Forest of Dean and it does a lot of damage and there ' s nothing wrong with eating it . '  He added : ' It is a creature with a fluffy tail and some people would take offence at its use for food but to my mind it ' s just the same as a wild rabbit , which is perfectly acceptable .  ' They are a pest , they are in abundance and there is a food source to be had there . And I think it might make a nice cheeseburger . '  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
1187,1187,"Meissen , Germany Rising rivers menaced swaths of Germany , the Czech Republic and Austria Tuesday , as floodwaters inundated historic cities and forced mass evacuations of low lying areas .  The floods are feared to be the worst since 2002 , when parts of Germany and the Czech Republic were devastated and communities in Austria , Slovakia , Russia and Romania were affected .  Seven deaths have been reported in the Czech Republic , while southern and eastern areas of Germany , including Bavaria and Saxony , are also badly impacted by recent heavy rains .  Images from Passau , a city in southern Bavaria where the Danube River is joined by two other rivers , show dirty brown water running through the streets of the historic old town after water levels passed a 500 year old record .  Large parts of Meissen , a town built on the banks of the Elbe River in Saxony , were also inundated after flood defenses were breached overnight Monday to Tuesday .  Those with homes and businesses were moving valuables and trying to sandbag their properties to protect them from the rising waters as the town ' s evacuation was ordered .  German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited towns in the region Tuesday and promised 100 million euros ( 130 million ) in emergency aid for affected areas .  The German military , government agencies and local authorities are helping with efforts to evacuate residents and protect properties .  The heaviest rain fell over Bavaria , Austria , Switzerland and the western Czech Republic from Saturday through Monday , with total rainfall over those days well over 3 inches for many locations , said Miller .  Salzburg in Austria recorded its entire monthly average of rainfall ( 155 millimeters , or 6 . 1 inches ) in only the first two days of the month , he said .  The high waters also will have an impact on businesses beyond the communities directly affected by flooding .  The region ' s rivers are important in the transportation of freight and people , providing thousands of kilometers of navigable channels , as well as supporting agriculture , power generation and tourism .  Deaths reported in Czech Republic  Water levels have peaked in the Czech capital , Prague , but places downstream in the Czech Republic and along the Elbe River in Germany are still at risk .  A state of emergency is in place in most of Bohemia , the western part of the country , said Nicole Zaoralova , a spokeswoman for the Czech Fire Department .  Seven people have died as a result of the latest flooding , she said . Among the victims , two people died in a house collapse , one woman died when she was hit by a falling tree and another person was electrocuted .  Most of northern Bohemia , around the Vltava and Labe rivers , remains at risk of flooding , she said .  "" We have evacuated 10 , 000 people so far , "" said Zaoralova .  In Usti nad Labem , in northern Bohemia , many households are without electricity . Melnik , 40 kilometers ( 25 miles ) north of Prague , was being evacuated Tuesday morning .  The Berounka River , which flows into the Vltava , peaked overnight , prompting officials to raise anti flood barriers in Prague to a level intended to cope with "" 100 year "" floods .  So far , however , the Vltava River has not reached the level of the devastating floods of 11 years ago , Zaoralova said .  Transportation is severely disrupted in the capital , Prague , as well as other parts of Bohemia , she said . But while several metro stations in Prague have been closed , the subway system has not been flooded as it was in 2002 , she said , thanks to a flood barrier system put in place since then .  "" We do not expect the situation in Prague to become worse , "" she said .  Rainfall in Prague has already totaled more than 102 millimeters in June , more than the city ' s monthly average of 73 millimeters , Miller said .  Zoo animals moved to safety  Staff at the Prague Zoo also swung into action as the risk of flooding became apparent .  Zoo director Miroslav Bobek said the animals had been moved from the entire lower part of the zoo , which lies by the Vltava River , to other enclosures on higher ground .  "" Hundreds of animals were evacuated , including large cats , tapirs , the whole monkey pavilion and the gorillas , "" he said in a statement .  "" The gorillas ' pavilion includes a special ' flood tower ' that has been built specifically for moments like this , because the pavilion is situated directly by the River Vltava . ""  Most of the gorillas were lured to the safety of the tower using food , but the oldest male had to be tranquilized and carried up there after he refused to move , he said .  Two small birds drowned in one exhibit but the other animals were saved , he said .  "" We are now working with other zoos in the Czech Republic to see where we can place animals that won ' t be able to return to their pavilions soon , "" Bobek added .  The zoo is expected to reopen Wednesday . The flood damage is currently estimated to cost 160 million Czech Koruna ( 8 . 1 million . )  The zoo was hit badly during the 2002 floods , when several animals , including an elephant , died . Since then , anti flood barriers have been built .  Volunteers fill sand bags  Prague resident Katerina Netikova has spent the past two days helping volunteer efforts to stave off the worst of the flooding , coordinated by authorities and local people using social media .  On Sunday , she headed to the suburban town of Radotin , on the Berounka River , where residents directed the efforts .  On Monday , she spent the night working at a fire station in central Prague , near the worst affected areas of the Holesovice neighborhood , helping to make flood barriers heavy duty tube shaped sacks filled with sand .  "" It ' s hard work , because the sand is wet and gets really heavy , "" Netikova said . "" People were rotating the whole night students from nearby university halls , Scouts , local people and more volunteers sent in by the town .  "" The firefighters just told them what to do , and then the volunteers organized everything among themselves . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
1197,1197,"The list of pathetic sore losers and  s in the  who have said they won t support Trump seemed to be growing longer and longer after the private, inappropriate comments Trump made 11 years ago became public. After last night s debate, I wonder how many of them wish they could take it back. Trump handled the discussion about what he called  embarrassing  behavior better than most of us expected. We all make mistakes. He was a private citizen who was having some boy talk on a bus. He used some bad words and regrets it. He never laid a hand on anyone, but the sore losers who Trump crushed in the primaries and other  s like Mitt Romney are using this opportunity to destroy Trump s chances at winning while elevating Hillary s. Unlike the Dems, who surround and shield members of their party to the end, these turncoats Republicans are not team players Sam Clovis, co-chairman of Donald Trump s presidential campaign, reviewed Sunday night s second presidential debate on Monday morning s Breitbart News Daily with SiriusXM host Alex Marlow. I thought we did really well,  said Clovis.  I thought the first 15 minutes or so were pretty much as predicted, a little rocky, to be honest, but I think from that moment on, I don t think there s any question who was in charge, and I think he really had Mrs. Clinton on the defensive for most of the rest of the debate. Clovis disputed the notion that Clinton came to the debate to  talk about the issues. She s done everything she can to avoid the issues,  he said,  because her tax plan sucks. Her record in foreign policy sucks. She has no love for the military. She s a criminal, and she ought to be in prison. I mean, I m just being blunt: this is a woman who ought to be in prison right now. If you or I had done what she has done, we would be in handcuffs in an orange suit, and we would be in a maximum security federal prison right now. Clovis said it was  absolute nonsense  to construe Trump s call for a special prosecutor during the debate as a banana republic-style threat to jail his political opponent. Director Comey has already come out and said she essentially lied to the FBI,  he noted.  Martha Stewart lied to the FBI, and she went to prison. If Hillary Clinton lied to the FBI, she ought to be prosecuted. And right now, what we have is, we have a deal struck by the Clinton campaign with the Obama administration, and I think if push comes to shove, I think Obama will pardon her before this thing gets out of hand because if they think anything is going to reveal that she has committed more criminal acts than she already has, then I think he ll pardon her. I really do. I think this is in the works. And I don t think the American people are really fooled by this. What we re talking about is establishing the rule of law, and the rule of law applies to everyone. That includes the former secretary of state,  Clovis declared.Marlow asked how the Trump campaign planned to strategize around the intense media focus on his  hot mic  lewd remarks,  considering that even the Republican Party is now destroying Donald Trump over these comments. Well, I think again it goes to the substance of what we have is, we have a vulnerability in the campaign,  Clovis replied, adding,  This is a vulnerability. Let s make no mistake. Let s be honest about this. We have a situation here, comments that were made 11 years ago. They were recorded, and they ve come back to haunt the candidate. The candidate has apologized for those remarks. And I think what it goes to is the fact that they don t want to focus on policy. They don t want to focus on the substance of the issues because the establishments of the Republican Party and the Democrat Party writ large are deeply threatened by a populist movement in this country. I really think this is why you see these weak-kneed, lily-livered Republicans out here   I have other words, but I can t use them on the radio   that go to the heart of what I think is a despicable display of cowardice on the part of the Republican Party over this whole issue. We don t need to defend the comments. I think the comments were bad, and frankly, if my son had said something like that, I d have taken him back to the woodshed. I don t have any problems talking about that and saying that because that s what I think of the comments. The other side of it is, the comments aren t what we re after. What we re after is the substance of who s going to lead this country. And that s what we ought to be focused on because the alternative of having Hillary Clinton as President of the United States is just too terrible to contemplate.   Breitbart News",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
1217,1217,"A week ago , 10 year old Braydon Nichols started to think about his dad and how much he missed him .  Army Chief Warrant Officer Bryan Nichols , a helicopter pilot , had been deployed for two months in Afghanistan .  The little boy , in the car with his mother running errands , brushed back his dirty blond hair and ran his hand over his cheek .  Jessica Nichols looked over when she heard sniffles . Her son was crying .  "" When is Dad coming back so we go camping ? "" he asked her .  Soon , she assured him . "" Your dad is off fighting for this country . ""  The boy replied , "" As soon as he gets home , we ' re going to go on a camping trip , just me and him . ""  Jessica Nichols cannot stop replaying that scene in her mind . That ' s because only a few days later , on Saturday night , she was cradling her boy who was crying once again . Except this time she could not tell him that his father was coming home . She had just received a call informing her that Bryan Nichols was one of the 30 Americans who died that afternoon when their Chinook helicopter was shot down in Wardak province in east central Afghanistan .  "" It was just so devastating that a week ago or so Braydon had that worried look on his face , thinking about his dad , "" she said .  "" Braydon and Bryan were so connected . Braydon was like a little version of his dad . ""  Bryan Nichols and Jessica Nichols met in sixth grade . Bryan was a born military buff . His father was a soldier and served in Vietnam . Bryan enlisted in the military before high school graduation . A few years later , he and Jessica married and had Braydon .  Bryan worked his way up through the military ranks .  "" He always wanted to be in the Army , "" she said . "" He came across the Chinook and was so fascinated . His father flew Chinooks . ""  Bryan Nichols did three deployments during their marriage . It proved to be too much for their relationship , she said . They divorced when Braydon was 3 , but remained close to raise Braydon .  Bryan remarried , and his new wife and Jessica all got along . They all loved and cared for Braydon , she said .  It was Bryan ' s wife , Mary , who contacted Jessica Saturday night to say that Bryan had died . "" She was screaming , "" Jessica said . "" She was screaming that Bryan was dead . ""  Jessica couldn ' t believe what she was hearing . She hung up . Her heart was beating hard . Braydon was in his room , still awake and playing .  Jessica walked toward the room , and stood by his door for a moment , overcome with grief .  "" I went to my room and tried to figure out what was going on , "" she said .  Jessica pulled herself together as best she could and phoned her brother who lives nearby . He came to her house to support her .  Together , they called Braydon downstairs .  In his pajamas , Braydon stood in front of his mother and uncle .  "" I said , ' Braydon , do you know much your dad loves you ? Do you know how proud of you he is ? ""  Before she could say anything more , the boy wilted in her arms , sobbing .  "" I said , ' I ' m sorry . . . your . . . dad died . ""  The mother and son held each other and cried . An hour , maybe , went by . At one point Braydon got off the couch and ambled over to a Shih Tzu puppy , Lucy , that his mother bought him when his father got deployed .  He held the dog for awhile . Then he fell asleep for a bit , and she went out to their porch .  The night gave way to day .  On Sunday morning , Jessica and Braydon Nichols watched the national news broadcast the first reports about the downing of a Chinook helicopter . They listened to reporters say that 38 U . S . and Afghan service personnel were killed , including 22 Navy SEALs . It was the single deadliest loss for American troops since the war in Afghanistan began in late 2001 .  Braydon started saying , "" iReport ! iReport ! ""  So Jessica Nichols went to the iReport home page . Her son told her what to write .  "" My father was one of the 30  Soldiers killed in Afghanistan yesterday with the Seals rescue mission , "" she typed . "" My father was the pilot of the chinook . I have seen other pictures of victims from this deadly mission and wish you would include a picture of my father . He is the farthest to the left . ""  See the iReport Braydon posted  He told her to sign his name .  Within hours , the iReport had become viral . Local news outlets across the country reported on it . More than 10 , 000 people on Facebook re posted it . Twitter was abuzz about it . Many people left comments , expressing their sorrow for Braydon and telling him to be strong and that his father is a hero .  Home and Away : Share your tributes to Chief Warrant Officer Nichols  On Monday night , Braydon ' s mother told him that a lot of people were talking about his iReport .  "" He didn ' t say anything , "" she said . "" He ' s been reading it over and over . He doesn ' t understand the people can post comments so I ' m telling him that people are trying to talk to him . He just looks at the comments and then he walks away .  "" He says , ' Mom , can we go watch a movie ? ' ""  Late Monday night , Jessica Nichols said she couldn ' t find her son for a moment . He had disappeared in the house . She was yelling for him .  She found him in a closet , curled up on the floor , crying , going through a box of photo albums .  The boy said he wanted to take one of the photos and put it in his wallet .  He asked her , "" ' Can we go to be with Dad ? ' ""  She replied that they would go to his father ' s funeral and they would be there for anything and everything the boy wanted .  "" He said , ' Yeah , I ' d like to go be with him when he comes home , and I said , '  , we will be . ' ""  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
1222,1222,"Reuters) - Former  chief James Comey will likely hold back from accusing President Donald Trump of trying to interfere with an  investigation into links between Trump’s election campaign team and Russian officials when he testifies in Congress this week, legal sources said. Comey’s highly anticipated appearance before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday could be a turning point in a controversy that has rocked Trump’s young administration. In his first public remarks since Trump fired him last month, Comey is expected to tell the Senate Intelligence committee that Trump asked him during a meeting in the Oval Office to end the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s probe into ties between former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn and Russia. Comey may also detail other conversations with Trump.  Two legal experts said Comey would seek to avoid compromising a new inquiry led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller or separate congressional investigations. “I would expect him to hew pretty closely to facts and events,” said Jack Sharman, a partner at Lightfoot, Franklin and White and former special counsel to a congressional committee that investigated President Bill Clinton in the 1990s. Another source, who asked not to be named, said Comey does not see it as his role to charge the president or anyone else with obstruction of justice or any other crime. U.S. intelligence agencies concluded in a report declassified in January that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a campaign not just to undermine confidence in the U.S. electoral system, but to affect the election’s outcome. Comey told the House of Representatives intelligence committee on March 20 that the  was probing Moscow’s role in the election, including possible Trump campaign collusion. Trump fired Comey on May 9, a step that stunned Washington and intensified scrutiny of the matter. Michael Flynn, Trump’s national security adviser, was fired in February. The White House said he had misled Vice President Mike Pence about contacts Flynn had with Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Sergei Kislyak, before Trump took office. Federal prosecutors last month issued grand jury subpoenas seeking business records from people who worked with Flynn when he was a private citizen.  The Senate intelligence panel also issued its first subpoena in its Russia investigation, demanding documents from Flynn. The first roughly 600 pages of those documents were delivered on Tuesday.  ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
1229,1229,"New Orleans How do you balance work with motherhood and your belief in God ?  I posed that question to actress Regina King , when she arrived for her Red Chair interview .  "" Being honest that sometimes it ' s not balanced , "" she responded , her skin flawless , her muscles well defined .  She elaborated that celebrities are no different than people of other professions . They , too , have to work hard to sync schedules and determine their priorities and their beliefs . Do not put yourself in a box or even label yourself , she said . Juggling is the key to any balancing act .  King took acting lessons from Todd Bridges ' mother from 9 to 14 . Betty A . Bridges ran an acting school .  That coaching helped the teenaged King land a role in the  series "" 227 . "" Her career continued with pivotal roles in films such as "" Jerry Maguire , "" "" How Stella Got Her Groove Back , "" and "" Enemy of the State . "" On the small screen , she ' s starred in "" 24 "" and "" Southland . ""  It was , however , the real life role of mother that was by far , her "" a ha "" moment .  "" I get emotional because my son is an amazing young man , and it took me to be a mother for me to realize how incredible of a woman she ( my mother ) is . You don ' t know what unconditional love is . You may say you do , but if you don ' t have a child , you don ' t know what that is . But when you experience it , it is the most fulfilling ever . So , that is the greatest part about me . Being a mom to Ian . ""  My question about siblings weighed more heavily . King ' s sister died from a complication from high blood pressure . King revealed that she and all of her sisters have been diagnosed with high blood pressure .  King is one to seek relaxation .  "" Are you from here ? "" the Los Angeles native asked me .  I told her I grew up in Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky .  She marveled and wondered whether I am always as relaxed as I appeared . She concluded that I was and announced that everyone should grow up in a national park so that they can be as relaxed as me .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
1232,1232,"This is the incredible moment an eagle soared from the top of the world ' s tallest tower to its owner on the ground in a record breaking bird flight .  The imperial eagle , called Darshan , had a camera attached to its back as it swooped 2722 feet ( 830 metres ) from the top of Dubai ' s Burj Khalifa .  It captured phenomenal views of the capital of the United Arab Emirates before landing on the arm of its trainer , falconer Jacques Olivier Travers .  Freedom Conservation , the group which organised the attempt , claim it is the highest ever recorded bird flight from a man made structure .  The imperial eagle , called Darshan , had a camera attached to its back as it swooped 2722 feet ( 830 metres ) from the top of Dubai ' s Burj Khalifa ( pictured ) towards the ground where it landed on the arm of its trainer  Darshan , a white tailed eagle , captured incredible views of the capital of the United Arab Emirates during its flight , which has been hailed the highest ever bird flight from a man made structure , according to experts  The bird of prey captured phenomenal views on the Sony Action Cam Mini which was weighs about 300g and was attached to its back , before landing on the arm of its trainer , French falconer Jacques Olivier Travers  The bird was released from the top of the world ' s tallest tower before making its journey to its trainer below  The white tailed eagle , which has been critically endangered for more than 50 years , has previously flown from the top of St Paul ' s Cathedral in London and the Eiffel Tower in France .  Ronald Menzel , director of Freedom Conservation , said the organisation filmed yesterday ' s bird flight in an attempt to draw more attention to eagle conservation .  He told the  : ' This represents a historic opportunity for conservation through these incredible images we are bringing this important cause to the attention of people all across the world . '  In the clip , which lasts nearly two minutes , the bird takes off from the tower and soars over Dubai , allowing the camera to record stunning aerial views .  The camera a Sony Action Cam Mini weighed approximately 300g , which is about 10 per cent of the bird ' s weight .  Upon landing on the arm of its trainer , Mr Travers could be seen punching the air with joy before describing the flight as ' perfect ' .  He said : ' This was an incredible challenge and the most difficult of my career .  ' Not only is this the highest vertical flight that has ever been done , but the eagle also had to fly in a totally different environment , with strong wind disturbances caused by the skyscrapers .  ' This flight will create huge possibilities for future conservation programs .  Freedom Conservation , organisers of the bird flight , prepare by bringing the bird up to the top of the tower  Darshan the eagle prepares to take off from one of the Freedom Conservation team and depart downwards  The bird of prey can be seen perched upon the top of Dubai ' s Burj Khalifa ( right ) as its trainer Jacques Olivier Travers waits patiently at the bottom of the world ' s tallest building ( left ) for his beloved bird to return to him  Mr Travers , who became passionate about birds of prey when he was 12 years old , waits for Darshan to land  Darshan the eagle swoops down and successfully lands on the arm of its owner , French falconer Mr Travers  Mr Travers punches the air with joy after Darshan lands on his arm after the 2722ft flight from the tower  ' Training and equipping birds of prey with these small cameras will allow us to understand exactly what a bird does when it is released into the wild , and will ultimately help our effort to restore endangered bird populations . '  Mr Travers developed his passion for birds at the age of 12 , after being given small chicks from a nest .  He began training Darshan after selecting him from a breeding facility in Thonon , France .  Last year , he completed several successful big flights with his bird of prey including one from the Golden Gallery at St Paul ' s Cathedral to the base of London ' s famous Tower Bridge .  During the flight over central London in November last year , the eagle captured breath taking footage of the capital and the River Thames with a high spec camera mounted on its back .  At the time , Mr Travers said : ' I like to bring the birds where they are not expected . For many years , I have taught the birds to fly in nature using a paraglider . '  Jacques Olivier Travers ( pictured with Darshan after the incredible flight ) described the attempt as ' perfect '  Views of Dubai captured by the imperial eagle will be used by the Freedom team to raise awareness of birds  The entire project was carried out by Freedom to try and raise awareness of birds of prey and extinction  Darshan the eagle has previously soared from the top of St Paul ' s in London and the Eiffel Tower in France  In another impressive flight just a month earlier , Darshan soared from the top of the 206 metre observation deck of the Eiffel Tower in Paris , France .  The bird was released from the inconic structure by its handler , before flying over the River Seine and down into the Trocad ro Gardens at 111 miles per hour .  Darshan is a white imperial eagle , a bird which was once on the Red List of endangered species but has since been saved from extinction .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
1233,1233,"You may be relieved or even ecstatic about the end of a symbol of terror , or maybe it seems like the pain is just beginning all over again .  Both of these reactions to the death of Osama bin Laden , who was killed by U . S . troops in Pakistan , are natural , experts say .  From the celebrations in Washington and New York , it looks like lots of people are happy . Chants of ""  !  ! "" reverberated outside the White House and at New York ' s ground zero as crowds celebrated the death of the terrorist leader , President Obama announced Sunday .  As far as the collective American psyche goes , it makes sense that this is a moment of celebration , says Columbia University psychiatrist Dr Jeffery Lieberman . The country has been experiencing emotional malaise , with a slow moving economy , a sense of America losing its No . 1 status in the world , and a decade of pent up anguish about the threat of terrorism . Much like the World War  years , these have been uncertain times .  Then , rumors of bin Laden ' s death , confirmed by an announcement from the president , lifted that burden of pain and helplessness .  "" In the blink of an eye , the gloom and doom and pessimism has dissipated , "" Lieberman said .  After bin Laden : What does it mean to you ?  But wait a minute : Should we rejoice in the death of another human being ?  But although bin Laden claimed responsibility for the destruction of the World Trade Center and the deaths of thousands of Americans , the outpouring of celebration doesn ' t feel right for everyone .  David Sirota , a newspaper columnist and a contributor to Salon felt uncomfortable with the jubilation because he said there is a "" difference between relief and euphoria . ""  "" A euphoric response instead of somber relief suggests that we are celebrating revenge . We are not celebrating an end to the war , "" he said , comparing it to the public ' s euphoria when World War  ended .  "" What ' s a little scary about this : We were once a country that saw violence as regrettable , but sometimes necessary act . But we ' re not celebrating end of violence , but the exercise of it . ""  Josh Pesavento , 22 , a journalism student in New York who photographed the cheering crowds in Times Square on Monday morning , also felt conflicted about the celebrations he witnessed .  "" I don ' t believe that any person has the right to kill anyone , and I don ' t think that we should be cheering for yet more loss of life . However , I tell myself that in this situation , these people may be cheering for the end of an icon who led to the death of far , far too many , "" Pesavento said .  For some , bin Laden represents an idea more than a person who lived and died . More than the death of a human being , this ends the life of a powerful symbol of terrorism and destruction , said Nadine Kaslow , psychologist at Emory University . Bin Laden ' s death hits closer to home in the U . S . than the capture and execution of Saddam Hussein , for example , because the Iraqi dictator did not directly attack American soil , she said .  The celebratory mood reflects a sense that fairness and justice had been restored and that a terrorist got his comeuppance , said Kaslow .  "" I think people feel like this guy got what he deserved . It was a sense that it was ' our family ' that was killed , "" she said .  But there are likely others who aren ' t chanting on the streets for whom the death of bin Laden brings back painful memories of the September 11 , 2001 , terrorist attacks , she said .  People who lost loved ones on September 11 , 2001 , may have symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder , and the killing of bin Laden may open old wounds , Lieberman said .  "" It doesn ' t bring their loved ones back . It doesn ' t ease their pain . There was so much more to this than catching bin Laden . At best , they would be bittersweet : It feels good to have the relief of this guy being gone , but the pain of their loss is very strong and very real to them , "" said Dr Susan Nolen Hoeksema , a Yale University psychologist .  Is it morally right to celebrate bin Laden ' s death ?  Diana Massaroli , who lost her husband , Michael Massaroli , in the World Trade Center on September 11 , 2001 , said the news of bin Laden ' s death made her feel an "" overall calm that I haven ' t felt in 10 years . ""  "" I feel better . . . like I can start a new chapter in my life . ""  Sirota and Kaslow likened bin Laden ' s death to the execution of a convicted murderer of someone ' s family , which may bring a sense of closure for some . In the case of bin Laden , though , there is fear of retaliation from terrorist groups .  "" Relief also comes with a kind of sadness that the victims can never be brought back and sadness at the world that creates such a perpetrator , "" Sirota said .  Even people who didn ' t feel the direct impact of the attacks on September 11 , 2001 , will feel relief , Kaslow said . After all , everyone gets reminded of the global insecurity that resulted whenever they go to the airport .  The terrorist leader ' s living situation also doesn ' t bring about any sympathy he wasn ' t starving and struggling in a cave , but rather lived in a mansion , which adds to his perceived arrogance , Kaslow said .  The news of bin Laden ' s death "" allows us to put some sort of order "" to the horror of 9 11 because otherwise , "" it ' s upsetting , disconcerting when we ' re reminded how unpredictable life , death and the world around us could be , "" said Sam Sommer , associate professor of psychology at Tufts University .  People ' s reactions are likely tied to how emotionally and personally they felt to the events 10 years ago , Sommer said .  "" It seems to me that the emotional reaction had a lot to do with the differences in how people view this whether it ' s the right triumphing over evil a lot of young people are viewing this in that way , "" Nolen Hoeksema said .  She noted that her teenage son and his friends were enthusiastically tweeting about the news in a tone that "" this is a bad guy , the good guys got him finally that ' s all they are seeing . "" After , all Jack Bauer of "" 24 "" was trending on Twitter .  But the one common factor was that everyone felt a need to share the news and their observations whether it was rallying in front of the White House , or tweeting or updating their Facebook page .  "" These emotionally charged events send us back to our social roots and make us need to affiliate with other people , "" Sommer said .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
1239,1239,"Something about this decision really stinks of favoritism and cronyism. We d love to know who made the decision to punish the American viewers with yet  painful appearance by John Kasich on the debate stage over Carly Fiorina and Rand Paul Rand Paul and Carly Fiorina have been booted to the undercard in Thursday night s Republican primary debate as the number of main-stage candidates was cut to seven by stricter polling criteria.Paul, who is struggling to gain traction in the presidential race, immediately cried foul, and vowed to not participate in the event.Fox Business Network, which will televise the sixth  presidential debate this week, announced the debate fields on Monday evening, after weeks of speculation that Paul would for the first time not make the cut for the primetime event. The seven candidates who will appear on the main stage in North Charleston, S.C., are Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Jeb Bush, and John Kasich. Kasich qualified as a result of his strength in New Hampshire. Paul and Fiorina are set to join Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum in the undercard   if Paul decides to participate. The Kentucky senator told  Monday evening, just before the official announcement, that Fox Business had made  a mistake,  and he wouldn t attend. We will not participate in anything that s not first-tier,  Paul said. His campaign confirmed to  that he will sit out Thursday s debate.His campaign elaborated in a statement that multiple polls showed him well within the network s criteria for qualifying, and contended that the margins of error in polls make them a poor tool for determining who makes the main stage. To exclude candidates on faulty analysis is to disenfranchise the voter,  the statement said.  Creating  tiers  based on electoral results of real votes might make sense but creating  tiers  on bad science is irresponsible. Regardless of whether he takes part in the undercard debate, the downgrade could be a crippling blow for Paul   who has insisted that he would remain in the race through the Feb. 1 Iowa caucuses, even though he also faces a reelection campaign this year for his Senate seat.In an interview with  last week, Paul called for organizers to abolish the earlier undercard debate.  I m not sure what the purpose is anymore, if there ever was one,  Paul said. The Paul camp has fought hard to keep its candidate on the main stage, where he has appeared for the prior five debates. Earlier Monday, the campaign released a memo stating that  multiple national polls  have the Kentucky senator  in 5th or 6th place    even though he s in seventh place in the average nationally and in both early states.  By any reasonable criteria Senator Paul has a top-tier campaign and has qualified for the stage,  the memo said.But it was clear that Paul didn t meet the criteria Fox Business had outlined prior to Monday s qualification deadline. The network said it would average the five most recent polls nationally, and in both Iowa and New Hampshire. The top six candidates nationally would qualify   and if any other candidate appeared in the top five in either early state, they would be added.Paul was in seventh place nationally and in both early states, according to  s calculations.Fox Business outlined specifically which polls were used in a subsequent statement to reporters, saying the outlet used  the most recent national and state polls from non-partisan, nationally-recognized organizations using standard methodological techniques.  Via: Politico ",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,Economy,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
1244,1244,"A number of Arsenal ' s first team stars uploaded selfies of themselves wearing Christmas jumpers .  Senior stars such as Theo Walcott , Mathieu Debuchy and Aaron Ramsey posed in their festive knitwear to support the Save the Children ' s Christmas Jumper Day .  The suspended Calum Chambers showed his dedication to the cause by going around the press room in an attempt to raise money for the Arsenal Foundation .  Theo Walcott and Mathieu Debuchy pose for selfies while wearing Christmas jumpers  Alex Oxlade Chamberlain and Calum Chambers also showed their support to the cause  Aaron Ramsey took to Twitter to post a snap of himself wearing a Christmas jumper  Save the Children ' s Christmas Jumper Day took place on Friday , December 12 , encouraging people to wear Christmas jumpers and donate 2 to the charity .  You can sign up at christmasjumperday . org  Arsenal ' s latest series of Christmas jumper selfies , which were uploaded on to the club ' s official Twitter account before their home match against Newcastle , comes just days after players posed for pictures while donning festive garments .  Players including Alexis Sanchez , Santi Cazorla , Laurent Koscielny and Kieran Gibbs were pictured wearing Arsenal ' s snowman themed jumper , while Arsenal Ladies players Kelly Smith , Rachel Yankey and Danielle Carter were also involved .  Fans of the north London outfit can win a match ball signed by Alexis Sanchez by sending in a Christmas jumper selfie to the club ' s Twitter account .  Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud posted a Christmas Jumper selfie before his side ' s match at the Emirates  Christmas jumpers were hanging up in the home dressing room before the Premier League clash  Premier League ace Alexis Sanchez looked delighted to be wearing an Arsenal Christmas jumper  Sanchez appeared on the front of Arsenal ' s official matchday programme for their match against Newcastle  Arsenal Ladies forward Kelly Smith was pictured wearing an elf ' s uniform  To donate to , or get involved with , Save the Children ' s Christmas Jumper Day , click here .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
1259,1259,"A Little Rock , Arkansas , television anchorwoman who was attacked in her home and severely beaten died from her injuries Saturday .  Anne Pressly , 26 , was a popular morning news anchor at  in Little Rock , Arkansas .  Anne Pressly , 26 , the morning anchor on  , was found in her home Monday , savagely beaten mostly on her face and upper body .  She had been hospitalized and sedated , unable to speak and suffering from massive brain swelling , her family said .  Police said she might have been the victim of a burglary because her purse was missing . Her credit card was used at a gas station sometime this week , police said .  Her father Guy Cannady appeared on "" Good Morning America "" earlier in the week and said he doubts the attack was random .  "" It ' s so hard to understand , first of all , why would anybody vandalize and brutalize somebody to this extent , "" he said . "" There are items missing from the home . The severity of the injuries and brutality of the attack in my own mind calls into question the motive . ""  Pressly ' s left hand was broken , possibly as she tried to fight off her attacker . Her father earlier said that his daughter ' s brain had swollen and she was unable to communicate , making it impossible for her to talk to police .  Public personalities , including those on television , are sometimes stalked .  Police have yet to identify a suspect , although detectives have combed the area around Pressly ' s home in the Heights neighborhood , a mix of bungalows and mansions near the Little Rock Country Club .  A 30 , 000 reward , established by  , will go to anyone who provides information leading to the arrest of Pressly ' s attacker , the station reported Saturday .  The anchor ' s death comes just one day after reports that her condition appeared to be improving . Dr Clifton R . Johnson said on Friday that the swelling in her brain had gone down and that doctors were slowly reducing her sedative dosages .  Pressly ' s parents released a statement Saturday saying they were "" with her in her last moments , "" and that they needed privacy .  On Saturday ,  opened its nightly news cast with a seven minute segment devoted to Pressly . Anchor Pamela Smith told viewers that Pressly ' s family agreed to have their daughter donate her organs . An emotional Smith read condolences sent into the station , her eyes red .  "" She owned every room she was in , not because she demanded our attention , but because we willingly gave it to her , "" Smith said . "" We all felt a little better , a little more alive just being near her . ""  Cannady told  News that his family has received many letters of support during the week from across the world . Director Oliver Stone wrote one of them . Pressly made a brief appearance as a television commentator in Stone ' s new movie , "" W . ""  "" You ' re one hellava gal , "" he wrote . "" Keep fighting . You ' re a winner . ""  No funeral arrangements have been announced .  "" Life was easy for Anne Pressly , "" Smith told viewers . "" But it is her death that is so very hard for all of us . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
1275,1275,"Las Vegas Aubrey Plaza ' s lips are firmly sealed about her  Movie Awards "" Kanye "" moment four days ago , which could be seen as evidence that it was a stunt to promote her new movie .  "" What do you think ? "" Plaza replied Wednesday night at a "" To Do List "" screening .  The actress ran onstage Sunday as Will Ferrell began his acceptance speech for the Comedic Genius award . While holding a drink in one hand , she grabbed his golden popcorn bucket trophy with the other in a not so convincing struggle to get it .   quickly promoted the "" incident , "" while officially denying it was staged and insisting that Plaza was expelled from the audience . The network ' s website posted a story headlined "" Did Kanye West Inspire Aubrey Plaza ' s Movie Awards Stage Crash ? ""  West ' s interruption of Taylor Swift ' s speech at the 2009  Video Music Awards in which he made it clear he thought Beyonce deserved the honor more was soon followed by an apology tour .  He told Jay Leno that his actions were rude and he was "" ashamed that my hurt caused someone else ' s hurt . "" He announced that he would "" take some time off "" to think about how to "" make it through the rest of this life . "" In fact , his planned three month tour with Lady Gaga was cut short .  But Plaza is offering no apology , confession or explanation .  Her only public comment was a tweet posted Monday : "" thanks for the advice kanyewest went better than planned ! ""  Was the struggle staged , but not with everyone looped in , so that  could deny it was a stunt without lying ? Plaza was given the front row center seat closest to Ferrell , whom she said she ' s "" known for a long time . "" The camera did zoom in on her after she sat back down , giving viewers a clear shot of "" TheToDoList "" scribbled across her chest .  "" That ' s an interesting theory , "" Plaza said . "" I like that one . ""  Did she do it because the best way to get a Hollywood entertainment reporter to write about her is with bad behavior ?  "" Is that true ? "" she said . As if she didn ' t know .  Can she reveal anything people don ' t know ? "" I can play the saxophone , "" she said . "" That ' s something surprising that people don ' t know about me . ""  It would "" be a dream come true "" to play sax at the  Awards , she said .  Why wait to be invited ? You could jump up on stage .  "" That ' s true , "" she said .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
1278,1278,"Port au Prince , Haiti Protests erupted around the Haitian capital Tuesday night after an election council announced a runoff between a former first lady and a candidate allied with an increasingly unpopular government .  Mirlande Manigat , a former first lady of Haiti , won the presidential election held over a week ago with 31 . 37 of the vote , the Provisional Electoral Council announced late Tuesday .  Jude Celestin , the candidate backed by President Rene Preval , came in second with 22 . 48 percent while popular musician Michel Martelly was just behind Celestin with 21 . 84 percent .  Fires erupted throughout the city late into the night , and protesters promised more violence .  "" Preval is a thief . We don ' t need Jude Celestin . We need Michel Martelly , "" people chanted in the streets early Wednesday morning . "" Tomorrow we will set the country on fire . ""  Since no candidate obtained the 50 percent of the votes needed to win outright , Haitians will return to the polls in January , four days after the first anniversary of the devastating earthquake , to vote in a runoff election .  But the vote was fraught with allegations of fraud , with many believing that Preval would go to any lengths to ensure a win for his protege , Celestin .  The U . S . Embassy in Haiti issued a statement Tuesday saying that the United States stands ready to support efforts to review irregularities in the vote so that results are "" consistent with the will of the Haitian people expressed in their votes . ""  "" Like others , the government of the United States is concerned by the Provisional Electoral Council ' s announcement of preliminary results from the November 28 national elections that are inconsistent with the published results of the National Election Observation Council (  ) , which had more than 5 , 500 observers and observed the vote count in 1 , 600 voting centers nationwide , "" the embassy said .  Celestin ' s entry into the runoff prompted violent demonstrations throughout Port au Prince . Gunfire rang out on the streets , and the smell of fires and burning tires filled the air .  People ran out on the streets denouncing Celestin . In the central Champs de Mars plaza , white pickup trucks carried police in the back and made their way around barricaded streets .  Residents of a tent city that covers the entire plaza beat on the rows of portable toilets , knocking one down .  It had been feared that a win or runoff spot for Celestin would trigger more unrest in the Haitian capital . Preval ' s government has become increasingly unpopular with Haitians who see a lack of progress in their homeland .  Preval was barred by the constitution from seeking another term . Celestin headed the state run transportation company that gained notoriety in the days after the quake as its trucks picked up the bodies of the dead .  The next president of Haiti will inherit the daunting task of leading this Caribbean nation in its struggle to recover from years of dictatorship and poverty compounded earlier this year by the earthquake and a current cholera epidemic that has now sickened almost 100 , 000 people .  Martelly , a popular Kompa singer , alleged massive fraud and vowed to challenge the results .  His campaign manager , Damian Merlo , said Martelly had expected that Preval would not relinquish power easily .  "" The math says an absolute fraud , "" Merlo said .  The   Joint Election Observation Mission , which includes the Organization of American States and the Caribbean Community , said it maintained a presence in the vote tabulation center . Last week , United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki moon said the suspected fraud in the electoral process was more serious than previously thought .  It took eight days to announce the final results of the November 28 election .  Since then , riots have erupted in the Haitian capital , some violent enough for police to spray tear gas .  Some aid workers , including United Nations staff , left their offices early to return home before darkness fell .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
1302,1302,"John Howard , 66 , bled the Overseas Press and Media Association dry over two years leaving the company facing bankruptcy  The treasurer of a voluntary organisation drained 90 , 000 from the group ' s account spending thousands on restaurant meals and trips to France .  John Howard , 66 , from Canterbury , Kent , had been a member of the Overseas Press and Media Association for 30 years but began stealing funds two years ago , leaving the company facing bankruptcy .  The father of three had sole access to the non profit organisation ' s account and enjoyed dining alone on several 300 meals a month and also spent money on flowers , a court heard .  His fraud was only uncovered after the association had problems paying its creditors and Howard started to dodge emails and phone calls .  He was jailed for two and a half years and mouthed ' I ' m sorry ' to a former colleague as he left the dock at Canterbury Crown Court .  Prosecutor Tony Prosser said Howard secretly sacked auditors and then presented the association with fake accounts each month .  Between 2011 to 2013 he freely dipped into the money and lavished cash on himself and his family .  When his crime came to light just 180 was left in the association ' s savings account when it should have been nearly 80 , 000 .  Howard rang a fellow member from a pay phone admitting the fraud and offering to repay 20 , 000 .  Mr Prosser said police found he had blown thousands on meals , groceries , flowers , expenditure in France , hotels and even sending money to his wife .  Howard , who admitted fraud by breach of trust , claimed he only took 67 , 000 and had now put his home up for sale in a bid to repay some of the money .  Dominic Webber , defending , said Howard got into debt and used the money to pay bills and was ' extremely sorry for what he has done . '  Matt Findel Hawkins , a former  president , said : ' It wasn ' t like he was paying off debts to some evil Shylock figure . This was blatant , categorical deceit over time .  His fraud was only uncovered after  had problems paying its creditors and Howard started to dodge emails and phone calls . The non profit trade association services the international advertising community  ' At the same time he would sit there in meetings , smiling at us . '  Mr Findel Hawkins , sales director for Nikkei Europe , said Howard had been a member of the non profit organisation for 30 years .  He said : ' We ' d have meetings and all go to lunch . He was a steady guy with a nice sense of humour .  ' That ' s why he was our treasurer . We ' ve been trying to work out what went wrong . If I ever spoke to him again , I ' d just want to know why he did it . '  Sentencing , Judge Simon James told Howard his victim was a not for profit organisation which had been operating for more than 80 years .  ' Under your three year tenure as treasurer in which you seemed to treat its bank account as your own they were left close to bankruptcy and perilously close to folding , ' he said .  ' Your good name has now been well and truly lost . This was a systematic , prolonged and flagrant piece of dishonesty .  Howard was jailed for two and a half years and mouthed ' I ' m sorry ' to a former colleague as he left the dock at Canterbury Crown Court today  ' It seems to me the money was used to fund a comfortable living for you and your family rather than out of real desperation . '  Detective Constable Barry Carr described it as a ' serious abuse of position ' and said Howard had shown a ' flagrant disregard for the trust and responsibility placed in him ' .  He added that his deceit had nearly brought the long established organisation to its knees financially .  The  is a non profit trade association servicing the international advertising community , run voluntarily by its members .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
1331,1331,"As prices have dropped , the amount of excess production has been cut in half over the last six months . About 1 million barrels of extra oil is now being dumped on the markets each day .  But that means the glut is still continuing to grow , and it could take years to work through the crude that is being warehoused , poured into petroleum depots or loaded onto supertankers for storage at sea .  The shakeout will be painful , taking an even bigger toll on companies , countries and investors .  Global stocks sank sharply Friday , as the price of oil slipped below 30 a barrel . The glut was at the heart of the tumult , as investors worried that the demand from China would drop and supplies from Iran would grow .  "" The glut is the 800 pound gorilla in the room , "" said Steve McCoy , vice president for drilling contracts at Latshaw Drilling , an Oklahoma service company that prospered in recent years from the American shale boom . "" The world simply produced too much , and now we have to use it up or many oil producing countries and some oil companies may drown . ""  Just a couple of years ago , producers and petro states were making vast fortunes drilling and pumping relentlessly to fuel expanding middle classes in Asia , Latin America and Africa . But suddenly they are producing more than anyone needs at a time when China and other rapidly growing economies , once hungry for energy , are pulling back .  The extra oil has sent the price of crude into a tailspin , down more than 70 percent over the last 18 months .  That , in turn , has helped depress stock markets around the world , as investors worry about global growth . The Standard Poor ' s 500 index is off around 8 percent in just the first two weeks of the year European shares are down even more . Chinese stocks have dropped 20 percent from their December peak , putting the market in bear territory .  "" What was once viewed as a gift is now viewed similarly to the gift of the monkey ' s paw , "" said Tom Kloza , global head of energy analysis for Oil Price Information Service . "" Global financial damages trump the benefits of cheap oil at anything under 30 a barrel . ""  The nuclear deal with Iran should allow the country to start exporting far more oil , once sanctions are lifted , potentially in a matter of days . Iran could add as much as 500 , 000 barrels a day to the global markets .  Tentative progress in negotiations between warring factions in Libya , battling for control of oil and export terminals , could unleash another flood . And Saudi Arabia , Kuwait and Iraq continue to maintain a pumping frenzy to grab Asian markets .  The United States is slowly cutting production . Major oil companies have dropped their rig count , and dozens of small businesses have gone bankrupt . But the industry cannot simply flip the switch on big projects , like deepwater production projects in the Gulf of Mexico , that require companies to keep pumping to cover their costs . Smaller companies have to keep producing from shale fields , even at a loss , to keep paying their lenders .  "" Sheikhs and shale caused this , "" said Scott Tinker , director of the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas at Austin . "" They are both producing more oil . That is the fundamental driver . ""  One million to 2 million barrels a day of excess production may not seem like much in a world market that requires 94 million barrels daily . But the amount of daily oversupply in recent months is the largest since oil prices collapsed in the late 1990s .  Back then , the price dropped below 10 a barrel , on an inflation adjusted basis . Oil from new fields flooded the market just as the Asian financial crisis was roiling emerging markets .  Most of the glut today can be explained by a near doubling of U . S . domestic oil production since 2008 . The shale boom added roughly 3 million barrels a day to the global market .  In the past , when markets got out of kilter , Saudi Arabia and its  partners slashed production to support prices . But this time , the Saudis and other big producers increased output to try to preserve market share and undercut higher cost competitors like those drilling in the shale fields of Texas and North Dakota .  Even as prices slipped through 2015 , global production climbed . The Energy Department projects that overall inventories will rise by an additional 700 , 000 barrels a day in 2016 .  That is the possibility that many analysts are now contemplating , even if not at a price that high . An unexpected drop in supply or rise in demand could create a floor for prices , ease the glut and eventually lead to a slow recovery .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
1332,1332,"Sitting Indian style on the Senate floor surrounded by Magic Markers , crayons , and construction paper , members of Congress spent the afternoon in a special session Monday drawing pictures of their dream Capitols , sources reported .  The drawings which variously featured huge missile launchers affixed to the Capitol dome , a moat filled with crocodiles and sharks , and a robot version of Sen . Marco Rubio ( R  ) that can vote on bills when the senator himself is absent were reportedly part of an activity devised by congressional aides to alleviate some of the stress caused by rancorous bipartisan squabbling and to keep the lawmakers occupied until recess .  "" That ' s the rotunda , this is the dirt bike track , and here ' s the room where you can get ice cream whenever you want and put whatever you want on top of it . "" said 73 year old Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell ( R  ) , excitedly pointing out the different features of his imaginary seat of the U . S . legislature . "" And this part right here is a big cage thing where we can round up all the people who aren ' t supposed to be in America . Then here ' s where some big trucks can drive in to take them all back to Mexico . ""  "" And this is the waterslide . "" continued McConnell .  Reports confirmed other Congress members were even more creative with their drawings , including in their pictures talking animals that give representatives on the Ways and Means Committee advice on the budget , depictions of bipartisan committees working in harmony to pass legislation for the good of the country , and even an anti gravity chamber where representatives can play a zero G version of basketball .  "" People are always yelling and yelling here , so I drew this secret room that ' s hidden above the House gallery that ' s full of pillows and stuffed animals and things like that , "" said Rep . Kurt Schrader ( D  ) , who later had to be separated from Rep . Jimmy Duncan ( R  ) after Duncan called Schrader ' s Capitol drawing "" so dumb . "" "" No one knows about it but me . You get in through this little door here , and nobody can bother you for stuff they want you to do just ' cause they gave you a bunch of money for your campaign . ""  "" Not even Monsanto , "" added Schrader , whispering to himself under his breath as he looked down and colored in a part of his creation .  Though aides praised all the drawings for being "" very creative , "" sources said it was clear that some in Congress had embraced the assignment with more enthusiasm than others . For example , while Sen . Barbara Boxer ' s ( D  ) elaborate creation featured a pony stable , a pink glittered dome that looked like a cupcake , and a fairy princess who could magically turn any environmental protection bill into a law , House Speaker Paul Ryan ( R  ) simply completed a tidy drawing of the existing Capitol building with no flourishes or discernible changes of any kind .  In addition , a few drawings were said to have been cause for concern , such as the one made by Rep . Jim Costa ( D  ) , which , except for a few violent streaks of red , was colored in almost completely black and appeared to have been crumpled up in anger .  "" Rep . Sheila Jackson Lee ( D  ) got yelled at because she drew this big dragon breathing fire all over the right side of the aisle and burning everyone up , "" House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi ( D  ) said of her colleague , who has routinely been called "" the meanest representative by other members of Congress . "" She ' s bad . She does something bad almost every day . ""  After the lawmakers taped their creations to the House Speaker ' s rostrum under a banner that read "" Our Capitol . "" they reportedly settled into their seats to listen to a fairy tale about a fantastical war on Christmas told by Rep . Barry Loudermilk ( R  ) .  ",satire,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
1341,1341,"The "" world ' s most wanted man "" may be holed up in Russia , but Edward Snowden ' s story will soon be available as they say everywhere books are sold .  "" The Snowden Files : The Inside Story Of The World ' s Most Wanted Man , "" by reporter Luke Harding , from the British newspaper The Guardian , comes out in the  this week , with a U . S . release date of February 11 .  The Guardian is a key player in the Snowden saga , having provided an outlet for the former  contractor turned whistle blower to expose what he knew about the U . S . government ' s mass surveillance programs . Harding accessed a wealth of inside information , such as this story about how Snowden first connected via e mail with Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald .  Harding writes in the book : "" This mystery correspondent asked Greenwald to install  encryption software on his laptop . Once up and running , it guarantees privacy ( the initials stand for Pretty Good Privacy ) for an online chat . Greenwald had no objections . But there were two problems . ' I ' m basically technically illiterate , ' he admits . Greenwald also had a lingering sense that the kind of person who insisted on encryption might turn out to be slightly crazy . ""  Greenwald and Snowden eventually built a mutual trust , and the former  contractor divulged many of the top secret documents in his possession .  At that point , The Guardian ' s U . S . Editor Janine Gibson drew up plan before publishing , including seeking legal advice and working out a strategy for approaching the White House . She had some tough decisions to make .  Harding wrote : "" Gibson decided to give the  a four hour window to comment , so the agency had an opportunity to disavow the story . By British standards , the deadline was fair : long enough to make a few calls , agree a line . But for Washington , where journalist administration relations sometimes resemble a country club , this was nothing short of outrageous . ""  Harding said Gibson ' s tough decisions meant she ' d have to face down some tough people , including  deputy director Sean M . Joyce ,  deputy director Chris Inglis , and Robert S . Litt , general counsel for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence .  The author writes : "" By fielding heavyweights , the White House had perhaps reckoned it could flatter , and if necessary bully , the Guardian into delaying publication . Gibson explained that the editor in chief in the air halfway across the Atlantic was unavailable . She said : ' I ' m the final decision maker . ' After 20 minutes , the White House was frustrated . The conversation was going in circles . Finally , one of the team could take no more . Losing his temper , he shouted , ' You don ' t need to publish this ! No serious news organisation would publish this ! ' Gibson replied , ' With the greatest respect , we will take the decisions about what we publish . ' ""  The newspaper ran the story and , soon thereafter , Snowden disappeared . He ' s currently in Russia , where he has asylum .  He described Snowden ' s transformation from contractor to leaker .  "" He got hardened . In other words , the more information he saw about what he viewed as . . . mass surveillance , the more disillusioned he became . He says quite explicitly that he thought that ( President Barack ) Obama would roll back some of these programs when he came into the White House , and when this didn ' t happen , essentially Snowden decided he would take things into his own hands , and become a whistle blower , "" he author said .  "" There ' s no doubt that he ' s changed history by what he ' s done . ""  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
1345,1345,"Concluding its investigation into the unintended anthrax exposure at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta , the  says it has found another more "" distressing "" problem due to lab workers not following protocol .  The  held a news conference to discuss the conclusion of its investigation Friday . It determined that while it is "" not impossible "" that the staff was exposed to viable B . anthracis ( anthrax ) , it is "" extremely unlikely "" that this happened .  The lab workers ' health is being monitored , and they were given antibiotics as a precaution . No one who may have been exposed has gotten sick .  The incident was discovered on June 13 .  The  report says the potential exposure happened between June 6 and June 13 . A lab that had been preparing the anthrax samples for use in two other labs on the  ' s Atlanta campus "" may not have adequately inactivated the samples . ""  That means the other labs were working with samples thought to be harmless therefore , workers didn ' t wear protective equipment they would otherwise have been using when handling such infectious material .  Procedures in two of the three labs may have exposed workers to the anthrax , the  said . Hallway and lab areas have since been decontaminated . The leader of one of the labs was reassigned shortly after the incident was revealed .  spokesman Tom Skinner would not confirm the name of the person who was reassigned .  There are three types of anthrax infection : cutaneous ( through the skin ) , inhalation ( through the lungs ) and gastrointestinal ( through digestion ) .  According to the report , the exposure happened because the lab that was handling the dangerous material initially didn ' t use an approved sterilization technique . It didn ' t have a written plan reviewed by senior staff to make sure all safety protocols were followed , and there was a limited knowledge of peer reviewed literature about the process that would make it less dangerous . The lab also did not have a standard operating procedure that would make sure the transfer of the material would be safe .  Bottom line , "" the scientists failed to follow a scientifically derived and reviewed protocol that would have assured the anthrax was deactivated , "" according to  Director Tom Frieden . It "" should have happened , and it didn ' t . ""  During the investigation "" multiple other problems were found , "" according to Frieden .  What to know about anthrax  Investigators found another troubling case that involved a dangerous transfer of material . This happened six weeks ago . But what ' s "" most distressing , "" according to Frieden , is that he had found out about it "" less than 48 hours ago . ""  In this case , a culture of nonpathogenic avian influenza , meaning a type of the flu that is not that dangerous , was unintentionally cross contaminated with a potentially deadly kind of flu the highly pathogenic H5N1 . This strain has killed millions of birds and infected over 600 people over the last decade .  In the case of this contamination , the  says none of the lab workers were exposed to the dangerous virus . It was , however , shipped to a lab run by the United States Department of Agriculture .  The  has closed the labs that were involved in the incidents . The lab where the flu contamination occurred won ' t reopen until the lab puts better safety procedures in place , Frieden says .  The lab involved in the anthrax incident will remain closed for such dangerous microbes until Frieden personally approves its reopening under conditions that prevent any such mishap from happening again , Frieden said .  The  has also stopped moving any biological material out of its two highest level labs while their procedures are being reevaluated .  As a result of these problems , the  has created a high level group of leaders who will work on lab safety issues . It has also started putting together an external advisory group to take a closer look at lab safety . And the  is carefully reviewing all the other procedures for labs working with dangerous pathogens , and it has put together a rapid response command structure to hopefully help the labs avoid future incidents .  "" I will say that I ' m just astonished that this could have happened here , "" Frieden said .  He stands by his labs , which are considered some of the best in the world , and he stands by his scientists . But he added that he is "" upset , "" "" angry "" and has lost sleep over the incidents , and he is "" working around the clock "" to make sure it never happens again .   lab leader reassigned during anthrax investigation  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
1347,1347,"Kyle Larson outduels Austin Dillon for  win at   Kyle Larson bests Austin Dillon to win the Ford EcoBoost 300 at Homestead Miami Speedway , while Chris Buescher clinches the 2015  Series championship .  Kyle Larson outdueled Austin Dillon to win the Ford EcoBoost 300 at Homestead Miami Speedway on Saturday , while Chris Buescher ran well enough to clinch his first  Series championship .  Afterward , Larson declined an opportunity to do a celebratory burnout and left the track to Buescher for that .  "" This is championship week and it should be all about the champions , "" Larson said . "" So congrats to Chris Buescher . It was time for him to celebrate . It always seemed odd to me when I would sit in the stands and see two cars doing burnouts . I wanted for Chris to have his moment and he worked hard all season long for it . ""  The 23 year old Buescher won the title by finishing 11th Saturday in the season finale at Homestead Miami Speedway , bringing home a fifth second tier series crown for team owner Jack Roush .  Buescher was the last driver on the lead lap and finished 15 . 9 seconds behind Larson .  Larson had led most of the race early and cleared Austin Dillon for good with four laps left for his third career  win , after Dillon brushed the outside wall and left an opening while running the high line which was Larson ' s preferred line all afternoon .  Dillon , the 2013 series champion , was second , followed by Truck Series champ Erik Jones , Brian Scott and Ryan Blaney .  Buescher needed to finish 13th or better without leading a lap to win the championship in Homestead . He also held off defending series champion Chase Elliott , Ty Dillon and Regan Smith , all within striking distance of knocking off Buescher .  Dillon was seventh , Elliott was eighth and Smith ninth .  In 33 starts , Buescher posted wins at Iowa and Dover . He had 11 top fives , and 20 top 10s .  Not as well known as his closest three rivals , Buescher held the lead this season for 23 straight weeks . He denied Elliott ' s bid to go back to back in his final full Xfinity season .  Elliott , the son of Hall of Fame inductee and 1988  champion Bill Elliott , is taking over Jeff Gordon ' s ride in the No . 24 Chevrolet at Hendrick Motorsports next year . The team had to find a seat for him at  ' s top level or risk losing the 19 year old to another organization .  Buescher joined Greg Biffle , Carl Edwards and two time champ Ricky Stenhouse Jr . as series championship drivers for Roush .  Ford also wrapped up the manufacturer ' s championship for the fifth time .  Larson and Kyle Busch dominated the majority of the race and seemed poised for a hard battle down the stretch .  But Busch ' s team was first penalized for failing to control a tire on pit road and then , just one lap later , brushed the inside wall late in the race , crippling a late push at the checkered flag on the same track where he ' ll race for his first career Sprint Cup championship on Sunday .  Once hailed as the next big  star , Larson is winless in 74 career Cup starts and entered Homestead with two wins in 74  starts .  "" From the moment we unloaded from the truck , the car was amazing , "" Larson said . "" I don ' t know if we made any adjustments whatsoever to it . I knew we were going to be good in the race . We didn ' t qualify that well , but as soon as the green flag dropped I was able to carve my way up to the front . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
1354,1354,"In a move aimed at boosting mental health treatment , Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Friday announced new rules that will put teeth in a 2008 mental health equity law .  The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act , signed by President George W . Bush , requires doctors and insurers to treat mental illness the same as physical illness .  Sebelius made the announcement to applause at the Rosalynn Carter Symposium on Mental Health Policy in Atlanta .  The move "" finally puts mental health and behavioral health on equal footing , "" Sebelius said .  On paper , the law made mental health more accessible , but there has been virtually no enforcement of it , said Dr Jeffrey Lieberman , president of the American Psychiatric Association and a Columbia University psychiatrist .  "" Up to now , the law has not been complied with , "" Lieberman said . "" Companies have only sort of adhered to it . ""  Insurance companies often cover mental illness in a more limited fashion than physical illness . Now the rule will require insurers to charge similar co payments regardless if the treatment is for physical or mental health . Deductibles and doctor visits would also be equitable , and there would be parity in outpatient services and residential treatment .  "" Many private insurers gave nothing . Some provided benefits , but they were limited and inadequate , "" Lieberman said . The law , the new rules and provisions of Obamacare combined will ensure mental and physical illness would be covered similarly .  America ' s Health Insurance Plans (  ) , the professional association that represents the health insurance industry , said it has long supported the act and has worked to implement its requirements in an affordable and effective way .  "" We appreciate that the final rule enables patients with mental and behavioral health conditions to continue to benefit from the innovative programs and services health plans have pioneered , ""  ' s President and  Karen Ignagni said in a statement .  Opinion : Wipe out the stigma of mental illness  For example , insurance companies can no longer authorize a 30 day hospital stay for a stroke and only a two day stay in the hospital for someone who has had a psychotic break .  In addition , people with pre existing mental conditions like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or depression will no longer be denied insurance coverage and under Obamacare , a mental illness diagnosis will no longer trigger a potential loss of coverage .  About one in four adults suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year , according to the National Institute of Mental Health . Sebelius pointed out that twice as many people die from suicides as homicides .  The "" incredibly important law , combined with the Affordable Care Act , will expand and protect behavioral health benefits for more than 62 million Americans , "" Sebelius said . "" People who either have insurance coverage now and have no mental health coverage or where the Affordable Care Act fills in those gaps for people who have no insurance at all , they will be able to access affordable care with mental health and substance abuse benefits . ""  She called it "" the largest expansion of behavioral health benefits in a generation . ""  That is , if there are enough providers to deal with the potential influx of new patients .  "" The not so good news is you are eligible for treatment now , but often the services are not available , "" said Carolyn Reinach Wolf , an attorney who specializes in cases involving mental illness .  Surveys show there are only about 50 , 000 psychiatrists in the United States . According to the  , that number is already too few to care for the existing number of people seeking treatment .  And trends for the profession don ' t sound promising , according to the association . Enrollment in psychiatry programs is down , and over half of the profession is 55 or older which means they are nearing retirement age .  Often , Wolf said , psychiatrists and psychologists don ' t take insurance , and patients struggling with mental illness or the families who care for them are too overwhelmed to have to process the paperwork themselves .  "" Mental illness is not curable . It is a chronic lifetime illness and it requires a tremendous amount of resources to get them into treatment and to monitor that treatment . It is a huge cost to manage that care , "" Wolf said . Insurers still have to make money , which is difficult with this kind of ongoing , expensive treatment , she said .  Now that the final rules have been announced , Lieberman argues there needs to be "" more transparency and means of enforcement . Or how do you know private insurers will comply ? ""  Friday ' s announcement applies to private insurance . The rules do not apply to people on Medicaid because the Obama administration has already given states guidance on how those plans should be meeting requirements set out by the 2008 law .  Reframing the gun control debate : Is mental health the next focus ?  The Georgia setting for Sebelius ' announcement seems particularly appropriate as an acknowledgement of former first lady Rosalynn Carter ' s long efforts to destigmatize mental illness .  Carter is the author of a handful of books on the topic , and the Mental Health Systems Act was passed in 1980 in large part due to her advocacy . The law provided more funding for community based care and created a system of prevention services and an advocate system for those who struggle with mental illness .  That law also had a parity provision that was never enforced , Sebelius said Carter had told her . "" Finally , in 2013 , we are achieving this , "" she said .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
1355,1355,"The federal bureaucracy is comprised of about 2. 6 million permanent employees protected by Civil Service and about 4, 000 political appointees. Many of these bureaucrats are actively engaged in sabotaging President Trump’s agenda. [Political appointees can be fired by the president at will. Permanent Civil Services employees are more difficult to fire.  “Today, the Pendleton Act shields from dismissal, even on legitimate grounds, more than 90 percent of civil servants,” the Federalist reports. But even if they can’t be fired from Civil Service, they can be removed from their current positions. Here is a list of the top ten holdover Obama loyalist bureaucrats President Trump can either fire immediately or remove from their current positions (civil service). Cordray, Lansing, and Bennett could try to fight their terminations, but ultimately, if President Trump wants to get rid of them, they will be gone. Here’s the case for firing or removing from their current positions these ten Obama administration holdovers: 1. John Koskinen, Internal Revenue Service Commissioner  Koskinen’s term is scheduled to end in November 2017, but President Trump has the authority to accelerate his departure. “A faction of conservatives is circumventing leadership brass and calling directly on President Trump to tell  Chief John Koskinen, ‘You’re fired,’ ” the Washington Examiner reported last month: Rep. Mark Walker,  . C. will make the ask. The chairman of the Republican Study Committee has quietly but urgently been circulating a letter inside the  conference to build support. He’s now got 50 congressmen signed onto the letter. While Trump has fleshed out his cabinet, so far, he’s stayed hush about the fate of the  chief. And conservatives really want Koskinen’s head. “You have the authority to remove Commissioner Koskinen,” Walker writes to Trump, adding that “we encourage you to dismiss him in the most expedient manner practicable. ” House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz,   first drew up impeachment articles against the taxman in October 2015. Since then, conservatives have accused Koskinen of interfering with a congressional investigation and abetting the of the continued targeting of conservative  . “Last year, irate Republican lawmakers unsuccessfully sought impeachment of Koskinen over the IRS’s alleged targeting of tea party groups and other conservative organizations,” NewsMax notes. 2. Richard Cordray, Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau  Cordray’s term is scheduled to end in 2018, but, as with Koskinen at the IRS, President Trump can move his departure date up. “So long as President Donald Trump is in a firing mood, Richard Cordray, the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, must go,” Kelly Riddell wrote in a Washington Times   on Friday: One of the biggest swamp creatures, many thought Mr. Cordray wouldn’t survive 48 hours in the Trump administration, but alas, he has. He’s collected much power running his sprawling bureaucratic fiefdom, without any oversight from Congress, or even the president for that matter. There’s the question whether Mr. Trump has the authority to even fire Mr. Cordray, a man who knows Republicans want him gone, but is refusing to leave. Last year, the bureau’s   structure was declared unconstitutional in a court case, allowing Mr. Cordray to be fired at will, but the  has appealed. So long as the case is pending, Mr. Cordray has grounds to stave off any dismal. 3. John Lansing,  of Broadcasting Board of Governors, The Broadcasting Board of Governors is one of those agencies most Americans have never heard of. It “is the largest public diplomacy program by the U. S. government, reaching an audience of 278 million by broadcasting in 100 countries and 61 languages,” Politico reported. It runs the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, and several other broadcasting entities. “Voice of America was created in 1942 during World War  to send   news across Europe, as it aimed to counter Nazi and Japanese propaganda. The agency has since evolved into a more traditional news operation, while still pushing out the virtues of democracy worldwide,” Politico reported. The problem in recent years is that Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, and the other broadcasting entities run by  have shifted from their traditional mission of promoting classic American values and interests to the rest of the world, and have become mirror images of mainstream media outlets like CNN, ABC, NBC, and CBS. Current  John Lansing, a veteran cable industry executive,  took over the reins in 2015 and has done nothing to stop that trend. As Politico reported, a recent change in the law now provides President Trump with an opportunity to put his own person in charge over at the BBG: Early last month, a provision buried into the National Defense Authorization Act called for disbanding the bipartisan board of the BBG, pleasing critics who said the   board was ineffective but alarming others who feared an accountability layer was being swept away. “The status of the [BBG] board is in limbo, however, since Obama added a signing statement to the NDAA, saying it was unconstitutional to get rid of the board because it violates his constitutional right of appointment. Another uncertainty is that Lansing can be replaced at any time for a  appointed by the president,” Politico reported. Even those on the left, however, acknowledge that President Trump has the authority to fire Lansing. “But on page 1, 404 of the defense bill that was passed by the Republican Congress right after the election, this far into the bill that high, they took the board of governors part out of the equation,” MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow says:  So that’s no longer who runs this $800 million broadcasting effort, Voice of America. Now instead of being run by a   sort of insulated board of governors it’s now run by a  who is appointed by the president and who serves at the pleasure of the president.   4. Amanda Bennett, Voice of America Director, “Voice of America Director Amanda Bennett oversees BBG’s largest organization, providing content in more than 45 languages to 236. 6 million people each week on radio, television, mobile and the Internet,” the  website reports. Under Bennett’s leadership,  has become increasingly focused on covering domestic politics from a far left perspective, similar to that found at NPR. Bennett is the classic elite mainstream media journalist: Amanda Bennett is a Pulitzer   author, investigative journalist and editor. Through 2013, she was Executive Editor, Bloomberg News, where she created and ran a global team of investigative reporters and editors. She was also   of Bloomberg News’ Women’s project. She was editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer from June, 2003, to November, 2006, and prior to that was editor of the   in Lexington, Kentucky. She also served for three years as managing   for The Oregonian in Portland. Bennett served as a Wall Street Journal reporter and editor for more than 20 years. A graduate of Harvard College, she held numerous posts at the Journal, including auto industry reporter in Detroit in the late 70s and early 80s, Pentagon and State Department reporter, Beijing correspondent, management   national economics correspondent and, finally, chief of the Atlanta bureau until 1998, when she moved to The Oregonian. Most recently, she has been a contributing columnist for The Washington Post. Bennett is married to Donald Graham, former owner of the Washington Post, and current owner of Graham Holdings, which owns, among other media outlets, the far left website Slate. “Together with her husband, Donald Graham, she is a   of TheDream. US, which provides college scholarships to the children of undocumented immigrants,” the Voice of America website notes. 5. Kenneth Tota, Acting Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (civil service) As Breitbart News has reported previously, the two agencies responsible for the implementation of the federal refugee resettlement program —  the Office of Refugee Resettlement at the Department of Health and Human Services and the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration at the Department of State —  are populated by a revolving door of ideologically aligned bureaucrats from the Voluntary Agencies that are paid $1 billion annually by the federal government to resettle refugees. Any bureaucrat who has served at either agency for any period of time has been utterly compromised by the refugee industry lobby and has to go in a Trump administration. “Ken Tota is the Acting Director for the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). He has served as  Deputy Director since 2008, and also served as Acting  Director in 2006 and 2015,” according to the  website: Prior to joining ORR, Ken served as Senior Program Specialist at the Immigration and Naturalization Service, where he provided oversight to the Unaccompanied Children’s Program and the program transfer from the U. S. Department of Justice to the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. Since coming to ORR, he has worked to significantly increase capacity and enhance care and services for unaccompanied children. While at ORR, Ken has worked to enhance funding and services for refugees by focusing on the most vulnerable populations, technical assistance and expanding intensive case management. He has also been instrumental in the creation of an  division to focus on refugee   issues and developing partnerships in support of services for refugees. Before entering civil service, Ken was the   Program Coordinator for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in Washington, D. C. and Miami, Fla. In his resignation letter last month,  Director Bob Carey, an Obama appointee and former  executive, praised Tota. “I am pleased to announce that, as I leave office today, Ken Tota will be assuming the position of Acting Director of ORR. Ken’s knowledge of the policies and issues which affect the populations we serve and his commitment to the work of the office is unmatched,” Carey wrote. 6. Anastasia Brown, Acting Deputy Director for Refugee Programs, Office of Refugee Resettlement, Department of Health and Human Services (civil service) Anastasia Brown worked for years in the “ ” refugee resettlement industry. Most recently, she held a senior position at the Refugee Council, USA, the lobbying arm for the 22 voluntary agencies (VOLAGs) who are paid more than $1 billion a year to resettle refugees in the United States. Brown was recently planted at  by the Obama administration to ensure that the interests of the VOLAGs would be served in future administrations. Outgoing  Director Carey also praised Brown in his resignation letter  saying she will bring “a wealth of experience” to her role, “which will be of great value going forward. ” 7. Simon Henshaw, Acting Assistant Secretary, Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (civil service) According to his State Department bio, Henshaw has been with  since 2013: Mr. Henshaw is a career officer in the U. S. Foreign Service, currently serving as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. His previous assignment was Director of Andean Affairs in the State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. From 2008 to 2011, he was the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U. S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Mr. Henshaw joined the State Department in 1985. 8. Mark C. Storella, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (civil service) According to his State Department bio, Storella has been with  since 2016: Ambassador Mark Storella, a member of the Senior Foreign Service, has a longstanding commitment to humanitarian affairs and human rights. He joined the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration in June 2016 with responsibility for admission of refugees to the United States and refugee programming in the Near East and Asia regions. 9. Lawrence Bartlett, Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (civil service) A long time official with PRM, Bartlett has been an active apologist for the refugee resettlement industry for many years. “Communities certainly have a say in what happens [with regards to refugee resettlement locally],” Bartlett told an audience at a public forum in 2015, an assertion strongly disputed by opponents of the federal refugee resettlement program. “We would not bring refugees to any city in the United States that wasn’t going to be safe for the refugees,” he added. “I put a little twist on that on purpose,” Bartlett continued. “I am certainly, as someone who is resettling a refugee, would not take them to a place where I felt the refugees themselves, was going to be unsafe. . . The point is, if this was not a welcoming community, refugees wouldn’t be coming here. ” 10. Elaine Zimmerman, Regional Administrator for the Administration for Children and Families, Region 1, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont (civil service) There is nothing particularly distinctive about Ms. Zimmerman. She, in fact, is fairly representative of a number of high level federal bureaucrats protected by civil service. Her world view, however, is unlikely to align with the policies of President Trump, like many of her colleagues. “Ms. Zimmerman partners with state, local, community based organizations, and tribes within the Region to promote economic and social   of children, families, individuals and communities in the New England region,” according to her bio on the  website: Ms. Zimmerman was formerly the Executive Director of the Connecticut Commission on Children. She has devoted her career to developing and promoting model policy for children and families in health, safety and learning. Expert in trend analysis and public will, she knows how and when to move initiatives forward to maximize public interest and community partners for policy. Ms. Zimmerman has been at the forefront of setting model policy in support of children. Her work with state leaders includes design of law in school readiness, early reading success,   children and disaster, children’s behavioral health, home visitation and   law. She guided legislation to establish Connecticut’s Blueprint in Reading and   initiatives. Ms. Zimmerman is recognized for one of the strongest parent leadership and family civics model in the states. For this work she was awarded the Good Housekeeping Award for Women. At the center of Ms. Zimmerman’s work is the critical role that community does and must play in preparing children for their future. Her education background tells a lot about her world view: “Ms. Zimmerman has a B. A. with a dual major in Cultural Anthropology and Comparative Literature from the University of California, Berkeley. She also has a Masters in Community Mental Health from the University of California, Berkeley,” according to her bio. This list of ten bureaucrats who can be fired or removed from their current positions is a good starting point. While he’s at it, President Trump can reverse 17 conversions at eight agencies from political appointees to career civil service in the federal bureaucracy that, according to a recent  report, were implemented “without receiving prior approval from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) as required by  policy. ” The report did not identify the jobs by title, but it named the offending agencies or departments.",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
1358,1358,"Southampton have confirmed the signing of Werder Bremen winger Eljero Elia on loan until the end of the campaign .  The Dutch international will officially join Saints on January 3 with a view to a permanent transfer next summer , the club revealed in a statement on their website .  The Saints have been left short of attacking options with Jay Rodriguez ' s recovery from a cruciate ligament injury taking longer than expected and Sadio Mane due to leave for the African Nations Cup next month .  Southampton have confirmed the loan signing of Werder Bremen winger Eljero Elia  Elia ( left ) will join the club on January 3 with a view to a permanent transfer next summer  Elia took to Instagram to thank the Werder Bremen fans for their support during his time at the club  The former Hamburg midfielder has made 28 appearances for Holland  Elia , who has played 28 times for Holland , is seen as the perfect man to bolster Koeman ' s front three as the club look to maintain their excellent start to the Barclays Premier League season .  ' He is one of the players on our list to bring in in January it ' s still not done but yes , I am interested in the player , ' Koeman said ahead of completing the move .  ' If he signs for Southampton , I think he will be a good option .  ' We need at least one more player up front because we lose Sadio Mane in January for the Africa Cup . We need another player for that position and he is a good option .  ' If he does sign for us , it will first be as a loan deal . '  The Dutchman made 33 league appearances for Werder Bremen last season  Southampton are set to lose midfielder Sadio Mane to the African Nations Cup next month  Elia , who is known for his blistering pace and direct forward runs , established himself as one of the brightest young talents in Europe at  Twente and was named Dutch Football Talent of the Year in 2009 .  The 27 year old struggled to fulfil his early promise during subsequent moves to Hamburg and Juventus but has enjoyed more stability at Bremen , where he made 33 league appearances last season .  ' He was a Dutch international , he had not such a good period in Germany but I believe in the qualities of the player , ' Koeman said .  Morgan Schneiderlin attracted interest from Arsenal and Tottenham during the summer  ' He is a wing player and we normally play with both a right winger and a left winger .  ' We also like in our style of playing fast people who can play one against one with quality . '  Southampton may again have to fend off interest in midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin in January .  Tottenham and Arsenal both pursued the Frenchman in the summer but the club stood firm and Koeman insists even a large bid will not prise the 25 year old away in the transfer window .  He said : ' Will we sell Schneiderlin if we receive a very big bid ? No , we do not sell Schneiderlin in January . '  Saints boss Koeman ( centre ) insists that Schneiderlin will not be sold in January  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
1369,1369,"Published : 22 : 36  , 19 November 2015 Updated : 10 : 28  , 20 November 2015  French authorities have revealed in they prevented up to six attacks by Belgian extremist Abdelhamid Abaaoud , who was killed by anti terror police on Wednesday morning .  Abaaoud was the so called ' mastermind ' behind the horrific terror attacks on Paris last Friday which killed 129 people across the capital in a series of shootings and suicide bombings which targeted a concert hall , bars and restaurants and the Stade de France national stadium .  French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve has revealed Abaaoud was involved in four to six terror attack plots foiled in France this year .  French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve has revealed Belgian extremist Abdelhamid Abaaoud was involved in between four to six terror attack plots which were foiled by police in France this year alone ?  Police are currently investigating whether he was also linked to a thwarted assault on a high speed train from Amsterdam to Paris in August .  Yesterday French prosecutors confirmed Abaaoud was killed in a major police raid in the Parisian suburb of Saint Denis , but his presence in the country has raised troubling questions about European border security .  Abaaoud , 28 , a Belgian of Moroccan origin linked to a series of extremist plots in Europe over the past two years , was thought to have been in Syria , where he had boasted of planning attacks on the West .  Yesterday , MailOnline reported France had even launched an airstrike in Raqqa last month in the belief he was in a training centre with his jihadi recruits .  His presence in France has renewed debate about Europe ' s border controls and monitoring of fighters returning from the war torn country and Mr Cazeneuve has now demanded Europe step up its response to the terror threat .  He said Paris had received ' no information ' from other European countries about Abaaoud ' s arrival on the continent .  ' It is urgent that Europe wakes up , organises itself and defends itself against the terrorist threat , ' he told reporters .  Yesterday French prosecutors confirmed Abaaoud ( pictured left ) was killed in a major police raid in the Parisian suburb of Saint Denis , but fellow extremist Salah Abdeslam ( right ) remains unaccounted for  In a new undated clip Abdelhamid Abaaoud ( pictured ) addresses a camera as the sound of gunfire is heard in the background . It is currently unclear if it was filmed before Wednesday ' s shoot out in Saint Denis  Abaaoud was the subject of an international arrest warrant issued by Belgium , where a court had in July sentenced him in absentia to 20 years in prison for recruiting jihadists for Syria .  But it was only three days after the Paris bloodbath that ' intelligence services of a country outside Europe indicated they had knowledge of his presence in Greece ' , Cazeneuve said , without specifying which country .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
1392,1392,"Amy Schumer has lashed out at Internet “trolls” she claims launched an online campaign to tank the reviews of her latest comedy special. [One week after its March 6 debut, The Leather Special had received hundreds of   reviews from Netflix members. Schumer responded to the backlash Wednesday on her Instagram account, quoting a news report from Splitsider that claims hundreds of trolls purposefully flooded her comedy special with negative reviews.  “The alt right organized trolls attack everything I do. Read the @splitsider article,” the Trainwreck star wrote. “They organize to get my ratings down. Meeting in sub Reddit rooms. They tried on my book and movies and tv show. And I want to thank them. ” Schumer also chided journalists for reporting on the news that her Netflix special is a critical dud. “I am only alarmed by the people printing their organized trolling as ‘news.’ [T]his is what the current administration wants,” she said. “Journalists do better it’s embarrassing. ”  I am so proud of my special and grateful to all the people spreading love on line about it. I am the first female comic who is selling out arenas all over the world and so grateful for that. I am embarrassed for the ”journalists” who report on trolls activities as if it’s news. It’s indicative of administration right now. Anyone who reported that ”viewers aren’t happy” with my special, it would have been cool if you did a moment of research before posting. The alt right organized trolls attack everything I do. Read the @splitsider article. They organize to get my ratings down. Meeting in sub Reddit rooms. They tried on my book and movies and tv show And I want to thank them. It makes me feel so powerful and dangerous and brave. It reminds me what I’m saying is effective and bring more interest to my work and their obsession with me keeps me going. I am only alarmed by the people printing their organized trolling as ”news” this is what the current administration wants. So this post has nothing against the trolls. I thank you trolls so much. It fills me with hope and power to see you all furiously posting so as always accuse me of whatever lies you want. Call me a whale. Call me a thief and I will continue to rise and fight and lead. I know who I am. I am strong and beautiful and will use my voice my whole time on this earth. Journalists do better it’s embarrassing. Trolls see you on the next one! 😘😘😘 A post shared by @amyschumer on Mar 15, 2017 at 9:28am PDT,  “I thank you trolls so much,” the comedian added. “It fills me with hope and power to see you all furiously posting so as always accuse me of whatever lies you want. Call me a whale. Call me a thief and I will continue to rise and fight and lead. I know who I am. I am strong and beautiful and will use my voice my whole time on this earth. ” While Schumer says the Netflix members who called her special “awful,” “unfunny,” and “unwatchable” were organized by Reddit users who mounted a troll campaign against her, negative reviews for The Leather Special could be readily found on other online rating platforms. For example, Schumer’s Netflix special currently holds a 4. 4 out of 10 rating on The Internet Movie Database (IMDB)  —   down from 5. 5 less than a week ago. The Leather Special is also showing a 22% audience score of viewers who “liked it” on Rotten Tomatoes. Reviews from television critics have also been lukewarm. The Los Angeles Times‘ Lorraine Ali writes that the special features Schumer’s signature brand of dirty humor, but “ironically, the dirtier it gets, the less daring it feels. ” “‘The Leather Special’ not only relies on many of those familiar and explicit themes, but kicks it all up a notch so there’s more of it  —   with more frequency and extremities. And as it turns out, that’s not a good thing,” she wrote. Meanwhile, Newsday’s Verne Gay gave the special a “C” grade. “It’s all there. She’s all there. Every bit of her,” Gay wrote. “As usual, it’s mostly also all one subject, or variations on that subject, along with every imaginable word to describe that subject, along with some physical pantomime or gesture to add texture and meaning to this subject, just in case the words themselves didn’t quite suffice. As if. ”   Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter: @JeromeEHudson",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
1397,1397,"Turkey ' s President said the shooting of the jet was an "" automatic response "" in line with its rules of engagement  The President of Turkey said today his country would shoot another Russian fighter jet it it entered his country ' s airspace .  A crisis has erupted between the two countries since Turkey shot down a Russian jet on Tuesday .  Turkey claimed the jet had violated its airspace but Russia said it was flying in Syria .  Russia today began freezing joint projects with Turkey and said it had received no apology for the shooting .  Turkey ' s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey had not specifically targeted Russia when it shot down the plane .  He said it was "" an automatic response "" in line with its rules of engagement .  Read more : Civilian pilot says Turkey  issue tense warning to Russian jet pilot before shooting down plane  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country would shoot down another Russian jet if it entered his country ' s airspace  However , he went on to say his country would do exactly the same again if a jet from Russia entered its airspace .  "" Faced with the same violation today , Turkey would give the same response , "" he said .  Yesterday , the surviving Russian pilot claimed Turkey did not issue a warning before shooting the jet .  But a civilian pilot today said Turkey did warn the Russian fighter jet to leave its airspace moments before it was shot down .  The pilot , who was flying for Middle East Airlines (  ) at the times of the incident , says he heard Turkey telling the Russian pilot to change direction .  One of the pilots from the stricken jet can be seen parachuting to safety  He says over the past month he has heard Turkey issue Russian jets bombing in Syria a number of warnings to leave their airspace .  But he says he knew something was about to happen this time because the Turkish officer sounded tense .  The pilot , who wants to remain anonymous , was flying from Beirut to a Gulf country , told  Arabiya News : "" I confirm the authenticity of their recording , I heard these exact same warnings over and over again and the part I recorded on my phone was actually towards the end when I felt the matter was getting serious .  "" . . I heard similar warnings two or three times a week , on every flight I took for the past month .  What was different this time is that the Turkish officer was shouting and seemed tense , while the warnings were much calmer in previous times this why i knew something was going to happen .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
1404,1404,"The eclectic Joey Barton added another string to his bow with the Morrissey loving Twitter sage watching the Oakland Raiders train ahead of Sunday ' s game with the Miami Dolphins .  The fiesty  midfielder is currently nursing a hamstring injury but headed to plush Pennyhill Park to observe the Raiders first hand .  ' I ' m just seeing how they approach stuff . How they approach training , especially with so many big guys . How they fit them all onto one field . They are totally organised and it ' s a huge training session . It ' s very interesting . '  Joey Barton watched the Oakland Raiders train at Pennyhill Park ahead of their  clash at Wembley  Barton is hoping to pick up some ' cross pollination ' learning while being sidelined with a hamstring injury  Barton posted this picture from his day out , using his favourite social medium Twitter  ' They ' ve got a really good structure . They plan to the Nth degree . Everything they do is in centimetres . Watching the quarterbacks earlier on , they are just running repetitive drills over and over and over again to get it right for the game on Sunday .  ' I believe in cross pollination . I think we can learn a lot from lots of other different sports , this being one of them . '  Quarterbacks Derek Carr ( L ) and Matt McGloin practice on ahead of Sunday ' s  game with Miami Dolphins  Oakland players take part in a high intensity practice session that impressed Barton  Raiderette cheerleader , Michelle , strikes an acrobatic pose in front of London ' s Regent Street  Barton , who will attend at Sunday ' s game , added : ' It would be great to be able to watch a different team . I ' m thinking about the dynasties like Belichick ' s Patriots in action . Would they train differently . Or if they do train , how would they differ between each other ? '  And fresh from berating Mario Balotelli , the 32 year old also admitted he will not feature in the Hoops ' trip to Southampton on Saturday .  ' I ' m going to miss the game this weekend because it ' s really tight . I was in this morning just seeing how it was , so I ' ll probably be up against it for this weekend . But I ' ll run probably in the next couple of days and see how I am . And hopefully I ' ve got a chance . '  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
1411,1411,"If the Muslim terrorist who killed 49 people and wounded several others in a gay nightclub in Orlando had been scouting out Disneyworld and other possible soft targets in the Orlando area, why is this the first time we are hearing about it? Did his Muslim wife have her mouth taped shut? If friends are now coming forward to tell authorities that the Ft. Pierce terrorist had expressed support for terror groups, why didn t they contact the  before he committed a horrific  act of terror in America?  And finally, if the Ft. Pierce terrorist, who was clearly making incendiary statements, was visiting nations who fund the campaigns of United States Presidential candidates like Hillary Clinton, and have a history of supporting terror groups, should the  be held accountable, or should every  citizen demand the people who knew he posed a danger, but kept silent be held accountable?  Meanwhile, Barack Hussein Obama blames America and uses this horrific tragedy to trash Donald Trump and to promote his final, (and maybe most important) action that would prove his disdain for America and our Constitution  CONTROL.Orlando gunman Omar Mateen s two trips to Saudi Arabia, one of which was a pricey package that included four-star accommodations and fancy meals, were highly unusual and may have been cover for terror training, according to experts.The  is piecing together Mateen s radical Islam roots, and the trips to Saudi Arabia could be a sign of his growing religious devotion. His stated reason for both the 2011 and 2012 trips was umrah, a Muslim pilgrimage to the Kingdom that is not as significant as the hajj, a trip all Muslims must make to Mecca at least once in their lives. Either or both of the trips could also have included a side trip. It s very possible for someone to take a trip to a country like Saudi Arabia and declare it as their destination when it is in actuality just a pit stop to a different country like Yemen,  said Ryan Mauro, national security analyst for Clarion Project, a New York-based research institute that tracks global terrorism.  Based on his blatant extremism and ties to a convicted Orlando imam known for facilitating international jihadists traveling, the strong likelihood is that these trips were not benign. Mateen, 29, killed 49 people and wounded 53 inside the gay nightclub Pulse early Sunday, holding dozens hostage for hours before a  team stormed the building and killed him in a gun battle. While holding captives, Mateen made multiple calls to 911, professing his allegiance to  and support for the Muslim brothers who bombed the 2013 Boston Marathon, police said.When Mateen aligned himself with terrorists is not yet clear, but his trips to Saudi Arabia would have put him within a day s drive of Yemen, where Al Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula has long had a large presence, and where  also has gained a foothold in recent years. Several radicalized Americans have traveled to Yemen to train in terror camps.Mateen s first trip to Saudi Arabia was for 10 days, and the jaunt a year later was for eight. The 2011 trip was arranged by U.S.-based Islamic travel agency Dar El Salam and was a package the company calls the  Sacred Caravan Umrah. The package costs up to $4,000 and is generally comprised of four nights at four-star accommodations in Mecca and six nights in Medina, complete with buffet meals, sightseeing and religious studies and lectures.The travel agency did not respond to a request for comment.The second trip included a stop in the United Arab Emirates, but the exact itinerary of either trip is not known. The FBI, which searched Mateen s condominium in Fort Pierce, Fla., overnight Sunday and into Monday morning, taking a computer and several other items, declined to comment on what investigators may have learned about Mateen s travels.Muslim leaders said it was unusual for Mateen to have made two visits to Saudi Arabia in consecutive years   the first when he was just 24.Okay so why didn t anyone report his trips to the FBI??? It s not cheap to do so and people that young usually don t go twice,  said Adnan Khan, former leader of the Council of Pakistan-American Affairs.  And especially considering he appeared not to have come from a staunchly religious background. Okay so why didn t anyone report his trips to the FBI??? A single trip to Saudi Arabia could be attributed to the mandatory hajj or umrah, but the second trip and the visit to the  suggest that his stated reason for traveling was a cover,  he said.  Even if the trip included legitimate religious travel, it does not mean the activity was limited to that. One umrah is usually enough for a Muslim, said Timothy Furnish, an expert in Islamic history and consultant to the Pentagon, The fact that Mateen made two of those would suggest that he felt he had many sins needing rectifying and/or he was not engaged solely in religious activity but meeting with someone in Saudi Arabia,  Furnish said.Mateen was born in New York to Afghan immigrants. People that knew him have said he was not overtly religious, but often expressed anger and a deep hatred of minorities. He had once aspired to be a police officer, was trained with weapons and worked for an international security firm after being fired from a job as a prison guard.The Saudi Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Those Saudi s are quick to react when it comes to writing a check to the Clinton Crime Syndicate/Hillary for President fund though!Neighbors in the quiet condominium complex where Mateen lived with his 3-year-old son and wife, Noor Zahi Salman, said the couple kept to themselves and did not wear religious garb. We were all shocked when we found out,  one neighbor toldweblink.  The most activity I ever saw from the apartment was his girlfriend   or wife   walking to the mailbox and back with their child. However, sources say Mateen had a large collection of Islamic literature in his home, and people who knew him said he had expressed support for various terrorist groups.-  NewsWouldn t any sane person knew someone who expressed support for terrorist groups report them to the proper authorities? ",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
1427,1427,"Leading representatives of the Susan G . Komen Breast Cancer Foundation announced Wednesday that the month of October would officially be known as  Awareness Month , and commemorated the occasion by donating 80 million of their funds to promote the early detection and ultimate eradication of the all female basketball league .  Ambassador Nancy G . Brinker of the Komen Foundation was accompanied at the press conference by  survivor Rebecca Lobo , long suffering  president Donna Orender , and Los Angeles Sparks center Lisa Leslie , who has been battling the league for 11 years .  Brinker noted that the  has always been a primary concern for the breast cancer community , and said she is committed to using the full force of her breast cancer organization to rid the nation of the dreadful professional league at its every stage from its earliest possible appearance in training camp , to preseason and the playoffs , and even during its more invasive Finals stage when the league is at its most aggressive .  "" What we plan to do this October is start a national dialogue about the  , "" said Brinker , wearing the orange ribbon she introduced that morning to signify the fight against the league . "" What is the  ? Who is primarily affected ? Is somebody you love , be it your daughter or your wife , causing you to suffer through it ? Why , despite going into annual remission , does it reoccur every year , seemingly without warning ? How can we be more vigilant and nip this thing in the bud before the season even starts ? ""  "" The sooner we address these questions , the sooner we can fulfill our vision of a  free world , "" she added .  According to a report compiled by the nation ' s top breast cancer awareness organizations , the most frightening aspect of the  is how many people , especially its players , are unfamiliar with the warning signs of the league . Because of this ignorance , the report states , the  can be difficult to detect early , often appearing no more malignant than a woman ' s college basketball game .  However , upon closer examination , significant abnormalities become apparent : cells of fans clumped together in an otherwise empty arena causing a discharge of uninspired cheers the league ' s orange and white ball appearing discolored ( which , experts say , often leads to humiliation amongst those who play with it ) and fatiguing spells of missed shots and boring layups that only metastasize as the season goes further along .  "" The main thing that people need to know is that even though the  moves slowly and methodically , it will continue to spread if it ' s ignored , "" said Samantha Gallagher , president of the Northeastern Breast Cancer Coalition . "" Before you know it , a full blown professional women ' s basketball team will have developed in Toronto , and at that point the odds of fighting it are slim to none . ""  Gallagher added that statistics indicate the  is the second leading killer of interest in professional sports in the United States behind Major League Soccer .  In 2007 alone , she said , 320 , 000 people finally succumbed to the  .  "" The fact that I am standing here today is a miracle , "" former New York Liberty forward Rebecca Lobo told reporters . "" When I first noticed the small crowds , the poor television ratings , and the overall lack of support , I thought it was all my fault , which I now know was ridiculous . But even though the league ravaged my entire mind and body , I never curled up in a ball and asked myself , ' Why me ? ' I just kept on playing . ""  "" Now I hope that , by spreading awareness , I can warn little girls everywhere about how harmful the  can be , "" Lobo added . "" Hopefully nobody will ever again have to suffer the way I did . ""  ",satire,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,present
1439,1439,"Email  With protests erupting across the country this week and emotions running high, American companies are trying to make sense of how to react to a Trump presidential election win. But one major company has clearly made up its mind and just came down squarely in the anti-Trump camp in a big way: Donald Trump will be added to Disney’s Hall Of Presidents, but his animatronic figure will be able to feel pain.  Wow. Disney just showed that it does not pull punches when it comes to what the company believes in. Check out the press release they put out this morning:  “Disney prides itself on promoting inclusivity, empathy, and non-violence, which are values that Mr. Trump’s presidency threatens. That’s why when we eventually add him to our Hall Of Presidents exhibit in Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, his mechanical replica will bear the capacity to suffer horribly, and without limit. Being a company that caters to diverse families, we felt it was a moral responsibility to have Mr. Trump’s robotic counterpart be receptive to extreme thirst and burning sensations, while also being wired with the knowledge that it can never receive the sweet mercy of death. This is the best way for us to uphold the Hall Of Presidents tradition while also voicing our vigorous objection to the Trump administration.”  Given that Disney’s software makes the animatronic believe its bones are shattering each time it moves or speaks, this company clearly wants people to know it’s not onboard the Trump train.  Park visitors who feel similarly opposed to Trump’s presidency can rest assured that his Hall Of Presidents double will be designed to experience anxiety, so it’s always aware that more pain is coming. Although the machine will understand what joy is, its programming will never allow it to feel that.  And Disney’s not letting Trump off the hook there. The replicas for Abraham Lincoln and George Washington will even be reprogrammed to slap, scratch, and pry the fingernails off the animatronic Trump, which will respond to such painful stimuli by gasping, crying, screaming, vomiting, or a mix of all of these.  If that doesn’t send a powerful statement about where Disney stands politically, we don’t know what does.  It’s safe to say we won’t see the Trumps vacationing there anytime soon. Don’t share Disney’s disdain for a Trump presidency? You may be better off heading to Space Mountain instead of the Hall Of Presidents, because Disney has officially drawn the battle line right there. ",fake,news,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
1448,1448,"Queen sails across Malta harbour in nostalgic tour of beloved island  Last Updated : Saturday , November 28 , 2015 19 : 31  Valletta : Cannon shots rang out across the harbour in Valletta on Sunday in tribute to Queen Elizabeth  , who was sailing across the bay on the final leg of her state visit to Malta .  The 89 year old and her husband Prince Philip were aboard the "" Maryanne "" , a boat from the early fifties and the period when the couple called the Mediterranean island home .  The trip on the dghajsa a traditional water taxi was the highlight of a nostalgic day , which saw the couple return to several of their favourite haunts from their youth .  Dressed in a bright turquoise A line coat , the queen held her hat on in the wind as the red , yellow and green striped boat , with the royal standard flying from its stern , sailed towards the  Bulwark , which was adorned with colourful signalling flags .  The monarch lived in Malta between 1949 and 1951 as a princess with her new husband , who was stationed on the island as a Royal Navy officer .  It was reportedly the happiest time of their lives and the pair have returned several times over the years most recently in 2007 to celebrate their diamond wedding anniversary . As a princess , she had a dghajsa commissioned by the Royal Navy to ferry her around , and looked pleased to be hopping back in one despite the overcast day .  As the cannons fired from the Barrakka gardens on the sea front where Elizabeth , then in her early 20s , used to come and wave in the navy fleet the crew of the  Bulwark performed a royal salute , holding their caps aloft and cheering "" hip hip hooray ! "" .  Security was heavy , with snipers on the rooftops and four patrol boats with armed sailors circling the bay for the ride , which wound up a three day state visit which began Thursday .  The monarch had requested to landed at Customs Wharf , 72 years after her father King George  landed there to award the island the George Cross for its bravery during a Second World War siege . It was the only time the award has been bestowed on a country .  Earlier in the day , Queen Elizabeth had rolled up her sleeves to plant a tree in the grounds of the presidential San Anton palace , an exotic oasis in the heart of the country .  The gharghar sapling a small cypress which is Malta s national tree is the first of its kind in the palace s private gardens and will grow next to an olive tree planted 10 years ago by the queen during her last state visit in 2005 . The couple also visited the Heritage Malta centre which conserves the country s historical sites , including ancient temples which folklore has it were built by giants .  The centre , where the national art collection is also preserved and restored , is housed in the former Bighi Hospital a major navy infirmary that served a vast area from 1832 until 1970 , giving Malta the nickname "" The Nurse of the Mediterranean "" .  The hospital tended to casualties of the first and second world wars , and the then princess paid tribute to their service in 1949 , visiting patients here on Christmas Eve .  It was a hugely independent time for the future queen , who used to beetle around the island in her own car and enjoyed shopping , partying and spending the day at the races .  The monarch spent her last hours on the island at the Marsa racecourse , where she reportedly used to come to ride but also to dance the night away at an on site club .  The royals viewed trotting races and the final chukka of a polo match at the club the second oldest polo club in the world before awarding prizes to the victors .  They then set off for the airport in cars from the 1950s Austin Princesses with leather seats and walnut wood interiors in a final nod to a bygone age of liberty .  Download the all new Zee News app for Android and iOS to stay up to date with latest headlines and news stories in Politics , Entertainment , Sports , Technology , Business and much more from India and around the world .  First Published : Saturday , November 28 , 2015 19 : 31  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
1452,1452,"After age 60 , we are all likely passengers on the Alzheimer ' s Express . These days it ' s overcrowded with baby boomers and is predicted by 2050 to claim 115 million victims worldwide , including 13 . 5 million Americans ( up from 5 . 1 million today ) , bankrupting our health care system .  That will happen , says a recent Alzheimer ' s Association report , unless we slow down this terrible disease .  The good news is : Most of us can . It ' s true that pharmaceutical drugs have failed miserably to stop or reverse the disease . A cure is not on the immediate horizon . "" Maybe not for 100 years , or ever , "" says Dr Jack C . de la Torre , a prominent Alzheimer ' s researcher at the National Institutes of Health funded Banner Sun Health Research Institute in Arizona .  "" The answer , "" he says , as do thousands of other Alzheimer ' s researchers , "" is prevention , "" the same strategy we use against other chronic diseases of aging , such as heart disease . The evidence that we can cut our risk of Alzheimer ' s is compelling and mounting constantly .  It is true that your vulnerability to Alzheimer ' s and other dementias is definitely influenced by your genes . Early onset Alzheimer ' s , before age 60 , is caused by genetic mutations and is thus quite strongly inherited .  But in late onset Alzheimer ' s , which appears after age 60 and accounts for 90 to 95 percent of all cases , genes are not destiny they simply make us more susceptible . I have the major "" susceptibility gene "" known as ApoE4 , that triples my risk of developing Alzheimer ' s in late life . Seventy seven million other Americans ( 25 percent of the population ) also carry it .  But Alzheimer ' s is more of a personal and public health choice than most people realize , as shown by thousands of scientific papers on the subject .  "" A lot of Alzheimer ' s is about lifestyle what you do and even who you are , your personality , "" says prominent Alzheimer ' s researcher Robert Wilson at Chicago ' s Rush University Medical Center . Effective deterrents to Alzheimer ' s , according to Wilson : a higher education , staying mentally active , eating the right foods , exercising , muscle building and being conscientious , easy going and an extrovert .  Much research ties Alzheimer ' s to the same lifestyle factors that cause heart attacks and strokes : high cholesterol , blood pressure , high blood sugar , insulin resistance , diabetes , obesity and physical inactivity . "" Taking care of your heart protects your brain , "" says De la Torre . He urges preventing Alzheimer ' s by screening for and treating cardiovascular disease in middle age , years before signs of memory loss and dementia appear .  Two other striking ways to ward off Alzheimer ' s : Stop smoking and avoid heavy drinking , especially binge drinking . Smoking doubles your risk of Alzheimer ' s , according to a recent University of California , San Francisco analysis . Excessive alcohol brings on Alzheimer ' s two to three years earlier ,  scientists found .  Bottom line : Most Alzheimer ' s , like heart disease and cancer , is a slowly developing chronic disease of aging that takes a decade or more to produce memory loss and dementia . Its progression is accelerated or slowed by diet , personality , lifestyle factors and other health conditions , such as treatable thyroid abnormalities and depression . Thus , we all have many years in which to stall this disease and perhaps outlive its devastating symptoms .  If we could delay the onset of Alzheimer ' s by only five years , 1 . 6 million Americans now expected to get Alzheimer ' s by 2015 , and 6 million by 2050 , would be spared , according to the Alzheimer ' s Association projections . Estimated Medicare savings would be 33 billion in 2020 and 283 billion by midcentury .  We can each help save ourselves by intervening as early as possible before the disease seizes our brain and memory loss is irreversible . The older we get , the greater our risk . About half of all people over age 85 have Alzheimer ' s .  Our best hope for defeating the looming global tragedy of Alzheimer ' s , due to the rapid growth of an aging population , is to keep millions of people from boarding the Alzheimer ' s Express in the first place , or at least to show them how to jump off before the final destination , which offers no hope of a round trip ticket .  The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Jean Carper .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
1456,1456,"The popular evangelical preacher and inspirational speaker may have permanently damaged his brand with what many consider a very lame answer to the question about why his church locked out the neediest people in his community, who were devastated by the floods in Houston and surrounding areas, while he remained high and dry in his $10 million mansion Showing off a toothy grin and posing in front of stacks of donated food and diapers, televangelist Joel Osteen showed not a shred of remorse as he appeared on the Today show on Wednesday.Proudly, he declared that the doors of his 17,000 seat Texas megachurch had  always been open  to the people of Houston who have been rendered homeless by Hurricane Harvey and its devastating floods.It came after shocked Texans arrived at his Lakewood church on Sunday to find it free of flood water on the ground level despite a Facebook post issued at the height of the city s panic which claimed it was  inaccessible due to flooding .Osteen, still shirking responsibility for the decision, then said that the church chose not to open up to the needy because the city had not officially asked him to. This despite other locations in Houston inviting in refugees out of charity and not an official request.Did Osteen really say he didn t open the church to flood victims because the city didn t ask him to? Does a church need to be asked by the government to help people affected by a natural disaster in their community?Eventually, it opened up and it is now acting as a  distribution center , finally carrying out good and much needed work as the city reels in crisis.But Osteen now faces the wrath of an angry Christian community   and the disgust of those beyond it   for his treatment of the disaster.  Daily MailApparently, many folks on social media didn t feel as though the pastor, who also happens to be mega-rich, is doing enough to help the people who have supported his luxury lifestyle for years.Twitter user @CollinRugg reminded Olsteen that the church belongs to God and not to him. Collin Rugg tells Osteen to  Open up His doors & let the people of Houston in! Joel Osteen,""Your"" mega church doesn't belong to you, it belongs to GodOpen up His doors & let the people of Houston in!#HoustonStrong  Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) August 29, 2017This Twitter user offered a similar sentiment:Joel Osteen has made millions in Jesus' name, but when it comes time to actually act like a Christian he fails spectacularly. #Houston  Lori O. (@lori_oh) August 28, 2017This Twiter user posted a picture of his Catholic priest actually working in the Houston floods to help victims.This is Father David Bergeron, the Father at my Catholic Church. He was out in a kayak yesterday blessing+helping ppl, Joel Osteen who???? pic.twitter.com/oVsNWniUsx  Triiodide Ion (@alfredomorenx) August 28, 2017Outspoken conservative Pastor Greg Locke reminded Osteen of his  obligation to show the love of Christ at this very moment , telling him to    DOORS. Joel Osteen, as a Pastor you have a huge obligation to show the love of Christ at this very moment.   DOORS. #HoustonStrong  Pastor Greg Locke (@pastorlocke) August 28, 2017If the New Orleans Saints could open their stadium to the public during Katrina, Joel Osteen can open up his church for the Houston flooding  Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) August 28, 2017Please understand that Joel Osteen does  represent Christianity. Never has, never will. @JoelOsteen #HoustonStrong # pic.twitter.com/5sSaUrzFvY  M A N them (@mikandynothem) August 28, 2017Joel Osteen's megachurch is designed for the rising tithe, not tide.  Eugene Gu,  (@eugenegu) August 28, 2017They shamed Osteen on social media, sharing photographs of the very dry land outside and questioned the Christianity of a man who had seemingly turned his back on the very congregation which built his $40million empire with their donations and undying faith.The church then released questionable photographs which it said demonstrated how it had flooded over the weekend but said the waters had since receded.     CHURCH:Lakewood Church also sent photos it says show flooding in and around the building:       CHURCH: Two Houston men shared this video of the Lakewood Church following the flood as evidence that the church was unaffected by the flooding: ",fake,dataset,validation,American football,US elections,fake,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
1458,1458,"Hey everybody I ' m on the Nevada and are the hot pop news story I think online right now well . We begin with what could be . The strangest casting up when he ' s sixteen and keep in mind it is only January . Just fine if that ' s the play Michael Jackson and an upcoming British  movie yes . That is theme doesn ' t find them Shakespeare in Love playing picking up pop . So while that settled and let me explain the plot which . Followed Jackson gearing up the old road trip he allegedly took that Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando following the nine elevenths attack . That ' s a lot I didn ' t apply they reportedly rented a car to travel from New York to California . Stockard Channing that the lake Taylor Brian Cox will star as Brenda . No word yet on when we ' ll air but anyone is hoping for at thriller and beat it Biden said to expect . A lighthearted tongue in cheek comedy . Well they think laughter is the Batman and and it ' s certainly true for Ryan his opening up about how it comedic character dead pool . Helped him cope with the loss his father . After telling them and help that its characters quirky sense of humor . Allowed him to take life a little less seriously . And joke around with in stat until the very . Reynolds as well laughing in third U in the dark moment and even help you crawl their way packed house . Who needs supertanker a later date and it sounds like and that humor is the fat super power there . That is the truth now . Some content through pandemonium . Broke out on Jimmy Kimmel Live last night when Jack Black stopped by . The comedian Alan attempting to name various household items the actor took on Walking Dead actress Lauren calling . In game mean that they did take a look at what happened and held up at this car an act the lads what it ' s call . Name this . Jack we ' ll start with you . I ' m Jack says it ' s a did jury don ' t did . Yeah . Lower added . Plant you don ' t be surprised at lower and actually went on to win other  its fourth and on his points for creativity with . Call eight bin bill a hobo life . Well they say he can ' t teach an old dog new tricks than if you actually may not be able that he and into any trick either . They look . An eleven week old man and his owner filmed him showing off his amazing now control . Or so she thought . Very proud of you . You trend to . We ' re . It . Think you got that ' s adorable puppy dog eyes to get out of trouble . After that performance by thing but the need parted in ended  from more pop news tomorrow or  news . I ' m on an odd in New York have a great day .  This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100 accurate .  Now Playing : Little Boy ' s Cake Drawing Comes to Life for 7th Birthday  Now Playing : Retirement Community Proves Carolina Panthers Fans Come in All Ages  Now Playing : Marion Cotillard on Lady Macbeth and the ' Pressure ' of Taking on the Role  Now Playing : How ' Deadpool ' Helped Ryan Reynolds Cope With Loss  Now Playing : Jeb Bush Weighs in on Donald Trump ' s Christianity  Now Playing : Doctor Involved in Uber Driver Assault Apologizes  Now Playing : ' View ' Co Hosts Discuss Donald Trump ' s Debate Boycott  Now Playing :  : Teen Is Pressured Into Taking Diet Pills  Now Playing : Rocco DiSpirito Leads National Chocolate Cake Day Celebration  Now Playing : Chris Pine Plays Captain in ' The Finest Hours '  Now Playing : Kanye West Set to Debut New Album at Madison Square Garden  Now Playing : Carolina Panthers ' Owner Wants to Send All His Employees to Super Bowl 50  Now Playing : Lily James Helps Shake Up Jane Austen in ' Pride and Prejudice and Zombies '  Now Playing : Natalie Portman Takes Over the Wild West in ' Jane Got a Gun '  Now Playing : Remembering ' The Godfather ' Actor Abe Vigoda  Now Playing :  : Sore Loser Dad Refuses to Treat Son Because He Lost Game  Now Playing :  : Man Upset Over Wife Having Girl , Not Boy  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
1461,1461,"Istanbul , Turkey An Istanbul court slapped a world renowned musician Monday with a 10 month suspended sentence for posting a series of tweets that poked fun at Islamic descriptions of heaven .  Classical concert pianist Fazil Say , 43 , was found guilty of "" openly insulting the religious values held by a portion of the public "" for the tweets , which were posted last year .  "" Freedom of expression does not entitle you to condescend or offend or insult people , "" countered plaintiff Ali Emre Bukagili . "" That ' s a crime . ""  Say ' s tweets included : "" You say the rivers will flow with wine , is heaven a tavern ? You say each believer will receive two women , is heaven a brothel ? "" according to the indictment .  In another , Say joked about the short duration of a cleric ' s traditional Islamic call to prayer . The tweet asked a rhetorical question to the chanting cleric : "" What ' s the hurry ? Lover waiting ? "" the indictment said .  Say also was convicted of retweeting allegedly offensive posts , such as , "" I am not sure if you have realized it , but where there is scum , a lowlife , a thief or a fool , s he is always an Allahist . Is this a paradox ? ""  Faruk Logoglu , deputy international affairs chairman of the nation ' s main opposition party ,  , called the sentence a "" new link in the long chain of assaults on the freedom of expression and freedom of conscience in Turkey . ""  "" This is shameful for Turkish democracy , "" he said .  Say won ' t have to serve his sentence as long as he doesn ' t commit a similar crime within the next five years . "" The decision is a correct one , "" said Bukagili . "" In our laws , it is against the law to publicly insult a belief , and he did that . ""  The case was filed last June after three plaintiffs lodged formal complaints .  Say has been a vocal critic of the Islamic rooted Justice and Development Party , which has governed Turkey since it first won parliamentary elections more than a decade ago . Critics linked the case to a recent string of freedom of expression prosecutions in Turkey .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
1463,1463,"So it comes down to Kentucky and Connecticut .  With just seconds left on the clock , Kentucky freshman Aaron Harrison sank a "" ridiculous "" three pointer to give the Wildcats a 74 73 win over Wisconsin in the Final Four of the  men ' s basketball tournament Saturday night . Kentucky will face Connecticut in Monday ' s title game , after the Huskies came back to oust top seeded Florida 63 53 earlier Saturday .  Neither team was expected to make it this far . Kentucky was a No . 8 seed in its region , while Connecticut was No . 7 .  Kentucky coach John Calipari said Wisconsin could have easily come out on top before the late toss by Harrison , who has hit two other key long baskets in the tournament .  "" They did everything they were supposed to do to win the game , and then we made a ridiculous shot , "" he said at a postgame press conference . "" We hung on and so did Wisconsin . It was a heck of a game . ""  Another movie script twist for Kentucky  Calipari praised his freshman laden team for coming back from a 40 36 halftime deficit to go on a 15 0 run . "" When we ' re down . . . they grow hair on their necks , "" he said . Kentucky will feature the first all freshman starting lineup in the national championship game since the 1992 Michigan team nicknamed "" The Fab Five . ""  After Harrison ' s three pointer , Wisconsin ' s Traevon Jackson got off one last shot as time expired but it missed the goal .  "" I felt pretty good that he got to that spot where he ' s hit shots before , "" Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said . "" It just didn ' t go . ""  Attendance was a record 79 , 444 Saturday night at the Final Four at  T Stadium in Arlington , Texas , where the championship game will also be played . The turnout tops the previous mark of 78 , 129 , according to the  March Madness Twitter feed .  Connecticut rebounds to oust Florida  In Saturday ' s first game , Florida held a 12 point lead over Connecticut midway through the first half . But the Huskies roared back , taking a slight lead at the half and expanding the bulge early in the second half .  UConn slays No . 1 giant  "" They showed us some true grit and toughness , "" Connecticut coach Kevin OIlie said in the postgame press conference .  Shabazz Napier said he and his teammates didn ' t panic when they trailed 16 4 early in the game .  "" We ' ve been through a lot of dogfights and continue to believe in each other , "" he said .  Florida coach Billy Donovan said , "" Once they got their defense set I think we had a hard time handling their pressure . ""  Scottie Wilbekin of Florida , the player of the year in the Southeastern Conference , only scored four points in the contest .  "" On offense , we couldn ' t get anything going , "" he said .  National title game preview  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
1469,1469,"The T shirt commemorated the 1985 Kansas City Royals , which is the last time the club won a World Series and the season in which Zobrist can first recall going to a baseball game .  One of the first games I remember as a kid was coming to Kauffman Stadium and seeing the green turf , Zobrist said on the eve of Game 1 of the 2015 World Series . It was a special time in Royals history . I was here for that and now I m back again 30 years later .  Bret Saberhagen and George Brett celebrate the Royals ' 1985 World Series win . (  )  He was 4 when he got the shirt and his face lit up when he talked about his mom finding it .  She might bring it when they come tomorrow , Zobrist said .  Related : ? World Series preview : Can the Mets put a stop to the Royals ' redemption ?  Not many players on either side of this series were alive when their respective teams last won a World Series . The New York Mets drought is almost as long as the Royals . They won in 1986 . Both teams are filled with youngsters , many of whom weren t even conceived when the Mets or Royals were last hoisting a World Series trophy .  That heralded Mets starting rotation ? Jacob deGrom was born in 1988 , Matt Harvey in 1989 and young flame thrower Noah Syndergaard was born in 1992 . The Royals core ? Lorenzo Cain was born in 1986 , Mike Moustakas in 1988 , Eric Hosmer in 1989 and Salvador Perez in 1990 .  Among the Royals starting lineup , Zobrist , Kendrys Morales , Alex Rios and Alex Gordon were all alive in 1985 , but the memories are few . Gordon , for instance , was a year and a half old . He was learning to walk , not learning to chant , Let s go Royals .  I wouldn t say I remember much , said Rios , who was four .  Nothing , said Gordon , when asked if he d any stories about himself and the 1985 Royals . He s from Lincoln , Neb . , and was raised a Royals fan , but says : My first memory of games was 7 or 8 years old .  The Mets have a few starters who were alive during their 1986 World Series run ? David Wright , Curtis Granderson , Daniel Murphy were all little kids . Lucas Duda was born seven months before the World Series  I was 5 years old , Granderson said . ? I hadn t even started playing organized baseball yet . I think I had a Wiffle ball bat . There are some photos of me somewhere posing with it . I remember I was left handed and I asked my dad why he let me go left handed . He said , I saw you holding the bat left handed and I just didn t change you .  The player who probably knows the most about the 86 Mets is Michael Cuddyer , who was a 7 year old that year and lived in Virginia . He d watch the Norfolk Tides , the Mets Triple A team and every so often got to see the big league club .  During that time the Mets would come and play the Tides for an exhibition game during the middle of the season . My dad would always take me to those games . I wouldn t say I was a Mets fan , but I was very familiar with that team . I remember Game 6 , there s no question about that . To now be on a team that s going into a World Series and hopefully follow in their footsteps , is pretty cool .  The best story on either team belongs to Mets pitcher Jonathan Niese , who was born the day New York won Game 7 of the World Series ? Oct . 27 , 1986 . While he doesn t have any memories of the Mets winning their last title , he s had a great Did you know ? fact to share for his entire tenure as a Met .  It s kind of cool , Niese said . Call it fate . Call it what you want .  Related : ? Manhattan bar renamed ' Daniel Murphy ' s ' throughout World Series  If you re wondering about the eldest statesman in this World Series . The Mets eternal hurler Bartolo Colon , 42 today , was 13 in 1986 . But he wasn t watching the Mets in the postseason . He was working in the Dominican coffee fields with his dad and wouldn t even start playing baseball for four more years .  Honestly , what were you doing in 1986 ? isn t necessarily something that baseball players talk about in the clubhouse . They re often drafted into World Series droughts or signed to end them . They haven ' t lived through them . The people who have suffered the most , year after year , are the fans . So Zobrist knows they ll care more about his 1985 stories than his teammates would .  Who knows indeed . If nothing else , it s a good reason to buy a T shirt .  The StewPod : A baseball podcast by Yahoo Sports  Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports . Have a tip ? Email him at mikeozstew yahooweblink or follow him on Twitter ! Follow MikeOz  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
1470,1470,"Ben Carson : I was violent , but I have changed  Carson was pressed by reporters in South Carolina as to whether he wanted to revise what he said in debate  President Barack Obama also pushed back on Carson ' s statements that defeating  would be easy   presidential candidate Ben Carson said Friday that he has better sources than the White House about the situation in Syria , sticking by his claim that China is involved in the fighting there .  Carson previously said that the Chinese were involved in Syria in Tuesday ' s  debate , which the White House rejected .  National Security Adviser Susan Rice said Thursday she has "" not seen any evidence of Chinese military involvement in Syria "" when asked about Carson ' s suggestions at a White House briefing .  On Friday in South Carolina , Carson was pressed by  on whether he wanted to revise his earlier comments .  "" I have several sources that I ' ve gotten material from , "" said the retired neurosurgeon . "" I ' m surprised that my material is better than theirs . ""  At the debate , he responded to a question on Syria by saying at one point : "" We also must recognize that it ' s a very complex place . You know , the Chinese are there , as well as the Russians , and you have all kinds of factions there . ""  The Carson campaign released documents later Friday that blasted the media ' s response to his debate comments and included public reports of Chinese military equipment being used in Syria .  "" As many members of the media clearly do not understand Dr Carson ' s comment properly and have not done the requisite homework to learn about China ' s presence in Syria , we offer additional clarification here , "" one of the campaign documents reads .  It goes on : "" China has had longstanding and well documented security ties to Syria , and has provided various military weapons and equipment that Syria is using in the current conflict . Dr Carson does not believe China is currently fighting in or deploying troops to Syria , and contrary to press reports , he has never made that assertion . ""  However , many large countries supply arms to nations around the world , and the presence of this equipment is not conventionally considered involvement by those originating countries in the conflicts where the equipment is deployed .  Asked about Carson ' s comments Friday , White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest poked fun at the remarks .  "" Maybe it violates my job description as a spokesperson to be speechless , but I think in this case I am , "" he said .  In an interview with  News released on Friday , President Barack Obama also pushed back on Carson ' s statements that defeating  would be easy .  Carson "" doesn ' t know much about it , "" he said .  "" Over the last several years , I ' ve had access to all the best military minds in the country and all the best foreign policy minds in the country , and I ' m not running for office . And so my only interest is in success , "" Obama said .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
1473,1473,"At the  2017 tech conference, Amazon  Jeff Bezos hopped into Hankook Mirae Technology’s massive mechanized suit. [@JeffBezos ”Why do I feel so much like #sigourneyweaver ?” @amazon #MARS2017 #openpodbaydoors 😬 pic. twitter.   —   Caleb Harper (@calebgrowsfood) March 20, 2017,   Bezos asked aloud why he “felt so much like Sigourney Weaver” in reference to Weaver’s character Ripley piloting a mechanized suit in Aliens as he manipulated the giant metal arms for an enthusiastic crowd on Sunday. I just got to pilot an awesome (and huge) robot thanks to Hankook Mirae Technology. Nice! #MARS2017 pic. twitter.   —   Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) March 20, 2017,  The “ ” mecha was created by South Korea’s Hankook Mirae Technology. It stands at a hulking 14 feet tall, and weighs 1. 6 tons at a minimum, according to their minimalist website. Visually, it most resembles the mechanized suits from James Cameron’s fluorescent blue cat lady epic, Avatar. The massive suit was designed in part by Vitaly Bulgarov, who worked with Boston Dynamics on their own bipedal robots. Bulgarov also signed on with Industrial Light  Magic to help with designs for Michael Bay’s Transformers reboot.    interface and arm motion test! ” ” large manned robot project for which I had a pleasure to make the design. Very fortunate to be part of the incredible Hankook Mirae Technology team. (previously posted as Korea Future Technology since ”Hankook” means ”South Korea” in Korean Language and ”Mirae” means ”Future”)team. More info at ” color:#c9c8cd  :   :14px  :17px  :0  :8px overflow:hidden padding:8px 0 7px  :center  :ellipsis  :nowrap”>A post shared by Vitaly Bulgarov (@vitalybulgarov) on Dec 15, 2016 at 3:12pm PST,  Hankook Mirae Chairman Yang   called the   “the world’s first manned bipedal robot,” saying that it was “built to work in extreme hazardous areas where humans cannot go [unprotected]. ” He added that they are taking “baby steps” to a point where they can allow the mech to “move freely. ” The   is expected to be commercially available by the end of 2017, and will only set you back a cool $8. 3 million. It might sound like a lot, but there is no cost too great in the inevitable lunar battle against   and the flying robot army pouring from his weird  . Follow Nate Church @Get2Church on Twitter for the latest news in gaming and technology, and snarky opinions on both.",true,news,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
1478,1478,"Diplomacy can be dangerous . U . S . diplomats have come under attack in various places in the last few decades .  Here ' s a look at U . S . diplomats who have been killed in the line of duty .  The first U . S . ambassador assassinated while in office was John Gordon Mein , the U . S . ambassador to Guatemala .  According to a telegram from the embassy in Guatemala City , a young man dressed in fatigues and carrying a sub machine gun on August 28 , 1968 , ordered Mein ' s vehicle to stop and for the ambassador to get out . He did , then ran prompting a cry of "" Shoot him , kill him . ""  Mein was shot and fell to the ground about 12 yards behind his limousine .  Cleo Noel Jr . , the U . S . ambassador to Sudan , was nearing the end of a March 1973 reception in the Saudi Embassy in Khartoum when terrorists stormed in .  The gunmen took Noel and another American , as well as diplomats from Saudi Arabia , Belgium and Jordan , according to a U . S . intelligence memo . The captors ' demand : Free various people , mostly Palestinian guerillas , then imprisoned in Jordan , Israel and the United States .  This spurred negotiations that didn ' t go anywhere , ending instead with the killing of Noel , fellow U . S . diplomat George Curtis Moore and Belgium ' s Charge d ' Affaires . U . S . authorities say the assailants belonged to the Palestinian terrorist movement known as "" Black September , "" claiming that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat signed off on the attack .  Ambassador Rodger Davies , who had been in Cyprus for less than months , hunkered down in a hallway on August 19 , 1974 , hoping he was safe from those involved in a nearby demonstration .  Instead , a bullet penetrated the embassy compound and struck his heart , killing him instantly .  Antoinette Varnava , a 31 year old local who was part of the small embassy staff for about a decade , also died in the violence .  U . S . ambassador to Lebanon Francis Meloy , his economic counselor Robert O . Waring and their Lebanese driver disappeared in June 1976 as they crossed the Green Line , the division between Beirut ' s Christian and Muslim sectors .  Their bullet riddled bodies were found a short time later in mainly Muslim west Beirut , which was then controlled by  Chairman Yasser Arafat ' s guerrillas .  Two former Muslim guerillas were convicted in the kidnapping and killings , only to be freed in 1996 .  About eight months after President Jimmy Carter appointed him as U . S . ambassador to Afghanistan , Adolph Dubs was taken from his car while heading home from the embassy .  His captors took the Foreign Service veteran to the Hotel Kabul , where Dubs died in a shootout between captors and Afghan police a violent death that , whomever fired the fatal bullets , the U . S . State Department considers an assassination .  A former eight story hotel facing the sea transformed into America ' s embassy in Beirut turned into a war zone in April 1983 , when a truck loaded with explosives was rammed into its entrance .  The result was horrific . Offices were pancaked on top of each other , the elevator shaft and stairwell destroyed , the cafeteria full of bodies and rubble , recalled the then U . S . ambassador Robert Dillon , who himself was dug out of the rubble .  While 44 people inside the embassy survived the blast , 17 Americans , 25 Foreign Service nationals , 10 contract workers and 10 visa applicants and passerby did not .  In 2008 , Dillon said the attack was believed to have been carried out by a family "" under the direction of members of Iran ' s Revolutionary Guards . ""  On August 7 , 1998 around the exact same time a bomb went off at the U . S . Embassy in Dar es Salaam , Tanzania , killing 11 a huge explosion tore through the U . S . Embassy in Nairobi , Kenya .  The American Foreign Service Association (  ) lists eight people as having died in the attack on its memorial remembering Americans who died while serving the U . S . government abroad in a foreign affairs capacity . Twelve Americans total were killed .  Those are both jarring numbers , but they ' re still a fraction of the more than 200 people total killed in the attack , in addition to more than 4 , 000 wounded .  In May 2001 , a U . S . jury found four purported al Qaeda members guilty on all charges stemming from the embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania .  As his wife of 34 years looked on , Laurence Foley was shot dead outside his home in Amman , Jordan , by a lone gunman in December 2002 . A public servant for close to 40 years , the Boston born Foley was serving as executive officer of the  mission in Amman at the time .  U . S . officials were quick to label Foley ' s killing a murder , with the head of the  calling it a "" brutal terrorist attack . ""  They later implicated Iraqi based terrorist leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi for providing "" financial and other support to the terrorists who assassinated "" Foley .  Exactly 11 years after the September 11 attacks in New York , Washington and rural Pennsylvania , terrorists struck at Americans again this time some 5 , 000 miles away in the Libyan city of Benghazi .  That ' s where Ambassador Christopher Stevens was when mortar and rocket fire struck a U . S . diplomatic annex there . Stevens didn ' t survive , nor did State Department computer expert Sean Smith or Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty , two former U . S . Navy SEALs then acting as security contractors .  The attack was first portrayed as violence by an angry mob responding to a video made in the U . S . that mocked Islam and the Prophet Mohammed . But officials later determined that it was a terrorist attack .  Anne Smedinghoff , a 25 year old public diplomacy officer at the U . S . Embassy in Kabul , was delivering books to a school in southern Afghanistan when a suicide bomber smashed into her convoy .  She died in that April 2013 attack , as did four others .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
1479,1479,""" Dear World : My fingers and wrists are sore , for the past few days all I could do was punch the letters on the keyboard . . . ""  These were the words of one Turkish man in Africa who spent days scouring the Internet for news on the Turkish protests that he could share .  People from all over Turkey and beyond poured out their feelings after what some say has been a heavy handed police response to protests in Turkey .  The protests began over plans to replace an Istanbul park with a new development , but spread nationwide after a heavy handed crackdown by police .  Erdogan has defended his government ' s handling of the protests , saying Friday that the government has "" no problem in terms of democratic demands . "" He also acknowledged , again , that police may have used excessive force last week , and said he had ordered an investigation .  "" To the Rest of the World : This is the first time in my 30 years that tears well up for what is happening just up the road from where I write these words . . . .  "" People from all ages and races , all political viewpoints are coming together to fight . Notify your local and national media , and tag them on twitter to make them speak the truth about what is happening . This is . . . for humanity , no less , "" wrote iReporter "" ateloco "" in a post that spread rapidly through social media .  Why Taksim Square matters to the Turks  Turkey as a nation is quite savvy about social media . At least 2 million tweets with hashtags related to the Turkish protests were sent in just eight hours on May 31 when protests gathered steam , a study by New York University revealed around 90 of them from Turkey . In comparison , Egypt ' s main protest hashtag was tweeted less than 1 million times throughout the country ' s entire revolutionary period .  And those in Turkey like to talk on the issues 57 of those using social network sites say they do so to share their political views a far higher percentage than in many European nations , according to the Pew Research Center .  The arrest this week of 25 social media users on accusations of spreading false information about demonstrations , according to the country ' s semi official Anadolu Agency news service , has sparked concerns from human rights groups about the right of freedom of expression .  But while documenting and disseminating information on the protests can be an arduous task , for many on social media it became a way of holding authorities to account .  She described the protests as her moment of "" resurrection . "" Although she wasn ' t involved in organizing them , she felt she could help the cause by sharing information .  She wants the protests to lead to more self examination on all sides . "" We shouldn ' t stop , but we should act more consciously . We have to write , we have to share our thoughts . ""  Turkish media in crisis over protests  Renc Korzay is not currently living in his homeland , but working for a construction company in the West African nation of Gabon . His heartfelt letter on iReport opened this story and continues :  "" I was guilty for letting my friends get gassed and arrested in the name of freedom without me . I was guilty for not being able to keep my colleagues company as they march to Taksim Square straight off work . I was guilty for not being able to give the people my apartment to shelter , my food to eat , my water to drink and my vinegar to ease off the reaction from the chemicals sprayed on their bodies . ""  He hoped that by writing and collecting information even from far away he could be of some help . "" I was no longer in Africa and I was no longer guilty . I became a reporter with quotes , cameraman with videos , photographer with images , a 24 hour news channel with everything I posted on social media , "" he said .  Istanbul writer Arsevi Zeynep Seyran was in the western coastal city of Izmir when protests began . Describing herself as a "" pot and pan hitter "" after the noisy protests she recorded one night , her thoughtful essay summed up the energy of the protests for many .  If people are silent about the what is happening in Turkey , the protesters "" are afraid that as a society things will go backward , "" she said .  By shining a spotlight on the situation in the country , she hoped authorities would be less likely to retaliate against those involved in the protests , she said .  Ultimately , it may be too soon to tell what effect the protests will have on Turkey , its government and those who flooded the streets of Istanbul , Ankara and other cities . But one thing is certain those who have been feverishly tweeting , posting , blogging and documenting will not be inclined to stop any time soon .  "" For the first time in a long time , "" Seyran said , "" Turkey has much reason for pride . ""  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
1491,1491,"Florida Four people were killed and several injured after an explosion Wednesday at a chemical plant sent a thick plume of smoke over a section of Jacksonville , authorities said .  A thick plume of smoke rises Wednesday at a chemical plant in Jacksonville , Florida .  "" Literally , it ' s a hellish inferno . There is no other way to describe it , "" said Fire Department spokesman Tom Francis .  Fourteen people were hospitalized after the blast at the T2 Lab on Faye Road , in an industrial area on the waterfront in north Jacksonville , Francis said .  Officials initially ordered an evacuation of nearby businesses , but by 4 p . m . the order had been lifted after tests of the air found no toxicity , Francis said .  Firefighters were still battling hot spots , and the effort will be going on for "" quite some time , "" he said . See an I Report account about the blast  Six of those injured were transported to Shands Hospital in Jacksonville , hospital spokeswoman Kelly Brockmeier said . A Shands official said the hospital incident command system had been activated something done to put the staff in high alert in anticipation of trauma patients .  A woman who answered the T2 Lab ' s 24 hour facility emergency phone said the plant manufactures ecotane , a gasoline additive that reduces tailpipe emissions , according to the laboratory ' s Web site . See a map of the site of the explosion  The billowing black smoke could be seen from the city ' s downtown , said Florida Times Union reporter Bridget Murphy . Murphy said she talked to several workers as they walked out of the area , and they were "" shaken to the core . ""  "" They described a hissing noise and then a sound wave , "" she said .  Antonio Padrigan was trying to get in touch with his son , who works in a plant in the area , but was having no luck reaching him on his cell phone .  "" He was shook up when he called me , but I can ' t get through to him anymore , "" Padrigan said . "" I don ' t know if he ' s in the hospital or what . ""  Carlton Higginbotham , 63 , was working at home on Townsend Boulevard in Jacksonville when a loud boom shook his house , he said .  "" It was a gunshot type explosion it wasn ' t a rumble , "" he said .  Higginbotham , an insurance salesman , and his neighbor ran outside and noticed thick smoke billowing from the other side of the St . Johns River , which separates his neighborhood from the site of the blast .  "" The cloud that came out of it was white , some would say mushroom shaped , "" Higginbotham said . "" It was followed by dark , dark smoke . "" E mail to a friend  ",true,text,validation,American football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
1496,1496,"It ' s a sad day for local news fans .  News has shuttered EveryBlock , a hyperlocal news site that pulled in and mapped useful information from a variety of rich sources , including Craigslist posts , police reports , restaurant inspections and Yelp reviews .   announced the shutdown in a blog post on Thursday and it is effective immediately . The post has already racked up more than 630 comments , mostly by surprised loyal users who made up the active commenting community .  Launched in 2008 in Chicago by Adrian Holovaty , EveryBlock started as an exciting experiment with a two year 1 . 1 million grant from the Knight Foundation . The company was acquired by MSNBCweblink a year later , and in 2012  News bought MSNBCweblink .  The maps plotted a mix of commercial , government and nonprofit feeds . You could see Flickr photos , recent muggings , local news stories and home foreclosures on your street , viewed as a map , list or  feed .  Over the years the site expanded beyond Chicago to deliver local news for 19 cities , including San Francisco , Atlanta , New York and Los Angeles . Chicago always remained the most popular EveryBlock city , accounting for more than half the site ' s traffic , according to Alexa rankings .  Unfortunately for the committed users and 10 employees working on the project , the model wasn ' t profitable enough for  News to keep it open .  "" We looked at various options to keep this going , but none of them were viable . It was a tough call to make , ""  News ' chief digital officer Vivian Schiller told Poynter .  Schiller said EveryBlock wasn ' t a good fit with the company ' s growth strategy .  "" EveryBlock was among the more innovative and ambitious journalism projects at a time when journalism desperately needed innovation and ambition .  , "" wrote a shocked Holovaty , who was no longer with the company , in a post on the closure .  "" Within the world of neighborhood news there ' s an exciting pace of innovation yet increasing challenges to building a profitable business , "" said the EveryBlock team in a blog post . "" Though EveryBlock has been able to build an engaged community over the years , we ' re faced with the decision to wrap things up . ""  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
1504,1504,"The escalation in recent days of eastern Congo ' s brutal war demonstrates that unless its root causes are addressed in a broader peace process , violence could intensify and Rwanda could be drawn more directly into the fray , regionalizing the war .  Over the past week , Congo ' s army has nearly militarily defeated the most powerful rebel group , the M23 . Rwanda has threatened to strike Congo in retaliation for what it claims was shelling on its territory by Congo ' s army .  M23 may soon be a spent force militarily , but many other armed groups are still active and could replace it as major destabilizers of eastern Congo unless the root causes of the war are addressed .  Recently suspended talks in Uganda only involve the Congolese government and M23 , and address none of the underlying political , economic , or security drivers of violence that have created the deadliest conflict globally since World War  .  Corrupt governance , intercommunal divisions and illegal exploitation of lucrative natural resources allow the Congolese army and a host of predatory militias to operate with impunity . But the most important factor in ending mass violence is the Congo Rwanda relationship and the economic and security interests that underlie it .  The fates of Rwanda and Congo are deeply intertwined .  The aftermath of the Rwandan genocide spilled over into Congo in the mid 1990s , acting like gasoline on the fire of preexisting ethnic tensions , localized conflict and state collapse . Since then , Rwanda ' s periodic direct intervention and support for armed groups in eastern Congo have been central drivers of continuing conflict .  Remarkably , however , no major international peace initiative has comprehensively analyzed and addressed Rwanda ' s core interests as part of a solution .  Rwandan security interests in Congo center on containing the threat posed by the Congo based armed group , the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (  ) , whose leaders participated in the 1994 genocide against Rwandan Tutsis . Congo ' s army has at times supported the  .  The Rwandan government , which defeated the regime that committed the genocide , believes that as long as the  is in Congo with supporters around the world motivated by a genocidal ideology , it represents a threat .  Rwanda also has economic interests in Congo in natural resources , land and cross border trade . Rwanda has its own domestic minerals sector but benefited significantly from smuggled conflict minerals from Congo in particular tin , tantalum , and tungsten for several years . According to numerous U . N . investigative reports , some Rwandan traders have relabeled Congolese minerals as Rwandan and exported them . Rwanda is reliant on the minerals trade to reduce its significant balance of trade deficit .  Widely divergent opinions focus on Rwandan President Paul Kagame . Supporters cite his ending the 1994 genocide and tout the country ' s dramatic economic recovery since then , but are uncritical of Rwanda ' s role in Congo or the lack of internal political freedom . Critics focus only on its destructive behavior in Congo and repressive policies at home but overlook the progress Rwanda has made in other spheres .  The "" 11 4 Framework "" for a peace initiative signed by all the governments in the region provides a new window to address the core causes of the conflict and involve civil society . The appointments of Mary Robinson and Russ Feingold as U . N . and U . S . envoys , respectively , further improve the odds .  The primary key to ending the violence is changing the economic incentives from war to peace and addressing regional security threats . This in no way diminishes the urgent need for political reforms in Kigali , Kinshasa , and elsewhere in the region , as well as the importance of placing targeted sanctions against any officials supporting armed groups , combating spoiler militias like the  and M23 by buttressing the U . N . Intervention Brigade ' s capacities and prosecuting war crimes .  But the most promising opportunity for peace is in the economic interdependence between Congo and Rwanda . The perceived zero sum nature of Rwanda ' s interests that help fuel the war has to be transformed for the war to end .  If the mineral sector alone was developed by serious investment in conflict free , transparent semi industrial and industrial mining , and the artisanal trade was more formalized with better equipment and fair trade small scale mining , there would be a greatly expanded economic pie for the entire region .  Instead of the current fighting over surface level minerals left to armed smugglers , there could be exponentially larger revenues for both countries and wealth building opportunities for Congolese communities from the deeper mines in a legal , peaceful trade . The envoys can help by pressing to finalize the regional minerals certification process and asking the World Bank to accelerate its regional infrastructure programs .  Rwanda and Congo can grow together if Rwanda becomes a gateway for international businesses to invest in Congo ' s natural resource sector , while attracting investors on the basis of good roads , electricity , transparent business regulations and banking institutions . Singapore grew similarly by attracting investors interested in neighboring Indonesia ' s and Malaysia ' s natural resources . All three countries benefited tremendously from this arrangement : Malaysia , Indonesia , and Singapore are now all in the top 20 of world economies . Congo and Rwanda may not be top 20 candidates soon , but a peaceful sub region would be a good start .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
1507,1507,"Mufti Mohammad Sayeed is no more . Founder of the People ' s Democratic Party was elected as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir on November 2 , 2002 and the first phase of his tenure which lasted till November 2 , 2005 , was nothing short of remarkable . ?  Known to be a game changer of J K politics during his tenure , ? 79 year old politician was sworn in as the  for the second time on March 1 , last year .  Born on January 12 , 1936 in Anantnag district ' s Bijbehara , he completed graduation in law from Srinagar and pursued a post graduate course in Arab ' s history from Aligarh Muslim University .  He kick started his political career during late 50 ' s holding his first formal post as a member of the Democratic National Conference .  He remained with the  under the leadership of Ghulam Mahammed Sadiq for a long time , but had a fall out . He then joined the Indian National Congress . Sayeed was instrumental in making  a major political force in Jammu and Kashmir .  In 1972 , he was appointed as a cabinet minister under the leadership of Mir Qasim . During the tenure of Rajiv Gandhi and Farooq Abdullah led government , Mufti was appointed as the Union Tourism Minister .  Sayeed joined the  Singh led government after quitting Congress in 1987 , after row over the Rajiv Farooq accord . However , within a few days of taking office , the country was thrown into turmoil when one of his three daughter ' s Rubaiya was abducted by militants on December 2 , 1989 .  The  Singh government negotiated with the militants for the release of his daughter . This incident had a far reaching impact in the politics of Jammu and Kashmir and Sayeed ' s career .  His tenure as the home minister was not a smooth ride , it was during this period the state saw the rise of militancy and human rights violation at an unprecedented level and this led to the infamous exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in 1990 .  Mufti made a comeback to the Congress party during  Narasimha Rao ' s tenure , but later moved on to form his own party called the People ' s Democratic Party , along with his daughter Mehbooba Mufti in 1999 .  In the 2002 assembly elections in J K , Sayeed made a grand entrance as the chief minister . His party squarely defeated the National Congress and made an alliance with the Congress party .  His office as the Chief Minister during the first phase was stellar . He was known for his dexterity in handling political strategies and changing the political equation both at regional and national level .  Sayeed cracked down the increasing civil rights violation with an iron hand . He brought about the much needed development in the capital , Srinagar  The suave political strategist brought a thaw in bilateral relations  His efforts led to the direct engagement of estranged neighbors , India and Pakistan . The first initiative of peace efforts was when he invited Prime Minister  Vajpayee to address a rally in Srinagar .  Under his leadership , the fist bus crossed Aman Sethu , the peace bridge , in March , 2005 . This paved the way for increased ties between Pakistan and Kashmir wherein Kashmiri ' s could cross the border without visa and passport . He strongly felt exchange of good and people through the border was the best way to improve political ties .  Sayeed soon grew to be a ' people ' s man ' and became a popular crusader for salvaging those the hurt and brought hope to those in despair .  In the 2014 elections , Sayeed ' s  won three out of the six parliamentary seats of the state . The  formed a government by allying with the second best party , the Bharatiya Janata Party .  The late  recently hinted his daughter Mehbooba who will take over the office . "" I only sit in the office but she works in the field . I did not get time to meet people . She has better access to people and the party workers than me , and she understands their problems .  "" She deserves it ( to be chief minister ) , "" Mufti had said . If this wish of Sayeed comes true , Mehbooba will be the first woman chief minister of the state .  For more news from India Today , follow us on Twitter indiatoday and on Facebook at facebookweblink IndiaToday  For news and videos in Hindi , go to AajTak . in . ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . ? ? ? ? ? ? ? .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
1531,1531,"It ' s Friday , folks , which means it ' s time to get into it with some daily fantasy basketball action . This Friday we not only have a huge slate of games with 11 on tap , but it ' ll be loaded up with some great rookie and sleeper options to take advantage of .  If you ' ve played much on DraftKings to this point in the 2015  season , it ' s obvious that you can get some great value in the rookie plays , while the sleepers can be scattered all over . Let ' s jump right into it by looking at a few first year players , as well as some sleepers who can help make getting those studs into your lineup just a bit easier .   Emmanuel Mudiay , Denver Nuggets ( 5 , 900 ) vs . Phoenix Suns  Mudiay has been one of the most intriguing rookies in the  thus far , as he ' s averaged 28 . 5 fantasy points and has a cost of just 5 , 900 . On Friday , he ' s up against a Phoenix Suns team that hasn ' t been bad against opposing point guards , allowing an average of 48 . 5 fantasy points to opposing point guards .  What ' s worth noting about Mudiay this Friday , though , is that the Nuggets are playing on their home floor . In his last three games playing in front of his home crowd , Mudiay has scored 36 . 5 , 39 . 75 and 27 fantasy points . He seems to be one of those guys who just steps it up a bit when playing in front of his home fans .  The young point guard for the Nuggets has shown plenty of upside , and on Friday he should be an intriguing play with a sub 6 , 000 price tag as well .   Kristaps Porzingis , New York Knicks ( 6 , 100 ) at Oklahoma City Thunder  While many fans were left scratching their heads when the Knicks drafted Porzingis in the 2015  draft , it seems that we ' re immediately seeing why the team was so high on him . He ' s now three days removed from his most impressive game of the season , as he scored 29 points , with 11 rebounds and a block , good for 46 . 75 fantasy points against the Charlotte Hornets .  Porzingis ' ability to extend the floor and knock down threes makes him even more valuable as a power forward , and the Knicks face off against the Thunder in what should be a high scoring game . Best of all , the Thunder have allowed 46 fantasy points to opposing power forwards this year , and I expect him to have yet another strong fantasy outing .  Porzingis has topped 28 fantasy points six times in the past 10 games , which is obviously pretty strong for his salary of just 6 , 100 . To top it all off , we know that fans are loving on some Porzingis , as Darren Rovell of  reported that the  actually sold out of his jerseys on Thursday .   says Porzingis jerseys have sold out , new stock will be in tomorrow .  C ? Jahlil Okafor , Philadelphia 76ers ( 7 , 100 ) at Charlotte Hornets  While Karl Anthony Towns is likely to get much of the attention on Friday , I ' m going to give the nod to Okafor here . Not only has the former Duke Blue Devil averaged 32 . 9 fantasy points per game this season , but he ' s topped 29 fantasy points in seven of his last 10 as well .  Okafor ' s a major playmaker , and he has played at least 30 minutes in each of the last nine games . As for the matchup , the Hornets have actually allowed the ninth most fantasy points to opposing centers this year , at 49 . 2 points per game . Don ' t shy away from using Okafor , as he has a strong chance to not only out produce Towns , but to out produce many other centers on Friday .  C Jonas Valanciunas , Toronto Raptors ( 5 , 700 ) at Los Angeles Lakers  What ' s not to love about Valanciunas ' matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers ?  Not only have the Lakers been terrible against opposing centers , allowing the most fantasy points per game this year at 54 . 5 , but the big man in Toronto is fresh off a strong showing on Wednesday . In that game against the Utah Jazz , he played 33 minutes , scoring 11 points , with nine rebounds , two blocks and one steal , good for 27 . 75 fantasy points .  At a cost of just 5 , 700 , with by far the best matchup on the board , there ' s no reason to not give him a shot ? in this one . Valanciunas may have had a few up and down games this season , but when he gets comfortable and finds a good matchup , he ' s more than capable of topping 30 plus fantasy points , which should happen on Friday .   Tony Parker , San Antonio Spurs ( 4 , 600 ) at New Orleans Pelicans  To be honest , I usually stay away from the bulk of the Spurs , with the exception of Kawhi Leonard and possibly Tim Duncan from time to time . On Friday , though , I ' m rolling out the red carpet for Tony Parker .  Not only is Parker ' s price a very nice 4 , 600 at this point , but he ' s coming off his best performance of the year , as he scored 39 . 5 fantasy points against the Denver Nuggets . Next up ? The worst team in the  against opposing point guards from a fantasy perspective : the Pelicans .  To this point in 2015 , the Pelicans have allowed 55 . 8 fantasy points per game to point guards . Time to honor the man who dished out his 6 , 000th career assist ? earlier this week , by giving him a run in your fantasy lineups on Friday .  ? Bleacher Report  (   ) November 15 , 2015  There ' s plenty of pricey options on Friday night , but the rookies and sleepers above can allow you to get a player like Russell Westbrook , Stephen Curry or James Harden in your lineup .  Pricing information and scoring data obtained from ? DraftKingsweblink . ? All statistics ? courtesy of ESPNweblink ? or ? RotoWire ? unless otherwise specified .  Enter the ? DraftKings ? 300K ? Sharpshooter ? Friday . Use Promo Code   when you sign up .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
1568,1568,"Donald Trump s most dangerous and offensive campaign promise was, of course, his call for a  total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.  We all saw that plan realized in late January, as Trump rolled out the ban via a chaotic Executive Order that the courts quickly struck down. Well, it seems that Trump has not given up just yet, and plans to sign a brand new Muslim ban this coming Monday.In preparation, Trump s white supremacist Chief Strategist Steve Bannon will go down to Mar-A-Lago for the weekend, along with others from the Department of Justice, including Attorney General Jeff Sessions, to be with Trump. The festivities at the posh resort will include an   launch meeting. This comes after Trump s team decided to let Trump s ego be stroked by the good press he was getting from his address to a joint session of Congress. However, this didn t last, thanks to the controversy surrounding Jeff Sessions and his lying to Congress about his contacts with Russians.The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has already responded, and they are definitely ready to combat Trump s bigotry in the courts. They tweeted:We're ready. See you in court (again), @realDonaldTrump. weblink   National (@ACLU) March 4, 2017What is really sick about all of this is that this insanity is ratcheting up hateful sentiment toward the groups of people that Team Trump fixates on. Real people are being hurt   and even killed   due to the fact that the most powerful man in the world is insisting upon mainstreaming hate.Keep it up,  and other groups. As for Trump   # is ready.Featured image via Win McNamee/Getty Images",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,present
1581,1581,"In the world of golf , the next generation of stars just keeps on getting younger .  Ever since Judy Rankin blazed a trail by entering the 1959 U . S . Women ' s Open at the age of 14 , the sport has been a playground for many a young pretender .  Lucy Li was the latest child prodigy to rewrite the record books in May when she became the youngest player to ever qualify for the U . S . Women ' s Open , aged just 11 , although she failed to make the cut at last month ' s event .  The men ' s game is in similar rude health .  Guan Tianlang became the youngest player to make the cut in a major championship following his appearance as a 14 year old at the 2013 Masters , while Jordan Spieth nearly became the youngest player to win that tournament in April at the age of 20 .  "" They are extremely powerful guys that can perform extremely well . They have the confidence and the freedom of being young to perform against their idols . ""  Manassero , now a seasoned tour pro at the age of just 21 , speaks from experience .  The Italian was the most successful teenager in European Tour history and remains the youngest player to win one of its events .  At the age of 17 years and 188 days before he had even learned how to drive a car he triumphed at the 2010 Castello Masters , and has since backed that up with three more European Tour wins , including the flagship   Championship at Wentworth in 2013 .  Before Tianlang , Manassero was the youngest player to make the cut at the Masters , aged 16 in 2010 his 36th place finish at Augusta ranked as the best performance by a European amateur for 73 years .  "" I can certainly speak for Tianglang and he was extremely mature , "" Manassero said .  "" You can just see the way he was at Augusta . Aged 14 and he knew what he wanted to do , he knew where he wanted to hit it , he knew how far . . . at 14 that ' s certainly exceptional . ""  Lexi Thompson , Ye Wocheng , Andy Zhang , Ryo Ishikawa and Lydia Ko are just a few of golf ' s child prodigies .  Each of the quintet made their own piece of history while still on the amateur circuit something Manassero views as essential in the process of fast tracking youngsters to global golfing fame .  "" I think amateur golf is one important key aspect of this and I am sure that young guys 15 years ago , they were totally able even at 17 to play with the pros , but they just probably didn ' t really know that they could , "" he says .  After becoming the youngest winner of the British Amateur Championship in 2009 , Manassero went on to place 13th at that year ' s British Open Championship , earning himself the Silver Medal for the leading non pro in the process .  "" Amateur golf , from my point of view , made me believe that I could compete at any level because it was really , really competitive , "" he says . "" You know , we were winning tournaments and seeing golf courses in which they also played European tournaments .  "" The standard is really , really high , it is very competitive . I was playing all over Europe , I was playing in America too when I was 15 , 16 as an amateur , so it was really almost like being a professional . The only difference was school . ""  Manassero turned professional in May 2010 two weeks after his 17th birthday to become the second youngest member in European Tour history after Seve Ballesteros .  He had to wait just five months before his first win on the tour , and he credits the likes of Rory McIlroy , who also made a successful transition upon turning professional , with helping him to that maiden triumph in Spain .  "" You get a lot of confidence from playing with great players , with tough opponents . Once I turned pro and I started doing well , I saw Rory a little before me , a few years before me , "" he says .  "" It inspires you and gives you confidence and makes you think that you can do it too . Professional golf is really tough , but once you ' re in it you can do it even if you are young . ""  In golfing terms , Manassero is still a baby with a long career lying ahead of him .  And despite his recent frustrations , including a 118th place finish in his  Championship title defense won by McIlroy in May his enthusiasm for the sport remains the same as when he was teeing up at Augusta for the first time with the eyes of the world upon him .  "" It ' s not been a fantastic period lately but I am still enjoying it , the days that I go out and shoot a big score , I am having a lot of fun , "" Manassero says .  "" In general , when I am at a tournament that is the place I want to be . I wouldn ' t want to be anywhere else . Until I ' m going to feel different , it ' s going to be fine , it ' s going to be great . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
1582,1582,"Reuters) - The U.S. National Security Agency collected more than 151 million records of Americans’ phone calls last year, even after Congress limited its ability to collect bulk phone records, according to an annual report issued on Tuesday by the top U.S. intelligence officer. The report from the office of Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats was the first measure of the effects of the 2015  Freedom Act, which limited the  to collecting phone records and contacts of people U.S. and allied intelligence agencies suspect may have ties to terrorism. It found that the  collected the 151 million records even though it had warrants from the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance court to spy on only 42 terrorism suspects in 2016, in addition to a handful identified the previous year.     The  has been gathering a vast quantity of telephone “metadata,” records of callers’ and recipients’ phone numbers and the times and durations of the calls - but not their content - since the September 11, 2001, attacks. The report came as Congress faced a decision on whether to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which permits the  to collect foreign intelligence information on non-U.S. persons outside the United States, and is scheduled to expire at the end of this year. Privacy advocates have argued that Section 702 permits the  to spy on Internet and telephone communications of Americans without warrants from the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, and that foreign intelligence could be used for domestic law enforcement purposes in a way that evades traditional legal requirements. The report said that on one occasion in 2016, the  obtained information about an American in response to a search of Section 702 data intended to produce evidence of a crime not related to foreign intelligence.  The report did not address how frequently the  obtained information about Americans while investigating a foreign intelligence matter, however. On Friday, the  said it had stopped a form of surveillance that allowed it to collect the digital communications of Americans who mentioned a foreign intelligence target in their messages without a warrant.     The new report also came amid allegations, recently repeated by U.S. President Donald Trump, that former President Barack Obama ordered warrantless surveillance of his communications and that former national security adviser Susan Rice asked the  to unmask the names of U.S. persons caught in the surveillance. Both Republican and Democratic members of the congressional intelligence committees have said that so far they have found no evidence to support either allegation. Officials on Tuesday argued that the 151 million records collected last year were tiny compared with the number collected under procedures that were stopped after former  contractor Edward Snowden revealed the surveillance program in 2013. Because the 151 million would include multiple calls made to or from the same phone numbers, the number of people whose records were collected also would be much smaller, the officials said. They said they had no breakdown of how many individuals’ phone records were among those collected.  In all, according to the report, U.S. officials unmasked the names of fewer Americans in  eavesdropping reports in 2016 than they did the previous year, the top U.S. intelligence officer reported on Tuesday. The report said the names of 1,934 “U.S. persons” were “unmasked” last year in response to specific requests, compared with 2,232 in 2015, but it did not identify who requested the names or on what grounds. Officials said in the report that U.S. intelligence agencies had gone out of their way to make public more information about U.S. electronic eavesdropping. “This year’s report continues our trajectory toward greater transparency, providing additional statistics beyond what is required by law,” said Office of the Director of National Intelligence spokesman Timothy Barrett. ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
1584,1584,"5 reasons Clemson is already the national title favorite next year  Dabo Swinney ' s Tigers have a great shot to get back to the College Football Playoff  Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson ( 4 ) and the Tigers will look to make it back to the  title game next season .  Clemson may have lost a heartbreaker to Alabama in Monday night s College Football Playoff championship game , but that will just make the joy of winning it all next season that much sweeter .  Yes , Alabama ( 14 1 ) was the better team during its 45 40 win over Clemson ( 14 1 ) , but the dynasty known as the Crimson Tide needed a perfectly placed onside kick to take down a Tigers team that was battling key injuries on the defensive side of the ball all night .  There s a ton of reasons why Clemson will be the favorites to take home the title next year , but here are five to think about while college football heads into the offseason .  There s no doubt Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson was the best player on the field during Monday night s heavyweight title bout with Alabama ? and that field included the Tide s record setting , Heisman winning running back Derrick Henry .  Watson , who just concluded his sophomore season , bested Matt Leinart s record for passing yards in a championship game by airing it out for 405 yards and four touchdown passes . In the process , Watson became the first player in  history to throw for over 4 , 000 yards and rush for over 1 , 000 yards in the same season . Expect Watson to be a Heisman favorite heading into next year .  The Clemson offense was dynamic in 2015 . It will be better in 2016 .  The Tigers averaged 38 . 5 points and ranked 11th in the nation in total offense with 514 . 5 yards per game ? and that was without star wide receiver Mike Williams , who sustained a neck injury while catching a touchdown in the first game of the year .  Williams is a dynamic , 6 foot 4 , 220 pound junior who pulled in 57 passes for a team high 1 , 030 yards and six touchdowns and was named an all conference performer in 2014 . A big , athletic target like Williams combined with Watson s ability to run will make Clemson nearly impossible to defend in the red zone .  The return of Williams not only adds another playmaker to Clemson s offense , but it adds essential diversity to its receiving corps .  At 6 4 , Williams is the ideal outside receiver . When paired with receivers Artavis Scott , Deon Cain and Hunter Renfrow and tight end Jordan Leggett , there might not be a better stable of pass catchers in the country .  The speedy 5 11 , 195 pound Scott led Clemson with 93 receptions and 901 receiving yards and was an all  first teamer . Leggett also landed on the all  first team thanks to his 40 catches for 525 yards and a team best eight  catches .  Meanwhile , freshmen Cain and Renfrow had sensational rookie seasons . Cain ranked fourth on the team with 34 receptions despite not playing in the final two games of the year for team rules violation . He was trailed by Renfrow , who pulled in 33 passes .  Clemson coach Dabo Swinney , who won just about every coach of the year award that was given out this season , might just be the best college football coach this side of Nick Saban .  Swinney s staff is just as brilliant , and so far the key components have not been poached . Defensive coordinator Brent Venables has fielded one of the top units in the country for the second straight year , as the Tigers ranked 10th in the nation in total defense , allowing 313 yards per game . Venables is also a highly regarded recruiter .  On the other side of the ball , co offensive coordinators Jeff Scott and Tony Elliot are the architects behind one of the most balanced and effective attacks in the country . Under their guidance , the Tigers tallied 38 . 5 points per game to finish 16th in the  . Their scheme also allowed for running back Wayne Gallman to set a school single season record with 1 , 527 rushing yards .  5 . Tigers defense doesn t rebuild ? it reloads  Heading into the 2015 season the big talk surrounding Clemson , aside from Deshaun Watson s ability to stay healthy , revolved around how the Tigers would replace star pass rusher Vic Beasley and a slew of talented players that moved on to the  .  It s safe to say Clemson was able to get by on defense this year .  Despite the upheaval , the Tigers defense was once again one of the best in the country . Junior Shaq Lawson , who has declared for the  Draft , was named the  Defensive Player of the Year after racking up 12 . 5 sacks and an  best 24 . 5 tackles for a loss .  In the secondary , star cornerback Mackensie Alexander , a redshirt sophomore who could also declare for the  Draft , was named an all  first teamer along with junior safety Jayron Kearse , who will also be looking to play Sundays some day soon .  The Clemson defense may once again lose some quality players , but that will only make room for more future stars .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
1593,1593,"Manama , Bahrain A crush of protesters covered the streets of Bahrain ' s capital Tuesday in an anti regime protest .  Tens of thousands of people marched in the biggest anti government rally since the public disturbances in the island nation erupted last week , and chants of "" No Shia , No Sunni , only Bahraini "" and "" The regime must go "" rang through the multitudes tramping across the center of Manama .  The turnout was led by ambulance workers involved in rescuing some of those injured in the assault by security forces last Thursday on the Pearl Roundabout , which has been the epicenter of the Shiite dominated protest movement .  The rally which comes after thousands of people attended a funeral for a protester slain last week was a massive display of popular scorn toward an embattled government working to forge stability . But it unfolded amid major gestures by the kingdom .  King Hamad touted a "" national dialogue "" and urged Bahrainis "" to engage in this new process "" and "" move away from polarization , "" a government statement said Tuesday .  The king has held meetings with opposition members , community leaders and businesspeople "" from all sections of society "" to pave the way for a formalized dialogue process .  "" The national dialogue is aimed at bringing to everyone in Bahrain the opportunity to contribute to Bahrain ' s future path of reform , "" the statement said .  The kingdom also ordered the release of a number of prisoners and closed cases against several Shiite leaders accused of plotting against the kingdom , the country ' s state news agency reported Tuesday .  That cleared the way for Hassan Mushaimaa , leader of Bahrain ' s largest opposition party , the Haq Movement , to return to the country from London . His aides said he was expected in Bahrain later Tuesday .  Mushaimaa ' s Haq Movement is more hard line than the opposition Wefaq party , which includes 18 people in the 40 member parliament .  Many members of his movement are opposed to the government monarchy , but Mushaimaa said he will support the protesters whether they want a "" new system in a constitutional kingdom "" or want "" to change the regime . ""  Mushaimaa , who had been living in exile , had previously been detained by the government for campaigning for more democratic rights in the island monarchy .  Bahrain last year asked the international police agency Interpol for help in arresting Mushaimaa , whom the government accused of a terrorist plot to destroy state buildings and of planning a coup .  But the king ' s decision closed the books on the case against Mushaimaa , giving him the freedom to return without fear of arrest .  The aide believes that this was because of the arrest warrant in September on charges of wanting to overthrow the government and he said that perhaps the wanted lists for Arab states haven ' t been updated .  The king also is working to "" ensure that sectarianism does not take root in Bahrain . ""  Young members of the country ' s Shiite Muslim majority have staged violent protests in recent years to complain about discrimination , unemployment and corruption , issues they say the country ' s Sunni rulers have done little to address .  Protesters initially took to the streets of Manama last week to demand reform and the introduction of a constitutional monarchy . But some are now calling for the removal of the royal family , which has led the Persian Gulf state since the 18th century .  There were outbursts of government assaults on peaceful protesters last week , acts that drew international condemnation .  The Bahraini government statement said that seven people had died during protests in the nation and 25 people remained hospitalized . Protesters had given a higher death toll , placing the figure at 10 or 11 .  Thousands of additional protesters moved into Pearl Roundabout on Monday , a growing gathering that has taken on an air of permanence since government forces retreated on Saturday and demonstrators reoccupied the symbolic location .  Tents , some of them outfitted with furniture and occupied by entire families , dot the epicenter of the Bahrain protest movement a setting similar to the one in Tahrir Square in Cairo , where Egyptians staged daily demonstrations that led to the removal of President Hosni Mubarak .  The Bahrain Center for Human Rights says authorities launched a clampdown on dissent in late 2010 . It accused the government of torturing some human rights activists .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
1607,1607,"Just what is handball ? That must be the question for players , managers and fans after the first games of the new Premier League season .  Mike Dean was correct when he waved away Manchester United ' s penalty appeals in the dying minutes of their defeat at home against Swansea when the ball hit Angel Rangel . The full back was very close to the opponent and had his body turned away so it really was a case of unintentional handball .  Down at West Ham Chris Foy and his assistant felt differently . Foy , after a long consultation with his assistant , gave a penalty for handball and dismissed Kyle Naughton for the denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunity .   Scroll down for Mauricio Pochettino : The red card was unfair but it was a penalty  Harsh : Chris Foy was right to give a penalty , but Naughton ' s dismissal was harsh  Naughton was very close to Kevin Nolan as the West Ham man fired towards goal but as the Tottenham defender had his hands raised in what is termed as unnatural position I could see why a penalty was awarded .  Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino agreed , as I did with him when he felt the red card that followed was harsh . The offence defines that the opportunity must be obvious and I cannot see an angle which shows that the ball was definitely on target or that Hugo Lloris might not have saved the effort . Where doubt exists the referee really should not dismiss a player and I think Spurs have a case to appeal the red card .  Finally on to Loftus Road and another handball incident when Hull ' s James Chester was deemed to have deliberately handled Junior Hoilett ' s cross in the penalty area . Again , he was very close to the ball when it was kicked and his arms were in a natural position , but referee Craig Pawson pointed to the spot .  Justice : Charlie Austin misses the penalty awarded for handball that didn ' t touch Chester ' s hands or arms  I felt the decision was wrong and therefore a natural justice was served when Allan McGregor saved Charlie Austin ' s penalty .  These incidents highlighted an inconsistency in the judgement of handball which will cause issues as the season progresses unless resolved by referee chief Mike Riley .  Hull manager Steve Bruce rightly pointed out that there has been no tinkering to the wording of the law dealing with handball but there has been a clear change in decision making , with referees receiving more advice on the definition of handball . What that has led to appears to be unnecessary confusion for all involved .  Handball remains the only offence which in the law needs to have a degree of intent have a look at James Chester ' s ' offence ' and ask yourself if there was really an intention to handle the ball ?  Impressive : Mike Dean had a performed well when officiating between Mancghester United and Swansea  Penalty : Victor Anichebe also won a particularly soft penalty against Sunderland  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
1611,1611,"Columbia , Mo . ? After Michael Middleton founded the Legion of Black Collegians , he personally delivered a list of race related demands to the University of Missouri chancellor in 1969 .  Some might call it fitting , then , that he take the helm of the  system after the student group Concerned Student 1950 handed the university its list of demands for racial inclusion and shared governance .  It is clear to me the first step is to devote attention to addressing those demands , Middleton , 68 , said Thursday at a news conference . It is imperative to hear from all students and do everything we can to make them comfortable and safe in our community .  The University of Missouri Board of Curators tapped Middleton , the university s first African American law professor , to serve as interim president after the resignation of Timothy M . Wolfe earlier this week following criticism of Wolfe s handling of a series of racist incidents .  Middleton said Thursday that he had met with members of Concerned Student 1950 to work toward satisfying the group s demands . He specifically noted the goal of increasing the number of faculty members of color on campus .  He urged the university community to talk about racism and racial relations .  One of the things impeding our ability to get beyond these issues is our inability to talk about it , Middleton said . We have to understand our ugly history permeates everything we do at this institution and in this country . Once we get this truth on the table , we re poised to reconcile those differences .  On Twitter , the student group said its members are excited for the new leadership under Interim President Middleton !  Middleton said that for now , he was not interested in the permanent position . He currently holds the dual titles of deputy chancellor emeritus and professor emeritus of law .  A university spokesman said Middleton s salary was still being finalized .  On Aug . 31 , Middleton retired as deputy chancellor after holding that position for 17 years . Before being chosen as interim president , he had a part time role directing inclusion , diversity and equity efforts on campus .  Middleton is the best person to lead the system during this critical period of transition , with 30 years of leadership experience on the  campus and past service as a civil rights attorney , said Donald Cupps , board chair . Mike s outstanding managerial skills and knowledge of the  System and its four campuses , make him the leader we need to advance our university system forward .  Sen . Roy Blunt , R Mo . , hailed the hiring . I believe his thoughtful and steady voice will be an asset throughout this transition , Blunt said in a statement .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
1614,1614,"The editorial board of a Detroit newspaper wrote a frantic piece to its readers, calling President Donald Trump’s immigration plans “a moral stain. ”[The editors of the Detroit Free Press claim Trump’s promise to secure the   Border is an “attack America and American values”:  Trump’s vision for American immigration, egged on by a slew of   lawmakers, is an attack on America and American values —  on undocumented residents, sure, but also on the millions of American immigrants here lawfully. This kind of targeted enforcement marks out   Americans, regardless of immigration status, as different, other, suspect. It’s a clear demarcation of whom Trump and his cohort consider real Americans. The Detroit Free Press editorial board goes on to say that “the idea that a border wall would halt or even pause illegal immigration —  much less the idea that Mexico will volunteer payment for such a wall —  is absurd. ” However, Trump has proposed a 20 percent tax on imports coming into the U. S. from Mexico which would serve as a payment from Mexico for the border wall, as Breitbart News reported. Likewise, the claim that walls do not serve to secure borders has been challenged by the National Border Patrol Council, which has heralded Trump’s immigration plans, as Breitbart Texas reported. “We know we won’t have a wall along the 2, 000 miles of border,” the President for the Local 2455 of the National Border Patrol Council Hector Garza said. “What we will have is a wall where it is needed. That barrier with proper manpower, resources, technology and other tools will be effective. But most important, for the first time we have a president that wants to secure the border. ” The editorial board also wrote that Trump tapped into “bigoted fear” over immigration: But Trump gained a lot of his support by manipulating truth about America’s immigration challenges, by painting a picture of Latino and Muslim immigrants as, broadly, leeches and potential terrorists. That’s what his policies are about. That’s the bigoted fear he tapped into. The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) has found that illegal immigrants are somewhat of a drain on American   social services, costing about $113 billion for them to live in the country, as Breitbart Texas reported. Ending the editorial, the Detroit Free Press calls on residents and citizens to be a “resistance” to Trump, writing, “there is undoubtedly much more to come. Which means the protests over his early actions may need to take a turn toward another tactic: resistance. ” John Binder is a contributor for Breitbart Texas. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,present
1628,1628,"A black bear early Monday chased a family dog into its central Pennsylvania home , where it attacked a husband and wife inside , according to the state game commission and one of the victims .  "" It was a mean type of bark , a growl , I just thought , ' Something isn ' t right , ' "" Moyer said .  Moyer got a spotlight to see what was going on . As he shined the light into the morning mist , Brindy suddenly came running back toward the house followed , closely behind , by a black bear .  The bear chased the dog into the house , where Moyer said it attacked him . The melee woke Moyer ' s wife Angela , who came down from any upstairs bedroom to help her husband .  Then , the bear turned on Angela Moyer . When it did , Brindy jumped on the bear . At that point , Richard Moyer said he rejoined the fray .  "" What are you going to do ? I kept my head down and just leapt into the bear , "" he said .  According to Moyer , the bear became especially aggressive grabbing and biting him , as well as clawing at his back and head .  That was until , suddenly , the bear walked outside to the patio and simply sat down .  "" If it had wanted to kill me I think it had have gone ahead and done it , "" said Moyer . "" I guess ( the bear ) was just ticked off at the dog and came after me ""  State police eventually arrived on the scene along with ambulances , which took the Moyers to Harrisburg Hospital . By then , the bear had left .  Angela Moyer was bitten several times and was treated for a cracked vertebra , according to her husband . He added that doctors put in 37 staples extending from one side of the back of his head to the other , in addition to puncture wounds from the bear ' s claws and teeth .  Despite those injuries , by day ' s end both husband and wife had left the hospital and were home .  There , they reunited with their 10 year old son , who missed the ordeal .  "" He ' s a heavy sleeper , I guess , "" said Richard Moyer .  Pennsylvania Game Commission spokesman Gerald Feaser said that black bears are not rare sight in and around Perry County , which he described as "" very rural . "" "" To give you an idea , there is one stoplight , and when that happened it was a big shock , "" he said .  But it ' s not often that they attack , said Feaser , claiming that black bears "" are more timid "" than others elsewhere , including in the western United States .  "" Usually a bear would be more likely to run from a person or a dog than confront a person or a dog , "" he continued . "" The root cause of most bear encounters in Pennsylvania have been dogs , but usually if a bear smells human scent they ' ll tuck tail and run . ""  Feaser said that the Game Commission suspects that the Oliver Township attack was a special circumstance , suspecting that it was likely a female attempting to defend her cubs . He also said there is a "" remote chance "" that the bear may have rabies .  Feaser said that a Game Commission officer is out in the area setting traps but , as of late Monday afternoon , the bear remained at large . The only way to test an animal for rabies is after it is dead , meaning that if caught the bear would likely be killed .  "" Public health and safety is our main concern , "" he said . "" If caught , the animal will probably be put down . ""  As to family it attacked , Richard Moyer said matter of factly , "" We ' re going to be  . ""  "" What are the chances ? "" he added . "" I can ' t win the lottery , but I can get attacked by a bear . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
1632,1632,"China ' s Olympic gold medal gymnasts have been officially cleared of lying about their ages .  Widespread reports claimed that gold medal winner He Kexin was only 14 years of age .  An investigation was launched after the Beijing Games over claims that several members of their women ' s squad were ineligible because they were not 16 in the year of competition .  But on Wednesday , the International Gymnastics Federation (  ) closed a near six week probe saying that documentation provided confirms they were old enough to compete .  The inquiry had been called for by the International Olympic Committee who were concerned that the controversy undermined the results of the competition in Beijing . Watch tiny gymnasts work out  China provided passports ,  cards and family registers for He Kexin , Yang Yilin , Jiang Yuyuan , Deng Linlin and Li Shanshan , all showing the girls were 16 or would turn 16 this year .  "" We have received all we could possibly ask for , ""  secretary general Andre Gueisbuhler told Associated Press . "" All of them confirm the age that they should be , so what can we do ? "" he added .  The Chinese women ' s gymnastics team won a gold medal in a team competition in Beijing and five members won individual medals .  One of the challenges came from a blogger known as "" Stryde Hax . "" The blogger claimed to have uncovered proof that He Kexin is only 14 .  In Internet searches , "" Stryde Hax "" allegedly uncovered Web pages showing lists complied by China ' s General Administration of Sport that show a 1994 date of birth for He . That would make her 14 too young to compete in the Olympic Games .  The New York Times conducted its own investigation , producing similar results that seem to implicate He and two other members of the team . The Times uncovered a 2006 biography on He that lists her birthday as January 1 , 1994 .  But Chinese gymnastics coaches have stridently defended their team .  "" Asians have different figures than people from the West , so that ' s what caused their suspicion , "" said Huang Yubin , head coach of the men ' s and women ' s teams , referring to media inquiries . "" They shouldn ' t be suspicious . ""  It was not all good news for the Chinese gymnasts , with the  announcing that it would step up its investigation into the 2000 team which won the bronze medal at the Sydney Olympics , particularly Dong Fangxiao and Yang Yun .  Yang , who also won a bronze medal on the uneven bars in 2000 , said in a June 2007 interview that aired on state broadcaster China Central Television that she was only 14 in Sydney  Dong , who was a technical official for the Chinese team in Beijing , allegedly provided documents for her credentials which indicated that she too must have been only 14 in 2000 .  Gueisbuhler warned that legal and statute of limitation issues might hinder further scrutiny and sanctions against the 2000 Chinese team .  Underage gymnasts have been a problem since the 1980s , when the minimum age was raised from 14 to 15 to protect young athletes from serious injuries . The minimum age was raised to its current 16 in 1997 .  North Korea was barred from the 1993 world championships after  officials discovered Kim Gwang Suk , the 1991 gold medalist on uneven bars , was listed as 15 for three years in a row .  Romania admitted in 2002 that several gymnasts ' ages had been falsified , including Olympic medalists Gina Gogean and Alexandra Marinescu .  In women ' s gymnastics , younger teenage girls can have an advantage over older competitors due to their often smaller , more agile bodies and lighter frames .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
1638,1638,"Tourists from China are avoiding France amid surging violence and crime, a Chinese tourism expert has said, reporting that customers are turning to Russia as a safer destination. [President of the Chinese Association of Travel Agencies in France,   Zhou, said “increasingly violent” thefts and assaults are turning France into “one of the worst destinations for foreign tourists”.  Mr. Zhou, a representative for major Chinese travel agency Utour in France, reported a steep decline in visitor numbers from Asia, and said many tourists are now looking to Russia as a less dangerous holiday destination. “In 2016, there were 1. 6 million Chinese tourists compared to 2. 2 million in 2015. The  number of Japanese tourists dropped 39 per cent, and Koreans 27 per cent. Our tourists have turned to Russia, which is less attractive but at least it is a safe country. For Putin, it is an economic windfall” he told Le Parisien. Rising violence and aggression account for the drop, according to Mr. Zhou, who said: “For a number of Chinese tourists, the dream of visiting France and Paris has turned into a nightmare. “[Chinese tourists] are robbed in the palace of Versailles, at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, in front of their hotel, as they leave the coaches   …     In high season, not a day goes by without tourists being assaulted. ” Violent incidents in France have “sparked panic” on social media in Chinese, Mr. Zhou said, recalling one in which an    man was seriously injured as he tried to resist thieves, and he reported how female tourists have been pushed to the ground while criminals steal bags containing all their papers. Having lived in France for 25 years, Mr. Zhou said he has borne witness to the country’s deteriorating security situation over the decades, which has resulted in Paris ranking “number one in Europe in terms of the upsurge in delinquency”. While so far there are no organised campaigns calling on Chinese tourists to avoid visiting France, the experienced travel agent said that a boycott “has already begun” with “several Asian operators preferring to divert Asian tourists to Italy, Spain, and Russia”. Paris’s regional tourism office last year reported a slump in visitor numbers to the city, and attributed some of the decline to terror fears, as more than 200 people have been killed in Islamic terror in France since 2015.",true,news,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
1643,1643,"The dirty and tattered piece of paper , with remnants of thick black industrial strength tape still stuck to its edges , would not necessarily seem to be a harbinger of summer .  But those capitalized words running down the page . . .   .  .   .   .   . . .  I pulled the piece of paper from the surface of the stage right after the show had ended . There was a copy of it next to the base of each microphone stand , so the musicians could look down to see what they were supposed to play and sing next . The capitalized words were shorthand for each song :  "" Catch a Wave . "" "" Surfin ' Safari . "" "" California Girls . "" "" Be True to Your School . "" "" I Get Around . ""  Summer ' s coming , all right .  I had caught up with the Beach Boys in Fort Myers , Florida , on a Friday night this spring . They were scheduled to play at the Barbara B . Mann Performing Arts Hall . It will soon be half a century that they have been singing and touring . Fifty years since they really were little more than boys , writing and singing the songs of summer for the first time .  Too much has happened to them since they first took to the stage wearing those identical striped shirts , nervous young men careful to bow to the audience after each song . Carl Wilson and Dennis Wilson are dead the much publicized acrimony in the band has meant that Brian Wilson , Mike Love and Al Jardine almost never share the same stage anymore . Not that anyone asked for my opinion , but here it is anyway : We all are given a finite number of heartbeats in this life . If I were those three guys , I ' d find some way to put the old anger aside and play that wonderful music together again . Before it ' s too late .  But this column isn ' t about the singers . It ' s about the songs they gave to the world . The songs have brought so much happiness to so many generations , for all these years . "" Little Deuce Coupe "" and "" Shut Down "" and "" Surfer Girl "" and "" Surfin ' U . S . A . "" they are America ' s enduring soundtrack of summer , they somehow never grow old , and there is a chance that , because of those songs , the Beach Boys may one day enter John Philip Sousa territory in the national memory , becoming a sustaining part of U . S . history .  It ' s too soon for that , though for now , there ' s a new summer of one nighters stretching out ahead . Backstage in Fort Myers we ate a cafeteria style dinner I sat with Randell Kirsch , a Beach Boys guitarist with whom I spent 15 summers on the road while he and I were touring with Jan and Dean . He told me that at a television studio in California recently he had shared a similar commissary meal with astronaut Buzz Aldrin . "" We talked about the moon , spirituality and surf music , "" Randell said . That is one of the many unlikely places that singing the songs of summer can take a person : to the side of a man who walked upon the surface of the moon .  John Stamos , the actor , has gone on the road to sing with the Beach Boys whenever he can for the last 25 years he was in Fort Myers on this night , and as we talked , Mike Love , the band ' s lead singer , came over with his own plate of food . I asked him if he thought there might be a band called the Beach Boys on the road even after all the original Beach Boys are gone .  "" I don ' t see why not , "" he said . "" The music ' s not going to die , is it ? ""  That ' s the secret . There is something about those songs that transcends nostalgia , that parts the clouds , that brings smiles of contentment year after year , town after town . No matter how cruddy the day may have been , no matter what worries may be gnawing at you . . . .  Well , as the song advises : "" Don ' t Worry , Baby . "" Everything will turn out all right .  The show started , the guitars sounded , the audience rose to cheer . The gloriously predictable set "" Wouldn ' t It Be Nice , "" "" Dance , Dance , Dance , "" "" Sloop John B , "" "" Good Vibrations "" unfurled . For 105 minutes , the world seemed peaceful .  As "" Help Me , Rhonda "" was ending , Stamos looked to where I was standing in the wings and motioned with his head for me to join him . He handed me his candy apple red Gibson  335 , and we shared a microphone on "" Barbara Ann , "" and I wish you who are reading these words could look out into a Beach Boys audience and see the upturned faces on the cusp of another summer , the people joyfully singing along with songs whose lyrics they know as well as they know the Pledge of Allegiance or the names of the presidents . Unhappiness , it seems , can against all odds be kept at bay . One hundred five minutes at a time .  It was after the encore , after the audience had filed out , that I returned to the stage and tore that set list from the floor . I glanced at it :  .  .   .   .   . . . .  I stuck it into my pocket . A souvenir in advance of warm months that will soon be arriving . However many of those heartbeats we each are given , they seem to swell more gratefully when summer is on its way . Catch a wave and you ' re sitting on top of the world .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
1644,1644,"The U . S . response to the rift in relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran may be influenced , in part , by a U . S . desire to see the Iran nuclear deal implemented , according to analysts studying the crisis .  "" What is paramount is for U . S . President Barack Obama to protect the Iran deal , "" said Karim Sadjadpour , an Iran analyst with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace .  In a Friday forum , Sadjadpour said there is currently not a clear U . S . "" siding "" with Saudi Arabia , whereas in the past , the U . S . had been in "" lock step "" with the Gulf kingdom against Iran . That change has angered Saudi officials .  If the Iran nuclear deal is at the top of your agenda , "" Sadjadpour said , "" that means that the administration ' s perspective is that they are going to try to do everything they can to de escalate tension with Iran . ""  Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday that nuclear negotiators could be "" days away "" from implementing the agreement , known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action . Launching the agreement would be the culmination of nearly two years of intense negotiations among Iran , the U . S . and other world powers .   U . S . Secretary of State John Kerry delivers a speech about the Iran nuclear agreement before an audience of several hundred assembled on Sept . 2 , 2015 , in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania .  Sadjadpour said a U . S . goal is to hold back on penalties against Tehran that could potentially trigger a response that would unravel the deal .  On Monday , State Department spokesman John Kirby said the U . S . had "" expressed particular concerns "" over Saudi Arabia ' s execution of Shi ' ite cleric Nimr al Nimr . He also said the U . S . condemned the attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran that were launched in response to the execution .  "" Ultimately , solutions to problems in this region must come from leaders in this region , "" Kirby added .  Analyst J . Matthew McInnis of the American Enterprise Institute said the Saudis are concerned about what they view as a U . S . shift that began with the Iran nuclear talks ? "" not so much to fully pull away from Arab states , "" McInnis said , "" but to rebalance in Iran ' s favor . ""  He added that the U . S . is now trying to allow regional states more room to work out issues for themselves .  Similar sentiments were echoed by Frederic Wehrey , a senior associate in the Middle East program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace .  "" One of Obama ' s visions for this region , at least in the Gulf , is equilibrium , "" Wehrey said .  Analysts say there are ongoing concerns among U . S . Gulf allies that Iran would be empowered by the sanctions relief it would receive as a result of compliance with provisions in the nuclear deal . They fear an empowered Iran could be destabilizing for the region .  The Saudis , and to a lesser extent the other Gulf Cooperation Council countries , are "" paranoid "" when it comes to Iran , said analyst Simon Henderson of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy .  "" Saudi Arabia is the most important country on its side of the Gulf , and Iran is the most important on its side , "" Henderson said .   Iranian demonstrators hold anti Saudi placards in a rally to protest the execution by Saudi Arabia last week of Sheikh Nimr al Nimr , a prominent opposition Saudi Shiite cleric , in Tehran , Iran , Jan . 4 , 2016 .  Saudi Arabia severed ties with Iran after protesters stormed the Saudi missions in Tehran . In Iran , mass protests over the cleric ' s execution have continued . ?  There are signs , however , that the tension may be starting to abate .  Kerry said he had spoken to his counterparts in Iran and Saudi Arabia and received assurances that they would not allow their rift over the Shi ' ite cleric to affect their willingness to work cooperatively to help resolve Syria ' s crisis .  Saudi Arabia , Iran and the United States are part of the International Syria Support Group . The group was instrumental in crafting a plan for a U . N . mediated political transition in Syria . The U . N . intends to launch an initial meeting on the plan with the Syrian government and opposition this month .  Also , in an interview with The Economist , Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman said a direct war with Iran was something that Saudis "" do not foresee at all . ""  He said Iranian escalation had "" already reached very high levels "" and Saudis would try hard "" not to escalate anything further . ""  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
1655,1655,"—   The fight to retake Raqqa, the Syrian city that serves as the capital of the Islamic State, must begin soon  —   within weeks  —   to disrupt planning believed to be underway there to stage terrorist attacks on the West, senior Defense Department and military officials said on Wednesday. Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, the top American military commander in Iraq, declined to name a specific threat against Western targets emanating from Raqqa, but described a “sense of urgency. ” He said it was imperative that operations to isolate the city begin soon to prevent attacks on the West that could be launched or planned from the militants’ capital. In announcing that the fight to retake Raqqa is imminent, American officials are sweeping aside objections from Turkey and moving forward with plans to rely on a ground fighting force that includes Kurdish militia fighters in Syria. The Turkish government, which has become a complicated ally in the fight against the Islamic State, fears that aspirations for autonomy may spread among its own Kurdish population. General Townsend stressed that Kurdish militia fighters would be a part of the ground force used to isolate Raqqa. “We’re going to go with who can go, who’s willing to go soon,” General Townsend told reporters at the Pentagon during a video news briefing from Baghdad. “And then, once we get the initial isolation in position, we’ll look at how we prosecute the operation further. ” The politics of the matter have bedeviled American military planners trying to thread a needle through   enmity between the Turks and the Kurds. Turkey regards the Syrian Kurdish fighters, known collectively as the Y. P. G. as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, the Kurdish rebel group that has sought autonomy from Turkey since the 1980s. Ankara has demanded that the Y. P. G. not take part in the fight to retake Raqqa. But American military officials say the Y. P. G. personnel are the best fighters they have. “The facts are these,” General Townsend said. “The only force that is capable on any   timeline is the Syrian Democratic Forces, of which the Y. P. G. are a significant portion. ” While the Kurdish militia will make up the bulk of the operation, General Townsend said many of the more than 300 American Special Operations forces now in Syria would help recruit, train and equip local forces in and around Raqqa who are predominantly Syrian Arabs. The impending operation is further complicated, some independent experts say, because neither the Turks nor the Syrian Kurds view the recapture of Raqqa as one of their top priorities  —   unlike Washington. “The Syrian Kurdish Y. P. G. do not truly desire to shed blood to capture a   Arab city far from their vision of their autonomous borders, while Turkey cares about the operation only insofar as the Syrian Kurdish Y. P. G. is not allowed to participate in it,” said Christopher Kozak, a Syria researcher at the Institute for the Study of War. Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter said in Brussels on Wednesday that the offensive to oust the Islamic State, also known as  or ISIL, from Raqqa would begin within weeks. “This is, as always, a matter when you’re positioning forces and so forth, we have a plan to do that and a schedule to do that,” Mr. Carter told reporters. “We’re going to execute to that plan. ” Mr. Carter met with the Turkish defense minister, Fikri Isik, and the French defense minister,   Le Drian, on Wednesday in Brussels, where he emphasized the “need for the coalition to maintain pressure on  on multiple fronts,” according to a Pentagon news release. “All sides agreed to maintain frequent communication on the full range of security interests, and to continue their close coordination and continued transparency in the coalition effort to deal  a lasting defeat,” the statement said. An American military official said the Raqqa operation would take place in roughly three phases. Phase one, he said, is what the   coalition fighting the Islamic State has been doing for months: preparatory airstrikes in and around Raqqa to knock out    and fighting positions. Phase two, to begin in the coming weeks, will be to isolate Raqqa with the available forces  —   mostly Syrian Kurds, with Syrian Arabs, too. Phase three will be the fight for Raqqa itself, which American officials say they hope will be conducted mostly by Syrian Arabs, given that the city is majority Sunni Arab. General Townsend compared Islamic State plotting in Raqqa to planning by the group in Manbij, which was retaken from the Islamic State in August. Manbij was the last stop on the route out of Syria for Islamic State militants headed to Europe. But the actual plotting regularly began in Raqqa. Militants moved from there to Manbij before slipping over the border into Turkey and then onward to Europe. Plotting underway in Raqqa now, General Townsend said, “is not unlike what emanated from Manbij” before that city was retaken. “Coming out of Manbij, we found links to individuals and plot streams to France, the United States, other European countries,” he said. “We know that this is going on in Raqqa as well,” General Townsend said. “And so I think that’s why it’s necessary to get down there to Raqqa. ” The Raqqa fight will take place even as the battle for Mosul, next door in Iraq, is continuing, American military planners say. Gen. Joseph L. Votel, the commander of American forces in the Middle East, said last week that it was “extraordinarily important” to keep simultaneous pressure on Mosul and Raqqa, if not with ground forces, as with Mosul, at least with a steady pounding of airstrikes. General Votel acknowledged the challenges of dealing with two pivotal allies in the fight against the Islamic State in Syria who essentially loathe each other  —   the Turks and the Syrian Kurds. One of his main goals now, he said, is to maintain momentum and “to keep everyone moving in the right direction. ”",true,news,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
1658,1658,"Barely six months after being crowned the winner of "" American Idol , "" David Cook has released his self titled debut album .  David Cook recently released his debut album , which includes songs about his family .  The Missouri native ( no relation to the author of this article ) described the recording process as "" squeezing a year ' s worth of work on a record into 2 months . "" But he ' s very happy with the result .  "" It ' s a very accurate definition of where I ' m at , where I was and where I want to be , "" he said .  Cook sticks to his rock roots on the release , eliciting help from ex Soundgarden member Chris Cornell to write the lead single , "" Light On . ""  He also keeps loved ones close : The track "" Heroes "" is a tribute to his family . "" Permanent "" ( which Cook describes as having a "" delicate and lullaby feel "" ) and "" A Daily AntheM "" ( "" sing alongy and grandiose "" ) acknowledge his older brother , who is battling brain cancer . The latter song was written three years before Cook ' s "" Idol "" run , when he was cutting his teeth as a grass roots rocker . Watch David Cook show his chops  David Cook : Yeah . Out of 12 songs on the record , I wrote or co wrote 10 , and the label was even kind enough to let me get involved with the art direction on the record . So it was a busy summer .  Cook : I spent five long years at the University of Central Missouri . It should ' ve been four , but I enjoyed college a little bit more than I should have .  Cook : Well , I can ' t speak for anybody else except myself , and I guess in that sense , I lucked out . I mean , 19 Entertainment and  really gave me a little bit of carte blanche to allow me to make a record that is me . And to that end , I think we managed to pull something really cool off .  Cook : I tried to put music down on this record that translated live . I want these songs to make people feel things and invoke certain responses in an audience . And so it ' s a lot of very epic choruses and open bridges and stuff like that . Something that will give a show some room to meander and feel like a unique experience for everybody .  Cook : No , not really . I think , for us , it ' s all about the long term results . And I feel like the song seems to be getting speed now , especially with the record coming out . It just feels like everything ' s headed in the right direction , so I ' m definitely not one to hang my head on immediate results . I ' d rather the song hit No . 1 four months from now if it ' s gonna do it . I ' m just excited to get this record out . I ' m excited to have people hear it .  Cook : I ' ll be the first to admit there are musicians out there who are way better than me . I feel almost a responsibility to do everything that I can with this on their behalf as well as my own . But I ' ve always been a confident person . I feel like I know why I ' m here , I know what put me here . It ' s just a matter of trusting it and going with it .  Cook : It is . David is one of the most unassuming , down to earth people I think I ' ve ever met . It seems like he has no idea he was even on the show , let alone did well . And I find that really endearing . He ' ll be the first to congratulate you . He seems to just appreciate every moment  Cook : In a sense , yeah . It ' s a little strange to go from toiling in obscurity to having to worry about walking out of a restaurant and seeing who ' s going to shove a camera in your face and all that . But it comes with the territory , and if dealing with that on occasion allows me to make music that I want to make . . . then , I ' ll take it .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
1665,1665,"Reuters) - The U.S. Senate voted on Wednesday to confirm Heath Tarbert to be an assistant secretary of the Treasury. Tarbert is expected to oversee the inter-agency Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which assesses proposed transactions to ensure they do not harm national security.  Tarbert, now at the law firm Allen & Overy LLP, takes the reins of  at a time when the inter-agency panel has balked at approving deals involving China in areas as disparate as semiconductors, insurance and aluminum. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
1668,1668,"Thibaut Courtois has revealed how Petr Cech gave him tips and advice about protecting his head in English football ' s danger zone after seeing him hurt in a collision with Arsenal ' s Alexis Sanchez .  Courtois was forced off after clashing with Sanchez two weeks ago and Cech , who required emergency surgery after fracturing his skull at Reading in 2006 and still wears a headguard as a result , was keen to share his expertise on the subject .  The two Chelsea goalkeepers went away on international duty but that did not stop the Czech calling and sending text messages to his Belgian clubmate with advice about using his shoulders and back to protect his head when diving among the boots .  Thibaut Courtois suffered a heavy blow when he came out to challenge Alexis Sanchez a fortnight ago  Sanchez immediately showed concern for Courtois as the keeper appeared badly hurt on the pitch  Courtois said : ' He told me that in the Premier League , maybe some strikers really go in against the keepers , so sometimes it is better to protect your head , to go down quicker and with your back or your shoulder protecting your head .  ' That was a tip he gave me and it ' s good because , when you come into a new league sometimes things are different .  ' In Spain there is more organisation , maybe more football , while here maybe some teams are going quicker with the long ball and rushing it to the front .  The Belgian was escorted up the tunnel and was immediately treated by paramedics in the dressing room  ' It ' s maybe more physical here and maybe the referees don ' t whistle as quick as they do in Spain . '  Courtois recovered to play twice for Belgium during the international break and was back in the Chelsea team at Crystal Palace on Saturday , which meant a return to the bench for Cech , who had replaced him during the first half against Arsenal .  The two players are duelling for the same place in the team and Cech must be smarting having been the club ' s undisputed No 1 for a decade , but it speaks volumes that he is so quick to call and text with offers of help .  Petr Cech was injured in a collision with Stephen Hunt in 2006 , suffering a depressed fracture to his skull  Cech lies on the floor after the collision , and has worn a protective cap since the incident  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
1694,1694,"The usual mainstream media suspects are at it again with their fake news reports. Shameless lefty news outlets made up a false story claiming the Texas  Rolando Pablos refused aid for Houston Hurricane Harvey victims and instead asked for prayers.The story spread from one sentence in an article from Canada s  News: Pablos declined the aid for now, instead asking for  prayers from the people of Quebec,'  the article quotes Quebec s International Relations Minister Christine St-Pierre to have said.  He was very touched by the fact we called him. The  has not corrected the lie! Please send feedback (it took me a minute to do so) to them. Tell them to correct the lie they told. TRUE!The report by the  didn t tell the whole story. The Texas  released a statement with a rebuke to the media reports.  confirmed that they had misreported the interview. Contrary to what has been reported in the media, Secretary Pablos did not decline the minister s offer, but instead made sure Quebec made contact with the proper Texas state agency,  a spokeswoman said.  The Quebec Government s office in Houston is in constant contact with local authorities and is arranging for emergency supplies to be shipped shortly. Washington Free Beacon reported:Left-wing outlets that reported on the aid denial included The New York Daily News, Raw Story, Salon, and The Root. Journalists on Twitter spread the story as well, including Texas-based Vanity Fair reporter and  contributor Kurt Eichenwald.Yes,  Kurt Eichenwald! Remember that he was called out by Tucker Carlson? Why is he still around? He gives media a bad name with his yellow journalism!Tucker vs Eichenwald:Why is this guy still working for  media outlet?Please view and comment on this MSNBC, Vanity Fair and Newsweek contributor s Twitter feed of angry tweets about President Trump: Kurt Eichenwald Twitter ",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
1698,1698,"The small , black and white newspaper ad offered a discount : Nine holes of golf for 9 . 11 on September 11 .  The management of a Wisconsin golf course said the idea was to remember the victims of the September 11 , 2001 , attacks , but the ad turned into a public relations disaster on social media .  By Tuesday , TumbleDown Trails Golf Course was reporting death threats .  The golf course in Verona , Wisconsin , placed an advertisement in Monday ' s Wisconsin State Journal offering to "" commemorate "" the 12th anniversary of the terror attacks with "" 9 holes with cart for only 9 . 11 per person or 18 holes with cart for only 19 . 11 ! ""  The ad quickly began circulating on social media , and the golf course ' s Facebook page was flooded with angry comments .  "" It ' s an abomination and a disgrace , "" one commenter wrote .  "" To make an opportunity out of a national tragedy is outrageous , "" another said .  The management of the course posted an apology on Facebook Tuesday and on a recorded message on the course ' s main phone line .  "" Please accept our sincere apologies , "" the recording said . "" Our attempt to remember the tragedy of that day has been met with negativity and now even death threats . We ask that you please take a moment to reflect and remember those we lost that day , as we were trying to do . ""  By Tuesday afternoon , many Facebook commenters were defending the course . Some called the ad an honest mistake , and some said outsiders were pumping up the outrage .  "" They shouldn ' t have to apologize for anything ! Who are you people to judge , "" one commenter wrote . "" I ' ve played the course before . Nice staff and seem like good people . ""  Another called the ad "" badly worded , ill thought out "" but added , "" I ' m not any more offended than I have been throughout the years every time I see a 9 11 limited edition coin on  or exploding towers with an eagle crying on a T shirt or . . . the hundreds of others exploiting a tragedy for profit . ""  A message left on the course ' s voice mail was not returned Tuesday . Management said in a Facebook post the course may be closed Wednesday because of security concerns .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,satire,true,True,no,no,negative,past
1707,1707,"Tragic accident : Sgt Andrew Joseph Doiron of the Canadian special forces was killed Friday in Iraq . Kurdish peshmerga forces claim to have accidentally killed Doiron in a friendly fires incident , after mistaking him for an Islamic militant  A Canadian special forces soldier was killed in a friendly fire incident after he and others ignored an order to stay in their car and showed up to the front line unannounced , a spokesman for Iraq ' s Kurdish forces said Sunday .  The death Friday of Sgt . Andrew Joseph Doiron marked Canada ' s first casualty as part of the U . S . led coalition ' s war on the extremist Islamic State group .  Canadian officials could not be immediately reached for comment Sunday on the peshmerga claim , though Canada ' s defense minister previously acknowledged Doiron ' s death came as a result of ' a case of mistaken identity . '  Peshmerga spokesman Halgurd Hekmat said a group of Canadian soldiers showed up unannounced Friday to the village of Bashiq , in Iraq ' s Nineveh province near the militant held city of Mosul .  The area had seen heavy fighting against Islamic State militants the previous day .  ' When they returned , the peshmerga asked them to identify themselves , ' Hekmat told The Associated Press . ' They answered in Arabic , that ' s when peshmerga started shooting . It was their fault . '  Hekmat added that he doesn ' t know why the Canadians were there . ' I consider it an improper action by the Canadians and illogical , ' he said .  Two Kurdish officials later told the  that Doiron ' s body was flown to Canada early Sunday following a military ceremony at Irbil International Airport . They spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to brief journalists .  Canada ' s defense department on Saturday announced the death of Doiron , a soldier in the Canadian Special Operations Regiment based at Garrison Petawawa , Ontario . Three other Canadian soldiers were wounded in the incident and are in stable condition , Canadian Defense Minister Jason Kenney said .  Sgt Doiron and other soldiers were shot when they unexpectedly showed up at the front line in Bashiq , Iraq on Friday . Bashiq is located not far from the  stronghold city of Mosul  Canada has 69 special forces soldiers with Kurdish peshmerga fighters in what the government calls an advising and assisting role . They were sent to help train Kurdish fighters last September in a mission that was billed as noncombat with the elite troops working far behind the front lines  The fact that Canadian special forces have been training and assisting on the front lines and directing airstrikes has stirred controversy in the country , but Kenney said the rules of engagement will remain the same .  Kenney said Doiron ' s death had ' nothing to do with combat , ' saying it was a case of mistaken identity on the part of Kurdish fighters at night .  ' It was caused by a failure of identification . There will be an inquiry , ' Kenney said .  The Islamic State group currently holds a third of Iraq and Syria . The U . S . led coalition began airstrikes targeting the extremists in August .  So far , four other troops have been killed as part of the coalition , not counting Iraqi forces . They include a U . S . Marine presumed lost at sea in October , a Marine killed in a noncombat incident in Baghdad in October , a U . S . Air Force pilot killed in December when his jet crashed in Jordan and a captive Jordanian pilot burned to death in a cage by the Islamic State group .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
1712,1712,"Citizen journalism with a punch Clinton Suggested  Should Rig a Foreign Election — But Don't Expect the Media to Care Originally appeared at   Hillary Clinton has spent a disproportionate amount of time lately complaining — without evidence — about “the Russians” interfering with the  election. But it turns out that interfering in foreign elections is totally fine if you’re the United States.  Clinton has used this notion of Russian interference as a non-stop talking point throughout her campaign. Any and all scandals she has faced have been blamed on Moscow, and she has used alleged Russian involvement as a convenient distraction. Her supporters have enthusiastically adopted the talking point. In light of the FBI’s decision to reopen the investigation into her use of a private email server, one congressman actually suggested that Russia may be behind the FBI’s decision. Yes, Russia has now infiltrated the FBI, which is working with Vladimir Putin to elect Trump and destroy Hillary. It’s all a massive conspiracy.  So, you would think given her apparent distaste for other countries supposedly meddling in the American electoral process, that Clinton wouldn’t have been caught on tape suggesting very candidly to a group of journalists that the  should have rigged a foreign election.  But she was. The tape is from a 2006 meeting Clinton held with the editorial board of the Jewish Press when she was running for re-election as senator for New York. Here is the quote in full, so there can be no accusations of taking it out of context:  “I do not think we should have pushed for an election in the Palestinian territories. I think that was a big mistake — and if we were going to push for an election, then we should have made sure that we did something to determine who was going to win.”  That’s right. Clinton suggested the  should have made sure the outcome of a Palestinian election went in its favor. She was referring to the 2006 election for the second Palestinian Legislative Council, which saw the US-favored Fatah lose to Hamas (45 seats to 74 seats).  This is one of those stories that will be largely ignored or played down by the American media, which favor Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump, and see it as their duty to get her elected. If Trump had made the same remarks, we would never hear the end of it. No doubt, some will try to water down the comment and imply that Clinton didn’t really mean what she said. But there is frankly no other way to interpret her words. This is Hillary Clinton casually suggesting that the  should have rigged a foreign election in its favor.  How else can you “determine” the outcome of an election before it happens? How else can you be “sure” who is going to win in advance? All the polling data in the world could end up being wrong — so unless you do something unsavory to fully ensure the outcome, then there’s no way you can be “sure” of anything. But don’t hold your breath waiting for journalists to push Clinton on what exactly she had in mind when she said the  should have done “something” about it.  Eli Chomsky, the journalist that released the tape, told the Observer that in the 2006 meeting with Clinton, he was surprised that “anyone could support the idea — offered by a national political leader, no less — that the  should be in the business of fixing foreign elections.” Chomsky’s bosses at the Jewish Press at the time felt the comments were not “newsworthy,” and so they weren’t published. In reality, he admitted, they simply didn’t want to offend Clinton should they need her “down the road.” Convinced it was in fact newsworthy, Chomsky held on to the tape for 10 years.  Clinton’s casual suggestion to influence an election in the US’ favor takes on more significance in light of the revelations that her campaign was working with the ‘neutral’ Democratic National Committee (DNC) to ensure she won the presidential nomination over Bernie Sanders.  Strangely enough, as the Observer also noted, in answering a question about the  talking to its enemies, the Clinton of 2006 sounded more like the Donald Trump of 2016. Asked if it was “worth talking to Syria,” she said that she didn’t see how it could hurt to talk to your adversaries, citing the fact that the  and the Soviet Union never stopped talking to each other. She continued: “But if you say, ‘they’re evil, we’re good, [and] we’re never dealing with them,’ I think you give up a lot of the tools that you need to have in order to defeat them…”  This is particularly odd because Clinton in recent years has been one of the biggest cheerleaders of the ‘Russia is evil and America is good’ ideology. But again, don’t expect Clinton to be questioned rigorously on any of this. American journalists only have 10 days left to get her elected. They’re not going to bother worrying about irrelevancies like the fact that she’s evidently totally fine with foreign election rigging.  You really couldn’t make this stuff up. Clinton spends months pretending to be outraged over Russia interfering in the  election (with no solid evidence), and then audio emerges of her unequivocally suggesting Washington should have rigged a Palestinian election. The level of hypocrisy and irony here is hard to fathom.  No doubt, one person who will enthusiastically pick the story up is Clinton’s opponent Donald Trump, who has been suggesting for months that she will somehow manage to rig the presidential election against him.  Clinton herself will probably find a way to pin the release of the tape on the Russians.",fake,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
1738,1738,"Two more goals from Lionel Messi , taking him to 50 goals in all competitions in a remarkable season , saw Barcelona win 2 0 at Racing Santander on Sunday to close the gap on Spanish leaders Real Madrid back to 10 points .  Fresh from bagging an astonishing five goals in the 7 1 Champions League rout of Bayer Leverkusen in midweek , the Argentine maestro again proved the catalyst for another Barcelona win as the defending Spanish champions kept within range of Jose Mourinho ' s side , who beat Real Betis 3 2 on Saturday .  Racing appointed Alvaro Cervera as their new coach last weekend in an attempt to arrest a slide that has seen them drop into the relegation zone after going eight matches without a victory .  Messi hits record five in Barcelona rout  However , they always looked second best against a Barca side , who went ahead in the 29th minute when Messi slid home to score from close range after being set up by Cesc Fabregas on the right .  And Fabregas also played a hand in the second goal the former Arsenal midfielder earning a 56th minute penalty after being fouled by Domingo Cisma , with Messi making no mistake from the spot .  Barca wasted further chances to extend their advantage , but Messi missed a one on one opportunity for his hat trick , while Juan Cuenca struck the post .  Of his 50 goals this season , Messi has scored 30 in the Primera Liga , meaning he still trails Cristiano Ronaldo by two goals in the Spanish golden boot standings .  Pep Guardiola ' s side are now a massive 24 points clear of third placed Valencia , who squandered a two goal lead before being held 2 2 by Real Mallorca .  Valencia , who have won just one of their last four matches , went ahead through Tino Costa ' s deflected shot and doubled their advantage early in the second half when a mistake from Mallorca goalkeeper Dudu Aouate allowed Aritz Aduriz to score .  But Emilio Nsue and Victor Casadesus turned things around for the visitors and Valencia ended the match with 10 men after Costa was dismissed for a two footed challenge .  Elsewhere , Atletico Madrid and Espanyol kept alive their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League .  Nigeria international Kalu Uche scored a hat trick as Espanyol crushed Rayo Vallecano 5 1 , while Atletico beat Granada 2 0 .  Atletico and Espanyol lie eighth and ninth in the table respectively , a point behind seventh placed Athletico Bilbao who slumped to a 2 1 defeat at Osasuna .  Bilbao failed to kick on from Thursday ' s impressive 3 2 Europa League victory at Manchester United .  Osasuna took the lead when Ander Iturraspe headed a free kick into his own goal after nine minutes and Raul Garcia doubled the lead before Spain striker Fernando Llorente pulled a goal back for the visitors .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Economy,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
1751,1751,"Markets Fri Jan 29 , 2016 4 : 00pm   Dollar rises on in line U . S .  data , BoJ move  A U . S . one hundred dollar bill ( C ) and Japanese 10 , 000 yen notes are spread in Tokyo , in this February 28 , 2013 picture illustration .  Japanese 1000 yen banknotes and Chinese 100 yuan banknotes are seen in a picture illustration , in Beijing , China , January 21 , 2016 .    The dollar rose sharply on Friday , hitting a six week high versus the yen , after the Bank of Japan took one of its main interest rates into negative territory and U . S . gross domestic product data largely matched economists ' expectations .  The BoJ said it would apply a negative interest rate of minus 0 . 1 percent on selected current account deposits that financial institutions hold with it , effectively charging banks interest for holding excess deposits at the central bank .  The bank said it would cut interest rates further into negative territory if necessary .  The rate cut was the latest example of policy divergence between the United States and other world central banks , said Tony Bedikian , managing director of global markets at Citizens Bank in Boston .  The Federal Reserve raised U . S . interest rates in December and signaled that it intended to tighten credit four times this year , while Japan joined the European Central Bank in cutting rates to below zero .  "" That in and of itself is a dollar strengthening story , "" Bedikian said . "" We had an outsized move because it was a little bit of a surprise with Japanese rates pulling into negative territory and capital drove into the U . S . markets and into the dollar . ""  U . S .  grew at a 0 . 7 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter , after a 2 percent growth in the third , but was near economists ' revised predictions for economic growth .  "" There ' s a little bit of support in today ' s number for the Fed raising rates , "" said Douglas Borthwick , managing director of Chapdelaine Foreign Exchange in New York . "" And if there ' s support for the Fed raising rates that ' s obviously dollar positive . ""  Higher interest rates make currencies more attractive for investors because they provide better returns .  The dollar index .  , which tracks the dollar against six major world currencies , rose 1 . 1 percent to 99 . 586 , its highest since Dec . 3 .  Friday ' s move reversed the greenback ' s month long slide against the yen . It rose 0 . 4 percent against the yen for the month .  The Japanese currency was up more than 1 . 3 percent in January prior to the BoJ ' s rate cut announcement Thursday night .  ( Reporting by Dion Rabouin Editing by W . Simon and Richard Chang )  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
1757,1757,"Betsy DeVos just proved to America why President Trump chose her among so many qualified candidates to reform our broken education system. Full-grown men would have crumbled under the kind of pressure and hate she was facing during her graceful commencement speech. Let s face it, most of us would have walked off the stage, but Betsy DeVos, firm in her resolution to deliver the speech she was invited to share, stood at the podium, and against all odds, addressed an angry group of students railing against  the injustice  at a college where 95% of the students receive some form of state or federal grant money.During the roughly 25-minute speech, DeVos took time to address the criticism that s come her way since she was unveiled as the university s graduation speaker, telling the crowd it was important to converse with and learn from people despite disagreements.The natural instinct is to join in the chorus of conflict, to make your voice louder, your point bigger and your position stronger,  DeVos said.  But we will not solve the significant and real problems our country faces if we cannot bring ourselves to embrace a mindset of grace. We must first listen, then speak   with humility   to genuinely hear the perspectives of those with whom we don t immediately or instinctively agree,  she continued.While DeVos spoke, the students continued to heckle and yell over DeVos as she persevered through her speech. The University president who was clearly embarrassed by the behavior of the graduates finally stepped up to the microphone to address the students in hopes of getting the disrespectful group under control telling them,  If this behavior continues, your degrees will be mailed to you. Choose which way you wanna go.  He then implored the students to be seated.The students chose to continue with their embarrassing behavior, at which time DeVos began to once again address the crowd:Many Bethune-Cookman University students, alumni and supporters made their disapproval of DeVos  appearance known well before she took the stage.On Tuesday, Bethune-Cookman University students and alumni delivered thousands of signatures to the school s president, Edison O. Jackson, and the university s Board of Trustees in a last-ditch effort to try and change their minds about inviting DeVos to speak.DeVos, a West Michigan native, initially drew ire from students and supporters from historically black colleges and universities, or HBCUs, throughout the country after she connected HBCUs to the school choice movement in February. MLiveDeVos recently met with presidents and chancellors of historically black colleges and universities, or HBCUs, at the White House. Following that meeting, she said in a statement that a key priority for the administration was to help develop opportunities for underserved communities, and praised HBCUs for fulfilling that mission all along. They started from the fact that there were too many students in America who did not have equal access to education,  she said in the statement.  They saw that the system wasn t working, that there was an absence of opportunity, so they took it upon themselves to provide the solution. DeVos continued:  HBCUs are real pioneers when it comes to school choice. They are living proof that when more options are provided to students, they are afforded greater access and greater quality. Critics were quick to point out on social media that HBCUs were initially founded in part because black students often did not have the option to enroll in existing public institutions in the South.Others noted public HBCUs were generally not offered the same amount of funding and resources predominantly white colleges and universities received.In an interview with The Chronicle of Higher Education about the controversy, Dillard University President Walter Kimbrough said similar comments she made in the listening session  didn t come across as ill-spirited,  but was a poor analogy. I think she was honestly trying to find a way to connect her experience with HBCUs,  he told The Chronicle of Higher Education.  MLive ",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present
1783,1783,"Reuters) - Lebanon s prime minister Saad al-Hariri will arrive in France on Saturday and meet French President Emmanuel Macron, a source inside the French presidency said. Macron invited the Lebanese premier and his family to France on Wednesday, hoping to soothe a crisis triggered when Hariri announced his resignation 12 days ago.  ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
1794,1794,"Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” while discussing the American Health Care Act, Sen. Susan Collins ( ) said it would be “a mistake” to defund Planned Parenthood.  Collins said, “That is an important issue to me because I don’t think that   women should be denied their choice of health care providers, for family planning, cancer screenings, for well, women care. It’s not the only issue in this huge bill. But I certainly think it’s not fair and it is a mistake to defund Planned Parenthood. It’s one of many issues. ” Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
1801,1801,"Hillary Clinton came to visit the citizens of Flint recently and then campaign commercials popped up claiming the Flint residents would be  saved  by Granny Clinton. It s what she does best pandering to the black community. She wants the people to believe that the Republicans have decided to poison the people of Flint and she s here to save the day. Well, we ve got the truth and we re hoping you ll spread it far and wide. This is about  regulators who dropped the ball when Flint switched from Detroit water to Flint:FLINT, Mich. (AP)   Michigan environmental regulators made crucial errors as Flint began using a new drinking water source that would become contaminated with lead, auditors said Friday, as crews in the city started to dig up old pipes connecting water mains to homes.The report by the state auditor general found that staffers in the Department of Environmental Quality s drinking water office failed to order the city to treat its water with anti-corrosion chemicals as it switched to the Flint River in April 2014, but also said the rules they failed to heed may not be strong enough to protect the public.Flint had been using water from the Detroit system but made the change to save money, planning eventually to join a consortium that would have its own pipeline to the lake. The corrosive river water scraped lead from aging pipes that tainted water in some homes and schools, and has been blamed for elevated lead levels in some children s bloodstreams. If consumed, lead can cause developmental delays and learning disabilities.Crews on Friday dug up a lead service line in Flint and replaced it with a copper one at the home of an expectant couple. It marked the first residential lead pipe removal that is part of Mayor Karen Weaver s Fast Start initiative designed to replace all lead service lines in the city.Barry Richardson II, who lives in the home with his pregnant fiancee, thanked mayor and said he no longer will  have to worry about the lead poisoning  his water.Weaver said the work that started Friday will target lead service lines at homes in neighborhoods with the highest number of children under 6 years old, senior citizens, pregnant women, people with compromised immune systems and homes where water tests indicate high levels of lead at the tap.More than two dozen Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, also visited Flint on Friday to hear from families affected by the water crisis. Democratic Rep. Dan Kildee of Michigan said it let lawmakers hear about Flint s problems firsthand and kept up pressure for Congress to act on a stalled bill aimed at helping the city. Kildee criticized Senate Republicans for delaying the bill and noted that lawmakers who have visited Flint in recent weeks were all Democrats.Republican Gov. Rick Snyder, who has repeatedly apologized for the state s response, said it s taking longer than expected to locate all the lead pipes in the city but the state is working to find them.The  has acknowledged that its staffers who worked with Flint misread federal regulations designed to prevent lead and copper pollution of drinking water supplies. Three  employees, including the director, have lost their jobs.Director Keith Creagh said Friday the  appreciates the auditor general s  thorough review  and  is committed to developing and implementing process and program improvements to address the findings in the report. But the  said the federal Lead and Copper Rule was ambiguous, and the auditors agreed, saying it and Michigan s Safe Water Drinking Act needed improvements. Snyder said he d also like to set a higher water quality standard than the federal rule.The audit said the federal rule does not require using indicators such as blood screenings to monitor for human exposure to lead. Sampling of drinking water that does take place relies mostly on samples from single-family residences, leaving out other locations such as schools and hospitals.Additionally, many samples are taken by residents, who might use incorrect procedures, the report said.Other  shortcomings it noted included a failure to ensure that Flint drew enough water samples for testing from high-risk homes with lead pipes or fixtures. The agency said it would  put in place appropriate audit procedures that will increase the confidence and accuracy of water supply submissions.  also does not conduct surveillance visits, sanitary surveys and other monitoring within required time frames, a problem in places other than Flint, the report said. The department said 95 percent of sanitary surveys and 64 percent of surveillance visits meet required deadlines, exceeding goals set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.Via: KMOV",fake,dataset,validation,Other news1,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
1806,1806,"Perugia , Italy In a ruling read to a tension filled courtroom , an Italian jury on Monday cleared Amanda Knox of murder and other charges , nearly four years after she was arrested on suspicion of having killed her roommate in this picturesque Italian university town .  The jury evidently believed Knox ' s impassioned final statement to the court , delivered in a voice trembling with emotion .  "" I am not what they say I am perverse , violent . . . . I haven ' t murdered . I haven ' t raped . I haven ' t stolen , "" Knox said in the most important speech of her life . Her co defendant , Raffaele Sollecito , was also cleared of involvement in the 2007 death of Meredith Kercher , a British exchange student and Knox ' s roommate in Perugia .  "" We ' re thankful that Amanda ' s nightmare is over , "" Knox ' s sister , Deanna , said on the courthouse steps , getting a roar of approval from the crowd . "" She suffered for four years for a crime she did not commit . ""  Deanna Knox thanked her sister ' s attorneys and "" people who took the time to research the case and could see that Amanda and Raffaele were innocent , "" for supporting the Knox family .  The same jury , however , upheld Knox ' s conviction on the charge of defamation against Patrick Lumumba , an early suspect in the case . She had accused club owner Lumumba of killing Kercher .  Lumumba was arrested , but released after his alibi checked out . He later sued Knox , winning 40 , 000 euros ( 54 , 000 ) in damages . Knox was sentenced Monday to three years on the defamation charge , but received credit for the years she has already spent behind bars , said her attorney , Carlo Dalla Vedova .  He said Knox is ready to go home , but has said she will return to Italy .  "" She always confirmed she was a friend of Meredith , "" he said .  As the verdict was read in court , Kercher ' s family grew emotional .  "" We respect the decision of the judges but we do not understand how the decision of the first trial could be so radically overturned , "" the Kerchers said in a statement , issued through a journalist close to the family , after returning to their hotel on Monday . "" We still trust the Italian judicial system and hope that the truth will eventually emerge . ""  Some of those gathered outside were unhappy with the ruling , shouting "" Shame ! Shame ! ""  "" I am very upset with Italian justice , "" said a woman who gave her name as Veronica and said she is a fourth year law student in Perugia . The legal process , she said , had gone "" very , very bad . ""  "" This family needs some justice , "" she said of the Kerchers , "" and more important , you know , the real truth of the story . "" She said a majority of those in Perugia "" absolutely "" agree with her , adding , "" I ' m not satisfied . ""  Knox and her defense team succeeded in overturning a conviction handed down two years ago by a different jury , which found her and Sollecito guilty of killing of Kercher , who was sexually assaulted and her throat slashed .  "" I am innocent , "" Knox said Monday . "" Raffaele is innocent . ""  Sollecito put his claim simply in his own closing statement before Knox spoke .  "" I have never hurt anybody , "" he said .  As he concluded , he dramatically removed his plastic "" Free Amanda and Raffaele "" bracelet , saying : "" I have never taken it off since it was given to me . . . . I think now is the moment to take it off . ""  His voice almost inaudible , he concluded , "" I hope this is part of history and that Amanda and I have a future . ""  Knox was expected to go back to jail to complete her release paperwork and gather her belongings before leaving for the last time . As one van pulled up outside the prison , the sound of cheering could be heard from inside . A few minutes later , a black van pulled away from the prison and was chased by photographers . Rocco Girlanda , a member of the Italian parliament who became an advocate for Knox , confirmed that Knox was inside .  "" Amanda was incredibly happy , "" Girlanda said , adding that Knox will leave Tuesday for Seattle , her hometown . She was greeted at the prison by cheers and shouts of "" well done , "" prompting her to jump for joy , he said . Knox was headed to meet her parents nearby after leaving the prison , he said . "" Her first desire is to lie down on a green field . ""  In Washington , State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said , "" The United States appreciates the careful consideration of this matter within the Italian judicial system . "" The U . S . Embassy in Rome will continue to provide consular assistance to Knox and her family , she said .  "" I am glad that the appeals court gave Amanda the fair hearing that she deserves , "" said U . S . Sen . Maria Cantwell , D Washington , who had helped push for the appeal , in a statement . "" All countries must live up to their international commitments to provide a fair trial by an impartial tribunal to those accused of crimes .  "" Amanda ' s parents , family and friends have been through an incredible ordeal , "" Cantwell said . "" We are all thankful that she will be free to return to Seattle as soon as possible . ""  Knox ' s lawyer Luciano Ghirga reminded the jury Monday that they had to be convinced "" beyond a reasonable doubt "" that Knox and Sollecito were guilty if they were to uphold the conviction .  At least four members of the jury composed of six members of the public and two judges must have concluded they did , indeed , have doubts about her conviction .  A majority ruling was all that was needed to throw out the conviction , with a tie favoring the defense . The actual vote will remain secret , but the main judge , Claudio Pratillo Hellman , will file a statement explaining the jury ' s reasoning within 90 days of the ruling .  Knox and Sollecito were convicted of murder , sexual assault and related crimes related to Kercher ' s death in December 2009 . A third man , drifter Rudy Guede , was convicted separately of involvement in the killing and is serving 16 years .  In the appeal , lawyers for Knox and Sollecito picked apart  evidence that played a role in the original conviction .  Part of the original prosecution case was based on  evidence found on a knife and on a bra clasp belonging to Kercher .  During the appeal , experts for the two sides battled over whether the  evidence was reliable .  They also fought over the character of Knox .  The lawyer for a man falsely accused of the crime called Knox "" Lucifer like , demonic , Satanic , "" while Sollecito defense counsel Giulia Bongiorno insisted that , like the buxom cartoon temptress Jessica Rabbit in the movie "" Who Framed Roger Rabbit ? "" Knox is not bad , just "" drawn that way . ""  Knox herself acknowledged the debate Monday in her closing statement .  "" People always ask ' who is Amanda Knox ? ' "" she said . "" I am the same person I was four years ago . . . . The only thing that now separates me from four years ago is my suffering .  "" In four years , I ' ve lost my friends in the most terrible and unexplainable way . My trust in the authorities and the police has been damaged . I had to face charges that were totally unfair , without any basis . And I am paying with my life for something I haven ' t done . ""  Knox was 20 and Kercher was 21 years old , studying at Perugia ' s university for foreign students , when Kercher ' s semi naked body was found in the house they shared .  Sollecito , 23 at the time , was Knox ' s boyfriend , studying computer science at another university in Perugia .  Either side can appeal this court ' s ruling to Italy ' s High Court , but such an appeal would be on narrow technical grounds only .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
1811,1811,"Reuters) - Ten people went on trial in Germany on Friday for alleged  failures in planning the  Love Parade  music festival in 2010 when 21 people were killed and more than 650 injured in a  stampede. Prosecutors have charged the defendants, four employees of the company that planned the event in the industrial city of Duisburg and six from the local authority, with negligent manslaughter and bodily harm. The defendants have denied wrongdoing in the disaster. Eight foreigners   from Spain, Bosnia, the Netherlands, Australia, Italy and China   were among those killed on July 24, 2010, when panic broke out in a packed underpass that was the only entrance route to the venue for the techno music festival. The trial has been moved to a congress center in the nearby city of Duesseldorf as the court rooms in Duisburg were too small for what is expected to be one of the biggest trials in postwar Germany, with dozens of lawyers and plaintiffs. The trial is expected to take until at least the end of next year. But there is a ticking clock on proceedings as the statute of limitations runs out in July 2020.  ",true,dataset,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
1815,1815,"Putin: Russia is not going to attack anyone   Pravda.Ru Russia is not going to attack anyone - this is silly and unimaginable, said Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking Thursday   Vaildai   Club. The topic of the meeting is ""The philosophy of international development for the new world.""According to Putin, the West has been producing a great deal of myths about the ""notorious Russian military threat."" ""Indeed, this is a profitable activity, as one can obtain new military budgets and bend allies for the interests of the only superpower, one can also expand  and take the infrastructure of the alliance, its troops and hardware, closer to our borders,"" Putin said. President Putin called  an obsolete structure that was established in the times of the cold war. One does not see any adaptation of the alliance to new conditions, even though they talk about it all the time, Putin said. He also noted that there are continuous attempts being made to make the  a tool to serve someone's foreign policy interests, despite the fact that the organization still remains an important mechanism to ensure European and transatlantic security. As a result, this mechanism works for nothing, the president said. Putin stressed out that Russia did not aspire to global domination and expansion.""There are many countries in the world that, like Russia, can rely on thousand-year history. We have learned to value our identity, freedom and independence. At the same time, we do not seek either global domination, expansion or confrontation with anyone,"" Putin said. Pravda.Ru  ",fake,news,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
1833,1833,"In a short lived television series of the mid 1960s , Chuck Connors played Jason McCord , an Army cavalry captain stripped of his stripes and drummed out of the service in the 1880s with an unjust accusation of cowardice .  "" What do you do when you ' re branded will you fight for your name ? "" the chorus at the opening of the prime time melodrama sang . "" Wherever you go for the rest of your life , you must prove you ' re a man . ' '  In 2016 , more so than in most recent years , the assets and liabilities of a reputation are bared on the political line : You ' re only as good as your name .  Donald Trump , who landed at the front of the Republican Party ' s crowded pack of presidential candidates without any of the traditional investment in political organization , arrived there on the strength of his brand name . He needed no introduction , with a brand that stood for success . Indeed a good share of the billionaire ' s self stated net worth rests in the market value of his brand . The real estate developer and reality  show star has claimed he ' s worth 9 or 10 billion . Forbes magazine figures it ' s closer to 4 billion : "" The major difference : his brand . ' ' Trump claims a brand and brand related deals worth some 3 . 3 billion . Forbes values the name at 125 million .  Either way , he possessed something akin to Procter Gamble , sponsors of  ' s "" Branded ' ' a household name . In politics , it ' s also known as universal name recognition something which Hillary Clinton also possesses . It ' s an invaluable calling card for a national political campaign enabling someone to skip the appetizers in advertising and proceed apace to the main course .  He ' d built a brand so strong , it blinded New Jersey ' s Casino Control Commission why exactly did anyone need three casinos anyway ? When Trump opened "" the largest and most lavish ' ' casino complex in Atlantic City , the Washington Post reports , he told the commission "" he could pull it off for one main reason : He was Donald Trump . ' ' It lasted barely months . Yet even four bankruptcies have failed to tarnish the success of the Trump brand .  For those flocking to his presidential campaign rallies , Trump has delivered only reinforcement of his brand as a winner all those in his path , "" losers . ' ' They are finding a natural born boss firmly in command "" You ' re fired . "" It matters little that , where supporters see boldness , deniers see boorishness . In an age of generic politicians , when so many candidates still soldier on past their sell by dates , Trump ' s brand name campaign is golden .  Leaders of the party worry that Trump ' s excesses of xenophobia , bordering on the political equivalent of ethnic cleansing , threaten to rebrand the Republican Party itself , devaluing whatever currency the  still holds among minorities , women and moderate independent thinkers in general . As Trump and alter ego Ted Cruz struggle for the crown of the first in the nation Iowa caucuses , and Trump towers over the pack in polling in state contests beyond , the "" establishment "" worries about losing elections up and down the ballot . "" Rarely has a party so passively accepted its own self destruction , ' ' columnist David Brooks writes of the Trump Cruz contest . "" The idea that the G . O . P . can march into the 21st Century intentionally alienating every person of color is borderline insane . ' '  Trump , Brooks writes , is "" a solipsistic branding genius whose ' policies ' have no contact with Planet Earth ' ' and Cruz "" would be as universally off putting as he has been in all his workplaces . He ' s always been good at tearing things down but incompetent when it comes to putting things together . ' '  Years ago , I had a chance to hear Mike Murphy , a maestro of political and corporate marketing , talk about the value of a brand name . At the time , he admired in particular the value of Dodge ' s "" Ram tough . ' ' The concept has served the company so well that they ' ve spun the Dodge name right out of the sales pitch . Today , the vehicles are sold simply as "" Ram Trucks . ' '  Murphy had his own great success with another brand in Florida : "" Jeb ! "" Bush , a twice elected governor who left office more popular than when he entered it . And when Murphy and company set out again to make the son of one president and brother of another the next president of the United States , they dusted off the logo . There was one big problem , however , the Bush brand spoke of something else to some people whether it was that "" Read My Lips "" or "" Mission Accomplished , "" it revived memories that many would just as soon not revisit . Keenly aware of the hurdles that must be overcome in this household name , Bush was determined to run as "" my own man . ' '  In a season when the most widely watched presidential campaign debates in history and a parade of largely meaningless early polling would put Trump at center stage of a cast of generally more qualified candidates , Trump managed to brand Bush before he could define himself : "" Low Energy . ' ' And Trump , with his "" Make America Great Again , ' ' has managed to make Americans question the greatness of their own nation particularly those who question how a country might even consider electing him .  From the start , Bush hoped to run a "" different ' ' sort of campaign , a "" joyful ' ' one . He placed Murphy in charge of a formidable 100 million super  , with an upbeat "" Right to Rise ' ' message of opportunity for all , and headed out with a sense of optimism about what he sees as the greatest nation on Earth at an extraordinary juncture in its history . He was long reluctant to engage Trump in a war of insults , confident that one cannot bully one ' s way to the White House . Now , as the observers at Power Post , The Daily 202 , note : "" Jeb Bush has embraced with gusto his role as the anti Trump . ' '  "" If I ' m the anti Trump , I love that role , "" Bush says , "" because that ' s who I am . ' '  The idea here is that someone must save the Republican Party from its front runner . While Iowa ' s religious right driven Republican caucuses are lost to Trump and Cruz , the party ' s establishment believes , the primary elections in New Hampshire and beyond will become questions of finding a reasonable alternative . Bush is banking on becoming that No . 2 in New Hampshire .  Still , as further evidence of the way Trump has transformed his party ' s contest , Bush has adopted the same tactic that Trump deploys in denigrating a rival . "" Just one thing I gotta get off my chest Donald Trump is a jerk , ' ' Bush says in a minute long  campaign ad airing in New Hampshire . ( He has stopped short of what Mark Salter , the wordsmith who put poetry in the life story of John McCain , calls Trump in Esquire : "" An asshole . ' ' )  Near the eve of the Iowa and New Hampshire contests , Murphy has mailed a video player loaded with a 14 minute production to a few hundred "" opinion leaders "" in both states . "" The Jeb Story , "" also viewable at TheJebstoryweblink , makes no direct mention of the competition , only that some say America is in decline . "" Jeb is a leader , "" a former speaker of the Florida state House says , framing the theme of a clip that replays highlights of Bush ' s political career and fast forwards to 2016 . Bush is shown campaigning : "" We ' ll be much more optimistic as a nation . . . That ' s the mission I ' m on . ' '  When the party is finished with what could be a prolonged primary battle , its candidate may well face another household name . While Republicans find some enjoyment in Bernie Sanders ' potential rebranding of his own newly adopted tribe as the Democratic Socialist Party , it remains more likely that Clinton will claim the nomination and carry her own family ' s reputation , assets and liabilities alike , into the general election contest .  Trump , Bush and Clinton all came of age in the early or late ' 60s , which really was all about branding . Commercially , it was all about the Mustang , Camaro and Firebird . ( Even the Mercury Comet was sold as "" Caliente . "" ) Politically , it was all about equality for African Americans , women , farmworkers and more . Socially , it was all about making love , not war .  "" What do you do when you ' re branded will you fight for your name ? "" the chorus at the opening of that prime time television melodrama sang .  In 2016 , the narrator might say , may the best brand win .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
1842,1842,"Sometimes an actor takes on the role of an iconic figure and they do a good job .  Sometimes they do a lousy job .  But sometimes , very rarely , they disappear into their role so perfectly that all you have left is the person they ' re playing . Such is the case with Michelle Williams in Simon Curtis ' moving and thoroughly enjoyable "" My Week With Marilyn . "" About 15 minutes into the film , the first she ' s been called on to completely carry , Williams vanishes . All that remains is Marilyn . It ' s a magnificent performance and one of the most heartbreaking celebrity stories there is .  In the summer of 1956 , Marilyn Monroe , newly married to writer Arthur Miller ( Dougray Scott ) , traveled to England to shoot "" The Prince and the Showgirl "" with co star director Laurence Olivier ( Kenneth Branagh ) . The third assistant director , aka gofer , on that production was Colin Clark ( Eddie Redmayne ) , a 24 year old aspiring filmmaker on whose memoir the film is based . He rapidly became Monroe ' s confidant and ally , the only person on the crew on whom she could rely . Needless to say , he fell hopelessly in love with her , but really , what choice did he have ?  Marilyn Monroe was like a lottery ticket . You know you ' re not going to win , but when those numbers come up , damned if you ' re not sure you ' re going to pocket millions . Of course Colin wouldn ' t actually have won had he ended up with Monroe , but she was someone who men desperately wanted to take care of . After all , she was Marilyn Monroe . That ' s a roll of the dice very few would be able to pass up .  As Monroe , Williams is nothing short of dazzling .  She ' s managed to inhabit perhaps the most iconic woman in American history and not only her public persona , at that . To do a decent job of mimicking a well known figure , all one has to do is capture their mannerisms and voice and let the makeup department handle the rest . However to truly capture the essence of someone , the actor has to convince us that we ' re watching them , not an actor playing them . We have to believe that if , for example , no record of that person in casual situations exists , the actor has captured what they would actually be like .  We have all seen images of Marilyn Monroe , Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley , perhaps the three most famous pre Michael Jackson entertainers in history , in public , on stage or in films . But there ' s very little recorded of them in private times . What Williams does is create a fully realized portrait of Monroe . It doesn ' t matter if her portrayal is 100 accurate . It feels 100 accurate .  As for the production within the film , Monroe ' s reputation of difficulty on the set follows her to England , and what ' s more , she brings acting coach Paula Strasberg ( wife of famed acting teacher Lee , played by Zo Wanamaker ) with her . Whenever things get rough for her , which was often , Marilyn retreats to her dressing room or cottage with Paula , leaving Olivier to stew and the production be damned .  As the director and star , Olivier is used to getting his way and is not a method actor . He doesn ' t understand Monroe ' s need to believe in her character and finds her questions about motivation frustrating . One can ' t help but be reminded of the ( likely at least partially apocryphal ) story about Olivier on the set of "" Marathon Man "" when , after Dustin Hoffman has stayed up all night supposedly to accurately portray his character ' s state of mind , Olivier retorted with something along the lines of : "" Why don ' t you try acting , dear boy . It ' s so much easier . ""  It ' s a case of when styles collide and at one point Branagh explodes on set that "" teaching Marilyn how to act is like trying to teach Urdu to a badger ! "" It ' s a great line , and Branagh is excellent as Olivier . It serves to underscore the differences in their styles and how frustrating Monroe ' s behavior was for Olivier . For her part , Olivier ' s bluster turned Monroe ' s already present insecurities into full blown panic attacks .  When you ' re watching Williams go through Monroe ' s struggle with self doubt and an increasingly serious pill problem , there ' s no doubt in your mind that it ' s Marilyn Monroe . You feel her pain , her fears and , on a rare occasion , her joy . Williams perfectly captures Monroe ' s legendary vulnerabilities and in the culmination of a series of scenes , the duality of Norma Jeane Baker , the person she was , and Marilyn Monroe , the woman she became .  After an afternoon spent secretly touring Windsor Castle , courtesy of Sir Owen Morshead ( Colin ' s godfather and the castle librarian , played by Derek Jacobi ) , Colin and Monroe are spotted by castle staff . Leaning into Colin , Monroe whispers "" Shall I be her ? "" and instantly , Norma Jeane disappears and Marilyn is there , shimmying , posing and doing exactly what ' s expected of her . It seems like she gets a kick out of it but at the same time , there ' s a sadness in her leaving Norma Jeane behind , once again .  At once lightweight and melancholy , "" My Week With Marilyn "" doesn ' t purport to reveal any deep , dark secrets or illuminate any truths that we already don ' t know . In fact , we don ' t know for certain that any of this actually happened at all . I ' d like to think that it did , though .  "" My Week With Marilyn "" is rated R and contains some foul language , pill popping and some discrete female nudity .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
1843,1843,"This is the hilarious moment a baby polar bear got itself a little tangled while playing with a piece of rope .  Pictured rolling around in the snow , the images show the cute cub with its paws in a bit of a twist .  Spotted on the icy plains of Kaktovik , Alaska , the mischievous bear began playing with the chord after noticing it floating near the water ' s edge .  The adorable images show the polar bear cub tangled in a piece of rope and tumbling about in the snow  The two little cubs happily play with the rope while mum takes the opportunity to rest by them  Captured chewing and pulling on the rope , the loveable bear spent over half an hour trying to escape from the rope while its mum took a nap nearby .  The poor cub had almost reached the end of its tether when its sibling noticed it was in a spot of bother and stepped in to help . The cub was pictured helping to untangle the other before the pair enjoyed what seemed to be a game of tug of war .  The magical moment was spotted by wildlife photographer , Michael D . Stern , 70 , who even managed to snap the pair wrestling with the rope and even playing a friendly tug of war .  During an intensive seven day trip , Michael spent eight to ten hours on the ice photographing the bears , waiting for the perfect moment to capture his images .  The mischievous bear cub began playing with the chord after noticing it floating near the water ' s edge  The bear family were spotted on the icy plains of Kaktovik in Alaska by wildlife photographer Michael D . Stern  Captured chewing and pulling on the rope , the loveable bear spent over half an hour trying to escape  Michael said : ' The bears were totally enjoying the experience , especially the tug of war when they both had the rope .  ' They were certainly entertained with the rope , it became a new found toy for them .  ' I believe they were aware of my presence , I was in a boat at the time but they were only around 100 feet away from me .  ' It was an incredibly special moment for me to see the polar bears interacting like this in the wild , it is something I will never forget . '  Photographer Michael was in a boat at the time but the bears were only around 100 feet away from him  The poor cub had almost reached the end of its tether when its sibling noticed it was in a spot of bother and stepped in to help , and the pair ended up in a game of tug of war  During an intensive seven day trip , Michael spent eight to ten hours on the ice photographing the bears , waiting for the perfect moment to capture his images  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,present
1847,1847,"Topics : Bernie Sanders , Hillary Clinton , Polls , Millenials , voting , 2016 presidential election , Elections News , Politics News  Democratic presidential candidate Sen . Bernie Sanders , I Vt . , speaks during the First in the South Dinner at the Charleston Mariott Saturday , Jan . 16 , 2016 , in Charleston , S . C . (  Photo Mic Smith ) ( Credit :  )  As the Iowa caucus nears , ? and the margins between the two frontrunners in each party varies widely in scientific polls , ? ISideWithweblink ? has given a less conventional insight into how voters might be leaning .  As of Tuesday , the independent polling site shows ? Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders winning a hard to fathom 98 of states against Hillary Clinton , based on 229 , 278 votes cast since October . Clinton , meanwhile , is at 1 . 96 percent .  Similarly , it does not look good for Hillary ? against the Republican frontrunner Donald Trump according to the survey , with the outspoken billionaire ? winning an unthinkable 88 of states compared to Clinton s 12 , based on ? 213 , 640 votes .  Although ISideWith is obviously far from a scientific poll , it does portray how widespread the grassroots Sanders movement has become .  However , it can t be ignored that the results are primarily from millennial voters , who are more likely to take an online poll and lean ? liberal .  Many who have completed the poll , have taken to Reddit ( another indication of demographic ) to discuss and share their results . And in the case of one user who will vote for the first time this year , be encouraged to use the polling site to discern who would be the best candidate for them .  At the moment , traditional polls show Clinton in the lead in all states except New Hampshire , but these polls are weighed heavily on landline phone users , and usually account for people that have voted along a certain party line in the past .  ISideWith , which was created by Taylor Peck and Nick Boutelier ? ? two friends with two very different views of politics ? launched in 2012 and runs solely on contributor donations . The co creators state on their website that they are not affiliated with any investors , shareholders , political party or interest group . Unlike other sites , ISideWith gives users valuable insight into specific opinions . For example by clicking the choose another stance option , users can pick an even more precise answer to a question that corresponds to their thinking .  The quiz takes roughly five minutes and gives a concrete summary of your political inclinations , including : a graph visualization , parties and candidates you side with by issue , and political themes most important to you . It then allows users ? to share results on social media .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
1871,1871,"An aspiring singer who auditioned for the The Voice and The X Factor has died at just 19 years old .  Mollie Jones , a  branch manager , died after collapsing at work from a sudden brain haemorrhage .  The teenager fell ill at the fast food restaurant at Charnock Richard services on the M6 in Lancashire on March 1st .  Miss Jones , from Coppall , Lancashire , was rushed to hospital , but was pronounced dead two days later .  Mollie Jones , 19 , died suddenly from a brain haemorrhage while she was at work as a  branch manager  Her heartbroken father Brendan Jones , 45 , said music was her greatest passion and she loved singing .  She had auditioned for  ' s The Voice and  ' s The X Factor after studying performing arts at Newman College in Preston .  He said she had been got through several stages of the show , just missing out on being part of the televised programme .  He said : ' She could silence a room . I can ' t listen to the radio any more . '  Miss Jones would regularly sing at local venues such as the Rose and Crown pub , Chorley , the Alison Arms , Coppull and Coppull Conservative Club , he said .  He added that she enjoyed helping others with their hair and make up .  ' She was into make up . She made people up getting married and going out on a do , ' he said .  Mr Jones said he was shopping with his wife when they were told something was wrong with his daughter .  Miss Jones loved music , and had auditioned for The Voice and The X Factor . Her father said she had got through several rounds , but just missed out on appearing in the televised shows  He said : ' We got a phone call from her boyfriend , Adam , who works with her , saying she ' s collapsed .  ' We thought she ' d fainted , not had enough to eat .  ' She had had a bleed to her brain . There was no warning at all it was just out of the blue . She was fit and healthy .  He added : ' It was thought it was meningitis at first . It was only at 11pm when we found out she had a bleed . '  Around 350 people attended her funeral , at Oswald ' s Church , Coppull , the Chorley Guardian reports .  Her family and friends have raised over 3 , 000 for children ' s hospice Derian House in her honour .  To donate , visit Miss Jones ' Just Giving page .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
1877,1877,"Your success at playing a musical instrument could be down to a fatty substance in your brain .  Scientists have discovered that an electrically insulating substance known as myelin is essential to our brains learning new skills .  They claim that when a skill , such as playing the piano , is learned later in life , myelin must be made in order to retain the skill .  Your success at playing a musical instrument could be down to a fatty substance in your brain . Scientists have discovered that an electrically insulating substance known as myelin is essential to our brains learning new skills . Pictured are close up images of myelinated nerve fibres . The myelin is shown in pink  However , researchers at University College London claim that once a new skill has been learnt , it is retained even after myelin production stops .  They found myelin was produced by the brain and spinal cord into early adulthood as it is needed for many developmental processes .  Although earlier studies of white matter hinted at its involvement in skill learning , the study is the first to confirm it experimentally .  Lab mice tests showed that new myelin must be made each time a skill is learned later in life and the structure of the brain ' s white matter changes during new practical activities by increasing the number of myelin producing cells .  Scientists at University College London claim that when a skill , such as playing the piano , is learned later in life myelin must be made in order to retain the skill . Once a new skill has been learnt , it is retained even after myelin production stops .  These discoveries could prove important in finding ways to stimulate and improve learning , and in understanding myelin ' s involvement in other brain processes such as in cognition , the study published in Science suggested .  When a child learns to walk or an adult masters a new skill such as juggling , new brain circuit activity is needed and new connections are made across large distances and at high speeds between different parts of the brain and spinal cord .  Myelin is a fatty material that coats and insulates nerves .  It is sometimes compared to the insulating material around an electrical wire .  Its job is to quickly conduct impulses between the brain and different parts of the body .  The result is faster reactions to danger and a better chance of survival .  It is made up of around 40 per cent water , while its dry mass is around 20 per cent protein .  Flaws in making myelin result in a number of neurological diseases , including multiple sclerosis (  ) .  For this , electrical signals fire between neurons connected by ' axons ' thread like extensions of their outer surfaces which can be viewed as the ' wire ' in the electric circuit .  When new signals fire repeatedly along axons , the connections between the neurons strengthen , making them easier to fire in the same pattern in future .  Neighbouring myelin producing cells called oligodendrocytes ( OLs ) recognise the repeating signal and wrap myelin around the active circuit wiring .  It is this activity driven insulation that the team identified as essential for learning .  But while the study showed young adult mice need to make myelin to learn new motor skills , new myelin does not need to be produced to recall and perform a pre learned skill .  The theory was established when normal mice and mice which had their their ability to produce OLs and myelin switched off were made to run on an irregular spaced wheel .  The ' abnormal ' mice could not master the wheel .  These discoveries could prove important in finding ways to stimulate and improve learning , and in understanding myelin ' s involvement in other brain processes such as in cognition , the study published in Science suggested . Pictured is an electron micrograph of myelin sheath  But when ' normal ' mice used the wheel but were then switched off , they could still master the wheel .  Professor Bill Richardson , Director of the Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research , said : ' From earlier studies of human white matter using advanced  technology , we thought OLs and myelin might be involved in some way in skill learning , so we decided to attack this idea experimentally .  ' We were surprised how quickly we saw differences in the ability of mice from each group to learn how to run on complex wheel , which shows just how fast the brain can respond to wrap newly activated circuits in myelin and how this improves learning .  ' This rapid response suggests that a number of alternative axon pathways might already exist in the brain that could be used to drive a particular sequence of movements , but it quickly works out which of those circuits is most efficient and both selects and protects its chosen route with myelin .  ' We think these findings are really exciting as they open up opportunities to investigate the role of OLs and myelin in other brain processes , such as cognitive activities like navigating through a maze , to see if the requirement for new myelin is general or specific to motor activity .  ' I ' m keen to find out the precise sequence of changes to OLs and myelin during learning and whether these changes are needed more in some parts of the brain than others , which might shed light on some of the mysteries still surrounding how the brain adapts and learns throughout life . '  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
1892,1893,""" They didn t feel like we cared . I care a lot . It s been on the front on my mind for months now . "" Brad Wurfel  Michigan Department of Environmental Quality spokesperson Brad Wurfel in an undated file photo .   ,  ? Michigan Department of Environmental Quality spokesperson Brad Wurfel has joined ? director Dan Wyant in resigning after a task force cited department failures in addressing the Flint water crisis .  Wurfel in an email to contacts on Tuesday night said he had been honored to serve under Wyant and was joining his boss in resigning .  "" I have greatly appreciated my time as Communications Director at the  , but I am looking forward to pursuing new opportunities in the new year . I tendered my resignation today as well , "" Wurfel said .  What that email didn ' t mention was Flint water . Wurfel said in an interview with MLive that the people of Flint were front and center while the  worked on the water issue , but that got lost in a mix ? of technical communications and what the media picked up .  "" The human element got lost in the press account , even if it was there personally , "" Wurfel said .  Wurfel said he and his wife , former Gov . Rick Snyder spokeswoman Sara Wurfel , have a 3 year old son . Brad Wurfel has spent ? a lot of time in Flint over the past few months and knows the Flint parents have genuine fears and concerns over the water ' s effect on their children .  "" I ' m a person . I ' m a parent . You can ' t not pick that up , "" Wurfel said .  But , he said , maybe that concern didn ' t come across in departmental communications .  In a letter to Gov . Rick Snyder , the Flint Water Advisory Task Force pegged the "" substance and tone "" of the department ' s communications as one of three failures , along with failing to correctly interpret lead and copper rule and a regulatory failure .  "" Throughout 2015 , as the public raised concerns and as independent studies and testing were conducted and brought to the attention of  , the agency ' s response was often one of aggressive dismissal , belittlement , and attempts to discredit these efforts and the individuals involved , "" noted the task force ' s letter . "" We find both the tone and substance of many  public statements to be completely unacceptable . ""  Wurfel said he hadn ' t seen the task force ' s work but acknowledged that he ' d do many things differently if going back ? were an option .  "" There ' s no denying it , the Department of Communications could have been better , "" Wurfel said .  He said the department was doing its best with highly technical information that frequently changed . When the department realized it looked like it had made a mistake , it admitted that . But he apologized to the people of Flint .  "" They didn ' t feel like we cared . I care a lot . It ' s been on the front on my mind for months now . . . the human aspect of this isn ' t lost on me , "" Wurfel said .  Emily Lawler is a Capitol Business reporter for MLive . You can reach her at elawler mliveweblink , subscribe to her on Facebook or follow her on Twitter : emilyjanelawler .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
1912,1913,"Photo : Album Cover At a Pyongyang concert last year where ' Dear Leader ' Kim Jong Il performed on stage as Eddie Van Halen , an audience member forgot to applaude and was immediately executed during the beginning rift of . . . ' Hot For Teacher ' .  American singer Marie Osmond had reportedly spent three weeks as the guest of North Korea ' s strongman Kim Jong Il shortly before his death . According to sources they are both fans of dancing , singing , and various types of popular music , and have made several homemade movies together at the Presidential Palace located in the Hermit Kingdom ' s ' capitol , Pyongyang .  Says Osmond of her past dance partner , "" Really , he was pretty cute ! He wore these cool retro platform shoes , and puffed his hair up so he can be taller ! You know , he played the guitar ? I watched a  where he plays and acts just like Eddie Van Halen . ""  Sources have confirmed that Kim Jong lndeed had made an hour long tribute '  where he stars as rocker Eddie Van Halen . In the video he wears a wig , and dresses exactly like the rocker complete with a vintage Gibson guitar . During a concert in Pyongyang lastb year , Kim Jong Il rocked the stadium that contained up to 850 , 000 party loyalists , who applauded after each rousing rendition of vintage Van Halen . The successful concert was marred by one audience member forgetting to applaude enthusiastically enough , and was singled out , brought to the stage , and promptly shot while Kim Jing Il belted out the opening guitar rifts to Hot For Teacher . "" '  On the popular  , North Korean General Foo Sing Fang , substitutes as rocker David Lee Roth the groups front man . According to Jong Il , the General was sent abroad for massive plastic surgery , hair extensions , full dental work , and guitar lessons . After the album ' s release General Fang was shot .  Marie Osmond was later quoted , "" The  is what turned me on to asking the State Department to invite him to give a try at  ' s Dancing With The Stars . The little guy would ' ve loved all the attention . ""  North Korean officials announced today that the  will be re released and all proceeds will go to the Peoples Orphanage and Atomic Centerfuge Fund .  ",satire,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,satire,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
1930,1931,"There isn’t any evidence to support President Trump’s assertion that three to five million illegal votes were cast in the 2016 presidential election. But there is one study that has been interpreted to suggest it is at least possible. It found that between 32, 000 and 2. 8 million noncitizen voters might have fraudulently cast ballots in the 2008 presidential election. The study, based on a survey of 38, 000 people after that election, has been under fire since it was published in 2014. Now even its authors concede that it probably overstated the amount of noncitizen voting. “The   estimates are likely incorrect,” Jesse Richman, one of the   of the study and a political science professor at Old Dominion University, said in an email exchange on Wednesday. In a post online, he also said that the findings do not support Mr. Trump’s contention that millions cast ballots illegally. Mr. Richman still maintains that some small percentage of noncitizens vote in American elections. But the debate over this study has moved on. It’s no longer about whether millions of illegal votes were cast, but whether there’s any evidence for noncitizen voting at all. The study’s bold claims fell apart because of something called response error: the possibility that people taking a survey don’t answer a question correctly  —   in this case, a question about being American citizens. There is always a tiny amount of response error in surveys. Respondents might not understand the question. Or they might understand it, but mark the wrong answer by mistake, if the survey is  . An interviewer, if there is one, could accidentally record the wrong answer. Such errors usually aren’t a problem large enough to change the results of a survey. But both the survey and the question posed by researchers were unusual. The survey  —   the Cooperative Congressional Election Study  —   was huge, with 38, 000 respondents in 2008. And the group in question  —   noncitizens  —   was very small, just 339 of those respondents. The problem is that even a tiny amount of response error among the 38, 000 respondents could have been enough to contaminate the results of the tiny group of noncitizens. Imagine, for instance, that 99. 9 percent of people respond to the survey’s citizenship question correctly. In such a big survey, even that high success rate would still imply that there were 38 respondents who answered incorrectly  —   enough to make up a big chunk of the tiny pool of 339 noncitizen respondents. If those 38 misreported noncitizens had indeed voted, then suddenly it would look as if 10 percent of noncitizens voted. This critique could explain all of the noncitizen voting observed in the study. Critics of the study  —   Stephen Ansolabehere, a Harvard political scientist, Samantha Luks, a statistician at YouGov, and Brian  Schaffner, a political scientist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst  —   were able to marshal evidence strongly consistent with that possibility, because of the survey’s unusual design: Thousands of voters are   in subsequent elections. That allowed the study’s critics to check whether people were consistent about their answer on the citizenship answer from year to year. If the people were consistent, they were probably noncitizens. If voters were inconsistent, it would be a sign that the category was contaminated by the tiny number of voters who misreported their citizenship. There was not much consistency. Between 2010 and 2012, 20 voters switched from being citizens to noncitizens (an extremely unlikely transition) and 36 others switched from noncitizens to citizens (a more common transition, but one reported at a far greater rate than typically occurs). These shifting answers strongly bolster the theory that many of the respondents logged as noncitizens had responded in error. But most important, among the 85 respondents who said they were noncitizens in both 2010 and 2012  —   those most likely to really be noncitizens  —   none had voted in the 2010 midterm elections. The critics concluded that “the likely percent of noncitizen voters in recent U. S. elections is 0. ” In a response published in October, Mr. Richman and his colleagues did not contest the finding that measurement error probably exaggerated the number of noncitizen voters. “The response error issues they focus on may have biased our numbers,” Mr. Richman said in an email to The New York Times on Wednesday. Mr. Richman and his colleagues have not estimated a new range of possible noncitizen voting. Instead, the October response sought only to rebut the notion that there was no noncitizen voting. They argued that measurement error couldn’t explain all of the people who said they were noncitizens and voted. When it came to hard evidence immune to the measurement error critique, Mr. Richman and his   found one validated 2012 voter who had indicated not being a citizen in both the 2010 and 2012 surveys. But the same noncitizen had indicated in the survey that he or she was not registered to vote. The determination that he or she was a voter was based on voter records: The respondents to the survey were matched to a voter registration file. It is possible that this noncitizen was erroneously matched to the voter file. The matching process is good but imperfect, and becomes harder with less information  —   like the absence of a specific address or date of birth. That the respondent said he or she wasn’t registered certainly raises the possibility that the match was wrong. “I haven’t seen any evidence that I would say shows that any noncitizens vote,” Mr. Schaffner said. “That doesn’t mean that the rate is exactly zero. But it does mean that it’s   frequency that we can’t even measure it with traditional methods. ”",true,news,validation,World conflict,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
1957,1958,"Petrol and diesel could be replaced by a fuel developed from a bacteria found in the human gut , scientists claim .  Researchers have found a way to use the gut bacteria E . coli often behind attacks of diarrhoea to help generate propane gas a part of petroleum gas .  The results could one day lead to a new type of fuel that uses solar energy to convert it into a useable form .  Scientists have found a way to use the gut bacteria E . coli ( pictured ) often behind attacks of diarrhoea to help generate propane gas a part of petroleum gas used in everything from cars to camping stoves  Researchers added three enzymes to the bacteria , thioesterase ,  and aldehyde deformylating oxygenase .  This allowed them to extract butyric acid , a foul smelling compound essential for propane production .  Dr Patrick Jones , from the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial College London , said : ' Although this research is at a very early stage , our proof of concept study provides a method for renewable production of a fuel that previously was only accessible from fossil reserves .  ' Although we have only produced tiny amounts so far , the fuel we have produced is ready to be used in an engine straight away .  The results , published in the journal Nature Communications , could one day lead to a new type of fuel for cars that uses solar energy to convert it into a useable form  ' This opens up possibilities for future sustainable production of renewable fuels that at first could complement , and thereafter replace fossil fuels like diesel , petrol , natural gas and jet fuel . '  The notion that homes could be fuelled by human waste , might not be an appealing , but it could transform people ' s lives in developing countries .  British scientists have already proved they can charge a phone by using urine to feed microbial fuel cells .  And they aim to scale up their innovation to provide much needed electricity and sanitation in the form of a clever bathroom system designed to be used in remote and poor areas of the world .  The research is backed by the Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation , as the Microsoft billionaire is keen to help to create a fully functional system that could be installed in bathrooms to collect urine , which would be used to light and heat a house as well as power gadgets .  ' Fossil fuels are a finite resource and as our population continues to grow we are going to have to come up with new ways to meet increasing energy demands .  ' It is a substantial challenge , however , to develop a renewable process that is low cost and economically sustainable .  ' At the moment algae can be used to make biodiesel , but it is not commercially viable as harvesting and processing requires a lot of energy and money . '  At present scientists believe that they need to find a way to make their process 1000 per cent more efficient .  Dr Jones added : ' We chose propane because it can be separated from the natural process with minimal energy and it will be compatible with the existing infrastructure for easy use .  ' At the moment , we don ' t have a full grasp of exactly how the fuel molecules are made , so we are now trying to find out exactly how this process unfolds .  ' I hope that over the next five to 10 years we will be able to achieve commercially viable processes that will sustainably fuel our energy demands . '  The study was published in the journal Nature Communications .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
1962,1963,"Mo . ? After a nearly perfect start to his postseason career , Jeurys Familia faltered for the first time in the playoffs Tuesday night , and it came at an inopportune time for the Mets .  Alex Gordon s ninth inning blast to center with one out in the bottom of the ninth tied Game 1 with the Mets just two outs away from victory in what turned out to be a 5 4 , 14 inning loss to the Royals in Game 1 of the World Series .  It s part of the game , Familia said . My fastball was in the zone . I missed my spot . I wanted it away and down .  But he and his teammates were confident he would bounce back .  It s hard to believe because Familia has been so good , Jon Niese said . But it happens to the best of them . He s gonna come back .  Everybody makes mistakes in this game , Familia said . Tomorrow is another day . It s not difficult to come back . I understand the game .  Manager Terry Collins decided to roll the dice with Tyler Clippard instead of going to a rested Familia to start the bottom of the eighth .  The decision seemed to work out when , after Clipper faltered , Familia entered and got out of a first and third , two out jam ? but then Familia showed he wasn t immune to postseason mistakes .  After throwing 10 shutout innings during these playoffs heading into the bottom of the ninth , Familia found out how quickly things can change .  One thing , he doesn t give up home runs , so we were all shocked by it , Collins said . We liked where we were at .  Familia had five saves against the Dodgers and Cubs in the first two rounds , but will have to wait for his first in the World Series .  Familia had allowed six homers in 76 games during the regular season and had allowed just one homer since July 30 , which was also the date of his most recent blown save ? until Tuesday .  San Diego s Justin Upton took Familia deep at Citi Field in a devastating loss in the rain , one day before the Mets landed Yoenis Cespedes in a season saving trade with Detroit .  Familia started the bottom of the ninth in fine fashion , getting Salvador Perez to ground out before Gordon s blast .  He managed to get the next two outs , but the damage was done and the game went into extra innings .  He was replaced by Jon Niese to start the bottom of the 10th .  He s done a tremendous job of just letting it go and worrying about the next pitch , Travis d Arnaud said of Familia s ability to move on . He was able to get the next two outs .  And despite the loss , Daniel Murphy already was looking ahead to Wednesday .  I ll take my chances with him Wednesday night , Murphy said . Hopefully we can give him the same opportunity . I ll sign up for that right now .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
1975,1976,"The teenager whose photo went viral after he was caught on camera getting help from a Target employee before a job interview just received some very good news he got the job .  Yasir Moore , 15 , was helped to tie a tie by Dennis Roberts , an employee at the Target in Raleigh , North Carolina and was given a pep talk for his job interview at a Chick Fil A fast food restaurant .  And it looks like the employee ' s act of kindness worked because the fast food chain officially hired him on Friday .  You ' re hired ! Moore successfully completed a three interview hiring process with Chic Fil A and was hired on Friday  Heartwarming : A shopper at a Raleigh , North Carolina Target took this picture last week of employee Dennis Roberts helping a young man learn to tie a tie for a job interview at a nearby Chick Fil A  Moore successfully completed a three interview hiring process with Chic Fil A and news of his job was posted to Twitter on the company ' s page .  The teenager now plans to show his appreciation to those who helped him by spending part of his first paycheck on a gift to express his thanks .  The photo of the ambitious teenager was posted online and quickly gained a lot of attention for the simple act of kindness that was on display .  The picture went viral but he later found out about it at school .  ' After I heard it went viral , I was in shock , I was amazed , ' he told ABC11 . ' It ' s one of the best things that ever happened to me . '  Moore even returned to the store to thank the employees for their extraordinary customer service .  Good kid : He now plans to show his appreciation to those who helped him by spending part of his first paycheck on a gift to express his thanks  Thank you ! Yasir Moore , who became a viral sensation after a photo caught showed a Target employee helping him tie his tie before his first job interview returned to the store to thank the employees  He got the job : His mother , left , is equally grateful to the strangers who showed her son kindness  His mother was equally grateful to the strangers who showed her son kindness .  ' They could have just sold my son a tie , ' said Najirah Parrish . ' But they took the time , helped him tie the tie and talked to him . They treated my son with dignity , respect . '  They also gave him real world advice to help him get a job .  ' I did step by step what he told me , ' Moore said .  Life coach ! The folks at Target say they do this kind of thing every day . It ' s just that this time someone got a picture of it  Roberts ' coworker Cathy Scott was the first to greet the customer on Wednesday when he came in looking for a clip on tie for his interview .  Since the store was out of the clip on ties , she directed him to the regular ties but he didn ' t know how to tie it .  After checking out , Scott brought the boy back to her co worker Roberts .  ' Cathy says , ' Can you tie a tie ? ' I said , ' Yes , ' ' Roberts told  . ' We took the wrapping off it , and I tied it on my neck , and fit it over head adjusted it and tightened it . . . fixed all his collar buttons and he was set to go . '  Roberts then went on to help the young man prepare for his job interview by asking him the typical questions a hiring manager would ask .  ' We said , ' Make sure you look him in the eye . ' I ' m saying make sure you give him a firm handshake , and she showed him . . . he tucked his shirt in , ' said Roberts .  Scene : Above , the Raleigh , North Carolina Super Target where the kind act happened last Wednesday  It was when he was giving the young man advice that Mark snapped her now viral photo .  ' It was a very quiet simple moment , but it was very profound honestly kindness . . . from strangers . . . in a Super Target , ' Mark , a mother of three , said .  ' He leaves and all these Target employees are screaming ' Bye ! Good luck ! Tell us how it went . ' '  The young man left the store as Roberts and the other employees wished him good luck and asked him to come back and tell them how it went .  ' We were just here to help a young man get a job and forward his future , ' Roberts said .  ' When he told me all this advice , I got my confidence back , ' said Moore . ' And so when I went for my interview I was calm , cool , and collected . '  ' You usually see friends or family help you do that kind of stuff , not just strangers you ' ve never met before , ' he said .  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
1987,1988,"Luxembourg ' s Andy Schleck dramatically revived his Tour de France hopes with a stunning victory on an epic 18th stage which finished at the summit of the imposing Col du Galibier .  At 2 , 645 meters , it was the highest ever stage finish on the Tour , and Leopard Trek ' s Schleck certainly hit the heights with a brave solo victory .  He broke clear of a group of favorites on the Col d ' lzoard with 60km remaining , reeling in the fragmented remains of a breakaway , before crossing the line alone over two minutes clear of his chasers .  Schleck , written off after muted performances in the Pyrenees and the first stage in the Alps , said he had decided to take his courage in his hands .  "" I don ' t want to finish fourth in Paris , and I said to myself ' I ' m going to risk everything , it ' ll work or it ' ll fail ' , "" he told Eurosport .  "" That ' s the way I am , I ' m not afraid of losing . And if my legs were hurting out in front I knew the others would be hurting to catch me up . ""  But he failed by 15 seconds to take the yellow off the shoulders of French hope Thomas Voeckler , who again performed heroics to take fifth on a stage which effectively marked the end of Alberto Contador ' s chances of retaining his crown .  The three time winner from Spain struggled on the upper slopes of the Galibier and now trails Voeckler by four minutes 44 seconds in seventh place .  To complete a superb day for the Schlecks , Andy ' s brother Frank took second on the stage to move up to third overall , one minute eight seconds down .  He gained precious time on Australia ' s Cadel Evans , who slipped to fourth at one minute 12 seconds .  Friday ' s 19th stage , the third in the Alps , could well hold the key to the eventual winner with the finish on the famous Alpe d ' Huez after another climb on the Galibier .  Both the Schlecks will be looking to pick up further time on Evans , who is a stronger time trialist , ahead of Saturday ' s individual test against the clock over 42 . 5km in Grenoble .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
2002,2003,"After Barcelona ' s 1 0 defeat by Malaga on Saturday , the Spanish press are predicting a gloomy week for the Catalan giants .  Juanmi scored as Luis Enrique ' s side failed to win for the first time in 12 matches , and the local media were damning in their judgement .  Mundo Deportivo insists it is the curse of the four o ' clock kick off for Barcelona , despite the fact that they beat Levante 5 0 last time they started a game at that time .  Mundo Deportivo says Manchester City will have a feast ahead of their clash with Barcelona  The paper goes on to say that Manchester City ' will have a feast ' before their Champions League clash with Barcelona , such is their certainty to win .  As , meanwhile , continue on down the same route and point out that neither Lionel Messi nor Neymar managed a shot on target throughout the game .  The newspaper also quotes Enrique as saying that his side deserved to lose .  Marca opts to award some of the credit to Malaga , saying their ' perfect ' defence won the match , while also lambasting Dani Alves for his mistake that led to the only goal of the game .  As points out Barcelona ' s flaws while Marca celebrates Malaga ' s ' perfect ' defence during the clash  In Italy ,  Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi may finally be running out of patience with manager Pippo Inzaghi , according to La Gazzetta Sportiva .  Milan are currently 11th in Serie A , 27 points behind league leaders Juventus , and Inzaghi is reportedly ready to experiment with his side for the clash with Cesena .  A poll in the paper suggests that the former striker still has the good will of the supporters , but they would prefer to see national team manager and former Juventus boss Antonio Conte in charge .  La Gazzetta Sportiva tells Pippo Inzaghi to watch out as Silvio Berlusconi is keeping a close eye on him  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
2030,2031,"? Character actor Abe Vigoda , whose leathery , sunken eyed face made him ideal for playing the over the hill detective Phil Fish in the 1970s  series "" Barney Miller "" and the doomed Mafia soldier in "" The Godfather , "" died Tuesday at age 94 .  Vigoda ' s daughter , Carol Vigoda Fuchs , told The Associated Press that Vigoda died Tuesday morning in his sleep at Fuchs ' home in Woodland Park , New Jersey . The cause of death was old age . "" This man was never sick , "" Fuchs said .  Vigoda worked in relative obscurity as a supporting actor in the New York theater and in television until Francis Ford Coppola cast him in the 1972 Oscar winning "" The Godfather . ""  Vigoda played Sal Tessio , an old friend of Vito Corleone ' s ( Marlon Brando ) who hopes to take over the family after Vito ' s death by killing his son Michael Corleone ( Al Pacino ) . But Michael anticipates that Sal ' s suggestion for a "" peace summit "" among crime families is a setup and the escorts Sal thought were taking him to the meeting turn out to be his executioners .  "" Tell Mike it was only business , "" Sal mutters to consigliere Tom Hagen , played by Robert Duvall , as he ' s led away .  In a statement , Duvall said Tuesday it was "" great working with Abe in ' The Godfather ' and wonderful to have him among us . We had some great memories together and he will really be missed . ""  The great success of the film and "" The Godfather Part  "" made Vigoda ' s face and voice , if not his name , recognizable to the general public and led to numerous roles , often as hoodlums .  But it was his comic turn in "" Barney Miller , "" which starred Hal Linden and ran from 1975 to 1982 , that brought Vigoda ' s greatest recognition .  He liked to tell the story of how he won the role of Detective Fish . An exercise enthusiast , Vigoda had just returned from a five mile jog when his agent called and told him to report immediately to the office of Danny Arnold , who was producing a pilot for a police station comedy .  Arnold remarked that Vigoda looked tired , and the actor explained about his jog . "" You know , you look like you might have hemorrhoids , "" Arnold said . "" What are you ? a doctor or a producer ? "" Vigoda asked . He was cast on the spot .  "" The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable  Shows , "" a reference book , commented that Vigoda was the hit of "" Barney Miller . "" ' ' Not only did he look incredible , he sounded and acted like every breath might be his last , "" it said . "" Fish was always on the verge of retirement , and his worst day was when the station house toilet broke down . ""  Vigoda remained a regular on "" Barney Miller "" until 1977 when he took the character to his own series , "" Fish . "" The storyline dealt with the detective ' s domestic life and his relations with five street kids that he and his wife took into their home .  The show lasted a season and a half . Vigoda continued making occasional guest appearances on "" Barney Miller , "" quitting over billing and salary differences .  But he remained a popular character actor in films , including "" Cannonball Run  , "" ' ' Look Who ' s Talking , "" ' ' Joe Versus the Volcano "" and "" North . ""  His resemblance to Boris Karloff led to his casting in the 1986 New York revival of "" Arsenic and Old Lace , "" playing the role Karloff originated on the stage in the 1940s . ( The murderous character in the black comedy is famously said by other characters to resemble Boris Karloff , a great joke back when the real Karloff was playing him . )  Born in New York City in 1921 , Vigoda attended the Theater School of Dramatic Arts at Carnegie Hall . In the early 1950s , he appeared as straight man for the Jimmy Durante and Ed Wynn  comedies .  For 30 years , he worked in the theater , acting in dozens of plays in such diverse characters as John of Gaunt in "" Richard  "" ( his favorite role ) and Abraham Lincoln in a short lived Broadway comedy "" Tough to Get Help . ""  Vigoda attributed his high percentage in winning roles to his performance in auditions . Instead of delivering the tired soliloquies that most actors performed , he wrote his own , about a circus barker . At a surprise 80th birthday party in New Jersey in 2001 , he gave a spirited recital of the monologue to the delight of the 100 guests .  Reflecting on his delayed success , Vigoda once remarked : "" When I was a young man , I was told success had to come in my youth . I found this to be a myth . My experiences have taught me that if you deeply believe in what you are doing , success can come at any age . ""  "" Barney Miller "" became his first steady acting job .  "" I ' m the same Abe Vigoda , "" he told an interviewer . "" I have the same friends , but the difference now is that I can buy the things I never could afford before . I have never had a house before , so now I would like a house with a nice garden and a pool . Hollywood has been very kind to me . ""  He was married twice , most recently to Beatrice Schy , who died in 1992 . He had his daughter with his first wife , Sonja Gohlke , who has also died . Vigoda is survived by his daughter , grandchildren Jamie , Paul and Steven , and a great grandson .  Reruns of "" Barney Miller "" and repeated screenings of the two "" Godfather "" epics kept Vigoda in the public eye , and unlike some celebrities , he enjoyed being recognized . In 1997 he was shopping in Bloomingdale ' s in Manhattan when a salesman remarked : "" You look like Abe Vigoda . But you can ' t be Abe Vigoda because he ' s dead . "" Vigoda often appeared on lists of living celebrities believed to have passed away .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
2063,2064,"Sudanese President Omar Hassan al Bashir , facing an international arrest warrant , is paying the price for pandering to the West , al Qaeda ' s second in command said in an audio statement released Tuesday .  Ayman al Zawahiri , seen here in 2007 , said Tuesday the Sudanese president pandered to the West .  "" I am not defending Omar al Bashir or his regime , nor am I defending what it has done in Darfur and elsewhere , "" Ayman al Zawahiri said in the statement released by al Qaeda ' s production company , as Sahab Media .  But , he said , "" the issue isn ' t one of Darfur and solving its problems the issue is one of making excuses for more foreign interference in the Muslims ' countries in the framework of the contemporary Zionist Crusade . ""  The warrant issued by the International Criminal Court earlier this month accuses al Bashir of war crimes and crimes against humanity , charges he denies . In response , Sudan ordered 13 international aid groups to leave the country , groups that the United Nations says provide roughly half the assistance delivered in Darfur .  "" The Bashir regime is reaping what it sowed , "" al Zawahiri said . "" For many long years , it continued to back down and backtrack in front of American Crusader pressure . ""  He further accused Sudan of expelling members of the mujahedeen who had sought refuge there , particularly Osama bin Laden , and declaring "" in an audacious lie that they had left voluntarily , then attempting to beg payment for that from the Saudi regime and the Americans . ""  Al Zawahiri asked , "" Why hasn ' t the United Nations moved to protect the Palestinians in Gaza from Israeli barbarity and criminality , while it pretends to cry over the suffering of the people of Darfur ? Why hasn ' t the United Nations and the international community intervened to lift the siege from Gaza , while it pretends to cry over the people of Darfur being deprived of relief and aid ? ""  "" The Sudanese regime continued to pant for American approval , and it agreed to the division of the Sudan , paved the way for the imminent secession of the south , provided all the information it had on the emigrants and mujahedeen to the American government , and handed over some of them to the regimes of treason and criminality in their countries , "" al Zawahiri said .  "" But despite all that , the senior criminals weren ' t satisfied with it and continued to besiege it with demands and interference , even going so far as to demand the arrest of its leaders and prominent figures . ""  He said he wants to send a message to Muslims in Sudan , telling them they are being targeted so that Islam can be eliminated from the country . "" And in order for Islam to be eliminated from the Sudan , a justification must be found for Western military intervention , "" he said .  The audio message is the fifth released this year by al Zawahiri and the fourth in English , according to Virginia based IntelCenter .  The center said on its Web site it focuses "" on studying terrorist groups and other threat actors . . . and disseminating that information in a timely manner to those who can act on it . ""  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
2069,2070,"Local consumer Jerome Bishop returned home from Radio Shack Tuesday with a newly purchased telephone , two polystyrene foam blocks , a protective plastic pouch , a heavy duty corrugated cardboard box , three square feet of bubble wrap and twist ties .  "" The redial button on my old phone only worked if you pressed it really hard , so I had to throw it out , "" said Bishop , sifting through a pile of new phone related detritus covering his couch and living room floor . "" This new one should be much better . ""  At approximately 5 p . m . , Bishop began the 45 minute task of unwrapping the Radio Shack  290 Lighted Dial Trim Fone , entombed deep within eight protective layers of packaging . Upon opening the outer cardboard box , he encountered a four sided cardboard phone mount which slid out after a pair of styrofoam product stabilizing blocks were removed . After dismantling the inner cardboard mount , he discovered a freestanding polystyrene shell molded into the shape of the phone ' s handset and base , with two compartments for the phone ' s cord and optional wall mounting screws , both of which were enclosed in factory sealed miniature plastic baggies . Bishop then removed the polystyrene casing and cut through the underlying layer of protective bubble wrap , giving him access to the phone itself , which was housed in a multi twist tie sealed plastic bag .  "" I like this new phone okay , I guess , "" said Bishop , trying out the white , two piece unit featuring a backlit multifunction  display , dual keypads and an extra long 10 foot cord . "" It ' s kind of too bad about the other one , though it was fine except for that one button . ""  After setting up his new phone , Bishop tossed its box and inner packaging into a garbage bag , and also discarded the Radio Shack bag in which it was brought home . He did briefly keep the sheet of protective bubble wrap , spending several minutes meticulously popping the small air pockets between his thumb and forefinger before throwing it away .  While disposing of the packaging , Bishop said he was careful to set aside the various pieces of literature which accompanied the phone , including a 48 page instruction manual , a booklet explaining the terms of the phone ' s 60 day limited warranty , the warranty certificate itself , a consumer opinion reply card , a form for product registration , a catalog of other fine Radio Shack products and a Sprint promotional insert offering Sprint phone cards at a 15 percent discount .  "" I ' d better look through this stuff before I throw it out with all that other stuff , "" Bishop said . "" I ' d hate to lose anything important . ""  Attempts to reach production line employees responsible for the packaging of the  290 Trim Fone were unsuccessful . As of press time , all floor workers at the plant in Garland ,  , were occupied filling industrial sized dumpsters with imperfectly molded plastic shells , miscut cardboard backings , undersized lengths of twist tie wire , boxes with slightly smudged printing and five cubic foot balls of crumpled plastic wrap .  ",satire,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
2251,2252,"2015 World Series : Volquez honors late father with strong start in Game 5    It has been a difficult few days for Royals right hander Edinson Volquez .  Before the Game 5 clincher Sunday , Volquez started Game 1 of the World Series and should ' ve been having the time of his life . Instead , he had to leave the team Wednesday to return home to the Dominican Republic . His father Daniel passed away at age 63 hours before the opener Tuesday .  "" He was everything for me . He was one of the greatest men , "" Volquez said Saturday . "" I remember he bought me my first glove and my first spikes , brought me to the field . . . He raised me in the right way . ""  Volquez returned to the Royals on Saturday he threw on the side in the Dominican Republic to stay sharp and started Game 5 on Sunday night as scheduled , with the Royals one victory away from clinching a World Series championship .  "" I told them I was going to be ready to play , if they need me , "" Volquez said . "" That ' s why I ' m here . I want to pitch . I want to make people proud . ""  Game 5 began inauspiciously for Volquez . Curtis Granderson hit his third pitch of the night an 0 2 changeup up in the zone into the right center field seats for a leadoff home run . It was Granderson ' s third home run of the World Series .  Volquez is difficult to predict even under normal circumstances . He has always been enigmatic on the mound . After a trying week following the death of his father , it was impossible to know what he could give the team in Game 5 . Volquez had to be worn down emotionally .  But the home run proved to be a blip on the radar . Volquez retired the next three batters to close out the first inning and he did not allow another hit until David Wright snuck a seeing eye ground ball single through the left side of the infield in the sixth inning .  In between hits , Volquez retired 13 of 18 batters faced , and all five baserunners came on walks . One was intentional and two of the five were erased on double plays . Eight of those 18 batters put the ball in play and only one hit a ball out of the infield .  The Mets rallied for a second run in the sixth inning but Volquez did a great job bearing down . New York loaded the bases on a walk , Wright ' s single and an error by Eric Hosmer . Daniel Murphy hit what maybe could have been a 3 6 3 double play ball . Instead , the Royals recorded no outs on the play .  Hard throwing Kelvin Herrera was warming in the bullpen but Yost stuck with Volquez even though his location was deteriorating and his pitch count was rising . Matt Harvey was dominating and although the Royals have seven comeback wins this postseason , they couldn ' t afford to fall behind any more .  Volquez , who wrote his father ' s initials in the dirt behind the mound , rebounded to escape the inning allowing just one run . Yoenis Cespedes and Travis d ' Arnaud sandwiched a pop up and a ground out around a Lucas Duda sacrifice fly . All things considered , that ' s a good outcome .  "" For him to pitch the way that he pitched , get us through six innings he had the bases loaded there but he did what he did so well all year long , is he limited the damage and held them to one run , "" said manager Ned Yost . "" It was a phenomenal performance by him . ""  After a trying and emotional week , Volquez finished Game 5 having allowed two runs ( one earned ) on two hits in those six innings . He struck out five and threw 90 pitches total . That ' s plenty good enough to wins most nights .  Game 5 will be remembered for yet another Royals comeback . Volquez ' s outing with be an afterthought but he deserves much respect for his effort after his father ' s passing . He pitched with a heavy heart and he pitched well . It was a gutty , emotional start for Volquez .  Edinson Volquez honored his father with a strong performance in Game 5 . (  )  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
2272,2273,"Hey, Paul do you hear that huge sucking sound? That s the sound of arrogant elected officials sprinting from Washington DC, like  Senators Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Bob Corker (R-TN), as they watch polling numbers confirm their worst fears that they have no chance of being re-elected.  Americans are no longer willing to wait around for you to do the right thing.  We re holding every member of Congress accountable. If you re not working in the best interests of America and the American worker, you ll be drained from the swamp Breitbart   House Speaker Paul Ryan s closed-door announcement of slipping amnesty for nearly 800,000 illegal aliens covered by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program into an end-of-the-year spending deal comes less than a month after a  recipient has been accused of murder.Ryan, according to members of the Republican Study Committee (RSC), is planning to put together a spending deal that includes giving amnesty to the  illegal aliens, as Breitbart News reported. He did talk about the fact that that would be good if we could get ahead of that as opposed to being reactionary,   Chairman Mark Walker (R-NC) told the HuffPost following the meeting with Ryan.Two House Republicans confirmed to the HuffPost that Ryan mentioned at the gathering slipping  amnesty into the spending deal.Ryan s leaking of a secret plan to attach amnesty to a spending bill comes less than a month after Breitbart News confirmed that a  recipient allegedly murdered a high school student in South Carolina.Voters need to ask Ryan why he s so determined to allow nearly 800,000 illegal aliens who are protected by DACA, many of whom were not children when they illegally crossed our borders, and are in fact, members of  violent gangs like MS-13, or who have a criminal history in the U.S. but are protected by sanctuary cities or counties. Paul Ryan has a huge wall around his personal residence in Wisconsin however, to keep the  bad hombres  out.As Breitbart News s photographic documentation reveals, Ryan s home is surrounded by a tall border fence reinforced by equally high bushes  ensuring both privacy and security. Moreover, the fence is manned by an on-duty agent who guards his property s perimeter. Upon even the slightest appearance of any unusual activity  such as a 5 2  female taking a photograph of the fence  Ryan s border agent will deploy into action to ensure the perimeter s sovereignty.Daniel De Jesus Rangel Sherrer, 19, was one of the nearly 800,000 illegal aliens shielded from deportation and given a work permit under DACA, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) confirmed to Breitbart Texas.Sherrer was charged in connection with the murder of 18-year-old Diana Martinez-Gonzalez, who was found shot to death in a wooded area in the town of Easley, South Carolina.Sherrer is now facing first-degree murder charges, and if he is released from prison at any time, he will be deported.Last week it was also reported that a 5-time deported, illegal alien, Jesus Fabian Gonzalez, was arrested on suspicion of intentionally starting the wildfires that ravaged through Sonoma County. ",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
2280,2281,"Chelsea Handler has made a clean break from E ! .  Or at least we assume it was clean , since Handler ' s final "" Chelsea Lately "" episode Tuesday included one of her infamous celebrity accompanied shower scenes .  Over the past seven years of "" Chelsea Lately "" on the E ! network , host Handler has roped two other stars friend Sandra Bullock and fellow late night host Conan O ' Brien into having nude shower fights with her . The running gag was brought to a close on Tuesday as an indignant Ellen DeGeneres climbed into Handler ' s roomy shower set , fully clothed but wearing a shower cap , demanding answers as to why Handler never had her on the show .  "" Is it because I ' m a lesbian ? "" DeGeneres asked Handler , who , per usual , was stark naked .  "" No ! "" Handler responded . "" I didn ' t even know you were a lesbian . I thought you were married to Ryan Seacrest . ""  You didn ' t think Handler would say goodbye to E ! without landing another joke against the network ' s patron saint of celebrity news , did you ?  What we ' ll miss about ' Chelsea Lately '  Throughout "" Chelsea Lately ' s "" eight season run , Handler has commandeered an unabashedly salty late night show , which on a typical night included a ring of celebrity trash talking comedians and a celebrity interview that ran more bawdy than promotional .  Those irritated by the Justin Biebers and Kardashians of the world likely found a kindred spirit in Handler , who wasn ' t ashamed to have open contempt for some of her show ' s topics . ( One of the rumored reasons for Handler ' s exit was that she just didn ' t want to talk about Bieber anymore . )  It ' s no surprise that neither the pop star nor E ! ' s first family participated in Handler ' s farewell show Tuesday , but there wasn ' t a shortage of celebrity guests . Handler is known to run with a powerful crew that includes A list actress Jennifer Aniston . On Tuesday , the former "" Friends "" star joined Sandra Bullock and Mary McCormack for a mock intervention ( sit through it until the end the surprise guest is worth it ) , and Miley Cyrus also showed up to perform a cover of Roy Orbison ' s "" It ' s Over . ""  Several more famous faces arrived to help sing Handler off the network , from Fergie and Gwen Stefani , to Gerard Butler , Selena Gomez , Dave Grohl and Alanis Morissette . Stefani , who accidentally called "" The Colbert Report "" the "" Colbore Report "" at the Emmys on Monday , poked fun at her mistake by introducing Handler as her "" good friend , Chelsea Hammer . ""  "" Goodbye to E ! , it ' s time to move on , "" the stars sang in unison before instructing in classic Handler fashion , "" so roll yourself a joint , and have a drink . ""  On a more serious note , Handler did make some final remarks .  "" I want to thank every single person who ' s shown up for me in the last seven years , "" Handler said . "" I never really got a good chance to be serious and say thank you , and I want you to know that I am grateful for this career . ""  Handler is moving on to Netflix from E ! , where she ' s expected to produce some comedy specials and deliver a new talk show in early 2016 .  "" Thank you to my family , and mom I hope you ' re watching me , "" Handler said in her goodbye speech . "" I ' ll see you on Netflix ! ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
2325,2326,"—   When Turkey and Europe reached an agreement a year ago this week to restrict migration to Greece, it was bad news for Abu Samir, a     in Istanbul. By late 2015, Abu Samir, a former house painter from Aleppo, had become a key cog in one of the largest   migrations in history, sending thousands of refugees, most of them Syrians, to Greece and earning up to $4, 000 on some days. But in the 12 months since Turkey’s pact with the European Union, his business has collapsed. The problem: Too few refugees and too many border patrols. As relations between Turkey and Europe plumbed new lows this week, fresh concerns were raised that smugglers like Abu Samir  —   a nom de guerre he uses for security reasons  —   would soon be back in business. In addition to accusing European governments of Nazism for refusing to allow referendum rallies in support of a new Turkish Constitution in their countries, the Turkish government has hinted that it might scrap the   accord to restrict migration flows through Turkey in exchange for financial aid from the European Union. “We will review the migrant deal if necessary,” Numan Kurtulmus, Turkey’s deputy prime minister, warned on Monday night. In Europe, the announcement prompted fears of a repeat of the 2015 migration surges that saw 850, 000 people leave Turkey for Greece in a single year. In Turkey, it gave Abu Samir renewed hope of better business. “I expect waves of people,” he said in a video call on Tuesday night. “The business will come back to the way it was, and maybe better. ” But can President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey turn on the migration tap as easily as Abu Samir thinks? As analysts have acknowledged, the dynamics that led to the 2015 migration have changed. As a result, it may no longer be in Turkey’s power  —   or its interest  —   to influence migration flows in the way that it did a year ago. Since the European Union first promised Turkey several billion euros for its help in stemming migration to Europe in late 2015, the number of migrants leaving Turkish shores had fallen to under 1, 500 in January from nearly 70, 000 in January 2016. There are several reasons for this drastic decrease, but one partial explanation lies in a crackdown on the Turkish smuggling industry that began over the   winter. As Abu Samir said on Tuesday, “Turkey wanted to show that they were stopping the smugglers. ” Migration through Turkey rose sharply in 2015, not just because of the impunity with which smugglers could operate here, but also because it was comparatively easy for Syrian refugees to reach Turkey from Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. At the time, the   land border was easier to cross, and Syrians in Amman and Beirut could fly to Turkey without needing to apply for a visa. Nearly two years later, that is no longer the case. Syrians now need visas to enter Turkey, while the land border is much better protected. In theory, Mr. Erdogan could lift both restrictions. But analysts said this was unlikely as it would make Turkey even more vulnerable to infiltration by fighters from the Islamic State extremist group and risk angering nationalist Turks in the middle of a tightly fought ballot referendum that would give Mr. Erdogan broad new powers. It would also mark “an incredible divergence” from one aim of Turkey’s continuing military campaign inside Syria, “which is to create a safe space for refugees to move back” into Syria, said Aaron Stein, a Turkey specialist at the Atlantic Council, a policy research group. “This seems to me like an empty threat, and it’s about time Europe called Turkey on this,” Mr. Stein added. Turkey nevertheless still already hosts the largest refugee population in the world, including more than 2. 5 million Syrians. In theory, some of these could also take advantage of renewed impunity for smugglers and pay for a boat ride to Greece. But the circumstances awaiting them there are now markedly worse than what their predecessors experienced in 2015. A humanitarian corridor that once ferried people from Greece to Germany via bus and train closed in March 2016. This did not stop onward migration entirely. Over 25, 000 still made it through the Balkans of their own accord last year, according to United Nations data, highlighting how it is usually possible to curb migration, yet far harder to end it entirely. But it did trap thousands of asylum seekers in squalid conditions inside Greece, many of them confined to detention centers on islands in the Aegean Sea. “It is a situation of absolute precarity,” said Dimitris Christopoulos, the president of the International Federation for Human Rights, an umbrella body for 178 rights groups. “It sends a message to migrants: Do not come. ” Whatever Mr. Erdogan does, the prospect of traveling to Greece is less appealing to Syrian refugees than it once was, said Heaven Crawley, a migration expert at Coventry University and the   of   research on the motivations of   migrants. “There is no shortage of people in Turkey who could move. It’s just that they don’t see there’s much point in moving,” Professor Crawley said. “They don’t see the point of being stuck in Greece. ” Abu Samir, however, still holds out hope. In 2015, the sheer number of migrants was what forced European countries like Macedonia to establish the Balkans corridor in the first place. Two years later, the smuggler still will not rule out a repeat of that bonanza. If a new wave of migration to Greece does materialize, Abu Samir said, and “if enough numbers arrived in Greece, then neither Greece and Macedonia will be able to hold them, so they’ll have to open their borders. ”",true,news,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
2328,2329,"A disabled mother has been fined 120 for taking her youngest child out of primary school during term time .  The mother of four , who wishes to remain anonymous , suffered a stroke after paying the charge , according to campaign group Parents Want a Say .  The woman ' s three oldest children were given permission to go on vacation by their secondary school , but her youngest child was not allowed .  Despite this , the family went ahead with the holiday , as it was funded by a charity , who could only afford term time holidays .  The mother was slapped with the charge when she returned from the trip .  Since the rules , heads have turned down requests for children to skip school for term time holidays , as well as refusing applications for pupils to attend relatives ' weddings , funerals and even leave on doctor ' s advice  Changes to the law , which came into force on September 1 , mean schools no longer have the discretion to grant 10 days of authorised leave to pupils each year .  Instead , headteachers are being told they should only approve an absence under ' exceptional circumstances ' .  The new rules are aimed at preventing youngsters missing vital chunks of their education .  In the year before the new legislation was introduced , the number of parents hit with fines soared by nearly 70 per cent in the past year .  Some 63 , 837 penalties were issued to parents in the academic year to July 2014 in England , compared with 37 , 650 fines throughout the previous 12 months .  The new legislation , brought in on September 1 , aims to prevent youngsters missing chunks of their education  The move has been criticised by campaigners who claim it is unfair on parents and has no affect on the level of a child ' s academic achievement .  Liberal Democrat  , John Hemming , is chairman of campaign group Parents Want a Say , which has collected more than 200 , 000 signatures from parents who oppose the new rules .  He told MailOnline : ' The government ' s own research says that a small amount of authorised holidays has no negative affect on achievement and may in fact result in better outcomes .  ' The time that parents have to concentrate on their children means that if they do ensure that work is put into academic issues then it can be better for the children .  ' The only benefit to be expected from the new policy is for Ofsteds statistics on absence to look different . We should concentrate on what is best for the children rather than ticking Ofsted ' s boxes . '  He added : ' There are many cases where families are badly impacted by the new rules . Families should be supported by the government rather than family life made more difficult . '  Mr Hemming said he would raise the case of the disabled mother with Nicky Morgan , the Education Secretary .  A spokesman for the local authority that imposed the penalty charge , said it could not comment on individual cases , but added : ' Cases such as this create difficult decisions for head teachers , particularly in the light of changes introduced by national government at the beginning of this year , which dramatically restrict their ability to exercise discretion .  ' If absence is not authorised and parents still take their children out of school then the local authority is obliged to issue a penalty notice . '  Liberal Democrat  , John Hemming , is chairman of campaign group Parents Want a Say , which has collected more than 200 , 000 signatures from parents who oppose the new rules  In one of the most high profile cases , Kerry Capper , 25 , was cleared at Birmingham Magistrates ' Court last month for keeping her daughter off school for seven days .  Miss Capper said she let her daughter have the odd day off to ' keep an eye on her ' as she was recovering from cancer .  In 2010 , her daughter Libby Bennett had been diagnosed with a tumour in one of her kidneys , but recovered after several months of chemotherapy .  The cancer has not come back but Libby remains under the care of Birmingham Children ' s Hospital for regular check ups .  Between January and March this year Miss Capper kept Libby at home for a total of seven days when she felt unwell , instead of sending her to Paget Primary School , in Pype Hayes , Birmingham .  She was ordered to pay a 120 penalty fine , but was cleared of a criminal act .  Kerry Capper , 25 , was cleared at Birmingham Magistrates ' Court last month for keeping her daughter off school for seven days  In another case taken up by the campaign group , a five year old was refused permission to go with her parents on the family ' s first holiday abroad .  Pauline and Craig Stephenson from Cramlington , Northumberland , asked Northburn Primary School for leave to take their daughter Lauren to France for a week in September .  Craig Stephenson , a police officer , can only take leave only at authorised times . Because of his work commitments he was not able to take time off during the six week holidays . The school refused but the family still went .  ' Now we are left in limbo wondering whether we will be fined , ' said Pauline Stephenson . ' It is not something we would normally do but we took books for her and the trip was educational . We went into Paris and Lauren learnt French words .  ' I feel annoyed because we are good parents and we take school very seriously . This is the only family holiday we have ever had abroad . '  In a separate case , James and Dana Haymore , from Chelmsford , refused to pay Essex County Council a 120 fine for taking their three children to the  to attend a family memorial service .  He refused to pay a 120 fine from his local council and was expected to appear in court where he faced a 2 , 500 fine and a jail term .  But the council said it was no longer in the public interest to pursue the case as the family left to live in the  .  Elsewhere , 41 year old salesman Jason Short left his job , so he could take his family away during the school holidays .  Plymouth City Council fined Mr Short 120 for taking seven year old Madeleine on holiday to Turkey in June , during the only time he was allowed to take off work .  He claims he had explained the situation to teachers at Salisbury Road Primary School in Plymouth and was told not to worry but was later hit with the fine .  But he returned home after the break to find he had a letter from the council stating he would be fined for taking Madeleine out of school without permission .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
2342,2343,"Reuters) - Israel’s intelligence minister said U.S. President Donald Trump’s speech against the 2015 international nuclear deal with Iran on Friday was “very significant” and could lead to war given threats that preceded it from Tehran. Israel’s Channel 2  asked Intelligence Minister Israel Katz whether he saw a risk of war after Trump’s speech. “Absolutely, yes. I think that the speech was very significant,” Katz responded. “Iran is the new North Korea. We see where things are goings.” ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
2346,2347,"2 Americans Held In Iran Arrive Home After Prisoner Swap  World Reuters Updated : January 22 , 2016 06 : 21   Former  Marine Amir Hekmati , recently released from an Iranian prison , arrives at an airport in Flint , Michigan on January 21 , 2016 . ( Reuters )   , North Carolina : ? A Christian minister and a former  Marine who were released by Iran in a prisoner swap returned to the United States on Thursday after years behind bars in the Islamic Republic .  Pastor Saeed Abedini , 35 , arrived in North Carolina on Thursday afternoon , a spokesman for a Christian group said .  Ex Marine Amir Hekmati , 32 , touched down in a private jet at the airport in his hometown of Flint , Michigan , and stepped onto a small red carpet on the tarmac .  They were among five Americans whose release coincided with the lifting last weekend of economic sanctions against Iran in return for curbs on Tehran ' s nuclear program . The White House offered clemency to seven Iranians who were convicted or facing trial in the United States .  Hekmati spent more than four years in jail in Iran where he faced the death sentence at one point .  "" I am happy to finally be home . It ' s been a very long road , a very long journey . Unfortunately , many people have travelled this road with me , "" he told reporters .  He was arrested while visiting family in Iran in 2011 and accused of being a  spy , a charge his relatives and the United States deny . He was sentenced to death the following year  but that was commuted to a 10 year prison term .  Hekmati said on Thursday he was "" healthy , tall and with my head held high . "" The son of Iranian immigrants , Hekmati went to high school in Flint , an industrial town now struggling with a water contamination crisis .  "" It ' s great to be back in Flint , my hometown . I love this city . I love its people . They have been so good to me and my family and we are very grateful , "" Hekmati said .  Abedini , a naturalized  citizen of Iranian origin ,  arrived at the Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove , a Christian conference centre in Asheville , North Carolina , that is linked to popular evangelist Billy Graham .  "" He arrived safely in Asheville , "" said Todd Shearer , a spokesman for the Graham family .  Abedini was sentenced in 2013 to eight years in prison after being accused of harming Iran ' s national security by setting up  He was reunited with his parents on Thursday , his wife said .  Story First Published : January 22 , 2016 06 : 21   ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
2388,2389,"The gunman shot three people on the second floor of an Oregon mall , then ran .  Shoppers hid behind racks as the man , wearing a vest and a mask , ran down a corridor and to a back hallway that led downstairs .  By then , he likely heard the sirens as dozens of police vehicles converged on the Clackamas Town Center in Happy Valley .  He then took his own life .  As details of Tuesday ' s mall shooting emerged , the question of motive remained unanswered .  At a news conference on Wednesday , investigators identified Jacob Tyler Roberts , 22 , as the lone suspect in the shootings two of which proved fatal at the suburban Portland mall .  Sheriff ' s investigators said there was no apparent connection between Roberts and any of his victims .  The fatalities were identified as Cindy Ann Yuille , 54 , and Steven Mathew Forsyth , 45 .  Oregon mall shooting victims had ' zest for life '  The incident unfolded during the afternoon as the gunman moved quickly through the Macy ' s at the mall and toward the food court on the second floor , where he opened fire , the sheriff ' s office said .  The arrival of police within a minute of receiving the first calls of the shooting may have influenced the gunman ' s ultimate course of action , Sheriff Craig Roberts said .  The gunman was wearing a load bearing vest a military style garment designed to carry heavy equipment , which some witnesses confused with a bulletproof vest and was carrying a semi automatic rifle .  At one point , the rifle jammed but started working again , the sheriff said .  Kristina Shevchenko , 15 , was taken to the Oregon Health Science University Hospital , where she was in serious , stable condition on Wednesday with a bullet wound to her chest , her surgeon told reporters .  Shevchenko , who suffered a collapsed right lung and injuries to her liver , underwent an hourlong operation Tuesday night to remove bullet fragments and was in the hospital ' s intensive care unit , Dr Laszlo Kiraly said .  He said he was optimistic that she would recover fully but added that she was in shock and at risk for complications , including infection . "" She ' s a very brave young woman , "" he said , adding that she was awake and talking to her family .  Further surgeries will focus on closing her wounds "" and getting her to heal properly , "" he said . "" I would anticipate that she would be with us for about a week or so . ""  Friends of the gunman said they were shocked when they heard who the shooter was .  "" He was a very loved individual that always seemed as if he had great intentions and a heart of gold . I know that must be hard for people to see think understand , but It ' s the truth . I don ' t know what caused him to do such a horrendous , terrible thing , but I do hope that somehow answers will be available to us all . ""  Philpot , who attended middle school and high school with Roberts , said he had recently broken up with a girlfriend and was considering moving to Hawaii . "" I just had drinks with him in November , and he had just moved into a new place and was totally stoked about it , "" she said . "" I can ' t believe he did this . ""  Jordan Salazar , who attended Milwaukie High School in the Portland area with Roberts , said in an e mail , "" He was a really nice guy , and it ' s completely shocking he did this . ""  She added , "" He was a popular guy in high school and had a lot of friends , "" she said . "" I was pretty much in shock with all of this . ""  Oregon mall gunman : ' I have lived one crazy life so far '  Roberts attended Milwaukie High School for three years but did not graduate , said Joe Krumm , the director of community relations for North Clackamas County School District . "" Average talent , average grades , "" Krumm said about Roberts , who was in a mainstream program and had no record of discipline issues or extracurricular activities .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
2392,2393,"Syrian refugee Wanes Agop , sat with his 7 year old daughter Seri and his mother , Gerget Prtoyan , inside a church in Toronto on Friday .   , Ontario ? Canada welcomed 163 Syrian refugees under its new accelerated entry program late Thursday night , the first of 25 , 000 the country has promised to take in by March .  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and a battery of politicians from across the political spectrum were on hand at the Toronto airport to greet the refugees .  You are home , Trudeau said to the first passengers to disembark after a 16 hour flight from Beirut on a Canadian military aircraft . You re safe at home now .  The premier of Ontario , Kathleen Wynne , gave them winter coats .  Under a plan announced by Trudeau s new government , a series of flights will bring 10 , 000 Syrian refugees into Canada by the end of this month and a total of at least 25 , 000 before March . While opposition parties , including the recently defeated Conservatives , have quibbled over timing and details , there has been no significant opposition to the overall aim of accepting the Syrians . And Trudeau was joined by his opposition critics in the welcoming group .  The plan also appears to enjoy widespread public support . All of the refugees on the first flight have been sponsored to come to Canada , either by individual Canadians or by small groups . Sponsors have had to raise just over 28 , 000 Canadian dollars for each family .  Tonight they step off the plane as refugees , but they walk out of this terminal as permanent residents of Canada , Trudeau said .  Many of the passengers , particularly those with small children , appeared understandably weary after the flight , which was delayed for more than two hours by processing issues in Lebanon . But they thanked Trudeau and his welcoming committee .  We suffered a lot , said Kevork Jamkossian , who arrived with his wife , Georgina Zires , and their 16 month old daughter , Madeleine . Now , we feel as if we got out of hell and we came to paradise .  The arrival of the first flight was highly anticipated in Canada . To avoid a crush that might overwhelm the exhausted refugees , the government asked the public not to go the airport to see the flight arrive . Those who ignored the request were not able to get close to the refugees in any case : the military plane taxied to a terminal building deep in the airport grounds with no public access it is normally used only for visiting foreign dignitaries .  The building has been converted into a special processing center , where arriving refugees will not only go through the usual customs , immigration and health screenings , but will also be given all of the other paperwork necessary for their new lives , including public health insurance cards . They will also be given winter clothing , and children will receive toys .  The same has been done with a section of the Montreal airport , where the second refugee flight is due on Saturday .  The Syrian refugees who arrived on the Toronto flight were taken to hotels for the night . Most will soon be headed to homes and apartments in the Toronto area that were arranged by their sponsors . But 43 will be flying again on Friday , to meet sponsors in British Columbia or Alberta , and a small number will head to other parts of Ontario .  The delay of Thursday s flight was another sign that the process of getting Syrian refugees to Canada remains something of a work in progress . The Trudeau government has already backed off from an election pledge to bring in all 25 , 000 refugees by the end of December .  Some have already been arriving on scheduled commercial flights ? some 400 since the Liberals took power last month . The government said earlier this week that more than 11 , 000 refugees applications had been processed , and that chartered civilian flights would be used for most of the airlift . The previous Conservative government s sluggish response to the Syrian refugee crisis became an issue in the election , especially after the widespread publication in September of a photograph showing Aylan Kurdi , a 3 year old Syrian boy who drowned with his brother and mother off the coast of Turkey . The boy s aunt had been trying to bring the family to Canada .  Get Today s Headlines from the Globe in your inbox :  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
2395,2396,"Scientists in Austria have found 19 living descendants of a prehistoric iceman whose 5 , 300 year old body was found frozen in the Alps .  Researchers from the Institute of Legal Medicine at Innsbruck Medical University took  samples from blood donors in Tyrol in the west of the country .  They managed to match a particular genetic mutation with that of tzi , whose body was discovered back in 1991 .  Descendants : Scientists have found 19 living relatives of tzi the Iceman who was found frozen in the Alps  Only a very small number of select individuals from history have had their genetic codes sequenced before , and none with Richard  ' s noble pedigree . They include Otzi the iceman , pictured , whose mummified 3 , 000 year old remains were found in the Italian Alps in 1991  Experts now believe that the same mutation might also be found in the nearby rgions of Engadine in Switzerland and the South Tyrol region of Italy .  According to the  , Walther Parson from the university , said : ' We have already found Swiss and Italian partners so that we can pursue our research . '   from around 3 , 700 blood donors were analysed and the men were also asked to provide information on their ancestry .  None of the donors have been informed that they are distantly related to tzi .  Since the body was found frozen under the Alps two decades ago , scientists have conducted experiments to learn how he came to be buried between the Austrian and Italian borders more than 5 , 300 years ago .  Preserved : tzi is kept in a specially built museum in Bolzano , Italy . Visitors view the mummy through portholes into a specially refrigerated room  A hole in his collarbone suggested he was killed by an arrow , then a brain scan concluded he died from a fall .  But research earlier this year , from the European Academy of Bolzano Bozen (  ) in Germany , discovered he suffered brain damage likely caused by a blow to the head .  In 2001 , scientists from Austria ' s Innsbruck University scanned tzi using a  scan .  They found dark spots at the back of the iceman mummy ' s cerebrum and concluded he may have died from a head injury .  It was suggested that falling , after being hit by the arrow , or while climbing , may have caused this head injury .  History : The mummy was found in September 1991 in the tztal Alps , hence the name tzi , near the Similaun mountain and Hauslabjoch on the border between Austria and Italy  The mummy was found in September 1991 in the tztal Alps , hence the name tzi , near the Similaun mountain and Hauslabjoch on the border between Austria and Italy .  Scientists estimate he was aged around 45 , was 5ft 5 "" tall and weighed about 7 . 9st when he died .  tzi is kept in a specially built museum in Bolzano , Italy . Visitors view the mummy through portholes into a specially refrigerated room .  The hunter was frozen with all his possessions including a bow , a quiver of arrows and a copper axe . He was wearing warm clothing including a cloak made of woven grass , a coat and leggings made from goatskin and a bearskin cap with a leather chin strap .   analysis has revealed details of the iceman ' s life  The 5 , 300 year old ' ice mummy ' known as tzi suffered from the world ' s first known case of Lyme disease , a bacterial parasite spread by ticks , according to new  analysis .  tzi , who was 46 at the time of his death and measured 5ft2 , also had brown eyes , had relatives in Sardinia , and was lactose intolerant .  tzi was also predisposed to heart disease .  The new research focused on the  in the nuclei of tzi ' s cells , and could yield further insights into the famous ' ice mummy ' s life .  He was unearthed in September 1991 by a couple of German tourists trekking through the Oetz Valley , after which he was named .  He was about 46 years old when he met his death .  The iceman has been crucial to our understanding of how prehistoric people lived , what they wore and even what they ate .  Researchers examining the contents of his stomach worked out that his final meal consisted of venison and ibex meat .  Archaeologists believe Otzi , who was carrying a bow , a quiver of arrows and a copper axe , may have been a hunter or warrior killed in a skirmish with a rival tribe .  Researchers say he was about 159cm tall ( 5ft 2 . 5in ) , 46 years old , arthritic and infested with whipworm , an intestinal parasite .  His perfectly preserved body is stored in his own specially designed cold storage chamber at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Italy at a constant temperature of 6 C . Visitors can view the mummy through a small window .  Alongside his remains is a new Otzi model created using 3D images of the corpse and forensic technology by two Dutch artists Alfons and Adrie Kennis .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
2400,2401,"SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) - The California Senate on Monday confirmed U.S. Congressman Xavier Becerra as attorney general, positioning the majority-Democrat state to challenge conservative policies of new Republican President Donald Trump. Becerra, who represented Los Angeles for 24 years in Congress, was approved by a party line votes of 26 to 9, with Democrats heavily in favor and Republicans arguing that the state should give the new administration a chance rather than picking fights. He will replace former California Attorney General Kamala Harris, a Democrat who was elected to the U.S. Senate in November. “It’s a role to defend the progress and the values of the people of California,” Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon said of Becerra’s new job in an interview after the vote on Monday. “These are extraordinary times and require extraordinary actions.” Becerra, 58, was nominated for the position by Democratic Governor Jerry Brown shortly after Trump’s election. A Stanford-trained attorney who was first elected to Congress in 1993, Becerra is viewed as a reliable progressive with the savvy to navigate the halls of Congress as well as the nation’s courtrooms. “I couldn’t ask for a better job,” said Becerra, to be sworn in by Brown on Tuesday. “It is humbling and exciting to assume responsibility for vigorously advancing the forward-leaning values that make California unique among the many states.” Becerra learned through his long Congressional career to work both sides of the aisle, and he made sure to meet with legislative Republicans before his confirmation hearings began this month. But while the legislature’s minority  members made a point to say they liked and respected Becerra, most spoke against his nomination. “Instead of acting like we’re going to be defiant, I’d like to see us extending an olive branch” to the new administration, said state Senator John Moorlach, a Republican who represents part of Orange County south of Los Angeles. In addition to naming Becerra attorney general, the legislature also hired the law firm of former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, an Obama appointee, to represent them in cases and negotiations involving the new administration and Republican-controlled Congress. ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
2408,2409,"What is Cyber Monday ? All you need on the biggest online shopping day of the year  Cyber Monday is the online version of Black Friday , it hits the  at midnight tonight but is it worth staying up for ? Here ' s what you need to know  Thanks for subscribing ! Could not subscribe , try again later  Cyber Monday is online only , so you ' ve a better chance of grabbing a bargain  It ' s been 48 hours since Black Friday 2015 , and retailers around the country are recording record breaking figures , with Currys experiencing 8 sales each  online on Friday , and Carphone Warehouse revealing their best year ever online and in stores .  As the dust clears from Black Friday , smart bargain hunters all around the  are gearing up shopping event number two , but this time without the hustle , bustle and bust ups Cyber Monday . The good news is , it falls on pay day .  What ' s the difference between Black Friday and Cyber Monday ? Is it worth it and where can the best deals be found ?  Following a boom in 2012 , Black Friday has become one of the biggest days in the retail calender year with  spending exceeding ? 1  on Friday .  The event , which takes place the day after Thanksgiving in the  takes place in stores and online , Cyber Monday , however , is online only .  Cyber Monday takes place the Monday after the American Thanksgiving holiday and following Black Friday .  Cyber Monday 2015 falls tomorrow Monday 30th November 2015 . On this day , most major retailers starts their sales online at midnight .  In short , it ' s the online equivalent of Black Friday . Whilst Black Friday is online and in stores , Cyber Monday is exclusively online , as bargain hunters take to the internet to spend billions on time limited reductions , before websites crash , that is .  Where are the best deals to be found ?  Most of the big retailers are keeping their big Cyber Monday deals under wraps for now , but keep an eye out here for big announcements from midnight tonight .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
2430,2431,"Previous Eight Days to America’s Armageddon  We have eight days until America meets her ultimate fate and this is what we are about to inherit as a leader.  Hillary’s Epitaph  By hook, or crook, this is who we are about to elect into the White House. This is what she’s accomplished: Whitewater Sitting on the Board of LaFarge when the first payments were given to fund  by LaFarge The first failed version of Obamacare when she was first lady Vince Foster The Travelgate scandal when she was the First Lady Selling 20% of America’s uranium to the Russian ( Times)  Stealing $2 billion of Haitian relief money. Posting Ambassador Stevens travel plans prior to Benghazi    Benghazi The drug and money laundering of the Clinton Foundation Paying out 5% of the total proceeds of the Clinton Foundation to charity while pocketing the rest Using foreign money in Presidential campaign Pay for play- Perpetuating arms arms deals with nations that sponsor terrorism, when serving s Secretary of State, in exchange for payments to the Clinton Foundation Preparing to run to a country who has no extradition agreement with the United States in order to escape the justice that is coming her way (eg Qatar). The ongoing email scandal in which she obstructed justice by deleting 33,000 emails that were under investigation by Congress The ongoing email scandal in which she sent out emails with security designations as “  SECRET” and she did so 22 times  Refusing to step down and creating a constitutional crisis in a nation that is hopelessly divided already  Hillary’s new administration will consist of the following goals and this is not even being kept secret. Enacting the largest tax increase on Americans at $1.3 trillion dollars. The elimination of the family structure as we know it though increased power given to CPS’ around the country though Health and Human Services. Remember? It take a Village to Raise a Child? Or, was it the Village Idiot to Raise a Child? The elimination of inheritance. The elimination of Christianity. The elimination of free speech and she has made this one abundantly clear with her comments toward the alt. media. The elimination of free speech. The creation of a borderless nation. Increasing the importation of possible terrorists without national security vetting. The elimination of the Second Amendment. A President who will never leave office until she dies.  We are witnessing the possible installation of the modern day version of Stalin as the President of the United States.  I could go on and on, but fortunately, I still have a life that is worth living.  The big question is this: Why aren’t Americans from every race, color and religion in the streets demanding an end to her candidacy?  I have written about this before, perhaps America is now ready to look at herself in the mirror.  The following represents why America has not had enough of the criminality. The following 3 psychological principles have manifested in the form of a self-created prison that over half the country finds itself in. The  Effect-Group Think  The world of psychological research provides the definitive answer as to whether we should fear our military in the coming storm ahead in the form of a phenomenon called group think . Group think is often described as a decision-making process whereby the group members go along with what they believe is the consensus. Group think has also been used to describe individual acquiescence to authority even when the authority has limited power to enforce compliance. Group think often causes groups to make hasty, irrational decisions, where individual doubts are set aside, for fear of upsetting the group’s leadership and balance. The Migram Experiment  The controversial 1963 experiment, known as the Milgram Experiment demonstrated that with very minimal verbal pressure, and nothing else, approximately 65% of the population will put someone to death based upon the orders of a perceived authority figure. And this occurs when the authority figure, in the Milgram experiment was not allowed to apply any  threats. For a complete description of the Milgram Experiment, please click here .  The  tells America Trump cannot win, Hillary is good and Donald is bad. The political leaders, owned by the corporations who have been raping this country for 40 years tell us to vote for the criminal Clinton. And like good little sheep, we follow orders of the elite, just like the Nazis.   the Media Tells the Lie Often Enough, the People Will Come to Believe It: Confirmation Bias  “We’ll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the public believes is false.”  William Casey, former  Director Confirmation bias is the same in any tyrannical form of government.  The social psychological term, confirmation bias, refers to the fact that the masses will believe even the biggest of lies, if they hear it often enough. Confirmation bias and group think work hand in hand to enslave Americans into believing in and accepting a self-destructive paradigm. Television  news has a filtering impact on the perception of reality . The psychological concept of confirmation bias means that when we hear a message often enough, we come to unquestionably accept the message as authentic and real. And the message is amazingly consistent because only six globalist corporate entities control over 95% of the media.  Donald Trump is racist! You have heard it before and you will keep hearing it until every nonwhite person in America believes that if he elected, America will see a race war.    Racist and sexist, that’s Donald Trump and we hear this over and over and over and the unaware masses in this country come to believe as the real facts fade into the background. Trump Cannot Win According to the Polls, Says the  and It Doesn’t Matter What You Do- Learned Helplessness  Why won’t America stand up for herself? Why is the country, once a country which possessed courage and conviction, now sitting idly while allowing itself to be taken to the slaughter without so much as a whimper?  The answer to the above question lies in the psychological concept known as “Learned Helplessness” as discovered by Martin Seligman in the 1960’s.  “Learned helplessness” occurs when an animal, or a person, is repeatedly subjected to an aversive stimulus that it cannot escape from. Eventually, the animal will stop trying to avoid the stimulus and behave as if it is utterly helpless to change the situation. Even when opportunities to escape are presented, this learned helplessness will prevent any action ”.    Phase One  In the first phase of the learned helplessness experiment, Seligman placed a dog on an electrical grid, shocked the dog and noted that the dog would demonstrate the ability to escape the aversive stimulus.  Phase Two  In the second phase, the dog was barricaded on the grid and was unable to escape the painful shocks. Eventually the dog laid down and passively accepted the shock.  Phase Three  Seligman then removed the barricades and the dog could have easily escaped the shocks. However, the dog, conditioned by the prior set of events, simply laid down and accepted the shocks, without mounting any resistance whatsoever. This, in large part, is where America is at today.  Trump has removed the barrier (phase three) and America has a chance to redeem herself in the eyes of God. We have a chance to reclaim a measure of respectability from the criminal enterprise system that we presently under.  It does not matter if you vote. Trump cannot win, says the globalist controlled media. The research shows us that one factor, and only one factor, can move the masses to action. When people see their loved ones in danger (ie cannot feed their children), they will act with purpose. This is the angle that the awake must use to awaken the sleeping sheep in this country. Do I think it is going to happen, I don’t think so. However, if we all get on our knees and pray to God for forgiveness and deliverance, we might be surprised at what happens. There are only 8 days to America’s Armageddon",fake,news,validation,US elections,US elections,satire,true,True,no,no,negative,past
2431,2432,""" It wasn ' t as much that we wanted to knock him out as to say , ' Hey we ' re in the ball game too , "" said Jimmy Peacock , the South Carolina state coordinator for the campaign ' s campus organizing arm Mission Next .  Peacock told me the tweets weren ' t designed as a dis to the Rubio campaign and weren ' t sanctioned by the official Bush organization but were about touting Bush ' s own organizational strength among students . He said students make up the base of Bush ' s grassroots support in states like South Carolina and seeing Rubio ' s message "" fired them up . ""  Far from the blustery rhetoric that has come to define the presidential primary , campaigns are making simple , quiet , and cold ( sometimes very cold ) efforts to win over caucus goers and voters in the early states .  Answer your front door in Iowa or New Hampshire and you ' re liable to find a campaign staffer or volunteer asking for your support . It ' s often a silent journey through frigid neighborhood streets , but door knockers have a message they ' re out to deliver most often as simply volunteers who traveled many miles and across state border lines to do .  Campaign operations call the neighborhood door knocking routine as "" canvassing "" or blanketing a community . But for campaign volunteers , it ' s the simple walks up and down these often remote neighborhoods in Iowa and New Hampshire that are quintessential grassroots politics .  On Wednesday , I took a stroll through a Raymond , New Hampshire , neighborhood with two Cruz volunteers Mary Brown , a student at the University of Oklahoma , and John Hages , a retired former Scott Walker backer from Michigan . Neither volunteer knew each other , but they both arrived to the state last week and are staying at the campaign ' s "" Camp Cruz "" in the state .  "" I was a few semesters ahead in school , so I was like , ' Yeah , that sounds pretty cool , ' "" said Brown , who is taking the semester off after a family friend told her about the opportunity to live in New Hampshire leading up to the primary .  The pair embarked on their journey in 25 degree sunny skies with 20 mph winds blowing . The snow that still blanketed the ground would dust up into the air every few moments . With houses on significant plots of property , the two to three minute walk between homes and the ascending hills make this effort a relatively dogged one .  Sure , phone banking may keep your mind and mouth moving , but you have to keep the physical stamina in check to maintain daily door knocking .  This volunteer effort takes more than a beanie , gloves and a clipboard , especially when you ' re trying to overpower the blessed winters of Iowa and New Hampshire .   , Iowa ? While the media and political world flew like moths to a flame to the much hyped Sarah Palin endorsement of Donald Trump , some Iowans thought that wasn ' t his biggest endorsement Tuesday .  "" It ' s probably not as important as John Wayne ' s family supporting him today , "" said Joan , a retiree from Ames on the importance of Palin ' s endorsement .  "" Because they ' re Iowans , "" Joan explained referring to cowboy movie star ' s Iowan roots . She smiled and looked to her husband for affirmation who nodded in agreement . Both added they were more excited to see Trump than Sarah Palin at Trump ' s Iowa State rally Tuesday night .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
2447,2448,"It s the end of Alabama Governor Robert Bentley s political career after he was arrested Monday on charges related to the numerous things he did to cover up an affair. The governor was booked into Montgomery County Jail on two charges related to his failure to disclose campaign information and submitted a letter of resignation shortly afterward.The scandal began to make its way to the public when Bentley fired the head of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, Spencer Collier, who later revealed that he had investigated and seen evidence of an affair between the 74-year-old Bentley and his campaign spokeswoman, Rebekah Mason. This is of course odd given Bentley s opposition to gay marriage on the  one man one woman  basis, but having an affair is not illegal. Unfortunately for him, the rest of the stuff he did is. A press release from the Alabama Ethics Commission details the rest:Today, the Alabama Ethics Commission found probable cause to believe that Governor Robert Bentley committed violations of both the Alabama Ethics Act and the Fair Campaign Practices Act. We have referred those matters to the Montgomery County District Attorney for further consideration and possible prosecution.Intentional violations of the Alabama Ethics Act and the Fair Campaign Practices Act are Class B felonies. The range of punishment for a Class B felony is a prison sentence of between 2 and 20 years per violation, and a fine of up to $20,000.00, per violation. As these matters are still ongoing, the Commission is prohibited by law from any further comment regarding any of the evidence produced or presented in this case.Over the course of this year-long investigation, the Alabama Ethics Commission issued more subpoenas than have been issued by the Commission since it was given subpoena power. Chief Special Agent Tony Goubil and Special Agent Dustin Lansford devoted countless hours in conducting this investigation. They interviewed over 45 witnesses and have analyzed over 33,000 documents in the course of their investigation. The staff of the Commission has worked tirelessly and thoroughly to investigate every Complaint that we received. The evidence was reviewed and tested multiple times by career lawyers. These lawyers include Hugh Evans our General Counsel who has devoted his career to Ethics, as well as our new Assistant General Counsel, Cynthia Propst Raulston, a career prosecutor whose experience includes analyzing and successfully trying complex white collar and public corruption cases to conclusion before juries. Our Commissioners, who include two retired Circuit Judges, two career attorneys and a doctor, all of whom have vast experience sifting through evidence, judging the testimony of witnesses and applying difficult principles in a fair, even-handed manner, ultimately weighed the evidence and returned this finding.Justice (if you can call it that) moved swiftly after his arrest. Bentley copped a plea and was fined $2,000 and ordered to perform 100 hours of community service. He also agreed not to run for office again..@GovernorBentley:  I have decided it is time for me to step down as Alabama s governor    #ForTheRecord @ weblink  Greta Van Susteren (@greta) April 10, 2017This, as strange as it sounds, should strike fear in the heart of Donald Trump. As a man who regularly bullies anyone who criticizes him or correctly states inconvenient facts and as someone who has a history of firing people who were investigating him or those close to him, Bentley s arrest should be a clear message that no matter how much you abuse your power to cover up something   in Trump s case his campaign s collusion with a hostile foreign dictator   the American people won t let you get away with it.Featured image via screengrab",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
2455,2456,"New York City Commissioner of Health Mary Bassett said people should be careful considering where to spend their winter holidays .  She added : "" This might be a good winter to think about a vacation in the Catskills . ""  The Zika virus is linked with the birth defect microcephaly , which sees children born with abnormally small brains , along with a neurological syndrome which can cause paralysis .  The disease has spread across South and Central America with a handful of cases being reported in the  ,  and Germany .  Zika is spread to people primarily through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito and cannot be spread through everyday human to human contact . There is currently no known cure or vaccine .  Meanwhile men in the  are being urged to wear condoms for a month after returning from any of the 23 countries affected by Zika .  In guidance to health professionals , Public Health England (  ) said the risk of transmission of the virus through sex was very low but condoms should be used as a precaution .  Graphic shows countries with locally transmitted cases of the Zika virus reported in the last two months , and geographic range of the Aedes aegypti mosquito  It said : "" Sexual transmission of Zika virus has been recorded in a limited number of cases , and the risk of sexual transmission of Zika virus is thought to be very low .  "" However , if a female partner is at risk of getting pregnant , or is already pregnant , condom use is advised for a male traveller . ""  It said men should wear condoms for 28 days after "" return from a Zika transmission area "" if they experience no symptoms of unexplained fever and rash .  But condoms should be used for six months "" following recovery if a clinical illness compatible with Zika virus infection or laboratory confirmed Zika virus infection "" has been reported .   added : "" This is a precaution and may be revised as more information becomes available . ""  The body also stressed that the type of mosquito thought to be carrying Zika Aedes aegypti was not present in the  and was unlikely to establish itself due to the  ' s low temperatures .   officials have ruled out a vaccine to protect against Zika in the next few years as concerns continue to mount about the spread of the virus .  The World Health Organisation (  ) announced on Thursday that Zika was "" spreading explosively "" throughout the Americas and "" the level of alarm is extremely high "" .  The  has set up an International Health Regulations Emergency Committee to examine Zika and will meet on Monday to decide whether it constitutes a global emergency . The last time a global emergency was declared was for the Ebola virus .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
2462,2463,"Polina Buckley , the girlfriend of Eagles Of Death Metal ' s merchandise manager Nick Alexander , who died in attacks in Paris , cries as she sits near a makeshift memorial outside the consulate of France in New York . Carlo Allegri Reuters Landov hide caption  Polina Buckley , the girlfriend of Eagles Of Death Metal ' s merchandise manager Nick Alexander , who died in attacks in Paris , cries as she sits near a makeshift memorial outside the consulate of France in New York .  In France , today , it was a day of remembrance . Thousands dropped off flowers and lit candles near the places where terrorists killed 132 people in six coordinated attacks .  All the names of those victims have not yet been released by authorities . But here are a few portraits of some of those who were killed on Friday :  ? Nick Alexander , 36 , worked for many bands in his life . He was handling merchandise for Eagles of Death Metal at the Bataclan on Friday , when he was killed .  In a statement obtained by the  , his family said : "" Nick was not just our brother , son and uncle , he was everyone ' s best friend ? generous , funny and fiercely loyal . Nick died doing the job he loved and we take great comfort in knowing how much he was cherished by his friends around the world . ""  After learning of this death , Alexander ' s girlfriend Polina Buckley tweeted pictures of both of them looking very much in love .  She wrote : "" You are and always will be the love of my life , Nick Alexander . ""  ? Nohemi Gonzalez , 23 , was in Paris for a semester abroad . She was one of the people gunned down at one of the cafes , the university said .  The Los Times reports that this was the first time Gonzalez , a design student at Cal State Long Beach , had left the United States .  "" ' Nohemi was a very gifted student , ' said Martin Herman , chairman of the design department . ' Her spirit and enthusiasm infused the department in so many ways . She had an indescribably sweet spirit and imagination . It ' s unbelievable that this could have happened . ' ""  ? Mathieu Hoche , 37 , worked as a technician for the French television station France 24 since 2006 . "" A lover of rock music , "" the station reported , "" he was one of the 89 people who lost their lives at the Bataclan . ""  One of his co workers , Roselyne Febvre , tweeted that Hoche left behind a 6 year old child .  ? Luis Felipe Zschoche Valle , 33 , was one of three Chilean nationals killed on Friday , according to the country ' s Ministry of the Exterior .  The Chilean newspaper La Tercera reports that Zschoche had moved to Paris eight years ago and was at the Eagles of Death Metal concert with his wife . Zschoche , the paper adds , also had his own band called Captain America .  A friend tweeted : My friend , your guitar will play forever .  Mi amigo Luis Felipe Zschoche Valle . . . ? Tu guitarra sonar siempre ! pic . twitterweblink FgG7bMpMAl  ? Guillaume B . Decherf , a music journalist who had just written about the latest album of Eagles of Death Metal , was killed at the band ' s concert . His publication , Les Inrocks , reported that he was the father of two .  ? Valentin Ribet , 26 , a lawyer who specialized in white collar crime litigation , was killed at the concert hall , his law firm confirmed . He was an alumnus of the London School of Economics . His employer called him "" a talented lawyer , extremely well liked , and a wonderful personality in the office . ""  ? Thomas Ayad , 32 , an international product manager for Mercury Records , was also killed at the concert , the chairman of Universal Music Group confirmed in a note published by the  Times . "" Today is a dark day , ""  head Lucian Grainge wrote .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
2467,2468,"Reuters) - Canada imposed sanctions on Friday against 30 Russian officials whom it said were complicit in the 2009 prison death of Sergei Magnitsky, an anti-corruption lawyer who was jailed after alleging a massive tax fraud. The measures   which freeze the assets of the officials and bar them from visiting Canada   were enacted through a new law giving the government the right to penalize those it says are guilty of human rights violations, the foreign ministry said in a statement. Among those targeted are Alexander Bastrykin, Russia s top investigator and a close aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The United States blacklisted him in January 2017, citing Magnitsky s death.  Today s announcement sends a clear message that Canada will take action against individuals who have profited from acts of significant corruption or who have been involved in gross violations of human rights,  said Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland.  Moscow said last month it would retaliate if Canada banned individuals under the new law. The Russian embassy in Ottawa later issued a statement denouncing the sanctions as  absolutely pointless and reprehensible .  Canada has repeatedly condemned Moscow over Russia s 2014 annexation of Ukraine s Crimea region and imposed sanctions along with other Western nations. The United States adopted a law in 2012 freezing any U.S. assets of Russian investigators and prosecutors said to have been involved in the detention of Magnitsky. In retaliation, Moscow barred Americans from adopting Russian children. In addition to penalizing the 30 Russians, Canada also imposed sanctions on 19 officials from Venezuela and three from South Sudan. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
2475,2476,"Luis Suarez has said that his biting is an ' impulse ' which he is getting help to control .  The Barcelona forward has bitten three opponents during his career , most recently Giorgio Chiellini during the World Cup .  ' I believe I am on the right path now , dealing with the people who can help me , ' he told the Guardian Weekend magazine . ' It is like an impulse , like a reaction .   Scroll down as Luis Suarez trains ahead of his Barcelona debut against Real Madrid  Suarez is set to make his competitive debut against Real Madrid on Saturday night after a four month ban  Luis Suarez says biting is ' like an impulse ' and that he is in now on the ' right path ' after seeking help  Giorgio Chiellini shows off bite marks after Suarez sunk his teeth into the Italian ' s shoulder at the World Cup  ' Everyone has different ways of defending themselves . In my case , the pressure and tension came out that way . There are other players who react by breaking someone ' s leg , or smashing someone ' s nose . What happened with Chiellini is seen as worse . I understand why biting is seen so badly . '  And in extracts taken from his upcoming autobiography Crossing The Line : My Story , Suarez questions the double standards in English football following his second biting incident with Chelsea ' s Branislav Ivanovic .  He said : ' After my 10 match ban in 2013 for biting Branislav Ivanovic , I had questioned the double standards and how the fact that no one actually gets hurt is never taken into consideration . The damage to the player is incomparable with that suffered by a horrendous challenge .  Suarez was banned for biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic  ' Sometimes English football takes pride in having the lowest yellow card count in Europe , but of course it will have if you can take someone ' s leg off and still not be booked . When they can say it is the league with the fewest career threatening tackles , then it will be something to be proud of .  ' I know biting appalls a lot of people , but it ' s relatively harmless . Or at least it was in the incidents I was involved in . When Ivanovic rolled up his sleeve to show the referee the mark at Anfield , there was virtually nothing there . None of the bites has been like Mike Tyson on Evander Holyfield ' s ear . But none of this makes it right . '  Suarez ' s four month man for biting the Italian defender has now ended , but Barcelona manager Luis Enrique is still undecided over whether to throw the Uruguayan straight into the starting line up against Real Madrid .  ' Suarez will get minutes but I can ' t say how many , ' said Enrique . ' This is a great chance for him to incorporate himself in the team . How many minutes he will get I can ' t say . '  Barcelona manager Luis Enrique ( pictured , behind ) confirmed Suarez is set to make his competitive debut  Suarez was allowed to train and play friendlies with his Barcelona team mates during his four month ban  Suarez has said biting is ' like an impulse ' and that ' everyone has different ways of defending themselves '  Chiellini became the third victim in Suarez ' s career after the controversial striker served previous bans for biting  Eindhoven ' s Otman Bakkal in 2010 and Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic in 2013 .  Otman Bakkal ,  November 2010  Branislav Ivanovic , Chelsea April 2013  Giorgio Chiellini , Italy June 2014  Suarez moved to Barcelona from Liverpool for 75million during the summer , and was initially banned from all football related activity by  .  An appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport , however , ruled that last season ' s Premier League top goalscorer was allowed to train with his new team mates and play in Barcelona friendlies .  The game against Real will be Suarez ' s first competitive match since Uruguay ' s 1 0 defeat against Italy on June 24 .  Meanwhile , Real coach Carlo Ancelotti has confirmed that Gareth Bale will miss the game with a buttock injury .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
2528,2529,"How A Communist Brainwashing Method Came To The   learns from communists Image Credits: Luo Shaoyang via Flickr .  During the height of the Cold War, the  attempted to develop mind control techniques with the  program.  As it happens, the Communists already had a leg up on them. We’ll explore how this was done, along with some new twists.  The criticism and self-criticism technique in history  The technique of “criticism and self-criticism” (kritika i samokritika) was developed during the early days of the Soviet Union. This got results. When the early Soviet show trials and purges took place, the targets would confess to committing treason—the details stretching credulity—and beg for execution. The Maoists (Chinese Communists) used it too, typically during “struggle sessions.” Also, forced confessions were required in Vietnam for prisoners in reeducation camps.  What happened wasn’t much different from a medieval inquisition. Those targeted would be badgered until they confessed to whatever it was they supposedly did. Of course, physical forms of coercion were also an option. These weren’t actual trials; their fates were already decided.",fake,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
2530,2531,"Greg Hardy Explodes On Cowboys Sideline But Goes Quiet Postgame  The hot tempered Hardy got into it with coaches , players and media on Sunday night .  Justin Block Associate Sports Editor , The Huffington Post  Posted : 10 26 2015 09 : 36   Edited : 10 26 2015 05 : 32    Dallas Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy let his emotions fly on the team ' s sideline during their 27 20 loss to the New York Giants before delivering a cold interaction with postgame media on Sunday night .  The divisional loss dropped the Cowboys to 2 4 on the season a sinking ship that ' s clearly brought out intense levels of frustration from Hardy , who got into a physical altercation with special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia after the game ' s decisive play . ? ?  After Giants wide receiver Dwayne Harris returned a kickoff for a 100 yard touchdown to give the Giants a 27 20 lead late in the fourth quarter , Hardy popped up in the special teams huddle to "" fire up "" his teammates , as Bisaccia put it to The Dallas Morning News postgame . The problem is Bisaccia was trying to organize his unit for the next play , ? which lead to an argument between Bisaccia and Hardy and an eventual slap of the clipboard from the defensive end . ?  "" Hardy ' s interjection was just not the right time . It ' s really not an issue , "" Bisaccia said later . "" I just had to communicate what we were going to do next on the return , so I just really wanted him to move on so we could get going . ""  Once Bisaccia got his unit moving again , Hardy walked back to the bench , but not before going head to head with injured star wide receiver Dez Bryant , a notorious hot head himself . Here , two insanely competitive men squared off without resolve , but Bryant didn ' t think much of it postgame .  "" There is no issue , "" Bryant told  ' s Josina Anderson . "" That ' s just football . People want to make nothing into something , especially when we lose . That ' s just football . ""  On Sunday night , Bryant wasn ' t the only Cowboy trying to play down the scenes Hardy caused . Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett agreed that Hardy ' s outbursts were "" no issue , "" while owner Jerry Jones said of Hardy ' s behavior : "" I welcome that . I encourage it . ""  Internally , the Cowboys don ' t seem to have a problem with Hardy ' s insubordination toward a coach ? ? a player who ' s already facing major questions over his behavior and attitude following a non apologetic rant earlier this month relating to his domestic violence suspension . ?  In the visiting locker room postgame , injured quarterback Tony Romo reportedly consoled Hardy before he faced the media . That may have calmed Hardy somewhat , but one couldn ' t tell from watching his interview . Seemingly ? taking a page out of Marshawn Lynch ' s media guide , Hardy preempted every question with "" no comment "" before ending the interview on his own , per NJweblink : ?  Q . "" Could you describe your feelings right now ? ""  A . "" No comment . Next question . Any other questions ? ""  Q . "" It looks like you got into the special teams ""  A . "" No comment . Next question . Any other questions ? ""  A . "" Thank you guys for coming . I appreciate you all very much . "" ?  Remember , all of this makes Hardy a "" real leader , "" according to Jones .  "" He ' s , of course , one of the real leaders on this team and he earns it and he earns it with respect from all of his teammates and that ' s the kind of thing that inspires a football team . ""  The Cowboys will need more than Hardy ' s brand of inspiration to dig themselves out of their 2 4 record . ? ?   : ( 5 : 29 p . m . ) ? Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett told reporters on Monday afternoon that Hardy won ' t be disciplined for his sideline outburst . ?  Jason Garrett : Greg Hardy will not be disciplined for his sideline outburst . "" We addressed how he can do it better . ""  Jason Garrett said he talked to Greg Hardy about incident Sunday in 4th quarter . Said he needs to channel his emotion . Won ' t be disciplined  Jason Garrett : People outside of the building are making a bigger deal of the Greg Hardy outburst than the people inside the building  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,present
2532,2533,"The Queen was praised yesterday for speaking out on behalf of the world ' s poor .  Royal experts said she was well within her rights to champion the underprivileged and insisted she had not breached any constitutional protocol .  The Queen made her remarks to Professor David Simon on a visit to Royal Holloway , University of London , with the Duke of Edinburgh on Friday .  The Queen looked radiant in royal blue as she visited the Royal Holloway University in London  Queen Elizabeth was beaming after an official visit to Royal Holloway at University Of London  The Queen attended Royal Holloway to mark the college being awarded the Diamond Jubilee Professorship of Music by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh , to recognize its department of music ' s high quality of research and teaching  Followed by Prince Phillip , the Queen greeted members of the university , carrying a bunch of posies  She told Prof Simon : ' Poor people and their problems don ' t get reported often , and they need all the assistance they can be given . '  Anti monarchists have accused the Queen of breaching her political neutrality by making comments that are critical of Government policy . But Royal commentators insist the Queen had a duty to speak out on behalf of those in need .  Penny Junor , who has written biographies of Prince Charles and Princess Diana , said : ' The Queen is not stupid and would never stray into the world of party politics . I think most people will agree with what she said . '  Hugo Vickers , the historian and royal biographer , described the Queen ' s comments as ' sensitive and sensible ' . He said : ' The Queen is allowed to speak , and if people want to pretend she said something political that is what they will do . '  Prof Simon last night said he told the Queen about his field of expertise , which involves working with poor people , particularly in Africa .  The Queen looked to be thoroughly enjoying the day and was rarely seen without a smile  He said they also discussed the recent flooding in England , how it affected those caught up in it , and how people here are much more able to recover from challenges , due to help such as insurance .  He said : ' I don ' t think she was trying to be overtly political it was just a sign of her compassion as far as I was concerned . '  Alison Garnham , chief executive of the Child Poverty Action Group , supported the Queen ' s comments , saying : ' I think it ' s simply an accurate observation , something that we ' re certainly seeing in our work and which people see increasingly in their communities , such as more families receiving emergency food aid . '  John Hilary , of the War On Want charity , said : ' Poverty in Britain is not a chance occur rence . It is the result of a sustained political attack on working people and local communities . '  But Graham Smith of anti Monarchy group Republic called her comments ' crass ' .  ' It ' s a criticism of Government policy , and the rights and wrongs of Government policy aren ' t what she ' s supposed to speak on , ' he said .  Queen Elizabeth  and Prince Phillip , Duke of Edinburgh meet staff from the Royal Holloway University in Egham , Surrey  Comments : The Queen and Prince Philip usually refrain from political statements  Big crowds turned out to welcome the Queen and Prince Phillip to the Royal Holloway University  Students scale trees and raise their phones and even iPads aloft to get a better view of the Queen and Prince Phillip arriving at the university  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
2533,2534,"Reuters) - Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will meet Saad al-Hariri, who announced his resignation as Lebanese prime minister on Nov. 4, on Tuesday evening, the presidency said on Monday.  Sisi and Hariri s meeting will address the  latest developments in the region and developments of the Lebanon situation,  a statement from Egypt s presidency said.  Hariri has since Saturday been in Paris, where he met French President Emmanuel Macron. He has said he will return to Lebanon by Wednesday for the country s Independence Day celebrations. Lebanese President Michel Aoun has said he will not accept Hariri s resignation until it is delivered in person and all sides in Beirut have called for his speedy return. The resignation sparked a political crisis in Lebanon and put it on the front line of a regional power struggle between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Hariri criticised Iran and its ally Hezbollah, which is in Lebanon s coalition government, in his resignation.   ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
2534,2535,"Criminals who file fraudulent tax returns by stealing people ' s identities could rake in an estimated 26 billion over the next five years because the  cannot keep up with the amount of the fraud , Treasury Inspector General J . Russell George said Tuesday .  "" Our analysis found that , although the  detects and prevents a large number of fraudulent refunds based on false income documents , there is much fraud that it does not detect , "" said George ' s prepared testimony before a joint hearing of the House Ways and Means Subcommittees on Oversight and Social Security .  George ' s report is the first detailed analysis of the tax refund fraud problem , which could affect any legitimate taxpayer . His projection of 26 billion is larger than any other estimate of identity theft tax fraud .  In a statement issued following George ' s testimony , the  said it "" believes that the five year estimate is far too high . ""  "" The estimate was based on 2010 figures , which took place before the  instituted major changes with the way it handles identity theft cases , "" the  statement read . "" Our expanded screening on issues such as W 2 matching , Schedule C information , interest income and Social Security income have had a major impact on our ability to reduce identity theft fraud . ""  Those efforts , according to the  , have lead to "" stopping more refund fraud than ever before "" and "" are not reflected in the five year projection "" by the Treasury inspector general .  Last year , according to the Treasury Inspector General ' s Office , the  reported that of the 2 . 2 million tax returns it found to be fraudulent , about 940 , 000 returns totaling 6 . 5 billion were related to identity theft . In its investigation , George said , auditors found another 1 . 5 million undetected tax returns with more than 5 . 2 billion in fraud .  "" The primary characteristic of these cases is that the identity thief reports false income and withholding to generate a fraudulent tax return , "" George said . "" Without the falsely reported income , many of the deductions and or credits used to inflate the fraudulent tax refund could not be claimed on the tax return . The individuals whose identities were stolen may not even be aware that their identities were used to file a fraudulent tax return . ""  Making the problem worse , George said , the  is hampered by limited resources .  "" Even with improved identification of these returns , the next step of verifying whether the returns are fraudulent will require resources , "" he said . "" The  has faced budget cuts , a hiring freeze and staffing reductions during the same time it has encountered a significant surge in identity theft refund fraud . Without the necessary resources , it is unlikely that the  will be able to work the entire inventory of potentially fraudulent returns it identifies . The  will only select those tax returns that it can verify based on its resources . ""  The scope of the problem is illustrated by what George said his auditors found for tax year 2010 , in which 48 , 357 Social Security numbers were used multiple times as a primary taxpayer identification number .  "" When the identity thief files the fraudulent tax return , the  does not yet know that the individual ' s identity will be used more than once , "" George said . "" As a result , the tax return is processed , and the fraudulent refund is issued . These instances result in the greatest burden to the legitimate taxpayer . ""  As of last month , the  reported that it had stopped the issuance of 1 . 3 billion in potentially fraudulent tax returns . The  says it determined these returns were potentially fraudulent through a sampling of returns , and it does not believe any legitimate returns were included .  George said more should be done to ensure that fraudulent tax returns are not deposited into bank accounts . In addition , thieves commonly get the refunds put on debit cards .  "" Direct deposits should not be made to debit cards issued by financial institutions and debit card administration companies that do not take sufficient steps to authenticate individuals ' identities , "" George said .  To make matters worse , the  is not effectively helping the victims of identity theft , George said , adding that it can take more than a year to resolve these cases .  "" The  acknowledges that it does not know the exact number of identity theft incidents or the number of taxpayers affected by identity theft , "" George said . "" It also has not been able to quantify the amount of improper payments resulting from identity theft . ""  First , thieves obtain Social Security numbers and other personal information from insiders at hospitals , doctor ' s offices , car dealerships or anywhere the information is stored . Then , they file an online tax return using the real taxpayer ' s name and a fictitious income . In most cases , the criminals buy a debit card so the  can issue the refund on that card , although some thieves have also gotten their returns on actual Treasury checks .  The thieves know that the  does not verify the employer W 2s sent with the return until after the refund is issued .  The  maintains it has certain filters in place at the start of the tax filing season to prevent and detect identity theft and fraud , and it says it has recently trained additional employees across the country to deal with the problem . It has also issued special personal identification numbers , or PINs , to identity theft victims when they are filing future returns .  But in testimony before Congress last year , National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson said those filters "" inevitably block large numbers of proper refund claims "" since there "" is no easy way to distinguish proper claims from improper ones . ""  In testimony prepared for Tuesday ' s hearing , Deputy  Commissioner Steven Miller said the agency cannot stop all identity theft .  "" However , we have improved , and we are committed to continuing to improve our programs . We can and will continue to work to prevent the issuance of fraudulent refunds , and we can and will continue to work with innocent taxpayers to clear their accounts and or get them money faster in a courteous and professional manner . ""  At the same time , Miller said , there is a "" delicate balance "" in the "" need to make payments in a timely manner with the need to ensure that claims are proper and taxpayer rights are protected . ""  In the past four years , he said , the  has identified more than 490 , 000 taxpayers who are the victims of identity theft .  "" Various new identity theft filters are in place to improve our ability to spot false returns before they are processed and before a refund is issued , "" Miller said .  The  has issued special identification numbers to taxpayers whose identities have been stolen and clamped down on abuses in filing returns under deceased taxpayers ' identities and prisoners . The agency also started a pilot program in April to help local law enforcement in obtaining tax return information related to ongoing criminal investigations .  "" I cannot tell you that we will beat this problem in one year , "" Miller said . "" I can tell you that we have committed our talents and resources to prevent the issuance of fraudulent returns and have developed processes to minimize the pain felt by those who have been victimized . ""  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
2545,2546,"WASHINGTON, D. C.  —   The Trump Administration fiscal year 2018 budget set to be released on Tuesday factors in the defunding of Planned Parenthood, assuming the   American Health Care Act passes into law. [Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Mick Mulvaney was asked at a Monday press briefing if the new budget defunds abortion provider Planned Parenthood. He replied, “yes,” but added that it does “because it assumes the American Health Care Act passes and the  in its current form, which is the one we assumed  —   and that’s making a bunch of assumptions, here  —   that it assumes that passes and that defunds Planned Parenthood. ”  The new budget entitled, “A New Foundation for American Greatness” will be posted to the  website at 11:00 a. m. on Tuesday morning. Mulvaney told reporters at the Monday briefing that the budget focuses in on more money for defense, border security, law enforcement, veterans, and school choice. The  struggled to pass the House and faces an uphill battle to passage in the Senate. Asked during the Monday briefing about changes to Medicaid, Mulvaney said, “We assume the Affordable Health Care Act that passed out of the House passes. That has some Medicaid changes into it. We wrap that into our budget proposals. We go another half a step further and ratchet down some of the growth rates that are assumed in the AHCA. ” Defunding of Planned Parenthood was a provision of the  that President Donald Trump used to put pressure on the conservative House Freedom Caucus to vote for passage of the bill. The Director said that the budget balances in 10 years and funds the President’s priorities. Mulvaney will deliver the budget to the Hill on Tuesday and will testify before the House Budget Committee on Wednesday and the Senate Budget Committee on Thursday. Follow Michelle Moons on Twitter @MichelleDiana ",true,news,validation,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
2550,2551,"A Shanghai metro official has unleashed a wave of angry social media messages in response to a post earlier this week that scantily clad women invite sexual harassment .  The Shanghai No . 2 Subway Co . posted the image of a woman in a semi transparent dress on one of its platforms to the company ' s official Sina Weibo account with a caption warning women that if they dressed like that , they would surely be harassed .  A Weibo user who called themselves "" Little Bunny "" posted : "" If you think a women dresses improperly , you can call the police but it doesn ' t mean you are free to touch her . . . when harassment happens , why is the victim the first one blamed ? ""  Now , pictures have popped up on China ' s twitter like social media site of two women , whose faces are covered by black cloth , protesting the criticism and support is pouring in .  The pictures , published on China Daily , showed a woman holding up a sign that translated to "" I can be slutty , but you can ' t harass me , "" while riding on Shanghai Metro Line No . 2 .  The Shanghai metro company said its intention was never to condemn women , but to educate them .  "" Our initial motive behind the post was to affirm our stand against sexual harassment and gender discrimination and to remind passengers to dress appropriately in public places in order to avoid unnecessary trouble , "" subway official Chen Kuang told Xinhua .  The Chinese state news service also reported that sexual harassment claims on the Shanghai subway rose in the month of June . Reports included instances of indecent exposure , lewd acts and attempts at taking pictures up women ' s skirts .  While online support for the women was strong , Weibo users were also siding with the metro ' s stance .  One user who called himself "" A man like me "" said that that type of dress "" naturally attracts sexual offenders , just like flies like rubbish . ""  Despite the level of public outcry , the metro company has not yet deleted the original post .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
2583,2584,"Princess Beatrice tried her hand at investment banking in London today .  The daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson joined a slew of celebrities as she brokered deals on the phone for charity .  Beatrice , 26 , returned to the annual  Charity Day selling shares for a good cause , while commemorating the bank ' s employees who perished on 9 11 .  Princess Beatrice , 26 , looks overjoyed to be helping out at the annual banking fundraiser  Old professional Beatrice returns to the trading floor after previously having taken part  Every September 11 since 2005 the bank , together with Cantor Fitzgerald , distribute 100 per cent of revenue to the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund and multiple charities around the world .  And they always invite a hoard of A listers to help them out .  While the celebrities choose their own charities , the initiative is held in memory of hundreds of staff of its sister company , investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald , who had offices at the top of the North Tower .  Beatrice joined her mother and sister Eugenie at the event in 2011 at the same London office in Canary Wharf .  But today she came alone , joining the likes of Samuel L . Jackson , Dynamo , Stephen Fry and Jack Whitehall , as each celebrity raised money for their chosen charity .  David Gandy , Yasmin Le Bon , Clive Owen , Amanda Holden and James Haskell also gave brokering a go for a good cause .  Samuel L . Jackson speaks to investors as he raises money for his charity One For The Boys  Stephen Fry jokes around at the ' positive , uplifting ' annual event  All Saints all incredibly youthful looking get in on the brokering action  Roy Hodgson and Broadwalk Empire legend Steve Bushemi sell some shares  Amanda Holden tweeted : ' Can ' t wait to get on that trading floor bgccharityday to raise money for bdch bgccharityday . I ' m on my way ! '  While Samuel L . Jackson tweeted : ' Up early headed to BGCCharityDay reppin ' One4theBoys Don ' t forget to take a min to remember those who died on Nine Eleven ! !  Later adding : ' Thank u 4 hosting us  . Enjoyed trading with the team 4 one4theboys rapefoundation '  Stephen Fry tweeted : ' Over the moon to be going to bgccharityday to raise money for charity elephantfamily . Elephants never forget , and nor will we markshand '  Barbara Windsor wears fuchsia pink for the occasion  Jonathan Ross , Twiggy and Jim Carter team up for a group photo  Critically acclaimed Homeland actor Damian Lewis picks up two at a time  Amanda Holden tweeted that she ' can ' t wait to raise money for bdch ' David Gandy also joined in  Hollywood actor Clive Owen was also spotted on the trading floor  In addition to giving money to charity , the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund also accepts donations from the general public .  Since its inception , Charity Day has raised approximately 62 million ( 101 million ) globally .  Each anniversary is a poignant occasion and the Charity Day is the bank ' s way of turning a tragic day into one that is positive and uplifting , by helping others .  Countdown ' s Rachel Riley at the Charity Day , which has raised approximately 62 million ( 101 million ) globally  Leggy Denise Van Outen and yummy mummy Tamara Ecclestone attend  Dynamo entertained the crowd with mind boggling card tricks in between phone calls  Jack Whitehall raised money for charity as well  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
2586,2587,"Reuters) - Britain on Tuesday rejected an Irish demand for a role in running Northern Ireland if parties there fail to revive a devolved power-sharing government, as unionists said concessions would lead to  grave consequences  for Theresa May s government.  The 1998 peace deal that ended 30 years of violence in Northern Ireland between Irish nationalists and pro-British unionists provides for a consultative role for the Irish government in the running of the British region.  Since January Irish nationalists Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) have failed to reach agreement on re-establishing the devolved administration. The British government has warned it may soon have to step in to rule the province directly for the first time in a decade.  Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney on Tuesday told journalists in Belfast that if talks to form a power-sharing government failed  there can be no British-only direct rule,  adding that this was Irish government policy.  He did not say what kind of role he expected for the Irish government and said he was still hopeful devolved power-sharing could be rescued.  In an apparent rebuff to Coveney, a British government spokesman said in a statement that London would  never countenance any arrangement, such as Joint Authority, inconsistent with the principle of consent in the (Good Friday) Agreement.   In the absence of devolved government, it is ultimately for the United Kingdom Government to provide the certainty over delivery of public services and good governance in Northern Ireland, as part of the United Kingdom,  the statement said.   lawmaker Jeffrey Donaldson, whose party Prime Minister Theresa May s minority government depends on to survive, warned that his party would not accept any concessions to Dublin.    Even if we have a temporary period of direct rule, the Irish Government must be clear that it must not interfere with the internal affairs of Northern Ireland and to do so would be a fundamental breach of faith,  Donaldson told the Belfast Telegraph newspaper in comments published on Wednesday.   If that were to happen it would have grave consequences for the stability of the government at Westminster and for the prospect of restoring devolution in Northern Ireland,  he was quoted as saying. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
2588,2589,"Turning grandmothers into solar engineers is one of Sanjit "" Bunker "" Roy ' s favorite jobs .  Roy is the social entrepreneur and founder of the Barefoot College and has been championing a bottom up approach to education and empowering rural poor since 1972 .  It is now a global enterprise with roots in India . Roy recruits women from around the world to install and maintain solar lighting and power in their home villages .  "" If you ask any solar engineer in the world , ' Can anyone make this in a village ? ' they say it ' s technically impossible . And if I say a grandmother is making it who is illiterate , he can ' t believe it , it ' s beyond his comprehension , "" says Roy .  The United Nations estimates that around 1 . 5 billion people still live without electricity , and often the best and most immediate way to bring non polluting electricity to remote regions is with solar energy .  Roy certainly believes so .  "" The way to go about this is not a centralized grid system , which brings in power from hundreds of miles away , "" he says .  "" It is to bring in basic light right down to the level of basic household wherein they take ownership and control over that technology . ""  Women are the focus for the solar power projects that the Barefoot College runs because men "" were very untrainable , "" says Roy .  "" ( Men ) were restless , compulsively mobile , and they all want a certificate and the moment you give them a certificate they leave the village and go to the cities looking for jobs .  "" So why not invest in women , older women , mature women , gutsy women who have roots in the village and train them . ""  Coming from countries across the world , the women are trained for six months before returning home . Many of the women have previously never left their villages before .  "" We were scared . We don ' t even know ( our neighbor ) Rwanda . . . how can we go to India ? "" says Moyoonia Olive from Democratic Republic of Congo .  "" But , since everyone was interested in having electric current soon , we even convinced our husbands ! ""  To overcome any language barrier , classes are taught primarily with sign language and color coded circuits . The women learn to build and maintain a variety of solar powered lamps and chargers .  The Barefoot College "" campus "" in Tilonia , Rajasthan , is a testament to the power of solar everything there is powered by the sun food is prepared using a parabolic solar cooker , night classes are powered by solar lanterns .  Roy says that the school has trained 150 grandmothers from 28 countries , electrified around 10 , 000 houses with solar power and saved several thousands of liters of diesel and kerosene from polluting the atmosphere .  "" We have shown that solar electrified villages can be technically and financially self sufficient , "" says Roy .  "" The Barefoot College is supposed to be a sparking off process . People are adopting it and owning it , which is really the story behind the college . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,present
2589,2590,"Home / Badge Abuse / Like a ‘Concentration Camp’ Police Mark  Protesters with Numbers & Lock Them in Dog Kennels Like a ‘Concentration Camp’ Police Mark  Protesters with Numbers & Lock Them in Dog Kennels Claire Bernish October 29, 2016 2 Comments  Cannon Ball, N.D. — On Thursday, police from no less than five states sporting full riot gear and armed with heavy lethal and nonlethal weaponry, pepper spray, mace, a number of ATVs, five tanks, two helicopters, and military-equipped humvees showed up to tear down an encampment of Standing Rock Sioux water protectors and supporters armed with … nothing.  Under orders from the now-notorious Morton County Sheriff’s Office, this ridiculously heavy-handed standing army came better prepared to do battle than some actual military units fighting overseas.  But the target of their operation — a group of slightly more than 200 Native American water protectors and supporters opposing construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline — never intended to do battle with the armed, taxpayer-funded, corporate-backed, state-sponsored aggressors.  Reports vary, but no less than 141 people were arrested Thursday, and — according to witnesses — police marked numbers on arrestees’ arms and housed them in cement-floored dog kennels , without any padding, before they were transported as far away as Fargo.  “It goes back to concentration camp days,” asserted Oceti-Sakowin coordinator Mekasi Camp-Horinek, who, along with his mother, was marked and detained in a mesh kennel, reports the Los Angeles Times .  Although Thursday’s incident remained relatively peaceful for some time, with only shouts, chants, and occasional attempts by water protectors to convince this standing army to examine its motives and reconsider, clashes nonetheless broke out — solely because of gratuitous police aggression.  After facing off for a couple hours, these militant cops began closing in on the water protectors to shut down the Treaty of 1851 camp — in reference to the Fort Laramie Treaty of that year, which established a large parcel of land designated exclusively Native American territory not to be disturbed by the U.S. government. Prior to his arrest, Camp-Horinek had established the camp, stating, as cited by Indigenous Rising :  “Today, the Oceti Sakowin has enacted eminent domain on  lands, claiming 1851 treaty rights. This is unceded land. Highway 1806 as of this point is blockaded. We will be occupying this land and staying here until this pipeline is permanently stopped. We need bodies and we need people who are trained in non-violent direct action. We are still staying non-violent and we are still staying peaceful.”  Despite the water protectors’ commitment to nonviolence, the militarized police response went as would be expected — horribly awry.  “A prayer circle of elders, including several women, was interrupted and all were arrested for standing peacefully on the public road,” stated a press release from Indigenous Environment Network. “A tipi was erected in the road and was recklessly dismantled, despite law enforcement statements that they would merely mark the tipi with a yellow ribbon and ask its owners to retrieve it. A group of water protectors was also dragged out of a sweat lodge ceremony erected in the path of the pipeline, thrown to the ground, and arrested.”  Claims to the contrary by Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier aside, Native American and Indigenous water protectors and supporters have refrained from violent acts on the whole, preferring instead peaceful prayer vigils and acts of civil disobedience.  No matter how peacefully the opposition acts, armed defenders of Big Oil interests seem determined to brutalize , disrespect, and generally incite and inflict violence against those who desire unsullied water for generations to come.  In fact, at the beginning of September, a private security firm hired by Energy Transfer Partners, the company responsible for pipeline construction, indiscriminately unleashed vicious attack dogs on water protectors, press, and supporters — for reasons as yet unknown.  During the savage attack, a pregnant woman, young girl, and many others suffered serious dog bites thanks to the ineptitude of the dogs’ handlers. Afterward, a warrant for inciting a riot was issued Democracy Now! journalist Amy Goodman — for doing her job, filming events as they happened — though charges were subsequently thrown out.  Although  and some law enforcement officers defended the barbarous actions of the private security mercenaries, the Guardian now reports that — because the guards lacked proper licensing — they could now face criminal charges. On Wednesday, the Morton County Sheriff’s Office made the determination that “dog handlers were not properly licensed to do security work in the state of North Dakota.”  Bob Frost, owner of Ohio-based Frost Kennels, told the Guardian , “All the proper protocols … were already done. I pulled my guys out the next day because we weren’t there to go to war with these protesters.”  Frost insisted he had cooperated with authorities investigating the incident — but the sheriff’s department disagrees. Seven handlers and dogs were deployed to the scene in early September, allegedly in response to reports of trespassers; but, according to the Guardian , police have only managed to identify two people.  The sheriff’s department claims Frost has not provided necessary information, and unnamed security officials cited in the report said that “there were no intentions of using the dogs or handlers for security work. … However, because of the protest events, the dogs were deployed as a method of trying to keep the protesters under control.”  In a statement cited by the Guardian , Morton County Captain Jay Gruebele said, “Although lists of security employees have been provided, there is no way of confirming whether the list is accurate or if names have been purposely withheld.”  Water protectors, in the meantime, are left to deal with absurdly disproportionate state violence — and the altogether unacceptable, disrespectful, and demeaning insult of being relegated to dog kennels after being arrested for exercising their rights.  As Lakota Country Times editor Brandon Ecoffey wrote in an editorial Thursday,  “Over the course of the last several months the abuse of detainees by Morton County Law Enforcement has overstepped every boundary guaranteed by the American constitution. Water protectors have been seen being bound and hooded by police. People are being stripped searched and abused within their jail for misdemeanor crimes. And police have employed the use of mass surveillance through drones on the protector camps. This isn’t a war zone this is North Dakota.” Share Google + Steve Wilkins  The American establishment is at war with it’s own people. Corporate arrogance will inevitably be translated into a backlash. It’s a crying shame these people are not being supported by the American public 000’s should be there in mind body and soul. Once again government/corporate overreach squashes the citizen protest. they don’t like it when people bring guns to the party – but look how they treat those that don’t! Sharon Jeanguenat  Our government is disgraceful! This is as bad as how they treated Indians back when the West was being settled. They give lands to the Indians, then when somebody comes along that needs that land to make money, they up & take it away from the Indians. God help us if Hillary wins this election! Social",fake,news,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
2595,2596,"A suspected American member of Islamic State has been arrested at  airport amid fears he may be trafficking guns to the terrorist group and preparing for jihad .  A Brooklyn judge ordered the 44 year old be held without bail following allegations he had been brokering deals for military grade weapons and ammunition in his home state .  Swoop :  agents arrested Donald Ray Morgan , 44 , as he arrived at  airport in New York following an eight month stay in Lebanon where his wife lives  Morgan , from North Carolina , was indicted for being a felon in possession of a firearm . He has a previous conviction for firing a gun .  Counter terrorism agents were alerted to a series of worrying twitter posts made by Morgan while in the Middle East under the alias Abu Omar al Amreeki .  Tweeting under the alias alias Abu Omar al Amreeki , Morgan is understood to have pledged his allegiance to  leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi  In one post he pledged his allegiance to  leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi .  Others appear to suggest he had been preparing for jihad in Syria , Iraq or possibly the U . S .  At a bail hearing last week Assistant Brooklyn U . S . Attorney Nadia Moore suggested Morgan was too dangerous to return to North Carolina on his own .  Federal defender Peter Kirchheimer argued that there was no evidence to prove that Morgan was either a member of  or had provided the group with material support .  But judge Ramon Reyes said the tweets had implied to him that Morgan is ' trying to go to Syria or Iraq as the next step and trying to be actively engaged ' .   , which is now known as Islamic State , currently controls a large area of Iraq .  It has gained a reputation for appalling brutality after videos appeared on the internet of fighters performing mass executions and crucifixions .  The Obama administration has begun directly providing weapons to Kurdish forces who have started to make gains against Islamic militants in northern Iraq , senior U . S . officials said today .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
2602,2603,"Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he would strike numerous bilateral trade deals, as opposed to multilateral accords like the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and they would include clauses to allow a 30-day termination notice. “Believe me, we’re going to have a lot of trade deals,” Trump told a gathering of Republican lawmakers. “If that particular country doesn’t treat us fairly, we send them a 30-day termination, notice of termination.” ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
2610,2611,"South Africa ' s Supreme Court finds Oscar Pistorius guilty of murdering girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp  Thursday , 3 December 2015 2 : 34pm  Place : Bloemfontein Agency : Reuters  Last year a judge gave Pistorius a five year jail sentence for "" culpable homicide "" of Steenkamp , but prosecutors argued that the "" Blade Runner "" should be convicted of murder .  South Africa ' s top appeals court ruled on Thursday that paralympian Oscar Pistorius ' conviction be scaled up to murder from culpable homicide for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine ' s Day 2013 .  Last year a judge gave Pistorius a five year jail sentence for "" culpable homicide "" of Steenkamp , but prosecutors argued that the "" Blade Runner "" should be convicted of murder .  South Africa ' s top appeals court could send ' Blade Runner ' Oscar Pistorius back to jail on Thursday for at least 15 years for killing his girlfriend on Valentine ' s Day 2013 in a sensational case that continues to fascinate and divide the nation .  The athlete left jail on parole in October and is meant to serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest , but the Supreme Court of Appeals could now overrule the original verdict and find him guilty of murder or order a retrial .  State prosecutors who lodged the appeal say Pistorius intended to kill Steenkamp and that she fled to a toilet during a row . Pistorius denies deliberately killing Steenkamp , saying he mistook her for an intruder at his home .  Pistorius , whose lower legs were amputated when he was a baby but who went on to become a global sporting hero , is not expected to attend Thursday ' s court session in Bloemfontein , some 400 km ( 250 miles ) southwest of Johannesburg . A judgement is expected about 09 : 45am ( 0745  ) .  The case has prompted a fierce debate in a country beset by high levels of violent crime . Some rights groups say the white track star dubbed "" Blade Runner "" because of the carbon fibre prosthetic blades he uses to race got preferential treatment .  "" If the court finds against Pistorius , he ' s got big problems as he would have to be sentenced afresh . The question is whether the previous judge misapplied the law or not , "" Johannesburg based criminal law attorney Zola Majavu said .  At the original trial in September last year , Judge Masipa ruled that the state had failed to prove intent or "" dolus eventualis "" , a legal concept that centres on a person being held responsible for the foreseeable consequences of their actions . Dolus eventualis refers to whether a person foresees the possibility that his or her action will cause death but carries on regardless .  Anneliese Burgess , the Pistorius family ' s spokeswoman , said the media need not camp outside the home of the athlete ' s uncle in a wealthy suburb of Waterkloof in the capital Pretoria where he has been living since being released on parole .  "" To save all of you the trouble of camping out at the Pistorius home tomorrow , I thought it best to let you know in advance that there will not be an on camera statement made tomorrow , "" she said .  Steenkamp ' s mother June , who has said she does not want retribution , attended the appeal hearing on Nov . 3 . It was not clear whether she would attend court on Thursday . ? Members of the ruling African National Congress party ' s Women ' s League have attended the court sessions in solidarity with Steenkamp ' s family and in support of women ' s rights . ?  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
2613,2614,"Editor ' s note : Mark Gendreau ,  , is senior staff physician and vice chairman of emergency medicine at Lahey Clinic , Burlington , Massachusetts , and assistant professor of emergency medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston . His interests include health issues associated with commercial air travel , including transmission of infectious diseases .  Dr Mark Gendreau says swine flu is focusing attention on how to avoid getting a disease while traveling by air .  The novel swine flu is showing the world just how interconnected we are and how commercial aircraft can serve as vehicles of rapid disease spread .  I am frequently asked : What is the risk of catching an illness while flying ?  In a nutshell , the risk of getting an infection while you ' re in an enclosed space such as an airplane depends upon three factors : The infectiousness of the contagious person spreading the illness the degree of your exposure ( how close you are to the contagious person and for how long ) and the ventilation of the space or passenger cabin .  We really have no control over the infectiousness of our fellow passengers , and usually , you really don ' t have much of a choice about your seating partners . So the exposure is pure chance .  But this doesn ' t mean that you are doomed . Most respiratory viral infectious diseases like influenza and the common cold transmit via droplets contaminated with the offending microorganism when the infectious person coughs or sneezes .  These droplets are propelled no farther than 3 feet and can land on an inanimate object such as a seat , overhead bin or seat tray or on your body . This is why hand hygiene is so critical and is the single most significant thing you can do to protect yourself and your family when you are traveling or out in public .  Study after study shows marked reductions in transmission in public spaces when hand hygiene is practiced , and a recent study found nearly undetectable influenza particle levels after hands contaminated with influenza were washed with either soap and water or an over the counter gel containing at least 50 percent alcohol .  Sanitize your hands before eating , drinking and after retrieving something from the overhead bin or returning from the restroom , and you have just cut your chances of getting infected by at least 40 percent . One of my disappointments with the airline industry is its lack of providing alcohol based hand sanitizers to passengers . Such a service would go a long way in eliminating infection spread within aircraft . iReportweblink : Have swine flu fears altered your travel plans ?  Ventilation is the final crucial element to consider in minimizing infection spread . Ventilation dilutes the concentration of infectious particles within any confined space , thereby reducing the probability of infection .  Experience shows us that transmission becomes widespread within the passenger cabin involving all sections when the ventilation system is not working as evidenced by an influenza outbreak in 1979 involving passengers being kept aboard grounded aircraft with an inoperative ventilation system .  Air circulation patterns aboard standard commercial aircraft are side to side ( laminar ) , with air entering the cabin from overhead , circulating across the aircraft and exiting the cabin near the floor . Little to no front to back ( longitudinal ) airflow takes place .  This air circulation pattern "" compartmentalizes "" the air flow into sections , thereby limiting the spread of airborne particles throughout the passenger cabin . Ventilation can involve either 100 percent fresh air in which outside air enters and leaves the cabin in a single pass or a system in which various fractions of air are recirculated from the aircraft cabin and mixed with fresh air .  Most commercial aircraft in service recirculate 50 percent of the air delivered to the passenger cabin for improved control of cabin circulation , humidity and fuel efficiency . The recirculated air usually passes through high efficiency particulate (  ) filters before delivery into the cabin .   filtering of recirculated cabin air to minimize exposure to infectious particles is established within scientific literature , practiced daily in health care facilities and is strongly endorsed by the medical community and cabin health experts .  However , oddly enough , the Federal Aviation Administration , its British counterpart , the Civil Aviation Authority , and Europe ' s Joint Aviation Authorities do not require the use of these filters on commercial airlines .  Efforts to improve international regulations regarding the certification , inspection and maintenance of aircraft environmental control systems are needed . To minimize the risk of disease spread by aircraft , regulations requiring  filters for any aircraft that uses recirculated air should be seriously considered .  In the meantime , you can improve the ventilation at your seat by turning on the overhead air vent to low and positioning the airflow to be slightly in front of your face . This may create enough air turbulence to push a viral particle from landing on your face and mucous membranes .  Finally , face masks are effective . In 2003 , during the severe acute respiratory syndrome epidemic , 76 percent of Hong Kong residents wore simple masks , and in this case , mask use was associated with a lower incidence of  , as well as upper respiratory tract infections and influenza . A recent analysis of public health interventions used during the  epidemic suggests that the use of masks by the public was 68 percent effective in decreasing rates of infection , with simple face masks , and 91 percent effective for more sophisticated N95 face masks .  The take home message is this : Use a surgical mask when you are traveling to areas that have reported cases of swine flu and bring an additional one to give to anyone near you who forgot one or appears to be sick and is coughing or sneezing .  Prevention of a disease outbreak is the most important means of control and requires a proactive approach . The aviation industry and medical community should better educate the general public about health issues related to air travel and infection control .  The only way to eliminate any risk of cross infection in the aircraft cabin or the rapid worldwide spread of an infectious agent is to prevent would be passengers who are either substantially exposed to or carrying transmissible infections from flying .  This needs to come from education and promoting individual responsibility , since the systematic screening of passengers for contagious diseases is impractical . Although thermal scanners used in airports may detect travelers with symptoms , they are not effective since people exposed to an infectious disease could travel without any signs or symptoms and yet still be infectious .  The late Nobel Laureate Joshua Lederberg once said "" The microbe that felled one child in a distant continent yesterday can reach yours today , and seed a global pandemic tomorrow . "" True words .  The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Mark Gendreau .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
2619,2620,"Australia coach Darren Lehmann has no intention of saving Mitchell Johnson for a World Cup assault on England and will recall the paceman as soon as possible .  Johnson was the runaway man of the series in last winter ' s Ashes and there are serious concerns about how England will react should he find his very best form again in the tournament opener in Melbourne on February 14 .  He has been missing for the last few weeks with fitness niggles and undisclosed personal reasons , and there have been suggestions Lehmann might hold his strike bowler back until that match , denying England closer look should they reach the final of the ongoing Tri Series .  Mitchell Johnson will not be rested ahead of the World Cup and could play for Australia at the Tri Nations  Johnson celebrates after taking the wicket of Alastair Campbell during the last winter Ashes  Australia players celebrate their victory over England at the Tri Series ODIs in Hobart  But Lehmann intends to reintegrate the left armer at the first opportunity , potentially as soon as Monday ' s match against India .  ' He ' d be close . He ' s bowling ( in the nets ) and will be full training on Sunday , so hopefully he ' s available for selection , ' said Lehmann .  ' There ' s no resting . It ' s a final so there ' s a trophy up for grabs and we ' ve got to try and win that so that ' s important for us as well .  ' For us it ' s a case of worrying what we do well and keep doing that . We can ' t worry about England , we can only worry about what we ' re doing . '  Captain Steve Smith was on fine form as Australia prepare for the forthcoming World Cup  England ' s Jos Butler can only watch as he is run out during defeat by Australia  The Australia line up that beat England in Hobart on Friday was also missing captain George Bailey ( banned ) , David Warner and Shane Watson ( both hamstring ) .  Bailey will return having served his over rate suspension , Warner is inked back in at the top of the order but Watson may take longer .  ' Warner will be fine , he ' ll come back in , with Watson we ' ll just see how he goes at training , ' added Lehmann .  ' We want to get everyone 100 per cent fit for the final and then the World Cup so that ' s what we ' re looking at . '  Captain George Bailey ( left ) and David Warner ( right ) are set to return for the match against India  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
2621,2622,"Episode #199 of    resumes on Aug 20th, 2017 as host Patrick Henningsen brings you this week s  broadcast on the Alternate Current Radio Network   covering all the top news stories both at home and internationally           TIMES:5pm-8pm  Time | 12pm-3pm  (US) | 9am-12am  (US)  This week we deliver another  broadcast from the UK, as   host Patrick Henningsen is joined by two incredible guests to discuss the disturbing political situation in America. In the first hour we ll be joined by artist and the brilliant and controversial best-selling author and internationally acclaimed jazz artist, Gilad Atzmon, to discuss Charlottesville and the problem of Left vs Right identity politics in the West, as well its roots in Jewish  politics, and how society might be able overcome the downward spiral it currently finds itself in. In the second hour we re joined by author and analyst, Jay Dyer, fromweblink to talk about America s new culture wars and why Leftist activists are now pulling down statues across the country and how this might accelerate to more censorship and ceremonial  book burning  activities. In the final segment, we hear a thought-provoking interview with an American man who managed to turn from hating all Muslims to adopting a more open-minded, civil approach to dialogue   proving that communication is the key to conflict resolution. Our guest Gilad Atzmon s book, Being In Time: A Post Political Manifesto is available now on: Amazon.co.uk,weblink and gilad.co.uk. Also guest Jay Dyer s book, Esoteric Hollywood: Sex, Cults and Symbols in Film is available now atweblink.   21WIRE    &  A  @21WIRE.TVStrap yourselves in and lower the blast shield   this is your brave new world *NOTE:         THEMES*Download Episode #199Sunday Wire Radio Show Archives    ",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present
2624,2625,"Reuters) - Democratic U.S. lawmakers on Monday urged President Donald Trump to release logs of visitors to the White House and Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida under a policy that made public the names of nearly six million visitors to the White House during the administration of Barack Obama. If Trump continues the policy, under which visitor logs were released 90 to 120 days after they were created, the public could learn who has been visiting the Trump White House as soon as April 20, according to the lawmakers’ letter.  Two of its eight signatories, Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Tom Udall, received no reply to a Feb. 3 request that Trump publicize visitor lists from Mar-a-Lago, which Trump has described as the “Winter White House” and  visited four times since becoming president, according to Monday’s letter.  The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A page on the White House website’s “Disclosures” section entitled “Visitor Access Records” says the page will post records of White House visitors on an ongoing basis, once they become available. It does not mention Mar-a-Lago. Photos taken by private guests at the Florida resort in February showed Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe conferring after North Korea conducted a ballistic missile test, prompting a Republican-led congressional oversight committee to ask the White House whether security protocols were followed. “One way to provide assurances that your Administration is listening to the voices of all Americans, not just friends and donors who have a financial self-interest to influence government policy, is to let everyone know who is meeting with you and your staff,” Monday’s letter to Trump read. The senators sent a similar letter on Monday to William Callahan, deputy director of the U.S. Secret Service, asking how the agency will conduct background checks on people who will be present during Trump’s trips to Mar-a-Lago, Trump Tower in New York City, Trump’s golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey, or other Trump properties where he may conduct official business. The Secret Service declined to comment. ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
2630,2631,"Germany U . S . presidential contender Barack Obama used a speech Thursday in Berlin the German city that once symbolized Cold War division to warn about the dangers of allowing new walls to come between the United States and its allies .  Barack Obama presses the flesh in Germany after his speech in Berlin ' s Tiergarten Park .  Obama highlighted what he sees as common transatlantic goals while also accepting the differences of the Bush years .  He is on the latest leg of an international trip intended to bolster his foreign policy credentials at home and set out his vision for a new era of transatlantic cooperation .  In an echo of former President Ronald Reagan ' s speech when he demanded the Berlin Wall be pulled down , Obama said : "" The walls between the countries with the most and those with the least cannot stand . The walls between races and tribes natives and immigrants Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand . These now are the walls we must tear down . ""  Obama introduced himself to the Berlin crowd as a proud U . S . citizen and a "" fellow citizen of the world . ""  He said : "" This city , of all cities , knows the dream of freedom . And you know that the only reason we stand here tonight is because men and women from both of our nations came together to work , and struggle , and sacrifice for that better life . "" Watch Obama in Germany  He touched on issues that have generally divided Europe and the U . S . such as climate change as well as comparing Berlin ' s Cold War struggle with today ' s international challenges like fighting terrorism .  "" People of the world look at Berlin , where a wall came down , a continent came together , and history proved that there is no challenge too great for a world that stands as one , "" he said .  Obama said : "" While the 20th century taught us that we share a common destiny , the 21st has revealed a world more intertwined than at any time in human history . ""  He said the fall of the Berlin Wall offered hope as the world faces up to international challenges such as terrorism , climate change and loose nukes  "" In this new world , such dangerous currents have swept along faster than our efforts to contain them . That is why we cannot afford to be divided , "" Obama said .  He also addressed differences between the U . S . and Europe but added : "" In Europe , the view that America is part of what has gone wrong in our world , rather than a force to help make it right , has become all too common .  "" In America , there are voices that deride and deny the importance of Europe ' s role in our security and our future . Both views miss the truth . . .  "" In this new century , Americans and Europeans alike will be required to do more not less . Partnership and cooperation among nations is not a choice it is the one way , the only way , to protect our common security and advance our common humanity . ""  Turning to global warming , Obama said : "" This is the moment when we must come together to save this planet .  "" Let us resolve that we will not leave our children a world where the oceans rise and famine spreads and terrible storms devastate our lands . Let us resolve that all nations including my own will act with the same seriousness of purpose as has your nation , and reduce the carbon we send into our atmosphere . ""  Tucker Bounds , a spokesman for Obama ' s Republican rival John McCain , said : "" John McCain has dedicated his life to serving , improving and protecting America . Barack Obama spent an afternoon talking about it . ""  Obama earlier played down suggestions he was delivering a campaign speech but conceded that his performance was intended as much for an American audience as for the gathering German crowds .  He had originally hoped to speak in front of the iconic Brandenburg Gate , where U . S . President John F . Kennedy was photographed during a visit in 1963 shortly after the Berlin Wall had been built . Expressing solidarity with the people of the divided city during the same trip , Kennedy declared "" Ich bin ein Berliner . ""  The gate was also the site of a speech by U . S . President Ronald Reagan in 1987 in which he memorably urged Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to "" tear down "" the wall .  But use of the landmark was apparently vetoed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel , who a spokesman Wednesday said disapproved of plans to co opt it as a "" campaign backdrop . ""  But Oakley said Obama needed to prove to Americans that he could defend U . S . interests abroad . Republican rival John McCain ' s campaign team has frequently criticized Obama as being inexperienced on foreign policy and a recent poll suggested just 48 percent of Americans thought he would make a good commander in chief , compared to 72 percent for McCain .  Germany ' s ties with the Bush administration have warmed since a fallout over the Iraq war , which Germany opposed . Germany and the U . S . have also disagreed over  member Germany ' s refusal to send troops into combat zones in southern Afghanistan .  Oakley said European leaders would be seeking confirmation that Obama , if elected , would be a "" listening president . "" In addition to Merkel , Obama is slated to meet with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and opposition leader David Cameron as well as French President Nicolas Sarkozy .  Obama ' s arrival in Europe follows earlier stopovers in Afghanistan , Iraq , Jordan , Kuwait , Israel and the Palestinian territories . He says he is making the trip as a U . S . senator rather than a presidential contender .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
2638,2639,"Ukraine ' s President Petro Poroshenko ( R ) welcomes U . S . Vice President Joe Biden in Kiev , Ukraine , December 7 , 2015 . ? ? Valentyn Ogirenko Reuters  Joe Biden ' s been clocking in a lot of phone hours lately , but they aren ' t to his wife . Instead , the  vice president said during a two day visit to Ukraine that his main squeeze has taken a backseat to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko .  "" It is true I ' ve only been here four times in two years . But I think we may have logged close to 1 , 000 hours on the telephone . I think I tend to be more in direct conversation for longer periods of time with the president than with my wife . I think they both regret that . But it is important , "" Biden said at a joint briefing in Kiev on Monday .  Biden did , admittedly , have more to share than his time spent chatting to his buddy Poroshenko . He also said that ? Ukraine is on the cusp .  Joe Biden talks on the phone with Ukraine ' s Poroshenko more frequently than with his wife . weblink : t . co jwQqYcqi5P pic . twitterweblink JMGOCCMeLN  What happens in the next year is likely to determine the fate of this country for generations . You have a free , prosperous and democratic society because your people are so brave , they have put so much into this , they deserve no less , and I know this is your obligation and objective as well , and we want to help in any way we can , "" ? he said .  Biden went on to once again slam what he called Russia s illegal annexation of Crimea and aggression from Russia and Russian backed separatists .  The vice president announced 190 million in new aid for Ukraine , contingent on Kiev continuing to make progress on rooting out corruption . The newest aid is aimed at helping law enforcement , reforming the justice sector and streamlining regulations and privatization of state owned enterprises , Biden said . The new funds bring  assistance to nearly 760 million since the formation of the new government in 2014 .  Biden ' s two day visit to Ukraine is aimed at reassuring Kiev that Washington won ' t skimp on its commitment to Ukraine at a time when attention has shifted to Syria and fighting Islamic State (  , formerly   ) .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
2650,2651,"An American graduate student who went to Iraq to find ways to help ordinary citizens persevere in a transitioning government was one of two American civilians killed in a Sadr City bombing .  Nicole Suveges , a political scientist working toward her doctorate , died in a Sadr City bombing Tuesday .  Nicole Suveges , a married political scientist from Illinois , was part of a program that embeds academics into military units to help personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan navigate the local environment , according to her employer ,  Systems .  Suveges , who started her tour with Human Terrain System in April , had been assigned to support the 3rd Brigade Combat Team for the 4th Infantry Division in "" political , cultural , and tribal engagements , "" a statement from the program said .  She was one of four Americans to die in the Sadr City bombing Tuesday . Two U . S . soldiers and a State Department employee , Steven Farley , who worked with the provincial reconstruction team , also were killed in the blast .  "" Nicole was a leading academic who studied for years on how to improve conditions for others , "" Doug Belair , president of  ' s Technology Solutions Services , said in a written statement . "" She came to us to give freely of herself in an effort to make a better world . ""  Suveges was the second  employee to die in a combat zone this year . Michael V . Bhatia , 31 , a social scientist from Medway , Massachusetts , died in a roadside bombing May 7 in Afghanistan ,  said .  Scott Fazekas ,  ' s director of communications , said Suveges and Bhatia were among three dozen social scientists hired by the company and its subcontractors to support the program .  The Johns Hopkins University graduate student was also working toward a doctorate in political science with an emphasis on international relations . The focus of her dissertation was on the transition from an authoritarian regime to democracy and how it affects ordinary citizens , the university said .  "" Nicole was committed to using her learning and experience to make the world a better place , especially for people who have suffered through war and conflict , "" William R . Brody , president of the university , said in a message Wednesday to the campus community . "" She exemplifies all that we seek to do at Johns Hopkins : to use knowledge for the good of humanity . ""  Mark Blyth , Suveges ' primary faculty adviser , said that when Suveges came to Johns Hopkins , she planned to write her Ph . D . dissertation on how ideas move across borders from society to society , exploring how radical Islamic ideas filtered through Western European mosques .  After the outbreak of the Iraq war , Suveges decided to shift her focus to the experience of ordinary citizens under a transitional government , said Blyth , a topic that had interested Suveges since her experience in Bosnia with the   Combined Joint Psychological Operations Task Force .  "" She was a very bright , engaging , sweet person , very intellectually curious , "" Blyth said Wednesday .   said Suveges ' experience , which included a tour in Iraq as a civilian contractor and a stint in Bosnia in the 1990s as an Army reservist , made her especially valuable in efforts to improve the lives of Iraqis .  A Human Terrain System statement said Suveges and others were attending a meeting of the District Advisory Council on Tuesday to elect a new chairman .  The officials were helping mediate disputes among the Sadr City leadership and "" facilitate the development of a more representative local government , "" the statement said .  The attack was blamed on a Shiite insurgent cell .  Suveges graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1992 and received a master ' s degree in political science from George Washington University in 1998 .  She had delivered papers to international relations organizations and served as a graduate teaching assistant , the company said .  At Johns Hopkins , she was managing editor for the Review of International Political Economy , the university said .  Maj . Mike Kenfield , spokesman for the Army ' s training and doctrine command , said that the program was credited for "" reductions in non lethal operations "" and that there had been talk about expanding the purview of the team to outside Iraq and Afghanistan .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
2664,2665,"Reuters) - Spain s  partners fear a mounting crisis over Catalans  latest push for independence, and their public support for Mariano Rajoy belies some disquiet that the conservative prime minister s hardline tactics might backfire. Few foreign leaders will speak out on a domestic dispute in which government and courts in Madrid say the Catalan regional authorities in Barcelona are defying a constitutional ban on secession by preparing an independence referendum for Oct. 1.  The official European Union line is that Spanish democracy works and Spaniards should settle their affairs according to national laws. But the worsening standoff, with police arresting elected Catalan officials this week, is troubling officials and politicians abroad, who fear it may hurt Europe in various ways. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, through a spokesman, echoed that line when asked by Reuters if she had had recent contact on the matter with Rajoy, a fellow conservative. While stressing it was an  internal Spanish matter , the spokesman also recalled that Merkel had in previous years told Rajoy that Berlin had  great interest in the maintenance of stability in Spain . Less constrained by diplomatic protocol, other Europeans are starting to speak out:  Rajoy has put a lot of oil on the fire, fuelling the independentist debate. He has made a huge mistake,  Ska Keller, the German co-leader of the Greens in the European Parliament, told Reuters as she called on those who may have influence with Rajoy to intercede and calm things down. While publicly refusing to take sides on whether a Catalan breakaway is desirable, few European leaders would welcome it. As with the 2014 referendum in Scotland, which unlike Catalonia s vote was held with the blessing of the central government in London, countries fear encouraging separatists at home: Belgium s Flemings, Italy s Lombards and so on. There is also a broader unwillingness as Britain exits from the  to open another Pandora s box of economic uncertainty and legal disruption. The  s chief executive, Jean-Claude Juncker, was irked when Catalans seized on a remarks last week that they could join the  after independence to suggest he favored their cause. The European Commission president said he had only reiterated the so-called  Prodi doctrine , dating back 13 years. This is that a breakaway state would have to leave the Union and could then only be let back in if it has gained independence in accordance with constitutional law in the member state it left. Juncker also said that rich  regional traditions  should not become  elements of separatism and fragmentation of Europe . Commission officials reject suggestions they are giving Madrid a soft ride on complaints that Spain s constitution is stifling Catalan rights while the  is now threatening to suspend Poland over the Warsaw government s plans for constitutional change. The Commission feels constrained by  law not to take sides in Spain. But the European Parliament, led by the European People s Party (EPP), the center-right bloc to which Rajoy, Merkel and Juncker belong, is more vocal in backing Madrid. Antonio Tajani, the legislature s Italian conservative president, bluntly told a Catalan newspaper last week that to ignore Spain s constitution was to undermine the legal basis for the whole European Union:  Those are the rules,  he said.  This is not a tough line, this is a democratic and a legal line,  the  s Spanish Secretary-General Antonio Lopez-Isturiz said, noting that Catalans voted for the constitution in 1978.  The  legislature s center-left group also backs the view that Spain s constitution must be respected above all.  Nonetheless, that legal approach is causing disquiet.  There are growing concerns in Europe about the way Rajoy is handling this,  said Steven Blockmans of the Centre for European Policy Studies.  They re trying to keep him on board, but with his tactics he s fuelling the independence debate.  Blockmans suggested Spain look at how his native Belgium had amended its constitution to devolve power. The leader of Belgium s powerful Dutch-speaking Flanders region issued a call on Thursday for  international mediation  in the Catalan crisis. Andrew Duff, a British liberal former  lawmaker now at the European Policy Centre think-tank, said  leaders should be engaging quietly with Rajoy  to try to soften the sense of crisis . If they are already, they are not making it public.  Rajoy hasn t played this very cleverly,  Duff said.  From Brussels  perspective, this kind of domestic constitutional crisis cries out for political sophistication of a very high level, which we haven t yet seen, either from the Catalans or from Madrid. It puts the Commission in a very awkward position.  A senior  official said Juncker was likely to go on exercising his right to stay largely silent on the issue for now:  It s like in those police shows,  he said.  Anything you say can be held against you. It s better not to say anything.  ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
2670,2671,"Reuters) - Germany s would-be coalition partners have not agreed to abolish a tax imposed after reunification to help poorer eastern states, a conservative politician told Reuters on Sunday, retracting his previous remarks that a deal on the issue had been reached. Hans Michelbach, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel s conservative bloc, said earlier that an agreement had been reached with the Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) to abolish the  solidarity tax  by 2021. The  had made abolishing the tax, which was due to expire in 2019, an election promise. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
2675,2676,"N . C . There was a changing of the guard in the  on Sunday at Bank of America Stadium .  The Carolina Panthers ripped control of the  from the two time defending conference champion Seattle Seahawks with a 31 24 victory to advance to next Sunday ' s  Championship Game against the Arizona Cardinals .  They did it with a first half that was as dominating as any performance in the  this season , particularly because it came against a team that played as good as any other in the league the second half of the season .  Now the top seeded Panthers are a home win against the second seeded Cardinals away from their first Super Bowl appearance since the 2003 season .  But Sunday s game was a sign that there is a new sheriff in the conference .  The Panthers backed up their  best 15 1 regular season record with a dominating first half performance that was enough to advance .  They were , as safety Roman Harper said earlier in the week , the better team . ""  Carolina was the fresher team as well after a first round bye . Nobody was fresher than running back Jonathan Stewart , who missed the last three regular season games with a sprained foot .  Stewart went 59 yards on the first offensive play Sunday . Carolina s biggest mistake was a fumble by rookie Cameron Artis Payne on the play after Stewart s run , but fullback Mike Tolbert recovered it .  From there the avalanche began , beginning with Stewart s 4 yard touchdown run and followed by middle linebacker Luke Kuechly returning an interception 14 yards for a touchdown on Seattle s second play to make it 14 0 .  Carolina s next goal is to make sure there is no quick changing of the guard against the Cardinals next Sunday .  Cam Newton and the Panthers advanced to next week ' s  Championship Game with a 31 24 win over the Seahawks on Sunday . ?  Game ball : Kuechly , as mentioned above , picked off Russell Wilson on Seattle s second play and returned it 14 yards for a touchdown . He led a defense that was suffocating in the first half with eight tackles and finished with a team best 11 . He also defended two passes , none bigger than one to Doug Baldwin with just more than two minutes remaining .  Fresh legs : Stewart showed on the first play why the Panthers were more than willing to let him sit out the final three regular season games . Stewart showed his explosiveness with the 59 yard run on his first carry against a Seattle defense that had allowed 85 rushing yards combined in the past two games . Stewart had 84 yards on 11 carries in the first half and finished with 106 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries .  Can t defend the  : The Seahawks struggled defensively most of the season against the tight end . Carolina was more than willing to take advantage . Greg Olsen had six catches for 77 yards and a touchdown . Backup tight end Ed Dickson added two catches for 22 yards . Olsen had seven catches for 131 yards , including the winning touchdown , in a 27 23 victory at Seattle on Oct . 18 .  Comebacks : One of Carolina s weaknesses this season was allowing opponents back in games in which it had built big leads . It happened again in this one , although you figured Seattle s potent offense would catch fire at some point .  What were they thinking ? How could the Panthers not have been ready for a fake punt with a 31 14 lead late in the third quarter ? Seattle successfully converted it . Details like that can t be overlooked when you re trying to win a championship .  Ouch : Olsen left with a shoulder injury in the fourth quarter but returned .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
2676,2677,"Lansing  : Janis Porter blew the lid off of a secretive , filthy game of sensuous perversions that ' s rocked the world of orthodontics to it ' s core ! Her nightmare began when she went in for a routine root canal last Wednesday .  "" My teeth are a mess , I ' m always getting work done . I ' ll admit that I never floss and only brush occasionally but I ' ve got good insurance so what ' s the point . I just let the pro ' s do the heavy lifting . "" Ms . Porter continued "" So I get to the office . Barely made the appointment because the service elevator was out so I had to walk around one of those wheel chair ramps . . . . looking back I should ' ve used the stairs but I don ' t like the exertion . I get to the office and go straight back they know me real well and all . . . . ""  The orthodontist is located in a two floor breezeway office building . Dr Wong ' s Acupuncture Clinic was next door . On the fateful day in question there were two other people in the waiting room . Libby Harris and her son ( who was there to have his braces removed ) .  "" This haughty woman just came right in like she owned the place . I didn ' t pay her much attention she was fat and so . . . you know they ' re all so filled with a sense of entitlement . Fifteen minutes passed I hear screaming then she comes tearing out in the waiting room with cotton in her mouth and some needles in her cheeks . She ran out the door and flipped over the railing on the breeze way and landed the roof of my older son ' s Honda Civic that I was borrowing . She wasn ' t hurt . . . I don ' t think , but honestly I was glad she fell , she seemed like such a bitch . ""  The Shameful Secret Exposed  According to Ms . Porter she was given nitrous oxide and told to take a Vicodin and Ativan ( prescribed by two other physicians ) when she arrived at the office . Once the procedure was complete he ' d give her two weeks worth of Vicodin and six months worth of Ambien .  Her pills that were to be used that day hadn ' t fully taken effect and she awoke to something grotesque .  "" I opened my eyes and saw a pale fleshy mass . I thought at first I was maybe looking into a mirror then my vision cleared and . . . . . I awoke to see his bare buttocks hovering over me . He was going in for the kill and I screamed and ran out ! ""  She doesn ' t remember falling . Her next memory is being in the hospital questioned by police .  It turns out she was a victim of a sick game called "" blow fishing "" . Orthodontist will go through a ritual of eating food like baked beans the night before then the next morning , while their victims ( 84 female ) are under anesthesia they will put acupuncture needles in the face and flatulate in the patient ' s mouth while it ' s being streamed on a fetish internet porn site .  The  and  are still investigating the scope of this crime . Special Agent Jeffery McKay said that the trend either started in Japan or Germany as they were the most subscribers to the websites . Any victims are encouraged to come forward and call local law enforcement .   McKay said , "" They will remain anonymous , and there is nothing to be ashamed of it could have happened to anyone of us . ""  ",satire,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
2682,2683,"Washington New documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union show "" unjustified homicide "" of detainees and concerns about the condition of confinement in U . S . run prisons in Iraq , Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay , according to the  .  Thousands of documents detailing the deaths of 190 U . S . detainees were released by the  on Friday . The U . S . military gave the  the documents earlier in the week as a result of a Freedom of Information Act (  ) lawsuit filed by the rights group .  Among the documents are autopsy reports and military investigations , including 25 to 30 cases the  says it believes are "" unjustified homicide . "" Some of the homicides in the documents are widely known and have been reported in the media , such as the case of four Iraqi detainees executed by a group of U . S . soldiers and then pushed into a Baghdad canal in 2007 .  Others are thought by the  to be new . In one such case , a detainee was killed by an unnamed sergeant who walked into a room where the detainee was lying wounded "" and assaulted him . . . then shot him twice thus killing him , "" one of the investigating documents says . The sergeant than instructed the other soldiers present to lie about the incident . Later , the document says an unnamed corporal then shot the deceased detainee in the head after finding his corpse .  In another example , documents note a soldier "" committed the offense of murder when he shot and killed an unarmed Afghan male . "" But , according to the  , the individual was found not guilty of murder by general court martial .  "" So far , the documents released by the government raise more questions than they answer , but they do confirm one troubling fact : that no senior officials have been held to account for the widespread abuse of detainees . Without real accountability for these abuses , we risk inviting more abuse in the future , "" the  said in a statement .  The Defense Department disputes the allegations , saying it takes detainee treatment seriously .  "" DoD policy requires the immediate reporting of detainee deaths to appropriate DoD criminal investigative agencies regardless of the circumstances at the time of death , "" said Pentagon spokeswoman , Lt . Col . Tanya Bradsher . "" Indeed , the fact that so many autopsies and investigative reports exist indicates the seriousness with which the Department takes its responsibilities regarding detainee treatment and accountability . ""  Of the investigations in the documents , 43 had U . S . soldiers or personnel as potential suspects , according to Lt . Col . David H . Patterson , an Army spokesman . Probable cause for murder was found in 13 of those investigations , resulting in 19 separate convictions , Patterson said , many of which carried significant sentences , with some soldiers receiving 20 years or more .  "" It ' s important to remember that the majority of these detainee deaths were due to reasons not directly involving U . S . personnel . For example , a number were the result of detainee on detainee violence , "" Patterson said .  "" Although there have been cases of individuals involved in misconduct , there is no evidence of systematic abuse by the United States military , "" said Bradsher . "" The ( Defense ) Department has detained more than 100 , 000 individuals in Iraq and Afghanistan , many with pre existing medical conditions or battlefield wounds . Detainees in DoD custody have died from a number of causes including enemy attacks , detainee on detainee violence , battlefield injuries , and natural causes . ""  One concern noted by the  is the amount of deaths that involved cardiac problems : over 25 . The group says it is looking into this finding .  "" This could potentially raise serious questions about the conditions of confinement or interrogation of the detainees , "" the  said .  The  obtained the 2 , 624 pages of documents through a Freedom of Information Act request filed with the government in 2009 . The package included about 124 autopsy and 133 investigation reports .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
2708,2709,"American Ted Ligety served notice he will be the man to beat in his favored giant slalom discipline with an emphatic victory in the season opener in Soelden Sunday .  The triple world champion was claiming his third straight win in World Cup giant slalom races and making it a hat trick at the Austrian venue , matching Austrian legend Hermann Maier .  Ligety , nicknamed ' Ted Shred ' , had left his rivals in tatters last year as he won by an astonishing 2 . 75 seconds , but this time around he had to settle for a closer margin over second placed Alexis Pinturault of France and home hope Marcel Hirscher .  "" I ' m super psyched to win this today , "" Ligety told the official  website after clocking one minute 59 . 50 seconds for the two legs .  "" It wasn ' t easy conditions on the second run it was dark and bumpy , but any day you win it ' s a good day , so I can ' t complain . ""  Pinterault finished 0 . 79 seconds adrift with Hirscher just over a second slower than Ligety , who won the last two races of the 2012 13 season .  "" I hope to be able to have a season close to what I had last year , "" Ligety added .  "" But repeating what I did last year in giant slalom is going to be difficult and I don ' t expect to be winning the races by the same margins . ""  Sunday ' s race was the start of the journey to the Winter Olympics in Sochi next year and also marked the return of American favorite Bode Miller .  The 36 year old has not raced for 18 months but despite an unfavorable starting position he was able to finish in 19th place .  "" My knee feels better than it has since 2001 , "" said Miller .  "" Once I made a decision not to race last year , it took a lot of pressure off and I could focus my recovery . ""  A massive crowd of 15 , 000 watched the proceedings on the Rettenbach Glacier , with the start lowered due to strong winds .  Downhill world champion Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway finished joint fourth with France ' s Steve Missillier .  Austrian veteran Benni Raich , a two time Olympic gold medalist and two time world champion , dropped back to 13th after being fifth on the first run .  But the main focus was on the 29 year old Ligety , who was joining Italian superstar Alberto Tomba on the career list for giant slalom podiums , 31 in all , fourth among all skiers .  The  World Cup circuit next moves to Levi in Finland for a men ' s and women ' s slalom on November 16 and 17 .  ",true,text,validation,American football,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
2718,2719,"Atlanta From bad to worse .  The boyfriend of Bobbi Kristina Brown , who is fighting for her life at an Atlanta hospital , unleashed against her family Monday on Twitter , defending his actions and accusing her father of wanting her money .  Brown is the daughter of R B singer Bobby Brown and the late star Whitney Houston .  "" Bobby seen his daughter 4 times in the last 5 yrs , "" Nick Gordon tweeted . "" Now him and his family want Whitneys . ""  Gordon has said he ' s been prevented from visiting Brown in the hospital an accusation her father has denied .  "" Let me be very clear , Mr Gordon was offered an opportunity to potentially visit Bobbi Kristina and he declined to meet the terms of any possible visit , "" Bobby Brown said in a statement through his lawyers .  "" Obviously Mr Gordon is not as desperate to visit Bobbi Kristina as he wants the world to believe . ""  The statement did not specify what the terms were .  Without specifying the details of those terms , Gordon ' s lawyers said they advised him against meeting them , "" particularly in light of Mr Brown ' s inability to guarantee access . ""  "" In an effort to do all he can to visit , Nick has repeatedly offered to meet with Mr Brown privately to discuss his request in person , rather than through lawyers , "" lawyers Randall M . Kessler and Joe S . Habachy said in a statement . "" Those offers have also been rejected . We hope Mr Brown has a change of heart . ""  Bobby Brown ' s attorney responded with another statement , saying Gordon has yet to tell Brown in writing what happened to his daughter .  Bobbi Kristina Brown , 21 , remains in a medically induced coma at Emory University Hosital more than three weeks after she was found unresponsive in a bathtub .  Police have said they ' re treating her case as a criminal investigation after she was found on January 31 at her home in Roswell , Georgia .  The extent of her injuries is not known .  Her mother , who died in 2012 , was similarly found in a bathtub . A coroner ruled Houston ' s death an accidental drowning , with heart disease and cocaine use listed as contributing factors .  Brown is her only child .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past
2724,2725,"She ' s the self proclaimed selfie queen and recently announced she is releasing a book filled with hundreds of pictures of her own face .  Now , in a new video for T Mobile , Kim has dispensed some advice on how to take the perfect selfie .  And it looks like you ' re going to need to put some time aside as the reality  star ' s advice includes taking a whopping 300 photos .  She loves a selfie : T Mobile shared a selection of Kim ' s personal selfies on their Twitter today  Kim tries out a series of poses , such as putting her arms up , but she always like to keep her signature pout  When taking selfies Kim likes to hold her phone high above her head and tilt her chin down  In the clip Kim begins by saying : ' Hi I ' m Kim Kardashian West and I ' m going to give you a little tutorial on how to take the perfect selfie . '  She goes on to explain : ' If you don ' t have a mirror in front of you to figure out your pose and your angle make sure that the lighting is amazing because you want to blow out everything that you don ' t want to see and highlight all the good things that you do .  ' For me I know my perfect angle it ' s my chin down and I just pose away and take about 300 photos until I get the perfect selfie . '  Of course there is no one more passionate about the art of selfie taking than Kim .  After all she is the woman who once describing taking photos of herself as , ' the purpose of life . '  In the clip Kim talks about how important it is to find your perfect angle  Kim wore this bright red bikini on the beach , showing more than just a smile in this sexy selfie  Kim showed off her toned body in this bikini snap posing in a long black jacket  Kim says that her favourite angle for taking selfies is with her chin down but the light must be ' amazing '  It ' s also previously been reported that Kim has her very own selfie assistant whose sole job it is to help the star edit and upload her snaps to social media .  And with 25 . 5million Instagram followers and a further 28 . 4million on Twitter it ' s little wonder that she wants to keep them impressed .  Kim ' s selfie advice comes after her hilarious Super Bowl advert for the mobile company in which she mocks herself for her love of taking selfies .  In what sounds like a spoof charity advert Kim says in a deadpan voice : ' Hi . I ' m Kim . Each month millions of gigs of unused data are taken back by wireless companies . Tragic .  ' Data you paid for that could be used to see my makeup , my backhand , my outfits , my vacation and my outfits . '  However , whilst some people praised Kim for being able to take the mick out of herself , others criticised the ad .  One twitter user said : ' I feel like T Mobile doesn ' t have 4million to waste like that , ' whilst another said , ' stopkim I just lost seconds from my life from that ad . '  Earlier today the mobile company also released a series of Kim ' s personal selfies on Twitter under the hashtag KimsDataStash .  Pouting and posing in a variety of locations the mother of one truly proved her selfie taking prowess .  In this mirror snap , Kim wears a black outfit and makes sure the light is shining down her face  Kim is such a pro , she can pout and take a picture with one hand in this shot shared by T Mobile  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
2734,2735,"Tucson , Arizona The parents of Jared Lee Loughner , suspected in the Tucson , Arizona , shootings that left six people dead and U . S . Rep . Gabrielle Giffords critically wounded , said Tuesday they do not know why the incident occurred and that they are "" very sorry "" for the loss felt by victims ' families .  The brief statement from the suspect ' s family came as doctors said Giffords is breathing on her own and a picture emerged of her alleged gunman coming heavily armed to Saturday ' s event with constituents .  Loughner , 22 , allegedly carried a knapsack to the shopping center , according to a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation . He had a semi automatic handgun , four ammunition magazines and a knife , according to the official .  The weapon was a Glock 19 , with an extended magazine that held 31 rounds , according to the Pima County Sheriff ' s Department . A total of 31 spent rounds were recovered from the scene , it said in a statement Tuesday night .  Loughner has been anecdotally regarded as very troubled and perhaps mentally unbalanced because of his ramblings spotted on the internet and the way he has been described by acquaintances .  His family asked for privacy during a "" very difficult time for us . ""  "" There are no words that can possibly express how we feel . We wish that there were , so we could make you feel better . We don ' t understand why this happened , "" the family said in its statement . "" It may not make any difference , but we wish that we could change the heinous events of Saturday . We care very deeply about the victims and their families . We are so very sorry for their loss . Thank you . The Loughner Family ""  Randy Loughner , the suspect ' s father , asked a neighbor to tell reporters camped outside the family ' s Tucson home Monday that he eventually would make the statement .  Giffords remained in critical condition Tuesday , three days after she was shot in the head during a gunman ' s rampage , but she was breathing on her own and doctors backed off on some sedation . Twelve others were wounded .  Giffords ' office released two photos of husband Mark Kelly , an astronaut , holding her hand Sunday .  "" I ' m happy to say she ' s holding her own , "" said Dr Michael Lemole Jr . , chief of neurosurgery at University Medical Center . "" Her status is the same as it was yesterday . She ' s still following simple commands . ""  Lemole said Giffords was generating her own breaths .  "" The only reason we keep that breathing tube in is to protect her airway so that she doesn ' t have complications like pneumonia , "" he told reporters .  Lemole said he ' s encouraged by the fact that she ' s "" done so well "" with an injury where survival and recovery are "" abysmal . ""  "" We ' re hopeful , but I do want to underscore the seriousness of this injury and the fact that we all have to be extremely patient , "" Lemole said .  Six of the victims in the Saturday shooting remained at University Medical Center , Chief of Emergency Medicine Peter Rhee said . Along with Giffords , three people were in serious condition and two were in fair condition .  Daniel Hernandez , a 20 year old intern on the Giffords staff , visited wounded staffer Ron Barber , 65 , at the hospital . Hernandez , who initially used his bare hands to stop blood gushing from Giffords ' head after she was shot , asked a bystander to put pressure on Barber ' s wounds , according to officials .  Tuesday night , mourners gathered at a memorial Mass for the six who were killed . The Mass was held at St . Odilia Church in Tucson , where 9 year old shooting victim Christina Green had her first communion a year ago . A children ' s choir sang "" Amazing Grace "" during the service .  The rosary for Christina Green is scheduled for Wednesday , followed by a funeral Thursday . Services for U . S . Judge John Roll , who was among the six people killed Saturday , are scheduled Thursday and Friday .  A friend of Christina ' s family took the girl to the event Saturday after she had been elected to a student government position .  Suzi Hileman , who was holding Christina ' s hand before the shooting , remains hospitalized for her wounds , her husband , Bill , told reporters Tuesday .  According to Hileman , Suzi sometimes calls out , "" Christina , Christina . Let ' s get out of here ! Let ' s get out of here ! ""  Suzi Hileman , a social worker , is involved in the community , her husband said , and was impressed with Christina ' s civic interest .  "" They are generations apart , but are very much birds of a feather , "" he said of the woman and girl . Christina ' s parents are supportive and have shown "" graciousness "" toward the Hilemans , Bill Hileman added .  In remarks in Tucson Tuesday , Gov . Jan Brewer remembered the victims .  "" Among the lessons that life has taught me is that , sometimes , loss just finds you , "" she said . "" You don ' t expect it . You don ' t want to accept it . But , suddenly , you ' re challenged by something dark and ugly , a pain you can hardly bear . ""  Among those killed was Dorwan Stoddard , 76 . He tried to shield his wife , Mavi , who was wounded in the leg .  President Barack Obama and his wife , Michelle Obama , will attend a Wednesday memorial service and visit with victims ' families at the University of Arizona in Tucson , according to a statement from the school . House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi will travel with them . An administration official said Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano also will attend .  The Arizona State Legislature in Phoenix , meanwhile , passed legislation Tuesday that bars protesters at funerals from getting within 300 feet of services . Brewer , who visited the injured Tuesday , later signed the bill .  The action , according to House Republican spokesman Daniel Scarpinato , was in direct response to a controversial church ' s announcement that it will picket Christina Green ' s funeral .  Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka , Kansas , has made its name by staging protests at funerals of people who died of  , gay people , soldiers and even civil rights leader Coretta Scott King .  The shooting has sparked horror across the United States and generated much partisan talk about vitriolic political discourse in American life and what Loughner ' s motivations were .  Experts said Tuesday the alleged shooter in the massacre may have difficulty making the case for a successful insanity plea .  With the "" amount of planning that went into this assassination , "" Callan said he believes "" it ' s highly unlikely he will meet the legal insanity defense threshold . ""  "" It ' s very hard to prove insanity at trial , "" he said . "" You really have to prove that your mental illness is so severe that you don ' t even understand that you ' re committing a criminal act . And it ' s almost impossible to prove that . ""  Gardere emphasized that "" premeditation will work against him in this one as far as getting an insanity plea . ""  Judy Clarke , Loughner ' s defense attorney , has not spoken on that issue .  Court documents released Sunday show that investigators found a letter from Giffords in a safe at the house where Loughner lived with his parents , thanking him for attending a 2007 event , similar to Saturday ' s meet and greet .  "" Also recovered in the safe was an envelope with handwriting on the envelope stating ' I planned ahead , ' and ' my assassination ' and the name ' Giffords , ' along with what appears to be Loughner ' s signature , "" the affidavit states .  A law enforcement official said Loughner asked Giffords a question at the 2007 event and was unhappy with her response .  "" He never let it go , "" the source said . "" It kept festering . ""  Loughner bought the Glock semiautomatic pistol used in the shooting back in November . He didn ' t fit any of the "" prohibited possessor "" categories that would have prevented the purchase and passed an instant federal background check . He tried to buy ammunition at a Walmart store , abruptly left and made the purchase elsewhere .  In other developments , U . S . District Judge Raner C . Collins has ruled that all magistrate and district judges in the District of Arizona ' s Tucson Division must recuse themselves from hearing any cases connected with the shooting .  The ruling , dated Monday , cited the need to "" avoid the appearance of impropriety , and because a judge has a duty to disqualify him or herself if his or her impartiality could be reasonably questioned , whether or not such impartiality exists . ""  Loughner appeared in a Phoenix federal courtroom Monday to formally hear the charges against him including two counts of murder , two counts of attempted murder and one count of attempting to kill a member of Congress .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
2744,2745,"Turkey says Su 34 violated airspace , Moscow shrugs off report as propaganda  Russian Su 34 fighter bomber ? Dmitriy Vinogradov Reuters  Moscow has denied Turkey s accusation that a Russian Su 34 bomber violated its airspace on Friday . The Russian Ministry of Defense said that Ankara couldn t have determined which country the jet belonged to under the circumstances they described .  There have been no Turkish airspace violations by the aircraft of the Russian airborne tactical formation acting in the Syrian Arab Republic . The statements from the Turkish side concerning the alleged air incursion by a Russian Su 34 are proof less propaganda , Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Iror Konashenkov said in a statement on Saturday .  He stressed that the airspace controlling radar stations that Turkey has can only determine the altitude , flight line , and speed of an aerial vehicle , but not its type or state affiliation . To determine which country owns the jet requires visual contact from another aircraft , Konashenkov emphasized , adding that no visual contact had been reported .   : Syria jets provide cover for Russian bombers in first joint anti  raid weblink : t . co tHXSS5Wx5h pic . twitterweblink nKF3OZsknu  He denounced the claim that Russian pilots had been warned in English and Russian via radar as a story made up by ignorant propagandists who watched too many Hollywood action movies .  Konashenkov also stressed that neither Russia s air defense systems in Syria , nor Syria s airspace controlling radar stations , had recorded any violations of the air border between Syria and Turkey .  Earlier on Saturday , Turkey summoned Russia s ambassador , claiming a Russian fighter jet had violated its airspace . According to Ankara , the incident involved a Russian Su 34 and took place on Friday . Several warnings in Russian and in English were allegedly sent to the jet .  We are making a clear call to the Russian Federation not to violate Turkish airspace , which is also  airspace , the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement Saturday .  We are emphasizing once again that the unwanted consequences of such irresponsible behavior will belong fully to the Russian Federation , it added .  SonDakika I T rk D ? ? i ? leri : 29 Ocak ' ta Rusya ' ya ait bir  34 u ? a ? ? T rk hava sahas ? n ? ihl ? l etti .  The ministry also said it views the alleged violation as a clear sign that Russia is seeking to escalate already existing tensions .  At the same time , President Recep Tayyip Erdogan voiced readiness to meet with Vladimir Putin in the wake of the incident , Reuters reports .  Russia s envoy has already met with the Turkish Foreign Ministry , the Russian embassy in Ankara confirmed . No details on the meeting were provided .  I did not shoot down that plane : Turkish  says order to attack Russian Su 24 wasn t his   also reacted to the reports , with Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg calling for calm and de escalation .  Stoltenberg urged Russia to act responsibly and to fully respect  airspace , as well as to ensure that such violations do not happen again .  In November , Turkey downed a Russian a Su 24 bomber , also claiming that it had violated the country s airspace , albeit for 17 seconds . The plane went down in Syria . Moscow has denied that any breach occurred and has accused the Turkish government of supporting terrorist forces in Syria .  The incident provoked a deep political crisis between Ankara and Moscow . President Erdogan has so far refused to apologize for the incident and blamed the downing on the Russian pilots , one of which was killed in the incident .  As a result , Moscow imposed multiple sanctions on Ankara , banning agricultural trade with Turkey , reintroducing a visa regime , and suspending most bilateral economic projects , including the Turkish Stream gas pipeline construction project .  Moscow has been carrying out an anti terrorist operation in neighboring Syria since September 2015 at the request of Syrian President Bashar Assad . Russia s Su 27 and Su 30 fighter jets , Su 34 and Su 24 tactical bombers , and Su 25 attack aircrafts have been carrying out airstrikes on Islamic State (  , former  ,  ) and other Syrian terrorist groups .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
2747,2748,"It s tough sometimes to imagine that Donald Trump has five children since it s clear from Monday s speech in front of 40,000 Boy Scouts and other attendees at the Boy Scouts Jamboree in West Virginia that he has absolutely no idea what kind of talk is appropriate for children.While most adults would take this opportunity to offer some pearls of adult wisdom or cheerlead the Boy Scouts toward their futures, Trump chose to deliver a tirade of Trumpisms.Like almost any time Trump has tried to string together more than a couple of words at a time, most of his speech was an inarticulate mess which consisted of his trademark whining, a wee bit of swearing and a pointless anecdote about a burned out rich guy at a cocktail party.In a string of what we might want to call Trump s greatest hits, toward the very beginning of his speech, he insulted President Obama and said he didn t want to talk about politics.  Who the hell wants to talk about politics when I m in front of the Boy Scouts?  Trump asked, but the answer, apparently, was Donald Trump. He talked about a lot of politics.Trump, to kids at Scout jamboree:  Who the hell wants to speak about politics when I m in front of the Boy Scouts?  weblink  Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) July 24, 2017 By the way, just a question: Did President Obama ever come to a jamboree?  he asked as the crowd of scouts, scoutmasters, and various other adults gathered in West Virginia yelled the word  no. The answer is no,  Trump continued.  But we ll be back.  (Obama did address a 100th anniversary scouting event in 2010 by video.)Source:  TodayPresident Obama did not attend in person out of protest for the Boy Scouts  policy of not admitting gay scouts. That policy has since changed.Trump talked about killing Obamacare and said he was going to fire Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price if that didn t happen:At Boy Scouts Jamboree, Trump jokes about firing his  secretary if he doesn t get the votes for health care bill weblink  Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) July 24, 2017He also regaled the audience of people who are mostly too young to drink with a story of a friend of his at a cocktail party.Trump tells kids at Boy Scout Jamboree about his friend who got tired of yachting, lost his $$ & a  cocktail party weblink  Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) July 24, 2017He also whined about loyalty, or his perceived lack of it:Naturally, Trump complained about the  fake media.  He said me might re-name Washington, D.C. a  cesspool,  instead of a  swamp. After hearing that speech, or the snippets, it was obvious that Trump had no idea he wasn t at one of his campaign rallies. If this is an example of how he speaks to children, it explains a lot about his children.Featured image via Drew Angerer/Getty Images",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
2755,2756,"KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - The Afghan Taliban attacked more than a dozen checkpoints over six hours in the southern province of Kandahar, killing 22 police and wounding 15, officials said on Tuesday, as militants killed eight soldiers in the west in a growing insurgency.  Government forces killed 45 insurgents and wounded 35 and none of the police checkpoints was captured in the overnight attacks, officials said.  Our forces resisted until they received reinforcements and air support,  said Zia Durrani, spokesman for Kandahar s police chief.  The Taliban were defeated.     The Taliban told reporters by WhatsApp that they killed 43 police and members of a militia and destroyed 13 armored vehicles. The insurgents often exaggerate battlefield casualties.       The Taliban, fighting to restore Islamic rule after their 2001 ouster by U.S.-led troops, also attacked Bala Boluk, in the western province of Farah, on Tuesday, killing eight soldiers and wounding three, according to the provincial government. The government s control or influence over the country has fallen to just under 60 percent, down six percentage points from last year, according to the United States  Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
2776,2777,"Les Deplorables Unite #ElectionNight #MAGA3X pic.twitter.com/LE79zCDQeN  ?? TRUMP?? (@ThePatriot143) November 9, 2016",fake,dataset,validation,American football,US elections,fake,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present
2780,2781,"When a bunch of kids were recently asked what they thought about Republican front-runner Donald Trump, they proved to America just how braindead Trump s conservative supporters were with their answers. Now, 8-year-old Jackson Wheeles from Jamestown, North Carolina is giving us another great example of the sort of intelligence we wish every voting American possessed.Jackson has not only been watching the 2016 presidential election with a close eye, but he has a message for the  s most popular candidate   and it s going to sting. Jackson was inspired to write his feelings in a letter addressed to Trump after his teacher at Millis Road Elementary showed her class the news. Jackson s message to the business mogul is a stark reminder that even those who are too young to vote in this election are watching   and judging. Jackson wrote: I have read several articles about you and have seen you on the television. I think you have been very rude to many people. I know that you are talking to adults when you give your speeches, because they are the ones that can vote. It is important for you to remember that children are watching and hearing you, too. Someday, we will also be able to vote. Photo Credit: Kelley WheelessJackson also gave Trump a priceless lesson on manners and the  Golden Rule    do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Honestly, this is a lesson in human decency that someone as old as Trump should have learned by now. I learned about The Golden Rule when I was  young. How would you feel if people said some of these terrible things about you that I have heard you say about them? Do you ever feel sorry about the things that you say that are hurtful to others? I have never heard you apologize. Jackson demonstrated just how closely he s been watching Trump when he called out Trump for mocking a handicapped reporter in November. What would happen if young people decided that it was  to make fun of handicapped people after watching you do that on national TV? Bullying is already a  problem, and it is  OK! I feel like you could make that problem much worse. Trump also got slammed by the third grader for stating that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue in New York City and still rise in the polls. Jackson spoke for both children and (level-headed) adults when he told Trump that he flat-out terrifies people. You make kids afraid when they hear that someone who could be our next President would even think of doing something like that! Jackson left Trump with this epic piece of wisdom: start thinking of America s youth and how his words and behavior will impact them. We may not be able to vote yet, but we are the future. I think it is important for us to have a kind, honest, caring person as our leader that we can look up to and respect. I am in the student government this year at my school. I try to be a student that everyone can look up to. I will grow up to be a husband, a father, hopefully a police officer, and a good friend. I will choose to be a better person than what you have been teaching me to be. You can read Jackson s full letter to Trump below:Photo Credit: Kelley WheelessJackson is one amazing 8-year-old and is a wonderful example of the kind of Americans we want voting in our elections. Every conservative that supports Trump should be forced to read his letter   maybe it ll make them actually think for once.Featured image compilation via Kelley Wheeless via WCNC-TV",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
2794,2795,"The son of a hockey legend has been arrested for allegedly selling New York Rangers ' player Derek Boogaard the prescription drugs that killed him in 2011 .  Jordan Hart , 31 , was arrested on Long Island on Tuesday morning by the  ' s New York drug enforcement task force and appeared in court in Manhattan on Tuesday .  A Utah physician ' s assistant , Oscar Johnson , was also arrested in the death and stands accused of writing bogus oxycodone prescriptions for Hart ,  reported .  Hart , the son of Islanders player Gerry Hart and himself a former minor league player , is accused of selling 28 year old Boogaard the pills ahead of his death in Minneapolis on May 13 , 2011 .  Arrest : Jordan Hart ( left ) , a former minor league player , has been arrested for allegedly selling Rangers ' player Derek Boogaard ( right ) the prescription drugs that killed him in May 2011  Taken in to custody : Hart , who is from Long Island , is pictured after his arrest on Tuesday morning  It was ruled that his death , which came after years of injuries and addiction to painkillers , was caused by an overdose on oxycodone and alcohol .  Boogaard had become addicted to prescription painkillers and Ambien while playing for the Minnesota Wild between 2005 and 2010 , Fox reported .  For the 2010 2011 season , he signed with the New York Rangers but at the end of 2011 , he suffered a severe concussion in an on ice fight that left him with debilitating migraines . He never played for the team again .  Family ties : Hart is the son of  legend and New York Islanders player Gerry Hart , pictured in 1976  To deal with the injury , he turned to Ambien , which was prescribed by the Rangers , and Percocet which contains oxycodone which had not been prescribed by the team .  When he was looking for a source of the drugs , an unidentified teammate put him in touch with Hart , who began supplying him in Long Island , the indictment said .  Johnson , the Utah physician ' s assistant , allegedly often wrote the prescriptions for him .  In March 2011 , Boogaard tried to return to the team but within weeks , teammates noticed that he was barely able to stand and appeared to be under the influence of something , the indictment said .  He was sent to rehab in California for a few weeks before deciding to spend the summer in Minneapolis .  But first , he stopped in New York to pick up belongings and one final stash from Hart .  On April 29 , he met with Hart in Huntington , Long Island and spent 4 , 000 to purchase pills , which the player then kept at his Minnesota apartment , the indictment said .  He returned to rehab and , after being given permission to leave again for a family commitment two weeks later , he flew to Minnesota , where he took one of the pills and headed out for a night of heavy drinking .  He was found dead in bed in his brother ' s Minneapolis apartment on May 13 , 2011 .  After his death , an examination of his brain found that he had chronic traumatic encephalopathy ( C . T . E . ) , a degenerative brain disease that is caused by repeated blows to the head .  New life : Hart , pictured with his wife Bella ( also pictured right ) , was investigated after Boogaard ' s father found a check written to him for 4 , 000 . He could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted  Legend : Hart is pictured with his wife Bella and family , including his hockey legend dad Gerry ( center )  After Boogaard ' s death , his father , Len , found the check for 4 , 000 , which had led to the investigation , the New York Times reported .  Preet Bharara , the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York , said that Hart was accused of ' feeding Boogaard ' s growing , debilitating addiction ' .  ' Ultimately , that addiction , fueled at least in part by the drugs that Johnson illegally prescribed , and Hart peddled for cash , culminated in Boogaard ' s tragic overdose death , ' he said .  Hart is charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute oxycodone . If convicted , he faces a maximum of 20 years in prison .  He appeared in court on Tuesday and wiped away tears from his eyes as he entered a not guilty plea , the New York Times reported . He was ordered released on 500 , 000 bond .  His attorney said prosecutors would have a hard time proving the player died from pills Hart allegedly sold him .  Debilitating : Boogaard is pictured fighting in a game against the Philadelphia Flyers . He was left with a severe concussion that forced him to quit , and he became increasingly hooked on painkillers  Missed : His family shake hands and receive a game worn jersey from Josh Harding ( 37 ) and Nick Schultz ( 55 ) of the Minnesota Wild in November 2011 six months after the player was found dead in Minneapolis  Johnson , 59 , is charged with 26 counts of distributing and possessing with intent to distribute oxycodone , each of which carries a maximum of 20 years in prison .  Johnson , who allegedly sold as many as 3 , 000 pills to Hart , was also charged with one count of making a false statement , which carries a maximum of five years in prison .  He was arrested in Salt Lake City and also appeared in court on Tuesday .  Hart , who married his wife Bella in 2012 , had been a prospect for the Islanders while in college but never played for them . Instead , he played minor league hockey and ended his career in 2009 with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers .  His father , Gerry , played for the Islanders from 1972 to 1979 . Hart Sr . also played for the Detroit Red Wings , Quebec Nordiques and St . Louis Blues .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,negative,past
2797,2798,"The plans are expected to be announced after Yahoo ' s fourth quarter results on Tuesday , the Journal reported , citing people familiar with the matter . It did not specify which business units might be closed .  A Yahoo spokeswoman said the company could not comment during its quiet period before releasing earnings .  Activist investors have pressed Yahoo to sell its core business rather than spin it off , even though a sale would likely incur more taxes .  It is unclear whether the plan Mayer is expected to announce would satisfy their demands , but cutting costs could make Yahoo more attractive to buyers .  Verizon has said it is interested in acquiring Yahoo if it were up for sale . Other potential buyers would include media and private equity firms , analysts said .  Yahoo had about 11 , 000 employees as of June 30 , according to its website , down from a December 31 , 2014 total of about 12 , 500 full time employees and what it called fixed term contractors .  Separately , a former Yahoo employee filed a lawsuit against the company Monday challenging its "" quarterly performance review "" process , on grounds it assigned numerical ratings to workers that in some cases were used to fire those at the bottom of the scale .  The lawsuit , filed in federal court in San Jose , California , said the plaintiff was terminated in 2014 , despite being previously praised , as a result of the  process .  The filing said Yahoo ' s use of the  process to terminate large numbers of employees violates federal and California laws that require employers to disclose mass layoffs above a certain threshold .  The New York Times previously reported on the lawsuit .  Yahoo has struggled to expand its Internet business , which includes selling search and display ads on its news and sports sites and email service , in the face of competition from Alphabet ' s Google unit and Facebook .  Yahoo ' s shares fell 1 . 2pc to 29 . 14 in afternoon trading on Monday . As of Friday ' s close , the stock had lost about a third of its value over the year .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
2825,2826,"What is your job now? I don’t have one, really. I’ve got a consulting company with a handful of clients  —   a couple of nonprofits, a universe of businesses and executives whose instincts are good. Sometimes they just want to kibitz. During the week of the Democratic National Convention, you appeared on both Stephen Colbert’s and Bill Maher’s shows. What’s your current philosophy on media exposure? I’m more experiential. When you do media as an elected official or as a candidate, you have a very clear message that you’re trying to impart and an idea of who you’re talking to. Now I don’t have all that. It’s more just to say what I think. You’re an unusual public figure in that you are known as a former member of Congress and candidate for mayor  —   and now you’re a guy who had an embarrassing sex scandal featured in a recent documentary. Do people approach you differently? The interactions I have with people have gotten clouded lately because of the movie. The movie seems very much to be a Rorschach test of what people thought about the thing itself. Some people approach me, and they’re like, “Oh, you got a raw deal. ” Some people approach me saying, “Oh, man, I wish you hadn’t messed up. ” Some people approach me and say, “Man, you are such an idiot. ” Have you or your wife, Huma Abedin, seen it? No. Do you regret giving access to the filmmakers? Obviously, when I agreed to do the movie, I anticipated a different outcome. Does anything hurt your feelings anymore or are you kind of immunized by what you’ve been through? To some degree, the same thing that made me successful and that allowed me to survive stuff is that my emotional wiring isn’t fully connected. I have a very thick skin. Without going down a rabbit hole here, you could argue that some of my emotional wiring wasn’t working terribly well. That is how I can survive having 40 cameras outside my house. Are you still engaging in the activities that got you in trouble? I’m not going to go down the path of talking about any of that. But I will say this: There’s no doubt that the Trump phenomenon has led a lot of people to say to me, “Boy, compared to inviting the Russians to come hack someone’s email, your thing seems almost quaint. ” I would think a great number of your former Republican colleagues in Congress must have some regrets about what’s really going on in their party, but most of them can’t say anything. Do you think that might change now that the conventions are behind us? No. The reason they don’t say anything is because they think it fractures their base. But I’m far enough away from this that I doubt my judgment. Recently, you said that if Donald Trump Jr. ran for mayor of New York, you might run yourself, just so you could beat him “like a rented mule. ” I never understood that expression. Why would a rented mule get beaten worse than a regular mule? I don’t know. I grew up listening to Don Imus, who would use that expression all the time. It’s colorful. Do you miss politics? I always had this philosophy when I was an elected official that I shouldn’t be a pundit, but now I’m called upon to be one every once in a while. Notwithstanding the flames I went down in, I’m pretty good at this stuff. Have you thought about running campaigns or being a political consultant? Almost weekly, some candidate will call and ask for advice. I’ve weirdly become a little bit of an elder statesman. Shouldn’t you get paid for it then? No, I don’t want to make a life out of it. Also, no one would want me. Why not? Would you really want the distraction of having me as your campaign manager?",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
2874,2875,"The funniest part of the video comes when  guest host Ben Stein attempts to force Maxine to give an actual reason why President Trump should be impeached and unhinged Maxine goes off on her theory about who came up with the very popular (and accurate) nick-name of  Crooked Hillary  for Hillary Clinton during the campaign. And as a bonus, Waters also embarrassingly admits she thinks the same person is responsible for the term  lock her up  that actually came from Trump s fans at his massive rallies. It s pretty obvious that President Trump and his supporters have gotten so deep under Maxine s thin skin LOL!Stein asked Waters somewhat incredulously if she felt that the Kremlin was involved in developing strategy to sink Hillary Clinton. Just to be clear, we haven t there s been no actual evidence yet of collusion,  said Stein. No, it has not been,  replied Waters. And I want you to know, every time I ve talked about impeachment, I ve said we ve got to connect the dots, we ve got to get the facts, we ve got to do the investigation. That is what leads to impeachment and I also said that Trump will lead us right there,  she added. For entire story- Townhall",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,present
2891,2892,"A planned Christmas strike by airport staff at Gatwick , Heathrow and Manchester airports has been called off .  Members of the Unite union working for dnata at the three airports had been due to walk out tomorrow , but will be balloted on revised proposals .  Unite regional officer Kevin Hall said : ' Unite is pleased to confirm that strike action has been suspended following a revised offer which better reflects the contribution our members make to the company .  Unite union had called for peace talks to avoid disruption at airports on December 23 and 24 , and thankfully it appears some common ground has been reached  ' All of this could have been avoided if the company hadn ' t refused requests to negotiate and go to  a number of weeks ago . We will now be putting the details of the revised pay offer to our members over the coming weeks . '  A spokesperson for dnata told TravelMole : ' During dnata ' s recent discussions with Unite and  , the two parties have come to an agreement on the salary award for dnata ' s Unite members . Unite has accepted dnata ' s offer of an increase in salary of 2 . 25 per cent , and a one time payment of 175 for all employees . '  Three of Heathrow ' s five terminals were going to be affected , as well as Gatwick and Manchester Airports .  The strike would have affected check in desks at Heathrow , Gatwick and Manchester airports  The Unite union , which was behind the strike , said its members who work for air services provider dnata at Heathrow , Gatwick and Manchester had voted by more than four to one in favour of the action .  Dnata ' s main customers include Virgin Atlantic , Emirates , Cathay Pacific , Turkish Airlines and Qantas Airways . The union said the strike was in protest at an imposed 2 . 2 per cent pay increase at a time when supervisors were being granted a rise of 4 . 5 per cent .  Unite represents around a quarter of the 1 , 900 dnata staff who carry out check in , ground crew and cargo duties at Heathrow , Gatwick and Manchester Airports .  Turnout among the 460 Unite members eligible to vote was just 45 per cent . Of those who voted , some 83 per cent supported the strike ' if the company continued to refuse to negotiate ' .  Unite said it was not its intention to wreck Christmas for families , but simply to get the firm around the negotiating table .  However it appears , at least for now , anyone travelling away this Christmas may escape added stresses to their holiday .  Gatwick had earlier confirmed that as Dnata have only a small operation at the airport , no passengers would be affected if the strike had gone ahead .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
2900,2901,"Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el Sisi has called for a "" religious revolution , "" asking Muslim leaders to help in the fight against extremism .  In a speech celebrating the birthday of the Prophet Mu ammad , which coincided with New Year ' s Day , he said they had no time to lose .  "" I say and repeat , again , that we are in need of a religious revolution . You imams are responsible before Allah . The entire world is waiting on you . The entire world is waiting for your word . . . because the Islamic world is being torn , it is being destroyed , it is being lost . And it is being lost by our own hands , "" el Sisi said .  "" We need a revolution of the self , a revolution of consciousness and ethics to rebuild the Egyptian person a person that our country will need in the near future , "" the President said .  El Sisi , himself a pious man , was elected in May after leaving the military to run for the office .  A former defense minister , he led the ouster of Mohamed Morsy the Islamist who was Egypt ' s first democratically elected President and has long positioned himself as a more secular option , and defender against extremist views .  "" It ' s inconceivable that the thinking that we hold most sacred should cause the entire Islamic world to be a source of anxiety , danger , killing and destruction for the rest of the world . Impossible that this thinking and I am not saying the religion I am saying this thinking , "" el Sisi said .  He continued : "" This is antagonizing the entire world . It ' s antagonizing the entire world ! Does this mean that 1 . 6 billion people ( Muslims ) should want to kill the rest of the world ' s inhabitants that is 7 billion so that they themselves may live ? Impossible ! ""  While el Sisi ' s speech included some powerful language , H . A . Hellyer , a nonresident fellow at the Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution and research associate at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University , said the President has made similar statements in the past .  "" There is little to suggest ( el Sisi ) is interested in some sort of Lutheran reformation of Islam . By all accounts , he ' s quite comfortable with the prevailing leadership of the Azhari establishment .  "" If anything , he wants to empower it further in order to push forward a counternarrative against radical Islamism . The real question is : How credible can such a state empowered counternarrative be ? "" Hellyer said .  On Tuesday , the President visited the main Coptic cathedral in Cairo to attend a Christmas mass and make a short speech . He is the first president to attend such a mass since the revolution .  "" We will build our country together . We will accommodate each other . We will love each other , "" el Sisi said in that speech .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
2917,2918,"A disabled pensioner claims she has been banned from using the Sainsbury ' s home delivery service after describing one of their drivers as a ' coloured gentleman ' .  Marian Burke , 73 , says she used the term entirely innocently to refer to a ' lovely ' deliveryman who works for the supermarket .  But she says a manager at Sainsbury ' s immediately branded her a racist for saying the word and said her custom was no longer welcome .  Osteoporosis sufferer Marian Burke , 73 , claims she has been banned from using the Sainsbury ' s home delivery service after describing one of their drivers as a ' coloured gentleman '  Last night the supermarket insisted the ban was justified and accused Mrs Burke of using a ' racial slur ' on three separate occasions while being aggressive towards staff .  But wheelchair bound Mrs Burke , who has a Kenyan carer , strenuously denied the charge and said Sainsbury ' s should be ashamed of its actions .  Mrs Burke , who suffers from osteoporosis and cannot leave the house , says she is completely dependent on the delivery service for her 80 weekly shop .  Being unfamiliar with computers means online delivery is not an option , so for the last ten years she has phoned the supermarket with her shopping list of food and household goods .  After a string of mistakes in recent weeks with deliveries arriving without several essentials , she called the shop to inform them of their error .  She recalled : ' When the manager asked me what the name of the delivery driver was , I had to tell him that I didn ' t know . I said to him , "" I don ' t know his name , but he was a lovely coloured gentleman "" . '  She continued : ' Then all hell broke loose . The man on the other end of the phone called me a racist , and said they would never again take an order from me . '  Last night a Sainsbury ' s spokesman claimed the company ' s ban came after Mrs Burke had been ' aggressive ' and used ' racial slurs ' .  He said : ' Mrs Burke ' s version of events does not reflect our experience of her . She was not solely banned for the use of the word ' coloured ' but for a range of racial slurs on three separate occasions , used in an aggressive manner against our colleagues .  Mrs Burke says she is completely dependent on the delivery service from the Finchley Road branch ( above ) for her 80 weekly shop  ' As you would expect we don ' t take action  like this lightly but have a duty of care to protect our colleagues  from racial and abusive language and any form of aggression . '  But Mrs Burke denied the firm ' s version of events , saying : ' That ' s absolute lies . How dare they call me a racist ? They should be ashamed . '  Last night one of Mrs Burke ' s two carers said : ' I heard the phone call . She was not rude and she was not racist at all . '  The Sainsbury ' s telephone ordering service which is not offered by her other local supermarkets had previously been a lifeline for Mrs Burke , who is separated and does not have children .  She says she wept after the staff member ' s outburst earlier this month and is now relying on a friend who lives nearby for her shopping needs . She said : ' There ' s not a racist bone in my body . What ' s wrong with referring to someone as coloured ? It ' s political correctness gone mad . '  The retired secretary , who lives in Highgate , North London , was dependent on her weekly delivery from the nearby Finchley Road branch which processed her order from a call centre although not always correctly .  ' They were always forgetting things , and it ' s so hard for me to get out , ' said Mrs Burke .  ' Also , the delivery costs me nearly 10 , so I felt that I wasn ' t getting the service I deserved . '  She went on : ' As a loyal customer , I had had enough , so I rang my local store , not to shout at them or anything , but because I wanted to tell them that I ' m very frail and if they could try to remember everything I order , I ' d be very grateful .  ' Sainsbury ' s was my lifeline , and now it ' s been taken away from me . '  Using the term ' coloured ' to refer to black people is considered to be offensive because it dismisses everyone who is not white as the same .  The term was in widespread use in Britain in the 1960s but is now viewed by many to be racist .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
2922,2923,"Local student Jeff Saunders impressed friends at an East End Mr Sub by asking for hot sauce on his sandwich , sources reported yesterday .  "" He was like , No man , throw some hot sauce on there too ' to the dude behind the counter , "" friend Eric Sherman said . "" He ' s crazy , man . Jeff ' s just that kind of guy . ""  Saunders reportedly returned the sandwich after discovering that there weren ' t any Jalape os .  Added Sherman : "" Ya , he bit into the sub and was like what ! Where are the Jalape os ? ' as if just red peppers weren ' t enough . Insane . ""  Cindy Shaeffer , who was at the Eglinton Ave . and Laird St . Mr Sub , had this to say about Saunders ' love of hot sauce : "" I think he goes a little overboard sometimes . I gave him a bite of my chicken caesar sub , because he said he ' d never tried it , and I warned him that it was hot . He suddenly got this strange grin on his face , as if I ' d just told him that there were leprechauns hiding under the lettuce or something . After he ate it he said You call that hot ? ' and started to laugh . Then he pulled out a bottle of hot sauce he ' d ordered on EBay , and he ' s like , You should try this sucker . You ' d probably have a heart attack . "" ' Whatever , Jeff . ""  For years , Saunders has jumped at every opportunity to eat hot spicy foods in front of his friends .  "" Try and order some honey garlic wings with Saunders around . He won ' t have it , "" said Jim McShane , Saunders ' friend and co worker at a local Shoppers Drug Mart . "" One time , I asked the waitress for honey garlic and he called me a pussy , right in front of her , and ordered extra hot . For about five minutes he just sat there looking at me contemptuously out of the corner of his eye . ""  In the past , Saunders ' reckless use of hot condiments has caused serious harm to his friends . McShane was once hospitalized for two weeks with a swollen esophagus after an incident in which Saunders made him try a bite of his sandwich .  "" I took one bite and I started to choke and I felt like I couldn ' t breathe . I tried to grab my beer to cool down and he took it away and said Are you serious ? Man , what a sissy , that ' s nothing . "" ' He ' s such a dick . We ' ll see if he ever gets his playstation controller back probably not . ""  McShane and Saunders haven ' t spoken since that night . Ed Strachan , longtime teammate on the Leaside Highschool Bocce Ball team , has also had enough of Saunders ' spicy food flaunting .  "" He ' s always saying shit like You call that hot ? ' and Man , this isn ' t hot enough . "" ' He ' s such an idiot . Okay , we get it ! You ' re a tough guy . Real big shot . How bout I take a steaming hot shit on your face ! What do you say about that , Prime Time ?  When asked about the explicit advertisement of his preference for throat weltingly hot foods , Saunders only replied , "" What can I say ? I just like hot food . ""  ",satire,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
2924,2925,"Colonel Ralph Peters comments on what he thinks Congress will do regarding releasing the 9/11 Report. Unfortunately, he s correct  ",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present
2945,2946,"On January 14 , 2013 , George H . W . Bush was released from a Houston hospital after seven weeks of treatment for bronchitis , an infection and a persistent cough .  On Thursday he was sky diving to celebrate his 90th birthday .  A year and a half ago , Bush was already suffering from a form of Parkinson ' s disease , and some people weren ' t sure how much he would be able to bounce back after his lengthy hospitalization . But not only has he been able to travel and now sky dive he has also seen a political resurgence .  Bushes thank Clinton , Obama for well wishes  In April of last year , he attended the opening of his son ' s presidential library , telling the audience , "" It ' s a great pleasure to be here to honor our oldest son . ""  In July , he visited the White House , where President Barack Obama recognized him for his commitment to volunteerism through his "" Points of Light "" initiative .  "" We are surely a kinder and gentler nation because of you , "" Obama told Bush .  Democrat Nunn features Bush 41 in first ad  Just in the past month , he received several prestigious honors recognizing his decades of public service and his presidency . The proud Yale ' 48 graduate received an honorary degree from archrival Harvard , even attending the ceremony , and he also was given a Profile in Courage award by the  Library for the 1990 budget deal , which included the politically toxic tax hikes .  He admitted at the time that cutting the deal would probably cost him politically , and it did . He lost his re election bid in 1992 .  He and his presidency are now seen in a much better light than they were then .  Bush ' s earthbound celebration will be a dinner with 200 friends and family and a performance by Irish tenor Ronan Tynan .  His jump was a tandem one from a helicopter with Mike Elliott and members of the All Veteran Group , former members of the U . S . Army Golden Knights parachute team .  Bush also celebrated his 75th , 80th and 85th birthdays with jumps .  His approval rating is second only to Bill Clinton ' s 66 rate among living presidents .  The 41st president marked the 25th anniversary of his inauguration this year . He and his wife , Barbara , attended a celebration event in April featuring hundreds of former administration officials , family and friends , who gathered at his presidential library in College Station , Texas . The Bushes attended some of the seminars examining his presidency and its effects and talked to many of the attendees .  "" They just relished it , "" former Sen . Alan Simpson of Wyoming , a friend since the 1960s , said of the Bushes ' reaction to the event .  Bush was especially touched , Simpson said , by the attendance of Democratic Sen . Tom Harkin of Iowa at the event that spotlighted their work together pushing the Americans with Disabilities Act , which Bush signed into law .  "" History is sorting "" through Bush ' s presidency now , and he is receiving more credit than while he was in office , Simpson said .  "" Wait a minute the ( Berlin ) Wall came down . . . this guy did things , "" he said .  "" 25 years ago this hour , the people placed their hopes and trust in our team . Still hard to believe I had the honor to serve as President , "" the former president posted on his Twitter account in January on the actual anniversary of his inauguration .  Ron Kaufman , a longtime friend and former Bush White House official , said , "" History is going to be very , very kind to 41 for many reasons . . . . Clearly there ' s a resurgence of people looking at 41 , his lifetime and his presidency and after his presidency . . . . Respect grows for him and for his family . ""  The former president , who had mostly stayed away from politics in recent years , now finds himself a big financial draw for Republicans thanks to his fascination with colorful socks . As of last week , the Republican National Committee said it had raised around 1 million selling pairs of striped yellow , orange , green and blue socks it created under Bush ' s name .  As for Bush ' s birthday and the attention it will bring , Simpson said , "" I think he will say . ' I don ' t deserve this . ' ( But ) the fact is , you ( celebrate ) the big 7 0 , big 8 0 , big 9 0 he ' d be tickled to death . ""  Kaufman said Bush doesn ' t want people "" puffing him up "" and will leave it to history to judge his legacy .  "" He really enjoys life to the fullest , "" he said .  Kaufman added that after Bush ' s illness , he is "" less worried about death . . . more enjoying his life as it is . ""  That includes shaving his head to show solidarity with the son of a member of his Secret Service detail who has cancer , and traveling to Duke University to honor Coach Mike Krzyzewski for his work supporting cancer research .  As for how the nation views him today , Simpson said Bush "" is quite touched "" by an outpouring of love and affection he receives from people across the nation .  "" Wherever he goes , people love him , "" Kaufman said .  Opinion : What Bush at 90 can teach millennials  Neil Bush : What 41 wants for his birthday  41 things about Bush 41  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
2948,2949,"Vikings , Bears likely to engage in low scoring battle  The Chicago Bears were among the worst defensive teams in the league the past two seasons , and that was one of the primary reasons the organization cleaned house and fired its general manager and its coaching staff .  Veteran John Fox was hired to restore a bit of dignity to the Monsters of the Midway , and he brought in former San Francisco 49er defensive coordinator Vic Fangio to upgrade the defense . So far , he has gotten impressive results .  The Bears don ' t have big name personnel on their defensive team , but they rank 10th in the league in yards allowed . They are a well positioned unit , and former Baltimore Raven Pernell McPhee has given them a lift with 4 . 0 sacks and by taking on a leadership role .  Free safety Harrison Smith is a sharp minded player who is like having a coach on the field . He leads the team with 37 tackles . ?  Neither one of these defenses is likely to blink until late in the game . The linemakers have set the total at 42 points , and this game has the look of a sure under . Look for a 17 14 or 21 17 final , as this game goes under the total .  Seahawks finally hit their stride and hope to extend it  It was simply an awful start for the Seattle Seahawks . After winning the Super Bowl in 2014 and getting within a play of repeating that championship last year , Pete Carroll ' s team was sluggish in losing four of the first six games .  That ' s not acceptable in Seattle , and while Pete Carroll is not one to criticize his players publicly , he knows how to push the right buttons and get his team back on track . The Seahawks did just that in Week 7 in San Francisco , as they were in charge from start to finish and picked up a 20 3 victory .  The 49ers could not get their offense on track , and the Seahawks play another struggling team this week in the Dallas Cowboys . With Tony Romo and Dez Bryant sidelined , the Cowboys have had a tough time scoring points and holding onto the football .  The Seahawks are not about to give the Cowboys any sympathy . Their hard hitting defense ranks third in the league , and they are likely to force the issue throughout the game as six point road favorites .  It ' s difficult to see the Cowboys getting anything more than field goals in this game .  While Dallas will struggle to move the ball , the Seahawks have their power running game with Marshawn Lynch back in form . After being slowed with hamstring issues earlier this season , Lynch ran for 122 yards and a touchdown against the Niners .  He will dish out more punishment against the Cowboys , and Seattle will register another hard hitting , dominant road win .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
2955,2956,"Jay Gruden on DeSean ' s fumbled punt : ' I don ' t regret the decision one bit '   , Md . It wouldn ' t be hard to blame the Redskins if they were miffed at DeSean Jackson for fumbling a critical punt return , setting up a go ahead touchdown from Darren McFadden and possibly costing his team the game . But Washington has the back of the mercurial wideout as evidenced by reaction following the game .  Jay Gruden went so far as to say he doesn ' t "" regret the decision one bit . ""  "" It didn ' t end up , obviously , the way we wanted to . It ' s DeSean and he ' s had a history of making big plays in key situations . I don ' t regret that decision one bit , "" Gruden said . "" I ' ll count on DeSean to make another big play . He ended up getting a touchdown to get us back in the game and tie it . I can live with that , he ' s just got to protect the ball , obviously . ""  Jackson who absolutely does have a history of big plays started to take the punt out to the right side of the field before reversing completely and trying to break a massive play to the left .  Jackson ' s fumble set up the Cowboys for an easy touchdown run and a 16 9 lead with just 1 : 14 left . It should ' ve been ballgame but for Jackson redeeming himself a bit with a deep touchdown catch .  Jackson took his medicine in the locker room , owning up for the mistake , and there ' s no hard feelings from the Redskins , at least on the surface .  Cornerback Will Blackmon accurately pointed out how Jackson previously ripped the Giants ' hearts out with a punt return while playing for the Eagles ( ironically he helped both those teams out Monday with his fumble ) .  "" I was on the opposite when I was in New York and he had that punt return against us when he was in Philly , "" Blackmon said . "" He went back there and his whole thing is he just wants to win . He wasn ' t going out there to make it all about himself . I mean he has plenty of money . He has all the accolades . We ' re tied for first place , so , hey , this is his chance to get us back in the playoffs and that ' s why he went back there . You saw him back there and we were excited . ""  The money and accolades thing is weird , but whatever . The point being is Jackson has some big ups and he has some big downs when it comes to his late game punt returns .  Fumbling a punt return and then trying to save the game just a few plays is just about a perfect way to summarize Jackson as a player .  DeSean Jackson hauls in the tying touchdown late in the fourth quarter . (  )  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
2959,2960,"Apple and Samsung have spent years at loggerheads over various patent infringements , and despite calling a truce recently , the rivalry still runs deep it seems .  Reports claim that Apple was recently in talks with PayPal to be the ' preferred payment process ' for its new Apple Pay service .  But , during talks , PayPal agreed to do a similar deal with Samsung , and this is said to have caused Apple to have called the whole thing off .  Sources close to Apple and PayPal revealed that Apple had hoped to add PayPal to Apple Pay , but during talks , PayPal signed a deal with Samsung . Apple was said to be ' absolutely furious ' and snubbed the service completely . Neither firm has responded to MailOnline ' s request for comment  The news of Apple ' s snub comes as PayPal and eBay separated this week , 12 years after the auction site bought the payment firm for 1 . 5 billion ( 1 billion ) .  PayPal lets customers to pay online for goods and services while storing their card details on its own servers , rather than giving the details away to multiple websites .  It is in 203 countries and is expected to process a billion payments online this year . Revenues last year were 4 . 5billion and are growing at 19 per cent a year .  The move means PayPal can focus on growing its market share in an increasingly competitive environment .  Sources close to both Apple and PayPal confirmed the reports to finance site Bank Innovation , which also reported on the talks last month .  The site claims that PayPal ' s former president David Marcus was ' categorically against the Samsung deal ' , because he feared it would jeopardise the firm ' s relationship with Apple .  But eBay ' s chief executive John Donahoe is said to have pushed for the Samsung deal .  Bank Innovation continued that Apple was said to be ' absolutely furious ' , and snubbed the service completely .  Apple and PayPal have not responded to MailOnline ' s request for comment .  The news comes as PayPal and eBay split this week , 12 years after the auction site bought the payment firm for 1 . 5 billion ( 1 billion ) .  PayPal lets customers to pay online for goods and services while storing their card details on its own servers , rather than giving the details away to multiple websites .  It is in 203 countries and is expected to process a billion payments online this year .  Revenues last year were 4 . 5 billion ( 7 . 2 billion ) and are growing at 19 per cent a year .  The move means PayPal can focus on growing its market share in an increasingly competitive environment .  PayPal partnered with Samsung for the release of its Galaxy S5 in February ( pictured ) . A finger scanner on the device authorises payments for goods , via PayPal , and acts as a password for accounts  The news of Apple ' s snub comes as PayPal and eBay separated this week , 12 years after the auction site bought the payment firm for 1 . 5 billion ( 1 billion ) . PayPal lets customers to pay online for goods and services while storing their card details on its own servers , rather than giving the details away to multiple websites  A finger scanner on the device authorises payments for goods , via PayPal , and acts as a password for accounts .  Rob Skinner , Director of  , PayPal  , said at the time : ' Combining Samsung ' s fingerprint authentication with PayPal means users will no longer need to remember passwords or login details when they shop .  ' This new method strikes the perfect balance between convenience and security and we believe this will be the future for 2014 and beyond . '  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
2967,2968,"If there is one thing going for the American people against Trump s assault on decency, liberties, and intelligence it s that he and his team are so incompetent that they can t even do the simplest things without humiliating themselves. An obvious example of that sheer stupidity comes at us from this pro-Trump ad, which he recently proudly posted to his Facebook page.Thanks to the crack team over at the White House, a simple spelling mistake turned Trump s coal fetish into a call to relax child labor laws. In boasting about his efforts to kill clean energy and bring back coal, he promised to  put our minors back to work. The word he was looking for was  miners.  Apparently, nobody at Trump s White House noticed the typo. It s been six hours and nobody has bothered to fix it, either.This would be a funny gaffe if it weren t so depressingly common. Trump has issued statements misspelling the names and titles of foreign leaders. Trump has misspelled words as simple and varied as  Denmark  (Denmakr),  honored  (honered),  among  (amoung), and  unprecedented  (unpresidented).A White House statement bragging about Betsy DeVos spelled  education  wrong. She s the Secretary of Education.The Library of Congress gift shop had to pull a poster honoring Trump s inauguration when people noticed it, too, had an ridiculously simple typo.No joke: Purchasable copy of Trump's Inauguration Print, direct from the Library of Congress site. A 5th grader would've spotted this typo. pic.twitter.com/zomWsMojYV  Jules Winnfield (@paulm4749) February 12, 2017Meanwhile, Trump s minor/miner gaffe has another unfortunate side effect for his administration   reminding us that his good friend Newt Gingrich actually wants to repeal child labor laws. As writer Parker Molloy points out, Newt, a full-time moron who moonlights as a part-time shithead on evenings and weekends, once called child labor laws  truly stupid  and suggested poor kids be encouraged to become janitors at their schools, picking up the trash of their classmates to earn lunch money.Speaking at the John F. Kennedy school, Gingrich said that children in the poorest neighborhoods are  trapped in child laws  that prevent them from earning money. Most of these schools ought to get rid of the unionized janitors, have one master janitor and pay local students to take care of the school,  Gingrich said according to a  video.Trump hasn t gone that far. He s only hinted that he would prefer children work. During Obama s administration when he was eager to pretend the unemployment rate was sky high he would sometimes count children as part of his inflated unemployment figures.Instead of worrying about coal miners and school-aged minors, Trump, who was born rich and stayed that way, might want to invest in some additional schooling for himself. Basic grammar and spelling would be a good place to start.Featured image via Scott Olson/Getty Images",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
2972,2973,"Social Security fixes give Republicans small victory in budget deal  It s a solid agreement , and I told my colleagues there isn t any reason why any member should vote against this , House Speaker John A . Boehner , Ohio Republican , said after making a plea ? likely his last as speaker ? for . . . more  The budget deal that Republican and Democratic leaders reached this week makes the biggest changes to Social Security in decades , giving Republicans a small victory as they try to sell the agreement to skeptical advocacy groups in Washington and voters back home .  Republicans already are paying the price among key conservatives after agreeing to break the budget sequester for 2016 and 2017 and giving the president a debt holiday , allowing the administration to borrow without limit until March 2017 .  But Republican leaders say the chance to make the first changes to Social Security s disability program , where fraud has become rampant , is worth the trade , particularly when the alternative is either a default or a clean debt increase without any conditions attached , as President Obama has sought .    : Budget deal finds nickel and dimes  It s a solid agreement , and I told my colleagues there isn t any reason why any member should vote against this , House Speaker John A . Boehner , Ohio Republican , said after making a plea ? likely his last as speaker ? for support for another controversial measure .  The deal is the equivalent of digging through the sofa cushions to scrounge nickels and dimes in order to cover the cost of raising discretionary spending by 50 billion in fiscal year 2016 and 30 billion in 2017 .  It changes federal law to allow debt collectors to call Americans cellphones ? but only if the debt is owed to Uncle Sam . It would sell off part of the government s strategic oil reserves to raise some 5 billion over the next decade and speeds up increases in the civil penalties the government can charge , raising some 2 . 2 billion .    : Obama says he s pretty happy with two year budget deal  Although billed as a bipartisan compromise , Democrats seemed far happier with the outcome than Republicans .  We successfully secured equal increases in funding defense and non defense priorities . We have extended the solvency of Social Security Disability Insurance and protected millions of seniors from a significant increase in their Medicare Part B premiums and deductibles next year . Most importantly , we have affirmed that the full faith and credit of the United States is non negotiable and inviolable with the inclusion of a clean debt limit suspension in this package , House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi , California Democrat , said in a statement ticking off her party s victories .  The best Republican leaders could muster was telling their troops that the alternative would have been worse .  The agreement isn t perfect by any means , but the alternative was a clean debt ceiling increase without any additional support for our troops and without any entitlement reforms . So this is a good deal for our troops and for the American people , Mr Boehner said .  Republicans were caught from the beginning between competing forces . Some wanted to stick to the 2011 budget deal that imposed deep cuts in defense and domestic spending for a decade , but defense hawks insisted that the Pentagon needed more money to fight terrorism overseas .  Democrats , meanwhile , were unified , saying they would accept an increase in defense spending only if it was matched dollar for dollar with domestic spending .  Republicans initially tried to use a gimmick to boost defense alone but ran into a veto threat from Mr Obama and filibusters from Senate Democrats , forcing them to the negotiating table , where they agreed to the spending hikes as long as most of them were offset with cuts or fees elsewhere .  The debt increase , meanwhile , is attached to the bill ? but so are the changes to Social Security , which Republicans are touting as their big ticket takeaway , saying it s the first step on the path to bigger reforms of runaway entitlements .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
2973,2974,"Protesters Clash After Mount Greenwood Police-Involved Shooting Laura Podesta and Will Jones,  7 (Chicago), November 7, 2016  Protesters clashed Sunday afternoon near the site of a deadly police shooting of a 25-year-old man in Chicago’s Mount Greenwood neighborhood.  Investigators said Joshua Beal, of Indianapolis, was armed when a confrontation between him and officers resulted in him being fatally shot. However, family members dispute the police narrative.  Michael Beal, Joshua Beal’s brother, was charged with aggravated battery to a police officer, resisting arrest and attempting to disarm a police officer, a Cook County State’s Attorney spokesperson said Monday. He is scheduled to appear in court at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.  On Sunday, Mount Greenwood residents squared off against activists demonstrating against the shooting. The clash between Black Lives Matters and Blue Lives Matters groups became tense at times as they exchanged chants such as “KKK” on one side and “CPD” on the other side.  {snip}  According to police, the shooting occurred after a vehicle leaving funeral services at a nearby cemetery stopped in traffic in front of a Chicago fire house near West 111th Street and South Troy Street. An off-duty firefighter told the driver that they were illegally blocking the fire lane. The occupants exited the vehicle and a verbal/physical altercation ensured, police said. An off-duty Chicago police officer was inside a nearby business and assisted the firefighter.  A Chicago police sergeant driving to work stopped when he observed a man with a firearm in his hands. After the man “failed to drop his weapon, shots were fired striking the individual multiple times,” police said.  {snip}  According to family, an off-duty officer in an unmarked vehicle cut off one of the vehicles in the funeral procession. The family members and officer got out of their vehicles. After a verbal exchange, gunfire erupted but Beal’s family said that he did not provoke the officer, and merely disclosing that he had a concealed weapon permit.  {snip}  Video circulated online on Sunday that claimed to show Beal holding a gun.  “The problem is everybody is making their assumptions based on the little stuff they see, the picture, the video. No one knows what happened,” activist Ja’Mal Green said.  The video appears to capture the tense moments before the shooting, showing at least two people with their guns out. In another video, gunshots can be heard.  {snip}",fake,news,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
3002,3003,"head defends stimulus package after market backlash , divisions  Mario Draghi , President of the European Central Bank , answers questions after speaking at the Economic Club of New York during a luncheon in the Manhattan borough of New York December 4 , 2015 .  The European Central Bank (  ) headquarters are pictured in Frankfurt , Germany , September 3 , 2015 .    The head of the European Central Bank defended the bank ' s latest stimulus package on Friday , brushing off concerns about a negative market reaction to the measures and signs of divisions among  rate setters .  Mario Draghi said he was confident the measures unveiled on Thursday , which included a small deposit rate cut and an extension of its asset purchase programme , would help bring inflation back to the  ' s target , adding the bank was ready to ease its policy further if needed .  "" I can say therefore with confidence ? and without any complacency ? that we will secure the return of inflation to 2 percent without undue delay , because we are currently deploying tools that we believe will achieve this , and because we can , in any case , deploy our tools further if that proves necessary , "" Draghi told an audience in New York .  Yet the  ' s package had disappointed markets , who had hoped for more radical action , and divided  policy makers , suggesting any further step to stimulate inflation may face a higher hurdle .  Comments by  rate setters since the decision suggest there was not enough support for bolder action on the  ' s governing council , which includes the bank ' s six executive board members and the 19 governors of the euro zone ' s national central banks , and that even the measures approved encountered some resistance .  The head of Germany ' s Bundesbank , Jens Weidmann , said he had voted against easing , judging that the current low inflation was mainly due to low oil prices .  Latvia ' s central bank governor Ilmars Rimsevics , who declined to say how he voted , said he questioned some of the measures announced on Thursday during the Governing Council .  "" I supported a part of these measures , I discussed another part , "" Rimsevics said .  Executive Board member Yves Mersch , on the other hand , stood by Thursday ' s decision and even left the door open for more stimulus in the future if needed .  Market expectations had been sky high ahead of the meeting after  President Mario Draghi and other executive board members had , in a number of speeches since October , dropped hints that more stimulus was urgently needed .  The market ' s disappointment raised a question mark over how far the  and its president can be expected to act in future and whether investors will still be willing to give them credence .  Draghi talked down the importance of market expectations in the  ' s latest decision .  "" The package was not meant to address market expectations , it was meant to achieve our objective , "" he said .  Belgium ' s central bank governor also expressed strong confidence in the measures announced on Thursday and dismissed concerns about the market ' s negative reaction .  "" If markets expected another thing , that ' s their view , but I would like to invite them to look . . . at the links between what we are doing and what is happening in financial markets and the real economy and to have confidence that these links will be reinforced by the measures taken yesterday , "" Jan Smets said .  ( Additional reporting by ? ederts ? elzis in Riga and Philip Blenkinsop in Brussels Editing by Mark Trevelyan )  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3026,3027,"A federal judge has ordered the reinstatement of an openly lesbian former Air Force major who was dismissed from the military under the government ' s "" don ' t ask , don ' t tell "" policy .  Judge Ronald Leighton of Tacoma , Washington , made his ruling Friday . It is the latest legal and political setback for the Obama administration , which is seeking to end the policy through a legislative and executive solution .  Maj . Margaret Witt , a decorated flight nurse with 20 years of service , had sued to return to the Air Force Reserve . She was honorably discharged in July 2007 on the grounds that she had a six year relationship with another woman , a civilian .  "" Her discharge from the Air Force Reserves violated her substantive due process rights under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution . She should be restored to her position as a flight nurse with the 446th  as soon as is practicable , "" wrote the judge .  An Air Force spokesman said the Air Force believes that "" Major Witt ' s discharge was fully consistent with the law and thus appropriate . ""  "" While we are disappointed the district court judge did not agree that important Congressionally recognized military interests were furthered by Major Witt ' s discharge , we are pleased he allowed the government to develop a more detailed factual record for the appellate courts to consider , "" said Lt . Col . Todd Vician .  The "" don ' t ask , don ' t tell "" policy enacted in 1993 prevents gay men and lesbians from openly serving in the military and bars officials from inquiring into a service member ' s sexuality .  The Senate this week temporarily turned aside legislation to repeal the law .  Witt joined the Air Force in 1987 and was suspended in 2004 , after her superiors discovered her personal relationship with the civilian woman . At the time , she worked for an air medical transport unit that evacuated and treated wounded soldiers .  She was described in employee reports and by trial witnesses as an "" exemplary officer "" who was an effective leader , caring mentor , and skilled clinician . She had hid her homosexuality for years .  The judge found no compelling reason for her dismissal .  "" The application of ' don ' t ask , don ' t tell ' to Major Margaret Witt does not significantly further the government ' s interest in promoting military readiness , unit morale and cohesion , "" he wrote .  In 2006 , Leighton had ruled against Witt , but a federal appeals court had ordered him to take another look at the case .  A six day federal trial had wrapped up earlier this week , and Leighton had openly indicated he would likely rule in Witt ' s favor .  "" My colleagues my friends said , ' Ron , you got it wrong , "" ' Leighton said near the end of the trial , referring to his earlier decision . "" They told me what I needed to do , what I needed to ask . ""  The judge is a 2002 Bush appointee .  Witt ' s lawyers from the  argued that the Spokane native ' s sexuality never led to any problems within her unit . Several members of her squadron had testified they would welcome her back .  "" Today we heard the hammer of justice strike for Major Margaret Witt , "" said  of Washington Executive Director Kathleen Taylor . "" We look forward to the day when all members of our military can serve our country without invidious discrimination . To discharge her simply because of her sexual orientation was entirely unfair to her and unwise for the military , which needs her significant skills . ""  Witt was released just before she was set to retire with full benefits . The judge rejected a separate argument from Witt that her procedural due process rights were violated . Leighton said the Air Force gave her full notice of the charges against her and she was given the opportunity to challenge the charges .  Air Force lawyers argued the military not the courts was in the best position to evaluate and enforce the "" don ' t ask , don ' t tell "" policy . A federal judge in California earlier this month had similarly ruled the policy unconstitutional . That judge will soon rule on whether the Pentagon will be barred from enforcing it .  President Barack Obama is pushing for a repeal of the controversial policy . A bill that would overturn the measure after a Pentagon review is completed in December is currently before Congress .  More than 12 , 500 gays have been booted from the military since "" don ' t ask , don ' t tell "" went into effect .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3042,3043,"Health risk : Pensioners have been warned to drink less alcohol or risk damaging their health  Pensioners were warned last night to drink less alcohol or risk severely damaging their health .  Doctors and public health experts said heavy drinking among the elderly was a ' hidden problem ' and safe limit guidelines for over 65s should be halved .  They warned that older people were unaware of the health risks and that their bodies were less able to cope .  They said metabolism was slower in the elderly , meaning the toxic chemicals linger longer in the body , while drunkenness can raise the odds of depression and mask the development of dementia .  Alcohol related falls can lead to years of disability , while drinks can interfere with prescription pills , with dangerous effects .  Retirement , bereavement and loneliness can all increase the thirst for alcohol , which can trigger problems from dementia to disabling falls and liver damage .  Andrew Langford , of the British Liver Trust , said : ' The drinking patterns of the over 65s have changed , particularly in women .  ' The idea of an older woman with a glass of sherry is way out of date . It is more likely to be a bottle of wine a day . '  He added that because much of the drinking done by over 65s happened at home , it was largely a hidden problem .  Emily Robinson , of Alcohol Concern , said : ' It ' s time we stopped thinking that alcohol is just a problem for binge drinking youngsters .  ' Unless we start taking this seriously and acknowledge the health problems too much alcohol can cause , the situation will only get worse . '  Newcastle University researchers want a new recommended drinking limit for over 65s and special advice on alcohol , tailored to the needs of older people .  Hidden dangers : Doctors want the daily recommended alcoholic intake limit lowered to 1 . 5 units a day for men and one unit for women  Slower metabolism : Elderly people ' s bodies are not as able to cope with alcohol as well as younger people  The call comes as the Department of Health reviews alcohol guidelines for all age groups and follows a recommendation from psychiatrists that existing limits should be halved .  The Royal College of Psychiatrists wants men over 65 to be limited to 1 . 5 units a day and women to one unit .  The current advice is that men stop at three to four units a day and women limit themselves to two to three .  ' Many older people are drinking to a  level that is having a long term impact on their health , even if the  damage they are doing is not always apparent . '  Dr Graeme Wilson , Newcastle University  Half a pint of ordinary strength beer counts as one unit . A large glass of wine contains three units .   statistics show that over 65s are more likely to drink than young people . And they are also more likely than any other group to drink every day of the week .  Alcohol related admissions to hospital for everything from liver disease to dementia caused by brain cells being killed off by booze has soared by 150 per cent in those aged between 60 and 74 in the past decade .  Dr Graeme Wilson , of Newcastle University , said : ' Many older people are drinking to a level that is having a long term impact on their health , even if the damage they are doing is not always apparent . '  The researchers told the journal PLoS  that while the elderly may believe they have built up a tolerance to booze , alcohol can cause more damage to the ageing body .  Dr Wilson ' s team quizzed older people about their attitude to alcohol .  Many were ' very blas ' about the dangers , with some saying they had drunk for many years without their health being harmed .  One woman who drank a bottle of wine a day said she didn ' t have a problem because she had never ' been found drunk in a corner ' .  Others said being given a free bus pass meant they could drink more , while some drank to relieve the pain of osteoporosis .  Katie Haighton , one of the study ' s authors , said GPs were loath to intervene , with many not wanting to deprive patients of enjoyment later on in life .  She added : ' A lot of those we interviewed said the messages around alcohol were very confusing .  ' There is a need to develop new approaches to target the older population . '  Age  , which funded the Newcastle University study , said that although the spotlight usually fell on young people , the biggest increases in alcohol related illnesses were in the elderly .  The Department of Health said that as well as reviewing the guidelines , it had introduced alcohol risk assessments at GPs ' surgeries .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
3046,3047,"It took about 110 years and some delicate surgery on his most private parts , but Henry a lizard like creature from New Zealand is now a dad .  Henry , the oldest tuatara to mate at Southland Museum , enjoys a cold shower in his home in New Zealand .  Henry , a tuatara who , as far as curators at Southland Museum in New Zealand know , had never mated before , hooked up with Mildred , a younger woman of about 80 , in March .  In July she laid 11 healthy eggs and , this week , all 11 of them hatched the last one on Wednesday .  "" Eleven out of eleven , "" curator Lindsay Hazley said Friday morning . "" Bloody brilliant . We had a champagne breakfast to celebrate . ""  Henry was the oldest tuatara ever to mate at the museum , on New Zealand ' s South Island , Hazley said .  Tuataras are the only living descendants of an order , related to dinosaurs , that flourished 200 million years ago . They ' re endangered , only living on a handful of islands in New Zealand , which makes Henry ' s happy news all the more important to supporters of the species .  But it didn ' t come easy .  Until about six years ago , Henry was a nasty , irritable fellow who showed no interest in mating and would attack females when they were introduced . Hazley , who has been breeding tuataras for the past 35 years , eventually had to put him in "" solitary confinement . ""  But in 2002 , veterinarians discovered that a lump in Henry ' s nether regions was a cancerous tumor . They removed it and , over the next few years , his mood and interest in the ladies improved .  Now , Henry lives peacefully with Mildred and two other females . Breeders are hoping he ' ll show interest in Lucy , who is about the same age as Mildred , later this year . Female tuataras only lay eggs every two or three years , so Mildred likely won ' t be interested . Watch a curator take care of the reproducing dinosaur kin  Henry ' s newfound libido does have some limits , however . Hazley said Juliet , a youthful 22 year old , appears to be too hot to handle for the centenarian who could live to be 200 years old if he stays healthy .  "" I think he ' s a bit shy to mate with such a young woman , "" Hazley said . "" After a bit of experience with Mildred and Lucy , maybe he ' ll be interested in Juliet next year . ""  Maxing out at about two and a half feet long , tuataras are much smaller than their ancestors .  The word "" tuatara "" is derived from a Maori word meaning "" spiny back . "" In Maori legend , they are messengers of Whiro , the god of death and disaster , and they were featured on one side of a New Zealand five cent coin that was phased out in 2006 .  It ' s been a baby boom at Southland Museum lately . Hazley said another 10 babies were born to another couple recently swelling the ranks of the 50 or so tuataras that were already there .  Friday morning , Hazley was working to install a camera so Henry ' s international fan base can watch him and other tuataras on the Internet . But they shouldn ' t expect any images of the proud dad playing with his batch of hatchlings .  "" If it ' s small and it moves , it ' s food , "" Hazley said . "" He ' d have them for lunch . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3052,3053,"After two triumphant trips to Wembley in 2014 and promotion to the Football League after a nine year exile , Cambridge United chairman Dave Doggett had fixed his hopes for the New Year on something a little more mundane .  He would settle for a solid season in League Two with perhaps a small sign of progress in the quest to build a new stadium .  Then they were drawn at home to Manchester United and Doggett , like many fellow Cambridge fans , spent the day in a daze , snuggling into the warm embrace of the  Cup , a competition which in its modern guise promises financial reassurances besides the traditional romance .  Cambridge United players celebrate  Trophy success at Wembley last season  Cambridge manager Richard Money ( left ) and Dave Doggett ( right ) celebrate the club ' s promotion at Wembley  ' Last year was incredible , ' said Doggett . ' To be sat in the Royal Box at Wembley twice last year , felt good . It ' s only a couple of years since we were losing 25 , 000 30 , 000 a month , and we ' ve come through it all on a reasonably stable footing .  ' We thought 2015 might be a time for consolidation , nothing too spectacular . Then , we ' re drawn against one of the top club teams in the world . '  Doggett was in the  Radio Cambridgeshire studios , on Monday , along with manager Richard Money , previous chairman Paul Barry and director Colin Proctor for the fourth round draw . They were the third team out of the hat . United were next .  ' I don ' t think we saw the rest of it , ' he admitted .  Three television crews descended on the R Costings Abbey Stadium and the phones went wild with ticket enquiries .  The tie is certain to be the  ' s first pick for live broadcast , which guarantees Cambridge a windfall from the  of 234 , 000 in prize money and television payments .  It is an incredible boost for a club with a wage bill of 1 . 25m per year roughly what Wayne Rooney earns in five weeks and which has teetered often on the brink of extinction during a decade of turmoil .  The R Costings Abbey Stadium the home of League Two side Cambridge United  Wayne Rooney looks on during Manchester United ' s third round  Cup win at Yeovil on Sunday  United boss Louis van Gaal will be the latest of a number of high profile visitors to the Abbey Stadium   Wimbledon ' s live third round tie against Liverpool on Monday drew a  audience of 6 . 5million , Manchester United , at Yeovil on Sunday , drew 1 . 3m on  Sport .  This tie will remind the world that Cambridge United is alive and kicking and that is largely thanks to its fans .  The club has always led an up and down existence . Elected to the Football League in 1970 , they went up to the second tier with help from Ron Atkinson and back to the fourth before John Beck took them to the brink of the Premier League in its inaugural season .  Cambridge reached the  Cup quarter finals twice , in 1990 and 1991 , and finished fifth in Division Two in 1992 . They were six points from automatic promotion and were beaten in the play offs by Leicester .  This proved to be the high watermark before a steady decline turned serious soon after the turn of the millennium . In 2005 , Cambridge were relegated from the Football League and forced to sell the Abbey Stadium as they were plunged into administration .  The view of the terrace at the R Costings Abbey Stadium which will be packed to the rafters  The tunnel where the Cambridge and Manchester United players will line up prior to the  Cup fourth round  The sale of the ground for 1 . 92m to director John Howard and his business partner Stephen Clark saved the club in the short term but would haunt it for years . Rent bills had a crippling impact on finances and a bitter struggle erupted inside the club until Howard sold the ground to the current landlords Grosvenor Estates for 3 . 5m .  Proctor was among those who made sacrifices to save the club . The 76 year old , a fan for more than 70 years , sold his entire collection of memorabilia programmes , shirts and autographs dating back to 1947 and valued at more than 35 , 000 for 10 , 000 to raise instant cash , and gave every penny to the club ' s administrators .  Luke Chadwick is set for a reunion with his former side Manchester United in the  Cup fourth round  Money holds aloft the  Trophy after Cambridge ' s win against Gosport Borough at Wembley last March  ' We were in a position where we needed 10 , 000 , just to get through the weekend , ' he said . ' We ' ve been close to the edge many times . We ' ve suffered and without the loyal supporters who have stood shoulder to shoulder , this fantastic club wouldn ' t be here . There would be houses here instead .  ' Dave Doggett has put megabucks in . So did his predecessor Paul Barry . These people have put their hands in their pockets . '  Fans pitched in with volunteer work : manning tea bars , answering phones , selling tickets and tending the pitch to keep it going and the Cambridge Fans United have grown to play an influential role during the recovery years .  Money took over as manager in 2012 , replacing Jez George , a former youth team coach , who had stepped up when the club couldn ' t afford to appoint anyone else . He was in charge for nearly two years and is now the director of football .  Cambridge clinched promotion to League Two via the play offs and also won the  Trophy last year , but the visit of Manchester United will eclipse that , certainly in terms of exposure .  ' I feel like a 30 year old again , ' said Proctor . ' I took a call at 3 . 30am from a friend in the  who forgot the time difference but had heard about the draw . I couldn ' t get back to sleep and I ' ve spent the whole day at the club . It ' s been full of people after tickets that don ' t go on sale until Monday . '  First though , to Carlisle this Saturday , for something a little more mundane .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3090,3091,"Friday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Rep. Maxine Waters ( ) said of President Donald Trump declared “millennials” have joined her in her crusade against President Donald Trump.  Waters said, “I don’t honor him. I don’t respect this president. I don’t think that he deserves to be president of this great country. I am very concerned about him. And I really think he’s dangerous. And, Joe, I don’t know if you’ve seen the   series that the “L. A. Times” wrote about him. It is scathing. I’ve never seen editorials like this before in my life. ” “And so, you know, we continue to talk about him as if this is normal,” she continued. “Mika, that is abnormal, what we’re experiencing with this president. I have taken him on as you know, and the millennials have joined me. And so I continue to talk about his ties to Russia and what I think all of that means. And, as you know, I’ve continued to talk about, I believe if we have credible investigations, that it will lead to his impeachment. I believe that. ” Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN",fake,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
3118,3119,"Secret cameras have been warrantlessly recording an entire city’s every move from above The brief experiment had sharp repercussions when citizens learned about the covert project By Claire Bernish   3:39    Baltimore Police didn’t bother to inform the public (or anyone, for that matter) when they implemented a privately-funded mass surveillance program in January using a wide-angle camera-equipped plane flying above the city — which instantly uploaded and stored everything it recorded, just in case they needed it later.  As Bloomberg ’s Monte Reel reports , a small Cessna plane equipped with “a sophisticated array of cameras” capable of capturing “an area of roughly 30 square miles,” funded by an a private donor and provided by Dayton, Ohio-based Persistent Surveillance Systems , sometimes circled above the city for up to 10 hours per day recording and storing everything without anyone being privy to its presence.  Since January, Reel noted, the Baltimore Police Department has been using this covert Big Brother’s eye-in-the-sky “to investigate all sorts of crimes, from property thefts to shootings.”  Gone, apparently, are the days when the government’s surveillance state drew ire for attempting to ferret out potential terrorists — residents of Baltimore have been guinea pigs for an altogether more insidious spy dragnet. Persistent Surveillance Systems’ technology automatically stores all the footage on massive hard drives, making it available to law enforcement long afterward — but the idea police could access this information to solve a simple property crime is no less than alarming.  Particularly considering the company’s founder has an intense military background.  Ross McNutt, Bloomberg reports, “is an Air Force Academy graduate, physicist, and MIT-trained astronautical engineer who in 2004 founded the Air Force’s Center for Rapid Product Development. The Pentagon asked him if he could develop something to figure out who was planting the roadside bombs that were killing and maiming American soldiers in Iraq. In 2006 he gave the military Angel Fire, a wide-area, live-feed surveillance system that could cast an unblinking eye on an entire city.”  Though the technology had imperfections — even determining the gender of a person on the ground was impossible — its TiVo-like capabilities more than made up for any shortcomings. A person of interest could be followed by rewinding footage after, say, an  exploded roadside, to track their movements — even if the cameras weren’t focused directly on the explosion at the moment it occurred. If the cameras were in the air at the time, anything that happened was fully trackable both back and forward in time. McNutt’s pitch for his technology concisely summarized, “Imagine Google Earth with TiVo capability.”  Angel Fire truly evolved at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico after 2007, when upgrades allowed for “all-weather and nighttime capabilities and then was used as the basis for another system, called Blue Devil, which coupled wide-area cameras with narrow-focus zoom lenses in the same package.”  Over time, after McNutt retired from the military, he worked to further improve the camera array and attended security conferences in hopes of garnering clients. After a brief but effective test run over the skies of Ciudad Juárez, Los Angeles became the first U.S. city to employ Persistent Surveillance’ system — and just as covertly as what has been taking place in Baltimore for the last eight months.  In 2012, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department decided to conduct a trial of the system, launching surveillance over the Compton neighborhood for a total of nine days to determine if a contract would be desirable. Although the department ultimately decided against a long-term contract — citing quality in recorded footage as a detractor — the brief experiment had sharp repercussions when citizens learned about the covert project a full year afterward.  Protesters demanded a “citizen privacy protection policy” from community leaders against such overarching intrusions by police, but as Bloomberg notes, none of those leaders — including the mayor — had been informed the about surveillance system flying overhead.  “There is nothing worse than believing you are being observed by a third party unnecessarily,” Compton Mayor Aja Brown told the Los Angeles Times .  McNutt next attempted to a contract with his own city, Dayton, after vastly improving both the cameras’ resolutions, as well as the archive storage capacity and image processing capabilities. While Dayton police and city council jumped at the opportunity, controversy exploded during public hearings.  “At the hearings,” recalled Joel Pruce, who teaches human rights studies at the University of Dayton, “nobody spoke in favor of it except for the people working for the city.  “The black community, in particular, said, ‘We’ve seen this type of thing before. This will target us and you didn’t even come to us beforehand to see how we’d feel about it.’”  Dayton promptly scrapped their plans for Persistent Surveillance’ system after those hearings.  After the public radio show, Radiolab, aired a segment discussing Persistent Surveillance, Texas philanthropists Laura and John Arnold — John is a former Enron trader — contacted McNutt with the proposition to fund several months of his service if he could locate a willing city.  Since McNutt had met the Baltimore police lieutenant in charge of the city’s ground-based surveillance camera system at security trade shows — and because the atmosphere in the city had just exploded following the death of Freddie Gray in police custody — the decision was easy.  In January, McNutt began operating in a spare office above a parking garage, with the only identifying sign of Persistent Surveillance presence a piece of paper taped to the door, reading, “Community Support Program.”  Baltimore has already dealt with an excoriating report from the Justice Department on the city’s policing practices and a recently-filed lawsuit with the  over law enforcement use of another invasive technology, Stingray, which mimics cell towers for tracking purposes.  McNutt believes in the legitimacy of the services Persistent Surveillance can provide, and insists the technology isn’t as invasive as it might sound since individual identifying details, among other aspects, aren’t discernible, and because the every keystroke and action taken by analysts — like video footage — are logged and archived.  Still, this sort of surveillance — vague though it may be — undoubtedly represents yet another incremental incursion into people’s private lives. And we all know where that slippery slope leads.",fake,news,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
3141,3142,"The results were released just two days before Iowa voters begin caucusing  J . Ann Selzer , whose Selzer Company conducts the Iowa Poll , was the only pollster to accurately predict the 2004 Democratic caucus order  Donald Trump has a five point lead on Texas Sen . Ted Cruz in what is likely to be the final major poll before the Iowa caucuses , while Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are virtually tied .  The Des Moines Register Bloomberg Politics Iowa Poll gives the billionaire businessman 28 of likely  caucus goers , with Cruz at 23 . Sen . Marco Rubio of Florida trails at 15 , with Ben Carson further back at 10 .  On the Democratic side , Clinton holds a narrow lead over Sanders , 45 to 42 .  The margin of error for results on both sides is 4 percentage points .  This is the first time Trump , the nationwide  front runner , has held a lead in a Bloomberg Politics Register poll . In other recent Iowa surveys , he has been above 30 . For Cruz , however , the poll is down a bit from where he stood in most December and early January polling .  Appearing with evangelist Jerry Falwell Jr . at a Davenport , Iowa , town hall event , Trump said he was happier that he was connecting with evangelicals than he was leading the new poll .  Cruz also celebrated the poll while speaking to reporters Sioux City , Iowa .  "" If you would ' ve told me a year ago that two days out from the Iowa caucuses we would be neck and neck effectively tied for first place in the state of Iowa , I would ' ve been thrilled , "" he said .  Sanders , meanwhile , is enjoying his highest mark in a Bloomberg Politics Register poll . His campaign quickly sent out a fundraising email to supporters soon after the results were made public .  "" We ' ve come so far , "" the email reads . "" Can you imagine how you would feel if we come up just short in Iowa ? Especially when our numbers against Republicans are so strong . ""  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
3146,3147,"Sebastian Vettel doesn ' t like the word "" dominance "" .  That would appear strange given that ' s exactly what he has created within the world of Formula One .  At the age of 26 , Vettel has won four successive drivers ' titles and after claiming seven straight successive race victories last weekend , he can even afford to take his foot off the gas with two Grands Prix of the season remaining .  Not that he will though . This is a man who lives to win even if he doesn ' t like the term which goes with his era of success .  "" I don ' t like the word domination because it makes things sound easy , "" Vettel told reporters .  "" If we look back through every single individual race it was very , very hard work .  "" We got great results to finish on the podium on days where possibly we shouldn ' t have .  "" It ' s a long season and you need to make sure that you get to your 100 .  "" You can ' t do that all the time but I think you can get very , very close . ""  Vettel ' s win at last weekend ' s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix brought him level with fellow German Michael Schumacher ' s record of seven successive race victories which was recorded back in 2004 .  With two races left on the calendar , he can match Alberto Ascari ' s record of nine in a row set in 1952 53 and Schumacher ' s 2004 feat of 13 in one season .  Such success would cap another phenomenal season for Vettel , who is hoping to improve on his 37 career wins by triumphing in the U . S . and Brazil .  "" When I jump into the car , I ' m not thinking about what has happened before I ' m thinking about what is going to happen in the future , "" he added .  "" I ' m not completely aware of what I ' ve achieved over the past couple of years . I ' m happy not to be aware .  "" I love racing and it has been my dream since I was a child was a dream to race in Formula One .  "" To be this successful , of course I ' ll take it and I ' m very proud . But every race is a new challenge , every year is a new challenge . I ' m not lacking in motivation because I know how hard it is deliver . ""  What is scary for Vettel ' s rivals is that he has no desire to slow down any time soon .  Schumacher , Juan Manuel Fangio and Alain Prost have all won four drivers ' titles but Vettel is the youngest to have reached such a milestone .  Fangio was 45 when he took his fourth title , Prost was 38 and Schumacher was 32 and Vettel is already planning his next .  He added : "" The next goal is the next race . I ' m not trying to look too far ahead or looking back .  "" You should always look forward . We had many great moments , a special moment but I believe the biggest moment in my life is yet to come .  "" It would be quite sad at the age of 26 to look back and that the greatest moment had happened and have nothing to look forward to . ""  Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner says Vettel ' s "" burning desire and great natural talent "" separates him from his competitors .  "" He pushes himself very hard and is hard on himself , sometimes he needs to be less so . He has a burning desire in him and a great natural talent too .  "" The qualities he has huge inner belief , determination , a fantastic natural feel for the car and beyond all that he ' s a really , really nice guy .  "" That ' s why he ' s so popular within the team . He wears his heart on his sleeve . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3153,3154,"There were tears of joy at  Airport today as a Holocaust survivor was reunited with the friend who smuggled food to her as she hid from the Nazis .  Mira Wexler , 78 , hid on 85 year old Helena Weglowski ' s farm during the Second World War and they haven ' t seen each other since 1945 , when it ended .  Helena , from Ilawa , Poland , hugged and kissed Wexler and described the feeling of seeing her friend again as overwhelming .  Together again : There were tears of joy at  Airport today as a Holocaust survivor was reunited with the friend who smuggled food to her as she hid from the Nazis  Survival strategy : Mira Wexler ( right ) hid on the farm of Helena Weglowski ( left ) during the Second World War and they haven ' t seen each other since 1945 , when it ended  Tender moment : Helena , from Ilawa , Poland , hugged and kissed Mira and described the feeling of seeing her friend again as overwhelming  Emotional : Mira , who now lives in Rio de Janeiro , said ' it was very touching for me to be here '  She told the New York Post : ' I ' m extremely happy to see Mira again . I remember the time before the war when we would play together . The war destroyed everything but now we can be together again and I ' m extremely overwhelmed . '  Mira , who lives in Rio de Janeiro , told the paper : ' It was very touching for me to be here and see Helena again . It ' s something I couldn ' t imagine until now and it ' s happening . '  The story of their friendship begins in 1942 , when German soldiers forced Wexler and her family from their Polish village to a ghetto in Ludwipol , now part of Ukraine .  Helena , pictured here as a young woman in 1955 , said she was overwhelmed to see her friend again  Close bond : Helena ( right ) , with her brother Stanislaw ( centre ) in 1949  The Germans began liquidating the ghetto in 1942 so Mira ' s family her father , Jacob , having been killed fled to Weglowski ' s farm in Stara Huta .  Jacob owned a mill on the Weglowski farm and the two families were on friendly terms .  Helena and her brother , Stanislaw , spent two years ferrying food to Mira and her mother , Chana as they hid in the grounds .  Mira today acknowledged that Helena risked her life because she would have been killed if the Germans found out she was harbouring Jews .  The reunion was organised by The Jewish Foundation For The Righteous , whose Executive Vice President , Stanlee Stahl , remarked : ' In the many years we have worked with survivors and their rescuers , I continue to be amazed by the heroism of the thousands of Christian rescuers who risked their lives to save Jews from certain death .  ' We owe a great deal of gratitude to these Righteous Gentiles , and through our work , hope to improve their lives and preserve their stories of heroism . '  Miraculously , Chana and Mira survived and moved to Brazil when Germany was defeated .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3172,3173,"Paul Joseph Watson nails it in this look at the new leader of France: Congrats to the government bureaucrat, banker, Bilderberg member Macron for his amazing  outsider  triumph The French citizens just voted for their demise They elected Macron over the nationalist candidate who would put France first.Syrian rebel flags flying at the Emmanuel Macron celebration Sound familiar? Marine Le Pen is the Donald Trump of France. Her views are aligned with conservatives who want a check on mass migration from third world hell holes.We consider Le Pen to be a hero and a voice for doing what is right for France. Vive Le Pen! If you don t think France is dying, just watch the videos below:Muslim men are flexing their muscles in France and using their own special  penal code  to enforce Sharia Law on French women. These women, who appear to be natives of France are actually finding themselves resigning themselves to the idea of changing the way they dress and wear make-up over fear of repercussions by the Muslim men in their communities. There are some brave women who are willing to fight back, but will that be enough to stop the complete takeover of France by the mass influx of Muslim men from countries who despise the West?This video is very scary and should be a warning to all Americans who think it s okay to import millions of Muslim men and women from countries who have no intention of assimilating in America:Paris has been invaded by African and Middle Eastern freeloaders..it s chaos and violence This is what happens with  BORDERS!   AMERICA! The area around Stalingrad Metro station was turned into a refugee battleground as rival gangs of migrants set upon each other in shocking scenes of violence.Asylum seekers wearing hooded tops wielded makeshift clubs fashioned from lengths of wood which they used to bludgeon each other as horrified pedestrians looked on.The blood-curdling brawl erupted just yards from the Stalingrad Metro station, where a squalid migrant camp has popped up following the demolition of the Jungle.It was not immediately clear what sparked the early morning fight, but rival gangs of people smugglers have previously been involved in violent brawls in Calais.And despite the horrific brawl, a pro-migrant rally is apparently being organized to take place at the camp at 6pm tonight.   POLICE: Read more: ExpressWatch shocking video of Calais residents attacked by migrants in front of their home:France is dying ",fake,dataset,validation,Other news2,Conflict,fake,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
3198,3199,"Report : Patriots dump O line coach a day after Tom Brady takes beating  The Patriots offensive line basically disappeared against the Broncos on Sunday , and Bill Belichick has made the decision to make their position coach disappear .  According to NFLweblink , the Patriots have decided to part ways with offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo . The move comes just one day after Tom Brady took one of the worst on field beatings of the past decade .  "" I got hit pretty hard today , "" Brady said . "" We could never play with a lead . We never could play on our terms so it was an uphill battle all day . ""  this does not look like a fun time for brady pic . twitterweblink 8XZhBcyoYm  ? Rachel G . Bowers ( RachelGBowers ) January 24 , 2016  Not only was Brady hit hard , he was hit often .  The Patriots quarterback was hit 20 times during Sunday ' s  title game , which was more than any other quarterback in any game all season . It was also the most hits that any quarterback had taken in a game since at least 2006 .  Although Brady was sacked four times against the Broncos , he didn ' t make any excuses after the game and he didn ' t blame the loss on his offensive line .  "" When you play quarterback , you ' re going to take hits . You have to stand in there and make throws . There are no excuses for me for not getting the job done , "" Brady said . "" Our guys fought hard . I ' m proud of all the guys for what they tried to accomplish . We just came up one play short to a very good football team . ""  Brady also gave plenty of credit to the Broncos .  "" It ' s a tough front with good players , "" Brady said . "" They ' re teeing off on the cadence . We ' re trying to keep changing it up . They did a great job of it . ""  As for DeGuglielmo , he was in an almost impossible position . The Patriots dealt with offensive line injuries all year , which led to DeGuglielmo to juggle his lineup almost every week . The 47 year old was fired after just two seasons with the Patriots .  Dave DeGuglielmo is reportedly out in New England . (  )  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
3201,3202,"—   The United States again ranked first in global weapons sales last year, signing deals for about $40 billion, or half of all agreements in the worldwide arms bazaar, and far ahead of France, the No. 2 weapons dealer with $15 billion in sales, according to a new congressional study. Developing nations continued to be the largest buyers of arms in 2015, with Qatar signing deals for more than $17 billion in weapons last year, followed by Egypt, which agreed to buy almost $12 billion in arms, and Saudi Arabia, with over $8 billion in weapons purchases. Although global tensions and terrorist threats have shown few signs of diminishing, the total size of the global arms trade dropped to around $80 billion in 2015 from the 2014 total of $89 billion, the study found. Developing nations bought $65 billion in weapons in 2015, substantially lower than the previous year’s total of $79 billion. The United States and France increased their overseas weapons sales in 2015, as purchases of American weapons grew by around $4 billion and France’s deals increased by well over $9 billion. The report, “Conventional Arms Transfers to Developing Nations, ” was prepared by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, a division of the Library of Congress, and delivered to legislators last week. The annual review is considered the most comprehensive assessment of global arms sales available in an unclassified form. The report adjusts for inflation, so the sales totals are comparable year to year. Constraints on the expansion of foreign weapons sales are “due, in part, to the weakened state of the global economy,” wrote Catherine A. Theohary, a national security policy specialist at the Congressional Research Service and author of the study. “Concerns over their domestic budget problems have led many purchasing nations to defer or limit the purchase of new major weapon systems,” she added. “Some nations have chosen to limit their purchasing to upgrades of existing systems and to training and support services. ” Russia, another dominant power in the global arms market, saw a modest decline in orders for its weapons, dropping to $11. 1 billion in sales from the $11. 2 billion total in 2014. Latin American nations, in particular Venezuela, have become a focus of marketing for Russian arms, the study found. China reached $6 billion in weapons sales, up from its 2014 total of over $3 billion. Among arms manufacturers that also are  allies, Germany has found success in marketing naval systems to the developing world, while Britain has done the same with warplanes, according to the report. The most significant overseas weapons sales for the United States last year included new agreements with Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Qatar and South Korea. Over all, the largest buyers of weapons in the developing world in 2015 were Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Pakistan, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq. After the United States, France, Russia and China, the study found that the major global arms suppliers were Sweden, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Britain and Israel.",true,news,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
3216,3217,"When Claudia Fitzsimmons died last week while calling Time Warner Cable for customer support , her family was outraged and demanded answers . But today , the Fitzsimmons family says all is right again after Time Warner Cable offered them a three month subscription to  , on the house .  Fitzsimmons , 44 , of Binghamton , New York called Time Warner Cable ' s customer support number on Monday , May 18th , at 8 : 20 am , seeking assistance with her  , which the family claims was broken . When her husband , Mark Fitzsimmons , 47 , returned home from work at 5 : 35 pm , he found his wife on the floor , unresponsive , her call still on hold . She was rushed to an area hospital , where she was pronounced dead .  According to autopsy reports , Fitzsimmons was killed by hours of bizarre volume fluctuations between loud , grating hold music and soft , "" robotic "" advertisements for Time Warner Cable . The pattern used by Time Warner caused a series of minor , undetectable seizures which , when coupled with her rage over the extreme hold time , eventually built up into a massive stroke .  An outraged Mark Fitzsimmons called Time Warner Cable to complain about his dead wife , but the company added insult to injury by offering to send a technician out to his location to quote "" look at his wife . "" It wasn ' t until he contacted the Better Business Bureau that the company agreed to negotiate .  "" We agreed to settle out of court . I think my wife would be happy with the deal that was reached , "" said a visibly distraught Fitzsimmons , who wept throughout his brief press conference . "" Time Warner agreed to give us three months of free  service , and they upgraded our Internet to Turbo ' for an extra five dollars . I think sobbing I think this is what Claudia would have wanted . We won , baby . I love you . ""  Fitzsimmons says he ' ll use the settlement to catch up on "" Game of Thrones , "" a show he and his wife had watched prior to their  encountering its technical issues . "" I ' ll miss watching this show with my wife . But I believe , deep down , she ' ll be sitting on the couch beside me when Daenerys crosses the Narrow Sea to conquer Westeros . Thank you , Time Warner Cable . Thank you for making this right by my family . ""  Experts say the bizarre death should have no affect whatsoever on Time Warner Cable ' s proposed merger with Charter , a deal recently reached after Time Warner Cable ' s potential merger with Comcast fell through . "" Time Warner and Charter will surely move ahead with this deal , despite the unfortunate death of Mrs Fitzsimmons , "" says antitrust lawyer Nick Webb . "" Neither company is a stranger to customer service tragedies . This isn ' t even a bump in the road for either company . ""  ",satire,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
3223,3224,"You’ve heard it many times: You should get a flu shot. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that anyone older than six months get one by the end of October, though late is better than never. Yet, an online survey by CityMD, a network of urgent care centers, found that 52 percent of millennials don’t plan on getting the vaccine. Turns out we have one such skeptic on staff. Jonah Engel Bromwich, my Times colleague, is a    who says he never gets a flu shot, making him exactly the kind of person who experts wish they could reach. But he has agreed to offer up his excuses so we can quash them one by one, and we thank him for that. To help, we asked Dr. Joseph Bresee, chief of the epidemiology branch in the influenza division of the C. D. C. to take us through the rebuttals to the most common excuses he hears. DANIEL: So, tell us, Jonah  —   what’s going on here? Why are you ignoring the doctors? JONAH: I’m very tough. I’ve never gotten the flu. Why should I get a flu shot? My immune system is   …     good. I just don’t see the need for it. DANIEL: I have no doubt that you are tough, and I bet your immune system is something to be very proud of. But the fact is, an estimated 5 percent to 20 percent of the United States population gets the flu each year, Dr. Bresee said. The fact that you’ve never gotten the flu is no indication that you won’t get it in the future. You’re essentially rolling the dice anew each year, and there’s a decent chance you’re eventually gonna get a bad roll. JONAH: I’m a gambler. DANIEL: I wish you luck in Atlantic City. But a flu shot isn’t just about you. As a healthy   you might not have underlying medical issues that would make the flu extra dangerous. For you, it might just mean a lousy week in bed. But sadly, others don’t have that luxury. To people around you, especially pregnant women, young children and older family members, the flu could be a much bigger problem, even deadly. Once it’s your turn to get the flu  —   and surely you know it’ll happen eventually  —   you’d be needlessly exposing other people to harm. “If the message to protect yourself is not effective, maybe do it to be a good community member,” Dr. Bresee said. JONAH: O. K. ugh, I don’t want to make people sick. But don’t flu shots give you a mini version of the flu? Aren’t they just transmitting flu germs into you? DANIEL: Nope. You’re far from alone in thinking so, but it’s just not true. Dr. Bresee said flu shots back in the 1960s and ’70s were associated with some mild reactions, including fevers. But modern vaccines have greatly reduced the negative side effects, most likely leaving you with no more than a mild bit of soreness in your arm. The C. D. C. states it plainly: “No, a flu shot cannot cause flu illness. ” JONAH: But everyone always says that it was getting the shot that made them sick in the first place! Are they lying? DANIEL: I don’t doubt some people got sick soon after getting a shot, but they’re probably misunderstanding what actually caused their sicknesses. People get sick all the time, so it makes a lot of sense that people would come down with a cold or “flulike symptoms” in a time frame that just so happens to be a few days after getting a shot. That in no way suggests that the shot caused it. Though it might be tempting to make the connection to the flu shot when you’re in bed sneezing, correlation is not causation. It’s also possible to be exposed to the flu shortly before the shot or in the   period in which the vaccine takes effect. That’s not the vaccine’s fault. JONAH: Hmm. Fine. But how do I know it’s going to work? DANIEL: Well, you don’t  —   but it definitely increases your odds of staying healthy. The performance of the vaccine changes year to year, but Dr. Bresee said you’re about 50 percent to 60 percent less likely to get the flu by getting the shot. JONAH: All right, Daniel. You got me. These are good arguments. DANIEL: So, you’re convinced? JONAH: No. I just don’t want to get a shot. I don’t want green goo going into my arm. It’s weird! I’m not into it. DANIEL: I confess I did not ask Dr. Bresee about the color of what’s going into your arm, so I can’t help you there. JONAH:   …     DANIEL:   …     JONAH: O. K. I’ll say it: It hurts! I’m scared of needles. DANIEL: I get it. But I promise you: It doesn’t hurt that much, and as a giant wuss who recently got my flu shot, I can say that with authority. It’s really not that bad. If you’re especially concerned about it, you can get an intradermal shot that uses a smaller needle that you won’t even see and goes into your skin instead of your muscle. It’s barely a pinch. Get a shot, Jonah. JONAH: Fine. I will.",true,news,validation,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3227,3228,"Matty Fryatt bagged his first goal for league leaders Nottingham Forest as Stuart Pearce ' s men came from behind to stun Bournemouth 2 1 .  Summer signing Fryatt rose highest to guide substitute Jack Hunt ' s cross past a diving Lee Camp after 72 minutes to complete an unlikely turnaround .  The Cherries , looking to make it three wins from three this season , dominated the game from the get go and took the lead after 58 minutes when new 3million striker Callum Wilson toe poked home his third of the campaign .  Britt Assombalonga scored his third goal in two games after 67 minutes , heading in Andy Reid ' s cross , before Fryatt ' s decisive contribution .  Off the mark : Matty Fryatt wheels away after sealing Forest ' s win at Bournemouth  Substitute Magaye Gueye struck an equaliser in the fifth minute of injury time as Millwall snatched a 1 1 draw at Sheffield Wednesday .  The winger fired his first Lions goal into the roof of Keiren Westwood ' s net with virtually the last kick of the game at Hillsborough , after Chris Maguire had put Wednesday ahead in the second half .  Shaun Williams missed a second half penalty for Millwall .  Last gasp leveller : Magaye Gueye celebrates his stoppage time equaliser for Millwall with Scott Malone  Watford taught Rotherham a harsh lesson about life in the Championship after they staged a late show at New York Stadium to win 2 0 .  Lloyd Dyer ' s first league goal for the club put them ahead in the 73rd minute and with the hosts pushing for a leveller Gianni Munari made sure of the points with five minutes to go .  Ecstatic : Lloyd Dyer ( no . 23 ) walks back to the centre circle with Troy Deeney after giving Watford the lead  Bradley Johnson scored his second spectacular goal in the space of four days as Norwich City recovered from a dreadful start to claim a hard fought 3 1 victory against Blackburn Rovers at Carrow Road .  With 87 minutes on the clock and the game locked at 1 1 Johnson , who scored a cracker in Saturday ' s 3 0 win over Watford , curled a glorious left foot shot over Paul Robinson to put the Canaries ahead .  Lewis Grabban then scored his second of the night deep into injury time to confirm City ' s second win of the season .  Grabban had equalised for the Canaries halfway through the first half after Tom Cairney ' s cracking drive gave Rovers the lead inside a minute .  Back of the net : Lewis Grabban clinches the points for Norwich with his third goal for the Canaries  Blackpool are rooted to the bottom of the division after losing 2 1 to Brentford at Bloomfield Road .  Nathan Delfouneso put the hosts ahead , but goals from Alex Pritchard and Stuart Dallas secured Brentford ' s first win of the season .  Elsewhere , Reading lost 2 1 at home to Huddersfield Town , with Jacob Butterfield and Harry Bunn netting .  Simon Cox netted the Royals ' consolation 11 minutes from time .  Nice one : Jacob Butterfield ( no . 8 ) is mobbed by his Huddersfield team mates after the opening goal  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3229,3230,"It ' s 20 years since Blackburn Rovers were crowned champions of England . A replica Premiership trophy sits on display at Ewood Park and there is a statue to Jack Walker , the local millionaire who made it all possible .  Dotted around the club that Jack built are memories of those heady days when Shearer , Sutton and Sherwood helped seize the title from Manchester United .  Sadly , there is little else left of Blackburn ' s former glory . Today , they are 80million in debt , operating under a transfer embargo and still taking orders from India .  Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton parade the Premiership trophy after Blackburn won it in 1994 95  Gary Bowyer has overseen the slow climb back towards respectability after relegation from Premier League  The fierce opposition to Venky ' s has subsided but the mistakes made by the chicken farming family from Pune in those first catastrophic years in charge continue to haunt their football club the sacking of Sam Allardyce , relegation from the top flight , boardroom battles and reckless spending .  Blackburn ' s rookie owners talked about qualifying for the Champions League and signing Ronaldinho , but became a laughing stock . They have learned a painful lesson and adopt a significantly lower profile these days .  Meanwhile the manager who has overseen the slow climb back towards respectability though still a million miles from prosperity seems remarkably laid back for someone asked to work with at least one hand tied behind his back .  Gary Bowyer twice stepped in as caretaker after Henning Berg and Michael Appleton were sacked in the tumultuous 2012 13 season before getting the job on a permanent basis .  Balaji Rao ( left ) and Venkatesh Rao , directors of Venky ' s , took control of the club in 2010  ' At the time it was nothing short of a mess , ' says Bowyer . ' There were a lot of people who were quick to jump on the bandwagon and call the club at any second .  ' We ' re not stupid or na ve , I understand why . But I think that ' s credit to the owners . They ' ve made progress , educated themselves , learned lessons and improved . I think that ' s why they have been out of the papers for 18 months .  ' The task was obviously to bring credibility back to the football club which we ' ve done , but there ' s still a long way to go .  ' We ' ve stabilised it from where it was . But that doesn ' t mean that it ' s in the place we want it to be . Now we need to kick on and go again . '  The trips to India to speak to the owners are less frequent these days . Bowyer has not been over there for two months .  But the transfer embargo imposed for breaching Financial Fair Play rules prohibits Venky ' s from throwing more money at the problem even if they want to .  The club were relegated in 2010 11 and the supporters were vehemently opposed to Venky ' s  It means that he is spending the transfer window fending off bids for his best players instead of signing new ones to get back into the top flight .  Even if Crystal Palace meet Blackburn ' s 5m valuation of their top scorer Rudy Gestede , it won ' t knock much of a hole in the 79 . 8m debt . The figure is almost twice what Venky ' s paid to buy the club in 2010 .  Bowyer has done his bit to steady the ship and only narrowly missed out on the playoffs last season .  But there ' s a thin line between stability and mediocrity in the eyes of some supporters , and he was booed after the recent defeat to Wolves as Blackburn continued on a disappointing run that has brought just won win in the last eight Championship games .  ' We said it would take time and that ' s something the supporters have to be extremely aware of , ' he said .  ' Of course the debt makes it more difficult , there ' s no denying that . The teams above us are all looking to spend big in this window if you believe the figures and we can ' t compete with that .  ' But that ' s the job . I was aware of what was coming , and we just get on with it .  ' I can ' t control other clubs showing interest in our players . I just sit there and tick the days off on my calendar in the office and ignore my phone calls ! '  Bowyer was twice caretaker manager after the sackings of Henning berg and Michael Appleton in the tumultuous 2012 13 season before being appointed permanent manager  On Saturday , Blackburn can enjoy a rare moment back in the spotlight when they face Swansea City in the lunchtime tie , having held Manchester City to a draw here in the third round last season .  Sadly , according to Dan Clough from the club fanzine 4 , 000 Holes , the cup competitions might be Rovers ' only opportunity of rubbing shoulders with the elite of English football from now on .  ' The fans ' previous experience of a takeover was extremely positive with Jack Walker , ' said Clough . ' For it to go the way it has is even more disappointing .  ' But pre 1985 , we were a Second Division club until there was a massive injection of cash . In terms of the size of the town , you can ' t say we deserve to be in the top flight .  ' The fans were spoiled a bit and it couldn ' t last forever . Some of them won ' t be too surprised if we never get back up again . '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
3244,3245,"Tune in to the Alternate Current Radio Network (ACR) for another  broadcast of  The Boiler Room tonight 6:00   | 8:00   | 9:00   for this special broadcast. Join us for uncensored, uninterruptible talk radio, custom-made for bar fly philosophers, misguided moralists, masochists, street corner evangelists, media-maniacs, savants, political animals and otherwise lovable rascals.Join  hosts Hesher and Spore along with Andy Nowicki and Jay Dyer of Jays Analysis also with a special report from FunkSoul (21WIRE &  contributor), for the hundred and fourteenth episode of  ROOM. Turn it up, tune in and hang with the  Brain-Trust for this weeks boil downs and analysis and the usual gnashing of the teeth of the political animals in the social reject club.This week on the show we re discussing a plethora of events and disappointments cooked up by the mainstream media and the zombified public who buy into their garbage. The team covers mind control, MK-Ultra, George Webb, media psyops, intelligence and deep state infiltrated movements and FunkSoul brings a special 5 minutes of Funk on a banking industry whistleblower.Direct Download Episode #114Please like and share the program and visit our donate page to get involved! Reference Links, for your consideration and research:",fake,dataset,validation,World conflict,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
3265,3266,"Suns come apart in fourth , fall to Wizards   The Washington Wizards coach Randy Wittman had to improvise without four of his tallest players .  He mixed and matched , watched his team fall behind by 10 points early in the fourth quarter and finally overtake the Phoenix Suns 109 106 on Friday night .  Wittman used three guards and sometimes four in trying to keep up with the Suns .  "" I told them if it was a 6 foot 5 and under league , we ' d be pretty good , "" Wittman said .  Bradley Beal scored 34 points , Ramon Sessions added 18 and John Wall had 17 and nine assists .  Three of the Wizards ' frontcourt players , Nene , Drew Gooden and Kris Humphries , are injured . Starting center Marcin Gortat is in Poland because of a family emergency .  Wittman started Ryan Hollins , who was signed this week , at center , but later moved Otto Porter , normally a forward , to the middle .  "" It ' s fun now , "" Wittman said . "" It was different trying to mix and match . You don ' t get into those situations very often where you ' re trying to look at what kind of disadvantage you can put the other team at by being so small . ""  Washington improved to 8 9 after losing five of its previous six games .  Eric Bledsoe scored 22 points , and Brandon Knight had 19 for the Suns . They ' re 1 3 on a six game trip and have lost seven of eight .  The Wizards took a 104 103 lead on Porter ' s three point play with 1 : 42 to play .  Phoenix , which lost an 18 point lead in a loss at Detroit on Wednesday night , led by 10 early in the fourth quarter .  "" They just mucked the game up a lot . They denied the inside a lot and we fought hard to get it in there . Fourth quarter , they just , I guess you could say they turned the corner , "" Suns forward Markieff Morris said .  The Suns were called for a delay of game , their second , with 8 . 8 seconds to play . Referee Monte McCutchen warned Morris against continually changing positions on the foul lane , but he kept moving , and Phoenix was assessed a technical .  "" It was a miscommunication . He told me I had the choice , then when I chose , they moved , so we both actually had the choice . Just miscommunication , me and the ref , "" Morris said .  Suns : Center Tyson Chandler missed his fourth straight game because of a strained right hamstring . Coach Jeff Hornacek said that he hoped Chandler would return within the next few games . Morris returned after missing the Detroit game with a bruised left knee . . . . P . J . Tucker had a season high 13 rebounds .  Wizards : Gortat will miss at least two games , the team said . . . . Humphries ( left ankle ) , Nene ( left calf ) and Gooden ( right calf ) were out . . . . The small lineup outrebounded Phoenix 41 35 .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3282,3283,""" Call of Duty : Modern Warfare 3 "" continues the franchise ' s tradition of high action , detailed fighting and a highly competitive multiplayer mode while still trying to let players play the way they want .  The latest in the wildly successful series hits all the right notes in both its cinematic single player campaign and its intense multiplayer mode . They also bring back the "" Special Ops "" mode from "" Modern Warfare 2 , "" combining the best of both .  The single player campaign , while short , takes you hopping around the globe to major cities in the world ' s most powerful countries . Instead of battling in traditional hotspots ( i . e . , locales like Afghanistan ) , the story puts the player in Manhattan , London and Berlin to name a few .  Each city is richly detailed and the combat , against opponents run by a smart artificial intelligence program , is intense . The pacing from city to city varies based on mission and storyline presented in each location . One city will be frantic while another city might be a bit slower . But all are engaging .  There are some unexpected , and tragic , moments played out in the single player campaign ' s story . But they combine to bring the "" Modern Warfare "" story to a satisfying end . I wish it would have lasted longer , but the plot flowed nicely .  The "" Special Ops "" mode takes the intense  from the single player game and adds elements that are usually found in multiplayer action . Creative strategist Robert Bowling said the development team wanted to give people who normally only tackle the single player campaign the opportunity to experience some of the rewards only found during online multiplayer play .  "" We noticed there were a lot of experiences that you were missing out on if you only played single player or , vice versa , you only played multiplayer , "" Bowling said . "" We wanted to find a platform that allowed the type of player from each of those to have those shared experiences rather than missing out because it wasn ' t their style of play . ""  Sixteen missions tie in to the campaign . Along the way , players earn credit for achievements like kill streaks and customizing weapons . There ' s a progressive ranking system that lets even the most "" lone wolf "" player climb up the leaderboard . The Survival mode is particularly grueling , with wave after wave of opponents coming after you .  The core of the multiplayer action stays pretty true to the franchise ' s roots . Huge battles , lots of action and an experience point system keep players involved and interested .  Most of the modes remain the same with one new additional mode . Collecting tags from dead bodies adds a cool twist to straightforward killing of an opponent and actually promotes teamwork , something that ' s lacking from time to time in multiplayer action . There are 16 new maps to set the scene of your victories .  Bowling said there are 30 million players who have played "" Call of Duty "" online and a new Elite program will help provide stats , tips and bring together the franchise community without dividing them among consoles .  He also tweeted on Day One that the game ' s makers have already had to ban gamers from leaderboards and from playing altogether for trying to play unfairly or artificially boost their rankings .  While the multiplayer mode hasn ' t changed much , it never really needed to . The "" Modern Warfare "" franchise has a great track record of addictive online play that remains enjoyable and exciting .  Fast and furious multiplayer action , a cinematic single player campaign and a Special Ops mode offering the experience of both takes "" Call of Duty : Modern Warfare 3 "" to the top of the class . At least until the next one comes out .  "" Call of Duty : Modern Warfare 3 "" is available now for the  , PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 . It is rated M for mature due to blood and gore , drug references , intense violence and strong language . This review was done using the Xbox 360 version .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3294,3295,"A tennis player ' s biggest challenge usually comes from the opposite baseline , but Alisa Kleybanova has taken on an opponent of an entirely different nature over the last 10 months .  The former world No . 20 announced in July 2011 she had been diagnosed with Hodgkin ' s Lymphoma , a form of cancer , after missing both the French Open and Wimbledon .  The 22 year old Russian made a successful return to the court at the Miami Masters on Tuesday after battling to overcome the disease .  It was a fairytale return for Kleybanova , who was handed a wildcard for the U . S . hard court tournament , as she came from behind to record a 2 6 6 3 6 2 first round win against 64th ranked Swede Johanna Larsson . .  Venus Williams vows to rise again  "" The first match back from anything is always difficult , but especially this time I really had no idea how it was going to be out there , "" Kleybanova told the  ' s official website .  "" Tennis wise I felt pretty good from the beginning but Johanna has a difficult game to play against , she makes you run a lot out there she makes you tired even if you ' re in your best shape . ""  Kleybanova , who will face 20th seeded compatriot Maria Kirilenko next , said fighting the illness has given her a different perspective on the sport .  "" I ' m looking at my matches differently now , "" she said . "" It ' s my work , but I really just wanted to enjoy every point and every moment .  "" Even when I lost the first set I wanted to stay positive and just enjoy myself out there , and that ' s why I was able to stay out there and change the way the match was going .  "" It ' s not just about the win though , it ' s that I ' m back on court . If I didn ' t win , it ' s not like I would have been mad . I was just happy to be playing points , feeling all the emotions again . . . it ' s something I missed a lot and it was all out there today . ""  It was also a memorable occasion for Kleybanova ' s coach Julian Vespan , who she described as her "" best friend . ""  "" Of course he ' s very , very happy I won , but he ' s also my best friend and he feels happy when I feel good and when I ' m smiling . He just wants me to be happy . When he saw me enjoying myself again he was very happy for me . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3301,3302,"The midterm elections are a week away . Control of the Senate will be decided by a handful of close contests that remain competitive in the final days .  In an era of narrow majorities in the upper chamber , just one or two races can make all the difference in terms of who will be in control . Most experts are predicting that Republicans will gain the Senate , though there are a few outliers , like my colleague at Princeton University , Sam Wang , whose statistical models have been showing that Democrats can still be victorious .  In the coming days , here are six campaigns to watch . In each of these states Republicans are holding their ground by connecting their opponent to President Obama while Democrats strike back by reminding voters of extremism in the  .  Four of the states have incumbent Democratic senators who are waging close races for re election . In the other two , the retirements of senators , one a Democrat and one a Republican , have created an opportunity the two parties are contesting .  North Carolina : This is a Senate race that has been extremely expensive , with the national parties pouring money into advertising based on the view that this one can go either way , and it ' s close . Incumbent Sen . Kay Hagan is a Democrat who voted for President Obama ' s health care program and who has faced a tough challenge from Thom Tillis , a businessman who pushed back the tea party candidate in the Republican primary .  Hagan , who had been expected to keep this seat , has made some mistakes along the way , such as skipping a Senate Armed Services Committee meeting to raise campaign funds , something that was a no no in her home state , where the military is a cherished institution . Superstars from each party have made appearances for the campaign Hillary Clinton for Hagan and Rand Paul for Tillis trying to boost their competitive edge .  Outside groups and the National Senatorial Republican Committee are pouring money into Tillis ' campaign , smelling the potential for a real upset . President Obama ' s drive to increase African American turnout is key for the Democratic strategy . Republicans are continuing to hammer away at Hagan by criticizing her party for how the White House has handled the Ebola epidemic and  .  Politics : How the ' war on women ' is changing  Colorado : This is a state that makes Democrats very nervous . A recent poll by a Democratic company reported that this race is a deadlock , a disappointment to Democrats who thought they were safely in the lead .  Their hope was that Sen . Mark Udall would be able to capitalize on the demographic trends such as the expanding population of Latino Americans that have been building a solid base for the party , allowing President Obama to win in both the 2008 and 2012 elections .  But recent polls have shown that Rep . Cory Gardner is doing much better than expected , including with female voters . This in itself has caused Democrats great concern , because Udall has made his opponent ' s position on women ' s issues the major focus of his campaign . "" Congressman Cory Gardner ' s history of promoting harsh anti abortion laws , "" explained the narrator in one of his ads , "" is disturbing . ""  Alaska : Freshmen Democrat Mark Begich is scrambling to keep his seat . From the start , this has been one that was always going to be tough for Democrats to retain . Begich barely won in 2008 in this Republican state , and he has suffered repeatedly from being connected to President Obama ' s unpopular presidency .  Begich was also accused of allowing a misleading advertisement that suggested Attorney General Dan Sullivan had responsibility for a mistake that allowed a sex offender to go free and commit another sex assault and killings . Right now , Sullivan is enjoying a growing lead .  Arkansas : Even with the Clinton machine rallying to his side , Democratic Sen . Mark Pryor has been struggling against  Rep . Tom Cotton , a veteran and Harvard graduate who has been hammering away at Pryor for his ties to President Obama , a common theme on the campaign trail .  A recent article in The New York Times showed how Democrats face a number of big demographic challenges in what was once a solid Democratic state , like the massive growth of population in the conservative exurbs . One new poll shows that Cotton is ahead by 49 to 41 . Pryor has also made a number of embarrassing mistakes , including being unable to come up with an answer to a question asked of him during a campaign rally about how the White House was handling Ebola . In this state , voter turnout will be absolutely key . Democrats are counting on high levels of spending on ground operations and a surge of African American voters to bring them to victory .  Georgia : Despite a series of setbacks , such as the leak of a revealing campaign memo , Michelle Nunn has been putting on a strong campaign against businessman David Perdue to capture the seat held by retiring Sen . Saxby Chambliss , a Republican . Democrats are going to need Georgia if they are going to keep control of the Senate .  While this election might result in a runoff in January , Nunn has been doing a good job overcoming the negative sentiment associated with President Obama by hitting hard against her opponent ' s record in the private sector , using some of the same kinds of attacks that were used against Mitt Romney on issues like outsourcing . Perdue has struck back by saying that the Democrat doesn ' t really understand "" what it takes to create jobs and create economic value , "" which he says he does through his work with the retailer Dollar General . Of course , Nunn ' s beloved family name also helps .  Iowa : The right wing state senator Joni Ernst has rattled the electorate with a controversial campaign that many thought would never work . While the  expunged tea party candidates in most of the primaries , Ernst was one of the exceptions .  Bidding to take the seat held by retiring Sen . Tom Harkin , a Democrat , Ernst turned heads with an ad boasting of her experience castrating hogs , saying she would do the same in Washington to cut government spending . "" Mother . Soldier , Independent leader , "" reads the sign on her campaign bus . Democratic Rep . Bruce Braley who has received the support of Democrats like Michelle Obama is having trouble stopping Ernst in the polls .  Begala : Candidate ' s gun remarks should scare us  There are a few other races , such as in Kansas , where the outcome remains uncertain and each party is pouring in as much money and manpower as they can in the final few days to swing states their way . Election night should be interesting , as we ' ll see if Democrats can somehow defy the historical trend of the party of the White House doing poorly in midterms , or whether Republicans lock up control of Congress and give President Obama two more years of gridlock as he finishes his term .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
3306,3307,"Washington First lady Michelle Obama invited more than 20 accomplished women to the White House on Wednesday , asking them to serve as mentors for area high school students .  The women , along with the first lady , fanned out across the District of Columbia and surrounding suburbs in the afternoon visiting six local high schools encouraging the teenagers to follow their dreams and work hard to get there .  "" There is no magic to being here . You know , Barack and I were not born with silver spoons in our mouths and connections and money and resources . A lot of why we ' re where we are today is because we worked hard . We felt a deep passion for getting our education , "" the first lady told students at Ballou High school in Washington .  She recalled having to get up as a child at 6 : 30 a . m . to ride a bus for an hour and a half to attend a better high school across town , for better preparation for college .  "" I know what it feels like to struggle to get the education that you need . In so many ways , I see myself in you all , "" Mrs Obama shared . "" And I want you to see yourselves in me , so that you ' re not looking at me just as the first lady of the United States . ""  Mrs Obama ' s events on Wednesday were scheduled as part of the end of National Women ' s History month .  At Washington ' s Woodson High school , the four mentors included an Air Force general , a  network executive , an actress and a gymnastics champion who all answered questions for more than 20 female students .  "" Good , old fashioned hard work , that is the only thing that separates you from the crowd , "" said actress Rashida Jones , currently starring in the television series "" Parks and Recreation . ""  "" Don ' t feel like you have to be defined by your circumstances , "" she added .  Olympic gold medalist Dominique Dawes told the students that they should keep their attitudes positive .  "" Whenever I ' ve gone into something with a negative attitude , something negative has come out of it , "" she said .  The students had several questions for Gen . Dana Born , currently dean of the faculty at the Air Force Academy in Colorado , including what it was like to be one of the few women attending the Air Force Academy when she began several decades ago , and whether or not she had ever felt discrimination for being a woman .  Born told the students that they needed to find their strength and then "" practice , practice , practice "" to reach success .  Nina Lederman , vice president for program development at Lifetime Networks told the students that she had originally wanted to be an actress , but when it became apparent that she didn ' t have the acting talent , she shifted to a career in production .  All 20 of the women mentors returned to the White House on Wednesday evening for dinner in the East Room with about 120 area students .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3316,3317,"The Constitution in everyday life causes people pain    Wendy Kozol, Oberlin CollegeAdministrators at Vassar College and Oberlin College agreed to personally shred a pocket Constitution after an undercover reporter posing as a student complained that she felt  triggered  by its distribution on campus.The video was produced by Project Veritas, a non-profit established by conservative journalist James O Keefe, and employs a similar style to the undercover  videos that first brought him to prominence. Last week something kinda happened on campus that kind of really upset me and I ended up having a panic attack,  the reporter tells Vassar College Assistant Director of Equal Opportunity Kelly Grab.  It s just I ve been kind of hiding out in my room ever since kind of scared, so, finally somebody told me I should maybe come talk to you about it and see if there s anything that can happen or anything   They were handing the Constitution out on campus. Oh,  Institute,  Grab murmurs while looking the booklet over. They were handing it out and as soon as I saw it you know I started to not be able to breathe, hyperventilating,  the reporter elaborated.  My vision went blurry and I just kind of just lost control. After establishing that the reaction was triggered merely by the offering of copies of the Constitution and not by anything the group had said, Grab offers her sympathies to the reporter.Via: Campus Reform",fake,dataset,validation,Other news1,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
3317,3318,"Oprah has a mic-drop moment when asked about how she keeps on-set harassment away. The only problem is she was big buddies with Harvey Weinstein                SCANDAL:According to TMZ, Weinstein said that the queen of all media personally called him to say she was ready to publicly declare her support of him. However, Oprah s people have responded to his claims, clarifying that they hold absolutely no truth.The site reports that Weinstein told his team and friends on multiple occasions that Oprah called him earlier this week urging him to speak out and  defend himself,  and once he did that, she would come out and support him. While he claimed that several powerful figures in Hollywood have voiced their support of him, he repeatedly highlighted Oprah.   T   A    Oprah Winfrey doesn t want any sexual harassment problems on the sets of her  shows.When asked how she ensures her staff and actors are protected, Winfrey told People,  We don t want any a holes around us. She then went into detail sharing the process by which actors and crew are chosen to pluck out any unwanted folks. First of all, starting with all-female directors,  Winfrey, 63, said.  Ava DuVernay casts from the spirit of the person and looks for skill and talent. You re casting with the very idea of surrounding yourself and when you re looking at casting you re looking at  Does this guy fit with this woman? Does this little boy fit? Could those two people have had that boy? And how do we make this family? Winfrey adds it s a truly a combination of everything.  We re looking at those things and not just looking at who s gonna be the star and take the lead but looking at how does it all integrate so that we can evolve into something bigger,  she added.The media mogul s comments come on the heels of more than 50 women accusing Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault, harassment and rape. Via: Page Six",fake,dataset,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
3318,3319,"Paris , France Patrick Phair , son of the now deceased Venetia Burney , the girl who had been the only woman on Earth to name a planet , is counter suing the International Astronomical Union for damages .  In dispute again is Pluto , and whether it should be regarded as a planet . Many have said that if a man had named it , it still would be , but as a woman did , the rabidly misogynistic  decided to strip it of planet status to keep things an "" all boys club "" .  It was their suit against Patrick , as heir to his mother ' s estate , that was the final straw , said the man . "" They wanted the five pounds back , and with interest . They said the prize money had been wrongly given to her , and they needed it back . Well , I ' d had it . I countersued . ""  Patrick is refering to the fact that in 1930 , when Venetia then 11 named the planet , she was awarded five pounds . Now that it is no longer a planet , the  had begun a quiet and stealthy legal suit to get that money back .  "" Hey , five pounds is five pounds "" , said Dr Paul Proteus of the  . "" That went quite a bit further back then . Adjusted for inflation , we ' re talking about 63 pounds nowadays , and when you throw in interest compounded quarterly for the past 78 years at 3 , you ' re looking at around 650 pounds ! ""  Patrick is countersuing for his legal costs in defending against what he terms a "" maliciously frivolous suit "" , and is also suing for pain and suffering not only for himself , but on behalf of the heir of Clyde Tombaugh , the actual discoverer of the planet . ( And the only American to have discovered a planet , a fact well known to the anti American  )  It is expected that the heirs of Percival Lowell , who had been pleased that the man who predicted Pluto was immortalized in having his initials be the first two letters of the planet , will also join in this suit . Collectively they are expected to sue not only for damages , but for the status of the ninth planet to be restored .  "" Ohhhh , Eris is bigger than Pluto , God I ' m so tired of that whine from the  . "" , said Clyde Tombaugh Jr . from his trailer in New Mexico where he keeps watch for green fire balls and UFOs . "" If Eris is so big , make that a planet , too , and give it a real name , like after some figure in Roman mythology . ""  Tombaugh is refering to the sad fact that not only is the  misogynistic and anti American , but seems bent on cultural pollution by jamming the gods of lesser cultures in amongst the greats of the Greco Roman pantheon . Eris , a body found in the Kuiper Belt , is actually a smidge larger than Pluto , and rightfully should be the 10th planet .  And rightfully should be named Persephone , or some such , to reaffirm the rights of women and Romans that the  has so cavalierly disregarded .  The countersuit is being bankrolled by the International Chemical Workers Union who are upset that an element ( plutonium ) was named after Pluto . "" We ' d never have named an element after a dwarf planet or asteroid . "" , said their spokesperson . "" Who do these arrogant astronomers think they are ? ""  Also assisting in the financing is Walt Disney Corporation , who as their legal counsel said in an amicus curia , "" Should be able to name cartoon dogs after planets without having the rug yanked from under them every seven decades or so . ""  The hearing is expected to begin soon .  ",satire,text,validation,Football,Conflict,true,satire,True,no,no,negative,past
3321,3322,"Abidjan , Ivory Coast At least five people were killed Tuesday in clashes between police and supporters of Ivory Coast ' s president elect as a tense political standoff continued Tuesday in the West African nation .  The governor of Abidjan said three police officers and two demonstrators were killed . The violence comes a day after the U . N . Security Council deplored the violence in the country since the November 28 election and "" urged all parties to exercise restraint . ""  The cocoa producing West African nation was plunged into crisis when Alassane Ouattara was declared the winner of the presidential runoff election , but incumbent Laurent Gbagbo refused to leave office .  The Security Council expressed its backing for the efforts by the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States in pursuing a peaceful resolution of the crisis .  At the same time , the council repeated its readiness "" to impose measures , including targeted sanctions against people "" who threaten the peace process , "" block the work of the U . N . mission and other international people there or "" commit serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law . ""  Meanwhile , Ouattara is willing to add supporters of self proclaimed president Gbagbo to his Cabinet , provided the defiant incumbent steps down , the West African nation ' s ambassador to the United Nations said Monday .  Ambassador Youssoufou Bamba said Ouattara would not enter a power sharing government similar to that in Zimbabwe but that he would be open to a unity cabinet .  U . N . spokesman Farhan Haq could not confirm any such offer from the Ouattara government and said that Secretary General Ban Ki moon still called for Gbagbo to step down in favor of an orderly transition .  But in a telephone interview on Tuesday , Gbagbo ' s government spokesman , Ahoua Don Melo , rejected the proposal , saying Ouattara "" should first go to the Constitutional Council to get recognized as the president before making any proposal . ""  An independent election commission declared Ouattara the winner of the runoff election in November , but the country ' s Constitutional Council then declared Gbagbo the winner .  The U . S . Treasury froze Gbagbo ' s assets in the United States last week and barred Americans from doing business with him . His wife and three top aides also were sanctioned .  Ouattara remains holed up in the Golf Hotel under the protection of U . N . peacekeepers .  The United Nations and an ever increasing number of other nations have recognized Ouattara , a former prime minister , as the rightful winner .  The United States and other countries have offered Gbagbo what they call a "" dignified exit , "" which could mean living and working in other countries , including the United States .  Gbagbo , however , has ignored those offers and has refused to accept telephone calls from U . S . officials .  Ouattara has said he will ensure protection for Gbagbo if he concedes , said Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga , the African Union envoy for a multinational mediation effort .  The U . N . Security Council welcomed  and  ' intention to send "" another joint high level mission as soon as possible to continue discussions with the two parties . ""  It expressed deep concern over continued violence and human rights violations , including against U . N . peacekeepers , and "" condemned deliberate attempts to impede the United Nations Operation in C te d ' Ivoire from fulfilling its mandate , "" referring to the country by its French name .  Security Council members also "" strongly condemned and demanded an immediate halt "" to media efforts to "" propagate false information to incite hatred and violence . "" Council members also condemned the ongoing blockade around the Golf Hotel .  Meanwhile , the U . N . refugee agency is building a refugee camp for Ivorians fleeing to neighboring Liberia . The camp will initially be capable of housing some 18 , 000 refugees .  At present , there are about 25 , 000 Ivorian refugees in Liberia , with about 600 people arriving daily .  "" Refugees continue to tell us that in most cases they are fleeing fear of violence rather than actual violence against them , "" said the U . N . High Commissioner for Refugees .  The  has sufficient relief supplies for about 30 , 000 people in Liberia and said it "" is ready to mobilize stocks from Ghana for an additional 30 , 000 people if the need arises . ""  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
3332,3333,"Generations of rock hounds and miners have turned the earth in western North Carolina , looking to bring a special ruby , sapphire or emerald the "" big three "" of the gem world to the light .  The passion started early for Terry Ledford , 53 , who operated a gem stand on weekends when he was a kid . "" I always loved rocks , "" said the Spruce Pine resident .  For W . Renn Adams , 90 , the world of spodumenes , hiddenite and beryl runs even deeper in his blood . His Alexander County family has been digging for them since the 1880s .  The men ' s interests became intertwined early this decade when they became partners on the Adams family farm , which grows corn along with its treasures below .  They unearthed hiddenite , a rare pale to green mineral in the spodumene family , and other specimens .  "" We never found any good emeralds , "" said Adams .  Until that day in August 2009 .  "" It was just a normal digging day , "" said Adams , who used to grade roads before he retired .  Using a track hoe and other equipment , Ledford worked his way down a hole in the earth and through a quartz vein , 14 feet below the surface .  That ' s when he found it .  Reaching below a crystal , he saw what looked to be part of a 7UP bottle .  It was an emerald crystal . A very big emerald crystal . Some 310 carats of it .  "" Terry really had a time when he found that one , "" recalled Adams , without a hint of understatement .  Dubbed the "" Carolina Emperor , "" the gem has been trimmed to 64 . 83 carats and is called the largest cut emerald ever found in North America . It is being compared to an emerald that once belonged to Catherine the Great of Russia .  And it could be yours . The co owners are selling it , perhaps by the end of the year .  While rubies and sapphires are found near Franklin , about 75 miles southwest of Asheville , different gems lure residents and visitors to Alexander County , about 30 miles northeast of Hickory .  The small town of Hiddenite is named for William Earl Hidden , who mined North America ' s first emerald and hiddenite on the Adams property in the 1880s , said geologist Ed Speer .  "" Emeralds are very rare in the world and only a few countries host emerald deposits , "" Speer said . "" North Carolina is lucky to have three known emerald districts , including the Hiddenite district . ""  Michael Wise , a geologist with the National Museum of Natural History , said emeralds are more likely to be found outside North America . Most are from Colombia , Russia , Brazil and Afghanistan .  According to Speer , emeralds ( a beryl colored by chrome and vanadium ) and the rarer hiddenite ( spodumene ) are together only in this part of North Carolina .  Gems have created a cottage industry around Hiddenite , with amateurs and mining operations working the soil .  At Emerald Hollow Mine , options for the energetic are "" digging , "" "" creeking "" and "" sluicing . ""  "" We have people from everywhere , "" said employee Whitney Day , who said the region offers 63 types of minerals .  Mining has a significant impact on the state ' s economy , with gem mining a small part of that , said Speer , who has 40 years ' experience in mineral exploration around the world . The presence of pegmatites , a form of igneous rock , is largely responsible for the number and quality of gemstones , he said .  Although the public ' s imagination often revolves around precious gems and stones used in jewelry , including diamonds , collectors often come at gems from a different perspective . They may prefer a certain locality or type of gem , Wise said .  "" A serious collector may prefer an uncut crystal to a cut gem , "" he added .  Adams said his family used to open the farm to the public in the 1970s and into the 1980s . People paid 3 to dig by hand and foot no machinery was allowed .  Since then , the small mining operation has been private .  Failing eyesight has somewhat sidelined Adams , but he still has a penchant for the craft .  "" I like moving the dirt . ""  Ledford , who also sells gems and operates an amethyst mine in Georgia , and Adams have had the six sided "" Carolina Emperor "" crystal cut twice . It is now slightly wider than a quarter .  They received a comprehensive analysis in early August , and are now marketing the stone .  The emerald compares in size and quality to one surrounded by diamonds in a brooch once owned by Catherine the Great , who was empress in the 18th century , said C . R . "" Cap "" Beesley , a New York gemologist who examined the stone .  Beesley told The Associated Press that Christie ' s auction house in New York sold that gem in April for 1 . 65 million .  Chips or cuttings that resulted from the faceting of "" Carolina Emperor "" sold for between 10 , 000 ( 1 . 89 carats ) and 15 , 000 ( 2 . 36 carats ) , said Ledford .  Ledford , the son of a mica miner , said he would rate the quality of the gem an 8 on a 10 point scale . Its uniqueness and size , with color and clarity following , may put it in the area of the selling price for the Catherine the Great emerald , he said .  Generally , larger gems are more likely to have internal flaws and inclusions , said Wise . But Douglas Hucker ,  of the American Gem Trade Association , who like Wise said he has not seen the stone , said those factors are not as critical as size and color .  The Hiddenite emerald ' s biggest asset is that it is from an area not known for large emeralds , said Hucker . "" If it wasn ' t from North Carolina it wouldn ' t be creating the buzz it is now , "" he said . Standards for colored gems are not as exacting as for diamonds , he added .  Still , Hucker said , it is a large stone with desirable color and a potential buyer may be drawn to it . "" When you combine all those things it increases the rarity . ""  Hucker said that comparing the emerald to the Catherine the Great gem is a stretch because the empress , who he described as a "" jewelry hog , "" was a person of special historic significance .  Beesley ' s report , which calls the "" Carolina Emperor "" one of "" the most important gemstones in American history , "" mentions an 18 . 88 carat pear shape emerald , which until now was considered the continent ' s most valuable cut emerald .  "" This is a monster by comparison , "" said Wise .  "" Several people are interested in it , "" said Ledford , adding an unnamed museum has expressed interest .  Meanwhile , Ledford and an assistant continue to operate at the Adams family farm .  "" Terry ' s emerald find is very exciting as it confirms that more large emeralds are still out there , "" said Speer .  At 90 , Adams can savor the moment .  "" This is what I always dreamed to find , "" he said .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3344,3345,"Hong Kong ' s pro democracy demonstrators are but the latest freedom group to be abandoned by the Obama administration .  The pattern was set in President Barack Obama ' s first year in office , when he committed his initial major foreign policy error by refusing to support pro democracy demonstrators in Iran . And , although we didn ' t know it at the time , it was to be the administration ' s original sin , an early predictor of things to come . Indeed , time and again , this White House has shown itself to be allergic to those peacefully seeking backing for their freedom causes .  Whether Cuban , Chinese , Iranian or Venezuelan , dissidents who regularly make the rounds of the halls of power in Washington privately complain that even when the White House and the State Department receive them , the official is of low stature and the support is tepid .  And so when tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Hong Kong last weekend , the administration ran true to form . Our consulate there expressed support for general rights such as freedom of expression , religion and association , but was signally quiet on democracy .  In fact , the consulate seemed to go out of its way to wash its hands of the demonstrations , saying : "" We do not take sides in the discussion of Hong Kong ' s political development , nor do we support any particular individuals or groups involved in it . . . . We encourage all sides to refrain from actions that would further escalate tensions , to exercise restraint and to express views on ( Hong Kong ' s ) political development in a peaceful manner . ""  The protesters ' official Twitter feed was quick to express bitter disappointment : "" Once again , democratic govs are not speaking up for democracy . Here is  consulate ' s mealy mouthed statement . ""  Why has the Obama administration been so slow to embrace freedom seeking protesters ? Three main reasons spring to mind :  We ' re not Bush : President Obama ' s aversion to his predecessor ' s policies is clear not just in his snide condescension , but also in his actions . President George W . Bush ' s embrace of what he called "" the freedom agenda "" appears to be enough to damn the whole project and for Obama to want to do the opposite .  Pretensions to realism : Despite the fact that failures are piling up , the Obama administration apparently sees itself as really good at international relations . As such , it appears to be under the impression that it is pursuing cold eyed national security interests and , as the "" only adults in the room , "" has no time for idealism .  Liberty is not the progressives ' thing : Though it receives little attention , progressivism ' s well known preference for centralized control over what it sees as "" unplanned chaos "" must play a role . Progressives mock "" liberty "" here at home , so why would they take to it overseas ? It is no coincidence that , very early on in her role as secretary of state , Hillary Clinton elevated climate change and gender issues over freedom in her dealings with foreign officials .  Some of the White House ' s most thoughtful defenders point out that it is counterproductive to support pro democracy groups , whether in Tehran or Hong Kong . But this ignores the fact that tyrants will do what they want to do , whether we support protesters or not the bloodily suppressed Iranian protests back in 2009 underscore this point .  What foreign liberty seekers want from us is often not "" boots on the ground , "" much less "" nation building . "" They desire moral validation of their cause , the knowledge that an outside power the world ' s only superpower , no less stands by them and believes in their cause .  The Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky , for example , has written vividly of what it meant to those in the Gulag to hear that President Ronald Reagan had called the Soviet Union evil :  "" This was the moment . It was the brightest , most glorious day . Finally a spade had been called a spade . Finally , Orwell ' s Newspeak was dead . . . . It was one of the most important , freedom affirming declarations , and we all instantly knew it . ""  Support for freedom overseas has been America ' s official policy at least since Truman announced his doctrine to Congress , saying that , with Britain exhausted and its empire fading , we had to step up . "" One of the primary objectives of the foreign policy of the United States , "" Truman said , "" is the creation of conditions in which we and other nations will be able to work out a way of life free from coercion . ""  But it goes back much earlier , and the founders understood we were to hold the torch of freedom for the rest of the world to see . When we don ' t , it creates not just disappointment in places like Hong Kong , but dissonance here at home .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
3365,3366,"Naming Downton Abbey ' s beloved Labrador after the goddess Isis seemed like a good idea at the time .  But there are claims the pet could be on her way out after she was dogged by comparisons to the brutal wave of Islamist violence of the same name .  Tonight ' s episode raises questions for the first time over Isis ' health as she approaches a grand old age of between eight and ten , or 56 to 70 in dog years .  Are the dog days over ? The Earl of Grantham ' s dog Isis ( above ) appears unwell in tonight ' s episode of Downton  Cora Crawley , the Countess of Grantham , is seen looking at a morose looking pet splayed on the ground and remarks : ' She ' s terribly listless . I don ' t know that she hasn ' t picked up a germ . '  Lady Mary Crawley adds : ' She ' ll have eaten a dead squirrel or something equally foul ' .  Hugh Bonneville ' s Robert Crawley , the Earl of Grantham , then chimes in and says he will have the pet looked at by a vet .  To most it would seem like an innocuous point of conversation . Critics and devoted fans , of course , know the  drama ' s writers seldom raise a topic for no reason .  Isis made her first appearance in the period drama in its second series in 2011 , replacing the earl ' s previous pet Pharaoh .  Famous rear : The Labrador ' s predecessor Pharaoh makes a star appearance in the show ' s opening credits  As the first series tailed off in 1914 and the second began in 1916 , Isis now appearing in 1924 is likely to be between eight and ten years old , hardly immune to the ills of old age .  The yellow Labrador was named after the Egyptian goddess Isis , whose name means ' throne ' and became one of the most important deities of ancient Egypt .  But the name prompted grim comparisons after the rise of militants branding themselves Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (  ) also known as  and  .  One Downton fan account , Lady Mary ' s Eyebrows , tweeted : ' Is there a  dog more unfortunately named than Downton ' s Isis ? '  Jasper Goodheart said : ' You ' re gonna have to somehow change the name of the dog , Downton . Not sure Isis is currently a world favorite . '  Faithful companion : Isis has been with a Crawleys for a decade after the demise of her predecessor Pharaoh ( left ) , but in tonight ' s episode Cora the Countess of Grantham ( right ) remarks on her possible ill health   has insisted the whole issue is a coincidence , adding that most of the current series was filmed before fans began pointing out the similarity in names .  The broadcaster does not comment on future plot twists , but a spokesman said : ' Isis has been the Crawley ' s family pet since Series 2 ( 2011 ) and was named after the Egyptian Goddess .  ' Series 1 saw the family pet Pharaoh , with the same themed name .  ' At the time the dog was named and up to and including the majority of filming of Series 5 , no one was using that acronym to describe a terror group . It is an unfortunate coincidence . '  Many things other than the dog are named after the Egyptian goddess including a U . S . metal band , a range of Ann Summers underwear , Oxford ' s student magazine and the International Student Internship Scheme .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
3397,3398,"Here is a guide to understanding Britain’’s vote to leave the European Union, a decision known as “Brexit” that will have global consequences for years to come. Complete news coverage is here. More than 17. 4 million Britons voted June 23 to sever ties with the European Union, whose seat of power lies in Brussels, compared with 16. 1 million who voted to remain. The stunning vote, 52 percent to 48 percent, plunged world financial markets into turmoil, the political consequences for the prime minister of Britain were swift, and people around the globe reacted with shock and confusion. It would be the first time any country has left the bloc. Fear of being overrun by immigrants was a driving concern for “Leave” voters, who appeared to dominate the conversation on social media. Globalization concerns and a desire to wrest Britain from under Brussels’ thumb were also factors. The referendum came about as a result of a promise made in 2013 by Prime Minister David Cameron to appease an increasingly vocal   Union wing of his Conservative Party. ■ The prime minister said he would step down. Mr. Cameron, who led the “Remain” campaign, announced on Friday that he had no ”precise timetable” but that he believed his successor  —   who will manage the process of leaving the union  —   should be in place by October. Boris Johnson, the former mayor of London who backed leaving the E. U. was considered a   to succeed Mr. Cameron. But on June 30, Mr. Johnson announced he would not run for the position of party leader (and therefore prime minister). ■ Global markets plunged. The British pound plummeted to its lowest level since 1985. Investors fled to the American dollar and the yen.  ■ The U. S. market was down more than 3 percent at the close on June 24, with the Dow shedding over 600 points, after   overnight in Japan and Hong Kong. The financial damage was more severe on the Continent than in Britain and the United States.  ■ The United Kingdom lost its last remaining  credit rating on June 27, when the credit rating agency Standard  Poor’s downgraded the nation to AA, Reuters reported. ■ The referendum is not legally binding, though it is difficult to imagine that the British government would ignore the will of the voters. The process of leaving begins only after the British government invokes a provision of the European Union’s governing treaty known as Article 50  —   an action Mr. Cameron said he would leave to his successor. Once Article 50 is invoked, though, Britain could not change its mind and stay in the union unless the 27 other members all agreed. ■ Britain would leave the world’s largest common market, with 508 million residents, including 65 million Britons. That would free them from the bloc’s commitment to the free movement of labor, capital, goods and services. But it would also bring complications, with some businesses already planning to relocate. ■ Little will change for at least two years, but the vote sets off a series of negotiations as the country separates from the union’s remaining 27 members. Britain, which has the bloc’s   economy after Germany, would have to come up with new trading agreements. Almost half its exports are sold on Europe’s common market. ■ London’s role as a financial center could be imperiled, particularly if the trade in   securities moves to rival cities like Paris and Frankfurt. ■ The immediate effect on travel will be limited, especially as Britain was not a member of the   Schengen zone, which came under heavy pressure last year from the refugee crisis. Americans will find bargains in travel to Britain, because of more favorable exchange rates. ■  Britain’s security will be largely unaffected: It remains a nuclear power, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and a leader of NATO. ■ Scotland and Northern Ireland could go their own way. Both voted overwhelmingly to stay in the E. U. But prominent political leaders in Scotland and Northern Ireland called on Friday for new moves toward separating from Britain. Scotland, which voted in 2014 to remain in the United Kingdom, may revisit that referendum. Northern Ireland has an open border with the Republic of Ireland, a member of the bloc. Border crossings could now be tightened, and pressure could increase for unification, prompting instability in both places. ■ Calls for similar action have spread throughout Europe. “We must now have the same referendum,” French   National Front party leader Marine Le Pen tweeted. Politicians made similar appeals in Denmark and the Netherlands. In Italy, one politician called for a referendum on whether to keep the euro currency. ■ President Obama said in a statement: “The people of the United Kingdom have spoken, and we respect their decision. ” He pledged that the U. K. and the E. U. would remain “indispensable partners of the United States” and that Britain’s “special relationship” with the United States would endure. ■ Hillary Clinton: “We respect the choice the people of the United Kingdom have made. Our first task has to be to make sure that the economic uncertainty created by these events does not hurt working families here in America. ” ■ Donald J. Trump: “I said this was going to happen, and I think that it’s a great thing. ” The British people “have declared their independence from the European Union, and have voted to reassert control over their own politics, borders and economy,” Mr. Trump said. “A Trump administration pledges to strengthen our ties with a free and independent Britain. ” ■ Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany expressed disappointment with the vote and called for European unity. “Our goal should be to create a future relationship between Great Britain and the European Union that is close and  . ” ■ Moscow maintained its stance that the British referendum was of little direct concern. President Vladimir V. Putin said, “This will certainly have consequences for Britain, for Europe and for us. The consequences will be global, they are inevitable they will be both positive and negative. ”",true,news,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
3398,3399,"As the number of children with autism has risen dramatically over the past couple of decades , experts have learned that the earlier a child gets diagnosed , the earlier specialized therapy can be initiated , which can significantly improve outcomes .  Now researchers have been able to show that a particular type of behavioral therapy called the Early Start Denver Model (  ) not only improves autism symptoms , but actually normalizes brain activity and improves social behavior .  Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that starts to become very apparent around age 3 . The main signs and symptoms of autism involve communication , social interactions and repetitive behaviors . According to the latest statistics from the U . S . Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , one in 88 children currently is diagnosed with autism , including one in 54 boys .  "" Early intervention alters the trajectory of the brain and social development in children with autism , "" says Geraldine Dawson , the lead study author who developed the  therapy along with study co author Sally Rogers .  Dawson was a researcher at the University of Washington when she helped devise  she ' s now the chief science officer for the advocacy and research group Autism Speaks and a professor at the University of North Carolina . Rogers is a professor and researcher at the University of California Davis  Institute .   therapy uses teaching methods from  , or applied behavioral analysis , the traditional one on one interaction between a child and the therapist .  But rather than sitting at a desk next to the child where a teacher or therapist breaks down complex tasks into small components and gives tangible reinforcements children receiving  are sitting on the floor , playing with their therapist or parents .  It can be done just about anywhere , and Dawson says the play based method of engaging a child helps him or her develop a social relationship .  Autism event pegged to U . N . draws story of perseverance  The study began with 48 children in Seattle and Sacramento , California , who were between who were between 1 1 2 and 2 1 2 years old . Half of the children received a total of 20 hours of  therapy over five days a week .  But since parents can be taught the methods in just a few hours , they could engage their children using the  method as well . The other half of the toddlers received community based interventions , which included in some individual therapist sessions and some day care based sessions . The number of hours spent with therapists was the same in both groups .  Three years ago , Rogers and Dawson published their first findings from this study and found that children receiving  therapy increased their  and language skills three times more than children in the community intervention group .  That in itself was "" very significant , "" says Dr Thomas Insel , director of the National Institute of Mental Health , because it proved that early detection and intervention leads to improved outcomes .  In their latest study , published Friday in the Journal of the American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry , Rogers and Dawson show what parts of a child ' s brain are active after two years of therapy , compared to typically developing children , using an  ( electroencephalogram ) . In an  , electrical activity in different parts of the brain is measured using electrodes that attached to the child ' s head .  "" If the child wiggles too much , the data is not interpretable , "" says Dawson .  In the end , researchers could only get 60 of the children to sit still enough to get usable  results , she says , but that was true in both the group of children with autism and those without .  Fifteen children in the  group , 14 in the community intervention group and 17 typically developing children underwent EEGs while looking at pictures of faces ( social stimuli ) vs . pictures of toys ( nonsocial stimuli ) .  Technicians measuring the brain activity had no idea which children had autism and which did not .  With autism , no longer invisible  Babies are naturally drawn to people and faces , and their brains show greater responses when they look at a face , compared to an object or a toy , Dawson says .  But in young and even older children with autism , the opposite happens . The part of the brain that should be responding to a face or social activity doesn ' t light up , but the part of the brain that responds to objects is more active .  Insel says this study shows that the  form of therapy "" not only changes behavior , it changes the brain . ""  The exact cause , or more precisely causes , of autism are unknown and there is no cure .  Parents and pediatricians are urged to look for early signs of autism including : little or no eye contact , lack of or delay of spoken language , repetitive use of language and behaviors and persistent fixation on parts of objects .  Since 2007 , the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that pediatricians screen 18 and 24 month old toddlers for signs of autism .  When something is wrong in the brain not just in autism , but also in diseases like Alzheimer ' s and Parkinson ' s what ' s causing the disease is occurring much earlier than when symptoms appear , Insel explains .  Based on the new findings , perhaps using EEGs to measure this type of brain activity could be a biomarker for autism , he says . A biomarker is a distinct characteristic that indicates a particular condition .  Measuring a baby ' s brain activity as early as 3 and 6 months could identify changes in the brain before changes in behavior are noticed , he says , and therapy could begin even earlier .  The  model could be applied as early as 12 months , say Dawson and Rogers .  More research will probably have to be done to confirm the biomarker . So until there is a definitive test for diagnosing autism , Dawson says this it ' s even more important that pediatricians screen children for autism as early as possible .  "" The average age of diagnosis is still 4 and 5 and even older in minority groups , "" she says . "" We really need to close the gap . ""  Autism Speaks has many tools on its website to help parents see what a child with autism looks like compared to a typically developing child . There are also many tool kits to help families of children with autism .  Why autistic kids make easy targets for school bullies  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
3412,3413,"Reuters) - Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Thursday her office had received 45 complaints of inflated prices at Chevron Corp branded gasoline stations in the southern part of the state, as shortages worsened ahead of Hurricane Irma s expected U.S. landfall this weekend. More than 1,800 gas stations - more than a quarter of the state s total - were without fuel late Thursday, up from 1,200 Wednesday, ahead of Irma, which is battering the Caribbean with winds at speeds of around 185 miles per hour (300 km per hour). The storm is expected to hit Florida on Sunday.  Gasoline prices in Florida have risen sharply in the last week, with the average cost of a regular gallon of gas hitting $2.725 on Thursday, according to motorists advocacy group AAA. Suppliers and terminal operators said demand has soared as motorists in coastal areas flee. Shortages were more acute in southern Florida, according toweblink. More than 40 percent of stations in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area were without fuel and around 30 percent were empty in the West Palm Beach-Fort Pierce areas, said Patrick DeHaan ofweblink.  So Chevron, if you re watching me right now, you need to call us and tell us why your prices are inflated in south Florida,  Bondi said on Fox News.  Chevron has said several times this week it has no tolerance for price gouging at its stations. No retail outlets in Florida are directly owned by the company. The company reiterated that on Thursday, saying consumers should report price gouging to Bondi s office.   Our fuel supply agreements with independently owned Chevron and Texaco stations in the state and elsewhere require them to comply with all laws,  spokesman Braden Reddall said in a statement.   Port Everglades, the major point of fuel delivery for south Florida, is set to close Friday evening. At Tampa Bay, three ships made deliveries Thursday morning, unloading 1.2 million gallons each, said Samara Sodos, a spokeswoman for the port, adding that the port received five deliveries on Wednesday. One terminal operator, speaking on condition of anonymity, said his terminal typically loaded 25,000 to 30,000 barrels a day onto trucks every day, and expected to hit 40,000 to 45,000 on Thursday.  Concerns about shortages spread beyond Florida as Caribbean fuel terminals closed and residents began evacuating other coastal U.S. states, including Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. Georgia said on Thursday it will close its ports Friday night because of Irma. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3418,3419,"Three law enforcement officers patrolling a remote stretch of northern California woods shot dead a double murder suspect whom authorities had been hunting for 36 days , a sheriff said .  Aaron Bassler was wearing black clothing and carrying a large backpack , a fanny pack and assault rifle when three Sacramento sheriffs spotted him early Saturday , Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman said .  From about 40 yards away and at an elevation 25 feet higher , they fired about seven rounds into his upper torso .  Allman said Bassler didn ' t fire a shot , and there was no verbal exchange between the parties . The suspect raised his weapon which was loaded and not on safety from the ground toward law enforcement officers .  It is believed to be the same weapon used to kill one of his victims , officials said .  The suspect was considered "" armed and dangerous , "" and was believed to have engaged in a gunfight with three other law enforcement officers from Alameda County two days earlier .  There was no "" shoot to kill "" order in effect , Allman said .  "" I fully support the manner in which this happened , "" the sheriff said , responding to inquiries that the suspect was killed without any warning or having fired a shot . "" There will be no more lives endangered by Aaron Bassler . ""  Authorities wanted Bassler for the killing of Jere Melo on August 27 just east of Fort Bragg on the northern California coast 10 miles north of Mendocino .  Melo , 69 , was an Army veteran as well as a former mayor and then councilman in Fort Bragg at the time of his death .  A witness saw a gunman open fire and later identified the suspect , according to Allman .  He has also been identified as the suspect in the August 11 slaying of Matthew Coleman in Westport , just north of Fort Bragg . Allman said Saturday that  evidence linked him to Coleman ' s death .  For over a month , more than 40 local , state and federal law enforcement agencies have teamed up to look for him .  In the process , he has been a suspect in several burglaries in which he kicked in locked doors and made off with food and guns , said Allman .  One such incident occurred between Thursday and Friday in a garage shop about two miles from where Bassler was eventually found . A police bloodhound tracked his scent , helping steer authorities in the direction that they believed the suspect might be and leading to the operation Saturday .  The officers who gunned down Bassler were among about 15 three person teams brought in from around the state for the search .  Bassler ' s family was "" not happy "" when a law enforcement official contacted them Saturday about the death because the press had already put out the news , according to the sheriff .  "" I do have some feelings for the Bassler family , they suffered a loss today , "" Allman said . "" ( But ) I assure you , that the other two losses that we felt in this county were something that law enforcement remembered every day . ""  A 30 , 000 reward for information leading to Bassler had been offered . There was no indication Saturday that anyone will receive it .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
3428,3429,"House of Lords restaurants lost almost 2million last year leaving ordinary taxpayers to pick up the bill .  The upper chamber ' s controversial catering subsidy increased by 100 , 000 last year according to official figures released this week .  The lavish subsidy allows peers to enjoy fine dining at knock down prices on the Parliamentary estate .  Parliamentary authorities insiste that bills have been reduced by hundreds of thousands and prices in bars and restaurants have been increased to reduce the burden on the public purse  Overall , the taxpayer subsidy for the eight House of Lords bars and restaurants jumped from 1 . 85m to 1 . 95m between 2012 13 to 2013 14 . The Peers ' Dining Room alone required 886 , 996 of taxpayers ' money to keep going .  The revelation has infuriated MPs , battling to win back public trust in Parliament after the expenses scandal .  Labour  John Mann said the House of Lords was ' the most lavish retirement home in the country ' .  He said : ' It is about time the Lords was cut down in size . I would abolish the whole house , but if they are not going to do that they should at least cut its cloth so it is in touch with the rest of austerity Britain . '  John O ' Connell , of the Taxpayers ' Alliance , added : ' David Cameron promised that the cost of politics would come down , but it is still far too high .  ' Taxpayers shouldn ' t be subsidising fancy catering in the House of Lords when we ' re trying to find savings everywhere else . It ' s absurd that this practice has survived in these tough financial times . '  The Lords catering subsidy allows peers to enjoy lavish meals far below the price ordinary families would have to pay elsewhere in central London .  House of Lords restaurants lost almost 2million last year leaving ordinary taxpayers to pick up the bill  In the exclusive Barry Room brasserie , peers can enjoy ' Prawn and lobster meat folded into Avugar caviar ' with ' lemon mayonnaise , with tomato and cucumber salsa and grilled baby gem lettuce ' for just 10 .  They can then dine on ' Squid ink linguine , served with saut ed mixed shellfish , roasted red peppers coulis , mixed with lemon and flat leaf parsley topped with parmesan shavings ' for 9 .  Or if they prefer meat , peers can choose a ' grilled breast of guinea fowl , served with caf au lait , saut ed kale and parsnip crisps ' for 9 . 50 or a grilled minute steak for 10 .  A House of Lords spokesman said the upper chamber had cut its catering subsidy by 27 per cent since 2007 and said it was their aim ' to halve the net cost of the catering and retail service by 2015 16 ' .  He added : ' Our catering services meet the needs of a working House of Parliament and due to the unpredictable nature of sittings of the House , and periods where the House doesn ' t sit and so revenue is not generated , a subsidy is unavoidable .  ' We also pay all staff at least the London Living Wage and provide workplace pensions to our refreshment department staff . We are proud to do so but it means our costs are higher than some commercial restaurants . '  But it is not only the Lords which benefit from taxpayer subsidised dinners .  Before MPs broke off for Christmas they enjoyed lavish lunches including chargrilled partridge , salmon marinated in vodka and guinea fowl for the same price as a high street pizza .  The meals are able to be offered for way below the going rate because taxpayers subsidise restaurant and bars across the Parliamentary estate .  The Strangers ' Dining Room used by members to wine and dine guests is serving chargrilled spatchcocked partridge with roast pear , squash and game chips for 9 . 25 .  Just a mile away from Parliament , ordinary members of the public have to pay 25 to dine on a roast leg of Partridge .  Another seasonal item at the restaurant is the roast Norfolk turkey breast wrapped in smoked pancetta with piccolo parsnips , baby sprouts , chestnut stuffing , cranberry gel and bread sauce foam for 12 .  The fish menu includes confit halibut with lemon verbena , Anna potatoes , baby fennel , golden raisins and verjus for 15 .  In the Portcullis Cafeteria main courses include braised guinea fowl breast with baked fig and celeriac rosti with ginger sauce for 4 and baked fillet of salmon in puff pastry with a rich tomato sauce , roasted cherry tomatoes and basil for 4 .  In the exclusive Barry Room brasserie , peers can enjoy ' Prawn and lobster meat folded into Avugar caviar '  Labour  John Mann said the House of Lords was ' the most lavish retirement home in the country '  MPs have been urged to end the 7million a year subsidy for food and drink in the House of Commons  At the Debate restaurant Christmas specials include grilled salmon fillet marinated in vodka and dill with vegetable tinsel for 4 .  The Churchill Dining Room offers salt baked celeriac with pea velout , poached hen ' s egg , puffed potato , toasted panko and popcorn shoots for 10 .  Parliamentary staff can also make use of the daily roast at the Members ' Dining Room , where the fare includes traditional roast turkey with stuffing , pigs in blankets and cranberry sauce and mustard and honey glazed gammon with parsley sauce and sage and onion pudding .  Peers were last month attacked after it emerged they had complained that their exclusive restaurants had become ' downmarket ' .  Members of the House of Lords are said to be angry that ordinary office workers with a Parliamentary pass are now allowed to join them at their taxpayer subsidised dining areas .  Lords catering officials allowed other people into the dining hall to cut the eye watering subsidy .  The exclusive Barry Room was turned into a brasserie where ordinary workers can now bring up to six guests .  But one diner was left unimpressed firing off a complaint against the ' downgrading ' of the restaurants and ' the appalling search for mediocrity ' .  Other complaints revealed under Freedom of Information rules attacked the quality of food and angry staff .  One lord said he could get better food in a ' down market establishment like Prezzo or Ask ' .  Another suggested the chef who had made a mushroom roll ' should be sent to Pizza Express or Zizzi and probably Cafe Rouge ' .  One peer even complained he would get a better value breakfast for 36 at London ' s five star Ritz Hotel .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
3437,3438,"Hilton Head , South Carolina Our man on the golf scene , Chip Fairway , had been at the  Heritage Golf Tournament for four very long days his work was done . There was nothing left to do but smudge some dirt over the scratch on his rental car and call it a day . That ' s when Chip saw Jim Furyk , the winner of the tournament in a playoff against local , Kevin Kisner , standing with another man in the hotel parking lot adjacent to the course .  We ' ll let Chip tell you first hand what he saw . "" Well , Furyk looked really disgusted by the red Scottish Tartan Jacket he ' d just won . He was making a hand motion like he wanted to rip his eyes right out of their sockets and sticking his index finger down his throat . Then he handed a plump looking fellow wearing a bright pink golf shirt the ugly jacket , in exchange for what looked to be a sweet stack of cash . Furyk did kept the bronze statue part of the trophy though , even nuzzled it on the nose a little , right there in front of this other guy . Looked like it got weird . Then Furyk took his giant check and the little bronze statue guy , got on a jet ski and hi tailed it out of there , thinking no one else had seen him . ""  Still , our man Chip , the vigilant golf journalist , gave chase to the story .  "" I was smart enough to bring my own jet ski with me this year , "" told Fairway . "" So , I caught up with him out in Calibogue Sound , where the waves get really rough , and I yelled over to him , ' Hey Jim , what in the heck happened with your jacket back there ? '  And he was like : ' It got stolen ! ' ""  Then , according to Fairway , Furyk ' s demeanor took a turn for the worse and he became irate , and tried to "" take out "" our man , Chip . "" He got real pissed when I yelled back that he was lying about the jacket . ""  Furyk then apparently caught a three foot wave off of the wake of a party boat , scooping it like a 54 degree wedge .  "" Yeah , he tried to swing some sort of fancy ' jet ski flop shot ' right on top of me ! Believe me , Old Jim seems to be just as versatile with a Polaris , as he is with his trusty Titleist Razor Bladz ! i "" told Chip , from Room 2 at the Hilton Head Walk In Clinic , where he ' d just received twelve stitches in the back of his head . "" Yeah , Furyk got me pretty good with that little Plantation Man statue ! Trust me , from now on , I ' ve learnt my lesson . I ' ll never bother Jim Furyk after a golf tournament again ! "" swore Fairway , downing a handful of Vicodins , while asking the attending nurse if she was a fan of this new i Tinder he was hearing so much about .  smooth one Chip , see you in New Orleans next weekend .  ",satire,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
3440,3441,Reuters) - Argentine leader Mauricio Macri said Wednesday’s state visit by U.S. President Barack Obama marked the start of new “mature”  relations in which the countries would cooperate on issues ranging from trade to fighting international drug trafficking. ,true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
3458,3459,"With Prince Harry watching live from the  section , Stephen Bunting produced a suitably regal performance , knocking out the No 6 seed James Wade from the William Hill  world darts championships .  His Royal Highness decided to sample the boisterous Ally Pally atmosphere for just the second time on the last occasion , nearly four years ago , protocol was breached when the victorious semi finalist Adrian Lewis inadvertently kissed the fifth in line to the throne in sheer excitement .  Once again , though , the Prince chose an excellent night to watch the arrows . In a wonderfully thrilling second round performance , Bunting underlined his class by smashing Wade 4 1 .  Prince Harry enjoyed a night at the darts as  watched the action at Alexandra Palace on Monday  Prince Harry was engrossed in the darts as Stephen Bunting knocked out No 6 seed James Dart  While his doubles ratio of 37 per cent will have to improve as the tournament progress , the 29 year old impressively hit checkouts of 161 , 144 and 118 .  The Bullet , the No 27 seed , eventually shot down one of the best players on the circuit with a double 10 finish .  ' I was really nervous out there , ' said Bunting , who faces Michael Smith in the Last 16 . ' But I had a lot of fans watching . They were my 12th man and they got me through it . I ' m not happy with a 93 average . I need to do better . '  Wade , 31 , said : ' Stephen is not of the same level as me but he was the better player out there . This is embarrassing . I really thought I would win ( the tournament ) this year . '  Bunting celebrates his shock win over Wade as he reached the third round at Alexandra Palace  Raymond van Barneveld ( left ) celebrates his narrow win over Jamie Cavern  For the second successive year , Raymond van Barneveld played Jamie Caven at the worlds and 12 months after winning 4 3 in the second round , the Dutchman repeated the trick once again .  This match went with the throw for six sets basically whoever threw first in the opening leg of the set ended up being the victor . However , in the decisive , seventh set , Barney ' s experience and nous as a five time world champion paid off .  The Dutchman , who received supportive Twitter messages from Man Utd and Holland striker Robin van Persie , will now face Adrian Lewis this evening in a potentially titanic third round encounter .  Bunting joked : ' I didn ' t know Harry was here . I ' m going to have a pint with him now ! But it is great that darts is getting this type of coverage . '  In terms of darts royalty , there are few who come bigger than the defending champion . And the Dutchman Michael van Gerwen , the man who lifted the Sid Waddell trophy on New Year ' s Day , became the first man into the quarter finals , beating Terry ' The Bull ' Jenkins 4 1 .  Defending champion Michael van Gerwen celebrates as he saw off the challenge of Terry Jenkins  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3470,3471,"Reuters) - Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar held a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump in which he discussed migration and Britain’s exit from the European Union, the Irish government said in a statement on Tuesday. “Particular topics discussed included migration, Brexit and the movement of goods and citizens across the border, climate change, free trade, Irish inward investment in the United States, and the undocumented Irish,” the statement said, as well as the Northern Irish peace process. The border between Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland, an  member, will become the only land frontier between the  and the  after Britain exits the bloc in March 2019. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
3478,3479,"WATCH:  Hack Humiliates Self, Tells Viewers U.S. Reps Are Term-Limited Already (They’re Not)  That breakdown in communication in Washington is exactly what has fueled the rise of Trump . People are sick and tired of nothing getting done, at least nothing good, so they want a new leader who can actually accomplish great things.  “I think that we have decided that rather than confront the disagreement and differences of opinion, we’ll just simply annihilate the person who disagrees with us,” Thomas said.  Unfortunately he is exactly right. Both Republicans and Democrats are guilty of preferring to demonize their opponents rather than engaging in meaningful discussion.    This sort of polarization doesn’t help America. All it does is increase the frustration the American people have with Congress when they see nothing happening for years.  Trump has a history of making compromises and hammering out complex deals in the business world. Unlike Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton, Trump has a history of making things work.  If Trump can bring about some real change in Washington, he can finally turn this country around.  Share this on Facebook and Twitter and let us know if you think electing Trump will be enough to fix what is broken in our capitol.  ",fake,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
3483,3484,"Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama has warned that attacks on police over racial bias would hurt the anti-racism Black Lives Matter movement, days after a sniper killed five police officers in Dallas in apparent revenge for police shootings of black people.  Obama said although most activists from the Black Lives Matter movement wanted to see better relations between communities and law enforcement, violence and overly broad criticism against police undermined the protest movement. “I want to say to say to everyone concerned about ... racial bias in the criminal justice system that maintaining a truthful, serious and respectful tone is going to help mobilize American society to bring about real change,” Obama said. “Whenever those of us who are concerned about failures of the criminal justice system attack police, you are doing a disservice to the cause,” he told a news conference in Madrid where he is on a one-day visit.  Micah Johnson, a black U.S. military veteran of the Afghan war, opened fire on police officers on Thursday during a protest in Dallas against the fatal shootings of two black men by police in Louisiana and Minnesota the previous day. Johnson wanted to “kill white people, especially white officers,” Dallas Police Chief David Brown said after the attack on Thursday night. The Black Lives Matter group said on Friday it advocated dignity, not murder, in response to the shooting that also left seven other police officers and two civilians wounded. Obama said there was legitimate criticism to be made of the criminal justice system and that citizens should continue to protest against it. “I would hope that police organizations are also respectful of the frustrations that people in these communities feel and not just dismiss these protests as political correctness or politics or attacks on police,” he said. ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
3504,3505,"An 82 year old woman who repeatedly stabbed her husband of 36 years in the back with her sewing scissors because she wrongly believed he was having an affair , has been jailed for four and a half years .  Elizabeth Stokes , of Cheltenham , Gloucestershire , ' ambushed ' her husband John , 69 , in the middle of the night , stabbing him 13 times and puncturing both of his lungs .  He staggered to the bathroom , bleeding profusely , and she followed before telling him he had no means of escape because she had hidden his keys and phone , a court heard .  Elizabeth Stokes , 82 , ( pictured right in the purple coat outside Gloucester Crown Court ) ' ambushed ' her husband John , 69 ( left ) , in the middle of the night , stabbing him 13 times and puncturing both of his lungs  Mr Stokes only managed to get help after shouting loudly out of the bathroom window to alert a neighbour , who called 999 .  After a four day trial at Gloucester Crown Court , a jury today convicted Stokes of wounding her husband with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm .  However , she was cleared of a charge of attempted murder . She had denied both charges .  Jailing her , Judge Jamie Tabor  said she remained ' fixated ' with the idea that her husband had been unfaithful and she would therefore still be a danger to him when she leaves prison .  He made an indefinite restraining order banning her from contacting her husband in any way .  Stokes had told the jury that she believed her husband had two affairs during their marriage and was still seeing another woman at the time of the attack on July 27 .  He had been getting Viagra from the doctor and she believed he had a second phone to speak to his mistress , she said .  She claimed she suddenly ' snapped ' on the day of the attack and grabbed the scissors to stab him as he returned to bed from the bathroom .  However , Judge Tabor said it was a ' deliberate and planned ambushing ' and that she had put her sewing scissors in the bedroom in readiness for the attack .  Mr Stokes , who spent eight days in hospital and made a full recovery , told prosecutors before the trial that he did not want to see her jailed and would go back to her .  Mrs Stokes , who has short grey hair and wore a blue patterned woollen cardigan and grey trousers , sat in the dock and listened intently with a hearing loop as Judge Tabor passed sentence .  Stokes ( pictured ) , of Cheltenham , was jailed for four and a half years at Gloucester Crown Court after being convicted of wounding with intent  He told her : ' On the outside to observers your marriage to Mr Stokes appeared to be peaceful and loving .  ' But on the inside what you called indoors you were seething with resentment of your husband .  ' You had a fixation and almost certainly a delusion that he was being unfaithful to you but your resentment went much further than that .  ' You described him as a very good actor who was devious , sly and spiteful . You described him as a Jekyll and Hyde character , very jealous and a complete coward .  ' That was not a delusion that was the way you felt about the man you lived with for 36 years .  ' That resentment grew and grew in your mind until the time came when you planned to assault him very seriously indeed .  ' You lay in wait for him while he went to the lavatory . You sprang out at him and started to stab him in the back with a pair of scissors which I suspect you had got for the job .  ' When he turned around you stabbed him high up on his body causing both lungs to be penetrated .  ' Although I am not a doctor I suspect some of those injuries were not far from the heart .  ' He could have died but you showed remarkable callousness once you had caused those injuries , leaving him to bleed in the bath and making remarks like ' No one ' s going to hear you . '  The judge said he had taken her age into account , as well as her previous good character .  He also made allowances for fact her son Brian died in an accident last year , and said he had taken into account the effect it had on her .  He said : ' This is a quite extraordinary case . It is one of a type which does not come before the courts very often and it of course poses problems for a sentencing judge .  ' Your age , your good character , your diminutive size all mean sentencing has to be outside the guidelines for this kind of case . '  He said that a defendant of normal age who committed such an offence could expect a 12 year term .  Rupert Lowe , defending , had told the judge : ' Mrs Stokes is by far the oldest person in Eastwood Park Prison where she has been on remand since the offence .  ' She never expected to be there and none of the staff ever expected to see a lady like her .  Sentencing Stokes at Gloucester Crown Court ( pictured ) , Judge Jamie Tabor  described the attack as a ' deliberate and planned ambushing ' . However , the pensioner was cleared of an attempted murder charge  ' She has undoubtedly learned the error of her ways and how serious what she did was . She is not in a position where she would ever do that again in my submission , even in the very unlikely event they were back together . '  Judge Tabor said : ' I suspect he would have her back as quick as a flash if indeed he genuinely loves her as he said he did .  ' He is obviously a very forgiving man and if he felt she didn ' t pose a threat and he would be the worst judge of that he would have her back . '  Mr Lowe submitted that it was ' not the most serious ' wounding of its kind but the judge retorted : ' He nearly died . If he had not been able to shout out of the window to get help he might have done . '  At the start of the trial , prosecutor Julian Kesner said she had clearly planned to stab her husband because she had taken the scissors to the bedroom and hidden his keys and phone .  As she started to stab Mr Stokes , he asked her ' What are you doing this for ? ' and she replied : ' You have ruined my life because of these affairs . '  When Mr Stokes ran to the bathroom and stood in the bath with blood pouring from his wounds she told him : ' You ' re trapped . The phone ' s gone . Your keys are gone and you ' ve got no means of escape . '  Mr Kesner continued : ' Losing blood , getting weaker , he called out of the bathroom window to the neighbours . Her response was ' No one ' s going to hear you . It ' s the dead of night . '  ' He called out again to the closest neighbours ' Raphael , Barbara , help me I ' m bleeding to death . '  Police arrived and arrested Mrs Stokes while paramedics attended and took her husband to hospital where he spent eight days being treated .  Two of his chest wounds were so deep they had penetrated and punctured both lungs , Mr Kesner said .  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
3505,3506,"Election lawyer and Justice Department whistleblower J. Christian Adams, author of Injustice: Exposing the Racial Agenda of the Obama Justice Department, was a guest on Wednesday’s Breitbart News Daily with SiriusXM host Alex Marlow. [Marlow asked Adams to clarify the new immigration guidelines coming from President Trump’s administration.  LISTEN: “The president and  have really issued some bold new rules that I think are designed to protect the country,” Adams said. “They’re doing things the Obama administration refused to do but should have. ” For example, he said the Trump administration would be “removing people quickly, without any nonsense rigamarole. ” “These are people who haven’t been here very long. The Obama administration used to confine it to just two weeks. So if you could manage to get past two weeks under Obama, you can stay,” he explained. “But under Trump, they’re going to make it two years. So if you’ve been here within two years, in the country illegally, you’re gone quickly. Expedited removal. Outta here. ” “Obama used to confine it to 100 miles within the border  —   only if you were caught within a hundred miles would you be removed immediately, on an expedited basis,” he continued. “All you had to do is get past the   line, and you were safe under Obama. What Trump did was extend it to the entire country. If you’re caught illegally, and you’ve been here less than two years, you’re going to be immediately removed. ” Adams said there was no chance the Left would refrain from “melting down” over these changes. “As you know, Alex, the Left is all about changing the demographics of the country so they can win elections,” he charged. “And that’s what this has all been about from the beginning. The open borders crowd is finding a way to undermine mainstream America, middle American values, political views, to inject the country with a foreign influence  —   that’s right, I said that  —   foreign influence  —   so the demographic of the electorate changes. ”  “It helps them win the White House. It helps them win the Senate in places like Florida, California, Arizona, Virginia, another great example, Pennsylvania, Illinois  —   places with high immigration and illegal immigration. So I think the Left will go crazy. It’s what they do. They can’t help themselves. So expect more of it,” he said. Marlow characterized the longstanding “bizarre and terrible” approach to immigration enforcement as an implicit promise that “all you have to do is not commit another crime, and then you can stay. ” “I think that the decision to focus on criminal behavior  —   and we can talk about what that means because that’s important  —   but the decision to focus on criminal behavior is a first step. It’s a starting point that most Americans would agree with. It makes the Left look utterly crazy. It gaslights them,” Adams said. “But you know, it’s not just convicted criminals,” he pointed out. “It’s people who get picked up for like driving without a license, which is a huge problem when it comes to illegal aliens. And so it’s not just those who were convicted it’s those who were charged, those who were picked up on a minor infraction. ” Marlow asked when construction of the border wall President Trump promised might begin and whether it’s truly politically feasible. Adams insisted the wall was quite feasible, pointing to the Great Wall of China as an example of   wall construction technology from ages past. However, he warned that “the entire bureaucracy inside the Beltway is going to   this. ” “Every chance they get to sabotage and interfere, they’re going to do it. Folks who think that just because Trump is the president that that stuff is over with are wrong. Contracts being let, lawsuits being filed over some lizard in Arizona that might be affected by the wall  …    you’re going to see the entire apparatus of the   institution activate to stop this because they know, again Alex, getting people here illegally helps them win elections ten, fifteen years down the road. I’m afraid that this is going to be a wicked experience for the country when you have bureaucrats opposing this. ” Adams agreed with Marlow that construction of the wall was politically dicey, warning that “every day counts. ” “We are one day worse than we were yesterday of Trump being president. Speed is of the essence. When Obama came in, he realized that every day counted, and so they radicalized the government as fast as possible. That has to be undone just as quickly,” he urged. Marlow cited a new poll that shows 80 percent of Americans oppose the concept of “sanctuary cities” where federal officials are not notified after illegal aliens come into contact with local law enforcement. “How come this is the only law in America you can break where you have a sanctuary city for it?” he asked. “This is a culture that’s permitting lawlessness to be out in the open in these urban areas like San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston,” Adams replied. “These sanctuary cities are openly saying, ‘We don’t care about the law, and we’re going to provide a haven for lawlessness because we believe in changing the culture, changing the demographics of elections. ” “How can it happen? How does it exist? Look, those cities are run by lunatics,” he said. “San Francisco is run by lunatics. What is the political backstop? Trump may have figured it out. If you say, “Hey, okay, dear lunatics, if you still want your federal money, then you’re going to stop this’  —   but you can see Alex, in some cases, the lunacy is more important to them than the dollars. We’ll see what happens there. ” Adams portrayed the assault on immigration law as an attack on “the fundamental notion that the West, that America, has the power to set off a piece of the earth and say, ‘We are different from the rest of you. We believe in individual liberty, the role of limited government, of the separation of powers, of the rule of law, and we are allowed to do borders to protect those ideas. ’” “That’s what’s under attack, Alex. Around the world is this notion that the West should be able to survive as the West. That’s why people like Trudeau, who’s also a nut, are part of this globalist open borders ideology that really is a   effort to undermine Western values,” he added, referring to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. A caller asked how it would be possible to determine that any given illegal alien had been present in the United States for two years or less to remove them with expedited deportation, given that illegal aliens have little documentation of their movements. “That’s a great question,” said Adams. “That’s where the lawyers working at  and immigration judges  —   you know, we have rules of evidence, Alex. I can figure out, pretty much, if you give me subpoena power, how long somebody’s been in the country. I could talk to people. I could look at bank records. I could look at job histories. I could look at a variety of evidence that will inform the question of how long they’ve been here. Sometimes you get an admission, right? That’s the best kind of evidence, an admission against interest. So it’s not impossible to figure out who’s been here less than two years. Breitbart News Daily airs on SiriusXM Patriot 125 weekdays from 6:00 a. m. to 9:00 a. m. Eastern. Listen to the full audio of the interview above.",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
3517,3518,"As Americans , we are fortunate to have the right to speak our minds . Filmmaker Michael Moore did just that with his attack on the use of military snipers in warfare just before the release of the Oscar nominated and devastating war anti war movie "" American Sniper , "" directed by Clint Eastwood .  Moore obviously has the same freedom of speech right that all Americans do . Some of what he has publicly stated in the past is opinion , some is fact and some is absolutely ludicrous . In an apparent reference to Navy  Chris Kyle , credited with 160 enemy kills the most in U . S . history and the movie "" American Sniper , "" Moore commented on Twitter that his "" uncle was killed by a sniper "" and that he was "" taught that all snipers were cowards . ""  Moore explains snipers are ' cowards ' tweet  To begin with , the reason Americans have the freedom of speech Moore was exercising is because brave men such as Kyle and other active duty personnel and military veterans have fought to protect this precious right .  As far as the comment that "" snipers are cowards , "" that is beyond ludicrous and it is difficult to understand just how anybody could make such a comment .  Let ' s look at some of the basic facts surrounding Kyle ' s life as a Navy  sniper . Kyle either trained for war or was deployed in war zones for more than 300 days a year during his service in the  teams .  wives basically raise their children alone . The divorce rate for SEALs is incredibly high . Many of the guys have been married multiple times . The children grow up not really knowing their dads because the dads go on frequent and often back to back deployments to war zones .  These guys seldom know when they are leaving or for how long . Their work involves going in harm ' s way and fighting an enemy that is determined to do whatever it can to take away our way of life . After returning home from a deployment , these guys immediately go back to work preparing for the next deployment . Some are not so fortunate and are wounded or killed in the line of duty .  A sniper , who operates behind enemy lines , has one of the most demanding and dangerous duties in the Special Operations community . Snipers operating in Iraq , Afghanistan and a host of other countries often must crawl and make their way through treacherous urban or desert war zone terrain for hours just to reach their position undetected , a position of over watch , cover and concealment . Once they are on site , they sometimes stay in their position for days on end waiting for follow on orders .  Why ' American Sniper ' is a smash hit  Military snipers are not sociopaths , coldblooded killers . Snipers believe in their hearts that when they neutralize , or "" take out , "" a threat that they are saving the lives of their teammates , other military personnel or other innocent people . Their target hit lists typically include terrorists or people preparing to cause grave harm or death to the innocent .  As I cite in my book "" The Modern Day Gunslinger , "" Lt . Col . David Grossman uses the analogy of wolves , sheep and sheepdogs . Grossman , in his book "" On Combat , "" compares the average citizen as basically peaceful and nonthreatening like sheep .  These are the majority of people and do not want to cause harm to others they wish to live peacefully . The terrorist the enemy , the "" bad guy "" strikes terror and threatens to harm and kill the innocent , like the wolf who threatens the sheep . Fortunately , there are brave men and women who sacrifice much to protect those who wish to live day to day in peace . These protectors are the community sheepdogs .  Chris Kyle was a champion sheepdog . Every time Kyle pulled back on his trigger and fired a shot that neutralized a "" wolf , "" he was saving countless lives and protecting the sheep . Every wolf he put down was no longer capable of causing harm or death to the sheep , the innocents .  I ask , how can anybody consider a sniper , a Navy  sniper , to be a coward ? As much as I try to keep my mind open to all viewpoints from the far left to the far right I can only reach the conclusion that Michael Moore has no idea what he is talking about . His unfounded comments could not be further from the truth .  I am confident that if Moore had the courage to spend just one day in a war zone "" sniper hide , "" waiting for the go signal to take out an enemy target his opinions on snipers and the military would change 180 degrees . I would go so far as to say if Moore would simply attend a one day sniper training course in the United States , his opinion would drastically change .  Yes , of course , he has the right to say whatever he wishes , but when a guy like Moore has the pulpit and the attention of the media , he should have a moral obligation to speak only on topics in which he has some basic knowledge of the facts .  Chris Kyle is an American war hero who has been credited and awarded for saving countless American and innocent lives . After what he did for our country , after all of his sacrifices , Kyle decided to get out of the Navy and assist those brothers in arms who returned from overseas with post traumatic stress disorder . How incredibly sad and ironic that in February 2013 , Kyle was killed and shot in the back , police say , by a former Marine suffering with  whom he was trying to help and mentor .  Michael Moore , tell me : How was Chris Kyle a coward ? How are snipers cowards ?  When Kyle was killed , he left his loving and devoted wife , Taya , behind . She feels that "" American Sniper "" did a good job at portraying the struggles that Kyle endured as a Navy  sniper as well as his roles as a husband and father . The movie illustrates the real life story of heroism , patriotism and self sacrifice of a remarkable American war hero .  Bradley Cooper , who portrayed Kyle , told  that the role was "" nothing short of life changing . It ' s just not about me or Clint ( Eastwood ) , or anybody else . . . . It ' s a real human being . . . . So there ' s a huge responsibility . But I saw it as an honor . . . . I felt like I lived with him for those six months in a very intimate way . . . . ( H ) e was the first voice I heard every morning and the last voice I heard going to bed . ""  Kyle joins the elite ranks of other American sniper icons such as Carlos Hathcock , who was credited with 93 confirmed kills during the Vietnam War . Hathcock felt the same as Kyle did when it came to taking out threats . He simply understood that he was protecting his fellow Marines and other innocent people .  If there were not people like Kyle and Hathcock protecting our freedoms , Michael Moore , along with the rest of us , would live in a much more dangerous world . I remain deeply honored and humbled to be an American and to have been part of a community where heroes like Kyle have served .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3518,3519,"London Supporters of King Richard  want a just revealed reconstruction of the monarch ' s head to bring a human aspect to a leader portrayed through the centuries as a murderous villain who butchered his way to power .  The Richard  Society commissioned the reconstruction which was unveiled before media in London Tuesday after remains believed to be those of the medieval king were discovered under in a parking lot in Leicester , England .  Scientists announced Monday that  testing had established that the skeleton was indeed that of Richard  .  Read more : Body found under parking lot is Richard   Since his death at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 , Richard  has been portrayed as hunchbacked and hateful , accused of killing his own nephews , the "" Princes in the Tower , "" to usurp the throne .  But the Richard  Society believes the monarch has been unfairly maligned by history and in particular the Tudors who ousted him .  It says its three dimensional model of the king shows a face "" far removed from the image of the cold blooded villain of Shakespeare ' s play . ""  Twitter digs Richard  discovery  Society chairman Dr Phil Stone told reporters in London that the discovery and identification of the monarch had been "" a momentous time "" for the society . He praised screenwriter Philippa Langley ' s "" tenacity and bloody mindedness "" in pursuing the project to locate his remains .  Langley said her aims had been two fold to try to find Richard  so that his remains could be retrieved from an "" undignified place "" and to "" go in search of the real Richard  . ""  Read more : Will Richard  discovery rewrite history ?  Seeing the facial reconstruction , she said , had been the most important moment . "" It was the biggest moment because suddenly the aim of seeing the real Richard  came true . That ' s a man who is three dimensional in every sense . ""  In a statement , she said : "" The experience was breathtaking one of the most overwhelming moments of my life .  "" I wasn ' t alone in finding this an approachable , kindly face , almost inviting conversation . ""  Caroline Wilkinson , Professor of Craniofacial Identification at the University of Dundee led the reconstruction project .  In a statement , she said Richard  ' s facial structure was based on "" anatomical assessment and interpretation , and a 3D replication process known as stereolithography . ""  "" The final head was pained and textured with glass eyes and a wig , using the portraits as reference , to create a realistic and regal appearance . ""  Janice Aitken from the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design at the University of Dundee said  scans of the monarch ' s skull had been used to build the reconstruction , 70 of which was within 2mm accuracy .  Read more : Richard  : The king and the car park ?  Aitken then painted his face .  "" He is just a human being . Human beings have certain characteristics you can use artistic licence to make assumptions . ""  "" The most useful references were the faces of contemporaries . At one point I used my son . ""  Aitken said Langley had been clearly "" taken aback "" when she saw the reconstruction for the first time and that the Richard  Society ' s reaction as a whole had been "" extremely gratifying . ""  Stone said in a statement that the face was "" younger and fuller than we have been used to seeing , less careworn and with a hint of a smile . ""  Richard  seemed "" alive and about to speak , "" he said .  "" At last , it seems , we have the true image of Richard  is this the face that launched a thousand myths ? ""  Sarah Levitt , head of Leicester City Council ' s Arts and Museum division said the reconstruction had the presence of a "" living , breathing man . ""  It would be given "" pride of place "" in the Richard  visitors center due to open in the central England city next year , she said .  Read more : Richard still the criminal king  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3526,3527,"RealSimpleweblink ) My mother was no domestic goddess . She was a golfing , blackjack playing , martini drinking sort who had little to do with cooking , sewing , or , God forbid , "" crafts . ""  Throughout my childhood , we ate Thanksgiving dinner at the golf club . This was essentially my parents ' place of worship . Both my sister and I were eventually married there , and we recently scattered my mother ' s ashes on the ninth hole .  The best thing about Thanksgiving at the club , as far as I was concerned , was the magnificent centerpieces the staff assembled : towering assemblages of nuts , fruit , chocolates , and candles in the shape of Pilgrim children that made my sister and me twitch with acquisitive longing .  RealSimpleweblink : Upgrade your Thanksgiving table settings  Once I left home , I did things rather differently . Starting at the age of 19 , I cooked myself silly every Thanksgiving . Even during my vegetarian years , and on through brining and turducken and other frivolities , I compensated for my mother ' s uninterest .  This particular rebellion of mine was just fine with her , as she was widowed early on and happy to have a reason to visit me . She would come clear across the country if necessary , always bringing her contribution : the centerpiece , a creation soon known as Mr Turkey .  Mr Turkey had a simple red felt turkey head , with a black bead eye on either side , and was attached to the butt end of a pineapple with straight pins . You laid the fruit on its side so that the leaves took the place of tail feathers and . . . ta da ! Faux fowl !  RealSimpleweblink : 7 authors share tales of family Thanksgiving traditions  Even though the S shaped seams of the neck were ironed together in the manner of a third grade art project , I am quite sure my mother did not make the turkey head herself . Perhaps it was a gift from one of the ladies at the bridge table .  When an eye fell off , we drew one on with a Sharpie . And it was charming , in an outsider art meets Lillian Vernon kind of way . I put it at the center of my table every year , always surrounded by a flock of hand carved apple swans I had learned how to make in my early 20s from a chef friend .  RealSimpleweblink : The best turkey essentials  We found Mr Turkey ' s head up in the closet with the wrapping paper after my mother died , its edges rotting slightly from seeping pineapple juice . Since she has been gone , I somehow feel less like cooking .  Last year I stuck his head on a bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau in the dining room of a nearby hotel . I ordered the smoked salmon appetizer . I know my mother would have approved .  Get a   issue of Real Simple   !  Copyright 2010 Time Inc . All rights reserved .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3528,3529,"David Bowie fans attend first Lazarus performance since singer ' s death as mourners pay tribute to late star  The singer ' s last public appearance before he passed away was at the opening for the show in New York last month  Thanks for subscribing ! Could not subscribe , try again later  David Bowie fans gathered in New York for the first performance of Lazarus since his death .  The legendary singer ' s live show was back on this week at the Theatre Workshop on Lafayette Street , and mourners paid tribute to the late star as they gathered for the return of the musical .  It was the first time Bowie ' s show which he wrote with Edna Walsh , and was directed by Ivo Van Hove has been performed following his tragic death on Monday following an 18 month battle with cancer .  Fans had left flowers in memory of the Starman icon , and a large crowd was seen outside the theatre on Tuesday night .  The tribute could be seen underneath a large poster advertising the show .  It was the first performance following Bowie ' s death  The last time Bowie was pictured in public was at the opening night of his new show Lazarus in New York on December 12 , where he looked happy but quite gaunt .  Despite his poor health he still managed to stop and greet fans who gathered outside of the theatre .  On Monday morning , David ' s death was confirmed on Twitter .  His last public appearance was at the opening of the show  A message from his official account read : "" David Bowie died peacefully today surrounded by his family after a courageous 18 month battle with cancer .  Read more : David Bowie ' s pals including Kate Moss ' had no idea ' about star ' s cancer battle  "" While many of you will share in this loss , we ask that you respect the family s privacy during their time of grief . ""  He passed away just three days after releasing his 25th studio album , keeping his 18 month battle with cancer so private that even close friends weren ' t aware of his struggle .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3532,3533,"Injury Report : Cardinals Need Defense At Full Strength For Game Against ? Panthers  When it comes to the playoffs , the Conference Championship Games may be the most important of them all . Yes , winning the Super Bowl is of utmost importance , but unless you prove you re the best team in the  or  , then you won t even make it to the biggest football game of the year .  The Arizona Cardinals are heading into Sunday s game with an injury report that is quite short , and that is a very good thing . The only problem is that out of the seven names on the list , all of them are important , and four of them are on the defensive side of the ball .  With an explosive and dangerous offense like Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers , that s not a good thing . ? Still , all players are going to play and no one is listed as less than probable .  On offense , Carson Palmer is still dealing with a finger injury on his right hand that has been bothering him for a while . He practiced in full all week though , and is good to go . Wide receiver John Brown also has a shoulder injury that limited him for two days of practice this week , but he was a full go on Friday and will play .  One of the biggest offensive concerns is that of running back David Johnson , who has a toe injury . He was limited on Wednesday and Thursday as well , but a full go on Friday , so he ll be playing on Sunday . His injury raised a lot of concern as Chris Johnson has been practicing , but can t return to play in a game yet and won t this season unless the Cardinals reach the Super Bowl .  Defensively , there are a few more names listed , but nothing seems overly serious . Defensive tackles Frostee Rucker ( ankle ) and Josh Mauro ( calf ) were limited throughout the week , but will be ready for Sunday . The same can be said for linebacker Markus Golden ( knee ) and cornerback Justin Bethel ( ankle ) who were a full go in practice on Friday .  The Cardinals have a few lingering injuries that will be watched carefully and checked throughout the entire game against the Panthers . You can bet though that if team doctors say they can play , the players will be out there and they ll all be needed to get a berth in Super Bowl 50 .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
3533,3534,"An amazing , and controversial , discovery was revealed inside a West Virginia cave this morning . A press pool was allowed to view and photograph a series of ten cave paintings that were discovered recently . Two paintings seem to be portraits of , none other than Barack Obama , and he is wearing a robe and crown while standing before a crowd of powerless white people .  "" The paintings . . . the paintings are of . . . Listen there is no other way to say this : the paintings depict a powerful , almost God like , President Barack Obama dressed as a king , and wearing a robe and a crown , "" said George Plummer , the chief archeologist .  "" Prostrate before him are thousands of beaten and bloody white people . ""  A press conference was held at the snack bar of Organ Cave , near Richwood , a small West Virginia village . Dr Plummer asked the assembled crowd of reporters and National Park Service Enforcement Agents to quiet down so everyone could hear what was being said .  "" Before we get started , who had the two hotdogs with chili , slaw , onion , and mustard ? "" Your order is ready . And folks , we ' re going to close the snack bar for now , till we get done , "" Plummer said .  "" According to experts , the paint has been carbon dated to 22 , 100 C . E 10 years and that date has caused great controversy among anthropologists and social historians because it predates the first known residents of North America by 10 , 000 years "" Plummer told reporters .  "" The paintings showing the Obama King are the oldest of the lot . There are also runes , or a type of writing usually associated with Vikings , and we ' re not at all certain what all of them say , but we were able to make out this phrase :  "" The Obama King will come in 2009 . Many will fear him . They will crown him King in 2013 . He will kill all whites . That is all . ""  No questions were allowed following the statement .  The paintings were discovered by spelunkers exploring uncharted regions of the cavern .  This reporter will follow up on this story as soon as we can find a fiction writing specialist .  ",satire,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,negative,past
3578,3579,"When 3 year old Finnegan Burns fell ill with complications from cystic fibrosis , his parents did what any loving parents would do . Kerry and Patrick Burns put their lives on hold to see their son through his medical travails .  Surgery after surgery , hospital after hospital , they remained by their child ' s side as he fought to recover .  This past March , at age 4 , Finnegan lost his battle with this terrible disease .  Following the indescribable anguish that comes with the death of a child , Kerry and Patrick might have hoped to resume their jobs and begin the process of moving forward with their lives .  What should have been a private and quiet period has instead been marked by a mountain of medical debt , home foreclosure and bankruptcy .  Like three quarters of the families driven to bankruptcy by health related costs , the Burns family had health insurance when Finnegan became ill . In fact , through a combination of employer provided insurance ,  coverage and state sponsored care , the vast majority of Finnegan ' s medical expenses were covered .  But to be by their son ' s side during his treatments , Finnegan ' s parents both took time off from work . With their reduced income , it was impossible for them to make ends meet .  According to a recent study by researchers at Harvard University and published in The American Journal of Medicine , medical costs , including lost wages , copays , deductibles , premiums , coverage limits and uncovered expenses , contributed to more than 62 percent all personal bankruptcy filings in 2007 .  These costs can bankrupt even those with health insurance they thought was solid as a rock . As Congress moves forward with long overdue legislation to improve and expand health insurance coverage , we should help the millions of Americans drowning in medical debt get a fresh start .  By ensuring that the vast majority of Americans have access to affordable health insurance , the broad health care reform legislation being debated in the Senate will reduce the number of bankruptcies caused by medical debt .  Even so , uncovered expenses such as lost wages can drive people to bankruptcy .  The Medical Bankruptcy Fairness Act would make it easier for those with high levels of medical expenses to discharge their debt and move on with their lives , by lifting unnecessary and burdensome procedural requirements for people who become insolvent because of unavoidable health costs .  For example , under the current system , a prospective bankruptcy filer must complete credit counseling , a requirement that includes a fee and is geared to people whose irresponsible spending led to bankruptcy .  For Kerry and Patrick Burns , the counseling was a cruel reminder of their loss . They were unable to , and should not have had to , answer the question : What could you have done differently to avoid your financial hardship ? To add to the heartlessness of this nonsensical , government imposed obligation , the credit counseling was an online program . A person would have seen how inappropriate it was to be asking that question .  In addition , the proposed legislation which has been offered as an amendment to the larger health care bill and also is pending before the Senate Judiciary Committee as a stand alone bill would give the medically bankrupt increased flexibility in paying attorneys ' fees and a greater chance of retaining their homes .  The bill , which would cost the taxpayers nothing , does not propose a bailout or handout . It would merely adjust the current bankruptcy rules to make the process less expensive and more accessible for those on the verge of losing everything because of uncontrollable medical expenses .  We hope that Congress will swiftly approve this common sense dose of compassion .  The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Elizabeth Edwards and Sheldon Whitehouse .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3586,3587,"A day after he was fired as Miami Marlins general manager , Dan Jennings chose to take the high road on the abrupt end of his 13 years with the club .  Jennings said Friday in a statement that he received the news during a phone call from top team officials Michael Hill and David Samson , his long time colleagues .  "" While this was certainly sad and regrettable news , I respect their prerogative to make changes and listen to new voices , "" Jennings said .  Jennings held several positions in the organization ending after an unconventional move from  to manager this past season .  "" It has been a fun ride during my time with the Marlins . Having the opportunity to serve as vice president of player personnel , general manager and field manager , and being part of the 2003 World Series championship , "" Jennings said .  The Marlins went 55 69 under him to finish 71 91 in third place in the National League East . The club came together in the final month , going 19 12 after Aug . 31 , the league ' s second best record behind the Chicago Cubs .  Jennings ' final decision as a member of the organization was to have outfielder Ichiro Suzuki pitch the final inning of the final game at Philadelphia , a fitting end to an unorthodox term as manager .  There have been reports that a rift developed between Jennings and owner Jeffrey Loria during his stint as manager . Samson , the team president , said Thursday that the decision to dismiss Jennings was his own .  Jennings expressed no animosity , shunning a parting shot . The Marlins are obligated for his salary through 2018 .  "" Nothing is more special than the people , "" Jennings said in his statement to media members who cover the team . "" I would like to thank Mr Loria and David Samson for employing me , and the wonderful Marlins office staff I was afforded the opportunity to work with .  "" And most importantly , the Marlins players for their energy and effort and the opportunity to win their trust and respect this season .  "" I wish the Marlins ' players and the organization the best as we all move forward with our careers . ""  Samson on Thursday declined to speculate about whether Jennings would be on his way out of the organization had he not taken the manager ' s job when Mike Redmond was dismissed after a 16 22 start . The move took Jennings out of the front office power structure .  "" As I was watching everything develop during the month of October and all the different things we were working on both on and off the field , I felt the way it was running since the middle of May was probably the way it should continue to run , "" Samson said .  "" I thought this was the proper decision in order to continue the restructuring of our front office and to continue what I thought was great progress in putting a group of people together , both on and off the field , to win more games . ""  The dynamic of the front office changed after Jennings moved to the dugout , with assistant  Mike Berger gaining more influence and Jeff McAvoy promoted to vice president of player personnel .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3592,3593,"New York Backstage at the Michael Kors show , a strange air of calm hangs over the make up area . Although security is predictably tight , there is no screaming or high drama .  It ' s 7 . 30 a . m . , hours before the show , and the machine is just beginning to mobilize . Liu Wen is an early arrival , quietly sitting in a chair listening to her iPod as a make up artist begins to apply foundation .  Her cup of coffee and bottle of green tea reveal that even the women dubbed "" China ' s first supermodel "" finds early starts challenging . But there is no trace of fatigue : Her face looks flawless with little make up , and her skin luminous .  "" Today I have five shows , so we ' ll be running around . "" she says smiling . "" Yesterday I was really happy because my agent sent me the schedule . I was so excited . I still love it because I love walking the runway . ""  At the age of 23 , Liu has worked for most of the world ' s prestigious fashion houses , and recently ascended into the top tier of models who are recognizable enough to command major fees .  She has also broken molds , becoming the first Asian model named as a global spokesperson for Estee Lauder . With some two million followers on a Mandarin language version of Twitter , her ability to sell products to the prized Chinese consumer is obvious .  "" When we met her in person , we were so impressed with her warmth , beauty and enthusiasm , "" says Aerin Lauder , the firm ' s Style and Image Director . "" It ' s amazing to see how consumers respond to Liu Wen she has so many fans , not only in China , but around the world as well . ""  "" Yesterday I had a fitting that was very late , "" she explains . "" So I went back home at almost one o ' clock . And this morning I woke up late . . . my call time was seven but I woke up at 7 : 30 . Just brushed my teeth before rush rush rush . So I didn ' t pick up my make up remover . ""  At the stylish Manhattan offices of Marilyn Agency , Wen catches up with staff and removes her war paint . The agency has managed her since she arrived in New York and is focused on maintaining relations with top end brands , while exploiting opportunities with appropriate Chinese firms .  "" She has already achieved historic success as a model , "" says agency president Chris Gay . "" China ' s influence in the fashion world will be tremendous both from a stand point of every Western fashion brand wanting to establish their presence there , as well as Chinese brands , designers , and models having more of a global impact . ""  Wen was brought up in Hunan Province and began her modeling career in 2005 after entering a competition , which promised a computer as first prize .  "" I was a very young girl , I think I was 18 , "" she recalls . "" I just wanted to win the computer . Before I didn ' t really understand what modeling was because I grew up in a very small town , no fashion . ""  Soon , she moved to Beijing , abandoning her plans to work as a tour guide . Photo shoots followed , which led to a trip to Milan in 2008 , where she was cast for her first runway show for  fashion label Burberry .  "" I didn ' t understand anything because I couldn ' t understand English . I just listened to the music and followed my feelings . ""  Despite the genuinely long days of fashion weeks , her drive is evident . Wen power naps in the car between appointments , but approaches each casting and show with enthusiasm . The one moment of disappointment we witnessed was in a restaurant when her agent suggested she avoided spicy chicken noodles for lunch . She greeted the news stoically and ordered regular chicken noodle soup , which she ate up .  Quieter moments like these are fleeting during the whirl of the fashion weeks and soon Liu returns to the drumbeat of shows and fittings which go on all afternoon and into the evening .  The collection had a vague safari theme and Liu Wen appeared , transformed again , pounding down the catwalk with a steely faraway glare .  In a few months , Liu will unveil her own line of clothes in collaboration with a Chinese company and her agency is expecting film offers . But she dismisses the idea of herself as an ambassador for China and any accompanying pressure .  "" It has been an honor to represent my country as a model , but I don ' t think I ' ve ever thought of myself as an ambassador , just someone trying to do her job as best as she can so there isn ' t that much pressure at all ! If what I ' ve done so far can inspire others in China , then of course it is a great thing . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
3595,3596,"Aaron Rodgers throws miracle pass to Richard Rodgers to hand Green Bay Packers  win over Detroit Lions  Aaron Rodgers has thrown a 60 yard Hail Mary to Richard Rodgers on the final play of the game to give the Green Bay Packers a stunning 27 23 win over the Lions in Detroit .  After a face mask penalty against Detroit on the previous play gave the Packers one last chance on Friday (  ) , Rodgers scrambled to his right and fired a bomb into the end zone and the Packers ' tight end made a two handed grab .  Rodgers passed for 273 yards and two touchdowns and also scored on a 17 yard scramble for Green Bay ( 8 4 ) , who rallied from a 20 point deficit . Richard Rodgers caught eight passes for 162 yards .  Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford threw two early touchdown passes for the Lions ( 4 8 ) , who nearly swept the Packers for the first time in 24 years .  Calvin Johnson caught his 15th career touchdown pass against Green Bay , a record for an opponent , while Matt Prater added three field goals .  Prater ' s 34 yarder with 8 : 54 left in the third quarter gave Detroit a 20 0 lead .  The Packers needed good fortune to finally break through during their ensuing possession .  Running back James Starks fumbled at the Lions ' five yard line but the ball bounced forward and wide receiver Randall Cobb pounced on it in the end zone .  Green Bay scored again with 4 : 06 left in the quarter after forcing a turnover . Linebacker Julius Peppers made a strip sack against Stafford and linebacker Jake Ryan recovered at the Lions ' 12 .  On third down , Rodgers found wide receiver Davante Adams over the middle for an eight yard score to make it 20 14 .  Prater ' s 42 yard field goal restored a two score lead for the Lions with 7 : 06 left but te Packers responded with Rodgers ' rushing touchdown with 3 : 04 remaining .  Stafford completed a 29 yard pass to wide receiver  Jones on third and 12 to extend Detroit ' s next possession and the Packers did not get the ball back until 23 seconds remained .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3599,3600,"Interview : Chris Rock was speaking to New York Magazine ahead of the release of his new film  Comedian Chris Rock has hit out at the gap between the rich and poor while giving an interview to promote his 12 . 5million new film .  Rock was plugging Top Five , an upcoming release in which he is director , screenwriter and lead actor , when he said if the poor saw true luxury ' there would be riots ' .  Speaking to New York Magazine for an extended interview , Rock said the only reason revolution hasn ' t come is that ' people don ' t even know ' how the other half live .  He told interviewer Frank Rich : ' If poor people knew how rich rich people are , there would be riots in the streets . '  ' If the average person could see the Virgin Airlines first class lounge , they ' d go , "" What ? This is food , and it ' s free , and they . . . what ? Massage ? Are you kidding me ? "" '  Airport lounge customers who fly Virgin are treated to unlimited cocktails , food on demand , and other amenities including free haircuts and spa treatments .  The comments came as Rock , who lives in an exclusive New Jersey community and is worth 70mllion according to CelebrityNetWorth , built momentum for his latest commercial venture .  He spoke about a frenzied bidding process when the film first screened at a festival in Toronto , prompting bids from competing networks , resulting in an ' unheard of ' windfall .  Riots ? Rock said if poor people saw the first class lounge service on offer flying with Virgin they would riot . Pictured above is Virgin Atlantic ' s lounge at London Heathrow airport  He said : ' All the buyers are there . All the critics are there . I believe the bids were coming in before the movie was over .  ' . . . Everybody ' s on the phone all night , essentially . It ' s like election returns . It ' s at 6 . It ' s at 10 . You know what I mean ? A lot of money for a film at a festival is like 3 million , so for a movie to sell for 12 . 5 million is unheard of . '  Rock has spoken out in the past about income inequality , saying he would voluntarily up his tax contribution if it would save him giving a loan to his children ' s teachers .  In a 2012 interview , Rock said : ' I can pay higher taxes and people can have jobs or I can pay lower taxes and I have my kids ' teacher asking me for a loan because she ' s going to lose her house which is true ' .  ' Stuff like that happens , so I ' m going to lose the money no matter what . '  Windfall : Rock , pictured above in Top Five , told how his people fielded multi million dollar bids before selling the flick for 12 . 5million  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3613,3614,"Mohamed Ibrahim is the founder of Celtel , one of Africa ' s leading mobile telephone companies , with networks in 15 countries on the continent .  Ibrahim was born in Sudan in 1946 and received a BSc in electrical engineering at the University of Alexandria in Egypt .  After a brief stint working for the state run Sudan Telecom , he moved to the  to continue his studying . While there he was hired by British Telecom (  ) to work as a technical director for Cellnet , its in car telephony company .  In 1989 Ibrahim left a successful career at  to start his own telecommunications consultancy company , called  Cellular Investments , based in Africa and meant to be a specifically African operation .  As part of his hiring and bonus scheme at  , Ibrahim awarded shares to his employees , which , although they were officially worthless since the company was not listed , were given a nominal value of 0 . 14 ( 0 . 28 ) per share . When the company was acquired by Mobile Telecommunications Company  (  ) , the shares were sold at 14 ( 27 . 76 ) each .  When  bought Celtel , in 2005 , Ibrahim sold his part in the company , for a share in the total buyout sum of 3 . 4 billion .  Since leaving Celtel , he has founded the Mo Ibrahim Foundation which awards funding to African heads of state and governments that have demonstrated excellence in African leadership .  This is a part of a 100 million fund that Ibrahim has set aside for investment in Africa , to encourage business and development in the continent .  As well as his BSc in electrical engineering , Ibrahim holds an MSc in electronics and electrical engineering from the University of Bradford , and a PhD in mobile communications from the University of Birmingham . He is a member of the Africa Regional Advisory Board of London Business School . E mail to a friend  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3618,3619,"Frank Lampard wants to stay with Manchester City for the rest of the season and fight Chelsea for the Barclays Premier League title .  Lampard , who is scheduled to return to parent club New York City next month to start preparing for life in the  , came off the bench to score City ' s second against Southampton .  Ten man City who beat Ronaldo Koeman ' s side 3 0 at St Mary ' s are now within six points of Chelsea following a dramatic weekend .   Scroll down to watch  The Manchester City team celebrate with Frank Lampard after he scored their second goal of the day  Lampard fires past Fraser Forster in the Southampton goal to put Man City 2 0 up on Sunday  Manuel Pellegrini is also in favour of Lampard , who is 36 , remaining with City until the end of the season , but the complication is the start of the  in March .  He said : ' We will sit down in December and decide what happens . He is a top professional . '  The reigning champions reduced the gap at the top of the table to six points after goals from Yaya Toure , Lampard and left back Gael Glichy . Eliaquim Mangala was sent off for two bookings .  Pellegrini said : ' We have to play 25 games more and it ' s a lot of points . No one knows what happens in the future .  ' In one week , you can change things . Chelsea are playing very well , but let ' s see what happens in the future . We just have to work on us .  ' There are many things we can complain about this year , such as the team conceding too many goals and not scoring as many as last season , but the only thing we cannot complain about is the spirit , the personality and ambition of this squad . '  Gael Clichy scored his first goal for Manchester City with a late effort into the roof of the net  Man City goalkeeper Joe Hart ( right ) congratulates Clichy after his maiden goal for the club  Despite City ' s sluggish start to the season Pellegrini maintains that the champions are in the mood to hunt down Chelsea over Christmas .  On Wednesday Pellegrini ' s side travel to Sunderland who drew with Chelsea on Saturday at the Stadium of Light and Chelsea face Tottenham at Stamford Bridge .  Mangala will be suspended and Vincent Kompany is a doubt after being taken off with a hamstring injury .  But Pellegrini said : ' I am very pleased because we beat a strong Southampton team . Today was not a scoreline they deserved because they are a strong team , they defend well , so to beat them 3 0 was very good . '  Pellegrini even overlooked the dreadful decision by referee Mike Jones to caution Sergio Aguero for diving when he was clearly fouled inside the area by Southampton captain Jose Fonte .  Lampard celebrates his fifth goal for the club with Aguero , after a typical finish from the edge of the box  Frank Lampard , on as a substitute , received James Milner ' s centre to strike from 20 yards past Forster  He added : ' I thought it was a penalty but I ' m not the referee . One thing I was sure was Sergio never dived . He doesn ' t try to cheat the referee . He tries to support the team , so he wouldn ' t have done it that way . It ' s not frustrating and it ' s not important what happened . The referee made the mistake . '  Pellegrini also accepted that Mangala deserved to be sent off . He was given a yellow card in the first half when he brought down Dusan Tadic and sent off when Toure ' s mistake forced him to bring down Shane Long .  Pellegrini : ' It was the correct decision . They were fouls . But with 10 men we tried to score another goal .  ' Mangala played very well . It was an unnecessary foul . It was not Mangala who lost the ball . He and Kompany played very well . '  Referee Mike Jones booked Aguero as Stevan Jovetic and Samir Nasri go to remonstrate with the official  Southampton defender Fonte makes clear contact with Aguero as the Argentine falls to the ground in the box  Southampton were well beaten . Koeman , who was forced into a change at half time because of an injury to midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin , has big tests at Arsenal and at home to Manchester United in their next two games .  Koeman said : ' We don ' t have 24 players like they have to change in the second half . We know that .  ' But if you do these kind of mistakes the first goal , maybe it was a bit unlucky it was not good enough . You have to be good to have a good chance for a point or three points .  ' We will write this off because we didn ' t show something different . But if we are the fifth in the league , still we are very happy .  ' On Wednesday we will get a new opportunity to show the qualities . Okay , there ' s no time to be disappointed . We did too many mistakes and we were punished for that , because they have a very strong team and very good players . We knew that before . We saw it today .  ' Chelsea and Man City are the two strongest teams in the Premier League and you have to be good to have a good result agianst them . Once again , this wasn ' t good enough . '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3620,3621,"To absolutely no one ' s surprise , Judge Susan E . Garsh ( never call her harsh ) decided in favor of Aaron Hernandez . All he had to do was bat his big brown eyes and wear his tightest pantaloons . Justice is not quite blind for Judge Garsh .  You guessed it : Judge Garsh disallowed everything the prosecutors felt might help prove there is a menace in Fall River . Don ' t tell Garsh that .  She doesn ' t want jurors to hear that trigger happy Hernandez is up on charges for two additional murders , or that he plugged one of his "" associates in the eye .  In Judge Garsh ' s court , Odin Lloyd should have texted , "" Help ! The  New England Patriots superstar tight end Aaron Hernandez is going to kill me at an industrial park with one of his many weapons . ""  Most of us don ' t exceed 140 characters in a crisis .  To text under pressure one or two words signaling your fate is not enough for Garsh . She looks like the sort of woman who never received a text in her life , let alone a sext message .  So , poor Odin Lloyd had to be driven to his death and could not let anyone know . She thought the messages Lloyd sent were ambiguous . The Ninja lawyers of Hernandez said Lloyd was bragging .  And those photos of Hernandez waving one of his big guns ? Those are strictly for Judge Garsh ' s wallet .  Isn ' t that always the case when a celebrity is about to shoot you ?  You may recall that Fall River court is where Lizzie Borden walked scot free after giving her father forty whacks with an axe . Of course , she would never have gone to trial if Judge Harsh had heard that Lizzie ' s Mom was sending out a text of impending doom .  ",satire,text,validation,World conflict,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
3630,3631,"Nissan Motor Company announced the return of the Datsun brand after 30 years , with plans to introduce a low cost car in several emerging markets in 2014 .  In a nod to the growing importance of developing markets , Nissan  Carlos Ghosn made the announcement Tuesday in Indonesia , one of three markets the new car line will debut .  "" The Datsun brand has a global mission , but when you go on a global mission you start with priorities and today we said our priority are three : They are Indonesia , they are India and they are Russia , "" Ghosn said .  "" That doesn ' t mean that we are going to be limiting it to there . This is the first step of development , which are these three markets , but absolutely not excluding other high growth markets or other emerging markets from the range of Datsun , "" he added .  The Datsun brand first emerged in Japan in 1923 but was phased out in the 1980s as the company focused on mid market buyers and its upscale Infiniti brand , launched in 1989 . The new line will capitalize on the Datsun tradition of low cost , sporty cars marketed in burgeoning economies where many young drivers are first time buyers .  The company also plans to include a "" green "" line of Datsun cars .  Ghosn drew an analogy to Japan ' s economy when it launched the Datsun brand and today ' s Indonesian economy , which has grown steadily at about 6 per year . The country is the fourth most populous nation in the world with 250 million people .  "" Datsun was introduced to Japan to bring reliable , afford and contemporary technology to consumers who had too few choices , "" Ghosn said at the Indonesia press conference . "" Today , this is the very situation in Indonesia . There is a growing segment of up and coming customers who have few choices . They can buy motorcycles , they can buy used vehicles or they can buy a new vehicle but one based on older technology . We will offer them an exciting new choice . ""  The company also announced plans to invest 400 million in Indonesia production , adding 3 , 300 jobs and producing 250 , 000 vehicles by 2014 . Nissan sales outlets will increase to 150 in Indonesia by 2015 , the company said .  "" Datsun is part of our company heritage and will now contribute to its future , "" Ghosn said .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3631,3632,"A Paris rally to demand strong action on climate change has been cancelled due to concerns about terrorism .  The demonstration was planned for Paris on November 29 , the eve of the United Nations conference in the city at which hundreds of nations will try to negotiate an agreement to prevent climate change from getting out of control .  In the wake of last week ' s terrorist attacks that killed 129 people , French police have revoked permission for the march to proceed .  Organisers were hoping as many as 200 , 000 people would have marched .  Environmental campaigners were disheartened by the decision . However they have vowed to find creative ways of drawing attention to the talks .  French Campaigner for 350 . org Nicolas Haeringer said : "" While this makes it difficult to go forward with our original plans , we will still find a way for people in Paris to make the call for climate justice heard , and we encourage everyone around the world to join a global climate march and raise their voices louder than ever . ""  Similar marches are planned for cities around the world , with local campaigners confirming the Australian marches would go on .  Official delegates to the climate conference have not been deterred by the terrorism . Environment Minister Greg Hunt said failing to attend the upcoming talks would "" hand the terrorists a victory . ""  "" As the Prime Minister has already indicated , we will absolutely be attending the climate change talks in Paris as planned , "" he said .  "" This is the very moment for global action on climate and global resolve on countering terrorism . ""  The  spoke to several people scheduled to attend the talks . All expressed their solidarity with the French people and their determination that the talks should not be derailed .  Professor Frank Jotzo , director of the Australian National University ' s Centre for Climate Economics and Policy , said he was not aware of anyone altering their arrangements for Paris .  "" With security that tight there ' s a very low risk of anything dangerous happening . It ' s more going to be a problem for the logistics of the meeting in terms of getting people in and out of the place . ""  He said that more heads of government may in fact attend , in a show of solidarity with the French government .  However he did note that a cancellation of related events would risk some elements of the meeting being compromised .  "" The major effect of that is that it diminishes the value of the event in terms of its aspect as a trade fair . It doesn ' t have a major effect on the negotiations as such . ""  Bill Hare , director of Climate Analytics , a research organisation based in Germany , agreed .  "" Potential curtailment of civil society activities could have a negative effect on the necessary political pressure for increasing the level of ambition and quality of the agreement overall , "" he said .  But he said , contrary to expectations , that he had been inundated with emails from colleagues from around the world emphasising their commitment to attend the meeting .  "" I think people working on this issue from around the world , irrespective of their different religious beliefs , share a common belief in the potential of humanity to work together to solve problems , "" he said .  In the wake of the attacks , Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told Insiders on Sunday that : "" At this time , the French government is expecting that the conference of the parties the climate change conference will go ahead and I have no doubt that it will go ahead . And if it goes ahead , which I ' m sure it will , I will certainly be there , as indeed will other ministers . ""  A spokesperson for Foreign Minister Julie Bishop , who is in the Philippines at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (  ) meeting , said her plans to be at the summit had also not changed .  Nick Nuttall , spokesperson for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change , which will host the talks , confirmed "" COP21 will go ahead as planned . ""  "" Security is always tight at  climate conferences , but understandably will be tighter in Paris , "" he said .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3637,3638,"asked the Democratic National Committee to prepare questions for Wolf Blitzer’s interview with Donald Trump, according to emails released by Wikileaks. In an April 25 email entitled “Trump Questions for CNN,” the DNC’s Lauren Dillon asked fellow Democrats for questions Blitzer could ask Trump. “Wolf Blitzer is interviewing Trump on Tues ahead of his foreign policy address on Wed,” she wrote. “Please send me thoughts by 10:30  tomorrow. Thanks!” The  came up with a lengthy set of questions for  : – Who helped you write the foreign policy speech you’re giving tomorrow? Which advisors specifically did you talk to? What advice did they give you? Did they give you any advice that you chose not to take? –  Director Brennan and former  Director Hayden have both said that our military and intelligence officers might refuse to follow some of your orders if you were president. What would you do if the military refused to listen to you? Should they be court-martialed if they refuse to follow orders? – You’ve said you look to Ambassador John Bolton for military advice and called him “terrific,” but he was one of the architects of the Iraq war. How do you explain your praise for Bolton if you also claim the war was a mistake? What advice have you taken from him? You can read the rest here , but there’s a few other gems: – Do you think American victims of 9/11 should be able to sue Saudi Arabia in court? What role, if any, do you think Saudi Arabia had in the 9/11 attacks? – You’ve said we should have bombed the “right people” after 9/11 and have suggested that the government has evidence Saudi Arabia was involved. Do you think we should have instead bombed Saudi Arabia? This is smoking gun, undeniable proof that  is in the tank for Hillary Clinton – and the rest of the mainstream media is no different. In fact, the Clinton campaign is acting as an assignment editor for the establishment media by telling reporters what to cover – and what to bury from public view that would otherwise hurt Hillary. Previous Wikileaks emails revealed that campaign staffers are directly working with mainstream “journalists” to develop news stories favorable to the campaign – before they’re published! “Huffington Post is doing a piece on our treasurer Jose Villareal — will likely focus at least partially on him sitting on the Walmart board,” said campaign communications staffer Jesse Lehrich in a 2015 email , which reads like a reporter assignment list at a major newspaper. “Other outstanding stories include: [Buzzfeed correspondent] Ruby Cramer on our grassroots organizing, Anita Kumar (McClatchy) on where we have organizers and how we’ve spent our money during Q2, and [Washington Post reporter] Phil Rucker on  talking about gun violence prevention.” Source  ",fake,news,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
3643,3644,"Santa Ana , California Arrested on federal charges for having a handgun and bullets in her third grade classroom in early April , the teacher entered a not guilty plea in a Santa Ana courtroom today . Through her attorney , she insisted she never intended to harm her pupils with the handgun she kept in a supply closet in her classroom but merely intended to use the pistol as a visual instructional aide , giving her students a learning incentive they well deserve .  "" She was always a firm believer in visual instructional aides , "" said a fellow teacher at the Diamond elementary school in Santa Ana , where she taught at before her arrest . "" Although , personally , I would have stuck to sock puppets , but hey , that ' s just me . ""  None of the third graders could be reached for comment because of their age however , parents of former students did go on the record in her defense .  "" Her teaching methods are unorthodox to say the least and possibly a federal crime , too , but she knows how to grab the kids ' attention and keep it , "" said Maggie Faulkner , who had her son in the class last year . "" I use to have a hell of a time getting my son to read , do his math or even stop picking his nose . But after I enrolled him in her class , I don ' t have to ask him twice to do anything . Now if I could only get him to stop wetting himself whenever he hears a loud noise . I ' ll talk to her after her trial . I bet she can help me with that too . ""  Reportedly , the discovery of the handgun and bullets in the classroom came when she started yelling and screaming at the children , up set that they still had difficulty spelling her name on the practice test forms .  "" I heard all the kids crying , as usual , "" said Mark Sanchez , the school custodian . "" But I got worried when all the crying suddenly stopped . ""  Sanchez then peered into the classroom window and was shocked to see the teacher wildly waving a pistol in the air threatening to use it on the first kid who dare misspell her name .  "" I always wondered why I was having to clean up after so many kids that messed themselves in her class , "" said Sanchez . "" Too bad too , I heard her students always made honor roll . ""  Her defense attorney and experts in the field of elementary school education agree teachers are under extreme pressure to bring up their students ' grades and test scores , especially in times of a school budget crisis .  "" With statewide testing coming up , I ' m surprised more teachers haven ' t been arrested on federal firearms possession charges , "" said the attorney .  ",satire,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
3650,3651,"A family is in mourning after a wife and mother of two Mary Jordan died on a family holiday in New Zealand .  Mary Jordan and her husband Trent were four days into their holiday in Rotorua with their children Cara , 6 , and Harry , 9 .  Mr Jordan and his son were exploring a nearby national park , leaving Mrs Jordan and the couple ' s daughter at their accommodation .  Mrs Jordan suffered a seizure in a hotel swimming pool , as Cara struggled to hold her mother ' s head above water , drying her with a towel before running for help .  Trent Jordan and his wife Mary , who suffered a seizure while on holiday in New Zealand and passed away  Trent and Mary Jordan with their children Harry , 9 , and Cara , 6 , who tried to revive her mother  ' We meshed , lived , laughed and loved in the way that now she ' s gone , I ' m not sure who I am , ' said Mr Jordan  Mary Jordan ' s father in law posted this message on his Facebook after her death  Paramedics were called to the scene but were unable to revive Mrs Jordan , who had a history of seizures and have suffered eclampsia during at least one of her pregnancies .  Cara is now being hailed for her courage , with New Zealand police praising the six year old girl for her brave actions .  Mr Jordan spoke out at his wife ' s funeral , saying that ' told me how brave you were and how much love you showed to Mummy by keeping her safe and going for help , '  ' I am so proud of you and so is everyone else here . You ' re a hero . '  At the farewell service for Mary Jordan last week , Mr Jordan called his wife ' my best friend , my love , my life ' , reported the Courier Mail .  ' The cliche is that there ' s a hole in my heart , ' he said .  ' It ' s not so simple . We were one . One word ' trentandmary ' , lower case , no spaces . Take out a single letter and things get confused . Take away the last four letters and the meaning vanishes . '  Trent and Mary Jordan on their wedding day . They celebrated 15 years of marriage recently  ' The cliche is that there ' s a hole in my heart , ' Mr Trent said .  Mr Jordan said he wanted ' to tell the world how wonderful she was ' .  ' We meshed , lived , laughed and loved in the way that now she ' s gone , I ' m not sure who I am . '  The couple lost a daughter , Ellen , to Neonatal Hemochromatosis , just a day after she was born , with Mary suffering seizures as a result of complications following the birth .  She was placed in a drug induced coma which lasted for four days .  The Jordans had campaigned to raise awareness of the condition , explaining on their blog , ' We hope that sharing our story of Ellen will help people who may have experienced a similar loss . '  Mrs Jordan wrote of her experience of the ordeal saying , ' We also know how fickle life can be ' .  Trent Jordan said that the couple had recently celebrated 15 years of marriage and both of their 40th birthdays .  ' That night was a wonderful opportunity for me to explain and tell everyone what a wonderful and beautiful person my wife was , ' Mr Jordan said .  ' I didn ' t do it . . . I didn ' t worry too much , though . I wouldn ' t forget next time . But this is next time . She ' s not here to hear me say it . '  Mr Jordan said he wanted ' to tell the world how wonderful she was ' .  At the farewell service for Mary Jordan last week , Mr Jordan called his wife ' my best friend , my love , my life ' ,  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
3661,3662,"Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink returned to the English game as manager of League Two club Burton Albion and admitted : ' I can ' t live without football . '  The 42 year old former Chelsea striker has demonstrated his desire to start at the bottom by signing a deal until 2017 worth 40 , 000 a year less than he earned each week in his heyday to become only the third black manager in the Football League .  ' Money was not the motivation , ' said Hasselbaink . ' The motivation was the club , the set up , the beliefs , the players and the atmosphere . Football is everything for me . I ' m not afraid of League Two . You don ' t have to serve your time at the bottom , but when you are a young manager you don ' t get much of the time you need . Expectancy is a lot higher at the top .  Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink ( left ) alongside new assistant manager David Oldfield , who played for Man City  Former Chelsea striker Hasselbaink holds a Burton scarf aloft during his unveiling as their new manager  Hasselbaink celebrates scoring a goal for Chelsea , against Tottenham in April 2004  ' I applied for a few jobs but when Burton became available I jumped at it . '  Derby boss Steve McClaren , who gave the Dutchman his first coaching job at Nottingham Forest , approached neighbours Burton about appointing him as Gary Rowett ' s successor .  Hasselbaink managed Antwerp in the Belgian league last season but turned down a new contract there to pursue employment in England and be with his family in Surrey . He was on the phone to Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers after a tough first training session in which goalkeeper Dean Lyness suffered a suspected broken leg .  ' I spoke to a lot of people before coming here , ' he added . ' Steve McClaren , Brendan Rodgers , Gustavo Poyet and also to Alan Pardew , who was very interesting and helpful . Everyone was very positive . I had 51 text messages this morning and yesterday something like 40 I only have 120 contacts in my phone ! '  Hasselbaink admitted that he cannot live without football as he spoke on his return to the English game  Pictured in 2004 , Hasselbaink ( left ) battles with Arsenal ' s Ashley Cole at Highbury  Hasselbaink addressed the media at the Pirelli Stadium as he was unveiled as League Two ' s newest manager  Hasselbaink , who also played for Leeds , Charlton and Cardiff , retired in 2008 and spent time at Chelsea working on his coaching badges . ' Luiz Felipe Scolari was there then , and after that Guus Hiddink , ' he said . ' I didn ' t come across Jose Mourinho that often . He ' s very private . '  Even though he joins Huddersfield boss Chris Powell and Carlisle ' s Keith Curle as the only black managers in the top four divisions , it is not an issue Hasselbaink is keen to dwell on . Nor would he like to see the introduction of the  ' s Rooney Rule that requires teams to interview candidates from ethnic minorities . ' It has nothing to do with being the third black manager , please , no , ' he said . ' I ' m proud to be black and give that back to my kids , but I don ' t see myself as a role model for black people .  ' And I wouldn ' t want to be interviewed because of the Rooney Rule . I would want somebody to call me because I ' m the right person for the job . '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3694,3695,"For 20 years , it has circled quietly above us , capturing a dark , secret world billions of light years away .  From black holes to primordial galaxies , the Hubble Space Telescope has provided out of this world images of space where no human has ever gone .   , the European Space Agency and the Space Telescopic Science Institute celebrated Hubble ' s 20th year in orbit on Saturday by releasing another stunning photo caught by the iconic telescope .  The striking color shot shows a small portion of the Carina Nebula , "" one of the largest seen star birth regions in the galaxy , "" according to  .  Former  astronaut John Grunsfeld , who flew on three service missions to Hubble , said that inside those newborn stars "" are the chemical elements . . . that make up people . ""  Timeweblink : Greatest hits from Hubble  "" The carbon and oxygen in our bodies was all built inside of stars , "" he said , "" Hubble is answering fundamental scientific questions that in the end tell us about our earth , our solar system and ultimately how we were formed . ""  The photo , captured February 1 and 2 , is one of more than 500 , 000 images that Hubble has taken captivating scientists and astronomy enthusiasts alike since it was launched into orbit by the space shuttle Discovery on April 24 , 1990 .  "" I never would have believed in 1990 that the Hubble would have turned out this great , "" said Ed Weiler , associate administrator of  ' s Science Mission Directorate . "" I knew it was going to be great , but it has just exceeded all of our expectations . ""  Among its most famous findings , Hubble has :  Helped astronomers discover dark energy , which exerts a repulsive force that works against gravity  Helped determine the age of the universe ( about 13 . 75 billion years old )  Acted as a virtual time machine , providing glimpses into how the universe might have looked millions of years ago and helping shed light on how the giant galaxies we see today were formed  Helped identify the atmospheric makeup of planets beyond our solar system .  Weiler cites supermassive black holes , the largest type of black hole , as another of Hubble ' s most prominent discoveries .  "" When Hubble was launched in 1990 , supermassive black holes were a fantasy , a theory something you saw on ' Star Trek , ' "" Weiler said . "" One of our goals was to . . . find at least one and prove it exists .  "" As it turns out , Hubble surprised us , "" he said , "" Not only did it find one but it basically showed us that supermassive black holes are pervasive throughout the universe . . . and they clearly play a role in the evolution of a universe . ""  Despite its age , Hubble is 100 times more powerful today than at the time of its launch ,  says , thanks to its most recent visit by astronauts , including Grunsfeld , on a service mission last May .  "" We had hoped to get 10 to 15 years out of it with frequent shuttle visits every two and a half to three years , "" Weiler said . "" As it turns out , we ' re now 20 years into this program , and thanks to the work of John and the crew in the last mission , we ' re looking forward to at least another five years and maybe even another seven , eight or nine or 10 years more . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3696,3697,"The "" Three Amigos "" or , as they ' re more formally known , the leaders of the United States , Canada and Mexico announced an agreement Wednesday to work on a plan to streamline trade and travel , including border controls among the countries .  U . S . President Barack Obama , Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto agreed to streamline border controls to facilitate the movement of people through the establishment of a trusted traveler program .  They also spent a great deal of time during the North American Leaders ' Summit discussing efforts to broker a new trade agreement with Pacific nations , they said in a joint news conference after the summit in Toluca , Mexico .  Obama has called for "" fast track "" trade authority from Congress for him to pursue the so called Trans Pacific Partnership , a massive free trade zone .  But members of his own party , including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid , have voiced firm opposition to such authority .  Republicans seized on Vice President Joe Biden ' s reported comments at last week ' s House Democratic retreat in Maryland . There , he was heard conceding the trade issue was quickly becoming a source of frustration within the party , especially among labor groups that are key to midterms next fall .  "" The jobs they seem to care about most are Democrats in Congress not families across the country eager to join the ranks of the employed , "" Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement .  Senior Obama administration officials played down reports about Biden ' s comments as coming from "" second hand accounts . "" But , they added , the White House remains firmly committed to its trade agenda .  "" It would not be in the interest of the United States to put this on the back burner , "" one official said .  White House spokesman Jay Carney insists that differences among Democrats over trade issues date back several administrations .  "" The differing opinions on these matters are not new , and the fact that there are differing opinions within both parties is not new , "" Carney said Tuesday .  Another area of friendly disagreement for the "" Three Amigos "" is over the Obama administration ' s handling of the Keystone  pipeline .  Canadian officials have grown impatient with the lengthy approval process in the United States for the contested project , which would transport oil from Alberta to the Gulf of Mexico .  While a recent State Department environmental impact study appeared to brighten prospects for approval , senior administration officials indicated Harper is not likely to receive the news many in his nation want to hear during the summit .  "" I think what President Obama will do is explain to him where we are in the review of the Keystone pipeline , and indicate that we ' ll , of course , let our Canadian friends know when we ' ve arrived at a decision , "" a senior administration official said .  The Keystone project has also divided Democrats , namely environmentalists who see the pipeline as a symbolic battle in the larger fight over efforts to deal with climate change .  While in Mexico , Obama faced another delicate balancing act over the issue of immigration reform .  The plight of undocumented immigrants in the United States , notably the substantial number of migrants who crossed the border from Mexico , is a major political issue south of the Rio Grande .  Latino special interest groups , a core Democratic Party constituency , have criticized the administration for its aggressive deportation policy as it struggles to find a long term solution to the immigration issue .  Senior administration officials told reporters last week that Obama remains committed to comprehensive immigration reform that includes a pathway to citizenship for undocumented workers .  But that legislative priority has hit a roadblock in Congress , where Republican leaders have indicated there is little hope for a breakthrough this year before the midterms .  "" With respect to immigration , I think President Pe a Nieto has a very good understanding , frankly , of the state of play in the United States , "" a senior administration official said .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3700,3701,"Amsterdam Is it wrong to watch football while the world ' s on fire ? Is it wrong to love the World Cup , to get excited about a goal scored in Brazil while there ' s mayhem in Iraq , destruction in Syria , Russian troops massing near Ukraine ?  The answer is no . Enjoy the Cup .  When I was a child I had what I thought was a brilliant idea : Instead of fighting all those awful wars , countries with gripes should challenge each other to a soccer game . The victor could be declared the winner without all the nastiness of fighting a real war .  My childhood plan for world peace didn ' t pan out , but soccer , and the World Cup in particular , remains the premiere arena for make believe international conflict . It captivates massive crowds , stokes intense rivalries and fills people with surprisingly intense emotions .  This is true even for the people caught in the middle of real wars . In Syria , in the middle of a civil war , rebel fighters put their weapons aside to watch the World Cup . In Baghdad , as the ruthless  jihadists march toward the Iraqi capital , cafes are filled with people watching the Cup .  In Vienna , Iranian officials took a break from nuclear negotiations to watch their team . Refugees , astronauts , politicians are all watching the World Cup .  Clearly , there ' s no need for the rest of us to feel guilty . No need for mixed feeling about switching between Obama ' s announcement on Iraq and the Colombia Ivory Coast match .  In Europe , where nationalism got a bad name after World War  , patriotic pride overflows with uncharacteristic fearlessness when the national teams play .  Even people who never pay attention to soccer , known almost everywhere as football , are cheering , bragging about Van Persie ' s spectacular diving header against Spain .  The streets of Amsterdam , where I am right now , are filled with the royal colors , with orange streamers , orange flags and toy soccer balls hanging over pedestrian streets and canal boats . When the Netherlands plays , everyone watches .  People love sports , but they love the World Cup for special reasons . Like other competitions , it resembles life in that the outcomes are the product of skill , merit , luck and even unfairness . All the preparation in the world can come to nothing because of a slip in the grass , an unexpected shove , a referee ' s mistake . Unlike other tournaments , this one puts countries of all sizes on the stage . Small ones can topple big ones .  It seems as if entire nations take each other on . All the wealth and power in the world cannot protect a squad . The United States is an underdog . China didn ' t qualify . England was defeated by tiny , tight shirted Uruguay .  The tournament distills human emotions to their essence . With so much passion , every point triggers an explosion of unadulterated happiness . What can capture human emotions better than those reaction images from the stands ? In Amsterdam , when the team scores , I mute my television and hear the entire city roar with exhilaration .  The tournament may have political resonance , occasionally pitting rival countries , but it also brings out the child in every fan . I have seen grown men walk around wearing neon bright orange wigs , no doubt wishing they were in the stands in Porto Alegre with their faces painted and Styrofoam cheese for a hat . Everyone ' s a child .  Another electrifying aspect of the Cup is that the entire world is watching , even in countries not playing . I have found myself working in a variety of countries during the World Cup , often during times of conflict . For some reason , people everywhere seem to dance in the streets when Brazil wins a match .  National pride is tightly wound with every country ' s squad . When a Dutch actress tweeted a Photoshopped picture making it look as if Colombian players were snorting the foam marking kick lines , Colombia protested , and the actress , Nicolette van Dam , lost her post as a  ambassador . Peace was restored .  The idea that there could be a connection between soccer and peace , as it turns out , came up long before I mentioned it to my father years ago . One of history ' s poignant moments came during World War I , in December 1914 almost exactly 100 years ago when a Christmas truce was declared and German and British soldiers set their guns aside to play a friendly soccer match . When the truce ended , the killing resumed .  Unfortunately , soccer is no panacea . Even violence directly connected to the Cup occurs .  For most , the World Cup is a wonderful distraction from the difficulties of daily life , from wars and from work , from challenging circumstances and from the knowledge that there is so much else that is serious and troubling in the world .  It is not wrong to watch , much less to enjoy the event , even if it does not prevent or stop any real wars .  Around the globe , the World Cup is a source of sheer excitement , except for the moment when one ' s favorite team loses . But here ' s the beauty : When your team loses the disappointment is deep , the sadness is real .  Then you remember it ' s just a game .  It ' s really not the end of the world .  Note : An earlier version of this story incorrectly said Russia didn ' t qualify for the World Cup .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3704,3705,"Arsene Wenger lamented Arsenal ' s weak mentality and poor defending as the Gunners threw away a three goal lead to draw 3 3 with Anderlecht in the Champions League .  Arsenal led 2 0 at half time thanks to Mikel Arteta ' s penalty and Alexis Sanchez ' s stunning volley before Alex Oxlade Chamberlain looked to have sealed the win with a third before the hour .  There was late drama , however , as Anthony Vanden Borre scored twice the second another spot kick and Aleksandar Mitrovic headed in a 90th minute equaliser to snatch a dramatic point for the Belgians .  Nacho Monreal , Lukas Podolski and Tomas Rosicky ( left to right ) trudge off after Arsenal threw away a three goal lead at the Emirates to draw 3 3 with Anderlecht on Tuesday in the Champions League  Aleksandar Mitrovic scored a 90th minute equaliser to break Arsenal hearts and steal a point for his side  Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger slammed his side for their weak ' mental level ' against Anderlecht  ' Maybe we underestimated them subconsciously and we got punished in the Champions League you need to be at the right mental level and we got punished because we were not , ' Wenger said .  ' You have to give them credit they tried until the end .  ' We had a poor defensive performance from the first minute to the 90th today .  ' We were also punished because of bad luck the first goal was clearly offside but defensively our performance was not good enough . We thought the job was done . '  Arsenal ' s misery was compounded by the sight of Arteta hobbling off in the second half with what Wenger revealed is a hamstring injury .  Santi Cazorla attempts to help Alexis Sanchez of the turf after the comeback from Anderlecht  The Gunners remain in a strong position to qualify from Group D but their chances of finishing top of the pool are slim with Dortmund now five points clear .  Wenger ' s side have gone through second in three out of their last four European campaigns and have lost in the last 16 on each occasion .  ' We dropped off too much in the second half and didn ' t go into the challenges any more then you are always open , ' Wenger continued .  ' We stopped winning the challenges and dropped off . We didn ' t stop the crosses , we didn ' t stop the long balls .  Mitrovic beats Per Mertesacker to a near post header to complete the most unlikely of comebacks  ' In the first half we were outnumbered sometimes but in the second half it was bad defending . '  Anderlecht exacted sweet revenge for Arsenal ' s victory in the reverse fixture a fortnight ago , when the Gunners scored twice in the last three minutes to win 2 1 .  The young Belgian outfit were a threat on the break throughout the contest and Wenger admits he was impressed with his opponents .  ' Anderlecht are a good team , ' Wenger said .  ' Maybe in four or five years we will see this team was full of good players and they are much better than everyone thinks they are . '  ' Even in the first half they had three or four good chances they are a good side . '  Arsenal face Dortmund at home next before their final group match away to Galatasaray .  Aaron Ramsey lies face down on the turf during Arsenal ' s draw with Anderlecht  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
3706,3707,"In a normal convention season, most politicians are working every lever to try to get a prime speaking slot and bathe themselves in the glow of the party’s nominee. Then there is this year. Far from straining to get close to Donald J. Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, more than a dozen senators suddenly have scheduling conflicts for an event that has been on the political calendar for more than a year. Instead of being in Cleveland, for instance, Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona says he will be “mowing my lawn. ” The state’s senior senator, John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee in 2008, has a conflict, too: He is planning to trek the Grand Canyon (Mr. McCain, who said he supports Mr. Trump, also has a      fight). Steve Daines of Montana will use the time to hone his “fly fishing. ” _____ Senators in tough races had an easy call when it came to buying a ticket to Cleveland: no mistake by the lake for them. Rather than get national exposure, along with being associated with Mr. Trump, many vulnerable incumbents like Mr. McCain are going it alone. Senators Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Mark S. Kirk of Illinois, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Marco Rubio of Florida and Roy Blunt of Missouri all say they will be campaigning, for themselves. _____ Senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Dean Heller of Nevada say they just want to reconnect with constituents. Michael D. Crapo will be conducting town   meetings in Idaho. Jerry Moran of Kansas will be on a “listening tour” in his state. Thad Cochran of Mississippi will not be going for personal and family reasons. _____ Winning the medal for putting the most distance between a senator and Mr. Trump: Lisa Murkowski will be almost 4, 000 miles away in Alaska flying around remote areas of her state on a bush plane. _____ Senators Rand Paul of Kentucky, John Thune of South Dakota, Jim Risch of Idaho and David Vitter of Louisiana. _____ Distance is not an excuse for Senator Rob Portman of Ohio. Mr. Portman’s staff said he will stick around his home state and attend the convention. But the senator will be off campus at least twice when he does volunteer work for Habitat for Humanity and a Wounded Warriors kayaking event. _____ Senators Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, John Barrasso of Wyoming, John Boozman of Arkansas, Richard M. Burr of North Carolina, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Dan Coats of Indiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Bob Corker of Tennessee, John Cornyn of Texas, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Ted Cruz of Texas, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Deb Fischer of Nebraska, Cory Gardner of Colorado,  Orrin G. Hatch of Utah, John Hoeven of North Dakota, James M. Inhofe of Oklahoma, Johnny Isakson of Georgia, James Lankford of Oklahoma, Mike Lee of Utah, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Pat Roberts of Kansas, David Perdue of Georgia, Michael Rounds of South Dakota,  Jeff Sessions of Alabama, Richard C. Shelby of Alabama, Tim Scott of South Carolina, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Roger Wicker of Mississippi.",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
3726,3727,"The RS-28 Sarmat missile, dubbed Satan 2, will replace the SS-18 Flies at 4.3 miles (7km) per sec and with a range of 6,213 miles (10,000km) The weapons are perceived as part of an increasingly aggressive Russia It could deliver a warhead of 40 megatons – 2,000 times as powerful as the atom bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 By   and   S Russia has unveiled chilling pictures of its largest ever nuclear missile, capable of destroying an area the size of France. The RS-28 Sarmat missile, dubbed Satan 2 by Nato, has a top speed of 4.3 miles (7km) per second and has been designed to outfox anti-missile shield systems. The new Sarmat missile could deliver warheads of 40 megatons – 2,000 times as powerful as the atom bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Scroll down for video Russian President Vladimir Putin is reportedly planning to replace the country’s older SS-18 Satan weapons with the new missiles amid a string of recent disagreements with the West. The Kremlin has stepped up the rhetoric against the West and carried a series of manoeuvres that has infuriated politicians in the  and UK. The pictures were revealed online by chief designers from the Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau. A message posted alongside the picture said: ‘In accordance with the Decree of the Russian Government ‘On the State Defense Order for 2010 and the planning period 2012-2013’, the Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau was instructed to start design and development work on the Sarmat. ‘ The RS-28 Sarmat missile is said to contain 16 nuclear warheads and is capable of destroying an area the size of France or Texas, according to Russian news network Zvezda, which is owned by Russia’s ministry of defence. The weapon is also able to evade radar. It is expected to have a range of 6,213 miles (10,000 km), which would allow Moscow to attack London and      LINK",fake,news,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
3730,3731,"Georgia Chrysler  ' s decision last week to close nearly 800 dealerships may just be business , but for the people who work and trade in those showrooms and service bays , it ' s personal .  Claxton Chrysler Dodge Jeep is at the literal and figurative heart of Claxton , Georgia .  "" They ' re not terminating a building or a franchise , they ' re terminating people that need jobs . And it ' s not right . It ' s just not right , "" said Daniel Womack , owner of Claxton Chrysler Dodge Jeep in tiny Claxton , Georgia .  Womack received a hand delivered letter from Chrysler on Thursday .  "" When I got to ' We regret . . . ' I stopped , "" Womack said . The bankrupt automaker was terminating its agreement with Claxton , the only Chrysler dealer within 25 miles , and a profitable one at that .  "" It was like standing out in the road and having a bus run over the top of us , "" he said .  The agreement ends June 9 , but the effect is already being felt . All of the dealer ' s major lending banks called and said they would no longer work with Claxton , general manager Doug Shontz said . Watch the owner ' s heart break for his employees  "" Since the thing happened , we haven ' t had a soul in here for service , "" he said . "" We haven ' t turned one wrench . We have nothing for next week . When they brought that list out , that was the kiss of death . ""  The dealership , its employees and their customers are intertwined like dashboard wires .  "" There ' s only 11 of us here , but we ' re family , "" said Shontz , who just started there in December . "" We all know each other , we see each other every day . I spend more time with this group here than I do with my own family . ""  Townsfolk tend to wander in off the street , just to shoot the breeze over a cup of coffee .  Take Gary Sapp , for example . The military veteran , wounded in Vietnam , stopped in Saturday , as he does just about every day , to say hello and maybe talk about cars a little bit . He said he might come back Monday and make a deal , just as he ' s done there three times in the past 10 years .  But it ' s not really about the cars and pickup trucks .  "" These are good folks here , "" Sapp said .  Claxton , a town of about 2 , 300 hard by the Canoochee River about 50 miles west of Savannah in southern Georgia , is famous for its namesake fruitcakes , which are sold with pride at Mrs Rogers ' Restaurant and seemingly half the other businesses in town .  On East Main Street , a whitewashed brick building still bears an S H Green Stamps sign and Stella ' s Phase  serves up 6 . 95 mountains of soul food , which you can top off with a slice of fluffy sweet potato pie for 1 . 25 . A couple of blocks away , across from the Krispy Chic , a jolly white haired man sells baseball sized tomatoes and boiled peanuts out of the back of a pickup under a rainbow colored umbrella .  At opposite ends of Duval Street are a prison surrounded by high fences topped with coils of razor wire and the new elementary school with its gleaming blue metal roof .  At the center of it all , literally and figuratively , is Claxton Chrysler Dodge , sporting colorful helium filled balloons and blue paint bleached pale by the scorching Southern sun .  "" We ' ve been on this corner for 40 years , "" Shontz said inside his small office , looking out toward Duval Street . "" We could stand out there and have 50 or 60 people wave at us before the day is out that know us ' Hey man ! How y ' all doin ' ? Hang in there ! ' ""  In a small town , everybody knows you and knows what you ' re up to , Shontz said .  "" Everybody goes by here . I don ' t care who you are , everybody goes by here at least once a day , "" he said .  And people in Claxton know whom they can count on for help with their causes and events and fundraisers . Over the years , Claxton Chrysler has sponsored Little League baseball and Pee Wee football , supported beauty pageants and donated to local charities , Shontz said .  "" We ' ve bought more chicken dinners , and junk , and stuff . . . rodeos . . . parades . . . there ' s always something , "" Womack said with a chuckle . "" Everything ' s a big deal here . ""  "" I ' ve never seen so many ' Misses , ' "" Shontz added as they both laughed the kind of laugh you hear toward the end of the third day at the funeral home .  Chrysler  doesn ' t understand its market , said loyal customer Jerry Akins , 64 , who has bought three vehicles from Claxton Chrysler .  "" How they gon ' sell to those people in small towns ? "" he said . "" They ' re a different breed . They ' re not gonna go no damn hundred miles to buy a car . ""  Akins ' loyalty extends to his sons , both of whom have bought cars from Claxton Chrysler . But that ' s not unusual around here . Salesman Paul Michel said he ' s sold 11 vehicles to one family since December 2005 .  "" That ' s that generational thing I was talking about , "" Shontz said . Watch what happened to Michigan ' s oldest Dodge dealer  Womack intends to stay in business as a used car dealer after the agreement with Chrysler ends June 9 , but it will be a very different operation . With no warranty work , the service and parts departments will be closed , Shontz said .  "" I just hired a new parts guy three weeks ago , "" he said . "" He left a great job to come here . And now I told him I ' m probably going to have to let him go . Great guy , real smart , knows Chrysler like the back of his hand . And I feel bad that I ' ve put him in that kind of predicament . ""  Almost as an afterthought , Shontz mentioned that he ' ll probably lose his own job , as will 800 of his counterparts across the corporation .  "" There ' s going to be a lot of me ' s out there looking for work . General managers will be a dime a dozen . ""  The change will have a ripple effect on other businesses , Shontz said . The dealer ' s subcontractors who handle body work , upholstery , dings , glass , used tires , scrap metal and signs all are losing a significant customer , he said .  "" It ' s just a cryin ' damn shame , is what it is , "" he said .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,satire,true,True,no,no,negative,past
3735,3736,"Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Tuesday confirmed President Donald Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), a post that opened after John Kelly became Trump’s chief of staff earlier this year. Senators voted 62-37 to confirm Kirstjen Nielsen, formerly Kelly’s deputy in the White House and his chief of staff when he led DHS. She is considered a cyber security expert and previously served in the administration of Republican President George W. Bush. Nielsen, 45, will take the reins of a department with more than 240,000 employees responsible for immigration enforcement, U.S. border and airport security, disaster response, and protecting U.S. infrastructure from cyber attacks. The agency is at the center of Trump’s efforts to enact broad changes to the U.S. immigration system. Elaine Duke, a civil servant and the  deputy secretary, had been serving as acting secretary since Kelly’s departure for the White House in July.  In the last five months she ha been responsible for several controversial  decisions, including the end of temporary protected status for thousands of immigrants living in the United States. And the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a  entity, came under criticism for its response to the humanitarian disaster wrought by Hurricane Maria when it struck Puerto Rico in September. In a statement, Duke said she looked forward to working as Nielsen’s deputy, and said Nielsen has “a deep understanding of the issues facing the Department.” Eleven Democrats voted with nearly all Republicans to confirm Nielsen. Republican Senator Lamar Alexander did not vote, and no Republicans voted against her confirmation. House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte, a Republican, said in a statement that Nielsen would bring “the expertise and leadership needed to successfully run the Department.” Democratic Representative Bennie Thompson said in a statement that Nielsen had not yet shown “she has the ability to lead a workforce of 240,000 while keeping the country safe and secure,” and said  had so far been used as a “political tool of the White House.” ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
3742,3743,"It could take up to five years to solve the problems in the  which have caused a crisis in accident and emergency departments across the country , a senior health official warned .  Professor Keith Willett , who led a review of England ' s casualty units , insisted there was no ' quick fix ' to the chaos in many hospitals , which has seen the numbers visiting A E surge by 400 , 000 since April as a result of the  111 helpline .  More doctors and nurses need to be recruited and the funding system changed to reduce waiting times and prevent bed blocking by elderly patients waiting for social care .  Professor Keith Willett insisted there was ' quick fix ' to the chaos in many hospitals , which has seen the numbers visiting A E surge by 400 , 000 since April .  Their comments came after figures showed that the numbers of patients being seen within the four hour target period dropped to 86 . 7 per cent in the week ending January 4 .  The soaring number of visits has been blamed on an ageing population and patients flocking to hospitals to have minor ailments treated .  The government has come under increasing pressure over the winter crisis in the  , with Labour vowing to make the health service a central plank of its election campaign .  Professor Willett warned that the problems could not be solved in just a few months . Giving evidence to the health select committee , he said the entire health system needed to be overhauled to ensure changes in one area do not impact other parts of the  .  ' We have had numerous examples over numerous years of doing one really good initiative in one part of the pathway and it doesn ' t have the effect we expect because the rest of the pathway is sufficiently busy to negate the advantages of that . '  He said his emergency care review had found there was a need for a ' transformation of the whole system ' .  There had to be a ' particular focus ' on out of hospital care to ' both reduce demand and alleviate the issues of congestion within the hospital ' .  But he warned : ' It is not going to be a quick fix . We have said it is going to be three to five years to get all of these things in place . '  He said staffing issues had to be addressed as well as changing the way people are treated to stop beds being taken by people unable to leave hospital while waiting for social care .  Ambulance trusts have been accused of reclassifying call outs to free them from response time targets  Professor Willett said : ' We have heard about recruitment issues in general practice , in acute medicine , in emergency medicine , in paramedics .  ' Those things are not addressed over a few months . We also know that the curriculum has got to change . We know that we have got to have better connectivity around information and we have better working relationships .  ' And we have to change the payments system that is not all going to happen inside one year . '   England medical director Sir Bruce Keogh said it would ' foolish ' to claim there would be no repeat next winter of the problems which have seen hospitals fail to meet their target of seeing 95 of A E admissions within four hours .  ' In answer to the question ' Can we tell you that next winter that we will be okay ? ' I think it would be very foolish to sit here and say this because it is part of a three to five year programme , ' he said .  Dr Clifford Mann , the president of the College of Emergency Medicine , told MPs that since April there had been more than 14 million visits to A E , a rise of 446 , 049 on last year .  He said  111 was to blame for the bulk of the increase . ' Of the 450 , 000 extra attendances in the system in the last year , 220 , 000 were advised by  111 to come to the emergency department and another 220 , 000 had an ambulance despatched to them by  111 .  ' If you put those figures together you have more than 95 per cent of the rise in type 1 major A E unit attendances . I don ' t think we should blame people for attending the emergency department when we ' ve told them to go there . It ' s absurd . '  Dr Clifford Mann , the president of the College of Emergency Medicine , told MPs that since April there had been more than 14 million visits to A E , a rise of 446 , 049 on last year  ' That ' s certainly true , but the other way of describing it is to say that ' s equivalent to eight or nine extra emergency departments and of course we haven ' t built or staffed eight or nine extra emergency departments in the last 12 months . '  A surge in demand for emergency care is also hitting ambulance services hard . Paramedics say they are so overstretched they often rely on firemen and police officers to take patients to hospital .   figures last week showed that eight out of ten ambulance trusts in England miss the target for responding to life threatening calls .  Ambulance chiefs were accused last night of risking patients ' lives to meet response time targets .  One trust may have hastened the deaths of dozens of desperately ill people by downgrading emergency call outs to non urgent .  This freed them from hitting a response time target of eight minutes .  East of England Ambulance Service admits that 8 , 324 patients had their cases reclassified in this way in a two month period last year .  At least 57 were not taken to hospital and died . Some of those downgraded had a terminal illness or a ' do not resuscitate ' order .  It emerged last night that another major ambulance trust Yorkshire is also suspected of recategorising thousands of urgent cases .  Managers made the calls ' non urgent ' when they realised ambulances were not going to reach patients inside the eight minute window .  Denise Burke , of the Norfolk based campaign group Action on Ambulances , said : ' They are playing Russian roulette with patients ' lives .  ' What is most shocking with East Anglia is the way patients who were near the end of life were treated . They were deciding on patients ' quality of life and whether they died then or in dignity a few months later .  ' Any of those families will be questioning whether their loved ones ' lives could have been extended by a few months . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
3745,3746,"Wis . If the Green Bay Packers want to fool themselves into thinking that the fresh start the playoffs provide will fix an unfixable offense , then their postseason could end with this Sunday s  wild card game at the Washington Redskins .  It isn t like we re going to wipe away anything that happens in the past , Packers coach Mike McCarthy said Monday as playoff week began . To me , that would be a huge mistake .  While McCarthy and offensive coordinator Edgar Bennett no doubt spent another Monday trying to unlock something that might jumpstart things for Aaron Rodgers and Co . , it s the coaches across the hall and the players in the defensive meeting room that probably will determine whether the Packers can get out of the first weekend .  Clay Matthews and the Packers allowed an average of 20 . 2 points per game , their fewest in five seasons . ?  There s little doubt the Packers defense has made the kind of improvement that s been necessary since it bottomed out in 2011 . Just listen to Pro Bowl offensive guard Josh Sitton , who said he felt bad for the guys on defense because they re playing their ass off week in and week out , and we re going out there and not doing our job .  The good teams , their defense carries them because everybody gets stingy in the playoffs , cornerback Casey Hayward said . Absolutely , we have to carry us . No matter if the offense is putting up 50 points or not , just go back to last year and watch all the playoff games , the good defensive teams made it farther .  The Packers finished 15th in total defense , including sixth in fewest passing yards allowed , and ranked 12th in scoring defense . It was the highest rank against the pass since the Super Bowl season in 2010 and the fewest points allowed ( 20 . 2 ) since that same season . Dom Capers might have to find even more from his defense now .  While most remember how magnificent Rodgers performed in that 2010 playoff run , Capers hasn t forgotten the kind of game changing plays his unit made along the way .  There was Tramon Williams interception in the end zone in the final minute to seal the wild card win at Philadelphia and his interception return for a touchdown a week later at Atlanta to blow open the divisional playoff game B . J . Raji s interception return for a touchdown at Chicago in the  title game and Nick Collins interception return for a touchdown and Matthews forced fumble against Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl .  Although the Packers head into the playoffs on a two game losing streak , Capers defense allowed just 24 of the 38 points in Week 16 at Arizona and 13 of the 20 points in the finale against the Vikings a game that could have swung in the Packers favor after Micah Hyde s spectacular one handed interception in the third quarter .  I thought Micah Hyde s interception was a rare play , the way he intercepted that ball , Capers said . Those are the kind of plays you have to make when you get into the playoffs . As we all know in this league , now you get down to 12 teams , everybody s 0 0 and you re going on the road and we ll be playing in a hostile environment , you have to find a way to make two or three plays to get the momentum headed in your direction .  At the same time , however , Capers doesn t want his defensive players going to Washington thinking there s a bigger burden on them .  It ' s all about every phase of your team playing off the other phase , Capers said . You can ' t ever get concerned what somebody else is doing , because you do that , you ' ll fall off a cliff . And to me , that attitude , it ' s so important to your team . To me , you show the strength of your defense by going out in those tough situations and performing , going out and making plays , try to set up our offense to put them in great field position .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3750,3751,"Julia Enright often plays at night while watching  . Billy Byler plays in the airport while waiting for his flight . University student Breanna Reboca , a skilled multitasker , plays on her phone while walking to class .  Their addiction ? "" Candy Crush Saga , "" an easy to play , hard to master puzzle game that ' s seemingly ensnared everyone from your kids to your co workers to your Aunt Sally . Launched last year , the game is now the most popular app on Facebook , where it has almost 32 million fans .  "" Candy Crush , "" as it ' s usually called , also is among the most downloaded mobile games for Android and Apple devices and has more than 15 million daily users , according to AppData , an analytics firm . The game has been such a hit for its creator , London based game publisher King , that the company has plans to go public , according to a report Tuesday in the Wall Street Journal .  Like predecessor "" Bejeweled , "" to which it ' s often compared , "" Candy Crush "" requires players to form chains of brightly colored tiles shaped like jelly beans , lemon drops and other candy pieces to earn points and advance . The game also borrows from mobile game blockbuster "" Angry Birds "" in that players must successfully complete one level before going on to the next .  "" It looks like the most childish , simple , throwaway game you could ever think of . And then you start playing it , "" said Byler , a pastor to young adults in Wichita , Kansas . "" It ' s challenging , and a real test on your brain , because you really have to think about what your next move is going to be . ""  The phone version of the game has 365 increasingly difficult levels , and it ' s not unusual for daily players to be stuck on a level for several weeks at a time a source of much frustration for many Facebook commenters .  The basic version of the game is free , although players only get five "" lives , "" or chances , a day without paying for more . Some obsessed players have even hacked the game to get access to unlimited play .  Enright , of Waukesha , Wisconsin , got hooked after she began playing the game three months ago with her boyfriend . Now she ' s on level 213 .  "" I got a lot further than he did , and now he ' s given up , "" she said , with a trace of pride . "" I ' ve always liked puzzle games ' Tetris ' and games like that . ""  Players also can share their "" Candy Crush "" progress with friends via Facebook something that Byler was reluctant to do at first because he was weary of friends posting "" FarmVille "" updates .  "" I didn ' t want to be that guy , "" said Byler , who limits his "" Candy Crush "" public postings to other players within the game itself . Byler is on level 254 and has been surprised by how hard it can be for him to put the game down .  "" If I ' m not careful , it can suck up a half hour or an hour real quick , "" he said . "" I have to put the phone down and read a book or something . ""  The game ' s cruelly seductive nature has even inspired a spoof trailer for a fake film , "" Candy Crush : The Movie , "" about people grappling with their addictions to "" Candy Crush , "" "" Temple Run "" and other mobile games .  "" In the beginning , it ' s fine . You can go in and out of these ( game ) worlds as you please , "" says one character . "" The thing is , the longer you stay in this world ( of "" Candy Crush "" ) , the more likely you are to be imprisoned . "" The clip has been viewed on YouTube more than 3 . 6 million times .  Casual mobile games appeal to people like Enright because unlike traditional console games , they can be played in bite sized chunks while waiting for a bus . A game like "" Candy Crush "" also feeds on people ' s competitive nature . Who wants to quit halfway through when there are more levels waiting to be conquered ?  "" I really enjoy it . It helps pass the time , "" Enright said . "" I ' m going to just keep going until they run out of levels . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3760,3761,"Mufti Mohammad Sayeed , 79 , dies in Delhi after brief illness Jammu and Kashmir in ? mourning  Mufti Mohammad Sayeed , 79 , dies in Delhi after brief illness Jammu and Kashmir in ? mourning  Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has died aged 79 in Delhi Sayeed is credited with having crafted an ' impossible ' alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (  ) , helping it share power for the first time in the Muslim majority state .  Mufti Tasaduq Son of Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Mufti Mohammad Sayeed carrying the body of his father during funeral procession , in Srinagar . (  )  Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has died aged 79 in Delhi ? ? Sayeed is credited with having ? crafted an impossible alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (  ) , helping it share power for the first time in the Muslim majority state .  Mufti Mohammad Sayeed breathed his last at  this morning after remaining on ventilator for the past few days .  A Congressman till 1987 , Mufti Mohammad Sayeed left the party and joined the ranks of V P Singh to become the only Muslim Home Minister when he was inducted into the cabinet of the National Front government in 1989 .  Mufti Mohammad Sayeed , who was chief minister from 2002 to 2005 in coalition with Congress , played a leading part in  and  coming together to form the first ever coalition involving the saffron party in the state .  Sayeed s daughter 56 year old Mehbooba Mufti is expected to take over as the first woman Chief Minister of the state with  leaders throwing their weight behind her . But this will require the approval of  .  The mortal remains of Sayeed were flown in a special Indian Air Force plane to Srinagar and are likely to be buried at his ancestral village in Bijbehara in South Kashmir .  Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh paid tributes to Sayeed at the Palam technical area before the body was flown to Srinagar .  The Central Government announced that the national flag will be flown half mast today across the country as a mark of respect to the departed leader , who has also been accorded a state funeral .  Sayeed was flown from Srinagar in a special plane on December 24 and admitted to the  where he was diagnosed with sepsis ( life threatening complication of an infection ) and pneumonia . During hospitalisation his platelets had dropped dangerously , doctors said .  He is the second J and K Chief Minister to die in office , the first one being Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah who died on September 8 , 1982 .  Sayeed is survived by his wife , three daughters and a son .  Jammu and Kashmir government has declared a seven day mourning and holiday today . Flags will be flown at half mast .  Sayeed took over as chief minister of   coalition on March 1 last year . In the 87 member J and K Assembly  won 28 seats and  25 while opposition National Conference got 15 and Congress 12 .  Condoling the death of Sayeed , Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it left a huge void in the nation and that the leader who provided a healing touch would be missed .  What stood out about Mufti Sahab was his statesmanship . In his long political journey he won many admirers across the political spectrum , Modi said .  Home Minister Rajnath Singh , former Chief Ministers Omar Abdullah and Ghulam Nabi Azad , will be flew to Srinagar to attend Sayeed s funeral .  First Published on January 7 , 2016 8 : 43 am  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3769,3770,"David Ortiz and Kevin Garnett have been friends since their lonely and losing days in Minnesota , Ortiz with the Twins and Garnett with the Timberwolves .  Each found redemption in the escape to Boston .  Ortiz told Garnett that Boston may not be the Garden of Eden , but it did have the  Garden with its fans . First thing Garnett did upon reaching Boston was to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at Fenway , thus insuring his success with the local fans .  The baked beans in Boston have not always been tasty for both men . They ran into a sticky patch , where the ball bounced out of their way . However , the 2012 season seems to have served up a dish of scrumptious and seasoned beans the way fans like them .  And , the players are enjoying the repast too . The Big Ticket and Big Papi found the Fountain of Youth in the Hub .  After one season in which the calls for his head and for his career came fast and furious , David Ortiz looked like a man who couldn ' t hit his way out of a wet paperbag for nearly a year .  And Kevin Garnett hobbled around like Chester out of an old Gunsmoke episode .  Then something magical happened . They became rejuvenated .  Garnett ' s run brought his dilapidated team from doldrums of mid season to the brink of the  Finals . Now Big Papi Ortiz is the only big All Star vote getter on the Red Sox . He has slimmed down and positively sprints around the bases .  Both men are considered oldsters of the sport . Garnett is 36 and so is Big Papi .  They were fitted for a Conquistador suit like Ponce de Leon . Their only hope was to find some special mango fruit that gave them years back on their game .  Like an episode of the old paranormal show Night Gallery , the two athletes have told the Grim Reaper to go elsewhere . Their playing days are not done yet .  Both men will stick around for a while , and avoid the sticky patch too .  ",satire,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,fake,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
3785,3786,"An  hospital trust has banned reception staff from having a cup of tea at their desk because it makes them look like they might be slacking off from work  Bosses of Leicester ' s three hospitals have brought in a ban on hot and cold drinks after complaints from patients who were already ' inflamed ' about long waiting times .  But the move has been criticised as ' draconian ' by patients at Leicester Royal Infirmary and Glenfield and Leicester General Hospitals and even the trust admits it could prove counter productive by encouraging workers to take more frequent breaks from their desks .  Hospital bosses in Leciester have banned reception staff , including those at Glenfield Hospital , from having drinks at their desk because it makes them look like ' they ' re not working hard enough '  Michelle Scowen , matron for clinical support and imaging , announced the change in an email to staff .  She said it will no longer be permitted for staff to have drinks in the reception areas of the clinics .  She added : ' Clearly this activity has given the wrong impression to staff and the public that clinic staff are not working as hard as they might be .  ' Members of the public are frustrated by long waiting times during clinics and for appointments and are inflamed by seeing members of staff enjoying hot and cold drinks at the reception desks . '  However , staff will be allowed to have hot and cold drinks in kitchens across the departments , the Leicester Mercury reports .  Bosses of Leicester ' s three hospitals said they brought in the rules after complaints from patients who were already ' inflamed ' about long waiting times  A clinic co ordinator told the paper : ' We are often in work at 7 . 30 8am organising notes for the clinics which start at about 8 . 30am and we often don ' t get time to take a break until about 1pm as clinics over run .  ' It is just wrong that we can ' t have a drink in that time . '  Health campaigner Zuffar Haq added : ' This is a ridiculous and draconian measure . '  A spokesman for Leicester ' s hospitals told MailOnline the decision had been taken after complaints from both other staff and patients .  He said : ' We made the decision to stop allowing staff to drink in patient areas following feedback from our patients and other staff .  ' They told us that it gives a bad impression .  ' Having said that , our clinic co ordinators have expressed concern that the new rules will result in unmanned reception desks , which would also give a poor impression .  ' So we will be working with our colleagues to see if we can identify an appropriate solution . '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
3789,3790,"Documented Instances Of "" Southern Bias "" Have Been On The Rise Within The Last Ten Years And Sociologists Are At A Lost As To Why  ( Vernon , California ) Department Manager , Jack Phillips , of the New Thought Textile Institute (  ) in southern California has recently come under fire from several labor rights groups after a former employee accused Phillips of discriminatory and unlawful termination .  36 year old Dennis Townsen is now jobless , and claims it is all due to Phillips taking issue with his southern accent .  For the past 8 years , Dennis has been a model employe at  . Dennis , who is a Georgia transplant , graduated at the top of his class from the Georgia Institute Of Technology . He was quickly offered jobs at several prominent companies all throughout the United States . Dennis decided upon  .  Mr and Mrs Townsen made the move from Georgia to California and immediately fit in with the local community . Dennis became an irreplaceable member of the  family . Many of Townsen ' s former coworkers describe him as having an impeccable work ethic An individual who was not only pleasant and friendly , but consistently professional .  Townsen hasn ' t taken his termination lying down , though , and began a letter writing campaign to several southern California news stations , and hundreds of national media outlets . Dennis has made it his mission to expose Jack Phillips ' bigotry and reclaim the job he loves .  In the letter , Dennis writes "" It wasn ' t until 6 months ago that the workplace harassment began . A new department manager , Jack Phillips , was brought on board after our previous manager had retired . From day one I could tell Phillips didn ' t like me . I wasn ' t sure if I had unknowingly offended him or why he treated me so much more poorly then all of the other employees in our department . He was always making condescending remarks towards me and the harassment only continued to get worse and worse . ""  Further into the letter Dennis states , "" After weeks of abuse I was finally able to determine that the only wrong I had committed in Phillips ' eyes was being born in the south . Phillips is an avid , and extremely vocal Obama supporter . He was always talking about how amazing President Obama is , and how he wished Obama could be president forever . He would also try to bully the other employees into agreeing with his left wing political beliefs . I identify as a conservative , but I ' ve never thought politics were an appropriate workplace topic . I did what I could to ignore Jack Phillips ' preaching . Eventually , Phillips was strutting around the office , making jokes about "" rednecks "" , and always being sure to say it within ' earshot of me . ""  "" I still maintain a heavy southern accent from my upbringing in Georgia , and Phillips would make it a point to ask me to repeat myself , claiming he couldn ' t understand what I was saying . He once told me , in front of my coworkers no less , that I needed to learn proper English if I hoped to make it anywhere within the company . ""  Dennis attempted to resolve the situation , but to no avail . "" I eventually sought assistance with the company ' s  department and somehow Phillips found out . He fired me before  even had a chance to investigate . I ' ve since contested my termination , and contacted several news outlets such as Fox News , National Review , and Epoch Times , to gain awareness for my situation .  California is a voluntary employment state , meaning they can fire a person for whatever reason they deem fit . Jack Phillips listed the basis for Dennis ' firing on the grounds of "" insubordination "" , which Dennis says is an absolute lie . "" Yes , I do believe I was made a target and subsequently fired for having a southern accent . "" Dennis writes in the two page letter .  "" I have a wife and a two year old little girl and now I ' m unemployed Fired from the career I have cherished for the past eight years . I ' ve been blessed with family and friends who have offered me odd jobs here and there , but the financial strain is undeniable . I ' m going to continue spreading the word about Jack Phillips and his shady business practices . I may never get my job back , but helping a future employee avoid the same fate is something I absolutely must do . ""  ",satire,text,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
3803,3804,"The ? mastermind of the Paris terrorist attacks died ? during a ? massive police raid in a suburb of the French capital , officials confirmed ? Thursday .  The bullet riddled body of ? Abdelhamid Abaaoud , 27 , was among two suspects found in the rubble following a police ? assault early Wednesday on an apartment in ? Saint Denis , Paris prosecutor Fran ? ois Molins said .  French officials said they believe the terrorist cell directed by Abaaoud was preparing for another terror attack only days after a murderous spree left 129 people dead in Paris .  French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Thursday that Abaaoud has also been linked to ? other attacks ? in Europe over the past year , including assaults on synagogues , ? and may be connected to an attempted shooting aboard an Amsterdam to Paris train in August that was thwarted by three Americans .  Suspected Paris attack mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud linked to other attacks  Abaaoud had also been involved in at least four of the six terrorist attacks foiled by French security forces since spring , ? Cazeneuve said . ? He is accused of training ? jihadists and was ? featured in several Islamic State propaganda videos .  The Belgian national was identified by his fingerprints , Molins said in a statement . ? "" It was the body we had discovered in the building , riddled with bullets , "" he said . It ? was not clear whether Abaaoud was killed by police or blew himself up , he added .  French Prime Minister Manuel Valls on Thursday warned that France could face chemical or biological terror attacks . Valls spoke in parliament before lawmakers voted for an extension to the state of emergency after 129 people were killed Friday .    The body of a second person , a woman , was also found in the apartment . Multiple news media organizations , citing unnamed sources close to the French investigation , said she may have been Abaaoud ' s cousin .  According to an unidentified police official quoted by the Associated Press , ? one of the police officers involved in the raid ? asked : "" Where is your boyfriend ? "" and she responded angrily : "" He ' s not my boyfriend ! "" Then there was an explosion as she apparently detonated a suicide vest .  The Daily Mail ? quoted ? her brother , Youssouf Ait Boulahcen , as saying she had had no interest in religion , never read the Quran ? and had only started wearing a Muslim veil a month ago .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3810,3811,"Reuters) - Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton praised Supreme Court nominee Judge Merrick Garland on Wednesday and called on the Republican majority U.S. Senate to begin considering his confirmation immediately. “Evaluating and confirming a Justice to sit on this nation’s highest court should not be an exercise in political brinkmanship and partisan posturing,” Clinton, a former U.S. Secretary of State in President Barack Obama’s administration, said in a statement. Clinton said that the responsibility of the Senate does not depend on the “party affiliation of a sitting president” and “it should begin that work immediately by giving Judge Garland a full and fair hearing followed by a vote.” ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,present
3811,3812,"It ' s not easy being a parent at the best of times let alone when you ' re the father of a brooding Kryptonian . But Russell Crowe steps up to the challenge in the latest incarnation of Superman , fathering the "" Man of Steel "" played by Englishman Henry Cavill .  And if some viewers happen to notice a particularly convincing on screen tenderness between the two actors , it could well be because of chance encounter over a decade ago .  It was in 2000 while filming the hostage thriller Proof of Life at the Stowe School in Buckinghamshire that Crowe , a lifelong rugby fan , spotted a young talent on the school pitch .  "" There was a rugby match being played in the background and there was one kid on that field who was quite dominant and fluid and so he caught my eye . And in between shots that kid came over and talked to me but all his questions were about acting . ""  Watch : Crowe and Cavill at the London premiere of Man of Steel  The 16 year old in shorts was none other than Henry Cavill , who until then had only played parts in school productions .  Cavill remembers , "" I walked up to him , stuck my hand out and said ' Hi my name ' s Henry , I am considering becoming an actor , any tips ? What ' s it like ? "" and he said "" well you know the pay is great but sometimes they don ' t treat you so good and I ' m paraphrasing ! ""  This brief meeting left a lasting impression with the Gladiator star , even once he had returned home to the other side of the world .  "" I figured the greatest thing you could get when you ' re in boarding school or something is unexpected mail "" explains Crowe , who sent a box over to the young fan a couple of days later .  "" I received an Aussie rugby jersey , "" Cavill remembers , "" some Aussie sweets , some Vegemite , a band  and a picture of him in Gladiator saying ' Dear Henry , a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step . Russell . ""  Caped crusaders on patrol meet the real life superheroes  Nobody could have predicted that the journey would lead to the 250 million Superman reboot Man of Steel , least of all Russell Crowe , who struggled to recognise his co star :  "" Twelve years later I ' m in a gym in Naperville , Illinois and I ' m working out with my son in this movie that I ' m doing , he ' s on the other side of the gym and I knew I knew him from somewhere , I just didn ' t know I couldn ' t place him . ""  Crowe notes that after a workout he asked Cavill "" do I know you ? "" Cavill smiled and after and after several months was still reluctant to reveal all .  Read more : Man of Steel at the box office  "" I didn ' t want walk up to him and put him in that embarrassing situation where he has to lie to me like ' Hi , remember me ? The kid from 12 years ago , the one kid you met during the shoot one day ' I just assumed he wouldn ' t . ""  But , Crowe did remember :  "" He said ' do you remember a kid that came and talked to you ? ' I went yeah , he goes and he talked to you about acting ? ' I said yes I do remember that , what did I say ? And he said ' well they pay you pretty well but they treat you like s and I said yes Henry I did say that , good to see you ! So it ' s an amazing little karmic circle . ""  "" We had a good laugh about it "" recalls Cavill . "" It ' s one of those moments in life where you think what are the chances ? ""  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3815,3816,"HootinHoller  The National Society of Hillbilly Astronomers met this week and decided to rename Uranus , the seventh planet from the sun , Urbigfatass .  The announcement was made by this year ' s president Big Emma Hickey who has no formal training and calls herself an "" occasional astronomer . "" Emma says the last time she saw stars was when she walked into an apple tree last summer and before that when she was a teenager and her daddy Roy gave her a smack for running outta gas on the way back home from Humphreyville .  Hickey says "" The universe is expanding faster than expected and has now reached Uranus . ""  "" Astronomers up at the observatory down Milner Ridge have determined that Uranus is much bigger than imagined for some time now and figures it may be due to "" personal misuse of the giant telescope in a way that is probably best left unsaid . ""  According to Hickey "" The universe is kinda like a pair of pants with a stretchy waistband that can get bigger ' n ' bigger an you don ' t even know it . ""  "" We bin meaning to get around to renaming Uranus for some time now due to its increased size and all and this was as good as time as any . ""  "" We woulda got around to it sooner but we had a hard time of it at first seein as Uranus is dim an its ' atmosphere is largely made of methane , some folks thought it was best left as is . ""  "" We had some wanted to call it Butt Crack and others wanted to call it after their big city cousins in Clarksville in a mean kinda way but we decided it best to leave immediate family members outta it . ""  ",satire,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
3822,3823,"A poster campaign depicting naked children with genitalia of the opposite sex has hit cities across northern Spain thanks to an anonymous American donor. [The posters, which declare that some girls have penises and some boys have vulvas, have appeared at bus stops and metro stations across the Basque Country and Navarre.  Created by transgender advocacy group Chrysallis Euskal Herria, the images have appeared in major cities such as Pamplona, San Sebastián, Bilbao and Vitoria, with the backing of local government. They show four naked children holding hands, including one boy with female genitalia and one girl with male genitalia. Underneath, a slogan reads: “There are girls with penises and boys with vulvas. It’s as simple as that. ” Beatriz Sever, the group’s press officer, said they were designed to “raise social awareness about transgender children and for these children to feel represented”. “There is an evident gap in society’s ability to approach the issue of transgender children in a normal way,” she told El País. “The more we talk, the easier it will be for some parents to detect what is happening to their own children. Many of them deny their kids’ real identity simply out of ignorance. ” The poster campaign was made possible by a 28, 000 euro donation from an anonymous New York businessman. The organisation said he donated the money after reading about an earlier campaign where they handed out educational material in eight different languages. Ms. Sever defended the group’s depiction of naked children, saying: “It makes all the difference between children either being accepted or not. We need to make people understand that nature is not a photocopying machine. Those who deny their identity typically use genitals as an excuse. I myself, as a mother, once used that same argument, until I finally understood what was going on. ” The ongoing drive to push transgender ideology onto children is causing concern from some quarters. A report by two   psychiatrists last August found most children and teenagers who claim to be transgender change their minds as they grow up. It also warned parents and officials not to impose   surgery or treatment on children, saying: “There is no evidence that all children who express   thoughts or behavior should be encouraged to become transgender. ”",true,news,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
3832,3833,"On Monday’s “ This Morning,” former Clinton Campaign Manager Robby Mook stated that Russia “could have been the reason,” Clinton lost the 2016 election.  Mook was asked whether he believed Russian hacking caused Clinton’s loss. He answered, “I think it could have. This is the key, no campaign manager, no campaign manager, no candidate should ever sit at a table likes this on a news program and say, ‘I don’t know. The Russians might have been the reason we lost the election.’ It’s not important whether they were or not. What’s important is that it could have been the reason, and that should never happen again. ” (  Mediaite) Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3834,3835,"Cairo Prominent Egyptian reformist Mohamed ElBaradei called the military ' s ouster of President Mohamed Morsy the right thing for the country , even as he said all parties including Morsy ' s Muslim Brotherhood should be part of Egypt ' s future .  Six years after winning the Nobel Peace Prize for his work as head of the International Atomic Energy Agency , ElBaradei was among those who pushed successfully for the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak in January 2011 .  Mohamed ElBaradei : Fast Facts  Morsy won that race , but since taking office he hasn ' t won over liberals , reformists and others such as ElBaradei who criticized him for not governing for all Egyptians , failing to bolster a faltering economy and promoting a constitution and social policies that some call too restrictive .  That sentiment boiled over recently in a massive nationwide rally , followed by the military ' s demand that Morsy accede to some of the opposition ' s demands . He did not , and troops subsequently placed him under house arrest and appointed an interim successor .  ElBaradei , considered to the be leader of the opposition , insists the military ' s move is not a coup .  "" Either we risk a civil war or . . . take extra constitutional measures to ensure that we keep the country together , "" he said , explaining the military ' s conundrum . "" This is a recall , and it is nothing novel . ""  The fact that Egypt is in this situation , the former diplomat said , is difficult , especially given the high hopes many in the North African nation had following Mubarak ' s exit .  Egypt : The most populous country in the Arab world  The election that Morsy won was "" fairly free , "" ElBaradei acknowledged .  The diplomat said Morsy ' s departure will serve as a "" reset , "" so Egypt can start over in forming a constitution and putting together an inclusive government .  That government should include members of the Muslim Brotherhood , the Islamist organization that was banned under Mubarak but has become Egypt ' s most powerful political force , according to ElBaradei . He said he assumes Morsy could even run again for president , "" though I don ' t think he would . ""  What is the Muslim Brotherhood ?  "" I would hope qualified people from the Brotherhood , from the Salafists should be part of this government , "" ElBaradei said . "" We need everybody need to be part of the political process . We need a cohesive society that is tolerant , that respects each others ' differences . ""  The Muslim Brotherhood propelled Morsy into office , although he resigned as leader of its political arm , the Freedom and Justice Party , after becoming president .  While ElBaradei stated flatly that he personally isn ' t interested in becoming president , he said he is "" deeply concerned "" about Egypt and willing to do what he can to help steer it to a brighter future  Opinion : Will the Muslim Brotherhood survive ?  Egyptians have limited patience after years of political and economic turmoil , he said .  "" My fears are that we do not deliver , "" ElBaradei said . "" My fear is that the Brotherhood will fear that they are excluded . We need a quick delivery . And . . . we need to show the people that we are really focusing on their basic needs . ""  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3841,3842,"Welcome to the worst defeat of the seven game John Fox era .  For a team that prides itself in being competitive , the Chicago Bears folded under pressure on Sunday , allowing Minnesota to escape with a 23 20 victory .  Good teams find ways to win . The Bears found a way to lose , in grueling fashion .  It ' s another painful reminder of how much work is left to do in Chicago . Fox ' s team fought hard for nearly four quarters , but gave the game away with a pair of defensive breakdowns another example of how the Bears simply lack the talent to finish the season above . 500 clubs .  Jay Cutler ' s late heroics were not enough to overcome two late scores by Minnesota . ?  The defense wasted a brilliant late game effort by Jay Cutler , who took matters into his own hands to solve the team ' s red zone dilemma . Cutler displayed the kind of toughness Fox loves when he barreled over Minnesota ' s Harrison Smith for a 4 yard touchdown run that briefly put the Bears ahead .  Cutler is accustomed to heroics . The Bears have come from behind multiple times this year , and seemed poised to do it again until the defense faltered .  With the next two upcoming games on the road , the Bears squandered a chance to build momentum after their bye week .  What it means : The Bears remain winless in the  North . This loss is sure to bruise the Bears ' psyche . At 2 5 , the Bears have little hope for a playoff berth . It will take an enormous amount of good fortune for Chicago to dig out of this hole . Six or seven wins is still realistic , but it won ' t be easy .  What were they thinking ? How can the Bears allow Minnesota ' s Stefon Diggs to score a late 40 yard touchdown ? With Sunday ' s starting nickelback , Bryce Callahan , out of the game because of a possible concussion , Sherrick McManis whiffed on a key tackle that sent Diggs off to the races . With no support from the rest of the secondary . Diggs scored with relative ease . The defense has to play smarter in such a critical moment of the game . The offense also wasted way too much time attempting screen passes in the opening 30 minutes . The Vikings clearly spent the week scouting the Bears horizontal passing attack . Minnesota defenders pounced on bubble screens and dump off passes until Cutler started to attack downfield with Alshon Jeffery . That is when the Bears enjoyed the bulk of their success on Sunday .  One reason to get excited : Jeffery continues to be Minnesota s archnemesis . The Bears ' No . 1 wide receiver hauled in a beautiful 21 yard touchdown reception in the back corner of the end zone before halftime . On the play , Jeffery hit the trifecta , displaying all the traits of an elite receiver : route running , separation speed and hands . Jeffery looks more and more like a player worthy of a lucrative contract extension . It will be interesting to see how long the Bears wait to address Jeffery s soon to be expiring deal .  One reason to panic : Another week , another collapse on the Bears special teams coverage units coached by Jeff Rodgers . The Bears now lead the  in return touchdowns allowed ( three ) after Minnesota s Marcus Sherels took back a first quarter Pat O Donnell punt 65 yards for a touchdown . To add insult to injury , Sherels went untouched on his way to the end zone the latest painful mistake committed by the Bears befuddled coverage group . Entering Week 8 , the Bears ranked 15th in punt coverage and 31st in kickoff coverage . That needs to be fixed .  Fantasy watch : Jeffery finished the game with 10 receptions for 116 yards and one touchdown . Cutler went 22 of 33 for 211 yards , one passing touchdown and one rushing touchdown .  Ouch : Matt Forte walked back to the locker room under his own power at the 8 : 28 mark of the third quarter . The Bears announced that Forte suffered a knee injury and was questionable to return . It appeared that Forte injured the knee on an 8 yard reception in the third quarter when he landed awkwardly after being tackled by Smith . Meanwhile , it s been a tough year for Eddie Royal . The injury plagued veteran receiver suffered a knee injury in the second quarter and did not return . Royal already missed one game this year with an ankle injury .  About time : Cornerback Kyle Fuller became the first member of the Bears secondary to force a turnover when he intercepted an errant Teddy Bridgewater pass intended for Diggs . Better late than never , I guess . Fuller has been under intense scrutiny for his play over the first six games . Fuller led the Bears in 2014 with four interceptions , but has been routinely burned for touchdowns this season . Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said on Wednesday that he hasn t totally ruled out the idea of moving Fuller to safety sometime in the future .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
3842,3843,"The backlash from angry fans has only gotten bigger with the refusal of teams like the Packers asking the fans to join in on the protest. How deaf can they be to the sound of angry fans who want teams to stand with hand over heart for our flag and national anthem.The left is busy conflating the  protest with their rage over the election of Trump They ve turned Trump s comments into a  dog whistle  of racism Remember when Trump called the players  son s of b*tches ? Well, that s now been interpreted by the eternal victims in the black community as a  dog whistle  of racism. The problem is that anyone with half a brain knows there are white players too but it s just an inconvenient truth to the left. This is where they ve wanted the argument to go because it benefits the left to make Trump out to be a racist.Of course, anyone with a speck of common sense knows President Trump wants  Americans to come together to stand for the anthem period! Nothing to it but that Zero racism!The video below is a great example of how the black activists and left are in a rage. Not over the deaths of black youth in the inner city or the horrible state of education in the black community. Nope, they re furious that Trump won and their Trump derangement syndrome is in overdrive Spike Lee reveals the rage and the disconnect to common sense in the video below: The narrative is not true     Delusional Spike LeeDid ya catch on to that? He brings it all back around to President Trump. He s one angry black man who wallows in victimhood even though he s had the benefit of a blessed life in America.",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
3844,3845,"The richest fight in history is officially on after Floyd Mayweather posted a signed copy of his contract with Manny Pacquiao on social media on Friday night , setting in motion the formal countdown to a 250million ( 160m ) blockbuster on May 2 .  A fight that has been five years in the making will be staged at the  Grand in Las Vegas , pitting Mayweather ' s hyped unbeaten record against one of the most effective , exciting punchers of their generation .  Feuds have dominated every stage of the stuttering discussions over the past years , with arguments over drug testing and financial splits .  Floyd Mayweather has confirmed he will face Manny Pacquiao at the  Grand in Las Vegas on May 2  Mayweather shared the official signed contract for the fight via his Shots social media account on Friday     : Click here to read how Jeff Powell told when the big fight would be announced  Set to be the richest fight in boxing history , the purse is expected to start at 250m ( 160m ) with Mayweather guaranteed a minimum 150m ( 96m ) and Pacquiao ' s share at least 100m ( 64m ) .  With Mayweather understood to have commanded the 60 40 split of the purse , the fight will occur with an autumn rematch clause believed to have been written into the deal by Mayweather .  The 37 year old is understood to have been the dominant figure throughout negotiations right up to getting his wish to announce the fight , which he did via Shotsweblink a social media site in which he has a stake in .  Mayweather ' s name will be first for the billing of the fight ( ' Mayweather Pacquiao ' ) , according to  , while he will be introduced and walk to the ring second .  He posted the contract along with the comment : ' What the world has been waiting for has arrived . Mayweather vs . Pacquiao on May 2 , 2015 , is a done deal . I promised the fans we would get this done , and we did . We will make history on May 2nd . Don ' t miss it ! This is the signed contract from both fighters . '  The fight will be a joint pay per view event shown on Showtime , the channel Mayweather is contracted to , and  who have the deal to show Pacquiao ' s fights . While there could also be a battle in the  were  Sport to challenge Sky Sports .  According to reports , every room in the  Grand sold out within three minutes of the fight being announced .  Mayweather and Pacquiao spoke and swapped numbers during a Miami Heat basketball game in January  Pacquiao and Mayweather were pictured together for the first time at the basketball game last month  Mayweather is understood to have been the dominant figure throughout negotiations for the mega fight  Miami Heat projected the two fighters onto the big screen and asked the question : ' Coming in 2015 ? '  Mayweather , the  and  welterweight world champion , and winner of all of his 47 fights , said : ' I am glad my decision to meet with Manny and discuss making this fight happen helped get the deal done , ' said Mayweather .  ' Giving the fans what they want to see is always my main focus . This will be the biggest event in the history of the sport . Boxing fans and sports fans around the world will witness greatness on May 2 . I am the best ever ,  , and this fight will be another opportunity to showcase my skills and do what I do best , which is win .  ' Manny is going to try to do what 47 before him failed to do , but he won ' t be successful . He will be number 48 . '  Three titles will be on the line on May 2 and Pacquiao , the  champion who has been defeated five times in 64 fights , said : ' I am very happy that Floyd Mayweather and I can give the fans the fight they have wanted for so many years .  ' They have waited long enough and they deserve it . It is an honour to be part of this historic event . I dedicate this fight to all the fans who willed this fight to happen and , as always , to bring glory to the Philippines and my fellow Filipinos around the world . '  Pacquiao ' s trainer Freddie Roach said : ' Floyd should enjoy being the A side while he can because on May 2 , Manny is going to put him on his backside . '  Mayweather was at the  All Star event last weekend as the world waited for him to announce his fight  Mayweather last fought when he beat Marcos Maidana in the pair ' s rematch last September in Las Vegas  Mayweather twice beat Argentinian fighter Maidana in 2014 winning both bouts on points  Pacquiao was last in action when he dominated Chris Algieri over 12 rounds in Macau last November  Pacquiao , from the Philippines , looked in imperious form as he comfortably beat Algieri in China  Jim Lampley is set to front the broadcasting team on  . The face of  boxing has criticised Mayweather in recent years , and his involvement was reportedly a point of contention for his team during the negotiations .  The pair , who both beat Ricky Hatton before the Mancunian retired , have long been considered the two best fighters of their generation and boxing fans have been itching for them to get in the ring for years .  This saga , which has frustrated fans as much as it has begged a question of how the sport ' s organisational make up could fail to enforce such a fight , had come close to fruition in 2010 . That is when contracts were drawn before the fight collapsed because Pacquiao refused to give blood and urine samples at random right up until the day of the event .  Mayweather beat British fighter Ricky Hatton in 2007 with the fight stopped in the 10th round  Pacquiao also beat Hatton when the pair fought in 2009 with a brutal second round knock out  His argument was that giving blood so close to his 2005 fight with Erik Morales had caused his defeat . The bitter fallout and Mayweather ' s apparent insinuations about Pacquiao ' s refusal to submit to the  testing led to the latter taking legal action .  Since then , the hopes have peaked and faded but with no meaningful action . But after the fighters met face to face last month at a basketball match in Miami , talks escalated quickly . Multiple times each week reports surfaced that the fight had been confirmed , only for a denial to follow , often from Mayweather ' s camp .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3863,3864,"WELLESLEY, Mass. (Reuters) - Hillary Clinton assailed the man who beat her to the White House, slamming as “unimaginable cruelty” President Donald Trump’s proposal to cut $3.6 trillion in government spending over the next decade in a speech on Friday. The defeated Democratic candidate did not name the Republican president in her remarks to the graduating class at her alma mater, Wellesley College. But she took several veiled swipes at the businessman-turned-politician, whose budget proposal earlier this week proposed sharp cuts in programs for healthcare and food assistance. “Look at the budget that was just proposed in Washington. It is an attack of unimaginable cruelty on the most vulnerable among us,” Clinton told a crowd at the all-women’s college, located in Boston’s suburbs. “It grossly underfunds public education, mental health and even efforts to combat the opioid epidemic.” White House officials have described the proposed budget as providing tax cuts that they say would stimulate economic growth and create more private-sector jobs. As with all presidential budget proposals, the proposal was more of a wishlist that is unlikely to be approved in its current form by Congress. Clinton, a former secretary of state, warned against an erosion of accepted standards of truth in U.S. public discourse, and also appeared to be attacking Trump on this issue. “You are graduating a time when there is a full-fledged assault on truth and reason. Just log on to social media for 10 seconds, it will hit you right in the face,” she said, citing hoax online reports that her campaign was tied to a Washington pizzeria that operated a child sex ring.     “When people in power invent their own facts and attack those who question them, it can mark the beginning of the end of a free society,” Clinton said. “This is not hyperbole, it is what authoritarian regimes throughout history have done.” She also urged graduates of the liberal-leaning school, which is located in one of the most Democratic states in the country, not to retreat into their own partisan echo chambers, saying, “your learning, listening and serving should include people who don’t agree with you politically.” Clinton has had a long public career since graduating in 1969 from Wellesley. She was first lady during her husband Bill Clinton’s two terms in the White House and was later elected to the U.S. Senate representing New York state. She made an unsuccessful presidential run in 2008 before serving as the country’s top diplomat during President Barack Obama’s first term. Clinton, 69, has gradually returned to the public eye since her upset November defeat, saying that she will not run for office again but will serve as an activist citizen. ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
3867,3868,"After two days of being criticized by mostly female, (and even some male) members of Congress, over multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, Democrat Al Franken just announced he s resigning from his  Senate seat. Democrat Representative John Conyers met a similar onslaught of criticism from fellow House members earlier in the week, which left him feeling isolated from his own party as he faced multiple allegations of sexual assault, misconduct and even accusations of a veiled death threat by one woman.After years of looking the other way while numerous women courageously stepped forward to accuse former President Bill Clinton of sexual assault and even rape, Democrats not only looked the other way, they nominated his wife who was accused by the same women of enabling his behavior as their choice for President of The United States.So why the sudden outrage over Franken and Conyers? Could it have something to do with the upcoming election for Senator in Alabama, where hard-core conservative Republican Judge Roy Moore appears to be ahead in the polls against Democrat candidate Doug Jones, despite being accused by several women of sexual misconduct that took place decades ago? So far, the motives or tactics of almost every one of Moore s accusers has been called into question. But this is not just any race, it s a race that the Democrats have dumped millions into, in hopes of taking a Senate seat they would otherwise have no chance of gaining in a deeply red state that overwhelmingly went for Trump in 2016. Democrat Senate candidate Doug Jones has never run for political office, opposes tax cuts for the rich and supports an expansion of Medicaid under Obamacare. The 63-year-old also is staunchly pro-choice, putting him at odds with embattled Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore, who is staunchly pro-life.There s one thing we know about the Democrats they know how to fight. If the Democrats can make an 11th-hour show of how  moral  they are, because they are suddenly able to rally against sexual predators in leadership roles in their party (even though they spent decades ignoring the Clinton s, or the biggest elephant in the room) perhaps they can convince voters to support Democrat Doug Moore over the  moral-less  Republican-backed candidate Roy Moore, and gain a Senate seat they could only have dreamed about 6 months ago. The Democrats haven t won a senate seat in Alabama since 1992.Let s face it, Senator Franken resides in a solidly blue state who went for Hillary in 2016. There s not much likelihood that they ll elect a Republican to replace him. When it comes to the 88-year old Conyers, he s not only nearing the end of his career, he s a representative in Detroit, where it doesn t matter who runs as long as they have a (D) behind their name. It s a 100% safe seat.So if sacrificing a few members of their own party means gaining a Senate seat, it s all worth it, right? After all, the media wouldn t dare call out their allies in the Democrat Party for their decades of hypocrisy, and for their undying support of accused rapist Bill Clinton and his lovely, enabling wife Meanwhile, the blue state of Minnesota still loves Al Franken:Minnesota s Star Tribune calls Senator Al Franken (D-MN)  A star in his party After eight years in the Senate, Franken had emerged as a powerful voice on progressive causes and forceful critic of the Trump administration, frequently generating national headlines with aggressive questioning of Trump s Cabinet officers. He was a star attraction for the Democratic Party, raising millions of dollars for candidates around the country and appearing frequently on nationally broadcast talk shows and in other high-profile venues.Franken s celebrity preceded his political career. He was hired as a staff writer for  Saturday Night Live  in its first season in 1975 and quickly became a regular on-air performer as well. He served two long stints on the show s staff, the second ending in 1995. After that, he published several bestselling books of political satire from a liberal point of view and hosted a nationally syndicated radio show for several years.Franken, who had been a vocal champion of women s rights and a popular, in-demand spokesman for various progressive causes, found himself caught up in a growing cultural movement around outing bad behavior toward women by men in positions of power. By abandoning Franken along with former U.S. Rep. John Conyers, who resigned earlier this week, Democrats are drawing a distinction between their party and Republicans at a time when President Trump has thrown his full weight behind Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, accused of sexual abuse of underage girls.A Democratic source told the Star Tribune that Dayton is likely to appoint Lt. Gov. Tina Smith and that she is not expected to run in the special election.88-year old Representative John Conyers (D-MI) was the longest-serving House Member in  history. ",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
3878,3879,"What Saudi Arabia is ( and isn t ) doing in fight against   This four minute read explains why the Islamic State has had the opportunity to thrive .  Takeaway : At the root of so much global instability lies Syria s downward spiraling civil war , which was initially sparked by the democratic impulses of the Arab spring but which has darkened into a vicious and intractable conflict . Keep reading .  Behind the lines in Damascus , a war of neighbors  This six minute read by Thanassis Cambanis , a fellow at The Century Foundation , is reported from Damascus . Read it for a glimpse of life in a neighborhood in Syria s capital city .  Takeaway : The war in Syria is a war of neighborhoods . Foreign fighters and foreign intervention have fueled the conflict , but at its heart is an intimate civil war between neighbors and relatives . Keep reading .  This five minute read explains Russia s involvement in Syria , who their allies are and what it means for  policy in the region .  Takeaway : In Syria , the question of the moment is whether the United States can accept a peace deal that leaves Assad some power , either as a figurehead , a transitional leader , or even a candidate in postwar elections ? Doing so would require a radical shift in  policy , open to critique as a betrayal of those who lost their lives fighting for Assad s ouster . But it could prove the only way to achieve a lasting peace . Keep reading .  This seven minute read by Cambanis takes an in depth look at Russia s goals in Syria and what Russia s actions in the region say about Russia .  Takeaway : Some of the closest followers of the Kremlin s designs in Syria and the wider Middle East , like Russian analyst Nikolay Kozhanov , argue that Putin was never aiming for a military solution in Syria but only to better position Russia in the diplomatic great game . Keep reading .  Desperate Journey : An occasional series on the international refugee crisis  You could spend 20 minutes , or five , with this reported photo essay from the Globe about Syrian refugees . It s full of poignant pictures with captions like this : Ammar , a Syrian refugee who fled the country 20 months ago , was reunited with his wife and daughter in Germany . Ammar s wife and daughter spent 23 days traveling to meet him . Keep reading .  Baker s stance on refugees draws ire of immigration groups  This four minute read frames Massachusetts response to the refugee crisis .  Takeaway : Governor Charlie Baker joined more than two dozen other governors Monday who said they did not want Syrian refugees to resettle in their states , citing security concerns after the deadly terrorist attacks in Paris . Keep reading .  Worries persist for Syrian refugees already in   In this four minute read , the Globe reports from Worcester , where one Syrian refugee family is living .  Takeaway : Now Nayef is afraid that the growing political backlash against Syrians following the terrorist attacks in Paris will prevent his mother and three brothers from joining him in a city where he has felt at peace for the first time since before the war . Keep reading .  From suffering in Syria to safety in Conn .  A little further afield , the Globe s Alex Kingsbury tells the story of a Syrian family now living in New Haven , Conn . This is a six minute read from the Ideas section .  Takeaway : Ahmad and his family discuss their ordeal in Homs as if it was yesterday . But they actually fled their home in Homs three years ago . Their path to New Haven has wound through a series of refugee camps around the Middle East . . ? . ? . This is the land of freedom , he says , looking with a smile at his 8 year old daughter , who won t sit still . Keep reading .  Syria after Four Years : Timeline of a Conflict  This detailed timeline from Vice is a 13 minute read . It begins in March 2011 and covers key moments in the grim conflict through March 2015 .  Takeaway : It began on March 15 , 2011 , when the Syrian government met mostly peaceful protests in several towns and cities with gunfire , beatings and arrest . Eventually , the opposition acquired weapons , soldiers defected , and the uprising transformed into a grinding civil war . Keep reading .  This 20 minute read from the Atlantic explores the conditions that have allowed  to spread and issues a call for the creation of safe zones .  Takeaway : The best hope for Syria s survival is a political solution . . . that begins the transition to a new , post Assad government . . ? . ? . This transition process will be fostered by safe zones in the north and south , where humanitarian assistance can be directed , Syrian refugees can return , and political compromise can be rediscovered . Keep reading .  Evan Horowitz digs through data to find information that illuminates the policy issues facing Massachusetts and the United States . He can be reached at evan . horowitz globeweblink . Follow him on Twitter GlobeHorowitz .  Get Today s Headlines from the Globe in your inbox :  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
3892,3893,"Sanjaya lives on . The would be singer more famous for his hairstyles than his singing survived another round of cuts to continue his screechy , talentless pursuit of The American Idol Crown . "" Incredible , "" was the only word mockingly said by judge Simon Cowell of his latest peformance .  Gina , the girl who always dressed in skanky black clothes two sizes to small and wore huge boots , was the latest casualty of the voters . "" I don unnerthan why they kickth me off , "" said the contestant . "" I liked being a contethtant and don thin my tongue thrud had anythin to do wiff it . ""  The person who went on a hunger strike until Sanjaya was voted off has ended their fast . "" Give me a bucket of extra crispy , "" were their first words on hearing that the faux hawk wearing wannabe survived again .  Tony Bennett , attempting to be politically correct , referred to Sanjaya as an entertainer as opposed to a singer , and Randy and Paula were ready to jump on that title . "" Yeah , he ' s entertaining to watch , "" said Randy , "" but so was William Hung ! ""  Speaking of Hung , he has approached Sanjaya about doing a duet . He thinks that they should work together on the classic "" Don ' t Give Up On Us , Baby . ""  Meanwhile , teen magazines are quickly making Sanjaya into the latest heartthrob of the tween set . They believe that he could sell more records than many of their other famous no talent posterboys of the past : Sean Cassidy ( brother of David ) , Leif Garrett , the Backstreet Boys , and N ' Sync .  Many attribute his success to the fact that everyone in every call center in India is voting for him constantly while lines are open . "" We are trying to establish a new Baliwood to Hollywood connection , "" said Hindu phone operator "" Sean Jones "" ( Uri Ghandi Billobo ) . "" We think he sings very , very good and let me tell you the benefits of our new no fee visa card . ""  One American voter put his opinion this way : "" House and Bones are my favorite Fox shows . When it is American Idol season , both series have many weeks where they are not shown at all or have their times moved around . I ' m voting for the Indian kid just because if someone that bad wins , it may screw up the show so much it won ' t come back . Then I can watch my shows and not have to go eight weeks without an new episode of House . ""  ",satire,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,negative,past
3908,3909,"The village is poor, even by the standards of rural Kenya. To get there, you follow a power line along a series of unmarked roads. Eventually, that power line connects to the school at the center of town, the sole building with electricity. Homesteads fan out into the hilly bramble, connected by rugged paths. There is just one working water tap, requiring many local women to gather water from a pit in jerrycans. There is no plumbing, and some families still practice open defecation, lacking the resources to dig a latrine. There aren’t even oxen strong enough to pull a plow, meaning that most farming is still done by hand. The village is poor enough that it is considered rude to eat in public, which is seen as boasting that you have food. In October, I visited Kennedy Aswan Abagi, the village chief, at his small   home, decorated with posters celebrating the death of Osama bin Laden and the lives of African heroes, including JaKogelo, or “the man from Kogelo,” as locals refer to former President Barack Obama. Kogelo, where Obama’s father was born, is just 20 miles from the village, which lies close to the banks of Lake Victoria. Abagi told me about the day his town’s fate changed. It happened during the summer, when field officers from an American nonprofit called GiveDirectly paid a visit, making an unbelievable promise: They wanted to give everyone money, no strings attached. “I asked, ‘Why this village? ’’u2009” Abagi recalled, but he never got a clear answer, or one that made much sense to him. The villagers had seen Western aid groups come through before, sure, but nearly all of them brought stuff, not money. And because many of these organizations were religious, their gifts came with moral impositions I was told that one declined to help a young mother whose child was born out of wedlock, for example. With little sense of who would get what and how and from whom and why, rumors blossomed. One villager heard that GiveDirectly would kidnap children. Some thought that the organization was aligned with the Illuminati, or that it would blight the village with giant snakes, or that it performed blood magic. Others heard that the money was coming from Obama himself. But the confusion faded that unseasonably cool morning in October, when a GiveDirectly team returned to explain themselves during a town meeting. Nearly all of the village’s 220 people crowded into a    tent placed near the school building, watching nervously as 13 strangers, a few of them white, sat on plastic chairs opposite them. Lydia Tala, a Kenyan GiveDirectly staff member, got up to address the group in Dholuo. She spoke at a deliberate pace, awaiting a hum and a nod from the crowd before she moved on: These visitors are from GiveDirectly. GiveDirectly is a nongovernmental organization that is not affiliated with any political party. GiveDirectly is based in the United States. GiveDirectly works with mobile phones. Each person must have his or her own mobile phone, and they must keep their  secret. Nobody must involve themselves in criminal activity or terrorism. This went on for nearly two hours. The children were growing restless. Finally, Tala passed the microphone to her colleague, Brian Ouma. “People of the village,” he said, “are you happy?” “We are!” they cried in unison. Then he laid out the particulars. “Every registered person will receive 2, 280 shillings”  —   about $22  —   “each and every month. You hear me?” The audience gasped and burst into wild applause. “Every person we register here will receive the money, I said  —   2, 280 shillings! Every month. This money, you will get for the next 12 years. How many years?” “Twelve years!” Just like that, with peals of ululation and children breaking into dance in front of the strangers, the whole village was lifted out of extreme poverty. (I have agreed to withhold its name out of concern for the villagers’ safety.) The nonprofit is in the process of registering roughly 40 more villages with a total of 6, 000 adult residents, giving those people a guaranteed,      income. An additional 80 villages, with 11, 500 residents all together, will receive a   basic income. With this initiative, GiveDirectly  —   with an office in New York and funded in no small part by Silicon Valley  —   is starting the world’s first true test of a universal basic income. The idea is perhaps most in vogue in chilly,   places, among them Canada, Finland, the Netherlands and Scotland. But many economists think it might have the most promise in places with poorer populations, like India and   Africa. GiveDirectly wants to show the world that a basic income is a cheap, scalable way to aid the poorest people on the planet. “We have the resources to eliminate extreme poverty this year,” Michael Faye, a founder of GiveDirectly, told me. But these resources are often misallocated or wasted. His nonprofit wants to upend incumbent charities, offering major donors a platform to push money to the world’s neediest immediately and practically without cost. What happens in this village has the potential to transform   institutions, but its effects might also be felt closer to home. A growing crowd, including many of GiveDirectly’s backers in Silicon Valley, are looking at this pilot project not just as a means of charity but also as the groundwork for an argument that a universal basic income might be right for you, me and everyone else around the world too. The basic or guaranteed income is a curious piece of intellectual flotsam that has washed ashore several times in the past   often during periods of great economic upheaval. In “Utopia,” published in 1516, Thomas More suggests it as a way to help feudal farmers hurt by the conversion of common land for public use into private land for commercial use. In “Agrarian Justice,” published in 1797, Thomas Paine supports it for similar reasons, as compensation for the “loss of his or her natural inheritance, by the introduction of the system of landed property. ” It reappears in the writings of French radicals, of Bertrand Russell, of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Silicon Valley has recently become obsessed with basic income for reasons simultaneously generous and   as a palliative for the societal turbulence its inventions might unleash. Many technologists believe we are living at the precipice of an   revolution that could vault humanity into a postwork future. In the past few years, artificially intelligent systems have become proficient at a startling number of tasks, from reading cancer scans to piloting a car to summarizing a sports game to translating prose. Any job that can be broken down into discrete, repeatable tasks  —   financial analytics, marketing, legal work  —   could be automated out of existence. In this vision of the future, our economy could turn into a   version of itself: extreme income and wealth inequality, rising poverty, mass unemployment, a shrinking   labor force. It would be more George Saunders than George Jetson. But what does this all have to do with a small village in Kenya? A universal basic income has thus far lacked what tech folks might call a proof of concept. There have been a handful of experiments, including ones in Canada, India and Namibia. Finland is sending money to unemployed people, and the Dutch city Utrecht is doing a trial run, too. But no experiment has been truly complete, studying what happens when you give a whole community money for an extended period of time  —   when nobody has to worry where his or her next meal is coming from or fear the loss of a job or the birth of a child. And so, the tech industry is getting behind GiveDirectly and other organizations testing the idea out. Chris Hughes, a Facebook founder and briefly the owner of The New Republic, has started a $10 million,   initiative to explore the viability of a basic income. (He has also been a major donor to GiveDirectly.) The research wing of Sam Altman’s   incubator, Y Combinator, is planning to pass out money to 1, 000 families in California and another     state. Then there is GiveDirectly itself, which has attracted $24 million in donations for its   effort, including money from founders of Facebook, Instagram, eBay and a number of other Silicon Valley companies. Many donors I spoke with cited their interest in the project as purely philanthropic. But others saw it as a chance to learn more about a universal basic income, a way to prove that it could work and a chance to show people the human face of a hypothetical policy fix. In December, Altman, the    president of Y Combinator, spoke at an   event hosted by Stanford, the White House and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the charitable institution the Facebook billionaire founded with his wife, Priscilla. Altman discussed the potential for basic income to alleviate poverty, but his speech veered back to the dark questions that hang over all this philanthropy: Is Silicon Valley about to put the world out of work? And if so, do technologists owe the world a solution? “There have been these moments where we have had these major technology revolutions  —   the Agricultural Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, for example  —   that have really changed the world in a big way,” Altman said. “I think we’re in the middle or at least on the cusp of another one. ” GiveDirectly may be a charity, but it speaks in the argot of Silicon Valley. It is a platform, connecting donors and recipients, that prides itself on low overhead and superior analytics. It disdains what it sees as the bloated, expensive,     incumbents that dominate the nonprofit space. And it even has a privileged bootstrapping creation story, beginning with its   founders batting the idea around in Harvard Square academic buildings and scraping together money from friends. The idea for the nonprofit came to Michael Faye and Paul Niehaus, who is now a professor of economics at the University of California, San Diego, when they were graduate students at Harvard. Both were studying development and doing fieldwork overseas, an experience that underlined an Economics 101 lesson: Cash was more valuable to its recipients than the   gifts commonly distributed by aid groups, like food or bed nets or sports equipment. If you’re hungry, you cannot eat a bed net. If your village is suffering from endemic diarrhea, soccer balls won’t be worth much to you. “Once you’ve been there, it’s hard to imagine doing anything but cash,” Faye told me. “It’s so deeply uncomfortable to ask someone if they want cash or something else. They look at you like it’s a trick question. ” But at the time, distributing cash aid in a country with little to no banking infrastructure outside major cities would have required an extraordinary amount of manpower, not to mention introducing the risk of robbery and graft. But   mobile phones with     minutes began flooding into   African markets in the 2000s. Enterprising Ghanaians, Kenyans and Nigerians started to use their minutes as a kind of currency. In 2007, Vodafone and the British Department for International Development together built a system, called   for Kenyans to transfer actual shillings from cellphone to cellphone. An estimated 96 percent of Kenyan households use the system today. Faye and Niehaus  —   along with their friends Rohit Wanchoo and Jeremy Shapiro, also graduate students  —   thought about setting up a website to raise cash in the United States and send it directly to poor Kenyans. But they never found a nonprofit that would distribute that cash abroad. They decided to do it themselves in 2008. “Because it was a   and we started in grad school,” Faye said, “we were open to the idea of it being wrong or failing. ” The following year, Faye traveled to small Kenyan villages during the summer break, offering cash to whoever seemed poor and would take it. (The money, about $5, 000, came out of the foursome’s own pockets.) That, surprisingly, worked well enough to give them the confidence to start a threadbare randomized control trial the year they graduated. It found that the recipients, who received an average of $500, saw excellent outcomes: Their children were 42 percent less likely to go a whole day without eating.   rates dropped, and mental health improved. In time, the nonprofit attracted the attention of Silicon Valley and its   young philanthropists. Two Facebook founders gave   donations. Then, in the spring of 2012, Faye went to a friend’s brunch in Brooklyn and met someone working for Google. org, the tech giant’s giving arm. She liked the sound of GiveDirectly and arranged for Faye and Niehaus to give a presentation at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. The company ended up contributing $2. 4 million. At first, GiveDirectly handed out large lump sums, generally $1, 000 spread into three payments over the course of the year. The nonprofit’s field officers would locate   villages in Kenya, then find the poorest families in each individual village using a simple asset test (whether a family had a thatched roof or not). The field officers would introduce themselves to the town elders, explain their purpose and return to provide mobile phones and training to recipient families. Then GiveDirectly would push a button and send the money out. On a steaming October morning, I went with two GiveDirectly executives, Joanna Macrae and Ian Bassin, to visit one of the villages that had received GiveDirectly’s   payments. We took off at dawn from Kisumu, a bustling industrial city on the banks of Lake Victoria, and followed a   highway to Bondo, a small trading city filled with cattle, bicycles and roadside food stands. From there, we turned inland from the lake and drove into a lush agricultural region. The residents of this village had received money in 2013, and it was visibly better off than the   pilot village. Its clearings were filled with mango plantings, its cows sturdy. A small lake on the outskirts had been lined with nets for catching fish. “Could you imagine sitting in an office in London or New York trying to figure out what this village needs?” Bassin said as he admired a   cow tied up by the lakeside. “It would just be impossible. ” Perhaps, but delivering money by   has some downsides, too. We visited an older woman named Anjelina Akoth Ngalo, her joints painful and swollen with advanced malaria. Sitting in her   hut, she told us that she had received only one payment, not the three that she was promised. She had given her phone to a woman in a nearby village who transferred the money out of it. Ngalo visited the village elder to try to get her money back, but nothing had come of it. She was now destitute, living on about $5 a week. She had not eaten since the day before, and she had run out of malaria medication. (Bassin said that less than 1 percent of recipients experience theft, crime or conflict.) By giving money to some but not all, the organization had unwittingly strained the social fabric of some of these   tribal communities. One man we visited in a separate village nearby, Nicolus Owuor Otin, had acted as a liaison between the community and the GiveDirectly staff, showing them where different families’ houses were, for instance. For that reason, he said, the other villagers thought he was determining who would get what and threatened to burn his house down. Still, nearly all the recipients described the money as transformative. Fredrick Omondi Auma  —   a Burning Spear devotee wearing a   hat and bell bottoms when we visited  —   had been impoverished, drinking too much, abandoned by his wife and living in a mud hut when GiveDirectly knocked on his door. He used his money to buy a motorbike to give taxi rides. He also started a small business, selling soap, salt and paraffin in a local town center he bought two cows, one of which had given birth and he opened a barbershop in the coastal city Mombasa. His income had gone from 600 shillings a week to 2, 500 shillings  —   roughly $25, a princely sum for the area. His wife had returned. He had even stopped drinking as much. “I used to go out drinking with 1, 000 shillings, and I’d wake up in the bar with 100 shillings,” he said. “Now I go out drinking with 1, 000 shillings, and I wake up at home with 900. ” “I didn’t imagine I would be living in an   house,” he said, referring to his roof. “I didn’t imagine I’d be wearing nice shoes. I didn’t imagine I would have a business, and earnings from it. I didn’t imagine I would be a man who owns cattle. ” Many popular forms of aid have been shown to work abysmally. PlayPumps  —       contraptions that let children pump water from underground wells as they play  —   did little to improve access to clean water.    programs have saddled families with animals inappropriate to their environment. Skills training and microfinance, one 2015 World Bank study found, “have shown little impact on poverty or stability, especially relative to program cost. ” All across the villages of western Kenya, it was clear to me just how much aid money was wasted on unnecessary stuff. The villagers had too many jerrycans and water tanks, because a nongovernmental organization kept bringing them. There was a thriving trade in Toms canvas  : People received them free from  workers and then turned around and sold them in the market centers. And none of the aid groups that had visited the villages managed to help the very poorest families. In the   village, for example, Faye and I paid a visit to a woman named Caroline Akinyi Odhiambo, who lives in a mud hut on the edge of town with her husband, Jack, a laborer, and her two small children. The most expensive thing she ever bought, she told me, was a chicken for 500 shillings, or about $5. Her family was persistently hungry. She knew of three nonprofit groups that had helped the village before GiveDirectly. One aided families with school fees, but it chose not to help her children. “I do not want to talk about it,” she said. What is worse, Faye told me, walking away from Odhiambo’s hut, was that most nonprofit projects in the region were never subject to anything like an impact assessment, either. There is no way to know how well they are working, or whether that money would be better spent on something else. “The question should always be: Would we be better off just giving this money away as cash?” Faye said. “There usually is not a way to answer that question. ” A vast majority of aid  —   94 percent  —   is noncash. Donor resistance is one reason for this it is not easy to persuade American oligarchs, British inheritors and Japanese industrialists to fork over their money to the extremely poor to use as they see fit. “There’s the usual worries about welfare dependency, the whole ‘Give a man a fish’ thing,” said Amanda Glassman, a public health and development expert at the Center for Global Development. “It’s so powerful. It’s really a basic psychological feature of the landscape. You’ll start drinking. You’ll start lying around at home because you’re getting paid. ” Cash also seems harder to market. American taxpayers might be perfectly happy to fund education for young women in poor countries or vaccinations for schoolchildren. But they might balk at the idea of showering money on poor, unstable countries. “The visual of putting a pill in a kid’s mouth is so much more attractive to people,” Glassman said. Institutional inertia is another factor. “There are a lot of good people working in the system,” Niehaus said. “And there are a lot of organizations pushing to do cash transfers. But the way they are structured and incentivized from the top down  —   they aren’t structured to do it. They have a specific mandate, like health. Cash transfers give choice of what goal to pursue to the recipients. ” Moreover, cash might force aid workers and nongovernmental organizations to confront the fact that they could be doing better by doing things differently  —   often by doing less. “It’s easy to muster evidence that you should be giving cash instead of fertilizer,” said Justin Sandefur of the Center for Global Development. “The harder argument is: You should shut down your U. S. A. I. D. program, which is bigger than the education budget of Liberia, and give the money to Liberians. That’s the radical critique. ” Faye put it more bluntly, if  : If cash transfers flourished, “the whole aid industry would have to fire itself. ” There is something to that. One estimate, generated by Laurence Chandy and Brina Seidel of the Brookings Institution, recently calculated that the global poverty gap  —   meaning how much it would take to get everyone above the poverty line  —   was just $66 billion. That is roughly what Americans spend on lottery tickets every year, and it is about half of what the world spends on foreign aid. In the   village, the residents had just started to work through how transformative the program would be, what they could do with the money and how different their lives could feel in 12 years. Detractors often say that no one would work in a world with a basic income, that the safety net could grow a bit too comfortable. Ultimately, what a universal income would do to workers in the rich world will remain a mystery until someone tries it out. But here, many villagers were concerned primarily with procuring the sustenance and basic comforts that their penury had denied them. Odhiambo, the woman who had not been offered aid by the school group, planned to buy corrugated iron sheets for her roof she considered possibly paying off her dowry. Another villager, Pamela Aooko Odero, ran a household that had been suffering from hunger, with all eight of them living on just 500 to 1, 000 shillings a week. She took her money as soon as she got it and went to buy food. Many more made plans that were entrepreneurial. Two widowed   Margaret Aloma Abagi and Mary Abonyo Abagi, told me they planned to pool their funds together to start a small bank with some friends. Charles Omari Ager, a houseboy for the   had his phone turned off and wrapped in a plastic bag in his pocket when the first text came in. He was driving the widows’ goats and cattle from one     meadow to another when he happened upon an aid worker, who prompted him to pull out his phone, turn it on and wait. The text was there. The money was there. “I’m happy! I’m happy! I’m happy!” he said. He bought himself a goat that day. When he got his money, Erick Odhiambo Madoho walked to the   local highway nearest the village and took a matatu, a shared minibus, overloaded with 20 passengers, down to Lake Victoria. There he found an   stand and converted his mobile money into shillings. He used the cash to buy the first of three rounds of   fishing line that he would need to   into nets to catch tilapia in the lake. When the nets were done, he told me, he would rent a boat and hire a day laborer to work with him. He anticipated that his income, after costs, might reach as much as 2, 000 shillings on a good day. I asked him why he hadn’t saved money for nets beforehand. He shrugged, smiled and said, “I could not. ”",true,news,validation,Other sport,Economy,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3914,3915,"Louis van Gaal has delayed his decision on whether to buy Radamel Falcao because of the latest injury to the Manchester United striker .  Falcao has endured a difficult start to his life at Manchester United , scoring just one goal in five appearances since his dramatic deadline day loan move from Monaco .  The striker has struggled for fitness and is yet to complete a full game for the Red Devils .   Scroll down to see Louis van Gaal get frustrated with journalists over Falcao  Radamel Falcao has had a stuttering start to life as a Manchester United player , only featuring five times  Falcao has had to settle for watching on from the stands , and was pictured at Craven Cottage last week  The Colombian has been unavailable for the last month because of a calf injury he sustained in training and it will take at least another fortnight for him to return to action .  United are yet to take up the option to buy Falcao because of his latest injury , which comes 10 months after he damaged cruciate ligaments playing for Monaco .  ' Do you think we expected he ' d be injured for so many weeks ? Because of that ( injury setback ) maybe we didn ' t buy him , ' the United manager said .  Falcao is one of the club ' s top earners , but his only meaningful contributions on the pitch so far have been an assist for Robin van Persie ' s goal against Leicester and his own strike in the victory over Everton .  Falcao ( left ) posed with a United shirt alongside Daley Blind ( right ) when he joined , but both are now injured  Van Gaal ( right ) speaks to Michael Carrick , Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie ( left right ) at training  Falcao admitted his spell on the sidelines had been ' frustrating ' .  But his manager insists he has had no option but to keep the 28 year old out of his squad .  ' I don ' t give any chance to players when they are not fit , believe me , ' Van Gaal said .  ' Look at my record and you will see that .  ' You have to be fit . And what ' s your name ? It doesn ' t matter you have to be fit . I ' m sorry . I have to manage with the other players and we believe in these players . And we shall show it . '  When asked whether he expected to be justified in his decision to sell Danny Welbeck and loan Falcao , Van Gaal said : ' I hope so . That is clear , I think . '  Welbeck will be looking to prove a point when he faces the team he supported as a boy for the first time on Saturday .  Danny Welbeck ( centre ) is preparing to face the club he has supported since a child for the first time  Van Gaal has defended his decision to sell Welbeck , pictured scoring for Arsenal , in the summer  Welbeck has scored five goals for Arsenal and the same amount for England since he last pulled on a United shirt .  Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie have scored just three goals for United apiece .  Van Gaal stands by his decision to sell the United Academy product , who grew up in Longsight , just four miles away from Old Trafford .  He said : ' We have Van Persie and ( James ) Wilson , and when you keep Welbeck , you don ' t give any chances to youngsters . That ' s also our philosophy , to give opportunities to youngsters .  ' And then also we could buy Falcao . So ( if ) that is not enough reason , then I don ' t know I ' m not a very good manager , ' Van Gaal said .  ' For him it was a very good decision because as a line up player he develops himself much more .  ' If it was right for Manchester United is dependable on how they play , how they score and in what position we shall finish in the league . '  Welbeck has scored against Arsenal for Manchester United , but will attempt to do the opposite  Welbeck ( left ) climbed up through the ranks at Manchester United until his move to Arsenal this summer  Van Gaal denied he gave up on Welbeck , insisting he was not the first United boss to omit the striker from the starting  .  ' Here , Danny Welbeck did not play every match . He was not a line up player he was more substitute than line up , ' Van Gaal said .  ' With different coaches not a line up player , then came Mr van Gaal and the world is changing ? No , the world is not changing the facts are not my facts , they ' re the facts of Danny Welbeck . '  A win at the Emirates would be a big boost for United , who lost at Manchester City and drew at home to Chelsea in their most high profile games so far this term .  ' It is remarkable , ' Van Gaal said when he was reminded he is still searching for his first away win with the club .  Earlier this week Van Gaal ' s boss Ed Woodward told club investors it would be unlikely the club would sign anyone in the January transfer window .  ' We are not looking to enter the market for short term fixes , ' said the executive vice chairman , who was speaking on the day United posted a 9 . 9 per cent fall in revenue .  Van Gaal has no qualms with Woodward ' s words .  ' I agree with that because if you buy , it has to be a player who is better than what you have in your squad . It shall be very difficult to find such a player , ' he said .  ' We are speaking the same language . '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
3925,3926,"Washington The Obama administration is proposing rules to govern the sale and transfer of ammonium nitrate , a potentially explosive substance that was used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and reportedly was a component in the July bomb attack on a government building in Oslo , Norway .  The Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday announced proposed rules for an Ammonium Nitrate Security Program that would affect anyone who buys at least 25 pounds of the material . Those who want to buy or sell ammonium nitrate would be required to register with the federal government and their names would be run against the  ' s Terrorist Screening Database of known or suspected terrorists .  "" In today ' s ever evolving threat environment , we must continually reinforce the security of substances , such as ammonium nitrate , which can be used for legitimate purposes or exploited by terrorists , "" Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said in a statement on the proposal . Napolitano said the government wants to secure potentially dangerous amounts of the chemical while not hampering legitimate use .  Ammonium nitrate is commonly used in farm and landscaping fertilizers as well as in already regulated commercial explosives for construction and mining . Under the new program , those who sell the chemical would be required to keep their records and report any instances of theft or loss within 24 hours of discovery .  The 200 page proposal for the Ammonium Nitrate Security Program has been posted on the Federal Register and the public now has 120 days to comment .  The Chemical Facility Anti Terrorism Standards Program already regulates facilities that possess more than 2 , 000 pounds of fertilizer grade ammonium nitrate or 400 pounds of the explosives grade of the material , according a Department of Homeland Security official . In addition , in recent years , sellers and the government have participated in voluntary programs to protect ammonium nitrate .  In 1995 , Timothy McVeigh rented a Ryder truck and filled it with ammonium nitrate and fuel oil to construct a vehicle bomb he then used to blow up the Alfred P . Murrah Federal building in Oklahoma City . The blast killed 168 people .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3935,3936,"New York The man accused of attempting to set off a car bomb in Times Square considered other targets in and around New York before the failed attack , an investigator said .  Faisal Shahzad , 30 , pondered attacks on Rockefeller Center , Grand Central Terminal , the World Financial Center and Connecticut helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky , going so far as to case some of the targets , a senior counterterrorism official with oversight of the investigation said Tuesday .  Dressed in a gray sweatsuit , free of handcuffs , Shahzad appeared before a federal magistrate on Tuesday afternoon to hear the charges against him . As he walked into courtroom , Shahzad gave a slight smile to his public defender , Julia Gatto . At the end of the hearing , Gatto requested that Shahzad be served halal food prepared according to Islamic dietary laws while jailed .  Gatto did not object to the government ' s request that he remain in federal custody . He did not enter a plea , and Magistrate Judge James Francis set his next hearing for June 1 .  Shahzad faces five counts in connection with the attempted bombing in Times Square on May 1 . He could face life in prison if convicted .  The Pakistani born naturalized U . S . citizen has been in federal custody since his arrest two days after the bomb attempt . During that time , he "" has provided valuable intelligence from which further investigative action has been taken , "" the U . S . attorney ' s office said .  After 15 days of questioning , Shahzad invoked his right to an attorney at Tuesday ' s hearing , a federal law enforcement official said .  According to court documents , Shahzad has admitted to law enforcement that he attempted to detonate the bomb and that he recently received bomb making training in the Waziristan region of Pakistan .  Attorney General Eric Holder has said Shahzad was working with the Pakistani Taliban .  At the time , he had been in the United States for about six years , had earned his  and was working as a financial analyst in Connecticut .   Director Leon Panetta and National Security Adviser James Jones are traveling to Pakistan to meet with officials there about the status of the Times Square investigation , a U . S . official said Tuesday . They also plan to discuss efforts to prevent future terrorist attacks in their meetings there , the official added .  The U . S . government wants to see continued Pakistani cooperation in determining what role the Pakistani Taliban may have played in assisting Shahzad . Washington also wants an aggressive push by Pakistani authorities to take action against al Qaeda linked groups in the largely ungoverned tribal areas along its border with Afghanistan .  ",true,text,validation,American football,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
3941,3942,"Garrett Swasey grew up in Melrose but moved to Colorado in the 1980s to pursue his first love ? competitive figure skating .  President Obama praised Swasey in a statement released by the White House : May God bless Officer Garrett Swasey and the Americans he tried to save ? and may he grant the rest of us the courage to do the same thing .  Swasey moved to Colorado in 1989 , after graduating from Melrose High School , to pursue his passion for figure skating , according to his father .  Watch 96 Olympics . See you there , read the caption that accompanied his yearbook photo from Melrose High School , according to local officials .  The news is horrific . To most people who see this around the country , he s just a name with a face , and it wouldn t have mattered who he is , it s a tragedy all the way around , said Keith Lichtman , Swasey s first figure skating coach , who taught him in Wellesley . But he was a good person , and a kind person . And I think it s important he s remembered that way .  Former Olympic figure skater Nancy Kerrigan , who grew up in Stoneham , expressed condolences to Swasey s family on her Twitter account .  My prayers and love go out to Garrett s entire family . Remembering a wonderful friend and person whom will be greatly missed ! she wrote .  To those who knew Swasey , his decision to head toward danger to help , rather than stay safely on campus , was not a surprise .  He was always a righteous person . He was always doing the right thing and putting others before himself , said Christine Fowler Binder , his former skating partner , with whom he won the 1992  Junior Ice Dance Championship .  Swasey always listened to the police scanner and did more than was required of him as an officer , Fowler Binder said Swasey s mother told her .  If there was ever an officer in need , he would respond , she said . He wanted to be helpful , and give back .  Melrose Mayor Robert J . Dolan , who graduated with Swasey , said at a press conference Saturday at Melrose City Hall that the officer always wanted to be an Olympian .  He was an Olympian in terms of law enforcement and as a dad , said Dolan .  Melrose Police Chief Michael L . Lyle said the department was mourning the loss of a fellow officer and that the city will hold a public memorial service .  Dolan pledged not to let Swasey s legacy die .  He will always be remembered as a native son of Melrose , he said .  Swasey joined the university police force in Colorado Springs six years ago and also served as a co pastor of Hope Chapel in Colorado Springs .  On Friday night , Swasey s father , David , of Colorado Springs , said his son was a wonderful father , with a little boy and girl , who had dedicated his life to helping people , spiritually and through his police work . A biography on Hope Chapel s website says Swasey provided oversight to the chapel s care groups , worked on the teaching team , and shared his guitar skills on the worship team . His wife , Rachel , the biography says , worked behind the scenes and watched children in the nursery .  Garrett Swasey s family voice mail message on Saturday asked for privacy .  At the university where Swasey served , moments of silence were planned Saturday in his honor before scheduled basketball games . Police across the country offered expressions of sorrow for his killing .  In this weekend of Thanksgiving , we mourn the death of Officer Swasey and extend our deepest sympathy and empathy to his family and friends , read a statement from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund issued Saturday . Officer Swasey s death reminds us that law enforcement officers are in constant danger . They stand boldly against crime , evil , and those intent on bringing harm to others . . ? . ? . Officer Swasey epitomized this hallmark of the enforcement profession .  Officials have not commented on the alleged shooter s motive or said whether Planned Parenthood was targeted .  The Washington Post , quoting an unnamed law enforcement official , reported on Saturday night that the gunman used the phrase no more baby parts after being taken into custody . The official said the attack was definitely politically motivated , the Post reported .  Locally , the antiabortion group Massachusetts Citizens for Life joined the National Right to Life Committee Saturday in condemning the attacks .  The pro life movement works to protect the right to life and increase respect for human life , said National Right to Life president Carol Tobias in a statement . The unlawful use of violence is directly contrary to that goal .  In a statement , the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts said the organization s top priority was the safety of patients and staff .  We don t yet know the full circumstances and motives behind this criminal action , and we don t yet know if Planned Parenthood was in fact the target of this attack , said Jennifer Childs Roshak , president and  .  We share the concerns of many Americans that extremists are creating a poisonous environment that feeds domestic terrorism in this country . We will never back away from providing care in a safe , supportive environment that millions of people rely on and trust .  Get Today s Headlines from the Globe in your inbox :  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3953,3954,"insiders are spreading the word, Hillary Clinton deliberately broke the law and charges are warranted. However, there is little confidence the Obama administration will actually indict her.Hillary Clinton broke the law, knowingly sending and receiving classified information on a private server, according to  insiders. However, this isn t the right question. Instead, the right question is, why are  insiders spreading rumors?The answer is because they do not think the political establishment will play its role in any case, leaving Hillary Clinton to get away with thumbing her nose at the law. Via: Catholic OnlineAccording to the Daily Mail   Any evidence that the  uncovered has still not been made public.The government says no final decision has been made, however the case is clearly progressing as Clinton aide Bryan Pagliano, who worked on her private server, was granted immunity by the Justice Department earlier this month. You don t start granting people close to Clinton immunity unless you are seriously looking at charges against your target,  one of Gasparino s sources said.Clinton has publicly said that using a private email account attached to a homebrew server was a  mistake.  Mainly  because it s caused all this uproar and commotion. As  director, however, Comey can only recommend charges to the Justice Department, led by Obama appointee, Attorney General Loretta Lynch.Insiders told the New York Post that evidence would have to be  overwhelming  for Comey to make such recommendations and for Obama s Justice Department to pursue them.But agents also suggest that the investigation is solid enough for Comey to quit if the Justice Department doesn t listen to him on the matter of Clinton.Barack Obama s decision to publicly ask donors to support Hillary speaks volumes about his decision to back her as the Democrat Party s Presidential candidate. Barack s former AG, Eric Holder s endorsement of Hillary Clinton is further proof that Hillary has the full backing of this corrupt administration:Eric Holder    I think what people have to understand is that what we have to do is protect the Obama legacy. We ve made really substantial progress in the last eight years   it ll be eight years at the end of 2016   and the question is who is best situated to protect that legacy and not let the progress that we have made get rolled back. And there is no question that there are going to be attempts to roll back the Affordable Care Act, they sent [President Obama] a bill the week before last that he had to veto. There will certainly be efforts to counter the executive actions that he s taken on immigration issues, when it comes to gun safety issues and his foreign policy. You need somebody who s got a record on those issues that s consistent with the positions that the president took, and Hillary Clinton is that person, there s no question. They are in lockstep when it comes to gun safety issues. Sen. [Bernie] Sanders, quite frankly, is not. So to the extent that people are a bit of a nostalgic, wistful feeling, I think that ought to be converted into a concern for the future and for the preservation of all the great work that President Obama and his administration did. Here s the only clear record that Hillary has to show for her decades of  public service : ",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
3978,3979,"A tanning salon manager has filed a federal lawsuit against Chicago police , saying officers brutalized her and committed a hate crime during a raid at the business , then tried to cover up their alleged wrongdoings .  The lawsuit says the incident was captured on store security video that shows one officer striking a handcuffed and kneeling Jianqing "" Jessica "" Klyzek and another officer shouting racial slurs and threatening to have her killed .  Klyzek , who is of Chinese descent and an American citizen , said in the lawsuit that she asked the officers to justify their actions . She said one officer replied , "" You ' re not ( expletive ) American ! I ' ll put you in a  box and send you back to wherever the ( expletive ) you came from ! ""  The lawsuit said that when Klyzek insisted she was indeed a citizen , the officer said , "" No , you ' re not ! You ' re here on our borrowed time . . . . . And I ' ll take this place and then whoever owns it will ( expletive ) kill you because they don ' t care about you ,  ? I ' ll take this building . You ' ll be dead and your family will be dead . ""  The incident is being investigated by Chicago ' s Independent Police Review Authority , Chicago police public information officer Adam Collins said .  "" The alleged conduct and comments are reprehensible and completely intolerable in our police department , "" he said . "" We have codes of conduct that apply to officers , and if the allegations are proven accurate , appropriate action will be taken . ""  Klyzek said police falsified information in investigation reports and charged her with a crime , though the exact charge is not described in the lawsuit . A judge found no probable cause , and the charge was dismissed , the lawsuit said .  Later , police went to a prosecutor , and a case was presented to a grand jury , with Klyzek being indicted for aggravated battery of a police officer , the lawsuit said . The charge was dismissed when prosecutors saw the video , the lawsuit said .  Klyzek said she suffered abrasions on her head , neck , arms and legs . The City of Chicago and 10 police officers are named as defendants .  Albuquerque police have ' pattern ' of excessive , deadly force , report says  Former  charged with hate crimes in anti Semitic vandalism  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
3981,3982,"Pre tournament favorites the Ivory Coast qualified for the quarterfinals of the Africa Cup of Nations with a 3 1 victory against Ghana in Angola on Friday night , despite having Emmanuel Eboue sent off .  The Elephants have four points from two games , leaving Ghana and Burkina Faso to fight for the other place from Group B , with Togo having withdrawn following the deadly gun attack on their team bus .  Ghana ' s Black Stars will need to show more penetration next Tuesday than they did on a boggy looking , cut up pitch in Cabinda , with Burkina Faso needing just a draw to go through .  Injury hit Ghana , four time winners of the tournament , started with captain Michael Essien on the bench as he was deemed not ready to play due to the hamstring problem that delayed his arrival from England .  And while his side made it a bright start , it was the Ivorians who took the lead in the 23rd minute after a swift counter attack , with Barcelona midfielder Yaya Toure threading a slide rule pass behind the defense to Salomon Kalou which allowed the Chelsea striker to square a simple chance for Gervinho to knock into the net .  Kalou ' s clubmate Essien came on at halftime for Mousse Narry and gave his team more presence in midfield , but it was the Ivory Coast who were left to rue strongarm tactics when Arsenal ' s Eboue was red carded for a dreadful two footed lunge on Agyeman Opoku in the 55th minute .  Mathew Amoah almost made the Ivorians pay immediately , but his left foot shot hit the base of the post with goalkeeper Boubacar Barry well beaten .  But Ghana paid for their lack of finishing when Siaka Tiene fired in a superb free kick in the 67th minute , with his dipping left foot effort from the right hand side of the pitch clearing the wall and beating keeper Richard Kingson at his near post .  Kalou was stretchered off soon after following a collision with a teammate , but the Ivory Coast were comfortable and added a third goal in the final minute of regulation time when his replacement Kader Keita did well to deliver a cross which captain Didier Drogba powerfully headed home at the far post .  Ghana were given a consolation penalty in time added on when halftime substitute Asamoah Gyan went down under a 50 50 challenge from Soulemane Bamba , and the Rennes striker got up to slot the goal .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
3992,3993,"President Barack Obama is getting a lot of free advice . Here ' s a question , not an answer : With every issue in the Middle East intertwined with every other , like a giant bowl of spaghetti , where do you begin ?  In reality , no matter where you begin in the Middle East , each strand connects to almost every other :  Syria ? Immediately you must think of the Turks who are harboring refugees and fighters just across the border , and Syrian Kurds , who are beginning to harbor thoughts of autonomy and are increasing contacts with their ethnic brothers in Iraq and Turkey .  Iran , of course , is aiding the beleaguered Bashar al Assad but also trying to organize an exit strategy Saudi Arabia and Qatar are pouring money and arms into the country with the sole purpose of cracking the Syria Iran entente Iraq fears that a Sunni takeover in Syria will revitalize its own restless Sunnis .  The Palestinian issue ? No need to elaborate . That is tangled up with everything in the Middle East .  The Arab awakening ? The policies you adopt with the emerging Islamist governments will affect every strand you touch in the region , from relations with Israel to the Arab states in the Persian Gulf that are terrified of sweeping change .  The president will not have the luxury of choosing a single issue and ignoring or postponing all the others . The whole Middle East has a habit of intruding , and policy choices will have to be made about each of the major issues , even if it is not convenient .  Still , in plotting a second term , the president must establish some priorities . Trying to do everything at once is not only bad strategy , it is a certain recipe for failure across the board .  A point of entry : Possibly the most promising strand to pull when trying to unravel the Mideast problem is the Iranian dilemma . When Obama came into office four years ago , he courageously promised to engage Iranian leaders . He made a genuine attempt , but he quickly pulled back in the face of Iran ' s brutal suppression of a civil uprising , Israeli demands for an early deadline on the nuclear issue and the fact that he had a lot on his domestic plate . Trita Parsi evocatively describes that episode in the book "" A Single Roll of the Dice . ""  There was no staying power . Instead , the United States reverted to its default position of sanctions while maintaining the framework for serious negotiations with Iran as part of the so called P5 1 the five permanent members of the U . N . Security Council ( the United States , Britain , France , China and Russia ) plus one ( Germany ) .  The sanctions did their job . Iran has gladly accepted the invitation of the P5 1 to return to the negotiating table . However , in the run up to the presidential election , the United States was unwilling to put a meaningful offer on the table , and the negotiating track languished in a kind of limbo .  The value of sanctions : Sanctions have two useful purposes . One is to persuade Iran to return to the negotiating table . That has happened . The other is to give the sanctioning party something to bargain away in return for concessions .  Up to this point , the United States has been unwilling to offer significant sanctions relief in return for significant concessions from Iran . Sanctions have assumed a life of their own and are gradually becoming politically untouchable . If that remains true , then there is no prospect of serious negotiations .  There is another use of sanctions to punish a party you don ' t like and potentially coerce them into submission or collapse . The current sanctions regime is taking on that coloration , even if it is seldom discussed as such .  The record of sanctions in producing abject surrender or regime change is not promising . Instead , the sanctions typically hurt the average citizen , while leaders escape most of the effects and adopt a defiant posture , blaming their own failings on outside interference . This is beginning to happen in Iran today .  Vicious assaults on the well being of a country ' s population can produce popular bitterness and hostility against the "" enemy "" that can last for generations .  The shape of an agenda : As with many long standing disputes , the broad outlines of a settlement are well known to the parties . What is lacking is the political judgment by both sides that now is the moment to proceed with a deal that will require mutual compromise .  The United States and its allies will have to accept a measure of Iranian domestic enrichment of uranium . Iran will have to accept limits on its entire nuclear infrastructure , subject to intrusive inspections and monitoring . Iran will need to document the history of its nuclear program , and the West will need to remove sanctions . All of this must happen in a step by step process with safeguards and verifications at each stage .  There is nothing easy about it . The Iranians are known as obstinate and often infuriating negotiators . The United States is not known for its patience , and it can be clumsy and ponderous as it attempts to please multiple constituencies at the same time . Iran is certain to face strong objections from its hardliners , and the same will apply in the United States .  The hardliners on both sides , who regard another Middle East war as an acceptable option , reinforce each other and impede efforts to find mutually acceptable compromises . Israel and the U . S . Congress will try to impose impractically tight deadlines . And events in the region , such as the recent case of Iranian aircraft firing on a U . S . surveillance drone , can sabotage negotiations .  The Arab states of the Gulf will be intensely suspicious of any hint of a secret deal between the United States and Iran . They remember America ' s strategic reliance on the shah , the Reagan administration ' s covert sale of weapons to Iran in the mid 1980s and America ' s installation of a Shia government in Iraq . They ( and Israel ) will have to be persuaded that any accommodation with Iran is not at their expense .  Private and public negotiations : The starting point must be private U . S . Iran discussions , leading to an agreed agenda . Both sides have recently hinted that such talks are under consideration , and reactions from the European Union , Russia and even the American people have been undismayed , even openly supportive .  The choice of representatives and venues is less important than confidence that delegates credibly reflect the view of their leaders . Experience suggests that an agreed agenda is more likely to emerge from bilateral discussions outside the glare of publicity . If that is accomplished , then the actual negotiations could be carried out within the existing P5 1 framework .  Even a preliminary agreement establishing a mutually acceptable process with a defined end point would help to unravel some of the tangles of Middle East issues .  The threat of a new war in the Middle East would be reduced . The possibility of getting Iranian cooperation on Syria would be improved . The threat of nuclear proliferation in the region would be tamped down at least temporarily . And the multiple flash points in the Gulf could potentially cool down , leaving opportunities for more constructive initiatives .  The history of U . S . Iran relations is a story of relentless hostility and serial missed opportunities . Chances for genuine progress come along scarcely once in a decade .  So , Mr President , here is one more piece of free advice : The present constellation of circumstances with Iran is probably the best you ' re going to get . Don ' t let it pass .  The opinions in this commentary are solely those of Gary Sick .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
3994,3995,"Jonathan Firth , 33 , ( pictured today ) who groomed a 16 year old pupil by sending her naked pictures on Snapchat before taking her virginity , has been jailed  A secondary school teacher who groomed a 16 year old pupil by sending her naked pictures on Snapchat before taking her virginity has been jailed .  Bradford Crown Court heard that Jonathan Firth , 33 , began a ' wholly inappropriate ' relationship with the teenager , who cannot be named for legal reasons .  The teacher , who was already in a relationship , took the girl to cafes , and sent her naked pictures of himself , before her to the house he lived in with his parents , where they eventually had sex .  Prosecutor Rebecca Young told the court that at the time of starting the relationship with the pupil , Firth , from Bradford , West Yorkshire , was working at a high school as a cover supervisor , teaching English and Healthcare .  ' The situation found him to be very informal and he engaged with pupils in gossip about other teachers , ' said Miss Young .  ' When she returned to do her A levels she told her friends that she liked the teacher . They told him she wanted to speak to him and when she spoke to him she told him she liked him .  ' He contacted her over Twitter and Snapchat and sent naked photos of himself getting in and out of the shower , but she didn ' t want to reciprocate .  ' In October they started to meet up and met in a caf so people didn ' t see them and then she started to go round to his house . '  Miss Young told the court that the girl went round to Firth ' s home , where he lived with his parents , eight or nine times , and while there they would watch films , kiss and hold hands .  However , she said that the end of November , the relationship became sexual , after Firth ' provisionally told her that he would wait for her to give him a sign to say she was ready ' .  The court heard the relationship came to an end after the teenager who cannot be named revealed to her mother how old her ' boyfriend ' was , and Firth stopped speaking to her .  The girl started a relationship with someone her own age , who told a teacher at the school , who confirmed she already had concerns about Firth ' s relationship with many of the other pupils .  ' She saw him appear to be flirty with a number of 15 and 16 year old girls , ' Miss Young said .  Firth was suspended from his job at the school , and resigned immediately , the court heard .  Bradford Crown Court heard that Jonathan Firth , 33 , began a ' wholly inappropriate ' relationship with the teenager , who cannot be named for legal reasons  In a victim impact statement read out to the court , the girl said what had happened has had ' a huge impact on her day to day life and on reflection she feels she was taken advantage of ' .  She admitted being ' excited ' by having to keep it a secret and by the fact she had a crush on him , but has since found it hard to keep up with a work , and found people were talking about her at school and on social media .  The court heard that during his relationship with the girl , Firth was also in a four year ongoing relationship with another teacher .  Defending Firth , Dale Brook , said references given to the court by friends and family described him as a ' caring , thoughtful , decent man ' .  He was jailed for 21 months after admitting three counts of sexual activity with a child and one count of causing a child to engage in sexual activity as a person in a position of trust , between October and November last year  He said Firth regretted his actions : ' It came at a time when he was low and the attention and affection she showed to him was flattering .  ' His history of mental illness and his history of being low is no excuse but it ' s an explanation as to how he ended up doing what he obviously should never have done . '  Firth stood in the dock with his head bowed as he was jailed by Judge Jonathan Rose .  The judge said : ' It ' s mysterious why , when you had a relationship , you should seek a sexual relationship with someone I regard as being a child .  ' You were a man of education , intelligence and training , and you are certainly aware of how inappropriate a relationship of this type was .  ' She was inexperienced in sexual matters and she was a virgin and you took from her the gift of her virginity . She will forever know it was taken in a criminal act . '  He was jailed for 21 months after admitting three counts of sexual activity with a child and one count of causing a child to engage in sexual activity as a person in a position of trust , between October and November last year .  Firth was also handed a ten year sexual offences prevention order and ordered to pay a 100 victim surcharge .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
3996,3997,"Andrew Leigh , 42 , is accused of murdering his estranged wife of eight years Luan , 42 , ( pictured ) at their home in the Pype Hayes area of Birmingham  A jealous husband drugged his wife before strangling her to death at their home after finding out she was having an affair with another man , a court heard .  Andrew Leigh , 42 , is accused of murdering his estranged wife of eight years Luan , 42 , after she rejected his attempts to get back together .  Birmingham Crown Court heard today how Miss Leigh ' s body was discovered at the property in the Pype Hayes area of Birmingham at about 7 . 25am on June 29 .  The court heard how Leigh , a telecommunications engineer , had moved out of the property about a year ago but wanted to rekindle his relationship with his wife .  However , she had ' moved on ' and , in a jealous revenge attack , he allegedly drugged her with sleeping pills before strangling her to death in her own bed , jurors were told on the opening day of the trial .  Opening the case , Rachel Brand  , prosecuting , said : ' It was about 6 . 45am on June 29 when the defendant rang his wife ' s sister , a woman called Natasha Chamberlain .  ' His opening remark was "" I am really sorry , Natasha , but your sister has passed away . ""  ' Natasha replied : "" What do you mean ? What has happened ? ""  ' He told her he found her dead in bed at about 10 . 30pm the previous evening but did not call an ambulance because he did know what to do at the time .  ' He had killed his wife .  ' When the ambulance arrived on the Sunday morning , Luan Leigh was as cold as ice . '  Jurors were told that Leigh had drugged his wife on the Saturday evening with over the counter sleeping pills .  Traces of the main ingredients were found in Mrs Leigh ' s blood during a post mortem examination .  Ms Brand said : ' We do not how much was given to Luan . . . but we do know she was drugged .  ' Police found the empty packet of tablets , along with their receipt and instructions of use in the house .  ' He was on  buying tablets in the Lloyds pharmacy in Walmley on the Saturday morning . '  The court heard how Leigh had become aware his estranged partner was dating somebody else after going through her phone and trying to hack her Facebook account .  Miss Leigh ' s body was discovered at the couple ' s marital home in the Pype Hayes area of Birmingham ( pictured ) on June 29 . A post mortem found she had high quantities of sleeping pills in her system  Ms Brand added : ' Luan told her sister and friends that he once locked her in her garage in a bid to get back together .  ' He had also tried to hack into her Facebook account .  ' About one week before her death , Luan told Andrew that she did not want him to go on a family holiday and gave him his money back . She wanted to take her mother instead .  ' It transpired that the defendant had been snooping around her mobile phone on the evening of June 25 .  ' She had just starting seeing someone else and the defendant found out about it . He did not move on . '  Leigh denies one count of murder .  The trial , which is expected to last two weeks , continues .  Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
4000,4001,"Obama : Bataclan Powerful Reminder of Awful Human Toll  Russian losses , military stalemate may push change , Obama says  Vienna talks on political resolution showing some progress  After the Russian jetliner bombing , after the Paris attacks , after two face to face meetings and shuttle diplomacy by a trusted ally , President Barack Obama doesn t see any quick help coming from Vladimir Putin in Syria .  Obama on Tuesday held out the prospect that mounting Russian casualties and the stalemate between Bashar al Assad s forces and opposition groups will push the Russian president into the coalition battling Islamic State in Syria .  I m confident that we are on the winning side of this and that ultimately , Russia s going to recognize the threat posed by Islamic State , Obama said at a news conference in Paris . I don t expect that you re going to see a 180 turn on their strategy over the next several weeks .  The Nov . 13 terrorist attacks in Paris by extremists with links to Islamic State have given fresh urgency to the fight against the group . The series of bombings and shootings that killed 130 people spurred European governments to increase commitments to the campaign and prompted French President Francois Hollande to travel to Washington and Moscow in an attempt to unify a coalition to confront Islamic State in territory it holds in Syria and Iraq .  Yet after Obama and Putin met Monday in Paris for the second time in two weeks , the two sides came out with their public positions little changed from Sept . 30 , when Russia entered the conflict in Syria .  Putin painted a rosy picture of his 30 minute meeting with Obama , saying it resulted in an understanding of where we should move with regards to a political resolution in Syria and a common list of terrorist targets . Ben Rhodes , Obama s deputy national security adviser , countered by saying the U . S . stands firm in its position that al Assad , a Russian ally , can t stay in power and that Russian airstrikes continue to target legitimate opposition groups that the U . S . and its allies want battling Islamic State on the ground .  Obama on Tuesday said Russian forces have accomplished little in Syria while suffering both military and civilian casualties . He cited the Russian passenger plane that was brought down in Egypt shortly after Putin s Syrian intervention , in an attack claimed by Islamic State , and a Russian military jet that was shot down by Turkish forces last week .  I think Mr Putin understands that with Afghanistan fresh in the memory , for him to simply get bogged down in an inconclusive and paralyzing civil conflict is not the outcome that he s looking for , Obama said . It is possible , over the next several months , that we both see a shift in calculation in the Russians and a recognition that it s time to bring the civil war in Syria to a close .  Obama is relying on international talks in Vienna for a political resolution for the Syrian conflict . Those negotiations , to set terms for a cease fire between Assad s forces and rebel groups and draw up a plan for elections , are moving forward steadily , Obama said .  Kremlin officials downplayed the odds of a truly united front for the forces aligned against Islamic State . It s too early to say that yesterday somehow brought us closer to forming a single coalition , Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Tuesday on a conference call .  Attempts to bring Russia into the group of nations focused on Islamic State were complicated by the downing of the Russian warplane by Turkey , a  member , which says the jet crossed into Turkish airspace on the Syrian border . Putin gave Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan the cold shoulder on Monday following Russia s decision to impose sanctions on Turkey over the incident .  With the U . S . and Russia at least paying lip service to the need to work together , Putin was unequivocal about the potential for collaboration with Turkey . This bomber was shot down by Turkey s military what kind of broad coalition can we talk about ? Putin said in Paris , where Erdogan had asked the Kremlin for a one on one meeting .  Obama , who met with Erdogan on Tuesday before his news conference , said that Turkey is a  ally and the U . S . supports the country s right to defend itself . ? He urged both Turkey and Russia to step back and refocus on the common goal of combating terrorism and reaching a political resolution in Syria .  Erdogan , speaking after his meeting with Obama , said that a return to diplomatic language would be sufficient to resolve tensions with Russia .  We want peace to prevail at all costs , Erdogan said .  Obama also is pressuring Erdogan to fully close the border between Turkey and Syria to foreign fighters seeking to join Islamic State and to achieve tighter control over the flow of refugees .  We have to choke off how they make money , Obama said . We ve got to choke off their ability to bring in new fighters .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
4025,4026,"After an extensive three month long search , the Polk County Sheriff ' s Department located missing 9 year old Joshua Meyers in an abandoned home , rescued the child from his captors , and returned him to his loving parents , the still bound and gagged boy imagined Tuesday .  According to the kidnapped child ' s imagination , Meyers was liberated from his abductors when 30 law enforcement agents swooped down from helicopters , crashed through the windows of the basement where he was being kept , and carried the desperate third grader away to safety .  Blocking out the sight and stench of his surroundings , the boy ' s imagination went on to report that Meyers was led by authorities into the arms of his overjoyed parents a complete fantasy the 9 year old was somehow able to conjure up despite the fact that he was lying face down on a filthy concrete floor , his arms and legs restrained by rope .  "" I ' m so happy to be free , "" said a delirious Meyers , the sound of his voice muffled by the sock stuffed deep inside his mouth . "" I knew my Mom and Dad would never stop looking for me . I knew they would find me . ""  "" They said everything is going to be all better now , "" continued Meyers , disregarding strict orders from his captors to quiet down and stop moaning . "" And that nothing like what happened back there will ever happen to me again . ""  In his weak and weary mind , Meyers was then swaddled in a warm blanket , placed in the front seat of the sheriff ' s car , and served hot chocolate with both marshmallows and whipped cream . Emergency medical technicians , envisioned by the shivering , emaciated child , reportedly examined Meyers ' injuries and determined that they were not life threatening and would not leave any physical or emotional scars .  "" It ' s over . "" the kidnapped child said , his sudden exclamation sending several large rats scurrying from between his feet .  Following his fictitious rescue , the 9 year old boy was driven to the Supreme Court , where he pointed out his abductors , sentenced them to a million years in jail , and was rewarded with a brand new bike for all he had been through . According to Meyers ' vivid imagination , he also received a formal apology from his captors , who admitted that they should never have dragged the boy away from his mother , blindfolded him in the trunk of their car , or told him that they were going to kill his dog if he didn ' t cooperate .  "" We are bad men and we know that what we did was wrong , but we were afraid Joshua would beat us up if we untied him , "" said Ed Jackson , a mental composite of the three men currently keeping watch over the severely dehydrated and hallucinating child . "" Sorry , Josh . Maybe you ' d feel better if we gave you the gazillion dollars we took from your parents . ""  "" And the little pinkie finger you miss so much , "" he added .  Meyers ' imagination , once used to play with his G . I . Joe action figures , then conjured up one last fleeting daydream , in which the boy , seated at the dinner table , was surrounded by his mother and father , his little brother Henry , and a warm viscous fluid that kept running out of his mouth .  ",satire,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
4027,4028,"Republican Jeb Bush offers U . S . education overhaul plan  Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush speaks after being endorsed by Senator Lindsey Graham in North Charleston , South Carolina January 15 , 2016 .  Reuters Chris Keane .  is the sponsor of this coverage which is independently produced by the staff of Reuters News Agency .   Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush on Monday outlined an education reform plan that would take much decision making away from the federal government and give it to state and local school authorities .  Bush , who focused on education during his two terms as Florida governor and later as head of an education foundation , presented what was the latest in a series of detailed policy plans on major issues .  "" As the nation honors Dr Martin Luther King and his legacy today , I firmly believe that ensuring every individual has access to a quality education is the great civil rights challenge of our time , "" he said in a post on the website Medium . The United States on Monday marked a holiday for the slain U . S . civil rights leader .  Bush said his plan would not cost American taxpayers any more money . He would send much of the 22 billion spent on federal education programs to state and local governments and create 2 , 500 annual grants for low income children to let parents decide how best to educate them .  Bush , who national polls show is trailing far behind the Republican presidential front runners , has drawn fire from conservative voters for his position on Common Core , an initiative designed to ensure basic education standards in basic subjects such as English and mathematics .  The former Florida governor has distanced himself from Common Core , but believes every school district should have home grown education standards to ensure children make progress .  "" We will empower states with the flexibility to improve their schools , while ensuring the federal government does not interfere in academic standards , curriculum or content , "" Bush said .  He said "" too many regulations drown the system in compliance costs , wasting valuable resources . ""  "" We need to give states the flexibility to reform and innovate to meet the unique needs of their students , "" he said .  Bush said he would allow for conversion of 529 college savings accounts into Education Savings Accounts that would enable families to save tax free for education . Charitable donations to the ESAs of low income children would be tax deductible .  ( Reporting by Steve Holland Editing by Paul Simao )   is the sponsor of this coverage which is independently produced by the staff of Reuters News Agency .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
4053,4054,"Cheryl Boone Isaacs has spoken out after Spike Lee and Jada Pinkett Smith revealed they would protest against this year ' s shortlist by not attending  Thanks for subscribing ! Could not subscribe , try again later  The Oscars president Cheryl Boone Isaacs is "" heartbroken and frustrated "" by the all white nominations list for this year ' s acting awards .  The head of the Academy has spoken out following the controversy with Spike Lee and Jada Pinkett Smith amongst those boycotting next months ' ceremony in protest and insisted the organisation will review its "" membership recruitment "" .  She wrote in a statement : "" I d like to acknowledge the wonderful work of this year s nominees . While we celebrate their extraordinary achievements , I am both heartbroken and frustrated about the lack of inclusion .  "" This is a difficult but important conversation , and it s time for big changes . The Academy is taking dramatic steps to alter the makeup of our membership .  "" In the coming days and weeks we will conduct a review of our membership recruitment in order to bring about much needed diversity in our 2016 class and beyond .  "" As many of you know , we have implemented changes to diversify our membership in the last four years , "" she continued , admitting change couldn ' t come fast enough .  "" We recognize the very real concerns of our community , and I so appreciate all of you who have reached out to me in our effort to move forward together .  Read more : Jada Pinkett Smith pleads with people of colour not to ' beg for acknowledgement ' from Oscars in passionate speech  Despite receiving an honorary Oscar at last year ' s Governor ' s Awards , Spike Lee posted on Instagram on Martin Luther King ' s birthday Monday , saying he and his wife would not be attending the Oscar ceremony .  Lee ' s statement said : "" We Cannot Support It And Mean No Disrespect To My Friends , Host Chris Rock and Producer Reggie Hudlin , President Isaacs And The Academy . But , How Is It Possible For The 2nd Consecutive Year All 20 Contenders Under The Actor Category Are White ? And Let ' s Not Even Get Into The Other Branches . 40 White Actors In 2 Years And No Flava At All . We Can ' t Act ? !  ! ! ""  It continues , "" Dr King Said "" There Comes A Time When One Must Take A Position That Is Neither Safe , Nor Politic , Nor Popular But He Must Take It Because Conscience Tells Him It ' s Right . ""  Jada has also decided to boycott the ceremony  He then lays out what he sees as the reason for the problem : "" As I See It , The Academy Awards Is Not Where The "" Real "" Battle Is . It ' s In The Executive Office Of The Hollywood Studios And  And Cable Networks . This Is Where The Gate Keepers Decide What Gets Made And What Gets Jettisoned To "" Turnaround "" Or Scrap Heap . People , The Truth Is We Ain ' t In Those Rooms And Until Minorities Are , The Oscar Nominees Will Remain Lilly White . ""  At November ' s Governor ' s Awards , he told Hollywood , "" You better get smart "" about making films that represent the population . His latest film "" Chi Raq "" has not figured in the awards season conversation .  With a black Academy president , Oscar host and Oscar producer in Cheryl Boone Isaacs , Chris Rock and Reginald Hudlin , the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences seems to be pushing for greater diversity . But as Lee points out , the organization itself does not determine which films get made .  At the Oscars . . . people of color are always welcomed to give out awards . . . even entertain , ( pt . 1 )  ? Jada Pinkett Smith ( jadapsmith ) January 16 , 2016  But we are rarely recognized for our artistic accomplishments . Should people of color refrain from participating all together ? ( pt 2 )  ? Jada Pinkett Smith ( jadapsmith ) January 16 , 2016  People can only treat us in the way in which we allow . With much respect in the midst of deep disappointment . J ( pt 3 )  ? Jada Pinkett Smith ( jadapsmith ) January 16 , 2016  On Saturday , Jada Pinkett got the ball rolling when she tweeted , "" At the Oscars . . . people of color are always welcomed to give out awards . . . even entertain . But we are rarely recognized for our artistic accomplishments . Should people of color refrain from participating all together ? ""  Gil Robertson , president of the American American Film Critics Association , responded to their calls for a boycott on Sunday with the following statement : "" I think it would be a mistake to boycott anything . The black community needs to understand that receiving an Oscar nomination is a big deal for anyone , regardless of race . Under Cheryl Boone Isaac ' s leadership , the Academy is moving closer to getting in step with the real world . Change takes time . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
4063,4064,"Reuters) - Jordan s King Abdullah on Wednesday rejected any attempt to change the status of Jerusalem or its holy sites, and said peace would not come to the region without a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  All violence... is a result of a failure to find a peaceful solution to the Palestinian issue,  he told an emergency summit of Muslim leaders in Turkey. King Abdullah s Hashemite dynasty is custodian of the Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem, making Amman particularly sensitive to any changes of status after the Trump s administration s decision to recognize it as Israel s capital. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,present
4068,4069,"A World War  German U boat , sunk during the Battle of the Atlantic more than 72 years ago , has been discovered off the coast of North Carolina , the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Tuesday .  The German sub , the U 576 , was found at the bottom of the Atlantic 30 miles off Cape Hatteras and just 240 yards from an American merchant ship , the merchant tanker Bluefields , which was part of a 24 ship U . S . convoy heading from Virginia to Key West , Florida , on July 14 , 1942 .  "" This is not just the discovery of a single shipwreck , "" said Joe Hoyt , chief scientist of  ' s Office of Marine Sanctuaries expedition , which found the vessels . "" We have discovered an important battle site that is part of the Battle of the Atlantic . These two ships rest only a few hundred yards apart and together help us interpret and share their forgotten stories . ""  The story of U 576 is the more tragic of the two wrecks .  Bluefields did not sustain any casualties during the sinking , but all 45 crew of the U boat were lost .  Commanding U 576 that July day was Kapitanleutnant Hans Dieter Heinicke . According to documents from the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary , where the wrecks rest , Heinicke had radioed back to commanders in occupied France on July 13 to say the U boat was damaged and heading back to Germany after a month long patrol without success against Allied shipping .  A U boat and its American prey haunt Gulf of Mexico  As U 576 began that journey home , it ran across convoy  520 , with 19 merchant vessels and five escorts , on the afternoon of July 14 , according to the documents .  Heinicke , who was on his fifth U boat patrol with relatively little success against Allied shipping , saw a chance for redemption .  "" In spite of his damaged ship , Heinicke decided to attack at all costs , "" a history from the sanctuary reads . "" However , at 4 : 00 pm just before he could fire his torpedoes , one of the Coast Guard cutters picked up a sonar contact . The Coast Guard crew dropped three depth charges , followed by five more 10 minutes later . ""  But Heinicke pressed his attack , firing off four torpedoes about 4 : 15 p . m .  "" The U 576 sank the Nicaraguan flagged freighter Bluefields and severely damaged two other ships . In response , U . S . Navy Kingfisher aircraft , which provided the convoy ' s air cover , bombed U 576 while the merchant ship Unicoi attacked it with its deck gun , "" the  release reads . The sub sank in minutes .  Two  research vessels , the Okeanos Explorer and  Sand Tiger , participated in the search for the wrecks , which were found and verified in August ,  said .  The wreck site is considered a war grave and protected by international law .  "" Few people realize how close the war actually came to America ' s shores , "" David Alberg , superintendent of  ' s Monitor National Marine Sanctuary , said in a statement . "" As we learn more about the underwater battlefield , Bluefields and U 576 will provide additional insight into a relatively little known chapter in American history . ""  Zeroing in on what caused Civil War submarine ' s sinking  ",true,text,validation,American football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
4071,4072,"Silicon Valley , California New state of the art silicon etching techniques , promise to solve some of the most difficult problems which have plagued engineers working with today ' s most advanced data storage systems .  Venture capitalists flocked to the roll out of the new "" Rosetta "" silicon dioxide storage medium , and many believe this will be the much anticipated "" next wave "" of technology which will rejuvinate Silicon Valley , whose economy has been suffering since the collapse of the Internet Bubble , and the downturn of the semiconductor indusrty at the end of the last decade .  Each year , data loss . . . due to such causes as computer glitches , hard drive crashes , fires , and theft . . . costs businesses millions of dollars . Silicon Valley economists are excited , because the newly announced storage technology breakthrough promises to solve all of these age old problems , at the same time .  The new methods involve an advanced laser etching technique , which leaves units of data permanenty burned into massive slabs of basalt . . . a form of rock with a high percentage of silicon dioxide . Data is stored on the surface of the rocks in a coded form called "" hieroglyphics "" .  Earlier types of storage media included punched cards and magentic tapes , which were subject to fading , molding , moisture damage , and complete loss in the event of a fire . More modern forms of data storage , based on magnetic media , laser or semiconductor technology , also exhibit frailty from a variety of environmental factors .  The new basalt storage medium has created a great deal of excitement , because it seems to be immune to the weaknesses of the traditional data storage types .  Research suggests that these etchings in basalt will endure unchanged for centuries . Nobody will have to fear the sudden irreversable loss of data .  Fire and lightining strikes will leave this data storage medium unphased . Even a major fire , which might burn down a business , will leave these slabs of basalt untouched .  Extensive testing has taken place , under a wide variety of environmental conditions , and the results suggest that this form of data storage is immune to damage from static electricity and occasional high voltage spikes .  An additional advantage of the new storage medium is being discussed . It should cut down on the data loss from theft . It would take a pretty big thief to walk off with one of these gigantic slabs of basalt , unnoticed .  ",satire,text,validation,Football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
4072,4073,"The loss of Match of the Day highlights rights in the Premier League auction could trigger the departure of star football presenter Gary Lineker from the  .   Sport have coveted Lineker as their Champions League host since they won the rights from Sky in November 2013 in a three year agreement with  that starts next season . And initial approaches were said to have been made to Lineker last summer .  But  are waiting until the outcome of the  rights tender next month before making their big move for the former Tottenham Hotspur and England striker , who has established himself as the  ' s top sports anchor . Losing Match of the Day would leave the corporation with too little football to justify Lineker ' s seven figure salary .   presenter Gary Lineker could leave the  if they lose the rights to Premier League highlights  Lineker , who also works for American network  , is contracted exclusively to the  for one more season in the  in a deal that runs concurrently with their  rights . But it is possible that agreement could be re negotiated were the  to lose their highlights show , allowing Lineker to present football on the  and  in a similar scenario that allows Clare Balding to work for the two networks .   , having spent an astonishing 897million on capturing the Champions League want to make some big signings and Lineker fits the bill .  Prince Ali of Jordan can at least count on some family advice about the murky world of sports politics in his uphill battle to usurp Sepp Blatter as  President .  Ali ' s half brother Prince Feisal is the head of the Jordanian Olympic Committee while sister Princess Haya , wife of racing overlord Sheik Mohammed , is a two term President of the international equestrian federation . But unfortunately for Ali , the biggest sports powerbroker in the Middle East , Sheik Ahmad Al Sabah Kuwait ' s President of the Association of National Olympic Committees and the kingmaker for  President Thomas Bach has come out strongly in support of Blatter .  Prince Ali of Jordan ( left ) will run against Sepp Blatter ( right ) in the  presidency election  Football agent Tony McGill lost a long legal battle in September with Bolton Wanderers and the Sport Entertainment and Media Group over claims he was cut out of the 1million transfer of Gavin McCann from Aston Villa in 2007 .  But eight years on , the dogged McGill , buoyed by the judge calling the result ' unfortunate ' and describing McCann as being ' clearly untruthful ' and Bolton chairman Phil Gartside ' s evidence ' unsatisfactory ' , is pursuing private prosecutions against Bolton , McCann , Gartside former manager Sammy Lee as well as former  agents Jerome Anderson , Jeff Weston and Dave Sheron .  McCann says he has a district judge ruling for summons to be issued based on his submitted information . Bolton say they have heard nothing and have no case to answer .  Football agent Tony McGill lost a long legal battle over the transfer of Gavin McCann from Aston Villa to Bolton  The  discussed sending a representative to the  reform summit in Brussels on January 21 , but decided against it . They did not want their involvement to add extra credence to the event , which is organised by Conservative  Damian Collins . But the anti Blatter noise from Collins and Co does suit the  agenda .  The  discussed sending a representative to the  reform summit in Brussels , but decided against it  Sky fury at cricket chiefs  Sky Sports ' high command are said to be incandescent about county cricket chiefs campaigning for the return of the sport to terrestrial  to arrest declining participation and poor Twenty20 crowds when there is no appetite among free to air networks for live cricket .  Sky spend 67million each year bankrolling the game which allowed the  to lavish hundreds of thousands of pounds on the bizarre  marketing campaign during the Ashes series in 2013 . They have also brought in another agency , FutureProof , to look at fresh ways of branding the England team for this summer ' s Ashes . England coach Peter Moores is understood to have been enthusiastic about the re branding investment .  And the counties were behind an elongated domestic T20 competition that hasn ' t worked compared with an exciting , and shorter , Big Bash , or  involving the world ' s best players .  Sky Sports are incandescent about county cricket chiefs campaigning to have the sport back on terrestrial    Sport say their latest promo ' the cool people to watch football with ' featuring a swaggering Reservoir Dogs style Jake Humphrey , Owen Hargreaves , Robbie Savage and Michael Owen , is meant to be tongue in cheek . But Owen ' s thumbs up at the end couldn ' t be bettered by David Brent , it ' s that crass .   Sport ' s latest advert , although supposed to be tongue in cheek , is embarrassing nonetheless  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
4083,4084,"Energy Secretary Ed Davey said Britain had a ' moral duty ' to act around the world  Critics of the Government ' s spending on foreign aid were dismissed as Little Englanders by the Liberal Democrat climate change secretary yesterday .  Ed Davey praised Britain ' s 720million pledge to a new  fund to tackle climate change in the Third World , saying it was our moral duty to act .  The  is among a number of nations meeting in Berlin to contribute to the Green Climate Fund , which helps poor countries adapt to low carbon energy , such as wind .  Much of the money will be spent shoring up sea and flood defences in less developed areas .  Tory backbenchers said it would be better spent on flood defences at home , amid fears the Somerset Levels could again be deluged .  The National Audit Office said flood spending in England was ' insufficient ' to maintain defences .  But Mr Davey , the Energy and Climate Change Secretary , said : ' The poorest and most vulnerable on the planet are already suffering the effects of climate change and it ' s our moral duty to act .  ' The idea that we should be isolationist Little Englanders is a complete nonsense .  ' From protecting low lying islands and coastal settlements from the impact of rising sea levels to helping farmers struggling with lower crop yields caused by weather effects of climate change British aid can save lives .  ' Other major economies such as the  , Japan , Germany and France have made substantial pledges , and I urge other countries to be equally ambitious . '  He told  Radio 4 ' s Today programme that climate change around the world has implications for the  , affecting supply chains of groceries and other products .  ' People listening , I think , recognise that we live in a global economy where when something happens in another part of the world it can affect our lives here , ' he said .  Conservative  Sir Edward Leigh , former chairman of the Commons public accounts committee , said it was not appropriate to spend so much money elsewhere with the  still borrowing 100billion a year .  ' We have to look at the interests of the taxpayer and our own people , ' he told the same programme .  Tory  Sir Edward Davey said he had no problem with helping other countries , but  flood defences needed to be shored up  ' We had appalling scenes at the Somerset Levels last year . I ' ve had villages flooded in Lincolnshire .  ' As the  said , we ' re still not spending enough on flood alleviation . First of all we need to spend the money here . I ' m happy to give money to humanitarian projects .  ' I ' m happy to spend money properly on protecting a village in Bangladesh from being flooded , but I don ' t want to commit now to 650million on spec . '  Lord Stern , a former government adviser on climate change , said : ' To suggest we must choose between investing in flood defences in the  or helping international efforts to tackle the greenhouse gas emissions that are causing sea levels to rise along British coasts . . . is to misunderstand both the phenomenon itself and the basics of policy .  ' Reducing risk and managing the effects of climate change must go hand in hand . '  At the Berlin conference , aimed at encouraging governments to give money to the fund , the  has pledged 1 . 92billion , Japan has offered 959million , and France and Germany will offer 640million each .  Mark Goldring , of Oxfam  , said : ' This is a big step forward in the fight against climate change and is further evidence that the  is a global leader in tackling poverty .  ' The money will be crucial in helping poor people protect themselves from the rising sea levels , storms and droughts that climate change will bring .  ' This pledge will help build momentum for a global deal in Paris next year to cut emissions . '  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,present
4095,4096,"Nico Rosberg survived an investigation by race stewards to claim a controversial pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix Saturday ahead of disgruntled Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton .  They ruled there was "" no evidence of any offence "" after several hours of mulling over an incident which happened at the back end of the qualifying session .  Both men were on their last flying laps when Rosberg lost control of his car and took to the escape road at Mirabeau .  Hamilton , who was behind him and two hundredths of a second ahead on the first sector timings , was forced to slow up as yellow flags were waived and eventually abandoned his effort .  It meant Rosberg ' s one minute 15 . 989 clocking from his penultimate run gave him first place on the grid , with Hamilton 0 . 059 seconds slower from a previous effort .  But it left Hamilton clearly fuming and insisting at the post qualifying press conference that he was "" on target "" to take pole before his teammate went off .  Rosberg claimed he had "" tried to push just that little bit more and went over the edge , "" refuting any suggestion that it had been a deliberate ploy to deny Hamilton his chance of pole .  The German , who lives in Monte Carlo , was nevertheless delighted to have taken pole on the famous circuit for the second straight year .  "" I ' m really , really happy to be on pole at home is fantastic , it couldn ' t be better , "" he added .  Behind the all conquering Mercedes pair it was Australian Daniel Ricciardo who again got the better of Red Bull teammate and four time defending champion Sebastian Vettel for third and fourth on the grid .  Two time former world champion Fernando Alonso will occupy the third row ahead of his Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen .  Frenchman Jean Eric Vergne of Toro Rosso and Danish rookie Kevin Magnussen of McLaren were seventh and eighth fastest .  Another rookie , Russian Daniil Kvyat in the second Toro Rosso was ninth and Mexican Sergio Perez completed the top 10 for Force India .  Hamilton leads Rosberg by three points in the title race after winning the last four races , but pole position on the tight street circuit in Monte Carlo virtually guarantees victory come Sunday ' s race .  Rosberg took the season opener in Australia when Hamilton failed to finish , but has had to settle for second place to the Briton in the last four rounds , with signs of tension between the two men in their own private battle for the world championship .  After the late incident the atmosphere in the interview area appeared distinctly frosty with 2008 champion Hamilton giving short answers to questions on the subject .  Interactive : Experience the thrills of Monaco  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
4110,4111,"■ The “red lines” that would bring President Obama back into the political fray. ■   Donald J. Trump talked “life” with Kanye West at Trump Tower  —   and Kanye puts off a White House run? ■ A Hill press aide vaults to the White House. In an interview on “The Daily Show,” President Obama drew a red line on “core issues” that might lead him to speak out against his successor in the first year of his  . If Mr. Trump sought to create a Muslim registry or sought to round up those brought illegally to the United States as children, “I might have to say something about that. ” “But it’s not my intention to be, I’ve said this before, the old guy at the bar who’s just kind of hanging on,” he said. “I need to take some time. ” That reluctance to speak out is beginning to anger some fellow Democrats. He also told Trevor Noah, the “Daily Show” host, “When the D. N. C. got hacked, we immediately assigned our intelligence community, our law enforcement, to investigate what had happened. ” “This was not a secret,” the president said. The rapper and music impresario Kanye West, who told an audience that he would have cast his ballot for Mr. Trump if he had bothered to vote, dropped by Trump Tower to discuss   issues with the  . And the moment wasn’t going to slip by Mr. Trump, who came down to the lobby to greet the “New Kanye” in front of the cameras. “Just friends, just friends. He’s a good man. Long time. Friends for a long time,” Mr. Trump told reporters about the meeting. He added: “Life. We discussed life. ” Mr. West took to Twitter after the meeting to explain. He then suggested cryptically that his own promise to run for the presidency in 2020 would be delayed  —   presumably so as not to challenge Mr. Trump’s second term. Some of his fans may be saying they miss the old Kanye. For congressional reporters of even a moderately long vintage, Stephen Miller was known as an eager press aide to Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, eager to talk . .. and talk . .. and talk about policy, especially his views on immigration. Mr. Miller hit it big when he left the Senate for the Trump campaign when few gave Mr. Trump much of a shot to win the Republican nomination. On Tuesday, he was named assistant to the president and senior adviser to the president for policy. Before Mr. Trump is even inaugurated, the first poll of his potential Democratic opponents in 2020 is now out. Not surprisingly, it looks a bit premature. The survey of 400 Democratic primary voters, conducted last week by Public Policy Polling, drops off precipitously from there, with Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey coming in at 4 percent, Senators Al Franken of Minnesota and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York at 3 percent, Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York at 2 percent, and Julián Castro, President Obama’s housing secretary, at less than 1 percent. In other words, the field is wide open  —   though Mr. Biden did keep his options open. “Four years is a lifetime in American politics. And I think that nominees are determined by their parties based mostly on what skill set is most needed at that time,” the departing vice president said Sunday. “And who knows where we’re going to be two years from now when people really start looking seriously at what they are going to do. ” Senator Joe Manchin  of West Virginia, perhaps the most conservative Democrat in the Senate, discussed the post of energy secretary, but in the end, his appointment would have only let his state’s new Democratic governor appoint a successor. Mr. Manchin still may be the  ’s best Democratic partner as he tries to enact his agenda. His statement after Rick Perry got the energy job: The Trump transition team announced early Tuesday that Rex W. Tillerson, the chairman and chief executive of Exxon Mobil, was the  ’s choice for secretary of state, despite concerns over Mr. Tillerson’s close ties to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. Those “relationships with leaders all over the world” are what has both Democrats and Republicans worried. Democratic interest groups are happily providing visual evidence. And: But the concern is bipartisan.",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
4120,4121,"The hat worn by Napoleon Bonaparte during one of his greatest ever military victories today sold for a record breaking 1 . 5million .  An anonymous South Korean paid the enormous sum for the black felt bicorne which the French leader wore at the Battle of Marengo in 1800 .  Napoleon was at the height of his military powers , and crushed Austrian forces , driving them out of Italy .  Record breaker : This black felt bicorne hat worn by French dictator Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Marengo in 1800 was bought by a South Korean for a staggering 1 . 5million in Fontainebleau , near Paris  Sold ! The hat was bought for 1 . 5million at a packed auction at Fontainebleau , near Paris , today ( above )  The two pointed hat , of a style widely worn by military officers at the time , was usually worn sideways by Napoleon , making him easy to spot on the battlefield .  He wore around 120 during his life , including one at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 , when he was famously defeated by a British led army under the Duke of Wellington .  The last time one of the hats came up for sale in France was in 1968 , meaning there was huge interest in this weekend ' s sale at Fontainebleau , near Paris .  Auctioneers Osenet had originally put a reserve price on the headwear of just under half a million pounds .  Jean Pierre Osenet , president of the house , said : ' Napoleon wore his bicorne hats in a different way to everybody else and that was sideways . He did this to make himself stand out and be easily identified .  ' There are not that many historical people who can be identified by a single item . Churchill was famous for his cigars , and Napoleon was famous for his hats .  Dictator : Napoleon , who was famed for wearing his bicornes sideways , owned around 120 hats during his reign from 1804 to 1815 . The auctioned hat was recovered by Napoleon ' s personal vet , Joseph Giraud  Battle : Napoleon was defeated by the Duke of Wellington at the Battle of Waterloo ( depicted above ) in 1815  ' It is said that there are about 20 of his original hats in the world today and most of them are in museums and can ' t be sold . Maybe there are just two or three in private hands .  ' The last one that sold at public auction was in 1968 and it was bought by the Champagne company Chandon . '  Napoloen changed his hat at least three times a year , and this one was recovered by Joseph Giraud , Napoleon ' s personal vet , after he had finished with it .  The 19in long headpiece has a grey green quilted silk interior and shows signs of wear . It remained in Mr Giraud ' s family until 1926 when it was sold to Prince Louis  of Monaco , who was related to Napoleon .  Rare : The last time one of the hats came up for sale in France was in 1968 , meaning there was huge interest today . Napoloen changed his hat at least three times a year , and this one was recovered by Joseph Giraud  Vintage : The hat remained in Mr Giraud ' s family until 1926 when it was sold to Prince Louis  of Monaco  Worn : The 19in long headpiece has a grey green quilted silk interior and shows signs of wear and tear  The prince collected all sorts of memorabilia relating to the French emperor which are displayed at the Napoleon Museum of Monaco .  But the Grimaldi family is now selling some of Prince Louis ' s collection at auction after deciding to pursue new museum projects and refurbish of their palace in Monaco .  Also sold were a pair of Napoleon ' s stockings , gloves , a shirt and silver drinking cups .  Napoleon named his most famous horse Marengo after the battle , and the pair also fought together at Waterloo before Marengo was captured and ended his life in Britain .  Before the bicorne , there was the tricorne a three cornered hat which became popular in the 18th Century .  The tricorne evolved from the broad rimmed round hats worn by Spanish soldiers by pinning up three sections to form a triangle .  For this reason , they were also known as ' cocked hats ' .  The modification allowed gentry , in particular , to show off their expensive wigs , but their smaller size also made them much more practical to carry .  By the end of the 18th Century , however , the tricorne had fallen out of fashion in favour of the bicorne .  However , tricornes can still be seen today as part of the uniform of the Chelsea Pensioners ( top right ) .  The bicorne was generally worn with the points at the front and back .  But Napoleon chose to wear them sideways ' to make himself noticed ' , according to auctioneer Jean Pierre Osenat .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
4124,4125,"Trump is such a good sport. It s no wonder he relates to so many people in so many different walks of life. He s not afraid to be the butt of a joke and he always seems to genuinely enjoy having fun in spontaneous situations. It s refreshing to not have to watch a polished politician carefully measuring every action, and wondering if it will affect their support with voters Good for you Donald ",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,satire,fake,True,no,no,positive,present
4130,4131,"Slain militiaman known as ' tarp man ' said he ' d rather die than be jailed  LaVoy Finicum speaks to press at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters near Burns , Oregon , on Jan . 9 .  At the start of 2014 , Robert "" LaVoy "" Finicum was an anonymous rancher and father of 11 who spent time grazing his cows on 17 , 000 acres of Arizona land .  But when he died on Tuesday , he had become the de facto spokesperson for an armed militia group in Burns , Oregon .  The militia made headlines nationwide in early January when its members took over the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge , a remote bird sanctuary miles from civilization . Finicum had racked up tens of thousands of views on YouTube , in which he talked about freedom and the "" original intent "" of the Constitution .  He became known to many as "" tarp man , "" the militiaman in Oregon who spent time huddled under a tarp out in the cold , saying wistful things like how he ' d rather die than spend a day behind bars .  See also : Tribe outraged after Oregon militia rifle through Native American artifacts  I love dearly to feel the wind on my face , to see the sun rise , to see the moon in the night , "" Finicum said during a recent interview with  . "" I have no intention of spending any of my days in a concrete box .  In this Jan . 6 photo , Arizona rancher LaVoy Finicum carries his tarp after standing guard all night at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns , Oregon .  Finicum and other militia members were driving to a meeting on Tuesday when law enforcement officials pulled them over . Everyone was detained ? except for Finicum . He stepped out of his vehicle , according to multiple reports , and although it ' s unclear what happened next , he died in a hail of gunfire .  The confrontation may mark the beginning of the end in the three week standoff between the group and law enforcement .  The militia initially demanded the release of two recently imprisoned Oregon ranchers , and they said they would not leave the occupied buildings until the refuge ' s 187 , 000 government owned acres were handed over to the people .  Finicum first began to speak out against federal land ownership in 2014 , when agents with the Bureau of Land Management tried to seize the cattle of a rancher named Cliven Bundy .  Rancher Cliven Bundy holds his five month old grandson Roper Cox at an event Saturday , April 11 , 2015 , in Bunkerville , Nevada .  Bundy owed years of grazing fees to the  , and the government had finally come to collect . But Finicum and many other ranchers took up arms and occupied Bundy ' s ranch , and the  eventually backed down .  "" Tarp man "" had reportedly always paid his grazing fees , but after the standoff he sent a letter to the United States solicitor general , saying , "" I hereby cancel all my contracts with the  . ""  He soon had a website called "" One Cowboy ' s Stand For Freedom , "" which he built because he was tired of watching "" the ever increasing encroachment of government into the lives of the American people , "" according to the site ' s about page .  He posted YouTube videos about self reliance , offering practical tips to store a year ' s worth of food under your bed . He talked about the Constitution and the freedom to do what we want with our bodies .  If you don t break my leg or pick my pocket , it s not my business , "" he in one of his videos .  He also talked about his love of the outdoors . I feel like when I m out here that all s well , all s right , nothing s wrong , no worries , "" he said in another video . "" And I love this life out here .  But Finicum seemed to grow more vehemently anti government as the months wore on .  In that same video , he warned of gathering "" dark storm clouds . "" He published a novel in 2015 called "" Only by Blood and Suffering , "" and reviewer after reviewer on Amazon complained that it ' s little more than a book length anti government tantrum .  And anyone listening to Resistance Radio ' s Blog Talk on Monday could hear a hint of that doomsday tone in Finicum ' s voice . He said law enforcement had recently been doing a lot of "" saber rattling . ""  "" There ' s definitely a hardening of their postures , "" Finicum said . "" They ' re bringing in more assets . ""  Sgt . Tom Hutchison stands in front of an Oregon State Police roadblock on Highway 395 on Jan . 26 , 2016 , near Burns , Oregon .  But Finicum also said he was encouraged by the people ' s response to the militants , and he said he wasn ' t afraid of what the government might do .  "" Whatever happens , we know we ' re going to be  , "" he said . The next day , he was dead , killed by the government that he had grown to so deeply hate .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
4137,4138,"by   President Barack Obama argues that “we have not had a major scandal in my administration.”  Speaking to donors at a private fundraiser in California, Obama railed against former House Oversight Committee Chair Darrell Issa for calling his administration corrupt.  “Here’s a guy who called my administration perhaps the most corrupt in history — despite the fact that actually we have not had a major scandal in my administration,” he said, referring to Issa, according to a transcript of his speech.  Issa was the key figure in several investigations of the Obama administration, including the Fast and Furious debacle with Attorney General Eric Holder, Hillary Clinton’s failure in Benghazi, the failures in the      LINK",fake,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
4165,4166,"Alarmed and appalled sources confirmed today that in complete defiance of his biblical duty to live a life that is holy and pleasing to God , local 27 year old and so called Christian Jeff Daugherty currently has an erection .  Daugherty , who claims to abide by the word of the Lord and walk in the footsteps of Jesus , is nonetheless now in a state of physical arousal , a development that has sent shockwaves through his community and deeply troubled his fellow churchgoers .  "" How could anyone who professes to be a Christian fall to such shameful depths ? "" said Janet Hindsley , a member of Daugherty ' s church who told reporters she was stunned and disgusted at news of the man ' s engorged genitals . "" I know people are capable of these kinds of ghastly practices . I ' m not na ve . But you just don ' t expect this sort of sinful behavior from someone you worship with every Sunday . ""  "" The thought that I ' ve probably shared a pew with him before makes me sick to my stomach , "" she added , shaking her head in revulsion .  Though Daugherty reportedly reads the Bible almost every day and regularly speaks out about his faith , sources said his present titillated condition puts him repulsively at odds with his assertion that he has accepted Jesus Christ as his savior . While many church members said they are praying for the soul of a man they believe has gone down a dark path , others are calling for the "" pervert "" and "" heretic "" to be expelled from their congregation .  According to Darren Howe , who belongs to the same men ' s prayer group as Daugherty , this isn ' t the first time the purported believer in the Holy Scripture has become erect .  "" He confided to me that he gets them at least once a week , and sometimes every day , "" said Howe with visible distaste , adding that while he was revolted by the admission , he encouraged Daugherty in his battle to remain pure before the eyes of the Lord . "" Apparently he ' s even woken up in the morning with one , as horribly depraved as that is . And this is a man who has children ! He ' s got that that thing under the same roof as his kids ! ""  "" How could Jeff let his body become an instrument of Satan ? "" he continued . "" He must renounce this evil in his life and repent . ""  Fearing Daugherty may bring his tumescent phallus into their place of worship Sunday , some church members have appealed to their pastor , the Rev . Allen Whitlock , to prevent the "" insult to all creation "" from entering God ' s house .  "" While it ' s true we are all sinners , that doesn ' t give us an excuse to live as wickedly as we please , "" Whitlock said when reached for comment . "" I ' ve known Jeff a long time . I ' ve had dinner at his house . I ' ve prayed with his family at their kitchen table . It unnerves me to think that right there in his lap , out of sight and inches away from me , Jeff might very well have been quietly sinning . Because even if no one else can see it , the Lord can . ""  "" Do I want a man singing songs of praise in my church while his body is flush with such impurity ? "" he continued . "" No , I do not . It ' s an abomination , and it must stop . ""  At press time , the pastor stood before a hastily convened vigil outside Daugherty ' s house , urging his congregation to pray for the fallen man ' s erection to retreat and remain dormant so that he might one day resume his walk with God .  ",satire,text,validation,Other sport,US elections,true,satire,True,no,no,negative,past
4168,4169,"French citizens are queuing to cast their ballot at the French embassy, London, as the rest of the French nation goes to the polls Sunday. [French voters living in London is an important demographic in French elections, with an estimated 300, 000 citizens living in Britain’s capital. It is often reported and has even been claimed by London’s former mayor Boris Johnson that the sheer number of French living in London makes it France’s sixth largest city.  London’s Evening Standard reports of the French citizens in London, 100, 000 are registered to vote. The tens of thousands expected to vote at the French embassy in Kensington today have been met by a high presence of armed British police officers, with the Metropolitan Police command perhaps wary of the high concentration people outside the embassy following the recent Westminster terror attack. All pictures by Rachel Megawhat   Breitbart London,    ",fake,news,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
4171,4172,"But prices will still rebound in 2016 , analysts say  Barclays : Don t get your hopes up over   As the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries prepares to meet in Vienna for a key meeting Friday , analysts at Barclays fear the gathering will be another non event that will fail to change the fundamentals of the sluggish oil market .  In a note on Thursday , the analyst team led by the bank s head of commodity research Michael Cohen said  is unlikely to agree on any production cuts , leaving the oil prices depressed as a consequence . In response , the bank cut its 2016 forecast for both crude oil CLF6 , 0 . 80 ? and Brent LCOF6 , 1 . 46 ? by 3 each to 56 and 60 a barrel , respectively .  As year end nears , we have lowered our price forecasts , and in line with our lower Q4 forecast of 47 Brent , we are less bullish on 2016 prices than in our September forecasts , the analysts said in the report .  Stock levels continue to rise , increasing the cushion to use for 2016 .  When oil prices started to slump in the summer and fall of 2014 , market participants were looking to  to cut production to defend prices , as it had done before . With less supply in the market , prices tend to go up to meet the same level of demand .  Only this time ,  decided to sit it out and not risk losing market share , by letting other nations ? such as the U . S . ? ramp up production on the back of a potential  output reduction .  Read : Oil s drop unlikely to sway Saudis to cut production when  meets  Barclays gives the cartel s strategy switch a passing grade , saying it s been successful as supply from countries outside the organization looks set to slow . That leaves place for  to win any extra demand . The analysts note that the group has captured about 60 of incremental demand since last year by increasing production , but at the expense of export revenues .  Friday s meeting matters far more because the communiqu might indicate how the  Secretariat is judging the success of its policy , the analysts said .  Yet even a bullish tone from  ministers speaking on the sidelines of the  meeting will not change the fundamental oil market balance . It will be driven by the perception of a glut getting worse , and by the known unknowns : ie , El Ni ? o ( winter demand ) , Iran s return , the speed of the Fed rate hike and associated dollar effects , and the Chinese economic slowdown , they said .  But , as implied by the price forecast , Barclays still believes price will rise in 2016 , just not as steeply as predicted before .  Fundamentally , though the market is looser than we had forecast in Q4 , we expect the difference between supply and demand to be back in balance by the end of 2016 , the analysts said .  A Barclays survey on oil prices show 57 of clients believe Brent oil prices have bottomed in the fourth quarter of 2015 , while 14 think they will reach their lows in the first quarter of 2016 . Brent plunged to a nearly seven year low on Wednesday , while U . S . crude futures sank below 40 a barrel after U . S . government data revealed a 10th straight weekly climb in crude supplies .  Oil prices rebounded on Thursday as investors went hunting for bargains in the wake of that rout , but analysts were not holding out much hope the gains would last long .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
4191,4192,"Even a short term diet of junk food can have a detrimental effect on the brain ' s cognitive ability , scientists said  Everyone knows that junk food is bad for the waistline , but new research suggests it can damage memory , too .  Australian researchers found that even a short term diet of junk food can have a detrimental effect on the brain ' s cognitive ability .  The study suggests that obesity can trigger rapid changes in the brain .  Scientists from the University of New South Wales (  ) showed for the first time that rats fed a diet high in fat and sugar had impaired memory after just a week .  Interestingly , the results were similarly poor for the rats fed a healthy diet that had been given sugar water to drink , according to the study , which was published in the journal Brain , Behaviour and Immunity .  The animals found it more difficult to recognise specific places after their junk food diet and showed a lesser ability to notice when an object shifted to a new location .  The mice also had inflammation of the hippocampal region of the brain , which is associated with spatial memory .  ' We know that obesity causes inflammation in the body , but we didn ' t realise until recently that it also causes changes in the brain , ' said Professor Margaret Morris from  Medicine , who co authored the study .  ' What is so surprising about this research is the speed with which the deterioration of the cognition occurred , ' she said .  ' Our preliminary data also suggests that the damage is not reversed when the rats are switched back to a healthy diet , which is very concerning . '  Some aspects of the animals ' memories were spared , regardless of their diets .  All the animals were equally able to  recognise objects after eating either the healthy , healthy with  sugar or ' cafeteria ' diets , the latter of which was high in fat and  sugar , including cake , chips and biscuits .  The change in the animals ' memory appeared even before the mice eating junk food gained any weight .  The research builds on previous work that has implications for obesity . ' Given that high energy foods can impair the function of the hippocampus , if you eat a lot of them it may contribute to weight gain , by interfering with your episodic memory , Professor Morris said  Ongoing work will attempt to establish how to stop the inflammation in the brain of animals with the unhealthy diets , which could unlock secrets relating to humans who eat unhealthily .  ' We suspect that these findings may be relevant to people , ' said Professor Morris .  ' While nutrition affects the brain at every age , it is critical as we get older and may be important in preventing cognitive decline . An elderly person with poor diet may be more likely to have problems . '  The research builds on previous work that has implications for obesity .  ' Given that high energy foods can impair the function of the hippocampus , if you eat a lot of them it may contribute to weight gain , by interfering with your episodic memory , ' Professor Morris said .  ' People might be less aware of their internal cues like hunger pangs and knowing when they have had enough , ' she said .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,negative,past
4204,4205,"There are a billion stories in cicada city . Some of them are long and some of them are short . Well , actually , all of them are short . Relatively . They ' re cicadas , not sea turtles . Point is , these are a few of those stories .  Treetop , for that is what he has named himself , scrabbles toward the light . After 17 years underground 17 dark and lonely years living on tree sap and hope he emerges , cold , frail , but alive . Fresh air thrills his lungs . The sky , so much brighter than he imagined , burns away the cloying decay that for so long defined him . But he does not linger on that past . He does not dwell in the what was . Instead , on instinct , he climbs . And he climbs . The tree on whose roots he survived becomes his ladder his path to a new life , a new start , in the Great Above . Up there , he tells himself , is the world he has dreamed of . Up there , just a little further , is a world of sunlight and song , of wings and flight and wonder . But then a bird eats him .  Nearby climbs Icarus , smaller than many of his kind , but with a determination not seen since the days of his father , Leafrunner , and his mother , Dart . He never knew his parents , but he senses their presence . Though he cannot explain it , he knows , deep down in his ventriculus , that the spirit of his cicadean ancestors is what drives him , pulls him upward , makes him believe that today , Emergence Day , anything is possible . He pauses to catch his breath on a branch and wonders if they can see him , if they are proud of him . But then a bird eats him .  Cyllata feels like she ' s in a stream , not of water , but of life itself . Where once she was alone , now there are thousands , just like her , all around her , streaming upward , skittering over the rivulets of bark . Her unseeing , subterranean eyes do not belie the excitement she feels , nor do they behold the nymph she was . She only knows that now is the time to become an adult . Now , as she clings to this branch , to this moment , she knows the time has come to shed her skin to break out of her shell to emerge bold and beautiful , a swan of her species . Her body quivers as her shell splits open , as Cyllata , the new Cyllata , the real Cyllata , emerges . And then is eaten by a bird .  Grass was never one much for imagining . Seventeen years of soil and solitude didn ' t lend themselves to fantasizing , to "" What ifs ? "" Patience was the key . Forbearance was the watchword . So it was no surprise , certainly not to Grass , that he named himself for the very first thing he came across when he clambered , at long last , from his lair . He did not think or wish or daydream as he climbed . He did not romanticize or visualize as he clung , like a mantis to its prey , and waited for instinct to take over , for his carapace to crack , for his body to thrust itself out , bit by bit , into the world above . Instead , it is now , only now , finally now , as his wings spread and his antennae shiver and the dew of 17 summers lifts from his eyes , that Grass allows himself to be surprised . Because a bird has eaten him .  "" Sun ! Wind ! Warmth . "" Ptera sings as she basks on a leaf , unshelled and alive oh so very much alive ! "" Green ! Blue ! White . "" she chirps as the trees and the sky beckon her to join them . "" Clouds ! Shadows ! What the ? she adds as a bird eats her .  Some men , they say , are born to the mines . Others are born to dance . They know , in their beings , what to do , how to do it . Shellsong , of course , knew nothing of men or mines . But he did know about love . He was born to love . He understood love . In his spiracled cicadean soul , he knew what to do , how to do it . He knew that his song , the plaintive cry from his taut , tymbaled loins , would prove irresistible . And he knew that his love , his mate , would return his call with a click .  Song click  Song click  Song click .  Sweet love .  That ' s how it worked . And right on cue , as if Venus herself had taken up his melody , Shellsong hears it . The click . Right behind him . Is that my love ? he thinks . Is that my darling ? Is that my destiny ? No , it ' s a bird . Damn .  In a thousand lifetimes , in a thousand times a thousand lifetimes , you would not find lovers more perfect for each other , more "" meant for each other , than Brightwing and Folitia . She , Folitia , is young and beautiful , an acrobat in the air with white frosted wings and ruby eyes that shine with something more than desire they shine with passion captivating , honest , endless , He , Brightwing , is twice her age , having emerged three days earlier . He is wizened but not cynical , patient but not pedantic , and eaten by a bird moments before she is .  Author ' s Plea : Every day , millions of cicadas are cruelly , savagely , needlessly eaten . Any why ? Because they ' re delicious . But it doesn ' t have to be this way . You can make a difference . Take the time , right now , to call or write the birds . Tell them to stop eating cicadas . Do it for Treetop and Grass , for Ptera and Cyllata . But most of all , do it because it will really confuse the birds , who don ' t know how to read .  ",satire,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
4224,4225,"elections don't meet ‘international standards,’  observer warns  elections don't meet ‘international standards,’  observer warns By 0 48  The  electoral process hardly meets “international standards,” a German  observer warns, citing shortcomings that would make it easier to influence voters. The remark comes amid accusations from both presidential campaigns of election interference.  Juergen Klimke, a German observer of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), has told the Bild magazine that “the  electoral process still needs to catch up and adapt to international standards.”  Klimke, who is also a foreign policy expert in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s  party, cited difference in time zones as a major flaw.  Read more  Because of the time shifts, “the first election results would already be announced at the time when in other states the polling stations are not yet closed,” he said, adding that it could have “an enormous influence on voters.”  His remarks were echoed by Michael Georg Link, head of German  observer group, who also voiced his concerns in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.  Up to 6 million Americans “are exempt from the vote,” Link stressed, meaning an estimated 3.2  citizens serving prison terms or being convicted of crimes. In addition, some 2.6 million people have already served their sentences and are still not allowed to vote.  In an unprecedented move, the  has decided to deploy dozens of observers to the US. Around 500 of the organization’s officers are expected to arrive for the Election Day, marking a tenfold increase from 2012 election, when it had just 44 observers.  Read more  Last Friday, Thomas Rymer, the spokesperson for  Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, told Sputnik that eleven observers are already on the ground in Washington, DC, to examine “legal framework, candidate and voter registration, and media coverage, among others.”   officers will not be able to monitor voting elsewhere in the  as 13 states explicitly prohibit international election observation, including Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia.  For the most part, however, states do not regulate the issue, leaving the decision on admitting or rejecting both international and  observers to state or county election authorities.  With less than two weeks to go until the 2016 Election Day, the most controversial and expensive presidential race that will likely cast a shadow over  politics for years to come is nearing an end.  Both camps accuse each other of having a capacity to manipulate voters and falsify the results. Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, has recently warned of a “rigged” election, urging his supporters to act as “citizen observers” as well. In turn, Hillary Clinton’s staff and Obama administration officials speak of alleged Russian attempts to influence the  election.  Via  . This piece was reprinted by  Alternative News with permission or license.",fake,news,validation,World conflict,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
4225,4226,"Reuters) - Saudi Arabia s foreign minister said on Friday that Lebanon had been  hijacked  by Hezbollah and could only flourish if the Iranian-backed group disarmed.  The Shi ite Muslim militia was set up by the powerful Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) in the 1980s and has grown steadily in influence, sharing power in the Beirut government and giving crucial support to President Bashar al-Assad in Syria s civil war.  Its growing strength has alarmed Saudi Arabia, a Sunni Muslim monarchy that is Shi ite Iran s arch-rival for regional influence.  Lebanon will only survive or prosper if you disarm Hezbollah,  Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told a conference in Italy.  As long as you have an armed militia, you will not have peace in Lebanon.  Jubeir said the situation in Lebanon was  tragic  and accused Iran of fomenting unrest across the Middle East.  Since 1979, the Iranians have literally got away with murder in our region, and this has to stop,  he said. A month ago, Saad al-Hariri resigned as Lebanese prime minister while he was in Saudi Arabia, triggering a political crisis in Beirut and thrusting Lebanon onto the front line of the regional rivalry. Saudi Arabia denied coercing its long-time ally to quit, and Hariri has now returned to Beirut and indicated that he might withdraw his resignation. Elsewhere in the region, Saudi Arabia fears that Hezbollah and Iran are trying to take control of its neighbor Yemen, by supporting Houthi forces against a Riyadh-led military coalition. Hezbollah denies fighting in Yemen, sending weapons to the Houthis, or firing rockets at Saudi Arabia from Yemeni territory. Jubeir rejected this and said his country would not back down in the conflict.  The Houthis cannot be allowed to take over a country,  he said. Jubeir said his country only had bad relations with two nations   Iran and North Korea. He said Riyadh did not have relations with Israel, which shares Saudi worries over Iran, because it was waiting for a Palestinian peace deal. He said everyone knew what a solution would look like to the decades-old conflict.  It is not rocket science,  he said, adding that he was waiting for the United States to put forward a new proposal. One of the most intractable problems facing negotiators is the spread of Jewish settlements across occupied territory that the Palestinians want for a future state.  Jubeir said he expected an eventual deal would set the borders of a Palestinian state on the lines prevailing before the 1967 war, when Israel captured the West Bank and Gaza Strip. However, he said adjustments could be made for settlers:  Seventy percent of the settlers who are on the (1967) Green Line remain in Israel, and the other 30 percent - you offer them compensation and work out housing, and they can move to Israel.  ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past
4226,4227,"Are you paying attention America? Yesterday, the  voted to leave the European Union. On referendum day, Lord Ashcroft surveyed 12,369 people after they had voted to help explain the result   who voted for which outcome, and what lay behind their decision.Lord Ashcroft polls   70% of Muslims voted to remain in the UE. This provides additional refutation of the claim made by our rulers that immigration doesn t change anything. In the Scottish referendum, a majority of people born in Scotland voted for independence; it was the votes of (first-generation) immigrants that swayed the result in favour of maintaining the United Kingdom. Now, in this second referendum, the British people as a whole might well have lost their independence because of the votes of African and Asian colonists who only arrived in their country within the last few decades. In the end, this was narrowly averted. But it shows the extent to which the demographic window is closing on the hopes for European survival.White voters voted to leave the  by 53% to 47%. Two thirds (67%) of those describing themselves as Asian voted to remain, as did three quarters (73%) of black voters. Nearly six in ten (58%) of those describing themselves as Christian voted to leave; seven in ten Muslims voted to remain.A majority of those who backed the Conservative in 2015 voted to leave the  (58%), as did more than 19 out of 20  supporters. Nearly two thirds of Labour and  voters (63% and 64%), seven in ten Liberal Democrats and three quarters of Greens, voted to remain.Nearly half (49%) of leave voters said the biggest single reason for wanting to leave the  was  the principle that decisions about the  should be taken in the  . One third (33%) said the main reason was that leaving  offered the best chance for the  to regain control over immigration and its own borders.  Just over one in eight (13%) said remaining would mean having no choice  about how the  expanded its membership or its powers in the years ahead.  Only just over one in twenty (6%) said their main reason was that  when it comes to trade and the economy, the  would benefit more from being outside the  than from being part of it. A small majority of those who voted to remain think that for most children growing up today, life will be better than it was for their parents; leavers think the opposite by 61% to 39%. Leavers see more threats than opportunities to their standard of living from the way the economy and society are changing, by 71% to 29%   more than twice the margin among remainers.Nearly three quarters (73%) of remainers think life in Britain is better today than it was 30 years ago; a majority (58%) of those who voted to leave say it is worse. ",fake,dataset,validation,World conflict,US elections,fake,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
4231,4232,"High street giant H M is among almost 40 companies named and shamed by the government for failing to pay workers the minimum wage .  The retailer failed to pay a total of 2 , 604 . 87 to 540 staff , according to the Department for Business , Innovation and Skills .  A total of 37 employers including hair salons , car dealers and estate agents underpaid staff by 177 , 000 , behaviour condemned by ministers as ' illegal , immoral and completely unacceptable ' .  High street retailer H M failed to pay a total of 2 , 604 . 87 to 540 staff , according to the Department for Business , Innovation and Skills  Welcome Break , the service station company , neglected to pay 1 , 318 . 70 to 19 workers .  Hertfordshire estate agents Kings Group underpaid 43 members of staff by 53 , 808 . 91 while the company ' s lettings arm neglected to pay 26 , 893 . 43 to 49 workers .  The 37 firms listed by the government face financial penalties totalling more than 51 , 000 .  Business minister Jo Swinson said : ' Paying less than the minimum wage is illegal , immoral and completely unacceptable .  ' If employers break this law they need to know that we will take tough action by naming , shaming and fining them as well as helping workers recover the hundreds of thousands of pounds in pay owed to them .  ' We are also looking at what more we can do to make sure workers are paid fairly in the first place . As well as being publicly named and shamed , employers that fail to pay their workers the national minimum wage face penalties of up to 20 , 000 .  ' We are legislating through the Small Business , Enterprise and Employment Bill so that this penalty can be applied to each underpaid worker rather than per employer . '  Business minister Jo Swinson said : ' Paying less than the minimum wage is illegal , immoral and completely unacceptable '  Almost 100 employers have now been publicly named by the Government since a new regime came into force in October 2013 .  Unions have been pressing for larger fines against firms found to be paying less than the statutory rate of 6 . 50 an hour for adults , 5 . 13 for 18 to 20 year olds , 3 . 79 for 16 and 17 year olds and 2 . 73 for apprentices .   general secretary Frances O ' Grady said : ' It ' s good to see the Government getting tough on bad bosses who cheat hard working employees out of the pay they ' re legally entitled to . But with over 600 employers being caught underpaying each year , those named and shamed today are only the tip of the iceberg .  ' There are companies out there that cheat hundreds of staff out of a legal minimum wage these are the biggest offenders and their pay crimes must be made public too . Ministers must also step up enforcement action with more prosecutions , higher fines and a bigger team of enforcement officers to catch the cheats . '  The  recently published a 10 point plan for minimum wage enforcement , including a call for much higher fines .  Philip Pepper , employment law partner at Shakespeares , said : ' There are a number of reasons why employers may have got this wrong or been caught out . It is most likely due to human error , but in some cases minimum wage regulations can be complex to apply . '  Estate agents Kings Group  , Hertfordshire , neglected to pay 53 , 808 . 91 to 53 workers  Lettings agent Kings Group Lettings  , Hertfordshire , neglected to pay 26 , 893 . 43 to 49 workers  Chinese restaurant and cash and carry Chi Yip Group Ltd , Middleton , neglected to pay 15 , 566 . 78 to 13 workers  Kingsclere Nurseries Ltd trading as Abacus Day Nursery , Newbury , neglected to pay 12 , 904 . 19 to 8 workers .  Chinese takeaway Ms Thap Thi Ly trading as Sweet N Sour , Fleetwood , neglected to pay 11 , 039 . 14 to 2 workers  Michael Kearney trading as electrical installation and testing firm Electrical Estimates , Ceredigion , neglected to pay 5 , 557 . 91 to 4 workers  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,satire,true,True,no,no,negative,past
4239,4240,"Reuters) - Austria s new chancellor traveled to Brussels on Tuesday on his first foreign trip since being sworn in, aiming to dispel concerns that his coalition with the far right spells trouble for the European Union. Responding to a letter on Monday from European Council President Donald Tusk that underlined  worries, 31-year-old conservative leader Sebastian Kurz tweeted back that his new government would be  clear pro-European and committed to making a positive contribution to the future development of the  . A day after he took office at the head of a coalition with the far-right Freedom Party (FPO), Kurz delivered that message in person to Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, whose  executive has responded to October s election with little of the outrage that greeted the  s first taste of government in Austria 17 years ago.  At a joint news conference in Brussels, Juncker said he would judge Kurz s government by its deeds.   This government has a clear pro-European stance. That is what is important for me,  Juncker said. The  has distanced itself from its Nazi-apologist, anti-Semitic past, while surges in irregular immigration and militant attacks have pushed the European political mainstream rightward, leading to a much more muted reaction than in 2000. But a French member of the Commission was wary:  Things are doubtless different from the previous time, in 2000,  tweeted Socialist former finance minister Pierre Moscovici.   But the presence of the far right in government is never without consequences.  Confirmation of the  s return to a share of power raises concern that small, wealthy Austria will be an intractable voice on  asylum reform and efforts to increase the  budget. The bluntest criticism has been south of the Alps, where a plan to offer Austrian citizenship to people living in Italy s German-speaking border region has rekindled worries over old territorial arguments. A junior foreign minister in Rome said the offer may be couched in a  velvet glove of Europeanism  but bore  a whiff of the ethno-nationalist iron fist . Kurz assured Italians on Tuesday that he would consult Rome on the plan, which is a long-standing  policy, adding he would speak to Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni. For an  battered by mounting nationalism that goes well beyond Brexit, there is concern too that criticism of Brussels in Vienna may help fuel the euroscepticism of former communist member states in Central Europe, including Poland, where the Commission is seriously considering imposing sanctions that were initially designed in response to the  s rise early this century. Speaking in Brussels, Kurz said he would make it Austria s task to bridge the gap between  member states in the east and the west, adding his country would fight to stop illegal immigration into the EU. In a letter of congratulation to Kurz, Tusk made clear his concerns about the new coalition in Austria:  I trust that the Austrian government will continue to play a constructive and pro-European role in the European Union,  Tusk wrote, noting that Austria will from July enjoy six months of influence in Brussels as chair of  ministerial councils. Germany and France, the  s lead powers, also indicated a vigilance about Austria in their comments on Monday which highlighted Kurz s pledges to foster European cooperation.     Kurz s visit to Brussels comes on the eve of an important Commission meeting on Wednesday, where Juncker s team will consider recommending sanctions on Poland for its continued  defiance of warnings that its new laws on the judiciary are contrary to  democratic standards.  We are in a difficult process, which I hope will turn out to be a process of convergence. But not all bridges to Poland will be burnt tomorrow,  Juncker said. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
4252,4253,"In an effort to emphasize the value of its offerings and enhance the visibility of its brand , electronics superstore  America will run a new commercial that features former tennis great John McEnroe intoning his trademark phrase "" You cannot be serious , "" company representatives announced Friday .  "" Our idea was to show the agitation and frustration we believe customers feel toward the high prices of our competitors , as well as the stark disbelief they may experience when confronted with the great values and high level of customer service encountered at any  America location , "" said Edward Bernsen , the retail chain ' s marketing director . "" We also wanted to use the image of a highly recognizable figure from the world of sports , as sporting events figure prominently in our customers ' television viewing habits . Clearly , McEnroe and his trademark phrase were the first things that came to mind . ""  "" Not only is hearing John McEnroe say ' You cannot be serious ' in a context outside of tennis a unique and original idea , "" Bernsen added , "" but it will also be humorous because of how angry he ' ll be . We ' re very excited for this campaign . ""  In the 30 second spot , McEnroe who is dressed in casual tennis apparel and carries a racket despite the fact that he is ostensibly shopping for home electronics is browsing inside the thinly disguised , but still recognizable store of a  America competitor . Upon seeing the prices said competitor is asking for many popular name brand electronics , the three time Wimbledon winner utters the phrase "" You cannot be serious ! "" and proceeds to ask nearby sales representatives if they are aware of the heavily discounted prices at local  America stores .  Upon being told that yes , they are aware of  America ' s low , low prices but are unable to match them , an incredulous McEnroe speaks the line "" You cannot be serious ! "" once more .  After a brief interlude , during which a  America saleswoman details the store ' s superior prices , convenient locations , and high level of product support , McEnroe is shown shopping at a clean and well lit  America location . Upon seeing its much lower prices on the same popular name brands , McEnroe looks at the saleswoman , who is inexplicably seated in a tennis umpire ' s chair , and says to her , "" You cannot be serious ! "" bringing the total number of times he says "" You cannot be serious ! "" to three .  Upon being assured by the nodding saleswoman that yes , she is very serious indeed with regard to  America ' s price , value , and overall shopping experience , McEnroe is visibly mollified .  "" We were looking for someone who signifies the high level of quality one finds every day at  America stores from coast to coast and who also demands that quality from others a ' tough customer , ' if you will , whom audiences would identify as someone who questions the judgment and dedication of those who just don ' t measure up , "" Bernsen said . "" A spokesman synonymous with frustration , who could easily embody the aggravated state customers often find themselves in when navigating the world of contemporary retail shopping , seemed ideal . When we hit on the idea of John McEnroe , with his penchant for saying ' You cannot be serious , ' we knew it was a perfect fit . ""  Representatives for  America then contacted McEnroe , who agreed to the commercial almost instantly .  As the ad campaign continues , McEnroe will reportedly be seen in several different electronics shopping situations , including scenarios in which he accepts home delivery of a large flat screen television , has a surround sound system installed in his living room , and attempts to return an overpriced and underperforming item to another  America competitor . In each case , McEnroe will intone the words "" You cannot be serious ! "" with an appropriate degree of either happiness or disgust , as the situation warrants .  "" It ' s a funny switch when he says ' You cannot be serious ' in more of a surprised , happy way , because for the most part people expect him to say it angrily , "" Bernsen said . "" We ' re thinking that maybe , in future spots , he might start the phrase by saying ' You cannot ' and then we can have one of our sales representatives cut him off and say ' be serious ? ' ""  "" Our advertising team is very smart and creative , "" Bernsen continued .  McEnroe first yelled the phrase "" You cannot be serious "" during his 1981 Wimbledon match against Tom Gullikson . He has been heard saying it 7 , 854 , 322 times since .  ",satire,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,present
4260,4261,"Microsoft Office , the suite of productivity tools used by millions , has finally come to the iPhone .  The move is a significant one for Microsoft and its users . Before , the popular set of tools , including Word , Excel , PowerPoint and Outlook , was available only on Windows phones , which have captured a sliver of the smartphone market .  The feature is available free in Apple ' s App Store for subscribers to Office 365 , the cloud based version of Office ' s business like tools for home users . Subscribers pay a monthly fee .  Office for iPhone is intended for people who need to edit PowerPoints or Excel spreadsheets on the go , not create them from their phones . The company said users can work with documents on their phones , and the updates will be transferred to those documents on  versions . They ' ll also be able to share documents from their phones .  "" When we launched Office 365 earlier this year , we committed to delivering regular updates and new capabilities to Office 365 subscribers , "" Julia White , general manager of Microsoft ' s Office division , said in a blog post . "" Office Mobile for iPhone is another great example of the value of subscribing to Office 365 . ""  The announcement comes just days after Apple announced that its own iWork productivity suite will for the first time work with Windows systems .  The Microsoft announcement serves as a counter , allowing the same kind of back and forth for the larger number of users who are already familiar with Office , considered by many the gold standard of productivity software .  There is no similar version of Office optimized for the iPad , which has its own more fully developed Web browser . Microsoft also did not mention whether it ' s developing a version for Google ' s Android mobile devices .  Office for iPhone is available now for users in the United States and will soon rolled out internationally , the company said .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
4269,4270,"The 71 year old ex police officer accused of shooting dead a man inside a Florida movie theater won ' t get the chance to go home at least for now after a judge Friday decided not to grant him bail .  Judge Pat Siracusa made his decision after two days of wrenching , evocative , at times seemingly contradictory testimony inside a Dade City , Florida , courtroom .  "" The state did , in fact , meet their standard , "" Siracusa said of prosecutors argument that Curtis Reeves shouldn ' t be allowed to post bond . "" And I am going to detain Mr Reeves , pretrial . He will remain in custody . ""  Reeves ' lawyer signaled his intention to appeal a decision that while not unexpected , given this is a homicide case he believes is unwarranted . The attorney , Richard Escobar , said that he ' s optimistic about not only the appeal on bail , but that a jury of six citizens will side with his client .  "" Mr Reeves is truly an innocent man , "" Escobar told reporters . "" And we look forward to proving that at a jury trial at some point . ""  The widow of the man that Reeves killed , meanwhile , applauded Siracusa ' s decision .  "" I ' m just very happy and relieved , "" Nicole Oulson said . "" . . . I have no doubt in my mind that it was the right decision . ""  No threats before shooting , widow says  Was it self defense or an overreaction ?  As Siracusa took pains to point out , his opting not to grant bail has nothing to do with his or others assessment of Reeves ' guilt or innocence . That won ' t happen until trial .  The date for that hasn ' t been set , though Siracusa did schedule the next pretrial hearing for March 12 .  That falls on one day under two full months since Chad Oulson was shot dead inside the Grove 16 theater in the Tampa suburb of Wesley Chapel .  Was the younger , more physically imposing Oulson killed in self defense , as Reeves ' lawyer claims ? Or did Reeves overreact to the idea that Oulson was texting his toddler daughter as movie previews played by taking out his gun inside the theater and firing , as the prosecution argues ?  The bail hearing , which began Wednesday and resumed Friday after a day off , served almost as a mini trial in itself .  Both sides called witnesses , then often strongly challenged those put on the stand by the other side .  Reeves ' daughter , Jennifer Shaw , testified that her father was supportive and even keeled , having never erupted in anger at a stranger from her recollection .  The prosecution called a number of people who ' d been in the Florida theater the afternoon of January 13 .  Charles Cummings talked about overhearing Reeves and Oulson talking , and at one point , the latter said , "" I ' m just texting my 2 year old daughter . "" Soon after that , a "" very agitated "" Reeves left the theater , then returned a few minutes later .  At that point , a fairly calm Oulson according to Mark Douglas Turner , a retired Air Force veteran who worked as a clandestine officer asked aloud whether he could check a voice mail from his daughter ' s babysitter .  The situation devolved after more words were exchanged . Alan Hamilton , an off duty Sumter County sheriff ' s corporal , said he heard Oulson say , "" I am trying to text my f king daughter , if you don ' t mind "" using graphic language that Reeves ' lawyer said suggested Oulson was angry and threatening .  Popcorn flew in Reeves ' direction soon thereafter .  "" And almost immediately , "" recalled Turner , who said Oulson threw the bag , "" the gun comes out and there are shots fired . ""  Reeves to police : Oulson ' scared the crap out of me '  Hamilton testified that , soon thereafter , Reeves ' wife told her husband "" that was no cause to shoot anyone . ""  Reeves responded by pointing his finger at her and saying , according to Hamilton , "" You shut your f king mouth and don ' t say another word . ""  On Friday , those in the Dade City courtroom got to hear from Reeves himself not because he took the stand , but because audio of his interview with police was played in court .  During that interview , Reeves told police he had "" reason to believe ( Oulson ) was going to kick my ass "" after Reeves confronted the 43 year old Navy veteran over his texting during the previews to "" Lone Survivor . ""  Widow : ' My whole world just got shattered '  Reeves and his wife both told police that Oulson began using foul language , and Reeves left to talk to a theater manager . When he returned , Oulson stood up and turned to confront Reeves , he said .  "" I see that he ' s very explosive , unnecessarily , "" Reeves told police . "" It scared the crap out of me . ""  Oulson edged toward Reeves and "" he ' s virtually on top of me "" and Reeves told him either "" no , no , no "" or "" whoa , whoa , whoa , "" he couldn ' t remember which , he told the police interrogator .  "" He hit me with something . I assume it was his fist , "" Reeves told police . "" I think he had a cell phone in his hand because I saw the blur of the screen . . . . My face went sideways . My glasses came partially off . ""  In her own interview with police , Vivian Reeves backed much of her husband ' s story , spelling out the f word for police as she described Oulson ' s language during the altercation .  Asked , though , whether she saw Chad Oulson strike Curtis Reeves , she replied no though she said it ' s what her husband told her after the shooting .  The same went for the various theater witnesses who testified earlier for the prosecution . None of whom said that they saw Reeves getting hit by anything beyond perhaps a bag or some kernels of popcorn before he opened fire .  Surveillance video captures theater shooting  Beyond hearing from various witnesses , the public thanks to the gathered media got their own glimpse of what happened inside that movie theater , thanks to surveillance video .  The jumpy , grainy footage shows Reeves return to his seat at 1 : 26 : 19 p . m . , according to the video ' s time stamp . Six seconds later , Reeves appears to lean forward , but only for a second .  At 1 : 26 : 30 p . m . , the video stops likely because the motion sensors weren ' t activated , according to previous testimony in Reeves ' bail hearing this week but it starts recording again five seconds later .  That ' s when a hand extends in front of Reeves , from the seat where victim Chad Oulson was reportedly sitting , and appears to snatch something from Reeves the defense has repeatedly said Oulson threw popcorn and throws it into Reeves ' face .  Reeves ' right hand , the one Reeves told police he used to shoot Oulson , thrusts forward at 1 : 26 : 37 p . m . A strange dust falls in front of the surveillance video lens as theater patrons begin walking over to the area where Reeves remains seated .  It ' s the row behind where a mortally wounded Oulson after stumbling then collapsing on another moviegoer is taking his last breaths .  Couple describes encounter with Reeves  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
4280,4281,"How to shoot an action film , as told by ' Spectre ' director Sam Mendes  Carly Mallenbaum ,   5 : 34 p . m .  November 5 , 2015  With ? 2012 ' s ? Skyfall ? and the new ? Spectre ? film under his belt , ? Sam Mendes is officially a big time James Bond director . But back when Mendes was just starting , before he made the films ? American Beauty ? and ? Road to Perdition ? and even after those he didn ' t totally know what he was doing .  So , at Saturday night ' s Britannia Awards in Beverly Hills , where the filmmaker accepted the award for Excellence in Directing , he thought he ' d share some of the knowledge he ' s learned about making movies over the past few years . We have that list of tips for you . . .  10 tips for a young director who is thinking of taking on an action franchise :  The director of ' Spectre ' shares a list of tips for aspiring directors before taking home the Britannia Award for Directing . (  : The clip contains harsh language . )  1 . Get in touch with your inner 12 ? year ? old . He or she was an interesting kid .  2 . You can only ever point the camera at one thing at a time .  3 . You are playing Roulette with someone else ' s money . If you ' re gonna bet it all on black , you need to be able to explain why .  4 . Making an action sequence is only interesting when you ' re in the cutting room .  5 . On the day , be prepared . But also be prepared to make ( crap ) up .  6 . When you ' re choosing collaborators , do not listen to the people who tell you , "" Yes , but they ' ve never done a big movie . ""  7 . You need to learn to tune out the white noise : You cannot please everyone .  8 . Tarantino , Spielberg , Nolan , Scorsese , Greengrass , J . J . Abrams , Paul Thomas Anderson ? all still shoot on film . There is a reason .  9 . You ' re trying to surf the big wave , so be prepared to wipe out . But when you catch it , if feels like nothing else .  10 . When you get excited , do ? not be ashamed to leap out of your chair and sing the Bond theme .  The 2015  Los Angeles Britannia Awards will air Friday , Nov . 6 , on Pop at 9 P . M .   .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
4281,4282,"The mosque in Finsbury Park, London where this morning s tragedy unfolded has been the centre of media attention before. It opened back in the late 80s, as the Muslim population in the area began to grow. Since then it s been one of the biggest prayer halls in Britain. However in the 90s the Mosque was accused of radicalism and its preachers linked to Al-Qaeda.Why was this Mosque allowed to go on with radical teachings after people like the shoe bomber were connected to it. It s time for the politically correct residents of towns like this to call out these Mosques. Notice that Muslims just moved to another Mosque instead of making an effort to oust the radicals within the Mosque.According to BBC,  Finsbury Park Mosque has long been synonymous with the worst fears about Islamist extremism in Britain. The mosque s new leadership have been struggling to reclaim it for the local community   but that struggle raises questions about who runs mosques in Britain. The Finsbury Park Mosque opened in 1988. And with one of the then biggest prayer halls in Britain, many Muslims regarded it as a major milestone,   wrote.  But by the late 1990s, amid the growth of radical Islamism, it had become a meeting place for extreme voices, including that of Abu Hamza. The mosque was visited by  Kamel Bourgass, an Algerian man jailed for the murder of a policeman and an alleged ricin poison plot,   reported.According to the Telegraph,  The Finsbury Park mosque was long known to have served as a clearing house for radical Muslims after Hamza arrived as imam in 1997. His hate-filled rants inspired attendees such as Richard Reid ( BELOW), the failed  shoe bomber , Zacarias Moussaoui, one of the 9/11 terror plotters, and Mohammed Sidique Khan, one of the four suicide bombers who blew themselves up on public transport in London on July 7, 2005. Remember this guy?He came from this Mosque!",fake,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
4294,4295,"If so, then Hillary and Obama will end up being among the most unpopular Presidents in  history and and Hillary will be  replaced by Elizabeth Warren. Hillary might even be impeached for grossly violating her Presidential Oath of Office! Frankly, I don't think Hillary is so dumb as to do that. If Obama pushed the  through Congress during the ""lame duck"" session of Congress, his ""legacy"" will be seriously tarnished for generations to come! He and Hillary will be   for every multi-million or multi-billion dollar  lawsuit against any level of our government (i.e.  taxpayers) forever after!",fake,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,present
4296,4297,"You are here : Home Brock Lesnar Return Teaser for Monday ' s    Brock Lesnar Return Teaser for Monday ' s    There were rumblings a few weeks ago that Strowman would face Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania 32 but after the Royal Rumble it now looks like Bray Wyatt will have that honor .  Fans across the globe can watch Monday Night Raw on their dedicated network channels . "" The Beast "" has plenty of adversaries heading into this week ' s show .  Rumors and spoilers reveal that the victor of this match will have a shot against the current  World Heavyweight Champion Triple H at WrestleMania 32 , according to Bleacher Report .  This will be Lesnar ' s first Raw since being attacked by The Wyatt Family at the go home Raw for Royal Rumble .  As  continues to put all of its time and effort behind elevating Reigns , it finds itself in a position where Triple H must be utilized in the top heel role for the third consecutive year , due mainly to the incompetency demonstrated on the company ' s part when it comes to positioning any other villain on the roster as a credible threat to the hero .  Fans were dressed up as  legendary wrestlers such as Hulk Hogan , The Undertaker , Randy Savage , and The Rock at the ringside .  Former  Champion Batista was reportedly backstage at Sunday ' s Royal Rumble event and was talking about making an appearance at WrestleMania .  Tonight , will Becky Lynch have anything to say about these two Divas interrupting her last two matches ? Jericho took to Instagram to campaign for another bout with "" The Phenomenal One "" , which could take place on the flagship show .  Will Reigns and Ambrose be able to stay on the same page heading into their high stakes , triple threat match at Fastlane ? We ' ll see what Sasha Banks has in store next as she ' s pretty clearly set her sights on Charlotte and the Divas Championship , which everyone who ' s seen Banks work at length has to be ecstatic about .  What are you most looking forward to on this week ' s edition of '  ? '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
4297,4298,"Sexual harassment is part of everyday life in middle and high schools across the country , a new study released on Monday by a nonprofit research organization said , with the vast majority of students who have been harassed , reporting negative effects from it .  "" Crossing the Line : Sexual Harassment at School , "" surveyed 1 , 965 students in grades 7 12 in May and June of 2011 . The study , by the American Association of University Women , found that 48 of the students questioned experienced some form of sexual harassment in the current school year .  "" Many of us think of sexual harassment as an adult issue , "" said Catherine Hill , the director of research at  and one of the authors of the report . The study proves that many young people are also victims of these experiences , Hill said .  Verbal harassment , which includes unwelcome sexual comments , jokes or gestures , made up the bulk of the incidents , but physical harassment was prevalent as well , and 30 of students experienced sexual harassment by text , e mail , social networking sites like Facebook or other electronic means . According to the study , many of the students who were harassed through cyberspace were also harassed in person , a combination that caused the most serious effects .  Students said they were "" sick to their stomach , had trouble sleeping , and even skipped school , "" when they were exposed to both forms of harassment , said Hill .  The findings also showed that girls were more likely than boys to be sexually harassed , both in person and by electronic means . The results also confirm previous research which shows the experiences of girls tended to be more physical and intrusive than for boys .  Thirty three percent of girls and 24 of boys said they witnessed sexual harassment during the 2010 2011 school year , and 56 said they saw more than one incident .  "" It ' s an issue that affects people differently , "" said Hill . "" People need to take it seriously . ""  In recent years , sexual harassment among students hasn ' t gotten as much attention as bullying , but Hill said the two are interrelated . In an article on the  website titled "" Sexual Harassment Versus Bullying , "" the similarities and differences are spelled out .  Sexual harassment is defined as unwanted behavior that is sexual in nature , while bullying involves a power dynamic . The motivations behind them may be different , but the negative affects for students are often the same , according to the article .  "" I think it ' s wonderful that bullying is getting attention , "" Hill said . "" But I would like sexual harassment in that conversation , "" said Hill .  Other differences between the two include the law . According to Hill , sexual harassment falls under federal guidelines , while bullying is regulated by individual states .  Forty four percent who admitted to sexually harassing others didn ' t think of it as a big deal , another 39 said they were trying to be funny .  For Hill , the study offers fresh insight and new information on sexual harassment . "" I hope the information will be used to start a conversation about this difficult topic , "" said Hill .  Students involved in the study offered ideas for reducing sexual harassment . Their suggestions include anonymous reporting , designating a person they can talk to , in class discussions , and having more online resources available to them .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past
4346,4347,"Everyone will obviously spend time discussing Tom Brady vs . Peyton Manning , but Manning is no longer the quarterback he was even a few years ago . He still has great awareness and instincts before and after the snap , but his arm strength is holding him back .  Manning struggled to move the football against a suspect Pittsburgh Steelers secondary and couldn ' t make it pay for staying in press coverage for much of the day . The New England Patriots have much more confidence in their secondary with players like Malcolm Butler leading the way , and Denver will have a hard time throwing the ball .  If running backs Ronnie Hillman and C . J . Anderson can ' t pick up big chunks of yards on the ground , the Broncos will struggle to score .  The other side of the ball will be the real storyline with Denver ' s No . 1 defense against Brady and the Patriots offense . While New England ' s group struggled toward the end of the regular season , a healthy Julian Edelman makes a big difference .  Pro Football Focus provided a look at the speed of plays when the receiver is in the lineup :  Tom Brady ' s time to throw average dropped from 2 . 55 seconds in games without Edelman down to 2 . 19 seconds in Saturday ' s game . Big change  ? Pro Football Focus (  ) January 19 , 2016  This might not seem like a lot , but the reality is this could help counter the Broncos pass rush like it did against the Kansas City Chiefs . Edelman missed the regular season battle against Denver , and star tight end Rob Gronkowski got hurt during it . Yet Brady was still able to finish with three touchdowns and no interceptions .  He could have an even better performance this time around to advance to yet another Super Bowl .  You would think the battle between two future Hall of Fame quarterbacks would be the higher scoring battle , but the reality is the  features the two best offenses in the league , as noted by Chris Wesseling of NFLweblink :  Cardinals Panthers is also the first playoff game of the Super Bowl era featuring two teams that average 30 points per game .  Additionally , Carson Palmer and Cam Newton represent a battle of former Heisman Trophy winners as well as No . 1 overall picks . Both quarterbacks took different routes to get to this point , but their talent is undeniable .  While Newton is the favorite to bring home the league ' s  award , Palmer has arguably been even better this season while spreading the ball around to his numerous targets . The problem is the veteran is coming off a below average game against the Green Bay Packers in the divisional round .  Bleacher Report ' s Mike Freeman quoted a scout who said Palmer "" looked nervous as hell "" in the overtime win .  Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians admitted the quarterback was more hesitant than usual early last game but that it won ' t be a problem this time around , per Bob McManaman of AZCentral Sports :  Not to be conservative in the first half when you ' re picking your plays . And we talked about it . This was a game where he picked a lot of shorter completions early instead of going for ' em like we normally do . And I think that was part of , ' I don ' t want to screw this up . '  Now that we don ' t have to worry about doing that anymore , we can go back to being ourselves .  If Palmer plays to his ability , the Panthers could have a difficult time containing receivers Larry Fitzgerald , Michael Floyd , John Brown and others .  Newton will lead Carolina ' s offense with some big plays in the air and on the ground to keep things close , but the Cardinals might have too much firepower . They will have just enough to squeak by on the road to win the  title .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
4379,4380,"My family moved to Bahrain in the late eighties when I was only three years old . Like many Western expats who grew up in Bahrain , I was fairly insulated from local politics .  None of my friends or their parents talked politics , and most Western expatriates like myself lived in safe , walled compounds , segregated and separate from Bahrain ' s villages .  Read more : Bahrain enacts stiff laws against ' terrorism ' before opposition protests  Even during the 1990s intifada in Bahrain , I do not remember witnessing much trouble . I heard the odd skirmish , and the occasional siren , but as a child you tend to think that the police are the good guys and anyone giving them trouble are "" the bad guys . "" Sometimes people would discuss "" trouble in the villages , "" but other than that , my ignorance of the situation was the result of youthful indifference cultivated by an informal apartheid .  Fast forward to 2013 , and my youthful ignorance serves as a useful metaphor for the alarming extent of apparent Western indifference to the ongoing political crisis in Bahrain .  Zakaria : Bahrain will pay heavy price for crackdown  Despite a lack of media coverage , state sponsored repression has been going on for the past two years . Skirmishes in villages between groups of youths and the riot police occur almost daily , and while the former burn tires and throw Molotov cocktails , the latter fumigate the villages with tear gas , a tactic so virulent that one  accused the Bahrain authorities of "" weaponizing toxic chemical agents . ""  The skirmishes in the villages are symptomatic of over two years of repression by the Bahraini authorities . Peaceful demands for political reform put forward by thousands of Bahrainis in early 2011 have been ignored , and legitimate attempts to protest have been brutally repressed .  Renewed calls for demonstrations on August 14 have prompted the government to initiate a fresh swathe of repressive measures . Bahrain ' s opposition less parliament recently passed reactionary laws banning peaceful gatherings in Bahrain ' s capital city and checkpoints , roadblocks and barbed wire fences have been erected around villages to stop people getting to protests .  Keen to censor any criticism , the Bahraini authorities have also arrested a number of activists and journalists , while some foreign observers have been denied entry . A lawyer representing a citizen journalist was even arrested for tweeting about the fact his client was tortured by police as if the message was not clear enough . The prime minister declared that Bahrain would "" burn to a cinder all those who seek to tamper with its security and stability , ""  It is unlikely that these "" Tamorrod "" protests will amount to anything , especially as the Bahraini authorities have spent the past two years breaking the back of the opposition movement . In 2011 , thousands were arrested , tens killed , and dozens tortured .  Doctors who bore witness to the gross excesses of the security forces were tortured and imprisoned on spurious charges . Leaders of several political societies were arrested , tortured , and put in jail , where they still remain . Thousands were fired from their jobs for participating in legal strikes .  The state media spewed out sectarian hatred , and Sunni and secular support for the populist movement was tempered by government propaganda that claimed , despite there being no evidence , that the pro democracy movement was an Iranian backed attempt to install a Shia theocratic state . The government also demolished a number of Shia religious structures in order to anger Shia protesters and encourage them to become violent , and thus lessen moderate support for the movement .  In an attempt to reduce popular sympathy for the pro democracy movement , the government portrayed the movement as xenophobic and intolerant by exaggerating protesters ' attacks on expats . A government spokesman implied that 12 expats had been killed by protesters in 2011 . In actual fact , two expats were killed by civilians , while one was shot by the Bahrain Defence Force . Expats who publicly express sympathy for the opposition risk deportation . Recently an American teacher was kicked out of Bahrain for writing articles critical of the government .  Between the blatant repression of 2011 and the recent reactionary measures ahead of August 14 , there has also been an insidious attack on freedom of expression and due process in Bahrain . Insulting the King on Twitter or "" inciting hatred "" against the security forces will land you in jail , while activists are spending months in detention before trial often without access to a lawyer .  Torture and forced confessions are reportedly still ongoing , and no one has been held accountable for any of the alleged state crimes perpetrated over the past two years . On the contrary , Bahrain ' s prime minister was recently filmed thanking a suspected torturer for his services and promising his supporters impunity .  The prospects for Bahrain ' s pro democracy movement are bleak , especially without Western support . Obama ' s recent call for meaningful reform in Bahrain was disconcertingly vague , and in his September 2012 address to the U . N . , Obama failed to mention Bahrain despite expressing the need to support freedom elsewhere in the Arab world .  The unrest in Bahrain has also provided many commercial opportunities for Western companies and individuals . U . S . arms sales to Bahrain since the year 2000 have totalled 1 . 4 billion , and the Bahraini government have paid more than 32 million to Washington and London based public relations companies to help whitewash human rights abuses . In 2011 , the Bahraini authorities used U . S . made tear gas on protesters , and ex Miami police chief John Timoney went to Bahrain to help "" reform "" the police . Some of the Bahraini police have even received training from the U . S . military .  The current U . S . position can be explained by the fact the Bahraini government allows the U . S . to keep a naval base on the island and as long as U . S . Iranian tensions continue , Bahrain ' s strategic value will remain high .  Unfortunately for Bahrain ' s pro democracy movement , the U . S . are not going to risk upsetting the Bahraini government by pressuring for too much "" meaningful "" political reform . This continued U . S . support for a brutal regime is leading to increased resentment towards the American government by many Bahrainis , who feel let down by a nation that claims to support those who aspire to greater freedom , democracy , and liberty .  The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Marc Owen Jones .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
4380,4381,"Time columnist and   host Fareed Zakaria has been suspended from both news organizations for plagiarizing an article in magazine the New Yorker .  Zakaria , who writes and serves as editor at large for Time magazine , apologized after several paragraphs were found lifted from an article published in the New Yorker for use in his Time column .  Both Time and  , who also noticed similarities in a blog post he wrote for their website , have suspended him for a month .  Plagiarizing : Columnist and  host Fareed Zakaria has been suspended from Time magazine and  for plagiarism  Zakaria said in a statement on Friday he made ' a terrible mistake , ' adding : ' It is a serious lapse and one that is entirely my fault . '   ' s choice to suspend their foreign affairs anchor and the face to their programme '  ' acknowledged a similar article he wrote for CNNweblink using the same material lifted from New Yorker writer Jill Lepore ' s piece published in April .  ' He wrote a shorter blog post on CNNweblink on the same issue which included similar unattributed excerpts . That blog post has been removed and  has suspended Fareed Zakaria while this matter is under review , '  stated .  In a separate statement , Time spokesman Ali Zelenko said the magazine accepts Zakaria ' s apology , but would suspend his column for one month , ' pending further review . '  Apology : Zakaria , who hosts his own programme on  , apologized for his actions after an article written for Time and CNNweblink showed pieces lifted from a New Yorker magazine article  ' What he did violates our own standards for our columnists , which is that their work must not only be factual but original their views must not only be their own but their words as well , ' Zelenko said .  Media reporters had previously noted similarities between passages in Zakaria ' s column about gun control that appeared in Time ' s Aug . 20 issue as well .  In Zakaria ' s column , titled ' The Case for Gun Control , ' he began one paragraph with the sentences :  ' Adam Winkler , a professor of constitutional law at  , documents the actual history in Gunfight : The Battle Over the Right to Bear Arms in America . ' Guns were regulated in the U . S . from the earliest years of the Republic . '  A corresponding passage in Lenore ' s essay , titled ' Battleground America , ' begins : ' As Adam Winkler , a constitutional law scholar at U . C . L . A . , demonstrates in a remarkably nuanced new book , Gunfight : The Battle Over the Right to Bear Arms in America , ' firearms have been regulated in the United States from the start . '  In Zakaria ' s statement , he apologized ' unreservedly ' to Lepore , as well as to his editors and readers .  Zakaria also serves as a Washington Post columnist .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
4388,4389,"The average customer at the Water Street parking ramp has probably not taken notice of Brian Haemker . They ' ve passed by him day in and day out , likely assuming he is just another parking lot attendant . But in reality , he is much more .  Haemker has spent the past six years gathering the secrets of every nook and cranny of the Water Street parking ramp , amassing a treasure trove of privileged information .  "" There ' s a whole row on Level 4 that ' s almost untouched , "" said Haemker from his tiny booth . "" That ' s because it ' s on the opposite end of the elevator . But there ' s a pedestrian walkway just a few steps ahead that gets you across and over pretty conveniently . Plus , there ' s a Coke machine right there . ""  "" A lot of people don ' t consider that , "" Haemker added .  Haemker said drivers often overlook the ramp ' s basement level .  "" I see it every day : People just start up that ramp without thinking , "" Haemker said . "" Meanwhile , a third of the basement sits open . And it ' s the warmest spot in the winter . ""  Haemker said Level 6 has some "" amazing "" parking spaces , explaining that "" the extra effort to get there is well worth it . ""  "" Level 6 is seen by parkers as a last resort , "" Haemker said . "" That ' s ironic , because it ' s where the best three spaces in the whole garage are . ""  Asked about the ramp ' s worst spaces , Haemker singled out those on the first floor , closest to the ticket booths , and a space on Level 5 that sits on the end , next to the traffic lane .  "" Your fender is basically guaranteed to get dented there , "" he said .  Haemker says the most irritating drivers are the ones who park in the ramp for the entire workday , yet don ' t take advantage of the lower prices for customers who arrive before 8 : 00 a . m .  "" Man , I wish I had the spare four bucks a day to park whenever I want , "" Haemker said . "" Of course , these guys probably get reimbursed by their jobs for parking . Must be nice . ""  Haemker said he ' s happy to point drivers toward good spots , but no one ever asks .  "" People just park wherever they can find a space , which seems to me just absolutely crazy , "" Haemker said .  ",satire,text,validation,Other sport,Conflict,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
4397,4398,"Police were called to a parish council meeting after a row over sheep grazing turned into a physical fight .  Lancashire police have called in video footage of the incident on Monday , at a meeting of the allotments committee of Briercliffe Parish Council .  The meeting had to be abandoned after discussions about sheep grazing rights became heated and ' swear words were exchanged ' before the row spilled outside .  Police were called to a parish council meeting in Lancashire to break up a row over sheep grazing  Lancashire Constabulary said it is now investigating possible public order offences .  Councillor Margaret Lishman , who chaired the meeting , said : ' The meeting had to be adjourned because a fight broke out between some members of the public .  ' The matter is with the police at the present time so it would not be appropriate for me to comment further . '  A police spokeswoman said the matter was under investigation and officers were reviewing video footage of the incident .  She said no arrests had been made , but police were looking into possible public order offences .  Former parish councillor Sarah Seed has been involved in protracted negotiations over grazing land for her sheep Millie , along with fellow councillor Colin Meeks .  Lancashire police have called in video footage of an incident on Monday night , at a meeting of the allotments committee of Briercliffe Parish Council  The scuffle is said to have broken out at the meeting between council lengthsman Michael Greenwood , and Mrs Seed ' s husband , Jimmy  The meeting was stopped , the police were called and the argument spilled outside on to the street  She resigned earlier this month along with Coun Meeks , and lodged a standards complaint with Burnley Council .  The scuffle broke out at the meeting between council lengthsman Michael Greenwood , and Mrs Seed ' s husband , Jimmy .  Mr Greenwood works as a contractor for the Parish Council , as council lengthsman .  Lengthsmen are employed by parish councils to tend to parts of the village such as commons and village greens , and maintain drainage into fields and public areas .  Mrs Seed said : ' It started in the community centre .  But onlookers have played down the ' fight ' and said it was more of a ' scuffle '  Councillor Margaret Lishman , who chaired the meeting , said : ' The meeting had to be adjourned because a fight broke out between some members of the public '  It is believed the argument centred on the rights of former parish councillor to graze her sheep on land belonging to the parish council  ' There was just a scuffle , nobody really punched anyone else , it was six of one and half a dozen of the other .  ' I ' m not surprised that a fight broke out . '  ' It ' s the way they ' re treating people in the parish that we disagree with . '  MailOnline has contacted Mr Greenwood for comment .  Another member of the public who was at the meeting , Paul Stowell said : ' It was fight between a member of the public and the parish council lengthsman .  ' The meeting all stopped when it spilled outside and police were called . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
4407,4408,"James Ford Seale , a reputed former member of the Ku Klux Klan convicted in the 1964 abduction and killings of two African American teenagers in Mississippi , has died in federal prison , the Federal Bureau of Prisons said . He was 75 .  Seale died on Tuesday in the Federal Correctional Institution at Terre Haute , Indiana , said bureau spokesman Chris Burke , but he did not provide further details .  A jury in 2007 convicted Seale , a former sheriff ' s deputy , of kidnapping and conspiracy to commit kidnapping in the disappearances of Charles Eddie Moore and Henry Hezekiah Dee , both 19 . The bodies of both youths were found in a backwater area of the Mississippi River . Seale was serving three life sentences .  Seale was not tried for murder , but prosecutors alleged he and fellow Klansmen conspired to abduct , beat and murder Dee and Moore in May 1964 . An indictment accused Seale and his cohorts of picking up the two men hitchhiking and driving them into the Homochitto National Forest in southwest Mississippi ' s Franklin County , where the teenagers were beaten and interrogated at gunpoint .  Dee and Moore were then bound with duct tape , and weighted down by an engine block and a railroad rail , authorities said . The  alleged the two were still alive when they were thrown into the Old Mississippi River , where they drowned . Their decomposed bodies were found two months later during a search for three other missing civil rights workers a case that would later be known as the Mississippi Burning Case .  The slayings were officially unsolved until Seale was indicted in 2007 , although he had been long suspected in the case . He and another man were arrested in 1964 , but released on bond and never tried . The  turned the case over to local authorities , and the investigation was dropped after a justice of the peace said witnesses had refused to testify .  Seale was the first and only person convicted in the Moore and Dee case , the Justice Department has said .  Seale ' s conviction was overturned , then reinstated , by federal appeals courts amid a legal battle over whether the statue of limitations had expired for his crimes . The battle wound up at the U . S . Supreme Court , which in November 2009 let stand a lower court ruling that the statute of limitations had not expired .  In his appeal , Seale claimed the statute of limitations expired five years after the crime . The confusion arose out of the fact that kidnapping could be considered a capital offense in 1964 and had no time limit for prosecution . In 1968 , the high court eliminated the federal death penalty for that crime , and Congress changed the law to reflect that ruling four years later . But lawmakers in 1994 reinstated kidnapping as being death penalty eligible .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
4422,4423,"Obama s last battle with Congress looms over Pacific trade deal  What could be President Obama s final grand battle with Congress kicked off this week with the release of a sprawling Pacific Rim trade agreement , setting up the latest skirmish in a two decade string of trade showdowns on Capitol Hill .  Initial lawmaker reaction to the Trans Pacific Partnership has been sharp from its likely opponents , who declared it worse than we thought , and muted from its potential supporters , who shied away from rash declarations about the 30 chapters of intricate text .  That mixed reaction , and the political complications presented by the pending presidential race , have led many lawmakers to speculate that the battle over the pact s approval could last into the final weeks of Obama s term ? into a lame duck session called after his successor and a new Congress are elected .  The battle over President Obama s trade deal has officially arrived  The longer this goes , the less likely it is that  will become a reality , said Rep . Jan Schakowsky ( D Ill . ) , who is among a group of free trade skeptics who have continued to organize opposition to the deal after failing to deny Obama fast track negotiating authority earlier this year .  That legislation set out timelines for the deal s review that will push the earliest possible vote into March , smack in the middle of a presidential campaign season in which every major Democratic candidate and several Republicans have come out against it .  It certainly has an impact when you have people that are talking every day and campaigning every day and getting national attention every day , who also don t know what s in it and are telling people what s in it , said Rep . Patrick J . Tiberi ( R Ohio ) , chairman of the Ways and Means trade subcommittee . That isn t pleasant and isn t good and isn t politically popular . . . . And I ve expressed that to the White House in terms of the timing .  The new House speaker , Paul D . Ryan ( R Wis . ) , co authored the fast track bill in his former capacity as Ways and Means Committee chairman . He said little about the deal in the hours after its release .  We do not rubber stamp anything around here , let alone trade agreements , he said , adding that he was pleased with the process we have coming before us ? open , transparent .  We made President Obama s big  trade deal searchable  The fast track legislation passed with mainly Republican votes in both the House and the Senate , and most of those who voted for it said they were reserving judgment on the Trans Pacific Partnership .  What could be most worrisome for Obama is an erosion of Republican support for his trade agenda . Key  senators have already indicated that they oppose a provision in the deal that would prevent U . S . tobacco companies from challenging public health laws abroad . Other lawmakers have expressed concerns about intellectual property protections and maintaining U . S . sovereignty .  In the Senate , eyes are closely trained on Finance Committee Chairman Orrin G . Hatch ( R Utah ) , who pushed through the fast track legislation but released a surprisingly critical statement last month , saying the  deal appears to fall woefully short .  In an interview this week , Hatch said he remained skeptical , particularly of provisions that would limit patent protections for certain types of drugs and establish higher labor standards abroad . But he said he was reserving judgment pending a thorough review of the text : We re certainly going to give it every shot .  Sen . Jeff Sessions ( R Ala . ) , who voted against fast track in June , said the  s prospects were dimmer today than they were five months ago .  The fact that the presidential candidates are talking about it openly as not good for America is going to firm up the opinions of millions of Americans , who , polling data show , are dubious , he said .  runners Donald Trump and Ben Carson have been critical of the trade deal , as has former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee .  Sessions said Republican lawmakers could show solidarity with the anti establishment mood of  voters by opposing the deal . Republicans need to demonstrate they re listening to working people and hearing their concerns , he said .  In the Senate , Obama can afford to lose some Republican support , because fast track authority provides for a simple majority ratification of any trade pact rather than the 60 ? votes that was needed to pass fast track .  The margin in the House is slimmer . There , 28 House Democrats joined with 191 Republicans to just barely pass the fast track bill .  A leader of pro trade Democrats , Rep . Ron Kind ( D Wis . ) , said he has yet to hear major concerns from those members and suggested that the  might even garner a few additional Democratic votes . His group , the New Democrat Coalition , is putting together a fact sheet showing how Democrats concerns were written into the trade deal .  I think most members are going to be very pleased by what they see , Kind said .  But Kind said the sooner , the better when it comes to a ratification vote : I m worried if this does leak into the summer . It s going to make the politics a lot tougher at that point .  The leading pro trade Senate Democrat , Ron Wyden of Oregon , said it was hard to prejudge the outcome or the timing . But he said he was confident that the early release of the text , guaranteed under the fast track bill he negotiated , would help undercut the opposition .  If you believe in trade , if you want more of it , you ve got to be willing to open this up and have some discussion of it , he said . You send a message that this is going to be a new day in terms of real opportunity for public input .  But Sen . Sherrod Brown ( D Ohio ) , a free trade skeptic , said transparency is going to hurt , not help : Fundamentally , the public doesn t like these trade agreements , and the more the public learns , the less they re going to like it , in all likelihood .  Mike DeBonis covers Congress and national politics for The Washington Post . He previously covered D . C . politics and government from 2007 to 2015 .  Success ! Check your inbox for details . You might also like :  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
4427,4428,"After Michael Brown ' s August 9 shooting death , DeRay Mckesson could not believe what he was seeing on social media as he scrolled through posts tagged Ferguson and MikeBrown  The hashtags accompanied scenes of the dead teen lying in the street and videos of distressed community members up against police in riot gear . Mckesson was compelled to make the nine hour drive from Minneapolis to Missouri on August 16 . The next evening he was chased and tear gassed by police on West Florissant Avenue along with other activists , protesters and concerned citizens , he said .  "" I thought , ' this is not an America I know , ' "" the 29 year old school administrator said in a phone interview . "" This is not what America should be . ""  Since August 9 , Ferguson the place has come to represent what many see as the ugly side of American racial politics , making Ferguson the hashtag a social media shorthand for racial inequality , police misconduct and "" the value of black life , "" Mckesson said .  People have used the hashtag to call out what they see as instances of police misconduct and racist double standards beyond the context of the day Officer Darren Wilson shot the 18 year old to death .  These conversations happen every day across America amid tension between law enforcement and black communities , said Rashad Robinson , executive director of civil rights group ColorOfChange .  Ferguson became a national conversation thanks to social media , creating an opening for broader discussions about "" inequality in the criminal justice system , "" he said .  Ferguson has always been about justice for Michael Brown first and foremost , Robinson said . It has also become a signifier of "" a bigger problem in our country where for some of us justice doesn ' t seem like it will ever be delivered , "" he said .  "" We ' re talking about the larger issue of police misconduct in Ferguson and around the country that happens everyday , "" he said . "" Ferguson is the flashpoint that amplified the need for greater accountability . ""  ' Righteous rage ' and hope  The hashtag also has become a rallying cry for the social justice movement that has grown out of Michael Brown ' s death . Between August 9 and August 25 , the hashtag Ferguson was used on Twitter 11 . 6 million with retweets and 1 . 9 million without retweets , according to Sysomos .  Mckesson was among those boosting the hashtag as he pounded the pavement in Ferguson . He tweeted images of protests , news about rallies and demonstrations and tips for out of towners looking for food and places to stay .  "" There was a lot of righteous rage , but also a deep sense of community and joy that outlined that anger , "" he said . "" It turned me into being a committed protester . ""  He also began building relationships to form the infrastructure of an organized , peaceful movement . Through a newsletter and frequent social media updates , he shares news about campaigns , demonstrations , petitions and updates on Darren Wilson ' s court proceedings . He also shares passionate affirmations of the movement ' s mission and biting digs toward detractors and Darren Wilson supporters .  But , he is quick to add that he is "" just one voice "" in a leaderless movement .  "" On social media we have all been exposed to voices we might not have heard otherwise , "" he said . "" There are many of us who are voices in this and that is our power . ""  Turning a moment into a movement  Hashtags like Ferguson are a means to an end for advocacy groups trying to create movements out of moments like Michael Brown ' s shooting , said Robinson with ColorOfChange .  "" Our role is to translate what ' s happening in Ferguson to everyday people who want to do something on a systemic level that will lead to lasting change , "" he said .  "" What we ' re doing is trying to capture that energy and push for national change in terms of policies that incentivize better policing and hold media and Hollywood accountable in terms of the images and implicit biases they put out in the world . ""  The hashtag creates a space for people to see what ' s happening on the ground not only in Ferguson but in places around country , he said . Hopefully , what they see engages and catalyzes them into activism in real life .  "" A hashtag provides a meeting space , a virtual meeting space where you can be virtually tapped into one strand of what ' s happening , "" he said . "" But it ' s a mistake to believe you ' re fully educated . ""  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
4433,4434,"Marco Rubio : I aimed for conservative immigration bill in Democratic controlled Senate  Republican presidential candidate , Sen . Marco Rubio , R Fla . , speaks in Des Moines , Iowa , in this Saturday , Oct . 31 , 2015 , file photo . (  Photo Nati Harnik ) more  Sen . Marco Rubio of Florida said he tried to produce the most conservative immigration bill that was possible in a Democratic controlled Senate , and he thought a  controlled House would make it even better , but that a lack of trust in the federal government helped doom the 2013 push on the issue .  I live in a state that s deeply impacted by immigration , and I was trying to make a difference , Mr Rubio said on Monday evening s Hannity program on Fox News . I was trying to produce the most conservative bill possible in a Senate controlled by Democrats and had hoped a more conservative House would make it even better .  What we underestimated is how much people distrust the federal government , said Mr Rubio , a 2016  presidential candidate . It s not enough to just pass a law that says , We re going to build a wall . They want you to actually build the wall , and then they ll let you move forward on the other things .    : Appeals court rejects Obama plan to shield 5 million illegals from deportation  Mr Rubio was part of a Gang of Eight that crafted a sweeping bill in 2013 that would have granted most of the illegal immigrants in the country an eventual pathway to citizenship and would have beefed up security on the U . S . Mexico border . It passed the Senate but failed to get anywhere in the Republican controlled House .  So we reached a point in that debate where people were saying to us , it doesn t matter what the law says you re going to do or make them do ? they won t do it , he said . The federal government will just ignore it .  One of Mr Rubio s 2016  rivals , businessman Donald Trump , has called the Florida senator weak on immigration . Mr Trump has pledged to build a wall on the U . S . Mexico border and says he ll get Mexico to pay for it .  President Obama has tried to go around Congress on the issue through executive action , but he has run into trouble in the courts . A federal appeals court in Texas ruled Monday that Mr Obama s most recent effort to grant up to 5 million illegal immigrants work permits and deportation amnesty is likely illegal .  And so what I ve learned from that experience is that the only way forward on immigration isn t just to pass enforcement bills , but to actually do it , Mr Rubio said . You re going to have to prove to the American people , not just that E Verify has been implemented , not just that an entry exit tracking system is implemented , and not just that the wall has been built ? you re going to have to prove that it s working , that illegal immigration numbers have come substantially down .  And if we do that , then I think people are going to be very reasonable about how we modernize legal immigration so that it s more about merit than about a family basis , he said .  Mr Rubio said he d be open to letting people apply for a green card after 10 years if they have passed background checks , learned English , and paid a fine and taxes .  In the 21st century , people should be coming here on the basis of what they can do , what skills they have ? not whether or not you have a relative living here , he said . That s a dramatic and important change for us to make because it reflects the realities of the 21st century economy .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
4440,4441,"Reuters) - A U.S. district judge in Detroit has issued an order temporarily restraining the Trump administration from carrying out immigration restrictions in a presidential executive order, according to a court document. Judge Victoria Roberts issued the order on Thursday in response to a motion filed with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan seeking a permanent injunction “that prohibits the denial of entry into the United States of legal permanent residents and those with valid immigrant visas” under President Donald Trump’s Jan. 27 order.   ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
4444,4445,"Can you be pro life and pro death penalty ?  It ' s a question more than one person I know is asking after Oklahoma ' s botched execution of Clayton Lockett . Not necessarily because of the way Oklahoma tortuously executed the convicted killer , but because of the hard core way some reacted to Lockett ' s execution .  Like Mike Christian . The pro life Oklahoma state representative told The Associated Press , "" I realize this may sound harsh , but as a father and former lawman , I really don ' t care if it ' s by lethal injection , by the electric chair , firing squad , hanging , the guillotine or being fed to the lions . ""  He also threatened to impeach judges who dared delay executions for any reason .  This is from a man who is so strongly pro life he voted for eight bills in four years to prevent women in Oklahoma from terminating their pregnancies , or , as many who oppose abortion say , "" killing babies . ""  Color me confused . So , Rep . Christian says it ' s  to kill , unless you ' re a woman who wants to end her pregnancy ?  As I told my friends during a heated debate last weekend , that smacks of hypocrisy .  The only nonhypocritical viewpoint , I argued , exists in the Catholic Church .  Catholics believe in the "" Consistent Ethic of Life . "" As Georgetown ' s Father Thomas Reese puts it , "" we are concerned about a person from womb to tomb . ""  "" Life is something that comes from God and shouldn ' t be taken away by man , "" Reese told me .  Put simply , the Catholic Church opposes abortion and the death penalty . Period . Except nothing in life is that simple . Especially our collective views on the death penalty and abortion .  If you ask a Southern Baptist , he or she will likely tell you the Catholic Church is wrong .  "" There is no contradiction here , "" R . Albert Mohler , president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary , told me , referring to Rep . Christian ' s underlying position .  Christian ' s words were "" careless , "" and don ' t "" reflect any Biblical . . . defense of the death penalty , "" he says , but it does not defy logic if Christian is pro life and pro death penalty .  "" It ' s not an eye for an eye kind of thing , "" explained Mohler . "" Retribution is not the same as a demand for justice . In Genesis 9 , God speaks to Noah after the flood . When someone takes human life , they forfeit their own life . ""  So , I asked , "" Should a woman who ' s had an abortion forfeit her own life ? ""  Mohler emphatically answered , "" no . ""  Lockett deserved to die , he said , because the act of murder "" was taken in wanton disregard of the life taken and given the nature of the crime , this individual has forfeited his right to live . "" ( Lockett not only raped and shot his victim , but ordered his accomplice to bury her alive . )  Don ' t get me wrong pro lifers could argue that pro choice , anti death penalty believers are inconsistent , too . How can you choose to end life , but adamantly oppose the death penalty ?  Apparently , consistency is not America ' s strong suit . According to a 2010 study , only about 8 of Americans oppose abortion and the death penalty under all circumstances .  James Unnever , professor of criminology at the University of South Florida Sarasota Manatee , co authored the study . He expected his test results to show a consistent belief system in all kinds of premeditated death . In other words , if you believe in the sanctity of life , you would be opposed to euthanasia , the death penalty and abortion .  Turned out , that was not remotely true .  "" From a religious position , the Catholic faith is the most consistent life ethic , "" Unnever says . "" Religion is only one factor that affects using the death penalty . "" The other factor , he says , is politics . "" When you get people who are against abortion and for the death penalty , that ' s not as much a religious effect as a politics effect . Politics trumps any religion . ""  Jacinta Gau , professor of criminal justice at the University of Central Florida , co authored two studies on attitudes about abortion and capital punishment . She was also surprised by the inconsistency many showed toward life issues .  Of those who strongly oppose abortion , yet strongly approve of the death penalty , Gau says : "" What seems to link those two attitudes together is related to fundamentalism , a literal interpretation of the Bible , and an inflexible way of viewing society in general , "" Gau says . "" I ' m not sure they really view it as a contradiction . There ' s a punitive attitude toward this kind of like if you don ' t want a child , don ' t engage in risky sexual behavior if you kill someone , you deserve death . ""  And Gau says pro choice , anti death penalty believers also don ' t see a contradiction . Those who are pro choice don ' t "" see abortion as ending a life , "" she says . "" The death penalty becomes completely separate for the pro choice people , because it ' s about a woman ' s right to choose . ""  Truth told , the "" Consistent Ethic of Life , "" is relatively new to the Catholic Church . For centuries , the church supported capital punishment .  But passionate pro life and death penalty foes , such as Sister Helen Prejean , convinced the church that "" helping to kill a defenseless person "" in any circumstance is wrong .  "" What ' s more innocent than an unborn baby ? "" Prejean told me . "" It ' s easy to be against that . "" Then Prejean went for the jugular . The people who commit terrible crimes , "" Could you kill them ? If there ' s a part of you who can ' t say yes to that , then you can ' t say yes to the death penalty . ""  I must admit I was humbled by Prejean ' s question . Couple that with the fact we can now lock up violent criminals for life and I , again , find myself arguing for the "" Consistent Ethic of Life . ""  As for Mohler , the Southern Baptist leader , he offered me this final thought : "" If I had the opportunity to trade the death penalty for the affirmation of protection of the life of the unborn , I ' d take it in a second . ""  Let the debate rage on .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,satire,true,True,no,no,negative,past
4448,4449,"Camp Verde , Arizona Jurors in the trial of self help guru and speaker James Ray , accused of three counts of manslaughter in a 2009 Arizona sweat lodge ceremony , heard a recording Wednesday in which he previewed the intense ceremony and told participants how it would be a "" death and rebirth experience . ""  Before the October 2009 ceremony at a retreat center near Sedona , Ray told participants it would include the most "" intense heat you ' ve every experienced in your life . You will feel like you are going to die . ""  The author described the ceremony as a sacred way for participants to rid themselves of "" all the things that you ' ve allowed to be your truth and have caused you to sell yourself short . ""  He promised each would emerge as a "" different person . "" The participants would then enjoy a celebratory dinner and share personal breakthroughs in an evening session .  But something went horribly wrong . Three people died during or after the purification ceremony and Ray was charged in their deaths .  The defense told jurors in opening statements last week the three died in a "" tragic accident not a crime . "" Prosecutors maintain Ray psychologically pressured participants to remain in the lodge even when they weren ' t feeling well , contributing to their deaths .  In the recording , Ray told participant , who paid up to 10 , 000 each to attend the event , that as "" true spiritual warriors "" and their "" altered state "" they would endure heat so intense it would make it feel like their skins was coming off of their bodies .  "" I will be right there with you , "" he said .  "" You will have to get to a point where you surrender to death , "" Ray said . "" When you are going into the lodge symbolically you are going back into the womb of mother earth . ""  "" It is such a great metaphor . . . "" the author said . "" My body dies but I never die . ""  Prosecutors argue that the lodge made of willow trees and branches , and covered with tarpaulins and blankets was heated to perilously high temperatures , causing the participants to suffer dehydration and heatstroke .  During his recorded talk , Ray repeatedly told participants to drink plenty of fluids .  But Dennis Mehravar testified he had not much to drink in the previous 36 hours and had only a short time to hydrate . And the real estate salesman from Canada said no physical examination or medical information was required before the event .  Another participant , Nell Wagoner , told jurors she saw no preparations by Ray ' s staff for any medical emergencies .  Ray told participants that if conditions became unbearable , they could leave when the lodge flap was opened .  He promised a transcending experience .  "" You will be in such an altered state , "" Ray said . "" You may see visions . It ' s a great opportunity to explore your own consciousness . ""  Wagoner , a gynecologist from Juneau , Alaska , and a participant in the program , testified she was concerned that a man who had been burned on his hand inside the lodge was allowed back in . Ray said a nurse would assist the participant , she testified .  But Wagoner also said she did not perceive participants in the lodge ' s dark interior needed medical attention . If they had , she would have provided assistance , the doctor told jurors .  Wagoner said she would not have entered the lodge if she thought there was a possibility she might die .  Wagoner testified that Ray never stopped anyone from leaving the sweat lodge . She acknowledged under cross examination that water and fortified drinks were available to participants .  Earlier , Jennifer Haley , who served as a volunteer at the 2009 event near Sedona , took the stand for the fourth day Wednesday to talk about how she and other "" Dream Team "" members tried to help ceremony participants .  Under cross examination , Haley acknowledged that , in a police interview on the day of the ceremony , she suggested the deaths and injuries were an innocent accident and that perhaps something on rocks inside the lodge contributed to the injuries .  The heat in the sweat lodge was maintained by heated rocks brought in by "" firetenders "" during regular intervals in the ceremony .  Ray is charged with three counts of reckless manslaughter in connection with the October 2009 incident at the spiritual retreat . If convicted , he could face up to 10 years in prison on each count .  Wagoner said she told detectives that they should look at carbon monoxide levels and dehydration among participants .  Haley also said ceremony participants had been warned about how hot the lodge would be and that Ray never told anyone who left during the event they would have to return . The man who burned his hand voluntarily returned to the lodge .  Kirby Brown , 38 , of Westtown , New York , and James Shore , 40 , of Milwaukee , died the night of the event . Volunteer Lizbeth Marie Neuman , 49 , of Prior Lake , Minnesota , died nine days after the ceremony .  The so called sweat lodge which was 5 feet tall and 23 feet wide , and built to accommodate up to 75 people was the site of a purification ritual for participants modeled on Native American customs .  Ray encouraged participants to hydrate throughout the retreat and warned them the sweat lodge would be very hot , his attorney has said . Participants signed a release form saying that the retreat activities could include a sweat lodge with enclosed spaces and high temperatures , Luis Li said in his opening statement last week .  The defense has asserted that the symptoms exhibited by the victims are consistent with poisoning from an unknown toxin .  InSession ' s Michael Christian , Beth Karas and Grace Wong contributed to this report .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
4451,4452,"Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Banking Committee on Thursday had to postpone its vote to confirm the two nominees to join the Securities and Exchange Commission, after four Democrats created a wall of opposition over the nominees’ views of corporate political spending. The resistance posed by Charles Schumer of New York, Robert Menendez of New Jersey, Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, led to procedural confusion and the Republican Committee Chairman, Richard Shelby of Alabama, decided to delay the vote.  The SEC, the country’s top securities regulator, has faced mounting pressure to require corporations to disclose political donations since the Supreme Court struck down strict limits on campaign finance in its 2010 Citizens United decision. During a confirmation hearing on the nominees last month, Schumer had demanded the two nominees, Republican Hester Peirce and Democrat Lisa Fairfax, state in writing that they support requiring corporations to make their political donations public. At Thursday’s vote, he said the answers he received were “gobbledy gook” that did not express firm positions, and he would oppose the nominations.  “Right now, the  is our best hope to undo some of the damage from Citizens United and stop the torrential downpour of dark money into our elections,” Schumer said after the hearing. “The  needs commissioners who believe in and support campaign spending transparency, and unfortunately these nominees have yet to answer that call.” Budget legislation passed by the Republican-majority Congress at the end of 2015 blocked the  from creating a rule on political spending. At March’s confirmation hearing Peirce, a senior fellow at George Mason University, said the  is charged with carrying out laws and she would not undermine the budget legislation if confirmed. Peirce and Fairfax, a law professor at George Washington University, were nominated by President Barack Obama in October. At the hearings the most powerful Democrat on the committee, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, pressed to confirm the nominees quickly and send their names to the full Senate to approve. “These people have been asked to take on important jobs. It is incumbent upon us to act on them promptly today and then on the floor,” Brown said. Thursday’s vote was “en banc,” which meant the committee was set to approve a single list of nominations that included the two. Voting was also postponed, then, for the other nominees on the list. ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
4464,4465,"Zlatan Ibrahimovic showed his support for the United Nations World Food Programme (  ) once again by displaying the words ' 805 million names ' on his boots during Paris Saint Germain ' s 1 1 draw against Chelsea .  The Sweden international took to Twitter shortly before his side ' s Champions League encounter against the Blues to reveal what he had penned on to his footwear .  His gesture comes just days after he announced why he had 50 names tattooed on to his upper body .  Zlatan Ibrahimovic penned the words ' 805 million names ' on to his boots ahead of his side ' s match  Ibrahimovic ' s customised boots during Paris Saint Germain ' s match against Chelsea  His boots caught the eye but Ibrahimovic failed top get on the scoresheet against Chelsea  The Swede did go close but found Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois in fine form  The 33 year old , pictured with Chelsea ' s Cesc Fabregas , started against the Blues in the last 16 clash   striker Ibrahimovic tattooed the names of 50 starving people from around the world on his torso  The 33 year old had the names temporarily inked on to his body to pay tribute to the  , who aim to help the 805 million people who are suffering from hunger .  Ibrahimovic said of his gesture : ' Wherever I go people recognise me , call my name , cheer for me .  ' But there are names no one cares to remember . That no one cheers for : the 805m people suffering from hunger in the world today .  ' I have the supporters all over the world . From now on I want this support to go to the people who suffer from hunger , they are the real champions .  ' So whenever you hear my name , you will think of their names . '  Ibrahimovic had the temporary tattoos of names such as Carmen , Mariko , Antoine , Lida , Rahma and Yaae applied to his torso ahead of the Caen match .  The 50 names were applied as temporary tattoos around Ibrahimovic ' s existing tattoos  The tattoos were designed to raise awareness of the United Nations relief work in impoverished countries  Ibrahimovic urged his fans to around the world to offer their support to millions of starving people  The  ace revealed the 50 names when he stripped off during his side ' s 2 2 draw with Caen on Saturday .  Ibrahimovic , who was warned by Laurent Blanc about taking his shirt off against Chelsea , celebrated by showing his support to the  after scoring in the second minute .  Blanc said : ' Imagine if he ' d got another yellow card after 20 minutes ? We may as well have abandoned the game in the 70th minute because we would have been down to seven men .  ' It was a good initiative , but I don ' t know whether him taking his shirt off was good for us . I hope that , on Tuesday , if he scores he doesn ' t take the shirt off because he will be booked again . '  Ibrahimovic removed his shirt to reveal the 50 names after scoring after just 72 seconds of the match  Ibrahimovic wore most of the tattoos on his arm , chest and midriff  The striker was booked for removing his shirt in celebration , as the laws of the game dictate  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
4465,4466,"Rafael Nadal bid farewell to the Australian Open after falling at the first hurdle on Tuesday . Photo : Getty Images  Having suffered only his second ? first round loss in a Grand Slam , and on the heels of a year in which he failed to land a Grand Slam title for the first time in over a decade , Rafael Nadal has plenty of reason not to be in the best mood at the start of 2016 . Yet his Australian Open loss to Fernando Verdasco at the Australian Open on Tuesday shouldn t necessarily signify gloom and doom for the 14 time Grand Slam champion .  On the surface it is easy to take the loss as the continuation of a steep decline in Nadal s fortunes . In 2015 , the Spaniard failed to make it past the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam , and he has now failed to get into the second week of the last three Majors , following early exits at both Wimbledon and the U . S . Open . Even though Nadal now appears physically sharp after fighting back to fitness at the start of last year , the aura surrounding him remains absent . And , given that he will turn 30 in June , many have understandably doubted whether he will ever return to the form required to land tennis major titles .  Yet Nadal was keen to stress afterward that the circumstances surrounding his defeat to Verdasco were very different to last year s struggles .  Last year was a different story , he said in his press conference . I don ' t want to compare last year , because last year was different issues . But this year , the real thing is I was not enough aggressive with my forehand during the whole match . I didn ' t feel it . I tried . I fighted . I was ready to do it , and I didn ' t . So I am sad for that .  Sometimes you have success sometimes you do not . Today it is obvious that I didn ' t .  Certainly that lack of aggression was evident during his five set loss . For the vast majority of the encounter it was Nadal s compatriot Verdasco who was dictating the play . ? Nadal s forehand , for so long such a devastating weapon , lacked real depth or menace , allowing Verdasco to control the rally with his own big left handed forehand .  Yet the fact that it was a meeting between two left handers is just one of the factors that mean it would be dangerous to extrapolate what lies in store for Nadal from this one match . Not only was Nadal s strength diminished by going up against another left hander , but he was also taking on a player who knows his game better than almost any other . Featuring his good friend and frequent practice partner , this was not a matchup Nadal will have been thrilled to see in the first round . And , while Verdasco has slipped down to No . 47 from his career high ranking of No . 7 , the 32 year old maintains the firepower to trouble the game s best when he is going for broke and having a good day , as he was on Tuesday .  For Verdasco , too , there was particular motivation , having been defeated by Nadal in a five set epic in the 2009 Australian Open semifinals . And , in truth , the result could easily have gone in Nadal s favor once again . He had opportunities in both the first and fifth sets that should have been taken .  Taking out the Australian Open loss , the trend for Nadal has been upward in recent months . After reaching the final in Basel and Beijing , he then finished 2015 by beating Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka en route to the semifinals of the  World Tour finals . At the start of this year , he picked up where he left off by making the final in Qatar , harnessing a more aggressive style . It is that approach that , as Nadal admits , it will be crucial to develop .  I felt myself that I was practicing great , playing very good , he said after defeat to Verdasco . I was practicing little bit different , trying to be more inside the court . It ' s obvious that all the changes are not easy and especially are difficult to make that happen when you are competing .  But the real thing is if I am not doing that , then I am dead . I can play defensive or offensive . But if you stay in the middle , finally , at the end of the day , you are not doing nothing . You cannot be in the middle of being offensive or defensive , because it is obvious that finally you don ' t have a consistent strategy , then you are lost .  Against both Novak Djokovic , in a comprehensive final defeat in Qatar , and Verdasco , Nadal couldn t maintain the required aggression . But more favorable conditions to implement it will soon be forthcoming . As well as now getting a considerable layoff to hone his play on the practice court , his return to the tour in Rio de Janeiro next month will see Nadal return to his beloved clay . After a brief return to the hard courts with the Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells and Miami in March he will then settle into his favorite part of the calendar the European clay court season .  Despite the setback in Melbourne , there remains reason to think that Nadal will improve on his failure to win a single event on the European clay last season and be a real threat to win a 10th French Open . Do that and his confidence will surely be high when attempting to thrive once again on the faster surfaces for the rest of the year .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
4466,4467,"As the snow falls, Times reporters hit neighborhoods and airports from Washington to Boston. Here are some of the stories they found. Snow may have been in the forecast for the Jersey Shore on Tuesday morning but something else ended up coming down in buckets: sarcasm. “What storm?” said Billy Pisano, a painter, who said he “fought the lines for bread and milk” Monday night and canceled his Tuesday job only to wake up to no snow. “I guess I’m going to stay home in the rain,” he said. “I think it’s going to be a Netflix day. ” At a Wawa convenience store in Neptune, people stopped for coffee, cigarettes and griping. George Martin, 50, had strapped a snowplow to his sport utility vehicle and planned to spend the day using it to scrape up a few dollars. He expected seven inches. His spirits sank when he woke up extra early and looked outside. “Like, oh man, come on, they did it again,” he said. “It’s like having a firecracker and you throw it and it’s a dud. ” He added, “There’s nothing to plow. You can’t charge people for something that’s not there. ” Al Clark, 38, and Stephen Vierschilling, 26,   at a shop that paints fire engines, shared jokes about weather forecasters. “The last few storms they said it was going to be Armageddon and it wasn’t,” Mr. Clark said. Soo Becchina, a   special education teacher from Oceanside on Long Island, tutors students after school four days a week. Because of the storm, she had to cancel sessions with her students. The missed day means missed wages. “Tutoring is a side business for me,” Ms. Becchina said. “But, more important it always upsets me when I cannot give my kids what they need. One of the girls I see is having a math test tomorrow. I am hoping that the teacher doesn’t give the test but, I know this teacher and she normally doesn’t move test dates. ” Despite losing the day and the money, Ms. Becchina still plans on doing a phone session with her student later in the day, at no charge.  —     and   Cancellation notices covered the international flight board at Terminal 4 at Kennedy Airport in Queens on Tuesday morning. But one flight, from Guangzhou, China, had landed shortly before 5 a. m. David Dubois, an engineer and   aviation enthusiast from Hudson, N. H. was among the passengers. He said he was impressed with the plane’s landing, despite the snowy conditions. “The pilot really had a difficult time and pulled it off really well,” Mr. Dubois said. “There was no tarmac it was all snow. When he landed, you could just feel it starting to go sideways. He pulled it straight  —   no bounce, no nothing. I couldn’t believe it. ” But Mr. Dubois still had to get to New England. Kamari Simon, 18, was in a similar bind in Terminal 5. Mr. Simon, a D. J. said he was scheduled to perform with a    rapper named Smooky Margiela at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas. “I hope everything goes through and I’ll be down in Austin,” said Mr. Simon, who studies music at Five Towns College in Dix Hills, on Long Island. “It’s an opportunity for me to meet other artists and network. ”  —     Tuesday’s storm shuttered schools along the Eastern Seaboard, keeping students out of the classroom. But, even though school was closed, elementary students in Petersham, Mass. a town of 1, 200 in the central part of the state, did not exactly have a snow day. Instead, they had homework  —   books, activities, worksheets and even a science experiment  —   intended to allow them to make up the day of school without being there, and, thus, to prevent the school from having to add a day at the end of the year. The idea emerged after the winter of 2015, when the district had 10 snow days. Tari Thomas, the superintendent of schools for a consolidated school district that includes Petersham, said the district experimented with sending older students home with online coursework to complete on laptops (although that was not the case on Tuesday, because the students had already used up the five days of online learning they were allowed for the year). “There have been a small pocket of parents that have said, ‘Why can’t kids be kids and have a snow day? ’” said Ms. Thomas. But, Ms. Thomas added, “We’ve had parents say, ‘Oh my gosh, thank goodness you gave them something to do. ’” In Central Park in Manhattan, it was a different story. It was a true snow day with schools canceled. Aliana Lambert, 6, dragged her purple sled to a   hill. There was no written rule banning girls from the hill at 100th Street and Central Park West, but at 2 p. m. Aliana was the only girl standing. Kat Vlasica, Aliana’s mother, said they came to their neighborhood hill for every snowstorm. “When you’re in New York with 800 square feet, you have to take advantage of a hill like this,” she said. “This is our hill, and we don’t even have to salt or scrape it. ”  —     and   Navigating New York City streets was a challenge, what with snow and sleet and gusting wind and patches of ice. Drivers on Staten Island confronted another obstacle: a pair of runaway ponies. Terence Monahan, the chief of patrol, said the two ponies escaped from a stable. An   police officer driving his truck saw them walking down Hylan Boulevard on the South Shore. The officer stopped and grabbed a tow strap from inside his truck. “He grabbed them, tied them to a lamp post. We got a radio car there and we were able to return them back to the stables,” he said. “They’re safe, they’re in great shape. ” The mayor, for his part, thanked the “cowboy officer. ”  —       —   Washington is finally getting the snow day it thought this winter had forgotten  —   well, kind of. Never mind that only an inch or two of snow, sleet and freezing rain fell across the city and nearby swaths of Virginia and Maryland overnight. Or that public transportation and the federal government, the region’s largest employer, were open for business. As layers of snow and sleet buried crocuses and wilted Washington’s early cherry blossoms, the roads were unplowed and mostly empty at dawn on Tuesday. Business owners who decided to open anyway shoveled front walks only to see them recoated in slippery slush. Even lawmakers in the House of Representatives, who are racing to move major health care legislation forward this week, elected to give themselves something of a snow day on Tuesday. Citing the rash of canceled flights across the country, they postponed all votes until Wednesday. Inside the Oval Office, President Trump hosted Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s deputy crown prince, for lunch and a  . Outside, the daily steady shuffle of tourists posed for pictures. David and Michelle Wilding of Dallas were among them, accompanied by their daughters, Hope and Grace. They had imagined something of a greener spring getaway. So snow? “It’s wonderful,” Mr. Wilding said, especially after a winter at home that did not send its usual dose.  —     The snowstorm threw a wrench into Town Meeting Day, a   pillar of the local democratic process in New Hampshire. With the jury out on what, exactly, elections officials were allowed to do, some town moderators postponed the    votes that make up the backbone of governance here. Others let them go ahead, and voters navigated wind and snow to make it to the polls. “We had to instruct our voter clerks to tell the voters, please don’t drip on the ballots,” said Wayne Colby, the town moderator in Henniker, N. H. west of Concord. “I grew up in New Hampshire,” Mr. Colby said, adding, “We don’t have snow days for elections. ” The town meeting, where voters hash out the budget or other issues related to fire and police departments, is older than the state itself. It is also a day of voting for local offices, ordinance changes or bonds. When it became clear that the day would collide with a major winter storm, some town moderators wondered if they could postpone their votes and meetings. The answer from the governor? It’s not clear, but please don’t. “Given that there are differing opinions, the best we can do is strongly recommend that all towns stay open for voting tomorrow,” said Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican. The issue has become the latest disruption in a state that is reeling over accusations of widespread voter fraud by President Trump, and comes on the heels of a number of proposals by Republicans to tighten voting rules.  —    BIDGOOD",true,news,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,yes,no,neutral,past
4473,4474,"Offensive post : Prison officer Michael Allred  A high ranking corrections officer has been sacked after joking on Facebook that he had been ' groped ' by guards during a tour of prisons .  Former state trooper Michael Allred had accompanied his boss , the secretary of the Maryland Department of Public Safety Stephen Moyer , on a tour of prison facilities in Jessup , Maryland on Wednesday .  Later that day he posted on Facebook : ' Visiting the prisons . . . haven ' t been groped this much since the flight on the honeymoon . . . and this is just the guards ! '  Incredibly Allred tagged both his boss Moyer , and ' Maryland House of Correction ' in the post which quickly circulated among other prison officers .  A statement posted on the Department of Correctional Services website confirmed that Allred had been dismissed for ' inappropriate comments made on social media ' .  Allred had been hired in December as a police liaison with the state ' s government StateStat accountability program .  The American Federation of State , County and Municipal Employees said in a statement that the union believed Moyer took the right course of action in terminating Allred ' s employment .  '  members believe that Michael Allred ' s social media comments were inappropriate and insulting to 7 , 200 Maryland correctional officers , '  said in a statement .  Allred tagged both his boss and ' Maryland House of Correction ' in the post which quickly circulated among other prison officers  Security has been extra tight in Maryland prisons after a scandal involving smuggled drugs and cellphones in the Baltimore City Detention Center  Security has been extra tight in Maryland prisons after a scandal involving smuggled drugs and cellphones in the Baltimore City Detention Center .  ' The secretary has the utmost respect for correctional officers and requires all employees to respect the department , their authority , and their peers , ' the department said on its website .  ' He holds employees to the highest professional standards and expects them to act in a professional manner . '  Allred could not be reached for comment on Thursday evening .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
4476,4477,"A professor who compared some victims of the al Qaeda attack on the World Trade Center to Nazis was fired Tuesday by the University of Colorado ' s Board of Regents .  Professor Ward Churchill wrote that some 9 11 victims were "" little Eichmanns . ""  Ward Churchill raised hackles with a 2002 essay that argued the September 11 , 2001 , attacks were a justified reaction to U . S . policies in the Middle East , and said the hijackers who killed nearly 3 , 000 people in New York , Washington and Pennsylvania had "" the courage of their convictions . ""  But the regents said Churchill ' s firing was unrelated to the essay , which went largely unnoticed for three years . Instead , it cited "" deliberate and repeated research misconduct . "" A university investigation had found cases of plagiarism and falsification in previous papers by Churchill allegations that surfaced after his essay became widely known .  "" The Board of Regents affirms that its decisions in this matter have been made solely on the basis of the allegations of research misconduct against Professor Churchill and have not been influenced or motivated by extrinsic considerations , Professor Churchill ' s political and social views or a desire to punish Professor Churchill for expression of his political or social views , "" the university announced .   interim Chancellor Phil DiStefano recommended Churchill ' s dismissal in June 2006 after a university committee completed its investigation .  Churchill ' s essay drew little notice until a 1 , 800 student college in upstate New York invited him to take part in a 2005 forum on prisons and Native American rights . The invitation was rescinded after criticism from then New York Gov . George Pataki , then Colorado Gov . Bill Owens and hundreds of relatives of those killed in the attacks created a media firestorm .  The piece had called some of those who died in the World Trade Center "" little Eichmanns "" a reference to Adolf Eichmann , the Gestapo officer who was one of the chief architects of the Holocaust arguing they were "" a technocratic corps at the very heart of America ' s global financial empire . ""  Churchill , who had tenure , stepped down from his post as head of  ' s ethnic studies department amid the flap but remained on staff . He had no immediate reaction to Tuesday ' s decision . E mail to a friend  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
4503,4504,""" The Normal Heart , "" written by my friend , the brilliant playwright Larry Kramer , and based on his story during the earliest days of the  epidemic , tells a tale that many of us lived through , and many others did not survive . It ' s as relevant today as an  movie as when it premiered on the stage in New York City in 1985 .  Back then , The New York Times refused to print the word "" gay , "" and New York Mayor Ed Koch was agonizingly slow to respond to the unfolding epidemic . Fear was everywhere . Around the country , family members shunned infected relatives , doctors were afraid to touch  patients , let alone treat them , and hospital wards filled up with young men covered in lesions , dying excruciating deaths . I ' ve almost lost track of the number of funerals I went to in those years . My friends were dying all around me I ' m lucky that I somehow survived .    , the coalition that Larry founded to address the crisis , coined the phrase "" silence equals death "" as its rallying cry , and it was no exaggeration . By the end of 1983 ,  had claimed 2 , 100 lives , but the government would hardly acknowledge that anything was awry . I can ' t help but wonder , if those in power had cared more , if they had done more , perhaps we could have ended this epidemic before it began to circle the globe . But they didn ' t care , they didn ' t act , and 36 million people have died of  since .  Worldwide , another than 1 . 6 million people will die of  this year .  In the United States , there will be roughly 50 , 000 new infections .  While The Normal Heart is a product of a specific time , it is not an artifact . There is still an  crisis not only in sub Saharan Africa , but right here in the America , in your state , in your community . And , just as in 1985 , it is silence , fear and stigma that continue to drive the epidemic .  Today , African Americans represent 12 of the national population , but they account for 44 of Americans living with  , according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . Gay and bisexual men comprise only 2 of the American population , but they represented 30 of the nation ' s  infections in 2010 .  Around 4 , 000 Americans are infected with  each year because of injection drug use , and one in seven  positive Americans pass through a correctional facility each year . The crisis is particularly acute in the American South , where homophobia is rampant .  I hope  ' s production of "" The Normal Heart "" will compel a new generation to act up . There is so much work still to be done , but there ' s also so much potential . The characters in "" The Normal Heart , "" living as they did in the 1980s , didn ' t understand what they or their friends were dying of , and they didn ' t have treatments to manage the disease . They hardly knew how to protect themselves .  Today , we know how to protect everyone , and we have the ability to treat every single person living with  . Yet  continues to prey upon the most vulnerable in our society : the poor , the incarcerated , sex workers , drug users , and those living in regions where intolerance and stigma are facts of life . Today , as ever , silence equals death .  Elton John uses photography to fight   As Larry so forcefully taught us nearly 30 years ago and as he and Ryan Murphy , the director of the new  film , continue to remind us today we must speak out against injustice , act with compassion , and fight for equality .  If enough of us raise our voices , we can finally begin to end this epidemic .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
4508,4509,"England Chelsea and England defender Ashley Cole has apologized to London police for a foul mouthed tirade that led to him being arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct in the early hours of Thursday morning .  Ashley Cole , pictured signing an autograph at a charity event in London Wednesday .  In a statement released by the left back , Cole said he swore out of his frustration with the paparazzi and insisted he would never disrespect the police .  However , Cole admits he did not heed their warnings to calm down and regrets not taking their advice . He also made it clear that he had not consumed a vast amount of alcohol .  Cole declared : "" I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to the police officers on duty last night for my language .  "" I felt I was being harassed by paparazzi and while complaining to the police about this at the scene they did warn me to calm down , a warning that I regrettably did not heed .  "" I fully appreciate that whatever frustrations I may have had with others that it was completely inappropriate to vent those in conversations with the police .  "" However , I do want to make clear that I swore in frustration at the paparazzi ' s behavior . I would never disrespect police officers in anyway .  "" I take very seriously my responsibilities as a professional footballer , this includes keeping my body in the best condition . Although I had consumed some alcohol earlier in the evening on a night out with friends it had not been excessive .  "" But I accept that the language I used on this occasion was wrong . I regret my actions and how it reflects on myself and Chelsea Football Club . ""  The 28 year old was arrested in Brompton Road in the upmarket west London area of South Kensington , close to Chelsea ' s Stamford Bridge ground , at about 2 . 15am on Thursday morning after emerging from the Collection nightclub .  Police sources said the officers were already on patrol in the street and were not called to any disorder . One source denied reports they were following up a complaint from a photographer over an alleged bust up with Cole .  Cole was taken to a central London police station and issued with an 80 fixed penalty notice for being drunk and disorderly before being released shortly after 5 . 30am .  Cole is likely to be fined by Chelsea .  Before his arrest , Cole had joined Chelsea ' s first team squad and more than 300 charity workers , celebrities and supporters for the second annual Chelsea  and Armani charity fundraiser .  Cole , who previously played for Arsenal before joining Chelsea in 2006 , is married to the Girls Aloud singer and reality  judge Cheryl Cole , who is currently on a charity climb on Tanzania ' s Mount Kilimanjaro .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
4518,4519,"Of all the terrible conflicts facing the world in 2013 , Syria is undoubtedly the most complex and dangerous .  Violence has left four million people inside Syria in desperate need of help shelter , food , education , clean water , health care and protection and has uprooted two million inside the country and sent 600 , 000 fleeing the horrors of war into neighboring countries . Now a bitter winter is the new enemy .  Syria ' s children suffer the most . At least half of all those affected by the conflict are children . Too many have been injured or killed too many have seen family and friends die , their homes and schools reduced to rubble .  The good news is our aid is reaching approximately 1 . 5 million Syrians , even in areas of fighting children are being vaccinated , and temporary schools are being set up , families are being fed and sheltered thanks to our work and to the valiant , efforts of many partners like the Syrian Arab Red Crescent .  But we could do so much more . There are areas inside Syria where our ability to deliver is intermittent at best where we cannot reach those in need of our help . We appeal to all the parties involved in the conflict to grant unrestricted humanitarian access inside Syria . Sadly , if this appeal continues to go unheeded , we fear the already horrific level of suffering will become even worse .  Crisis in Syria : The Refugees  With each passing day , and each passing week it becomes harder for Syrians to endure . Most cannot flee and find safe havens in neighboring countries . Some find precarious refuge with friends or the kindness of strangers in another town . Others shelter in abandoned , unheated buildings or makeshift camps . Many find themselves moving from one place to another , again and again as the conflict spreads .  Living conditions in all areas of the country are deteriorating rapidly . It is not only the violence that people fear , but the combined threat of hunger , cold and illness .  Neighboring countries have opened their borders to 600 , 000 Syrian refugees and , with the help of humanitarian organizations like ours , offer basic support for their survival . But even they face difficult challenges .  Most refugees are children who have escaped with mothers and grandmothers . Now , many have been refugees for 21 months . It has been  ' s job to register them and provide them with shelter and basic relief items like mattresses , blankets and kitchen sets .  What ' s next for Syria in 2013 ?  In most places ,  vouchers allow them to buy fresh food from the market .  helps children overcome their trauma , gets them into schools , and gives them with books and supplies and access to better health . Host communities open their homes and their hearts . Host governments provide medical and other community services .  As the numbers of refugees grow , so does the strain on these host governments .  The resources provided by Lebanon , Jordan , Turkey and Iraq are dangerously stretched .  No one can predict how long this will last . What is needed now is support from the entire international community to asylum countries and organizations like ours to help us do more .  In December , the U . N . appealed for 1 . 5 billion for the humanitarian response both inside and outside Syria and we are urging donors to contribute more .  If the conflict can ' t be stopped now , the least we can do is ease the suffering .  The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Ant nio Guterres , Ertharin Cousin and Anthony Lake .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
4538,4539,"' First picture of baby Saint West ' with Kim Kardashian and Kanye ' s daughter North causes meltdown  The son of Kimye was born 51 days ago but the private parents are yet to show even a glimpse of the saintly arrival  Thanks for subscribing ! Could not subscribe , try again later  An Instagram snap believed to be the first official picture of Saint West has turned out to be a complete hoax .  An image of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West ' s eldest daughter North feeding a baby appeared on the account privateKanye yesterday , with many fans going into meltdown at the thought it was a leaked picture of the baby .  Captioned "" everything "" users soon began commenting that it could well be Saint .  North West with baby relative , but sorry it isn ' t Saint  One commenter wrote : "" i spy a saint lol "" as another added : "" is this true ? ! ? ! ! ! ""  The excitement was too much for another , who wrote : "" omg what ""  While the face is obscured , another didn ' t care and was just glad to finally have a look : "" lool I know ! but this is all we ' re getting ! ""  Kimye aren ' t so stupid to post a photo of their son accidentally on social media though and it was soon identified as an old picture of North with a cousin .  While it isn ' t the second coming we had hoped for , at least it ' s a reminder of how cute North is and what an amazing older sister she ' s clearly going to be .  North is going to be the best sister to Saint  It is no surprise that the Wests have been keeping their son underwraps .  North , who was born in June 2013 , was kept well away from the spotlight for the first few months .  Rather than striking a magazine deal , the parents revealed their gorgeous daughter on momager Kris Jenner ' s chatshow .  While we haven ' t  Saint yet he is already making his presence known in the West household .  Earlier this week Kim took to Twitter to complain 4am feeds were making her "" delirious "" .  She wrote on Monday morning : "" This 4 am feeding really kills me . I ' m like delirious . ""  Mum to be Chrissy Teigen sympathised with the star , sending a crying face . To which Kim replied : "" You have no idea "" .  This 4 am feeding really kills me . I ' m like delirious  ? Kim Kardashian West ( KimKardashian ) January 25 , 2016  Ohhhhh just you wait and see . . . . Lol weblink : t . co zgWOK8q8CM  ? Kim Kardashian West ( KimKardashian ) January 25 , 2016  It looks like we ' re going to have to wait a little longer to meet him , at least we have North though .  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
4545,4546,"Laura Loomer decided to make a trip to Brookfield,  to see how customers at Costco were receiving Crooked Hillary at her book signing tour. Loomer is the same awesome activist who bravely stormed the stage in Central Park and disrupted the Trump assassination play (click  for the video), this summer. Last week, Loomer was forcibly removed from Hillary s book signing in New York. When it was her turn to have her book signed, Loomer asked Hillary questions like,  Where are your 33,000 emails?  and  What happened to Seth Rich?  (Click  for Hillary ambush video). Hillary s reaction was priceless.Here is Laura s video showing the reaction by customers to Hillary appearing at their local Costco for a book signing: Protesters at Hillary Clinton book signing in Brookfield,  weblink  Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) September 16, 2017Loomer was eventually blocked by secret service from getting too close to Hillary. Hillary clearly didn t want any more nasty videos out there exposing the truth about the questions Americans really want to hear her answer:Just showed up to @Costco for @HillaryClinton book signing and when I arrived police said @SecretService told them not to let me in.  Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) September 16, 2017That moment when @HillaryClinton blocks Laura from going to Costco with secret service and she wanted to be president?? Haha. Way to go loom weblink  Joe Biggs (@Rambobiggs) September 16, 2017Costco did allow Loomer inside the store, in spite of Hillary s request to keep her away:Thank you @Costco for respecting my first amendment right and allowing me inside despite @HillaryClinton telling @SecretService to ban me!  Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) September 16, 2017Loomer was told by Costco employees that they don t understand why Costco would allow her to come and that customers were canceling their memberships:A @Costco employee just told me "" why they even let her come. They said a lot of people have canceled their memberships. We hate her."" weblink  Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) September 16, 2017Hillary was strategically placed in the  milk aisle  and  behind the toilet paper  at Costco:Behind the toilet paper & yellow rope is where @HillaryClinton was signing books. Yes, #WhatHappened is in the toilet paper aisle @Costco! pic.twitter.com/37j1z6CnjD  Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) September 16, 2017Could've been in the @WhiteHouse , but now @HillaryClinton is signing copies of her fiction book next to gallons of milk.   #WhatHappened pic.twitter.com/Qdg276pSmL  Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) September 16, 2017Here s a great video of some anti-Hillary protesters that were found in the parking lot of Costco, shouting  Hillary for Prison :""I think it's a disgrace that @Costco has @HillaryClinton. She's a criminal!""   Westchester. Housewife with a #Trump flag pic.twitter.com/YpdLq7yaTI  Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) September 16, 2017This Twitter user shares a great photo and comment:So Trump is in the White House and Hillary is between the bottled water and toilet paper at Costco signing her book pic.twitter.com/4JfoYRbz4u  Renna (@RennaW) September 16, 2017",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
4551,4552,"Bulky brace more of a problem than knee injury for Justin Houston  Justin Houston is getting used to playing with a brace on his knee . ?  Covered Chiefs for 20 seasons for Kansas City Star    , Mo . ? Justin Houston said he can play with the knee injury that caused him to miss the final five games of the regular season . But the Kansas City Chiefs linebacker reported that the bulky brace he has to wear to protect the injured knee is a bigger problem .  It s doing well , "" Houston said of his injured knee . It s a little sore from that brace . The brace beat me up more than anything . ""  In fact , Houston left last Saturday ' s playoff game against the Houston Texans for a stretch of plays because of the brace and not the injury . Houston said it s the first time he s ever played with a brace on the knee .  View ESPNweblink ' s complete coverage of the 2016  playoffs , from the wild card round through Super Bowl 50 .  I kept banging my leg against the brace , "" he said . If I felt comfortable playing without it , I d go out there without it . But I feel safe with it . Playing with that thing is never comfortable . I just have to get used to it . ""  Houston didn t practice Tuesday and was unsure whether he would join his teammates for Wednesday ' s workout . But Houston and the Chiefs are confident he will play in Saturday s divisional round playoff game against the New England Patriots .  Houston was credited with three tackles , but no sacks , against the Texans . He led the Chiefs in sacks during the regular season with 7 . 5 despite missing the five games .  I feel like I played well against the run , "" Houston said of his play against the Texans . In the pass rush I felt rusty . I definitely had to knock some rust off . As the game went on I felt like I was doing better . ""  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
4564,4565,"They were big , brutish and probably not particularly good looking . Now it seems that Neanderthals had to contend with an ailment that affected their appearance too psoriasis .  A new genetic study has suggested that these now extinct ancient cousins of modern humans may have suffered from the skin condition that causes red , flaky and often painful patches of skin .  The research has also revealed that they may have suffered from other modern medical disorders such as Crohn ' s disease , a condition that affects the digestive system .  Neanderthals , like the one above , are thought to have been broad browed and big nosed but they may also have suffered from the skin condition psoriasis and Crohn ' s disease according to the latest  research  It suggests that the two diseases may have originated in a common ancestor of Neanderthals , Denisovans and modern humans more than a million years ago .  Researchers say the genetic changes that link the vulnerability to these diseases may even once have conveyed a benefit to our ancient ancestors .  This , they argue , may be why the diseases , which are both caused by inflammation triggered by the immune system , have persisted in the genome .  It has been around 30 , 000 years since the ancestors of modern day humans are thought to have wiped out the ancient Neanderthals .  But the extinct species could be taking revenge on us from beyond the grave by making us more vulnerable to potentially killer diseases such as cancer and diabetes .  Neanderthals and modern humans are thought to have co existed for thousands of years and interbred , meaning Europeans now have roughly two per cent Neanderthal  .  These ' legacy ' genes have been linked to an increased risk from cancer and diabetes by new studies looking at our evolutionary history .  However , some genes we inherited could have also improved our immunity to other diseases .  Scientists have found that part of our  system , which helps white blood cells to identify and destroy foreign material in the body , could have come from Neanderthals .  Other researchers have suggested that humans outside Africa are more vulnerable to Type 2 Diabetes because they interbred with Neanderthals .  Researchers from Oxford and Plymouth universities have also found that genes thought to be risk factors in cancer were present in the Neanderthal genome .  A gene that can cause diabetes in Latin Americans is also thought to have come from Neanderthals , long before their ancestors colonised the New World .  However , such negative traits can persist through evolution if they do not harm a species survival .  Dr Omen Gokcumen , an evolutionary geneticist who led the work at the University at Buffalo , part of the The State University of New York , said : ' Our research shows that some genetic features associated with psoriasis , Crohn ' s disease and other aspects of human health are ancient .  ' Crohn ' s disease and psoriasis are damaging , but our findings suggest that there may be something else some unknown factor now or in the past that counteracts the danger when you carry genetic features that may increase susceptibility for these conditions .  ' Both diseases are autoimmune disorders , and one can imagine that in a pathogen rich environment , a highly active immune system may actually be a good thing even if it increases the chances of an auto immune response . '  The researchers , whose work is published in the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution , compared modern human genomes to other closely related species including chimpanzees , Neanderthals and Denisovans .  Neanderthals are thought to have lived between 280 , 000 to 40 , 000 years ago before dying out completely while the Denisovans are thought to have been a sister group to Neanderthals , splitting from a common ancestor around 600 , 000 years ago .  The researchers looked for sections of  that had disappeared from the genomes since humans began diverging from chimpanzees known as deletions .  They found 427 deletions in modern humans that were also in the genomes of Neanderthals and Denisovans .  Psoriasis is a common skin condition that can cause a rash and flaky or blistery skin ( like above ) anywhere on the body in modern humans but it may have been a problem for ancient human relatives like Neanderthals  The  documentary Walking with Neanderthals portrayed the extinct ancient human species ( above ) as they are commonly seen based on their skeletons but their  has also suggested they suffered from psoriasis  By tracing when these deletions may have occurred , by looking at changes in the  , the scientists found that about 87 per cent of the deletions occured before modern humans and Neanderthals split from a common ancestor .  They found around nine per cent of the deletions found in modern humans probably came from interbreeding between Neanderthals .  Indeed , previous research has shown that modern humans in Europe owe around two percent of their  to Neanderthals due to interbreeding between the species in the past .  Much of what we know about Neanderthals has come from examining their bones , like the skull above , but now  extracted from their fossilised remains is helping to shed new light on what their lives were like  Psoriasis is caused by excessive inflammation in the upper layers of the skin by the immune system , causing the skin to thicken , form pustules , bleed and flake off in crusty clumps , as is shown in the diagram above  Neanderthals , like the one depicted above , are thought to have had a common ancestor with modern humans around a million years ago  Some research has suggested that genes we inherited from them could have changed our immune systems while also left us vulnerable to diseases like diabetes and cancer .  The new study found 17 gene deletions that code are thought to code for proteins .  Most of these are involved in metabolism , growth and sperm development that were probably responsible for some of the changes that occurred as human ancestors evolved from chimpanzees .  However , the researchers also found examples of missing  that are known to play a role in causing psoriasis and Crohn ' s disease .  This would have meant that both Neanderthals and Denisovans suffered from both of these diseases .  Psoriasis can lead to itchy and sometimes painful rashes and blisters on the skin while Crohn ' s Disease is a chronic inflammation of the digestive system that can cause diarrhoea and stomach pains .  Dr Gokcumen said that while these are currently seen as negative diseases in modern humans , they may have provided some benefit to our ancestors .  He said the best example of this is sickle cell anemia , a disorder of the red blood cells that can makes it harder for them to carry oxygen around the body , but also prevents infection by the malaria parasite .  Yen Lung Lin , who is the lead author of the study , added : ' We ' re thinking forces that maintain variation might be more relevant to human health and biology than previously believed . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
4591,4592,"? The United States has strengthened efforts to discourage corporate inversions by making the deals more difficult and limiting the benefits of transactions in which American companies take foreign addresses to cut their tax liabilities .  Some of the actions announced Thursday by the Treasury Department will affect transactions that close now or in the future , while others apply retroactively to those completed after September 2014 .  Corporate inversions ? deals in which  companies take foreign addresses and cut their tax rates ? became a political flash point last year , though the rhetoric has now cooled . The latest transaction is Pfizer Inc . s potential 150 billion acquisition of Allergan  , which would be the drug industry s biggest deal ever .  These actions further reduce the benefits of an inversion and make these transactions even more difficult to achieve , said Treasury Secretary Jacob J . Lew . This is an important step , but it is not the end of our work . We continue to explore additional ways to address inversions ? including potential guidance on earnings stripping ? and we intend to take further action in the coming months .  The Treasury said it s reducing the tax benefits of inversions by limiting the ability of an inverted company to transfer its foreign operations to the new foreign parent without paying  tax . These actions apply to inversions completed on or after Sept . 22 , 2014 .  The department also sought to stop inversions in which a  company buys a smaller foreign company and then uses the transaction to establish a new tax address for the combined firm in a third country . The department expects the biggest impact on inversions will come from that change , as some companies set up a unit in a third country without any real connection to the transaction , a Treasury official said .  For example , Endo International  , a drug maker run from Pennsylvania , was once a  company that became Irish for tax purposes by buying a smaller Canadian competitor . The new rules will prevent  firms from essentially cherry picking a tax friendly country in which to locate their tax residence , the Treasury said .  Currently ,  companies are allowed to do inversions if at least 25 percent of the new company s business is done in the foreign country in which the new firm was created or organized .  The new rules will discourage inversions by also requiring that the new company be a tax resident of the foreign country in which it was created or organized , the Treasury said .  Tax inversions have been criticized by  lawmakers and presidential candidates . Last year , the Treasury Department issued a proposal intended to discourage the moves , which typically change a company s legal address only , while the operating headquarters stays in the United States . Allergan , for example , is run from New Jersey but has a Dublin address for tax purposes .  We welcome efforts from Treasury to curb overseas tax inversions , Oregon Senator Ron Wyden , the ranking Democrat on the Finance Committee , said in a statement . Ultimately it s up to Congress to deliver tax policy that better equips companies to compete and succeed by staying in the  . And the only way to get that done , and end the inversion virus that is plaguing our country , is through true bipartisan tax reform .  Get Today s Headlines from the Globe in your inbox :  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
4602,4603,"A millionaire car dealer is about to begin his third trial on charges that he murdered his wife but his children are insisting that he is innocent .  Calvin Harris , 53 , is accused of bludgeoning his wife Michele , 35 , to death in their home in Spencer , New York on the night of September 11 , 2001 as they went through a bitter divorce .  But Harris , whose third trial will start this week after his two previous convictions were overturned , continues to maintain his innocence and his four children , aged between 15 and 20 , agree .  ' I believe in him , ' his son Tanner , 15 , told People magazine .  Back to court : Calvin Harris , pictured left in court in 2009 , is heading back to court this week for his third trial for the murder of his estranged wife , Michele , pictured right , who vanished in September 2001  His daughter , Cayla , 19 , added : ' He might not have gotten along with my mom toward the end , but I know he loved my mom very much , and he tells me all the time she was a beautiful person , a great mother , and he would never do anything to hurt the mother of his children . '  Cayla , whose father has been in and out of prison throughout her life , says if her father is convicted again she will stay at home during her first few years of college to care for her younger siblings .  Harris heads back to court this week for jury selection .  This trial has been moved 140 miles away from his home to Schoharie County , after attorneys feared he would not get a fair trial in his own county .  ' I ' m just fighting to survive for these kids , ' Harris told People . ' Nobody on the face of this earth deserves to be treated as I have . '  At the time of his wife ' s disappearance , he and Michele were living separately under the same roof as they brought up their children and hashed out the details of their separation .  Family : They are pictured with their children , who were between two and seven when she went missing  Support : Harris is pictured with his children , ( from left ) Taylor , 20 , Jenna , 17 , Cayla , 19 , and Tanner , 15 . The four teenagers have said they believe their father is innocent of killing their mother  After Mrs Harris filed for divorce in January 2001 , her husband had an estimated worth of 5 . 4 million and she rejected an initial statement offering her primary child custody and 740 , 000 .  At the time she went missing , a trial had been scheduled to reach a deal . Prosecutors said Harris ' motive for killing his wife was to keep his hands on his fortune .  Her hairdresser testified that she had heard Harris tell his wife in a phone call : ' Drop the divorce proceedings . Do you hear me ? I will expletive kill you . I can make you disappear . '  On the night she went missing , she went out for drinks with friends before stopping at her boyfriend ' s apartment . Her minivan was found at the end of her home ' s drive the following morning .  Calvin Harris called the babysitter around 7am on September 12 , 2001 to say that his wife had not returned from a night out so he needed help getting the children ready .  Her body was never found and investigators also failed to turn up a murder weapon , but they did find tiny splatters of her blood in the home , although their date was not determined .  Emotional : In 2014 , they appeared with their father as they appealed for information about the disappearance  By his side : Harris , pictured with Jenna , left , and Cayla , right , is currently out on bail after his conviction was overturned for the second time in 2012 . He had previously been convicted of murder in 2007 and 2009  Investigators also noted that there were no signs of struggle in the home and that Harris did not have any marks on his body indicating his wife had fought him .  Four years after she went missing , Harris was charged with murder and after his indictment was initially thrown out he was re charged and convicted of her killing in June 2007 .  But just a day later , a witness came forward to say he had seen Michele arguing with a man near to the couple ' s driveway and the case was re opened .  After spending five months in prison , Harris was freed and a new trial was ordered . But he was found guilty in the second trial in October 2009 and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison .  During the first two trials , District Attorney Gerald Keene argued that Harris was the only logical suspect in the case , the Press Sun Bulletin reported .  He argued that Michele was struck with an object at least twice in the home ' s kitchen and that , sometime between 11pm and 7am , he managed to dispose of her body and the weapon .  But in 2011 , a judge in an appeals court said evidence in the case was insufficient to convict him , and it was sent to New York ' s Court of Appeals .  In court : Harris is pictured in court in Tioga County July 2005 ahead of his first indictment in the case . This third trial will leave the county and be held 140 miles away in an attempt to make proceedings fair  Scene : Prosecutors say Harris hit his wife twice across the head with an object on the night of September 11 , 2001 at the home they still shared , pictured , before disposing of her body before 7am the next day  The court also found problems with the second trial such as one of the jurors having pre conceived ideas about the case and threw out his conviction for a second time .  He was freed again in October 2012 on the 500 , 000 bail he had posted back in 2007 and is now awaiting his third trial , which is due to begin this week .  Harris and his attorney argue that since the start of the investigation , he has been the only person authorities focused on .  ' They have fixated on Cal from the beginning of this , and they are just not going to admit they got it wrong , ' said his attorney Bruce Barket .  The attorney suggested that they know of another person who could be responsible for the murder , but he did not name them .  Michele ' s family told People that they stand by his convictions .  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
4641,4642,"Kabul , Afghanistan In the busy street markets of Kabul , stacks of cash sit in piles as moneychangers shout the day ' s exchange rate to shoppers bustling by . Currency is bought and sold in the open air .  But all the money changing hands on the streets is barely a drop in the bucket compared to all the cash being siphoned out of the country in suitcases , and that is not a metaphor .  "" It ' s hard to estimate exactly how much is going out of Afghanistan , but I can tell you in 2011 , 4 . 5 billion was ( flown ) out of Afghanistan , "" said Khan Afzal Hadawal , deputy governor of the bank of Afghanistan .  That is just what is moving out of the Kabul airport . It is estimated 8 billion in cash was lugged out of the country last year by car , private jets and border crossings . That is almost double the entire country ' s budget for 2011 .  The government is trying to stop the outflow of money to other countries and encourage investment in Afghanistan . It has capped the amount of cash that can be taken out of the country at 20 , 000 .  "" We are very serious on this . It is not an easy job . Definitely there are challenges . People will try to use other channels but we will not let anybody take the physical cash out of Afghanistan , "" Hadawal said .  Military : Bales left base twice during rampage  At a dusty construction site on the outskirts of Kabul , workers use everything from a hand powered rebar cutter to a huge tractor and loader . They are building a multimillion dollar community . It is the dream of Afghan developer Haji Hafizullah Caravan , who hopes the government ' s plan works .  He and his family have made a huge investment in the capital , Kabul , constructing large self contained communities complete with mosques , schools and hospitals . The idea is to make people feel safer by creating a tiny city within a city .  The price per apartment starts at 70 , 000 .  "" Kabul was mostly destroyed in wars . There is need for construction in Afghanistan and the amount of housing that is needed is not being fulfilled , "" Caravan said .  The projects have created dozens of jobs for people like Abdul Wahab , who has 13 family members to provide for .  "" It ' s hard to find work and to find good work , "" Wahab said after using all his body weight and strength to lean on a lever linked to a device that cuts rebar .  If it wasn ' t for this job , he said , his family would suffer greatly .  Caravan said he wants others to help rebuild instead of storing their cash in already posh Dubai .  "" We are Afghans and should build up our own country by any means . We should be proud of our country , "" he said .  But he said he understands why people have moved out large sums of cash .  There is a looming fear that when  forces leave , so will any semblance of security , both physical and economic .  Three  soldiers killed  "" We are worried about security , that it doesn ' t get worse . We want a stable system here in Afghanistan after foreign troops ' withdrawal . We worry about this and nothing else , "" Caravan said .  The 10 year war has brought heartache , but also more stability .  Foreign aid is propping up Afghanistan ' s economy . The question on every potential investor ' s mind is whether Afghanistan will be able to sustain itself when the war is finally over .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
4653,4654,"Monday night in front of the Supreme Court at a Democratic leadership news conference about President Donald Trump’s immigration executive order, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi ( ) was heard on a hot mic encouraging Rep. Andre Carson ( ) to tell the crowd he is a Muslim.  Partial transcript as follows: CARSON: Greetings from the great state of Indiana. I’m Congressman Andre Carson.  ( MIC): Tell them you’re a Muslim. Tell them you’re a Muslim. CARSON: Not only do I represent Indiana’s seventh congressional district very proudly, but I happen to be a Muslim and a former police officer. (  Free Beacon) Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
4654,4655,"Reuters) - A U.S congressional intelligence committee on Thursday issued a scathing report accusing former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden of leaking information that “caused tremendous damage” to U.S. national security, lying about his background and feuding with co-workers. In a report endorsed by both its Republican and Democratic leaders, the House intelligence committee said Snowden was “not a whistleblower” as he has claimed.  Most of the material he stole from the  was not about invasions of privacy, but revealed intelligence and defense programs of great interest to America’s foreign adversaries, it said. The committee said that while the “full scope” of damage caused by Snowden’s disclosures remains unknown, a review of materials he allegedly compromised “makes clear that he handed over secrets that protect American troops overseas and secrets that provide vital defenses against terrorists and nation-states.”     The committee released only a four-page summary of what it said was a 36-page investigative report that remains Top Secret, but the summary contained strong words about Snowden’s actions and background. The report contains previously unreported allegations about Snowden and his possible motives for taking government secrets. It alleges that Snowden, who took refuge in Moscow after fleeing to Hong Kong, “was and remains a serial exaggerator and fabricator.” It says his official employment records show that while he claimed to have left U.S. Army basic training because of broken legs, in fact he “washed out because of shin splits.” The report says Snowden claimed to have obtained a high-school graduation equivalent, but in fact never did. It also says he claimed to have worked as a “senior advisor” for the  when in fact he was an entry-level computer technician. While the report says Snowden “stole 1.5 million sensitive documents,” other sources who have examined materials he turned over to media outlets say that the total is between 200,000 and 300,000 documents.  Some U.S. officials involved in Snowden-related investigations acknowledge that the U.S. government does not know how many documents Snowden downloaded, and that the 1.5 million figure is an estimate.     The report also disputes Snowden’s motives for taking and leaking classified information, saying he got into a “workplace spat” with  managers in June 2012 over how to manage computer updates. It says a contracting officer reprimanded him for failing to follow proper grievance procedures, and he began downloading classified information two weeks later. However, in 2013, Reuters quoted U.S. officials and other sources familiar with the matter as saying that Snowden began downloading such data in April 2012, almost a year earlier than had previously been reported at the time. The issuance of the House committee report coincided with the release of “Snowden”, a movie directed by Oliver Stone that portrays him as a whistleblower and hero. On Wednesday, prominent human rights advocates urged President Barack Obama to pardon Snowden before leaving office in January. U.S. officials have said Obama is not considering a pardon for Snowden, who is facing U.S. criminal charges for providing classified information to unauthorized persons. Ben Wizner, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union who represents Snowden, dismissed the House committee report as lacking substance.  Wizner said the report’s release a day before the Snowden film opens “is evidence that people in the intelligence community are taking us seriously, that they are concerned that Oliver Stone’s movie will help solidify Snowden’s image as a true patriot, which he is.”  ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
4663,4664,"The question is who Obama will protect? Will he stand by his  Yes woman,  Attorney General Loretta Lynch, or will he provide cover for Hillary, allowing her to emerge as the successor to his corrupt two terms in office? Our money is on Obama protecting Attorney General Loretta Lynch if Valerie Jarrett has anything to do with it A former U.S. Attorney predicts a Watergate-style showdown in the Department of Justice if Attorney General Loretta Lynch overrules a potential  recommendation to indict Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. The [FBI] has so much information about criminal conduct by her and her staff that there is no way that they walk away from this,  Joseph diGenova, formerly the District of Columbia s U.S. Attorney, told Laura Ingraham in a Tuesday radio interview.  They are going to make a recommendation that people be charged and then Loretta Lynch is going to have the decision of a lifetime. I believe that the evidence that the  is compiling will be so compelling that, unless [Lynch] agrees to the charges, there will be a massive revolt inside the FBI, which she will not be able to survive as an attorney general. It will be like Watergate. It will be unbelievable. DiGenova is referring to the Watergate scandal s  Saturday Night Massacre  Oct. 20, 1973, when President Richard Nixon sacked Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox and Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus resigned in protest. Via: Daily Caller ",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
4668,4669,"When The Undertaker didn t end up as one of the surprise entrants in the Royal Rumble this past week , everyone thought he would be on Monday Night Raw . Well , that didn t happen . The Road to WrestleMania is a full go and the Deadman is nowhere to be seen . It does appear though as if his  television return is now known , and his rumored WrestleMania 32 opponent possibilities are interesting choices ? Big Show or Kevin Owens .  It s well known that The Undertaker is going to be in one of the top matches at  s biggest event of the year . He always is , and for very good and obvious reasons . That s why it was kind of strange to not see him on  television this past week .  Everyone expected him to show up or taunt someone and start a new feud that would slowly build over the last two months . The  Times states that since he didn t show up this past week , The Undertaker is on course to appear at the Raw after Fastlane in late February .  This would give  a little over a month and six episodes of Monday Night Raw to build up that feud between Undertaker and his WrestleMania opponent . The main question now is who will that be ? It appears as if there are two options being thrown around .  One name being thrown around for Undertaker s opponent at the big  is Kevin Owens . With his feud with Dean Ambrose over , Owens needs a match for WrestleMania and he s one of the best heels on the roster right now .  He can talk on the mic , go in the ring , and is seen as a credible threat to defeat anyone on the roster even The Undertaker . Even if he were to lose , having a great match with The Undertaker at WrestleMania would instantly elevate him to main event status .  Now , Owens has been seemingly pushing for a match feud with Brock Lesnar , but it doesn t look like it s going to be happening right now . At this point ,  is leading toward a WrestleMania match between Brock Lesnar and either Bray Wyatt or Braun Strowman .  Fans would love to see Owens vs . Undertaker , and it would be a big draw . There is another possibility being thrown around for The Undertaker s opponent at WrestleMania 32 as well , and it s one that won t be met with as much attraction .  Cageside Seats is reporting that Strowman could get some work at Fastlane against Big Show to have the big man in The Wyatt Family get some higher credibility . After likely taking out Big Show and showing he can beat a giant ,  could have him move on to The Undertaker .  As recapped by  and seen on SmackDown this past week , Big Show joined in with some of the big time babyfaces to take out The Wyatt Family in the main event . This is pretty much the first step in beginning the feud for Fastlane in February .  Bray Wyatt could have Strowman go after Big Show and set up a match between the two big men at the next Pay Per View . Strowman could then go on to defeat Big Show and establish himself as a giant killer , at least in the eyes of  .  This could then set up a match between him and The Undertaker at WrestleMania . You have to remember that the Brothers of Destruction did defeat The Wyatt Family at Survivor Series , but it was Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper . The Wyatts weren t represented by Strowman .  Fans will not be thrilled with a match between The Undertaker and Braun Strowman . It s not that the Wyatt giant can t be better in the future , but he s far too inexperienced in the ring right now . Bray Wyatt could be his mouthpiece to go promo to promo with Taker , but the match is what s concerning .  Having a green talent like Strowman go up against The Undertaker at WrestleMania 32 in the Deadman s home state ? The crowd will eat the match alive because it just won t work .  The Undertaker was scheduled to take on John Cena at the big event , but then Cena went out with a long term injury .  originally had no back up plan in place at all for Undertaker s match at WrestleMania 32 , and that s why things are so confusing right now .  In less than a month , The Undertaker will be back on  television and make his big return to set up a feud for WrestleMania 32 . The big wonder is who his opponent will end up being and if it s Kevin Owens or Braun Strowman , then fans are either going to be extremely excited or overly disappoitned respectively .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
4675,4676,"Failed two point try seals Bears ' fate in loss to Broncos  Photos from the Bears Broncos game at Soldier Field .  So close but so far away . Jeremy Langford goes nowhere on pivotal two point try  The play went nowhere . With 24 seconds left Sunday and the Bears needing a two point conversion to tie the Broncos , rookie running back Jeremy Langford took a shotgun handoff from Jay Cutler , darted three steps forward and ran into a wall .  Broncos safety T . J . Ward , attacking from the back side , seemed to corral Langford first . Defensive end Derek Wolfe was also in the fray .  The Bears ' explanation of what went awry ? Well , that went nowhere either .  In the locker room after the Bears ' 17 15 home loss , Langford revealed Cutler had seen something from the defense that convinced him to check to a run call at the line .  But Bears coach John Fox declined to offer specifics on the play design or where it failed .  "" I ' m not going to get into scheme or what we were doing schematically , "" Fox said . "" Obviously it came up short . ""  Cutler , normally open and descriptive in recounting such situations , also buttoned up .  "" I think Foxy covered it ( as far as ) scheme , "" he said . "" We have a lot of options throughout this offense , on first , second and third downs . We had a play . We just didn ' t execute it the way we wanted to . ""  Whatever went wrong , that failed run sealed the Bears ' sixth loss and overshadowed what had been yet another valiant late drive . Langford scored the last touchdown in the final minute ? coincidentally on a 2 yard run that came with significant push from the offensive line plus a determined burst up the middle by the young back .  That capped a six play , 65 yard drive , a rally that began with Cutler dancing and shuffling to buy time for a 20 yard completion to Zach Miller . The Bears also bit off 18 yards on a pass interference call against cornerback Bradley Roby on Martellus Bennett .  And just like in games against the Raiders , Chiefs , Lions and Chargers , the Bears offense delivered a clutch late score that put them in position to pull off an upset .  Instead , the Bears spent Sunday ' s postgame lamenting missed opportunities . The failed two point conversion came two possessions after they failed on fourth and goal from the 4 , eschewing a chip shot field goal attempt that could ' ve made the score 17 12 .  That decision left the Bears needing the two point try after Langford ' s touchdown . But on an afternoon in which a dozen of the 22 rushes by Bears running backs went for 2 yards or fewer , the game ' s final run malfunctioned .  The Bears had receivers Marquess Wilson and Marc Mariani bunched to the left and Cameron Meredith alone to the right . When Cutler made his pre snap check , Bennett motioned inside from the left . Yet as Bennett headed out into the pattern , Ward fired past him and into the backfield unblocked .  Right guard Patrick Omameh also failed to get any push up front . And Langford and the Bears ' comeback efforts came up a yard short .  "" It ' s up to me to be able to get into that end zone , "" Langford said . "" As a group , we ' ve got to get better in that situation . ""  At day ' s end , the Bears were left to process another near miss .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
4713,4714,"Peace talks between the Afghan government and Taliban are likely to resume as early as next week in what is thought to be an internationally guaranteed and monitored peace process .  The development stemmed from a string of bilateral , trilateral and quadrilateral meetings in Islamabad involving Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif , Afghan President Ashraf Ghani , and top American and Chinese officials .  However , there is no immediate reaction from the Taliban about their participation in the peace talks .  Pakistan at the meetings laid out both its leverage and limitations with factions of the Afghan insurgency and assured all participants Islamabad will do whatever it can to bring at least those to the negotiating table who are under its influence .  We also described the agreement to resume Afghan peace as a major step and expected a lot of work and consultations before the peace negotiations would actually take place .  This should mean that Afghanistan has agreed to bury its differences with Pakistan , given the long history of mistrust and suspicions between them .  They accuse each other of supporting insurgencies across their border , which both deny .  However , Pakistani analysts and experts are welcoming the renewed initiative by Afghanistan to reach out to the Taliban .  Pakistan will have to use its influence over Taliban in bringing them to the negotiating table , said General ( r ) Talat Masood .  If new talks failed , Pakistan will be forced to act strongly against Taliban .  The era of non state actors is over Pakistan acknowledges that it has to have friendly relations with the Afghan government .  With a new sense of urgency amid growing concerns with the rise of Daesh in Afghanistan , the window for peace has narrowed .  One is bound to wonder what Afghanistan and other countries will get out of these peace talks when a trust deficit exists between the states themselves .  Pakistan provides a strategic gateway for both China s Road and Belt Initiatives and the United States New Silk Road strategy .  Pakistan s cooperation becomes vital for the long term western military presence in Afghanistan while China s longstanding relations with Pakistan ( which were historically India centric ) have assumed a global character .  At the same time , Pakistan s  membership impacts the regional strategies of the  , Russia and China alike .  The interplay of these multiple factors explains the heightened interest of regional and western countries in the Islamabad conference .  The competing big powers also acknowledge the crucial need of Pakistan s cooperation in the fight against terrorism and extremist groups .  China and the  are on the same page in promoting the Afghan peace talks and encouraging Kabul and Islamabad in this regard .  The Taliban will also have to come forward .  These talks , rather the emergence of strategic relationships can only take place if practical steps are taken .  It also depends on the Afghan government not indulging in any kind of blame game against Pakistan .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
4715,4716,"An intricate etching on ostrich eggs joined together to make a sphere is the oldest globe of the New World ever to be discovered .  Latin inscriptions and delicate outlines of countries informed by knowledge of explorers such as Christopher Columbus , made in the early 1500s cover the sphere , but the origin of the globe is a mystery .  A cartographer believes the globe could have been made in Florence , Italy and claims that the skilful engraver could even have crafted the object in the workshop of Leonardo da Vinci .  An intricate etching on ostrich eggs joined together could be the oldest globe of the New World to ever be discovered . The delicate outlines of countries are informed by knowledge of explorers such as Christopher Columbus , made in the early 1500s . It ' s origin is a mystery  The object is about the size of a grapefruit and is constructed from the lower halves of two ostrich eggs to make it almost spherical .  Until now the oldest globe showing the New World was thought to be the ' Lenox Globe , ' which is kept in the New York Public Library , but a study of the egg globe , published in The Washington Map Society ' s journal , The Portolan , said this one is older .  Belgium research scholar Dr S . Missinne believes the egg globe could actually have been used as to cast the Lennox globe , dating it at approximately 1504 .  Just seven names mark the Western Hemisphere ( pictured ) and none denote North America , which is shown as a group of islands . However , three names are marked in South America : Mundus novus , New World Terra de Brazil and Terra Sanctae Crucis , which translates as ' land of the holy cross '  He said the globe reflects knowledge of the New World gleaned by early European explorers including Amerigo Vespucci , after whom the Americas were named .  It contains different types of ships , monsters , waves , a marooned sailor struck by a shipwreck , 71 place names and one sentence that reads ' hic svnt dracones ' or ' here be dragons ' .  Just seven names mark the Western Hemisphere and none denote North America , which is shown as a group of islands .  However , three names are marked in South America : Mundus novus , New World Terra de Brazil and Terra Sanctae Crucis , which translates as ' land of the holy cross ' .  The globe contains different types of ships , monsters , waves , a marooned sailor struck by a shipwreck , 71 place names and one sentence that reads ' hic svnt dracones ' or ' here be dragons ' .  Cartographers have said that for many countries , including Japan and Brazil , the globe is the oldest that marks their country  Cartographers have said that for many countries , including Japan and Brazil , the globe is the oldest that marks their country .  Tom Sander , editor of The Portolan who has inspected the globe , told the Society said the find was a major discovery and has been dated after a year of scientific examination .  The egg globe was bought from a dealer at the London map Fair in 2012 who claimed it had come from an ' important European collection , ' but the current owner made it available to Dr Missinne for research .  The globe ( pictured ) is about the size of a grapefruit and is constructed from the lower halves of two ostrich eggs to make it almost spherical . A cartographer believes the globe could have been made in Florence , Italy and claims it could have come from the workshop of Leonardo da Vinci . It is pictured with plain ostrich eggs  He admitted to being sceptical about the origin , date , geography and provenance of the globe at first as nobody had heard of it before and discoveries of this kind are extremely rare .  The globe was subject to computer topography testing , carbon dating and an analysis of the innk used in the engraving in its surface , as well as checks that the geographical , cartographic and historical details all added up .  He told the journal : ' I was excited to look into it further ,  and the more I did so , and the more research that we did , the clearer it  became that we had a major find . '  More than 100 experts were consulted across the globe to make sure the globe really is the real deal .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
4725,4726,The Democrats doubled down on moving to the left and distanced themselves from the middle class. The results are below the people aren t buying what they re selling.,fake,dataset,validation,US elections,Economy,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
4733,4734,"Lindsey Graham speaks at the Metropolitan Republican Club on Nov . 19 , 2015 , in New York City .  Television viewers in all of Iowa s  markets will get an extra dose of political ads this weekend as  offers up nearly an hour in free airtime to four Republican presidential candidates .   Universal has reached agreements with the campaigns of ? Jim Gilmore , Lindsey Graham , ? John Kasich and Mike Huckabee , who all asked for equal airtime after Donald Trump s appearance on Saturday Night Live earlier this month .  Those candidates will receive free ad spots during prime time Friday and Saturday evening , as well as time during Saturday s late night airing of Saturday Night Live .  will make the time available through its network commercial and promo time . The candidates will receive ad ? time in Iowa , New Hampshire and South Carolina .  Federal law requires broadcast ? stations give equal time to qualified political candidates ? ? whether they re selling ? ad space or , as in  s case , giving a candidate ? program ? airtime . But the law ? is interpreted as only requiring stations to give ? candidates ? access to a ? comparable ? audience . ? Trump received 12 minutes and 5 seconds during his stint as  host on Nov . 7 .  Aside from the four candidates getting time this weekend ,  has ? a similar request from former New York governor ? George Pataki , but the network apparently hasn t reached a resolution with that campaign .  Such equal time requests can technically be made with the hundreds of individual affiliates who aired Trump s  appearance . ? Bridget Breen , station manager at ?  , said the Sioux City  affiliate had received a request from Kentucky Sen . Rand Paul s campaign for equal time .  While  is forking over nearly an hour in free  time Friday and Saturday , it s likely Iowa viewers won t notice much of a change . The airwaves are already saturated with political ads leading up to Iowa s first in the nation caucuses , and the  spots will look and feel like any other political ad .  It s just a regular commercial in the middle of the show , said ? Dale Woods , president and general manager of  , Des Moines  affiliate .  While these four candidates won t get the limelight of an  on stage appearance , they ll enjoy a wide reach Friday and Saturday , Woods said .  They re getting a lot of frequency there , he said . Not only ? is it the reach , it s the frequency .  Brittany Bramell , ? communications director for Graham s campaign , said they were ? pleased with  s resolution .  We re grateful ? to  for providing us additional opportunities to tell the people of New Hampshire , South Carolina , and Iowa more about how Sen . Graham is the only candidate in the race ready to be Commander in chief on day one , she wrote in a statement .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
4736,4737,"The Potential Losers In The Iran Saudi Arabia Feud  Iran ' s president Hassan Rouhani addresses the nation in a televised speech last July . He has condemned the attack on the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Tehran , but the episode gave the appearance that he ' s unable to keep hardliners in check . Ebrahim Noroozi  hide caption  Iran ' s president Hassan Rouhani addresses the nation in a televised speech last July . He has condemned the attack on the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Tehran , but the episode gave the appearance that he ' s unable to keep hardliners in check .  It was never going to be easy to work out a truce in Syria . And the latest escalation of tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia is likely to spill over into the Syria talks , making prospects for a ceasefire even more remote , according to analysts who follow the region .  Another potential loser in the feud is Iran ' s President Hassan Rouhani , who ' s been trying to open up his country to the world and is looking to gain additional allies in elections set for next month . But the latest events have played into the hands of his hardline opponents .  These are just a couple examples of the potential fallout following Saudi Arabia ' s execution of a well known Shiite cleric , Sheik Nimr al Nimr . His beheading on Saturday ignited furious reactions in Shiite populations across the region , especially in Iran , where Saudi diplomatic buildings were stormed and partially burned . The response from the Saudis , cutting diplomatic ties with Iran , hardened the dispute along sectarian lines .  Analyst Salman Shaikh , who formerly directed the Brookings Doha Center and now runs a private consultancy , notes that the Iran Saudi rift is just one of many factors working against a possible truce in Syria .  "" The Russian engagement and attacks against moderate factions on the ground , as well as those of the Syrian regime , have actually , I think , taken us farther away from the peace process , "" he says .  Russia and the U . S . do deserve credit for getting Iran and Saudi Arabia to the table last month to discuss Syria ' s future , says Shaikh . But , he adds , "" there was no meeting of minds , in my view , whatsoever . ""  A new round of talks is planned for Geneva on Jan . 25 .  The ransacking of the Saudi embassy in Tehran and the Saudi consulate in Mashhad drew condemnation from around the world . Iran ' s pragmatic president was quick to join in , saying those responsible must be prosecuted .  But the damage was already done , says Iranian history professor Ali Ansari at the University of St Andrews in Scotland .  "" All this actually is very bad news for Rouhani and his administration , "" says Ansari . It ' s not something Rouhani would have been likely to foresee , he says , "" but it was worrying ( because it shows ) his government doesn ' t have much control over the security forces in Iran . I mean , it ' s quite clear they stood back and watched it happen . ""  Ansari says the overreaction of Iranian hardliners to Nimr ' s execution allowed the Saudis to change the debate . Very few people outside the region are now focused on the execution or the Saudi judicial system . But the cutting of diplomatic ties has shone a spotlight on Iran once again storming an embassy , reinforcing the image of the country as a revolutionary theocracy .  "" And I think that ' s something that Rouhani is acutely aware of , which is why he ' s gone out of its way to condemn the attack on the embassy , "" he says .  If Rouhani wants diplomatic and economic re engagement with the outside world , says Ansari , then "" Iran has to be very careful not to get a reputation for basically whenever it gets angry at a country of assaulting its embassy . ""  Analyst Salman Shaikh agrees that biggest losers in Iran from the spiking tensions are the moderate and pragmatic factions , including Rouhani .  In late February , Iranians will elect a new consultative assembly , a kind of advisory parliament , says Shaikh . In additon , a new Assembly of Experts will also be chosen . That body is charged , among other things , with approving the selection of the next supreme leader .  "" Now if things continue to heat up , I ' m sure hardliners would find ways to make inroads on the political scene , especially after the setbacks they ' ve felt over the last year or so , "" he says .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
4755,4756,"An autocratic leader has won the vote. He has charm, yes, and smarts of a kind, but also a cruel streak. Beatings are frequent, and assassination  —   foreign and domestic  —   has become commonplace. His cultural pronouncements have had a chilling effect on the arts, theater in particular. Take your seat for “Evening at the Talk House,” an   comedy by the playwright and actor Wallace Shawn (“The Designated Mourner,” “Aunt Dan and Lemon”) for the New Group that begins performances at the Signature Center on Tuesday, Jan. 31. Though written years before Donald J. Trump announced his candidacy, and first produced in London in the fall of 2015, the play may strike some as oddly prescient. Set in the course of one night, it eavesdrops on several people who worked together on “Midnight in a Clearing With Moon and Stars,” a fictitious flop from a decade ago. They have gathered for a reunion at a rundown club. As they snack and sip and reminisce, they reveal the brutality of the world outside and the ways that artists can abet it, resist it and ignore it. The London production stoked controversy, with The Independent approvingly describing a “disturbing, balefully hilarious new play,” while many other critics attacked its tone, pace and politics. More than a year later, in the wake of Brexit and the presidential election, that controversy is likely to resonate anew. On the morning of President Trump’s inauguration, Mr. Shawn, who also appears in the play, the director Scott Elliott and the other members of the cast  —   Matthew Broderick, Jill Eikenberry, John Epperson, Larry Pine, Claudia Shear, Annapurna Sriram and Michael Tucker  —   gathered at a rehearsal space to discuss drama as protest and whether or not to invite the president. These are edited excerpts from the conversation. Is this a political play?   Yes. It’s other things, too. But it’s most certainly political.   I felt when I first read it that it was extremely relevant to our situation in this world, in this country. After the election, it felt way more relevant, chillingly relevant.   I decided to do it way before the election. Many people say Wally’s a prescient artist, and I’ve seen it. And then all of a sudden on election night, it was this feeling of, oh my God, this play crossed over from fiction to  —   —    True.   If the election had gone the other way, this play would still be very relevant.   Plays began as political. The Greek plays were about communities and cities and kings and queens and how a country was run. We went through a brief period in the United States of somehow being so prosperous and secure that we forgot that we lived in the world, and plays were about what was happening in somebody’s kitchen. Have you ever been a part of a play that failed unjustly?  Oh God, yes. Every play.  Most of my projects have been unsuccessful, so I’m a kind of expert on it. Most actors are very courageous people, and my experience is their commitment increases when it becomes clear that the show is not going to get universal approval. It’s an honorable role to be committing yourself to the unpopular play.  Is there anything wrong with apolitical plays, entertainment that simply comforts?   I think there’s a place for “Guys and Dolls” until the last splinter of light dies out on the planet.   I never liked that show. But I like “The Unsinkable Molly Brown. ”  Speaking as someone who has devoted a lot of his life to doing some things that would certainly fit into the category of pure entertainment, that’s how I have lived. I’ve been paid for that. But complacency is a very serious problem. Too much soothing entertainment isn’t good for a person. If you admit that a play or a  show or a movie can wake somebody up, you have to at least admit that possibly some plays or  shows or movies might put people to sleep and help them in their quest for total oblivion. Personally, I would rather go to bed and have someone bring me a cup of tea. I don’t have a desire to go out and get arrested or something like that. But it may be necessary.   It’s a play it’s not an essay. It’s not like we’re all sitting around saying, “Let’s change the world and its politics while we’re doing it. ” We’re creating a human world.  And there’s a lot of irony, a lot of funny stuff. That’s another great way to tell a political story. In the play, theater has died out. Is this likely?   A lot of friends my age don’t go to theater. I have one friend who will probably come, and this will be his second play. His first was another play I did. I definitely wonder what the next generation of theatergoers will look like.  They’re all outside of “Hamilton. ”  When I first did a play, I was absolutely sure that Broadway was dead. And now every time I’m in a play, you can’t get a theater. Your young friends are going to start watching plays at some point.  I hope so. If it did die, would that be so bad?  I would be fine with that. We would get paid more.  It would be a great loss. When it works, there’s nothing like it. If there were no theaters, no one could ever say, “I saw that, I was there, that moment. ”  It’s been around for an awful long time it’s hard to imagine that even this administration could do away with it. People don’t go to church that much anymore. They need collective experience.  I thought the election in 2000 would spur people to make more interesting work, but it didn’t seem like it did. And then after   it seemed like audiences wanted   stuff. Maybe this election will make more interesting work. Scott, you said you already have things on your desk.  A lot of screeches. A lot of screams. In the world of the play, assassination has become the norm. Do you feel we’re moving toward a more violent world?  There’s been slaughter, genocide since history began. But this is different.  It’s been going on for a long time, but it hasn’t been as public.  Under Bush, torture became normal and most Americans accepted it. First they were shocked, and then they accepted it. And sadly, under the very likable Obama, these assassinations have become normal, and people have accepted that. In the case of killing Bin Laden, it was boasted about by apparently nice people. I’m not sure we understand the implications of that yet, the normalization of killing individuals. What does it mean if apparently nice people just go on eating snacks and drinking cocktails and making art while these things are happening?  That’s the question of the play.  I feel grateful in real life just for the privilege of getting to be an actor, that I have the kind of sometimes insane work of putting on costumes and playing pretend, for a living! But what is my responsibility other than just trying to achieve and have ambition and success?  Our complacency is dangerous to other people. Have you always made it a point to do work that has political dimensions?   Most of us don’t have that much of a choice. There are only a few actors who can choose what they want to do. There are actors who are very political who will join or form a company that only does political work. But I’m not much of a joiner. It’s really something that we have to think about individually.  I have a list of selfish reasons for doing it, too. My career has been a kind of trap: Performing in female clothing is one trap, and   is another trap. It’s always good for me to do a job where people can realize, oh, he can do something else.  But I think we’re going to record all of your dialogue. The reaction to this play in London a year ago was mixed to negative. Will it be received differently now?  There will be negative responses, too, I imagine. People don’t like to be confronted.  Wally, do you have a fantasy  —   I think it happened to Sean O’Casey  —   that everyone gets up in the entire audience and starts throwing things at the stage? Would that make you happy?  I don’t actually enjoy that. Nobody ever says, “I hated your play, because I happen to be very conservative, and I disagree with all of your ideas. ” They say: “You’re a bad writer. We were bored. It’s not a good play. ” What about the “Waiting for Lefty” model, where the audience joins the resistance?  I’m available. If the audience is inspired to activism, I’m thrilled and I’ll join in, but things don’t really happen quite that way. Our president has a lot of strong opinions on art. How would you feel if he liked this play?  That should happen! A fan’s a fan.  I don’t think he’s interested in plays.  I saw him at a fashion show once.  I saw him at a party.  He was in one of my plays in the ’90s. This play called “The Monogamist. ” I videotaped prominent New York figures for the scenic transitions. Will you invite him?  Why not? Let him see it.  I don’t know if it could influence Trump. It’s only 90 minutes long, but he’s one of those people who’s interested in himself, and when the topic goes off of him he becomes bored. We don’t mention him in the play. Maybe we should change that.",true,news,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
4762,4763,"Like many of us as we get older , the long serving Mars rover Opportunity is having trouble storing its memory .  The six wheeled vehicle , which has been roaming the red planet for more than a decade , keeps wiping its data at random .  Nasa believes that an ageing flash memory is causing the bouts of ' amnesia ' , and the agency now plans to hack the rover ' s software in an attempt to cure it .  The stoic Opportunity rover , which has been roaming the red planet for more than a decade , keeps wiping its data at random . Nasa believes that an ageing flash memory is causing the ' amnesia ' and is planning to ' hack ' the rover ' s software so that it ignores the broken part of its flash memory  The problem has been ongoing for the last six months because the flash memory has been overwritten so many times .  Project manager John Callas told Discovery News that Opportunity has both volatile and non volatile memory .  Non volatile memory is used for long term storage , allowing Opportunity to ' remember ' its information even when it ' s on standby .  Volatile memory , meanwhile , is similar to  ( Random Access Memory ) found in computers . When the rover turns off , any data stored within the volatile memory is wiped .  The problem has been ongoing for six months because the rover ' s flash memory has been overwritten so many times . And the problem is getting worse , causing the rover , in some instance , to stop communicating with mission control in Houston altogether  The problem has been found with the rover ' s non volatile memory , which means it can still operate , but sometimes saves data on the volatile memory , causing the information to be lost .  Opportunity landed on Mars in 2004 in what was to be a three month mission . Instead the rover has lived beyond its prime mission and roved the planet for nearly 10 years .  The rover is currently at ' Solander Point ' at the rim of Endeavour Crater on Mars . The rover hasn ' t moved in over a month as it waits for better weather on the red planet .  During its time on Mars , the rover has identified rock laden with what scientists believed to be clay minerals .  Their presence is an indication that the rock has been altered at some point in the past through prolonged contact with water .  Currently the rover is just 2 , 100ft ( 650 metres ) away from Marathon Valley , which looks like ancient clay beds that would have been created when the planet was moist .  ' So now we ' re having these events we call ' amnesia , ' Mr Callas told Ian O ' Neill at Discovery News .  ' Which is the rover trying to use the flash memory , but it wasn ' t able to , so instead it uses the  . '  And the problem is getting worse , causing the rover , in some instance , to stop communicating with mission control in Houston altogether .  Before Christmas , mission control sent three days ' worth of commands to Opportunity , but the rebooting problems meant that only the one day ' s activities were completed .  ' It stores telemetry data in that volatile memory , but when the rover goes to sleep and wakes up again , all the data is gone , ' added Mr Callas .  In a process that may take a few weeks , Nasa is planning to ' hack ' the rover ' s software so that it ignores the broken part of its flash memory .  The hack will involve dividing , isolating , and shutting down one of the seven memory banks causing the problem .  ' It ' s like you have an ageing parent , that is otherwise in good health maybe they go for a little jog every day , play tennis each day but you never know , they could have a massive stroke right in the middle of the night , ' said Mr Callas .  Before Christmas , mission control sent three days ' worth of commands to Opportunity , but the rebooting problems meant that only the one day ' s activities were completed . Pictured is the rover ' s route  ' So we ' re always cautious that something could happen . '  Opportunity has been on Mars for 10 years , despite being designed for a 90 Sol mission  A Sol , one Martian day , is slightly longer than an Earth day at 24 hours and 37 minutes .  The rover ' s mission has been extended several times as it continues to make new and profound discoveries about the red planet .  In December 2012 , for instance , mission scientists announced that Opportunity was exploring a special spot on the rim of Endeavour Crater .  The area , known as Matijevic Hill , was found to contain clay minerals , implying that the area was exposed to water billions of years ago .  Currently the rover is just 2 , 100ft ( 650 metres ) away from Marathon Valley , which looks like ancient clay beds that would have been created when the planet was moist .  ",true,text,validation,American football,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
4779,4780,"Hillary Clinton 9/11  pic.twitter.com/q9YnsjTxss  Zdenek Gazda (@zgazda66) September 11, 2016UPDATE          PRESS: The Democratic presidential nominee appeared to faint on her way into her van and had to be helped by her security, the source said. She was  clearly having some type of medical episode. Clinton s stumbled off the curb, her  knees buckled  and she lost a shoe as she was helped into a van during her  unexpected early departure,  a witness told Fox News.The  retrieved her shoe.The lapdog media is downplaying this  medical emergency  (as expected) but would we even know about this had it not been for people recording her departure? This was an area that press isn t allowed into. The Clinton campaign came out with a statement saying she felt  overheated  and is now resting at Chelsea s apartment. Do you believe this reason or are you skeptical like me? Even if it was a fainting spell, this woman seems unwell with all the coughing. Your thoughts?",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
4780,4781,"Ecuador remains the frontrunner in the Edward Snowden sweepstakes . Hong Kong let him go , neither ready to arrest him on behalf of the United States nor willing to let him stay .  Russian authorities have played coy , looking to avoid open conflict with the United States but hardly forthcoming with any details . Even Cuba is in the mix , perhaps as a temporary detour on the way to somewhere else . But it is Ecuador , of all places , that appears consistently as the country most willing to openly challenge the United States , apparently not averse to allowing Snowden to land in Quito while considering a request for asylum .  How do we understand the inability of the United States to capture a U . S . citizen who has been charged with espionage and no longer has a valid U . S . passport ? Why won ' t anyone help the United States get this guy ? And why does Ecuador in particular appear willing to embrace Edward Snowden and oppose the United States ?  Where on Earth could Snowden go next ?  Part of the explanation lies in the fact that the United States does not appear to be garnering much sympathy on this issue within the international community as a whole . China , Russia , Cuba and Ecuador are hardly alone in wanting to poke at the United States by helping Snowden . Foreign observers are much less interested in the relative virtues of Snowden ( traitor ? hero ? refugee ? attention seeker ? ) and much more willing to focus on the actions of the U . S . government , which outside our borders tends to be understood as part of a long history of out of control surveillance by U . S . intelligence agencies .  In this sense , the United States may have the law on its side when demanding the arrest of Snowden , but it does not , from the perspective of many foreign observers , have a moral leg to stand on .  Our past use of covert surveillance at both home and abroad , combined with our current pursuit of an individual who exposed questionable surveillance programs , has meant that our attempts to capture Snowden , however sound legally , have been effectively undermined by our own moral bankruptcy within international circles ( at least with respect to issues of surveillance , privacy , espionage , etc . ) .  4 options for the U . S . to get Snowden back  This perception is all the more pervasive in Latin America , where decades of U . S . support for repressive military dictatorships was enforced by a wide range of surveillance programs that were often permitted and justified by legal statutes .  Still , why Ecuador ? The prevailing explanation among U . S . pundits is that Edward Snowden and Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa are "" unlikely allies "" and thus Correa ' s stance has nothing to do with Snowden ' s actions or the fact the United States is pursuing him . In other words , it is all about scoring political points . This is too simplistic an explanation and relies on a misunderstanding of Correa and the leftward shift that has swept Latin America during the past 25 years .  Snowden : I took job to gather evidence  Politicians are always looking to score political points , and Correa has certainly had his moments . But when Correa offered Wikileaks journalist Julian Assange asylum in 2012 , he had relatively little to gain politically beyond raising his international profile . At the time , he was expected to easily win re election ( which he did ) , in large part because under his administration unemployment levels had reached record lows , public spending on education had more than doubled and medical care was more accessible than ever . This was despite the fact that Ecuador had been hit harder than almost any country in the region by the financial crisis of 2008 .  Correa pumped money into the economy , reformed the financial system , took control of the central bank and otherwise worked , however imperfectly , to build a government and economy that serves the interests of the people .  Simply put , Correa ' s popularity insured that there was relatively little to be gained by taking on Assange in 2012 . Quite the opposite , Correa ' s embrace of Assange produced an intense backlash by the media in Ecuador , which then amped up opposition during the election .  Similarly , Correa will score relatively few political points by embracing Snowden in 2013 . Correa ' s stance is best seen as a principled one . In broad terms , Correa ' s openness to Assange and Snowden , as well as his decision to close a U . S . military base in Ecuador , is part of an effort to deepen Ecuadorian sovereignty while strengthening Latin America ' s ability to limit the influence of the United States in the region .  Opinion : Why U . S . is being humiliated by the hunt for Snowden  This is perfectly within the rights of an independent nation , even one that has historically followed the U . S . lead . More immediately , Correa ' s willingness to take on Snowden should be seen for what it is , as a refreshingly principled stand by a small country against a powerful nation engaged in what many see as the political persecution of one of its own citizens .  The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Steve Striffler .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
4782,4783,"Steelers prepping to roll with backups Toussaint and Todman  2016 01 07T16 : 47 : 55Z 2016 01 07T18 : 15 : 35Z Steelers prepping to roll with backups Toussaint and TodmanThe Associated Press The Associated Press   (  ) ? Fitzgerald Toussaint stood at his locker on Thursday afternoon , a black hoodie pulled tight over his head . Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin saw the young running back basking in the glow of the  lights and jokingly wondered aloud why a player who spent most of the year on the practice squad was getting so much attention .  It ' s one way Tomlin is trying to relieve the pressure on his unlikely starter . Not that Toussaint needs it . The 25 year old understands he ' s doesn ' t have the resume of injured stars Le ' Veon Bell or DeAngelo Williams . So what ? Toussaint remains confident he ' ll be effective on Saturday night when the Steelers play Cincinnati in the wild card round of the playoffs .  "" I can be a very electrifying and a very disciplined guy , "" Toussaint said .  If the Steelers want to extend their season past this weekend , it would help if Toussaint is a little bit of both . With Bell rehabbing a busted right knee and Williams still in a walking boot dealing with a bum right foot , Pittsburgh will turn to Toussaint and journeyman Jordan Todman to carry the bulk of the load against the  North champion Bengals .  It ' s not ideal ? Todman and Toussaint combined for 64 yards rushing this season , or 1 , 399 less than Bell and Williams ? but Pittsburgh feels confident enough in the duo that the Steelers declined to sign a warm body off the street as they did a year ago when Bell hyperextended his left knee in the regular season finale . Pittsburgh brought in well traveled Ben Tate , who ran for 19 yards and fumbled in a loss to Baltimore .  "" We had a guy that hadn ' t been here and didn ' t understand protection , "" offensive coordinator Todd Haley said . "" It forced us into a little bit of a corner on some of the things we were able to do on game day . I think everybody feels a lot better that way in the sense that we have guys that understand protections , understand the runs ( and ) understand the language that we ' re using . ""  Even if they aren ' t household names . Pittsburgh signed Todman on Sept . 6 after Todman was one of the final cuts in Carolina and added Toussaint to the practice squad a day later . Neither figured to be part of the Steelers ' plans . That changed when Bell ' s right knee folded awkwardly under him against Cincinnati on Nov . 1 and Williams ' right foot got crunched last week in Cleveland .  Enter Toussaint , two years removed from his days as a feature back at Michigan . He finished with 12 carries for a modest 24 yards against the Browns , though he did add a 2 point conversion and proved willing to put his 5 foot 10 , 200 pound frame in front of a blitzing linebacker .  Blocking may be Toussaint ' s most important job as Pittsburgh figures to rely heavily on one of the league ' s best group of receivers while trying to win its first playoff game in five years . The fact Toussaint and Todman have been around for four months means they haven ' t had to spend the week cramming . The only thing that ' s changed for them this week is who they ' re standing next to in the huddle , trading backup Landry Jones for Ben Roethlisberger .  "" We don ' t have to reinvent anything , "" Roethlisberger said .  And hope to do it a little better than they did last January against the Ravens , when Pittsburgh ' s longest run came on a 16 yard "" sprint "" by Roethlisberger . The inability to do much on the ground or keep Roethlisberger from absorbing five sacks had as much to do with the 30 17 loss as Joe Flacco ' s two touchdown passes .  Looking back , right tackle Marcus Gilbert allows losing Bell so abruptly ? and with little behind him after the team cut LeGarrette Blount ? took more of a mental toll than the Steelers initially let on .  "" Not having Bell in there kind of hurt the guys and we didn ' t come as prepared as we should have , "" Gilbert said .  As a result , Baltimore rolled . Toussaint stood on the Ravens sideline and watched the mild upset unfold as a reserve . He remembers the mentality Baltimore brought to Heinz Field . It ' s one he feels would serve the Steelers just as well this weekend .  "" Just go out there and play hard and play physical and just go hunt , "" Toussaint said . "" That ' s our motto in here : just go hunt . ""  Copyright 2016 The Associated Press . All rights reserved . This material may not be published , broadcast , rewritten or redistributed .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
4800,4801,"A Roma gang accused of selling a newborn to a childless couple for 6 , 500 and a car has told a French court that the child was ' a gift '  Four Roma men and women appeared in a Marseille court today , accused of human trafficking and being involved in several similar ' baby sales ' .  Six others are facing related charges in what prosecution documents described as ' a two thousands piece puzzle built around four births ' .  Human trafficking : Carmen and Mike Gorgan , pictured speaking to their lawyer in the courtroom of Marseille ' s Criminal Court today , are accused of paying a Roma gang 6 , 500 and a  for newborn baby boy Tony  At the centre of the scandal was Ilie Ionita , a 35 year old Romanian , and co conspirators Valeriu Rosu , 42 , Florian Stan , 33 , and Florin Coman 25 .  All face up to 10 years in prison and fines equivalent to more than 1million .  They deny the charges against them , saying the babies were ' a gift ' .  The only defendant not in court was Fana Moses , the 32 year old mother of the baby boy called Tony whom the gang sold .  In July 2013 , Marseille detectives received an anonymous tip that a Romanian woman had just given birth and had given the child to Mike and Carmen Gorgan , aged 27 and 28 .  The four accused Roma gang members deny the charges against them , saying the babies were ' a gift '  Both were accused of ' complicity in human trafficking ' , but their lawyer , Patrick Gontart , insisted : ' They do not believe they have done anything wrong ' .  The Roma gang was arrested as they prepared to board a flight from Italy back to Romania . At first all denied that money or good had been exchanged , but it was quickly established that Mr Gorgan had handed over 9000 euros ( 6 , 565 ) and the  to Ionita .  Mr Gontart said : ' For a month and a half , Carmen behaved like Tony ' s mother and was very well treated . '  He said the couple had ' fallen into the trap of many European couples . These are good people who are now unhappy because their child has been placed in a home . '  Documents including identity cards were falsified to try and make it look like the parents who bought the baby were the biological mother and father .  They had been trying for children unsuccessfully for ten years , the court heard .  At least three other cases of babies being sold were then tracked down , both on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica and on the mainland . In all , two boys were sold , while other transactions broke down .  All of the children are now back with their biological mothers , or else have been taken into care by social services .   , the organisation against modern slavery , is a civil party in the case one which it says highlights the growing problem of poor immigrants offering children for sale .  Referring to baby Tony ' s case ,  director Nagham Hriech said : ' There was canvassing , exchange and even negotiations . ' The case , which is expected to last two days at Marseille Correctional Court , continues .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
4801,4802,"A watchdog has cleared officers over the case of a four year old boy starved to death by his alcoholic mother , despite years of police contact with the family .  Hamzah Khan ' s decomposed body was found in a cot at his filthy home in Bradford in 2011 , almost two years after he had died .  The family , including his mother Amanda Hutton , 43 , had extensive contact with police over a number of years , but today the Independent Police Complaints Commission (  ) found that Hamzah ' s death was not something West Yorkshire Police ' could have reasonably been expected to predict or prevent ' , the police watchdog has found .  A watchdog has cleared West Yorkshire Police over the case of four year old Hamzah Khan ( pictured ) , who was starved to death by his alcoholic mother despite years of police contact with the family  Mother of eight Hutton was jailed for 15 years in 2013 after she was found guilty of Hamzah ' s manslaughter and neglecting five of her other children .  At her trial it emerged that a range of agencies , including police officers , had contact with her family because she was a victim of repeated domestic violence , but no one spotted the danger the children were in .  The  had launched an investigation into West Yorkshire Police ' s handling of concerns raised about Hamzah ' s welfare , the results of which were announced today .  In a statement , the watchdog said : ' The  investigation concluded that Hamzah ' s death was not something West Yorkshire Police could have reasonably been expected to predict or prevent , and that it was the actions of a  who made repeated and concerted attempts to speak to Ms Hutton that led to the discovery of Hamzah ' s body . '  Mother of eight Amanda Hutton ( pictured ) was jailed for 15 years in 2013 after she was found guilty of Hamzah ' s manslaughter and neglecting five of her other children  The commission said there had been no misconduct by officers but did criticise the force for not referring itself to the  at the time the body was discovered .  It said the fact it was not referred ' hindered the  in its obligation to carry out a prompt and effective independent investigation into West Yorkshire Police ' s contact with the family ' .   commissioner Cindy Butts said : ' There was a clear public interest in enabling the Independent Police Complaints Commission to scrutinise the actions of West Yorkshire Police officers after the discovery of Hamzah ' s body in 2011 .  ' The fact that this was not reported to the  until after a serious case review had been completed in 2013 meant that that process was completed without any independent scrutiny of police action . '  Hutton ' s trial heard how Hamzah ' s father , Aftab Khan , raised concerns with officers after he was arrested for attacking Hutton but detectives told the court these were investigated and no problems were found .  Today , the  said two officers chose not to make a referral to social services after specific allegations of neglect were made during this interview in December 2008 .  But it said in its statement : ' The  found that a number of referrals had already been made , one of which was made only five days before the interview with Mr Khan . A further referral to social services could have been made but there was no requirement for the officers to do so . '  A serious case review in Hamzah ' s case concluded that he was ' invisible for almost a lifetime ' .  But that review was criticised at its publication by children ' s minister Edward Timpson , who expressed ' deep concerns ' , saying it failed to fully explain ' missed opportunities to protect children in the house ' .  The minister wrote to Professor Nick Frost , who chairs the Bradford Safeguarding Children Board , saying : ' I have deep concerns over the Hamzah Khan serious case review .  The child ' s body was found in what police said were ' breathtakingly awful ' conditions in a bedroom at Hutton ' s house in Bradford , while the kitchen was also filled with rubbish  The living room of Hutton ' s home was covered in old takeaway boxes , bottles and plastic bags  ' In particular , I am concerned that it fails to explain sufficiently clearly the actions taken or not taken by children ' s social care when problems in the Khan family were brought to their attention on a number of occasions . '  Alcoholic Hutton was living in what the report described as ' breathtakingly awful ' conditions with five of her children as well as Hamzah ' s mummified remains when police entered her four bedroom house in September 2011 .  A jury at Bradford Crown Court found she had allowed Hamzah to starve to death in December 2009 and left his body in a cot with a teddy .  The remains were only discovered due to a rookie police community support officer ' s tenacious pursuit of a minor anti social behaviour complaint because she knew something was wrong .  The family was known to all the main agencies , partly due to a long history of violence Hutton suffered at the hands of Khan .  But Hutton failed to co operate with many children ' s services and the  found that Hamzah slipped below the radar and was invisible .  Ms Butts said today : ' Nothing could have reasonably been done by West Yorkshire Police to predict or prevent this horrendous case of child neglect . In fact , it was the tenacity of one of its officers that led to the eventual discovery of his body . '  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
4805,4806,"Reuters) - Donald Trump on Friday named U.S. Senator Mike Lee as a potential Supreme Court nominee, turning to an ally of former rival Ted Cruz in an apparent gesture to conservative Republicans who have been wary of the Republican presidential candidate.  Lee was included on a new list of 21 potential Supreme Court justices that Trump would consider for the high court if he is elected over Democrat Hillary Clinton in the Nov. 8 election. “This list is definitive and I will choose only from it in picking future justices of the United States Supreme Court,” Trump said in a statement. The announcement came out on a day in which neither candidate had a public event and were preparing for Monday’s first presidential debate. The list Trump announced included 10 new names and 11 conservative jurists from a list the New York businessman had announced in May. Lee’s brother, Thomas Lee, an associate justice of the Utah Supreme Court, was on the initial list and remains on Trump’s expanded list. Trump’s listing of Mike Lee amounted to a gesture to U.S. Senator Cruz of Texas, a conservative who fought Trump fiercely as a rival for the Republican presidential nomination and who has refused to endorse Trump. Trump’s bombastic style and proposals breaking with some conservative orthodoxies such as support for free trade agreements have sparked unease among traditional conservative Republicans.  Mike Lee, in a statement, said he appreciated being considered. “Right now I’m focused on my job in the Senate, where I’m in a good position to defend the Constitution by fighting against government overreach. Both lists that I’ve seen from the Trump campaign are fantastic.  “While my brother and I might disagree as to which list is better, they’re both great,” he quipped. The death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia on Feb. 13 left the court with a four-to-four tie between right-leaning and left-leaning justices. Democratic President Barack Obama has nominated Merrick Garland, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, but the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate has refused to consider confirming him. Trump said his list was based on who would follow constitutional principles on the high court. The possibility of Republicans ceding control of the court to the Democrats has been one of his main rallying cries at campaign events. Others on Trump’s list include Keith Blackwell, a justice on the Supreme Court of Georgia; Charles Canady, a Florida Supreme Court justice; Neil Gorsuch, a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, and Edward Mansfield, an Iowa Supreme Court justice. Other names included Federico Moreno, a judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida; Margaret Ryan, a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces; Amul Thapar, a judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Timothy Tymkovich, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit; and Robert Young, chief justice of the Supreme Court of Michigan. ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
4821,4822,"The 49 decapitated bodies authorities found on a roadside in northern Mexico over the weekend were likely the result of a fierce feud between rival drug cartels , a top Mexican official said Monday .  "" In recent weeks , we have had a series of inhuman and despicable acts in different parts of the country that mark an irrational fight fundamentally between two existing criminal groups and their criminal allies , "" Mexican Interior Minister Alejandro Poire said .  There are "" clear indications , "" he said , that a recent surge in violent acts including the mutilated remains found Sunday in Nuevo Leon state stem from a "" direct conflict "" between the Zetas and the Sinaloa cartels over territory and power .  Poire stressed that the Mexican government would not retreat from its efforts to crack down on organized crime , which is facing increasing criticism as Mexico ' s presidential campaign season heats up .  "" I know very well that these acts worry society , but the solution is not to let our guard down , "" Poire said .  President Felipe Calderon , seen as the chief champion of Mexico ' s crime fighting strategy , is not running for re election . But opposition candidates have criticized his administration ' s approach .  More than 47 , 000 people have died in drug related violence in Mexico since December 2006 , when Calderon announced plans to deploy troops in efforts to combat cartels .  On Sunday , it appeared that authorities would be adding at least 49 more people to that tally , after decapitated and dismembered bodies were found along a highway in the municipality of Cadereyta Jimenez , near the industrial city of Monterrey and about 80 miles southwest of the U . S . border .  A message written on a wall nearby appeared to refer to the Zetas drug cartel .  The Zetas started with deserters from the Mexican army and quickly gained a reputation for ruthless violence as the armed branch of Mexico ' s Gulf cartel . The partnership ended in 2010 .  Now , analysts say the Gulf cartel is allied with the Sinaloa cartel , one of the nation ' s most powerful drug trafficking groups .  Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquin "" El Chapo "" Guzman Loera is widely known as Mexico ' s most wanted fugitive . Forbes magazine has placed him on its list of the world ' s most powerful people , reporting his net worth is 1 billion as of March .  Authorities are still working to identify the victims whose bodies were found Sunday , Poire said .  State officials said Sunday they had not ruled out the possibility that the victims could be Central American immigrants or residents of another state , telling reporters Sunday that there had not been many local missing persons reports in recent days .  But the area has become a battleground for a brutal conflict between the Zetas and the Gulf cartel , and reports of forced disappearances have become increasingly common in recent years .  So have claims that local police , with lower salaries that authorities say make them easier to corrupt than federal troops , have been infiltrated and influenced by cartels .  Last week , a retired military general arrived to take over Cadereyta Jimenez ' s depleted police force . At least five municipal employees were slain there last month , the state run Notimex news agency reported .  Federal forces have stepped up security in Nuevo Leon and the neighboring state of Tamaulipas since November 2010 . The states are among Mexico ' s most violent , according to government statistics .  In Monterrey , Nuevo Leon ' s capital , nearly 400 deaths in 2011 were connected to organized crime more than three times the number of people slain in drug related violence there in 2010 .  Among the most high profile violence in the region was an attack on a casino in Monterrey last August that left 52 people dead . Authorities have said members of the Zetas cartel were behind that attack .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
4841,4842,"Former British Army officer, outspoken, conservative, radio and tv talk show host, Katie Hopkins warned Americans to fight back against the appeasement and political correctness in the United States of America.British conservative icon, Katie Hopkins gave a blistering speech about the dangers of political correctness and appeasement at the David Horowitz Restoration weekend in Palm Beach, Florida. Look at us, let us be a warning. Be better than us. I ve watched my country fall apart, and I want to warn others before they let their country do the same. And believe me, I love my country. Katie touched on many topics that most Americans are afraid to address. Hopkins reveals a horrifying story of a Muslim woman, who along with her boyfriend, was recently sentenced to prison, after a plot to behead Hopkins was uncovered. Hopkins also shares horrifying stories of multiple British citizens who have lost their lives, their limbs or suffer serious scars, as a result of acts of jihad against them by Muslim immigrants in their homeland of  Great Britain, after their nation welcomed them in with open arms. Do not allow America to fall as Europe has fallen, Hopkins told the crowd.Hopkins started out her speech with her usual biting and politically incorrect humor, by assuring the crowd she is not the outspoken, gay, conservative Milo Yiannopoulis. She then assured the audience that she was not gay simply because she wears her short. In fact, Hopkins calls herself a minority in London, because she s a white, married, mother of three, telling the audience that she s now on the  extinct list  in the UK.Hopkins tells of the time she spent in the migrant camps in Calais and tells horrifying stories of how the workers conform to the rule of Islam, so as not to offend the migrants they are taking care of. She tells a story of a mother who dresses her young daughter as a son, so the migrant men don t come into their tent to rape her daughter at night.  Hopkins admitted that she was  naive , and that she quickly realized,  Migrants don t come for a new life and leave their old life behind. They bring them with them. All the old conflicts from back home. The Eritreans hate the Somalis who hate the Afghanis who don t speak to the Libyans. And they re still fighting. They come, they do not start a new life, they bring their conflicts from back home. Watch Hopkins powerful speech here (some language may be offensive):",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
4845,4846,"The Mets are nothing if not memorable in both victory and defeat . Here ' s a chronological look at some of their worst losses . We ' ll leave it to you to rank them .  Yes , Mets fans went through a lot of rough times from 1962 to 1968 , but those teams were ( mostly ) lovable losers . Then came a miracle run to a World Series title in 1969 . The role that defense played in that championship is often forgotten .  The 1970 Mets were in the  East race until the final week . They trailed the Pirates by 2 1 2 games with seven to play , the first three in Pittsburgh , meaning the Mets could take the lead with a sweep . Instead , they were eliminated in a three game sweep .  The Mets lost all three games by one run . The key play came in the opener , when 1969 hero Tommie Agee was thrown out trying to steal third base as part of a game ending double play . The Pirates won the  East but lost to the Cincinnati Reds in the  .  The Mets were one win away from an improbable run to a World Series title after a regular season in which they had an 82 79 record they went from worst to first in a month to win the  East . Many still second guess the decision to start Tom Seaver on three days ' rest rather than pitch George Stone ( 12 3 in the regular season ) in Game 6 . Seaver lost to the Athletics in Game 6 and Jon Matlack got beat in Game 7 , and the Mets lost the World Series .  The 1985 Mets won 98 games but didn ' t make the postseason , back in the days when only division winners qualified . The Mets trailed the Cardinals by three games with six to play but won the first two of a three game series in St . Louis . Needing one more win to even the division race , the Mets came up one win short , falling to the Cardinals 4 3 . The Cardinals went on to win the division and lose to the Kansas City Royals in the World Series .  In defense of their World Series title , the Mets suffered through a season of injuries ( along with Dwight Gooden ' s stay in a drug treatment center ) and crushing defeats . The worst was a loss to the first place Cardinals on Sept . 11 when a win would have put them within half a game of first place . The Mets led 4 1 with two outs in the ninth inning , but the Cardinals rallied for three runs to tie the last two on Terry Pendleton ' s home run then won the game in the 10th . The Cardinals went on to win the division and then lost to the Minnesota Twins in the World Series .  The 1988 Mets looked a lot like the 1986 Mets , but the ' 88 team couldn ' t close the deal . They led the Los Angeles Dodgers 2 games to 1 and 4 2 in the ninth inning . But after Gooden got ahead of John Shelby 0 2 , Shelby walked . Mike Scioscia , who hit only three home runs in 408 regular season at bats , followed with a game tying homer .  Kirk Gibson ' s 12th inning home run gave the Dodgers the lead , and the Mets failed to score after loading the bases with one out . Former Mets World Series hero Jesse Orosco got Darryl Strawberry to pop out and Orel Hershiser came out of the bullpen to get Kevin McReynolds to fly out to end the game .  The Mets lost the series in seven games . The Dodgers went on to win the World Series .  1998 : Last five games of the regular season  The Mets led the  wild card race over the Chicago Cubs by one game and the San Francisco Giants by four games during the final week of the season . But the Mets lost five straight games to close the season , two to a Montreal Expos team that finished 65 97 and three on the road to the first place Atlanta Braves . The Cubs and Giants overtook them , both finishing one game in front . The Cubs won a one game playoff over the Giants but lost to the Braves in the  .  The Mets made the playoffs as a wild card team after rallying from two games back with three to play and beating the Reds in a one game playoff . They won the  against the Arizona Diamondbacks in dramatic fashion ( Todd Pratt ' s walkoff homer ) and rallied from a 3 0  deficit to win a pair of games against the Braves , the second on Robin Ventura ' s 15th inning grand slam single .  But it all turned out to be for naught thanks to a wild Game 6 , in which the Mets rallied from 5 0 and 7 3 deficits , then took and blew the lead in the eighth and 10th innings . The Braves won when Kenny Rogers walked Andruw Jones to bring in the winning run in the 11th inning .  The Mets broke through as a wild card team and got to the World Series , beating the Giants and Cardinals along the way . That earned them a Subway Series matchup against the two time defending champion New York Yankees .  The series turned in the first game when the Mets took a 3 2 lead into the ninth inning but couldn ' t close it out . The key at bat was a one out , 10 pitch walk to Paul O ' Neill that started the Yankees ' rally . The Yankees won in the 12th on ex Met Jose Vizcaino ' s hit against Turk Wendell .  The Mets also lost Game 5 in crushing fashion , on Luis Sojo ' s ground ball hit in the ninth inning . Mike Piazza ' s last gasp bid for a tying homer was caught near the center field fence , giving the Yankees their third straight title .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
4857,4858,"Naturally sculpted : Fillers are used to try and emulate the naturally sculpted features of stars like Angelina Jolie  Injectable skin fillers could be the next cosmetic scandal after  breast implants , leading surgeons said yesterday .  Plastic surgeons warned of a ' timebomb ' , saying fillers are ' completely unregulated ' , with anyone who has completed a half day course allowed to inject them into patients .  Fillers , a gel like substance used to smooth wrinkles and plump up cheeks , were once the preserve of the rich and famous .  But they are becoming increasingly popular in the mainstream among women hoping to emulate stars with naturally striking , sculpted features , such as Angelina Jolie .  As well as being offered by hairdressers and beauticians for about 250 a time , fillers are also widely available on the internet for self injection . In the  , where they are regulated , only seven types have been cleared for use yet more than 150 are offered on the British high street . They are sold legally without safety checks .  Nigel Mercer , former president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons , said there had been an ' inexorable ' year on year rise in demand for skin fillers . In a study of cosmetic surgeons in 2009 , one in four reported seeing patients who had received botched jobs .  Experts yesterday warned skin fillers could become the next cosmetic disaster after the  furore , in which it emerged 47 , 000 British women were given breast implants filled with non medical grade silicone .  ' Ticking timebomb ' : Experts warned that fillers should only be injected by a doctor  Mr Mercer said : ' It is a ticking timebomb . We believe fillers should be a prescription only medicine .  ' We are contacted by patients who have ended up with unsightly lumps under the skin which can only be removed with surgery , people left with scars after one of their arteries was injected and people can even go blind if it is injected too close to the eye . '  He said only doctors , nurses or other trained medical practitioners should be able to dispense them .  ' There are reputable providers , but you see all the emails offering dermal fillers from China and we have no idea what they contain . You can make this stuff using a chemistry set , ' he said .  Most fillers contain substances found naturally in the body such as collagen or hyaluronic acid , but it is unclear what else is inside , Mr Mercer said .  The association yesterday also called for a crackdown on advertising for plastic surgery such as facelifts and tummy tucks , saying they lure children and the vulnerable to go under the knife .  In a 12 point plan submitted to the Advertising Standards Authority , it called for a ban on such promotions on billboards , in magazines and online , aimed at under 18s or using celebrities .  Association president Fazel Fatah told its annual meeting in London : ' Some providers take advantage of people who seek surgical treatments for psychological reasons , with unethical and very aggressive marketing and advertising . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
4867,4868,"Hong Kong Hong Kong is on high alert after an Indonesian domestic helper contracted the city ' s first human case of H7N9 avian flu , the city ' s government says .  The 36 year old maid is in hospital in a critical condition , Ko Wing man , Hong Kong ' s secretary for food and health said in a statement .  The woman had recently traveled to Shenzhen , the mainland Chinese city nearest to Hong Kong , where she bought , slaughtered and ate a chicken , Ko added . Her close contacts have also been isolated in hospital .  What to know about avian flu  Ko said that Hong Kong had raised its level of preparedness for an influenza pandemic to "" serious . ""  Human infections from the H7N9 strain of bird flu first emerged in Shanghai in March this year and within weeks more than 100 cases were confirmed , according to the World Health Organization .  Study finds evidence of first human to human transmission of H7N9 bird flu  However , the number of cases dropped dramatically after the closing of live poultry markets in affected areas , the  said . So far , there is no evidence of sustained human to human transmission , it added .  As of November 6 , the  said it had been informed of a total of 139 laboratory confirmed human cases of the H7N9 virus , including 45 deaths .  From ducks to chickens to deadly virus  Ko said Hong Kong said it had suspended the import of live chickens from three farms in Shenzhen and would inspect Hong Kong chicken farms and poultry wholesale markets .  Hong Kong takes the threat of new disease extremely seriously after Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or  first emerged in the city in 2003 . The outbreak went on to infect 8 , 096 people and kill 744 worldwide .  On Monday , Shanghai said it will suspend live poultry trading from January 31 until April 30 to prevent a recurrence of this year ' s bird flu outbreak , according to state run news agency Xinhua .   director : A disease outbreak anywhere is a risk everywhere  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
4881,4882,"New York A spirited and leaderless protest in the Wall Street section of New York has entered its third week , helping to inspire a growing number of demonstrations united in their passion if not necessarily their reasons for hitting the streets .  The hub of the movement , in Lower Manhattan , was abuzz with activity on Sunday as activists continued to vent their frustrations with everything from "" corporate greed "" to high gas prices to insufficient health insurance .  No single group or person heads the effort , which has adopted the name "" Occupy Wall Street . "" While a "" general assembly "" is held daily for those gathered be it for a few short hours or by camping out long term to discuss the goings on and work toward a common mission , the stances being touted currently are diverse .  "" We ' ve gathered here in this place . . . to shape a statement of what it is we want , and how we ' re going to get to it , "" said Robert Segal , one of the New York protesters .  Video : Police arrest hundreds of protesters in   The lack of coherent message has not stopped similar efforts from popping up elsewhere in the United States .  "" Occupy Chicago , "" for instance , entered its 10th day on Sunday , a day after an associated website touted "" a huge afternoon march . ""  The motto atop a website for "" Occupy Los Angeles , "" which kicked off Saturday with a march from Pershing Square to City Hall , reads : "" The revolution is happening . . . It ' s just not in the news . ""  There are 34 organizations from unions to ethnic organizations to activist groups focused on everything from foreclosure prevention to climate change to justice related issues listed as being involved in a like minded activist coalition in Boston . This group , which held a festival and march Friday and Saturday and has explicitly targeted Bank of America in recent weeks , states on its website that its aim is to "" stop their greed , "" "" fight for an economy that works for all of us "" and "" build cities that are democratic , just and sustainable . ""  The website of Seattle demonstrators describes the nationwide effort as "" a leaderless resistance movement with people of many colors , genders and political persuasions . ""  "" The one thing we all have in common is that We Are The 99 that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1 , "" the statement continues , referring to what it sees as a sharp divide between the wealthiest Americans and the rest of society .  Most demonstrations thus far have been peaceful and uneventful , though in a few cases they have led to numerous arrests .  The most high profile such incident came Saturday , when New York police arrested more than 700 protesters who had occupied the iconic Brooklyn Bridge . They were cited for blocking the roadway , authorities said , and eventually released after being given tickets .  The confrontation came as protesters along the road banged drums and chanted , "" The whole world is watching "" as police moved in .  Paul J . Browne , the deputy commissioner for the New York City Police Department , said they were given "" multiple warnings "" to stay on the pedestrian walkway and not the main roadway . The incident led to a shutdown of Manhattan to Brooklyn bridge traffic for several hours .  Demonstrators have said they take their inspiration from the Arab Spring protests that swept through Africa and the Middle East this year .  The protest campaign which uses the hashtag occupywallstreet on the microblogging site Twitter began in July with the launch of a simple campaign website calling for a march and a sit in at the New York Stock Exchange .  It has gained steam since early September , with crowds taking up residence in a park in New York ' s financial district and calling for 20 , 000 people to flood the area for a "" few months . "" In recent weeks , the New York demonstrators have addressed various issues , including police brutality , union busting and the economy .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
4890,4891,"These hilarious images show the moment a frisky tortoise scupper his chances while trying to mate with a female .  Clearly in the mood for love , the aroused reptile is seen beginning its painstakingly slow ascent on to the back of a female ' s shell .  But instead of getting lucky , the blundering tortoise somehow manages to lose its balance , sending it toppling over onto its back .  The moment things go south : The loved up male tortoise is seen here teetering before he falls on the ground  Shell we just leave it then ? He gets no second chances and after failing to impress his mate and she leaves  Talk about lying down on the job the poor fella looked positively ' shell shocked ' as it found itself on its back unable to get up .  The amusing moment was caught on camera , by Ukranian photographer , Vadym Shevchenko , 34 , at Kiev Zoo .  And it seems the female tortoise wasn ' t willing to wait around as she was pictured leaving the clumsy Casanova on its back , in the mud .  And to add insult to injury , he then had to spend a whole fifteen minutes desperately crawling across the grass of its enclosure before finally getting up .  Vadym said : ' The tortoise seemed very eager to make his way over to the female , he was still incredibly slow but it was clear he had a purpose .  ' Watching the tortoise attempt to mount the female was almost painful to watch , it took him so long , but we were all sort of curious to see what would happen .  The tortoise casanovca made painfully slow progress in getting into position with his mate in the first place  Photographer Vadym Shevchenko said the tortoise seemed very determined even if he was unsuccessful  ' It looked about ready to start but then lost its balance when the female moved , which sent it it rolling onto its back , it really was very funny .  ' It landed in a patch of mud behind him and its arms and legs were kicking quite frantically .  ' The tortoise was wedged in the small patch of mud , I don ' t think it would been able to get back onto its feet without some help .  Flat on his back , the tortoise lost his balance when the female moved away and he had to scrabble in the mud  She wasn ' t too upset though and went to find some food , leaving her unfortunate partner flailing on the ground  ' The female didn ' t seem to upset and she quickly moved off in search of food .  ' I felt pretty sorry for the little guy , it tried so hard but failed at the last hurdle .  ' It makes me wonder how they have stayed alive for so many millions of years .  ' Seeing its face struggling in the mud was priceless , I always laugh out loud when I look back at these photographs . '  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
4894,4895,"The moon may seem like a placid , barren satellite today , but it was once host to a series of violent volcanoes that scarred its surface .  For decades , researchers have believed rivers of magma flowed on the moon around a billion years ago , and then stopped abruptly .  But a new study suggests volcanic activity was still present on the moon 100 million years ago the same time that dinosaurs were roaming the Earth .  The feature called Maskelyne is one of many newly discovered young volcanic deposits on the moon . Called irregular mare patches , these areas are thought to be remnants of small volcanic eruptions that occurred much later than the commonly accepted end of lunar volcanism , 1 to 1 . 5 billion years ago  If confirmed , the finding could suggest the presence of radioactive elements keeping the moon ' s insides warm .  The discovery was made using images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (  ) , which suggest a number of lunar rock deposits were less than 100 million years old .  ' This finding is the kind of science that is literally going to make geologists rewrite the textbooks about the moon , ' said John Keller ,  project scientist .  The deposits are scattered across the moon ' s dark volcanic plains and are characterised by a mixture of smooth , rounded , shallow mounds next to patches of rough , blocky terrain .  This image shows the moon seen in visible light ( left ) , topography ( centre , where red is high and blue is low ) , and gravity gradients ( right ) . The Procellarum region is a broad region of low topography which was formed by volcanic activity . Some activity may still have occurred on the lunar surface 100 million years ago  Because of this combination of textures , the researchers refer to these unusual areas as irregular mare patches .  The features are too small to be seen from Earth , averaging less than a third of a mile ( 0 . 5km ) across in their largest dimension .  One of the largest , a well studied area called Ina , was imaged from lunar orbit by Apollo 15 astronauts .  Ina appeared to be a one of a kind feature until researchers from Arizona State University in Tempe and Westf lische Wilhelms Universit t M nster in Germany spotted similar regions in high resolution images taken by  .  The team identified a total of 70 irregular mare patches on the near side of the moon .  The findings have major implications for how warm the moon ' s interior is thought to be . ' The existence and age of the irregular mare patches tell us that the lunar mantle had to remain hot enough to provide magma for the small volume eruptions that created these unusual young features , ' said lead author Sarah Braden  The large number of these features and their wide distribution strongly suggest that late stage volcanic activity was not an anomaly but an important part of the moon ' s geologic history .  A recent study has found that the famous shapes that make up the ' man in the moon ' are likely to have been created by magma bubbling up to the moon ' s surface .  The 1 , 800 mile wide ( 2 , 897km ) section of the moon ' s Procellarum basin was formed by large plumes of molten rock , the  scientists believe .  The latest theory , published in the journal Nature , was established by analysing high definition maps of the moon ' s surface .  Using Nasa data , a research team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (  ) found that the circles are not circular as would be the case if they were caused by asteroids .  The researchers discovered that they are instead made up of sharp angles produced by giant tension cracks in the moon ' s crust as it cooled around upwelling plumes of hot material from the deep interior .  The numbers and sizes of the craters within these areas indicate the deposits are relatively recent .  Based on a technique that links such crater measurements to the ages of Apollo and Luna samples , three of the irregular mare patches are thought to be less than 100 million years old , and perhaps less than 50 million years old in the case of Ina .  The steep slopes leading down from the smooth rock layers to the rough terrain are consistent with the young age estimates .  In contrast , the volcanic plains surrounding these distinctive regions are attributed to volcanic activity that started about 3 . 5 billion years ago and ended roughly 1 billion years ago .  The findings have major implications for how warm the moon ' s interior is thought to be .  ' The existence and age of the irregular mare patches tell us that the lunar mantle had to remain hot enough to provide magma for the small volume eruptions that created these unusual young features , ' said Sarah Braden , a recent Arizona State University graduate and the lead author of the study .  The new information is hard to reconcile with what currently is thought about the temperature of the interior of the moon .  ' These young volcanic features are prime targets for future exploration , both robotic and human , ' said Mark Robinson ,  principal investigator at Arizona State University .  The shapes making up the ' face ' of the man in the moon are likely to have been created by magma bubbling up to the moon ' s surface , new research reveals . This image shows a full moon as seen from the Earth , with the Procellarum border structures of ' face ' superimposed in red  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
4896,4897,"After an exciting Championship Sunday , the matchup for Super Bowl 50 on Feb . 7 at Levi ' s Stadium is set . The Denver Broncos used a dominant defensive effort to hold off the New England Patriots , while the Carolina Panthers outright smothered the Arizona Cardinals in all phases of the game .  Von Miller and the Broncos defense may get all the headlines in the lead up to the Super Bowl , but don ' t sleep on the Panthers defense . Luke Kuechly and Co . dominated the Cardinals , picking off Carson Palmer four times and forcing seven turnovers overall .  Now , the Panthers and Broncos will face off in Super Bowl 50 with a young vs . old matchup at quarterback between Cam Newton and Peyton Manning .  Las Vegas has a lot of immediate confidence in Carolina , as Odds Shark ? initially set the Panthers as four point favorites . ?  As Khaled Elsayed of Pro Football Focus pointed out , this matchup will pit two elite units against each other :  Panthers , top ranked  offense , up against Broncos , top ranked  defense . Something has to give !  The Broncos have the better defense statistically , and coordinator Wade Phillips has his unit clicking at the perfect time . ? But Newton is having an out of body experience this year . As ? SportsCenter ? noted , he ' s accounted for 50 touchdowns this season , including in the playoffs . At 6 ' 5 "" and 245 pounds , he is essentially a linebacker playing quarterback .  Phillips and his defense will have a tough time slowing down Newton , who is a threat with his arm and his legs . He can make pinpoint passes and plays in the open field if he escapes the pocket . The Panthers will even design runs for him he rushed for 10 touchdowns in the regular season , which was tied for the second most by any player .  And on the other side , the Panthers have a more than capable defense . They have elite players at every level , from Dwan Edwards to Kuechly to Josh Norman . Carolina led the league ? in pretty much all turnover categories , including differential .  If the Panthers continue to play as they have all season , it will be tough for the Broncos to beat them . But if the Broncos defense continues playing with its hair on fire , it could give Manning a chance to use his brilliance to navigate the Broncos offense down the field .  Either way , this is already shaping up to be a tremendous football game . Feb . 7 can ' t come soon enough .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
4899,4900,"From a distance , he appears to be taking a nap . His long , delicate eyelashes are closed as his head rests on a blanket .  The 10 year old boy , however , is not asleep .  The turn of his gauze wrapped head reveals a mass of blood . Maher al Husseini is dead , reportedly from a sniper bullet .  He bled to death .  In his own home .  "" What is the fault of this child ? "" asks a man , whose voice rises in anger on a video posted Friday on YouTube . He kneels down and gestures to the boy , whose hands and ankles are tied .  "" What did this child do that they hit him inside his house ? This is unacceptable . ""  Friday was a day of protest , pain and sorrow in Homs , a center of demonstrations and death in Syria . At least 17 people were reported slain in the city , according to the Local Coordination Committees of Syria , an activist group .  Women , children and dissident soldiers were among those killed Friday in Syria , the group said .  The United Nations said last week that more than 4 , 000 people have died in Syria since a brutal government crackdown against protesters erupted in mid March .  The unidentified narrator of the video starts the tour of the home upstairs , pointing to a bullet hole on a window frame , then blood on the chair beneath it .  He leads the cameraman down blood spattered stairs to the body of Maher , lying in the family sitting room .  The boy wears a maroon sweatshirt featuring a comic character .  "" We could not aid the child , we did not know where to take him because of the firing in the neighborhood , "" the agitated man said . "" He kept bleeding for half an hour and we could not aid him . ""  The speaker blamed Maher ' s death on "" thugs "" who fired upon the home in the Mreiji neighborhood .  Another man sits in a chair , his head in his hands .  "" We are not safe , this government is murderous , "" the narrator says . "" It is killing people , it is killing its own people . ""  Near the end of the video , the man leans down and kisses the boy .  Watch the YouTube video .  : Graphic content .  A longer version of the video shows a woman crying over the boy . Others can be heard in background wailing . The boy is wrapped in a white sheet and carried by men in street towards a cemetery . Some of the men chant "" The martyrs blood will not be lost in vain , "" as the lifeless boy is carried .  As the men walk towards the cemetery gunfire can be heard .  They get to the cemetery and start digging as gunfire continues to ring out .  Another video posted on YouTube features another scene from Homs , a city wracked by eight months of violence .  Three shrouded bodies are being carried into a mosque to be laid out alongside Friday worshippers . One is of a boy identified as Nasser Mohammed , 12 .  A chorus of voices rises as they are brought in . Some shout "" Allahu Akbar ! "" ( Allah is the greatest ) .  Out on the streets Friday , Syrian tanks rolled past the wreckage of past confrontations and gunfire echoed .  The street battles and demonstrations come as the United Nations and the Arab League continue to press the government of President Bashar al Assad to allow monitors or observers on the ground . The regime continues to resist those calls as it maintains the conflict is with armed terrorists and its own security forces and supporters are the victims .  In a rare interview this week with a U . S . television network , al Assad said he is not responsible for the crackdown .  The nation ' s military forces "" are not my forces , "" al Assad told  ' s Barbara Walters .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
4909,4910,"East Haven , Connecticut Two days after a Connecticut mayor delivered an errant comment about eating tacos to support East Haven Latinos , some of whom are the alleged victims of police mistreatment , Mayor Joseph Maturo Jr . apparently got his wish .  Some 500 tacos were delivered to his office Thursday after a Latino activist group called Junta for Progressive Action launched a text for tacos campaign to draw attention to the comment , which Maturo later apologized for .  In the interview Tuesday , a local reporter pointed out that there were no Latino officers on East Haven ' s police force .  "" And your point being ? "" Maturo responded .  Asked what he planned to do for the Latino community in light of the discrimination allegations , the mayor said , "" I might have tacos when I go home , I ' m not quite sure yet . ""  That set off the activist group , a local branch of the Reform Immigration for America organization , which said that anytime someone texts the word "" taco "" to 69866 , it will deliver a taco to the mayor on their behalf .  They ' ve received more than 2 , 600 texts , the group said in a statement Thursday .  "" The mayor has shown a total lack of respect for the constituents he has been sworn to serve to the best of his ability , "" said Henry Fernandez , spokesman for the group .  Maturo twice apologized for the comments , saying his words were largely a product of stress .  Still , some 500 tacos were placed inside his office the rest are already being rerouted to local food assistance outlets .  "" The town of East Haven has received an abundance of tacos as a result of the campaign initiated by the group ' Reform Immigration for America , ' "" said Maturo in a statement . "" Recognizing that there are many in need in our state , we have arranged for all of the tacos to be donated to local soup kitchens and pantries , including the Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen in New Haven . ""  He added that "" the events of the past few days have focused our town , and my administration , on the need to deal sensitively and compassionately with the challenges currently facing our town . ""  On Tuesday ,  agents arrested four East Haven police officers accused of playing a role in abuse of Latino residents and business owners , performing illegal searches , making false arrests and harassing immigrant rights advocates .  The arrests are the first to stem from a federal investigation into racial profiling in the city and follow a scathing December report from the U . S . Justice Department that accused the town ' s police of engaging in "" discriminatory policing against Latinos . ""  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
4923,4924,"The marching orders from Congress and the White House to  were pretty straightforward .  Go out and build a new big rocket to replace the retiring space shuttle fleet .  Unlike the shuttle , the new rocket has to be powerful enough to get out of low Earth orbit and carry humans to an asteroid and eventually Mars , perhaps even the moon . There must also be a test flight by 2016 .  But at this point ,  officials are warning of a potentially devastating setback to future space exploration .  Its first new rocket in 40 years may not happen because the agency doesn ' t think the 8 billion budgeted over the next three years is enough .  Congress has already responded that unless  can prove there ' s not enough money , the rocket must by law be built .  "" We ' re doing everything we can to get there , "" Cooke said .  The 9 billion was for the now defunct Constellation program , planned to take astronauts to the moon and on to Mars . It was cut from the federal budget last year after being called behind schedule and over budget .  After the last shuttle flight later this year ,  will be out of the space taxi business . Commercial companies are expected to take over ferrying astronauts to and from the International Space Station .   , no longer burdened with an aging vehicle and costly flights , has again been told to focus on building a new rocket .  Citizens Against Government Waste President Tom Schatz is not confident : ""  is unfortunately becoming a black hole for the taxpayers and something needs to be done to turn things around , "" he said . "" The Constellation program has taught us the things that work , the things that we could have done better . ""  "" We have engines that will be freed up when shuttle retires . We do have solid rocket casings that are from the shuttle program that we can use , "" he said .   says it will tell Congress by the spring or early summer whether the rocket can be built with the money available and meet the 2016 deadline .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
4938,4939,"Let us have a look at the data for today  .   In silver, the total open interest  by 318 contracts  to 193,975. The open interest   the silver price was  8 cents in yesterday’s trading .In ounces, the  is still represented by just less  1  oz i.e. .970     or 139% of annual global silver production (ex Russia &ex China).  In silver for October we finished with 39 notices served upon for 195,000 oz. Thus the final standings for silver in October is 555 notices served upon for 2,775,000 oz. An excellent showing for silver in a non delivery month.  In November, in silver, on first day notice filings: 875 notices were served upon for 1,690,000 oz  I  In gold, the total comex gold  by 2,919 contracts    in price of gold ($4.30   ) . The total gold  stands at 510,070 contracts.  In gold for October we had 341 notices served upon for 341,000 oz. This should finalize gold as the total number of notices filed for the month totals 9,776 for 977,600 oz or 30.407 tonnes.  In gold for November: we had on first day notice filings: 875 notices served upon for 87500 oz   With respect to our two criminal funds, the  and the  :                 Total gold inventory rests tonight at: 942.59 tonnes of gold    we had   at the SLV/    Inventory rests at: 360.673 million oz  .  First, here is an outline of what will be discussed tonight:  1. Today, we had the open interest in silver  by 318 contracts up to 193,975 as the price of silver rose by 8 cents with Friday’s trading.The gold open interest  by 2,919 contracts  to 510,070 as the price of gold  $4.30  FRIDAY’S TRADING.  (report Harvey).  2.a) The Shanghai and London gold fix report  (Harvey)  2 b) Gold/silver trading overnight Europe, Goldcore  (Mark O’Byrne/zerohedge  3c  gold movement report  (Harvey)   3.    i) Late  night/ morning: Shanghai closed  3.78   0.12%/ /Hang Sang closed  20.27  0.09%. The Nikkei closed  21.39   0.09% Australia’s all ordinaires   0.59% /Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) closed  at 6.7728/Oil  to 48.43 dollars per barrel for  and 50.42 for Brent. Stocks in Europe:     Offshore yuan trades 6.7847 yuan to the dollar vs 6.7728 for onshore yuan.        A          CHINA’S  /   A          DECEMBER.          3a)THAILAND/   South Korea`s is rocked this morning by an influence peddling scandal similar to the  charitable foundation scandal  ( zero hedge) b)     A preview of what to expect from Japan`s decision this week. In essence continue what they have been doing: printing money and buying assets  ( zero hedge) c)     i)This is now alarming: China`s  spreads are blowing out as banks are now afraid to lend to one another and a huge dollar shortage.  ( zero hedge)   ii)Another alarming commentary. China`s debt this year has grown by 4.5 trillion uSA. This growth has basically kept the world`s global economy moving somewhat. When this stops all hell with break loose: a huge deflationary spiral  ( zero hedge)",fake,news,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present
4943,4944,"A Mexican federal law enforcement official said the country is willing to extradite recaptured drug lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzman , who spent six months on the lam after busting out of a maximum security Altiplano prison in July .  Mexico s most notorious drug lord could be Brooklyn bound after all , officials announced Saturday in a stunning reversal .  A Mexican federal law enforcement official said the country is willing to extradite recaptured drug lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzman , who spent six months on the lam after busting out of a maximum security Altiplano prison in July .  The official said Mexico is ready for an extradition . He cautioned that process might not start soon .  Experts say the legal process could be lengthy and Guzman s attorney is saying he ll battle extradition in the courts .  He was arrested Friday after a bloody shootout with Mexican marines that left five of his cartel workers dead .  The Sinaloa Cartel boss was swiftly sent back to the same facility where he made his meticulously planned escape using an elaborate tunnel built under his cell .  The Sinaloa Cartel boss was swiftly sent back to the same facility where he made his meticulously planned escape using an elaborate tunnel built under his cell .  U . S . officials have been calling for Guzman to be extradited to New York City to face a 21 count indictment in the Eastern District of New York .  He s charged in a Brooklyn indictment with money laundering and 12 murders .  The kingpin s summer getaway marked the second time Guzman slipped away from top security Mexican prisons .  While on the run , Guzman began making plans to turn the story of his daring escape into a biopic , said Attorney General Arely Gomez said late Friday . But his bid for the big screen helped lead investigators to his secret home in the Mexican seaside city of Los Mochis .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
4948,4949,"Four or maybe five new faces headed for City Council  Michael Minton said his old friend had long dreamed of such a night . He remembered meeting Kenney at a Phillies game 22 years ago , when he was a fresh face on Council . "" I must have heard Jim talk a hundred times quite a few of them after midnight about how much he wanted to be mayor , "" Minton said . "" I ' m just amazed and delighted that it ' s happening . ""  Minton , who works for a civil engineering firm , said Kenney has the passion for the job , and has also grown more disciplined with words and emotions over the brief span of his mayoral run . As Minton put it : "" Up to 21 years and six months ago , he hadn ' t changed a bit . ""  Feel good music played as a slide show behind the stage flashed pictures of Kenney on the campaign trail , hugging supporters , shaking hands with priests , and posing with children . A spread of Philadelphia favorites soft pretzels , Tastykakes , peanut chews got as much attention as the more refined cheese table , but not as much love as the beer and wine bar .  A trio of Kenney pals from the Prep drank beers and joked about the stories they couldn ' t share with reporters . "" He ' s still the same guy , with a common touch , a good person but also a visionary , he ' s been ahead of issues , taking positions even when they were not popular , "" said Jim McHugh , a public defender from Mount Airy .  Marie Donato , 79 , waved a metallic orange pom pom and shouted "" Whoopee ! "" about as proudly South Philadelphian as that word can sound .  Donato runs a funeral home and hasn ' t forgotten the help Kenney , her former neighbor , provided when she had issues with prostitutes loitering on her property . "" I ' m his number one fan , "" she said with a grin .  It ' s Kenney ' s "" all in this together "" vision that Nyisha Chapman , 37 , likes . She works in community relations for the Philadelphia Gas Works and got to know him over his years on Council .  "" I think he ' s a great progressive leader , "" she said . "" Just look around the room , and you see the diversity of the people who are for him . ""  Kenney will need to balance the interests of his biggest backers , particularly unions , with the city as a whole . He spoke of that earlier in an interview , saying it was unfair , even counterproductive , to treat the two as different .  "" Those folks are not separate . Our municipal work force are city residents , they ' re not two separate sets of people , and they have the best interests of the city at heart , and they understand there ' s limits and they understand there ' s financial issues and problems , especially in the pensions , "" he said . "" I think cooperative , respectful interaction is the best way to go , and if you set yourself up as the villain or the enemy , you ' re going to get people digging in and not ready to concede or do anything differently . ""  A little later , Kenney ended his brief speech just two minutes by connecting the celebration at a museum honoring the aspirations of Jewish families seeking the American dream with his own Irish Catholic childhood .  "" In those days , "" he said , "" South Philly was a mix of immigrant families from all different backgrounds and faiths . . . but despite their differences , they all worked together to create a better place for their families to live . "" He called on all Philadelphians to join him in doing that now .  Then he headed for the elevator with his parents , his daughter and son , whom he has shielded from the spotlight . He and his wife are separated .  Earlier , on the cab ride over , before the speakers blasted "" Ain ' t no stopping us now , "" before the bright lights came up and the cheers rose , Kenney reflected on becoming the city ' s 99th mayor .  "" I think , symbolically , the 99th mayor of the city is a person who ' s in tune with the 99 percent , "" he said . "" I like the 1 percent , too , don ' t get me wrong . But I come out of a rowhouse neighborhood , blue collar family , firefighter dad . This is the best I can get . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
4949,4950,"He may be known for his party loving ways , but Prince Harry works tirelessly to help vulnerable children living in extreme poverty at risk of  and now his services are being recognised .  As part of his Sentebale charity , which he set up with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho , the 30 year old royal built the Mamohato Children ' s Centre to support vulnerable children through healthcare and education .  And now , Harry ' s programme will be receiving the 2015 Swarovski Crystal Of Hope Award at the glittering Life Ball event in May .  Prince Harry , who set up Sentebale , a charity that provides healthcare and education to vulnerable children in Lesotho , Southern Africa , will be honoured with an award for his services  Speaking about the award , Life Ball founder Gery Keszler told  : ' We always select programmes to receive this award that are relatively unsung heroes , doing interesting , innovative and important work but not yet well known .  ' This award not only donates substantial funds , but also brings an international spotlight to the work . I will be visiting the programme in April , which helps children living with   educationally , emotionally and physically it is really exceptional and we are proud to be working with them . '  As part of his Sentebale charity , Harry built the Mamohato Children ' s Centre to support vulnerable children through healthcare and education and the initiative is being awarded  Speaking about the award , Life Ball founder Gery Keszler , who selected Harry ' s work , told  : ' We always select programmes to receive this award that are relatively unsung heroes , doing interesting , innovative and important work but not yet well known '  The Life Ball , which takes place in May , is the biggest charity event in Europe supporting people with   and is being dubbed Europe ' s answer to the  Ball thanks to it ' s dazzling guestlist .  Speaking about the origins of the glittering event , Keszler said : ' Life Ball was born out of the energy and environment prevalent across the world in the late 80 ' s and early 90 ' s particularly in the fashion industry that saw  as a daily issue profoundly effecting our friends and colleagues who were dying , but that no one understood or was willing to talk about .  ' There was this undercurrent of urgency to do something : to help , to get involved and make some noise .  ' My main goal with the first Life Ball was to bring a spotlight to the disease , the fundraising aspect was a secondary consideration . '  Prince Harry ' s award will be announced at The Life Ball , pictured , which is the biggest charity event in Europe supporting people with  or  and is being dubbed Europe ' s answer to the  Ball  Gery Keszler set up the event in 1992 with the goal of the show being to be provocative and have   and the taboo that it represented acknowledged  Gery Keszler , left , pictured with Sir Elton John , centre , set up The Life Ball in 1992 to raise vital funds  The event , which has attracted the likes of Bill Clinton , left , and Dame Vivienne Westwood , aims to get people talking about  , which Keszler says was a daily issue profoundly effecting his friends and colleagues who were dying but that no one understood or was willing to talk about  Keszler aimed to marry the unique and prolific Ball tradition that they have in Vienna , and combine the splendour of the Viennese Waltz with modern , liberal ideals to celebrate life .  ' At that time , the goal of the show was to be provocative as we were aiming to cause a stir and have   and the taboo that it represented acknowledged , ' he explained .  ' When in 1993 one of my clients , Thierry Mugler ' s main stylist , died of the disease , he agreed to do the fashion show and so Life Ball as a standalone event was born .  ' I had no conceivable idea what I was taking on , it was me and a fax machine in six square meters of office space in my client ' s kitchen . I funded it entirely from my own pocket and didn ' t really know if anyone was going to attend but knew that we had to do something . '  Keszler aimed to marry the unique and prolific Ball tradition that they have in Vienna with more liberal ideas ( Conchita Wurst pictured at the event )  Keszler says this year ' s Life Ball , which takes place in Vienna , will ' undoubtedly be better than ever '  Keszler ' strongly believes ' that a cure for  is on the horizon and hopes to make as much noise about it as possible via his glittering event  From there , a huge event was born and the likes of Debbie Harry , Kate Moss , Naomi Campbell and Helena Christensen were among the first guests .  The event is now listed as one of the top 50   fundraisers in the world and has partnered with Elton John ' s  Foundation , Bill Clinton ' s  Initiative and AmFAR .  Keszler says this year ' s Life Ball will ' undoubtedly be better than ever ' . The event will be continuing its work with Elton John ' s foundation , supporting the crucial work that they do , and Graham Norton will be attending as part of the foundation .  Adding some high fashion glamour to the event , Jean Paul Gaultier is set to unveil an exclusive retrospective of work twenty years after he first showed there .  With gold as this year ' s Life Ball theme , taking inspiration from the exquisite baroque Vienna Secessionists , the couture show will follow the vibrant and ostentatious theme with a bevy of internationally acclaimed supermodels set to walk for well connected Jean Paul .  ' It is really perfect timing to have  back this year , ' said Keszler . ' It has been twenty years since he was part of the Life Ball and we are at such an exciting time in our medical fight against  that his presence is a wonderful reminder of how far we have come . '  The event is now listed as one of the top 50   fundraisers in the world and has attracted guests such as Maria Cross , left , and Antonio Banderas and Naomi Campbell , right  Ricky Martin has performed at the event in previous years and 2015 will welcome Jean Paul Gaultier and Charlize Theron  Jean Paul ' s show will be watched from the front row by actress Charlize Theron , who will attend on behalf of her foundation Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project .  Theron will join a bevy of A list celebrities and performers , who pour into Vienna annually to help fight against  at the world ' s largest  event .  The Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project , based in her home country of South Africa , is dedicated to addressing   in adolescents across sub Saharan Africa through education , grant giving , networking and community outreach .  Theron will give a keynote speech at the First Ladies Luncheon at the Belvedere Castle in Vienna ahead of attending the Life Ball , where she will present the work of her organisation and her vision for and  free generation .  So who would Keszler love to host ? ' We have long been aware of Prince William ' s continued support of   organisations , much like his brother , following in the footsteps of their mother and would naturally consider supporting any relevant programme .  ' He and the Duchess of Cambridge are both welcome guests at Life Ball , ' he said .  Keszler won ' t stop until the event garners global recognition and thus increased power to effect change  Keszler ' strongly believes ' that a cure for  is on the horizon and that the leap forward that was affordable generic medication was crucial to the fight for survival for the 34 million people in the world living with  .  ' Ironically we have further to go in the fight against social  than we do the medical disease now and thus it is this fight that we must be equally concerned with , ' he said .  But that ' s where the Life Ball comes in and he won ' t stop until the event garners global recognition and thus increased power to effect change .  He concludes : ' Life Ball is symbolic , it is a unique weekend in the year in which the world ' s most significant  organisations come together , stand together , fight together and continue to fight for those who are not able to fight for themselves .  ' It is my constant desire for Life Ball weekend to expand , to obtain more friends , have better connections , help more programmes and become internationally known for fighting social  as well as the disease itself . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
4952,4953,"Reuters) - A housing crisis is spreading in Germany, the Federal Homelessness Association said on Tuesday, forecasting that 1.2 million people could be living in shelters by 2018. The report came amid heightened concern about Germany s rising poverty rate and ability to integrate 1.1 million migrants that have arrived over the past two years, drawn by the country s reputation for affluence, efficiency and stability. The homelessness association said that more than 850,000 people lacked their own accommodation in 2016, up 150 percent from 2014, and half of those affected were migrants.  A total of 52,000 people were living on the streets in 2016, up a third from 2014, the group said in its report. It added that the number of those living in shelters would likely rise by another 40 percent by 2018, driven higher by rising rents, decreasing availability of subsidized housing, and the growing numbers of refugees granted asylum status and therefore entitled to housing. The homelessness association said immigration was a factor behind the rising rate of housing shortage, but also blamed what it called  failed  housing policies.  The main cause of housing shortages and homelessness is a housing policy that has failed in Germany for decades, as well as insufficient efforts to fight poverty,  Thomas Specht, director of the association, said in a statement. Almost 20 percent of Germany s population, or 16 million people, were at risk of poverty in 2016, the Federal Statistics Office reported last week. Germany s Labour and Social Affairs Ministry defended its handling of refugee housing needs, noting that finding individual housing around the country remained a challenge.   It should not be forgotten that the swift accommodation of hundreds of thousands of refugees in adequate collective housing in 2015 and 2016 was an extraordinary achievement,  the ministry spokesman said on Tuesday. Would-be partners in a new German government coalition remain at odds over a limit on migration. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
4958,4959,"Carney ' s transformation was complete after a visit to a popular San Francisco doctor  Outgoing 16 year old White House press secretary , Jay Carney , has finally admitted his secret sex change transformation from a man to a woman is well underway and that hormone replacement therapy is ongoing .  Carney , who originally had planned to finish high school after leaving the White House , put to rest rumors that he had been living a double life for quite some time .  The former spin doctor has actually been moonlighting as a spokesperson for the State Department , going by the name Marie Harf . Many in the White House press pool were not surprised after hearing the news .  When a person has been twisting stories for so long , it is hard to simply walk away and try to resume a normal life . Jay thought he could get away with his double life forever but too many reporters were getting too suspicious and he knew he had to come clean .   ' s Anderson Cooper remarked , "" Many of us noticed that Marie ' had the same nasty , arrogant , bitchy attitude that Jay showed when confronted by tough questions from the press . Add in the glasses and you would have to be a fool not to notice . ""  After Major Garrett , from  News , caught Jay buying pantyhose and tampons at a Washington D . C . area 7 11 , Carney knew the jig was up .  Carney admitted the girly beard he sported earlier this year was not intentional on his part , but rather a side effect of the huge amounts of hormones he has been taking as part of the sex change therapy .  He said he would continue to bullshit for the State Department despite the public ' s awareness of his changing condition .  "" My kids are confused as hell , never knowing if I will come home looking like mommy or daddy at the end of the day but they ' ll get used to it , "" Jay admitted .  A moody Jay Marie then asked , "" Are we done here ? This bra is killing me and I just want to get out of this thong and take a bubble bath . Good night . ""  ",satire,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
4959,4960,"Juba , South Sudan South Sudanese wept openly as they celebrated their independence Saturday , cheering , whistling and dancing down the streets in a ceremony fitting for the birth of a new nation .  "" We are free at last , "" some chanted , flags draped around their shoulders .  A man on his knees kissed the ground .  The red , white and green flag of the newborn nation , readied at half staff the day before , was hoisted over the capital of Juba .  Among the world leaders bearing witness on this historic day : United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki moon , Sudanese President Omar al Bashir and South African President Jacob Zuma .  "" This is liberation , a new chapter , "" said Abuk Makuac , who escaped to the United States in 1984 and came back home to attend the independence day activities .  "" No more war . We were born in the war , grew up in the war and married in war . ""  South Sudan ' s sovereignty officially breaks Africa ' s largest nation into two , the result of a January referendum overwhelmingly approved by voters .  The referendum was part of a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil war pitting a government dominated by Arab Muslims in the north against black Christians and animists in the south . The war killed about 2 million people .  Amid the independence celebrations , some residents paid tribute to relatives killed in the war .  "" It is very emotional . I ' m excited , but I ' m also thinking of all the people who died for this to happen , "" said Victoria Bol , who lost dozens of family members .  Salva Kiir Mayardit , a former rebel leader who is South Sudan ' s first president , said his people cannot forget years of bloodshed but must now forgive and move forward . He vowed his people would never again be marginalized .  "" As we celebrate our freedom and independence today , I want to assure the people of Darfur , Abyei and South Kordofan , we have not forgotten you , "" he said referring to three conflict mired regions .  "" When you cry , we cry , "" he said . "" When you bleed , we also bleed .  In Washington , President Barack Obama issued a statement recognizing South Sudan ' s sovereignty .  "" Today is a reminder that after the darkness of war , the light of a new dawn is possible , "" Obama said . "" A proud flag flies over Juba and the map of the world has been redrawn . ""  There were shouts of joy , big hugs and hearty handshakes at South Sudan ' s new Washington embassy on Saturday . Others cried as a colorful new flag was raised .  "" This day means a lot to me because we achieved our victory . We got our own country , "" says Anai Aluong . "" We are a new nation now . We are very happy because God answered our prayer . ""  Aluong said she lost her father , brother , sister and friends during the decades long civil war .  British Foreign Secretary William Hague told the dignitaries gathered in Juba that his nation has opened an embassy there and appointed an ambassador .  Al Bashir stood with his former enemies from South Sudan and congratulated them on their new homeland . He said he believed a united Sudan was still the best option but supported the dream of the South Sudanese .  The gracious tones sparked a ray of hope that the two sides would get past a bitter relationship to forge ahead . That journey will hardly be easy as many challenges await .  South Sudan is among the world ' s poorest , with scores who fled the long conflict coming home to a region that has not changed much over the years .  The infrastructure is still lacking with few paved roads in the new nation the size of Texas . Most villages have no electricity or running water .  South Sudan sits near the bottom of most human development indices , according to the United Nations , including the highest maternal mortality and female illiteracy rates .  Although the north has flourished , the South has not changed much over the years , said South Sudan native Moses Chol .  "" They have schools and clean water , and their children are not dying of simple diseases , "" Chol said , referring to the north . "" In the south , people still drink stagnant water . They have nothing . ""  There is also the threat of renewed fighting between the two neighbors .  Clashes have erupted recently in the disputed border regions of Abyei and South Kordofan .  And despite the 2005 peace deal brokered by the George W . Bush administration , forces aligned with both sides continue to clash .  Abyei was a battleground in the brutal civil war between forces of both sides . A referendum on whether the area should be part of the north or the South has been delayed amid disagreements on who is eligible to vote .  The two countries look set to divorce in name only they have not reached an agreement on the borders , the oil or the status of their respective citizens .  The U . N . Security Council , which voted to send up to 7 , 000 peacekeepers and 900 uniformed police to South Sudan , is expected to meet Wednesday to discuss U . N . membership for the new nation .  As dignitaries gathered in the new capital to celebrate the new nation , world leaders warned of a tough road ahead .  Lyman , who attended the ceremony , said both sides want food , education and security for their families .  "" They want the freedom to be able to express their opinions , choose their leaders and become active participants in political and social life , "" he said .  South Sudan natives such as Makuac admit there are challenges ahead . However , she is pushing those thoughts to the back burner for now .  "" We have waited so long to get here . . . I will worry about that later , "" she said . "" This weekend , we celebrate . ""  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
4973,4974,"Motorists ' satisfaction with England ' s potholed roads has plummeted to a record low .  Fewer than one in three drivers say they are happy with the state of the roads the lowest level since surveys began in 2008 and the government ' s poor record on repairs is to blame for the abysmal ratings , a damning report by  watchdogs concludes today .  It condemns as ' ludicrous ' the Department for Transport ' s patch and mend ' piecemeal ' funding .  They say this is making it difficult to maintain England ' s road network cost effectively and is leaving millions of drivers frustrated .  The government ' s poor record on repairs is to blame for the abysmal driver satisfaction ratings . File picture  Compensation pay outs for damages caused by poor road conditions cost 31 . 6million last year alone .  They condemned the decades of ' unpredictable and fluctuating budgets ' for road maintenance and said ministers should realise that with potholes costing 52 to fill in rising to 70 in London ' prevention is better than cure ' .  But they also attack local councils and the Highways Agency for not even knowing where their drains are .  The  said motorists were paying the price of such ignorance with ' pools , ponds and puddles that blight  roads ' because of poor drainage maintenance by highways authorities .  Committee chairman Margaret Hodge blasted the Department for Transport  The powerful House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (  ) says the Department for Transport ( DfT ) had slashed the roads maintenance budget , only to have to make repeated emergency injections of cash to deal with fall out from floods and other problems .  The report says that since maintenance budgets were cut by 1 . 2billion over four years from April 2011 , the committee said the DfT has had to provide extra funding on nine occasions , totalling 1 . 1billion .  Committee chairman Margaret Hodge said : ' The department ' s piecemeal and stop go approach to funding for road maintenance in recent decades has made it difficult for highways authorities to maintain roads cost effectively .  ' There has been too much reactive work in response to flooding and other events and not enough focus on preventative work that is less expensive in the long term . '  She said : ' Public satisfaction with the condition of our roads is at the lowest level since the surveying of this began in 2008 .  ' In the last survey only 30 per cent of the public were satisfied with the condition of the roads and the speed and quality of repairs . '  Mrs Hodge said : ' The Department ' s unpredictable and fluctuating budgets for road maintenance over decades have put value for money at risk .  ' It seems ludicrous that in 2010 the Department cut road maintenance budgets by 1 . 2billion over the four years from April 2011 , but then it has intermittently given 1 . 1billion additional funding on nine separate occasions for various reasons , including in response to flooding or winter damage to the roads . '  The greatest problems are in London and the South East , according to the Department for Transport .  Mrs Hodge said : ' The Department must see that prevention is better than cure . It costs 52 to fill in a pothole , or 70 in London , yet it costs over 30million to pay and process compensation claims from road users for damages arising from poor road conditions . '  MPs cited experts at Infrastructure  who say savings of up to 20 per cent are achievable when there is ' certainty of funding . '  The Highways Agency , which is an executive agency of the Department , is responsible for maintaining the strategic road network . File pictures  Mrs Hodge said : ' Whilst we understand the unpredictable nature of winter weather , too much road maintenance is inefficient because it is reactive and unplanned .  ' Concentrating activity in the winter months is inefficient and costly . Some local highway authorities are far too reactive to events , rather than anticipating , predicting and preventing disrepair . '  She noted : ' Better information , better planning of funding and a pro active stance on maintenance are what the Department must promote to have a chance of pleasing unhappy road users . '  The Public Accounts Committee report says the Department for Transport and the Highways Agency are making some progress in improving the way in which road maintenance is carried out ' but more needs to be done . '  It notes : ' Public satisfaction with the condition of our roads is at the lowest level since the survey assessing confidence began . '  The Highways Agency , which is an executive agency of the Department , is responsible for maintaining the strategic road network spanning 4 , 400 miles including almost all of England ' s motorways and its most important ' A ' roads .  The remaining 183 , 000 miles of local roads are maintained by 152 local highway authorities .  Public spending on maintaining England ' s roads in 2012 13 was 4billion .  Astonished that the Agency holds no information on 70per cent of its drainage systems , it said : ' A good understanding of the state of the roads is absolutely essential for planning cost effective preventative maintenance ' .   president Edmund King said its own surveys showed that while its members are relatively satisfied with the state of motorways and trunk roads , one in five say local roads are ' terrible ' .  He said : ' The Public Accounts Committee reflects this public anger . ' ' It puts pressure on central government to work more closely with local government to carry out the basics . Effective and regular road maintenance that gives the taxpayer value for money and does the job . '  He added : ' Central government ' s stop start funding over many years has simply patched up the  ' s roads . ' Lack of ring fencing of local authority funds for road maintenance has added to this ' sorry state ' .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
4978,4979,"Kosovo Fireworks lit the skies and crowds filled the streets of Kosovo ' s capital Sunday after the territory ' s parliament declared independence from Serbia , a move backed by many Western governments , but which Serbia and Russia bitterly oppose .  Fireworks light up the night sky in Pristina , Kosovo , as thousands celebrate independence .  "" The day has come , "" Prime Minister Hashim Thaci , a former separatist guerrilla leader , told his parliament . "" From this day onwards , Kosovo is proud , independent and free . ""  The province has been under U . N . administration and patrolled by  troops since a 1999 bombing campaign that halted a Serb led campaign against Kosovo ' s ethnic Albanian majority .  Thousands of people swarmed Pristina ' s streets ahead of Sunday ' s parliamentary declaration , singing , dancing and holding signs in freezing wind after the vote was announced . But Serbs consider the territory the cradle of their civilization , and protesters clashed with police outside the U . S . Embassy in Belgrade as the declaration was issued .  Serbia said it will not oppose independence with violence , but Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said his country will never accept the establishment of a "" false country "" on its territory .  "" Anything and everything that we couldn ' t achieve today will be obtained by new generations of Serbian people in the future , "" Kostunica said Sunday in a televised address . "" Citizens of Serbia , we have to come together and show the whole world that we do not acknowledge the creation of a false state in our territory . The violence that has been perpetrated upon Serbia is very obvious . ""  About 100 , 000 Serbs still live in Kosovo , making up about 5 percent of the population , and Kostunica said Serbs have been killed or lost their land in the eight plus years the country has been under international rule . But Fatmir Sejdiu , the nascent republic ' s president , pledged to create a nation "" where all citizens of all ethnicities feel appreciated . ""  "" Today is probably a day of trepidation for some of you , but your property and your rights will be respected in the future , "" he said .  Former U . S . Army Gen . Wesley Clark , who led the  alliance during the 1999 conflict , said "" There was no way beyond moving to this step . "" But he urged the international community to work with Serbia to keep the country moving toward integration with Europe and "" to help them understand their situation . ""  Thaci said Kosovo ' s declaration of independence "" marks the end of the breakup of the former Yugoslavia , "" which triggered years of bloodshed across the Balkans .  Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic launched a crackdown against ethnic Albanian insurgents led by Thaci in 1998 and refused to yield to Western pressure to halt the campaign . When  responded by launching airstrikes against Serbia and Montenegro , the last remaining Yugoslav republics , Yugoslav troops drove hundreds of thousands of Kosovars out of the region and killed thousands more .  Milosevic died in 2005 while awaiting trial for war crimes before a U . N . tribunal in The Hague .  The United States and leading European nations , including France , Britain and Germany , have supported Kosovo ' s move toward independence . But Russia , the Serbs ' historical ally , has opposed independence , fearing it would incite other separatist movements in its backyard .  The U . N . Security Council held emergency talks on the issue Sunday afternoon at Russia ' s request . Moscow ' s U . N . ambassador , Vitaly Churkin , told reporters that the declaration violates the U . N . resolution that placed Kosovo under international administration at the end of the conflict .  "" Our position is that this declaration should be disregarded by the international community , "" as well as by the head of the U . N . mission in Kosovo , Churkin said . He said the council would meet again Monday , with Serbian President Boris Tadic expected to address the session .  But no country supported the Russian call for the U . N . to declare Sunday ' s declaration "" null and void , "" said Sir John Sawers , the British ambassador to the world body .  Secretary General Ban Ki moon urged all parties "" to refrain from any actions or statements that could endanger peace , incite violence or jeopardize security in Kosovo and the region . ""  The European Union decided Saturday to launch a mission of about 2 , 000 police and judicial officers to replace the U . N . mission that has controlled the province since 1999 . And U . S . State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack said the United States had "" noted "" that Kosovo had declared its independence and was reviewing the issue .  Earlier Sunday , President Bush said Kosovo ' s status must be resolved before the Balkans can become stable .  "" We are heartened by the fact that the Kosovo government has clearly proclaimed its willingness and its desire to support Serbian rights in Kosovo , "" Bush told reporters in Dar es Salaam , Tanzania .  The United States and many of its European allies support a plan negotiated by former Finnish President Maarti Ahtisaari that would give Kosovo limited statehood under international supervision .  But Russia , which has fought two wars against separatist rebels in its southwestern republic of Chechnya , said U . S . and European support for Kosovo ' s independence could lead to an "" uncontrollable crisis "" in the Balkans .  In a statement , European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana urged "" everybody to act calmly and in a responsible way . I am convinced that the Kosovar leaders will be up to their responsibilities in this crucial moment . "" Solana said  foreign ministers would meet Monday to consider the issue . E mail to a friend  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
4984,4985,"KIRKUK, Iraq (Reuters) - Kurdish forces have moved back their defensive line around the oil region of Kirkuk in northern Iraq by 2 km (1.2 miles) to reduce the possibility of friction with nearby Iraqi forces, security sources in the region said on Friday. The Peshmerga, as the Kurdish force is known, withdrew from positions in the areas of Taza and Bashir, about 10 km south of Kirkuk, overnight, they said. Iraqi security forces moved into some of the positions evacuated in an orderly manner, without any clashes, they said.  The areas of Taza and Bashir are mainly populated by Shi ite Turkmen, many of whom are loyal to the Shi ite led-government in Baghdad and affiliated to Iranian-backed political parties and paramilitary groups. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
5002,5003,"Berkeley , California , one of the most liberal cities in the nation , have overwhelmingly approved the nation ' s first ' sugar tax , ' which will raise the cost of sodas and energy drinks by one penny per ounce .  A similar tax in neighboring San Francisco , which would have levied two cents per ounce , failed to pass gaining 55percent of the vote , short of the two thirds majority needed .  The Berkeley tax would raise the cost of a can of Pepsi from 1 to 1 . 12 , but bigger fountain drinks would get hit harder . A large Coke from McDonald ' s would go from 2 . 29 to 2 . 61 . A two liter of soda would go from 3 . 99 to closer to 4 . 75 .  Victory : Berkeley voters passed a tax on soda Tuesday night , with 75percent voting yes . The liberal city is the first in the nation to levy a ' sugar tax '  A similar measure in San Francisco ( pictured ) failed to pass garnering 55percent of the vote , short of the two thirds majority needed  The new penny per ounce tax will raise the cost of soda in Berkeley , California , when it takes effect next year .  At 7 11 , a 40 oz Super Big Gulp would go from 1 . 89 to 2 . 29 .  The tax does not apply to diet sodas and will take effect on January 1 , 2015 .  Lobbyists from soda companies , restaurants and convenience stores have fought the two proposed taxes with massive campaign cash . The American Beverage Association spent more than 10million to defeat the initiatives in both San Francisco and Berkeley , according to Bloomberg .  Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg , whose proposed ban on any soda over 16 ounces in the nation ' s largest city was struck down in the courts , gave 650 , 000 to support to ' yes ' campaign .  Industry lobbyists cautioned against drawing national conclusions from the victory in Berkeley long a liberal enclave .  ' Berkeley doesn ' t look like mainstream America . If politicians want to stake their political reputation on this , they do so at their own risk , ' Chris Gindlesperger , spokesman for the American Beverage Association , which represents soda makers like Coca Cola and PepsiCo , told Politico .  Berkeley , population 112 , 000 , is home to the University of California Berkeley and has been the center of progressive causes since the 1950s .  Advocates , however , crowed about the 75percent margin of victory , which came despite the beverage industry spending an estimated 30 per vote in the city on mailers , flyers and campaign ads .  ' We think it ' s going to be a historic moment for our kids ' health . It shows that a community can organize for its own interests in spite of the outrageous amount of money spent against its interests , ' Martin Bourque , a spokesman for the ' yes ' campaign told the San Jose Mercury News .  ' The tides have turned on Big Soda . '  City officials hope the tax will add 1million to 2million every year to Berkeley ' s general fund .  The penny per ounce tax will raise the cost of supersize sodas like the Super Big Gulp and Double Big Gulp from 7 11 by 40 to 50 cents  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
5004,5005,"Manchester United ' s financial state was thrown into stark relief on Thursday after the English club ' s American owners revealed a record loss of 137 million despite making an unprecedented operating profit of 160 million .  The disparity of figures is largely caused by interest payments of 67 million and a one off cost of 107 million relating to the Premier League outfit ' s bond scheme , launched in January to help restructure the debts accrued by the Glazer family in purchasing the 18 time English champions in 2005 .  The club produced a record turnover of 455 million for the year ended June 2010 , more than double that of local rivals Manchester City , but suffered a big swing from last year ' s profit of 77 million which was largely due to the world record 130 million sale of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid .  However , United chief executive David Gill insisted that the Glazers were not in the same position as fellow Americans Tom Hicks and George Gillett , who have been forced to sell Liverpool due to debts incurred in buying the now ailing five time European champions .  "" We are not a club that needs to sell . We have money in the bank so there is zero pressure on that , no pressure at all to sell any star player whether it is Wayne Rooney or X , Y or Z . I can categorically say that , "" Gill told the  Press Association .  "" There was no desire at all from anyone at the club to sell Cristiano he wanted to go , and as a result we managed to extract a world record fee . The philosophy is to retain and attract the best players . We have 165 million ( 260 million ) in the bank , but in some ways we would prefer to have 80 million in the bank and Ronaldo on the pitch . ""  Giggs targets third European crown  Gill was heartened by figures such as those showing that the club has the lowest wages turnover ratio in the Premier League of 46 , despite player salaries rising from 195 million to 210 million .  By comparison , Premier League champions Chelsea ' s wage bill was last reported at 226 million , Manchester City ' s is 212 million and Arsenal ' s 175 million .  "" There are very good results for the club with records here , there and everywhere but they are complicated with non cash items and exceptional one off hits , "" Gill said .  "" The United fans should not be concerned . We have a long term financing structure in place , excellent revenues that are growing , we are controlling our costs and we can afford the interest on our long term finance .  "" In our opinion , if something changed in the ownership , this club will survive and continue it is covering the financing cost more than adequately . We still have cash to invest in players and to give good contracts to players , and we are comfortable with the business model . ""  While United ' s overall debt has risen to 830 million , the accounts revealed that the Glazers did not take out any money from the club to service their high interest payment in kind loans of 318 million .  United ' s media revenues rose to 167 million but match day income fell to 160 million , reflecting moves by supporters ' clubs to undermine the Glazers by boycotting games .  The Premier League on Friday confirmed that Liverpool ' s prospective new owners , New England Sports Ventures , have passed the ruling body ' s criteria .  However ,  who own the Boston Red Sox baseball team face a court battle with Hicks and Gillett , who are trying to block the sale agreed by Liverpool ' s board this week .  Meanwhile , veteran Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar has denied reports claiming that he has decided to retire at the end of this season .  "" That ' s complete nonsense . I don ' t yet know whether I will stop or continue after this season . Only in the course of this season will I think about it . Then I will decide and not before . For now I keep my focus on United , "" the 39 year old Dutchman told website www . sport promotion . nl .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
5021,5022,"Manchester United ' s 24 match unbeaten run this season came crashing to a halt in an extraordinary , record breaking schedule of English Premier League fixtures on Saturday .  The leaders lost 2 1 at bottom club Wolverhampton on a day that saw title rivals Arsenal draw 4 4 with Newcastle , as an unprecedented 41 goals were scored in eight matches the previous record for one day was 36 .  French striker Louis Saha netted four times in Everton ' s 5 3 win over Blackpool while Wigan edged a seven goal thriller against Blackburn .  United ended the day four points clear of Arsenal , with Manchester City another point back on 49 after beating West Brom 3 0 thanks to a first half Carlos Tevez hat trick .  Chelsea are 10 points adrift ahead of Sunday ' s home clash with Liverpool , which should see new signing Fernando Torres face his former team .  Fifth placed Tottenham beat Bolton 2 1 in the day ' s other lowest scoring match , alongside Wolves United , and even that game featured a missed retaken penalty and another awarded and then wiped out .  Despite losing England defender Rio Ferdinand to a calf injury in the warm up , United made the perfect start at Molineux as Nani fired home a left foot shot in just the third minute .  But Wolves leveled seven minutes later as fullback George Elokobi , who gave the Portugal winger far too much time and space in the penalty area , made amends with a header from Matt Jarvis ' cross .  The Cameroon born defender was also involved in the winner , credited to striker Kevin Doyle , after the duo lunged to meet a free kick by Serbian playmaker Nenad Milijas five minutes before halftime .  United ' s much vaunted forward line of Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov could not breach the Wolves defense , with the Bulgarian replaced by Javier Hernandez with a similar outcome despite five minutes of time being added on .  The visitors could have ended the match with 10 men , but veteran midfielder Ryan Giggs was lucky to stay on after kicking out at Doyle .  "" It ' s disappointing , it ' s been a long run for us , "" United manager Alex Ferguson told reporters after his team ' s first loss in 29 league games going back to last season .  "" But we didn ' t get going really in the second half today . Wolves are a handful at set pieces and they proved that again today . ""  Arsenal led 4 0 at 10th placed Newcastle , but had to settle for a draw after French midfielder Abou Diaby was sent off soon after the halftime break .  England forward Theo Walcott and Johan Djourou scored inside three minutes , then a double from Dutch striker Robin van Persie on 10 and 26 gave the London side an apparently insurmountable lead .  But Joey Barton who was at the center of Diaby ' s dismissal reduced the deficit in the 68th minute with a penalty and the midfielder added another on 83 for 4 3 after striker Leon Best bundled in Jose Enrique ' s cross ( 75 ) .  Ivory Coast midfielder Cheik Tiote then volleyed a spectacular equalizer with two minutes to play , and Arsenal held on with another five added on .  Manchester City won for the first time in four matches as Tevez celebrated his 27th birthday with three goals in 19 minutes at home to West Brom , two of them from the penalty spot .  The Argentina forward is now the league ' s second highest scorer on 18 , one behind Berbatov , and City have not lost in a game when he has netted .  His first was a penalty in the 17th minute , having earlier hit the post , while David Silva set up his second before West Brom went further behind following handball by Jerome Thomas . The result left Roberto Di Matteo ' s team just two points above the bottom three .  Tottenham went ahead with Rafael van der Vaart ' s sixth minute penalty at home to Bolton , and should have doubled the lead soon after but the Dutchman was made to retake his second spotkick and promptly missed the target for what would have been his 13th goal this season .  Referee Mark Clattenburg awarded Spurs another penalty before halftime before realizing that Peter Crouch had been flagged offside .  Loan striker Daniel Sturridge leveled with his second goal in two matches 10 minutes after halftime , but Croatian substitute Niko Kranjcar snatched victory for Tottenham with an injury time strike to leave Bolton in eighth place .  Sixth placed Sunderland trail Tottenham by seven points after a 3 2 defeat Stoke , where Germany defender Robert Huth scored two late goals to put his team ninth .  Ghana striker Asamoah Gyan had given the visitors the lead with his ninth goal this season , but Huth netted from Jermaine Pennant free kicks with seven minutes to play and then in time added on .  Wigan joined West Brom on 26 points after holding on at home to 11th placed Blackburn , with James McCarthy scoring twice .  Ben Watson ' s penalty made it 4 2 before David Dunn replied in kind with nine minutes left to set up a tense finish .  Everton moved up to 13th place as Saha ' s four goal salvo condemned Blackpool to a seventh defeat in eight league matches .  The 32 year old former France international leveled the game at 3 3 with his hat trick , then sealed victory after Jermaine Beckford ' s spectacular volley .  Fulham remained above Everton on goal difference after the London side continued to improve under Mark Hughes with a 2 2 draw at Aston Villa that left their opponents a point ahead of Blackpool in 14th .  American Clint Dempsey earned the point with his 10th goal this season with 12 minutes to play , after on loan defender Kyle Walker put Villa ahead from long range .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
5026,5027,"Apologizes to teammates for obsession with triple double vs . 76ers  Then goes out the next day and accomplishes the feat against Knicks  It was quite a weekend for Draymond Green . First he told his teammates he was sorry . Then he went out and made the Knicks look very sorry .  Green , Golden State s versatile hybrid forward , felt his selfishness almost cost the Warriors a win over the 76ers in Philadelphia on Saturday . With startling honesty , he admitted after the 108 105 victory that he had been so obsessed with his own stats , so intent on trying to get a triple double , that he had almost cost his team a win .  When he entered Sunday night s game at Madison Square Garden , he vowed not to pay attention to the stat sheet ? and a funny thing happened . He got the triple double he had wanted the day before , contributing 20 points , 10 rebounds and 10 assists to help lead Golden State to a 116 95 win over the Knicks . He also shot 9 for 9 from the field , making him 18 for 20 in the last three games .  StoryKnicks crushed by class of  , the Warriors  I was kinda happy I didn t get the triple double against Philadelphia because I didn t deserve it , said Green , who had 10 points , 13 rebounds and nine assists ( and seven turnovers ) against the 76ers . As opposed to today . If it happens , it happens . I ve never been a numbers guy . That s not who I am .  What he is is a tough player for opponents to deal with on both ends of the floor . On a night in which Stephen Curry scored only 13 points and shot 5 for 17 , Green helped get the Warriors going on offense . On defense , he did a decent job of frustrating 7 3 rookie Kristaps Porzingis .  Draymond was great against Porzingis . Pressured him out on the perimeter , Warriors coach Steve Kerr said . Porzingis is going to be a great player , but he is still young and he is going to get bigger and stronger as he goes , but right now , Draymond has been in the league for a few years and he knows how to put pressure .  Kerr said the 6 7 , 230 pound Green , 25 , is a unique sort of player , perfectly suited for today s game .  There s been a lot of forwards who could push the ball and distribute ? Grant Hill , Scottie Pippen types , Kerr said . Most of those guys were three men . He s a four . He guards fours . He guards fives . So I don t remember anybody who checked all the boxes like Draymond has for us . Some of that is the game has changed , so the fours that you guard now are a lot different than the fours you would have had to guard 20 years ago . But his game is perfectly suited for modern  .  Green is a player who wears his emotions on his sleeve . When he found out he had been selected as an All Star reserve this past week ? the team set it up so that his mom delivered him the news during a television interview ? he came close to crying , he was so happy .  Kerr said it says a lot about Green that he would apologize for something that anyone who has played a sport on any level is guilty of doing .  I thought it was great , he said . I think inherently we are all selfish . We re human beings . We all want what s best for us . It s not a character flaw . It s innate in all of us . So part of playing at the highest level is can you incorporate that into the team s best interest and not do it as something that s going to go away from what you re trying to accomplish as a group . And it s possible to do it . . .  I thought it was really great . I thought it was awesome that he publicly admitted to his teammates he was going for a triple double and it kind of messed with the flow of the game . I ve never heard a player admit to that . But the reality of that is everyone could admit to that occasionally .  Subscribe to Newsday s sports newsletter for stories , photos and videos about your favorite New York teams plus national sports news and events .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
5036,5037,"Eagles of Death Metal : ' our thoughts are with all involved '  Up to 100 of those killed in the terrorist attacks in Paris were attending concert by Californian rock band at Bataclan hall  This image , of Dublin s Olympia Theatre , was posted to the band s facebook page on Friday .  Californian rock band Eagles of Death Metal were playing the Bataclan concert hall on Friday when terrorists burst into the venue and started shooting concert goers  It has been reported that up to 100 people died in the attack at the venue , which is only a short walk from the offices of Charlie Hebdo magazine .  Shortly after the attack the Eagles of Death Metal posted to their facebook page : We are still currently trying to determine the safety and whereabouts of all our band and crew . Our thoughts are with all of the people involved in this tragic situation .  Their label , Universal Music Group , told the New York Times : No members of the band were killed , That is confirmed .  However , since then there have been unconfirmed reports that a crew member was among those killed .  Californian band Mojave Lords , tweeted that Dave Catching , a guitar player with Eagles of Death Metal , was safe . David Catching is safe and sound according to  management . Thanks for your concern . We are still awaiting confirmation re some crew .  The support act at the Bataclan concert , Red Lemons , posted on Instagram : Guys . . . I don t know what to say . We re more than lucky . . . Adding that they were , Thinking about those who passed away and who were having such a love time happiness with all of us just a minute before . . .  Eagles of Death Metal are currently on a European tour and played Dublin s Olympia Theatre on Monday , posting to their facebook page how much they had enjoyed it . An image of the band on stage at The Olympia read This view never , ever , ever , ever gets old .  Despite what their name suggests , the band does not play Death Metal . Instead they plays 1970s style blues rock with irreverent humour .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
5039,5040,"Several sitting governors might be contenders in the 2016 presidential election . New Jersey Gov . Chris Christie and New York Gov . Andrew Cuomo have given indications they are thinking of running , although they haven ' t announced candidacies at this very early stage of the contest .  Both are serious candidates . Christie , a Republican , has demonstrated his ability to handle the heat from the national spotlight and he has positioned himself as a tough , northeastern budget cutter who can appeal to moderate Republican voters and disaffected Democrats .  Cuomo , a Democrat , has earned considerable praise for advancing a brand of pragmatic liberalism by championing issues like same sex marriage , progressive tax reform and rent regulation while also fighting to reduce spending , taking on public unions and reforming government .  Each governor faces some difficult challenges within their states . Over the past week , Cuomo has watched as a massive political scandal has unfolded within the Democratic Party , centering on an official who tried to bribe his way into becoming a candidate in the mayoral election of New York . The stories coming out of the state suggest the culture of Albany might not have become as different as Cuomo has claimed .  Christie also finds himself in the national spotlight after the release of a shocking video showing the coach of the Rutgers University basketball team berating and hitting his players . The revelation that Rutgers officials knew about this behavior for at least a year has led to calls for the resignation of top administrators at the state funded university , including the president . Thus far , Christie has backed away from calls to have the president removed , though he has used some tough rhetoric in his comments about the coach .  Other governors are thinking of running as well . For example , Maryland Gov . Martin O ' Malley , a Democrat , is gaining some national attention by pushing his state to the left on a number of key issues , including a proposal to repeal the death penalty and the recent passage of sweeping gun control legislation . Bobby Jindal , governor of Louisiana , has long been considered a potential superstar for the  . O ' Malley has received some flak from the right for his fiscal record in the state , while Jindal ' s falling approval ratings in Louisiana could pose a big problem for a national run .  The governors need to handle these challenges with extreme caution and each must make sure that his record as the chief executive of his state , always one of the biggest selling points for governors running for president , does not turn into an albatross that brings his candidacy down .  In 1988 , Massachusetts Gov . Michael Dukakis ran for the presidency against Vice President George H . W . Bush . Dukakis started his campaign by touting his role in bringing about the "" Massachusetts Miracle , "" the revitalization of the state ' s economy around high tech industries along Route 128 .  At first , Republicans were worried that his record could allow the governor to position himself as a new kind of Democrat , someone who understood how to nurture economic growth and whose economic policies offered a model of smart government investment as an attractive alternative to Reagan ' s free market economics .  But Massachusetts , miracle and all , soon turned into a nightmare for the Democrat . Vice President Bush and his aggressive campaign staff found ways to rip apart his record in the state and they used it to defeat him . Some of the attacks were vicious , taking aspects of the state government ' s record and twisting them into devastating campaign arguments .  The Republicans , for instance , pointed to a law that Dukakis had vetoed as governor that would have required teachers to conduct the Pledge of Allegiance with their class . Dukakis had been told in no uncertain terms that such a law would be unconstitutional . The Republicans highlighted the veto to paint Dukakis as a liberal of the far left variety .  Bush adviser Lee Atwater also put together a television ad focusing on a program that a Republican governor who served before Dukakis had put into place that granted prisoners short furloughs . One prisoner , Willie Horton , had killed a man and raped his fianc during his time out of prison . The famous ad , playing on racial fears , focused on the program , presenting it as one of Dukakis ' legacies .  Vice President Bush targeted the pollution in Boston Harbor to question Dukakis ' environmental record . "" Two hundred years ago tea was spilled in the Boston Harbor in the name of liberty . If tea were spilled in the Boston Harbor today , "" Bush said , "" it would dissolve in the residue of my opponent ' s neglect and delay . ""  As economic conditions changed , Bush pointed to evidence that the state was starting to falter . Combined with reports of a looming budget deficit , Republicans used the data to challenge the very centerpiece of Dukakis ' campaign .  In 2012 , another man who served as Massachusetts governor , Mitt Romney , suffered from similar challenges . Romney ' s signature legislation as governor , the health care program of Massachusetts , undercut some of his ability to challenge President Obama on this issue . His record of increased "" fees "" in the state and problems with the economy also became fodder for the primaries and general election .  The condition and record of their states almost always becomes the prism through which presidential candidates who are sitting governors are evaluated . Sometimes governors use this to their advantage , like Bill Clinton in 1992 and George W . Bush in 2000 . But often the states can turn into a problem .  Cuomo , O ' Malley , Jindal and Christie , who still have to decide whether to run , need to handle these challenges with extreme caution . If they don ' t , they might find themselves suffering the fate of Dukakis , who , like them , was once touted as the most exciting voice of his party .  The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Julian Zelizer .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
5048,5049,"Reuters) - Saudi Arabian banks have frozen more than 1,200 accounts belonging to individuals and companies in the kingdom as part of the government s anti-corruption purge, bankers and lawyers said on Tuesday. They added that the number is continuing to rise. Dozens of royal family members, officials and business executives have been detained in the crackdown and are facing allegations of money laundering, bribery, extorting officials and taking advantage of public office for personal gain. Since Sunday, the central bank has been expanding the list of accounts it is requiring lenders to freeze on an almost hourly basis, one regional banker said, declining to be named because he was not authorized to speak to media. The banker did not name the companies affected but said they included listed and unlisted firms across many sectors. He added that if the freezes stayed in place for long, they could start to hurt day-to-day business activities such as paying staff and creditors or making other transactions. A second banker said, however, that most of the frozen accounts belonged to individuals rather than companies, and that banks were being allowed by the regulator to continue to fund existing commitments. A central bank spokesman was not available to comment. Among top business executives detained in the probe are billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, chairman of investment firm Kingdom Holding 4280.SE; Nasser bin Aqeel al-Tayyar, founder of Al Tayyar Travel 1810.SE; and Amr al-Dabbagh, chairman of builder Red Sea International 4230.SE. The stocks of all three companies, which have issued statements saying they continue to operate as normal, plunged between 9 and 10 percent on Tuesday. One of the bankers speaking to Reuters said the central bank had met with some foreign banks this week to reassure them that the freezing of accounts targeted individuals, and that firms linked to those people would not be damaged. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
5056,5057,"These shocking pictures show the once gleaming winter sports palaces of the Sochi Olympic park lying eerily silent and deserted .  A year after the 51 billion Winter Olympics , many of the key facilities built for Vladimir Putin ' s extravaganza have been barely been used .  While the pistes up the mountains are now often packed with skiers the collapsing rouble means Russians have switched from the likes of Courchevel to the Caucasus many of the key sites of the games appear to have little prospect of being filled again .  The roof of Fisht Stadium has been partially disassembled . Incredibly it was only used twice for the opening and closing ceremonies  A view of the eerily silent lobby of the Tulip Inn hotel , which was packed with guests during the games but barely has a single customer now  The Tulip Inn Hotel ( left ) , Adler Arena ( centre ) and Fisht Stadium ( right ) , amid one of the many empty car parks of the Sochi Olympic complex  The roads are quiet around the 51 billion complex on the edge of the Black Sea . The company which owns part of it is about to go bankrupt  The ski slopes around Sochi may be packed with skiers owing to the collapsing rouble but few of them are staying at the Tulip Inn Hotel  The Olympic flame has long since gone out one year after the Winter Olympics was held . The park has been branded a ' museum of corruption '  Local journalist Alexander Valov of Blogsochi . ru has strongly criticised the huge spending on the Olympic project , including on going costs as Russia is plunged into a deep economic crisis caused by Western sanctions over Ukraine and the slump in oil prices .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
5057,5058,"Donald Trump ' must not be allowed to divide us ' , says Bernie Sanders  When I began this campaign about nine moths ago a lot of the pundits and the media said : You know Bernie , you look presidential he doesn t and you are a  kind of man he isn t but you really don t have a chance because your ideas are too radical . And you won t be able to raise the money , said Mr Sanders , his seriousness punctuated with small ticks of self deprecating humour . They said you are running against an inevitable candidate , Secretary Clinton is the investable candidate . . . ? today the inevitable candidate does not look so inevitable as she did 18 months ago .  His appeal is partly about his consistency . He rails against the corrupting of the political system by all the money that pours into it from the wealthy trying to skew the outcome of the election . He has been able to keep pace with Ms Clinton by raising cash almost entirely in small donations from individual supporters . He has , he said , received 2 . 5 million such donations so far . ?  I don t represent the billionaire class , I never have , he told his audience , who mostly listened to him in polite silence , only occasionally offering applause . There were no chants of  ,  . Mr Sanders said : I don t represent the corporate class , I never have . I decided we are not going to do that .  In a speech of 30 minutes Mr Sanders laid out his vision for the country that promises free college education for all , a free healthcare system for all , rid of private insurers , and a justice system that would no longer shield the rich and go after the poor and disenfranchised . He wants to tax the rich , break up the banks and get private money out of campaigns . His main promise : to restore a level playing field . ?  The notion that Mr Sanders could win in Iowa , at least , and thus gain some critical early momentum , looks a lot less outlandish in the light of a recent survey showing that 43 per cent of Democrat voters in the state happily identify themselves as socialist and anti Wall Street .  If someone calls me a socialist , I am proud of it , John Pierce , 68 , a retired owner of a tree farm and a seed company , said . If I have socialist tendencies I would not consider it a slap in the face . He , though , had come to hear Mr Sanders , because he is still on the fence between him and Ms Clinton . He worries that , as president , he would have a harder time than her working with a Republican Congress .  Yet , like others here , he scoffs at the suggestion that if Mr Trump were to be the Republican nominee , it is Ms Clinton who would fare better against him in a general election . He is just one scary individual . I have no doubt either one would beat him .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
5058,5059,"Google has been hiring Arabic speakers to help crack down on jihadi groups using its YouTube video platform to radicalise recruits .  The web search giant has been recruiting moderators around the globe to help prevent YouTube from being hi jacked for propaganda by militants .  The search giant will not disclose the number of new staff , but sources said it now has Arabic speakers in every time zone to deal with the problem .  Google has been hiring Arabic speakers to help crack down on jihadi groups using its YouTube video platform to radicalise recruits  The 22 minute film of Jordanian pilot Moaz al Kasasbeh being burned alive was first uploaded to YouTube , where it remained for a number of hours before moderators removed it .  However , by that time , images were already being circulated on Twitter .  Jonathan Russell , of Quilliam , a counter extremism think tank , said the tactic has had a major effect in helping Islamic State to radicalise new followers .  Hen said : ' They want to show that they ' re sticking it to the man , that they ' re fighting the West , and that they are willing to use violence . They want to show that they ' re not scared and that people are scared of them . '  He added : ' People are flocking to  because it is winning the branding war among jihadis . In every other sense apart from violence , they act like a multinational corporation . '  Mr Russell welcomed Google ' s decision to take action , saying that the American technology giant was among a number of major technology companies that had started taking more action against extremist content in the last six months .  The 22 minute film of Jordanian pilot Moaz al Kasasbeh ( pictured ) being burned alive was first uploaded to YouTube , where it remained for a number of hours before moderators removed it  ' I really see a sea change , ' he said . ' It is pretty young still . It hasn ' t been long enough to see a shift in results , but I am gratified that they are tackling it in the right way . '  Guidelines ban YouTube users from uploading videos that ' incites others to commit violent acts ' , but it does not filter content before it goes online . Instead , the general public can flag up controversial content .  The company has also handed special powers to users such as the Home Office , which reliably flag extremist content , making it easy for them to report hundreds of controversial videos at a time .  Google ' s army of moderators then comb through the content and decide whether it is suitable for YouTube , whether it needs to be removed , or censored with a warning or age barrier .  It allows ' graphic violence ' to remain on the site if it is deemed to have enough documentary value for example as a news source but it deletes the most extreme footage and bars any accounts run by terrorist groups .  A spokesman said : ' YouTube has clear policies , and we remove videos violating these policies when flagged by our users . '  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
5069,5070,"It doesn t appear the man rushing to doors of a Paris police station with a knife, screaming  Allahu Akbar  wearing a fake suicide vest will garner a visit to France s President Francois Hollande s office. While France has made the decision to take a hard-line on Muslim terrorists, Obama and his Attorney General, Loretta Lynch have taken a hard-line against any American who uses language that they consider  hate speech  against Muslims. The idea that the  Muslim Clock Boy  (a term that we coined) was able to take a fake bomb to school and become an overnight celebrity, as our  victim of the month  in America tells us all we need to know about how seriously the Left has taken the threat of terrorism in America. Paris police shot dead on Thursday a man wielding a knife after he tried to enter a police station shouting  Allahu Akbar  (God is Great) and wearing what turned out to be a fake suicide belt.The incident took place exactly one year after deadly Islamist militant attacks on the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine in the French capital and also just minutes after President Francois Hollande had given a speech in an another part of Paris to mark the anniversary. The man may have been wearing something that could be a suicide belt,  Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet told  TV. Brandet later confirmed to Reuters that the suicide belt was fake.France has been on high alert ever since the shootings last January at the Charlie Hebdo office and at a Jewish supermarket in which 17 people died over three days.Security concerns were further heightened in November, when 130 people were killed in the capital in coordinated shootings and suicide bombings that targeted a music hall, bars and restaurants and a soccer stadium.Islamic State, the militant group that controls swathes of Iraq and Syria, claimed responsibility for the Nov. 13 attacks. Several of the militants involved in those attacks were, like last January s killers, French-born.In Thursday s incident, the man tried to force his way into the police station in the 18th district in northern Paris, an area that Islamic State said it had been planning to hit as part of the November attacks.  According to our colleagues, he wanted to blow himself up,  an official at the Alternative Police union said.  He shouted Allahu Akbar and had wires protruding from his clothes. That s why the police officer opened fire. Officials said bomb disposal experts were on site.Journalist Anna Polonyi, who could see the outside of the police station from the window of her flat, posted photos on social media that showed what appeared to be a bomb-disposal robot beside the body.She told Reuters that her sister, in the flat with her, had seen the incident happen. She said the police shouted at the man and that he then started running towards them before they shot him.Last year s attacks have boosted the popularity of the far-right National Front party ahead of a presidential election due in 2017.In his speech, Hollande promised to better equip police to prevent further militant attacks.The president also defended draconian security measures implemented since November that his Socialist government had once shunned. Via: Reuters",fake,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
5071,5072,"Taxes will be 12billion a year higher under Labour than the Tories , independent experts warned yesterday equal to 1 , 052 for every working household .  The Institute for Fiscal Studies said Ed Miliband ' s ' vague ' promise to balance the books would allow Labour to borrow 90billion more than the Tories by 2020 .  This would rise to 280billion in extra debt by the end of the next decade if Labour remained in power .  Institute for Fiscal Studies said Ed Miliband ' s ' vague ' promise to balance the books would allow Labour to borrow 90billion more than the Tories by 2020 and this would rise to 280b in extra debt by the next decade  David Cameron said the assessment showed Labour was ' a risk to our recovery , a risk to our economy , a risk to jobs '  The think tank warned that Labour ' s failure to control borrowing would leave Britain ' less well placed to deal with future adverse events ' , such as another recession or the costs of an ageing population .  But it was also highly critical of the lack of detail in the Conservatives ' plans , saying the party had failed to spell out where it would find tens of billions of pounds in cuts .  In a withering verdict , it said all the main parties were keeping voters ' in the dark ' about what they would do , adding : ' None of the parties has provided anything like full details of their fiscal plans for each year of the coming parliament . '   director Paul Johnson said : ' All the parties have told us where they are going to increase spending on things like health , but none have said much about where the pain is going to fall . '  He said the gap between the parties ' plans was ' bigger than any time since 1992 ' giving voters a clear choice between more taxes , spending or borrowing .  Conservative plans require Whitehall cuts of 30billion , while Labour could get away with savings of just 1billion .  Carl Emmerson , deputy director of the  , added : ' The electorate has a real choice , although it can at best see only the broad outlines of that choice . '  The  said Labour ' s plans were broadly compatible with those of its potential post election partners in the  .  The Scottish nationalists want to spend an extra 4billion on benefits . But in an unflattering assessment , the  said there was a ' significant disconnect ' between its anti austerity rhetoric and its plans .  Labour said the think tank had made ' wrong assumptions ' about its plans .  Ed Balls said : ' The  has confirmed that the Tories are committed to the most extreme spending plans of any political party , with bigger cuts than any other advanced economy in the next three years '  One in ten cancer sufferers need care at home but do not get any support , figures revealed today .  It means there are around 160 , 000 cancer sufferers in the  left housebound by a lack of support . The shocking statistics were released by Labour as they attacked the ' crisis ' in elderly care .  Separate figures show three quarters of councils are subjecting vulnerable pensioners to care visits lasting only 15 minutes .  Labour said it would end ' time limited ' 15 minute visits by changing the system of paying for care by taking into consideration all of a patient ' s health needs , rather than costing them separately .  The party is also committed to allowing the terminally ill with the ' greatest care needs ' to have the right to die in their own homes .  The cancer figures were taken from a report by Macmillan cancer support which warned of sufferers left housebound , unable to wash or dress themselves even at risk of soiling themselves because of a lack of care .  Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has said he is developing new commissioning standards which will discourage 15 minute visits .  Mr Miliband has promised to balance day to day government spending by 2020 leaving Labour free to continue borrowing around 30billion a year for ' investment ' .  By contrast , the Conservatives want to clear the deficit in three years and start paying off Britain ' s 1 . 5trillion debt mountain .  David Cameron said the assessment showed Labour was ' a risk to our recovery , a risk to our economy , a risk to jobs ' .  But the  also raised major questions about the Tories ' spending plans .  It said they involved ' substantial and almost entirely unspecified spending cuts and tax increases ' , and warned they could mean ' further real cuts to unprotected departments of around 30billion ' .  Tory plans for 12billion in welfare cuts have also not been spelled out in any detail .  The  said the Lib Dems deserved a ' small tick ' for being the most transparent although they were also criticised for failure to spell out 12billion of planned spending cuts .  Chancellor George Osborne said : ' Saving money means taking the difficult decisions so we reduce our debt and keep our economy out of crisis and on an even keel . '  But Mr Balls said : ' The  has confirmed that the Tories are committed to the most extreme spending plans of any political party , with bigger cuts than any other advanced economy in the next three years . '  Nick Clegg said it confirmed the Tories plan a ' cuts bombshell ' , adding : ' We will cut substantially less than the Conservative plan to cut many public services to the bone and borrow less than the reckless plan from Labour . '  All three of the main parties ' education spokesmen revealed they would have no problem with the next education secretary sending their children to private school .  Labour ' s Tristram Hunt , who was privately educated , said : ' Yes . In certain circumstances . ' Two of his three children go to a state primary school in North London , with the third expected to go to the same school . But he has not ruled out switching them to independent schools .  Privately educated Schools Minister David Laws who has no children immediately said ' yes ' to the question . And Education Secretary Nicky Morgan , who was privately educated but sends her son to a state primary school , replied : ' Yes , you do what ' s right for the child . '  Ukip ' s Jonathan Arnott and the Green Party ' s James Humphreys also agreed there was no problem with a future education secretary sending their children private though Mr Arnott added it would be an ' indictment ' of the quality of state schools .  Only 7 per cent of children in the  are privately educated . Ukip has pledged to bring back grammar schools by converting some comprehensives , but Mrs Morgan said it would be a ' step backwards ' .  The rare frankness about whether they would opt for a private education for their children is in stark contrast to the controversy sparked by Labour Left winger Diane Abbott sending her son to the exclusive fee paying City of London School . Miss Abbott had previously criticised Harriet Harman , now Labour ' s deputy leader , for sending her children to a selective grammar school .  Many politicians on the Left have managed to get their children into elite state schools . Both Tony Blair who converted to Catholicism after standing down and atheist Nick Clegg , bagged places at leading London Oratory for their children . Both men are married to Catholics .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
5075,5076,"Stephanie Greer with her daughter Daisy who became the youngest child in Scotland to have her heart rewired  A couple who were advised to abort their unborn baby when doctors found she only had half a heart were celebrating yesterday as she prepares to celebrate her first birthday .  Daisy Davidson was given just a 40 per cent chance of survival after she was diagnosed with congenital heart disease Tricuspid Atresia in the womb . However , her mother Stephanie Greer , 19 , refused to have a termination .  Daisy was born in September 2011 and after a few days in intensive care was growing stronger every week . But she then developed a life threatening infection when she was just six months old , causing her body to shut down .  The youngster underwent a gruelling four hour operation to ' rewire ' the remaining side of her heart so it could function on its own , becoming the smallest Scottish child to have the operation .  Daisy is now about to celebrate her first birthday a day her parents thought they would never see .  Stephanie , who plans to throw a family party for her brave daughter , said : ' At first doctors thought she had a hole in her heart , but it turns out half of it just wasn ' t there .  ' When she got the infection and her body began to shut down we didn ' t think she would come out of hospital , so for her to celebrate her first birthday is amazing .  ' It ' s a day we never thought we would see . It will be a very emotional day for our family . '  Stephanie ' s pregnancy went well until doctors at Crosshouse Hospital , East Ayrshire , spotted what was thought to be a hole in Daisy ' s heart at her 20 week scan .  The worried mother was asked to attend a consultation at Glasgow ' s Southern General Hospital where an expert from the Royal Hospital for Sick Children at Yorkhill gave them the devastating news that half of Daisy ' s heart was missing .  Stephanie said she was then given the agonising option of aborting her unborn baby but decided to carry on with the pregnancy .  She carried her daughter almost to term and when was induced five days early Daisy weighed a healthy seven pounds three ounces . Daisy was kept in hospital for five days before being allowed home where she was fed on high calorie milk and given daily aspirin to thin her blood .  But just before Christmas last year the young girl ' s health began to decline when she developed a viral infection .  Daisy Davidson underwent the first major operation on her heart weeks after she was born  Stephanie and Alec with their brave daughter who is celebrating her first birthday next month  Daisy was rushed into surgery where she was given an operation to rewire her struggling heart to allow it to function on its own .  Stephanie , who lives in Irvine , with partner Alex Davidson , 21 , said : ' Just before Christmas she stopped feeding and going to the toilet because of an infection .  ' She had been booked into surgery in January or February but doctors said because of her condition we needed to do it sooner .  Daisy is starting to take her first steps  ' The doctors said she was too small for it because she only weighed nine pounds at that point but they did it anyway . The doctor said she was the smaller baby he had ever performed that operation on .  ' We really thought that was it . We really thought she was going to die . I never want to go through anything like that again . '  Since the operation Daisy has gone from strength to strength and , though still on high calorie milk , is now learning to walk . She will celebrate her birthday , on September 27 , surrounded by family and friends .  Throughout Daisy ' s ordeal the family have been supported by the Little Hearts Matter charity , which supports families of children with heart conditions .  Stephanie said : ' A lot of people are unaware of how serious heart conditions can be in children and we really want to make people aware of what we go through as a family .  ' When Daisy was diagnosed I felt so alone . I didn ' t know what to do .  ' But I want people to know that a diagnosis like that isn ' t a death sentence . There is hope and a lot of support out there . '  Tricuspid atresia is a condition that caused the heart to develop abnormalities . The defect blocks blood flow from the right atrium to the right ventricle and as a result blood cannot flow into the lungs properly .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
5091,5092,"An elderly man has died in a fire just one hour after emergency crews walked out on some of the busiest nights of the year in a dispute over pensions .  Firefighters were called to a house in Wednesbury , West Midlands , yesterday night and when they arrived the found the man had already died from smoke inhalation .  Area Commander Simon Shilton , of the West Midlands Fire Service , admitted that resources had been ' stretched ' with 17 engines attending 40 fires .  A pensioner has died after a fire on this road in Wednesbury , West Midlands , just an hour after emergency crews walked out on strike on some of the busiest nights of the year  He also revealed that the pensioner who has not been named was killed by a slow burning fire which started in his kitchen , and was already extinguished by the time emergency workers arrived .  He added : ' It was a busy and challenging night . We attended more than 40 incidents and our limited resources were stretched at times .  ' Sadly , we attended one incident in which an elderly man had died . It appears that he had been overcome by smoke from a slow burning fire in his kitchen .  ' The fire was out when we got there and had occurred several hours earlier .  ' There was also a fire at a factory in Walsall . Crews were there for more than three hours . At this stage the cause has yet to be determined . '  Firefighters left their stations at 6pm yesterday and will not return until 6pm on Tuesday , the evening before Bonfire Night , with brigades across England warning they may struggle to respond .  The West Yorkshire brigade warned that the service and the public will be left in a ' vulnerable position ' , telling people to take extra care to ensure their own safety .  The London brigade said it might not attend bin or small grass fires , or help anyone shut in a lift during the strike .  Picket lines were mounted outside fire stations , as brigade chiefs launched contingency plans , including hiring contract staff .  The Government has been accused of showing ' contempt ' for public sector after insisting that firefighters will still receive one of the best pension schemes , even after the reforms .  Fire Brigade Union members will be out on strike until Tuesday morning in a row over pensions , with the London service warning that they might not attend small blazes , or rescue people trapped in lifts ( file pic )  The  hit back at Government statements , saying : ' We have a Government of millionaires who are wrecking the pensions of firefighters and other public sector workers while the real scandal is that their own pensions are by far the most generous anywhere in the public sector .  ' This is a case of those at the top getting more while everyone else is robbed blind . Firefighters are sickened by the Government ' s ' snouts in the trough ' approach to this issue .  ' How can it be remotely fair that the Prime Minister , already a millionaire , enjoys a far greater subsidy from his employer in absolute and proportional terms than a firefighter who is earning less than 30 , 000 a year ? It is sickening hypocrisy . '   general secretary Frances O ' Grady said : ' Once again the Government is showing its contempt for public service workers .  ' Evidence warns that raising the normal retirement age for firefighters would lead to older fighters facing no job and no pension after years of good service .  ' This same evidence has already led to concessions being made in Wales , Northern Ireland and Scotland but the Westminster Government has chosen to walk away from the negotiating table .  ' We are very concerned about the risks to firefighters , and those who rely on the fire service , when firefighters are forced to stay in frontline service until they reach the age of 60 . '  The Firefighters ' Pension Scheme is the most expensive in the public sector and is forecast to have a cashflow deficit of almost 600 million by 2018 19 , according to the Government .  Fiona Twycross , Labour fire spokeswoman , said : ' It is deeply disappointing that we have got to this position , but it seems clear the Government is set on escalating this dispute . '  Fire Minister Penny Mordaunt said : ' It is regrettable that the Fire Brigades Union has announced this strike action , which is unnecessary and the aim of which is unclear . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
5126,5127,"The finding comes on the eve of the  summit in Paris that is expected to result in big cuts in greenhouse gas emissions .  The British public is increasingly sceptical that human activity is to blame for climate change , a poll for Sky News suggests .  Almost one in five people believes that natural processes rather than man made carbon dioxide emissions are causing global warming , according to the survey by Sky Data .  In a similar poll by YouGov two years ago , just one in 14 people said humans were not responsible for the problem .  The Sky News poll comes on the eve of United Nations summit in Paris that is likely to result in big cuts in greenhouse gas emissions .  Prime Minister David Cameron will be among almost 150 world leaders attending the talks .  The survey suggests he could struggle to sell a climate deal if it increases household bills .  It shows 54 of the public oppose green taxes on petrol , electricity and imported food .  Just over a third would back extra taxes on products with a high carbon footprint .  The  wants world leaders to agree a deal that would limit the rise in average global temperature to 2C , regarded by the overwhelming majority of scientists as the danger point for the world ' s climate .  Play video "" Why Is Climate Change So Worrying ? ""  That would mean cutting worldwide emissions by 40 70 by 2050 and 100 by the end of the century .  Christiana Figueres , who is leading the  ' s negotiations , told Sky News : "" l see more and more political will because every country is realising they are impacted .  "" There is not a single country that has not felt the negative impact of climate change . That ' s why there is attention now to the opportunities in reducing emissions . ""  2015 is on course for being the warmest year on record . The current average global temperature is around 15C , 1C warmer than before the industrial revolution .  Over the same time period carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have risen from 280 parts per million to 400ppm .  Dr Paul Williams of Reading University said the warming atmosphere is already increasing the chances of floods , heatwaves and storms in Britain and the problems will only get worse if emissions continue to rise .  "" There is a time lag in the climate system , "" he said .  "" We are storing up problems that we haven ' t yet seen because the climate system takes decades to respond to the carbon dioxide .  "" So even if we cut emissions dramatically today there are big problems stored up for future . This is why we need to take urgent action . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
5129,5130,"President Obama canceled a meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines scheduled for Tuesday in Laos, after the Philippine president directed an expletive at Mr. Obama on Monday. On Tuesday, Mr. Duterte released a statement saying he regretted that his curse “came across as a personal attack on the U. S. president. ” He blamed his words on “certain press questions that elicited concern and distress. ” Mr. Duterte had warned Mr. Obama not to ask him about extrajudicial killings related to his crackdown on drug dealers, a campaign pledge that helped sweep him to victory in the country’s presidential election in May. “I am a president of a sovereign state, and we have long ceased to be a colony,” Mr. Duterte told reporters before he left his country for Laos, where he and Mr. Obama will attend the meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. “I do not have any master except the Filipino people, nobody but nobody,” he said in remarks published by The Associated Press. Apparently addressing Mr. Obama, he added: “You must be respectful. Do not just throw questions. ” Then, using a curse in Tagalog that can be translated as “son of a bitch,” he added, “I will swear at you in that forum. ” Mr. Obama, who was in China for a Group of 20 meeting, departed on Monday for Laos, becoming the first American president to visit the nation. He is also scheduled to take part in the East Asia Summit and speak at a forum with young people. Mr. Obama had planned to meet Mr. Duterte in Laos, but the White House said early Tuesday that the meeting had been canceled. “Clearly, he’s a colorful guy,” Mr. Obama said Monday. “I always want to make sure if I’m having a meeting that it’s productive. ” Mr. Duterte acknowledged Tuesday that the meeting had been canceled and seemed to take a softer tone: “We look forward to ironing out differences arising out of national priorities and perceptions, and working in mutually responsible ways for both countries. ” Last month, the Philippines’ top police official, Chief Ronald dela Rosa, told a Senate hearing that killings by the police and vigilantes in the country’s war on drugs had soared to nearly 1, 800 in the seven weeks since Mr. Duterte, a former mayor of Davao, was sworn into office. Mr. Duterte’s public image has been characterized by bouts of coarse language. He has lashed out at his critics, threatening to withdraw from the United Nations after human rights experts called for a halt to the killings. He joked about the rape of an Australian missionary during the presidential campaign, and he cursed Pope Francis and his entourage for causing huge traffic jams in Manila during the pope’s visit to the Philippines in 2015.",true,news,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
5142,5143,"Here's something interesting from The Unz Review... Recipient Name Recipient Email =>  “Nation state as a fundamental unit of man’s organized life has ceased to be the principal creative force: International banks and multinational corporations are acting and planning in terms that are far in advance of the political concepts of the nation-state.”  — Zbigniew Brzezinski, “Between Two Ages: The Technetronic Era”, 1971  “I’m going to continue to push for a no-fly zone and safe havens within Syria….not only to help protect the Syrians and prevent the constant outflow of refugees, but to gain some leverage on both the Syrian government and the Russians.”  — Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Third Presidential Debate  Why is Hillary Clinton so eager to intensify  involvement in Syria when  interventions in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya have all gone so terribly wrong?  The answer to this question is simple. It’s because Clinton doesn’t think that these interventions went wrong. And neither do any of the other members of the  foreign policy establishment. (aka–The Borg). In fact, in their eyes these wars have been a rousing success. Sure, a few have been critical of the public relations backlash from the nonexistent  in Iraq, (or the logistical errors, like disbanding the Iraqi Army) but–for the most part– the foreign policy establishment is satisfied with its efforts to destabilize the region and remove leaders that refuse to follow Washington’s diktats.  This is hard for ordinary people to understand. They can’t grasp why elite powerbrokers would want to transform functioning, stable countries into uninhabitable wastelands overrun by armed extremists, sectarian death squads and foreign-born terrorists. Nor can they understand what has been gained by Washington’s 15 year-long rampage across the Middle East and Central Asia that has turned a vast swathe of strategic territory into a terrorist breeding grounds? What is the purpose of all this?  First, we have to acknowledge that the decimation and de facto balkanization of these countries is part of a plan. If it wasn’t part of a plan, than the decision-makers would change the policy. But they haven’t changed the policy. The policy is the same. The fact that the  is using foreign-born jihadists to pursue regime change in Syria as opposed to  troops in Iraq, is not a fundamental change in the policy. The ultimate goal is still the decimation of the state and the elimination of the existing government. This same rule applies to Libya and Afghanistan both of which have been plunged into chaos by Washington’s actions.  But why? What is gained by destroying these countries and generating so much suffering and death?  Here’s what I think: I think Washington is involved in a grand project to remake the world in a way that better meets the needs of its elite constituents, the international banks and multinational corporations. Brzezinski not only refers to this in the opening quote, he also explains what is taking place: The nation-state is being jettisoned as the foundation upon which the global order rests. Instead, Washington is erasing borders, liquidating states, and removing strong, secular leaders that can mount resistance to its machinations in order to impose an entirely new model on the region, a new world order. The people who run these elite institutions want to create an interconnected-global free trade zone overseen by the proconsuls of Big Capital, in other words, a global Eurozone that precludes the required state institutions (like a centralized treasury, mutual debt, federal transfers) that would allow the borderless entity to function properly.  Deep state powerbrokers who set policy behind the smokescreen of our bought-and-paid-for congress think that one world government is an achievable goal provided they control the world’s energy supplies, the world’s reserve currency and become the dominant player in this century’s most populous and prosperous region, Asia. This is essentially what Hillary’s “pivot” to Asia is all about.  The basic problem with Washington’s  plan is that a growing number of powerful countries are still attached to the old world order and are now prepared to defend it. This is what’s really going on in Syria, the improbable alliance of Russia, Syria, Iran and Hezbollah have stopped the  military juggernaut dead in its tracks. The unstoppable force has hit the immovable object and the immovable object has prevailed…so far.  Naturally, the foreign policy establishment is upset about these new developments, and for good reason. The  has run the world for quite a while now, so the rolling back of  policy in Syria is as much a surprise as it is a threat. The Russian Airforce deployed to Syria a full year ago in September, but only recently has Washington shown that it’s prepared to respond by increasing its support of its jihadists agents on the ground and by mounting an attack on  in the eastern part of the country, Raqqa. But the real escalation is expected to take place when Hillary Clinton becomes president in 2017. That’s when the  will directly engage Russia militarily, assuming that their tit-for-tat encounters will be contained within Syria’s borders. It’s a risky plan, but it’s the next logical step in this bloody fiasco. Neither party wants a nuclear war, but Washington believes that doing nothing is tantamount to backing down, therefore, Hillary and her neocon advisors can be counted on to up the ante. “No-fly zone”, anyone?  The assumption is that eventually, and with enough pressure, Putin will throw in the towel. But this is another miscalculation. Putin is not in Syria because he wants to be nor is he there because he values his friendship with Syrian President Bashar al Assad. That’s not it at all. Putin is in Syria because he has no choice. Russia’s national security is at stake. If Washington’s strategy of deploying terrorists to topple Assad succeeds, then the same ploy will be attempted in Iran and Russia. Putin knows this, just like he knows that the scourge of foreign-backed terrorism can decimate entire regions like Chechnya. He knows that it’s better for him to kill these extremists in Aleppo than it will be in Moscow. So he can’t back down, that’s not an option.     But, by the same token, he can compromise, in other words, his goals and the goals of Assad do not perfectly coincide. For example, he could very well make territorial concessions to the  for the sake of peace that Assad might not support.  But why would he do that? Why wouldn’t he continue to fight until every inch of Syria’s sovereign territory is recovered?  Because it’s not in Russia’s national interest to do so, that’s why. Putin has never tried to conceal the fact that he’s in Syria to protect Russia’s national security. That’s his main objective. But he’s not an idealist, he’s a pragmatist who’ll do whatever he has to to end the war ASAP. That means compromise.  This doesn’t matter to the Washington warlords….yet. But it will eventually. Eventually there will be an accommodation of some sort. No one is going to get everything they want, that much is certain. For example, it’s impossible to imagine that Putin would launch a war on Turkey to recover the territory that Turkish troops now occupy in N Syria. In fact, Putin may have already conceded as much to Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan in their recent meetings. But that doesn’t mean that Putin doesn’t have his red lines. He does. Aleppo is a red line. Turkish troops will not be allowed to enter Aleppo.  The western corridor, the industrial and population centers are all red lines. On these, there will be no compromise. Putin will help Assad remain in power and keep the country largely intact. But will Turkey control sections in the north, and will the  control sections in the east?  Probably. This will have to be worked out in negotiations, but its unlikely that the country’s borders will be the same as they were before the war broke out. Putin will undoubtedly settle for a halfloaf provided the fighting ends and security is restored. In any event, he’s not going to hang around until the last dog is hung.  Unfortunately, we’re a long way from any settlement in Syria, mainly because Washington is nowhere near accepting the fact that its project to rule the world has been derailed. That’s the crux of the matter, isn’t it? The bigshots who run the country are still in denial. It hasn’t sunk in yet that the war is lost and that their nutty jihadist-militia plan has failed.  It’s going to take a long time before Washington gets the message that the world is no longer its oyster. The sooner they figure it out, the better it’ll be for everyone.    lives in Washington state. He is a contributor to Hopeless: Barack Obama and the Politics of Illusion ( Press). Hopeless is also available in a Kindle edition . He can be reached at . (Reprinted from Counterpunch by permission of author or representative)",fake,news,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present
5148,5149,"Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel s failure to forge a three-way coalition government has plunged Europe s largest economy into uncharted waters, raising pressure on the three-term conservative chancellor to maintain stability. The pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) abruptly pulled out after more than four weeks of negotiations with Merkel s conservative bloc and the ecologist Greens, citing irreconcilable differences. The euro recovered from a two-month low on Monday as investors brushed off the broader political risks. But Germany now faces a prolonged period of political wrangling and uncertainty. The path to a new election would be difficult and involve more than one vote in parliament. Many fear a new election could further strengthen the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party that surged into parliament in the Sept. 24 election after winning nearly 13 percent of the vote. AfD leaders have pushed for new elections for weeks as the coalition talks failed to reach agreement. Current opinion polls predict little change compared to the September vote. A Forsa poll released last week showed conservatives on 32 percent, the Social Democrats on 20 percent, the  12 percent, the Greens 10 percent and the AfD 12 percent. It was not immediately clear what impact the latest development would have on the parties  support. Leaders of the other parties expressed shock about the  s move since negotiators had been on the cusp of an agreement. The Greens accused the  of a pre-meditated move to oust Merkel. Here s what could happen next, and possible scenarios for the coming weeks: The political crisis hands significant power to German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a member of the Social Democrats (SPD) and a former foreign minister under Merkel who assumed the normally ceremonial post in February. Merkel was to meet with Steinmeier on Monday to discuss the most serious political crisis to confront Germany in the post-war era.  Steinmeier had already urged negotiators on Saturday to uphold their civic responsibilities and avoid new elections. He is expected to repeat that message in a statement later Monday, according to the  newspaper chain. Steinmeier could push the  and its leader Christian Lindner to return to the negotiating table. But political experts say it would be difficult to rebuild any sense of trust among the would-be coalition partners after Sunday s events.          Merkel is likely to approach the SPD, which served for four years as junior partner in her  grand coalition , but  leaders have vowed to return to opposition after the party s worst election result since 1933. Labour Minister Andrea Nahles reaffirmed that view in an interview with broadcaster  on Monday, saying voters had clearly voted against a further tie-up of Germany s two largest parties. If they agreed to talks, the  - which saw its support slide in the September election after it lost stature as junior partner in the often awkward coalition dominated by Merkel - would probably insist on her departure, according to party insiders.  The  is in a much stronger negotiating position now,  said Tyson Barker at the Aspen Institute.  But I just don t see the incentives there for the SPD. The grand coalition is just teetering on a majority.  If coalition talks fail, the only way to trigger a new election under the German constitution would be for Steinmeier to suggest a parliamentary vote on Merkel as chancellor. If Merkel wins a majority in such a vote, he would name her as chancellor. If she doesn t raise a majority, parliament can vote again within 14 days.  If she again misses the majority, parliament votes again and the candidate with the most votes wins. Then Steinmeier could name Merkel - or whoever wins the most votes - as chancellor, but is not required to do so. If he refrains, he would dissolve parliament and new elections must be held within 60 days. If she is elected as chancellor, Merkel could form a minority government with a variety of partners, including just the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party of her Christian Democrats, or among conservatives with the FDP. She could also form a minority coalition with the Greens. Juergen Hardt, foreign policy spokesman for the conservative bloc, said such a tie-up was promising and could convince Steinmeier to agree to a minority government. A minority government would require Merkel to find changing majorities for her policies, but it would allow the smaller parties to maintain an independent profile, said Christian Odendahl, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform.  He said that could be helpful for the CSU, which has said it needs to pursue a more hardline position on immigration and security as it gears up for state elections in September 2018, given massive losses to the far-right AfD on Sept. 24. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
5162,5163,"Lost : Maddie McCann disappeared in Portugal eight years ago  Police chiefs have been urged to wind up the hunt for Madeleine McCann as detectives battle the terror threat and a spate of murders .  A team of 31 British detectives are working exclusively to find the girl , who vanished from her parents ' holiday apartment in Portugal eight years ago .  The Metropolitan Police was tasked with investigating the disappearance after her family made a personal plea to David Cameron in 2011 .  Yet despite costing the taxpayer 10million and dozens of trips by officers to the Algarve , the inquiry codenamed Operation Grange has not led to a single arrest .  Now a senior police union leader has called for the probe to be axed and the detectives reassigned to other investigations in the  .  He says officers in London are bemused why they are working round the clock fighting the threat from Islamic State inspired jihadists and solve at least 14 murders since Christmas while the Operation Grange detectives are barred from helping .  Metropolitan Police Federation chairman John Tully said : ' It is time to re focus on what we need to do to keep London safe . We no longer have the resources to conduct specialist inquiries all over the world which have nothing to do with London .  ' The Met has long been seen as the last resort for investigations others have struggled with elsewhere .  ' It is surprising to see an inquiry like the McCann investigation ring fenced . I have heard a few rumblings of discontent about it from lots of sources .  ' When the force is facing a spike in murder investigations it is not surprising there is resentment of significant resources diverted to a case that has no apparent connection with London . '  Even though Madeleine ' s parents Kate , 47 , and Gerry , 46 , live in Rothley , Leicestershire , Scotland Yard was handed the investigation because of its expertise in investigating complex murder case .  Police chiefs ' ring fenced ' the inquiry to prevent officers working on other case , even though the force has been forced to make 600million in cuts over four years .  Operation Grange was set up to review the original Portuguese police probe into the disappearance of Madeleine , then three , from the family ' s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on May 3 , 2007 .  The Metropolitan Police launched an investigation into Maddie ' s disappearance after her parents , pictured above , made a personal plea to  David Cameron in 2011  After the Portuguese inquiry was shelved as ' unsolved ' , the McCanns , who remain convinced their daughter is alive , appealed to Mr Cameron for assistance .  Since the girl , who would now be 11 , vanished , every possible theory has been explored , including that she was kidnapped by a paedophile , killed during a botched burglary and her body dumped , snatched by traffickers and sold to a childless couple and that she wandered out of the apartment and died in a tragic accident .  However , not one shred of proof of what happened to Madeleine has been uncovered .  Detective Chief Inspector Nicola Wall , who took over Operation Grange in December , and her team ravelled to Portugal to interview seven suspects and four witnesses , but have not released any information about what they discovered .  A Met Police spokesman said : ' There are 31 officers working on Operation Grange . Their sole investigation is the disappearance of Madeleine McCann . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
5178,5179,"Tony Pulis wants to add Paul Jewell to his new look coaching team at West Bromwich Albion .  And the the new Baggies boss also wants to draft in Carlo Nash to be his goalkeeping coach at the Hawthorns .  The Midlands club confirmed the departures of coaches Rob Kelly , Keith Downing and Dean Kiely with immediate effect on Monday following the sacking of Alan Irvine last week .  West Brom boss Tony Pulis shouts instructions to his players during Saturday ' s win against Gateshead  Former Ipswich manager Paul Jewell is expected to become Pulis ' s first team coach at West Brom  Carlo Nash who worked with Pulis at Stoke is set to be announced as the club ' s new goalkeeping coach  And Pulis has wasted no time in shaking up his back room team at the Midlands club and is close to making his first two new captures .  Jewell , who has been out of work since leaving Ipswich in 2012 , is set to join as first team coach .  Nash , who played for Pulis at Stoke , will work with the club ' s goalkeepers .  Pulis ' trusted assistant Dave Kemp has already joined , while Gerry Francis is set to agree a part time coaching role .  West Bromwich Albion today announce the departures of senior coaches Rob Kelly , Keith Downing and Dean Kiely .  The trio have left the club with immediate effect as Tony Pulis prepares to finalise the appointment of a new backroom staff .  Director of football administration Richard Garlick said : ' The Club would like to place on record its deep appreciation for the contribution of Keith , Rob and Dean within the coaching structure .  ' Keith and Dean have been here a number of years and took over first team control in a caretaker capacity during a difficult period last season . They played a key role in stabilising the team .  ' Rob joined at the start of the season and became a valued member of the coaching set up .  ' Changes in personnel are part of football life and it is obviously sad to say farewell to three popular and respected members of staff .  ' We wish to thank them for their efforts and wish them all the very best in their future endeavours . '  Downing became first team coach under Roy Hodgson , in March 2011 , before being elevated to Assistant Head Coach in December 2011 following the departure of Michael Appleton to become Portsmouth manager .  Following Steve Clarke ' s departure in December 2013 , Downing took the reins at The Hawthorns in caretaker capacity his side winning one and drawing three of his five Barclays Premier League games in charge .  Albion recruited Downing as Academy Under 18s coach in July 2009 . He also became responsible for running the Baggies ' Barclays Premier Reserve League team at the start of the 2010 11 campaign .  Kelly joined Albion as Alan Irvine ' s Joint Assistant Head Coach alongside Downing in June .  Kiely became Albion Goalkeeper Coach in March 2010 .  The former Republic of Ireland man initially joined the club as a player in January 2007 , helping the club to the Championship play off final later that year .  The following season he scooped the Championship ' s 2007 08 Puma Golden Glove thanks to his 18 clean sheets in all competitions after helping Albion clinch the title and reach and  Cup semi final .  He made 88 appearances for Albion as a player .  In confirming the departures of Kelly , Downing and Kiely , Richard Garlick , the club ' s director of football administration , said : ' The club would like to place on record its deep appreciation for the contribution of Keith , Rob and Dean within the coaching structure .  ' Keith and Dean have been here a number of years and took over first team control in a caretaker capacity during a difficult period last season . They played a key role in stabilising the team .  ' Changes in personnel are part of football life and it is obviously sad to say farewell to three popular and respected members of staff . '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
5191,5192,"San Bernardino attacker was ' typical housewife , ' lawyer says  Farook family lawyers discuss  ' s comments about attacker ' s Facebook post  David Chesley and ? Mohammad Abuershaid , lawyers for the Farook family , discuss the Facebook post by ? Tashfeen Malik , one of two San Bernardino shooters .  David Chesley and ? Mohammad Abuershaid , lawyers for the Farook family , discuss the Facebook post by ? Tashfeen Malik , one of two San Bernardino shooters .  Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik kept a quiet , conservative home in Redlands with their daughter where the wife stayed at home caring for their baby while Farook went to work for the San Bernardino County health department .  As far as Farook s family was concerned , there was nothing out of the ordinary with the couple ? which is what they told the  during a four hour interview Thursday , a day after the pair died in a gun battle with police in San Bernardino .  The pair had only hours earlier killed 14 people and wounded 21 others at a holiday party at a county facility . At a news conference Friday afternoon , attorneys for Farook s family expressed sorrow for the victims and provided details on the family s home life leading up to the killings .  Full coverage : ? San Bernardino shooting ? ? Live updates  They also said neither they nor authorities have been able to find a motive for the shooting or links to organized terrorist groups .  "" None of the family members had any idea that this was going to take place , "" said attorney David Chesley . "" They were totally shocked .  A second attorney , Mohammad Abuershaid , described Farook and Malik s home life as a traditional Muslim household .  The women would sit with the women , men with the men . Men did not interact with her , Abuershaid said . Brothers have never seen her face . She was totally covered . They just knew her as Syed s wife . ' ""  Malik was a typical housewife taking care of the couple s 6 month old daughter while Farook worked , Chesley said . She spoke broken English and fluent Urdu , he said .  She did maintain certain traditions . Fasting and prayer . She chose not to drive voluntarily . But these are all benign , these are things that many Muslims do and it doesn t mean anything necessarily , Chesley said .  Relatives knew they kept two guns locked up in the home .  At times when Malik would be caring for the baby , the attorneys said that Farook would be in the home s garage tinkering with things .  He liked working on his car , the attorney said . Relatives went into the garage occasionally to see what he was working on . Farook once made a shoe rack for his sister .  But Farook did have to make some adjustments to work , the attorneys said . Because of his job , Farook had to trim his beard . Sometimes co workers teased him about his facial hair , but he shrugged it off .  He was a very isolated , introverted individual with really no friends that we could I identify , Chesley said .  The couple reportedly dropped their baby off at a relative s home prior to the shooting . The infant is now with child protective services and may be turned over to Farook s oldest sister by Monday , the attorneys said .  In a separate news conference Friday , the  said it has not found any definitive ties to terrorist organizations or any indication the two were part of a terrorist cell . Authorities said they were aware of a Facebook post that may be linked to Malik that reportedly pledges allegiance to the Islamic State .  If there is anything remarkable about the investigation that took place Thursday , it is that no ties could really be established to the point of frustration on the part of the  , Chesley said .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
5207,5208,"Reuters) - Michigan Governor Rick Snyder on Thursday extended a state of emergency in Flint until April 14, as the Michigan legislature gave final approval of $28 million to address the drinking water crisis. Snyder’s move approved by the state legislature means the state emergency declaration will continue as long as the federal emergency declaration issued earlier this month by President Barack Obama. The state declaration was originally set to end Feb. 1. “Extending this emergency will help us continue these efforts while working on long-term solutions to help Flint recover,” Snyder said of providing access to bottled water, filters and testing kits. Separately, Michigan Democrats in Congress said Thursday they want to win backing for up to $600 million in U.S. support of Flint. Senators Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters and Rep. Dan Kildee of Flint said they will offer an amendment to a pending Senate Energy bill that would provide up to $400 million to replace or fix lead pipes. The proposal would require the state of Michigan to match any federal funding. The proposal would also direct $200 million in federal funds for a research center to focus on the needs of children and would also require the Environmental Protection Agency to warn the public of high lead levels in drinking water if a state fails to do so. Peters said Democrats also want a change in the law to allow the federal government to forgive $20 million in loans to Flint. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the Obama administration does not have a position yet on the proposal, and was not aware of any plans to place Flint under some kind of special category. Soul singer and Detroit native Aretha Franklin told  on Thursday she was donating 50 hotel rooms nightly and money for food during the crisis, and has urged other Motown artists to help. U.S. Representative Xavier Becerra, speaking in Baltimore at a Democratic retreat, said someone should be arrested. “What went down in Flint should cause someone to have a rap sheet,” he said. “There should be some indictments.” The Detroit Free Press reported on Thursday, citing state government emails released by liberal group Progress Michigan, that in January 2015 while state officials were telling Flint residents their water was safe to drink they were arranging for coolers of purified water in Flint’s state office building. The $28 million approved by the state will be used to provide bottled water and other supplies, put nurses in local schools and more. ",true,dataset,validation,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
5219,5220,"Hospitals hired doctors from at least 27 countries last year including Iraq , Syria , Sudan , Qatar and Australia .  Most were used to plug desperate staffing shortages on wards , X ray units and overstretched A E departments .  Experts say the health service has no choice as it has failed to train enough of its own doctors to meet the needs of the rising and aging population .  The situation is the same for other front line staff and nearly 6 , 000 nurses were recruited from overseas last year , many from Spain and Portugal .  The  has no choice but to recruit foreign doctors as it has failed to train enough of its own staff to meet the needs of the rising and aging population , experts warned today  And figures uncovered this week show that ambulance services last year hired 180 paramedics , mainly from Australia , and plan to recruit more over the next few months .  Figures obtained by the Guardian under the Freedom of Information Act show that 32 out of 160 hospital trusts recruited 321 doctors from abroad last year , from 27 different countries .  The true number is likely to be far higher as many trusts failed to respond .  Separate figures from the General Medical Council show that 2 , 957 doctors who trained oversees joined the register last year . But it is not possible to say how many of these subsequently got jobs within he  .  Southampton hired the most , at 113 , while Northern Lincolnshire and Goole is planning to hire 83 this year .  Dr David Rosser , medical director of University Hospitals Birmingham  Foundation Trust , one of England ' s biggest trusts , said : ' The  doesn ' t have the number of doctors it needs .  ' The shortage is real . We aren ' t training enough doctors in this country , and so we are dependent on foreign trained doctors .  ' Doctors in more and more branches of medicine report shortages , especially in specialities such as A E , where it ' s tough work . '  He said it would take at least ten years to train up enough British doctors .  GPs take ten years to train while consultants take 13 including , five years at university .  The shortages are particularly severe in A E and radiology , where doctors analyse X rays and scans for cancer and other illnesses  The shortages are particularly severe in A E and radiology , where doctors analyse X rays and scans for cancer and other illnesses .  Dr Giles Maskell , president of the Royal College of Radiologists said : ' We are very short of radiologists .  ' The main implications for patient safety are delays in scan interpretation and the risks of people getting the wrong treatment , or no treatment , due to not getting the right tests or expert interpretation . '  Most doctors hired from overseas are hospital specialists but a small proportion are likely to have been GPs , and many surgeries are also very short staffed .  One of those recently recruited was Dr Rensy Mathew , 39 , from Qatar , who plans to stay for four years working in A E at the University Hospital of North Durham .  Southampton hired the most , at 113 , while Northern Lincolnshire and Goole is planning to hire 83 this year . Southampton General Hospital is pictured  He was hired following two recruitment fairs in India and the United Arab Emirates respectively which involved interviews and a role play exercise .  He said : ' The biggest difference from Qatar I would say I noticed is , things are more streamlined .  ' Everyone follows a system , everything goes in a flowchart way . '  ' People are very eager to know where I have come from and what ' s my background , they are very courteous , very welcoming and quite keen to know what I have to say and what advice I have to give '  A spokesman for the Department of Health said : ' In the last five years we have seen an increase in British staff working in the  from 88 . 9 per cent to 89 . 1 per cent and crucially we have more clinical staff overall 9 , 500 extra doctors and 7 , 800 extra nurses on our wards .  ' Foreign health workers make a valuable contribution to the  , but we have introduced language checks to ensure they can properly communicate with their patients . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
5225,5226,"Singles looking for a little affection on Valentine ' s Day can get some much needed physical contact at this year ' s first annual Cuddle Convention .  But don ' t get any bright ideas because the event is strictly non sexual .  Cuddle Con will happen on Saturday at several locations in Portland , Oregon and feature several workshops , classes and speakers .  But the highlight will be an afternoon ' snuggle party ' expected to be attended by about 100 .  Valentine ' s day plans : A Cuddle Convention will be held in Portland , Oregon this Valentine ' s Day . The event ' s organizer Samantha Hess pictured on the right in a previous broadcast about her cuddling business  Samantha Hess is the woman behind the event and she says that everyone attending the party will need to go through a 30 minute consent class before entering the cuddle room .  In the class , cuddlers will be briefed on what types of touch are appropriate and how to communicate with each other . Only those 18 and up will be allowed to participate and nudity is prohibited .  Ground rules : Hess says those who attend the convention ' s cuddle party must go through a 30 minute consent class where they will be briefed on appropriate touching  ' It has rules it ' s touch that would be appropriate to do in front of children , basically , ' Hess told the Oregonian . ' The space is big enough for about 100 people at a time . '  ' Usually there ' s a lot of laughing , and sometimes we will get these things we call "" puppy piles "" with lots of people all just snuggling together .  ' There will probably also be some people just chatting in the corner , too . It ' s not all cuddling . '  The idea for Cuddle Con came about two years ago , when Hess had just finished going through a trying divorce and saw a man advertising free hugs on Facebook .  At the time she thought she would definitely pay someone money just for a hug .  That led her to start her own business , Cuddle Me Up , where she provides platonic cuddles to clients .  The business has been so successful in Portland that she recently had to hire three more female workers .  One of her clients is 47 year old Kimberley Jenson who plans on attending this year ' s Cuddle Con .  ' I hated Valentine ' s Day , and now I am looking forward to it . I am hoping to cuddle non stop , ' Jensen told  .  ' Just because I don ' t have someone in my life doesn ' t mean I don ' t deserve affection and touch , ' she added .  Hess believes this year ' s Cuddle Con will show the many benefits of platonic cuddling , for both singles as couples .  In addition to the snuggle party , Cuddle Con will also feature partner yoga , acro yoga , a dance lift class , a blues dancing class , a breathing class , a posture class and a massage class .  Tickets to the event start at 25 .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
5232,5233,"in Libya have released pictures of armed fighters burning musical instruments as the extremist group continues its propaganda assault in the north African country .  Pictures of the heavily armed masked militants watching while a pile of drums burnt in the Libyan desert were released earlier today purportedly by the ' media wing ' of the local group .  It is understood the brightly coloured instruments had been confiscated by the religious police , and were destroyed near the port city of Derna , in eastern Libya .  ' Unislamic ' : The group claims it burned the drums because it believes music is against their religion  Seized : A statement said the instruments were ' burnt in accordance with Islamic law '  A message released with the pictures explains : ' Hesbah seized these un Islamic musical instruments in the state of Warqa ( we call it the city of Derna ) .  It adds they were ' burnt in accordance with Islamic law ' .  Whether or not it actually is has been a point of some debate in the Islamic world , but Libya ' s  recruits are not the first to burn instruments .  Earlier this year , religious police were filmed beating musicians and destroying their instruments as punishment for playing an ' un Islamic ' keyboard .  The men were pictured being hit across the back and legs with a wooden stick in a public square in Syria after  ' s fanatical Islamic enforcers ruled the electric keyboard was ' offensive to Muslims ' .  Another picture shows two keyboards and what appears to be a lute smashed to pieces after raids thought to have taken place in Bujaq , a few miles to the east of Aleppo in Syria .  Brand new ? : Some of the drums destined for the pyre appeared to never have been used before  Hidden : The  militants were careful not to show their faces in any of the pictures  These latest pictures from Libya are the latest in an onslaught of ' propaganda ' being released by the country ' s local branch of  .  The group , and its march through Libya , was brought back into the spotlight with the release of a five minute video showing the murders of a group of Coptic Christians .  The men were beheaded by the extremists on the beach at Sirte , allowing them to film the blood running into the Mediterranean .  It has since released pictures showing a smart fleet of Toyota Land Cruisers carrying the notorious black flag of Islamic State as they drive in perfect unison through the streets of Libya .  Propaganda war : Libya ' s  fighters came back into the spotlight when they beheaded 21 Egyptian men  Co ordinated : The group followed it up with pictures purporting to be its own fleet of 4x4s  Land grab :  now controls four major cities along the Libyan coast including Derna , far right , where the pictures of fighters burning instruments were taken , and Serte , centre , where the beheadings took place  The extremist group has taken control of four major cities along Libyia ' s coast , joining forces with groups that formed after the fall of Gadafi .  Meanwhile , Libya ' s internationally recognised government has fled to Tubruq , near the Egyptian border , a two and a half hour drive from where the instruments were supposedly burned .  It shares control of Tubruq and capital Tripoli with other rebel groups .  Libyan forces are working with an international coalition to try to rid the country of  .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
5235,5236,"The small shack with no electricity or running water where where Robert Lewis Dear had spent time . Photo :   The man who turned a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic into a bloodbath ? is a surly , oddball loner who conversed little and picked fights with his wife and neighbors .  Robert Lewis Dear , 57 , had lived in tiny Hartsel , Colo . , for a year before Friday , when he traveled the 90 minutes to Colorado Springs and killed three people , including Garrett Swasey , 44 , a University of Colorado cop , in a five hour standoff with police .  The shooter , who is due in court Monday , has roots in the Carolinas and a criminal record that includes arrests on animal cruelty and peeping Tom charges . He wasn t convicted in either case .  Dear once lived in a tiny , yellow shack in the North Carolina woods , where neighbor James Russell said he mostly kept to himself . If you talked to him , nothing with him was very cognitive ? topics all over the place , Russell said .  A pair of sticks hung in the shape of a cross on the side of the small cabin , but Dear never talked about religion , or abortion , Russell said .  In the late 1990s , Dear lived in South Carolina , where he frequently feuded with neighbors .  He once left his wife bruised in a bizarre 1997 incident in which he locked her out of their home ? and then hit and pushed her when she tried to enter through a window , according to reports .  In 2002 , a neighbor in Walterboro ,  , who had long feuded with Dear , told police he was outside with his son when a shot was fired from the residence next to his .  Suddenly , the man s dog yelped out loud and ran over to him , according to cops , who noted the dog appeared to have been shot with a pellet gun .  Investigators search for where Robert Lewis Dear lived in Hartsel , Colo . Photo :   Dear denied taking aim at the animal but told police the neighbor was lucky that it was only a pellet that hit the dog and not a bigger round , reports by BuzzFeed and the Daily Beast said .  The trailer in Black Mountain , N . C . where Robert Lewis Dear spent time . Photo :   That same year , another neighbor filed police reports against Dear after he made several unwanted advances and was caught staring through the window of her house .  In Colorado , neighbor Zigmund Post said he spoke to Dear after trying to retrieve his dogs , who had gotten loose near Dear s Hartsel home .  We were there for a minute , and the guy was already handing us anti Obama pamphlets , he said , adding Dear told him that Obama was ruining the country and needed to be impeached .  Dear wasn t talking when he walked up to the Planned Parenthood clinic Friday , witnesses said . Authorities on Saturday wouldn t discuss Dear s motive , but Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers said at a news conference that people could make inferences from where it took place .  Dear walked into the clinic and opened fire , said Planned Parenthood worker Kentanya Craion , who told  Dear seemed calm , but crazy and was mumbling and ranting while he was shooting .  Craion at first didn t realize shots were being fired .  I couldn t register because it felt so surreal , she said . She fled into a room and hid with a colleague and a patient , propping an exam bed up against the door for five hours .  An injured police officer is transported to a waiting ambulance near the Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs , Colorado on November 27 .  Hostages are escorted away from the Planned Parenthood on November 27 .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
5237,5238,"Willie Nelson said Friday that he felt he had no choice but cancel a gig at SeaWorld , given public pressure and his own conviction that the way the aquatic entertainment giant operates is not acceptable .  The country music legend ' s comments come one day after SeaWorld Orlando spokesman Nick Gollattscheck said Nelson would not be part of next year Bands , Brew  events "" due to scheduling conflicts . ""  He isn ' t alone . The Canadian rock band Barenaked Ladies also pulled the plug on their show at the Florida theme park for similar reasons , a decision made two days after drummer Tyler Stewart tweeted the group was "" looking at options "" after seeing "" Blackfish "" and after an online petition urged them to do so .  SeaWorld responds to questions about captive orcas , ' Blackfish ' film  Nelson pointed to similar efforts asking him to follow suit .  The most meaningful , even if it had just a few hundred signatures , may have come from one of Nelson ' s grandchildren , with "" people she knew asking me not to play this venue . ""  Another petition had 9 , 000 names attached to it on Change . org , with author Danielle Legg writing that Nelson ' s "" activism for animals , the environment and other good causes "" made it imperative that he cancel his show , in light of the documentary .  When his decision became public , Legg declared "" victory "" and said she hoped his and the Barenaked Ladies ' decisions "" will inspire other artists to stay away from performing at SeaWorld because at least they ' ve got the choice unlike the animals trapped there . ""  Such public pressure wasn ' t insignificant , but Nelson said he acted because he felt it was the right thing to do .  Many zoos can be considered "" cruel "" for how they hold animals , the singer said , adding that he wouldn ' t blame a captive monkey "" for wanting to throw stuff at you . ""  "" I understand that there are some natural habitat zoos out there , which is probably  , "" Nelson added . "" But what they do at SeaWorld is not  . ""  SeaWorld challenges ban limiting interaction between whale and trainer  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
5242,5243,"S AMERICA:  Why do you think people are leaving (the Air Force) in droves? What began as a dignified affair quickly turned into an embarrassing scene after a retired Air Force official was forcibly ejected from his colleague s retiree ceremony.The event was being held at Travis Air Force Base in California for Master Sergeant Chuck Roberson of the 749th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron.But the service was interrupted when Retired Senior Master Sgt. Oscar Rodriguez was forcibly ejected from the stage as he began to read out a statement honoring the American Flag to the audience.However, the recital was not a part of the usual procedure at retirement ceremonies and Rodriguez was told to stop.A video that captured the incident shows two men in camouflage uniform approach Rodriguez and say something quietly, but he appears not to respond.As the two men push him off stage, he continues to shout out the words, he is eventually pushed out of the room, but his shouts can still be heard in the distance.An investigation has since been launched into the disturbance, an Air Force Reserve official told Fox News Wednesday.An official said in a statement:  Rodriguez ignored numerous requests to respect the Air Force prescribed ceremony and unfortunately was forcibly removed. We will continue to investigate the situation fully. But John Huffington, who said he is a friend of the man whose retirement ceremony was taking place, posted the video on his Facebook with the comment:  This is disturbing at my friend s retirement today and the gentlemen that you are going to see in the video gets assaulted as a guest of my friend. He speaks the words of the color and strips [sic] as they fold the flag. The squadron commander and Oscar have issues from years ago the commander said he did not want him in the building nor saying the words to the flag. Remember he is my friend s guest. So instead of letting him finish what he started saying he had his trolls assault him dragging him out of the building as you can here [sic] him still saying the words to the flag. And you can here joe saying  do it do it. Theater is full of family and guests and fellow Air Force members. This could have been handled in a much better way instead of tainting my friend s retirement. This is how we treat our fellow Air Force veterans. Yes I m pissed off. And Stephen Sila, who identified himself as the officiating officer at the ceremony posted a long explainer on the Facebook page of John Q Public, an army blog where the story first appeared. Sila said that Rodriguez had been invited to speak at the ceremony and had planned to read a statement honoring the flag and that his appearance had been cleared through the proper avenues.But non squadron  apparently had an issue with Rodriguez attending, apparently stemming from a personal issue at a previous squadron between the squadron  and Mr Rodriguez, claimed Sila.He added:  Why do you think people are leaving (the Air Force) in droves? Because the guys in the trenches are subjected to nonstop stupidity from commanders who don t deserve the rank, respect, or support of the people they re in charge of. But the Air Force Reserve said in the statement it  respects and defends the right to free speech and religious expression.  Via: Daily Mail ",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
5243,5244,"The Jerusalem Post reports:  Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman hurt the “dignity of the supreme leadership” of North Korea,   Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Saturday. The comment was in reaction to Israeli remarks on how the Jewish State is affected by North Korean tension with the United States.[  …     “The reckless remarks of the Israeli defense minister are sordid and wicked behavior and grave challenge to the  [North Korea],” the North Korean statement read.  The statement also claimed that Israel, while working with the US, was the Middle East’s only illegal owner of nuclear weapons  …     The statement threatened Israel and anyone who “dares hurt the dignity of its supreme leadership,” with “merciless,   punishment. ” Read the full story.",true,news,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
5247,5248,"We all remember how on the eve of Montana s special election, then-Republican candidate Greg Gianforte made headlines when The Guardian s Ben Jacobs asked him a simple question about the Congressional Budget Office s score on the disastrous  healthcare bill. Instead of answering like any normal person, or even just saying he didn t have a comment at that time, Gianforte suddenly became enraged without cause, and body slammed Jacobs, breaking his glasses and injuring his arm. Gianforte was later charged with misdemeanor assault. Despite this disturbing set of events, he still won his race.Now, Gianforte has just been sworn into Congress. The Montana Democrats had a surprise waiting for him on his first day   a bit of trolling if you will. They sent Gianforte an orange jumpsuit   clearly suggesting that he should be in jail for what he did to Ben Jacobs, and not heading to Washington to fill a seat in Congress. This was the official Montana Democratic Party, too   not just some liberal activists with a sense of humor. They posted to their official website: Everyone knows you need plenty of suits to work on Capitol Hill. While millionaire Gianforte can certainly afford his own, we know he has a lot of legal fees to pay. So, we thought we d help him out and get him started by mailing a new suit to his office in the Longworth House Office Building in Washington. An orange jumpsuit, that is. Roy Loewenstein, the spokesman for the Montana Democrats, went on to say of Gianforte: Greg Gianforte was previously most well-known for losing the governor s race in a wave year. Now he s most well-known for pleading guilty to the  Big Sky body slam. As a convicted criminal, he will be hidden by his Leadership and not given any position of influence in Washington. So, we got Mr. Gianforte a welcome gift to help his new colleagues identify him. Of course, the  was not happy with the bit of fun the Montana Democrats had at Gianforte s expense. the National Republican Congressional Committee was livid at the way the Democrats humiliated Gianforte, saying through their mouthpiece Jack Pandol: The swearing-in ceremony held today is about all Montanans regaining their voice in the House of Representatives, not partisan politics. Instead, Montana Democrats are crying over spilled milk simply because they lost an election. This isn t about losing an election. This is about the fact that we have a clearly violent man who is convicted of assault sitting in the United States House of Representatives, and the Republican Party has absolutely no problem with that. Then again, they ve always opened their arms to violent criminals, so nobody who has watched their non-responses to right-wing violence and the horrific scenes at Trump rallies is at all surprised. Gianforte will be right at home in Paul Ryan s  House Conference.Featured image via Justin Sullivan/Getty Images",fake,dataset,validation,Other news1,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
5288,5289,"In images captured on Turkish public television , Putin and Obama were seen hunching towards each other as they held animated talks , in stark contrast to the frigid body language that marked previous meetings .  Russia is Syria s biggest benefactor , and Putin s buy in is crucial to any political transition . The Russian leader was also scheduled to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel late on Sunday .  ( Front row L R ) Chinese President Xi Jinping , Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ,  President Barack Obama , Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff , Russian President Vladimir Putin , ( 2nd Row L R ) British Prime Minister David Cameron , Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull , German Chancellor Angela Merkel , Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe , Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi , Singapore ' s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong , ( 3rd row L R ) Guy Ryder , Director General of International Labour Organisation (  ) ,  Secretary General Ban Ki moon , World Bank President Jim Yong Kim , Angel Gurria ( L ) , Secretary General of Organization for Economic Co operation and Development (  ) , Bank of England Governor and Financial Stability Board (  ) Chairman Mark Carney pose for a family photo during the G20 Summit on November 15 . Picture :  Berk OzkanSource :   Obama later huddled with Saudi Arabia s King Salman , another crucial player in the effort to end the Syrian war . The Saudis are staunch opponents of Assad and a major funder of rebel groups in the country .  Putin began launching air strikes in Syria about a month ago , a campaign he says is aimed at the Islamic State group , but the  views as an effort to strengthen Assad s grip on power .  Mr Obama acknowledged the importance of Russia s military efforts in Syria focused on defeating  .  The skies have been darkened by the horrific attacks that took place in Paris just a day and a half ago , Obama said shortly after arriving in Antalya . He waved off a question from reporters about whether he would authorise additional action against  .   President Barack Obama , centre , speaks with Russian President Vladimir Putin , right , back to camera , as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi , at left , looks on . Picture : Volkan Furuncu Anadolu Agency via APSource :   Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan , the summit host , pledged leaders would produce a strong message about fighting international terrorism , though he , too , did not spell out specific steps .  Putin urged nations to pool their efforts to combat terrorism , adding that the fight must respect international law , the  Charter and each nation s sovereign rights and interests .  We understand very well that it s only possible to deal with the terror threat and help millions of people who lost their homes by combining efforts of the entire global community , Putin said .  While  officials said Obama viewed the attacks in France as an act of war , they cautioned he had no plans to overhaul his strategy for dismantling the Islamic State group and said he remained staunchly opposed to an American ground war in Syria . Instead , they foreshadowed an expansion of steps the  is already taking , namely air strikes and train and equip missions for rebels inside Syria .  A serious discussion for serious times . . . Presidents Obama and Putin speak with their interpreters . Picture :  Novosti , Kremlin Pool Photo via APSource :   The G20 summit will wrap up on Monday afternoon with leaders including Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull agreeing on a way forward to deal with violent extremism and kickstart a faltering global economy .  Taking part in a minute s silence for the victims of the Paris terrorist attacks , Mr Turnbull told fellow leaders at Sunday s opening session the attack claimed by Islamic State was a crime not just against France but all of humanity .  He said there were challenges facing the global economy since growth targets were set at the 2014 Brisbane summit , but while it was a time of volatility it was also a time of opportunity .  The G20 leaders were finalising a stand alone statement ? separate to the final communiqu ? to be released at end of the summit , which was expected to commit nations to redoubling their efforts to defeat terrorism and bring about a political solution in Syria .  In Turkey , five police officers were injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up during a police raid on a suspected  hide out near the Syrian border . Turkish security forces also rounded up 20 suspected  militants in and around Antalya before the summit .  Mr Turnbull said he supported a transition to a Syrian government with broad support , so millions of refugees could return to a peaceful home .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
5314,5315,"There are promising signs that the Department of Education and the Department of Justice might be getting serious about holding for profit colleges accountable after so many of them have deceived students for years .  The devious practices of one of the country ' s largest for profit colleges finally caught up with it in June after years of accusations of inflated job placement rates , abysmally low graduation rates , high loan default rates and more when Corinthian Colleges reached a deal with the Department of Education to shut down its operations . In exchange for 16 million in operating funds , Corinthian the parent company of Everest University , Everest University Online , Wyotech , and Heald College agreed to sell off or close its more than 100 campuses across the country , while at the same time denying the allegations .  Then , this month , the company announced it had received a grand jury subpoena from the U . S . attorney ' s office in Los Angeles , where the for profit is based and where nearly a fourth of the school ' s 107 campuses are located . The subpoena , which indicates a possible federal criminal investigation , requests the company turn over documents on its job placement rates , graduation rates , and materials used in marketing and recruitment .  Now , as Corinthian winds down its operations , the Department of Education needs to make sure no student is left struggling after the demise of this institution .  The 72 , 000 students trapped on Corinthian ' s sinking ship are some of our nation ' s neediest . Like many for profit schools , Corinthian targeted students who are overwhelmingly minority , female and low income . They are veterans back from Iraq and Afghanistan Corinthian received 186 million in post 9 11  bill funds in 2012 blue collar workers seeking to improve their skill sets , and single mothers who hope more education will help them provide for their children .  Over and over again , for profit colleges like Corinthian have failed these students by promising a quick path to financial stability through vocational education programs . But in reality , these schools are notorious for charging exorbitant tuition without preparing students for jobs in the real world .  On average , tuition at for profit colleges is four to six times higher than at a comparable public school . A two year Senate investigation found a medical assistant diploma cost 22 , 275 at Corinthian ' s Heald College in Fresno , California , while the same program at Fresno City College costs 1 , 650 . An undergraduate certificate in paralegal studies at the Anaheim campus of Everest Colleges costs more than 43 , 000 . At the Anaheim area community college , an associate ' s degree in paralegal studies costs less than 3 , 000 .  And students at for profit colleges generally cannot transfer credits because the schools lack the accreditation recognized by traditional community and four year colleges . Without a job or the ability to transfer credits , students at for profit colleges all too often find themselves unable to repay their loans for profit college students represent just 11 of federal loan borrowers , yet account for nearly 50 of loan defaulters .  Many of these issues apply to the deal with Corinthian , and students are being left in limbo . Depending on the accreditation each campus has , Corinthian students may not be able to transfer the credits they ' ve already earned . Most unbelievably , the Department of Education continues to allow some Corinthian college locations to enroll students "" without meaningfully disclosing that the school is in the process of being sold off .  The very arm of the government that should be protecting students is aiding the profiteers in a bait and switch .  Corinthian has a long record as one of the worst players in the for profit education industry . In 2012 , when the Department of Education released the first metrics to determine the success of career college programs , 44 of Corinthian ' s programs failed outright . In fact , Corinthian Colleges performed worse than any other for profit chain . But because a lawsuit prevented those metrics from being enforced , Corinthian ' s practices and programs continued unabated .  Last year , the Securities and Exchange Commission and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced investigations of the company ' s lending practices . Earlier this year , the Department of Education asked Corinthian to document its job placement and graduation rates , and when the documentation never arrived , the department delayed the release of financial aid to Corinthian ' s students .  Despite taking 1 . 4 billion from the federal government in 2012 alone , Corinthian can ' t keep its doors open . It is also under investigation for deceptive practices by the attorneys general of California and Massachusetts .  Last August , I represented the Mississippi Center for Justice and other low income legal services providers on a Department of Education committee that proposed regulations to bring greater accountability to the for profit college industry .  Our committee worked hard to add teeth to the rules that govern for profit colleges , but industry trade groups began to pressure the Department of Education to water down those standards . The collapse of Corinthian makes clear just how important these new regulations are . If meaningful regulations had already been in place , it ' s quite likely that many of the 72 , 000 Corinthian students wouldn ' t be facing such tremendous uncertainty today . While we can ' t fix the past , we can make steps to start protecting students now .  For those students enrolled at schools that the for profit is selling , the Department of Education must ensure that the buyer will allow students to complete their degrees . It should not allow sale of the company to another failing school offering unmarketable degrees . Otherwise , the Corinthian problem will not be solved by the shut down it will simply be a name change .  Corinthian and other similar colleges have made a profit for decades off the backs of students . As a nation , we must say "" enough . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
5316,5317,"Police have recovered two of the four Impressionist paintings stolen earlier this month in a daring museum heist , police in Zurich , Switzerland said Tuesday .  Claude Monet ' s "" Poppies near Vetheuil "" has been recovered by Swiss police .  The Monet and van Gogh oil paintings were in good condition , police said , and the search continued for the other two a Cezanne and a Degas .  A parking lot attendant at the Psychiatric University Hospital in Zurich found the paintings Monday afternoon in the back of an unlocked white car , police said .  It was not clear how long the car , an Opel Omega with stolen license plates , had been parked on the lot , police said .  "" The two paintings , worth about 70 million francs ( 64 million ) , are in good condition and are still protected by the original glass covering , "" police said in a statement .  Three masked men stole the four paintings in what police called a "" spectacular "" heist Feb . 11 at the E . G . Buhrle Collection among the finest collections of Impressionist and post Impressionist art in the world .  One of the men threatened personnel at the museum ' s front door with a pistol and forced them to the ground , police said , while the other two men went into an exhibition room and stole four oil paintings by Paul Cezanne , Edgar Degas , Claude Monet and Vincent van Gogh .  Afterward , the three men loaded the paintings into a white car parked in front of the museum and then drove off , police said .  The paintings recovered Monday are Monet ' s "" Poppies near Vetheuil "" and van Gogh ' s "" Blossoming Chestnut Branches . "" Still missing are Degas ' "" Count Lepic and his Daughters "" and Cezanne ' s "" Boy in a Red Vest . ""  The four paintings are worth a total of about 163 million ( 180 million Swiss francs ) .  A reward of 91 , 000 ( 100 , 00 Swiss francs ) has been posted for information leading to the return of the paintings , police said .  A Zurich police task force , which includes an art expert , had received tips from around the world , police said . The task force was looking into possible connections with other art thefts inside Switzerland and abroad .  The Zurich heist followed the recent theft in Switzerland of two paintings by Pablo Picasso , said Bjoern Quellenberg , a spokesman for the Kunsthaus , another major art museum in Zurich .  The director of the Kunsthaus serves on the E . G . Buhrle private art foundation ' s council , Quellenberg said .  In that theft , thieves stole the 1962 "" Tete de Cheval "" ( "" Horse ' s Head "" ) and the 1944 "" Verre et Pichet "" ( "" Glass and Pitcher "" ) by Picasso . They were on loan from a German museum and valued at 4 . 5 million when they were stolen February 6 , according to news reports . E mail to a friend  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
5321,5322,"With an expected win in the Electoral College today, Donald J. Trump will seal his presidential victory  —   despite losing the national popular vote by a significant margin. His Electoral College lead should be substantial, since he won states worth 306 electoral votes to 232 from states won by Hillary Clinton. Yet the nearly final popular vote count has him trailing by nearly three million votes, or 2. 1 percentage points, the largest deficit for a winning candidate since 1876’s notorious election. How exactly did we end up with such divergent results? Liberals say Mr. Trump’s victory is proof that the Electoral College is biased against big states and undemocratically marginalizes urban and nonwhite voters. Conservatives say the Electoral College serves as a necessary bulwark against big states, preventing California in particular from imposing “something like colonial rule over the rest of the nation,” as the conservative analyst Michael Barone put it. California sided with Mrs. Clinton by a vote margin of four million, or 30 percentage points. Both sides have a point. But in the end, Mr. Trump won for a simple reason: The Electoral College’s (largely)    design gives a lot of weight to battleground states. Mr. Trump had an advantage in the traditional battlegrounds because most are whiter and less educated than the country as a whole. But Mr. Trump’s success in those states isn’t just about demographics. It’s about quirks of history, like the outcome of a battle over Toledo, Ohio. It’s about gains by Mrs. Clinton that went unrewarded. It’s also about plain luck. One argument in favor of the Electoral College is that it doesn’t reward regionalism: a candidate who wins with huge margins in one part of the country. That’s because a    system doesn’t reward any additional votes beyond what’s necessary to win a state or a region. You get all of Florida’s electoral votes, whether you win it by 537 or 537, 000 votes. A good example of how regionalism can drive a   vote split is the 1888 election. The Democrat, Grover Cleveland, won the popular vote by nearly a point, but he lost the Electoral College by a margin similar to Mrs. Clinton’s. Why? He won the popular vote by dominating the Deep South, where white supremacist Democrats had succeeded in disenfranchising Republican black voters since the end of Reconstruction. Even progressives would consider this a moral victory for the Electoral College. Mrs. Clinton’s big win in California was, on paper, potentially enough to be “responsible” for the   vote split in the same way that the Deep South drove Mr. Cleveland’s popular vote win in 1888. But unlike the situation in 1888, Mrs. Clinton’s huge victory in California (along with the District of Columbia and Hawaii, where Mrs. Clinton won by a higher percentage than she did in California) was almost entirely canceled out by Mr. Trump’s dominance of his base states  —   which we’ll call Appalachafornia  —   from West Virginia to Wyoming. (“Appalachafornia” consists of West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Alabama, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, North Dakota and South Dakota.) Mrs. Clinton led in the rest of the country by the same   margin after excluding Appalachafornia and California  —   and yet she still loses the Electoral College vote by about the same margin. That’s not how it went in 1888: The Republicans didn’t waste nearly as many votes in their best states, so they actually led in the vote in the rest of the country. They won the Electoral College as well. Whatever danger conservatives face from “imperial” California in a popular vote is matched by the threat Democrats would face from an “imperial” Appalachafornia. Regionalism alone is not why Mr. Trump won without the popular vote. The Electoral College isn’t just a check against regionalism. It also reflects our federal system by awarding an electoral vote for every senator and representative. The result is that small states get more sway, since senators aren’t awarded by population. Wyoming, the least populous state, has    of California’s population. Yet it has   of California’s electoral votes. In general, the Electoral College’s   bias does hurt the Democrats. In fact, the   bias tipped the 2000 election. Al Gore would have won the presidency, 225 to 211, if electors were just awarded by representative, not by senators and representatives. But the   bias was almost entirely irrelevant to Mr. Trump’s advantage. Mrs. Clinton won plenty of small states  —   she won seven of the 12 smallest. Mr. Trump, meanwhile, won plenty of big states  —   in fact, he won seven of the 10 largest. As a consequence, the result would have been virtually identical if states had not received electoral votes for their senators. It would have even been the same if the electors had been apportioned exactly by a state’s population. O. K. so it’s not California and it’s not   bias. What is it? It’s the Electoral College’s most straightforward bias: The battleground states count the most. Mrs. Clinton did well in noncompetitive states and “wasted” popular votes that didn’t earn her any more electoral votes, while Mr. Trump did just well enough in competitive states to pick up their electoral votes. There are, of course, two halves to this effect: ■ Mrs. Clinton fared better in the remaining blue states, outside of California and Hawaii, than Mr. Trump did in the remaining red states, outside of “Appalachafornia. ” Mrs. Clinton won states like Illinois and New York by a much larger margin than Mr. Trump won similarly sized red states like Georgia and Texas. Compared with President Obama in 2012, Mrs. Clinton made sizable gains in many of the red states outside of Appalachafornia, including a big   improvement in Texas  —   yet won no electoral votes from them. ■ Mr. Trump did very well in the battleground states. Depending on how the battlegrounds are defined, the vote there either broke for Mr. Trump or was virtually tied  —   a huge improvement over Mitt Romney’s showing in 2012. Mr. Trump won a lopsided electoral vote tally from those states by narrowly winning four of the five states decided by around one point or less: Florida, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania (Mrs. Clinton edged him out in New Hampshire). Outside of those five states, the electoral vote was basically tied, with Mr. Trump edging out Mrs. Clinton, 231 to 228 (and leading by the margin of   bias). The imbalance between competitive and battleground states is somewhat similar to a regionalism issue, at least in a mathematical sense: Mrs. Clinton won the “blue states” by a wider margin than Mr. Trump won the “red states. ” The rest of the country  —   the battlegrounds  —   voted Republican, and so did the Electoral College. But this isn’t a regionalism issue. The “solid red” and “solid blue” states where Mr. Trump failed to make gains include a clear majority of the country’s Electoral College votes, population and actual votes. The regional anomaly was the Midwest, and it just so happens that in a    system Mr. Trump’s strength in the Midwestern battleground states yielded a lot of Electoral College votes. There’s a real demographic reason for it: Most of the traditional battleground states are much whiter, less educated and particularly less Hispanic than the rest of the country. But the demographics alone don’t quite do justice to Mr. Trump’s victory in the Electoral College. In the end, he won the battleground states by just a   margin  —   but claimed   of their Electoral College votes. He won four of the five closest states, winning 75 of 79 votes at stake. There has never been a close election in the United States in which one candidate has claimed such a resounding electoral vote margin out of the closest states. For lack of a better word: Mr. Trump had some very good luck. There’s nothing about the distribution of Mrs. Clinton’s votes in the battlegrounds or nationally that meant she was destined to get as few electoral votes as she did. Just take Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan  —   three contiguous states spanning the Upper Great Lakes. Mrs. Clinton actually won the region by a narrow margin, but she won just 10 of the 36 votes at stake. Ultimately, state lines are pretty arbitrary. Yes, when those lines were determined, there were reasoned considerations like population and access to rivers and resources. But statehood and state lines, often poorly surveyed in the first place, were hotly disputed in the 19th century. Many states were created in response to political considerations, especially the balance between free and slave states. In other times, it could have gone very differently. Consider two of the bigger nonpolitical state boundary questions of the 19th century: the fate of the Florida Panhandle and the “Toledo War. ” The Toledo War was a long dispute between Michigan and Ohio over a tiny strip of land along their border, which happens to include the city of Toledo. Ohio had the upper hand for one reason: It earned its statehood first, and therefore blocked Michigan’s petition  —   which included the strip. In the end, Congress proposed a deal: Michigan would relinquish its claim on the Toledo strip and, in exchange, would get the Upper Peninsula. The Florida Panhandle and the Florida Peninsula were governed as separate regions  —   West and East Florida  —   under Spanish and British rule. They were effectively separated by hundreds of miles of treacherous swamp and forest. Ultimately, West and East Florida were combined into one state. This was mainly coincidental: Alabama earned statehood before the Florida territory was annexed. West Florida repeatedly tried to join Alabama, starting as soon as the state was annexed and lasting all the way past the Civil War. Many of these efforts  —   which included referendums, congressional petitions and direct negotiations between Florida and Alabama  —   nearly succeeded. But they ultimately did not. If these minor border issues had gone differently, Mrs. Clinton would probably be president. The Florida Panhandle is heavily Republican: Without it, the rest of Florida votes Democratic. Both halves of the Toledo War worked out poorly for Mrs. Clinton. Not only would she have won Michigan with Toledo, but she would have also won Michigan without the Upper Peninsula: Only the full trade gives Mr. Trump a narrow win. Interestingly, the same changes would have flipped the 2000 election, and perhaps the 1876 election, to the same result as the national popular vote (though I don’t have   results for Florida in that election). The pronounced regionalism at play in 1888 would have made it harder to change the outcome by tweaking state lines. To be clear, you can also make plenty of changes that would benefit Republicans. You could reunify West Virginia and Virginia, to take an easy one. The point is that the main bias of the Electoral College isn’t against big states or regionalism it’s just toward the big battleground states. If they break overwhelmingly one way, that’s who wins. This is not exactly a   Hamiltonian argument. There aren’t many justifications for letting a few close states decide a close national election. But that’s basically what the system does, and there’s nothing about those states that ensures they provide a representative outcome.",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
5331,5332,"The Arizona Republican s verbal put-down of dictator Kim Jong Un earlier this month    this crazy fat kid    was met with a stiff, angry response from the communist regime, which warned McCain of dire consequences to follow. As such guys as John McCain and Ted Cruz made a provocation tantamount to declaration of war against the Korea, the  will take steps to counter it,  said an official  statement, published by the Korean Central News Agency.  They will have to bitterly experience the disastrous consequences to be entailed by their reckless tongue-lashing and then any regret for it will come too late. The statement, also coming in the wake of Cruz s efforts to label North Korea as a state sponsor of terror, went on to characterize McCain and Cruz as being  like a puppy knowing no fear of the tiger. McCain, in a Wednesday Tweet, responded:  What, did they want me to call him a crazy skinny kid?  Kim Jong Un, the 33-year-old strongman who presides over a starving populace, is estimated to weigh upwards of 275 pounds and reportedly suffers from gout.McCain made the crack about the tubby tinhorn during a March 22 interview in which he also advocated pressuring China into helping moderate the increasingly hostile behavior of North Korea. China is the only one that can control Kim Jong Un, this crazy fat kid that s running North Korea,  McCain said on MSNBC.  They could stop North Korea s economy in a week. Via:  News",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
5350,5351,"An overweight woman was spurred into losing four stone after she found a text on her boyfriend ' s phone describing her as an ' embarrassment ' .  Amy Jones , from Winsford , Cheshire , had no idea that her partner felt that way and the text was such a shock that she decided to make a positive change .  Before finding the message , the 21 year old says her boyfriend had always been supportive of her as her weight spiralled to more than 15 stone after they set up home together .  Another turning point came for Amy when this picture was taken of her at her father ' s wedding , she cried when she saw the picture saying she looked almost as big as the tractor  Amy Jones was inspired to lose more than four stone after she found a cruel messages on her boyfriend ' s phone calling her weight an embarrassment . Pictured : Amy before her weight loss ( left ) Amy now ( right )  Then one day she discovered his true feelings expressed in a text message to a mutual friend .  ' She is massive she is an embarrassment , ' said the message which inspired Amy to go a body blitz which has seen her lose four and a half stone , going down to 10st 11lb .  She went down from a size 18 to a shapely size 10 and lost 38cm of fat from her body .  Amy , 21 , says that although they had their fall outs she had never suspected that her weight would be an issue .  ' It had always been a pretty volatile relationship and we did argue a lot . But my boyfriend was always very supportive when it came to my weight . '  Amy was horrified when she found the text to a mutual friend that read : ' She is massive she is an embarrassment ' spurring her on to make a huge change to her lifestyle  Amy added that he would even compliment her on her size and discouraged her from losing weight .  ' He always said that I looked fantastic and he liked me with a fuller figure when I asked him if I should lose weight .  ' I was reassured by his comments even though I knew that I was getting out of shape .  ' The reason why I had got so much fatter was because I had moved in with him .  ' He was a body builder who was down the gym all the time .  After switching her diet Amy lost almost a quarter of her body weight in less than a year  ' I would basically eat the same meals as him and then not go down the gym . '  Amy ' s weight shot up until it reached 15st 4lb when she attended her dad Martin ' s wedding in Swindon last year .  She was pictured standing in front of a tractor looking larger than she had ever been .  When she saw the picture in the weeks after the wedding , she realised she badly need to turn things around .  After discovering her boyfriend ' s text Amy split up with him but the pair have remained friends  Amy said : ' I cried when I saw the picture I was so badly out of shape , almost as big as the tractor !  ' I had always been curvy but what was worrying was how much weight I was showing on my legs .  ' I thought , "" This is not me this is not who I want to be . ""  Then she discovered that hurtful text message and this was the final push she needed to turn her life around .  But before she could think about losing any weight Amy knew the first thing she needed to do was to split with her boyfriend .  She said : ' The text message was the final straw but things had been rocky before then . We split up but actually stayed friends afterwards .  ' I don ' t harbour any grudge about the text message . He was only telling the truth . I just wish that he had been a bit more honest with me beforehand because I might not have got into such bad shape . '  Amy was also advised by her mother Clare , 42 , that she needed to lose weight .  She said : ' Mum was being cruel to be kind . She told the truth as well and said I needed to change things fast . '  Amy , who works as a  , cut down her calories by no longer sharing calorie laden meals with her body building ex .  She stopped some of her dieting bad habits notably eating a packet of crisps and a bar of Galaxy from the vending machine at work .  Walkers Cheese Onion Crisps , Galaxy bars , pasta , bread , vodka and Red Bull  Butternut squash soup , grilled chicken with vegetables , dried coconut snacks , Diet Coke .  Amy also began to take a dietary supplement , Forza Raspberry K2s , to curb her appetite and give her more energy .  Amy says that once she began to shed the pounds she was inspired to continue losing almost a quarter of her body weight in less than a year .  ' The weight just fell off me and I lost more four and a half stone in less than six months . I am now down to just under 10 stone and a size 10 .  ' I am not going to stop here , though . I would like to get down to a size 8 . '  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
5353,5354,"Visions of cars that drive themselves without emitting a bit of pollution while entertaining passengers with online movies and social media are what ' s taking centre stage at the Tokyo Motor Show , which starts on October 30 . If you ' re particular about having the latest in auto technology , here ' s a peek at what to expect this year . In pic : The Mazda  Vision concept being unveiled . ( Source :  Photo )  Mercedes Benz ' s concept car Vision Tokyo . ( Source :  Photo )  Suzuki Motor Corp . President Toshihiro Suzuki poses with their concept vehicle Mighty Deck . ( Source :  Photo )  Nissan Motor Co . President and  Carlos Ghosn speaks as he unveils the Nissan  concept vehicle , which features self driving and zero emission . ( Source :  Photo )  Smart Automobile  and Director Annette Winkler unveils the new vehicle Smart for two during the media preview for the Tokyo Motor Show . Smart Automobile is a division of Daimler  . ( Source :  Photo )  A visitor takes a close look at a Porsche 911 GT3RS . ( Source :  Photo )  The Toyota Motor Corp .  Plus concept car . ( Source :  Photo )  Guests try to get in a  740Li displayed during the media preview of the Tokyo Motor Show in Tokyo , on October 28 . ( Source :  Photo )  Mercedes Benz ' s new concept car Vision Tokyo . ( Source :  Photo )  The Lexus International President Tokuo Fukuichi ( left ) poses with the Lexus concept car . ( Source :  Photo )  The Subaru Viziv Future concept . ( Source :  Photo )  Models stand next to Volkswagen cars during the media preview of the Tokyo Motor show in Tokyo , on October 28 . ( Source :  Photo )  Miami Marlins ' Ichiro Suzuki at the Toyota press conference during the media preview of the Tokyo Motor Show in Tokyo . ( Source :  Photo )  The Mitsubishi Motors eX Concept . ( Source :  Photo )  Toyota Motor Corp . ' s new concept car  . ( Source :  Photo )  Honda Motor  Takahiro Hachigo speaks next to Honda  Clarity at Honda press conference . ( Source :  Photo )  Herbert Diess ,  of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand speaks on the unveiled new Tiguan  at the Volkswagen press conference . ( Source :  Photo )  Visitors look at the Subaru Impreza 5 door concept . ( Source :  Photo )  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,present
5357,5358,"Mauricio Pochettino believes Tottenham ' s fighting spirit evident in their backs to the wall win at Swansea is proof that Spurs players are buying into his philosophy .  Spurs had to defend for long periods at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday but Christian Eriksen ' s 89th minute winner secured a 2 1 victory which took Pochettino ' s men into seventh place in the Barclays Premier League .  Danish midfielder Eriksen also claimed a 90th minute winner at Hull last month , which came just weeks after Spurs had struck twice in the final six minutes to win 2 1 at Aston Villa .  Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino ( right ) was delighted with the character his team showed  Tottenham ' s Harry Kane ( left ) , Eriksen ( centre ) and Jan Vertonghen ( right ) celebrate their 89th minute winner  ' The character is very important , to show and fight in every action , ' Tottenham manager Pochettino said after Sunday ' s game .  ' We are playing the right way and when you arrive in a different club with different players you always need time to try and put your philosophy on the squad .  ' I am happy with the players , we are showing the character we want and we got the reaction we want .  Eriksen scores a late winner for Spurs as they took all three points away from the Liberty Stadium  Kane ( centre ) leaps above the Swansea defence to power a header into the back of the net early on  ' We have a lot of good players and young talent and players like Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane are very important to us . '  Kane ' s header had given Spurs a fourth minute lead but Swansea created plenty of chances either side of Wilfried Bony ' s 48th minute equaliser the Ivorian ' s 20th Premier League goal in 2014 without managing to make them count .  However , even though Swansea had the opportunities to get something out of the match , Pochettino felt Spurs were good value for the three points which takes them above their opponents in the table .  ' In football you need to score and we deserved to win because we scored . In the last few games we deserve more and didn ' t score , ' he said .  Bony ( left ) slots the ball past Hugo Lloris in the Spurs goal as the Tottenham defence can only look on  ' We deserved more in the first half but then we conceded a goal and Swansea pushed us .  ' We defended deep and maybe Swansea played better in this period , but in the last 10 minutes we were always alive . '  Swansea manager Garry Monk pinned the blame for a second consecutive defeat on individual errors .  Poor marking gave Kane the chance to profit from a corner before substitute Jazz Richards ' careless clearance allowed former Swansea defender Ben Davies to set up Eriksen ' s low drive from 20 yards .  Garry Monk ( left ) gestures towards the pitch as Pochettino holds his arms out and expresses his surprise  Ashley Williams , Gylfi Sigurdsson , Jonjo Shelvey and Ki Sung yueng look devastated after conceding late on  ' It is sickening , two individual errors have cost us and we were not clinical enough , ' Monk said .  ' We could have scored a number of goals and didn ' t . The second half was one way traffic and if it had been a boxing match it would have been called off .  ' We lost it more than they won it and I do not know how we did not win it . It is very hard to take .  ' It is an injustice , but football can be cruel at times and we have to learn from that . '  Monk was unhappy that Spurs forward Erik Lamela went unpunished for what he saw as several poor challenges , including a swinging arm which left Swansea ' s Jefferson Montero prostrate on the floor in the first half .  ' Lamela had six or seven fouls and was not punished for any of them , which is strange , ' Monk said .  ' I asked the fourth official did their player touch the ball at any time ?  ' I don ' t think he did but that is not the reason we lost . '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
5365,5366,"Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the  .) Good evening. Here’s the latest. 1.   Donald  Trump’s latest stop on his victory tour was a rally in Des Moines. The event came a day after tapping Iowa’s governor, Terry Branstad, to be ambassador to China. Mr. Trump is facing criticism for lashing out at an Indiana union local president who accused Mr. Trump of lying about saving jobs at the Carrier plant in Indianapolis. _____ 2. Mr. Trump  named Andrew Puzder, above, a   executive and critic of the minimum wage, as his choice for labor secretary. Democrats are promising a thorough vetting process of the candidates Mr. Trump has nominated for cabinet positions  —   like that of Scott Pruitt, an ally of the fossil fuel industry, to run the Environmental Protection Agency. Here’s a look at what a Trump administration could do to influence climate change. _____ 3. “This is all uncharted territory. ” That’s the feeling in America’s auto industry, which expects to be reshaped by the Trump administration. A chief concern is Mr. Trump’s threat of tariffs on the millions of vehicles sold in the U. S. each year that were built in Japan, Korea and other countries. _____ 4. John Glenn, above center, who was hailed as a national hero after becoming the first American to orbit Earth, died on Thursday. He was 95. Mr. Glenn also had a   career as a U. S. Senator from Ohio. In his final Senate term, he got his wish to return to orbit and, at 77 years old, was the oldest person to go into space. _____ 5. South Korean lawmakers are expected to vote on Friday on a motion to impeach President Park   over a corruption scandal. Here are the accusations against her. As the protests against her have grown, Ms. Park has mostly dropped from public view, appearing only to make televised apologies. “My heart is crushed,” she said in one. Most Koreans say Ms. Park brought the disgrace on herself, but in some cities, she is seen as an innocent victim of a scandal. _____ 6. President Hassan Rouhani of Iran has signed a wave of oil deals with Asian and European energy companies in recent weeks. “Our officials are in a rush to sign contracts with big oil companies in order to have leverage when Trump enters the White House,” said an economist with close ties to the government. _____ 7. A watchdog group in Britain said it found hundreds of accusations of police sexual abuse in England and Wales over the two years through the end of March. Among those targeted were victims of domestic abuse, drug and alcohol addicts and people who work in the sex industry. _____ 8. When 36 people died in an inferno at a converted warehouse in Oakland, Calif. last week, we deployed a team of journalists to investigate it and document the stories of a community reeling from the country’s worst structural fire in a decade. Instead of revealing our findings in an article at the end of our reporting, we’ll be telling you what we learn as we learn it. Email us at oaklandfire@nytimes.com if you have suggestions on what we should explore. _____ 9. The world’s tallest land animal is on the verge of extinction. The giraffe population has declined by 40 percent over the past 30 years, according to a new report by an international monitoring group. Illegal hunting and the loss of habitat are being blamed. _____ 10. Finally, we told you yesterday about our film critics’ favorite movies of the year. Now, let’s review the year’s great performers  —   in movies, at least. Among those featured in our magazine’s newest issue: Emma Stone, Ruth Negga, above, Viola Davis, Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle. “I love the movie magic of no longer seeing an actor  —   or especially a star  —   but a person,” said one of our critics. Photographs may appear out of order for some readers. Viewing this version of the briefing should help. Your Evening Briefing is posted at 6 p. m. Eastern. And don’t miss Your Morning Briefing, posted weekdays at 6 a. m. Eastern, and Your Weekend Briefing, posted at 6 a. m. Sundays. Want to look back? Here’s last night’s briefing. What did you like? What do you want to see here? Let us know at briefing@nytimes.com.",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
5380,5381,"Labour is ' playing politics with prosperity ' by refusing to give full backing to the planned High Speed 2 railway , Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin will say today .  Ministers will seek to demonstrate their commitment to the 50billion project this week by unveiling plans to extend it all the way to Scotland .  But Mr McLoughlin will warn that the plans will face the axe unless Ed Miliband ' s party shows ' resolution ' and backs them .  The Transport Secretary will criticise Labour for failing its own politicians in the North and Midlands by refusing to fully back the 50bn project claiming it would bring the areas economic benefits  The Government will present a new business case for HS2 today in a report arguing that the new line from London to Birmingham and on to Leeds and Manchester is vital for economic growth in the North of England .  The report will warn that ditching HS2 and upgrading existing lines instead could lead to 14 years of disruption on the railways .  The study , compiled by Network Rail , warns that a ' very unattractive ' package of closures , diversions and delays would be needed .  The report the latest attempt to persuade a sceptical public that the plans are vital for national renewal will present a new cost benefit analysis of the scheme .  Labour MPs are expected to abstain in a Commons vote on Thursday designed to pave the way for HS2 amid signs that Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls wants to withdraw the party ' s backing and spend the money on something else .  But in a speech to launch the report , Mr McLoughlin will say : ' Big projects need "" broad political consensus "" as well as "" resolution "" from political leaders .  ' That ' s why the new north south railway must be a national project with broad support across parties , or in the end it will be nothing . '  He will warn Mr Miliband that undermining the project has already angered Labour council leaders in Manchester , Birmingham , Leeds and Sheffield .  Mr McLoughlin will say : ' They know that any threat to the new line is also a threat to the future of the North and the Midlands , to the Britain beyond London . '  Confronting the Labour leadership , he will argue : ' You can ' t say one day you back better infrastructure , only the next threaten to stop it being built .  The scheme has encountered opposition from both Tory and Labour politicians over the cost and route  ' You can ' t go on claiming to want one nation if you won ' t back the things that will bring it together . You can ' t play politics with our prosperity . '  Last night Labour  Graham Stringer said his party ' s leaders ' should stop playing games ' .  He added : ' It was a Labour project , announced by a Labour government , and they should be supporting it . '  In a clear sign that the Coalition is committed to the project , Lib Dem transport minister Baroness Kramer will on Friday announce the start of a study to work out the costs and benefits of extending it to Scotland .  Under the existing plans , the HS2 line will run from London to Birmingham , before splitting towards Manchester and Leeds .  Department for Transport sources said extending it could mean the two lines going on to Glasgow and Edinburgh .  HS2 has been beset by claims that the 42billion cost of the English lines and the 8billion required for rolling stock could end up soaring to 80billion .  Mr McLoughlin will say the Government delivered the Channel Tunnel rail link and the Olympics on time and on budget .  However , the ability of his department is called into question by MPs on the Public Accounts Committee in a report on the 3 . 55billion Thameslink rail project .  It questions the way the DfT tackled the cross London project , due for completion in 2018 .  The report says the award of a 1 . 6billion private finance contract for new trains for Thameslink was delayed by more than three years and that passengers had to wait for around 30 years for the scheme to go ahead .  The committee concluded : ' We remain concerned about the department ' s skills and capacity to complete Thameslink by 2018 , alongside its ambitious wider portfolio of programmes and projects . '  The committee also expressed concern that a senior member of the Thameslink team was moving to the HS2 scheme , saying the DfT ' suffers from a shortage of strong project management skills ' .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
5391,5392,"Life on Earth could have started in volcanic vents on the seafloor , scientists believe .  Researchers have developed a new approach to simulating the processes that may have led to the emergence of cell metabolism on Earth a crucial biological function for all living organisms .  The research could help scientists understand whether it is possible for life to have emerged in similar environments on other worlds .  Life on Earth could have started in volcanic vents on the seafloor , scientists believe . The research could help scientists understand whether it is possible for life to have emerged in similar environments on other worlds  Co author Terry Kee , of the University of Leeds , said : ' What we are trying to do is to bridge the gap between the geological processes of the early Earth and the emergence of biological life on this planet . '  Scientists claim certain geological environments , such as hydrothermal vents can be considered as ' environmental fuel cells ' .  This is because electrical energy can be generated from redox reactions between hydrothermal fuels and seawater oxidants , such as oxygen .  A redox reaction is when one molecule loses electrons is oxidised and one molecule gains electrons .  Researchers in Japan showed last year that electrical power can be harnessed from these vents in a deep sea experiment in Okinawa .  In the new study , researchers have demonstrated a proof of concept for their fuel cell model that links to the emergence of life on Earth .  Scientists hope to nowy test whether any given hydrothermal system could produce enough energy to start life .  Previously , some scientists have proposed that living organisms may have been transported to Earth by meteorites .  However , there is more support for the theory that life emerged on Earth in places like hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor , forming from inanimate matter such as the chemical compounds found in gases and minerals .  Dr Kee said : ' Before biological life , one could say the early Earth had "" geological life "" . It may seem unusual to consider geology , involving inanimate rocks and minerals , as being alive . But what is life ?  ' Many people have failed to come up with a satisfactory answer to this question . So what we have done instead is to look at what life does , and all life forms use the same chemical processes that occur in a fuel cell to generate their energy . '  Fuel cells in cars generate electrical energy by reacting fuels and oxidants . This is an example of a ' redox reaction ' , as one molecule loses electrons is oxidised and one molecule gains electrons .  Similarly , photosynthesis in plants involves generating electrical energy from the reduction of carbon dioxide into sugars and the oxidation of water into molecular oxygen .  And respiration in cells in the human body is the oxidation of sugars into carbon dioxide and the reduction of oxygen into water , with electrical energy produced in the reaction .  Certain geological environments , such as hydrothermal vents can be considered as ' environmental fuel cells ' , since electrical energy can be generated from redox reactions between hydrothermal fuels and seawater oxidants , such as oxygen .  Researchers in Japan showed last year that electrical power can be harnessed from these vents in a deep sea experiment in Okinawa .  In the new study , published online in the journal Astrobiology , the researchers have demonstrated a proof of concept for their fuel cell model of the emergence of cell metabolism on Earth .  The theory suggests life emerged on Earth in places like hydrothermal vents ( pictured ) on the ocean floor , forming from inanimate matter such as the chemical compounds found in gases and minerals  The team replaced traditional platinum catalysts in fuel cells and electrical experiments with those composed of geological minerals .  Study lead author Dr Laura Barge , from the Nasa Astrobiology Institute ' Icy Worlds ' team , said : ' Certain minerals could have driven geological redox reactions , later leading to a biological metabolism .  ' We ' re particularly interested in electrically conductive minerals containing iron and nickel that would have been common on the early Earth . '  Iron and nickel are much less reactive than platinum . However , a small but significant power output successfully demonstrated that these metals could still generate electricity in the fuel cell and hence also act as catalysts for redox reactions within hydrothermal vents in the early Earth .  Dr Barge added : ' These experiments simulate the electrical energy produced in geological systems , so we can also use this to simulate other planetary environments with liquid water , like Jupiter ' s moon Europa or early Mars .  ' With these techniques we could actually test whether any given hydrothermal system could produce enough energy to start life , or even , provide energetic habitats where life might still exist and could be detected by future missions . '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
5396,5397,"Fans of the Tim   sitcom Last Man Standing have threatened a boycott of  after the network cancelled the   series last week despite strong ratings and critical acclaim. [Last Man Standing ran for six seasons on  before being cancelled on Wednesday. The sitcom centered on Allen’s Mike Baxter, a   marketing director for a sporting goods store and his relationship with his wife Vanessa (Nancy Travis) and his three teenage daughters (Molly Ephraim, Kaitlyn Dever, and Amanda Fuller).  The show was one of the few (if not the only) on broadcast television to appeal to conservative,   audiences taken together with Allen’s own political conservatism, some Last Man Standing fans have accused    of cancelling the show for political reasons, particularly because the series drew relatively strong ratings in its Friday night time slot. Over the weekend, fans of the show took to social media to call for a boycott of the network, while some urged other platforms like Netflix and  to pick it up. @starcrosswolf @ @AnitaWhiteee @RobertsRooms @gotspeed2burn @1Talking_Stick @mary_p7mary3 @mollyday15 @LibertyNews1776 @CB618444 . @ABCNetwork Is your goal to make money?  Im not sure you know how  …     #BoycottABC pic. twitter.   —   💞AmericanKelli 💞 (@kshw5678) May 12, 2017,  @dcexaminer @slone #BoycottABC won’t be hard.. @LastManABC was only show I watched and now gone so  —   #ByeByeABC,  —   Sunshiney Days (@SunshineyDays13) May 15, 2017,  #BoycottABC @LastManABC great show and family friendly! Bad move @ may you tank! Not everyone is liberal! It’s ok to not be! #FacistTV,  —   HappyLifex2 (@HappyLifex2) May 15, 2017,  My favorite show ”Last Man Standing” has been cancelled by liberal ABC. I hope all 8. 1 million viewers join #BoycottABC, I am. What a shame.  —   Stacy Bolton (@sbolton20) May 14, 2017,  Wow @ABCNetwork you are  #liberal you were afraid to have anything pro conservative that you cancelled last man standing. #BoycottABC,  —   Jerad Sackuvich ® (@TheBlueRanger07) May 11, 2017,  Representatives for  did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the reasons for the show’s cancellation. But a Deadline report this month suggested that the network, now responsible for the cost of producing the show at this point in its run, balked at the price tag. Whatever the reason, fans were not yet ready to see it go. At least a   petitions have been launched on Change. org to attempt to persuade either  or another network to give Last Man Standing new life. The most popular petition had already gathered more than 10, 000 signatures as of Monday morning. “Last Man Standing is one of the only shows on broadcast television, and the only sitcom, that is not constantly shoving liberal ideals down the throats of the viewers. And sadly, that is likely the real reason the show has been cancelled,” wrote the petition’s creator. “The intent of this   is to attempt to get  to renew the show. With that in mind, I will no longer be watching any  shows. I have cancelled the  settings for the other  shows that I regularly watch. If you want to help try to save Last Man Standing, I encourage you to do the same. ” Fans do have some precedent to be hopeful for a   renewal.  executives this week “ ” the drama series Timeless after social media users pleaded and petitioned for the show to come back. All previous seasons of Last Man Standing are currently streaming on Netflix.   Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum",fake,news,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,present
5418,5419,"Companies , politicians rally around conduits east and west  Denial tied to climate change boosts environmental activists  With Keystone  shot down by President Barack Obama , the Canadian energy industry and its opponents are turning their attention to the other options .  Three pipelines proposed to carry rising ? oil sands volumes from landlocked Alberta to Canada s Pacific and Atlantic coasts face delays as activists , local communities and politicians attack their risks to the environment in a repeat of TransCanada Corp . s seven year saga seeking U . S . approval .  Producers from Suncor Energy Inc . to Royal Dutch Shell Plc are banking on the alternatives . TransCanada is touting an even bigger line to Canada s eastern shores , while Kinder Morgan Energy Inc . and Enbridge Inc . are aiming for routes to the country s west coast . The headwinds they face are putting the long term development of the world s third largest oil reserves at risk .  We re working hard with stakeholders , and we intend to act decisively to increase the likelihood of getting our product to tidewater , Alberta Premier ? Rachel Notley said Friday in remarks broadcast on  . She told Prime Minister ? Justin Trudeau earlier in the day that building the pipelines should be a national priority .  Even with a crude slump that has crimped output growth , Canada s energy industry will need one new export pipeline early next decade and two by 2025 , according to a report by Desjardins Capital Markets .  Canadian energy producers and politicians have spent years lobbying for a U . S . permit for the 8 billion Keystone  project that TransCanada first sought approval to build in 2008 , to transport crude from Alberta to the Gulf of Mexico .  Alberta will now focus on the proposals it believes have the best chance of success , Kinder Morgan s Trans Mountain expansion to the Pacific and TransCanada s Energy East line to the Atlantic , Notley said . The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers said the industry will find new ways to get its products to market , despite Obama s political decision .  After Keystone  s rejection , however , those plans are likely to attract more attention by environmentalists who have been boosted by Obama s move . The project is the first known piece of energy infrastructure in North America to be blocked because of climate change , said Anthony Swift , Canada project director for the Natural Resources Defense Council in Washington .  It certainly lifts all boats , Swift said . At this stage when the international community prepares to head into Paris to discuss steps to move forward on climate , it really does mobilize the community and creates great tailwinds .  A global glut of oil that has the U . S . benchmark trading around 45 a barrel has slowed , but not stopped , growth by Canadian energy producers . While ?  , the industry s lobby group , reduced its outlook for national oil production in 2030 by 17 percent in June , it still expects output to expand , rising from about 3 . 7 million barrels a day last year to 5 . 3 million by the end of next decade , according to the forecast .  The industry has so far found ways to get crude to market without a major new pipeline , by turning to additions to existing systems and by paying more to ship crude by rail . A new pipeline will eventually be needed , said Bart Malek , head of global commodities strategies at  Securities in Toronto .  Over the long , long term , assuming oil does better , the lack of export capacity could potentially impact the growth rate , Malek said .  After 2020 , there s more uncertainty about market access for oil sands production , making the Trans Mountain and Energy East projects ever the more important , according to an assessment Friday by commodities research consultancy Wood Mackenzie Ltd .  Kinder Morgan plans to almost triple the capacity of its existing Trans Mountain line , while TransCanada s Energy East line would transport as much as 1 . 1 million barrels a day . Enbridge s Northern Gateway , while seen as less likely because of strident local opposition , would carry as much as 525 , 000 barrels a day to the Pacific . All three projects avoid crossing into the U . S .  TransCanada s Energy East and Kinder Morgan s Trans Mountain pipeline projects are the most likely to be sanctioned , Justin Bouchard , an analyst at Desjardins in Calgary , wrote in a note Friday . In the event new pipelines are delayed ( or cannot be built ) , crude by rail volumes are likely to increase .  Producers need at least one of the pipelines to get built , Lorraine Mitchelmore , president of Shell s Canadian division , said at the company s refinery in Edmonton Friday . The lack of new transportation for Canadian crude was part of the company s decision to defer its Carmon Creek oil sands project last month .  Keystone  s rejection really points to the fact that Canada has to look for ways to quit relying on Big Brother , said Tim Pickering , chief investment officer and founder of Auspice Capital . We just became too reliant on the U . S . and we need to change that .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
5419,5420,"Depression should be re defined as an infectious disease rather than an emotional disorder , argues one scientist .  The condition could result from a parasitic , bacterial or viral infection and future research into the condition should search for these micro organisms , argues Dr Turhan Canli , of Stony Brook University , U . S .  If his theory is true , he hopes a vaccination to protect against depression could be developed in future .  Writing in the journal Biology of Mood and Anxiety Disorders , Dr Canli said : ' It is time for an entirely different approach .  Depression should be re conceptualised as an infectious disease caused by parasites , bacteria or viruses , argues Dr Turhan Canli , a professor at Stony Brook University , U . S .  ' Instead of conceptualising major depression as an emotional disorder , I suggest to re conceptualise it as some form of an infectious disease .  ' I propose that future research should conduct a concerted search for parasites , bacteria , or viruses that may play a causal role in the etiology of major depression . '  He divides his theory into three arguments .  He said patients with depression exhibit sickness like behaviours .  They lose their energy , have difficulty getting out of bed and lose interest in the world around them , displaying the same symptoms as people who have an infectious disease .  Studies of the patients with depression also show the presence of inflammatory markers in their brains , he said .  These inflammatory markers might indicate the immune system has been activated in response to some kind of pathogen , which could be a parasite , bacterium or virus this being what is causing the symptoms of depression , he argued .  Women in positions of power at work are at risk of poorer mental health than women further down the career ladder , a study has found .  Researchers found that while men tend to feel better the more authority they have , the reverse is often true for women .  ' Women with job authority the ability to hire , fire and influence pay have significantly more symptoms of depression than women without this power , ' said Tetyana Pudrovska , of the University of Texas , who carried out the study . 2  ' In contrast , men with job authority have fewer symptoms of depression than men without such power .  ' What ' s striking is that women with job authority in our study are advantaged in terms of most characteristics that are strong predictors of positive mental health , ' she added .  ' These women have more education , higher incomes , more prestigious occupations , and higher levels of job satisfaction and autonomy than women without job authority .  ' Yet they have worse mental health than lower status women . '  His second argument is that there are examples of parasites , bacteria or viruses affecting emotional behaviour throughout nature .  The best known example is Toxomaplasma gondii ( T . gondii ) , a parasite which lives in the intestinal tract of a cat .  There , it lays eggs which are dispersed into the environment when the cat excretes .  When a rat comes in contact with these eggs and becomes infected , it becomes attracted to the scent of cat urine .  The rat ' s behaviour is through parasitic cysts being deposited across its brain , activating the same pathways involved in sexual arousal .  He says one third of the world ' s population is thought to be infected with T . gondii . The infection is associated with markers of inflammation , as observed in depressed patients .  Of patients with a diagnosed major depression or bipolar disorder , those with a history of attempting suicide had higher levels of antibodies created to fight T . gondii bacteria .  ' Yet , large scale studies of major depression and T . gondii or systematic searches to discover other potential parasitic infections have not yet been conducted , ' Dr Canli argued in his paper .  Similarly , he cites a number of studies in which rodents ' emotional behaviour changes when they are exposed to bacteria .  Large studies looking at associations between viruses and depressions exist already too , he said .  He cites an analysis of 28 studies , which found a link between viruses and depression . These included the Borna disease virus (  ) , the herpes virus responsible for cold sores , varicella zoster virus , which causes chicken pox and and Epstein Barr virus , which causes glandular fever .  One study found  virus was 3 . 25 more likely to be found in depressed people than in non depressed people , he said . Another found  in the brain ' s of two out of 30 depressed patients .  His final argument is that re conceptualising depression as an infectious disease is useful when thinking about the genetics of the disease .  If his theory is true , he hopes a a vaccination to protect against depression could be developed in future  The search for specific genes linked to depression has come up empty , he said , adding : ' Perhaps , we have been looking at the wrong organism . '  While studies have looked for internal changes in human genes , which might explain depression , 8 per cent of the human genome is based on external changes , such as from viruses .  Bacteria , viruses and parasistes could transfer genes into our cells , leading to changes in our genetic structure .  They could also be passed during birth or through contact between parents and their children , he said .  He concluded that large scale studies involving patients with depression and people without the condition should be carried out to see if parasites , viruses or bacteria could be the cause .  He added : ' Such efforts , if successful , would represent the ' end of the beginning ' , as any such discovery would represent the first step toward developing a vaccination for major depression . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
5435,5436,"Daily Caller   The revelation on Monday that former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos has plead guilty to lying to the  about his contacts with Russian operatives thrust the little-known energy consultant into the national spotlight.Few details have been reported about the 30-year-old Papadopoulos, including how he ended up on the Trump campaign.Gateway Pundit reports that Papadopoulos was a volunteer whose repeated attempts to set up meetings between Trump s camp and Russians were outright rejected.The Washington Post reported back in August that Papadopoulos attempted to set up several meetings with Russia and all were rejected by Trump s camp.Watch Sarah Huckabee Sanders break down the difference between a Trump volunteer and Hillary and the DNC, who all of a sudden seems to have a renewed interest in Russian collusion again, after ignoring the bombshell revelation that Hillary and the  paid millions of dollars to create a phony Trump-Russia dossier. Sanders tells  News  Major Garrett,  The big difference here is you have a meeting that took place versus millions of dollars being sent to create fake information to actually influence the election. You compare those two, those are apples and oranges.What the Clinton campaign did, what the  did, was actually exchange money. They took a meeting. Those are far different. And one is pretty common practice in any campaign   to take a meeting. The other one is actually paying money for false information. That s a big deal and a big difference. Sarah Sanders doing what she does best  making a mockery of Obama's stenographers aka the imbeciles in the  press corps.#MuellerMonday pic.twitter.com/yaEDNwHgcW  HailToTheCovfefe  (@MichelleRMed) October 30, 2017Sanders went on to say there is nothing in the indictment today changes nothing, and that The real collusion has everything to do with the Clinton campaign. Sarah Sanders: ""The real collusion has everything to do with the Clinton campaign."" pic.twitter.com/Og4ibRAeHC  Axios (@axios) October 30, 2017Sanders best line of the day was when she told rabid, anti-Trump, nut-job Jim Acosta of  to  finish your monologue. Love the bit where Sarah Sanders sez to @Acosta, ""Oh, finish your monologue "" on  George Papadopoulos!  weblink  Boston Bobblehead (@DBloom451) October 30, 2017The adviser, George Papadopoulos, offered to set up  a meeting between us and the Russian leadership to discuss US-Russia ties under President Trump,  telling them his Russian contacts welcomed the opportunity, according to internal campaign emails read to The Washington Post.The proposal sent a ripple of concern through campaign headquarters in Trump Tower. Campaign co-chairman Sam Clovis wrote that he thought  allies should be consulted before any plans were made. Another Trump adviser, retired Navy Rear Adm. Charles Kubic, cited legal concerns, including a possible violation of U.S. sanctions against Russia and of the Logan Act, which prohibits U.S. citizens from unauthorized negotiation with foreign governments.The  Daily News even reported that Manafort put the kibosh on the Russia meetings as well. We need someone to communicate that  is not doing these trips,  Manafort told his business partner Rick Gates, an account his spokesman Jason Maloni confirmed to the Daily News Monday evening.The Gateway Pundit also reported that Papadopoulos was looking for a book deal just a few weeks ago.According to a screen shot of Papadopoulos s Facebook page tweeted by Guardian  reporter Jon Swaine, the former aide sought book publisher recommendations three weeks ago. Interested in meeting with a prominent publisher. Recommendations welcome,   wrote Papadopoulos.Meanwhile Hillary s camp paid  of dollars for a Russian dossier, a fraudulent document that most likely prompted a  warrant and ultimately led to the unmasking of Trump and his associates. ",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
5442,5443,"He may have had a glorious World Cup , scoring four goals as the poster boy of Brazilian football before his horrendous back injury , but Neymar had a moment to forget against Ecuador .  With Brazil leading 1 0 at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey in the 47th minute , the ball was squared for Neymar , who was unmarked in the centre .  With the goal gaping and no ' keeper or defence in sight , the 22 year old stuck out his left leg to try and poke the ball home from four yards .   Scroll down to watch Brazil v Ecuador highlights  Horror miss : Brazil striker Neymar ( left ) misses an open goal from just four yards out against Ecuador  Teed up : The ball was crossed for Neymar who was unmarked in the box against Ecuador on Tuesday  Connection : Neymar got his foot too far under the ball and that caused it to head up and on to the crossbar  Unfortunate : Neymar could not react quick enough to the rebound off the bar either and did not score   Brazil 1 0 Ecuador highlights  Horror show : Neymar ( right ) missed a sitter against Ecuador during Brazil ' s 1 0 victory in New Jersey  Protests : Neymar , captaining Brazil for the second match in succession , gesticulates to the referee  Incredibly , however , the Barcelona forward who was captain for the second match in a row could only manage to rattle the crossbar with his finish after getting his foot too far under the ball .  And Neymar ' s nightmare was not over then , either .  As the ball rebounded towards him , Neymar was unable to sort his feet out in time and the ball was cleared by the Ecuadorian defence .  Thankfully for the forward who has netted 36 times in just 56 internationals , the miss did not prove costly as Brazil held on to preserve new coach Dunga ' s unbeaten start to his reign .  All smiles : Neymar ( front centre ) seemed happy after the game as he posted this selfie with the squad  Not his night : Neymar just could not find the net as Alexander Dominguez ( centre ) makes a terrific save  Winning moment : Willian celebrates after scoring the decisive goal in Brazil ' s 1 0 win over Ecuador  Teamwork : Neymar ( second right ) and Oscar ( right ) join the celebrations after Willian ' s winner  In fact , Neymar was the architect of the winner .  On the half hour mark , the striker curled a delightful free kick over the Ecuadorian defence and into the path of Willian , who controlled it and finished well with the outside of his right foot .  The Chelsea midfielder ' s strike not only spared Neymar ' s blushes , it also gave Brazil a 1 0 victory in the friendly on Tuesday .  And Neymar will surely be hoping he can find his finishing boots by the time he faces Athletic Bilbao at the Nou Camp for Barca on Saturday .  Denied : Neymar sees a chance smothered by Ecuador goalkeeper Alexander Dominguez on Tuesday  Appeal : Neymar gestures on the floor to referee Edvin Jurisevic after being fouled against Ecuador  Poster boy : Neymar netted four times during the World Cup before suffering a horrendous back injury  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
5455,5456,"Several team owners said they would come down hard on any drivers who did not stand during the national anthem. That included  legend Richard Petty, owner of Richard Petty Motorsports. Anybody that don t stand up for the anthem oughta be out of the country, period,  Petty said (via the Associated Press).  What got  em where they re at? The United States. When Petty was asked if his drivers would be fired if they protest during the anthem as Trump called for, Petty emphatically said,  You re right. Richard Petty Motorsports currently employs Bubba Wallace, who recently became the first black driver in a  race in over a decade.Richard Childress, owner of Richard Childress Racing, also said he would not tolerate any drivers who do not stand during the anthem. It ll get you a ride on a Greyhound bus,  Childress said.  Anybody that works for me should respect the country we live in. So many people gave their lives for it. This is America. All drivers reportedly stood during the anthem prior to Sunday s race in New Hampshire.For entire story: Business Insider ",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
5483,5484,"Donald Trump s deplorable supporters strike again.18-year-old Yasmin Seweid was born in Brooklyn, New York. So she has been raised in America her entire life. She grew up surrounded by American culture and values religious freedom as guaranteed by the Constitution.And that is why she is able to wear a hijab and practice Islam.But while she was standing on the subway platform waiting to go home, three male Trump supporters targeted her and began harassing her. They called her a  terrorist,  ripped the straps on her bag, and tried to forcibly remove her hijab all while saying Trump s name.The abuse continued on the train and Seweid was forced to exit at an early stop in order to get away from them. Bystanders even watched the incident unfold and cowardly did nothing to stop it.She reported the incident to police, who are investigating the crime.In order to warn others about the dangers of Trump supporters, Seweid chose to write about her horrific experience on Facebook. I take the train every single day going to & coming from class, but yesterday, something happened that I never thought would happen to me,  Seweid wrote.  I was harassed on the subway last night and it was just so dehumanizing I can t speak about it without getting emotional. Three white racists ripped the straps off my bag & attempted to yank my hijab off my head. They yelled such disgusting slurs at me, I was so helpless and felt defenseless.  Look it s a fucking terrorist ,  go back to your country ,  take that rag off your head  and so many more. Trump s name was repeatedly said & it finally clicked in my head. No matter how  cultured  or  Americanized  I am, these people don t see me as an American.It breaks my heart that so many individuals chose to be bystanders while watching me get harassed verbally and physically by these disgusting pigs. Trump America is real and I witnessed it first hand last night! What a traumatizing night. Please stay safe everyone & never let anyone take your rights away. Just thought I should share that with you all tonight.Here s her full post via Facebook.Ever since Election Day, Trump supporters have been celebrating by committing hate crimes against women and minorities. In fact, the number of hate crimes skyrocketed and nearly 900 of them have been committed in the weeks since November 8th. And experts say it is worse than the number of hate crimes committed after the 9/11 attacks.Donald Trump has done nothing more than create an atmosphere of hate and violence in this country. With that being said, his call for unity is complete bullshit. We can t have unity in this country when his own supporters are going around terrorizing people.Featured Image: Steve Pope/Getty Images",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
5497,5498,"Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick canceled a series of book signing dates because of "" credible threats , "" his book publishers said .  "" Despite warnings of planned protests , Vick had hoped to continue with the appearances as planned , bringing his story of redemption and second chance to major markets , "" said Worthy Publishing , a Tennessee based Christian publishing company . "" However , once the reported protests escalated into threats of violence against the retailers , Worthy Publishing , Vick and his family , decided to cancel the events . ""  Vick , who spent about 18 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to dogfighting charges in 2007 , has been trying to turn his life and his image around in recent years .  Vick helps park get a second chance  In September , he continued his rehabilitation campaign by donating about 200 , 000 for a new football field for a Philadelphia inner city youth football team . At the time , Vick said the donation was a gift to the City of Brotherly Love for embracing him after the Eagles signed him following his release from prison .  But not all have embraced the new Michael Vick .  The quarterback was set to promote his new autobiography "" Finally Free , "" but had to cancel upcoming dates across the country after threats to Barnes Noble Booksellers and an independent bookstore in New Jersey .  "" It is disturbing that a few extremists would threaten Vick ' s family and store employees , "" said Vick ' s spokesman Chris Shigas . "" Michael Vick has millions of fans and has countless letters from teachers thanking him for inspiring students to make positive change . ""  Last year , Vick announced he had gotten a dog for his family in an effort to show his children how to have a healthy relationship with animals .  "" This is an opportunity to break the cycle , "" Vick said in a statement in October . "" To that end , I will continue to honor my commitment to animal welfare and be an instrument of positive change . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
5531,5532,"The U . S . government is the largest financial entity in the world . Nothing else comes close .  On Sunday , April 29 , it will be exactly three years since the U . S . Senate passed a budget .  If you own or work for a small business that has a loan from a bank , I ' m quite sure your business has a budget and a rather detailed budget at that . Every year around tax time , many American families sit down to fill out tax forms , estimate their income , and set spending priorities for the upcoming year . It ' s the responsible thing to do .  And yet , Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid appears to believe it is not necessary for the Senate to fulfill its legal responsibility by debating and passing a budget to account for 3 . 8 trillion in federal spending next fiscal year , 15 . 6 trillion of debt and , according to figures produced by the Senate Budget Committee Republican staff , more than 65 trillion in additional unfunded liabilities .  To provide some perspective to these incomprehensible numbers , the total net private asset base that is , the net value of all household assets , small business assets , and large business assets of the United States is 82 trillion , according to figures from the Federal Reserve Flow of Funds Account from March 8 , 2012 .  Even worse , President Barack Obama and his administration seem to view budgeting as just one more political maneuver . His efforts have been so completely unserious that the President ' s 2012 budget was rejected by a vote of 97 0 in the Senate . And three weeks ago , when Rep . Mick Mulvaney , R South Carolina , sponsored a budget proposal based on Obama ' s 2013 budget plan , it lost in the House by a vote of 414 0 .  That ' s right , not a single member of Congress cast a vote in favor of Obama ' s last two budgets . That is a stunning repudiation of his leadership . What it really represents is a total abdication of leadership .  Democrats in the Senate have all the votes they need to pass a real budget and show the American people their plan for today and the future . But they refuse , because they don ' t want to be held accountable . They would rather cut backroom deals that hide the details of their plans , and then take political pot shots at Republicans who have had the courage to produce and vote for a serious budget .  Democrats claim that last year ' s Budget Control Act is an adequate substitute for a real budget because it "" deems "" spending caps . Obviously , it is not . It is only half the equation . It includes no plan for saving Social Security or Medicare , for reforming taxes , or for ever living within our means . But it does prove that Washington is certainly good at making sure spending continues .  Business owners and consumers all over America are watching Washington , shaking their heads in disgust , and holding on to their wallets . These are the people we need to get our economy moving again , but these are the very people that are under assault by Obama and his policies .  The Obama administration ' s agencies are regulating business to death , limiting the use of America ' s domestic energy resources , threatening to punish success by increasing tax burdens , and providing no credible plan for reining in our debt and deficit . As self defeating as all of these policies have been , not having a credible long term budget plan might prove to be the most harmful .  For the 30 years from 1970 through 1999 , the average borrowing cost of the U . S . government was 5 . 3 , according to an analysis made by my staff of figures from the Office of Management and Budget . During that period , the ratio of our debt to our Gross Domestic Product (  ) averaged 47 and never exceeded 67 . We were a far more creditworthy nation back then than we are today .  Now our debt to  ratio exceeds 100 , and over the last three years , America ' s borrowing cost has been kept at an artificially low rate of 1 . 5 . How long can that last ? Nobody knows .  What we do know is that if our borrowing costs were to revert to the 1970 through 1999 average of 5 . 3 , America ' s annual interest expense would increase by 600 billion an amount that equals 50 of discretionary spending .  Out of our 3 . 8 trillion annual budget , only 1 . 3 trillion is discretionary spending subject to appropriation and some level of control . Everything else , roughly 2 . 5 trillion , is mandatory and entitlement spending that is on automatic pilot with no requirement to ensure financial solvency of these programs .  This is unsustainable . Increased interest expense resulting from higher rates , the true cost of Obamacare , and reduced revenues from slower economic growth caused by uncertainty and lack of confidence , all significantly raise the risk of dramatically higher debt and deficits . Employer surveys by McKinsey , as well as analysis by former Congressional Budget Office Director Holtz Eakin , show that far more Americans will lose employer provided care than  estimates . Additionally , Congress is unlikely to implement the hundreds of billions in Medicare cuts that are called for in the president ' s health care law  It is past time for Obama , and his allies in Congress , to show the American people a credible plan to address our looming financial crisis . It is time for Senate Democrats to pass a budget .  The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Ron Johnson  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
5533,5534,"Reuters) - Germany on Monday said its continued support for Iraq and the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government was contingent on peaceful efforts by both sides to resolve their differences. The German government has provided more than 1 billion euros  ($1.2 billion) in humanitarian, development and stabilization aid to Iraq since 2014, making it one of the biggest international donors.  Our support is for Iraq as a unified state,  Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel told reporters after meeting with  Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani in Berlin.   We want to continue that, but the precondition is that Iraq solves its internal conflicts peacefully and democratically, and that we find a way out of the tense situation we are in now.  Gabriel noted that Germany had warned the Kurdish region against holding the Sept. 25 referendum, in which Iraqi Kurds voted overwhelmingly to break away from Iraq, and said the goal was to restore dialogue between the two sides. The Kurdish vote was rejected by Baghdad and triggered an Iraqi military offensive that recaptured disputed areas of the north from Kurdish Peshmerga fighters. Gabriel said Berlin would push the government in Baghdad to respond to offers of dialogue by the KRG. Barzani urged Germany to  play a stronger role in bringing us together . Barzani also thanked Germany for supporting his region s fight against Islamic State, and training Peshmerga fighters. The German parliament voted last week to extend its military mission in northern Iraq, around 150 strong, to the end of March to allow a new government to weigh a longer extension. But the rise in tensions between Kurds and Baghdad has raised concern in Germany about the mission s future. After failing to agree on a new government with two smaller parties, Chancellor Angela Merkel is now trying to rebuild the  grand coalition  with the Social Democrats (SPD) that has ruled Germany for the past four years. It is unclear if Gabriel, a former  leader, would stay on as foreign minister if the two blocs reach a deal. ($1 = 0.8480 euros) ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
5548,5549,"Mariam "" Mimi "" Bell , a Latina Republican from Colorado , resents the implication that Hispanic voters are somehow negatively affected by the state ' s new voter identification law .  "" It ' s insulting when they say we ' re going to disenfranchise the Hispanics , "" Bell said of the law that requires voters to present an  such as a driver ' s license , passport , utility bill or birth certificate to vote . The suggestion , Bell said , is "" because we ' re Hispanics we ' re inept to get an  . ""  The debate over the wave of voter identification laws cropping up in more than 30 states is playing out against the backdrop of the 2012 general election ' s high profile fight for Latino voters .  The impact of the ' Latino vote ' beyond Texas  The two presidential candidates hold widely divergent views on the matter .  Likely Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has spoken out in favor of voter identification laws in such places as Pennsylvania and Wisconsin .  Opnion :  ' s problem with Latinos as big as Texas  During a campaign stop last month with Romney in Pennsylvania , Sen . Marco Rubio of Florida , a Cuban American Republican , blew off what he sees as overhyped concerns about showing photo IDs .  People have to show IDs for everything from boarding a flight to renting sports equipment , Rubio reasoned , so why not voting .  "" What ' s the big deal ? What is the big deal ? "" Rubio asked .  The Brennan Center for Justice , a legal think tank at New York University School of Law that has criticized many of the new voter identification laws as costly and discriminatory , said that 11 of eligible voters lack government issued identification . Conservatives , however , challenge that estimate .  The administration and President Barack Obama ' s re election campaign have pushed back against the slew of new laws in swing states . The Obama campaign has also launched gottavote . org in an attempt to make sure minority and young voters affected by the laws make it to the polls .  According to a new  News Wall Street Journal Telemundo poll (  ) , Obama leads Romney 61 to 27 in support among registered Latino voters .  Minority communities could be affectedThe debate is forcing communities across the country to confront whether worries over discrimination should trump concerns about voter fraud .  For Mississippi state Sen . Derrick Simmons , his grandmother ' s tales of life as a black woman in the Delta region under Jim Crow are indelibly etched in his political consciousness . When Mississippi Gov . Phil Bryant signed the state ' s voter photo identification measure into law this month , the move harkened back to the type of discrimination Simmons ' grandmother and others faced during the tumultuous civil rights era , the state legislator said .  "" It ' s just going to have a chilling effect , "" said Simmons , who organized minority voter pushback against the law last year . "" I look at it as a 21st century poll tax . ""  According to the National Conference of State Legislatures , thirty two states have some sort of voting identification law . Many of the states with the strictest laws are also places where , according to a Pew Hispanic Center analysis of census figures , the minority populations have mushroomed .  Those states include Georgia , Mississippi , South Carolina and Texas places that also must get Voting Rights Act clearance before enacting new laws . The Voting Rights Act gives the federal government the power to oversee any changes in voting procedures in states and jurisdictions with a history of voter discrimination .  Critics of the new laws see the measures as an attempt to prevent the type of high Latino and African American voter turnout of the 2008 election .  "" African Americans experienced much higher political participation rates , much higher than any other group , including Latinos . There is a correlation between the increase in Latino birthrates and black participation rates and the states where we ' ve seen this crackdown in voting rights , "" said Wendy Weiser , director of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice . "" Those groups are going to find it more difficult to participate this time around . ""  Concerns over fraud cited  Those who support voter identification laws cite concerns over election fraud . When the Justice Department ruled against Texas ' photo identification law , Gov . Rick Perry vowed to take the matter to the U . S . Supreme Court . Perry called the law "" yet another example of the Obama administration ' s continuing and pervasive federal overreach . ""  Controversial conservative filmmaker James O ' Keefe said his Project Veritas found examples in North Carolina of the type of voter fraud that could be curbed by requiring proper identification .  The North Carolina State Board of Elections is looking into issues raised in one of O ' Keefe ' s videos however , examinations by the agency and The ( Raleigh ) News Observer found some of O ' Keefe ' s assertions were incorrect .  Supporters of voter identification laws said there are still valid concerns about voter fraud and its impact on the upcoming election .  "" I get carded to purchase spray paint at Home Depot , antihistamines or over the counter drugs , "" said Jeff Rodriguez , a Latino Republican in Colorado . "" I get carded for my prescriptions and to withdraw money from my own bank . . . . But politicians we hold them to a simple code of honor which ends up corrupt . Why not verify each and every vote along with the politician . These men and women are in positions of power and should be held accountable as the leaders we voted in .  "" Voting should be one of the must secure and verifiable processes in the United States of America . ""  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
5550,5551,"Fierce fighting was underway between forces loyal to Yemen ' s internationally recognized government and the country ' s Shiite rebels just hours before an agreed on truce was supposed to start at midnight Monday , officials said .  A pro government military source told the Reuters news agency that the rocket hit at a camp housing Yemeni , Sudanese , Emirati and Saudi troops in the Dhubab area , near the strategically important Bab al Mandab strait through the Red Sea , and that "" tens were killed "" . The decision to declare a ceasefire came in response to an initiative contained in a letter by Yemeni President Abed Rabbu Mansur Hadi to Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz , the statement pointed out .  The incident comes ahead of  brokered peace talks in Switzerland on Tuesday .  It warned , however , that it reserves the right to respond in case of any violation by the rebels , said  .  "" The cessation of hostilities which was called today should mark the end of military violence in Yemen and the transition to progress based on negotiations , dialogue and consensus "" , Ahmed said , according to the Times .  The renewable ceasefire coincides with the kick off of  sponsored peace talks in Switzerland between the two warring sides .  Four out of five Yemenis are believed to be in need of humanitarian aid .  The impact of the war in Yemen was felt keenly in Saudi Arabia Tuesday with the burial of a decorated special forces colonel who became perhaps the highest profile Saudi casualty .  Meantime , the fighting in Yemen has been a boon to extremist groups such as Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and Islamic State , which have taken advantage of the chaos to mount increasingly audacious attacks across the country .  According to the statement , al Sahyan along with a high ranking military officer from the United Arab Emirates (  ) was killed while taking part in operations to "" liberate "" Taiz from Houthi control .  "" We have agreed to the ceasefire to lift the suffering of our people and to deliver humanitarian assistance to them "" , Mohammed Abdel Salam , the spokesman of the Houthis , said December 12 at a news conference in Sanaa as the Houthi delegation prepared to depart for Geneva .  The Huthis , who have long complained of marginalisation , advanced in September 2014 from their northern strongholds before occupying government buildings in Sanaa .  They later encroached on the main southern city Aden , forcing Hadi into exile in Saudi Arabia .  Hadi , who was placed under house arrest , eventually escaped and fled to Aden , the former capital of South Yemen . In addition to the air cover , the coalition has backed pro government forces with soldiers and heavy weaponry .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
5575,5576,"Little more than a week after it suspended "" Duck Dynasty "" star Phil Robertson for incendiary remarks about homosexuality , the cable channel A E said Friday that it would include him in future tapings of the reality television show , effectively lifting the suspension amid a flurry of petitions in support of Robertson .  "" After discussions with the Robertson family , as well as consulting with numerous advocacy groups , A E has decided to resume filming Duck Dynasty later this spring with the entire Robertson family , "" the channel said in a statement .  In an apparent gesture to the advocacy groups , A E said that it would "" also use this moment "" to broadcast public service announcements "" promoting unity , tolerance and acceptance among all people . ""  Robertson ' s son Willie wrote on Twitter on Friday evening , "" Back to work ! ! ! So proud of all the fans of the show and family . Ole Phil may be a little crude but his heart is good . He ' s the Real Deal ! ""  The announcement came nine days after A E originally suspended Robertson . It was immediately perceived as a victory by some of the conservative groups that had protested the suspension . One headline on the influential Drudge Report on Friday evening was "" A E  "" another read , "" Gay Activists Group Delivered Stinging Defeat . ""  Chris Stone , founder of Faith Driven Consumer , the group that gathered 260 , 000 signatures on a petition at IStandWithPhilweblink , said in a Friday night statement that he and individuals like him would "" remain vigilant as we measure whether A E ' s actions reflect true tolerance , diversity , and mutual respect including their equal embrace of our biblically based values and deeply held beliefs . ""  The comments from Stone and other advocates signaled that "" Duck Dynasty "" has become a weapon in the culture wars and will continue to be .  A E said on December 18 that it was placing Robertson "" under hiatus from filming indefinitely "" due to the cast member ' s controversial comments to a  magazine interviewer .  When the interviewer asked Robertson what he thought was sinful , he replied , "" Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there . Bestiality , sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men . ""  Robertson used language that his family later described as "" coarse . "" At one point he remarked that "" it seems like , to me , a vagina as a man would be more desirable than a man ' s anus . That ' s just me . I ' m just thinking : There ' s more there ! She ' s got more to offer . I mean , come on , dudes ! ""  Furthermore , Robertson said that when he was growing up in Louisiana in the pre civil rights era , "" I never , with my eyes , saw the mistreatment of any black person . Not once . ""  He continued , "" Where we lived was all farmers . The blacks worked for the farmers . I hoed cotton with them . I ' m with the blacks , because we ' re white trash . We ' re going across the field . . . . They ' re singing and happy . I never heard one of them , one black person , say , ' I tell you what : These doggone white people ' not a word ! Pre entitlement , pre welfare , you say : Were they happy ? They were godly they were happy no one was singing the blues . ""  When the comments were published by  , gay rights groups , including  ( formerly the Gay Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation ) , and civil rights groups , including the Human Rights Campaign , alerted A E . The channel moved quickly to express disappointment in the comments and put Robertson on the bench . But it said the action wouldn ' t affect any previously taped episodes of the hugely popular reality show .  One season ' s worth of episodes featuring Robertson had already been taped , so the suspension would only have affected future tapings in 2014 .  An assortment of conservative and religious groups immediately and loudly protested the suspension decision by A E , which is jointly owned by The Walt Disney Company and Hearst .  Speculation ensued about whether "" Duck Dynasty "" would come to an end , at least on A E . Some advocates said they hoped that a channel with overtly religious values would rescue the show .  The Robertson family stoked the speculation by issuing a statement that said , "" We have had a successful working relationship with A E but , as a family , we cannot imagine the show going forward without our patriarch at the helm . We are in discussions with A E to see what that means for the future of ' Duck Dynasty . ' ""  Inside A E , a sudden end to "" Duck Dynasty "" was never seriously contemplated . The show is enormously profitable for A E and , executives there pointed out in private , for the Robertsons , too . ( Any shopper strolling through Walmart , where the aisles are stocked with "" Duck Dynasty "" gear , would recognize that . )  But A E executives felt they had to send a message of disapproval after seeing Robertson ' s comments to  , partly because some of the channel ' s own staffers were offended by the interview . The suspension announced on December 18 sent that message and shortly thereafter , the channel and the Robertsons ' representatives started to discuss a path forward .  "" We knew we had a great partnership with the family , "" said an A E executive , speaking on condition of anonymity because the channel and the family had agreed not to say anything publicly aside from Friday ' s statements .  Talks between the two sides took place on Christmas Eve , paused on Christmas , and resumed on Thursday , leading to Friday ' s announcement .  While some observers accused A E of backing down , some of the advocacy groups that were originally dismayed by Robertson ' s remarks on homosexuality begged to differ .  Sainz said that his group was "" heartened "" by A E ' s plans for the public service announcement campaign . A spokesman for A E declined to comment on whether Robertson or other "" Duck Dynasty "" cast members would participate in the campaign , but the channel is said to be hopeful that at least some of the cast members will .   took a more adversarial stance , stating Friday night that "" Phil Robertson should look African American and gay people in the eyes and hear about the hurtful impact of praising Jim Crow laws and comparing gay people to terrorists . If dialogue with Phil is not part of next steps then A E has chosen profits over African American and gay people especially its employees and viewers . ""  For supporters of groups like  , the "" Duck Dynasty "" debate was primarily about whether offensive depictions of minorities what  called "" vile and extreme stereotypes "" were acceptable in public discourse . These people said no .  For supporters of Robertson , including a number of conservative politicians , the debate was about whether a deeply religious man had the right to speak freely about the tenets of his faith . These people said yes .  To some degree the two sides talked past each other while the Robertson suspension became national news .  Bobby Jindal , the Republican governor of Louisiana , who suggested on December 19 that A E did not believe in the First Amendment , said Friday that he was glad the channel ' s executives "" came to their senses and recognized that tolerance of religious views is more important than political correctness . ""  Jindal added , "" Today is a good day for the freedoms of speech and religious liberty . The left is going to have to get accustomed to the fact that it does not have a monopoly on free speech and is not the only group who is permitted to voice its opinion in the public square . The left may control Hollywood , but they don ' t control the hearts and minds of a majority of Americans . ""  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
5583,5584,"Reuters) - Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie top Donald Trump’s short list to be his vice presidential running mate, sources said, but the candidate is casting a wide net that also includes several U.S. senators and other governors. With less than three weeks to go until his formal nomination at the Republican National Convention as the party’s candidate in the Nov. 8 election, Trump’s search for a No. 2 has intensified. The wealthy businessman, a political neophyte, has said he wants a political veteran to help him navigate the power corridors of Washington.Gingrich and Christie, both loyal to Trump at a time when many Republican colleagues want nothing to do with him, would meet his requirement for experience - but would come with minuses as well as pluses. Other names to watch include U.S. Senators Bob Corker of Tennessee, Joni Ernst of Iowa and Jeff Sessions of Alabama and Governors Mike Pence of Indiana and Mary Fallin of Oklahoma, Republicans close to the campaign said this week.     Trump has set up a meeting with Pence this weekend, a spokesman for the governor said on Friday. The New Yorker has also met with Corker and Fallin. “Mr. Trump is meeting with a number of Republican leaders in the run-up to the convention in Cleveland, and he has a good relationship with Gov. Pence,” Trump spokesman Jason Miller said in an email response to a question from Reuters. An experienced running mate also could help with fundraising. Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee, raised more than $40 million for her campaign in June and about $28 million for her party. Trump, who largely self-funded his primary run, has not yet released June fundraising numbers.  Trump is expected to name his running mate close to the July 18-21 convention.  Gingrich, who was speaker of the House of Representatives in the 1990s and ran for president in 2012, is a popular conservative writer and speaker, and has been an important behind-the-scenes voice in urging Trump to adopt a more presidential demeanor. But because Trump is 70 and Gingrich is 73, they could face difficulty appealing to a younger generation. Christie quickly endorsed Trump after quitting the race early this year. A source said the 53-year-old governor has emerged as a key adviser to Trump and his campaign team. A source said Christie was instrumental in coaxing Trump to be less confrontational with a Mexican-American federal judge overseeing a fraud case involving Trump. One clue to Christie’s rising importance came earlier this week when some campaign supporters held a conference call to discuss strategy and talking points for media appearances. A source said that during the call Christie’s name was raised as someone who might comment on former President Bill Clinton’s meeting earlier this week with Attorney General Loretta Lynch. As a former federal prosecutor, Christie would be a credible voice.  Monday night’s private meeting of Clinton and Lynch, the top U.S. law enforcement officer, has been criticized because Hillary Clinton is under federal investigation for using a private email server when she was Democratic President Barack Obama’s secretary of state. The source said campaign associates made clear Christie was not to be used for this purpose. “They’re saving him for the general election,” the source said. “They don’t want to overexpose him.” Still, many Republicans are waiting to see whether Christie is named as an unindicted co-conspirator in a 2014 case involving charges that lanes on the George Washington Bridge were closed in New Jersey for political reasons. Corker, 63, offers Trump deep foreign policy experience as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and, like Trump, believes the Republican Party needs shaking up. His stock may have gone down, however, because he has not hesitated to criticize the candidate at times. Ernst, a first-term senator and military veteran, could help improve Trump’s standing with women. She tacitly supported rival Marco Rubio during the Republican nominating campaign, though she has promised to support the party’s nominee. Ernst, who turned 46 on Friday, said earlier this month that the Trump campaign had not contacted her. The same goes for Oklahoma’s Fallin, who was among several Republican governors who met jointly with Trump in June. “It’s an honor to be mentioned for the office of vice president. I have not had any conversation with Mr. Trump about the vice presidency,” Fallin, 61, said in a statement. Some Republicans could be considered even if they have not had recent contact with the campaign. Alice Stewart, a former spokeswoman for U.S. Senator Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign, said the Texan’s running mate, Carly Fiorina, was only told late in the vetting that she might be picked. Trump’s vetting is being conducted by Washington lawyer A.B. Culvahouse, a longtime fixture in national Republican politics. ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
5597,5598,"Abu Dhabi , United Arab Emirates Intense security marked the start of court proceedings against 94 detainees in the United Arab Emirates ' capital of Abu Dhabi .  The detainees are accused of trying to overthrow the government . They are also accused of being political activists connected with Egypt ' s Muslim Brotherhood , which is banned in the   "" They launched , established and ran an organisation seeking to oppose the basic principles of the  system of governance and to seize power , "" Attorney General Salem Saeed Kubaish said in a January statement published by state media .  Their trials started Monday amid widespread scrutiny of how the  would handle the proceedings .  Only local media were allowed inside the court , where only two members from each detainee ' s family were allowed in . Others had to wait outside .  Asma Al Siddiq , 26 , said both her husband and her father were among the 94 detainees accused .  "" The proceedings taken by the court today are not fair , "" she said . "" The women were forced to remove their niqab ( face cover ) . My sister had to remove her niqab to get in . My brother Ibrahim Al Siddiq was arrested today while in his car . . . for having a badge with a picture of the detainees on it . ""  "" My brother ' s arrest today is a complete act of oppression towards us , "" she added .  Mohammed Al Naimi ' s brother is also facing the charges .  "" They kept extending his detention with no reason , "" Al Naimi said .  The trial began the same day John Kerry arrived in Abu Dhabi on his first visit to the Middle East in his new role as U . S . secretary of state .  Human Rights Watch released a statement calling for Kerry to address the plight of the 94 detainees , claiming 64 had been held at undisclosed locations for up to a year and denied access to lawyers until the last two weeks .  The group claims the detainees include two prominent human rights lawyers , Mohammed al Roken and Mohammed al Mansoori , as well as judges , teachers and student leaders .  "" Emirati citizens have a lot to fear when their government can detain them without charge for months and then deny them due process in trials that can ' t be appealed , "" said Sarah Leah Whitson , Middle East director at Human Rights Watch . "" Secretary Kerry should urge  authorities to end these shameful practices and ensure a fair trial for these activists . ""  Of the 94 defendants , 10 are still at large and are being tried in absentia , the state news agency  reported .  The court adjourned Monday to consider the pleas entered so far ,  said . Another hearing is set for March 11 .  Many believe  authorities are clamping down on freedom of expression since the Arab Spring swept across the Middle East staring in early 2011 .  Unelected ruling families in oil rich Gulf countries such as Barhrain , Qatar , Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have sought to prevent popular uprisings . But countries such as Bahrain have also received criticism for their heavy handed use of force .  While there has been little protest in the majority Sunni and hugely wealthy  , authorities are taking no chances .  Political parties and demonstrations are banned in the  , and last week an academic from the London School of Economics and Political Science was barred entry to the country .  The academic was set to speak at a conference on the political situation in Bahrain .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
5606,5607,"Reuters) - A daughter of an Illinois state representative has been charged with participating in an attack on one of her mother’s  political rivals that included using a staple gun on the victim’s forehead, police and the victim said on Friday. Jessica Soto and Bradley Fichter, both 26 and of Chicago, have been charged with three counts of aggravated battery in a March 6 attack on Robert Zwolinski, who was defeated in a primary this month by Soto’s mother, state Representative Cynthia Soto, Chicago police said.  Lawyers for the two were not immediately available for comment. The attack took place outside of Zwolinski’s campaign office. Frank Avila, a lawyer for the couple, told local media that  Zwolinski started the fight and possibly put a stable in his own head for attention. Avila identified Soto as the daughter of Representative Soto and denied the daughter was part of the attack.  Police said Zwolinski was hit with a metal object and glass bottle. Zwolinski said the metal object was the staple gun and he had his forehead repeatedly stapled by the pair. The night of the fight, Zwolinski posted photos on social media of a staple sticking out of his forehead, a bloodied face, and a swollen nose. “The girl was yelling, while I was on the ground fighting the man off of me, ‘This is Soto’s territory! This isn’t your territory,’” Zwolinski said.  Representative Soto could not immediately be reached. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
5630,5631,"Ginn played for the Panthers during the 2013 season and finished the year with 36 catches for 556 yards and five touchdowns . It was his best season since 2008 , his second year with the Miami Dolphins .  That led to a free agent offer from the Cardinals during the offseason , a three year , 9 . 75 million contract . But Ginn had one of his worst seasons with Arizona in 2014 ? 14 catches for 190 yards and zero TDs ? leading to his release last February .  Ginn re signed with the Panthers a few months later and the rest is history , especially after top receiver Kelvin Benjamin went down with a torn  during training camp .  Once Kelvin went down , Cam Newton told me , Come on , Ted , let s have the best you you ve ever had , Ginn said . We went out and we put work in . We changed a lot of things up because of the size of me 5 11 . We wanted to be great , and it showed .  Ginn played a key part in the Panthers 15 1 regular season . He was second among receivers in catches ( 44 ) and yards ( 739 ) and led the team with a career best 10 touchdowns .  But against the Cardinals , Ginn showed that he has a few more skills than catching a football .  His 22 yard  run came on a reverse and was set up by Newton faking a keep on the read option , then tossing the ball to Ginn as he swept around the backfield .  Ginn raced halfway down the Arizona sideline , got hemmed in by Cardinals defenders , cut back across the field and raced untouched into the end zone .  Sometimes you just have to bring your talent out , Ginn said . Arizona cornerback Justin Bethel came up , slowed me down , allowed me to see the defense . I gave him a little move , cut back .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
5645,5646,"Reuters) - Republican U.S. lawmakers expect to unveil this week the text of long-awaited legislation to repeal and replace the Obamacare healthcare law, one of President Donald Trump’s top legislative priorities, a senior Republican congressional aide said on Sunday. Since taking office in January, Trump has pressed his fellow Republicans who control Congress to act quickly to dismantle former Democratic President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act and pass a plan to replace it, but lawmakers in the party have differed on the specifics. Democrats have warned that Republicans risk throwing the entire U.S. healthcare system into chaos by repealing the 2010 law that was passed by congressional Democrats over united Republican opposition. Republicans condemn it as a government overreach, and Trump has called it a “disaster.”  The aide cited progress in meetings and phone calls starting on Friday and lasting through the weekend involving House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, White House budget chief Mick Mulvaney, Trump domestic policy adviser Andrew Bremberg and others. “We are in a very good place right now, and while drafting continues, we anticipate the release of final bill text early this week,” said the aide, speaking on condition of anonymity. The aide called the expected bill a “consensus Republican plan,” but offered no details. AshLee Strong, a spokeswoman for Ryan, said: “We are now at the culmination of a years-long process to keep our promise to the American people.” The Obamacare law has proven popular in many states, even some controlled by Republicans, and it enabled about 20 million previously uninsured people to get medical insurance, although premium increases angered some. ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,present
5654,5655,"Five time  Most Valuable Player Peyton Manning will return for an 18th  season and has agreed to a 4 million paycut with the Denver Broncos .  The Denver Post and  on Wednesday reported that Manning ' s pay will be cut from 19 million to 15 million .  The Broncos are expected to make an official announcement of the deal today ( Thursday ) , once the 38 year old Manning passes a medical exam .  He has spent the week considering his options while sunning it up in Miami Beach , Florida with his wife Ashley and two children .  Off season : Peyton Manning took some time out with family to ponder his  career as rumors of his retirement loomed . The family time must have helped as he has now decided to continue his career  Family man : After taking his physical and signing his revised contract Thursday at Broncos headquarters , Manning will head home until the Broncos reconvene April 13 for the start of offseason workouts  Manning ' s return raises the prospect of him becoming , at 39 , the oldest  to win Superbowl , should the Denver Broncos win it later this year .  On Tuesday he swapped his football kit for a tight white T shirt and snazzy swimming shorts as he played with his young children at the pool .  He was also spotted making phone calls out of the water , while admiring his wife Ashley ' s beach ready body .  Peyton has a holiday home in South Florida where he likes to relax , workout and train before the  season kicks off .  After taking his physical and signing his revised contract Thursday at Broncos headquarters , Manning will head home until the Broncos reconvene April 13 for the start of offseason workouts .  The team ' s general manager , John Elway , said in February that the quarterback would thrive in the team ' s new offensive system .  Sunning it up : Manning ' s wife Ashley joined him by the pool flaunting her beach ready body  Head turner : The mother of two opted for a simple string bikini as she soaked up the warm weather  When business calls : Manning was also spotted making phone calls out of the water , while admiring his wife Ashley ' s beach ready body  Good sport : The father of two protected his skin from the sun in T shirts and a baseball cap  Low profile : Mrs Manning has said in the past that prefers to stay away from the media  Manning , who turns 39 on March 24 , threw for 39 touchdowns and 15 interceptions last season in leading Denver to the  West division title with a 12 4 record .  Off the field , the father of two runs his own charity , the Peyback Foundation , which helps disadvantaged children in the areas of Louisiana , Tennessee , and Indiana .  In 2012 , Manning also purchased 21 Papa John ' s Pizza franchises in the state of Colorado .  Motherly love : The Mannings , who met while they were in college , have boy and girl twins together  Keeping in shape : Peyton has a holiday home in South Florida where he likes to works out and train before the  season kicks off  Birthday boy : The sports star will turn 39 on March 24 ( seen above with his wife and son )  Glittering career : Manning threw for 39 touchdowns and 15 interceptions last season in leading Denver to the  West division title with a 12 4 record  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
5661,5662,"Reuters  A powerful earthquake struck Italy on Sunday in the same central regions that have been rocked by repeated tremors over the past two months, with more homes and churches brought down but no deaths reported.  The quake, which measured 6.6 according to the U.S. Geological Survey, was bigger than one on Aug. 24 that killed almost 300 people. Many people have fled the area since then, helping to avoid a new devastating death toll.  The latest quake was felt across much of Italy, striking at 7.40 a.m. (0640 GMT), its epicenter close to the historic Umbrian walled town of Norcia, some 100 km (60 miles) from the university city of Perugia.  Panicked Norcia residents rushed into the streets and the town’s ancient Basilica of St. Benedict collapsed, leaving just the facade standing. Nuns, monks and locals sank to their knees in the main square in silent prayer before the shattered church.  “This is a tragedy. It is a coup de grace. The basilica is devastated,” Bishop Renato Boccardo of Norcia told Reuters.  “Everyone has been suspended in a never-ending state of fear and stress. They are at their wits end,” said Boccardo, referring to the thousands of tremors that have rattled the area since August, including two serious quakes on Wednesday.  Italy’s Civil Protection unit, which coordinates disaster relief, said numerous houses were destroyed on Sunday in the regions of Umbria and Marche, but either they were deserted at the time or most of the residents managed to escape beforehand.  “No deaths have been reported, but there are a number of people injured,” said Civil Protection chief Fabrizio Curcio, adding that just one person was in a serious condition.  Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said Italy was living through extremely difficult times, but promised a massive reconstruction effort in the years ahead regardless of any possible objections from the European Union over the eventual costs.  “We will rebuild everything, the houses, the churches and the businesses,” Renzi told reporters. “Everything that needs to be done to rebuild these areas will be done.”  Local authorities said towns and villages already battered by August’s 6.2 quake had suffered further significant damage.  “This morning’s quake has hit the few things that were left standing. We will have to start from scratch,” Michele Franchi, the deputy mayor of Arquata del Tronto, told Rai television.  Experts said Sunday’s quake was the strongest here since a 6.9 quake in Italy’s south in 1980 that killed 2,735 people.     The destruction of the Norcia basilica was the single most significant loss of Italy’s artistic heritage in an earthquake since a tremor in 1997 caused the collapse of the ceiling of the Basilica of St Francis in Assisi, which is 80 km to the north.  The frescoed basilica, which is the spiritual, historic and tourist heart of Norcia, was built over the site of the home where the founder of the Benedictine order and his Sister St. Scolastica were born in 480.  The basilica and monastery complex dates to the 13th century, although shrines to St. Benedict and his sister had been built there since the 8th century.  Benedict founded the Benedictine order in Subiaco, near Rome. He died in 530 in the monastery at Monte Cassino, south of Rome, which was destroyed during World War Two. That monastery was later rebuilt.  A number of other churches were also ruined on Sunday, Italian media reported, including Norcia’s Cattedrale di Santa Maria, which was built in the 16th century, while the town hall belltower had deep cracks running through its walls.  However, most of Norcia’s homes appeared to have withstood the prolonged tremor, with residents praising years of investment by local authorities in anti-seismic protection.  In the nearby city of Rieti patients were evacuated from a hospital to allow experts to check on structural damage, while hillroads across the region were littered with fallen rocks.  Sunday’s earthquake was felt as far north as Bolzano, near the border with Austria and as far south as the Puglia region at the southern tip of the Italian peninsula.  It was also felt strongly in the capital Rome, where transport authorities shut down the metro system for precautionary checks. Authorities also toured the city’s main Roman Catholic basilicas looking for possible damage.  Italy sits on two geological fault lines, making it one of the most seismically active countries in Europe.  Gianluca Valinsese, a scientist at Italy’s National Institute for Geophysics and Vulcanology, warned the latest series of quakes could continue for weeks in a domino effect along the central Apennine fault system.  Italy’s deadliest quake since the start of the 20th century came in 1908, when a tremor followed by a tsunami killed an estimated 80,000 people in the southern regions of Reggio Calabria and Sicily.  (Writing by Crispian Balmer and Philip Pullella; Additional reporting by Steve Scherer, Gavin Jones and Mark Bendeich; Editing by Mark Heinrich)",fake,news,validation,Football,Conflict,satire,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
5681,5682,"Islamic State now controls almost two thirds of Syria ' s oil production capacity , experts estimate , providing an essential source of revenue to feed its war machine .  But to what extent can Islamic State leaders operate the oil fields and get the product to market ? That ' s a question being pondered by the United States , which launched airstrikes against oil facilities in recent weeks to stop the extremist group from using oil revenue to finance its self declared caliphate in Syria and Iraq .  Here ' s a look at Islamic State ' s involvement in the oil industry .  Islamic State seized the bulk of Syria ' s oil facilities when it took control of the eastern province of Dair Alzour in the summer of 2014 .  Islamic State militants continue to engage in a war of attrition with pro government forces to take the Shaer gas field and the Jazal oil field in desert areas of eastern Homs province .  The group has also threatened gas fields near Palmyra , the heart of Syria ' s gas sector , according to a report issued in June by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace .  Oil and gas production , however , is nowhere near prewar levels . Energy analysts put Syria ' s oil output at 30 , 000 to 40 , 000 barrels a day , compared with 385 , 000 barrels daily before the war .  Gas production is down at least 40 from prewar levels , according to a report published in November by the oil industry journal Rigzone .  How does it refine , transport and sell the oil ?  Most of the oil is sold to small , privately owned refineries , usually do it yourself operations that have sprung up near the "" nodding donkey "" pumps that dot the landscape in northeastern Syria .  They are operated mostly by civilians unaffiliated with Islamic State . They take the crude directly from the wellhead , refine it and sell the inferior product on black markets . They are typically local people whose prior livelihoods were destroyed by the fighting .  These civilians , analysts say , are key to the resilience of Islamic State ' s oil trade : Not only do they refine and transport the oil , but they also bear the brunt of the U . S . led coalition ' s air campaign against oil infrastructure ? without compensation from Islamic State .  Much of the oil never reaches external markets and is used for domestic consumption in Islamic State controlled territories or sold to other rebel factions and the Syrian government .  However , there have been reports that some oil from Islamic State held territory in Syria and Iraq has made its way to Jordan and Turkey .  What is the U . S . led coalition doing to stop the oil trade ?  Coalition forces recently launched Operation Tidal Wave  , meant to ramp up attacks against oil fields and tankers ? targets that had been off limits to avoid civilian casualties .  The Pentagon said it had destroyed more than 300 oil tankers in Islamic State areas in the last two weeks of November .  On Thursday , the Omar oil field was struck by British warplanes , in a raid that marked Britain ' s first bombing run in Syria after its Parliament overwhelmingly approved military action against Islamic State there .  Estimates vary but have centered on a figure of 2 million to 3 million a day . Since Russia began bombing , Russian defense officials say , that number has been halved .  Mowaffak Rubaie , a former Iraqi national security advisor , said Islamic State had raked in 800 million in 2014 .  "" Daesh sells Iraqi and Syrian oil in the Turkish black market at prices that are 50 those of the global market , "" Rubaie said in a phone interview Thursday , referring to Islamic State by an Arabic acronym .  However , some analysts say estimates of Islamic State ' s oil revenue are wildly exaggerated .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
5691,5692,"Socialite Lady Victoria Hervey has sparked fury for tweeting a picture of bruising she suffered on a bobsleigh and claiming she was rocking the ' battered housewife look ' .  The photo shows her posing in front of a bathroom mirror and revealing bruising on the underside of her arm which she sustained while training for the upcoming series of reality  show The Jump .  In the caption underneath the photo , the 38 year old wrote : ' Rocking the battered housewife look . New war wounds from bobsleigh , can we please get an arnica sponsor asap ! '  But her apparent suggestion the bruising was comparable to injuries suffered by victims of domestic violence has been branded ' vile ' .  Lady Victoria Hervey ' s photo caused anger after she compared the bruising on her arm to injuries suffered by ' battered ' housewives  The socialite posted the image and claimed the bruising was caused while training for  show The Jump  One Twitter user said Lady Victoria ' s pictured and accompanying comment disgusted her  Victims counsellor Kel Ashley said : ' It ' s just the sort of comment I ' d expect the privileged elite to come out with , ' The Mirror reported .  She added : ' No one "" rocks the battered wife look "" . They endure being a being a battered wife and hope it never happens to them again . '  It also provoked anger online , with one Twitter user writing that it proved how ' utterly trivially ' domestic violence was treated .  They added : ' It needs to change . It ' s not a joke . Ever . '  Training for the second season of Channel 4 ' s The Jump is currently taking place in Austria , with celebrities including Joey Essex , Ashley Roberts and Mike Tindall competing across a range of winter sports .  Lady Victoria has previously tweeted about the rough and tumble required for the series on January 7 , she wrote : ' Feeling really beaten up from the skeleton . Wrist and ankle . Can ' t wait till that bit is over . TheJump Innsbruck . '  Nor is it the first time contestants on the show have been injured Sally Bercow and Ola Jordan were both replaced after sustaining injuries .  Bercow , 45 , was forced to pull out after breaking two ribs while training in Austria , while Jordan , 32 , suffered a serious leg injury .  MailOnline has requested comment from Lady Victoria ' s publicist .  Lady Victoria Hervey , pictured left in Austria for The Jump with her pet D ' Artagnan , has previously claimed to have suffered knocks and bruises while training for the show . On the right is a selfie she tweeted in which she said she was ' feeling really beaten up from the skeleton '  Lady Victoria also hit the headlines last week after she revealed the extraordinary request made to ensure she remains relaxed during The Jump she insisted that producers pay for her new puppy to be flown out to be with her wherever the show is filmed .  Her six month old Norfolk terrier , D ' Artagnan , will go back and forth from Los Angeles , where she lives , to Britain , Germany and Austria , covering 17 , 500 miles .  She said : ' That was part of the agreement . I got it in my contract . The training is very difficult , so when we have had a long day he acts as a bit of a stress reliever for everyone . '  Lady Victoria had just bought the puppy in October from a breeder in Stafford when she was approached for the series .  She was so anxious about leaving him that she asked for a special contract clause guaranteeing his air travel costs would be covered .  Before Christmas , he flew with her from London to  , at a cost of 1 , 000 , for two weeks . Then he flew back to join Lady Victoria for training at an indoor ski slope in Hemel Hempstead , Hertfordshire .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
5692,5693,"Reuters) - The leader of Spain s Socialists, the main opposition to Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy s conservative People s Party (PP), said on Monday the party would back government action if Catalonia makes a unilateral declaration of independence on Tuesday.  We ll support the response of the rule of law in the face of any attempt to break social harmony,  Pedro Sanchez said during a conference in Barcelona.  ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
5698,5699,"United Nations A U . N . expert panel alleges that North Korea exported banned nuclear and ballistic missile technology to several rogue nations .  The 75 page report , complied by a seven member panel reporting to the United Nations Security Council , states that North Korea is involved in "" nuclear and ballistic missile related activities in certain countries , including Iran , Syria and Myanmar "" and that special attention should be given by all member countries to inhibit such activities .  The report , which was released this week , had been delayed from publication for six months by China , a friendly nation to North Korea , according to a diplomat familiar with the case . The diplomat spoke in a background briefing and did not want to be identified .  The experts write that North Korea is getting around U . N . imposed sanctions and is masking financial transactions by the use of "" overseas entities , shell companies , informal transfer mechanisms , cash couriers and barter arrangements . "" The report goes on to state that North Korea "" has established a highly sophisticated international network for the acquisition , marketing and sale of arms and military equipment , and arms exports have become one of the country ' s principal sources for obtaining foreign exchange . ""  The report detailed some of the ways is says North Korea formally known as the Democratic People ' s Republic of Korea (  ) gets around U . N . sanctions :  The  is believed to use air cargo to handle high valued and sensitive arms exports . Such cargo can be sent by direct air cargo from the  to the destination country . Some modern cargo planes , for example , can fly non stop from the  to Iran , when routed directly through neighboring air space .  A technique now being used by the  to conceal its arms exports is to ship components for the assembly of arms overseas in the form of "" knock down kits "" which can be delivered to foreign assembly plants , the report says . In some cases , this is a turn key operation with the participation of  scientists , technicians and specialists .  The North Korean government had no immediate response to the report .  The United Nations Security Council imposed its last sanctions on North Korea in 2009 after the country conducted a nuclear test .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
5708,5709,"Reuters) - President Emmanuel Macron told U.S. President Donald Trump that the Paris climate deal could not be renegotiated and that while France would continue to work with Washington, it would no longer discuss climate issues with the United States, a French source said.  “The president spoke with President Trump in a five-minute phone call. The exchange was direct,” a source close to Macron said. “The president said that they could continue to talk, but indicated that nothing was renegotiable with regard to the Paris accords. The United States and France will continue to work together, but not on the subject of climate,” the source added.  ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
5721,5722,"This record breaking feat is sure to get Blackpool residents and tourists pumped up .  The iconic seaside town in Lancashire set a new Guinness World Record today for the world ' s biggest beach ball .  The gigantic orange and white ball was inflated near Central Pier on Blackpool Beach , weighing a staggering 880 pounds and standing as tall as the White House in Washington ,  , when it was fully inflated .  Pumped up : Visit Blackpool says it has set a new Guinness Word Record with a gigantic beach ball that has a diameter of 59 ft  Iconic : The gigantic orange and white ball was inflated near Central Pier on Blackpool Beach , weighing a staggering 880 pounds  Hold on tight : Blackpool ' s new record was validated on the spot by independent adjudicators , although it still awaits an official declaration  With a diameter of 59 ft , the custom made orb is three times the size of a standard house and weighs about the same as an adult horse .  It was inflated as part of a Visit Blackpool publicity stunt aimed at attracting tourists and giving the town ' s reputation a boost .  Iain Hawkins , spokesman for the tourism board ' s BlackpoolsBack campaign , said : ' We wanted to create something special , something unique that illustrates both Blackpool ' s legendary sense of fun and the fact that there has never been a better time for families to visit the most iconic seaside resort in the  .  ' The giant BlackpoolsBack beach ball , the biggest ever made in the world , does all of that and more . '  It took almost an entire fortnight to manufacture the beach ball and transport it to Blackpool Beach , where it was inflated near Central Pier  On the count of one . . . : The ball was inflated as part of a Visit Blackpool publicity stunt aimed at attracting tourists and giving the town ' s reputation a boost  Life ' s a beach : The record setting beach ball is capable of holding 3 , 766 , 313 pints of water or almost 60 , 000 standard beach balls  Councillor Graham Cain , Blackpool Council ' s cabinet member for tourism and leisure , said : ' We ' ve gone through years of regeneration and we ' re now at a point where we can be very proud of the holiday area we have to offer . '  It took an entire fortnight to manufacture and transport the ball , which is capable of holding 3 , 766 , 313 pints of water or almost 60 , 000 standard beach balls .  Had it been inflated by mouth , it would have taken 32 days to blow up .  Once it was inflated , Blackpool ' s new record was validated on the spot by independent adjudicators , the tourism board said .  Polish supermarket chain Real was the previous record holder .  The grocer inflated a beach ball with a diameter of 51 ft in May 2012 .  Tourism officials say the publicity stunt was an attempt to illustrate Blackpool ' s legendary sense of fun and history as a fun filled destination for families  When it is fully inflated , the beach ball stands as tall as America ' s White House and is three times the size of a standard house in the   Hot air : Had it been inflated by mouth , it would have taken 32 days to fully inflate the massive beach ball  Blowing away the competition : Polish supermarket chain Real was the previous record holder with a beach ball that had a diameter of 51 ft  Popular getaway : Blackpool attracts 13 million visitors a year and is the  ' s most visited seaside resort  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
5732,5733,"Cyr : Illinois , Wisconsin lag behind Indiana in transportation leadership  The House has voted overwhelmingly in favor of a multi year , 300 plus billion bill that boosts highway and transit spending and provides states with assurance that federal help will be available for major projects .  The House has voted overwhelmingly in favor of a multi year , 300 plus billion bill that boosts highway and transit spending and provides states with assurance that federal help will be available for major projects . ( Mark Duncan  )  Illinois needs leaders to champion transportation needs , columnist writes  The U . S . House of Representatives at last has moved to fund urgently needed nationwide transportation . Literally every part of our country is touched by federal transportation support . Lake County receives funds to interconnect traffic lights along Routes 83 and 173 , among other projects .  While this amounts to a victory for new House Speaker Paul Ryan , R Wisconsin , the most impressive transportation leadership is being provided at the state level , where neighboring Indiana has emerged as a leader .  In November , the House passed the first long term bill in nearly a decade for surface transportation . The vote was 363 to 64 . The Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2015 (   ) authorizes more than 300 million over six years . Approximately 80 percent of the funds are reserved for highways . Until now , both the Obama administration and Congress have failed even to address urgent transportation needs comprehensively .  Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke strongly criticizes the House bill for using interest payments from the Fed ' s portfolio , which normally go to the U . S . Treasury . He terms this sleight of hand which avoids increasing taxes .  Last year , as the U . S . highway trust fund was going broke , Chairman Dave Camp , R Michigan , of the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee , and Speaker John Boehner , R Ohio , used funds reserved for storage tank repair , plus pensions and customs resources for a financial quick fix .  Meanwhile , in July 2014 , a blue ribbon policy panel completed and presented a comprehensive report on transportation infrastructure to Indiana Gov . Mike Pence . The document is notable for its large number of detailed , specific recommendations .  These include comprehensive integration of all forms of existing transportation , including highways , rail , and air and water traffic . This strategic vision is complemented by highly specific recommendations , for example possibly altering the conventional structure of interstate freight trucks . There is evaluation and priority listing of proposals .  Early in 2015 , Pence proposed a 1 billion highway improvement program . The state is relatively strong in fiscal terms . Democrats have made even more ambitious transportation proposals .  Our Great Lakes region has Atlantic Ocean access through the St . Lawrence Seaway , complementing the great bulk of shipping moving through the Chicago metro area via rail , truck and water plus some air freight . Lack of an immediate major seaport facilitates today ' s intermodal movement .  While Chicago is our principal regional shipping center , our neighbor Indiana is providing effective and responsible state leadership which could benefit the region and nation .  Our massive , magnificent U . S . highway network reflects the brilliant skills of President Dwight D . Eisenhower . Today we lack comparable national political leadership .  Arthur I . Cyr , director of the Clausen Center for World Business at Carthage College in Kenosha , Wis . , is a freelance columnist for the News Sun .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
5738,5739,"A daughter who fled with her mother a decade ago during a custody dispute must appear in court if she is to testify in her mother ' s defence but she is in hiding and it ' s not clear if she will come forward .  A lawyer acting for Genevieve Kelly had requested that her daughter Mary Nunes , now 18 , be allowed to give a videotaped testimony in her mother ' s trial on custodial interference charges .  But the judge in the case yesterday rejected the request , ruling that Miss Nunes needs to be questioned by prosecutors first , because the state has no idea what she is planning to testify .  Genevieve Kelley ( left , before she fled in 2004 ) returned to New Hampshire late last year ( right ) and is facing custodial interference charges for taking her daughter Mary Nunes  The whereabouts of Mary Nunes ( left in childhood ) are still unknown , though authorities have issued age progressed photos ( right ) to try and find the now 18 year old  Miss Nunes was eight when she fled with her mother from Lancaster , New Hampshire . Kelley turned herself in to authorities in November on custodial interference charges .  She said she wants a trial , and her lawyer said Ms Nunes plans to testify for her mother .  But Alan Rosenfeld , for Kelly , had asked that Miss Nunes ' s testimony be videotaped , saying she was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder in 2004 and would suffer mental or emotional strain if she has to testify in court .  Prosecutor John McCormick responded that while the state is sensitive to the well being of Ms Nunes , if she is going to be a witness , she should appear at trial , not as part of a ' packaged videotaped presentation . '  Judge Peter Bornstein , ruling that Ms Nunes should not be allowed to give video taped testimony , said he had no evidence that the diagnosis from 2004 would affect her today , and that even if there were evidence , ' it ' s so remote in time . '  When asked how he would find Ms Nunes , Mr McCormick said , ' That ' s a good question . ' He said he hoped the defence would help arrange the meeting .  Since their disappearance ten years ago , U . S . Marshals have searched in the  , Canada and Central America for the daughter , mother and her new husband Scott Kelley .  The mother said she violated a family court decision to protect her daughter from her ex husband , Dr Mark Nunes , whom she alleges sexually abused the child .  The father was investigated , but not charged . Authorities felt the man was unfairly accused .  Scott Kelley , 50 , is also wanted in the case of Mary Nunes ' s non custodial kidnapping  Law enforcement concluded that Mrs Kelley mistreated the child .  Kelley and Dr Nunes divorced in 1998 and the mother moved to back to the northern town New Hampshire town where her parents lived .  The couple communicated through a notebook that Mary would shuttle back and forth , before a visit to her father ' s house was cancelled in 2003 .  Kelley said she fled during the custody battle over Mary to avoid a greater harm to her child , but prosecutor John McCormick said that defense doesn ' t apply under state law .  The prosecutor says the protection defense only applies if Mrs Kelley had stayed in New Hampshire with the girl .  Mr Rosenfeld said the law is meant to prevent that defense from being available to parents who take children out of state as part of an alleged crime .  The protection defense is one of many motions Justice Peter Bornstein is likely to hear today .  Ms Kelley ' s lawyers , who specialize in cases involving mothers kidnapping their children amid abuse allegations , have also asked that the judge not decide whether to allow her defenses until after evidence is heard , according to the Union Leader .  Mr Rosenfeld said it would be up to prosecutors to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Mrs Kelley left after no longer having a legal right to do so .  The defendant was not present for the hearing that gave Dr Nunes custody of Mary .  The lawyer said Ms Kelley plans to offer testimony that at a point where her daughter ' s court appointed guardian and social service agencies ' had chosen not to believe ' what the girl said , the legal system was unable to protect her .  ' Simply put , there was no lawful alternative to provide safety for this child , ' he wrote .  Mr McCormick said the investigation into whether Mary was abused was ' greatly compromised ' by Mrs Kelley ' s actions .  He said because Ms Kelley intentionally refused to follow the court ' s order for Mary to be evaluated in 2004 , ' she all but sabotaged the prospect of ever bringing Mary ' s alleged abuser to justice ' .   Marshals say that Mrs Kelley and her daughter originally fled on their own passports and made a stop in Honduras or Guatemala .  The Friends of Genevieve Kelley group helped post the mother ' s 250 , 000 bail after she returned to New Hampshire to face trial  The girl is no longer subject to family court after reaching the age of majority , and Mrs Kelley made contact with authorities last spring .  Mrs Kelley said that she returned because her nine year old son needs medical treatment for cystic fibrosis , according to the Boston Globe  The defense lawyer says that the daughter is anxious to return to living with her Mrs Kelley after the trial is resolved .  Dr Nunes , who is remarried and lives in Ohio , issued a statement saying that his daughter ' has been told falsehoods and misstatements on the events of her youth ' .  Mrs Kelley , a family practice doctor , is thought to have stopped in Honduras or Guatemala after fleeing New Hampshire  Ms Kelley was released from jail on January 7 after supporters posted 250 , 000 cash bail , and is living with her son .  The defendant is not allowed to have contact with her daughter or with her husband , 50 year old Scott Kelley , who also is missing and is charged with custodial interference .  He remains as one of New Hampshire ' s most wanted .  The prosecutor has asked for access to Ms Kelley ' s passport in hopes of locating her daughter .  Mr Rosenfeld objected , saying she would be producing evidence against herself , in violation of her constitutional rights against self incrimination .  The mother was released from custody after posting bail and is now living in New Hampshire with her nine year old son  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
5743,5744,"Athens Don ' t stick a fork in Greece . Use a spoon instead , because the debt riddled nation is about to emerge as Europe ' s economic powerhouse , thanks to booming sales of Greek yogurt .  "" Greek yogurt has more protein than regular yogurt . It tastes better . And it offers a long list of special properties that cannot be duplicated by any other material , "" said Nicholas Callis , Greece ' s Minister of Nutritional Reform .  "" In other words , it has what it takes to put Greece back on the economic menu . ""  Greek yogurt shops are being opened in virtually all of the world ' s major cities , elevating the dairy product from a food to a fashion trend .  "" If you ' re caught without your container of this gift from the Greeks , you may find yourself banished from the fashion scene , "" the editor of one of the world ' s leading glamour magazines was overheard saying .  Greece , meanwhile , was on the list to lose its status as a sovereign and solvent nation . But not anymore , since it takes in a lucrative royalty on every ounce of Greek yogurt sold .  "" It ' s like a license to print money , "" one unnamed Government official said . "" Now I know what it feels like to be Ben Bernanke . ""  Of course , Greece ' s debt runs beyond billions of euros , forcing the Greek government to find other uses for its cash cow .  "" Turns out , our yogurt is a versatile construction material , "" Greek Commerce Minister Zorba Pappandra said . "" It dries three times stronger than regular mortar , and it is two times as brilliant as ordinary white paint . Contractors all over the world can ' t get enough of this stuff . ""  When used as a nuclear reactor coolant , Greek yogurt has been tested to provide a 100 safeguard against core meltdown . And when employed as a gasoline additive , the dairy treat cuts tailpipe emissions by 70 . That might make Greek yogurt the solution to global warming .  It is the culture that makes Greek yogurt unique . "" This is the same culture that brought the world Aristotle , Socrates and Plato , "" Pappandra explained . "" Unfortunately , this is the same culture that can produce delusions of grandeur . So this whole yogurt salvation thing might just be someone ' s hallucination . ""  ",satire,text,validation,Other sport,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
5749,5750,"Sen. John McCain ( ) has reportedly told a   newspaper that he believes “American leadership” was better under President Barack Obama than President Trump  —   the latest in a series of shots the failed 2008 presidential candidate has taken at his fellow Republican. [According to the Guardian, McCain was “visibly irked” when asked about comments Trump made last week in the wake of the terrorist attack in London, in which he criticized London Mayor Sadiq Khan for his response to the atrocity.  “What do you think the message is? The message is that America doesn’t want to lead,” McCain said. “They are not sure of American leadership, whether it be in Siberia or whether it be in Antarctica. ” Then, when asked if America’s international standing was better under Obama, McCain reportedly responded: “As far as American leadership is concerned, yes. ” McCain  —   who lost his 2008 presidential bid against   Obama after a campaign in which he repeatedly defended Obama from his supporters’ criticisms  —   has been an outspoken critic of Trump and has refused to tone it down since his fellow Republican took the White House. In a recent tour of Australia, McCain told an audience in Sydney that Trump has “unsettled” allies and Americans alike. “Other American allies have similar doubts these days and this is understandable,” McCain said, according to The Associated Press at the city’s university. “I realize that some of President Trump’s actions and statements have unsettled America’s friends. They have unsettled many Americans as well. ” He went on to urge the Australians to “keep at” the   Partnership deal in the hope that one day “America will decide to join you. ” He also said in an interview with an Australian  network that Trump makes him “nervous from time to time” and said he was bothered that Trump does not always take the advice of his national security team. “Can I tell you that he does all the time? No. Does it bother me? Yes, it bothers me,” he said. Adam Shaw is a politics reporter for Breitbart News based in New York. Follow Adam on Twitter: @AdamShawNY.",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
5754,5755,"Chuck Todd exposed his nasty side when he totally abused the Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on his show Meet the Press: Of course, Tillerson held his own and gave replies that we full of credibility and support for President Trump: I have a great relationship with the president. I understand what his objectives are. When I m not clear on what his objectives are, we talk about it. I am devoted to helping the president achieve his objectives, helping him be successful. And I understand I have to earn his confidence every day with how I go about those affairs and how I go about conducting the State Department s activities consistent with the direction he wants to take the country. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Pres. Trump:  I have to earn his confidence every day.  Watch more tomorrow on # pic.twitter.com/PZnrqCZpAh  Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) May 13, 2017FULL INTERVIEW:weblink    INTERVIEW:  TODD:When President Trump fired James Comey, a lot of Democrats jumped to the collection that the president was trying to stymie the investigation into possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign. And on Thursday, the president told  Nightly News anchor Lester Holt that he was thinking of, quote,  This Russia thing,  when he made his decision. Yesterday, I sat down with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and I began by asking him whether he agrees with the president that the Russia story is fake news and a witch hunt.  TILLERSON:Well, Chuck, the president I think has made it clear that he feels it s important that we reengage with Russia. The relationship with Russia, as he has described, and I have described as well, is I think at an all-time low point since the end of the Cold War, with a very low level of trust.I think the world, and it s in the interest of the American people, it s in the interest of Russia, the rest of the world, that we do something to see if we cannot improve the relationship between the two greatest nuclear powers in the world. So the president, I think, is committed to at least make an effort in that regard, and he has certainly asked me to make an important effort as well. TODD:I understand that, but you look at what s happened in these Western European nations, in France and the U.K., in Germany, Italy. Accusations of Russian interference in their democratic process. What message does it send to those countries that their number one ally, the United States, the president fired the man at the agency that was looking into the very problem they re dealing with, Russian interference in the democracy?  TILLERSON:Well, Chuck, what I hear from the leaders of the other nations, Europe and more broadly, and the subject of Russia comes up in all of our conversations, is all the other nations want the U.S. and Russia to work towards improving our relationship as well, for all the reasons that I just mentioned.I think it s largely viewed that it is not healthy for the world. It s certainly not healthy for us, for the American people, our national security interest and otherwise, for this relationship to remain at this low level. Whether we can improve it or not remains to be seen.It s going to take some time. It s going to take a lot of hard work. But I think the president s committed, rightly so, and I m committed with him as well, to see if we cannot do something to put us on a better footing in our relationship with Russia. TODD:Can you get on a better footing with them if you don t address this issue of the Russian interference? I mean your counterpart, the Russian foreign minister, Mr. Lavrov, said that you guys didn t even talk about this issue of Russian interference in our election because, as he put it, President Trump himself says it s fake news, so it s not an issue. Why haven t you brought it up with them?  TILLERSON:Well, Chuck, I think we have such a broad range of important issues that have to be addressed in the U.S.-Russia relationship. Obviously the interference in the election is one of those. I think it s been well documented, it s pretty well understood, the nature of that interference, here and elsewhere.And you know, these are not new tactics on the part of the Russian government, directed not only at us but at others. But again, I think we have to look at this relationship in its broadest contours, and there are many, many important areas which require our attention if we are to bring it back to a relationship that we believe is necessary for the security of the U.S. TODD:Mr. Secretary, though. This is fundamental. They interfered with our democracy. I just don t understand how this is not a top issue for you to deal with with them in order to, essentially, start with a clean slate. Can t start with a clean slate until maybe they either own up to what they did, or we punish them in a way that they re not going to do this again.  TILLERSON:Well, Chuck, I think it s important to understand we re not trying to start with a clean slate. I think terms like having a reset are overused. You cannot reset. You cannot erase the past. You cannot start with a clean slate. And we re not trying to start with a clean slate.We re starting with the slate we have. And all the problems that are on that slate. We don t dismiss any of them. We don t give anyone a free pass on any of them. They re part of the entire nature of the discussion we re having with the Russians. And yes, there are a large number of issues that we have to get around to addressing in order to put this relationship back together, if that is indeed possible. TODD:During your confirmation hearings you made clear you didn t have  obviously you hadn t been briefed on the intelligence reports, the 17 different agencies that came to the conclusions that the Russians did make an effort to interfere in this election. Obviously there s an investigation going along to see if there was any collusion in this interference. Since you ve become Secretary of State in February, have you been briefed? Have you seen this intelligence now? Is it clear in your mind that it is a fact the Russians interfered in our elections?  TILLERSON:I have seen the intelligence reports, Chuck, and yes, I don t think there s any question that the Russians were playing around in our electoral processes. Again, as those intelligence reports also have indicated, it s inconclusive as to what, if any, effect it had. TODD:I understand about the impact, but the fact that they got into it, what should the repercussions be now, in your mind?  TILLERSON:Well, they re just part of that broader landscape of conversations, Chuck. And I think, you know, the real impact is it serves yet again to undermine the trust between the United States and Russia. And as I have said, and the president has said, you know, we re just at a very, very low level of trust between our two countries right now. And so what we re exploring is how do we begin the process of restoring that trust. And ultimately it will touch on all of these issues. TODD:I want to give you a chance to respond to an op-ed that Senator John McCain wrote, where he invoked your name, sir. He said this.  In a recent address to State Department employees Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said,  Conditioning our foreign policy too heavily on values creates obstacles to advance our national interests.' McCain goes on to write,  With those words, Secretary Tillerson sent a message to oppressed people everywhere,  Don t look to the United States for hope. Our values make us sympathetic to your plight, and when it s convenient we might officially express that sympathy.'  Some pretty tough words from Senator McCain. What do you say in response?  TILLERSON:Well, first, I d say if anyone has earned the right to express their views, Senator McCain has. And I have great respect for the senator. I think the point that I was making, Chuck, in that message to State Department employees is an important one to understand.And that s that America s values of freedom, of treatment of people, human dignity, freedom of expression throughout the world, those are our values. Those are enduring values. They are part of everything we do. And in fact they serve as the guidepost and they serve as the boundaries as we develop our foreign policy approaches and our diplomatic efforts.But I make a distinction between values and policy. A policy has to be tailored to the individual situation. To the country. To its circumstances. To the broader issues that we are addressing in terms of advancing our national security interest, our national economic interest.And so policies have to be adaptable. They have to change. They have to adjust to conditions. But our values can never change. Our values can never be put in a position of having to be compromised. And so the values guide our policy, but if we put our values in the front of our policies and say,  This is our policy,  we have no room to adapt to changing circumstances to achieve our ultimate objective. And I think if we are successful in achieving our ultimate diplomatic and national security objectives, we will create the conditions for the advancement of freedom in countries all over the world. TODD:Secretary Tillerson, I know you re busy and you ve got to get going. You ve got this big trip ahead of you. Thank you for spending some time with us. I appreciate it.",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present
5780,5781,"Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has nominated Marine General Joseph Dunford to keep his post as his top military adviser for another two-year term. Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was first named to the post in 2015 under then-president Barack Obama. The Pentagon announced the decision in a statement on Friday. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
5788,5789,"Reuters) - British billionaire and adventurer Sir Richard Branson will stay on his private Caribbean island, Necker, for the potentially devastating arrival of Hurricane Irma, the founder of the Virgin group of companies said on Tuesday. Packing 185 mph (295 kph) winds, Hurricane Irma is due to reach the British Virgin Islands on Wednesday before grinding west across Haiti and Cuba then heading for the southern United States. The storm is classified as a Category 5 hurricane, the highest level on the scale used by the National Hurricane Center to measure strength.       We had some lovely guests staying on Necker Island who have cut their trip short for safety reasons, and another group of guests have also postponed,  Branson said in a statement on the Virgin Group website.  I will be on Necker alongside our team, as I have been on the three times we have had hurricanes over the past 30 years.  Necker, which has a large main house and several small Balinese-style houses that can accommodate about 34 people in total, is rented to private groups for $80,000 a night, according to its website. The island has more than 100 staff and two infinity pools. Branson said Necker boasts  really strong  buildings with hurricane blinds  that should be able to handle extreme weather pretty well.  He said their main concern was for British Virgin Islanders, who should make themselves as prepared as possible.  Whatever happens, keep inside, away from the ocean and away from flying debris,  Branson wrote. Recalling seeing two powerful hurricanes, Earl and Otto, strike the British Virgin Islands in 2010, Branson said he had beheld nature  at its most ferocious.  And he noted the damage done in Texas and Louisiana by Hurricane Harvey, which came ashore as the second-strongest Category 4 storm and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses, killed an estimated 60 people and displaced more than 1 million more. Harvey was a  tragic and costly reminder  that society is not doing enough to tackle climate change, Branson wrote.  If Irma is any indication, we must brace ourselves for more of these catastrophic weather events.  ",true,dataset,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
5789,5790,"A hospital has permanently stopped specialist keyhole surgery after five cancer patients died from avoidable complications .  The Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells  Trust halted upper gastrointestinal (  ) operations for throat and stomach cancer patients last year .  It came after an internal review found the deaths of five patients between 2012 and 2013 could have been avoided .  Patients requiring the surgery were referred to St Thomas ' Hospital in London for a period of 12 months .  But the Kent trust has now said the decision to stop the operations at the hospital will be permanent .  Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells  Trust said a decision to refer upper gastrointestinal operations for throat and stomach cancer patients to St Thomas ' in London , taken last year , will be a permanent move  Medical director Paul Sigston said : ' The trust will not be resuming upper  cancer resection surgery , but diagnostic work and cancer treatment will continue to take place locally at both Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells hospitals .  ' Major upper  cancer surgery will not be carried out at  and we are currently working with our  partners to plan the long term strategy for patients needing this kind of treatment . '  The service was given a high profile launch in 2010 and included the opportunity for consultants and trainees to watch on screen at a lecture theatre next door .  But subsequent investigations found more than 30 per cent of patients who underwent the surgery developed complications .  The trust initially suspended operations in December 2012 following two deaths and resumed in January 2013 before three more fatalities forced them to stop again .  A report by the Royal College of Surgeons last May concluded that surgeons at Maidstone Hospital were unable to provide a safe service .  Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells  Trust admitted potentially avoidable complications could have contributed to the five deaths between 2012 and 2013 .  Three surgeons were barred from carrying out the procedures , but all have been allowed to continue doing general surgery .  The decision came after an internal review found the deaths of five patients between 2012 and 2013 could have been avoided  The report says the team was ' dysfunctional ' , their working practices were ' secretive ' , and they had a ' difficult ' relationship with anaesthetists .  It found there was a high rate of complications associated with the keyhole techniques , and that after care for patients was poor .  Speaking last May , Dr Sigston , medical director of the trust , said : ' I would again like to apologise to the families involved . '  The incidents were referred to the General Medical Council and the trust also conducted its own internal inquiry while procedures were suspended .  Sharon Lam , from Thomson Snell and Passmore solicitors , represents the families of the five patients who died and said they welcomed the decision not to resume surgery .  She said : ' If they have any doubt as to their ability to deliver a safe service to the patients then that must be a correct decision . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
5791,5792,"Lewis Hamilton responded to conjecture that he has the brawn , but not the brains , by claiming his 32nd career pole for tomorrow ' s Australian Grand Prix .  The new Formula One campaign , with its emphasis on fuel and tyre management , is expected to favour the thinking driver , and critics of Hamilton have suggested this could work against him .  While we ' ll yet to see how Hamilton handles the new regulations in race conditions , the early signs in qualifying were promising .   Scroll down to watch Lewis Hamilton , Daniel Ricciardo and the Lotus team  In control : Lewis Hamilton will start tomorrow ' s race from pole after mastering the inclement conditions  In black and white : Hamilton has 32 career pole positions which is one shy of Jim Clark ' s British record  He resisted calls to tackle the tricky Albert Park conditions on intermediate tyres instead opting for the wet weathered Pirelli , with its greater tread .  His timing too was impeccable , crossing the line after both Daniel Ricciardo in his Red Bull and Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg when the track was at its greatest .  Hamilton now joins compatriot Nigel Mansell on the all time list for the highest number of pole positions . He only needs two more to eclipse the legendary Jim Clark as Britain ' s greatest specialist over one lap and four time world champion Alain Prost .  It ' s difficult to say what drew a better response from the partisan Australian crowd Daniel Ricciardo sticking his Red Bull on the front row or Sebastian Vettel failing to make it into the top 10 shootout .  The Melbourne crowd clearly haven ' t forgotten Vettel ' s sour rivalry with home favourite Mark Webber , raucously cheering the German ' s early bath from qualifying .  Out of sorts : World champion Sebastian Vettel will start tomorrow ' s race from 12th on the grid  Slumping to 13th , Vettel failed to make it out of Q2 for the first time since the 2012 Belgian Grand Prix that ' s 28 races .  His final lap would certainly have been affected by Kimi Raikkonen ' s crash the waving yellow flags forcing him to slow but the reigning world champion was well off the pace of team mate Ricciardo throughout qualifying .  There was some consolation for the 26 year old after he was bumped up to 12th following Valtteri Bottas ' five place grid drop following a gearbox change .  Thumbs up : Ricciardo will start on the front row  Red Bull team principal Christian Horner sparked much controversy after he claimed that Mercedes would win the Australian Grand Prix by two laps . Unsurprisingly , it seems his prediction may have been somewhat premature .  Red Bull endured a nightmare pre season , so it is testament to the incredible work done by those at Milton Keynes in the aftermath of the final test in Bahrain to see Ricciardo haul the champions on to the front row .  And what of the Australian himself ? There was some displeasure that Red Bull chose to promote from within instead of hiring Raikkonen who ended his two year spell with Lotus at the end of last season .  But Ricciardo justified his selection by splitting the Silver Arrows while in contrast Ferrari were counting the cost of Raikkonen ' s dramatic spin in Q2 . The Finn will start from 11th oh his Ferrari comeback .  Ricciardo ' s notorious grin however , will be wider than ever tonight .  Kevin Magnussen and Daniil Kvyat will start fourth and eighth respectively after a sterling job from the F1 rookies .  Magnusessen ' s effort is the best from a Formula One first timer since Hamilton qualified fourth for the curtain raiser in Melbourne some seven years ago . His lap looks all the more impressive when you consider team mate Jenson Button failed to make it out of Q2 .  Rookie delight : Danill Kvyat and Kevin Magnussen in his McLaren ( right ) showed maturity on their debuts  Kvyat , who is just 19 years old and won last year ' s GP3 championship , was born just five days before Ayrton Senna was killed at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix .  The three time world champion , a master of wet conditions , would have doffed his cap to Kvyat ' s start to life in F1 .  Lotus were victorious at last year ' s Australian Grand Prix after Raikkonen stormed to glory in Melbourne .  But the troubled team have zero chance of repeating that feat tomorrow after somewhat of a nightmare on Saturday .  In trouble : The Lotus of Pastor Maldonado failed to post a competitive time in qualifying  Romain Grosejan and Pastor Maldonado will start 20th and 21st the latter , a winter arrival from Williams , spent much of Q1 on the grass , failing to complete a single lap .  The team somehow managed to see the funny side writing on their Twitter account : ' It was double points for the last race and reverse grids all season right ? '  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
5796,5797,"Julian Edelman practices with the Israel national football team in Jerusalem . (       )  Julian Edelman , who says he considers himself kind of Jewish , just grabbed the No . 4 spot on the list of the greatest All Time Jewish Pro Football Players , according to the American Jewish Historical Society .  Tom Brady s go to guy topped the list along with Hall of Famers Sid Luckman ( No . 1 ) , who quarterbacked the Chicago Bears to four  championships in the 1940s Benny Friedman , considered the  s first great passer and Ron Mix , one of the greatest offensive linemen to ever play the game .  Jews and baseball is a familiar American story , but there have been elite Jewish athletes in all professional sports , including football , said Rachel Lithgow , executive director of the American Jewish Historical Society , which recently curated an exhibit of rare Jewish football items . We are so lucky to house the Jewish sports archive at  that tell all of these American stories .  Edelman , whose dad is Jewish but whose mom is not , has been getting in touch with his Jewish side over the past several years , frequenting Shabbat dinners , wishing fans a Happy Passover on social media , calling on his team and fans to Yalla ! ( Let s go ! ) , and wearing a U . S . Israel pin on the sidelines of a regular season game in 2014 .  Last year he and his parents attended a massive celebration of Israel s 67th Independence Day at the Gann Academy in Waltham with thousands of local Jews .  Then last June , Edelman made a pilgrimage to Israel with a group of kids from Combined Jewish Philanthropies and Boston s Jewish Federation to dig into his heritage and Israeli culture .  This was an amazing , memorable , once in a lifetime experience for me , Edelman said at the time . Seeing Israel for the first time , really getting a sense of its history and culture ? I now truly understand why it s so special .  During the trip , Edelman paid a visit to Independence Hall to learn about the birth of the modern state of Israel , took a tour of the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and the Old City , and did some praying and reflecting at the Kotel , or Western Wall , the holiest site in Judaism .  In addition to Edelman , current Jewish  players include his teammate , Nate Ebner , brothers Geoff Schwartz of the New York Giants and Mitchell Schwartz of the Cleveland Browns ? the first pair of Jewish brothers to suit up in the  since Ralph and Arnold Horween in 1923 ? Taylor Mays of the Oakland Raiders , Erik Lorig of the New Orleans Saints and Brian de la Puente , who finished the 2015 season with the Washington Redskins and currently is a free agent .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
5800,5801,"This image made from militant video , which has been verified by  Intel Group and is consistent with other  reporting , shows Mohammed Emwazi , known as "" Jihadi John , "" holding a knife . A U . S . drone strike targeted a vehicle in Syria believed to be transporting the masked Islamic State militant known as "" Jihadi John "" on Thursday , Nov . 12 , 2015 according to American officials . Whether the strike killed the British man who appears in several videos depicting the beheadings of Western hostages was not known , officials said . (  Intel Group via  )   (  ) ? The latest news after officials say a U . S . drone strike targeted a vehicle in Syria believed to be transporting the masked Islamic State militant known as "" Jihadi John . ""  A Turkish official says authorities in Turkey have detained a man they suspect is linked to Mohammed Emwazi , the Islamic State militant known as "" Jihadi John . ""  The official said Friday the man , who they strongly believe to be Aine Lesley Davis , was detained in Istanbul , without providing further details . Authorities were still investigating to confirm his identity "" one hundred percent , "" the official said .  The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government rules that bar civil servants from speaking to journalists without prior authorization .  The White House says the airstrike against Mohammed Emwazi is evidence that the U . S . is "" making progress "" in its campaign to target top level Islamic State leaders .  White House spokesman Josh Earnest says he cannot confirm whether the strike killed the militant known as "" Jihadi John . "" He says the Pentagon has not yet made a final determination .  He says the operation was "" consistent "" with other operations aimed at top Islamic State leaders . He says President Barack Obama did not personally sign on the strike .  Earnest cast Emwazi as a major figure in the group . He describes Emwazi as a "" strategist "" and "" intimately involved "" in Islamic State efforts to use social media to radicalize and recruit followers .  Britain ' s opposition leader says it would have been better if Mohammed Emwazi had stood trial for his crimes .  Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said while the death had not been confirmed , "" it appears Mohammed Emwazi has been held to account for his callous and brutal crimes . ""  "" However , it would have been far better for us all if he had been held to account in a court of law , "" he said . "" These events only underline the necessity of accelerating international efforts , under the auspices of the  , to bring an end to the Syrian conflict as part of a comprehensive regional settlement . ""  Some suggested the comments by Corbyn , a left winger and peace campaigner , were naive . Labour legislator Ian Austin tweeted : "" How do people who think Emwazi should have been put on trial think this could have happened and how many others would he kill in the meantime ? ""  The widow of David Haines , a British aid worker killed by Islamic State militants , says the possible death of "" Jihadi John "" in a U . S . drone strike would have been "" too easy for him . ""  Dragana Haines told The Associated Press in a brief phone interview Friday from her home in Croatia that it would have been much better for the families of the victims if Mohammed Emwazi , believed to be the masked man who beheaded several Western hostages , had faced a trial .  Haines says "" I personally would have liked to be able to come to the trial , look him in the face and see what kind of man is that . "" She adds "" it would be more just , this is somehow too easy for him . ""  The U . S . says the drone strike targeted a vehicle in Syria believed to be carrying Emwazi Thursday .  Haines , whose husband was killed last September , adds Emwazi ' s possible death "" means very little because David is not here with us and there is no way to bring him back . '  She adds "" the only positive thing is that he ( Emwazi ) can no longer harm anyone else . ""  U . S . military spokesman Steve Warren says officials are "" reasonably certain "" they have killed the Islamic State militant known as Jihadi John with a Hellfire missile fired from a drone .  Warren says the world is better off without the man believed to have beheaded several Western hostages , whom the spokesman referred to as a human animal .  Warren says the operation was one in a string of targeted attacks on Islamic State leaders . He says the U . S . has killed one mid to upper level  leader every two days since May .  The family of an American journalist beheaded by the Islamic State fighter known as "" Jihadi John "" said a U . S . drone strike targeting the extremist provides little comfort .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
5824,5825,"Reutgers Medical Center recently announced that it may operate this Thanksgiving weekend without any hospital administrators in house . "" We have been practicing trial runs by having an on call administrator on Saturdays but taking Sundays completely off , "" Janet Summers  of nursing told reporters .  "" I don ' t think one administrator slept that first night when we let the hospital fly solo by not having 24 hour administrator coverage . When we arrived to work the next day , at 9 o ' clock , not one adverse event had occurred ! "" she continued . "" This 96 hour span will really make us sweat . ""  Reutgers is prepared to have nearly every "" essential worker "" stay home to "" increase morale . "" They want these "" critical employees "" spending time with "" family and friends . "" Those excluded from the free weekend include doctors , nurses , PAs , NPs , RTs , pharmacists , and most other health care professionals .  "" How this hospital will function and avoid anarchy is beyond me , but being with family is very important , "" said Kevin Salzar , hospital  , who reluctantly signed off on the deal . "" Let ' s see if these doctors and nurses can pull it off . We have left them with pages of documentation and procedural papers for them to read , so they know how to practice medicine . Heck , many in our administration have been doing their job for 20 years . Of course they know how to tell doctors and nurses what to do by paper memo . ""  The official memo warns administrators to prepare for a Monday "" full of meetings to second guess everything that happened over the long weekend . ""  Nurses on 4 West have talked about having several meetings to discuss what they will talk about at future meetings if things start to get out of hand . "" My white coat has at least 50 satisfaction surveys if I get into a bind , "" Dr Hemsworth told reporters .  Other University affiliated hospitals are cautious of such a bold move . "" We officially warn Reutgers to exercise great caution with this move . Will the monetary savings actually be worth the lives that will be lost by the lack of satisfaction surveys , committee meetings , and  reports that will have to wait until the following week ? We think not , "" said Donald French , a top administrator for Miami University .  When reached for comment Reutgers responded , "" Don ' t worry it wasn ' t a cost savings decision . All administrators will still receive their Thanksgiving bonus , we will save money by cutting holiday pay to nurses . ""  ",satire,text,validation,Other sport,Conflict,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,present
5833,5834,"In 2014, Tennessee lawmakers passed a bill which legalized an entirely new type of loan in the state, often referred to as a Flex loan. These loans have an annual interest rate of 279 percent.According to WTVF, the Flex loan is the brainchild of the payday loan industry. The bill, which allows payday lenders to push these predatory loans in Tennessee, was introduced just as the U.S. Congress was talking about cracking down on traditional payday loans.The Flexible Credit Act, which created the loans and legalized an interest rate of 279 percent, was sponsored by republican State Representative Cameron Sexton.It passed with bipartisan support in both houses.An investigation by  revealed that, just before and just after the bill was passed, at least $400,000 was funnelled to state lawmakers from payday lending companies.The only person to testify regarding the bill was a lobbyist from the payday loan industry.Only one lawmaker, democratic Representative Mike Stewart, questioned the legislation as it made its way through the assembly.Video shows that Representative Stewart, who voted against the legislation, initially asked Sexton about the bill. Do we have any idea as we re passing this bill today, which is creating an entirely new financial product, what it s going to cost the average guy on the street? When Sexton did not have an immediate answer, Stewart continued to press him on the issue. Well what is the APR?  he asked.  I m sure we know it. What is it? What is the answer? What is it? Sexton finally replied, saying,  The highest interest rate that could be charged is 24%. Sexton s answer was deceptive. While Flex loans have a 24 percent annual interest rate, there is an additional interest rate of .7 percent, which is charged to the consumer every single day, throughout the life of the loan.Veteran Joshua Hause had two existing payday loans in Tennessee, before the Flex loans were legalized. His total debt at the time was $925.As he explains here, he was forced to convert the two loans to a Flex loan. He now pays more than $2,000 a month on the $925 he originally borrowed, and his payments continue to grow larger every month.Hause is not alone.  also talked to Tennessee resident Malia Andrews. I just about had a complete meltdown in the car,  Andrews recalled, describing the moment she realized it would take years to pay off her flex loan.She explained,  And only like $20 of my payment was going to the principal and the rest was, like $300, was going towards the interest rate. The single mother said that, if she d known how much the loan would end up costing her, she never would have taken it out. According to WTVF, the bill that legalized Flex loans in Tennessee never addressed the 279 percent APR. interviewed Sexton on February 17, 2016.NewsChannel 5 Investigates asked Sexton about the exchange on the House floor in 2014:  Why weren t you able to just say  this is what the  is ? Sexton s response:  I don t think anybody was trying to dodge the question. What happens is you want to make sure the information he s provided is accurate. It gets better.NewsChannel 5 Investigates asked Sexton,  So you d have to do some real math to figure out its 279%. I don t know about real math, but it would take a little work to come up with 278%,  he replied. Watch the video below, courtesy of WTVF.Featured image via video screen capture from  ",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
5835,5836,"A few weeks into the fall  season , and already one show is down for the count .  The cast from "" Quarterlife "" played young , artsy 20 somethings on the incredibly short lived show .  But let ' s look on the bright side . "" The Beautiful Life "" got at least two episodes in before the  gave it the ax , spared from that  land rarity : the single episode show .  Although the jury ' s still out on which series will last to see this year ' s November sweeps , none of them ( as their developers are certainly thankful about ) can be lumped in with the truly cringe worthy and sadly uninteresting one episode wonders .  Here are some of the shows that saw the light of your television screen for just a single episode .  1 . Known as the show that started the idea of the quick hook ,  ' s 1961 live celebrity game show "" You ' re in the Picture "" was hosted by Jackie Gleason . The grand idea was to invite celebrities on and ask them to stick their heads into a painted scene and guess which one it is . It was so dismal , Gleason spent a half hour the following week apologizing for letting the show air , and it was then replaced with "" The Jackie Gleason Show . ""  2 . There were a few shows pushing buttons in the tumultuous time of the 1960s , but the producers of the late ' 60s sketch comedy show "" Laugh In "" thought the envelope hadn ' t been pushed quite enough . "" Turn On , "" a similar comedy show , hit  ' s airwaves in February 1969 and was so controversial , it was turned off after just one episode .  3 . Networks have capitalized on popular movie trends for decades ( looking at you , "" Vampire Diaries "" ) , and 1979 ' s "" Co ed Fever "" was no different . Attempting to ride the popularity of "" Animal House , "" this half hour show asked the question , "" What happens when all female Baxter College goes co ed ? "" Answer ?  cancels it .  4 . Americans are finicky about their cop shows , as Steven Bochco , the man who brought us ""  Blue "" and "" L . A . Law , "" knows all too well . Some of them spark enough spinoffs to keep a show alive throughout generations , and others , like 1996 ' s "" Public Morals , "" a sitcom about the humorous antics of the  , just spark hate . One hit wonders : 3  : 0 .  5 . In 1997 , Fox unveiled "" Lawless , "" an action series featuring  star Brian Bosworth as a detective . After the pilot episode , "" Lawless "" was outlawed , although Bosworth did go on to act again .  6 . Right in the middle of the dot com bubble ,  tried to stake its claim with "" Dot Comedy "" in 2000 , a sort of online version of "" America ' s Funniest Home Videos . "" "" Dot Comedy "" was also like a premonition for the Internet bubble that was about to burst : it went belly up after the pilot .  7 . Not to be confused with a "" Maury "" episode , 2005 ' s "" Who ' s Your Daddy ? "" was a Fox reality series turned reality "" special "" about a woman who was adopted at birth , trying to pick out her birth father from a set of eight men , with 100 , 000 riding on the line . Needless to say , that gem of a concept angered viewers and adoption advocates alike .  8 . It ' s true that there isn ' t much reality television fans won ' t watch , but  ' s 2005 series "" The Will "" was one of them . It featured a cast of 10 fame seekers all angling to get in a wealthy 73 year old man ' s will . The show died before the money grubbers could craft a eulogy .  9 . Heather Graham may be known for a few things , but pulling off a "" Sex and the City "" esque series isn ' t one of them . "" Emily ' s Reasons Why Not , "" 2006 ' s show about a book publishing career woman with the requisite gay guy sidekick , was just no replacement for  ' s Manolo ed foursome . That doesn ' t mean  stopped trying , though : "" Cashmere Mafia "" rolled out in 2008 , only to meet a similar fate as Graham ' s bomb of a sitcom .  10 . Next on the "" so bad it shouldn ' t have aired "" reality show train is "" Anchorwoman , "" a 2007 show about model Lauren Jones becoming an anchor for a small town Texas station . If you don ' t remember it , it ' s because you were among the millions and millions of viewers Fox was hoping would tune in , and didn ' t .  11 . Who knows what did in  ' s 2008 "" Secret Talents of the Stars . "" Maybe it was the thought of watching not one but two boxers perform musical acts ? ( Joe Frazier was slated to sing R B , and Roy Jones Jr . would have wooed the audience with his rapping . ) We watch them dance awkwardly and duke it out in isolated jungles but , apparently , we don ' t care what "" secret talents "" celebrities are holding close to the vest .  12 . As if being 25 isn ' t depressing enough . "" Quarterlife , ""  ' s 2008 attempt to take a Web based show and turn it into a small screen drama , failed miserably despite its online popularity . The show , focused on a group of 20 somethings trying to make their way through life and the digital age , earned some of the worst ratings  had seen in years . The rest of the season ' s episodes were exiled to Bravo .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
5841,5842,"Aren t the kids already suffering enough by being forced to eat Mooch s slop for lunch? Isn t it always  all about the kids  for the unions and Dem s? When the Washington D.C. City Council pleaded for $110,000 in funding for a program for at risk kids they cried that it was  for the children.  But not long after the money was given to the city, officials decided to use it to fund a big party for Obama s 2009 inaugural. Now one official has been sentenced for this theft.Former  official Neil S. Rodgers was sentenced this week for the theft and six others have pled guilty in separate cases for the misappropriation of the funding.Neil S. Rodgers, a former D.C. government official, was sentenced Tuesday for his role in the misappropriation of $110,000 earmarked for D.C. s Children at Risk and Drug Prevention Fund to cover a deficit for the 51st State Inaugural Ball for President Obama s inauguration in 2009. Rodgers, found guilty of fraud in March, was sentenced to 36 days (served on weekends) plus two years of probation. Rodgers must also repay the entire $110,000 as restitution for his crime. In 2008, as arrangements were underway for inauguration celebrations, the Washington City Paper reported on former council member Harry Thomas Jr. s early plans for the 51st State Inaugural Ball, noting that  there would have to be a plan to raise funds for the event, and security and cleanup concerns would also have to dealt with. Thomas says all that will be taken care of; he says he plans to seek private donations to cover the difference between the event s cost and the revenues raised by the $51 ticket cost.  Donations, however, came up short. Justice Department officials described Rodgers s role in the misappropriation scheme in a Tuesday press release.Via: Right Wing News",fake,dataset,validation,Other news1,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
5847,5848,"Statistics say that America is more prosperous than ever , but you ' d never know it from looking at the horse stables tucked behind the kidney shaped pool in Fred and Mary Lipton ' s backyard on Shady Lane .  "" We keep meaning to expand them , "" sighs Mary Lipton , 45 , a member of the Greenwich Arts Society and mother of three . "" But Freddie ' s firm has lost several of its corporate clients recently , and we ' re having a hard enough time making the payments on Crystal Waves their Bridgehampton home . When does ' trickle down economics ' trickle down to us ? ""  The Liptons are at the short end of an alarming trend in America : the ever widening gap between the rich and super rich . According to Treasury Department statistics , the wealthiest . 01 percent of the American population holds 20 percent of the nation ' s wealth , or 270 trillion , an amount more than two times the holdings of the next richest . 09 percent combined .  The current disparity is an alarming indicator of things to come , according to Martin Hubbell , professor of macroeconomics at Yale University . "" A healthy capitalist economy should not concentrate so much of its wealth in the hands of so few , "" Hubbell said . "" I mean , it should concentrate it in the hands of a few , but not so few . ""  The burgeoning gulf is strikingly apparent on streets like Shady Lane . At its north end , two permanently manned guardhouses mark the entrances to two palatial estates , each more than 5 , 000 acres , and each just one of many properties owned by its inhabitants .  Yet only a scant two miles away , on Shady Lane ' s dreaded "" South Side , "" 25 room dwellings like the Liptons ' huddle pathetically a few yards from the pavement , the desired effect of their d cor often undermined , the nearest neighbor usually less than a furlong away . Unlike the super rich , with their dozen or so properties across the globe , these owners are but one , two , or at most three catastrophic fires away from utter homelessness .  The close proximity of rich and super rich is a source of frequent tension , according to Mary Lipton . "" There is no doubt in my mind that a lot of the super rich would be very happy to keep us in these slums , "" she said with a tinge of bitterness in her voice . "" Either that , or they just don ' t want to know about us . It ' s like , ' Well , as long as I don ' t have to see them or go into their neighborhood , I can pretend that everything is fine , that everybody has a membership at Pebble Beach and Augusta like me . ' It ' s really palpable . Their maids even act like they ' re as good as we are . ""  Indeed , Professor Hubbell detects signs of a budding class warfare in this year ' s electoral results . "" Ninety six percent of those with 4 million or more in annual earnings voted for Bob Dole , "" he observed . "" But among those whose income is between 1 and 4 million , the figure plummets to 90 percent . We are dealing with a politics of resentment , and it ' s going to get ugly . ""  The owner of one of Shady Lane ' s two tony northern properties sees no cause for panic in the statistics . "" As we say in my industry , a rising tide lifts all ships , "" said Henry Humphries , a shipping magnate worth an estimated 750 million . "" It just takes some time , that ' s all . Look , I made 45 million last year , and I bought all my executives BMWs . Would I have liked to have bought them Rolls Royces ? Of course . But I have to acquire other companies with that money so I can continue to make money so that they can continue to make money . That ' s what makes the world go around . ""  But Minnie "" Bubbles "" DeLaroue , a wealthy widow and Humphries ' neighbor across the creek , is quick to acknowledge the problem . The billionairess is founder of Reaching Out , a charity organization dedicated to improving the lives of the less fortunate . "" We all need to give back to the rich , "" said DeLaroue . "" My husband believed that what made America truly great was people reaching out to other people , lending them a hand or a houseboat or whatever it takes . In the end , having lots and lots of money isn ' t nearly as important as just having lots of money . ""  ",satire,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,satire,True,no,no,negative,past
5858,5859,"Posted on October 30, 2016 by Isaac Davis  The months long Dakota Access Keystone  pipleine protest at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation by Native Americans and those sympathetic to protection of our water supply have been met with a heavy-handed and brutal clamp down by police and national guard. Militarized goons in battle dress have stormed protector camps with  sonic weapons, attack dogs , tear gas, tazers , and even live ammunition ( killing horses ), while politicians and mainstream media do their best to ignore this growing atrocity, hoping to wait it out until the protestors give up.  But, as the saying goes, Water Is Life , and the issue of life and death is at the root of this protection movement, therefore, for people concerned with life, giving up on this is simply unthinkable. The root issue justifying state oppression of the protest is capitalism, and the perception that money is more important than life itself. When the police and national guard attack U.S. citizens on private property to protect corporate interests, who are they really working for?  The corporate dream of the Keystone  pipeline is to create a profit stream for a small number of people at the expense of the natural world and anyone in the way. At the top of this pyramid of profit is Texas billionaire Kelcy Warren,  of Energy Transfer Partners, the company responsible for the project.  So who is Kelcy Warren?  A native of East Texas and graduate of the University of Texas at Arlington with a degree in civil engineering, Warren worked in the natural gas industry and became co-chair of Energy Transfer Equity in 2007. With business partner Ray Davis, co-owner of the Texas Rangers baseball team, Warren built Energy Transfer Equity into one of the nation’s largest pipeline companies, which now owns about 71,000 miles of pipelines carrying natural gas, natural gas liquids, refined products and crude oil. The company’s holdings include Sunoco, Southern Union and Regency Energy Partners.  Forbes estimates the 60-year-old Warren’s personal wealth at $4 billion. Bloomberg described him as “among America’s new shale tycoons” — but rather than building a fortune by drilling he “takes the stuff others pull from underground and moves it from one place to another, chilling, boiling, pressurizing, and processing it until it’s worth more than when it burst from the wellhead.” [ Source ]  Shockingly, in 2015 the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, appointed Warren to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission which is an insult to environmentalists working to protect Big Bend National Park and surrounding sacred tribal lands from another $770 million pipeline project .  “According to the governor’s office, the state parks and wildlife commission “manages and conserves the natural and cultural resources of Texas,” along with ensuring the future of hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation opportunities for Texans.” [ Source ]  This glaring conflict of interest has inspired Environmental Science major at  and former Texas State Park Ambassador Andrew Lucas to begin a drive to have Warren removed from this environmental post. His petition is described here :  Most people may know Kelcy Warren as the man behind the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline. The Dallas-based billionaire and  of Energy Transfer Partners has been making headlines for fast-tracking a 1100 mile crude oil pipeline across the Midwest and under the Missouri River, just north of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. No environmental impact assessment, no respect for cultural sites, and no regard for the local and widespread communities living along the river. A similar story is unfolding out in West Texas, where Warren’s company has split through the pristine Big Bend region with the 200 mile Comanche Trail Pipeline and nearly-complete 143 mile Trans Pecos Pipeline. These Pipelines mark the way for massive natural gas and oil developments in the Trans Pecos region.  With untold damages unfolding for cultural and environmental resources at the hands of Energy Transfer Partners, it would surprise most to know that nearly a year ago, Texas Governor Greg Abbott appointed Kelcy Warren for a 6 year term as 1 of the 10 commissioners who preside over Texas Parks And Wildlife… Why? Probably the $550,000 in campaign contributions Abbott received from Warren.  Footage of militarized police using the Long Range Acoustic Device (  ) crowd control weapon against protectors at standing rock on October 27th, 2016: Final Thoughts  Warren is listed as number 150 on Forbes list of wealthiest Americans with an estimated net worth of $4.2 billion in September of 2016. He is the head of the Dakota Access Pipeline snake.  If you are scratching your head wondering why militarized police and private security contractors are beating, gassing and attacking peaceful resistors , including women, children and the elderly, the answer is, they are doing it to protect the interests of Kelcy Warren and others invested in this pipeline project. Read more articles by Isaac Davis .  Isaac Davis is a staff writer forweblink andweblink Survival Tips blog. He is an outspoken advocate of liberty and of a voluntary society. He is an avid reader of history and passionate about becoming self-sufficient to break free of the control matrix. Follow him on Facebook, here . This article ( This is the Man Militarized Police at Standing Rock are Working For ) was originally created and published by Waking Times and is published here under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Isaac Davis andweblink . It may be re-posted freely with proper attribution, author bio, and this copyright statement. Don't forget to follow the D.C. Clothesline on Facebook and Twitter.  help spread the word by sharing our articles on your favorite social networks. Share this:",fake,news,validation,Other news1,Conflict,fake,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
5859,5860,"Port au Prince , Haiti Teams of rescuers in Haiti ' s capital rushed to the city ' s Caribbean Market on Tuesday after a machine used to clear rubble caused a secondary collapse , trapping at least one Haitian in the rubble .  A French excavation team was working the site , which collapsed in the January 12 earthquake , said Lt . Col . Christophe Renou of French Civil Protection . The team spotted a body in the rubble and brought in an excavation machine , which resembles a bulldozer , to attempt to reach the body , he said .  The machine tipped into a hole , however , and caused further collapse , Renou said . Several Haitians were in the building at the time , he said , some helping in the search and others looking for useful items . Teams are aware of at least one person alive , confirmed with radar .  Renou said he believes more people are trapped , but he doesn ' t know how many or whether they are alive .  The French crews called U . S . and Mexican teams to the site to help with the rescue . The U . S . team brought more radar and lifting devices to try to extract the known survivor and reach any others , said Norman Skjelbreia , an incident commander from the U . S . Army Corps of Engineers .  The rescue mission is complicated , he said , by the Caribbean Market ' s debris and rubble and an adjacent building that is partially collapsed .  More than 212 , 000 people died in the earthquake , Haitian officials said , and bodies are being recovered every day .  Rescuers pulled an apparent survivor of the original quake , Evan Muncie , 28 , from the rubble of a market on Monday . Doctors found him suffering from extreme dehydration and malnutrition , but without significant crushing injuries .  Muncie ' s family told staff at the hospital that he had been missing since the quake , and was found in the wreckage of a market where he sold rice . Muncie told doctors that someone brought him water while he waited for rescue , but sounded confused and sometimes thought he was still in the rubble .  By Wednesday , Muncie was in stable condition , according to University of Miami hospital spokeswoman Nery Ynclan , who said he was more alert and aware of his surroundings and was answering questions .  Ynclan said Muncie had eaten and even asked for chocolate which staff provided in small quantities . Muncie will be at the hospital at least another week , she said . His brother and mother arrived Monday at the hospital to be with him , she said .  Ynclan also said that crews returned Tuesday to the the site where Muncie was found and determined he may have been trapped in a room with some food or water . He was likely not pinned down , she said , but scrapes on his hands and feet indicate he may have tried to climb out .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
5898,5899,"On Tuesday, Donald Trump kicked off his morning by inserting his foot in his mouth, then his other foot, then growing a third foot and stuffing it in there too.As President I wanted to share with Russia (at an openly scheduled W.H. meeting) which I have the absolute right to do, facts pertaining .  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 16, 2017Sure, his explanation started out dumb as f*ck, but it gets better/worse: he says he gave  code word material  to Russia for  humanitarian reasons.  Yes, you read that right   he provided highly classified information to a hostile dictatorship for  humanitarian reasons. to terrorism and airline flight safety. Humanitarian reasons, plus I want Russia to greatly step up their fight against  & terrorism.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 16, 2017@realDonaldTrump Extra, extra!#TrumpRussia#MarchForTruthweblink #tuesdaymotivation #MorningJoe pic.twitter.com/DXtP59MPoz  Holly O Reilly (@AynRandPaulRyan) May 16, 2017@realDonaldTrump BREAKING: Russia has formally abandoned its spy program. No need to pay for spies when Trump will give Russia intel freely.  Rob Szczerba (@RJSzczerba) May 16, 2017@realDonaldTrump Oh okay so you shared data so sensitive they have to use code-names for the subjects in it because of  humanitarian reasons?  Jules Suzdaltsev (@jules_su) May 16, 2017@realDonaldTrump The way you re cosying up to Russia is sickening. What are you thinking? And why put Russia ahead of American interests? Corruption 101.  Mike P Williams (@Mike_P_Williams) May 16, 2017@realDonaldTrump One sticky facts, Donald:          ALLIES.No humanitarian concerns regarding western Europe? Canada?  MatthewDicks (@MatthewDicks) May 16, 2017@realDonaldTrump You criticize your administration for leaks and you leaked to our enemy!  Jail Donald Trump (@DTrumpExposed) May 16, 2017@realDonaldTrump The why not get permission from the country who shared it first? You burned their source and possible we are less safe in future.  Jon (((Wolfsthal))) (@JBWolfsthal) May 16, 2017@realDonaldTrump Translation: I told the Russians because I m worried about them. I love them.Also, I planned to tell America s allies eventually.  MatthewDicks (@MatthewDicks) May 16, 2017@realDonaldTrump Donald I do not believe for a second that you can spell humanitarian  Stuart Fazakerley (@stuartfaz) May 16, 2017@realDonaldTrump McMaster: Trump did   wait he s tweeting? Uh  Trump shared, absolute right, uh, humanitarian & stuff.#TrumpLeaks #MarchForTruth   (@labboypro) May 16, 2017@realDonaldTrump just fucking resign already, you hate this as much as we do  Stefanie Iris Weiss (@EcoSexuality) May 16, 2017@realDonaldTrump The President just admitted treason.  Penelope Reed (@PMilstein) May 16, 2017@realDonaldTrump Oh you re a humanitarian now? So why are you trying to rid 20 million people of health care?   (@ACinthe715) May 16, 2017@realDonaldTrump Omg, did you just admit to giving the Russians classified information?  Randy Withers (@counselorinsite) May 16, 2017Interestingly, Trump national security advisor H.R. McMaster claimed on Monday that Trump did not reveal classified information   something he just as good as admitted in his tweets.Ironically, Trump   who leaked classified information directly to Russia   complained that he has been asking  Director Comey (whom he fired after Comey requested additional resources for the Russia investigation) and  others  to figure out who has been leaking information about his and his administration s misdeeds.I have been asking Director Comey & others, from the beginning of my administration, to find the  in the intelligence community ..  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 16, 2017This administration is a joke so bad it s almost criminal. OK, it is criminal. In fact, we re left to wonder when   not if, but when   Republicans will feel that they have no choice but to put their country first and impeach this orange motherfucker.Featured image via Getty Images (Pool)/screengrab",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,satire,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
5899,5900,"After coming under fire from her fans and celebrity colleagues,  and soul   Chrisette Michele is defending her decision to perform at an undisclosed event during Donald Trump’s inauguration. [“We can’t be present if we’re silent,” Michele wrote in an open letter she posted to Twitter Friday.  The   says she is willing to take the heat if it means she can “be a bridge” to bring people together. “I am willing to be a bridge. I don’t mind These Stones, if they allow me to be a voice for the voiceless,” the singer wrote. weblink  .  | An Open Letter pic. twitter.   —   chrisette michele (@ChrisetteM) January 19, 2017,  Though Michele has worked with the likes of Jay Z, John Legend and will. I. am, the    star has faced backlash for agreeing to perform for Trump. Film director Spike Lee said he’s no longer using Michele’s song “Black Girl Magic” in his new Netflix series after he learned of her inauguration event. “I Wuz Thinkin’ ’bout Using Chrisette’s      In My Netflix Series SHE’S     …    .  ANYMORE,” Lee wrote in an Instagram post.  Good Morning Folks. I Wuz Sorry To Read That ”Sistuh Girl” Is Singin’ At DT’s Inauguration (And To Use His Fav  ). I Wuz Thinkin’ ’bout Using Chrisette’s      In My Netflix Series SHE’S     …    .  ANYMORE. And Dat’s Da Truth, Ruth. A photo posted by Spike Lee (@officialspikelee) on Jan 19, 2017 at 4:10am PST,  Questlove, drummer for The Roots, the longtime   band for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,  tweeted on Wednesday that he would pay Michele not to perform at Trump’s inauguration. I’d pay Chrisette to  perform 😔  —   Questlove Gomez (@questlove) January 18, 2017,  Michele joins a growing lineup of inaugural performers many of them, including Toby Keith, and rock band Three Doors Down, are expected to perform Friday for the “Make America Great Again! Welcome Celebration. ” Soul singer and civil rights activist Sam Moore, who also recently defended his decision to perform at the inauguration, is also expected to tale the stage on Friday.   Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter @jeromeehudson",true,news,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
5903,5904,"Brazilian playmaker Kaka set his sights on helping football become the No 1 sport in America after signing for the newly formed Orlando City .  The 32 year old said the American League could exploit the interest created by the United States ' memorable run at the World Cup in Brazil .  ' My expectation is that soccer is going to be the first sport in America , ' Kaka said on Wednesday , adding that he wanted to help the  become one of the five biggest leagues in the world and attract more international players .  Hero ' s welcome : Kaka is mobbed by Orlando City fans after arriving at the international airport  Where ' s the band ? Kaka ' s arrival has been likened to that of a rockstar by the club  American boy : Kaka walks through the airport wearing an Orlando City scarf  ' In Europe the players speak a lot to come to play in America , ' Kaka said . ' To other players I think I can show that the American league is a nice place to play . '  Kaka and team owner Flavio Augusto da Silva repeatedly cited as a deciding factor in his move the seriousness of the Orlando City franchise ' s vision as a global brand capable of attracting international talent to a growing  market .  Orlando City have refused to reveal the salary of Kaka , the 2007 world player of the year award and the team ' s first designated player .   allows three high priced designated players per team for whom only a portion of their salaries are included in the cap .  ' Yes , they ' re paying me good . I had to say this . But I had another opportunity to earn more than they are paying me here . So my decision is not about money , ' Kaka said .  Boy from Brazil : Kaka will join Sao Paulo on loan before completing move to Orlando City  Moving on : Kaka exercised a get out clause in his  Milan contract after club failed to qualify for Europe   Kaka celebrates Milan century  Big money : Kaka was the world ' s most expensive player when he signed for Real Madrid for 56m in 2009  Despite talks with Orlando over the past year , Kaka said he made his decision only recently to leave  Milan where he spent seven years and had another year remaining on his contract .  ' I always think about long term projects . . . I hope I can stay here in Orlando for a long while , ' Kaka said . Da Silva posted on Facebook that the contract is for three years .  At 32 , Kaka , an attacking midfielder , said the timing was right for him .  ' This is the right moment for me because I ' m not too old and not too young but I have the experience to come and give a lot of things to the league , ' Kaka said .  Da Silva said the team has other unnamed players in mind . Club president and owner Phil Rawlins said new players must fit the distinctive style of play of the three year old Orlando City minor league team which he described as very open and high scoring .  Kaka will play on loan through the end of 2014 for his home club Sao Paulo .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
5919,5920,"One day after actress Debra Messing revealed that she regretted going on Megyn Kelly s new  morning show, the embattled host managed to draw the ire of an even bigger Hollywood star.Megyn sat down with Oscar-winning screen icon Jane Fonda on Wednesday, and in an ill-advised and poorly conceived move, decided to ask the 79-year-old actress to detail the plastic surgery she has had done over the years.The nasty exchange on day 2  of Megyn Kelly s new job at  couldn t have taken place between two more self-serving and arrogant women.Watch: You, you ve been an example to everyone, on how to age beautifully and with strength. And unapologetically,  began Megyn, nervously drawing out her question. You admit you had work done. I think it s to your credit. You look amazing. Have you   why did you say .. I read you felt you re not proud to admit you had work done, why not? At that moment a steely Fonda stared Megyn straight in the eyes and very firmly asked:  We really want to talk about that now? Via: Daily Mail ",fake,dataset,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,fake,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
5923,5924,"There has been contact between McLaren and Lewis Hamilton about a possible return to the team that nurtured his genius .  For now the interest on both sides is tentative . He is just one of three drivers , along with Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel , they would consider signing .  Alonso , as we reported here a few weeks ago , is the favoured option , though that is more likely to come about for the 2016 season than next year .  On track : Lewis Hamilton , taking part in practice on Friday , may consider a move back to former team McLaren  Flying the flag : Hamilton won his maiden Formula One title with McLaren in his second season , back in 2008  The year ' s delay would give him time to evaluate how McLaren ' s new relationship with Honda is working , and save McLaren from paying his gigantic salary he is on 17million at Ferrari during Honda ' s first season , when the emphasis will be on development rather than winning the world championship .  But is the notion of Hamilton returning to McLaren pure fantasy ? There would certainly be a space available to accommodate him ( or indeed Alonso or Vettel ) , with either Kevin Magnussen or Jenson Button making way .  Magnussen has not yet had long enough to prove he is a driver of the very top rank , while there is an acceptance among the team ' s hierarchy that Button is a tenth or two shy of the best .  There are two possible reasons I can think of why Hamilton would want to return . The first is that Honda powered McLaren have title winning form .  The second hinges on how this season works out at Mercedes . If Hamilton were to lose the title to Rosberg , imagine the trauma that would accompany that outcome .  It is easy to imagine he would feel increasingly unloved , prompting a souring in his relationship with the team . Suddenly , he would not be able to get out of the place fast enough .  In demand : McLaren are courting Fernando Alonso ' s services the Spaniard is in his fifth season at Ferrari  An interesting interview appeared in Germany ' s Bild newspaper the other day . They managed to speak to Dino Chiesa , the prominent karting manager , who was team boss of Hamilton and Rosberg at  Mercedes Benz McLaren in 2000 and 2001 .  What he perceived in them then is a variant of the Jesuit line : give me a child of seven and I shall show you the man .  ' Lewis was faster , ' he said . ' Nico has always worked harder , done all the dirty work on the set up , working with the mechanics and engineers . Lewis has never worked behind the scenes as hard as Nico . '  Pictured together : Nico Rosberg and team mate Hamilton penned autographs at a signing session on Thursday  He elaborated on the theme , saying : ' Lewis has lived for a time up in the stars . His management are not very helpful in this regard . They may be good for a Hollywood star , but not for a Formula One driver . These people give him the feeling of being a superstar . But a motorsport race is not a show . This is hard work , and you have to concentrate . '  As for Hamilton ' s mindset , Chiesa said : ' Nothing is ever his fault . He always thinks others want to harm him .  ' You have to understand Lewis ' position . He is in a German team with a German driver who has also worked three years with the people there . It might feel to Lewis that the team is a bit friendlier to Nico because they have known him for so long . It is normal . That means more stress for Lewis because he never feels like a solid family member . '  Fax machines are still in vogue at Bernie Ecclestone ' s Kensington offices . Emails are for the staff , not the boss .  So it was not surprising to read his reaction to the notion that Formula One should embrace new media to offset the decline in  audiences .  ' It matters obviously , but when you say it is falling , it is changing , ' he said . ' But I think the change that place will be very short lived , as these social media people are starting to think it is not as good as they thought . '  Writing is on the wall : There is an opportunity for Ecclestone , and F1 , to generate money from social media  Asked by Autosport whether he believed F1 should change tack , he replied : ' No . We ' re commercial . If they find people to pay us then I ' ll be happy . '  The advocates of social media say , probably rightly , that young people ' s viewing habits are radically different from the older generations .  Children have smart phones and can watch short clips of action that would potentially attract them to the sport . That could then encourage them to watch it on  .  There is also an opportunity for Ecclestone , and Formula One , to generate money directly from social media .  Other sports , notably in America , have struck lucrative deals for websites to show clips of action . What is so unattractive to Bernie about that ?  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
5926,5927,"A Southern California computer science student has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for hacking the computers of a future Miss Teen  and other young women to try to force them to send nude photographs or undress on camera for him .  Twenty year old Jared James Abrahams pleaded guilty in November to three counts of extortion and one count of unauthorized access of a computer , after his arrest in September .  The Temecula resident was sentenced Monday by a federal judge in Orange County judge .  Going to prison : Jared James Abrahams plead guilty to the extortion charges in November and was sentenced in Orange County , California court on Monday  Victim : Miss Teen  Cassidy Wolf was one of a dozen women hacked by Abrahams . She went to the same high school as Abrahams  Abrahams was allowed to speak at the sentencing hearing , and took the opportunity to apologize to his victims including current Miss Teen  Cassidy Wolf .  Abrahams attended the same high school as Wolf and sent her an anonymous email last spring , claiming to have nude pictures of her and that he could post online if she didn ' t send him more photos .  Tell someone : Before she was crowned Miss Teen  , Wolf reported the threatening email to police . Above , Wolf attends the 59th Viennese Opera Ball in New York City on February 21  In court on Monday , Abrahams expressed his ' immense sorrow ' for the victims , specifically his former classmate .  ' First off , I send out my sympathies to Miss Cassidy , her mother . . . I understand nothing I saw will take back the fear and pain I brought , ' Abrahams said .  ' I did what I did and I must live with my actions , ' he added .  His mother also spoke at the hearing , and went on to describe how his poor decisions were in part influenced by having autism . She says Abrahams was diagnosed with the mental health disorder when he was just 12 years old , and had struggled to make friends most of his life .  ' I don ' t think anyone can understand how lonely he ' s been for 20 years , ' his mother told the judge .  Abrahams himself said he was feeling better after enrolling in two therapeutic programs for adults with autism , one at  and the other at Loma Linda University Medical Center .  He says therapy has been helpful in teaching him how to make friends .  ' Everything I did was to have a feeling of a sense of involvement , ' Abrahams said .  While prosecutors were pushing for a 21 month sentence , Judge James V Selna decided on a lesser 18 months because of Abrahams age and mental health issues .  ' I don ' t think autism is an excuse for his actions , ' Selna said .  Wolf ' s mother agrees . She also had the opportunity to speak at the hearing and confronted her daughter ' s attacker , calling him a ' sexual predator ' .  ' There are no words to describe what you did to my daughter , ' Wolf ' s mother said .  Turning her attention to the judge , she continued to say that she and her daughter ' lived in terror ' because Abrahams threatened to send stalkers to their home and that they ' jumped ' every time they heard the doorbell ring when they weren ' t expecting visitors .  ' She was a minor and he was an adult at the time , ' she said . ' That ' s child pornography and I consider Jared Abrahams a sexual predator . '  Walked the same halls : Wolf attended the same high school as her attacker  Advocate : Wolf ( left ) is using her year as Miss Teen  to teach girls her age about internet safety  Abrahams will have to serve at least 85 per cent of his sentence behind bars , and will be placed under restrictive supervision once released . That supervision will include restrictions on his computer use to be determined by his probation officer . He will also be required to undergo mental health treatment and to stay away from his victims  Abrahams must self report to prison by June 16 .  Authorities say Abrahams hacked into the computers of several women and was then able to control their webcams and surreptitiously photograph them .  Abrahams directly extorted at least 12 women across the world , but also hacked into an addition 100 to 150 computers .  After hacking into his victims computers and taking pictures without their consent , Abrahams would send them emails and threaten to post the pictures if they didn ' t send him more nude photos , record a nude video or log into Skype to strip for him .  Pressured : At least two of Abrahams victims agreed to strip for him on webcam after receiving his scary threats . Above , Wolf is crowned Miss Teen  in August  His extortion scheme was successful in that two women stripped for him in Skype and received webcam photos from other women in Southern California , Baltimore and Russia .  After being threatened by Abrahams , a victim in Ireland wrote him an email agreeing to get on Skype .  ' Please remember I ' m 17 . Have a heart , ' she said according to the court record .  Abrahams shot an email back , saying : ' I ' ll tell you this right now ! I do  have a heart . However , I do stick to my deals . Also age doesn ' t mean a thing to me ! ! ! '  In an interview with the Today Show , Wolf described the terrifying moment she was threatened by Abrahams in March 2013 .  Wolf , who was crowned Miss Teen  last August , says she received the anonymous email that threatened to turn her ' dream of being a model . . . into ( her being ) a porn star ' if she didn ' t give him a ' special performance ' .  Warning : She now visits local schools to warn others of her story and to give tips in online safety  ' I was terrified , ' she said in an August interview with Today . ' I started screaming , bawling my eyes out .  ' I wasn ' t aware that somebody was watching me on my webcam , ' she added . ' The light on the camera didn ' t even go on , so I had no idea . '  Instead of giving into his demands , Wolf called her mom who reported the incident to police and an investigation was launched .  Wolf has been using her year as Miss Teen  to spread awareness of internet safety to girls her age .  ' It happened to me when I was a normal girl and it can happen to anybody , ' she said . ' The message is to tell somebody . '  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
5928,5929,"Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump appears close to naming U.S. Representative Tom Price as his choice for secretary of health and human services, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on Monday, citing a dozen Republican sources with knowledge of the plan. Trump could make the announcement on Tuesday, the paper said.     ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
5938,5939,""" The ( airline ) bar is closed . "" More flight attendants should say that to more passengers .  This might seem like heresy to the millions of travelers who enjoy free drinks in the upper classes and on international flights , but maybe it ' s time airlines consider putting a cap on drinks , or charging passengers for their alcohol after the first drink or two .  Recently , Jennifer Lauren , niece of fashion designer Ralph Lauren , was allegedly misbehaving on a Delta Air Lines flight after getting "" dangerously drunk "" and abusive toward other passengers . It got so bad that the New York bound plane made an unscheduled stop in Ireland to remove her from the flight . She was arrested for endangering other passengers .  Let ' s not be shocked by this . These days , a month doesn ' t go by that I don ' t hear about an intoxicated passenger getting into fights with flight crews or their fellow travelers .  The Jennifer Lauren episode is fresh in our memory , but drunks on planes are nothing new . A few years ago , French actor G rard Depardieu made the headlines when he , allegedly drunk , urinated in the aisle during an Air France flight from Paris to Dublin , Ireland .  And let ' s not forget "" Dracula "" star Jonathan Rhys Meyers , who was banned from flying on United Airlines after drinking heavily in the carrier ' s first class lounge in a flight from New York to Los Angeles . The crew noticed he had become belligerent and disruptive , so they refused to let him board the flight to L . A .  In an August 2013 report on unruly passengers , the International Air Transport Association , which represents airlines from around the world , noted that "" many "" carriers said alcohol was the major contributor to disruptive behavior . "" They observed that passengers , in numerous instances , may have been intoxicated at the time of boarding the aircraft or had access to their own alcohol supply on board . ""  Similarly , the Toronto based International Association for Medical Assistance to Travelers said air rage tends to occur in unfamiliar and over stimulating environments , including airports and airplanes . The rage is fueled by "" overcrowding , delays , lack of information , lack of manners and boorish behavior , as well as arguments with transportation or service personnel . "" Furthermore , "" Heightened stress levels , alcohol and drug misuse , as well as smoking prohibitions in many public places , are common factors inciting rage . ""  Unfortunately , some travelers choose alcohol before and during a flight , and in extreme cases , end up in conflicts with passengers and crew and attempt to open emergency exits and even storm the cockpit .  The bottom line is flight crews and passengers need to be more mindful . Flight attendants , like it or not , are the final line of defense when it comes to drunk passengers . They need to be empowered to cut off passengers when a fellow traveler brings up a legitimate complaint or if they see bad behaviors escalating . And in our post 9 11 travel world , passengers are much more willing to help flight crews with unruly passengers in case there isn ' t an air marshal aboard .  Those who choose to drink excessively and become abusive not only should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law , but they also need to be sued to recover the costs for any diversion or damages they may cause others during their inebriated state .  There are always travelers who will drink , whether it ' s free or not . By imposing fees and or limits on the number of drinks , airlines would not only reduce alcohol consumption , but also make a profit from a common sense regulation . Maintaining good order during flights is one of the best ways that airlines can serve their customers well .  The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Ben t J . Wilson .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,present
5940,5941,""" good news "" is probably too generous . There probably isn ' t much that can pick up the Vikings kicker right now , not after he missed a 27 yard field goal attempt in the closing seconds of Minnesota ' s 10 9 wild card loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday .  Working into the wind and with the temperature at minus 6 degrees , Walsh was given laces to kick by holder Jeff Locke and pulled the attempt well left .  Vikings coach Mike Zimmer called the kick a "" chip shot "" and said "" he ' s got to make it . ""  Walsh isn ' t the first kicker to let down a coach and fan base during the  postseason , and he ' s not in bad company , either . Hall of Famers and career record holders have all hooked or pushed or come up short in heartbreaking fashion .  "" We need to make those kicks and we ' re paid to do that . But stuff happens , "" Redskins kicker Dustin Hopkins said . "" I missed an extra point yesterday , and I obviously wish I could have that one back . I feel for the guy . I hate watching other guys miss , just because I ' ve been there and I know how it feels . ""  Hopkins said laces matter because the ball can move in a different direction if it hits the wrong part of the foot .  Here are a few notables from  history who also know how it feels :    ,    , 1971     Stenerud had the worst day of his Hall of Fame career on Christmas 1971 in a divisional playoff loss to Miami ? the longest game in  history .  Kicking in muddy conditions in Kansas City , Stenerud missed twice in regulation , the second a 31 yarder in the final minute , then had a 42 yard try blocked in the first overtime .  Garo Yepremian gave Miami a 27 24 victory with a 37 yarder in the second overtime . The Dolphins then beat Baltimore to reach the Super Bowl , where they lost to Dallas .  Good ol ' Wide Right . Norwood missed a 47 yard attempt with 8 seconds left in the Super Bowl , allowing the New York Giants to hang on for a 20 19 victory . That was the first of four straight Super Bowl losses for the Bills and by far the most heartbreaking . Buffalo hasn ' t been back since .  Norwood returned for the 1991 92 season and had a perfect postseason while the Bills advanced back to the Super Bowl , even making a decisive 44 yard kick to help them beat Denver in the  championship game . Buffalo released Norwood after that season and he retired to his home state of Virginia .  In reality , 1998 was a special year for Anderson . The Vikings led by Randy Moss and Randall Cunningham went 15 1 in the regular season , and Anderson went 94 for 94 on field goals attempts and extra points , becoming the first kicker to go a full season without missing .  The problem was , he picked a poor time for his first miss in about two years . With Minnesota leading 27 20 and 2 : 11 left , Anderson missed wide left from 38 yards out , allowing Atlanta to march for a tying touchdown and then win it in overtime on Morten Andersen ' s 38 yard make .    ,    , 2005     Brien missed the biggest kick of his  career , and then he did it again just moments later , becoming the first player to miss two field goals in the final 2 minutes of the fourth quarter in a playoff game .  He hit the goal post with a potential go ahead 47 yarder with 1 : 58 left , but got a second chance when Steelers rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw an interception on the next drive . Brien got a 43 yard look on the final play of regulation , but missed way left .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
5941,5942,"In 1995 , South Africa seemed united beyond expectation , having rallied around an unlikely ambassador for racial change in a highly fractured country .  The Springboks ' triumph at that year ' s Rugby World Cup seemed to herald the birth of the Rainbow Nation , with white team captain Francois Pienaar accepting the Webb Ellis Cup from Nelson Mandela , the first post apartheid president .  We seemed invincible , or at least it felt that way at the time . I remember every game of that tournament every scrum , every try , every drop goal . I also remember how the crowd at our local watering hole the place to be to watch the matches changed .  What started off as a predominately white audience soon changed until we were shoulder to shoulder with people of all races . When we drove the streets of Cape Town after winning the final , honking our horns and singing "" shoshaloza "" which means "" go forward "" we weren ' t white or black , we were South Africans .  Springboks overpower Namibia in 12 try romp at World Cup  It was the first time I can remember really feeling that way , and everyone was hopeful that it would last .  Given the drama of that tournament , and the publicity that followed , it was only natural that rugby became more popular among races other than white .  Chester Williams became the face of what South African rugby could be , and soon there were a number of talented black players getting Test caps . But it wasn ' t all smooth sailing .  For a while there was a quota system for white dominated sports such as rugby and cricket there had to be a certain number of players of color on the squad . My reaction to the requirement was similar to most of those around me : we were outraged .  Holders South Africa scrape past Wales in 2011 opener  It seemed like a no win situation : players of color were bound to be treated as second rate or lacking , regardless of their ability to play . The ones that would have made the squad despite the quota system were hurt the most .  Thankfully the practice was done away with , and South Africa Rugby Union (  ) focused more on developing school age players of color so coaches would have a more representative base from which to select .   President Oregan Hoskins points out that the organization sets aside 20 million rand ( 2 . 75 million ) each year with the specific goal of transforming the future of South African rugby to include more players of color .  Clinics have been set up in disadvantaged areas and rugby is more prominent in schools that typically have been soccer crazy . It has , for the most part , worked there are more players of color moving up the ranks from schoolboy rugby to professional levels .  What doesn ' t make sense is that only three players of color made the squad for this World Cup , two of whom also played in South Africa ' s victorious 2007 campaign .  Hoskins argues that South African rugby is still suffering from the effects of apartheid .  Hoskins believes that club rugby remains a problem . He maintains that there would be more change if the advantaged clubs opened their doors to players of color .  The same can be said for provincial rugby . Hoskins said provincial teams are completely autonomous from the ruling body . They have their own constitutions which  cannot interfere with .  If provincial teams don ' t include players of color in their squads , then the national side is almost forced to do the same because the selection depth just isn ' t there .  It ' s not that there aren ' t any good players of color who want to play Springbok rugby , it ' s that there ' s a drop off between school and provincial rugby selection , and the club situation doesn ' t help either . More needs to be done to move players up through the ranks and onto the national squad .  Local media recently picked up on a report which said teams could soon be forced to include a certain number of players of color in their team , or face penalties including docked points and or fines .  This measure , however , is unlikely to be implemented as the teams themselves would have to vote on it . Hoskins doubts it would pass , but recognizes that  needs the provincial teams to transform faster than they presently are .  It seems that the racial make up of the national side is routinely brought into question right before a big tournament , such as the World Cup .  Former  media adviser and rugby commentator Mark Keohane believes South Africans have been "" blinkered by success . "" When the team does well , it ' s as if rugby in South Africa , and the country in general , has changed . When the team is doing poorly , everyone ' s an analyst and we ' re back to 1993 .  Keohane doesn ' t believe that there ' s enough consistency in the transformation effort . He criticizes Hoskins for failing to achieve  ' s stated goal of seven colored players being included in the squad for this year ' s tournament . Hoskins has asked for more time to work on the issue , saying society needs to change before the squad will reflect the new South Africa .  Keohane is frustrated with the lack of accountability within  . He accuses the body of playing politics and avoiding making unpopular decisions . Hoskins maintains his hands are tied he needs more cooperation from the lower level teams .  It seems we ' re just running in circles . Both Keohane and Hoskins agree that South Africa is still racially divided . Keohane notes that , as a nation , South Africa hasn ' t learned how to deal with life post apartheid . It ' s still the white elephant in the room .  It ' s not just the players on the field who are mostly white , it ' s the spectators too match tickets are priced so high that typically only wealthy , usually white , South Africans can afford to attend . Hoskins doesn ' t believe it ' s an issue of money , he says it ' s a question of trying to get people to mix racially and accept each other .  To help ,  has announced that next year it will be holding a Test match in Soweto , the country ' s largest township . Moves like that are in the right direction , but it will take time before we have another "" Invictus "" moment for Hollywood to recreate .  To me , a South African now living in the United States , it seems that South African rugby is in a better state than it was pre World Cup 1995 , but not where it could be . We can be proud of the fact that we ' re one of only two countries to lift the Webb Ellis Cup twice , and that we ' re still considered a rugby powerhouse .  But perhaps indicative of how far South Africa still has to go , popular rugby commentator Darren Scott recently resigned from his job at a local radio station after hurling a racial slur at a co worker , during a team building retreat , over an unpaid loan .  Scott has apologized profusely but the incident prompted Supersport , a leading sport channel for whom he was a freelancer , to drop him from the team sent to New Zealand to cover the World Cup .  It might be that South Africans need to come together more before the boys on the pitch reflect the make up of the country , but I ' d like to think that rugby has the ability to be a game changer off the field .  It could serve as the example others would follow .  We don ' t need to wait for the rest of society to catch up , we can show them how it ' s done and get closer to once again being South African first and black or white second .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
5942,5943,"The head coach of the Australian cricket team has been replaced ahead of the Ashes , following a string of poor performances by the sport ' s traditional powerhouse .  Cricket Australia confirmed on Monday that Mickey Arthur had been replaced as coach by Darren Lehmann , the current Queensland coach who was touring England as coach of the Australia A squad  On a turbulent day for Australian cricket , captain Michael Clarke also stood down as a team selector .  The Ashes , the regular series of five Test matches between Australia and England that is one of the most celebrated rivalries in world sport , is scheduled to begin on July 10 in Nottingham .  England enters the series as the bookmakers ' favorite and the current holder of the Ashes , having regained them in 2009 and defended them successfully in 2011 .  A South African former domestic cricketer , Arthur had coached Australia since November 2011 , following a five year stint in charge of the South Africa national side .  "" Naturally I ' m very disappointed with how this has all ended , "" said Arthur , who was the first foreigner to coach Australia and had been contracted to lead the team until the end of the 2015 World Cup .  "" I certainly wanted to see the job through but I accept that the team hasn ' t been completely galvanized under my leadership and our performances have been inconsistent .  "" I ' m certainly a believer in good culture and traditions much like all Australians and feel we were starting to get a shift in the right direction . We certainly need the team to be absolutely unified if we ' re any chance of beating the English . ""  Lehmann represented Australia in 27 Test matches between 1998 and 2004 , scoring 1798 runs .  "" Darren Lehmann has been appointed as the new Australia head coach , "" said Cricket Australia chief executive officer James Sutherland .  "" He has had outstanding success in a short time with Queensland Cricket winning the Bupa Sheffield Shield , Ryobi One Day Cup and  T20 Big Bash League all within the last two years .  "" Lehmann will be contracted until June 2015 post the 2015 Cricket World Cup . ""  Arthur ' s dismissal comes amid troubled times for Australian cricket , on and off the pitch .  This month the one day side was knocked out in the group stages of the  Champions Trophy , failing to win a match in a tournament it had won the previous two times it had been held . Earlier , the side had been beaten 4 0 in Tests during its tour of India .  Once the dominant force in international cricket , Australia also recently lost the series against South Africa , going down 1 0 in Tests in November , and against England , losing 4 0 in a series of one day internationals in 2012 .  Poor discipline and rumors of disunity have plagued the squad , with four players including then vice captain Shane Watson controversially ruled ineligible to play during the recent Indian tour for failing to complete a "" homework "" assignment set by Arthur on how to improve performances .  Earlier this month , batsman David Warner was disciplined for throwing a punch at England player Joe Root in the early hours of the morning in a Birmingham bar , just weeks after the Australian had found himself in hot water for an expletive filled Twitter rant at journalists . He pleaded guilty to bringing the game into disrepute over both incidents .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
5945,5946,"Former Gov . Jeb Bush recently argued in an op ed that Hispanic voters will represent the margin of victory in the 15 swing states that will decide who will win the race for the White House . Is his political intuition right ? And if it is , how do both parties significantly increase their chances of winning the Hispanic vote ?  Determining what qualifies as a swing state is not an exact science , but the best estimate nine months out is as follows : Arizona , Colorado , Florida , Indiana , Iowa , Michigan , Missouri , Nevada , New Hampshire , New Mexico , North Carolina , Ohio , Pennsylvania , Virginia and Wisconsin .  The key for political parties is registering Hispanics to vote . According to the U . S . Census , 84 of Hispanic registered voters reported voting in 2008 . In North Carolina , not generally considered a "" Hispanic state , "" from 2000 to 2010 the Hispanic population grew 111 . Between January 2008 and November 4 , 2008 , Hispanic voter registration in North Carolina grew by 62 , from 42 , 000 to 68 , 000 . Obama won the state by only 14 , 177 votes . Since then , Hispanic voter registration in North Carolina has nearly doubled to 130 , 615 .  According to the U . S . Census , in 2010 there were 492 , 330 Latinos of voting age in North Carolina , representing a clear opportunity for both parties . In a tight race , Hispanic voters could be the margin of victory in 12 of the 15 swing states . ( For more state by state data , click here )  Three important points about Hispanic swing voters :  Hispanics lean Democratic , but it ' s not a base Democratic vote . Hispanics cast their ballots on issues and in favor of the candidates rather than for the party , much like 40 of the population , which is now considered independent .  Campaigns need to communicate to Hispanics in both English and Spanish . A strategic move behind President Obama winning 67 of Hispanic vote was his campaign ' s outspending McCain in the Spanish language media by five to one .  Hispanic adults are more engaged in the social Web than non Hispanics , over indexing as creators , critics , collectors , joiners in and spectators of social networks .  In addressing the concerns of this demographic , no candidate can ignore the issue of immigration reform , particularly when it comes to young , first time voters . Each month 50 , 000 Hispanics in the United States turn 18 . These young voters power Latino social networks , connecting on Facebook and tweeting voters across the country . Imagine the response when the hardworking mom or dad of these young voters is called a "" criminal "" by a candidate .  A recent Pew survey found that Latinos , by 91 , support legislation known as the Dream Act that would give legal status to illegal immigrants who earn college degrees or serve in the military for two years . Imagine the waves across social media when the Dream Act is not aggressively pursued or summarily dismissed .  And immigration and its power to alienate or attract voters is the key for both parties , not just Republicans . Yet , so far for both parties , immigration has been kryptonite .  President Obama broke his promise to introduce an immigration reform bill during his first year in office . He deported 1 . 2 million Latinos , including 46 , 000 parents of American citizens . His draconian policies left thousands of frightened children languishing in foster care , which brought an onslaught of negative Spanish language media . Heading into the presidential campaign , President Obama ' s approval rating among Latinos has plunged 36 points since April 2009 from 85 to 49 , according to a recent Pew survey .  Obama ' s potential opponent , Republican front runner Mitt Romney , wants to make life so unbearable for Hispanics working here illegally that they will "" self deport . "" Passing apartheid like laws to pressure Hispanic undocumented workers to leave the country is central to Romney ' s platform . Witness the laws passed in Alabama , Arizona and South Carolina , whose chief architect , Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach , happily endorsed Romney , advises the campaign and acts as a surrogate .  To win over Hispanic voters , both President Obama and the  nominee need to smother the kryptonite that the issue of immigration has become with a lead blanket of comprehensive immigration reform , supported by strong majorities of Hispanic swing voters and a majority of independents and the general public . Only then can the conversation between Hispanic voters and the candidate really begin .  In the 2008 election there was a 30 swing of Hispanic votes away from the Republican Party ' s share of the vote in 2004 . This swing vote was enough to elect Barack Obama to the White House and turn six states Colorado , Florida , Indiana , New Mexico , Nevada and Virginia from red to blue . Any candidate or campaign that ignores Hispanic swing voters does it at their peril .  For a Spanish language version of this article , click here Lea este art culo en espa ol  Join the conversation on Facebook  The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Charles Garcia .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
5947,5948,"For months now, Donald Trump has been leading the polls for the republican party s presidential nomination. His devoted followers hang on his every word, while he promises to do impossible things, like build a wall across the Mexican border and ban Muslims from entering the United States.Is Trump taking these voters for a ride?This twelve-minute video compilation, published by the non-profit foundation One World Voice, gives an interesting overview of Trump s many changing faces and contradictory political positions.The video includes clips of Trump praising Bill and Hillary Clinton, stating his pro-choice beliefs, supporting partial birth abortion, praising the Chinese, even giving democrats credit for creating a better economy than republicans have ever been able to create.After more than twelve minutes of video evidence that seems to contradict many of Donald Trump s recent statements on the campaign trail, the video s creators ask: Still think Trump is a true conservative? Why support him when we have other real conservatives? Watch the video below, courtesy of One World Voice on Facebook. // < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = ""//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3""; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); // ]]>The truth comes out !Posted by One World Voice on Saturday, December 12, 2015Does anyone really know what Donald Trump believes or stands for?As many people already know, Donald Trump is nothing more than a con man. He s been sued for fraud over everything from bogus real estate deals to his sham school, formerly known as Donald Trump University.It s likely Trump doesn t mean anything he says. Over the past several months what s become obvious is that he will say anything that is likely to get him publicity or attention, no matter how disgusting it is.Like Ben Carson s campaign, Donald Trump s bid for president is just another way to gain publicity and boost his bank own account.As Addicting Info reported here, Carson s campaign has been exposed as nothing more than a publicity stunt, designed to boost his book sales and increase the size of his own bank account. His staff began dropping like flies on New Year s Day, with more and more resignations rolling in all the time.Trump s campaign is not much different than Carson s. Donald Trump has been a money-grubbing attention whore for decades. A presidential bid is no doubt just a way to get his face on  and his name in the press, all while bilking his devoted followers out of millions and millions of dollars.*Featured image credit: video screen capture One World Voice via Facebook ",fake,dataset,validation,Other news2,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
5950,5951,"A Moroccan teenager who was forced to marry the man who raped her has been badly injured after he attacked her with a razor .  The girl , known only as Khaoula , was attacked after she tried to divorce her husband and was left with 50 ' disfiguring ' cuts to her face and arms , according to reports .  During the attack the girl ' s husband told her ' I swear that nobody will marry you after me ' , according to Moroccan news sites .  Teenager left with 50 disfiguring cuts to her face and arms after being attacked by rapist husband she was forced into marrying ( pictured , Moroccan protesters demand an end to violence against women )  Khaoula is now recovering in hospital , and several organisations have pledged to help her get justice , the International Business Times reports .  Until recently , Moroccan law allowed men to escape prosecution for rape if they agreed to marry their victim .  Amina Filai , 16 , killed herself when she was married to her attacker ( pictured , Zohra Filali with a picture of daughter Amina )  A judge could recommend marriage rather than jail if the deal was agreed to by the victim and both families who usually gave consent for fear of losing family honour .  The law was repealed in January this year after a huge wave of protests following the death of Amina Filali , 16 , who swallowed rat poison and killed herself after being forced to wed her attacker .  Amina ' s father said at the time that the family were pressured into the marriage , with the judge telling them to ' go and make the marriage contract ' .  Despite Article 475 being repealed as the law was known violence against women remains common in the Islamic nation .  Campaigners say the new law relies on outdated definitions of rape and violence elsewhere in Moroccan statue , and are asking for the country ' s entire legal system to be reformed .  For example , the severity of punishments can be decided on the basis of whether the victim was a virgin or not before the attack took place .  A spokesman for Amnesty said : ' The definition of rape fails to recognise the reality that rape is committed in different ways including within coercive circumstances which do not necessarily require physical violence , with perpetrators and victims of all genders , and within marriage .  ' This flawed , narrow definition still allows rapists to escape accountability . '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
5951,5952,"Millions of people are expected to go to Washington to celebrate Barack Obama ' s inauguration on January 20 , but with a troubled economy and pocketbook issues on the mind , the president elect must be careful to set the right tone .  Construction of the inaugural stand continues in front of the White House last week .  President Bush raised a record 42 . 8 million dollars for his second inauguration , and according to Public Citizen , more than 90 percent of the donations to that ceremony were from executives or corporations .  But this year , some say throwing a multimillion dollar party would be unseemly in a time when crash , bailout , and foreclosure fill the economic headlines .  "" A lot of it is about tone and making sure that the celebrations that do take place are not over the top , that they don ' t appear to be insensitive to the pain people have right now , "" said Ryan Alexander , president of Taxpayers for Common Sense .  The inaugural committee for Obama and Vice President elect Joe Biden has pledged to make sure the ceremony underscores the incoming administration ' s "" commitment to change business as usual in Washington . ""  The Presidential Inaugural Committee has limited individual contributions to 50 , 000 . There is no law restricting the size of donations , but in the past , inaugural committees have set contribution limits as high as 250 , 000 .  The  said it will not take contributions from corporations , political action committees , current federally registered lobbyists , non U . S . citizens or registered foreign agents .  Obama has promised to "" take power away from the corporate lobbyists "" a pledge that would be questioned should the president elect rely on them to foot his inauguration bill .  "" If he can pay for these parties with small donations , I think there ' d be a lot more acceptance of that , "" Alexander said .  Watchdog groups say there are some things Obama can do to take control of the tone . For example , he could make donations to charity , and Michelle Obama could opt for something more reasonably priced than a designer dress .  When Franklin D . Roosevelt took office , he also faced a financial crisis . He gave voters a now famous pep talk about the failing economy , then skipped the fancy inaugural balls because they sent the wrong message .  But analysts say Obama ' s not expected to go that far because so many people want to celebrate his historic win .  "" Washington , D . C . , was pro Obama and had Obama mania long before November 4 . But the moment November 4 occurred , all all craziness sort of broke loose , "" said Anne Schroeder Mullini , a gossip columnist for Politico .  As inauguration organizers work to keep the tone in check , they are speaking out against those trying to make money by scalping tickets to the event .  Tickets for the inauguration are distributed through members of Congress , and just 240 , 000 seats are available for the actual swearing in ceremony .  The tickets are supposed to be free , but with demand outpacing supply , a traditional giveaway has turned into a thriving online marketplace .  Legitimate ticket brokers the same companies that peddle tickets to rock concerts and  races are selling tickets to the inauguration for thousands of dollars , even for standing room areas on the National Mall .  California Sen . Dianne Feinstein wants to make that practice a crime , punishable by up to a year in prison .  Organizers of the inauguration say it violates the spirit of the event and could spell disappointment for people who buy tickets for the ceremony .  "" We think it ' s absolutely insane to be selling those tickets . We understand some people want to make a buck , but for those people thinking of buying tickets , it ' s buyer beware , "" warned Howard Gantman , staff director of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
5980,5981,"Washington The Federal Aviation Administration is changing a generations old policy banning pilots from taking antidepressants , saying the new policy will improve safety by bringing to the surface pilots who either ignore signs of depression or lie about their use of medication for fear of losing their licenses to fly .  Beginning Monday , pilots with mild to moderate depression will be allowed to fly while taking antidepressants if they can demonstrate they have been satisfactorily treated for at least 12 months .  The  also will begin a six month amnesty period , during which pilots who use antidepressants can step forward without fear of penalties . The pilots will be grounded until they can demonstrate they have been stable for a year , although those who can prove a history of successful medical treatment should be able to fly "" within a few months , "" the  said .  The new policy will "" absolutely "" improve safety , said Randy Babbitt , head of the  and a former airline pilot and union chief .  "" The concern that we have today is we have people who are either self medicating or not seeking a diagnosis . Either of those is unacceptable , "" Babbitt said . "" This change . . . will allow those people to get the treatment , allow us to monitor and return them to the cockpit as safer , better pilots . ""   officials said that they do not know the extent of depression among pilots but that pilots are probably representative of the larger population , in which 10 percent are believed to suffer from depression .  Nor does the  know how many pilots have removed themselves from flying status because they suffer from depression , a condition that now bars them from flying . Nor do they know how many take antidepressants in violation of  policy .  Commercial pilots under the age of 40 are required to undergo a medical exam by an  certified physician every year those over 40 , every six months . But the examination focuses largely on the pilots ' physical health , and there is no formal assessment of the pilots ' mental health .  The  says pilots have a regulatory duty and professional responsibility to not fly if they know they have a physical or mental condition that makes them unsafe to fly .  But the  concedes pilots aren ' t always forthcoming , especially if honesty could cost them their job .  "" We know that there are people out there who are not taking antidepressants because they know they would be grounded if they are . We know there are people out there who are taking them and lying to us about that , "" said Dr Fred Tilton , the  ' s federal air surgeon .  "" We think it ' s safer to make sure pilots are treated for depression than to continue to drive it underground , "" he said .  Under the new policy , the  will , on a case by case basis , issue special medical certificates to pilots who take one of four antidepressants : fluoxetine ( Prozac ) , sertraline ( Zoloft ) , citalopram ( Celexa ) and escitalopram ( Lexapro ) .  All four drugs can be used safely without side effects , the  said , and other medications will be considered as the agency gains experience and data under its new policy .   officials say that they have been studying the issue for a decade , and that the change comes with improvements in medication and as the stigma of depression has diminished .  One of the concerns is the risk of suicide by airplane .  Between 1993 and 2002 , there were 16 "" aircraft assisted suicides , "" according to a National Transportation Safety Board report , as recounted in a recent  medical bulletin . All involved smaller aircraft .  In addition , the  ruled that in 1999 , the pilot caused the crash of EgyptAir Flight 990 by forcing the plane into the Atlantic Ocean , although the board could not determine the pilot ' s motives and did not use the term "" suicide . ""  The pilot ' s medical certificate had been renewed 10 days before the crash . All 217 on board were killed .  "" Depression is a disease , and it ' s treatable just like any other disease . And there is a stigma out there that we want to remove . We want to make the skies safer , and we believe that this change in the policy will benefit that and achieve that , "" Babbitt said .  Said Tilton : "" We believe it ' s the right thing to do . We also have support from all of the scientific organizations that understand the treatment of depression and the safety of the airspace . ""  The new policy is consistent with recommendations from a host of aviation and medical organizations , including the Aerospace Medical Association , the International Civil Aviation Organization , the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association and the Air Line Pilots Association , the  said .  Babbitt acknowledged that pilots face some risk by stepping forward , but he said they also face risk if they don ' t .  "" If it unauthorized use of medication was ever discovered , it would be the end of their license and their career , period , "" he said .  The  said the policy is being posted on the Federal Register , where the public can make comments until May 3 . Officials said because it is changing a policy , and not a rule , pre publication in the Federal Register was not necessary .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
5997,5998,"Cardiff City will discuss a proposed return to blue at a board meeting on Friday .  Owner Vincent Tan has been at the heart of Cardiff ' s controversial rebrand from blue to red in 2012 , with the Malaysian businessman believing the colour would bring good fortune .  Tan told Sky Sports as recently as Christmas Day that ' Cardiff will stay red ' and that he would take no notice of protests planned by supporters ' groups against the re branding and the threat of thousands of season tickets not being renewed .  Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan controversially changed the club colours from Blue to red in 2012  However , Tan called a meeting at Cardiff City Stadium on Thursday where club officials consulted a cross section of fans .  Tan was not present but chairman Mehmet Dalman said : ' It was great , a very balanced and very professional meeting ,  ' It was time to bridge the gap with our supporters . I think Vincent will give this a great deal of consideration .  ' It ' s very clear what came out of the meeting . There was a strong feeling that the club should return to blue , but there was also an understanding that Vincent likes red and that should be respected .  ' He Tan will listen and he will consider . Vincent Tan saved the club when it needed saving . He will never leave this club in the lurch , ' Dalman added . ' This was a very good evening for Cardiff City . '  Around 70 people were in attendance and speakers included fans , councillors , MPs and business leaders .  Fans unanimously voted for a blue home kit and the return of a prominent bluebird badge . They were also happy to accept a red away kit .  Cardiff currently play in a red kit with a red dragon on the club badge   Ken Choo said the respect shown to Tan at the meeting could be a significant factor in any decision to revert to blue and Dalman suggested the inclusion of a red dragon on any new Bluebird badge would be a respectful gesture to the owner .  Cardiff supporters ' groups hailed the positive atmosphere at the Cardiff City Stadium meeting and welcomed the possibility that the club ' s traditional colours could soon be restored .  Supporters ' Trust chairman Tim Hartley said : ' We were really glad that Mehmet called the meeting and there was a great cross section of people there , representing not just the fans and their representatives but also the business community in Cardiff , a sponsor , an  and a councillor .  ' It was a unanimous vote and Mehmet called for the vote on the blue and everyone said we need to return to blue to bring back unity to this club .  ' We are hoping that the board meeting will actually decide to tell Vincent Tan that , "" We ' ve had an experiment , you tried it and it didn ' t work "" .  ' There ' s unanimity to go back to blue for the benefit of this club .  ' The business case is there , the community case is there and we will say , "" The supporters will follow you and we will be united behind the club if you return to blue with the bluebird on the crest "" . '  The club used to play in blue home kit and the club badge was emblazoned with a bluebird  Sian Branson , of supporters ' group Bluebirds Unite , said : ' I think we can show Vincent Tan how great we can be as fans and how great this football club can be .  ' They asked me , "" What do you think the atmosphere would be if we want back to blue ? "" I said : "" You won ' t see a party like it in this city . ""  ' We ' ll have a march and I ' ll walk up the front of that march with a banner saying : "" Thank you Vincent Tan "" if we go back to blue .  ' We ' ve still got to wait but I ' m positive . '  Vince Alm , of the Cardiff City Supporters ' Club , thanked Tan for listening to the views of fans .  ' We want to be united and pushing forward and we feel going back to blue is the best way of getting fans back in the ground , ' Alm said .  ' We ' re very respectful of the investment we ' ve had off Vincent Tan but we talk about spirit and we want to show the passion of Welsh people as one . '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
6027,6028,"The only scene I really loved in "" Star Trek : The Voyage Home "" was when Scotty tried speaking verbal commands to a Macintosh Plus . Keyboards always seem to get in the way of doing what I want to do and nowhere is this as apparent , or frustrating , as on smartphones and tablets .  With the recent launch of the iPhone 4S , Apple ' s not really new voice recognition system Siri has been getting a lot of attention .  Yet it took the India based software company Dexetra just eight hours to create the initial version of Iris a blatant Android knockoff of Siri .  Even the name "" Iris , "" which is the reverse of "" Siri , "" stands for "" Intelligent Rival Imitator of Siri "" according to Dexetra ' s blog . ( And yes , I ' m just waiting for the trademark suit from Apple . )  Granted , Dexetra wasn ' t starting completely from scratch . This company had already been working on natural language processing and machine learning two notably thorny , complex technologies for more than a year .  A few days later , Dexetra made an improved version of Iris available as a free app in Google ' s Android Market and as of this writing it has been installed more than 50 , 000 times .  I put Iris on my Android phone this weekend , and it ' s amusing . For instance , here ' s a discussion I had with Iris yesterday :  Me : "" What time is the John Scofield concert at Yoshi ' s Jazz Club in Oakland tonight ? ""  Iris : "" I have no idea . ""  Me : "" Who is John Scofield ? ""  Iris : "" John Scofield , born 1951 , the musician . "" ( Shows a photo of Scofield performing . )  Me : "" Where is Yoshi ' s , Oakland ? ""  Iris : "" Right now being pulled in by a black hole . ""  So Iris is about as entertaining as Siri seems to be . ( I don ' t own an iPhone , but for comparison I ' ve been checking out the  Tumblr blog , a crowdsourced collection of weird and wonderful wisdom from Siri . )  Still , neither Iris nor Siri seems very useful so far .  Fortunately , there are better voice control options on both the iPhone and Android handsets than either Siri or Iris . And they ' ve been around for a while .  For some time the Android mobile operating system has had pretty well integrated speech to text functionality ( Google Voice Actions ) . I use this often for texting , searching , navigating and e mailing on the go .  Also , whenever I bring up a keyboard in any Android app , there ' s a microphone option for voice entry . Generally it recognizes pretty well what I want to say or do . If Android guesses wrong , I can use the keyboard to correct it , and it does seem to learn over time .  Then there is Vlingo , a voice control app for all the major smartphone platforms . I ' ve tried it , and for some tasks it works reasonably well .  Most importantly , Siri doesn ' t integrate with any third party iOS apps , such as Shazam or Tweetdeck . Given Apple ' s closed iOS ecosystem , it ' s an open question whether such integration will ever happen .  Besides Siri , there are other iOS apps and tools that provide some voice control . ExtremeTech recently published a list .  Such baby steps are important but on any mobile platform , we ' re still a long , long way from phones that you can just talk to and they ' ll do what you say .  This is frustrating from the consumer perspective . Smartphones are , first and foremost , phones . They ' re supposed to be for talking .  Typing on any mobile device , through a physical or virtual keyboard , is a chore . That ' s why  codes are getting popular they eliminate the need to type on a mobile device .  The challenge of typing on handheld devices is exactly why the kind of voice control Scotty expected is such an alluring and intuitive idea . Eventually we ' ll probably get there .  The opinions expressed in this post are solely those of Amy Gahran .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
6029,6030,"Thousands of people across the world railed against corporate power , grinding poverty and government cuts Saturday as the Occupy Wall Street movement spread to the streets of Europe , Asia and Australia and took a particularly violent turn in Rome .  Firefighters battled a blaze at an Interior Ministry building near Porta San Giovanni in Rome , the main gathering site of the Italian protesters taking part in the Occupy movement Saturday , said eyewitnesses who reported seeing a Molotov cocktail thrown near the building .  A spokesman for Mayor Gianni Alemanno , who condemned the violence , confirmed 70 people were injured , 40 of them police officers . No arrest numbers were available late Saturday .  Police said hundreds of anarchists in Rome moved in where peaceful demonstrators had gathered as part of the global Occupy movement . The anarchists some wearing ski masks and belonging to a group termed "" Black Bloc "" torched cars , broke windows and clashed with police .  Two police officers were seriously injured and two young men lost parts of their hands in explosions when protesters torched cars , she said .  In London , protester Peter Vaughn , reflecting the mood of many in the crowd there , said people criticized financial institutions that have "" gambled away our money . ""  "" We ' re giving people a real voice against a government that just ignored us , "" he said .  One protester in Belleville , France , referring to the country ' s leaders , said government isn ' t listening to the people and dialogue with them is impossible .  "" You are not listening to us , whatever we do , however we vote , however we demonstrate . It does not give any result . Quite the opposite , as poverty and austerity plans continue . So we can ' t go on like this so we are getting out and showing ourselves , "" he said .  The protests spread amid the growing financial crises for several Western countries . Finance ministers with the Group of 20 , meeting in Paris , pledged Saturday to take "" all necessary actions "" to stabilize global markets and ensure that banks are well capitalized .  Europeans turned out amid debt troubles and austerity plans in Greece , Belgium , Italy , Spain , Ireland , Portugal and Germany .  United for Global Change the central site for the movement organizing worldwide protests said 951 cities in 82 countries were to take part in the demonstrations after online organizers called for a worldwide rally .  More than 10 , 000 demonstrators of all ages gathered peacefully in Madrid ' s spacious Plaza de Cibeles on Saturday and than walked uphill to Puerta del Sol . The "" May 15 Movement "" started five months ago to the day over austerity measures and high unemployment . Some demonstrators said they felt Spain ' s protest had gone global and that the world had joined the movement started in their country . The newspaper El Pais said tens of thousands of protesters turned out in Barcelona .  Around the world , protesters marched , listened to speeches , and displayed banners reading anti corporate slogans , including the now ubiquitous "" we are the 99 , "" "" Banks are cancer "" and tax the rich 1 . ""  In Germany , police used pepper spray on two protesters who crossed beyond police lines .  Still , the demonstrations across the world were peaceful overall , inspired by the protests in the United States . In London , WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange spoke to demonstrators . The demonstrations are contained to an area in front of St . Paul ' s Cathedral . There have also been three arrests , two for assault on police .  "" What is happening here today is a culmination of greed that many people all over the world have worked towards from Cairo to London , "" Assange said .  Tens of thousands demonstrated in German cities , witnesses said . Peaceful protests with a festive atmosphere blended with a mood of anger toward big business , where demonstrators carried signs saying "" Goldman Sucks , "" "" Eat Cash , "" "" People should not be afraid of their government , "" and "" The government should be afraid of their people . ""  "" They are stealing our rights , "" one banner read at a demonstration of several thousand people in Madrid .  Canadians turned out in Toronto , with placards jutting up from a crowd saying "" Arrest the 1 "" and "" Stop ignoring the youth , we are your tomorrow . "" A sign on a dog said "" 99 against ( corporate ) fat cats . ""  Retired businessman Wong Chi Keung , in Hong Kong , said , "" We should not let the banks get away with being big bullies . ""  Debbie Chen works for a group protesting against Apple ' s treatment of its workers in China .  "" As the world ' s most valuable company they earn the lion ' s share while the workers on the production line earn only 1 of the selling price of an iPhone . We hope there can be more even distribution of profits , "" she said .  About 200 people marched through Tokyo carrying various signs , including "" No More Nukes and "" Free Tibet . "" The crowd included children jumping and skipping behind the adults . Some protesters wore costumes including a giant panda .  "" I ' m here because young Japanese people are suffering for losing their jobs , but not many speak out their issue to the public , "" said Kesao Murakami . "" I really want young people to appeal forcefully to the public saying , ' We are in trouble . ' ""  In the Indonesian capital of Jakarta , about two dozen people some wearing masks gathered near the U . S . Embassy .  "" We wanted to show that the American regime , its system of imperialism needs to be destroyed , "" said Rudi Daman , leader of the International League of Peoples ' Struggle .  The group urged its chapters to stage a global day of action against "" imperialist plunder , repression and war . ""  Australian cities of Melbourne and Sydney joined rallies against "" corporate greed "" as protesters aligned themselves with the global movement .  "" Our protests are to show our solidarity with Occupy Wall Street and also protest various problems from indigenous issues in this country to government problems , "" said Alex Gard , one of the Melbourne organizers . "" We know we have it better than the protesters in the States . . . but there are still problems in this country . ""  Organizers urged protesters to bring sleeping bags and other soft items to sleep on .  "" I ' ve heard people say they plan to be there for days , even months , "" Gard said .  Organizers worldwide started social media pages on Facebook and Twitter devoted to "" October 15 "" "" O15 on Twitter "" urging protesters to join the global call for protests .  The worldwide movement is galvanized by the Occupy Wall Street movement started last month as a backlash against the economy and what demonstrators say is an out of touch corporate , financial and political elite .  Occupy Wall Street organizers say they are inspired by the Arab Spring that led to the toppling of regimes in Tunisia and Egypt .  The founding movement in the United States has spread to other major cities in the nation .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
6039,6040,"Kabul , Afghanistan A senior Afghan intelligence official was killed Thursday when a bomb exploded in the country ' s northern Kunduz province , according to a provincial council chief .  Payenda Khan who headed up a district in Kunduz for the National Directorate of Security was killed , and three children were injured in the blast , said Mahbobullah Mahbob .  Khan was killed in the Afghan district of Bander Khanabad , and the Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack .  His death is latest in a series of high level officials who have recently been killed across the country .  The most high profile strike occurred in July , when the Taliban also claimed responsibility for the death of the president ' s half brother , Ahmed Wali Karzai .  The Kandahar provincial council chief was considered an influential power broker and key presidential ally in the country ' s southern provinces .  Last week , militants stormed the compound of the governor of Afghanistan ' s Uruzgan province .  A least 19 people were killed and 37 wounded , including three police officers , in that attack .  The governor , Muhammad Omar Shirzad , managed to escape after being surrounded by security guards while a gun battle raged for several hours .  Elsewhere Thursday , two  service members were killed in eastern Afghanistan , according to an International Security Assistance Force statement .  One soldier was killed when a man wearing an Afghan National Police uniform turned his weapon against the service member .  The second person died from a separate insurgent attack ,  reported .  Meanwhile , coalition forces say they captured a senior Haqqani leader , responsible for more than 250 fighters , in the southeastern province of Paktiya .  The Haqqani network is an insurgent group loosely affiliated with the Taliban , and is believed to operate out of Pakistan ' s frontier territories .  Last month , coalition forces reported a day long fire fight in a "" known Haqqani network "" area in southeastern Afghanistan that left at least 50 alleged insurgents dead .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
6052,6053,"Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is threatening to kill the 73 Yemeni troops it is holding hostage if the government does not release al Qaeda prisoners .  In a statement issued late Thursday , the group advised family members of the hostages to push the government to cooperate , but a senior security official in the southern province of Abyan , where the troops are being held , said the government would not give in to the group ' s demands .  "" We will work on freeing the soldiers being held by the militants , but only by reasonable means . The government will not set free any militants . This will only make the terror crisis even worse , "" said the security official , who is not authorized to talk to media .  The official said three of the troops had already been killed .  The threat of more killings came as Yemen mourned the approximately 200 troops killed this week by al Qaeda in three Yemeni provinces .  President Abdurabu Hadi vowed Thursday to step up government efforts to fight al Qaeda , saying he will not allow Yemen to fall into the hands of extremists .  A delegation from the Yemen Military Committee , the highest security authority in the country , reached Abyan on Wednesday as part of an investigation into how al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (  ) has been able to score consistent victories in the region over the past week .  Western officials describe  as al Qaeda ' s most dangerous affiliate .  "" We expected obstacles , but the president will do all in his power to uproot the terror militants from the country , "" said Yahya al Arassi , the president ' s spokesman . "" This is a promise he gave the people . ""   has tried to win support by portraying itself as a defender of Yemenis against a U . S . backed dictatorship . The group is linked to jihadist fighters who have taken control of swathes of southern Yemen .  The United Nations refugee agency said Friday that tens of thousands of civilians are fleeing tribal clashes in the north and fighting between government troops and militants in the south .  In the Haradh governorate , north of the capital , Sanaa , tribal clashes over the past three months have displaced about 52 , 000 people , Yemeni authorities have said , according to the spokesman for the U . N . High Commissioner for Refugees , Adrian Edwards .  Another 314 , 000 Yemenis were already displaced in the country ' s north , he said in a news release .  A peace agreement was signed in June 2010 between the government and Al Houti forces but the situation in northern Yemen is volatile and insecure , the  said .  "" We continue to run two camps for displaced Yemenis in the north and have been providing assistance to internally displaced persons in the camps and in host communities , "" Edwards said .  In the south , at least 1 , 800 people have been displaced by recent fighting between government troops and militants in the Abyan governorate , the  said . They have joined more than 150 , 000 others in the south who have been displaced since last May , when the conflict began .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
6057,6058,"Saying that he always intended for the films ' events to fit into a single linear timeline , director Francis Ford Coppola revealed in an interview this week that The Godfather , The Godfather Part  , and The Godfather Part  all took place within the same narrative universe .  The 74 year old auteur explained that although each film can be appreciated as a stand alone project , he in fact directed the movies with the conscious goal of weaving all three together into one cohesive world , dropping in subtle clues throughout to suggest that certain details and even entire story arcs within the movies were connected .  "" Observant fans sometimes point out that a character named Michael Corleone appears in all three movies and that he ' s played by Al Pacino each time , and I can assure you that ' s no coincidence , "" said Coppola , who noted that "" all the puzzle pieces are there "" for anyone who looks hard enough at the three motion pictures . "" In fact , those aren ' t three different people , but rather one character who appears three times . Michael in New York in the first film , Michael in Lake Tahoe in the second one , then Michael back in Manhattan in the third they ' re the very same man . ""  "" I did a similar thing having Carlo ' s death in The Godfather carry over into the next two films , "" Coppola continued . "" You ' ll notice he doesn ' t show up in any of the others . That ' s because he ' s still dead in this one continuous storyline . Meanwhile , Connie is his widow , which is me kind of winking at the opening wedding scene with her and Carlo from the first film . It ' s subtle , but once you pick up on a detail like this , you ' ll start to notice many other little connections . ""  Coppola said that once he conceived of the idea of placing the movies in the same universe , he made a point of theatrically hinting at the web of intersections between all three . In addition to keeping the same characters from movie to movie , Coppola noted that viewers who pay close attention can catch other continuities among the three works , from the music playing in the background , to common phrases and manners of speech , right down to the titles of the films themselves .  Indeed , rather than viewing them as separate tales of organized crime in America , Coppola said he would prefer that people instead consider The Godfather , The Godfather Part  , and The Godfather Part  as a unified trilogy , or saga , portraying the story of a single Mafia family over time .  Over the entire course of production , however , Coppola admitted that keeping the single interconnected world consistent became more of a challenge , especially in the third film which he said was meant to be the "" final "" movie in the Godfather universe , temporally speaking as it required viewers to make the complex logical leap of recognizing that the crime family depicted in the late 1970s was still the same crime family from the 1940s and 1950s from the earlier films .  "" Basically , all the people with the last name Corleone who appear in the films are supposed to be related to each other , "" said Coppola , recalling how during production he actually took the time to painstakingly map out the entire fictitious Corleone family tree that runs through all three projects . "" For instance , Santino Jr . from the third film is the grandson of Vito from the first film , played by Marlon Brando , who is meant to be an older version of Robert de Niro ' s character of Vito Corleone from the second film . It sounds confusing , but believe me , this is something we actually planned out . ""  "" For example , if you pay close attention , Marlon and Robert never appear on screen together , "" he added . "" That may seem trivial at first , but then it hits you : they ' re playing the same person but at different ages . ""  Noting that the nods to a common narrative were "" Easter eggs "" intended "" only for the real diehards , "" Coppola emphasized that the movies still held up individually , though he assured audiences that , after several viewings , many of them would pick up on details such as the fact that almost every character in the three films has ties to the Sicilian Mafia .  "" We planned the films with the big picture in mind , but we always tried not to spell it out so much that it became a gimmick , and instead left it to fans to discover the connections themselves , "" the writer director said . "" I always hoped that when people took a step back , they ' d come to see how these three films sort of mesh together how , if you want to think of it in this way , they are actually just one long story made up of three parts . ""  "" Fans shouldn ' t get too carried away , though , and look for elements of The Godfather in other movies I ' ve worked on , "" continued Coppola , confirming that the Godfather storyline is only limited to the three films with Godfather in their name . "" For example , Apocalypse Now is a film I made that ' s not part of the Godfather universe , which I tried to emphasize by not having Robert Duvall ' s character Bill Kilgore mention the Mafia just like Tom Hagen never mentions Vietnam . I was very careful about that kind of stuff . ""  Coppola did note , however , that Fredo Corleone from the first Godfather and Fredo Corleone from the second were supposed to be entirely different characters , and admitted that the repeated name was an error he noticed only after the film ' s release .  ",satire,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
6080,6081,"Related : Reunited siblings Barrie Prowse , 27 , and Gemma Sanders , 23 , both play for Penzance   A footballer searching for his long lost family found he had a sister playing for the same team .  Barrie Prowse , 27 , was adopted as a baby and wanted to trace his biological parents , managing to track down his mother and discovering he had a sister Gemma Sanders , 23 .  But it turned out that they were players for the same football club . Father of two Barrie , 27 , plays centre midfield for the men ' s team at Penzance  in Cornwall while Miss Sanders plays for the women ' s  .  They played at the same ground , trained on the same pitch and regularly enjoyed a post game pint at the same clubhouse while unaware they were brother and sister .  Mr Prowse , of Penzance , Cornwall , who is married , said he had often watched his sister , who is deaf , play matches for the South West Peninsula League Premier Division side .  He said : ' I would sometimes take my two girls down to the pitches to watch the woman ' s matches that Gemma was playing in .  ' Funnily enough , a friend of mine had once told me to watch out for a deaf girl playing in the team because she was such a fantastic player . I hate to say it but Gemma is a better footballer than me .  ' I was gutted because I ' ve always been the best sportsman in my family . '  Support worker Miss Sanders lives 15 miles away from Mr Prowse in Redruth , Cornwall , and also plays for the Great Britain deaf women ' s football team .  Siblings reunited : Miss Sanders and Mr Prowse played at the same ground , trained on the same pitch and regularly enjoyed a post game pint at the same clubhouse while unaware they were brother and sister  Keepy uppies : Support worker Miss Sanders lives 15 miles away from Mr Prowse in Redruth , Cornwall  She said : ' I got a Facebook message from Barrie saying he was my big brother and I was in shock , I just couldn ' t believe it .  Coincidence : Mr Prowse , who is married , said he had often watched his sister who is deaf play matches for the football team  ' I would play for the women ' s team on a Sunday and he would play for the men ' s team on a Saturday . After the game we would go to the bar at the ground and have a few drinks .  ' Obviously I didn ' t know about Barrie but now I know we would have been in the same bar and I always wonder if we have spoken before . We could have walked past each other .  ' I may have seen his two daughters and not known that I was their aunt . It is just such a weird story , we didn ' t even know each other but we might have said hello .  ' Thinking back , it is mad to think what could have happened , he could have held a door for me or anything . I am just really pleased that he found me . '  Mr Prowse used Facebook and the Genes Reunited website to track down mother Caroline Perry , 45 , who had given him up aged 18 .  Following the reunion Mr Prowse was told he had four brothers from her side , sister Miss Sanders and a brother through his father , Anton Whitehead , who died in 1995 .  Mr Prowse said : ' I kept typing Gemma ' s name into Google and it was coming up saying "" Penzance football "" . I couldn ' t figure out why it kept coming up . I was thinking : "" Surely not , this can ' t be right "" .  ' But then my wife Natalie sent me a link to Gemma ' s Facebook and we spoke on there and realised we were related it was surreal . '  Mr Prowse , an  recruiter , has now met with all his living biological relatives with the full blessing of adoptive parents , Keith Prowse , 66 , and wife Elizabeth , 59 .  He has also introduced them to his own family dance teacher wife Natalie , 28 , and their two girls , Taylor Grace , four , and one year old Kenza Rae .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
6099,6100,"Cam Newton is still perfect this season . Tony Romo might be out for good with the same injury that sidelined him for seven games .  Romo will have a  scan on Friday after he was forced from Thursday ' s 33 14 loss to the Carolina Panthers on the final play of the third quarter .  The 35 year old quarterback said the feeling he had after being sacked by linebacker Thomas Davis was "" similar "" to what he felt when he broke the collarbone in a Sept . 20 win over the Philadelphia Eagles .  "" Going to the ground you could hear something happen , "" Romo said . "" You ' re just disappointed and feel like I don ' t know what is going to happen . We ' ll see . ""  On Romo ' s previous two collarbone breaks , X rays were able to show the fractures . Owner and general manager Jerry Jones said Romo suffered six or seven breaks in the collarbone from the hit against Philadelphia .  Davis landed on top of Romo , driving the quarterback ' s shoulder into the artificial turf . Up to that point Romo was having a miserable game , with two of his three interceptions returned for touchdowns in the first half .  Tony Romo ' s season is over after his latest collarbone injury , a source tells  . ?  Romo missed seven games after breaking his collarbone against the Eagles . He missed the final 10 games of the 2010 season when he broke the same collarbone in a loss to the New York Giants .  "" You ' re always chancing it when you come back , "" said Romo , who said last week the chances of another break were high . "" The hard part is playing when you ' re trying not to get hurt , which is silly . You can ' t do that . We knew that was part of it . Collarbones happen like that all the time . That ' s part of it . I ' m disappointed in costing our team a good chance to stay in the game early . . . . It ' s just a disappointing day . ""  Romo has not had surgery on the collarbone after his previous breaks . Surgery earlier this year would not have accelerated the healing process . He was able to practice with the scout team after six weeks and returned to the field Sunday against the Miami Dolphins , completing 18 of 28 passes for 227 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions in a 24 14 win .  "" We wouldn ' t let Tony play if he wasn ' t ready to play physically , "" Garrett said . "" There is no evidence we brought him back too soon . We ' ll look at what the tests say Friday , and we ' ll make the evaluation going forward . ""  Without Romo , the Cowboys will turn to Matt Cassel as their starter for the second time this season . Coming off the bench Thursday , he completed 13 of 19 passes for 93 yards and had a 2 yard touchdown pass to Cole Beasley in the fourth quarter .  Cassel went 0 4 before Romo ' s return . Since Romo ' s first career start in 2006 , the Cowboys are 78 49 when he starts and 6 16 when he doesn ' t .  The Cowboys also have quarterbacks Kellen Moore and Jameill Showers on the practice squad .  Romo was wearing extra protection under his shoulder pads Thursday . The team ' s equipment and medical staffs sewed a hex pad into an undershirt Romo wears .  Dallas does not play again until Dec . 7 on  ' s "" Monday Night Football "" against the Washington Redskins . The players are off until Wednesday .  "" We still have a lot to learn on Romo , "" Jones said . "" It ' s in the same shoulder . . . so that is a concern from the standpoint of the games ahead . We just need more information . ""   Stats Information contributed to this report .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
6105,6106,"Hong Kong On the stand for drug trafficking , Talina Prieto Vazquez tearfully insisted she didn ' t know that when her husband brought her to Hong Kong she would be taking part in one of the city ' s largest ever cocaine trafficking cases .  Prieto Vazquez , 29 , had been caught with 538 kilograms of cocaine ( about 1 , 285 pounds ) , worth some 65 million . She was among a group of five Mexicans and one American including her husband Josu Mario Bravo Galindo that police arrested in Tuen Mun , northern Hong Kong , in September , 2011 .  Their three year old son was also taken into custody following the raid .  "" My baby is the most important thing in my life , "" Prieto Vazquez said during her trial in May .  The drug case highlighted the role Hong Kong plays as a staging post in a booming trade between Latin American drug producers and a growing illegal drug market in mainland China . Judge Gareth Lugar Mawson , presiding over the case , said during the trial that the "" majority of that cocaine would most likely go out of Hong Kong into the mainland . ""  Authorities have seized increasingly larger illegal drug shipments over the past few years as the mainland ' s appetite for so called luxury drugs like cocaine grows .  Since the 2011 bust , Hong Kong ' s record was broken in 2012 , with a 649 kilogram seizure , which was worth 98 million .  While Hong Kong has strong sentences for drug trafficking , there is no capital punishment for offenders unlike in mainland China , making the city a favored transit post for drug traffickers , experts say .  The number of smaller traffickers , called mules , has also sharply increased in local prisons . A year ago , 20 Colombians were caught at Hong Kong ' s borders carrying smaller amounts of narcotics on them . Since April 2012 , the local consulate recorded 45 new arrests .  Prieto Vazquez claims that hardship forced her family into the drug trade .  During the two week trial , her husband told the court he had gotten into a 35 , 000 debt with loan sharks in Mexico . Unable to repay and under threats of violence , he was offered the opportunity to "" work off "" the debt .  "" I was told that I had to come to Hong Kong and , here , I ' d receive further instructions , "" Bravo Galindo said from the witness stand . But it ended with the whole family in custody in Hong Kong , according to Prieto Vazquez ' defense .  Her husband was trying to deceive the police behind the fa ade of a family tour , Prieto Vazquez ' defense lawyer Keith Odeberg said in court .  "" Bravo Galindo pressured his wife to come to Hong Kong and use his family as cover that was his secret agenda , "" Odeberg said in his closing statement , to justify his client ' s claim she didn ' t know about the narcotics .  Prosecutor John Murray asked why their trip to Asia was to take seven weeks , as this would mean Prieto Vazquez would have needed substantial holiday time from her nursing assistant job in Mexico .  Mexican law allows six to 12 days yearly paid leave for people at the beginning of their careers . Murray questioned the family ' s story during his cross examination of Bravo Galindo .  "" I ' m going to put to ( you ) that you are lying , "" he told the 33 year old witness . Bravo Galindo , through a Spanish translation , denied it .  During her statements in court , Prieto Vazquez maintained her innocence . Authorities arrested her walking out of a warehouse in northern Hong Kong where hundreds of kilos of cocaine were found and six kilos of the drug were in her purse .  "" I cannot prove that I didn ' t know there were drugs in my bag , but I will not give up , because God knows it and I didn ' t know anything , "" Prieto Vazquez insisted in court . The all female jury , however , brought back a verdict of guilty . She was sentenced to 27 years in prison .  Her husband , Bravo Galindo , received a lighter sentence for his guilty plea and was jailed for 24 years and eight months .  Meanwhile , their toddler will be raised by relatives of the father in Mexico . He will spend time with different members of his family , but will not know a stable family life , Odeberg said in court .  Eudora Wong contributed to this report  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
6129,6130,"Washington The Pentagon has advised recruiting commands that they can accept openly gay and lesbian recruit candidates , given the recent federal court decision that bars the military from expelling openly gay service members , according to a Pentagon spokeswoman .  The guidance from the Personnel and Readiness office was sent to recruiting commands on Friday , according to spokeswoman Cynthia Smith .  The recruiters were told that if a candidate admits he or she is openly gay , and qualify under normal recruiting guidelines , their application can be processed . Recruiters are not allowed to ask candidates if they are gay as part of the application process .  The notice also reminded recruiters that they have to "" manage expectations "" of applicants by informing them that a reversal of the court decision might occur , whereby the "" don ' t ask , don ' t tell "" policy could be reinstated , Smith said .  Later Tuesday , U . S . District Court Judge Virginia Phillips in California denied the government ' s request for an emergency stay of her order barring the military from enforcing its ban on gay men and lesbians serving openly . The government is now expected to go to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco .  Groups representing gays and lesbians have warned against coming out to the military because the policy is still being appealed in courts .  One group , the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network , sent a statement out Tuesday reiterating the concern .  "" During this interim period of uncertainty , service members must not come out and recruits should use caution if choosing to sign up , "" said  Executive Director Aubrey Sarvis in the statement . "" The bottom line : if you come out now , it can be used against you in the future by the Pentagon . ""  Judge Phillips ' ruling on "" don ' t ask , don ' t tell "" stemmed from a lawsuit by Log Cabin Republicans , a gay rights group , challenging the policy .  Former Army Lt . Daniel Choi , an Iraq war combat veteran who challenged "" don ' t ask , don ' t tell "" and was discharged , moved to rejoin the military Tuesday afternoon . "" I ' m here because I want to serve my country , "" he said .  "" In the recruiting station . Apparently I ' m too old for the Marines ! "" he said in a tweet . "" Just filled out the Army application . ""  Choi said he told recruiters he was gay and that there was no reaction or delay in the enlistment process . He indicated he would complete his paperwork Wednesday and that he did not care what rank he would assume .  Will Rodriguez Kennedy , president of Log Cabin Republicans ' San Diego , California , office , tried Tuesday afternoon to be reinstated by the Marines .  "" Once a Marine , always a Marine , "" said Rodriguez Kennedy , a corporal who was honorably discharged in February 2008 .  He served three years of a four year term . "" It ' s a feeling of not having completed a full tour , "" he said .  Reinstatement would allow him to keep the corporal rank and resume benefits .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
6151,6152,"Sen . Barack Obama on Thursday criticized a recent vote by Democratic presidential rival Sen . Hillary Clinton as helping to give President Bush a "" blank check "" to take military action against Iran .  Sen . Barack Obama says Sen . Hillary Clinton has shown "" flawed "" judgment .  Last month , Clinton voted to support a resolution declaring Iran ' s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps , an elite part of the Iranian military , a foreign terrorist group . ( The nonbinding amendment to the Defense Authorization Act passed by a 76 22 vote . )  Obama said he would have voted against the measure but didn ' t because he was campaigning in New Hampshire at the time . He said it was impossible to know when votes will be scheduled in the Senate . "" This is a problem "" related to running for president , he said .  Obama said Clinton also had shown "" flawed "" judgment during the vote to authorize the Iraq war five years ago .  "" We know that there was embodied in this legislation , or this resolution sent to the Senate , language that would say our Iraqi troop structures should in part be determined by our desire to deal with Iran , "" Obama said . "" Now if you know that in the past the president has taken a blank check and cashed it , we don ' t want to repeat that mistake . ""  Clinton on Thursday defended her vote on the resolution during an interview on New Hampshire Public Radio , saying "" what I voted on was a nonbinding resolution . It ' s not an amendment . It ' s not a law . ""  While Clinton was campaigning Sunday in New Hampton , Iowa , an audience member at a town hall style meeting pressed her on why she voted for the Iran measure and asked why she hadn ' t learned from past "" mistakes . "" Calling "" the premise of the question "" wrong , the senator from New York argued the resolution calls for the terrorist label so that sanctions can be imposed .  The sanctions , Clinton said , will in turn "" send a clear message to the leadership "" and lead to stronger diplomatic efforts .  Earlier this month , Clinton also co sponsored legislation with Sen . Jim Webb , D Virginia , that would prohibit military operations against Iran without congressional approval .  Obama ' s comments came on the fifth anniversary of the 77 23 Senate vote that authorized the president to use force against Iraq . Obama , then an Illinois state senator , spoke out against the resolution authorizing force at the time .  Clinton ' s 2002 vote shows a clear difference in judgment between the two of them , Obama said . Watch as Obama questions Clinton ' s judgment  "" I don ' t think it disqualified her , but I think it speaks to her judgment and it speaks to my judgment , "" Obama said . "" It speaks to how we will make decisions going forward .  "" I think her judgment was flawed on this issue . ""  Obama said he also will step up efforts to clarify his differences with Clinton , whom many political observers view as the front runner for the Democratic nomination .  "" There ' s no doubt we are moving into a different phase of the campaign , "" Obama said . "" The first part of a campaign is to offer some biography and give people a sense of where I ' ve been and what I am about .  "" In this next phase , we want to make sure that voters understand that on big issues , like the decision to go into the war in Iraq , I had real differences with the other candidates , and that reflects on my judgment . ""  Another leading Democratic candidate , John Edwards , also voted in 2002 to authorize force in Iraq while he was then a senator from North Carolina . He later called his vote a mistake .  In a veiled swipe at Clinton , Obama also suggested he could better unite the country and offer "" something new , as opposed to looking backward and simply duplicating some of the politics that we ' ve become so accustomed to , that frankly the American people are sick of . ""  Obama would not say whether he would consider Clinton as his running mate should he become the Democratic Party ' s nominee .  "" I think Sen . Clinton is a very capable person , "" he said . "" Right now , my goal is to make sure I am the nominee , and she is still the senator from New York . "" E mail to a friend  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
6176,6177,"Reuters) - President Barack Obama believes Congress will lift an embargo on Cuba under the next president, whether a Republican or a Democrat, he said in an interview with  Espanol that was broadcast on Monday. Obama, who will make a historic trip to Cuba next week, said there was not enough support among lawmakers to lift the embargo now, but sentiment was moving in that direction in both parties. “My strong prediction is that sometime in the next president’s administration, whether they are a Democrat or a Republican, that the embargo in fact will be removed,” he said in the interview, according to a transcript.  The interview was conducted last week. “It makes sense for us to be able to sell into Cuba, to do business with Cubans, to show us business practices and how we treat workers and how we approach issues of human rights, that will help bring about the kinds of changes that are needed,” he said. Obama leaves office next January.  ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
6180,6181,""" Lift Every Voice and Sing "" is an uplifting spiritual , one that ' s often heard in churches and popularly recognized as the black national anthem . Timothy Askew grew up with its rhythms , but now the song holds a contentious place in his mind .  "" I love the song , "" said Askew , an associate professor of English at Clark Atlanta University , a historically black college . "" But it ' s not the song that is the problem . It ' s the label of the song as a ' black national anthem ' that creates a lot of confusion and tension . ""  The song and its message of struggle and hope have long been attached to the African American community . It lives on as a religious hymn for several protestant and African American denominations and was quoted by the Rev . Joseph E . Lowery at Barack Obama ' s presidential inauguration .  After studying the music and lyrics of the song and its history for more than two decades , Askew decided the song was intentionally written with no specific reference to any race or ethnicity .  Askew explains his position in the new book , "" Cultural Hegemony and African American Patriotism : An Analysis of the Song , ' Lift Every Voice and Sing , ' "" which was released by Linus Publications in June . The book explores the literary and musical traditions of the song , but also says that a national anthem for African Americans can be construed as racially separatist and divisive .  "" To sing the ' black national anthem ' suggests that black people are separatist and want to have their own nation , "" Askew said . "" This means that everything Martin Luther King Jr . believed about being one nation gets thrown out the window . ""  Askew first became intrigued with "" Lift Every Voice and Sing "" while working on his master ' s degree at Yale University . He was a Morehouse College music graduate , young , passionate and hungry for knowledge about African American culture . A fellow classmate suggested Askew explore Yale ' s collection on James Weldon Johnson , an early civil rights activist who wrote the song decades earlier .  Johnson first wrote "" Lift Every Voice and Sing "" as a poem in 1900 . Hundreds of African American students performed it at a celebration of Abraham Lincoln ' s birthday at Jacksonville , Florida ' s Stanton School , where Johnson was principal . Johnson ' s brother , John Rosamond Johnson , later set the poem to music . By 1920 , the  had proclaimed the song the "" Negro National Anthem . ""  "" I remember methodically going into the Yale library every day and sitting there on the floor , rummaging through 700 boxes of James Johnson ' s work , "" Askew said . "" I became so fascinated in his life and letters , that I wanted to know more about the creation of the song and how it related to our modern understanding of it . ""  He found letters of appreciation to Johnson from individuals of all different ethnic backgrounds . At that moment , Askew had a revelation : The song he ' d known as the "" black national anthem "" was for everybody .  Some will call his perspective on the song a contradiction , Askew said , especially because he works at a historically black college . But he argues that universities like Clark Atlanta accept students of many races and ethnicities a national anthem for one race excludes others , and ignores an existing national anthem , "" The Star Spangled Banner "" by Francis Scott Key .  "" Some people argue lines like ' We have come , treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered , ' signify a tie to slavery and the black power struggle , "" Askew said . "" But in all essence there is no specific reference to black people in this song . It lends itself to any people who have struggled . ""  He ' s not the only one who sees fault in a national anthem just for African Americans .  Kenneth Durden , an African American conservative blogger , responded to Askew ' s claims on his blog , "" A Free Man , Thinking Freely . "" He said in an interview that Askew is right to make connections to King ' s view of one America .  "" King always appealed to the American dream for all , "" Durden said . "" He was a patriot and he never wanted blacks to deny or separate themselves from being American . I think claiming an anthem for ourselves as black people is doing just that . ""  What troubles Askew more is that the song became an identity marker for African Americans .  "" Who has the right to decide for all black people what racial symbol they should have ? "" Askew said . "" Identity should be developed by the individual himself , not a group of people who think they know what is best for you . ""  Hilary O . Shelton , senior vice president for advocacy and policy for the  , said Askew ' s ideas might be far fetched .  "" I don ' t see anything that is racially exclusive or discriminatory about the song , "" Shelton said . "" The negro national anthem was adopted and welcomed by a very interracial group , and it speaks of hope in being full first class citizens in our society . ""  "" Lift Every Voice and Sing "" isn ' t meant to cloud national identity or persuade African Americans to be separatists , Shelton said . It ' s often sung in conjunction with "" The Star Spangled Banner , "" or with the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance at  events .  "" His presumption is that this song is sung instead of our national anthem that we are less American and we are not as committed to America because we take pride in the Negro national anthem , "" Shelton said . "" It is evident in our actions as an organization and here in America that we are about inclusion , not exclusion . To claim that we as African Americans want to form a confederation or separate ourselves from white people because of one song is baffling to me . ""  This isn ' t the first time "" Lift Every Voice and Sing "" has sparked debate . In 2008 , jazz singer Rene Marie substituted the words of "" The Star Spangled Banner "" with the words of "" Lift Every Voice and Sing "" at Mayor John Hickenlooper ' s State of the City address in Denver , Colorado . Marie said it was a matter of artistic expression , but critics viewed the lyrical switch as disrespect toward the national anthem , a lack of patriotism and an insinuation of racial division .  "" I think that we often try to separate the black experience from the American experience , "" said Marc Lamont Hill , an associate professor of education at Columbia University who studies hip hop culture . "" It ' s a black national anthem , but it ' s also a quintessential American song because of its message of fighting for freedom . It ' s not ' lift the black voices , ' it ' s ' lift every voice . ' ""  Askew , though , maintains there ' s only one national anthem , "" The Star Spangled Banner , "" and that "" Lift Every Voice and Sing "" could take on a new role : a message of victory for all ethnic groups in the United States .  "" We need to consider eliminating this alternative label of ' black national anthem ' in order to promote unity , "" Askew said . "" I know people will probably think that I ' m a sellout , but I think it is important that African Americans nationally understand that we should be moving towards racial cohesiveness . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
6183,6184,"Reuters) - Hillary Clinton began her presidential campaign by promising to do what it takes to rein in Wall Street. Boosted by Wall Street’s toughest critics, U.S. senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, the Democratic candidate has declared “the deck is still stacked in favor of those at the top” and said she would raise bank fees and tighten banking regulations. She has encouraged regulators to break up too-risky banks. And yet, Wall Street appears unperturbed by the prospect of a Clinton presidency. In fact, the banking industry has supported Clinton with buckets of cash and stocks have sold off on days when the Clinton campaign stumbles. Privately, bankers say that they trust her to remain a pragmatist who will keep the current regulatory regime laid down by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform legislation passed in 2010. “I don’t think Clinton wakes up thinking about Wall Street,” one senior banking industry lobbyist said. There are hints in apparently leaked email discussions among Clinton’s campaign staff that bankers are not far off the mark when they count on her to tread lightly.  Pressed during the campaign by progressive Democrats to call for a revival of the Glass-Steagall Act that would require separation of commercial and investment banking, Clinton ultimately refused. She also weighed another progressive favorite - a tax on financial transactions- but instead recommended a far narrower plan to tax only canceled orders by high speed traders. Ultimately, what bankers most like about Clinton is that she is not Donald Trump.  Many financiers fear her unorthodox Republican rival could disrupt global trade, damage geopolitical relationships and rattle markets, industry analysts and participants say. “Those are the kind of things that corner offices think about,” said Karen Shaw Petrou of Federal Financial Analytics Inc, whose firm advises financial firms about U.S. regulatory policy. “The overriding concern about Trump has dominated people’s thinking.” Trump’s candidacy has upended traditional political alliances and bankers that usually contribute more to the Republicans have been flinging money at Clinton. Employees of the 17 largest bank holding companies and their subsidiaries have been sending her $10 for every $1 they contributed to Trump, according to a Reuters analysis. In 2012, the same group contributed twice as much to Republican candidate Mitt Romney as it did to President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign.   People who work for hedge funds and private equity firms have contributed more than $56 million to Clinton’s presidential campaign and the supporting groups that face no legal cap on donations. Trump’s campaign and related groups received just $243,000 from donors in the same sector, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics. “It’s basically going with the devil you know over the devil you don’t,” said Brian Gardner, a managing director of New York investment firm Keefe Bruyette & Woods. What also helped, he said, was the familiarity with Hillary and Bill Clinton dating back to the 1990s when her husband was president and ushered in a period of financial deregulation. “There is a closeness and a comfort level between the titans on Wall Street and the Clintons,” he said. For bankers, the biggest worry is a scenario where Clinton wins and the Democrats take control of the House and the Senate, with progressives such as Warren and Sanders holding sway over everything from new tax laws to appointments of regulators. Already, Warren has called for immediate dismissal of the Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White. Last year, Warren successfully led a movement to derail Obama’s plan to appoint banker Antonio Weiss to the top job at Treasury. Warren and other progressives will press Clinton to be tough on Wall Street in return for their campaign support.  Clinton “leaned heavily on Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, and progressive ideas, when she needed to excite voters,” Adam Green with the Progressive Change Campaign Committee said. “Elizabeth Warren has proven she’s a very powerful ally to have on your side. And it’s well known she’s also a formidable opponent to have against you,” Green said.  However, recent polls suggest it is unlikely that Democrats will take the House and the future of the Senate is far from certain. Even if the Senate goes Democratic, it is likely to be led by New York Senator Chuck Schumer, a moderate who has represented Wall Street with the industry’s backing. Clinton has said she will propose a “risk fee” on the largest financial firms and tighten up rules which allow banks to circumvent bans on proprietary trading by investing in hedge funds. Like Trump, she has proposed to end the tax break that private equity investors enjoy, termed “carried interest.” Yet such provisions will be probably tied up in a much larger tax initiative that will involve months, if not a year or more, of horse trading in Washington. Ultimately, it could end up overshadowed by other progressive goals, such as infrastructure funding, college affordability, or raising the minimum wage. Those are the causes that Clinton has prioritized and they are likely to supersede her anti-bank rhetoric, say bankers. One industry trade group representative said: “We’re not in her top 10 to take care of.” ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
6190,6191,"Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said in a tweet on Sunday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had insulted him by calling him “old” and said he would never call Kim “short and fat.” Trump made the comment after attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Vietnam. In a series of tweets he also said Chinese President Xi Jinping was “upping sanctions” on North Korea in response to its nuclear and missile programs and that Xi wanted Pyongyang to “denuclearize.” During Trump’s visit to Beijing last week Xi reiterated that China would strive for the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula but offered no hint it would change tack on North Korea, with which it fought side by side in the 1950-53 Korean war against U.S.-led forces. One of Trump’s tweets read: “Why would Kim Jong-un insult me by calling me ‘old,’ when I would  call him ‘short and fat?’ Oh well, I try so hard to be his friend - and maybe someday that will happen!” Speaking later in Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi, Trump said “it would be very, very nice” if he and Kim became friends. “That might be a strange thing to happen but it’s a possibility,” he said. Trump has traded insults and threats with Kim in the past amid escalating tension over Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs as North Korea races toward its goal of developing a nuclear-tipped missile capable of reaching the United States -something Trump has vowed to prevent. North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear bomb test on Sept. 3, prompting another round of U.N. sanctions. In September Kim described Trump as a “mentally deranged U.S. dotard” whom he would tame with fire. His comments came after Trump threatened in his maiden United Nations address to “totally destroy” the country of 26 million people if the United States were threatened. After North Korea’s Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho addressed the U.N. General Assembly in September Trump tweeted: “Just heard Foreign Minister of North Korea speak at U.N. If he echoes thoughts of Little Rocket Man, they won’t be around much longer!” North Korea has conducted dozens of ballistic missile tests in defiance of U.N. sanctions. It has vowed to never give up its weapons programs, saying they are necessary to counter hostility from the United States and its allies. The United States has said that all options, including military, are on the table, although its preference is for a diplomatic solution. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
6205,6206,"Shadow still hovers over Paris in wake of terrorist attacks  A week after France ' s worst terror attack , well wishers and mourners still make the daily pilgrimage to leave flowers , light a candle , say a prayer or otherwise pay respects at the sites of the string of shootings and bombings that stunned the city and left at least 130 dead .  Streets that had been closed following the strikes have been reopened . Life is rapidly returning to the city ' s bars and cafes . Some spots away from affected districts hardly missed a beat .  But the shadow of last week ' s events still hangs over Paris , especially in hard hit districts like the animated neighborhood behind Place de la Republique . That ' s where a team of gunmen in a car brazenly shot up restaurants and other night spots , opening fire on patrons , many of them young , who were savoring time with friends and loved ones .  The restaurants along Rue Alibert were one of three major targets in the Nov . 13 attacks , along with a packed concert hall and the Stade de France national stadium in the northern suburb of St . Denis .  To many in the city , the assaults seemed aimed at the very essence of a civilized urban life , against a sense of camaraderie among people of varying backgrounds who gathered to enjoy music , sports and each other ' s company .  "" I think fear is legitimate , but we have to overcome it , "" said Claude Diase , 55 , a writer and area resident who daily stops by the shrines outside a pair of still shuttered establishments , Le Petite Cambodge restaurant and , across the street , Le Carillon bar . "" I ' m sure this neighborhood will come back . ""  At the nearby Bataclan concert hall , where more than 80 people were killed in the bloodiest of last week ' s coordinated strikes , someone played a piano to the applause of those gathered outside .  The city ' s mood since the attacks has been somber and defiant , edgy and composed .  A rumor , or some firecrackers , caused a stampede of people the other day in the Place de la Republique .  Meanwhile , a hash tag campaign urged everyone to head to the bistros .  The fact that the attacks were carried out by French and Belgian nationals not foreign terrorists has shocked many . Authorities have blamed Islamic State , the Qaida breakaway faction that has attracted thousands of European recruits to its self proclaimed "" caliphate "" in parts of Syria and neighboring Iraq .  "" The real problem is the fact it ' s French people who killed other French , "" said Marianne Getti , 22 , a student . "" The challenge for our society is to understand how these French people came to this point of hatred against us . ""  On Friday , authorities said a third body had been identified in the rubble of a building destroyed in a large scale police raid Wednesday on an apartment in the northern suburb of St . Denis .  A day earlier , police had identified another body found in the charred hulk of the apartment as that of Abdelhamid Abaaoud , a Belgian extremist of Moroccan origin who has been called the ringleader of the Paris plot . A woman described as Abaaoud ' s cousin , Hasna Aitboulahcen , was killed as authorities descended on the flat though reports that emerged Friday indicated she did not activate a suicide vest , as police initially said , and may have died when another accomplice blew himself up .  Meanwhile , in Brussels , officials from France and other European Union nations convened in an emergency session to consider several steps , including tightening gun laws , bolstering border security and denying funds to groups linked to extremism . Whether any concrete new initiatives would emerge was not clear .  A number of the Paris assailants , and the purported ringleader , had traveled to Syria and joined Islamic State , authorities said . How to stop European extremists returning from the battlegrounds of Syria and Iraq from wreaking havoc in their homelands is a major challenge of European authorities .  For some , last week ' s attacks seem to signal the arrival of the Syrian conflict , now in its fifth year , in the heart of Europe . Last summer ' s refugee crisis , including legions of Syrians headed toward Europe , had already brought the Syrian war closer to home .  A left wing newspaper dubbed twenty something Parisians coming to terms with the attack which mostly targeted young people the "" Bataclan generation , "" after the targeted concert hall . The concept seeks to capture the sudden , seemingly nihilistic violence of the Paris strikes and the seemingly care free lives of Paris ' young cafe goers .  "" It ' s the first time I have told myself that yes , maybe we are at war , "" said Ayana Merlino , 22 , a marketing student . "" At least it ' s how I picture war in my imagination . ""  She was headed to a concert Friday evening with relatives , and said she had no fears . But she also couldn ' t find takers for an extra ticket , just one more indication that the anxiousness has not passed , despite the revived night life evident in bars and cafes .  Back at the Rue Alibert , outside the Le Petit Cambodge restaurant and Le Carillon bar , people were leaving their testimonies . Some had tears in their eyes as the exact hour of the one week anniversary approached .  "" Paris is light , "" proclaimed one hand written sign scrawled on a while block and dedicated to the victims , many of whose photographs were spread amid flowers and candles as a light rain fell . "" You will always be in our heart . ""  ( Special correspondent Clara Wright contributed to this report . )  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
6211,6212,"Healthweblink ) An advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration has recommended that devices used in electroconvulsive therapy ? also known as "" electroshock therapy "" ? should continue to be classified as high risk .  The devices , which induce a seizure by delivering an electrical current to a patient ' s brain , are used to treat intractable cases of depression , as well as bipolar disorder , schizophrenia , and other mental disorders .  On Friday , a majority of experts on the panel expressed support for classifying  devices as high risk for the treatment of depression and several other conditions . Although the panel members "" weighed in , "" no formal vote was taken and none is expected , according to  spokesperson Karen Riley .   mulls future of electroshock therapy  If the  follows the panel ' s advice , as it usually does , the makers of  devices may need to provide the agency with additional safety and efficacy evidence , like that required for prescription drugs .  machines are currently in a high risk category but have so far avoided the cumbersome  approval process thanks to a grandfather clause .  Proponents of  were dismayed by the panel ' s assessment . Just two small companies in the U . S . make  devices , and some experts worry that neither will have the resources to conduct the studies that the  may require , which could ultimately restrict access to the treatment .  "" It ' s going to be very unfortunate , "" says Helen Lavretsky , M . D . , a professor of psychiatry at  . "" It ' s going to disappear out of our practices . There are 100 , 000 people who undergo  in the U . S . , and it won ' t be available to them . ""  Healthweblink : 10 myths about shock therapy  One of the device manufacturers , the Illinois based company Somatics , declined to comment .  Nancy Koenigsberg , the legal director of Disability Rights New Mexico , in Albuquerque , New Mexico , one of many patient advocacy groups that argued for stricter oversight of  devices in the lead up to last week ' s meeting , says her organization was "" pleased "" with the outcome .  "" We agree that the manufacturers of  devices should have to go through the pre market approval process to show they are clinically safe and effective , "" Koenigsberg says . "" We hope the  takes the committee ' s advice . ""  Healthweblink : What  feels like  The  ' s official decision will not be made for at least a year , and doctors can continue to use  devices in the interim . Even if the agency requires manufacturers to seek approval for their products , the devices will remain in use during the approval process , Riley says .  "" We ' re optimistic that this life saving procedure will continue to be available as a treatment option for patients with debilitating illnesses , "" the president of the American Psychiatric Association , Carol Bernstein , M . D . , said in a statement .  The association supports reclassifying  devices as medium risk , which would preclude the need for additional research regarding their safety and effectiveness .  Copyright Health Magazine 2010  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
6221,6222,"Departing Rangers boss Ally McCoist made an emotional farewell speech to his players and told them to make him proud by pipping Hearts to the Championship title .  The club ' s record scorer has been put on garden leave for the remainder of the 12 month notice period after handing in his resignation 11 days ago .  McCoist ' s former number two Kenny McDowall has now been placed in temporary charge until the end of the season .  Outgoing Rangers manager Ally McCoist made an emotional farewell speech to his players on Monday  The manager met his squad for the final time at Murray Park on Monday morning , just as the club ' s directors were being booed and heckled at a stormy Ibrox  .  But the 52 year old used his final words to fire up the Light Blues for the title run in as they try reign in Hearts ' nine point lead .  McDowall , speaking to the media for the first time since he was put in charge on Sunday night , said : ' We need to give the fans something back .  ' That ' s what they boys are desperate to do . We set out to win this title and that is still the aim . Nothing would make Ally McCoist more happy than the boys doing that .  McCoist has been placed on gardening leave for the remainder of the 12 months notice period  ' Yesterday was a sad day . Ally came in to say goodbye to the players and the staff . The man that he is , he finished by saying that nothing would make him more proud than if they went on to win the title .  ' It would be a great tribute to Ally if they boys could pull that off . '  McCoist ' s turbulent three and a half year reign was finally brought to an end late on Sunday night .  The former Scotland striker had been determined to see out his year long notice period but just 14 hours before the club ' s directors were set to face off against seething shareholders , a brief three line statement confirmed McCoist was gone .  McDowall will be assisted by Gordon Durie and Lee McCulloch , now doubling up as skipper and player coach , as he tries to re energise a team that has creaked its way through recent weeks .  But the 51 year old former Celtic youth coach , who quit Parkhead to join Walter Smith ' s Rangers coaching staff in 2007 , looked uncomfortable as he explained how new chief executive Derek Llambias and football board chairman Sandy Easdale turned to him just moments after dispensing with McCoist .  McDowall ( right ) will be assisted by coach Gordon Durie ( left ) and Lee McCulloch  They also sent coach Ian Durrant back to work with the club ' s Under 20s side and left McDowall to break the bad news .  The former Partick and St Mirren striker said : ' The board intimated to myself that Ally had been put on garden leave and they told me they were going to make some changes to the structure of the coaching team .  ' Gordon was to come up from the ( under ) 20s to assist me and they wanted to make Lee a player coach and I was to start immediately .  ' Was my opinion sought ? No , they asked me if I could make those changes immediately . But the decision was made by them .  ' As for Durranty , that was the board ' s decision too . They asked me to carry it out which I duly did .  ' I was asked to inform the guys of the changes being made . '  McDowall was promoted to assistant manager when McCoist replaced Smith in 2011 but Llambias hinted at Monday ' s shareholder meeting that he could end up keeping the top job permanently .  McDowall faced the press for the first time since being placed in temporary charge  ' I ' m just going to take it one game at a time and try to get Rangers winning on the park , ' said the interim boss before he paid tribute to McCoist . ' I ' m very saddened to see a good friend , who has been absolutely unbelievable for the club over the last three years and longer before that when he was a player , depart .  ' Ally McCoist was the glue that kept this club together .  ' I was surprised when I found out he had resigned because I didn ' t know it was coming . Listen , we are all big boys . It has been a bumpy ride but football is football and anything can happen . '  While the club ' s off field soap opera was a distraction for McCoist , performances did little to help his cause .  McDowall ' s first match in charge will come against Hibernian this Saturday but he knows defeat will all but kill off their automatic promotion hopes .  However , he warned fans not to expect sweeping changes when he names his line up for the Easter Road clash .  He said : ' There ' s not a whole load I can change because everything Ally was doing was with my backing .  ' The players appreciate that they have got to do a bit better on the park in terms of consistency . But these guys are good players . They don ' t just become bad players overnight .  ' Because they are Rangers players , everything is scrutinised every last pass . But they know they need to keep their standards high . '  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
6225,6226,"Just over 60 per cent of Americans believe global warming is taking place and nearly half blame humans for the change .  But within the  , opinions on global warming vary wildly between states , local communities , and congressional districts .  People in California , for instance , are far more worried about the warming planet than those in parts of the central  .  Click on the interactive map below to find out which regions think global warming is happening  Now a new interactive map has revealed public opinion in all 50 states , 435 congressional districts and more than 3 , 000 counties .  To create the map , researchers at Yale University asked people if they believed global warming is happening and whether they were worried .  They were also asked questions such as whether they would support research into renewable energies and what they think about carbon limits .  Nationally , 52 per cent of Americans are worried about global warming . But , as the results show , this national number glosses over the geographic diversity .  Concern about global warming ranges from an estimated low of 38 per cent in Pickett County , Tennessee , to a high of 74 per cent in Washington , D . C .  The results also identify significant variation within states , and one surprising result is Texas .  Here , public concern about climate change ranges from a low of 39 per cent in King County to a high of 61 per cent in Travis County .  Just over 60 per cent of Americans believe global warming is taking place and nearly half blame humans for the change . Pictured are the percentages of people who are worried about climate change , divided by different counties  Concern about global warming ranges from an estimated low of 38 per cent in Pickett County , Tennessee ( pictured ) , to a high of 74 per cent in Washington , D . C .  The Earth experienced its hottest month of March since record keeping began in 1880 .  There ' s been no break from the globe ' s record heat the first three months of 2015 have all set new high temperature marks .  Last month ' s average temperature soared to 56 . 4 F ( 13 . 6 C ) , which is 1 . 5 F ( 0 . 85 C ) above the average for the 20th century .  Scientists warn that fossil fuel burning is pushing more greenhouse gas into the atmosphere , leading to increased temperatures , melting of polar ice and glaciers , and rising seas .  The data , released last week by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (  ) takes into account global averages across land and sea surfaces .  It follows earlier announcements from  government scientists that 2014 was the hottest year in modern history .  ' Although a majority of people in every state think global warming is happening , this analysis makes it possible to see how much opinions differ within each state , ' said Peter Howe of Utah State University , the lead author of the paper .  ' These differences are partly due to the fact that different groups often think differently about the issue .  ' For example , Hispanics and Latinos tend to be more worried about global warming than other racial or ethnic groups , which can be seen on the map in counties with more Latino residents . '  Hawaii , California , Vermont and Massachusetts are the four states that are most worried by climate change .  Three are coloured in orange , which means that at least 50 per cent of the people in every county are concerned about climate change .  The data used in is based on 12 surveys conducted between 2008 and 2013 by the Yale Project on Climate Communication .  To validate the model , the research team conducted separate surveys in four states and two cities .  They found the estimates were within three percentage points of the independent surveys at the state level and four percentage points at the city level .  ' Most of the action to reduce carbon pollution and prepare for climate change impacts is happening at the state and local levels of American society , ' said Anthony Leiserowitz , a research scientist at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies .  ' Yet elected officials , the media , educators , and advocates currently know little about the levels of public and political will for climate action at these sub national levels .  Leiserowitz added that state and local surveys are costly and time intensive , and as a result most public opinion polling is only done at the national level .  In Texas , concern about climate change ranges from a low of 39 per cent in King County to a high of 61 per cent in Travis County ( pictured )  Pictured are the number of adults who believe global warming is taking place . The results are divided by congressional district . The researchers say many Americans believe that even if it exists , global warming is not their problem  ' This model for the first time reveals the full geographic diversity of public opinion in the United States at these critical levels of decision making , ' he said .  Earlier this year , research by the same group the number of people in America who believe climate change isn ' t happening has risen to 23 percent , up seven percentage points since April 2013 .  The researchers also say many Americans believe that even if it exists , global warming is not their problem .  ' Over years of research , we have consistently found that , on average , Americans view global warming as a threat distant in space and time a risk that will affect faraway places , other species , or future generations more than people here and now , ' an earlier report by the group said .  ' People who prior said don ' t know are increasingly saying they don ' t believe it , ' said Leiserowitz .  He told Livescience media coverage surrounding the release of the  report in September may be the explanation for the shift .  While the report made a strong case for human caused climate change , the majority of global media coverage focused on the question of whether there has been a ' pause ' in global warming .  ' Media frames can be really important in shaping the way people interpret the news , ' he said .  The findings divide Americans into six distinct subsets . Sixteen percent are ' alarmed , ' sure global warming is happening and concerned about it .  On the opposite end of the spectrum are the ' dismissive , ' who comprise about 15 per cent of the public and who almost all see global warming as a conspiracy theory or hoax .  Changing either of these two groups ' opinions about climate change is nearly impossible , the report found .  This graph reveals the percentage of people in each state who support funding research into renewable energy sources . New York , Vermont and Illinois are among the states with the highest levels of support  Just over 60 per cent of Americans believe global warming is taking place and nearly half blame humans for the change . But within the  , opinions on global warming vary wildly between states , local communities , and congressional districts . People in California , for instance , are far more worried about the warming planet than those in parts of the central   ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
6232,6233,"Sen . Ted Cruz ( R Tex . ) speaks while Carly Fiorina ( L ) and New Jersey Gov . Chris Christie look on during the  Republican Presidential Debate at University of Colorado ' s Coors Events Center in Boulder , Colo . , on Oct . 28 , 2015 . ( Photo by Justin Sullivan Getty Images )  Ted Cruz is very , very good at the subtle dig .  Consider the third Republican debate , during which Cruz excoriated the moderators ' questions by repeating all of the comments they ' d made to undermine his opponents . Or his comment last week in which he outlined the two "" lanes "" of the Republican primary . With clear malicious intent , he suggested that Marco Rubio was a strong fit among moderates .  "" There ' s been a moderate lane and a conservative lane , "" Cruz told  ' s Jake Tapper . "" And , in past cycles , there ' s been a consensus moderate choice early on . . . . Look , I think Marco is certainly formidable in that lane . I think the Jeb Bush campaign seems to view Marco as his biggest threat in the moderate lane . ""  Cruz is correct that the primary process on the right has often centered on candidates locking up bases of support . We looked at the lanes back in March , assessing the size and leaders in each of five : Evangelicals , tea partiers , moderates , conservatives and libertarians .  It was hard then to evaluate that libertarian lane , but we figured that Rand Paul , as a Paul , would be able to make a strong claim to it . Given that Paul is now at 2 percent in Quinnipiac University ' s most recent poll , let ' s skip that lane for now .  Quinnipiac has polled on a number of different subsets of the Republican electorate for months , allowing us to evaluate our four lanes a bit further into the primary season . Here , for example , is how much of each "" lane "" Jeb Bush has occupied during Quinnipiac ' s nearly monthly polling .  ( The light gray on all of these graphs is the percentage saying they don ' t know who they would support , or picking someone unnamed . The height of each dark red bar represents a percentage of support . )  Bush has always been stronger with moderates , but that has tapered off . Is Cruz right that Rubio is building strength in that lane ?  Rubio ' s doing better now among conservatives than he is among moderates ( at least according to a small sample of Quinnipiac respondents ) . Who owns the moderate lane ? Once upon a time , it was Chris Christie and Jeb Bush . Now , it ' s actually Donald Trump .  Notice that Trump also eats up a large part of the tea party lane , which you might not expect given how much that lane overlaps with self identified conservatives . It raises the question of who controls that side of the equation .  Cruz has gained significant strength among conservatives and tea partiers recently .  That space used to belong to Scott Walker , by a wide margin . But after his collapse , Cruz gained .  Also in the mix early on was Mike Huckabee , who had good name recognition particularly among evangelicals . That support has all but vanished .  The evangelical vote is now going heavily to Ben Carson .  Notice that Carson also gets a lot of moderate support . He does well in all four lanes though he trails Cruz among conservatives .  Cruz is doing very well with supporters of the tea party , but he still trails in overall polling . The reason is simple : Members of the tea party make up far less of the party than they once did . We made this point back in March . Owning a lane is good . If the lane doesn ' t have a lot of voters , that doesn ' t necessarily help .  Let ' s take a step back . If support for Trump and Carson erodes , Rubio does indeed stand to gain support in the moderate lane . But he also seems likely to gain among conservatives , where he does fairly well . ( Back in February , 538 pointed out that Rubio overlaps the two constituencies more than most others . )  Which is precisely why Ted Cruz is happy to hand the moderate lane to Rubio . The more he says Rubio is the moderate pick , the more likely it is that Cruz will pick up conservative support .  As we said : He ' s good at the subtle dig .  Philip Bump writes about politics for The Fix . He is based in New York City .  Success ! Check your inbox for details . You might also like :  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
6233,6234,"Virginia ' s governor declared a state of emergency Friday as a winter storm expected to pummel the East Coast this weekend began dumping snow in Virginia and North Carolina .  Myers said areas like Charlottesville , Virginia , may rake in some of the highest snowfall accumulations , depending on how quickly the storm moves and whether it remains on course .  Roads in the Western part of Virginia are already bad , with lots of accidents being reported , said Bob Spieldenner , Director of Public Affairs at the Virginia Department of Emergency . The Virginia State Police said Friday night at around 8 p . m . they were working 335 accidents .  The hardest hit area so far was in Roanoke , Virginia , along I 81 , a spokesman with the Virginia Department of Transportation said . The Roanoke Regional Airport said it had cancelled all remaining flights for Friday night .  Power lines in the area were also beginning to fall and at least 38 , 000 residents were without power as of 7 p . m . ,  reported .  The North Carolina State Highway Patrol said it was receiving high volumes of calls for service , either for accidents , stranded motorists or cars that ran off the road .  Sgt . Jeff Gordon said that as of 10 p . m . Friday night the highway patrol had received 682 calls in the Asheville area , 623 calls in Newton , 682 calls in Salisbury and 513 calls in the Greensboro , Winston Salem and High Point areas . I 77 near U . S . 21 was also blocked , Gordon said , because of a tractor trailer jackknife .  Gordon said there was about 8 to 12 inches of snow in Asheville . Snowfall differed across the state , he said , with 6 to 8 inches a couple of hours to the east of Asheville and only cold rain east of Raleigh .  "" We have our hands full , but all in all I think we ' re all working together to try and tackle this , "" Gordon said . "" It ' s just another example of Mother Nature ' s wrath . ""  Depending on residents ' locations along the corridor , residents may see no snowfall or 20 inches , Myers said , noting that there may be only a 50 or 60 mile difference between the two .   : Heavy snow causes accidents , school closings  A winter storm warning was in effect for East Coast metropolitan areas including Washington Baltimore , Maryland and Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , according to the National Weather Service .  The storm comes at a pivotal time for Washington . The Senate is embroiled in a contentious battle over the health care reform bill . Wintry conditions could delay commutes to work over the weekend .  Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty said the city will be enacting a snow emergency plan , which will include 750 staff members working around the clock and 330 trucks out on the streets .  "" We think this will be the biggest snowfall since 2003 , "" Fenty said during a news conference , referring to a blizzard that dumped about 27 inches in the area .  The National Weather Service in Washington increased its projections for the city to between 10 and 20 inches of snow , Myers said .  Virgin America Airlines said it was canceling all incoming and outgoing flights to Washington Dulles Airport on Saturday in advance of the storm .  Fenty said workers are already preparing roads with a salt brine solution , in hopes of keeping the snow from piling up and sticking . He also said that as of 7 a . m . Saturday residents will not be allowed to park cars on the city ' s 100 marked snow emergency routes , which are for the most part the same as the rush hour routes .   : Highways prepped ahead of storms  The Baltimore Ravens pushed back the starting time of their Sunday football game from 1 p . m . to 4 : 15 p . m . because of the storm , according to the team ' s site .  In Asheville , North Carolina , snow covered the roads , making for difficult commutes . Some residents , like iReporter Ed Jenest , figured it was better to stay home .  "" It ' s a great day not to go anywhere , "" he said . "" We ' re listening to music and we ' ve got a fire going . ""  Air travelers en route to holiday destinations may face delays , said Tammy Jones , spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration .  With snow expected to cloak much of the Northeast , the  may institute a ground delay program if air travel conditions warrant . In such a case , the  informs the airlines at a certain airport that they will have to stay on the ground for a period of time , Jones said .  "" Snow ' s not so significant if you ' re in the air , but on the ground , it can be problematic , "" Jones said .  Several airlines have issued travel alerts allowing for free rebooking of flights because of the storm . Some flights for the weekend have been canceled . A storm system developing over the northern Gulf of Mexico will move northeast up the mid Atlantic on Saturday and "" will produce a swath of heavy snowfall , "" the Weather Service said .  Is snow headed your way ? Share photos and video of the wintry scene  Southeastern New York may get 6 to 8 inches of snow , while Manhattan and central and eastern Long Island may get up to a foot . Blizzard conditions are also possible for Long Island , where winds are expected to hit 50 mph Saturday evening and Sunday morning .  Mark Fayer , vice president of Long Island Transit Express bus service , which serves metropolitan New York , said he expected normal operations despite a little snow .  "" We will be operating our normal schedules we don ' t anticipate any delays that we can ' t handle , "" Fayer said .  Winter storm warnings are in effect for eastern Kentucky , western and central North Carolina , Virginia and West Virginia , Delaware , Maryland and parts of Pennsylvania .  The storm is expected to cause chaos for weekend travelers and Christmas shoppers , but a  spokesman said shipped packages shouldn ' t be delayed .  "" The good thing for us and our competitors is that this is happening on a weekend , ""  spokesman Norman Black said .  He says packages set for Monday delivery are "" on planes that land tonight and that offload tonight . ""   never has packages in motion on a Sunday , even the Sunday before Christmas . And because Saturday volume is usually light because delivering on Saturday is a premium service Black expects few problems .  That is , unless the roads are still a mess and airports aren ' t cleaned by Monday .  "" That ' s what we worry about , "" he said .  Journalist Craig Johnson contributed to this report .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
6236,6237,"Steve Carlotta ' s family owned camera store is struggling along with other mom and pop stores . But he ' s found a way to compete with Internet stores and big box chains .  A sampling of one and five BerkShare notes , courtesy of Jason Houston Photography .  Carlotta ' s store accepts BerkShares a local currency in Great Barrington , Massachusetts . He credits it with helping keep local customers coming back to his store .  And as U . S . dollars and credit vanish in this economic crisis , more communities are looking into printing their own currencies .  This concept isn ' t new . During the Great Depression dozens of complementary currencies flourished as thousands of banks failed . Today , it ' s estimated there are at least 2 , 500 complementary currency systems around the world , says Bernard Lietaer , a co founder of the Euro and a local currency proponent . Watch how one town uses their own currency  In the United States , there are alternative currency systems in California , Wisconsin , Oregon , Pennsylvania , Michigan and Massachusetts .  BerkShares are a form of local currency developed in the Berkshire region of Massachusetts two years ago . About 350 merchants accept BerkShares in addition to U . S . currency .  People pay 95 federal cents to get one BerkShare or 95 for 100 BerkShares .  Complementary currencies are colorful slips of paper designed with images of local scenes or landmarks . People can use this currency to purchase local goods and services . It ' s designed to encourage locals to spend money within their own area .  Paul Glover , the founder of the Ithaca Hours complementary currency for use in Ithaca , New York , has been bombarded with requests to help set up local currencies around the country .  "" As the economy has fallen apart , my phone has been ringing off the hook , "" Glover says from his home in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania .  Printing and distributing local currency isn ' t illegal . But there are rules , says Lewis Solomon , a law professor at George Washington University . First , the currency can only be paper no coins are allowed . And the currency can ' t resemble a dollar . Finally , any income received in local currency must be taxed as if it were federal dollars .  While local currency may not be helpful outside a town ' s limits , residents say they use the money as a way of supporting their local community . Stephen Burke , the current director of Ithaca Hours , accepts the currency at his music store . He spends his Hours locally , too .  Some like to know they ' re helping a small business stay in business and compete with big chains that may not care about the community . "" Recently people have begun to understand the value of spending money locally , "" Burke says .  And businesses , in turn , use local currency as a way to promote their connection to the community and build loyalty .  The 5 percent discount with BerkShares probably doesn ' t hurt either .  Susan Witt , the co founder of BerkShares , has been consulting with officials from Newark , New Jersey , and nonprofit groups in New Orleans , Louisiana , and Alaska on how to start local currencies .  "" The trouble in our global financial system has people very concerned , "" says Witt . "" They don ' t know how to fix it . It seems out of their control . The concept of a citizen group taking responsibility for its own regional economy and finding a way to issue a medium for exchange in its own area is such a powerful image . ""  Gwen Colgrove , a retired teacher in Lehigh Valley , Pennsylvania , is trying to garner support for a local currency in her area . "" I think the time is critical with the financial collapse , "" she says .  However , there are challenges . Some community members dismiss the idea of a local currency , arguing that it won ' t have much of an impact in a global economy . The local currency Colgrove is trying to launch is still only in the beginning stages . But thanks to the economy , residents are more enthusiastic about creating their own medium of exchange .  "" If the economy were booming , people wouldn ' t be so interested , "" she says .  But creating a local currency isn ' t easy . First , there are the start up costs . Witt ' s group spent 250 , 000 in grant money to create the BerkShares . There are costs associated with designing a currency , printing costs , the costs of educating residents and businesses . And maintaining the whole program is expensive . Witt estimates Newark could spend about 1 million in implementing a local currency .  And then there ' s the labor .  "" You have to have someone at the helm . Someone who is paid . "" says Glover . "" A lot of communities start out with dedicated people . They get it going , but because they are all volunteers , the reality of having created a financial institution sinks in . And eventually , they just get exhausted . ""  Just printing the right amount of local currency is difficult . If you print too much currency , there ' s the possibility of inflation . If you print too little , there are no economic advantages .  Glover admits he started out idealistically .  "" When I started Ithaca Hours , I thought I was releasing money like doves of peace that would fly around and land on people ' s shoulders , "" he says .  Some economists are skeptical that complementary currencies will ever have much impact .  "" They usually don ' t hold up too well , or too long , "" says Bert Ely , a banking analyst . "" It ' s something that applies only in simple and closed situations . It lacks the flexibility and geographic breadth that currency has . ""  While there is a lot of idealism out there , local currencies usually break down , Ely says .  And since the early 1990s , there have been about a dozen local currencies that have failed in the United States .  To be sure , local currencies are a small part of the economic activity in a region . Witt estimates about 2 million in BerkShares that have circulated since the bills were first printed . She says currently there is about a 30 percent usage rate among residents .  Jon Zaglin , the director of the Humboldt complementary currency project in California , says there ' s about 130 , 000 in Humboldt currency that has been in circulation since 2005 .  But advocates say that it ' s not the scale of the program that makes it important . It ' s about the connections that form around it .  "" The bigger effect of BerkShares is the conversations it ' s elicited , "" Witt says .  "" It ' s a way to network and have healthy conversations about money , "" Burke says . "" Ithaca Hours acts as money , but there is something beyond that . ""  "" It creates camaraderie , "" he says . "" When someone comes into my store . . . if they pay with a check or a credit card , we don ' t talk . But when someone uses Ithaca Hours , you start a conversation . ""  And that keeps customers coming back .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
6251,6252,"A    undocumented immigrant who was detained by the authorities last week after speaking out about her deportation fears was released on Friday, her lawyers and rights groups said. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said that the woman, Daniela Vargas, would be freed under an order of supervision, although it did not disclose the terms of the order, according to a statement from the Elmore and Peterson law firm, which is representing Ms. Vargas. The officials, the statement said, also did not disclose why her release from a detention center in Jena, La. was being ordered now. “We expect Daniela to return to her friends and community in Mississippi shortly to resume her daily life,” the firm’s statement said. “Court filings regarding the reason and manner of arrest and detention continue to be pursued in an effort to secure Daniela’s rights. ” An Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman, Thomas Byrd, confirmed on Friday in a telephone interview that Ms. Vargas had been released. He declined to provide further details about her specific case. He said the terms of an order of supervision can include a requirement to check in periodically with an immigration officer. Other terms include a requirement to obtain travel documents, according to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services website. On Tuesday, civil and immigrants rights groups announced that they had filed a petition in United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana to stop Ms. Vargas’s deportation. The Southern Poverty Law Center, the National Immigration Law Center, the Elmore and Peterson firm in Mississippi, and the law office of William Most said in the petition that the government had violated her due process and First Amendment rights. “We’re joining the community in celebrating the release of our client, Dany Vargas,” said Naomi Tsu, the deputy director of the law center, in a statement. “But, we will continue to challenge the unconstitutional actions of I. C. E. agents in this case and will not rest until she is no longer under threat of deportation. ” Ms. Vargas’s lawyer, Abigail Peterson, was not immediately available for further comment on Friday. She said in an interview last week that Ms. Vargas had been picked up on March 1 when the car she was riding in was pulled over by officers shortly after leaving a news conference at which she had spoken at City Hall in Jackson, Miss. The event was organized by lawyers, church leaders and the Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance to raise awareness about the impact deportation and President Trump’s immigration policies have on families. Ms. Vargas was sent to the detention center in Jena and was held without bond. She was told she would be deported without a hearing, Ms. Peterson said. Ms. Vargas entered the United States from Argentina at the age of 7 under a visa waiver program, which meant that she and her family were allowed to stay for only 90 days. By staying longer, they became ineligible for an immigration hearing, L. Patricia Ice, the Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance Legal Project director, said last week. But under a program started by President Barack Obama in 2012, Ms. Vargas became one of hundreds of thousands of people allowed to stay in the United States through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. The program gave immigrant children who had mostly grown up in the United States the opportunity to become eligible for work permits and to stay temporarily. Ms. Vargas’s  status had expired while she was saving up to pay a renewal fee of about $495, her lawyer said. Ms. Vargas had two pending applications to renew her  status and her work permit when she was arrested. Ms. Peterson released a transcript of a recorded conversation with Ms. Vargas on March 2, in which the woman said, according to Huffington Post: “You know, there’s a lot of stuff that I can do for this country that they’re not allowing me to do. I’ve even tried to join the military, and I can’t do that. But, I mean that’s not the point, the whole point is that I would do anything for this country. ”",true,news,validation,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
6252,6253,"Record chasing Novak Djokovic sets up Andy Murray showdown at Paris Masters  Novak Djokovic is looking to become the first man to win six Masters title in a season at the Paris Masters .  World No 1 Novak Djokovic survived a second set blip to reach the Paris Masters final with a 6 3 3 6 6 0 win over Stan Wawrinka on Saturday ( Sunday  time ) his 21st victory in a row .  The Serb , looking to become the first man to win six Masters title in a season , briefly lost focus as Swiss Wawrinka , who beat Djokovic in the French Open final , ended his 29 set winning streak to claim the second set .  But the fourth seed , who knocked out Rafa Nadal in a late thriller the night before , was made to pay as he lost the last six games to a relentless Djokovic who can claim an unprecedented third consecutive Bercy crown when he plays Andy Murray in Sunday ' s ( Monday  time ) final .  Briton Murray beat Spain ' s David Ferrer 6 4 6 3 .  Djokovic was in a class of his own in the first set as Wawrinka made too many made too many unforced errors .  But the Swiss loosened up in the second set as Djokovic failed to contain his frustration .  It was only a minor disruption though for the 10 times grand slam champion who allowed Davis Cup winner Wawrinka a mere nine points in the decider .  "" I still felt like I was hitting the ball well in the second set , "" Djokovic said .  "" You know , with this kind of feeling and approach , I got to the third set and played the best set of the tournament so far . ""  Wawrinka bowed out with a forehand long , and said the quick turnaround after a 1am finish against Nadal had hurt him .  "" It was tough the next day to play against Novak , who is very difficult to play in those conditions , "" said Wawrinka .  "" And of course I felt the tiredness . It was extremely tough for me to fight . ""  British second seed Murray lost his focus at times against Ferrer but had too much guile for the 2012 Bercy champion .  "" I managed to shorten a lot of the points . There was some variety in there with the way the points finished , which was pleasing for me , "" Murray said .  Murray made a dream start , breaking to love in the first game , but the Spaniard levelled for 3 3 when two Murray unforced errors gave him a break in the sixth game .  In a see saw opening set , Ferrer set up four more break points in the eighth game but Murray saved them all and stole the serve of the Spaniard who made a string of unforced errors .  The Scot finished a superb exchange at the net with a fine sliced lob to set up two set points and on the first one Ferrer netted a routine backhand .  In typically tenacious fashion Ferrer got straight back down to business and raced to a 3 1 lead in the second set but Murray then reeled off five games in a row .  Murray will guarantee finishing the year second in the  world rankings for the first time if he wins the title .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
6256,6257,"Celtic manager Ronny Deila has hit out at Scottish Football Association disciplinary rules after Aleksandar Tonev ' s seven match ban for racist language was upheld .  Tonev was described as neither a credible nor a reliable witness by an  appointed judicial panel in a report that was published following the failure of his appeal .  The report revealed Aberdeen defender Shay Logan had accused Tonev of calling him a ' black c ' during a Scottish Premiership match on September 13 and the panel found the on loan Aston Villa winger guilty after describing the Dons player as an ' impressive witness ' .  Celtic manager Ronny Deila hit out at the  ' s decision to uphold Aleksandar Tonev ' s ( left ) seven match ban  Deila ( left ) said that Celtic supports on loan winger Tonev ( right ) as there is no real proof of racist language  The  ' s disciplinary rules , like civil court cases , do not require that guilt be established beyond reasonable doubt , unlike criminal cases .  The criteria for finding Tonev guilty was summed up in the report as ' it is more likely than not that the subject of the complaint committed the act of misconduct alleged ' .  But Deila feels more proof was needed no one else heard the offending words , although Logan quickly told others .  The Norwegian said : ' You can ' t judge a person on word against word , in my opinion . You will never do that in any real court .  ' There is no proof and we still believe him . We will continue to do that when we don ' t have any other proof .  ' You call another person a racist just on a word ? I can ' t understand this happening .  ' For me , if you are going to judge someone you have to do it with real proof and not word against word . Because a Bulgarian guy , with not very good English , is going to defend himself ? Not so easy . '  Celtic vowed to address issues raised in the proceedings with the  but there appears to be no recourse for challenging the decision again .  ' I don ' t think there is any possibility to go further , ' Deila said .  ' We have to take the penalty but we still feel it is not right and we believe Aleksandar in full . '  Celtic have consistently stood by Tonev and there appears little chance of him being returned to Aston Villa midway through his season long loan .  ' He still has a future here , ' Deila said .  ' Of course it is going to be difficult being seven games out but that ' s football . The most important thing is we stay behind him and support him .  ' We are going to give him some days off to go to Bulgaria for Christmas and when he comes back he will be fighting to get back in the team .  ' He is very disappointed of course but he moves on . He knows his innocence and he will just keep on going . '  Aberdeen ' s Shay Long accused Tonev of calling him a ' black c ' in their game at Parkhead on September 13  Celtic captain Scott Brown ( centre ) showed his support of Tonev and said his teammates stand by him  Deila insisted there had been no approaches for Kris Commons or Virgil van Dijk ahead of the transfer window  The damning nature of the report might make it difficult for Tonev when going to opposition grounds but Deila does not feel the player will be universally condemned .  ' I think football fans are clever people as well , ' he said .  ' They can see behind the case and behind the results as well . I say we have to have proof . '  And he feels the 24 year old will still want to play in Scotland .  ' I think so but I haven ' t talked a lot about this , ' Deila said . ' But he is training well for the two days and he seems good . '  Celtic skipper Scott Brown reaffirmed his support for his team mate .  ' We all stick by him , we know what happened and stuff like that , ' Brown said .  ' His training has been excellent , he has enjoyed training and there has been good banter with the lads as well .  ' It ' s going to be hard , it ' s a long few games he is going to be out for but he will work in training , he will work on his fitness and when he ' s available he will be back in the squad .  ' He has spoken to the players and we all stand by him . '  There was more controversy in the  disciplinary procedures this week when Dundee United midfielder Paul Paton was banned for two games for spitting despite being publicly backed by his alleged victim , Aberdeen winger Jonny Hayes .  The suspension rules Paton out of an awkward meeting with Celtic on Sunday as he awaits the procurator fiscal to consider charges against him for an alleged assault on Celtic goalkeeper Lukasz Zaluska .  When asked about the issue , Deila said : ' I don ' t think we will use any energy on that . We are looking forward to the game and this is outside the pitch .  ' I was at Dundee last weekend and they are very , very nice people . There is a good culture at that club .  ' Again , we don ' t have any proof about that . It ' s a football game and we are looking forward to it . '  Meanwhile , Deila insisted there had been no approaches for Kris Commons or Virgil van Dijk but confirmed he had taken 22 year old Everton midfielder Francisco Junior on trial this week .  The Guinea born player was previously with Benfica and Manchester City and had a loan spell under Deila at Stromsgodset .  ' He is a player I know from before , ' Deila said . ' I haven ' t decided yet if he is going to stay for some more or he is going to go back . '  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,negative,past
6260,6261,"You are here: Home /  / Project Veritas Reveals Who Was  Behind Romney’s 47% Video Project Veritas Reveals Who Was  Behind Romney’s 47% Video October 28, 2016 Pinterest  Once again, the lengths to which the Democrats have to go to win elections was evidenced by a Project Veritas video released Wednesday night on Fox News’“The O’Reilly Factor.” In the video, we found out that the “bartender” who obtained video of former Gov. Mitt Romney’s infamous “47%” comments during his 2012 presidential campaign may have actually been part of a coordinated effort by Democrat operatives to tank Romney’s campaign — despite the truth of his comments.  Scott Foval, who was fired from his post at Americans United for Change after Project Veritas began releasing their videos, revealed that there may have been more behind the “47%” video than just a bartender at the fundraiser taking footage on his own, with no direction from anyone else.  Twitchy reported :  In Wednesday’s video release, Foval explains that the bartender who caught Romney’s devastating “47 percent” remarks on video during a fundraiser was part of a coordinated operation to sneak a video recording device into the event. That video eventually was passed along to David Corn of Mother Jones, who won a George Polk Award for his efforts.  The story at the time, of course, was that bartender Scott Prouty brought a camera along in hopes of perhaps getting a photo with Romney — which somehow involved setting down the camera and hitting the record button. Progressives hailed Prouty as a hero for coming forward with the video.  Yeah, not according to Foval.  “Bob [Creamer] got a hold of our guys who did the original insertions back in the 2000 and 2004 campaigns against Bush where they were inserting people and interrupting his fundraisers and rallies,” he told an undercover Project Veritas journalist. “And then, I don’t know if you remember, well from, they are the ones who negotiated to get that lawyer in in Florida who recorded the 47 percent video.”  “Wait, I thought that was a bartender,” the undercover  reporter responded.  “It was actually a lawyer at the event,” Foval said and added: “The lawyer took his phone and had the bartender walk around with it and set it up.”  Foval continued, “It was a whole coordinated operation to get the phone in because they had taken away all the cell phones from all the staff and so what they did was they set it up in the room.”  When Foval was asked about who the lawyer was, he claimed he didn’t know. “I have no idea who it is but they, the people who do the operations, they have a team of about 25 folks that this is what they do.”  Of course, Foval is walking back his comments, and Corn has claimed that it isn’t true. Then again, that’s what liberals always do when they’re caught — deflect, lie, pretend it didn’t happen, etc. etc. James O'Keefe's New Story About the 47-Percent Video Is Totally False. weblink",fake,news,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
6262,6263,"Manchester United and Arsenal have been told they can sign Cesc Fabregas if they are willing to offer 45million .  United failed in a similar bid last year with the 27 year old Barcelona midfielder keen to stay at the Camp Nou .  Back again : United failed in a similar bid for the Cesc Fabregas last summer , but could return again  His position remains the same but the club expect a summer of change and his prospective sale plus that of Alexis Sanchez could represent the best way of generating income for the pending changes .  Javier Mascherano , Daniel Alves , Pedro and Cristian Tello will also be sold if the right offers arrive .  Meanwhile , United midfielder Shinji Kagawa is unlikely to leave Old Trafford in the summer , his agent has said .  Speaking before the  Pokal final between Dortmund and Bayern Munich on Saturday , Thomas Kroth told kicker that Kagawa , 25 , had no immediate plans to move on . Kroth said : ' Shinji will play the World Cup now and then see what the new Manchester United manager ' s plans are . Right now , it is rather unlikely that he will leave the club in the summer . '  Staying put : Shinji Kagawa is unlikely to leave Old Trafford in the summer , his agent has said  Southampton have added Swansea left back Neil Taylor to their list of potential replacements for Luke Shaw .  Taylor , 25 , wants regular first team football after making just 19 appreances this season due to injury and the form of Ben Davies .  He was the subject of a 4million bid from Fulham in January but Swansea kept hold of the Wales international .  Asked about his future , Taylor said : ' I ' m going to have a holiday with my family and think about it over the summer . But I ' m contracted to the club and that ' s as far as my thinking goes .  ' I can ' t say whether I expect to be here or not players don ' t know as much as you think . I can ' t tell you what ' s going to happen because I don ' t know .  ' A lot of players say I want out , I want this or that , but I ' m contracted to a football club : they pay your wages and I ' ll do what ' s asked of me . And this is a club that ' s been good to me down the years so it ' s important you do the best you can , whatever the situation . They pay my wages and fans travel I don ' t know how many miles to watch us . '  Replacement : Swansea ' s Neil Taylor could fill in for Luke Shaw at Southampton  There could be plenty of changes at Swansea this summer with Ashley Williams considering his future , goalkeeper Michel Vorm wanted by Liverpool and striker Wilfried Bony on the list of potential targets for Liverpool and Arsenal .  Southampton will lose Shaw to Manchester United and have already considered Nice left back Timothee Kolodziejczak , as revealed in Sportsmail , but he will be more expensive at around 7million . Taylor may be allowed to go for 5m with add ons .  Eden Hazard remains on Paris St Germain ' s wishlist this summer . The uneasy truce struck between the Belgian and coach Jose Mourinho has given the French champions a belief they can prise him away from Stamford Bridge and maintain an interest in his teammate David Luiz .  Despite being rapped on the knuckles for their overspending by  , albeit not as harshly as Manchester City ,  are making plans to offload Ezequiel Lavezzi , Javier Pastore and Marco Verratti to balance the books while Edinson Cavani is keen to leave too .   ' s alternatives to Hazard include Pedro at Barcelona and Angel di Maria at Real Madrid .  Hot property : Chelsea ' s Eden Hazard remains on Paris St Germain ' s wishlist this summer  Malaga ' s hopes of a cut price deal for Leeds United striker Ross McCormack have been dashed after the crisis torn Championship club set an 8million price tag on their top scorer .  The Spanish side have a genuine interest in the Scotland international but were hoping to strike a bargain as Leeds continue to cut their costs ahead of facing winding up orders and having their main bank account frozen .  Owner Massimo Cellino is in talks to sell his other club Cagliari to Inter Milan director Tommaso Giulini for a reported 40m this week insisting he intends to save Leeds .  The chaos at Elland Road has brought plenty of twists and turns for staff and fans .  Goalkeeper Jamie Ashdown learned on Twitter that he had been released before receiving his formal letter on Saturday that confirmed he would not be getting a new contract .  Stay or go ? Ross McCormack ( front ) has an 8million price tag on his head , set by Leeds   agency advisor Dave Sheron has been toasting a successful end of season . Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes , who has revived his career since leaving Bristol City , won Scotland ' s manager of the year and their football writers ' award while Crystal Palace ' s miracle man Tony Pulis won the  ' s award for Premier League manager of the year .  Sheron is an advisor to both McInnes and Pulis and is also helping former Liverpool defender Sami Hyypia . The genial Hyypia is still such a popular figure at Anfield that fans started trending ohsamisami on Monday in tribute to the fact that he signed for Liverpool 15 years ago from Willem  .  However , it is his managerial career that Sheron is helping Hyypia to shape . The 40 year old Finn was sacked by Bayer Leverkusen despite guiding them towards a Champions League qualification position and is now looking at opportunities in England . West Bromwich Albion , Norwich and Brighton have all taken note of Hyypia ' s availability and the contacts he can bring .  England return ? Former Leverkusen boss Sami Hyypia has sparked interest from West Brom , Norwich and Brighton  Arsenal look to have secured teenager Chris Willock after extensive contract talks .  The 16 year old midfielder was wanted by Manchester United who have his older brother Matty on their books . However , Arsenal are understood to have offered a lucrative deal to ensure the England U16 international stays at The Emirates where he has already taken part in training with the first team .  Willock is now due to sign his first professional deal . His younger brother Joe , 13 , is also an exciting prospect emerging at Arsenal .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
6279,6280,"Copy this code to your website or blog  The focus on the messages illustrates what officials have already said about their investigation ? that they are casting a wide net to track down anyone Farook and his gun toting wife , Tashfeen Malik , had contact with before Wednesday ' s rampage .  Related : Mosque Members Say Shooter Seemed ' Peaceful , ' Devout  As  News reported on Friday , one of the people being looked at is a friend of Farook who bought two of the semiautomatic rifles that were used in the attack on county workers , which officials say may have been inspired by  .  The man , whose name has not been released , legally bought one rifle in 2011 and the other in 2012 , each time shortly after Farook had legally bought handguns that were also used in the carnage at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino .  Farook ' s family have said they had no inkling he was capable of the ambush that left 14 dead and 21 wounded before he and his wife were killed during a shootout with police .  And leaders of two mosques Farook attended in the last five years said he gave no hint of any extremist views and appeared to be a reserved , devout Muslim .  Abbassi told  News that as far as he can recall , Farook did not even attend the breaking of the fast with other mosque members ? he just delivered the food .  He said that on Wednesday night , investigators showed up at his house with guns drawn and searched him and the premises . They asked him if he knew Farook , and he initially said no , until he saw a photo and realized it was a man he knew as Rizwan , the suspect ' s middle name .  They then asked him about phone communications between June 16 and June 28 , during Ramadan , he said . He said he only remembered one in particular .  "" I asked him for the receipt . I wanted to know the price because the food was good , "" he said .  Abbassi and members of his mosque have said they deplore Farook ' s actions and were stunned that someone who seemed so ordinary could be a terrorist .  "" He was living the American Dream , "" Abbassi said . "" He had a really good job , really good pay . He had a wife . . . . He had a warm house . He had a baby . ""  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
6289,6290,"A laborious eight month long task came to an end for Facebook user Arielle Stevens on Monday , as the college junior finally finished uploading the more than 12 million photos she took during her "" unforgettable "" six day vacation to Paris and Madrid last spring .  The online album , entitled "" Eurotrip 2012 ! ! ! "" was reportedly assembled from more than 15 terabytes of data spanning 960 16 gigabyte memory cards , each thoroughly documenting the landmarks , food , drinks , streets , buildings , plants , animals , people , signage , hotels , museums , sports , modes of transport , weather , and "" miscellaneous fun "" that Stevens and close friend Danielle Lu encountered along the way .  "" It took me a while to get my vacation pics organized , but I ' ve finally gotten them all uploaded and added a caption for each one , "" said Stevens , who in the course of shooting the 12 million photos went through a few dozen Nikon Coolpix digital cameras . "" Everything is now available to see , from the 400 , 000 shots of the Madrid skyline taken at dusk from the roof of our hostel to the 120 , 000 of the row of cute Vespa scooters parked on the sidewalk next door even the 1 . 2 million from the night we arrived and went out to dinner with a group of Americans we met . ""  "" Now comes the fun part of sharing them with all my friends so they can get a little taste of what it was like to actually be there , "" she added .  The album reportedly features a preponderance of images of the same subjects taken from multiple angles and distances and in several different camera modes . From the Paris portion of the trip , the collection includes 78 , 000 pictures of a street performer captured from every possible direction as he does a human statue act , 34 , 000 of Lu at various zoom settings holding up a glass of Bordeaux , and 823 , 000 alternating grayscale and sepia tone shots of an outdoor caf , which , according to the first caption , was "" adorrrrrable ! ""  "" Going through all these photos brings back so many amazing memories , "" said Lu , who appears asleep on a train in more than 750 , 000 photos . "" It ' s nice to think that now , when it ' s cold outside and I ' m sitting here in my tiny cubicle , I can look at the 478 , 000 pictures of the stairs outside the Prado and remember how much fun it was to be on vacation . ""  "" I ' m already thinking about my next trip , "" she continued , breaking into a broad smile at each of the 2 . 6 million shots of herself standing next to fountains .  Although most of the 12 million photos are clearly legible , the album contains hundreds of thousands that did not come out as intended , many of which including those of cobblestone streets taken while walking , of pigeons in mid flight , and of boats off in the distance as seen through fog are either completely black , flashes of pure white light , or blurred beyond recognition . In addition , the immense gallery features countless images of subjects blinking or looking in the wrong direction .  Oddly , sources noted that there seemed to be only one picture of the Eiffel Tower .  Still , Stevens said , she cherishes every single picture from her trip , even the ones that "" aren ' t perfect . ""  "" I don ' t consider myself to be a professional photographer I just took the 12 million pictures I thought were most interesting , "" said Stevens , stressing that she would rather have too many than too few . "" And besides , the quirky ones are some of my personal favorites . ""  As of press time , sources reported that the album had received a total of three likes .  ",satire,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
6290,6291,"Bollywood s desi girl Priyanka Chopra s thank you speech for the People s Choice Award was emotional , but perhaps a tad too long for international actor John Stamos . ( Source : Reuters )  Bollywood s desi girl Priyanka Chopra s thank you speech for the People s Choice Award was emotional , but perhaps a tad too long for international actor John Stamos .  Priyanka went on a thanking spree when she clinched the Favourite Actress In A New  Series award , but her speech was cut short by Stamos when he quipped : It s just a two hour show .  It was a big moment for Priyanka on Wednesday night here as she was being awarded for her lead role in Quantico , which marked her foray as an international actress . (  : Priyanka Chopra dazzles at People s Choice Awards , wins Best Actress award for Quantico )  I d like to thank everyone who voted for Quantico . It is my first year in the  , and to come to another country and actually get this kind of acceptance is , I guess , what America is all about . ( Read : ? Priyanka Chopra wins Favourite Actress award for Quantico at People s Choice Awards )  So , thank you for accepting me , thank you to my mom , my manager , the cast and crew , the writer ,  everyone . I m really overwhelmed , she said .  It was then that Stamos , who himself took home the trophy for Favorite Actor In A New  Series for his work in Grandfathered , interrupted the actress in a lighter vein , saying It s just a two hour show . Then , they moved on to announcing another nominations . (   : Priyanka , Sandra Bullock , Dakota , Johnny Depp : Winners at People s Choice Awards )  Priyanka , 33 , was presented the award by Hollywood action star Vin Diesel , who will reportedly be working soon with Deepika Padukone in a new project . The shooting for the film is likely to start next month .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
6302,6303,"A man set a Pittsburgh area house ablaze , killing six people , including four children , in order to get revenge on one of the residents , officials said .  Ryan Williams , 24 , was charged Friday with six counts of criminal homicide , arson and burglary for the October 18 house fire in McKeesport .  The blaze killed 55 year old Ronald Egenlauf Sr , 27 year old Hope Jordan and her four children , aged 2 through 7 .  Arson : Ryan Williams , 24 , set a Pittsburgh area house ablaze , killing six people , including four children , in order to get revenge on the only survivor , Keith Egenlauf , 23 , according to police  Williams allegedly told friends that he had stolen money and food from the house before setting a roll of toilet paper on fire and tossing it on the couch  According to detectives , Williams started the fire in order to exact revenge on Jordan ' s husband , Keith Egenlauf , 23 , the only one to survive the blaze .  A criminal complaint states that Williams was out to ' get Keith ' because he believe Egenlauf had spoken with police after the paid had burglarized a home in 2013 , according to police .  After the fire , Williams told a friend that he had gone to the home where Egenlauf was living and found the back door open , according to the document .  Williams walked up to the second floor of the house , took money out of a wallet and took food from the fridge before setting a toilet paper roll on fire and tossing it on the couch .  On the night of the fire , he phoned the same friend and said ' I just did some crazy stuff . I ' m on my porch waiting for fire trucks , ' as sirens were heard in the background , the complaint states .  Another witness told detectives that Williams woke him early the day after the fire and told him he had ' just lit Keith ' s house on fire , and if anybody asks , I was here all night . '  Arrested : One witness told investigators Williams had phoned on the night of the fire saying he did some ' crazy stuff , ' and woke up another the day after the home burned down saying he did it  Children : Hope Jordan ' s children , ages 2 through 7 , were found dead in an upstairs bedroom , though Williams claimed he didn ' t know anyone but Keith Egenlauf was home  Deceased : Keith Egenlauf ( right ) barely escaped the flames after trying unsuccessfully to save his wheelchair bound father while his wife , Hope Jordan ( left ) , ran to the children .  One witness described how Williams cried after hearing on the news that the children had died , claiming he thought it was only Keith Egenlauf living in the house at the time .  On Friday , Williams told  that he did not know the children were inside the house when he set the fire .  Egenlauf told the Pittsburgh Tribune Review he raced back into the house , trying to save his partially paralyzed father , Ronald .  ' He could see I was in pain , ' Egenlauf said , describing blistering heat around him as he tried to pull his father out of his wheelchair . ' I was screaming . I tried my best . He told me , "" Get out . "" '  Though she had made it out of the house too , Jordan entered again and went upstairs for the children , Dominic Jordan , 7 , Autumn Jordan , 6 , Serenity Jakub , 3 , and Victoria Jakub , 2 .  Egenlauf said it was the first time in weeks the four were together with their mother .  Two of the children were in foster care and visiting Jordan , who was charged in 2013 with child endangerment for leaving them in filthy conditions with her boyfriend at the time , Andrew McGee .  ' They called me "" Dad , "" ' said Egenlauf , who would have celebrated his first wedding anniversary with Jordan in December . ' I treated them like my own . In my heart , they belonged to me . '  Egenlauf was taken to the hospital in critical condition on the night of the fire , suffering burns over 55 percent of his body he is still healing from ,  reports ,  Dawn McPherson , 37 , Jordan ' s sister , said Williams deserves no mercy if convicted .  ' I hope he can ' t sleep at night , ' McPherson said . ' I hope he ' s haunted for the rest of his life . I hope God gives him everything he deserves . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
6307,6308,"The final lessons remain etched in chalk in the empty lecture theatres and experiments have been left to rot in deserted laboratories .  For 75 years the science campus at Val Benoit University in Belgium was thriving , but now the classrooms and corridors are free from students and teachers .  Instead , all 30 . 000 square metres of the campus , formerly the Natural Science department , is encrusted with dust and decay .  School ' s out : A lecture theatre inside the abandoned Science campus at Val Benoit University , Belgium . The final lessons remain etched in chalk on the blackboard  Abandoned : For 75 years the science campus at Val Benoit University in Belgium was thriving , but now the classrooms and corridors are free from students and teachers  Decay : All 30 . 000 square metres of the campus , formerly the Science department , is encrusted with dust and decay  The site , now home to walls covered in cracked and peeling wallpaper and broken beakers , has been abandoned since 2005 when the facilities were moved to another site .  ' You could still feel the energy and buzz of the former times , ' says photographer Stefan Dietze , 31 , who captured these melancholic scenes .  Born in Dresden , but now of Leipzig , Germany , Mr Dietze visited the university over the course of two days .  Mr Dietze said , ' You would expect a lot of noise from a place like this .  Decay : The site , now home to walls covered in cracked and peeling wallpaper and broken beakers , has been abandoned since 2005  Eerie : ' You could still feel the energy and buzz of the former times , ' says photographer Stefan Dietze , 31 , who captured these melancholic scenes  ' The sound of laughter , people running to their classes , doors slamming , but instead it was quiet .  ' The only living creature I met was a little fox who ran off as soon as he spotted me . '  Mr Dietze became interested in Urban Exploration , the name given to photography projects taken in deserted settings , in 2004 after moving to Leipzig .  Mr Dietze said ' It ' s a city very much defined by decay . I found endless opportunities to practice my skills in old factories , obsolete power stations , schools and churches . '  Interest : Mr Dietze became interested in Urban Exploration , the name given to photography projects taken in deserted settings , in 2004 after moving to Leipzig  Scampered : When photographing the building Mr Dietze spotted an occupant ' a little fox who ran off as soon as he spotted me '  Dusty film : A piano covered with dust can be seen in one of the rooms that has not been used for years  Empty : A lecture theatre which once would have been packed with students stands empty and covered in dust  Captivating : Mr Dietze said ' I was especially fascinated by the laboratory . With all of the wooden desks and derelict chemical tools , it had a real anachronistic charm '  Expanse : A laboratory stands empty . Mr Dietze said , ' It ' s a very big place . You could easily end up lost in the long corridors '  Harsh elements : Many of the windows are smashed in and exposed to the weather the interior has started to deteriorate quickly  ' Since then I made countless trips throughout Europe to find historic buildings that fascinated me . '  Val Benoit is the first university Mr Dietze has photographed and he spent a total of twelve hours inside .  Mr Dietze said , ' It ' s a very big place . You could easily end up lost in the long corridors . '  ' I was especially fascinated by the laboratory . With all of the wooden desks and derelict chemical tools , it had a real anachronistic charm .  ' It was breathtaking when I entered the auditoriums . They looked like they had only been abandoned days before .  ' The most important thing for me as a photographer is to tell a story with my pictures .  ' I want people to look at my photos and to start wondering what might have happened in the particular setting .  ' Who worked and studied in this abandoned university ? '  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
6308,6309,"Kevin Love scored a season high 25 points , LeBron James added 19 and the Cavaliers beat the Atlanta Hawks 109 97 on Saturday night .  The teams met for the first time since the Cavaliers swept the Hawks in the playoffs , and it didn ' t take long for Cleveland to continue its dominance .  Love and James are Cleveland ' s only healthy starters but the Cavaliers are 10 3 with depth they didn ' t have last season .  "" Up to this point it ' s really paid off for us , "" coach David Blatt said . "" We ' re missing a lot of guys right now , a lot of very , very significant players but the other guys are stepping up and doing the job . ""  James has maintained all season the injuries are no reason for the team not to play well .  "" Next man up . No matter who ' s in the lineup , we need to play Cavs basketball the right way , "" he said . "" We need to share the ball , we need to move it , play together and be aggressive defensively . ""  Guard Mo Williams ( sore right ankle ) has missed the last two games and center Timofey Mozgov ( strained right shoulder ) could miss two weeks . Kyrie Irving ( fractured left kneecap ) and Iman Shumpert ( right wrist surgery ) have yet to play this season .  Cavs center Timofey Mozgov out 2 weeks with shoulder injury  The Cavaliers took control after trailing 17 16 midway through the first quarter . Cleveland quickly built a 10 point lead , stretched the margin to 57 40 late in the first half and the Hawks never recovered .  Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer was ejected in the second quarter after making contact with an official . Budenholzer was given a technical for arguing a call , bumped referee Ben Taylor after stepping on the floor and was quickly tossed .  "" He threw me out and that ' s his prerogative , "" Budenholzer said . "" If there was contact , it was 100 percent unintentional . ""  Kyle Korver and Paul Millsap each scored 14 points for Atlanta , which has lost four of five .  Love and James both had 11 rebounds . J . R . Smith scored 15 points while Tristan Thompson tied a season high with 16 rebounds .  Unbeaten Warriors get closer to  record : ' It ' s a goal that ' s right here and right now '  James scored only five points in the first half and walked to the bench in frustration after Cleveland threw the ball out of bounds midway through the third quarter . The Cavaliers were assessed a technical when Richard Jefferson couldn ' t get to the scorers ' table in time before the ball was inbounded .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
6311,6312,"A rich burgundy or crisp chardonnay may be your tipple of choice .  But a handful of 1 , 500 year old charred grape seeds could help scientists recreate one of the finest ancient wines .  It is the first time that seeds have been found , offering hope that the taste of ' Gaza wine ' could finally be revealed .  A handful of charred grape seeds ( pictured ) could help scientists recreate one of the finest ancient wines , called the ' wine of the Negev , ' which according to historical sources , was one the the finest and most delicious produced around 1 , 500 years ago in the Byzantine empire  The seeds come from grapes that were used to produce the wine also known as ' wine of the Negev ' which according to historical accounts , was one of the finest and most renowned wines in the empire that stretched from Spain to Greece .  They were found at the Halutza excavation site in the Negev a semi desert region of southern Israel during a joint dig by the University of Haifa and the Israel Antiquities Authority .  ' The vines growing in the Negev today are European varieties , whereas the Negev vine was lost to the world , ' said director of the excavation , Professor Guy Bar Oz of the University of Hafia .  ' Our next job is to recreate the ancient wine , and perhaps in that way we will be able to reproduce its taste and understand what made the Negev wine so fine . '  The seeds were found at the Halutza excavation site in the Negev a semi desert region of southern Israel during a joint dig by the University of Haifa and the Israel Antiquities Authority . The city of Halutza is mapped  Earlier excavations of the site have unearthed the terraces where the vines were cultivated , the wineries where wine was produced , and the jugs in which the wine was stored and exported but until now , no grape seeds were recovered . This Byzantine mosaic shows a man with an amphora for wine  The seeds are thought to be 1 , 500 years old .  They were found in an ancient rubbish dump in the city of Halutza , Israel .  The seeds come from grapes used to produce the ' wine of the Negev ' .  Experts hope they could be used to recreate the ' Gaza wine , ' which was one of finest made in the Byzantine Empire .  It was expensive and considered to be of very high quality , but because none has survived , wine experts are unsure what made it taste so good .  Negev wine was lost to the world and the vines may have been a native species , which are now extinct .  There is a chance that they could equally have been sourced from France or Italy , like the modern vines in the Negev region today .  Researchers will now join forces with biologists to sequence the  of the seeds to discover their origin .  Understanding more about the seeds , may also show how the grape variety was suited to such arid conditions and this may even be used to unlock the secret of growing grapes with less water today .  Byzantine sources tell of Gaza wine which was named after the port from which it was shipped to all corners of the empire .  It was expensive and considered to be of very high quality , but because none has survived , wine experts are unsure what made it taste so good .  Excavations of the site have previously unearthed the terraces where the vines were cultivated , the wineries where wine was produced , and the jugs in which the wine was stored and exported but until now , no grape seeds were recovered .  They were discovered in one of the ancient city ' s rubbish dumps , or middens , which were preserved almost completely intact and now mark its borders , Professor Bar Oz said .  Archaeologists know from findings of pottery and coins that the tips were used when the city was at the height of its economic success .  Halutza collapsed in the mid seventh century for reasons unknown to historians and it seems the city and its rubbish dumps , were swiftly abandoned .  Pottery vessels used for storage , cooking and serving were discovered in a particularly high concentration in one midden , including Gaza jugs used to hold Negev wine .  The grape seeds were found along with other biological remains , such as the bones of imported Red Sea fish and shellfish from the Mediterranean , indicating the vast wealth of the Byzantine city ' s residents .  Archaeologists carefully sifted through the remains and used a technique so that soil sunk to the bottom of a container full of water and the remains floated to the top .  Professor Bar Oz said : ' Maybe the secret to the Negev wine ' s international prestige lay in the method by which the vines were cultivated in the Negev ' s arid conditions . ' A stock picture of the view over the desert is shown  ' After washing the dirt and gently sifting the findings all that remained was to separate the botanical findings , which included seeds , pits and plants remains , from small animal bones , which included the remains of rodents that were drawn to the refuse , ' Professor Bar Oz said .  Experts are unsure whether the vines from which the famous wine was produced throughout the Byzantine Empire , were imported from elsewhere .  There is a chance that they may have been sourced from France or Italy , like the modern vines in the region today , or that they were native varieties that have now been lost .  The researchers will now join forces with biologists to sequence the  of the seeds to discover their origin .  Experts are unsure whether the vines from which the famous wine was produced throughout the Byzantine Empire , were imported from elsewhere . There is a chance that they may have been sourced from France or Italy , like the modern vines in the region today . A stock image of a vineyard in Tuscany , Italy , is shown  By doing this , connoisseurs could recreate the ancient wine and unlock the secret of why it was so highly throughout the Byzantine Empire in Egypt , Greece , Italy , and Spain .  Professor Bar Oz added : ' European varieties require copious amounts of water . Today it is less of a problem thanks to technology , but it is unlikely that that was the case 1 , 500 years ago .  ' It is more interesting to think of local grape varieties that were better suited to the Negev .  ' Maybe the secret to the Negev wine ' s international prestige lay in the method by which the vines were cultivated in the Negev ' s arid conditions . '  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,present
6320,6321,"President Barack Obama brushed off complaints levied by the  that his immigration actions are illegal in an  News interview that aired today , saying that the U . S . has ' limited resources ' and it only makes sense for the government to prioritize the removal of ' felons , criminals and recent arrivals ' over longtime residents and families .  ' Everybody knows , including Republicans , that we ' re not going to deport 11 million people , ' Obama told George Stephanopolous during a Friday interview for his Sunday morning program This Week .  ' The reason that we have to do prosecutorial discretion in immigration is that we know that we are not even close to being able to deal with the folks who have been here a long time , ' he said .  In the extended interview Obama and Stephanopolous also discussed the grand jury investigation into Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson and the 2016 presidential race .  President Barack Obama told  News host George Stephanopolous in an interview that aired today that his main piece of advice to residents of Ferguson would be to ' keep protests peaceful ' after the grand jury announces its decision in the case against police officer Darren Wilson  When it comes to Ferguson , the president encouraged the Missouri town ' s residents to ' keep protests peaceful . '  ' This is a country that allows everybody to express their views , but using any event as an excuse for violence is contrary to rule of law and contrary to who we are , ' Obama said .  The president declined to say whether or not he was worried about outbursts of violence if Wilson is not indicted on criminal charges for shooting and killing local teen Michael Brown , however he noted that protests over the summer showed that there ' s a ' possibility of even overwhelmingly peaceful crowds being overrun by a few thugs . '  He also indicated that he may pay Ferguson a visit , depending on the outcome of the court case , which could be decided as soon as Monday , and the town ' s response to it .  ' In the end what I have confidence in is that if we do a better job of training our law enforcement to be sensitive to the concerns of minority communities , then over time trust can be built in part because minority communities typically are subject to more crime , ' he stated . ' They need law enforcement more than anybody .  ' And there are a lot of communities in my hometown of Chicago , for example , who actually want to see more police in , but they want to make sure that the police are trained so they can distinguish between a gangbanger and a kid who just happens to be wearing a hoodie but otherwise is a good kid and not doing anything wrong . '  Overall , Obama said he believed race relations were improving in America , however .  ' In a democracy progress is incremental and it goes in stutter steps and sometimes there ' s some back sliding , but the overall trajectory I think is positive , ' he concluded .  Prodded by Stephanopolous to endorse a successor , namely Democratic frontrunner and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton , Obama said he didn ' t want to ' jump the gun . '  He did call Clinton a ' friend , ' however , and attested that she did an ' outstanding ' job at State .  Whoever the Democratic nominee ends up being , Obama said it ' s in his interest ' do everything I can obviously to make sure that whoever the nominee is is successful . '  If Clinton runs , she would be a ' formidable candidate , ' though , he said . ' I think she ' d be a great president . '  ' She ' s not going to agree with me on everything , ' he acknowledged , and ' one of the benefits of running for president is you can stake out your own positions and have a clean slate , a fresh start . '  Pointing out that after six years he has ' some dings , ' Obama told Stephanopolous , ' I think the American people , you know , they ' re going to want that new car smell .  ' They want to drive something off the lot that doesn ' t have as much mileage as me . '  Speaking about immigration , Obama said it only makes sense for the government to prioritize the removal of ' felons , criminals and recent arrivals ' over children and families who have been in the U . S . for a long time  Speaking about immigration , Obama again called on the House of Representatives to pass a comprehensive immigration bill that would provide a pathway to citizenship for millions of immigrants residing in America illegally .  ' Ultimately Congress has a responsibility to deal with these issues , and there are some things that I can ' t do on my own , ' Obama said .  To Republicans complaining that he shouldn ' t have acted unilaterally , including House Speaker John Boehner , Obama said his response is this : ' Go ahead and pass legislation . '  ' In the meantime , what we ' ve got to make sure of is , number one , that our borders are secure and , number two , it ' s gonna to allow us to focus on the people that we really want out , number three , what it allows us to do is to say to folks who have been here for awhile , register . . . you ' re going to submit to a criminal background check , and you ' re going to pay taxes . '  He also chided Republicans for threatening to stop working with him on a host of other issues over his immigration mandate .  ' What the American people expect is that if we disagree on one thing , then we disagree on that thing and then we work on everything else , ' he argued .  House Republicans need to stop holding other legislative fixes ' hostage ' over ' one disagreement , ' he said , referencing the government shutdown last year over Obamacare funding .  Obama formally announced his plans to delay deportations for as many as 5 million illegal immigrants during a presidential address on Thursday evening from the White House . The next day he traveled to Del Sol High School in Las Vegas , Nevada , to celebrate with his supporters .  On the way there , he issued two memorandums to the Department of Homeland Security affiliated with his immigration orders .  But the president ' s actions were met with less enthusiasm than he likely expected from some advocates of comprehensive immigration reform who think his executive actions didn ' t go far enough .  While they protect individuals who were were brought to the U . S . as children from deportation as well as the parents of American born children , his directive will not keep the parents of illegal immigrant children from being sent back to their home countries .  President Barack Obama waves to the crowd as he leaves the auditorium at Del Sol High School , in Las Vegas , Nevada , on Friday after his speech on immigration . Roughly 1 , 600 activists gathered there to thank Obama for deferring deportations for 5 million illegal immigrants  During Friday ' s speech two young men from Arizona called out the president for not expanding his deferred deportation program to cover the parents of so called DREAMers , as well .  ' Why did you leave my mom behind ? '  News says they shouted at him .  In his response the president assured him that ' this is a just a first step , ' and ' it ' s not the only step . '  ' We ' re still going to have to do more work , ' he said , explaining that Congress still needs to pass a bill making ' permanent ' his changes to the immigration process so that they are not undone by the next president .  Texas Sen . Ted Cruz said Sunday that Obama practically did give every illegal immigrant residing in America amnesty because the memo he sent  ' says they are not to enforce immigration laws other than for violent criminals ' and a few other discrete categories .  ' The president is instructing the executive branch to no longer enforce the immigration laws , ' Cruz , a probable Republican candidate for president in 2016 , told Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace .  ' It is a stunning and sad display of a president declining to honor his constitutional obligation to take care that the laws be faithfully executed . '  Cruz said what Obama did last week is ' a wholesale refusal to follow our immigration laws , ' and he ' s ' essentially he ' s gotten in the job of counterfeiting immigration papers , because there ' s no legal authority to do what he ' s doing . '  Leading Democrat Hillary Clinton , on the other hand , came out in favor of former boss ' actions over the weekend during an appearance at the New York Historical Society .  ' I think the president took an historic step and I support it , ' she said , according to the Associated Press .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
6321,6322,"Comments  The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell on  just aired a unique new poll must already have the Trump campaign reeling. O’donell reports that over a quarter of the state of Florida’s registered Republicans tell this that they’ve already voted early for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. It’s actually the first poll that includes only actual early voters, surveyed by William and Mary College and TargetSmart. This new poll also shows that Hillary Clinton leads Florida 48-40 which TargetSmart says, “challenges conventional wisdom.” That’s not even the most shocking result…  “ Hillary Clinton is winning 28% of registered Republicans ,” said TargetSmart  Tom Bonier, “ who have already voted already .” According to their surveys of early voters, Hillary Clinton has won 53% percent of early votes cast thus far in the 2016 election, and there’s more data in the video below. 28% of Florida early voting Republicans have voted for @HillaryClinton  — Lawrence O'Donnell (@Lawrence) November 2, 2016  “This includes absentee ballot voters who tend to trend more Republican and 28% of those voters are crossing over, when we look at Democrats,” said TargetSmart’s Bonier, “there’s almost no crossing over. Trump has only won 6% of those voters. Yes. These are people that have already voted, and these Republicans are not just saying it to pollsters, but they’re doing it in Florida. These are voters that are not waiting for election day.”  If this poll result holds up, there’s absolutely no path to victory for the Republican campaign, as there is literally no likely scenario resulting in electoral victory for Trump when he loses Florida to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.  Take a look:",fake,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present
6341,6342,"BIRMINGHAM, England  —   On Saturday night at the Genting Arena here, a billowing white curtain whipped up and into the ceiling to reveal the singer Ozzy Osbourne, who, for perhaps the last time ever as the frontman of Black Sabbath, plunged into the 1970 song that gave the band its name. The track kicked off the final concert on a tour called “The End,” which the   band has billed as its last performances. After 49 years, the group  —   which formed here in 1968 and has had dramatic ups and downs and a rotating roster of members  —   finally threw in the towel with a hometown concert. “Let’s go crazy,” Mr. Osbourne yelled to the crowd, adding an expletive early in the concert, before turning in thrashing renditions of the band’s   songs, including “War Pigs,” “Into the Void” and “Iron Man,” and deeper cuts like the instrumental “Rat Salad. ” Fans and members of the news media were buzzing before the concert with rumors of possible antics and surprises  —   perhaps even an appearance by the original drummer, Bill Ward, estranged from the group since 2012. But Black Sabbath played it straight, turning in almost two hours of its earliest 1960s and ’70s songs, pretty much unadulterated (but, of course, quite loud). Flanked by the original band members Tony Iommi (on guitar) and Geezer Butler (on bass) and backed by Tommy Clufetos, a younger drummer who rejoined them for the tour, Mr. Osbourne stood center stage and clutched the microphone, undulating back and forth as he sang. There were pyrotechnics for the big numbers, confetti at the end, and at one point a surprise volley of fireworks onstage. Giant black and purple balloons spilled from the ceiling in the penultimate song, and bounced around the arena for the rest of the night. Nearly a   ago, Black Sabbath began as a blues band. It quickly morphed into its own genre. In the band’s early years, its   anthems and vague overtures toward Satanism in its lyrics earned them ridicule from mainstream critics and audiences while mobilizing a growing underground fan base. Mr. Osbourne gained a reputation as a forbidding figure who embraced hard living, and gained notoriety for biting off the head of a real bat during a 1982 concert. But Mr. Osbourne’s fame underwent a surprising shift when he began starring in the 2002  reality  show “The Osbournes,” which portrayed him as a lovable, murmuring goofball and family man. And at its closing concert, Black Sabbath seemed pretty mainstream. On Saturday, the crowd was dotted with   fans decked out in    Black Sabbath regalia. But most concertgoers wore their fandom more lightly: One man in a Black Sabbath shirt who declined to give his name said that he worked in financial services in London and read an issue of The Economist in the moments before the lights went down. By the time Mr. Osbourne hit the climax of “Black Sabbath,” the magazine was tucked away and the man was on his feet with his hands raised in the shape of devil’s horns, singing gleefully along to the lyrics: “Satan’s sitting there, he’s   those flames get higher and higher. ” The band has always identified as rough and tumble, alternative, working class and distinctly Birminghamian, so the hometown concert had special resonance for some in the audience on Saturday. “Black Sabbath are part of the cultural identity of being in Birmingham,” said Pamela Pinski, 31, who lives and works in the area. Coming to the concert, she added, felt “kind of patriotic to the city,” and like a chance to celebrate “local boys that done good. ” In interviews, the band members have insisted that “The End”  —   which began in Omaha just over a year ago and made stops in Europe, South America and Australia before coming to Britain last month  —   really is their last run. Mr. Iommi, who learned he had cancer several years ago, told Rolling Stone that his “body won’t take it much more. ” And Mr. Osbourne said in a recent interview with the BBC, “This is definitely it. ” Mr. Osbourne has said goodbyes to music before, though, so you could forgive fans for not taking him entirely at his word: In 1992, he went on a farewell tour that he billed as his swan song. Three years later, he was on the road again. Outside the arena, Errol Lynch, 45, was one of several fans who said he thought the band had more in store. “Two years down the line, they’ll say, ‘Let’s put our problem behind us,’” he said, adding that even if the band wouldn’t tour again, “they will do an odd festival. ” Mr. Lynch, originally from Ireland, was in Birmingham to see the group for the third time in the space of a week. (Mr. Osbourne, who has performed with other bands and as a solo act, and who was estranged from Black Sabbath through much of the 1980s and ’90s, has at least one solo date planned for this summer, in Illinois.) Mr. Osbourne had said that he was feeling emotional in the   to Saturday’s concert, but he gave only a fleeting farewell speech, marveling at “what a journey we’ve all had. ” Several times throughout the night he thanked the audience, and at one point he got down on his knees and bowed. When the last song, “Paranoid,” ended, he blew a kiss, took some final bows, then stopped to have his picture taken with his bandmates before loping off the stage. In the arena lobby after the concert, Mike King, 32, who had traveled from San Francisco, said that he ranked the show among Black Sabbath’s better recent performances. “I’m really, really, really going to miss them,” he said, adding, “Once they’re gone, that’s it. ”",true,news,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
6344,6345,"As the toll of international sanctions on Iran continues to mount , Iran ' s new President Hassan Rouhani has signaled his government ' s interest in addressing the world ' s concerns over his nation ' s nuclear program , and easing the pain on the Iranian economy . Rouhani ' s recent statements , tweets and appointments have underscored a possible willingness to resolve the nuclear problem . He told  News Wednesday that Iran will never develop nuclear weapons .  At the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York next week , Rouhani is expected to affirm his interest in resolving the issue .  In another positive step , President Barack Obama and Rouhani have exchanged letters "" the first direct communication at this level between the two countries in many , many years . Explaining that this does not yet mean there is a breakthrough , President Obama indicated that he expects negotiations to be difficult and take time .  "" Negotiations with the Iranians is always difficult , "" Obama said to George Stephanopoulos on Sunday . "" I think this new president is not going to suddenly make it easy . ""  Indeed , there is little reason to necessarily believe that everything has suddenly changed for the better . After years of intransigence , many wonder whether Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei , who holds overwhelming authority , is ready to make honest concessions .  Furthermore , it ' s not yet clear whether Iran understands that a mere change in rhetoric won ' t mean automatic sanctions relief . In fact , only its concrete actions to resolve the nuclear questions will lead to a meaningful relief of sanctions . And when they come , those actions may initially be incremental , negotiated to test the willingness of both sides to take confidence building actions that will lead to more comprehensive progress .  The United States should not dismiss Iran ' s rhetoric and its apparent litmus testing as insignificant . Though a deal will be difficult , as many negotiations are , it ' s not impossible to reach an agreement if Iran is willing to take the steps necessary . That , of course , is still a big "" if . ""  It ' s no secret among diplomats and experts what a final deal will probably look like : Iran will retain a small level of enrichment capability under a very strict regimen of inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency , which will also have ready access . So far , such a deal has never been in reach the United States and its diplomatic partners still have a long way to go . Because of this , some would rather continue to fight for complete Iranian capitulation and zero ability to conduct nuclear activities of any sort , a result that does not allow the Iranian regime a chance to "" save face . ""  This "" all or nothing "" outcome is simply not realistically attainable by means short of a major military intervention . As a result , the United States should be exhausting all diplomatic opportunities to reach an agreement that best preserves its security and the security of the region , while allowing the Iranians a chance to reach a settlement they can live with .  Congress has an important role in this delicate moment . Though the United States should remain skeptical of Iranian intentions , it should not turn down an opportunity that may be presenting itself . One of its biggest bargaining chips is the congressional sanctions , the presence of which , at this point , could be misinterpreted as an unwillingness to support a diplomatic solution .  Congress needs to be flexible in its approach and refrain at this time from tacking on additional sanctions or authorizing military force if it is serious about giving diplomacy the room it needs to operate and not missing a possible opening .  Ultimately , it won ' t be easy to resolve a decade ' s worth of issues over Iran ' s drive for a nuclear capability . But there is also no better time to put the Iranians to the test and see if they are truly willing to play ball and match their actions to their rhetoric on the diplomatic scene .  The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Terri S . Lodge and Matthew Wallin .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
6356,6357,""" There are many other reasons why it has in addition to what happened in the region , "" Clinton said on Saturday , "" I don ' t think the United States has the bulk of the responsibility . I really put that on Assad ( Syria n president ) and on the Iraqis and on the region itself . ""  Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and former Maryland Governor Martin O ' Malley , both of whom are Clinton ' s rivals within the Democratic Party , seized on the former Secretary of State ' s comments to quickly criticize her for her vote in support of the Iraq war when she served as the New York State senator .  "" I would argue that the disastrous invasion of Iraq , something that I strongly opposed , has unraveled the region completely and led to the rise of al Qaeda and to ( the emergence of )  , "" said Sanders .  "" I think that ( the Iraq war ) was one of the worst foreign policy blunders in the history of the United States , "" Sanders added .  Unlike her 2008 campaign , during which Clinton defended her "" Yes "" vote for the Iraq war as a way to give then U . S . President George W . Bush authority to deal with Iraq , Clinton had admitted plainly in this election cycle that she made a mistake .  "" I made it very clear that I made a mistake , plain and simple . And I have written about it in my book , and I have talked about it in the past , "" said Clinton in May this year .  O ' Malley argued that the chaos in the Middle East was not just limited to the invasion of Iraq , adding that "" the cascading effects that followed "" also played the roles .  "" Our role in the world is not to roam the globe looking for new dictators to topple , "" said O ' Malley , "" We need to be much more far thinking in this new 21st century . . . It is about understanding the secondary and third consequences that fall next . ""  O ' Malley ' s comments followed an attack line , if only more implicitly , adopted mainly by the Republicans who accused Clinton and Obama of turning Libya into a lawless country after military actions in 2011 .  In her congressional hearing on the 2012 Benghazi attack last month , Clinton was blasted by Republican lawmaker Peter Roskam , a member of the 12 member House Select Committee on Benghazi , for her strong advocacy for U . S . military involvement in Libya despite equally strong opposition within the Obama administration .  Calling Clinton the "" chief architect "" of the U . S . Libya policy , Roskam said Clinton insisted on the U . S . involvement in Libya despite grim warning and opposition from senior U . S . diplomats .  "" In the case of our diplomatic history , when we ' ve provided material or tactical military support to people seeking to drive their leaders from power , no matter how just their cause , it ' s tended to produce net negatives for our interests over the long term in those countries , "" Roskam said , quoting Stephen Mull , then executive secretary of the State Department .  "" They ( senior U . S . diplomats ) were pushing back , but you overcame those objections , "" said Roskam , adding that Vice President Joe Biden , then Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and the National Security Council also opposed military actions in Libya .  Calling Libya "" a mess "" , O ' Malley doubted Clinton ' s leadership capacity to anticipate threats and assess "" just how difficult it is to build up stable democracies . ""  In her own defense , Clinton , again , said U . S . allies and partners in Europe and the Arab world "" did ask for American help and we provided it , "" and put a positive gloss on the war ' s outcome .  "" The Libyans turned out for one of the most successful , fairest elections that any Arab country has had , "" said Clinton , adding that an "" arc of instability "" from north Africa to Afghanistan spoiled the otherwise favorable results .  However , after the 2011 revolution which toppled Muammar el Qaddafi , the situation in Libya immediately deteriorated as multiple militia and rebel groups who had previously fought against Qaddafi rapidly took control of the massive stockpile of weapons acquired by Qaddafi .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,satire,satire,True,no,no,negative,past
6372,6373,"Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump expressed outrage on Friday at the injuries of diplomats at the U.S. embassy in Cuba. He spoke to reporters on the White House South Lawn after the State Department announced a sharp drawdown of U.S. personnel at the embassy. “They did some bad things in Cuba,” Trump said. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
6382,6383,"Three students have taken extreme selfies to new heights by snapping a gravity defying video at the top of Hong Kong ' s fifth highest building , The Centre .  In a YouTube video , the teenagers scaled the famous 1 , 135ft skyscraper and are seen perched perilously high , with the a panorama of the city behind them .  Photographer Daniel Lau used a ' selfie stick ' mounted with a camera fitted with a wide angle lens to capture the stomach churning footage .  Two friends , fellow photographers Anrew Tso and A . S , are shown casually eating bananas at the beginning of the video clip , which has received over 450 , 000 views since it was posted last week .  The trend for taking extreme selfies has exploded in recent months , especially in Russia , where ' skywalkers ' , as they are known , climb buildings , cranes and construction sites to take photographs and share online . The death defying stunts are carried out without safety nets .  Extreme : Photographer Daniel Lau used a ' selfie stick ' and a wide angle camera lense to capture the footage  The teenagers scaled the famous 1 , 135ft skyscraper and are seen with the a panorama of the city behind them  In June , 31 year old Londoner Lee Thompson took the world ' s first ' selfie with Jesus ' .  The travel company boss became an internet sensation when he shared his selfie from the top of Brazil ' s iconic Christ The Redeemer statue in June .  Mr Thompson convinced the Brazilian tourist board to let him climb the 124ft high monument and pose for a photograph at the top .  He said the 25 minute climb to the summit was ' extremely hot , eerily quiet and claustrophobic ' but he reported that the view was ' incredible ' and that the selfie was one of his favourite photos .  The extreme trend sees photographers posing in a plethora of dangerous situations , which include getting up close and personal with wild animals .  Monkeying around : The extreme selfie trend sees photographers posing in a plethora of dangerous situations  Twenty six year old Californian Forrest Galante took selfies with a six metre anaconda in the Amazon , cradling a shark in the Bahamas and coming within a few steps of a Komodo dragon in Indonesia .  But the craze for taking dangerous selfies has resulted in some tragic consequences .  A couple ' taking a selfie ' on the edge of a cliff died when they fell hundreds of feet while their young children watched .  The Polish couple died after falling from the rocky edge in Cabo da Raca , west Portugal .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
6386,6387,"Hundreds of protesters block busy Chicago street , demand mayor resign as he apologizes for police shooting  Hundreds of protesters blocked one of Chicago ' s busiest streets Wednesday demanding Mayor Rahm Emanuel resign , hours after he publicly apologized for the police shooting of a black teenager in 2014 .  The protesters formed a circle in the middle of downtown Michigan Avenue and appeared to be headed for a bridge near the Magnificent Mile , which was the site of a Black Friday protest . Some in the crowd shoved officers before police let them through .  Activists chanted "" 16 shots and a cover up "" in reference to the release of a video showing white Officer Jason Van Dyke shooting 17 year old Laquan McDonald , who appeared in the video to be walking away . Van Dyke is charged with first degree murder .  Protesters march near downtown Chicago Wednesday . ? (  Photo Kiichiro Sato )  Mayor Emanuel spoke at a special City Council meeting he ' d called to discuss the police abuse scandal at the center of the biggest crisis of his administration , and promised "" complete and total "" reform to restore trust in the police .  Emanuel , whose voice cracked as he spoke about families who have lost children to the city ' s violence , criticized the police department for being quick to shoot , saying the department ' s "" supervision and leadership "" had failed . The problems have led to intervention by the U . S . Department of Justice , which announced a far reaching civil rights investigation of the department this week .  "" I take responsibility for what happened because it happened on my watch . And if we ' re going to fix it , I want you to understand it ' s my responsibility with you , "" Emanuel said . "" But if we ' re also going to begin the healing process , the first step in that journey is my step .  In terms of reform , Emanuel cited a newly created task force , which will look at the  ' s internal affairs department and the city ' s quasi independent police oversight agency . He said a new chief will be found to replace Superintendent Garry McCarthy , who was fired last week , and officers will get new training . He also said the city will reopen some cases in which the oversight agency declared police shootings justified .  But Emanuel also stressed that change has to go beyond the police department to address the availability of guns , poverty and joblessness , as well as a lack of hope that leads too many young people to join gangs leading them into the prison system .  Emanuel spoke of black residents ' mistrust of Chicago police , saying it ' s unacceptable that some officers treat black people particularly young men differently than they do whites , and that there are parents in Chicago who feel they must warn their children to be wary of officers .  "" It is not something I would ever tell my children . That ' s unacceptable , "" Emanuel said , later adding that "" no citizen is a second class citizen in the city of Chicago . ""  Alderman Leslie Hairston , who is black , gave an impassioned support of Emanuel ' s comments about people being treated differently because of their skin color .  She said she was "" denied access "" to the council ' s chamber Wednesday until she produced  "" even though my picture was on the wall . "" Her white colleagues walked in without having to show  , said Hairston , whose ward encompasses parts of the South Side , including the University of Chicago .  "" Your speech touched me because of what happened to me trying to come to work today to do my job , "" she told the mayor .  The midday protest was one of at least four different groups that had planned to converge downtown . Before Emanuel ' s speech , 25 year old Jim Rudd called Emanuel "" completely corrupt "" before the speech and said he must step aside .  At noon , protesters overflowed an intersection in front of City Hall , then marched through the financial district and blocked a major intersection for a short time . Officers guarded the doors to the Chicago Board of Trade as demonstrators approached .  Before protesters weaved through downtown , retired schoolteacher Audrey Davis held a sign that read , "" Mayor Emanuel is morally corrupt ! ""  Calling his speech "" politically expedient , "" the 74 year old said , "" I don ' t want to hear anything from him except , I tender my resignation . "" '  Davis , who is black , said she fears for her 25 year old grandson when he comes home from college .  "" Each time he comes home , my heart is in my throat in case he meets up with a racist cop , "" Davis said . "" We shouldn ' t have to live like this . ""  The McDonald footage ordered to be released by a judge last month and made public hours after Van Dyke was charged set off a chain of events that captured the attention of the country . Days of protests and marches followed , including one on the busiest shopping day of the year that partially shut down the city ' s most famous shopping district , Michigan Avenue .  A few days later , Emanuel announced that he had demanded and received the resignation of McCarthy , created a new task force and expanded the use of body cameras .  But the anger did not subside , and every day there seemed to be another issue , including the release of hundreds of pages of documents that show police had described in their reports a far more threatening McDonald than the teen shown to the city and the world on video .  The situation became so volatile that Emanuel was forced to do something he rarely does : backtrack . After initially saying that a federal probe of the department would be "" misguided "" because the U . S . Attorney ' s office was already examining the McDonald shooting , Emanuel later said he welcomed such an investigation . It was announced Monday and will look to determine whether there are patterns of racial disparity in the police department ' s use of force .  Emanuel also said the city would stop fighting the release of a second video that showed a police officer shooting a man in the back . That video was released Monday during a presentation in which Cook County State ' s Attorney Anita Alvarez said she would not charge the officer .  Later that night , the city released yet another video showing an inmate being dragged out of his cell by his handcuffed wrists . While a police review board previously found the officers ' actions justified , Emanuel said he did not see how the treatment of the man who later died following a reaction to an antipsychotics drug could "" possibly be acceptable "" and said he did not consider the investigation closed .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
6387,6388,"The New Hampshire primary will tell us a good deal more than the Iowa caucuses did about where the Republican candidates stand and how they might do in the general election against President Barack Obama .  While the unpredictable nature of the Iowa caucuses offered Rick Santorum an opportunity to shine , Tuesday ' s vote will tell us where the party is really headed , in what has been a Wild West of a presidential selection process , one with more ups and downs than the Colorado Rockies .  The New Hampshire primary , established in 1916 , has a long and treasured history in American politics . It has often been the site where new voices have been able to upset the status quo and take on establishment figures .  In 1952 , the military hero Dwight Eisenhower successfully challenged "" Mr Republican "" Robert Taft , the senator from Ohio , who was thought to be one of the strongest figures in the party . That same year , Tennessee Sen . Estes Kefauver shook up the Democratic Party by winning a stunning victory against President Harry Truman , fueling his decision not to run for re election .  In 1968 , Minnesota Sen . Eugene McCarthy ' s strong second place showing similarly upset President Lyndon Johnson , forcing him to think twice about how strong his support was within the Democratic Party . The results , Sen . Ted Kennedy recalled , demonstrated that "" overnight , Johnson had become beatable . "" A few weeks later Johnson told the nation that he would not run for re election .  In 1976 , the little known Jimmy Carter built on his surprise victory in the Iowa caucuses by winning in New Hampshire and cementing his status as a front runner .  Republican Patrick Buchanan revealed the soft support among conservatives in 1992 for President George H . W . Bush , whom Buchanan derided as "" King George , "" when he did better than expected against the president ( though Bush won ) .  To be sure , the outcome of the primary is not always a measure of who will win the party ' s nomination . There is a substantial list of New Hampshire losers including Barack Obama in 2008 , George W . Bush in 2000 , Bill Clinton in 1992 , and Walter Mondale in 1984 who went on to receive party nominations .  Most important , New Hampshire is a state where independents matter very much and turn out in large numbers . The primary allows unaffiliated voters to participate , thus boosting the number of participants from the middle of the political spectrum .  With the base of each party relatively deflated about the choices in 2012 ( liberal Democrats are disappointed in Obama ' s record , while conservatives are not overly enthused about any of the front runners ) , the 2012 election will likely come down to the person who can capture the center .  With Obama ' s approval ratings at a low ebb , Republicans have a major opportunity if they can win the hearts and minds of independents and centrist Democrats .  One of Mitt Romney ' s biggest selling points is that he offers the  the only candidate who can run as a moderate who is not beholden to the party ' s base . During one of the weekend debates he brushed back talk about making contraception illegal and tried to focus on his economic policy rather than social and cultural issues . He left the others to fight it out as to who was a "" big government conservative "" and who was not .  In New Hampshire , Romney will have the first chance to show that his appeal to centrists is a strength .  Republicans in New Hampshire tend to fit the profile of the kind of conservative candidate who will have the greatest national appeal . While Republican party activists are often attracted to the candidate who can speak the language of the religious right , the Republican with the best chance of taking Obama in this election will be the fiscal conservative who pushes for lowering the deficit , lowering spending , and containing taxes , while avoiding the cultural issues that turn off moderates .  In 2008 , according to  News , only 23 of the New Hampshire electorate said they were evangelicals , compared with 58 in Iowa this year .  Finally , New Hampshire looks more like a national election than does Iowa . While Americans like to think our political process works by retail politics , with candidates shaking hands and enjoying a meal at the local diner , the reality is that elections are won or lost on major media television , radio and the Internet .  The candidate who has the best ability to mount a national campaign is the person who can master the media , handling reporters and the 24 hour news cycle , and can amass the kind of money that is needed to buy  ads In New Hampshire . It is simply not possible to win the state only by shaking hands . A candidate has to be able to do well on the screen .  This is a year when New Hampshire ' s verdict will be key in evaluating the Republican field . The test is not completely fair in that Romney comes from this region and even has a home in this state .  That said , being local is not a guarantee of victory . While a close victory in Iowa was certainly something that Romney can live with , he needs to have a very strong showing in New Hampshire to demonstrate that he is as electable a candidate as he has promised to be . He has to answer the kind of challenge posed in Sunday ' s debate , when Newt Gingrich said Romney would "" have a very hard time getting elected "" in a race against Obama .  At the same time , this is a major opportunity for Romney ' s opponents ( especially Jon Huntsman ) to show that they fit the bill as well , and that the prospect of Romney winning the nomination is not inevitable .  The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Julian Zelizer .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
6392,6393,"More than 2 , 000 Amazon staff at German warehouses went on strike on Monday to press demands for better pay and conditions as the online retailer races to ensure Christmas orders are delivered on time .  Labour union Verdi said almost 2 , 300 workers joined the action at five of Amazon ' s nine distribution centres in Germany , and that the action would be extended to a sixth on Tuesday the most warehouses hit by a strike in the long running dispute .  The walkouts at the centres are set to run until the end of Wednesday ' s late shift and Verdi said delays to deliveries could not be ruled out as a result of the strikes .  On strike : More than 2 , 000 Amazon staff at German warehouses went on strike on Monday to press demands for better pay and conditions . Here , employees gather in front of the Amazon distribution center in Rheinberg , Germany  Strike : A man makes his feelings clear in a Grinch mask at the Amazon distribution centre in Bad Hersfeld , Germany , while ' strike ' can be seen on a sign in front of an Amazon logistics center in Leipzig  Amazon itself said customers could order up until midnight on December 21 to get gifts in time for Christmas , or even on December 23 or 24 if they pay for express delivery .  ' We deliver reliably , ' a spokeswoman said , adding that only a small minority of workers had joined the strikes , with around 19 , 000 employees working normally .  Last year , Amazon orders in Germany peaked on December 15 , when customers bought 4 . 6 million items or 53 per second .  Verdi has organised frequent strikes at Amazon since May 2013 as it seeks to force the retailer to raise pay for workers at its distribution centres in accordance with collective bargaining agreements across Germany ' s mail order and retail industry .  In Leipzig : The walkouts at the centres are set to run until the end of Wednesday ' s late shift and Verdi said delays to deliveries could not be ruled out as a result of the strikes  Confident : The U . Sweblinkpany has previously said the long running dispute has not affected deliveries as the vast majority of workers in Germany have not joined the strikes and it can draw on a European network of 28 warehouses in seven countries  Amazon has repeatedly rejected the union ' s demands , saying it regards warehouse staff as logistics workers and that they receive above average pay by the standards of that industry .  The U . Sweblinkpany has previously said the long running dispute has not affected deliveries as the vast majority of workers in Germany have not joined the strikes and it can draw on a European network of 28 warehouses in seven countries .  It employs almost 10 , 000 staff at its warehouses in Germany , its second biggest market behind the United States , as well as more than 10 , 000 seasonal workers .  It comes after tens of thousands of families in Britain said they have been left in a panic that gifts bought online will not arrive in time for Christmas .  Rejected : Amazon has repeatedly rejected the union ' s demands , saying it regards warehouse staff as logistics workers and that they receive above average pay by the standards of that industry  Defiant : The U . Sweblinkpany has previously said the long running dispute has not affected deliveries as the vast majority of workers in Germany have not joined the strikes and it can draw on a European network of 28 warehouses in seven countries  Couriers delivering goods for major retailers including Amazon , Marks and Spencer , John Lewis and Waterstones were said to be in chaos as they struggled to deal with huge backlogs .  They blamed an unprecedented surge in online shopping over the past fortnight .  Yodel , the  ' s largest delivery company after Royal Mail , was unable to collect parcels from retailers this weekend as it is already three days behind on existing orders .  It spent the weekend desperately trying to clear the thousands of gifts already piled up in warehouses , with some couriers even delivering parcels in the middle of the night .  The company employed by a string of retailers including Amazon , Boots , Argos , Waterstones and Tesco Direct said it will not resume normal collections until today at the earliest .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
6396,6397,"Reuters) - A compromise Republican tax bill released late Friday does not eliminate a $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit as Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives had previously proposed. The measure follows the lead of the Senate version approved last month that did not eliminate the credit. Killing the credit could have hurt automakers like General Motors Co (GM.N), Volkswagen  (VOWG_p.DE), Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) and Nissan Motor Co (7201.T). Consumers under current law are eligible for a $7,500 tax credit to defray the cost of plug-in electric vehicles. The electric vehicle tax credit starts to phase out after a manufacturer sells 200,000 plug-in vehicles. After an automaker hits that point, the $7,500 tax credit is still available for at least three more months before phasing out.  Consumers are currently allowed to take the credit on vehicles until the manufacturer hits 200,000 plug-in vehicles sold. Electric vehicles have expensive batteries that make them pricier than gasoline-powered vehicles. The Electric Drive Transportation Association said in a statement late Friday it was pleased the credit would remain in law. “The credit supports innovation and job creation while helping drivers access advanced vehicle technology,” the group said. More than 50 automakers and other companies and groups released a letter earlier this week urging Congress to retain the credit, including Ford Motor Co (F.N),   (BMWG.DE), GM, Uber Technologies Inc. Former President Barack Obama repeatedly proposed hiking the tax credit for electric vehicles to $10,000 and converting it to a point-of-sale rebate, but Congress did not approve the measure. Automakers face mandates from California and a dozen other states to produce a rising number of zero-emission vehicles and have said the credits are essential to meeting requirements. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Economy,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,present
6400,6401,"Calls for public inquiry in to second Russian dissident death after Alexander Litvinenko revelations  Shadow home secretary calling for "" exceptional treatment "" in investigating sudden death of Alexander Perepilichnyy who died while trying to expose Russian crime lords  Alexander Perepilichnyy collapsed and died outside his home on the high security St George s Hill estate in Weybridge , Surrey ?  The investigation in to the death of a second Russian dissident on Britain s streets should be upgraded to a public inquiry in the wake of the Alexander Litvinenko revelations , the shadow home secretary has said .  Alexander Perepilichnyy collapsed while jogging outside his ? 3 million mansion in Weybridge , Surrey , in November 2012 .  Police ruled out foul play at the time but serious concerns of an assassination have been raised after a preliminary inquest hearing was told the tycoon could have been poisoned by a lethal rare plant sometimes used by Russian and Chinese hitmen .  The businessman fled to the  and revealed "" explosive "" information in an investigation into an ? 140 million Russian money laundering scheme in Swiss bank accounts when he died .  Alexander Litvinenko pictured before his death at University College Hospital in central London  He was also being sued at the time of his death by a Moscow consultancy firm run by Dmitri Kovtun , one of the two men suspected of poisoning former  agent Alexander Litvinenko during a meeting in London in 2006 .  Retired High Court judge Sir Robert Owen had the inquest in to Mr Litvinenko upgraded to a public inquiry so he could fully investigate claims that he was murdered on orders of the Kremlin .  He ruled on Thursday that he had been killed by Kovtun and Andrey Lugovoy , a former  bodyguard , and the killing had probably been sanctioned by Russian President Vladimir Putin .  Andy Burnham , the shadow home secretary , said many questions surrounded the death of Mr Perepilichnyy and a routine inquest was insufficient .  It would be a mistake to assume that the Litvinenko situation is a one off , he said .  I am not in a position to ascertain I know anything but it does arouse suspicion ( the Perepilichnyy case ) given the nature of the work this individual was involved in and the suddenness of his death .  My concern is that a routine inquest may not be able to look at the larger picture and may not be able to make connections where it needs to , to understand the background .  That is why I am calling for the inquest to be upgraded and provided with more resources and possibly to benefit from the advice of Sir Robert Owen . It should be given exceptional treatment .  At the time of his death , Mr Perepilichnyy was helping Hermitage Capital Management , on uncovering a 230 million ( ? 148m ) fraud in Swiss bank accounts .  The investment fund s lawyer Sergei Magnitsky died in Russian custody in 2009 and his death has been the subject of great speculation .  ? From Russia with hate ? are Russian assassins on the loose in Britain ?  It includes claims he was murdered for exposing state sponsored corruption .  It emerged last year that traces of a compound that could have come from the highly toxic plant Gelsemium elegens were found in Mr Perepilichnyy s stomach .  Just a few drops of the toxin in the bloodstream can trigger cardiac arrest , making it appear that the victim has suffered a heart attack .  Toxicology tests are continuing and senior coroner for Surrey Richard Travers said he was "" determined "" to proceed with the full inquest on February 29 .  Bill Browder , chief executive of the London based Hermitage Fund , said : We have had real problems over the death of Alexander Perepilichnyy over a lack of police cooperation .  The police have stated on the one hand there is nothing suspicious and on the other hand they have withheld a number of documents claiming Public Interest Immunity which means there are a number of issues of national interest involved .  If that is the case there is obviously something suspicious going on .  Given the damning circumstantial evidence and his role in exposing Russian government sponsored organised crime there needs to be a robust inquest into his death .  My instinct is they the British Government is trying to avoid a Litvinenko style spectacle because they are subordinating criminal justice to diplomatic appeasement .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
6401,6402,"?  teams will take anything , everything really , to try to give themselves the slightest of edges come Sunday . Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots , well , you know those stories .  Sometimes it also happens on a much smaller scale . In this case , Giants ? coach Tom Coughlin was told at his Thursday press conference about a quote by Jets cornerback Darrin Walls and offered his thanks .  When asked how the Jets could possibly slow Giants star receiver Odell Beckham Jr . , Walls talked about "" pulling his hands away , "" ? much like New England ' s Malcolm Butler did several weeks back on a ? potential game winning touchdown grab .  "" I didn ' t know about this quote , but now that you give it to me I ' ll make sure Beckham hears it , "" Coughlin said . ?  The Jets know Beckham is going to be a tough challenge , especially with shutdown corner Darrelle Revis unlikely to play . But it ' s not something they ' re shying away from .  Giants  Odell Beckham Jr . kicks a  The guy can do it all .  Beckham , despite four straight 100 yard games , is not without flaws .  "" He ' s not impossible to cover , "" Jets coach Todd Bowles said . "" You ' ve just got to fight for the ball . ""  It sounds as if the Jets believe what Beckham does so well could also be used against him . Beckham attacks the football like few others in the world . He catches with his hands , almost never with his body , and more often than not at its highest point . ?  While it helps him go up and get the football , it also makes it harder to protect it so far away from his body . That presents an opportunity for the defense where the Jets appear likely to attack .  "" Maybe just grab his arm when the ball hits his hand , "" said cornerback Buster Skrine , well aware of the fine line between breaking up a pass and seeing a pass interference flag fly .  The Giants are going to try to get the ball to Beckham early and often . He ' s had at least 12 targets in each of the past three games , and had 18 last Sunday against the Washington Redskins .  But only nine were completed . ? Washington ' s cornerbacks were able to knock two out of his hands at the last second .  This isn ' t anything new to Beckham or the Giants . Coughlin , a former wide receivers coach , may stress ball security more than any coach in the league .  Giants Jets Week , Day 1 : 3 Giants takeaways James Kratch on the day at Giants camp .  "" It ' s continuous . We ' re always coaching that , "" he said . "" Ball security is a huge , huge issue . And I don ' t care what team you in the league , look at the Jets schedule and season , when they ' ve done well with the turnovers they won . And the teams that haven ' t have lost . ""  It could once again be the difference on Sunday . ?     , Ep . 33 : Giants blow a big opportunity  With the chance to all but put away the  East , the Giants came up small against Washington . Plus , we debate whether certain changes need to be made for the final few weeks of the season . Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or Stitcher .  Jordan Raanan may be reached at jraanan njadvancemediaweblink . Follow him on Twitter JordanRaanan . Find NJweblink Giants on Facebook .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
6443,6444,"The Russian parliament has ordered an investigation into U. S. media organizations, including  and the Voice of America, “for compliance of their activities with Russian legislation,” according to a statement made on its website Friday. [The State Duma, or lower house in Russian parliament, ordered an “audit” of Radio Liberty, the Voice of America, CNN, and other U. S. media to see if they are breaking any of the nation’s laws,  Today reported.  The decision was reportedly made in retaliation against a bill introduced by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen ( ) earlier this week that would allow the Department of Justice to use more tools to investigate   Russian media outlet  America for potential violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). “We have good reason to believe that  News is coordinating with the Russian government to spread misinformation and undermine our democratic process,” said Shaheen in a press release. “The American public has a right to know if this is the case.  News has made public statements boasting that it can dodge our laws with shell corporations, and it’s time for the Department of Justice to investigate. ” Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the the Russian Foreign Ministry, criticized Shaheen’s bill, saying that the senator should have also drawn up a list of books for burning, Reuters reports. Margarita Simonyan, RT’s    told the Russian newspaper Izvestia that the legislative action to investigate the   news outlet was akin to Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s campaign against communism in the 1950s. The Russian parliament’s decision came just two days after U. N. Ambassador Nikki Haley told  News that the Russian government cannot be trusted. “We cannot trust Russia,” Haley said on Wednesday. “We should never trust Russia. ” Haley made those comments shortly after the Department of Justice charged two Russian spies for allegedly hacking into and stealing data from more than 500 million Yahoo users.",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
6458,6459,"A Brooklyn woman has become one of Instagram ' s most popular new users after creating an account which documents all of the blunt and critical text messages that she receives from her Jewish mother .  Kate Siegel , an associate producer at Cond Nast , chronicles her mother ' s crazy thoughts and hilarious advice on her Instagram page titled Crazy Jewish Mom .  The 26 year old , who shares the actual text messages she receives from her mother , has gained close to 300 , 000 followers since the account was started last November .  Mother daughter duo : Kate Siegel ( right ) posts the hilarious text messages that her nagging mom ( left ) sends on her on her Instagram account Crazy Jewish Mom  Imitation game : The 26 year old ' s mom admitted to impersonating her daughter on the Jewish singles networking site JDate in hopes of finding Miss Siegel a new boyfriend  ' I started this project three months ago , because my friends always laughed at my mom ' s texts , ' Miss Siegel told Yahoo Parenting . ' I ' m an only child so I get all my mom ' s attention . '  Crazy Jewish Mom , who prefers to remain anonymous , lives in New Jersey with Miss Siegel ' s father and is constantly trying to set up her daughter with an array of Ivy League educated men even though she has a boyfriend .  Miss Siegel ' s mom calls her daughter ' s boyfriend ' Superjew ' and is clearly irate that he has yet to propose .  Biological clock : Miss Siegel ' s mom is constantly reminding her daughter that her eggs are drying up  Put a ring on it : Even though her 26 year old daughter has a boyfriend , Crazy Jewish Mom is always on the lookout for eligible bachelors for her daughter to date  Age old advice : Miss Siegel ' s mom said that her daughter refuses to go bra shopping with her because ' she has her boundaries '  Self defense : Crazy Jewish Mom hates that Miss Siegel lives in Brooklyn and always warns her to carry pepper spray  Last week , Miss Siegel ' s mother revealed that she was impersonating her daughter on the Jewish singles networking site JDate and had even gone as far as to set her up with a man who graduated from Cornell .  After Miss Siegel told her that she was being crazy , her mom noted that it was crazy for her to waste her eggs on a ' Superjew who can ' t commit ' .  Even though Crazy Jewish Mom loves to remind her daughter that her eggs are drying up and that she needs to get highlights , Miss Siegel told the Today show that it is harmless fun , noting that she created the account to make people laugh .  ' I find the neuroses amusing , and I know it all comes from a place of love . I think it ' s hilarious , and it does not bother me at all . Even the most outrageous stuff comes from a place of love and with humor . '  Laying down the law : Miss Siegel ' s mom calls her boyfriend ' Superjew ' and finds it frustrating that he has yet to propose to her daughter  Close to 30 : Crazy Jewish Mom sent her daughter this message on her 26th birthday  Matchmaker : Miss Siegel ' s mom tries to set up other people as well , including her daughter ' s friends  Honest opinion : Crazy Jewish Mom has no problem sharing her thought on how her daughter could improve her looks  Whether she is telling her daughter that she can ' t afford to skip two workouts in a row or warning her that a sex offender has moved into her neighborhood , Miss Siegel ' s mom explained to the outlet that she means well .  ' What can I say ? She ' s an only child and I am always trying to help , ' she said . ' I love her more than anything . We are very , very close . We over share . '  She added : ' Kate always knew she could tell me anything , and I wouldn ' t be shocked . But I can never get her to go bra shopping with me . I guess she has her boundaries . '  In addition to the texts Miss Siegel shares on Instagram , as well as Facebook and Twitter , she has also designed a limited edition Valentine ' s Day T shirt featuring her mom ' s motto : ' No ring on the finger , you must not linger . '  Weather worries : Crazy Jewish Mom was extremely concerned about Miss Siegel ' s safety after she learned New York City was expecting a blizzard  No excuses : Miss Siegel ' s mom was even more concerned that her daughter would be missing two workouts in a row because of the predicted snow  Favorite phrase : Miss Siegel also designed a limited edition Valentine ' s Day T shirt featuring her mom ' s motto : ' No ring on the finger , you must not linger . '  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
6464,6465,"Evelyn Farkas:  ..dark campaign of fake news you know that s still ongoing. We see um even someone like myself get swept up in all of this you know when people like me are speaking on behalf of process, people spin it to uh suit their needs and I think maybe the Russians may be behind such fake news today. There s a total distortion about what I said I was outside of government. I had no access to intelligence on this whatsoever, but I was concerned because I knew how the Russians operate and I was reading these reports about them hacking into the elections then giving the information to Wikipedia. Evelyn Farkas now blames Russia for saying what she said & for giving surveilance intel to Wikipedia!  #FridayFeeling #Tucker #Hannity pic.twitter.com/peglrZW47t  Banning me is racist (@this1isno1) April 1, 2017Yes, she said  Wikipedia Think she was nervous?",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
6465,6466,"The Patriots didn ' t suffer a truly backbreaking injury until last Sunday , as Julian Edelman ' s broken foot will force New England to recalibrate its offense . ?  ' s Bill Barnwell argued Edelman ' s injury shouldn ' t affect the Patriots ' long term bottom line , but it does reduce New England ' s margin for error :  The problem for the Patriots is less about Edelman and more about how they ' re becoming increasingly dependent on the few weapons they have left . They already took a huge hit after breakout star Dion Lewis tore his  last week nominal replacement James White was anonymous against the Giants on Sunday . The Pats can get by with Amendola , but he ' s an enormous injury risk . They still have Rob Gronkowski , but we ' re still not too far removed from the days when Patriots fans closed their eyes and prayed that Gronk was going to get up every time he was tackled .  Barnwell ' s point is salient if 16 0 is the goal . It ' s an achievement which would be old news around Foxborough , so if health remains a concern in December , perhaps Bill Belichick considers passing on the chance to go all out for an unbeaten regular season given how hollow 2007 seems without the corresponding Super Bowl title .  However , New England did catch a big break with both the Cincinnati Bengals and Denver Broncos dropping their Week 10 contests . A Week 12 win in Denver would likely knock the Broncos out of serious first round bye contention , giving the Pats a chance to catch their breath at the end of the regular season after their early Week 4 bye . Perfection is nice , but New England would surely choose better health over an unblemished record .  In thinking about how the Pats will replace Edelman ' s production , most have naturally assumed a larger role for Danny Amendola . After all , Amendola was supposed to become Tom Brady ' s favored chain mover upon his arrival in 2013 before his injury plagued campaign opened the door for Edelman ' s career changing breakthrough .  Amendola is surely ticketed for more work , but he wasn ' t the first name Brady mentioned when talking about Edelman ' s replacement . Interviewing on  ' s Dennis Callahan show , Brady first name dropped Keshawn Martin , per  Boston ' s Mike Reiss , who made a positive early impression before missing the past four weeks with a hamstring injury :  Keshawn Martin is obviously still a good player for us . He s hopefully coming back here soon from a hamstring injury .  That Brady mentioned Martin first wasn t a coincidence , because the 5 foot 11 , 194 pound fourth year pro was coming on strong before injuring his hamstring on Oct . 18 . Martin , who was acquired in a trade from the Texans on Sept . 17 , hasn t played in the past four games and has six receptions for 95 yards and one touchdown in three games with the club .  Martin was a fixture in two receiver packages during his most recent appearance in Week 6 , but that was before Brandon LaFell ' s return . According to Pro Football Focus , Martin played 59 percent of the snaps in the three games he was active this season , probably a higher number than many would have figured . If he assumes a moderately similar role to the one Edelman filled , that will be the greatest show of confidence yet in the fourth year receiver .  Ryan has always saved his best for the Patriots , who have at times had issues deciphering his amoeba fronts and pressure concepts . That wasn ' t the case when Brady and Co . laid 40 on the Bills in Week 2 , but per the Boston Herald ' s Karen Guregian , Belichick is expecting Ryan to construct a more varied defensive game plan than what he initially threw at New England :  There s plenty examples of them blitzing , there s plenty examples of them with a three man rush , so I think you ve got to be ready for everybody to come , or three guys to come and everywhere in between . They mix it up . You ve just got to be ready . And that s historically the way it s been playing against Ryan . He s mixed it up . Some games it s been more of one thing , or other games more of another against us and against other common opponents . So I think we ve just got to be ready for all of that .  We ' ll dive into more depth about this during this week ' s game plan article , but in the first game , Ryan was surprisingly vanilla in many of his schemes . Buffalo rarely blitzed , perhaps realizing the futility of committing extra rushers against New England ' s quick hitting passing game , but also generally played off coverage . The soft cushion from the Bills ' cornerbacks consistently gave the Patriots receivers ample room to work underneath and run after the catch .  With no Edelman or Dion Lewis to worry about , it ' ll be interesting to see if Buffalo ' s corners are more aggressive in pressing the New England receivers at the line and forcing them to win at the second level . ? Ryan has never shied away from that type of high risk , high reward strategy , and it might be necessary for the Bills to spring the upset .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
6466,6467,"This map of China ' s Lunar New Year travel tells a story of massive migration home from the big city .  The interactive , updating graphic posted online by the Chinese Internet portal Baidu shows a ' heat map ' of lines tracing the trips of individual travellers .  The brightest spokes emanate from eastern employment hubs Beijing , Shanghai and the southern nexus of Shenzhen , Guangzhou and Dongguan .  Use your mouse to see each journey on the map below  The most popular destination is Beijing , followed by Chongqing .  The hub cities in Hunan and Guangxi provinces tie for third .  Beijing is also the most popular city to leave , followed by Shanghai and Guangzhou .  The trip both to and from Chengdu and Beijing take up the top two most popular routes .  During the 40 day holiday period which is called Spring Festival in Chinese 3 . 6 billion passenger trips will be made .  The Year of the Sheep which is also known as the Year of the Goat begins on February 19th .  About 80 million people were traveling on Monday alone , mostly by road , according to government estimates . Baidu was able to illustrate many of those journeys thanks to the 350 million active users of its smartphone map and other apps that use location positioning .  If someone uses a Baidu app in Beijing in the morning , then pings from the southwestern city of Kunming in the evening , a new trip will be registered and a straight line added from Beijing to Kunming .  Lines glow white hot during the biggest travel days of the holiday , which officially runs from Wednesday through Feb . 24 but unofficially includes many days on either end .  The period of heightened travel is considered 40 days long .  ' You ' re basically looking at the serious intensity of travel in this holiday .  ' It ' s not just the world ' s biggest human migration , it ' s the biggest mammalian migration , ' Baidu spokesman Kaiser Kuo said .  ' It ' s a sight to behold . It ' s quite miraculous that nothing goes terribly wrong . '  The Baidu Migration interactive also includes data for individual cities , airports and train stations , and could help transportation officials plan future seasons , Kuo said .  During the 40 day holiday period which is called Spring Festival in Chinese 3 . 6 billion passenger trips will be made  If he used Baidu apps , 28 year old Li Shengtao would have contributed to the Baidu interactive when he departed by train from Shanghai where he works as an interior designer for his annual , 1 , 100 kilometer journey to his northern hometown of Shijiazhuang .  ' Even if you don ' t manage to buy a ticket you have to get home somehow , ' Li said . ' That ' s the tradition of us northern Chinese . '  The interactive has been employed for more than details on holiday travel .  Last Lunar New Year season , some media outlets suggested , rather dubiously , that many of the bright lines on the map emanating from the city of Dongguan were prostitutes fleeing a crackdown there .  The interactive graphic shows the brightest spokes emanating from eastern employment hubs Beijing , Shanghai and the southern nexus of Shenzhen , Guangzhou and Dongguan .  Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
6471,6472,"? Yahoo could lay off 10pc of workforce  Here is a brief history : Yahoo began in the 1990s as a directory of sites on the early world wide web . It then morphed into a portal , a kind of starting point where people could find what they needed on the internet . But its model was quickly rendered obsolete by Google ' s algorithm powered search engine , which enabled people to find things more easily and quickly on the web ( and which had a much stronger advertising model underpinning it ) .  Yahoo ended up licensing Google ' s technology and then Microsoft ' s Bing to power searches on its properties , in effect accepting that it was a not a search company , but a content company and destination with a lot of traffic . Evidently that hasn ' t worked out particularly well .  The amazing thing is , Yahoo , in 2003 , ? reportedly had the chance ? to buy Google for  5 billion , two years before its  . But Yahoo ' s  at the time , a Hollywood executive called Terry Semel wasn ' t prepared to pay more than  3 billion for what then was still a startup , according to the reports .  I ' d argue Yahoo is a classic case of the phenomenon we discussed ? earlier this week ? for whatever reason , great tech companies tend to be run by strong founders . Yahoo seems to have suffered from a lack of a dominant figure with a clear vision for the business . It has had a succession of CEOs over the years . They include co founder Jerry Yang who admittedly secured a highly lucrative investment in Chinese internet giant Alibaba , as well as the aforementioned Segel , Scott Thompson ( who was pushed out amid a resume scandal ) and current boss , ? Marissa Mayer . The frequent leadership changes have meant constant changes to strategy and direction of the business .  The company does not have a dominant shareholder , either . That has meant its institutional shareholders , often impatient , have arguably influenced some questionable decisions made over the years , including plans to save costs by outsourcing search .  Contrast Yahoo ' s situation with Facebook . The social media giant payed a staggering  17 billion to acquire WhatsApp in 2014 effectively eliminating a potential competitor before it really got started . WhatsApp had precisely zero revenue at the time and just 17 employees , but it was starting to amass a pretty substantial base of users that could have ended up threatening Facebook . Facebook , of course , is controlled by its founder Mark Zuckerberg through a dual class share structure .  The rise and decline of Yahoo will no doubt be studied in business schools , if it ' s not done already . And there are at least two lessons for today ' s entrepreneurs from its ongoing struggles : never underestimate a threat , and try not to give up control of your business .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
6476,6477,"The investigation into the controversial shooting death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown by a police officer in a St . Louis suburb has been completed , the St . Louis County prosecutor ' s office said Wednesday .  Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson shot and killed the 18 year old in the middle of the day on August 9 after telling Brown and a friend to get out of the street .  Authorities could have charged Wilson themselves by filing a criminal complaint , but St . Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch instead opted to present the case to a grand jury to decide whether to indict the officer .  Ferguson mayor : Our eyes opened to racial problems  A grand jury is expected to decide by mid November whether Wilson will be charged criminally for the shooting , which sparked weeks of unrest on the streets of Ferguson and calls for a federal civil rights investigation . The white police officer ' s shooting of the black teenager was heavily debated throughout the nation .  The grand jury , which began meeting in August , is expected to consider whether a crime was committed and if "" probable cause "" exist that Wilson committed that crime .  Some witnesses have said Brown assaulted the officer at the outset and tried to grab his gun . Others fingered Wilson as the aggressor .  A private autopsy conducted for the Brown family showed that Brown had been shot at least six times , including twice in the head .  Last month , two contractors doing construction work in Ferguson on the day Brown was killed , describe the teenager with his hands up in the air as he was gunned down .  "" He had his f n hands up , "" one of the men said in the video .  The men said they didn ' t see how the confrontation started .  Dueling narratives in Michael Brown shooting  Feds scrutinizing shooting , police department  Federal officials are conducting two civil rights investigations one into Brown ' s killing and the other into Ferguson Police Department ' s overall track record with minorities .  One investigation will review the shooting by Wilson , a 28 year old officer with six years of experience , including four in Ferguson . A civil rights violation would require that Wilson had shown "" racial hostility "" against Brown in the shooting , legal analysts have said .  The U . S . Justice Department also announced a second inquiry to examine accusations that the police department as a whole practiced racial profiling and heavy handed tactics .  The shooting ignited angry protests and instances of looting on the streets of Ferguson . Community leaders criticized what they said was an excessive show of force by police to the demonstrations .  Local officials have failed to soothe public outrage .  Last week , even after apologizing for his department ' s actions following the shooting , Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson , insisted that he ' s not stepping down .  Jackson acknowledged that he ' s heard calls for his ouster but that doesn ' t mean he ' ll answer them .  "" I ' ve talked to a lot of people who have initially called for that and then changed their mind after having meetings and discussions about moving forward , "" Jackson said . "" Realistically , I ' m going to stay here and see this through . ""  An apology , with continued unrest  The Brown shooting stirred complaints of widespread racial profiling in Ferguson , which Jackson has rejected .  "" It ' s never been the intention of the Ferguson police department or any police department that I know to intentionally target individuals because of race , "" the chief said . "" If there is that happening , it ' s a crime and it needs to be addressed . ""  Jackson released a video apology to Brown ' s parents and the peaceful demonstrators who took to Ferguson ' s streets to protest the young man ' s death .  In that video , the chief expressed regret that it took investigating officers four hours to remove Brown ' s body from the street after he was shot dead .  The St . Louis suburb of 21 , 000 erupted again last week after one of three Brown memorials at the site of the shooting burned .  While many peaceful protesters took to the street September 23 , violent elements within the demonstration stoked chaos , attacking police with guns , rocks and bottles and vandalizing and looting businesses , Missouri Highway Patrol Capt . Ron Johnson said .  One person threw a Molotov cocktail at a parking structure , and there was an attempt to set a gasoline fire at a custard shop , he said .  Two officers were injured , one of whom was struck by a rock below the eye , Johnson said .  The City Council has recently taken up measures to reform court procedures and the way the city handles certain fines .  The council is also considering a citizen review board to monitor the police department .  Complete coverage of Brown shooting and protests  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
6479,6480,"In the middle of Marilyn Oshman’s otherwise cozy apartment on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, between an antique candelabra,   curtains and framed family photos, was a hospital bed. “I was dying,” Mrs. Oshman, 85, said. “I felt like I was in a prison in that lousy hospital bed. I couldn’t get out. ” She was bedridden and unable to walk because of venous stasis and cellulitis, a painful bacterial infection that covered the lower half of her body with large,   sores. Ordinary tasks, like getting out of bed every morning, became impossible. It was a drastic setback for someone who loved to move around on her own. As a child born and raised on Monroe Street on the Lower East Side, she loved exploring the city by foot. When she was 20, she had a job at a toy factory on Broadway, and it was there that she met her husband, David Oshman. They divorced in the late 1980s after 35 years of marriage, but Mrs. Oshman recounted fond memories of their active, early years together: Dancing the jitterbug on Fridays and Sundays at a club on the Lower East Side (“And he was some jitterbug dancer!” she said) fishing for pogies off a Coney Island pier and when they had children, a son and a daughter, taking family vacations to the mountains. Most of all, though, she said she loved doing the simpler things around the house: washing the walls, scrubbing the floors and cooking her favorite Jewish delicacies, stuffed cabbage and pot roast. But her health took a bad turn around 50 and deteriorated over the last three decades. For the last two years, Mrs. Oshman has made many trips between Mount Sinai Beth Israel hospital at 16th Street and First Avenue, and Gouverneur Health on the Lower East Side, and then back to her apartment. “Two years of hell,” she said. “And I mean hell. ” The back and forth became so strenuous that her doctor helped Mrs. Oshman get a hospital bed  —   not the centerpiece she would have preferred  —   so that she could receive medical care in her apartment. She was home, but she was miserable she could not lie comfortably in the new bed and often resorted to sleeping upright in a wheelchair. The ordeal became a dangerous cycle: She struggled to stand on her own, meaning she spent more time bedridden and immobile, which intensified the swelling, redness and pain. “I don’t want money, I don’t want jewelry,” Mrs. Oshman said, glancing at her still swollen legs, wrapped in compression socks. She added, through tears: “The only thing I want, at this stage in my life, is to be able to walk again. ” Over the summer, Mrs. Oshman’s doctor recommended a special recliner that could help her stand up, but Mrs. Oshman could not afford it. Every month she receives $1, 251 in Social Security benefits and $180 in food stamps, which is not enough to cover her monthly grocery bills. She pays $406 a month to Medicaid for the home care services, and $350 monthly toward her apartment. She was 62 when she retired from Citibank, where she was a greeter and an assistant to bankers, after she got too sick to continue working. Mrs. Oshman left with no retirement savings and does not receive financial support from her children. She has been getting help from the Educational Alliance, an organization that offers a social service program for people over 60. The Educational Alliance is a beneficiary agency of   of New York, one of the eight organizations supported by The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund. When the Alliance learned of Mrs. Oshman’s need for the recliner, the group used $799 from the Neediest funds to buy it. It arrived in August. “This chair saved my life, and I’m not kidding when I tell you that,” Mrs. Oshman said. “I was suffering with the hospital bed, and because of this chair, I’m able to walk again. It’s a blessing. I’m doing more for myself than I ever did. I’m changing myself. ” She has had to relearn tasks once taken for granted: standing up on her own, dressing herself and getting into the kitchen. “I’m living since I got this chair,” she said, tilting it up and down. It even has a massage function and heated seats. “What should we name it?” she asked, referring to the chair draped in a bright purple sheet and   blanket. Mrs. Oshman has been able to get out of the apartment more in recent months than she ever did during the last few years. She is again walking the streets of the Lower East Side, where she grew up. “I was a familiar face around the neighborhood then, and until this day, I still am,” she said. “I was away from here for two years, and when the aide took me downstairs one day recently, people stopped me in the street saying, ‘What happened to you? Where were you?’ And all I said was, ‘I’m back. ’”",true,news,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
6493,6494,"21st Century Wire says  Secretary of State Rex Tillerson tells us that the war on Syria can only be solved through a  political process . Wait, didn t Nikki Haley just say  getting Assad out is not the only priority, we don t see a peaceful Syria with Assad in there .  Our strategy in Syria, our priority is first to defeat  , says Tillerson. Again Haley outlines  multiple priorities  and  there s not any sort of option where a political solution is going to happen with Assad at the head of the regime . Deliberate  flip flopping  on policy or problematic internal communication at the White House, which in the last 24 hours has seen a  scramble  to re-soften its approach via Rex Tillerson on Syria.More on this report from    Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has said the Syrian crisis can only be solved through a political process, claiming it s not regime change but the defeat of the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) terrorist group that Washington is seeking in Syria. Our strategy in Syria, our priority is first to defeat ISIS,  the  official said in an interview with  s  This Week  host, George Stephanopoulos, which was aired Sunday.Saying that once the battle with the terrorist group is concluded, which according to the  official is  going quite well,  Washington plans to turn its attention  to achieving ceasefire agreements between the regime and opposition forces. Bringing the parties to the table for political discussions  clearly requires the participation of the regime and the support of their allies,  Tillerson said in another Sunday interview to the American media, speaking to John Dickerson on  s  Face the Nation. Once a ceasefire becomes a reality in Syria,  we will have the conditions to begin a useful political process,  he said. It is through that political process that we believe the Syrian people will ultimately be able to decide the fate of Bashar Assad,  he told ABC.Tillerson reiterated the same on CBS, saying that Washington hoped to work with its coalition members and with the UN,  in particular through the Geneva process,  to be able to  navigate a political outcome in which the Syrian people will in fact determine Bashar Assad s fate and his legitimacy. The  Secretary of State underlined the Russian role in the process, saying that the  hoped it could work together with Russia  and use their influence,  and that Moscow  will choose to play a constructive role in supporting ceasefire through their own Astana talks, but also through Geneva.  MORE: Russian  &  Secretary of State discuss  strike on Syria in phone call I m hopeful we can have Russia be supportive of a process that will lead to a stable Syria. Clearly they are Bashar Assad s current ally, they should have the greatest influence on Bashar Assad,  he told Stephanopoulos, but he warned that Russia should be  thinking carefully about its continued alliance with Bashar Assad. Inaccurate and inconclusive : Lavrov slams  accusations of Assad regime using chemical weapons in Idlib weblink pic.twitter.com/iwy1vXa4Rx   (@RT_com) April 8, 2017  Every time one of these horrific attacks occurs, it draws Russia closer into some level of responsibility,  he said in an apparent reference to a recent alleged chemical attack in Syria s Idlib province. Washington blamed the Syrian government for the incident, while Moscow has said there has been no evidence presented to support such claims.    Speaking of the  missile strike on a Syrian airbase, ordered by President Donald Trump  in response  to the alleged use of chemical weapons, Tillerson told  that  clearly the message is that the violation of international norms, the continuing ignoring of  resolutions and the continuing violation of agreements  will no longer be tolerated. The airstrike is only related to the alleged chemical attack, the  official claimed, adding that Washington has learned its lesson of  what it looks like when you undertake a violent regime change,  referring to Libya. Obviously the United States  own founding principle is self-determination, and what the  and our allies want to do is to enable the Syrian people to make that determination  We ve seen what violent regime change looks like in Libya and the kind of chaos that can be unleashed and indeed the kind of misery that it enacts on its own people,  he said on CBS. I think we have to learn the lessons of the past,  he emphasized on ABC, adding,  Any time you go on and have a violent change at the top, it is very difficult to create the conditions for stability [in the] longer term... Continue this report at     AT: 21st Century Wire  FilesSUPPORT     &  A  @21WIRE. ",fake,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present
6507,6508,"A microphone guy who worked on The Apprentice just came forward to tell the world that Donald Trump often referred to him as a  f*cking monkey. According to Buzzfeed News, the sound engineer is white, but he wanted his story to be heard without his name being released, because apparently, Trump was quite a monster to him and to many others, including to women whom he sexually harassed.He told Buzzfeed: Micing him was honestly the most abusive, humiliating, experience of my fifteen years as a sound engineer. He treated me like I wasn t a human being. In fact, there were several times Trump would refer to him as a  f*cking monkey.  Trump would say: Woah, woah woah, who s this fucking monkey? As well as: I m not gonna let this fucking monkey touch me unless he washes his hands. Then he would be monitored by Trump s assistant to make sure he went and washed his hands.He also told Buzzfeed: Trump just kept calling me a  f*cking monkey  over and over. I ve mic d everyone from Ben Affleck to Ren e Zellweger, and never, ever in my career have I run into something like that. Apparently, working for him was pretty much one of the worst gigs in town. He was a monster to many, many people, including several women he would sexually harass. And after listening to Trump on the released Access Hollywood tapes, that is very, very easy to believe.Trump is not a person who should be allowed anywhere near the Oval Office. He s a racist and misogynistic egomaniac who seems to have a short temper while having none of the required experience to be leader of the free world.Something tells me there will be more and more of these stories coming out as we get closer to election day, and hopefully, it will be the icing on the cake to make sure he s never, ever elected president.Featured Photo by Amanda Edwards/Getty Images",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,satire,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
6523,6524,"But this issue doesn ' t divide neatly along party lines . During the debate candidates Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman outright opposed the practice . "" Waterboarding is torture , "" Paul said . "" It ' s really un American to accept , on principle , that we will torture people that we capture . "" The next day both Sen . John McCain and President Obama criticized the pro waterboarding rhetoric and reaffirmed their opposition to the practice .  The United States has also been historically inconsistent on this issue . Although the use of waterboarding was widespread in the aftermath of 9 11 , in the aftermath of World War  the United States not only condemned but prosecuted and convicted a number of Japanese troops and officials for subjecting United States troops to waterboarding .  So which is it : Illicit torture or an acceptable interrogation practice ? And how should we decide ?  Recently my colleagues Mary Hunter McDonnell , visiting assistant professor of law at Northwestern , and George Loewenstein , a behavioral economist at Carnegie Mellon , and I examined the psychology behind how we evaluate enhanced interrogation tactics . Our experiments revealed several insights that can inform the debate on waterboarding and other so called enhanced interrogation techniques .  Most countries define torture in terms of pain severity . For example , the United Nations Convention Against Torture , of which America is one of many signatories , abjures the use of torture , which it defines as "" any act by which severe pain or suffering , whether physical or mental , is intentionally inflicted on a person . "" This means that , legally speaking , whether waterboarding is illicit torture or an acceptable interrogation practices depends on the amount pain and suffering waterboarding inflicts .  Because most policymakers have never experienced waterboarding and other enhanced interrogation tactics for themselves ( Sen . McCain aside ) , they must rely on their inexperienced intuitions about how painful these practices seem . This task has become all the more difficult with the advent of enhanced interrogation techniques such as prolonged sleep deprivation , social isolation , and exposure to cold temperatures , which are designed to induce physical and psychological distress without inflicting enduring harm .  Yet over the past 15 years , psychologists have discovered that people who aren ' t enduring a painful experience have a hard time estimating just how painful it is . This finding is known as an empathy gap , and it helps to explain why doctors underestimate their patients ' pain and why patients themselves underestimate how painful upcoming procedures will be .  To test the idea that empathy gaps might distort the evaluation of torture policy , we asked people to evaluate common enhanced interrogation tactics like sleep deprivation , solitary confinement , and exposure to cold temperatures .  Some participants ( the control group ) evaluated these practices under normal conditions , while others ( the experimental group ) made their judgments while experiencing a mild version of the pain associated with those techniques . These participants submerged their hand in ice water ( exposure to cold temperatures ) , felt social exclusion by being rejected by a group ( solitary confinement ) , and were tested at the end of a three hour night class ( sleep deprivation ) .  In each case the experimental group estimated the interrogation tactics to be significantly more painful , less ethical , and less acceptable as a practice than participants who made their judgments free of pain , as policymakers normally would . These findings suggest that policymakers ( and the concerned public ) suffer from a fundamental bias when evaluating waterboarding and other interrogation tactics .  It appears that the legal standard for evaluating torture is psychologically untenable . Policymakers simply cannot appreciate the severity of interrogation practices they themselves have not experienced , a psychological constraint that in effect encourages torture .  Indeed , in several well publicized incidents , public figures who denied that waterboarding was torture volunteered to experience it themselves , and almost instantly changed their minds . In combination , a range of empirical evidence points to the need for a more restrictive legal standard for evaluating the ethicality of interrogation techniques .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
6535,6536,"Sunderland defender Wes Brown has warned Manchester City not to take anything for granted as they attempt to succeed where Barclays Premier League leaders Chelsea failed .  Jose Mourinho ' s men left the Stadium of Light with a 0 0 draw the first time they have failed to score this season on Saturday evening as the Black Cats turned in a stubborn defensive display and might even have snatched victory in a late flurry of activity .  City will follow in their footsteps on Wednesday night when they head for Wearside desperate to end a run of four successive 1 0 league defeats on Wearside , although Brown is looking for more of the same .  Sunderland defender managed to keep Chelsea striker Diego Costa quiet at the Stadium of Light  Costa of Chelsea ( right ) catches Sunderland ' s Wes Brown with an arm while battling for a header  Asked if Sunderland could extend their remarkable run , the former Manchester United defender said : ' After this result , there ' s always a possibility .  ' Every game , we go into the game looking to win it and if we show the same commitment again , I ' m sure we ' ll have chances .  ' If you ask any player which teams they want to play , they ' d say the top four or five . I suppose you would be up for it a little bit more and wanting to do really well .  ' Everyone is watching and why not play well against the best teams ? '  Diego Costa ' s arm connects with the face of Sunderland defender Brown during a challenge in the air  Chelsea arrived in the north east six points clear at the top of the league after a 19 game unbeaten start to the campaign and determined not to allow their hosts a third win on the trot over them inside 12 months .  They enjoyed the greater share of the possession , but were rarely able to break through a red and white wall , and although Willian struck a post with a 17th minute shot , Black Cats defender Santiago Vergini was later denied by the crossbar .  Mourinho , who saw striker Diego Costa pick up just a single yellow card his fifth of the season , which means he will miss Wednesday game against Tottenham after clashes with central defenders John O ' Shea and Brown , was complimentary about Sunderland ' s defensive resilience and insisted he had nothing for which to reproach his players .  Chelsea defender Gary Cahill ( left ) challenges Sunderland defender O ' Shea in the air on Saturday evening  Brown said : ' We made it very difficult . I thought Catts midfielder Lee Cattermole was tremendous , like most of the lads , and that gave us a good balance and we showed them they were not going to have it all their own way .  ' It helped us . We went in at half time 0 0 and in the second half , anything can happen . There were a few tired legs , and they had some good chances as well not perfect chances , but they had a couple of half chances and then at the end , we probably could have nicked it as well .  ' At the beginning of the game , you would have said it would have been a great point earned , but we battled all the way through and then we had a couple of half chances at the end .  Frank Lampard celebrates Manchester City ' s second at Southampton during the 3 0 win on the south coast  Lee Cattermole robs Eden Hazard of possession during the 0 0 draw against Chelsea on Saturday  ' We are happy with the result . We maybe could have nicked it , but it was a good Chelsea team and we put everything in and managed to stop them scoring and get the draw . '  That draw means Sunderland are now unbeaten in four games since their season took an alarming dip with an 8 0 defeat at Southampton and Arsenal ' s 2 0 victory on Wearside , although Brown insists engineering the transformation has not been complicated .  He said : ' If anything , it ' s just back to basics , doing everything right , not necessarily making it difficult for ourselves , playing simple football , but in a quick way and defending how we know we can defend , where we make it very difficult for teams to score . '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
6548,6549,"Legislators from Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff ' s party were appealing Thursday to the Supreme Court to halt impeachment proceedings , in the first counter blow of a political battle expected to paralyze Latin America ' s biggest country .   : Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff ' s allies appealed on Thursday ( Dec 3 ) to the Supreme Court to block impeachment proceedings , warning of a political "" storm "" in Latin America ' s biggest country .  The day after the speaker of the lower house of Congress triggered the impeachment process against Rousseff on grounds that she illegally manipulated government accounts , her Workers ' Party sprang into action .  "" The mere opening of the procedure is capable of causing a real political , administrative , economic and social storm , with international repercussions , "" said the party ' s appeal to the Supreme Court , also warning of a "" lack of procedural guarantees "" for Rousseff .  The leftist party ' s strong stand , following a defiant and angry statement from Rousseff late Wednesday , signalled the start of a political fight that experts say will paralyse a country already suffering from a deepening recession and a spiralling corruption scandal centred on state oil giant Petrobras .  If the impeachment proceedings clear all hurdles , it could take as long as six or seven months before a final decision is made on Rousseff ' s fate , analysts say .  Despite the warnings of turmoil , the Sao Paulo stock market leapt more than four per cent on opening and closed 3 . 29 per cent up on the day , reflecting the business community ' s hope that impeachment would finally bring a resolution to months of political drift in the world ' s seventh biggest economy .  Paulo Pimenta , a Workers ' Party deputy , told  complaints filed at the Supreme Court argue that Speaker Eduardo Cunha is using the impeachment drive to save his own career after being accused of taking bribes in the Petrobras scheme .  The Supreme Court appeal charges Cunha with "" abuse of power and using the legislative power structure to defend himself "" from moves to strip him of his post , Pimenta said .  As speaker , Cunha alone has authority to accept or turn down petitions for the president ' s impeachment and he accepted one filed by several lawyers alleging that Rousseff used illegal methods to mask holes in the government budget .  On Thursday , he set the machinery in motion by ordering creation of a special committee featuring representatives of all the parties in the lower house that will decide whether to continue considering impeachment .  If the 66 strong committee decides yes , the case would go to a vote in the full house . If a two thirds majority approves there , it then goes to the upper house for an impeachment trial , where another two thirds majority would force Rousseff from office .  On paper she can easily muster more than one third of votes in the lower house , which would kill the impeachment process at an early stage . However , with voter approval ratings of around 10 per cent , she has such little political clout that allies may desert her , analysts say .  "" The government has the advantage , because it only needs a third of votes to block impeachment , "" Alberto Almeida , director of the Instituto Analise , told  . "" Probably the government has these votes . ""  Also possibly helping Rousseff is that the allegations against her are not seen as serious as the full blown corruption charges facing the last president forced from office , Fernando Collor de Mello in 1992 .  Rousseff insists she will be cleared . "" My past and my present attest to my moral probity and my irreproachable commitment to the law , "" she said late on Wednesday .  She got support from her far more popular predecessor , Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva , who said in Rio that he was "" indignant at what they ' re doing with this country . ""  But the simple fact of an impeachment process at a time when Brazil is already in the throes of the Petrobras scandal which has netted top politicians and business executives means Rousseff is in danger .  "" The problem is that once you get the impeachment committee rolling , a lot of new information comes out , "" said David Fleischer , a political science professor at Brasilia University .  Brazil is in a deepening recession and risks entering depression .  Rousseff has been unable to get Congressional approval for austerity measures and tax increases that aim to rebalance the budget and restore investor confidence .  That gridlock "" will continue and get worse . She can ' t approve anything in Congress . She has zero governability , "" Fleischer said .  Looking longer term , however , markets welcomed the prospect of a resolution to a crisis that has been dragging on already for months . A Rousseff departure could open the door to the return of a more pro business president such as Senator Aecio Neves , who was narrowly defeated by Rousseff in her re election last year .  Rousseff is widely blamed for a lack of leadership during Brazil ' s economic drift which has seen third quarter  fall 4 . 5 per cent year on year .  Petrobras was among the shares jumping in value in the wake of the impeachment announcement .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
6557,6558,"Coming off from her latest record-breaking album and a performance at the GRAMMYs, singer/songwriter extraordinaire Adele decided to take some downtime and enjoy Disneyland with her partner Simon Konecki and son Angelo.Her security detail must have been fierce, and day guided by Disney s wonderful cast members, but as you can see in the picture below, she and her little family seemed to have the time of their lives strolling through the park and clearly buying up a lot of the merchandise.Something else was noticed in the photos, too. Adele s son appears to be enjoying his fun-filled day at the park dressed as  Anna  from Disney s mega-hit Frozen, complete with dress and ballet flats. It seems as if the singer is allowing her son to completely be himself and choose what he wants to like and enjoy.1. Adele let her son dress up as Anna from Frozen. Amazing. 2. Peter is smiling cuz Disneyland pic.twitter.com/NwWb4BSN8C  Marc (@MarcMonster) February 16, 2016This, of course, isn t the first time the superstar made it known that she s supportive of her son no matter what. Back in 2012 she told  magazine that she ll always accept him. He makes me so proud of myself, and he makes me like myself so much. I ve never not liked myself. I don t have hangups like that. But I m so proud of myself that I made him in my belly   I can t wait to know who his best friends are going to be, who his girlfriend or his boyfriend is going to be or what movies he likes   Whatever my kid wants to do or be I will always support him no matter what. And she s clearly holding true to her word.Adele s son Angelo isn t the only little guy who enjoys the amazing fashion of Frozen. Just last fall, another parent made news on Facebook when he posted a picture of his son in his Halloween costume of choice as  Elsa. Here s the thing about childhood. It s important to let your kids be kids and have fun, and Adele seems to perfectly be doing just that.Featured image: DailyMail",fake,dataset,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,fake,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
6559,6560,"Tom Brady of the New England Patriots looks on during the game against the Miami Dolphins at Sun Life Stadium on January 3 , 2016 in Miami Gardens , Florida (  Photo Mike Ehrmann )  New York (  ) New England ' s superstar quarterback Tom Brady said Wednesday his sprained right ankle is "" feeling better "" as the Patriots prepare for the  playoffs .  "" Feeling better . Better than I was a couple days ago , "" said Brady as he took the podium for a press conference .  Brady sprained his ankle in the Patriots ' regular season finale on Sunday , a 20 10 loss to the Miami Dolphins , when defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh landed on him early in the second quarter .  Brady has some time to heal , since the Patriots enjoy a first round bye this week before hosting a second round game on Saturday , January 16 against either the Cincinnati Bengals , Houston Texans or Kansas City Chiefs .  "" This is the first time we ' ve had off in quite a while , "" Brady said . "" A lot of guys have been fighting through different bumps and bruises over the course of the season , so you try to take advantage of it the best you can to feel good , because we ' re going to need everybody a week from Saturday to be at their very best .  "" It ' s a lot of time kind of obviously preparing , there are a lot of different scenarios , so you try to do your best mentally to get ready and physically you have to put as much effort as you can to make yourself feel better . ""  Brady and his reigning Super Bowl champion Patriots launched the regular season with 10 straight victories , roaring through the early stages of the campaign after a  judge quashed Brady ' s four game suspension meted out by the  over his supposed role in the "" Deflate gate "" scandal involving the Patriots ' use of under inflated footballs in last season ' s  championship game .  The Patriots finished the regular season 12 4 , and their season ending loss to Miami allowed the Denver Broncos to claim the top seed and home field advantage in the  .  "" We have a lot of work to do , "" Patriots coach Bill Belichick said .  And Brady said Wednesday he was ready to get down to it .  "" I just try to do my best to help our team win . That ' s what my goal is , "" Brady said Wednesday . "" As mentally focused as I can be on that , it will help our team win . We ' ve all worked pretty hard to get to this point .  "" I read a cool quote the other day that said , ' I didn ' t come this far to only come this far . ' We still have further to go . ""  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
6568,6569,"Neil Ashton revealed in October that Arsene Wenger had tried to sign Messi  Arsene Wenger has confirmed that Lionel Messi could have joined Arsenal from Barcelona as a teenager along with Cesc Fabregas and Gerard Pique , as revealed by Sportsmail last month .  Four time Ballon d ' Or winner Messi has developed into one of the greatest players of all time at the Nou Camp , but was close to considering a switch to England when he was 15 in the Barcelona academy .  Lionel Messi ( wearing mask ) lines up for Barcelona ' s youth team in January 2003 alongside Spain internationals Gerard Pique ( back row , third from left ) and Cesc Fabregas ( back row , second from right ) . Messi was wearing a protective mask after suffering a badly fractured cheekbone in an a previous match  Messi has won the Champions League twice with Barcelona and has won the Ballon d ' Or four times  Messi trains alongside Barcelona team mate Gerard Pique ( left ) on Friday  A recent biography suggests the potential deal broke down because Arsenal were unable to purchase accommodation for Messi ' s family , who were keen to join him in London , although the South American would still have needed to secure a work permit .  Despite all of their efforts , Arsenal boss Wenger who also scouted the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo , Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Didier Drogba when they were raw talents believes the player just felt settled in Spain rather than take a chance on a switch to England .  Arsene Wenger seen here at Arsenal training on Friday has admitted he tried to sign Messi  Arsenal manager Wenger admitted : ' I think in the end , he was not so keen to move , because it was at a period where Fabregas came , and Fabregas and Messi played together in the same team ( at Barcelona academy ) . We wanted to take Fabregas , Messi and Pique . It worked only for Fabregas .  ' It was not completely down to a flat in the end . It was down to the fact that , in the end , Messi was comfortable at Barcelona . '  A 16 year old Cesc Fabregas scores for Arsenal against Wolves in the League Cup  ",true,text,validation,Football,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
6577,6578,"It s quite hard to laugh at what Donald Trump plans to do if he becomes president, especially since he s been winning in the polls for the Republican nomination for president. However, when kids actually say some of the crazy things Trump has said he plans to do, it all becomes hilarious. In fact, these kids actually show us how ridiculous Donald Trump actually is.Jimmy Fallon compiled videos of kids imitating some of the silliest statements Trump has made during his nightmarish run for the  nomination and then perfectly mocks him. In one example, a girl in a New York accent hilariously said: If you don t want to build a wall, you re a loser. Vote for Trump and make America great again. Or, you re gonna be a loser. In another skit, a Trump impersonator brags about his performance in the polls, saying: I m doing so good and I m going to win and once I win, we will win so much that everyone will be sick of winning. The funny skits genuinely prove just how ridiculous Trump s statements are when put in the context of kids saying them. The hope is that Donald Trump, along with Ted Cruz, will just be a funny memory come November.Watch video here:[youtube weblink Featured image via video screenshot.",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present
6589,6590,"Kylie Jenner stuns in leather on AMAs 2015 red carpet with sister Kendall  Published : 20 : 19  , 22 November 2015 Updated : 05 : 03  , 23 November 2015  The night was to honour some of the biggest stars in music . ?  And though they weren ' t musicians themselves , Kendall and ? Kylie Jenner ? still found a way to steal the spotlight from many of the hitmakers .  The two young reality stars wore very sexy looks as they hit the red carpet at the American Music Awards held at the Microsoft Theater ? in Los Angeles on Sunday night .  Kylie , 18 , showed plenty of skin in a racy dominatrix inspired number while 20 year old Kendall put her long model legs on full display in a black mini dress . ? ?  Coordinating : Kendall Jenner and sister Kylie looked amazing in form fitting black dresses as they arrived at the American Music Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday  Skin is in : The two reality stars absolutely scintillated in the racy ensembles  Kylie had looked stunning as she put her enviable figure on display in a form fitting , black leather and chain dress as she arrived for the show on Kendall ' s arm .  Kylie ' s daring dress featured a high collar and cut outs along the sides as well as the shoulders .  It was embellished with silver chains along the front which featured a plunging V cut as well as along a large slit up the right side .  Going hell for leather ! The reality star was a showstopper in a form fitting , black leather dress with cut outs and a thigh high slit  She coupled the show stopping number , which highlighted her toned figure , with a pair of metallic pumps .  Kylie wore her long , raven tresses styled in a center part , and pulled back into a sleek ponytail , with a few wisps of hair falling down to frame her face . ?  Her outrageous outfit was not the only thing that many noticed about the outing as her older rapper boyfriend Tyga was spotted with her at the event after reports they had split earlier this week .  She had debuted the look earlier in the day on Instagram , giving a shout out to celebrity stylist Jen Atkin . ?  Sleek : Kylie wore her long , raven tresses in a center part and pulled back into a sophisticated ponytail ?  Curvaceous : She showed off plenty of back in the dominatrix inspired number ?  Get some barely there strappy sandals like Kylie  While that custom made Bryan Hearns leather and chain dress that Kylie is rocking at the AMAs is a spotlight stealer , we ' re not going to tempt you with something you can ' t have right away . Instead we ' re going to focus on Kylie ' s barely there shoes by Tamara Mellon .  Tamara Mellon was the  of Jimmy Choo ( you might have heard of that shoe brand before since oh you know they used to dress Lady Diana and about a million celebs ) . The triple strap , made mostly with clear plastic , the high stiletto heel , the gorgeous curve these shoes are the epitome of sexy stems . Luckily if you ' re after the designer pair for yourself you can bag them at Tamara ' s website right now by clicking the link to the right , although be prepared to part with a fair bit of cash to do so . They also come in silver and gold !  For a more affordable alternative , you can still get that sultry look with a pair of the below high street options , which will look just as gorgeous on . Pair yours with a scene stealing leather dress like Kylie or add some vampiness to a more casual outfit like ripped cropped jeans and plaid shirt .  Fresh faced : The raven haired beauty kept her make up more natural , letting her daring dress stand out  The outing comes just hours after the release of what appeared to be a ' diss track ' attacking her .  The 26 year old walked closely behind Kylie , as she entered the venue hand in hand with Kendall . Tyga walked the red carpet separately before catching up with the sisters inside . ?  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
6600,6601,"Maroua , Cameroon Nigeria ' s Boko Haram is responsible for kidnapping a French priest in neighboring Cameroon the same day the U . S . government labeled the group a terrorist organization said the governor of Cameroon ' s Far North region .  Though Gov . Fonka Awa Augustine ordered his region ' s border with Nigeria closed , it may be too late , as eyewitnesses reported seeing the armed militants cross into Nigeria on motorcycles after Wednesday ' s kidnapping .  "" This is shocking , "" the governor said Friday . "" All expatriates should restrict their movement in this region . They should stay within much secured areas and avoid visiting touristic sites . ""  The priest , Georges Vandenbeusch , was snatched from his parish church in Nguetchewe , about 11 kilometers ( 7 miles ) from the Nigerian border , security officials said .  "" Our Father Georges was kidnapped just a few minutes after celebrating holy Mass that night , "" Mbah Anatole Asah , a Christian in the parish , said Wednesday night .  Witnesses said they believed Vandenbeusch was targeted because he is French and Christian . Boko Haram has declared a "" war on Christians "" as it strives to spread a strict brand of Sharia law across northeastern Nigeria .  Boko Haram has not claimed responsibility for Vandenbeusch ' s abduction .  The abduction comes the same week that the Nigerian army killed seven Boko Haram militants and injured others during a firefight in the Damboa area of Borno state , about 115 kilometers ( 72 miles ) from the Cameroon border . Soldiers also seized a pickup truck , two motorcycles , "" large arms "" and ammunition , according to a statement .  The army said it has recently intensified its patrols in the forested areas of Damboa and Gwoza , destroying Boko Haram camps , hideouts and vehicles .  Earlier this year , Boko Haram kidnapped a French family of seven , including four children , in Dabanga near the Nigerian border . They were released unharmed days later .  Security analysts in Cameroon blame the kidnappings on the lawlessness in north Cameroon and poor security along its porous border with Nigeria . Witnesses said the unarmed Cameroonian border patrol fled when the heavily armed militants approached the border Wednesday night .  "" The security is weak . It is very weak , "" legal expert Ngalim Bernard Yongabi said .  The kidnappers left bullets in the priest ' s home , state radio reported . Security officials said they believe the bullets are a sign of Boko Haram ' s willingness to fight as Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan seeks this month to extend a state of emergency in the northeast . The state of emergency was declared in May .  Boko Haram militants do not have the financial capacity to conduct large scale military operations , Yongabi said .  "" Their activities in northern Nigeria have been stoked by the Nigerian military . They are now exploiting the weak security in Cameroon to hibernate in Cameroon and take foreigners hostage , "" he said .  Fonkam Azu , governor of Cameroon ' s northern region of Maroua , said specialized military forces have been sent to secure the border with Nigeria .  Dozens of foreigners , including U . S . , French and British citizens , have been pulled back from dangerous areas in northern Cameroon into more secure cities .  In freezing the group ' s assets and placing travel bans on Boko Haram ' s members this week , the U . S . State Department said the organization is responsible for thousands of killings since 2009 . Human rights groups put the number at 3 , 000 .  Boko Haram ' s leader , Abubakar Shekau , has a 7 million bounty on his head .  U . S . designates Boko Haram as a terrorist organization  The terror outfit , whose name means "" Western education is sacrilege "" in the Hausa Fulani language , has attacked numerous targets since forming in the late 1990s , killing and kidnapping Westerners and bombing schools , churches and mosques , according to the U . S . National Counterterrorism Center .  Recently , Boko Haram was blamed in an August mosque attack in Nigeria ' s Borno state that killed 44 worshippers , September attacks in Benisheikh that left 160 civilians dead , many of them Muslim women and children , and a September assault on an agriculture school in which 50 students were killed in their dorms while they slept .  The United Nations has said it wants to try members on war crimes after an attack on a wedding party that killed 30 people .  An estimated 8 , 000 Nigerians have fled to Cameroon to escape the violence , while another 5 , 000 people have been internally displaced , the United Nations says .  Opinion : Should U . S . fear Boko Haram ?  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past
6613,6614,"The election of Aung San Suu Kyi to Myanmar ' s parliament capped a remarkable turnaround for the pro democracy campaigner , who was kept under house arrest for a total of 15 years by the country ' s military junta .  Suu Kyi was born in 1945 , the daughter of Myanmar independence hero General Aung San a man almost universally respected in the country , including the top ranks of the omnipresent military .  She was only two years old when her father was assassinated as the country , then known as Burma , prepared to transfer from British colonial rule . Her mother , Khin Kyi , became an active figure in the newly independent nation , eventually winning ambassadorial posts in India and Nepal .  Suu Kyi followed her mother to India and continued her education in New Delhi , which culminated in a degree in politics in 1964 . She went on to Oxford University in England to study politics , economics and philosophy . It was here she met Michael Aris , whom she married in 1972 after stints working in the United States and Japan . The couple had two children , Alexander and Kim .  In 1988 , Suu Kyi returned to Yangon , also known as Rangoon , to care for her sick mother . However she became involved in the massive pro democracy demonstrations that erupted on August 8 that year , as thousands took to the streets to protest against the widespread oppression and economic mismanagement under the ruling military junta . This became known as the "" 8888 Uprising . ""  At one rally in front of Yangon ' s famous Shwedagon Pagoda , Suu Kyi told protesters she "" could not , as my father ' s daughter remain indifferent to all that was going on . "" She became an icon of the country ' s reform movement and co founded the National League for Democracy (  ) .  Myanmar : The lynchpin of Asia  But the uprising came to a shuddering halt in September 1988 , when the military restored control after a brutal crackdown and imposed martial law .  At the funeral of her mother in January , 1989 , Suu Kyi vowed that as her father and mother had served the people of Burma , so too would she , even unto death . Despite continuous harassment from the military including a ban imposed on her standing for election she continued to campaign until she was placed under house arrest in July , 1989 .  When the military government called national elections in 1990 , huge numbers of people turned out to vote for Suu Kyi and the  .  The result , an 82 landslide in favor of the  , took the military rulers by surprise . Refusing to acknowledge defeat , they claimed foreigners and communists had rigged the election . In the subsequent weeks , hundreds of  members were rounded up and jailed , according to rights groups .  In 1991 , Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for what the Nobel committee described as "" one of the most extraordinary examples of civil courage in Asia in recent decades . "" Suu Kyi ' s sons accepted the prize on their mother ' s behalf in Oslo , Norway she had rejected a release offer from the military in return for her agreement to leave Myanmar and withdraw from politics .  The  leader was eventually released in 1995 on the condition she could not leave Yangon .  Tragedy struck in 1999 when her husband died of prostrate cancer in London . The authorities in Myanmar had rejected his repeated requests to visit his wife , and instead encouraged Suu Kyi to visit her family abroad . Suu Kyi again rejected the offer to leave Myanmar , knowing she would never be able to return .  In 2000 , she was placed under house arrest for a further two years , during which time she was conferred the Presidential Medal of Freedom America ' s highest civilian honor by U . S . President Bill Clinton .  But barely a year later , she was arrested after a clash between her supporters and a pro government mob , resulting in a period of detention that would last until 2010 .  The retired bus driver and Vietnam veteran from Missouri told his wife that he had a premonition he would become a political prisoner in Myanmar .  He was convicted of violating immigration laws , municipal laws , and the conditions of Suu Kyi ' s house arrest and sentenced to seven years of hard labor , though he was freed shortly after . Suu Kyi was initially sentenced to three years in prison after a military court found her guilty of violating her house arrest , but the head of the junta later commuted it to 18 months of home confinement .  On November 13 , 2010 , the pro democracy campaigner was released and reunited with her sons . Despite spending 15 of the previous 21 years under house arrest , she pledged to keep working toward restoring democracy and improving human rights in Myanmar .  Her release came too late for the national elections that year , which saw the military backed Union Solidarity and Development Party led by President Thein Sein prime minister under the junta declare victory despite accusations of voting irregularities and voter intimidation . Suu Kyi and the widely popular  boycotted the vote .  Despite widespread criticism of the electoral process , the vote marked a turning point as the new government embarked on a serious of political and economic reforms that the U . S . described as "" encouraging . "" In the past 12 months , the country has pardoned hundreds of political prisoners , secured a ceasefire with Karen rebels and has agreed to negotiate with other ethnic rebel groups .  In December last year , Hilary Clinton became the first U . S . secretary of state to visit the country in 50 years , a trip that included a meeting with Suu Kyi . Clinton said the pro democracy activist had been instrumental in helping to gauge the U . S . diplomatic approach to Myanmar .  "" She is someone who we talk to and rely on about policy advice , and certainly we were very gratified that she encouraged us to engage , encouraged my trip , "" Clinton told reporters at the time .  The following month , Suu Kyi registered to run for a parliamentary seat in the April 1 by election , while her party was formally given approval to enter the contest . She was greeted by huge crowds as she took her campaign across the country , and appealed for "" freedom from fear "" in her first televised campaign speech .  With the spotlight on the electoral process after the problems of 2010 , Suu Kyi claimed that the April vote would not be "" free and fair "" but that she did not "" at all regret having taken part "" because the election campaign had raised political awareness among Myanmar ' s population .  Suu Kyi said she believed President Thein wished for democratic reform , but that she was uncertain how much support he had , notably from the military .  Suu Kyi claimed victory in the constituency where she ran Kawhmu , south of the former capital city of Yangon while her party was victorious in 43 of the 44 seats it contested .  In late May , the newly elected Parliamentarian left Myanmar on her first foreign trip in 24 years . She received a rapturous welcome in Thailand where she spoke to Burmese migrants who told her of their desire to return home .  Addressing delegates at the World Economic Forum , Suu Kyi warned against "" reckless optimism "" over the current pace of reform in Myanmar .  "" Optimism is good but it should be cautious optimism . I have come across reckless optimism . A little bit of healthy skepticism is in order , "" she said .  In mid June Suu Kyi embarked on a 16 day trip around Europe that is to include her acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize that she won while under house arrest in 1991 .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
6615,6616,"The  tells us that guns make us safer, that a  responsible gun owner  or a  good guy with a gun  will leap into action at the first sign of danger to act as savior. Unfortunately, many gun-toting individuals completely fail to live up to the  gun rights  organization s lofty ideals. The problem is that a  good guy with a gun  is only a  good guy  until he pulls the trigger in a completely unwarranted situation   like in a  spat over dog poop.A Texas man found himself on the receiving end of gunfire after he Stood His Ground when a neighbor s puppy wandered into his yard and relieved itself. Frustrated that the young animal came into his yard, ate his cat s food, and relieved itself, Joe Ramirez grabbed his trusty shotgun and ended its life. In true  responsible gun owner  fashion, he told investigators that he thought the gun was loaded with blanks   but, of course, it contained live ammunition.The dog s owner heard the gunfire and the sound of her pet yelping, so she ran outside to investigate. Another person noticed, as well   her neighbor, who applied a Second Amendment Solution to the situation. When Angela Cruz saw Ramirez standing over the dog and shooting it at close range, she opened fire on him and his roommate, fortunately injuring neither of them.Cruz was arrested on two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Ramirez was charged with cruelty to a non-livestock animal. The dog owner and Ramirez s roommate weere questioned, but were not charged with a crime.Unfortunately, as long as it is easy for quite literally anyone to buy a gun, we will continue to see incidents like this   where popping off shots becomes the first solution rather than an option employed only in self-defense. Ramirez should absolutely be charged   and punished   but think about how different the situation would have been if none of these people had guns.Watch a report on the shootings below:Featured image via screengrab ",fake,dataset,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
6623,6624,"2 Peter 3:10 “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”",fake,news,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
6644,6645,"New Mexico led all states with 72 percent of the babies born there in 2015 having their births covered by Medicaid.Arkansas ranked second with 67 percent; Louisiana ranked third with 65 percent; and three states Mississippi, Nevada and Wisconsin tied for fourth place with 64 percent of babies born there covered by Medicaid.New Hampshire earned the distinction of having the smallest percentage of babies born on Medicaid. In that state, Medicaid paid for the births of only 27 percent of the babies born in 2015.Virginia and Utah tied for the next to last position, with 31 percent of the babies born on Medicaid.However, according to KFF, some of the nation s most populous states shared the distinction of having 50 percent or more of the babies born there born on Medicaid.",fake,dataset,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
6660,6661,"MANILA, Philippines (AP)  —   The Philippines will no longer accept new grants from the European Union, officials said Thursday, forgoing possibly more than 250 million euros ($ 278. 7 million) in funds for development projects in the country. [The  delegation in Manila said the Philippine government informed it about its decision Wednesday, but it has yet to receive a written notice. Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, in a text reply to the Associated Press, said the move was “to discourage them from interfering with our internal affairs. ”  President Rodrigo Duterte earlier had challenged the  to stop its assistance after the bloc warned that the Philippines risks losing   exports to Europe because of the thousands killed in the war on drugs launched by Duterte and Manila’s moves to revive the death penalty. “The President has approved the recommendation of the Department of Finance not to accept grants from the  that may allow it to interfere with internal policies of the Philippines,” presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella told reporters Thursday.  Ambassador Franz Jessen said more than 250 million euros ($278. 7 million) worth of grants could be at stake. “We are still awaiting more detailed clarification from the government,” Jessen said in an email to the AP. “The amount possibly concerned by the new decision is 250 million euro plus. For this year the amount affected could be 100 million euro. ” Development projects currently using  assistance include a 35 million euro ($39 million) grant to support the peace process with Muslim rebels in the southern Philippines. The  is the largest foreign investor in the Philippines, the only member of the   Association of Southeast Asian Nations to enjoy   exports under EU’s Generalized Scheme of Preferences + or GSP+ incentives for developing countries. The Philippine’s   exports to  was worth around 1. 6 billion euros ($1. 78 million) in 2016, according to  delegation data. In March, the  summoned a Philippine envoy to explain an   tirade by Duterte, who threatened to hang  officials for opposing his efforts to   the death penalty. The EU’s external action service, the equivalent of a foreign office, said it hauled Charge d’Affaires Alan Deniega to its Brussels headquarters to provide “an explanation for the recent, unacceptable comments of President Duterte. ” The move highlights growing European exasperation with the president. Earlier, the  denied his allegations that it proposed solving the Philippines’ drug problem by creating treatment clinics where illegal drugs such as methamphetamine or cocaine would be dispensed. Duterte has lashed out at the  repeatedly for raising human rights concerns over his deadly crackdown on illegal drugs. “If you think it is high time for you to withdraw your assistance, go ahead, we will not beg for it,” Duterte said in a speech in October, referring to aid from the U. S.  and other critics. The social development arm of the influential Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines criticized the government’s decision. “The Duterte administration is just too fanatically engrossed on the war on drugs, hating every institution that questions it,” said the Rev. Edwin Gariguez, head of the   Secretariat for Social Action. “This   is echoed even in making foreign or economic policy, which is extremely detrimental to the welfare and interest of the poor, like this decision not to accept  aid. ”",true,news,validation,World conflict,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
6666,6667,"Seattle won that game in Seattle , 31 17 , sparked by Kam Chancellor s 90 yard interception return . The Seahawks were the favored team and No . 1 seed in that game .  But now it s Carolina in that role after a 15 1 season that began with 14 consecutive victories , allowing the Panthers a first round bye and home field advantage throughout the playoffs .  One of this season s victories came in Seattle , a 27 23 triumph that came thanks to two 80 yard drives in the fourth quarter . The Panthers scored the winning touchdown with 32 seconds left .  We have been in this place before and played some tough games against these guys , said Seattle coach Pete Carroll . They ve had an incredible season . They made it look easy . They had so many dominant games on both sides of the ball .  We re just going to Carolina and we re going to go ( with ) everything we can to see if we can slow them and find a way to move the football on a great football team . And they re well rested and all that . We know how good of an advantage it is to be at home after a break , so we re going to have to play great football .  The Panthers mirror the Seahawks stylistically in many ways , including having one of the  s best running quarterbacks ( Russell Wilson for the Seahawks , Cam Newton for the Panthers ) , a stout defense ( Seahawks were first in points allowed at 17 . 3 and the Panthers sixth at 19 . 3 ) and offenses that like to run ( the Panthers threw just 50 . 42 percent of the time this season , 31st in the  while the Seahawks were at 51 . 69 percent , 29th ) .  Carolina also feasted on a plus 20 turnover ratio this season ? six more than any other team in the  ? led by 39 takeaways , six more than any other  team ,  Those were key factors in Carolina leading the  in scoring this season at 31 . 3 points per game despite being 11th in total offense at 366 . 9 .  It s going to be fun , said Sherman . It s always a fun one when you play Carolina . It s going to be a physical game . It s going to be back and forth . Both teams are going to run it . Both teams are going to hit each other in the mouth and we ll see who is standing in the end .  For the Seahawks , the No . 6  seed , it will be a second road playoff game in two weeks . The postseason will require three consecutive road victories to earn a repeat trip to the Super Bowl .  The Seahawks also know they will almost certainly have to play better than they did Sunday against the Vikings . They gained just 226 yards Sunday and needed Minnesota kicker Blair Walsh to miss a 27 yard field goal attempt with 26 seconds remaining .  Sometimes it takes a challenge like this , a struggle like this , to bring a team together , Sherman said .  Bob Condotta : 206 515 5699 or bcondotta seattletimesweblink . On Twitter bcondotta .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
6667,6668,"Guus Hiddink began his second stint as Holland coach by promising to carry on Louis van Gaal ' s ethos of playing attractive but practical football .  Hiddink took over from the new Manchester United boss after the World Cup , where the Oranje impressed on their way to third place .  The native boss , who presided in an awkward looking photoshoot on a bench with assistants Danny Blind and Ruud van Nistelrooy , said he wants to combine the ' Dutch school ' of attacking and possession based play with ' the instinct to survive ' .   Scroll down to watch Louis van Gaal ' s quirky training methods as Holland boss  Bench life : Guus Hiddink ( centre ) with new assistants Danny Blind ( left ) and Ruud van Nistelrooy  Pressure : Hiddink succeeds Louis van Gaal in the job , who lead the team to third place in the World Cup  He praised Van Gaal for mixing the two styles successfully at the World Cup , and hinted that he would attempt to do the same .  ' I applaud the whole team , which performed excellently , ' he said . ' It was a very realistic approach there ( in Brazil ) . '  He declined to give specifics of his likely team selections , noting that Van Gaal had brought in a crop of talented youngsters to mix with veteran stars such as Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben .  ' That policy will be continued , ' he said . ' I ' m not going to get further into names . '  The Netherlands begin their European Championship qualifying campaign in Czech Republic on September 9 .  If it ' s not broken , don ' t fix it : Hiddink says he will continue with Van Gaal ' s ethos as manager  Back again : Former Manchester United striker Van Nistelrooy has been given a shot at coaching  Star man : Hiddink will hope flying winger Arjen Robben can continue his fine form  Hiddink is highly regarded as the most successful coach ever within the Netherlands , winning six league and four cup titles with  Eindhoven . He coached the Netherlands from 1995 98 , reaching the semi finals at the World Cup in France .  He has coached Real Madrid and Chelsea , and led South Korea and Australia to best ever performances in the 2002 and 2006 World Cups .  All he ' s praying for now is a bigger bench . . .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
6668,6669,"For 33 year old Kevin Embree , it was the moment he realized his quiet Connecticut neighborhood was no longer safe . "" I ' m shoveling my driveway on Tuesday , "" he recalled , "" and five of my neighbors , pushing snow blowers , come up to me , grab the shovel out of my hands and say , Stand still . We ' re gonna blow you . ""   : Why ? We all have nice homes . We wanted to include that .   : No , the other part .   : Well Home Boys is a good gang name , but since we all blow , we thought we should include that too .   : Blow snow , yes . And how many members are in your gang ?   : About 15 . Less if somebody has a dental appointment . Or has to work late . Or on snow days , when the kids are outta school , some of us have to be at home to make the Spaghetti Os . Cuts into gang time .   : How did you get started ?   : It was the guys in the neighborhood with snow blowers . When the snow started coming down , and kept coming down , we realized we were like kings . People would do whatever we wanted if we ' d blow their driveways . We had the power . Then some guys from a nearby subdivision , Shady Estates , showed up on our street . Started blowing a couple of driveways , "" as a favor . "" We didn ' t like that .   : So you were united by a turf battle .   : Exactly .   : How do you settle turf disputes ?   : We blow each other .   : You   : A bunch of their guys and a bunch of our guys get together on the disputed spot , and we blow each other off .   : Surely not .   : We blow snow at them and they blow snow at us .   : Ah .   : And after five minutes , whoever has more snow on their side gives up their claim . Our gang has blown , I don ' t know , five or six dozen guys this winter .   : But what about claims that you terrorize your own neighborhoods ?   : Who said that ? What ' s his address ?   : The police . They say you threaten people who try to clear their own property . They say you will take their snow blowers if they don ' t join your gang . You may even beat them .   : We don ' t beat people . We blow them .   : There ' s got to be a better way to say that .   : We blow snow at them . Because we clear the snow in Glenwood Forest . And if you have a problem with that , we ' ll bury you in it .   : But what will happen in the summer , when the snow is gone and you ' ll have to face your neighbors without your "" weapons ?   : Got it figured . We have riding lawnmowers . We ' ll do all the lawns on our turf . And if you get in our way , we ' ll ride you . Cause we ' re gonna be the Home Mow Boys .   : The Home Mow Boys .   : You got it .   : Who comes up with your gang names ?   : Actually it ' s our wives . Surprisingly they seem to get a kick out it .  Embree , like millions of northeastern U . S . residents , came face to face with this winter ' s surprising new threat : "" snow blowers gangs of heavily jacketed , suburban , middle class men who have taken control of their own neighborhood ' s driveways and sidewalks in the midst of the snow removal crisis .  "" When they said that to me , I was like ,  , thanks , "" ' Embree said , reliving the moment . "" But later I realized they weren ' t clearing my driveway for me . They were doing it for themselves , to show they were better than me to show their control over me . ""  In hundreds of subdivisions from Virginia to Massachusetts , during what has been a record setting winter , police say the stories are the same . Snow blowing equipment is sold out in most local stores , and the people who already own the machines find they hold sway over their lowly , shovel stuck neighbors . Suddenly , these middle aged suburban males are no longer indistinguishable . They have status . They have respect . Right there in their hands they wield 4 cycle , 250cc power . And they mean to keep it .  The only threat is from rivals , outsiders who show up in their neighborhoods to help dig out a friend or relative . Instinctively , the locals form gangs to fend them off . And once together , under monikers like "" The Blow Daddies , "" "" The Husky Varnas , "" and "" Ariens Nation , "" they control all the "" blow "" on their turf . ( See "" Interview with a Snow Blower "" at right . )  "" There ' s too much snow to shovel , and these blow gangs , they know that , "" said Lt . Richard Hengele of the Hamden , Conn . , police department . "" People whose driveways are two feet under come up to them and they ' re like , Blow me ! Blow me ! Please please do me now . "" ' So they blow your driveway , or your walk , and now you ' re in debt to them . They own you . ""  Although there are reports of gangs receiving baked goods , and in one case , an Audi  , for their services , most snow blowers don ' t demand money . Instead , it ' s the control that attracts them . And , if they can agree on a brand , the matching snow jackets .  In fact , Hengele said , most gangs won ' t allow any shoveling in their neighborhoods . "" It shows they ' re weak , "" he explained .    ,    As with most crimes , the victims know the perpetrators . They are friends , neighbors , guys they see on weekends cutting their lawns . But any former relationships appear to be forgotten once they join a gang , as Westchester , N . Y . , resident Tom Gardner learned on Monday .  "" I ' m getting ready to go out and do my driveway cause I just got a brand new Toro Power Clear 21 inch , single stage , "" Gardner said . "" Just as I start , these guys maybe eight of em , wearing ski masks and ski goggles and really nice black Spider ski jackets appear out of nowhere and start clearing my driveway . ""  What happened next sent chills down Gardner ' s already wind chilled spine . The gang , including Gardner ' s normally affable neighbor Ed , declared the neighborhood was their turf , and that they did all the snow blowing .  "" They told me to join their gang or I ' d never see my snow blower again , "" Gardner said . "" I ' m not a gang guy . I ' m a systems analyst for a payroll company . So they grabbed my snow blower and threw it up on the power lines . ""  Police say snow blowers commonly do this to mark their turf and warn off rival gangs . Now , police fear , they may be doing it to warn off the towns themselves .  With many public works departments unable to keep up with snow removal , gangs like the "" Straight Chuters from Basking Ridge , N . J . , have begun to encroach on the government ' s domain .  "" Last night I blew my whole street , "" said "" Mark , "" a 42 year old bank manager , father of three , and Straight Chuters leader . "" Took me five hours and I was literally covered in white stuff . Way I look at it , everyone on my street owes me for that . ""  But just what people "" owe is never made clear . The ambiguity of these blow gangs has proven frustrating for police , who can ' t figure out if a crime is being committed , and victims .  "" I ' m not just intimidated , I ' m confused , "" said Gardner . "" They said I ' d never see my snow blower again , but I can . It ' s right up there , hanging on the power lines . Am I supposed to not look at it or something ? What do they want me to do ? ""  "" I ' m afraid to go to my mailbox in case I accidentally kick some snow aside , "" added Connecticut victim Kevin Embree . "" When will it end ? When will this nightmare end ?  Probably in Spring , said Lt . Hengele .  ",satire,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
6687,6688,"Moscow Kim Jong Un is expected to attend World War  anniversary celebrations in Moscow at Russia ' s invitation , a Russian official speaking on condition of anonymity said Thursday .  North Korea accepted Russia ' s invitation , but Russia is waiting on Pyongyang to make the official announcement about the May trip , the official said . This would mark Kim ' s first official foreign trip since inheriting the leadership in late 2011 .  "" The invitation was sent to Kim Jong Un . North Korea accepted the invitation . The leadership of North Korea is expected to take part in Victory Day celebrations in Moscow , "" the Russian official said .  The official later clarified : "" By leadership , we ' re talking about Kim . ""  So far , North Korean state media has not issued any statement about the invitation .  This year ' s Victory Day marks the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union ' s victory over Nazi Germany in World War  .  Chatter over whether Kim would make his first official overseas trip during the pivotal anniversary started in late December after Russian state media reported that Moscow had extended an invitation to Pyongyang .  On December 22 , Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov told Itar Tass : "" First signals are given from Pyongyang that the North Korean leader plans to come to Moscow and attend celebrations . ""  Recently , Russia and North Korea have been fostering warmer relations .  If Kim appears in Russia along with other world leaders , he may look like a minor figure , said Dr Leonid Petrov , an Asian studies professor who specializes in the political history of North Korea .  "" In a setting with a large crowd of state officials , in group pictures , he would look like a minor figure instead of what he ' s portrayed in North Korean media as supreme leader , invincible marshal , jack of all trades .  "" So I think if Kim Jong Un decides to go to Moscow , he ' s going to look like a very lonely , lonely figure . ""  The Kremlin has invited 68 world leaders to its Victory Day celebrations on May 9 , said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as quoted on Russian network  . He was quoted in Russian media as saying that Chinese President Xi Jinping will also attend .  In the last year , Russia and North Korea , two historical allies , have increasingly established stronger ties as Russian President Vladimir Putin faces international backlash over the war in Ukraine . The two countries declared 2015 their "" Friendship Year . ""  Both countries have been slapped with sanctions by the United States and are facing international isolation .  "" North Korea is a convenient friend for Moscow it ' s anti American and it ' s in a key place of Asia , "" Petrov said . "" Russia lost many of its traditional allies it needs friends , both economically , politically , strategically . ""  Ties between North Korea and Russia date back to World War  , when Kim Jong Un ' s grandfather and founder of the country , Kim Il Sung , trained as a communist guerrilla leader in the Soviet Union . Throughout Kim ' s subsequent reign , the Soviet Union backed the nation . After the Soviet Union crumbled in the early 1990s , North Korea became increasingly reliant on China .  Kim ' s father , Kim Jong Il , visited Moscow several times , with his last visit in 2011 . The late Kim rode into Russia in an armored train ( he disliked flying ) and met with both Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev .  "" Moscow undertook a diplomatic offensive "" with North Korea , said Petrov , of Australian National University . "" It absolved 10 billion of Soviet era debts from the account books and started rebooting relationships between North Korea and Russia . ""  Last year , Russia forgave 90 of North Korea ' s 11 billion debt .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
6694,6695,"Reuters) - The  should do its duty as a repository of democratic values by telling Spain to allow a referendum on Catalan independence to take place, the region s foreign affairs chief said. Authorities in Barcelona are determined to hold the vote as planned on Sunday, despite concerted opposition from the Spanish government, which has declared it unconstitutional and ordered regional police to take control of voting booths.  We call on the  institutions (...) to stand for the values and principles (of the  treaty),  Raul Romeva told a news conference in Brussels.    Civil rights are being violated ...and the quality of democracy in Spain is being eroded.  By failing to call for dialogue over the issue, the European Commission was being perceived as endorsing Madrid s  repressive action , he added, saying government officials, mayors and journalists were being subjected to harassment. The Commission said it respected Spain s constitutional order. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
6711,6712,"Republican presidential candidate Dr Ben Carson suggested during a panel discussion that the concept of slavery was speculative and part of a conspiracy theory , comparing it to the belief held by some that the Apollo 11 moon landing was faked . "" In both cases , people believed what they were told , and not what they could prove , "" he said .  "" As to slavery , I ' m a reasonable person and if people come up with a reasonable explanation of how an entire race of people could just be herded into an institution like slavery without objecting or stabbing someone , then I ' ll listen . Until then , it ' s all speculative . ""  His conversation then shifted to the realm of space :  "" Same thing with Apollo 11 if you can come up with a reasonable explanation of how a thin aluminum space ship could make it through the deadly heat and radiation surrounding the Earth ' s atmosphere , then I ' ll listen . I mean you could cut that thing wide open with a knife . ""  Carson said various conspiracy theories began after John F . Kennedy ' s 1961 challenge that "" this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal , before this decade is out , of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth . ""  "" Oh , don ' t even get me started on  ! "" added Carson with a laugh .  "" Historical documents show us that something did happen in space , just as things happened in the South back down on Earth many years ago . But the media colored both those subjects then , as they still do now . "" Carson also said he did not take things at face value because of "" old photographs of plantation workers , or fuzzy videotapes of actors hopping around in space suits hitting golf balls . ""  The Cold War and the space race with Russia were determining factors in the  hoax , said Carson . "" Now we ' re back where we started from with even more tension coming from the Soviet Union . And as I ' ve said before , race relations are worse today with Obama , which if you ask me , is just another form of slavery . ""  ",satire,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,satire,True,no,no,negative,past
6727,6728,"Diego Lopez insisted that despite an indifferent start to the season ,  Milan have a squad that is strong enough to finish in the top three of Serie A and qualify for next season ' s Champions League .  The former Real Madrid goalkeeper signed for Milan in the summer after the arrival of Keylor Navas in the Spanish capital .  After spending the early part of the season as understudy to veteran stopper Christian Abbiati , the 33 year old has excelled as first choice keeping two cleansheets in his last three appearances .  Diego Lopez keeps Gonzalo Higuain at bay in Milan ' s weekend win over Napoli  Lopez kept Iker Casillas out of the Madrid side for much of last season  And buoyed by last weekend ' s victory over top three rivals Napoli , Lopez has set his sights on European football next season .  ' Yes , of course ( we can finish in the top three ) , but it will be tough . There are plenty of teams who have Champions League ambitions , ' Lopez told Tuttosport  ' Napoli remain perhaps the most credible rival , but Inter and Fiorentina are ascending . Genoa and Lazio are also playing very well . '  The top half of Serie A shows there is still much work to do for Milan  On the back of that impressive display against Napoli , Lopez feels that the Rossoneri ' s trip to face second placed Roma on Sunday provides them with an opportunity to test themselves against one of the league ' s best .  ' For us it will be a great opportunity to continue on the path of growth , ' Lopez added .  ' After beating Napoli , we will have to go to the Olimpico and look for three points . It will not be be easy , but we will try even though we face a team that will fight Juventus for the title until the end . '  Despite a great deal of competition , Lopez still harbours hope that playing consistently for the Serie A outfit will enhance his chances of earning a place in the Spain squad .  ' The national team ? I was unfortunate , with ( Iker ) Casillas , ( Victor ) Valdes , ( Pepe ) Reina and ( David ) De Gea .  ' Maybe playing with continuity in Milan will help me go to the Euro 2016 . '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Economy,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
6730,6731,"Welcome to RedFlag News, a 100% independent news-aggregation website. The views expressed herein are the views of the linked author exclusively and not necessarily the views of  or its advertisers. // Aggregated content may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes only. This constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the  Copyright Law. If you believe there is a genuine  copyright infringement, please contact us immediately so that your photography or content can be reviewed and, if necessary, removed. ",fake,news,validation,Football,US elections,satire,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present
6732,6733,"Try writing a post seeking comment on whether embattled  star Ray Rice could ultimately be forgiven and watch your social network streams light up with a fair amount of outrage questioning how you could even suggest such a thing .  It is definitely not politically correct to ask if a man seen on a hotel surveillance video knocking out his then fianc e and dragging her from an elevator could one day face redemption .  But many other superstar athletes from Michael Vick , who was convicted of bankrolling a dog fighting ring , to Tiger Woods , who was divorced by his wife after several allegations of infidelity were forgiven by fans and the public .  Could or should the same thing happen with Rice , a 27 year old running back recently released by the Baltimore Ravens ?  There are signs some are already giving Rice a second chance .  In his first public appearance since being suspended indefinitely by the  a suspension the  players ' union appealed on his behalf he attended a football game Saturday at his high school alma mater in his hometown of New Rochelle , New York . Janay Rice , now his wife , was by his side , and his 2 year old daughter sat on his shoulders for some of the game .  "" Ray is a part of our family and a part of this program , and that ' s why I ' m very happy that he ' s here today , "" said the team ' s coach , Lou DiRienzo , according to The Journal News . "" He made a mistake and he made a very terrible mistake but I know the character of the man , and he will rise from this . ""  What it will take for the larger public to agree with that sentiment and forgive Rice comes down to two questions , according to Patrick Wanis , a human behavior expert . "" One ( is ) how much do we actually like the person already ? The second is what did we just see ? If we see the results of the beating , we react more harshly , "" Wanis said .  For instance , he points to the condemnation of singer Chris Brown after the photo of Rihanna ' s bloody face surfaced . Brown ultimately pleaded guilty in June 2009 to assaulting his then girlfriend on the eve of the Grammys .  "" When we see the bruises , the cuts , the bleeding , the scars , we feel a lot more pain , therefore we respond with a lot more anger , "" Wanis said . "" We have anger that says this situation needs resolving . ""  Besides the brutality of the video that has now been seen by millions , Rice faces other challenges should he ultimately seek forgiveness , domestic violence experts and women and men around the country said : answering the questions of whether a man who hit his partner and knocked her out will do it again and whether he can ultimately change .  Katie Ray Jones , president and chief executive officer of the National Domestic Violence Hotline , said a man who hits his wife can stop if there is "" an honest willingness to change and diligence applied to the process of changing . ""  That means taking full responsibility for his actions and seeking help , said Ray Jones . If Rice does that , he could be given a second chance , she said .  "" Abusers deserve to be forgiven , especially if they make changes in their life that allows them to live a life free from continuing to be verbally , physically and or sexually abusive , "" said Ray Jones . "" We at the hotline wouldn ' t be doing what we do if we didn ' t feel that people can make change . However , change is difficult . ""  Jamie Berndt , a mom of four from Hilton Head , South Carolina , said forgiveness on the part of the public could be possible for Rice but not just because time passes or he apologizes .  "" Forgiveness comes when a person shows genuine remorse over and over , tries to do better over and over , "" she said on Facebook . "" It is trying to live right because that is right , not because one gains something in return . ""  Tish Howard , a retired elementary school principal in Fredericksburg , Virginia , said forgiving does not mean condoning Rice ' s actions . "" Ray Rice was wrong , needs consequences , counseling and ultimately forgiveness . He needs deep counseling , not talking heads on  . ""  For others , the fact that Rice ' s wife , Janay , has forgiven him means the public can and should forgive him , too .  "" I personally think what he did is despicable , "" said Scott Eddi of New York . "" However , we are not his spouse . So ultimately if his wife has shown grace to forgive him . . . all we can do is support him . We all have done things in our past that we realize are wrong . The goal is to change and influence others to amend their behavior . ""  Lisa Abrams , a self described "" huge Ravens fan "" from Baltimore who admits it ' s hard to be objective , said she believes Rice may be a scapegoat for other problems affecting the  .  "" What Rice did was horrific , but he is now paying a penalty , not for his actions but for the  being embarrassed by not having punished him appropriately in the first place , "" she said . "" Everyone deserves a second chance . He has done so much good in our community and is doing all the things that have been asked of him legally and by the league in retribution . ""  But others said they believe Rice ' s actions can never be forgiven .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
6759,6760,"An emotional David Raven reflected on a ' dream come true ' after his last gasp winner sent Inverness through to their first ever William Hill Scottish Cup final at the expense of favourites Celtic .  Defender Raven slotted home the deciding goal four minutes from the end of extra time as Caley stunned 10 man Celtic 3 2 at Hampden Park to set up a final showdown with Falkirk .  The 30 year old Raven , who has only managed a handful of goals in his entire career , struggled to describe how he felt following an eventful match which he admitted could have gone either way .  David Raven ( second right ) celebrates with his Inverness team mates following his extra time winner  The celebrations continue on the pitch as Inverness rejoice in reaching the William Hill Scottish Cup final  He told Sky Sports : ' I don ' t know really , a bit emotional to be honest , got tears in my eyes . I thought it was just our day and to score the winning goal today is a dream come true . In a cup semi final against Celtic , I can ' t believe it .  ' It was topsy turvy and it could have gone either way . '  Celtic took an 18th minute lead through Virgil van Dijk ' s brilliant free kick and then had loud claims for a clear penalty turned down just before half time when the ball struck Josh Meekings ' hand a yard from goal .  That was a key incident in the match , as was the penalty that was awarded to Inverness in the 55th minute which saw Celtic goalkeeper Craig Gordon sent off for bringing down Marley Watkins .  Greg Tansey slotted home the penalty to make it 1 1 and Raven would end up settling the match right at the death after Edward Ofere and John Guidetti had made it 2 2 in extra time .  The Caley defender hailed his late winner as ' a dream come true ' ahead of the final against Falkirk  Celtic players stand dejected on the pitch with their hopes of a treble over following their 3 2 loss  Inverness boss John Hughes said : ' The sending off changed the game in Inverness ' favour , but as I said before the game , what these boys have done for me since I came to the club , they deserve that today .  ' I ' m absolutely delighted to be there .  ' Well done to the boys and supporters .  On their final opponents , Hughes said : ' A small club , Falkirk have had some wonderful times there and it ' ll be a right good cup final , and hopefully it is for Scottish football . '  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
6780,6781,"Reuters) - A former personal assistant to an exiled Chinese-born billionaire, who has made claims of high-level Communist Party corruption, has filed a lawsuit in New York accusing him of raping her, court documents show. In the civil complaint lodged with the New York Supreme Court on Monday, the 28-year-old woman said she was  lured  by the businessman, Guo Wengui, to New York under the guise of a one-week business trip. Instead, she was held  captive  and ultimately subjected to  repeated acts of mental cruelty and sexual violence , the suit says. She is seeking $140 million in compensation. Guo, who lives in New York, denied the accusation, describing it as  fake . The complaint says the woman is a Chinese national who was employed by one of Guo s China-based companies. She was told upon arrival in New York that she would work as one of the real estate tycoon s personal assistants, the complaint, reviewed by Reuters, says. It said Guo, also known as Miles Kwok,  forcibly took away  the woman s passport, threatened her, monitored her internet usage and restricted access to her phone and laptop computer. The woman said she was subjected to verbal and physical abuse, which soon escalated to sexual assault, before she managed to escape to the Chinese embassy in London during a business trip with Guo. After her return to China, the woman provided a statement and evidence of her allegations to police in China, the lawsuit said, without detailing the evidence. The Associated Press reported late last month that Chinese police were investigating the woman s claims. Guo refuted the accusation.  Of course it s fake,  he told Reuters. He said the  robbers of the country  engineered the allegations to  divert my attention, spread rumors and smear my reputation.  Guo, who left China in 2014, has named senior Communist Party officials in a deluge of graft accusations via Twitter posts and video blogs, attracting a loyal online following. He has provided little evidence for his claims. China calls Guo a criminal suspect, and articles in state media have accused him of crimes including bribery, fraud and embezzlement. At China s request, Interpol issued a global  red notice  for Guo s repatriation in April. Guo lodged an application for political asylum in the United States last week. ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
6785,6786,"A vandal thought to be as young as four was captured on  vandalising a father of two ' s Audi on Mother ' s Day .  David Draper was horrified when footage on his home security camera showed the boy running a key along the side of his grey car .  The 37 year old from Crosby in Liverpool said the vandalism took place at around lunchtime on Mother ' s Day .  The youngster was seen pulling a sharp object or key out of his pocket and running it along the side of the Audi  Two seemingly older children are seen walking along the street ahead of the younger boy in the video .  The child is seen calmly pulling what appears to be a key from the pocket of his grey tracksuit , all the while maintaining his pace .  He runs the object along Mr Draper ' s car , leaving a long , white scratch .  The father of two claims his was not the only car on the quiet residential street to have been damaged last Sunday .  ' I ' ve lived here for five years , it ' s a nice area . Nothing like this has happened before .  ' This young boy scratched my car in the street and was seemingly allowed to do so .  ' I don ' t know who the children are . I knocked on the doors of my neighbours and have discovered their cars have also been damaged as well .  ' I ' m hoping I ' ll be able to just paint over it but it ' s still damaged . I don ' t recognise the older boy or any of the children . '  Mr Draper is now planning to report the incident to police after having been unable to identify the children in the video by speaking to neighbours .  Mr Draper said other cars on the quiet residential street had been damaged on Mothers Day afternoon  The father of two now plans to report the incident to police after having been unable to find the children responsible  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
6787,6788,"Carlo Dellaverson , 30 , allegedly made a sex tape of his former girlfriend without her knowing  An  producer was charged today after he allegedly made a sex tape with his unsuspecting girlfriend and then posted the video on a porn website .  Carlo Dellaverson , 30 , who is an  News digital producer , allegedly filmed the couple having sex on Valentine ' s Day on a hidden camera in their shared New York City apartment .  He then later posted the clip of his girlfriend on XTube , a police source told the New York Post .  The 30 year old ' s deception was only discovered when his girlfriend found the sex tape on September 4 on his computer .  She promptly moved out of the apartment after ending their relationship .  The woman , who is not identified , emailed Dellaverson to ask why he would have done this and he reportedly admitted that he had put the tape online , police told the Post .  The 29 year old victim filed a police report and her ex was charged today with disseminating unlawful surveillance and harassment .  Dellaverson , originally from Hastings on Hudson , is the son of a former top boss at the New York transit authority , Gary Dellaverson .  MailOnline was awaiting a comment today from  .  The 30 year old was a news editor for Rock Center with Brian Williams but it is unclear if he remains in this role .  In 2012 , the University of Richmond graduate featured in a house hunting profile piece with The New York Times in which he described moving from ' three frat pad apartments with three guys ' to owning his 425 , 000 bachelor pad in Greenwich Village .  The studio has good flow and a separate sleeping area , and was a short subway ride to work . He lived his parents to save money for the apartment . He bragged that they didn ' t charge him rent and his mom would do his laundry and cook him dinner .  Calls to Dellaverson went unanswered today .  The  News producer allegedly set up a hidden camera to record his girlfriend at the apartment in Greenwich Village they shared  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
6797,6798,"Is the Candidate a Good Christian ? Who Cares ?  Republican presidential candidate Senator Ted Cruz speaks at Five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center in Waterloo , Iowa , on January 23 . Cruz appears to have done the best this year in presenting himself as a committed Christian , the author writes but his faith has come into question by the media , after he used a conference on persecuted Christians from the Middle East as a campaign prop in 2014 . Aaron P . Bernstein Reuters  This article first appeared on the Cato Institute site .  But Christians seem especially susceptible to those claiming to be their spiritual brethren . It would be better if people of faith focused on candidates practical ability to perform the duties of what remains a secular office .  With the Iowa caucuses drawing near , it seems like every Republican tramping through the snow claims to be a Bible believing , God fearing , Jesus loving Christian . A gaggle of church leaders are promoting their favorite presidential wannabe .  It s a fruitless exercise . It s rarely easy to judge whether a particular candidate s faith claims are true . God told the prophet Samuel : Man looks at the outward appearance , but the Lord looks at the heart . ( 1 Samuel 16 : 7 )  Cruz also gave less than 1 percent of his income to charity between 2006 and 2010 . Opposing candidate Mike Huckabee observed : It s hard to say God is first in your life if he s last in your budget .  Donald Trump has been doing his best to pander without a carefully crafted story . Running casinos with strip clubs is unusual fruit from a Christian walk . His style of campaigning doesn t exactly advance the Christian faith .  How about the rest of the  candidates ? What do they really believe about God ? Do they have a personal relationship with Jesus ?  The best response is : Who cares ? One s theological views just don t tell much about a person s competence to perform a civil office . Voters should care most about how a candidate would confront Washington s virtual fiscal insolvency , end America s constant warring in the Middle East , address dependency as well as poverty among the poor and deal with other serious policy issues .  Indeed , by the most public measures of behavior , President Barack Obama appears to be a more faithful Christian than Donald Trump . Yet many political activists who loudly assert their Christian faith are trending toward the Donald . Indeed , Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr . , gave a fulsome introduction to Trump , even comparing Trump to Jesus in expressing unpopular opinions .  It actually would have been more reassuring had Liberty University invited Trump to speak and The Donald done so , with neither pandering to the other . Trump ain t my cup of tea , but the argument for his candidacy is entirely secular . Nevertheless , Christians should vote for him if they believe him to be the best candidate ? and not because they believe him to be a faithful Christian like themselves .  As I wrote for American Spectator : After years of being manipulated by ambitious politicos , believers should check their credulity at the polling place door . Christians shouldn t cast their ballots based on their perceptions of the contenders religious faith . Martin Luther was right when he declared that he preferred to be governed by a smart Turk than a stupid Christian .  Goodness and faithfulness are important , but no substitute for competence . Believers and nonbelievers alike should choose the best candidate , not the best Christian , for president .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
6807,6808,"Denver Broncos outside linebacker Von Miller celebrates after sacking New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady during the second half of the  football  Championship game between the Denver Broncos and the New England Patriots , Sunday , Jan . 24 , 2016 , in Denver . (  Photo David Zalubowski )  Denver vs . Carolina , 6 : 30 p . m .  . Peyton Manning ' s Broncos will face Cam Newton ' s Panthers in the 50th Super Bowl which many expect to be the final game of Manning ' s career . Denver ( 14 4 ) edged the New England Patriots 20 18 for the  title Sunday , before Carolina ( 17 1 ) ran away with a 49 15 victory over the Arizona Cardinals in the  .  Cam Newton , Panthers , threw for two touchdowns and ran for two others , and finished with 335 yards passing and 47 rushing in Carolina ' s 49 15 romp over the Arizona Cardinals for the  championship .  Peyton Manning , Broncos , threw for 176 yards and two touchdowns on 17 of 32 passing in Denver ' s 20 18 victory over Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in the  championship game .  Jonathan Stewart , Panthers , rushed for 83 yards on 19 attempts , helping Carolina past Arizona 49 15 .  C . J . Anderson , Broncos , ran for 72 yards on 16 carries to help Denver advance to the Super Bowl with a 20 18 win over New England .  Owen Daniels , Broncos , caught two touchdown passes from Peyton Manning in Denver ' s 20 18 victory over New England .  Philly Brown , Panthers , had four receptions for 113 yards and a score an 86 yard  in Carolina ' s 49 15 win over Arizona .  Rob Gronkowski , Patriots , had eight catches for 144 yards and a  in a losing cause as New England fell to Denver 20 18 .  Shiloh Keo , Broncos , recovered Stephen Gostkowski ' s onside kick in the closing seconds to seal Denver ' s 20 18 win over New England .  Ted Ginn Jr . , Panthers , had a 32 yard punt return to set up Carolina ' s first touchdown a 22 yard run by Ginn in a 49 15 win against Arizona .  Von Miller , Broncos , had a franchise playoff record 2 1 2 sacks and an interception in Denver ' s 20 18 victory over New England in the  championship game .  Kurt Coleman , Panthers , had two of Carolina ' s four interceptions of Carson Palmer in a 49 15 rout of Arizona .  Aqib Talib and Bradley Roby , Broncos . With New England needing a 2 point conversion to tie late in the game , Talib stepped in front of Tom Brady ' s pass and deflected it and Roby intercepted it .  Luke Kuechly , Panthers , returned an interception 22 yards for a touchdown in Carolina ' s 49 15 win against Arizona .  New England ' s Stephen Gostkowski pushed an extra point to the right in the first quarter of the Patriots ' 20 18 loss at Denver his first miss in 524 tries . . . . Tom Brady led New England in rushing with 13 yards on three runs . . . . Denver improved to 11 3 this season in games decided by seven points or fewer , a record for victories in that situation . . . . Carolina set the record for most points for a winner in the  title game in a 49 15 romp of Arizona . The 49 points were the most this season for the Panthers . The previous time a team scored as many as 49 in a conference title game was 1990 , when Buffalo beat the Los Angeles Raiders 51 3 in the  . . . . Carolina won its 13th straight home game , including three in the playoffs .  Denver tied Dallas , New England and Pittsburgh for the most Super Bowl appearances in  history with eight . Meanwhile , it is the second trip to the big game for Carolina , which lost to New England 12 years ago . . . . The Broncos have gone to the Super Bowl seven times under owner Pat Bowlen , tying New England ' s Robert Kraft for the most in  history . . . . Denver ' s Peyton Manning became the fourth player with 40 or more touchdown passes in  playoff history , joining Tom Brady , Joe Montana and Brett Favre . At 39 , Manning surpassed John Elway as the oldest quarterback to take his team to the Super Bowl . . . . Denver ' s Gary Kubiak became the seventh coach to reach the Super Bowl in his first year as coach of a team . . . . New England ' s Tom Brady ( 31 ) surpassed Adam Vinatieri ( 30 ) for the most games played in  playoff history .  Peyton Manning improved to 6 11 in his vaunted series against Tom Brady , but 3 1 with the  title on the line , including Denver ' s 20 18 win over New England on Sunday . Manning finished 17 of 32 for 176 yards and two touchdowns . Meanwhile , the Broncos harassed Brady into a 27 for 56 day for 310 yards and two picks .  Carolina ' s big play defense stifled Arizona ' s top ranked offense in a 49 15 win in the  championship game . The Panthers picked off Carson Palmer four times , forced two fumbles by him , and never let up . Capping the barrage was Luke Kuechly , who returned an interception 22 yards for a score . At one point , the Cardinals had turnovers on three consecutive plays : a fumbled punt , Palmer ' s fumble , and Kurt Coleman ' s first of two picks . ' ' We ' re Thieves Avenue , ' ' Coleman said .  Carolina Panthers All Pro linebacker Thomas Davis broke his right forearm against Arizona . ' ' I will do whatever it takes ( to play ) , ' ' he said of the Super Bowl . Davis hurt his arm with 7 : 28 left in the second quarter when he hit Darren Fells with his right shoulder as Fells jumped into him after a catch . . . . Panthers safety Roman Harper injured an eye in the first half and didn ' t return . . . . Arizona lost reserve defensive tackle Josh Mauro in the first half to a right calf injury .  ' ' I just feel terrible . All day , these guys put their bodies and lives on the line , and for me to come out here and miss a kick , it ' s a nightmare scenario . I can ' t even explain how I feel right now . It ' s just a complete shock and I let a lot of people down . ' ' New England kicker Stephen Gostkowski , whose first missed extra point in 524 tries played a huge role in the Patriots ' 20 18 loss to Denver in the  championship game .  ' ' We ' ve been dreaming about this moment since Day 1 . Our pen has a lot more ink left . ' ' Carolina ' s Cam Newton after the Panthers advanced to the Super Bowl with a 49 15 win over Arizona .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
6812,6813,"Texas has been left at a loss without injuredcenter Cameron Ridley , who is sidelined indefinitely with a fractured left foot . Without the 6 10 center the Longhorns have dropped two straight following asix game win streak and will be looking to get back on course Tuesday against visitingKansas State in their Big 12 home opener .  Ridley was averaging 12 . 7 pointsand a team best 10 rebounds per outing , but Texas has struggled to regroupwithout the big man in consecutive losses to Connecticut ( 71 66 ) and Texas Tech ( 82 74 ) . Anytime you take arguably your most impactful guy out of the mix , it can bechallenging , Longhorns coach Shaka Smart said at his post game news conferenceSaturday following the loss in Lubbock . However , your opponent is not going tofeel sorry for you , and they ' re not going to play any less hard because you ' vegot a guy out . In fact , they ' re going to try to take advantage of thoseopportunities without a guy like Cam . We obviously are in a situation wherewe ' ve got to figure out who is a group of guys that we can have out there thatcan be most effective . Kansas State also is looking to bounce back followinga double overtime setback Saturday in its Big 12 opener against visiting WestVirginia as the then 17th ranked Mountaineers prevailed 87 83 .     ( 10 3 , 0 1 Big 12 ) : All threeof the Wildcats losses have come against nationally ranked teams , and now it sa matter of finding the right mindset , according to guard Barry Brown , woscored a career high 20 points against West Virginia . As a team , we have to come together andwin those close games to build that late game confidence , Brown toldthe media Saturday . Swingman Wesley Iwundu ( 13 . 5 points ) , guard Justin Edwards ( 12 . 5 ) and forward Dean Wade ( 10 . 9 ) are averaging double digits for KansasState , which will be playing only its third true road game of the season .    ( 8 5 , 0 1 ) : Point guard Isaiah Taylorscored a career high 35 points in the loss to the Red Raiders , but the Longhornshaven t outscored their last two opponents in the paint ? or outrebounded them ? after doing so eight and six times , respectively , in their first 11 games withRidley . Taylor leads the team with 16 . 6 points and 4 . 9 assists after averaging22 and 5 . 2 , respectively , over his last five outings . Guard Javan Felix ( 10 . 3points ) is the only other player averaging double digits for Texas while seniorsConnor Lammert ( 5 . 4 rebounds ) and Prince Ibeh ( 3 . 7 ) are trying to pick up theslack on the glass without Ridley .  1 . Kansas State leads the series 17 13 , but Texasswept the two contests a year ago , including a 62 49 win in Austin .  2 . Texas is 6 1 at home this season and is 15 4in Big 12 home openers .  3 . The Wildcats were 1 6 in Big 12 road games aseason ago , with their only win coming at Oklahoma .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
6829,6830,"Charles Everett Brownlow Jr . ' s mother is dead . So is his aunt . The same goes for two of his acquaintances , plus a convenience store worker in his hometown of Terrell , Texas , some 30 miles east of Dallas .  Yet rather than preparing for their funerals , Brownlow is likely planning his defense from jail .  All five of the deceased died violently , found over a busy and bloody six hour stretch Monday night within miles of each other in Terrell . As of Tuesday afternoon , the 36 year old Brownlow faced a single charge of murder , in the death of the Ali ' s Market worker , the only victim it is believed the suspect did not know . But Terrell police Chief Jody Lay made clear that "" additional capital murder charges "" are anticipated .  "" This is a country community , a rural community , "" Lay said Tuesday . "" People are really close . And this is going to have a really big impact on us . ""  The chaos began around 5 p . m . Monday with reports of a gunshot victim . Police arrived to find a dead woman later determined to be Belinda Walker , Terrell ' s 55 year old aunt with at least one bullet wound to the head .  About a half hour later , a firefighter noticed that a nearby home was on fire , Lay explained . These flames were quickly extinguished , and authorities found another woman ' s body . This was Charles Brownlow ' s house , and the victim was Mary Brownlow , his 61 year old mother .  Investigators determined the two deaths like the victims appeared related and issued an alert to law enforcement to look for Charles Brownlow and the white 2002 Ford Focus he was believed to be driving , Lay explained .  As law enforcement looked , more gunshots were reported elsewhere in Terrell , with no one injured and the shooter getting away in a white vehicle .  A report of another shooting came in around 10 : 30 p . m . , where a man and vehicle matching the bulletin had been spotted . Police went in the home and found 33 year old Jason Wooden and 30 year old Kelleye Sluder both of whom lived there , both now shot dead . Lay said later that "" all indications are that ( Brownlow ) knew those victims , "" adding only that "" they hung out occasionally . ""  It was a mere 10 minutes later when an off duty police officer spotted the Ford Focus and , after closer examination , the suspect inside Ali ' s Market . Later , 22 year old worker Luis Gerardo Leal Carillo was found slain there .  A high speed pursuit followed , ending in a dead end . The suspect stopped his car , got out , then fled shielded by heavy brush and the dark night sky .  Authorities stopped chasing him about 150 feet in , instead setting up a wide perimeter and calling in a state Department of Public Safety helicopter . That helicopter ' s crew and officers on the ground ultimately located Brownlow hiding in a creek around 1 : 30 a . m . Tuesday and took him into custody "" without incident . "" Only one weapon was involved in the crimes , said Lay , who did not describe it .  Hours later , disbelief , disgust and sadness permeated Terrell .  "" I loved him as a person , "" Karimi said of his slain employee . "" I loved him like a son . ""  And Terrence Walker , who identified himself as the suspect ' s brother , told  that he was at a "" total loss "" to explain what happened including to their mother , Mary Brownlow , whom Walker described as "" so quiet and good . ""  "" I ' m devastated , "" Walker told the station . "" . . . I ' m in a daze . ""  A public records search indicated Brownlow previously had been convicted on theft , burglary , weapons , assault of a family member and marijuana possession and other charges , though nothing close to this scale .  So how do authorities explain this week ' s bloodshed ? Lay said that authorities have "" several theories that we ' re working , "" though he wouldn ' t go further than that .  And asked about Brownlow ' s condition at the time of the arrest , the police chief said he did "" appear to be intoxicated on some sort of substance , ( but ) at this point we don ' t have a real good idea exactly what that is . ""  As horrific as the events were , Lay said that it might have even worse had the off duty officer not spotted the suspect at the Terrell market .  "" All I can say is , I think that had the police officer not intervened , "" Lay said , "" I was very concerned that we would have additional situations that we would have to had to deal with that night . ""  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
6838,6839,"One year after Charlie Hebdo attacks : Paris cops shoot man who attacked station with meat cleaver  CharlieHebdo ? France ? islamic state ? NewsTracker ? Paris ?  Paris : A man wielding a meat cleaver and carrying the emblem of the Islamic State group was shot dead as he tried to attack a police station in Paris on Thursday , a year to the day since jihadists killed 12 people at Charlie Hebdo newspaper .  The unidentified man tried to enter the building in the northern 18th district of the French capital wearing what was at first thought to be an explosives vest , but was later found to be a fake .  News of the incident came just after President Francois Hollande concluded a sombre speech at police headquarters to mark the anniversary of the attack on the Paris office of satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo on 7 January 2015 .  "" On Thursday morning , a man attempted to attack a policeman at the reception of the police station before being hit by shots from the police , "" interior ministry spokesman Pierre Henry Brandet said .  The prosecutor investigating the case said the man was found to be carrying "" a mobile phone and a piece of paper on which the flag of Daesh was printed , as well as a  n unequivocal claim handwritten in Arabic "" . Daesh is the Arabic name for Islamic State .  Explosives experts were sent to the scene in the largely north African district of Goutte d ' Or , close to the tourist hotspot of Montmartre .  The man was found to have been wearing a pouch under his coat with a wire hanging from it , but the device "" contained no explosives "" , a source close to the investigation told  .  Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve praised the "" remarkable work "" of the security forces in the incident .  "" In a country where the level of threat is extremely high , the police , gendarmes , the security forces . . . are in the frontline , "" he said .  With France still grieving after the massacre of 130 people by jihadists in Paris in November , Hollande used his speech to call for greater cooperation between the security services to thwart attacks .  "" Faced with these adversaries , it is essential that every service police , gendarmerie , intelligence , military work in perfect harmony , with the greatest transparency , and that they share all the information at their disposal , "" the president said .  Many of the assailants in both January ' s rampage and the attacks in November were known to French security services , having either travelled abroad to fight with jihadists or been blocked from doing so .  Hollande said that since the attack on Charlie Hebdo , nearly 200 people in France had been placed under travel restrictions to prevent them joining up with Islamic State in Syria or Iraq .  The president said the three police officers killed in January ' s attacks "" died so that we could live in freedom "" .  A police bodyguard who was guarding the newspaper ' s editor , Charb , was killed alongside him by brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi and they shot dead another policeman , Ahmed Merabet , as he sprawled on the pavement near Charlie Hebdo ' s offices .  The next day , a policewoman was killed by jihadist Amedy Coulibaly in the southern Paris suburb of Montrouge , apparently as he was heading to attack a Jewish school .  Among changes set to be introduced in the wake of the November attacks are new guidelines allowing police to keep their weapons even when off duty .  The president reiterated his pledge to boost the number of police and armed gendarmes by 5 , 000 .  Rocker Johnny Hallyday will perform at a concert in Paris on Sunday to mark the day one year ago that one million people gathered in the capital in support of freedom of expression following the deaths of Charlie Hebdo ' s best known cartoonists .  The newspaper had been in the jihadists ' sights since it first published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in 2006 .  Since the attacks , it has moved to ultra secure offices in a secret location , and has refused to tone down its provocative form of humour .  On Wednesday it published a special edition featuring a gun toting God under the headline : "" One year on : the killer is still at large . ""  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
6855,6856,"Manchester United will not be pursuing a return for Nemanja Vidic .  Silvano Martina , the player ' s agent , refuted suggestions of a return to Old Trafford last week but reports continue to emanate from Italy that the former United captain is unsettled and yearning for a return to Manchester .  The 33 year old is understood to be unhappy at being overlooked by Roberto Mancini and it is suggested they will have talks after the weekend . However , despite the Serb ' s discomfort , United have no plans to ride to the rescue .  Inter Milan defender Nemanja Vidic will not be offered an escape route back to Manchester United  Former United defender Vidic has grown frustrated at life under current coach Roberto Mancini  Mats Hummels has been struggling in Borussia Dortmund ' s relegation threatened side  Atletico Madrid defenders Diego Godin ( left ) and Jose Gimenez are interesting Louis van Gaal  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
6858,6859,"Graham Richardson has been a last minute no show on his Sky News program ' Richo ' , despite promising to use his show to respond to claims that he is ' a person on interest ' in an Independent Commission Against Corruption (  ) investigation .  Throughout the day , the controversial political lobbyist and former Labor politician had been sending tweets to promote his appearance on the program .  Just two hours before the program ' s scheduled start time he sent a message , declaring that he would give his ' response to Fairfax ' s report linking ( him ) to  ) .  Yet at 8pm , his program Richo began with Peter Van Onselen at the helm , stepping into the hosting role without explanation .  ' It looks like I ' ll be doing the rest of the show , ' said Onselen , who had just finished hosting the lead in program , '  News Hour ' .  Five days ago , Fairfax media published a report accusing Richardson of being ' embroiled in a potentially explosive investigation ' by the Independent Commission Against Corruption .  Graham Richardson has been a last minute no show on his Sky News program ' Richo ' , despite promising to use his show to respond to claims that he is ' a person on interest ' in an Independent Commission Against Corruption (  ) investigation  Just two hours before the program began , Graham Richardson had promised that he would respond to allegations that he is being investigated by   It ' s alleged that Richardson was a lobbyist in a questionable property deal , after the anti corruption body were made aware of a string of emails , sent between 2004 and 2010 , reportedly exposed by the   .  The contents of the emails or specific details of the alleged investigation are yet to be revealed .  ' Graham was taken ill . These things happened . He didn ' t come into the studio , ' said a Sky News spokesperson .  His no show comes three months after the Australian political personality made a sudden exit while hosting the live broadcast of his Sky News show .  When the Richo program returned from an ad break , the 64 year old , who is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatment , had been replaced by Sky News host Vanessa Grimm .  ' As most people are aware Richo is undergoing treatment . This evening during the show he had a turn . He is okay and will be back next week , ' the statement said .  The former Labor powerbroker has suffered from chondrosarcoma a condition that sees the victim plagued with cancerous cysts for more than 15 years , and began a new experimental form of chemotherapy earlier this year .  The 64 year old is currently undergoing experimental chemotherapy treatment for a rare condition called chondrosarcoma , which sees his pelvic region plagued with cancerous cysts  ' The drugs are experimental . I ' ll be the 13th person in the country to have tried them . '  The former New South Wales senator said he wasn ' t concerned about the treatment interfering with his job hosting the Sky program .  ' I may not look the best , but I should still be able to do my shows . '  Richardson has had several operations on the cysts , which are located in his pelvic region .  A spokesperson for Sky News said Richardson has taken ' a turn ' during the program but ' he is okay '  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
6860,6861,"No Super Bowl for us this year !  We ' ve sworn off the  game . No , we are not on a diet and avoiding fatty foods that cause munchies from noon to midnight .  No , we are not a party pooper . ( Well , yes , a bit . )  No , we are not sick of Richard Sherman , villain and thug in sheep ' s clothing nowadays .  No , we don ' t despise Pete Carroll for encouraging his team of cheats to use PEDs all season .  No , we aren ' t jealous of Peyton Manning ' s late blooming season that sends Tom Brady to Pebble Beach .  No , we aren ' t angry at Wes Welker for the worst hit on another player that Bill Belichick has ever seen in his life .  No , we aren ' t sick of the commercialization of the Super Bowl by imbecilic television commercials that make sophomoric hijinks a new art form .  No , we aren ' t disgusted by the cold weather notion that a Super Bowl should be played outdoors in a place everyone thinks is New York .  No , we don ' t have sour grapes that our hometown team was shut out of the big game .  No , we are not afraid of seeing the Denver Broncos being bashed and taunted by Seahawks .  No , we aren ' t disappointed the Super Bowl won ' t be snowed out till Monday .  No , we are not antisocial ( well , only a little like Heidi ' s grandfather around the edges ) .  The reason we will not watch the Super Bowl is location , location , location . We will be in the drizzly mental kirk of Downton Abbey , at the bayou of True Detective , inside the bastion of logic of Sherlock at 221b Baker Street for the season ' s finale , and hanging out at the Money Pit where mysteries abide at Curse of Oak Island .  Thank heavens that The Blacklist is on Mondays .  ",satire,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,fake,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
6879,6880,"In January of 2011 , at 25 , I was diagnosed with non Hodgkin ' s lymphoma . I went through four months of chemotherapy and eight weeks of radiation .  As of this writing , one and half years later , I ' m happy to be in remission , but many people think that is where the battle ends . For me , that ' s where the real fight began .  After all of the procedures were over and my hair finally grew back , the physical side of being a cancer patient was behind me . There was some relief in knowing that I ' d no longer have to spend hours over the toilet vomiting partially digested Jell O because that was the only semi solid food my body would tolerate .  It was also refreshing to know that my appearance was slowly morphing from a powdery white , emaciated , bald , albino looking bag of bones to a somewhat normal and healthy 25 year old guy . But shortly after the treatment stopped , the psychological stress of being a cancer patient set in .  Every month , since my last day of radiation , I go to my doctor for a battery of tests designed to determine whether my cancer has come back and whether the treatment caused any residual side effects . It ' s a seven day process that causes more mental anguish than any single person deserves .  The week begins with blood tests and scans . Then , I go home and wait seven days for the doctor to tell me whether I ' m still in remission .  The period in between the tests and the results is the worst . Every time my phone rings , my heart sinks . I wonder if it ' s my oncologist calling to deliver bad news .  Are we close to beating cancer ?  My mind spends a lot of time analyzing the "" what if "" scenarios . What if it comes back ? Will I go through the treatment again ? What if the chemotherapy and radiation caused some other form of cancer or did it cause a genetic mutation that ' s going to force me to be isolated from the human population and live in a clean room forever ? I try to run every possibility through my head . That way , I ' m be prepared for whatever news I ' m given .  On the seventh day , I drive myself back to the cancer center , check in and wait for about two hours for my 15 minute appointment . ( My doctor has a problem with punctuality . )  In the waiting room , I sit with many other cancer patients . Some wear surgical masks to protect them from germs , while others are in wheelchairs . Their situations seem far worse than mine was , so I don ' t complain .  After reading 16 magazines cover to cover , mostly about how to prevent cancer , and several rounds of counting the floor tiles , the nurse calls my name . My heart , once again , sinks because I know I ' m about to learn my fate . I try to play it cool and act calm , but after she takes my vital signs , my cover is blown .  "" Are you nervous , Mr Curry ? Don ' t be nervous , "" she says . That ' s easy for her to say .  She then peels the Velcro cuff off my arm and walks me to the examination room where I wait for the doctor . A few minutes later , he knocks on the door and then enters the room . He ' s usually carrying an iPad and some papers .  "" Good news , Mr Curry , "" he says . "" The tests show no evidence of disease . ""  A sense of relief comes over me and my sphincter muscles loosen .  More lives being saved : Cancer death rates drop 20  Before I leave , the doctor hands me the paper with the test results . I treat it like a trophy or diploma . I never fold the document , and I save all of them .  Before leaving , I make another appointment for next month , so I can then start the same process all over again . They tell me I ' ll have to do this for the next five years .  In between appointments , any cough , ache or pain forces me to wonder whether it ' s cancer growing in my body . As a cancer survivor , it ' s something I can ' t help but think of .  As time goes on , I ' m getting better at managing the stress . The monthly exams are a small price to pay for staying alive . Some aren ' t so lucky .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
6884,6885,"SeaWorld defended itself Sunday from criticism from a family after a dolphin bit their 8 year old daughter at the Orlando attraction .  A video posted online shows the girl standing along the edge of a pool , one of several people feeding dolphins . After she picks up a paper plate that once held the marine mammal ' s food , a dolphin lunges at her and bites her hand .  The dolphin let go after a few seconds , but not before leaving three puncture wounds on the girl ' s hand .  In a statement , SeaWorld spokeswoman Becca Bides said on site "" educators and animal care staff . . . immediately connected with the family . In addition , a member of our health services team was in the area at Dolphin Cove and quickly responded and treated the young girl . ""  "" We felt powerless , "" the girl ' s father , Jamie Thomas , said in explaining their decision to post a video on YouTube . "" We thought , look , we ' ve got this video , let ' s make it public , and let ' s try to put some pressure on SeaWorld to make some changes . ""  The 8 year old , Jillian Thomas , said she "" accidentally held "" up the paper plate , after which the dolphin "" jumped up and ate the carton and bit my hand . ""  "" I was thinking it was going to haul me into the water , "" she said . "" And this is a little crazy , but I thought it was . . . going to eat my hand off . ""  Jamie Thomas said those feeding the dolphins were told the paper plate should stay on the wall , "" but we really didn ' t know why . "" No one signed a disclaimer , and there were no signs indicating any risk , the father said .  The girl ' s mother , Amy Thomas , said she was upset about SeaWorld staffers ' response .  "" They did not tell us to look out for any signs of infection , "" the mother said . "" We had to ask for Band Aids . ""  The Thomas family never contacted SeaWorld after leaving the park , Bides said .  She defended the attraction and its protocol , including "" specific instructions to not pick up the paper trays at any time . ""  "" Our guests are given clear instructions on how to feed the dolphins in an appropriate and safe way , "" Bides said . "" . . . Unfortunately , there are times when instructions are not followed . ""  Race is on to find Gulf Coast dolphin killers  Video : Dolphin is reunited with its rescuers  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
6910,6911,"Xianiezhuang Village , China On most days , Zhang Huanzhi doesn ' t look the part of a fighter for justice . Whenever she catches a break between tending the cornfield and feeding livestock , the 67 year old farmer from northern China goes to court .  "" I bike to the closest bus stop and then take a two hour ride to the Hebei provincial high court , "" Zhang said , as she thrashed sorghum in her courtyard one afternoon , her disabled husband sitting nearby .  "" I ' ve been doing this for the past six years and as long as I can still move , I ' m not giving up . ""  Her only son , Nie Shubin , was executed in 1995 when he was 20 for raping and killing a woman . A decade later , another man confessed to the same crimes .  Since then Zhang has made countless journeys to the courthouse in the provincial capital of Shijiazhuang 320 kilometers ( 200 miles ) southwest of Beijing with one simple yet futile appeal : retry the case to exonerate her son .  With more details emerging from domestic news coverage , many have viewed Zhang ' s plight and Nie ' s case as an egregious example of the flaws in the Chinese criminal justice system , including the use of torture , deficient due process and lax review of death sentences .  Zhang is now back in the public spotlight , as the government proposes major revisions to its criminal code the first in 15 years ostensibly aimed at better protecting its citizens and preventing a recurrence of situations like what happened her son .  Her fight nevertheless continues to hit a wall and even the People ' s Daily the official newspaper of the ruling Communist Party ran a scathing commentary in September that asked : "" In a case where someone was clearly wronged , why has it been so difficult to make it right ? ""  "" Rehabilitation means little to the dead , but it means a lot to his surviving family and all other citizens , "" it added . "" We can no longer afford to let Nie ' s case drag on . ""  A mother ' s dogged pursuit  Zhang now seals her most treasured possessions in a Ziploc bag : two old photos and several legal documents .  "" He was about 19 and it was taken right here in our courtyard , "" she recalled , pointing to the fading color prints of her shy stuttering son a square faced teenager wearing a blue tank top in one picture and shirtless in the other beaming for the camera .  Nie was taken into custody not long after the photos were taken and would never see his mother again . Zhang said local police , during their several visits to question the family and search the house , never told her why they had detained her son . Court documents cited "" tips from local residents "" but did not elaborate .  Authorities tried Nie behind closed doors and barred the parents from the courtroom , but Nie told a lawyer hired by his family that he was beaten into a confession on his sixth day in jail . Zhang was convinced that Nie was a victim of torture , after seeing her normally healthy son walk with a limp into the courthouse before the first trial .  Seven months after he was first detained , the government executed Nie in April 1995 without notifying his parents . After the initial shock , Zhang had to endure more agony to locate her son ' s remains and deal with a failed suicide attempt and subsequent half paralysis of her husband , who was crushed by Nie ' s execution .  Living off her husband ' s monthly pension of 150 , Zhang learned to take care of the family by herself . Her daily routine , however , was disrupted in 2005 by a sudden influx of Chinese reporters , who revealed to her that a man named Wang Shujin had just confessed to the same crimes Nie was executed for a decade earlier .  Carefully laying the contents from her Ziploc bag on a table , Zhang described each legal document as she recounted her six year lone quest for justice : a copy of the verdict against Nie that detailed his "" crimes "" a 2007 letter from the Supreme People ' s Court in Beijing , in which the nation ' s highest court instructed the Hebei high court to "" process "" her appeal and most importantly , a printout of a written statement by Wang ' s lawyer on his client ' s confession .  "" The cold reality doesn ' t offer us ordinary people much hope so why do I keep pursuing ? "" Zhang said . "" I don ' t want to hold anyone responsible , I don ' t want government compensation , and I don ' t want the judge to bring back my son alive but one thing I must have is his innocence . ""  New law , old problems  In recent years , state media have exposed an increasing number of wrongful convictions in China . At least five death row inmates most reportedly tortured during police interrogation were set free , either because their "" victims "" turned up alive years after the alleged murders , or the real perpetrators were caught .  Such cases could be prevented if the new Criminal Procedure Law takes effect next March as scheduled , the Chinese government has argued , because the proposed changes strengthen the rights of defense lawyers while barring the practices of forcing suspects to incriminate themselves or coercing their families to testify against them .  The current draft also incorporates earlier government pronouncements , including those making evidence obtained through torture inadmissible in court and limiting the use of the death penalty . China executes more people than all other countries combined , according to the London based Amnesty International human rights group , which estimated the figure considered a state secret to be in the thousands last year .  Many lawyers and legal scholars call the revisions mere window dressing . With the government more concerned about maintaining social stability in the wake of the Arab Spring unrest , they depict an increasingly repressive environment for ordinary citizens and lawyers alike .  "" The authorities do whatever they want detention , surveillance and harassment it ' s just too arbitrary , "" said Zhang Sizhi , a prominent lawyer in Beijing who was once assigned by the government to defend Chairman Mao Zedong ' s widow .  He and others note the draft law does not include the long proposed right to silence for suspects or abolition of forced labor camps . Yet it does include a clause authorizing police to detain citizens for up to six months in certain cases without having to inform their families .  One aspect the revisions largely ignore is the appeals process , experts say , leaving ordinary people like Zhang Huanzhi who are trying to overturn a court ruling trapped in the legal labyrinth .  "" They have nowhere to go who will listen to them ? "" said Jerome Cohen , a New York University law professor and an internationally recognized authority in Chinese law . "" It requires far more reform than this draft to address these issues . ""  During the just ended month long public comment period on the draft , the government received more than 72 , 000 responses . Cohen says enough negative feedback may prompt the authorities to shelve this version and start anew later .  Back in Xianiezhuang Village , Zhang has heard about the proposed new criminal code and simply wishes the government would do whatever it takes to protect other families from the kind of anguish she has suffered .  As she sat on a stool to winnow grains , her husband started wailing uncontrollably while reading a newspaper profile on her titled , "" A Mother ' s Race Against Time . ""  "" I ' ve talked to my son several times on his grave , "" she said , wiping tears . "" I told him : Son , you have to fight for justice in your world and mom will keep fighting for you in mine . ""  "" He would thank me because he knows a mother can ' t live without her son . ""  ",true,text,validation,American football,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
6915,6916,"As the Republicans convened Wednesday for their latest presidential debate , recent days suggest the Democrats could have a spirited event of their own when they gather again next month .  In speeches and a series of  interviews , the Democrats have criticized one another in a way not seen in the opening months of the contest , during which Hillary Rodham Clinton and Vermont Sen . Bernie Sanders largely ignored each other .  Sanders who in the first debate gave Clinton a pass on questions about her email has been particularly aggressive , questioning her progressive bona fides and her pattern of evolving on issues from gay rights and trade to Wall Street reform .  "" It ' s great that people evolve and change their minds , and I respect that , "" he said on  ' s Rachel Maddow Show . "" But it is important to stand up when the going is tough . ""  The implication , of course , is that Sanders is that candidate while the former secretary of state has not always been .  Starting with a speech Saturday to a Democratic dinner in Iowa , Sanders has also sought to draw pointed contrasts with Clinton on authorizing the war in Iraq ( she voted for it in 2002 as a senator from New York , while he was opposed ) and the proposed Keystone  oil pipeline ( which Sanders has long opposed and Clinton only recently came out against ) .  Sanders ' team argues Clinton started the escalation by going after him on guns and suggesting he ' s a sexist .  Sanders , who represents state with a strong hunting tradition , has a mixed voting record on gun control , including a vote as a House member in 1993 against the Brady bill and a vote in 2005 to shield gun makers from lawsuits .  Though he has since voiced support for banning assault weapons and expanding background checks , among other measures , Clinton said during the first Democratic debate in Las Vegas that his record on gun control was not tough enough .  Sanders countered by arguing that people on both sides of the issue need to forge "" commonsense "" solutions , telling Clinton that "" all the shouting in the world is not going to do what I hope all of us want . ""  Over the last week , Clinton has keyed off Sanders ' "" shouting "" remark , saying : "" I ' ve been told to stop shouting about guns . Actually I haven ' t been shouting , but sometimes when a woman talks , some people think it ' s shouting . ""  Amid the intensifying criticism from her rivals , Clinton on Wednesday issued a plea for "" common ground , "" saying politicians of all stripes have to come together to tackle big challenges facing the country .  "" We ' re all on the same team , Republicans or Democrats or whatever we will call ourselves , "" she said in New Hampshire .  A third Democrat , former Maryland Gov . Martin O ' Malley , meanwhile , has been taking shots at both his opponents .  On  ' s Morning Joe this week , he characterized Clinton and Sanders as "" two candidates who have been in Washington for about 40 years now , neither of whom has gotten much done . ""  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
6924,6925,"Iran to buy 114 Airbuses to revamp ageing fleet  Iran said Sunday it will buy 114 Airbus planes to revitalise its ageing fleet , in the first major commercial deal announced since the lifting of sanctions under its nuclear agreement . Transport Minister Abbas Akhoundi said a deal on the purchase would be signed between national carrier Iran Air and Airbus during a visit to Paris this week by President Hassan Rouhani .  Rouhani will travel to Italy and France from Monday to Wednesday , on his first visit to Europe since the implementation of the deal curbing Tehran ' s nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of punishing economic sanctions .  Rouhani has hailed the agreement as a "" new chapter "" for Iran as its economy returns to global markets .  Modernising the country ' s air fleet and infrastructure is a top priority , with Akhoundi saying Sunday that only 150 of the country ' s 250 planes are operational .  "" We have been negotiating for 10 months "" for the purchase of planes but "" there was no way to pay for them because of banking sanctions , "" Iranian state media quoted Akhoundi as saying .  "" We need 400 long and mid range and 100 short range planes , "" he said .  He said the first batch of new planes would arrive in Iran by March 19 but provided no financial details of the deal with Airbus .  Iran , with a population 79 million , has a good road network but still needs major transport upgrades , which Tehran hopes will boost tourism and trade .  Iran ' s airports also need 250 million ( 230 million euros ) worth of upgrades in navigation systems , Akhoundi said .  Only nine of Iran ' s 67 airports are currently operational .  Iran has suffered several air crashes in recent years blamed on ageing planes , poor maintenance and a shortage of new parts .  News of the Airbus deal came as aviation industry representatives from 85 companies met in Tehran on Sunday to assess opportunities in the Islamic republic after sanctions were removed .  "" It ' s a really exciting time , there ' s never been a situation like this , "" said Peter Harbison , the head of the  consultancy which organised the conference .  "" A whole array of different aviation services and new jobs obviously are going to be created , "" Harbison told  .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
6932,6933,"Reuters) - Sicilian police on Wednesday sought the arrest of nine people, including a suspected mobster, for running a Libyan fuel-smuggling ring in which at least 30 million euros ($35 million) of diesel was sold in gas stations in Italy and Europe. A Libyan, nicknamed the  boss , used small boats to steal fuel from a refinery in Zawiya, a port city west of Tripoli, a statement from the finance police said.  The fuel, stolen from Libya s National Oil Corporation (NOC), was then transferred to a larger ship off the coast of Malta and brought to Italy. Police from the Sicilian city of Catania  documented in detail 30 voyages in which more than 80 million kilos of diesel fuel was imported,  the statement said.  For the first time, the Catania court authorized the use of technology capable of listening in on satellite phone calls during the investigation, police said.  Six of the nine have been arrested and an international arrest warrant has been issued for the other three, who are abroad. One of the men arrested, Nicola Romeo, has been accused of being a member of the Santapaola clan of the Sicilian mafia, while the Libyan, Fahmi Mousa Saleem Ben Khalifa, is already in custody in Libya on accusations of fuel smuggling. Another Italian man headed a seemingly legitimate company used to distribute the stolen fuel in gas stations in Italy, France and Spain, police said.  The Italian company offered its diesel to distributors for up to 60 percent less than market prices. Though the quality of the diesel, which was meant for ships  engines, was of a lower standard than that used by vehicles in Italy, it was sold at the same price. ($1 = 0.8499 euros) ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
6940,6941,"The seeds just can ' t stop tumbling out of Wimbledon and on Monday it was the turn of world No . 1 and five time champion Serena Williams to experience that sinking feeling .  The American crashed out of the grass court grand slam in the last 16 following a shock defeat by Germany ' s Sabine Lisicki her first reverse in 35 matches .  Favorite for the title , Williams lost the opening set 6 2 before roaring back to level a pulsating contest by taking the second 6 1 .  But Lisicki , seeded 23rd at the tournament , produced one of the greatest performances of her career , coming from a break down to take the final set 6 4 and send shockwaves through tennis .  After knocking out the defending champion , the 23 year old German burst into tears of joy when addressing the media for the first time .  "" I am still shaking , I am so happy , "" she told the  .  "" Serena played a fantastic match , she is such a tough opponent . It is an amazing feeling to win this match .  "" This is such a special place for me and the crowd were brilliant to me . I gave it everything I had , I fought for every single point to try to win it somehow . ""  A Wimbledon semifinalist in 2011 , Lisicki will play Estonia ' s Kaia Kanepi for a place in the last four .  The German has never gone past the fourth round at any grand slam outside of Wimbledon but she has an impressive record at The All England Club , having reached the quarterfinals three times , and a curious one as well .  For she has beaten the reigning French Open champion at all four of her last Wimbledon championships .  Since she missed the 2010 edition through injury , the run starts in 2009 when she beat Svetlana Kuznetsova , a success that has now been followed by defeats of Li Na in 2011 , Maria Sharapova the following year and Williams herself on Monday .  In a tournament packed with shocks , the dethroning of 16 time grand slam winner Williams is arguably the greatest of all despite the defeats for Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in the opening rounds last week .  The win was all the more surprising given that the powerful American bounced back so strongly from losing the first set that she won nine consecutive games on the way to taking a 3 0 lead in the deciding set .  But Lisicki broke back and even though Serena responded in similar style , the German once again overcame the American ' s serve to level the set at 4 4 .  After the match had gone past the two hour mark , Lisicki earned her first match point and after that went begging she made no mistake for the second to claim surely her greatest win to date .  Williams ' remarkable twelve months a spell where she won the Wimbledon , U . S . Open , French Open and Olympic titles was finally at an end however and she was quick to praise her opponent .  "" It ' s not a shock , "" the 31 year old said . "" She plays really good on grass . For me any loss is extremely tough to overcome . I just have to go back to the drawing board and figure out a way to win those matches . ""  The last time Williams lost a match on court was when she was beaten in the final of the Qatar Open by Victoria Azarenka on 17 February .  Lisicki will face Kaia Kanepi after the Estonian ended Laura Robson ' s dream of becoming the first Briton to reach the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in 29 years .  The 19 year old was the first British woman to reach the second week at Wimbledon since 1998 but left the court in tears after being beaten 7 6 7 5 .  Should Kanepi reach her first grand slam semifinal , she will meet either Agnieszka Radwanska , last year ' s runner up , or Li Na in the semifinals .  The fourth seed from Poland overcame Bulgaria ' s Tsvetana Pironkova 4 6 6 3 6 3 while the Chinese sixth seed demolished Italian 11th seed Roberta Vinci 6 2 6 0 in just 55 minutes .  Looking to win her second grand slam after her Roland Garros title two years ago , Li has reached the quarterfinals for the third time at Wimbledon and is seeking her maiden semifinal appearance .  Few would have predicted that Sloane Stephens would be the last American left standing in both singles draws but after her 4 6 7 5 6 1 defeat of Puerto Rican youngster Monica Puig , the 20 year old is through to the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time .  The 17th seed will meet the 15th seed after Marion Bartoli , the beaten finalist in 2007 , defeated Italy ' s Karin Knapp in straight sets .  In the remaining quarterfinal , 2011 Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova will face Belgium ' s Kirsten Flipkens .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
6947,6948,"Reuters) - The ethics committee of the U.S. House of Representatives said on Tuesday it would continue to investigate possible conflicts of interest by Representative Alan Grayson, a Florida Democrat and liberal firebrand running for the Senate seat soon to be vacated by Marco Rubio.      The possible conflicts of interest relate to Grayson’s roles as both a hedge fund manager and a member of Congress. The committee in a statement said the matter needed further review; it gave no time frame for completion. Grayson has denied any wrongdoing. In a statement Tuesday, his campaign called the ethics probe a “political witch hunt.” The extension means the issue will still hover over a race that is seen as key to Democrats’ bid to wrest control of the Senate from Republicans in November’s elections. The primary is in August. The New York Times reported in February that emails and the fund’s marketing documents showed Grayson had promoted his international travels, some with congressional delegations, to solicit business for the fund, in possible violation of House ethics rules.  “The larger picture here is that the Washington political establishment has decided who their favored candidate is, and it’s not Rep. Grayson,” the statement from Grayson’s campaign said. Top Democrats have tried to get Grayson to drop out of the Florida Senate race because of the questions about the hedge fund, throwing their support to Democratic opponent Representative Patrick Murphy. President Barack Obama has endorsed Murphy, and Vice President Joe Biden has campaigned with Murphy. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said earlier this year that Grayson’s actions had disgraced Congress and that he should leave the Senate race immediately.  But Grayson has been endorsed by some grassroots liberal groups who appreciate his outspokenness. One of his more famous lines, delivered during the Obamacare debate in 2009, was that the Republican health-care plan for America amounted to “don’t get sick,” and if you do, “die quickly.” The New York Times reported that Grayson had created the hedge fund in 2011 after losing a race for re-election to Congress, and kept it open after he was re-elected in 2012. According to filings with the Securities and Exchange, the fund had been called the Grayson Fund, but Grayson changed the name to Sibylline Fund LP. The Times reported the fund had closed branches previously located in the Cayman Islands. Rubio, who recently ended a campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, leaves the Senate after this year after just one term. Republicans seeking the seat include Representatives Ron DeSantis and David Jolly. ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
6949,6950,"New York City  will oppose any move from Manchester City to keep Frank Lampard at the Etihad Stadium for longer than his agreed loan spell .  Lampard has been a hit at City since his loan from their sister club in the  started recently , scoring once against Chelsea and twice in the Capital One Cup rout of Sheffield Wednesday .  The 36 year old ' s impressive form has prompted suggestions that he may prove useful to City boss Manuel Pellegrini beyond the length of his current loan spell that is due to end in January .  Frank Lampard is scheduled to return to parent club New York City  from Manchester City in January  City boss Manuel Pellegrini has been impressed with Lampard and hopes he stays at the Etihad for longer  The midfielder scored against his old club Chelsea on Sunday , and has found his stride at City  Lampard also scored twice in the 7 0 Capital One cup win against Sheffield Wednesday at the Etihad  Pellegrini has not ruled out the possibility of Lampard staying but sources in America stressed on Thursday that New York City  expect their marquee signing to be in the States for pre season training in the new year after building a marketing strategy around him and selling tickets due to his transfer .  While there is no suggestion that City and the  franchise it established last year are pulling in opposite directions , it would appear that City fans will have to make do with just five months of the former England star .  Asked about the Lampard stories on Tuesday this week ,  coach Jason Kreis said : ' There is no truth in this rumour at all . '  Frank Lampard poses for a selfie with a fan during City ' s Capital One cup clash with Sheffield Wednesday  The  season doesn ' t start until March and there is an argument that Lampard won ' t need a pre season if he has been playing with City . However , it is understood that officials in New York see Lampard as their big sell this season even more so than fellow summer signing David Villa and want him available for their training camp and a series of warm up games .  Lampard steered clear of the issue on Thursday , saying he would let the two clubs make the decision .  ' I ' m contracted here until the start of January and that is how it is at the moment , ' he said .  ' More than that , I don ' t know . The argument ( about me staying ) has only come up since I scored at the weekend . The important thing for me is to train well , play well and then see what happens .  ' I signed on here until January so that is all I can say . When I signed for Man City on loan , six weeks or so ago , it was always until January and that is the way it remains so I wouldn ' t want to get too far ahead of myself .  The former England star signed for New York City  in July but went on loan to City almost immediately  ' It is not my place to do that . It would be a club decision , first and foremost . I will train and play as well as I can and the rest is up to the club . '  Lampard enjoyed a memorable night on Wednesday and found himself in an embrace with a young fan who ran on to the field five minutes from the end to take a ' selfie ' with his favourite player . The 15 year old was released on bail by Greater Manchester Police until October 19 after being arrested on suspicion of encroachment of the pitch . He is expected to be banned for three games by City .  Lampard had been at Chelsea for 13 years prior to joining City and it has clearly been a challenge to adjust to a new environment . ' Yes , it ' s been very different , ' he admitted . ' I was at Chelsea such a long time you just go along on auto pilot in the end . You know how it is , you drive in every day , you know everybody behind the scenes .  The 36 year old was hugely emotional after scoring against his old club Chelsea on Sunday  ' It was a tester for me to come here . I didn ' t have to make this decision but it was a very good opportunity for me to train and play at this level which arose .  ' And it is a personal test to come up to Manchester and be up here for this six months , or five months , whatever it is . I was very much in a comfort zone at Chelsea . I worked at Chelsea for 13 years , trained there , played there and now it is different . It is good to test yourself in life and all I can say is that I am enjoying it .  ' I ' m very fortunate . Not many players at the age of 36 get the opportunity to come and play among these players . When you look around the dressing room there is so much quality and that is a real honour for me to come and play amongst that . '   Lampard City deal extended  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past
6961,6962,"Meryl Streep accepted the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award at Sunday night’s Golden Globes  —   and used her acceptance speech to repeatedly attack   Donald Trump in what was one of the night’s most pointed political statements. [The     began her speech by noting that Hollywood is the most “vilified” segment of American society following Donald Trump’s victory.  “Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners. And if we kick them all out, you’ll have nothing to watch but football and Mixed Martial Arts, which are not the arts,” she said. At tonight’s #GoldenGlobes we honor Hollywood legend Meryl Streep with the prestigious Cecil B. Demille Award. pic. twitter.   —   Golden Globe Awards (@goldenglobes) January 9, 2017,  Streep said Trump’s mocking of disabled New York Times reporter Serge Kovaleski was the “performance” that most “stunned” her. “There was nothing good about it, but it did its job,” the actress said. “It kind of broke my heart when I saw it, and I still can’t get it out my head because it wasn’t in a movie, it was in real life. That instinct to humiliate when it’s modeled by someone in a public platform, it filters down into everyone’s life because it gives permission for others to do the same. ” “Disrespect invites disrespect, violence incites violence,” Streep said. Streep challenged a “principled press” to stand up to Trump “to hold power to hold power to account, to call to the carpet for every outrage. Streep called on Hollywood to support the Committee to Protect Journalists, “because we’re going to need them going forward  —   and they’ll need us to safeguard the truth. ” “Take your broken heart, make it into art,” Streep concluded, quoting the late actress Carrie Fisher. Watch Streep’s full speech above.",true,news,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
6963,6964,"Protesters throw projectiles at officers in Place de la R publique as thousands also gather at rally in London ahead of Monday ' s climate change summit  Police fired tear gas at protesters who hurled projectiles at them in Paris as a largely peaceful human chain of several thousand formed nearby to urge action on global warming ahead of the global environment summit .  A small group , some masked , took part in the violence , with some of them chanting : "" State of emergency , police state , you will not deprive us of our right to demonstrate . ""  French  riot police apprehend a demonstrator Photo :  Eric Gaillard  One young man who gave his name as Ricard shouted "" shame on the Republic "" at police in the square .  He told the Telegraph that several of his friends had been arrested .  "" The government is using the state of emergency to clamp down on environmental activists , "" he said , adding that his friends had been protesting peacefully .  Police arrested 280 people during the protest , taking many away in a bus while holding several more in a sort of pen , hemmed in between riot officers and police vans .  At least 24 activists have been placed under house arrest across France under the emergency powers to avoid provocations while Paris is hosting the climate conference .  Riot police move in in formation as tear gas is deployed in Paris Photo :     Activists in France scaled back their plans for protests when the government imposed a state of emergency after the attacks , banning a planned demonstration in Paris that had been meant as the biggest of similar demos taking place around the world .  Riot police block access to R publique after tear gas fired at COP21 protestros ClimateMarch ParisAttacks pic . twitterweblink TaMn5p2uVI  The human chain was an unofficial protest and police helicopters could be seen above the protest .  A tense stand off continued throughout the afternoon , with hundreds of protesters remaining in the square as hundreds of police officers blocked the many avenues leading to it .  A shoe flies towards a demonstrator filming as protestors clash with riot police Photo :     Police appeared to be planning to completely clear the Place de la R publique , which lies less than a mile from the sites of the deadly attacks on caf s and the Bataclan rock venue , at a later point .  Some people in the crowds that gathered around the blocked entrance points joined those inside with chants of "" liberty "" and "" state of emergency , police state "" .  The protest wound down late in the afternoon , leaving a handful of protesters in the square mingling with people come to lay flowers in honour of those killed in the Paris attacks .  A ring of riot policemen police encircled the statue in the middle of the square of Marianne , the symbol of the French Republic which has become a shrine to the dead .  Security in Paris ahead of Monday ' s climate change summit is tight with around 2 , 800 police and soldiers guarding the hermetically sealed conference venue near Le Bourget airport , north of Paris , while another 6 , 300 officers have been deployed .  President Fran ? ois Hollande condemned Sunday ' s violence and said he was outraged to learn that the flowers in the unofficial shrine in R publique to those killed in the Paris attacks had been trampled on .  "" It is doubly regrettable , even scandalous that this happened at the Place de la Republique where flowers and candles have been left in memory of those who were killed by the terrorists ' bullets "" in the Paris attacks , he said .  Manuel Valls , the French prime minister , also condemned the troublemakers in a tweet .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
6969,6970,"Reuters) - Kuwait s ruling emir accepted the resignation of the prime minister and his cabinet on Monday, state news agency  reported, asking them to continue important duties until a new cabinet is sworn in. Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak al-Sabah tendered his resignation earlier on Monday to the Emir, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who has the final say in state matters. Local media, quoting members of parliament, said a cabinet shakeup had been expected. Lawmakers were preparing this week to discuss a no-confidence vote in Information Minister Sheikh Mohammed al-Sabah after he was questioned over violations of budgetary and legislative rules, Kuwait Times said in a report. The major oil producer has the oldest legislature among the Gulf Arab states and experiences frequent cabinet reshuffles. The latest government was formed in February. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
6974,6975,"' Curmudgeonly ' : The host o Radio 4 ' s Today programme revealed his daughter had nominated him for the challenge but has dismissed it as a ' stunt '  It has been embraced by pop stars and politicians and raised millions for charity .  But  presenter John Humphrys has criticised the Ice Bucket Challenge as a ' stunt ' , saying we should give because we want to help good causes , not because of fads .  The host of Radio 4 ' s Today programme revealed his daughter had nominated him for the challenge in which people donate money after filming themselves being doused in ice water , before nominating someone else .  Famous participants include former  president George Bush , pop star Justin Bieber , David Beckham and Hollywood star Tom Cruise , raising more than 60million for  motor neurone charity the  Association , and more than 3million for Macmillan Cancer Support in the  .  But Mr Humphrys , 71 , said : ' It ' s certainly been hugely successful at raising awareness of the hideous motor neurone disease and it ' s undoubtedly raised a lot of money .  ' But as someone who set up his own modest charity a few years ago , I have mixed feelings about persuading people to support a charity with stunts .  ' Is it too sanctimonious to say that charity should be about giving because it ' s a worthwhile cause that we really want to help ? '  Writing in Waitrose Weekend magazine , he added : ' Still , it ' s preferable to all those appeals from people who ask for your help for something they ' re madly keen to do anyway .  ' We ' ve all had the letters : "" I plan to raise loads of money for my local cats ' home by cycling around Cuba . Please help ! ""  ' I ' m always tempted to reply : "" If you really want to help your local cats ' home , why not stay home and give them all the money it will cost to send you on a lovely holiday ? "" Mr Humphrys who has a son and daughter with his first wife Edna and a 13 year old son with  presenter Valerie Sanderson set up the Kitchen Table Charities Trust in 2005 .  Its purpose is to raise money for other small charities that do not have their own fundraising arms , and it is opposed to ' charity as big business ' .  Mr Humphrys admitted his views might seem a little ' curmudgeonly ' , but he said he was dismayed when his editor on Today recently joked that he would be expected to complete the Ice Bucket Challenge on air . Describing his immediate reaction , he said : ' Unwelcome and , given a moment ' s thought , unlikely but just about plausible .  I should be so plucky : Kylie Minogue completes the  Ice Bucket Challenge alongside her designer friend Stefano Gabbana  ' It wouldn ' t be the first time we ' d done something daft on Today and , given the relentless tide of dire news over the summer , maybe the audience needed a bit of a break .  ' But not this ! Not on Today ! Surely my editor was winding me up . He was . Crisis and potential presenter rebellion averted . '  He added : ' The problem is , charity has become big business and fundraising is all about clever marketing . Pity they can ' t let the cause speak for itself . '  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,present
6997,6998,"He has lived to see 26 prime ministers , received seven telegrams from the Queen and was alive when the Wright brothers piloted the first powered plane in 1903 .  But Britain ' s oldest man who turns 110 tomorrow says his longevity isn ' t entirely down to his strict vegetarian diet or his favourite tipple , gin .  The Reverend Reg Dean instead attributes it to a ' mysterious brown looking ' elixir of life given to him by a doctor when he was an army chaplain in India .  Celebrations : Reg Dean celebrated his 110th birthday in November last year  ' He said to me , "" I have concocted a drink that will make you live for ever "" , or something like that , and would I like to take it ? ' he recalled yesterday .  ' Well I ' m very naive , I can ' t say no , so I drank it and here I am . '  The former teacher and church minister was born on November 4 , 1902 , in Tunstall , Staffordshire .  Reflecting on all he has witnessed , he said : ' I remember before the days of Tarmac , the roads were all dust heaps .  ' I can remember hearing about the sinking of the Titanic when I was at my uncle ' s farm . '  Early years : Reg Dean pictured in 1903 aged 11 months and as a choirboy aged 12  Growing up : Reg Dean ordained as a minister 1932 , left , and in the 1940 ' s during his time with the British Army  Settled life : The minister is snapped smiling in the 1960s , left , and painting in the early 1980s  The three times married minister , from Wirksworth , Derbyshire , has one son and two grandchildren .  He was ordained in the 1920s and later volunteered as an army chaplain in Burma and India during the Second World War .  In 1958 , Mr Dean became a teacher and later served as minister at the United Reformed Churches in Wirksworth and Matlock , before retiring 29 years ago , aged 80 .  Mr Dean , who received telegrams to mark his 100th and 105th birthdays and one every year since , says he wants to live until he is 120 . The world ' s oldest living man , aged 115 , is Jiroemon Kimura from Japan .  Honour : Rev . Dean and his son Christopher with his birthday card from the Queen when he became a centenarian in 2002  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
7005,7006,"Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said on Wednesday it is considering a request by members of Congress to waive federal restrictions on shipping to Puerto Rico, but has not received any formal requests from shippers or other branches of the federal government to waive the law. “We are considering the underlying issues and are evaluating whether a waiver should be issued,” said a senior Homeland Security official, who spoke to reporters on the grounds of anonymity. The Jones Act requires that all goods shipped between U.S. ports be carried by American owned-and-operated ships. Several U.S. lawmakers, including Representative Nydia Velazquez, on Monday asked  to waive the Jones Act restrictions for a year to help relief efforts in Puerto Rico where people are suffering from water and food shortages in the wake of Hurricane Maria. But a request from a member of Congress is not the usual pathway by which the department gets waiver requests, the  official said. Puerto Rico has long railed against the Jones Act, saying it raises the cost of imported basic commodities, such as food, clothing and fuel. But the official said that the Defense Department and  have not indicated there is a lack of ships to get food and goods to the island. The official did not deny that the law can add costs to goods delivered to the island, an argument made by longtime opponent of the Jones Act, Republican Senator John McCain. But the  official said Jones Act exemptions are based solely on the interest of national defense.  “The real challenges happen to be on the island itself,” the official said, adding that there were plenty of U.S.-flagged barges and tugs available.   has the ability to initiate a waiver to the shipping law, but the official said it is constrained by the national defense parameter.  “Right now, we do not have the authority to issue a waiver simply to make goods cost less,” he said. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
7011,7012,"' s Decision to Keep Pumping Sends Oil Below 40  Ceilingless ' plan looks to squeeze rivals ' market share  Policy ' s opponents , such as Venezuela , offer little comment   has abandoned all pretense of acting as a cartel . It s now every member for itself .  At a chaotic meeting Friday in Vienna that was expected to last four hours but extended to nearly seven , the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries  tossed aside the idea of limiting production to control prices . Instead , it went all in for the one year old Saudi Arabia led policy of pumping , pumping , pumping until rivals external , such as Russia and U . S . shale drillers , as well as internal are squeezed out of market share .  Lots of people said that  was dead  itself just confirmed it , Jamie Webster , a Washington based oil analyst for  Inc . , said in Vienna .   has set a production target almost without interruption since 1982 , though member countries often ignored it and pumped well above it . The ceiling of 30 million barrels a day , in place since 2011 and now abandoned as too rigid , is no exception .  output has outstripped it for 18 consecutive months , according to data compiled by Bloomberg . Now the organization says it will keep pumping as much as it does now about 31 . 5 million barrels a day effectively endorsing limitless output .  The oversupply has sent the price of Brent , a global oil benchmark , to a six year low , triggering the worst slump in the energy sector since the 2008 world financial crisis . It s cut the profits of major oil companies such as Exxon Mobil Corp . and  Plc in half while crude rich countries such as Mexico and Russia have watched their currencies plunge and their coffers shrink .  Oil Has Little Incentive for Uptick ,  ' s Nicholson Says  West Texas Intermediate extended losses below 40 a barrel , dropping as much as 81 cents , or 2 percent , to 39 . 16 on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 6 : 55 a . m . Monday . Brent crude in London slid as much as 1 . 3 percent to 42 . 46 .  On Friday , there was no talk of even setting a production target that member countries could then disregard .  Effectively , it s ceilingless , said Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh . Everyone does whatever they want .  Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu , the Nigerian minister , reinforced the message , saying the market shouldn t worry about the semantics of targets or real production .  We aren t going to go back to a cartel and work against the customers that time has passed , said United Arab Emirates Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei .  Most of the market doesn t have any ceiling , Iraqi Oil Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi told reporters . Americans don t have any ceiling . Russians don t have any ceiling . Why should  have a ceiling ?  The prospect of  , which accounts for roughly 40 percent of the world s oil production , taking U . S .  personality Sarah Palin s advice to drill , baby , drill sent crude prices further downward . The U . S . benchmark dropped 5 . 7 percent between 8 : 14 a . m . and 9 : 06 a . m . New York time on Friday . On June 30 , 2014 , the price was 105 . 37 a barrel .  The oversupply is likely to continue in the new year . Iran , for years under sanctions related to its nuclear program , has promised to lift its production to as much as 4 million barrels a day by the end of 2016 , up from about 3 . 3 million barrels a day currently .  We hope an increase in oil market demand , on one hand , and a dropping trend in production or drop in the increase in production , as seen and said by non  producers , will exert less pressure on prices , Iran s Zanganeh said , according to a report ? on Sunday by  state  .   will continue its pivotal role in production and investment no matter how much prices fall , Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al Naimi said in an interview with ? Al Eqtisadiah newspaper published Saturday . ?  The meeting on Friday at times looked as if it might be headed to an acrimonious end , similar to a gathering in June 2011 when  was unable to agree on policy and ministers openly attacked each other . At the time , al Naimi said he personally had had one of his worst ever meetings .  No official would go that far to describe this conference , yet when ministers and delegates left the  building , near the iconic Vienna State Opera house , they were speechless and grim . Within an hour , some of them , including representatives of Saudi Arabia and Iran , were heading to the airport . Al Naimi said he was traveling to Paris to take part in climate change talks . Delegates from Venezuela , which pushed hard to cut the old ceiling by about five percent , would only say  didn t decide anything , a sign of the deep frustration with the new policies in the cash strapped South American country .  Officials nonetheless did their best to conceal any division . Asked what arguments , if any , went on inside the small meeting room where  ministers seclude themselves without the presence of aides , Iran s Zanganeh simply said , There were discussions .  That was most likely polite understatement , as Iran s rival , Saudi Arabia , carried the day . This time around ,  didn t look like the group that American diplomat Henry Kissinger once described as able to blackmail national economies and whole industries . Instead , it looked like they might have spent the last few days bullying each other .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
7029,7030,"The shamed former coach of the Rutgers basketball team , Mike "" The Bully "" Rice was in Cleveland to get some fishing in at Lake Erie .  The disgraced coach who thought it was cute to push , shove , hit , kick , and throw basketballs at his college players spoke with Hercules Confetti of Sporting Chance Magazine .  The man who has no business coaching his underwear out of his (  ) much less coaching human beings was asked if he felt sorry for acting like a pile of baboon droppings .  Rice , who is no relation to Condoleezza Rice , shrugged his shoulders and remarked that he realizes that he acted like the most pompously arrogant low life on the planet .  He the commented that he is paying for it all now since he may end up having to apply for food stamps .  "" Lice "" Rice , as Vice President Joe Biden has nicknamed him , was asked to comment on the stupidly ignorant remarks that the  Houston Blogger with the fake name Claire Crawford made about an Oklahoma City Thunder cheerleader .  He rolled his eyes and said that wild horses could not get him to make a comment on the matter of Miss Crawford making reference to the cheerleader ' s weight but he did make a very revealing observation .  The fired Rutgers coach stated that if he was not happily married he would probably ask Claire Crawford to marry him .  Okay now , how ' s that updated clich go . . . like two peas in an iPod .   : Charles "" The Fat Bro "" Barkley upon hearing the remark from "" Lice "" Rice simply shook his head and said , "" Turable , dat ' s just plain turable . Da man clearly shows dat he is da male version of dat  circus pony Ann "" Giddy Up "" Coulter .  ",satire,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,negative,past
7032,7033,"A gang of drug dealers have been jailed for more than 60 years after a huge police operation caught them moving high purity cocaine in and out of the north of England .  The 12 men were caught after the police surveillance operation code named Skyhawk resulted in 200 officers raiding homes across County Durham and Merseyside in February last year .  Gang boss Timothy John Lister , 40 , was jailed for 16 years at Teesside Crown Court yesterday , while Sam Turnbull , 36 , received 11 years and two months and Alan Crawford , 42 , was sentenced to nine years .  Gang boss Timothy John Lister , 40 , ( left ) was jailed for 16 years at Teesside Crown Court , while Sam Turnbull , 36 , ( right ) received 11 years and two months . They were both convicted of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs  Alan Crawford , 42 , ( left ) was sentenced to nine years in prison for his involvement in the plot to move ' pure ' cocaine in out of the North , while Ian McCabe , 43 , ( right ) was sentenced to five years and four months  All three faced charges of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs after police seized three separate 1kg consignments of almost pure cocaine during the course of the operation .  Detective Chief Inspector Victoria Fuller , head of Durham Police ' s specialist crime operations unit , said the gang had operated across the North East and North West .  Almost 125 , 000 in cash and 24kg of Class B cannabis resin were also recovered from the gang , described as ' at , or very near , the top of the supply chain ' .  The cocaine ' s packaging and purity indicated they were ' wholesalers ' selling ' virtually pure product in bulk ' .  The court heard how the business was directed by Lister who had links to the North West , West Yorkshire and Humberside .  Gang member Gary John Kays , from Liverpool , who acted as a middle man moving drugs between the North East and North West , was jailed for three years and five months .  Police seized three separate 1kg consignments of almost pure cocaine ( above ) during the course of the operation and said it ' s packaging and purity indicated the gang were ' wholesalers ' selling ' product in bulk '  Police also seized almost 125 , 000 in cash ( above ) and 24kg of Class B cannabis resin from the gangs ' homes  Kays was previously jailed for seven years in 2008 after helping Sean Mercer destroy evidence linking him to the murder of 11 year old schoolboy Rhys Jones . The tragic killing made headlines when Rhys was shot in car park of a pub in August 2007 .  Stephen John Golding , 33 , from Liverpool , was jailed for five years and six months yesterday , while Ian McCabe , 43 , from County Durham , will also serve more than five years .  The other members of the gang received either prison terms of two years or less , a suspended sentence or community order . One man has yet to be sentenced and will be dealt with by the court on Monday next week .  Detective Chief Inspector Fuller said : ' The sentences given by the court demonstrate very clearly that those who choose a life of organised crime will be caught and dealt with .  The gang members were sentenced to a total of 60 years in jail when they appeared at Teesside Crown Court  ' The men we arrested were , quite simply , horrible people who only cared for themselves . At no stage did they give a single thought to the misery their offending inflicted on communities or the innocent people caught up in their activities .  ' This is not just about the damage drugs themselves may cause but the associated crime which can badly affect communities , not just in our area but others as well .  ' Our aim is to keep the communities of County Durham safe , and the fact we arrested people from Merseyside , Humberside and the Greater Manchester area as well as the North East shows how this type of crime cuts across boundaries . '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
7037,7038,"The Eagles began circling around Tom Coughlin over the weekend , but now it looks as if the ex Giants coach has decided Philadelphia isn ' t a good fit .  Tom Coughlin may still want to coach again in 2016 , but he won t be battling the Giants in the  East .  The 69 year old Coughlin pulled out of the Philadelphia Eagles coaching search on Thursday , an  source confirmed , just as it appeared they were ready to offer him their job .  Coughlin could ' ve had the Eagles job if he wanted it , sources told the Daily News , but he withdrew for a variety of reasons .  One was because the core of his staff remains under contract with the Giants and some plan to stay on board with new coach Ben McAdoo . Coughlin didn ' t want to want to start over with a brand new staff in Philly and a source said the Giants weren t willing to release any assistants from their contracts that McAdoo wanted to keep .  Coughlin felt the Giants might have released some of those assistants if he had taken the job in San Francisco instead , a source said . But that job went to Chip Kelly on Thursday .  Up until the last minute , Coughlin seemed serious about the Eagles job . He had already talked to the Eagles twice , the source said , and was planning to talk to them for a third time on Thursday . At one point , the Eagles reportedlyy were even interested in a Coughlin McAdoo pairing with McAdoo as Coughlin ' s offensive coordinator and heir apparent . But that obviously became impossible when McAdoo was offered the Giants head coaching job on Wednesday night .  View Gallery Tom Coughlin Timeline : His 12 years with the Giants  The Eagles then zeroed in on Coughlin by himself . But when Coughlin spoke to them on Thursday , a source said he told them the job wasn ' t right for him .  While the staff issue appears to have been the biggest factor , one report suggested the Eagles wanted Coughlin to keep former Eagles running back Duce Staley on as his offensive coordinator ( and possible heir apparent ) . One  source also uggested that Coughlin wanted a measure of control over personnel that the Eagles were leery of giving after their fiasco with Kelly last season . And it s also possible that Coughlin ultimately decided he didn t want to be in the  East and face his old team twice per season , though a source familiar with Coughlin s thinking had insisted that wouldn t prevent him from coaching next season , especially if that was his only option .  Now it might end up having been his only option ? at least for 2016 . Coughlin had also interviewed with the 49ers earlier this week , but that job went to Kelly on Thursday . It was unclear how high Coughlin was on the 49ers list , but a source close to him said Coughlin wasn t sure about moving to the West Coast with so much of his family back East .  The Tennessee Titans and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are the other two teams with head coaching vacancies , but at the moment Coughlin is not known to be a candidate in either place . Another situation to watch may be in Detroit where new Lions  Bob Quinn hasn t decided whether to keep their coach , Jim Caldwell . If Caldwell is fired there , Coughlin could be a logical replacement , especially since Coughlin s old boss , former Giants  Ernie Accorsi , is currently a consultant with the team .  Meanwhile , the Eagles are expected now to wait for Chiefs offensive coordinator Doug Pederson , whose team is still in the playoffs , after they appeared to have fanned on their first two choices ? Coughlin and McAdoo , who they were pursuing on Thursday before the Giants offered him their job . ?  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
7044,7045,"A judge struck down part of Missouri ' s gay marriage ban for the first time on Friday by ordering the state to recognize same sex marriages legally performed in other states , saying state laws banning the unions single out gay couples ' for no logical reason . '  The order means such couples will be eligible to sign up for a wide range of tax , health insurance , veterans and other benefits now afforded to opposite sex married couples .  Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster , who has defended the state ' s ban on gay marriage , said his office was reviewing the ruling .  Victory : Same sex couple Zuleyma Tang Martinez , second from right , and Arlene Zarembka , right , of St . Louis , give interviews at the Jackson County Courthouse in Kansas City , Missouri  The decision comes in a lawsuit filed by 10 same sex couples who legally married outside the state , including Arlene Zarembka and Zuleyma Tang Martinez .  The St . Louis couple , who married in Canada , said Friday ' s ruling could boost their household income , and they plan to apply Monday for Zarembka to receive Social Security benefits as Tang Martinez ' s spouse .  ' To me , it ' s a real validation by the judge of our relationship and our commitment to each other , ' Tang Martinez said .  The American Civil Liberties Union , which is helping the couples , noted the ruling was a first in the state .  ' We ' re gratified that the court recognized that married same sex couples and their families are no different than other couples , and that the Constitution requires them to be treated equally , '  attorney Tony Rothert said .  ' This is not the first court to reach this conclusion , but it is the first court to do so in Missouri , so it ' s a tremendous day for our state . '  Jackson County Circuit Judge J . Dale Youngs sided with the couples , who argue that their rights to equal protection and due process are being violated by Missouri ' s ban on gay marriage .  Youngs said the couples deserve the same recognition as opposite sex couples who married in other states .  ' The undisputed facts before the Court show that , to the extent these laws prohibit plaintiffs ' legally contracted marriages from other states being recognized here , they are wholly irrational , do not rest upon any reasonable basis , and are purely arbitrary , ' Youngs wrote .  ' All they do is treat one segment of the population gay men and lesbians differently than their same sex counterparts , for no logical reason . '  Landmark : The ruling entitles same sex couples who married elsewhere to apply for various state benefits and entitlements though it did not address the state ' s current ban on same sex marriage ceremonies  The lawsuit before Youngs only challenges Missouri ' s refusal to recognize marriages legally performed outside the state , not laws that bar same sex couples from getting married in Missouri .  Rothert said the ruling means that thousands of Missouri couples can now qualify for spousal government benefits and , on a smaller level , change their last names to match their spouse ' s on their Missouri driver ' s license .  The case is among at least three challenging Missouri ' s ban : There is a federal challenge in Kansas City , and a St . Louis case focuses on city officials who issued marriage licenses to four same sex couples to trigger a legal test of the ban .  The lawsuits are based on the same arguments that led the U . S . Supreme Court last year to overturn part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act that denied a tax , health and other benefits to legally married gay couples .  In Missouri , Youngs said he expects the state Supreme Court to ' provide the last word on all of the important legal issues presented by this case . '  Same sex marriage is now legal in 19 states and the District of Columbia . The  has cases pending against 13 other states with such bans , including five cases currently before federal appeals courts .  Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
7062,7063,"Reuters) - Britain has not conducted formal sector-by-sector analyses of the impact that leaving the European Union will have on the economy, Brexit minister David Davis said on Wednesday, arguing they were not necessary yet. The comments inflamed critics of the government s handling of the complex divorce process at a time when talks with Brussels have stalled because of a row over how to manage the Irish border after Brexit. Davis has become embroiled in a long-running argument with lawmakers   including from the ruling Conservative Party   over what preparatory work the government has undertaken, and how much of it should be made public.  There s no systematic impact assessment I m aware of,  Davis told a parliamentary committee, saying it would be more appropriate to conduct such analysis later in the negotiating process. His remarks drew immediate criticism from lawmakers on the committee, who said Davis was contradicting his previous statement that the government had analyses of the sectoral impact that went into  excruciating detail .  Whether it s through incompetence or insincerity, David Davis has been misleading parliament from the start,  said Wera Hobhouse, a member of the Brexit committee from the Liberal Democrat party.  It is unbelievable that these long-trumpeted impact assessments don t even exist, meaning the government has no idea what their Brexit plans will do to the country.  Opposition lawmakers have pressured the government into releasing a summary of its analysis to the committee. On Wednesday, they complained that the analysis given to them was incomplete and called for more detail.  But the committee scrutinising government policy on leaving the  said they were satisfied that the government had  fulfilled its obligations to publish the documents. Nevertheless, pro- Labour lawmaker Chuka Umunna said he has written to the speaker of the House of Commons to ask if the government has misled parliament. Davis and his team of ministers have previously said its sectoral analysis is not a formal impact assessment   a technical document submitted to parliament   and that publishing the work it has done could undermine Britain s negotiating position.  We will at some stage do the best we can to quantify the effect of different negotiating outcomes as we come up to them   bearing in mind we haven t started phase two (negotiations) yet,  Davis said, referring to the second phase of talks which will focus on trade. He said those assessments would look at the impact of different outcomes on sectors including financial services, manufacturing and agriculture. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,US elections,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
7063,7064,"A federal judge sentenced Colton Harris Moore , whom authorities dubbed the Barefoot Bandit , to six and a half years in prison on Friday for an infamous string of thefts and burglaries .  The federal sentence will run concurrently with his state imprisonment of seven years and three months imposed in December , the judge ruled .  The 20 year old gained notoriety including 50 , 000 Facebook fans and a movie deal while leading authorities on a two year manhunt while eluding capture in stolen boats , cars and planes , often while barefoot , authorities said . He once left chalk outlines of bare footprints at one crime scene .  Harris Moore pleaded guilty last year to federal charges stealing an airplane , piloting it without a license , burglarizing a bank and possessing a firearm as a fugitive .  He also pleaded guilty in December to 33 state charges related to residential burglaries , identity thefts , a firearm theft , a car theft , attempting to elude a police vehicle and other offenses , according to court documents . He was sentenced to seven years and three months in prison on those charges .  Prosecutors recommended that Harris Moore get 78 months in prison on the federal charges , according to court documents . Harris Moore had asked for 70 months .  As part of the federal plea deal , he agreed to give up any profits that may come from book or movie deals on his story . His attorney has said Harris Moore wants any such money to go to victims . He is estimated to owe more than 1 . 4 million in restitution in the federal case .  Under the Washington state plea arrangement , he would also have to give up any proceeds for restitution on the state offenses , court documents said .  He was arrested in July 2010 after crashing a stolen plane in the Bahamas and then trying to escape in a stolen boat . He ' d been on the run from police since escaping from a Washington group home in 2008 .  His attorney has said that his client hopes to go to college one day to study aviation or engineering .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
7091,7092,"Finally ! Now Kate Upton can participate in the ' Hands Up Don ' t shoot ' protests in Hollywood without showing her ' pinkies ' to the world .  Straight from the ' say it isn ' t so ' department , but the folks over at  have revealed and confirmed the super model voluntarily had her nipples removed from her trademark breasts in a 2 hour surgical procedure last weekend . According to  , Upton is resting comfortably at a private resort in Arizona .  The 23 year old super model recently told friends how troublesome her large 34DD breasts were during various photo shoots , red carpet walks , and advertizing campaigns "" They are cumbersome and I always have to worry if my ' pinkies ' pop out at the wrong time causing an expensive re shoot or worse , media censorship using those horrid little black bars . ""  Jen Peebles , Upton ' s personal sylist agrees . "" I can ' t tell you how much invisible adhesive I have to use to keep those ' girls ' snugly glued to whatever top or dress Kate is wearing . I mean , there were times when a sudden move would almost end the mystery ! ""  Dr Ren Blotofsky , a plastic surgeon from Detroit , says nipple removal surgery has become a premier service for his practice . Local obscenity laws only pertain to topless women showing their nipples . No nipples No fines or arrest !  ' Now any woman using this surgery procedure finds more personal freedom and can finally go topless at the beach , complete a perfect tan , or merely stroll around a mall during the warm summer months without fear of being arrested . '  At first , many men were horrified . The thought of what happens when in the clinches during a hot date left them troubled . Would they be staring at two barren mounds without any fun parts attached ?  No way !  Leave it to an enterprising chiropractor from Boston who has come up with what he calls reverse pasties ! A pair of realistic aureole and nipple press ons which utilize re usable adhesive which is hypo allergenic too !  Now , when it ' s important for a real nip slip , any wannabe public flirts or exhibitionists can spice up a date or have a fun time in the bedroom for just 19 . 95 . Choice of colors and flavorings too . . And since they aren ' t real , no arrests or fines if you decide that a good flash would please the boys !  Optional gold or silver nipple rings can also be chosen from the accessories page . Please call 1 888 Hot Nips for credit card orders .  ",satire,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
7096,7097,"executed 2 , 114 civilians in 19 months , human rights group says  Updated 3 : 56   , Fri January 29 , 2016   has executed 3 , 895 people since June 2014 , human rights group reports  The civilians were beheaded , thrown from buildings and burned , the group says   has executed 3 , 895 people , more than half of them civilians , since announcing the establishment of a "" caliphate state "" in June 2014 , the  based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Friday .  Of the 2 , 114 civilians killed , 78 were children and 116 were women , the  said in a press release . Civilians were killed by firing squad , beheaded , stoned , thrown off high buildings or burned ,  said .  The other people executed included fighters for the Syrian regime , militiamen loyal to the regime and rebel groups like al Qaeda in Levant ,  said .   could not independently verify the information from  . Its website says  is a nonprofit group not connected to any political body or nation .   even executed 422 of its own members for offenses such as trying to defect , spying for foreign counties and acts of "" extremism "" against Islam , such as ascribing divine characteristics to Islamic figures or another person ,  said .   said people were killed for apostasy , cursing Allah , adultery , espionage , being a member of the national defense , contacting the Al Nusra Front and homosexuality . A woman was killed for escaping from her husband .  Civilians were massacred in several places : 939 Arab Sunni civilians were killed in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor 223 Kurdish civilians were killed in Kobani and the nearby village of Barkh Botan and 46 were killed in the village of Al Mab ' oujeh .  During the period of December 29 to January 29 ,  killed 188 people , including 113 civilians , the release said . Sixty four were Syrian regime forces or militiamen loyal to the regime , the release said .  The extremist group announced the establishment of a "" caliphate , "" an Islamic state stretching across the western and northern Iraq , in June 2014 .  The leader of the caliphate is Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim Ali al Badri al Samarrai , more commonly known as Abu Bakr al Baghdadi .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
7108,7109,"Reuters) - As in-fighting consumes the British government, Europeans have stepped up quiet preparations for a possible collapse of Brexit talks that could see Britain crash out of the  without a deal 18 months from now. Prime Minister Theresa May s  counterparts still see the  no-deal scenario  she threatened them with as most unlikely, as they think it would hurt Britain much more than the continent. But after her faltering party conference this week and ahead of important meetings in Brussels over the next fortnight, diplomats and officials there and in big member states said they have been putting renewed focus on contingency planning for a legal limbo in March 2019 and urging businesses to do the same. German officials say that in recent months they have been spending just as much energy on how to handle that as on preparing for a negotiated solution. The  industry federation in the biggest  economy warned German firms on Thursday that it would be  naive  not to be ready for a  a very hard exit . Like May, who on Friday rejected calls from some lawmakers to resign, Michel Barnier, the European Union negotiator, says his aim is an orderly exit. But he repeatedly cautions that he also has a mandate from  leaders to help prepare for failure and regularly tells businesses to be sure to plan for the worst.  We want to be ready for all eventualities, including  no deal ,  he told business and labor representatives after the negotiations began in July. Deal or no deal is  the fundamental question , he said, after talks made little progress in August.  This is the growing feeling, absolutely,  a senior  official said of concerns that talks could collapse, not because Britain saw economic advantage in that, as May has warned, but because British politics could end up in domestic stalemate that could mean missing reasonable deadlines for a withdrawal treaty. For many, talk of a breakdown in talks remains part of the bluff and counter-bluff of negotiations. But what May s problems inside her own government indicate to many across the Channel is that the country is so divided it may be unable to reach a deal.  You need to factor in that it s not a rational process,  the senior  official said, repeating a common view that voting for Brexit made no economic sense in the first place.  So it s not unlikely that they again shy away from what are the economic imperatives and we end up cliff-edging by political default.  People close to Barnier s negotiating team draw attention to new legislation last month aimed at protecting the  carbon market from a disorderly British departure and moves to force euro-denominated securities clearing from London to the continent as examples of Brussels  contingency planning.  It s the responsible approach. And the more it goes on like this,  said one  official of the lack of clear breakthroughs in the talks,  the more we ll see of these steps.  Another senior official said:  There s every reason to be worried and European industry should take this more seriously.  May s Brexit minister, David Davis, is expected back in Brussels on Monday for a fifth round of negotiations with Barnier. But expectations among  officials are low to nil for a breakthrough on key divorce issues that would allow  leaders to tell May when they meet her the following week that they are willing to open talks on a future free trade accord. Aside from uncertainty over how a new  border with Ireland will work and differences over rights for expatriates after Brexit, a standoff over tens of billions of euros that Brussels argues Britain will owe on departure seems far from resolution. Describing as  unbelievable arrogance  British offers to pay just 20 billion euros ($23 billion) of a  Brexit bill  which the  estimates at perhaps 60 billion euros, a senior diplomat from a country Britain generally views as an ally in  affairs said May would have to face down hardliners who reject such payments. Few of Britain s negotiating partners see any benefit in a change of prime minister now. That would cost more time that neither side has, since the chances of London or Brussels agreeing to extend the Brexit deadline seem limited.  With Boris Johnson as prime minister, the negotiations would be easier,  one  diplomat said of the foreign secretary, who has sniped at May s push for a deal that could see Britain stay bound by some  rules, at least for a transition period.  We could save ourselves all this analyzing,  the diplomat said,  As he d just drive the talks straight off the cliff.  For many, ending with a legal void remains far-fetched. But though British ministers talk of a  bespoke  deal to exit  rules while retaining market access,  officials warn that time is running out for London to find any option other than to agree to something like the status of Norway   being in the  market and accepting rules on which is has no vote.  Pretty soon,  said one,  It will be Norway or nothing.  ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
7133,7134,"Senators who were critical of the loophole after it was unearthed applauded the fix .  The  Act , one of the rare bipartisan bills passed this year , was signed by President Barack Obama in April .  Obama signs  Act to address ' deficit of trust ' in Washington  Lawmakers proclaimed that the bill , officially called the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act , would restore trust in government . It also applied new rules to some employees of the executive branch .  In the Senate , the Ethics Committee released one page of guidelines in June ruling that members and their spouses and dependent children all have to file reports after they make stock or securities trades . But the House Ethics Committee disagreed .  Its 14 page memo released in June found that House members and aides covered by the law that their spouses and children were not covered . The Office of Government Ethics , which oversees all federal executive branch employees , sided with the House , informing its employees that their spouses and children don ' t need to file these periodic reports .  Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown , the only Republican senator to attend the White House signing ceremony , said he was "" obviously very concerned . ""  Brown , who speaks constantly about this bill in his neck and neck race for re election against consumer advocate Elizabeth Warren , said the whole point of passing the law was to demonstrate that members of Congress weren ' t held to a different standard .  Massachusetts Senate race in a dead heat  "" I mean , bottom line , we ' re supposed to have that level of transparency and have us be treated like every other member of the United States and bottom line , if we can ' t do it , then sorry , if they can ' t do it then we shouldn ' t be able to do it as well . ""  Sen . Kirsten Gillibrand , D New York , also criticized the House decision not to include congressional spouses and children when the loophole was brought to her attention .  "" I think it ' s wrong , and I think it ' s unfortunate because the reality is the whole point of this legislation is we should play by the exact same rules as every other American citizen , and when all of America looks at Washington , they know it ' s broken . ""  "" We ' re trying to restore just a small measure of confidence through this kind of transparency and accountability , "" Gillibrand said .  "" The House interpretation leaves a loophole and the appearance of an ongoing double standard , "" Brown said in the letter .  "" It is deeply troubling that the House of Representatives and Executive Branch would attempt to operate under a substantially weaker interpretation than the Senate , "" he added , demanding that the House adopt the Senate ' s view and require all spouses and dependents to begin reporting stock trades .  Why was there a difference ?  Robert Walker , a Washington ethics attorney and former chief counsel for both the House and Senate Ethics Committees , explained that the Senate bill did include a provision that covered spouses and children , but when Cantor ' s office wrote the House version , this language was shifted to a different section of the bill . The change meant that spouses and dependent children weren ' t subject to the new reporting requirements .  "" The House recrafted some of the provisions of it and moved some of the provisions around . In that process , some of the Senate bill that applied to filing of these new reports was moved from one section of the bill to the other , "" Walker said .  The Senate Ethics Committee decided to stick with the spirit of the law that senators originally intended , but the House Ethics Committee went with the letter of the law , which included the loophole not requiring spouses and children to report financial transactions in a timely fashion .  More Congress : No aid for farmers amid drought  Why did it matter ?  The loophole went to the heart of what the  Act set out to do .  While there were already laws in place barring members of Congress or the executive branch from profiting from nonpublic information that they learn in the course of their duties , it was extremely difficult for those at the Securities and Exchange Commission to enforce those laws .  The financial disclosure forms House members and senators were already required to file only come out once a year , making it tough to track any relationship between legislative action and a stock trade . That ' s why the  Act added the rule that after each trade over 1 , 000 a report had to be filed in a timely manner .  Walker stressed the new law provides "" more immediacy , more real time so that the public could have more real time understanding of what their members , of their senior staff and other high government officials were doing with their finances , what kinds of trades were they making . ""  "" As has been noted by outside experts , the office of Government Ethics and various House offices of expertise , including the Office of Legislative Counsel and the Office of General Counsel , with whom the Committee consulted , the plain language of the  Act and the Ethics in Government Act is unambiguous and beyond dispute and the Committee interpreted it correctly . ""  Cantor ' s spokesman insisted that the change was unintentional and the majority leader ' s office did not believe when they passed their bill that it differed from the Senate version .  "" Since new information has been brought to our attention with respect to this discrepancy , we are reviewing our options regarding transaction reports in the House of Representatives , "" Doug Heye said at the time .  Still , another question is why the House changed the legislation in the first place . A  leadership source insists there were no sinister motives , that Cantor and the broader  leadership made changes after consulting with Ethics Committee lawyers .  Following the change , Gillibrand issued a statement applauding it .  "" The intent of this important reform bill was clear from the start , to restore people ' s faith in their elected leaders by ensuring we play by the exact same set of rules as every other American . Including family members in our monthly disclosure requirements was an integral piece of restoring that faith , and I am pleased the House will finally join the Senate in conforming to these important new rules , "" said Gillibrand .  Brown also praised the move to fix the law .  "" I ' m pleased that with today ' s legislative action , we ' ve made sure the House will follow the Senate Ethics Committee ' s lead and implement the law the way it was intended . The same rules need to apply across the board no matter who you work for . ""  In addition to closing the loophole for spouses and dependent children , the new legislation passed by the House and Senate also made a change that the Obama administration requested .  Some administration officials voiced concerns that the ability of foreign governments to view personal financial information about top government employees posed a national security threat .  To address those concerns , the bill gave executive branch employees a waiver from the requirement to disclose their stock or securities trades until September 30 to allow some additional time to determine the appropriate procedures for those officials .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
7139,7140,"Angel may be in a foreign country without her family , but the eight year old Ugandan certainly isn ' t shy . "" I like being on camera , "" she says . "" I like it because it makes me feel like I can be president . ""  Angel is a member of the African Children ' s Choir , which is currently touring the United States , and she ' s on camera because the choir is the subject of a remarkable new documentary "" Imba Means Sing . ""  The film shares the experiences of Angel , Moses and the rest of the choir , in five countries over two years .  Armed with incredible smiles , these children make you believe they ' ve got the whole world in their hands . Almost all the kids come from the slums of Kampala , Uganda , and by traveling with the choir most of these children are getting an opportunity not only for a great education but also to be the main bread winners in their families .  Read more : Street children become stage stars  Moses , nine , says : "" ( The ) tour will change my life because I get to study more so that I can become what I want to be when I grow up . I didn ' t have many clothes and I didn ' t have many pairs of shoes and now I have them . ""  The Grammy nominated African Children ' s Choir was started in 1984 by human rights activist Ray Barnett . Barnett was called on to help the thousands of children who had been orphaned and abandoned following years of conflict .  Barnett says : "" I felt a choir of African children , who were very underprivileged , could show the world the beauty , dignity and unlimited ability of the African child so they could see what their help could do . "" The choir has successfully accomplished this for 28 years worldwide .  As the director and visionary for the nonprofit , Barnett developed the team into an internationally acclaimed performing group while raising funds to help many destitute children . To date , more than 1 , 000 vulnerable children have been through the choir program .  Funds from the choir have provided the opportunity of education and hope for many thousands like them in some of Africa ' s most impoverished areas . Some of the graduates have gone on to become lawyers , doctors , teachers and even leaders in their countries .  Read more : 10 must see African films  According to Julia Tracy , the group ' s international choir director , the experience has not only raised future leaders for their home countries but has left an indelible mark on every nation in which they perform . For 20 years , she has watched their powerful performances be a force of inspiration and unity for countless audiences . She notes that this is one of the group ' s strengths . They effortlessly create a relationship with the community and "" spread a different worldview , "" she says .  The film ' s producer , Erin Levin , first met the kids at a fundraising event in Madison Square Garden . Reflecting on the experience , Levin says , "" I had always done this good stuff but never really had a reason to except that it was what I was taught . . . and it made me feel good and I loved it . But , meeting these kids put a face and a heart and a name to everything . ""  At first , the journey of making Imba was a struggle . Levin says when she first arrived in Uganda to assess the production of the film she didn ' t have anyone to talk to . The girls in particular were shy and reluctant to talk with her . Angel and Moses are the stars of the film . The two were natural choices as they didn ' t hesitate to speak with Levin ' s crew . Now three years into production , Levin says most of the children speak English and can read and write in the Ugandan Luganda language .  The children have been grateful to participate in the group and continue to marvel at their experience .  "" Being in the choir means I will have my school fees paid , because if I go to school I can be whatever I want when I grow up , "" says a young girl called Patience . "" I need that to become a lawyer . ""  Read more : Artists take epic Africa road trip  "" The choir is going to change my life by giving us education , "" says choir member Kendrick .  But funding the movie has been a real struggle . So far Levin has raised 200 , 000 . In addition to this , she still has to reach a goal of 400 , 000 of which she has only raised 200 , 000 . Levin hopes the film will become a movement .  She says : "" The issue it addresses is not just the African Children ' s Choir . It ' s much bigger than that . It ' s education . All the kids in the choir can ' t go to first or second grade . Then they tour the world and now their education is paid for through college so that is what we are shinning a light on . ""  Levin credits all her success to her crew : director Danielle Bernstein and director of photography Jason Maris . She is deservedly unabashed in how proud she is of their work . Her message to others : "" Anyone can follow their dream and follow their heart . I am just a normal girl who believed in something and is going after it . And , I hope that people will see this and be inspired to do the same . ""  Imba Means Sing is due to premiere in 2014 .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
7152,7153,"Eleven members of the same Brazilian family are in a critical condition in hospital after unwittingly cooking up the world ' s deadliest fish for their supper , it was reported today .  The pufferfish was caught by members of the Souza family while fishing near Duque de Caxias and contained a toxin 1 , 200 times more lethal than cyanide a drop of which can kill within 24 hours .  The poison paralyses the muscles while the victim remains fully conscious , eventually dying of asphyxiation when the venom reaches the diaphragm .  Danger : Pufferfish poison paralyses the muscles while the victim remains fully conscious , eventually dying of asphyxiation when the venom reaches the diaphragm  The Souza family reportedly fried and served up the fish they had been given by a friend who had returned from a day ' s sea fishing near their home in Duque de Caxias , Rio de Janeiro .  But seconds after taking their first bite all began to vomit , before losing the feeling in their face , arms and legs .  Most of the victims which include four children aged three to five were totally paralysed before they could reach a car that would take them to hospital , according to reports .  Cristiane Souza , whose husband Jose Augusto , 41 , ate the fish , said she had called her extended family living nearby for what she thought would be a delicious fish feast on Wednesday evening .  She told Brazil ' s   : ' The fish looked so tasty so we invited the whole family . We fried it and everyone tucked in .  Treat : Pufferfish are considered a rare delicacy in Japan , but chefs have to undergo two years of rigorous training and be officially licensed to prepare them  Pufferfish are the second most poisonous vertebrates in the world , after the golden poison frog .  Most contain tetrodotoxin a substance that makes them foul tasting and lethal to fish .  There is enough of the powerful toxin tetrodoxin in one pufferfish to kill 30 adult humans , and there is no known antidote .  Symptoms can include dizziness , exhaustion , headache , nausea and eventually asphyxiation , resulting in death .  Pufferfish meat is called ' fugu ' in Japan , and is considered a delicacy .  It can only be cooked by trained chefs who must cut and trim the fish perfectly to avoid poisoning their customers .  Pufferfish range between one inch and two feet long although they triple in size when threatened .  ' My husband was the first to say he couldn ' t feel his tongue , then his face , and then his arms . Then his legs went dead and he couldn ' t stand up any more . It was terrfying .  ' My brother in law was the same . He didn ' t even make it out the door . We had to carry them out and rush them to hospital in a car . '  Grandmother Maria do Carmo said : ' We had no idea it was a pufferfish . They ' re all in a critical condition . My grandson , my daughter , and my son in law , they are all in hospital . We ' re praying for a miracle .  ' We put the fish on the table in the yard outside and everyone dived in . They were all saying how delicious it was . '  ' I didn ' t eat it because I was waiting until everyone had tried it . '  Pufferfish is considered a rare delicacy in Japan , but chefs have to undergo two years of rigorous training and be officially licensed to prepare it .  There is enough of the powerful toxin tetrodoxin in one pufferfish to kill 30 adult humans , and there is no known antidote .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
7159,7160,"Mega deals await as Iranian President starts European trip in Rome  Last Updated : Tuesday , January 26 , 2016 01 : 39  Rome Paris : ? Iranian President Hassan Rouhani flew to Italy on Monday at the start of his first official visit to Europe , looking to sign multi billion dollar contracts to help to modernise Iran s economy after years of crippling financial sanctions .  Heading a 120 strong delegation of Iranian business leaders and ministers , Rouhani will spend two days in Rome before flying to France on Wednesday , hoping to burnish Tehran s international credentials at a time of turmoil across the Middle East .  While diplomacy will figure high on his agenda , trade ties are likely to dominate the headlines , with Iran announcing plans to buy more than 160 European planes , mainly from Airbus  Officials in Rome said Italian firms were set to sign deals worth up to 17 billion euros ( 18 . 4 billion ) over the next two days , including in the energy , infrastructure and steel sectors .  The deals will give a boost to Prime Minister Matteo Renzi , who is struggling to revive Italy s underperforming economy .  A pragmatist elected in 2013 , Rouhani championed a deal with world powers last year under which Iran curbed its disputed nuclear programme in return for the end of U . N . ,  and some U . S . sanctions this month .  Other U . S . sanctions remain in place , however , and some Western companies such as banks are expected to take a cautious line towards deal making with Iran in order to avoid falling foul of Washington .  Rouhani is anxious to prove to Iranians that the nuclear accord , contested by many hardliners , was worth it and will help ease their prolonged economic hardships . He also wants to promote Iran s position as a major regional player and key to any solution to the long running conflict in Syria .  During his visit to Italy , he will meet Renzi , Pope Francis and local business leaders . He is set to meet French President Francois Hollande in Paris on Thursday .  Rouhani had been expected in both countries last November , but cancelled the trips following an attack by Islamic State militants in Paris that killed 130 people .  Italian President Sergio Mattarella said at Rouhani s first official engagement in Rome that the battle against Islamic State and fundamentalist extremists was "" the number one threat facing the international community "" .  Greeted by an honour guard at the president s Quirinale Palace , Rouhani smiled broadly for photographers before heading into a series of meetings .  Europe was Iran s largest trading partner before sanctions , with Italy and France seen as particularly close to Tehran . Both countries sent large trade delegations to Iran last year in the wake of the nuclear accord , laying the groundwork for tie ups .  Among the deals being readied for Italy was a pipeline contract worth between 4 billion and 5 billion for oil services group Saipem  , a source with knowledge of the matter said . Saipem was not immediately available for comment .  will sign commercial agreements worth up to 5 . 7 billion euros with Iran , a company spokesman said . Infrastructure firm Condotte d Acqua said it would sign deals worth up to 4 billion euros .  Italian business leaders , including the heads of oil firm Eni  , are due to attend a dinner for Rouhani on Monday , hosted by Renzi . At the request of the Iranians , no wine will be served . France refused the same request so there will be no state dinner in Paris .  While Italy was not involved in the nuclear talks , France was , and it took a hard line towards Tehran in the negotiations . It has also been outspoken in its condemnation of Iran s support for Syrian President Bashar al Assad and sceptical of the country s other Middle East interventions .  "" Trust needs to be built . It s like love . It is only the proof of love that counts , "" said a senior French diplomat .  "" On the nuclear accord the relationship is relaxed , but not on the other subjects . There is no change on the Iranian position for now on a number of regional issues . . . so the idea ( of the visit ) is to open a new page , "" the diplomat said .  , Patrick Pouyanne , is among top French executives who are expected to hold one on one meetings with Rouhani .  The trip to Europe comes as global diplomats are trying to arrange the first peace talks in two years to end the Syrian civil war . Shi ite Muslim Iran is Assad s strongest ally , while European countries back his mainly Sunni Muslim opponents .  First Published : Tuesday , January 26 , 2016 01 : 36  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
7217,7218,"Superstar Bette Midler has been having a high old time this election season taking shots at the GOP, and she continued the tradition today   this time taking a shot at notoriously obstructionist GOPer Mitch McConnell. Using her own medical appointment, The Divine Ms. M hit the senator hard via her Twitter account.Apparently, Midler had to go to the doctor for a routine colonoscopy on Thursday, and decided that it would be the perfect opportunity to point out the senator s obstruction of anything and everything President Barack Obama and the Democrats try to achieve. She hilariously tweeted: I just got home from a colonoscopy. Guess what they found? Mitch McConnell! That guy will obstruct anything!! Here is the tweet:I just got home from a colonoscopy. Guess what they found? Mitch McConnell! That guy will obstruct anything!!  Bette Midler (@BetteMidler) May 18, 2016She s right, of course. Now, it is highly unlikely that this wonderful woman would let that douchebag Sen. McConnell anywhere near any part of her body, including her colon, but this is hilarious just the same. The  has obstructed President Obama and his administration at every turn since the moment he set foot inside the Oval Office, and they will continue to do so until he leaves, no doubt. That behavior is pretty much par for the course at this point, so it s a good thing we have the likes of folks like Bette Midler to help us poke fun at the absurdity of it all.Keep up the good work, Ms. Midler. You make us love you more and more every day.Featured image via Bette Midler Twitter",fake,dataset,validation,Other sport,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present
7220,7221,"Reuters) - France announced a one-billion-euro plan for universities on Monday, promising to offer more places on popular courses, cut drop-out rates and build more accommodation, in a bid to assuage the concerns of politically powerful students. President Emmanuel Macron s government has already faced down street protests over labour reform and risks more industrial action over plans to reform the pension and unemployment insurance systems. It wants to avoid confrontation with students who have forced past governments into policy u-turns with protracted rallies. The government said the 1 billion euros ($1.16 billion) will be spent over the five years of Macron s term in office.  Students in France who pass high school exams have the right to go to university in their home area. But this has led to popular subjects such as law and psychology being heavily oversubscribed and prompted the introduction of an unpopular lottery system where demand is highest. That lottery system will now be scrapped and the most pressed universities will be allowed to select students on merit. The proposal stops short of a blanket UK-style selection system that student unions had opposed.  France s biggest student union, the moderate Fage, welcomed the plan. Two other unions, including the left-wing Unef, the second largest, were critical. Unef has said it will join CGT-led protests against government reforms on Nov.16 and urged students to  make their voice heard  against the education reform.     Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of the far-left France Unbowed party, has also urged students to mobilise after his early attempts to get workers onto the streets against the easing of unemployment laws failed. Macron  has got the advantage for now, let s not hide it,  Melenchon told franceinfo radio.  If youths got moving, things would be different, but it s not the case for now.  The reforms also include 60,000 new student housing units over the next five years and promise to scrap student s social security contributions and increase tutoring. Only 40 percent of students complete the first year of university, the government said.  Our aim is to ensure equal opportunities,  said University Minister Frederique Vidal.  We want to make university more accessible by accompanying students, in all their diversity.  ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
7229,7230,"Draymond Green and Klay Thompson help Golden State Warriors beat New York Knicks  From buzzer beaters to wonder goals , these are the most exciting , silly and downright crazy plays in the sporting world this week .    : Madison Square Garden is usually Stephen Curry ' s playground , but on this night , it was fellow All Stars Klay Thompson and Draymond Green who shot the lights out .  Thompson continued his recent tear with 34 points to lead the Warriors to a 116 95 win against the New York Knicks on Sunday .  Green got hot as well , going 9 for 9 from the field on his way to notching his  leading ninth triple double of the season with 20 points , 10 rebounds and 10 assists .  Tight defence : Carmelo Anthony heads for the net as Klay Thompson moves in .  Green didn ' t need to press , unlike one night earlier when he admitted that chasing after the assists caused turnovers that were detrimental to the team . He hit both his 3 point attempts and guarded 7 foot 3 Knicks rookie Kristaps Porzingis .  Before the game , Warriors coach Steve Kerr praised Green for owning up to his self described "" selfishly unselfish "" play in a win against Philadelphia in which Green ' s turnovers put the 76ers on the comeback trail .  "" I thought it was really great , "" Kerr said . "" It was awesome that Draymond admitted that publicly , admitted to his teammates that was going for a triple double , and it kind of messed with the flow of the game . I ' ve never heard a player actually admit to that . ""  After the lowest scoring first quarter of the season in which the Warriors committed eight turnovers and had only seven field goals , their flow was just fine . They bounced back in the second quarter with a collective 14 for 17 shooting performance as Green had seven of his assists .  Thompson was 14 for 18 from the field , including 5 for 6 from 3 point range . His latest command performance came after he scored 45 points Wednesday and had 32 Saturday .  Curry was held to 13 points on 5 for 17 shooting , but the Warriors easily improved to 44 4 .  Carmelo Anthony led New York with 24 points .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
7233,7234,"Reuters) - China s air force carried out another round of long-range drills on Monday, flying into the Sea of Japan and prompting South Korean and Japanese jets to scramble, and again around self-ruled Taiwan amid growing tension over China s assertiveness.   China has in recent months ramped up its long-range air force drills, particularly around Taiwan, claimed by China as its own.  The air force said in a statement that fighter and bomber aircraft flew through the Tsushima Strait that separates South Korea from Japan and into international waters in the Sea of Japan. The Sea of Japan is not Japan s, and the drills were lawful and reasonable, air force spokesman Shen Jinke said in the statement, describing the exercises as routine and pre-planned. The Japanese Defence Ministry said in a statement that the aircraft - two SU-30 fighters, two H-6 bombers and one TU-154 reconnaissance plane - had not violated Japan s airspace.  In Seoul, South Korea s Joint Chiefs of Staff said five Chinese military planes were spotted entering the Korean Air Defence Identification Zone, and fighter jets scrambled in response.  The Chinese aircraft also flew through Japan s Air Defence Identification Zone, they said.  Our fighter planes took normal tactical measures, identifying the models of the Chinese planes and flying aerial surveillance until they left,  the South Korean statement said. Chinese air force spokesman Shen alluded to the scrambled aircraft, saying they  responded to interference from foreign military aircraft  but were able to achieve the aim of their drill. Taiwan s military said that China had staged a separate drill at the same time, flying a plane through the Bashi Channel between Taiwan and the Philippines and then returning to base through the Strait of Miyako, to Taiwan s north and near Japan s southern islands. Taiwan monitored Japan sending F-15 fighters to intercept, Taiwan s defence ministry added in its statement. The Japanese Defence Ministry identified the plane as Y-8 electronic warfare aircraft. There was no violation of Japan s airspace in this instance either, the ministry said.     China s air force last week conducted  island encirclement patrols  near Taiwan, after a senior Chinese diplomat threatened that China would invade the self-ruled island if any U.S. warships made port visits there. China suspects Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, who leads the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, wants to declare the island s formal independence. Tsai says she wants to maintain peace with China but will defend Taiwan s security. China s air force exercises also come amid regional tensions over North Korea s nuclear and missile programmes, with bellicose rhetoric from both North Korea and U.S. President Donald Trump. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
7250,7251,"Thursday on “Fox  Friends,” discussing the Democrats opposition to President Donald Trump’s nominees,  White House aide Kellyanne Conway said we were seeing the Democratic Party “unravel in front of our eyes” because of what she called “a bunch of crybabies. ”  Conway said, “The Democratic Party, we’re seeing it unravel in front of our eyes and revealed in front of our eyes. A bunch of crybabies who say that they’re going to oppose the Supreme Court nominees before they even know the person’s name and academic credentials and impeccable judicial record. They are holding up our nominees to the cabinet. I was told yesterday this is the longest that the nation has gone without a secretary of the Treasury at least in modern times, if not the longest, it’s darn close to it. ” “We need a secretary of Treasury, folks, for those who actually go to work in the morning and need the dollar to flourish,” she continued. “We need a secretary of Treasury to be running things. This obstinateness and obstruction is a modern Democratic Party. I think it’s going to cost them because they’re hysterical about everything now. There’s no gradation of hysteria, everything makes them cry and scream. ” Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
7260,7261,"Nicolas Sarkozy has claimed that gay marriage ' humiliates families ' in his first  interview since announcing a return to politics .  The former French president , 59 , said he detested the way equal marriage was forced through by Francois Hollande ' s government last year .  Mr Sarkozy who has begun his attempt to be re elected as president in 2017 said on French television : ' The government is humiliating families and humiliating people who love the family . '  Mr Sarkozy , 59 , who has launched his bid to be re elected as president in 2017 , said he ' detested ' the socialist government ' s gay marriage legislation  Asked if he would get rid of the law if he was to become president again , Mr Sarkozy said it would not be a priority when so many were jobless .  His wife Carla Bruni said in a separate interview with French Vogue that she disagreed with her husband over marriage equality .  The former model said : ' I ' m rather in favour because I have a lot of friends men and women who are in this situation and I see nothing unstable or perverse in families with gay parents .  ' My husband is opposed for reasons linked to his political vocation , because he sees people as groups of thousands rather than people we know personally . '  Mr Sarkozy launched his comeback to politics in a message on Facebook on Friday , declaring he is joining the race to lead the right wing  party .  The former leader had told journalists they would ' never hear from him again ' after he lost the election to socialist Francois Hollande in the 2012 election .  The former leader , who is married to Carla Bruni ( right ) , had told journalists they would ' never hear from him again ' after he lost the election to socialist Francois Hollande in the 2012 election  He said : ' Looking at the disastrous state France risks finding itself in , I will have no choice . '  Friends say Mrs Bruni had begged him not to run again .  Sarkozy has faced several legal investigations since leaving office , including charges that he allegedly took campaign funds from former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi .  The leadership bid could also be hindered by a raft of corruption charges he faces over illegal campaign funding .  He is accused of accepting illegal party funding payments from France ' s richest woman , the L ' Oreal heiress Lilian Bettencourt , in return for tax breaks .  He has accused the country ' s socialist government of framing him with ' grotesque ' accusations .  While Sarkozy ' s supporters are desperate for him to return to politics , the wider French population is less enthusiastic . A poll by OpinionWay found that 64 per cent of French people are not interested in his upcoming comeback announcement .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
7267,7268,"Monkey has no copyright to famous selfie , judge rules  The selfie photos were taken by the monkey with an unattended camera owned by British nature photographer David Slater .  A macaque monkey who took now famous selfie photographs cannot be declared the copyright owner of the photos , a federal judge said Wednesday .   District Judge William Orrick said in federal court in San Francisco that "" while Congress and the president can extend the protection of law to animals as well as humans , there is no indication that they did so in the Copyright Act . ""  The lawsuit filed last year by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sought a court order allowing Peta to represent the monkey and let it to administer all proceeds from the photos for the benefit of the monkey , which it identified as 6 year old Naruto , and other crested macaques living in a reserve on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi .  The photos were taken during a 2011 trip to Sulawesi with an unattended camera owned by British nature photographer David Slater , who asked the court to dismiss the case .  Slater said the British copyright obtained for the photos by his company , Wildlife Personalities Ltd . , should be honored worldwide .  Peta sued Slater and his San Francisco based self publishing company Blurb , which published a book called Wildlife Personalities ? that includes the "" monkey selfie "" photos .  The photos have been widely distributed elsewhere by outlets , including Wikipedia , which contended that no one owned the copyright to the images because they were taken by an animal , not a person .  Slater described himself as a nature photographer who is deeply concerned about animal welfare in court documents and said it should up to the  Congress and not a federal court to decide whether copyright law applied to non human animals .  Jeff Kerr , general counsel for Peta , said the organisation would continue fighting for the monkey ' s rights .  "" Despite this setback , legal history was made today because we argued to a federal court why Naruto should be the owner of the copyright rather than been seen as a piece of property himself , "" Kerr said .  "" This case is also exposing the hypocrisy of those who exploit animals for their own gain . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
7272,7273,"MATAMOROS, Tamaulipas  —   A series of recent gun battles and executions in this border city and in Rio Bravo led to nearly a dozen deaths as clashes with military forces and internal turmoil within the Gulf Cartel is reaching a boiling point. [The violence began last week in the Buena Vista neighborhood of Matamoros when cartel gunmen clashed with military and police forces. As usual, the fighting led to blockades, where cartel gunmen hijacked various vehicles to choke chances of police pursuit down main avenues. In Rio Bravo, troops killed several  gunmen throughout the city.   The fighting and a series of apparent executions in both Matamoros and Rio Bravo led to the death of several men who are all believed to be part of one of the various factions that make up the Gulf Cartel.  In the downtown area of Matamoros, authorities responded to a local business where they found four men killed. The four cartel members had all been shot in the head  .   In a separate attack, a team of gunmen killed three men in a second ordered hit. One of the victims was a   drug dealer while the other two remain unknown. A local college student was struck by a stray bullet and died shortly after. In Rio Bravo, Mexican marines killed two gunmen who were fleeing from authorities after they murdered a married couple. The couple was gunned down after getting in a car crash with the cartel gunmen.   Editor’s Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to the Mexican States of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, and Nuevo León to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities.  The writers would face certain death at the hands of the various cartels that operate in those areas including the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas if a pseudonym were not used. Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and in their original Spanish. This article was written by “J. A. Espinoza” from Matamoros, Tamaulipas and “A. C. Del Angel” from Reynosa, Tamaulipas",true,news,validation,Other news1,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
7278,7279,"A pre-general election debate between Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump would have been a political event that would be talked about for years. However, such a debate will never happen because Trump is a giant chicken. Sanders blasted Trump on Real Time with Bill Maher Friday night.After Trump  jokingly  said that he would debate Sanders ahead of the California primary, Trump quickly backed out. Sanders expressed his disappointment with the presumptive Republican presidential nominee s decision. Sanders put out a challenge to Trump, saying: I would have loved [to debate Trump]! First, he said he would do it, then he said he wouldn t do it. Then he said he would do it, then he said he wouldn t do it. So I would hope if he changed his mind four times in two days, change it a fifth time. Trump claims to be a real tough guy, pushes people around. Hey Donald, come on up, let s have a debate about the future of America. That s when Sanders unleashed a savage takedown of Trump: This guy is a pathological liar. And I don t mean to be malicious, but that is just the damn truth. He would be not only an embarrassment; he would be a real danger to this entire world if he were to become president. Maher and Sanders discussed many things during the interview. Sanders, as he usually does, talked about the tough issues that the American people are facing, including the disappearance of the middle class, the enormous amount of poverty there is in this country, and the need for issues-based politics.Sanders also pointed out how Trump s constant lying and flip-flopping makes him hard to create an effective strategy against. How exactly does one challenge their opponent when said opponent s supporters don t hold that accountable to their stance on the issues or their character? While Sanders himself may have seemed unsure (or at least wasn t willing to lay one out in the open during the interview), Sanders has clobbered Trump on the campaign trail while staying classy.  Love trumps hate,  being a simple effective message that gets to the hearts of both Sanders  and Trump s campaigns.Sanders knows that you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, and he has an amazing platform that actually speaks to the needs of the average person   an agenda that will be championed by many long after this current race is over.You can watch the interview in full, below.Featured image via video screenshot",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
7301,7302,"“Beaches,” directed by Garry Marshall and released three decades ago, was a curio even in its own time: a pastiche of 1950s   that was set, strangely and uncomfortably, in the 1970s and ’80s. Portraying the lifelong friendship of two women, one of whom dies too young  —   you could say that’s a spoiler, but it’s really the only thing the movie’s about  —   it was a shamelessly retrograde and   soap opera with a veneer of fake feminism. (Careers and single motherhood were fine as long as they involved constant suffering.) Depending on your susceptibilities, it could inspire cultish devotion or impel you to yell at the screen. It was not, by any measure, a movie that needed to be remade. But here we are, 29 years later, with a new television version of “Beaches” on Lifetime on Saturday night. Idina Menzel has taken the Bette Midler role of C. C. Bloom, the brassy Jewish   (originally from the Bronx, now from Venice Beach) and Nia Long succeeds Barbara Hershey as Hillary Whitney, who originally was a   lawyer. The Lifetime “Beaches” is a reduction of the original  —   smaller emotions, smaller performances, fewer songs, shorter running time (about 87 minutes versus 123)  —   and while that could have been an improvement, it’s not. The things that made the original worth sitting through, whether you were   or   are mostly gone. Stuffing the story into 70 percent of the time makes C. C. and Hillary’s cycle of fights and reconciliations feel more arbitrary than ever, especially in the absence of Ms. Midler, whose vivid portrayal of C. C. provided motivations that weren’t in the script. The new things in the Lifetime film, written by Bart Baker and Nicole Beckwith (based on a novel by Iris Rainer Dart) and directed by Allison Anders, add nothing to the story. Casting Ms. Long, who’s black, would seem to add diversity, but so much of the (admittedly clichéd)   and California   flavors have been stripped away from C. C. and Hillary that the characters feel more indistinguishable than they did before. Some of the film’s precious time is devoted to a new character, Hillary’s lawyer father, so that when he dies, she can make a statement about black men and the justice system. Meanwhile, you watch it noting the things that are missing, even those that made you cringe. No more Ms. Midler singing “Under the Boardwalk. ” No more Mayim Bialik as the frighteningly confident    C. C. belting out “The Glory of Love. ” No more John Heard supplying a touch of grace as the theater director whom both C. C. and Hillary love. No more “That’s my robe. ” There is one improvement: Ms. Menzel sings “Wind Beneath My Wings” a   sooner than Ms. Midler did. Just in case that’s what you’re waiting around for.",true,news,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
7310,7311,"It ' s the most wonderful time of the year on Earth but it seems the universe , too , knows how to throw a good festive party .  A stunning image released by Nasa has shown a kaleidoscope of colour as two colliding galaxies put on a spectacular light show .  But while impressive to look at , the image also has scientific value revealing a large number of super bright sources of X rays that may indicate a new type of black hole .  Scientists in Massachusetts and Texas have revealed a spectacular light show taking place in two colliding galaxies ( shown ) . The galaxies in question are  2207 and  2163 , which are 130 million light years from Earth in Canis Major  The two galaxies in the image ,  2207 and  2163 , are located about 130 million light years from Earth in the constellation of Canis Major , and together measure 180 , 000 light years across .  The image is a combination of data from three telescopes : the Chandra X ray Observatory , the Hubble Space Telescope and the Spitzer Space Telescope .  Colliding galaxies like the pair featured in the image are well known to contain intense star formation .  Shock waves , like the sonic booms from supersonic aircraft , form during the collision , leading to the collapse of clouds of gas and the formation of star clusters .  In fact , researchers estimate that the stars associated with the ultraluminous X ray sources ( ULXs ) are very young and may only be about 10 million years old .  In contrast , our Sun is about halfway through its 10 billion year lifetime .  It was compiled by scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology , the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge and the Harvard Medical School in Boston ( all in Massachusetts ) , and the Sam Houston State University in Huntsville , Texas .  Chandra is used to spot X rays coming from the galaxy , which appear pink in the image .  The reason there is so much pink is that the galaxies contain one of the most numerous collections ever found of so called ultraluminous X ray sources ( ULXs ) .  Both galaxies , like our own Milky Way , contain a number of star systems called X ray binaries .  These consist of a star in a tight orbit around either a neutron star or a small black hole with about the mass of our sun like the one seen in the movie Interstellar .  These systems emit a large amount of X rays , but ULXs of which both galaxies have many are far brighter .  Why they are so much brighter than regular X ray binaries is not well understood , but it might be caused by a larger than normal black hole an as yet unconfirmed medium sized one orbiting each star .  In total 28 ULXs have been spotted in the two galaxies .  The pink colour in the image shows X ray emissions from superbright sources ( shown up close ) , believed to be stars around black holes . Intense regions of star formation are also revealed in the image , which uses data from three telescope  The image is a combination of data from three telescopes : the Chandra X ray Observatory ( illustration shown ) , the Hubble Space Telescope and the Spitzer Space Telescope  Elsewhere in the image , Hubble ' s optical data appears in blue , white , orange and brown , while infrared data from Spitzer appears red .  From the data , scientists have found a strong correlation between the number of X ray sources and the rate at which stars are forming in any given region .  In the spiral arms of the galaxies , for example , comparatively large amounts of stars are forming in similar regions to the ULXs .  The correlation suggests the stars in the binary systems with black holes are young and massive , emitting huge amounts of radiation .  In fact , such is the rate of star formation that 24 are predicted to be born each year .  For comparison , our Milky Way spawns only about one to three new stars every year .  Elsewhere in the image , Hubble ' s optical data appears in blue , white , orange and brown , while infrared data from Spitzer appears red . Shown is a previous image Hubble took of the colliding galaxies , with their positions mirrored  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
7316,7317,"They may be , but it won t matter if they lose in Charlotte .  Also , Harper isn t very good , but the players around him make his job easier .  They sure didn t look like the best the way they let Seattle back in the game last week . Zero points by the Panthers the second half . Happened against the Giants too .  I never understand why opposing fans would take offense that a player thinks his team is the best , or will win . You better hope  player on your team thinks that way .  If you don t believe it , nobody else will . Nothing wrong with him stating it . I think it s more a message to his teammates , than anyone else .  Supreme confidence is contagious . All 4 teams better believe the same thing .  The Panthers are clearly the best team . It s not even close .  I predict them to bash the Cardinals and then whoever they face in the Superbowl .  Sometimes you just gotta face the facts and the facts are that this is just their year .  Now saying that I would be more than overjoyed to see the Cardinals pull an upset .  As a Panthers fan , I find it crazy to think that we are the best team looking at this  group and secondary group . But , Old Man Harper is right , they are the best team . If they play their best , they will win 100 of the time . If they lose , it will be because they got away from their identity .  the Panthers performance was disturbing in the Seattle game  so they are doing every thing right , then in the second half get their butts tight ?  Throughout  history , teams that get a big lead then change what s happening to protect that lead are basically playing prevent and I ve never seen the prevent prevent anything  Seattle very nearly came back from the biggest point deficit in  history because of the prevent approach and that alone removes the Panthers from being the best  Seattle got back in the game in the Second half . It shows what needs to happen to shut down the Panthers . And that game put on display just how Jekyl Hyde the Seahawks have been this season . You don t get that with the Cardinals . Apart from the cards hawks game , the Cardinals have played the most consistent football in the league this year against a much tougher schedule than the Panthers had .  I think the Panthers will need to play better than they have all year in order to be this Cardinals team .  The Panthers are clearly the best team . It s not even close .  I think it is close . The difference between the Panthers and Cardinals in negligible .  However , the superiority of the  teams ( this season alone ) over the remaining 2  teams is vast .  The Panthers D is better , and I think that ll be the difference in the game .  I love any player having confidence in his team ! You better , prove it Sunday night against the Cardinals ! ! Speak it and be it !  We still miss Roman Harper in New Orleans . He ll always be loved here , for all he did for the Saints . Saints fans never forget ! ! ! ! Be well , Roman , Good Luck on Sunday ! ! !  In what context did he say this was he asked a leading question or did he sit down declare we re the best ! ?  So to those of you that are getting so hot and bothered  16 1 14 3 . Just a cold fact . Doesn t guarantee a win Sunday though .  There are lots of similarities between these 2 teams ? speed on the outside , good  , effective blitzes from the defenses , fairly good special teams .  The differences are the Panthers have a  they actually use , and Cam Newton can actually run from Point A to Point B , and Carson Palmer can t . Roman Harper is right ? we are the better team . Not by much , but we are better .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
7322,7323,"Ben Carson is winning in the polls 02 : 28  Donald Trump made headlines this weekend by questioning fellow  candidate Ben Carson ' s Seventh day Adventist faith literally .  "" I ' m Presbyterian , "" Trump said at a rally in Florida on Saturday . "" Boy , that ' s down the middle of the road folks , in all fairness . I mean , Seventh day Adventist , I don ' t know about . I just don ' t know about . ""  Carson , who was baptized into the Seventh day Adventist Church in Detroit when he was 8 and earnestly committed himself to the church when he was 14 , is perhaps the faith ' s most famous member .  Trump later said that he wasn ' t trying to "" send a dog whistle "" to religious conservatives who might look askance at Adventist doctrine . "" All I said was that I don ' t know about it , "" he told  .  Fair enough . A lot of Americans don ' t know much about the Seventh day Adventist Church . The Protestant Christian denomination turned 150 years old in 2013 , which makes it a relative newcomer on the religious scene . ( This is year 5776 in Judaism , by contrast . )  Many Adventists embrace their outsider status , calling themselves "" God ' s peculiar people . "" But Carson , while acknowledging that people tend to ascribe "" any weird thing "" to Adventists , has played down the differences , saying dogmas and rituals are not his cup of nonalcoholic beverage . ( Adventists don ' t drink or smoke . )  In any case , if you ' re like Trump and need a quick course on Adventism 101 , here are three beliefs they share with mainstream Christians , followed by several unique to Seventh day Adventists .  1 . Adventists believe the Bible is the infallible word of God  Many Adventists also believe the Bible offers a historically accurate view of ancient times , which is why Carson , for instance , ascribes to Creationism , the idea that God created the world in six days .  2 . Adventists believe Jesus came to save humans from their sins  No surprise here every Christian denomination believes this . Adventists , like other Christians , also believe in the two other members of the traditional Trinity : God , the father , and the Holy Spirit . Salvation comes through the repentance of sins and holding faith in Jesus , but grace is ultimately granted by God alone , the church believes .  3 . Adventists believe the Bible counsels against abortion , same sex marriage .  Again , this is similar to Catholics , evangelicals and many conservative Protestants .  While many Adventists keep their distance from partisan politics and try to maintain a wall between church and state , the church has spoken out against the June Supreme Court ruling that legalized same sex marriage in the United States . The church tends to lean to the rightward on other culture war issues as well .  1 . Adventists worship on Saturday , the "" seventh day ""  The Hebrews in the Old Testament worshiped on Saturday the sabbath and seventh day of the week , according to the Jewish calendar . Jesus , being a Jew , also attended religious services on Saturday . And both of those examples , Adventists say , are good enough reasons for their church to worship on Saturday .  Adventists keep the sabbath holy by resting as God did on the seventh day , according to the Bible . Many typically do not work , attend funerals or participate in "" secular "" entertainment from sundown on Friday until sunset on Saturday . ( Carson apparently believes campaigning is permitted , though . )  Unlike many other Christians , Adventists don ' t believe in hell as a place filled with lakes of fire and eternal torment . That ' s mostly because the church does not see such a place literally described in the Bible , explained Douglas Morgan , a professor of church history at Washington Adventist University . When Jesus tells the story of the rich man in Hades , he is speaking metaphorically , Adventists believe .  Other Adventists argue that a good God would not condemn his people even sinners to never ending punishment . In the church ' s view , when people die they sleep in the grave until the second coming of Jesus , when he will judge the living and the dead . Good people go to heaven bad people are just poof annihilated .  3 . They do believe that Jesus ' second coming is imminent  Speaking of the second coming , many Adventists believe that it ' s going to happen soon , and some are chagrined that it hasn ' t happened yet . When the denomination celebrated its 150 anniversary in 2013 , some church leaders were downright disappointed that their church had lasted so long .  "" If you took a time machine and visited our founders in May 1863 , they ' d be disconcerted , to say the least , that we ' re still here , "" David Trim , the church ' s director of archives and research , said at the time .  4 . Adventists believe in the visions and prophecies of Ellen White  It ' s rare for American religions to have been co founded by a woman , and rarer still for the faith to revere her as a prophet but Ellen G . White was no ordinary woman .  White , who died in 1915 , claimed to have a series of some 2 , 000 visions , some about the Bible , others about more mundane topics such as healthy diets . Many of these revelations were incorporated into church teachings , which has led Christians who honor only the Bible to disparage Adventists .  Morgan said that Adventists believe the Bible is the final authority and that White ' s writings are a "" lesser light pointing to the greater light "" that is , Scripture .  Canonical or not , White teachings on health seem to have been effective . Adventist Health System is one of the largest nonprofit hospital systems in the country , and studies conducted by the denomination have found that their healthy lifestyles have led to longer lives , on average , then other Americans .  Donald Trump is lashing out at Ben Carson as the billionaire businessman suddenly faces the prospect of losing in Iowa and he ' s using religion to do it .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
7339,7340,"Parents need to be aware predators could use smartphone location apps to monitor and track the precise location of their children , the former head of MI6 has warned .  Sir John Scarlett has said there is no ' absolute protection ' of information children share online and once smartphone location apps have been given consent to track the phone , it is difficult to control who uses the information .  Ahead of a speech at the Headmasters ' and Headmistresses ' Conference (  ) annual meeting in Newport , south Wales , Sir John said that the world , and above all the technological environment , has rapidly changed .  Tracking information on apps such as Find My iPhone ( pictured ) could be used by predators  The former spy chief warned that in general , there is ' no absolute protection ' against a determined online attack , adding it is vital to know what young people are learning online .  The public can protect themselves by using passwords and other measures against 80 of intrusions but ' everybody has to understand that you can ' t be absolutely certain that somebody , somewhere , won ' t get it ' .  Information gathered through tracking apps is meant to be secure however , recent scandals such as the celebrity nude photos hacks have shown such data can be easily accessed for other , more sinister purposes .  Sir John , who served as chief of the British Secret Intelligence Service for five years until 2009 , said : ' You ' ve got to know what your children are doing , it ' s very difficult to know exactly what they ' re doing in particular when they ' re on a tablet or something they ' ve got and you ' ve got to have some kind of idea .  Sir John Scarlett ( pictured ) has warned predators may be able to use location apps to track children  ' They are extremely vulnerable , everybody is , to a whole range of things . Clearly when they ' re young children they ' re particularly vulnerable to predators . '  He said this also included sexual predators .  ' Personally what worries me , in a way , most , is tracking devices .  ' The way in which locational apps for example are now quite freely available , of course you can start off by consciously giving out that information , but once you ' ve done that , you ' ve lost control of it .  ' There is a need for everyone to be aware that once information is shared online , for example through using a search engine , it can be used by different firms , '  He added that youngsters can also be tracked through getting into conversations online , or by using apps that use an individual ' s location .  ' It ' s the tracking , and obviously if you get into conversations , I don ' t really see how that can be controlled unless you have some idea what your child ' s doing . '  His ' basic advice ' was to teach children common sense values to stick to , such as being aware of the information they give out and how they express themselves .  Young girls were obviously vulnerable to tracking and there were individuals able to track someone ' right down to more or less precisely where you are ' .  He also suggested that the public should be more worried about threats from terrorists and international criminal networks than the Government snooping on them .  MailOnline has requested comment from Apple .  The way in which an online predator could go about tracking a child ' s smartphone is astonishingly simple .  Only days ago the  indicted a man for selling a spyware application which could monitor smartphones ' calls , texts , videos and phone calls .  Not only could it monitor that information , but it could pick up the phone ' s  as well as operate its microphone turning it into a bug to listen into conversations up to 15 feet away from the handset .  For example , Find My iPhone is an security enabled app which enables a  inside the phone to give off a signal . Theoretically , in the event of the theft of the phone , you can then use your secure log on to find its exact location on a web browser .  However , spyware programmes for which the predator needs only a few minutes on their victim ' s phone to install enables the data from that phone to be synchronised with its customer ' s account on the internet .  This information includes the  signal given off by the phone which when monitored online ( either by its intended user , or a predator using spyware ) gives off a green dot signalling its exact location .  If you suspect your phone has been infected with spyware , it ' s recommended you perform a factory reset which will delete all data and apps installed after the handset was purchased .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
7342,7343,"A couple of quick questions come to mind when most law-abiding Americans see illegal aliens storming our government buildings:  Is there anywhere else in the world where hundreds of illegal aliens are storming government buildings that house lawmakers, to demand the same rights afforded to legal citizens? And does I.C.E. have the day off or something? Hundreds of illegal and legal immigrants descended upon the Hart Senate building Thursday afternoon, gathering in mass protest of the Trump administration s decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Act.#DreamActNow #CleanDreamActNOW #undocumented #unafraid Happening now! pic.twitter.com/oPFcZCYrXj  UndocuBlack Network (@UndocuBlack) November 9, 2017The protesters gathered in the Capitol to demand that members of Congress pass legislation for DREAMERers and  recipients.Happening Now! UndocuBlack joins hundreds of immigrant youth and we are taking over the Hart Senate building in Washington,  #DREAMActNow@speakerryan #CleanDreamAct #CleanDreamActNOW pic.twitter.com/lLXPJro17v  UndocuBlack Network (@UndocuBlack) November 9, 2017Protests were not relegated to solely Washington, college students across the U.S. staged organized walkouts and rallies Thursday.Another group, the UndocuBlack Network, joined in on Thursday s Capitol protests. UndocuBlack describes themselves as a  multigenerational Network of Black undocumented people organizing our communities and building power. The UndocBlack Network just tweeted that they are not interested in any deals with Congress. The   group tweeted:  We will not trade diversity visas, e-verify, so called chain migration!  Who knew that people living  in our nation had so much power?BREAKING: @speakerryan and the  just Don't get it! We said #cleanDREAMAct #DreamActNow We will not trade diversity visas, e-verify, so called chain migration! weblink pic.twitter.com/t5CiKRBOys  UndocuBlack Network (@UndocuBlack) November 9, 2017House Republicans said Thursday that they are hoping to pass a bill help  recipients before the clock runs out on 2017. Roughly a dozen House  members think as many as 300 of the chamber s 435 members could get behind such a bill. No bill is going to be perfect, but inaction is just unacceptable. We stand here ready to work with the speaker s working group, with the White House, with our friends from both sides of the aisle to pass a legislative solution this year,  Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washington told reporters Thursday.  Every time that Congress kicks this can down the road, people, real people, are hurt. Via: Daily Caller",fake,dataset,validation,American football,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present
7349,7350,"After protests erupted in Chicago that led to the cancellation of a Donald Trump rally at the University of Illinois Chicago Pavilion , the controversial Republican candidate has filed a lawsuit against the city for prohibiting his First Amendment right to free speech .  "" My free speech right was infringed last Friday in Chicago and that ' s what it will say in the lawsuit , "" Trump told reporters . "" We ' ll be asking for a monetary settlement and for those protestors to be prosecuted . It was very , very wrong of them . I do not condone violence . I ' m very against violence , especially at my campaign events . ""  Trump ' s attorneys drew extensive papers on the lawsuit and are filled on Monday . A Chicago judge will review them by next week .  "" Chicago violated my First Amendment right and they aren ' t going to get away with it . Just like China won ' t get away with stealing our jobs and manipulating their currency . ""  The campaign thinks a conspiracy might be involved with the anti trump protesters . "" When the cops saw a bunch of black people entering my rally , they knew they shouldn ' t be there but let them in anyway . I mean , what is that ?  Trump then went after Chicago ' s Mayor Rahm Emanuel . "" I know Rahm thinks he ' s a tough guy , but he ' ll be a mouse looking for his mom by the time I get done with him . He makes ' Little Rubio ' look like a giant . A New Yorker will beat a Chicagoan every time . Believe me , he is going to regret not having his city under control .  He was terrible as Obama ' s Chief of Staff and he ' s been a terrible Mayor . Look at the gang problem and the cities credit rating .  "" I ' m happy Nabisco closed that Chicago factory and moved it to Mexico . I was against it before , but after tonight , I ' m totally for it . ""  The Mayor  Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel called the lawsuit "" frivolous and "" ridiculous . ""  "" You can ' t have a presidential candidate going around suing cities because the local people don ' t like the guy , "" Emanuel told the Chicago Tribune . "" The city is in massive debt and the last thing we need is to be tied up in court for years to come cause we know Trump loves to sue people . Legal fees aren ' t cheap . ""  Trump claimed the Chicago Police Department told him to call off the event but they responded by saying it was Trump ' s campaign that called off the event and the Chicago Police did not infringe on his free speech right .  "" If Trump thinks he can bully the City of Chicago , he ' s got another thing coming . ""  ",satire,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
7352,7353,"Forum (godlike productions) « on: Today at 10:28:07  » Has anyone on here kept track much on the forum: godlike productions or  forum? It is not easy trying to get past the trolls but it seems to stay up with current news so I usually go there to see what the recent news was. I was posting there with a link and when I tried to post it, I was immediately banned. Anyone else go there at all on this forum? Does anyone on here know anything about this forum like who controls it? Lee51",fake,news,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present
7353,7354,"An attempt to emulate Denman by winning next season ' s Hennessy Gold Cup is on the agenda for Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Coneygree .  The first novice to win the feature race of the Festival since Captain Christy in 1974 was on Saturday feted as friends and well wishers gathered at the Oxfordshire stable of trainer Mark Bradstock and wife Sara in the village of Letcombe Bassett , which once housed five time Gold Cup hero Golden Miller .  Friday ' s victory for a small stable of 10 horses was a heart warming end to a Festival dominated by the big guns from Britain and Ireland .  2015 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Coneygree could race at Newbury on November 28  Nico de Boinville kisses the Cheltenham Gold Cup following Coneygree ' s length and a half victory  The eight year old , who was ridden by conditional jockey Nico de Boinville , will not run again this season and Sara Bradstock , daughter of the late amateur rider , broadcaster and journalist , Lord Oaksey , believes Coneygree ' s similarity to Denman means a crack at the Newbury race on November 28 is feasible challenge .  Coneygree won the Denman Chase at the track last month on his final prep race for the Gold Cup . His family also have history in the race , with older brother Carruthers winning the 2011 Hennessy .  Sara said : ' We might consider the Betfair Chase and the King George , for sure . The world is our oyster now but , depending on what the handicapper does , we might try to win the Hennessy off top weight .  ' We know he likes Newbury and he seems to have a lot of similarities with Denman . '  De Boinville ( left ) and trainer Mark Bradstock are all smiles with the 2015 Gold Cup trophy  The Paul Nicholls trained Denman , the 2008 Gold Cup winner , won the Hennessy twice in 2007 and 2009 . On the latter occasion , he defied a  handicap mark of 174 when carrying 11st 12lb .  Chief handicapper Phil Smith intends rating Coneygree 171 , the highest for a novice this century and 1lb higher than given to Willie Mullins ' Vautour after his spectacular  Novices ' Chase win .  Meanwhile , hopes of a family double within 24 hours were dashed when heavy ground at Uttoxeter prompted Carruthers to be withdrawn from the Midlands National , which was won by Irish raider Goonyella . The  McCoy ridden 5 2 favourite , Catching On , fell at the seventh fence .  De Boinville and Coneygree clear a fence on their way to victory at the Cheltenham Gold Cup  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
7366,7367,"Category fraud : Ever heard of it ? Let me help you out . Basically , it s when studios launch a campaign for an actor to be nominated in a certain category ? for example , lead performance even though the actor seemingly belongs in another ? for example , supporting performance ? to increase an actor s shot at an award nod . This year , two actresses are at the center of the category fraud discussion : Alicia Vikander ( The Danish Girl ) and Rooney Mara ( Carol ) . Each is being pushed as a supporting contender , despite the fact that each is arguably the star of her respective film . This didn t fly with the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn . , which votes on the Golden Globes , and recently ruled that Vikander and Mara would have to compete in the lead category . So which way will  voters go ? The lead category does appear to be especially crowded this season , with strong performances from Brie Larson ( Room ) , Saoirse Ronan ( Brooklyn ) , Charlotte Rampling ( 45 Years ) , Jennifer Lawrence ( Joy ) and Mara s co star in Carol , Cate Blanchett .  Vikander , for one , seemed to be fine with the supporting campaign when I asked her about it a couple months ago . I think the only thing that I ve thought about it is that her character is a supporting role in the sense of the story , she said , referring to her part as the wife of a transgender artist played by Eddie Redmayne . I would say that it comes down to if I m considered for anything ? that s just amazing . And the rest is not me . It s not my decision .  Director David O . Russell s films typically resonate with  voters : His last two films , American Hustle and Silver Linings Playbook , each had strong showings in big categories . But his latest effort , Joy , which is being released on Christmas , may not be nominated for outstanding cast ? even though the film is filled with heavyweight talents like Lawrence , Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro . While Lawrence is earning positive reviews for her turn as a single mom who invented the Miracle Mop , the movie overall has not been beloved by critics . So while the 25 year old star has a shot at a nomination , an ensemble nod seems less likely . And  s cast prize is largely seen as an indicator of which films will go on to be nominated for best picture , meaning the Joy team could need some cheering up over the holidays .  Watch the trailer for the film "" Joy , "" starring Jennifer Lawrence .  Watch the trailer for the film "" Joy , "" starring Jennifer Lawrence .  Last year s Oscar nominees were all white , prompting much needed discussion about diversity in Hollywood . And yet after all the think pieces and Twitter outrage , we may be facing another award season with embarrassingly few nominees of color . On Wednesday , the only black actor to be recognized by  may well be Idris Elba , who stars as an African warlord in Beasts of No Nation . Will Smith has a shot for his turn as a forensic pathologist in the  drama Concussion , but many pundits believe his odds are longer than Elba s . As far as ensemble noms go , we ve already discussed the predicament for The Hateful Eight , which features Jackson and Demian Bichir in prominent roles . And despite the fact that they were each critically acclaimed , big box office draws , the racially diverse Straight Outta Compton and Creed are still considered long shots . In short , when it comes to diversity in 2015 it could be all talk , no action .  Follow AmyKinLA ? on Twitter for the latest Hollywood news .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
7379,7380,DON’T   “LIKE”   This is the absolute best in food storage. Dave Hodges is a satisfied customer. Don’t wait until it is too late. Click Here for more information.,fake,news,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present
7426,7427,"Seventy five years later , the innovation and courage of those who designed and built the Golden Gate Bridge shine as brightly as the span ' s orange towers .  The suspension bridge connecting San Francisco and Marin County opened to vehicles on May 28 , 1937 , a little more than four years after construction began .  A daylong celebration Sunday will include music , vintage cars , a watercraft parade and technology demonstrations . The events will be capped by a spectacular fireworks display showcasing the bridge and surrounding parkland .  A dedication Friday of new visitor facilities and services paid tribute to the audacity that created the bridge and the 11 men who died during its construction .  "" Built in the midst of the Great Depression , this bridge is a reminder , no matter what the daunting challenge and overwhelming obstacles , America always invests in big and bold endeavors . "" said Rep . Nancy Pelosi , D California .  The bridge is named for the Golden Gate Strait , a symbol of hope for immigrants and safety for troops returning from war , Pelosi said .  Sunday ' s activities will be centered at Crissy Field and Marina Green , along the northern waterfront of San Francisco .  The bridge was made for superlatives and wow inducing numbers , as provided by the Golden Gate Bridge Highway Transportation District :  Each tower has approximately 600 , 000 rivets .  The 4 , 200 foot suspension span was the longest in the world until New York ' s Verrazano Narrows Bridge opened in 1964 .  Painting is an ongoing task , because it protects the bridge from high salt content in the air , which corrodes steel components .  The bridge has been closed three times because of weather .  What ' s the chance of signature Golden Gate fog during Sunday ' s festival ?  National Weather Service meteorologist Steve Anderson said there will be low clouds in the morning , partly cloudy skies in the afternoon and a mostly clear outlook for the evening .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
7430,7431,"The Fox television network announced yesterday its intention of creating a new awards show designed to honor outstanding achievements in the field of award shows , a spokesperson for the network said .  The new show , called "" The Awards Awardz , "" will air in March of next year and will feature several celebrities whose careers are spiraling out of control , such as host David Spade , as well as a slew of celebrity guests who will be handed large sacks with a dollar sign printed on them upon their arrival to the show .  "" This show is all about being hip and appealing to the hip 12 18 age demographic of hip , cool kids who are all about what ' s hip , "" said Lisa Strong , the network ' s spokesperson . "" We ' re getting a bunch of hip bands they haven ' t been announced yet , as they will be determined on the basis of whether or not they currently have a popular single to really wrap up the whole hip package . ""  Strong added that the show would also "" probably hand out awards or something "" .  Besides an apparent desire to appeal to the "" hip "" crowd , the primary reason for the show ' s existence is to sort out the growing number of awards shows and appropriately gauge their quality , so that frightened and confused television viewers don ' t have to do it for themselves , said Strong after thinking about it for a bit .  "" There have been lots of awards shows debuting lately the Video Game Awards on Spike  to honor video games , the Commie awards on Comedy Central to honor Communists , the 98 hour Lifetime awards on the Lifetime Network to honor any and all women who have ever been oppressed by brutish , senseless men but we at Fox are afraid that the average  viewer may not be able to figure out which awards shows they like , "" explained Strong . "" So what we ' ve done is taken a bunch of celebrity presenters who do not know anything about awards shows and got them to tell Fox viewers what they should like . ""  As for the nominees , Strong said that the list hasn ' t been finalized yet , but that there were already some "" strong contenders "" .  "" Our kind hearted advertiser Viacom , owner of Spike  and Comedy Central , really has a great chance with its awards shows , "" Strong gushed . "" I really can ' t even think of any other awards shows that stand a chance against Viacom ' s juggernauts . Maybe that one movie awards show , the Police Academy Awards , or whatever it ' s called . But that ' s about it . ""  Some of the possible categories to be nominated in include Best Overall Awards Show , Best Awards Show Airing On A Day Beginning With A "" T "" , Award For Outstanding Awards Show Technical Excellence In The Field Of Something Or Other , Most Skin Flashed In An Awards Show , and Best Awards Show Featuring Fox Television Programs In The Show .  Strong said the network is expecting a strong audience for the show , with ratings easily edging out programming such as  ' s reality show hit "" Take Away My Dignity , Please "" and  ' "" Shitty Sitcom 56 "" .  "" There ' s a lot of quality competition out there , "" Strong admitted . "" But I think that this show will easily beat all of it due to its immense hip factor . ""  Judging from the public ' s reaction so far , it seems that Strong ' s predictions will hold accurate .  "" Every night , I watch a different awards show , and at the end of the week , I realize that I don ' t know which ones I liked , "" said New York woman Jane Picer . "" I have been waiting for celebrities to tell me the answer for a long time now . ""  "" Forming your own opinions is actually very overrated , "" claimed another New Yorker . "" The guy across the hall told me that . ""  "" If I wanted to think , I ' d go back to school , "" snorted another man . "" That part of my life is thankfully over , which is why I ' m happy that Fox is running this informative program . ""  ",satire,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
7461,7462,"Email  On November 4, the National Rifle Association (NRA) called on Americans concerned about the future of the right to keep and bear arms to focus their attention on electing pro-Second Amendment senators in the upcoming federal elections.  These senators, the  explains, will be the last obstacle standing between the United Nation's Arms Trade Treaty's (ATT) forced civilian disarmament and the continuation of gun rights in America. But that’s just the beginning. As you know, the U.S. Senate also ratifies international treaties. Right now, at the United Nations, the Arms Trade Treaty — which could subject American gun owners to international gun registration, monitoring and global gun-control “norms” that would be defined on the fly — is just waiting, like unexploded ordnance, for an anti-gun U.S. Senate to call it in. Under President Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry signed onto the Arms Trade Treaty. All the treaty needs to become the law of the land is for the U.S. Senate to ratify it.  While it is certainly wise to fill the Senate (and the House, for that matter) with representatives committed to upholding the Constitution, there are other, surer and more constitutionally sound ways of blocking the unconstitutional confiscation of weapons and ammunition that would be carried out should the UN's Arms Trade Treaty by enforced in the United States.  The most powerful check citizens of the states have on the seizure of weapons by the  or its American allies is the nullification of any and all unconstitutional acts of the federal government.  Nullification is the exercise by states of their retained authority to hold as null, void, and of no legal effect any act of the federal government that exceeds its constitutionally enumerated powers. This availability of this tactic is proclaimed and protected by the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  The  is correct, though, that the  is so offensive to the preservation of the right to keep and bear arms that it is an understatement to call it unconstitutional. As The New American has reported, several provisions of this treaty significantly diminish the scope of this basic right.  First, the Arms Trade Treaty grants a monopoly over all weaponry in the hands of the very entity (government) responsible for over 300 million murders in the 20th century.  Furthermore, the treaty leaves private citizens powerless to oppose future slaughters.  An irrefutable fact of armed violence unaddressed by the  in its gun grab is that all the murders committed by all the serial killers in history don't amount to a fraction of the brutal killings committed by ""authorized state parties"" using the very weapons over which they will exercise absolute control under the terms of the Arms Trade Treaty.  Article 2 of the treaty defines the scope of the treaty’s prohibitions. The right to own, buy, sell, trade, or transfer all means of armed resistance, including handguns, is denied to civilians by this section of the Arms Trade Treaty.  Article 3 places the “ammunition/munitions fired, launched or delivered by the conventional arms covered under Article 2” within the scope of the treaty’s prohibitions, as well.  Article 4 rounds out the regulations, also placing all “parts and components” of weapons within the scheme.  Perhaps the most immediate threat to the rights of gun owners in the Arms Trade Treaty is found in Article 5. Under the title of “General Implementation,” Article 5 mandates that all countries participating in the treaty “shall establish and maintain a national control system, including a national control list.”  This list should “apply the provisions of this Treaty to the broadest range of conventional arms.”  Article 12 adds to the record-keeping requirement, mandating that the list include “the quantity, value, model/type, authorized international transfers of conventional arms,” as well as the identity of the “end users” of these items.  In very clear terms, ratification of the Arms Trade Treaty by the United States would require that the U.S. government force gun owners to add their names to the national registry. Citizens would be required to report the amount and type of all firearms and ammunition they possess.  Section 4 of Article 12 of the treaty requires that the list be kept for at least 10 years.  Finally, the agreement demands that national governments take “appropriate measures” to enforce the terms of the treaty, including civilian disarmament. If these countries can’t get this done on their own, however, Article 16 provides for  assistance, specifically including help with the enforcement of “stockpile management, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes.”  In fact, a “voluntary trust fund” will be established to assist those countries that need help from  peacekeepers or other regional forces to disarm their citizens.  There is no way that the men and women of the United States can hope to maintain their hard-won liberty — liberty that cost the lives, fortunes, and sacred honor of some of the greatest men of the 18th century — without the ability to put up an armed resistance to tyrants and to their armed enforcers.  The truth is, though, the Senate — in collusion with the president and the Supreme Court — has shrunk the scope of the Second Amendment despite the fact that the plain language of the Second Amendment explicitly forbids any infringement on this right that protects all others.  In fact, the reason for inclusion of the Second Amendment in the Bill of Rights had little to do with the British and more to do with future attempts by an out-of-control, all-powerful central authority disarming the American people as a step toward tyranny.  Take, for example, statements by our forefathers regarding the purpose of the passage of this amendment. In commenting on the Constitution in 1833, Joseph Story wrote: The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of a republic; since it offers a strong moral check against the usurpation and arbitrary power of rulers; and will generally, even if these are successful in the first instance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them.""  In his own commentary on the works of the influential jurist Blackstone, Founding-era legal scholar St. George Tucker wrote: This may be considered as the true palladium of liberty.... The right of self defense is the first law of nature: in most governments it has been the study of rulers to confine this right within the narrowest limits possible. Wherever standing armies are kept up, and the right of the people to keep and bear arms is, under any color or pretext whatsoever, prohibited, liberty, if not already annihilated, is on the brink of destruction.  Writing in The Federalist , Alexander Hamilton explained: If the representatives of the people betray their constituents, there is then no resource left but in the exertion of that original right of self-defense which is paramount to all positive forms of government, and which against the usurpations of the national rulers, may be exerted with infinitely better prospect of success than against those of the rulers of an individual state.  To accomplish this urgent task of protecting this ""true palladium of liberty,"" it would be better if Americans adopted a two-pronged attack on the Arms Trade Treaty, rather than relying alone on senators in Washington, D.C. to stand steadfastly against those who would confiscate the firearms from Americans.  First, as the  suggests, we must elect federal senators who will refuse to ratify the globalists' gun grabbing scheme.  Second, and perhaps most important and effective, Americans should elect state representatives and governors who will refuse to cooperate with the federal government in any unconstitutional program, particularly one that would leave citizens at the mercy of the government's monopoly on arms that would be created by the enforcement of the Arms Trade Treaty.  ",fake,news,validation,World conflict,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
7469,7470,"Novak Djokovic was pushed to five sets in both the semifinals and finals of the 2012 Australian Open , so he certainly did not dominate the field the way he did the previous year .  However , beating Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal in consecutive marathon matches , when both were at the top of their games , amounts to a pretty impressive performance regardless of the scores .  Djokovic began the 2012 Aussie Open as if he would crush everybody in sight . He yielded just 10 games in his first three matches combined , an unprecedented run of dominance through three rounds . Djokovic dropped the third set to Lleyton Hewitt in the round of 16 but was never in serious danger of losing , and he breezed by David Ferrer in straight sets in the quarterfinals .  Next up was Murray , who had improved incrementally each year . He had reached the Australian Open finals each of the previous two years and was in the semifinals of a Grand Slam event for the fifth straight time .  Djokovic trailed two sets to one against Murray but won the fourth set decisively and led 5 2 in the fifth . Djokovic failed to serve out the match at 5 3 but finished off Murray 6 3 , 3 6 , 6 7 , 6 1 , 7 5 . Djokovic did it despite fatigue and some breathing problems caused by allergies , according to the Associated Press report of the match .  After beating Murray in that marathon on Friday , he faced a Sunday finals against Nadal , who had an extra day of rest after beating Roger Federer in four sets on the Thursday .  The final turned out to be a battle of mental and physical strength as the two battled for five hours and 53 minutes , the longest finals of a Grand Slam event in history , according to the Associated Press account . The match did not end until 1 : 37 a . m . Monday .  Djokovic survived with a 5 7 , 6 4 , 6 2 , 6 7 , 7 5 victory to give him his third straight Grand Slam title and fifth overall .  "" It was obvious on the court for everybody who has watched the match that both of us , physically , we took the last drop of energy that we had from our bodies , "" Djokovic said , per the New York Times report .  So the question remains : Was Djokovic ' s dominant run in 2011 a better performance than his inspiring dig deep effort in getting past Murray and Nadal in 2012 ? It ' s a matter of personal preference . Jump ahead for analysis of Djokovic ' s 2011 Australian Open .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
7503,7504,"' s Jon Fortt discusses a potential change in Yahoo ' s strategy which may involve a deal with its core business .  Yahoo will not move forward with a spinoff of its stake in Alibaba , the company confirmed Wednesday .  "" The board will now evaluate alternative transaction structures to separate the Alibaba stake , focusing specifically on a reverse of the previously announced spin transaction , "" Yahoo said in a release .  The move comes amid uncertainty over whether the spinoff of its 384 million share stake would be taxed , and would reduce the risk of a significant tax payment for a transaction meant to create value . The  told Yahoo earlier this year that it would not rule on whether the company could avoid a tax hit when putting its stake in a separate entity , which it planned to name Aabaco .  "" We believe that the previously announced spin off would be tax free to Yahoo and its shareholders , "" said Maynard Webb , chairman of Yahoo ' s board of directors . "" Among other factors , we were concerned about the market ' s perception of tax risk , which would have impaired the value of Aabaco stock until resolved . ""  Given the circumstances , Yahoo said it will try other transaction structures to separate its stake in Alibaba , including a reverse spinoff . This reverse spinoff would include assets and liabilities other than Yahoo ' s stake in Alibaba .  "" A separation from our Alibaba stake , via the reverse spin , will provide more transparency into the value of Yahoo ' s business , "" Yahoo  Marissa Mayer said . In a Wednesday conference call , she also said this decision reaffirms Yahoo ' s commitment to shareholder value and that separating its Alibaba business will let it attract more talent .  The company also said that Max Levchin , former chairman of Yelp , has resigned from Yahoo ' s board . "" Mr Levchin is resigning due to his other professional commitments and demands on his time , and not due to any disagreement with Yahoo on any matter related to Yahoo ' s operations , policies or practices , "" Yahoo said in an 8 K filing released Wednesday .  "" He , of the board members , was probably the most tech innovative focused of them . That ' s the voice that they needed at core Yahoo . Him stepping down is a negative , "" Mark Mahaney , tech analyst at  Capital Markets , told  ' s "" Squawk Box . ""  ?  ' s Jacob Pramuk contributed to this report .  Correction : This story has been updated to reflect Max Levchin is the former chairman of Yelp .  Disclosure :  has a content sharing partnership with Yahoo ' s finance site .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
7518,7519,"A Labour shadow minister yesterday accused Tom Watson of rigging the party ' s leadership elections .  In a furious Twitter row , Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Ivan Lewis suggested the former Labour campaign chief had been responsible for ' manipulating ' votes .  The spat resurrected tensions between Blairites and Brownites in the riven party .  Mr Lewis is one of the last remaining Blairites on Ed Miliband ' s frontbench team , while Mr Watson was a close ally of Gordon Brown during his time as chancellor and then prime minister .  Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Ivan Lewis ( right ) suggested the former Labour campaign chief Tom Watson ( left ) had been responsible for ' manipulating ' votes  The quarrel broke out after Mr Watson ,  for West Bromwich East , posted a link on Twitter to an article he had written arguing that it would be ' disastrous ' if Jim Murphy won the race to be Scottish Labour .  Mr Lewis tweeted : ' It ' s essential that Scots decide best person to be leader of Scottish Labour . Others interfering not in the interests of the Labour Party . '  Mr Watson responded : ' Presumably you ' d rather they quietly elect your candidate whilst we all watch . Plus ca change . '  But Mr Lewis hit back : ' I want party to choose leaders in an open democratic way . Your problem is this is one leadership election you can ' t manipulate .  ' Point is that I was not prepared to let you do it again without challenging you . Some of us have remained silent for too long . '  ' How interesting , ' Mr Watson added . ' Which ones do you think I manipulated ? '  In 2008 , after Mr Lewis criticised Mr Brown ' s tax policies , claims about his ' pestering ' a female aide were leaked to the media by Mr Brown ' s spin doctor Damian McBride .  Mr Watson was last year accused of using his power in the party to try and install his union backed office assistant as the candidate in Falkirk .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
7519,7520,"We shared our  Game Changer  story with you earlier this week, after a new video emerged allowing a more clear picture of the student physically attacking the school cop assigned to removing her from class.Now in a surprising turn of events (which will certainly be a huge disappointment to the leftist media and George Soros funded Black Lives Matter terrorist organization), the students are fighting back against a manufactured media event created to promote more cop hate and racial division in America.Well, this is interesting.  Spring Valley Walkout for fields today #bringbackfields #bringfieldsback pic.twitter.com/UamWKU6AXN  Oink Trotters (@OinkTrottters) October 30, 2015Students wore T-shirts that said  #BringBackFields  or  Free Fields. #BringBackFields   pic.twitter.com/6jbmEnuSrN  Mina Rena .   (@_cappex) October 30, 2015 He was a great guy,  student London Harrell told local WISTV.  He protected us and everything. He was our school resource officer. We always could depend on him and everything. Every time I saw him, he was always joking around with people. It was never like  Oh, I m about to body slam you. Principal Jeff Temoney said none of the students would be suspended if they returned to class. We ve heard your voices, okay,  Temoney said according to WISTV.  We appreciate you taking time to do this, but again, as you know, we always focus on teaching and learning, so let s head on back to class. pic.twitter.com/LJiGyAXDUs  John Cassibry (@JCass_12) October 30, 2015Principal Temoney released a statement several hours later about the walkout, which said students and staff were safe during the protest.Fields, who is white, was recorded on cell phone video using force on an African-American student during a school discipline incident. When shared on social media, the footage caused national outrage on the use of force in schools and by school resource officers. Fields was fired on Wednesday. Via: RTHere is how the original story was presented to the public:School officer uses force against black female student, slams her on floor (VIDEO) weblink pic.twitter.com/6oFt3fluFH   America (@RT_America) October 27, 2015Here is how we responded when a student reluctantly shared their video with others which allowed the other side of the story to be told. Click  for the other side of the story.",fake,dataset,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
7526,7527,"Pierluigi Collina had spent the best part of half an hour happily explaining why additional referees are the best way of eradicating mistakes in the penalty area when I asked him why  had not bought into his ideas .  It is a curious situation for football at the very highest level , after all the fact that two extra officials will be present at Champions League matches and at a European Championship but are nowhere to be seen come the World Cup .  It ' s as if they are ignoring one of the finest referees football has ever seen . Someone surely worth listening to in his role as  ' s refereeing chief . ' Politics ? ' I asked Collina , my inference being that common sense has lost out to the apparent power struggle between Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini over the use of goal line technology . For the first time the otherwise ebullient Collina fell silent .  Mark Clattenburg gestures during Tottenham ' s Capital One Cup win against Brighton at White Hart Lane  Clattenburg was punished after going to see popstar Ed Sheeran ( left ) , pictured with Wayne Rooney  Football is a fiercely political arena and refereeing doesn ' t appear to be immune to the kind of nonsense that can actually hinder progress . There is a lack of unity , a lack of consistency , and a sense that the game is suffering as a result .  The last week or so has been less than positive for English refereeing , and not just because two of the three finest officials in the country have been exposed for breaking professional refereeing protocol .  Pierluigi Collina wants extra refs behind each goal  Mark Clattenburg was left off the list last weekend as a result of his Ed Sheeran concert controversy , on what proved to be a weekend when the Premier League could have seriously done with him . Michael Oliver , it has now emerged , has also been guilty of breaking protocol this season , by giving his girlfriend a lift in an official vehicle . Unlike Clattenburg , Oliver does not appear to have been punished . Nobody representing the Professional Game Match Officials is prepared to tell us why .  But Oliver was among those guilty of making some fairly high profile mistakes at the weekend and prompting the former English referees chief to launch what read like a serious attack on his successor .  Keith Hackett now gives his views on the internet and his last blog would not have been well received by  chief Mike Riley when it was so critical of his 17 top level referees and their working practices .  ' Sadly another weekend of fixtures has witnessed our group of professional referees producing less than acceptable performances , ' wrote Hackett .  Hackett ' s damning indictment continued with a claim that England ' s leading referees are not fit enough and at this moment are employing ' an inconsistent approach to decision making ' . He also demanded more of Howard Webb , the former World Cup final referee who does seem to have remained very much in the background since joining Riley to become the  technical director .  The  would refute Hackett ' s claims , and they would do so supported by what they would argue are hard facts . They could point to the results of physical tests that reveal the fitness of our professional referees has improved year on year in the five years since Riley took over .  They might also wish to remind Hackett that England is one of only three countries in Europe to boast three elite  referees namely Clattenburg , Oliver and Martin Atkinson .  When it came to selecting a referee to take charge of what  probably suspected could be an explosive encounter between Serbia and Albania , it was to the experienced Atkinson that they turned .  Last weekend ' s games might not have been the finest advert for English officiating but the  could quote statistics from last season claiming clear signs of improvement .  Keith Hackett has criticised the performance and fitness of English referees in his online blog  Mike Riley ( left ) has overseen an improvement in fitness and performances over the last five years  The accuracy on major decisions fouls , penalties , cards and so on rose to 95 per cent last season from 94 . 1 per cent the previous year . Accuracy in the penalty box has risen to 98 per cent , while offside decisions rose to 99 per cent when they stood at 92 per cent when Riley took charge .  Seasoned , expert observers outside the  would agree that Hackett is probably wrong that fitness is not the concern .  But they would say that English football needs more referees like Clattenburg on the pitch rather than in the sin bin .  What Clattenburg does , say the experts , is put in the hard yards that might avoid some of the problems we are seeing this season , and is makes a fair bit of sense .  Clattenburg does not play it safe . He runs wide when it would be easier to run down the middle of the pitch and so stay closer to the action and he does so for one simple reason . Because by running wide he gives himself a better angle of vision to see what is actually going on in the penalty area when a referee running just behind the players is more likely to have his view obscured something we saw this weekend in the case of Oliver and Phil Dowd on Monday night .  Michael Oliver , pictured sending off Chris Smalling , ignored three Manchester City penalty appeals on Sunday  Clattenburg runs wide during games to give himself the best possible view of the action as it unfolds  Such an approach does come with certain risks if you are being assessed and your livelihood depends on good reports backed up by statistical analysis . For a start a referee might struggle to argue they got it wrong or failed to act at all because their view was obscured .  But Clattenburg is so highly rated by his peers because he gets himself in the position to make a call . He didn ' t have the wit to flag up his desire to go to a concert when it would have been easy for the  to move him off West Brom versus Crystal Palace , and that might lose him friends . But he ' s a damn fine referee who needs to avoid getting himself left off the list .  This might be closer to the point Hackett is making when he complains of an inconsistent approach to decision making . Maybe he sees referees playing it safe and not enough officials like Clattenburg . Maybe he sees different methods being applied by referees working under the same leadership at  .  The  would refute that too . But at a time when  and  can ' t even agree on how best to referee the penalty area , raising the concern that there is an alarming lack of consistency seems perfectly reasonable .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
7530,7531,"Fernando Alonso ended his 2011 Formula One commitments wearing a Santa Claus outfit and the robes of a Magi , and the Spanish driver hopes next year will bring a return of the old Ferrari spirit .  The legendary Italian marque has won 31 world titles overall , but none since clinching a 16th constructors ' crown in 2008 .  Alonso was fourth in the drivers ' standings this year , 135 points behind Red Bull ' s all conquering Sebastian Vettel after winning just one race , while teammate Felipe Massa was a massive 274 points off the pace in sixth .  After being Father Christmas for Ferrari employees at the team ' s Maranello headquarters , and then one of the Three Wise Men at a sponsors ' party , Alonso turned his attentions towards his bid to add a third world title to his 2005 and 2006 successes at Renault .  Argentina ' s new F1 project  "" This is the time when one is always optimistic , but then we must wait for the start of the season to see where we really are . It ' s true that in the past few days , there was a good feeling at Maranello and there ' s an air of confidence about it , "" the 30 year old told Ferrari ' s website .  "" We want to reacquaint ourselves with the taste of winning that has eluded us for a while . Last spring , we made important changes to the structure of the technical part of the team and now we have adopted a new approach , a less conservative one , in the design of the new car .  "" The philosophy behind the 2012 car is very different to that of 2011 , especially in some key areas like suspension and aerodynamics . ""  Alonso , who joined Ferrari in 2010 , is now looking forward to unwinding before testing begins again in Jerez in February ahead of the opening race in Australia on March 18 .  "" Now ' s the time to take it easy for a few weeks , time to recharge the batteries and be 100 ready for next season , which I expect will be much more of an equal fight than the one just gone , "" he said .  "" Red Bull will still be very strong , but I think they will have less room for improvement than us , as we were so far behind this year . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
7531,7532,"The Pentagon ' s top spokesman warned on Wednesday that long term ' generational ' conflicts in the Middle East will require the United States to have a military presence there ' for many , many , many years . '  And despite a 500 million commitment from Congress to ' train and equip ' moderate Syrian rebels against the  terror army , the Defense Department is mired in planning , still as many as five months away from arming anyone .  Rear Admiral John Kirby , the Defense Department ' s press secretary , made the statements during a press briefing about America ' s efforts to combat the  terror army in Iraq and Syria .  ' Nobody ' s under any illusion that we ' re not going to have to maintain our focus , energy and resources in the Middle East for many , many , many years to come , ' he said .  Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby said Wednesday that the  will be in the Middle East ' for many , many , many years to come '  Bombs , not boots : Pinprick airstrikes coordinated by the  have taken out strategic targets but failed to slow the advance of the  terror army  ' We ' ve learned that this is a generational issue , ' Kirby added , speaking of the sectarian war pitting Muslim sects against each other .  ' None of these problems are going to be solved overnight , or quickly . '  The admission that a long term U . S . military commitment is in the offing will likely embolden war hawks in Congress and anger political allies of President Barack Obama , who is struggling to maintain his dovish image going into the November midterm elections .  Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009 , shortly after taking office .  He has been insistent that American ' boots on the ground ' won ' t return to Iraq , a war torn country that had a significant U . S . military presence until Obama withdrew all troops at the end of 2011 .  Kirby reiterated Wednesday that ' there will not be a return of U . S . ground forces in a combat role in this fight , in Iraq or Syria . That has been made very clear . '  The emphasis , he said , is on ' trying to get a moderate opposition trained and equipped . '  Most estimates put the fighting numbers of  , the self declared Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham , at 31 , 000 . At best , defense experts project that the U . S . can train 5 , 000 opposition soldiers .  And as  comes dangerously close to seizing the key Syrian town of Kobane near the Turkish border , Kirby conceded that that effort won ' t start until months of planning are completed .  ' There ' s been no vetting started yet and no recruiting at this point , ' he said , referring to the Syrian rebels whom the U . S . hopes to arm .  ' We are in the very early stages right now of trying to develop the procedures and protocols within which we would do that . '  Kirby also said the U . S . has no plan to launch a humanitarian relief effort in or near Kobane .  ' We should all be steeling ourselves for reality , ' he said , suggesting that Kobane and other towns will fall to  .  Kirby noted that the U . S . is working closely with Saudi Arabia , which has agreed to host a training facility .  That relationship , as Kirby described it , is still mired in bureaucracy and drawing board efforts , and will consume ' three to five months before we can even get through that process . '  Fighting the clock slowly : As America spends ' three to five months ' planning a way to arm moderate Syrian opposition forces ,  scoops up cities like Kobane in northern Syria , just a mile from Turkey  ' That ' s before you even start doing any of the training . So this is going to be a long term effort . '  American leaders are ' sizing up the facility , getting a look at the infrastructure , and sort of figuring out the architecture within which the training would actually occur , ' Kirby said .  The U . S . hopes eventually , he said to set up ' a viable , sustainable , verifiable program to properly recruit and vet these opposition members . '  That effort , White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said a few hours later , ' is a key component for our strategy and will be critical to our success . '  Training Syrian rebels , he told reporters during his daily briefing , ' will have a pretty dramatic impact on the conditions on the battlefield . '  But at present , he admitted , ' our capabilities are still powerful , but they ' re limited . '  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
7546,7547,"Reuters) - A boat carrying 130 Rohingya refugees fleeing violence in Myanmar has capsized off the Bay of Bengal, the International Organization for Migration said on Thursday.  s Bangladesh office tweeted that 13 bodies had been recovered, including 8 children. ",true,dataset,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
7577,7578,"Two men from Mexico face capital murder and other charges after an off duty Border Patrol agent was fatally shot and his father wounded during a South Texas fishing trip .  Willacy County Sheriff Larry Spence says investigators believe the suspects tried to rob Agent Javier Vega Jr . of Kingsville and his family .  Hospital officials didn ' t immediately return a message Tuesday on the condition of Javier Vega Sr . of La Feria .  Victim : This undated photo provided by the U . S . Customs and Border Protection provided on Tuesday , shows agent Javier Vega Jr . who was shot and killed  The Vegas were shot Sunday night while fishing near Santa Monica with relatives .  The suspects were captured in nearby Sebastian . Authorities have not confirmed their identities .  Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson in a statement Tuesday said the younger Vega was a veteran of the Marine Corps and served the Border Patrol for six years .  He was also a married father of three .  Vega Jr . was able to return fire , which left the suspect ' s vehicle disabled a few miles away .  Family : Willacy County Sheriff Larry Spence says investigators believe the suspects tried to rob Agent Javier Vega Jr . , left , of Kingsville and his father Javier Vega Sr . , pictured center  The men then walked to a small house and asked for water a man in the area alerted police .  Spence said the robbery wasn ' t the first of its kind int he area .  ' That ' s typical of some of these crimes that have been happening in the area , ' Spence said .  ' There are several instances where people have been robbed while fishing . They pulled up and try to rob them , take their money , jewelry and usually vehicle . '  Vega ' s sister in law Natalie Gardere Vega mourned the loss of the young man on Facebook .  ' I will never understand why we have such heartless people in this world ! An amazing man was taking ( sic ) from his family way to soon ! Please keep my family in y ' all ' s prayers ! Especially his 3 boys and wife !  ' And my father in law who is still in the hospital ! We love you and will forever miss you Javier Vega Jr . ! ! ! '  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
7585,7586,"Reuters) - Democratic U.S. Senator Ron Wyden said on Tuesday he will vote for a crucial Puerto Rico debt restructuring bill, saying it was the best alternative for the financially battered territory. “I am going to vote for this bill,” Wyden told reporters after a meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew. “I certainly wish that there were amendments, but for me I am not going to let the adequate be the enemy of the barely sufficient.”  ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
7609,7610,"Many years ago, before my family immigrated to the United States from Pakistan, we used to travel frequently by train. During a more recent trip home, instead of flying back to Karachi from Lahore, I decided to go by train again. I was interested to see what it was like traveling in economy class. I got a seat in Car No. 3, and amid thunder and rain, the train hissed out of the station. Its pace was slow. The compartment was packed. Those who had reserved seats occupied them, while others were perched on the floor, next to the seats or even by the toilets, with the result that it became difficult to move around or to use the toilet yourself. Families with little children spread quilts and pillows on the seats and on the floor. A conductor entered the car and started checking tickets. The passenger in Seat 54, a tall,   man with sharp gray eyes, had only an unreserved ticket, so he was asked to vacate the seat. But he took the conductor aside and returned in a few minutes to the same place. The conductor, overlooking the mess everywhere in the car, smiled and went about his duty. If it were not for the rains in Punjab, the heat and dust would have been unbearable. I noticed that the man sitting in Seat 54 kept watching a young woman in a window seat with a little child on her lap. The woman’s eye fell on the man’s face, and she immediately looked down and adjusted her dupatta, her scarf. The night wore on, and people began to close their eyes, but the seats were so uncomfortable that only a very heavy sleeper could manage to get any rest. The train continued its slow pace, stopping every so often at another station. Because of the heat and suffocating air in the compartment, many windows were kept open. The woman with the child on her lap looked over at the man in Seat 54. He was still staring at her. I was beginning to get angry with him. Even under such filthy and uncomfortable circumstances, he couldn’t resist indulging his desire to gaze at an attractive woman. She began to look back at him with fire in her eyes. Turning her face away, she played with the child again for a while. The train was approaching a station. I could see the familiar lights of Khanewal, and as we stopped, a memory flashed through my mind. Two decades earlier, whenever we traveled this route and stopped at this station, my little daughter would urge me to take her out and buy some ceramic toys from one of the stalls. We would buy the toys, and I would enjoy a cup of tea in a clay cup at a tea stall. It was now 2 a. m. and I got down from the train to recapture this pleasant memory. I was drinking my tea when two burly men came near me and stood on either side. I could feel something probing at my right. “Take out your wallet and give it to me,” ordered one of them. I took it out and handed it to him. The other man relieved me of my wristwatch. “Have a safe journey,” one said before they both disappeared. I was shaken, and not just because I lost my wallet and watch. The watch was cheap, bought for four dollars from Kmart in Chicago, and there were only a hundred rupees in my wallet the rest of my money, my credit cards and my IDs were safely tucked inside my shoes. But it struck me that you should never try to recapture the memorable scenes of the past, because you are likely to lose those memories forever. I finished the cup of tea and returned to my seat on the train. The train started again. The child was still awake on his mother’s lap, but the woman found it difficult to keep her eyes open. She was soon lost in a short wink of sleep. Her head fell forward. A moment later, the child began to climb the open window  —   one leg went over it. The man in Seat 54 leapt up and grabbed the child before he fell out. The commotion woke up the woman. She seemed to be in a panic, and then reality dawned. “Here you are,” the man said as he gave the child back to her. “Your child has been looking for an opportunity to crawl out of the window,” he said. “That’s why I have been watching the whole time. ” He stretched his back and moved away. The woman was dumbfounded, and so was I. The woman had a few sips of water, then got up to thank the man, but he was nowhere to be seen. The train moved on. Early in the morning, at Drigh Road Station, the woman got up to get off the train. She searched for the man again but couldn’t find him. “Bhai,” she addressed me, calling me brother. “If you see that man, will you kindly thank him on my behalf?” I nodded. Before I got down at Karachi Cantt, I searched the whole compartment for him  —   but he was gone.",true,news,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
7615,7616,"Rory McIlroy dominated golf in 2014 but that doesn ' t mean the Northern Irishman was the only man to play some sparkling shots over the year .  From Bubba Watson to Phil Mickelson via Martin Kaymer , there was plenty to send golf fans swooning . Even Tiger Woods dodgy back and all struck a few crackers ( not very many though ) .  The  Tour have selected their top 10 shots in 2014 , but which do you consider the best ? These are the contenders and you can watch each shot in the video below . . .  Tiger Woods smiles after completing one of the best shots of 2014  10 Tiger Woods ' s 92 foot birdie putt at the 4th hole of Doral ' s Blue Monster course the  Cadillac Championship .  9 Phil Mickelson ' s outrageous recovery chip out of the hospitality area on the 5th at Ringwood Country Club in New Jersey during The Barclays .  8 Rory McIlroy ' s 245 yard five wood over water to a protected pin in the final round of the Honda Classic at  National in Florida . His ball finished eight feet from the flag .  Woods holed this monster putt at Doral in one of the 14 time major champion ' s few highlights this year  7 Billy Horschel ' s 30 foot putt for par on the 16th hole in the final round at the  Championship . He went on to win 11 . 4million in prize money .  6 Rory McIlroy ' s three wood from 281 yards at Valhalla ' s 10th in the final round of the   Championship , which finished eight feet away and was converted for a crucial eagle . McIlroy had been trailing Henrik Stenson , Rickie Fowler and Phil Mickelson but went on to win his second major of the year .  Rory McIlroy ' s five wood at the Honda Classic was a demonstration of his brilliant long game  5 Victor Dubuisson ' s remarkable up and down in the final of the  Accenture Match Play Championship at Dove Mountain . The Frenchman had hit his ball into foliage under a cactus in a native area of the desert course but somehow chipped out to four feet .  4 Martin Kaymer ' s par putt on the 17th hole at the  Championship at  Sawgrass . The German holed from 28 feet and went on to win by just one shot from Jim Furyk in the ' fifth major ' .  Phil Mickelson played this outrageous recovery shot from deep within a hospitality area  3 Matt Jones ' s chip in to beat Matt Kuchar during the play off at the Shell Houston Open . The Australian had already holed a birdie putt from 30 feet to take the tournament into sudden death and sealed his first professional win with the stunning shot .  2 Matt Kuchar ' s bunker shot on the final hole of the  Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links . The American holed out from 20 yards to pip Luke Donald by one shot .  Matt Kuchar holed his bunker shot at the final hole of the  Heritage to win the tournament  1 Bubba Watson ' s holed bunker shot on the final hole of the  Champions in Shanghai , which he needed to force Tim Clark into a play off . The Masters champion succeeded and went on to beat the South African in the head to head .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
7618,7619,"Richard Painter, former ethics lawyer to President George W. Bush, claims that President Donald Trump  weighing in  on his son, Donald Trump Jr. s, statement on meeting with a Russian lawyer is yet another possible example of obstruction of justice by the U.S. Commander in Chief. Painter even went as far as to say that obstruction of justice is a weekly occurrence for the Trump administration. I would like to have one week from this White House where they don t engage in a new act of obstruction of justice,  Painter said during an interview on  s All In With Chris Hayes on Tuesday evening.Painter also added that if Trump Jr. has no problem using a false statement drafted by his father when dealing with the public, then he would probably have the same disregard for the truth while taking the stand to testify on the situation during a criminal investigation. Once the son says something in a public statement he d be very likely to say something to the special prosecutor, and lying to the special prosecutor is a crime. If he lies under oath it becomes perjury,  Painter said.  This is a common strategy for obstructing justice. But that wasn t the first time Richard Painter made his opinions about the President s method of dealing with the Russia accusations known. In fact, Painter had taken to Twitter earlier that morning to attack Trump on his favorite platform.Knowingly drafting a false statement for a person who is a witness in a criminal investigation is itself a crime. Obstruction of justice  Richard W. Painter (@RWPUSA) August 1, 2017Lawyers who knowingly participate in drafting false statements for witnesses in criminal investigations should be disbarred and prosecuted.  Richard W. Painter (@RWPUSA) August 1, 2017What kind of a man drafts a false statement for his own son about a matter under criminal investigation? A man who can pardon his son.  Richard W. Painter (@RWPUSA) August 1, 2017Donald Trump Jr. has admitted to meeting with a Russian lawyer in order to get damning information about his father s rival, Hillary Clinton, in the lead up to last years presidential election, but has since given several contradicting statements, including details of who was present and the actual purpose of the meetings. The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that President Trump had helped draft the first, inaccurate statement given by Trump Jr., a report initially denied by Trump s lawyer, Jay Sekulow, but later confirmed by White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. He certainly didn t dictate. But he weighed in, offered suggestions like any father would do,  Huckabee Sanders said.Watch Richard Painter s interview on  s All In With Chris Hayes right here:Richard Painter: ""I would like to have one week from this White House where they don't engage in a new act of obstruction of justice."" pic.twitter.com/u2LaPgRWKD  Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) August 2, 2017Featured image via Alex Wong/Getty Images",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
7638,7639,"Reuters) - Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen joined other European leaders in congratulating Donald Trump on winning the U.S. presidential election but said the world now needs the United States “not to close in on itself”. “I have during the election campaign expressed concerns over signs that the  is closing in on itself, which is unfortunately also the case in Europe,” Rasmussen told a group of reporters on Wednesday. He said a more protectionist United States could create problems for a small export-reliant country like Denmark, just like Britain leaving the  could. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
7640,7641,"Polls released since the first round of the French presidential election show   Emmanuel Macron leading   migration candidate Marine Le Pen by double digits. [The poll, conducted by Elabe, was published Monday and shows Macron with a commanding lead in the second round vote with 64 per cent of the vote while Le Pen has 36 per cent. The En Marche leader beats Le Pen in most age demographics according to the poll, but some are sceptical that the race is already over as one out of five French voters have yet to express a choice, L’Express reports.  One demographic that Le Pen is winning over is the working class. According to the poll, a majority of French workers, or 54 per cent, support the   migration candidate. Macron, who is often seen as the candidate of globalism and France’s elite class, predictably scores 81 per cent of the vote from executives and those in academia. The strong showing for Macron comes from the left wing vote 93 per cent of those who backed Socialist party candidate Benoit Hamon and 77 per cent of those who voted for     Mélenchon have thrown their support behind Macron. On the right of the political spectrum, 63 per cent of supporters of Republican François Fillon said they would vote for Macron and 37 said they would vote for Le Pen. Of all those asked about their voting intentions, close to   or 17 per cent, had not decided who they would vote for. Many of these undecided voters are supporters of Fillon and Mélenchon. Le Pen’s platform, which combines some of the    and    policies of Fillon and some of the protectionist policies of Mélenchon, could appeal to voters  —   though it remains to be seen to what extent. Many experts are cautious about celebrating a Macron victory two weeks ahead of the election. U. S. broadcaster  has cast doubt on the accuracy of the polling, though many first round polls were mostly accurate. In her victory speech on Sunday evening, Le Pen framed the second round race as a debate on globalism and said the survival of France is at stake. Shocking many in France and abroad earlier this week, she temporarily stepped down as leader of the Front National to, in her words, “feel more free, and above partisan considerations. ” Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson@breitbart.com ",true,news,validation,Other news2,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
7652,7653,"In a dramatic reversal of decades old medical wisdom , the late Dr Albert Rossum , director of the O ' Bannon Institute For Postmortem Nutritional Studies , recommended an all brain diet for zombies Tuesday .  "" Our research indicates that live human brains are not merely the cornerstone of a healthy diet they are , in fact , the only food an active adult zombie should consume at all , "" Rossum said during a press conference at the institute , located at the State University of New York at Stony Brook . "" A daily three pound serving of brains supplies all the vital sugars , neurons , and ganglia essential to promoting zombie fitness and slowing the decomposition process . ""  The Rossum Plan challenges the traditional zombie food pyramid , which consists of five to seven daily servings of human hearts , three to four servings of livers or eyeballs , and two servings of brains . Instead , Rossum advocates a four level pyramid , with all four levels consisting of as many servings of brains as possible .  "" Ideally , the brains should be consumed fresh from the head of the victim , "" said Rossum , widely considered the nation ' s leading expert in the field of undead nutrition . "" However , precious scraps of brain may also be pried from the fingers of other brain crazed zombies . Failing that , dropped brains may be slurped from the ground by a third party to such a scuffle . ""  Added Rossum : "" Braaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnns ! ""  Nutritionists at the Romero Foundation For Zombie Health , the nation ' s oldest zombie health organization , were dismissive of Rossum ' s announcement .  "" The O ' Bannon Institute ' s plan is a reckless fad diet , "" the late Dr Vincent Peters said . "" Five servings each day from the neurosensory group , made up of the brain , spinal column , and nervous system , as well as from the vascular , digestive , and pulmonary groups , are the best way to maintain robust zombie health . It is an established fact . ""  Told of Peters ' remarks , Rossum strenuously disagreed , citing recent tests conducted by his institute .  "" Studies have shown that zombies who follow the Romero school of nutrition can be stopped with a single bullet to the brainstem , "" Rossum said . "" On the other hand , our exhaustive studies conclusively show that the newer , fitter breed of zombies who adhere to an all brain diet cannot be subdued by anything short of total incineration . ""  Rossum ' s detractors are quick to point out that a high percentage of zombies in his studies are young accidental death victims , many still in their teens , recruited from the punk rock fan community . Such individuals , critics charge , are too healthy and recently deceased to be reliable subjects in long term dietary studies .  Critics also charge that a diet consisting entirely of brains would not be likely to attract many followers due to its monotonous nature . Rossum again disagreed .  "" There is still ample room for dietary variety in this plan , "" Rossum said . "" One day , you might make a spicy South Of The Border treat of a Mexican person ' s brains . The next , you could enjoy the Far East taste sensation of an Asian . There are so many different kinds of heads to tear open , there ' s no reason ever to get bored . ""  Rossum then stepped down from the podium and descended upon New York Times photographer Dennis Levitan , cracking his skull open and devouring his brains .  ",satire,text,validation,World conflict,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
7656,7657,"Reuters) - The German military, buoyed by 45 million views of its previous  social media reality show  The Recruits , is to launch a new show on Monday that shows the lives of eight soldiers serving in U.N. peacekeeping mission in Mali. The six-week show provides a  realistic and authentic look  at an actual military deployment, including the crash of an Airbus Tiger helicopter in July that killed both crew members, a defense ministry spokesman said on Friday. It will be shown Mondays through Thursdays on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, with a chatbot sending messages several times a day about the soldiers  activities.  Colonel Holger Neumann said the accident would play a role in one of the later episodes and would be treated with  the necessary sensitivity . The military last month resumed flights of the Tiger helicopters, but continues to investigate the cause of the crash. The show cost 6.5 million euros to produce and market, Neumann said, describing it as part of the military s drive to make the military a more attractive career option. The last show, which showed how new recruits were trained, sparked a 40-percent increase in traffic at the ministry s career website and a 25-percent boost in calls to a recruitment hotline, he said.  Ilka Hoffmann, a board member at the  union that represents about 280,000 teachers, social workers and education workers, said the new program s  action film  aesthetic was clearly targeting young people and glamorizing war.  Not everything is as positive as it is portrayed. People can die during this deployment or come back traumatized,  she said.  The Bundeswehr can t want people to sign up out of a sense of adventure.  She said the union, the nonprofit group Terres des Hommes and other groups have also protested the military s school outreach program aimed at 16- and 17-year-olds, saying it viewed the recruitment drive as a violation of U.N. Convention on Children. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
7667,7668,"Osh , Kyrgyzstan Smoke rose over the streets of Osh and sporadic gunfire could be heard Monday as ethnic groups continued to battle in the strategically important Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan .  An estimated 80 , 000 ethnic Uzbeks have fled the ongoing clashes against ethnic Kyrgyz , causing one aid official to describe the situation as a "" humanitarian catastrophe , "" according to the International Committee of the Red Cross .  At least 114 people have been killed in the clashes , and another 1 , 458 have been wounded , Kyrgystan ' s national news agency  Press reported Sunday .  It is the most serious outbreak of ethnic violence in the former Soviet republic since 1990 , when hundreds died after clashes between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz in Osh , the country ' s second city .  Refugees who fled the violence are desperate for food , a top European official said Monday .  "" People are screaming , ' We need food we need food , ' to those who are passing by , ""  Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva said .  The World Food Programme has emergency stocks in the country and can deploy food quickly , she said , but would then need to restock urgently .  The United States committed over 800 , 000 for immediate humanitarian assistance to be provided through the United States Agency for International Development (  ) , according to the U . S . Embassy in Bishkek . U . S . officials are working with the provisional government to determine how to best distribute another 200 , 000 in medical and emergency supplies .  The United Nations says it is sending an emergency team to Uzbekistan to aid refugees who crossed the border .  The U . N . High Commissioner for Refugees is airlifting aid from emergency stockpiles in Dubai , United Arab Emirates , and sending logistics , operations and field officers "" immediately , "" it said in a statement .  U . N . Security Council President Claude Heller said the group condemns the "" continued acts of violence in the Kyrgyz republic and notes the need to support the delivery of humanitarian assistance . ""  He said the council is still assessing the situation in Kyrgyzstan and calls for "" calm and a return to the rule of law "" in the country .  The Uzbek government estimates that 75 , 000 people have fled into the country since Friday , slightly below Red Cross estimates .  The violence comes two months after President Kurmanbek Bakiev was overthrown after bloody clashes between police and protesters in the Kyrgyz capital , Bishkek .  Opposition leaders had accused Bakiev of corruption and consolidating power by keeping key economic and security posts in the hands of relatives or close associates .  Kyrgyzstan hosts a U . S . military transport base that is vital for supplying its troops in Afghanistan . It also has a Russian military base and strategically important natural gas pipelines .  According to one report , the death toll is much higher than official figures suggest . Local officials in Osh , the city worst affected by the violence , said that at least 500 ethnic Uzbeks have been killed , according to Ferghana . Ru , an independent news agency .  And the situation seemed to be continuing early Monday as a Uzbek neighborhood in Osh looked grim . At least three bodies were on the street , buried in rubble . Goats and sheep had been killed and burned in yards . Some homes were vandalized with spray painted signs proclaiming "" get out of Kyrgyzstan . ""  Red Cross representatives visited refugee camps Sunday in Uzbekistan where 30 , 000 adults , mostly women , have registered , spokeswoman Anna Nelson said .  Each woman , Nelson said , has two or three children with her .  Uzbek authorities are providing refugees with food and shelter , but camps are inundated by the flood of people crossing the border , Nelson said .  Red Cross officials said they saw 250 injured people in the camps , including about 40 Uzbek men with gunshot wounds , according to Nelson .  "" We do not yet fully understand the true scale of the humanitarian catastrophe that is unfolding in southern Kyrgyzstan , "" said Francois Blancy , deputy head of the Red Cross regional office in Tashkent , Uzbekistan .  The interim government worked this weekend to quell the upsurge of violence , imposing states of emergency in Osh , where fighting between ethnic Uzbek and Kyrgyz youths led to mass rioting , and in Jalal Abad in order to keep the unrest from spreading there , it said .  But the measures did little to calm the situation Sunday . Russia Today reported that the interim government has given police permission to shoot to kill rioters on the streets .  Members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization comprised of Kyrgyzstan , Russia , Armenia , Belarus , Kazakhstan , Uzbekistan and Tajikistan are to meet Monday to discuss the crisis , official Russian news agency  Novosti reported .  Turkey has established a crisis desk to help find ways to address the violence in Kyrgyzstan , Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said . Turkey is sending two planes to are to help evacuate Turkish citizens trapped in the area .  The United States is monitoring developments and is calling for a "" rapid restoration of peace and public order in the city of Osh and elsewhere where it appears ethnic violence is occurring , "" according to a statement released Saturday by the State Department .  A small group of expatriates from Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan demonstrated outside the White House on Sunday , calling for President Barack Obama ' s help in ending the crisis .  About 50 people from the Uzbek Initiative Group carried signs reading "" Stop the killing "" and chanted "" Bring peace to Kyrgyzstan . ""  The group had sent a letter to Obama "" urging the United States and the United Nations to assist in bringing a halt to the current ethnic unrest in southern Kyrgyzstan , "" describing the clashes as "" the worst ethnic violence in the region since 1990 when hundreds were killed before the quick intervention of Soviet troops . ""  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
7671,7672,"Rebecca Berry , was found dead in the garden of her home in Edmondsham in Dorset with burns . Police are investigating how the teenager was injured  A schoolgirl of 15 has died from severe burns amid fears she may have set herself on fire .  Police are investigating after Rebecca Berry was found collapsed in her garden by a relative .  The teenager , pictured known to friends as Rebe was pronounced dead a short time later .  Police said they were not treating her death as suspicious , but do not yet know whether she intended to set fire to herself or was the victim of a tragic accident at the house in Edmondsham , near Verwood , Dorset .  One neighbour said : ' She was lovely , very friendly . The whole village is very upset . '  Fellow pupils at Queen Elizabeth School , Wimborne , have been offered counselling .  A police spokesman said : ' The body of the girl was discovered at 9 . 18pm on Monday by a family member . '  The results of a post mortem examination yesterday have yet to be released .  Firefighters were called to a property fire in the village at about 9 . 15pm on Monday , along with paramedics , but could do nothing to save the girl , who was pronounced dead at the scene .  The teenager lived with her mother Gill and step father Scott , a chimney sweep , at a farm in the sleepy and picturesque Dorset hamlet .  A statement issued by her family said : ' We as a family are pulling together to help each other cope with the devastating loss of our beautiful girl and are gathering strength from each other to guide us through this time .  ' We would like to thank friends and the village community for their continuing support and kind words .  ' The family would like to encourage people to lay floral tributes at Edmondsham Pump to pay their respects to Rebe . '  Tributes have appeared at the pump and close to her home in the hamlet since Miss Berry ' s death on Monday .  The teenager was a year 10 pupil at Queen Elizabeth ' s School in nearby Wimborne .  Dorset Police confirmed it was not treating the death as suspicious but had so far been unable to determine how the girl came to suffer the burns  Rebecca Berry , known as Rebe , was discovered with the burns by a relative in the hamlet where she lives in Edmondsham in Dorset  The family of Rebecca Berry have asked people to live floral tributes at the pump in Edmondsham , Dorset  Martin McLeman , headteacher at the school , posted on its website : ' It is with deep regret that I write to advise you of the death of one of our Year 10 girls .  ' We are devastated by this news and our thoughts are with her family and friends at this extremely sad time .  ' I have advised all Year 10 students at school this morning and they may need the support of their families when they return home this evening and over the coming weeks .  ' Counselling and support has been arranged here and is available at school for everyone in the school community affected by this tragic event .  The teenager ' s family said they were pulling together and people left floral tributes at the centre of the hamlet  Police said they are treating the death of Rebe at the Dorset hamlet as unexplained and are investigating  ' If you feel your son or daughter needs any support in dealing with this difficult issue at any time , then please let me know . '  Mr McLeman added that staff and pupils were being supported by the chaplaincy team and county council and that they were praying for the student ' s family .  A neighbour in Edmondsham , who asked to remain anonymous , said : ' She was a lovely young girl , very friendly , you could always have a chat with her . The whole village is very upset . '  The teenager was a pupil at Queen Elizabeth ' s School in Wimborne , where pupils are being offered support  The teenager lived with her mother Gill and step father Scott , a chimney sweep , at a farm in the sleepy and picturesque Dorset hamlet  Floral tributes were left in the girl ' s village and the Christmas lights were switched off as residents paid their respects .  A Dorset Police spokesman said : ' Her death is being treated as unexplained and officers are investigating the circumstances .  ' Next of kin and the coroner have been informed . '  A Dorset Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said : ' A crew from Cranborne did attend that incident . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
7691,7692,"Giant natural disasters have a way of putting everything in perspective . When it comes to politics , they sometimes put it all in the wrong perspective .  With nature suddenly grabbing our attention with both hands and reminding us we have much less control over our world and our lives than we believed , everything else moves to the background . Like a diagnosis of a deadly disease or another personal tragedy , when the earth itself has unleashed its wrath , we look at all that transpires around us through the lens of the new overpowering reality .  In the aftermath of a natural disaster , opinions about politicians , about leaders , can change .  Covering natural disasters and politics around the world , I have seen people change political opinions . And then wish they had not .  Politics : Will you be able to vote on Election Day ?  A country ' s leader will receive the credit or the blame for what comes during and after the event , somehow blinding many voters to all they knew about him or her before .  Of course , the chief executive does bear responsibility . And the response to a major crisis should be used as one gauge of leadership . But there is a tendency to suffer temporary amnesia : Nothing matters but the reality of the moment . Everything else is clouded in a fog of temporary irrelevance .  There are plenty of examples of a temporary surge of emotion following a disaster , which later receded into regret . Each country is different and no circumstances are identical . But it ' s worth noting the experiences of other voters .  Will Sandy affect your vote ?  I arrived in Thailand not long after the massive earthquake and tsunami that devastated Asia in December of 2004 . Thai voters were scheduled to go to the polls just a few weeks later . Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra rolled up his sleeves and got to work on the crisis . He traveled to the regions wiped away by the tidal wave , he visited the survivors , showed himself on television leading the rescue and recovery effort , giving instructions to local officials , refusing international aid , declaring proudly that Thailand could take care of itself .  The voters ate it up . Amid the devastation , anxiety and uncertainty , it was reassuring to see a man in charge . And the response was , for the most part , quite good . His approval ratings soared .  Before the storm , Thaksin ' s party was losing ground . But when the February elections came , voters turned out in droves for the prime minister ' s party , giving him a landslide victory .  The seeming consensus did not last long . Thaksin was eventually deposed and charged with corruption . He lives in exile .  The Japanese earthquake , tsunami , and nuclear meltdown last year threw a political lifeline to then Prime Minister Naoto Kan . The prime minister , wearing worker ' s clothes , appeared to be in control of the situation . But as time passed and the Japanese started questioning the government ' s response to the disaster , his approval ratings collapsed and he ended up resigning .  In 2007 , a violent earthquake shook Peru . President Alan Garcia moved his presidential offices to the disaster zone . He brought his cabinet with him and personally managed some say micro managed the response . His political advisers were delighted with the impact . Polls showed 76 of Peruvians approved of his handling of the crisis . His personal approval rating soared .  After the crisis , the polls started sliding again , dropping to dismal levels , as if the earthquake and his heroic efforts had never happened .  In Chile in 2010 , one of the world ' s strongest earthquakes came just after an election . The outgoing government was criticized for failing on many fronts . The newly elected Sebastian Pi era benefited from the disaster . The businessman turned politician was praised for his effective management style , and he used it to give himself a lower baseline from which to be judged . "" This calamity is much deeper , much more damaging and much more serious than we thought , "" he said .  As others , his approval ratings were bolstered by his competent response to the disaster . But they later collapsed like a ramshackle building in an earthquake . Voters discovered there was more to a good presidency than an impressive display of post earthquake leadership .  When the response is ineffectual and it fits in with a particular narrative , however , the impact can be indelible . That was the case with George W . Bush and Katrina . The "" heck of a job , Brownie "" cluelessness matched an impression of carelessness and incompetence .  Natural disasters , like violent storms , can reshape the political landscape . Sometimes the topography returns to its previous state . Sometimes it is changed forever .  When a major calamity strikes just before an election , it is a test for politicians , as many have observed . That ' s why in the United States , with just a week to go before the presidential election , both camps are handling the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy with excruciating political care .  That ' s the politicians ' challenge .  Opinion : Sandy debunks ' nanny state '  There is also an important an even more important challenge for voters .  This is a time of maximum manipulation . It is a time when political operators will seek to mold perceptions to craft a political outcome to score votes .  Voters must make a superhuman effort to not let the storm carry any more weight than it deserves in their judgment of politicians not to let the storm wash away the knowledge about the candidates and their ideas accumulated over a much longer period .  The storm and its aftermath do matter . We want a president who is competent and capable , able to guide the country through a crisis . But there is more .  A presidency is more than crisis management .  The storm has indeed given us useful information . It has reminded us of topics ignored during the campaign , such as climate change . It has cast a spotlight on the need to have a strong enough government to handle huge , sudden challenges . And it has put an interesting twist on the idea of privatizing emergency disaster operations .  We should keep in mind that much of what we see the candidates doing at this very moment amounts to political theater .  As American voters see images and hear stories of death and destruction , of water gushing into subway tunnels , of ferocious winds toppling construction cranes , of homes burning , of hospital workers carrying critical patients down emergency stairs , and of brave efforts to recover , it ' s crucial to remember this is an important moment , but it is not the only moment , not the only test to determine who should be the next president . Because choosing the wrong president could prove an even greater disaster .  The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Frida Ghitis .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
7692,7693,"Originally appeared at The Blog Mire  Following on from her recent piece for Time magazine , in which she so eloquently explained why America is indispensable and exceptional, TheBlogMire brings you an exclusive piece in which Mrs Clinton explains why an indispensable and exceptional nation must have an indispensable and exceptional leader.  (Warning: May contain traces of satire)  If there’s one core belief that has guided and inspired me every step of my career in public service, it’s this: I am an exceptional woman. A great, unselfish, compassionate woman, to paraphrase Robert Kennedy. And when you add up all my advantages, it’s clear I’m indispensable too – someone all others can look to for leadership.  And what I’m really excited about is not just that I’m indispensable, but that I’m about to become President of the indispensable nation. An indispensable nation needs an indispensable woman. An indispensable woman needs an indispensable nation. It’s a match made in heaven, which is why I am asking you to help me break the glass ceiling on November 8th – so that together we can become even more exceptional than we already are.  So what makes me so indispensable?  I’m indispensable in part because of my love for our armed forces. Our military is the greatest in history, with the best troops, training and technology, and I believe it is a travesty that we are not using it to its full potential. It’s essential we do everything we can to support our men and women in uniform, and I intend to do just that by sending our brave soldiers on important missions around the globe from day one of my presidency.  I’m indispensable because of my commitment to the truth. Throughout my career, I’ve always sought to stay close to the truth. I know that there’s a lot of folks out there who say I’m corrupt. But those who know me closest will tell you that this isn’t the real Hillary. Ask those who know me best. Ask my husband Bill. He’ll tell you. Ask my campaign chairman John Podesta. He’ll tell you. Ask Lloyd Blankfein,  at Goldman Sachs. He’ll tell you. Ask some of our closest allies in places like Saudi Arabia. They’ll tell you. They will all tell you about the real Hillary, and that my commitment to honesty and fighting corruption is second to none. It may even be my most exceptional quality. Alongside humility.  I’m also indispensable because of my network of alliances and supporters. You only have to look at who they are. Has there ever been a candidate in the entire history of our exceptional nation that has managed to get the backing of the entire media and corporate America? I don’t think so. But it does tell you something, doesn’t it? I humbly submit that it speaks volumes that some of the most important people in our exceptional country are prepared to place their trust in me.  I’m indispensable because, unlike Donald Trump, I don’t need to rely on the help of people like Vladimir Putin and countries like Russia to help get me elected. Can you imagine me having to rely on Putin and Russia to get elected? Of course I’ve had to bring Putin and Russia up in this campaign from time to time, not because I want to keep bringing Putin and Russia into it. In fact, the only reason I’ve occasionally mentioned Putin and Russia is not because I want to keep talking about Putin and Russia, but because I have to keep taking about Putin and Russia because Trump is depending on Putin and Russia to get him elected and so I have to draw attention to Putin and Russia. But trust me, if I had my way I wouldn’t bring Putin and Russia up at all.  I’m indispensable because of my commitment to helping countries get rid of their dictators, and establishing democracy and peace. Like Libya, for example. We came. We saw. He died. And the Libyans got their liberty.  Most of all, I’m ­indispensable — and exceptional — because of my values.  Take my commitment to human rights, which I have shown by being one of the most vocal supporters of a woman’s right to terminate her pregnancy, right up to a few seconds before the thing inside her becomes a human.  Take my commitment to raising money, which my husband and I have shown through our tireless work with the Clinton Foundation, and in making hundreds of speeches for various organisations.  Take my commitment to making the world a better place, which I’ve shown time and time again by saying things like “love trumps hate”. Which it does, doesn’t it? I’m proud of that expression.  But with all of these advantages comes ­responsibility – I need to lead the world. You need me to lead the world. Because if I fail to lead, I will leave a vacuum that lets extremists, Putin and Russia, haters, bigots, the intolerant, Putin and Russia, the severely backwards , the Julian Assange’s of this world,Putin and Russia – Baskets of Deplorables – take root everywhere.  Of course, being exceptional doesn’t mean that other people don’t also have something to offer — maybe they do. But I have an unparalleled ability to be a force for peace, progress and prosperity around the world, which I intend to demonstrate on day one of my presidency, by standing up to Putin and Russia and showing Putin and Russia who’s boss.  I’ll never stop doing good. Never. That’s what makes me great. I’m good because I’m great, and I’ll tell you one thing, I’ll never stop.  That’s why I’m indispensable.  Let’s keep me exceptional. Did you enjoy this article? - Consider helping us! 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7698,7699,"Oscar Pistorius is selling up property and shares in his race horses in a bid to pay his spiralling legal costs .  A close friend of the athlete said he is selling off ' all his property and everything ' as he tries to raise money to fight the charges of murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp , 29 .  He has already racked up a 200 , 000 legal bill and his selling shares in one of his race horses , Tiger Canyon , and trying to sell other property .  Oscar Pistorius is fighting charges that he murdered girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine ' s Day  Friends of the athlete , pictured in court , say he is selling shares in a race horse to pay for spiralling legal costs  His friend Mike Azzi , who Pistorius  calls Uncle Mike , was quoted in the Sunday People as saying : ' We spoke  about one or two of the horses . He ' s asked me to try to get people to  buy them for him because he has no form of income any longer .  ' He ' s selling off all his property and everything because of the legal costs . '  A new  documentary Oscar Pistorius : What Really Happened has also made a number of other claims .  One of the revelations made in the programme is that when the 26 year old athlete was arrested he told police : ' I ' ll survive . I always win ' , reports the Sunday People .  He was replying to a senior officer who told him : ' You could go to jail for a very long time , Oscar . '  Pistorius was released on strict bail conditions two weeks ago . He was ordered to pay a bond of 73 , 000 and forbidden from returning to his house , the scene of the crime .  The Olympic and Paralympic star ' s lucrative sponsorship deals were suspended after his arrest  His legal costs are mounting and once the trial begins they will soar further .  Pistorius ' lucrative sponsorship deals with the likes of Nike and Oakley have been suspended , ending one of his income streams .  There are also concerns the Olympic and Paralympic star may be suicidal .  Mr Azzi , a race horse trainer , said Pistorius is a ' broken man ' who is on the verge of killing himself .  The family friend said Pistorius is praying for Steenkamp and her family and asks his friends to do so as well .  Police have confirmed that a witness who lives 150 metres from Pistorius ' home in the Silver Woods estate in Pretoria has come forward .  They claim to have heard screams and shots on the night Steenkamp died .  Police said the door to the bathroom , pictured , that Steenkamp was shot through opened inwards meaning she may have used her body to stop it being opened  Oscar Pistorius at his home in Pretoria with his dogs Enzo and Silo . Investigators have confirmed two dogs were at the house when Reeva Steenkamp died  Pistorius says he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder when he shot her through a locked bathroom door .  Police have now revealed that the door opens inwards and are investigating the possibility she was using her body to stop the athlete from coming in when she died .  They are also working their way through the ' massive ' number of texts on Steenkamp ' s mobile phone and are continuing to examine the 9mm pistol used and Pistorius ' phone .  Investigators have also confirmed that two dogs were at the property at the time .  Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
7703,7704,"The body of a British father of two lay unnoticed in Russian mountains for eight months after he went missing on a hiking trip .  John Stiles from Ilkley , west Yorkshire , disappeared during a ten hour excursion in North Ossettia last November .  The 52 year old , who had been working in Russia to help rehouse Chechen refugees , was found dead on July 18 the following year .  John Stiles died while hiking in the Caucasus Mountain Range in Russia after going to the country as an aid worker . The 52 year old is pictured with his wife Isabelle and children , Poppy and Hugo  His corpse was spotted when a helicopter noticed a brightly coloured object on ground .  An inquest heard how Mr Stiles , an experienced climber , had been working in Grozny as an aid worker for two years before his death after assisting refugees in northern Iraq .  He and his wife , Isabelle , travelled conflict zones helping those in need before settling in the  with their children Hugo and Poppy .  Mr Stiles was climbing the Caucasus mountain range when he died in 2013 . A coroner ruled his death was the result of a fall which caused a severe head injury .  The aid worker had travelled to north Iraq before taking up work with Chechen refugees in Russia  The father of two was an experienced climber , the inquest heard . He died after hurting his head in a suspected fall  The father of two was hiking in the Caucasus Mountains in Russia when he went missing last November  His body could only be identified by a steelwork in his pelvic area , fitted in 1999 following a hiking accident , by the time it was found .  Medical records provided by his wife matched up the Meccano like fixture .  Speaking of her husband ' s death , Mrs Stiles said : ' John travelled all around the world but this time it was his last journey .  ' We will miss him so much as he was a great man and a very supportive husband and loving and fun Dad . '  The inquest has been adjourned pending further information from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Russian authorities .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
7705,7706,Steven Crowder exposes the lies Obama has been telling Americans every time he steps in front of a microphone to address gun control. The Left will stop at nothing to take our guns. Lying about how easy it is to get a gun through the  gun show loophole  seems to be a coordinated effort by the Left.Please share this video (the truth) with everyone you know.Watch this video expose the lies of the gun control Left: ,fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,present
7707,7708,"Print  Before you applaud me for my integrity or condemn me for selling out, allow me to explain my decision to vote for Donald Trump on Nov. 8.  First, I’m writing this because I have been asked incessantly for months how I would be voting, not because I think I’m someone special or that what I do should influence you.  Second, I’m not endorsing Donald Trump. In my mind, there’s a world of difference between endorsing a candidate and voting for a candidate.  Third, I respect those in the #NeverTrump camp and share many of their concerns, including the possibility of his further vulgarizing and degrading the nation, the possibility of him deepening our ethnic and racial divides, and the possibility of him alienating our allies and unnecessarily provoking our enemies, just to name a few. Among the #NeverTrump voices I respect are columnists like David French and Ben Shapiro, bloggers like Matt Walsh and evangelical leaders like Russell Moore and Beth Moore.  Fourth, I take strong exception to evangelicals who have fawned over Trump as if he were some kind of savior figure, supporting him as if he were St. Donald. I also take issue with evangelical leaders who want us to minimize some of Trump’s failings, constantly saying, “Let him who is without sin cast the first one” (see John 8:7). This is not a question of condemning the man but rather a question of making a moral assessment as to his readiness to serve our nation.  Fifth, my decision to vote for Trump, barring something earth-shattering between now and Nov. 8, is consistent with my position, which has been: 1) During the  primaries, I issued strong warnings against voting for Trump while we had other excellent choices. I did this in writing , on video and on the radio, but always stating that if Trump won the nomination, I would re-evaluate my position. 2) Once Trump became the Republican candidate, I wrote that I was rooting for him to take steps in the right direction and thereby win my vote. 3) I have stated repeatedly that under no circumstances would I vote for Hillary. (For two strong warnings about Hillary, see here and here .)  So, what has convinced me that I should now vote for Donald Trump?  The culture war is not over! Gain hope, courage and practical advice in Michael Brown’s latest book, “Outlasting the Gay Revolution: Where Homosexual Activism Is Really Going and How to Turn the Tide”  First, I believe that he actually is serious about appointing pro-life, pro-Constitution Supreme Court justices. When he said during the last debate that if you’re pro-life, you want to see Roe v. Wade overturned, and when he reiterated at his Gettysburg speech that he will be drawing from his list of 20 potential appointees, he helped me feel more confident that he would not suddenly flip-flop if elected.  Second, one reason I endorsed Sen. Ted Cruz was because he took on the political establishment, both Democratic and Republican, to the point of calling it the Washington cartel. Trump is an absolute wrecking ball to the negative parts of the political system (although, unfortunately, he’s been a wrecking ball to some of the good parts of the system), so my vote for him is also a protest vote.  Third, I am voting for the Republican platform, not the Republican Party, which means I’m in agreement with the platform while at the same time having very little confidence in the party as a whole.  Fourth, while I have always felt that the line, “We’re electing a president, not a pastor,” was overstated and superficial, if we rephrased it to say, “We’re electing a general to train hand-to-hand combat warriors, not a pastor,” it might have more relevance. In other words, we are not looking for Trump to be a moral reformer (even if hedoes appoint righteous judges), and, at this point, he certainly is anything but a moral example (although we pray he will be truly converted and become one). Rather, out of our choices for president, which are stark, we are voting for the one most likely to defeat Hillary and make some good decisions for the nation, not be the savior. And with things so messed up in America, the hand-to-hand combat analogy is closer to home.  Fifth, within the first few minutes of the last debate, the massive differences between Hillary and Trump were there for the world to see, she a pro-abortion radical and an extreme supporter of the  agenda and he unashamedly speaking out against late-term abortions and wanting to appoint justices who would defend our essential liberties. Since I have the opportunity to vote, I feel that I should vote for Trump.  Sixth, Trump continues to be drawn to conservative Christians, and not just ones who tickle his ears. One of my dear friends has spent hours with Trump and members of his family, and he has told me that in 55 years of ministry, no one has received him as openly and graciously as has Trump. Yet my friend continues to speak the truth to him in the clearest possible terms. While I am not one of those claiming that Trump is a born-again Christian (I see absolutely no evidence of this), the fact that he continues to listen to godly men and open the door to their counsel indicates that something positive could possibly be going on. It also indicates that these godly leaders might be a positive influence on him if he were elected president.  Seventh, although I’m quite aware that a president could do great harm or good to the nation, I’m far more concerned with what we as God’s people do with our own lives and witnesses, and for me, the state of the church of America is much more important than the state of the White House. In that context, I echo the words (and warning) of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: “The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool. If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority.”  So, in sum: 1) My hope is in God, not Donald Trump, and I do recognize that either Hillary or Trump has the potential to do great harm to America; 2) My urgent call is for us as followers of Jesus to get our own act together so we can be the salt and light of the nation; 3) I will continue to urge all believers not to vote for Hillary Clinton, whose policies will certainly do us great harm; and 4) Ultimately, the most effective way to defeat Hillary is to vote for Trump, while also praying that God will use him for good , not for evil.  In the end, if Trump gets elected and fails miserably, I will be grieved but not devastated. If he does well, I will rejoice.  Either way, though, my vote is just that: a vote. My greater role is to live a life pleasing to God with the hope of advancing a gospel-based moral and cultural revolution. Receive Michael Brown's commentaries in your email BONUS: By signing up for Michael Brown's alerts, you will also be signed up for news and special offers from  via email. Name *",fake,news,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
7710,7711,"Reuters) - France on Thursday condemned bombings by Syrian government forces and its allies against civilian populations in Idlib and Hama province, and called on Russia to abide by commitments it had made to de-escalate violence in the area.  These acts violate international humanitarian law,  foreign affairs ministry spokeswoman Agnes Romatet-Espagne said in a statement.  France calls on Russia and the allies of the Damascus regime to respect the commitments made in Astana and to prevent these air strikes from continuing,  she added. The Russian Defence Ministry on Thursday denied allegations that Russian and Syrian jets had killed at least 150 civilians in over a week of bombing, saying it had been careful not to hit civilians. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
7721,7722,"Carol Mackoff and her family were rescued Friday morning after being trapped in their rooms in the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai for more than 48 hours .  "" They informed us the final assault was beginning and we got a call from the colonel of the Indian army , and he said we will give you a password and if we come to the door and give it to you , come quietly with us , "" Mackoff said . "" That ' s exactly what happened . ""  Upon arrival , the Indian army rescued six people at a time , Mackoff said .  "" It was only what we could carry , "" she said . "" They took us down a back service stairway that was very quiet . We were tiptoeing through glass and blood and discarded shoes from people who it appeared had recently died . ""  Mackoff , her husband , sister and friend were on a three week trip to India .  Mackoff said they received a call from hotel staffers telling them to stay away from the door and lock it . For 20 hours they sat in the dark . At one point they taped the peephole so nobody could see in .  The Chicago , Illinois , resident said the attackers rang their doorbell twice , but she and her family didn ' t answer . Listen to Mackoff describe what it was like inside the hotel  "" We locked every possible lock on the door and put heavy suitcases against it , "" she said . "" When the explosions started and smoke filled the hallways we put towels at the bottom of the door . ""  She said she was told that attackers opened doors across the hallway and had thrown grenades inside .  "" All we were thinking was ' Please don ' t try and blow this door open , ' "" Mackoff said .  Mackoff said because of the hotel wing ' s large atrium , which reaches from the bottom floor to the top floor , the sounds of gunshots and explosions echoed and reverberated throughout the two days .  She said looking through the peephole she could see that most of the attackers were carrying backpacks .  "" We were able to see the barrel of their gun and at one point one of them had a cell phone and was conversing or coordinating with someone . ""  While she was trapped , Mackoff exchanged text messages with the U . S . Consulate , which coordinated the rescue with the Indian Army . The four were told the exact time they would be rescued .  Those contacts were Mackoff ' s only lifeline to the outside . She said the satellite connection had been cut , so they couldn ' t watch  to see what was going on .  Throughout the 48 hours they were trapped , Mackoff and her companions ate chocolate chip cookies from the minibar , health bars they had brought from home and cashew nuts .  "" It doesn ' t seem real . You can ' t take it in , "" Mackoff said as she sat on a plane waiting to go home . "" It ' s a surreal experience , you don ' t believe it really happened to you . ""  ",true,text,validation,American football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
7723,7724,"Alan Irvine claimed he sent a ' team full of first team players ' into West Brom ' s 2 1 Capital One Cup defeat at Bournemouth .  The West Brom boss defended the decision to make 10 changes to his starting line up that backfired in the defeat to the Championship side at Dean Court .  Eunan O ' Kane and Callum Wilson fired Bournemouth to their first ever League Cup quarter final , despite Tommy Elphick ' s own goal briefly levelling the scores .  West Brom boss Alan Irvine blasted his fringe players for failing to take their chance to impress on Tuesday  Boss Irvine slammed his Albion fringe players for wasting their chance to impress , admitting his side failed to make their quality count .  ' It was a team full of first team players , who train as a first team group every day , ' said Irvine .  ' They need to grab those opportunities and get the benefit of a game like that as well .  ' We have a squad of players who are all Premier League players , they are players who are all at a high level .  Eunan O ' Kane fired the Cherries ahead early in the second half as Bournemouth looked for a cup upset  Callum Wilson fired in Bournemouth ' s second and eventual winner to send the Cherries into the quarter finals  ' It wasn ' t a team of kids put out there : it was a team that if played to the best of their ability they should have got a result .  ' It was an opportunity for a number of our players who have been desperate for a game to go out and play well and show me they should be in contention for the Premier League games .  ' Some of them did but not enough of them . I ' m fully aware of Bournemouth ' s quality .  ' I said prior to this that this would be an extremely difficult game , and that ' s how it turned out .  ' But I ' m not hanging any players out to dry : not enough played well and there are a number capable of better . Some players did themselves a favour , some didn ' t . '  The Bournemouth squad celebrate reaching their first ever League Cup quarter final after beating West Brom  Delighted Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe hailed his players for shrugging off Albion ' s late equaliser , Wilson almost immediately racing up the other end to fire the winner .  Howe claimed the decisive strike when Bournemouth saw off Albion 1 0 in the  Cup third round in 1999 .  The former Cherries defender admitted managing the club to a Premier League giant killing proved the more exhilarating feeling .  ' We really didn ' t want extra time , ' said Howe . ' It really pleased me we had the mentality to stay strong , score and see out the game . That shows how strong we are .  ' Nothing beats this feeling not that win against Albion I played in . When you score a goal as a player it ' s an unbelievable feeling .  Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe , who has guided the Cherries to fourth in the Championship , salutes the fans  ' But after some dark days for the club in the past , to be in a quarter final , is fantastic . '  If Irvine was left to defend his 10 changes , Howe was being hailed for making the same number of alterations from the line up that blitzed Birmingham 8 0 on Saturday .  ' The guys who have been out of the team have shown a great attitude , have been very professional , ' said Howe .  ' I don ' t think we ' d have performed so well if we had people sulking or losing interest . I had it in my mind I was always going to make the changes .  ' When you haven ' t been at this stage of the cup before , you don ' t care who you get . We ' d love a home game , but who we get at home , we ' ll take whoever . '  Howe ( right ) , instructing his players against West Brom , was delighted with the result at Dean Court  Bournemouth ' s Russian owner Maxim Demin was once again conspicuous by his absence , with Howe admitting he abides by his boss ' idiosyncratic superstitions .  ' He thinks he ' s some kind of jinx so he finds it hard to watch us and I ' ve been trying to convince him to come , ' said Howe .  ' He asked me to text him a specific thing at a particular time ahead of the match , and I did . He ' s been instrumental in helping turn this club around .  ' When I came back to the club two years ago the immediate target was to stay up ( in League One ) .  ' We managed to win promotion that season which was a surprise . Last season we ' d have accepted finishing fourth bottom in the Championship , but we finished 10th .  ' Now it ' s about improving performances as much as league position . '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
7740,7741,""" There should be no media fanfare , "" she added .  "" The way this has been handled has left the Chinese believing that the  is challenging its sovereignty rather than simply exercising freedom of the seas . ""   patrol in South China Sea ' damaged trust '  There have been repeated confrontations in the area between Chinese vessels and boats from some of its neighbours who assert rights to the waters , particularly the Philippines and Vietnam .  Both are members of the Association of South East Asian Nations , which has long called on China to negotiate a code of conduct in the region , as are fellow claimants Brunei and Malaysia . Taiwan also makes claims over part of the sea .  Photo : A satellite image shows Chinese development on an island in the Cuarteron Reef in the South China Sea in 2014 . ( Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative Centre for Strategic and International Studies )  Manila has infuriated the world ' s second largest economy by taking the dispute to a United Nations tribunal .  Philippines president Benigno Aquino said the  action demonstrated that "" the balance of power says that there is not just a single voice that must be adhered to "" .  Beijing ' s reclamations have been seen as an attempt to assert its claims by establishing physical facts , but Mr Aquino said : "" There is no de facto changing of the reality on the ground . ""  Beijing has repeatedly said the construction work is mainly for civilian purposes .  But satellite images of the islands published by the Washington based Centre for strategic and International Studies show that Beijing has reclaimed millions of square metres of land in the Spratlys , known as Nansha in Chinese .  The pictures also show a host of facilities with the potential for military applications being developed , including as many as three runways ? at least one of them 3 , 000 metres long .  Vietnam , China , Malaysia have eyes on the prize  Explore the conflicting territorial claims in the South China Sea  Rich in resources and traversed by a quarter of global shipping , the South China Sea is the stage for several territorial disputes that threaten to escalate tensions in the region .  At the heart of these disputes are a series of barren islands in two groups the Spratly Islands , off the coast of the Philippines , and the Paracel Islands , off the coasts of Vietnam and China .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,present
7749,7750,"It ' s one of the most individual sports , yet it sometimes demands that fierce rivals unify to compete against other countries in what could be called the World Cup of tennis .  A Davis Cup final already steeped in intrigue soared to another level Saturday and now the question is : Can Roger Federer and Switzerland recover against France in front of a potential record crowd this weekend ?  Federer ' s back the area of his body that has intermittently hindered the 17 time grand slam champion in a mostly healthy career is only part of the issue .  His relationship with teammate Stan Wawrinka in the wake of ' Mirka Gate ' is worth monitoring , too .  It ' s certainly not the build up the 33 year old Federer wanted as he seeks one of the two biggest titles to elude him , the other being an Olympic singles gold .  Federer ' s wife , Mirka , might have taunted Wawrinka during her husband ' s dramatic 4 6 7 5 7 6 ( 6 ) win at the World Tour Finals in London and it reportedly led to a verbal bust up between the men who captured doubles gold together at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing .  Federer then handed only the third walkover of his career to an opponent , the back not healthy enough to take on world No . 1 Novak Djokovic .  At least on the relationship front , though , things appear to be better between Federer and Wawrinka ahead of the affair at the Stade Pierre Mauroy , the home of Lille in football ' s Ligue 1 .  Federer posted a picture on Twitter of a united looking Swiss side and members of the squad said Tuesday in Lille that any tension was gone .  "" We had a conversation after the match , "" Federer told reporters . "" Everything ' s totally relaxed about the situation . We ' re old enough .  "" There ' s no hard feelings whatsoever . We ' re having a good time here . We are friends , not enemies . But obviously it was maybe one of those moments , heat of the moment situations . ""  Wawrinka blamed the press for blowing things out of proportion .  "" For us it ' s nothing , "" he told reporters . "" It took us five minutes to talk about it , to think about the next main goal that we have the Davis Cup this weekend . ""  Heading into the semifinal at the O2 Arena , the Swiss appeared to have the upper hand in the Davis Cup final .  Federer maintained his excellent 2014 form , while Wawrinka the Australian Open champion arrested a slump by winning two matches and extended his compatriot to three tight sets . He even had four match points .  The eventful Saturday changed the complexion of the series .  Making the transition from one surface to another is difficult the home team chose clay for the Davis Cup final and has practiced on it for weeks although at least a long flight wasn ' t needed for the Swiss to get to northern France .  Wawrinka actually took the train from London .  But Federer ' s back is of greater concern .  His spot was confirmed in the draw Thursday he will face Gael Monfils on Friday after Wawrinka battles Jo Wilfried Tsonga but being at 100 percent seems unlikely .  The majority of the at least 27 , 000 expected to be in attendance per day the largest tennis crowd for a professional match remains the 27 , 200 who turned up to watch Spain defeat the U . S . in the 2004 final in Seville probably wouldn ' t mind if Federer is sub par since it would give France a massive advantage .  Federer practiced on the clay for the first time Wednesday .  "" I ' m just really pleased that I ' m actually able to play tomorrow , "" Federer said at the draw Thursday . "" I ' ll give it a go . Definitely looking forward to playing against Gael .  "" Things have been going very well for me the last week . It ' s been a difficult week , but I ' m happy where I am today . ""  Federer declined to reveal whether he had taken a cortisone injection for his back .  All the turmoil in the Swiss camp doesn ' t mean tennis loving France desperate to end a 13 year drought in the competition can relax , according to French No . 1 Tsonga .  "" I think for this weekend , the important thing for us is to stay focused on ourselves , on our team , "" Tsonga told reporters . "" What we need is to have a perfect performance .  "" What we can do is just play tennis . Anything else is not really our business . ""  Federer and Wawrinka were sure things to play singles for Switzerland if deemed fit , with France holding more options .  French captain Arnaud Clement didn ' t pull off a major surprise , however , when he named Monfils as the No . 2 .  Monfils habitually shines at home , spurred on by the crowd and raising his level .  One of his two victories over Federer came at the Paris Masters and he held two match points against Federer at the U . S . Open in September .  Federer , however , has topped Monfils three times on the clay of Roland Garros .  Federer was omitted from Saturday ' s doubles , as was Wawrinka , though changes can be made on the day .  If France falters early , the large crowd may not be beneficial . The French have been known to boo their own at Roland Garros , for example .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
7767,7768,"The parents of runaway Indira Gainiyeva last night issued an emotional appeal for her boarding school not to expel their daughter , excusing her by saying : ' She is young , perhaps she fell in love . '  Speaking publicly for the first time since the schoolgirl did a midnight flit to the Dominican Republic with her boyfriend , her mother Firuza pleaded for Indira to send a text ' or anything ' to show she is safe .  ' That would be enough , ' she said .  Midnight flit : Indira Gainiyeva , above right , with her mother Firuza and younger sister Rufina  ' I beg and pray she is in good health . She knows that she and our other children mean more than anything for myself and my husband . No one is more important . '  From her home in Kyzylorda , southern Kazakhstan , Mrs Gainiyeva insisted Indira was a good student , while her father Ravi claimed Indira , who turned 17 on Friday , may have run away ' to celebrate her birthday ' .  Indira has not been seen since sneaking out of Stonyhurst College , in Clitheroe , Lancashire , with fellow pupil Eddy Bunyan , 16 , on Monday . The pair were believed to have fled to the city of Puerto Plata .  However , last night police said they may have moved on to Cabarete , a town famed for its all night parties and watersports .  Mrs Gainiyeva revealed she and her husband are desperate for the headmaster to take Indira back at the 30 , 000 a year school .  Mr Gainiyeva , 50 , said : ' I can only ask the school to forgive her such a behaviour . Because she is not really such a kind of person . She studies , she strives , she wants to be well educated . I ' m concerned this will damage the school ' s reputation . '  Missing : Indira and boyfriend Eddy Bunyan are still missing despite widespread searches across the island  As the search continued last night ,  postings under Indira ' s name on popular social media website ask . fm gave  an intriguing insight into her character , hopes and plans .  The messages reveal an intelligent free spirit with an adventurous side who cites laziness and apathy as her enemies , and identifies Karl Marx and Pushkin as her heroes .  She says her biggest dream is to have a life abroad , naming Spain the country she would most like to live in . She says she loves to take risks on a daily basis , defining the secret of happiness as being able to ' do what you like and be yourself ' .  Her answers on the site where users ask each other a range of questions are written in Russian and have been translated by The Mail on Sunday .  Hunt : Guards on the Caribbean island have plastered beaches with posters as they look for the youngsters  Asked how often she lies , she says : ' I have to sometimes , but try to do it as rarely as possible . '  The teenager , who moved to Britain from Kazakhstan to study , made the comments five months ago .  She also reveals a softer side when she says : ' I want to make people who are with me happy , build a strong family and become a successful person . '  Indira and Eddy are believed to have planned their escape meticulously , turning off their mobiles and buying pay as you go phones , which cannot be traced . A friend of Eddy ' s said : ' I heard they booked that the flights using credit cards but then took lots of cash so they could pay for the hotel without being detected , which is clever . '  Of Indira ' s parents ' pleas , the ex pupil added : ' They definitely won ' t be going back . They ' ll be expelled . '  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
7770,7771,"What the candidates at the Republican debate must do to make their mark  Republican candidates Marco Rubio , left , Donald Trump and Ben Carson at last month ' s debate . Carson has climbed slightly past Trump in polls , and Rubio has firmly planted himself in the second tier of candidates .  Republican candidates Marco Rubio , left , Donald Trump and Ben Carson at last month ' s debate . Carson has climbed slightly past Trump in polls , and Rubio has firmly planted himself in the second tier of candidates . ( Justin Sullivan Getty Images )  As Republican presidential candidates prepare to meet Tuesday night for their fourth debate , they will be striving to make a mark among a winnowed field on the main stage of the Fox Business Network ' s debate .  The smaller crowd gives the seven men and one woman participating in the prime time face off greater air time to make their case ? or more opportunities to stumble .  Here ' s a look at the candidates and their key goals Tuesday night , less than three months before the first ballots are cast :  With surging polls comes surging scrutiny . The crucial issue for Ben Carson , a mild mannered retired neurosurgeon , and Marco Rubio , a senator from Florida , is whether they can credibly , confidently answer questions about their past under the hot stage lights . Will they stick to their tactic of blaming the media for turning minor misstatements or missteps into big deals ?  Get the best from our political teams delivered daily Open link  Carson has climbed slightly past Donald Trump in several national and state polls . Rubio has gathered enough support in surveys to firmly plant himself among the second tier of candidates , outperforming fellow Floridian Jeb Bush , whose campaign has stumbled badly .  In recent days , Carson was accused by Politico of fabricating an offer of a full scholarship to West Point .  spoke to several people who knew Carson growing up and could not find any who confirmed Carson ' s tales of struggling with a violent temper and trying to stab a friend .  Republican presidential debate will try to spark discussion on taxes and the economy , the focus instead will probably be on how the candidates react to the questioners themselves .  Ahead of the second debate in less than two weeks ,  presidential aspirants arrive . . .  Though the moderators of Tuesday ' s Republican presidential debate will try to spark discussion on taxes and the economy , the focus instead will probably be on how the candidates react to the questioners themselves .  Ahead of the second debate in less than two weeks ,  presidential aspirants arrive . . .  The Wall Street Journal could find no evidence to support stories Carson has told about protecting white high school classmates from rioting black students , or being the sole student to pass an honesty test given by a Yale University professor .  Carson and his campaign have stood by the stories and accused the media of a "" political hit job . ""  Rubio has long faced questions about how he handled his finances , including rumors of lavish spending on a state  credit card , and mixing personal and political expenditures . Trump recently called Rubio "" a disaster with his credit cards "" who "" certainly lives above his means . ""  On Saturday , Rubio ' s campaign released American Express statements that showed that Rubio charged 65 , 000 in party business in 2005 and 2006 , significantly less than other state  leaders who held similar positions . The statements also showed that Rubio made eight personal charges totaling 7 , 200 that his campaign says he promptly repaid .  Former Florida Gov . Bush , the presumed front runner when he entered the race , has much on the line . He has cratered in the polls , slashed staff costs , and is spending time reassuring worried donors and trying to reboot his campaign .  Bush has conceded that he is not the strongest debater among the field . On Tuesday , Bush must overcome his reticence and be more aggressive in getting equal time . He must look to deliver a memorable moment that would boost his campaign .  The most assertive appearance by Bush during a debate arguably led toone of his worst moments of the campaign . He tried to take on Rubio over his voting record in the Senate while running for president . Rubio deftly responded by pointing out Bush ' s support of a  nominee whose voting record was far worse . Rubio then pointedly refrained from saying anything that would tarnish Bush ' s accomplishments while accusing his former mentor of attacking him for political expediency .  Since then , Bush has widely acknowledged that he needs to improve and his campaign rolled out a new slogan : "" Jeb Can Fix It . ""  "" I ' m going to get better . I ought to get better . I know I have to get better , "" Bush told reporters a few days after the last debate .  After being an unpredictable force of nature during the first two  debates , Trump nearly faded in the background during the third face off last month ( as much as the reality television star can fade into the background anywhere ) .  He was more subdued , largely avoided attacking his rivals and erred when he said he never criticized Rubio for aligning himself with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg over more visas for immigrants with specific skills . A moderator pointed out that Trump ' s website called Rubio "" Mark Zuckerberg ' s personal senator . ""  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
7785,7786,"Fans stay true to Jeff Gordon despite losing out on fifth career championship  Jeff Gordon s fans at Homestead Miami Speedway were left disappointed yet remained appreciative of his stellar career  Brett Moffitt is named Sunoco Rookie of the Year  The future for Chris Buescher , fresh off his Xfinity championship , is wide open  Jeff Gordon signs autographs for his fans Sunday at Homestead Miami Speedway before his final race .     Miami   Jeff Gordon was not able to give his fans what they wanted Sunday night .  Gordon , a racing icon competing in the final race of his career , never seriously challenged to win the Ford EcoBoost 400 or , even more important , to walk away with the Sprint Cup championship trophy .  For most of the race , Gordon was hanging around in the vicinity of the10th spot before moving up to sixth in the final laps . Only at the beginning of the race , when Gordon held the lead from Lap 36 through Lap 44 , were his fans able to meaningfully whoop it up .  But even though he lost Sunday night , Gordon did not lose his fans and their loyalty , as proved by what those fans had to say :  ? ? Pam Memmi , 52 : I m glad to have seen his final race . I don t know if I ll be interested in  with him retiring . I ve followed him for about 10 years . It s too much to explain ? to put in words ? what he has meant to  .  ? ? Deedee Stack , 43 : I was really hoping he would win this race . I m a little sad , but he s had a great career . Of course , I ll miss him , but I m still going to root for No . 24 Gordon s car that will be driven by Chase Elliott next season . I m going to become a Chase fan .  ? ? Andrew Schede , 25 : He s one of the biggest of names , so if he doesn t win , you are disappointed . So , yes , I was disappointed Sunday night . I will stay loyal to him ? you have to stay loyal . At the end of the day , I m a big , big fan . And Gordon will officially be a legend after Sunday night .  ? ? Amir Ghaeenzadeh , 28 : Gordon has done a great job over the years . He didn t win Sunday night , but you never know what will happen ? that s what makes it exciting . Gordon has been awesome .  Part of the Gordon fanfare Sunday included fans in a designated portion of the stands holding up placards just before the start of the race . The cards they held up combined to give Gordon a fond farewell . They spelled out , Thank you , Jeff . 24 Forever .  Brett Moffitt , finishing 31st , was named the Sunoco Rookie of the Year .  Even with that honor , Moffitt admitted his future is uncertain .  Not sure what I ll be doing , he said , pointing out he has no guarantees to race in any series ? Truck , Xfinity or Sprint Cup . My slate is clean .  Chris Buescher won the Xfinity Series title at Homestead , always a good steppingstone into Sprint Cup racing .  That will happen , but the question is how much he will race in Sprint Cup next year .  We are still not sure what his arrangement will be , car owner Jack Roush said . He will be involved in a Cup car to some extent but whether it is a part time program or full program we are still in the midst of finalizing the conditions of that . We have a number of possibilities .  Debris on the race track is not unusual during a race .  However , debris on the track before the race is not customary , but that s exactly what took place Sunday .  Seems as though the fans enjoying the Tim McGraw prerace concert were ? to put it nicely ? not too neat . To put it not so nicely , they were a bunch of litterbugs .  The track had to be cleaned up before the race , which already had been postponed by rain , could begin .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
7788,7789,"Reuters) - President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday initiating a government-wide review of the U.S. defense industry and suggest changes to strengthen it. The review is intended to identify and address potential weak points in the defense manufacturing base including  companies that could go out of business and leave gaps in the supply chain for U.S. weapons systems, said Peter Navarro, the White House National Trade Council director. The executive order asked for recommendations on possible  legislative, regulatory and policy changes that would improve and support the defense industry, calling it a “significant national priority”. “America’s defense industrial base is now facing increasing gaps in its capabilities,” Navarro said. “There’s just one company in the U.S. that can repair propellers for Navy submarines,” he added in a briefing with reporters. Defense analyst Howard Rubel of the investment bank Jefferies & Co said the free market has so far done a reasonably good job. “We don’t want to invest in buggy whip suppliers just because there is only one (supplier).” He added that it is important to recognize that the United States can sometimes buy more cheaply from its allies. The review mandated by the executive order will be led by the Pentagon and conducted in concert with the Department of Labor and the Department of Homeland Security as well as other government agencies. Skilled labor is also a big part of the huge military buildup Trump has promised to project American power. Industry has already shown initiative in addressing the skilled labor shortage, including in the metals trades, Navarro said in his remarks. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,present
7792,7793,"Home World Prince Harry ' s polo tumble  Harry met Mutsu Postane , an orphan , in 2004 , when he was just 4 .  Mutsu , who is studying and hopes to become a farmer , has stayed in touch with Harry and written to him over the years .  Prince Harry gave him a pair of wellington boots and has returned to visit him several times since .  This time the pair hugged each other when they met and the Prince even made the now 14 year old laugh by messing with his hat .  The glamorous polo field near Cape Town couldn ' t be further from the mountains of Lesotho , where on Thursday he opened the new mamohato children ' s centre , to support those living in extreme poverty , many of them with  and Aids . The 31 year old prince will reportedly pay tribute to his late mother Princess Diana and his former nanny by naming buildings after them .  The Lesotho prince said : "" Prince Harry told me he was just blown away when he first saw it "" . Mutsu said he and the prince "" click "" , adding : "" I ' m very comfortable around Harry , he is very comfortable around me "" .  What could be the highlight of the trip was when Prince Harry was able to reunite with Matsu Potsane .  Prince Harry ' s Sentebale team eventually lost 7 8 to Royal Salute , although the royal did make it on to the scoreboard . I ' m very comfortable around Harry , he is very comfortable around me . They were taking pictures with the kids , they really enjoyed the session and had fun with us .  Prince Harry fell head first off his pony 20 minutes into a charity polo match in Paarl , South Africa Saturday and then took a second tumble right before the game ' s end , according to the Mirror .  One is royalty , the other an orphan from Lesotho , Africa .  Harry looked happy and relaxed for the outing , which included a meeting with Lesotho Deputy Prime Minister Mothetjoa Metsing and a visit to the new Mamohato Children ' s Centre at Thaba Bosiu , a center built by Sentebale to provide support to children now affected by   .  On the first day of his royal tour of Africa , Prince Harry has given a powerful and touching speech about his own experiences of loss and grief .  The tour will focus on themes including understanding South Africa ' s recent history , the issues and opportunities for young people , and the importance of wildlife conservation .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
7799,7800,"An American sailor has suffered serious injuries after plunging eight floors from a balcony of a hotel before landing into a swimming pool .  Emergency services were called to the Parmelia Hotel in Perth at about 1am after a 22 year old man jumped from the 10th floor and landed in the shallow end of the pool on the second level .  Guests heard a disturbance between a man and a woman , who were visiting the city from the  naval ship  Carl Vinson , at about 1am on Monday before the man leapt .  Police say the pair were both heavily intoxicated when an argument escalated , which led the man to jump off the balcony where he landed in an estimate 1 . 3 metres of water .  An American sailor has suffered serious injuries after plunging into a swimming pool from a hotel ' s balcony  Guests heard a disturbance between a man and a woman , who were visiting the city from a  naval ship  Nine News reports the man suffered ' injuries to both legs and was in a stable condition ' but according to  , the man sustained a broken leg and internal injuries .  A senior police spokesman told the  the man ' s actions were dangerous and ' a sober person wouldn ' t do it ' .  The 22 year old man believed to have jumped into the shallow end of the pool in an estimate 1 . 3 metre of water  The man has been taken to Royal Perth Hospital with non life threatening injuries  Hotel guest Malcolm , who was staying in a room overlooking the outdoor pool , said he heard the man scream in pain at the time of the incident .  ' I ' m very surprised he attempted it , ' Malcolm told  .  ' I thought he was lucky to make the water , to be quite honest with you . He ' s lucky to be alive . '  The man has been taken to Royal Perth Hospital with non life threatening injuries where he is receiving further treatment .  Details have been handed to the  Navy , who will continue with their investigation into this incident .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,negative,past
7807,7808,"Reuters) - China will firmly safeguard freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea, Premier Li Keqiang said on Tuesday at a regional summit in Manila, state news agency Xinhua reported.  Li said China is the largest country in the South China Sea and a major nation that uses the lanes in the sea, thus China shows more interest in safeguarding peace, stability, and navigation freedom in the South China Sea than any other country in the world,  Xinhua said.   ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
7825,7826,"On the day one of his former clubs marched closer to yet another title , David Beckham was relishing the prospect of making his debut for Paris Saint Germain in one of French football ' s biggest fixtures .  The ex Manchester United star has been named in the  squad for Sunday ' s home clash with third placed Marseille , the only French team to ever win the European title .  "" Le Classique "" has come to prominence again following both clubs ' return to fortunes league leading  ' s due to an influx of Qatari cash , and Marseille ' s after a humiliating spell outside the top flight thanks to a match fixing scandal .  "" I played a lot of big games in my career , such as duels between  Milan and Inter , Real Madrid and Barcelona , or the Galaxy and Chivas , "" Beckham told  ' s official website after being named in a 20 man squad .  "" I think it ' s very exciting to discover a new very special game . ""  Beckham will not be the only superstar on show on Sunday his former Real Madrid teammate , Brazilian World Cup winner Ronaldo , has been invited to the match as a special guest .   coach Carlo Ancelotti was wary of confirming that Beckham will make his first appearance since agreeing a five month deal on the final day of the January transfer window , when the 37 year old English soccer icon promised to give his wages to a children ' s charity in Paris .  "" He will be available but I don ' t want to reveal the team , "" the Italian told reporters on Saturday .  "" He has worked well and is in good state physically and mentally . He wants to play and he is in a condition to start . He is capable of playing a full match . ""   will be looking to bounce back from a 3 2 defeat by Sochaux , which left the club three points clear of second placed Lyon .  Manchester United stayed on course for a record extending 20th English title by beating the Premier League ' s bottom club Queens Park Rangers 2 0 on Saturday to extend the team ' s lead to 15 points .  Second placed Manchester City will seek to cut that gap by beating third placed Chelsea on Sunday , while Tottenham could go above the deposed European champions with victory at London rivals West Ham on Monday .  United ' s top scorer Robin van Persie injured a hip in the buildup to defender Rafael ' s opening goal against  , but is expected to be fit for the Champions League last 16 clash with Real Madrid on March 5 .  "" He collided with a camera , which was in a dug out piece of ground . He hit the base of it and has a very bruised hip , "" United boss Alex Ferguson said of the 19 goal Dutchman .  Ryan Giggs celebrated his 999th United appearance by scoring the second goal with 10 minutes left .  Fifth placed Arsenal moved to within a point of Tottenham as Spain midfielder Santi Cazorla scored both goals in a 2 1 victory over third bottom Aston Villa to relieve the pressure on manager Arsene Wenger .  Sixth placed Everton ' s Champions League hopes suffered a big blow with a 2 1 defeat at Norwich , while West Brom moved up to seventh with a 2 1 win at home to Sunderland thanks to a double from on loan Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku .  Wigan moved out of the relegation zone with a 3 0 victory at second bottom reading , as Ivory coast striker Arouna Kone netted twice .  Former Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov scored the only goal of the early midtable game against Stoke , his eighth this season .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
7835,7836,"Borno , Nigeria Nigeria will proceed with national gubernatorial elections Tuesday , despite continuing violence that has raised fears that an Islamist group will step up attacks against voters .  Bomb blasts Monday in Nigeria ' s northeastern state of Borno killed three people and wounded dozens , police said .  In one of three blasts , a bomb thrown from a motorcycle on which two young men were riding detonated , resulting in the three fatalities , said Michael Zukoma , police commissioner for Borno state .  The explosions occurred a day after the Nigerian Red Cross reported that rural villages had held mass burials in northern Nigeria . Witnesses say that violence in the wake of Jonathan ' s election has resulted in hundreds of deaths , though there is no official death toll . The government has provided few details .  This month ' s election of Jonathan , who is from the majority Christian southern part of the country , sparked violence in the Muslim dominated north last week .  Concerns about ongoing violence led Nigerian election officials last week to delay the planned gubernatorial elections in two of Nigeria ' s 36 states . Voters in Kaduna and Bauchi states will go to the polls Thursday .  Northern Muslims in some areas charged that the presidential election was rigged . Armed protesters in the region took to the streets chanting the name of former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari , the main opposition front runner .  The last election , four years ago , was widely condemned for rampant vote rigging , violence , theft of ballot boxes and intimidation .  While this month ' s presidential election was marred by violence , reports of underage voting and logistical problems , observers said they considered it an improvement .  After he was declared the victor , Jonathan warned that persistent post election violence could threaten the stability of the country .  "" These acts of mayhem are sad reminders of the events which plunged our country into 30 months of an unfortunate civil war , "" Jonathan said last week .  Jonathan was referring to a period of unrest in the 1960s that spawned a civil war in Nigeria .  Nigeria is Africa ' s largest oil producer and its most populous nation , with 150 million people .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
7846,7847,"Reuters) - Iran s Revolutionary Guards are ready to help rebuild Syria and bring about a lasting  ceasefire  there, chief commander Mohammad Ali Jafari said, adding that disarming Lebanon s Hezbollah is out of the question, state  reported on Thursday. Regional tensions have risen in recent weeks between Sunni Muslim monarchy Saudi Arabia and Shi ite Iran, whose rivalry has wrought upheaval in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Bahrain. Saudi Arabia has accused the heavily armed Iran-backed Hezbollah of helping Houthi forces in Yemen and playing a role in a ballistic missile attack on the kingdom earlier this month. Iran and Hezbollah both denied the claims. Iranian state television quoted Jafari as saying:  Hezbollah must be armed to fight against the enemy of the Lebanese nation which is Israel. Naturally they should have the best weapons to protect Lebanon s security. This issue is non-negotiable.  Iran denies giving financial and military support to the Houthis in the struggle for Yemen, blaming the deepening crisis on Riyadh.  Iran only provides advisory and spiritual assistances to Yemen ... and this help will continue,  he said. Jafari also praised the success of Iranian allies across the region, hailing a  resistance front  from Tehran to Beirut and calling on Riyadh to avoid confronting this grouping.  We directly deal with global arrogance and Israel not with their emissaries... That is why we do not want to have direct confrontation with Saudi Arabia,  he said. The term global arrogance refers to the United States. Leaders of Russia, Turkey and Iran agreed on Wednesday to help support a full-scale political process in Syria and announced an agreement to sponsor a conference in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi to try to end Syria s civil war.   The guards are ready to play an active role in  establishing a lasting ceasefire in Syria ... and reconstruction of the country,  Jafari said.  Iran has signed large economic contracts with Syria, reaping what appear to be lucrative rewards for helping Tehran s main regional ally President Bashar al-Assad in his fight against rebel groups and Islamic State militants.   In meetings with the (Iran) government, it was agreed that the Guards were in a better position to help Syria s reconstruction ... the preliminary talks already have been held with the Syrian government over the issue,  Jafari said Jafari repeated Iran s stance on its disputed ballistic missile work, saying the Islamic Republic s missile program is for defensive purposes and not up for negotiation.  The program was not part of the 2015 nuclear deal with Western powers under which Iran agreed to curb its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of some sanctions.  Iran will not negotiate its defensive program ... there will be no talks about it,  he said.  (French president Emmanuel) Macron s remarks over our missile work is because he is young and inexperienced.  Macron said earlier this month that Tehran should be less aggressive in the region and should clarify the strategy around its ballistic missile program. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
7860,7861,"Reuters) - U.S. Republican Donald Trump’s presidential campaign appealed to Capitol Hill for support on Monday as his attacks on the Muslim parents of a decorated American soldier killed in Iraq drew sharp rebukes from fellow party members. Trump’s criticism of Khizr Khan and Ghazala Khan, who took the stage at last week’s Democratic convention, sparked growing concern and dismay from Republican lawmakers responding to the latest Trump outburst to blindside his party colleagues. Republican Senator John McCain, a former prisoner of war and the most prominent veteran in Congress, along with the commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, joined the chorus of condemnation, reflecting the highly regarded place the military and its veterans hold with many in the United States. Trump’s dispute with the Khans has dominated the White House campaign in recent days and underlined the uneasy alliance between many leading Republicans and the party’s freewheeling, unorthodox nominee for the Nov. 8 election. Rob Wasinger, a onetime congressional candidate who has been working for the Trump camp on congressional outreach, sent an email to senior Senate aides saying, “We want to get several member statements out today on this, and would really appreciate your help.” A similar appeal was made to Republicans in the House of Representatives, according to a senior aide. Attached to the appeal were talking points lawmakers could use to try to tamp down the controversy growing since last week’s appearance at the Democratic convention by the Khans, the parents of U.S. Army Captain Humayun Khan, who was killed by a bomb in Iraq 12 years ago. Hope Hicks, a spokeswoman for Trump, said that the campaign was grateful to have support in Congress and that Republicans are working to keep Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton from winning the presidency. Wasinger refused to comment when contacted by telephone. The appeal did not generate any help for Trump. A senior Senate Republican aide, who asked not to be identified, said Republican senators were pleased with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s statement on Sunday calling Captain Khan “an American hero” and noting “a travel ban on all members of a religion is simply contrary to American values.” At the same time, the aide said the controversy would probably not cause Republican senators to withdraw their endorsements of Trump. In a convention speech delivered with his wife at his side, Khizr Khan showcased his son’s military service and criticized Trump’s call for a temporary ban on Muslims from entering the United States, holding up a copy of the U.S. Constitution and suggesting Trump read it. Since then, Trump has complained he was “viciously” attacked by the couple and suggested Ghazala Khan might not have been “allowed” to speak, implying her silence reflected restrictions placed on women by some traditional Muslims.  McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential candidate and current chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, issued a lengthy statement sharply criticizing Trump’s comments. “While our party has bestowed upon him the nomination, it is not accompanied by unfettered license to defame those who are the best among us,” said McCain, a prisoner of war for five years during the Vietnam War. His counterpart on the House Armed Services Committee, Representative Mac Thornberry of Texas, echoed McCain, saying in a statement he was “dismayed at the attacks Khizr and Ghazala Khan have endured after they spoke about their son’s service and sacrifice.” The head of the 1.7 million-member Veterans of Foreign Wars also said Trump’s attack on the Khans went too far. Trump and Clinton spoke to the group’s national convention last week. “Election year or not, the  will not tolerate anyone berating a Gold Star family member for exercising his or her right of speech or expression,” said Brian Duffy, the national commander of the country’s oldest and largest war veterans organization, referring to families who have lost relatives in wars. President Barack Obama did not mention Trump by name, but said military families who had lost loved ones in service should be honored for their sacrifice. “No one has given more for our freedom and our security than our Gold Star families,” Obama said at the Disabled American Veterans national convention in Atlanta. “Our Gold Star families have made a sacrifice that most of us cannot even begin to imagine. They represent the very best of our country.” In the talking points sent to lawmakers, the Trump campaign said he had been asked about the Khans’ comments during the convention and wished them well. The talking points also noted that Trump “wants to end radical Islamic terror, so that our soldiers like Mr. Khan’s son will be safe.” The list also says Trump had not directly compared his sacrifices to the Khans. Trump said over the weekend he had also made sacrifices in his life by working hard, creating jobs and being successful. The Khans bristled at that suggestion and, in numerous television appearances over the weekend, said Trump was ignorant about Islam and about their family’s sacrifice.   Trump’s off-the-cuff insults and controversial proposals such as the Muslim ban and a plan to keep illegal immigrants out by building a wall along the Mexican border, have made many in the party establishment reluctant backers of his White House bid. On Monday, during a town hall event in Columbus, Ohio, Trump told supporters he thought the November election might be “rigged.” Later that day, he said former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders “made a deal with the devil” when he agreed to back Clinton. “She’s the devil,” Trump said, referring to Clinton. In his statement, McCain recalled how Humayun Khan died, saying that when a suicide bomber aimed his vehicle toward a building housing hundreds of U.S. soldiers, the captain told his subordinates to stay away, then ran toward it. McCain thanked the Khans for coming to America, saying “your son was the best of America, and the memory of his sacrifice will make us a better nation – and he will never be forgotten.”  In a remarks to television networks on Monday, Khizr Khan said Trump lacked the empathy to be a leader and chided him for throwing the first salvo in their exchange. Trump has tried to shift focus from the Khans. “This story is not about Mr. Khan, who is all over the place doing interviews, but rather    and the U.S. Get smart!” Trump said Monday on Twitter. Ghazala Khan wrote an opinion piece in The Washington Post on Sunday saying she had remained silent during her husband’s remarks to cope with making her grief public during the convention. On Sunday, Democratic rival Clinton said Trump had scapegoated the parents. In addition to Senate Majority Leader McConnell, House Speaker Paul Ryan issued a statement supporting the family.  Trump drew similar opprobrium a year ago when he said McCain, who as a naval aviator was shot down and taken prisoner during the Vietnam War, was not a hero because he had been captured. In an open letter, 23 Gold Star families said Trump cheapened their sacrifice and called for an apology. “This goes beyond politics. It is about a sense of decency,” it said. “That kind decency you mock as ‘political correctness.’” ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
7861,7862,"Kimberly and Craig Fugate were expecting Kenleigh , Kristen and Kayleigh . But Kelsey , born with her sisters on February 8 , was a complete surprise .  The identical quadruplets were born via cesarean section in the Winfred L . Wiser Hospital for Women and Infants at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson , Mississippi .  The odds of spontaneous quadruplets conceived without fertility assistance are 1 in 729 , 000 , according to Dr James Bofill , Kimberly Fugate ' s physician and a professor of maternal fetal medicine at the University of Mississippi .  The odds in this case were even slimmer as the Fugate girls are identical , meaning they split from a single egg .  "" Those odds are incalculable , "" Bofill said in a hospital press release .  The last known set of identical quadruplets was born in Germany in January 2012 . Experts estimate there are 50 to 60 sets worldwide .  You may know the Mathias quads Grace , Emily , Mary Claire and Anna who are in the eighth grade and appeared on the Discovery Health Channel ' s "" Super Quads . "" And perhaps you remember a Lifetime reality show called "" Four of a Kind , "" which featured identical quadruplets Megan , Kendra , Sarah and Calli Durst , of Buffalo , Minnesota .  The Fugates were originally surprised to learn they were pregnant at all , according to  . Then in November , the 42 year old mom was told she was having triplets . The fourth baby managed to keep her existence a secret until Fugate went into labor at 28 weeks .  Kenleigh Rosa was born at 7 : 55 , weighing 2 pounds , 1 ounce .  Kristen Sue was born at 7 : 57 weighing 2 pounds , 4 ounces .  Kayleigh Pearl was born at 7 : 58 weighing 2 pounds , 8 ounces .  And Kelsey Roxanne was born a minute later weighing 2 pounds , 6 ounces .  Bofill told The Clarion Ledger the hidden quad was a first in his 27 year career .  "" I was very embarrassed , obviously , "" Bofill said . "" The news was sent to me by one of my fellows . I thought she was kidding . ""  The quadruplets join older sister Katelyn , who is 10 years old . It ' s unclear when they ' ll be able to go home .  "" Typically , when babies are born prematurely , doctors tell the families to expect them to stay in the ( neonatal intensive care unit ) until their original due date , which in this case would be May 2 , "" said hospital spokeswoman Jennifer Hospodor . "" It is possible that some or all of the girls would be stronger enough to go home before that , or have to stay longer . It depends on how they develop over the next 12 weeks . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
7872,7873,"Orlando , Florida Tiger Woods ' mother in law , Barbro Holmberg , was released from a hospital in "" good condition "" Tuesday afternoon , hours after she was admitted , a hospital spokesman said .  Holmberg the mother of Woods ' wife , Elin Nordegren was admitted to Health Central Hospital in Ocoee , Florida , early Tuesday morning for stomach pain .  Paramedics arrived at Woods ' home in Orange County , Florida , after a 911 call was made at around 2 : 35 a . m . , dispatch information shows .  Hospital spokesman Dan Yates said that Holmberg , a regional governor in Sweden , was resting at Woods ' home after being released around 2 p . m .  . Yates would not comment further on Holmberg ' s hospital stay , saying only that she was in a "" good state and feeling much better . ""  Health Central Hospital is the same hospital where Woods was taken after he crashed his sports utility vehicle into a fire hydrant and a tree outside his mansion near Windermere on November 27 .  "" She is , after the circumstances , well , "" Malmborg said . "" We count on her being back at work on Monday . ""  There has been no comment on Wood ' s Web site regarding his mother in law ' s difficulties .  Woods , 33 , who tops the sport ' s world rankings , has been mired in controversy since the crash , which prompted authorities to cite him for careless driving and fine him 164 .  Woods was not required to talk to police about the wreck , and declined to talk with investigators on several occasions .  A document from the Florida Highway Patrol released Monday shows that the patrol sought private medical records from Woods , saying investigators suspected the golfer may have been driving under the influence .  Florida Highway Patrol trooper Joshua Evans filed the request to obtain Woods ' blood test results because "" the witness who removed the driver from the vehicle "" said Woods consumed alcohol "" earlier in the day "" and that he had prescriptions for the painkiller Vicodin and the sleep aid Ambien .  Woods ' wife told investigators she pulled her husband from the vehicle after he crashed .  The state attorney ' s office denied the subpoena request , however , citing "" insufficient information provided to issue subpoena , "" and Florida defense attorney Mark Eiglarsh , who specializes in  cases , said the evidence provided in the request was "" flimsy . ""  State attorney spokeswoman Danielle Traverneir said the request for the subpoena was fairly routine in such cases and that it was not uncommon to deny them .  The Florida Highway Patrol has closed the case . Sgt . Kim Montes said Tuesday that the investigative subpoenas are a normal part of the investigation . "" When we meet with the state attorney , they make the final determination . It wouldn ' t be proper for us to comment on that , "" she said .  In the week following the crash , the golfer apologized for "" transgressions "" that let his family down . The same day gossip magazine  Weekly published a report alleging Woods had an affair .  "" I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart . I have not been true to my values and the behavior my family deserves , "" he said in a December 3 statement on his official Web site .   Weekly magazine printed a report alleging that Woods had an affair with Jaimee Grubbs , whom it identified as a 24 year old cocktail waitress . The magazine also published what it says is a voicemail message from Woods to Grubbs .  Share your thoughts on Tiger ' s ' transgressions '  The magazine ' s report followed a National Enquirer report that Woods was having an affair with a New York nightclub hostess , an assertion the hostess vigorously denied , according to The New York Post .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
7886,7887,"Basle coach Paulo Sousa intends to test Liverpool ' s resolve to see if they can handle the pressure of their must win Champions League encounter .  The Reds need victory at Anfield to progress to the knockout stage but a point will be enough to put the Swiss through at their expense .  Even though they have claimed back to back clean sheets in their last two home matches , Liverpool ' s confidence remains fragile and Sousa has no intention of playing for a draw .  Basle boss Paulo Sousa says they plan to put Liverpool under pressure in their crunch Champions League tie  Basle only need a draw to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League on Tuesday night  ' We want to put them under pressure because in the last game ( their 1 0 win in Switzerland ) we were controlling possession and created good opportunities , ' said Sousa .  ' That is something we want to have tomorrow Tuesday . Lots of personality , ambition , intensity in our game with and without the ball , and create difficulties which will allow us to have opportunities to score in the game .  ' We will put them more under pressure and hopefully we can have another magical night where the performance will be outstanding and the result of the game will be in our favour .  ' I am always looking for a win . In my leadership and feedback to the players it is always about playing to win . '  Basle squad are put through their paces during Monday ' s training session at Anfield  Naser Aliji ( centre ) will be hoping to be involved in their crucial Champions League tie at Liverpool  There has been much debate in recent weeks about the capabilities of Liverpool ' s 34 year old captain Steven Gerrard but Sousa is looking forward to seeing him in the starting line up on Tuesday .  ' As a man of football I love to see the biggest protagonists on the pitch and he is one of the biggest , ' he added .  ' I am happy for my players to challenge a player like him . '  Former Reds defender Philipp Degen is in the Basle squad and he has fond memories of Gerrard and Anfield .  Sousa revealed he is looking forward to his players ' challenge of facing Reds captain Steven Gerrard ( centre )  ' He was is for me  Liverpool player , boss both on and off the pitch and a great personality at this club , ' said the full back .  ' When I was here he was the man I went to when I had questions .  ' It is always special to play here and it is a Champions League night where it is a matter of all or nothing .  ' It is special thing when they sing You ' ll Never Walk Alone so there is motivation for us here tomorrow to make sure we go through to the last 16 . '  Basle defender Philipp Degen says he is relishing his Liverpool return at their special Anfield atmosphere  The 31 year old ( top ) joined Liverpool on a four year deal in 2008 but only made 13 appearances in three years  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
7909,7910,"A super slimming bride has lost over seven stone in time for her wedding day .  The hairdresser finally decided to lose weight when she was ordered off a ride at Walt Disney World in Florida for being too fat .  Becky Hames , 25 , from Cannock in Staffordshire piled on the pounds after gorging on an unhealthy diet of McDonald ' s , crisps and chocolate bars since childhood .  Super slimmer : Pictured Becky Hames , 25 , from Cannock in Staffordshire lost over seven stone in time to tie the knot  At her heaviest , Becky tipped the scales at 17st 4Ibs and ballooned to a hefty size 24 .  Her bulging waistline of 39in meant she was unable to bring herself to try on wedding dresses after her fianc Stephen , 27 , proposed to her in 2011 .  But the final straw came the following summer when her family took a trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando , Florida .  Stuck in a rut : Becky Hames pictured with Minnie Mouse at Disney World Florida in September 2012 , where she was told she was too fat to go on a ride  While queuing for a ride at the Aquatica water park , Becky was horrified when lifeguards told her she could not go down the slide in case she got stuck .  She was then left in tears as she was forced to embarrassingly walk back down the steps in front of dozens of other people .  Yet the incident inspired her to take drastic action and lose weight in time for her wedding day , so after returning from holiday , she joined her local Slimming World in Cannock  Blushing bride : Becky Hames ( right ) with sister Amy Less ( left ) on her wedding day in August 2014 showing off her incredible weight loss  Becky says : ' I didn ' t want to be a fat bride but the incident at Disney World just tipped me over the edge . That is when I felt the most down .  ' They stopped me from going on a water slide because they said I was too big . It was horrible and so embarrassing having to walk back down in front of all those people .  ' In the end none of my family went on it because they didn ' t want to leave me behind .  What a difference : Becky Hames pictured left weighing 17st 4Ibs and pictured right after losing over seven stone  ' It ' s one of the worst things to ever happen to me and just left me feeling rubbish . It was then I knew I had to do something about my weight in time for my wedding . '  Incredibly within 18 months she had lost more than seven stone and weighed a trim 10st 2Ibs .  Becky managed to slim down for her big day by transforming her diet and now eats at least 10 fruit and veg portions a day .  The past : Becky Hames piled on the pounds after gorging on an unhealthy diet of McDonald ' s , crisps and chocolate bars since childhood  New beginning : Becky Hames didn ' t want to be a fat bride but the incident at Disney World tipped her over the edge  She explains : ' We had been engaged a year and had set a date but I couldn ' t bring myself to try on any dresses because I just felt so awful about my weight .  ' Stephen always said he loved me whatever size but I had to do this for me .  ' Now I am just two pounds off my personal ideal weight and have gone from a size 24 to a size 12 .  Happy ending : Becky Hames with husband Stephen cutting the cake on their wedding day , managed to slim down for her big day by transforming her diet and now eats at least 10 fruit and veg portions a day  ' My wedding dress even had to be taken in , I was beyond chuffed .  ' I felt amazing , I had never experienced feeling good in clothes and the first time I ever wore a dress was for my hen party .  ' When I saw the wedding picture I knew all the hard work was worth it . I still can ' t believe it is me . '  Family time : Becky Hames ( left to right ) with Vicky Hames , husband Stephen Hames , Debbie Hames and Grant Hames on her wedding day in August 2014  Last month , the blushing bride tied the knot with Stephen , an  worker , in a lavish ceremony at Moor Hall Hotel in Sutton Coldfield .  Now the couple are planning to head back to Orlando for a two week honeymoon , so Becky can finally experience the slide she was banned from .  She added : ' I am really looking forward to going to water parks and wearing a swimming costume without having to wear extra clothes to try to cover myself up .  ' I feel as confident as ever and I ' m going back there so I can finally ride this slide it better be a good one . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
7912,7913,"Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner will make a statement from the White House after appearing before the Senate Intelligence committee about his contacts with Russia, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said on Monday. The statement is likely to be in the 12:00 p.m. hour, she said. ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
7916,7917,"Maryland Hollywood glitz may pay Dana Delany ' s bills , but her "" most life affirming role "" was a lot less glamorous .  Luke Evnin heads the Scleroderma Research Foundation , and actress Dana Delany is a board member .  In 1996 , the Emmy Award winner and "" Desperate Housewives "" actress played a patient dying of scleroderma in the   movie , "" For Hope . ""  The film was based on the true story of actor comedian Bob Saget ' s sister , Gay , who died of the chronic , degenerative disease .  "" When you ' re playing someone who ' s dying , all you want is life , "" Delany recalled . "" It really educated a lot of people about the disease , including me . ""  The role led Delany to join the movement to find a cure for the illness . Today , with scleroderma patient Luke Evnin helping to lead the efforts , Delany said that people are increasingly aware of the disease and working toward a cure .  Symptoms for scleroderma , Greek for "" hard skin , "" can include skin thickening or tightness . It has no known cause and in most serious cases , it can be life threatening . Scleroderma can cause abnormal growth of connective tissue and potentially harm blood vessels and internal organs .  More than 300 , 000 people suffer from scleroderma related diseases , according to the National Institutes of Health . The disease disproportionately affects women of child bearing age , but anyone can contract it , including children .  "" So many people are disfigured , "" Delany said . "" They don ' t want to go out in public and they don ' t want to talk about it . ""  In 1999 , Delany joined the board of the Scleroderma Research Foundation , a nonprofit corporation in San Francisco , California . When its founder , Delany ' s friend Sharon Monsky , died from the disease in 2002 , Delany was introduced to Evnin , the new foundation chairman . The two became instant friends .  Evnin a successful venture capitalist with a doctorate in microbiology was a "" perfect storm "" for the foundation and for scleroderma research , Delany said .  "" It was almost a miracle , really , "" she said . "" Here was this handsome family man who didn ' t look sick at all , but his experience made him the perfect person to be running the board , on many levels . He understands the science . He understands the money that needs to be involved and how to invest it . He understands how to talk to the researchers . ""  Diagnosed with scleroderma in 1998 , Evnin , 45 , considers himself lucky .  "" I have a lot of hidden symptoms , but they are stable and I won ' t die from scleroderma . I ' m on the fortunate end of the spectrum , "" said Evnin . "" Scleroderma is being misdiagnosed all across the country and a misdiagnosis can be fatal . ""  Evnin works full time as general partner for a multi billion dollar biotechnical and life sciences venture capital firm , while dedicating his "" spare time "" and resources to his volunteer job as the foundation ' s chairman .  He oversees 10 scleroderma research programs works with pharmaceutical companies , researchers and physicians on new medications and treatments and reviews proposals to determine which institutions and researchers will benefit from the foundation ' s average annual dispersal of more than 1 million in research grants .  "" The patients out there are counting on me . I want to deliver for them , "" Evnin said . Watch Delany talk about some effects of scleroderma and Evnin ' s strides toward a cure  Since Evnin joined the Scleroderma Research Foundation , more than 10 million has been raised for research and many world renowned scientists and research programs are joining the search for a cure .  "" We ' ve made inroads and there are new therapies and treatments for patients that can change their lives , "" said Evnin .  Delany said Evnin gives much of his own money toward research , and she calls his efforts and accomplishments on behalf of the thousands of scleroderma patients "" nothing less than heroic . ""  "" If anybody ' s going to solve this problem , it ' s going to be Luke . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
7927,7928,"A lost chapter of Charlie And The Chocolate Factory is to be revealed to coincide with book ' s anniversary  A lost chapter of Charlie And The Chocolate Factory is to be revealed today 50 years after Roald Dahl ' s most famous book was published .  In the missing section from the 1961 draft , mysterious confectioner Willy Wonka took children who won a tour of his factory to the Vanilla Fudge Room only for the passage to be cut from the published version .  But the unused chapter , which introduces two extra naughty characters Tommy Troutbeck and Wilbur Rice was found among Dahl ' s papers after his death at 74 in 1990 .  Now , the Roald Dahl estate has released the chapter to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the novel in October .  Dahl was drafting his first version of Charlie And The Chocolate factory when he published James And The Giant Peach in 1961 but it was reportedly binned after his young nephew said it was rubbish .  The draft section tells how penniless but kind hearted Charlie Bucket who in this version is accompanied to the factory by his mother rather than Grandpa Joe visit Vanilla Fudge Mountain with the other children .  Hundreds of men use picks and drills to work away at what Dahl called the ' colossal jagged mountain as high as a five storey building ' made of ' pale brown , creamy , vanilla fudge ' .  Dahl who also wrote Matilda , The Fantastic Mr Fox and George ' s Marvellous Medicine told how huge chunks of fudge tumble down the mountain before being collected by cranes and dumped on to open wagons .  But Tommy and Wilbur ignore Wonka ' s warnings and jump on the wagons which enter a tunnel that leads to the Pounding and Cutting Room where the fudge is pounded by a huge machine and cut with knives .  Unsurprisingly , nothing more is heard of the two boys . The chapter also reveals several changes made to the original draft before it was published in the  in 1964 and the  in 1967 .  The 1961 draft was found among Roald Dahl ' s papers after his death at 74 in 1990 and has now been released  Two other children who did not make it into the book are mentioned Augustus Pottle and Miranda Grope and the Oompa Loompas who work in the factory were first called Whipple Scrumpets .  When Dahl returned to the book after ignoring his nephew ' s advice , his agent Sheila St Lawrence suggested it should have ' more humour , more light Dahlesque touches throughout ' , according to a biography .  It is thought to have sold more than 30million copies in the  .  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
7943,7944,"Republicans are nearly three times as angry at the government as their Democratic counterparts , according to the results of the latest Pew Research Center study out Monday . And among those who are angry , the most popular candidates are Florida Sen . Marco Rubio , Donald Trump and Ben Carson . The least popular candidate among those angry : former Florida Gov . Jeb Bush .  The divide between Republicans and Democrats is even deeper among those who said they were politically engaged , with 42 percent of Republicans expressing anger toward their government , while just 11 percent of Democrats said the same .  Among Republicans and Republican leaning independents , 32 percent indicated an anger toward government , down from 38 percent during the 2013 government shutdown but 20 percentage points higher than among Democrats , of whom just 12 percent said they were angry .  Among the angry group , 66 percent saw Rubio favorably , while just 25 percent did not , the highest net positive in that cohort , while 64 percent of those expressing anger saw Trump favorably and 32 percent did not . Carson drew 71 percent favorability of the angry group , but also 63 percent of those who said they were not angry also backed Carson .  Chris Christie mocks Bill de Blasio over refugees  With respect to Bush , 57 percent of angry Republicans said they had an unfavorable view of the former governor , while just 36 percent said they did not . Among Republicans who were not angry , Bush finished second only to Carson , with 49 percent favorability , though still 14 points behind the retired neurosurgeon with that group .  Republicans and Democrats did seem to agree more or less on at least one thing , however : Large majorities of Democrats ( 72 percent ) and Republican ( 89 percent ) said they trust their government only sometimes or never .  Results from this portion of the survey were collected from interviews conducted from Aug . 27 to Oct . 4 , surveying 2 , 597 Republicans and leaners with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 . 2 percentage points , and 2 , 664 Democrats and leaners with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 . 2 percentage points .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
7945,7946,"Asian central banks welcome yuan joining  reserve basket  ( Page 1 of 2 )       ? Policy makers in Asia welcomed the Chinese yuan s inclusion in the International Monetary Fund s basket of reserve currencies , with South Korea expecting to boost holdings of the currency and Hong Kong pledging to increase support for yuan trading .  The decision is a key milestone in the yuan s internationalisation and confirms its status as a freely usable currency , Hong Kong Monetary Authority Chief Executive Norman Chan said in a statement today ( Dec 1 ) . The yuan s weighting in the Bank of Korea s foreign exchange reserves is expected to increase and South Korea plans to issue yuan denominated sovereign bonds in December ,  official Park Jun Seo said at a forum .  The  s executive board voted to add the yuan to the Special Drawing Rights basket , which includes the dollar , euro , pound and yen , in the first change in the  s currency composition since 1999 . The move is a key step in a decades long ascent toward international credibility for the currency , which was created after World War  and for years could be used only domestically in the Communist controlled nation .  Being the largest offshore  business centre with close economic and trade ties with Mainland China , Hong Kong should seize this historic opportunity and continue to strengthen our financial market infrastructure , as well as upgrading our talent pool and products , said  s Mr Chan , referring to the renminbi . Hong Kong can continue to play a pivotal role of bridgehead and financial hub in the process of mainland s further opening up its financial markets and  internationalisation .  Renminbi is the currency s official name and means the people s currency in Mandarin yuan is the unit .  The addition will take effect Oct 1 , 2016 , with the yuan having a 10 . 92 per cent weighting in the basket , the  said . Weightings will be 41 . 73 per cent for the dollar , 30 . 93 per cent for the euro , 8 . 33 per cent for the yen and 8 . 09 per cent for the British pound . The dollar currently accounts for 41 . 9 per cent of the basket , while the euro accounts for 37 . 4 per cent , the pound 11 . 3 per cent and the yen 9 . 4 per cent .  Japan , Asia s top economy until it was unseated by China , said it respected the  s decision . It refrained from any commitment to buy yuan for its own reserves , which are the world s second largest , after China s . While Finance Minister Taro Aso welcomed the yuan s inclusion in the  , he told reporters in Tokyo that the move wouldn t have an influence on private transactions in the Chinese currency .  The yuan s inclusion as an  reserve currency has symbolic significance , but it s not as if this will have a direct impact on the global economy or capital transactions , Mr Aso said .  ( Page 1 of 2 )      ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
7957,7958,"One of the advantages of knocking off the Cubs so quickly in the  was the Mets got a few extra days off at home , soaking in their victory .  And it has been a long time since the Mets owned New York this time of year .  There have been talk show appearances and fans meeting them at Citi Field .  Guys have asked , Is this what it was like in 06 ? said David Wright , the only player still on the team from their last postseason run , when the Mets lost in the  to the Cardinals . People pounding on windows at restaurants , chanting , Let s go Mets . You obviously miss that these last nine years .  Though the Mets are enjoying their sudden star turns , they re trying not to look too far ahead .  I d say a handful more people recognize us on the street , the newest playoff breakout star , Daniel Murphy , said . It s just the city is really excited right now . We still feel there s a lot of work to do , but this is a lot of fun .  Murphy should know , as the only thing that has stopped him from hitting home runs lately are days off , like the one the team had on Saturday , when they worked out at Citi Field . The Mets will travel to Kansas City on Sunday morning and work out there in preparation for Game 1 of the World Series , set for Tuesday .  You almost wish we could go right into the World Series , the way he s swinging , Wright said of Murphy , the   . He spends more time in the cage than maybe anyone I ve ever played with .  But don t try to get Murphy to explain his recent tear .  I ve seen the ball pretty well the last week or so , Murphy said .  When asked about this being the postseason when Daniel Murphy went nuts , the second baseman disagreed with the notion .  I don t really think of it that way , Murphy said . I think this is the postseason the Mets made it to the World Series and get to play a great ball club , the Kansas City Royals .  He doesn t want to dwell on it much more than that .  I think of it as a great team accomplishment with some work to be done , Murphy said . You guys in the media get to use all the adjectives you want . That s above my pay grade .  That pay grade is due to change soon when Murphy hits free agency after this season , but in the meantime , he is left to inadequately describe his torrid pace at the plate , with homers in six straight playoff games .  Instead , he pointed to Jacob deGrom s 3 0 playoff record , Matt Harvey s performance in Game 1 of the  and Noah Syndergaard s pitching as a starter and out of the bullpen .  There have been plenty of good examples to choose from ? so many that Wright even admitted to being surprised by how well things have gone lately for a team that typically finds ways to struggle .  I remember thinking during the Chicago Cubs series , we won the first two games and it was incredible to beat Jon Lester and Jake Arrieta and then we go to Chicago and score those runs early in Game 3 , Wright said . I thought This can t be going like this . Something s got to happen and I m waiting for some of those speed bumps which we ve experienced plenty of the past few years .  Instead , they get another trip to the Midwest in the hope of winning four more games .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
7961,7962,"—   Seven months ago, a respected former British spy named Christopher Steele won a contract to build a file on Donald J. Trump’s ties to Russia. Last week, the explosive details  —   unsubstantiated accounts of frolics with prostitutes, real estate deals that were intended as bribes and coordination with Russian intelligence of the hacking of Democrats  —   were summarized for Mr. Trump in an appendix to a   intelligence report. The consequences have been incalculable and will play out long past Inauguration Day. Word of the summary, which was also given to President Obama and congressional leaders, leaked to  Tuesday, and the rest of the media followed with sensational reports. Mr. Trump denounced the unproven claims Wednesday as a fabrication, a   smear concocted by “sick people. ” It has further undermined his relationship with the intelligence agencies and cast a shadow over the new administration. Late Wednesday night, after speaking with Mr. Trump, James R. Clapper Jr. the director of national intelligence, issued a statement decrying leaks about the matter and saying of Mr. Steele’s dossier that the intelligence agencies have “not made any judgment that the information in this document is reliable. ” Mr. Clapper suggested that intelligence officials had nonetheless shared it to give policy makers “the fullest possible picture of any matters that might affect national security. ” Parts of the story remain out of reach  —   most critically the basic question of how much, if anything, in the dossier is true. But it is possible to piece together a rough narrative of what led to the current crisis, including lingering questions about the ties binding Mr. Trump and his team to Russia. The episode also offers a glimpse of the hidden side of presidential campaigns, involving private    looking for the worst they can find about the next American leader. The story began in September 2015, when a wealthy Republican donor who strongly opposed Mr. Trump put up the money to hire a Washington research firm run by former journalists, Fusion GPS, to compile a dossier about the real estate magnate’s past scandals and weaknesses, according to a person familiar with the effort. The person described the opposition research work on condition of anonymity, citing the volatile nature of the story and the likelihood of future legal disputes. The identity of the donor is unclear. Fusion GPS, headed by a former Wall Street Journal journalist known for his dogged reporting, Glenn Simpson, most often works for business clients. But in presidential elections, the firm is sometimes hired by candidates, party organizations or donors to do political “oppo” work  —   shorthand for opposition research  —   on the side. It is routine work and ordinarily involves creating a big, searchable database of public information: past news reports, documents from lawsuits and other relevant data. For months, Fusion  gathered the documents and put together the files from Mr. Trump’s past in business and entertainment, a rich target. After Mr. Trump emerged as the presumptive nominee in the spring, the Republican interest in financing the effort ended. But Democratic supporters of Hillary Clinton were very interested, and Fusion  kept doing the same deep dives, but on behalf of new clients. In June, the tenor of the effort suddenly changed. The Washington Post reported that the Democratic National Committee had been hacked, apparently by Russian government agents, and a mysterious figure calling himself “Guccifer 2. 0” began to publish the stolen documents online. Mr. Simpson hired Mr. Steele, a former British intelligence officer with whom he had worked before. Mr. Steele, in his early 50s, had served undercover in Moscow in the early 1990s and later was the top expert on Russia at the London headquarters of Britain’s spy service, MI6. When he stepped down in 2009, he started his own commercial intelligence firm, Orbis Business Intelligence. The former journalist and the former spy, according to people who know them, had similarly dark views of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, a former K. G. B. officer, and the varied tactics he and his intelligence operatives used to smear, blackmail or bribe their targets. As a former spy who had carried out espionage inside Russia, Mr. Steele was in no position to travel to Moscow to study Mr. Trump’s connections there. Instead, he hired native Russian speakers to call informants inside Russia and made surreptitious contact with his own connections in the country as well. Mr. Steele wrote up his findings in a series of memos, each a few pages long, that he began to deliver to Fusion  in June and continued at least until December. By then, the election was over, and neither Mr. Steele nor Mr. Simpson was being paid by a client, but they did not stop what they believed to be very important work. (Mr. Simpson declined to comment for this article, and Mr. Steele did not immediately reply to a request for comment.) The memos described two different Russian operations. The first was a yearslong effort to find a way to influence Mr. Trump, perhaps because he had contacts with Russian oligarchs whom Mr. Putin wanted to keep track of. According to Mr. Steele’s memos, it used an array of familiar tactics: the gathering of “kompromat,” compromising material such as alleged tapes of Mr. Trump with prostitutes in a Moscow hotel, and proposals for business deals attractive to Mr. Trump. The goal would probably never have been to make Mr. Trump a knowing agent of Russia, but to make him a source who might provide information to friendly Russian contacts. But if Mr. Putin and his agents wanted to entangle Mr. Trump using business deals, they did not do it very successfully. Mr. Trump has said he has no major properties there, though one of his sons said at a real estate conference in 2008 that “a lot of money” was “pouring in from Russia. ” The second Russian operation described was recent: a series of contacts with Mr. Trump’s representatives during the campaign, in part to discuss the hacking of the Democratic National Committee and Mrs. Clinton’s campaign chairman, John D. Podesta. According to Mr. Steele’s sources, it involved, among other things, a   meeting in Prague between Michael Cohen, a lawyer for Mr. Trump, and Oleg Solodukhin, a Russian official who works for Rossotrudnichestvo, an organization that promotes Russia’s interests abroad. By all accounts, Mr. Steele has an excellent reputation with American and British intelligence colleagues and had done work for the F. B. I. on the investigation of bribery at FIFA, soccer’s global governing body. Colleagues say he was acutely aware of the danger he and his associates were being fed Russian disinformation. Russian intelligence had mounted a complex hacking operation to damage Mrs. Clinton, and a similar operation against Mr. Trump was possible. But much of what he was told, and passed on to Fusion GPS, was very difficult to check. And some of the claims that can be checked seem problematic. Mr. Cohen, for instance, said on Twitter on Tuesday night that he has never been in Prague Mr. Solodukhin, his purported Russian contact, denied in a telephone interview that he had ever met Mr. Cohen or anyone associated with Mr. Trump. The   on Wednesday cited news reports that a different Michael Cohen with no Trump ties may have visited Prague and that the two Cohens might have been mixed up in Mr. Steele’s reports. But word of a dossier had begun to spread through political circles. Rick Wilson, a Republican political operative who was working for a super  supporting Marco Rubio, said he heard about it in July, when an investigative reporter for a major news network called him to ask what he knew. By early fall, some of Mr. Steele’s memos had been given to the F. B. I. which was already investigating Mr. Trump’s Russian ties, and to journalists. An MI6 official, whose job does not permit him to be quoted by name, said that in late summer or early fall, Mr. Steele also passed the reports he had prepared on Mr. Trump and Russia to British intelligence. Mr. Steele was concerned about what he was hearing about Mr. Trump, and he thought that the information should not be solely in the hands of people looking to win a political contest. After the election, the memos, still being supplemented by his inquiries, became one of Washington’s   secrets, as reporters  —   including from The New York Times  —   scrambled to confirm or disprove them. Word also reached Capitol Hill. Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, heard about the dossier and obtained a copy in December from David J. Kramer, a former top State Department official who works for the McCain Institute at Arizona State University. Mr. McCain passed the information to James B. Comey, the F. B. I. director. Remarkably for Washington, many reporters for competing news organizations had the salacious and damning memos, but they did not leak, because their contents could not be confirmed. (Mother Jones magazine was an exception, publishing a story on Oct. 31 that described the dossier, its origin and significance, while omitting the titillating details.) That changed only this week, after the heads of the C. I. A. the F. B. I. and the National Security Agency added a summary of the memos, along with information gathered from other intelligence sources, to their report on the Russian cyberattack on the election. Now, after the most contentious of elections, Americans are divided and confused about what to believe about the incoming president. And there is no prospect soon for full clarity on the veracity of the claims made against him. “It is a remarkable moment in history,” said Mr. Wilson, the Florida political operative. “What world did I wake up in?”",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
7974,7975,"Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand believes that Real Madrid ' s Raphael Varane would be the ideal recruit as Louis van Gaal looks to reinforce his defence ahead of his first season in charge .  United are in urgent need of central defenders after Nemanja Vidic left for Inter Milan and Ferdinand was released by the club at the end of the season .  Ferdinand , who won six Premier League titles in his twelve year spell at Old Trafford , believes that Real Madrid ' s French centre half Raphael Varane would be the ideal replacement , although he acknowledged that it would be difficult to prise him away from the Spanish capital .  Strong at the back : Raphael Varane has played a key role for France in the World Cup  Real star : Ferdinand says signing Varane from Madrid will not be easy  When asked on Twitter which central defenders he would sign for United , Ferdinand replied : ' Varane Real Madrid won ' t sell though . '  Ferdinand also suggested that Van Gaal should look to the United academy to strengthen his defence , with the former England captain championing the qualities of Michael Keane .  He wrote of Keane : ' ( He ) will be a top player one day . Cultured . Eager to learn be coached . Vital . '  Ferdinand , who is closing in on a move to  ahead of next season , also urged United to pursue the club ' s former midfielder Paul Pogba , who quit for Juventus in 2012 and has now emerged as the world ' s leading young central midfielder .  Moving on : Rio Ferdinand played for Manchester United for 12 years  Sign him up : Ferdinand says he ' d love to see Paul Pogba return to the ring   Rio Ferdinand leaves Manchester United  Ferdinand was asked whether United should go for Pogba ' s Juventus team mate Arturo Vidal , and replied : ' Really like him , Pogba better value for money now though . . . . '  He later added on Pogba : ' In today ' s market , I ' d fly over headlock him to sign up ! ! '  After sealing moves for Ander Herrera and Luke Shaw , United will now set their sights on one more midfielder , with Pogba , Vidal and Real Madrid ' s Sami Khedira all appealing to Louis van Gaal .  On the signings of Shaw and Herrera , Ferdinand said : ' Congratulations to anderherrera8 on joining a great club . It ' s where dreams are made into reality if you work hard . You will ManUtd '  ' If ManUtd get 10 good years out of Luke Shaw then it ' s a no brainer . Top class young player . '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
7982,7983,"T. J. Oshie dominating in a thrilling United States shootout victory over Russia. Sidney Crosby scoring an overtime goal on home ice to lift Canada to the gold medal over the United States. Henrik Lundqvist stretching across the goal line with seconds remaining to secure gold for Sweden. Some of the more memorable moments in Olympic hockey history have involved N. H. L. players, but new ones will probably have to be forged without them next winter in South Korea. Citing a majority of owners’ overwhelming opposition to disrupting the regular season, the N. H. L. announced Monday that it would not participate in the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, depriving the Games of the world’s best players in a showcase sport. Players in the N. H. L. have participated in every Olympics since 1998, and many have expressed interest in playing at next winter’s Games. Lundqvist, the Rangers’ stellar goaltender, said on Twitter that the league’s decision wasted “a huge opportunity to market the game at the biggest stage” and that he was disappointed “for all the players that can’t be part of the most special adventure in sports. ” The Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin has said he plans to represent Russia at the Pyeongchang Games no matter what the N. H. L. might decide, raising the possibility that the next battle for the owners might be with individual players who do not want to obey the league. The National Hockey League Players’ Association said in a statement that players were “extraordinarily disappointed and adamantly disagree” with the league’s decision. “N. H. L. players are patriotic and they do not take this lightly,” the association said. “A decent respect for the opinions of the players matters. This is the N. H. L. ’s decision, and its alone. It is very unfortunate for the game, the players and millions of loyal hockey fans. ” N. H. L. owners and officials do not like the idea of shutting down the league for a few weeks. They have argued that they deserve a portion of the revenue that the International Olympic Committee receives from the tournament, and they do not like the injury risk. Several stars, among them Islanders center John Tavares and Red Wings center Henrik Zetterberg, sustained   injuries at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. “The league isn’t ” N. H. L. Commissioner Gary Bettman told Chicago business leaders last month. “We’ve been to five of them. The problem is the clubs are   to the season. To disappear for almost three weeks in February when there’s no football, no baseball, there’s only basketball and us. To do it where there’s no programming for the  Network, forweblink, for all of our social media platforms  —   we just disappear. ” The United States Olympic Committee responded to the decision with a statement posted on its website: “We’re disappointed that the N. H. L. has decided not to participate and feel for the players who were looking forward to the Games. That said, we’re confident U. S. A. Hockey will build the   team to compete and win in Pyeongchang. ” Bettman has been hinting at a potential Olympic absence for about a year, telling reporters before Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals last May that “our teams are not interested in paying for the privilege” of participating. The N. H. L. endorsed another global event, the World Cup of Hockey, held in Canada in September. The competition ended two weeks before the season, and coupled with mandated   breaks for each team, it created a compressed schedule comparable to that of an Olympic year. Players and coaches have complained that the schedule has led to fatigue and poor play. The N. B. A. is the only other one of the four major North American sports leagues that sends its players to the Olympics, but basketball is contested at the Summer Games, during the league’s  . When baseball was a medal sport, from 1992 to 2008, Major League Baseball would not permit its players to compete for similar reasons as the N. H. L. ’s: a lengthy interruption of an inflexible schedule that would cost owners and the players’ association about three weeks’ worth of revenue. Minor leaguers and college players competed instead, as could be the case with the hockey teams for the United States and Canada in Pyeongchang. “We knew it was a very real possibility for many months and certainly respect the decision of the N. H. L. ,” Dave Ogrean, executive director of U. S. A. Hockey, said in a statement. “The good news is that because of our   efforts over the course of many years, our player pool is as deep as it has ever been, and we fully expect to field a team that will play for a medal. ” The president of the International Ice Hockey Federation, René Fasel, said recently that the federation needed the N. H. L. ’s decision on 2018 by the end of April. Though the N. H. L. ’s statement on Monday ended with “We now consider the matter officially closed,” it remains to be seen whether the decision is, in fact, final. Negotiations for the 2014 Sochi Olympics stalled four years ago, but an agreement was reached on July 19, 2013, less than seven months before the opening ceremony. Furthermore, although the N. H. L. said in its statement that the I. O. C. had let it be known that the league’s participation in the 2022 Beijing Games was contingent on its presence in Pyeongchang, the league is striving to make inroads in China. Refusing to send its players there could ruin an opportunity to tap a new market. Last week, Bettman traveled to China to announce that the Vancouver Canucks and the Los Angeles Kings would play two exhibition games there in September, in Shanghai and Beijing, where the Kontinental Hockey League of Russia recently installed a team. In its statement, the N. H. L. said it had been open to hearing from the I. O. C. the I. I. H. F. and the players’ association on ways to make Olympic participation more attractive to the team owners. “A number of months have now passed, and no meaningful dialogue has materialized,” the N. H. L. said. The I. O. C. which had previously paid travel and insurance expenses for N. H. L. players, had said it would not do so for the 2018 Games. The I. I. H. F. stepped in to cover those costs instead, but that concession did not satisfy the league.",true,news,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
7984,7985,"Will Smith on the Oscar diversity issue  Ever since the Oscar 2016 nominations were announced last Thursday a serious issue has been hitting the headlines , and that ' s one of diversity .  Not one person of colour was nominated for a single acting Oscar this year . Further , there isn ' t a single film with a black or ethnic minority in the major categories or in the running for Best Picture . That category is especially problematic as the Academy is free to nominate as many as 10 films and only saw fit to elevate 8 . In a year with popular films like Creed and Straight Outta Compton , that seems like a significant oversight .  Some famous faces are planning on boycotting the awards at the end of February and the issue is gaining plenty of headlines . Even Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs , herself African American , has had to admit she finds the lack of diversity in the nominations ' heartbreaking . '  Will Smith sat down with Good Morning America to continue this conversation , starting with eloquent comments on the Hollywood dream and breaking down his own reaction to what has been going on . It ' s an interesting watch .  As with many other commentators , Smith is pointing out that it seems like the trend is going the wrong way ' a regressive slid slide towards separatism ' is how he puts it . And the information bears that out , with more nominations in previous years . With the nominees set in stone and the ceremony fast approaching , there ' s no way to change that aspect for 2016 but the Academy as a whole will want to look at putting a plan in place for 2017 and beyond firstly by focussing on opening up a system that ' s primarily white , middle aged and male .  The Oscars will be given out on the 28th of February 2016 .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
7987,7988,"Mark one up for the future of golf over its past and present as 21 year old Jordan Spieth took the first day honours with a stunning opening round of 64 on a spectacular day of scoring at the sun baked 79th Masters .  For much of the day it looked as if he might have to share top billing with 34 year old Justin Rose and 45 year old Ernie Els , as the Englishman and the South African posted scores of 67 to tie Charley Hoffman , an American representative of the rank and file . Last man out Jason Day would join them in the evening shadows .  But by then Spieth had separated himself from the field to become the youngest first round leader in Masters history with a fabulous run of six birdies in seven holes before adding a wonderful flourish at the 18th , where he brushed in a 25 foot birdie putt . Runner up on his debut last year , he now owns a three shot lead going into day two .  Jordan Spieth sinks his birdie put on the 18th at Augusta to take a three shot lead into the second round  Justin Rose made the early running with an impressive five under par 67  Rose consoles Gunn Yang after the amateur finished his round on 13 over  Most of the favoured names left Augusta National feeling reasonably content , as Rory McIlroy and defending champion Bubba Watson shot 71 , while Dustin Johnson and Masters specialist Phil Mickelson opened with rounds of 70 . Whether they will be feeling quite so content at falling so far behind such an awesome talent as the brilliant Texan is another matter .  Spieth has barely been off a leader board all year and there was no chance of him being off this one during this round where he hit flagsticks , holed putts from everywhere and enjoyed the requisite amount of fortune as well as a wayward drive at the 13th bounced off the Georgia pines into the middle of the fairway .  It meant when he stood on the par five 15th tee he was eight under after a scarcely credible 10 single putts on these treacherous greens . At that moment anything seemed possible even a 62 , thereby setting a new standard for scoring in the 155 year history of majors . Only once all day did he act his age and it was here on this risk reward par five , as he ran up a six . Naturally , Spieth was not about to get greedy . ' I made a mistake but a 64 , my first score in the sixties on this course , I have nothing to complain about , ' he said .  A packed crowd watch Rose on the 10th green during the first round  Rose and Charley Hoffman ( above ) made the early running at Augusta with a 67  South African Ernie Els rolled back the years with a superb 67 on Thursday  Rose in full bloom on day one is a sight as familiar as the glorious azaleas . In nine previous starts Rose has led on three occasions after the first round . Here he equalled his best Masters score , recorded on the opening day in 2004 .  That year he went on to hold the 36 hole lead as well , while in 2007 he was lying tied second going into the final round , eventually finishing tied fifth . Add all those memories of good days here to the fact he ' s now a proven major champion following his  Open triumph in 2013 , and there must be the hope this will prove rather more than an excellent opening gambit .  Certainly that is how he is seeing it . ' I ' ve learned plenty from those previous occasions , like not getting ahead of yourself , ' he said .  ' I ' ve learned that the hard way and now I can ' t see any reason why I shouldn ' t keep executing the gameplan . You ' ve got to believe in yourself , especially when you ' re a major winner . '  Els used his ball striking skills to get out of trouble on the 17th hole during the first round  Rory McIlroy appeared relaxed as he walked down the ninth fairway with Phil Mickelson , right ,  McIlroy recovered from a shaky start to finish the first round on one under par  Rose wasn ' t the only Englishman to prosper , as in form Paul Casey shot 69 . ' I played with Paul last week and he strikes me as a man with something to prove , ' said Rose .  After Greg Norman , Els might be the great hard luck story when it comes to fabulous players who never quite got it done here . Given how good he was at 25 , he represents a cautionary tale for those who believe it inevitable McIlroy will win the Masters one day .  Els is still trying , at 45 , and what a joy to see one of the great ball strikers roll back a decade or two rather than the years to post his five under score . A wonderful eagle three at the 15th was followed by a superlative sand save from a buried lie at the 17th . Only at the last was there a modicum of disappointment . Two putts and it would have been his lowest score in 71 rounds at Augusta . But he took three .  McIlroy recovered from a nervously played front nine with some familiar Augusta failings resurfacing as he failed to birdie either par five . Two clunked chip shots at the third and sixth also betrayed a level of tension that illustrated fully the momentous nature of the achievement he is trying to complete in shooting for the career grand slam .  American Jordan Spieth celebrates with his caddie Michael Greller on the 18th  Defending champion Bubba Watson struggled to find his rhythm in opening round  Tiger Woods feels the heat with the world No 111 struggling to get under par during the opening round  Woods reacts to a poor chip shot on the third hole as the pressure begins to tell  There were also two encouraging moments during that front nine , however , when he turned what would have been double bogeys in the past into mere bogeys . At the par five second he drove into a hazard and was staring an ugly seven in the face for openers until he got down in two blows from 100 yards . At the sixth , his mis hit chip came back down the steep slope but he didn ' t panic . He decided to take his putter for the second attempt and got down in two .  The value of limiting the damage was emphasised further when he notched his first birdie of the day at the next . On the back nine , it was more like it from the 25 year old . Over the front nine he had given up three shots on the par fives alone to playing partner Mickelson , but here he got the two birdies on offer at the 13th and the 15th . ' I left myself in some awkward spots but I holed some good putts on the back nine , ' he said . ' I was a little nervous on the front nine but mostly just too excited . It was a decent opener . '  The day as a whole was a lot better than that . One to savour , in fact .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
7993,7994,"Reuters) - Kenya s Supreme Court will rule on Monday on cases that seek to nullify the re-election of President Uhuru Kenyatta last month and the judges could order a fresh vote or clear the way for the incumbent to be sworn in for a second term. The two cases appear to represent a final chance for legal scrutiny of the Oct. 26 election and the ruling could end a protracted political crisis in which more than 60 people have been killed. Kenya is a hub for trade, diplomacy and security in East Africa.  We will deliver judgment on the 20th,  Chief Justice David Maraga told lawyers at the end of a hearing on Thursday. Kenyatta defeated opposition leader Raila Odinga in August but Odinga challenged the election and the court voided it citing procedural irregularities and ordered a fresh vote. The court s decision was the first of its kind in Africa. Odinga boycotted last month s poll, saying the election commission had failed to carry out sufficient reforms. Kenyatta won with 98 percent of the vote. Lawyers for the petitioners, a former lawmaker and two human rights activists, urged the court to nullify the repeat poll due to a lack of fresh nominations for candidates and violence in some areas that prevented voting. Their counterparts for the election board, its chairman and Kenyatta, rejected the petition and urged the court to uphold the result to help end a crisis that has hurt the economy. The Supreme Court was created by a 2010 constitution that followed a crisis over a disputed election in 2007 in which around 1,200 people were killed in ethnic clashes. Analysts said the September ruling by the Supreme Court could embolden other judiciaries in Africa. This month, Liberia s Supreme Court halted a presidential run-off until the election board investigates claims of fraud in the first round of voting. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
8020,8021,"Don t you know Obama would love to just throw those who disagree with him in jail. Well, the Cuban government has only increased their detention of political dissenters since the  normalization  of relations with the Communist country. Basically, we ve just given Cuba more money to oppress its people it ll all a big fat NOTHING- The Cuban Human Rights and National Reconciliation Commission, or CCDHRN, said Thursday that Cuba s government detained 610 people for political reasons in March, the highest number in the past seven months. There is a noticeable trend toward increasing repressive activities of this kind,  the  said in its monthly report.  At the same time, we also identify 95 cases of people who suffered other forms of political repression including physical attacks, police harassment and vandalism and hostile demonstrations. The exercise of all civil and political rights is still a crime,  the group said, noting that the Cuban penal code still includes an offense called  pre-criminal social dangerousness,  which is punishable by up to four years in prison.The country is unlikely to see an improvement in respect for fundamental, civil and political rights  as a result of the government s inflexible posture and its opposition to any effort or proposal leading to the urgent judicial, economic and political reforms that the Cuban people need and deserve,  the commission said. Read more: Latin American Herald",fake,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
8028,8029,"Madrid , Spain Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero Wednesday ordered a review of his country ' s nuclear power plants in light of the crisis unfolding in Japan , where workers are battling to contain radioactive materials at a plant after an massive earthquake and tsunami .  Spain is the latest in a number of countries around the world who are giving their nuclear programs a second look as Japan tirelessly works to avoid a nuclear disaster .  According to nation ' s nuclear regulatory body , the Nuclear Safety Council , Spain has eight nuclear reactors in operation at six nuclear power plants .  "" We should do this , but there are reasons to remain calm about the safety of our nuclear plants and about the reports the Nuclear Safety Council is preparing , "" Zapatero told reporters of his decision for a review .  He added , "" What we are going to do is be even more sure and safer . And if there is a needed improvement at some nuclear plant due to a hypothetical risk , that ' s the work of the Nuclear Safety Council . ""  Separately , Zapatero said that Spain is not ordering an evacuation of its nationals in Japan because there ' s been no such request from the Japanese government . Instead , Spain will follow Japan ' s lead and will try to assist those Spaniards who wish to leave .  There are no Spaniards in the affected zone near the nuclear power plant or in other high risk areas , the prime minister ' s office reported . There are about 1 , 900 Spaniards in Japan , more than half of them in the Tokyo area .  In Venezuela , President Hugo Chavez said that preliminary plans for a nuclear power plant in his country will be halted . He ordered his energy ministry to look for alternative sources of energy .  Tuesday , German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced a three month moratorium on the extension of the operation periods for German nuclear plants .  That move will lead to at least one German nuclear plant shutting down very soon , Germany ' s environmental minister later said in a statement .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
8046,8047,"Saudi Arabia has said that it has no enmity with Iran . The statement comes after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif s two day visit to both Saudi Arabia and Iran , aimed at easing tensions between the two rivals of the Muslim world . Pakistan says it has asked Iran to appoint a focal person , and will also inform the Kingdom in this regard .  Tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran have waxed and waned . Relations between the two countries soured particularly after the Iranian Revolution , the nuclear programme , the 2011 alleged Iran assassination plot and more recently the execution of a prominent Shia leader Nimr al Nimr ? by the Saudi government .  Interestingly , Iran is not a part of the 34 nation anti terrorism alliance announced by Saudi Arabia . The Islamic Military Alliance was announced as a measure to counter terror outfits , especially the Islamic State militant group . The Syria crisis ? however ? speaks of a different situation .  Iran says it is fighting terrorists in Syria , and is helping the government of Bashar al Assad by providing the latter with technical and military expertise . Saudi Arabia ? on the other hand is a part of the  led coalition against the nefarious elements in Syria , who are trying to destabilise the war torn country .  Today s world is concerned with elimination of terrorism and if one is to believe Saudi Arabia and Iran keeping in view that both are fighting militants ( at least this is what they say ) ? then why is the Islamic State militant group getting stronger day by day ?  We meet in Syria , which is an Arab country . But the relations Syria has with Russia , Iran , or Turkey are a thousand times better than its relations with its Arab neighbours . The relations that Libya has with Italy are a thousand times better than its relations with its neighbours , Egypt and Tunisia . This is the situation of the Arabs , Muammar Gaddafi ? the deceased Libyan leader ? had told the participants at an Arab summit in 2008 .  Given the crises plaguing the Muslim world , Saudi Arabia and Iran should try to ease the tense situation . Pakistan is already acting as a mediator between the two countries . But it is up to them whether they want to de escalate the tensions or not . The Arab world problem is that its rulers think that they will rule for eternity . And as far as Iran is concerned , comprise is necessary for relations between two states to develop .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
8081,8082,"This is the shocking moment a worker risked his life by standing on top of a house jet washing a roof with what appears to be just a rope tied around him for safety .  The unnamed worker was spotted on the roof 30 feet above the ground on top of an Edwardian semi detached home in Greenwich , south east London .  A local resident noticed the man carrying out the work with a lack of safety equipment on the slippery tiles and quickly took snaps of the man .  A worker who was caught jet washing the roof of a home in south east London with just a rope tied around him for safety  The neighbour said : ' I couldn ' t believe it . He was standing on the roof with a power washer and seemed to have a rope tied around his waist .  ' It looked incredibly dangerous . His boss seemed to be watching sitting on a wall opposite and seemed unfazed by it all . '  A building expert , who did not want to be named , said the workman should have at least had scaffolding up at the front of the property and a much longer ladder with a harness .  He said : ' You can ' t just stand up there with a bit of rope tied around you and think it ' s fine , it ' s not .  ' You have to think about how slippery it would be up there because as you can see he is spraying from the top to bottom , meaning the water will be trickling down around his feet .  A building expert said the man should have at least had scaffolding up at the front of the property and a longer ladder  ' You would only have to slip and fall once and that would be it . '  The image was then passed to the Health and Safety Executive , who attended the property and caught the man doing the same thing on the roof of the garage before he was stopped .  A  Spokeswoman said : ' Following a concern raised ,  inspectors visited the house yesterday and served a prohibition notice .  ' This means the work had to cease until appropriate safety measures are put in place . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
8086,8087,"Myuran Sukumaran has been awarded his associate degree in Fine Arts , a cause for joy in his darkest days on death row .  Sukumaran ' s mentor and friend , Archibald prize winner Ben Quilty , announced news of the degree from Curtin University on Friday .  The news comes as Sukumaran and Chan await transfer from Kerobokan to the prison island of Nusakambangan , where they are set to face the firing squad .  Australian drug smuggler Myuran Sukumaran has been awarded his associate degree in fine arts  Sukumaran is a passionate artist , and he has been a leader in the Kerobokan jail art studio , where he offers classes to teach inmates skills for life after jail  ' I am one immensely proud friend , ' Quilty tweeted .  The celebrated artist has been mentoring Sukumaran since 2012 , and has become his confidant over the regular visits to Kerobokan jail .  Sukumaran is a passionate artist , and he has been a leader in the Kerobokan jail art studio , where he offers classes to teach inmates skills for life after jail in a supportive , drug free environment .  The community that has grown around the art classes is devastated at the looming execution of ' Master Myu , ' and his fellow mentor , Australian Andrew Chan .  Part of that community is a cohort of Norwegian students who have a campus in Bali and collaborate with Sukumaran on art and philosophy classes .  Sukumaran ' s mentor and friend , Archibald prize winner Ben Quilty ( pictured ) , announced news of the degree from Curtin University on Friday .  Kerobokan jail , where Sukumaran and Chan are awaiting to be transferred to Nusakambangan  Indonesian police practise moving prisoners : More than 20 heavily armed officers will escort the handcuffed Myuran Sukumaran on to the military plane that takes them to their execution  Lecturer Oivind Klungseth Zahlsen says an event next month will celebrate Sukumaran ' s art and his work with prisoners over the years .  To be held at Kuta ' s Hard Rock Cafe on March 7 , it will also auction some of the student ' s paintings , with the proceeds sent back into the classes .  Prison authorities wish them to continue into the future and the project has also drawn the interest of researchers who want to replicate it in other Indonesian prisons .  Zahlsen says Sukumaran ' s classes are so successful because he leads by example displaying a special talent and a humility .  Past art auctions have raised thousands for the classes , but this one will be bittersweet for the Norwegian academic .  An event next month will celebrate Sukumaran ' s art and his work with prisoners over the years  Indonesia is yet to set a date for the execution of Sukumaran and Chan , claiming more preparation is needed before their transfer  ' I feel that killing the architect and admiring the building . . . it doesn ' t feel right , ' he says .  Zahlsen says he has witnessed amazing transformations in the prisoners .  ' Most of all it ' s identity creation they can proudly say I am not a criminal , I ' m an artist , or something else , ' he says .  Indonesia is yet to set a date for the execution of Sukumaran and Chan , who remain in Kerobokan jail awaiting transfer to the prison island of Nusakambangan , where the firing squad has been heard training at night .  Sodong port in Nusa kambangan island , the main entrance gate to Nusa Kambangan prison where the Bali Nine are due to be executed  Bali chief prosecutor Momock Bambang Samiarso on Friday said more preparation was needed before the Bali Nine pair ' s transfer , which would be Sunday at the earliest .  ' We ' re just counting the days , ' he told reporters .  Lawyers argue President Joko Widodo rejected Sukumaran and Chan ' s clemency without examining their reform since their 2005 arrest for attempted drug trafficking .  They plan to appeal their latest court loss , and have urged Indonesia not to execute the Australians in the meantime .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
8094,8095,"Authorities are seeking the public ' s assistance in identifying a teenage girl who mysteriously turned up in Manhattan two weeks ago , claiming to have no memory of her family , her home or even her own name .  The teen has recalled an excerpt from the fantasy novel "" Fool ' s Fate "" by Robin Hobb .  "" I just want to know who I am , "" the girl says in a statement released by the New York City Administration for Children ' s Services . The teen , who is being referred to as Jane Doe , continues , "" I want to know who I am and what happened to me . ""  The Caucasian young woman , described by New York  as "" very soft spoken , "" is 5 feet , 6 inches tall , light skinned , with short , straight , cropped blond hair and blue eyes . Doctors are estimating her age to be between 14 and 17 .   Commissioner John B . Mattingly appealed to the public in a statement , "" asking anyone who may know this young woman to help us locate her family as quickly as possible , so we can safely reunite her with those who love her . ""  According to its Web site , with nearly 7 , 000 youths seeking shelter per year , "" Covenant House New York is the nation ' s largest adolescent care agency serving homeless , runaway and at risk youth . ""  A security guard for the shelter noticed the girl walking around on the sidewalk near Covenant House and approached her . Finding her unresponsive , he called the New York City Police Department .  Police officers interviewed the young woman , but it became clear that she couldn ' t provide authorities with any information about herself . The  said she was wearing military green camouflage pants , a black shirt and a pair of black sneakers when she was discovered .  Children ' s Services said the girl recently wrote down the name "" Amber "" and has responded to it on one occasion , but she has no idea whether it is her true name .  On another occasion she is said to have recalled certain words , which turned out to be an excerpt from the fantasy novel "" Fool ' s Fate "" by Robin Hobb . The girl is also apparently writing a fantasy story of her own that features a heroine named Rian , "" who ' s been raised by the commander of the guard post on the edge of a fantasy kingdom , "" says the young woman .  The girl has a 2 to 4 inch scar on her lower left back and had a black , handwritten birthday message on her arm , addressed to a name of Japanese origin , when she was found , police said Friday .  Judging from poor dental hygiene , said Lt . Christopher Zimmerman , she appears to have been living on the streets for some time .  "" This case has been going on since October 9 , "" Zimmerman said . "" Today is the 23rd , and we ' re vey concerned . It ' s been a very long time now . That ' s a long time frame to not identify somebody . Especially someone who we believe is a juvenile . Usually juveniles we get a lot of inquiries about . ""  While the girl is confused and her story remains vague , Mattingly said , "" she is safe with us , and we are doing all we can to help her , but she needs to find her family . ""  She is apparently reviewing materials for a high school  exam , saying that she is able to do the math but has no recollection of studying the history and science portions . However , according to the Children ' s Services statement , the young woman "" can easily retain the information . ""  New York City Administration for Children ' s Services and police are asking anyone with information about the young woman or her family to contact the  Missing Persons Squad at 212 694 7781 or Crime Stoppers at 1 800 577  .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
8108,8109,"The  has been slammed for making a computer game simulating the terrifying ordeal Syrian refugees face as they try to flee their war torn country .  Players of the online game are tasked with escaping Syria which has been ravaged by civil war and the rise of  and making it into Europe .  The Syrian Journey game , which is available on the  website , often leads to players dying and was criticised by experts for turning the suffering of millions into a ' children ' s game ' .  The  ' s online game , Syrian Journey , often ends with refugees drowning in the Mediterranean or being sold to militia  The  has been slammed for making a computer game simulating the terrifying ordeal Syrian refugees face as they try to flee their war torn country  Players choose a male or female character before attempting to flee Syria , either via Turkey or Egypt , as they make difficult decisions about whether to travel by land or sea .  Grim outcomes include being separated from your family by human traffickers , women being sold between militia groups , and refugees being beaten over the head and hurled into the Mediterranean from packed migrant ships .  Middle East expert Chris Walker told The Sun : ' In the midst of probably the bloodiest Syrian crisis this century , the decision of the  to transform the human suffering of literally millions into a children ' s game beggars belief . '  Twitter users reacted furiously to the game , which appeared on the  site last Wednesday .  One wrote : ' The  news page has an interactive journey on the decisions you make as a Syrian migrant trying to flee the country . . . sickening . '  Another user , Matt Sterling , said : '  is this from the  , interactive game about escaping from Syria . Such bad taste . '  Players of the online game are tasked with escaping Syria which has been ravaged by civil war and the rise of  and making it into Europe  Grim outcomes include refugees being beaten over the head and hurled into the Mediterranean from packed migrant ships  Millions have fled Syria to escape the violence , seeking shelter in overflowing refugee camps in bordering countries as well as making perilous journeys to Europe by land and sea  James Burke wrote : ' Unsure if decision based "" game "" is April Fool or not . '  The Syrian conflict has led to the deaths of up to 300 , 000 people since it began more than four years ago .  Millions have fled to escape the violence , seeking shelter in overflowing refugee camps in bordering countries as well as making perilous journeys to the safety of Europe by land and sea .  The game could have cost as much as 20 , 000 , but the  insist it was made in house .  A spokesman for the corporation said : ' It shows audiences the choices faced by thousands of Syrian families every day . The project has achieved over a million online hits a week . '  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
8119,8120,""" I mean , I hate to gloat , "" Weird Al Yankovic said , "" but I ' m extremely satisfied with my position in life and the way things have worked out for me . ""  For over a quarter of a century , Weird Al has made a career out of his two passions : music and comedy . His parodies and satirical songs and videos have amassed an army of devoted fans 2 million of them follow him on Twitter . He ' s won three Grammy Awards and has sold more comedy albums than any other artist in history .  Not bad for a nerd out of Lynwood , California .  And now , the Hawaiian shirt wearing , accordion playing , curly haired pop satirist can also call himself a children ' s book author .  On Tuesday , Yankovic ' s book , "" When I Grow Up , "" lands on shelves . The book , published by Harper Collins , brings Yankovic ' s signature brand of nerdy humor to what turns out to be a very sweet and empowering children ' s picture book . It centers on what Billy , an energetic 8 year old , imagines he might be when he grows up .  Sure , it seems like writing children ' s books is becoming a popular pastime for attention loving celebrities . But Yankovic found inspiration in , of all things , his father ' s career advice .  "" As my father used to tell me , the only true sign of success in life is being able to do for a living that which makes you happy , "" Yankovic said . And what made him happy turned out to be a career that , Yankovic admits , no one in his family ever thought would go in the direction it has .  "" One of the reasons I was inspired to write this book was because my career path was sort of circuitous , "" he said . "" I went to college and got a degree in architecture , because when I was 12 years old I had a guidance counselor talk me out of my dream of being a cartoonist for  Magazine . ""  "" He said , ' Oh there ' s no future in comics , you ' re not going to make a living doing that . ' He said , ' Well , you ' re good at drafting , you ' re good at math , you ' re creative , why don ' t you be an architect ? ' So I decided ,  , I ' m going to be an adult , I ' m going to grow up , and this is what I ' m going to do for a living . ""  After three years at architecture school , Yankovic said , he realized it wasn ' t what he wanted to do . With the support of parents who weren ' t interested in pushing him into any specific career , but rather just "" really wanted me to be happy , "" Yankovic took a chance on his passion .  "" I suppose I had my rock star fantasies while I was singing into my hairbrush in the bathroom mirror , but I never really consciously said , '  , this is what I ' m going to do for a living and I ' m going to be Weird Al . ' My hobbies just sort of gradually became my vocation , "" he said .  Of course , Yankovic also saw a children ' s book as the perfect opportunity to indulge his quirky humor . As Billy tells his classmates in the book , "" Maybe I ' ll be a gorilla masseuse , or an artist who sculpts out of chocolate mousse . "" In typical Yankovic style , Billy also suggests "" professional pickle inspector , "" "" big sumo wrestler , "" and "" smelly pit sniffing deodorant tester . ""  Listen to Weird Al read an excerpt from his book .  Yankovic ' s favorite career in Billy ' s possible future ? "" Master debater , "" he said , with that instantly recognizable laugh . "" I can ' t believe I got that through the censors . Actually I was on the speech team in high school so that probably is pretty close . ""  "" I don ' t know if Billy is obsessive compulsive , "" Yankovic said , "" but he seems to have a lot of ideas , his head is filled with a lot of random thoughts . I don ' t know if that ' s typical of all nerds , but that ' s sort of how my brain is . If I can extrapolate it , maybe that ' s something I share with Billy . ""  Lucky for Billy , Yankovic said , nerdy qualities come in handy professionally . He ought to know : Yankovic ' s unabashed and overt nerdiness was met with heavy rotation on  in the 1980s at a time when , he said , "" being nerdy wasn ' t quite so hip . ""  "" I mean , it ' s an extension of who I am , so I don ' t have a lot of choice in the matter , "" he said .  Even Yankovic ' s recent album "" Straight Out of Lynwood "" rides the nerd wave to success . The video for "" White and Nerdy "" has been viewed online over 100 million times .  Nerds are focused and probably obsessed about a few things , Yankovic said . "" Their field of vision is narrowed , that ' s part of the description of a nerd , I think , but it ' s that kind of laser focus and attention to detail and passion that also makes them very successful in their chosen field . ""  "" I think when Billy finally does walk into whatever he wants to do , he ' ll be able to settle down and focus a bit more . ""  What does Yankovic mean by focus ? How about weeks long debates as to whether one of the sentences in "" When I Grow Up "" needed a semicolon , a dash or a period ?  This was the first time Yankovic has ever worked with an editor , Anne Hoppe from Harper Collins . For someone who has enjoyed the unhindered control of an artist , it turned out to be a positive experience .  "" Anne was a great partner in this , "" he said . "" I would write her four lines of verse and she ' d write me back four pages of notes . ""  "" We finessed this text for a very long time and I ' m very happy with the way it turned out . It was just really great to have somebody that I could have those kinds of dialogues with . ""  Likewise , Yankovic is happy with the presentation of his ideas by illustrator Wes Hargis . The whimsy Hargis brings to the collaboration is something Yankovic feels is just right .  "" He really has a childlike quality and a very fun quality and a very imaginative quality . I think it was just the perfect partnership for this picture book and I ' m very glad that Anne put us together , "" he said .  Yankovic confesses he ' s been bitten by the children ' s book bug . "" Regardless of how this book does , and of course I hope it does very well , but I would like to write at least a few more . It was really a wonderful experience and I ' d love to do it again . ""  What could be better news for longtime Weird Al fans who want to make their favorite satirist a family affair ?  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
8122,8123,"Andar , Afghanistan "" An apple , "" English teacher Asadullah writes and reads out on the board . A simple word , perhaps , but here speaking and teaching English is something of a novelty and for the U . S . military and Afghan government a success albeit small .  It would not have been possible four months ago when soldiers from the 101st Airborne arrived in Andar district in Afghanistan ' s Ghazni province the first American presence in the area in two years .  "" The school was empty , it was essentially a ghost town , "" Captain Justin Quisenberry recalled . "" We found a passerby and asked , ' where are all the students , the teachers ? ' He said it had been closed for a couple of years , the Taliban threatened us . It ' s just not a safe place to have classes . ""  An indication of just how powerful the Taliban has been in this area is the turnout for the country ' s September elections . Just three people out of the district ' s 110 , 000 residents voted .  Classes only just resumed here .  The school is in the town of Miri . Although it may not look like an oasis , it is of sorts .  The local market is thriving . Cell phones and bright clothes imported from Pakistan are among the items on sale , creating an explosion of color against the dull brown of the mud walls .  The school is the only one around for miles under government control the other 25 remain in the grip of the Taliban .  "" The Taliban doesn ' t like that this school is open , "" headmaster Abdullah Hakmal told us . "" It ' s because they don ' t have power here . ""  He explained the Taliban wants to dictate the curriculum , focusing more on religion rather than other studies . The students , who range from 11 years old to 25 , used to have to walk for kilometers to get any sort of education at all from a Taliban controlled school .  "" Yes "" the class says in unison when we ask if they are happy .  As 15 year old Nuradin puts it , "" It ' s great to have a school that is a safe and close walk . ""  "" The one school we just recently opened up in Miri , it ' s in the oil spot or security bubble that we ' ve been able to establish in the last four months , "" U . S . Battalion commander David Fivecoat said . "" We will gradually expand that here over the coming months and begin to take back some of the schools from the ones that are under Taliban control and begin to re exert government influence here in Andar . ""  But Taliban influence is not just confined to the educational system they have also set up a shadow government .  "" What we ' ve seen here , we ' ve seen tax collection system where the Taliban has been able to levy taxes on farmers and the wheat harvest came in . We ' ve also been able to see a small judicial system where they have been able to adjudicate disputes , "" Fivecoat added .  "" As we ' ve discovered this and gained some insight into it , it also gives us the ability to target the judges and the tax collectors for the Taliban to remove that infrastructure and make it harder for them to come back if and when they try to come back from Pakistan . ""  Historically the Taliban leadership and many fighters flee to their safe havens in neighboring Pakistan for the winter , re emerging for what is known as the "" spring offensive . ""  "" This winter in December and January insurgent activity has definitely decreased , "" explained Fivecoat . "" We ' ve seen fewer engagements between my soldiers and the enemy , we ' ve seen less  ' s and really less violence . But in the last week we did hear some reports that some of the Taliban leaders are being ordered back here to fight in Andar due to some of the successes that we ' ve had . And we ' re ready for that if and when they come back . ""  It ' s been a tough fight just to get this far . Since arriving in Andar , Fivecoat has had around 50 soldiers wounded in battle and one killed .  Outside of the "" oil spot "" or "" security bubble "" that the U . S . has managed to establish in Miri itself , fear of the Taliban prevails .  On patrol through a small village that sits along one of the major routes in the district , 33 year old Afghan Army Lieutenant Matiullah asks local men where the Taliban are hiding . Their responses are a variation of "" We don ' t know "" , "" They are not here , "" or "" No , no Taliban . ""  The search through the village is intended to catch the Taliban off guard .  "" A lot of times insurgents will stage their attacks out of villages such as this , hide  making materials here and generally stage and plan in the mosques around here before they move out on the roads to instigate their attacks on coalition forces and afghan military and police , "" U . S . Army Lieutenant Chip Evans explained .  The men crouch through the doorways of the rooms in the mud compounds but find nothing .  Meanwhile , Matiullah gathers the elders by the mosque , where his address is as much a plea for help as it is a lecture .  "" We are coming here to help , you need to help us to bring security , "" he says , adding , "" The Taliban comes here to take your money , we are coming to help . ""  He accuses them of helping the Taliban , otherwise he says troops would not be getting ambushed or blown up in the area .  The men sit expressionless , refusing to answer any of Matiullah ' s accusations .  "" These people do anger me a bit , "" Matiullah said . "" But I can ' t really blame them , none of them have weapons and they are too scared of the Taliban . ""  ",true,text,validation,American football,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
8148,8149,"Jeb Bush says Sarah Palin was wrong ' to say that Donald Trump is a conservative '  Palin endorsed Trump on the campaign trail Tuesday and appeared with him Wednesday  Sarah Palin is wrong to call Donald Trump a conservative , Jeb Bush said Wednesday .  The former Florida governor said he respects Palin particularly her opposition to abortion and support for the disabled in an interview with  ' s Wolf Blitzer on "" The Situation Room . ""  But he criticized her characterization of Trump ' s politics as the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee endorsed Trump this week .  "" For her to say that Donald Trump is a conservative when he was pro abortion in the recent past , he believed in higher taxes , he thought Hillary Clinton would be a great negotiator in Iran , he ' s been all over the map in foreign policy certainly not a conservative , "" Bush said .  "" Rush Limbaugh and others are now questioning his conservative credentials , and I think they ' re right , "" he said .  Bush also said Trump "" will be flailing away , "" changing his policy stances , if he ' s the Republican nominee .  "" He attacks women , Hispanics , the disabled , "" Bush said . "" Across the board , he finds ways to tear people down and make himself the strongman , and that ' s a sign of weakness . It ' s not a sign of strength . ""  Trump had mocked Bush during a campaign stop in Tulsa , Oklahoma , earlier Wednesday .  Bush , who has climbed into a tie with Florida Sen . Marco Rubio for third place in New Hampshire , behind Trump and Texas Sen . Ted Cruz , according to a n ew   poll , said Trump ' s attacks come because he knows Bush is a threat .  "" He ' s scared of me . He ' s insecure . He doesn ' t believe that he can take me on , "" Bush said .  He added : "" Why would he spend his time tearing down someone who ' s so low compared to him ? This is because we ' re moving up . And I believe that he believes we ' re a real challenge to the nomination . ""  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
8160,8161,"A Yale graduate whose life was tragically cut short when she was killed in a car accident shortly after her graduation has just been awarded a prestigious literary prize .  Marina Keegan was awarded the Goodreads Choice Awards non fiction book for 2014 for the posthumously published The Opposite of Loneliness : Essays and Stories .  Scroll down to read Keegan ' s essay  Heralded : Marina Keegan ( left ) was awarded the Goodreads Choice Awards non fiction book for 2014 for the posthumously published The Opposite of Loneliness : Essays and Stories ( right )  Tragedy : Keegan died just five days after she graduated from Yale in 2012 in a car accident ( above )  Cleared : Marina ' s boyfriend Michael Gocksch ( right ) had been driving at the time of the crash but was not speeding or under the influence so was cleared in his girlfriend ' s death  Keegan had just graduated five days earlier in 2012 when her boyfriend , Michael Gocksch , crashed his car after falling asleep at the wheel while the couple was driving in Massachusetts .  Gocksch , who survived the crash , was not speeding or under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the accident , and did not face any charges .  Even though she had just graduated , Keegan was already well on her way to an illustrious literary career , having already scored a job with The New Yorker .  She had studied English at Yale and graduated magna cum laude from the Ivy League institution .  The week before her death she published an essay in her school paper urging members of her generation to ' make something happen to this world , ' which went viral with more than 1 . 4 million hits according to The Independent .  It was this work , and others , the publisher Simon Schuster says ' captures the hope , uncertainty , and possibility of her generation ' that has made her into what they call an ' icon of her generation . '  ' We don ' t have a word for the opposite of loneliness , but if we did , I could say that ' s what I want in life . What I ' m grateful and thankful to have found at Yale , and what I ' m scared of losing when we wake up tomorrow and leave this place . '  ' We ' re so young . We ' re so young . We ' re twenty two years old . We have so much time . There ' s this sentiment I sometimes sense , creeping in our collective conscious as we lay alone after a party , or pack up our books when we give in and go out that it is somehow too late . That others are somehow ahead . More accomplished , more specialized . More on the path to somehow saving the world , somehow creating or inventing or improving . That it ' s too late now to  a beginning and we must settle for continuance , for commencement . '  ' We don ' t have a word for the opposite of loneliness , but if we did , I ' d say that ' s how I feel at Yale . How I feel right now . Here . With all of you . In love , impressed , humbled , scared . And we don ' t have to lose that . '  ' We ' re in this together , 2012 . Let ' s make something happen to this world . '  Winner : Esther Grace Earl , who died of cancer in 2010 and became the inspiration for The Fault In Our Stars ( left ) , was also a winner for her memoir This Star Won ' t Go Out ( right )  Esther Grace Earl , who died of cancer at 16 years old in 2010 was another posthumous winner of a Goodreads Choice Award in the memoir and autobiography section for her work This Star Won ' t Go Out .  Earl befriended author John Greene shortly before her death and became the inspiration for his blockbuster book , and later blockbuster film , The Fault In Our Stars , being portrayed onscreen by actor Shailene Woodley .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
8169,8170,"The moderator ' s chair on  ' s "" Meet the Press "" stood empty on Sunday in remembrance of Tim Russert , the man who had occupied it for 17 years .  The moderator ' s chair on  ' s "" Meet the Press "" stood empty Sunday in remembrance of Tim Russert .  As the show ' s host , Russert became a mainstay of television journalism ' s political talk .  He died Friday of apparent heart attack , according to the network . He was 58 . The network said Russert collapsed while at work .  Colleague and former  anchor Tom Brokaw , who broke the news about the anchor ' s death , spoke on Sunday the familiar first four words of the news program , "" Our issues this Sunday . "" He noted that those were the same words Russert had been recording for the show when he collapsed and died .  "" Our issue this sad Sunday morning is remembering and honoring our colleague and friend , "" Brokaw said .  "" He said he was only the temporary custodian , "" of this program , which he called a national treasure , Brokaw said . "" Of course , he was so much more than all that . ""  "" This is where you separated the men from the boys , "" said Matalin , who is married to Carville . "" You weren ' t a candidate until you came on this show . ""  A montage of clips from past years showed various politicians former President Bill Clinton , President Bush , former presidential candidate Ross Perot , Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff sitting across the table from Russert . Watch politicians , journalists pay homage to Russert  Some showed the politicians as they squirmed .  "" Look , I was asked I shouldn ' t have said that , "" New Mexico Gov . Bill Richardson said on the show in May 2007 .  Richardson had appeared on the show as part of the "" Meet the Candidates 2008 "" series , and was grilled by Russert about his contradictory positions on numerous issues .  "" So you ' re I ' ve been in public life for 25 years , you ' re going to find a lot of these it seems you found them all here , "" he said , smiling somewhat sheepishly .  "" I ' m just trying to set the record and trying to give you a chance to respond , which is fair , "" Russert had responded .  In another clip at the end of an April 2006 show , Sen . John McCain told Russert , "" I haven ' t had so much fun since my last interrogation . ""  Russert had appeared as an unlikely icon for television news , with his cherubic face and dimpled chin , but he was a prolific interviewer and tireless journalist , one with an intimidating breadth of political knowledge and insight .  "" It was a very easy show to prepare for in the sense that you knew he was not going to ask you any questions out of left field you knew his thing was going to be entitlements , you knew his thing was going to be past statements , you knew where he was coming from , "" Carville said Sunday of "" Meet the Press . ""  Matalin countered : "" It was simple in the fact that there was no ' gotcha , ' but it was not easy . Because you had to be 10 questions deep , because he was going to be 12 questions deep . ""  As news of his death hit the airwaves and Internet , tributes rolled in with nearly everyone praising his prowess as a journalist and as an interviewer .  Bush , in a written statement , called Russert "" a tough and hardworking newsman . ""  "" He was always well informed and thorough in his interviews , "" Bush said . "" And he was as gregarious off the set as he was prepared on it . ""  Longtime  news anchor Walter Cronkite said , "" Broadcast journalism lost one of its greats today . Tim Russert was a giant in our field a standard bearer of journalistic integrity and ethics . His masterful interviews and roundtable discussions are legendary . This is a tragic loss for journalism and for all who were privileged to know him . ""  But colleagues who knew him best also praised his warmth , and described him as a mentor .  "" I think it ' s so poignant that we ' re talking about Tim on Father ' s Day because he was a father to so many of us , "" said California first lady Maria Shriver , who once worked for  .  On Friday ,  chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell said , "" He was always teaching each of us to be as rigorous as he was in looking at all the facts , examining everything and then being as balanced and fair and down the middle as anyone could possibly be . ""  Washingtonian Magazine once dubbed Russert the best and most influential journalist in Washington , D . C . , describing "" Meet the Press "" as "" the most interesting and important hour on television . ""  In 2008 , Time Magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world . His two books 2004 ' s "" Big Russ and Me "" and 2006 ' s "" Wisdom of Our Fathers "" were both New York Times bestsellers .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
8177,8178,"Super Bowl commercials this year might be a snooze  This photo provided by Anheuser Busch shows actress Helen Mirren in a Budweiser ad for Super Bowl 50 . In the ad , Mirren delivers a lecture about drunk driving and why it s a terrible idea .  This photo provided by Anheuser Busch shows actress Helen Mirren in a Budweiser ad for Super Bowl 50 . In the ad , Mirren delivers a lecture about drunk driving and why it s a terrible idea .  No GoDaddy . Not a bikini in sight . Service messages instead of crotch or fart jokes . As the Super Bowl turns 50 and faces middle age , will this be the year that advertisers stick to ? gasp ? good taste ?  The Super Bowl remains advertising ' s biggest stage , especially as the broadcast  audience fragments further thanks to Netflix and other on demand  services . Advertisers are spending as much as an estimated 5 million per 30 seconds to capture more than 114 million viewers expected to tune in . Debate over the game day ads will start on social media before the game and carry over to work the next day , so it ' s crucial to stand out , without going so far as to offend .  But this year , amplifying a trend seen the past few years , advertisers seem to be playing it extra safe . And that might mean a repeat of last year ' s "" Somber Bowl , "" when viewers were turned off by too serious ads .  Distinguished British actress Helen Mirren will deliver a lecture about drunken driving and why it ' s a terrible idea . Many others are going with anthemic or public service style messages : Colgate Palmolive will urge viewers to "" Save Water , "" while outdoor brand Marmot urges people to spend more time outside and  showcases people who "" Defy Labels . ""  Slapstick , crass humor and sex seem to be relegated to the sidelines . Internet address provider GoDaddy , which for 11 years walked the line of bad taste with ads that showed skimpily clad women and an extremely long close up of a kiss , is sitting it out , citing the need for more targeted advertising .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
8192,8193,"Martin Cuddihy reported this story on Wednesday , November 25 , 2015 08 : 24 : 08    : Pope Francis , the head of the Catholic Church , is about to begin his first trip to Africa .  His first stop is Kenya , a country where the Catholic Church has an uneasy relationship with civil society advocates .  The Church maintains the use of contraceptives is against the will of God , but in a country where the rate of  has been falling , there are some who are worried this visit might see some of that progress reversed .    : The bells call people to lunchtime mass at Consolata Shrine , not far from the centre of Nairobi .  Consolata is in a wealthy suburb . Pope Francis won ' t be visiting here . Instead he will meet some of the poorest people in East Africa .  He ' s going to visit Kangemi , a slum in the heart of Nairobi .     : He loves he cares about the poor and that ' s why he wants also to see which life these people , his people , going through .    : Parishioners at St Joseph ' s church are delighted he ' s chosen their community .     : When we prepare these kids , we also prepare them for different vocations .  So they ' ll be doing that Bible procession song , they ' ll be dancing actually .    : Kangemi is surrounded on three sides by upmarket suburbs , but like many informal settlements it has no sewerage , services are limited and electricity is often stolen .  Bishop John Oballa Owaa is more than happy the head of the Catholic Church has decided to visit .     : We consider ourselves really blessed and humbled at the same time that we should be the first country to host Pope Francis .    : This is also the first time a Pope has visited Africa since Pope Benedict went to Angola in 2009 .  During that visit , the Church was criticised because Pope Benedict said condoms were not the answer to the  epidemic .  This time around civil society organisations like  ( National Organization of Peer Educators ) Africa are hoping the topic isn ' t even brought up .  Peter Onyancha would prefer the Pope doesn ' t say anything about condoms .    : The worst thing is to demonise condoms . I would prefer silence to demonising .  However , I would want us to ensure that any human being who is sexually active , if you are going to engage in a sexual relationship with someone , it is still important that you utilise a condom .    : Despite that , Bishop Owaa says contraceptives are not permitted by the Church .     : Any contraceptive method goes against the very will of God himself .    : After visiting Kenya , the Pope will travel to Uganda and then to Central African Republic , which will be the most dangerous leg of his journey .  For about two years  has been rocked by sectarian violence , with Christian and Muslim militias regularly attacking one another .  In Nairobi this is Martin Cuddihy reporting for  .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
8215,8216,"Los Angeles A jury began deliberating Wednesday afternoon in actress Nicollette Sheridan ' s wrongful termination lawsuit against "" Desperate Housewives "" creator Marc Cherry .  The jury of nine women and three men is to decide whether Cherry killed off a Sheridan ' s character in retaliation for the actress complaining that he hit her during a rehearsal for the  comedy . A verdict requires the agreement of nine jurors .  Sheridan is asking for 5 . 7 million in damages from  and Cherry , although the actress was paid 4 million in her last year of work and is still earning royalties from her vested interest in the hit series .  Sheridan lawyer Mark Baute , in his closing Wednesday morning , told jurors they have two questions to answer : Did Cherry hit Sheridan on the head on September 24 , 2008 , or was it a "" light tap , "" as the defense claims ? And , did Cherry get  ' s approval to kill Sheridan ' s character in May 2008 , as the defense claims , or was the decision made in December , after a human resources investigator cleared him in the slapping incident ?  Baute called Cherry a "" really obvious liar "" who was covering up the real reason he killed off Edie Britt , the sassy blonde character Sheridan played for the show ' s first five seasons .  He accused other  employees of conspiring to cover up evidence that it was a revenge firing in order to protect a show that has earned over 1 billion in eight seasons .  Cherry and  claim they decided Britt would die in season five in May 2008 , four months before the incident in which Cherry allegedly struck Sheridan .  Baute told jurors that there were "" no notes , no calendar , no documents , "" supporting that claim , except for a writer assistant ' s notes that he accused the defense of fabricating and backdating .  Cherry and  executives testified they did not write e mails because they wanted to keep the decision a secret .  "" It ' s not a ' Navy  Team Six how are we going to kill Osama bin Laden ' decision , "" Baute told jurors , questioning the need for such secrecy .  Defense lawyer Adam Levin , in his closing , said the plaintiffs were asking jurors to accept a "" complicated story of conspiracy , "" while the reality is much simpler .  "" Mr Cherry wanted to kill Edie Britt for creative reasons , "" to shock and surprise viewers and boost ratings , he said .  "" ' Desperate ' is claiming that 10 good citizens of California conspired to get their stories straight and then took the stand , looked you in the eyes and lied , "" Levin said , noting that five of the 10 defense witnesses had "" no incentive to lie "" since they are no longer associated with  or the show .  Former  studio chief Mark Pedowitz , who now works for the rival  network , testified that in May 2008 he approved Britt ' s killing since the character "" had run its creative course , "" he said .  Former  network chief Steve McPherson , who no longer works in the entertainment industry , told jurors that he also approved the decision in May 2008 , Levin said .  Levin also pointed to three former show writers who each testified of hearing the plan to kill off Britt in writer meetings in May and June 2008 .  One former show writer called as a witness by Sheridan ' s lawyer testified that she did not hear about the plan until later in the year , after the hitting incident .  On Tuesday , the show ' s set construction coordinator testified that he received an e mail that suggested a "" conspiracy to cover up "" information regarding Sheridan ' s lawsuit .  Michael Reinhart , who has supervised construction of the show ' s sets since it began eight years ago , told jurors that he called Baute on Sunday to alert him to his suspicions of a cover up conspiracy because what he read in an e mail "" started gnawing at me "" and he "" began to lose sleep . ""  "" It was my understanding that they were going to delete e mails from the hard drives , "" Reinhart said about the e mail he received in fall 2010 , soon after Sheridan filed her lawsuit .  He read the e mail and immediately deleted it because he believed it was not intended for him , he said .  "" I honestly tried to put it out of my mind , "" he said , until this past weekend as he realized the Los Angeles trial was nearing an end .  What he read made him uncomfortable "" because if the proposed actions were carried out , I felt it would create an imbalance between the parties in this case , "" he testified .  "" I just wanted to make it equal for both sides , "" he said .  Reinhart said he feared he was committing "" professional suicide "" by revealing the e mail , possibly ending any chances of a future job with  or its parent company , Disney . He was concerned "" not just for me , but for my crew and the well being of their families , "" he said .  But if he had not come forward , he "" would ' ve had to live with that doubt the rest of my life , "" he said .  Under cross examination by Cherry ' s lawyer , Reinhart said Sheridan ' s lawyer suggested he could help him find a job if  fired him . Baute denied that outside the courtroom .  The defense later called Jean Zoeller ,  ' s chief litigation lawyer , to testify that she sent memos to every employee connected to the case instructing them to save all their electronic documents . Asked if she asked anyone to delete e mails , she said , "" Absolutely not . ""  The defense won one victory Tuesday when the judge issued a directed verdict dismissing Sheridan ' s battery claim against Cherry . Sheridan ' s lawyer downplayed the significance of that decision , saying the damages could have only been 1 and jury deliberations will be simplified without it .  "" You hit me , I complained and you fired me for it , "" Baute said , giving a thumbnail description of Sheridan ' s case .  The hit during a rehearsal was just "" a light tap on the head "" intended to demonstrate "" a piece of physical humor "" Cherry wanted Sheridan to perform , the defense said in opening statements .  Sheridan testified that Cherry hit her because he was frustrated during a discussion over her lines in a scene . "" It was a nice wallop to my head "" she said .  Five months and 11 episodes later , Cherry informed Sheridan that Britt would die during a show taping the next day , ending her five year run on "" Desperate Housewives . ""  Jurors must decide if the death of Sheridan ' s character and the end of her employment was illegal workplace retaliation or just a creative decision unconnected to the alleged battery incident .   Entertainment is a defendant in the lawsuit because its executives allegedly failed to properly investigate Sheridan ' s accusation that Cherry hit her , and then agreed with his decision to fire her .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
8224,8225,"Borussia Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp is confident his side can overturn a 2 1 Champions League first leg deficit against Juventus on Wednesday due to their watertight defence .  The improving Germans , who have recovered after a dismal first half to the domestic season that saw them anchored in last place as recently as last month in the Bundesliga , have kept a clean sheet in their last three league games , including a 0 0 draw against Cologne on the weekend .  With Neven Subotic and Mats Hummels back fit in central defence , along with full backs Marcel Schmelzer and Lukasz Piszczek , Dortmund ' s defence has been as solid as it has been all season .  Jurgen Klopp talks to his Dortmund players during a training session ahead of the second leg with Juventus  ( Left to right ) : Adrian Ramos , Pierre Emerick Aubameyang , Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Marco Reus  The Dortmund squad are put through their paces in training ahead of the crucial game against Juventus  Aubameyang ( left ) talks with Reus ( right ) as the Dortmund pair limber up in training with some leg stretches  ' ( Against Cologne ) we played another game without letting in a goal and that is something we can build on , ' Klopp told reporters . ' We want to advance to the quarter finals and we can do this . '  Dortmund boast a fine record at home in Europe having won 11 of their last 14 Champions League games at the Westfalenstadion .  But in order to book a spot in the last eight they have to snap a losing run at home against Juventus , having lost all three previous encounters against the Italians in Dortmund .  Klopp will be counting on goals from Pierre Emerick Aubameyang , who has scored five in his last seven outings and in form Marco Reus , who has struck five times in eight games .  Marco Reus cancelled out Carlos Tevez ' s opener before Alvaro Morata scored a 42nd minute winner  Juventus are flying high in Serie A , edging closer to the Italian title with their first triumph away from home in over two months at Palermo , opening up a 14 point lead .  ' One less win needed to win the league , ' Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri said , knowing he will now need to shift his focus to Dortmund and their attacking game .  ' We will need to take the lead there , maybe score more than one goal , ' said the coach .  They will , however , be without influential playmaker Andrea Pirlo who has yet to fully recover from a thigh injury suffered in the first leg .  ' He has made good progress but not enough to be in Dortmund , ' the club said in a statement .  Klopp knows that his side will have to be at their absolute best to overcome high flying Serie A giants Juve  Dortmund have won 11 of their last 14 home ties in the Champions League at the Westfalenstadion  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
8251,8252,"A Saudi prince jailed for life in Britain for murdering his servant has been flown back to the Middle Eastern country to serve the rest of his sentence , the British government said Wednesday .  Prince Saud bin Abdulaziz bin Nasir , a grandson of Saudi Arabia ' s King Abdullah , was jailed in 2010 for killing Bandar Abdullah Abdulaziz in a London hotel after subjecting him to a ' sadistic ' campaign of violence and sexual abuse .  But Britain ' s Ministry of Justice confirmed that the 36 year old royal flew back to Saudi Arabia on Monday after he was granted a transfer to a prison in his homeland .  Prince Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser al Saud ( left ) was found guilty of murdering his servant Bandar Abdullah Abdulaziz ( right ) in their room at a luxury London hotel . He will serve the rest of his life sentence in Saudi Arabia  Details of the transfer were announced last month .  ' We have a prison transfer arrangement with Saudi Arabia which allows nationals of either country to serve their prison sentence in their home state , ' a ministry spokeswoman said .  ' Prince Saud has now returned to Saudi Arabia to serve the rest of his sentence . He was transferred in the same way that all prisoners are returned home and is the first prisoner to transfer under this arrangement . '  She added that , as part of the arrangement , he must serve the life sentence , with a minimum of twenty years .  Evidence : Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser al Saud ( in white ) is seen beating his servant Bandar Abdulaziz in an elevator in London ' s Landmark hotel  When asked what measures had been taken to ensure that the prince would not be persecuted for his homosexual acts , or , alternatively , receive preferential treatment as a result of his royal connections , she said that the administration of his sentence is now a matter for Saudi Arabia .  Saud ' s trial at England ' s Old Bailey central criminal court in London heard that he had ordered gay escorts and had frequently looked at websites for gay massage parlours and escort agencies .  The prince denied being gay and his lawyers argued that he could face the death penalty in Saudi Arabia over the allegations of homosexuality .  Undated handout photo issued by the Metropolitan Police of Prince Saud ( left ) and his victim Bandar Abdulaziz  The jury heard that the prince beat and strangled Abdulaziz to death on 15 February , 2010 , fuelled by champagne and cocktails , after the pair returned from a Valentine ' s Day night out .  A post mortem found that Abdulaziz had suffered heavy blows to the head , injuries to the brain and ears , and severe neck injuries consistent with strangulation by hand .  Prosecutors said bite marks on his cheeks showed a clear ' sexual element ' to the killing .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
8252,8253,"The nation ' s domestic forces are responding to the imminent arrival of pleasant weekend weather conditions by launching the largest coordinated surge on America ' s outdoor recreation destinations in recent history , sources reported Thursday .  "" For the sake of our loved ones and our way of life , we have a solemn duty to enjoy this beautiful weather to its maximum potential , "" said Boston resident Ross Schneiderman , 37 , a veteran of more than two dozen beautiful weekends since 1988 . "" So we intend to be ready to lock and load at the crack of dawn tomorrow . ""  The multi front offensive on parks , beaches , and public pools is scheduled to occur in three waves . First , families wanting to secure parking in close proximity to high value picnic checkpoints will move out under cover of darkness . The second rush of citizens will rendezvous at strategically shady regions of public parks by mid morning . Coastal weekend warriors will then begin storming the beaches , which should be filled to capacity by noon Saturday .  "" It may mean sacrificing  shows and even chores , but we cannot sit idly by as this gorgeous weather rolls in , "" said Kansas City resident Chuck Dakin , 32 , who has been monitoring both the Weather Channel and accuweatherweblink for relevant intelligence . "" Plus , I found a great spot in Swope Park last week . If somebody gets there before us , things could get ugly . ""  Key to the weekend mission ' s success , strategists said , is the decisive beating of traffic , primarily through pre dawn departures and the utilization of little known back roads and top secret shortcuts .  Residents are being advised to relieve themselves prior to travel , as pit stops can potentially slow an advance for hours , leaving dangerously little time for special operations like Frisbee throwing and badminton playing .  As millions of dedicated citizens mobilize , so , too , has American industry . U . S . manufacturers have stepped up production , both at home and in factories abroad , of baseball mitts , lounge chairs , bug spray , and balls of various shapes and sizes . America ' s immense recreational industrial complex , which distributes this vital materiel through supply lines that stretch from coast to coast , is considered essential to a successful weekend advance .  "" We will not repeat our past mistakes , like not having enough juice boxes for the kids , "" 43 year old optometrist Will Russet said . "" In retrospect , we were lucky to make it out of the last beautiful weekend with our household intact . ""  San Francisco resident Stanley Grossman , 36 , whose family unit is under orders to secure and occupy a barbecue pit in Golden Gate Park , warned his subordinates that the expedition will not be easy .  "" The conditions out there are so unpredictable , you have to be ready for anything , "" Grossman said . "" So many factors are stacked against your having an enjoyable time that at some point you just have to say , ' To hell with it . ' Christ , the bugs alone will eat you alive . ""  ",satire,text,validation,Football,Conflict,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,present
8286,8287,"The Colombian government and the country’s largest rebel group said Wednesday that they had agreed to a   clearing a major hurdle in the effort to end one of the world’s   conflicts. In a joint statement, the two sides said that they had overcome some of the most intractable parts of a peace deal, which they have been negotiating in Havana since 2012. In addition to a   the rebels  —   known as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or the   —   agreed to lay down their arms. The two sides said they would hold a ceremony in Havana on Thursday to mark the   attended by Colombia’s president, Juan Manuel Santos, the  leader Rodrigo Londoño and other Latin American leaders. Negotiators hope a final peace deal will be reached in the days or weeks to come. “Tomorrow will be a great day,” Mr. Santos said in a statement. “We worked for peace in Colombia, a dream which is now becoming reality. ” On Twitter, the  responded: “We made it. The path to peace must continue, because it’s not an illusion now, it’s a promise. ” The agreement sets in motion an end to the region’s oldest conflict. An estimated 220, 000 people have been killed in more than 50 years of fighting between the guerrillas and the government. More than five million people are estimated to have been displaced. The agreement to lay down arms sets the stage for what will be one of the largest demobilization of guerrilla fighters in years. An estimated 7, 000  foot soldiers and commanders would be expected to disarm. Many were kidnapped as children by the guerrillas and know no other life than one with the rebels. Under a related agreement reached last year during the negotiations,  soldiers would enter into a “transitional justice” system, with reduced sentences for those who confess to crimes that took place during the conflict. In many cases, the punishments are expected to be limited to community service. Unicef, the United Nations Children’s Fund, will assist in reintegrating hundreds of child soldiers whom the  agreed in May to release. Many quarters of Colombia celebrated the steps announced on Wednesday. “This is a transcendent step,” said Alejo Vargas, a political scientist who heads a group that brought war victims to Havana to speak with negotiators during the talks. “Even if it’s not the final deal, we can say without a doubt the process is irreversible now. ” Others lent support, but voiced concerns about how the deal would be enacted. Luis Mendieta, a former chief of Colombia’s National Police who was kidnapped for 12 years by the FARC, said he worried that many guerrillas would join criminal gangs rather than disarm. He also said that while the  had agreed to lay down arms, he believed the group was continuing to extort Colombians in the countryside they control. “The  must now not just begin a   but end all their hostilities,” he said. “The two aren’t the same thing. ” The FARC, whose origins date to the early 1960s, was founded as a   group that vowed to defend the country’s peasants from   governments in Colombia. But as the years wore on, the group found a potent source of revenue in kidnapping city dwellers. By the 1990s, the  had also expanded into the coca trade, earning millions by taxing growers and, according to American and Colombian officials, trafficking cocaine. In 1999, the two governments announced Plan Colombia, an aid package in which the United States poured some $10 billion into Colombia to fight drug traffickers. Many  leaders have been killed and the group has suffered from mass desertions in its ranks. It counted 17, 000 members in the early 2000s, a group that is estimated at 7, 000 or fewer today. During the negotiations, the Colombian president, Mr. Santos, said he would hold a referendum on the agreement. A peace plan remains generally popular among most Colombians, with recent polls showing a majority  —   around 60 percent  —   saying they would vote for it. Among the harshest critics of the deal is Álvaro Uribe, the former Colombian president whose military crackdown on the  many credit with forcing the rebels to the negotiating table. Mr. Uribe has repeatedly said the deal amounts to an amnesty for the  and has accused Mr. Santos of being a traitor. Jorge Robledo, a leftist senator from an opposition party, says Mr. Uribe’s position is too extreme. While he believes that challenges remain in reintegrating  members into society, the opportunity for a   is too important to pass up, he said. “Disarming the  won’t resolve all of Colombia’s problems,” he said. “Some violence will disappear, some won’t. And other problems will continue in this country, like poverty, unemployment, an agrarian crisis and corruption. But this doesn’t take away from the immense importance that a   has for this country. ”",true,news,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
8287,8288,"Gary Neville believes the jury is still out on Louis van Gaal ' s Manchester United as they have yet to play any of the Premier League ' s leading lights .  United sit fourth in the table after an inconsistent start of three wins , two draws and two losses , but will be heartened by their last result a 2 1 win over Everton at Old Trafford .  And while Neville , who spent 19 years as a player at United , believes the future is bright for his old side , he feels the coming month will prove how good Van Gaal ' s fledgling side is compared with their rivals .  The next month will show the true measure of Louis van Gaal ' s new look United side , says Gary Neville  ' I think it ' s an exciting time , ' Neville told United ' s official website .  ' It ' s going to be an important few weeks but exciting as well . We ' ll find out in the next few weeks as the West Brom , Chelsea and City games are all massive ones that I ' m going to be at and my thought is we ' ll find out exactly the level where the team is at this season . '  United face a trip to West Brom in their first match after the international break before hosting runaway league leaders Chelsea .  United have had some inconsistent results so far this season including a 5 3 hammering at Leicester City  Juan Mata ( left ) vies for possession with Leighton Baines during United ' s encouraging 2 1 win over Everton  West Brom  Monday October 20  Chelsea  Sunday October 26  Man City  Sunday November 2  Crystal Palace  Saturday November 8  And former Old Trafford stalwart Neville believes Van Gaal will find out the mettle of his side against teams of that calibre rather than the outfits they have faced so far .  He continued : ' It ' s going to be tough for United to get into the Champions League and that would be a big achievement . At this moment in time , we ' re in the places in fourth spot but we ' ll find out where we ' re at in the next few weeks .  ' We ' ve not really played anybody really strong yet . I know Everton at home could be classed as being a tough game but , in terms of really tough matches , Chelsea and City will provide a real measure of where this team is at . '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
8295,8296,"Sumedh Sengaonkar Tue , 2 Feb 2016 02 : 21pm , Mumbai , dna web desk  Arsene Wenger ' s side hope to get back on level terms after a humiliating 4 0 defeat to Southampton in the reverse fixture on Boxing Day .  The Londoner ' s will look for some sort of form revival in this fixture as they face Southampton at home . Arsenal are on a 3 game winless streak and have managed just 2 points from the last 3 fixtures . This winless streak has caused Arsene Wenger ' s side drop three points behind leaders Leicester City while Manchester City sit second due to a superior goal difference .  Wenger will breathe a sigh of relief as Alexis Sanchez made a goalscoring return from his hamstring injury . The Chilean scored in the 2 1 win over Burnley in the  Cup fourth round on Saturday .  Midfielders Tomas Rosicky and Francis Coquelin too returned from respective knee injuries while January signing Mohamed Elneny made his debut over the weekend win .  Southampton , on the other hand , have found a revival after 3 consecutive victories in their previous fixtures . Koeman ' s side will have some motivation as they ran riot against the Gunners by scoring 4 goals at the St . Mary ' s stadium in December .  The south coast side had this weekend off due to their  Cup third round exit . This gives an added advantage of more rest to the players .  January signing Charlie Austin had a dream debut for the away side when he headed the winner just 3 minutes from time to sink Manchester United at Old Trafford . He will look to make a place in the Starting  tonight .  The Saints need to be careful as one can expect the Gunners to go all guns blazing at a home match and the return of Sanchez alongside Ozil . The defence also looks strong with Coquelin and Mertesacker back in the lineup .  The away team will rely heavily on keeper Fraser Forster and forward Charlie Austin if they hope to snatch some points from this game .  Alexis Sanchez : The chiliean is back after recovering from a hamstring injury . He also scored in the  Cup fixture against Burnley .  Fraser Forster : The England international is a vital element for the Saints . He has kept 3 clean sheets in 3 consecutive fixtures for them .  Predicted Arsenal  ( 4 2 3 1 ) : Petr Cech Hector Bellerin , Per Mertesacker , Laurent Koscielny , Nacho Monreal Francis Coquelin , Aaron Ramsey Alex Oxlade Chamberlain , Mesut Ozil , Alexis Sanchez Theo Walcott .  Predicted Southampton  ( 4 2 3 1 ) : Fraser Forster Cedric Soares , Virgil van Dijk , Jose Fonte , Ryan Bertrand Victor Wanyama , Jordie Clasie Dusan Tadic , Sadio Mane , Matt Targett Charlie Austin .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
8304,8305,"Republicans continue to jump the sinking ship that chose Donald Trump to be their captain.Chris Ladd has been a Republican for 30 years now. He is so hardcore that he s even a friend of former Texas Governor Rick Perry and thought the world of Ronald Reagan.But now that the party has chosen Donald Trump as their 2016 nominee, Ladd wants nothing more to do with the  any longer, and he tore Republicans a new one in a letter he wrote announcing his resignation from the York Township Republican Committeemen s Organization and it is an epic read. At the national level, the delusions necessary to sustain our Cold War coalition were becoming dangerous long before Donald Trump arrived,  Ladd pointed out.  From tax policy to climate change, we have found ourselves less at odds with philosophical rivals than with the fundamentals of math, science and objective reality. And then Donald Trump came along and made the party even worse. From his fairy-tale wall to his schoolyard bullying and his flirtation with violent racists, Donald Trump offers America a singular narrative   a tale of cowards. Fearful people, convinced of our inadequacy, trembling before a world alight with imaginary threats, crave a demagogue. Neither party has ever elevated to this level a more toxic figure, one that calls forth the darkest elements of our national character.With three decades invested in the Republican Party, there is a powerful temptation to shrug and soldier on. Despite the bold rhetoric, we all know Trump will lose. Why throw away a great personal investment over one bad nominee? Trump is not merely a poor candidate, but an indictment of our character. Preserving a party is not a morally defensible goal if that party has lost its legitimacy. Ladd goes on to reminisce about Reagan s positive message and then sharply rebukes Republicans for abandoning their morality to pledge their allegiance to a fascist who has none. Fast-forward to our present leadership and the nature of our dilemma is clear. I watched Paul Ryan speak at Donald Trump s convention the way a young child watches his father march off to prison. Thousands of Republican figures that loathe Donald Trump, understand the danger he represents, and privately hope he loses, are publicly declaring their support for him. In Illinois our local and state  organizations, faced with a choice, have decided on complicity.Our leaders  compromise preserves their personal capital at our collective cost. Their refusal to dissent robs all Republicans of moral cover. Evasion and cowardice has prevailed over conscience. We are now, and shall indefinitely remain, the Party of Donald Trump.I will not contribute my name, my work, or my character to an utterly indefensible cause. No sensible adult demands moral purity from a political party, but conscience is meaningless without constraints. A party willing to lend its collective capital to Donald Trump has entered a compromise beyond any credible threshold of legitimacy. There is no redemption in being one of the  good Nazis. I hereby resign my position as a York Township Republican committeeman. My thirty-year tenure as a Republican is over. Ladd is absolutely right. The Republican Party has shattered any claim they had of being the morally superior party precisely because they are supporting a man who does not share their values. Furthermore, they are supporting a man who uses fear as a political tool and has a pessimistic view of America.This is not a sign of good news for the Republican Party or Donald Trump. Trump has seriously created a rift in the party between moderate Republicans and conservatives that could cost the  dearly on Election Day. The Republican Party needs more than just their base to win a general election and that means they need moderate voters like Ladd in order to have a chance at winning.If more people like Ladd continue to leave the Republican Party because of Donald Trump, the  is finished.Featured Image: Drew Angerer/Getty Images",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
8319,8320,"Arab foreign ministers accuse Iran of undermining regional security  Saudi Arabia ' s Foreign Minister Adel al Jubeir ( R ) and Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (  ) Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani attend a news conference after an extraordinary meeting of the foreign ministers of  , in Riyadh January 9 , 2016 .   Arab foreign ministers condemned attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran and warned on Sunday that the country would face wider opposition if it continued its "" interference "" in the internal affairs of Arab states .  Tensions between the Sunni Muslim kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Shi ' ite Muslim Iran have escalated since Saudi authorities executed Shi ' ite cleric Nimr al Nimr on Jan . 2 , triggering outrage among Shi ' ites across the Middle East .  In response , Iranian protesters stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad , prompting Riyadh to sever relations . Tehran then cut all commercial ties with Riyadh , and banned pilgrims from travelling to Mecca .  Other Arab countries have recalled envoys to Iran and the United Arab Emirates downgraded relations in solidarity with Saudi Arabia .  "" Iran has to decide what kind of neighbour it wants to be : a good neighbour or a chaotic neighbour and so far it behaves like the latter , ""  Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al Nahyan said following an emergency Arab League meeting in Cairo .  Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al Jubeir said cutting commercial and diplomatic ties was a first step , and that his country would discuss potential further actions against Iran with its regional and international allies . He gave no further details .  If Iran continues to support "" terrorism , sectarianism and violence "" , it would face opposition from all Arab countries , Jubeir told a news conference following the meeting .  In a closing statement distributed after the meeting , the Arab League also referred to the reported discovery by Bahrain of a militant group that it said was backed by Iran ' s Revolutionary Guards .  All members of the Arab League voted in favour of the statement , with the exception of Lebanon , where Iranian backed Hezbollah is a powerful political force .  Conflicts or political crises from Lebanon and Syria to Yemen , Iraq and Bahrain involve proxies of both Saudi Arabia and Iran .  A coalition led by Saudi Arabia has been fighting the Shi ' ite , Iran allied Houthi movement in Yemen since March 2015 .  Iran also backs the government of Syrian President Bashar al Assad in his country ' s civil war while Saudi Arabia insists he must go for any legitimate peace process to take place .  In Bahrain , Saudi Arabia backs the Sunni monarchy while Iran has expressed support for anti government demonstrators in the Shi ' ite majority Gulf kingdom .  The Arab League statement did not agree on any specific joint measures against Iran but set up a smaller committee comprising the Arab League secretary general and representatives from Egypt , the United Arab Emirates , Saudi Arabia and Bahrain to follow up on the row .  They are expected to meet again on Jan . 25 in the  , Arab League Secretary General Nabil al Arabi said at the news conference .  ( Additional reporting by Ali Abdelati and Mostafa Hashem Editing by Digby Lidstone )  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
8325,8326,"Since the founding conference of Focac in 2000 , the following action plans have been agreed on or implemented :  Beijing Declaration of the Focac and Programme for China Africa Co operation in Economic and Social Development ( 2001 3 ) .  Beijing Action Plan of the Fifth Ministerial Conference of Focac ( 2013 15 ) .  The First Ministerial Conference was held in Beijing in 2000 . After the conference , China :  Cancelled RMB10 . 9 billion of debts of 31 heavily indebted poor or least developed countries ( LDCs ) in Africa .  Set up the African Human Resources Development Fund (  ) and sponsored nearly 300 training courses .  Trained nearly 7 000 African professionals in diplomacy , economic management , national defence , agriculture , education , science and technology , culture and health .  Chinese leaders visited Africa 20 times , and more than 30 top African leaders visited China .  China supported the establishment of the  and the implementation of the New Partnership for Africa s Development ( Nepad ) .  China sent peacekeeping forces to the  in the  and Liberia in 2003 .  China signed the Bilateral Investment Protection Treaty with over 20 African countries .  It established Centres for the Promotion of Chinese Investment and Trade in 11 countries .  The country set up 117 new enterprises in Africa .  The volume of trade totalled  18 545bn in 2003 , an increase of 49 . 7 percent compared to the previous year and up 75 percent from 2000 .  It exempted 156 items of debt of 31 African countries , totalling RMB10 . 5bn .  The  trained 6 000 professionals and sent 500 specialists to Africa .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
8329,8330,"Jaycee Dugard filed a complaint against the federal government Thursday , seeking compensation for what she called its failures to track the man who held her captive for 18 years .  The lawsuit was filed Thursday morning in the U . S . District Court for Northern California . This comes after the U . S . government "" summarily rejected "" two requests from Dugard "" for private mediation in the case , "" according to a press release from Nancy Seltzer and Associates , a Los Angeles based public relations firm that represents the long time kidnap victim .  The U . S . Justice Department had no immediate comment Thursday , as it had not seen and thus did not know the details of the complaint , said spokesman Charles Miller .  Dugard was 11 years old in 1991 , when she was abducted from the street in front of her South Lake Tahoe , California , home . Phillip and Nancy Garrido held her and the two daughters she gave birth to in subsequent years in a hidden compound of sheds and tarpaulins until they were found in 2009 .  Phillip Garrido was convicted in the 1970s of kidnapping a 25 year old woman and keeping her in a storage shed in Reno , Nevada , where he repeatedly raped her . He spent 11 years of his sentence in a Leavenworth , Kansas , federal penitentiary , then went to a halfway house and eventually was allowed to live with his mother at her Antioch , California , home .  The federal government oversaw Phillip Garrido ' s parole from when he got out of custody in 1988 through 1999 including the date in 1991 when Dugard was kidnapped after which responsibility shifted to California authorities .  "" For nearly the entirety of their lives , . . . Dugard and her two daughters were held captive , abused and irreparably damaged by a deranged and maniacal felon , Phillip Garrido , "" the complaint begins .  The court document sharply criticizes the federal government for releasing Phillip Garrido originally from prison in 1988 as well for what it calls its "" outrageous and inexcusable "" handling of his case .  "" Had federal parole authorities demonstrated a modicum of vigilance indeed , had they simply performed their duties and obligations as required by federal law and internal policies Jaycee and her daughters would not have been forced to endure a virtual lifetime of physical and mental abuse from a detonated ' time bomb , ' "" the complaint states .  No specific damages are requested in the complaint , and Dugard "" is not seeking money for herself "" as any funds would go to her non profit The  Foundation , which gives support and services to families recovering from abductions and other traumatic services said the press release .  "" We believe that the years of abuse experienced by Ms . Dugard are a direct result of the U . S . parole commission ' s colossal blunders in the supervision of Mr Garrido , "" Dale Kinsella , part of the law firm of Kinsella , Weitzman , Iser , Kump and Aldisert , which filed the complaint on behalf of Dugard , said in a statement .  A 20 million settlement was paid out in 2010 from the state of California . The press release on Dugard ' s behalf notes those funds were shared between her and her children , as well as used for legal and other expenses . Moreover , it states "" the two governmental entities "" meaning the state and federal governments "" committed separate , distinct and consecutive acts of negligence . ""  This past April , the Garridos pleaded guilty in El Dorado Superior Court . A judge sentenced Phillip Garrido to 431 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to one count of kidnapping and 12 counts of sexual assault . Nancy Garrido got 36 years to life in prison for her role in the crimes , including kidnapping and one count of rape by force .  A few months later , in July , James Ware the chief federal judge for northern California , thus putting him in charge of the probation department there released a once confidential report from the Administrative Office of the United States Court on Garrido ' s case .  It found no evidence that federal officers charged with overseeing Garrido over the years would have found Dugard by searching the premises . Still , the report called the handling of his case "" clearly substandard "" and symptomatic of larger problems .  "" The Garrido case is a significant reflection of the deficient practices in the probation office in the northern district of California , "" the report said . "" The office had a track record of inadequate supervision ( and ) serious deficiences in operations . ""  After arriving in Antioch , Garrido was "" correctly categorized as a ' high risk ' offender , ( but ) the probation office failed to supervise him accordingly . ""  The Administration Office said the case ' s poor management was unsurprising , as the same federal agency had concluded in 2000 that the northern California probation office ' s supervision of sex offenders was "" poor . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
8348,8349,"Grandparents have pleaded for the safe return to Australia of two young children whose mother took them from Melbourne to the Islamic State capital in Syria .  Former Melbourne woman Dullel Kassab fled to Raqqa in Syria with her children last year , and she regularly boasts on Twitter that her four year old daughter and two year old son sleep with toy guns next to their beds and her daughter likes watching  videos of ' Muslims killing bad ppl . '  The children ' s paternal grandparents say they are worried Kassab , 28 , is ' brainwashing ' the children , after their father was killed near the Syria Turkey border last year , The Herald Sun reported .  Former Melbourne woman Dullel Kassab fled to Raqqa in Syria from Melbourne with her children last year  Kassab posts pictures to Twitter of airstrikes hitting blocks away from their Raqqa apartment  ' We miss the children a lot . Their safety and religion has been compromised and we are deeply worried but unable to do anything about it , ' a family spokesman told the Herald Sun .  ' We pray they come back but it does not look good . '  Kassab ' s Twitter paints a picture of their life in the city the terrorist group  have made their headquarters , where the children cannot go to school and airstrikes hit blocks away from their apartment .  The 28 year old has a new husband , as the Islamic State does not permit unmarried foreign women to stay in Raqqa .  In social media posts she boasts about her children ' s distaste for Kuffar ( non believers ) .  A photo of another airstrike a day later . The children ' s paternal grandparents say they are worried Kassab , 28 , is ' brainwashing ' the children , after their father was killed near the Syria Turkey border last year  On her Twitter account she boasts about her children ' s distaste for Kuffar ( non believers )  ' My 4y o encouraging her little bro to eat his eggs "" C ' mon eat ur eggs so u can be big strong fight the Kuffar ! "" Allah yehmikum ! sic ' she wrote in December .  ' Awkward Just asked my 4yo wat she wants 2 watch . . "" Muslims killing bad ppl "" ( i . e .  vids obv not beheading ones )  sic , ' she wrote in October .  Kassab has also complained the 12 to 17 year olds are now regarded as children when ' in the past they were warriors ' .  And during the Sydney Lindt caf siege in December last year she sent a series of tweets joking that it was exciting .  ' This is the most excitement Sydney has seen since the 2000 Olympics ! ' she posted .  Kassab also posts pictures of the Islamic State capital including this of a ' double rainbow '  And during the Sydney Lindt caf siege last year Kassab sent a series of tweets joking that it was ' exciting '  ' I guess attack the coffee shop wasn ' t a bad idea , It ' s a long night One needs caffeine and chocolate ! ! sic '  Kassab also posts pictures of the Islamic State capital , and of Nutella and Twix and Snickers chocolate bars with the caption : ' Im really appreciating globalization right about now ! SimplePleasures Another reason to love  sic . '  The 28 year old ' s father Jalal Kassab said he was worried about his grandchildren living in a war zone , but said the threat of imprisonment made it difficult for his daughter to return to Australia .  ' I know she wants to come back and we are trying everything we can to bring her back , ' Mr Kassab told the Herald Sun .  Another former Melbourne woman Zehra Duman last month shared a series of propaganda pictures she says shows her ' five star jihad ' lifestyle  In photographs posted to a Twitter several women are pictured standing under an Islamic State flag , reclining against a clean white  M5 and wielding machine guns  In one tweet , Duman said : '  Australia , how does it feel that all 5 of us were born n raised in your lands , now here thirsty for ur blood ? '  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
8356,8357,"Friday the thirteenth is a day to be feared . Many people choose to stay in bed on the traditionally unlucky day , named after the slasher film franchise starring the un killable Jason Vorhees .  But few suffer the misfortune that befell Terry Gilchrist of Blackburn on this notorious date .  Gilchrist , a traffic warden in the Lancashire town , was patrolling as normal when he noticed an illegally parked car in a side street .  Approaching the vehicle , Gilchrist noted the personalised number plate , reading  1 . Intrigued , but undeterred , Gilchrist began writing his ticket , when he heard an all too familiar phrase from behind .  "" Oh dear , oh dear ! ""  Turning , Gilchrist was met with the wizened , craggy faces of Britain ' s most annoying ' comedy ' duo , The Chuckle Brothers .  What ensued was a relentless , unforgiving barrage of childish slapstick for over three solid hours .  "" I was trapped , "" Gilchrist told us from his hospital bed , "" I had the car behind me blocking the alley , and they ' d closed off the opening with their constant falling over and spilling paint . All I kept hearing was ' to me , to you ' and ' oh dear , oh dear ' . It was like a record stuck on repeat . ""  Sally Whittaker , head of the Blackburn Psychological Trauma unit , told us "" an attack of this magnitude , although rare , will have undoubtedly left deep , deep psychological scars for Mr Gilchrist . I truly can ' t imagine what he ' s been through , I mean a ten minute skit on the  is truly horrendous , but to be subjected to three and a half hours , in exceptionally close proximity just can ' t bare thinking about ! ""  The damage to his mind may possibly be irreparable . Mr Gilchrist will remain at the specialist unit , under complete observation for the foreseeable future .  The brothers were interrupted during the attack by the approach and subsequent disembarkation of the number 73 from Preston . Witnesses say they fled to a nearby industrial estate . The car has been impounded .  The pair are considered childish and dangerous , and should only be approached with ear plugs and large batons .  ",satire,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
8363,8364,"Sale are confident that they can convince Danny Cipriani to agree a new deal as the prospects of the fly half moving on appear to be receding , at least for now .  The 27 year old England No 10 contender is out of contract at the end of this season and he will be free to officially negotiate with other clubs from January 1 .  It has long been assumed that he craves a return to his roots in London , but it is understood Cipriani is happy in Manchester and is keen to stay with the Sharks if they can recruit well to enhance their hopes of becoming play off challengers in the Aviva Premiership .  Danny Cipriani could sign a new deal with Sale Sharks in the coming weeks  The Sale No 10 is preparing to take on Saracens in the European Champions Cup clash on Saturday  Earlier this year he was linked with a return to former club Wasps but that door has now closed . They are preparing for a fresh start in Coventry and Sportsmail has learned that ex Newcastle stand off Jimmy Gopperth has agreed a move to the Ricoh Arena next summer from Leinster coinciding with Jonathan Sexton ' s return to Dublin from Racing Metro .  While Wasps have relocated to the Midlands , Harlequins remain a prominent fixture in London but they will have former All Blacks fly half Nick Evans for another season , while Ben Botica is well regarded and well paid as his understudy .  In time , a switch to The Stoop may be an appealing proposition for Cipriani , but for now Quins ' transfer market priorities may be in other areas .  Cipriani ( centre ) was dropped from England ' s squad for the Autumn Internationals  Elsewhere in the South East , Saracens have Owen Farrell as an established , long term playmaker and London Irish do not have the title chasing status that Cipriani craves .  Gloucester are the other club who have been mentioned as potential suitors , but they have James Hook , while Billy Burns is a rising talent and both Billy Twelvetrees and Greig Laidlaw can operate at No 10 .  It is understood that , with England selection such a focus for him , Cipriani is not tempted by the notion of moving to France , where he could earn vast sums at a rich Top 14 club .  Instead , there is a chance that he may agree a one year extension at Sale , with a view to considering their signings and outlook after the World Cup , once the market settles down .  Ex Newcastle Falcons fly half Jimmy Gopperth is to join Wasps next season , Sportsmail understands  Cipriani impressed for England during the summer tour of New Zealand and is looking to force his way back in  Asked about the progress of negotiations , Sale ' s director of rugby Steve Diamond said : ' We ' ve had a chat and we ' ll be taking the chat further . I ' ll go for a beer with him , discuss it and when the time is right he will agree or he won ' t agree . It won ' t come down to pounds , shillings and pence it will come down to our ambitions as a club .  ' We ' re targeting two or three very good players . Two of them , we are meeting again this week non Premiership players . Danny is enjoying himself up here and if I can match his ambition with a couple of signings , I don ' t see it as a problem .  ' The hunch at the moment is that he is dead happy here and we ' ll carry on the conversation in the next week or so . At the end of the win against Harlequins , the camera zoomed in on Danny and he didn ' t look like a lad who is rushing to get to another club . '  Harlequins fly half Nick Evans is expected to remain at the club for another season  Cipriani insisted that for now , his primary focus is on maintaining his impressive recent form . But when the time comes to make a decision about his future , it will come down to the quest for titles and trophies .  ' There ' s no rush for me at the moment , ' he said . ' You saw last year when there was all the speculation about Freddie ( Burns before move from Gloucester to Leicester ) and that was difficult . If the club shows ambition and signs certain players , that ' s what I want to see and shows we ' re going in the right direction .  ' People all say we are fighting above ourselves , but if we add some class to that then the boys will start believing that top four is realistic . I don ' t play rugby to make up the numbers I want to be in the play off games , that is my main focus . That is going to help my international ambitions and I ' m not going to stop having them .  ' I ' m not eager to get a move , I just want to make sure the team shows the right ambition then it is somewhere I would want to stay . You do grow fond of a place , but play off rugby is what I want to be involved in . '  Owen Farrell is at Saracens so that is not an option for Cipriani in the South East  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
8367,8368,"Reuters) - The House of Representatives stripped a requirement that women register for the military draft from a sweeping annual defense policy bill on Tuesday, but supporters of the provision said they would keep pushing for its passage. Democrats accused the committee’s Republican leaders of using an underhanded ploy to undercut the House Armed Services Committee, which had approved the amendment, and avoid what could be a difficult vote for some party members. “They don’t want to subject their members to a vote on equality for women,” Representative Steny Hoyer, the No. 2 House Democrat, told reporters. Republican Representative Mac Thornberry, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said the amendment was removed because it violated House budget rules due to the cost of  registering women. He said it was replaced with an amendment calling for a broad review of the Selective Service. The House Rules Committee set up removal of the amendment from the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, during a meeting late on Monday. It was taken out of the bill via a procedural vote on Tuesday afternoon. But the effort is not dead. The Senate Armed Services Committee included a similar amendment in its version of the NDAA, and it has bipartisan support in the Senate. The Senate’s Republican Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, said he believed women should register, although he did not expect the country to reinstate the draft. “Given where we are today with women in the military performing virtually all kinds of functions, I personally think it would be appropriate for them to register just like men do,” McConnell told a news conference. Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced last year that all combat positions would be open to women, which immediately prompted calls that women also should be required to register. That worried some social conservatives uncomfortable with the blurring of men’s and women’s traditional roles in society. The U.S. military has been an all-volunteer force since the 1970s, but young men have been required to sign up for the Selective Service in case the draft is reactivated.     To become law as part of the NDAA, a version of the defense bill with the amendment would have to be approved by the full House and Senate, and signed by President Barack Obama. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
8370,8371,"Reuters) - The House of Representatives passed legislation on Wednesday to block the purchase of “heavy water” from Iran, defying President Barack Obama’s veto threat a year after the announcement of the landmark Iran nuclear agreement. The House passed the “No 2H2O from Iran Act” by 249-176, with support coming almost exclusively from Republicans, who hold a majority of seats in the chamber. Every congressional Republican, and a few of Obama’s fellow Democrats, opposed the nuclear deal between Iran and the United States and other world powers announced last July 14 in which Tehran agreed to curtail its nuclear program in exchange for relief from crippling international sanctions. They argued that Obama was so eager to bolster his foreign policy legacy that he agreed to sanctions relief Iran did not deserve because it lied about its nuclear program, supported militant groups that attack U.S. allies and perpetrated human rights abuses. Deal opponents have repeatedly introduced legislation that the administration sees as efforts to undermine the international agreement. Deal supporters said the agreement was the best way to defuse a dispute over Iran’s nuclear program that threatened further Middle East destabilization. Heavy water is a non-radioactive byproduct from making nuclear weapons and nuclear energy. The Obama administration said in April the United States would buy $8.6 million worth of heavy water from Iran, angering Republicans who called it a subsidy of the country’s nuclear program. The White House issued a threat on Monday to veto the bill, and two others the House is due to consider later this week. Representative Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, denied that the House measure would violate the landmark pact. He said it would deter Iran from producing heavy water by making its sale more difficult. Separately, two Senate Republicans and two Democrats said on Wednesday they would introduce their own Iran-related bill. The measure introduced by Republicans Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Marco Rubio and Democrats Robert Menendez and Joe Manchin would expand sanctions for Iran’s ballistic missile development, sanction transfers of conventional weapons to or from Iran and extend the Iran Sanctions Act. The Iran Sanctions Act, which imposed sanctions over Iran’s missile development and support for terrorism, expires at the end of 2016. Lawmakers have been in discussions for months over the best way to address its renewal. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,negative,past
8373,8374,"China Says Naval Ties With United States ' Best in History '  World Reuters Updated : October 23 , 2015 11 : 00    Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Jonathan Greenert talks with  Navy Commander in Chief Admiral Wu Shengli at the  Navy headquarters outside of Beijing . ( Reuters )  Beijing : ? Relations between the Chinese and  navies are their "" best in history "" and exchanges between the two will become more systematic in the future , China ' s military on Friday cited the country ' s naval chief as telling visiting  officers .  The comments by navy chief Wu Shengli come as Washington considers conducting freedom of navigation operations within 12 nautical miles of artificial islands China has built in the disputed South China Sea , without saying when it would do so . Such a move would likely infuriate Beijing .  Both China and the United States had worked hard to increase military interaction , holding joint drills and agreeing rules on encounters at sea and in the air , Wu said , according to the official People ' s Liberation Army Daily .  "" At present , relations between the Chinese and  navies are at their best time in history , "" Wu was cited as saying . "" Exchanges and communications are more trusting and effective . ""  This has not come easily though , and is the result of hard work by both sides , he added .  "" In the future , exchanges between frontline forces from both countries will gradually become more systematic , "" Wu said .  There was no mention of the South China Sea .  The  naval delegation Wu met earlier this week visited China ' s sole aircraft carrier .  The military ' s newspaper said they also visited a submarine school and a command college .  China  relations have become increasingly strained over Beijing ' s territorial claims in the South China Sea , through which 5 trillion in ship borne trade passes every year . Vietnam , the Philippines , Malaysia , Taiwan and Brunei also have claims in the area .  Story First Published : October 23 , 2015 10 : 56   ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
8377,8378,"Latest Posts 21wire We are a North American and European-based, grass-roots, independent blog offering geopolitical news and media analysis, working with an array of volunteer contributors who write and help to analyse news and opinion from around the world. We're covering news you won't necessarily find in the mainstream, and things which regularly confuse career politicians,  and  watchers... #SundayWire  @JeanetteJing : Shocked that the finger-jabbing rich lady didn't appeal to voters. weblink - 5 hours ago",fake,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present
8380,8381,"Migrants in the French port of Calais have gone on hunger strike demanding to be let into Britain .  Around 35 refugees from Afghanistan and Egypt have vowed to refuse food until a list of demands issued to Calais officials is met .  The hunger strikers are being backed by around 260 more migrants all calling for the French and British authorities to resume talks aimed at allowing them to move legally to Britain .  Migrants in the French port of Calais have gone on hunger strike demanding to be let into Britain . Pictured is the remains of a camp in Calais where migrants were told to get out of the centre of or face arrest last month  Their other demands include houses with toilets and showers to live in while they are stranded in Calais , three meals a day and freedom from police controls and evictions .  One aid worker said some migrants had threatened to sew their lips together until their demands are met .  He added : ' We urged them not to do that , but to eat instead . '  The same demands were made in an open letter to Calais prefect Denis Robin last week , after French riot police bulldozed a squalid refugee campsite in the town this month claiming it was infested with scabies .  Since then around 300 of them have been sleeping in the meal distribution centre in Calais  Their letter to Mr Robin said : ' We no longer want to live like animals , but as normal human beings in dignified conditions , whether or not we have identity papers .  Migrants and activists scuffle with police officers after French authorities started to clear out makeshift camps in Calais , on Wednesday , May 28  ' We want roofs over our heads , decent hygiene conditions , three meals a day and an end to police controls , while talks resume between the  and France regarding our final destination . '  Calais migrant aid worker Cecile Bossy said : ' Everyone wants to find a solution to this extremely complex problem .  ' Right now , the main issue is finding them somewhere they can be sheltered . '  Calais police said they would meet with local aid organisations this week to monitor the ongoing hunger strike situation .  Large numbers of migrants have been living rough in Calais since the Sangatte hostel was bulldozed in 2002 .  Gendarmes search the shelters of migrants in a camp at Calais on May 28 . Around 35 refugees from Afghanistan and Egypt have now vowed to refuse food until a list of demands issued to Calais officials is met  There are believed to be around 1 , 000 refugees currently along the northern French coast , with around 650 near the port where they hope to sneak aboard ferries and lorries bound for Dover .  Migrants are frequently killed in desperate attempts to smuggle themselves across the English Channel on lorries or buses . Last week a Sudanese teenager died after being crushed under a British tour bus that he ' d clung to in an effort to reach England .  Calais Mayor Natacha Bouchart recently blamed the  ' s ' generous ' state benefits for refugees for the camps in her town .  She said : ' Calais is a hostage to the British . That ' s enough . It ' s no longer tenable . It ' s necessary to renegotiate these accords . We ' re not here to do their job . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
8390,8391,"The son of Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara is preparing to launch a motorcycle tour company .  Ernesto Guevara has set up La Poderosa Tours , which will begin offering travellers trips around Cuba later this month .  The 49 year old , whose father famously undertook an 8 , 000 mile motorcycle journey across South America in 1952 , will run trips for bikers on two routes across Cuba using Harley Davidson motorbikes .  Ernesto Guevara , the son of Marxist revolutionary Ernesto ' Che ' Guevara is preparing to launch a motorcycle tour company . His father famously undertook an 8 , 000 mile motorcycle journey across South America in 1952 , which was immortalised in 2004 film , The Motorcycle Diaries  A lawyer by profession , Ernesto is the son of Che and his second wife Aleida March ( above , right )  The company has been named after the motorbike that his Argentinian father used on his nine month journey across South America in 1952 .  Introducing Mr Guevara , who is a lawyer by profession and the son of Che and his second wife Aleida March , the website states : ' Proud of his people , he always longed to share his experience enjoying the beauty of his country with motorbiking friend who visit the island .  ' Through helping make your dreams comes true , Ernesto will also fulfil his .  The company also includes Mr Guevera ' s childhood friend Camilo Sanchez a fellow lawyer who shares his passion for motorbikes .  Mechanic Sergio Morales makes up the trip running the company , which offers five night , six day from 1 , 900 ( 2 , 970 ) and nine day tours from 2 , 750 ( 4 , 296 ) .  La Poderosa Tours covers two routes , which Enresto has named Fuser 1 and Fuser 2 after the nickname his father had as a young man .  Tour highlights include visits to places connected to the revolutionary : the Comandancia del Che a small museum dedicated to him at the monumental 18th century Caba a fortress at Havana ' s harbour , where Che had his headquarters and Che Guevara ' s mausoleum in Santa Clara .  Che Guevara joined Fidel Castro ' s armed revolution that overthrew Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959  Tour highlights include visits to places connected to the Che Guevara , including revolutionary ' s mausoleum in Santa Clara  Che Guevara whose first name was also Ernesto developed his Marxist ideologies following his motorcycle tour of South America aged 23 .  The medical student travelled from Argentina to Peru with his friend Alberto Granado on a Norton 500cc bike .  His interest in communism lead to him joining Fidel Castro ' s armed revolution that overthrew Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959 .  The diary he kept on his travels around South America was published in 1993 and famously turned into the 2004 film The Motorcycle Diaries .  Guevara was captured by the Bolivian military and executed October 9 , 1967 .  His remains were recovered in 1997 and transferred to Cuba , where they are buried in a war memorial in Santa Clara , 175 miles east of Havana .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
8391,8392,"Paris attacks lead to Facebook ' s ' Safety Check ' and Twitter hashtag PorteOuverte  Facebook activates ' Safety Check ' feature for people in Paris as Twitter users tweet PorteOuverte to offer shelter to those affected by attacks  Users in Paris are being sent notifications by Facebook ' s mobile app ? ?  You can access the tool ? here to check on your own friends in the area  Twitter users are offering shelter to anyone in need using PorteOuverte  Published : 20 : 28  , 13 November 2015 Updated : 07 : 26  , 14 November 2015  Facebook has customised its safety check feature to let users know whether their friends and loved ones are safe in Paris .  Users in Paris are now being sent notifications by Facebook ' s mobile app , asking them whether they are safe , and offering to check on any of their friends .  Twitter users have also responded , urging citizens to offer shelter to anyone in need , using PorteOuverte .  Users in Paris are being sent notifications by Facebook ' s mobile app , asking them whether they are safe , and offering to check on any of their friends . ? If Facebook notices that you are using a device in an affected area in Paris , it will ask : ' Are you safe ? '  The Facebook ' Safety Check ' tool , which can be found here , lets you input whether you are safe or not in the affected area .  ? ? Let friends and family know you ' re safe  ? Check on others in the affected area  Users can then also see how other friends and family in an affected area are doing and can mark people as ' safe ' . ?  If Facebook notices that you are using a device in an affected area in Paris , it will ask : ' Are you safe ? '  Your location is determined by the city listed in your profile , you last location if you use the Nearby Friends product or the city where you are using the internet .  It can be used around the world on Android , iOS , feature phone and on computers .  If you ' re not in the area , you can select ' I ' m not in the area . '  And if you ' re in the area but are okay , you can select ' I ' m safe . '  This will send out a notification and News Feed story with your update .  Friends can then also mark you as ' safe ' , so they know they don ' t have to worry .  Paris based Twitter users have created a hashtag ? PorteOuverte , which translates to ' open door ? to open up their homes to those affected by the attacks  Your location is determined by the city listed in your profile , you last location if you use the Nearby Friends product or the city where you are using the internet . Pictured is a notification users will see  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
8430,8431,"Reuters) - President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday he had spoken with German Chancellor Angela Merkel late on Sunday when her efforts to form a coalition government collapsed and that it was not in French interests for the process to stall.  It s not in our interests that the process freezes up,  Macron told reporters in Paris.   Germany s pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) unexpectedly pulled out after more than four weeks of talks with Merkel s conservative bloc and the ecologist Greens, citing irreconcilable differences. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
8431,8432,"Friday on Fox Sports 1’s “Undisputed,”   Skip Bayless reacted to  Berkeley sociologist professor and activist Dr. Harry Edwards comparing free agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick to Muhammad Ali.  While Bayless admitted now is too early to see the full impact Kaepernick’s national anthem protest made, he did say the quarterback had “profound national impact” and “opened up some souls of some white people. ” “I’ve also said many times on our Kaepernick discussions, Colin Kaepernick has hd profound national impact. He wound up on the cover of ‘Time’ magazine. He opened a whole lot of eyes and ears and hearts and head. He opened up some souls of some white people to say, ‘Oh, wait a second. Oh yeah, oh, oh, this is a real problem.’ Now, I can’t measure the impact of that right now because we’re in the moment of it. ” Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent",true,news,validation,American football,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,present
8440,8441,"Apple ' s iPhone Success May Be Reaching Its Peak  Apple could soon face one of its biggest challenges to date : Peak iPhone .  Most analysts believe Apple surpassed its own record by selling more than 74 . 5 million units of its flagship product in the final three months of 2015 . But there are signs that iPhone sales in the first three months of 2016 will for the first time ever show an abrupt decline from the same period a year earlier .  That could mark a pivotal moment for the Silicon Valley giant . Apple is the world ' s biggest company , in terms of stock value , thanks to the iPhone ' s surging popularity around the world . In business terms , Apple makes most of its money from iPhone sales .  But concerns about slowing growth have sent the stock into a months long slump , fueling debate about what kind of company Apple will be in the future .  The iPhone contributed nearly two thirds of Apple ' s 234 billion ( roughly Rs . 15 , 92 , 050 crores ) in revenue last year . None of the other new products Apple has launched in recent years have emerged as blockbusters . That ' s led some critics to suggest Apple has lost its innovative touch , while others say it ' s evolving to depend on a broader base of related tech products and services .  One thing is clear , said analyst Angelo Zino at S P Capital  : "" Last year was an unprecedented year for Apple and the iPhone . . . . You ' ll never see that type of growth from the iPhone again . ""  ( Also see : ? iPhone Sales in India Grew 76 Percent , Says Apple  )  When  Tim Cook reports Tuesday on Apple ' s sales for the last three months of 2015 , investors will be watching closely for any hints about how Apple ' s signature smartphone is faring in the current quarter . Sales usually fall somewhat after the holiday shopping season . But analysts say it appears Apple has cut production orders from key suppliers in recent weeks , suggesting it ' s lowered its own forecasts .  Apple hasn ' t commented on iPhone sales since last fall , when Cook struck an upbeat tone . In part , Zino and other experts say , the company is suffering from its own success . Apple sold 61 million iPhones in the March quarter of 2015 , or 40 percent more than it did a year earlier . To match that growth rate , Apple would need to sell more than 85 million in the current period . Instead , analysts are expecting around 55 million .  An estimated 500 million people own iPhones now , which means Apple can rely on a significant number to upgrade each year . But some have put off buying a new model because they didn ' t see a strong reason to upgrade .  Despite some new features , "" people are feeling like there hasn ' t been anything that ' s really new "" in the latest iPhone models , known as the 6s and 6s Plus , which came out last fall , said market researcher John Feland of Argus Insights .  Apple will likely make significant changes in the next major iPhone release , expected in September , which could fuel another surge in sales . Some tech blogs have reported a new model might even be coming this spring .  The company went through a similar cycle a few years ago , when iPhone sales growth slowed to 7 percent in the final months of 2013 . The next year , Apple introduced new models with significantly bigger screens . That sent sales skyrocketing , especially in Asia , where consumers had previously flocked to buy big screen phones from rival Samsung .  But there may no more equally dramatic changes left to jump start sales like that again . "" Apple really pulled the big lever they had left un pulled , up to then , "" said tech analyst Jan Dawson of Jackdaw Research . "" That was sort of a one off event . ""  While iPhone sales may be slowing , Apple has launched other products and services tied to the iPhone from the Apple Watch to the digital payments service known as Apple Pay , the subscription based Apple Music and "" smart home "" software that lets users control their lights and appliances with Siri , the voice enabled digital assistant on the iPhone and iPad . These are designed to make the iPhone itself more useful , while producing a steady stream of new revenue .  None of those new products have sold like the iPhone itself , however . Sales of the iPad have been declining for two years .  "" Apple still has a lot of value , a lot of cash flow , so it ' s not to say the company is in trouble . But it ' s difficult to say that it ' s on the cutting edge , "" said Murillo Campello , a finance professor at Cornell University who follows Apple closely .  Others say it ' s premature to count Apple among former tech giants , like Hewlett Packard , that have struggled for relevance as their pace of growth and innovation declined .  Apple is working on a wide range of future products , from streaming video to virtual reality and even self driving cars , said  Capital Markets ' analyst Daniel Ives in a recent note to clients .  "" Apple ' s often surprised us with what they end up doing , "" added Dawson .  Download the Gadgets 360 app for Android and iOS to stay up to date with the latest tech news , product reviews , and exclusive deals on the popular mobiles .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
8453,8454,"England A new space race is officially under way , and this one should have the sci fi geeks salivating .  Lift to space : This is a  interpretation of what a space elevator may look like .  The project is a "" space elevator , "" and some experts now believe that the concept is well within the bounds of possibility maybe even within our lifetimes .  A conference discussing developments in space elevator concepts is being held in Japan in November , and hundreds of engineers and scientists from Asia , Europe and the Americas are working to design the only lift that will take you directly to the one hundred thousandth floor .  Despite these developments , you could be excused for thinking it all sounds a little far fetched .  Indeed , if successfully built , the space elevator would be an unprecedented feat of human engineering .  A cable anchored to the Earth ' s surface , reaching tens of thousands of kilometers into space , balanced with a counterweight attached at the other end is the basic design for the elevator .  It is thought that inertia the physics theory stating that matter retains its velocity along a straight line so long as it is not acted upon by an external force will cause the cable to stay stretched taut , allowing the elevator to sit in geostationary orbit .  The cable would extend into the sky , eventually reaching a satellite docking station orbiting in space .  Engineers hope the elevator will transport people and objects into space , and there have even been suggestions that it could be used to dispose of nuclear waste . Another proposed idea is to use the elevator to place solar panels in space to provide power for homes on Earth .  If it sounds like the stuff of fiction , maybe that ' s because it once was .  In 1979 , Arthur C . Clarke ' s novel "" The Fountains of Paradise "" brought the idea of a space elevator to a mass audience . Charles Sheffield ' s "" The Web Between the Worlds "" also featured the building of a space elevator .  But , jump out of the storybooks and fast forward nearly three decades , and Japanese scientists at the Japan Space Elevator Association are working seriously on the space elevator project .  Association spokesman Akira Tsuchida said his organization was working with U . S . based Spaceward Foundation and a European organization based in Luxembourg to develop an elevator design .  The Liftport Group in the U . S . is also working on developing a design , and in total it ' s believed that more than 300 scientists and engineers are engaged in such work around the globe .   is holding a 4 million Space Elevator Challenge to encourage designs for a successful space elevator .  Tsuchida said the technology driving the race to build the first space elevator is the quickly developing material carbon nanotube . It is lightweight and has a tensile strength 180 times stronger than that of a steel cable . Currently , it is the only material with the potential to be strong enough to use to manufacture elevator cable , according to Tsuchida .  "" At present we have a tether which is made of carbon nanotube , and has one third or one quarter of the strength required to make a space elevator . We expect that we will have strong enough cable in the 2020s or 2030s , "" Tsuchida said .  He said the most likely method of powering the elevator would be through the carbon nanotube cable .  So , what are the major logistical issues keeping the space elevator from being anything more than a dream at present ?  Massachusetts Institute of Technology aeronautics and astronautics Professor Jeff Hoffman said that designing the carbon nanotube appeared to be the biggest obstacle .  "" We are now on the verge of having material that has the strength to span the 30 , 000 km . . . but we don ' t have the ability to make long cable out of the carbon nanotubes at the moment . "" he said . "" Although I ' m confident that within a reasonable amount of time we will be able to do this . ""  Tsuchida said that one of the biggest challenges will be acquiring funding to move the projects forward . At present , there is no financial backing for the space elevator project , and all of the Japanese group ' s 100 plus members maintain other jobs to earn a living .  "" Because we don ' t have a material which has enough strength to construct space elevator yet , it is difficult to change people ' s mind so they believe that it can be real , "" he said .  Hoffman feels that international dialogue needs to be encouaraged on the issue . He said a number of legal considerations also would have to be taken into account .  "" This is not something one nation or one company can do . There needs to be a worldwide approach , "" he said .  Other difficulties for space elevator projects include how to build the base for the elevator , how to design it and where to set up the operation .  Tsuchida said some possible locations for an elevator include the South China Sea , western Australia and the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean . He said all of those locations usually avoided typhoons , which could pose a threat to the safety of an elevator .  "" As the base of space elevator will be located on geosynchronous orbit , the space elevator ground station should be located near the equator , "" he said .  Although the Japanese association has set a time frame of the 2030s to get a space elevator under construction and developments are moving quickly Hoffman acknowledges that it could be a little further away than that .  "" I don ' t know if it ' s going to be in our lifetime or if it ' s 100 or 200 years away , but it ' s near enough that we can contemplate how it will work . ""  Building a space elevator is a matter of when , not if , said Hoffman , who believes that it will herald a major new period in human history .  "" It will be revolutionary for human technology , and not just for space travel . That ' s why so many people are pursuing it , "" he said . "" This is what it will take to turn humans into a space bearing species . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,present
8458,8459,"If all your hashtags , retweets and favourites seem overwhelming , Twitter has a solution .  The site has today rolled out a new feature dubbed ' Highlights ' , aimed at helping users sift through the large number of tweets on their feed each day .  The service provides a twice daily summary ' of the best tweets for you , delivered via rich push notification , ' Twitter ' s Gordon Luk said in a blog post .  Twitter has rolled out a new feature aimed at helping users sift through the large number of tweets on their feed each day .  Highlights is limited to English language readers with the Twitter app installed on an Android device .  To enable the feature on your account , launch the official Twitter app and bring up the three dot icon in the top right corner of your screen .  Select Settings from the drop down , and then press on your account name .  Tap on Mobile Notifications . Scroll down until you find the new option titled Highlights and press on it .  The check box should display a check mark , marking the feature as active .  Twitter users who opt into the service on their Android device will see a new Highlights section in a push notification .  A push notification leads to an area where users can browse popular tweets from people they know , as well as trending stories .  ' We want to help you get the most out of Twitter , no matter how much time you spend with it , ' said Luk .  ' While your home timeline is a great place to browse through and engage with tweets , we know it can be challenging to find the time to get through everything . '  To enable the feature on your account , launch the official Twitter app on Android and bring up the three dot icon in the top right corner of your screen  Select Settings from the drop down , and then press on your account name . Tap on Mobile Notifications . Scroll down until you find the new option titled Highlights and press on it .  The move is the latest by Twitter to boost engagement for its members amid growth which is slower than some rival social networks .  ' We look at things like the accounts and conversations that are popular among people you follow , tweets from people you ' re closely tied to , topics and events that are trending in your area or within your network , and people that are popular or trending among people you follow , ' Luk said .  Highlights is being rolled out first in English for people using Android powered devices , which can be activated in user settings .  ' We ' re refining the experience on Android first and will consider bringing Highlights to other platforms in the future , ' Luk added .  Earlier this week , Twitter announced that abusive accounts will now be temporarily locked until a phone number or similar is added .  The move is the latest by Twitter to boost engagement for its users amid growth which is slower than expected  An algorithm will also automatically remove abuse before you even see it .  Twitter already asks users who violate its abuse guidelines to delete content , and can suspend accounts permanently if they don ' t .  But under the new changes , Twitter has added a middle ground . Its new enforcement option lets the support team temporarily lock abusive accounts for a set period of time , up to 12 hours .  In its last quarterly update , Twitter said the number of active monthly users of the San Francisco based one to many messaging service monthly grew to 288 million .  This is just four million more than in the previous quarter . Twitter reports its results for the first quarter next week .  Twitter ' s chief executive Dick Costolo recently said his site ' sucks at dealing with abuse and trolls ' .  In a memo , Mr Costolo said he is embarrassed by the way the company handles abuse and that it must take stronger action .  In December , a blog post titled ' Building a safer Twitter ' revealed Twitter is working on ways to make it easier to block and report abuse .  For months Twitter has been rolling out features designed to rid the site of the scourge of trolls  The site has since improved the reporting process to make it more mobile friendly , auto populated fields , and it now requires less initial information .  It has also improved the ways in which abuse can be reported to law enforcement .  Last month , the site took aim at the rising levels of revenge porn and stolen nude photos posted to the social network .  Its rules now say that users must not ' post intimate photos or videos that were taken or distributed without the subject ' s consent ' .  Twitter said an affected user can report a post if they believe it contains photos or videos posted without their consent .  From today , Twitter users can now report indirect threats , offending accounts will be temporarily locked until a phone number or similar is added , and an algorithm will automatically remove abuse before you even see it .  Twitter already asks users who violate its abuse guidelines to delete content , and can suspend accounts permanently if they don ' t .  But under the new changes , Twitter ' s new enforcement option lets the support team temporarily lock abusive accounts for a set period of time , up to 12 hours .  Elsewhere , Twitter has begun testing a product feature to help identify suspected abusive tweets and limit their reach by automatically removing them from a person ' s notifications .  It has also updated its violent threats policy to include indirect tweets , or the ' threats of violence against others or promoting violence against others . '  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
8479,8480,"Reuters) - Wisconsin Republican Governor Scott Walker signed two bills into law on Thursday that block federal funding from Planned Parenthood and could cost the local organization millions of dollars.   Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin could lose about $7.5 million a year because of the measures, an organization spokeswoman said.  Texas, Louisiana other Republican-controlled states tried to halt funding for the reproductive health organization after an anti-abortion group released videos last summer purported to show Planned Parenthood officials trying to negotiate prices for aborted fetal tissue. Under federal law, donated human fetal tissue may be used for research, but profiting from its sale is prohibited. A grand jury in Texas cleared Planned Parenthood of any wrongdoing and indicted two anti-abortion activists behind the filming of the videos for tampering with a government record and violating a prohibition on the purchase and sale of human organs.     One of the new Wisconsin rules requires the state to apply for federal “Title X” family planning grant money and to give those monies to “less controversial public entities” such as state, county and local health departments and clinics, a statement from Walker’s office said.  Planned Parenthood is currently the only entity in Wisconsin receiving this federal money and the funds will not be sent to the organization, the statement said.  State entities providing abortions will now bill Medicaid only for acquisition costs and dispensing fees for prescription drugs.  Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin could lose roughly $4 million a year as a result of this measure, depending on patient volume and the type of birth control patients choose, organization spokeswoman Iris Riis said. The legislation singles out Planned Parenthood and is an attempt to stop the organization from providing essential healthcare, the group said.  “The move was the latest in a long line of attacks by the Governor and the Republican controlled state Legislature on the health of Wisconsin women and families,” the organization said in a statement.   Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin has 22 health centers in the state, three of which offer abortion services, according to its website. Earlier this month, Ohio legislators approved a bill blocking state and federal funds for groups that perform or promote abortions, which cut $1.3 million annually used by Planned Parenthood clinics for  testing, pre-natal care and other programs. States including Alabama, Utah and Arkansas have fought losing court battles over their plans to cut funding for local Planned Parenthood operations.  ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
8482,8483,"A woman who claims she was injured in the Boston Marathon bombing has been charged with stealing money from funds set up for the victims .  Joanna Leigh claims the indictment is retribution for her vocal criticism of the way One Fund Boston disbursed the funds .  Authorities say Leigh , 41 , collected almost 40 , 000 from One Fund and other sources after claiming to have suffered a brain injury during the attack .  They say she received 8 , 000 payment from One Fund Boston , which was set up to compensate bombing victims . She ' s also accused of receiving 1 , 700 from a school fundraiser , collecting more than 9 , 000 in contributions from an online fundraiser and getting more than 18 , 000 in benefits from the Massachusetts Victims for Violent Crime compensation fund . The indictment says she also accepted free medical treatment .  No one is contesting that Leigh was at the marathon on April 15 , 2013 , the day of the attack . But Boston Police and Suffolk County investigators say she wasn ' t hurt .  She apparently did not claim any injury or seek any medical treatment until about two weeks later .  "" When she did begin to make those claims , she billed herself as a ' hero ' who ran toward the second blast , "" authorities said .  Leigh says the indictment is payback for her criticism of One Fund .  She and others have claimed they weren ' t properly compensated by the fund because of the way it calculated payments . If someone ' s injury didn ' t require an overnight hospital stay , he or she received 8 , 000 . Those who were hospitalized got 125 , 000 or more .  "" I don ' t think this is about me I think this is because I spoke out about The One Fund , "" she told the Boston Globe on Thursday . "" I think this is about killing the messenger . ""  Leigh will be arraigned Monday . She intends to plead not guilty .  The indictment comes as Dzhokar Tsarnaev stands trial for the bombing that killed three and left more than 260 people maimed or injured .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
8483,8484,"A popular restaurant has made the controversial decision to add a section to its credit card receipts that gives diners the option to leave a second tip for kitchen staff .  Zach Pollack , owner chef at Alimento , a popular Italian eatery in Los Angeles , said he added the second gratuity after two of his cooks left for higher paying jobs .  ' They couldn ' t make it work on their end , and I couldn ' t make it work on mine this is a small restaurant , ' he told Los Angeles Magazine . ' But at the same time , the servers are walking away with a lot of money . That ' s great , but it put an issue in the spotlight that I ' ve been aware of for a while . '  Would you leave a second tip ? Alimento , an Italian restaurant in Los Angeles , has added a second line on its credit card receipts in hopes of retaining its kitchen staff  The kitchen gratuity will be divided evenly between Alimento ' s line cooks , prep cooks and dishwashers . The sous chefs and Pollack himself will not get a cut .  Traditionally , kitchen staff make a higher hourly wage than front of house staff like bartenders and waitresses to compensate for the fact they aren ' t making tips .  Still , the take home pay doesn ' t even out : According to a study cited by Grubstreet , back of house workers make an average of 18 , 720 per year while the people in front make 24 , 123 .  Mr Pollack says he hopes other eateries adopt his policy so that ultimately ' the best restaurants would be able to sustain better cooks , rather than losing them to hotels , country clubs , or lounge restaurants that are able to subsidize kitchen labor with extra income . '  Ready for dinner ! Alimento is located in Los Angeles ' s trendy Silver Lake neighborhood  Restaurant employees are divided about Pollack ' s plan .  Oliver Levius , a chef at Italian restaurant Pastai in Manhattan , told MailOnline he thinks the kitchen gratuity is ' a little tacky ' and ' overly forward . '  ' It also pits the servers against the kitchen team , and restaurants tend to work better if the whole joint is pulling together , ' he said .  Pastai ' s manager Charles Fenwick Elliott , who is a former waiter , offered another scenario : ' I ' ve had bad tips before as a direct result of the kitchen screwing up . Conversely , great food can go unrewarded if the service is bad . So in my utopic restaurant scenario , I ' d like to see tips split down the middle between servers and kitchen staff . '  Bob Wilkerson , who worked as a cook in high end restaurants in Roanoke , Virginia , for more than 15 years , said Pollack ' s plan is something he always wished for .  ' There was nothing worse than working a 500 plate service and then hearing the servers brag about the money that they had made , ' Mr Wilkerson said . ' Working a Friday night dinner rush is probably one of the most stressful things I have ever done . Having a few bucks tossed my way at the end of a shift like that would certainly make my day .  ' Kitchen workers are the unsung heroes of the food industry , and they can make or break a restaurant ' s reputation . I don ' t think there needs to be an industry standard for what to tip the kitchen , but what is it to throw an extra dollar to the cooks ? Those dollars would add up . '  Although the industry may be divided , none of the potential patrons the Mail interviewed seemed perturbed by the suggestion to leave a second tip for kitchen staff .  ' When a meal is really great , why would I not want to reward the kitchen ? ' said Amelia Mattix , a resident of Brooklyn , New York . . ' I ' m in law school , so it ' s not like I ' m exactly rolling in dough at the moment , but a few extra dollars for an awesome meal isn ' t going to keep me from paying rent . '  Chicago resident Jourdan Crouch agrees : ' If the restaurant is tiny which it sounds like this place is the owner probably can ' t afford to raise the hourly wage by much . If this is what I can do to support small businesses that I love , I ' m happy to do it .  Plus , having a second tip section gives you the option to distinguish great food from great service . I won ' t punish the server for bad food , and I won ' t punish the kitchen for bad service . '  Mr Pollack insists that the kitchen tip is completely optional and he ' s reminding Alimento ' s diners of this by sending a tiny card out with the bill .  ' At Alimento , we believe a great meal comes together not from the effort of any single person , but from the successful cooperation of a team of people , from servers and hosts , to cooks and bussers . Nevertheless , traditional tipping has created a very sizeable gap between the earnings of cooks and servers , and current State law prohibits restaurants from sharing servers ' tips with kitchen staff . Rather than imposing a mandatory ' service fee ' or ' kitchen surcharge ' as many are doing , we ' d like to leave the choice in your , the diner ' s , hands . If you ' re perfectly happy with tipping as usual , there ' s no need for you to do anything differently . But , if you ' d like to send a little love to the lads and ladies hustling in the back , we ' d be honored to provide you the means to do so . All such tips will go to line cooks and other kitchen staff no one in management will participate . L . A . has many great restaurants , and we ' re thrilled you ' ve chosen to dine with us today . We will continue to work hard to bring you the best dining experience we possibly can . Thanks for your ongoing support ! '  This is not the first restaurant that has experimented with a different model for paying its employees .  Los Angeles restaurants Republique , Animal , Hungry Cat and others have added a 3per cent surcharge to bills to pay for employees ' health insurance , according to the  Times .  And Michelin star chef Daniel Patterson , who owns Coi in San Francisco , recently announced plans to do away with tips and service charges altogether at his new restaurant Aster . Instead , he will raise menu prices by 15per cent and pay all employees hourly .  ' This way , price is all inclusive , ' he told Eater . ' There ' s no healthy San Francisco surcharge . There ' s no tip , there ' s no service charge . There ' s just one price .  ' I really do think in five years that ' s how every restaurant will run . '  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
8484,8485,"A recent  poll , unsurprisingly , has determined that Enda Kenny , despite malicious rumours from irrational and extremist Fianna Fail hooligans , really is ( as none of us really doubted ) , the World ' s Most Charismatic Current Fine Gael Taoiseach .  Admittedly , it was a close run thing , as Kenny only grabbed 50 . 0001 of the vote his thunder nearly being stole by Rodraig Spartacus O ' Leprosy .  Kenny triumphantly and charismatically pronounced to the Dail :  "" We people of the British Isles ""  "" The Island of Ireland , "" David Norris helpfully interjected .  ""   ! "" roared Kenny :  "" Now  is   . If I ever required assistance on how not to avoid verbal gaffes ,  would be the  person on my list , I  assure you !  "" Anyway , we have many achievements . Of these , four stand out , in order of least to greatest priority . One : the Easter Rising ( I had to tuck that in somewhere )  "" Hmph , now  are you all laughing at , you  ,  , Fianna Fail  ?  "" Two : the Peace Process in the North of Ireland , which Clare Daly so  attempted to wreck , when she made simply  allegations about what Dublin Airport , as she   insinuated , was doing with all that stuff  passing through it , in relation to our war against the Syrian population sorry , I mean the war the Brits are waging against the people somewhere , out there  "" Anyway , three , to wit , the  very best   Irish cultural achievement but one : Our numerous Eurovision successes , which have placed Ireland on the world stage , and made us a booming metropolis in the global village of international , cosmopolitan culture well , apart from Bono , of course , because he    off me .  "" Four : the 1801 Act of Union oh , shite . Forget I just said that one bit of a Freudian slip , there . Bejasus .  "" But in addition to these four , there is one which outclasses all of them . In fact , I would be utterly horrified if this latest magnificent accomplishment should even be mentioned in the same breath as these previous meagre peaks of the Irish collective national experience .  "" Aye : your   beloved Taoiseach has won the  prize for The World ' s Most Charismatic Current Fine Gael Taoiseach .  "" Well , how about  , my beloved friends ! Those Fianna Fail hooligans will be  their words . Forget Arthur : from now on , this day shall be called    in perpetuity ! To  with Saint Patrick ' s Day or Easter Sunday : this is the  public holiday of them all ! ""  "" You bourgeois anti proletarian reactionary ! What about the everyday bread and butter issues ? ! "" screamed Clare Daly .  "" Oh ! Well , now . . . I  you Trots could do with a day ' s work . Just  the bridge and  running , "" smirked Enda .  Upon Kenny ' s witty joust , just this once , the entire Dail approved of Kenny ' s wise words ( to say nothing of almost everyone in Ireland , North and South ) .  Yet , not everybody was impressed . A disconsolate Gay Mitchell sobbed to me :  "" It just tells you so much about the state of these two islands . ""  "" Well , perhaps you meant to say the somewhat more westerly of the two , "" helpfully interjected David Norris .  "" It says a lot , "" continued Gay Mitchell , "" When the people of Ireland consider for The World ' s Most Charismatic Current Fine Gael Taoiseach to be Enda Kenny , of all people instead of me ! I just don ' t know what to do about this . ""  Norris shook his head .  "" Well , quite frankly , I feel there are worse problems out there . I mean , when Gay and Enda need someone like me to lead them onto the straight and narrow of not putting their foots in their mouths well , the people of Ireland might as well just give up this whole politics thing right now . ""  Well . . . you may not be far off the mark there , David .  ",satire,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,fake,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
8487,8488,"Demossville , Kentucky The U . S . special operations teams that led the American invasion in Afghanistan a decade ago did something that no American military had done since the last century : ride horses into combat .  "" It was like out of the Old Testament , "" says Lt . Col . Max Bowers , retired Green Beret , who commanded the three horseback teams .  "" You expected Cecil B . DeMille to be filming and Charlton Heston to walk out . ""  Bowers spoke while sitting in the rural Kentucky studio of sculptor Douwe Blumberg , along with three of his former "" horse soldiers . ""  They , along with 30 fellow commandos on horseback , are the inspiration for a new monument that Blumberg is creating , dedicated to the entire U . S . special operations community .  The statue is scheduled to be erected across from the World Trade Center site in New York on November 11 , Veterans Day . The artist rounded up these "" horse soldiers "" to share their personal stories and mission photos as inspiration for the 18 foot , bronze monument .  "" It was unbelievable in 2001 , "" Master Sgt . Bart Decker says to Blumberg .  Decker , the team ' s Air Force Special Operations combat controller , who is now retired , sports a Fu Manchu style mustache . "" We all looked at each other and said ' We ' re witnessing a cavalry charge ! ' "" he said .  Blumberg listens in awe to the elite fighters in his art studio . He says he felt compelled to sculpt the monument after then Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld first held up a photo of these special operations forces on horseback in northern Afghanistan during a 2001 news conference .  "" The image , I think , typifies the special operations mission of get the job done , however you have to do it , adapt , overcome , "" the artist tells Bowers and his fellow fighters .  That image has also captured the imagination of Hollywood blockbuster producer Jerry Bruckheimer , who ' s making a movie based on the mission as told by Doug Stanton in his New York Times best selling book , "" Horse Soldiers : The Extraordinary Story of a Band of U . S . Soldiers Who Rode to Victory in Afghanistan . ""  Blumberg learns that the inspirational photo was shot by one of the "" killer elite "" sitting casually in front of him in his art studio .  The horse soldiers ' stories  "" If we wanted to move , horses were the only way , "" said Master Sgt . Chris Spence , the team ' s communication sergeant , who serves with 5th Special Forces Group . "" Nobody will believe this ! ( So ) I take my camera and ( shoot ) that photo . ""  Bowers points at that famous photo , explaining to Blumberg : "" The Afghans and intelligence officers (  ) are clotted up in front together , and all our guys are spread out in a wedge behind them . ""  For most of the Americans , it was their first time on a horse . But , their mission was critical : synchronize tribal warfare against Taliban and al Qaeda enemies by riding with , and advising , rival Northern Alliance warlords .  5 voices on Afghanistan success  The artist touches a bridle and an Afghan saddle the team brought from Fort Bragg , North Carolina , which are registered with the Smithsonian Museum . One of the nation ' s leading equestrian sculptors , Blumberg is fascinated with the little known details of these special operators ' horseback mission in the steep , mountain terrain of Northern Afghanistan .  "" Were you worried about the footing of the horse ? "" the sculptor asks the team .  "" Absolutely , "" replies Decker , the Air Force combat controller . "" They were trying to scramble up the rocks , and their hooves , their shoes were sparking . You were worried about sliding off anytime , but you had to keep going . ""  In the male dominated Afghan culture , all war horses are stallions there were no mares . The team tells the artist the stallions were constantly biting , kicking and rearing .  "" It was like riding a bobcat , "" Bowers says .  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
8500,8501,"Eighty years that ' s about how long it took the state of Alabama to posthumously pardon the last three of nine men who were falsely accused and wrongly convicted of raping two white women on a train . They infamously were called the Scottsboro Boys , because the nine black men were just 12 to 19 years old when they were arrested in 1931 .  It turned out that the women , Ruby Bates and Victoria Price , had lied to police about the rapes . At one of the trials , Bates recanted her testimony , saying she had made it all up . Still , the all white jury convicted the boys , one after another .  Forty three years later , a similar story : This time it was Delbert Tibbs , who died recently of cancer . Tibbs spent nearly three years in prison in Florida after he was convicted in 1974 of a rape and murder that he had nothing to do with , according to the Florida Supreme Court .  Ancient history , you say ? We ' ve moved past those shameful days of unequal justice , you insist . Think again .  In 2012 , according to the  , nearly 87 , 000 "" forcible rapes "" were reported . That ' s down 7 from the number of rapes reported in 2008 . Law enforcement agencies estimate that the number of false rape accusations ranges from 2 to 8 annually , or between 2 , 000 and 7 , 000 cases each year .  Exact numbers are difficult to track because of the lack of in depth research on false rape cases and because of the varying definitions of what constitutes an "" unfounded "" rape claim . It can mean the alleged victim did not try to fight off the suspect or suffer injuries , was not threatened with a weapon or the victim and perpetrator had a previous relationship .  Law enforcement experts agree that rapes are widely underreported , and no one is suggesting that violence against women isn ' t a serious problem . But experts do not dispute that false rape accusations can and do happen . Many of those innocent men end up in prison or with lives shattered .  One of the unfortunate statistics  In 2002 , Brian Banks was one of those unfortunate statistics . He was just 17 when a classmate , Wanetta Gibson , 15 , falsely accused him of raping her at school . Banks , then a top football talent , spent more than five years in prison and five years on probation for rape and kidnapping .  He was exonerated after he got his accuser to admit on tape that she lied about the rape . Banks later explained that his attorney had advised him to take a plea bargain and avoid a jury trial because "" . . . I was a big black teenager , and no jury would believe anything I said . ""  The Long Beach Unified School District sued his accuser , and she has been ordered to repay the 750 , 000 she was awarded in a lawsuit against the district .  It seems more men who insist they have been falsely accused of rape are trying a new tactic : suing their accusers in civil court , mostly for defamation . They are seeking to repair their ruined lives , save their careers and clear their names . Make no mistake , I could never defend men who rape and believe even harsher penalties are needed for rapists . But I can understand why some men are opting to fight back . And I even agree with this strategy in some cases .  TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington is fighting back . Arrington is suing his ex girlfriend , Jennifer Allen , after she accused him in 2012 on Facebook and Twitter posts of physically abusing her and raping one of her friends ( who later denied this ) . The case is pending .  Recently , it sounded as if Heisman Trophy winner and Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston , who was accused of raping a fellow student , and his legal team were also considering this strategy . His attorney , Tim Jansen , said that they have not ruled out a civil suit of their own .  "" His reputation is important to him , "" Jansen said after his client was cleared when the state attorney said no charges would be filed . "" His career is important to him . ""  The accuser ' s attorney has requested a review of the case by the Florida attorney general ' s office and argues that the Tallahassee Police Department tried to stymie the rape investigation of the star athlete .  Throughout the investigation , Winston insisted that the sex was consensual . And his unidentified accuser equally insisted she was raped but was heavily intoxicated and had a "" broken memory "" of events . However , toxicology reports found no drugs in her system and very low alcohol levels . Complicating the case further , Winston ' s  was found on the woman ' s underwear and a second  sample , reportedly from her boyfriend , was found on her shorts .  No simple solution to clearing your name  Admittedly , my initial reaction to hearing no charges would be filed was relief . For me , the case was troubling on both sides . And though I ' m no lawyer , I thought : "" Winston should sue his accuser . If he ' s really innocent , he should prove it and clear his name . ""  But it may not be that simple . Xavier Donaldson , a defense attorney and former assistant district attorney in New York , warns that while initiating these lawsuits against accusers may seem like a good way for men who are wrongly accused to get justice , he ' d be hard pressed to advise any of his clients to pursue this strategy .  "" It ' s a very sensitive issue , and these suits should be extremely case specific , extremely rare . . . . You can ' t win these cases , too much backlash , "" Donaldson said .  His advice to Winston : "" Move on with your life , remain above the scandal , and focus on school and following your dream to play in the  . ""  I asked Donaldson what about the thousands of men who are wrongly accused just ignore them ?  "" Look , I tell my clients innocent before proven guilty is not reality . It ' s more of a marketing slogan to promote faith in our justice system without that premise , the system would fall apart , "" he said . He also said it could "" discourage too many from reporting real rapes . ""  It sounds to me like ancient history repeating itself . It sounds to me like we have a very long way to go before there ' s justice for all .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
8511,8512,"For a long time now, the mainstream media has avoided questioning Donald Trump about the questionable relationship between a donation he made to the Attorney General in Florida and her decision to give his allegedly fraudulent Trump University a pass. After progressives complained about the issue on social media, the press has finally begun asking Trump about the details of his gift to Pam Bondi, which was recently flagged as a violation of the law by the IRS, resulting in a fine.Asked about the cash gift and the later favor delivered by Bondi, Trump immediately got caught in an inconvenient lie. I never spoke to her, first of all. She s a fine person, beyond reproach. I never even spoke to her about it at all. She s a fine person. Never spoken to her about it, never,  Trump said Monday while campaigning in Ohio.  Many of the attorney generals turned that case down because I ll win that case in court. Many turned that down. I never spoke to her. Marc Reichelderfer   who worked as a consultant on Bondi s reelection effort   told the Associated Press in June that Bondi spoke with Trump and solicited the donation herself. Reichelderfer said that Bondi had not been aware of the complaints against Trump University when she asked for the contribution.Trump doesn t have to have spoken with Bondi about his donation to her for it to be clear evidence of a  pay for play  scandal, but it is telling that as usual his first, off the cuff remark about Bondi turns out to have been false.Trump also made a donation to the attorney general in Texas, who then dropped a probe of Trump University, and it is unknown how many other government officials got nice checks from Trump before they made decisions about his business interests.But we do know that his first instinct was to tell an easily provable lie.Featured image via YouTube",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
8512,8513,"Roy Hodgson has revealed that Danny Welbeck has been added to the growing list of injuries as the England boss prepares to take a depleted squad to Turin to face Italy on Tuesday .  Leighton Baines and James Milner will also be unavailable for next week ' s friendly while Hodgson confirmed the agreed absence of Liverpool forward Raheem Sterling .  Southampton left back Ryan Bertand will join up with the squad ahead of the Italy game to replace Baines , who will return to Everton .  Danny Welbeck leads the celebrations after putting England 2 0 ahead against Lithuania on Friday  Welbeck ' s header deflects into the back of the net to send England into a commanding lead  Welbeck is congratulated by captain Wayne Rooney after scoring his sixth of the qualifying campaign  Welbeck played a leading role for England as they kept up their winning start to the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign with a 4 0 win against Lithuania at Wembley on Friday .  The Arsenal forward scored one and had a huge hand in another as he justified his selection afterbeing given the nod over new boy Harry Kane .  However , the night may have come at a cost after Danny Welbeck picked up a knee injury .  Likewise , Hodgson revealed Sterling is set to have a injection to clear up a niggling toe injury , which will rule him out of the trip to Turin .  ' We ' ve had two blows as I ' ve always known that Raheem Sterling has been waiting for an injection in his toe , he ' s been playing with that injury for a while now .  Raheem Sterling will have an injection in his injured toe and will not feature against Italy  Leighton Baines will also be unavailable next Tuesday and will return to Everton  Roy Hodgson revealed Ryan Bertrand will join up with the squad to replace Baines  ' He ' s done ever so well but I always knew the situation and agreed with he and Brendan Rodgers that he would play tonight ' s game , which is the qualifier but then he would have the injection .  ' So if we lose both of them that is a blow . Not only as they both played very well tonight but because they ' re an important part of the system that we ' re trying to play .  ' We ' ve still got enough players and it will be a chance for somebody else . '  Meanwhile , Hodgson revealed defender Leighton Baines will return to Everton and will be replaced Southampton left back Ryan Bertrand ahead of the trip to Turin .  James Milner will also leave the squad owing to a knee injury .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
8519,8520,"Chinese human rights activist Chen Guangcheng arrived Saturday evening in the United States , bringing an end to a diplomatic firestorm that erupted after he escaped from house arrest and took to YouTube to complain about abuse he said his family suffered at the hands of authorities .  United Airlines Flight 88 landed at New York Newark Liberty International Airport to little fanfare after the U . S . State Department prohibited public and media access . Traveling with Chen were his wife and two children .  Less than two hours later , Chen , 40 , spoke from New York University , where he will participate in a fellowship .  "" I am very grateful to the assistance of the American Embassy and the promise of the Chinese government for protection of my rights as a citizen over the long term , "" Chen said to a mob of reporters and onlookers . "" I am very gratified to see the Chinese government has been dealing with the situation with restraint and calm . ""  The activist indicated through a translator that the U . S . government granted him partial citizenship rights . He asked people to work with him to "" promote justice and fairness in China . "" And Chen said he was looking forward to recuperating in "" body and spirit . ""  Reporters traveling with him were denied access to Chen for much of the 13 hour flight from Beijing until he agreed to talk to one member of the media .  Chen ' s ' concrete ' steps to leaving China  Chinese speaking diplomats from the U . S . Embassy in Beijing traveled with the family , according to two senior State Department officials .  Chen had neither passport nor visa in hand when he was abruptly shuttled to the Beijing airport for the flight . At the airport , Chen waited with his wife and two children in a secure location . He was in a wheelchair , dark glasses over his eyes Chen is blind .  Chen had been in a Chinese hospital for the past few weeks , awaiting the documents to travel to the United States .  The self taught legal activist angered Chinese officials with his fight against alleged forced abortions under China ' s one child policy .  Chen spent four years in prison , and was then held under constant lockdown in his village .  In his April video after his escape , Chen addressed the Chinese premier , Wen Jiabao , detailing alleged abuses during the family ' s 18 months of heavily guarded detention at home .  "" They broke into my house and more than a dozen men assaulted my wife , "" he said . "" They pinned her down and wrapped her in a comforter , beating and kicking her for hours . They also similarly violently assaulted me . ""  On Saturday , Chen said he was confident officials will conduct a thorough investigation of the abuse and treatment toward him .  "" I don ' t believe the central government will lie to me , "" he said .  Journalists and supporters were prevented from visiting Chen during his house arrest . One of those supporters is Hollywood actor Christian Bale , who was roughed up by security guards while attempting a visit in December . Chen indicated Saturday he would like to meet Bale .  Chinese activists family suffers reprisals , he tells U . S . lawmakers  Bob Fu , president of ChinaAid , a Texas based Christian human rights organization that has been campaigning for Chen ' s freedom , said the activist was deeply grateful to the international community ' s efforts to secure his freedom efforts that tested U . S . relations with the Communist giant .  Chen spent six days in the U . S . Embassy after he escaped house arrest ahead of a visit to Beijing by U . S . Secretary of State Hillary Clinton . The move infuriated Chinese authorities .  The one thing Chen could not leave behind was fear of reprisals for the rest of his extended family at the hands of the authorities in Shandong Province in eastern China .  "" My elder brother was taken away by these thugs without any reasoning and then they came back and started beating up my nephew , and they used stakes and violently beat him up , "" Chen told the House Foreign Affairs Committee in a telephone call from his hospital room earlier this week .  Chen added that his relatives ' homes had been broken into and they had been beaten by people working for the government .  Chen said his nephew Chen Kegui tried to defend himself and now faces a "" totally trumped up "" charge of attempted homicide . "" After my nephew was beaten up , he actually was waiting to surrender himself and the police come back again and violently beat up my sister in law , "" Chen said .  Hillary Clinton talks China , Chen in wide ranging interview  The authorities in Linyi , the city that oversees Chen ' s village , had issued a statement accusing Chen Kegui of injuring government officials with a knife and saying he would be dealt with according to the law . They have declined to comment on the matter since .  ChinaAid urged the international community to continue to monitor the situation for Chen ' s extended family in China , amid concerns over possible reprisals by the authorities .  Amnesty International echoed that concern .  "" Chen ' s journey to the United States would not have been possible without his own valiant character , the courageous support of his family and friends and the robust voice of the international community that never stopped working on his behalf , "" said Frank Jannuzi , head of Amnesty International ' s Washington office .  "" But while Chen and his immediate family are safe , Amnesty International continues to be concerned about those in China who share his quest for justice , for they remain in serious jeopardy , "" he said . "" Countless people , known and unknown , are subject to arbitrary detention , beatings and other forms of repression .  For Chen , whose escape from authorities in Shandong played out like a Hollywood thriller a persecuted blind man who climbed over a high wall and hid in a pig sty Saturday ' s sudden journey over an ocean and a continent was perhaps a fitting chapter in his story .  Sunday morning , Chen will begin a new life in America , calm and resolute as always .  New York University law professor Jerome Cohen first met Chen when the activist traveled to the United States as part of a State Department program in 2004 .  "" You got the feeling you were in the presence of some Chinese equivalent of Gandhi or something , "" Cohen said . "" He had this gentle but steely moral force . ""  Chen never sought out to be a rabble rouser , Cohen said , though he will always be thought of as one .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
8523,8524,"Reuters) - China called for a ceasefire in Myanmar s Rakhine State so that Rohingya Muslim refugees can return from Bangladesh, proposing a  three-stage approach to the crisis as diplomats from 51 mostly Asian and European countries gathered in Myanmar on Monday. More than 600,000 Muslim Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since late August, driven out by a military clearance operation in Buddhist majority Myanmar s Rakhine State. Amid a burgeoning humanitarian catastrophe, rights groups have accused the Myanmar military of atrocities, while foreign critics have blasted Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel peace prize winner who leads a civilian administration that is less than two years old, for failing to speak out more strongly. On Monday, Suu Kyi opened an Asia-Europe Meeting for foreign ministers that had been scheduled in Myanmar before the outbreak of the crisis. Speaking in the capital of Naypyitaw on Sunday, having arrived from Dhaka, China s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China believed Myanmar and Bangladesh could work out a mutually acceptable way to end the crisis.  The first phase is to effect a ceasefire on the ground, to return to stability and order, so the people can enjoy peace and no longer be forced to flee,  China s foreign ministry said in a statement, citing Wang.  With the hard work of all sides, at present, the first phase s aim has already basically been achieved, and the key is to prevent a flare-up, especially that there is no rekindling the flames of war.  During a meeting on Sunday, the ministry said, Wang told Myanmar President Htin Kyaw,  As a friend of both Myanmar and Bangladesh, China is willing to keep playing a constructive role for the appropriate handling of the Rakhine State issue.   Visiting Myanmar last week, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made many of the same points, but he also called for a credible investigation into reports of atrocities. Once a ceasefire is seen to be working, Wang said talks between Myanmar and Bangladesh should find a workable solution for the return of refugees, and the final phase should be to work toward a long-term solution based on poverty alleviation. Myanmar and Bangladesh officials began talks last month to settle a repatriation process for Rohingya refugees, which Bangladesh expects to take to the next level in coming days. Speaking on the sidelines of the  meeting, European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said,  We believe that stopping the violence, the flow of refugees and guaranteeing full humanitarian access to Rakhine state, and safe, sustainable repatriation of refugees are going to be key.  Mogherini, who also visited Bangladesh over the weekend, said,  There s a real possibility of Myanmar and Bangladesh reaching a memorandum of understanding and agreement for the safe repatriation of refugees to Myanmar.  The European bloc was ready to help with the process, she added. It was unclear, however, whether a safe return was possible, or advisable, for the thousands of Rohingya women and children still stranded on the beaches trying to flee hunger and instability in Rakhine. Myanmar intends to resettle most refugees who return in new  model villages , rather than on the land they previously occupied, an approach the United Nations has criticized in the past as effectively creating permanent camps. Besides restoring peace for Rohingya to return, Myanmar also had to resolve the issue of their citizenship, having treated them as stateless for decades, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, told a news conference in Tokyo. The  was ready to assist both countries with repatriation, he said, adding that it could help Myanmar with the citizenship verification of the Rohingya. Until now it has not been invited to participate in either.  Much as resources are needed in Bangladesh to respond to the crisis, the solutions to this crisis lie in Myanmar,  Grandi said. The crisis erupted after the military launched a brutal counter-insurgency operation against the militants after attacks on an army base and 30 police posts in Rakhine on Aug. 25. Myanmar s military has said that all fighting against the Rohingya militants died out on Sept.5. The group behind those attacks, Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), had declared a one-month ceasefire on Sept.10, which was rejected by the Myanmar government. But there have been no serious clashes since. The United States and other Western countries have become more engaged with Myanmar since it began a transition to civilian government after nearly 50 years of military rule. Myanmar s generals retain autonomy over defense, internal security and border issues in the current power-sharing arrangement. China, with close ties to both Myanmar and Bangladesh, has long been a key player in lawless borderlands where rebel ethnic groups have battled Myanmar s government for decades in a conflict driving thousands of refugees to seek shelter in China. ",true,dataset,validation,Other news1,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
8525,8526,"James Alexander Gordon , for more than four decades the  ' s voice of Saturday football results , has died aged 78 .  The Scot , whose unique style became instantly recognisable to fans all over the country , had been battling cancer since he retired just over a year ago following surgery to have his larynx removed .  Richard Burgess , head of  sports news and  radio sport , said : ' He was a true gentleman who will be greatly missed by all at  Sport .   Scroll down to watch James Alexander Gordon talk about his role with   Rest in peace : Former  broadcaster James Alexander has died aged 78 from cancer  Familiar voice : Gordon read the football results on  radio for over four decades  ' James was an iconic radio voice who turned the classified football results into a national institution .  ' He took enormous pride in his work and I know he was greatly touched by all the tributes he received upon his retirement last year . '  Known as  , he worked in music publishing before joining the  in 1972 as an announcer and newsreader , getting his big break to start reading the classified football scores a year later .  His trademark style of using the tone of his voice to give clues to the result was copied by many but never equalled , as he continued to deliver the results on Radio Two and then Five Live .  Much loved figure : Gordon ' s style of delivery made it possible to predict football results to his listeners  Current Match of the Day host and former England star Gary Lineker led the tributes , calling him : ' the voice of the football results . '   radio pundit Robbie Savage said : ' Such sad news what a fantastic man with a great voice . '  Former Everton and England midfielder Peter Reid added : ' You always remember his voice . It was a big moment in the week of anyone who loved football , especially in the era before social media and instant television coverage . '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
8527,8528,"The last State of the Union address of the 44th  President Barack Hussein Obama was lackluster compared to the global hype that accompanied his election to the White House 7 years ago . Obama today seems crushed , admitting that the  has become more skeptical , divided and begrudged under his tenure , and expressing regret for failing to bring Americans together .  However , Obama is not sorry for a lot of things , and is rigidly adamant that his views and policies are the right ones . He is convinced that his historic legacy will have him classed as a visionary who saved the United States from arrogance , condescension and war .  However , his opponents have a different view . They blame him for dwarfing the United States and its global leadership , weakening its clout , and undermining its prestige . Barack Obama ' s arrogance and conceit has radically helped expand the gap and deepen  divisions , they say .  History will be the judge . But Barack Obama is clearly determined for Iran to be the crown jewel of his legacy , by closing the book on hostility with Tehran and recognizing the legitimacy of the mullah regime and their 36 year old Iranian revolution . This happened through the nuclear deal , which acknowledged Tehran ' s "" right "" to possess nuclear capabilities while postponing its ability to build nuclear weapons by 10 years , in return for lifting the sanctions on Iran and accepting for it to have a leading regional role .  However , Obama ' s historical legacy is different from the legacy he leaves at the end of his term a year from now . What kind of America and what kind of world has the Democratic president contributed to making ? Will Obama leave a more difficult task for his successor than the one he inherited from Republican President George W . Bush ? And more broadly , does a one term or two term president shape  foreign policy , or is he or she one chain of long term strategic  policymaking , which usually spans at least two decades ?  Those who revere Obama and consider him a good president that saved America cite a series of his supposed achievements to justify their support .  First of all , they say , he has read well the mood of the  public opinion , and met its demands including pulling out from Bush ' s wars fought in retaliation for the terror attacks of 9 11 . Those attacks blindsided the American people , who then associated the terror to Arabs especially Sunni Arabs . However , the majority of Americans soon turned against Bush ' s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq , especially after it turned out that the evidence for the  premise for the latter war had been falsified . Ultimately , Obama took heed , and withdrew from Afghanistan and Iraq , and resisted further military entanglements abroad .  Secondly , Barack Obama ' s supporters say he protected the  from further major terror attacks , though some reluctantly admit Bush ' s role in this . They attribute the elimination of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden to Obama , and cite it in response to accusations of his weakness or cowardice . They say that Obama , like Bush , had adopted the doctrine of "" we fight terrorists abroad so we don ' t have to fight them in American cities . ""  Thirdly , Obama ' s supporters are fond of his "" leading from behind "" doctrine , which they believe has helped keep the  away from involvement in wars . They believe this has shared the burden with others instead of  shoulders bearing it all alone , and by doing so , outsourced the economic , political and military cost to those who are willing . In their view , this has allowed the  to exercise leadership without a cost , a major achievement in their eyes .  Fourthly , Obama ' s backers say his withdrawals have helped improve the economy , allowing the president to focus on internal issues and tackle unemployment . To them , the Obamacare healthcare scheme is also a success .  Fifthly , the pro Obama doctrine base is proud of his non confrontational relationship with China and of his intent to appease nations that have a history of confrontation with the United States . They believe Obama ' s pivot to Asia away from the Middle East is wise and worthwhile . In their view , it is time to get rid of the historical bonds with the Middle East , particularly as concerns oil , as there is less  need for Middle Eastern oil following the discovery of massive oil reserves in the  and the collapse of oil prices to below 30 a barrel .  Sixthly , the supporters of Obama ' s policies and doctrine perceive the relationship with Russia only from the standpoint of coordination and consultation on radical disputes or to build semi alliances like the one in Syria . The supporters are also fond of the decision made by the Obama administration to manage crises with Russia directly , including over Georgia and then Crimea , at a time when Western sanctions have been imposed on Russia . The discourse of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (  ) has changed in the era of Barack Obama as well .  Seventh , Obama ' s supporters agree with his Syria policy , including his backtracking on his redlines regarding chemical weapons and the departure of Bashar al Assad . They support his categorical rejection of getting involved five years ago when protests in Syria erupted demanding reforms , with the result being that a humanitarian catastrophe was created , killing 300 , 000 people and displacing 9 million , while turning Syria into a magnet for terrorism .  Eighth , the pro Obama camp accordingly has no qualms about blessing a Russian Iranian alliance with the Assad regime and Hezbollah , which Washington still classes as a terrorist group . That is as long as the United States can escape involvement in the Syrian quagmire , regardless of the radical change in regional and international balances of power this has caused , which is in fact desirable by some in this camp .  Ninth , the supporters of Obama ' s policies have not kept up with what happened after Obama ' s famous speech in Cairo , which was supposed to inaugurate bold policies including the determination to resolve the Arab Israeli conflict and the Palestinian issue . They did not keep up with the bid to encourage the Turkish model of Islamist democracy in Egypt , when the Muslim Brotherhood was endorsed as the "" moderate "" alternative after the ouster of Hosni Mubarak . Instead , they saw all this as an achievement , part of Obama ' s "" leading from behind . ""  Something similar happened when Muammar Gaddafi was toppled in Libya , although the  was more involved there through  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and  ambassador to the  at the time Susan Rice . This too was seen as an achievement .  Tenth , the engagement with Cuba is cited as an achievement . Eliminating Ebola is seen as an achievement . And the climate change agreement is an achievement too , claim the supporters of Obama .  On the other hand , those who assign moral , political , and visionary responsibility to Obama rebut the claim the he is a peace advocate whose hands are free of blood . They cite the drone wars and the covert wars that practically fulfilled the desires of the Americans , as long as there were no American bodies being flown back home and scenes of carnage caused by the  . In reality , Obama ' s policies and drone wars did leave behind scores of victims .  Yet this is not the main argument against Obama among his critics , who believe he is a neo isolationist president . The first criticism against Obama is that he tore apart harmony in America . While George W . Bush arguably created divisions , Obama deepened them , they say .  Obama ' s critics say Obama turned the  from a superpower to a paper tiger . It is this , in their view , that has allowed Russia to see the  as "" infirm "" and weak .  Obama ' s critics believe his pattern of leading from behind gives a mandate to the likes of Russia and Iran , from Georgia and Syria to Yemen , Iraq , and Lebanon , at the expense of  interests and values . They say that the true leader is not someone who reads moods and events well , but someone visionary who protects the exceptional and leading role of the United States of America .  They say the cost of isolationism , the reputation of weakness and decline , and of abandoning allies will be dear for the United States , despite all claims to the otherwise . The critics say economic recovery would have happened regardless of Obamas policies .  Critics say Obama ' s policies vis vis Russia , Iran , Hezbollah , Assad , and China have fueled Sunni and Shiite extremism , allowed militias to take matters into their own hands rather than states , gave Iran the key to expand regionally and challenge the  , and proved the accusations against Washington of abandoning friends and allies , while making Russia a leader in the Middle East in cooperation with Iran and in conflict with Turkey .  The critics say the vengeful culture behind installing Shiite Iran as leader in the Sunni majority Muslim world will repel Sunni partners , who are necessary in the war with  , al Qaeda and all terror groups , and will also deepen Sunni Shiite strife by creating a cycle of resentment and revenge .  The Obama legacy , according to his critics , is the death of hundreds of thousands of civilians in Libya and Syria through half baked intervention and non intervention . Refusing to amid this does not exempt the  of moral responsibility and does not befit a superpower that claims to uphold supreme values , in the critics ' view . Evading this predicament and pretending that everything is alright amid a huge humanitarian disaster , and remaining silent vis vis starvation , barrel bombs , and war crimes is moral bankruptcy , whatever the justifications .  Obama ' s critics are opposed to the core of his policy that claims to fight  while there is a de facto alliance with Iran backed militias and while Obama is turning a blind eye to Russian strikes on Syrian rebel groups instead of  . They oppose bowing down to Tehran ' s dictates and the legitimization of its violation of international resolutions , whether through its ballistic missile program or its overseas military meddling , among other things .  They say the world Obama has left behind is not safe or secure , but is a ticking time bomb . President Barack Hussein Obama is still in the process of shaping his historic legacy but he has placed it in the hands of others . The coming Iranian elections will be a test . The endgame in Syria will be a test . If  strikes in  cities , this will also undermine Obama ' s legacy .  So perhaps the proven legacy of the 44th president is that he has seen as greatness as an unnecessary burden for the United States , and decided to "" lead from behind "" believing this best serves  interests . Was this a decision Obama made , or was it part of long term  strategic thinking that often carries contradictory elements , all meant to preserve  power ?  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
8541,8542,"New York A New York judge released Dominique Strauss Kahn from house arrest Friday , after prosecutors presented evidence questioning the credibility of the hotel maid who accused the former International Monetary Fund chief of sexual assault .  The alleged victim , a 32 year old immigrant from Guinea , admitted to prosecutors that she lied about the specifics of her whereabouts following the incident , the details of an asylum application and information she put on tax forms , according to documents filed in court Friday by prosecutors .  But while the case has taken a dramatic turn , it has not been dismissed , said Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance . The indictment and charges including criminal sexual acts and sexual abuse against Strauss Kahn , 62 , still stand , Vance said .  His lawyers said the alleged victim told "" substantial lies about her own background and the facts of this case . ""  Defense attorney Benjamin Brafman commended Vance for doing what he said was appropriate .  "" We believed from the beginning that this case was not what it appeared to be , "" he said . "" We are absolutely convinced that while today is a first giant step in the right direction , the next step will lead to a complete dismissal of the charges . ""  Strauss Kahn ' s release significantly eases the extraordinary bail conditions that had been previously ordered .  The French financier had been released from jail on 6 million bail but was under house arrest in a luxury townhouse in Manhattan ' s Tribeca neighborhood . He was paying roughly 250 , 000 a month for court ordered 24 hour armed guards posted at the townhouse .  The presiding judge said authorities will continue to withhold Strauss Kahn ' s passport but that he is free to travel in the United States .  The stunning twist in the case came after prosecutors , in the course of their investigation , discovered that the alleged victim had not been truthful in a variety of topics regarding her history and circumstances , prosecutors said in a letter submitted to the court .  Prosecutors said the woman admitted lying in her application for asylum in the United States and that she had been a victim of a gang rape , providing details of that attack . She cried when she first told prosecutors about the rape but in a subsequent interview , she admitted the gang rape never occurred .  She said the fabricated account on the asylum application was made with the assistance of a man who "" provided her with a cassette recording of the facts "" so that she could memorize them .  The woman told prosecutors that she has declared the child of a friend as her own dependent on her tax return in order to receive a larger refund . She "" also admitted to misrepresenting her income in order to maintain her present housing , "" the prosecutors said .  After the alleged hotel assault , the woman told prosecutors that she "" fled to an area of the main hallway of the hotel ' s 28th floor and waited there until she observed the defendant leave , "" the prosecutors said . She said she then reported the incident to her supervisor .  But in subsequent interviews , the woman admitted her testimony before the Grand Jury was false that she "" proceeded to clean a nearby room , and then returned to Suite 2806 ( the room occupied by Strauss Kahn ) and began to clean the suite before she reported the incident to her supervisor . ""  In angry remarks delivered outside the courthouse , the woman ' s attorney , Kenneth Thompson , admitted problems with his client ' s credibility , but the bottom line , he said was that she was attacked .  "" That was true the day it happened and it is true today , "" he said , describing in chilling detail the account the woman gave of her attack and the bruising on her body .  "" She has described that sexual assault many times to the prosecutors and to me . And she has never once changed a single thing about that account . ""  The development is particularly stunning given prior statements by New York authorities , who spoke forcefully about the accuser ' s credibility , and it leaves the felony case against Strauss Kahn teetering on collapse , despite incontrovertible  evidence of sexual contact recovered from the hotel suite .  "" What makes it even more extraordinary is that the (  ) evidence apparently shows a sexual encounter between Dominique Strauss Kahn and the woman who is the maid . Yet even with  evidence , the prosecution is considering dropping the case . That shows how bad her credibility may be . ""  Kenneth Thompson , her attorney , said allegations about the woman ' s involvement in drugs , published in The New York Times , are a lie , adding that Manhattan District Attorney Vance was afraid of losing the high profile case .  Thompson also said one of Vance ' s top aides is married to an individual connected Strauss Kahn ' s defense team , creating an untenable conflict of interest in the case .  Vance told reporters Friday that Strauss Kahn ' s release did not dismiss the indictment or any of the charges against the former  chief , though he did not address Thompson ' s accusations of impropriety .  The implications of the case are far reaching , especially in France , where before his arrest , Strauss Kahn was considered a viable candidate in France ' s presidential election .  The turnaround in the case comes just ahead of the July 13 filing deadline for the French presidential primaries . If the case collapses , Strauss Kahn theoretically has enough time to file .  His supporters would still like to see him run , though some Parisians interviewed on the streets Friday said even if Strauss Kahn was cleared of wrongdoing , it was too late for him to seek office this go around .  Still , many in France felt vindicated over concerns that New York prosecutors were perhaps over zealous and that there had been a rush to judgment .  They were shocked by widely broadcast footage of Strauss Kahn in handcuffs in May , since a French law passed in 2000 prohibits the publication of images of suspects in handcuffs or in court in order to protect defendants ' presumption of innocence .  Jack Lang , France ' s former minister of culture and education , said he was very happy about the latest developments and hoped to see his fellow Socialist party politician make a comeback .  "" If the prosecutor and the court decide to declare the innocence of  , it will be a good day a good day for Dominique himself , a good day for American justice , a good day for France and a good day for the Left , "" he said .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
8549,8550,"Doctors and Nurses use fancy words to communicate and sound smart before patients , families and each other . Having spent most of his adult life in the hospital , Livin La Vida Locum  shares the true meaning of all those fancy words and phrases arranged in no particular order . Enjoy :  Intern : A Larva of a Doctor  Supratentorial : U R Crazy ! Period .  Patient is a poor historian : I ' m 8 admissions behind  My attending wants it : Nice try , but you ' re not getting out of this consult .  Normocephalic Atraumatic : Patient has a head head firmly attached to neck  Patient Satisfaction Survey : Reason why I drink  Preexisting : It was like that when I got here I swear !  Iatrogenic : Crap We did it . . Sorry about that  Nosocomial : From our cesspool Sorry about that . too  Idiopathic : We don ' t know what the heck is going on with you  Cryptogenic : No one knows what the heck is going on with you  Fever of Unknow Origin (  ) : If we figure out whats going on , you ' re screwed . If not , you will get better and go home .  Family involved in care : This will burn A  of time .  Multidisciplinary Approach : You are a train wreck  Transfer to a Higher Level of Care : You ' re too big of a train wreck for us .  Hospitalist : The guy who will have to clean this mess   S1S2 : Patient ' s heart beating at the time of exam  Resident : Hatchling Doctor  Adult Failure to Thrive : Unlike the other nursing home residents who  thriving  Sub intern : Cocoon of a Doctor  Coding Query : Another reason to drink  If you knew all of these try to pass the House of God  Test  ",satire,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,present
8556,8557,"Oil drops over 2 pct as China slowdown weighs : market loses faith in rebound   : Crude oil prices fell over 2 percent on Monday as China ' s economic slowdown dented the outlook for demand and traders are placing record bets on even lower prices as they increasingly lose faith in a significant market recovery .  Global benchmark Brent was down around a dollar , or almost 3 percent , at 32 . 62 per barrel at 0711  , and  West Texas Intermediate (  ) crude was down almost 2 . 5 percent at 32 . 36 .  The falls come as oil market speculators have increased their net short positions , which would profit from prices falling lower , to a record high in the week to last Tuesday , in a sign that they are losing faith in a price rise anytime soon .  At the same time speculators have cut their net long positions to fewer than 50 , 000 contracts , or the equivalent of 50 million barrels , according to a weekly report from a  government agency on Friday . Longs are bets on higher prices , while shorts are wagers that the market will fall . The net position squares off the two .  Analysts are pointing to China ' s slowdown , which saw a slide in the yuan and two emergency suspensions in stock trading markets last week , as the main reasons for lower oil and commodity prices .  "" China macro trends to remain in the driving seat for commodities , "" Singapore Exchange (  ) said on Monday in its 2016 commodity outlook .  "" With a slowing domestic economy , mounting deflationary pressures , rising capital outflows , growing credit risks , a continued nationwide anti corruption drive and rising  interest rates , there is perhaps plenty of scope for volatility to stage a return , ""  said . Monday ' s decline adds to last week ' s more than 10 percent drop in both Brent and  prices to start the year .  Traders and investors have wondered how long and deep the slide may go with Goldman Sachs saying oil could hit 20 a barrel .  Goldman analysts further said in a note on Friday that sustained lower prices are needed to in the first quarter "" so producers will move budgets down to reflect 40 a barrel oil for 2016 . ""  Oil prices have already fallen over 70 percent since the downturn began in mid 2014 as soaring global production sees hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude produced every day without a buyer , leaving storage tanks filled to the brim .  Adding to overproduction is slowing demand , especially in China where growth has dropped to its lowest rate in a generation and experts see few signs of improvement for the next few years . "" Chinese oil data are finally starting to reflect weak economic activity .  Implied oil demand in China contracted 4 . 9 percent ( 537 . 3 thousand barrels per day ) month on month and 2 . 0 percent ( 216 . 7 thousand barrels per day ) year on year in November , the first decline since July 2014 , "" Barclays bank said in a note late on Friday .  "" We expect further compression in growth rates this year , with an average of 300 thousand barrels per day ( 2 . 7 percent ) , "" it added .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
8568,8569,"We are having the wrong debate ! All the talk is about Alastair Cook and the England captaincy when what we should be urgently discussing is the England coaching job .  The role and responsibility of Peter Moores needs to be massively increased while the role and identity of the England cricket captain is a lesser issue .  English cricket traditionally lionises the captain and makes him central to everything  Grace , Jardine , Hutton , May , Illingworth , Brearley , Gower , Atherton , Hussain , Vaughan , Strauss , Cook .   Scroll down to see Alastair Cook : I ' m desperate to carry on as England captain  Ease the pressure : Sir Clive Woodward believes all the pressure should be on Peter Moores rather than Alastair Cook  Resilience : Alastair Cook says he will go down fighting against India  Last chance saloon : Cook knows his side can ' t afford to lose the third Test in Southampton  The fabled role of the captaincy is a cornerstone of cricketing tradition but just recently the landscape has changed radically and has created overwhelming pitfalls for the captain . He should not be the totemic figure any more , that must be the head coach .  The media scrutiny is infinitely bigger than ever before and that is a problem .  I can ' t imagine what it must be like to have every ball and every single decision you make in the course of five days , across a five Test series minutely scrutinised by Michael Atherton , Nasser Hussain , Ian Botham , Shane Warne , Andrew Strauss , Michael Holding , David Gower , David Lloyd , Bob Willis , Michael Vaughan , Graeme Swann and Geoffrey Boycott to list just the first dozen Sky and   pundits that come to mind . And that ' s before you take into account the minute by minute blogging and tweeting .  The majority of those concerned were captains , some more successful than others , and will argue they had to cope with similar pressures . But they did not , not to this extent . This is way off the scale .  An England cricket captain can now find himself pinned up against the wall for five days there is no escape , and no right of reply . You can ' t get involved in arguments with media pundits mid Test .  The result for the England captain can almost be paralysis by analysis when things aren ' t going well . It ' s an unprecedented , unrelenting , barrage of expert opinion . How can one man out in the middle , under the cosh , compete against that brains trust ? How can it not affect him and wear him down ?  The biggest problem of all , however , is how the England captain still seems to be central to everything when the man in charge must be the coach . The captain should have no role in the composition of a team or squad .  Preparation : England practiced at the Ageas Bowl ahead of the crucial third Test against India  Netting : England captain Cook is without a century since May 2013 against New Zealand  Such a system can only be compromised by his relationship with other players . Nor should there be selectors either , that system is archaic . Selection must be totally down to the coach .  Why on earth did Cook become involved in the Kevin Pietersen sacking and exile ? It should have nothing to do with him .  When I was the England rugby coach I would consult trusted lieutenants such as Andy Robinson and Phil Larder but I alone always picked the team and squads . The captain wasn ' t consulted although I did sit down with my captains  I had made my decision but before the side was announced .  I would explain my thinking and we would have a good ' grown up ' discussion about the team .  I would never risk Martin Johnson ' s performance by opening him up to the complications which arise in the selection process .  The England cricket coach must start taking total ownership of the team . In a five day Test he will , almost by definition , spend 50 per cent of that time in the England dressing room talking to the players .  He has great potential to influence tactics in every conceivable way batting orders , bowling rotations , field settings and generally lift the mood or dampen euphoria if huge . It is his team , yet the captain takes all the heat .  I ' m looking for Peter Moores to step up . He is in charge and when the going gets rough the pressure should come on the coach , not the captain .  During the actual course of a Test the first port of call for all the main media interviews every day must be the coach .  Whenever Chelsea play the first voice is always Jose Mourinho . He is not out there on the pitch but he is definitely in charge and is happy to be held to account .  The  should downgrade the captaincy . There is so much information now available , how can he process all that and still perform with the bat ?  It ' s not quite like football where there is that mentality that you could throw the armband to almost anybody . The role of England cricket captain will always carry greater weight , but it doesn ' t need to be so central to a team ' s ability to perform . It ' s more a hand on the tiller .  Glove work : Jos Buttler prepares for his Test debut as he comes in for Matt Prior  Drill : England bowler Stuart Broad dives as he practices his fielding while Cook watches on  Many will read this and say ' it is what it is ' , and look at other Test captains and Test teams who are doing just fine . Indeed ,  Dhoni , India ' s captain is a prime example . Having watched cricket first hand in India I can tell you he is under huge pressure from fans at home and I greatly admire how he leads his team .  But that ' s no argument for continuing in the same way , in fact it ' s the opposite . In Cook we have an outstanding cricketer who I believe can be a great leader .  We should be asking why this is happening , and then move heaven and earth to remedy the situation not simply to dismiss one of our great players and pass the baton on to another who will inevitably become worn down by the same pitfalls .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
8572,8573,"Hong Kong The leaders of China and Japan on Monday held their first face to face talks since they took office , amid smoldering tensions between the two Asian powers .  Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing , the two governments said . The two shook hands in front of the cameras with subdued expressions on their faces .  The United States has had to navigate the fraught relationship in recent years between Japan , a key ally , and China , whose regional and global clout is on the rise . Washington has attempted the balancing act of standing by its commitments to Tokyo without antagonizing Beijing .  The last formal meeting at this level between China and Japan took place nearly three years ago , in December 2011 , according to the Japanese news agency Kyodo .  Since then , relations have dramatically soured , mainly because of the escalation of a bitter territorial dispute over a group of tiny , uninhabited islands in the East China Sea .  China ' s sudden declaration last year of an Air Defense Identification Zone over a large swath of the East China Sea added to tensions , drawing strong criticism from both Japan and the United States .  Diplomatic ties became so bad that the two sides resorted to invoking Voldemort , the fictional villain in the Harry Potter books , in their verbal barbs about each other .  New visa policy elevates U . S . China relations  Meeting is ' the first step '  But now , the emphasis appears to be on trying to mend fences between Asia ' s two largest economies .  "" This is the first step towards the improvement of the bilateral relationship , based on the principle of the strategic mutually beneficial relationship , "" Abe said after the meeting .  For his part , Xi called on Japan to "" do more things that help enhance the mutual trust between Japan and its neighboring countries , and play a constructive role in safeguarding the region ' s peace and stability , "" China ' s state run news agency Xinhua reported .  Ahead of the meeting , the two countries issued almost identical statements Friday , saying essentially that they agreed to disagree .  "" Both sides recognized the existence of disagreements on recent tensions over East China Sea waters "" around the disputed islands , known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China , the statements said .  They said they had agreed "" to prevent the deterioration of the situation through dialogue and consultation , as well as to build the crisis management and control mechanisms to avoid the occurrence of unexpected events . ""  International leaders , including U . S . President Barack Obama , are gathered in Beijing for an Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
8576,8577,"With an election looming , he clearly needs to keep his strength up .  But Nick Clegg has revealed that the food that will keep him going through the long campaign slog ahead is a snack full of salt and fat .  The Deputy Prime Minister says his ' staple diet ' at lunch is a Swedish meatball wrap and soup from high street sandwich chain Pret a Manger .  Nick Clegg has revealed that the food that will keep him going through the long campaign slog ahead is a Swedish meatball wrap and soup from high street sandwich chain Pret a Manger  The wrap is among the firm ' s less healthy choices containing 636 calories , 35g of fat and 3g of salt  The wrap is among the firm ' s less healthy choices containing 636 calories , 35g of fat and 3g of salt .  Keen to show he has a common touch , the Lib Dem leader has become the latest leading politician to wax lyrical about their favourite dining spot .  David Cameron said on Wednesday that he would rather eat at Nando ' s than a Gordon Ramsay restaurant , while Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls spoke of his love of the Olympic Breakfast at Little Chef .  According to Pret a Manger ' s website , its Swedish Meatball Hot Wrap contains pork meatballs , sliced Greve cheese , chilli tomato sauce and sliced red onions encased in a tortilla wrap .  Its salt content is half the recommended daily amount for an adult man , while the fat content is almost 40 per cent but the firm says the wrap is ' high in protein ' with a ' good mix of the B vitamins ' .  The salt and fat filled snack favoured by Mr Clegg  Mr Clegg revealed his love of the snack on his regular phone in show on  radio although he was unable say how much the 4 . 25 sandwich cost . ' Can I speak up for the Swedish meatball wrap that Pret do ? ' he said . ' That ' s quite a staple diet for me . '  Lib Dem sources said Mr Clegg often chose the South Indian Tomato and Spice soup a 370g portion of which contains just under 200 calories .  A year ago it emerged he had taken up kickboxing in a bid to get fit and slim down for the General Election even asking for a pair of yellow boxing gloves from his wife Miriam so he could ' get stuff out of my system ' . Aides said his fitness regime had helped him lose around a stone .  Mr Cameron spoke about his love of Nando ' s in an interview with music station Capital Xtra on Wednesday also inviting host Andre Wisdom to call him ' David , Dave , geezer , whatever you like . ' Mr Balls told  he liked Little Chef ' s breakfast platter , adding : ' The fried potatoes are just brilliant . '  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
8612,8613,"Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten is the 2012 Walter Payton  Man of the Year . Why ? In large part because of Witten ' s tireless commitment to ending domestic violence . As a former professional football player and longtime domestic violence prevention advocate , I understand how gratifying it is to receive this honor from the  . For the men engaged in this critical issue , it can be a lonely road .  But now Witten has company in Dallas . Moved to action by a series of recent slayings , Mayor Mike Rawlings announced the launch of a citywide awareness campaign to show that domestic violence and the culture that ignores or perpetuates it has no home in his city . He ' s hoping at least 10 , 000 men show up to rally with that message on Dallas ' City Hall Plaza later this month .  A drive to end domestic violence , led by men . It ' s an idea whose time has come , again and again some men have been pushing it for decades . But now many are hearing the call .  Related : Beyond vomiting , how to prevent rape  As Rawlings said in a recent press conference : "" In the past this has been viewed as a women ' s issue , but it ain ' t . It ' s our problem . "" The problem is not confined to a shocking spate of killings in Dallas , or to one major U . S . city . The New York Police Department reportedly receives 700 domestic violence calls every day . Domestic violence costs the United States more than 9 billion a year . More than 603 million women live in countries where domestic violence is not a crime . Globally , at least one in three women and girls are beaten or sexually abused in their lifetimes , usually at the hands of men .  What can men do ?  Men do not just need to stop being violent . The vast majority of men are not violent . But men do need to stop being silent . Calling violence against women , whether street harassment or sexual harassment or rape or murder , a "" women ' s issue "" allows men to ignore it as if we have no responsibility for it or stake in ending it . We all have grandmothers , mothers , sisters , daughters and female friends and colleagues . Our lives are inextricably interwoven women ' s issues of safety and equality directly affect our lives as men .  Beyond that , women are humans , with the same rights to safety and freedom as men . It is therefore our moral responsibility to not remain silent or passively on the sidelines , but to be actively engaged in confronting this problem in every corner of homes , communities and societies .  Many men have already taken action . Men marched with women protesting December ' s notorious gang rape and murder in Delhi . Men worked with women to stop sexual abuse of women in Egypt ' s Tahrir Square . Men joined women in pushing for a serious response to allegations of gang rape in Steubenville , Ohio ( and the social media vileness that followed ) . Here in New York , men have produced excellent videos calling on other men to stop street harassment .  I ' ve been working since 1994 to bring men in as leaders and partners in stopping violence against women . Today , I believe we stand on the brink of a global tipping point . From Dallas to Delhi , the world is paying attention . Now is the time to stand up . That ' s why I ' m joining Breakthrough , the global human rights group , in its "" One million men . One million promises campaign . "" Starting March 8 , over one year we will secure promises from men around the world to take concrete action toward stopping violence against women .  What can you do ?  You don ' t have to be a mayor or an  player to have a major impact . You don ' t have to be like the New York City firefighters who recently tackled the guy attacking his wife with a meat cleaver in broad daylight . Small even non "" heroic "" actions add up . Challenge norms . Change culture . Make violence against women unacceptable .  You can start with the discrimination and inequality that create the conditions in which violence happens . You can call out a friend who makes a comment that disrespects women . You can treat women well in front of boys and men who look up to you .  We all , men and women , can reject the script that gets played out in media every day that tells our boys to be unemotional and violent while objectifying girls at increasingly younger ages . The profound presence of media in our lives has only led to young people being exposed earlier and more often to salacious and sexual content . This media bombardment desensitizes our boys and girls to the reality of violence that is anything but the subtext of a life . Our silence only validates that script . We can speak out against it .  You can make sure your workplace ' s sexual harassment prevention polices are up to date . If you hear things getting violent next door , you can ring the bell or call the doorman or the cops . You can show that giving a damn about equality makes you a better man .  You can do this . We can do this . Together , men and women can build a safer world for all .  The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Don McPherson .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
8636,8637,"Lynsey Pow , pictured with her husband Ashley House , found hanged after battling with drug and gambling problems , an inquest has heard  An actress who appeared in  dramas Waterloo Road and Doctors took her own life after a battle with drug and gambling problems , an inquest has heard .  Lynsey Pow , 34 , who also appeared alongside Billie Piper in hit drama Secret Diary Of A Call Girl , was found dead at her flat in Honor Oak Park , south east London , next to opened bank statements which revealed her gambling debts .  Her father James Pow has claimed his daughter who had reverted to using cocaine because she felt like a ' failure ' ' could have been saved ' .  An inquest at Southwark coroner ' s court heard how Ms Pow phoned her husband shortly before her death to apologise for racking up debts through gambling .  She also told Ashley House , a Eurosport  presenter , that she had bought some cocaine , the court was told .  After the phone call on November 28 last year , Mr House rushed back home , concerned about his wife ' s welfare .  But she was found hanging , surrounded by drugs paraphernalia . She had also left a note .  A post mortem examination found traces of cocaine and alcohol in her body , the court was told .  In a statement read out at the inquest , her father James Pow described how he had tried to take his daughter away from her husband a month before her death .  He said he wanted to take her to his home in Scotland to get her help with her drug use .  In the statement , it said : ' I sought to separate my daughter from her husband after he failed to fulfil his marriage vows to act as a custodian and guardian . '  Dr Johan Hugo , a  who met Ms Pow six weeks before her death , told the court that the actress had revealed she ' felt like a failure ' .  She told the doctor she was using cocaine on a daily basis and had tried to self harm . Ms Pow was prescribed anti depressants and referred for psychiatric treatment .  But less than a fortnight later , the actress told Dr Hugo she had stopped taking illegal drugs , claiming she felt like a ' different person ' . A month later , she was found dead .  Assistant Coroner Sarah Ormond Walshe recorded a narrative verdict at her inquest at Southwark coroner ' s court , describing it as a ' drug related , self harm death '  Assistant Coroner Sarah Ormond Walshe recorded a narrative verdict , describing it as a ' drug related , self harm death ' .  She said the presence of drugs in Ms Pow ' s system meant it was impossible to say whether she intended to commit suicide .  She told the court : ' Ms Pow appeared to have obtained some cocaine and while under the influence of cocaine she appeared to hang herself .  ' It is likely to have influenced her mind so it cannot be said that she intended to die . I am recording this as a drug related self harm death . '  Ms Pow ' s father said he was pleased the coroner did not record a suicide verdict because his daughter ' s death had been a results of her relapse into drugs .  He told the Evening Standard : ' She was getting better . The tragedy is that she could have been saved .  ' We did everything we could when we found out about the drugs . Lynsey touched so many lives . There were 1 , 400 people at her memorial service .  ' The only thing that has helped is that it has brought our family even closer together . '  Mr House did not speak at or after the inquest .  For confidential support call the Samaritans in the  on 08457 90 90 90 , visit a local Samaritans branch or click here for details  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
8647,8648,"Elton John cranks up the hype machine at the Wiltern  Elton John performs Wednesday night at the Wiltern in Los Angeles .  Elton John performs Wednesday night at the Wiltern in Los Angeles .  What does it mean when a veteran pop superstar plays a venue several times smaller than the arenas and stadiums he usually fills ?  When the venue is in a media capital like Los Angeles , it means he has a very special new album to promote .  At least that was the case Wednesday night at the Wiltern , where Elton John performed a handful of tunes from Wonderful Crazy Night , due next month , for a crowd of industry insiders and fans who d paid 200 each to be there . ( For 800 the fans could ve gotten a backstage tour as well . )  See more of Entertainment s top stories on Facebook  This type of ground softening event , often referred to as an underplay , is common to rollouts of albums with a story an artist might feel the need to explain . The implicit hope is that his sympathetic audience might spread the word ahead of the album s release .  Elton John sounded more like a giddy teenager about to release his debut album than a world weary rock star when he sat down at the dining room table in his Beverly Hills home to discuss the impending release of his 33rd album , Wonderful Crazy Night .  I m so proud of this record , John , 68 , told . . .  Elton John sounded more like a giddy teenager about to release his debut album than a world weary rock star when he sat down at the dining room table in his Beverly Hills home to discuss the impending release of his 33rd album , Wonderful Crazy Night .  I m so proud of this record , John , 68 , told . . .  For Wonderful Crazy Night , the story is how eager John was to make a joyous record , as he described it at the Wiltern . His last album , 2013 s stripped down The Diving Board , was very introspective , he said , but this one is rock n roll like it used to be .  Nobody rocks out anymore , he added . They re all bed wetters .  After listening to the album and watching John and his trusty five piece band crank out half of it , I can t say that Wonderful Crazy Night is likely to restore anyone s faith in rock n roll . It s melodic and upbeat , but the songwriting by John and Bernie Taupin is far less vivid than on The Diving Board .  You hardly envision a generation of bed wetters hearing this thing and being shaken out of their frailty .  Bob Dylan s 2006 album Modern Times was a bellwether to  Elton John , a template for the way rock musicians in their 60s and 70s might approach their careers .  John , 68 , was speaking Tuesday to a small crowd of about 60 people at the Wiltern Theatre part of the satellite radio service s Town . . .  Bob Dylan s 2006 album Modern Times was a bellwether to Elton John , a template for the way rock musicians in their 60s and 70s might approach their careers .  John , 68 , was speaking Tuesday to a small crowd of about 60 people at the Wiltern Theatre part of the satellite radio service s Town . . .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
8653,8654,"As you can see , Anderson has been the most productive back over the last half of the season and into the playoffs . He s outgained starter Ronnie Hillman , even though Anderson missed the Week 14 game against the Oakland Raiders due to injury .  Earlier this season , Anderson was the starter . He suffered a turf toe injury and coupled that with an ankle injury over the first two games . Those injuries slowed him down , and Anderson ended up losing the top spot with the Broncos .  He s been able to get healthier over the course of the season , working as a backup behind Hillman . While he may not start the  Championship Game against the Patriots , Anderson could continue his late season surge as the team s most productive back .  When the Broncos want to have a physical presence on offense , it s Anderson who can be the most dominant . Measuring in at 5 8 , 224 pounds , Anderson is built low to the ground and has the leg drive to power through arm tackles . He s not incredibly fast , but Anderson is quick and has good burst to ? and through ? the hole .  With a more physical style , Anderson can deal out big hits . He will also absorb some big hits with those between the tackles carries .  Anderson coughed up the ball twice over the last two games of the regular season ? the first two fumbles of his pro career . He made sure to take care of the rock during the divisional round against the Pittsburgh Steelers .  During our bye week , we went back to training camp fundamentals of protecting the ball and getting out of bad habits and things of that nature . You have to give it up to our running backs coach , running backs coach Eric Studesville is always on us about holding onto the ball . That is pretty much what he told me on that last drive : Hold onto it . Don t give them a chance . Don t give them life .  If the Broncos want to beat up the Patriots , then Anderson is their best option in the backfield .  There is no doubt the strength of the Broncos is on the defensive side of the ball . In a win or go home situation like in the playoffs , the Broncos want to play to the strength of the team .  The Broncos can win the time of possession battle if they have a sustained and successful ground game . In only four games this year ( including the postseason ) , Anderson has received 14 carries or more . In those contests ( all wins ) , Anderson has had 101 , 113 , 95 and 72 yards rushing , respectively .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
8660,8661,"It took years and a good bit of detective work by art experts and scientists to unveil a painting hidden underneath Pablo Picasso ' s 1901 masterpiece "" The Blue Room . ""  Using infrared technology , experts at The Phillips Collection in Washington discovered a portrait of a bearded man wearing a jacket and a bow tie , his face resting on his hand , with three rings on his fingers .  Curators and conservators there have been working with a team of experts from the National Gallery of Art , Cornell University and the Winterthur Museum in Delaware to analyze the painting and try to identify the mystery man in the work .  "" This painting ' The Blue Room ' is very important in ( Picasso ' s ) early work . It ' s considered an early Blue Period painting , "" Patricia Favero , associate conservator at the Phillips , said of the period early in the artist ' s career when he produced often melancholy , mostly monochromatic paintings in shades of blue . "" To find this painting underneath which we think was painted in the same year , just earlier in the year and it ' s completely different in style it gives us some insight into Picasso ' s development over the course of that year . ""  Picasso ' s Blue Period was an experimental time during which the young artist was trying to figure out his style , Favero explained . Understanding more about the work that lies underneath this famed masterwork and others will help art historians learn more about Picasso ' s development as a young artist .  "" It just gives us a whole other body of work to look at , "" she said .  "" The Blue Room "" has been part of The Phillips Collection since 1927 . For decades , experts have wondered whether the painting might hide another work . A 1954 letter from a conservator working with Duncan Phillips , the museum ' s founder , noted a difference in the texture of the paint and his suspicion that there might be a painting underneath .  Technology played a key role in uncovering the hidden portrait . When the painting was loaned to The National Gallery of Art in the 1990s , the gallery X rayed the painting , revealing an image underneath .  It wasn ' t until 2008 , when more advanced infrared technology was available , that the Phillips was able to take a clearer picture , revealing the bearded mystery man .  Picasso ' s grandson raffles off painting to save ancient city  "" We ' ve had infrared technology since the ' 50s or even before , and in the ' 90s we had fairly decent infrared technology , but the technology has certain improved over the last 10 or more years , "" Favero said . "" The technology had improved such by 2008 that in our small lab , here with our little camera , we were able to get the image that you see . ""  The Phillips enlisted the help of scientists and Picasso experts who have been working since then to analyze the pigments and understand the different palettes of the painting and to confirm that it was painted by Picasso , Favero said .  The team hopes to figure out who the man was , but because the portrait was painted early in Picasso ' s career , before he began keeping records , identifying the subject could be difficult .  "" This is turn of the century Paris . This is presumably in Montmartre where Picasso had the studio , and the challenges are if there ' s no documentation existing to tell us a letter , even a drawing with an inscription the challenge is to find a picture , "" Favero said . "" I ' m not sure what other documentation exists in terms of papers letter other drawings . We ' ve enlisted the help of other art historians and art experts to help us with that . ""  Picasso has been known to paint over his work before , possibly to save money or to paint over a work that had not sparked buyer interest .  "" It was a period in his life when he was broke and he needed to repurpose canvasses , "" The Phillips ' associate curator Susan Frank explained . "" Picasso is an artist who worked so quickly and had so many ideas that reusing these canvasses to capture a current idea was part of his process . ""  "" The Blue Room "" is part of a tour to South Korea until early 2015 . The Phillips is planning an exhibition around "" The Blue Room "" in 2017 .  16 artist hangouts you can still go to  Ryan O ' Neal can keep Farrah Fawcett portrait , jury says  Owner of art collection suspected to contain Nazi loot dies  U . S . stops sale of Picasso painting valued at 11 . 5 million  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
8676,8677,"Chelsea are 20 games without defeat this season but Nemanja Matic will never again be deceived by the illusion of a long unbeaten run .  The pain remains fresh from the time when Benfica did not lose until the 29th and penultimate game of the Portuguese season and still did not emerge with the title .  Porto finished one point better off in a season when Benfica were also beaten in the Portuguese Cup final and lost to Chelsea in the Europa League final .  Nemanja Matic ( right ) fights for the ball with Connor Wickham during Chelsea ' s game against Sunderland  Matic has received plaudits for his impressive performances in holding midfield for Chelsea this season  ' We lost three titles in two weeks , ' recalled Matic . ' It was very hard to take . These things happen only one season in a thousand years . We played well the whole season and were unbeaten for so long . It shows you can never be certain of anything .  ' If we want to win the league we must continue like this until the end . Even if we ' re top and unbeaten with two games to go we must not believe we ' ve won it . We must not stop until the title is ours . We must fight and at Chelsea I believe we are ready for that . '  Having dropped two points at Sunderland on Saturday , the Barclays Premier League leaders are now six clear of champions Manchester City as they move into a congested December fixture list , starting at home to Tottenham on Wednesday .  Diego Costa , Eden Hazard and Cesc Fabregas have taken so much of the credit for Chelsea ' s best ever start but those inside the camp know the contribution of Matic has been immense .  His midfield power provides the platform for others to sparkle and it is a role he relishes , even though he was a creative No 10 before being converted by Benfica boss Jorge Jesus into the position made famous at Stamford Bridge by Claude Makelele .  Matic ( centre left ) appears with Tottenham ' s Harry Kane ( centre right ) ahead of the release of game ' The Crew '  Matic ( top ) vies for the ball with West Brom ' s Saido Berahino during a Premier League match in November  ' I ' m happy to be asked about Makelele , ' said Matic . ' That means I must be doing something right . Makelele is just a legend one of the best players in the history of Chelsea . I know what I can do . I work really hard and the people will have to decide if we compare . This is my job .  ' The defensive midfielder has to win the ball and give it to the attacking players to create the game . We all do what we have to do in the game . We are happy like this .  ' I used to play as a No 10 before I was tall like this . But in this team ? No , the others are better than me . I will stay where I am , in defensive midfield . '  Matic has travelled far since he was released by the academy at Red Star Belgrade . ' I was there almost five years and one day they said there was no space for me and I had to move , ' he said .  Matic ( right ) was a No 10 before Jorge Jesus turned him into a holding midfielder at Benfica  Matic is flattered by the comparisons between himself and former Chelsea holding midfielder Claude Makelele  From Serbia ' s most famous club he dipped briefly into Serbia ' s lower leagues and , six months later , at 18 , signed for Kosice in Slovakia .  ' I was young and alone there , ' said Matic . ' I didn ' t know the language . I didn ' t have friends and family and things like this have made me stronger . ' Legend has it , Red Star thought he was too frail , but Matic has filled out his 6ft 4in frame to become a muscular force to match his father Dragan , once a combative central midfielder in the Yugoslav second division .  ' I have seen some of his games on video cassettes but I ' ve told him it was not good football , you can ( pass ) the ball back to the goalkeeper , ' smiled Matic . ' I cannot speak to him about football because he is never happy with my game . If I do something great , he doesn ' t see this . He only picks up on my mistakes .  ' He watches all my games on  in Serbia , with his friends and after the game he will send me a message if we win : "" Congratulations , but "" . '  Matic ( right ) not only lost out on the Portuguese title after 28 games unbeaten at Benfica , but they also lost to Chelsea in the Europa League final in the same season ( pictured )  Matic is comforted by now team mate Branislav Ivanovic after the Europa League final in May 2013  Tough love roles change when it comes to his younger brother Uros , who has followed a similar path via Kosice and Benfica and now plays for  Breda in Holland .  ' He has quality but he needs to work a lot , ' said Matic . ' I tell him to work hard and fight for his position . He needs to do better if he wants to go to a better level . '  Hard knocks have made Matic the midfield warrior he is . He faced rejection at youth level and again when Chelsea signed him in 2009 , only to let him leave for Benfica 18 months later as a makeweight in the David Luiz deal .  ' To be honest it was not easy , ' he said . ' Everybody was asking why I was back , but I wanted to show I had quality to play for Chelsea in the Premier League . When I first came , I was very young , and now I ' m 26 and it is a big difference . I have lots of experience .  ' At Benfica , I played in the Champions League , I fought every year for the title and these things have made me stronger . I did good work in Benfica . I always fought for a position with the big players and this has made me better . '  Since his return to Chelsea in January , he has become one of the pillars of a team comfortable with the challenge of stretching their unbeaten run into the New Year and beyond . ' You can say the record is putting pressure on us but I would rather have it this way than lose , ' said Matic , who has only lost four times in 42 Chelsea appearances .  ' I want to win every game . We are only interested in winning . It will be difficult to go through the whole season we have many games to play against very good teams but anything is possible . We know our qualities and what we can do . Maybe we can lose . Maybe we can remain unbeaten .  ' Let ' s see . It depends only on us . If we win every game we are going to be champions . We know that is going to be hard but we are ready to fight . '  Nemanja Matic was appearing at a photo shoot with a crew of fans to celebrate the launch of The Crew , a revolutionary new action driving game from Ubisoft , out now on PlayStation 4 , Xbox One , Xbox 360 and Windows  .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
8678,8679,"A car with a body inside believed to be that of missing teacher Terrilynn Monette was found Saturday in a bayou in New Orleans , authorities said .  The car and body were found in Bayou St . John by a diver with the Slidell Police Department , who volunteered to dive the waterways in the search for Monette , Detective Daniel Seuzeneau of the Slidell Police Department , said .  Monette , 26 , was last seen March 2 leaving Parlay ' s Dream Lounge in New Orleans , where she had been celebrating with friends her nomination for a "" Teacher of the Year "" award .  "" To know that she could have possibly been there for three months , "" she said , overcome with emotion .  Enclade said she does not know when she will be given a definitive answer by authorities .  "" I can ' t even begin to go there right now , "" she said . "" I ' m in shock . I can ' t believe this . I just can ' t believe this . ""  Authorities have focused a large part of their search efforts on the waterways because Monette would have had to have driven across the bayou to get from the bar to her home .  Devoted teacher vanishes without a trace  In mid March , an independent search and rescue team from Texas volunteer to comb the lagoons and waterways .  It discovered a car in the bayou , but it was later confirmed not to belong to Monette .  Family and friends of Monette put up a billboard in New Orleans and created a Facebook page , "" We Love You Terrilynn Monette , "" to help generate tips in the search for Monette .  The diver who found the car and body , Slidell Police Officer Mark Michaud , has been "" working closely with the Monette family "" because of his expertise in diving recoveries , Seuzeneau said .  When Monette , of Long Beach , California , learned of the "" teachNOLA "" program , which sends educators to New Orleans to teach in impoverished areas , she packed her bags and headed to Louisiana .  In her first year of teaching second grade at Woodland West Elementary School , Monette turned one of the lowest performing classes into one of the highest achieving .  It earned her a "" Teacher of the Year "" nomination in her school district .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
8680,8681,"Posted December 7 2015 ? 8 : 49    Who will reign at music s biggest night in 2016 ?  On Monday , the top four categories for the 58th annual Grammys , known as the General Field , were announced by Alicia Keys on  ? ? and Taylor Swift earned nominations in three of the top categories . The awards show will air Feb . 15th at 8 7c on  .  Taylor Swift ( 1989 ) , Chris Stapleton ( Traveller ) , Kendrick Lamar ( To Pimp a Butterfly ) , the Weeknd ( Beauty Behind the Madness ) , and Alabama Shakes ( Sound Color ) earned nominations for Album of the Year . Swift s 1989 was the biggest selling album of 2014 ? ? and the most successful of her career . Lamar s Butterfly has been one of the most critically hailed records of the year ? ? and earned an A from  . Alabama Shakes have also had critical praise for their album Sound Color , which scored an A from  . Stapleton , meanwhile , has had a groundswell of support in recent weeks behind his album , Traveller , and was a surprise breakout at this year s CMAs . The Weeknd s Abel Tesfaye , who was honored for Beauty Behind the Madness , has also enjoyed the biggest success of his career to date , thanks largely to his smash single Can t Feel My Face .  In the Record of the Year category , D Angelo , Mark Ronson , Ed Sheeran , Taylor Swift , and the Weeknd ? scored nominations . Kendrick Lamar , Taylor Swift , Little Big Town , Wiz Khalifa , and Ed Sheeran all received nominations in the Song of the Year category . ( Record of the Year is awarded to the performer and producers of the track Song of the Year is awarded to the songwriter . )  In the Best New Artist category , Australian rocker Courtney Barnett , British singer songwriter James Bay , country star Sam Hunt , pop singer Tori Kelly , and Meghan Trainor all earned nominations .  For fans who might be wondering why Adele s record breaking 25 wasn t nominated , artists must have released a record between Oct . 1 , 2014 and Sept . 30 , 2015 . New albums by Justin Bieber and One Direction are also not eligible .  See the nominees for the General Field below and head to the Grammys official site for the full list .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
8688,8689,"—   With their giddy celebrations of “independence day” having given way to political and economic turmoil, one thing has become especially clear about the former London mayor Boris Johnson and other leaders of the successful campaign to vote Britain out of the European Union: They had no plan for what comes next. In the days since Britain voted to leave the bloc, the movement’s leaders have often appeared as if they had not expected to win and were not prepared to cope with the consequences. Faced with the scope of the decision, they have been busy walking back promises they made during the campaign and scaling back expectations. They have failed to show a united front or to answer basic questions. Their faltering performance has added to the sense of political chaos in Britain and, arguably, to the turmoil in the financial markets. And it has undercut their credibility and authority as Mr. Johnson prepares his bid to become prime minister and lead Britain into a new relationship with the Continent. The stakes are high for Mr. Johnson in particular, as he tries to build an impression as a capable leader amid the chaos that followed the vote in favor of a British exit, or “Brexit. ” But the mixed signals coming from him and other proponents of leaving the European Union have left their intentions unclear on such basic issues as when and how they will seek to negotiate a withdrawal, and what kind of new arrangement they want. To the degree that they have signaled a direction, it has often been substantially different from what they promised during the campaign. On issues from immigration to spending on the National Health Service, the “Leave” coalition has retreated from its more populist and apparently exaggerated claims. Many of those assertions had been promoted by the   U. K. Independence Party, or UKIP, led by Nigel Farage, and benefited the broader Leave campaign, whose most prominent figures included two senior Conservatives, Mr. Johnson and Michael Gove, the justice minister. In changing their tune, the leaders of the   Union campaign risk undermining whatever trust they had earned from the millions who voted to leave the bloc in the expectation that immigration would be cut sharply and that money now going to the European Union  —   which the Leave campaign said was 350 million pounds, or $465 million, a week  —   would be available to help finance the National Health Service. For example, one Leave advocate, Iain Duncan Smith, a former Conservative Party leader and cabinet secretary, walked away from the campaign pledge to reallocate the £350 million a week to the health service. Instead, he said, “the lion’s share” of anything left from that amount after replacing subsidies from the bloc to British farmers could be available for health services. On immigration, too, there was immediate backtracking from Mr. Johnson and Daniel Hannan, a member of the European Parliament from the Conservative Party, who told the BBC, “Frankly, if people watching think that they have voted and there is now going to be zero immigration from the E. U. they are going to be disappointed. ” Analysts say the change in tone may be necessary to begin reeling in unrealistic expectations about the changes the referendum could produce, but it also holds considerable political peril for Mr. Johnson and other Conservative Party leaders of the Leave campaign, especially with populist sentiment spreading and   groups like the U. K. Independence Party eager to build support. “There is a clear tension between what the voter wanted and what senior euroskeptic leaders want to produce,” said Matthew Goodwin, a professor of politics and international relations at the University of Kent. “If they don’t deliver radical reforms on immigration, it would be the equivalent of pouring gasoline on the populist  fire that has been burning since 2010. ” In his regular column in The Daily Telegraph on Monday, Mr. Johnson tried to strike a prime ministerial tone of unity in the wake of the divisive referendum, but he emphasized continuity over change and tried to argue that immigration, clearly the primary motivation for many voters in taking a position against Europe, was somehow not a major issue. “It is said that those who voted Leave were mainly driven by anxieties about immigration,” Mr. Johnson wrote. “I do not believe that is so. ” Suggesting that he wants to keep some kind of open flow of people across the border with Europe, Mr. Johnson wrote, “British people will still be able to go and work in the E. U. to live to travel to study to buy homes and to settle down. ” Not only that, he asserted, “There will continue to be free trade, and access to the single market. ” What he described was a relationship with the European Union like that of Norway, which would allow freedom of movement and labor and would pay money to Brussels in return for access to the single market, but without having a voice in  . But Mr. Johnson rejected the Norway model during the campaign, and even if negotiations proved to lead to a slightly enhanced Norway, with some symbolic measures to restrict immigration of European Union citizens to Britain, the result would be a betrayal of those who voted Leave. And right now, Norway pays Brussels roughly per capita what Britain currently does as a full member. “The difficulty for Boris and Gove is that Brexit feels like a column gone wrong, an academic exercise suddenly turned into reality,” Paul Waugh wrote in his blog for The Huffington Post, alluding to the shared backgrounds in journalism of Mr. Johnson and Mr. Gove. “And reality, particularly where the E. U. is concerned, is a messy, complex thing. ” Mr. Johnson is clearly looking to unite the divided Conservative Party behind his own, flamboyant self and to burnish his   economic credentials. But playing down immigration, Mr. Goodwin said, could create more political trouble. “I worry for senior euroskeptic leaders, because there is a misunderstanding of the vote, and that will feed voter dissatisfaction,” he said, driving many of the voters who chose a British exit to turn away from both mainstream parties and move to the populist right. The referendum was unusual, because it pitted a government on one side, “Remain,” against a loose coalition on the other, made up of Conservatives, some Labour legislators and U. K. Independence Party supporters. The Leave side never had to hammer out an agreement on how to proceed if it won, said Tony Travers, a professor of government at the London School of Economics. “There was no coherence, because it wasn’t a political party fighting for government, but an odd coalition fighting against something, but with no consistent view of what it was fighting for,” he said. Even on the economy, the Leave side was made of   economists who believe in no tariffs at all, those who believe in trade deals and protectionists who want to shield the declining working class against globalization, Professor Travers said. “And now the government will have to be reformed as if it were representing the Leave side and yet represent both, a   government that must reflect the schism in itself,” he said. In the aftermath of the Leave campaign’s victory, the political editor for Sky News, Faisal Islam, asked a Conservative member of Parliament who supported leaving the bloc to see his camp’s plan. The legislator replied, according to Mr. Islam: “There is no plan. The Leave campaign don’t have a   plan. ” Then the legislator added, “Number 10 should have had a plan,” referring to the prime minister’s office.",true,news,validation,World conflict,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past
8691,8692,"Donald Trump Has a Ben Carson Problem in Tonight ' s Debate  How can Trump effectively attack a rival who has pledged not to swing back ?  For Donald Trump , it is an unfamiliar position . With Wednesday night ' s Republican presidential debate just hours away , he finds himself no longer at the top of the polls and uncertain of whether his verbal attacks on a rival will pay off . ?  Trump ' s likely target , retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson , has pledged not to take the billionaire ' s verbal bait at the  debate , which starts at 8 p . m .  ? at the ? University of Colorado at Boulder . That sets ? him apart from those who ? have engaged with his combative rhetoric but ? failed to put a dent in his populist momentum , leaving ? Trump with a quandary .  If he goes after him with the ferocity that he goes after Jeb Bush or that he went after Rand Paul at the beginning of the last debate I think that would probably hurt him , said ? Michael Cornfield , assistant professor of political science at George Washington University and co head of the  Project , which tracks how voters react to campaign messages . But if he lightly spars with him and it doesn t look like he s being overly rude or hostile he can probably attack Carson .  Carson seems to be somebody who could sort of upset the narrative for Trump .  Geoffrey Skelley , University of Virginia Center for Politics  Over the weekend , Trump began ? doing just that , taking subtle jabs at Carson ' s Seventh Day Adventist faith . ?  I ' m Presbyterian , he ? said during a rally in Florida on Saturday . Boy , that ' s down the middle of the road , folks , in all fairness . I mean , Seventh Day Adventist , I don ' t know about . I just don ' t know about . The comment seemed to be a direct response to Carson ' s poll numbers and his strong showing among Iowa evangelical voters . ? According to a Bloomberg Politics Des Moines Register ? Iowa Poll released last week , Carson bested Trump among evangelical likely caucus goers and overall , 28 percent to 19 percent .  If I were him I d probably try to stay away from Seventh Day Adventism , said ? Geoffrey Skelley , a political analyst at the University of Virginia Center for Politics . I think insulting someone s religious beliefs directly is dangerous grounds for candidate who loses to Carson on social issues , he added . ?  If Trump attacks ? Carson during the debate , tone will matter , Cornfield said . As Trump and Carson battle for the evangelical vote in Iowa , how Trump ? goes after the man who has overtaken him in state polls will continue to resonate . ?  During an appearance on  ' s Morning Joe on Tuesday , Trump said he didn ' t understand Carson ' s rise , but expects that his weaknesses will be revealed in Colorado . Well , I ? don ' t get it , to be ? honest with you , he said . You look at different things ? having to do with Ben and ? there ' s a lot of contradiction ? and a lot of questions . ? We ' ll have to see . One thing about a front runner , ? you get analyzed 15 different ? way from China , ? and ? a lot of things will come out . ? Trump went on to question Carson ' s stance on Medicare and said the doctor was ? previously pro abortion .  So far , other than asking for an apology over the comments on his religion , Carson has refused engage ? Trump ' s criticisms , and , unlike frustrated rivals like Bush and Paul , he has pledged not to ? retaliate if attacked during the debate . If he does attack me , I ll continue to talk about issues , Carson said Friday on Bloomberg ' s ? With All Due Respect . I just really don t buy into the attack your fellow Republicans thing . I m just not going to do that .  Carson seems to be somebody who could sort of upset the narrative for Trump , Skelley said . He spent so much time talking about the polls that he ' s winning , and then now suddenly Carson is ahead of him in Iowa . If Trump doesn ' t win in Iowa you could see that at least creating doubts .  In the night ' s other likely ? flashpoint , ? Bush , a former Florida governor , is expected to attack Florida Senator Marco ? Rubio ' s legislative record , portraying it as limited .  Tim Miller , Bush ' s communications director , told  ' s Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday that differences come out in a campaign , namely the difference between Bush ' s record as governor and Rubio ' s shorter record as a senator . If you look at Marco and some of the other competitors on the stage , they don t have that same experience to draw on , Miller said . We took a risky bet on Obama seven years ago , that didn t work out . I think what the voters are looking for is someone who has proven experience to get the country on the right track .  Bush , Miller said , would differentiate himself better than Rubio from Democratic front runner Hillary ? Clinton . We need someone in the general election that ' s gonna be stark contract from Hillary ' s record , which is no accomplishments , Miller said . ?  While Bush could make the same ? argument about Trump , Carson , and first term senators Paul and Ted Cruz , the threat Rubio poses to Bush is greater , Skelley ? said .  Bush sees Rubio as his greatest danger , because they re both from Florida , because they both may be competing for the same people , Skelley said . If you get down to it , if you re thinking about the primary schedule ? if you think back to 2012 , Romney winning Florida was a huge moment in that race .  While going after Rubio might help Bush in the long run , it doesn ' t help him against Trump , who is running ahead of him in his home state . I think Bush should go after Trump , Cornfield said . When you re in single digits and you go after someone from the same state who s also in single digits because you ve got to win Florida I think whoever will surpass Trump must displace him . ?  Rubio has be equally calm about attacks from Bush surrogates . It ' s a campaign , and in a competitive process from time to time people are going to say things . . . they don ' t want to say or really mean , Rubio said during an interview with Fox News ' s Neil Cavuto last week , in response to comments from Bush ' s father about his inexperience . I ' m not worried about ? any of that , I ' m really not .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
8693,8694,"Last modified on Thursday 14 January 2016 15 . 41 ?   The branch of Starbucks in downtown Jakarta is a popular meeting point . Its customers include locals and foreigners . Nearby is a  office , a street popular with backpackers , and a five star business hotel , the Sari Pan Pacific . Cars whizz past , or more frequently crawl , in both directions . A police traffic post sits in the middle of a grassy island .  At around 10 . 50am local time on Thursday , a figure approached the ground floor coffee shop . He appeared to be Indonesian , casually dressed . He arrived at Starbucks , which is attached to the Jakarta Theatre building . And then he blew himself up . The explosion caused mayhem , with glass blown out into the car park , screams within , chaos .  At the same time two more attackers , carrying handguns , grabbed a couple of hostages . They were identified as an Algerian and a westerner , possibly from Canada or the Netherlands . Police spokesman Anton Charliyan said the Algerian managed to escape with bullet wounds .  The second hostage was less fortunate . He was shot dead on the spot , the police said . Another Indonesian man who tried to help the hostages was also shot and killed . It s unclear whether these executions took place inside Starbucks , which sits next to Burger King and Pizza Hut , or in the parking lot nearby , where the bodies of the dead hostages could be seen under a tree .  Jakarta bombings : I felt the blasts shake the building , says witness  Within minutes the police were scrambling to the scene , exchanging fire with unknown adversaries in the heart of the city s business and embassy district .  Indonesia s reformist government had long warned that the country might be a target for radical homegrown terrorists , taking their inspiration from Islamic State in Syria and Iraq .  Over the holiday period Indonesia had been on high alert . Police said they foiled a new year suicide attack in Jakarta , arresting 10 alleged terrorists including a member of China s Uighur minority . Intelligence had suggested an attack was imminent . Now it was under way .  At 10 . 55am a second group of attackers hit another target . They ambushed the police traffic booth in the middle of a busy intersection . Some witnesses suggested they had turned up on motorbikes . One of the attackers blew himself up . There was gunfire .  In the streets surrounding the building there was panic . Some fled , others stayed put . Black armoured cars screeched to a halt in front of Starbucks . Sniper teams were deployed near Sarinah s , Jakarta s oldest department store , across the street from the  headquarters . Helicopters flew overhead as police tried to hold back crowds . After 15 minutes dozens of military troops arrived .  Related : Jakarta attack the latest step in Islamic State ' s global expansion plans  One of those critically wounded in the initial Starbucks attack was a Dutch national working for the  Environment Programme ( Unep ) . A renowned expert in forestry management , he was stationed in Jakarta as part of the  team that provides support to the Indonesian government in combating peat fires .  From the  building on Thamrin Road his colleagues watched in horror at the events unfolding below them . Jeremy Douglas , the  s regional representative on drugs and crime , peered out of his window . He tweeted : Serious exchange of fire in downtown Jakarta . Didn t experience this in 3 . 5 years in Pakistan .  In another tweet , he added : Amazing how some folks are walking and some running . Kind of denial or something . He said he had just got out of a car with a colleague when there was a tremendous bang . A massive bomb went off . Chaos and we re going into lockdown .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
8695,8696,"Queens Park Rangers have been given a major fillip after key midfielder Sandro returned to training . The Brazilian has been out since November 22 after sustaining a knee injury in the defeat at Newcastle .  But the former Tottenham midfielder has returned to the club ' s Harlington  as he steps up his rehab . He plans to resume full training early next month ahead of a first team comeback towards the end of January .  However , Rangers boss Harry Redknapp has learned that left back Yun Suk young will miss up to six weeks with an ankle injury .  Sandro ( right ) has made a return to training following a lay off of over a month  But Yun Suk young is on the sidelines for up to six weeks after suffering an ankle injury  The defender damaged ankle ligaments in last Saturday ' s 3 2 win over West Bromwich Albion .  Redknapp admits he is in the market for a new left back next month , but says  ' s finances mean the club must rely on the loan market .  ' The injury to Yun means left back is an area we might look at , ' said the  manager . ' But the club doesn ' t want to get into trouble by spending money we don ' t have . We have what we have so we ' ll try to take a couple of loans . '  Meanwhile , Redknapp has backed Arsenal to qualify for next season ' s Champions League , but only because their competitors have not been up to scratch .  Charlie Austin has netted 11 Premier League goals and his fitness is key to the Hoops ' chances of survival  Rangers travel to the Emirates Stadium looking for a second successive victory .  And despite Arsenal ' s difficulties this season , Redknapp says they will secure a top four spot .  ' I think the other sides have not performed to their normal level , ' said the Rangers boss .  ' Tottenham are starting to pick up some points but Everton and Liverpool , who were bang there last year , this year they are not and they need to start getting it together quickly .  ' And I ' m not writing West Ham off either , but I still think Arsenal and Manchester United will fill the other two spots . '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
8714,8715,"Beijing Xu Zhiyong , a high profile Chinese activist accused of organizing protests against official corruption , has been convicted and sentenced to four years in prison , a Beijing court announced Sunday .  The U . S . State Department immediately released a statement saying the sentence was "" retribution for his public campaign to expose corruption . ""  Chinese prosecutors alleged that Xu Zhiyong "" gathered a crowd to disturb public order "" after a series of small protests . The demonstrators unfurled banners in Beijing calling for officials to publicly declare their assets , said Xu ' s lawyer , Zhang Qingfang .  He said they would "" definitely appeal . ""  The trial of Xu who founded the New Citizens Movement , which calls for official transparency and rule of law attracted widespread attention and authorities have come down hard on international media covering the case .  Roseann Rife , an official with rights group Amnesty International , called the verdict "" shameful , but sadly predictable . ""  "" The Chinese authorities have once again opted for the rule of fear over the rule of law , "" Rife said in a statement . "" At best , the injustice of prosecuting Xu Zhiyong is hypocrisy of the highest order . ""  Lawyer : Xu removed from court  A former law lecturer at the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications , Xu has a reputation for taking on groundbreaking legal causes .  He has campaigned for death row inmates and families effected by a poisoned milk formula scandal in 2009 .  On July 16 , Xu was arrested after spending more than three months under house arrest at his Beijing home .  During his trial , Xu tried to read a prepared statement highlighting the goals of the movement and declaring his innocence but was interrupted by the judge when he spoke about wanting top leaders to be transparent about their assets , his lawyer said .  "" Calling on officials to reveal their assets was our effort to promote the country ' s anti graft system , "" Xu said , according to his lawyer .  "" More than 137 countries and regions in the world have established such systems , why can ' t China ? What are those ' people ' s servants ' afraid of ? ""  Authorities removed Xu from the courtroom after he made those remarks , his lawyer said .  Xu ' s name , ' constitutional rule ' blocked on search engines  Well before last week ' s trial , Xu had become an international figure as activists and others demanded his release .  Outgoing U . S . Ambassador to China Gary Locke issued a statement saying he was "" deeply concerned that . . . the prosecution of ( Xu and ) other good governance advocates advocates are retribution for their public campaigns to expose official corruption and for the peaceful expression of their views . ""  Searches for Xu ' s name and "" constitutional rule "" were blocked on Chinese microblogs and search engines around the time of his trial .  It began amid new and potentially embarrassing revelations about the wealth of China ' s elite .  The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists reported that close relatives of China ' s top leaders own offshore companies in international tax havens .  The report said that confidential files showed that President Xi Jinping ' s brother in law and the son of former Premier Wen Jiabao had set up companies in the British Virgin Islands .  While not illegal , the findings shed light on the wealth of the country ' s leaders at a time when President Xi is intensifying his campaign against high level corruption , the report said .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
8718,8719,"ASTANA, Kazakhstan  —   The Astana Opera towers over a windswept plaza in this capital on the Central Asian steppe, a   of Moscow’s neoclassical Bolshoi Theater, right down to the sculpture of galloping horses on the roof. Across a broad avenue stands the tilted, irregular cone of Khan Shatyr, a shopping mall designed as the world’s largest tent. Its roof is supported by a single slanting pole to evoke the nomadic history of the Kazakhs, a Turkic ethnic group slowly reasserting its identity after centuries of Russian rule. In between stands a fanciful construction all Astana’s own: one of the “ice cities” that dot the freezing capital in winter. Children scoot down ice slides, and at night, ice sculptures glow with   lights. Since the fall of the Soviet Union made Kazakhstan an independent state in 1991, it has been cultivating relationships with Russia, its longtime hegemon, and Turkey, which invested early in the new nation and shares some of its cultural roots. It’s easy to see why Astana was Russia’s choice to host a new track of Syrian peace talks this year. Convening talks five time zones east of Geneva  —   where talks have been sputtering along without progress for years  —   underscored what Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, described recently as a desire for a “ ” international order. Astana also represents the success of Kazakhstan’s leader, Nursultan Nazarbayev, in managing Moscow. The country’s only president since independence  —   elected five times with 97. 5 percent of the vote  —   Mr. Nazarbayev has created a kind of “authoritarian lite” system that has more in common with the strongman rule in Russia, and increasingly in Turkey, than with Europe. He has sought to strike a balance between accommodating Russian power and pushing back, and Kazakhstan has avoided the territorial disputes with Russia and the ethnic and religious conflicts that have plagued other   states. “We don’t have such problems,” said Abzal Abdiev, 25, who gave me and two friends an amateur tour of Astana, pointing out the sights with evident pride. The city’s very existence embodies the anxious,   dance between Moscow and the mostly Muslim regions that line Russia’s southern periphery, from the states and semiautonomous republics of the Caucasus region north of Turkey all the way to Kazakhstan’s eastern tip, farther east than Kathmandu. When I first visited Kazakhstan in 1993, Astana did not exist. I was sent by my editor at The Moscow Times to buttonhole Mr. Nazarbayev at a   for a power plant in the country’s remote north, near the Russian border. A Russian nationalist parliamentarian, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, had been calling for Russia to seize back the mostly ethnically Russian area, where he was born. Mr. Nazarbayev brushed off the threat Russia was weakened then, and any such move was unlikely. But a few months later, he decreed that the capital would move from Almaty  —   the country’s largest city, in the more populous, more ethnically Kazakh south  —   to the northern steppe. The move demonstrated power and ambition, but also placed a marker on the map, shoring up Kazakhstan’s possession of the area. Astana was built in a hurry, by renaming and augmenting a provincial town called Akmola (in the Soviet era, Tselinograd). Mr. Nazarbayev was turning Kazakhstan into a   consequential state, winning vast Caspian Sea gas fields in negotiations with Russia and cultivating global approval by giving up Soviet nuclear weapons left on his territory. He recruited famous international architects like Norman Foster to dot Astana with structures of his own conception, like a tower with a gilded globe evoking a golden egg from Kazakh legend. More than one public building has an imprint of his palm where citizens place their hands for good luck. Today, Astana is sometimes nicknamed the “Dubai of the North,” bustling with business travelers and offering tourists and residents indoor entertainment in forbidding weather. Its answer to steamy Dubai’s indoor ski slope is a beach club, complete with sand, on the top level of the Khan Shatyr mall. When he dreamed up the city, Mr. Nazarbayev had been dealt a potentially explosive challenge: The population was about evenly divided between ethnic Russians, many unenthusiastic about suddenly being citizens of Kazakhstan, and Kazakhs, estranged by Soviet rule from their language and from an Islamic tradition layered on older shamanism. Astana hints at his approach to the problem. Mr. Nazarbayev has sought to forge a national identity separate from Russia but not too exclusive of Russians, now a large minority. And he has led a restoration of Kazakh and Islamic identity, embedded firmly in   moderation  —   with a dose of a personality cult. The National Museum greets visitors with a   portrait of Mr. Nazarbayev decked in medals and flanked with murals from Kazakh history. Exhibits highlight Kazakh crafts and horsemanship, battles with czarist Russia, proud moments in Soviet history (the space program, the World War  victory). But they also document hunger and privation in a prison camp for dissidents’ wives and children where Astana now stands. Mr. Abdiev, our guide, was born a year after independence, but his elders, he said, remember Soviet days as “bad times,” when food was rationed and “you couldn’t get good shoes. ” Things are better now, he said, pointing out   toy stores, affordable Turkish clothing shops, modest but sturdy apartment blocks, glassy luxury towers and a CrossFit Astana. Mr. Abdiev grew up in an agricultural area farther south, training colts and riding bareback his family, ethnic Kazakhs, raised horses for riding and meat, the national delicacy. His early playmates, he said, were Russian neighbors, and all the children spoke both languages. In the Hazrat Sultan Mosque, the largest in Central Asia, detailed instructions on how to pray are written in Kazakh  —   though not Russian  —   for people still learning the religion, pointing them to Muslim. Kz for more information. Its soaring dome and intricate decoration are reminiscent of Istanbul’s Blue Mosque, but with lighter blues  —   recalling the turquoise of the Kazakh flag. Kazakh officials often sound themes of religious coexistence and moderate Islam, which is reassuring to neighboring Russia, home to 20 million Muslims. Mr. Putin recently noted that 4, 000 Russian citizens and 5, 000 citizens of other   states had joined Islamist insurgents in Syria, a concern cited as one reason for Russia’s intervention there. Mr. Nazarbayev has promised political reforms to bring in a new, less powerful president. Still, Kazakhstan falls short of democracy and good governance, ranking poorly in indexes of corruption and press freedom. In smaller, less favored towns, conditions can be far worse, with rickety infrastructure and coal pollution. For now, Astana, an artificially created city, is growing some roots of a real one. At the Astana Opera one night, the gilded and red velvet hall was packed. Latecomers skittered across the marble floor to avoid missing the curtain. Dancers, mostly Kazakh but also from other former Soviet republics, performed excerpts from Russian classical ballets. Posters advertised newer productions based on Kazakh folk tales. At intermission, patrons sported clothing as stylish as any in Moscow. Couples posed with mannequins in costumes designed for classic Russian operas and ballets but featuring Central Asian fabrics, hats and jewelry. Little girls twirled like ballerinas. Asked why he was driving a cab in subzero Astana instead of raising horses down south, Mr. Abdiev, the guide, answered like any young fortune seeker. “Well,” he said simply, “it’s the capital. ”",true,news,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
8724,8725,"Michael G. Hubbard, the speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives, whose   approach to politics propelled the Republican Party to dominance in his state, was convicted Friday on 12 felony ethics charges, leaving him stripped of power and facing the possibility of decades in prison. The verdict, at the end of Mr. Hubbard’s trial in the Lee County Circuit Court, deepened the political crisis in Alabama, where some of the most influential state officials are facing inquiries and threats of ouster. In recent weeks, the troubles of Mr. Hubbard, who had wielded a level of influence that easily rivaled Gov. Robert Bentley’s power, played out in public as prosecutors portrayed him as financially desperate, privately frustrated and criminally culpable for misconduct under the very ethics law he had helped to strengthen. Although jurors acquitted Mr. Hubbard on 11 counts, his conviction on the remaining dozen charges prompted his removal as the leader of the House. Mr. Hubbard, who was convicted of improperly soliciting benefits from lobbyists and voting in favor of a measure that helped a company for which he consulted, faces up to 20 years in prison on each count. “We hope that this verdict tonight will restore some of the confidence of the people in the state of Alabama,” said W. Van Davis, who oversaw the public corruption inquiry that led to Mr. Hubbard’s indictment in October 2014. Mr. Hubbard, 54, had denounced the indictment from almost the moment it was released, and he and his lawyers argued that he had done nothing illegal, particularly because some of the lobbyists with whom he communicated were personal friends. The charges, they said, amounted to a political assault on a   elected official who often seemed to have as many enemies in the capital as he did friends. Mr. Hubbard intends to appeal, but he is expected to be sentenced next month. His conviction and automatic ouster immediately increased the political turmoil that had shadowed Alabama for months, and made it something of a punch line. The chief justice of the State Supreme Court, Roy S. Moore, could be removed from office this year because of his efforts to resist   marriage, and Mr. Bentley is a subject of impeachment proceedings over an improper relationship with an aide, as well as federal and state inquiries. “It’s a sad day in the state because people have a distrust in government when you look around all three branches,” State Senator Cam Ward, a Republican, said in an interview after the verdict was announced. “This kind of affirms what people have been thinking. ” Mr. Bentley declined to comment through a spokeswoman, but the state’s attorney general, Luther Strange, also a Republican, welcomed the verdict. “This is a good day for the rule of law in our state,” said Mr. Strange, who added that the decision “should send a clear message that in Alabama, we hold public officials accountable for their actions. ” After the verdict, The Associated Press reported, Mr. Hubbard spoke with his team of lawyers, including a former lieutenant governor, before a deputy escorted him from the courtroom. Jurors began their deliberations Friday afternoon and worked into the night, punctuating a trial in Opelika that was notable as both a public spectacle and a clinic about the practice of power in a Southern state with a long history of corruption prosecutions. Witnesses described regular meetings between Mr. Hubbard and lobbyists, and they spoke of how he had sent emails essentially pleading for consulting work. Mr. Hubbard’s emails were flashed onto a screen and dissected while he sat between his lawyers. Mr. Bentley testified, as did former Gov. Bob Riley, whose appearance became so tense that a prosecutor asked that he be deemed a hostile witness. (Judge Jacob A. Walker III, who will sentence Mr. Hubbard, declined to make such a declaration.) Business leaders also appeared as witnesses  —   and were asked to discuss why they had each invested $150, 000 in Mr. Hubbard’s struggling printing company  —   and so did a former state senator, who testified under an immunity agreement. Prosecutors said Mr. Hubbard had abused the power of his office. “He just didn’t want to be held accountable to the law,” a prosecutor, Matt Hart, said last month in his opening statement. Defense lawyers, who called Mr. Hubbard as their only witness, argued that he had taken steps to ensure that he complied with ethics standards and that his efforts to find work were permissible because he had contacted longtime friends. “He tried to follow every part of the ethics law,” a defense lawyer, Bill Baxley, said in the first hours of the trial. Mr. Hubbard’s prosecution was a crucial test for the ethics law, which Republicans had championed after they, under Mr. Hubbard’s leadership, took control of the Legislature in 2010. “This legislation that was passed in 2010 was needed, and prosecutors used it to convict based on violations of the law,” said Paul DeMarco, a former Republican lawmaker. “This may be a black eye on the state of Alabama, but I think all eyes will be on the Alabama Legislature now. ” Addressing reporters outside the courthouse on Friday, Mr. Davis would not discuss other public corruption investigations. “This is probably the first time in recent history that someone at this level in state government has been prosecuted,” he said in an apparent reference to cases brought by Alabama officials. “For that reason, I think it makes a statement. ”",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
8749,8750,"On February 14 , when Netflix aired Season 2 of "" House of Cards , "" my book , "" The Last Great Senate , "" appeared clearly on the desk of Vice President Francis Underwood in Episode 2 . It was as incongruous as it was unexpected .  I can ' t think of anyone less likely to read , let alone be inspired by , my narrative history about the statesmen of the great Senate than the scheming , diabolical , Underwood .  With the possible exception , that is , of Sen . Mitch McConnell .  McConnell , the Senate Republican leader , seeking his sixth term in the Senate , handily defeated Matt Bevin , his tea party opponent , in the Republican primary on May 20 . He has certainly helped the Republican chances of capturing the Senate by spearheading the effort to defeat other potential tea party nominees .  But as McConnell turns to his general election campaign against Alison Grimes , it is a good moment to inventory the extraordinary damage that McConnell has done to the Senate over the past 5 years .  Mitch McConnell did not create the hyper partisan Senate , which has been in a long downward spiral dating back at least to the mid 1990s . But through a deliberate and calculated political strategy , McConnell drove the Senate to a new low .  When Barack Obama took office in January 2009 , America was close to plunging into a second Great Depression . In one month , we lost three quarters of a million jobs . Our national narrative is that Americans come together in times of crisis , but it didn ' t happen this time .  Obama faced total partisan opposition despite the potential economic catastrophe . On the economic stimulus , health care , financial regulation , and then virtually everything else , Sen . McConnell did everything in his power to keep the Republicans in lockstep opposition .  By any objective measure the amount of legislation passed , filibusters conducted , holds applied , executive and judicial nominations blocked the Senate has become a more dyspeptic and dysfunctional institution .  Again and again , the Senate has failed to fulfill its role as what Walter Mondale once described as "" the nation ' s mediator . "" Thoughtful debate , principled compromise , and pursuit of the national interest have all been subordinated to the permanent campaign for partisan advantage .  It has been a particularly cynical strategy because McConnell knows what the Senate should be . Unlike his predecessors , Trent Lott , who hated the Senate when he arrived and resolved to make it more like the partisan , hard edged House , and Bill Frist , who never really understood it , McConnell grew up in the great Senate of the 1960s and 1970s .  In recent speeches and articles , he has invoked the name of Mike Mansfield , the longest serving Senate majority leader , capturing the essence of Mansfield ' s leadership quite precisely by noting that Mansfield had built a Senate based on "" mutual trust and respect . ""  Mansfield lived by the Golden Rule and treated everyone Democrats and Republicans , veteran senators and new arrivals the way he expected to be treated . Although he was a strong Democrat , bipartisanship radiated from Mansfield , who ate breakfast every morning with his best friend , Republican Sen . George Aiken .  He understood that America has one president at a time , and Senate leaders have a special responsibility to work with the president , regardless of party . Mansfield was one of President John Kennedy ' s closest friends , but he had at least 27 private meetings with President Richard Nixon , and kept his confidences despite their sharp differences on many issues .  He was admired for his great knowledge of the world , particularly Asia . He understood that the Senate was the place where senators had to subordinate their individual agendas , to take collective action through principled compromise . In Mansfield ' s Senate , pursuit of the national interest and commitment to the institution of the Senate were paramount .  No Senate leader could differ more from Mike Mansfield than Mitch McConnell . He has shown constant and visible contempt for the President . He has denounced those who disagree with him on campaign finance disclosure as "" liberal thugs . "" He has opposed , or reneged on , every deal struck to make the Senate process nominations more swiftly .  He famously said that his highest priority was denying re election to Obama , when in fact his highest priority should have been making the Senate work in the interests of the country . He personifies the unwillingness of many Republicans to accept the results of presidential elections that they lose , and repeatedly , he has been willing to deadlock the Senate for partisan purposes .  The Republican response to criticisms of McConnell has been to attack Majority Leader Harry Reid . But there are light years of differences between Reid . Reid is attempting to run the Senate and enact the legislative program of the President , while McConnell is practicing a strategy of total and utter obstruction .  The contrast calls to mind the famous comment of Speaker Sam Rayburn : "" Any jackass can kick down a barn , but it takes a carpenter to build one . ""  To be sure , the partisan divide in the Senate is far larger than it was in the 1960s , 1970s and 1980s . But that reality makes it crucial to have leaders who can bridge those differences to move the country forward .  Sen . McConnell has chosen to exacerbate partisan differences rather than overcome them . Starting in 2013 , it was quite clear that many senators Democratic and Republican shared the anger of the public about the dysfunctional Senate . They were committed to helping the Senate return to "" regular order "" : legislating through committees , consideration of amendments , vigorous debate and principled compromise .  The Senate showed signs of breaking through the gridlock on a series of issues , including immigration , the budget , the farm bill , and consideration of executive nominations . Progress occurred as Senate Republicans veterans and new arrivals came forward to work in a constructive , bipartisan fashion .  They have always had to work around McConnell . Leaders set the tone , and virtually every serious observer thinks that the Senate would be a far different place if the Republicans were led by someone else , such as Lamar Alexander , Rob Portman , Susan Collins or Bob Corker .  In 2012 , McConnell was measuring the drapes in the Majority Leader ' s office , when the nation re elected President Obama and rejected the Republican strategy of obstruction and extremism .  Now he is betting on the President ' s diminished poll numbers and the impact of a lower Democratic turnout , presenting himself as a leader who can make the Senate function again .  It turns out that McConnell does share one thing with the President that he disdains : the audacity of hope . He has the audacity to claim to be a restorer of the Senate , and the hope that people will forget the record of the past 5 years .  The voters of Kentucky will decide whether he gets another term , but the verdict on the damage he has caused in the Senate is already in .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
8753,8754,"The Home Secretary set out a comprehensive overhaul aimed at curbing the power of the Police Federation  The scandal hit police union will face sweeping reforms to end its ' closed shop ' culture , it was announced yesterday .  The Home Secretary set out a comprehensive overhaul aimed at curbing the power of the Police Federation , ending decades of mismanagement .  Theresa May announced membership will no longer be compulsory for the 126 , 000 frontline officers who serve across England and Wales from next month .  Its senior leadership will also not be paid from the public purse and they must demonstrate their ' integrity and value ' , she added .  Their bullying tactics , lavish spending on corporate credit cards and drunken antics were laid bare by this newspaper in a series of devastating exposes .  The union was also discovered to have invested vast sums in mysterious off shore accounts amid questions over its 95million of cash and assets .  The huge cash pile was reflected in the 26million lavished on the new luxury  in Leatherhead , Surrey , which includes a Freemasons ' lodge .  And last year two of its most senior officials resigned just days after this newspaper revealed it had hired a  firm to mastermind a ' blitzkrieg ' campaign against the Government .  The ' guerilla tactics ' deal was designed to undermine a deeply unpopular programme of cuts and reform designed to drag policing into the 21st century .  The union was also damaged by the Plebgate affair , sparked by a clash between the then chief whip Andrew Mitchell and Downing Street armed guards .  Some senior figures seized on the scandal , printing T shirts , posters and launching an online campaign in a bid to discredit the Tory command . But the series of politicised stunts backfired after officials were discovered to have misrepresented Mr Mitchell ' s comments in a private meeting .  The Federation ' s new leadership , led by chairman Steve White , now hope to draw a line under the entire saga . They agree the union must be more transparent and open with both its members and the general public .  Many of the changes announced yesterday are the result of a review they commissioned by former home office mandarin Sir David Normington .  The union was also damaged by the Plebgate affair , sparked by a clash between the then chief whip Andrew Mitchell ( left ) and armed guards . Its new leadership , led by chairman Steve White ( right ) , hopes to draw a line under the saga  The new luxury Police Federation  in Leatherhead , Surrey , which includes a Freemasons ' lodge  The writing has been on the wall for the Police Federation since last spring when Mrs May demanded it must ' change or die ' .  The Home Secretary said the frontline police ' union ' must end its closed shop culture or she would legislate against it . In an astonishing speech , she accused it of complicity in an ' attitude ' that leads to racism , neglect of vulnerable victims and the obstruction of official inquiries .  ' Every police officer , every single police leader , and everybody in the Police Federation should confront it and expunge it from the ranks , ' she added .  Yesterday , in a ministerial statement , Mrs May confirmed the reforms , many of which have been requested by the Federation .  Mrs May said the union has made ' steady progress ' getting its house in order by implementing the recommendations .  Many of the reforms focus on financial management and include a move to enable accounts to be ' called in ' and examined by the Government . A further change puts the Federation on notice to prepare to be subject to Freedom of Information laws once new legislation can be agreed .  Mrs May said the changes will bring ' accountability and transparency ' to the way the union conducts its affairs .  Mr White said : ' We are pleased the Home Secretary has recognised the progress that we have made in implementing the reforms contained in the independent review we commissioned .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
8760,8761,"One of the 12 year olds charged with stabbing a friend to impress the fictional Internet bogeyman Slenderman was deemed incompetent to stand trial Friday at least for now according to court documents .  After debate between prosecutors and the defense over whether a competency test would violate Morgan Geyser ' s rights , the judge asked the girl whether she was competent .  "" Court finds the defendant is standing mute , "" court documents show .  Morgan also laughed inappropriately and squatted in her chair during her competency review , the doctor said , according to  .  Another expert , Dr Kenneth Robbins , said Morgan wasn ' t concerned about a potential long prison sentence , and she said she uses Vulcan mind control , of "" Star Trek "" fame , to feel or believe whatever she wants ,  reported .  Morgan also thinks she can speak to Slenderman and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles , Robbins said , adding that she "" looked happy , almost giddy "" during her exam .  While both doctors opined that Morgan was not faking , Lundbohm told the court she could be deemed competent in the future and recommended medication .  "" She needs to grow up , "" the doctor said , according to  .  The judge in the case set a November 12 hearing to discuss the competency report and found "" that the defendant is incompetent to proceed at this time but likely to become competent , "" court documents say .  A doctor last month ruled Morgan incompetent , meaning she ' s incapable of assisting her attorney in her defense .  Morgan and Anissa Weier were arrested in May and charged with luring a pal into a wooded area in Waukesha after a sleepover before stabbing her 19 times , authorities said .  The suspects allegedly left the victim to crawl to her own rescue , and a bicyclist found the victim , also 12 , on a sidewalk later in the day .  The girls were trying to please Slenderman , a horror story meme the girls had encountered on a website known as Creepypasta Wiki , according to a criminal complaint . One of the suspects told police that Slenderman is the site ' s supposed leader , and to climb into his realm , a user must kill someone , the complaint says .  Morgan and Anissa are charged as adults with attempted first degree intentional homicide , and both girls ' attorneys are hoping to have their cases returned to the juvenile court system .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
8776,8777,"In today ' s technology laden society , hearing of crimes solved or cold cases cracked with state of the art tech tools has become commonplace . But for one New Jersey family all it took to catch an alleged thief was a camera and a little luck .  John Myers and his family from Bloomfield , New Jersey , were visiting Madison , Wisconsin , to attend a friend ' s wedding Saturday at the state Capitol .  According to Myers , the family went outside after the ceremony to take pictures . He decided it would be a good idea to take a family portrait with his digital camera , and he set a bag down next to the building before stepping away to snap the shot .  Unbeknown to him , Myers as he captured the scene also caught a person red handed stealing his bag .  Myers looked at the picture quickly but admits he was checking just to make sure everyone came out  . It was only after walking away that he realized he had forgotten his bag which contained his wallet , hotel and rental car keys and other family valuables .  Myers said that when he returned to the spot , the bag was missing . No one had turned it in at the information center inside the Capitol .  He realized then that someone must have taken it . After stepping outside the building and seeing wedding photographers , he decided to take a second look at the pictures he had just taken .  It turned out to be the right hunch . In the background of the family portrait , Myers saw an image of someone reaching into his bag as it sat . He took it to the Wisconsin Capitol Police , which immediately went into action .  "" The Capitol Police are amazing , "" Myers said . "" I fully expected to have them tell us to just fill a report out or to tell us there wasn ' t much they could do , but they responded immediately and because they did , they were able to catch a suspect . ""  After Myers showed the pictures , two officers were immediately dispatched to look for a suspect , while a third stayed with Myers and sent out a description .  Within 15 minutes , Myers said , police had arrested a suspect and also located the bag and all his belongings , some of which had been thrown away during the heist .  According to Wisconsin authorities , a homeless man identified as Glenn R . Lambright was arrested . He was released Tuesday from Dane County Jail on a signature bond . It was not known Tuesday night whether Lambright had an attorney .  Myers said the quick police response pleasantly surprised him .  "" I caught the picture , but I was even more amazed they managed to find the person since all they had to go on was his clothing his face wasn ' t in the picture , "" he said .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
8788,8789,"The Duchess of Cornwall stopped to pose for a selfie with a 13 year old boy during a tour of an arthritis centre in London today .  Danny Roberts , from Maida Vale , is currently being treated for the illness but was delighted when he received a bedside visit from Camilla .  Speaking afterwards , the teenager said the Duchess had been ' really concerned ' and added that it was ' very nice of her ' to come and visit .  And smile ! Camilla poses for a photo with 13 year old arthritis sufferer Danny Roberts from Maida Vale  ' It was fantastic to meet the Duchess of Cornwall , ' he said . ' She was really interested in why I ' m at University College Hospital and wanted to find out more about how I ' m being treated .  ' It was really nice of her to come and see us and be so concerned . '  The Arthritis  Centre for Adolescent Rheumatology is the first in the world to be dedicated to understanding how and why arthritis affects teenagers .  During the visit , the Duchess was shown immune cells in a microscope , which were there as part of a project working out how puberty and stress can affect the immune system .  Speaking after the visit , Dr Liam O ' Toole ,  of Arthritis Research  said that the findings being made at the centre are helping to improve the wellbeing of arthritic teens across the country .  ' Having arthritis at any time in your life is difficult but having arthritis as a teenager is particularly challenging , ' he said .  Enjoying the tour : Camilla was shown around the Arthritis Research  Centre for Adolescent Rheumatology  Important work : The Duchess of Cornwall was shown some immune cells under a microscope  ' The daily pain can have a massive impact on a young person ' s appearance , social life and education .  ' The research at the centre is focused on improving the health and wellbeing of these young people living with arthritis and other rheumatic diseases  ' We were thrilled that we were able to showcase examples of our research at the Arthritis Research  Centre for Adolescent Rheumatology to the Duchess of Cornwall .  ' Her Royal Highness was shown research looking at how puberty and stress can impact a teenager ' s immune system , as well as practical technological solutions being developed to help young people better manage their condition . '  The visit came hot on the heels of a trip to a school , where Camilla told a class of children that they were being ' very brave ' as they read a scene from Shakespeare ' s As You Like It in front of her .  Big job : The centre is dedicated to improving the wellbeing of young arthritis sufferers  Impressed : The Duchess was left impressed by the literary efforts of the children at Holland Park School  The Duchess , who was on elegant form in a tailored black jacket and a flared grey skirt , was visiting Holland Park School in West London to present a creative writing prize to one of the children .  Mukahang Limbu , who received a certificate from the Duchess , had taken part in a competition run by charity First Story , of which Camilla is patron .  The charity aims to inspire more children to write by sending authors into schools , among them Scottish writer Kate Clanchy , who was at the school when the Duchess arrived .  Touring the school , Camilla was shown into several classes , including Latin , History , English and one of the science labs .  While in the English lesson , she chatted to 14 year old Annise Afflick from Fulham who showed the Duchess a monologue she had written based on Shakespeare ' s As You Like It .  After hearing the class read some of the play , Camilla smiled and said : ' I ' m very impressed by you all you ' re very brave to read it all out loud ! There ' s real talent here . '  All smiles : The Duchess was on typically elegant form in a tailored black jacket and silk scarf  Meeting the public : The Duchess was welcomed by a line of smiling children and their delighted headmaster  Are these for me ? A delighted Camilla was presented with a pretty bunch of flowers by the children  Later , while presenting Mukahang Limbu with his prize during a specially convened assemby , the Duchess spoke of her hope that a literary talent of the future would be found in the school .  ' I hope that looking at all of you here today there may be sitting amongst you some of the great writers of the future , ' she said .  The Duchess of Cornwall is in the middle of a busy schedule of engagements and spent yesterday afternoon meeting men from the 4 Rifles and their families , before continuing on to a gala dinner thrown by the National Literacy Trust .  Camilla , who who has been Patron of the National Literacy Trust since 2010 , was greeted by Dame Julia Cleverdon , Chair of the National Literacy Trust and spent time chatting with the charity ' s author ambassadors .  Among them are Children ' s Laureate Malorie Blackman , Joanna Trollope , Lauren Child , Cressida Cowell , Charlie Higson , Anthony Horowitz , Axel Scheffler , Antony Beevor , Philip Hensher , Victoria Hislop and Neel Mukherjee .  Luke Kelly , Roald Dahl ' s grandson and managing director of the Roald Dahl Estate , and Lady Mary Wellesley were also introduced to the Duchess .  Chat : Yesterday evening saw the Duchess meet Malorie Blackman at a National Literacy Trust gala  Meeting : She also met Gruffalo illustrator Axel Scheffler during the glamorous evening event  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
8792,8793,"With its wonky arguments about taxes and health care , Wednesday ' s presidential debate may not have been the most riveting 90 minutes of the 2012 campaign .  But the faceoff between President Obama and  challenger Mitt Romney produced no shortage of humor on Twitter , where observers cracked jokes about everything from Romney ' s perceived swipe at "" Sesame Street ' s "" Big Bird to Jim Lehrer ' s passive moderating style .  By the end of the debate , both FiredBigBird and SilentJimLehrer were newly minted Twitter accounts with thousands of followers . And Twitter reported 10 . 3 million tweets during the debate , making it "" the most tweeted about event in U . S . politics . ""  But many people on Twitter just thought the debate was boring .  Here are 25 of our favorite debate related tweets :  W . Kamau Bell The media is promoting the debates like a full on sports event . People are going to be real disappointed when it ' s just 2 dudes talking .  Linn a Sandstr m Romney has a bigger  flag pin than Obama . The debate is over ? debates  Storify : Jim Lehrer , the silent moderator  Sarah Littman Mitt : "" I like coal "" Poor people will find it in their stockings if I am President . debates  Rachel Lichtman So far the only Zingers are in Chris Christie ' s glove compartment . debates  Todd Barry These guys are both feeding off the energy of the crowd . debates  Marc Lombardi The debate would be much more interesting informative if a buzzer went off every time an untrue statement was made . debates  Kathleen Madigan So far , this is as exciting as lunesta . Which I love . mockthevote  Aaron Blitzstein "" It ' s time for my second question . "" Jim Lehrer at 3pm tomorrow  Indecision This campaign to re elect Bill Clinton is going really well . debates  Storify : Big Bird and the presidential debate  Kristi Harrison I have to admit they ' re both pretty handsome . I ' m waiting for the swimsuit competition to decide . debates  Fired Big Bird Somewhere Paul Ryan is kicking over trash cans in hopes of smoking out Oscar the Grouch  Jim Sterling Obama is winning in the "" Looking amazingly condescending when the other guy talks "" race . debates  Danny Sullivan Sorry , that was Obama spending five seconds arguing that he ' s owed five more seconds to argue debates  Phil Plait After reading all the variations of the debate drinking games , I have decided to simply remove my liver and set it on fire .  Mo Mandel This is the worst  skit of all time . debates  Tara Ariano Frankly , neither candidate is working hard enough to land the immigrant feminist small business owner non voting socialist vote . debate  Big Bird Romney If you don ' t vote Obama , Mitt Romney is going to be eating me by the end of November . Show your support . BigBird2012  Dave Weigel This is like watching a tax law professor debate an investment advice infomercial host  Silent Jim Lehrer . . . I . . . so , I . . . guys . . .  Patton Oswalt Hey Obama    . This is   and she ' s your Apollo Creed . eyeofthetiger  Nisha Chittal where is the orchestra from the Emmys when you need them ! debates  Crystal Bruce Whoever dances off stage horse riding style to Open Gangnam wins ! debates2012  Doug Benson 14 minutes until we can all go back to preferring the candidate we liked when the debate started . debate  Dennis Miller Show Obama better hope a Kicked A is covered under Obamacare  Are You Italian ? The debates in my house are much louder . 2012debate  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
8811,8812,"Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel said her conservative bloc would begin exploratory talks next week on forming a three-way German coalition government with the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) and the environmentalist Greens. Merkel s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and their Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), would hold talks with the  and Greens separately next Wednesday, she said.  Then on Friday, October 20th we will have a first round of exploratory talks with all partners,  Merkel told a joint news conference with  leader Horst Seehofer on Monday. Merkel s  appeared to make a concession to the  on Sunday by agreeing to put a number on how many people Germany would accept per year on humanitarian grounds. Merkel said she was pleased with the compromise, which was  a very, very good basis to go into exploratory talks . ",true,dataset,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
8833,8834,"Newcastle Falcons maintained their 100 per cent start to their European Challenge Cup campaign with a 30 23 victory against Stade Francais on Friday .  Wins over Newport Gwent Dragons and Bucuresti meant Newcastle topped Pool Three ahead of Friday night ' s encounter at Kingston Park , and the Falcons ran in four tries on their way to a bonus point triumph over the French side , who are flying high in third in the Top 14 standings .  Tries from Chris Harris and Simon Hammersley helped Newcastle to a 14 9 lead at the break , with South Africa fly half Morne Steyn slotting a trio of penalties to keep Stade Francais in the game .  Newcastle Falcons ' Chris Harris points out instructions to his team mates during their match on Friday night  Simon Hammersley scores a try for Newcastle in the first half which contributed to their 14 9 lead at half time  The Parisians took a 16 14 lead two minutes into the second half when Julien Tomas crossed for their first try , but Newcastle retook the lead five minutes later when Tom Catterick kicked a penalty .  The Falcons surged into a 22 16 lead when Sean Robinson crashed over with half an hour to play , but Stade led by one point when Krisnan Inu ' s 61st minute try was converted by Steyn .  Catterick again kicked Newcastle into the lead with his second penalty of the match with 13 minutes to play , before Noah Cato sealed the victory and a bonus point for good measure with Newcastle ' s fourth try in the 70th minute .  The win means Newcastle currently enjoy an eight point lead over Newport and are in a strong position to secure progression to the quarter finals of the competition as group winners .  In Pool One , Grenoble ran in nine tries as they walloped Rovigo 68 10 to secure their first points of the competition and move above the Italian side into third in the standings .  The Newcastle Falcons players huddle together during the first half of the match  Harris uses his power to hold off the challenge from Stade Francais ' Paul Williams and run past him  A penalty try and further scores from Laurent Bouchet , Florian Faure , Benjamin Thiery , Alipate Ratini , Robinson Caire , Thibault Rey , Loick Jammes and Xavier Mignot helped to secure the comprehensive victory for the French side .  Scrum half James Hart added 14 points from the kicking tee , and fly half Jordan Michalet chipped in with a couple of conversions for good measure .  Number eight Andrea De Marchi scored Rovigo ' s solitary try , with fly half Davide Farolini adding a conversion and penalty for the Italians .  Oyonnax won an all French encounter against Brive 30 23 to climb to second behind Gloucester in Pool Five .  Fabien Cibray , Arthur Aziza and Dug Codjo scored tries for Oyonnax , while Aziza added seven more points from the tee and Riaan Smit weighed in with a conversion and two penalties .  Brive secured a losing bonus point courtesy of tries from Louis Acosta , Poutasi Luafutu and Tjiuee Uanivi , and seven points from the boot of Romain Sola .  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
8843,8844,"You are here : Home  stocks rise , led by gains in technology sector   stocks rise , led by gains in technology sector  Microsoft led the surge Friday with its biggest gain in three months .  Buying interest has also been generated by some of the latest earnings news , with Microsoft (  ) moving notably higher after reporting its fiscal second quarter results .  Some market participants attributed the day ' s rally to the belief if the Fed is pushed by monetary easing around the world to keep its own interest rates lower for longer , it would be bullish for stocks . The agency said consumers spent less , businesses invested less , and exports were down because of global instability . The Dow is up 235 . 08 points or 1 . 5 at 16 , 304 . 72 , the Nasdaq is up 54 . 90 points or 1 . 2 at 4 , 561 . 58 and the S P 500 is up 25 . 88 points or 1 . 4 at 1 , 919 . 24 . The Nasdaq composite climbed 107 points , or 2 . 4 percent , to 4 , 613 .  The gains , as big as they were , weren ' t enough to make up for a dismal start to the year . Analysts estimate profits at index members fell 5 . 6 percent in the fourth quarter , better than predictions two weeks ago that called for a 7 percent slump .  Visa ( V ) gained 6 . 2 as the credit card giant ' s results late Thursday roughly matched expectations ( http : www . marketwatchweblink story visa shares higher after company reports q1 results in line 2016 01 28 ) . Visa , a Dow component , climbed 3 . 73 , or 5 . 4 per cent , to 73 . 06 and MasterCard picked up 4 . 33 , or 5 . 2 per cent , to 87 . 76 . Some of those related to its Fulfillment by Amazon service , which handles shipping for sellers and makes them eligible for Amazon Prime shipping . The stock lost 48 . 35 , or 7 . 6 percent , to 587 .  Office supply company Xerox also saw its share price rise 5 . 6 after it announced it would split into two companies . Brent crude , a benchmark for global oils , gained 79 cents , or 2 . 4 percent , to 33 . 89 .  Stocks picked up further momentum following government data showing the United States economy grew an anemic 0 . 7 per cent in the fourth quarter .  A separate report from the University of  unexpectedly showed a deterioration in consumer sentiment in January , while  Indicators reported a substantial rebound in Chicago area business activity .  Fed funds futures are now predicting no rate hikes from the Federal Reserve this year due to slowing economic growth and turmoil on worldwide markets . (  ) tumbled 3 . 1 as  sales growth for its blockbuster arthritis drug Humira slowed ( http : www . marketwatchweblink story abbvie tops estimates but humira sales slow 2016 01 29 ) . The price of oil is climbing for the third straight day as key oil producing nations discuss cuts in production . European bond yields also sank . On the Nasdaq , 1 , 731 issues rose and 451 fell .  Origin Energy climbed after the company said its revenues for the second quarter fell 6 per cent on the falling oil price , but its oil and gas output rose by 14 per cent in the December quarter .  Sports apparel maker Under Armour reported a larger than expected profit and better revenue than analysts had forecast . The video game maker said sales of its "" Star Wars : Battlefront "" game were strong , but analysts said investors were disappointed with the number of downloads , which are more profitable than sales of physical games . Both fell into a correction , or a drop of at least 10 percent from a recent peak .  The small cap Russell 2000 index entered a bear market , which means a 20 percent slide . The Russell finished January down nearly 9 percent .  Google ' s parent , Alphabet , might soon overtake Apple as the world ' s most valuable publicly traded company .  The Australian sharemarket ended a turbulent month on a positive note with the index pushing above 5000 on a surprise move by the Bank of Japan to cut interest rates into negative territory . It hopes that will encourage commercial banks to lend more and stimulate investment and growth .  Japanese bonds and fell the dollar got stronger compared to the yen .  "" The surprise is they ' re going to negative rates a little more than a week after Kuroda explicitly said they had no intention of doing so "" , Bartholomew said . Other Asian markets were higher after China ' s top economy official said there is no basis for the yuan to continuously weaken . Japan ' s Nikkei 225 Index surged up by 2 . 8 , while Hong Kong ' s Hang Seng Index jumped by 2 . 5 .  Chevron ' s shares were down 1 . 3 percent at 84 . 83 , after the oil major reported its first quarterly loss in more than 13 years .  With Friday ' s big gains , the S P was on pace for a 1 . 2 gain for the week while the Dow was looking at a 1 . 8 weekly gain . While the German  Index has shot up by 1 . 1 percent , the French  40 Index and the U . K . ' s  100 Index are up by 1 . 5 percent and 1 . 6 percent , respectively .  Fourth quarter corporate reporting season is well under way , with S P 500 companies on average expected to post a 4 . 1 percent drop in earnings , according to Thomson Reuters I B E S . Excluding energy companies , earnings are seen rising 2 . 1 percent . The stock lost 50 . 80 , or 8 percent , to 584 . 55 .  Endeavour Silver Corp said Thursday it will will reduce production of the precious metal this year by more than a quarter because of low prices .  The price of gold declined 20 cents to 1 , 115 . 60 an ounce . Heating oil rose 0 . 6 cents to 1 . 031 a gallon .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
8854,8855,"Reuters) - Syria s army and its allies neared al-Mayadin on Friday, sources said, pushing an advance on an eastern city seen as Islamic State s main remaining base in the country. The government forces had reached within 10 km (7 miles) of the city and taken positions parallel with a key road, a military media unit run by the Lebanese Hezbollah group said . The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said the army supported by Russian forces had reached the western edge of al-Mayadin, entering the ruins of a castle and an area of grain silos. Islamic State has lost swathes of territory in recent months  to the Syrian government, backed by Russian air power and Iran-allied militias, in eastern Deir al-Zor province that borders Iraq. A Syrian military source told Reuters fighting was ongoing around Deir al-Zor towards al-Mayadin on Friday.   The Syrian army is continuing to strike the terrorist Daesh (Islamic State) group fiercely in Deir al-Zor and its surroundings ... and will continue its operations until it eliminates (Daesh) and drive what s left of them out of this province,  he said. Last month the Syrian army s advance to Deir al-Zor city lifted a three-year-long siege imposed by Islamic State on a government-held enclave there. The army has since pushed its advance further eastwards towards al-Mayadin, which lies 45 km south of Deir al-Zor, along the Euphrates valley.   U.S.-backed Syrian militias are also waging a separate campaign against the jihadist group s last major strongholds in Deir al-Zor province   In June, two U.S. intelligence officials told Reuters that they believed Islamic State had moved most of its diminished command structure and propaganda team to al-Mayadin, southeast of its former capital of Raqqa. The Observatory said on Friday there were clashes in several areas in eastern Deir al-Zor province. The Syrian military shelled al-Mayadin overnight and Syrian and Russian warplanes have conducted hundreds of strikes, it said.  Hezbollah, part of the military alliance supporting President Bashar al-Assad, said this week a senior commander had been killed in an Islamic State attack in Syria s central desert. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
8882,8883,"Serena slams Hsieh to march into third round Reuters  Australia ? Europe ? India ? markets ? Russia ? Taiwan ?   Defending champion Serena Williams ramped up her bid for a 22nd grand slam title with a dominant 6 1 6 2 win over unseeded Taiwanese Hsieh Su wei to charge into the Australian Open third round on Wednesday .  The top seed had to survive a tough opening match against Italian Camila Giorgi but destroyed the 90th ranked Hsieh in exactly one hour in glorious sunshine at Rod Laver Arena .  Hsieh , a two time grand slam doubles champion , prised three break points but the American saved them all and closed out the match with her seventh ace .  "" I think I was really focused and that first round really helped me because I was really just fighting , "" world number one Williams told reporters after setting up a third round clash against 18 year old Russian Daria Kasatkina .  "" I really gave a big effort there . Today again , I just wanted to stay focused for the whole time .  "" I don ' t think I made that many errors today . Something I was hopefully trying to get back into . And I moved much better today , so slowly but surely , feeling a little bit better . ""  Williams pulled out of the lead up Hopman Cup midway through her first match with knee trouble but looked untroubled as she burned around the court to fire 26 winners past the Taiwanese .  She was particularly pleased with her scramble for a winner around the net , which she thought was the first of her career , but poured cold water on the idea of pulling off a between the legs trick shot in subsequent matches .  "" It ' s always cool to do something fresh and new , "" she said .  "" I don ' t do ( ' tweeners ) . I ' m not good at those . I did when I was younger , and I was terrible at it . I know what I ' m good at , and I know things I ' m not going to excel at . I ' m definitely not going to excel at that shot . ""  This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto feed .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
8884,8885,"Frustrated with the United Nations ' "" consistent , blatant regard for the will of its 188 member nations , "" the U . S . announced Monday the formation of its own international governing body , the U . S . U . N .  "" The U . N . has repeatedly demonstrated an inability to act decisively in carrying out actions the U . S . government deems necessary , "" U . S . U . N . Secretary General Colin Powell said .  "" Every time we tried to get something accomplished , it inevitably got bogged down in procedural policies , bureaucratic formalities , and Security Council votes . ""  "" I predict the U . S . U . N . will be extremely influential in world politics in the coming decades , "" Powell continued . "" In fact , you can count on it . ""  The new organization will be based in Houston , where a 400 million U . S . U . N . Building is currently under construction . The U . S . U . N . Charter , ratified unanimously by delegates in a four minute vote Monday , sets forth the mission of the organization as "" the proliferation of peace and international economic , social , and humanitarian progress through deference to the U . S . ""  "" The U . S . U . N . resembles the original in almost every way , right down to all the flags outside our headquarters , "" said Condoleezza Rice , a U . S . delegate to the U . S . U . N . "" This organization will carry out peacekeeping missions all over the world , but , unlike the U . N . , these missions will not be compromised by the threat of opposition by lesser nations . "" In its first act , the U . S . U . N . Security Council unanimously backed a resolution to liberate Iraq ' s people and natural resources from the rule of Saddam Hussein .  "" We gave the old U . N . a go for I don ' t know how many years , but it just wasn ' t working , "" said Dick Cheney , a U . S . delegate to the U . S . U . N . "" Really , I have no idea what we were doing sacrificing all that power and autonomy in exchange for a couple of lousy troops from New Zealand . ""  Added Cheney : "" I can ' t tell you how much easier it is to achieve consensus when you don ' t have to worry about dissent . ""  Cheney , along with Rice , Donald Rumsfeld , Tom Ridge , and George W . Bush , make up the five permanent members of the 15 person U . S . U . N . Security Council .  "" The five Security Council members have veto power to block U . S . U . N . resolutions for military action , "" Rumsfeld said . "" Not that anyone would , but it ' s nice to have , nonetheless . "" According to Powell , in spite of the fact that delegates hail from every corner of the U . S . , General Assembly meetings have been refreshingly free of rancor .  "" We ' ve got Bill Frist from Tennessee , Tom DeLay from Texas , and Dennis Hastert from way up in Illinois , "" U . S . U . N . delegate Rick Santorum said . "" Despite the diverse backgrounds of the delegates , cooperation has not been a problem unlike at some outmoded , gridlocked international peacekeeping bodies I could name . ""  The official U . S . U . N . language is English . The official religion is Christianity .  ",satire,text,validation,World conflict,US elections,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,present
8889,8890,"Asylum seekers and refugees applying to be minicab drivers are exempt from criminal records checks , potentially allowing murderers and rapists to get behind the wheel .  Rules laid down by Transport for London ( TfL ) mean refugees and those applying for asylum do not have to reveal whether they have a criminal history when trying to become a cab driver .  The legal loophole in an official application document on ' private hire driver licensing ' says people coming to Britain will not be required to have their criminal convictions checked .  Asylum seekers and refugees applying to be minicab drivers are exempt from criminal records checks  Everyone else who applies for a cab licence must undergo criminal records checks . Those from outside the  who have spent more than three months abroad over the last three years have to provide a ' letter of good conduct ' from their home country .  This usually requires their country of origin to give a reference to the Home Office , revealing whether the applicant has a criminal history .  But asylum seekers and refugees are exempt from this too , according to a second document .  A TfL guide on taxi and private hire applications states : ' Any applicant who has been granted or is awaiting a decision to be granted asylum refugee status will not be required to produce a Certificate of Good Conduct from the country he is claiming asylum from . '  Applicants from outside the  must provide a letter of ' good conduct ' from their home country but asylum seekers do not have to  Campaigners called for a change in the guidelines , calling on all minicab drivers to undergo thorough criminal checks .  Tory  Nick de Bois said : ' They should not be offering licences to those they can ' t check on . They could be putting vulnerable members of the public in the hands of thieves , murderers and rapists . It beggars belief . '  Helen Chapman , manager of London taxi and private hire at TfL , said : ' All applicants for a Taxi or Private Hire drivers licence are required to undertake an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check which is carried out by the Home Office .  ' Any applicant that has lived in a country other than the  for more than three months within the last three years is also required to produce a Certificate of Good Conduct from the relevant country .  ' We recognise this may not be possible if an applicant is granted asylum or refugee status and , where applicable , these applicants will be required to provide a Certificate of Good Conduct from any other country of residence within the last three years . They will also be required to provide evidence of their Certificate of Registration or a letter from the Border and Immigration Agency . '  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,present
8900,8901,"Porto Santo Stefano , Italy Rescuers reached two trapped honeymooners in the interior of a cruise ship more than 24 hours after it ran aground off a picturesque Italian island , killing three people , injuring 20 and leaving dozens unaccounted for .  The South Korean passengers , each 29 , heard searchers calling out on the Costa Concordia , Italy ' s  news agency reported early Sunday . They were located in a cabin and taken ashore . Video showed them being taken to a waiting ambulance .  The captain of the ill fated vessel , which turned over on its side after the grounding , was arrested late Saturday and was being investigated for abandoning ship and manslaughter , a local prosecutor said .  With perhaps up to 50 people unaccounted for , divers suspended their efforts at dark , with plans to resume the search in the azure waters off the island of Giglio at dawn Sunday .  Accounts of the chaos from many of the 3 , 200 passengers were reminiscent of a maritime disaster 100 years ago this April the loss of the  Titanic .  "" For me , the worst part of the whole ordeal "" was when a lifeboat crew member told those boarding that it was "" women and children first , "" said passenger Benji Smith of Boston .  Some passengers fell into the chilly waters during the rescue ,  reported .  Questions abounded : Why was the colossal ship so close to the shore ? How fast was it moving ? How well did the crew respond ? According to many passengers , the evacuation was disorganized and no one seemed in charge .  "" Every crew member who walked past shouted instructions , but the instructions contradicted each other , "" Smith said .  Concordia ' s captain , Francesco Schettino , was interviewed earlier Saturday about what happened when the ship struck rocks in shallow water off Italy ' s western coast Friday evening , said officer Emilio Del Santo of the Coastal Authorities of Livorno . Local fishermen say the island coast of Giglio is known for its rocky sea floor .  Schettino said "" that rock was not indicated on the chart , "" according to  . "" Me and the crew , we were the last to abandon ship , "" he said .  The ship was 2 . 5 miles off route when it struck the rocky sandbar .  "" There are rocks , they are on the maps , "" said Capt . Cosimo Nicastro of the Italian Coast Guard . "" What we know is the ship went really close to these rocks . . . . We don ' t yet know why . ""  The ship began taking on water Friday evening and the crew kept going because they believed the vessel could normally keep sailing , Nicastro said . Realizing there was a significant safety problem , the commander steered the Costa Concordia closer toward port .  Authorities also were looking at why the ship didn ' t hail a mayday during the accident .  "" At the moment we can ' t exclude that the ship had some kind of technical problem , and for this reason moved towards the coast in order to save the passengers , the crew and the ship . But they didn ' t send a mayday . The ship got in contact with us once the evacuation procedures were already ongoing , "" Del Santo said prior to the announcement of the captain ' s arrest .  Giuseppe Orsina , a spokesman with the local civil protection agency , said 43 to 51 people were missing , though authorities are reviewing passenger lists to confirm the exact figure .  "" These people could be still on the island of Giglio , in private houses or in hospitals , "" Orsina said .  Two French tourists and a crew member from Peru were killed , Port authorities in Livorno said . One of the victims was a 65 year old woman who died of a heart attack , according to authorities .  Nautilus International , a maritime employees trade union , called the accident a "" wake up call "" to regulators .  "" Nautilus is concerned about the rapid recent increases in the size of passenger ships with the average tonnage doubling over the past decade , "" said Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson in a statement . "" Many ships are now effectively small towns at sea , and the sheer number of people onboard raises serious questions about evacuation . ""  Gianni Onorato , president of Genoa based Costa Cruises , expressed "" deep sorrow for this terrible tragedy , "" but said the cruise line was unable to answer all the questions that authorities are now investigating .  The vessel , plying the waters from Civitavecchia to Savona , Italy , struck a submerged rock , Onorato said in a statement before the announcement of the captain ' s arrest .  "" Captain Schettino , who was on the bridge at the time , immediately understood the severity of the situation and performed a maneuver intended to protect both guests and crew , and initiated security procedures to prepare for an eventual ship evacuation , "" he continued . "" Unfortunately , that operation was complicated by a sudden tilting of the ship that made disembarkation difficult , "" Onorato said .  Rosalyn Rincon , a member of the cruise ship staff , said the captain told passengers there was an "" electrical problem . ""  Concordia was carrying about 3 , 200 passengers and 1 , 000 crew members when it ran aground .  "" I ' m not surprised that it ( the ship ) would wind up tipping like this , "" said Neil Gallagher , professor of naval architecture at the Webb Institute on Long Island , New York . "" Something had to go wrong with either the controls or the navigation to get it to this condition . ""  Chris B . McKesson , adjunct professor of naval architecture at the School of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering at the University of New Orleans , said , "" from the size of the gash , she must have been steaming at a pretty good pace . ""  Fear and panic aboard crippled ship  Panic spread as people scrambled to find lifeboats in the dark as the ship quickly leaned to one side late Friday . Access to some lifeboats was hampered by the ship ' s tilt into the water .  With the ship ' s staircases flooded , Smith and others made rope ladders to climb from the outer fourth deck to the third . They were eventually rescued more than three hours later by a lifeboat that had returned from dropping passengers ashore .  At least three lifeboats , each with a capacity of more than 100 people , apparently malfunctioned due to technical or crew error , Smith said . "" The people manning these boats were just cooks and shopkeepers , "" Smith said .  Cmdr . Buddy Reams , chief of the U . S . Coast Guard ' s Cruise Ship National Center of Expertise , said , "" when it comes to cruise ships , in the event of emergency , cabin stewards or others would have safety roles , "" he said .  The Coast Guard inspects foreign flagged cruise ships in U . S . waters twice a year , studying the competency of the crew during fire and abandon ship drills , Reams said .  Many of those rescued in the early hours were taken to small churches and other buildings around the island for shelter . Some were still wearing the pajamas and slippers they had on as the ship went down .  Once ashore , no one from the crew assisted them , Shafer said . Rather , it was up to islanders .  "" There didn ' t seem to be anybody in charge , "" she said .  Costa Cruises , owned by parent company Carnival Corp . , said it was focusing on the final stages of the emergency operation and helping passengers and crew return home .  "" It is a tragedy that deeply affects our company . Our first thoughts go to the victims and we would like to express our condolences and our closeness to their families and friends , "" the line said on its website .  The Concordia , built in 2006 , was on a Mediterranean cruise from Rome with stops in Savona , Marseille , Barcelona , Palma de Mallorca , Cagliari and Palermo .  Another Costa ship was involved in a deadly 2010 accident when the Costa Europa crashed into a pier in Egypt ' s Sharm el Sheikh during stormy weather , killing three crew members .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
8905,8906,"Firefighters that responded to a call out for an elderly man that had a heart attack while shoveling snow have inspired an outpouring of good deeds .  The first responders from the Greenfield Fire Department in Wisconsin rushed the man to a nearby hospital for treatment .  They then returned to his house and finished clearing a foot of snow from his driveway .  The Greenfield Fire Department in Wisconsin first took an elderly man having a heart attack to hospital and then returned to finish shoveling a foot of snow from his driveway  The incident was captured on camera and posted to Reddit and later on Facebook by the Fire Department .  ' An elderly man in my neighborhood had a heart attack while shoveling his driveway . Paramedics took him to the hospital , then returned to finish shoveling his driveway for him , ' Reddit user Optimoprimo reported .  Firefighters first used the plow on their truck and then shoveled away what the plow couldn ' t reach .  The Greenfield Fire Department has since launched a ' Shovel It Forward ' campaign to encourage residents to help those who may have difficulty shoveling snow .  The department has encouraged people to share their good deeds using the hashtag shovelitforward .  The Greenfield Fire Department in Wisconsin has received national attention since news of their good deed went viral . They are encouraging others to help out neighbors that may face difficulties clearing snow  ' They just saw someone that needed help and they took time out of their day and their busy schedules to do something like that . It ' s amazing . It ' s awesome , ' the elderly man ' s daughter told  affiliate  .  The driveway was snowed in again the next day and someone came and cleared it again according to Optimoprimo . Someone from the neighborhood with a snowblower will help the man out from now on he reported .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
8908,8909,"Former basketball star Dennis Rodman has received the Nobel Peace Prize for his unlikely and controversial role in promoting international relations with North Korea and "" friend for life "" dictator Kim Jong un .  The eccentric sports icon accepted the award via satellite during the ceremony in Norway ' s capital , Oslo . The prize committee praised Rodman for working to end the simmering conflict between isolated North Korea , the United States and the world community through "" basketball diplomacy . ""  "" I accept this award on behalf of the North Korean people and my good friend , Kim Jong un , who has worked tirelessly to promote peace between his country and the rest of the world , "" Rodman said . "" Mr Kim , I dedicate this award to you . ""  Rodman was among a record 259 nominees from around the world for the prestigious award , which each year is given to those who have worked toward peace and fraternity between nations . Other nominees included Army Pvt . Bradley Manning , who leaked classified documents to WikiLeaks 16 year old education activist Malala Yousafzai , who was shot in the head by Taliban militants and hip hop performer Kanye West for "" single handedly inspiring millions of people to rise up from a life of mediocrity to become as wonderful and perfect as he is . ""  Rodman first visited North Korea with the Harlem Globetrotters and Vice Media earlier this year to play a game with the national basketball team . He has visited the country twice and has reportedly developed a close relation with the secretive Kim Jong un , whom he describes as a "" good dad . ""  Shortly afterward Rodman , 52 , announced plans to move to the totalitarian communist dictatorship and coach its basketball team .  During the Nobel Prize ceremony , Rodman received a diploma , a medal and 1 . 2 million . Rodman said he plans to donate the money toward building a new sports training facility in North Korea ' s capital , Pyongyang .  "" Everyone called me na ve and crazy to go to one of the scariest places in the world and hang out with one of the most dangerous men in the world , "" Rodman said . "" Well , all I can say now is , who ' s having the last laugh ? ""  Rodman now joins a prestigious list of past Nobel Peace Prize winners , which include South African leader Nelson Mandela , the 14th Dalai Lama , Burmese leader Aung Sang Suu Kyi , microfinance banker Muhammad Yunus and human rights activist Liu Xiaobo .  However , immediate response to his honor was mixed .  "" Rodman ' s win is outrageous thing I have ever heard , "" said former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger , a 1973 winner . "" How can you have peace with a country unless you invade and bomb out of it ? Diplomacy isn ' t just about talking to people . ""  In a statement , President Barack Obama , who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009 early in his first term , congratulated Rodman .  "" Even though Mr Rodman has not really done anything to end the diplomatic tension between our two nations , at least he is trying , "" Obama said . "" As we all know , sometimes the promise and expectation that you ' ll do something positive is good enough . ""  ",satire,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
8918,8919,"Washington Using the most unlikely of clues a pretzel bag authorities in Denmark and the United States are zeroing in on a suspected child abuser , and they are asking for the public ' s help in ending the exploitation of a small girl .  U . S . Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Tuesday released five photographs of a man carefully edited from four videos in which the man sexually assaults a young girl , believed to be 7 to 9 years old .  Three of the videos , which contain a clear image of the man , are date stamped April 14 , a fourth is dated April 27 , and all four appear to have been posted on the Internet several days later , on May 2 .  Danish National Police discovered the videos soon thereafter and notified U . S . authorities on May 3 .  Three factors led Danish investigators to believe the crime occurred in the U . S . : the background , some products visible in the video , and the man ' s appearance .  In the United States , investigators with Homeland Security Investigations , the law enforcement arm of  , saw a Frito Lay Rold Gold bag for thin pretzels in the videos . By studying Frito Lay web sites , they learned that Rold Gold pretzels are packaged differently within the United States and Canada .   investigators believe the bag in the video is exclusively distributed in the United States .  With leads coming to an end , the investigators are asking the public for help in identifying the man .  "" We kind of hit a wall in this investigation . Without the public ' s help , we may not be able ( to find the man ) and more importantly stop the ongoing abuse of this victim , "" said Brian Korzak , a special agent with  ' s Cyber Crimes Center , Child Exploitation Unit .  Publication of the man ' s photo "" will greatly increase our chances of locating this individual , "" said Special Agent Patrick Redling . "" Since the videos were created so recently , we feel there ' s a child in danger right now . ""  Korzak and Redling say investigators routinely identify both technical and visual clues in videos for evidence to identify criminals and to rescue victims .   is asking anyone with information about this man to contact the agency immediately by calling the  Tip Line at 866 347 2423 or completing an online tip form at www .  . gov tips . Tips remain anonymous ,  said , and individuals should not attempt to apprehend the suspect .   filed a criminal complaint in the U . S . District Court of Washington on Friday , charging the man in the photos , identified as a "" John Doe , "" of producing , possessing and distributing child pornography .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
8925,8926,"Reuters) - Neil Gorsuch has taken part in more than 2,000 court cases as an appeals court judge. Here are seven that offer insights into his legal views as he faces questioning this week in a U.S. Senate hearing on his nomination to become a Supreme Court justice. Frozen trucker         Transam Trucking Inc v. Department of Labor, 2016 (bit.ly/2aUK2Ub) This case shows, liberals say, that Gorsuch rules for employers at the expense of workers. In it, he dissented from a three-judge panel that ruled in favor of truck driver Alphonse Maddin. He was fired after he disobeyed a supervisor and abandoned his trailer at roadside after its brakes froze. The panel ruled he was wrongly terminated. Gorsuch disagreed. ‘Chevron deference’ Gutierrez-Brizuela v. Lynch (2016) (bit.ly/2bLfVgE) In an immigration case, Gorsuch criticized the “Chevron deference” legal doctrine that says courts should defer to federal agencies on interpreting the law. Gorsuch said it concentrates federal power “in a way that seems more than a little difficult to square with the Constitution.” If the court were to roll back the doctrine, presidents would have less leeway to interpret the law when issuing regulations through agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency. ‘Class clown’     A.M. v Holmes, 2016 (bit.ly/29VN4Jy) Republicans say Gorsuch does not put politics above the law and follows his own path. In some criminal cases, he has come down hard on prosecutors or government officials, while also sometimes defying colleagues on the bench. In this case, he decried the handcuffing and arrest of a seventh-grade “class clown” in Albuquerque who refused to stop burping in class, saying the police officer involved should not have gotten immunity from suit. Paraphrasing Charles Dickens, he said the law is not as much of an “ass” as to allow for that.  ‘No trespassing’ U.S. v Carloss 2016  (bit.ly/2nLGzw3) Standing up for homeowners’ property rights, Gorsuch dissented from a decision to admit evidence discovered by police officers who approached, and later entered, a home despite several “No trespassing” signs outside. He lampooned the idea that the government can knock on anyone’s door, at any time, saying homeowners might be surprised to learn that “No trespassing signs have become little more than lawn art.” Transgender rights Druley v Patton (2015) (bit.ly/2ntFcEV) In a ruling highlighted by liberal activists as a sign he may be hostile to gay and transgender rights, Gorsuch joined a ruling against a transgender Oklahoma state prisoner who claimed prison officials violated her rights by denying her adequate hormone therapy and housing her with men. The court rejected her claims, saying she had not proved she would be “irreparably harmed without her requested hormone treatment.”  Employee rights Hwang v. Kansas State University, 2014 (bit.ly/SsXD8J) In a case criticized by liberals, Gorsuch wrote the opinion when a three-judge panel ruled against Kansas State University professor Grace Hwang. She got six months of sick leave from the school when she was diagnosed with cancer. When she asked for more time, Kansas State refused. Hwang alleged illegal disability discrimination. Gorsuch said Hwang was a capable teacher and was legally disabled. But he wrote: “There’s also no question she wasn’t able to perform the essential functions of her job even with a reasonable accommodation.” He said the law was not intended to “turn employers into safety net providers for those who cannot work.” Hwang has since died. Religious freedom Hobby Lobby v. Sebelius, 2013 (bit.ly/2func5k) Liberals say this case shows Gorsuch sides with corporations over people and favors religious liberty over other interests, including womens’ contraceptive rights. Retailer Hobby Lobby argued it should not have to provide insurance coverage for female employees’ birth control, defying a rule by the administration of former President Barack Obama. Gorsuch concurred in an opinion favoring the company and expressed sympathy for evangelical Christian business owners. The Supreme Court later upheld the decision for the company. ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
8934,8935,"Paul Lawrie returned the Ryder Cup to its next host venue of Gleneagles Wednesday then revealed how the hostile reception he and his Europe teammates received from the Medinah galleries had given them even greater resolve .  Scot Lawrie proved a last day hero after his 5 3 victory over Brandt Snedeker helped his team retain the trophy , but he did not enjoy being the butt of the American supporters .  "" I didn ' t get abused , but you get ' top it , shank it , you ' re a loser ' , stuff like that , every shot you play , "" he said .  It came as no surprise to the 43 year old veteran , who played in the infamous "" Battle of Brookline "" in 1999 where raucous home support helped the Americans overturn a four point deficit on the last day .  This time the boot was on the other foot , as inspired by team captain Jose Maria Olazabal , the Europeans silenced the crowd and pulled off the same feat in the concluding singles .  "" It makes it all the more satisfying on Sunday night when you ' re standing there with the Ryder Cup in front of you and they are not . I think it helps us , to be fair .  "" I think they ( the United States team ) said it ' s the same when they come here . Apparently that ' s how it is , but I can ' t see that . ""  Lawrie has returned to a heroes welcome on home soil where he will be playing in the Alfred Dunhill Links tournament this week .  "" Since I arrived here I can hardly get a ball hit for people coming up kind of slapping you on the back . It ' s been lovely , "" he added .  Germany ' s Martin Kaymer , who holed the testing final putt to make sure Europe retained the Ryder Cup as he beat Steve Stricker , is also in the field .  Kaymer had rolled his initial birdie putt on the 18th at Medinah about six foot past the hole to leave the Europe supporters with their hearts in their mouth .  "" Even though it was more difficult in the end , it was an even better feeling . Of course it was a lot of pressure , but I see it more like a gift what happened , "" he told the official European Tour website .  "" There will never , ever , be a more important putt in my life . Even if I have a chance in two years ' time again ( At Gleneagles ) I ' ve done it before already , "" added the 27 year old .  Kaymer will be looking for his second win in three stagings of the tournament when play gets underway Thursday .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
8950,8951,"Two New York cops that plied an alleged rape victim with alcohol before one attempted to grope her , have admitted to wrongdoing but will get to keep their jobs .  The incident occurred when the two  officers , Lukasz Skorzewski , 31 , and Lt . Adam Lamboy , 44 , flew to Seattle , Washington , to interview an alleged rape victim in July 2013 .  They ended up buying the 24 year old rounds of drinks for nine hours , before Skorzewski took her back to their hotel , where he tried to tear off her clothes and grope her .  During the encounter he allegedly told her ' You ' re my favorite victim . '  Allegations : The unnamed woman , from Seattle , Washington , alleged that two  officers plied her with rounds of drinks before Skorzewski attempted to grope her  Det . Lukasz Skorzewski , 31 , left , and Lt . Adam Lamboy , 44 , pleaded guilty to departmental charges after the unidentified 24 year old woman ' s allegations made their way to the media . They get to keep their jobs  Both policemen were hit with departmental charges after the unidentified woman ' s allegations made their way to the media .  Skorzewski was demoted from detective after the trip , and was docked 30 vacation days and suspended for 10 days without pay as a result of pleading guilty .  He has been transferred to the Medical Division in Queens on a year ' s probation .  Lamboy was already under investigation for overtime payments that he had not worked .  He pleaded guilty to that charge too and was ordered to pay back more than 5 , 000 for 76 hours .  For both charges he was docked 45 vacation days and suspended for 15 without pay .  He has been transferred to Police Service Area 9 Viper in Flushing , Queens , a public housing unit .  Lamboy lost his command as head of the  ' s Manhattan Special Victims Division .  Police Commissioner Bill Bratton will have to approve the final punishment .  Sonia Ossorio , president of the National Organization for Women ' s New York City chapter , said in a statement : ' The idea of a special victims detective making a pass at a rape victim when he ' s charged with interviewing her about that rape shatters any notion of confidence in the  ' s ability to regulate itself . '  ' It ' s so far beyond the bounds of acceptability . '  The alleged victim said that on the day of the incident she had lunch with Skorzewski , a married father of two , at a Seattle restaurant called the Skillet Diner .  He spent time asking questions about her January 2013 rape case in which she alleges she was attacked by a man in a Union Square apartment in New York City .  She was then taken to the Pier 58 tourist area to meet his boss , Lamboy .  Sonia Ossorio of the National Organization for Women ' s New York chapter , says the case shatters confidence in the  ' s ability to regulate itself  ' Luke was actually the one who said , ' I don ' t know if you ' re going to be able to come because we ' re going to be drinking .  ' But when I dropped him off , the lieutenant was the one who said , ' Oh , no , you should stay , come on , ' she recalled .  ' I was going through this all alone . My family didn ' t know , ' she said . ' It felt good that they were being so nice . '  They then went to Paddy Coyne ' s Irish Pub , but Skorzewski was so drunk that servers refused to give him any more alcohol .  Later , they headed to Cha Cha Lounge in Capitol Hill and then moved on to Unicorn , with the cops flashing their badges to cut the line .  She said that she attempted to leave at around midnight , but they begged her to stay . They even pleaded with her to call in sick to her job as a Starbucks barista the next morning .  She was drunk and unable to drive , so she went with them after they assured her that she would be safe if she stayed with them at their hotel .  They took her back to their hotel room at the Embassy Suites hotel in nearby Bellevue , Washington .  Once there , Skorzewski loaned her some clothes and slept on the couch , she said .  But when they woke up with hangovers , Skorzewski climbed in bed with her as they watched  and asked to put his arm around her .  She claims he said : ' I really want to kiss you right now . ' He also wanted to ' feel her up . '  She describes how he tried to work his way into her pants to tear them off but she pushed his hand away .  The next day , both policemen visited her at Starbucks and promised to stay in touch .  Pub : The accuser claimed Skorzewski had been so drunk that servers at an Irish bar in downtown Seattle refused to give him any more alcohol  She said Skorzewski called her almost daily from New York for a month but the calls soon stopped , and she was ' crushed . '  She quizzed him about why he had become distant in an e mail but he became angry suggesting that she had screwed up his personal life .  She later saw Skorzewski in New York in October 2013 for a ' call ' to the man who allegedly attacked her in January of that year . But the man was never charged .  Skorzewski soon stopped returning her calls altogether , so she sent a letter to a family friend in the  which led to a call from the Internal Affairs Bureau .  She told Internal affairs what happened and gave them evidence , including photos from the boozy night out , text messages and phone records which showed two hour long calls with Skorzewski .  Shortly after her claims were partially vindicated , Lamboy and Skorzewski were transferred from the elite Manhattan Special Victims Division .  Today , the woman , who is now now studying nursing at a Manhattan university , says she feels guilty that the detective might lose his job .  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
8951,8952,"Europe ' s controversial new laws banning ultra thin models from strutting down the catwalk may be doing more harm than good as models are reportedly going to extreme measures to ensure they clock in at a ' healthy ' weight when they hop on the scale including stuffing their underwear with sandbags .  Earlier this month France passed a new law that bars models from walking the runway if their body mass index is deemed too low , in an attempt to combat anorexia . And the pressure is on for agencies who can face a fines of up to 80 , 000 and six months in prison for employing too thin models .  But former model Jennifer Sky , 38 , from Brooklyn , New York , has revealed in an op ed for the New York Observer that the fashion industry has already found a way around the regulations , explaining that thin models are now resorting to wearing weighted Spanx in order to cheat the new  standards .  New kind of pressure : Former model Jennifer Sky , pictured in 2013 ( R ) and 2003 ( L ) , has reported that models are being asked to wear Spanx underwear stuffed with sandbags , so they can clock in at a ' healthy ' weight  Different rules : Models can be seen walking down the runway at the Masha Ma show in March at Paris Fashion Week . France recently passed a law banning models from the catwalk if their body mass index is too low  An anonymous model , referred to in the piece as ' Lauren ' , told Jennifer that she participated in Spanish Fashion Week , sometime after the country passed its new weight law in 2006 and recalled being asked to hide weights in her undergarments .  ' They gave us Spanx underwear to stuff with weighted sandbags so the thinnest of girls had a "" healthy "" weight on the scales , ' Lauren said . ' I even saw them put weights in their hair . '  Jennifer went on to say that she hopes the  does not try to pass this ' discriminatory and misguided ' because of its negative affect on naturally thin women .  She noted that when she was a teenager she too would have been deemed underweight because  calculations , which are based on weight and height , don ' t take age , sex or genetic body shape into account .  ' At 16 , when I was working as a fashion model , I weighed 115 pounds and was 5 ' 7 "" 1 2 , ' she wrote . ' I exercised regularly and really loved to eat Subway veggie sandwiches and drink McDonald ' s vanilla milkshakes . '  Major changes : Models can be seen strutting down the catwalk during the  show at Paris Fashion Week in March . Agencies who employ ' too thin ' models face large fines and even jail time under the new French law  She continued : ' I was not anorexic or starving I was definitely over worked . I was simply a naturally thin teenager with a powerful teenage metabolic system . '  Jennifer noted that as a teen with a  of 18 . 0 , she would most certainly have been considered ' underweight ' while the exact  requirements for models working in France have not been released , the World Health Organization considers people with a  below 18 . 5 to be underweight and at risk of being malnourished .  And while Jennifer says that , 22 years later her current measurements finally put her at a ' normal ' 21 . 0 , her  for most of her modeling career would have been deemed too dangerous for her to work under the new laws .  While the model rights activist applauded the French government for attempting to protect the health of ' these young working professionals ' , she and Lauren both agreed that outlawing skinny altogether is not the answer .  ' I think a better solution is to raise the age limit for models to 18 , ' Lauren told Jennifer . ' Many ultra thin models are simply still going through puberty , and allowing their bodies to form before their career would be beneficial to all . '  Model rights activist : Jennifer spoke with Megan Alexander ( R ) about trafficking , abuse , and child labor problems within the fashion industry on Inside Edition in February  Strict rules : The 38 year old , who snapped this ' Post Fashion Week ' selfie in February , noted her  would have been considered too low when she was a healthy 16 year old model because she had a fast metabolism  Jennifer added that instead of putting restrictions on the size of young models , the French government should ' look to the modeling agencies who freely act as employment agencies without the responsibilities of treating their client models as working professionals ' .  Because models are considered independent contractors in the  , standard employment laws , which allow workers mandatory breaks , compensation for injuries and protection from sexual harassment , do not apply .  Sara Ziff , who is a model and founder of The Model Alliance organization , told Think Progress in March that she is also against the new French law because legislating body mass standards is not the same thing as the fashion industry promoting a ' healthy ideal ' .  '  suggests there are distinct categories of underweight , ideal , overweight and obese , with sharp boundaries that hinge on a decimal place , which is simply not true , ' she explained . ' It is unfair and unreasonable to ban healthy models from working just because they have a relatively low  . '  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
8964,8965,"Former champion Maria Sharapova found inspiration in a change of dress to put away unseeded American Lauren Davis 6 1 , 6 7 ( 5 ) , 6 0 at the Australian Open on Friday to set up an intriguing fourth round match with rising Swiss talent Belinda Bencic .  Up 2 0 in the second set and closing in on victory , the Russian s serve crumbled , allowing Davis to reel off five consecutive games and eventually capture a tense second set tiebreak . Fifth seed Sharapova then left the court for a lengthy comfort break between sets but re emerged with a fresh outfit and a renewed focus , and proceeded to hammer the hapless American .  Lauren Davis celebrates winning the second set tiebreak . (  Photo )  Bashing consecutive aces with her first two serves , Sharapova roared through without dropping a game , closing out the match when her 103rd ranked opponent swiped a backhand long .  I don t have a chat in the mirror , I think I get fined for that , Sharapova said courtside of her trip to the locker room .  I changed my dress and felt a little bit lighter which made me move better . But other than that , that s all I can share .  The win was 28 year old Sharapova s 600th on tour and the five time Grand Slam champion now faces an inter generational battle against 18 year old Bencic .  Oh wow , I ve won 600 matches ? A friendly reminder that I m getting older ? , said the Russian during the post match interview .  Long touted for big things , 12th seed Bencic was the first player into the round of 16 after fighting back from a set down to overhaul Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko 4 6 , 6 2 , 6 4 in the earlier match at Rod Laver Arena .  Easily outstripping her previous second round best at the tournament , Bencic also became the first Swiss woman to reach the fourth round at Melbourne Park since Martina Hingis and Patty Schnyder in 2007 .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
8991,8992,"Photo : Bryon Houlgrave , The Des Moines Register , via  )   ? Young women could make history by ? helping elect the first woman president , ? but many of them are turning to the oldest white guy in the field .  Sen . Bernie Sanders , 74 , a Vermont independent , ? will head ? into the Democratic presidential debate Sunday with a 19 point lead over front runner Hillary Clinton , 50 to 31 , among Democratic and independent women ? ages ? 18 to 34 , according to a recent   Rock the Vote poll .  Millennial women are among the supporters Sanders is counting on to help him pull off an upset Feb . 1 in Iowa , ? where his poll numbers are surging , ? and hold his lead in New Hampshire , which will hold ? a ? primary Feb . 9 , to give him ? the momentum he needs to succeed in later contests ? where Clinton is favored .  The challenge of this election is to disprove the skeptics who believe ( young people ) don t vote , said Tad Devine , Sanders senior adviser . Obama and his campaign took that on , they disproved it , it became the source of their victory . We re trying to do the same thing .  In 2008 , Obama won the Iowa caucuses , and Clinton placed third after a record attendance that nearly doubled the 2004 turnout . His greatest support came from 17 to 44 year olds while Clinton won among those 65 and older , according to ? exit polls .  Despite her advantages in contests after New Hampshire , ? Clinton could leave Iowa weakened or politically wounded if the Obama effect works in Sanders favor and she fails to score a resounding victory , said Dennis Goldford , a political science professor at Drake University in Des Moines .  The problem for Sanders : Young people are among the most unreliable voters who tend to turn out only for general elections , Goldford said .  The poll showed that the younger voters are , the more likely they are to be Sanders supporters .  Among both genders , Sanders has ? 57 backing in the 18 25 ? age group , according to the   Rock the Vote poll . That drops to 36 for those ages ? 26 34 . For Clinton , the opposite is true . She gets 44 of those ages 26 to 34 and 25 of those 18 25 .  Sanders has worked to energize young supporters with town meetings at colleges and recently in Iowa high schools , outreach on social media ? and interviews on the online message board Reddit .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,present
8993,8994,"Rand Paul kicks off his Texas swing this weekend with a top endorsement and a key addition to his political operation , announcing that Texas  Chairman Steve Munisteri will become an adviser to Paul ' s team .  As campaigns start taking shape ahead of the 2016 Republican presidential race , Paul ' s alliance with Munisteri is notable given the throng of other potential contenders with ties to Texas , a state rich in campaign cash .  Munisteri will resign his role with the state party on Friday to join Team Rand , he said in a statement issued on Thursday . The Wall Street Journal first reported the story on Thursday evening .  As chairman since 2010 , Munisteri will bring with him a sizable rolodex and intricate knowledge of the reliably red state . Texas is expected to hold its primary on March 1 , 2016 , and given the crowded field of potential candidates , it could play an influential role in the contest for the Republican nomination .  Munisteri said he ' s supporting Paul , whom he ' known for 33 years , in part because of the Kentucky Republican ' s strategy to court nontraditional  voters , like African Americans and young people , according to The Wall Street Journal .  "" Paul shares my vision of promoting the conservative values of individual freedom , limited government , a strong national defense and defense of the Constitution in each and every community in our country , "" the chairman said .  Munisteri gained a reputation for being fair and inclusive , said Dallas County  Wade Emmert , who ' s running to replace the chairman .  "" This is a real coup for Rand Paul , "" Emmert said , noting that Munisteri brings "" instant credibility "" in Texas .  While Paul was raised in Texas and attended Baylor University his father , ex Rep . Ron Paul , represented a district near of Houston for 23 years a number of his potential contenders also have deep roots in the Lone Star State .  Rick Perry , for example , just stepped down as the state ' s longest serving governor . Munisteri backed Perry ' s presidential bid in 2012 .  Sen . Ted Cruz won a longshot victory in a heated Texas primary battle nearly three years ago and has since become a conservative firebrand in Congress . ( Paul ' s campaign recently nabbed Cruz ' s digital strategist , Vincent Harris . )  Former Florida Gov . Jeb Bush was also raised in Texas , and his son , George P . Bush , recently won statewide office as Texas Land Commissioner , while his brother , former President George W . Bush , served as governor of the state before Perry .    : Hillary Clinton is beating Mitt Romney on Twitter  Even Chris Christie has slipped into the Texas mix , with his now famous adoration for the Dallas Cowboys and cozy friendship with owner Jerry Jones . Christie also recently hired Ray Washburne , a Texas local and former national finance chairman for the Republican National Committee , for his own political action committee .  And renowned retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson recently hired attorney Terry Giles from Houston .  Paul , however , has signaled that he ' ll be vying for as much attention as he can get in Texas . He ' s set to open an office in Austin , and he ' s returning to the Dallas Ft . Worth area this weekend to speak at a Dallas County  event on Friday , followed by a Tarrant County  event on Saturday .  He spoke at the Texas  convention last June , and earlier in 2014 he challenged Lone State Republicans to push for expanding the party ' s base .  "" Texas will be a Democratic state within 10 years if you don ' t change , "" he said .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
9001,9002,"Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s nominee to run the department overseeing the U.S. government’s health programs for the elderly and disabled won the backing of a Senate committee on Thursday, paving the way for a full vote in the Senate. The Senate Committee on Finance voted 13-12 to support Seema Verma to run the $1 trillion Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Verma is the owner of SVC, a healthcare consulting firm, and has helped redesign Medicaid programs in several states, including Indiana. She worked in Indiana to expand Medicaid to include thousands of additional low-income residents. Those residents are required to make small monthly payments toward their care through health savings accounts. It is a model that could influence how the Trump administration thinks about providing health care to low-income people. In a speech to Congress on Tuesday, Trump said the government should help Americans buy health insurance through the use of tax credits and expanded health savings accounts. Verma has worked closely with Vice President Mike Pence, who as governor of Indiana awarded her the Sagamore of the Wabash award, typically bestowed on those who have rendered distinguished services to the state or to the governor. Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah said in a statement that addressing the challenges facing Medicare and Medicaid will require a strong partnership with the administration. Verma, he said, “will help facilitate that partnership and as we work to repeal and replace Obamacare, she will play a vital role in realigning the focus on patient-centered solutions.” Speaking before a preliminary vote on Wednesday, Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon expressed concern that in her confirmation hearing last month, Verma had failed to answer questions about how she would tackle high drug prices. He also said that while helping manage the state of Indiana’s health program, her firm was being paid by companies that were providing services and products to the program. “She was on both sides of the deal,” he said. Verma has denied any wrong-doing. In a Jan. 31 letter to the Department of Health and Human Services, she outlined various steps she would take to avoid any conflicts of interest if confirmed as administrator of CMS, including divesting her financial interest in  Inc within 90 days of confirmation. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
9027,9028,"Friends told Vicki that she was ' out of her mind ' hitchiking in that outfit . Vicki says she got a ride with in seconds !                ' T          21ST  !  The government calls a shut down and lays off 12 an hour ticket takers at National Parks , lose 40M in revenue from Tourists who get in free .  Illegal aliens allowed to get driver ' s licenses in Massachusetts , but don ' t have to take driver ' s test because with no  they would be arrested and deported .  If you ' re a dead democrat in Chicago you can vote forever . If you die as a Republican , you ' re immediately taken off the roles until you roll over in your grave and re register as a liberal .  You have to show your birth certificate to get a PassPort , but if you run for President you just have to show up on a Chicago payroll stub and be ' articulate . '  If you ' re a star tight end for Notre Dame and have 3  ' s in a year , you get a "" Pass . "" If you ' re anybody else you get a year in jail , loss of license , or an ankle bracelet .  Star football player turns down 35M rookie contract saying , "" I made more in college , "" threatens to return for his sophomore year .   Union turns down opportunity to be the face of No Child Left Behind ' national campaign , but cites on going child support issues with 95 of dues paying members .  An  moment :  ,  ,  authorize looking the other way on thousands of guns , and tons of drugs passing through the border in order to "" catch the real criminal . ""  Days after Brazil hosts Gay Parade , Gays protest permit for Heterosexual Parade is this  Backwards ?  Brazilian Gays claim 290 deaths last year , demand their Human Rights ! 21 , 000 non gays in Brazil murdered in same year , nobody says merde !   waits 3 weeks before shutting down infected Turkey Burgers and issuing a recall Explaining they  ' T say S if they had a mouthful !   comes to the defense of Tattooed man who claims he couldn ' t get hired . Attorney Jose Baez says "" F Y "" etched in red ink across forehead is freedom of speech protected by Constitution . Judge tells Jose , "" F Off ! ""  Vermont judge sentences repeat offender pedophile to community service as janitor at middle school in hopes of rehabilitation . Principal reluctantly rejects his request to take 11 year old cheer leader to prom . because she ' s now pregnant !  Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders , an avowed Socialist , denies reports he ' s an alcoholic . Critics say he ' s been out every night trying to paint the town red ever since he got to Washington !  Michelle Obama denies reports that since Barry was elected president they have no sex life . Jane Fonda , 73 , is beside herself that 90 of Michelle ' s garden is devoted to Zucchinis really big ones !   Special Olympics : One legged Heather Mills takes on half arsed Piers Morgan over hack phone attack , now McCartney piles on . "" Goody , Goody ' says one time slapper known as the Duchess of Sandwich in her salad days .  You ' ll have a good day now !  ",satire,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,present
9031,9032,"Popular apps for the iPhone and iPad , some of which usually go for up to 20 , were being offered for free in Apple ' s online App Store on Monday , possibly in conjunction with the store ' s fifth anniversary .  Popular games were in abundance on the list , with "" Infinity Blade  , "" "" Where ' s My Water ? "" and "" Tiny Wings "" among them .  The steepest discount appeared to be Traktor  , a suite of tools for mixing and recording music that usually goes for 19 . 99 .  MapMyRide , photo text app Over and recipe app How to Cook Everything also were among the apps being offered for free Monday .  Apple did not immediately respond to a request for more information about the free apps .  In May , the App Store passed a staggering 50 billion downloads , according to Apple .  It seems likely that the apparent promotion will be part of an effort to commemorate July 10 , 2008 , the day the App Store went live as an update to iTunes .  It increased the appeal of the iPhone , and later the iPad , and created a sales model that has been adopted by rivals like Google , Microsoft and BlackBerry in the years since .  That ' s led to Apple to trademark the term "" app store "" in an ongoing effort to protect the term .  In 2011 , Apple filed a lawsuit against Amazon , which rolled out the Amazon App Store along with its entry into the tablet market with the Kindle Fire .  Last month , the two companies failed to come to an agreement after new rounds of negotiations . Apple argues that Amazon infringes on its trademark by calling its store that sells apps an "" app store . "" Amazon argues that the words constitute a generic description . The term "" app , "" as applied to computers , dates at least to the 1980s .  Google ' s app store , for users of its mobile Android operating system , is called Google Play . BlackBerry has BlackBerry World , and Microsoft ' s merely says "" Windows Phone "" at the top of its mobile store ' s homepage .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
9039,9040,"A new study says that global industrial civilization may collapse in mere decades due to unequal wealth distribution and increased strain on the planet ' s resources .  The report , funded by  ' s Goddard Space Flight Center , investigates factors which may be most closely linked to civilizations ' downfalls , including Population , Climate , Water , Agriculture , and Energy , The Guardian reports .  Together , these factors can create resource strain and a wide gap between rich and poor .  Increased strain on resources and widening gap between rich and poor may lead to industrial civilization ' s collapse , the study warns  In one scenario , a famine among ' Commoners ' eventually causes the collapse of society , due to a loss of workers  The study , led by mathematician Safa Motesharrei , goes on to say the the rich , or ' Elites , ' may be responsible for both problems , the Guardian notes .  ' . . . accumulated surplus is not evenly distributed throughout society , but rather has been controlled by an elite , ' it says . ' The mass of the population , while producing the wealth , is only allocated a small portion of it by elites , usually at or just above subsistence levels . '  Furthermore , technology also ' tends to raise both per capita resource consumption and the scale of resource extraction . '  It also cites the downfall of other major , highly advanced civilizations , including the Roman , Han , Gupta and various Mesopotamian empires as evidence that they can be ' fragile and impermanent . '  In both scenarios the study says that Commoners would collapse first , later followed by the wealthy Elites  Would societal collapse mean a doomsday scenarios like the one portrayed in ' The Day After Tomorrow ? ' ( pictured )  The study then lists a series of doomsday scenarios .  In the first , the Elites ' grow and consume too much , resulting in a famine among Commoners that eventually causes the collapse of society . This is due to a loss of workers , rather than a collapse of Nature . '  In the second , ' the decline of the Commoners occurs faster , while the Elites are still thriving . Eventually the Commoners collapse completely , followed by the Elites . ' Because of a buffer zone due to their wealth , Elites may continue ' "" business as usual "" despite the impending catastrophe . '  The study then goes on to say that in order to avoid societal collapse , the wealth gap must be greatly reduced and population must be controlled .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past
9044,9045,"This is out of control! Is there anything more un-American than telling high school students they aren t allowed to cheer  U.S.A.!  at a sporting event because they may  someone from another nation?  the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association in Stevens Point,   Phone (715) 344-8580 Let them know how you feel about their decision to prevent students from chanting  USA!  in the United States Of America!The wussification of Wisconsin has begun.Last month the state s governing body for high school athletics declared that chanting  U-S-A, U-S-A,  is unsportsmanlike behavior.The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association also directed schools to stop fans from booing, or chanting  Air Ball,   Season s Over,   Fundamentals,   Scoreboard,  and  Over-Rated. Any action directed at opposing teams or their spectators with the intent to taunt, disrespect, distract or entice an unsporting behavior in response is not acceptable sportsmanship,  the  wrote in an email obtained by the Post-Crescent.  Student groups, school administrators and event managers should take immediate steps to correct this unsporting behavior. I should point out that a spokesman for the  told television station  that the sportsmanship guidelines are a point of reference and  not a requirement. It s up to each school or district to create their own sportsmanship conduct policies and enforcing them with appropriate consequences,  the spokesman told the television station. Wisconsin s football stadiums, basketball arenas and wrestling mats have become safe spaces for the perpetually-offended generation.Vince Lombardi must be rolling over in his grave.Oh, you should see the 40-page sportsmanship manual complied by the fragile snowflakes at the WIAA.Take, for example, the section that frowns on  booing of any kind. If errors in judgment is (sic) made, all are human and we must accept that. Individuals do the best to execute in a way they ve been trained,  the  wrote.They also took issue with the  Na Na Na Na   Hey Hey Hey Goodbye  song. They called it  taunting and disrespectful. The  found the  U-S-A  chant to be problematic, too   along with  any acronym of derogatory language or innuendo. Their guidelines became national news after a high school basketball player got in trouble for posting a profane message about the sportsmanship rules on her Twitter account.April Gehl, an honor s student and basketball standout at Hilbert High School, suggested the  should (let me put this delicately) eat excrement.Based on national media coverage, her opinion was shared by many. Nevertheless, April was suspended for five games. Her family does not plan on appealing the decision.Paul Ackley is the athletic director at McFarland High School. He told  that he supports the recommendations. If a kid gets an answer wrong on the white board, they re not going to start chanting,  You can t do that,  he said.  This is not Division I athletics. This is an extension of the classroom and it s education-based. What in the name of Bear Bryant is going on Wisconsin?Granted, you don t want the children hollering out profanities and running around the gym buck-naked. But, these guidelines are not so much about sportsmanship as they are about political correctness.We re talking about high school basketball. It s not a croquet match. Via:  News",fake,dataset,validation,Other sport,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
9063,9064,"Officer Garrett Swasey , with his partner Christine Binder , was an acclaimed ice dancer once touted as a 1994 Winter Games hopeful .  Officer Garrett Swasey , before becoming a Colorado cop , church pastor and devoted dad , chased a dream of Olympic gold .  The 44 year old shot to death Friday during a five hour standoff at a Planned Parenthood clinic was an acclaimed ice dancer once touted as a 1994 Winter Games hopeful .  I d known him since he was 20 years old , said Jo Ann Schneider Farris , an old friend of Swasey from the skating world . I couldn t sleep when I heard about his death .  He was the kind of person who always , when somebody needed something , he was there . I can picture him dropping whatever he was doing and getting to the crime scene .  Binder suffered an injury before the games that led the pair to end their ice dancing partnership , her coach Tracey Cahill Poletis said .  Two unidentified civilians were killed along with Swasey , and the shooter wounded another nine victims before surrendering to police in the nation s latest mass shooting .  This is not normal , President Obama said about the gun violence . We can t let it become normal . If we truly care about this . . . then we have to do something about the easy accessibility of weapons of war on our streets to people who have no business wielding them .  Planned Parenthood confirmed that none of its workers were among the dead or wounded .  Authorities said the two other murder victims would be identified once autopsies were completed ? perhaps not until Monday .  Swasey , who was paired for several years with partner Christine Fowler Binder , trained with well known coach Sandy Hess ? and even won a national championship while in the junior ranks .  Swasey leaves behind his wife , Rachel , and two children , Faith and Elijah .  Very few people come along in your life where when you remember them 20 years later , the first thing you do is smile before you say anything , Hess told the Daily News .  "" You know , he was one of those athletes that was very unique because he really didn ' t try to stand out in the crowd , but he did .  Binder , who put several photos of the youthful twosome on her Facebook page , recalled her old friend as kind and always sympathetic .  He always chose right over wrong and was very selfless , Binder told the Daily News . And no matter what I needed , he was there .  A Boston Globe story from January 1993 mentioned Swasey and Binder as possible contenders in ice dancing for the Olympics one year later in Lillehammer , Norway . But the inclusion of professional skaters in the global competition ended any hopes of a medal for the two .  Binder said she spoke Friday night with Swasey s distraught mother .  That was not good , she said . Today , she just wanted me to tell everyone that he loved what he did and was proud of what he did .  A procession of police vehicles Saturday paid tribute to the slain officer , who was killed in a deadly shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic Friday .  Swasey wound up as a skating coach before moving on as an officer with the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs police force . He also became a volunteer pastor . And he was the devoted dad of a 10 year old son and a 6 year old daughter .  He wanted to try to help people , which he did a lot of , his dad David Swasey , 73 , told The Boston Globe . He was a great dad . I mean , a super dad . Everybody in the police department loved him . Anybody who ever met him loved him .  Swasey was a graduate of Melrose High School in Massachusetts . He moved to Colorado to pursue his skating career , competing in the U . S . Championships in 1991 , 1993 and 1995 .  Meanwhile , the regional head of Planned Parenthood vowed Saturday to reopen the bullet riddled facility as quickly as possible . Vicki Cowart , speaking at a vigil for victims , received a standing ovation during her appearance .  Women s bodies are not battlefields , read a sign held by one attendee . Neither is our town .  Some social media users fired off vile tweets cheering the injuries suffered by women seeking abortions .  Suspect Robert Lewis Dear , 57 , broke in to the clinic to start his rampage ? but never made it inside the main part of the facility through another locked door .  Asked about security at Planned Parenthood , Cowart said patients at a medical facility shouldn t need to pass through metal detectors . But Gov . Cuomo said Saturday that New York State police had already started increased patrols at more than 50 clinics .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
9066,9067,"Nick Clegg was embroiled in a fresh ' cash for honours ' row last night after the extent of the party ' s financial dependence on millionaire backers who have been made peers became apparent .  They are among 34 Lib Dems who have been given life peerages by Mr Clegg since the 2010 election compared with an average of only four a year between 1997 and 2009 .  Wealthy : The three businessmen who are the Lib Dems ' biggest donors have been given seats in the Lords  This is despite Mr Clegg ' s complaints that the House of Lords is undemocratic and should be fully elected to stop politicians stuffing it with cronies .  The Deputy Prime Minister is understood to be planning to give several more peerages to Lib Dem politicians who were kicked out by voters in the recent European and local elections .  Mr Clegg is facing awkward questions over alleged cash for honours after senior Lib Dem peer Lord Oakeshott quit the party last month complaining he had failed to ' expose and end cash for peerages in all parties , including our own ' .  Scotland Yard has been urged by   Angus MacNeil , who sparked the cash for honours scandal that engulfed Tony Blair ' s government , to investigate whether any honours were sold in return for donations .  Awkward questions : Nick Clegg has insisted the House of Lords should be more democratic  He said : ' Lord Oakeshott ' s comments are bigger than any admission that emerged through the last cash for honours investigation . We need full disclosure of which members of the Lords he is talking about , and what they gave in return for a peerage . '  It is Lib Dem policy to back a fully elected House of Lords . Mr Clegg says it is a ' flawed institution ' with no democratic mandate , held up by an ' unsustainable status quo ' . But this has not stopped him using his power of patronage as Deputy  to appoint dozens of Lib Dem life peers .  Money problems have made the Lib Dems even more reliant on their richest benefactors . The party was 713 , 000 in debt at the start of this year . Membership is falling and since forming the Coalition they no longer qualify for nearly 2million a year in public funding for opposition parties .  They have become dependent on money from a small coterie of businessmen who have been given prestigious positions in the Lords , an analysis of party accounts and Electoral Commission figures shows .  Mr Clegg made clothing magnate Raj Loomba , 70 , a peer in November 2010 , and appointed nightclub impresario James Palumbo , 51 , and Domino ' s Pizza tycoon Rumi Verjee , 56 , to the Lords last August .  The three men gave the Lib Dems 605 , 000 in 2012 , representing 40 per cent of the total cash donations of 1 , 494 , 274 received that year .  Lord Loomba and Lord Verjee the latter via his firm Brompton Capital were jointly the largest single donors , each giving 250 , 000 . Lord Palumbo ' s Ministry of Sound provided 105 , 000 . In 2011 they gave 408 , 642 , making up just under 23 per cent of all cash donations .  They donated the even larger total of 632 , 097 in 2013 , although this cannot be compared to the party ' s total income because full accounts for the year have not yet been released .  Allegations : Senior Lib Dem peer Lord Oakeshott ( pictured ) quit the party last month complaining he had failed to ' expose and end cash for peerages in all parties , including our own '  These figures represent only part of the total amount given to the party ' s central office , individual MPs and local constituency organisations by the recently ennobled millionaires and their families over the years .  Lord Palumbo has donated 1 , 004 , 757 to the Lib Dems , Lord Verjee has provided 1 , 156 , 326 and Lord Loomba has handed over 361 , 597 , with nearly all of his donations coming since he was appointed to the Lords .  ' I ' m not saying it ' s as crude as saying , "" You give us 100 , 000 and we will put your name forward for a life peerage "" , but I bet there ' s a few nods and winks '  Sir Alistair Graham , ex chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life  Lib Dem donor turned peer Paul Strasburger , 67 , has along with his wife given the party 870 , 613 since 2005 . Sudhir Choudhrie , 64 , whose family has donated 1 , 572 , 492 to the Lib Dems since 2004 , was put forward for a peerage last year but was reportedly passed over amid concerns at that time about hospitals and care homes run by his family firm .  The Lib Dems ran a deficit every year from 2008 to 2012 , while membership slumped 35 per cent in two years to stand at just over 42 , 000 in 2012 .  Donors are not banned from becoming peers , but they are vetted by the House of Lords Appointments Commission , which rules on ' whether or not the individual could have been a credible nominee if he or she had made no financial contribution ' . However , it is a crime to sell peerages .  Sir Alistair Graham , ex chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life , said : ' All parties , but particularly the Liberal Democrats and to a lesser extent Labour , are so dependent on these big donors that they will go to considerable lengths to attract them . I ' m not saying it ' s as crude as saying , "" You give us 100 , 000 and we will put your name forward for a life peerage "" , but I bet there ' s a few nods and winks . '  The Lib Dems and all the Lords in question deny suggestions that their peerages were given in return for donations .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
9072,9073,"Hong Kong Cerebral . That ' s how I would describe the producer , songwriter , musician Pharrell Williams if I could only use one word .  Yes , he ' s incredibly talented as co founder of the production powerhouse The Neptunes , he and his partner Chad Hugo have netted hit after hit . They have worked with everyone from Britney Spears to Madonna . Justin Timberlake to Jay Z .  Most recently , Robin Thicke probably wasn ' t a name you would have been familiar with until you heard this year ' s biggest hit "" Blurred Lines "" featuring Pharrell . Yup , that was The Neptunes ' doing .  And don ' t forget about Daft Punk ' s "" Get Lucky "" the hit No . 2 on the Billboard charts and which Billboard described as "" the Summer Song of 2013 "" . It ' s just another part of the Pharrell phenomenon .  If you want to know more about Pharrell , you only have to look as far as the manifesto he wrote on his website . He says , "" I serve and represent the  because I am one myself "" . The "" others "" being anyone who has ever felt outside of the "" norm "" , anyone who has ever felt they couldn ' t be categorized , anyone who has ever felt different .  See who else has been on Talk Asia  It ' s often safer to be inside the proverbial box . But it takes guts to not only say that the box is too small , but to go out and create a whole other space to be free and thrive . And that ' s what Mr Williams has done .  For him , the internet is that space . It ' s a place where democracy rules but individuality reigns . Ironic since here is a guy who has succeeded where very few can . He has been accepted by the establishment in music , fashion , art and architecture . He has become the man everyone wants to work with .  In the research process and through our conversation I saw Williams as more than "" the man of the moment "" but a man with cross pop cultural influence .  He showed me a roadmap to a non predictable professional life , one in which his career is custom designed and climbs no particular ladder . He speaks of a "" collective conscience "" where a "" shift in humanity "" means there are no ladders . Instead , it ' s about seeking alternate horizons by designing your own life and your own path .  Through his "" I Am Other "" initiative , ( which is now the umbrella framework under which all his projects operate ) Pharrell capitalizes on this shift by turning the consumer generation he influences into fellow entrepreneurs .  He has created a forum where people can share and discuss ideas , thereby sealing his own position as a role model . He expresses his own ideas through music , movies , social media , and of course the internet . Williams calls it "" a customization era "" because "" people want what they want right now . ""  Williams credits his diverse career to a lifelong curiosity that his mother instilled in him . She taught him to be open to all that is around him . And he is .  From conversations with the renowned neuroscientist Dr Vilayanur S . Ramachandran and their discussions on the psychology of music to collaborations with the artist Takashi Murakami on a sculpture , Pharrell is a man who revels in cross platform communication because for him , life is about maximizing existence in every way .  For Williams though , the most important message he could share to his fans is his perspective on humanity it is one in which we all have something to offer and it is our duty to our self respect to live life on our terms . The goal then would be to find a way to serve humanity through our given talents .  Williams shared with me the one thing that stuck with him that Ramachandran told him . He said "" the apes and the monkeys reach for fruit , but man reaches for stars and that ' s the difference . ""  Through that wide eyed wonder for all that this life has to offer , opportunities have made their way to him . He tells me "" music has been the skeleton key that ' s opened every door of every opportunity that ( I ' ve ) had . ""  Well that may be , but it ' s his humility and gratitude that make people seek him out . As he says , he takes his "" ego ' s hat off and ( leaves ) it at the door "" . He is comfortable in his own skin and it shows . Maybe that ' s why his song "" Happy "" has already had over seven million views on YouTube . We all want some of that to rub off on us . I know I do .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
9078,9079,"The admitted mastermind of the 9 11 terror attacks has issued a rambling defense of Osama bin Laden ' s son in law , on trial in New York for allegedly being al Qaeda ' s propagandist in the wake of the attacks .  In a rare statement made public , Khalid Sheikh Mohammed said Sulaiman abu Ghaith an Islamic preacher whom the United States has charged with conspiracy to kill U . S . nationals and providing material support to terrorists is falsely accused of being involved in al Qaeda ' s military activities . Mohammed said abu Ghaith was more of a visiting celebrity who preached the Quran to al Qaeda recruits .  Mohammed ' s 14 page statement was in response to questions from abu Ghaith ' s attorney and was filed in U . S . District Court in Manhattan on Sunday night .  Abu Ghaith was captured last year after years of being among a group of alleged al Qaeda operatives sheltered in Iran . He was arrested in Turkey and deported to Kuwait via Jordan , which helped U . S . agents capture him .  The New York trial , blocks from the site of the former World Trade Center destroyed in the 9 11 attacks , has already featured testimony about previous al Qaeda operations , including the 2001 shoe bomb attempt , which U . S . authorities say abu Ghaith knew about beforehand .  Mohammed , the most senior al Qaeda leader in U . S . custody , used the statement to lecture the United States about its errors in supporting jihadists in their fight during the 1980s against the Soviet Union ' s forces in Afghanistan , realizing too late the level of training ongoing in mujahedeen camps .  "" Uncle Sam destroyed his own country by his own hand with his stupid foreign policy , "" Mohammed said in his statement . Mohammed has taken full or partial credit for planning multiple operations beyond 9 11 , from the 1998 U . S . embassy bombings in East Africa to the post 9 11 shoe bombing and the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl .  Abu Ghaith , Mohammed said , was a "" pious man "" and among many scholars drawn to Afghanistan when the Taliban took control of the country in the mid 1990s . He describes Afghanistan during those years as something of a paradise , with strict Islamic laws making the country safe from crime .  He said he doesn ' t recall meeting abu Ghaith and that , as a scholar and preacher , abu Ghaith wouldn ' t have known about military operations , in part because al Qaeda was careful to restrict access to such information . "" He did not play any military role and to the best of my knowledge he did not receive any military training at any of the training camps for the mujahedeen in Afghanistan , "" Mohammed said .  "" I personally never spoke with Sheikh Sulaiman abu Ghaith about the shoe bomb operation , "" he said , adding that U . S . claims about abu Ghaith ' s role of issuing public sermons and statements after 9 11 don ' t indicate involvement in planning al Qaeda attacks . "" Those tasked with giving statements to the media do not necessarily know all the details of an operation and are sometimes even unaware of the very existence of the operation . ""  Mohammed also tried to undermine U . S . allegations that abu Ghaith took an oath of allegiance , or swore "" bayat , "" to bin Laden . He said that swearing such an oath doesn ' t mean a person is to carry out an operation .  "" To tell the truth , I do not even know if ( abu Ghaith ) personally swore bayat to ( bin Laden ) or not , "" he said .  Abu Ghaith ' s attorney said in his court filing that Mohammed ' s statement is a piece of important exculpatory evidence . He had requested Mohammed to testify via video , but U . S . restrictions and Mohammed ' s own refusal to personally testify prompted the written questions and response .  What did abu Ghaith tell authorities on plane trip to U . S . ?  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
9089,9090,"1 . Throw a party for water projects with Wine to Water Having a holiday soiree ? Let it benefit Wine to Water and spread holiday cheer worldwide .  Get your party started at http : winetowater . org get involved .  2 . Share your garden bounty with AmpleHarvest . org Overwhelmed with the bounty of your backyard garden ? Feed hungry neighbors by logging onto Ampleharvest . org .  Locate your neighborhood pantry at www . ampleharvest . org .  3 . Send a taste of home with Tunes 4 The Troops Your CDs , DVDs , iPods and MP3 players can bring joy and comfort to homesick troops over the holidays .  Purge your collection today at http : www . tunes4thetroops . org participate . htm .  4 . Help the band play on with The Roots of Music Have a musical instrument collecting dust in your closet or attic ? Shake off the cobwebs and help the Saints go marchin ' in New Orleans .  Donate your unused instruments at http : www . therootsofmusicweblink donate donate instruments . html .  5 . Give home goods for the holidays with Stand Down House Your unused hotel toiletries , lightly used sheets and towels , and functioning appliances can help others stay clean and cozy this season .  Receiving in Palm Beach , Florida find out more at http : www . standown . org helpus . html nonmon .  6 . Baby a baby with A New Way of Life Reentry Project Are your babies all grown up ? Your lightly used car seats , strollers , baby clothes and toys can help a mom keep babies bouncing this holiday .  Receiving in Los Angeles , California find out more at http : www . anewwayoflife . org donate  7 . Step into a sisterhood with Birthing Project  Help a new life enter the world by becoming a "" sister friend "" to a mother to be .  Find a chapter near you at http : www . birthingprojectusa . org volunteer . html .  8 . Breathe new life into literature with Sheltering Books Make space for new gifts by donating the books you ' ve already enjoyed to children and women living in shelters across the United States .  Receiving in Alpharetta , Georgia find out more at http : www . shelteringbooks . org Contact Us . html  9 . Take technology further with Help Kenya Project If your holiday plans include a technology upgrade , don ' t dump your old model : Pass it on .  Receiving in Dobbs Ferry , New York find out more at http : www . hkenyaproject . org items . php .  10 . Provide a ride to health care with Houston Ground Angels Have wheels or wings to share ? Many patients battling life threatening illnesses struggle to get to the care they require .  Sign up at http : www . houstongroundangels . org  11 . Turn over the keys to your clunker with Wheels of Success Have a vehicle you ' re ready to dump ? It could keep a working family working .  Receiving in Tampa , Florida find out more at http : www . wheelsofsuccess . org want to help car donation app . html .  12 . Get someone moving with  Missions Have you outgrown the use of a brace or prosthetic ? Give the gift of mobility to another in need .  Receiving in Savannah , Georgia find out more at http : pipomissions . org Donate . htm .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,present
9090,9091,"Last updated on : January 08 , 2016 4 : 13   New figures on the flow of foreign fighters to Syria and Iraq show the scope of the problem is much bigger than first thought , with would be militants still finding their way to the battlefront .  For the second time this week , intelligence officials have released updated estimates on the number of foreign fighters , now saying more than 36 , 500 from at least 120 countries have gone to take part in the fight since the start of the conflict .  The earlier estimates had put the total number of foreign fighters at more than 34 , 000 from 120 countries , including at least 6 , 000 Westerners . ?  Back in October , intelligence officials had estimated there were more than 30 , 000 foreign fighters from at least 115 countries , including more than 4 , 500 from the West .   Two men accused of fighting with the co called Islamic State militant group hide their faces before their trial in Germany November 30 , 2015 .  Despite the increase in the total , the number of American fighters has remained unchanged since the October estimates , intelligence officials told  on condition of anonymity .  They said approximately 250 Americans have traveled or attempted to travel to Syria or Iraq "" to fight or otherwise support the conflict . "" Of those , about 24 have been killed in Iraq or Syria .  Officials familiar with the estimates caution that the increase does not indicate a current surge in foreign fighters , but is likely due to improved reporting as well as ongoing intelligence efforts to identify individuals .  "" It ' s tapered off because it ' s physically gotten harder there and nations are cracking down more , not just the U . S . , "" said Patrick Skinner , a former intelligence officer now with The Soufan Group , a strategic security intelligence consultancy .  Skinner said a majority of foreign fighters likely traveled to the battlefront following the fall of Mosul to Islamic State militants in June 2014 but , he also warned it has proven difficult to shut down the flow .  "" As long as people are willing to go there , they can get there , "" Skinner said . "" We ' ve overestimated our ability to detect and disrupt extremist travel . ""  The foreign fighter issue has alarmed some U . S . lawmakers .  "" The threat is increasing , not decreasing , "" House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul told reporters Friday . "" That number was 25 , 000 last year . ""  "" I don ' t think the strategy is working , "" he added .  While defense officials say there is growing evidence the Islamic State is being forced to turn to conscription , the group continues to be buoyed by a steady influx of recruits ? enough to maintain a constant force of 20 , 000 to 30 , 000 fighters .  Through the end of 2015 , slightly more than 1 , 000 foreign fighters a month were joining the Islamic State , a U . S . official familiar with the data told  . The official also said the most popular route continued to be crossing into Syria from Turkey , despite Turkish efforts to crack down along the border .  All of it is done through smuggling networks in Turkey , operating though Turkey , in Iraq and certainly in Syria , Mubin Shaikh , an ex security and Canadian counterintelligence operative , told  via Skype .  There s some attention on the networks , he said . But there really isn t a focus on attacking the networks and making that the framework in which the defeat of  is supposed to be applied .  Spanish police arrest a man , left , accused of collaborating with the Islamic State , after searching a cybercafe in Mataro near to Barcelona , Dec . 8 , 2015 .  There is also evidence that the jihadist foreign fighter message continues to resonate with European youth and with women despite counter messaging efforts .  It s still a profile that tends to be quite young , said David Sterman with the New America International Security program . ?  The average age is 24 ? many teenagers within the sample , he said . Women continue to be quite well represented .  U . S . counterterrorism officials have also worried that Russia s entry into the Syrian conflict on behalf of Syrian President Bashar al Assad would spur more would be militants to join the fight .  It would not be surprising if  features the Russian build up as a tie into their apocalyptic narrative , and to help bridge the generational divide among jihadists with Moscow s actions in Afghanistan and Syria as bookends , a U . S . counterterrorism official said at the time , using an acronym for the Islamic State .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
9091,9092,"Christian Horner believes the time was right for Sebastian Vettel to leave Red Bull .  One of Formula One ' s worst kept secrets finally came to light on Thursday when Ferrari confirmed Vettel would be joining them on a three year contract as replacement for Fernando Alonso .  It means this weekend ' s season ending grand prix in Abu Dhabi is the last race for both men with their current employers .  The Red Bull team delivered this message on the floor of their garage to thank Sebastian Vettel for his service  Vettel ( left ) is leaving Red Bull to join Ferrari and he will replace Fernando Alonso ( right )  Red Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner believes the time is right for Vettel to leave  For Vettel , after six years driving for Red Bull , and 14 years overall since he was taken on as a junior , team principal Horner feels the four times champion ' s defection to one of their bitter rivals was on the cards .  Horner , though , admits the 26 year old German will still be missed as he said : ' Obviously we ' ve had a wonderful relationship with Sebastian .  ' He ' s been with the Red Bull family since he was 12 years of age , and he ' s grown through the junior programme , the junior categories .  ' He was not much more than a boy when he arrived , and now he leaves us a young man , as a father .  ' He had his opportunity in Formula One with Toro Rosso , winning a grand prix with them before coming to Red Bull Racing .  ' Four world championships and 38 grand prix victories later I think we can look back with a huge amount of pride . We ' ve grown together .  Vettel has been driving for Red Bull for six years but will leave to join Ferrari at the end of the season  26 year old Vettel is a four time world champion and has signed for Ferrari on a three year deal  ' When he came to the team we were still a young team at the time , and together we ' ve grown into a race winning and championship winning combination .  ' But as in life all things move on and evolve , and obviously this opportunity has come up for Seb .  ' He ' s felt it ' s the right time for him , and probably in reality it ' s the right time for the team too .  ' Whilst we ' ll be very sorry to see him go and close his career with Red Bull on Sunday evening , we ' ll wish him the very best of luck .  ' He ' ll be a good friend of the team for life , but as of the first of January he ' ll be a competitor .  ' He can be incredibly proud of what he ' s achieved , he ' s been a tremendous ambassador for the sport and we ' ll certainly miss him . '  Vettel ' s final race for Red Bull will come at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi on Sunday  Vettel , however , has struggled this season , failing to even win a race in a year dominated by Mercedes , albeit with team mate Daniel Ricciardo standing on the top step of the podium on three occasions .  The new regulations for this season , with the switch to the 1 . 6 litre V6 turbo charged power units , have not aided Vettel ' s cause .  Ferrari team principal Marco Mattiacci , however , is convinced Vettel can help the Maranello marque win again .  Ferrari principal Marco Mattiacci ( right ) believes Vettel will bring victories to the team when he arrives  Mattiacci said : ' With Sebastian we get one of the youngest world champions ever , four championships .  ' I met him personally in the last few months and he is an extremely hard working guy , humble , disciplined .  ' I ' m sure he will bring the phenomenal experience he went through at Red Bull , and the enthusiasm needed to go through certain difficult moments that are waiting for us . But sharing the overall project , which is to go back to the top . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
9113,9114,"Murray beats limping Raonic to set up Djokovic final   Andy Murray twice fought back from a set down to win a gruelling five set semi final against an injury hampered Milos Raonic and set up his latest Australian Open final against five time champion Novak Djokovic on Friday .  The four time runner up reached his fifth Australian Open final after overcoming the gallant Canadian 4 6 , 7 5 , 6 7 ( 4 7 ) , 6 4 , 6 2 in four hours , three minutes on Rod Laver Arena .  Djokovic has already beaten Murray in three Australian finals and the world number one will get the advantage of an extra day ' s rest after he knocked out Roger Federer in four sets in Thursday ' s semi final .  It will be Murray ' s ninth Grand Slam final as the Briton , up against the dominant Serb once again , chases an elusive third major title after winning the  Open in 2012 and Wimbledon in 2013 .  "" It was tough because he ( Raonic ) didn ' t miss one first serve in the ( third set ) tiebreaker and he has one of the best serves in tennis , "" Murray said . "" I started to get a better read on his serves as the match went on as I was making a few more returns , that was the key . ""  It was the 28 year old Scot ' s fourth win in seven encounters with the much improved Canadian , who slowed in the final set as he completed the match grimacing from a right groin injury . Murray broke Raonic ' s big serve four times , twice in the fifth set , and hit 38 winners , while Raonic served up 23 aces among his 72 winners , but made 78 unforced errors .  Raonic , who beat former winner Stan Wawrinka and Gael Monfils to reach his second major semi final , was bidding to become the first Canadian man to reach a Grand Slam title match . Raonic , who has gained composure and purpose under the coaching of Carlos Moya , began confidently , breaking Murray to love in the opening game of the match , and he went on to take the first set in 36 minutes .  The Canadian was jamming up Murray with his serving to his body , but the world number two finally broke his serve in the 12th game of the second set to level the semi final 7 5 . In the third , Raonic comfortably held his serve and had break point on Murray ' s service in the 11th game , only for the Scot to hold on .  But the Canadian played a strong tiebreak , hitting two return winners and he brought up two set points which he clinched with an ace to take a 2 1 sets lead in a tense match .  Raonic left the court for treatment for a right groin injury at 1 2 in the fourth set . Murray broke the Canadian for the second time in the match in the seventh game , with Raonic wincing in pain . He sought treatment from the trainer again at another changeover .  The fired up Scot fought off two break points and then locked up the match on his second set point to take the semi final into a fifth set . Raonic was broken in the opening game of the final set and he slammed his racquet twice into the court at the changeover , breaking the frame , as his frustrations boiled over .  Wounded Raonic bravely resisted but Murray broke a second time to steam home against the under powered Canadian and set up a fifth attempt to win the Australian title .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
9120,9121,"DENPASAR, Indonesia (Reuters) - Airlines canceled more flights departing the Indonesian holiday island of Bali on Saturday, citing forecasts of deteriorating flying conditions due to a risk of volcanic ash from the erupting Mount Agung volcano. A Bali airport spokesman said the airport was still operating normally, but airlines such as Jetstar and Virgin Australia had opted to cancel some flights   Bali flying conditions expected to be clear throughout the day, but forecast for tonight has deteriorated so several flights have been canceled,  Australian budget airline Jetstar said on its Twitter account. The erupting volcano had closed the airport for much of this week, stranding thousands of visitors from Australia, China and other countries, before the winds changed and flights resumed Twenty flights were canceled on Friday evening due to concerns over ash. Some airlines including Malaysia s AirAsia Bhd have said they would only operate out of Bali during the day, as the ash could impair visibility at night and wind conditions in the area were unpredictable. Airlines avoid flying through volcanic ash as it can damage aircraft engines, clogging fuel and cooling systems, hampering pilot visibility and even causing engine failure. There are also concerns over changing weather conditions with a tropical cyclone south of Java island impacting weather and wind in the area, including for Bali, the Indonesian Meteorological, Climatological and Geophysics agency said  With some airlines continuing to fly normally on Saturday, there was frustration among passengers.  Australian couple Justine and Greg Hill were on holiday with their two teenage children and had been due to fly out today but their flight later this evening was canceled.   It s more an inconvenience than anything. Don t understand why if other airlines are flying, some others aren t. Obviously there must be safety protocols but there s no detailed explanation,  said Greg Hill, 46, who was waiting at the airport.  Several foreign consulates have set up booths in the international departures area to assist stranded passengers.  Subrata Sarkar, India s vice consul in Bali, told Reuters at the airport s international departure area that they had helped around 500 passengers so far this week.   We have advised citizens the volcano may erupt. We never say  please don t come . But we have issued travel advisories. If it s urgent business, then ok, but if it s only tourism, then plans should be reconsidered,  said Sarkar. For an interactive graphic on Mount Agung volcano, click - tmsnrt.rs/2hYdHiq For a graphic on the Pacific ""Ring of Fire,"" click - tmsnrt.rs/2BjtH6l ",true,dataset,validation,Other sport,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
9121,9122,"Property rent in one Californian city shot up by a staggering 20 . 6per cent last year , reflecting a trend across the country .  According to the real estate data firm Zillow , the average monthly fee for a rental home in tech centric Oakland is now 2 , 369 .  Overall , analysts found that U . S . rental prices were 3 . 3 per cent higher in December compared to the previous year .  Price hikes : Property rent in Oakland , California city shot up by a staggering 20 . 6per cent last year , reflecting a trend across the country  Lakewood in Colorado is another city where residents have felt the hike , with monthly rentals jumping 15per cent to an average of 1 , 770 .  Experts say that because fewer Americans can afford to buy a home , demand for apartments and rental houses has pushed up prices .  The share of Americans who own their homes has slipped to 64 . 4 percent from a peak of 69 . 2 percent in 2004 .  This is attributed to the housing market crash that triggered the Great Recession in late 2007  ' We do not have the affordable rental housing resources to meet the demand , ' said Barry Zigas , director of housing policy at the Consumer Federation of America , at an industry conference this week .  Rental prices have risen 52per cent since 2000 , while incomes for renters have only increased 25 percent , said Stan Humphries , chief economist at Zillow .  The higher costs make it difficult for renters to save for a down payment , which then causes them to rent for a longer period of time and delay any potential home purchases .  ' You don ' t have to be a housing economist to see that there is a problem there , ' Humphries said .  On the up : Overall , analysts found that U . S . rental prices were 3 . 3 per cent higher in December compared to the previous year the graph above shows the increases since 2011  Additional construction has yet to significantly limit price growth nationwide .  Builders broke ground on 376 , 000 apartment complexes last year , a 10 . 2per cent increase from 2013 , the Commerce Department reported Wednesday .  By contrast , single family house construction rose just 1 . 4per cent last year .  Rents jumped 15 . 4per cent in the San Francisco area to a median monthly cost of 3 , 031 , an increased mirrored by San Jose where prices were up 14 . 5per cent to 3 , 187 a month .  Rents climbed 10 . 5per cent in Denver to 1 , 817 a month . Kansas City also notched a substantial 8 . 5per cent gain to 1 , 204 a month .  Still , tenants are catching a break elsewhere .  In Chicago , Minneapolis , Philadelphia , Baltimore and Washington ,  , rents rose by less than 2 . 2per cent . Rents in Minnesota ' s Twin Cities area ticked up a mere 0 . 1per cent this past year to 1 , 501 .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
9124,9125,"High profile figures in the private sector and the United Nations agreed the urgency to reduce carbon emissions was such that business could not afford to wait for politicians to act .  She said : "" The difficult thing is to balance two realities . One reality is the urgency of it , which science tells us and we can see and economics has already figured out , with the political pace with which governments can move .  "" That ' s where private sector comes in , that ' s where private sector , seeing the opportunity , should be not waiting for governments but taking the lead and pulling governments along . ""  Figueres was joined in the debate by Felipe Calderon , President of Mexico , and Caio Koch Weser , vice chairman of Deutsche Bank , discussing who should pay to combat climate change .  Koch Weser agreed : "" The business community is doing this already . They see the risk , see the opportunity . I think we are ahead because business thinks longer term than politicians . ""  Calderon , who has pledged to make Mexico one of the first developing countries to take a lead in combating climate change , said everyone should contribute to avert disaster .  "" We will need a lot of public money , we will need a lot of private money , we will need the market , we will need new rules , we will need taxes .  "" But , in any case , it will be cheaper than to pay the consequences of climate change . ""  He added that all countries should pay according to their circumstances .  "" You have more money , you pay more your consumption of carbon is larger than mine , you must pay more but the point is everyone is going to pay the consequences , everyone has to contribute . ""  He said : "" I think countries like Mexico and China have understood that this is compatible with growth , job creation and eradicating poverty .  "" There ' s a huge potential for competitive advantage and technological leap frogging if you go for green growth , if you go for the big transformation that ' s coming our way .  "" Some call it the next industrial revolution , where you go for much more natural resource saving generally and low carbon future growth path .  "" I think Mexico , China and other emerging economies are more vigorous than some mature market economies . ""  The panelists discussed the establishment of a global carbon market to make the highest polluters pay for their emissions .  Koch Weser , a member of the United Nations High Level Advisory Committee on Climate Finance , said this could best be brought in by building on individual country pledges .  He said : "" I ' m skeptical , unfortunately , that we will have in the foreseeable future a global carbon market , but what we will have is domestic schemes spring up . We have the European experience , of course .  "" China is thinking as part of its next five year plan about establishing carbon markets and we could link domestic markets , create regional markets and eventually lead back to an international agreement . ""  He added : "" We need a carbon price get the incentives right and humankind will be very innovative in responding . ""  He said : "" If we really want to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels , if we really want to change technology , we really need to do it country by country , or perhaps bilateral agreements among countries that have similar circumstances .  "" One of the main reasons that Kyoto has failed is that every country is different , some countries are rich , some countries are poor . ""  He added : "" How can you expect countries as disparate as this to have some kind of common cookie cutter agreement on what everyone is supposed to do ? It ' s impossible . ""  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
9132,9133,"Apparently, Donald Trump s precious little girl is sick of mean old Congressman Ted Lieu saying mean things about her daddy.Yes, she may be a senior White House official, but Ivanka doesn t think Congress has a right to see her tweets   well, she doesn t think Congressman Ted Lieu does, anyway.On Sunday, Lieu tweeted a screenshot showing that Ivanka had blocked him. Hey look, a senior White House official is afraid of tweets from a Congressman. Ivanka blocked me,  he wrote.  Also, why is she in the White House? Hey look, a senior White House official is afraid of tweets from a Congressman. Ivanka blocked me. Also, why is she in the White House? pic.twitter.com/hTaagBF7MM  Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) August 13, 2017It s unclear when Ivanka blocked him, but a federal judge recently ruled that it s unconstitutional for public officials like most of the Trump family to block American citizens. Lieu posted the screenshot shortly after he called Trump a  coward  for refusing to condemn the Nazis who showed up in Charlottesville, so it s probably related to that:Having reflected, I have now concluded the #Charlottesville speech by @realDonaldTrump shows he is a coward. Hope he finds some courage soon  Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) August 13, 2017Ivanka Trump, like pretty much everyone in the Trump family save Barron, is an absolute coward unworthy of any position that involves leadership   especially in government.Ivanka Trump know what everyone else knows   her father s time in the White House is coming to a close and has ruined any chance for anyone with the last name  Trump  to find respect from another human being for the rest of their lives.Featured image via Getty Images (Chip Somodevilla)/screengrab",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
9140,9141,"During the world championships in Moscow last month , sprint king Usain Bolt was asked how long he intended to keep running . He kept reporters guessing and some thought he wouldn ' t last until the next Olympics .  But on Wednesday Bolt said that he would call it quits after racing at the 2016 Summer Games in Brazil .  "" So far it ' s after the Olympics in Rio , "" the 27 year old told reporters in Brussels , where he is competing Friday . "" If I ' m in great shape and I go there and do what I have to do , I think it would be a good time to retire on top and having dominated for so long . ""  The Jamaican admitted he struggled with his motivation this year and it is little wonder given he has regularly coasted to 100 and 200 meter victories at the Olympics and world championships .  "" I couldn ' t find that goal , that drive to get going again , "" Bolt said . "" I sat down and thought to myself what do I really want ? And what can I do in this sport some more ? ""  Including relays , Bolt owns a combined 14 gold medals in the sport ' s two biggest events and is the world record holder in both the 100 and 200 meters .  In order to ensure his place in the pantheon of sporting legends , Bolt said he needs to go out on a high in Rio and hopes his powerful body cooperates .  "" I ' ve made up my mind that if I want to be among the greats of Ali , Pele and all these guys I have to continue dominating until I retire , "" he added .  "" I ' m really focusing on getting every season correct , trying not to get injured and just continue dominating so at the end of my career people will put me among the greats . ""  His accomplishments to date already make him one of the best athletes of all time . Not the shy type , Bolt called himself a "" legend "" after achieving another individual sprint double at the 2012 London Olympics . No one came close to challenging him in Russia .  His only misstep since rising to the top took place at the 2011 world championships in South Korea when he false started and was disqualified from the 100 meter final .  And in a sport hit hard recently by positive drug tests to sprinters Tyson Gay , Asafa Powell and Veronica Campbell the latter two are fellow Jamaicans Bolt has never tested positive , always maintaining that he is clean .  With a personality larger than his 6 foot 5 inch frame , Bolt is especially popular among fans and sponsors alike . Forbes this year named him the 40th highest paid athlete in the world with earnings of 24 . 2 million .  He features in commercials for Virgin and is also backed by Puma , Samsung and Nissan , among others .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
9154,9155,"Washington Ten years ago in September , rescue workers began inhaling a toxic mix of airborne debris that curled out of the World Trade Center ' s mangle of steel , re bar and concrete , coating in white the clothes and at times the lungs of emergency responders who worked at ground zero .  Thousands descended on New York and Washington in 2001 in a desperate attempt to help those who had perished , or would soon die , after a series of coordinated attacks rocked the nation and redefined its security mandate .  But news of the death of Osama bin Laden al Qaeda ' s figurehead killed during a gun battle in Pakistan offered Americans a happier reason to gasp .  "" It ' s wild , "" said Tyler Smith , wiping away his swelling tears as he held a cigarette that trembled between his fingertips . He was at the White House celebration .  "" It ' s just very intense . ""  The young veteran who served in Afghanistan in 2004 and 2005 then grabbed his baseball cap , pulling it down to shield his watering eyes from view .  "" I ' m sorry , "" he said . "" I just don ' t have the words . ""  Americans celebrated early Monday in a show of patriotism against the man who committed much of his life to attacking U . S . citizens and others .  In front of the White House , chants of "" U . S . A . ! U . S . A . ! "" filled the night air , and the group spontaneously broke into an off key rendition of "" The Star Spangled Banner . ""  Other revelers hearkened back to the turmoil of that fateful blue sky day in September .  "" I was in D . C . during 9 11 , "" said 33 year old Mason Wright , recalling his days as a student at American University in Washington , D . C .  From his apartment , Wright said he watched television images of the second hijacked plane as it plunged into the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan .  "" It ' s hard to believe 10 years later it ' s over . . . It ' s finally come to an end . ""  Dustin Swensson , who recently served in Iraq , echoed those comments , calling the news "" historic . ""  Alan Comar , a 29 year old resident of Washington who worked as a U . S . contractor in Afghanistan , clutched his girlfriend as they gazed across the red , white and blue crowd .  "" Its one of those ' got to be there ' moments , "" he said .  The mood was much more somber at the Pentagon memorial a few miles away , where 184 people died when a hijacked American Airlines Flight crashed on September 11 , 2001 .  "" Everyone was at the White House celebrating , and hardly anyone was at the memorial , "" said Jessica McFarland of Arlington , Virginia . "" I felt like this site put things in perspective . ""  Meanwhile , teenagers , scarcely old enough to remember the near decade old attacks , dashed toward the White House gates , eager to join the swelling throng of American revelers .  "" It ' s something that defines a generation , "" said Ashley Cummings , a Michigan resident visiting Washington .  "" They ' re not going to pull out immediately , "" she said , referring to the  led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan . "" There ' s still a lot of work to be done , but this affirms that they were over there for a reason . ""  Her comment echoes a question likely to be raised in the coming weeks and months over the ways in which an American led war in Afghanistan can continue without the specter of the Qaeda leader .  "" It ' s a war that I feel we just won , "" said one former New York firefighter who says he was forced to retire due to lung ailments suffered from dust at ground zero the site where the World Trade Center ' s twin towers once stood .  Private moments of reflection were happening , too , as loved ones of those killed in the September 11 attacks quietly marked bin Laden ' s death .  Patricia Sliwak Grinberg said she cried when President Barack Obama began to describe the September 11 attacks as he delivered news of his death .  Her brother , Robert Sliwak , was a Cantor Fitzgerald employee who died in the World Trade Center .  In New York , strains of "" God Bless America "" could be heard intermittently trickling through the crowd .  The area , once a barren and bitterly contested site , has since given way to the beginnings of construction for a long awaited "" Freedom Tower , "" or the 1 World Trade Center .  In another sign of the evolving times , a neighborhood Burger King that medics once converted to a makeshift trauma center following the attacks , now houses a younger fast food staff mostly unfamiliar with the restaurant ' s storied past .  "" A lot of retired cops still come here and talk about it , "" said Joshua Nash , a 22 year old employee from Bronx , New York . During the ensuing rescue effort , EMTs treated victims atop dinning tables at the Home of the Whopper , while draping intravenous drips across wall lamps .  "" Do you want to know what I really think ? , "" asked Nash . "" I think a lot of the people around here yelling and celebrating were just looking for an excuse to get drunk and yell . ""  "" They don ' t know what this is about . ""  His words seem to capture an unease with celebrating death that other New Yorkers quietly reflected .  Some just seemed relieved to close the final chapter of bin Laden ' s life .  Carie Lemack , whose mother , Judy , was killed on American Airlines Flight 11 , said she can ' t "" express how this feels to my family .  "" Relief is one word . ""  Jim Riches , who lost his firefighter son , Jimmy , when the World Trade Center ' s north tower collapsed , said the news offered a bit of comfort .  "" ( My ) son still isn ' t coming home , "" he said . "" ( There ' s ) no closure , but at last , at least some justice for the murder of 3 , 000 Americans , finally . ""  Elsewhere in New York , police cordoned off stretches of Manhattan ' s Financial District where crowds had gathered in celebrations through the night .  September 11 has since served as a galvanizing symbol of American patriotism and its willingness to doggedly and at times controversially pursue enemies across borders . But it remains unclear whether decapitating al Qaeda ' s infamous figurehead will mark a turning point in a war that has left thousands of Americans dead and killed untold numbers of civilians .  In July ,  offered further support for Afghan President Hamid Karzai ' s objective of taking on greater responsibility for the country ' s security by 2014 .  Analysts , however , remain skeptical , citing corruption and patronage networks that they say enjoy a degree of political protection .  Meanwhile , Sunday ' s news comes just a single day after a Taliban announcement of a renewed offensive against allied troops and Afghan security forces in the region .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
9164,9165,"Islamabad , Pakistan Gunmen in Pakistan killed a leading prosecutor working on high profile terrorism cases and an anti Taliban politician and his son , the latest violence ahead of next week ' s national elections .  Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali was heading to a court in Rawalpindi , where he was trying a case stemming from the death of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto , who was assassinated while she was campaigning for her party .  Ali ' s attackers opened fire on his car as it passed through an Islamabad neighborhood , police said .  He was rushed to a hospital but died before arrival , said hospital spokesman Dr Wasim Khawaja .  The ambush also wounded his bodyguard , whom authorities assigned to protect him after he received threats from the Pakistani Taliban , according to police spokesman Javed Hussain .  The unidentified gunmen fled and are still at large , police officials said .  In Karachi , gunmen on a motorbike shot and killed Sadiq Zaman Khattak and his 4 year old son when they were leaving a mosque , said Zahid Khan of Awami National Party , an anti Taliban liberal party .  Khattak , representing the Awami National Party , had been a candidate for a seat in the National Assembly . No one claimed responsibility for the attack , and Khan blamed the "" interim government "" and election officials .  The Taliban have threatened the Awami National Party and another liberal party , the Muttahida Quami Movement . The group has claimed responsibility for some deadly attacks against those party members .  In a statement , Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari strongly condemned the attack on Ali and called for an investigation to "" expose the real culprits involved in the murder . ""  Bhutto had returned from a self imposed , eight year exile to campaign for the Pakistan People ' s Party in the country ' s general elections in 2007 . She escaped one attempt on her life but was killed on December 27 , 2007 , by a 15 year old suicide bomber while campaigning in Rawalpindi , the seat of Pakistan ' s military .  Bhutto twice was prime minister and was the country ' s first woman to hold the office .  Ali had linked the assassin ' s alleged facilitators , whom he was prosecuting , to the Pakistani Taliban , an allegation the court has yet to confirm .  The Pakistani Taliban , who are closely linked with their namesake in Afghanistan and with al Qaeda , operate in the ungoverned area that sits on the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan .  Police officials have also been arrested in the investigation , which has lasted nearly six years .  Ali was also involved in the case of the terror attacks that struck Mumbai , India , in November 2008 .  Ten heavily armed men , some from Pakistan , attacked landmarks there , including high end hotels , the historic Victoria Terminus train station and the Jewish cultural center Chabad House .  They killed more than 160 people in three days .  Musharraf ' s party calls for election boycott  The All Pakistan Muslim League the party of former President Pervez Musharraf is calling for a boycott of the country ' s May 11 parliamentary elections , the league said Friday .  The party ' s Central Executive Committee unanimously determined that Musharraf is being "" victimized . "" And that ' s a "" clear indication that the upcoming elections in Pakistan will not be free and fair , "" Musharraf spokesman Raza Bokhari said .  The league said that "" the stage is being set to enable pro Taliban politicians in stealing the elections "" and "" urged the people of Pakistan , especially the Youth of Pakistan , to see through this farce , stand up to Save Pakistan and join the  in this boycott . ""  Musharraf resigned as president of Pakistan in 2008 after nine years in power and went into exile the following year , living in London and Dubai . He came back to Pakistan recently under heavy security but intending to return to political life .  However , he has faced stiff barriers .  After his return , Musharraf was placed under house arrest by an anti terrorism court over allegations he illegally ordered the detention of judges in 2007 . He denies the charges against him .  The ex military strongman still has to face two other cases dating from his time in power .  The first relates to claims he did not do enough to protect Bhutto ' s life weeks before an election in which she hoped to return to office .  Musharraf is also accused of ordering his troops to kill Nawab Akbar Bugti , a popular tribal leader , in the volatile province of Balochistan , in 2006 .  Just recently , the high court in Peshawar banned Musharraf from politics for life , a move he can appeal .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
9195,9196,"Of course, how much of this Trump could get away with in the face of the Constitution & courts &c is another matter. But then, Bush got a lot done in spite of the supposed checks & balances to his maddened stupidity.",fake,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present
9213,9214,"The waves up to 30 feet high that climbed over houses thankfully are now a memory , as are related floodwaters that covered one quarter of one seaside Massachusetts town . Some streets that had been littered with trees and about 2 feet of snow are finally passable . And by late Monday morning , temperatures should rise well above freezing , perhaps accompanied by rain .  That ' s the good news . But it ' s still hard for scores of people still in shelters , and for many more huddling for heat overnight , to celebrate .  "" It looked like a war zone , "" said Jim Cantwell , a state representative for the Bay State towns of Marshfield and Scituate , where about 90 of customers remained without power late Sunday . "" The devastation we have seen here would lead one to believe that it ' ll be days before we get power back . ""  The blizzard that struck the Northeast starting Friday was historic by many measures most of all , by the amount of snow that fell .  Tornado strikes in the Deep South  The tally in Hamden was the most recorded by the National Weather Service in any community , but even lesser amounts led to major headaches , especially when combined with , at times , hurricane force wind gusts , powerful storm surges and snow drifts that buried cars and most everything else .  "" There ' s a ton of snow , and there ' s nowhere to put it , "" said Lena Berc of Boston , where 24 . 9 inches fell . "" So it ' s really frustrating to find nooks and crannies . ""  Nine people were killed in accidents related to the storm , including five in Connecticut , two in Ontario , Canada , one in New York and one in Massachusetts . A 14 year old Boston boy who hopped in a snowed in family car to get a break from shoveling ended up suffering carbon monoxide poisoning .  About 270 , 000 utility customers remained in the dark late Sunday afternoon , a significant improvement from the 635 , 000 without electricity about 24 hours earlier .  These outages were the result of a combination of whipping winds and power poles and lines sagging , and sometimes snapped , under the weight of especially heavy , wet snow and ice .  The storm by the numbers  "" There was a phenomenal amount of trees that went down , "" Cantwell said , noting that 100 of Scituate residents had no power Sunday morning and estimating it may be Thursday before all the lights are back on .  About 200 people were in shelters Sunday in southeastern Connecticut , Gov . Dannel Malloy said . And more than that number found refuge at schools turned shelters on the South Shore of Massachusetts , where dozens of National Guardsmen were on the ground to help local authorities and residents deal with flooding and storm damage there .  The forecast for the days ahead in the hardest hit areas seems mostly a blessing , though there ' s a chance of a curse .  Daytime temperatures should climb into the 40s Monday in much of southern Connecticut , Rhode Island and Massachusetts , where rain may fall as well . That may help melt some snow , though it could make what ' s there even heavier and increase the risk of roof collapses and more . Malloy said Sunday that there are reports of a barn , sports facility , commercial building and more caving in .  The mix of snow and rain will also contribute to a messy Monday morning commute into cities like Boston , though schools will remain closed there and many other locales as the snow clean up effort continues .  There have been notable signs of progress , at least . Flights resumed at Boston ' s Logan Airport on Sunday , for instance , and Amtrak resumed limited service as part of its general ramp up .  "" We ' re working as hard as we can , "" Rhode Island Gov . Lincoln Chaffee said of efforts in his state , a sentiment echoed elsewhere . "" We ' re seeing efforts every hour . ""  Snow woes were hardly confined to the Northeast .  Troubles is also brewing for northern Midwest states , where a major winter storm will bring heavy snow and strong winds from northeast Colorado to central Minnesota from Sunday into Monday , the National Weather Service said . Eastern South Dakota could see more than a foot of snow and 50 mph winds , "" creating whiteout conditions , "" the weather agency said .  For all the headaches in New England , meanwhile , there was also many enjoying the wintry conditions .  iReporter Filipe Pereira said students Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston , who were set to return to class Monday , had enjoyed the weekend storm , engaging in massive snowball fights and building snowmen everywhere . People were even skiing down one street , he said , where students earlier took a series of photographs tracking the storm over 26 hours .  The streets around the small school were still a mess , but they were no longer closed .  "" People have been going all over the roads with no problem , "" he said .  Map , time line of the storm  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
9236,9237,"Ballet dancer Pavel Dmitrichenko , often cast as the villain in Bolshoi Ballet productions , is now the lead defendant in a plot worthy of a Tchaikovsky score .  The 29 year old allegedly choreographed an attack intended to blind Bolshoi artistic director Sergei Filin , the man who put him in the roles of Ivan the Terrible and Swan Lake ' s evil genius .  The mystery of who threw sulfuric acid into Filin ' s face in January has captivated Russians and kept Moscow detectives busy probing rivalries within Russia ' s renowned 240 year old ballet company .  It might well send Hollywood literary agents and producers scrambling for story details as described by police reports and local media accounts .  Police declared their case was solved this week with a confession by Dmitrichenko  Russian police question suspect in Bolshoi director ' s acid attack  "" I organized this attack but not to the extent that it happened , "" he is heard saying in a video released by police .  The characters in this drama include Dmitrichenko ' s girlfriend , Anzhelina Vorontsova . She has not been charged , but local newspapers quote ballet members as saying Dmitrichenko was angry because he thought Filin was stifling her career .  Two alleged co conspirators have been detained : Alleged hit man Yuri Zarutsky a burly , bearded Russian who was previously convicted of beating someone to death and Andrey Lipatov , who allegedly drove the getaway car after Zarutksy ' s battery acid attack on Filin .  While the final act must still play out in a Russian courtroom , the story opens in the nearly two century old Bolshoi Theatre .  Act 1 The Bolshoi Theatre  Ballet is a world where competition is fierce , and where the artistic director wields considerable influence in making or breaking careers .  Filin , 42 , was promoted to the Bolshoi Theatre ' s coveted post in March 2011 , shortly after the deputy ballet director , Gennady Yanin , who was widely seen as a favorite for the artistic director post , resigned when pornographic pictures of him surfaced online .  There was "" fierce rivalry "" for the Bolshoi position at the time , according to the  Novosti news agency .  That year , two dancers quit , unhappy with the direction the ballet had taken .  Another dancer , Nikolai Tsiskaridze , loudly criticized Filin for going over budget in the ballet ' s multimllion dollar renovation .  Tsiskaridze , incidentally , was also a contender for the artistic director job that Filin got .  But beyond professional disagreements , sinister factors were also at play .  Act 2 The Streets of Moscow   Novosti reported that before the attack , Filin suffered months of intimidation , including threatening phone calls .  Someone slashed his car tires . Somebody also attempted to hack his Facebook page .  The trio of conspirators obtained battery acid at a car parts store , and made the acid stronger by evaporating the water from it , police said .  Dmitrichenko , who studied Filin ' s schedule , called Lipatov and Zarutsky when he saw Filin leave the theater on the cold night of January 17 , police said .  As Filin entered the security code at the door of his Moscow apartment , authorities say , Zarutsky confronted him and tossed the sulfuric acid into his face . It caused third degree burns and left him blinded .  Act 3 Moscow Police Headquarters  Detectives pored over interviews with those who knew Filin and had suspicions about who would harm him . Other clues led them to several cell phones that Dmitrichenko had registered in other people ' s names , according to a police statement .  Calls from those phones led investigators to Lipatov , the alleged driver .  "" I didn ' t see what happened there , "" Lipatov told them in a video released by police . "" I just took Yuri there , waited for him and gave him a lift back . ""  When an interrogator asked Zarutsky about the crime , he allegedly said , "" I don ' t want to talk about it . ""  Police concluded a "" hostile relationship "" stemming from Dmitrichenko ' s professional interaction with Filin was his motive .  Bolshoi Prima ballerina ' s grace under pressure  Act 4 A Moscow Court  The three men faced a judge Thursday , who ordered that they be kept in police custody until the investigation is over .  If convicted , the attackers could face up to eight years in jail for willfully inflicting damage on the health of another .  It may take at least six months for Filin to recover from the burns .  In the meantime , Galina Stepanenko , a former principal dancer , will run the company .  She says she ' s going to follow Filin ' s plans and she believes the dancers will now be united by greater respect and care for each other .  Doctors performed a skin graft on Filin and , after a second eye surgery , they were able to save his sight .  His colleagues are now working to ensure his artistic vision isn ' t lost .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
9259,9260,"Northern California will face a new flood crisis for Oroville Dam and Shasta Dam, as 10 days of up to 75 degree weather will spark an early spring snowmelt. [With the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) rating over 90 percent of California as experiencing an “Extreme Water Year,” the media are welcoming sunny skies that are expected to spike Northern California valley temperatures to 75 degrees or higher.  Because hundreds of smaller dams in Northern California have been allowed to fill, water runoff for the Sacramento Valley from Sierra   rivers is running at 130 percent of average for this time of year versus rivers flowing into the San Joaquin Valley, which are running at 190 percent of average runoff. But as temperatures rise to 65 degrees in   elevations at the 6 —  8, 000 foot levels that received 3 feet of snow in the last set of storms,     temperatures are about to trigger an early spring snowmelt, according to Paul Preston of Agenda 21 Radio News, who has been broadcasting continuously from Oroville Dam during the last month. The Feather River below Oroville Dam that is holding back up to 3. 5 million acre feet of water is currently running at 196 percent of average for this time of year. The Sacramento River, below the much bigger Shasta Dam, which holds back up to 4. 5 million acre feet of water, is running at 156 percent of average. Almost completely ignored during the crisis mass evacuations in reaction to the potential failure of Oroville Dam, the water levels rose to within 11 feet of Shasta Dam’s    emergency spillway, despite running Shasta’s lower water release gates at   since January 16. U. S. Bureau of Reclamation engineers were forced to open the upper flood gates for 15 minutes on February 23 for the first time in two decades. With the sun coming out on Saturday afternoon, the water level at Shasta’s Dam had fallen by 3. 99 feet. Breitbart News reported that to prevent Oroville Dam from massively pouring over its emergency spillway and flooding over 1 million people in the Sacramento Valley, the 9 smaller supporting dams on the Feather River were allowed to fill up. During the same period, engineers allowed the 5 smaller dams that support Shasta Dam to fill up as well. But Shasta Dam was originally designed to be 804 feet high and hold back 13. 9 million acre feet of water, because it blocked the water flows from the Pit, McCloud, and Sacramento rivers. Built during by the federal government during World War  for the duel purpose of providing flood control and electrical generation to California aviation factories, wartime material shortages prevented adding the dam’s top 200 feet. Fully aware that Shasta Dam is not tall enough to handle the type of   flood that California may currently be facing, the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation has proposed $1. 1 billion to raise the height of Shasta Dam by 18. 5 feet to increase water storage by 14 percent. But the Obama administration killed the project in 2014 by filing a   report claiming expansion was a threat to salmon under the U. S. Endangered Species Act. Breitbart News reported that despite Gov. Jerry Brown campaigning for the $7. 5 billion Proposition 1 Water Bond to provide new dams and flood control in 2014, he moved in April 2016 to redirect $250 million to   the Klamath River by tearing down 4   dams. But facing political   from having ordered the evacuation of 188, 000 people during the   of Oroville Dam, and fearing an early spring snowmelt, Gov. Brown on February 24 asked the   California Legislature to spend $50 million in existing general fund money, plus $387 million from the Proposition 1 fund, on emergency flood control efforts, according to the Sacramento Bee.  ",true,news,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
9263,9264,"Governor Chris Christie was being heckled during a baseball game at Miller Park. He lost it and got in the face of a Chicago Cubs fan and said  Yeah, you re a big shot . Doesn t he know better than to respond to people like that? What would you do?At #Cubs #Brewers game. #ChrisChristie was getting razzed by fans, so he got in the face of one of them. 5:30 on @WISN12News pic.twitter.com/sx8euMgFy2  Ben Hutchison (@BennyHutch) July 30, 2017In a video, Christie can be seen holding some nachos before going nose-to-nose with the Cubs fan. The Cubs fan was asked by one of the people around him what did Christie say and the fan replied:  You want to act like a big shot? Christie s son works for the Brewers. Christie was recently booed at a New York Mets game after catching a foul ball in the stands. He has also filled in for New York City sports radio host Mike Francesa in what may have been an audition to possibly succeed Francesa, when he retires at the end of the year.  T  S  RUN-  A    STREET:Via: Gateway Pundit",fake,dataset,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
9266,9267,"Rick Perlstein could have called his book "" Paranoia . ""  Richard Nixon was "" the guy who exploited these tensions to create a new kind of politics , "" says Rick Perlstein .  If Perlstein ' s history of the 1960s and early ' 70s in America has a throughline , it ' s mistrust . Parents don ' t trust their children . Enlisted men don ' t trust their officers . Blacks don ' t trust whites , Southerners don ' t trust Northerners , the Silent Majority doesn ' t trust the Intellectual Establishment , and soon enough nobody trusts the government .  And in the midst of it all was Richard Nixon : Red baiter , former vice president , failed gubernatorial nominee , punch line , political strategist and president , a master at playing both sides to maintain his hold on power . In doing so , he provided a roadmap for his successors .  Hence Perlstein ' s actual title : "" Nixonland "" ( Scribner ) .  "" I ' m fascinated with how Americans fight with each other , "" says Perlstein , 39 , who was born the year Nixon took office . "" And the ' 60s is the best , the most besides the Civil War , I can ' t think of a more dramatic canvas . And Nixon fits in as the guy who exploited these tensions to create a new kind of politics that we ' re still living with now . "" Slideshow : What made the ' 60s the ' 60s  Perlstein ' s book has earned rave reviews . In The Atlantic magazine , conservative writer Ross Douthat praised the author for "" the rare gift of being able to weave social , political , and cultural history into a single seamless narrative . "" Newsweek ' s Evan Thomas called it "" the best book written about the 1960s "" in more than a quarter century .  Perlstein says he ' s long had an obsession with the ' 60s which , in "" Nixonland , "" start with the Democratic landslide of 1964 and end with the Nixon landslide of 1972 . The author , now a senior fellow at the left leaning Campaign for America ' s Future in Chicago , considers the book a sequel to his earlier work , a biography of Barry Goldwater and the rise of the conservative movement .  But "" Nixonland "" is as much a cultural history as a political chronicle indeed , in the ' 60s the two were tightly enmeshed . The decade saw the full flower of youth culture , which was intertwined with Vietnam War protests , increasing drug use and distinctive music .  It also saw the rise of what Nixon , in a major 1969 speech , termed the "" Silent Majority "" older , more conservative Americans buffeted on all sides by change , taking refuge in the familiar .  Both groups had their pop culture heroes and touchstones , Perlstein observes .  "" The generational divide went so deep as to form a fundamental argument about what was moral and what was immoral , "" Perlstein says . "" This was how people lived in the world through popular culture and through politics . The two feed off each other . ""  Though the era is now remembered through the rosy lenses of the baby boomers , their parents the heart of the "" Silent Majority "" didn ' t look upon the culture so fondly . Many disdained the era ' s pop music , the most obvious expression of youth .  Moreover , some of the highest rated  specials of 1969 and 1970 were Bob Hope programs , Perlstein writes , and when a movie such as 1970 ' s "" Joe "" came out about a hardhat who loathes the hippies many in the audience came to cheer for the hardhat .  Movies may have been the most revealing mirror of society . The rise of the youth culture coincided with the death of the studio system . Some of what emerged were films willing to show the grit and ugliness of the cities ( "" the cities "" being a common euphemism for civic decline ) . "" Midnight Cowboy "" and "" The French Connection , "" the Academy Awards ' best pictures of 1969 and 1971 respectively , show a weary , cold New York crumbling under its residents ' feet .  Television tiptoed more gingerly into the new age , Perlstein says . With just three networks catering to the entire country , "" everything had to have this lowest common denominator mass appeal , "" he says . "" You could watch  in 1966 and it ' s really not any different from what it looked like in 1956 .  "" When you did get interesting shows , it was often an accident a midseason replacement , "" he adds . "" ' The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour ' was supposed to be a typical variety show .  never would have signed it up had they known that they were going to start talking about how much they hated the Vietnam War and started putting on Pete Seeger and making jokes about Richard Nixon . It was an accident . ""  An underlying theme of "" Nixonland "" is how the various cultural and political movements eventually borrow from each other , with varying results .  The mass gatherings of youth "" be in , "" "" sit in "" became "" Rowan and Martin ' s Laugh in , "" a colorful comedy show hosted by two nightclub comics , with a writing staff that included an old Nixon hand , Paul Keyes .  The nightly arguments between parents and children became the sitcom "" All in the Family , "" a show whose central figure the bigoted construction worker Archie Bunker became a cultural hero .  And then there was Nixon , a controlling man who , in trying to stay at least one move ahead of everyone else , ends up consumed by his own power . The result is Watergate , which is just being uncovered as "" Nixonland "" ends .  Could it have been different ? Countless commentators have tried to replay history from the hinge year of 1968 , wondering if a surviving Robert Kennedy could have beaten Nixon and salved an angry culture .  Perlstein , whose next book will chronicle the ' 70s , will have none of it .  "" I don ' t like that magic thinking . I ' m very suspicious of it , "" he says . "" Martyrs seem to get 100 extra bonus points in the annals of history , and that ' s a bias . By the same token , nostalgia systematically cheats the past .  "" I think that it pulls around to one of the huge themes of my book and my work , which is that we really want to believe that somehow magically we can transcend our differences in American and as Americans without working hard at it .  "" If only this person had lived if only this event hadn ' t gone the way it did . But the fact of the matter is , we are a deeply divided nation , and transcending those differences isn ' t the work of an afternoon or a single person . It ' s something we all have to fight for . ""  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
9284,9285,"When Richie McCaw leads the All Blacks out for the 100th time on Saturday it will cement his status as one of the greatest sporting captains to have lived .  McCaw , who led New Zealand to the 2011 World Cup , has been captain of his country since 2006 , and led the All Blacks out on several occasions before being given the full time job aged 25 .  Now 33 and in the twilight of his career , questions of McCaw ' s legacy are becoming increasingly poignant , especially ahead of Saturday ' s landmark clash against Wales in Cardiff .  Richie McCaw seen here parading the World Cup in 2011 will lead the All Blacks for the 100th time  One such question is : where does he rank among the greatest international sporting captains of all time ? Well , Sportsmail has come up with a top 10 , which unsurprisingly includes the All Black great .  You ' re sure to disagree with some of the names on the list and certainly the order , so feel free to leave a comment below . . .  10 ) Allan Border ( Australia , cricket )  Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting led Australia through a period of utter domination of world cricket through the 1990s and 2000s but none of that would have been possible without Border . Inheriting a side in utter disarray in the mid 1980s , by the time Border had retired in 1994 Australia were playing the brand of dogged , determined cricket that has brought them so much success since . The Baggy Green are made in his image .  Australia captain Allan Border embodied his team ' s battling spirit in the late 80s and early 90s  9 ) Willie John McBride ( British and Irish Lions , rugby union )  To describe the Ulsterman as a Lions legend would not do his impact on the 15 man game in the British Isles justice . The big second row toured with the Lions five times between 1962 and 1974 and still holds the record for number of appearances in the famous red jersey at 17 . McBride captained the Lions on their most successful tour to date a 3 0 whitewash of South Africa in 1974 .  Willie John McBride in action against South Africa and returning home from the successful tour  8 ) Douglas Jardine ( England , cricket )  Scourge of the Aussies , Jardine was the mastermind behind the infamous ' Bodyline ' tactic which saw England nullify the threat of the peerless Don Bradman and regain the Ashes Down Under in 1932 33 . A fierce competitor , the ultra competitive Jardine reportedly ordered his players to ' hate the Australians ' and to refer to Bradman as ' the little bastard ' . He lost just one of 15 Tests as captain .  Douglas Jardine ( left ) and his Australian counterpart William Woodfull ahead of the third Test in 1933  7 ) Bobby Moore ( England , football )  On to the first of our footballers and England ' s 1966 World Cup winning captain Moore . A calm , assured presence at the back , Moore became England ' s youngest ever captain when first handed the armband in 1963 aged just 22 . A year later , he was handed the full time role and would retain it until the last of his 108 caps in 1973 . Ninety of those caps came as captain an English joint record held with Billy Wright .  Bobby Moore ( right ) kisses the Jules Rimet trophy after England ' s World Cup triumph in 1966  6 ) Franz Beckenbauer ( West Germany , football )  Beckenbauer just pips his great rival Moore by virtue of the fact he led his country to two major trophies , rather than one . Like Moore , Beckenbauer was a stylish defender , perhaps even more comfortable with the ball than without it . On the losing side as Moore lifted the Jules Rimet trophy in 1966 , ' Der Kaiser ' would have his time . Made captain in 1971 , he led his country to the European Championship in 1972 and , his crowning glory , the World Cup in 1974 .  Franz Beckenbauer ( left ) guided Germany to the World Cup two years after winning Euro 72  5 ) Richie McCaw ( New Zealand , rugby union )  Sorry Richie , but we can ' t get you any higher than No 5 . One hundred Tests as captain and a World Cup triumph speak for themselves , but that choke against France in the 2007 quarter final when the All Blacks looked destined for glory is the one blot in his copybook as captain . McCaw will have the chance of redemption next year at the World Cup on these shores and should he lift the Webb Ellis trophy again , he may just find himself at No 1 .  McCaw ' s All Blacks delivered New Zealand their first World Cup since 1987 three years ago  4 ) Diego Maradona ( Argentina , football )  A controversial choice . Those football aficionados among you may wonder how Maradona is above Beckenbauer and Moore . Sure , Maradona is arguably the greatest footballer of all time but his leadership qualities are not immediately obvious , especially compared with those two stalwarts the argument goes . But it is exactly that prodigious ability which carried an otherwise average Argentina team to World Cup glory in 1986 . Maradona led by the most supreme of examples that summer .  Diego Maradona was in sensational form throughout the 1986 World Cup  3 ) Sir Viv Richards ( West Indies , cricket )  Back to cricket , and with it one of the most iconic figures the game has known . Like Jardine , Richards was a prickly figure as skipper , never shirking a confrontation and doing everything in his power to win ( and he wasn ' t bad with the bat either ) . Under Richards ' captaincy , which lasted for 50 Tests from 1984 to 1991 , West Indies never lost a series .  Sir Viv Richards was the leader of an iconic West Indies team in the 1980s  2 ) Iker Casillas ( Spain , football )  The name ' Casillas ' doesn ' t scream out at you when asked who the greatest sporting captains of all time are , especially in the wake of Spain ' s and his dismal World Cup this year . But just look at his record : Casillas captained Spain to three consecutive major trophies Euro 2008 , the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 . A feat unrivalled in national football captaincy ( although Beckenbauer came within a penalty shootout of doing the same at Euro 1976 ) .  Iker Casillas seen here lifting the World Cup in 2010 captained Spain through a period of dominance  1 ) Martin Johnson ( British and Irish Lions and England , rugby union )  We ' ve seen three types of criteria that make great sporting captains : trophies , such as Casillas character , such as Jardine and skill , such as Maradona . All 10 of the sportsmen on these list have elements of each , but none have all in such an abundance as did Johnson .  Johnson ' s leadership and motivational qualities were second to none during his playing career and he was unrivalled as the greatest lock on the planet until his retirement . And he has the medals to go with it : a World Cup in 2003 and a British and Irish Lions series win touring South Africa , who were then world champions . He captained both sides , of course .  Martin Johnson captained both the Lions ( left ) and England ( right ) to memorable successes  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
9293,9294,"In what is one of the most severe illnesses of its kind , a baby girl born just 10 months ago is already the size of an average five year old because of a rare overgrowth disorder .  Indigo Nowakowsky Kaiuha suffers from Beckwith Wiedemann syndrome that affects only one in 15 , 000 children . Indigo has blown up to a staggering 25kg , meaning she no longer fits into her car seat , requiring a custom one to be made .  The condition means that helpless child also suffers from a wide range of symptoms including restricted movement and breathing problems . She may also struggle to walk in the future .  Indigo Nowakowsky Kaiuha suffers from Beckwith Wiedemann syndrome , a rare overgrowth disorder  The disorder means Indigo has restricted movement and breathing problems  Indigo was diagnosed at four months old , after her weight started ballooning suddenly .  When she was born , Indigo ' s health was seriously affected . The child had chronic fluid retention , a belly button hernia , enlarged organs and a heightened risk of cancer .  ' They did some blood tests and found she has Beckwith Wiedemann syndrome . We ' re waiting for further tests to find out if it was genetic or random , ' said her mother Tiffany Nowakowsky Kaiuha .  To make matters worse , Tiffany has suffered back injuries from looking after Indigo . The mounting financial burden of medical bills , clothing and caring for her daughter and her two other sons Shade , six , and Devon , four , is also putting huge pressure on the young family .  The fact she outgrows at a rapid rate , mean the family is struggling badly financially .  ' The stress of not knowing if she will be able to walk or even crawl , the stress of the endless medical work and needing to buy new clothes all the time it can be very overbearing , ' Tiffany said .  Indigo and her mother Tiffany Nowakowsky Kaiuha . The family are struggling to make ends meet  Indigo ( centre ) with her brothers Devon ( left ) and brother Shade ( right ) are a close family  ' Between the size of Indies seat and her pram , I can ' t fit anything else in the car . I need to get a babysitter every time I want to go shopping .  ' We ' re on a very tight budget at the moment and really struggling to make ends meet . '  Doctors have told the family Indigo should start to ' level out ' at about 8 years old , but Tiffany is doubtful she can support the family for that long such are her financial problems .  In a bid to get their heads above water , Tiffany has launched an online fundraising campaign called ' Our Beautiful Indigo ' .  ' We need help getting to hospital appointments , buying clothes for Indigo and helping the injuries I have suffered in my back from looking after her , ' she said .  ' Every 1 is a big help . If a few people could donate just 1 that would make a big difference and would definitely help us in the long run ! '  You can donate to the family here  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
9294,9295,"President Donald Trump’s White House communications team is claiming inaccurately that there is border wall funding in the spending bill before Congress right now. The move comes as the administration is facing political heat for the failure to obtain federal appropriations in the new omnibus spending bill to pay for the construction of a border wall, as President Trump promised on the campaign trail. [The latest controversy began with White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer Tweeting out photos of a levee wall along the border and   border fence that illegal aliens and drug and human traffickers regularly cut through. Spicer argued, without calling any of them a “wall” like the one Trump promised on the campaign trail, that the president “just negotiated a spending deal where we can build these. ” He explicitly did not call the photos a “border wall” on his Twitter account.  . @ just negotiated a spending deal where we can build these pic. twitter.   —   Sean Spicer (@PressSec) May 2, 2017,  Technically, Spicer’s Tweet is accurate. The spending bill, which funds the government until the end of the fiscal year, does account for the construction of levee walls and extra steel fencing, but that is far short of the president’s campaign promise of an actual border wall. But what Spicer did next was highly problematic and potentially hurts President Trump’s efforts to succeed later in the year in delivering an actual border wall when the next spending bill comes up in September. Spicer directed one of his deputies, Lindsay Walters, to call Breitbart News and pitch the photos in Spicer’s Tweet as a “border wall. ” Noting that Spicer directed her to call Breitbart News and argue that the photos represent a “border wall,” Walters pushed back when Breitbart News argued that a   fence and a levee wall do not constitute a “border wall” that fulfills President Trump’s campaign promise. “There are two types of walls, a levee wall and a bollard wall,” Walters said in a   email. “Both of which will help secure our borders. ” Technically, levee walls —  or flood walls —  are common parts of levees designed to deal with flooding. The Rio Grande river constitutes much of the U. S.  border, so levees —  and “levee walls” as Walters argued —  are a part of that. They are not meant for border security, but rather for flood management. But, Walters said in a   email that “A bollard wall and levee wall of this scale will prevent illegal immigrants from crossing the border. ” Walters and Spicer and others in the White House communications office have not answered why Spicer’s original Tweet did not include the term “wall” or “border wall,” but rather described them as “these. ” This all came after an earlier press briefing in which Spicer was flanked by Office of Management and Budget (OMB) director Mick Mulvaney and Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly. Kelly reiterated the president’s commitment to building a real wall on the border and laid out his plans to do so. Mulvaney held up photographs of the steel fencing, claiming that was an improvement. Lack of progress on a border wall ahead of the 2018 midterm elections would likely hurt Republicans in what would otherwise be a chance at another  landslide given the 2018 Senate map. And if there is lack of border wall progress by 2020, Trump could face a loss of his hardcore supporters in the Rust Belt from states like Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin —  states he turned red for the first time in years thanks to promises to once and for all secure the border. It is perhaps debatable how much Trump could have gotten this   out of the Democrats in Congress —  who he rightfully ripped in his speech in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, this weekend as being complicit with drug cartels and gangs like   for blocking the wall for now. Some in his base would likely be willing to forgive him not funding the wall or starting construction until September or October, the next funding bill   especially since the wall would become a clear election year issue heading into the midterms when Democrats who opposed it would need to explain to their constituents why they are against securing the border and protecting the country. The real issue here is that at least some of President Trump’s staff and many Republicans   are not serving him well or interested in implementing his agenda, many Trump allies inside and outside the White House told Breitbart News. Walters and Spicer have not answered multiple   questions on whether or not they are working out a plan to get funding for a real wall in September and are prepared for this next political battle which could have dire implications for the president and his agenda. Trump allies who spoke with Breitbart News made very clear that they do not view this as the president’s fault, noting instead that Trump would be much better served if his team were better prepared on these matters —  not just the communications team, but the congressional relations and government staffing teams as well. “The greatest negotiator in the world did not fail the people that got him elected,” one Trump ally who regularly communicates with the president and his inner circle told Breitbart News. “His staff, more specifically the liberal staffers who do not know why or how he was elected, have failed his base. They dominate his ear and fail to give him the full scope of the disasters that are about to transpire, and more often than not they have proven that their loyalty lies not with Donald Trump but instead with Speaker Paul Ryan. ” Interestingly, one question Breitbart News has repeatedly asked Spicer over the course of several weeks is whether he is more loyal to Ryan or to Trump. He has refused to answer it. Walters, meanwhile, when on the phone with Breitbart News on Tuesday afternoon, acknowledged the question when Breitbart News asked it again and requested an answer from Spicer as to whether he is more loyal to Trump or Ryan. She said she would try to get one. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said this week that President Trump himself, and the White House overall, were not very involved in working on this bill —  and that congressional Republicans took the lead, hence the Democrat wins and  failures. Schumer also advocated that Trump stay out of the next funding bill battle ahead of September, almost goading the president into a budget war. That is Trump’s next big test: Can he, now that he is familiar with the levers of power, successfully negotiate payment for a border wall in the next spending bill? Or can he find another way to get it done? Next time around, with the midterms looming, he may pay a steep price for politically outsourcing these projects to Capitol Hill leadership like Ryan —  people who have a proven track record of failing him —  or to staff who have repeatedly dropped the ball. “The presidency has receded,” one senior  congressional aide told Breitbart News. “I’ve never seen anything like it. The administration is not involved in major discussions anymore. It’s President Ryan and   Mark Meadows leading the way on major negotiations. ” Rick Manning, the president of Americans for Limited Government and a top outside Trump ally, concurred. “It is tragic that this funding bill reflects Paul Ryan’s priorities but bears zero resemblance to those put forth by President Trump,” Manning said in an email. “If Paul Ryan is allowed to continue imposing his will, the President’s agenda will never get done and the GOP’s legitimacy to lead will be lost. ” “This is not what we voted for or supported,” a    donor who has contributed in the    in the last election cycle added. “We thought we were getting President Trump. Now we’re getting President Ryan. Not sure we are better off with Hillary or Paul Ryan. ” “President Ryan is making liberals blush with gratitude,” a   Senate  aide also told Breitbart News. “A tale as old as time, Republicans sell out and give Democrats an early Christmas. ”",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
9296,9297,"Around town : Lowcountry names hottest sauce after  and ' weak sauce ' after LeBron  The Cleveland Cavaliers ' LeBron James plays against the Memphis Grizzlies during an  pre season game Oct . 12 , 2015 in Columbus , Ohio .  The Cleveland Cavaliers ' LeBron James plays against the Memphis Grizzlies during an  pre season game Oct . 12 , 2015 in Columbus , Ohio .  Who needs the Scoville scale ? Lowcountry has its own rating system for measuring a sauce s pungency .  The Lakeview Southern seafood restaurant opened last month and asks customers to pick their protein , sauce and the spice level of that sauce . There are five spice levels , with weak sauce aka LeBron being the tamest and the  , which is off the menu , being the hottest . The rest of the sauces feature the more straight forward , non basketball related labels mild , hot and ridiculously hot .  ( LeBron James ) is a world class athlete and physically gifted , but mentally weak , said Lowcountry partner Pan Hompluem , via email . He would shrink in the brightest moments on the biggest stage . Although he won a couple of championships , he needed to join a super team to do so . At the end of the day , he will never be the G . O . A . T . because he lacks the mental makeup and strength .  Sounds like someone isn t the biggest King James fan .  Speaking of the four time   , James had dinner Monday at Chicago Cut Steakhouse . Chicago Cut managing partner David Flom said he ordered the bone in rib eye , sans sauce , in case you were wondering . The Bulls kick off the regular season against James and the Cleveland Cavaliers Tuesday at the United Center .  2 . 33 million . Price that White Sox Executive Vice President Kenny Williams and wife and  Chicago news anchor Zoraida Sambolin paid for their ? four bedroom mansion on Lake Michigan in New Buffalo , Mich .  On the record : ( President Obama ) loves the game of basketball , I think we all know that . It s an honor for me to be a part of a venue and a spectacle that the president would like to come and watch . It s an honor for sure . ? James , in reference to speculation that President Barack Obama will attend Tuesday s Bulls Cavs game  I try to tell people that if you always wanted to do something but were maybe a little afraid of trying it you never know unless you try . That ' s been the thing with the music stuff . It ' s about paying tribute to my family who instilled this music inside of me and finding the right people to sort of tap into that talent that I never really realized I had . ? Former Blackhawk Theo Fleury , who released his debut country album I Am Who I Am Friday , in an interview with the Tribune  Heads up : The wives and girlfriends of Bears and Blackhawks players will walk the runway Nov . 7 at Bloomingdale s Luxe Be a Lady Charity Fashion Show at Park West . The event benefits the Visualize and Rize Foundation , founded by the Bears Jermon Bushrod and his wife Jessica , and the Bryan and Amanda Bickell Foundation , founded by the Blackhawks Bryan Bickell and his wife Amanda .  Participants include Siggi Bennett , wife of the Bears Martellus Bennett , Jana Hossa , wife of the Blackhawks Marian Hossa and Dayna Seabrook , wife of the Hawks Brent Seabrook . Click here for tickets .  Sightings : Anthony Rizzo had dinner Thursday at Siena Tavern . Fellow Cub Kris Bryant opted for Chicago Cut that night . Their teammate , Kyle Schwarber , had dinner Thursday at Giordano s on N . Rush Street and Saturday at Chicago Cut . . . . The Bulls Jimmy Butler dined Friday at  Chicago . . . . The Bears Robbie Gould had dinner Saturday at Prime and Provisions .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
9301,9302,"The character actor was best known for his role as Sal Tessio in the Coppola film , and as Phil Fish in   show Barney Miller  Last modified on Tuesday 26 January 2016 16 . 00 ?   Character actor Abe Vigoda , known for his work on The Godfather and on the television series Barney Miller , died Tuesday aged 94 .  The actor s daughter , Carol Vigoda Fuchs , confirmed his death to the Associated Press , and said her father died in his sleep at her home in New Jersey .  Vigoda , recognizable for his leathery , sunken eyed face , came to fame in 1972 after Francis Ford Coppola cast him in The Godfather as Sal Tessio , an old friend of Vito Corleone ( Marlon Brando ) who aims to take over the family by killing Vito s son , Michael Corleone ( Al Pacino ) . In the film , Michael anticipates that Sal s suggestion for a peace summit among crime families is a setup and has him executed by the men Sal thought were his escorts .  The success of the Godfather films brought Vigoda s face and voice to fame and led to numerous roles . But it was his turn in Barney Miller as Phil Fish that brought the actor the most recognition . For his portrayal of Detective Fish , Vigoda received Emmy nominations three years in a row ( 1976 1978 ) .  Vigoda enjoyed sharing the story of how he won the role in Barney Miller : he had just returned from a five mile run when his agent told him to report immediately to audition for the part . Danny Arnold , who was producing the pilot , remarked to Vigoda that the actor looked tired , and Vigoda told him about the long run .  Arnold said : You look like you have hemorrhoids , to which Vigoda replied : What are you , a doctor or a producer ? He got the part and remained a regular on Barney Miller until 1977 , when he took the character to a spin off series called Fish .  Before he making it onscreen , Vigoda earned his acting stripes on and off Broadway , performing Shakespeare , Strindberg and Shaw .  Vigoda died about 34 years after People magazine started the rumor that the actor was dead . In 1982 , People magazine wrote that the late Abe Vigoda did not attend the Barney Miller wrap party , spawning years of reports that Vigoda was no longer alive .  He played up the mistake by posing for a photograph published in Variety in which he was sitting up in a coffin and holding a copy of People . A website dedicated to tracking the actor s status was updated on 26 January to reflect Vigoda s death .  Vigoda was married to Beatrice Schy from 25 February 1968 until her death in 1992 .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
9308,9309,"Our next ambassador to Russia ? With the way the present Administration hands out embassies as lavish rewards to donors and supporters , we well could have a ' Bumbling Chumlee ' someplace as our country ' s representative .  After President Obama lamented the roadblocks by Republicans he see ' s as hindering his filling key spots in his agenda to move it  , he enlisted the aid of Amazon ' s Bezos , new owner of the Washington Post , to launch a nation wide non talent search and hiring by Executive Order .  The White House said the initiative showed Obama ' s commitment to finding jobs and getting people back to work just as the "" real "" unemployment numbers jumped to 14 . 5 , and 125 for teen age African Americans . ( latter figures provided by the African Black Caucus in Congress , and verified by the Rainbow Coalition ,  and  )  Some of the choice job opportunities :  Prime Ambassadorships Open for Nigeria , Zimbabwe , and Somalia .  Successful candidate will have rudimentary accounting experience , ability to make change , and basic math skills to understand current rate exchanges . Prior humanitarian experience as Santa during Christmas at Wal Mart , Target , or K Mart helpful , but not required . Perfect for the activist who thought they ' d ' never be able to afford to go home again ! ""  Minimum requirement : 500 , 000 in bundled funds for Organizing for America (  ) , verifiable  or equivalent , current driver ' s license , proficient in spear chucking , tribal dances , occasional cannibalism , and community activism .  Reply with Black White Photo to DreamJobWhiteHouse . org hmmm , hmmm , hmm .  Salary commensurate with aptitude . Will train left leaning person .  Homeland Security Director 15 other openings !  Candidates will have overbearing personalities , limited management skills , and ability to follow orders from above while inspiring fear and terror in subordinates . English as a second language a plus , but not required . If you were labeled a ' school yard bully ' these positions are just up your back alley ! Imagine your life with a liberal housing allowance , pension benefits worth retiring early for and flying first class to the exotic south west , and the Baja peninsula on a generous per diem for on the job training .  Ability to talk out of both sides of your mouth will count toward Bi Lingual ability , and preference given for prior experience in seeing the way court system works from ' the other side . ""  Gender determination not required but extra points to candidate who dresses ' left ' .  Future Openings :  Vice President 2016 .  Candidate must be affable , able to take a joke , and play straight man to humorless Lesbian President by Acclimation .  Duties to include leaking state secrets for political advantage , blaming administration 8 years ago for continued economic implosion , failed middle east policies , and 225 , 000 black on black murders resulting in the expansion of voter rolls in Chicago .  Prior experience as stand up comic in Hollywood , prolific fund raiser , and proficient in the proper use of the F word a plus . Hair plugs acceptable but full head ( oxymoron ) gains advantage for position as Hair ( sic ) apparent .  Jihadist willing to fall on sword to protect integrity of regime over scandals assures position and 72 bisexuals somewhere ' up there , "" if there is a God .  Body Man Woman 2016  Tired of the usual dog and pony bestiality you ' ve been subjected to on Craigs List ?  This career opportunity is just right for you !  Successful candidate will be able to go ' both ways ' depending on the whim of the employer . Able to take a ' tongue lashing ' in good humour , willing to degrade themselves doing menial tasks and acting submissive in sexual fantasies .  Non smoker , but ability to tolerate cigar smoke a must ! Prior experience in Menages and Cluster F s required , although will train right candidate on unpaid intern basis .  Computer Savvy required with special credit for Desk Top sex given priority for advancement .  Benefits include monthly blood tests , vouchers for Planned Parenthood , clothing allowance from Victoria ' s Secret and Adam Eve , Tiffany rhine stone collars , autographed copy of the 50 Shades of Grey trilogy , disposable butt plugs , bust and butt enhancement , and liberal exotic travel .  Reply in confidence for personal interview and audition to Hummer , Hummer , Hummer white house . orgy .  ",satire,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
9310,9311,"Kylie Jenner ( right ) hinted that she and Tyga ( left ) were back together after they reportedly broke up last week .  Reality star Kylie Jenner hinted she ' s back together with Tyga ? just a day after she reportedly dumped the "" Rack City "" rapper .  "" Everyone needs to chill , "" she wrote on Snapchat on Saturday night , along with a photo of what appeared to be the two of them together .  In the photo , which doesn ' t reveal any faces , Jenner appears to be lounging on the couch next to an unidentified man with hand tattoos that strongly resembled Tyga s . The man is also wearing a large gold watch on his left wrist ? a staple of the rapper ' s wardrobe .  The eye opening snapshot came shortly after E ! News reported the couple split up last Thursday , which was Tyga ' s 26th birthday .  Jenner captioned this photo Everyone needs to chill , and the hand in the photo has tattoos resembling Tyga s .  Jenner reportedly did not attend Tyga ' s birthday party at the Nice Guy nightclub in West Hollywood on Thursday , and she and her famous family neglected to wish him a happy birthday on social media .  It ' s unknown why the "" Keeping Up with the Kardashians "" star dumped her boyfriend of more than a year , but  reported that it was because of "" something Tyga did . ""  "" Things got messy this past week , "" a source told E ! "" Kylie wants time to just be by herself and do her . ""  Tyga was "" devastated "" after the breakup and had no plans of giving up on their relationship immediately after they split , the website added .  The duo began dating in October 2014 ? but they didn ' t go public with their relationship until August , when Jenner turned 18 .  Jenner partied with singer Justin Bieber at the Nice Guy on Friday night , one day after Tyga ' s party there , according to  . She reportedly left at 2 a . m . with rapper A  Rocky .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
9337,9338,"Reuters) - Hawaii lawmaker Beth Fukumoto, ousted last month as Republican leader of the state’s House of Representatives after publicly criticizing President Donald Trump, resigned on Wednesday from her party to seek membership as a Democrat. Fukumoto, 33, the youngest Hawaii legislator to serve as House minority leader, said divisive campaign rhetoric during the 2016 elections convinced her the Republican Party no longer reflected her political values or the interests of her state’s diverse population. “This election, I saw members of my party marginalizing and condemning minorities, ethnic or otherwise, and making demeaning comments towards women,” she said in an open letter of resignation to the Republican Party.  Fukumoto, who is of mixed Japanese and Irish ancestry, said she found Trump’s comments about banning Muslim immigrants and the possibility of establishing a registry of Muslim-Americans to be especially troubling. “I wanted very badly to see the Republican Party denounce his comments, and that didn’t happen,” she told Reuters, saying a Muslim registry struck her as “one step away” from internment camps.  “That for me was the issue that really changed how I felt.” A self-described political moderate, Fukumoto was the first Republican in 26 years to represent the largely middle-class central Oahu district outside Honolulu, capital of the predominantly Democratic state. She said she originally joined the Republicans out of a sense that Democrats were the status quo party, but she grew gradually disillusioned with the Republicans. She recounted a fellow Republican caucus member admonishing her last year that they should be considered the “party of middle America” despite Hawaii’s diverse demographics. Before making the switch, Fukumoto sent out a questionnaire to constituents seeking their opinions. Of those who replied, 76 percent said they would support her regardless, while most of the remainder opposed her changing parties, she said. First elected to the state legislature in 2012, Fukumoto  became leader of the state’s tiny House Republican caucus two years later, only to be removed by her peers in February of this year after she spoke out against Trump during the Women’s March in Hawaii the day after his inauguration. As of Wednesday, Fukumoto, became the lone independent among 45 Democrats and five remaining Republicans in the state’s lower House, as she launches a process of applying for membership in the state’s majority party. ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
9343,9344,"Democratic presidential candidate , Sen . Bernie Sanders , I Vt , spoke after former Sen . Paul Kirk , D Mass . ( right ) endorsed him during a press conference before a campaign stop at Dartmouth College .   , N . H . ? Bernie Sanders received the endorsement of former Massachusetts senator Paul Kirk on Thursday night at Dartmouth College .  Kirk , a longtime aide and confidant to Ted Kennedy , was appointed temporarily to fill Kennedy s Senate seat after his death in 2009 . Scott Brown won a special election to complete Kennedy s term a few months later .  The endorsement matters not only because of his connection to the Kennedy legacy , but also because Kirk is a former Democratic National Committee chairman and a superdelegate who can vote for Sanders at the Democratic convention this summer . Hillary Clinton has a strong advantage among her party s superdelegates , who played a key role in selecting the nominee in 2008 .  Appearing with Sanders before a rally , Kirk called Sanders a forthright son of Brooklyn and praised him for standing up to the influence of big money in politics by opposing the Supreme Court s Citizens United decision .  The American people are sick of the old way , Kirk said . They also believe ? as Bernie and I do ? enough is enough .  He s tapping into the energies and interests of disenfranchised and frustrated voters , but is doing so in a more hopeful way , unlike the Republican candidates , Kirk said . Only Sanders , he added , is providing outspoken and courageous leadership .  Sanders called Kirk s backing just another indication of the momentum our campaign has .  In 2008 , Kirk , a resident of Marston Mills , backed Barack Obama over Clinton in the Democratic presidential primary . Kennedy also backed Obama over Clinton .  An attorney , Kirk led the Democratic National Committee from 1985 to 1989 .  Michael Levenson can be reached at mlevenson globeweblink . Follow him on Twitter mlevenson . James Pindell can be reached at james . pindell globeweblink .  Get Today s Headlines from the Globe in your inbox :  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
9352,9353,"Reuters) - Constant cyber attacks on the U.S. Missile Defense Agency and its key weapons programs pose as great a threat as development of intercontinental ballistic missiles by Iran and North Korea, the admiral who heads the agency said on Thursday. Vice Admiral James Syring told a House Armed Services subcommittee that the agency had taken “inordinate” measures to defend its own networks, but he remained concerned about potential vulnerabilities among defense contractors. The U.S. Missile Defense Agency develops and runs a multilayered system of defenses against ballistic missile attacks by potential enemies. The system includes ground-based interceptor missiles in Alaska and California as well as high-end radar equipment to detect attacks. Syring said the agency carried out continuous monitoring of its classified and unclassified networks, but said cyber attacks were increasingly directed against private contractors and unclassified, controlled technical information that they housed on their networks. “What we’ve got to do is get them up to where we are in terms of our protection levels, and I view it as a very near-term, very real requirement across the (Ballistic Missile Defense System),” he said. U.S. defense officials have been increasingly vocal about escalating and constant cyber attacks originating from China, Russia and other countries. Syring did not answer directly when asked about his knowledge of attacks on the agency’s networks by China or the Chinese military, telling lawmakers he would provide fuller answers during a classified hearing.  Syring told a similar Senate hearing on Wednesday that the agency was working “hand-in-glove” with private contractors to ensure that future contracts contained the necessary cyber security requirements, protections and standards. Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work told Reuters this week that the Pentagon’s Cyber Investment Management Board had prepared a list of top-priority weapons programs that required cyber security updates and investments. He said the details were classified, but said some of those programs were launched years ago before cyber attacks became commonplace. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
9360,9361,"12 : Stephen Curry 30 of the Golden State Warriors shoots a three pointer during the second ?  It had to end eventually . The defending champion Golden State Warriors saw their first loss of the 2015 16  season on Saturday at the Milwaukee Bucks , losing 108 95 at the  Harris Bradley Center to see their previously unbeaten record fall to 24 1 .  The Warriors shattered the previous record of 15 straight wins to start a season and figure to see their mark stand for some time . Golden State also saw the end of a 28 game winning streak ? the second longest ever and just five short of the record 33 game streak set by the 1971 72 Los Angeles Lakers ? that began at the end of last regular season . The Bucks franchise has now snapped six streaks of 12 games or more , including the two longest in  history . The good news for the Warriors is that all five of their previous victims went on to win the title .  Follow Dunks Don ' t Lie on Tumblr : ? The best slams from all of basketball  Saturday proved to be a perfect storm for a team finishing up a season high seven game road trip . Playing less than 24 hours after tipping off a 124 119 double overtime win at the Boston Celtics in which they sat two starters due to ankle injuries , Golden State saw Klay Thompson return to the starting lineup but suffered through one of its worst shooting nights of the season ( 40 . 9 percent from the field and 6 of 26 from three point range ) . The Bucks countered with an uncharacteristically high 49 . 4 percent night from the field , including free agent addition Greg Monroe ' s best game with the team ( 28 points on 11 of 16  ) , to run their record to 10 15 .  The trouble started early for the visitors . The offensively limited Bucks led 30 18 after just 10 minutes due to a combination of superior energy and hot shooting , particularly from starting guard O . J . Mayo ( 4 of 5 from deep in the first half ) . The Warriors closed the first quarter on a 10 0 run to ensure that it would not be a blowout , but the earliest portion of the game set the tone . Golden State played from behind for all but a few moments and seemed to lack the capacity for the overwhelming runs and lights out shooting displays that have made them such a handful for two seasons .  Meanwhile , the Bucks saw shots that have missed for most of the season go down . Monroe succeeded with a steady diet of baby hooks while Michael Carter Williams had most of his patented drives and throw ins find the bottom of the net ( 17 points on 7 of 10  ) . But the Bucks also created their own luck , beating the Warriors to many loose balls and generally seeming like the more locked in team despite playing the second game of a back to back themselves .  It is likely that the strains of a 13 day , seven game road trip finally caught up to the Warriors , especially due to the effort they expended in Friday ' s win over the Celtics . They fought back from several significant Bucks leads and trailed by three points entering the fourth quarter , but team wide fatigue saw Luke Walton turn to an early fourth quarter lineup with no consistent scorers and iffy spacing . Milwaukee began the final period on a 13 3 run and never looked back , absorbing the reintroduction of Stephen Curry , Draymond Green , and other key Warriors with little trouble . Thompson had little to give all night as he attempted to come back from a sprained ankle sustained earlier in the week ( 4 of 14  and 2 of 7 3FG , most of which missed short ) , and Golden State missed the presence of Harrison Barnes ( missing his eighth consecutive game with his own ankle sprain ) on a night when Andre Iguodala struggled ( 1 of 9  ) . Curry and Green were both fine overall , but that wasn ' t enough given the deficiencies elsewhere .  The Warriors will leave Milwaukee disappointed to lose . Nevertheless , their start clearly solidified their status as favorites to repeat as champions . A team that entered this season facing questions about good fortune now looks like a potentially historically great squad . Reigning  Stephen Curry is the early leader for that award again , Draymond Green has improved and looks set to make his first All Star Game , and every other key player seems more comfortable in his role . It ' s even more remarkable that the Warriors have achieved all they have with Luke Walton manning the sidelines in place of head coach Steve Kerr , who is still not fully recovered from offseason back surgery .  One loss is ultimately a minor blemish on Golden State ' s record . In fact , don ' t be surprised if they start a new streak on Wednesday when they return to Oracle Arena to host the Phoenix Suns .  Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don ' t Lie on Yahoo Sports . Have a tip ? Email him at efreeman ysports yahooweblink or follow him on Twitter !  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
9367,9368,"Shadowy Figure by Dan Cronin  Introduction  "" Flash mobs . Community based harassment groups . Perps . The culprits of gang stalking go by many different names but they all have one singular goal : To make the life of the targeted individual or ""  a living hell .  All manner of nefarious tactics are used to intimidate , control , and ultimately ruin the black listed victim . Microwave hearing , public theater , voice to skull , vehicular harassment and synthetic telepathy are just a few methods implemented by these sadistic groups .  I have been following the phenomenon known as gang stalking since first hearing about it in early 2005 . Initially I was skeptical after reviewing several gang stalking victim ' s testimonials . I had them pegged as bored , mentally unstable people , overcome with the triviality of their existence . Fabricating these unbelievable tales in a desperate attempts to feel "" special . It all just seemed too far fetched to believe . ""  Gang Stalking Exposed Part 2  ""  : There are as many different motivations as there are groups implementing electronic weapons . For me and the organization I work for , gang stalking stems from a desire to bring order to the world ' s chaotic state . I ' m an idealist . Common laws are not infallible and sometimes punishment goes un served . We provide a public service which ensures these failures of justice are rectified .   : But these are innocent people you ' re torturing How are you able to justify such a thing ? How do you determine they are criminals ? ""   : Well , Jane , that ' s a very common misconception about what we do So I am glad you asked . The organization I work for specifically are not out to harm any law abiding citizens . Our only aim is to neutralize potential threats such as criminals who have escaped prosecution . Drug dealers , sex offenders , nasty folks who our flawed judicial system has been unable to convict . See more at : http : nationalreport . net gang stalker interview part two sthash . HcdIxidg . dpuf   : What are some of the methods and technologies your particular group uses to "" Neutralize targets as you say ?  Perp : Targets fall under 4 different categories , descending in order of threat .  Level 4 targets are people we feel are not an immediate threat to themselves or others . We consider these TIs low priority . Typically we will ride around their home several times throughout the day . Follow them when they run mundane errands . We pursue them just enough to let them know something is happening , but not enough to let on what is truly going on .  Level 3 targets are a bit more involved . We might bug their home to collect information which we can use against them later . Conduct intricate street theater episodes to make the person unsure about their reality . Typically a good show of street theater is enough to induce agoraphobia .   : Many targets ask the question "" what do the perps want from me ? Can you tell us more about what the final aim of gang stalking is ?   : To nullify threats against American society through methods such as gas lighting , electronic harassment and inducing synthetic mental illness . We attempt to either drive the target insane or push them to commit acts that will allow us to legitimately arrest and prosecute them in an American court of law . We want to get these individuals off the streets and into the penal system where they belong .   : There are lots of speculations regarding how one becomes a gang stalker . What did you do initially to enter into this line of work ?  Perp : Again , that largely depends on who you work for . We make a concerted effort to find individuals we feel have the correct "" personality type for the job . There are various avenues through which we find our employees . The military , police , certain religious sects , web forums . It takes all kinds , as they say , and our line of work is both demanding and all encompassing .  ",satire,text,validation,Other news1,US elections,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
9369,9370,"Escaping justice to Qatar!   Nobody can every accuse the Clinton’s of not planning ahead. They have quietly taken $1.8 billion dollars out of the Clinton Foundation and have transferred the money to Qatar, a country with no extradition agreement with the United States. See and hear the entire story in the following video.  P lease Donate to The Common Sense Show           DON’T   “LIKE”       This is the absolute best in food storage. Dave Hodges is a satisfied customer. Don’t wait until it is too late. Click Here for more information.     ",fake,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present
9379,9380,"Reuters) - Russia regrets Israel s decision to pull out of United Nations cultural agency UNESCO, the Russian foreign ministry said on Friday, saying Israel had followed the  bad example  of the United States. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
9383,9384,"A quick descent . No distress call . The pilot ' s actions .  It will be months , or longer , before the causes behind Tuesday ' s crash of Germanwings Flight 4U 9525 are known , but there are initial clues that aviation experts say will be the most important to investigators .  Speculation comes in the wake of any tragedy such as this , but experts say certain facts can be significant for those who want to know what happened .  The most useful clues so far :  One of the plane ' s "" black boxes "" has been recovered , the French interior minister said . The data recorder will be the most useful in determining the cause of the crash . Its contents are still unknown , but it is a good sign that it was found just hours after the crash .  France ' s aviation accident investigation bureau will examine the device immediately , the interior minister said .  Real time flight data available to the public tells a key part of the story . According to online flight trackers , the Germanwings plane had been flying at 38 , 000 feet when , about 30 minutes into the trip , it started descending . Six minutes later , it was recorded at 24 , 000 feet a drop of 14 , 000 feet .  It continued to descend after that it ' s last recorded altitude was 11 , 400 feet .  If the engines had stalled , the plane would have crashed in less time , she said .  Departure : Barcelona , Spain , at 10 : 01 a . m . ( 26 minutes late )  Destination : Scheduled to land in Dusseldorf , Germany , at 11 : 39 a . m .  Passengers : 150 ( 144 passengers , six crew members )  Airplane : Airbus A320 ( twin jet )  Airline : Germanwings ( budget airline owned by Lufthansa )  Flight distance : 726 miles  Last known tracking data : 10 : 38 a . m .  Last known speed : 480 mph  Last known altitude : 11 , 400 feet  Last known location : Near Digne les Bains , France , in the Alps  The initial data about the plane ' s descent means that the pilot could have been trying to make an emergency landing , or that the plane was gliding with the pilot ' s guidance , Schiavo said .  A scenario where the plane was gliding is potentially more dangerous because wide fields for landing would be hard to come by in the mountains , she said .  Another aviation analyst , David Soucie , said the quickness of the descent shows something went wrong , but also that the plane was not out of control .  The plane was descending "" faster than an elevator at that point . You ' re feeling it down . It ' s pulling you down , and you can sense that , "" Soucie said .  A telling piece of data is that the plane maintained speed as it descended , he said . It could show that the pilot was aware that something was wrong and was controlling the speed as the plane went down .  "" It was a controlled descent , and there was something that had gone wrong that he had no control over or he would have controlled it , "" Soucie said .  The data on air traffic accidents are clear : A majority of accidents happen upon takeoff or landing .  According to the Federal Aviation Administration , even though 83 of a plane ' s flight time is taken up with the climb , cruise and descent phases , less than 16 of accidents happen during this period .  Soucie described the timing of the crash as an "" anomalous thing that happened . ""  It is "" incredibly rare to happen in the middle of the flight , "" he said , meaning the pilot would have to act fast .  It was air traffic controllers who sent out a distress call after radio contact with the plane was lost .  The lack of an emergency call can raise a red flag to a nonpilot . Why would a pilot not alert someone that there is an emergency ? Does it hint to an incursion in the cockpit or a pilot ' s motives ?  It might sound counterintuitive , but calling for help is not the first thing on a pilot ' s checklist when things go wrong .  Soucie said the principle that a pilot follows during an emergency is this : Aviate , navigate and communicate .  In other words , before turning on a distress call or transponder , the pilot ' s first concern is to fly the plane , and secondly , to find the safest option for a crash landing , if it comes to that .  The Germanwings pilot "" was definitely aviating and navigating from what we can tell , "" Soucie said . The pilot was conceivably looking for a place to try to land , he said .  A distress call had it happened could have signaled a different story .  Schiavo explained that there are codes that pilots have certain words that if uttered by the pilot indicate to air traffic controllers that there is a hijacking . The initial reports are that there was no hijack code transmitted from the plane . A big part of determining the cause of the crash will be whether such a code was sent or not .  O ' Brien pointed out the known details of the crash a rapid descent , no radio call and a flight that continues into the mountains are not part of a "" typical emergency scenario . ""  One thing Abend was looking at was a cold front progressing in the area where the plane was . It indicated some precipitation at lower altitudes .  So there may not have been bad weather at the cruising altitude , but "" at lower altitudes , as they were beginning the descent , their visibility may have been obscured , "" Abend said .  Reduced visibility in and of itself is not a huge issue , but the weather may have deteriorated as the plane descended and be a possible factor in the crash , he said .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
9384,9385,"Reuters) - An Islamic State militant was responsible for a knife attack at a Marseille train station in southern France that killed two women on Sunday, the group s Amaq news agency said. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
9385,9386,"S  BACKGROUND:On January 11, 2017, the media reported on the existence of a private intelligence dossier containing unverified allegations of misconduct and ties between then President-elect Donald Trump and the Russian government. The dossier was written by a former British MI6 intelligence agent, Christopher Steele, who went into hiding after the release of the dossier.The media and the intelligence community have stressed that accusations in the dossier have not been verified. Most experts treated the dossier with skepticism and caution. Trump himself has denounced the report, calling it  fake news  and  phony.  A Russian government spokesman dismissed the dossier, saying its allegations were false.The document alleges that the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has kompromat on Trump   damaging or embarrassing material which could be used to blackmail him, including allegations about Trump s sexual and financial activities in Russia. The dossier also states that the Russian government promoted Trump s candidacy to create divisions in Western alliances, and that during his presidential campaign there was exchange of information between Russian sources and people associated with Trump s campaign.The dossier was produced as part of opposition research during the 2016 United States presidential election. The research was initially funded by Republicans who did not want Trump to be the Republican Party nominee for president. After Trump won the primaries, a Democratic client took over the funding; and, following Trump s election, Steele continued working on the report pro bono.In a Monday letter to  Director James Comey, Grassley asked for records pertaining to any agreements the agency may have had with Christopher Steele. The MI6 agent wrote an explosive memo on behalf of Trump s political enemies alleging that the Russians had compromising information on the president.Comey briefed Trump on the existence of the memo in a private meeting in January.Shortly after, several news organizations published the unverified allegations, which the White House denied.In late February, The Washington Post reported that the  reached an agreement with Steele whereby the British spy would continue his investigation on behalf of the bureau.Read more The Hill",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
9388,9389,"What ' s white and black , and has people fawning all over ? Meet Siku , a polar bear cub born in captivity in Denmark .  The cute cub is being reared by handlers at the Scandinavian Wildlife Park because his mother isn ' t producing the milk to feed him . Since his birth last month , Siku has become a Web star . He has his own page on the park ' s website and he ' s even on Facebook .  Park director Frank Vigh Larsen says he ' s stunned by the cub ' s rapid transformation into an Internet sensation .  As of Wednesday , at 36 days old , Siku has just opened his eyes and weighs in at 4 . 2 kilograms ( 9 . 2 pounds ) , more than five times his initial weight , his handler said .  "" He ' s just a little solid cannonball , "" Vigh Larsen said . "" He ' s doing well . ""  Such growth is a testament to the dedicated care Siku is receiving . For the first three weeks , Vigh Larsen fed the cub every two hours and still feeds him every three hours , meaning the keeper gets little sleep .  In the new year , two other wildlife keepers will start to care for him , too , in shifts , making sure the cub is never alone during the first 12 months of his life .  Siku ' s popularity comes at a time when concern over the plight of polar bears is at an peak . Corporate giant Coca Cola recently launched a campaign in conjunction with the World Wildlife Fund to raise awareness about the threat of climate change to polar bears ' Arctic habitat .  And Vigh Larsen is determined Siku whose name means "" sea ice "" in Greenlandic , an Eskimo language spoken in Greenland will thrive so he can play a role in highlighting the risk . Polar bears rely on sea ice in the Arctic to hunt .  "" Siku is going to be an ambassador for polar bears , for global warming , "" he said .  Vigh Larsen draws a contrast with the last polar bear cub to become an Internet star , Germany ' s Knut . That bear died suddenly at age 4 last March at Zoo Berlin , to the sorrow of many worldwide who had followed the cub ' s progress after he was abandoned by his mother and hand raised by a zookeeper .  The case of Knut was a disaster , Vigh Larsen said , "" because he was only ever used for selling tickets and teddy bears . ""  Siku will have a different mission , he says : using his cuteness to persuade people to listen to warnings about climate change and take steps to protect their planet .  It could prove a powerful weapon . The cub has already appeared on front pages of newspapers around the world and graced international  news bulletins .  New pictures will be posted on the Wildlife Park ' s website Thursday , Vigh Larsen said , with the pictures likely to win him even more fans .  Vigh Larsen also hopes that the facilities the huge park can offer will make it possible for Siku to join its four other polar bears including Siku ' s mother as a normal adult male in three or four years ' time , despite being bottle reared .  This is doubly important because of a shortage of polar bears for breeding programs in captivity set to become ever more important as the numbers in the wild drop .  Scientists believe there could be as few as 25 , 000 polar bears left in the world , according to Polar Bears International , a conservation group . The animals are only found in five nations : the United States ( Alaska ) , Russia , Norway , Canada and Greenland , the group said .  In 2008 , the U . S . Fish and Wildlife Service listed the polar bear as threatened under the Endangered Species Act .  Without action , Vigh Larsen says , research suggests that there could be no polar bears at all in the wild within 40 years . He hopes Siku can help reverse that course .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
9392,9393,"Alan Pardew has told Arsenal fans to lay off Arsene Wenger and believes they should be grateful for all he has done at the club .  The Newcastle boss insists that only Sir Alex Ferguson has achieved more in the Premier League era because Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho ' hasn ' t done enough yet ' .  Pardew goes so far as to say that the Emirates Stadium should be renamed in honour of Wenger .  Arsene Wenger has been in charge of Arsenal since 1996 , leading the club to multiple trophies and titles  Wenger endured dog ' s abuse at Stoke station following the Premier League defeat last weekend  The Arsenal boss is under increasing pressure after he was abused by his own supporters at a railway station following last weekend ' s 3 2 defeat at Stoke , a result that left Arsenal sixth in the table and 13 points behind leaders Chelsea .  But Pardew , who faces Wenger in Saturdays tea time kick off , said : ' The incident at the train station was totally disrespectful . I think 99 per cent of Arsenal fans would have been ashamed of that and we could get the backlash of it . They will want to show how much they love him .  ' That stadium should be named after him . The job he did in that move across ( from Highbury ) , when they had all that debt and he had to be very careful with the transfer budget it was a miracle that he kept them in the Champions League .  ' I think everyone at Arsenal knows he ' s done a magnificent job . For me , he ' s the second best manager in Premier League history ( behind Sir Alex Ferguson ) . Jose ( Mourinho ) hasn ' t done enough yet . '  Pardew suggested that the club should rename the Emirates Stadium in honour of their longest serving boss  Pardew said Wenger is the second best manager in Premier League history better than the Special One  The incomparable Sir Alex Ferguson takes the title as the best boss , according to the Newcastle manager  Wenger has found an unlikely ally in Pardew , the man he once shoved in a heated touchline fracas .  They clashed at Upton Park in 2006 when Pardew ' s West Ham scored a late winner against the Gunners , but the pair are now the longest serving bosses in the top flight .  And Pardew added : ' I ' ve had one run in with Arsene , but otherwise he ' s been fantastic . I have nothing but respect for him and I ' ve always enjoyed watching his teams . '  Arsenal and Newcastle are only separated by goal difference and an away victory would intensify the scrutiny on Wenger and his position , despite them making it through to the Champions League knockout stages for the 15th consecutive season after Tuesday ' s 4 1 win at Galatasaray .  But Pardew , who survived calls for his own sacking earlier in the season , admitted : ' Arsene knows that instant results are massive , even for someone who has been in the position as long as he has . All of us managers are on a six game , seven game period with the media and social media . We have to accept that . '  Wenger and Pardew clashed on the touchlines while the former was boss at the Boleyn Ground in 2006  The pair shake hands a year later during a frosty moment with Pardew now managing Charlton  Over time , it looks like the duo have grown rather fond of one another as this picture , taken in April , shows  Pardew , though , hopes Wenger was cheered by Newcastle ' s 2 1 victory over Mourinho ' s Chelsea , meaning Arsenal ' s unbeaten ' Invincibles ' tag from the 2003 2004 campaign remains intact at least for another season . ' I imagine Arsene might have had a glass of wine after that game , ' said Pardew . ' When you have that tag you don ' t want to lose it to anyone .  ' But we can only worry about us , it was a tremendous performance against Chelsea and the players can be proud .  ' We ' re on a good run but this is a difficult one because Arsenal away has not been a happy hunting ground for us . They have given us a thumping and on one occasion it was an embarrassing scoreline ( 7 3 , in 2012 ) .  ' The games at our place have been a lot closer and we hope this one is a lot tighter as well . '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
9397,9398,"France to help in developing three Smart Cities in ? India  France to help in developing three Smart Cities in ? India  Chandigarh , Puducherry and Nagpur will be developed as ' Smart Cities ' with the help of France which today affirmed its commitment to India ' s ambitious plans for clean and sustainable development .  Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande in a joint statement reaffirmed their commitment to cooperate towards clean and sustainable development and reaffirmed their valuable partnership in India s ambitious plans to develop Smart Cities . ( Reuters )  Chandigarh , Puducherry and Nagpur will be developed as Smart Cities with the help of France which today affirmed its commitment to India s ambitious plans for clean and sustainable development .  In this regard , French Development Agency has signed memoranda of understanding with the Union Territory of Chandigarh , Union Territory of Puducherry and the Maharashtra government ( for Nagpur ) .  A Joint Statement issued here today after talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande said the two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to cooperate towards clean and sustainable development and reaffirmed their valuable partnership in India s ambitious plans to develop Smart Cities .  In this spirit , the two leaders welcomed the three MoUs signed and the proposed collaboration between  ( French Agency for Development ) and the government of India for financing projects related to urban water and sanitation in Puducherry .  They also welcomed the partnerships between Engineering Projects India Limited (  ) and nine French companies which will be able to contribute to major infrastructures projects in India , the Joint Statement said .  According to Smart City Mission , a mega scheme of the the Modi government , 100 cities across the country will be developed as Smart Cities .  Improved basic amenities , environment friendly transportation system , e governance are some of the essential features of the Smarty City to be developed by the states with central help .  While 20 cities will be selected this month , 40 each will be get the nod in the next two years .  The two leadrers also expressed satisfaction on the progress of a number of initiatives undertaken by Indian and French institutes to promote and preserve cultural heritage and enhance cultural cooperation between the two countries .  First Published on January 25 , 2016 9 : 25 pm  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
9430,9431,"United Arab Emirates A British couple convicted for having sex on a public beach in Dubai will not face jail after a judge suspended their prison sentences , their lawyer said Tuesday .  File image of one of the co accused Vince Acors arriving at court in Dubai in September .  The couple , Michelle Palmer and Vincent Acors , had faced a three month sentence , but they were freed on bail in October pending an appeal .  Hassan Mattar , one of their lawyers , said he was trying to get permission for Palmer who worked in Dubai to stay in the United Arab Emirates , and for Acors to travel back to Britain . Acors had been on a business trip to Dubai when he was arrested .  The United Arab Emirates , where Dubai is located , is home to thousands of expatriates and is among the most moderate Gulf states . Still , the oil rich kingdom adheres to certain Islamic rules .  Palmer and Acors were arrested on a public beach shortly after midnight on July 5 . Police charged them with illicit relations , public indecency , and public intoxication . A court found them guilty in October and fined them 1 , 000 dirhams ( 367 ) for the charge of public indecency .  Both denied they had intercourse . And during the trial , Mattar argued that the public prosecutor failed to produce corroborative evidence against his clients on the first two charges , though he said both tested positive for liquor .  More than a million British visitors traveled to the  in 2006 , and more than 100 , 000 British nationals live there , according to the British Foreign Office .  The country is in the midst of a building boom to position itself as one of the world ' s premier tourist destinations .  It is already home to the world ' s largest mall , the world ' s largest tower , and despite being in the Middle East the largest indoor snow park in the world .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
9443,9444,"Glauber : Panthers  berth started with ex  Hurney  We don t really care if this is his last game , Panthers fullback Mike Tolbert told reporters this week . He s played what , 18 , 19 years ? He s had enough , you know what I m saying ? It s our turn .  Manning owns just about every passing record in the  , already has won one Super Bowl and is making his fourth appearance in the game . For nearly two decades , he has been one of the faces of the league , on and off the field . Now , at 39 , he will become the oldest quarterback to start a Super Bowl .  It s the kind of narrative other Hall of Famers have enjoyed . John Elway , Jerome Bettis , Michael Strahan . They all won the Lombardi Trophy and headed into the sunset .  The Panthers , though , have no intention of allowing Manning s career to end with a happily ever after .  Safety Tre Boston put it in terms that the Papa John s spokesman might be able to understand a little better .  So if a man has the last piece of pizza in the world , are you going to take that last piece ? Boston asked . One of y all got to live ! One of us has to win , and I m not trying to lose . It s you and that one man . You gonna live or not ? I m trying to win . I don t care who you are .  The Panthers understand that many around the country are rooting for Manning to have his last triumph . Even though they are the strong favorite in Vegas , they pretty much have solidified their role as the unpopular spoiler with a quarterback who draws as much attention ( and criticism ) for his dancing as he does for leading the league in touchdowns . They are the mouthy , cocky , young bunch with a coach who embraces that personality .  They ve also been the best team in the  all season and could be the first team in 30 years to go 18 1 and win a championship . That they could wind up being remembered as the worst of that select group ? only three teams have lost one or zero games and won the title ? fuels them and the perception that they are being overlooked , even in the narrative buildup to what could be their finest hour .  It s all about Manning , an irresistible storyline even if he no longer is the engine for the team he quarterbacks .  So they arrive at the site of the biggest game of the year cast as the pro wrestling villain taking on the mythic hero right down to the black uniforms they are forced to wear ( the Broncos chose white , perhaps knowing that the Panthers are 0 2 in their playoff history when wearing the dark hue ) .  Panthers coach Ron Rivera was asked if he thinks most of the people watching the game will be rooting for Manning .  Probably , which is fine , he said . I m kind of hoping there s a whole bunch of Panther fans and Raiders fans that are thinking otherwise .  Just to be safe , though , Rivera had the team practice with artificial noise in practices this week .  We don t know how the crowd is going to react to us , he said .  Not all of the Panthers have been so disrespectful toward Manning .  Cornerback Josh Norman said he has so much respect for the quarterback that he plans on bowing to him . . . after he comes away with an interception .  It s probably going to be his last game . I know he wants to go out with a bang , Norman said . I m rooting for him , but shoot , I want that ring . I ll do everything I can to minimize what he likes to do , but at the same time , I respect the heck out of the guy . We ll see what happens .  Subscribe to Newsday s sports newsletter for stories , photos and videos about your favorite New York teams plus national sports news and events .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
9449,9450,"Alexander Smirnov speaks to the media during a presentation in Moscow , Russia . Photograph : Denis Tyrin   Gold said : A legitimate Isis supporting account in Sinai said : Why is everyone talking about shooting it down , why is no one talking about a bomb or suicide bomber on board .  If a bomb had been planted on the plane , it would suggest security systems at Sharm el Sheikh airport had been infiltrated or compromised , which would raise a whole range of other questions , he said . Gold said there had been nothing to support the claim so far , such as a pre mission video of a suicide attacker .  The group does not have a history of major fabrications , but at the same time it s curious that they would make this claim without providing any kind of evidence . They have military capabilities , but to carry out this kind of terrorism on a plane they would have to display organisation they haven t shown before .  A Kremlin spokesman , Dmitry Peskov , said on Monday no causes could be ruled out . When asked about a possible terrorist attack , he asked journalists to wait for investigators results .  The Russian president , Vladimir Putin , who has not appeared in public since the plane went down , adopted a more active role in the crash s aftermath on Monday . The Kremlin website published a photograph of him meeting his transport minister , Maksim Sokolov , who is leading the commission investigating the disaster .  Putin called for maximum attention to be given to the families of the victims , declaring : We are with you in heart and spirit , news agency Interfax reported . He also called for an objective picture of the incident to be determined so that we know what happened and can react accordingly .  The dead , including more than 20 children , were all Russian apart from four Ukrainians and one person from Belarus . Early on Monday , the bodies of 140 victims of the crash arrived back in St Petersburg . Their remains were to be taken in a motorcade to a crematorium for identification .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
9453,9454,"WASHINGTON/  (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., will meet with the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee next week,  reported on Wednesday, citing multiple sources with knowledge of the agreement. Representatives for Representative Mike Conaway, the Republican leading the panel’s investigation of alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion by Trump’s campaign, and Representative Adam Schiff, the panel’s top Democrat, said they could not comment on whether Trump’s eldest son was going to appear before the committee.  Schiff told reporters that he could not comment on when or if Donald Trump Jr. might appear, but described him as a key witness. The younger Trump played a central role in his father’s campaign. “Obviously, when Donald Trumpweblinkes before the committee there are innumerable areas that we’re going to be interested in. It’s hard to find a more central figure in this,” Schiff told reporters at the U.S. Capitol. Schiff also said he thought it would “very likely” be necessary to bring the president’s son-in-law and close adviser, Jared Kushner, to testify again before the intelligence panel. The panel questioned Kushner behind closed doors in July. A lawyer for Donald Trump Jr., Alan Futerfas, did not respond to a request for comment.   said the meeting with lawmakers would be held next Wednesday. The House intelligence panel is one of the three main congressional committees, as well as Justice Department Special Counsel Robert Mueller, investigating the issue. In September, the younger Trump spoke privately with Senate Judiciary Committee staff. The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Republican Senator Richard Burr, has said his panel planned to interview Donald Trump Jr. in December. Trump’s son, who has denied any wrongdoing, met with a Russian lawyer at Trump Tower in New York in June 2016. Earlier this month, he released exchanges he had with the Twitter account of WikiLeaks, which released emails stolen from Democrats, during the campaign. The House Intelligence Committee will hear on Thursday from Attorney General Jeff Sessions, whose contacts with Russians during the campaign have also come under scrutiny, as well as from Erik Prince, who founded the private military contractor Blackwater and was a supporter of Trump’s presidential campaign. ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
9463,9464,"Croatia coach Niko Kovac has apologised for the ugly scenes in the crowd that marred his side ' s 1 1 draw with Italy in Milan on Sunday .  The 2016 European qualifier at the San Siro was temporarily stopped in both halves by Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers after visiting fans threw fireworks and smoke bombs onto the pitch .  Kuipers marched the players down the tunnel with the score at 1 1 as the smoke continued to grow and riot police attempted to restrain the Croatian supporters .  Croatia fans stand in the smoke billowing from the flares and fireworks set off in the stands at the San Siro  Flares and missiles are thrown on to the San Siro pitch as the Italy and Croatia players look on before the game was suspended  A fireman picks up the flares which were thrown on to the pitch as he runs through smoke at the San Siro  Flares are let off in the stand by Croatia fans , before being thrown on to the pitch and riot police arrived to calm things down  Players were off the field for 10 minutes before they returned to the pitch after emergency services extinguished and removed the flares .  It was the second time in the match they had used flares , with some being thrown on during the first half as well with the match interrupted for three minutes after Croatia scored .  ' I apologise to everyone , especially the Italians , for our supporters ' behaviour , ' Kovac said .  ' I was disappointed and helpless , there are no right words for this . If someone has a problem , he has to deal with it outside the stadium .  A firefighter attempts to remove one of the flares from the pitch as the Croatia and Italy players look on before being led off the field  Croatia supporters light flares in the stands and sing loudly during the match at the San Siro Stadium in Milan  Croatia coach Niko Kovac appeals for calm from the travelling fans and asks them to stop throwing flares as smoke builds up behind him  ' This is not the real image of Croatia , Croatians are honest people that respect other nations , while this kind of behaviour leads nowhere . Of course , Croatia will face sanctions , but I think there is no reason for any point deductions . '  The result left the two sides level on 10 points at the top of Group H after four games with both teams having gone into the encounter on the back of three straight wins in qualifying .  Antonio Candreva put the hosts ahead in the 11th minute when he scored his first international goal but Croatia ' s Ivan Perisic equalised four minutes later , but the rhythm of the match was subsequently broken up by events in the stands .  ' We had Italy under control for almost 90 minutes , ' Kovac added . ' Italy defended well , and we were aware that our chances will be rare . They were better for instance those for Olic and Perisic at the end of both halves and I am satisfied . I am also a bit sad , since we missed an opportunity to win due to the events in the second half . '  Flares were thrown by supporters on to the pitch in Milan and the Croatia players look on as they continue to burn  The linesman and the players look on as flares rain down on the San Siro pitch during the qualifier on Sunday night  A Croatia fan holds a T shirt with a portrait of Zdravko Mamic , the head of Dynamo Belgrade football club , during the match  Croatia captain Darijo Srna puts his hands on his hips and looks on as emergency services attempt to extinguish the fires  Italy coach Antonio Conte said he had feared the match would be abandoned completely .  ' I was really scared that the game might be definitively stopped , ' he said in comments reported by Gazzetta dello Sport . ' The referee was very clear , if they did not stop , he would have ended it . '  Real Madrid and Croatia midfielder Luka Modric , forced off in the first half with an injury , said : ' It ' s always the same and I do not understand why they do it . It ' s a shame to have fans like that .  ' I do not know why they continue to behave like this . It ' s madness . '  A picture from above as flares rain down on the San Siro pitch from the corner where the Croatia fans were sitting  Italy players celebrate Antonio Candreva ' s goal during the 2016 European Championship qualifier against Croatia on Tuesday  Candreva smashes a shot from the edge of the area into the bottom left hand corner to give the home side the lead  Croatia players celebrate after Ivan Perisic makes it 1 1 in the 15th minute at the San Siro Stadium in Milan  Ginaluigi Buffon of Italy reacts during the match the veteran goalkeeper was at fault for Croatia ' s equaliser  Ivica Olic ( centre ) looks on at one of the flares thrown on to the pitch as Italian players wait to kick off  Candreva runs off in celebration after opening the scoring in the 11th minute at the San Siro Stadium on Sunday  The Italian ' s shot from the edge of the D flew past the Croatian defenders and into the bottom left hand corner of the net  Buffon lies on the ground looking annoyed at himself after letting Croatia score a soft equaliser at the San Siro  Italy ' s Mattia De Sciglio ( left ) jumps to compete for the ball against Croatia ' s Darijo Srna on Sunday  Italy ' s Ciro Immobile ( left ) is tackled by Marcelo Brozovic of Croatia during the match at the San Siro on Sunday  Croatia ' s Mario Mandzukic ( right ) jumps into Italy goalkeeper Buffon as they compete for the ball on Sunday  Italy head coach Antonio Conte gives instructions to his players from the touchline during the match with Croatia  New Inter Milan head coach Roberto Mancini watches on from the stands during Italy ' s match with Croatia on Sunday  ",true,text,validation,Football,Economy,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
9472,9473,"Describing himself as "" open minded "" and "" very willing to try new things , "" 48 year old law firm partner Richard Bogan told reporters Saturday that , as unconven tional as it may sound , he ' s actually quite receptive to the idea of dating 25 year old women .  "" I know we wouldn ' t have very much in common and would probably have completely different values , but I think those are obstacles I would be able to overcome , "" said Bogan , who added that after giving the matter a lot of thought , he had to admit the concept of getting involved with an attractive woman in her mid 20s very much appealed to him . "" While you might think I ' d be embarrassed to be seen with someone young enough to be my daughter , at this point in my life , I ' m comfortable enough with who I am not to care what people think about me . ""  "" I ' m not saying it ' s for everybody , but for me personally , if the opportunity came along to engage in a romantic relationship with a woman just a couple years out of college , I ' d be willing to give it a shot , "" Bogan continued . "" But hey , that ' s just me . ""  Bogan said he was "" fully aware "" there were many differences between himself and 25 year old women , citing , in particular , their youthful temperaments , taut figures , and the more trendy , revealing clothing they often wear . However , despite such generational dissimilarities , Bogan confirmed he would still consider going out with someone that age .  In fact , Bogan stated he would likely be "" totally fine with it , "" even if the young woman were Asian .  "" Look , I understand that a far younger woman would have much less life experience and be in an inferior financial position , but I think I would still be okay with dating her , "" Bogan said . "" You know , I actually have quite a bit of money , and I wouldn ' t be averse to spending some of it to keep her happy . Maybe I could take her on a luxurious vacation or pay for her to go shopping . Who knows ? A 25 year old woman might even find that enjoyable . ""  Recognizing that some men might be ashamed of a two decade age difference or attempt to hide such a relationship , the middle aged Chicago attorney said he would in many ways be proud , actually , to be seen alongside a gorgeous young woman . Bogan went on to say he would be very much willing to introduce a 25 year old woman to his friends and colleagues , as well as spend time with her and her equally young female friends at trendy night spots .  "" If she wanted me to try certain fashions that I would never in a million years choose for myself but that she thought made me more attractive like wearing skintight shirts or growing out a goatee I could probably make that work , "" Bogan said . "" I ' d also be willing to listen to music and attend concerts that would make a man of my age look completely out of place , if she wanted . I guess I ' m just an easygoing guy in that way . ""  "" I know , I know a young , fit , 25 year old yoga instructor seems like the last type of woman I ' d be interested in , "" Bogan said while smiling and shaking his head . "" But I am who I am , you know ? ""  According to Bogan , even if a 25 year old were more sexually adventurous than he was accustomed to , he believed that would be something he could deal with .  While acknowledging he does not know how his feelings will evolve as the years pass , Bogan said he could see himself being open to dating 25 year olds well into his 60s or 70s .  Bogan also mentioned that if things didn ' t work out with one 25 year old , he wouldn ' t rule out trying it again .  "" It sounds crazy , but a really , really good looking twentysomething woman is actually a huge turn on for me , "" Bogan said . "" I can ' t quite put my finger on it , but it seems there ' s just something about intellectually unchallenging , fitter , more youthful looking women that I ' m very drawn to . ""  But regardless of his self described "" open minded "" approach toward dating , Bogan confirmed there were some characteristics in women he considered nonstarters .  "" I ' ve met a lot of 49 and 50 year olds , and frankly , we just don ' t seem to connect , "" Bogan said . "" There ' s no spark , no attraction . While it might work for other people , I ' m personally not really open to the idea of dating older women . ""  "" We all have our boundaries , "" Bogan added .  ",satire,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
9485,9486,"Kampala , Uganda A Ugandan gay rights activist whose name was published on a list of the nation ' s "" top homosexuals "" was bludgeoned to death in his home near the capital , his lawyer said Thursday .  A neighbor found David Kato dead and notified authorities , according to the lawyer , John Onyango .  Kato ' s money and some clothes were missing after the attack , Onyango said .  It was unclear whether Kato ' s killing was linked to his gay rights activism or a front page story in a Ugandan tabloid that reignited anti gay sentiments late last year .  The story included a list of "" top 100 homosexuals "" with their photos , addresses and a banner with the words "" Hang Them . "" Kato ' s name and picture were on the list .  Arrest warrants have been issued for two suspects : a taxi driver found near Kato ' s house and an ex convict who was staying with Kato before the killing , Onyango said .  Authorities in the Mukono criminal investigations department declined to comment pending further investigation .  Activists decried the attack , and urged authorities in the east African nation to investigate the killing . They called on the government to protect them from violence , and act on threats and hostility toward them .  "" David Kato ' s death is a tragic loss to the human rights community . David had faced the increased threats to Ugandan  ( lesbian , gay , bisexual and transgender ) people bravely and will be sorely missed , "" said Maria Burnett , senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch .  U . S . President Barack Obama said he was saddened by the death of Kato , whom he called a "" powerful advocate for fairness and freedom . ""  "" At home and around the world ,  persons continue to be subjected to unconscionable bullying , discrimination , and hate , "" the president said in a written statement . "" In the weeks preceding David Kato ' s murder in Uganda , five members of the  community in Honduras were also murdered . It is essential that the governments of Uganda and Honduras investigate these killings and hold the perpetrators accountable . ""  Earlier this year , Kato and two activists won a case against the magazine that published the list . The court ruled that media in Uganda are barred from releasing details of known or potential homosexuals in the country .  The editor of the Rolling Stone , the tabloid that published the list , denounced the attacks and said he sympathized with the victim ' s family .  "" When we called for hanging of gay people , we meant . . . after they have gone through the legal process , "" said Giles Muhame . "" I did not call for them to be killed in cold blood like he was . ""  The Rolling Stone tabloid is not affiliated with the iconic U . S . music magazine by the same name .  Homosexuality is illegal in most countries in Africa , where sodomy laws were introduced during colonialism . In Uganda , homosexual acts are punishable by 14 years to life in prison , according to rights activists .  The U . S . Mission in Kampala , Uganda , said , "" David ' s courageous devotion to promoting the universal human rights of members of Uganda ' s lesbian , gay , bisexual and transgender community improved the lives of minority populations in Uganda and throughout Africa , and his selfless dedication to defending human rights and speaking out against injustice served as inspiration to human rights defenders around the world . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
9512,9513,"The third blood moon in a four part series was the shortest eclipse of the bunch , but still a sweet treat for early risers in North America .  The moon slipped fully into Earth ' s shadow at 4 : 58 a . m . Pacific Time ( 7 : 58 a . m .  ) Saturday , starting a total lunar eclipse for nearly five minutes what  says will be the shortest such eclipse of the century .  The celestial body took on a burnt orange tint in the minutes before , during and after the total eclipse , giving the moon the appearance that earns total eclipses the "" blood moon "" nickname .  Watchers in the eastern half of North America caught only a partial eclipse and in some places , an orange one before the moon set below the horizon .  The event started at 3 : 16 a . m .  ( 6 : 16 a . m .  ) , when the moon began moving into Earth ' s shadow .  People from the U . S . West Coast to Australia were able to catch the total eclipse .  Parts of South America , India , China and Russia were able to see at least parts of the event , but it wasn ' t visible in Greenland , Iceland , Europe , Africa or the Middle East .  A lunar eclipse happens when the sun , Earth and moon form a straight line in space , with the Earth smack in the middle .  The sun shines on the Earth and creates a shadow . As the moon moves deeper into that shadow , it appears to turn dark and may even appear to be a reddish color . Why red ? Because Earth ' s atmosphere is filtering out most of the blue light .   says lunar eclipses typically happen at least twice a year , but this eclipse is the third in a series of four in a row , known as a "" tetrad . "" The first was April 15 , 2014 , and the second was October 23 , 2014 . The space agency predicts the next one will come September 28 .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
9521,9522,"South Carolina South Carolina Gov . Mark Sanford left the Governor ' s Mansion on Friday to visit with his family in Florida , his office said .  South Carolina first lady Jenny Sanford says her husband , Mark , must rebuild trust with his family and with the state .  Sanford departed the mansion , where he has spent much of the last 48 hours , in the passenger seat of a state vehicle .  The Republican governor will spend the Fourth of July holiday weekend with his wife and their four boys .  "" The Sanford family asks members of the media to respect their privacy while they are together this weekend , "" his spokesman said in a statement Thursday . "" The Sanfords also hope to take a longer family vacation toward the end of July . ""  After disappearing for nearly a week , Sanford admitted last week that he ' d been in Argentina with his mistress .  His admission followed days of confusion over his whereabouts . His staff had said the governor was hiking the Appalachian Trail , and his wife had told reporters she did not know where he was .  He later revealed to The Associated Press that he ' d seen his mistress several times in the past year and that he ' d also "" crossed lines "" with other women .  Jenny Sanford released a statement Thursday calling Sanford ' s actions "" inexcusable , "" but she left the door open to reconciling with her husband .  She said that although she is willing to forgive her husband , "" it is up to the people and elected officials of South Carolina to decide whether they will give Mark another chance as well . ""  "" Actions have consequences , and he will be dealing with those consequences for a long while . Trust has been broken and will need to be rebuilt . Mark will need to earn back that trust , first and foremost with his family , and also with the people of South Carolina , "" she said in a statement .  "" The real issue now is one of forgiveness . I am willing to forgive Mark for his actions . We have been deeply disappointed in and even angry at Mark . ""  Her statement came shortly after it was announced that a review of the governor ' s travel records showed no misuse of public funds in his travels . Sanford already paid back the state for the Argentina leg of a state funded missions trip last year because he saw the woman he had an affair with on that trip .  "" Mark showed a lack of judgment in his recent actions as governor . However , his far more egregious offenses were committed against God , the institutions of marriage and family , our boys and me . Mark has stated that his intent and determination is to save our marriage and to make amends to the people of South Carolina , "" Jenny Sanford said .  In the week after Mark Sanford admitted to his affair , nearly half of South Carolina ' s 27 Republican state senators called on him to step down .  Despite the growing chorus , Sanford has no plans to step aside , his office said Thursday .  "" He remains committed and determined to repair the damage he has done in his marriage and to building back the trust of the people of South Carolina , "" his office said .  "" He is embarrassing himself . There is the old notion of indecent exposure usually that refers to somebody showing some skin they shouldn ' t and there ' s another form of indecent exposure : He is telling us way too much , "" he said . Watch Bennett discuss the political drama  Bennett also suggested that the  can easily fill the gap Sanford would leave .  "" We have other people , "" he said . "" We have other people who are not only fiscally interesting and sound but also can keep their lives together . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,US elections,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
9525,9526,"Archeologists from the University of Adelaide were notified after locals fell upon strange looking structures recently unearthed since the region has been struck by a major earthquake last week , causing minor landslides in the area .  "" This is a fascinating discovery . The area is about 50 kilometers off to the North West of Uluru National Park , where Aborigines have long talked about a previous civilization to theirs populating the region , but it was always believed to be more of a myth than fact "" acknowledges professor at the Department of Archeology , Adam Goldstein .  The ruins of an ancient wooden boat made out of red cedar has perplexed scholars since the recent discovery lies in the desertic landscape of central Australia , hundreds of kilometers off the nearest shoreline  Although other recent findings in the region also point out to a previous highly complex Uluru civilization in the region , not all scholars agree to what the findings really mean .  "" We ' ve been taught that the native Aborigines lived a hunter gatherer lifestyle for thousand of years . Maybe it ' s part of our heritage of colonialism , but recent archeological evidence in the region points out more and more towards a highly developed megalithic civilization , even possibly a sea faring civilization which possibly traded and expanded beyond the Australian continent "" explains Sydney based Museologist , Sean Sullivan .  The discovery of Phoenician styled pottery in a grotto last year even led some scholars to hypothesize that ancient seafarers coming as far as ancient Egypt , such as the Phoenicians , could have wandered as far as Australia at the time .  Anthropologist Jane Ruth at the University of Sidney claims the oral traditions of the native Aborigine people have kept alive the memory of their ancestors of this lost ancient civilization .  The native Aborigines people talk of a time where the Rainbow Serpent God took all the water and left nothing but dry land  "" The Aborigines tell of a time , the Dreamtime they call it , where the continent was submerged with water . During this Dreamtime , tribes from all over the sea , and of the five colored nations , lived in harmony and prospered together . All this disappeared after a great cataclysm brought on by the mythical Rainbow Serpent God , who in a great flash of light , as strong as a thousand lightning bolts , stole all the water of the Earth and left nothing behind , "" she explains .  "" Some scholars believe these stories could be the orally transmitted souvenir of a vast devastation that occurred from a meteorite impact which changed the geology of the region several thousand years ago "" she adds .  Australia is home to the largest clusters of meteorite craters in the world . The rich iron content of the meteorites has left its mark on the land giving it a red hue due to oxidation . Two deep scars in the earth ' s crust in outback Australia mark the remains of a meteorite crater with a 250 mile diameter the largest ever found .  ",satire,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
9527,9528,"It ' s not only the start of the new school term this week , it ' s also the first year in which children as young as five will be taught the new computing curriculum .  The updated curriculum has been designed to put a stronger emphasis on ' essay writing , problem solving , mathematical modelling and computer programming ' and primary school children will be taught how to code .  Network operator O2 has created an interactive quiz to test your computing skills , and see if you could handle the latest education changes .  Test your knowledge below with the interactive quiz  Computing will teach pupils how to write code . This is compulsory for the first time .  Pupils aged five to seven ( Key Stage One ) will be expected to ' understand what algorithms are ' and to ' create and debug simple programs ' .  By secondary school , children will have to ' design , use and evaluate computational abstractions that model the state and behaviour of real world problems and physical systems ' .  In secondary school , they will learn coding languages , which is hoped will better equip them for future jobs .  But while the children themselves might be apprehensive , parents have voiced their concerns about not be able to help out with homework .  A survey has revealed a quarter of parents would struggle to complete tasks expected of five year olds under the new curriculum .  This term , children as young as five will be taught to write and test basic computer programs , while secondary school pupils will learn computer coding languages .  As primary and secondary school teachers prepare to teach the new curriculum from this week , an investigation by O2 has revealed that many parents don ' t feel informed or prepared for the changes .  Of the 2 , 000 parents polled by O2 , almost two thirds didn ' t know about the radical changes to the computing curriculum and one third admitted they are worried they won ' t be able to adequately support their children with their computing homework .  When tested against the new computing curriculum , a significant number of parents admitted they didn ' t think they could complete tasks expected of five year olds .  The curriculum has been designed to equip children as young as five with essential skills to success in the digital age in the hope that Britain will produce more tech entrepreneurs in the future .  School children might be putting on their same old uniform , but it ' s all change in the classroom , as pupils will learn an ambitious new computing curriculum ( illustrated ) . Parents are apprehensive as many think they do not have the knowledge to help children with their homework  This term , children as young as five will be taught to write and test basic computer programs , while secondary school pupils will learn computer coding languages , such as Javascript ( illustrated )  Another study by Ocado Technology the firm behind the online shopping company claims that half of five to 11 year olds are aware of the computing challenges that lie ahead .  And just over a quarter of the 1 , 000 children surveyed say they already have some coding skills .  However , despite their enthusiasm , most children would rather be actors or footballers than computer programmers .  Six in ten girls would rather take to the stage compared with 20 per cent who would rather sit in front of a computer as adults .  Almost half of boys would rather play football professionally , while just over a third have set their sights on becoming programmers .  The company has teamed up with 14 year old game designer Amy Mather to produce coding tools for teachers called Rapid Router to teach children the basic principles of programming .  The survey found that three quarters of parents are keen to learn to code and said they wish they had learned the skill at school because it would have given them better career prospects .  ' Teaching children to program is not just about nurturing the next generation of software engineers being able to write code is a transformative and disruptive meta skill that needs to be seen as being of huge potential value whatever your future holds , ' said Paul Clarke , Director of Technology at Ocado .  Almost two thirds of parents admitted they don ' t understand what an algorithm is , and a third say they can ' t use technology to create , share or store digital content .  However , the survey did find that three quarters of parents polled said they want to boost their own digital skills so they can help their children .  ' A new computing curriculum fit for the 21st century is a step in the right direction for young people . Much is already being done across the  to nurture young talent , but a greater emphasis must be applied to the support network to allow them to put their digital expertise to practical use , ' said Ronan Dunne ,  at O2 .  ' Simply put , more needs to be done to help parents get to grips with the fast changing world of digital technology . What ' s clear from the research is that many parents are crying out for a helping hand . '  O2 is gradually launching digital workshops called Guru Bytes across 100 of its stores to give people advice on making the most of new technology .  They will cover key topics included in the computer curriculum , such as staying safe online and using the internet effectively .  Claire Lilley , Head of Online Safety at the  , said : ' For children and young people , the Internet is part of everyday life , rather than being a separate online world . It is crucial that parents are involved right from the start of their children ' s digital journey and feel confident about guiding and protecting them as their online footprint grows into their teenage years .  ' We know some parents would like and need help getting to grips with the latest technology and digital environment , and we ' re proud to have helped O2 to develop their Guru Bytes workshops launching in communities across the  from this September . '  Of the 2 , 000 parents polled by O2 , almost two thirds didn ' t know about the radical changes to the computing curriculum and one third admitted they are worried they won ' t be able to adequately support their children with their computing homework ( illustrated with a stock image )  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,present
9536,9537,"Iraq A southern Baghdad marketplace became a scene of carnage for the second time in a month when a car bomb exploded Wednesday , killing at least 15 people and wounding 40 , an Interior Ministry official said .  Iraqis look at damage from a bombing at a produce market in Baghdad on Wednesday .  A second car bomb killed two people in central Baghdad , while a roadside bomb wounded seven people on the city ' s east side , authorities reported .  They were the latest in a string of attacks that are stoking fears of renewed warfare as U . S . troops prepare to withdraw from Iraqi cities .  The deadliest of the three attacks came during the busy morning hours at the Alwat al Rasheed produce market in the capital ' s Dora district . The market was the scene of one of seven attacks on April 6 that struck mainly Shiite Muslim districts of Baghdad . Watch gutted cars after bombing  One angry survivor of the blast blamed the continued American presence in Iraq for the violence .  Another car bomb was later found in the market and safely detonated by a munitions team , the Interior Ministry said . That bomb was set to explode as emergency response teams arrived at the scene , officials said .  Security at the market seemed to be lax . Vehicles in the area were not checked by security forces , who said they did not have equipment to detect explosives .  In the central district of Karrada , where a bomb in a minibus killed two people Wednesday morning , news vendor Jumaa al Qureishi said the latest bombings have left Iraqis "" afraid of a return to violence and terror . ""  "" The Iraqi army and police are still not ready to take over security responsibilities , "" al Qureishi said . "" You can see that on the streets . People have no confidence in them . Car bombs are getting through checkpoints . ""  The latest attacks follow an April uptick in violence that made it the deadliest month this year for Iraqi civilians and American troops . The U . S . military blames al Qaeda in Iraq for the attacks , which have been concentrated in Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul , the jihadists ' last urban stronghold .  Recent attacks by the Sunni Arab jihadists have targeted Shiites in an attempt to rekindle the sectarian warfare that ravaged Iraq in 2006 and 2007 , Perkins said . But the attacks have so far failed to generate retaliation by the country ' s Shiite majority .  U . S . troops are slated to pull out of Iraqi cities at the end of June as part of an agreement that will see all American troops leave the country by the end of 2011 .  Maj . Gen . Qassim Atta , the Iraqi military ' s spokesman in Baghdad , said the government remains determined to take over security for the cities when the Americans withdraw . But he said he would not paint a "" rosy picture "" of the situation Iraqi security forces face .  "" The battle with what is left of the terrorist groups and former regime members is ongoing , "" he said .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
9538,9539,"Nathaniel Clyne is one of the best right backs Southampton manager Ronald Koeman has ever coached .  Calls are growing for the highly talented 23 year old to follow in the footsteps of Saints team mates past and present by getting England recognition .  Clyne has improved markedly since arriving at St Mary ' s in 2012 , and has been a key component in what has been the Premier League ' s tightest defence this term .  Nathaniel Clyne scored a long range effort for Southampton against Arsenal in the Capital One Cup  Clyne ( centre ) celebrates with team mates after his wonder strike for the Saints at the Emirates  Ronald Koeman has praised full back Clyne  Saints boss Koeman knows a thing or two about defending himself and has seen few better than the former Crystal Palace full back .  ' In my opinion , Clyne is one of the best right full backs that I ' ve had in my teams during the last 15 years , ' he said .  ' That means a lot because I like to play with offensive right and left full backs and he has that qualities , he ' s fast and gives good crosses .  ' I ' m happy but I ' m not in the position to tell the national coach of somebody else about him .  ' He shows his quality from the beginning of the season and if he continues like that he will get a call , for sure .  ' If he shows his qualities game by game , then I ' m sure he will get finally a call to be a national player . '  Clyne and his team mates have conceded just three top flight goals so far this term and head into this weekend ' s clash with  second in the Premier League .  Clyne ( right ) battles with Francis Coquelin during Southampton ' s match against Arsenal  Only Chelsea are above Saints and , despite them having conceded seven goals , Koeman pointed to Jose Mourinho as the mentality to replicate .  ' To win points , to win games , it starts at the back , ' he said . ' It starts in the defence .  ' That ' s the reason that we bought Fraser Forster because he is a fantastic goalkeeper with a future in the club .  ' We have a strong defence . It ' s all about organisation in the team and one time a week we do unit training . We make three groups and we have training for the defenders , for midfielders and for forwards .  ' That is an example of how we try to do work the whole week . Building a house you don ' t start at the top , you start at the bottom . That makes winning teams .  Clyne ( right ) first impressed while at Crystal Palace pictured battling Birmingham ' s Nathan Redmond  He also played for Palace in the Capital One Cup against Manchester United  ' Jose Mourinho has shown that for a long time in the way he is doing that . '  Judging by that ,  look to be in for a tough season given they have conceded 11 goals already , with eight of those coming in their two away games .  Saints will be looking for a similarly big win on Saturday , with the pressure likely to come on the west Londoners ' defence as the hosts go for a sixth successive win in all competitions .  Steven Caulker is a key figure for  at the back and a player Koeman rejected suggestions he had moved to bring in during the summer from Cardiff .  The Dutchman also denied having an interest in compatriot Leroy Fer , who he spent a brief spell coaching at Feyenoord before the midfielder moved onto Twente , Norwich and , now , the Rs .  ' We have enough midfield players , ' Koeman said . ' That ' s not the position where we have to look for new players .  ' He ' s a great player . I have him as the coach and I know his qualities . He ' s still a young player , but with a lot of potential and that ' s true . '  Clyne has taken his impressive performances in the Championship with Palace , to the Premier League  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
9549,9550,"England The U . S . Open golf championship had a humble beginning when 11 players in 1895 completed on a nine hole course in Newport , Rhode Island .  Tiger Woods celebrates his triumph over pain with victory in the 2008 U . S . Open  Since then it has gone on to become one of the most prestigious golf events in the world . Now in its 109th year the tournament has produced some truly unforgettable golf .  Disagree with our assessment of the best moments in U . S . Open history ? Let us know by posting your comments on the Sound Off box below .  1 Tiger Woods plays through pain 2008 Woods had struggled throughout the tournament at Torrey Pines with a fractured left leg but was still in contention heading into the final round . The American , who was visibly in pain , managed to summon enough strength to force a play off with Rocco Mediate after he sunk a 12 foot put on the 72nd green . Woods ' mental tenacity then shone through as he maintained his concentration levels to defeat Mediate with a birdie on the 18th hole in the subsequent play off to claim his 14th major championship .  2 Arnold Palmer ' s remarkable comeback 1960 Few people would have considered Palmer a contender to lift the title at Cherry Hills Country Club when he began his final round in 15th place seven strokes behind leader Mike Souchak but what followed was one of the greatest comebacks in golf history . Palmer ousted Ben Hogan and then Jack Nicklaus with a virtually flawless round of 64 to finish on four under and take the U . S . Open crown for the only time in his career by two shots .  3 Ben Watson ' s chip 1982 There was little to choose between Watson and Jack Nicklaus when the pair came up against each other at Pebble Beach at a time when they were both vying for the title as the best golfer on the planet . In the final round Watson struck perhaps the most famous shot in U . S . Open history , when he produced an audacious chip from a bad lie in thick rough for a birdie on the 71st hole to move a shot clear of Nicklaus before eventually winning the championship by two strokes .  4 Tiger Woods wins by record margin 2000 Old Tom Morris ' achievement of a major victory by the record margin of 13 strokes in the British Open in 1862 had not been broken for 138 years , but at the peak of his powers Woods was also to add that accolade to his collection . He finished 15 strokes ahead of second placed Ernie Els at Pebble Beach and also became the first player in the history of the U . S . Open to finish at double digits under par as part of his ' Tiger Slam ' when he held all four major championship titles .  5 Phil Mickelson and Colin Montgomerie collapse 2006 Australia ' s Geoff Ogilvy was handed the U . S . Open trophy when two of his rivals for the title pressed the self destruct button . Ogilvy had earlier chipped in at the 17th and holed a brave putt at the 18th to set the target at five over par for victory . Montgomerie dropped two shots on the 18th hole when a first major title seemed to be within his grasp and moments later Mickelson , who needed only a par to secure the title , also suffered a case of the last hole jitters and double bogeyed to completed the double collapse .  6 Ben Hogan puts crash behind him 1950 With heavily bandaged legs after a near fatal car accident 16 months earlier , which left medical experts predicting he may never walk again , Hogan defied the odds to lift the title at Merion Golf Club . He had struggled to find form in the build up to the tournament which led to some commentators predicting his career was over . But Hogan proved he was made of sterner stuff as he defeated Lloyd Mangrum and George Fazio in an 18 hole playoff to win his second of four U . S . Open titles .  7 Tony Jacklin dominates in 1970 Europe was without a U . S . Open winner since Willie Macfarlane ' s victory in 1925 but Jacklin was able to end the 45 year hiatus and give fans across the pond a moment to savor on a challenging course at the Hazeltine National Golf Club . Jacklin produced some superb golf and what made the victory all the more impressive is that he led the event from start to finish , eventually taking the title by seven shots with a margin that has been bettered only by Tiger Woods .  8 Payne Stewart wins four months before death 1999 Famed for his eccentric patterned trousers and ivy caps Stewart won the last of his three major titles at the Pinehurst Resort . Having first won the U . S . Open in 1991 Stewart clinched his second title in style when he rolled in a superb 20 foot par putt at the 18th hole which he celebrated with fist pump over the hole . He was unable to defend his title after he died in a plane crash four months later at the age of 42 .  9 Francis Ouimet ' s shock win 1913 As the leading players of the era Harry Vardon and Ted Ray from Great Britain were hot favorites to land the title at The Country Club in Brookline . But the pair were shocked by the performance of the relatively unknown 20 year old American who became the first amateur to win the U . S . Open after victory in an 18 hole play off . Ouimet ' s modest background saw him turned into a folk hero and the unlikely victory also helped raise the profile of the sport which had been considered the preserve of the elite up to that point .  10 Glover conquers Mickelson and Duval 2009 American journeyman Lucas Glover denies Phil Mickelson , a perennial bridesmaid at the event , a fairytale victory at Bethpage Black . It was the 29 year old ' s first major title , but what was of greater note was the fact Glover won with a final round three over par 73 in tough and windy conditions , holing only one birdie on the final day .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
9558,9559,"How stock market ' circuit breakers ' cool trading panic  Major indexes have mechanisms to shut down trading when markets become too volatile  Posted : Jan 07 , 2016 4 : 57   Last Updated : Jan 07 , 2016 4 : 57    An investor sits in front of a screen showing stock market movements in China ' s Anhui province on Monday . The country ' s ' circuit breaker ' intervened to curb market volatility , stopping all trading Monday , and again Thursday , before China suspended the move . (   Getty Images )  China suspended stock trading for the second time in a week ? on Thursday , after the  300 market index plummeted seven per cent a half ? hour after markets opened .  The nosedive triggered what ' s called a "" circuit breaker "" in stock market vernacular , an automated procedure ? meant to temper volatile fluctuations ? in the index ? and ? panicked investor reaction ? by temporarily shutting down trading .  China stock crisis : Asian markets plunge despite Beijing ' s measures to halt financial meltdown  Most major indexes , including the Toronto Stock Exchange , have similar circuit breakers . The New York Stock Exchange ? introduced its controls ? following the ? Black Monday crash ? of 1987 .  Since April 2013 , the Toronto and New York exchanges have co ordinated their circuit breakers , with the length of regulatory halts divided into three levels .  Level 1 shuts down trading for 15 minutes if the index drops seven per cent ? level 2 shuts down trading for 15 minutes if it drops by 13 per cent ? and level 3 shuts down the entire trading day if the index falls by 20 per cent .  Traders at the New York Stock Exchange work frantically during Black Monday on Oct . 19 , 1987 . The  adopted circuit breaker measures shortly after . ( Peter Morgan Associated Press )  "" Circuit breakers are a crude mechanism for stopping plunges and they are good at that , "" said ? Conor ? Bill , managing director of Mt . Auburn Capital .  Joseph ? D ' Cruz , a ? professor at the ? Rotman ? School of Management , said circuit breakers "" prevent short term panic from spreading . ""  During the temporary trading hiatus , investors can ? take the time needed to make important decisions .  "" The moment circuit breakers take place , investors and traders can carefully reassess the situation and decide what they need to do , "" he said , adding that circuit breakers kicked in across many major stock exchanges during the 2008 ? financial crisis .  Without them , D ' Cruz said , "" a panic sell off could take place , "" which could ? amplify the problem . ?  Bill said that although circuit breakers can work , ? "" nothing can be expected to eliminate gross human error . ""  Since 2013 , stock exchanges in Toronto and New York have co ordinated their trading circuit breakers . ( Evan Mitsui  )  In China , circuit breakers hold off trading for 15 minutes after a five per cent index drop , and trading is halted for the day if the drop dips to seven per cent .  Before Thursday ' s shutdown , trading had been halted when circuit breakers kicked in Monday .  China ' s shutdown failed to calm the markets , however , and ? caused the Dow Jones ,  and indexes in Europe to slump .  China has put a circuit breaker on its circuit breaker rule , suspending the mechanism ? starting Friday .  "" The negative effect of the mechanism outweighed its positive effect , "" said Deng Ge , a spokesman for the China Securities Regulatory Commission in a statement .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
9576,9577,"A Dallas police officer who shot at an unarmed man 41 times has been indicted for manslaughter .  Patrick Tuter , 33 , a former Garland police officer , killed Michael Vincent Allen in August last year following a car chase .  On Monday a Grand Jury took the decision to indict Tuter , who was fired from the force after he was deemed to have violated their use of force policy .  Patrick Tuter , a former Garland police officer , has been indicted on a charge of manslaughter by a Grand Jury , the first time in 15 years that an officer has been charged over a fatal shooting  It is the first time in 15 years that an officer has been indicted for a fatal shooting while on duty .  On August 31 Tuter spotted Allen ' s white  pickup and recognised it as having been involved in a chase with Sachse police .  He tried to stop the vehicle , but Allen fled , leading to a half hour chase that only ended when Tuter opened fire .  The former officer had tried to claim that Allen rammed into a police vehicle while cops were trying to box him in , however video footage taken from a dash camera has since revealed that officers actually rammed Allen .  Tuter then opened fire , letting off 41 rounds and hitting Allen , from Wylie , three times which killed him .  Tuter initially claimed he opened fire after Michael Vincent Allen rammed police vehicles while they tried to box him in . However footage shot from a dashboard camera showed police actually rammed Allen  According to witness reports from the time , Tuter reloaded his pistol at least once .  Mitchell Wallace , who lived in the neighborhood where the shooting occurred , told The Dallas Morning News last year that he was asleep when the gunshots began .  He said : ' There was a pause in between the firing that made me believe he was reloading . From the time they yelled , "" Get out , get out , "" they didn ' t give him three seconds to get out . '  In a separate incident officer Cardan Spencer , another Dallas policeman , was fired from the force after shooting Bobby Bennett , a mentally ill man with a knife who had said he wanted police to kill him .  Again video played an important role after authorities initially said that Bennett had aggressively come at the officers with the knife raised .  However a neighbor ' s surveillance video showed that Bennett was standing still with his arms at his sides .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
9578,9579,"It was a demolition a day that ' scarred ' Arsene Wenger and provided the blueprint for how Liverpool ' s life under Brendan Rodgers can be .  Go back to lunchtime on February 8 this year and you will remember the shock of the events that were unfolding at Anfield . One goal then another quickly followed by two more . In 20 blistering minutes , Arsenal heads were scrambled and Liverpool were catapulting themselves into a title race .  So good was the performance ,  made an advert about it : Rio Ferdinand , watching on his iPhone , declares as the fourth goal from Daniel Sturridge speeds in that ' I can ' t believe what I ' m watching ' Jose Mourinho , upon hearing the news , remarks with a shake of the head : ' Unbelievable . '  Last time Arsene Wenger ( left ) visited Anfield he was ' scarred ' by the performance of Brendan Rodgers ' team  The intensity of Liverpool ' s play resulted in Rodgers ' side leading 4 0 after just 20 minutes at Anfield  The Anfield scoreboard displays the final score at Anfield where Rodgers ' style of football shone through  And it was . Intense , dynamic , a sea of red shirts swarmed all over Arsenal to win 5 1 . How Rodgers craves to see his team play that way once more , when the midfield diamond sparkles and everything clicks into place allowing games to be wrapped up before they have started .  But without the injured Sturridge and Luis Suarez , now of Barcelona , Liverpool have been unable to play that vibrant style this season the closest they came to getting within the same vicinity was the 3 0 dismantling of Tottenham in August . Evidently , it is frustrating Liverpool ' s manager .  He has tried a number of formations to get the campaign up and running and , in the last two matches at Manchester United and Bournemouth , he feels he has found a blend to get Liverpool moving forward 3 4 3 could finally bring some improvement .  Rodgers ' mood on Friday , however , was dark as he held court at Liverpool ' s Melwood training retreat . His time with the broadcasters was an unusually short four minutes and 33 seconds , his time was similarly brief when the cameras were off .  ' If you look at the team the other night against Bournemouth , having the pace of Raheem Sterling in the central area of the field was key , ' Rodgers said . ' First of all , it allows you to press and it means that your game can be much more aggressive .  Rodgers ' mood was dark on Friday as this season has posed many problems compared to the last campaign  The Liverpool manager ' s job has even been under threat having dropped to 11th in the Premier League table  Rodgers ' side did the semi final of the Capital One Cup after defeating Bournemouth 3 1 on Wednesday night  Things could have been a whole lot different had Liverpool replaced Luis Suarez with Alexis Sanchez  ' You press the ball in the high areas of the field and if you looked at us in the opening 20 minutes of games , because of that pressure and suffocation of opponents , we can get the ball back higher up the field . It gives you more chances of a goal if you are winning it higher up the field .  ' I have technical players . They have the skills to deal with the ball in tight areas , but we haven ' t had that without Sturridge and Suarez . We brought in Mario Balotelli , who has had an opportunity to play in that pressing role , but that isn ' t his game . Rickie Lambert has also come in .  ' He was brought here for a reason and he has great qualities but that pressing isn ' t what he does . When you don ' t press high up the field , your starting position to attack is much deeper . You cannot break at speed and flood forward like we did last year because we are not that explosive . '  He continued : ' The other night ( at Bournemouth ) a British coach playing 3 4 3 ? People could think he has probably thrown the team together , he has played seven midfielders . If it was a foreign coach ? It would probably have been a wonderful tactical idea . '  There was then a shake of the head . Rodgers has been under tremendous scrutiny as Liverpool have failed to live up to expectations and it was impossible not to think how different things might have been had they successfully signed Alexis Sanchez .  ' He was identified for us as someone who would have been a key signing , ' said Rodgers ' He would have rolled on to what we had with Luis Suarez . So to not get him was bitterly disappointing , but once he was gone that was it . We just had to focus on what we had . '  So did Sanchez make the right decision ?  ' It doesn ' t matter , ' came the pointed reply . ' He will probably give you that answer in 20 years . He made his decision . The best option for him . '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
9600,9601,"Reuters) - Israel is willing to resort to military action to ensure Iran never acquires nuclear weapons, the intelligence minister said on Thursday in Japan where he is seeking backing for U.S. President Donald Trump s tougher line on Tehran. Trump said on Oct. 13 he would not certify Iran is complying with an agreement on curtailing its nuclear program, signed by his predecessor, Barack Obama, opening a 60-day window for Congress to act to reimpose sanctions.  If international efforts led these days by U.S. President Trump don t help stop Iran attaining nuclear capabilities, Israel will act militarily by itself,  Intelligence Minister Israel Katz said in an interview in Tokyo.  There are changes that can be made (to the agreement) to ensure that they will never have the ability to have a nuclear weapon.  Israel has taken unilateral action in the past without the consent of its major ally, the United States, including air strikes on a suspected nuclear reactor in Syria in 2007 and in Iraq in 1981. A strike against Iran, however, would be a risky venture with the potential to provoke a counter strike and roil financial markets. An Israeli threat of military strikes could, nonetheless, galvanize support in the United States for toughening up the nuclear agreement but it could also backfire by encouraging hardliners in Iran and widening a rift between Washington and European allies. So far, none of the other signatories to the deal - Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China, Iran and the European Union - has cited serious concerns, leaving the United States isolated. Japan relies on the U.S. military to help defend it against threats from North Korea and elsewhere. Tokyo s diplomatic strategy in the Middle East, where it buys almost all its oil, is to maintain friendly relations with all countries, including Iran.   I asked the Japanese government to support steps led by President Trump to change the nuclear agreement,  said Katz, who is a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu s right-wing Likud party.  The question of whether Japanese companies will begin to work in Iran or not is a very important question.  Katz s visit to Tokyo comes ahead of a planned trip by Trump from Nov. 5 for a summit with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Officials at Japan s Ministry of Foreign Affairs were not immediately available to comment. Israel, Katz said, wants the nuclear agreement to be revised to remove an expiration date, and to impose tighter conditions to stop Tehran from developing new centrifuges used to make weapons-grade nuclear material.  He also urged sanctions to stop Iran from establishing  Syria as a military base to launch attacks on Israel and action to put a halt to Tehran s development of ballistic missiles.  We will not allow Iran to transform Syria into forward base sea harbors, air bases and Shia militias,  he said.  We will act together with the United States and other countries in the world until they stop the ballistic missiles that threaten Israel.   The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday backed new sanctions on Lebanon s Iran-backed Hezbollah militia.  ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
9612,9613,"SenJohnMcCain on U. S airstrikes in Syria: “The president of the United States last night showed strength. ” pic. twitter.  Friday on Fox News Channel’s “America’s Newsroom,” Sen. John McCain ( ) praised President Donald Trump for the missile strike on Syria in response to that country’s alleged use of chemical weapons.  McCain said,  “I would not expect more strikes, but I would hope that we would reinvigorate our support for the Free Syrian Army, the establishment of a   zone, and move forward. This is important, and it is an important signal, but it is the beginning of a departure from the failed policies of the last eight years, and you’re not going to repair that overnight. ” “The other point that I would like to make really quick is that the President showed me that he has trust in what I believe is the strongest national security team assembled,” he continued. “I was not sure, frankly, whether he listened to them or listened to others. I think it is very clear that he values their advice and counsel, and this action is a result of the collective wisdom of some of the wisest people I have known. ” Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
9614,9615,"Reuters) - President Donald Trump is expected to nominate New York lawyer George T. Conway  to lead the U.S. Justice Department’s civil division, a source briefed on the matter said on Friday. Conway, the husband of Trump’s senior White House adviser Kellyanne Conway, is a partner at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. He has represented Philip Morris International Inc,  Cardinal Health Inc and the National Football League among many corporate clients.  He did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. The White House and Justice Department also declined comment. As head of the civil division, Conway would be in charge of defending government actions, including Trump’s revised executive order banning citizens from six Muslim-majority nations from traveling to the United States. This week, judges in Hawaii and Maryland blocked implementation of Trump’s order that retains a 90-day ban on travel to the United States by citizens of Iran, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen that was part of an earlier order  blocked by the courts. Conway was one of a team of lawyers who drafted a legal brief on behalf of Paula Jones who sued President Bill Clinton for sexual harassment, according to numerous media reports. Conway wrote in a 1994 Los Angeles Times op-ed that Clinton should not have immunity from Jones’ lawsuit “because it would place presidents above the law. It would enable a president to take out a mortgage on a summer home, refuse to make payments and yet be immune from foreclosure for four or eight years.”  The civil division defends U.S. agencies against thousands of lawsuits filed annually over government policies, laws, domestic and foreign operations, entitlement programs, law enforcement and military actions, and counter-terrorism efforts. The division also sues on behalf of the government to recoup money lost through fraud, loan defaults and the abuse of federal funds, especially involving Medicare. ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
9621,9622,"New York A New York man accused of drugging , smothering and dismembering an 8 year old Brooklyn boy has been deemed mentally competent to stand trial , attorneys revealed in court Thursday .  Prosecutors say Levi Aron abducted the boy , Leiby Kletzky , from his Brooklyn neighborhood on July 11 . The accused then took Leiby to his apartment and killed him , they contend .  Aron pleaded not guilty Thursday in a Brooklyn courtroom .  Aron did not enter a plea at his arraignment last month , and he was under a suicide watch . A mental evaluation that his attorneys asked be conducted on their client was revealed in court Thursday .  Kings County District Attorney Charles Hynes applauded the decision .  "" Now that Mr Aron has been found fit to proceed we will move forward expeditiously to bring his case to trial . I want to reaffirm that this case will go to trial and that there are absolutely no circumstances which would lead me to accept a plea bargain , "" Hynes said .  New York City ' s chief medical examiner said that Leiby died after being drugged and then smothered .  The autopsy results for Leiby listed a cocktail of four prescription and over the counter drugs in the boy ' s system : cyclobenzaprine , a muscle relaxant quetiapine , an antipsychotic drug hydrocodone , a pain medication and acetaminophen , the drug found in Tylenol , according to the medical examiner ' s office .  Leiby disappeared while walking home alone from summer day camp . Police located human remains in Aron ' s freezer during a search of the Brooklyn neighborhood as well as in a trash bin .  Both Aron and Leiby are members of the borough ' s close knit Orthodox Jewish community , although police say it doesn ' t appear that they knew each other .  Authorities have detailed some of the evidence they allege links Aron to the kidnapping and killing including extensive video footage that shows Leiby talking to a man and following him to a brown car authorities later traced to Aron .  Detectives later concluded that Aron was also the man they saw in the video footage .  New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said last month that Aron told authorities he was sorry for the trouble he has caused . Statements made by the suspect indicated that he kidnapped Leiby and , as the neighborhood search for the boy intensified , he panicked and killed him , Kelly said .  "" His mental capacity is a question for the doctors , "" Hynes said .  Aron ' s attorney at the time of his initial arraignment said he hears voices and hallucinates .  "" He ' s been hearing voices for quite some time , "" Gerard Marrone told reporters last month , adding that Aron tries to silence the voices by listening to music . "" He listens to it with earphones and he listens to it very loud , and that helps him quell some of his voices . ""  Marrone has since resigned from the case .  "" I have sincerest concerns about the defendant ' s mental state and his cognitive abilities , "" said Pierre Basile , who is representing Aron .  The commissioner called the case "" heartbreaking . ""  "" Obviously , in this business you see a lot of violence , but there ' s usually some sort of irrational twisted logic that ' s given to why a violent event took place , "" Kelly said .  "" Here , I mean , it ' s just , it defies all logic and I think that ' s what ' s really so , so terribly disturbing about this case . There ' s absolutely no reason . There ' s nothing more innocent than an 8 year old child . ""  On the day he disappeared , Leiby was supposed to meet his parents after walking seven blocks from day camp , but he became lost and asked the suspect for directions , Kelly said .  Surveillance video showed Aron entering a dentist ' s office while Leiby waited for him across the street for seven minutes , Kelly said .  Aron claims he took Leiby to a wedding in Monsey , New York , and then brought him back , Kelly said . Police said Aron went to the wedding , but they have not been able to confirm that Leiby went with him , as no one has said they saw him .  According to Kelly , police showed up at Aron ' s third floor attic apartment at 2 : 40 a . m . July 13 and asked him about Leiby ' s whereabouts . The suspect pointed them to the kitchen , where blood was visible on the freezer handle . Inside the refrigerator was a cutting board with three blood spattered carving knives , Kelly said .  Remains were found in Aron ' s freezer and in a trash bin more than two miles away , wrapped in a black plastic garbage bag inside a suitcase , Kelly said .  Aron was a clerk at a maintenance supply company , authorities said . His only known criminal summons was for urinating in public last year .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
9637,9638,"New England Patriots through to  Championship after beating Kansas City Chiefs  Tom Brady of the New England Patriots scores a touchdown in the win against the Kansas City Chiefs .  Cardinals edge Packers to advance to  Championship game  Tom Brady and the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots snapped the Kansas City ' s 11 game winning streak with a 27 20 victory on Saturday to reach the  championship .  The Patriots , who had a first round bye , looked to be back at full strength and nothing like the team that lost four of six games heading into the play offs as they pulled ahead early and never looked back .  Brady tossed two touchdowns and rushed for another , Rob Gronkowski caught a pair of TDs to erase any injury concerns and receiver Julian Edelman ended a two month absence from a broken foot to put New England at full strength .  "" It ' s pretty special to be back in the  Championship game , "" said Brady , who extended his  record for play off wins to 22 .  "" Whoever we play is going to be a great team . We ' re going to need to be sharper . ""  The Chiefs , coming off last week ' s 30 0 rout of Houston in the wild card round , entered the game as the hottest team in the  but trailed this one the entire way .  After pulling to within seven points with 73 seconds to play in regulation , the Chiefs tried an onside kick but Gronkowski recovered the ball .  The Patriots then caught a break two plays later when a Brady pass deflected off Chiefs linebacker Tamba Hali ' s hands and straight to Edelman who picked up the first down to seal the win .  Brady finished with 302 passing yards and kept alive the Patriots ' bid to become the first back to back Super Bowl champions since they did it in 2003 04 .  New England will play the winner of Sunday ' s game between the Denver Broncos and Pittsburgh Steelers to determine which team represents the American Football Conference in the February 7 Super Bowl in San Francisco .  The Patriots made a rousing start with an 80 yard scoring drive to open the game and seem to have restored the confidence that looked lost after they ended the regular season poorly .  "" It ' s great to have everyone back . The chemistry was clicking tonight , "" said Gronkowski , who was held out of two practices in the week leading up to the game due to right knee and back injuries .  Kansas City quarterback Alex Smith attempted a career high 50 passes but finished with just 246 yards and one score .  "" This gives us a great example of where we need to be , "" said Chiefs coach Andy Reid . "" This is a great experience for us and that ' s how we ' ll take it . I ' m proud of my guys , they battled like crazy and came up a little short . ""  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
9646,9647,"Actor Dash Mihok first attracted Hollywood ' s attention in Baz Luhrmann ' s 1996 take of "" Romeo Juliet . "" Since then he ' s had roles in several major films "" The Day After Tomorrow , "" "" The Thin Red Line "" and the award winning "" Silver Linings Playbook "" and a long list of television shows , including "" Felicity , "" "" Law Order "" and "" The Good Wife . "" Mihok currently stars on Showtime ' s "" Ray Donovan "" as Ray ' s brother Bunchy .  Dash Mihok : My first tic was to shake my head violently . I was in karate class , and I was shaking violently . All of a sudden , I just started to notice that the teacher was looking at me , and all the kids were wondering what I was doing . I suddenly felt really strange .  It was the experience of knowing that you ' re doing something and that you have to do it . It ' s impossible to stop , and that ' s very unnerving , no matter what age you are . You ' re scared , you ' re interested , you ' re wondering : "" What is this that ' s happening to me ? ""  I think , as with anything that comes about health wise , it ' s always going to be sort of scary and interesting at the same time .  Mihok : I ' ve have a number of violent tics . With Tourette syndrome , there ' s not just compulsive actions , but compulsive thoughts as well . That used to scare my mother a lot .  I ' ve done everything from having to slap my butt or kick my own face .  You know , I had this tic where I touch my mouth to my knee , and I ' m always screwing up my back . I ' ve had two shoulder surgeries . My doctor just smiles and laughs at me . I probably am going to need another one , because when they do the surgery , they say the one thing you can ' t do is this ( reaches arm behind back to touch the top of his back ) . That ' s one of my biggest tics .  Mihok : It ' s funny you should ask that question . When I auditioned when I was younger , I definitely hid it . In fact , I hid it from the Hollywood world as much as I could until , probably , my mid 20s .  I ' m not sure if that was a conscious effort , but it was just what I did growing up . It was better for me to cope that way . I ' d just keep it bottled up , then go somewhere else and have an outburst .  Auditioning is one of the most nerve racking things you could ever do , but you have to be so focused that you don ' t tic .  Mihok : This is a very old debate , and I don ' t think it should be a debate , but it is .  People believe that if you can shut your Tourette ' s off for a period of time , then you can always shut it off . I try to explain to people that if I spent my whole life trying to control my tics , that ' s all I would have time for .  If I can just accept it , and tic when I want to and have my passion project what I ' m mentally , physically , emotionally invested in something where you ' re fully focused and your body ports and mind are all moving toward this one goal , you ' re focused and you can shut it off , but only for a certain period of time . Then , you have to let loose .  I think that ' s what it ' s like for most people , who let loose in other ways , doing different things .  But to the skeptics , I would say , "" I just wish you could walk in my shoes , just for an hour , to know what it feels like to have the greatest itch you ' ve ever had and multiply that by a thousand . There ' s no way you can ' t scratch it . It ' s impossible . You have to do it . ""  Some people , unfortunately , don ' t believe that , and to them I would say , "" Step into my shoes for a day . ""  Mihok : You know , when we do these presentations , there are some kids that probably tune it out , but you can also see there are a bunch of kids who really get it .  When I see that one kid that really gets it , you see the light in their eye they identify with Jaylen . At one point in their life , they have either been the bully or been bullied . They look at themselves in the mirror and they ' re at an age where they ' re starting to learn about their own consciousness .  If just one kid leaves with that much more confidence , willing to talk to one more person , willing to take that shot to stop a bully in his or her tracks . If I see just one kid with a little sparkle in their eye , having learned something , that means the world to me .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
9650,9651,"Should college athletes at least be paid the same minimum wage as the students who usher at their games or sell refreshments to fans ?  A former University of Houston soccer player thinks so , and is suing hundreds of Division 1 universities and the  , comparing collegiate athletics to work study programs and seeking to get minimum wage payment for athletes .  It ' s just the latest of a handful of pay for play lawsuits now before federal courts .  "" Work study participants who sell programs or usher at athletic events are paid , on average , 9 . 03 an hour , "" states the lawsuit , filed in federal court in Indiana . "" But student athletes whose performance creates such student jobs in the athletic department are paid nothing . ""  Samantha Sackos , who played for the University of Houston from 2010 to 2014 , filed the suit and claims she is owed back pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act for the time she was "" employed "" as "" an unpaid student athlete . ""  Students in work study programs , her lawsuit says , are considered part time employees who must be paid at least the federal minimum wage of 7 . 25 per hour . But athletes aren ' t afforded that pay . Instead , because of  rules , their benefits are capped at the cost of a scholarship .  Sackos ' lawsuit points out that students in work study programs are routinely paid for their work . For example , the lawsuit says , on average , a wage of 10 . 44 is paid to students who provide tours on campus , 11 . 25 for food concession and counter attendants , and 14 . 11 for building and grounds cleaning .  "" The ( d ) efendants have jointly agreed , and conspired , to deprive student athletes of lawfully earned , modest wages and of equal treatment under law , "" wrote Philadelphia attorney Paul L . McDonald .  The  responded by saying it is "" evaluating the complaint , but disagree s that student athletes are participating in athletics as employees . Student athletes have a passion for their sport and a commitment to their teammates that can ' t be equated to punching a time clock . ""  Sackos is the latest athlete to sue the  over pay for play issues . Her suit mirrors some of the issues raised by Northwestern University football players who took their school to labor court to establish that they were employees of the university with the right to unionize and make demands .  A judge with the National Labor Relations Board agreed that they were employees after hearing testimony about the tight controls kept on student athletes and the emphasis on sport over academics .  That ruling is being appealed by Northwestern .  "" Student athletes perform longer , more rigorous hours nearer full time , "" Sackos ' lawsuit reads . They are "" subject to stricter , more exacting supervision "" and "" confer as many , if not more , tangible and intangible benefits on  Division I Member Schools . ""  Sackos ' suit might also be helped by another legal victory for student athletes : the recent federal court verdict in favor of former  player Ed O ' Bannon , who sued the  over the use of his likeness and image .  A judge in that case ruled that the  ' s ban on paying players is a violation of anti trust law and as a result , starting in 2016 , schools can choose to pay athletes up to 5 , 000 per year for the use of their images .  Another set of litigation is pending before the federal courts that seeks to eliminate the pay cap on college athletes , and make college sports more like the pros . The  is fighting that suit , too .  McDonald said Sackos , who is still a student and busy with classes and preparing for grad school , wasn ' t available to talk about her lawsuit .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
9677,9678,"How can we expect our kids to do their homework when the nominee for the top education post in the nation won t even bother doing her own homework?A Senate questionnaire is not exactly difficult to fill out. You provide your own answers to the questions asked and then your answers are evaluated by the committee tasked with considering your nomination.It s easy for anyone who is intelligent and hard-working.But rather than present her own work, Secretary of Education nominee Betsy DeVos chose to just copy and paste her answers verbatim from other sources without citations.According to the Washington Post,In answering a set of questions from Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) on how she would address bullying of  students, DeVos wrote:  Every child deserves to attend school in a safe, supportive environment where they can learn, thrive, and grow. That sentence is almost identical to language used by Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department s civil rights division under President Barack Obama, in a news release announcing the administration s controversial guidance to schools on how to accommodate transgender students. Every child deserves to attend school in a safe, supportive environment that allows them to thrive and grow,  Gupta said in the May 2016 release.Oh, and that s not all. DeVos also copied directly from the the department she wants to destroy.In one response, to a question about whether she would continue the practice of publishing a list of schools under Title  civil rights investigations, DeVos said,  Opening a complaint for investigation in no way implies that the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has made a determination about the merits of the complaint. That language mirrors an Education Department website:  Opening a complaint for investigation in no way implies that  has made a determination with regard to the merits of the complaint. DeVos committed plagiarism throughout the 62-page questionnaire. Apparently, she was too lazy to make a real effort. It s either that or she s just not smart enough to answer easy questions. Either way, plagiarism is something students are taught not to do in school and when they get caught they get punished for it by getting a failing grade on the assignment or even expulsion.But DeVos is not a student in school. She s an adult who is up for the top education post in the country. And frankly, that makes her plagiarism much worse and more embarrassing.She should immediately withdraw her name from the nomination or the Senate should reject her. It would be entirely inappropriate for the Secretary of Education to be someone who refuses to do their own homework in their own words. Surely, we want our Secretary of Education to be someone with integrity and real intelligence. Betsy DeVos has neither.Featured image via Drew Angerer/Getty Images ",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
9689,9690,"A woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a man in his 80s died at a care home .  Police were called to Sowerby House care home in Thirsk , North Yorkshire yesterday afternoon after the man was found dead in his room .  The woman , of Thirsk , was arrested late yesterday evening on suspicion of murder and is currently in police custody for questioning .  Police believe she was an ' associate ' of the resident , not an employee at the care home , but detectives say they are looking into their relationship .  Police were called to Sowerby care home in Thirsk , North Yorkshire after a man was found dead in his room  Officers were called to the privately owned care home at around 3 . 20pm yesterday after the pensioner was found dead in his room .  The Edwardian property , which has a modern side extension , stands in the tree lined Front Street in the attractive village of Sowerby on the outskirts of Thirsk .  A North Yorkshire Police spokesman said : ' Following an early investigation and forensic assessment , it is suspected that the injuries suffered by the deceased are non accidental .  ' As a result , a woman in her 50s from Thirsk , who has no known connection to the care home , was arrested late on Wednesday evening on suspicion of murder .  ' She is currently in police custody for questioning . '  The care home has yet to comment on the incident .  Police have arrested a woman in her 50s on suspicion of murder and are continuing to question her today  Senior investigating officer Detective Superintendent Dai Malyn said : ' We ask that consideration is given to the residents and the families connected to the care home at this time .  ' The home has not been closed however , there are areas within the home which are still being examined .  ' Specially trained police family liaison officers have been deployed to support the deceased ' s family . At this moment we are not in a position to release the identity of the deceased . '  Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
9696,9697,"—   President Obama, dedicating the National Museum of African American History and Culture on Saturday, said it would tell an American story, one of “suffering and delight, one of fear, but also of hope, of wandering in the wilderness, and then seeing, out on the horizon, a glimmer of the Promised Land. ” Speaking to dignitaries and thousands of people watching from the National Mall, Mr. Obama said the museum would document the stories of Americans who are often overlooked in history books  —   “the president but also the slave, the industrialist but also the porter, the keeper of the status quo, but also the activist seeking to overthrow that status quo. ” On a day rich in symbolism, under a gray sky that seemed to capture the ambiguity of the black American experience, Mr. Obama warned that the museum would not be a panacea for the nation’s racial struggles, which, even today, inflame the streets of cities like Charlotte, N. C. “A museum alone will not alleviate poverty in every inner city,” he said. “It won’t eliminate gun violence from all our neighborhoods, or immediately ensure that justice is always colorblind. ” But Mr. Obama said the museum’s exhibits would put those problems into a larger context, allowing people to see the progress as well as the shortcomings in American society. He said he hoped it would encourage a dialogue among Americans on difficult issues like the systemic racism in law enforcement or the violence toward police officers. “Hopefully,” the president said, “this museum can help us talk to each other, and more importantly listen to each other, and most importantly see each other. ” “Perhaps they can help a white visitor understand the pain and anger of a demonstrator in Ferguson and Charlotte,” Mr. Obama said. And perhaps, he said, it could help a black visitor see the efforts of police officers who, “in fits and starts, are struggling to understand and trying to do the right thing. ” Acts of protest, Mr. Obama said, are acts of patriotism, whether it was sitting at a lunch counter in the South in the 1960s or wearing a   emblazoned with the words “I can’t breathe,” as Eric Garner, gasping facedown on a sidewalk in Staten Island, said before he died. Mr. Obama has articulated these themes before, most notably in his speech on the 50th anniversary of the protest march in Selma, Ala. But on Saturday, his tone was less anguished or exhortatory than it has been in the past. He was clearly rejoicing in the glorious history contained in this newest outpost of the Smithsonian Institution. “We’ve shown the world we can float like butterflies and sting like bees,” Mr. Obama said, not even needing to mention the author of that boast, Muhammad Ali, who died three months ago.   he said, can “rock like Jimi” and “stir the pot like Richard Pryor. ” “We’re not a burden on America or a stain on America, or an object of pity or charity for America,” the president added. “We’re America. ” Mr. Obama officially opened the museum by ringing a large bell from an   black church in Virginia, in an echo of bells rung to mark the emancipation of the slaves. He spoke against the majestic bronze backdrop of the museum, a kind of inverted ziggurat not far from the Washington Monument. In its shadow, viewers were spread across the lawn and pressed against a fence, listening intently to the president. His speech was the centerpiece of a solemn, yet quietly jubilant, ceremony featuring the civil rights leader John Lewis, a Democratic congressman from Georgia, as well as celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, Will Smith, Robert DeNiro, Patti LaBelle and Stevie Wonder, who joked of the museum, “I haven’t seen it yet, but I’m going to. ” Ms. LaBelle got a huge roar from the crowd when, at the end of her emotional rendition of the civil rights anthem “A Change Is Gonna Come,” she added the words, “Hillary Clinton. ” There was a panoply of dignitaries, including George W. Bush, who signed the legislation authorizing the building of the museum, and his wife, Laura, who spoke of her early brainstorming discussions with the museum’s director, Lonnie Bunch. Bill Clinton watched from the front row, sitting alongside Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Colin Powell, the former secretary of state, and the Rev. Jesse Jackson sat nearby. “This museum tells the truth that a country founded on the principles of liberty held thousands in chains,” Mr. Bush declared. “Even today, the journey towards justice is not compete. But this museum will inspire us to go farther and get there faster. ” The museum, Mr. Bush said, celebrated several of his heroes, including the musician Chuck Berry, the baseball player Willie Mays and the Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. spoke of the legacy of racism, enshrined in Jim Crow laws, and how the fight for justice flowed through  —   and was sometimes set back by  —   landmark court rulings, from the Dred Scott case to Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education. To understand the real Dred Scott, Chief Justice Roberts said, one should visit this museum. Donna Sampson Rawlings, 59, of Ashton, Md. who watched the ceremony on a screen on the Mall, said the event brought back memories of her father, and of “all the people who weren’t here who did things to get us here. ” She said she had toured the museum last week during a special program. Many of the visitors were older, she said, and “I had to step back and think, ‘This is their lives. ’” “If you’re 80 years old, you went through so much of this,” she added. “Seeing it is, for them, emotional. It’s something they never thought they’d see. ” “These are the stories that we talk about that nobody knows,” she said. Johnnie Wilson, of Springfield, Va. said he had fought in Vietnam “for the nation’s rights, knowing that back home we didn’t have the rights. ” He said the museum compensated for what he believed was a sanitized version of history taught in schools. “Throughout the time we’ve been on these shores, we’ve made major contributions to America,” he said. “We’re really part of an American history that isn’t told like it should be in classrooms. ” Mr. Obama, who was given a sneak peek of the museum recently with his family, spoke during his speech of a stone slaver’s block on exhibit, marked only as the site of a speech by Andrew Jackson in 1830. It was, the president said, “a stone where day after day for years, men and women were torn from their spouse or their child, shackled and bound, and bought and sold, and bid like cattle, on a stone worn down by the tragedy of over a thousand bare feet. ” The museum, Mr. Obama said, would make visitors face uncomfortable truths. But it would also capture the essential greatness of the United States  —   the perpetual struggle to live up to its highest ideals. Mr. Obama spoke emotionally of his many flights on Marine One across the Mall, past the alabaster spire of the Washington Monument and the lighted figure of Abraham Lincoln, sheltered in his memorial. He said he had watched the museum rise from the ground and thought of the days when he and his family would return to visit it as private citizens. “We’ll walk away that much more in love with this country,” he said, “the only place on earth where this story could have unfolded. ”",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
9700,9701,"The aristocratic community was stunned today when a video tape surfaced depicting "" poor little rich boy "" Richie Rich using drugs heavily and engaging in homosexual acts .  "" This makes that Paris Hilton tape look like an episode of Sesame Street , "" said Stephanie Crespo , a columnist at Gossip Weekly , "" I had no idea Richie was into this kind of stuff . I mean I knew he was in the closet , but I had no idea he was such a drug fiend . ""  Among the images on the tape were Rich snorting cocaine off of male genitalia , injecting heroin into his own genitalia , and various acts too disturbing to mention here .  "" This is the reason I broke up with Richie , "" said Gloria Glad , Rich ' s childhood girlfriend , "" I knew I was just a beard for him , and our relationship was a farce , and I was  with that , but our friendship really suffered because of the drugs . One day I told him , ' Choose me or the drugs ' , and he responded by punching me directly in the face and releasing his guard dogs on me . So that was that . ""  When asked why she didn ' t come forth with this information further , Glad claims that Rich threatened her life .  "" He said he would kill me if I ever told , and I believed him , "" said Glad , "" He said he was rich enough so that he could make me disappear forever , like he did to his mean cousin Reggie . ""  Rich ' s father Richard Rich , has yet to see the tape , but has publicly stated that he will not disown his son .  "" Richie has been going through a very tough time , what with the tragic murder of his beloved dog Dollar , "" said Mr Rich , "" I promise we ' ll get him all the treatment he needs . It ' s not like I can ' t afford it , I wrote this speech on a sheet of platinum with a pen made of liquid gold . ""  Professor Keenbean , head of Rich Laboratories , claims that Richie constantly pressured him to develop new drugs .  "" He wanted to get as high as possible without any negative side effects , "" said Keenbean , "" I was reluctant to do it , but he threatened to blackmail me with some incriminating photographs of me with Irona , the robot maid . ""  These revelations can ' t help but tarnish the image of the Rich family . After the news first broke early this morning , stock in Rich Enterprises was down 34 percent .  "" I ' m confident that we ' ll bounce back from this rough time , "" said Mr Rich , "" We got through the scandal of Cadbury ' s pedophilic murder spree , and we ' ll get through this . ""  Richie Rich is currently in Rich Rehabilitation Center and could not be reached for comment .  ",satire,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,satire,satire,True,no,no,negative,past
9709,9710,"Social media sites have evolved into the global equivalent of the office watercooler , but could the buzz they generate be analyzed to predict real world outcomes ?  Leading British economist Noreena Hertz thinks so . She believes analyzing the chatter from Twitter and Facebook for example , will become a dominant force in the business of forecasting .  Read more : Facebook ' s new Graph Search tool  Last year , Hertz carried out an experiment to demonstrate the power of social networks as a tool for better understanding human behavior .  "" I was really interested to see whether we could make predictions or forecasts by listening in on what people were saying on social media . Because , if we could improve upon the political forecasts if we could improve upon sales forecasts by listening in on people ' s chatter on Twitter , Facebook , those sorts of media , that would be a really exciting prospect . , "" she said .  Her and a team of computer scientists , sociologists , and economists worked together to develop a method of research that they hoped would enable them to predict the winner of talent contest "" The X Factor "" .  By developing a sophisticated algorithm , the team effectively "" listened in "" on hundreds of thousands of tweets at once and deduced not just the number and subject of messages but also , for the first time , the sentiment . In doing so they were able to make an accurate guess about who would stay and go each week .  "" We were pretty much beating the bookies , "" she said .  Read more : Facebook ' likes ' can reveal your secrets , study finds  Hertz has made a career out of challenging the predictive powers of traditional forecasting models , which she says are far from perfect .  After all , she says , analysts in the Middle East failed to predict the Arab Spring and very few experts saw the financial meltdown coming something she did three years before in her book ""  : The Debt Threat "" .  An influential economist , Hertz has a knack for prescience that has put her ahead of the curve among her peers .  Her work is all about conducting research that gives raw data some context . It ' s about understanding the culture , language and psychology of social media users , which , she says , has huge implications for both business and government .  Under her school of her thought , in order for social media marketing to have any real value we need to understand what people ' s actions really mean . "" If somebody tweets ' I like Coca Cola ' , does that mean that they ' re actually going to buy Coca Cola ? One can ? Two cans ? Three cans ? If they retweet someone else ' s Tweet , does that mean they ' re going to buy it ? ""  At the age of 19 , Hertz gained her degree at University College London (  ) and then moved to the U . S . to study for an  . In her early twenties , she found herself in St . Petersburg educating Boris Yeltsin ' s advisers in market economics . Here she gained inspiration for her PhD thesis , "" Russian Business Relationships in the Wake of Reform "" , at the University of Cambridge .  In 2002 she wrote the book "" The Silent Takeover , "" which discussed the migration of power from government to corporations . In it she correctly anticipated that unregulated markets and huge financial institutions would , in the near future , have grave consequences for the rest of the world .  Read more : Arianna Huffington tells women : ' Less stress , more living '  Today , Hertz is a professor at a number of universities and one of the world ' s respected thinkers . Her pioneering concepts surrounding social media analytics have the potential to impact government policy , public security and economic growth .  Her work highlights the inadequacy of the majority of data used by governments and corporations as an empirical measure of what we , the people , want .  "" Language is too complex for a computer to understand , "" she said . "" It ' s not going to be able to make sense of what people are saying en masse . We need a new type of discipline that puts together computer scientists and social scientists , who can add context to the situation . ""  She may , so far , have only predicted the winner of a national singing contest but with the developments made in her "" X Factor "" experiment , Hertz has presented us with an unprecedented opportunity to foresee the events of the future by simply "" listening in on what the world really thinks . ""  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
9716,9717,"Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is planning to take part in London Fashion Week as a model  Julian Assange is still cocking a snook at the establishment . The Australian founder of WikiLeaks , who has cost the British taxpayer 6million in police bills since seeking asylum in the Ecuadorean Embassy two years ago , continues to receive celebrity visitors such as Lady Gaga and hold press conferences via video link .  But in his most brazen move yet , I hear he is planning to take part in London Fashion Week as a model .  Assange , wanted for extradition to Sweden on sex assault charges , will not even have to risk arrest by leaving his bolt hole , as the catwalk is coming to him .  Assange , 42 , will be joined at the embassy opposite Harrods by six models to show off outfits designed by Dame Vivienne Westwood ' s son , Ben .  The clothes have been inspired by actor Clint Eastwood ' s costume in his spaghetti western films , and the show will be accompanied by music from The Good , The Bad And The Ugly .  Hollywood actor George Clooney and his lawyer fiancee , Amal Alamuddin who has acted as part of Assange ' s defence team have been invited to attend .  Ben Westwood , 51 , says : ' I want to highlight Julian Assange ' s plight . What happened to him is totally unfair . '  He adds that inspiration for some of the clothes on show has come from Assange himself and his combat beret look .  ' I ' ve designed something for him along those lines and will be getting him to wear it , ' says Ben .  ' I ' ve got another garment with a Julian Assange print . '  Assange , 42 , will be joined at the embassy opposite Harrods by six models to show off outfits designed by Dame Vivienne Westwood ' s son , Ben  Ben Westwood , 51 , ( left ) says he wants to highlight Assange ' s plight , and that some of the inspiration for the clothes has come from Assange ( right ) himself  The show , in September , will be a fringe event for London Fashion Week .  ' Julian ' s been in the embassy for two years and it ' s important that he doesn ' t slip into obscurity , ' adds Ben .  Assange is not known for having any fashion sense . Author Andrew o ' Hagan , who was hired to ghost write his memoirs before falling out with him , noted how Assange wore suit trousers over a pair of Tesco tracksuit bottoms .  Which might explain his appeal to Ben ' s mother Vivienne , who was an early supporter of Assange and designed an ' I am Julian Assange ' T shirt with which she closed her London Fashion Show two years ago .  Hollywood actor George Clooney and his lawyer fiancee , Amal Alamuddin who has acted as part of Assange ' s defence team have been invited to attend the show  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
9738,9739,"Fifa presidential candidate Gianni Infantino reveals 90 day reform plan  ? Uefa general secretary says it is now or never to change governing body  ? Infantino refuses to criticise former leader Sepp Blatter  Gianni Infantino was supported by the likes of Fabio Capello and Jos Mourinho as he unveiled his plans for Fifa at Wembley . Photograph : Matt Dunham   Last modified on Monday 1 February 2016 18 . 30 ?   The Fifa presidential candidate Gianni Infantino has admitted it is now or never to restore credibility to world football s scandal hit governing body but refused to criticise the disgraced former leader Sepp Blatter .  Infantino , the Uefa general secretary who entered the race when Michel Platini was forced to withdraw after being banned for eight years , appeared at Wembley to unveil a 90 day plan to reform Fifa .  I think it s now or never . We have to take this opportunity , to take a turn , to make a better Fifa and work for football in a united way , in a positive way . This is the right moment to do that , said Infantino .  The Swiss Italian , who has been at Uefa for 15 years , insisted there were no deals in place with other candidates , including the other front runner , the Bahraini Asian Football Confederation president , Sheikh Salman Ebrahim al Khalifa . I am a candidate for Fifa president and nothing else . I stand for the presidency until the end , insisted Infantino .  It had been speculated that an alliance between the pair would ensure Infantino was offered the Fifa general secretary s job if Sheikh Salman won the presidency . But last week , Sheikh Salman suggested that Infantino s promises to increase development funds across the board were unrealistic and claimed that Fifa faced the prospect of running out of money within two years if its financial situation did not improve .  Unveiling a raft of big name supporters including Fabio Capello and Jos Mourinho , Infantino said he was confident the English  would back him after meeting the chairman , Greg Dyke , on Monday morning .  Mourinho offered effusive backing for Infantino . I think he s very capable , very experienced , with a complete knowledge of everything around football and its organisation , he said . I think he s the one . I am here with a real feeling that I am supporting somebody that can do really well .  Related : Sport may need its own Untouchables to root out the bad guys Sean Ingle  Infantino again defended his use of ? 500 , 000 in Uefa funds to pay for his globe trotting campaign . It is budgeted for , it is accounted for , he said .  Challenged over whether Blatter , who was banned for eight years along with Platini in December over a disloyal payment between the pair , could become an honorary president in the future , Infantino said he must wait for the outcome of an ongoing appeals process .  My opinion about Mr Blatter is that , of course , there is a procedure pending there and I don t want to participate in any speculation about the proceedings . We have to wait until the end of the proceedings before we can judge , he said .  What I can say is that Mr Blatter has been for 40 years in Fifa . I respect very much all the work he did in terms of football development in particular around the world . We need to recognise that Fifa has in the last 40 years undergone a great development , he said .  Mr Blatter has said himself that he probably should have stepped back a little bit earlier . This is maybe right . We have to wait and see what happens with the proceedings and we will see what the Congress will decide .  Appeals lodged by Blatter and Platini will be heard by Fifa s appeals committee later this month , before the presidential election takes place on 26 February . Both have said they will then take their cases to the court of arbitration for sport if their appeals fail .  Infantino unveiled a 10 point plan that he said would begin the process of restoring trust in Fifa in his first 90 days in office .  His pitch was carefully slanted to appeal to Africa and the Caribbean , the regions in which his face off with Sheikh Salman is likely to be won or lost . He also promised an 11th proposal , which he said would be unveiled with a flourish to voters on 26 February .  Challenged over the way in which Uefa has handled match fixing scandals in Turkey and Greece , Infantino revealed that he and his family had received death threats and insisted no other body in the world could match its record in tackling the problem .  The other candidates in the race to succeed Blatter are the former Fifa executive committee member Prince Ali bin al Hussein of Jordan , the South African Tokyo Sexwale and former Fifa executive J r ? me Champagne .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
9741,9742,"From the outside , Carol Coronado embraced motherhood . She played with her three girls ran after them , kissed them , smiled with them , a neighbor recalled . Her children seemingly had no shortage of joy , as evidenced by their own abundant laughter .  "" She ( said ) she loved being a mother , "" Ashley Madrid said of Coronado , her neighbor .  But the inside at least inside her Southern California home on Tuesday was a different story . According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff ' s Department , Coronado is believed to have killed her children . The oldest was 3 years old , the youngest all of 2 months .  Sheriff ' s deputies arrived at a home in unincorporated Torrance early Tuesday evening to find "" family members who told ( them ) that a mother had killed her children . "" Inside , they found three juveniles dead and their mother "" adjacent "" to them , the sheriff ' s department said .  "" I could see the blood smears all over her face and arms and legs , "" Madrid recalled . "" And she was just stone faced . ""  The mother was brought to a local hospital , then to the department ' s Carson Station to be booked on murder charges , said the sheriff ' s department . As of Wednesday evening , online records didn ' t indicate that Coronado was officially an inmate in the county , and it wasn ' t known whether she had a lawyer .  So exactly what happened ? And why ?  There ' s been no official word about a motive , nor has the sequence of events been spelled out .  Madrid had known Coronado since the latter moved into the neighborhood four to five years ago .  In that time , Madrid and Coronado would talk at the grocery store or across the fence about their children . Never did she hear any arguments or see any signs of trouble .  "" Never , "" the neighbor said Wednesday . "" Completely opposite of what happened yesterday . ""  The girls ' father was across the street working on a car when it happened , Madrid said .  Police : Utah mom admits to killing at least six of her babies  Mom kills two of her children during attempted exorcism  Opinion : Why would a mother kill her babies ?  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
9744,9745,"The  hard working  First Family, in need of another taxpayer funded boondoggle, are off to mingle with the elites while snarling traffic for any family unfortunate enough to have saved money for a week on the Vineyard. Sounds just about right This makes you wonder what Trump will do for a vacation when he s president will he just go home or to one of his fabulous resorts? It s funny how people forget that Trump needs none of the trappings of the presidency because he lives like this all the time. The truth is, he s a hard worker who just wants to roll his sleeves up and work to make America better than ever. Pretty awesome if you really think about it CHILMARK, Mass.   President Obama arrived in Martha s Vineyard on Saturday for his last summer vacation as president, bringing his wife, both daughters and even the family dogs along.Valerie Jarrett was with the Obamas too Is anyone surprised?For the third straight year, the First Family will be staying at a family home owned by Joanne Hubschman off North Road in Chilmark.The family has vacationed on the Vineyard every year during the Obama presidency, except 2012, when the President was in the middle of a re-election campaign.According to the White House, there are no public events scheduled during the visit.He headed into this two-week break in an unusually festive mood, having just celebrated his 55th birthday    TOO. On the island, Mr. Obama is expected to play a lot of golf and read a pile of books, if his past vacations here are any guide. He may attend a party or two given by friends who also vacation here, but for the most part the Obamas tend to keep to themselves. Mr. Obama is an avid sports fan, and with the Olympics playing on TV, he may have even more reason to remain in his rented home.Read more: Fortune",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
9759,9760,"Reuters) - Brazilian builder Odebrecht transferred $4.8 million to companies linked to Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski between 2004 and 2012, some of which was paid to a company Kuczynski controlled when he held senior government roles, according to a document the company sent to Congress. In a brief recorded message broadcast on local radio program  after lawmakers made the contents of the document public on Wednesday, Kuczynski denied wrongdoing but did not deny the transfers took place. Kuczynski s office declined further comment.  Odebrecht [ODBES.UL] declined to comment. A source in the company who spoke on condition of anonymity said the document seen by Reuters was authentic. The transfers shown in the document contradicted Kuczynski s previous denials about his ties to Odebrecht and prompted some lawmakers in the opposition-controlled Congress to call for his resignation. Odebrecht is at the center of Latin America s biggest graft scandal and has admitted to paying about $30 million in bribes to officials in Peru over a decade, including during the 2001-2006 term of ex-President Alejandro Toledo, when Kuczynski was finance minister and prime minister.  After Odebrecht s public acknowledgement a year ago, Kuczynski repeatedly denied ever taking money from Odebrecht or having any professional connections to the company. But on Saturday Kuczynski announced on a local radio program that he once worked as a financial adviser for an Odebrecht project when he did not hold public office; he did not mention the company that paid him. According to the document sent to Congress, Odebrecht made seven transfers totaling about $780,000 to Kuczynski s company Westfield Capital Ltd between 2004 and 2007, including about $60,000 when Kuczynski worked in Toledo s Cabinet and the government awarded several contracts to Odebrecht. Later, between 2008 and 2012, Odebrecht paid about $4 million to First Capital Inversiones Y Asesorias. Kuczynski has previously said that First Capital belongs to his friend and Chilean business partner, Gerardo Sepulveda. Kuczynski was the sole director of Westfield Capital, according to his sworn declaration on the presidency s website.     Kuczynski has not appeared in public since his radio interview on Saturday. He said on  on Wednesday that he had decided to heed Congress  repeated calls to explain any connections he had with Odebrecht to an investigative committee.      I ve never favored any company. I m willing to clarify everything that needs to be clarified before Congress and prosecutors because I have nothing to hide,  Kuczynski said on RPP, without taking any questions from journalists. A spokesman for Popular Force, the opposition party that holds a majority of seats in Peru s single-chamber Congress, slammed Kuczynski.   The country, Mr. Kuczynski, is tired of your lies and doesn t want any more explanations. The country hasn t just lost its trust in you, but in your government as well,  Daniel Salaverry, the spokesman, told a news conference. In a televised plenary session late on Wednesday, hardline Popular Force lawmaker Hector Becerril called for Kuczynski to resign, calling the transferred funds  camouflaged bribes.  An independent lawmaker also called for Kuczynski to step down. A source in the attorney general s office said prosecutors investigating Odebrecht in Peru were probing Kuczynski s relationship with the company but could not name him as a suspect until his term and presidential immunity end. Toledo, the former president under whom Kuczynski worked,  has been accused of taking a $20 million bribe from Odebrecht in exchange for help in securing lucrative highway contracts. Toledo has denied the charges. Authorities in Peru are seeking his extradition from the United States. ",true,dataset,validation,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
9762,9763,""" Obviously ( it will be ) difficult , but we have been doing our work , and we will be successful , "" he said .  The economic troubles in Greece last year sparked a wave of sovereign debt woes across Europe , especially hitting Ireland , Spain and Portugal . The value of the euro cratered during the debt crisis and raised lingering questions about the viability of the 17 nation monetary union .  A Bloomberg Global Poll released this week at Davos show 59 of respondents believe that at least one or more euro nation would break from the monetary union by 2016 , and nearly three quarters polled thought Greece would default on its loans .  "" Well , maybe people will believe things , but that ' s why we politicians are here , to put things on the right course , "" Papandreou said when asked about the poll . "" And there is the political will of our peoples and the leaders of the European Union . . . to make sure that in 2016 and 2020 and on , the euro will exist . ""  His comments echoed the sentiment French President Nicolas Sarkozy who in his Davos address Thursday said : "" We will never abandon the euro . Never ! Euro spells Europe , the euro is Europe . Europe has meant 60 years of peace on our continent . We will never abandon that . ""  Sarkozy ' s spirited defense of the euro underlined how high the stakes have become for the economic evolution of the continent . "" To imagine that we might pull out of that is to ignore the fact that as people who have been at each other ' s throats for centuries , we now have one wish , and that is lasting peace , "" Sarkozy said .  But European Monetary Union has been challenged as the bailout of Greece thrust the spotlight on the uneven economics among member nations . Besides debt woes in Greece , countries like Ireland and Spain were deeply exposed to the crash of the housing bubble . Meanwhile , the German economy the largest in Europe enjoyed its fastest expansion in two decades last year and its largest growth in  since Germany reunified in 1990 .  Concern has grown of an unfair burden placed on larger economies by the problems of smaller economies like Greece . But Papandreou said Greece is well on its way toward reducing its debt .  "" We have made very good progress , because we ' re on track , and I would say , even , beyond . We have cut the deficit by over 6 . 5 percent , which is a huge cut , "" Papandreou said .  "" We ' ve changed our pension system , it ' s now a viable pension system , one of the most viable in Europe . We ' ve changed our tax system , it ' s transparent , more effective , hitting tax evasion , "" he said . "" But the structural things we ' re changing are actually going to bring growth . ""  "" The main risk is to practice benign neglect . . . as soon as things are going better , to forget that we had to cope with a very , very demanding crisis , "" Trichet said . "" So , we have to draw all the lessons . ""  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
9763,9764,"Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones ripped a reporter Monday after a voluntary offseason workout.  Jones was speaking to media for the first time since being his offseason arrest where he was caught on video wishing death on a cop when a reporter asked if he had anything to prove to the fans following his January assault, despite telling reporters he did not want to talk about his arrest. “Didn’t I just tell you don’t ask me that?” Jones replied. “You out   …     Turn around. Go back, go back that way. Bye. See you. Next question. ” “That’s his last interview of the year,” he said as he walked off. “Don’t come over here no more for the rest of the year. ” Per Fox 19, Jones continued to “lash out” at their reporter when cameras were off. He reportedly raised his voice and cursed at him. Teammates and head coach Marvin Lewis reportedly had to speak with Jones at his locker to calm him down. “Pacman,” who has a lengthy history of arrests, entered an   treatment program and anger management following his arrest on charges of harassment with a bodily substance, assault, obstructing official business and disorderly conduct for fighting with a security guard, and later spitting on a jail nurse. Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent",true,news,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
9795,9796,"Experts have long pondered why the skull of a martyr on display in an Italian cathedral is marked with 16 perfectly round holes .  Now scientists have revealed that the drilling of the skull took place after the man was beheaded by 15th century Ottoman Turk invaders .  It is thought that ' bone powder ' was harvested in order to treat paralysis , epilepsy and strokes , believed to be caused by demonic influences in the early 18th century .  A holey skull ( shown ) displayed in an Italian Cathedral has 16 circular marks from drills because skull powder was collected and used to treat paralysis , epilepsy and stroke in the early 18th century , claims experts  The skull belongs to one of 800 ' martyrs of Otranto ' who were executed on August 14 , 1480 near the town of Otranto in Apulia , Italy .  They were beheaded when they refused to give up their Christian faith , Discovery reported .  The massacre followed a 15 day siege , where all men over the age of 50 were killed and the women and children either murdered or sold into slavery .  The skull ( left ) belongs to one of 800 ' martyrs of Otranto ' who were executed on 14 August 1480 and has eight holes and eight partial perforations . By studying the cupped shape of the circular marks , experts deduced that powder was collected with a trepan and rounded drill bit ( examples shown right )  French chemist Nicolas L mery , who lived at the turn of the 17th century , wrote that added to water , powdered skull can treat paralysis , stroke , epilepsy and ' other illness of the brain ' .  ' The skull of a person who died of violent and sudden death is better than that of a man who died of a long illness or who had been taken from a cemetery : the formers has held almost all of his spirits , which in the latter they have been consumed , either by illness or by the earth , ' he wrote in in his book , Pharmacop e universelle .  The martyrs , whose bones are displayed at the Cathedral of Otranto , were beatified by Pope Francis on 12 May 2013 and are now the patron saints of the city .  But , one of the skulls was set apart from the rest because it featured rounded holes that had been deliberately drilled into it .  The reason for the drilling had perplexed researchers for years .  Gino Fornaciari , professor of history of medicine and paleopathology at the University of Pisa , Italy , noted the holes are a regular round shape .  Exactly half of them are a conical shape and the rest are partial perforations , according to the Journal of Ethnopharmacology .  Professor Fornaciari said : ' The perfectly cupped shape of the incomplete perforations leads to hypothesise the use of a particular type of trepan , with semi lunar shaped blade or rounded bit a tool of this type could not produce bone discs , but only bone powder . '  A trepan or trephine is a surgical instrument used up to drill a burr hole into the skull in order to expose the tissue for medical reasons .  The beheaded martyrs , whose bones are displayed at the Cathedral of Otranto ( pictured ) , were beatified by Pope Francis on 12 May 2013 and are now the patron saints of the town  Skull powder was used in the 18th century to treat paralysis , stroke , epilepsy and ' other illness of the brain ' . A jar marked ' cranium ' is shown  Bone dust harvested from the skulls of saints or martyrs who died violent deaths was thought to be an effective treatment for a variety of conditions .  Valentina Giuffra , also from the University of Pisa , said that the ingredient was chosen because the head was the most important part of the body and invisible spiritual forces remained active even after death .  French chemist Nicolas L mery , who lived at the turn of the 17th century , wrote that when added to water , powdered skull can treat paralysis , stroke , epilepsy and ' other illness of the brain ' .  ' The skull of a person who died of violent and sudden death is better than that of a man who died of a long illness or who had been taken from a cemetery : the formers has held almost all of his spirits , which in the latter they have been consumed , either by illness or by the earth , ' according to his book , Pharmacop e universelle .  Drills were likely used to collect the powder before the bones were arranged in the glass cabinet in 1711 , although no one knows why the particular skull was singled out .  The skull is the only evidence to support historical accounts that the macabre ingredient was used in medicine .  The skull belongs to one of 800 ' martyrs of Otranto ' who were executed on August 14 , 1480 near the town of Otranto in Apulia , Italy . The cathedral , where their remains are displayed , is marked on this map  The martyrs were beatified by Pope Francis on 12 May 2013 and are now the patron saints of the city , whose cathedral is pictured above  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
9822,9823,"A pregnant mother told her six children she was going to the supermarket and flew to Australia for a six week holiday with a boyfriend she met online .  A court heard the 43 year old woman effectively left a son aged 14 in charge of his siblings and took off to the other side of the world on New Year ' s Day .  Police were alerted when the teenager called his grandparents , who dialled 999 , and the mother was arrested when she flew back into the  in February .  The woman , who cannot be named for legal reasons , was handed a six month prison sentence , suspended for two years , by Judge Murray Creed at Birmingham Crown Court  Yesterday she walked free from court with a suspended sentence after admitting six counts of wilful abandonment .  Judge Murray Creed told the woman it was a serious matter and praised her teenage son for his presence of mind .  The woman , who cannot be identified for legal reasons , vanished at 5pm after telling her son she was going to Asda . When she failed to return home four hours later , he called his grandparents , who live outside the area .  They alerted police and social services , who arrived at 1am . By then , the mother had sent the boy a text saying she would not be back until the next day .  By the time police contacted her , she was at Heathrow waiting to board a flight to Sydney .  The judge was told that her Chinese internet boyfriend had wired the flight money to her via Western Union . Patrick Sullivan , prosecuting , said the mother , who is a single parent , ignored messages from her parents and the police , deactivated her social media accounts and refused to fly home until her scheduled return .  Officers sent to the mother ' s address found the children in a house which was warm but dirty .  The children , the youngest of whom is three , were placed into emergency foster care . They are now living with their grandparents .  Birmingham Crown Court was shown cards made by the children , two boys and four girls , and addressed to their mother . One read ' We miss you mummy ' while another said ' We want to see you soon . '  John Smitheman , defending the woman , told the court they were thriving academically and unaffected by the experience .  He said the woman had been a good mother but had been in an abusive relationship with an African man before she struck up an online relationship with the Chinese man .  Mr Smitheman said the stress of bringing the children up alone had let to a ' very unusual , almost unique circumstance ' .  The woman flew 9 , 467 miles from her home in Birmingham to Australia to enjoy a six week holiday with her boyfriend  The mother , formerly of Birmingham but now living in Wales , was handed a six month suspended sentence . A friend and neighbour from Birmingham said : ' She was a really good mother who loved her children to bits . I don ' t know what possessed her to abandon them like this . '  At her home last night the mother declined to comment or apologise .  Adrian Brown of the  said : ' While there ' s no legal minimum age when you can leave children at home alone in the  , clearly in this case the mothers ' actions were not those of a responsible parent . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
9844,9845,"President Donald Trump targeted former  Director James Comey Monday for allegedly including classified information in personal memos describing his conversations with the president.James Comey leaked   to the media. That is so illegal!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 10, 2017Comey s removal of classified information from his office could put him in breach of  protocols that clearly state  agents  will not reveal, by any means, any information or material from or related to  files or any other information acquired by virtue of my official employment to any unauthorized recipient without prior official written authorization by the FBI. Comey admitted he took his personal memos with him after being fired in testimony before Congress on June 8 and directed a friend of his to leak some of its contents to a New York Times reporter to rebuff some of Trump s claims.  The Daily CallerThe former congressman from Utah, Jason Chaffetz, recently left the Washington  cesspool and is now employed by  New. Chaffetz appeared on  and Friends this morning where he addressed the new Comey issue.Former Oversight Chair Jason Chaffetz recounted a discussion he had with  Director James Comey on the phone. Comey is usually a  jovial, open person on the phone , but when Jason Chaffetz brought up the memos he got very silent.Chaffetz then made a surprising statement to the Fox and Friends hosts:  If Comey s Leaked Memos Contained Classified Information, He Should Have Handcuffs On And Go To JailChaffetz recounts a discussion he had with former  director, James Comey, on the phone. ""You cannot take classified information & release it, if you do you should have handcuffs on you & go to jail.""-Chaffetz on James Comey pic.twitter.com/gQdSBQGwaK  Corryn   (@Corrynmb) July 10, 2017",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,present
9856,9857,"After travelling half way across the globe for two years , Harry McGurk wanted to give his mother the best surprise of a lifetime .  The 25 year old , from Fulham in south west London , spent two long years backpacking around Australia and some parts of South East Asia .  With his mother thinking that her son was going to be away for another two years , the last thing she ' d imagine was to see him return without a heads up .  Capturing the magical moment , the footage shows McGurk standing outside his family home in London as he tells the camera that his mum was not expecting to see him .  Scroll down to see video  Harry McGurk spent two years travelling Australia and recently returned to his London home to surprise mum  ' I thought I would come home , surprise her and renew my passport before I head off again . '  Handing his camera phone over to his friend so he could continue recording , McGurk unlocks the door and casually walks in and says , ' mum , my key still work ' .  Falling to the ground , she starts screaming at the top of her lungs and covers her face as it appears she couldn ' t believe who she was seeing .  The 25 year old recorded the magical moment when he walked through the doors unexpectedly  McGurk pictured with his mother from the weekend as she enjoys having him back home  Still screaming and struggling to get the words out of her mouth , she quickly jumps up and runs over to give her son a big long hug while she sheds tears of happiness .  Wiping away her tears of joy , it was a magical moment for the speechless mother and her son to reunite after two long years .  ' I felt very happy it was a great reaction to see from her , ' McGurk said .  As she pulls away to give her son one good look , the first words she said were : ' You c ! You c ! '  McGurk backpacked around Australia , travelling around  , Perth , Sydney , Victoria , Melbourne and Darwin  The 25 year old , from Fulham in south west London , spent two long years backpacking around Thailand  Despite being back home with his mum , McGurk said once his passport is renewed , he ' ll be on the next plane  Despite being back home with his mother , McGurk said once he gets his new passport , he will be on the next plane .  ' I ' m leaving in March for Vietnam and then off to New Zealand , ' he said .  ' Mum is excited to have me back home but she ' s happy for me to travel the world too . '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
9860,9861,"' s Brian Williams wants you to know he ' s sorry about the lies he ' s told about having been shot down in a helicopter ambush in Iraq . Meanwhile , the internet wants to know : what else might Williams ' misremember ' ?  Out of the news anchor ' s stunning ' mistake , ' the brianwilliamsmisremembers meme is born .  Now , Williams is cropping up in in cleverly doctored photos across social media in which he ' s proudly reporting everywhere from the moon landing to  Simpson ' s white Bronco .  brianwilliamsmisremembers : Following the news anchor ' s shocking admission Wednesday , social media users began photoshopping Brian Williams into famous historical events , like Oj Simpson ' s car chase ( via linkcalhoun )  Williams to thank ? TheObamaDiary thinks Williams might remember it . With a photo of the newsman cropped hastily into a shot from that famous day , they write in the voice of Williams : ' I said Martin , do you dream ? , he said yes . I said , ' well , tell the folks about your dreams '  Or at the March on Washington in 1963 , where he personally encouraged Martin Luther King to give his I Have a Dream speech .  At least that ' s how TheObamaDiary thinks Williams might remember it . With a photo of the newsman cropped hastily into a shot from that famous day , they write in the voice of Williams :  ' I said Martin , do you dream ? , he said yes . I said , ' well , tell the folks about your dreams '  theObamaDiary also places Williams at the 1936 Olympics .  ' Losing to Jesse Owens in Berlin was tough , but I knew I was part of history , ' Williams ' misremembers . '  Twitter user robx d puts Williams both alongside Amelia Earhart before her faithful voyage and looking on as the flag was raised at Iwo Jima .  The photoshopped images go on and on , as do the imaginary Williams memories tweeted without photos .  It ' s an hilarious twist to a story over a decade in the making .  Forgot he was an athlete : theObamadiary also puts Williams at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin  ' And then I told him : "" Draw me like one of your french girls "" ' writes Twitter user Jenn Abrams  JavaJoeX imagines Williams misremembering his pivotal role in Apocalypse Now  JavaJoeX wonders if Williams valor may have won him the honor of becoming an action figure  Did Amelia Earhart go down with Brian Williams ? robx d says yes  It came to a head during the Nightly News broadcast this past Wednesday evening , Williams told viewers that his mistake was a ' bungled attempt ' to honor a soldier who had helped protect him .  ' I made a mistake in recalling the events of 12 years ago . I want to apologize ' he said .  In a lengthy Facebook post on Wednesday Williams admitted his mistake and blamed the ' fog of memory over 12 years ' for his error .  ' I feel terrible about making this mistake , especially since I found my   about the incident from back in ' 08 , and I was indeed on the Chinook behind the bird that took the  in the tail housing just above the ramp , ' he wrote .  ' Because I have no desire to fictionalize my experience ( we all saw it happened the first time ) and no need to dramatize events as they actually happened , I think the constant viewing of the video showing us inspecting the impact area and the fog of memory over 12 years made me conflate the two , and I apologize . '  Twitter user robx d also puts Williams alongside the flag as it was raised at Iwo Jima  Reporting live from the moon : "" That one live shot I did from the moon "" BrianWilliamsMemories ( via DutraWeather )  Saving Private Brian ? IvanTheK puts Williams in the 1998 classic  film  Since the 2003 incident , Williams ' Chinook story has been recounted countless times and gradually the reporter ' s role seems to have grown .   reported the incident on March 26 , 2003 , with the headline , ' Target Iraq : Helicopter  ' s Brian Williams Was Riding In Comes Under Fire . '  Three days later  Today carried a similar report that stated : '  ' s Brian Williams was stranded in the Iraqi desert for three days after a Chinook helicopter ahead of his was attacked by a man who fired a rocket propelled grenade .  ' The grenade just missed , but it forced the group to make an emergency landing . Luckily , a U . S . tank platoon was there and surrounded the helicopters , killing four Iraqis . '  In a 2007 entry from his blog Williams recounts how he was part of a ' flotilla of four twin rotor Chinook helicopters ' .  ' Some men on the ground fired an  through the tail rotor of the chopper flying in front of ours .  ' There was small arms fire . All four choppers dropped their heavy loads and landed quickly and hard on the desert floor , ' he recalled .  By the next year Williams was claiming on his blog that ' all four of our low flying Chinooks took fire . '  ' The Chinook helicopter flying in front of ours ( from the 101st Airborne ) took an  to the rear rotor , as all four of our low flying Chinooks took fire , ' he wrote .  ' We were forced down and stayed down for the better ( or worse ) part of 3 days and 2 nights . '  The tale takes a more dramatic twist during a 2013 appearance on The Late Show With David Letterman . By now Williams is recalling that two helicopter were hit including his .  ' Two of our four helicopters were hit by ground fire including the one I was in , ' he told Letterman .  Then during his report on January 30 , Williams once again told an inaccurate version of events so that now ' the helicopter we were travelling in was forced down after being hit by an  . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
9873,9874,"5   Hundreds of far-right protesters marched to Milan's Montello barracks on Monday, to protest the barrack's transformation into a refugee shelter. Supporters of regionalist political party Lega Nord and radical right group Casa Pound turned out to protest. The protesters chanted anti-refugee chants while marching with flares, numerous Italian and Casa Pound flags, and banners such as ""Italians first""; ""Defend Milan"". COURTESY: RT's  video agency,  RE-UPLOAD,   -  LICENSING, PLEASE,  weblink   Leave a Reply Login with your Social  Your email address will not be published. Name",fake,news,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
9887,9888,"In the first operation of its kind , doctors at St . Luke ' s Medical Center successfully transplanted a mouse heart into a human Tuesday .  Hospital officials are calling the procedure "" a complete success . ""  "" The patient is recuperating nicely , "" chief cardiologist Dr Alex Sutin told reporters . "" We are confident he will be able to enjoy a long , happy life , just as long as he doesn ' t overexert himself by , say , attempting to walk . ""  The patient , 58 year old Beloit ,  , bus driver Raymond Calvecchia , was diagnosed last month with a rare degenerative heart condition known as idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy . He was not expected to live another eight weeks without a donor heart , Sutin said .  "" We searched every database for a suitable human donor , "" said Sutin , who performed the groundbreaking operation , "" but none could be found . In the end , we decided to go with a compatible mouse . ""  "" Mice have very clear arteries , "" Sutin noted .  Though the nine hour procedure was ultimately successful , some difficulties arose during surgery . "" We ran into problems when it came time to graft Mr Calvecchia ' s aorta onto the organ , "" Sutin said . "" The heart kept falling into the aortal opening and had to be fished out with forceps . ""  Calvecchia is awake and alert , but he could not address the media , as doctors have cautioned him against movement of any kind for the rest of his life .  "" His heart is already pounding like a jackhammer at a rate of approximately 1 , 100 beats per minute , "" Sutin said . "" His family has advised the nursing staff what  shows he prefers , as changing the channels or requesting that it be done could induce a massive coronary . ""  Due to the rate of cardiac excitement that could result , Calvecchia is not permitted to watch news , sports or comedy shows of any kind . The only programming he is allowed to have on is cable access city council meetings and  ' s The Sentinel .  The operation is being hailed as the biggest breakthrough in interspecies transplants since October 1995 , when doctors at New York ' s Mt . Sinai Hospital implanted a Brooklyn man with a hamster liver . Though the procedure was initially successful , the liver developed terminal cirrhosis when the patient used an alcohol based mouthwash .  ",satire,text,validation,Football,Conflict,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
9891,9892,"Bangladesh ' s Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus to keep his position as managing director of the bank he founded .  Yunus founded the Grameen Bank three decades ago in what he said was an effort to alleviate poverty .  Grameen ' s work cast a global spotlight on microcredit , a then novel idea of making small loans to poor people who would not qualify for standard bank loans .  For their efforts , Yunus and Grameen Bank won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 . He also was awarded the American Presidential Medal of Freedom and a Congressional Gold Medal .  Last month , the central bank of Bangladesh the regulatory authority in the South Asian nation cited the 70 year old ' s age in explaining his removal as managing director . The government , which has a 25 stake in Grameen , said that the bank ' s rules required Yunus to end his service when he turned 60 .  The case wound its way to the Supreme Court , which issued its ruling Tuesday .  Lawmakers in the United States , and in other countries , have asked the Bangladeshi government to find a compromise to bring an end to the Grameen Bank crisis .  "" The international community will watch this situation closely , and I hope that both sides can reach a compromise that maintains Grameen Bank ' s autonomy and effectiveness , "" said Sen . John Kerry , the chairman of the U . S . Senate Foreign Relations Committee , last month .  "" Institutions like the Grameen Bank make a significant contribution to Bangladesh ' s development and democracy , and Professor Yunus ' life long work to reduce poverty and empower women through microloans has deservedly received world wide attention and respect . ""  Yunus ' supporters have said the government ' s effort to remove him has little to do with age and much to do with opposition to microcredit and Grameen ' s execution of it . Critics of microcredit have charged that lenders were making big money off of small loans .  Others have suggested that the actions against Yunus are politically motivated , a claim denied by the government .  Yunus ' supporters say he has been under fire for criticizing politicians and trying to form his own political party four years ago during an interim , unelected , military backed government . That party was later abandoned .  Ashraful Islam , general secretary of the ruling Awami League party , told reporters last month that the government wanted to resolve the issue "" sympathetically , "" but Yunus had obstructed the process by going to the court .  Khaleda Zia , a former prime minister and now opposition leader in parliament , lashed out at the government for going after the nation ' s only Nobel laureate .  "" The move was designed to belittle Yunus , who had earned prestige for the country , "" she said .  In a statement issued last month , Yunus said he strongly believes Grameen will continue to work to empower the poor , especially women in rural areas .  "" Opportunity has to be created to hand over the charge of Grameen Bank in a happy environment so that it could achieve its objectives , "" Yunus said . "" I am continuing the effort and it will go on until getting friendly cooperation from all . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
9896,9897,"Reuters) - A federal grand jury in Washington on Friday approved the first charges in the investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, a source briefed on the matter told Reuters. The filing of the sealed charges was first reported by CNN. ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
9907,9908,"This is the incredible moment a water bomber was used to pour thousands of litres of water on a burning lorry .  The plane was called in because the local fire chief feared it would take too long for a fire truck to arrive at the scene in a remote part of Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada .  The lorry erupted in flames after it crashed into a road grader on the treacherous Trans Labrador Highway .  Flames : Smoke billows out of the lorry as the water bomber approaches the scene  The pilot straightens out the plane as he prepares to douse the flames  The 47 second video shows the plane straightening out as it rapidly approaches the fire scene on a gravel road that is blocked by authorities .  With just a few feet to spare the plane drops a massive amount of water on the smouldering wreckage . The lorry and grader are not visible through the wall of water .  The Labrador fire service had been dealing with widespread forest fires all summer and decided not to take any chances , so it requested aid from above .  There was a lack of available water to put out the fire and because of the isolated rural location the authorities were anxious that a fire truck would not be able to prevent the flames from spreading to the dry grass and trees .  The lorry driver was trapped inside the burning vehicle but the driver of the road grader managed to pull him to safety .  Timing : The pilot releases the water at just the right time as he flies directly over the fire  No risks : Labrador firefighters had been battling widespread forest fires and did not want to risk another one  Close call : The driver of the lorry has to be pulled to safety by the driver of the road grater  The amazing footage was recorded last year but it has recently emerged online once again .  Shawn Noseworthy , a manager with Humber Valley Paving , was part of a work crew on site when the crash occurred .  Mr Noseworthy filmed the remarkable water bombing on his mobile phone .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
9912,9913,"Is This Why Comey Broke: A Stack Of Resignation Letters From Furious  Agents   Source: Zero Hedge  Conspiracy theories have swirled in recent days as to why  Director James Comey reopened Hillary's email investigation after just closing it back in July concluding that, although Hillary had demonstrated gross negligence in her establishment of a private email server, that ""no reasonable prosecutor"" would bring a case against her. Democrats, after lavishing Comey with praise for months on concluding his investigation in an ""impartial"" way, have since lashed out at him for seeking to influence the 2016 election cycle with Hillary herself describing his recent actions as ""deeply troubling"". Republicans, on the other hand, have praised Comey's recent efforts as an attempt to correct a corrupt investigation that seemingly ignored critical evidence while granting numerous immunity agreements to Clinton staffers.  According to the Daily Mail , and a source close to James Comey, the decision, at least in part, came after he ""could no longer resist mounting pressure by mutinous agents in the FBI"" who ""felt that he betrayed them and brought disgrace on the bureau by letting Hillary off with a slap on the wrist.""  James Comey's decision to revive the investigation of Hillary Clinton's email server and her handling of classified material came after he could no longer resist mounting pressure by mutinous agents in the  , including some of his top deputies, according to a source close to the embattled  director.  'The atmosphere at the  has been toxic ever since Jim announced last July that he wouldn't recommend an indictment against Hillary,' said the source, a close friend who has known Comey for nearly two decades, shares family outings with him, and accompanies him to Catholic mass every week.  'Some people, including department heads, stopped talking to Jim, and even ignored his greetings when they passed him in the hall,' said the source. 'They felt that he betrayed them and brought disgrace on the bureau by letting Hillary off with a slap on the wrist.'  According to the source, Comey fretted over the problem for months and discussed it at great length with his wife, Patrice.  He told his wife that he was depressed by the stack of resignation letters piling up on his desk from disaffected agents. The letters reminded him every day that morale in the  had hit rock bottom.  'The people he trusts the most have been the angriest at him,' the source continued. 'And that includes his wife, Pat. She kept urging him to admit that he had been wrong when he refused to press charges against the former secretary of state.  Though we're sure there are many facets behind Comey's decision making process, we can all be quite certain, at this point, that he's not motivated by a desire to make friends having now alienated just about everyone in Washington, both in law enforcement and in both political parties. In fact, after Tim Kaine just last week praised Comey as a ""wonderful"" career public servant with the ""highest standards of integrity"" ....  ...everything has now been turned on it's head with Hillary calling his latest moves ""unprecedented and deeply troubling""...seemingly implying an attempt, on the part of Comey, to ""rig"" the election from Trump .  Meanwhile, President Obama and Attorney General Loretta Lynch are apparently also ""furious"" with Comey over his recent decision.  His announcement about the revived investigation, which came just 11 days before the presidential election, was greeted with shock and dismay by Attorney General Loretta Lynch and the prosecutors at the Justice Department.  'Jim told me that Lynch and Obama are furious with him,' the source said.  'Lynch and Obama haven't contacted Jim directly,' said the source, 'but they've made it crystal clear through third parties that they disapprove of his effort to save face.'  And while the decision to reopen the case may appease  agents and republicans, in the short-term, we suspect it does very little to restore overall faith in his competence. As such, we continue to question just how long Comey can hold out before being forced to resign his post. At a bare minimum, in light of his continued questionable judgement and serious doubts raised about the integrity of the first investigation, we fail to understand how an independent investigation into Hillary's email server isn't warranted.  OOOOh! The remorse! The  ! I can almost feel it from here!  Get off it, ....you jabbering, fast talking, asshole.  Statements? ... 'Reopening investigations' (Is that a maybe you wiil have a couple of interns fiddle with Emails a little longer?) and then having legal promptly announce they will take  and  to complete the case? .... We Have     US! ..We need to know who the bad guys are. But, then we already know, don't we?  No, a resignation is in order. .. Declare a 'conflict of interest' and turn states evidence would be more like it. .... You - Are - A - Crook Dir Comey.  I know ZHers are getting tired of seeing this but for the benefit of any little clueless  junior G-Men out there that can still read English:",fake,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
9931,9932,"Charles Koch sat down with  News and did an interview, during which he said it was  possible  that Hillary Clinton could be a better president than some of the Republicans still left. It was in no way an endorsement of Clinton. It was a well-worded question that elicited a noteworthy and honest response. That 30 seconds of reporting dominated the already slow news cycle while the meat of the Charles Koch interview went largely ignored.Charles Koch doesn t come across as many people think he should. He shows up in sweaters and comfy shoes looking like Mr. Rogers and being extremely passionate about his policy positions. What many people don t understand is that the Koch Brothers, while massive and powerful beyond belief, are Libertarians. Libertarians want taxes gone. They want money out of politics because they think the government should be almost non-existent. In order to achieve this Libertarian Utopia, they first have to conquer the Republican Party, the only people who will give them a flat tax and deregulate everything.Charles Koch admits that he benefits from a  rigged system.  He admits to all the money that is spent on corporate welfare and tax shelters for the wealthy. He admits that cronyism runs our country and he knows that the rich are getting richer and the poor have no chance. If you were to attach Charles Koch s belief system to a liberal set of values you d have Bill Gates meets Warren Buffet. Unfortunately, what you actually end up with is a grandfatherly figure whose sheer power won t be stopped, it ll be chatted about nicely in the den.The Kochs lean to the right on enough issues that their money gets thrown at the Republican party. They want to eliminate the tax code, thinking it will put people on level playing field   or maybe just to keep more profits. They want regulation out of business, so free markets could thrive and regulate themselves   or maybe just to cut corners and save money. They want money out of politics, so they pour money into politics. The Kochs aren t in danger of being aligned with Democrats, but if you listen to Charles tell it, if the Democratic party would come around on just a few things, they would see more Koch money. Yes, that s a ridiculous notion. Charles Koch sits and talks about everyone taking care of one another while it was he and his brother who created the Tea Party and their bigotry and went to work in 2014 to see to it that everyone hated the poor and Ebola enough to vote red.The Kochs have always backed Republicans, an investment Charles calls  disappointing.  He remembers the one time he asked for a political favor to shoot down a bill that was nothing but corporate tax breaks and fewer than 10 percent of the people they backed on the campaign trail came through when it was time to vote. The one time. Somehow it seems unlikely that a man who just confessed to raising half a billion dollars for political purposes has asked for more than one favor, but we ll let Mr. Koch s good character speak for itself (wink, wink).They have apparently gotten tired of the Republican party, at least this time around. Charles is adamant that the mud-slinging ad-hominem festival of stupid that has been the  primary has not received a dime from their war chest. Not a single campaign on either side has reaped the benefits of Koch support. The only candidate Koch mentions by name is Bernie Sanders, who he says is at least addressing the issue of the two-tiered system and wealth inequality, though he can t understand his methods. It s difficult for a man who professes to be a  classic liberal  to consider putting the needs of the less fortunate first. If his barn is stocked with horses, his cupboards and refrigerator with food and his home stocked with creature comforts he ll be in a much better position to help those who have struggled.All in all, this interview doesn t bode well for the GOP. They re looking for almost a billion dollars from Koch s PAC, which by his own estimate has only raised $200 million so far this year. The Republican party has certainly shown that it knows how to screw up a free lunch. When you can t do something as simple as keeping your number one source of income in the game, you know the end is near. Featured image from screen capture",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
9949,9950,"In the past two weeks , the U . S . Secret Service has had a number of agents either resign or get fired in disgrace for their actions in Colombia . The uniformed service members supporting the agents are being investigated under the Uniformed Code of Military Justice , and the media frenzy remains insatiable .  Are we surprised ? Isn ' t this story about grown men acting badly ? Of course not , it ' s far more troubling .  This is about at least one disciplined and professional organization failing to lead or act consistent with the discipline required of their service , whether it is the secret service or the military .  Senators criticize military briefing on Colombia scandal  We expect them to set the standard for discipline and leadership and they failed at both . The good news is we found out about these shenanigans before this incredibly bad behavior became an acceptable new , lower standard .  The problem , you see , is leadership has no variable speed , no levels of acceptance . There is but one standard . You either lead or you don ' t . Leadership is about getting people to do things they otherwise would not do when no one else is looking . Well , no surprise here that in our cyber world , when everything everyone does is subject to scrutiny , some one is always looking .  Agent posted Palin picture on Facebook page  It ' s na ve to assume otherwise .  The Secret Service and their military support team were idiots to assume that they could act badly and get away with it . As citizens and taxpayers , we ' d expect good discipline from these folks without having to have some one check up on them . But sadly , they failed us and demonstrated that they need supervision . They need leadership .  Don ' t think that this band of agents and their military support was anything other than a gaggle of guys , acting more like punks that leaders .  My suggestion is that there was not one leader in the bunch . If there was a leader , he failed to show up for the most important mission he accepted . . . protecting our President .  Something did not go wrong something is wrong .  My suggestion is that the Secret Service is a great agency that failed at its core mission . . . to lead and act like no one is looking .  However , for some inexplicable reason that challenges the agency ' s core , it defined leadership in an entirely unrecognizable way . These are not young "" troops "" acting out badly .  Did events in Colombia change everything or was something wrong long before events in Colombia ?  The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of General Marks .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
9955,9956,"The ' End of History Illusion ' means people believe they are the finished article explaining why teenagers don ' t regret tattoos or other things that may affect their appearance in the future  If becoming old is something that you can ' t get your head around , there could be a good reason why .  Researchers have discovered a phenomenon called ' the end of history illusion ' in which we mistakenly think we are always the finished article .  A survey of 19 , 000 people found that when we look back in hindsight it easy to see how much we have changed .  But we look into the future , however , we are rarely able to see how different we are going to be .  The finding helps to explain why a teenager who gets a tattoo never thinks they will regret it , even if they do so later .  Similarly , when we get older the prospect of grey hair is not something we can begin to imagine .  The researchers asked the 19 , 000 respondents 18 to 68 to take a survey and asked about their values , personalities and things they liked to do .  Some were asked to reflect back over the last 10 years whilst others were asked to predict how they would change in the coming decade .  The American team found that across all age ranges , everyone underestimated how much they would be different in the future .  When it came to music for example , most people expected artists like Coldplay or Rhianna to play on into their old age even though they will by then long have stopped making music .  Lead researcher Daniel Gilbert , a psychologist at Harvard University , said that the findings showed that a 40 year old looking back would remember more looking back than a 30 year old would looking forward .  He said : ' What we never seem to realize is that our future selves will look back and think the very same thing about us .  Phenomenon : Many of the 19 , 000 people questioned by researchers at Harvard University couldn ' t imagine their appearance changing or getting grey hair as they got older ( stock image )  ' At every age we think we ' re having the last laugh , and at every age we ' re wrong .  ' Life is a process of growing and changing , and what our results suggest is that growth and change really never stops , despite the fact that at every age from 18 to 68 , we think it ' s pretty much come to a close . '  Jordi Quoidbach of Harvard University , another one of the researchers , added : ' Believing that we just reached the peak of our personal evolution makes us feel good .  ' The ' I wish that I knew then what I know now ' experience might give us a sense of satisfaction and meaning , whereas realising how transient our preferences and values are might lead us to doubt every decision and generate anxiety . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
9975,9976,"New Flint water probe draws critics  monitoring crisis  New Flint water probe draws critics  monitoring crisis  Collectively , the companies will send roughly 6 . 5 million bottles to Flint s schools , or 176 truckloads . So many qualify for free or reduced lunches , a common measure of poverty , that the district chose to make all meals free in 2011 .  Would more have been done , and at a much faster pace , if almost 40 percent of Flint residents were not living below the poverty line ?  Louis Singleton receives water filters , bottled water and a test kit from Michigan National Guard Specialist Joe Weaver as clean water supplies are distributed to residents , Thursday , Jan . 21 , 2016 in Flint , Mich . The National Guard , state employees , local authorities and volunteers have been distributing lead tests , filters and bottled water during the city s drinking water crisis .  Flint s water became contaminated with lead from aging pipes when the city switched from Detroit water to the Flint River in 2014 to save money . The lead started causing a whole host of health problems .  Gov . Rick Snyder says Edwards and Weaver are part of a 17 member group of medical experts selected to determine long term solutions to fix Flint s water system and help residents who have been exposed to lead .  Brooks , who first spoke at a public meeting , also called for a federal investigation by the Justice Department and the creation of a victims fund . The federal rule provides the basis for testing of lead and copper levels in drinking water .  The governor defended the hires on Wednesday , saying there is a lot of misinformation being spread about the Flint water crisis .  Gov . Rick Snyder met privately Tuesday with the  , which unveiled a proposal to handle lead in the water and help affected citizens , reports  News correspondent Adriana Diaz .  Wal Mart and its co sponsors recommend donating through Good360 , a nonprofit that uses donations to help ship supplies from corporate donors to local charities .  So on behalf my charity TheRobinHoodProject I am donating 1 , 000 , 000 in water bottles . The superstore previously donated 10 million to the site s disaster recovery efforts on the 10th anniversary of hurricane Katrina .  So far , 400 , 000 has already been raised for Flint .  Steve Neavling of Motor City Muckraker writes that e mails and documents he obtained show that the governor and Flint s emergency managers repeatedly lied about their role in the process of using the Flint River for drinking water and knew it was risky .  We had a very robust conversation about specific reforms : a need for economic development , a need to ensure that people who have been devastated economically have a stake in the restoration of water in their city , said Brooks , who also called for a U . S . Justice Department investigation that focuses on potential civil rights violations .  Snyder continues to face criticism for an initially slow response to the Flint water crisis and some subsequent steps , including the recent hiring of two public relations firms that he is paying through an outside tax exempt , nonprofit fund . The system serves about 8 , 100 customers in Mohoning County , the Associated Press reported .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
9979,9980,"The patient , in his late 70s , had survived prostate cancer and had a new diagnosis of leukemia . A few days before , he ' d been healthy and fine , but now his white blood cell count was so high that it was clogging his circulatory system , making it hard for him to breathe .  We brought his white count down and relieved his shortness of breath . At that point , he could have opted for palliative care and gone home on hospice with a decent enough quality of life to enjoy what little time he had left . However , the patient , encouraged by his family and urged on by his oncologist , chose aggressive treatment instead .  This is a hard case . In his recent New Yorker article "" Letting Go , "" Dr Atul Gawande explains how the first impulse of doctors , patients and family members to "" fight "" cancer or other serious illnesses makes it very difficult to have honest discussions of what treatment can and cannot do .  I understand why physicians find these conversations difficult , why it ' s preferable to focus on the good we can possibly accomplish rather than the likely futility of the struggle .  But there ' s another story to be told in these cases , and it ' s usually the nurse who ' s the observer of that narrative : the suffering caused by these well intentioned treatments . Chemo was risky for this patient because of his age and medical history , and the damage done was unbelievably bad .  The problems began when cells killed by the chemotherapy spilled their contents , overloading my patient ' s kidneys and throwing him into renal failure . The intravenous fluids he ' d needed had been too much for his circulatory system , and he developed heart failure , too .  One morning , I came in with his pills , and he said , "" You ' re doing too much . I can ' t take it . "" The next week , he was on dialysis , but it wasn ' t working , and his entire lower body was hugely swollen with fluid . That day , he accosted me with , "" What are you doing to me ? ""  Both times , I told the medical team what he ' d said and asked whether it was ethical to continue chemotherapy . Several members of the team shared my concerns , and as a group , we talked the situation over with the attending doctor . Our view was that the treatments were eroding the patient ' s quality of life with little promise of good in return .  The attending physician , whom I know to be conscientious and caring , disagreed , as did the patient ' s family . When the doctor prodded the patient , saying , "" You want to keep going , right ? Right ? "" the patient himself concurred , "" Yes , let ' s keep going . ""  So the chemo finished . Then , blood began to appear in the patient ' s urine . His bladder was brittle because of the radiation treatments he ' d had for prostate cancer , and because of the chemo , he had too few platelets . Without enough platelets , that fragile tissue would not stop bleeding , but it also formed blood clots in his bladder that caused excruciating pain .  Watching this patient suffer , not from his disease but because of what we did to him in the name of helping him , was agonizing . He ' d wanted to "" keep going , "" to "" keep on fighting , "" but what did he really mean ?  Always when I hear these phrases applied to oncology patients , I think of Peter Weir ' s 1981 film "" Gallipoli . "" The film portrays two Australian sprinters , Archy and Frank , who enlist together during World War I and end up fighting the Turkish army at the Battle of Gallipoli .  A lot of soldiers died during the Gallipoli campaign , and the end of the film dramatizes a real battle in which four brigades of Australian soldiers were sent out of the trenches to certain death .  Frank is chosen to be a runner , a deliverer of messages during the battle , and he gets an order to call off the assault once it ' s clear that it ' s not a fight but a massacre . However , Frank can ' t run quickly enough to get the hold order to Archy ' s trench in time , and the signal to attack is given . Archy comes up out of the trench running as fast as he can , alone , chest forward , until the Turkish machine guns mow him down .  The wasteful sacrifices of war and the pointlessness of my patient ' s suffering share some obvious parallels here , but there ' s a deeper lesson as well . Archy and Frank were soldiers my patient was not . They made a choice when they enlisted , but my patient was never given his real choice , between aggressive treatment that might do more harm than good and getting just enough treatment to keep him stable and allow him to go home to be with the people he loved .  The very real benefits of such a focus on palliative care were documented in the August 19 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine . Patients with newly diagnosed lung cancer who received palliative care in addition to chemotherapy claimed an improved quality of life and lived more than 2 months longer than than those who had no such care .  My patient ' s decision to "" keep fighting "" seemed to be based on a misperception of what medicine could accomplish and of what the personal costs of our treatments would be . Indeed , a month after being admitted , swollen , breathless , bleeding and in pain , with his leukemia as robust as ever , he went on hospice in the hospital and died .  In "" Letting Go , "" Gawande says we don ' t want Gen . George Custer as a model in medicine but more Robert E . Lee . But I would argue that conjuring a general to guide patients faced with serious illness is an embrace of the wrong ideal . Patients are not battlegrounds , and practicing medicine is not a war . This patient needed thoughtful supportive care , not our ineffectual treatments that tore him up from the inside out as surely as any machine gun .  The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Theresa Brown .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
9983,9984,"Two Turkish newspapers critical of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan failed to appear on Thursday , a day after riot police stormed their sister television stations and forced them off air .  The action has provoked alarm among Turkey s Western allies and global rights groups over the state of media freedom just days before the country s most crucial election in years .  Riot police firing tear gas and water cannon stormed the Istanbul offices of two television stations linked to a bitter Erdogan rival and pulled the plug Wednesday , triggering brawls with staff and demonstrations in Istanbul .  The spectacular raids targeted the media operations of the multi billion dollar Kozi Ipek conglomerate , which is accused of financing  exiled preacher Fethullah Gulen , a one time Erdogan ally turned arch foe .  The group s two stations , Bugun  and KanalTurk , remain off air while its two newspapers , Bugun and Millet , were prevented from appearing Thursday after court appointed administrators moved in .  Millet published the front page of what would have been its Thursday edition on Twitter with a photograph of a bloodied press card and the headline A bloody putsch . Bugun editor in chief Erhan Basyurt , who was sacked along with two reporters , said they were initially informed there were technical problems preventing the paper from being printed . Then they told us we could not print , that there was a written ban .  Critics accuse the government of trying to quash dissent ahead of Sunday s vote , which opinion polls say is unlikely to deliver Erdogan s Justice and Development Party (  ) the clear victory it so desperately desires .  The government has shown today what will happen to this country if we do not put a halt to this oppression on Sunday , Eren Erdem , a lawmaker with the opposition Republican People s Party (  ) , said on Twitter .  Turkey is holding its second election in five months after the  , which has dominated for 13 years , lost its majority in a stunning election setback in June .  Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu failed over the subsequent weeks to form a coalition , forcing a new election , but opinion polls are predicting little change from the June outcome .  Police were acting Wednesday on a controversial court order to send in administrators to run the Kozi Ipek companies as part of a wider terrorism probe into Gulen and his followers .  Erdogan has accused Gulen of trying to topple him by persuading allies in the police and judiciary to launch a vast probe into government corruption in December 2013 .  In a television interview on Wednesday , Erdogan said he was confident justice would do what is necessary and questioned why Kozi Ipek s  Akin Ipek had left the country .  The state of democracy in Turkey and its treatment of journalists have long been a concern of rights groups and Western governments , and is a factor in its faltering talks to join the European Union .  For the last couple of days , Turkey has seen the worst of what a democratic parliamentary system turns into when those in power bend laws as they please in the absence of any kind of checks and balances , said Ozgur Korkmaz in the Hurriyet Daily News .  Brussels described Wednesday s developments as worrying , with a spokeswoman for  foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini saying the bloc expected the election to be in line with international and democratic standards .  The  voiced similar concerns . Rights groups say about 20 journalists are detained on a variety of charges , and there has been a string of prosecutions against journalists , artists and even schoolboys for insulting the head of state .  Amnesty International described the raids as yet another shocking attack on journalists and freedom of expression in Turkey .  Emma Sinclair Webb of Human Rights Watch accused the government of taking exceptional measures to silence critical media and crack down on perceived opponents .  Not since the days of the 1980 military coup have there been such dramatic moves to close down and prevent scrutiny of power .  The  is predicted to win 40 43 percent of the vote , not enough to secure a majority in the 550 member parliament , forcing it into a reluctant coalition or calling for yet another poll .  The elections are coming . . . but it could be even more difficult to hear our voices in the next two or three days , said Selahattin Demirtas , co leader of the pro Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party (  ) whose election success in June stripped the  of its majority .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
10003,10004,"at 3:47 pm Leave a comment  Today’s college-related article is not about safe spaces, macro aggressions and trigger warnings. Rather, it’s about a remarkably stupid claim made by Robin Lakoff (a professor of linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley), that the entire email scandal plaguing Hillary Clinton is a nothing more than a vast patriarchal driven conspiracy manufactured by men for the sole purpose of taking down a strong and powerful woman. No, I’m not kidding.    delusional Time published article, Hillary Clinton’s Emailgate Is an Attack on Women :  ‘It’s not about emails; it’s about public communication by a woman’  I am mad. I am mad because I am scared. And if you are a woman, you should be, too. Emailgate is a bitch hunt, but the target is not Hillary Clinton. It’s us.  The only reason the whole email flap has legs is because the candidate is female. Can you imagine this happening to a man? Clinton is guilty of  (Speaking While Female), and emailgate is just a reminder to us all that she has no business doing what she’s doing and must be punished, for the sake of all decent women everywhere. There is so much of that going around.  If the candidate were male, there would be no scolding and no “scandal.” Those very ideas would be absurd. Men have a nearly absolute right to freedom of speech. In theory, so do women, but that, as the creationists like to say, is only a theory.  Clinton’s use of a personal server has not been found to be a crime. Then how is it that so many have found the charge so easy to make, and make stick? How has her use of the server made plausible all the claims that she is “deceptive” and “untrustworthy”?  It’s not about emails; it’s about public communication by a woman in general. Of course, in the year 2016, no one (probably not even The Donald) could make this argument explicitly. After all, he and his fellow Republicans are not waging a war on women. How do we know that? They have said so. And they’re men, so they must be telling the truth.  But here’s Hillary Rodham Clinton, the very public stand-in for all bossy, uppity and ambitious women. Here are her emails. And since it’s a woman, doing what decent women should never do—engaging in high-level public communication—well, there must be something wrong with that, even if we can’t quite find that something. We will invoke the terminology of criminal law to account for our feelings. She’s getting away with treason! Put her in jail! We can’t quite put our fingers on it, but the words sure do make a lot of people feel better, so they must be right.  So that’s the take of Berkley linguistics professor Robin Lakoff. Now here’s the take from Charles S. Faddis, a former  operations officer with 20 years of experience in intelligence operations.  As Mr. Faddis writes   I have worked in national security my entire life. Most of that has been in the intelligence community surrounded by   For twenty years, I worked undercover in the Central Intelligence Agency, recruiting sources, producing intelligence and running operations. I have a pretty concrete understanding of how classified information is handled and how government communications systems work. Nobody uses a private email server for official business. Period. Full stop.  The entire notion is, to borrow a phrase from a Clinton campaign official, “insane.” That anyone would presume to be allowed to do so is mind-boggling. That government officials allowed Hillary Clinton to do so is nauseating. Classified and unclassified information do not mix. They don’t travel in the same streams through the same pipes. They move in clearly well defined channels so that never the twain shall meet. Mixing them together is unheard of and a major criminal offense. If you end up with classified information in an unclassified channel, you have done something very wrong and very serious. Accidentally removing a single classified message from controlled spaces, without any evidence of intent or exposure to hostile forces, can get you fired and cost you your clearance. Repeated instances will land you in prison. Every hostile intelligence agency on the planet targets senior American officials for collection. The Secretary of State tops the list. Almost anything the Secretary of State had to say about her official duties, her schedule, her mood, her plans for the weekend, would be prized information to adversaries. It is very difficult, in fact, to think of much of anything that the Secretary of State could be saying in email that we would want hostile forces to know. As we wait for more information on the latest revelations, let’s quickly note what we already know Hillary Clinton did. While Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton exclusively used a private email address for official business. Instead of using a State Department account, she used a personal email account, housed on a private server located in her home in Chappaqua, New York. The Department of State exercised zero control or oversight in this process. No government security personnel were involved in protecting them. When the House Select Committee on Benghazi asked to see these emails, the Department of State said they did not have them. Clinton’s lawyers then went through all the emails on her server. They turned over 30,000 emails they decided were work related and deleted all of the rest. How they made the decision as to which emails to share and which to destroy remains unknown. Active government officials were not involved in this process. Hillary says she did not use the account to transmit   This has been proven false. The  found over 100 messages that contained information that was classified when sent, including numerous email chains at the level of Top Secret/Special Access Programs. They don’t get any more highly classified, it’s the virtual summit of Mt. Everest. One theme pertained to the movement of North Korean nuclear assets obtained via satellite imagery . It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out this is extremely sensitive information. The  found another 2,000 messages containing information that should have been classified at the time it was sent. How much more classified information may have been in the tens of thousands of emails, which Clinton’s lawyers erased, is completely unknown. Hillary Clinton supporters like to ask rhetorically, “Well, what about Colin Powell?” Nice try , but using your own private email address which received 2 emails determined to be classified later, is nothing like deliberately operating a home brewed server, and then see it handle thousands of classified e-mails.  What happens next we do not know. What we do know already is this. While serving in one of the most senior positions in the United States Government, Hillary Clinton was at a minimum, grossly negligent in the handling of classified information and when confronted with this practice, acted immediately to destroy information and prevent a full, fair and complete investigation of any damage to national security. Anyone else who did such things in the government would long ago have been tried, convicted and sent to jail. You decide if you want to send her to the White House instead.  I’ll let readers decide who has a better read on the situation. In the meantime, back to your safe spaces my little snowflakes. In Liberty,",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
10015,10016,"Attorney General Jeff Sessions found himself at the center of controversy this week because he answered a question about the Trump campaign’s contacts with the Russian government without talking about his contacts as a United States Senator. [The assumption made by the media, the Democrats, and even some Republicans was that even routine contact with the Russian government is burdened by suspicion of collusion. Not since the McCarthy era have suspicions reached such levels.  But if Sessions ought to resign, perhaps the entire Senate should quit. Because on Monday  —   two days before the Washington Post broke the highly scandalous story that Sessions had met the Russian ambassador twice in the course of his duties  —   every single United States Senator had formal contact with the Russian government. And not just any functionary: they had contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin himself. Worse (apparently) still, they initiated the contact with the Russians. The contact was a letter, signed by the entire Senate, urging Putin to release a valuable library of Jewish religious texts that was seized by earlier Russian regimes and which has been the subject of a legal and diplomatic dispute in recent decades. Senate Letter Re Chabad  —   2017  —   Without Hatch Signature by Breitbart News on Scribd,  Senator Orrin Hatch ( ) provided the final signature on the letter, and tweeted proudly about his support for the effort: For the last year, Hatch has led his colleagues in an effort to recover the texts, including a letter signed by all 100 Senators. ( ) pic. twitter.   —   Senator Hatch Office (@SenOrrinHatch) February 28, 2017,   None of that means Sessions should have misled Congress  —   but the point is, again, that he did not. Ordinary contact with foreign governments is such a routine part of the job that he did not think to mention it, just as no one mentioned the Putin letter this week, even in the heat of debate about which senators might have met the Russian ambassador, and when and why. Joel B. Pollak is Senior    at Breitbart News. He was named one of the “most influential” people in news media in 2016. His new book, How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
10023,10024,"? Gov . Rick Snyder has issued a statement saying he ' s sorry for Flint ' s water crisis .  "" I want the Flint community to know how very sorry I am that this happened , "" said Snyder in an email . "" And I want all Michigan citizens to know that we will learn from this experience , because Flint is not the only city that has an aging infrastructure . ""  The email says the statement is in response to findings from the Flint Water Task Force that Snyder created in October . The task force is examining how lead got into the water and how to fix the problem that began after Flint started drawing its water from the Flint River . The city has since switched back to getting its water from Detroit .  Snyder also said he has accepted the resignation of Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Director Dan Wyant , but did not give details about ? Wyant ' s departure .  "" I ' ve determined that it ' s appropriate to accept it , "" Snyder said in the statement . "" I ' m also making other personnel changes at  to address problems cited by the task force . ""  The statement did not outline specific details but did say the task force has reviewed documents and Snyder is still waiting on a final report from the group . The task force has not yet released any of its findings to the public .  Snyder also says task force "" members have made me aware of some interim findings and corrective steps that I have decided to take immediately in order to restore trust in how the state keeps its citizens safe and informed . ""  Snyder ' s statement comes a day after a ? letter from the Office of State Auditor General responded to a series of questions from Michigan Sen . Jim Ananich , D Flint , in October that made it clear that corrosion control should have been maintained during Flint ' s transition from Detroit water to Flint River water .  "" We believe that corrosion control treatment should have been maintained . Even so , the  should have told Flint to start corrosion treatment after rising levels of lead were detected in the water , "" the Auditor General ' s letter says .  The Auditor General ' s report states that the Flint City Council did not vote to switch to Flint River water , as city leaders have claimed . In fact , the report does not clearly indicate who made that decision .  During the water crisis , Flint has remained under the state oversight of four emergency managers and a state appointed Transition Advisory Board .  Ananich , along with State Rep . Sheldon Neeley , have pushed for legislative hearings . They have asked for a more aggressive response to Flint ' s water crisis .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
10030,10031,"Entertainment Sat Dec 12 , 2015 4 : 40am   Actress Daisy Ridley on major ' Star Wars ' role ' it ' s very odd '    When the much anticipated "" Star Wars "" film opens next week , little known British actress Daisy Ridley will undoubtedly become one of the most recognised faces in the world .  The 23 year old plays scavenger Rey in "" The Force Awakens "" , a central character in the sci fi movie . The reality of getting such a coveted role has not yet sunk in for the actress , whose past credits include a few television series appearances .  "" It ' s not ever something I pictured so it ' s a very odd thing , very odd , "" Ridley told Reuters in an interview .  "" When I first got cast , no one could know , so it ' s three months of me going ' alright I can deal with this , this is me ' , "" she said . "" And then everyone else knew , and it was like '  , there ' s a few more people to deal with now ' . ""  "" The Force Awakens "" , the first "" Star Wars "" film in 10 years , also stars the saga ' s old hands Harrison Ford , Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill as well as newcomers John Boyega and Oscar winner Lupita Nyong ' o .  "" I started auditioning two years ago . . . and it took like seven months and five auditions and then I got cast , "" Ridley said . "" I think they were just seeing many , many girls because obviously , if they weren ' t , then I would never have been seen . ""  Details have been kept secret ahead of the film ' s premiere in Los Angeles on Monday except for a few outlines about the characters .  "" It ' s incredibly funny but touching and the story obviously is character led , so there ' s all of the fun stuff , "" Ridley said . "" And then there ' s just a wonderful human story at the centre of it . ""  Ridley is one of the few people who has seen the film ahead of its premiere . She said her reaction after was unexpected .  "" I pretended that I was fine for about an hour and then got in the car and wept the whole way to the airport , "" she said . "" Many , many tears . ""  Cast member Daisy Ridley waves as she walks into a news conference for her upcoming movie ' ' Star Wars : The Force Awakens ' ' in Urayasu , Chiba prefecture , the suburbs of Tokyo , Japan , December 11 , 2015 .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
10050,10051,"Hong Kong In a boon for  and movie watchers in China alike , a deal struck between the United States and China last week raises the number of 3D ,  and similar enhanced format movies released in China .  China has remained mostly closed to Hollywood , with a quota of 20 foreign films per year , most of them being from the United States . Under the agreement , announced during U . S . Vice President Joe Biden ' s trip to Los Angeles with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping , 14 additional  or 3D films would be allowed . Foreign film companies will also be permitted to take a 25 cut of the box office , nearly double the current 13 17 .  In a White House statement , Biden said the deal would support "" thousands of American jobs in and around the film industry , "" adding that "" Chinese audiences will have access to more of the finest films made anywhere in the world . "" Some 2 . 2 million Americans have jobs that depend on the film and television industries , according to the Motion Picture Association of America .   , which has 217 theatres open or contracted to open in China , hailed the move , saying in a statement Saturday that it was "" also committed to bringing Chinese films presented in our format to the U . S . ""  On February 14 , the company said that its first quarter box office of the year was 55 million , up from 38 million during the same period last year , driven primarily by "" Mission : Impossible Ghost Protocol , "" which accounted for nearly half those earnings . The Chinese film , "" Flying Swords of Dragon Gate , "" rounded the top four with 3 . 7 million .  Last year , Chinese box office revenue exceeded 2 . 1 billion , much of the revenues from 3D titles , the White House noted .  The deal resolves film related issues related to a 2009 World Trade Organization ruling siding with the United States . According to the ruling , China ' s measures relating to the importation and distribution of films , sound recordings , audiovisual home entertainment products and reading materials breached its trading rights commitments as a  member .  Hollywood has been battling piracy in China , despite Beijing ' s closure of piracy websites , in no small part due to the limited access of U . S . films to Chinese screens .  Allen Wan , head of production for Hong Kong based Salon Films Group which has worked with Hollywood companies in Asia , was positive about the deal . "" Chinese audiences can see more films from the U . S . properly , officially . And on the other hand , I think it will increase more opportunities for Chinese and U . S . film ( companies ) to cooperate together to produce more films . ""  "" The Flowers of War , "" directed by Chinese director Zhang Yimou and starring Oscar winner Christian Bale , cost 100 million to make , the largest production made in China . The film , which is set during Japan ' s occupation of Nanjing and the 1937 massacre , was China ' s submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film . Its executive producer is David Linde ,  of Lava Bear Films and former chairman of Universal Pictures . ( He was also executive producer for Ang Lee ' s "" Crouching Tiger , Hidden Dragon . "" )  The movie has failed to connect with U . S . audiences , however . For the week of February 14 , it was playing in six locations , down from 30 when it opened , with an average gross of 550 per location , according to Boxofficeweblink . The film ' s overall U . S . gross during its four week run ? 213 , 792 , at last count .  On Friday , coinciding with the U . S . China film deal , DreamWorks Animation announced a joint venture with China Media Capital (  ) and two other Chinese companies to establish a China focused family entertainment company , Oriental DreamWorks . "" In addition to content creation , the joint venture will pursue business opportunities in the areas of live entertainment , theme parks , mobile , online , interactive games and consumer products , "" DreamWorks Animation said in its announcement .  The venture will have an initial capitalization of 330 million .  The Chinese companies will hold a 55 majority stake DreamWorks Animation will hold about 45 , according to the announcement . On the agenda : "" Kung Fu Panda 3 , "" Chinese state run news agency Xinhua cited  chief investment officer Li Huaiyu as saying in an exclusive interview .  DreamWorks Animation ' s "" Kung Fu Panda "" was the top animated film released in China in 2008 , according to the company . The sequel , which made 95 million at the Chinese box office last year , was second only to "" Transformers 3 , "" which brought in 170 million .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
10054,10055,"Beirut , Lebanon One year , 365 days and an endless number of seconds , transformed my life 360 degrees , made it go from color to black and white , turned laughter into tears .  I now no longer perceive the world as a 14 year old innocent girl who takes everything for granted , more as a victim of a terrible experience that ' ll never fade away , always reminding me of what others go through and a memory that will forever stay with me .  Before the revolution , I remember how , on cold winter nights we would sit together as a family , around the crackling fire sipping hot chocolate . I remember the smoke from the fireplace , wafting upward , leaving a scent of burning wood in the air . I remember looking into my sister ' s eyes and that glimmer they always had , the smiles my parents would share .  I remember how I used to love breaking the silence of the moment by rushing into my father ' s lap , tracing the narrow path of velvet veins on his hand , as I enthusiastically told him about my day at school , my second home and my friends , my second family .  We don ' t live those days anymore . Now no one ' s eyes can lie , and the only sound I can hear is the screaming of sorrow .  March 23 , 2011 was the first day I saw a demonstration in Syria . I was driving to a friend ' s birthday party , through streets that were packed with people carrying flags and calling out chants in support of the regime .  I was oblivious to my surroundings , I didn ' t know what was going on . I thought it was just a demonstration that would blow over .  "" Barely any one is coming ! Their parents are too scared to send them because of what ' s happening , "" my friend cried when she saw me . I looked into her eyes and saw the tears slowly forming and streaming down her red cheeks , streaking her dark make up .  As weeks passed by it kept getting worse . One day I jumped out of bed to the sound of something loud shattering the windows of my room . Breathless , I got up too quickly , barely noticing the glass sparkling on my dull rug . I ran but came to a sudden halt as I felt my head spinning and my vision darkening .  My mom was crying and hugging my sister tightly . "" A bomb hit an area nearby , "" my mother stuttered , switching through the different news channels while trying to block us from seeing it .  I managed to get a glimpse of it , on the  , something I wish I had never seen . I remember my eyes feeling assaulted by the brightness on the screen , a sight that haunts me every night dead bodies , bits of human flesh , were spread out like dispersed glass .  I closed my eyes and opened them again , hoping I would go back to the life I was used to , where unicorns and rainbows existed along with Prince Charmings and forever afters .  Unfortunately now , the dark days , and the nightmares take place on a regular basis , devastating my country and reluctant as I am to let it in , taking over my life , and controlling my mind .  From then on the world changed for me . Instead of learning it slowly through experience it was taught to me harshly through the sound of gunshots and bombardments . I discovered how cruel life can be , and how in one second a smile can turn into a tear , peace into war , a friend into an enemy and life into death .  I lived in a blur , not knowing what had happened or what I was to do .  I woke up every morning to the sound of gunshots , bombs or the roaring helicopters accompanied by the sad news of the death or kidnapping of someone we knew .  Some evenings , I hid under my blankets , covered my ears , and thought of the past trying to feel safe again .  I silently peeked out my window to continuously stare at the moon in its different forms casting a dim light , to stare at the sky and the stars emerge taking their place in the night . The image drawing me further and further from reality , into the life I yearned to go back to .  My parents tried to stay strong teaching us to do the same , until one night it all fell apart . I was sitting in my room , the place I hadn ' t left for a long time , talking to my friend about our memories , and suddenly , I hear a cry , whispers , the sound of my mother ' s sobs , then her yelling . "" I ' m going out to find him ! ""  My family has its own business and my father was late coming back home , not answering his phone .  "" But it ' s too dangerous ! "" my aunt screamed back at my mother . "" I don ' t care ! "" my mother shouted back .  I ran down the spiraling staircase terrified , afraid of what was happening . Everything went black , like a starless night . I felt like the walls of the house were closing in , suffocating me .  The background noise was blocked out and all I could do was stand and stare in dismay at my mom in this state for the first time . She lay on the stone courtyard just outside our front door , crying , holding her phone with a shivering hand dialing my dad ' s number like her life depended on it .  Everything stopped . It was like someone pressed the pause button in a movie , and now the seconds felt like hours . All I could hear was the pounding of my heart screaming over my mom ' s voice .  I don ' t know how long we waited , or how fast my heart was beating , but when my dad ' s car turned the corner , I gave everything I had left to run and hug him tighter than ever .  At that moment my senses returned and I realized how cold the ground was under my bare feet . I carried my mom inside , and from that day on I learned that though she may be older , taller and more experienced , deep down she needs me just as much as I need her .  Now , the one thing I looked forward to was waking up every morning and creeping into my parents ' bedroom to look at my dad ' s thin and frail face making sure he had made it in safe the night before .  In school , only half my class was left . "" At least we have each other , "" said one of my five best friends with a comforting smile .  However that didn ' t last for long .  Devastating news kept coming at us , beginning with the death of my friend ' s uncle . "" In one second I lost my uncle a part of me , "" she whispered in a heartbreaking tone .  I looked at her hopelessly , trying to comfort her , but I knew no words could bring him back . Every morning for one month , no words were spoken by anyone besides the ones of regret .  "" If we knew this was coming , we would have done things so differently , "" we would tell each other .  We wouldn ' t have taken so much for granted , we would have appreciated what we had . Instead it was ripped away .  Grades dropped , smiles faded , students left , and all that remained were the memories that we would safely lock away .  As my dad protectively drove us to and from school , the only places we could go to , I noticed the row of soldiers on the streets . They reminded me of domino pieces . Their presence radiated darkness .  Each one had a solemn appearance , frightening eyes that looked right through you below their crunched frown . However , what always caught my eye were their large guns , the color of the dark pine trees they leaned on .  I went from looking at colorful flowers and singing birds every morning , to dark killer weapons .  April 5 , 2012 was my last day of school . My parents decided to move us all to Lebanon . I had known it was coming all along . It wasn ' t a surprise . Everyone was moving .  I sank in my seat that day at school , buried my head into my hands and cried like I did every day .  I remembered how when I heard the news about Egypt and the violence in Tahrir Square and thinking to myself that I was far from harm ' s way . Now I was considering how hard it would be to move away from my home , my dad , my friends and family not knowing anyone or anything , possibly never being able to contact them because of the broken phone lines .  My mind wandered back to 10 years ago when I first stepped foot into the school , only worrying about things like my friendship bracelets , and now I was expected to leave everything I ever knew behind . The people who knew me inside and out , who had carved a place in my heart .  Memories flashed accompanied by more tears as my friends gathered around me and I opened my swollen eyes trying to picture the scene hoping it would last forever .  I am angry and I feel hatred to the people that are ruining my country , anyone who is holding a gun and shooting no matter which side they ' re on . Those who stole my childhood and that of so many others .  My dream was to apply to universities with my friends as well as cry tears of joy when we threw our graduation hats in the air . Now that was crushed to pieces . One part of me , knows that this isn ' t good bye , and that no matter where this crazy world takes us when the time is right we will return .  Another part of me is scared that more people will die , even if they are not close to me . Everyone has a family , friends and they suffering . I am scared that I will lose the hope that I now have about being able to return , and being left with nothing but memories .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
10059,10060,"Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland has said no decision has been taken on whether the first Test against India will go ahead next week as Australia mourns the loss of batsman Phillip Hughes .  Australia were due to begin the first of four Tests in Brisbane next Thursday but that has now been cast into doubt following the death of Hughes on Thursday .  Hughes , who would have turned 26 on Sunday , died of the injuries he sustained two days after being struck in the head by a bouncer while batting for South Australia against New South Wales at the Sydney Cricket Ground .  His plight has sent shockwaves through cricket and understandably Cricket Australia is keen to avoid rushing into a decision over whether the team will take to the field at the Gabba next week .  Sutherland said at a media conference : ' Cricket will go on and it will go on when we ' re ready .  Australian batman Phillip Hughes tragically passed away after being hit by a ball in a freak accident  Australia captain Michael Clarke and doctor Peter Brukner at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday  Clarke , opening batsman David Warner ( left ) and the rest of the team gathered at the  on Friday  Tributes are laid outside South Australia ' s Adelaide Oval for Hughes , who died aged 25 on Thursday  Hughes was playing for South Australia when he was struck on the side of the head by a bouncer  Tributes to Hughes gather at Sydney Cricket Ground , where Hughes was playing when the incident happened  Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland said a decision on the Brisbane Test had not yet been taken  Sutherland walks past a floral tribute to Hughes outside the Sydney Cricket Ground  South Australia staff and two women ' s teams hold a minute silence at the Adelaide Oval on Friday  South Australia chief Keith Bradshaw and selector Tim Nielsen ( right ) speak at a press conference  Hughes ' death has sent shockwaves through cricket all over the world   Safety questions arise after Hughes tragedy  1st Test Brisbane , 4 8 December  2nd Test Adelaide , 12 16 December  3rd Test Melbourne , 26 30 December  4th Test Sydney , 3 7 January  ' We haven ' t broached that subject with the players yet , we will in time but to be honest they ' ve got other things on their mind .  ' I know for many people seven days doesn ' t seem too far away but in other ways , it ' s a million miles away . We ' ll get there when we can . '  The  will wait for Australia to arrive at a decision .  ' I am in constant touch with my Cricket Australia counterparts . We want them to first get over the trauma , '  secretary Sanjay Patel told Reuters .  ' After that we can decide on the fate of the first test . '  Pat Howard , Cricket Australia ' s executive general manager of team performance , confirmed the Test team had travelled to the Sydney Cricket Ground (  ) on Friday to grieve for Hughes .  The cricket world has united to mourn the death of Hughes  The Age reflects on the tragedy , asking its readers to take nothing for granted  The Herald Sun dedicates much of its edition to remember the life of the young opening batsman  The Courier Mail pays tribute to Hughes , calling him ' a little legend '  And Howard stressed that the focus is on the individuals rather than the sport .  ' We ' re not going to talk about the first Test , we know it ' s there , ' he said . ' What we ' re focused on is today .  ' We ' ve brought the whole team in , the whole Australian Test team are here . Today ' s about grieving .  ' In regards to anything we do do , we need to make sure the players are in a position where they can make strong choices and that ' s not now , that ' s not this time .  ' We ' ll do whatever we can , whatever the players need , to deal and cope with this , we ' ll do whatever we can to help and support the Hughes family .  ' We ' re going to focus on people first rather than the cricket . '  Sutherland said Sean Abbott the bowler who struck Hughes in the domestic match on Tuesday is coping ' really well ' .  The Indian team are in Adelaide to prepare for their four Test series against Australia  The Australian flag flies at half mast under lights at the Sydney Cricket Ground following Hughes ' death  Members of two Indian cricket teams observe a moment of silence for Hughes before their match in Kolkata  While there has been an outpouring of grief following Hughes ' death , Abbott has been consoled by former and current professionals and fans alike amid concerns he may never play again .  But Sutherland said : ' It ' s been fantastic the way people have shown concern for Sean . Sean is holding up really well , I ' m incredibly impressed by the way he ' s holding himself and his maturity .  ' It ' s a grieving process that will affect people in different ways . Right now , he ' s holding up really and I ' m incredibly impressed with him . '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
10066,10067,"Reuters) - U.S. congressional committee members warned on Friday that Washington’s funding of the World Health Organization’s cancer research agency could be halted unless it is more open about its operations. In a letter to the France-based International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) - a semi-autonomous unit of the  - the U.S. House of Representatives Science, Space, and Technology (SST) Committee warned it “may reconsider U.S. taxpayer funding” if  “does not demonstrate transparency”. No-one at IARC, which is based in Lyon, France, was immediately available to comment. Since 1985,  has received more than $48 million from the U.S. National Institutes of Health, $22 million of which has gone to IARC’s “monograph” program, which assesses whether various substances can cause cancer in people. Friday’s letter is the latest twist in an ongoing feud between  and two congressional committees. They began an investigation in 2016 after a number of IARC’s assessments - that substances as diverse as coffee, mobile phones and processed meat cause cancer - sparked controversy. The lawmakers said their concerns were also fueled by the cancer agency’s review of glyphosate, the primary ingredient of Monsanto’s weedkiller Roundup.     A Reuters investigation in October found that a draft of a key section of IARC’s assessment of glyphosate underwent significant changes before the report was made public. In their letter,  Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, Vice Chairman Frank Lucas, and Chairman of the Environment Subcommittee, Andy Biggs, repeated an earlier request to IARC’s director, Christopher Wild, to provide potential witnesses for a hearing before their committee.  “If  does not provide a full response to the request for potential witnesses, the committee will consider whether the values of scientific integrity and transparency are reflected in  Monographs and if future expenditures of federal taxpayer dollars to this end need to continue,” they wrote. Smith and Biggs had last month written to Wild asking him for more information about IARC’s operations and a list of potential witnesses for a hearing.  Wild responded in a letter on Nov. 20 in which he defended IARC’s monographs as “consensus evaluations developed by working groups of independent experts, free from vested interests”.  He declined to provide a list of potential witnesses for the hearing, but said Smith and Biggs would be welcome to visit  and question him and his staff. In Friday’s letter, the lawmakers said their concerns about  were of a “serious nature” and “should not be disregarded by IARC”. They asked Wild to respond by Dec. 15. ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
10089,10090,"Frustrated by the logistics of developing a viable mealtime strategy , employees of the Ryodan Consulting Group threw money at the lunch problem Monday , according to branch manager Ryan Leverenz .  "" Even though a seriously reasoned approach could have yielded huge dividends in both efficiency and deliciousness , everyone settled on a quick fix to the need for a midday meal , "" Leverenz said . "" If the team had really put their heads together , I have no doubt that they could have developed an approach that more effectively addressed each individual ' s specific needs . Is it really commercially viable to order delivery of 20 subs with cheese for 19 staffers , three of whom are lactose intolerant ? ""  "" And , if you do order subs , why not utilize Deli Italia ? Cost wise , their food averages out at 80 percent of Papa Luigi ' s , "" Leverenz added . "" These are the questions that should ' ve been asked well before anyone picked up the phone . ""  The group undertook the lunch ordering project shortly before noon , when several of the mid level employees working on the BankOne account got hungry . Team members brainstormed delivery and take out options , such as Chinese , pizza , Indian , and bagels , and then turned the broad options over to the group .  According to market analyst Don Roswell , this was a mistake .  "" The strategy session lost focus because everyone started yelling out restaurant names before we had even agreed on what kind of food we wanted , "" Roswell said . "" This was followed by a hasty delegation of the task to intern Trish Scranton . ""  Roswell said client relations team leader Austin Buford undertook the decision .  "" How about subs ? "" Buford said . "" Let ' s just have Trish get us subs . Here ' s 10 bucks . Get me an Italian or whatever . ""  Group members quickly acquiesced , throwing money in a pile at the center of the table .  According to Leverenz , the unilateral decision and rushed delegation resulted in the less than satisfying lunch that arrived 50 minutes later .  "" We had to spend so much time divvying everything up and making change that the subs were soggy and gross when we finally got to eat them , "" Leverenz said . "" I ' m positive we can do better . ""  Ryodan ' s upper management derided the office for what one upper level employee characterized as "" a laissez faire lunch attitude . ""  "" Our clients know Ryodan for our reputation for prudence and for our systematic approach to problem solving , "" said Ryodan vice president for public affairs Maggie Orville . "" From what I hear of their careless lunch selection process , I can only determine that the team in Lincoln is dangerously out of step with Ryodan ' s corporate culture . ""  Copywriter Allison Weinberg said that the lunch problem was more complex than upper management realized .  "" Analyzing deliciousness and cost is taxing enough , "" Weinberg said . "" When you add in convenience and the need for variety , it becomes overwhelming . It would take a massive amount of time to find a lasting lunch solution and time is something we don ' t have . Right now , hard as this is for the top brass to grasp , our best option is an unsystematic process of trial and error . ""  Added Weinberg : "" Like , I ' ve been really into wraps lately . But I ' d much rather throw a couple bucks in and eat whatever than convince 20 people to get wraps . ""  Ryodan accountant Karla Moss , who was brought in to consult on the fiscal side of the problem , said the department ' s problem is typical .  "" Corporate dining is spectacularly inefficient , and sharks feed on inefficiency , "" Moss said . "" The kicker is that many meal purchasers don ' t even mind getting fleeced . Personal lunch expenditures at Ryodan could be as low as 4 per eater per day , but workers pay up to seven times that for their midday goods and services . ""  Moss estimated that the Monday sandwich order , which also included chips and a two liter bottle of Coke , was overvalued by nearly 41 .  Based on this evaluation , Moss drafted a policy paper and posted it in the break room . The "" Let ' s Take Turns Preparing Lunch "" plan resolves that if each worker made lunch for the department approximately once per month , the meals would be better and significantly cheaper .  Ryodan attorney Ted Batterson said the lunch system is long overdue for a radical overhaul , but that the in house lunch solution "" only works in theory . ""  "" Experience has shown that these sort of communal meal plans never pan out , "" said Batterson , who has been with Ryodan for more than 20 years . "" We need a solution rooted in the American entrepreneurial spirit and built on competition . If the fresh market is not involved , people have no incentive to participate . ""  With no clear solution in sight , even the employee who proposed sub sandwiches characterized the measure as a "" stop gap effort at best . ""  "" There are serious issues on the table , and they merit examination , discussion , and consensus based decision making , "" Buford said . "" The daily lunch order should be as much about teamwork as it is about satisfying the need to consume food periodically . Sure , we solved the lunch problem for today , but what about tomorrow , the next day , and the day after that ? ""  ",satire,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,fake,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
10105,10106,"Vancouver , British Columbia Heroin , cocaine and amphetamines are the kind of street drugs you expect to find in the shady corners of any city , hiding away from the glare of law enforcement .  But in one small space in downtown Vancouver addicts openly inject their fixes as medics watch on .  This is InSite , North America ' s only legal safe drug injection center . A banner outside reads "" InSite saves lives . ""  It ' s a facility where drug addicts can bring and use their drugs and not risk arrest .  Some of the addicts line up two or three times a day to use one of the 12 injection booths .  One of the first users of the day is Steve . The center opens at 10 a . m . and then runs steadily for 18 hours until 4 a . m . Approximately 800 people use the booths every day .  Steve gives his alias to the receptionist all InSite users have an official alias to protect their identity and moves into the injection room .  He takes a seat and calmly begins to prepare his hit of heroin . He uses the clean needle and sterile equipment provided by InSite .  The white powder is mixed with water in a spoon , gently heated with a candle , before being drawn into the syringe , and injected into the inside of Steve ' s elbow . It ' s not for the squeamish . There ' s quite a lot of blood .  With fluorescent lighting and lots of mirrors , the atmosphere is clinical , even as the room fills with drug addicts focused on one task only feeding their addiction .  Medical staff are on hand and watching closely . If needed they can help addicts find the right vein to shoot up into something which can be tricky for long term users . But their main job is to step in when a user overdoses .  Steve has overdosed here three times .  "" I ' m glad it was here where I overdosed . It ' s still in my hope that maybe I can get clean . I ' m only 48 . And that ' s why these places . . . it ' s just , it ' s common sense ! When you have a problem that ' s grown for whatever reason to the epic proportions that it has in this city , it ' s time to come up with a really good solution , and this is it . ""  Vancouver is regularly lauded as one of the best places in the world to live . It ' s famously the city where you can ski in the morning , and swim in the afternoon . But the quality of life in the alleyways behind InSite is something altogether different .  The Downtown East side is often labeled as the poorest postal code in Canada , which stands in stark contrast to the rest of the city ' s red hot real estate market .  The alleyways are full of thousands of drug addicts , prostitutes and dealers . Vancouver Police Department estimates that these few blocks are home to more than 5 , 000 intravenous drug users .  In the alleys we meet Liane another long term user who has used InSite since it opened in 2003 . She is articulate , educated , and angry .  She says that without InSite addicts would be still be getting high but without any of the medical oversight .  To many around the world it may seem astonishing that a place like InSite exists . But for the people in the nearby streets who use it , it ' s a lifeline .  Clean needles stop the spread of infections like  and Hepatitis C , and daily access to medical staff is all the more important for people living in harsh , exposed conditions .  In 1997 , Vancouver had the highest rate of  in the developed world .  Using InSite makes sense , says Liane . It relieves the pressure of shooting up behind rubbish bins , or using dirty puddle water , or relying on a shared needle .  "" We have to stop making it a moral issue and realise that this is a medical problem . Remember us addicts , we ' re somebody ' s mothers , we ' re somebody ' s sister , we ' re somebody ' s daughter we ' re not just a number the next time you pass me on the street and shake your head . ""  Of course not everyone agrees with safe injection sites .  Author , actor , and addiction counselor , David Berner , opened Canada ' s first ever residential treatment center for addicts back in 1967 . He firmly believes that the best harm reduction strategies are centered on abstinence .  "" There ' s only one problem with this place InSite . It ignores completely the mechanics of addiction . What are the mechanics of addiction ? The mechanics of addiction are I want more .  "" I understand reaching out and saying , ' Betty , Jack , you want to get clean ? Let ' s go do some work . Let ' s get clean . It can happen , you can do it . ' I don ' t understand , ' here ' s a needle , go shoot some more . ' ""  InSite is funded by taxpayers , at a cost of 3 million Canadian per year . It says for every tax dollar spent , four are saved , by preventing expensive medical treatments for addicts further down the line .  The center has some support from the mayor , local government and some residents . The opening of InSite was a major campaign issue in Vancouver ' s 2002 civic elections .  Supervised injection sites are not supported , however , by the Canadian federal government . Prime Minister Stephen Harper ' s opposition to InSite is well documented . Speaking in 2005 , he said : "" We as a government will not fund drug use . ""  His then health minister , Tony Clement , went further in a 2008 letter to Canada ' s "" Globe and Mail "" newspaper : "" A more apt analogy of what InSite does . . . would be a doctor holding a cigarette to make sure a smoker doesn ' t burn his lips , or watching a woman with cardiac problems eat fatty French fries to ensure she swallows them properly . ""  The site is allowed to stay open only with a special license the result of a bitter battle with the Canadian government that went to the Canadian Supreme Court .  In September 2011 judges ruled in favor of keeping InSite open against the wishes of Prime Minister Harper . The court said InSite allows drug addicts access to the same healthcare as other Canadian citizens .  The dramatic Supreme Court ruling set a precedent and other cities in Canada , including Toronto and Montreal , had been watching closely .  Councilor Gord Perks is chairman of the Toronto Drug Strategy . "" The Supreme Court ruling is a game changer . Now actually it ' s the law of the land that we have to provide equal access to medical services , including to people with drug addiction . So we ' ve made progress . ""  A four year study into the viability of injection rooms in Ontario province recommended three sites in Toronto , and two more in Ottawa the nation ' s capital .  But the findings of the Toronto and Ottawa Supervised Consumption Assessment Study (  ) , published in 2012 , were swiftly rejected by the Toronto city administration .  Toronto ' s drug problem is not as visible as Vancouver ' s but it ' s still there , with about 9 , 000 people in the city shooting up daily .  As  revealed , more than 50 percent of the public supported the opening of an injection room in Ontario .  Perks thinks it ' s only a matter of time . "" We ' ve started to get people to face the very difficult fact that if you do not provide this medical service you are killing people . And I think it ' s only a few years away until we have a supervised injection site here in Toronto . ""  Injection rooms exist in a number of countries . The first opened in Switzerland in 1986 , and since then Australia , Norway , Spain , Germany and others have followed suit .  Accepting injection rooms as a legitimate part of drug strategy is hard for Berner to comprehend .  "" It ' s more humane to help a person stay stupid ? To help a person stay enslaved ? You don ' t need to have heroin or needles or crack pipe kits to entice people to health . You could approach people and say , "" let me look at that sore . I ' m a nurse . Let ' s clean you up a bit . "" ""  But for people like Liane , it ' s a harsh reality that she may never get off drugs . She has been using for 20 years and InSite is her best hope of staying connected with medical and welfare services .  "" I ' m entitled to healthcare , and being treated like a human being , and not being looked at as somebody that isn ' t , somebody you don ' t want to talk about , like a dirty little secret .  "" InSite in general , it ' s saved my life once , and it saved my husband ' s life on three different occasions . ""  She has a swift retort when asked whether other cities should open injection rooms . "" Do they have drug users ? And if the answer is yes , then the answer is embrace it . ""  Todd Schwarzchild contributed to this report  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
10117,10118,"It s easy to glance at Tuesday s popular vote   which, with 92 percent of all precincts reporting, shows Hillary Clinton with six million fewer votes than Barack Obama won in 2012   and reach the conclusion that Clinton lost the White House because she failed to turn out the Democratic base. But the truth is much more complicated. While she underperformed relative to Obama s 2012 totals in several Midwestern states   Ohio, Michigan, Iowa, and Wisconsin   Clinton ran virtually even with Obama in the battlegrounds of Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia, Nevada, and New Hampshire. What s more, she far surpassed Obama s 2012 vote total in Florida, the country s biggest swing state. Yet somehow, while Obama carried Florida, Clinton lost it. Which brings us to an important question: Was Donald Trump just good enough to beat a bad Democratic opponent on Tuesday, or does he deserve far more credit?A review of vote totals in the past two elections reveals that Trump 2016 would have defeated Obama 2012 in the electoral college. (Disclaimer: This obviously is an apples-to-oranges exercise because no two elections are the same, nor are any two electorates. Still, unlike debating whether the 2016 Cubs would defeat the 1927 Yankees, this is not an entirely abstract argument; a comparison of their respective performances in the country s most competitive states shows Trump edging Obama in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup.) The math might seem impossible. After all, Obama won nearly 66 million votes in 2012; Trump is currently at 59.5 million and should finish around 60 million, which will actually be one million fewer votes than Mitt Romney won. How, then, could Trump have topped Obama in the electoral college? The answer: Republican turnout lagged in certain parts of the country but shot through the roof in the nation s most critical battleground states. Let s look at them individually, in descending order by population, and do the electoral-vote math. The 2016 totals aren t yet final because not all precincts have reported.   29 EVs   98 percent reportingObama 2012: 4,235,270Clinton 2016: 4,485,745Romney 2012: 4,162,081Trump 2016: 4,605,515Conclusion: Trump beats Obama by some 370,000 votes and wins Florida. (Note: Clinton herself won 250,000 more votes in Florida than Obama did in 2012.)    20 EVs   97 percent reportingObama 2012: 2,907,448Clinton 2016: 2,844,705Romney 2012: 2,619,583Trump 2016: 2,912,941Conclusion: Trump squeezes past Obama by a margin of some 5,000 votes and wins Pennsylvania. (Note: Clinton runs about 60,000 votes behind Obama, but would ve had more than enough to defeat Romney in 2012.)    18 EVs   94 percent reportingObama 2012: 2,697,260Clinton 2016: 2,317,001Romney 2012: 2,593,779Trump 2016: 2,771,984Conclusion: Trump edges Obama by roughly 75,000 votes and wins Ohio. (Note: Clinton s worst battleground state showing was Ohio, winning 380,000 [!] fewer votes than Obama.)Stop right there and crunch the numbers: Florida (29) + Pennsylvania (20) + Ohio (18) = 67 EVs.Romney finished with 206 EVs. By protecting all of those, and then taking 67 from Obama, Trump would hit 273 and win the presidency.The question: Did Trump 2016 defeat Obama 2012 in all of the states Romney won? Yes. Here s a look at the competitive ones:    (98 percent reporting):Trump 2,339,603  Obama 2,178,388   (73 percent reporting):Trump 947,284  Obama 930,669   (93 percent reporting):Trump 2,068,623  Obama 1,761,761   (78 percent reporting):Trump 360,634  Obama 229,463A review of the Romney 2012 states confirms that Trump, in this hypothetical matchup, would have carried every single one against Obama. It doesn t matter that Obama would have trounced Trump by nearly 300,000 votes in Michigan; by more than 200,000 in Wisconsin; by 175,000 in Virginia; and by 160,000 in Colorado. It s similarly meaningless that Obama would have narrowly defeated Trump in Iowa, Nevada, and New Hampshire. The 44th president carried all of those states in 2012, and in this hypothetical contest, he would successfully defend all of them. But it wouldn t be enough. The electoral college would produce a razor-thin margin: Trump 273, Obama 265.Via: National Review ",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
10146,10147,"New York The New York City Council has joined governments of at least five other major U . S . cities and one state in passing legislation requiring private employers to provide paid sick time .  The Earned Sick Time Act , which now goes to Mayor Michael Bloomberg , will require private businesses with 20 or more employees , to provide five paid sick days annually , beginning in April 2014 . Some businesses will be exempt from the requirement to pay employees for sick time , but will still be required to provide time off without penalty to employees .  The act was approved with a 45 3 vote tally , and comes after the City Council announced an agreement in March to pass the act . The Council expects the new legislation to affect nearly 1 million New York workers , according to a press release .  "" People who are sick or who need to care for a loved one should be able to take time off without the fear of losing their job or not having money to pay the bills , "" City Council Speaker Christine C . Quinn said .  "" At the same time , we can ' t ignore the harsh realities that small businesses face , and we need to protect their interests as well . This bill strikes that important balance . ""  The bill now goes to Bloomberg , who vowed Wednesday to veto it . Bloomberg said that the some workers will suffer as some companies may lay off employees or split up into smaller companies to avoid falling under the regulations .  Judge orders morning after pill available without prescription in New York  "" History shows that an awful lot of people will take those days whether they ' re sick or not . You can then argue they ' re vacation days , "" Bloomberg said .  If Bloomberg does veto the bill , the City Council can override the veto with a two thirds vote .  In 2006 , San Francisco became the first city to required companies to provide paid sick days , according to the National Partnership for Women and Families .  Washington and Milwaukee followed in 2008 , and Connecticut became the first state to pass statewide paid sick time laws in 2011 .  New York appeals soda cup decision  Seattle passed laws in 2011 , and Portland , Oregon , followed earlier in 2013 .  Currently there are no federal legal requirements for paid sick leave , according to the U . S . Department of Labor website .  Some companies are subject to the Family and Medical Leave Act , passed in 1993 , which provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid , job protected leave per year "" for certain medical situations for either the employee or a member of the employee ' s immediate family . ""  The  was amended in 2008 to permit a "" spouse , son , daughter , parent or next of kin "" to take up to 26 weeks of leave to care for a member of the Armed Forces who is undergoing medical treatment , according to the Department of Labor website .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
10174,10175,"He clarified that protesting in the United States is a right, but he also challenged the players taking a knee: If there s somewhere better, why don t you leave?Broncos defensive end Derek Wolfe explained Sunday why he stands for the national anthem, referencing the troops and the ideal vision of America. Wolfe, who is white, did not reference whether he agrees with the basis of the protest that gained steam Sunday following President Trump s condemnation: to object to the treatment of minorities in the United States.Entering Sunday, only one white player, Seth DeValve of Cleveland, had joined the movement. I stand because I respect the men who died in real battles so I have the freedom to battle on the field,  Wolfe, 27, told  in a statement.  Paying tribute to the men and women who have given their lives for our freedom is why I stand. But everyone these days likes to find a reason to protest and that s their right. It s America and you are free to speak your mind. I just feel it s disrespectful to the ones who sacrificed their lives and it s the wrong platform. But like I said to each their own it s AMERICA! The greatest country in the world and if you don t think we are the greatest country in the world and you reside here, then why do you stay? A lot worse places in the world to call home. Proud to be an American. Several of his Broncos teammates took a kneel Sunday, days after Trump urged owners to kick the  son of a bitch  who protests off the team. Wolfe s teammate Brandon Marshall knelt throughout last season.Wolfe, in his sixth  season, grew up in Ohio and played at the University of Cincinnati. He skipped visiting the Obama White House following the Broncos  Super Bowl win in 2016, saying,  I just had a lot of stuff going on, things to do.   NYP",fake,dataset,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
10182,10183,"Falcao Fever has struck London with 13 , 000 tickets sold in the first four days of ticket sales for the friendly between the United States and Colombia at Craven Cottage .  Jurgen Klinsmann ' s team take on the Colombians on November 14 and the initial surge of demand was so great that the Fulham website crashed .  It will be the first time the  have staged a home game at the Cottage , where there are so many connections to a club dubbed FulhAmerica across the Atlantic Ocean because of former stalwarts like Brian McBride and Clint Dempsey and Fulham ' s American owner Shad Khan .  There has been huge demand for the friendly between Colombia and the  at Craven Cottage thanks to the presence of Manchester United ' s on loan striker Radamel Falcao  Real Madrid midfielder and World Cup Golden Boot winner James Rodriguez is also likely to feature  There is a strong 20 , 000 Colombian community in the capital , too , and it could be close to capacity with the lure of seeing Manchester United striker Radamel Falcao and Real Madrid ' s James Rodriguez adding appeal for the neutral fans .  Falcao has played only five times since moving the England in August has missed the draw against Chelsea on Sunday with injury . United fans will be both keen to see more of him and relieved Colombia are coming to England to play after their previous friendly fixtures were in North America .  Fulham ' s American contingent are also excited about the game , which is two days after a game against the Republic of Ireland in Dublin on November 12 .   have never played at the Cottage before but Fulham have strong connections with America  Falcao , along with Rooney , misses Manchester United ' s clash with Chelsea but should now be available  ' It ' s the perfect fit , ' said McBride , who is on Khan ' s five man panel to identify the club ' s next manager , and former Fulham and  captain Carlos Bocanegra added : ' I ' m thrilled that the  team will play at a stadium that has meant so much to the American players who got their chance at Fulham .  ' The fans there were incredibly supportive of us , and we have so many great memories there . Craven Cottage has one of the most intimate atmospheres I ' ve ever played in . Sitting in the Cottage is like having a rooftop seat at Wrigley Field it ' s an experience every fan should have in their lifetime . '  Fulham fans will be interested to see if Klinsmann names Emerson Hyndman in his squad after the 18 year old from the club ' s academy made his senior  debut against the Czech Republic in September .  Owner Khan will be in London next month when his  team the Jacksonville Jaguars play at Wembley against the Dallas Cowboys on November 9 .   ' s coach Jurgen Klinsmann , who played for Tottenham , will return to London but this time as a manager  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
10193,10194,"Brazil is hoping to make the 2014 World Cup "" one of the most protected sports events in history , "" the government said on Wednesday as it announced a 900 million investment in its security forces .  It plans to have one police officer for every 50 people attending the soccer matches , and one for every 80 people at public viewing events around the country .  "" The government has made a program to compile the measures needed for everyone ' s security . This is an item that we face with much importance , "" said sports minister Aldo Rebelo .  World football ' s ruling body  has expressed concerns about Brazil ' s increasing crime rate , particularly in Sao Paulo , as well as worries that the South American nation ' s infrastructure is behind schedule .  "" We are seeing a big wave of crime in Sao Paulo , which is not good for its image or tourism , ""  general secretary Jerome Valcke said last month .  Brazil ' s ' sugar seats ' solution  Rebelo said the issues are being addressed .  "" The Sao Paulo government adopted measures and responses for security together with the federal government , who offered help . The actions are being adopted together for the World Cup , "" he said .  Valcke made few friends in Brazil earlier this year when he criticized the lack of progress being made in providing sufficient hotels and transport facilities , and was forced to apologize .  He said last month that the problems remain , but acknowledged that steps are being taken .  "" In one unnamed city there are 17 , 000 hotel bedrooms and a 45 , 000 capacity stadium , "" said Valcke , suggesting that tourists may struggle to find accommodation . "" But we have now moved from talking about the problems to talking about the solutions . ""  Brazil gang ' s slaughter of police sparks fightback  The Brazil World Cup bid team has increased its security budget as the country prepares to host the tournament for the first time since 1950 , as well as next year ' s precursor Confederations Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics .  It is investing in hi tech vehicles , helicopters and surveillance equipment , with the 900 million to be spent coming from a wider 15 billion budget for infrastructure .  "" Security has become an ever increasing issue for major sporting events in the past decade , "" the World Cup organizers said in a statement .  "" This has increased the level of information exchange between countries that have recently hosted events to ensure public safety . ""  The last World Cup was held in South Africa , another country with crime problems . Its government said it invested 640 million rand ( 70 million ) to deploy 31 , 000 police officials during the tournament .  It set aside a total budget of R1 . 3 billion ( 150 million ) for security , and said after the 2010 event it had spent R572 million ( 65 million ) on crowd control equipment , crime scene trainers , helicopters , water cannons , new body armor and 100 BMWs for highway patrol .  More recently , the British government budgeted 553 million ( 890 million ) on security for the London 2012 Olympics , plus 475 million ( 760 million ) for army , security services and police spending . It caused outrage with plans to put anti terrorist rocket launchers on the roofs of civilian homes .  London 2012 organizers were forced to bring in armed forces after the Games ' private security contractor , G4S , was unable to fulfill its obligations as it did not recruit sufficient workers .  Brazil has been taking advice from Canada , which hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver .  "" That ' s how it should be done , as we did : learn from those who were in charge of security for other events before us , "" Royal Canadian Mounted Police superintendent Kevin Bruyckere said .  "" It ' s important to make the most of what others have done previously to plan security . The relationship between countries and the law enforcement agencies of these countries is very important . I know Brazil is working closely with the international community . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
10195,10196,"It ' s a moment familiar to any regular air traveler .  A passenger ' s photo shows oxygen masks hanging from the ceiling on Monday ' s Continental Flight 128 .  The plane bucks up and down , lurches forward and back , or both . Sometimes overhead bins fly open . The squeamish gasp . Babies cry . Then , usually , it ' s all over .  In flight turbulence is often a mere inconvenience . But it ' s also the leading cause of airline passenger injuries that are not associated with a fatal crash , experts say .  And , on rare occasions , it can be deadly .  In the case of Monday ' s Continental Flight 128 , an unexpected blast of air led to much more than jangled nerves , bumps and bruises .  Turbulence struck the flight , from Rio de Janeiro , Brazil , to Houston , Texas , unexpectedly , injuring seven passengers badly enough to require hospitalization after the pilot diverted the flight to Miami , Florida .  Police said 26 passengers were injured , four seriously . Learn more about airline turbulence  Turbulence , according to the Federal Aviation Administration , is caused by a quick change in air movement . Jet streams , air shooting off of mountains , cold or warm weather fronts and thunderstorms can all cause changes in speed or direction .  The rapid shift in gravity force or G force can cause a sensation not unlike being whipped around on a roller coaster . Most of the time , discomfort is the worst byproduct .  "" Normally , it ' s an inconvenience , "" said Kevin Garrison , a retired Delta Air Lines pilot living in Lexington , Kentucky . "" Very rarely does it hurt passengers , which is odd because a lot of them don ' t keep their seat belts on . ""  And wearing seat belts , aviation officials say , is the best way to stay safe .  "" In the event that something happens , "" said Les Dorr , a spokesman for the  , "" that ' s the best advice that we or anyone else can give passengers . ""  Since 1980 , three people have been killed in turbulence related accidents , according to the administration . At least two of those deaths involved passengers who reportedly were not wearing seat belts while the seat belt sign was on .  There have been 234 turbulence related accidents since 1980 , and 114 passengers were seriously injured in those accidents , the  reported .  Flight attendants have been hurt at a much higher rate . During that same time period , 184 attendants were seriously injured , despite their numbers being far smaller than the number of passengers .  "" The majority of injuries actually happen to flight attendants , "" Dorr said . "" They have to be up performing their tasks , even when the seat belt light is on . ""  And while pilots are almost always strapped in with seat belts , even they aren ' t exempt .  "" I ' ve had a few bloodied heads when I hit my head on the overhead when the seat belt was a little loose , "" said Garrison , who flew for Delta for 27 years .  In Monday ' s accident , passengers reported they were slammed into the Boeing 767 ' s ceiling some said two or more times when the plane dropped rapidly .  Passengers said most of those injured were not wearing seat belts .  Initial reports are that the Monday flight was hit by what ' s called clear air turbulence , or air pockets that hit without warning .  While pilots are always on the lookout for regular turbulence spots like mountain ranges and places where weather fronts are converging clear air turbulence can happen anywhere .  "" You can ' t see it you can ' t sense it with radar , "" Dorr said . "" The best way to determine if there ' s a possibility of clear air turbulence is to have somebody in front of you that ' s already flown through it . ""  Dorr said passenger injury numbers have dropped over the past few years , during an industry wide effort to increase safety .  No passengers were reported seriously injured in turbulence incidents in 2008 , and five flight attendants down from a high of 19 in 2003 received serious injuries , according to the  .  The Commercial Aviation Safety Team has focused on seat belt awareness and pushed for better communication systems for reporting turbulence , Dorr said .  All licensed pilots also receive "" upset training , "" which teaches how to deal with extreme turbulence , he said .  ",true,text,validation,American football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
10200,10201,"Holly Holm has seen Ronda Rousey  at least 30 times already  Holly Holm doesn ' t typically watch her fights very often but it ' s been impossible to avoid her handiwork when she landed a head kick  over Ronda Rousey at  193 .  Holly Holm isn ' t the kind of fighter who typically goes back and watches past bouts , even when preparing for her next opponent . However , just a week removed from her win over Ronda Rousey , it ' s been nearly impossible to avoid that head kick knockout in repetition .  Since winning the fight in Australia , Holm has been on a non stop media frenzy , traveling from the west coast to the east coast and appearing on dozens of television talk shows , radio shows and other appearances .  Each time , Holm is asked about the knockout and more often than not she watches the replay as her left foot blasts Rousey in the head and neck as she ' s sent crashing to the canvas .  Seeing highlights of any of her fights or just the finish are rare for Holm , who says she doesn ' t watch her own bouts very often , but reliving the bout with Rousey over and over again was just unavoidable .  "" Kind of a lot , "" Holm said with a laugh when asked by  Sports how many times she ' s seen the knockout already . "" I never really watch my fights . My first  fight I didn ' t watch it until after my second  fight was over . There ' s some that I watch right away and if I do watch I usually watch it more than once . ""  With her current media engagements , Holm has probably seen the Rousey fight more than any  bout during her entire career , but considering it ' s the moment she became the new  women ' s bantamweight champion , it never gets old either .  Holm , the first person to hand Rousey a  loss , might be the least ego driven fighter on the planet , but even she can ' t help but feeling excited whenever she witnesses the head kick heard round the world .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
10203,10204,"For most of the 37 years between 1963 and 2000 , Jerry Sandusky was the epitome of a Penn State man .  That shining image dimmed over the weekend , when police arrested him on seven counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and other charges , including aggravated indecent assault and endangering the welfare of a child .  Sandusky , 67 , allegedly engaged in fondling , oral sex and anal sex with young boys over a period of more than 10 years , according to an investigative state grand jury ' s summary of testimony .  He maintains he is innocent .  Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno spoke for many in the community when he called the string of sexual child abuse charges against Sandusky "" shocking . ""  The charges put a whole new spin on the title of his autobiography , "" Touched : The Jerry Sandusky Story . "" Published in 2001 , the book explores Sandusky ' s career and his involvement in children ' s charities .  A starting defensive end for the Nittany Lions for three years , Sandusky went on to spend all but two years of his coaching career working the sidelines for Penn State , most of them as defensive coordinator .  The university has called Sandusky "" largely responsible for Penn State earning the moniker ' Linebacker U , ' with 10 of his linebackers earning first team All America honors . ""  Eleven years ago , he retired to focus more attention on Second Mile , the program he had founded for troubled youth . But he still maintained ties to the university , continuing as a volunteer with the athletic department ' s life skills and outreach programs .  "" Football coaching has been a wonderful career because it has brought me into contact with so many exceptional young people , "" Sandusky said in a statement at the time , released by the university . "" The opportunity to impact the lives of the many student athletes who ' ve come through the program has been one of the great rewards for me . Penn State football is special because of the sense of family established by those associated with the program today and those players , coaches and staff who ' ve been part of it over the years .  "" Retiring as an active coach will permit me to devote more time to The Second Mile . As the organization has grown , the demands for my hands on involvement have increased dramatically . The staff has done a marvelous job of building the organization , which now touches more than 150 , 000 children annually through eight different programs . I ' m anxious to devote my full time energies to expanding the reach and influence of The Second Mile in a day and age when more and more kids seem to be at risk . ""  "" I always felt that Jerry had two loves : One was obviously his ability , his wanting to help younger people in The Second Mile and being a head coach , "" Paterno said in a 2008 news conference . "" He could have been a head coach a couple places , but he really he backed away because they were going to ask him to give up some things in The Second Mile . ""  In his book , Sandusky writes of his "" unusual life . ""  "" My time on this earth has always been unique , "" he writes . "" At the times when I found myself searching for maturity , I usually came up with insanity . That ' s the way it is in the life of Gerald Arthur Sandusky . ""  He writes about people who have touched his life .  "" I wish , sometimes , that I could press a button to bring back the times when life was so much simpler with the kids . The times when they didn ' t worry about what they were missing with drugs , alcohol and sex , "" he writes . "" They didn ' t have to worry about protection from  and  . They enjoyed life ' s simple pleasures in a naive time a time of make believe . There were simple activities and worthwhile outlets . People just enjoyed each other simply as people . ""  A search of the text of his book on amazonweblink shows no other references to "" sex , "" and no references to "" abuse . ""  Second Mile issued a statement Monday saying , "" The newly released details in the breadth of the allegations from the Attorney General ' s Office brings shock , sadness , and concern from The Second Mile Organization . Our prayers , care , and compassion go out to all impacted . ""  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
10205,10206,"In an alarming development with wide reaching implications for America ' s safety , Department of Homeland Security head Michael Chertoff and  Director Michael Hayden issued a joint report Monday warning that the next 9 11 could in fact occur on a different date .  The report , based on intelligence gathered by field agents , found that a future 9 11 might take place on an entirely new month and day , including 4 24 , 6 13 , or even 10 12 . According to the report , the nation could realistically find itself in the midst of a 5 25 scenario , as well as a potential 3 14 situation in the months to come .  8 28 , 6 19 , and 11 7 were also cited as possible 9 11s .  "" While 9 11 has historically always fallen on 9 11 , we as Americans need to be prepared for a wide range of dates , "" Chertoff said during a White House press conference . "" There ' s a chance we could all find ourselves living in a post 6 10 world as early as next July . Unless , that is , we ' re already living in a pre 2 14 world . ""  "" 1 1 , 1 2 , 1 3 , 1 4 , 1 5 , "" Chertoff continued for nearly 45 minutes , "" 12 28 , 12 29 , 12 30 , 12 31 these are all plausible and serious threats . ""  An addendum to the report that includes leap years will be released by the end of March .  Though the  has identified more than 7 , 000 sensitive dates spanning the next 20 years , it did manage to rule out 4 15 04 and 10 38 as future 9 11s . The government report also confirmed that the next 9 11 would more than likely not involve an assault on the World Trade Center ' s North and South towers as it has in previous attacks .  Furthermore , the 350 page document rejected long held beliefs that the next 9 11 would commence at 8 : 46 a . m . on a sunny Tuesday morning . In fact , it warns that a future attack could occur on a cloudy , snowy , or even brisk day , at 8 : 53 a . m . , 10 : 42 p . m . , or any one of the other 1 , 440 known times .  "" We are dealing with agents of terror who are willing to carry out another 9 11 on if you can imagine it 6 8 , "" Hayden told reporters . "" Indeed a day may come when we as a nation have to live in fear of another 6 8 , recount where we were when 6 8 happened , and swear never to forget the events of 6 8 . ""  "" At some point we might even have to come to terms with the harsh lessons of 6 8 , "" Hayden continued .  Hayden assured citizens , however , that no matter what date the imminent attacks fall on , he has every reason to believe that the next 9 11 will be carried out by militants , radicals , zealots , or extremists , who will stop at nothing , next to nothing , or very little to destroy America .  Hayden also said he was certain that at least one of the world ' s 6 . 7 billion human beings will plot the future 5 24 or 3 17 attacks , and that it will most likely target either the nation ' s subways , seaports , landmarks , stadiums , buildings , structures , or other indoor or outdoor areas where large groups of people tend to gather .  "" Instead of calling major terrorist attacks on their soil ' our 9 11 , ' other nations may soon refer to their own national disasters as ' our 11 28 , ' "" Chertoff said . "" Which , incidentally , is also my birthday , though I admit that is neither here nor there . ""  At the conclusion of the press conference , Chertoff urged Americans not be alarmed by the recent news , and to continue living their lives as they have for the last seven years with the crippling fear that at any moment they , or someone they love , could die in a fiery inferno .  ",satire,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,satire,True,no,no,negative,past
10206,10207,"Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder sparked even more outrage over his team ' s name on Sunday when he invited the president of the largest Native American reservation to sit in his box at a game against the Arizona Cardinals .  Outgoing Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly and his wife Martha even wore Redskins hats to rub elbows with Snyder , amid intense public debate over whether the D . C . team should be allowed to keep its name , which many civil rights groups have deemed insensitive and racist towards Native American people .  Shelly , however , is not the most convincing Native American ally as he does not have an overwhelming support from his tribe . In August he finished seventh in the presidential primary elections , and will be exiting office on January 14 .  Snyder is currently in a legal battle with the U . S . Patent office , which cancelled the Redskins team name last June . Snyder has vowed never to change the name saying it actually honors the legacy of American Indians .  Unlikely ally : Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder ( left , in blue shirt ) invited the Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly ( right , in blue shirt and glasses ) to attend Sunday ' s game against the Arizona Cardinals . Shelly ' s wife Martha pictured far right  Nevertheless , a group of about 100 people gathered before Sunday game to protest the name , holding up signs reading ' Game Over Racism ' and ' Snyder can ' t buy my support ' .  Bringing Shelly into the box was Snyder ' s latest attempt to kill the controversy by proving he has support in the Native American community .  The Navajo Nation includes 27 , 000 square miles of land in Arizona , Utah and New Mexico making it the largest Native American reservation in the United States .  ' The Washington Redskins are proud to have President Ben Shelly and the Navajos along with Zuni and other Western region tribes that joined the us at the game today , ' Redskins team spokesman Tony Wyllie said . ' This is representative of the support we have among Native Americans nationwide . '  Team player : Many civil rights and Native American groups have called for Snyder to change his team ' s name , saying the continued use of the term Redskins is insensitive and racist . Above , Shelly even wore a Redskins hat to the Sunday game  Lame duck : Shelly is not exactly popular among his own people . He came in seventh in the Nation ' s August presidential primary election and will be vacating the position he ' s held since 2011 in January . Pictured above with his wife Martha at Sunday ' s game  Shelly was allegedly attending the game to discus an  franchising agreement involving Navajo artists with Snyder , his spokesman Desmood Tome said .  Tome says the issues of Navajo education and job creation take ' far more precedence ' than the mascot name .  Last year , Shelly weighed in the controversial topic , issuing a statement via his spokesman who said not everyone finds the term is negative .  ' We ' ve always been proud of a lot of individuality , ' spokesman Erny Zah said . ' If they ( Navajo ) want to assert themselves as Redskins and the community is fine with that , they are going to continue . '  Racist : A group of about 100 came out to protest the Redskins name before the Sunday game against the Cardinals  In fact , one Navajo Nation high school has the Redskins mascot . Red Mesa High School is one of three high schools in the U . S . to use the mascot , and is one of two in that count that are majority Native American .  ' Native approved ' : This man spotted at Sunday ' s game proves that Shelly isn ' t the only Native American not offended by the Redskins name  But Zah added that the term should be avoided outside American Indian communities due to ' the legacy of negativity that the term has created ' .  Shelly ' s decision to back Snyder makes him a minority in his tribe , which voted last April to formally oppose the Redskins name , 9 2 .  Shelly has faced controversy ever since he entered office in 2011 , when he was accused of stealing thousands of dollars from the tribe to benefit himself and his family members .  Those charges were eventually dropped when Shelly agreed to pay back the 8 , 250 he was accused of taking .  He also went behind tribal leaders backs to partner with Snyder previously , to sponsor a golf tournament with the  team owner ' s Original Americans Foundation (  ) .  When other Native American groups found out about  ' s sponsorship the day before the event , a few pulled out .   also reached a sponsorship agreement with the Navajo Nation ' s radio station , which led to widespread protesting in the southwestern reservation .  While many Native Americans consider the term Redskins to be slur , public opinion polls show that the majority of Americans support the Washington team keeping their name .  Loss : The Cardinals beat the Redskins 30 20 at the game held Sunday at University of Phoenix field in Glendale , Arizona  Cancelled : Snyder is currently in a legal battle with the U . S . Patent Office which cancelled his trademark last June . The legal battle is ongoing and Snyder is able to keep the name in the meantime  According to a poll conducted this year , 71 per cent of Americans back the name .  This past June , the U . S . Patent and Trademark office cancelled the Redskins team name for a second time , saying it was ' disparaging to Native Americans ' .  But Snyder has vowed never to change the name , and in August his lawyers have filed an appeal against the ruling . In the meantime , the team will be able to keep their name .  They plan to argue the first amendment right to freedom of expression .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
10242,10243,"The Dijon prosecutor has launched an investigation after a number of pig heads were hung on the gates of a building recently purchased by an Islamic association prior to its conversion to a place of worship. [Six   of pigs heads were discovered on the gates of the building in Genlis, a small town near Dijon, France on Friday morning. Further to the pig heads, further “cold cuts” of pork were discovered thrown into the yard.  France’s Le Figaro reports the comments of the local Mayor, who said the Association of Socioculture and Muslim Culture of Genlis (ASCMG) had “acquired this building with the aim of making it a place of worship in the future. This announcement, made in the regional press last week, had unleashed [bad feelings]”. The mayor told the paper he condemned the act of placing pig parts on the mosque and that he supported the work of the association. Speaking this morning, he remarked: “[The police] have taken samples and I hope the person or people of this act will be held accountable  …     hatred linked to religion has no place in our commune where everyone must live in full harmony and respect for each other”.   Socialist politician Kheira Bouziane supported the mayor’s position, remarking: “The  has been promoting a peaceful   dialogue since 2013  …     today’s insult aims to divide”.   activist group spokesman Maryna Schcherbyna joined the mayor in a call for punishment, remarking this afternoon: “ Racisme  …     demands that justice be done”. She also referred to a 2016 case in the same town where the   Georges Grossel had called in a Facebook post for pork to be served in canteens.  Racisme demanded his resignation at the time  —   he was suspended from the mayorality and fined €2, 000. Local broadcaster Le Bien Public reports the attack comes two days before a public consultation is due to be held on the project. The Dijon prosecutor has opened an investigation into what is being termed as a public provocation of discrimination or racial hatred, although police presently have no leads to pursue. The Genlis case follows a significant number of other cases across Europe where Islamic centres of worship were defaced with pig parts. In Islam, pigs and their meat are considered unclean, or “haram” and the leaving of bacon and other meat at mosques is considered a   and in some cases severely punished. Breitbart London reported in 2016 on the placement of a pig’s head on the steps of the office of German Chancellor Angela Merkel in protest against her policy of mass migration from predominantly Muslim countries. In November 2016, two Polish migrants were jailed in the  for throwing rashers of bacon inside a mosque.",true,news,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
10273,10274,"Cameron stands by  draft deal despite backlash from his own party  Should the  ? remain ? member , that figure is forecast ? to rise by as much as 790 , 000 by 2030 .  In addition , many large manufacturers argue that the  currently benefits from being a part of the  s single market and it s free trade agreements , suggesting they ? directly sustain ? millions of British jobs .  The  also provides considerable subsidies to British farmers , helping to bolster agriculture and ensure job stability for the 476 , 000 directly involved in farming , and those working in sectors related to the industry .  3 ) Holidays and travel in Europe are much easier and safer  Freedom to travel is one of the most exercised benefits of  membership , with Britons having made 31 million visits to the  in 2014 alone . But a lot of the benefits of being an  citizen are either taken for granted or go unnoticed .  For example , when visiting other European countries British citizens have the right to receive emergency healthcare .  The  also blacklists dangerous airlines , while its air passenger rights ensure that Europeans receive assistance and information if stranded . Compensation may be awarded should a person be denied boarding or if a flight is cancelled .  British people travelling outside the  are also entitled to consular protection from any  embassy in the absence of a  embassy .  Consumer protection is a key benefit of the  s single market , and ensures members of the British public receive equal consumer rights when shopping anywhere in Europe .  The  s consumer rights ensure transparency from sellers themselves , and the quality and safety of their products .  A two year guarantee on all products , and the introduction of a ceiling for roaming charges across member states , are just two examples of things the  has done to improve the rights of its customers . ?  5 ) Protection from terrorists , ? paedophiles , people traffickers and cyber crime  Another example of a lesser known advantage ? of  membership is the benefit of cross country coordination and cooperation in the fight against crime .  Last month , former director of public prosecutions ? Sir Keith Starmer told The Independent : We rely very heavily on the  criminal justice measures and when I say very heavily , I mean 24 7 .  "" I m talking here about terrorism , people trafficking , cyber crime , sexual exploitation , trafficking of children and paedophilia : they all go across the borders into Europe .  The ability for member states to share information and coordinate responses , sometimes simultaneously in several countries , is ? vital to the  s security .  6 )  businesses make lots of money from Europe  According to 71 of all members of the Confederation of British Influence (  ) , and 67 per cent of small and medium sized enterprises ( SMEs ) , the  has had an overall positive impact on their business .  The  estimates that the net benefit of  membership is worth 4 5 of  to the  , or ? 62bn ? 78bn per year .  In 2014 , the  reported that the  , which is the world s biggest economy , accounted for 44 . 6 per cent of all  exports of goods and services , and 53 . 2 per cent of the  s imports of goods and services . ?  Meanwhile , the Centre for Economics and Business Research (  ) shows ? the overall contribution to our economy from exports to the  was ? 187 billion last year , and that it could rise by almost half again to ? 277 billion a year by 2030 .  It also claims access to European energy , transport and digital service markets , combined with new global trade deals , could add ? 58 billion to the  economy every year by 2030 , the equivalent to ? 1 , 000 per British citizen .  7 ) Other countries are forced to listen to Britain more  Robin Niblett , Director of think tank Chatham House , stated in a report published last year : For a mid sized country like the  , which will never again be economically dominant either globally or regionally , and whose diplomatic and military resources are declining in relative terms , being a major player in a strong regional institution can offer a critical lever for international influence .  "" In the  s case , this means committing to be a leading member of the world s principal civilian power , the European Union .  The largest , proudest European nation cannot hope to shape globalisation ? or even retain marginal relevance by itself . It is only together that we have the weight to influence the big picture .  Indeed , former European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso ? argued in 2014 : ? The largest , proudest European nation cannot hope to shape globalisation ? or even retain marginal relevance by itself . It is only together that we have the weight to influence the big picture .  Even  President Barack Obama briefly alluded to the importance of the  s role in Europe in an interview with the  last year , in which he stated : Having the  in the European Union gives us much greater confidence about the strength of the transatlantic union and is part of the cornerstone of institutions built after the second world war that has made the world safer and more prosperous .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
10275,10276,"In a move Coca Cola marketing executives called "" a clear sign of our branding success , "" highway worker Chuck Burdon , 37 , purchased a two liter Diet Coke during his lunch break Tuesday , buying not so much a soft drink as an image .  "" Let me tell you , I was mighty thirsty after all that paving , "" a refreshed Burdon told reporters . "" Yet on a subconscious , psychological level , I wanted more than mere rehydration or refreshment . I craved an image . I craved being imbued with the sort of fun , carefree spirit seen in Diet Coke commercials . I also wished to feel like I was part of a larger community of discriminating , likeminded consumers who have the good taste to choose the world ' s most consumed diet cola and not some inferior , lower priced off brand . ""  Standing in the soda aisle of a supermarket near the construction site , Burdon was confronted with a vast array of soft drink choices , each projecting its own distinct image for consumers to identify with and project onto themselves through the acts of purchase and consumption . According to Burdon , key to his decision to choose Diet Coke was the memory of a 1994 television spot featuring model actor Lucky Vanous as a construction worker who excites young , single women by shirtlessly consuming a can of the soft drink .  "" Back when that ad was on  , me and the other construction workers made a lot of jokes about it , "" Burdon said . "" I think my purchase was partially motivated by a desire to recapture the relative whimsy of those days before Allied Construction owner Bud Wanamaker died of a heart attack and the new owners mismanaged it into the ground . That , as well as the more basic desire to liken myself to the sexy Vanous via our mutual enjoyment of Diet Coke . ""  Burdon freely admitted that image was more of a motivating factor than the needs of his parched body .  "" To be honest , selecting a caffeinated drink ran counter to my physical needs at the time , given the diuretic effects of caffeine , "" Burdon said . "" If my only goal were rehydration , I would have done better with Gatorade or Sprite or , at the very least , Caffeine Free Diet Coke . Or , I suppose , tap water . ""  Despite the negative side effects of caffeine , particularly for a manual laborer , Burdon said he is averse to consuming caffeine free soft drinks .  "" To appear on the construction site drinking a beverage that is both calorie and caffeine free would be an emasculating blow to my carefully cultivated image as a burly , rough and tumble working class type , "" Burdon said . "" The sight of me consuming such a soft drink would diminish the respect I enjoy from my professional peer group by casting a light of skepticism upon my masculinity and even my sexuality . ""  Moments before making his purchasing decision , Burdon said he was almost swayed by the memory of a Diet Coke With Lemon billboard featuring an attractive woman puckering her lips . In the end , however , he rejected the soda for similar gender identity reasons .  "" I must admit that my desire to associate myself with such a woman was a powerful temptation , "" Burdon said . "" Nevertheless , the perception of diet soda , an already somewhat feminine product , infused with lemon flavor signified on the packaging by the girlish color yellow , was a bit too rife with feminine overtones for my purposes . I felt that I would be more likely to attract such a woman by reinforcing my masculinity with a lemonless soft drink than by drinking the same female oriented beverage as her . ""  Though Burdon spotted a bottle of Pepsi Blue , a drink he greatly enjoyed upon first tasting it in a Safeway parking lot in August , he ruled out the beverage as a possibility for at work consumption .  "" Drinking an adolescent targeted , convention flouting , candy colored fantasia beverage like Pepsi Blue would paint me as an aging and pathetic man desperate to appear youthful and virile , "" Burdon said . "" From its flavor blend to the cheekily angular lettering on the label , Pepsi Blue projects an image far too cutting edge and impudently rebellious to convincingly mesh with the reality of my 37 year old self . I purchase soft drinks to identify with a somewhat realistic lifestyle archetype , not retreat into an outright delusional fantasy . ""  ",satire,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
10289,10290,"If you re dissatisfied with Debbie Wasserman-Schultz as the head of the DNC, Hillary Clinton has some good news for you. While one cannot simply remove the  Chairwoman from her position, and while she will retain her title, Wasserman-Schultz has been stripped of most of her power.  reports:Hillary Clinton s campaign is taking the reins of the Democratic National Committee, installing a new top official on Thursday to oversee the party s day-to-day operations through the general election.Brandon Davis, national political director for the Service Employees International Union, will become the general election chief of staff for the Democratic Party. His selection formalizes the coordination of the Clinton campaign and the committee, a stark contrast to Donald Trump who is currently at odds with his party.Now, this sort of thing is rather common   but it is expected to alleviate some of Democrats  concerns about Wasserman-Schultz s rather lackluster leadership abilities. This is in fact what happens,  former Democratic Party chairman, Howard Dean, told CNN.  Debbie will still have the title, but somebody else will be the effective operator of the DNC. It s Hillary s pick.  And, of course, Hillary could have picked anyone she wanted (including Wasserman-Schultz). But, of course, she didn t, perhaps realizing that the Chairwoman is not the right fit for this or many other jobs. We basically just turned it over to him and I left the building to him. He ran the DNC,  Dean said, explaining how he transitioned to simply raising money for Barack Obama after his campaign took over the party.  It was very clear I wasn t going to be running the  as soon as there was a nominee. It has long been suspected that  was working in cahoots with the Clinton campaign. While it is true that the Democratic nominee has benefited from the party leader s numerous blunders   including a terrible debate schedule that kept the party out of the public eye   it seems that it was just incompetence that appeared to be assistance. Or, if Debbie was providing assistance in hopes of a reward, Clinton did not return the favor. In any case, the Democratic Party is stronger with Debbie Wasserman-Schultz sidelined.This decision comes on the heels of a meeting between Clitnon and Bernie Sanders, who has long called for new leadership in the DNC. Sen. Sanders and Secretary Clinton met in Washington on Tuesday evening and had a positive discussion about how best to bring more people into the political process and about the dangerous threat that Donald Trump poses to our nation,  said Michael Briggs, Sanders  spokesman, in a statement following the meeting.  Sanders congratulated Secretary Clinton on the campaign she has run and said he appreciated her strong commitment to stopping Trump in the general election. It is unknown how or if Sanders influenced Clinton s decision to strip Wasserman-Schultz of power. We have a lot of work to do over the next five months to make sure that Donald Trump does not become president,  Clinton campaign manager, Robby Mook, said while introducing Davis to the party s staff.  With so much at stake in this election, we could not ask for a better partner in that mission than the team here. Now, we just need an election to make this  firing  permanent.Featured image via Getty Images/Andrew Burton",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
10294,10295,"Please note , all statements from Jim Caldwell in this post will be paraphrased , unless quotation marks are used . Refresh often for updates once the press conference begins . Newest updates will be at the top . ? ?  Caldwell asked in a roundabout way about his job security , "" No one has to tell me you have to win to be successful in our business . "" ?  At this point , Caldwell doesn ' t have any update on any long term injuries . ?  The team felt LaAdrian Waddle was the better option over Cornelius Lucas when Ola was injured . ?  Caldwell said Matthew Stafford ' s rushing yardage ? is more about opportunities and good decisions than the plan . The coach said he ' d prefers his quarterback never runs . ?  On evaluating his overall body of work , Caldwell said he ' ll wait until the end of the season . ?  Caldwell said defensive end Devin Taylor is maturing all the way around , on and off the field . ?  On making all plays reviewable , Caldwell said great leaders don ' t make excuses . ?  Ameer Abdullah is getting better with fumbles . It wasn ' t a trust issue why he wasn ' t out there at the end of the Packers game . ?  On Darius Slay , Caldwell said he ' s maturing and doesn ' t let bad plays affect him . He said the corner has a unique matchup this week with Tavon Austin . ?  On why Joique Bell was the back out there to close the last game , the response is essentially , every game is different . ?  Caldwell also said he ' s done a poor job on getting the correct personnel out on special teams . ?  On the call for the Hail Mary , Caldwell says everything comes through me . I ' m responsible . ?  On future Hail Mary defense , Caldwell says , "" next question . ""  The team is still not certain on the seriousness of Michael Ola ' s injury .  He said the team analyzed everything from last game , but he won ' t share that analysis . You can look at it a thousand different ways , but he ' ll leave it for the media to talk about it . ?  All losses cut deep , according to Caldwell . He believes his team is battle tested , mentally . "" Hopefully that ' s what we continue to see . ""  Caldwell says he won ' t answer any questions on the Packers game and he ' s looking forward . Lovely . ?  Caldwell said the weekend break was helpful getting some players healthy . It also gave the team and staff an opportunity to get more removed from a tough loss .    Join MLiveweblink at 12 : 30 p . m . for live updates from Detroit Lions coach Jim Caldwell ' s Monday press conference following Thursday ' s ? loss to the Green Bay Packers .  The Lions ( 4 8 ) ? lost more than a game when Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers heaved a Hail Mary through their hearts . The miracle play , with no time remaining , also put a final nail in the coffin of the team ' s already faint playoff hopes . ?  Detroit can still finish . 500 , with the remaining ? four opponents all with losing records , but it will be tough to convince anyone these games mean anything . Up next is a trip to St . Louis to battle the Rams and exciting rookie running back Todd Gurley . ?  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
10297,10298,"Mets World Series Notes : Cespedes ' shoulder , more golf , plus more news  Editor ' s Note : The following is an excerpt from the latest edition of Inside Baseball  Mets people are hoping they ' ll be able to get an inning per game more out of their vaunted starting rotation since Royals hitters are aggressive and don ' t run up counts . That would be a big plus . . .  Manager Terry Collins named Juan Uribe to the official World Series roster on Tuesday . He sees Uribe as having a better chance than most against the hard throwing Royals pitchers . Uribe will be shooting for his third ring with three different teams , a rare trifecta indeed . The Mets are going without a true backup  ( Kelly Johnson and Uribe could fill in if necessary for part of a game ) . If Wilmer Flores should get hurt , the Mets could activate Matt Reynolds . . .  Rookie Michael Conforto will play , as he has against right handers ( all four Royals starters are right handed ) . Conforto started the year in Class A . "" It ' s crazy , "" he said . "" It feels like a couple years ago I was in high A ball . "" ( It was actually five months ago ) . . .  Yoenis Cespedes said while his shoulder was a little sore Sunday taking  , he woke up Monday morning and "" felt great . "" So he ' s playing . . . .  He ' s also going to continue to golf "" as long I ' m feeling good . "" Cespedes has been playing golf for two years , and says he shoots in the 70s ( one writer expressed disbelief  , me ) . There ' s one story going around ( one that was repeated by Collins ) that Cespedes reached a 585 yard par 5 with a driver and wedge . That ' s almost more believable . . .  Juan Lagares may be used primarily as a late inning defensive replacement in Kauffman Stadium ' s vast dimensions . . .  Bartolo Colon says he ' ll re enact his famous behind the back play "" if the opportunity presents itself . "" . . .  Royals pitching coach Dave Eiland on unconscious Daniel Murphy : "" I ' m sure he bleeds like the rest of us . "" Maybe so , but he is on his way to one of the greatest postseasons in history . . .  Murphy ' s hot streak coincided with the effort to get him to pull more , via hitting coach Long and assistant hitting coach Pat Roessler . They noticed Murphy had an  over . 900 when he pulled the ball but under . 600 when he didn ' t . . .  David Wright arrived at Kauffman Stadium at 11 : 30 a . m . Monday to get treatment for his back , and so he would also have time to fulfill his obligation to participate in the 3 : 45 media session . Wright was also seen stopping on the street to give out his autograph . There is no finer gentleman in the game . . .  If there ' s someone close on the Mets , it might be Jeurys Familia . He stopped to hold open the door for a media member Monday ( yes , me ) .  The Mets head into the World Series on an amazing October run . (  )  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
10299,10300,"by   report this ad  There has been a dramatic increase in neurological diseases linked to aluminum toxicity . The blood brain barrier doesn’t stop aluminum’s intrusion into our gray matter. Aluminum accumulates and remains in tissue that doesn’t have a rapid cellular turnover. report this ad  Apoptosis is the natural cell death and replacement process that occurs throughout the body, excluding cancer cells. Cancer cells keep reproducing and colonizing into tumors unless apoptosis is introduced or the cells are outright killed from chemical compounds, both natural and synthetic.  Aluminum accrues to toxic levels over time in slow apoptotic cell turnover tissues, such as bone matter, the heart and the brain. The brain and its associated nervous system is where diseases such as Alzheimer’s , Parkinson’s, MS, chronic fatigue and other neurological or auto-immune diseases manifest, including the complete autistic spectrum, from learning disorders to full blown autism.  There is no shortage of aluminum toxins in our environment. It’s in cookware, beverage containers, foil, cigarette smoke, cosmetics, antiperspirants, sunscreen, antacids, and those ubiquitous chemtrails that most ignore from which aluminum nanoparticles can be breathed into our lungs and routed directly into our blood or through the sinuses into our brains.  Aluminum is in all vaccines. Injecting aluminum bypasses the possibility of eliminating it through normal channels. Straight into the blood it goes to be carried into the brain and heart, adding to their accumulated aluminum toxicity loads. report this ad  According to Dr. Chris Exley, PhD, we have come into the aluminum age. Many trolling commentators love to explain how aluminum is the must common mineral on the planet and therefore it’s harmless. Dr. Exley has dedicated over two decades of his scientific life to researching aluminum toxicity. He calls the period of time from the early 20th Century to now the “Age of Aluminum.”  Before then, aluminum remained in the ground as the most abundant mineral in earth that hadn’t yet been mined. Dr. Exley claims mining aluminum and using it in so many ways corresponds to the marked increase of neurological diseases.   Dr. Chris Exley’s Message to the 2011 Vaccine Safety Conference  A key aspect of his conference delivery concerned helping vaccinated kids improve their neurological damage. Ironically, it involves the second most abundant mineral in mother earth – silica. Exley has put kids who had autism spectrum disorders or other neurological damage from vaccinations on a form of silica known as silicic acid with excellent results.  Silicic acid is basically oxygenated silica. Exley considers this the best and most bio-available way to get silica through the gut and into the blood, then into brain matter where it binds with the aluminum molecules and leads them out of brain cell tissue safely through the urine.  He had used a Malasysian mineral water called Spritzer on aluminum toxic children suffering from autism spectrum disorders with significant success. Aluminum is in almost all vaccines. Later he and his team had 15 Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients use that water at the same rate of one liter per day for 13 weeks.  Aluminum levels were lower by anywhere from 50 to 70 percent in all the subjects involved, and of the 15  patients, eight no longer deteriorated and three actually showed substantial cognitive increase. Perhaps coconut oil is better for reversing AD, but mineral waters high in Orthosilicic or ionic silicic acid will reduce aluminum toxicity in the brain to help ward off AD.  The more  accessible mineral waters with similar levels of silicic acid to Spritzer, which can penetrate the blood-brain barrier, are Volvic and Fiji. My personal favorite is Fiji because it has the highest level of ionic suspended silica as silicic acid and is the least expensive. I’ve seen it in WalMart at $1.99 per liter.  Also, People’s Chemist Shane Ellison analyzed various water bottles and said Fiji water bottles are free of  and “its chemical cousins”. Others he rates highly as  free are Voss, Evian, and Smart Water.  The suggested protocol is at least five days consuming a 1.5 liter bottle of water daily. More is required for high levels of aluminum toxicity. Dr. Exley considers drinking the whole bottle within an hour as the most efficient method of detoxing aluminum from the brain.  Dr. Exley explains that there are three commercial bottled waters listing silica amounts as milligrams (mg) per liter on the bottle. Fiji has the highest amount of the three. Neither of us is affiliated with Fiji.  Silica mineral waters can be supplemented to help prevent dementia. Obviously it can also be used as an adjunct with pure cold pressed coconut oil to stop early onset Alzheimer’s or even reverse most of the symptoms after  symptoms appear. More on coconut oil for Alzheimer’s can be found here .  Aluminum (Al) is passed out through the urine when one supplements silica sufficiently. It seems there’s little danger of taking too much, as long as adequate water is consumed and vitamin B1 and potassium levels are maintained.   More About Silica  Silica helps ensure collagen elasticity of all connecting tissues in the body, including tendons and cartilage. This reduces aches and pains and maintains your body’s flexibility. It has also been determined that high levels of blood serum silica keep arterial plaque from building and clogging blood vessels.  A major culprit for arterial plaque has recently shifted from cholesterol buildup to arterial calcification from serum calcium that is not absorbed as bone matter. It’s known that silica is an important part of building bone matter.  Without sufficient silica, magnesium, and vitamin K2, calcium doesn’t become part of bone matter and remains in the blood to potentially calcify in the soft tissue of inner artery walls and the heart.  Silica is vital for keeping strong bones and a healthy cardiovascular system. This qualifies silica as an essential anti-aging mineral that is much more than a skin deep beauty mineral. Other good sources of silica are the herb horsetail, cucumbers, and diatomaceous earth powder.  Although these three other sources are helpful for the recent aforementioned reasons, they lack the ionic suspension of silicic acid found in the mineral waters to penetrate the blood-brain barrier. I just found these other sources for ionic silica or silicic acid as well, here and here .   Paul Fassa is a contributing staff writer forweblink. His pet peeves are the Medical Mafia’s control over health and the food industry and government regulatory agencies’ corruption. Paul’s valiant contributions to the health movement and global paradigm shift are world renowned. Visit his blog by following this link and follow him on Twitter here .",fake,news,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present
10308,10309,"Three quickfire goals in extra time gave Real Madrid a 4 1 win over city rivals Atletico in Lisbon Saturday to win the European Champions League for the 10th time .  Diego Godin put Atletico ahead in the 36th minute and it took an injury time equalizer from Sergio Ramos to rescue Real and force the extra half hour .  Atletico held out until the second half of the added time until Gareth Bale headed Real ahead after superb work by Angel Di Maria .  Marcelo and Cristiano Ronaldo , with a penalty , his record 17th goal in the Champions League this season , rubbed salt into the wound for Atletico , who had been bidding for a La Liga Champions League double .  Coach Diego Simeone , unhappy at the added minutes in regulation play , summed up their frustration as he ran on to the pitch to confront Real ' s Raphael Varane after the final goal and had to be restrained by stewards .  It was a sorry end to a magnificent season for Los Rojiblancos , but ultimately the quality of Real , epitomized by the world ' s most expensive player Bale , which prevailed .  It was the Welshman ' s 22nd goal of the season and sixth in the Champions League but surely the most important of his career .  "" This is what every footballer dreams of and it doesn ' t come any bigger than that , "" the Welshman told Sky Sports after his side ' s triumph .  For Real Madrid ' s Carlo Ancelotti it was his third Champions League triumph as a coach , equaling the record of Liverpool ' s Bob Paisley .  His counterpart Simeone had gambled on the fitness of his star striker Diego Costa , who has been hampered by a hamstring injury , but it backfired when the Spanish international limped off after nine minutes .  He was replaced by Adrian Lopez but Atletico initially took his departure in its stride , frustrating Real ' s attacking menace in a scrappy first half .  It came to life in a passage of play which first saw Bale poke an effort wide of the post after running through the Atletico defense .  The Real fans in the Stadium of Light looked skywards in disbelief but they were soon in total despair after a mistake by Spanish international goalkeeper Iker Casillas .  Real failed to clear a corner which was lifted back into the area and Uruguay ' s Godin beat the onrushing Casillas to the ball to score with a flicked header .  Casillas desperately scrambled back to make amends for his error of judgment but could not keep the ball out of the net .  World Player of the Year Ronaldo had been kept quiet in the first half but was more prominent after the break , forcing Thibaut Courtois to make a fine save from a free kick then narrowly failing to connect with a header in front of goal .  Bale also started to live up to his price tag , charging through from the right before scuffing his effort wide , while a combination with Ronaldo saw another chance to begging .  But with time running out , Ramos connected perfectly with a Luka Modric corner to add to his two goals from the semifinal win over defending champions Bayern Munich and give his side a precious lifeline , of which it took full advantage .  It was Real ' s first Champions League title since 2002 and to the milestone of ' La Decima "" extending its record number of wins in Europe ' s premier club competition .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
10318,10319,"The Department of Justice unsealed a complaint against a journalist who made national headlines for fabricating stories after he allegedly conducted a campaign of harassment against at least eight Jewish community centers while cyberstalking his   on Friday. [The  arrested Juan Thompson in St. Louis on Friday, and he’s due to appear in court in Manhattan. Thompson’s arrest is the first since Jewish community centers and schools were targeted for threats and harassment across the country.  “Together with the  and the NYPD, we have been investigating the recent threats made on Jewish Community Centers in New York and around the country,” said U. S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement. “Today, we have charged Juan Thompson with allegedly stalking a former romantic interest by, among other things, making bomb threats in her name to Jewish Community Centers and to the   League. ” “Thompson’s alleged pattern of harassment not only involved the defamation of his female victim, but his threats intimidated an entire community,” added  Assistant    William F. Sweeney Jr. in the statement. This isn’t the first time Thompson has appeared in headlines. Last February, The Intercept revealed he fabricated sources in stories and made up quotes out of whole cloth. When confronted about this egregious breach of journalistic standards, he blamed racism and “testicular cancer” in a letter sent to the Intercept’s    and the   Gawker. “I’ve been undergoing radiation treatment for testicular cancer and, since I no longer have health insurance, I’ve been feverishly struggling and figuring out how to pay for my treatment. All of this, of course, has taken up my time and energy except for the few moments I’ve spent searching for some relief,” Thompson said, adding: “I lack access to my notebooks (which I took for most stories) to address these matters. ” “I had a habit of writing drafts of stories, placing the names of ppl I wanted to get quotes from in there, and then going to fetch the quotes,” he continued in his letter. “Was it sloppy? Yes? But I’m a cub reporter and expected a sustained and competent editor to guide me, something which I never had at your company and something with which The Intercept continues to struggle as everyone in this business knows. ” Thompson blamed the “Great Problem” of “white media organizations” for failing to understand his approach to journalism: If I couldn’t obtain a quote from the person I wanted, I went somewhere else, and must’ve forgot to change the names —  clearly. Also, yes I encouraged some of my interviewees to use another name they’re poor black people who didn’t want their names in the public given the situations and that was the only was of convincing them otherwise. That also explains why some of them didn’t want to talk with your company’s research team or denied the events. These weren’t articles in Harpers or The Nation. Instead, these are the lives of people forgotten by society and their being in public and talking to white,  people, no less, could harm and turn them off. They’ve lost loved ones to violence you and others couldn’t possibly imagine. Ultimately, the journalism that covers the experiences of poor black folk and the journalism others, such as you and First Look, are used to differs drastically. This dilemma is the Great Problem with the white media organizations that dominate our media landscape. As   Coates wrote: “The standard [white] progressive approach of the moment is to mix   moral invective with   public policy. ” Such an approach ignores the differences in the way we must navigate these various fields: including journalism. The Intercept published an apology after discovering three of Thompson’s fake news reporting while he worked from November 2014 to January 2016 for them. “Thompson went to great lengths to deceive his editors, creating an email account to impersonate a source and lying about his reporting methods,” the letter said. In one fake news story that went viral, Thompson made up a fictional source called “Scott Roof,” a   cousin of   Dylann Roof’s, who claimed Roof slaughtered nine black parishioners after “he kind of went over the edge when a girl he liked starting dating a black guy two years back. ” Thompson’s Twitter account also reveals he supported socialist Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders for president. “I voted for Bernie Sanders, but his supporters are annoying as fuck. ‘I almost cried when I got a Bernie sign’. Yuck,” he tweeted in July. This puts Sanders in an awkward position. Only days before Thompson’s arrest, he told J Street: “I hope very much that President Trump and his political adviser Mr. Bannon understand that the entire world is watching, that it is imperative that their voices be loud and clear in condemning  . ” Thompson posted many harassing messages about his  . “Two wks ago it was a visit from the FBI. Right now the Secret Service. This racist white garbage [omitted] is trash,” read one tweet. “. @SecretService [My  ] has made death threats against Trump. And talked about how she wanted to kill him and his kids. Look at her,” Thompson continued on Twitter, before tweeting at Secret Service that she made threats against the president. “. @SecretService [Omitted] a disgusting nasty racist white woman, who filed a false lie against me, has threatened to kill Trump. ” “The @SecretService visited me looked at my tweets, questioned my politics   some awful white woman I date reported me. I won’t be silenced,” he continued. “Y’all know how to get a social worker in  barred? I’m being stalked and harassed by a white nasty white woman  …     in NYC. ” Thompson also pinned a tweet with a   rant against the victim, adding: “Know any good lawyers? Need to stop this   #whitegirl I dated who sent a bomb threat in my name  wants me to be raped in jail. ” The Twitter account was verified as Thompson’s by the U. S. Attorney’s Office in New York.",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
10325,10326,"EWweblink ) In the years since its 1981 release , Sam Raimi ' s cabin in the woods cheapie "" The Evil Dead "" has been elevated to the realm of myth . You won ' t find many films as near and dear to the hearts of horror nerds .  The legacy isn ' t based on the fact that "" The Evil Dead "" had a great screenplay , because it didn ' t . In fact , the plot is as basic as they come : Five college students drive out to a shack in the middle of nowhere , mess with an old reel to reel tape recorder that plays malevolent incantations , and unleash bloody Lovecraftian hell . The film ' s effects were cut rate even for the early ' 80s , and the acting ( other than a charismatic breakout turn by lantern jawed B movie icon Bruce Campbell ) was amateurish at best .  What made it a fright flick for the ages was its 22 year old wunderkind director ' s dime store ingenuity and gonzo wit . Raimi jerry rigged cameras onto two by fours and whipped them around like Orson Welles on speed . His off kilter angles gave the movie a weird , anxious energy . It was an eye popping debut . . . and a hard act for anyone to follow .  A certain subset of genre purists and Fangoria subscribers already have their knives out for the remake . But they can put them away . The new "" Evil Dead "" is not only made with an affectionate nod and a wink to the 1981 version , it ' s also the bloodiest , goriest , slapstickiest horror movie since , well , "" The Evil Dead . ""  ' American Idol ' exit : ' I want to do so much '  Directed with gutsy promise by newcomer Fede Alvarez ( and produced , and thus blessed , by Raimi and Campbell themselves ) , the update doesn ' t mess with the original ' s bare bones formula too much . It barrels right into the familiar story , placing five old pals in a run down cabin , having them discover an old book filled with demonic illustrations and harrowing warnings , and once again releasing the gruesome genie from the bottle .  Other than "" Suburgatory ' s "" Jane Levy , the cast isn ' t weighed down by too many familiar faces , which seems right since these are pretty much interchangeable folks lining up for the body count . And what a juicy , splattery body count it is . In "" Evil Dead "" , blood sprays in arterial geysers like the fountains outside the Bellagio in Vegas .  One possessed character licks a box cutter , butterflying her tongue in half . Another has rats pouring out of her mouth like clowns piling out of a  Bug . Eyes are stabbed with hypodermic needles , limbs are severed with electric carving knives , and chain saws do what chain saws do . Did I mention it ' s a comedy ?  ' American Idol ' : Singer exiting tonight is . . .  Some will have a hard time seeing it that way , I know . The audience I saw it with screamed , gasped , and buried their faces in their dates ' necks . But horror films and  shows such as The Walking Dead are like a foreign language . Either they speak to you or they don ' t .  The new "" Evil Dead ' s "" delirious gross out scenes spoke to me , and they go further than any mainstream picture I can think of . How a movie this graphic and gooey managed to finagle an R rating is a mystery .  But I ' m not complaining . As a diehard fan of the original and the genre , who am I to look such a wonderfully stomach turning gift horse in the mouth ? B  See the original article at EWweblink .    to Try 2   issues of Entertainment Weekly  2011 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc . All rights reserved .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
10331,10332,"Marc Marquez continued his stunning debut season in motorcycling ' s elite class when he became the first MotoGP rookie to win five races with victory in Sunday ' s Czech Grand Prix .  The 20 year old notched his fourth successive triumph as he extended his world championship lead to 26 points with seven races remaining .  He pegged back world champion Jorge Lorenzo , who had surged into the lead despite starting from fifth on the grid but had to settle for third behind Marquez ' s Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa .  Marquez equaled Valentino Rossi ' s record of 10 podium placings in his rookie season , set back in 2000 , and became the first rider since the Italian in 2008 to win four successive races .  "" Before we came here I didn ' t expect win , because Jorge and Valentino had both tested at Brno recently and Dani is always so fast here and won the race last year , "" Marquez told the MotoGP website .  "" It is a completely different track to those at which we have raced before , and these 25 points feel different to Indianapolis .  "" This was a very hard fought win and I enjoyed myself a lot . The battle with Jorge was really good and we are pleased with the victory . ""  Compatriot Pedrosa earned the 78th podium of his career , putting him equal fourth in the all time standings with four time world champion Eddie Lawson .  "" I am very happy with the result , because after all the problems with my injury and the doubts we ' ve had at the last few races , we took a big step forward with my mental preparation today , "" he said .  Rossi tops that table with 145 podiums , but this time he had to settle for fourth the same result as his previous outing at Indianapolis .  "" Today was better than Indy , especially because my gap to the front is half what it was there , "" the Yamaha rider said . "" The first three guys are impressive , very strong I want to stay closer to them .  "" Unfortunately I was 10 seconds back , another fourth place but I want to be closer , so we have to work . ""  His teammate Lorenzo was left third in the standings , 18 points behind Marquez .  "" The championship is not lost yet but it ' s now getting very difficult . We need just a few tenths to win the race so we have to pray for that at Silverstone , "" the Spaniard said .  "" I think I had my best start in all my career in MotoGP , I took four positions and in the first laps I was really quick . Eventually though I couldn ' t keep the same distance to second place so little by little they caught me . Especially under braking and on the straights they were faster than me so I couldn ' t do much more . ""  Pole sitter Cal Crutchlow of Britain crashed on lap eight when in fourth position , and finished 17th after returning to the track .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
10336,10337,"Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has had little choice in her hopes to siphon voters away from Sen . Bernard Sanders but to hew closely to President Obama s policies , which she helped craft during her time in his administration . ( Associated Press ) more  Hillary Clinton had little choice but to run as President Obama s third term , political analysts said after the Democratic presidential hopeful stepped up her defense of her political opponent turned boss in this weekend s debate .  Hugging tightly to Mr Obama , Mrs Clinton vowed to defend his health care law , praised his handling of foreign affairs and even gave tacit approval to his decision to back away from his red line on Syria s use of chemical weapons .  Her goal , political pros said , is to try to cover her own weaknesses as a candidate by using Mr Obama as a wedge against her chief opponent , Sen . Bernard Sanders .  She is casting herself as the third term because she needs Obama s voters to turn out to vote . She thinks that if she says , I ll be like Obama , and the Republicans can t be trusted , then the majority of the American people will vote for her by default , said Lara Brown , a political science professor at George Washington University . She needs to run this campaign because she can t change her image ? like an incumbent , she is well known , and , like many incumbents , not all that well liked .  For much of the campaign , Mrs Clinton had spoken evasively , appearing to seek areas where she could put distance between herself and the president . And some of those differences remain , including on free trade , where she s said she would reject his Asian deal , and immigration , where she s said he could have gone further in halting deportations .  But on Sunday , as she , Mr Sanders and former Maryland Gov . Martin O Malley squared off in a debate in South Carolina , those differences were forgotten , and Mrs Clinton defended the president s Wall Street reforms and Obamacare . She went so far as to accuse Mr Sanders of threatening to tear up Mr Obama s health law by proposing a single payer system instead .  We ve accomplished so much already . I do not want to see the Republicans repeal it , and I don t want to see us start over again with a contentious debate . I want us to defend and build on the Affordable Care Act and improve it , Mrs Clinton said . That is one of the greatest accomplishments of President Obama , of the Democratic Party and of our country .  Mrs Clinton and Mr Sanders remain in tight races ahead of the Iowa caucuses Feb . 1 and the New Hampshire primary on Feb . 8 . And in a stunning  poll released Tuesday night , Mr Sanders had taken a 27 point lead ? 60 percent to 33 percent ? over Mrs Clinton in New Hampshire .  Nationally , Mrs Clinton has seen her massive lead over Mr Sanders begin to shrink . Mrs Clinton had the support of 52 percent of Democrats and Democratic leaning voters to Mr Sanders 37 percent support in a national Monmouth University poll released Tuesday .  Key pieces of the Obama coalition , including those who identify as liberals and young voters , favor Mr Sanders over Mrs Clinton , according to the Monmouth survey and other recent polls . In a general election , Mrs Clinton surely would need to excite liberals and young voters if she hopes to triumph over the Republican nominee .  But in the primary , Mrs Clinton does benefit from strong support among at least one major component of the Obama coalition : minority voters .  In the Monmouth poll , Mrs Clinton increased her advantage over Mr Sanders among black and Hispanic voters to a 71 percent to 21 percent margin after holding a 61 percent to 18 percent lead last month .  Analysts say that advantage could end up being Mrs Clinton s long term path to victory .  Sanders is aided by the fact that most Super Tuesday contests are open to independent voters ? a group where he performs well . On the other hand , about two thirds of the pledged delegates awarded on March 1 will be from states where black and Latino voters comprise anywhere from one third to a majority of the electorate in a Democratic primary , said Patrick Murray , director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute in West Long Branch , New Jersey .  It looks like the demographic dynamic that hurt Clinton in 2008 may be what helps her in 2016 , Mr Murray said .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
10344,10345,"There were many surprises that came from the Oscar nominations , and one of them was Lady Gaga s nomination . The artist , who s just coming off of her Golden Globe win for American Horror Story , was nominated with songwriter Diane Warren for co writing the survivor anthem Till It Happens To You .  The track was nominated for Best Original Song , which Gaga co wrote with Warren for the 2015 documentary The Hunting Ground . The Hunting Ground focuses on rape on college campuses .  In a statement , Gaga thanked the Academy , but more importantly acknowledged how this track has lent a voice for the victims of rape and other forms of sexual abuse .  This nomination lends a voice to victims and survivors all over the world . Thank you to   for recognizing the movement of people who have come together for this film song in the name of sexual assault .  Til It Happens To You my original score with Diane Warren for The Hunting Ground was nominated for an  ? ? ? ? pic . twitterweblink S7kJZAY6u5  The song first got attention when the video was released online . Lady Gaga is not featured in the video , which tells the story of several different rapes that happen . Shot in black and white , many of the images in the video are disturbing and might trigger victims of abuse , but more importantly , the track itself has acted as a voice of empowerment for those who couldn t tell their stories .  Although Lady Gaga wasn t featured in the video , she sings the raw tune wonderfully . The song helped her to come out with her own story of sexual abuse , which she went through in her teens . As the Inquisitr reported , the Born This Way singer shared her own story in graphic detail .  . ladygaga s Till It Happens To You picked up an Oscar nom for BestOriginalSong today . weblink : t . co SlRnpMbS8d pic . twitterweblink 01jx5709DH  The singer opened up during a TimesTalk panel in New York , where she revealed she hadn t said anything about the attack until then .  I think it was important to everyone that the person singing this song had been abused , or experienced something like that so it was authentic . I didn t tell anyone for I think seven years about the rape . I didn t know how to think about it .  I didn t know how to accept it . I didn t know how to not blame myself or think it was my fault . It s something that really changed my life . It changed who I was , completely . It changed my body , it changed my thoughts .  The singer continued , For many people , it has almost like trauma , where you re experience it through the years after it . It can trigger patterns in your body of physical distress . So a lot of people suffer not just emotional and mental pain , but physical pain as a result of being abused , raped or traumatized in some way .  Lady Gaga has scored an Oscar nomination for her song Till It Happens To You ? this is huge ! pic . twitterweblink SeGwuY6DXC  Although it was the first time she had spoken in depth about the rape , Lady Gaga mentioned the year before that she was a victim of rape when she went to speak on The Howard Stern Show .  If Lady Gaga wins the award for Best Original Song , she will join a short list of artists that have won both a Golden Globe and an Academy Award .  Lady Gaga s big moment winning her Golden Globe was overshadowed by the look Leonardo DiCaprio gave her as she passed him on her way to the stage . The singer knocked DiCaprio s elbow off his chair as he was hysterically laughing , about what we don t know , but when that happened , the actor , who also won an award that night , gave her a pretty dismayed look .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
10345,10346,"Kabul , Afghanistan Two Americans and three Afghan soldiers died in a firefight that might have involved insurgent forces , the International Security Assistance Force said Sunday .  One of the U . S . deaths was a soldier the other was a civilian , U . S . officials said .  The coalition first said the clash Saturday was the latest in a spate of insider attacks involving Afghan forces , which have killed more than 50  troops this year .  Later , the coalition called that into question . It appears the clash in Sydabad district might have been provoked by insurgent fire , said Lt . Gen . Adrian Bradshaw , the  deputy commander , at a news conference .  Marine killed in Afghanistan predicted insider attack that lead to his death  The firefight took place at a temporary checkpoint being operated by  troops in Wardak province , west of Kabul . An Afghan National Army , or  unit , was nearby , Bradshaw said .  "" According to  and  reporting , after a short conversation took place between  and  personnel , firing occurred which resulted in the fatal wounding of an  soldier and the death of his civilian colleague . ""  Neither the statement nor Bradshaw indicated who fired the fatal rounds .  Investigators from  and the Afghan army were trying to establish "" whether the initial exchange of fire was provoked by insurgent firing , "" Bradshaw said .  "" That is not clear , "" but "" there is a report of insurgent fire , "" he said .  In its statement ,  called the clash "" tragic . ""  The thoughts and prayers of the president and first lady "" go out to the families of those who sacrifice so much for this country in Afghanistan , including the families of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice , "" said Josh Earnest , a spokesman for President Barack Obama .  Insider attacks by Afghan soldiers and police officers or militants wearing uniforms have been on the rise for months .   : Insurgents in deadly attack in Afghanistan wore U . S . Army uniforms  So called "" green on blue "" attacks have been climbing this year , triggering concerns about the stability of Afghan security forces ahead of planned  withdrawals in 2014 .  "" Green on blue "" refers to a color coding system used by the military , in which blue refers to international troops and green refers to allied Afghan forces .  "" Make no mistake though that these attacks do not diminish in any way the commitment of the president , the commitment of our men and women in uniform , the commitment of our allies to follow through and complete successful transition to Afghanistan by 2014 , "" said Earnest .  The senior combat leader in Afghanistan , Gen . John Allen , said he is "" mad as hell "" about the insider attacks , but he stressed it is important to remember the majority of Afghans are "" with us in this . ""  "" We ' re willing to sacrifice a lot for this campaign , but we ' re not willing to be murdered for it , "" he said during an interview with  ' "" 60 Minutes "" that aired Sunday night .  Afghan President Hamid Karzai also appeared on the show . He described the attacks as "" sad "" and spoke about the security situation .  "" The reason for the  and American intervention in Afghanistan was terrorism . Terrorism has not gone away . It has increased , "" the president said .  "" We must then question how come they ' ve returned . . . . Something must have gone wrong for that to happen . ""   ' s  troops are training Afghan soldiers and police to maintain security in the country ahead of the planned end of allied combat operations .  This month , U . S . troops in Afghanistan were ordered to halt joint operations with local security forces in some areas on account of such attacks .  Opinion : Green on blue attacks show there ' s no easy way out of Afghanistan  Roadside bomb kills 2 in Afghanistan  Afghan troops taking on perilous fight against insurgency  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
10346,10347,"Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Wednesday said a report on the Keystone  pipeline was "" pretty definitive "" in its assessment that it would not affect climate change , an issue President Barack Obama says must be part of the discussion .  The comments by the two leaders came at a news conference following a summit of the leaders of North America , which brought together Harper , Obama and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto in Toluca , Mexico .  The meeting between the two leaders came as the State Department is reviewing whether the proposed pipeline that would carry crude oil from Canada to refineries in Texas would be beneficial to the country .  Obama said the State Department was reviewing the report and that it would be followed by a comment period .  "" We ' ll make a decision at that point , "" he said .  Harper and Obama , who have a good relationship , are deeply divided over the issue . And the division was on display at the summit as the two discussed the differences during the news conference .  "" My views in favor of the project are very well known . His views on the process are also very well known , "" Harper said .  Obama reiterated his position that any impact on climate change caused by the pipeline must be considered .  "" It has to be part of the discussion , "" he said .  The countering statements between Harper and Obama came the same day a Nebraska state judge voided Gov . Dave Heineman ' s approval of the Keystone  pipeline route .  Lancaster County Judge Stephanie Stacy on Wednesday issued a ruling saying the decision on where the oil pipeline should be located needed to be made by the state ' s Public Service Commission .  Stacy called the current law giving the governor approval authority unconstitutional .  The decision can be appealed , but it is if upheld , it would likely delay work on the proposed pipeline .  A senior administration official said the decision may ultimately impact the project , but doesn ' t likely affect its review .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
10353,10354,"A Vikings fan ' s 6 step guide to getting over that horrible defeat  That was brutal , Vikings fans , but there is hope .  I am a Minnesota Vikings fan , which is to say I enjoy torture .  I get angry when I hear other teams ' fans make a compelling case to be the most aggrieved in the league because I want this team to be best at ? something , ? and it isn ' t winning Super Bowls . The Vikings seem to have a unique ability to bounce between periods of utter futility and periods of great teams that find gut wrenching ways to lose in the playoffs , skillfully avoiding Super Bowl wins at every step of the way while also sprinkling in ? one of the worst trades in  history , a fantastically embarrassing boat party and plenty of other off field lunacy .  It happened again Sunday . Another crushing playoff loss , 10 9 at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks in an  Wild Card game . After teasing us all with a dominant defense that held the Seahawks scoreless for three quarters and two minutes , after building a tenuous 9 0 lead on the strength of three oh so solid , oh so straight Blair Walsh field goals , after Bud Grant came out onto the field in a short sleeve shirt , for crying out loud , the Vikings once again had their fans hooked . The script had been flipped there would be no repeat of Seattle ' s 38 7 rout a month ago .  But then this play happened . And then Adrian Peterson fumbled . And then Andrew Sendejo had an interception slip through his fingers . And then Walsh lined up for a 27 yard field goal with so little time left on the clock and oh my word , I still can ' t talk about it . It was simultaneously unbelievable and exactly what was supposed to happen .  It ' s that time of year . Get all the matchups and kickoff times right here  In the end , that game embodied ? every important Vikings game ever . This is a franchise that has seen each of its 28 playoff appearances in 55 years end with a loss . Some of them horrifying . I mean , just look at this list . My hypothetical children will never be allowed to watch a Vikings game .  The Seahawks advance , and the Vikings go home . As hard as it is to say , "" Hey , we ' ll get ' em next year "" for the 55th straight time , here ' s the six step guide to help Vikings fans move on :  1 . Get off the couch and walk around a little , maybe interact with a human  You just have to . Trust me , it helps . Maybe ? go clean the kitchen for your significant other who was nice enough to make you breakfast .  2 . Remind yourself this was supposed to be a blowout  So many people picked the Seahawks to win Sunday that you would ' ve thought Seattle was going up against the college team that calls the same Minneapolis stadium home . As it turns out , a blowout would ' ve been a much better outcome for the entire Vikings fan base , but there ' s no shame in going toe to toe with the two time defending  champions .  The missed kick will get replayed 1 , 000 times . It will get added to the highlights you see when people create retrospectives of this snake bitten franchise . But whether losing that way or losing 78 0 , the end result is the same the team that was expected to lose lost .  From 50 to 1 , we count down to the top moment in Super Bowl history .  3 . Remember the positives of an ultimately very positive season  The Vikings went from 7 9 in Year One under head coach Mike Zimmer and quarterback Teddy Bridgewater to 11 5 and  North champions in Year Two . Beating the Packers at Lambeau Field to win the division might end up a forgotten footnote to the season , but it shouldn ' t . It ' s a huge confidence boost for a Vikings team that talked about taking the next step this season , and it should make the Vikings favorites to repeat next season .  A shiny , new stadium opens up next year . Bridgewater , though still capable of throwing a left handed interception , saw a slight uptick in numbers in his second season . It ' s been awhile since anyone as trust inspiring as Zimmer has handled the headset on the Vikings sideline . The defense is young and tough . Any way you slice it , this team looks built for more success .  5 . Think of all you can do with the free weekends ahead  There must be something around the house that needs doing . A book begging to be read . A good  show to binge watch . I ' m finally going to get around to taking down the Christmas tree myself .  6 . Realize that training camp is not that far away   , let ' s be real . We ' re not doing any housework . Everything gets reset in the summer . It ' ll be here before you know it .  Congrats , Seahawks . Now , if you ' ll excuse me , I ' ll be sick the rest of the evening .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
10365,10366,"host asks Congressman Ted Leiu, a Democrat from California about a House resolution he co-sponsored to address  fake news.  The idea that a member of Congress is trying to legislate what is and is not  fake new  is scary enough, but the congressman then went on to say that the best way to combat  fake news  is to watch MSNBC, because  Trump fears  them  so they must be doing something right.  Leiu then goes on to actually  thank   for  speaking truth to power.  He probably just missed that embarrassing fiasco where serial liar Brian Williams was caught completely fabricating stories and reporting them as facts on  Nightly News, before being moved over to  with more like-minded  fake news  hosts Watch:",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present
10366,10367,"Doting mum Rachel Gage will give her little girl the best present of all the gift of life .  The 25 year old ' s newborn daughter Poppy was diagnosed with a liver disease , which only affects one in every 16 , 000 children , when she was just weeks old .  And after undergoing a life saving operation she may one day still need a liver transplant which the primary school teacher , from Darlington , is ready to give her .  Doting Mum Rachel Gage has vowed that if her daughter Poppy , who suffers from a rare liver condition biliary atresia which causes inflammation of the bile ducts and liver , needs a liver transplant she will donate hers  The condition affects only one in 16 , 000 children and Poppy has already spent stretches of her life in hospital  At just seven weeks old Poppy was diagnosed with biliary atresia , a rare condition in which the bile ducts in the liver become progressively blocked which leads to irreversible liver damage .  And the prognosis is still uncertain , with medics saying there is an 85 per cent chance that Poppy will need a liver transplant in the next two years .  Today , just a month after her operation , her mum Rachel Gage is hoping her own liver will be enough to save Poppy if she needs it .  The primary school teacher , from Darlington , said : ' I would do anything for her and I would give her my liver if I could . '  Poppy was born weighing just over 5lb and Rachel and her partner Dale Thomas , 26 , noticed that her skin was jaundiced .  Following several appointments with GPs , hospital medics made the diagnosis .  Darling Poppy , who was only 5lb at birth , was diagnosed with the disease at just seven weeks old  Rachel and her partner Dale cradle their daughter Poppy who suffers from a rare liver disease  Rachel said : ' I didn ' t have a clue what it was then they started talking about the liver and I just broke down .  ' No words could describe how I felt . We were both hoping it was something different . I just kept telling myself that everything was going to be  . '  In a harrowing moment parents Rachel and Dale kissed their daughter goodbye as they handed her over to surgeons to complete the operation .  The Children ' s Liver Disease Foundation describe bilary atresia , which effects one in every 16 , 000 children , as : ' A condition in which inflammation develops within the bile ducts around the time of birth .  ' The inflammation can occur in any of the bile ducts both inside and outside the liver . This leads to bile duct damage , reducing the flow of bile , which causes scarring of the liver . '  The bile ducts carry bile , which is needed to digest fat in the diet , to the gut .  Symptoms include pale stools , yellowed skin and potentially frequent nosebleeds .  Those who suffer from bilary atresia will generally undergo the Kasai procedure ' where the bile is drained from the liver into the gut .  The reasons for the disease are unknown and even after the Kasai procedure is complete there is still a large risk of further issues such as bloody stools , itching and in some cases failure to thrive .  ' It was awful , ' said Rachel , ' We had to take her down to theatre and then we gave her a kiss goodbye . She ' s our little miracle . '  Poppy , who is now 11 weeks old , is doing well after the surgery to clear the build up of bile from her liver and medics are pleased with her progress .  The family are expected to be told if Poppy needs a liver transplant in the near future .  Meanwhile , Rachel hopes that little Poppy ' s story will raise awareness of the disease .  Doting Dale sat with his daughter Poppy at the hospital after it was discovered that she has biliary atresia  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
10379,10380,"South Korea isn ' t yet known for its sailing prowess , but that may all be about to change .  The America ' s Cup is widely recognized as the holy grail of boating trophies and , for the first time in its 160 year history , a challenge has been accepted from the technologically mighty Asian country .  Team Korea will be known as the "" White Tiger Challenge "" a reference to one of the ancient guardian gods in Korean mythology and will compete in San Francisco for the 2013 title alongside 14 other teams , including the staple powerhouses of France , Italy , New Zealand and the U . S . defenders .  The surprise entry reflects the recent and rapid growth of the sport in a nation known more for its vast ship building yards than its nascent sailing culture .  "" Korea has all the right ingredients to become a great sailing nation , "" said Dong Young Kim , Team Korea ' s founder . "" We have a high tech industry , a reputation for holding world class events and over 2 , 000 kilometers of coastline . ""  The 31 year old , who cut his sailing teeth as a boat builder in New Zealand after graduating from university in the early 2000s , says South Korea ' s sailing aspirations have seemingly come from nowhere .  "" When I started sailing at university , there were literally only a couple of hundred sailors in the whole country , and only one major marina , which was built for the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games , "" he said .  Now , according to Kim , there are seven marinas in South Korea up from just three in 2008 and another 30 or so in the pipeline . So what ' s prompted all this enthusiasm ?  Mark Chi arrived in Korea from the U . S . in 2003 and has since established the Busan Expat Sailing Club . He attributes the growing interest in sailing to government policy .  "" Several years ago , the Korean government chose ' water leisure sports ' as one of the 10 new industries it wishes to develop , "" he explained . "" Since then , many towns along the coast , as well as the capital city of Seoul , have been scrambling to develop the yachting scene in their areas . ""  But there is also another aspect of government policy that Kim believes has played a significant role : increased leisure time .  "" Until quite recently we had a six day week , with many people working on Saturdays , "" said Kim . "" Since the government introduced the five day working week , more people have time to explore new hobbies . ""  Indeed , Kim experienced first hand the untapped national interest in the sport when he founded the Korea Match Cup in 2008 .  "" We had queues literally thousands of meters long ! We had had high hopes but never expected that , "" he said .  According to Kim , a total of 300 , 000 spectators visited the brand new purpose built Jeongok Marina during the five day event in 2008 . The tournament , which was televised around the world , boasts a grand prize of 250 , 000 sailing ' s single biggest prize .  Although widely credited with being the true driving force behind Korea ' s dawning love affair with sailboats , Kim is modest about his ambitions .  "" I don ' t think we have a strong chance to take home the America ' s Cup , "" he admitted . "" I ' m very happy with the team , but we just don ' t have the same experience as the other competitors . ""  However , with the introduction of 45 foot fixed wing sails ( replacing the smaller , soft sails from previous competitions ) , Kim notes that the tournament is likely to be a learning curve for everyone involved .  "" The new style of catamarans should level the playing field , but we still have to be realistic , "" he said . "" I just hope that our example and the continued popularity of the Korea Match Cup will get young people in the country interested . ""  Whatever Korea ' s chances , Chi is just happy his fellow countrymen are starting to realize what he has known for years : Korea ' s natural potential as a top sailing destination .  "" The scenery varies greatly from area to area , "" he said . "" In Seoul and Busan , you have the backdrop of skyscrapers and tall bridges . Further south , you have many green hills and various islands to explore . ""  So , could the South Korean coast really be the next Cote D ' Azure ? Only time will tell .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
10397,10398,"Facebook portrait of Jade Stringer , 14 , from Manchester , who was found hanged by her father David  A schoolgirl who was found hanged in  her bedroom may have been driven to kill herself by bullies jealous of  her popularity and good looks , it emerged yesterday .  Jade Stringer , 14 , died six days after she was found unconscious by her father , David .  Friends say the teenager , who was well liked and attractive , had endured a campaign of bullying over the past few months .  It is understood she may also have  been upset at having her mobile phone confiscated by her family because  they felt she was using it too much .  She was rushed to Fairfield General Hospital on June 10 where she died after almost a week on life support .  Friends of the teenager , who attended Haslingden High School , in nearby Rossendale , Lancashire , claimed she ' d been bullied .  Tributes to Jade left on Twitter and Facebook said she had been a victim of bullying .  One pupil wrote : ' She was being bullied by numerous people . '  Chelsea Lazaruik added : ' R . I . P jade  stringer you didn ' t deserve to die the way you did bullying is horrible  your was gorgeous in everyway . . Sleep tight xxx . '  ' Gorgeous in every way ' : Jade Stringer died on Saturday six days after being discovered unconscious in her bedroom by her father  Vanessa Nuttall said : ' Why anyone feels the need to bully someone so much is absolutely disgusting . '  It has also been reported she had  clashed with her father after her mobile phone was taken off her .  Police said they were not treating her death as suspicious but were ' reviewing the circumstances ' leading up to the incident .  Popular : Friends of the teenager ( far right ) claimed she had been bullied  Jade , who has a brother Jack , 13 , was discovered in the attic bedroom of the home in Bury by her father nine days ago .  She was put on a life support machine at Fairfield General Hospital in Bury where she died on Saturday afternoon .  A Greater Manchester Police spokesman  said : ' Shortly after 3 . 35pm on Sunday , 10 June , police were called by  paramedics to attend a house in Bolton Road in Hawkshaw , Edenfield ,  following a report a 14 year old girl had been found unconscious .  ' The incident is not being treated as suspicious and we are not searching for anybody else in relation to the incident .  ' However , police are reviewing the circumstances leading up to this incident . '  The latest Ofsted report found Haslingden High to be an ' outstanding school ' .  The report added : ' Surveys of students ' and parents ' opinions continue to support the view that "" the control of bullying "" is one of the school ' s strongest features . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
10398,10399,"Mo . ? ? ? If you were looking for a sign that this Mets ride was headed straight for the Canyon of Heroes , what more did you need than the ? little roller up along first ?  Those were the exact words from Vin Scully , of course , from 29 years ago to describe what happened when a baseball squirted between Bill Buckner ' s legs . Here were the Mets back in the World Series and ? of all the things ? ? they had scored their go ahead run with an error at first .  Wilmer Flores , playing the role of Mookie Wilson , hit the grounder . Eric Hosmer misplayed it for the Kansas City Royals . Juan Lagares scored to put the Mets ahead 4 3 ? in the eighth , and it seemed like a sign from the baseball gods that a world championship was the Mets predetermined destiny . ?  The Royals had their own idea about history and destiny and all that . Alex Gordon ? tied the game with a monster home run off seemingly invincible Mets closer Jeurys Famila in the bottom of the ninth . Then , fittingly , it was Hosmer in the 14th inning ? driving in the winning run with a walk off sacrifice fly in a 5 4 victory . ?  "" Both teams were just relentless , "" Mets captain David Wright said . "" Tonight , they were just a little more relentless . ""  It finally ended after five ? hours and nine ? minutes and proved this beyond any doubt : This is not going to be easy for the Mets . Not anywhere ? close to easy . Epic ? Oh , it certainly could be that , and then some . ?  Because what didn ' t Game 1 have ? Incredible defensive plays . Dramatic home runs . Clutch performances out of the bullpen . Lucky and unlucky bounces . Good and bad managerial moves . And hey , Fox even managed to televise some of it . ?  "" Unfortunately , one team had to lose , "" Mets pitcher Jonathan Niese said . "" Unfortunately , it was us . ""  This was the start ? of what figures to be a long and fascinating series ? between two opponents who have waited an eternity to add something to their trophy cases . Neither franchise has won a world title since the Reagan administration , and both fan bases had reason to believe that , at long last , that was going to change .   : ? Game 2 starter Jacob deGrom says he ' ll cut his hair ? soon  The biggest reason for the Mets ? one of them , at least ? was on the mound for Game 1 . It hasn ' t always been an easy season for Matt Harvey , with the innings limit controversy turning him into a back page pariah . He admitted that it stung him , because he lives for moments like this . ?  He was chosen to set tone for the Mets in this series , and things certainly didn ' t start the way they ? had hoped . Royals leadoff hitter Alcides Escobar drilled his first pitch , and when center fielder Yoenis Cespedes tried to make a backhanded catch , the ball caromed off his foot and to the wall .  Escobar scored the first World Series inside the park home run since Mule Haas ? ? a Montclair native for you Jersey baseball buffs ? back in 1929 . Kaufman Stadium went bonkers . The Mets trailed this postseason for the first time in 41 innings , and they had their first taste of just how relentless their opponents would be in the coming days .  They would respond . Catcher Travis d ' Arnaud tied the game with an  single in the fourth . Outfielder Curtis Granderson gave the Mets the lead with a solo home run over the left field wall in the fifth , and then a Michael Conforto sacrifice fly made it a two run advantage in the sixth . ?  Royals starter Edinson Volquez had hit a rough patch , but that he was even pitching was a remarkable story . He learned of his father ' s sudden death on his way to the ballpark , according to  , but still took the ball for his team ' s biggest moment of the season .  Harvey , meanwhile , had settled into a groove , retiring 11 straight batters . But this Royals lineup showed its resiliency : An Eric Hosmer sacrifice fly and a two out Mike Moustakas  single tied the game in the bottom of sixth . This team , unlike the Cubs in the  , would not go down ? easy . ?   : Fox loses World Series broadcast due to technical issues ? ? ?  The game went to the bullpens , and this is where the Royals were supposed to have a decided advantage . Then , with two outs in the eighth , Lagares had one of the best at bats of this Mets postseason run . ?  He fouled off pitch after pitch from reliever Kevin Herrera , many of them fastballs in the high 90s , before drilling the ninth pitch into center field for a single . He stole second , bringing up Flores for his big moment .  His chopper to first shouldn ' t have amounted to much . Hosmer , after all , is a two time Golden Glove winning first baseman who had just four errors in the regular season . But right away , it just looked wrong . ?  Hosmer couldn ' t get in front of it , and when the ball bounced into foul territory in left field , it looked like the World Series magic from another generation had followed this team into 2015 . ?  Instead , after five hours and 14 innings , they were looking for their own mojo that carried them to this point . The Mets made it look easy in the  , and now we know it will be anything but easy now . ?  Steve Politi may be reached at ? spoliti njadvancemediaweblink . Follow him on Twitter ? StevePoliti . Find ? Steve on Facebook .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
10404,10405,"Reuters) - U.S. sanctions relief will be on the agenda when the Iranian and U.S. foreign ministers meet on Friday amid Tehran’s complaints it has been slow to benefit from last year’s Iran nuclear deal, the U.S. State Department said. Under the July 14 nuclear deal, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran agreed to restrain its nuclear program in exchange for relief from economic sanctions that had crippled its oil-dependent economy. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif plan to sit down in New York on Friday, their second meeting this week. “I fully expect that they will continue to talk about the sanctions relief process and the degree to which banks, foreign and domestic, as well as institutions, foreign and domestic, are evaluating their options under the JCPOA,” State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters at his daily briefing. Kirby said representatives of the U.S. Treasury Department, which oversees many but not all U.S. sanctions on Iran, would not take part in the meeting, and he played down expectations that the talks would yield any concrete proposals. In addition, Kirby told reporters Washington did not share Tehran’s view that a U.S. Supreme Court decision that almost $2 billion in frozen Iranian assets must be turned over to American families of people killed in the 1983 bombing of a U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Beirut and other attacks constituted “theft.” ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
10408,10409,"A member of the   Oakland Raiders Super Bowl winning team told Breitbart News at the Conservative Political Action Conference that it is time for   to reclaim their traditional conservatism. [“Today’s generation has been trained to think differently from my generation. We would stand for the flag in a heartbeat —  because we realized the opportunities we had,” said Burgess Owens on Thursday.  Owens was an   safety at the University of Miami, who was drafted by the New York Jets in 1973 and played for the Jets until joining the Raiders for their run at Super Bowl XV. Owens was at  to discuss with people his new book “Liberalism or How to Turn Good Men into Whiners, Weenies and Wimps” and attend a book signing. “Today’s generation came from  group —  the  has been talking down our country for the longest time. ” Black Entertainment Television is the top cable channel focused on the   community. Today’s young   have been twisted up by BET, he said. “They tend to be more racist. They tend to be more ” he said. “I was the third black American to be recruited by the University of Miami and I remember going down there —  my goal was not to fail,” he said. “That was really what allowed our community to think,” he said. “We didn’t want to leave our families down. We didn’t want to let our race down. We would work as hard as we could, so we would not fail. ” Owens said that when he was coming of age in the late 1960s, there was always a racial consciousness that was trying to break through and disrupt the traditional ways of life. In those times in his hometown of Tallahassee, Florida, the black community was stronger than most other communities, black or white, he said. “The community as that time was totally committed to the family,” he said. “We had the highest percentage of men committed to marriage. We had the fastest growing   in the country. ” Conservatism, with its emphasis on work, entrepreneurship, and faith traditions, is a natural fit for   but somehow the narrative got switched up. Owens said he wrote his book because   politics and policies have destroyed thriving black communities, but no one else seemed to want to talk about it. “Back in 1910, the NAACP, started by 21 white Marxist, socialist, atheist Democrats, began to intertwine the thought of liberalism into my community,” he said. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is the most prominent of the civil rights organizations. “We started to pull away from the pillars that always made our country great and towards being and feeling like victims,” he said. “They taught our race that the real value was in being with the white race, instead of what we were doing at the time,” the father of six said. “I would say to a young   man: Recognize who you are, let’s  . Take the rolls you are supposed to take. Take care of your family. Respect women —  big time —  and we will be a great country again,” he said. His message to white Americans: “Don’t apologize anymore for who they are. We have a great society with great ancestors, who did their best. ”",true,news,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
10414,10415,"Bartow , Florida After more than three decades in prison , a Florida man was set free Thursday after a  test showed he did not kidnap and rape a 9 year old boy in 1974 .  "" I ' m not angry , "" James Bain , 54 , told reporters after a brief hearing in Bartow , Florida .  Bain was 19 when he was convicted on charges of kidnapping , burglary and strong arm rape . He received a life sentence . He ' s going home for the first time in 35 years .  "" I got God in my head , "" said Bain , surrounded by supporters and wearing a T shirt with "" Not Guilty "" across the front . "" I knew one day he will reveal me . ""  Of the 245 people in the United States whom  testing has exonerated , none has spent more time behind bars than Bain , according to the Innocence Project , a national organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted people through such testing .  In 2001 , Florida passed a statute allowing cases to be reopened for  testing . Bain submitted handwritten motions four times seeking such testing but was denied each time . His fifth attempt was successful after an appeals court ruled he was entitled to a hearing .  Bain initially was expected to be freed with some conditions as the state wanted a further review of  test results . But the review was completed ahead of Thursday ' s hearing .  Polk County State Attorney Jerry Hill told the judge that  testing had excluded Bain from the crime .  "" He ' s just not connected with this particular incident , "" Hill said .  "" Mr Bain , I ' m now signing the order , sir , "" the judge said , referring to an order vacating the judgment and sentence .  "" You are a free man . Congratulations , "" he said , and the courtroom erupted into applause .  In 1974 , the 9 year old Lake Wales , Florida , victim had told police that his attacker had bushy sideburns and a mustache . After being shown five photos of potential suspects , the victim picked out one of Bain , the police report said .  The victim , now 44 , lives in Florida and was made aware of Bain ' s situation , according to multiple sources .  Speaking to reporters Thursday , Bain said he was going home with family . "" I ' m going to see my mom , "" he said .  His mother , Sarah Reed , has been in and out of hospitals in recent years . She said she is putting her house and her car in her son ' s name . "" I want him to have something by himself . He ' s suffered enough , "" she said .  Asked about prison , Bain said , "" So many things can happen to you at any time . "" But now , "" I guess I kind of feel like when they first landed on the moon . We have touchdown , "" he said , laughing .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
10424,10425,"Medal of Honor recipient @Dakota_Meyer asking you to stand up against those who disrespect the flag #NeverOutgunned weblink   & Friends (@foxandfriends) May 5, 2015  ",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present
10437,10438,"nominations announced The Martian , Jennifer Lawrence snubbed  Jennifer Lawrence was snubbed at the  Awards .  The Screen Actors Guild (  ) nominations were announced on Wednesday with Trumbo starring Bryan Cranston leading the pack , hinting at possible Oscar contenders . Front runners like Matt Damon s The Martian and David O Russell s Joy were snubbed .  Trumbo , about a group of screenwriters and directors shunned for their associations to the Communist Party , earned three nominations , including the guild s top prize for best ensemble cast .  Other nominees for best ensemble include Netflix African war drama Beasts of No Nation , Wall Street comedy The Big Short , Catholic Church abuse probe Spotlight and rap movie Straight Outta Compton .  This photo provided by Focus Features shows , Eddie Redmayne as Einar Wegener , in Tom Hooper s The Danish Girl . (  )  Adam McKay , director of The Big Short said he was impressed by the range of topics covered by the nominations .  You re talking about the advent of hip hop , child soldiers , the sex scandal in Catholic church and malfeasance in Wall Street I m pretty proud of that for Hollywood , he told Reuters .  This photo provided by Open Road Films shows , Michael Keaton , from left , as Walter "" Robby "" Robinson , Liev Schreiber as Marty Baron , Mark Ruffalo as Michael Rezendes , Rachel McAdams , as Sacha Pfeiffer , John Slattery as Ben Bradlee Jr . , and Brian d Arcy James as Matt Carroll , in a scene from the film , Spotlight . (  )  The top winners at the  awards , chosen by more than 100 , 000 actors , often go on to win Oscars . The list was announced a day ahead of Thursday s Golden Globe nominations and January s nominations for the Oscars .  Trumbo star Bryan Cranston earned a best actor nod for his role as Dalton Trumbo , while Helen Mirren got a best supporting actress nomination for playing gossip columnist Hedda Hopper . Mirren was also nominated for best actress for Woman in Gold .  Other lead movie actors nods went to Johnny Depp for Black Mass , Leonardo DiCaprio for The Revenant , Michael Fassbender for Steve Jobs and Eddie Redmayne for playing a transgender pioneer in The Danish Girl .  Among the women , Cate Blanchett was nominated for the lesbian drama Carol , Brie Larson for psychological thriller Room , Saoirse Ronan for Irish immigrant tale Brooklyn and Sarah Silverman for I Smile Back .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
10464,10465,"Every morning Kong Kit Tam goes on a 7 a . m . walk around his neighborhood not for exercise , but for money .  Tam is a paper scavenger . His currency is waste paper . For the past three years , he has dug into dirty garbage cans to pull out old newsprint and has shuffled through dimly lit back alleys to haul out used cardboard boxes . An empty carton of Marlboro cigarettes , a torn envelope for an electricity bill and a pink pastry box get stuffed into his shoulder bag today . He sells it all to a recycler for money .  "" Each month I might earn 100 or 200 or 300 Hong Kong dollars , "" Tam says . That ' s 12 to 36 U . S . dollars and is his only source of income . The short , rumpled 50 year old talks through a slight smile but his circumstances are no joke .  "" I never thought that I would be doing this , "" Tam admits . "" I do it to survive , it ' s my livelihood . ""  Tam ' s life stands in stark contrast to a Hong Kong more famous for its iconic skyline and glitzy high life as an Asian hub for global financial firms . A Hong Kong government report released last month revealed that the city ' s wealth gap is the widest in the developed world . Tam is a prime example of that other extreme . And he is not the only one .  "" There are an estimated 10 , 000 people who are recycling scavengers in Hong Kong , "" says Sze Lai Shan , a well known local rights activist and social worker for Hong Kong ' s Society for Community Organization , or  .  But paper scavengers like Tam are making much less money today than last year . The reason is thousands of miles away , says Jacky Lau , president of one of Hong Kong ' s oldest recycling companies .  "" Europe is facing many economic problems and this has translated to fewer manufacturing orders for clothes and toys in China , "" explains Lau . "" Fewer orders mean a slowing demand for paper boxes , so prices have fallen dramatically . ""  Standing among bales of crushed plastic bottles and piles of books waiting to be recycled , Lau says that one kilogram of waste paper would have gotten about 18 cents this time last year . Today , that value has been halved .  Adam Minter , who runs the China based blog Shanghai Scrap , says the recycling industry as a whole is one of the first to experience a slowdown in the event of a global economic slump .  "" The street prices for scrap metal are down along the east coast of China down 50 from highs of about 6 months ago . They ' re very sensitive to demand for raw materials . ""  And the paper industry can be even more delicate . "" Paper might be the most consumer sensitive of all because it ' s used in packaging and packaging is used for everything , "" said Minter , who has just finished writing a book about the globalization of the waste and recycling industry .  And Hong Kong waste recovery companies are feeling the pinch because 98 of Hong Kong ' s recovered paper goes to be recycled in China , says Lau . He adds several of the city ' s 400 firms have already closed down . And he ' s not optimistic the economy will make a comeback this year .  "" July is when prices should start to pick up . Retailers in Europe and the U . S . should be placing their Christmas orders right now but business has remained relatively quiet . The second half of this year is looking rather grim . ""  Lau said he earned up to 400 , 000 last year . This year , he expects to just break even .  As for Tam , his hope is just a dollar a day . Like Lau , he is equally uncertain about the future .  Back at his tiny 9th story walk up , entirely subsidized by the government , Tam stashes his paper trash in a corner under a table until he makes his weekly trek to the recycler . The money he makes mostly goes to food for himself , his disabled 32 year old wife and his 10 year old daughter .  Tam , who moved to Hong Kong from Guangdong province three years ago , explains that is the only thing he can do for money . He never went to high school and only did four years of elementary school two years at each level because of his mental disability .  "" I ' m not sure about next year . Prices might rise or fall . It ' s like buying shares , you never know whether they are going to rise or fall . ""  And so Tam ' s only hedge is to keep scavenging for even more paper , shuffling along the city ' s streets and hoping that prices rise again .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
10466,10467,"A tanker loaded with 100 million of crude oil that has been at the center of a dispute over Iraq ' s oil billions vanished off the coast of Texas on Thursday .  The Kurdish tanker disappeared from Coast Guard radar screens following a month of legal wrangling over whether it can offload its cargo in the U . S .  As the disintegration of Iraq amid mounting violence continues , the semi autonomous regime in Kurdistan in the north of Iraq is trying to cash in on Iraq ' s oil reserves and export its own crude .  Oil tanker United Kalavyrta ( also known as the United Kalavrvta ) , which is carrying a cargo of Kurdish crude oil , approaching Galveston , Texas on July 25 . The boat has since disappeared from Coast Guard radar  A still image from video taken by a U . S . Coast Guard  144 Ocean Sentry aircraft shows the oil tanker United Kalavyrta sitting in the Gulf of Mexico  Iraqi Kurdistan has exported at least eight million barrels of oil since May , energy experts told Al Arabiya News .  But the increasingly weak regime in Baghdad is trying to keep control of its oil billions and says the Kurdish regime cannot sell the oil in the U . S .  The U . S . Coast Guard ' s  ship tracking system showed no position for the United Kalavrvta on Thursday , which was carrying one million barrels and was 95 per cent when it went dark .  The tanker was attempting to unload its cargo at sea , off the coast of Texas , after leaving the Turkish port of Ceyhan in June and anchoring near the U . S . port of Galveston in late July .  The U . S . Coastguard confirmed to MailOnline today that the last contact the agency had with the United Kalavyrta was when the ship ' s certificate of compliance was completed on July 27 .  The vessel ' s disappearance is now thought to be the latest development in a high stakes dispute between Baghdad and the Kurds over the right to export oil .  Several other tankers transporting disputed oil from Iran or Kurdistan have switched off their transponders before unloading their cargo making their movements extremely difficult to track .  A Coast Guard official told MailOnline today that the vessel might have turned off its beacon in the Gulf of Mexico , which it is not supposed to do .  The official also said it was possible the ship had traveled outside the range of the U . S . Coastguard antennas which would account for it vanishing from the  ship tracking system .  Legal dispute : The vessel ' s disappearance is thought to be the latest development in a high stakes argument between Baghdad and the Kurds over the right to export oil  Earlier this year , cutbacks in spending at the U . S . Coastguard have meant that longer range antennas in the Gulf of Mexico have been gradually shutting down , the official said , making it harder to track ships that move further away from the shore .  U . S . Coastguard also told MailOnline on Friday that it had no plans to search areas of the Gulf where the ship had been anchored .  The tanker Kamari , which had been carrying a partial load of crude oil from Iraqi Kurdistan turned off its satellite transponder on August 17 , north of Egypt ' s Sinai .  It reappeared unladen on August 19 about 30 kilometers off the coast of Israel , ship tracking data on Reuters showed last week .  It was not possible to determine where the oil had been delivered to or who the buyer was .  A spokesman for the Kurdistan Regional Government (  ) Ministry of Natural Resources would not comment on the tanker ' s temporary disappearance at the time .  Reuters reported on July 31 that tanker United Emblem , which was carrying more than 1 million barrels of Kurdish oil , had been offloaded into another tanker in the South China Sea .  A senior executive at Marine Management Services confirmed in July that the ship to ship transfer involving the United Emblem took place in a ' legitimate operation ' .  The ship is ' fixed to a legitimate charterer and performing legitimate operations , ' said Kostas Georgopoulos , the chartering manager at Marine Management Services  ' The ship is still in international waters , ' he added .  The agency has a  144 Ocean Sentry aircraft at its disposal which last took images of the oil tanker United Kalavyrta on July 25 .  Only a few days ago , the partially full Kamari tanker carrying Kurdish crude oil , disappeared from satellite tracking north of Egypt ' s Sinai Peninsula .  Two days later , the empty vessel reappeared near Israel .  In late July , the tanker United Emblem offloaded part of its cargo of Kurdish crude oil onto another ship in the South China Sea .  The evasive behavior is the result of Baghdad wanting to block the Kurds from exporting the oil as they believe they have the exclusive right to do so .  The Iraqi government in Baghdad has filed a lawsuit in a U . S . court to reclaim control of the United Kalavrvta cargo and block the Kurdistan Regional Government (  ) from delivering its cargo .  The suit demonstrates that Baghdad is now stepping up their legal and diplomatic push to block Kurdistan ' s oil deals , which they view as smuggling .  However , the Kurds see such deals as crucial to their own dreams of independence .  On Monday , the U . S . court threw out the order saying it lacked jurisdiction to seize the tanker as it disappeared some 60 miles off their coast .  But the judge invited Iraq to re plead its case over the cargo ' s rightful ownership .  The issue is expected to fuel tensions between Washington and Baghdad , as in theory , Iraq can file claims against anyone taking delivery of the oil .  A Coast Guard official said the vessel in the Gulf of Mexico might have turned off its beacon , sailed beyond antennas that monitor transponders , or perhaps some antennas might have been taken out of service .  However , dozens of vessels were visible on Thursday in the Galveston Offshore Lightering Area , where the Kurdish tanker was last seen .  The United Kalavrvta ' s disappearance is now thought to be the latest development in a high stakes dispute between Baghdad and the Kurds over the right to export oil  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
10481,10482,"Roy Keane is poised to return to the Premier League as Paul Lambert ' s assistant at Aston Villa .  The former Manchester United midfielder turned the job as Celtic manager but is on the brink of a move to Villa Park .  Keane had been expected to be appointed as Neil Lennon ' s successor at Parkhead after talks but the 42 year old instead chose to work with Lambert , as the role would allow to also continue as Martin O ' Neill ' s No 2 with the Republic of Ireland .  Eyes on the ball : After much thought Keane decided not to take the Celtic job and has now left   Multiple roles : It is believed Roy Keane has chosen to take the Aston Villa assistant manager job , as the role would allow him to continue as Martin O ' Neill ' s number two with the Republic of Ireland ( pictured )  Staying put : Keane as decided to remain as Martin O ' Neill ' s No 2 for the Republic of Ireland  Lambert and Keane held talks before Celtic ' s failed attempt to land their former midfielder and he will replace former assistant manager Ian Culverhouse , who was sacked last month .  His new role at Villa Park , where he will try to help the club improve on their miserable 15th place finish last season , may also be able to accommodate his role as  ' s top pundit on Champions League nights .  Reports in Ireland have stated Keane had a formal offer in front of him from the Scottish champions but a source close to Celtic claimed : ' Roy was not offered the job no one has been offered it yet . But he has ruled himself out and asked not to be considered for the position . '  New era : Ian Culverhouse ( right ) was sacked by Villa after an incident that took place in April  Helping out : Shay Given ( left ) was promoted to a coaching role during Culverhouse ' s suspension  The  then released a short statement confirming Keane would remain with them after the recent frenzy of speculation over his future .  It read : ' The Football Association of Ireland today confirmed that Roy Keane will travel with the Republic of Ireland squad to the  after he decided not to pursue the informal talks that took place with Celtic any further . '  Former West Bromwich Albion manager Steve Clarke is now the favourite for the Celtic job .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
10482,10483,"The offense has hummed early and bogged down in the second half  The pattern started with the Chiefs opener at Houston , their playoff opponent  Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith talked with the media prior to the start of practice on Tuesday in preparation for their playoff game against the Houston Texans . Joe Ledford jledford kcstarweblink  Behind quarterback Alex Smith the last four games , the Chiefs offensive production has dropped by about one half after the second quarter . They ve averaged 198 yards and 11 . 5 first downs in the first half , 100 yards and 6 . 5 first downs in the second half . John Sleezer jsleezer kcstarweblink  If a regular season game can serve as a microcosm for the Chiefs and quarterback Alex Smith , it s their season opener , which was against the same Houston Texans squad that the Chiefs face Saturday in the playoffs .  Remember Week 1 ? The Chiefs pumped up the volume with Smith touchdown passes on their first two possessions and a third score before halftime as the Chiefs built a huge lead .  But the second half became a whisper on the offensive side by comparison . The Chiefs didn t score and had to recover an onside kick to preserve a seven point victory .  The game revealed the potential and the limits of the Chiefs offense and Smith . When they re good , the Chiefs seem unstoppable . But in more times than might be expected from a team that s carrying a 10 game winning streak into a road playoff game they re favored to win , the Chiefs wound up fighting to the bitter end because they couldn t come up with enough firepower in the second half .  As a pattern , Smith and the Chiefs prefer the snowflake analogy . No game is the same .  Every one of these games is a different challenge , Smith said .  But so many of them have looked , or at least unfolded , in similar fashion recently .  In their final three home games , the Chiefs constructed double digit leads in the first half , and in each case the Chargers , Browns and Raiders had the final possession and trailed by seven points or fewer . Comfort became discomfort and the Chiefs found themselves playing to run out the clock .  Kansas City Chiefs head football coach Andy Reid talked during a press conference on Monday about the win over the Oakland Raiders and about the upcoming playoff game against the Houston Texans .  Over the last four games , including a victory at Baltimore , the Chiefs offensive production has dropped by about one half after the second quarter .  They ve averaged 198 yards and 11 . 5 first downs in the first half , 100 yards and 6 . 5 first downs in the second half .  Smith s touchdown pass to tight end Demetrius Harris in the third quarter against the Raiders was the first second half offensive touchdown in those four games .  Each game brought different circumstances . For instance , the Chiefs had the ball for only eight minutes and ran 17 plays in the second half against the Browns .  But even coach Andy Reid said the Chiefs were putting an emphasis on being better in the second half , and earlier this week brought up his team s second half goose egg at Houston in September .  Is it just as simple as Smith executing an aggressive and clever scheme early to grab a lead and the Chiefs downshifting to a conservative gear ? Offensive coordinator Doug Pederson said before the Raiders game that wasn t the case .  I don t feel like we re pulling off as much as we just have to focus a little better , he said .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,present
10494,10495,"France s far right National Front (  ) saw record gains in the first round of regional polls Sunday , held under a state of emergency just three weeks after Islamic extremists killed 130 people in Paris .  Despite the strong result , it faces an uphill battle to clinch a run off vote next week after Socialists withdrew candidates in an attempt to block it from power .  The  came first with around 28 of the vote nationwide and topped the list in at least six of 13 regions , according to final estimates from the interior ministry .   leader Marine Le Pen and her 25 year old niece Marion Marechal Le Pen broke the symbolic 40 mark in their respective regions , shattering previous records for the party as they tapped into voter anger over a stagnant economy and security fears linked to Europe s refugee crisis .  Marine Le Pen , a lawyer by training , welcomed the magnificent result , saying it proved the  was without contest the first party of France .  A grouping of right wing parties took 27 , the official estimates showed , while the ruling Socialist Party and its allies took 23 . 5 .  The polls were held under tight security following France s worst ever terror attacks , which have thrust the  s anti immigration and often Islamophobic message to the fore .  Around half the 45 million registered voters took part in the polls .  Any party which secures 10 backing in the first round has the right to present candidates in the second round , due next Sunday .  Final estimates showed 47 year old Le Pen taking a whopping 40 . 5 of the vote in the economically depressed northern region of Nord Pas de Calais Picardie , once a bastion of the left .  Marechal Le Pen did equally well in the vast southeastern Provence Alpes Cote d Azur , known for its glamorous beaches and stunning countryside .  The far right success triggered an immediate debate among the mainstream parties as to whether , in regions where they trailed third , they should urge voters to back the candidate opposing the  .  Socialist leader Jean Christophe Cambadelis said his party would withdraw from the second round in the regions Le Pen and her niece were leading in order to block the  .  But former conservative president Nicolas Sarkozy , head of The Republicans , which leads the right wing grouping , repeated his refusal to do the same in key polls where the Socialists were the strongest opposition .  We must hear and understand the profound exasperation of the French people , he said .  Le Pen said she was not worried by Socialist plans to withdraw but acknowledged that things will obviously be a bit less straightforward .  Right wing daily Le Figaro and communist L Humanite both went with Le Choc ( Shock ) after the result on their Monday front page , while left wing newspaper Liberation warned : It s coming .  Le Parisien carried a poll predicting that , faced with a straight choice in the second round between an  and a right wing candidate , 59 would vote for the conservative and 41 for the far right party .  President Francois Hollande has seen his personal ratings surge as a result of his hardline approach since the November 13 attacks in Paris .  But his Socialist Party has languished behind the  and the centre right Republicans .  The  s anti  and anti immigrant narrative has been a lightning rod for many French who have lost faith in mainstream parties after years of double digit unemployment and a sense of deepening inequality .  Victories next week would not only hand control of a regional government to the  for the first time , but would also give Le Pen a springboard for her presidential bid in 2017 .  She has strived to de demonise the party since taking over the reins in 2011 , distancing herself from the more overt racism of her father , Jean Marie Le Pen this year going as far as to boot him out of the party he co founded .  The  s repeated linking of immigration with terrorism has also helped it climb in the polls since the gun and suicide bombing assaults in Paris .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
10521,10522,"revealed : Pact details ignite debate over privacy , internet freedom , whistleblowers  U . S . President Barack Obama . ? ? Jim Young Reuters  With the release of the full text of the Trans Pacific Partnership (  ) , a sharpening of arguments on both sides outline a debate about privacy , corporatism , internet freedom and intellectual property , and even the plight of whistleblowers .  The world got its first look at the international agreement between 12 Pacific Rim countries on Thursday , exactly one month after it was finalized on October 5 . Given that the secret negotiations hammering out the pact had been ongoing since 2008 , with details hard to come by , skeptics and critics had been expressing suspicions as to  s true intentions and ultimate impact over the past couple years . Now they can finally stop speculating and have a look at the fine print .  While some politicians are refraining from commentary , activists are capitalizing on the release . After summarizing its chapters , the Electronic Frontier Foundation (  ) concluded on its website that  upholds corporate rights and interests at the direct expense of all of our digital rights .  Advocates for privacy and internet freedom took issue with provisions in the agreement that require real names and addresses associated with internet domains such as . us , . ca , or . au to be registered with the home government .  This is dangerous especially for the ability of opposition groups in repressive countries to voice their concerns online without fear of violent retribution , Fight For the Future (  ) wrote on its website .   revealed : Winners and losers in the largest free trade deal  weblink : t . co XzceeucZ3n SimoneReports  Additionally , the agreement requires internet service providers to help take down websites that are violating copyright laws , but does not allow the websites to dispute copyright accusations . This potentially opens the door to service providers taking down websites in one country over copyright accusations from a company based in another nation .  The pact also criminalizes the unauthorized and willful disclosure of a trade secret including via a computer system . According to  , this is a clear effort to discourage whistleblowers and journalists from exposing sensitive issues .  Intellectual property protections in the agreement include biologic drugs ? advanced and expensive drugs to manufacture . All countries in the  would have to enforce five to eight year minimums of exclusivity , preventing other companies from making cheaper generic forms called biosimilars . The United States protects exclusivity rights for 12 years . Critics say this would drive up the cost of life saving medicines for developing countries .  Another concern related to intellectual property is the investor state dispute settlement (  ) process , which  opposes on principle as an anti democratic system . Corporations can sue governments under the system if a country s policies are perceived as cutting in on intellectual property values and profits .  No matter what else is in the Trans Pacific Partnership , this section makes it bad for people everywhere ,  wrote .  Clinton breaks with Obama , opposes  ' fast track ' authority as bill heads to Senate http : t . co MXUclp7Gp8 pic . twitterweblink Mr6jLs0vRJ  The International Business Times reported that the  actually agreed to place restrictions on how corporations can sue foreign governments , but activists argue the changes are not significant enough .  Evan Greer , campaign director of  , told Free Speech Radio News Particularly , the intellectual property chapter reads like a laundry list of demands from unpopular industries where they re pushing for policies that they know that they could never get through if it were done through traditional political means or in the light of day .  Greer also said the intellectual property provisions benefit copyright holders in ways that could lead to widespread internet censorship . It s very similar in scope to the very unpopular legislation ,  , that was resoundingly rejected several years ago .  Protests against  are scheduled for November 16 and 17 at the Capitol building in Washington ,  .  The  s stated goal is to promote economic growth support the creation and retention of jobs enhance innovation , productivity and competitiveness raise living standards reduce poverty in our countries and promote transparency , good governance , and enhanced labor and environmental protections .  The people and governments of Australia , Brunei , Canada , Chile , Japan , Malaysia , Mexico , New Zealand , Peru , Singapore , the United States and Vietnam now have the opportunity to judge whether the trade deal will be successful and come into force .  It s worse than we thought , Public Citizen s Global Trade Watch Director Lori Wallach said in a media conference call . There are improvements , but we do not believe those improvements are significant or meaningful for workers , the   s trade and globalization policy specialist , Celeste Drake , said during the same call .   President Barack Obama has defended the pact , however .  I know that past trade agreements haven t always lived up to the hype . That s what makes this trade agreement so different , and so important , he wrote in an online op ed . The  means that America will write the rules of the road in the 21st century .  If we don t pass this agreement ? if America doesn t write those rules ? then countries like China will .  In accordance with the Trade Priorities Act of 2015 , or fast track , Obama notified Congress of his intention to sign the  on Thursday . He must wait 90 days to do so before sending it to Congress for final approval .  House of Representatives Speaker Representative Paul Ryan ( R Wisconsin ) was a strong advocate for the fast track process signed into law by Obama in June , which leaves Congress with no power to amend the  , but Ryan did not stake out a position either way on  Thursday , saying he needs to read it first .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,US elections,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
10532,10533,"After spending hours on Pinterest , combing through scores of gorgeous decor photos , do you ever look at your kitchen and hear the "" Wah , wah , waaaaaaah "" of a sad trombone ?  Kitchens don ' t work like other rooms , say decorators , and it ' s not always obvious how to decorate them . Instead of four blank walls to adorn , there are cabinet doors , appliances and counter tops , which can leave you feeling a little boxed in .  "" When we purchased our home we were stuck with a lot of light maple cabinets . Good storage , yes , but all I saw were square lines , "" said Holly Modica , the decorating blogger behind "" House by Holly . ""  One way to deal with a grid of cabinet doors is a rigorous renovation , but not everyone has the budget for knocking down walls or installing custom cabinetry . Modica took a minimizing approach to her kitchen .  "" The focus became how to soften the cabinets and add texture , "" she said . She collected soup tureens , baskets and weathered furniture from tag sales , made burlap shades for her chandelier and replaced only the backsplash .  "" Now I barely notice the cabinets I once loathed , "" she said , because now the kitchen is stocked with decorative items she enjoys seeing every day .  "" You have to look at decorating your kitchen in a different way , "" said "" Chic on a Shoestring "" decorator Kate Connor . "" It ' s not harder , just different . The color of your cabinets , the hardware of the cabinets , your backsplash and countertops all make up the decor in your kitchen , whether you like them or not . ""  "" People don ' t think of these things as decor , but they set the tone of the whole room . If they are outdated it can be difficult to decorate around them , "" she said .  Simple paint created Layla Palmer ' s favorite kitchen feature , two toned cabinets . She applied mourning dove gray paint to the bottom cabinets of the kitchen in her last home , and alabaster white to the top . She also employed chalkboard paint and a painted beadboard backsplash to create the cottage look she loves .  "" We made inexpensive cosmetic changes and all of them are easy to change if the new homeowner ever decides to do so , "" she said , like adding pine boards and crown molding to make their off the shelf cabinets look taller .  And who ' s to say you have to keep the cabinet doors as is ?  "" Sometimes people hesitate using glass doors on cabinets because they want to hide all their mess or they don ' t know how to beautifully style them with just simple stemware , "" said decorator Rina Norwood of Cornelius , North Carolina . Modica , too , uses open cabinets as part of her decor scheme .  "" I like to display my pretty things , but keep my countertops clear , "" she said .  The builder basic kitchens found in many homes can be a source of design frustration . The solution , say decorators , is to think "" timeless "" when approaching the most noticeable aspects of the kitchen .  "" I chose to stay within a very neutral zone , colorwise , to keep it from becoming outdated . Keeping the cabinets white with a black counter top gives our kitchen a very classic , timeless look , "" said Carmel Phillips of Lexington , Kentucky . Updating the hardware , too , can be an inexpensive and effective update to plain old cabinets .  "" There is something so timeless , classic , bright and elegant about a white kitchen , "" said "" Cuckoo 4 Design "" blogger Julia Konya .  But you don ' t necessarily have to erase the dated features of the room . Sometimes , as in Sandra Kent ' s case , they can end up lending a very specific feeling to a kitchen .  "" Cabinets say a lot of the time period , "" said Kent , from Dallas . "" My mother has adorable maple cabinets built in the ' 50s and I think they make the kitchen . Our home has solid oak from the ' 80s and I think it represents a period of stability . ""  However , when it comes to investing in the kitchen , the practical and decorative choice is countertops .  "" The decor feature that stands out the most in our kitchen , and I would have to say in most kitchens , are the countertops . They are a splurge that was well worth it and they make a huge difference , "" said Konya . "" I first wanted to go with Carrara marble , but we are a very active family and I wanted something more durable . That ' s why I decided on highly durable and strong quartz . ""  Kitchens take a beating , and countertops , floors and appliances need to be strong enough to stand the test of countless dinners and holiday feasts . At the same time , there ' s got to be a cozy , comfortable feel in the room , because it ' s the place where family and guests are bound to congregate , said Connor .  Aside from plenty of comfortable seating , she thinks lighting is key .  "" People are afraid to use lamps in a kitchen , but they really can amp up the coziness of the room . A small lamp near the sink or under the cabinets adds a nice warmth to a room that you can ' t get from overhead , "" Connor said . She finds the lamps she put on the buffet table in her kitchen were an easy decorating opportunity that ratcheted up the comfort level .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
10551,10552,"Frank Warren has revealed he has hit a wall of silence in efforts to make a world title fight between Tyson Fury and Wladimir Klitschko , with Fury all but giving up hope that the bout will happen .  The veteran promoter has written to Klitschko ' s representatives to make a fight in March between the Ukrainian world champion and Fury , the mandatory challenger for his  world title .  But there has been no reply to the email and Warren confirmed there have been no positive indications that the younger Klitschko will fight Fury .   Scroll down to watch Tyson Fury : I ' m convinced Wladimir Klitschko won ' t fight me  Tyson Fury , who destroyed Dereck Chisora , may not get his chance to fight Wladimir Klitschko  Frank Warren and Fury were at the Landmark Hotel in London to promote his next fight on February 28  Klitschko is scheduled to fight in March and will then have to fight Fury or vacate the  portion of his collection of world titles .  Warren said : ' We wrote to klitschko ' s people , "" Why don ' t we cut to chase and do the fight in March ? "" They have not even responded to say "" s off "" or "" not interested "" .  ' I ' ve heard nothing at all . The fight will be mandated by the  after his next fight . They will then have to sit down with us . '  Should Klitschko vacate it will validate a prediction unbeaten Fury made three years ago .  Warren said he had written to Wladimir Klitschko ' s representatives but not heard anything back  He extended his record to 23 wins from 23 fights against Dereck Chisora last month and is due to fight again on February 28 at the O2 Arena a card that will also feature Chris Eubank Jnr .  But his target is Klitschko , though he doesn ' t believe the fight will happen .  ' I have said for three years that I don ' t think he will ever fight me , ' Fury said . ' That is my opinion . I can ' t see that happening . I would like to fight for the title and take it off him rather than fighting for a vacant title .  ' It is  ( Klitschko ) fighting bums , but a guy who can change tempo and style ? That is different . I don ' t think he is ready for that . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
10571,10572,"Turkish troops patrol near the border with Iraq during the February offensive .  Jabbar Yawer , spokesman for Iraq ' s Kurdish Regional Government security forces , said at least 16 rounds were fired on Dashti Barzji an uninhabited area in Iraq ' s Irbil province located about 12 miles from Iraq ' s border . Irbil is one of the three provinces compromising Iraq ' s Kurdish region .  The Turkish military in Ankara had no immediate comment about the report .  Yawer said Turkish helicopters were seen in the area during the strike but said that the choppers were not involved in the attack .  The border conflict has wider implications for the Middle East and Asia , with the United States concerned that prolonged cross border fighting would serve to destabilize the region , where Kurdish separatists pose challenges to power in Iran and Syria , as well as Turkey and Iraq .  The Turkish military for months has been conducting cross border airstrikes and artillery fire in northern Iraq against members of the Kurdistan Workers ' Party , or  militants who have been launching attacks against Turkey from bases in northern Iraq .  Turkish troops launched a ground offensive on the evening of Feb . 21 "" to prevent the region from being used as a safe haven by the terrorists and to contribute to the internal peace and stability of Iraq in the long run . ""  It was the first significant Turkish ground offensive into Iraq since the 2003 overthrow of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein , and it ended after Iraqi and U . S . officials urged Turkey to make the foray as brief as possible .  A total of 240 rebels , 24 troops , and three village guards were killed , the Turkish military said .  The  has spent two decades fighting for autonomy for Kurds in southeastern Turkey , with some of its attacks launched from inside northern Iraq . Turks regard the  militants as terrorists and point to indiscriminate  attacks against civilians as well as police and military targets over the years .  The United States and the European Union also label the  a terrorist organization . U . S . officials have shared intelligence with Turkey .  The Iraqi government opposes the  presence , but it views the Turkish military incursion as a violation of its sovereignty . E mail to a friend  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
10581,10582,"Today reports:  Aoun, 81, is an ally of Hezbollah, the Shiite militia and political party backed by Iran that has helped Syrian President Bashar Assad survive a five-year civil war on Lebanon’s border.  The vote for Aoun, by 83 of parliament’s 127 members, shows Iran-backed political factions shouldered past those aligned with Saudi Arabia, replacing Syria as Lebanon’s chief foreign power broker.  Aoun’s “victory now is a victory for Hezbollah and that alliance, and certainly a kind of black eye for Saudi Arabia,” said Paul Salem, vice president for policy and research at the Middle East Institute, a think tank in Washington, D.C.  Saad Hariri, a pro-Western and Saudi-oriented politician, formally endorsed Aoun last week after failing to garner enough support for the presidency. In return, Aoun is expected to appoint Hariri prime minister.  “It’s a power-sharing system,” Salem said. “In a way, the status quo will continue.”  U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby congratulated Lebanon on the election results.  “This is a moment of opportunity, as Lebanon emerges from years of political impasse, to restore government functions and build a more stable and prosperous future for all Lebanese citizens,” he said in a statement.  Asked later about Aoun’s support from Hezbollah, which the State Department has designated a terrorist organization, Kirby said: “Let’ see what decisions he makes, what kind of leadership he exudes as president.”  The U.S. routinely assesses its foreign assistance programs “and we will do that with Lebanon going forward,” Kirby said at a press briefing.  Aoun’s election drew immediate praise from a top adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei.  The adviser, Ali Akbar Velayati, described the choice as a victory for Iran and its allies in Lebanon, because the Lebanese president is “a very significant ring in the chain of the Islamic resistance,” according to Iran’s government-owned Tasnim News Agency.  Aoun, in his first speech after becoming president, pledged to fight corruption and protect Lebanon from the fires raging around it, referring to the Syrian civil war, according to the Associated Press. He also promised to liberate contested territory under “Israeli occupation,” according to Hezbollah’s Al Manar-TV, apparently referring to territory Israel considers part of the Golan Heights, which it conquered from Syria during the 1967 war. Saad Hariri and Michel Aoun  Lebanon has been without a head of state since May 2014, when then-president Michel Suleiman’s six-year term expired. Since then, 45 sessions to elect a new leader have failed because of political infighting, the  reported. Hezbollah leader Nasrallah and Michel Aoun",fake,news,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
10597,10598,"Juventus striker Carlos Tevez has refuted claims suggesting he will rejoin Boca Juniors in the summer by insisting he is yet to make a decision on his future .  Tevez has said throughout his career that he wanted to end his career at his boyhood club but it appears the Argentine outfit will have to wait for his signature .  The 31 year old ' s future was thrown into doubt when Boca Juniors president Daniel Angelici claimed he was ' close to bringing Carlos home ' despite Tevez having another year on his current deal .  Juventus striker Carlos Tevez is yet to make a final decision on his future despite constant links to Boca  Talk of a return to his boyhood side intensified when Tevez replicated his famous Boca Juniors celebration  Tevez pulled off the ' chicken dance ' after scoring a crucial goal during Boca ' s 2 0 win over River Plate in 2004  And the link was made even stronger over the weekend as Tevez celebrated his strike against Lazio in a similar fashion to when he scored a vital goal for Boca Juniors against River Plate back in 2004 .  However Tevez has thrown cold water over the ' chicken dance ' interpretation by telling Sky Sport Italia : ' That game against River does not come into it .  ' I celebrated like that because I promised my people that I would and I will do the same if I score against Monaco on Wednesday .  ' As for my future , enough ! It ' s not right to speak about me . Juve are what count .  ' Both Juve and I are going through an extraordinary moment and I ' m thinking only of Juve right now .  ' I don ' t know if I will leave . I ' ve not yet decided what to do .  ' But it ' s not right to speak about it now and , as I said , the Bianconeri fans will be the first to know what I decide . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
10601,10602,"After spending nearly 28 years in an irreversible coma , heiress and socialite Martha "" Sunny "" von Bulow died Saturday in a New York nursing home , according to a family statement . She was 76 .  Sunny von Bulow is pictured during her 1957 wedding to Prince Alfred von Auersperg .  Von Bulow was subject of one of the nation ' s most sensational criminal cases during the 1980s .  Her husband , Claus , was accused of trying to kill her with an overdose of insulin , which prosecutors alleged sent her into the coma .  He was convicted of making two attempts on her life , but the conviction was overturned on appeal . He was acquitted in a second trial .  His retrial in 1985 received national attention .  "" We were blessed to have an extraordinarily loving and caring mother , "" said the statement from Von Bulow ' s three children Annie Laurie "" Ala "" Isham , Alexander von Auersperg and Cosima Pavoncelli released by a spokeswoman . "" She was especially devoted to her many friends and family members . ""  Martha von Bulow was born Martha Sharp Crawford into a wealthy family . She inherited a fortune conservatively estimated at 75 million , according to an article on the von Bulow case posted on truTVweblink ' s Crime Library Web site .  In her early years , she drew comparisons to actress Grace Kelly .  She became known as Princess von Auersperg with her first marriage , to Prince Alfred von Auersperg of Austria . That marriage produced two children : Alexander and Annie Laurie .  The von Bulows married in 1966 and had a daughter , Cosima .  On the morning of December 22 , 1980 , family members found Martha von Bulow unconscious in the bathroom of the family ' s posh Newport , Rhode Island , home . She never regained consciousness .  She had been hospitalized a year earlier after lapsing into a coma but recovered , according to the Crime Library site . Doctors had diagnosed her with hypoglycemia , or low blood sugar .  Prosecutors accused Claus von Bulow of twice attempting to kill his wife by injecting her with insulin .  The case also led to a major motion picture , "" Reversal of Fortune . "" Actor Jeremy Irons won an Oscar for his portrayal of Claus von Bulow .  Famed defense attorney Alan Dershowitz , who won Claus von Bulow a new trial on appeal after his conviction , said in a statement Saturday that Martha von Bulow ' s death is "" a sad ending to a sad tragedy that some members of her family tried to turn into a crime . We proved overwhelming ly that there was no crime and that the coma was self induced . We saved his life , but could not save hers . ""  Claus von Bulow ' s defense team maintained that Martha von Bulow ' s alcohol use , among other factors , caused her coma .  Dershowitz said he had spoken with Claus von Bulow , who now lives in London , England . Claus von Bulow was saddened by his former wife ' s passing , Dershowitz said .  The family statement said Martha von Bulow is survived by her children , their spouses and nine grandchildren .  Alexander von Auersperg and Ala von Auersperg Isham , who had sided with prosecutors against Claus von Bulow , filed a civil suit against their stepfather after his acquittal . The case was settled out of court in 1987 , according to a 2007 article in the Providence Journal newspaper in Rhode Island .  Claus von Bulow had agreed to waive his claim to his wife ' s money and to a divorce in exchange for the suit being dropped .  The von Bulows ' daughter , Cosima , sided with her father .  Vanity Fair writer Dominick Dunne , who covered the von Bulow case , told the New York Daily News in 2007 that Sunny von Bulow was moved from Columbia Presbyterian hospital to a private nursing home in 1998 . Watch Dunne recall case  Ala von Auersperg Isham served for a time as president of the Sunny von Bulow Coma and Head Trauma Research Foundation , according to the Providence Journal . An offshoot of that organization , the Brain Trauma Foundation , still operates in New York , the newspaper said .  The family statement notes that Martha von Bulow actively supported the Metropolitan Museum of Art , the Metropolitan Opera and the J . P . Morgan Library in New York and the Preservation Society of Newport , Rhode Island .  A private memorial service will be held for family and friends in New York in the coming days , the family statement said Saturday , along with a private burial .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
10632,10633,"For those who are looking to get into the festive spirit , there may be no better place than Europe ' s Christmas markets .  From huge cities to tiny villages , markets across the continent are spreading Christmas cheer with less than a month to go until December 25 .  In Germany alone it is estimated that there are as many as 5 , 000 markets , which are now in full swing .  With traditions dating back to the late Middle Ages , Germany ' s Christmas markets are a popular destination for tourists looking to sip mulled wine ( gluehwein ) , snack on bratwurst , roasted nuts or sweets , or pick up a few handmade gifts or decorations from the wooden huts .  Berlin hosts more than 60 different markets , the one in Dresden is considered one of the best in all of Europe , Hamburg ' s market has erotica themed stalls , and Frankfurt has a ' pink ' market favoured by  visitors .  With ice skating , nativity plays and musical performances also on tap , the markets will be open until Christmas , although some don ' t shut down until January .  A wheely good time : Berlin hosts more than 60 different Christmas markets of all sizes , including a large one at Alexanderplatz  Stunning backdrop : People walk by the cathedral at the Christmas market in Cologne , Germany  In the spirit : Visitors stroll through the Christmas market at Alexanderplatz in Berlin  Festive season : Revellers walk around the Christmas market at the Rathausmarkt in Hamburg  Winter wonderland : Markets are open across Europe , including Berlin ( pictured ) , to help people to get into the Christmas spirit  Handful : In Germany alone it is estimated that there are as many as 5 , 000 markets , including this one in Berlin  Visitors stop at a stall selling gluehwein next to an illuminated Ferris wheel at the Christmas market at Alexanderplatz in Berlin  The German town of Schlitz is home to a 118 ft high stone tower that is covered with red cloth to form a candle  With traditions dating back to the late Middle Ages , Germany ' s Christmas markets are a popular destination for tourists  Season ' s greetings : Gaspard , 3 , and his mother Anne get a visit from Santa Claus at an ice skating rink in Berlin  Window shopping : Visitors browse Christmas decorations at a market in Berlin  Go for a spin : Most markets will be open up until Christmas , although some don ' t shut down until January  Seeing stars : Shoppers walk past a stall selling illuminated Christmas stars at the market at Alexanderplatz in Berlin  Something for everyone : In addition to selling decorations and traditional food , the markets offer nativity plays and musical performances  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
10633,10634,"Okay, we all probably get it. Independence Day weekend can be annoying as all hell because it seems like there s always someone shooting off pyrotechnics, having a loud party or barbecue, or otherwise making a major nuisance of themselves. That s no reason to fire a gun at someone, though, especially when that someone is a child.Unfortunately, that s what a Wisconsin man did when he got fed up with a 10-year old child shooting off fireworks in his neighborhood, because, you know, when someone pisses you off that s what you do these days: Solve it with a gun.It was the child himself who called the police, and, of course, the man tried to lie his way out of it by saying he was merely shooting off fireworks, too. That lie didn t last very long, and he eventually admitted that he d fired his .40 caliber pistol in the child s direction. What a clusterfuck of a human being.It s not clear whether the child s parents were home, but what happened to going over to the neighbor s house to politely ask them to stop with the noise, or working something out that would be mutually agreeable? Alas, to many so-called  responsible  gun owners, it s not, and they d rather threaten, or even harm, people who piss them off.This guy may even be part of the 1 in 10 here who are pathologically angry and have access to a firearm. Nobody who isn t, at minimum, full of rage would consider pointing a loaded gun at a child and pulling the trigger for any reason. Nobody in their right mind would consider anybody who does that a  responsible gun owner.  Yet even gun owners who pull this kind of nonsense seem to think they re  responsible. Instead of spending money on guns, these people need to go buy a clue.The child is unharmed, and the man has been arrested. He currently faces charges of recklessly endangering safety, as well he should. He should also undergo a psych evaluation geared at finding out just how deep his anger runs that he thought firing a gun at a kid because he was annoyed was okay.Featured image by George Frey/Getty Images",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
10636,10637,"WEEK,  KATZMAN, AUTH. EDITOR--Paul Craig Roberts in front of a portrait of Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury.",fake,news,validation,US elections,Economy,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
10638,10639,"During an interview with  Chairman Tom Perez on Thursday’s edition of MSNBC’s “ Daily,” host Chuck Todd asked Perez why he didn’t take the Montana special election for the  House “seriously” sooner, and told Perez “you didn’t put your money where your mouth is. ”  Todd said, “[Y]ou caught a break here at the end.   …     But the question is whether the Democrats were there in time to take advantage. I know it’s late here. But you look at the spending advantage. The Republican Congressional Campaign Committee has outspent the Democrats 3 to 1. The Republican PACs, including one led by Speaker Ryan, has outspent the Democratic PACs in this race 16 to 1. Your own organization would not tell us how much money you’ve spent, but the  has spent almost a million dollars. The fact of the matter is, why didn’t you guys take this race seriously earlier? You did  —   you have lately, but you  —   the money, you didn’t put your money where your mouth is. ” Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
10665,10666,"Twenty year old Cherise Peters brims with ambition . Her positive attitude and unwavering determination to earn a doctorate in the medical field is unusual for a woman who was homeless just this past year .  Peters , like many homeless young people , had been living with abuse and violence at home , she says . She turned to the streets as a way out .  "" As soon as I started living on the streets , I felt like it should stop because I had nothing . I wanted to get a job . I had no documents . I was incognito to the world . ""  One out of 45 children experience some form of homelessness each year , according to the National Center on Family Homelessness . Many have aged out of foster care or have been victimized by sex trafficking or have simply been abandoned .  Peters says she spent about eight months living on the streets of New York with a boyfriend who turned out to be wrecking her life . "" I would tell him , ' We have to get out of the streets ' and he ' s like , ' I ' m comfortable . We found a bed . ' We shouldn ' t be comfortable we are outside . ""  She also dropped out of high school when she ran away .  After eight months , something had to give . Eventually she dumped the boyfriend and found refuge at the Covenant House .  Covenant House International has served over a million homeless youth in the United States , Canada and Latin America as a bridge from poverty to opportunity , according to their own statistics . Besides providing basic needs like food , shelter and immediate health services , the organization tries to prepare homeless kids to live successful and independent lives .  "" There are so many programs they have here and offer that there is no excuse why you can ' t be more than what you were when you got here , "" Peters says .  Peters is a resident in their long term transitional living program , Rights of Passage . The program trains at risk kids to find and keep a job , save money , pay bills on time , cook healthy meals and clean . It also requires them to turn over a part of their salary to the Covenant House to be doled out at the end of their stay into a savings account .  President and  , Kevin Ryan is inspired by the transformation he sees every day in his residents . "" The reward of this work at Covenant House is watching kids claim their place in the universe : their first graduation , first apartment , first great report card all of those moments of them claiming their dignity . ""  Peters currently is training to become a medical assistant . She is also working to complete high school and start college . "" No one is hungrier to prove themselves than a homeless young person that gets that first break , "" Ryan says .  Ryan wants to transform the sense of rejection and despair that can come from homelessness into the approval and trust earned in a nurturing environment like Covenant House .  "" The least interesting thing about these kids is that they ' re homeless . They are actors and artists and poets and teachers and students and interns . So many of them are going to college or working really hard to graduate from high school . They ' re striving . They ' re enduring . They ' re healing . They ' re rising . ""  Donate to Covenant House .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
10669,10670,"President Barack Obama took some time on Tuesday to call for more civility from the Republican candidates while they re on the campaign trail, as the bid for the White House becomes increasingly violent and coarse.Noting the increasing violence and racist language, Obama scolded the candidates for setting a bad example for children and making a mockery of America s reputation to the rest of the world. Speaking to his audience at a St. Patrick s Day luncheon on Capitol Hill, Obama slammed the  s  vulgar and divisive  campaign, making a noticeable jab at  front runner Donald Trump s routinely violent rallies and hateful rhetoric toward women and minorities. The president said: We have heard vulgar and divisive rhetoric aimed at women and minorities, at Americans who don t look like us or pray like us or vote like we do. We ve seen misguided attempts to shut down that speech. However offensive it may be, we live in a country where free speech is one of the most important rights we hold. In response to those attempts, we ve seen actual violence. And we ve heard silence from too many of our leaders.Too often, we ve accepted this as somehow the new normal. And it s worth asking ourselves what each of us may have done to contribute to this kind of vicious atmosphere in our politics. Obama said the current presidential race wasn t an accurate depiction of America, and it has to stop. You can watch part of Obama s powerful speech below, which earned him a standing ovation from lawmakers in both parties:Obama later urged politicians to think of America s youth and renounce the violence, stating that We should not have to explain to them this darker side  in America s politics: In America, there is no law that says we have to be nice to each other, or courteous, or treat each other with respect. But there are norms. There are customs. There are values that our parents taught us and that we try to teach to our children to try to treat others the way we want to be treated. At one point during the luncheon, Obama faced House Speaker Paul Ryan and said that the two men should be able to treat each other with respect despite their different views on policy. Obama said, as Ryan nodded back, I don t have a bad thing to say about you as a man. I know you want what s best for America. Obama s powerful message to the  candidates comes just as front runner Donald Trump is denying the worsening violence that has plagued his rallies by calling his campaign events  love fests . Trump is also now lying about the fact that he has encouraged more violence by telling his supporters he will pay for any legal fees they might be faced with from attacking protesters. Featured image via Ben Thomas / Flickr",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
10686,10687,"With alot of people walking around with an 8 megapixel camera embedded into their smart phone , it ' s easy to think you ' re something of an Annie Leibovitz or a Mario Testino .  Or at least try to be .  Now 54 people are being recognized for the photography skills they have managed photographers behind their iPhones .  Now in its seventh year , the iPhone Photography Awards (   ) have selected finalists from 17 countries Canada , France , Germany , Hong Kong , Ireland , Israel , Italy , Mexico , Romania , Russia , South Africa , Spain , Sweden , Switzerland , Taiwan , United Kingdom and the United States with a winner to be announced on June 15 .  Thousands of submissions are sent in every year and winners of three separate categories are selected by a jury , and it costs 3 . 50 to submit a photo .  The finalists that were selected represent the best of different categories , such as architecture , art , flowers , children and , ofcourse , food .  Incredible : Juana Chaves , of Madrid , Spain , submitted this photo for the 2014 iPhone Photography Awards and was selected as a finalist in the news events category  This shot of Brighton Beach in the  was taken by native Craig Harvey and submitted as a landscape  Michael O ' Neal , from San Francisco , submitted this amazing photo of a fox  This hot favorite , taken by Julio Lucas of Bradenton , Florida , shoes a lone man on a trek  Melissa Barilli , of York , Canada , made the finals with this shot of her son in the bath  Dark and mysterious , this black and white shot from Jose Luis , who hails from Madrid , Spain , is also a major content to win the iPhone Photography Awards  Yilang Peng , from Madison in Washington , is a strong contender to take out the architecture category with this photo  This photo , by Jill Missner of Ridgefield Connecticut , was said to be a favorite among the jury who select the winners  Mariko Klug took this photo in her native Germany  Another tree shot , this one by Cocu Liu , who hails from Chicago  This photo was submitted by Erika Brothers of Frisco , Texas , under the ' nature ' category  The finalists that were selected  represent the best of different categories , such as architecture , art ,  flowers , children and , ofcourse , food .  The  awards are not affiliated with apple , but the contest has been around almost as long as the iPhone itself .  The contest is divided in 16 categories : animals , architecture , children , flowers , food , landscape , lifestyle , nature , news events , people , seasons , still life , sunset , travel , trees and others .  All entries will compete in one of the categories , as well as in the overall contest .  All entries compete for the prestigious  Photographer of the Year Award title , and the top 3 will receive a 16GB Wi Fi iPad Mini .  The top entry from each of the 16  categories will win a Gold Bar from the most recognizable private gold mint in the world .  To see the rest of the finalists , visit www . ippawardsweblink  Rhonda Dent of Vancouver is a finalist in the lifestyle category for this photo  This awesome photo , taken by Adrienne Pitts from London , is expected to win the travel category  Hector Navarro , from Zapopan , Mexico , submitted this shot under the ' people ' category , but has strong competition  Another ' people ' contender , this was sent in by Athena Tan from Singapore  This spooky image is one of three that did not fit into any of the 15 categories and was filed under ' other ' . It was taken by Terry Vital of Windham in the New Hampshire  Sunsets is one of the most popular categories . This entrant was taken by Little Su of New Taipei City in Taiwan and is expected to win  This is another picture from the ' others ' category  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
10690,10691,"The frail mother of a Conservative  was subjected to ' disgraceful and shabby ' treatment in a Welsh hospital and later died in an ambulance delayed by equipment shortages .  Anne Main says she feels retired hospital worker Rita Wiseman , 80 , was ' let down ' by the  , for which she gave her entire working life .  Mrs Wiseman was admitted to hospital in May , after showing signs of a stroke , her daughter said . But hospital staff initially failed to diagnose the condition and even tried to send her home .  Tory  Anne Main , left , believes that her mother Rita Wiseman , right , was let down by the  in Wales  It was only at Mrs Wiseman ' s daughter ' s insistence because of repeated hallucinations , visual impairment and signs of weakness that she was re evaluated .  A stroke was finally diagnosed after four days in hospital .  Yesterday , Mrs Main raised her mother ' s case and her ' concern ' about the state of the Labour run Welsh  in the Commons during Prime Minister ' s Question Time . David Cameron told her : ' The  in Wales is in trouble and that is not because of hard working doctors and nurses , but because of a Labour administration which cut the  and failed to reform it . '  Mrs Main told the Mail : ' What happened to my mother was disgraceful . Nobody listened to her . Without someone advocating on her behalf , nothing would have been done . The staff were lovely but they were run off their feet . '  The ward on which , Mrs Wiseman , widowed from her husband George 20 years ago , stayed was hit by a shortage of basic items such as a water beaker or working television . After spilling water on one occasion , she was refused a change of sheets .  A former colleague of Mrs Wiseman also told Mrs Main her mother had been moved to a bed with dirty sheets unchanged from the previous occupant . Mrs Wiseman was discharged a week later and her family told it would be another five weeks before an occupational therapist could visit . She was looked after for six weeks by Mrs Main at her home , before returning to Cardiff to her own home , which had been fitted with a panic button . Her son stayed with her .  The day of the occupational therapist ' s visit on July 23 , Mrs Wiseman had a fall when her son was out collecting prescriptions , and pressed her alarm . It took 15 minutes for initial help to arrive from the council and another 20 minutes for an ambulance .  There were ' substantial ' delays after the paramedics decided to use an inflatable mattress used to protect patients against spinal injuries . There was no valve , so they had to call another ambulance for extra parts .  Mrs Wiseman , who had been drifting out of consciousness as she waited , deteriorated further on the way to hospital and was rerouted to resuscitation but died before it could be carried out .  Mrs Main wrote to former Welsh Secretary David Jones before her mother ' s death in July and later to Welsh Parliamentary Under Secretary Baroness Randerson .  The Tory  for St Albans said : ' I was horrified when they initially said my mother was going home before a stroke had been diagnosed . She was so obviously unwell and in my view unfit to be discharged . '  A coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death , saying Mrs Wiseman ' s head injuries from the fall were so severe that hospital staff could not have saved her .  But Mrs Main said : ' My mother spent her working life in the  , at another Cardiff hospital , St David ' s . The hospital where she was treated seems to have gone to rack and ruin . '  Alice Casey , chief operating officer for Cardiff and Vale University Health Board , said : ' We would like to offer our condolences to the family and sincerely apologise for any distress . The health board is fully committed to investigating and addressing these issues . ' The Welsh Ambulance Service said : ' We have robust systems in place to ensure faulty equipment is serviced and repaired . We would like to express our sincere condolences . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
10698,10699,"Norman Lamb recently highlighted the importance of developing new services and mobile phone apps to help young people with depression and mental health problems  Minister for Care Norman Lamb recently revealed that he is working towards developing more apps to help young people suffering with mental health problems and depression .  He said in an interview with the times : ' We ' ve got a taskforce looking at how we can modernise children and young people ' s mental health and that ' s one of the key elements to it . ""  ' If you ' re a teenager and your world revolves around digital access , we must make sure you get access to therapy online . So these programmes are being developed . '  But one such app already exists Buddy App is a digital tool which supports therapy services . It allows users to text daily updates of how their feeling .  The can then use the analysis tool to reassess how they are feeling and can set the app to send goal reminders via text message .  Lastly the app allows users to set reminders for appointments and agendas so that they can take control over elements of their life .  The app was created by Sidekick Studios a company which is passionate about using design and technology to tackle social problems and they work closely with many  healthcare providers .  Femail spoke to Kat Cormack who explained that for the Sidekick team it was important to create something that would really help people .  She said : ' Buddy has a few aims , first and foremost we want to help people . We ' re a social enterprise so for us it ' s about social impact , making a real , qualitative difference to people ' s lives .  ' There are now more mobile phones than people in the  and we want people using  services to benefit from really cheap , accessible technology like  messaging . '  Kat told us she even uses the app herself : ' I ' m a service user myself and I think apps and other technologies have a huge role to play in improving mental health and wellbeing .  ' Personally I ' m using Buddy in my own treatment and over the last five months it ' s really helped me to stay on track with my recovery .  ' It ' s amazing that something as simple as a couple of texts messages can make such a big difference . '  The Buddy App allows users to log their feelings  Users of the Buddy App can send text messages describing their feelings , this helps them to assess how they are doing during the day  But she agrees that the app should be used in conjunction with other therapies . ' We don ' t want to replace clinicians , we know that they have a huge impact on people ' s lives .  ' Research shows that it ' s actually not the type of therapy you have but the relationship with your clinician that has the biggest effect on treatment efficacy . What we want to do is support clinicians to make their work even better . '  In his interview Lamb revealed that there are more apps being developed but that it is important to remember when testing them that every young sufferer is different .  ' What I want to achieve is a much more seamless service that allows you access online , face to face or over the telephone , whichever is appropriate . '  ' These platforms are evidence based so the risk is very low that they ' re not appropriate . Some people may need more than that so you have to have access to a gradation of different type of service , ' he said .  When using the Buddy App you can log feelings about anything from how you ' re feeling that day to things you ' ve got planned  Buddy will text you to remind you of appointments and meetings on your agenda  Femail spoke to Lucie Russell , Director of media and campaigns at the charity Young Minds which is committed to improving the mental health of children and young people .  Lucie agreed with Norman and Kat that apps can be a positive way to help some young people with their issues .  She said : ' What we need is a plethora of services both online and off . But I do think online and app support can be very positive for young people especially we find that they do interact a lot online , it ' s where they feel comfortable .  ' Sometimes young people can be scared and or feel intimidated about phoning their doctor whereas online there are able to engage more freely .  ' What there does need to be though is some regularity and I would say that the online support , whilst very useful , should never take the place of face to face therapies .  ' Apps should always lead on to phone or face to face support , working as a sign post for young people and enabling them to get the help they need .  ' If the  plan to work on apps the most important thing is that they speak to the young people , to those who have the first hand experience , so that they can work out what sort of services they ' re looking for . '  According research by Young Minds one in 10 children and young people aged five to 16 suffer from a diagnosable mental health disorder .  The number of those aged 15 to 16 with depression doubled between the 1980 ' s and the 2000 ' s with nearly 80 , 000 children and young people suffering from severe depression .  If you do feel suicidal and need to speak to someone , call the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90 or go to samaritans . org Alternatively , talk to your  if you don ' t get the help you want , go to another doctor .  Visit mental health websites Mind , Sane and the Depression Alliance .  Depression can be a difficult and debilitating but Buddy App aims to show that you don ' t have to go it alone  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
10703,10704,"R . Kelly ' s 14 year old child , Jaya , has come out as transgender and changed his name to ' Jay ' .  The brave teen made the announcement on his social media pages over the weekend and also revealed that his singer dad has yet to speak to him since the revelation .  Responding to questions on his Ask . fm profile , Jay explained that although he was born biologically female , he has identified as a male since he was ' 6 or 7 ' and that his mother has known for a year .  His mom Andrea Kelly , the singer ' s ex wife and star of reality series ' Hollywood Exes ' , has been supportive of his transition and has proudly shared pictures of them together online .  Proud : Jay Kelly , whose father is singer R . Kelly , has revealed that he is female to male transgender and living as a boy . He said that he is not close to his father and they have not spoken about his announcement  ' My mom was like , "" Baby , you know I love you if you were bi , gay , lesbian , you name it and I would still love you so much "" , ' he wrote .  ' She was very proud of me , I was like , "" Thank you mom for accepting the fact that I ' m a transgender "" . '  ' And same with my sister , she told me that she was proud of me , and respects me by calling me handsome and calling me her little brother now , and I love her for that , so you know it was great for me . '  He added that he is eager to undergo the gender realignment operations but that he knows he ' ll have to wait for several years .  Support : His mom , Andrea Kelly , who stars on ' Hollywood Exes ' , has been supportive of his announcement  Loved : Jay , right , said that his older sister Joann , left , has also told him that she is proud of him  ' I believe I am a boy and want surgery , and the medication to help me ( be ) who I was supposed to be , ' he wrote .  From a very young age he knew he did not want to be a girl , wear dresses , grow his hair long or have breasts or female sexual organs , he explained on Ask . fm .  Aged 11 , ' I would look up like boy  changes to girl , and girl changes to boy , and im like wow , theres people  who feel  the way i feel and then i knew like thats what transgender is , ' he wrote .  He added that he was about six when he knew he was attracted to girls but he has no plans to date any just yet , adding : ' I ' ve got a lot on my plate right now . '  Silence : R . Kelly , who divorced Jay ' s mother in 2009 , has not spoken to him about his announcement  His father has yet to publicly comment on the teen ' s announcement , but Jay revealed on Ask . fm that he and his sister are not close to the singer , even though their older brother is .  He added : ' I absolutely love my mother . . . and yea my dad has not reached out . '  R . Kelly divorced Jay ' s mother , who had been his former backup dancer , in 2009 after almost 13 years of marriage .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
10738,10739,"broadcaster Terry Wogan has died aged 77 after suffering from cancer , the  has announced .  The veteran broadcaster , known for his velvety voice on radio and television , was one of the  and Ireland ' s best known stars .  A statement from his family said Wogan died surrounded by his family .   Director General Tony Hall said Wogan "" truly was a national treasure "" , adding : "" Today we ' ve lost a wonderful friend . ""  "" Sir Terry Wogan died today after a short but brave battle with cancer . He passed away surrounded by his family . While we understand he will be missed by many , the family ask that their privacy is respected at this time , "" the Wogan family statement said .   Director General Tony Hall described Wogan , who was born in Limerick , as a "" national treasure "" .  He said : "" He was a lovely , lovely man and our thoughts are with his wife and family .  "" For 50 years Sir Terry graced our screens and airwaves . His warmth , wit and geniality meant that for millions he was a part of the family .  "" Wake up to Wogan was for millions of Radio 2 listeners the very best way to start the day . For decades he ' s been such a huge part of the  on television and radio and leaves so many wonderful memories . ""  British Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted : "" My thoughts are with Terry Wogan ' s family . Britain has lost a huge talent someone millions came to feel was their own special friend .  "" I grew up listening to him on the radio and watching him on  . His charm and wit always made me smile . ""  Tributes have poured in from the world of showbusiness and beyond for the broadcasting great .  Former  Radio 2 colleague Jeremy Vine said on Twitter : "" Truly one of the greatest we have ever seen . And treated his colleagues like friends . ""  Tony Blackburn added : "" I can hardly believe my old friend Sir Terry Wogan has died .  Terry and thanks for being a friend . ""   comedian Julian Clary said : ""  Terry Wogan . A witty , warm and wonderful man . ""  Cricketer Ian Botham wrote : "" Very sad to hear the news about Sir Terry Wogan passing away this morning ! ! A wonderful man just the same rain or shine ! !  "" , while actor Roger Moore added : "" Oh no . It ' s a sad weekend .  News Sir Terry Wogan : Veteran broadcaster dies aged 77 . ""  And English actor David Schneider said : "" It ' s truly like God ' s put an intern in charge of deaths and he ' s going through the list of celebrities people really love .  Terry Wogan . ""  Fellow presenters spoke of their admiration for Wogan ' s extraordinary career and broadcasting abilities .  Piers Morgan said : ""  Sir Terry Wogan . One of the greatest broadcasters who ever lived . Such sad news .  "" There are great  broadcasters great radio broadcasters . Terry Wogan was the greatest  radio broadcaster . A legend of all airwaves . ""  Graham Norton said : "" He made it seem effortless and for a young boy in Ireland he made it seem possible .  Sir Terry Wogan . I ' ll raise a glass during song 9 . ""  Comedian and actor Matt Lucas said : "" So so sad to hear the news today about Terry Wogan . Warm , traditional and yet brilliantly subversive . A true  and radio icon . What a loss . ""  Originally published as  broadcaster Terry Wogan dies aged 77  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
10740,10741,"Samantha Crossland escaped a custodial sentence after the 22 , 000 she admitted stealing from her employer and friend had been repaid in full  The daughter of a millionaire lottery winning couple who stole over 22 , 000 from a children ' s nursery has escaped jail after the cash was paid back .  Samantha Crossland , 30 , was pocketing parents ' fees being paid to the Child ' s Play day nursery she worked at in a trusted position .  She had been told she faced a custodial sentence unless the money was paid back and Crossland whose parents made over a million on the lotto handed back the cash .  Nursery owner Lynda Quigley confirmed that the amount stolen 22 , 642 had been paid into her bank account on from an "" S . Crossland "" .  It was not clear whether this was Samantha or her mother Susan Crossland .  Crossland had even been promoted to manager at the nursery by its owner who knew her and trusted her .  Much of the money was taken from a cash box on the wall that parents left their fees in . Leeds Crown Court court heard that only Crossland and Mrs Quigley had keys to this .  It was only when Mrs Quigley returned to the nursery in Dewsbury , West Yorkshire in early 2014 , that she became aware of discrepancies in the accounts .  In total these came to 22 , 642 . Crossland was arrested and gave four no comment interviews . She later pleaded guilty to one count of theft .  The court heard today that Mrs Quigley had received 22 , 643 via bank transfer on April 22 .  Crossland , of Mirfield , West Yorkshire was sentenced to a 12 month community order and 180 hours unpaid work .  Recorder Ray Singh said : ' You were in a position of significant trust by Miss Quigley . You were left alone to deal with the money , it is therefore a breach of trust .  ' Staff parents and the like were no doubt finding it very difficult to understand what was happening . ""  Mrs Quigley , who has had the nursery for 14 years , said after the hearing : ' I feel really relieved that I ' m finally going to get closure now that the court case has finished and the money taken has been repaid in full .  ' I ' m happy that justice has been served after what has been a very difficult year .  ' But I still have no idea why she did this to me why a good friend would betray me like this . '  Crossland ' s parents Michael and Susan won more than 1 . 2 million on the lottery back in July 2008  The money was stolen by Crossland , pictured , from the Child ' s Play nursery in west Yorkshire  Crossland refused to comment on her sentence while leaving court .  Crossland ' s parents , Susan and Michael , hit the headlines after winning 1 . 2 million on the lottery in 2008 .  At the time of their win , mum of four Susan said she believed her 1 , 218 , 618 windfall was down to her late father Barrie as she played his numbers each week in the two years since he had died .  Speaking in July 2008 , she said : She said : ' My win must be fate which is why I saw the feathers and won on his number line .  ' During the week before the draw , I was seeing white feathers everywhere and I never know where they come from .  ' Just two days before the win , we were tickling my dog Ruby at home and a white feather just floated down from nowhere and landed on her tummy . I knew it was dad trying to say something .  ' I feel he is looking out for me and he would have been so pleased for us . It ' s a real shame he isn ' t here to share the winnings with us after he helped us to get it . '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
10745,10746,"Death Row : Kelly Gissendaner ( pictured ) is set to die by lethal injection in Georgia at 7pm tonight  The only woman in Georgia on death row is due to be executed tonight at 7pm after an astonishing last meal of cheeseburgers , fries , ice cream and a fatty salad unless lawyers can convince officials to spare her life .  Kelly Renee Gissendaner , 46 , is due to be given a lethal injection at a state prison in Jackson in retribution for plotting the murder of her husband in 1997 .  She was sentenced to die after her boyfriend , Gregory Owen , stabbed Douglas Gissendaner to death at her urging .  Gissendaner , who will be the first female executed in Georgia in 70 years , has also made headlines with her request from prison authorities for a no holds barred last meal .  The feast includes two Burger King Whoppers , two large orders of fries , cornbread , a salad drenched in buttermilk dressing , popcorn and cherry vanilla ice cream .  However , there is a chance she receive a last minute stay of execution if her lawyers convince Georgia ' s justice system to cancel the killing .  Attorneys are mounting a last ditch attempt to persuade the State Board of Pardons and Paroles to commute her sentence to life without parole .  She was denied clemency at a hearing last week , but lawyers argue that extra witnesses from within the prison system could help persuade them . Previous attempts have rested on her remorse and new found faith .  In a statement ten years ago , Gissendaner herself said : ' I deserve to be here , but I don ' t deserve to die ' .  Murder : Gissendaner , shown left in her arrest mugshot from 1997 , is facing death for plotting the murder of her husband . However , her boyfriend Gregory Owen , right , who actually did the deed , is not on death row and could be paroled within a decade  Monster meal : Gissendaner , pictured above with a regular prison meal , requested an enormous spread including two cheeseburger meals , cornbread , ice cream , and popcorn for her last meal  She has also drawn attention to the fact that , while she did not kill her husband , the man who struck the fatal blows is not facing death and will be eligible for parole in 2023 .  If the bid fails , her lawyers are expected to ask the Supreme Court to intervene . It has already denied one appeal .  Her execution had been due to take place last week , but was canceled after a winter storm caused disruption in the area .  Gissendaner would be the first woman executed in Georgia since 1945 and only the 16th woman put to death nationwide since the Supreme Court allowed the death penalty to resume in 1976 .  Gissendaner ' s lawyers note that the parole board already heard from many people testifying about her faith and remorse at a hearing last week before denying her clemency .  But , her lawyers argue , the board did not hear from many Department of Corrections employees whose perspective ' would have left no doubt that a grant of clemency is supported in this case . '  The most important witness the board did not hear from is Kathy Seabolt , who served as her warden for six years , first at Metro State Prison and then at Lee Arrendale State Prison .  Locked away : Gissendaner , pictured above in 2004 , has been locked up for the past 17 years  Seabolt could testify that former parole board chair James Donald promised Gissendaner would receive clemency , her lawyers wrote .  Each time the topic came up in conversations between Donald and Seabolt , ' Donald reiterated his statement that Ms . Gissendaner did not need to worry about clemency as it was a foregone conclusion , ' they wrote .  Gissendaner ' s lawyers also urged the parole board to subpoena some other corrections employees so they can testify without fear of retaliation .  Although department rules allow employees to speak to lawyers for capital clemency proceedings , the reality is less clear , Gissendaner ' s lawyers wrote . Some employees had said they would testify and provide written statements on Gissendaner ' s behalf , but changed their minds after getting a memo from the new warden , who succeeded Seabolt last year .  ' Under no circumstances are you to discuss this with people outside the institution . Staff should also be careful what is said to other inmates and personal feelings are to be suppressed , ' Kathleen Kennedy wrote on Jan . 29 as she notified staff of the likelihood of the upcoming execution .  Gissendaner ' s lawyers also urged the board to consider that before trial , she had been offered the same plea deal as Owen life in prison with an agreement not to seek parole for 25 years .  ' At one time , therefore , all the parties involved in the case thought a sentence less than death was appropriate for Ms . Gissendaner , ' her lawyers wrote .  Owen , who is the one who stabbed Douglas Gissendaner to death , took the deal and testified for the prosecution . Gissendaner balked at the parole agreement and took her lawyer ' s advice to go to trial .  The parole board has granted clemency before in cases involving disproportionate sentences for co defendants , her lawyers wrote .  ' In fact , this Board has on at least four occasions in the past commuted a death sentence of a co defendant who was not the actual killer of the victim , ' the lawyers wrote .  Douglas Gissendaner ' s parents and sisters want her to be executed , but two of Kelly and Douglas ' three children have asked the parole board to spare her life , the lawyers wrote .  In statements submitted with her clemency application , Kayla and Dakota Gissendaner describe a journey from bitterness and anger to forgiveness finally they have a meaningful relationship with their mother .  ' We also believe that Kelly ' s death will not restore them or make them whole , ' Gissendaner ' s lawyers wrote of the entire Gissendaner family .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
10763,10764,"It may be the fastest animal to run on the Earth , but the cheetah could be racing to extinction .  Scientists think the animals ' speed has left them ill equipped to deal with their modern environment .  There are fewer than 10 , 000 cheetahs left in the wild down from 100 , 000 a century ago .  It may be the fastest animal to run on the Earth , but the cheetah could be racing to extinction . Scientists think the animals ' speed has left them ill equipped to deal with their modern environment  And the way they are built for speed with a slimline build and low body mass has left it less able to store energy when it is not sprinting .  Before humans built across the African savannah where cheetahs hunt , this was not a problem .  In times of plenty , the animals could rely on their 75mph speed to catch plenty of prey .  But in the modern age , with their shrinking habitat squeezed on all sides by buildings and farmland , there is far greater competition for food from larger and stronger predators such as lions , leopards and hyeenas .  There are fewer than 10 , 000 cheetahs left in the wild down from 100 , 000 a century ago . With their shrinking habitat squeezed on all sides by buildings and farmland , there is far greater competition for food from larger and stronger predators such as lions , leopards and hyeenas  Academics at Queen ' s University Belfast found that they spend much of their time and energy slowly stalking the savannah in search of food an activity they are not evolved for .  While they are built for sharp bursts of speed , their lightweight frame means they cannot store energy for long treks .  Lead researcher Dr Michael Scantlebury , whose paper is published in the journal Science , said : ' Cheetahs may be Ferraris but most of the time they are driving slowly .  Wildlife populations around the world have more than halved in just four decades in the face of unsustainable human consumption , a report has warned .  Mammals , birds , reptiles , amphibians and fish have declined on average by 52 per cent from 1970 to 2010 , according to  ' s Living Planet Report , which uses information on 10 , 380 populations of 3 , 038 species to see how global wildlife is faring .  Experts from the Zoological Society of London (  ) , which maintains the database of information on the species , said the figures meant that where in 1970 there was a population of 100 animals , now there were only 50 .  For freshwater creatures , the situation is even worse , with population declines of more than three quarters ( 76 per cent ) in 40 years , the ' living planet index ' of species shows .  ' What our study showed was that their major energy costs seem to be incurred by travelling , rather than securing prey .  ' If you can imagine walking up and down sand dunes in high temperatures day in , day out , with no water to drink you start to get a feel for how challenging these cats ' daily lives are . '  ' The reality may be that human activities for example erecting fences that inhibit free travel or over hunting cheetah prey are forcing cheetahs to travel ever increasing distances and that this may be compromising their energy more than any other single factor . '  The team studied 19 free roaming cheetahs each for two weeks across two sites in southern Africa , injecting them with a traceable substance and then collecting their droppings .  Analysis of the waste showed how much of the substance they were losing each day , allowing the scientists to calculate their energy expenditure .  Co author Dr Nikki Marks , also from Queen ' s University Belfast said : ' Research of this type helps improve our understanding of the challenges facing cheetahs as they strive to survive and helps inform future decisions on conservation strategies for cheetahs and other threatened animals . '  Dr John Wilson , of North Carolina State University in the  , who also worked on the resaerch , added : ' Too often we blame lions and hyenas for decimating cheetah populations when in fact , it is likely to be us humans that drive their declines .  ' Imagine how hard it must be for a small cub to follow its mother further and further through the desert to look for food , while she herself is fighting for survival . '  Academics at Queen ' s University Belfast found that they spend much of their time and energy slowly stalking the savannah in search of food an activity they are not evolved for . While they are built for sharp bursts of speed , their lightweight frame means they cannot store energy for long treks  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
10775,10776,"She set the internet on fire last year by claiming to have an extra asset .  But 21 year old ' Jasmine Tridevil ' became the subject of intense scrutiny after extraordinary images suggested she had become the first woman in the world to have an artificial third breast fitted .  Then last week the wannabe pop star real name Alisha Hessler from Tampa , Florida broke her silence to insist she ' s not a hoaxer , defiantly claiming : ' I know my breasts are real and I do not care what anybody thinks . '  These photos taken by a specialist thermal imaging camera show her third breast is indeed a fake .  Scrutinized : Many commentators have claimed the third breast is a wearable prosthetic , especially as Tridevil once reported a ' 3 breast prosthesis ' stolen when her bags went missing at Tampa Airport in 2014  Proof at last : Body heat pictures through a simple thermal imaging camera . Red indicates normal body temperature due to blood flow . Blue means no blood flow and there is none at the ' third breast '  Uncovered : German television journalist Hans Huebner ( right ) took the footage showing how the third breast could not actually be a real one  A surgically implanted third breast which she claims to have forked out 20 , 000 for would have blood circulating around it .  But as these video stills show the breast in the middle is blue , a sign that there ' s no heat in this area , while the rest of her body is warm red .  The images were shot by German  network  during an interview in October last year .  ' These images are absolute proof that Jasmine Tridevil is a liar , we exposed her as a fake , ' he said .  ' We scheduled an interview with Jasmine in October last year but we were obviously skeptical as to whether her claims were genuine .  ' Every plastic surgeon in the world was saying that they wouldn ' t do this type of surgery .  ' So we discussed how we would shoot the interview and we came up with the idea of renting a thermal camera .  ' My cameraman went to Home Depot and rented a Thermal Imaging Camera for 100 .  ' He filmed the interview as normal but secretly used the thermal camera as well . '  During the interview Huebner said he pressed Hessler on the truth to her claims .  Questionable : Jasmine Tridevil claimed : ' I know my breasts are real and I do not care what anybody thinks . '  Before and after : Tridevil pictured at the age of 16 ( left ) and more recently ( right ) after what she claims is surgery but which is today exposed as a fake  ' She insisted it was genuine but by the end she cut the interview short , she didn ' t like my questions and got angry , ' said Huebner .  ' She said , ' this interview is over ' and walked out . '  Huebner said that after the interview aired on  Europe ' s largest domestic television network he received a ' nasty ' email from Hessler .  ' She sent me this nasty email saying it was us who were faking it , ' he said .  After Hessler ' s story broke last year many commentators claimed the third breast was a wearable prosthetic especially as she reported a ' three breast prosthesis ' stolen when her bags went missing at Tampa Airport in 2014 .  But Hessler continued to stand firm claiming it was a real implant .  In an interview last week she said : ' Getting a third breast was not always my plan I just had the idea two years ago .  ' People always have something to say . They will criticize it or will love it and ask for a picture . '  Hessler admits not all the attention she gets is complimentary , adding : ' If I go to a park where there are children , parents will give me dirty looks .  ' But if I go to a bar it seems like everybody loves it . '  Hessler insists she was rejected by more than 50 doctors who feared violating ethical codes before she found a willing surgeon who would perform the procedure .  She says the medic took tissue from her abdomen and used it to fashion the third breast a procedure commonly used for normal breast enhancements .  Now , she has hired a camera crew to follow her around Tampa , Florida , documenting the ' struggles ' she faces as a three breasted woman .  While the procedure is possible , surgeons are barred from carrying out any operations that could be harmful to ' human dignity ' .  The ethical code outlined by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons dictates that ' the principal objective of the medical profession is to render services to humanity with full respect for human dignity . '  Cosmetic surgeons are under strict guidelines to solely ' enhance the norm ' of a patient ' s body .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
10788,10789,"—   The United States Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday enacted a new flight restriction. Under the rule, passengers traveling on foreign airlines from eight   countries to the United States are barred from bringing devices larger than cellphones onto the plane. Instead, they have to stow devices like computers and tablets in checked luggage. Who is affected, why are larger devices banned, and what should you do? Here is what we know so far. The new policy affects people flying to the United States from airports in Amman, Jordan Cairo Istanbul Jidda and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia Kuwait City Casablanca, Morocco Doha, Qatar and Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. The United Kingdom also announced a similar ban on devices larger than smartphones on certain airlines. The policy applies to flights coming into the U. K. from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Tunisia, Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan. For business travelers on those airlines, the ban may disrupt productivity. “This is going to hurt all the serious businesspeople and academics,” said Osama Sharshar, an Egyptian lawmaker and journalist who frequently travels to the United States. “They are not going there to play and don’t have time to waste. ” Only physically, not technologically. A computer or a tablet is larger than a smartphone, which would theoretically provide more room for terrorists to cram in components like bomb parts or weapons, said Bill Marczak, a senior fellow at the Citizen Lab, a research group that follows technology and policy. Multiple terrorists could then each take a computer on a plane containing an explosive component and, hypothetically, put it together in the cabin, he said. Yet a smartphone may also pose threats. As Samsung demonstrated last year with its Galaxy Note 7, smartphones  —   and anything with a   battery  —   are capable of exploding and causing safety hazards. Technologically, a smartphone is a miniature computer that is just as powerful as a laptop. There is also a risk that a terrorist could use a smartphone to remotely detonate a bomb that is hidden inside a computer checked in as cargo, said Nick Feamster, a computer science professor at Princeton University. Other than preventing terrorists from smuggling components onto planes, the device ban may create additional surveillance opportunities. It is common for airport security officials to search checked luggage. In theory, if a computer is checked, airport officials can do more thorough searches, including a data frisk. “Who, if anyone, takes control of your device while it’s not in your sight or possession?” Professor Feamster said. “A search of your device is not outside the realm of possibility. ” If you are flying on an affected airline and concerned about your privacy, consider the recommendations outlined in our guide to protecting your data while crossing the border. For one, you could encrypt your files with an app like BitLocker or FileVault. That way, if someone did try to gain access to your data, a passphrase would be needed to decrypt the files, Mr. Marczak of the Citizen Lab said. In addition, travelers could seal laptops in a   bag, Mr. Marczak said. Once you reach your destination, you can see if anyone tampered with the laptop by inserting a physical surveillance device into it, for example. You could also consider traveling with an inexpensive computer that lacks any of your sensitive data, Professor Feamster added. And you could back up your data to the cloud and purge it from the inexpensive computer before checking it in with your luggage. If he were traveling to those countries now, Mr. Feamster said, “I wouldn’t even bother taking my main laptop. I’d take my clean laptop that doesn’t have any data on it. ”",true,news,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
10793,10794,"The New Zealand government wants to make sure your high is safe .  In an attempt to tackle the popularity of new generation synthetic party drugs sold widely in convenience stores and blamed for triggering a spate of mental health issues New Zealand authorities have taken a radical new tack .  A new law shifts the onus to the makers of synthetic recreational drugs , forcing them to conduct clinical tests to prove their products are safe similar to the way pharmaceuticals are regulated .  It ' s the first nation to take a dramatically different approach to psychoactive substances like party pills and synthetic marijuana which the United Nations has flagged as an alarming drug problem . Some psychoactive substances go by names like bath salts , spice or meow meow .  In a 119 to 1 vote on Thursday , the country ' s parliament passed the Psychoactive Substances Bill , establishing a framework for testing , manufacturing and selling such recreational drugs .  The new law does not apply to non synthetic drugs like marijuana , cocaine or magic mushrooms .  In a country that prides itself as a "" social laboratory , "" New Zealand has become "" a laboratory in every sense : for the approval of new recreational drugs , "" according to an editorial in the New Zealand Herald .  The drug law enjoyed broad support although there was debate over whether animal testing would be required in the clinical tests .  "" While other countries are still blindly banning drug after drug , the Psychoactive Substances Bill will put New Zealand ahead of the industry ' s game , "" said Ross Bell , the New Zealand Drug Foundation ' s executive director in a statement in support of the law . "" It is a comprehensive , pragmatic and innovative approach to address a complex problem . ""  This contrasts with countries where substances are legal until the governments ban them . Chemical concoctions come out fairly routinely far outpacing efforts to control them .  When one product is banned , "" there are two or three or four replacements in the market , "" said Bell .  And authorities can ' t prevent the drug makers from selling new concoctions .  "" You can ' t ban what yet doesn ' t exist , "" Bell said . "" The government isn ' t in the position to pre empt these things . ""  New Zealand is unique because of its remote geography , he added .  "" It ' s because we ' re a small remote country , "" he said . "" Drugs like heroine don ' t make their way to New Zealand . What we ' ve become good at doing is making our own drugs . ""  Psychoactive substances have raised concerns over their ingredients and effects . Some are known to cause paranoia , hallucinations , convulsions and psychotic episodes .  "" In lots of ways , this synthetic cannabis is way worse than the real stuff with a number of people who are becoming psychotic as a result , "" said Dr Mark Peterson , the chair of the New Zealand Medical Association .  Under the law , new psychoactive drugs cannot be sold unless they pass health regulations . That process will be determined by the country ' s Ministry of Health .  The new regulation "" has to be rigorous and robust enough to stand up to public scrutiny . To be licensed , to be legal , it has to pass testing like new medicine in the market , "" said Grant Hall , general manager of the advocacy group , The Star Trust , which represents members of the legal high industry in the country .  The industry wants to "" be recognized as other highs "" such as alcohol and tobacco , he added .  Hall said he expects the industry to take a hit on profits as they ' ll now have to submit costly and lengthy applications to be be sold on the market . But he views it as an investment .  "" You have take a long term view , "" Hall said . "" It ' s a legitimate industry that provides certified low risk product so people can enjoy them safely . That ' s a much better business model than the better cat and mouse game the industry plays with the government . ""  Here is what else the Psychoactive Substances Bill entails :  Restricts where and how psychoactive drugs are sold  Prohibits sales to minors  Restricts labeling and packaging of products  Gives existing products a grace period to begin application process  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
10798,10799,"Washington ,  Washington Post  The only elected official in Congress who read the entire Stimulus Package prepared by Democratic Ghost Writers , was found dead today in a Washington park under mysterious circumstances .  The Senator , who ' s name was not released pending notification of next of kin , was found on a park bench under a pile of papers identified as the Final Draft of the latest Stimulus Bill passed by the House today , with no votes from Republicans .  The crime scene was a shocking Deja Vu to former Clinton Aide Vince Foster whose body was found in similar circumstances surrounded by legal briefs concerning the White Water Scandal , and a Subpoena pinned to his chest issued by a Federal Prosecutor .  Foster ' s death was ruled a suicide despite the fact there was no powder residue found on his hands , the gun was discovered 25 feet away , and he had been shot 12 times . White House investigators blamed the disturbing evidence on "" excessive recoil "" from the 9mm Russian automatic pistol , which bore no serial number or fingerprints .  Today ' s crime cast a pale on the upcoming Senate Vote , as the Victim was known to have been the only living soul to have read the entire package and made copious notes in order to testify in the Senate prior to the final vote on the 1 Trillion dollar entitlement program to be administered solely by the Democratic majority . It has been noted that the Senator was vehemently opposed to the bill .  A half eaten peanut butter sandwich was found next to the body , and immediate speculation from the White House arose that the Senator may have poisoned himself .  Peanut Butter representatives from Georgia were unavailable for comment , and their National Representative , former president Jimmy Carter was in Gaza for Habitat for Humanity building a subdivision with volunteers from Iran , Syria , Yemen and Somalia .  Senator Harry Reid said while the circumstances were tragic , there was no time for mourning , and that the vote must go on in order for the country to be saved . He said under the circumstances , he expected no further dissent to the bill . It was reported that  swing vote senators Collins , Snowe and Spector received the message and had not eaten anything prepared in the Senate dining room for 48 hours .  The  Post reported that Caroline Kennedy was waiting in the wings and hoped to get a call "" very soon "" to fill in for the departed Senator , no matter which state he represented . Aides said Ms . Kennedy had a house in every state plus the District of Columbia , Puerto Rico , American Samoa , and the Virgin Islands . . . truly a Universal American Citizen who was ready , willing and able to come to the aid of her country .  ",satire,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
10803,10804,"Three fraudsters who used the names of more than 200 dead children to launder profits from an attempted 1m  fraud have been jailed for more than 16 years .  Saheed Oyeneye , 35 , Rasaq Omotunde , 38 , and Oluwakemi Adesaogun , 38 , all from south east London , set up hundreds of bogus online  accounts to ' get rich quick ' off the public purse .  The Nigerian born adopted false identities of hundreds of unsuspecting victims , mirroring the tactic employed by the assassin in The Day of the Jackal , as part of his plot to shoot French president Charles de Gaulle .  Rasaq Omotunde , 38 ( left ) and Saheed Oyeneye , 35 , ( right ) , both from south east London , were part of a fraud gang who used the names of more than 200 children to launder profits from an attempted  fraud  In a scenario similar to that of the Frederick Forsyth novel , the trio men stole the identities of more than 200 dead British babies , before using their names to bombard the government with tax repayment applications .  They also adopted the identities of sports personalities , including cricketers and rugby union stars , by scouring the internet for their personal details and cobbling together a fake profile .  The three men also targeted thousands of members of the public as they attempted to swindle 1m , Southwark Crown Court was told .  In total , the gang managed to pocket around 250 , 000 , which was banked across hundreds of accounts which had been set up under false names .  But the trio were rumbled early on by  and did not pay out more than three quarters of the money .  When their homes were searched , investigators discovered the personal details of more than 200 dead children were stored on computers , the court heard .  At the peak of the fraud , the thieves were using more than 20 internet cafes to register up to 301 new accounts a day . Pictured : Oluwakemi Adesaogun  At the peak of the fraud , the thieves were using more than 20 internet cafes to register up to 301 new accounts a day .  Oluwakemi Adesaogun , 38 , from Woolwich , was the third member of the group  Oyeneye , from Hither Green , Omotunde , from Sydenham and Adesaogun , from Woolwich , all pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud .  Today , Judge Stephen Robbins jailed Oyeneye for five and a half years , Omotunde for six years and Adesaogun for five years .  After the sentencing , Christopher Gill , Assistant Director , Criminal Investigation ,  , said : ' This trio thought they were running a high tech and sophisticated fraud using a series of addresses and internet cafes to set up accounts using stolen data .  ' They bombarded the system with applications for tax repayments from these fake accounts , in the hope of getting rich quick .  ' These fraudsters thought the anonymity of the internet would protect them . '  He added : ' This case demonstrates that we can and will track down and prosecute those who attack our online systems .  ' This was nothing but a common repayment fraud attempt which our systems quickly identified as bogus .  shuts down the vast majority of bogus repayment applications . '  The trio will face confiscation proceedings at a later date but most of the money has already vanished .  The book ' s protagonist the Jackal trawls three village graveyards looking for the headstone of a baby boy who , had he not died , would have been about the same age as the assassin .  Taking the details of the late Alexander James Quentin Duggan to the Central Registry of Births , Marriages and Deaths , the Jackal buys a copy of the deceased ' s birth certificate all the proof he needs to successfully apply for a passport .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
10816,10817,"Banksy mural of Steve Jobs as a refugee in Calais migrant camp to be protected by France  British graffiti artist Banksy ' s mural of late Apple founder Steve Jobs as a refugee on a wall in the Calais migrant camp in northern France will be protected , along with two other Banksy works in other parts of the city .  The Banksy mural depicts a life size Jobs carrying a shoulder bag and an early model Apple computer on a wall at the entrance of the Calais camp , surrounded by immigrants ' tents .  Authorities in Calais said they plan to shield the murals with glass or transparent plastic panels .  "" We found out about the presence of this artwork on Friday and have decided to protect it , so it is not damaged , "" a Calais city spokeswoman said .  Calais mayor Natacha Bouchart told local newspaper Nord Littoral that the artwork was an opportunity for the city .  "" It is very good , and it has a message , "" she said .  Photo : Banksy ' s version of The Raft of the Medusa in Calais ' s town centre . ( Banksy )  Banksy , whose identity has never been confirmed , said in a rare statement to British media that Apple only exists because  authorities allowed in a young man from Homs , Syria .  "" We ' re often led to believe migration is a drain on the country ' s resources but Steve Jobs was the son of a Syrian migrant , "" said Banksy , who is famous for painting ironic murals in unexpected places .  Some 6 , 000 migrants fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East live in a so called "" jungle "" of camps in Calais and are trying repeatedly to enter Britain by jumping onto lorries , hiding on trains and walking through the tunnel in the hope of better lives there than in continental Europe .  In a second Banksy mural by the Calais beach , a child looks towards Britain through a telescope , with a vulture perched on the telescope .  Photo : Banksy ' s mural of a child with a telescope near a Calais beach points towards Britain ( Banksy )  A third work in the city , close to the immigration office , reproduces a black and white version of The Raft of the Medusa , a famous painting of shipwreck survivors by 19th Century French painter Theodore Gericault .  It shows survivors on a raft desperately waving to catch the attention of what looks like a modern yacht on the horizon .  The Banksy website carries a photo of the mural with the subscription : "" We ' re not all in the same boat . ""  In September , the artist said on his website that timber and fixtures from his temporary Dismaland theme park in western England would be sent to build shelters for migrants in Calais .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
10822,10823,"Home ›  ›     IN-            IN-        10   [10/29/16] Indoor farming is quickly becoming a growing trend because of consumers’ mistrust in GMOs, the yearning to buy as local as possible, and a decline in usable land. There are a variety of indoor farming options available, including incubators that grow plants for households and vertical hydroponic systems that can churn out huge amounts of produce in warehouses.  The latter is likely what would be used at Target, who has announced that they will be testing out a vertical farming system starting in Spring 2017. The trials will be done at different locations across the country that have not yet been announced, but the store plans on starting out with leafy greens and possibly building their way up to potatoes, beets, and zucchini.  Target collaborated with  and the  Media Lab and created Food + Future coLab , a group that is “pushing the edges of technology, business, and design to create new, impactful ventures” that change the way we know and create food. They have been researching in-store micro-farming for over a year and their findings will finally be put to the test next year. Greg Shewmaker, one of the entrepreneurs at the coLab, said,  “Because it’s MIT, they have access to some of these seed banks around the world, so we’re playing with ancient varietals of different things, like tomatoes that haven’t been grown in over a century, different kinds of peppers, things like that, just to see if it’s possible.” Post navigation",fake,news,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present
10835,10836,"Investigators thought Jose Martinez may have had something to do with the shooting of an Alabama man , found dead by hunters on a forest ' s edge .  Little did they know .  The 52 year old Californian confessed to pulling the trigger in that March killing , the Lawrence County , Alabama , Sheriff ' s Office announced Thursday . He didn ' t stop there : Martinez also admitted killing more than 30 men in all , much like he did Jose Ruiz .  "" Killing people doesn ' t seem to affect him , "" sheriff ' s Capt . Tim McWhorder said .  As of Thursday , authorities had identified 13 violent deaths linked to Martinez since his admission . At least 10 of those occurred in California , according to McWhorder .  He ' s also been tied by a  match to a cigarette butt found inside a victim ' s truck to a 2006 double homicide in Ocala , Florida , the Marion County , Florida , Sheriff ' s Office announced Wednesday .  Martinez explained that his record of violence has to do with his job as an enforcer for Mexican drug cartels . A U . S . citizen , he ' d be called when someone hadn ' t lived up to their obligations .  As he told investigators , "" I ' m the guy that pays you a visit if you don ' t pay . ""  Opinion : Looking into the minds of killers  The killing of Jose Ruiz , though , was personal , authorities say .  As McWhorder explained , the two had entered into "" some type of business arrangement "" in Alabama , where Ruiz lived in Decatur and Martinez had family .  While working together , Ruiz bad mouthed the girlfriend of another man , Jamie Romero , calling her names and "" a bad woman . ""  Apparently , he didn ' t know that Romero ' s girlfriend was also Martinez ' s daughter .  That happened in January . Stewing on it for two months , Martinez returned to Alabama having "" made up his mind he was going to kill him , "" McWhorder said .  That ' s what authorities now believe happened . All three men Ruiz , Romero and Martinez drove in Romero ' s truck to the outskirts of Bankhead National Forest .  Ruiz didn ' t make it out alive .  Authorities found evidence linking Romero to the death and arrested him a few days later . Romero said that earlier on the day of Ruiz ' s death , he ' d been with Martinez . When investigators questioned him , Martinez admitted he ' d been with Romero that day but denied having anything to do with that killing , according to the Lawrence County Sheriff ' s Office .  As rumors swirled , and the investigation went forward , authorities came to believe Martinez had lied .  An arrest warrant was issued for him , and he was picked up in Yuma , Arizona , just over the border from Mexico , where McWhorder said he ' d been visiting family . The sheriff ' s captain said authorities now believe "" that Romero may not have known that the murder was going to take place . ""  On June 3 , Martinez was brought back to Alabama and charged with felony murder in Ruiz ' s death . That ' s where he was Wednesday , in Lawrence County Jail , after a judge ordered him held without bail .  More charges , and more answers , may be coming as authorities probe his possible connection to more killings from coast to coast .  Watch : Chief Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta breaks down the ' violent mind '  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
10844,10845,"Billie Jean King has accused an on court interviewer who asked some female tennis players to ' give a twirl ' of being ' truly sexist ' .  Serena Williams and Canada ' s Eugenie Bouchard were asked to spin around to show off their outfits during on court interviews in Melbourne , prompting an angry response on social media and accusations of sexism levelled at Tennis Australia commentator Ian Cohen , who made the request .  King , who won the tournament in 1968 , tweeted : ' The Australian Open interviewer asking the women to "" twirl "" on court is out of line .  Eugeie Bouchard was asked to twirl by interviewer Ian Cohen and she looked embarrassed at the request  Bouchard did oblige , later commenting that it was ' unexpected ' that an ' old guy ' asked her to twirl on court  Bouchard laughed as she twirled for the interviewer to show off her outfit after her straight sets victory  The interviewer continued to speak to Bouchard after she twirled for him after her second round match  ' This is truly sexist . If you ask the women , you have to ask the guys to twirl as well . '  The 12 time Grand Slam singles winner , now 71 , added : ' Let ' s focus on competition and accomplishments of both genders and not our looks . '  Bouchard looked slightly bemused by the request , which followed her straight sets win over Kiki Bertens , admitting in her post match press conference the question had taken her by surprise .  ' It was very unexpected . I mean , yeah , I don ' t know . An old guy asking you to twirl , it was funny , ' said the seventh seed .  Bouchard smiles to the crowd after completing her comfortable win over Kiki Bertens on Wednesday  Canadian Bouchard celebrates after defeating Bertens of Holland 6 0 6 3 at the Australian Open  Williams , a second round winner over Vera Zvonareva on Thursday , revealed she had also had the same request and not enjoyed the experience , but would not be drawn on whether it was sexist or not .  The American said : ' A commentator asked me to twirl . I wouldn ' t ask Rafa ( Nadal ) or Roger ( Federer ) to twirl . Whether it ' s sexist or not , I don ' t know . I can ' t answer that .  ' I didn ' t really want to twirl because I was just like , you know , I don ' t need all the extra attention . But , yeah , it was fine .  ' I don ' t think and look that deep into it . Life is far too short to focus on that . We have so many other problems we want to deal with that we should focus on .  ' Whether I twirl or not , it ' s not the end of the world . It ' s about being positive and just moving forward . '  Serena Williams refused to discuss suggestions of sexism , but suggested that male players wouldn ' t have been asked the same question by the interviewer  World No 1 Williams beat Vera Zvonareva 7 5 , 6 0 at the Australia Open on Thursday  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
10845,10846,"Egypt ' s tourism minister plans to install live webcams in holiday hotspots to prove the country ' s industry remains healthy .  He added : "" This will give more credibility . . . when tourists see it , they will come . ""  Egypt ' s beaches of Sharm el Sheikh and the ancient Pyramids in Giza have long pulled tourism revenue , giving a vital boost to the Egyptian economy .  But Egypt ' s image as a tourism destination has suffered since the Arab Spring erupted in Tunisia just over two years ago and spread across the Middle East .  Egypt , with its population of around 84 million , is far bigger than Tunisia and the country ' s poverty with 40 of people living on less than 2 a day has fed the unrest .  Visitors have shied away from the country through its first uprising and further revolts against the Muslim Brotherhood ' s Freedom and Justice Party under Mohammed Morsy , who took power after the ouster of Hosni Mubarak .  The violence and police crackdowns , particularly in the nation ' s capital , Cairo , have hampered attempts to resuscitate the tourism industry .  Read more : Protesters attack presidential palace in Cairo  But according to Zazou , the 11 . 5 million visitors to Egypt last year is cause for optimism . This is compared with 9 . 5 million in 2011 and 14 . 1 million in 2010 , prior to the outbreak Arab Spring , according to data from the United Nations World Tourism Organization .  Read more : Shoes hurled at Iranian President Ahmadinejad during trip to Cairo  On the political situation in Egypt , Zazou expects a new government "" that reflects both Egypts "" to be formed after the next parliamentary elections later this year .  He added : "" Egypt is in a transition period , you can expect these things . It happened to other countries . . . It seems like we ' re a divided society but we ' re going to get together . ""  The British Foreign Office warns against travel to some areas of Egypt citing a "" threat from terrorism . "" According to the office , a "" high risk of attacks "" remains despite tight security through the country .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
10846,10847,"Guardiola has a fantastic relationship with Barcelona star Lionel Messi ?  He helped Messi become the world ' s best players during their time at Barca  City have a strong Argentine ? contingent ? led by striker Sergio Aguero  Published : 10 : 42  , 1 February 2016 Updated : 12 : 03  , 1 February 2016  The sight of Lionel Messi dancing his way between their defenders has become a painful and all too familiar one for Manchester City supporters these past couple of years .  Back in February 2014 , the Argentine master scored from the penalty spot at the Etihad Stadium , having dusted himself down from a challenge that earned Martin Demichelis a red card . Another Messi goal in the Nou Camp three weeks later settled the last 16 tie in Barcelona ' s favour .  And last season , with City handed the same harsh last 16 fate , Messi waltzed past a number of feeble challenges to help tee up Luis Suarez for his second goal of the first leg .  His trickery also drew a late penalty , only for Joe Hart to save and Messi nod the rebound wide . It didn ' t matter , Barcelona ultimately advanced .  Barcelona star Lionel Messi has tormented Manchester City in the Champions League last 16 in the past  City defender Martin Demichelis ( right ) was sent off for this challenge on Messi back in February 2014  Messi ( right ) skips past City captain Vincent Kompany during Barca ' s 2 1 win at the Etihad last season  Such rampant class , such incredible impact at the crucial junctures . How City ' s fans must have wished the boot was on the other foot .  Well , with the confirmation that Pep Guardiola is to become their new manager in the summer , that tantalising prospect has moved a little bit closer .  Ever since Guardiola declared he would be leaving the Bayern Munich dug out and seeking a new challenge in the Premier League , the Messi to Manchester rumour mill has been spinning ever faster .  Pep Guardiola has been confirmed as Manchester City ' s new manager for the forthcoming season  Bayern Munich boss ? Guardiola has agreed a three year deal to take over as City manager in the summer  Guardiola ( right ) helped Messi become the world ' s greatest player during their time together at Barcelona . The pair are pictured at the Nou Camp in 2010  ",true,text,validation,Football,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
10849,10850,"VIENTIANE, Laos  —   The Obama administration’s latest effort to broker a   in Syria’s civil war fell short on Monday, after a   meeting between President Obama and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia failed to resolve problems between them. “Given the gaps of trust that exist, that’s a tough negotiation, and we haven’t yet closed the gaps in a way where we think it would actually work,” Mr. Obama declared at a news conference at the end of a Group of 20 summit meeting in Hangzhou, China. He did not describe the points of contention. Other officials have said they involve technical issues like how to staff checkpoints in combat areas. But the checkered history of Syrian    —   the United States agreed to one with Russia in February, only to watch it unravel weeks later  —   has left the president deeply leery. On a day of diplomacy and history, Mr. Obama later flew to Laos, becoming the first sitting American president to visit this country, where children still stumble over unexploded bombs dropped by the United States during the Vietnam War. Having failed to halt the guns in Syria, Mr. Obama will seek reconciliation with the victims of a war long over. He insisted he was not giving up on Syria, however. Mr. Obama said he had instructed Secretary of State John Kerry to continue negotiating with the Russians this week to see if a deal on Syria was possible. The goals would be to halt the rain of bombs on Aleppo and to give breathing space to a United   effort to find a political end to Syria’s war between the forces of President Bashar   which are backed by Russia, and an array of insurgents seeking to depose him. “The faster we can offer some relief to folks on ground,” Mr. Obama said, “the better off we’re going to be. ” At his own news conference in Hangzhou, Mr. Putin said the Syria talks were on the “right track,” though he declined to discuss details of a deal. He expressed hope that an agreement could be reached “in the next few days,” despite earlier disagreements. “Then we can say that our joint work with the United States in the fight against terrorist organizations, including along the Syrian track, will be significantly improved and intensified,” Mr. Putin said. Mr. Obama’s appearance was his last at the Group of 20, a gathering of industrialized nations that is supposed to focus on economic issues but often finds those matters eclipsed by war and terrorism. He reminisced about his first meeting, in 2009, when the world was still reeling from the financial crisis. This time, the meeting dramatized both his   status and the changed world that his successor will inherit. On Sunday, during a photograph session with the other leaders, Mr. Putin and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey huddled with each other. A curious Mr. Obama peered at them from the other side of the room. Tensions between Russia and Turkey have escalated over Syria, but the two countries’ leaders have begun talking more in recent weeks, just as Turkey’s ties with the United States have frayed. Mr. Obama had a rough welcome in Hangzhou on Saturday, when a dispute over the stairs he would use to exit Air Force One left him disembarking from a door in the belly of the plane. Some China experts interpreted it as a snub of a departing leader by a rising power. On his departure, however, the Chinese arranged for a shiny set of stairs with a strip of blue lights beneath the railing to be rolled up to the plane. Mr. Obama remains a central figure in conversations on a variety of issues, including Iran and international economics. But there was a palpable sense on his Asia trip that the world was awaiting a new president to reassess American policies in Syria, Ukraine and North Korea. On Syria, Mr. Obama left the diplomatic heavy lifting to Mr. Kerry, who met twice in Hangzhou with the Russian foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov. On Sunday, the Americans were confident enough of success that they scheduled a briefing to announce a   agreement, erecting two lecterns for the secretary of state and foreign minister. Soon afterward, State Department officials hastily removed one, and Mr. Kerry turned up alone to report that the United States and Russia had been unable to move past a handful of “tough issues. ” The talks continued, though, with the Russians appearing more eager than the Americans to elevate them to the presidential level. Mr. Obama has been openly skeptical of the likelihood of a durable deal involving the Russians. After the meeting with Mr. Putin, it was clear his suspicions had not been dispelled. He recalled the failure of the previous deal that the United States had made with Russia. “Slowly, it unwound, and we’re back into a situation in which Assad’s regime is bombing with impunity,” he said. “That is a very dangerous dynamic. ” As he often does, Mr. Obama characterized his exchange with Mr. Putin as blunt and businesslike. There was no shortage of thorny subjects. The president said they had discussed computer security, though he declined to say whether he had brought up allegations that Russia breached the computer systems of the Democratic National Committee. “We’ve had trouble with cyber intrusions from Russia in the past,” he said. “We’re moving into a new era. ” Mr. Obama is also hoping to turn the page in Laos. The ostensible reason for the visit is two regional conferences that will give him a chance to promote his strategy of pivoting to Asia: the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the East Asia Summit. But Laos has other resonance for Mr. Obama, who has made a vocation, from Cuba to Myanmar, of opening ties to closed societies. The United States and Laos have a difficult relationship that dates to the C. I. A. ’s undeclared war in the 1960s and ’70s, when American warplanes dropped 270 million bombs on this country, many of which are still buried in fields and forests. Mr. Obama, administration officials said, would pledge millions of dollars in additional funding to help clear unexploded ordnance from the Laotian countryside. “Since Laos is still a relatively poor country that is developing, their capacity alone to clean that up is hampered by lack of resources,” he said. “We should help. ” First, though, the president canceled a meeting scheduled for Tuesday with the leader of the Philippines, an American ally in Southeast Asia. Earlier in the day, the new Philippine president, Rodrigo Duterte, delivered a   diatribe against Mr. Obama, calling him, among other things, a “son of a bitch. ” Mr. Duterte threatened to do so again face to face if the president challenged his inflammatory words or his unorthodox tactics in his country’s drug war. Mr. Obama has yet to meet Mr. Duterte, and the timing would have been important: The Philippines is in the midst of a dangerous    with China over disputed islands in the South China Sea. Still, Mr. Obama questioned the wisdom of putting Mr. Duterte and himself in a room together. “I always want to make sure if I’m having a meeting that it’s actually productive,” he said. “Clearly, he’s a colorful guy,” Mr. Obama added.",true,news,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
10857,10858,"In this newsletter we ll include key updates on 21WIRE. premium content, as well as our GLOBAL: situation report, with exclusive commentary and analysis not covered yet at 21WIRE     21WIRE    &  A  @21WIRE. ",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present
10865,10866,"There was a time when few travelers visited Colombia , when the country was synonymous with drug lords , when the only English you heard on the streets was spoken by American Marines .  That Colombia a country of conflict and cartels has largely disappeared , replaced by a rejuvenated capital of Bogota and a resilient culture that refuses to be bogged down by the dark days .  Premonitions and stereotypes should be swept aside before visiting this South American country of spectacular scenery . Today ' s Colombia is much more than the ugly Escobar legacy or its famed Andean coffee though a cup of caf will most certainly reach your hands during a trip .  5 luxury vacations in Chile  Here are some important things to keep in mind before visiting the country with the third largest Spanish speaking population in the world ( about 46 million ) , after Mexico and Spain .  1 . Medellin is the world ' s most innovative city , officially  Jutting out of a mountainside packed with russet cinder block slums , the three black shards of Medellin ' s Espana Library stand out in a sea of shanties .  Completed in 2007 , the Espana Library has become a calling card for the revitalized city , just one of the examples that led the Washington based Urban Land Institute to name it the 2012 "" Innovative City of the Year "" in a competition co sponsored by the Wall Street Journal and Citi .  Zipping up to connect the library and surrounding area to the city is the MetroCable , a novel approach to addressing poverty at the grass roots level .  "" Medellin is a city that works hard to tell the world of its capabilities and broadcast its impressive tourism opportunities , "" said Maria Claudia Lacouture , president of trade group Proexport Colombia .  2 . Drug culture stereotypes are false and offensive  Drop your ideas of a coke soaked land still lost in the days of the Escobar gang .  While residents of Medellin can recall growing up in a battlefield , where even trips to buy groceries meant dodging violence , Colombia is no gangster ' s paradise .  The coca leaf is still chewed in some rural communities , and coca leaf tea is stocked for tourists , but suggesting that Colombia hasn ' t moved on from its inglorious past is considered ignorant and rude .  Colombia has persevered , though unfortunately so has the drug war , migrating closer to its end market the U . S . Mexico border .  7 luxury vacations in Mexico  3 . Bogota must be seen from Monserrate  Every big city has a perfect vantage point from which to appreciate its immensity . For Bogota , that magic spot is Monserrate .  Perched on a mountain dominating the city , Monserrate is home to a church where pilgrims visit a shrine devoted to El Senor Caido ( Fallen Lord ) .  From the summit , Bogota ' s vast gray and red concrete expanse absorbs the green valley that frames it the sight puts the sprawling proportion of this megacity into perspective .  Monserrate can be reached via an aerial tramway , funicular or by climbing on foot .  4 . Security has dramatically improved  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
10906,10907,"Republicans move full steam ahead with Benghazi probe   panelists say no plans to pull back  Rep . Trey Gowdy , R S . C . , chairman of the House Select Committee on Benghazi , left , with Rep . Lynn Westmoreland , R Ga . , speaks to the media Thursday after a marathon hearing with Democratic presidential candidate and former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Capitol Hill in Washington . Gowdy and other Republicans on the panel said the investigation will continue despite praise for Clinton s performance . Jacquelyn Martin Associated Press  Despite poor reviews following Thursday s high profile hearing with Hillary Rodham Clinton , Republicans on the House Select Committee on Benghazi said they have no plans to pull back on an investigation that seems to have no end in sight .  The next step is to schedule interviews with former military and intelligence leaders , several members said Friday , including former defense secretaries Leon E . Panetta and Robert M . Gates and former  director David H . Petraeus .  Reps . Jim Jordan , R Ohio , and Susan Brooks , R Ind . , said committee Republicans are also not finished digging through emails sent by then Secretary of State Clinton and other department officials , including U . S . Ambassador to Libya J . Christopher Stevens , who was among the four Americans killed in the September 2012 attacks in Benghazi , Libya .  We know the State Department has many more they have not given us , and not just of the secretary s , but many more emails and communications and documents and discussions , Brooks told reporters Friday off the House floor .  Republicans plans are under scrutiny after Thursday s questioning of Clinton yielded few new details about the 2012 attacks . Democrats are increasingly charging that the panel is a partisan tool being used to damage their party s presidential front runner .  Clinton emerged largely unscathed from the 11 hour hearing , an event that served as a milestone for a House investigation that has been marred by allegations of political animus .  Even Rep . Trey Gowdy , R S . C . , the committee chairman , could not say after the hearing whether the  learned anything new during its questioning of Clinton .  Looking forward , committee members said Friday they are in the process of scheduling interviews with Panetta , Gates and Petraeus . Unlike Clinton s appearance , those interviews are expected to take place behind closed doors .  Over the next several weeks , the committee has scheduled two witness interviews with individuals whose identities must remain secret , spokesman Jamal Ware wrote in an email . Other witnesses have been identified and invited , and we will conduct additional interviews during this timeframe . The committee also has a number of unfulfilled document requests that are still outstanding .  Republicans planned to interview military and intelligence officials earlier in the process , but Democrats allege they changed their plans after the discovery that Clinton used a private email server during her time as secretary of state .  I finally got to answer questions , something I have been pushing for literally a year , and I am just grateful I recovered my voice , which I lost a little bit .  Since that news broke in March , Republican investigators have been focused exclusively on Clinton and her inner circle , Democrats argue .   members say they have not yet questioned defense and other officials because they have not obtained enough records to help them prepare for the interviews . They also note that they held Clinton s hearing Thursday to accommodate her schedule .  Clinton was back on the campaign trail Friday , speaking before the Democratic Women s Leadership Forum in Northern Virginia .  I finally got to answer questions , something I have been pushing for literally a year , and I am just grateful I recovered my voice , which I lost a little bit , she said .  House Democrats met privately Friday to discuss the way forward as some members have threatened to leave the Benghazi committee in protest .  After the meeting , Democrats called for the panel to be shut down but said they would continue to participate in order to make sure the facts are known and the conspiracy theories are debunked .  Republicans on Friday declined to give a specific timetable for when their work might conclude , arguing that the State Department is stonewalling them on document requests and that witnesses are expected to have scheduling conflicts .  The investigation , which has lasted 17 months and yielded thousands of pages of material from the State Department , will eventually conclude with a final report . But the writing has not yet started , Brooks said .  We are trying to get that definitive , fact based investigative report finished , she said . That will happen as soon as we can possibly make it happen , but we ve got to finish the interviews , we ve got to get the documents , have to finish the interviews , and then we ' ll get the report going .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
10942,10943,"The New England Patriots are heading to their fifth consecutive  Championship Game thanks to a 27 20 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in a Divisional Playoff game Saturday at Gillette Stadium . Thanks to the return of several key players from injury , the Patriots were able to cool off a red hot Chiefs team that had won 11 consecutive games coming into this weekend .  The Patriots opened up with an 11 play , 80 yard drive that consisted of nothing but passes to tight end Rob Gronkowski and wide receivers Julian Edelman , Danny Amendola , and Brandon LaFell . The key to that drive was the protection of quarterback Tom Brady , who had been taking a lot of hits in recent weeks . The Chiefs are known for having an aggressive pass rush , but they rarely tried to blitz after that first drive . Brady was not sacked once , and he completed 13 consecutive passes at one point .  Wide receiver Keshawn Martin got into the action catching a 42 yard pass on a play where Kansas City thought Gronkowski was the intended target . That was the biggest play on an 11 play , 98 yard touchdown drive in the second quarter . Gronkowski finished with two touchdown receptions despite back problems that flared up during the course of the week . The running game was a non factor , as the leading rusher Steven Jackson gained only 16 yards on six carries .  The Patriots defense didn t give up explosive plays on Kansas City s first drive , which went for 64 yards on 17 plays , but it did allow four 3rd down conversions before it finally forced the Chiefs to kick a field goal . ? New England did have some initial difficulty with Kansas City s zone read offense , but Kansas City quarterback Alex Smith didn t complete any passes of more than 20 yards except for a pair to wide receiver ? Jason Avant . ?  In the third quarter , defensive end Chandler Jones forced a fumble that was recovered by linebacker Dont a Hightower . New England didn t do a lot of blitzing , but enough pressure was put on Smith to force him into a completion percentage of only 58 percent . Jones did make New England s only sack . Smith s biggest plays were with his feet , particularly on a scramble where he avoided a seemingly inevitable sack to complete a pass and convert a third down . That kept alive Kansas City s first touchdown drive of the game .  On a punt return , running back Brandon Bolden made a big tackle that s usually made by gunner Matthew Slater . Ryan Allen s punting was a little off in the first half a line drive punt in the second quarter went for only 43 yards and was brought back 19 yards by Kansas City punt returner Frankie Hammond . A rare offside penalty on a New England kickoff in the second quarter forced Stephen Gostkowski to make a second kick , which was returned to the Kansas City 34 yard line .  Gostkowski s 40 yard field goal in the fourth quarter helped hold off a potential Kansas City rally . Danny Amendola had a 20 yard punt return that set up Gostkowski s second field goal .  The only mistake made by defensive coordinator Matt Patricia was choosing to rush only three lineman on a 3rd and 13 in the first quarter . The defensive line couldn t contain Smith and he ran for a first down , but Patricia made some adjustments and New England kept Smith relatively well contained for the rest of the game .  Defensive coordinator Josh McDaniels didn t appear to trust his running game , and that didn t allow New England to run the clock very much in the second half . Nevertheless , New England s quick passing game kept Brady upright virtually the entire game .  New England will now play for the  Championship against the winner of Sunday s game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field . The Steelers will play that game without the services of either ? All Pro wide receiver Antonio Brown or running back DeAngelo Williams , and quarterback ? Ben Roethlisberger is dealing with a sprained throwing shoulder . New England will host the  Championship if sixth seeded Pittsburgh somehow pulls off an upset , but odds are the Patriots will need to travel to Denver to face the number one seeded Broncos .  Gregory Hunt is a Boston native and a life long fan of the Patriots , Red Sox , Bruins and Celtics . He s also particularly fond of lacrosse , IndyCar racing and women s college basketball . He currently works for Examinerweblink where he serves as the Senior Manager of Content and Media Access . He also writes for Examinerweblink as the New England Patriots Examiner . His work can be found on a Examinerweblink .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
10948,10949,"The investigation comes as Chicago officials announce an officer involved in a second fatal shooting will not be charged .  The  Justice Department will launch a wide ranging investigation into the Chicago Police Department following the release of a video showing the shooting of a black teenager .  The civil rights probe , which comes after similar investigations in Baltimore and Ferguson , follows intense scrutiny surrounding the police department and Mayor Rahm Emanuel over their handling of the death of 17 year old Laquan McDonald .  Officer Jason Van Dyke was charged with first degree murder on 24 November , more than a year after the teenager ' s death and hours before police dashboard camera footage showing the fatal shooting was released .  Laquan McDonald was shot 16 times in October last year  The video showed Mr McDonald moving away from officers when Van Dyke opened fire from close range .  The officer continued shooting after the teenager fell to the ground and stopped moving .  Chicago City Council signed off on a 5m ( ? 3 . 3m ) settlement with Mr McDonald ' s family before they had filed a lawsuit and officials fought for months in court to prevent the video , which does not include sound , from being released publicly .  Since its release , Mr Emanuel forced Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy to resign and formed a task force to examine the department .  Jason Van Dyke was charged with first degree murder last month  But calls for him to resign have grown during protests around the city .  Early efforts to suppress the release of the footage by the city coincided with Mr Emanuel ' s re election campaign .   Attorney General Loretta Lynch confirmed the investigation at a news conference on Monday , and said authorities will look at the Chicago police department ' s use of force and its accountability systems .  She said : "" Our goal in this investigation . . . is not to focus on individuals but to improve systems .  "" We understand that the same systems that fail community members also fail conscientious officers by creating mistrust between law enforcement and the citizens they are sworn to serve and protect . ""  City officials last week released documents which showed officers reported different versions of the fatal shooting to that in the video . They also portrayed Mr McDonald as more menacing .  Meanwhile , it was announced on Monday that a second Chicago police officer involved in the fatal shooting of a black man in October 2014 would not face charges .  Cook County State ' s Attorney Anita Alvarez also released long sought footage that showed the shooting of Ronald Johnson  .  The 25 year old was armed with a handgun and running from officers when he was shot in the back by Officer ? George Hernandez , authorities said .  Ms Alvarez said Johnson had been asked repeatedly by multiple officers to drop his weapon , and that he was running in the direction of other officers in a police vehicle when he was shot .  A 9mm ? pistol was found next to Johnson , who police have described as a known gang member .  His family has contended that officers planted the gun .  Of 409 shootings involving Chicago police since September 2007 , only two have led to allegations against an officer being found credible , the Chicago Tribune reported .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,negative,past
10952,10953,"Arnold Schwarzenegger gives Houston Texan ' s  Watt an online pep talk  You ' ll be back : Arnie gives dejected  Watt an online pep talk following play off loss and insists the Houston Texans will be champions next year  The actor tried to cheer up the defensive end with a motivational message  Arnie told the  star the team didn ' t lose because they didn ' t stay down  He finished short online message with catchphrase : ' Hasta la vista , baby '  After the Houston Texan ' s early exit from the playoffs , star player  Watt was dejected .  He even took to Twitter to apologize to fans .  But he may have been lifted by a pep talk from the Terminator himself .  Arnold Schwarzenegger posted a video to the 6ft 5ins defensive end in a bid to lift his spirits .  The actor told the player to keep his team going and predicted they would be champions next year . ?  The former Governor of California told the  star : ' Hey  , you and the Texans are fantastic . Just remember one thing , you didn ' t lose today , and I ' ll tell you why . ?  ' Because losers stay down and I know you and the Texans , you always get up and that ' s why you are winners and you will always be winners . So get going again and get up , and get some fire under this team and march forward . Hasta la vista , baby . '  Watt had tweeted hours before : ' I am sorry . Thank you for your support all year . '  This is not the first time the pair have interacted on social media . ?  Over the summer , Schwarzenegger shared a photo of him and Watt on Instagram after going out for dinner .  They then hit the gym to complete some squats . ?  The Texans were shut out by the Kansas City Chiefs 30 0 on Saturday in their  Wild Card playoff game . ?  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
10956,10957,"Project Veritas  newest video from the American Pravda:  series exposes Jimmy Carr, the Associate Producer for  s New Day attacking President Donald Trump and admitting that  has a left-leaning bias. When asked by an undercover journalist if  is impartial, Carr plainly responded,  In theory. We reported on the previous videos from Project Veritas: James O Keefe s Project Veritas reporters went undercover at  to investigate the #VeryFakeNews network to determine the motivation behind  s Trump-Russia collusion obsession. Since the inauguration,  has mentioned  Russian story  nearly 16,000 times.Project Veritas  reporters can be seen in the video below having a conversation with  s supervising producer John Bonifield. The reporter talked to Bonifield first about the constant barrage of Trump-Russia stories on CNN. Bonifield admitted that although  has no evidence or proof of Trump involvement with Russia, they continue to make it their top story on  simply for  ratings  and to  make money.  Bonifield has worked as a journalist and as a producer for nearly 15 years at CNN, making him a pretty reliable source when it comes to how things work at CNN.Bonifield actually confessed to the undercover Project Veritas journalist that President Trump is correct when he says the media is on a  witch hunt  to take him down. Bonifield told the reporter:  I think the President is right to say, like, look you are  witch hunting me  You have no real smoking gun, you have no proof. Bonifield told the undercover reporter for Project Veritas that  is biased and is playing to their audience by attacking President Trump, and actually admitted that  Trump is good for business right now.  The Project Veritas reporter asked Bonifield,  But honestly, you think the whole Russia shit is bullshit?  to which Bonifield replied:  Could be bullshit. I mean, it s mostly bullshit right now. Like, we don t have any big, giant proof. The way these leaks happen, they d leak it. It d leak. If it was something really good, it would leak. Watch the unbelievable video here:Did the three resignations that took place at  today have anything to do with the impending release of O Keefe s explosive video proving that  manufactures Trump-Russia collusion stories for ratings, or for money?The story about the three  employees resigning for publishing fake news broke yesterday. Is ti a coincidence that today, O Keefe released this explosive bombshell video?Here s the story that broke yesterday:  employees have resigned for their role in pushing fake news about the Trump-Russia story that claimed a member of the Trump transition team was under investigation.Reporter Thomas Frank, editor Eric Lichtblau and executive editor Lex Haris all resigned from their positions following a company-wide investigation into the single-sourced story that was quickly debunked, The Washington Post first reported.  quickly followed up with a story of their own on the resignations. Lichtblau reportedly oversaw the false story, while Haris headed up  s investigative unit. In the aftermath of the retraction of a story published onweblink,  has accepted the resignations of the employees involved in the story s publication,   s coverage quotes a company spokesman as saying.Philly.com   On Thursday evening,  investigative reporter Thomas Frank published a potentially explosive report involving an investigation of a Russian investment fund with potential ties to several associates of President Donald Trump.But by Friday night, the story was removed from  s website and all links were scrubbed from the network s social media accounts. That story did not meet  s editorial standards and has been retracted,   said in an editors note posted in place of the story.  Links to the story have been disabled. ",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
10969,10970,"Afghanistan The British journalist recently freed in a  military operation described his Taliban hostage takers as "" hopelessly inept , "" and praised his Afghan colleague who died in the rescue .  Journalists carry flowers to the grave of Afghan journalist Sultan Munadi in Kabul on Thursday .  New York Times reporter Stephen Farrell described his four days in captivity in a blog on the newspaper ' s Web site , posted late Wednesday just hours after he was freed .  Taliban militants kidnapped Farrell and Afghan journalist , Sultan Munadi , on Saturday . During a pre dawn raid Wednesday ,  ' s International Security Assistance Force plucked Farrell to safety , but did not retrieve the body of Munadi , who died during a fierce firefight between troops and Taliban militants . A British commando was also killed , as were a woman and child .  There has been criticism about the rescue operation as well as the initial decision to go into the region which Farrell points out in his blog , "" was becoming more troubled by insurgents . ""  The Media Club of Afghanistan issued a statement Thursday saying it "" holds the international forces responsible for the death of Mr Munadi because they resorted in military action before exhausting other nonviolent means . ""  "" There is no justification for the international forces to rescue their own national , and retrieve the dead body of their own soldier killed in action , but leave behind the dead body of Sultan Munadi in the area . The  deems this action as inhumane . ""  The two had gone from Kabul to the northern Afghan city of Kunduz on Friday to investigate reports of a  airstrike in a Taliban controlled area . Farrell said he and his colleagues believed the attack , which destroyed two tankers , would be "" a major controversy involving allegations of civilian deaths against  claims that the dead were Taliban . ""  He said they took precautions , including waiting until the next day to drive along the main highway in daylight . While they were interviewing locals about what happened along the riverbank , Farrell said "" a crowd began to gather , time passed , and we grew nervous . ""  "" I do not know how long we were there , but it was uncomfortably long , "" he said . "" I am comfortable with the decision to go to the riverbank , but fear we spent too long there . ""  All of a sudden , some of the villagers shouted , "" Taliban "" and their driver fled with the keys , he said . Farrell and Munadi tried to escape too , but they were captured .  Munadi was struck with a Kalashnikov rifle , but Farrell said apart from that incident , the two were not "" subjected to any beatings , torture or ill treatment over the next four days . ""  Their Taliban captors operated freely in the area southwest of Kunduz , and appeared to be the only armed presence , Farrell wrote .  "" It became a tour of a Taliban controlled district of Afghanistan , and that control appeared total , "" he said . "" At no point did we see a single  soldier , Afghan policeman , soldier or any check to the Taliban ' s ability to move at will . ""  Farrell said he and Munadi were "" paraded "" around by their captors .  "" We were paraded to the children in the street : the infidel and his translator , to be laughed at and mocked , "" he wrote .  The captors operated with relative impunity and , at times , "" their operational security was hopelessly inept "" using Farrell ' s name over their mobile phones "" heedless of who was , almost certainly , monitoring the calls . ""  They even played songs on the radio that praised the Taliban , he said .  "" They were not making it hard , "" Farrell wrote .  At one point , he said they drove near what they said were watchtowers , manned by the Afghan government and  , "" gleeful at their daring . ""  "" They drove with headlights full on at night as they moved us from house to house , at least three different buildings a day , "" according to Farrell .  He said the Taliban captors seemed to be welcomed by some Afghan villagers , while others appeared "" more wary and formally polite . ""  During their captivity , Farrell said "" there were good hours , and bad ones , "" as well as "" progress and setbacks . "" It became harder for the captors to find safe houses , he said .  On the third night , there was what appeared to be an attempt to free them , but their captors took them to another refuge within minutes . Then , on the next night , the aerial activity increased and their Taliban captors grabbed their weapons and headed outside leaving Farrell and Munadi behind . They ran out later , Munadi in front , and then became separated .  Then , Munadi appeared again , holding out his hand to steady a faltering Farrell and they ran across a narrow ledge on the outer wall of the compound .  "" I could hear Taliban voices shouting and shooting from trees to our left , I thought , "" Farrell wrote . "" I could also hear indistinct voices ahead . We continued 20 yards along the wall until it suddenly reached the corner . ""  Munadi walked beyond that corner , out into the open , raising his hands and shouting , "" Journalist . ""  "" There was a burst of gunfire and he went down immediately , "" Farrell wrote . "" In the dark , with firing all around , trees everywhere and my view obscured by him and the wall , I did not know whether the bullets came from in front , to his right or to his left . ""  At the sound of gunfire , Farrell reared back and dived into a wet ditch . After a few minutes , he heard British accented voices and then screamed , "" British hostage , "" flashing a camera light from the ditch .  He said he told the soldiers that Munadi was lying behind him , and had possibly been shot .  "" The body was lying motionless in the ditch where I had seen him go down , "" Farrell said . "" I hoped he had dropped and was lying still . I knew it wasn ' t the case . ""  The soldiers told him that "" they had his picture and would look for him , then dragged me away . ""  "" It was over , "" he wrote . "" Sultan was dead . He had died trying to help me , right up to the very last seconds of his life . ""  Farrell said he was then taken onboard the aircraft , as the soldiers , most of them British , carried on some celebrations . But they fell silent after learning one of the rescuers died from the wounds sustained in the raid .  "" His blood soaked helmet was in front of me throughout the flight , "" Farrell wrote . "" I thanked everyone who was still alive to thank . It wasn ' t , and never will be , enough . ""  ",true,text,validation,American football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
10987,10988,"A couple of weeks ago, people boycotted Nordstrom for one reason: The department store sold Ivanka Trump products. Now people are boycotting Nordstrom for another reason: The store said it would not sell her products. These days, a shirt is not always just a shirt, and a store is not always just a store. Handbags, dresses and other ordinary items  —   and where they are bought  —   have become politicized, turning shopping decisions into acts of protest for the millions of people in   and   Trump camps. Under Armour, L. L. Bean, T. J. Maxx and many other companies have already been pulled into a sort of ideological tug of war. But perhaps no retailer has been in the hot seat like Nordstrom. The “boycott Nordstrom” movement instantly changed political direction after the department store scrubbed Ms. Trump’s name from its site last week. Thousands of people lashed out at the retailer online. Even President Trump himself posted on Twitter that his daughter had been treated “unfairly. ” The sharp reaction before and after Nordstrom’s decision  —   made quietly, with no announcement  —   highlights the tightrope companies must walk in this   environment. “Companies are nervous,” said Andrew Gilman, chief executive of the crisis communications firm CommCore Consulting Group. “I know several companies that have war rooms set up. ” “They have playbooks on what to do if there is a product recall or if the C. E. O. has a heart attack,” he added. “Now they have a different chapter on how to deal with a tweet from the president. ” Many retailers and brands would clearly prefer to fly below the political radar and stay away from the outrage on Twitter and Facebook. Calls or emails sent to a   of the country’s largest department stores about how they are handling Ms. Trump’s products, for example, resulted in either no comment or carefully neutral statements. None of the stores agreed to discuss how they made decisions around Ms. Trump’s merchandise or details about sales of the products. But many of these companies  —   like L. L. Bean and Macy’s  —   still find themselves in the eye of a social media storm. So, too, does the Ivanka Trump brand. “In recent days, we’ve seen our brand swept into the political fray, becoming collateral damage in others’ efforts to advance agendas unrelated to what we do, which is produce accessible,   products for our loyal customers,” the brand said in a statement. The   maker Under Armour also encountered the perils this week, when its chief executive, Kevin Plank, called Mr. Trump a “real asset” for the country. Within hours, the hashtag #boycottunderarmour emerged on social media. Under Armour moved quickly to contain the damage, clarifying Mr. Plank’s remarks by saying he supported Mr. Trump’s business policies, not his social viewpoints. It is unclear how much the boycotts and activism are shaping businesses’ financial results, especially at big department stores, which are battling weak sales across the board. The Ivanka Trump brand said it had experienced “  growth” in revenue last year, and planned to continue expanding its offerings and distribution in 2017. Consumer companies, more broadly, have long faced campaigns against their products for political, social or environmental reasons. There have been boycotts over the use of sweatshop labor, dangerous chemicals and even microbeads. But now, companies are dealing with even more intense pressure, as they have become targets in a politically charged environment fueled by social media. After Nordstrom pulled Ms. Trump’s products, many people opposed to Mr. Trump cheered the decision. But Josh Cornett, a    Trump supporter in Cleveland, was quick to tell his 25, 000 followers not to shop at the department store. “All you have to do is write out a sentence, and you’re done,” he said. “Anything that helps him, I try to promote,” he said, referring to Mr. Trump. “And anyone who attacks him, I try to defend. ” Nordstrom said that Ms. Trump’s products were simply not selling well, and that remaining inventory would still be available in some physical stores. But that has not stopped people like Mr. Cornett from viewing the decision through a political lens, and asserting that the company took a stand. “Companies are now being swept up into this political consumer activism in a way that they have not been in the past,” said Maurice Schweitzer, a professor of operations, information and decisions at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Nordstrom is one of more than a dozen other retailers that have found themselves in the cross hairs of Grab Your Wallet, an online campaign to boycott companies associated with the Trump brand. The movement has also protested brands that donated to Mr. Trump’s campaign or advertised on “The New Celebrity Apprentice,” on which he is credited as an executive producer. Some major companies, including Macy’s, the country’s largest department store, still sell Ms. Trump’s shoes, handbags and clothes. Those companies remain on Grab Your Wallet’s list. Macy’s did not respond to multiple requests for comment. But many companies that are on the   list argue they have not picked a side and should not be there. For instance, in the days before his inauguration, Mr. Trump tweeted his thanks for the support of an L. L. Bean heir and encouraged consumers to buy products from the merchandiser. Soon, the company, based in Maine, was the focus of the Grab Your Wallet campaign. In a statement also posted on social media and elsewhere, L. L. Bean urged the campaign to reverse its position, explaining that the Trump supporter, Linda Bean, was one of more than 50 family members involved in the business. It added that L. L. Bean did not endorse political candidates or take positions on political matters. “Simply put,” the statement read, “we stay out of politics. ” Still, other business leaders appear eager to dash into the political fray. After Mr. Trump signed an executive order in late January that suspended the country’s refugee program and barred individuals from certain countries from entering the United States, Howard Schultz, the chief executive of Starbucks, announced plans to hire 10, 000 refugees over the next five years. Like with Nordstrom, the response was largely split down the political divide. “There’s a real difference in styles emerging here. L. L. Bean wants to stay low, saying, ‘We’re not political. We don’t want to pick sides,’” said Professor Schweitzer, of the Wharton School. “But Howard Schultz is positioning Starbucks as a more   place,” Professor Schweitzer continued. “He’s aligning the company with the employees and most of the customers in taking that stance. ”",true,news,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
11006,11007,"VARNSDORF, Czech Republic (Reuters) - The Czech Republic and smaller states like it should have a stronger voice in the European Union, not Brussels officials, the billionaire frontrunner in next month s parliamentary election said. Andrej Babis, head of the poll-leading  party, has been a critic of the  s migration policy and says Prague should not adopt the common currency until the euro zone sorts itself out. Neighboring Hungary and Slovakia strongly oppose  plans for migrant resettlement quotas for each member state, calling instead for stronger border controls. Babis has taken a similar tough line on the issue heading into the Oct. 20-21 election. In a campaign trail interview, Babis said member states needed more powers at the expense of the bloc s executive, led by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.  And he took shots at French President Emmanuel Macron, who has accused eastern member states of treating the  like a  supermarket .   The heads of government and presidents must have stronger power and not Mr Juncker,  Babis told Reuters on Thursday in Varnsdorf, a town on the German border.  Mr Juncker s ideas are off the mark and that is also why the  is viewed badly. (The EU) is a great project, we certainly need to stay in Europe, but we have to play a more active role.  The real solution to the migrant influx was to solve the conflicts driving people to flee their countries.  We will not solve the migration problem without solving problems in Libya or Syria,  he said. He said Brussels could not force member states to accept its policies.   I do not think there is a core Europe and that we are on the sidelines,  he said.  We need to fight for our Czech national interests.  Babis s  party, in a Social Democrat-led government since 2014, has a double-digit poll lead, putting him on course to be the next prime minister. But he is facing possible police charges that he abused  subsidies almost a decade ago while heading his food, chemicals and media company Agrofert. Other parties say Babis should not  be in the next government if charged. Babis told Reuters the investigation was a political ploy, saying there was no reason he should not be in the next government. The Czech Republic has enjoyed solid growth in recent years and has the lowest unemployment in the EU. Wages are rising fast and the state posted its first budget surplus for 21 years in 2016. Babis was finance minister from 2014 until this May.  The businessman, who has placed his assets in a trust fund to meet conflict-of-interest legislation, said the state could be run more efficiently and could help the economy fulfil its potential. He said it was a paradox that  states which failed to meet the bloc s rules limiting budget deficits, like France, were not punished.  Macron irked eastern states in June by saying countries could not pick and choose which  rules they followed, referring to clashes including over the policy on migrants.  He is commenting on eastern Europe (but) should concentrate on France,  Babis said. The Czech Republic pledged when it joined the  in 2004 to eventually adopt the euro. Babis asked why Czechs should be on the hook for Greece s debts.  In this moment it is not beneficial. I certainly don t want the euro,  he said.  (For a graphic on the Czeck legislative Election, click  tmsnrt.rs/2vO4hPW) ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
11014,11015,"Microsoft kept its eyes forward and revealed what is coming for the Xbox One this year and next at its 2014 Electronic Entertainment Expo briefing in Los Angeles , California . However , it is what they didn ' t talk about that might be more interesting .  Phil Spencer , head of the Xbox division at the Redmond , Washington , company hosted nearly 90 minutes of gameplay demonstrations , cinematic trailers , and the company ' s vision for its home entertainment console .  But unlike last year , when the company rolled out its Xbox One console heavily touting its connection to Kinect , the troubled hands free controller only got one brief mention during a segment on independent development .  There also were no mentions of other forms of entertainment on the console in the software focused presentation .  "" It fits the strategy of turning around 180 degrees , "" said German gaming journalist Stephan Freundorfer . "" Last year , they showed very little gaming . This year , they showed nothing but games . ""  Microsoft originally bundled the Xbox One and the Kinect system together saying it was the best way to enjoy entertainment on the console . Recently , they said they were heeding customer feedback when the company released an Xbox One without the Kinect at a cheaper price .  "" It is a risky game they are playing , "" Freundorfer said . "" Game makers now have to make the decision whether to make games with the Kinect . ""  Earlier this month , 45 new entertainment apps were made available , offering more content choices through the Xbox One . But that was all absent from Monday ' s event .  Even more peculiar , Spencer mentioned Sony and Nintendo by name and offered praise to those companies for joining Microsoft in shaping the future of entertainment the best way they know how through gaming .  He said the entire briefing would be about gaming and promised a slate of titles for this year , plus a strong look at next year and beyond .  The greatest reaction came when Master Chief , the iconic character from the "" Halo "" franchise , appeared on the screen . "" Halo 5 : Guardians "" is expected to be a personal journey for Chief .  The creators at 343 Industries wanted players to remember where Chief came from , so this fall , "" Halo : Master Chief Collection "" will contain all four previous games , completely unlocked and playable in a seamless sequence up to the beginning of "" Halo 5 . ""  There is also content coming to mark the 10th anniversary of "" Halo 2 . ""  Other third party titles showed off what ' s to come this year on the Xbox One . "" Call of Duty : Advanced Warfare , "" "" Assassin ' s Creed Unity , "" and "" Disney Fantasia : Music Evolved , "" are part of the strong slate of games that will be available by the end of the year .  Looking to 2015 and beyond , a world premier video showed the next chapter for protagonist Lara Croft with "" Lara Croft : Rise of the Tomb Raider . ""  Independent game makers were also highlighted by the computing giant . Hundreds of new games are expected as more creative talent takes advantage of  Xbox , a publishing platform for independent developers . The program offers indie companies the chance to build , hone , develop , and self publish games on the Xbox One .  Spencer closed the show reiterating Microsoft ' s commitment to building and developing great games .  "" We are ready to invest to bring new creators to the Xbox One , "" Spencer said , adding the investment will "" shape the future of the New Xbox . ""  It wasn ' t quite the buzz of last year ' s presentation of a new console . But Monday ' s showcase perhaps signaled a renewed focus for Microsoft on what makes gamers happy : games .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
11020,11021,"Mark Zuckerberg,  of Facebook is becoming a large public figure to the world, and not just for creating the world famous social media website we ve all come to know so well.Mark first launched Facebook in February of 2004 with his college roommates at Harvard University. The group then introduced Facebook to other campuses. Facebook rapidly gained popularity, with just over a billion users by 2012. As Facebook grew, so did Zuckerberg s net worth, which is now just over $50 billion USD. However, Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, vowed to donate 99% of that wealth to charity.Since 2009, Forbes Magazine has created an annual list of the top 10 world s most powerful people, and in December of 2016 Mark Zuckerberg made that list. Although Mark is at the bottom of the list, he is much younger than anyone else on the list. However, Mark s influence doesn t stop there. Recently, Mark Zuckerberg has launched a mission to give the entire world internet.Yet, what s the point of all this? Does Mr. Zuckerberg just have a strong urge to make his mark, which is already a big one, or does he have a bigger plan? In the last summer Facebook was accused by a group of conservatives of being liberally biased. In response Mark met with some conservatives to ease their troubled minds. Mark has never publicly taken a side in politics, but he s involved in a handful of organizations that terrify republicans.On January 3rd, Mark posted about some of his goals for the new year:Going into this challenge, it seems we are at a turning point in history. For decades, technology and globalization have made us more productive and connected. This has created many benefits, but for a lot of people it has also made life more challenging. This has contributed to a greater sense of division than I have felt in my lifetime. We need to find a way to change the game so it works for everyone.My work is about connecting the world and giving everyone a voice. I want to personally hear more of those voices this year. It will help me lead the work at Facebook and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative so we can make the most positive impact as the world enters an important new period.We are indeed at a turning point in history, and it s very intriguing to see what role Mark will play in it, maybe he will undo some of president-elect Donald Trump s damages come 2020. If Donald Trump can rally up enough support to get elected, Mark Zuckerberg can easily do the same.Featured image via David Ramos/Getty Images",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,Economy,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present
11025,11026,"Los Angeles A third former Fullerton , California , police officer was charged in the beating death of a mentally ill homeless man , the Orange County district attorney said .  Joseph Wolfe , 37 , pleaded innocent Thursday to one count of involuntary manslaughter and one count of use of excessive force in connection with the death of 37 year old Kelly James Thomas on July 7 , 2011 .  The charges against Wolfe came as a result of a grand jury indictment handed down on Monday , District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said in a statement .  Since Thomas ' death , the district attorney ' s office "" has actively continued its investigation and legal review and decided to seek indictment against Wolfe following extensive legal and factual analysis and development of evidence , "" the statement said .  California cop pleads not guilty in homeless man ' s death  Wolfe was released on 25 , 000 bail , according to authorities at the Orange County jail . He faces up to a maximum four years in prison , if convicted .  The indictment against Wolfe comes nearly a year after two other former Fullerton police officers were charged in the case . They were ordered to stand trial in May .  The grand jury heard testimony from 10 witnesses and reviewed 113 exhibits of evidence over three days before handing down the indictment against Wolfe , the statement said . State law requires grand jury transcripts to be sealed for 10 days after the defense has received the documents .  Thomas , a lifelong resident of Fullerton , was shirtless and carrying a backpack , and was wearing long pants and slippers , when Fullerton police were called to investigate a "" homeless "" man looking in car windows and pulling door handles of parked cars at the city ' s bus depot last July , according to a lawsuit filed by Thomas ' father .  Father sues California police  A security camera at the downtown bus depot provided 16 minutes of video of the officers questioning and then beating Thomas , who was schizophrenic .  Former Officer Manuel Ramos is charged with second degree murder and involuntary manslaughter , and former Cpl . Jay Patrick Cicinelli is charged with involuntary manslaughter and felony use of excessive force .  Both have pleaded not guilty . A pre trial hearing is scheduled for November 30 .  Ramos , 37 , a 10 year veteran of the police department , faces a maximum sentence of 15 years to life , if convicted , authorities have said . Cicinelli , 39 , a 12 year Fullerton police veteran , faces a maximum of four years in prison , if convicted .  Recently , Thomas ' mother , Cathy , received 1 million from Fullerton ' s insurance reserves in an agreement to settle her claim against the city in her son ' s death , according to a city statement . Cathy Thomas , who ' s divorced from Frederick "" Ron "" Thomas , released the city and its police officers from all potential claims , the city ' s statement said .  Thomas ' father , Frederick Thomas Jr . , filed a lawsuit in July against the city , its police chief and the six officers allegedly involved in the fatal incident . The lawsuit seeks more than 25 , 000 in damages .  Homeless man cries ' help me ' as cops fatally beat him in videotaped incident  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
11042,11043,"South Carolina ' s Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Gov . Mark Sanford must accept 700 million in federal stimulus money , ending the only formal effort by a governor to reject funding intended to jump start an ailing economy .  Gov . Mark Sanford became the conservative face of opposition to the federal stimulus package .  The two term Republican said he would abide by the court ruling , but called it a bad day for South Carolina and the country .  "" This decision is terrible news for every taxpayer in South Carolina , and even more so for future taxpayers who will ultimately bear the responsibility of paying for this so called ' stimulus ' without seeing any benefit from it , "" he said in a statement .  Considered a potential future Republican presidential candidate , Sanford led the party ' s resistance to the 787 billion stimulus package . He warned the increased spending will bring an insurmountable debt burden on future generations .  Sanford initially tried to require that any stimulus money pay down the state debt , a stance rejected by the Obama administration .  Sanford had resisted taking the money even when the Republican controlled legislature passed a budget that included the funds .  Students and education officials in South Carolina filed lawsuits demanding that the governor take the money . Sanford tried to have those suits merged and heard in federal court .  On Monday , however , a federal judge rejected that effort , and said that the South Carolina Supreme Court must decide what to do .  In its ruling , the state ' s highest court said the legislature , not Sanford , has the power to decide whether to accept the federal stimulus money .  "" At this stage in the process , the Governor certainly has no discretion to make a contradictory decision on behalf of the State , "" the ruling said . "" We hold the Governor must apply for the . . . funds . "" Watch report on Gov . Sanford ' s policy defeat  However , the court distanced itself from any role in setting policy on the issue .  "" Our decision today should not be construed as a comment on the policy differences between Governor Sanford and the General Assembly respecting the wisdom or necessity of South Carolina accepting the "" money , it said . . . . "" We discharge our duty to honor the rule of law , nothing more . ""  The ruling was in response to lawsuits filed by two students and a school administrators ' association that sought to force the state to accept the stimulus money , some of which will go for education needs .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
11048,11049,"According to Main Street Tavern employees and patrons , the guy at the end of the bar is a little too into deceased blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan .  Bar goer John Menke said that the guy , an unidentified beret and denim vest wearing man in his early 30s , should be avoided "" unless you want to talk about Stevie Ray Vaughan for at least an hour . ""  "" I go up to get another pitcher of beer , and this guy at the bar just stares at me , biting his lip and nodding his head to the Stevie Ray Vaughan song on the jukebox , "" Menke said . "" I try to look away , but then I accidentally make eye contact for a split second . That ' s when he says to me , ' Man , there ' ll never be another  . ' Before you know it , I ' m trapped listening to him go off about Vaughan ' s blistering guitar solo on ' Cold Shot ' . ""  After expounding on Vaughan ' s "" fiery , impassioned guitar work "" on "" Cold Shot "" for several minutes , the guy explained to Menke the song ' s origins .  "" The guy says to me , ' Stevie used to sing this to the women he felt had wronged him , but he realized he was the one who was cold to women because of his addictions , ' "" Menke said . "" I definitely got the feeling that this wasn ' t the first time this guy had ever told a complete stranger that story . ""  The guy was about to explain to Menke that the title of the album In Step was a reference to the 12 step program Vaughan had completed , but Menke excused himself to go to the men ' s room . After waiting in the bathroom the approximate length of time it would take to urinate , Menke ordered a pitcher of beer at the other end of the bar and returned to his table .  Main Street Tavern patron Bill Raychek , who later in the evening encountered the guy at the bar ' s pool table , said he "" went on and on "" about how Vaughan had finally begun to turn his life around and conquer his demons when he was tragically killed in the summer of 1990 .  "" I don ' t recall asking the guy to tell me about the night of Stevie Ray Vaughan ' s death in great detail , but he did , "" Raychek said . "" As you no doubt know , Vaughan had just finished a show with Clapton , Buddy Guy , Robert Cray , and his brother Jimmie at Alpine Valley Music Theater in East Troy ,  , and was going to drive back to Chicago . At the last minute , though , Vaughan decided to board a helicopter instead . Shortly after take off , in a thick fog , the chopper crashed into a nearby hillside , killing all five on board , including numerous members of Clapton ' s management team . ""  Continued Raychek : "" When the guy told me that , I responded by saying , ' Wow , ' in as disinterested a manner possible . But he just plowed on ahead , telling me how ironic it was that the last song Stevie ever played was a transcendent 20 minute version of ' Sweet Home Chicago , ' almost as if he knew he ' d be called home to the Lord that night . ""  Bartender Frank Aufiero said the guy ' s habit of steering any conversation toward the subject of Stevie Ray Vaughan was "" extremely irritating . ""  "" For some reason , I was talking to someone about Annette Funicello , "" Aufiero said . "" Out of nowhere , the guy chimes in about how the soundtrack for the Funicello movie Back To The Beach has Vaughan collaborating with Dick Dale on a version of ' Pipeline . ' It ' s almost like he ' s playing Six Degrees Of Stevie Ray Vaughan . ""  Aufiero acknowledged that he himself likes Vaughan , but said he finds the guy at the bar ' s enthusiasm "" a bit much . ""  "" Stevie ' s great , but there are other things to talk about in this world , "" Aufiero said . "" I mean , when I go out someplace , I don ' t sit around saying things like , ' Without Stevie Ray Vaughan , there is no Jonny Lang or Kenny Wayne Shepherd . ' If I didn ' t know better , I ' d think this guy was hired by Vaughan ' s  firm , but his territory is only this bar . ""  ",satire,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
11054,11055,"Pittsburgh Steelers vs . Denver Broncos Betting Odds , Analysis ,  Pick  Use your ( arrow ) keys to browse more stories  The top seeded Denver Broncos ( 12 4 ) will look to avenge a regular season loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers ( 11 6 ) when the teams meet at Mile High in the divisional round of the playoffs Sunday . The Broncos lost 34 27 at Pittsburgh as seven point road underdogs in Week 15 with quarterback Brock Osweiler playing but will have future Hall of Famer Peyton Manning back under center for his first start since Week 10 .  Point spread : ? The Broncos opened as 2 . 5 point favorites the total was 40 . 5 early in the week , according to sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark ? ( view line updates and matchup report ) .   pick , via Odds Shark computer : 26 . 2 18 . 8 Broncos  So long as quarterback Ben Roethlisberger suits up , the Steelers will have a chance to cover the spread and win . Roethlisberger continued to show why he is one of the most valuable players in the  last Saturday in an 18 16 win over the Cincinnati Bengals with the Steelers as two point road favorites . Despite suffering a separated shoulder , he came off the bench after leaving and led Pittsburgh on a drive that resulted in the game winning field goal .  In the first meeting a little less than a month ago , Roethlisberger completed 40 of 55 passes for 380 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions . Of the 40 completions , 26 of them went to wide receivers Antonio Brown and Martavis Bryant , who also totaled 276 yards and two touchdowns between them . Brown is dealing with a concussion from a hard hit he took at Cincinnati , but he remains the best receiver in the  and will be difficult to cover so long as he is healthy enough to take the field .  Even including the loss at Pittsburgh , Denver has gone 10 3 straight up in its last 13 games against  North foes . The Broncos are also 6 2 straight up in the past eight home meetings with the Steelers and should consider themselves fortunate to have backed into the  s No . 1 seed thanks to wins over both the New England Patriots and Cincinnati Bengals . Playing at home has not been kind to them in some recent playoff appearances , but Manning will give the offense a much needed boost .  While Osweiler was not playing poorly down the stretch , Manning s postseason experience is invaluable and gives the Broncos their best shot to advance . Defensively , they led the  in sacks during the regular season and will see how well a less than 100 percent Roethlisberger can throw the ball early in the game by putting tremendous pressure on him . With running back DeAngelo Williams still dealing with a foot injury and remaining a long shot to play , Roethlisberger will have to carry the offense on his bum shoulder .  The Broncos are lucky they get to play a Steelers squad that is not even close to 100 percent healthy in this matchup . Roethlisberger will likely try to give it a go , but there is only so much punishment his body can take . He will be facing the top defense in the league , and getting knocked out again is a distinct possibility . Because of that , Denver is the pick to win and cover the spread despite going 1 7 against the spread in its last eight games as a favorite in January . Manning s storybook return will add at least another chapter .  The Steelers are 2 6 straight up in their last eight games on the road against the Broncos .  The Broncos are 1 7 against the spread in their last eight games as favorites in January .  The Broncos are 10 3 straight up in their last 13 games against the  North division .  All point spread and lines data courtesy of Odds Shark . ? All quotes gathered firsthand unless otherwise noted . Check out Twitter for injury and line movement updates and get the free odds tracker app .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
11069,11070,"Russia looks richer in the snow . Muscovites , as they always have , stroll the main boulevard , Tverskaya Street , in their fur coats and hats on snowy evenings , basking in the holiday lights and decorations , their capital transformed into an icy wonderland .  Moscow ' s coffee shops are full of young Russians still willing to pay 300 to 400 rubles for a latte . But the foreign currency exchange shops I pass are an ominous sign . Just a few weeks ago , 300 rubles was worth about 10 . Now , it ' s about half that .  Thursday , I exchange dollars for rubles and get a rate of 54 . 20 . By Saturday it ' s 57 rubles to the dollar .  Consumer prices are up about 8 from a year ago . Inflation is growing at its fastest pace in three years . In the food store where I used to shop , I search in vain for my favorite imported cheese . It ' s fallen victim to Russia ' s ban on dairy , meat , fruit , poultry , fish and other products imported from the West Moscow ' s retaliation for U . S . and European economic sanctions over its actions in Ukraine .  Even the price of bread , which holds a near sacred place in Russian popular culture , is rising . The business daily Kommersant reported that bread prices will increase 5 to 10 in the near future due to the rising price of "" flour , grain , sugar , foreign raw materials , packing supplies and transportation costs . ""  Food wholesalers want to adjust consumer prices more frequently , once a week instead of every 45 days , according to the paper .  In Moscow ' s working class neighborhoods , the falling ruble is reawakening old fears and old methods of coping with economic uncertainty . Some middle aged Russians , who lived through the economic chaos of the early 1990s , are beginning to put away reserves of salt , matches , macaroni , flour and other staples .  Middle class Russians are buying TVs , cars and household appliances , convinced that prices after New Year ' s will be higher . "" Russians live one day at a time , "" a 40 year old woman who works for a livery service tells me . "" We never know what the future will bring . ""  A new Russian poll shows that Russians are losing confidence in the future and are making plans for only a few months in advance . In that poll , by VTsIOM , 51 of those questioned said they are confident in the future , down from 61 in the spring of this year . Nearly half said "" life is difficult , but bearable . ""  The U . S . and Europe imposed economic sanctions in response to President Vladimir Putin ' s actions in Ukraine and Crimea , but Putin blames the West for trying to weaken Russia . His fellow citizens , by and large , agree Putin ' s latest public approval rating is an overwhelming 82 .  But some , especially among Russia ' s beleaguered political opposition , see a silver lining in the economy ' s woes : the end , sooner or later , of the Putin regime .  "" My prognosis ? In three years the situation will change , "" Dmitry Stepanov of the liberal   Party told me at an opposition conference in Moscow . "" The country is in economic crisis and no one in the government knows how to solve that . ""  The economy will tank , Stepanov predicted , "" and this will elicit mass dissatisfaction among the public . That will activate political battles , and that will lead to a peaceful change of power . ""  Several people I spoke with at the conference said there ' s a perfect storm brewing that could sweep Putin from office : low oil prices resulting in plunging profits for Russia , Western sanctions , and a faltering economy . But no one I spoke with wanted that "" perfect storm "" to end in revolution .  The conference , "" Crisis in Russia E . U . Relations : Causes and Ways Out , "" was held on December 12 , Russia ' s Constitution Day , and brought together approximately 200 members of the opposition along with some liberal European politicians .  It was co sponsored by Russia ' s liberal opposition party ,   short for the Republican Party of Russia Party of People ' s Freedom and the transnational European party , the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe .  One of the hosts : Mikhail Kasyanov , co leader of   , who served as minister of finance from 1999 to 2000 and as Russia ' s prime minister from 2000 to 2004 . Putin fired him , along with his Cabinet , shortly before running for and winning a second presidential term .  The current Kremlin policy , Kasyanov told me , is "" leading nowhere , "" and he predicted growing economic and political problems .  "" We want to force the present leadership of the country , using pressure from society , to change its aggressive course in its international as well as domestic policy and abide by the Russian Constitution , "" he said .  Just where that pressure will come from , however , is not clear . Historically , the opposition has been divided internally , and so far , Putin has most Russians on his side .  One participant in the conference , who works in a nongovernmental organization and did not want her name used , told me that Putin won ' t willingly leave power . "" "" He will never leave of his own accord , "" she said , "" so somebody will have to help him . And they will do that once they are frustrated enough . "" His inner circle , she said , could turn on him .  "" They are Russians like everybody else , so their patience is very , very long , "" she told me . "" One day , however , it will crack . That ' s what I think . What it will take to crack , I don ' t know . ""  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
11076,11077,"So this is what a Republican debate would have looked like in an alternate universe , where Donald Trump was still a reality show celebrity and a failed steak salesman .  With a few notable exceptions , all the candidates kept their balance and stayed on their talking points . It ' s as if the unconventional Trump ' s absence from the hall made everyone a bit more restrained and , well , political .  But this was still a debate , and every debate has winners and loser , so here they are .  Hello there , stranger , where have you been for the last 12 months ? The former Florida governor is still not the most skilful debater , but without Trump around to constantly kick proverbial dirt in his eyes , he gave his best performance of the campaign . He practically admitted as much when he sarcastically noted that Trump was "" a little teddy bear to me "" and they "" had such a loving relationship "" .  Best moment : When asked about a "" culture of hatred "" directed toward Muslims , he said : "" We ' re never going to win elections unless we have a broader , unifying message "" . This was big tent Bush , the kind of campaign he said he wanted to run but hasn ' t been able to .  Biggest stumble : It ' s perhaps telling that his worst moment was still pretty good . During the debate ' s biggest conflict , over immigration reform , he stood by his position on giving undocumented migrants a pathway to permanent residency . That probably won ' t help him with rank and file Republicans , but disavowing his previous stance wouldn ' t have either .  Since being temporarily relegated to the undercard debate , the New Jersey governor has managed to string together several strong debate performances . He ' s a winner because , like Bush , he was best able to shine in Trump ' s absence . His forcefulness , whether talking about Hillary Clinton or national security , comes across in much sharper contrast when the New York billionaire isn ' t there to steal his thunder .  Best moment : The immigration portion of the debate was pivotal for many of the candidates , and it was tailor made for Christie to contrast his executive experience as governor . After Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz struggled to explain their sometimes contradictory records on the issue in the Senate , Christie pounced : "" I feel like I need a Washington to English converter "" to understand Rubio and Cruz . He added that governors can ' t hide behind "" parliamentary tricks "" .  Biggest stumble : Christie was asked about the Bridgegate scandal and , despite it hanging over his head all campaign , he simply doesn ' t have a convincing answer . His offering , "" I knew nothing "" , is not what you want to hear from a man who brags about being a take charge leader .  If Trump loses the Iowa caucuses , his decision to skip this debate will likely be labelled a mistake . At least for now , however , it looks like he made it through the evening unscathed . Save for a few gentle jabs , he largely avoided attacks from the debaters and dodged the sharp questions from moderators that bedevilled other candidates .  Cruz and Rubio faced video clips of their past conflicting statements on immigration reform and surely Fox had one ready to roll for Trump , as well . Instead , the New Yorker got to hold court at his own rally , carried live by other news networks , and was even joined on stage by fellow candidates Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum .  The Florida senator is never going to have a bad debate he ' s just too polished for that . This was Rubio ' s weakest performance , however . He got bogged down with the immigration question , and his back and forth with Cruz on national defence was awkwardly sidetracked when he mentioned he had once accidentally mispronounced Dabiq ( the propaganda magazine of the so called Islamic State group ) in Syria as Dubuque , a town in Iowa .  Best moment : Rubio scored his best line when , after a Cruz joke about leaving the debate if he kept being attacked fell flat , he quipped : "" I ' m not leaving this stage , no matter what you ask me . ""  Biggest stumble : Rubio was damaged the most by , of all people , Bush the man who so feebly attacked him in an earlier debate . After Rubio tried to explain his past support for immigration reform , Bush went for the kill : "" He cut and run because it wasn ' t popular amongst conservatives , I guess . "" Bush then contrasted Rubio ' s dissembling with his own willingness to stick with his principles . If Bush is going down based on his immigration position , he seems eager to pull Rubio into the abyss with him .  Kasich didn ' t have a bad debate , but he was once again largely absent from the evening ' s biggest moments . As a current governor and former leader in Congress , he has a firm grasp of policy details , and it shows . If he ' s going to make a move in the next few weeks , however , there are a lot of bodies he ' ll have to climb over . He seems to have made the decision over the course of the past few debates that , win or lose , he ' s just not going to do that .  Best moment : Kasich was once again asked about his support for expanding federal Medicaid coverage for the poor in his state , an issue that is anathema to much of the conservative base . He turned it into a defence of his state ' s treatment of drug addicts and the mentally ill . "" When I study scripture , "" he said , "" I know that people who live in the shadows need to have a chance . ""  Biggest stumble : The one time Kasich was really forceful was when he got into a spat with moderators Chris Wallace and Megyn Kelly . After several unsuccessful attempts to keep talking through their efforts to change the topic , he finally relented . "" I ' ve always listened to you , Megyn . Go ahead . ""  The Kentucky senator nearly merits being put in the winning column just because , after missing out on the prime time debate earlier this month , his poll numbers got him back on the main stage . But , like Kasich , he simply lacked a breakthrough moment for a campaign that desperately needs one . He mixed it up with both Cruz and Rubio at times , but he failed to make any of his attacks stick and it ' s unclear who he most needs to take down in order to succeed at this point .  Best moment : Paul finally had the opportunity to talk about criminal justice reform , an issue near to his heart . "" The war on drugs has disproportionately affected our African American community , and what we need to do is make sure that the war on drugs is equal protection under the law and that we don ' t unfairly incarcerate another generation of young African American males , "" he said . It was a glimpse of the Rand Paul that many thought would flourish this campaign but has largely been absent .  Biggest stumble : Paul was asked about President Bill Clinton ' s past infidelities . He said that if a head of corporation had behaved similarly , he would have been fired , never again hired and "" shunned in their community "" . A fact check would likely render that view false .  The Texas senator is touted as a championship calibre debater , but he seemed off balance almost the entire evening . He spent too much time complaining to the moderators about the tenor of their questioning and many of his planned one liners were clunkers . Expectations were high for Cruz to dominate the proceedings without Trump on the stage , but it almost seemed as though he were lost without the man he ' s sparred with for the past few weeks .  Best moment : Cruz is against corn ethanol subsidies , which is a very unpopular position to have when you ' re vying for a win in the Iowa caucuses . Not surprisingly , he was asked about his stance , and he turned it into a defence of his tax plan . "" I don ' t believe that Washington should be picking winners and losers , "" he said . "" And , I think there should be no mandates , and no subsidies whatsoever . "" It may lose him votes in Iowa , but after being criticised by Paul earlier in the debate for his preference for political expediency , it was a principled stand .  Biggest stumble : Cruz complained when he wasn ' t given a chance to respond after being mentioned in one of Wallace ' s questions . "" You don ' t get 30 seconds to respond to me , "" Wallace snapped . "" Sir , I know you like to argue about the rules , but we ' re going to conduct a debate . "" And so it was that the sharpest burn of the night didn ' t come from a candidate .  It ' s hard to label Ben Carson a loser . At this point , he ' s a category unto himself . He referred to Russian President Vladimir Putin as a "" one horse country "" and seemed surprised when he was asked about immigration . "" Oh , great , "" he said to audience laughter . He ended the debate by reciting the preamble to the  Constitution , but messed up a word . He disappeared for vast stretches , and while in the past he ' s seemed to rise in the polls despite performances like this , he ' s now settled toward the bottom of the pack .  Best moment : "" You ' re not going to hear a lot of polished political speech from me , "" he said in his opening remarks . Truer words have never been spoken .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
11080,11081,"ethics report calls for sanctions against Blatter , Platini  Combination file photograph of  President Sepp Blatter addressing a news conference at the  headquarters ?   ( Reuters )  ethics investigators called on Saturday for sanctions against president Sepp Blatter and European soccer boss Michel Platini , dealing a fresh blow to Platini ' s bid to succeed Blatter as head of world soccer ' s governing body .  Both men were suspended from their posts for 90 days on Oct . 8 pending a full investigation , engulfed by a deepening corruption scandal as the sport faces criminal probes in Switzerland and the United States .  The investigatory chamber of  ' s ethics committee acting independently of the organization ' s leadership said on Saturday it had completed its inquiry , but did not say why it was recommending sanctions nor what those sanctions should be .  Its report will now be passed to the committee ' s adjudicatory chamber , which will decide whether investigations should be pursued and on any potential sanctions .  "" The investigatory chamber of the independent Ethics Committee has submitted its final reports containing requests for sanctions against Joseph ( Sepp ) Blatter and Michel Platini to the adjudicatory chamber chaired by Hans Joachim Eckert , "" the ethics panel said the statement .  "" For reasons linked to privacy rights and the presumption of innocence until proven guilty , the chamber will not publish details of the concluded reports and the requested sanctions against the two officials . ""  Blatter has been  president since 1998 . Platini has been head of European soccer ' s governing body  since 2007 and , until he was suspended , had been favorite to replace Blatter in  ' s Feb . 26 presidential election .  Platini ' s hopes of standing were put on hold because of his suspension . He has appealed to the Court of Arbitration of Sport against his provisional ban but , even if he wins and is allowed to stand , his plans would be scuppered if Eckert ' s adjudicatory chamber accepts the investigation ' s recommendations .  The adjudicatory chamber said in a separate statement it would decide whether to open formal proceedings and , if necessary , on sanctions "" in due course . ""   ' s electoral committee has said Platini ' s registration will not be processed while he is suspended , although it could reconsider its position if he wins an appeal .  Platini ' s appeal was rejected in the first instance by  ' s Appeal Committee this week .  Blatter also faces criminal investigation in Switzerland over a 2 million Swiss franc ( 2 million ) payment from  to Platini .  The payment was made in 2011 for work Platini had completed nine years earlier , the Swiss attorney general ' s office has said , adding Platini was considered "" between a witness and an accused person . ""  The ethics committee said its chief investigator Cornel Borbely was not involved in its investigation of Blatter as both men are Swiss .  "" As the two proceedings are closely related and to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interests , Dr Borbely also withdrew from the proceedings against Michel Platini , "" it added .  Instead , Robert Torres from Guam submitted the report on Blatter and Trinidadian Vanessa Allard compiled the report on Platini .  The ethics committee appears to have taken a tougher line against offenders in the last year , handing out a series of long term bans from soccer related activities which includes playing , coaching and administrative roles in the sport .  Former executive committee members and powerbrokers Jack Warner and Chuck Blazer have been given life bans , while Reynald Temarii was banned for eight years and Chung Mong joon , who had planned to run for the  presidency , for six .  In another case , former Chilean federation president Harold Mayne Nicholls , who also compiled the technical reports on countries which bid to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups , was banned for seven years .  On Monday , Ganesh Thapa , president of the All Nepal Football Association , was banned for 10 years and fined 20 , 000 Swiss francs , while Viphet Sihachakr , president of the Laotian Football Federation , received a two year ban and 40 , 000 franc fine .  ( Writing by Brian Homewood in Berne Editing by Patrick Johnston and Mark Potter )  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past
11117,11118,"Army , Navy out in Chennai amid heavy rain inundated airport shut down  Non stop torrential rains since Monday night pounded several parts of Chennai and north Tamil Nadu triggering a deluge completely disrupting normal life as army was deployed tonight in two suburban areas to undertake rescue on a war footing .  The government issued a flood alert to people living on the banks of river Adyar in Chennai , even as several lakes and tanks overflowed in the city and the neighbouring districts of Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur . Two columns of army s Garrison Infantry Battalion were pressed into service in Tambaram and Oorapakkam after the Tamil Nadu government sought military assistance . Navy personnel were deployed in Sadiapet area of Chennai to rescue people marooned in low lying areas .  Cuddalore , where the maximum number of people died during the last spell of rain , continued to receive the maximum rainfall , with 16 cm as recorded at 8 . 30am on Tuesday , followed by Puducherry with 15 cm .  The Met office has said that the weather patterns are due to a slow moving depression over southwest Bay of Bengal .  Several suburban train services in Chennai were crippled , while the Tiruvallur Chennai suburban trains and Gummidipoondi Chennai suburban trains were running behind schedule . Trains out of Chennai too were delayed inordinately . Airport director Deepak Shastri told  that all operations at the Chennai airport have been stopped for rest of the day and all flights stand cancelled .  Operations at Chennai Airport shut as water started entering airfield Deepak Shastri , Chennai Airport Director to  chennairains  Read : In waterlogged Chennai , Ola sending boats to help people out  The Adyar river was facing a flood threat as water from the Chembarapakkam lake was let out . Authorities issued a threat warning to those living on either side of the river . In Saidapet area along the river , 2 , 000 huts were submerged .  I have ordered officials to take precautionary measures before releasing surplus waters from reservoirs and evacuate people living in low lying areas , chief minister Jayalalithaa said .  Vehicles wade through a water logged road following heavy rains in Chennai . (  Photo )  As the death toll in rain related incidents touched 188 , Jayalalithaaa reviewed the situation and deputed ministers to inspect the affected regions . She announced that police , fire and rescue , National and State Disaster Forces and Coast Guard have been kept ready for need based evacuation of people from flood hit regions .  Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Jayalalithaa and assured full support from the Centre . Spoke to Jayalalithaa ji on the flood situation in parts of Tamil Nadu . Assured all possible support cooperation in this unfortunate hour , he tweeted .  Patients admitted to a hospital in Tambaram were shifted to a Govt hospital in Central and Royapettah in Chennai on Tuesday . (  Photo )  The Prime Minister had earlier okayed the release of financial assistance of nearly Rs 940 crore after the last spell of rain had brought the state to a standstill .  Meanwhile , Puducherry chief minister N Rangasamy has sought immediate interim financial assistance of Rs 100 crore from the Centre for relief work .  Tamil Nadu government has set up three helpline numbers : 1077 , 1913 and 044 4567 4567 .  ",true,text,validation,American football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
11122,11123,"Just like Hillary Stephanopoulos claims it was an  honest mistake  not to disclose his donations to the corrupt Clinton slush fund  News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos has given $50,000 to the Clinton Foundation in recent years, charitable contributions that he did not publicly disclose while reporting on the Clintons or their non-profit organization, the On Media blog has learned.In both 2013 and 2014, Stephanopoulos made a $25,000 donation to the 501 nonprofit founded by former president Bill Clinton, the Foundation s records show. Stephanopoulos never disclosed this information to viewers, even when interviewing author Peter Schweizer last month about his book  Clinton Cash,  which alleges that donations to the Foundation may have influenced some of Hillary Clinton s actions as Secretary of State.In a statement to the On Media blog on Thursday, Stephanopoulos apologized and said that he should have disclosed the donations to  News and its viewers.Watch George discuss the problem with donations to the Clinton Foundation on the Daily Show with John Stewart, and how it might make people question if donations to the Foundation could be seen as  pernicious : I made charitable donations to the Foundation in support of the work they re doing on global  prevention and deforestation, causes I care about deeply,  he said.  I thought that my contributions were a matter of public record. However, in hindsight, I should have taken the extra step of personally disclosing my donations to my employer and to the viewers on air during the recent news stories about the Foundation. I apologize. Stephanopoulos is the chief anchor and chief political correspondent for  News, as well as the co-anchor of  s  Good Morning America  and host of  This Week,  its Sunday morning public affairs program. Prior to joining  News, he served as communications director and senior advisor for policy and strategy to President Clinton. He also served as communications director on Bill Clinton s 1992 presidential campaign.In its own statement on Thursday,  News said it was standing behind its star anchor. As George has said, he made charitable donations to the Foundation to support a cause he cares about deeply and believed his contributions were a matter of public record,  the network s statement read.  He should have taken the extra step to notify us and our viewers during the recent news reports about the Foundation. He s admitted to an honest mistake and apologized for that omission. We stand behind him.  News later told the On Media blog that it would not take any punitive action against Stephanopoulos:  We accept his apology,  a spokesperson said.  It was an honest mistake. Sources with knowledge of Stephanopoulos  charitable giving said he gives to dozens of charities Stephanopoulosevery year and that the total sum of these annual contributions is in the millions of dollars. Those sources said that the Clinton Foundation contributions represent a very small percentage of the total.On the April 26 edition of  This Week,  Stephanopoulos interviewed Schweizer and challenged the author s assertions that Hillary Clinton may have committed a crime because there was a  troubling pattern  between donations to the Foundation and Clinton s actions as Secretary of State. We ve done investigative work here at  News, found no proof of any kind of direct action,  the host told Schweizer.  An independent government ethics expert, Bill Allison, of the Sunlight Foundation, wrote this. He said,  There s no smoking gun, no evidence that she changed the policy based on donations to the foundation.  No smoking gun. Later in the interview, Stephanopoulos said,  I still haven t heard any direct evidence and you just said you had no evidence that she intervened here.  He also noted that other news organizations that used Schweizer s research  haven t confirmed any evidence of any crime. Among the more notable revelations to come out of Schweizer s research is the relationship between the Clinton Foundation and Uranium One, a former Canadian mining company that was taken over by Russia in 2013 with U.S. government approval. Between 2009 to 2013, Uranium One s chairman donated $2.35 million to the Clinton Foundation.Hillary Clinton has said that there is  not an inherent conflict of interest  between the Foundation donations and her decisions at the State Department. Her campaign has consistently dismissed the accusations as partisan attacks.Via: Politico",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
11130,11131,"Pakistan Pakistan ' s military is pounding Taliban targets in the country ' s Swat Valley , trying to clear militants who control parts of the district ' s main city , military officials said .  Pakistani army trucks transport cannons for the military operation against the Taliban .  The Pakistani forces had killed 35 militants in Wednesday ' s fighting , the officials said .  The officials said there are reports of some civilian casualties in Wednesday ' s fighting which has been concentrated in Swat ' s district capital of Mingora but they denied local media reports that 35 civilians died .  An eyewitness said he saw the bodies of 15 civilians were being taken from a village near Mingora on Wednesday . Twelve of the dead were children .  Taliban militants have laid siege to Mingora , looting banks , attacking army headquarters , the police station , and the main power grid station , the officials said . They are also occupying civilian houses and government buildings in the city center , according to the military . See a map of Taliban controlled areas  The fighting has trapped 80 boys inside an orphanage in the city , according to Muhammad Ali , the director of the facility . Another 20 staffers are also holed up inside the four story building , and they only have enough food for two more days , Ali said .  Local government officials issued an evacuation order for the Swat area Tuesday , ahead of the military operation . An estimated 40 , 000 people have fled Mingora , according to Khushhal Khan , district coordination officer .  Government officials warn that the fighting could lead to the exodus of 500 , 000 civilians . Watch as thousands flee military offensive  For the last two weeks , Pakistani troops have battled Taliban fighters in Buner and Lower Dir , two districts bordering Swat . Army generals claim to have killed scores of militants .  Fighting continues in those two districts , and the operations are "" progressing smoothly , "" the military said Wednesday . Militants struck a girls ' college in the area with rocket fire , partially damaging the building , the military said . Watch conditions in a refugee camp in Pakistan  Pakistan ' s government recently signed a deal that would allow Islamic law , or sharia , in the Swat Valley , in exchange for an end to fighting . The government began its military operation after Taliban militants moved into the Buner district and refused to disarm , in violation of the agreement .  Pakistan ' s President Asif Ali Zardari will meet with U . S . President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Wednesday in Washington .  Obama is hoping to build an enduring regional alliance with both countries , enlisting them as full partners rather than treating them as battlefields for U . S . soldiers to fight extremists .  Last week , Obama said Pakistan ' s government appears to be "" very fragile "" and argued that the United States has "" huge national security interests in making sure that Pakistan is stable "" and doesn ' t end up a "" nuclear armed militant state . ""  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
11134,11135,"As Canada ' s economic outlook grows increasingly unpredictable and difficult to understand , media outlets across the country are turning to Finance Minister Jim Flaherty ' s varied facial expressions , which many now believe can provide the most reliable and comprehensible indicators of the nation ' s financial stability .  "" Most Canadians don ' t actually understand economics , "" said  financial correspondent Stephanie Koo . "" And when Flaherty speaks about the economy , even if we try to boil it down for the public , we invariably end up with meaningless buzzwords , like action plans and red ink . These terms scare people . So they mostly rely on how his face looks to figure out what is going on . ""  A 7 million research investment put forward by Canada ' s largest media corporations , Bell Media , Rogers Communications , Shaw Communications , Astral Media , Quebecor , and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation , has been used to create a computer model that will analyze the Finance Minister ' s face when he responds to global financial turmoil and seek to match his expressions with what that means for Canada ' s economy .  "" We ' ve found that certain facial muscles and veins are more sensitive to certain economic news , "" said  photographer Jerry Kallis . "" For example , the vein on his left temple throbs whenever someone says Greek austerity . "" ' And the muscles underneath his right jaw tighten whenever Canadian beef exports drop . ""  "" By contrast , when business tax cuts are pushed through at the federal level , Flaherty ' s face looks relaxed , his wrinkles diminish and he sports a constant smirk of the lips . ""  Yet the system is not without issues .  Yesterday , the photography team uploaded images of a downcast Flaherty in a state of abject despair . News analysts believed this indicated a global economic meltdown and a return to a hunter gatherer society . The  immediately fell five hundred points . However , upon further investigation , analysts found Flaherty ' s pre parliament hotdog had too much relish on it , prompting the expression .  ",satire,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,present
11172,11173,"No running back is worth 11 . 5 mill a year .  And give credit due , Seattle kept lining up the running backs the entire game as receivers , and it never worked . Christine Michael had a good post season and wasn t used Sunday  your be missed guess i gotta pounce on that seattle lynch tee shirt i see on ebay asap  Thanks for the years of hard work and memorable plays . Sure he was a pain sometimes and likely stunted Wilson development as a passer ( Bevell doesn t get absolved of blame for that ) , but no denying he was great player for the Hawks . The relationship soured , it happens .  he took his jersey off after the game , very telling .  leBron did the same thing a few years back  Lynch seems like a natural fit with New England . The Patriots will move on from Jackson and Blount , and after the way they finished the year ( Brady taking hits due to lack of passing options mixed with no run game ) I think the Patriots will prioritize upgrading the position . Bill values veteran  s , although money will likely be an issue here , but if Lynch encounters a soft market and prioritizes winning it d be a great match . The Patriots would be unstoppable with an above average running game  when Tom cable said that lynch had to adapt to the new offense he wasn t kidding . instead of pounding a healthy lynch often and early , the Seahawks tried passing it too often . lynch wears down a defense , by the 4th quarter the defense doesn t want anything to do with him . plus everybody knows that a good running game opens up the passing game . the Seahawks tried to prove that they could win the Super Bowl and this playoff game without him .  Lynch seems like a natural fit with New England .  His  wouldn t be tolerated in New England and they generally don t like running backs over 30 . Jackson is there now only because Blount and Lewis are both on  . I would look for the Patriots to resign Blount to 3 million deal over two years and combine him with Lewis , White , and Bolden again next year in the Patriots backfield .  Good riddance . He was a big pain for Seattle with his antics . They ll be better off with better team players at  .  So you re saying good riddance to a player who last season when it came time to pay Russell Wilson there was a huge group of people claiming you can t pay Wilson top dollar because the defense and Lynch are the real reason the Seahawks win and Wilson is just a game manager ? Ungrateful is one of the first words that come to mind .  Anyways . . I loved watching Lynch run . His beastquake run against the Saints in the playoffs was one of single greatest  moment I ve ever witnessed . He had long stretches of coming up big in the playoffs . Going back to my childhood he seems to be the real life Tecmo Bowl Bo Jackson or Christian Okoye in that it seemed impossible to consistently bring him down with less than 3 men . Besides Barry Sanders he is one of the few backs that consistently gave you good god I can t believe he did that on even 3 yard runs .  I like how all you supposed  fans are so quick to crap on a guy who s given us some of the more amazing runs over the past several years . Because why ? He doesn t like to talk to the media ? That s an issue for you ? That he doesn t like to speak when these clowns shove microphones in his face ?  Get over yourselves . Great running back who s time with Seattle has finally come to a close . No need to show your butthurt .  Lynch and Kam are the two players I respect most on the Seahawks .  Tough as nails , Lynch could break a long run out of nowhere .  Scot McCloughan s first year as  of the Redskins has consisted of drafting big , physical players and signing free agents from his former teams . I wouldn t mind seeing Beast Mode in Burgundy and Gold .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
11174,11175,"Reuters) - Poland has asked the European Commission to withdraw its legal proceedings against Warsaw over its migrant relocation quotas and said it was ready to fight its case in court, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday.  In July the Commission sent so-called  reasoned opinions  to Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary urging them to apply  migration rules.  Poland has sent a motion to the European Commission requesting it to discontinue its ongoing infringement procedure. Should it be continued, Poland is prepared to argue its case before the Court of Justice of the European Union , the ministry said in a statement.  Poland s ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) has repeatedly criticized the  s relocation scheme for each member state to host a given number of migrants to help ease pressure on Greece and Italy, struggling with mass arrivals of migrants across the Mediterranean. Earlier on Wednesday, Interior Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said in a statement that the  s relocation policy was dangerous.  Paris, Stockholm, Brussels, Berlin, Manchester, Barcelona,  Blaszczak said, referring to recent attacks by Islamist militants which have killed scores of people.   How many more European cities have to be hit by terrorists so the European Union wakes up? So the European Commission acknowledges that accepting blindly all those who come to the European shores is akin to putting a noose around Europe s neck?    ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
11189,11190,"Google could be facing a $9 billion fine from the European Union (EU) following a   investigation into the search engine. [“The  competition authority accused Google in April 2015 of distorting internet search results to favour its shopping service, harming both rivals and consumers,” reported the Independent on Friday. “The  company has in the past rejected the charges, saying that regulators ignored competition from online retailers Amazon and eBay. ”  The Independent continued to claim in their report that “Fines for companies found guilty of breaching  antitrust rules can reach 10 per cent of their global turnover, which in Google’s case could be about $9bn of its 2016 turnover. ” “Apart from the fine, the Commission will tell Google to stop its alleged   practices but it is not clear what measures it will order the company to adopt to ensure that rivals get equal treatment in internet shopping results,” they explained. “The regulator could set out general principles or specific instructions for Google to follow, said an observer. ” Google has previously been accused of rigging and changing their search results in their favor, most notably during the 2016 U. S. Presidential Election. Autofill suggestions about Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s health were censored, despite the popularity in searches, as well as other search suggestions which conveyed negative messages about Clinton, including “Crooked Hillary. ” During an investigation, users discovered that every other popular search engine featured these popular search suggestions apart from Google, who were major backers of Clinton’s campaign. Last year, WikiLeaks founder and editor Julian Assange claimed that Google was “directly engaged in Hillary Clinton’s campaign,” Negative search suggestions about other candidates, including Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump, and Ted Cruz were not similarly censored. In September, Google was also accused of manipulating the search results for “Jihad” to promote a post from the Islamic Supreme Council defending Jihad as a “misunderstood concept,” while in April the search engine announced that they would be further manipulating results to combat “fake news” and “hate speech. ” Charlie Nash is a reporter for Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington or like his page at Facebook.",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
11190,11191,"Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel won a fourth term in office on Sunday but Europe s most powerful leader will have to govern with a far less stable coalition in a fractured parliament after her conservatives haemorrhaged support to a surging far right. Two years after Merkel left German borders open to more than 1 million migrants, the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) stunned the establishment by becoming the first far-right party to enter parliament in more than half a century. The AfD won 13.0 percent of the vote - more than expected and one of many shocks on a night of drama that saw Merkel s conservatives get their worst result since 1949, and her main Social Democrat (SPD) rivals their worst since 1933. Describing the far right s success as a test for Germans, Merkel insisted she had a mandate to govern - a formidable challenge as she has little choice but to cobble together a three-way coalition with a pro-business group and the Greens.  Of course we had hoped for a slightly better result,  a humbled Merkel said after her conservative bloc slumped to 32.9 percent of the vote - down from 41.5 percent at the last election in 2013.  But she added:  We are the strongest party, we have the mandate to build the next government - and there cannot be a coalition government built against us.  The euro EUR=E4 slipped around 0.4 percent in early Asian trading as it became clear the results would make forming a coalition tricky for Merkel.  Coalition building could take months as Merkel s only straightforward path to a majority in parliament would be a three-way tie-up with the liberal Free Democrats (FDP) and the Greens - an arrangement untested at national level. The Social Democrats, who have served with Merkel s conservatives as junior partners in a  grand coalition  for the past four years, won just 20.6 percent of the vote, as nearly half of voters repudiated the two parties that have dominated Germany since World War Two.  leader Martin Schulz said the party would refuse to rejoin a coalition and instead take up its position as the main opposition. The Social Democrats appear to have been hurt badly by being in government, making it difficult to distinguish themselves from Merkel s conservatives. After shock election results last year, from Britain s vote to leave the  to the election of U.S. President Donald Trump, leaders of Europe s establishment have looked to Merkel to rally the liberal Western order. A pastor s daughter who grew up in Communist East Germany, she has acted as an anchor of stability in Europe and beyond. Now, she faces an unstable situation at home as she must form a coalition, an arduous process that could take months. Sunday s election, fought against the tense backdrop of surging support for far left and far right parties across Europe, delivered a fractured German parliament with six party groups, up from four previously. Josef Joffe, publisher-editor of Germany weekly Die Zeit, said the vote marked a  tectonic shift in German politics  and that the three-way coalition Merkel looks likely to try to forge will be  highly unstable . Leading AfD candidate Alexander Gauland vowed his party would  hunt  the new government, whatever its make-up, adding:  We ll get our country and our people back.  In France, far-right leader Marine Le Pen congratulated the AfD, tweeting:  Bravo to our AfD allies for this historic showing!  A large group of protesters gathered outside the AfD s post-election party and police said they made several arrests. The European Jewish Congress expressed alarm at the AfD s success, adding:  We trust that centrist parties in the Bundestag will ensure that the AfD has no representation in the coming governing coalition.  The AfD says immigration threatens German culture, but denies that it is racist:  We will neither tolerate xenophobia nor racist positions. But we simply don t have them either,  AfD co-leader Joerg Meuthen said. The result makes kingmakers of both the  and the Greens, both of which have played the role in the recent past but neither of which now has enough support on its own to give Merkel a majority.  leader Christian Lindner, an ambitious 38-year-old who preaches an ultra-hard line on Europe and has unsettled the German political establishment, said he was open to coalition talks with Merkel but that Germany needed a change of course. The Greens  Katrin Goering-Eckardt said:  We will see if there can be cooperation.  A three-way tie-up of Merkel s conservatives, the  and the Greens - known as a  Jamaica  coalition because the black, yellow and green colours of the three parties match the Jamaican flag - is widely seen as inherently unstable.  The Greens - keen on regulation - and the business-friendly  are at opposite ends of the political spectrum and a clash of policy visions would be likely on tax, energy, the European Union and migrants. Despite losing support, Merkel, Europe s longest serving leader, will join the late Helmut Kohl, her mentor who reunified Germany, and Konrad Adenauer, who led Germany s rebirth after World War Two, as the only post-war chancellors to win four national elections. ",true,dataset,validation,Other news1,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
11209,11210,"Sarah Hillier still vividly remembers the first time she saw Star Wars . In 1977 , aged nine , she watched A New Hope on the big screen at Parramatta ' s Roxy Theatre . She was left an immediate , life long convert within the first few moments .  "" The scene that got me instantly hooked was the Star Destroyer coming through space . It was like nothing else we ' d ever seen . It was light years ? pardon the pun ? ahead of every other movie that had gone before it . ""  Hillier is not alone in her love of Star Wars . ? After all , this is the country in which ? 64 , 390 people wrote ? "" Jedi "" or a variant as their religion in the 2011 Census . The coming Disney reboot Star Wars : The Force Awakens , directed ? by J . J . Abrams , has thrown fan anticipation into hyperdrive . Australian records were smashed when more than 1 million ? of tickets were sold in the film ' s first four hours of presales for screenings beginning on Wednesday at midnight . ? ? ?  Expectations that the Sons of Obiwan Saber Academy in Tuggerah would be catering mostly to children have been proved wrong : 80 per cent of students are adults . Photo : Supplied  Star Wars mania might be at fever pitch , but for plenty of Sydneysiders it ' s never really gone away . In a ? factory unit in Meadowbank resides the Sydney Robot Workshop , a place that sprung out of the R2 D2 Builders Club started by David Everett in 1999 . Enthusiasts drop by to design droids and perhaps even craft an R2 D2 of their ? own .  "" R2 is probably the most popular droid to build , but builders have also made R5s and mouse droids . Our droids are radio controlled , can drive around , the heads turn , the lights flash and the droids make the appropriate sounds , "" Everett says . "" There ' s a great deal of satisfaction in taking plastic , glue and screws and turning it into something that seems alive to people seeing it for the first time . ""  When burlesque mastermind Russall ? Beattie created his parody show ? The Empire Strips Back , he expected it to run for only one night . It turns out the audience that would like to see a Twi ' lek ? twerk ? is large , ? as that was five years and more than 150 performances ago . Beattie says Star Wars is a good fit for burlesque due to the ubiquity of the series .  Sydney Star Wars fans ( from left ) Brenden Graves ( Darth Vader ) , Keira Skidmore ( Ewok ) , Sarah Hillier ( Chewbacca ) and Craig Ellis ( stormtrooper ) experience life in a galaxy far , far away . Photo : Steven Siewert  "" The characters are so ingrained in popular culture that you don ' t have to waste time setting up the story of the acts . Everyone has a good understanding of what the joke is , so it ' s not hard to deliver on the punchline . "" ?  The incredible outfits are also a drawcard and have evolved dramatically from the initial performance . "" They went from costumes I made in my garage for 50 to getting people who actually worked on the Star Wars films to make them . ""  The burlesque show has a ? string of performances ? around Australia in February , and there are plans to tour the ? United States . ?  An R2 D2 watercolour reflects the elegant interpretation of Blule , aka Clementine Campardou . Photo : Supplied  Chris Brennan , the ? director of Star Walking Inc , Australia ' s long running Star Wars appreciation society , has seen a local ? resurgence of interest in the series . "" It definitely comes in waves . In 2012 , the club was probably at the lowest level it had been for 10 years and things weren ' t looking great . Then ? Lucasfilm ? ? announced they ' d sold to Disney and Disney were doing the new movies and it ' s gone ballistic . I ' m punching in four or five new members per day . "" ?  A quick browse online shows it would easily be possible to kit out one ' s entire life with Star Wars paraphernalia , ? with the cutesy marketplace of Etsy alone featuring everything from nail decals of the characters to a Yoda hip flask to Ewok costumes for dogs . ?  The popularity of parody burlesque The Empire Strips Back surprised its creator . Photo : Supplied  One of the more elegant interpretations of the films ' aesthetic comes from Sydney based French illustrator ? Clementine ? Campardou , who sells her work online under the artist name of ? Blule ? and also displays pieces at her Bondi studio , ? L ' Atelier ? de ? Blule . For ? Campardou , who estimates she has seen the original three films at least 30 times each , the movies are a strong artistic inspiration as she is drawn to how ? the futuristic appearance of the characters juxtaposes with the old fashioned look of her watercolours .  Locals struck with Star Wars fever can also ? get trained in lightsaber technique from a Jedi ( mind control not included , sadly ) . At the Sydney Stage Combat School in St Peters , punters can have a tutorial in the art with fight director Kyle Rowling , who played Jedi Joclad Danva in Episode  : ? Attack of the Clones . ?  For Luke Boyton , a Star Wars fan so keen he has Han Solo , Yoda and Princess Leia tattooed on his body , it was an inheritance from his mother that let him live out his dream of opening a lightsaber school . Launched this year in Tuggerah on the ? Central Coast , the Sons of Obiwan Saber Academy teaches theatre combat using the weapons . Boyton had originally thought children would be his main market ? but was surprised to find his student base comprises 80 per cent adults . ?  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
11211,11212,"A growing religion in southern Africa is posing a threat to the survival of wild leopards .  For the Nazareth Baptist Church , also known as the Shembe , leopards are seen as a symbol of pride , beauty and wealth , while their skins are viewed as essential attire for church elders who wear them around their necks during traditional ceremonies .  A mixture of Christianity and Zulu culture , the Shembe is one of the biggest traditional religious groups in South Africa with around 5 million members . There are fears from conservationists that as the church grows , Africa ' s leopards , already listed as "" near threatened "" by the International Union Conservation of Nature (  ) , will be pushed towards extinction .  "" From visiting a few of these ( church ) gatherings , you realize that it ' s not 92 or 100 or 200 ( leopard skins ) . We are talking about thousands of leopard skins , "" said Tristan Dickerson , a conservationist at the Phinda Game Reserve in KwaZulu Natal province .  Dickerson first found out about the Shembe in the course of helping with a police investigation , after a pile of at least 92 leopard skins was uncovered during a village raid . Many of those skins had been tailored into clothing meant for the church group .  Besides being killed by farmers trying to protect their livestock , 150 leopards are legally targeted by trophy hunters each year . But increasingly poachers kill them to profit from their use in traditional medicine and ceremonial dress .  "" What we are finding is that they are actually being targeted , instead of it being by catch from the illegal bush meat trade , "" Dickerson said . "" They are actually putting poisons out to target leopards because there is such a high demand for leopard skins now . ""  The feline species is protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species , or  , and the sale or possession of its parts is illegal in South Africa . Those who wear it as traditional gear , including Zulu royalty and high profile individuals like President Jacob Zuma , are required to have permits issued by the state . But at Shembe church gatherings , trade in skins is done openly with no law enforcement .  Dickerson ' s attempt to solve this conflict of tradition and conservation has taken him to China where he has been trying to find a suitable fake fur alternative for church members .  "" I went to Beijing and spent a week there , meeting with factory representatives to try and develop this fur into the level that was needed and the quality that was needed , "" Dickerson said .  And the quality is crucial , because while the church ' s leadership has warmed to the concept of fake leopard skins , they still have to approve of the product . Dickerson says the church ' s followers will only be converted to fake items if the leaders say it is acceptable .  On a recent trip to Ekuphakameni , South Africa , where the church was founded , Dickerson visited a church gathering and showed his fur samples to a senior preacher .  "" It ' s beautiful , but it ' s not the real thing , "" said the preacher , Mhlanubanzi Mjadu . "" It ' s like a blanket . After some time , it will wear out . Real leopard skin can last for more than 20 years . ""  Mjadu said he had no idea trade in leopard parts was illegal , and he did not know that the leopard was a threatened species . He said that as an elder he could not wear a fake costume , but he could see a place for fake fur in the church as membership continued to swell and the prices of leopard skin seemed to be rising . "" It will help the congregation and protect the leopard from extinction , "" he said .  Dickerson is also hoping that church followers who cannot afford the real thing would find the cheaper version an enticing alternative , but so far they have not shown enthusiasm . At the gathering in Ekuphakameni real skins were being sold for 440 each .  "" We are improving the product as we speak , "" Dickerson said . "" If we can get one of the leaders to wear one of these things and say to the people , ' This is accepted from now on , we do not wear real leopard skins anymore , we have an alternative , ' that statement . . . would be the pinnacle of this whole project . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
11212,11213,"Government ,  in accord on monetary policy committee : Rajan   ? ? New Delhi Nov 05 , 2015 06 : 02    Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan said on Thursday that the government and the  have agreed on composition of the monetary policy committee (  ) that will set the central bank ' s interest rates .  ""  agreement has been largely done . Only fine tuning is left . The government and  are broadly on the same page on composition of  , "" Rajan told reporters here .  He also said the decision on when to set up the committee will be taken by the finance ministry .  Under the current system , the  governor has the veto over the existing advisory committee , composed of  members and outside appointees , that decides on policy rates .  A draft Indian Financial Code was released by the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission earlier this year , inviting comments from the public .  Besides taking away the Reserve Bank of India governor ' s authority to veto interest rate decisions , the draft also proposed that the monetary policy committee would have four representatives of the government and only three from the central bank , including the  ' chairperson ' .  The draft also said that the  "" must constitute a Monetary Policy Committee to determine by majority vote on the policy rate required to achieve the inflation target "" .  The current practice is that the  governor consults a Technical Advisory Committee , but does not necessarily go by the majority opinion while deciding on the monetary policy .  The revised draft of the  , which is conceived as an overarching legislation for the financial sector , says "" inflation target for each financial year will be determined in terms of the consumer price index by the central government in consultation with the Reserve Bank every three years "" .  Apart from the  ' chairperson ' , the monetary policy committee would consist of five members an executive member of the Reserve Bank Board , an employee of the  nominated by the  ' chairperson ' and others appointed by the government .  In the original draft , the  ' chairperson ' had power to "" supersede the decision "" of the committee in "" exceptional and unusual circumstances "" .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
11219,11220,"AP)  —   An Italian train derailed in the central Swiss city of Lucerne on Wednesday and one carriage tipped over, injuring seven people on board. [advertisement",fake,news,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
11236,11237,"A California high school water polo player was found at the bottom of the pool during a match when the boy suffered an epileptic seizure , authorities say .  Alejandro Camacho , 16 , was airlifted from Don Antonio Lugo High School in Chino Thursday night after he suddenly sank to the bottom of the pool while suffering a seizure during the a playoff game ,  7 reports .  ' The other team had scored so we were lining up to keep going when everybody noticed we were still down a player , ' Marco Garcia , the coach for Nogales High School boys water polo team , told  .  Airlifted : Alejandro Camacho , 16 , was airlifted from Don Antonio Lugo High School in Chino Thursday night after he suddenly sank to the bottom of the pool while suffering a seizure during the a playoff game   7 reports that Camacho was at the bottom of the pool for about 20 seconds before his father and several spectators jumped into the pool and pulled him out .  ' I dove in . Me and another player got him , ' Jose Mirande , another Nogales High School water polo player , told  Los Angeles . ' And his dad jumped in , fully clothed , just jumped in and helped us up , helped him up , get his head out of the water . '  Seconds : Camacho was at the bottom of the pool for about 20 seconds before his father and several spectators jumped into the pool and pulled him out  Critical : Camacho was airlifted to the Arrowhead Regional Medical Center , in Colton , where he was listed in critical condition  Once Camacho was out of the pool , spectators administered  to get the water out of his lungs . Camacho was then airlifted to the Arrowhead Regional Medical Center , in Colton , where he was listed in critical condition ,   reports .  Garcia told  that this has happened before at one of the team ' s practices so ' we knew we had to just let the seizure play out . '  Play Out : Marco Garica , Nogales High School boys water polo coach , said this has happened before and he knew he had to ' let the seizure play out ' while everyone waited for help to arrive  Did We Win ? Garcia said that Camacho called him from the hospital asking , ' did we win ? ' The team lost by a score of 17 12  However , Scott Atkinson , battalion chief with the Chino Valley Fire District , told  that the 16 year old was breathing on his own and is expected to make a full recovery .  Garcia told  7 that Camacho called him from the hospital asking , ' did we win ? ' The team lost by a score of 17 12 .  On Thursday after the incident the Nogales High School Water Polo team tweeted : ' Thank you everyone for your concern for Alejandro Camacho . He is fine and in stable condition . He wants to thank everyone that was there . '  Fully Clothed : Jose Mirande , another Nogales water polo player ( above ) , said that Camacho ' s father jumped into the pool fully clothed to rescue his son  Full Recovery : Scott Atkinson , battalion chief with the Chino Valley Fire District , said Camacho is breathing on his own and is expected to make a full recovery  ",true,text,validation,American football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
11245,11246,"Bubba Watson held his nerve to secure a third win on the  Tour Sunday after the 32 year old beat Webb Simpson in a playoff to clinch the Zurich Classic in New Orleans .  The left hander and fellow American Simpson both finished on 15 under par after final rounds of 69 and a second additional hole was needed to separate the pair .  A fine approach shot out of a fairway bunker enabled Watson , who turned professional in 2003 , to find the cup with two putts and claim victory .  The U . S . duo finished two shots clear of compatriots Jason Dufner and Tommy Gainey and South Korea ' s K . J . Choi , who all ended the tournament on 13 under .  Watson , who had won earlier this year at the Farmers Insurance tournament at Torrey Pines , slipped three strokes behind Simpson , 25 , with only eight holes remaining of regulation play .  "" This week , I won by not getting down on bad shots , just staying focused on what I ' m supposed to be doing , "" Watson told the  Tour ' s official web site .  Simpson was hit with a crucial one stroke penalty on the 15th hole when he was penalized after his ball moved on the green while he was contemplating his next shot .  "" I better limit my comments on that rule , because I think it ' s such a bad rule , "" said Simpson .  "" When the wind or other natural things affect the golf ball , the player shouldn ' t be penalized . . . . It was just unfortunate , but Bubba deserves a win , and I ' m pretty happy for him . ""  Watson sympathized with his opponent and acknowledged the punishment handed out to Simpson played a part in his victory .  "" If I didn ' t win , he would have been a nice guy to have win . We went to a playoff , so obviously one shot is the difference . . . . It ' s a sad way to win , but I won . ""  Australia ' s Matt Jones finished tied with American George McNeill on 12 under in sixth , with five players , including world number three Luke Donald , finishing one shot further back .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
11246,11247,"For actor Harrison Ford , who is starring in a movie adaptation of Orson Scott Card ' s heralded and popular novel "" Ender ' s Game , "" statements against same sex marriage by the science fiction author "" are not an issue for me . ""  At a Comic Con news conference on Thursday , Ford responded to concerns that Card ' s comments have overshadowed the production of the movie .  The author of the 1985 novel professed his opposition to same sex marriage in 2009 when he joined he board of the National Organization for Marriage , which opposes same sex unions .  Although Card released a statement declaring the same sex marriage issue "" moot "" after last month ' s Supreme Court ruling striking down a key part of the Defense of Marriage Act , the film has continued to be plagued by controversy .  Ford told reporters that while he fundamentally disagrees with the author ' s stance , the film stands separate from the issue .  "" I think none of Mr Card ' s concerns regarding the issues of gay marriage are part of the thematics of this film , "" Ford said . "" He has written something that I think is of value to us all concerning moral responsibility . I think his views outside of those that we deal with in this film are not an issue for me to deal with and something I have really no opinion on .  Comic Con : What we can ' t wait to see  "" I am aware of his statements admitting that the question of gay marriage is a battle that he lost and he admits that he lost it . I think we all know that we ' ve all won . That humanity has won . And I think that ' s the end of the story . ""  For Ford , "" Ender ' s Game "" addresses its own social and political concerns .  The film is set in the future , depicting a child military trained by the government to wage interplanetary war .  Ford plays Col . Hyrum Graff , a military commander who trains the titular character of Ender Wiggin , played by Asa Butterfield .  Even though the movie is set in a science fiction universe , Ford said he has found many contemporary comparisons to the moral concerns of the story .  "" This movie is very prescient , and I think the novel was prescient in recognizing something that we now have as a reality in our lives , which is the ability to wage war at a distance , "" Ford said .  "" So the morality of that military commander and the military command structure , the morality of a society which raises a military and wages war are the moral concerns of this film and something we are wrestling with daily .  "" The issue of interplanetary warfare is the science fiction aspect of it , but what gives it such emotional tone and reality is that these are the concerns of our everyday lives .  "" Drone warfare and the capacity that we have technologically is one part of the moral package . The other is the use of young people in the business of war , which has always historically been the case . Our youngest and fittest of our cultures have always been the ones who are first in line for warfare . ""  Share your mini interviews from Comic Con  Ford , who noted that it was particularly compelling to work with "" talented young actors "" such as Butterfield and Hailee Steinfeld , as well as Sir Ben Kingsley , was also asked whether he found any comparison between Col . Graff and his famed "" Star Wars "" character , Han Solo .  "" Graff is a very complex character that ' s charged with an awesome responsibility , "" Ford said . "" The complex moral issues are part of Graff ' s story . Ender doesn ' t really face so much the issues of morality until the end of the film until he knows what ' s happened to him .  "" Graff is aware of his moral responsibilities all through his part of the story . I was just delighted to be involved in a film of such high ambition with such talented people . I think Graff is a much more complex character than Han Solo , which doesn ' t mean that I regret Han Solo . ""  "" Ender ' s Game "" is scheduled to be released in theaters on November 1 . Summit , the film ' s studio , released a new viral clip from the film Wednesday in honor of its presence at Comic Con , and they also premiered a trailer for the film at the fan panel that followed the news conference .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
11255,11256,"November 1, 2016 at 11:34 pm  Russia do not want the end of the human race…. The  and  does……But if the humans are to die……. They will die too……Regardless of their rat hole….. YES… the world is force to accept the  dollar at gun point and nuclear weapons….. kill 3.7 millions innocent humans of all ages in Iraq…. They kill 400.000 humans i Afghanistan….. They kill 250.000 humans in Syria and blame  and Russia…They activated the plate destroyer to attack Italy with two Earthquake and punish the minister….They repeated the same in Ecuador twice….The world court and the  are 1 % corrupted and murders……ISIL, Alqaeda, AL-Nusra and Bocaharanis are already inside  in various close down military bases…… will be communist and feudalism one more time…",fake,news,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
11263,11264,"Louis van Gaal has revealed he has not been satisfied with Wayne Rooney ' s performances as a striker so far for Manchester United , but due to his versatility can play him anywhere .  Rooney has scored twice in four Premier League appearances for United this season , but new boss Van Gaal has opted for a formation change for the Leicester game with the captain moved into midfield in order to make room for Radamel Falcao to make his first start for the club .  The Dutchman told Sky Sports before the game : ' We have played well but can improve and I was not so satisfied with Wayne Rooney as a striker and Juan Mata as midfielder and that ' s why I ' m changing .  Wayne Rooney clips a ball forward during Manchester United ' s game against   Wayne Rooney celebrates his goal in Manchester United ' s 4 0 win over  last weekend  ' Rooney can play in more positions , he ' s a multi functional player and I have tried him in a striker ' s position . He ' s played well but not spectacular and Radamel Falcao is a striker and I think he can do it better .  ' We have started again because we have played with new system and philosophy is the same and the players have to adapt and that ' s always difficult . '  In an interview prior to the game with Sky Sports Rooney conceded that while his preferred position is playing upfront , he is happy to play wherever the manager feels best to utilise him .  Wayne Rooney scores for Manchester United against Swansea in his first game as captain for the Red Devils  The 28 year old also scored for England in his first game as captain against Norway at Wembley  He said : ' I ' m happy to play out wide I can do a job there and I can do a job up front . It depends on the situation of each game and what the manager wants me to do . '  Rooney also agreed with claims he is not the player he used to be , with the 28 year old saying he is now a much maturer game than when he first joined United .  He added : ' I ' m not the player I was . . . I feel I ' ve progressed my game .  ' So I agree with the people who say my game has changed . I done too much running when I was younger and then didn ' t have the energy to get myself into goalscoring positions in the box .  ' I ' m a cleverer player now and know when to run into the box and when not to , and as a result more chances have come my way and I ' ve scored a lot more goals for the club . '  Like our Manchester United Facebook page .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
11271,11272,"Syria accused Israel of firing rockets into the Damascus suburb of Jamraya on Sunday , striking a "" scientific research center , "" Syrian state  reported .  Israel Defense Forces declined to comment on the Syrian  report . "" We do not comment on these reports at all , "" an  spokesperson said .  The Syrian news report claimed the rocket attack on the research center aided rebels , who have been battling government forces in the region .  In late January , reports surfaced that Israeli warplanes targeted the research facility . The Syrian government has said the airstrike killed two workers and injured five others .  The report of rocket attacks come as sectarian violence erupted in northwestern Syria , where three consecutive days of killing by mostly Alawite forces have left hundreds of predominantly Sunni residents dead , opposition groups said Saturday .  "" The regime attacked the town of Beyda and other neighboring areas from the sea with rockets before security forces and militias loyal to the regime entered the area and conducted mass executions , "" Free Syrian Army chief of staff Gen . Salim Idris said by phone from Antakya , Turkey .  "" They want to establish a sectarian based entity in the region , "" he said .  State media have said their forces were seeking only to clear the area of "" terrorists , "" the term they have routinely used when referring to rebel forces .  But the U . S . State Department said it was "" appalled by horrific reports that more than 100 people were killed May 2 "" in Beyda , a suburb of Baniyas .  "" We call on all responsible actors in Syria to speak out against the perpetration of unlawful killings against any group , regardless of faith or ethnicity , "" spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said in a statement .  Opposition groups that included the Local Coordination Committees of Syria , the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Free Syrian Army said the widespread killing in and around the coastal city of Baniyas continued Saturday as largely Alawite regime forces used tanks , battleships and missile launchers to hit largely Sunni neighborhoods in Baniyas .  The government forces killed at least 200 people on Friday and Saturday in Baniyas and its suburbs , the  said Saturday .  More than 200 others were killed there on Thursday , when the killings started early in the day , it said .  Reliable information has been difficult to obtain because government forces controlled access to the village , the  said .  The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said hundreds of Sunni families began fleeing Baniyas ' southern neighborhoods at dawn Saturday , heading toward the cities of Tartous and Jableh .  State run Syrian  filed reports from Beyda over the last two days reporting that government troops along with the National Defense militia , an armed Alawite group loyal to the government , "" have cleaned the area from armed terrorists "" after "" they burned civilians ' homes and stores and terrorized the population . "" The reporting was supported by interviews with members of the Syrian army .  U . N . has warned of sectarian violence  Last December , the U . N . Commission of Inquiry warned that the civil war had become "" overtly sectarian . ""  It said government forces and militias , dominated by Alawites , had been attacking Sunnis who were "" broadly ( but not uniformly ) "" backing the rebel groups . And anti government armed groups were targeting Alawites .  Other minority communities , including some Christians , Armenians , Palestinians , Kurds and Turkmen , "" have also been caught up in the conflict , and in some cases forced to take up arms for their own defense or to take sides . ""  But it said the "" sectarian lines fall most sharply "" between Alawites and Sunnis .  The "" increasingly sectarian nature "" of the fighting is a motivator for proxy groups fighting in Syria . Anti government armed groups are composed of Sunnis from the Middle East and North Africa , the report said .  Shiites from other countries have entered the conflict on behalf of Syria . The Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah has said its members are fighting . There are reports of Iraqi Shiites fighting in Syria and of Iran ' s Revolutionary Guards providing intellectual and advisory support .  Christian communities across Syria have been under the gun and on the move . Homs , for example , was once home to 80 , 000 Christians , but the commission said most had escaped to Lebanon .  "" With communities believing not without cause that they face an existential threat , the need for a negotiated settlement is more urgent than ever , "" the commission said .  Al Assad makes public appearance  Also Saturday , the country ' s president made his second public appearance this month , according to state run Syrian Television .  "" President Bashar al Assad joins thousands of students and families of martyrs in Damascus University in inaugurating the Martyred Students Monument in memory of all the students who were killed in Syria , "" it said .  The president ' s Facebook page posted a picture of the event .  On May 1 , al Assad visited the Ummayad electrical plant to "" congratulate its staff and all the Syrian workers on the occasion of International Workers ' Day , "" the state run Syrian Arab News Agency reported .  Israel said to be flying over Lebanon  Israel was flying warplanes over Lebanon on Thursday , Friday and Saturday , the Lebanese army said .  Lebanon ' s president , Gen . Michel Sleiman , condemned the violations as "" an attempt to shaken Lebanese stability , "" the state run National News Agency reported Saturday .  Israel appears to have struck Syria  Based on initial indications , the U . S . does not believe Israeli warplanes entered Syrian airspace to conduct the strikes .  President Barack Obama told reporters on Friday that he did not foresee a scenario of "" American boots on the ground in Syria "" that would be good for that country or the region . Obama said other leaders in the region want to see al Assad out of power .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
11277,11278,"The use of fossil fuels must be phased out by the end of the century ,  scientists have warned despite growing concerns over energy supplies .  The  ' s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued stark predictions that continued greenhouse gas emissions will cause ' severe , pervasive and irreversible ' impacts around the world .  In its latest assessment of global warming , which was published yesterday , it urged governments to cut carbon dioxide emissions by up to 70 per cent by 2050 .  The use of fossil fuels must be phased out by the end of the century ,  scientists have warned . Pictured , Drax Power Station in Selby , North Yorkshire the  ' s single largest emitter of carbon dioxide  The authors said fossil fuels would need to be phased out completely from electricity production by 2100 unless new technology could safely bury carbon dioxide from power stations underground to prevent it from being released into the atmosphere .  Critics warned , however , that growing reliance upon renewable energy to replace fossil fuels will increase the risk of power blackouts in Britain .  They also said that consumers would see their energy bills soaring to pay for the new technologies outlined in the report .  The report comes at a time when Britain is already facing a growing risk of electricity blackouts as the country attempts to switch to renewable forms of energy .  Owen Paterson , the former environment secretary , has also warned that Britain ' s current climate change targets will cause severe energy supply shortages in the future .  However , Rajendra Pachauri , chair of the  , warned that the cost of delaying action to tackle climate change would be ' proportionally higher ' .  He said : ' The world needs a combination of adaptation and mitigation .  ' We will not be able to adapt to the impacts of climate change if we don ' t to anything to tackle the root of the problem . The impacts will exceed our capacity to cope with them .  ' In the absence of carbon capture and storage then power generation from fossil fuels would need to be phased out by the end of this century if we want to limit temperature increases to 2C . '  The report by  scientists urged governments to be less reliant on mining for fossil fuels such as coal , oil and gas ( file picture )  More than two thirds of the Britain ' s electricity comes from fossil fuels and cutting down on coal , oil and gas use is seen as a major challenge .  Renewable energy from unreliable sources such as wind farms also need to be backed up by coal or gas fueled power stations to prevent power shortages .  Britain ' s reliance on wind energy has already raised concerns about its ability to keep the lights on .  Last month , energy watchdog Ofgem announced emergency plans amid fears Britain ' s ability to cope with peaks in power demand this winter will fall to its lowest level in seven years .  Mothballed coal and gas fired power plants are to be brought back into use and businesses are to be paid to switch off their power at peak times .  The  report says that fossil fuels could continue to be used beyond 2100 in conjuction with carbon capture and storage , which traps and buries carbon dioxide gas in power station chimneys .  However , the technology yet to be tested on a large scale and is seen as being an expensive solution .  Britain ' s first full scale gas carbon capture storage project , which aims to build a plant in Peterhead , Aberdeenshire , is still being designed .  Dr Benny Peiser , director of the Global Warming Policy Forum think tank set up former chancellor Lord Lawson , said phasing out of fossil fuels could have a major impact on the British and European economy .  He said : ' Europe is already hurting from green policies as they are having a detrimental impact on industry and energy costs .  ' There is nothing to replace the reliance on cheap fossil fuels in many parts of the world , which is why there is never going to be a realistic global agreement on cutting carbon dioxide emissions . '  Professor Richard Tol , an economist at the University of Sussex who was one of the contributors to the  , said the report was ' alarmist ' .  Earlier this year he withdrew his name from the final draft of the report in protest at what he believes is bias selection of the authors and evidence presented .  He said : ' It is a long way until 2100 but carbon capture storage at a scale large enough to make a serious dent in emissions strikes me a optimistic . It would require too many pipelines , too much storage . '  Critics warned that phasing out fossil fuels before the world has more reliable green energy sources would affect living standards . Pictured , North Hoyle off shore wind farm near Rhyl , north Wales  Douglas Carswell , Ukip  for Clacton , warned that phasing out fossil fuels before the world is ready would be disastrous .  He said : ' There is no form of energy available that is able to replace fossil fuels in terms of the energy it produces .  ' The invention of machinery that can exploit fossil fuels and fertilisers based on fossil fuels are what have caused a revolution in living standards .  ' Take that away and we return back to a pre industrial revolution standard of living . '  Owen Paterson , the former environment secretary , warned last month that Britain will struggle to ' keep the lights on ' unless the Government changed its policy to cut carbon emissions by 2050 .  At the time he said : ' The 2050 target of cutting emissions by 80 percent , requires the almost complete decarbonisation of the electricity supply in 36 years .  ' In the short and medium term , costs to consumers will rise dramatically , and the lights would eventually go out . '  The new  Synthesis Report is intended as a summary of three previous reports compiled over a five year period to assess the latest evidence on climate change and its impacts .  It is expected to act as a guide for government officials and policy makers as they begin intense negotiations to set new limits on carbon emissions at a  summit in Paris next year .  Speaking at the launch of the report , Ban Ki Moon , the  Secretary General , said he hoped the report would help world leaders decide how to tackle climate change when they meet in Peru for a  climate summit next month .  He said : ' Science has spoken . There is no ambiguity in the message . Leaders must act . Time is not on our side . '  The report suggests a number of options that could help the world adapt and tackle climate change , including saying that many people will have to change their diets and grow new types of food .  It warns that methane emissions from livestock and greenhouse gas emissions from fertiliser contribute considerably to global warming .  Although it does not go into detail about what changes to diet should be , climate change experts have previously suggested eating vegetarian food , growing crops that can cope with more extreme weather and alternative sources of protein including insects .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
11282,11283,"George Osborne today hailed a sharp fall in inflation to its lowest level since May 2000 for helping family incomes go further .  The Chancellor said the economic recovery was now being ' widely felt , after a supermarket price war and falling petrol prices meant the Consumer Price Index rate of inflation fell to its lowest point for almost 15 years .  With wages now rising faster than bills , ministers hailed the news as a ' giant tax cut for the economy ' with family incomes now going further each month .  The  rate of inflation fell to 0 . 5 per cent in December , the lowest level since May 2000 , according to the Office for National Statistics  The Consumer Prices Index is the measure of the increase in living costs over a year .  It takes into account every aspect of daily life , including housing bills , food , transport and recreation .  Lower inflation means bills are not rising as quickly , and some areas prices are falling .  In addition to food and petrol bills falling , gas and electricity bills barely rose last month unlike last year when the Big Six came under fire for large price hikes .  The fall in inflation will ease pressure on household budgets as it boosts real terms pay as well as pushing further into the future any need to raise interest rates .  Mr Osborne said : ' Today we have welcome news that inflation is at its lowest level in modern times , we have family budgets going further , an economic recovery now being widely felt . '  But he cautioned : ' We ' ve got to remain vigilant that we have low inflation for the right reasons , this is further proof that our long term economic plan is working . '  Prime Minister David Cameron hailed the ' good news ' which he said was proof that the government ' s economic plan was working  The figures will be welcome news for David Cameron and George Osborne , who were seen leaving Downing Street today  Bank of England governor Mark Carney has said that the fall in inflation to 0 . 5 per cent was ' good news in the short term for British households ' .  But acknowledged the dangers that could be posed by it turning negative .  He told the  that interest rates were still on course to rise over the next couple of years despite the drop in the Consumer Price Index (  ) measure to a record low .  But he said that any rate hikes would be more gradual and more limited than had been expected a year ago .  Mr Carney said : ' By and large these figures are good news in the short term for British households .  ' It ' s largely caused by lower petrol prices and lower food prices . That means your pound is going to stretch farther lower prices at the pump and in the shops .  ' The issue is to make sure that this doesn ' t become more generalised and that we don ' t see low and falling prices more generally , because a little bit of inflation is good for the economy , it greases the wheels of the economy . '  The fall below 1 per cent means Bank of England governor Mark Carney has to write to Mr Osborne because it is more than a percentage point off the the Bank ' s 2 per cent target .  Bank of England policy makers have said they expected  to fall below 1 per cent and remain there for months to come .  It means any rise in interest rates is likely to be delayed , providing a welcome boost to home owners paying off their mortgages .  But the sharpness of the decline brings the  uncomfortably close to the scenario in the eurozone , where there are fears of a damaging deflationary spiral after inflation fell to minus 0 . 2 per cent .  Liberal Democrat Chief Secretary to the Treasury said : ' These figures show that the falling price of oil is working its way into lower prices .  ' This acts like a giant tax cut for the economy , putting more money in the pockets of hard pressed consumers . '  The Office for National Statistics said that in 2014 food prices fell by 1 . 9 per cent and prices of motor fuels fell by 10 . 5 per cent .  ' Historically , these prices have been among the main causes of inflation , though this has changed in the last year , ' the  said .  Transport was one of the biggest causes of the fall in inflation , down 0 . 2 per cent overall between November and December 2014 , compared with a rise of 1 per cent between the same two months in 2013 .  Almost all of the downward contribution came from the falling price of petrol and diesel , the  said .  Sharp falls in food and transport costs were the biggest drivers in the fall in inflation to 0 . 5 per cent , the  said  Latest figures show that wages were up 1 . 6 per cent in October , well ahead of falling inflation  The average price per litre fell to 116 . 8p for petrol and 122 . 9p for diesel , some 24 . 8p per litre below the peak average prices of in April 2012 .  Since December , fuel prices have fallen even further , with petrol now selling for under 1 per litre in sum areas .  James Sproule , Chief Economist at the Institute of Directors , said : ' This is good news for the vast majority of businesses and households in the  .  ' Neither the Treasury nor the Bank will be worried by today ' s figures . In the  , lower prices driven by a fall in the cost of oil will provide a boost to the economy , and underpin domestic confidence and spending . '  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
11283,11284,"One month old baby girl Khushi , which means "" happiness "" in Hindi , would not have been alive had her mother , Sumanjeet , given in to pressure from some relatives and neighbors .  "" They would cry and yell , ' What are you doing giving birth to a girl ? Push her off the roof of the building , kill her ! Why are you keeping her ? ' "" the 25 year old mother says .  Sumanjeet says people kept telling her to get an ultrasound check and abort all four of her daughters . They told her she wouldn ' t have enough money for a suitable dowry . Although Sumanjeet wasn ' t quite sure how she was going to raise them , she knew it was a crime to get rid of them .  "" Why are they killing girls , while they ' re still in the womb ? It ' s a sin for which they ' ll have to be answerable to God . Small , cute girls like a doll . They kill her in the womb ? It ' s a sin , "" Sumanjeet weeps .  The brutal gang rape of a 23 year old student in New Delhi and the wave of outrage that followed brought to light the daily suffering of many Indian women . Thousands of people took to the streets to protest not just rape but the discrimination many women in India often have to live with throughout their lives .  Opinion : India ' s rape problem needs a rewiring of society ' s attitude  A Thomson Reuters Foundation expert poll last year ranked India as the world ' s fourth most dangerous country for a woman , behind only Afghanistan , Congo and Pakistan .  Even though the practice is outlawed , 300 , 000 to 600 , 000 female fetuses are aborted every year in India because of the preference for boys , according to a 2011 study by The Lancet . And the discrimination that begins while in the womb continues throughout a girl ' s life .  Women ' s rights activist and Supreme Court lawyer Kirti Singh says there is a marked difference between how many parents treat their daughters and their sons . She says girls aren ' t given the same kind of food , they ' re not educated in the same manner , and they ' re only raised to become someone ' s wife .  "" From the time they are born or not born and continuing till late in life when they become wives or mothers , it ' s a vicious cycle . of discrimination , and violence keeps on continuing . ""  Sumanjeet says she sees it all the time . "" They send boys to good schools , they give them good food , nice clothes to wear . They treat them well . They say , ' Oh , it ' s my son . ' To the daughter they say , ' Get the cow dung , sweep the floors . What will you do with an education ? ' ""  Read more : Lawyer urges not guilty pleas in India rape case  Nearly half of India ' s girls are married off before the age of 18 . Sumanjeet herself was forced to marry a man 15 years older than her when she was just 12 years old . She says she didn ' t object to the marriage , as she had barely understood what was going on .  Girls are also seen as a financial liability . Once they get married , they leave the house and are often required to take hefty dowries along with them which sometimes can cost a family ' s entire savings . The practice is banned by the government , but it ' s still as common as ever .  Once married , many women are subjected to domestic violence . A 2012  study found more than half of Indian adolescent males think it is justifiable to beat a wife under certain circumstances .  Opinion : Indian rape debate : Why death penalty is no solution  Outside the household , crimes against women in India are also on the rise , and the evidence is shocking .  In July 2012 , a young female student was molested and groped by a group of at least 18 men for 45 minutes in the northeastern state of Assam . People watched and filmed the incident , but no one helped .  In September 2012 , a 16 year old student was gang raped by eight men , and her father committed suicide out of shame .  Just 20 minutes from Jhajjar , a mother of four was allegedly dragged from her home and raped by five men just a month ago . She says they dragged her out of bed to a corner of the cowshed and took turns raping her . They only went away when her children woke up . But while the Delhi gang rape caught the world ' s attention , this case went unnoticed .  "" The difference is that we are poor . We are not heard . When we go to the police station , they just do some formality . We are not being heard . We want justice , "" she said . One of the men she identified has been arrested , police said . The other got away .  Read more : New Delhi rape exposes the perils of being a woman in India  According to government data , more than 24 , 000 cases of rape were reported in 2011 . Most are never reported because of the stigma surrounding rape , but after the gang rape what was a taboo subject in India is now on the front pages and leading  news .  Indian women , in some ways , have also made some strides . Literacy rates have gone up , maternal mortality rates have gone down , and millions of women have joined the workforce . Leaders like the President of the National Advisory Council and the widow of the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi , Sonia Gandhi are role models who show that women can rise to great heights . But they are the exception .  Authorities acknowledge that action is needed and say they are taking steps to try to better protect women . The Home Minister said India plans to recruit more female police officers . Currently only 7 of the Indian police force is female . Helplines have been set up and at least one state , Haryana , is soon putting up a website naming and shaming convicted rapists . A government task force has been set up to look into what more can be done to make Delhi safer . A number of fast track courts have also been established because of the December 16 gangrape , exclusively for cases of sexual assault and rape . But women ' s rights activists say that when discrimination begins even before birth , change will not come easily .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
11301,11302,"Wayne Rooney led a spirited England fightback on his 100th appearance for his country and hailed it as a night he would remember for the rest of his life .  Rooney , presented with a golden cap by Sir Bobby Charlton before kick off as his wife Coleen and two young sons Kai and Klay looked on , won and scored England ' s vital equalising penalty after a Jordan Henderson own goal had given underdogs Slovenia a shock lead at Wembley .  Danny Welbeck then scored twice to earn England a 3 1 win and maintain their 100 per cent record in Euro 2016 Group E qualification .  Wayne Rooney acknowledges the Wembley crowd before England ' s Euro 2016 qualifier against Slovenia  Rooney was joined by his two sons Kai and Klay on the Wembley turf ahead of England ' s qualifier  Coleen Rooney was also at Wembley to see her husband claim his 100th international cap  The Manchester United striker , now only five goals behind Sir Bobby Charlton ' s all time England scoring record , said : ' It is a great feeling . It was a big week , a big build up and a great occasion .  ' I was really proud to walk out at Wembley as captain of England with my two boys . It is something I will remember for the rest of my life .  ' It was tough because they took the lead and we had to show our character . But that will be good for us as a team . Since the World Cup we haven ' t seen that . After they went ahead we really woke up and showed what a good team we are . '  On winning the penalty when he dribbled into the Slovenian area , Rooney added : ' I was trying to get myself a yard to get a shot away and the lad clipped my heels . It was a clear penalty and great we got the goal so soon after they scored . '  His enthusiastic manager Roy Hodgson , who made Rooney skipper earlier this season after the international retirement of Steven Gerrard , said : ' It was a wonderful evening for him . It must have been special for him to have his cap presented by Sir Bobby Charlton . And then he capped a good performance by scoring that first goal .  The 29 year old took to Instagram to state it was ' amazing to walk out ' with his sons  Rooney celebrates after scoring in the 59th minute against Slovenia on his 100th appearance for his country  ' He is very important to me as England manager but also very important for English football . It was very fitting he got his rewards on a night when so much was about him .  ' I am sure he is delighted . He has taken the captaincy extremely seriously , and put all his energy and enthusiasm and passion into it . '  Rooney ' s wife Coleen was among those in the Wembley crowd who stood up to applaud his 44th goal for England which now places him joint third with Jimmy Greaves on England ' s all time scoring list and closing in on Sir Bobby .  The Manchester United striker smashed his penalty past Inter Milan goalkeeper Samir Handanovic who had saved his previous five spot kicks after being tripped by Bostjan Cesar , two minutes after Henderson had headed into his own net .  Once level , England found it relatively easy to go on after a poor first half and win the match with a double from Danny Welbeck after 66 and 72 minutes . They are now overwhelming favourites to qualify for Euro 2016 .  Rooney , pictured looking towards Kai , was awarded a golden cap by Sir Bobby Charlton  Hodgson , who said it would be "" churlish "" to criticise his players for their first half showing , praised Welbeck whose 16million move from Manchester United to Arsenal has coincided with some red hot form in an England shirt .  The England boss said : ' I have always believed in Danny Welbeck . He was a surprise selection to many people at Euro 2012 and I don ' t think there has been one squad in which Danny wasn ' t there , even at times when he wasn ' t getting a regular game for his club .  ' I am just pleased that everyone is recognising his talent . He is doing the business on the field . '  Southampton ' s Nathaniel Clyne impressed on his England debut at right back and could keep his place for the friendly against Scotland on Tuesday . Hodgson has however released first choice goalkeeper Joe Hart for the game to give understudies Ben Foster and Fraser Forster a chance to play at Celtic Park . Forster was a Celtic player until the summer when he signed for Southampton .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
11308,11309,"The Firework singer , 31 , wore a white gown fixed with a flowing star spangled banner cape , to host a concert for Hillary Clinton  Thanks for subscribing ! Could not subscribe , try again later  Singer Katy Perry listens to the national anthem  Katy Perry showed she is an all American girl as she donned a patriotic outfit to sing her hits on stage in Iowa on Saturday .  The Firework singer , 31 , wore a white gown fixed with a flowing star spangled banner cape , to host a concert for Hillary Clinton at a Democratic Party fundraiser .  She later appeared on the stage with Hilary and her husband Bill and said : How many of you are going to be 18 next year , before November ?  "" Are you going to vote ? Because you know you have the power , right ?  Singer Katy Perry attends the Jefferson Jackson Dinner as a guest of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on October 24 , 2015 in Des Moines , Iowa  Listen , you have so much power and this is going to be one of the most important elections in over a decade . So much change can happen . Let s go Hillary !  Hillary ' s campaign was given a boost when  Vice President Joe Biden announced he would not be standing for the top job .  Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton holds a campaign rally with her husband former President Bill Clinton and singer Katy Perry in Des Moines , Iowa , October 24 , 2015  The veteran Democrat had been considering making one final bid to become  leader since June , when his late son Beau , dying of brain cancer , reportedly begged him to run .  Katy Perry cheers for Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton  During his announcement Biden , 72 , said : While I will not be a candidate , I will not be silent .  Singer Katy Perry rallies supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton outside the Iowa Events Center  He added he felt the  needs to accept the fact that it can t solve all the world s problems alone .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
11326,11327,"1 . ' A progressive is someone who makes progress '  The debate focused on a central question about what it means to be a Democrat in 2016 .  "" A progressive is someone who makes progress , "" Clinton said .  "" In my mind , what we have got to do is wage a political revolution , "" Sanders countered .  The shift toward debating the meaning and embodiment of progressivism comes three days after Clinton narrowly edged Sanders in the Iowa caucuses . Clinton and Sanders are battling now in New Hampshire , which holds a Feb . 9 primary . Sanders has enjoyed a double digit advantage in recent polls , but Clinton is campaigning hard in the state that delivered her a victory in her 2008 campaign .  The debate started on an antagonistic tone after the Vermont senator levied an attack on Clinton via social media on Wednesday that said she is too moderate to represent Democrats today .  "" You can be a moderate . You can be a progressive . But you cannot be a moderate and a progressive , "" the Sanders ' camp tweeted .  The Clinton camp volleyed back on Twitter : "" This shouldn ' t be a debate about who gets to define ' progressive ' ? it should be about who will get real results for American families . ""  Clinton attacked Sanders on Thursday for opposing efforts to tighten gun laws and for suggesting that President Obama is also not liberal enough .  2 . "" Do I think President Obama is a progressive ? Yes , I do . ""  During the debate , Sanders was pressed on whether he thought President Obama was a progressive .  "" Do I think President Obama is a progressive ? Yes , I do , "" Sanders said . "" I disagree with him on a number of issues including the trade agreement . But , yes , I think he has done an excellent job . ""  Sanders also , though , defended his attack on Clinton , because she , at a recent event , described herself as a "" moderate . ""  "" Cherry picking a quote here and there doesn ' t change my record , "" Clinton said .  The attack clearly hit a nerve in the Clinton camp .  Shortly before this evening ' s debate , the Clinton camp released a new ad that features her saying , "" We ' ve been fighting the progressive fight for years . ""  While the Republican Party has been engaged for years between its establishment and conservative wings on what it means to be a Republican , Democrats have not had the same level of intra party squabbling about what it means to be a Democrat .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
11352,11353,"During the 1986 race for governor of Vermont, Bernie Sanders bristled at the popularity of the Democratic incumbent, Madeleine Kunin. Mr. Sanders, who was running against her as an independent, saw himself as a leader, and viewed Ms. Kunin as a lightweight. “She does very well on television,” he told one interviewer. “She has an excellent press secretary. ” But really, he said another time, the governor’s appeal came down to one trait. “Many people are excited because she’s the first woman governor,” he said. “But after that, there ain’t much. ” Mr. Sanders has long presented himself as an     politician from rural New England, now seeking the presidency with promise of a political revolution. But his combative side has now emerged as the Democratic race has tightened and Hillary Clinton has sharpened her own rhetoric. The result is a far harsher tone in the Democratic campaign and a transformed Senator Sanders, who is now making the kinds of   attacks that some of his advisers regretted he did not deploy sooner. But his aggressiveness also worries some supporters who were powerfully drawn to his positive persona that forswore politics as usual. The senator’s assertiveness was on vivid display in Thursday’s debate with Mrs. Clinton ahead of the   New York primary on Tuesday, which Mr. Sanders must win big to dent Mrs. Clinton’s strong lead in the delegates needed for the nomination. But he is also seeking to match the vigorous jabs from her aides and allies, who ignored Mr. Sanders for much of last year and are now assailing his policy ideas and leadership abilities on a   basis. His advisers say he is reacting to the New York political environment as well. “Political combat is more restrained in places like Iowa and New Hampshire, but it’s completely different in New York, and Bernie has no problem defending his ideas in a tough way against Secretary Clinton’s,” said Tad Devine, a senior adviser for the Sanders campaign. Mrs. Clinton is now trying to hold off Mr. Sanders while not alienating his supporters, whom she would need in the general election. But she is also refusing to back down, and their spiky clashes are suddenly making for a more explosive and unpredictable race. More than anything, the recent Sanders broadsides reflect a political strategy he has carried out in previous campaigns: the use of blunt criticisms, sarcastic asides and a thundering style against his opponents. In the 1986 race, Mr. Sanders argued that he would be a strong feminist and do more for women than Ms. Kunin had. While granting that Ms. Kunin was “not corrupt,” he questioned if she had the same “courage” that he had. He repeatedly challenged her credentials as a fellow progressive, using some of the same language he aims at Mrs. Clinton. In the end, he damaged Ms. Kunin politically, as some Clinton supporters and political analysts think he may do in the current race. “In a tough fight, Bernie is hardly the     guy that he claims to be,” said Garrison Nelson, a longtime political science professor at the University of Vermont. Ms. Kunin was not the only foe that Mr. Sanders attacked with insinuations, as opposed to the more overtly negative television ads that Mr. Sanders has forsworn. In his 1990 race for Congress, he frequently laid political bait for his Republican opponent and relished watching him stumble. And in his 2006 Senate campaign, Mr. Sanders relentlessly linked his moderate Republican opponent with George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, and accused him of running “the most negative, dishonest campaign in the history of the state of Vermont. ” While such tactics are not unusual in many campaigns, Mr. Sanders has long tried to claim the high road. Yet if his past opponents remember anything about him, it’s Bernie the brawler. “The way he kept tagging me as a typical rich guy who only cared about rich Republicans  —   it was very tough, and very effective,” said Richard Tarrant, a software executive who was the Republican Senate nominee in 2006 and ran many aggressive television ads. “Bernie knew that I earned my money myself, that my wealth was  . But that didn’t matter. ” In the current race, after days of needling by the Clinton camp about his policies and ability to answer tough questions, Mr. Sanders hit back this month by saying Mrs. Clinton was “not qualified” for the presidency because she had taken money from wealthy donors and supported the war in Iraq and some   agreements. Some Sanders supporters expressed dismay that their candidate was resorting to such sharp exchanges  —   a Guardian columnist wrote on Tuesday that she felt “betrayed”  —   while the leading Republican candidate, Donald J. Trump, picked up the line of attack. “Bernie Sanders says that Hillary Clinton is unqualified to be president,” Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter. “Based on her decision making ability, I can go along with that!” Mr. Sanders has started running commercials in New York criticizing Mrs. Clinton for accepting   speaking fees from Wall Street banks but not supporting a federal $15 minimum wage. And in Thursday’s debate, he suggested that Mrs. Clinton’s speaking fees had influenced her to be soft on Wall Street regulation. She quickly dismissed that, saying that she had called out bankers over business practices  —   drawing a sarcastic response from Mr. Sanders. “Secretary Clinton called them out  —   oh my goodness, they must have been really crushed by this,” he said. “And was that before or after you received huge sums of money by giving speaking engagements? So they must have been very, very upset by what you did. ” While Mr. Sanders has not run   and highly personal ads against Mrs. Clinton  —   the sort that traditionally characterize a negative campaign  —   Mrs. Clinton’s advisers accused Mr. Sanders of breaking his word. “At times he does it deftly, but make no mistake, every day Senator Sanders is launching another attack, and that’s not how he said he would run his campaign,” said Joel Benenson, Mr. Clinton’s campaign strategist. Mr. Devine, a longtime strategist for Mr. Sanders, said his candidate’s quips and tone were a far cry from the   vitriol in the Republican race. He insisted that Mr. Sanders was seeking to reveal substantive differences with Mrs. Clinton, and denied that his candidate fears the Democratic nomination is slipping away. “I think the race is just increasingly engaged,” Mr. Devine said. In Vermont, however, Mr. Sanders was known for belittling opponents at times, rather than merely challenging their ideas. During one debate in the 1986 governor’s race, Mr. Sanders was asked if he viewed Governor Kunin as “the lesser of two evils,” given his descriptions of the Democratic and Republican parties as “Tweedledum” and “Tweedledee,” and if he thought he might contribute to her political “demise. ” Mr. Sanders chuckled and then looked at Ms. Kunin, seated a few feet away. “Governor, how does it feel to be the lesser of two evils?” he asked. “I think that really is what this campaign is about. ” Ms. Kunin was  . Toward the end of that campaign, Ms. Kunin said, Mr. Sanders argued at a rally in Burlington, Vt. that he would do far more for women than Ms. Kunin. “Bernie thought I was an empty suit, and insisted that he was the better feminist because he would solve income inequality and that would help women,” Ms. Kunin said in the interview. “He could be sarcastic, but also very subtle. ” A supporter of Mrs. Clinton’s presidential bid, Ms. Kunin said she saw similarities between his treatment of the two women. “He’s not going to say, ‘She’s a woman, she’s not qualified,’” said Ms. Kunin, who was   with 47 percent of the vote after Mr. Sanders siphoned off some support. “But he can paint a very subtle illusion talking about qualifications and judgment. ” Mr. Devine, the adviser to Mr. Sanders, said the senator would never make   attacks, in the 1980s or today. “His focus is on issues,” he said. Peter Smith, the Republican candidate for governor in 1986 and the congressman Mr. Sanders ousted in 1990, said that Mr. Sanders used passion to create “a contrast between him and his opponent that may not, in fact, exist. ” Mr. Sanders’s aides in the 1990 campaign said they would regularly taunt Mr. Smith about his positions on issues like the minimum wage, which the congressman would dispute, and then Mr. Sanders would come forward and accuse Mr. Smith of dishonesty. As a result, a running theme of that campaign was that Mr. Sanders had integrity and Mr. Smith lacked it. “The tool he uses is his intensity and his belief that, on the major issues he cares about, there is only one right answer,” Mr. Smith said. “And it is his. ”",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
11353,11354,"It ' s not Economics for Dummies , but it ' s not that far off .  The Bank of England is widely believed to be home to many of the sharpest mathematical and financial minds in the country .  And central to their work is the impressive library where millions of pages of complex theory , analysis and research gathered over the three hundred odd years of the Bank ' s existence are kept .  So it may come as a surprise to learn that the most popular book in the Bank ' s library is not a work by Keynes , Smith or Hayek but a basic economics textbook aimed at  and A level students .  With its ' easy to use ' structure and full colour illustrations , Alain Anderton ' s Economics has long been a favourite of youngsters hoping to get a grip on basic economic theory .  Now in its fifth edition , which was published in 2008 at the height of the financial crisis , a freedom of information request found the book had been issued and renewed 33 times at the Bank in 2014 .  Author Mr Anderton told the Times newspaper that he was ' astonished ' to learn of its popularity at the Bank .  He said : ' The economists at the Bank of England are top notch , they certainly don ' t need to read my book . '  The Bank currently provides development for secretaries , graduates and school leavers and was quick to point out that it holds copies of the book to support staff studying for exams .  Explanation : The Bank currently provides development for secretaries , graduates and school leavers and was quick to point out that it holds copies of the book to support staff studying for A level exams  Other popular titles include This Time is Different : Eight Centuries of Financial Folly co authored by Kenneth Rogoff and The Bankers ' New Clothes by Anat Admati  Other popular titles include a work by one of chancellor George Osborne ' s favourite authors This Time is Different : Eight Centuries of Financial Folly co authored by Kenneth Rogoff .  Perhaps to the chagrin of the Bank ' s governor Mark Carney is the popularity of The Bankers ' New Clothes by Anat Admati , an advisor to  financial regulator the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation .  A book by Anat Admati , an author highly critical of Governor Mark Carney , pictured , was among the most popular reads  Mr Admati famously criticised Mr Carney at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January claiming he had mislead the public by suggesting that progress had been made tackling the too big to fail banks .  Other popular reads at the bank include House of Debt by Atif Milan and Amir Sufi , Wrong : Nine Economic Policy Disasters and What We Can Learn From Them by Richard Grossman .  Last year a freedom of information request revealed that the most popular book in the Houses of Parliament library was ' How Parliament Works ' by Roger Roberts .  The book described as a comprehensive guide to the complexities of Westminster was taken out 16 times by MPs trying to get a grips on the complicated workings of Parliament .  MPs were also found to be reading a great deal of non political material including a Lonely Planet travel guide and a book advocating the stress relieving benefits of meditation .  The travel companion to Burma includes references to the water bound temples on tranquil Inle Lake and hot air ballooning over the ancient city of Bagan . The guide by John Allen was the eight most popular loan over the last financial year .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,present
11369,11370,"Reuters) - Turkey remains a dependable member of the  alliance, President Tayyip Erdogan s spokesman said on Thursday, after Western allies expressed concern over Ankara s decision to procure a missile defence system from Russia. Turkey s good relations with Russia are not an alternative to its ties to the West, but rather complementary, Ibrahim Kalin told a news conference. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
11394,11395,"The man with the dog tattoo tends to do things a little differently , which is probably why Bournemouth won ' t roll over when Liverpool come to town this month .  ' It ' s for Rodney , ' says Eddie Howe . One of the most upwardly mobile English managers is referring to the letter R inked on his right wrist .  ' It ' s the only tattoo I have . He was the Labrador I had here when I moved away from home to be an apprentice . Some people don ' t understand it . '  Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe is enjoying a very successful second spell as Cherries boss  Howe congratulates the Bournemouth squad after knocking West Brom out of the Capital One Cup in October  He laughs , but there are many things about this 37 year old , who has taken charge of more than 300 games , that are not entirely conventional .  There are the text message rituals he shares with the club ' s Russian owner and the 3 , 000 he once took from his own pocket to get his players into shape .  There ' s also his answer to the question of whether he would leave if a Premier League club approached him before the end of the season .  The 37 year old , bellowing out instructions on the touchline , is passionate about the job at Bournemouth  ' I genuinely wouldn ' t , ' he says . ' I ' m in a good place , with freedom and control and support from the owner . I have learnt that when you are in management there should be no rush it ' s easy to go wrong .  ' So long as we are progressing and I can work in these conditions , I have no desire to go anywhere . '  The truth is that Bournemouth and Howe are a good mixture .  Bournemouth ' s Eunan O ' Kane celebrates scoring against West Brom in the Capital One Cup  It ' s the club that nurtured him and whom he served for more than 300 games across two spells as a player , the second of which came after fans pledged 13 , 500 online to help buy him .  As a manager , either side of a stint at Burnley , he took the financially crippled club from the foot of League Two in 2008 to fourth in the Championship today . They have done it playing passing , attacking football .  More still , they host Liverpool on December 17 in the quarter final of the Capital One Cup , pitting Howe against Brendan Rodgers , the man he credits for so much of his education .  Howe played for Bournemouth during two spells , appearing over 300 times for the south coast side  ' If my memory is right , we first met when Swansea played Burnley way back in the Championship in 2011 , ' Howe says .  ' We were fortunate because we beat Swansea but I was really impressed by him not just his passion but the way his team played .  ' I rang him at some point after that and said , "" Do you mind if I come in and watch you work ? ""  ' It might sound strange , coming from one Championship manager to another . I ' ve only asked a few times about things like that and Brendan was the only one who opened the door .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
11408,11409,"An    Muslim woman who claimed that three men attacked her on a Manhattan subway this month and tried to pull off her hijab was charged on Wednesday with filing a false report, the police said. The woman, Yasmin Seweid, a student at Baruch College, was also charged with obstructing governmental administration, the police said. Both charges are misdemeanors. Ms. Seweid, of New Hyde Park on Long Island, had told the police that three white men screaming “Donald Trump!” attacked her on Dec. 1 on an uptown No. 6 train at East 23rd Street,weblink reported. She told the police that the men had called her a terrorist and that when she tried to move to the other end of the subway car, one of them followed and tried to pull off her traditional head scarf. DNAinfo reported that she recanted the story on Tuesday and had made it up to get attention because of problems she was having with her family. It was not immediately clear if she had a lawyer. A spokesman for the Council on   Relations, Ibrahim Hooper, said in an interview on Wednesday that Muslims in America were feeling “tremendous psychological stress and pressure” that can result in episodes like this one. “No one out of the blue decides to make this kind of report,” he said. “Whenever there are these rare instances of alleged false reports  —   it’s still an allegation at this point  —   it’s used by the growing Islamophobic community to delegitimize and undermine the many legitimate   incidents. ”",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
11414,11415,"Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that House committees will begin action on President elect Barack Obama ' s proposed economic recovery package in the next couple of weeks , with a vote in the full House slated for the week after Obama ' s inauguration .  Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the House will not go on a break until an economic recovery package is passed .  Obama will take office January 20 .  If that schedule slips , Pelosi , D California , pledged to cancel the House ' s planned weeklong break in mid February for Presidents Day .  "" We are not going home without an economic recovery package , "" Pelosi said .  Pelosi said Obama ' s plan has broad public support "" almost sight unseen , "" citing a poll from Politico that says 79 percent of Americans support the president elect ' s plan .  A senior Pelosi aide said discussions about the details are ongoing between the Obama transition team and key leaders . The Ways and Means Committee will focus on the tax piece , approximately 300 billion in tax cuts .  Obama transition aides met with Democrats on that committee Wednesday morning to discuss various proposals , according to another Democratic aide .  The Appropriations Committee is tasked with drafting details on spending hundreds of billions of dollars on infrastructure projects , food stamps and other aid to states .  Sidestepping a question on possible roadblocks for the bill , Pelosi instead touted the new muscle of the expanded Democratic majority .  "" We have been so used to an uphill fight , but now we have arrived . We have a big , strong , something like an 80 vote majority in the Congress , in the House , with a Democratic president in the White House , "" she said .  In a speech Thursday , Obama said it was imperative that Congress move quickly to pass the stimulus package once he takes office , warning that a failure to do so would have devastating long term consequences to the nation ' s economy .  "" We start 2009 in the midst of a crisis unlike any we have seen in our lifetime , a crisis that has only deepened over the last few weeks , "" Obama said at George Mason University in Virginia . Watch Obama call for "" dramatic action "" on the economy  "" I don ' t believe it ' s too late to change course , but it will be if we don ' t take dramatic action as soon as possible , "" Obama continued . "" If nothing is done , this recession could linger for years . ""  Key members of Obama ' s own party , however , said they opposed central tax measures of the president elect ' s proposals after emerging from a closed door meeting of the Senate Finance Committee . Watch Obama explain his tax proposals  In particular , they do not think that giving employers a 3 , 000 tax credit for each worker they hired would work .  "" I ' m not that excited about that , "" said Sen . John Kerry of Massachusetts . "" Having a tax credit for hiring is not going to change that dynamic creating a direct job will . So I ' d rather spend the money on the infrastructure , on direct investment , on energy conversion and other kinds of things , much more directly and much more rapidly and much more certainly create a real job . ""  Sen . Kent Conrad agreed .  "" I think it ' s unlikely to be effective , "" the North Dakota senator said . "" If you think about it , businesspeople are not going to hire people to produce products that are not selling . Who is going to hire in the auto industry if you give them a 3 , 000 credit to make cars that people are not buying ? ""  A second Obama tax proposal that several Democrats were down on is payroll tax credits , amounting to about 20 per paycheck and totaling 500 per person and 1 , 000 for couples earning less than 200 , 000 a year .  Sen . Ron Wyden of Oregon said he doubted that proposal would do much to stimulate the economy .  "" We have an example from the first stimulus that indicates just giving people 500 to 600 , while certainly welcome when there ' s this much economic hurt , may not be the best use of stimulus , "" Wyden said .  Instead , Wyden said , pumping more money into infrastructure spending would be more effective in creating jobs .  Conrad agreed with Wyden .  "" Twenty dollars a week ? I don ' t think that will be effective , either . That is in terms of economic impact . We have got to focus on what is actually going to lift the economy , "" Conrad said .  First votes in the Finance Committee , which must approve the tax components of the stimulus plan , could come in the next two weeks , senators and aides said .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
11443,11444,"Luke Tobin , 23 , of Cardiff , denied wounding Matthew James with intent to do him grievous bodily harm but was found guilty by a jury at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court  An Afghanistan veteran has been jailed for a jealous attack on his ex partner ' s new boyfriend after finding him hiding in a wardrobe at her home .  Luke Tobin , 23 , of Cardiff , denied wounding Matthew James with intent to do him grievous bodily harm , but was found guilty by a jury at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court after a jury heard he had taken pictures of the attack on his mobile phone .  Mr James suffered a fractured nose and eye socket in the attack by Tobin , after he had forced his way into his ex girlfriend Coral Samuel ' s house , and discovered him in the cupboard .  He has been jailed for eight years for the brutal attack .  The jury heard that Tobin , a soldier of five years ' standing who had completed tours of Afghanistan , had been the boyfriend of Ms Samuel , the mother of a young child .  Despite that relationship breaking down in August 2013 , Tobin and she continued to see each other and he had stayed over .  But after telling him that she had started to see someone else , Tobin went around to her house in Treharris , Merthyr Tydfil , in September last year and forced his way in .  When he got inside , he went upstairs and found Mr James hiding .  Tobin called him a ' pussy ' before laying into him in a relentless attack , kicking and punching him repeatedly while his partner ' s young child slept in the next room .  During the sustained assault , Tobin told him he was going to ' finish him ' and before Tobin left , he took photographs of the damage he had caused , telling Ms Samuel ' I ' ve done a good job ' .  Byron Broadstock , defending Tobin , who had no previous convictions , said he had harboured hopes of rekindling his relationship and had been confused at its status because he had continued to see her .  He had also run a trial , said Mr Broadstock , because he wanted to rejoin the army and the consequence of a conviction would have made that impossible .  Matthew James ( right ) suffered a fractured nose and eye socket in the attack by Tobin , after he had forced his way into his ex girlfriend Coral Samuel ' s ( left ) house , and discovered him in the cupboard  Mr Broadstock said Tobin had displayed remorse but he was told by Judge Richard Twomlow : ' Real remorse would have been shown by a guilty plea at an early stage .  ' You lost your temper when you saw Mr James in the house .  ' He was so frightened he hid in a wardrobe . The attack was sustained and violent .  The jury heard that Tobin , a soldier of five years ' standing who had completed tours of Afghanistan , had been the boyfriend of Ms Samuel , the mother of a young child  ' You have been affected by your experiences in Afghanistan but this attack was the direct result of jealousy and losing your temper on finding Mr James in the house . '  Tobin will serve half the sentence in jail before being released and will have to pay a 120 victim surcharge .  He was jailed for eight years at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court . Tobin will serve half the sentence in jail before being released and will have to pay a 120 victim surcharge .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,negative,past
11444,11445,"Ed Miliband today faced questions over how much he is worth as the Labour leader tried to play down claims he was targeting David Cameron ' s background for political advantage .  The morning after his widely praised conference speech , Mr Miliband was forced to defend claims the Prime Minister would personally benefit from a ' tax cut for millionaires ' but refused to discuss his own levels of personal wealth .  In his speech , Mr Miliband said : ' David Cameron isn ' t just writing the cheques . He is receiving one . He ' s going to be getting the millionaire ' s tax cut .  Labour leader Ed Miliband toured the  studios today to face questions about his conference speech in Manchester  ' So next week maybe Mr Cameron can tell us how much is he awarding himself in a tax cut ? How much is that tax cut he is awarding himself ? '  But he appeared to row back from the claim today , after business experts accused him of confusing people with net assets worth more than 1million with the much smaller group who earn seven figure sums every year .  Asked on  Breakfast how much he was worth , Mr Miliband replied : ' I am not going to be getting the top rate tax cut . '  But pressed on whether he was ' worth 1million ' , Mr Miliband looked panicked and tried to claim he was not using the Prime Minister ' s upbringing to gain votes . ' I am not making an issue of David Cameron ' s background . '  Mr Miliband , whose Primrose Hill home is reportedly worth 1 . 6million , criticised the Prime Minister for cutting the top rate of tax and said he didn ' t think "" it was the kind of country we should be in "" .  But in the same interview he attacked Mr Cameron for cutting the top rate of tax from 50p to 45p for those earning more than 150 , 000 , and claimed the  will benefit personally .  ' Mr Cameron ' s aides have said he will be receiving a tax cut in the top rate of tax when it is cut from 50 to 45 per cent , ' Mr Miliband said .  ' Why does that matter ? That matters because if you ' re the Prime Minister and you ' re cutting taxes for a very small section of the population and raising them for everyone else .  ' You ' re cutting taxes for the richest in society . I think that ' s wrong , I don ' t think that ' s the kind of country we should be in . '  Ed Miliband was joined on the conference stage by his wife Justine after his speech  Yesterday Mr Miliband ' s speech was packed with references to his own upbringing , attending a comprehensive school in North London , which was seen as an attempt to contrast with Mr Cameron ' s schooling at Eton .  He said that as a pupil at Haverstock school he ' learned how to get on with people from all backgrounds , whoever they were ' .  Tory MPs have accused the Labour leader of indulging in ' class war ' by making a big play of his educational background to contrast with David Cameron ' s Eton schooling .  Graham Evans said it was ' a bit rich ' for him to pretend he is from a down to earth background when his family were very wealthy and came from the ' Labour elite ' .  Four of Mr Miliband ' s shadow Cabinet colleagues including Harriet Harman and Ed Balls were privately educated .  Mr Miliband received largely positive coverage for yesterday ' s speech , delivered without notes or an autocue .  Today he revealed that the 65 minute address had been longer than he originally planned .  ' The notes for the speech , such that they were , were 6 , 000 words and I delivered 7 , 500 , ' he told  Radio 4 .  ' People are fed up with politics which feels like it is reading out something that someone else has written for you . I tried to say what I believed and that is the best thing to do . '  Despite using much of the speech to distance himself from New Labour , attacking its failures on welfare and immigration , Mr Miliband said he was ' flattered ' at being compared to Tony Blair . ' I think I ' m pretty flattered by that comparison , Tony Blair was incredible at conference speeches . But it ' s a different time .  ' What I do feel , the reason I did that speech yesterday , was that people want to know about who the person is , where we ' re going to take the country . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
11445,11446,"to read Martin Samuel ' s match report as a Sergio Aguero goal was enough to hand the home side victory  This was Manchester derby ' lite ' . The derby that never really felt like one or sounded like one and , ultimately , was robbed of any significance or real context by the actions of one player .  Maybe it was nerves , a sense of neither club knowing where they stood before kick off .  Maybe football is just becoming more gentrified with each passing season . Whatever the case , there was never any fizz about this occasion . Both clubs both sets of supporters seemed rather anxious to get it over with and move on .   Scroll down to watch Louis van Gaal slam Chris Smalling for stupid red card  Chris Smalling was shown a second yellow card for this first half challenge on James Milner  Referee Michael Oliver had no choice but to give Smalling his marching orders following the tackle  Then , when it started , Chris Smalling ruined it . A senseless sending off for two pieces of brainless football .  The first offence was always going to have one outcome . The second , a tackle so late the  cameras did well to catch it , was particularly reckless given what had already happened .  ' It wasn ' t very smart , ' said Louis van Gaal . The Manchester United manager added that Smalling had apologised . His face suggested the apology had not necessarily been accepted .  Smalling ' s red card certainly robbed his team . They had some momentum prior to that moment . They had started brightly , seeking to exploit some hesitancy in a strangely lifeless Manchester City .  In the wider context , though , Smalling ' s dismissal left the occasion and the game distorted . You can never learn much from a 10 versus 11 contest and so it was here .  The happiest coach in the land may well be Chelsea ' s Jose Mourinho . His team are now 13 points ahead of United so we can presume the Barclays Premier League title challenge for Van Gaal ' s side is now over if it ever existed . Chelsea are as unlikely to lose five times between now and next May as United are to win every game .  Smalling was shown his first yellow card of the game for the challenge of Manchester City keeper Joe Hart  Louis van Gaal gives instructions to Wayne Rooney shortly after Smalling ' s red card  There were no players from Manchester in either side ' s starting  , but five from Argentina Aguero , Zabaleta , Demichelis , Rojo and Di Maria .  Mourinho will also have sensed ongoing issues among Sunday ' s victors . City were only truly effective for half an hour .  Certainly they should have had penalties and David de Gea made a couple of very good saves when the teams were numerically equal .  In the wake of an excellent Sergio Aguero goal , however , they lost their way .  Aimless , unintelligent football returned and if they were not exactly hanging on at the full time , they were certainly happy to hear Michael Oliver ' s whistle .  As United pressed late on , Wayne Rooney may have scored choosing to cut inside instead of shooting Joe Hart made a super save from Angel di Maria and Marouane Fellaini somehow managed to connect only with his shoulder when escaping from Vincent Kompany at a set piece right in front of goal .  Sergio Aguero celebrates scoring City ' s winning goal at the Etihad on Sunday  Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho will have sensed that there are ongoing issues at City  Had any of those incidents led to a goal , City manager Manuel Pellegrini would have been thinking introspectively yet again on Monday morning .  The line his team is walking between good and bad is very fine at the moment and it will be interesting to see if they can find the performance they need at home to  Moscow in the Champions League on Wednesday .  From a statistical point of view , there are some numbers to trouble United . This was the fourth time on the spin City have beaten them the last time that happened was in 1970 while their own league tally of 13 points represents their worst start to a domestic season since 1986 .  Manchester United are now 13 points behind Premier League leaders Chelsea  Neither of these stats really seemed to fit the mood at full time on Sunday , though . If you are of a red persuasion you may not feel quite that glum .  United do have issues . Players continue to get injured , on the training pitch and in combat , while Robin van Persie continues to look like somebody who has just walked on to the set of Stars in Their Eyes . For the moment at least , meanwhile , the previously excellent Di Maria looks in need of some direction and a more easily identifiable role in Van Gaal ' s formation .  There is a feeling , though , that Van Gaal does have United stuttering along gently in the right direction .  Robin van Persie ( right ) has struggled to make an impact for United so far this season  As he said on Sunday , they continue to have problems with retaining the ball but the calamity football of early season does seem a little distant now .  The return of their captain helped . Rooney was excellent in a withdrawn position and one wonders how long it will be before Van Gaal decides to choose Radamel Falcao ahead of him rather than Van Persie .  United may yet benefit from not playing European football . Van Gaal clearly needs time on the training field and he perhaps will not mind too much the lack of clutter on the schedule .  City do not have that luxury and , it has to be said , they do look a little leggy . Maybe this result will nudge them into gear again and certainly their celebrations at the end were indicative of relief .  This will not be a derby that lives long in the memory . Unanswered questions hang heavy for blue and for red .  Rooney , who has missed United ' s last three Premier League games , was excellent in a withdrawn position  Radamel Falcao shakes hands with former United boss Sir Alex Ferguson before kick off  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
11449,11450,"Reuters) - Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Friday welcomed the appointment of Kurt Volker to serve as Washington’s special representative to Ukraine, saying it would help end what he called Russian aggression and restore Crimea to Ukraine. The former U.S. Ambassador to NATO, Volker will be responsible for advancing U.S. interests as set out in the 2015 Minsk agreement and accompany Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to Kiev on Sunday, the State Department said. “Welcome the decision of the  Administration to appoint Kurt Volker a Special representative for Ukraine, following our arrangements,” Poroshenko tweeted.  “Important & timely move in the interests of ending Russian aggression and restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, including Crimea.” ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
11469,11470,"A bright , articulate A level student jumped to her death after battling an anxiety disorder which her mother fears was triggered by years of bullying .  An inquest heard Lauren Johnson , who wanted to be a clinical psychologist or a vet , masked her symptoms for three years before taking her own life in June in Accrington , Lancashire .  Her mother Dawn said her daughter was ' systematically and horrendously abused ' by bullies since the age of 14 , but bottled up the devastating emotional consequences .  Tragedy : Lauren Johnson , 17 , battled an anxiety disorder for three years before taking her own life  Speaking after the inquest Lauren ' s mother , who has worked as a mental health nurse for 20 years , said : ' The bullying was a significant factor in Lauren ' s mental illness prior to that she had a normal childhood normal upbringing .  ' The experts said she was systematically and horrendously abused by bullying but she internalised it . In my view , without the bullying she would not have developed mental health issues and she would not have died .  ' The therapist said the bullying was systematic but we could never get to the bottom of it . There was no report from school because they didn ' t know anything about her troubles because she just absorbed it and took it on the chin rather fire back at anyone .  ' She maybe took that torment on herself until the point came when she became really unwell with it . The bullying had stopped by that time but the damage was already done . We tried to talk to her about what happened but it was too painful for her . '  The inquest yesterday heard Lauren , from Oswaldtwistle , Lancashire , began displaying mental health issues in 2011 which were first put down to ' social anxiety ' .  Bright : The teenager wanted to go to university and dreamed of being a psychologist or vet  She was later diagnosed with a psychosis like personality disorder , and eventually told her mother Dawn about her bullying ordeal .  Doctors prescribed medication but the teenager ' didn ' t want to be reminded that she was unwell ' , the inquest heard , and developed insecurities about being admitted to a psychiatric unit .  She self harmed , including on one occasion in a public toilet , and police were called out when she was found standing near railway bridges and viaducts .  Last June Lauren was due to be interviewed as a volunteer on the mental health and children ' s wards at Burnley General Hospital ahead of applying to university .  Her mother ' s final words to her were to wish her good luck .  But instead of attending the hospital , she walked to a car park in nearby Accrington .   Graham Walsh spent half an hour trying to talk Lauren down , but she jumped from a ledge . He said : ' She wouldn ' t let me come to her . It was impossible to try and grab her . '  The teenager , who was studying maths , chemistry , biology and psychology A levels at Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School , suffered fatal head injuries and was pronounced dead at Royal Blackburn Hospital .  A suicide note was found on her laptop .  The inquest heard Lauren had been seen by several psychologists and had been to hospital many times .  Dr Adam Joiner said he saw Lauren six days before she died , adding : ' She was wearing make up and fashionable clothing , and seemed happy .  ' She seemed interested in the reform of her diagnosis and we discussed how treatment and recovery were possible .  ' She explained she did not enjoy her recent hospital admission in an adult ward and her intention to avoid further admissions . '  But Lauren ' s mental health worker Carla Nightingale said : ' Lauren had the intelligence to be able to work out what people wanted her to say and project that image . '  Lauren ' s mother told the inquest : ' I always had a gut feeling that one day she wouldn ' t be with us .  ' I ' ve waited for that phonecall or knock on the door . I kind of saw it that if she did not get the help she needed , one day that would be inevitable .  Coroner Michael Singleton told the inquest at Accrington Town Hall ( pictured ) : ' Lauren was a very intelligent and clearly articulate young lady , a young lady who had a personality disorder '  ' It is very difficult to cure a mental health problem and Lauren kept a lot to herself and tried to manage it very much herself . Because she tried to manage it herself , she ended up in crisis a lot of time when she wanted to kill herself . Sometimes she lacked insight into how low her mood was . '  ' Lauren was good at masking things and would try and mask her symptoms so people would think she was okay . I did air my concerns and said I found it hard to judge that risk .  ' It was really inconsistent . Her behaviour had become erratic . She would try and mask it and put make up on and present as very cheery . '  Lauren ' s death has already prompted the launch of a charity in her memory , Lauren ' s Place , to help young people with mental health issues .  It also prompted a petition and protest march supported by thousands calling for action to make the site where Lauren died ' safe or knock it down ' .  Coroner Michael Singleton told the inquest at Accrington Town Hall : ' Lauren was a very intelligent and clearly articulate young lady , a young lady who had a personality disorder which seemed to have various diagnosis at various times .  ' Clearly Lauren ' s mother , working in mental health had some insight into problems and appropriate help was sought at an early stage .  ' It seems to me that the nature of Lauren ' s mental health and her intelligence and insight into it always meant it was always going to be a very difficult situation to manage . '  He recorded a verdict of suicide .  For confidential support call the Samaritans in the  on 08457 90 90 90 , visit a local Samaritans branch or click here for details .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
11478,11479,"Beijing Russia ' s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin arrived in Beijing Tuesday , kicking off a two day visit to China , his first state visit since announcing his intention to contest the Russian presidency next March .  Aside from meeting his counterpart Chinese premier Wen Jiabao in the 16th Regular Meeting between the two Prime Ministers , Putin will also meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao and other Chinese leaders .  Talks are expected to include negotiations on a natural gas deal worth 1 trillion that has been stalled by disagreements over price . The deal would see Russia supply China with up to 68 billion cubic meters of gas every year .  "" If the deal can be reached , the trade volume will increase significantly , and this will change the fact that the economic cooperation between the two countries lags behind the political cooperation , "" said Zhao Huasheng , director of the Center for Russia and Central Asia Studies at Fudan University .  "" Together with cooperation in other economic fields , China and Russia will become real strategic partners in economic terms . ""  Putin ' s arrival in Beijing comes less than three weeks after he announced his bid to reclaim the Russian presidency next year .  "" The fact that Putin may become next Russian president indeed adds some political color to this visit , and its impact on bilateral relation will definitely go beyond the impact of a regular state visit , "" Zhao said .  "" The meeting to some extent will set the keynote for the China Russia relation in future . It can be described as the start of China Russia relation in ' new Putin era ' , "" he added .  Experts say economic cooperation between the two countries will dominate the meeting agenda .  "" Since this is mainly a meeting between the two premiers , this visit will be mainly about expanding the economic cooperation and improving trade structure , "" said Jiang Yi , vice director of Research Center for Russian Diplomacy at China Academy of Social Science , the country ' s top think tank .  Recent years have seen a steady increase in trade volume between the two countries . According to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce , bilateral trade volume in the year to July increased by 37 . 4 to a record 42 . 2 billion compared to the previous year . The ministry forecasts that the bilateral trade volume will reach a new record in 2011 , in excess of 70 billion .  Among all the economic agendas , energy cooperation stands out as the main focus between Russia , a major energy exporter , and China , the world ' s biggest energy consumer , according to a 2010 report from the International Energy Agency .  According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry , during Putin ' s visit , Chinese vice Premier Wang Qishan will hold an energy negotiation meeting with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin . "" Chinese Russian energy cooperation is an important part of the two countries ' strategic partnership , "" said Liu Weimin , spokesperson of Foreign Ministry , on Monday during a regular press conference .  Putin brings with him to China a group of 160 business leaders , including the CEOs of Russian energy giants Gazprom , Rosneft and aluminum producer   .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
11479,11480,"Reports : Eagles request permission to speak to Tom Coughlin  One of the two  East teams with a head coaching vacancy has requested to interview the other ' s former head coach . Per multiple reports , the Eagles asked permission to interview former Giants coach Tom Coughlin .  They needed to request permission because Coughlin was technically not fired , but rather resigned with a year left on his deal with the Giants . The Giants granted permission and the Eagles will reportedly meet with Coughlin on Monday .  Get the latest updates on hirings , firings , candidates  In 12 seasons in New York , Coughlin compiled a record of 102 90 , making the playoffs five times ( three times as division champion , twice as a wild card ) . The Giants were knocked out in their first game during three of those playoff trips , but the other two resulted in a pair of the greatest and most surprising Super Bowl runs in  history .  Prior to the Giants , Coughlin spent eight years as coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars . The first coach in the franchise ' s history , Coughlin took the Jags to the  title game during their second year of existence . He compiled a record of 68 60 during his time there , and the team went 4 4 in his four playoff appearances .  He has become known over the years as a stern , disciplinarian coach , with his teams often being penalized for being any later than five minutes early to team events . In recent years , though , his Giants teams seemed to be rather undisciplined , which contributed to their eventual parting of ways . Coughlin has also had issues with clock management , particularly this year as the Giants blew multiple fourth quarter leads thanks in part to clock blunders .  He is a likely Hall of Fame coach , though , and he ' s well respected . Coughlin did make it clear that he ' s not necessarily retiring when he resigned from his post with the Giants , but at his age ( he ' s 69 years old ) , it would be slightly surprising to see him take another job rather than walk off into the sunset .  Tom Coughlin will talk to the Eagles this week . (  )  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
11482,11483,"A person who is brain dead may appear alive there may be a heartbeat , they may look like they ' re breathing , their skin may still be warm to the touch .  But doctors say there is no life when brain activity ceases .  Doctors in Oakland , California , declared 13 year old Jahi McMath to be brain dead on December 12 , three days after she underwent a tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy . The McMath family fought in court to keep the teen on a ventilator , and announced Monday that they had moved the girl to another care facility .  While family attorney Christopher Dolan told reporters that for her safety , Jahi ' s destination won ' t be announced , a New York facility said Sunday it was ready to accept her .  "" We are aware of Jahi McMath ' s dire situation , and we are willing to open our outpatient facility to provide 24 hour care , "" said Allyson Scerri , founder of New Beginnings Community Center in Medford , New York . "" Her brain needs time to heal . ""  "" This child has been defined as a deceased person yet she has all the functional attributes of a living person despite her brain injury , "" the center said on its website .  When routine surgeries go wrong  However , barring a misdiagnosis , medical experts say the teen will not recover if she is truly "" brain dead . ""  While laymen tend to use the words "" coma "" and "" brain dead "" interchangeably , in medicine they mean very different things .  "" Coma "" is the broader term used to describe a prolonged state of unconsciousness , according to the Mayo Clinic .  Outwardly , it resembles sleep . Doctors may sometimes purposefully put a patient into a coma to give the brain time to heal . Comas rarely last longer than a couple of weeks , according to the clinic patients can fully regain consciousness or may transition from a coma into a persistent vegetative state .  Someone in a persistent vegetative state has lost most higher cognitive function , but his or her brain shows some activity . The patient may open their eyes or exhibit small movements , but cannot speak or respond to commands , according to the National Institutes of Health . Some patients can recover from this state , according to the  .  Both these situations are different from brain death : According to the Uniform Determination of Death Act , an individual is dead when he or she "" has sustained either ( 1 ) irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions , or ( 2 ) irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain , including the brain stem . ""  What that essentially means is that the brain , an extremely complex organ , no longer helps the patient function .  The human brain is divided into what doctors call the Lower Brain and the Upper Brain .  The Lower Brain where the top of the spinal cord goes up through our necks and into our brains regulates body functions such as spontaneous breath , reflexes , our heartbeat , body temperature and sleep wake cycles .  The Upper Brain is behind all the "" higher "" functions in a person ' s nervous system . This gives us the ability to use our senses to see , taste , smell , hear and feel .  "" Brain death "" means both the upper and lower part of the brain are not functioning . That command center of the body that regulates the central nervous system is unable to perform . However , some function , such as a heartbeat , may linger .  "" It ' s a little difficult for a layperson to understand how a person is dead if the heart is still beating , "" said Dr Panayiotis Varelas , director of the neurosciences intensive care service at Detroit ' s Henry Ford Hospital .  But without brain function , the body eventually shuts down , unless there is medical intervention . Someone on a ventilator may appear to be breathing , but cannot breathe on their own .  While the heart usually stops within 72 hours , it could continue beating for "" a week or so , "" Varelas said .  Jahi ' s mother , Nailah Winkfield , has said , "" I would probably need for my child ' s heart to stop to show me that she was dead . Her heart is still beating , so there ' s still life there . ""  The term "" brain dead "" can be misleading , said Cynda Hylton Rushton , professor of clinical ethics at Johns Hopkins University , because it sounds like a person really isn ' t dead . If someone dies of a heart attack , doctors don ' t say they ' re "" cardiovascular dead , "" for example .  Doctors should be more transparent about the finality of brain death , said Arthur Caplan , director of the Division of Medical Ethics at  Langone Medical Center .  Terms such as "" mechanical support "" or "" artificial machine support "" should be used to refer to sustaining the functioning of a brain dead person , he said . "" No one wants to take away ' life support . ' ""  "" Dead is dead , "" agreed neurologist Dr Richard Senelick in The Atlantic . "" Brain death isn ' t a different type of death , and patients who meet the criteria of brain death are legally dead . ""  The American Academy of Neurology updated its brain death guidelines for adults in 2010 , asking doctors to follow a step by step checklist of some 25 tests .  All criteria in the guidelines must be met before a person can be considered brain dead however , the legal definition of brain death can vary from state to state .  The American Academy of Pediatrics added to those guidelines for children . These childrens ' guidelines advise there should be two attending physicians involved in the care of the child , and they should make separate examinations separated by an observation period .  Both must determine the child is brain dead . In making that ruling , the doctors use the currently established criteria there must not be a conflict of interest .  "" No one who has met the criteria for brain death has ever survived , "" Senelick said . "" No one . ""  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
11483,11484,"Fred Thompson was many things : a former  senator , a  Presidential candidate , a respected statesman , and an actor . At 73 , Fred died Sunday after a recurring battle with lymphoma , The Tennessean reports . He was diagnosed with cancer in 2004 .  Fred Thompson s family confirmed his death by issuing an official statement on Sunday .  It is with a heavy heart and a deep sense of grief that we share the passing of our brother , husband , father , and grandfather who died peacefully in Nashville surrounded by his family .  Fred stood on principle and common sense , and had a deep love for and connection with the people across Tennessee whom he had the privilege to serve in the United States Senate . He enjoyed a hearty laugh , a strong handshake , a good cigar , and a healthy dose of humility . Fred was the same man on the floor of the Senate , the movie studio , or the town square of Lawrenceburg , his home .  Standing six feet and five inches , Fred Thompson was a commanding figure who became a prominent figure in the political landscape of of Tennessee and the United States . He was born in 1942 in Sheffield , Alabama but grew up in Lawrenceburg , Tennessee . Fred served as an attorney for the Watergate Committee and gained national notice for his efforts at investigating the scandal Richard Nixon was involved in in the early 70 s .  In the 80 s , Thompson became an actor , landing prominent roles in films such as Martin Scorsese s Cape Fear , The Hunt for Red October ( with Harrison Ford ) , Die Hard 2 ( with Bruce Willis ) , and Days of Thunder ( with Tom Cruise ) . He also played a role on  s Law and Order as District Attorney Arthur Branch for five years . He recently appeared in the 2012 horror film Sinister and in the now defunct 2015  series Allegiance , according to Deadline .  See his final scene on Law and Order below .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
11489,11490,"Explaining that the waste he creates today will still be affecting society in significant ways centuries from now , experts from Northwestern University confirmed Tuesday that local resident Aaron Jacobson ' s garbage will have a far greater impact on the world than he will .  The research team told reporters that , unlike his personal relationships , his career selling inventory management software , and his jigsaw puzzle and euchre hobbies , which will leave only the faintest and briefest trace on the planet , the items disposed of by the 39 year old will go on to have profound effects on humanity and the natural world for hundreds of generations to come .  "" Within just a couple decades of his passing , Aaron Jacobson and all his achievements in life will be completely forgotten and never spoken of again , while the refuse he produced , on the other hand , will exert a profound influence that will endure for millennia , "" said head researcher Kevin Wright , who confirmed that each of the everyday items Jacobson regularly tosses into the garbage including soda bottles , plastic bags , food wrappers , and the like will be considerably more important in determining the future of the planet than his roughly 80 years of life will be . "" For example , while his recent promotion to senior sales associate had a modest impact on his company and , perhaps , a minor impact on his community , it will certainly not change the course of human civilization in any sense . However , the mobile phones he leaves behind will still be leaching toxic metals into the soil and groundwater thousands of years from now , impacting entire populations . ""  "" And just think : That ' s one small part of his trash , "" Wright added . "" This man ' s waste is going to shape our world for a long time to come . ""  Researchers noted that while Jacobson has visited a total of just nine U . S . states and one foreign country during his lifetime , the influence of his trash has already spread far and wide , leaving its mark across the globe . Over the past four decades , experts stated , the raw tonnage of refuse produced by Jacobson a man who interacts with , at most , 12 people in an average week , and whose most recognized personal accomplishment is making pretty good lasagna has crossed oceans and begun bringing about significant changes in marine ecosystems as distant as Asia , South America , Europe , and parts of North Africa .  Moreover , Jacobson ' s discarded cleaning products , batteries , and takeout containers will reportedly have a considerable effect on the political landscape , eventually serving as the source of heated policy discussions and debates even spurring vast movements of entire civilizations thousands of years after everything the man has ever said or done has been erased from human society ' s collective recollection .  Seeking to further elucidate just how profoundly impactful the man ' s garbage will be in relation to Jacobson himself , experts noted that the Styrofoam packing peanuts that the local resident unthinkingly dumped into his trash can earlier today will still be on earth , altering the environment , dictating wildlife population numbers , and consequently upending food chains a million years from now . By comparison , they pointed out , the man ' s years of productive work will effectively pass in the blink of an eye , as will any positive contributions that he makes stemming from his bachelor ' s degree in communications , his Microsoft Office Specialist certification , his participation in online Star Trek forums , or any other areas of personal or professional interest where he sought to make a difference .  "" And it ' s not just Jacobson ' s trash that will have profound effects on the planet the emissions that result from him routinely leaving his car running while he waits in parking lots will influence the climate worldwide for an eon and will eradicate not just one , but scores of species from the earth ' s surface , "" Wright said . "" If you put that next to the most notable goals in his life running a 5K in less than 25 minutes and sealing his deck by himself without the aid of a professional the two legacies aren ' t even comparable . ""  "" Basically , when the last person on earth with any memory of him dies which by our calculation , is little more than 50 or 60 years away the paint cans and single serve coffee pods he ' s thrown out will just be getting started , "" Wright continued . "" Future generations won ' t know the name Aaron Jacobson , but rest assured , his garbage will leave a mark on each and every one of their lives . ""  ",satire,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
11503,11504,"Miro doesn ' t know it yet , but his life is about to change .  The one year old Numbat has lived at Perth Zoo since birth under the watchful eyes of keepers , who have had to met his challenging diet requirement of 20 , 000 termites a day .  Very few people have seen a numbat other than on Western Australia ' s animal emblem or in photos , and with good reason .  The small marsupial is well camouflaged , fast and endangered .  13 Numats , including one year old Miro ( pictured ) are set to be released into their natural habitat after a life living at Perth Zoo as a part of the world ' s only Numbat  There are less than 1000 numbats left in the wild as the species is threatened by loss of habitat and predators including foxes and cats .  But for the first time since the world ' s only numbat recovery program started in 1987 , a group of numbats will be released into Dryandra Woodlands where the original breeding stock was captured .  On Friday , Miro and 13 other numbats will make the state ' s western Wheatbelt their new home and take with them a radio tracking collar and the promise of boosting the population .  Department of Parks and Wildlife researcher Tony Friend said once the numbats had established their home range , which can be up to 50ha , they ' ll stay there for the rest of their lives .  Dr Friend said numbats were solitary and sensible creatures , taking siestas at midday and staying out of each others way until breeding season .  There are less than 1000 numbats left in the wild as the species is threatened by loss of habitat and predators including foxes and cats  ' They live their own lives until the hormones kick in , which happens once a year , then they can ' t get enough of each other , ' Dr Friend said .  Numbat keeper Vicki Power said people have flown to Perth just to see the elusive creature , which is one of Australia ' s truly diurnal marsupials , meaning it ' s only active during the day .  ' It amazes me that they persist as a species when you think about how small and vulnerable they really are , ' Ms Power said .  For the first time since the world ' s only numbat recovery program started in 1987 , a group of numbats will be released into Dryandra Woodlands where the original breeding stock was captured  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
11510,11511,"A notorious former strip club has been transformed into a luxury boutique hotel in Rhode Island ,  .  Built around the history and culture of Providence , The Dean is a hotel that values collaboration with its neighbours . Filled with custom furniture , craftwork from local purveyors and found objects from Europe and beyond , The Dean revels in the details .  But just three years ago the building was in disrepair once used as a brothel and strip club , designer and developer Ari Heckman decided to breatehe new life into the dilapidated eyesore .  Designer and developer Ari Heckman has utilised original themes from the strip club in a fascinating new look  The bar where ladies would dance and entertain the crowds is now a chillout area but notice the drawing on the wall and a hark back in time  The tired and tacky green shutters have been ripped off , and the exterior of the hotel looks fresh and inviting to the tourism industry  Built in 1912 , the building was originally meant to house the clergy , but by the time Great Depression came around , it became a shelter for the poor and impoverished .  Then , as theatre took over the downtown Providence area , the building became a pit stop for actors and actresses .  But then the area fell into decline , and it became a strip club , with 60 hourly rooms upstairs .  The renovation works took two and a half years to complete , and now the building has had a much needed focus  The Dean is filled with custom furniture , craftwork from local purveyors and found objects from Europe and beyond  The exit door to the old strip club girls would have come and gone through here , earning their living while entertaining their ' clients '  Interestingly , the shapes from the old strip club have been incorporated into the hotel ' s fresh and clean design  Ari Heckman used to walk past the strip club , and once it had shut down , he seized upon the opportunity for his next project  These rooms are a far cry to what was there before , where strippers used to entertain their clients , with the furniture of high standard  The bathrooms in the rooms at The Dean are beautifully designed and add a real touch of class to the building , and right , the bright walkways  Built around the history and culture of Providence , The Dean is a hotel that values collaboration with its neighbours and really stands out  Speaking to Curbedweblink , Mr Heckman said : ' It was in that condition up until the moment we bought it . I went to the building on the last day of its active strip club life . The next day , the lights were off and that was the end of that . '  ' There were definitely moments of panic , where it felt highly unrealistic that we would be able to make something out of that .  ' There was nothing good happening in those rooms . They did everything wrong to make the space feel as disturbing as possible . '  Fast forward two and a half years and the refub is complete rooms are eloquently designed with decor from New England and Belgium , while working with the original layout of the building and structure .  There is a restaurant , a coffee shop , a bar , and a karaoke lounge , as well as 52 beautifully designed bedroom suites . Certain themes from its past remain , for example there is an artistic drawing of a naked woman on the walls of the bar .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
11511,11512,"Philadelphia Philadelphia police picked up 50 juveniles for violating the city ' s beefed up curfew which took effect Friday night , authorities said Saturday .  "" It definitely made a tremendous difference , "" he said , referring to the curfew .  Police patrolled the two areas under curfew , including downtown areas popular with locals and tourists during the Friday night curfew . The 50 teens are among the first charged with violating the newly strengthened city ordinance , which forbids anyone under 18 from being out on the street after 9 p . m . Fridays and Saturdays in two locations : Center City , in the downtown area , and University City , the west Philadelphia neighborhood where the University of Pennsylvania is located .  An hour after the curfew took effect , police had taken 22 juveniles between the ages of 14 and 17 into custody , Evers said .  All 50 minors were cited with a code violation for breaking the curfew , and were not allowed to leave the police precinct until they were picked up by a parent or guardian . All 50 were picked up by Saturday morning , Evers said .  Mayor Michael Nutter announced the earlier curfew following a string of mob attacks by young people alerted to gatherings via email and social media .  "" It ' s a growing problem in this country , "" Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles H . Ramsey said Friday .  Nutter delivered tough remarks in a church sermon last weekend that has received international attention a blunt , no excuses scolding that coincided with the start of the England riots .  An African American , Nutter noted that those involved in the Philadelphia attacks are predominantly black and said their behavior damaged themselves and their race .  He upheld religious values , underscored the importance of parental discipline and lambasted absentee parents , particularly fathers , for neglecting and not keeping watch over their children .  Nutter ' s measures target both young attackers and their parents or legal guardians .  He signed an order temporarily moving the curfew up an hour on Fridays and Saturdays for everyone under the age of 18 in the two targeted enforcement districts .  Throughout the rest of the city , the curfew will remain 10 p . m . for those under the age of 13 and midnight for minors between ages 13 and 18 .  "" Minors who are caught breaking curfew will be sent home , brought home or transported to a police station where their parents will be contacted . Minors may be issued a citation with a 100 to 300 fine for a first offense , "" the city said in a news release .  If parents don ' t come for their child "" within a reasonable time , police will contact the Department of Human Services to start an investigation . ""  Parents will receive a notice for first violations , and will be fined up to 500 for successive violations . They are also subject to imprisonment for up to 90 days for repeat curfew violation offenses , according to the city .  In addition , parents "" whose child under the age of 18 is found liable or guilty by a court for injury , theft or other criminal acts "" will be liable to the person who suffered the injury or loss of property , "" the statement said .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
11516,11517,"Washington The  has agreed to release portions of its files concerning civil rights era photographer Ernest Withers ' work for the agency as a secret informant to settle a lawsuit , according to representatives of the Memphis , Tennessee , newspaper The Commercial Appeal .  In an article published Monday , The Commercial Appeal said the 70 case files would include the  ' s investigation of Dr Martin Luther King Jr . while in Memphis in 1968 and examinations of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference , the  , and peace and black power movements . The newspaper said Withers worked as an  informant from 1958 to 1972 .  The newspaper filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the  in 2010 seeking the materials and dropped the action Monday after a settlement was reached . A Justice Department spokeswoman said the suit had ended but would not provide details of the settlement .  The agreement calls for the  to provide the files to the National Archives and Records Administration , which will then make public portions of the materials over the next two years . It was not clear how quickly the first files would be made public .  According to Tobin , the  will not be required to release Withers ' actual informant file but will include information Withers gathered . Withers ' informant file would have information on how much Withers was paid by the  and likely would have instructions given to Withers about which civil rights activists the agency wanted him to gather information on .  "" This is a tremendous victory for the public ' s right to know about what the government was up to , "" said Tobin .  Withers covered the trial of the men accused of killing black teenager Emmett Till for reportedly whistling at a white woman . He covered the Memphis sanitation workers ' strike , marches led by King and King ' s funeral .  Withers died in 2007 at age 85 .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
11527,11528,"Based Stickman, aka Kyle Chapman became famous on social media after he was one of the first Trump supporters to fight back at a California Trump rally after violent Antifa thugs randomly began cracking skulls and stabbing people who dared to openly supporting our President. Americans were fed up with watching innocent Americans being physically harmed and threatened while police officers stood down and watched the violence unfold. Once Kyle Chapman took the lead and started fighting back, other Trump supporters joined him. It wasn t long before the Antifa cowards stopped attacking innocent Trump supporters.Here s a short video showing  Base Stick Man  in action, as he takes the lead in defending his fellow Trump supporters who were being attack by a large mob of violent Democrats:Communists/Anarchists start a fight they cant finish @  Berkeley #March4Trump pic.twitter.com/OoZJrzkxXG  Andrew Quackson (@AndrewQuackson) March 5, 2017Today, Kyle Chapman (Based Stickman) and conservative Latino activist Robert Herrera were on the streets of New York showing their support for President Trump when Chapman noticed a 15-yr. old girl proudly displaying a communist poster her mother allegedly purchased for her. Chapman questioned the young girl about her knowledge of communism and asked her if she s aware of the millions of people who have been murdered throughout history at the hands of communist dictators? The 15-yr. old girl s mother can be seen videotaping the exchange until she realizes that her daughter is actually getting an education about the ugly truth about Communism, at which time she asks Chapman to stop engaging her daughter while videotaping her. As the mother-daughter duo walk away, the New York City police officer who witnessed the entire exchange can be seen stepping up to congratulate Chapman on a job well done. The unidentified police officer remarks about how he appreciated the way in which Chapman conducted himself with civility. As the officer begins to move away, he can be heard remarking,  Facts hurt people s feelings .Watch:Although Based Stickman was arrested and charged with assault for defending himself and other Trump supporters from Antifa thugs, it hasn t slowed down his enthusiasm for defending President Trump or innocent Americans who are simply exercising their First Amendment Right. America could use a thousand more Kyle Chapman s and Robert Herrera s ",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
11547,11548,"Pope Francis has said he has accepted that he may be assassinated but has asked God to make sure it doesn ' t hurt too much as he is ' a real wimp ' .  Francis said that if fanatics want to kill him , it is ' God ' s will ' .  He said : ' Life is in God ' s hands . I have said to the Lord , "" You take care of me . But if it is your will that I die or something happens to me , I ask you only one favour : that it doesn ' t hurt . Because I am a real wimp when it comes to physical pain . "" '  Pope Francis has revealed that he accepts he may be assassinated but has asked God to make sure it does not hurt too much  The pope made the light hearted comments in an interview with Buenos Aires favela tabloid La Carcova News in which inhabitants of the shantytown Villa La Carcova collectively came up with the questions .  The parish priest of the extremely poor area is Jose Maria Di Paola , or Father Pepe , described as ' the spiritual son of Francis ' .  For months , there have been threats against Pope Francis by the  militants , who call him the ' bearer of false truth . '  In January an assassination plot to kill Francis by detonating a bomb in Manila was reportedly thwarted by the Philippines military , although this was denied by the Vatican .  Former Special Action Force (  ) commander Getulio Nape as testified before the Philippine senate that the Philippines National Police had received information that Southeast Asian Jihadist terrorist organization Jemaah Islamiya , planned to set off a bomb near the papal convoy .  Francis ( pictured ) said that if fanatics want to kill him , it is ' God ' s will ' . he made the comments in an interview with Buenos Aires tabloid La Carcova News  Italian prosecutors have also warned that the Mafia have considered a lethal strike on Francis .  Francis also used the unusual interview to address the concerns of the slum dwellers .  He condemned drug trafficking saying that there are now countries that are ' slaves to drugs ' , and where the traffickers are ' triumphant because they feel that they have won ' .  He also answered the concerns of those that feel that today ' s children ' often live virtual relationships , ' The real ' danger ' is that children today have the capacity to gather information , but will be transformed into ' young museums ' , who do not know what to do with what they know .  He said he would visit Argentina in 2016 ' in principle ' .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
11557,11558,"Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the  .) Good evening. Here’s the latest. 1. The contentious presidential election is fracturing the Republican Party. House Speaker Paul Ryan, who broke with Donald Trump earlier this month, could face a postelection revolt. “You can’t ignore what millions and millions of people have expressed in this election cycle,” one Republican representative said, warning party leaders to proceed cautiously on trade and immigration. A new poll found that Hillary Clinton has strengthened her position with younger voters. And she turned 69. ____ 2. Mr. Trump held a   at his newest luxury hotel, near the White House in Washington. It was the latest in a series of promotional events he’s dragged reporters to in recent days, even as his poll numbers have fallen. He also praised Newt Gingrich, a day after Mr. Gingrich accused Megyn Kelly of Fox News of being “fascinated with sex” when she grilled him about Mr. Trump’s treatment of women. A man with a sledgehammer and a pickax smashed Mr. Trump’s star on Hollywood Boulevard, above, saying he wanted to sell it and donate the proceeds to Mr. Trump’s accusers. ____ 3. The Pentagon said it would stop trying to claw back money it overpaid to thousands of California National Guard soldiers  —   at least for now. A report in the The Los Angeles Times over the weekend about the hardships the soldiers are facing  —   some owing tens of thousands of dollars  —   provoked broad criticism from lawmakers and veterans. Above, Robert D’Andrea, a retired Army major, was told to return a $20, 000 bonus. ____ 4. President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines wants to oust American troops from his country. Speaking in Tokyo, he said he was willing to revoke or renegotiate the agreement that lets the Pentagon use five military bases there. Distancing the Philippines from the U. S. would please China. ____ 5. “Incredibly lucky. ” That was our photographer, who was covering Iraqi forces’ push toward Mosul when his convoy was hit by a suicide car bomb. His account, with photos and videos, takes you to the front lines of the fight against the Islamic State. ____ 6. H. I. V. arrived in the U. S. long before “Patient Zero. ” A new genetic analysis exonerates a French Canadian flight attendant who had been blamed for bringing the virus into the country. Above, an  patient in 1987. ____ 7. The Chicago Cubs defeated the Cleveland Indians,   to tie up the World Series at one game apiece. Neither team has won the Series in decades. Our columnist is delving into Indians history, taking their train route home from Boston in 1948, when they celebrated their last title. Above, nuns got some batting tips from Indians outfielder Rocky Colavito in 1959. ____ 8. Patton Oswalt, the comedian known for  and film roles, including “The King of Queens,” was crushed by the sudden death of his wife, the true crime writer Michelle McNamara. In one of our   articles today, he talks about trying to cope and how   is the one thing that helps. Going onstage, he said, was “a rebuke to grief, an acceptance of the messiness of life. I’ll never be at 100 percent again, but that won’t stop me from living this. ” ____ 9. You may know the Afghan woman arrested in Pakistan, accused of trying to obtain illegal identity cards. Sharbat Gula, above, became a symbol of her country’s refugee crisis in the 1980s, when her piercing green eyes peered from the cover of National Geographic. Her arrest goes to the heart of an ordeal confronting many Afghan refugees who fled to Pakistan because of decades of war. ____ 10. Finally, rainbow sprinkles are back. One Instagram picture at a time, they invaded cookies and waffles, then cocktails and croissants, and finally, as a design motif, phone cases, scented candles and   nails. “They’re just so photogenic,” said a young pastry chef. “They make anything look festive. ” ____ Your Evening Briefing is posted at 6 p. m. Eastern. And don’t miss Your Morning Briefing, posted weekdays at 6 a. m. Eastern, and Your Weekend Briefing, posted at 6 a. m. Sundays. Want to look back? Here’s last night’s briefing. What did you like? What do you want to see here? Let us know at briefing@nytimes.com.",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
11565,11566,"S BAZAR, Bangladesh (Reuters) - Rohingya Muslims fleeing a Myanmar military offensive arrived in Bangladesh on Monday with fresh accounts of violence and arson  as a rights group called for sanctions and an arms embargo to stop what the United Nations has branded ethnic cleansing. The latest wave of violence in western Myanmar s Rakhine State began on Aug. 25, when Rohingya insurgents attacked police posts and an army camp, killing about 12 people. The Myanmar military response has sent more than 410,000 Rohingya Muslims fleeing to Bangladesh, escaping what they and rights monitors say is a campaign aimed at driving out the Muslim population. Buddhist-majority Myanmar rejects that, saying its forces are carrying out clearance operations against the insurgents of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, which claimed responsibility for the August attacks and smaller raids in October. Hundreds of refugees traveled by small boats to an island on the southernmost point of Bangladesh late on Sunday and on Monday, telling of persecution and destruction.  The army came and they burned our homes, they killed our people. There was a mob of Rakhine people too,  said Usman Goni, 55, after he stepped off a boat with his seven children and wife, clutching two sticks tied in rope and a sack. Many of the refugees have spoken of ethnic Rakhine Buddhist civilians joining the Myanmar army in its attacks. Myanmar denies that and has blamed Muslim insurgents for the violence. Myanmar has largely sealed the area off to aid workers and reporters. Rights groups say satellite images show about 80 smouldering Muslim villages. They have seen evidence of arson attacks on Buddhist villagers, but on a much smaller scale. Most of the new arrivals said their villages had been torched on Friday, when huge clouds of smoke were clearly seen over Myanmar.  There s nothing left,  said a Nurhaba, 23, who said she was from a village close to Maungdaw town. About a million Rohingya lived in Rakhine State until the recent violence. Most face draconian travel restrictions and are denied citizenship in a country where many Buddhists regard them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Myanmar government leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has faced a barrage of criticism from abroad for not stopping the violence. The military remains in charge of security and there is little sympathy for the Rohingya in a country where the end of army rule has unleashed old animosities. The military campaign in Rakhine State has wide support. Suu Kyi is due to speak to the nation on Tuesday about a crisis the United States has called a  defining moment  for her country. U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Patrick Murphy is due in Myanmar this week.  He will travel to Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine State, to meet government officials and representatives of different communities, including Rohingya, but he is not seeking to travel to the conflict zone in northern Rakhine State. Human Rights Watch said Myanmar security forces were disregarding world condemnation and the time had come to impose tougher measures that the generals could not ignore. It called for governments to  impose travel bans and asset freezes on security officials implicated in serious abuses; expand existing arms embargoes to include all military sales, assistance, and cooperation; and place a ban on financial transactions with key ... military-owned enterprises . For years, the United States and Western allies imposed sanctions on Myanmar in support of Suu Kyi s campaign for democracy. Its response was to forge closer ties with China. U.S.-Myanmar ties have been improving since the military began withdrawing from government in 2011, and paved the way for a 2015 election won by Suu Kyi s party. A Trump administration official said the violence made it harder to build warmer ties, and there would likely be some  easing  in the short term, but he did not expect a return to sanctions.  People are too invested in the last five years of thawing, which is understood by everyone to be strategically sound,  said the official, who declined to be identified.  Long-term, the trajectory is probably tighter relations.  In a rare expression of support for the Rohingya from within Myanmar, a group from the Karen ethnic minority, called for the military to halt its operations and for economic sanctions to be considered. For decades of army battled autonomy-seeking Karen insurgents that sent more than 100,000 villagers fleeing to Thailand. The insurgents have now made peace. Bangladesh is struggling to cope with the refugees  and aid workers fear people could die due to a lack of food, shelter and water, given the numbers. Bangladesh has said all refugees must go home. Myanmar has said it will take back those who can verify their citizenship. Several thousand protesters tried to march on the Myanmar embassy in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, but police kept them well back. For an interactive on the Rohingya exodus, click: here ",true,dataset,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
11573,11574,"Tokyo was known as Edo until 1868 , but it ' s hard to imagine that this high rise , high tech metropolis could possibly have existed in a time before electricity and concrete . Tokyo isn ' t just a futuristic city it ' s the place that has shaped our vision of what the future will look like .  In Tokyo , the future is a long standing tradition .  There ' s a sci fi familiarity to areas like Shibuya , Shinjuku and Akihabara the skyscrapers glowing with illuminated signs , subway stops inside shopping malls and taxis with automated doors could be straight out of "" Blade Runner "" or "" The Fifth Element . ""  But the space age topography of Tokyo has been shaped by a history of catastrophe . In the 20th century alone Tokyo suffered earthquakes , fires and devastating bombing . The result is a city that has repeatedly been forced to rebuild , shedding its past with each successive redevelopment . In Tokyo , the future is a long standing tradition .  After centuries of expansion , Tokyo has grown vertically to accommodate its 12 million residents . Perhaps the inevitability of another catastrophic earthquake accounts for the lack of emotional attachment to the city ' s architecture buildings are continuously being pulled down and replaced , creating the sensation that Tokyo ' s skyline is a permanent work in progress .  While it can seem that the city is intent on stream rolling over its past , you can still see traces of old Edo . The Meiji Jingu Shrine tells of the city ' s Shinto heritage and there ' s something timeless about the charming chaos of Tsukiji Fish Market . Even the enduring formalities of Tokyo ' s social etiquette and the joy with which Tokyoites greet the coming of the cherry blossom are signs that the city maintains a lingering affection for its traditions .  At first glance , Tokyoites may seem sober and industrious , efficiently going about the business of making their city a world capital of techno commerce , but shops filled with manga comics and anime DVDs hint at a desire to escape the obligations of real life . That appetite for escapism is most colorfully expressed in the phenomenon of "" cosplay "" , which sees teenagers dress as characters from cartoons and comic strips , or in the outlandish uniforms of various distinctive subcultures .  In the 80s , Japan ' s bubble economy created unsustainable growth in Tokyo and property prices in the capital went through the roof . When the bubble burst in the early 90s , Tokyo was hit particularly hard but , after years of recession , Tokyo has the buzz of a city regaining its confidence . For this endlessly fascinating city , it ' s back to business and back to the future .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
11601,11602,"Standing in ruin on Monday near Madison Square Park was not only a hub of Serbian life in New York City. Standing in ruin was a landmark of old New York. Standing in ruin, too, was a symbol of restless Manhattan a spiritual home for wealthy Episcopalians, the lost souls of the notorious Tenderloin and generations of Orthodox Christians, who knew it as the Cathedral of St. Sava. Peter II, the last king of Yugoslavia, attended services there. In this brownstone house of worship at 15 West 25th Street  —   now scorched and roofless after a fire on Sunday  —   Edith Newbold Jones was married in April 1885 to Edward Robbins Wharton. At the time, the building was a “chapel of ease,” built and run by the parish of Trinity Church on Wall Street to serve the gentry Mrs. Wharton would later write about:    society families who had deserted Lower Manhattan for the pleasant upper reaches of the city, in the East and West 20s. “To provide for the return of a portion at least of our faithful and   friends, it was thought expedient to build a new church at their very door,” the rector of Trinity Church, the Rev. William Berrian, said at the dedication of Trinity Chapel in April 1855. Richard Upjohn was the architect of both the Wall Street mother church and the 25th Street chapel, which the Landmarks Preservation Commission called a rugged version of English Gothic Revival, “reinforced with large buttresses which give it both durability and permanence. ” Prophetically, Trinity Chapel was the setting in 1865 for what The New York Times described as the “first public celebration of the Russian (or Greek) church, not only in this city, but on the American continent. ” The wedding in 1885 of Pussy Jones and Teddy Wharton, as they were called by family and friends, was a quiet affair. It may have been the happiest day of the troubled marriage, which ended in divorce in 1913. It was in 1914 that Trinity’s leaders decided to close the chapel, which was now surrounded by the bad elements of the Tenderloin, a shadowy realm of hotels, saloons, gambling dens and whorehouses. The Rev. Joseph Wilson Sutton was supposed to wind things down as the priest in charge. Instead, surprising everyone, he breathed new life into Trinity Chapel. Enrollment grew. A Sunday school was  . Spiritual healing services were introduced, as was a school for organists. By the start of World War II, however, Trinity parish could no longer afford to keep the chapel open. The property was sold in 1943 to the fledgling Serbian Eastern Orthodox Church of St. Sava, led by the Very Rev. Doushan J. Shoukletovich. A year later, it was elevated to become the first Serbian Orthodox cathedral in America. Lending instant luster to the new cathedral were King Peter  and Queen Alexandra, in exile from Yugoslavia, which abolished the monarchy in 1945. “The thousands of displaced Serbians who are starving and homeless in Europe look to this king as a symbol of unity,” Father Shoukletovich said at the Easter service of 1948. St. Sava suffered its first big structural trauma in 1966, when a bomb exploded at Communist Party headquarters, across West 26th Street from the north side of the cathedral. Whole sections of   were shattered by the blast. But they were later replaced with   windows. Resilience seems to play a large role in the history of St. Sava’s. Make of this what you will, but on Monday the great cross over the entrance was still standing against the sky.",true,news,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
11603,11604,"An Ohio man accused of murder , rape and holding three women in a Cleveland house against their will pleaded not guilty Wednesday . His attorney said it was an effort to stave off a death penalty and an arduous trial .  Ariel Castro , 52 , wore an orange jumpsuit , kept his head bowed and didn ' t speak as attorneys entered the plea on their client ' s behalf at his brief arraignment in a Cleveland courtroom . He was indicted last week on 329 counts .  Defense attorney Craig Weintraub , speaking to reporters after the arraignment , said some charges in the indictment "" cannot be disputed . "" But the plea targeting the murder accusations and the specter of a death penalty signals an effort to forge a "" resolution "" and avoid a trial , he said .  Two counts accuse Castro of aggravated murder for purposely causing the unlawful termination of pregnancies . Police say one of the young women he is accused of holding was impregnated five times by Castro , and another bore a child fathered by him .  Weintraub told reporters that the plea "" requires the prosecutor to continue to evaluate their case and determine whether medical and forensic evidence can actually support an aggravated murder conviction for the death of a fetus and whether the death penalty is warranted . ""  Rescued women ' happy and safe , ' attorneys say  The prosecutor released a statement saying a capital review committee will consider whether the case is appropriate for seeking the death penalty once the indictment process is complete .  Weintraub , Castro ' s attorney , acknowledged that "" in all likelihood , the prosecutor ' s decision will be predicated upon the opinions of medical and forensic experts , and more importantly , whether the women in this case want this case to go to trial for those limited issues . ""  "" We are very sensitive to the emotional strain and impact that a trial would have on the women , their families and this community , "" the lawyer said . "" Mr Castro currently faces hundreds of years in prison with the current charges , and it is our hope that we can continue to work toward a resolution to avoid having an unnecessary trial about aggravated murder and the death penalty . ""  Life during and after the abductions  "" Don ' t bring the death penalty , there will be a plea , let ' s do life , "" Friedman said , offering his take on their strategy .  The charges cover only half of the 10 years the three women allegedly were held captive from August 2002 , when the first of the three disappeared off a Cleveland street , to February 2007 .  In addition to the two murder counts , the indictment charges Castro with 139 counts of rape , 177 counts of kidnapping , seven counts of gross sexual imposition , three counts of felonious assault and one count of possession of criminal tools , prosecutors said .  Castro ' s case has attracted national attention because of the unusual length and depravity of the alleged crimes . "" The horrific brutality and torture that the victims endured for a decade is beyond comprehension , "" Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty has said .  ' Please don ' t let me go , ' Cleveland kidnap victim told officers  The women were freed last month after one of the three shouted for help while Castro was away from his 1 , 400 square foot home .  The women have been identified as Michelle Knight , abducted at age 21 in August 2002 Amanda Berry , who was kidnapped at age 16 in April 2003 and has a 6 year old daughter allegedly fathered by Castro and Georgina "" Gina "" DeJesus , who was 14 when she disappeared in 2004 .  Lawyers for the women expressed confidence and satisfaction after the indictment came down last week . Jim Wooley , attorney for Berry and DeJesus , and speaking on behalf of Knight , said Wednesday that "" days like today are not easy . ""  "" We understand the legal process needs to run its course , "" he said . "" We are hopeful for a just and prompt resolution . We have great faith in the prosecutor ' s office and the court . ""  She was a good friend of Castro ' s daughter , Arlene .  One year after DeJesus ' disappearance , Arlene Castro publicly crusaded to find her friend ' s kidnapper . In spring 2005 she went on the national television program "" America ' s Most Wanted "" to plead for help in finding her friend .  Ariel Castro gave ex daughter in law the ' heebie jeebies '  Ariel Castro attended at least two public vigils for the missing girls while they were allegedly inside his home , relatives told  .  Castro , a former school bus driver , remains in a Cleveland jail on 8 million bond .  He made a brief court appearance soon after his arrest .  Handcuffed and wearing a blue jumpsuit , he looked down throughout that hearing and did not speak .  Castro ' s brothers : Ariel fooled us  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
11612,11613,"Mortgage approvals have dropped by a fifth as the winter chill intensifies in Britain ' s housing market .  Figures from the British Bankers ' Association reveal tougher rules on lending have put the brakes on home loans .  The number of mortgages approved on house purchases dropped to 36 , 717 in November down for the fifth straight month and a 20 per cent slump on the same period last year .  Mortgage approvals have dropped by a fifth as the winter chill intensifies in Britain ' s housing market , it has been revealed ( file picture )  Levels are now at their lowest since April last year , when the housing market was just beginning to heat up .  Richard Woolhouse , the  ' s chief economist , said : ' Today ' s figures show quite a sharp chill to the housing market in recent months with house purchase approvals during November 20 per cent lower than a year before . '  Experts say the slowdown in the housing market has been driven by tougher affordability checks introduced in April as part of the Mortgage Market Review designed to stop households overstretching themselves .  In some cases applicants in their late thirties and forties are being refused mortgages because lenders feared they may be ' too old ' to repay their loans into old age .  In further evidence that the housing market is cooling , figures released this week indicated that property prices are falling all over Britain as the sector ends the year with a whimper .  Average values fell in nearly a third of  postcodes in the three months to November , according to property website Hometrack . In spring last year there were falls in fewer than one in five areas .  There are also growing concerns that houses have become too expensive in areas such as London and the South East .  A major shake up of the Isa market has driven a dramatic increase in the amount of cash being tucked away in the tax free savings accounts .  Savers ploughed 12billion into schemes in the year to November up from 8 . 7billion on the same period last year , according to figures released yesterday by the British Bankers ' Association .  Experts have attributed the 38 per cent surge on the launch of the new ' super Isa ' in July in which the annual cash allowance was raised from 5 , 670 to 15 , 0000 .  However , analysts last night said savers are still getting a poor deal , with interest rates at ' all time lows ' . The Bank of England says the average easy access cash Isa , where there are no restrictions on withdrawals , has a rate of just 0 . 82 per cent below the current 1 per cent rate of inflation . A saver would earn just 123 in a year on an investment of the full 15 , 000 .  Even the best high street deals by National Savings and Investments and the Post Office , offer rates of just 1 . 5 per cent . Santander ' s Easy Isa and Halifax Variable Rate Isa saver have annual interest of just 0 . 1 per cent .  Charlotte Nelson , of comparison website Moneyfacts , said initial hopes that reforms would herald better deals for savers have not transpired .  She added : ' Whilst it is great news that more savers are investing into Isas since the increase in allowance to 15 , 000 , the fact remains that rates have slumped to all time lows . '  She said savers were paying a high price for government backed home loan schemes and record low interest base rates .  Despite the recent slowdown , overall house prices in Britain are still up on the same period last year . Office for National Statistics figures last week showed the average property is now worth 271 , 000 up 10 . 4 per cent year on year .  David Hollingworth , from mortgage broker London Country , said : ' The availability of finance had been limited by the Mortgage Market Review . There has also been a lot of talk about a housing bubble which may have dented confidence . '  Bank of England governor Mark Carney is among those who believe the Chancellor ' s radical reforms of stamp duty unveiled in the Autumn Statement earlier this month could inject new life into the housing market .  The overhaul equates to a tax cut for 98 per cent of homebuyers , with only those buying properties worth more than 937 , 500 paying more .  The number of mortgages approved on house purchases dropped to 36 , 717 in November down for the fifth straight month and a 20 per cent slump on the same period last year  Mr Woolhouse added : ' It will be interesting to see what impact the stamp duty changes the Chancellor unveiled in his Autumn Statement will have early in the New Year . They could prove a modest stocking filler for homebuyers and estate agents . '  Tougher rules on lending under the Mortgage Market Review were introduced in April to force lenders to prove their customers will be able to afford to pay off loans .  Fearful of breaking the rules , banks are turning down older applicants who are likely to be making repayments in retirement when incomes are lower .  A report last month warned that borrowers in their 40s are being shut out as the average age of a first time buyer rises to 36 .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
11615,11616,"Reuters) - Calling him “the best hope for investors who want a Republican in the White House,” Barron’s announced its support for Ohio Governor John Kasich for president with a front-page editorial in its latest hard-copy edition. Barron’s had previously endorsed Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton as a preferred choice over the current front-runner for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination, Donald Trump, but in its editorial the weekly newspaper said that Kasich, “outshines them both.” “Unlike Clinton, Kasich has a sensible across-the-board tax-cutting agenda for corporations, individuals, and investors,” the editorial written by Barron’s executive editor, John Kimelman, said. “And as a Republican president working with a presumably GOP-controlled Congress, he would be a more effective leader.” ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
11625,11626,"Olajumoke Adenowo ' s life is one of numbers .  She enrolled at the University of Ife at just 14 . Five years later , she had her first degree in architecture , and by 23 she was employed and designing her first building . Three years later , she set up shop solo , and two decades on she is one of Nigeria ' s most accomplished architects .  Always an overachiever , the ambitious builder once described as the "" face of architecture in the Nigeria "" has dedicated her illustrious career to reimagining her homeland ' s landscape .  Involved in the design and construction of over 70 buildings , she has brought institutional facilities , epic 2 , 500 seat auditoriums , residences , estates and cutting edge corporate offices to life .  Adenowo ' s hugely successful career is no doubt a reflection of the dreamer ' s passion for her craft , and her success has been confirmed by numerous architectural accolades awarded to the 46 year old .  Besides these business based achievements , her work with women pushing for gender equality Adenowo hosts her own radio show mentoring women has seen her receive several commendations from the likes of the United Nations Information Center over the years .  Mentorship is vital . Upon graduating at an early age , Adenowo quickly found work at Femi Majekodunmi Associates architectural firm where she impressed her boss then the President of the International Union of Architectects with her passion and enthusiasm . The work ethic she displayed opened up great opportunities for the rising designer who was soon asked to create the Federal Ministry of Lands in Abuja . "" I was always ready . I would be at the office at 11pm on Sunday when other girls are dancing or something . I think my boss saw my passion and he gave me a chance , "" she says . "" If we had more mentors like that in Africa , I believe the younger generation would blossom faster . ""  It ' s  to work things out as you go . At 25 , Adenowo decided to go it alone and start her own company ,  Consulting . It was a big risk to undertake but her reputation as one of Nigeria ' s most prominent architects proves that sometimes you have jump into the unknown . "" The office was a little bigger than three chairs . It was myself and a young boy who sat in the corridor but I started anyway because I believe that you do what you can with what you have , where you are . ""  Great architecture isn ' t just a building . Adenowo explains that to build a great building , you have to have an omniscient outlook . "" You have to know history , you have to understand culture , sociology , anthropology . You need to know physics , you have to understand chemistry to a point . You have to understand art and the history of art to be a really good architect , "" she says . "" Good architecture is about the spirit of the age . If you look at a pyramid , it talks about one man ' s quest to be immortal . . . It ' s 4 , 500 years old and we still see them . We can no longer forget those pharaohs because of architecture . ""  Go a step further than 3D . "" My buildings all have a fourth dimension and the fourth dimension is time . Each space I design changes in time . I design lighting schemes in such a way that by night the building is a totally different entity from what it was in the morning . I design buildings in such a way that as you move through the space , you experience something new at every step . ""  Passion doesn ' t just come from within . "" The passion comes from my clients . I feed off their energy . . . I would do anything for my clients to make sure that their buildings come out the way they should . ""  Take ownership and inspire . Despite juggling a prosperous career and a family at home , Adenowo still finds time to mentor women through her weekly radio show . She also founded the Awesome Treasures Foundation in 1999 , which helps mentor women and young girls . "" We believe the greatest need of Africa is leadership , vision . Strong people who are ready to give their all to say , ' this is the way ' , and Awesome Treasures is here to address that need , to raise transformational leaders . ""  The sky ' s the limit . Adenowo may have achieved great success but that doesn ' t mean she ' s resting on her laurels . "" In the next five years , it would be a dream come true if I have the opportunity to design a building that would define Nigeria ' s identity . The way you see the Tour d ' Eiffel and you think Paris , the Empire State Building and you think New York . ""  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
11629,11630,"French   presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron has said German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s   mass migration policy has “saved our collective dignity,” and warned that criticism of Merkel was a “disgusting simplification. ”[Macron affirmed that even after the Islamic State attack in Berlin, committed by Tunisian migrant Anis Amri, he supports the migrant policy of Chancellor Merkel.  Expressing his admiration for Germany, he told German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, “Chancellor Merkel and the whole of German society were at the same level of our [French] common values. They saved our collective dignity, by accepting, accommodating, and educating distressed refugees. ” The former economy minister, who announced his presidential candidacy in   added it was a “disgusting simplification” when Merkel was accused of surrendering her own capital and the whole of Europe with the admission of over one million migrants from the Middle East and Africa. In response to questions of securing the continent against terrorism, Macron called for more European Union (EU) integration, including an expansion of the European Border Agency. He said  nations “also need to overcome national unwillingness and create a joint intelligence system. ” Macron is deemed the election’s “third man” behind the Republicans’ François Fillon and Front National’s Marine Le Pen. The former Socialist Party member and protégé of François Hollande claimed he is “neither on the left nor on the right” and that his policies are a “progressive” appeal to voters who want France to be “open” and  . In October, Macron had said he believed France, after over a year of deadly terror attacks including in Nice and Paris, had disproportionately ‘targeted’ Muslims and suggested the country should be less stringent in applying its rules on secularism. Macron’s comments come following the New Year’s addresses of French President Hollande and German Chancellor Merkel, whose countries’ citizenries are set to go to the polls this year. Merkel, who is running for a fourth term as chancellor, defended her migrant policy, telling the German people that Germany will fight the “hatred” of terrorism with “humanity” and “unity. ” Hollande denounced nationalism in his address, his comments roundly criticised by presidential candidate Le Pen who stated that after the populist victories of Trump and Brexit, the French share the worldwide “aspiration for independence” in the fight against globalism.",true,news,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
11645,11646,"Reuters) - An unprecedented pre-presidential inauguration feud between Donald Trump and intelligence agencies that soon will be under his command could harm U.S. security if not quickly defused, current and former government officials said. They said morale at the  and other agencies was already sagging because of disputes with Trump over whether Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered interference in the U.S. election and over leaks about an unsubstantiated dossier compiled by a private security firm suggesting Moscow had compromising information on Trump. Unless addressed, the disputes could prompt the departure of personnel and lead those who remain to take fewer risks to counter security threats, the officials said. In the last few months, Trump has expressed his willingness to deal with Putin and denigrated the work of the intelligence agencies. This week, the President-elect accused agencies of leaking the dossier’s information to the media, but Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said he did not believe intelligence officials were responsible for the leak. “People shooting at (the CIA) is pretty common. But usually it’s not the president,” one former senior U.S. official said. Trump’s transition team did not reply to email messages seeking comment. “I think it’s a recipe for disaster,” said Daniel Benjamin, who served in senior White House and State Department counter-terrorism posts under Democratic presidents. Benjamin, now at Dartmouth College, said there was a “strong chance” people would leave and they have “tremendous value” to the private sector. Complicating the situation just a week before Republican Trump is sworn in, two of his nominees for top security posts set a different tone at their Senate confirmation hearings, heaping praise on the men and women who work in the secret world of intelligence gathering. Republican congressman Mike Pompeo, nominee for Central Intelligence Agency director, said on Thursday that he has seen   personnel “walk through fire.” Separately, Trump’s nominee for U.S. defense secretary, James Mattis, told senators that he had a “very, very high degree of confidence” in U.S. intelligence agencies.  Mattis also put Russia at the top of a list of threats to U.S. interests. A top official at one intelligence agency said a growing number of intelligence officers over the age of 50 and with at least 20 years of service, including at least five years overseas, have drafted and in many cases signed but not dated their resignation letters. “There is great anxiety here about the President-elect’s apparent disdain for the work we do and the dangers we face,”   a second senior intelligence official, at another agency, said. He and others spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters and morale at their agencies. The latest round of rancor began with a  report that Trump had been briefed Jan. 6 by intelligence and law enforcement chiefs on a two-page memo summarizing the unverified claims in the dossier. In blaming intelligence agencies for the leak, Trump wrote on Twitter: “One last shot at me. Are we living in Nazi Germany?” Spy chief Clapper called Trump before dinnertime on Wednesday to calm the waters. Trump and Clapper differed on what was said in the phone conversation. On Friday, Trump appeared to again blame U.S. spies for the leak. “Probably released by ‘intelligence’ even knowing there is no proof and never will be,” he said on Twitter. U.S. intelligence agency personnel “are kind of shell-shocked at being accused of being Nazis and intentionally leaking this stuff,” the former senior official said. The 17 U.S. intelligence agencies have combined budgets of more than $70 billion and tens of thousands of employees. They are responsible for everything from warning of terrorist attacks to supporting American troops on the battlefield and analyzing the impacts of global trends such as climate change. Several former U.S. officials said the tensions with Trump were the worst they could recall since President George W. Bush and the  traded blame in 2003 and 2004 over the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.  But Douglas Wise, a former senior  official, said it will be harder for Trump to “beat up” on his own intelligence chiefs once they are in place instead of officials appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama. “I think things are going to change,” Wise said. Still, tensions seem likely to persist after Inauguration Day on Jan. 20. Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who will be Trump’s national security adviser, led the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency until he was fired by Clapper. He has a long-time suspicion of the CIA, according to Wise and others who have worked with him. “What Pompeo said was somewhat reassuring, but it’s not at all clear whether that matters, or whether Trump’s apparent attitude and Flynn’s bitterness toward us is what counts,” the second senior intelligence official said. ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
11648,11649,"Fewer than one in seven child sex abuse cases probed by Britain ' s largest police force have led to criminal charges , figures have revealed .  Scotland Yard investigated 7 , 205 reports of serious attacks on under 16s between 2010 and October last year just 989 of which ( 14 per cent ) ended with a person being prosecuted .  Fewer offenders still were convicted after prosecutors , who were handed details by London ' s Metropolitan Police , tested cases against them through the courts .  Failed : One in seven child sex abuse claims in London end in prosecution , figures show ( posed by model )  The figures , obtained by Mike Sullivan for the Sun on Sunday , show police success rates lagging despite a major crackdown on child sex abuse .  The Met reportedly brought in up to 100 extra officers in 2013 to tackle sex abuse cases including child exploitation and the threat of grooming gangs .  The shake up was an attempt to improve the Met ' s controversial Operation Sapphire rape unit after it was accused of failings in previous years .  An  report in 2013 found ' under performing and over stretched ' officers in Southwark , south London , had encourage adult victims to retract their allegations to boost detection rates .  Today ' s figures are said to include rape , gang rape , child trafficking and sexual assault .  Changes : The Met Police reportedly brought in up to 100 extra officers in 2013 to tackle sex abuse cases  Last year the  warned child rape rates were even worse than official figures suggest because many cases are never reported to the authorities .  ' Not all cases come to the attention of the police and , even if they do , they may decide it is not in the best interests of the child to investigate an incident as a criminal offence , ' a spokesman said .  The charity previously said some child sex abuse cases were collapsing because children were being denied the support they needed to give evidence in court .  Claiming fewer than a quarter of 23 , 000 offences in 2012 ended in a prosecution , the charity said all children giving evidence should have an intermediary to help deal with ' hostile ' questioning .  Responding to the call , the government issued new guidelines saying child sex abuse cases should only be dealt with by specialist prosecutors who ignore ' myths , stereotypes and prejudices ' .  Victims must also be offered ' appropriate support ' such as counselling and criminal cases should be heard in court with as few delays as possible , the guidelines added .  The Metropolitan Police did not immediately return requests for comment on today ' s figures .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
11651,11652,"Boko Haram Islamists abducted 60 females , including children , and killed 30 men last week in a raid of a village in northeastern Nigeria , two sources said Tuesday .  Dressed as soldiers , the gunmen invaded the village of Kummabza in Borno state on June 18 and held the people hostage for four days , the sources said .  After killing the 30 male villagers and looting food supplies , they whisked away 60 female hostages and set the village on fire with petrol bombs and explosives , a senior local government official said . Some of the kidnapped girls were between the ages of 3 and 12 .  News of the raid was slow to emerge after insurgents bombed telecom masts , limiting communication . But details filtered out when residents left the village Monday after the insurgents withdrew .  "" They took away 60 women , including small girls , after holding the village hostage for four days and killing 30 men , "" said the local official , who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals from Boko Haram .  "" They set the whole village on fire while they were leaving after carting away all the foodstuff from the barns , "" the official said .  Abba Aji Khalili , a vigilante leader in Maiduguri , said , "" The survivors had to trek to nearby Lassa village 25 kilometers away and Madagali town in neighboring Adamawa state before people got to know what had happened . ""  Some villagers too weak to make the long trek were still in the village in "" dire need of humanitarian assistance , "" Khalil said .  "" They are facing a serious humanitarian challenge "" because they have no access to food , water and shelter , he said .  Northeastern Nigeria is the home of Boko Haram , the militant Islamists who abducted scores of schoolgirls in April .  The militant group says its aim is to impose a stricter enforcement of Sharia law across Nigeria , which is split between a majority Muslim north and a mostly Christian south .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
11686,11687,"Panama Panama ' s director of the National Cultural Institute was killed when he got caught in the middle of a shootout between robbers and security guards , the government reported .  Panamanian President Martin Torrijos has vowed to find the culprits and bring them to justice .  A security guard and an assailant also were killed and two suspects were wounded in Tuesday ' s attack , La Estrella newspaper said . Two would be robbers escaped , the newspaper said on its Web site .  Culture Minister Anel Omar Rodriguez had just stepped out of his car in front of the national lottery headquarters when four men and a woman got out of a sport utility vehicle and started shooting at a private armored truck , La Estrella said . He was hit by a stray bullet in the crossfire .  A visibly moved President Martin Torrijos , who called Rodriguez "" a friend and a great Panamanian , "" arrived at the scene after the shooting and tried to console the the official ' s family .  "" The pain that we share with his family is the pain that we share with Panamanian families each time a violent incident fills us with mourning and suffering , "" Torrijos said on his Web page .  Torrijos vowed to find the culprits and bring them to justice .  "" We are not going to lose this fight against delinquency , "" Torrijos said on his Web site .  One of the two wounded suspects was taken to San Miguel Arcangel Hospital , where people believed to be fellow gang members unsuccessfully tried to rescue him , La Estrella newspaper said . The other suspect was taken to a different hospital .  Opposition presidential candidate Balbina Herrera blamed the shootout on criminals who have invaded Panama , saying that immigration controls must be strengthened and that Mexicans and Colombians should have visas to enter the country , La Estrella said .  "" We must stop the spiral of violence before it is too late , "" the newspaper quoted him as saying .  Panama will hold its presidential election in May .  Rodriguez , a former Panamanian ambassador to Cuba , left behind a wife and four children , La Estrella said .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
11687,11688,"Washington A former high school teacher in Virginia was charged Wednesday with transporting and possessing child pornography , a discovery that was made after he was accused of engaging in sexual acts with a 16 year old male former student , according to court documents .  Kevin Garfield Ricks , 50 , was arrested in February at Osbourn High School in Manassas , Virginia , after authorities were notified of the alleged sexual misconduct , according to the criminal complaint filed against him Wednesday in U . S . District Court .  Another student apparently reported the alleged offense to police after seeing a Facebook message from Ricks posted on the 16 year old ' s Facebook page that read , "" You told me our experience was your first with a guy , "" according to the complaint .  The 16 year old student told police that Ricks committed "" several sexual acts "" on him in December after providing him with "" significant quantities of Tequila . ""  Authorities investigating the allegations seized Ricks ' personal belongings , including the personal laptop that he carried from his Virginia home during the week to his home in Maryland on the weekends . The laptop revealed eight images of child pornography , according to the complaint .  The computer also contained an online chat transcript between Ricks and another alleged victim , who accused him of molestation in the mid ' 70s at a summer camp for children with disabilities where Ricks worked as a counselor .  Other pornographic images were found at Ricks ' home in Federalsburg , Maryland , including some that appear to have been taken in Japan in the late ' 80s and early ' 90s , when Ricks worked as an English teacher there . Most of the boys depicted in the images appear to be incapacitated , according to the complaint .  An additional search of Ricks ' Maryland home in April turned up "" hundreds "" of videotapes and still images of child pornography , as well as handwritten journals that "" describe sexual acts with a number of conscious and unconscious minor males at a variety of locations , "" the complaint says .  After his arrest in February , Ricks told detectives that the teachers union had told him that he had been "" walking a thin line "" after a parent accused him of "" stalking "" a student he was mentoring at the Huntington Learning Center in Fauqier County , Virginia .  In a written statement provided by his attorney to The Washington Post last week , Ricks said he "" will spend the rest of my days seeking forgiveness and atonement . ""  "" It is understandable how some may see me in a negative light , but like other people in this world , I have had many positive accomplishments in my personal life and career . I would like people to consider those as well , "" the statement said , according to the Post .  Ricks is being held in the Prince William County Adult Detention Center . If convicted of the charges , he faces up to 30 years in prison .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
11690,11691,"Iran There ' s no doubt that Iran ' s election will be a major test for incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad . But many Iranian women hope the results will also shake the current status of women in the Islamic republic .  Zahra Rahnavard , wife of Iranian candidate Mir Hossein Moussavi , has taken a visible role in the campaign .  "" Thirty four million women want the civil law to be revised 34 million women want the family law revised . ""  Whether her husband wins or loses Friday , Rahnavard has broken barriers for women just by appearing on the campaign trail with her husband , a rarity for political wives in Iran .  "" We look at her , and we say , ' We want to be like her in the future , ' "" said Shakiba Shakerhosseie , an Iranian woman who packed into Tehran ' s indoor Azadi ( Freedom ) sports stadium along with nearly 12 , 000 others to hear Rahnavard speak in March .  Rahnavard is a mother of three , as well as an accomplished artist and academic . She has been compared to first ladies in the United States , including Michelle Obama , for her visible role in her husband ' s quest for the presidency .  "" I am here to say that men and women are equal , "" Rahnavard said .  Iran became an Islamic republic in 1979 after the ruling monarchy was overthrown and Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was forced into exile . The revolution also ended the ceremonial role of first lady that the last queen , Farah , enjoyed .  More women than men have voted in the past few elections , and Rahnavard has made a promise to her female supporters that their vote will count this time if Moussavi wins .  "" We have made this promise to the women , and we will stand by it , "" she said .  Iranian women remain second class citizens in criminal matters , divorce , child custody and inheritance cases , despite making up 65 percent of university students . Ahmadinejad ' s fundamentalist government has tried to make it easier for men to take more than one wife while restricting public sector careers for women .  This year , for the first time , the Guardian Council announced that a woman could legally be among the final candidate list . Out of the 42 women who registered , however , none was ultimately allowed to stand .  Even Zahra Eshraghi , granddaughter of revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini , was banned from running for parliament as a reformist .  "" For Ahmadinejad ' s government , women are just living things , "" Eshraghi said . "" A woman is there to fill her husband ' s stomach and raise children . "" Watch one analyst talk about women in Ahmadinejad ' s Iran  Moussavi is not the only candidate calling for a stronger role for women in Iran . Mehdi Karroubi , the only cleric in the presidential race , has promised to campaign for women ' s rights . Hard line conservative candidate Mohsen Rezaie also said he would have female ministers if he wins the election .  Political science professor Mohammad Marandi downplayed Rahnavard ' s impact on the outcome of Friday ' s election . He said she may win over reformists and women , but what will win the election is a solution to the floundering economy and a strong performance in the debates . iReportweblink : Iranians rally in large numbers  "" If Ahmadinejad does well in the debates , I don ' t think anyone will be able to defeat him , "" Marandi said .  But try selling that to Rahnavard ' s enthusiastic supporters .  "" This is the first time after the revolution we see a lady behind the president , "" Farhad Mahmoudi said . "" And this is why we ' re so happy , because we can have a first lady . ""  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
11705,11706,"Next Prev Swipe left/right Is this the most unsatisfying video in the world? A beautifully animated compilation of painfully unsatisfying moments, like a pop can stuck in a vending machine and a spoon that slips all the way into your bowl of soup.",fake,news,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present
11707,11708,"The Massachusetts woman accused of beating and strangling her pregnant friend to death then cutting the baby out of her womb and claiming the child as her own was convicted of first degree murder on Wednesday .  Julie Corey sobbed as a Worcester Superior Court jury found her guilty of the 2009 murder of 23 year old Darlene Haynes . The jurors had deliberated for 10 hours over two days . Sentencing has been scheduled for Tuesday .  Prosecutors said Haynes was eight months pregnant when Corey attacked her and cut the baby out of her body .  They told the jury that Corey had been pregnant , too , but had a miscarriage three months earlier and told her boyfriend and family that Haynes ' baby was her own .  Convicted : ulie Corey stands in Worcester , Mass . , Superior Court Wednesday Feb . 12 , 2014 , before a jury declared her guilty of the 2009 murder of Darlene Haynes  Tears : Julie Corey sobs on Wednesday Feb . 12 , 2014 in Worcester , Mass . , Superior Court after a jury found her guilty of the 2009 murder of Darlene Haynes , then cutting the baby from her womb and passing the child off as her own daughter  ' It ' s probably the most horrific case this office has ever seen in terms of facts , ' District Attorney Joseph Early Jr . said in a statement after the verdict was handed down . ' This woman was killed for her baby . '  Corey , 39 , did not testify during the trial .  Corey ' s lawyers contended that police failed to follow up on leads that could have implicated other potential suspects in the killing , including Haynes ' ex boyfriend .  They also suggested that Haynes ' ex boyfriend had given Corey and her boyfriend , Alex Dion , the baby . Dion denied that on the witness stand .  Defense lawyer Michael Wilcox said he was disappointed with the verdict , but not surprised . He said they plan to appeal .  ' We were aware of the evidence against her , ' Wilcox said , adding that the facts alone in the case were difficult to discuss .  ' We worked very hard to present the jury with a different picture , but we weren ' t ultimately successful . '  Wilcox said he would not comment on Corey ' s reaction but said it was understandable that she was upset .  Darlene Haynes was brutally murdered and her fetus was cut from her stomach  Julie Corey listens as Judge Janet Kenton Walker instructs the jury during her murder trial in Worcester Superior Court in Worcester , Mass . Tuesday Feb . 11 , 2014 . Corey is charged with killing her pregnant friend and cutting the baby from her womb . (  Photo Worcester Telegram Gazette , Rick Cinclair , Pool )  Julie Corey and her boyfriend Alex Dion with the stolen baby  ' She faced the somber realization that she will spend the rest of her life in prison , ' he said .  Haynes ' body was found in a closet in her apartment on July 27 , 2009 .  She had been beaten in the head and strangled with an electrical cord . Her abdomen had been cut open , and her baby was gone .  Corey , Dion and Haynes ' baby were found two days later at a homeless shelter in Plymouth , New Hampshire .  The gruesome phenomenon of foetus snatching has claimed a number of victims across the   1987 : Cindy Ray , 23 , abducted by Darci Pierce , 19 , outside a pre natal clinic in New Mexico , strangled , then had her eight month old foetus cut out . Baby Millie survived . Pierce is serving 30 years in jail  1995 : Debbie Evans , 28 , shot and stabbed to death by ex boyfriend Laverne Ward , 24 , in Illionis , along with two of her three children . The 38 week old male foetus , which Ward planned to give to his femal cousin , survived . Ward was sentenced to death .  1996 : Carethia Curry , 17 , of Alabama murdered by mother of two Felicia Scott , 37 , who stole her unborn baby girl and passed it off as her own . Scott was sentenced to life without parole .  2000 : Michelle Bica , 39 , invited pregnant Theresa Andrews , 23 , to her home in Ohio to buy a car , shot her dead and cut out her nearly full term foetus . Baby Oscar survived . Bica committed suicide .  2004 : Lisa Montgomery , 36 , killed Bobbi Jo Stinnett , 23 , at her Missouri home and cut out her eight month old foetus . The baby girl survived . Montgomery was sentenced to death .  2006 : Police in Illinois found Tiffany Hall , 26 , in a park with a dead foetus she claimed had been stillborn . The baby girl ' s real mother , Jimella Tunstall , was found dead on nearby wasteland . Hall was jailed for life .  2011 : Annette Morales Rodriguez , 34 , killed 23 year old Maritza Ramirz Cruz and sliced out her foetus after following her into a Milwaukee bathroom and attacking her with a baseball bat . The baby boy unfortunately died .  Her lawyers acknowledged that she was found with the baby but said she played no role in Haynes ' slaying .  Dion said that he and Corey , who has an 11 year old son from a previous relationship , had dated on and off for about two years and in October 2008 she told him she was pregnant .  Dion testified that Corey , whom he  believed was pregnant at the time , called him on July 23 , 2009 , and told  him she was giving Haynes a ride to a store .  Later that night , Corey called him to say her water had broken and a friend was taking her to the hospital to give birth , Dion said .  A couple of hours later , Corey called him again and said , ' We had a baby , ' Dion testified .  Prosecutor Daniel Bennett delivers his closing argument during the murder trial of Julie Corey in Worcester Superior Court in Worcester , Mass . Tuesday Feb . 11 , 2014 . Judge Janet Kenton Walker looks on . Corey is charged with killing her pregnant friend and cutting the baby from her womb . (  Photo Worcester Telegram Gazette , Rick Cinclair , Pool )  Dion said Corey arrived home the next morning with a baby girl he believed was his daughter . He said he and Corey introduced the baby to family and friends over the next couple of days .  But at the celebration which followed , some relatives were suspicious when Corey said she had been in labor for only 20 minutes and had returned home five hours later .  She appeared to be breast feeding the baby under a blanket but there was a bottle of formula milk nearby .  The tiny girl ' s umbilical cord also did not look like it had been cut by a doctor and was tied with a ribbon . Friends contacted police after hearing of Haynes ' s death .  After Corey ' s arrest , Dion told a newspaper in Worcester , ' I am so confused . I don ' t know what to think . I thought I had a brand new daughter . '  When asked why it has taken five years to go to trial , Paul Jarvey , a spokesperson for Worcester District Attorney Joseph D . Early Jr said , ' It ' s just a complicated case . '  Dion ' s family said Corey introduced a baby girl to them at a family gathering on July 25 , 2009 , two days before Haynes ' body was discovered .  Several days later , authorities found Corey , Dion and the baby at a homeless shelter in Plymouth , N . H . Dion was not charged .   testing showed that Haynes , 23 , was the mother of the baby .  The girl , who is now 4 , is living with her biological father , Roberto Rodriguez , said Paul Jarvey , a spokesman for Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early Jr .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past
11709,11710,"A Japanese journalist who openly admits to being a ' friend ' of  commanders has said he will do ' everything ' in his power to negotiate the release of two men held hostage by the Islamist militants .  Kosuke Shamil Tsuneoka , who claims to have developed deep contacts within  , appeared on Japanese television to say he is willing to step in and negotiate on the hostages behalf .  However , he says the authorities refuse to speak to him as he may be prosecuted under Japanese terrorist laws after being stopped from travelling to Syria last year .  Police are said to allege he was planning to escort one young would be jihadist to the country a charge he denies .  The journalist , who converted to Islam , has faced criticism after he was pictured holding a gun in front of the  flag a picture which he described as nothing more than an ' amusing souvenir ' .  Friend or foe ? Pictures of Tsuneoka like this one , in front of an  flag , have raised eyebrows in his home country . But he claims he could help free the two Japanese hostages being threatened with execution  A video of journalist Kenji Goto and military contractor Haruna Yukawa , kneeling in orange jumpsuits next to a hooded man , was released earlier this week , demanding 200m from Japan in return for their release .  If the demands were not met , then they would be the next victims of executioner ' Jihadi John ' , the video claimed .  Tsuneoka offered the Japanese government help dealing with  on a post on his Google Plus page on Wednesday and again at a press conference in Tokyo on Thursday .  ' Despite being detained illegally by Tokyo police and suffering a house search , I am willing to cooperate with the foreign office and even the police for the purpose of rescuing Japanese hostages , ' he said .  But Tsuneoka , who converted to Islam about 15 years ago and is one of the only journalists who have been allowed in to report from inside the caliphate , has warned he will only be able to negotiate if the Japanese authorities give him ' space ' .  ' We cannot make an attempt to make a contact with them right now as it contains risks to our contacts , now that Japanese police have traced down information of the contacts of Islamic State and are now bugging them , ' the foreign correspondent wrote on his blog .   has said they will release journalist Kenji Goto and military contractor Haruna Yukawa who have been seen in this video in return for 200million the amount Japan has pledged to help fight   Tsuneoka claims his links to  led to him being invited to Syria last September by the militants to act as an interpreter and translator for the ' trial ' of Yukawa last October .  Trials of hostages are common practice within the Islamic State , according to Tsuneoka .  ' An invitation came to me from  commander Omar Ghabah , one of the high up militants , ' the source revealed .  ' I was making plans to be there to do what he could for Yukawa who was a hostage of  and was to be tried under Islamic law . '  But he was unable to travel to Syria after the Japanese authorities seized his passport , after they accused him of helping one young man ' s attempt to reach the country , where the student allegedly planned on becoming a fighter .  But Tsuneoka said that , contrary to what the police believe , he was detained just as he was about to leave Japan for Syria to help Yukawa .  He claims to have known the approximate whereabouts of Yukawa at that time and claims a botched rescue attempt by the  last year means the hostages have since been moved .  ' Last September ,  contacted me and asked me to meet Mr Yukawa . They said , they will arrange a meeting in Rakka so I guessed Mr Yukawa was somewhere nearby , ' he said .  But the foreign correspondent has already raised eyebrows in his home country when pictures of him posing with a Kalashnikov in front of an  flag emerged .  The 45 year old has also been photographed with militant ' Sheikh Omar the Syrian ' , raising his index finger a gesture which has become a sign of  ' cause .  He revealed in a piece piece written for France24 : ' Sheikh Omar the Syrian , from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant , . . . accepted me and treated me as a friend . '  Tsuneoka who says he cannot see the moral problem with befriending jihadists went on to claim the pictures were just ' amusing souvenirs ' .  Symbol : Tsuneoka has also be photographed with alleged  militant ' Sheikh Omar the Syrian ' with his index finger raised a gesture which has become a symbol of militant ' s cause  ' As for those photos with me holding a gun under the Al Qaeda banner , let me assure you that I don ' t know how to use firearms and that these pictures have no political intent . They are amusing souvenirs , nothing more , ' he wrote .  He is now calling on the Japanese government to appoint him and leading Japanese Muslim professor Hassan Nakata to negotiate a settlement over the two Japanese hostages .  The two claim to have built trust by using the Muslim network and offering humanitarian aid .  ' Myself and Mr Nakata are eligible for such negotiations because until last October , we had been communicating each with a direct subordinate ( executive ) under the delegate in charge of kidnapping Mr Yukawa . At that time , they told us that , they will not request ransom or either display execution of hostage , ' he said although he did not say why  commanders changed their minds about the ransom .  Tsuneoka who was kept captive for five months in Afghanistan in 2010 was also highly critical of the way in which Japan handles hostage negotiations .  ' I know enough about this type of ransom demand , ' he told  . ' I was also kidnapped before in Afghanistan .  ' Despite a flood of type of blackmails from my embassy asking randomly for my release , the Japanese Embassy corresponded with my captors in an extremely cold manner . But , in the end , I was released thanks to my own efforts . '  Tsuneoka who says he was dubbed Mr Genki the Cheerful One by his captors say he was released when it became clear no ransom would be forthcoming from the Japanese .  However , other reports say he was released after tricking his captors into allowing him to send a message on Twitter , which he was using under the guise of teaching them about the social network .  The Japanese foreign ministry says the kidnappers have made no official contact with the Japanese government so far and declined to comment on Mr Tsuneoka or Mr Nakata ' s offer of opening up communications with  .  Japan ' s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pictured with his wife Akie has said he will stop at nothing to secure the release of the two hostages  The country has a mixed record on paying ransoms to hostage takers .  In 1977 , the then Japanese prime minister , Takeo Fukuda , drew accusations of caving in to terrorists when he paid a 6million ransom to Red Army members who had hijacked a Japan Airlines flight en route from Tokyo to Paris , forcing it to land in Dhaka .  The deadline for the ransom payment is expected to come just before 3pm on Friday .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
11719,11720,"One year after the Syrian conflict began , the numbers are staggering : more than 8 , 000 killed , tens of thousands detained , and dozens of towns decimated , according to the United Nations .  But beyond the statistics , the people of Syria find their tragic struggle often reduced to 45 second fragments on YouTube or static filled Skype phone calls . The reason ? The government ' s tight constraints on media access .  Of the few journalists brave enough to defy the Syrian government ' s restrictions , at least five paid the ultimate price , including veteran war correspondent Marie Colvin and award wining photographer Remi Ochlik .  One year on , Syria still boiling  The constant danger means the media have been left to rely on official government accounts , as well as a network of opposition activists scattered across Syria and a passionate expatriate community . The opposition details what ' s happening on the ground through amateur videos , messages describing the latest carnage and eyewitness accounts offered over the phone or Internet .  Yet while news organizations go to great lengths to verify such amateur reporting , it is no substitute for independent eyes and ears on the ground .  In other conflicts , a handful of media personnel might capture the full scale horror of violence . A reporter and perhaps his crew may record the moment for instance , a young man being shot and killed and then edit their content and wrap it into a television piece for air or for a newspaper or magazine story .  Journalists missing in Syria  But when it comes to Syria , it seems everyone in the country is on the front lines , witnesses to tragedies large and small .  On our Twitter accounts , on our Facebook pages , and in our e mail inboxes , we are confronted regularly by depictions of mutilated corpses , wailing mothers and the pain of a people under siege by their own government .  How will it end ?  The result is jarring : a world forced to watch as Syrian security forces appear to continually broaden their wrath , with international initiative after initiative faltering in their efforts to resolve the crisis .  The uprising began in March 2011 , when at least 15 children from the southern province of Daraa were reportedly tortured at the hands of state security . Their crime was defacing a school ' s walls with anti regime graffiti , at a time soon after the longtime leaders of Tunisia and Egypt had fallen under the weight of popular revolutions .  Many of the young boys and girls came home traumatized , their nails pulled out by Syrian security forces . One video showed a young boy in a red striped shirt , his face bruised and full of fear . He introduced the world to a regime with seemingly no limits on what they would do , as well as defiant citizens who were willing to confront it .  Perhaps no video captured the plight of Daraa ' s children more than a 2 minute , 22 second clip showing the mutilated corpse of 13 year old Hamza al Khateeb . After being detained for just a few days by authorities , Al Khateeb ' s body was bloated almost beyond recognition .  For activists , YouTube a key weapon  More horror stories came out as the months passed by : soccer stadiums packed with detainees in Banyas , hundreds killed in the military assault of Hama during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan , thousands fleeing shelling in the border of town of Jisr al Shughur in hopes of reaching refugee camps in Turkey . With each incident , videos came showing nameless victims pleading , crying or falling silent .  President Bashar al Assad ' s regime , in statements and through official media , has routinely insisted that "" armed terrorist groups "" are to blame for the bloodshed . Its forces , they say , are trying to guarantee security even as they act to defend themselves .  Leaked e mails remove al Assad ' s veil  Yet the opposition and a growing number of international governments and institutions , including the United Nations , say the government is the aggressor .  More recently , and more regularly , they report that security forces have moved from targeting individuals to waging indiscriminate and widespread military assaults on opposition areas .  Amidst this broader crackdown , the people of Baba Amr a neighborhood in the embattled city of Homs made history . They became the first citizens believed to have broadcast their own destruction , live via social media . As Syrian troops pummeled the 5 square mile area , a small group of activists pointed a live stream camera over their rooftops .  Yet many of those activist journalists , among others , have gone silent .  For example , amateur photographers Basil Al Sayed and his cousin Rami Al Sayed once had relayed a steady stream of reports before they suddenly stopped . The reason why became evident when YouTube videos showed their bullet ridden bodies .  Many Syrian opposition members , however , said it ' s not death they fear most .  "" Those who are dead are in the mercy of God now . But it is those who are alive , who still suffer , that we are worried about , "" an activist told me as he described the death in detention of his friend Ghiyath Mattar , a peace activist who ' d attended demonstrations with a rose in one hand and a Syrian flag in the other .  So far , after taking steps like bolstering sanctions and withdrawing ambassadors , other nations haven ' t managed to end the suffering . Yet Syrians continue to point their camera phones at tanks every day in hopes of getting outsiders ' attention , asking , "" How many more people have to die before someone helps us ? ""  Early on , a common rallying cry was , "" People demand the fall of the regime . "" Today , as the blood continues to flow , that has been replaced on many Syrian streets with the more ominous chant , "" Death and not humiliation . ""  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
11739,11740,"This is the moment a former showjumping horse had to be winched out of a metre wide well half full of water , after falling in .  Foxy , a 12 year old Irish Sport horse had to be pulled to safety in a harness upside down after she became stuck in water inside a well near Hinckley in Leicestershire .  Two fire crews were called to help the horse after she was heard crying for help after falling through a thin covering of wood over the well .  Foxy , a former showjumping horse , had to be winched out of a metre wide well she had fallen into  When crews arrived they could only see the animal ' s head and front legs poking out of the water filled well  Rescuers found her with just her head and front knees poking out and it was unclear how many hours the animal had been stuck for .  Mark Edwards , from Leicestershire Fire and Rescue ' s Technical Rescue Team said : ' Rescuing Foxy was out of the ordinary .  ' We ' d never seen anything like this before .  ' It ' s not a situation that we envisage , so you can ' t train for it .  ' You ' d never think a horse could get into that position in the first place .  ' When we got there we could only see her head , neck and front knees everything else was submerged . '  Warwickshire Fire and Rescue ' s Animal Rescue team were also called and helped secure a around the front of her body so she could be slowly winched out of the well .  As the rescue party weren ' t sure of the success of the operation , they had to request a police marksman for the worst case scenario .  This was not necessary but in the process of being freed the back of one of Foxy ' s knees was cut and fractured and dirty water seeped into the wound .  This led to a joint infection , and she required eight weeks of intensive care and treatment at Rossdales Equine Hospital .  Two fire crews were called to winch Foxy to safety from where she had fallen down into the covered well  Crews strapped Foxy to a harness as they began to pull her free from the water and the narrow well  It was unclear how long Foxy had been stuck in the well and the alarm was only raised when she cried out  As she was pulled out of the well , Foxy damaged one of her legs and later contracted a joint infection  The animal ' s leg was cut and became infected and she needed veterinary care which ran to a total of 20 , 000  This treatment cost 20 , 000 of vet bills to get her back on her feet .  But the insurance only offered 2 , 000 towards the fees due to a previous tendon condition so the family had to use owner Amy Badge ' s savings and sell her father ' s bike to cover the cost .  Miss Badge only found out about the fate of her pet after her parents telephoned her after she had completed her first year exams at Bath University .  She said : ' I ' d just finished my last exam when my dad rung .  ' I knew something had been wrong as he had called earlier in the week asking me to call once I ' d finished .  ' It ' s unbelievable how far she ' s come in eight months .  ' She ' s still a bit wary around crowds of people but apart from that she ' s almost fully recovered . '  Miss Badge has owned the animal for five years and used to compete in county showjumping events with her .  The grey mare suffered a fractured back knee from the rescue but eight months after surgery is now back on her feet .  Miss Badge added : ' It ' s a bit like a car being written off .  ' The insurance company said that due to her tendon problems she was only worth 2000 .  ' Obviously to us she ' s invaluable so we ' ve done whatever was necessary to get her healthy again .  ' I know I ' ll never be able to jump her again but seeing her back on her feet was worth it . '  Owner Amy Badge said she is relieved the horse is back on her feet again after vets ' bills costing 20 , 000  Foxy is now back on her feet eight months after the ordeal , which left her with a fractured leg and infection  Foxy is now back on her feet after eight months following the ordeal at the field in Hinckley in Leicestershire  Miss Badge used to compete with Foxy at county showjumping competitions before she became injured  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
11740,11741,"Friends and family identified the 20 year old Frederick , Maryland , man who died after police used a Taser stun gun on him Sunday morning , according to a local television station .  Jarrel Gray , 20 , died after police used a Taser gun on him Sunday morning , family and friends say .  The man , who friends and family identified as Jarrel Gray , was involved in a fight at an apartment complex about 5 a . m . Sunday , police said . Authorities have not released Gray ' s name .  "" I haven ' t heard anything except that he ' s gone , "" Troy Thomas told   . Thomas , who said he was Gray ' s uncle , told the television station , "" I lost my best friend . ""  Cassandra Rollings , a friend of the family , appeared at the apartment complex where Gray died , holding a large photo of the young man wearing a tie . Gray was a "" very good kid , "" Rollings said .  Deputies responded Sunday morning to a report of a fight at an apartment complex and found four people in a scuffle , Cpl . Jennifer Bailey of the Frederick County Sheriff ' s Office said Sunday .  Eric Cargenas , a man who lives in the apartment complex and said he saw the fight , told  that two people started fighting after a yelling match .  A deputy used a Taser on Gray , who fell unconscious , Bailey said . He was taken to Frederick Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead .  His body was taken to the medical examiner ' s office in Baltimore for an autopsy . The results of some tests could take several weeks , according to an office spokeswoman .  Baltimore is about 50 miles east of Frederick .  The sheriff ' s office has not publicly identified the deputy who allegedly used the Taser , but Bailey said the deputy was placed on administrative leave with pay while authorities investigate the incident .  Since June 2001 , more than 150 people have died in the United States after being subdued with stun guns , according to Amnesty International , which has called for police departments to suspend use of the devices pending study of their possible risks .  More than 7 , 000 of the nation ' s 18 , 000 law enforcement agencies use the devices , Amnesty says .  Recent deaths involving Taser devices have received much publicity . Last month , a police officer at Vancouver International Airport in British Columbia , Canada , used a Taser gun on a 40 year old man making his first airplane trip outside Poland . He died .  In a statement released Friday , Taser International cited the Vancouver case and said it "" appears to follow the pattern of many in custody deaths or deaths following a confrontation with police . Historically , medical science and forensic analysis has shown that these deaths are attributable to other factors and not the low energy electrical discharge of the Taser . ""  A bystander ' s video of the October 14 incident in Vancouver shows the victim continuing to struggle after being shot with the device .  Taser International said on its Web site that the struggle "" is proof that the Taser device was not the cause of his death . "" Cardiac arrest caused by electrical current would have caused immediate death , the company said .  "" We are taken aback by the number of media outlets that have irresponsibly published conclusive headlines blaming the Taser device and or the law enforcement officers involved as the cause of death before completion of the investigation , "" said Tom Smith , the company ' s founder and chairman of the board .  But Amnesty International , noting that coroners have determined Tasers were a contributing factor in more than 30 deaths , said such a link cannot be ruled out .  The devices use compressed nitrogen to shoot two probes connected to the device by wire up to 35 feet at speeds exceeding 100 mph .  An electrical signal transmitted through the wires contacts the body or clothing , "" resulting in an immediate loss of the person ' s neuromuscular control and the ability to perform coordinated action for the duration of the impulse , "" according to the company . E mail to a friend  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
11749,11750,"The nation ' s Rebeccas are outraged at being allegedly targeted by Beyonce in her latest album Lemonade . Released last Saturday , the album has ignited a national alert as the entire country searches for a woman known to the public only as "" Becky with the Good Hair .  Becky with the Good Hair has been described as a non Black woman , who is alleged to have had an affair with hip hop royalty Shawn Carter ( also known as Mr Knowles , and by his rap moniker Jay Z ) .  The women at the heart of the NotAllBeckys campaign , who feel they are victims of a witch hunt , cite threats made by the elusive "" Beyhive gang , and generally wanting to be recognized for their unique identities as their motivation for the movement .  A rally was held in New York on Wednesday as local Rebeccas gathered to lean on one another in this difficult time . Said one speaker , "" The most disrespected person in America is a Becky the most unprotected person in America is a Becky the most neglected person in America is a Becky . ""  Shocked by the widely cast dispersion on all Rebeccas , one women ( not wishing to be identified ) , stated that she "" would , like , never ever be a mistress ! Like , ew . It ' s a total slur to even imply that , Bey .  "" I just , like , want to feel safe posting a picture of my new balayage hairstyle on Instagram . Gawd . "" , stated on Rebecca Porter .  At press time , the nation ' s Rebeccas were unable to explain the significance of the Lemonade album . Stating collectively , "" wait you mean it ' s , like , not about me ?  ",satire,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
11750,11751,"—   Late on Tuesday night, as it became clear that Donald J. Trump would defeat Hillary Clinton to win the presidential election, a private chat sprang up on Facebook among several vice presidents and executives of the social network. What role, they asked each other, had their company played in the election’s outcome? Facebook’s top executives concluded that they should address the issue and assuage staff concerns at a quarterly   meeting. They also called a smaller meeting with the company’s policy team, according to three people who saw the private chat and are familiar with the decisions they requested anonymity because the discussion was confidential. Facebook has been in the eye of a postelection storm for the last few days, embroiled in accusations that it helped spread misinformation and fake news stories that influenced how the American electorate voted. The online conversation among Facebook’s executives on Tuesday, which was one of several private message threads that began among the company’s top ranks, showed that the social network was internally questioning what its responsibilities might be. Even as Facebook has outwardly defended itself as a nonpartisan information source  —   Mark. Zuckerberg, chairman and chief executive, said at a conference on Thursday that Facebook affecting the election was “a pretty crazy idea”  —   many company executives and employees have been asking one another if, or how, they shaped the minds, opinions and votes of Americans. Some employees are worried about the spread of racist and     memes across the network, according to interviews with 10 current and former Facebook employees. Others are asking whether they contributed to a “filter bubble” among users who largely interact with people who share the same beliefs. Even more are reassessing Facebook’s role as a media company and wondering how to stop the distribution of false information. Some employees have been galvanized to send suggestions to product managers on how to improve Facebook’s powerful news feed: the streams of status updates, articles, photos and videos that users typically spend the most time interacting with. “A fake story claiming Pope Francis  —   actually a refugee advocate  —   endorsed Mr. Trump was shared almost a million times, likely visible to tens of millions,” Zeynep Tufekci, an associate professor at the University of North Carolina who studies the social impact of technology, said of a recent post on Facebook. “Its correction was barely heard. Of course Facebook had significant influence in this last election’s outcome. ” This image of Facebook as a partisan influencer and distributor of bad information is at odds with how the company views itself, former and current employees said. Chris Cox, a senior vice president of product and one of Mr. Zuckerberg’s top lieutenants, has long described Facebook as an unbiased and blank canvas to give people a voice. Employees and executives genuinely believed they were   and acting as a force for good, these people said. Facebook declined to comment beyond a previously released statement that it was “just one of many ways people received their information  —   and was one of the many ways people connected with their leaders, engaged in the political process and shared their views. ” On Saturday night, Mr. Zuckerberg posted a lengthy status update to his Facebook page with some of his thoughts on the election. “Of all the content on Facebook, more than 99% of what people see is authentic. Only a very small amount is fake news and hoaxes,” Mr. Zuckerberg wrote. “Overall, this makes it extremely unlikely hoaxes changed the outcome of this election in one direction or the other. ” He added: “I am confident we can find ways for our community to tell us what content is most meaningful, but I believe we must be extremely cautious about becoming arbiters of truth ourselves. ” The postelection questioning caps a turbulent year for Facebook, during which its power to influence what its 1. 79 billion users watch, read and believe has increasingly been criticized. Almost half of American adults rely on Facebook as a source of news, according to a study by the Pew Research Center. And Facebook often emphasizes its ability to sway its users with advertisers, portraying itself as an effective mechanism to help promote their products. Inside Facebook, employees have become more aware of the company’s role in media after several incidents involving content the social network displayed in users’ news feeds. In May, the company grappled with accusations that politically biased employees were censoring some conservative stories and websites in Facebook’s Trending Topics section, a part of the site that shows the most   stories and issues on Facebook. Facebook later laid off the Trending Topics team. In September, Facebook came under fire for removing a Pulitzer   photo of a naked    girl, Phan Thi Kim Phuc, as she fled napalm bombs during the Vietnam War. The social network took down the photo for violating its nudity standards, even though the picture was an illustration of the horrors of war rather than child pornography. Both those incidents seemed to worsen a problem of fake news circulating on Facebook. The Trending Topics episode paralyzed Facebook’s willingness to make any serious changes to its products that might compromise the perception of its objectivity, employees said. The “napalm girl” incident reminded many insiders at Facebook of the company’s often   approach to nuanced situations. Throughout, Mr. Zuckerberg has defended Facebook as a place where people can share all opinions. When employees objected in October to the stance of Peter Thiel, a Facebook board member, in supporting Mr. Trump, Mr. Zuckerberg said, “We care deeply about diversity” and reiterated that the social network gave everyone the power to share their experiences. More recently, issues with fake news on the site have mushroomed. Multiple Facebook employees were particularly disturbed last week when a fake news site called The Denver Guardian spread across the social network with negative and false messages about Mrs. Clinton, including a claim that an F. B. I. agent connected to Mrs. Clinton’s email disclosures had murdered his wife and shot himself. On Thursday, after a companywide meeting at Facebook, many employees said they were dissatisfied with an address from Mr. Zuckerberg, who offered comments to staff that were similar to what he has said publicly. Even in private, Mr. Zuckerberg has continued to resist the notion that Facebook can unduly affect how people think and behave. In a Facebook post circulated on Wednesday to a small group of his friends, which was obtained by The New York Times, Mr. Zuckerberg challenged the idea that Facebook had a direct effect on the way people voted. In the   post, the chief executive cited several statistics about low voter turnout during the election. Then Mr. Zuckerberg wrote: “So rather than focusing on strengths or weaknesses in specific demographics, or other factors that may have pushed this race in one direction or another, these stats clearly suggest what many people have said all along. Both candidates were very unpopular. ”",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
11793,11794,"Washington A beloved giant panda will leave for China early next year to the disappointment of millions of fans in the United States .  Washington ' s National Zoo will say goodbye to 4 year old Tai Shan as he makes his way to a breeding base in southwestern China . He ' ll leave during the first quarter of 2010 , according to the zoo and Chinese state run media .  Tai Shan on loan from China was born at the National Zoo to pandas that also are borrowed from China .  His father , 11 year old Tian Tian , and his mother , 10 year old Mei Xiang , are due in China in December 2010 , according to the Xinhua news agency .  "" While we ' re proud to send off a healthy panda to be part of China ' s breeding program , we will indeed miss him dearly , "" the National Zoo ' s Web site said of Tai Shan .  He has more growing to do , however .  "" Although Tai Shan has the build of a grownup male panda , we still have to wait for about two years before it is sexually mature , "" said Li Desheng , deputy director of the management office of the Wolong National Natural Reserve in Sichuan province , according to Xinhua .  Tai Shan will never be released into the wild , but there is the hope that his offspring could be , the National Zoo said .  "" Since we partnered with them 10 years ago , the Chinese have more than doubled their cub production , which means they ' re about to reach the significant goal of having 300 pandas in captivity , "" the zoo said on its Web site . "" By reaching the target of 300 pandas , collectively we will ensure that the giant panda in captivity is demographically and genetically secure . It will be a huge conservation achievement . ""  The United States has 13 pandas on loan from China , according to Xinhua . The three in Washington and one each in Atlanta , Georgia , and San Diego , California , are due to return to China next year . Though Tai Shan has lived in Washington , his fans have followed him online for years , via the National Zoo ' s Pandacam .  They ' ve oohed and aahed as he ' s frolicked , had milestone exams and grown from less than 2 pounds at birth to more than 200 pounds at his peak weight .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
11821,11822,"David Cameron is criticised for hosting the president but in London the argument is that working with him makes sense .  Egypt ' s authoritarian leader is meeting with David Cameron  A thousand gunned down by government snipers in the biggest political massacre since Tiananmen Square in Beijing decades ago .  Hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood supporters sentenced to death alongside the democratically elected president .  The press muzzled . Modern Egypt has fallen back to authoritarianism and the leader behind this plunge is meeting with Britain s Prime Minister and lunching in Downing Street .  The obvious hypocrisy of Britain being a champion of democracy and a host to an autocrat meant David Cameron bowled his parliamentary opponents a slow full toss .  David Cameron ' s invitation to Britain today of the Egyptian president and coup leader Abdel Fatah al Sisi shows contempt for human and democratic rights and threatens , rather than protects , Britain ' s national security .  Support for dialogue and negotiated conflict resolution in the Middle East is vital to us all . But to welcome and bolster with military support the coup leader who overthrew a democratically elected president in 2013 and has presided over the killing and jailing of many thousands since makes a mockery of government claims to be promoting peace and justice in the region .  "" Support for dictatorial regimes in the Middle East has been a key factor fuelling the spread of terrorism .  Rather than rolling out the red carpet to President Sisi , the Prime Minister should suspend arms exports to Egypt until democratic and civil rights are restored , he said in a statement ? although inexplicably didn t ask Cameron about the visit at Prime Ministers Questions in the Commons .  Sir Gerald Howarth , the chairman of the all party parliamentary group on Egypt , told Sky News that Egypt s government had preserved stability in a chaotic region and that its people were grateful they had not collapsed into the horrors that have gripped Syria and Libya .  That is the argument also used in Washington , which gives Egypt about 1 . 3 billion ( ? 1bn ) in military aid every year .  Cairo needs it . It s fighting a newly invigorated insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula where local al Qaeda groups and other militants have pledged alliance to the so called Islamic State . Egypt is also preserving a tense peace accord with neighbouring Israel where army officers speak highly of the professionalism and commitment of Egyptian colleagues .  But it is also possible , as Mohamed Fahmy a human rights activist in Cairo says , that the oppression of the now banned Muslim brotherhood is driving members of the non violent movement into the hands of extremists who do have a much more bloody agenda .  This is the conundrum of the Middle East s relations with most Western governments that has taxed fine minds for decades . Many Arab states are inherently unstable . They are artificial nations in which competing sectarian groups , the religious and secular , left and right , have often clashed violently .  Only has there been a sort of peace when dictators like Saddam Hussein and Hafez al Assad reigned , the argument goes . But these regimes ? and the Gulf monarchies who also resist democracy ? often or sometimes resort to violence themselves in keeping the peace . The West disapproves of that .  But now that the Arab Spring has turned to a winter of war in Libya , Syria , and Iraq the calculation in London is that men like Sisi are seen as the "" least bad "" prospect for stability and a decent market for arms . That may be the pragmatic argument to do business with them but it will win no friends on the Arab street .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
11824,11825,"Australia ' s heightened terror alert saw naval personnel returning for duties urged to ' look after your mates ' and ordered not to wear their uniforms in public .   Sydney has just returned to the Garden Island naval base in Sydney Harbour after taking part in Exercise Kakadu , which is Australia ' s biggest naval warfare training drill , and border protection duties .  Those on board were under strict instruction to change into their civilian clothes ahead of leaving the dock with their loved ones . Colleagues from within the base were seen to be admonished by gate security earlier in the day , when they had apparently forgotten the edict .  Before and after .  Sydney crew walk down the gangplank during their homecoming at Garden Island in full uniform but ( left ) leave the naval base in civilian clothes ( right )  Welcome home dad !  Sydney crew members are re acquainted with family and friends on the ship ' s return to Garden Island .  Able Seaman Candice Beech , into her third year serving and part of the vessel ' s Communications team , did confirm that , despite their 6 months away from home , all the crew was well aware of the recent counter terrorism operations and measures in Australia .  On the back of two reported incidents against members of the navy , one which has since been ruled out , an email was circulated yesterday by a high ranking naval officer to commanders , advising them that ' all  personnel are instructed not to wear uniforms externally ' .  As for that order not to be walking the streets in uniform or fatigues , she said ' it doesn ' t faze us ' .   Sydney crew members have been away for six months , involved in border protection duties and war games during Exercise Kakadu  After the reunions , sailors were quick to change out of their uniforms , as directed by superiors , before leaving the naval base  But there was also another very clear message from their superiors before docking at Garden Island .  ' To be aware , not alert , just look out for your mates , keep an eye on everything , as we do always we always keep an eye out , ' she added .  Crew member Able Seaman Candice Beech returned home to a warm welcome from her parents and nephew   Sydney crew were told ' to be aware , not alert , just look out for your mates , keep an eye on everything , as we do always we always keep an eye out '  The ' Sydney ' is one of four guided missile frigates left in the Royal Australian Navy fleet , with 210 crew members under the guidance of Commander Karl Brinckmann .  Candice ' s family , including parents Cathy and Larry , was on hand banner and all to welcome her back to dry land .  ' We ' re really proud of her and she ' s proud to be in the navy , she ' ll keep safe , they all do , ' said Mrs Beech .  ' No I don ' t think it ( not wearing the uniform ) will be a problem , she likes to wear them but if it ' s going to be a problem , she won ' t . '  Able Seaman Beech was happy to be home after serving in war games and border protection duties .  ' It was really good , I mean you get used to it first couple of weeks are hard , ' she said .  ' You miss family a lot but then you just get into your routine . Go to work , go to bed , work out . '  Naval bases have been moved onto their highest alert level of ' Charlie ' and tighter security measures have included updating of identification cards for naval personnel and civilian contractors .  Strict security was in place as family and friends arrived at Garden Island to welcome home  Sydney  Naval bases are all at the highest alert level of ' Charlie ' and tighter security measures have included updating of identification cards for naval personnel and civilian contractors .  Even those arriving at the  Kuttabul base in Sydney ' s east were dressed in civilian clothes and not their defence gear .  Defence chief Mark Binskin says ' I want people to be aware of of their situations and aware of their surroundings '  Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin , the  Commander , today insisted he would not be issuing a general alert for all  personnel to avoid wearing their uniforms and instead would leave that up to others .  ' I want people to be aware of of their situations and aware of their surroundings , ' he said .  ' People are aware of it , commanders will make those decisions as to what is best for their people . '  All sailors leaving  Sydney today took to the streets wearing their civilian clothing  ",true,text,validation,American football,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
11835,11836,"The Panthers are the 16th team in the Super Bowl era to start 10 0 . Of the previous 15 , all made the playoffs and nine have advanced to the Super Bowl , with six winning .  The Panthers scored 27 points off five Washington turnovers , three of those by quarterback Kirk Cousins .  Newton became the first Carolina quarterback to throw four  passes in the first half as the Panthers jumped to a 31 14 lead .  The Redskins have lost nine straight on the road .  Green Bay ended a run of three straight defeats by winning 30 13 at Minnesota to put the division rivals level at 7 3 .  Aaron Rodgers threw for 212 yards and a pair of touchdowns and Datone Jones had two of Green Bay ' s six sacks .  The Packers beat the Vikings for the 10th time in the past 11 meetings with Rodgers at quarterback . He has thrown for 28 touchdown passes with just three interceptions in those games .  The Vikings had their five game winning streak ended by a Packers team that clearly wasn ' t ready to concede a division it has won four straight times . The rematch is on Jan . 3 in Green Bay to close the schedule .  Denver ' s defense stopped Jeremy Langford on a 2 point conversion run in the final minute and the Broncos held on to edge Chicago 17 15 .  Langford scored on a 2 yard touchdown run with 24 seconds left to cap a 65 yard drive . But he ran into a crowd on a conversion attempt , and the Broncos escaped .  Brock Osweiler filled in for Manning at quarterback and threw for two touchdowns , completing 20 of 27 passes for 250 yards . Manning missed with injuries to his foot , ribs and shoulder .  Indiana relied on a pair of 40 plus veterans , and rallied from a pair of two touchdown deficits , to beat slumping Atlanta 24 21 .  Adam Vinatieri , the oldest player in the league at 42 , added another winning kick to his sterling resume , booting a 43 yarder with 52 seconds remaining . And 40 year old Matt Hasselbeck threw a pair of touchdown passes filling in for injured quarterback Andrew Luck .  D ' Qwell Jackson tied the game with just over 10 minutes remaining on a 6 yard interception return for a touchdown .  Then it was Vinatieri who won it for the Colts ( 5 5 ) , as he ' s done so many times . In his 300th game , he came through with his 26th winning kick in either the final minute of regulation or overtime .  The Falcons lost for the fourth time in five games after a 5 0 start .  Dallas quarterback Tony Romo returned from injury to lead the Cowboys to a 24 14 win at Miami , ending a seven game losing skid in his absence the team ' s worst run in 26 years .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
11836,11837,"Monday, October 30, 2017 is one of those dates that will go down in history, the type where future generations will ask you where you were and what you were doing when former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, as well as Manafort s top aide, Rick Gates surrendered to the FBI, later entering  not guilty  pleas, while Trump foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos pled guilty to lying to the  about his contacts with Russia as a result of Robert Mueller s probe into President Trump s possible collusion with the country.Infamous moments of historical significance such as these only come around maybe once every 15 or 20 years so when the news broke on Monday morning, we all knew that one thing was for certain   That late-night  hosts were going to have an absolute field day with this story. Not due to the direct implications of Mueller s investigation, however, but more because of how the President and anyone linked to him would react. Taylor Swift has better coping mechanisms than President Trump so most of us were curious as to what Trump would Tweet or how Fox News would handle the story and neither disappointed.Our late-night hosts didn t let us down, either, but nobody summarized the whole situation better than Seth Meyers during his A Closer Look segment on Late Night with Seth Meyers. Just kick back and enjoy.Featured image via screenshot",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
11849,11850,"now concentrates on the ' darkest places ' of the internet inhabited by ' the plotters , the proliferators and the paedophiles ' , its outgoing head stressed yesterday .  Its staff are committed to the protection of the public from those who exploited the so called ' dark web ' , Sir Iain Lobban said .  Sir Iain , who retires this month after six years in charge , also insisted Britain ' s electronic eavesdropping agency did not engage in ' anything remotely resembling mass surveillance ' .  While he acknowledged that tracking down perpetrators online meant accessing the internet ' at scale ' , he said his organisation was committed to delivering security while protecting privacy to the ' greatest extent possible ' .  Surveillance : The  listening post in Cheltenham , where its staff monitor the ' darkest places ' of the internet  His comments come after a turbulent year for the intelligence agency , overshadowed by the disclosures of the former  intelligence operative Edward Snowden .   has also come under criticism after it was revealed earlier this year they are allowed to spy on British citizens ' use of Facebook , Google and Twitter without an individual warrant because the firms are based overseas .  Speaking at the Churchill War Rooms in Whitehall , Sir Iain issued an impassioned defence of its work , while paying tribute to his staff , some of whom he said had made ' the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty ' although he gave no further details .  Referring to his staff , he added : ' The people who work at  would sooner walk out the door than be involved in anything remotely resembling ' mass surveillance ' .  ' My staff are the embodiment of British values , not a threat to them . '   and its American counterpart , the  , came under fire from civil liberties campaigners on both sides of the Atlantic after Mr Snowden leaked thousands of documents revealing the scale of their surveillance activities .  After Mr Snowden revealed  was gathering millions of pieces of data on British citizens , Sir Iain was forced to defend his organisation to MPs in an unprecedented public hearing .  In response to whistleblower Edward Snowden ' s ( pictured ) claims that  is spying on British citizens , Sir Iain said his staff would rather ' walk out the door ' than engage in mass surveillance  In the hearing before the government ' s Intelligence and Security Committee , alongside the heads of MI5 and MI6 , he claimed terrorists had started changing their tactics because of Mr Snowden ' s revelations .  Yesterday Sir Iain sought to underline the scale of the challenge facing the agencies describing the ' enormous exodus ' to the internet as ' the biggest migration in human history ' .  He said that only a small percentage of all the emails , texts and images sent globally were within reach of  ' s sensors of which only a small percentage were actually intercepted .  But he acknowledged the volumes were still large . He said : ' We access the internet at scale so as to dissect it with surgical precision . Practically , it is now impossible to operate successfully in any other way .  ' You can ' t pick and choose the components of a global interception system that you like catching terrorists and paedophiles and those you don ' t incidental collection of data at scale : it ' s one integrated system . '  With the ' vast majority ' of such criminal threats to the  coming from groups or individuals based abroad , Sir Iain said strong intelligence and cyber capabilities were needed to identify and where they were beyond the reach of international law enforcement directly disrupt them .  He said : "" We all now know that the beautiful dream of the Internet as a totally ungoverned space was just that a beautiful dream . Like all utopian visions , it was flawed because it failed to account for the persistence of the worst aspects of human nature .  Sir Iain said his organisation was committed to delivering security while ensuring privacy to the ' greatest extent possible '  ' Alongside the blessings the comprehensive information , the communities of interest , the commercial opportunities and efficiencies there are the plotters , the proliferators and the paedophiles . From what we know of ungoverned spaces in the real world , do we really believe that the world would be a better place if the Internet becomes an ungoverned space where anybody can act freely with impunity ? ""  He added : ' Those who would do us harm don ' t want to be found . They use certain routers or applications to hide in the darkest places of the internet .  ' We have to enter that labyrinth to find them . We work to crack their defences . We have to understand what adversaries seek to do to us and dedicate ourselves to preventing them from realising their plans . '  He stressed that the ' core ' of  ' s mission was ' the protection of liberty , not the erosion of it ' and that it actively sought to minimise intrusion into people ' s everyday lives .  He added : ' By definition , the acquisition , aggregation , usage , sharing and retention of information involve varying degrees of interference with , or intrusion into , the privacy rights of individuals .  ' So those activities can only be undertaken if judged to be necessary in the interests of our statutory purposes national security , economic well being or the prevention and detection of serious crime and proportionate in what we seek to achieve . '   was formed in 1919 and employed Enigma code breaker Alan Turing in the Second World War .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
11889,11890,"Published : 13 : 24  , 30 October 2015 Updated : 13 : 25  , 30 October 2015  The beheaded bodies of a Syrian activist opposed to the Islamic State group and a friend were found early Friday in the southern Turkish city of Sanliurfa , his colleagues said .  Ibrahim Abdul Qader , 20 , and Fares Hamadi "" were found beheaded at the friend ' s house this morning , "" Abu Mohammad , a founder of the activist ' s "" Raqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently "" group , told  via the Internet .   , which documents abuses in areas under  control in Syria , accused the jihadist organisation of the murders on its Facebook page .  Turkish soldiers stand guar near the Turkey Syrian border post in Sanliurfa , on September 4 , 2015 ? Ozan Kose (  File )  Abdul Qader also worked as the executive director , and Hamadi as head of production , for Syrian media collective Eye on the Homeland , according to that group ' s Facebook profile .  According to Abu Mohammad , both men were from Raqa city , the de facto capital of  in Syria . Hamadi was also in his early twenties .  Abdul Qader had escaped to Turkey a little over a year ago .   members had been killed inside Syria in the past , but this is the first killing outside the country , Abu Mohammad added .  Turkey ' s Dohan news agency reported Friday that "" two Syrian journalists were beheaded "" in Sanliurfa , and that seven Syrians had been arrested by Turkish police .  Sanliurfa is 55 kilometres ( 35 miles ) from Turkey ' s border with Syria ' s Raqa province , a major  stronghold .  Turkey has long been accused by Syrian opposition activists , Kurdish fighters and sometimes even Western partners of allowing  members to slip back and forth across its 911 kilometre ( 566 mile ) frontier with Syria .  Bloody bomb attacks in southern Turkey , including one in July that claimed 32 lives in Suruc , have been blamed on  . The group has never claimed responsibility for the blasts .  Press freedom group Committee to Protect Journalists (  ) called on Turkey ' s authorities Friday to bring the murderers to justice .  "" We call for an immediate and thorough investigation by Turkish authorities into these heinous murders and to bring the culprits to justice , ""  Europe and Central Asia program coordinator Nina Ognianova said in a statement .  "" These murders show how the grave risks journalists face in Syria have metastasised across the porous border with Turkey . ""   was formed in April 2014 , not long after  seized control of Raqa from other opposition groups .  The city became the first provincial capital to fall from regime control in March 2013 when an array of rebel groups took it .   since forced those groups out and now tightly controls the city . Activists provide a rare source of information about life in the city and surrounding province .   regularly publishes information , photos and videos about  decrees and behaviour in Raqa , from a ban on private Internet connections to a decision to begin issuing identity cards .  Activists documenting  abuses have regularly been targeted by the group , which deems them "" infidels "" punishable by death .  Shortly after the group was formed ,  carried out a campaign of arrests in Raqa , rounding up dozens of people .  At the time , the group ' s members insisted they would nonetheless continue their work .  "" It ' s extremely dangerous to oppose  . . . but we need to break the wall of fear , "" Abu Ibrahim , a founder , told  last year .  "" We must make sacrifices , or else they will rule us for good , and that ' s just unacceptable . ""  Islamic State jihadists are purportedly parading through the Syrian city of Raqa in video images from July 2014 ? ( Welayat Raqa  File )  Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
11908,11909,"France The backstage gossip at recent fashion shows wouldn ' t be complete without rampant speculation about who is likely to replace esteemed American Vogue Editor in Chief Anna Wintour .  Vogue editors Anna Wintour and Carine Roitfeld at AmfAR ' s 10th Annual New York Gala in January 2008 .  Wintour has yet to announce any plans to retire but her advancing age she ' s 60 this year has stoked speculation that after more than 20 years in the role it might be time to leave .  One name touted as a possible replacement is Carine Roitfeld , the highly respected editor in chief of Vogue Paris . Read more about Carine Roitfeld  "" It ' s a bit like for an actor . Do you want to go to Hollywood or do you want to stay here in Paris and do the cinema I like to do ? , "" Roitfeld said . "" I think I prefer to stay here in Paris . "" Watch Carine Roitfeld Revealed  A fixture at the U . S . title since 1988 , Wintour has a fearsome reputation , mostly courtesy of the 2006 film starring Meryl Streep , "" The Devil Wears Prada . ""  The film is based on a book penned by a former assistant at American Vogue who has denied suggestions Wintour was the inspiration for the demanding and odious lead character .  She said she would be honored to be asked to fill Wintour ' s shoes , but pointed out that "" it ' s a very different job . ""  "" I ' m very happy at French Vogue to be able to do everything almost everything I want in the magazine , "" she said . "" It would be too political at American Vogue for me . And I ' m not sure I ' m talking enough good English to work there . ""  At Vogue Paris , Roitfeld knows her readers . They are a select group of incredibly stylish and wealthy women who are thrilled rather than alienated by unconventional ideas .  The best selling edition so far , in August 2003 , featured French actress Sophie Marceau on the cover smoking a cigarette .  At French Vogue , there ' s less pressure to appeal to the masses . Its circulation of some 139 , 000 is dwarfed by the million plus readers of American Vogue .  Fashion shoots are about fantasy . There ' s no imperative to make any clothes they feature wearable . If it ' s unusual and innovative , then it ' s in .  With just 25 staff , Roitfeld describes the team at French Vogue as like a family . And that ' s how she prefers it .  "" Of course I would consider it because it would be ridiculous not to consider such a huge position in terms of money and in terms of power , "" she said .  "" But I ' m very happy . It ' s very much a small team ( in Paris ) . America is a huge team . I know because I ' ve worked for them before . I think it ' s not for me . ""  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
11910,11911,"An awkward situation has arisen for the  after photographs featuring Josh Duggar smiling alongside party heavyweights Ted Cruz , Rand Paul , Mike Huckabee , Rick Santorum , former Alaska Gov . Sarah Palin , and Wisconsin Gov . Scott Walker went into wide circulation , placing the Republicans ' top players in close association with Duggar , currently embroiled in a nasty underage sex abuse allegation scandal from his teenage years .  Duggar , the oldest offspring of reality  stars Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar , responded to a tabloid report accusing him of molesting several underage girls by stating he "" acted inexcusably "" and was "" deeply sorry "" for what he called his "" wrongdoing . "" According to a police report , some of the five girls Duggar forcibly groped were his own sisters . The crime was allegedly covered up by the family for at least a year , and now , a former state trooper claims the Duggars hid the full extent of the abuse committed by their son . The former trooper , Joseph Hutchens , is currently serving a 56 year prison sentence for child pornography .  The report , destroyed by Arkansas State police on Friday , contained information alleging the sexual abuse , and was originally emailed to a member of Oprah Winfrey ' s Harpo Studios from a tipster , in advance of a 2006 appearance by the Duggars on Winfrey ' s show . The email was then faxed to the Arkansas State Police by Harpo Studio staffers . A 19 Kids clip , in which Josh Duggar jokes about incest , now proves to be more chilling than just in "" bad taste . ""  Duggar was sent to the Basic Life Principles Training Center , a Little Rock faith based sexual abuse treatment facility , after admitting to his parents that he had abused females in the home . The founder of the center , Bill Gothard , was previously accused of sexually harassing female members of his ministry , and although cleared of those charges , resigned as a result of the scandal .  Fallout from the sex abuse accusation produced a litany of new demands for cancellation of  ' s 19 Kids And Counting , and predictably , anti Duggar forces accuse the family and those in the "" pro Duggar "" camp of hypocrisy , employing double standards by giving Josh Duggar a pass , excusing his teenaged behavior .  has pulled the show from circulation , although sources say that 19 Kids And Counting may continue production without Josh Duggar ' s participation . More revelations , seemingly amplifying Duggar ' s hypocritical stance on issues such as abortion and more close to home , incest have added another layer of scandal .  Meanwhile , potential damage to the  and its image now will be closely scrutinized , according to a Washington based  poll watcher . "" It will be a thin line to tiptoe across . Defending someone with police reports listing molestation as the charge is political suicide , and you ' d have to be a complete imbecile to do such a thing . "" Apparently the poll watcher is not aware that Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has come out in support of Duggar . The Huckabee campaign has recently stepped up its damage control with the new revelation that John Perry , co author of two Mike Huckabee books , has been accused of child molestation in two separate lawsuits . A Josh Duggar endorsement has been removed from the former Arkansas Governor ' s campaign website .  "" Governor Walker doesn ' t have to worry , "" commented one campaign aide . "" And as far as Gov . Palin goes , "" chuckled the staffer , "" well , there ' s no such thing as bad publicity with her . She ' s bullet proof . "" The Christian Children ' s Home in Ohio , who presented Duggar as guest speaker at their second annual fundraising gala in April , released a statement concerning Duggar :  "" As many of you know , Josh Duggar was keynote speaker at Christian Children ' s Home of Ohio ' s Hope Gala on April 11 . As an organization , we are disappointed with the news concerning Josh Duggar and his family . While we do not condone the actions reported so far , we believe there is healing available and we are praying for all those involved . ""  So it would seem that the distancing game has begun as negative political consequences mount . On Thursday , Duggar resigned his position with the Family Research Council where he served as executive director of the conservative organization ' s lobbying arm ,  Action . Duggar ' s position provided him with many opportunities to interact with the top GOPs , including Rick Perry , Bobby Jindal , Joni Ernst , Jeb Bush , Iran letter writer and Arkansas Sen . Tom Cotton , and Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus .  Although public opinion the ultimate deciding factor has spoken in the case of 19 Kids and Counting , whether or not it will influence the outcomes of 2016  presidential hopefuls , only time and voters ' memories will tell .  ",satire,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
11916,11917,"Legendary Brazil striker Ronaldo believes the Premier League is the perfect place for young talent from his country to develop , despite spending much of his European playing career in Spain and Italy .  Brazil coach Dunga picked five players from the Premier League in his most recent squad , including three from league leaders Chelsea and the two time World Cup winner encouraged more Brazilian youngsters to try their hand in England .  Ronaldo spent time with Barcelona , Real Madrid , both Milan clubs and  during his career in Europe but has lived in London after retiring from football .  Rafa Nadal and Ronaldo begin their face off in London the Spaniard won with all proceeds going to charity  Ronaldo beams that trademark toothy grin as he prepares to battle Nadal on the baize  The legendary Brazilian striker makes his move in the second installment on PokerStars ' ' El Duelo '  Ronaldo smiles with tennis star Nadal as the pair took part in a poker tournament on Tuesday evening  Oscar , pictured against Austria , was one of five Premier League players picked in Dunga ' s latest Brazil squad  ' It ' s definitely the right thing to do ( Brazilians coming to the Premier League ) , ' the 98 cap striker said at a Poker Stars event in central London .  ' Because of the nature of the football here , which is a lot of tackles , a lot of attacking and forward play , it ' s definitely a good decision for young Brazilians to come to the Premier League . '  Chelsea midfielders Oscar and Willian as well as left back Filipe Luis all started for Brazil as they beat Austria 2 1 in a Vienna friendly on Tuesday night , and Ronaldo feels that at club level , Jose Mourinho ' s tutorship is ideal for Brazilian players .  Ronaldo weighs up his next move at the table as he eyes the cards being dealt  Big hitter Nadal , a football fan himself , serving aces at the Poker Stars event in central London  Nadal served up a win at the PokerStars table against Ronaldo to win 50 , 000 for The Rafa Nadal Foundation  Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas both pulled out of Spain ' s squad for their Euro 2016 qualifier against Belarus and Tuesday night ' s friendly with Germany , but ' The Phenomenon ' had no problems with the Portuguese coach ' s leadership .  ' Under Mourinho ' s coaching , they ( Oscar , Willian and Luis ) have a lot of potential to do well because of Mourinho ' s nature , ' he said .  While Oscar , Willian and Luis are topping the table with Chelsea , Ronaldo was not quite so lucky in his PokerStars duel with Rafael Nadal , losing out on the 32 , 000 ( 50 , 000 ) charity prize to the Spanish tennis star at London ' s Hippodrome Casino .  Rafa Nadal served up a win at the PokerStars table against Ronaldo to win 50 , 000 for The Rafa Nadal Foundation . www . pokerstarsweblink  Chelsea ' s Brazilian duo Filipe Luis and Willian have potential to do well under Jose Mourinho , says Ronaldo  ",true,text,validation,Football,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
11926,11927,"Father Benedict Groeschel has sparked outrage claiming it is often boys who seduce priests in religious sex abuse cases  A friar has sparked outrage after claiming it is often the boys who seduce priests in religious sexual abuse cases .  In an interview with the National Catholic Register , Father Benedict Groeschel of the conservative Franciscan Friars of the Renewal , said he did not believe a priest found guilty of sexual absuse should go to jail if it was his first offence .  He even went on to describe disgraced Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky as a ' poor guy ' .  Father Groeschel , an influential voice in the American catholic community , has written several books and appears weekly on a religious television network .  He said : ' People have this picture in their minds of a person planning to be a psychopath .  ' But that ' s not the case . Suppose you have a man having a nervous breakdown , and a youngster comes after him . A lot of the cases , the youngster 14 , 16 , 18 is the seducer . '  He added : ' Here ' s this poor guy Sandusky it went on for years . Interesting : Why didn ' t anyone say anything ? Apparently , a number of kids knew about it and didn ' t break the ice .  ' Well , you know , until recent years , people did not register in their minds that it was a crime . It was a moral failure , scandalous but they didn ' t think of it in terms of legal things . '  ' If you go back 10 or 15 years ago with different sexual difficulties except for rape or violence it was very rarely brought as a civil crime . '  Asked to clarify his commenst he went on to suggest that most of these ' relationships ' are heterosexual in nature , which historically have not been thought of as a crime .  He said : ' If you go back 10 or 15 years ago with different sexual difficulties except for rape or violence it was very rarely brought as a civil crime . Nobody thought of it that way .  ' Sometimes statutory rape would be but only if the girl pushed her case . Parents wouldn ' t touch it . People backed off , for years , on sexual cases . I ' m not sure why .  ' I think perhaps part of the reason would be an embarrassment , that it brings the case out into the open , and the girl ' s name is there , or people will figure out what ' s there , or the youngster involved you know , it ' s not put in the paper , but everybody knows they ' re talking about it .  ' At this point , any priest , any clergyman , any social worker , any teacher , any responsible person in society would become involved in a single sexual act not necessarily intercourse they ' re done .  ' And I ' m inclined to think , on their first offense , they should not go to jail because their intention was not committing a crime . '  But Father Groeschel ' s comments immediately prompted a string of angry posts .  ' Poor guy ' : Father Groeschel suggested disgraced Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky was a victim  One anonymous writer raged : ' Those comments on abuse make me shiver . I really really hope he doesn ' t actually think the way he explained things in those answers .  ' Jerry Sandusky is a monster and the image people have in their mind when his name comes up is that of an evil pervert committing unspeakable acts on an innocent 10 year old in a shower . '  Another wrote : ' Comments like this about pedophilia take the biscuit . I am disgusted at what I have just read .  ' How dare this prominent priest accuse abuse victims of acting as seducers ! You can  justify or condone pedophilia . It is a disordered and depraved act . God forgive you for your comments ! '  Siginificantly The National Catholic Register is a publication affiliated with the disgraced Legion of Christ religious order .  The legion , which in 1995 helped saved the National Catholic Register from closing , was involved in one of the most damaging Catholic sexual abuse scandals of recent times .  Its former leader , the Rev . Marcial Maciel , who had close links to Pope John Paul  , had been investigated for a string of sexual abuse claims since the mid 1950s .  In 2005 , the Vatican was dragged into disrepute after it emerged Maciel had been abusing seminarians for year .  New York State based Groeschel founded the Trinity Retreat , which hot the headlines in 2006 after it emerged priests accused of sexually abusing children , were being given the option stay at the retreat under supervision .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,satire,true,True,no,no,negative,past
11931,11932,"On the third day of confirmation hearings on Capitol Hill, there was one emerging theme: Many of the nominees of   Donald J. Trump have disagreements with him on policy. There were serious questions, efforts at diversion with humor, and   statements by senators. Overall, though, none of the nominees made any major mistakes, and one of them, James N. Mattis, a retired Marine Corps general, was approved as Mr. Trump’s choice for defense secretary by the Senate Armed Services Committee, 24 to 3. Fun fact: He doesn’t care for the nickname “Mad Dog. ” ■ Mr. Mattis diverged sharply from his prospective boss on Russia, calling Moscow one of the top threats to the   world order. “I’m all for engagement,” Mr. Mattis said, “but we also have to recognize reality in terms of what Russia is up to. ” ■ Mr. Mattis also put daylight between himself and Mr. Trump on  and indicated strong support for the alliance’s principle of collective defense. “My view is that nations with allies thrive, and nations without allies don’t,” Mr. Mattis said. ■ Mr. Mattis said he supported the Iran nuclear agreement, which Mr. Trump has repeatedly criticized. ■ And finally, he said that he had no intention of revisiting the Obama administration’s decisions on social issues at the Defense Department, like the opening of combat roles to women. ■ Representative Mike Pompeo, the Kansas Republican who is Mr. Trump’s nominee for director of the C. I. A. said the agency would pursue information about efforts by Russia to interfere with the American election, including any possible links to the Trump campaign. “I promise I will pursue the facts wherever they take us,” he said. ■ In a reversal, Mr. Pompeo said emphatically that he would not endorse torture, including coercive methods like waterboarding. Mr. Pompeo had previously said he did not believe waterboarding was torture, and that it was legal. ■ Mr. Pompeo signaled that he agreed with the assessment of United States intelligence agencies that Russian President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia tried to promote Mr. Trump’s candidacy and to undermine the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton, describing the report that was delivered last week to Mr. Trump and President Obama as “sound. ” ■ Ben Carson’s confirmation hearing for secretary of housing and urban development was not attended by Mr. Trump. But Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, directed biting comments at the  . Ms. Warren, while accusing Mr. Trump of hiding his assets, repeatedly asked Mr. Carson if he would commit to keeping taxpayers’ dollars away from Trump businesses. ■ Mr. Carson successfully parried questions about whether someone who had gained acclaim as neurosurgeon was qualified to oversee the vast federal housing agency. Though he has no background in housing, he avoided any major stumbles. ■ Democrats seemed to take it a bit easy on Mr. Carson, with some talking about his young granddaughter attending and others questioning him without being too adversarial.",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
11932,11933,"California Flannery O ' Connor did not expect to become the subject of a biography . She thought the narrow borders of her life lived "" between the house and the chicken yard "" wouldn ' t give a writer much to work with .  Author Flannery O ' Connor ( here with two of her peacocks ) remains a subject of fascination for many .  It would therefore come as a surprise ( and probably secretly please her ) to learn she is the focus of at least three .  The latest is "" Flannery : A Life of Flannery O ' Connor "" ( Little , Brown ) by Brad Gooch , an exhaustively researched exploration of O ' Connor ' s unlikely journey from shy , sarcastic and "" contrary "" Georgia girl to acerbic literary treasure .  That she suffered from lupus and died before the age of 40 is well known to fans of O ' Connor . But Gooch uncovers much that even ardent followers of the author will find revealing , including details of her college career as a cartoonist , and her time in Iowa City at the Iowa Writers ' Workshop .  The book manages to synthesize what seems difficult to reconcile : how such a chaste , religious person could produce stories that are bitingly funny and filled with shocking violence . Watch O ' Connor ' s fascinating story  Brad Gooch : I first read her stories in my 20s and loved them , and then a little later , the collected letters came up , "" The Habit of Being . "" And I ' d had a few hunches about her from reading the stories , which were a little mysterious . . . . And then when I read the letters , a lot of those hunches seemed true . . . .  Trying to put the life of this woman together with the stories became as interesting as the stories to me .  Gooch : Her name was Mary Flannery O ' Connor , and her mother and everyone in Milledgeville ( Georgia ) , where she lived most of her life , continued to call her Mary Flannery . But when she went to Iowa City the Iowa Writers ' Workshop early on , she decided she wanted to be a writer , and she decided on the name Flannery . She later said , "" Who would want to buy these stories of an Irish washerwoman named Mary O ' Connor ? ""  Partly , I think she wanted to lose the Southern ness of "" Mary Flannery . "" . . . Also , Flannery was a gender neutral name . . . . Her initial rejection letters were actually addressed to "" Mr Flannery O ' Connor , "" and I think she kind of liked that neutrality .  Gooch : I think the discipline of her writing becomes . . . almost inspiring . She developed lupus when she was 25 , she lived until she was 39 . And in that period , she kept up this regimen that she had begun at the Iowa Writers ' Workshop of writing every morning for three hours , even if it meant sitting in front of a blank page . . . .  Near the end of her life she was editing her final stories and hiding them under the pillow in the hospital from the doctors so that she could go on . She was still working on her last story after she had last rites . . . . All of that is a sort of a level of commitment that is startling and unmatched .  Gooch : Her style goes under these names , like grotesque or gothic , but she was really crossing these two wires of humor and almost this kind of dark theological writing that had never been put together before . . . .  In "" A Good Man is Hard to Find "" a family on vacation . . . meets someone named the Misfit , this ex con in the woods . . . . And he winds up shooting the entire family while spouting existentialist , nihilist philosophy .  And in that story , there ' s always a point where you keep laughing past this line , and suddenly someone ' s being shot and you ' re laughing and then readers get very uncomfortable . They can ' t tell whether this is supposed to be funny or not , and I think that O ' Connor definitely works in that territory , where you can ' t tell if she ' s being funny or tragic and serious .  Gooch : "" A Good Man is Hard to Find "" was a Bessie Smith song "" Everything That Rises Must Converge "" she got from Teilhard de Chardin , a favorite Catholic theologian of hers .  You see in a way how sophisticated she was in her approach to her writing . I think sometimes when people read the stories , they confuse O ' Connor with the character in her story , and they think she is some Grandma Moses crazy folk artist , but actually she was an incredibly educated artist who had read everything , including a lot of theology . . . . The titles . . . are attracting and punchy , but you also see that she ' s working kind of consciously with these reverberating references .  Gooch : When she was forced by lupus to move back to the South and live on a dairy farm with her mother in Georgia , one of the first things she did besides getting very serious about working on her stories was to order a peacock . And eventually she had 39 peacocks . . . . And I think that she was very conscious that the peacock was this gawky , comic bird . I think she identified with the peacock for that reason . The peacock squawked all night and annoyed people , ate her mother ' s flowers , and yet , at this certain willful moment , opened its tail and revealed what she called this "" map of the universe . ""  So , I think it really stood in a way for this kind of transfiguration that would take place for her spiritually but also in the beauty of her writing . . . . She definitely made an effort to make the peacock her own personal logo .  Gooch : She seems to be ever more popular . When she died she was considered almost a minor writer . Her second volume of stories hadn ' t even come out her "" Collected Stories "" was published in the early 1970s and got a posthumous National Book Award .  It seems that every decade , interest in her grows . When the Library of America put out her collected works 10 years ago , she outsold Faulkner . So she has this popularity and interest .  And she increasingly shows up in funny pop culture ways . I think in the last episode of "" Lost "" the character was reading "" Everything That Rises Must Converge "" in the last scene . So , counterintuitively , she ' s only growing in importance .  Gooch : What became inspiring to me , unexpectedly , writing this book was how she dealt with her illness , and that she finally was nobody ' s victim . . . . Everything we think of as a Flannery O ' Connor story came after she had been diagnosed as having lupus and settled in to life in the South . You get the sense that this was almost a magical thinking , where she thought that writing these stories was keeping her alive .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
11937,11938,"Reuters) - Getting more Americans to enroll for health insurance under President Barack Obama’s healthcare law known as Obamacare is a top priority of his administration until President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20, the White House said on Thursday. “We would be focused on ... maximizing the opportunity that currently is available for millions of Americans to go to healthcare.gov during the open enrollment period and sign up for healthcare,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest told a news briefing. Sylvia Burwell, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, tweeted on Thursday that Nov. 9 was HealthCare.gov’s best day with 100,000 sign-ups since it began selling the 2017 Obamacare plans on Nov. 1. The government’s goal is for more than 13.8 million sign-ups initially. Trump has said that he plans to repeal Obamacare, formally known as the Affordable Care Act. Insurers have said that 2017 Obamacare plans will remain in place and that any changes would affect 2018 plans. Earnest said that people should not worry about what could happen to the healthcare exchanges under the Trump administration. “These are benefits that are available to them today. We certainly would encourage people to sign up and capitalize on the good opportunity that’s there,” he said. Obama met with Trump on Thursday for the first time in a one-on-one, 90-minute meeting in the White House Oval Office.    Trump also released a review of his goals to overhaul healthcare on his website, reiterating that he would repeal the Affordable Care Act. Trump’s pledge to repeal Obamacare may not be easy. He does not have the votes in Congress for an outright repeal and will have to cut away at its financing first, health policy experts say. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
11942,11943,"ASHLAND, Ohio (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton told reporters on Sunday that she will attend the three debates set up ahead of the Nov. 8 U.S. presidential election. “I will be there,” Clinton said, responding to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s complaints that the debates schedule conflicts with televised National Football League games. (This version of the story corrects the dateline to ASHLAND, Ohio, instead of  HEIGHTS) ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
11951,11952,"I felt as if I was treading on hallowed ground . A leather boot , white with mould , lay half buried at my feet .  Nearby I glanced down on a harness smothered in lichen lying beside the skull of a mule , while strewn all around me were the remains of rusty cans and oil drums .  High above on the hilltop stood simple headstones and derelict wooden crosses marking unnamed graves .  The infamous Chilkoot Trail in British Columbia , used by thousands of men during the Klondike Gold Rush  Keith Wolfe Smarch , a First Nation master carver , had abandoned work on a totem pole to guide me along the infamous Chilkoot Trail , where hundreds of men and thousands of pack animals lost their lives as they headed to Canada ' s frozen wastes during the Klondike Gold Rush .  He is descended from Skookum Jim , the first man to find gold in a remote riverbed in the Yukon in 1896 .  The discovery started a stampede along the treacherous mountain track through snowdrifts , blizzards and avalanches , each man weighed down with supplies .  The 32 mile hike took weeks to complete but even then their journey was far from over . At the end of the trail they staggered into Bennett , a makeshift city of tents , hotels and saloons at the head of a deep green fjord , where they settled for a brief respite .  All that is left of Bennett today is its split log chapel and station , still used by the White Pass Railway . ' On May 29 , 1898 more than 7 , 000 roughly hewn rafts set sail , ' Keith told me . ' There was a further 400 miles of hazardous waterways , canyons and rapids to negotiate before they reached their goal . '  Everything in the Yukon is of epic proportions . Bordering Alaska , it is almost twice the size of Britain , with ranges of sparkling snow crusted peaks , emerald lakes and vast forests .  There are few signs of habitation in this pristine wilderness , with only a few roads linking the small communities .  Spectacular snowfield : Wendy flew over the world ' s largest non polar icefield in the Kluane National Park  Distances between them are mind boggling . Locals travel up to 100 miles for their weekly shop , and some days I drove for seven or eight hours along deserted highways , rarely passing another vehicle .  In the Kluane National Park , I took a scenic flight over the world ' s largest non polar icefield .  We skimmed barren hillsides , almost touching the curly horned Dall ' s sheep balanced on the rocky outcrops . As we soared higher , I looked down on immense snowfields before we swooped over glaciers .  Kluane is home to a huge grizzly bear population , so one morning I set off in search of them with retired ranger Brent Liddle and his dog Blue .  Carrying pepper spray for protection , he led me around a beautiful turquoise lake and up towards the saddle of King ' s Throne Mountain .  Clapping hands to warn of our presence , we scrambled along a rocky path , stepping over tangled roots and clambering over fallen logs .  Kluane is home to a huge grizzly bear population ( left ) . Right , some of the original Gold Rush prospectors  Suddenly Brent pointed to a spruce tree . The bark was worn away and fresh hairs were glued to the sap .  ' A bear has been rubbing his head and back here , ' he explained . Eyes darting in all directions , we proceeded cautiously but there was no sign of the grizzly .  I was quite relieved . In fact I saw more wildlife along the roadside than I did on foot , sometimes stopping the car only yards from black bears guzzling on dandelions among carpets of fireweed and blue lupins .  At Tombstone Territorial Park we pulled in to watch caribou grazing on the tundra and beavers paddling to their lodge , mouths crammed with twigs .  Unless you stay at one of the designated campsites , accommodation in the parks is limited . My favourite was the Tagish Wilderness Lodge a speedboat whisks you across a lake on a 45 minute journey from the nearest road .  Four log cabins are hidden in the trees , yards from the water ' s edge . The main building consists of a spacious living area decorated with moose and caribou antlers , luxury bathrooms and a pine scented sauna .  Dawson City , epicentre of the Gold Rush , was the largest city in Western Canada back in 1898  Wendy pans for gold . . and finds a precious nugget  My hosts , Gebhard and Sarah , took me on boat trips along the shoreline and hikes up into the hinterland , passing their heatsensor camera on the way .  In the evenings we ' d upload the photos showing a lynx , bear and wolf prowling past .  I loved the sense of isolation . I spent hours on the jetty watching speckled loons diving for fish .  Occasionally a young moose would venture tentatively into the water nearby while bald eagles flew overhead .  The views were breathtaking and the silence so intense I could hear a pine needle drop .  My last stop was Dawson City , epicentre of the Gold Rush . In 1898 it was the largest city in Western Canada .  Now a  World Heritage Site , it looks much the same , with painted weatherboard houses and wooden boardwalks lining unpaved streets .  Archive film in the visitor centre shows the city crowded with prospectors in dark suits and bowler hats .  Now the restored buildings stand hugger mugger with rusty , corrugated iron shacks sinking slowly into the ground due to the permafrost .  Head to Diamond Tooth Gertie ' s if you want to watch can can shows or play blackjack with tourists from the cruise ships .  I preferred The Pit , the bar in the Westminster Hotel , where I had a beer with locals and listened to live country music .  Just a couple of miles away in Bonanza Creek , I met up with Sylvia and her sister , Ginny , who are both descended from an original prospector . Their site at Claim 33 was close to the spot where Skookum Jim made his historic find . Handing me a pan of gravel , Sylvia demonstrated how to sieve and sluice it .  As I shook the pan back and forth , dipping it in water to drain off the excess sand , I stopped short . A tiny nugget was glistening in the bottom of the pan .  I had found my own crock of gold .  Windows on the Wild ( www . windowsonthewildweblink , 020 8742 1556 ) offers a 14 night Yukon Explored fly drive holiday from 2 , 825pp , including accommodation , return flights from the  to Whitehorse , fully inclusive car hire , five guided hikes and some meals .  For more details , go to www . travelyukonweblink .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
11956,11957,"Tiger Woods has not held golf ' s No . 1 ranking since October 2010 , but he is now within touching distance of adding to his record 623 weeks at the top .  The 14 time major champion can topple Luke Donald by winning the World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational tournament for the eighth time as long as the Englishman finishes no higher than third come Sunday .  "" It would be nice to get back there because obviously it meant that as far as I had dropped , to build my way back up to this point , I ' ve had some wins , I ' ve had some very high finishes , I ' ve been consistent , "" said Woods , who dropped as low as 58th following his well publicized divorce and injury problems .  "" That ' s how you get to be one of the top players in the world . To be ranked as low as I did and then come all the way back to , as of right now , No . 2 , that ' s pretty good . ""  Woods has finished tied for 40th , 21st and third in the three majors ahead of this season ' s final one next week ' s  Championship at Kiawah Island .  Scott ' s collapse hands British Open crown to Els  He tops the  Tour ' s FedEx Cup standings after three tournament victories which have taken him to second on the all time list with 74 .  He is the only three time winner on the U . S . circuit , but will be teeing off at Firestone on Thursday with South Africa ' s Branden Grace the only player on the European Tour with a hat trick of victories in 2012 .  "" I feel very comfortable where I am at because everything is progressing , "" Woods said on the  Tour website . "" This year I ' ve taken the steps headed in the right direction and shot better scores and been more consistent .  "" When you make changes like I ' ve made in my game , it takes a little bit of time , and things are starting to click in now . And to have three wins this year , it ' s headed in the right direction . ""  Woods pulled out of the final round of the last  event , the Cadillac Championship in March , but has since put his injuries behind him .  "" It ' s nice knowing that we have a big event with the best players in the world here right before a major championship , "" the 36 year old said .  "" This will be a nice way to get our games ready for obviously next week but also really test us at the same time . Having back to back championships like this , it ' s a positive thing . ""  Donald has held the No . 1 ranking for 55 weeks across four different stints , but is still seeking his first major title .  "" I ' m certainly very proud of my No . 1 ranking and how long I ' ve kept it , "" the 34 year old said . "" That shows how consistent I ' ve been over the last couple years , and I ' ll continue to try and work on accomplishing a lot more in this game .  "" And if I keep doing what I know I can do , winning more tournaments and hopefully winning majors , then hopefully I can stay there .  "" But obviously I ' ve got a lot of great players behind me , including Tiger . It ' s good to have guys like that chomping at your heel . They push you to work harder , to challenge yourself to try and get to that next level . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
11962,11963,"A junior professor drives his Doppler On Wheels mobile radar trucks through Moore , Oklahoma , less than 90 seconds after a tornado has torn a path of destruction through the city . Debris pieces of homes falls from the sky onto his truck . The scene is shocking wrecks of houses covered with dirt are all that is left in the twister ' s path , and people are still huddled underground in shelters .  The professor doesn ' t know it yet , but he has just recorded 302 mph winds in the core of the vortex , the strongest wind speed ever measured anywhere in the world . He doesn ' t learn until later that his wife and baby are in a shelter just 3 miles south of the tornado .  The year was 1999 . The professor was me . Forty six people died in tornadoes that day . I was chasing twisters with the  radars mobile weather radars driven up to tornadoes to make ultra fine detail , 3 D maps of the winds and debris . I was trying to learn more about how tornadoes form , about how the winds cause destruction , with the optimistic hope that this would soon lead to better forecasts , longer warning lead times , fewer false alarms , fewer deaths .  Tornado prediction is improving , scientists say  In 1999 , tornado warnings were issued by the National Weather Service an average of 13 short minutes before touchdown , and the false alarm rate was a whopping 75 . The same remains essentially true now . And on Monday , my team and several other teams of really smart scientists with mobile radars and other equipment independently concluded incorrectly that southern Oklahoma , about 50 miles south of Moore , was at the highest risk of strong tornadoes . We all missed the opportunity to collect data in the Moore tornado .  Opinion : We love and fear the Oklahoma skies  Why ? Why haven ' t scientists and all the smart forecasters been able to improve tornado forecasts ? And why , even when communities like Moore , Oklahoma , and Joplin , Missouri , ( devasted by a tornado in 2011 ) and others are warned sometimes 30 minutes ahead of time do so many people die ? We can ' t expect that there will be zero deaths from tornadoes , but can we do better ?  For people to be safe from tornadoes , several things must happen . Scientists need to better understand the details of how tornadoes form , what events precede tornado formation , and how to better distinguish between thunderstorms that will make tornadoes and the overwhelming majority that will not . Then , forecasters need to be able to integrate that knowledge with observations , mainly from the national network of government weather surveillance radars and computer simulations to detect tornado precursors .  Warnings need to be effectively communicated to those most at risk , using traditional methods such as sirens and weather radio and new media like Twitter . Finally , those who are warned need to heed these warnings and take immediate and effective precautions .  Opinion : The making of a nightmare tornado  In recent years , scientists have learned much about tornadoes . The National Science Foundation ' s DOWs have mapped the winds in nearly 200 different tornadoes , large and small , during birth and death , and while passing through towns . Scientists , supported by the foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , are analyzing nearly 30 terabytes of data , the equivalent of about 8 , 000 DVDs collected during VORTEX2 ( or Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes ) .  VORTEX2 is the largest and most ambitious tornado study in history begun in 2009 in which 100 scientists in 50 scientific vehicles surrounded and probed tornadic super cell thunderstorms .  The formation of tornadoes is hard to predict , but we are making headway in identifying potential precursors . But , as our missed forecasts for Moore show , we have a long way to go . Even with the most sophisticated instruments , we can ' t tell even 20 minutes ahead of time whether a super cell will become a tornado .  Opinion : The extraordinary courage of teachers  The public and local governments have a critical role to play . No matter what warnings are issued by forecasters , every adult ' s safety is ultimately in his or her own hands . One has to choose first to heed a warning . Then , critically , one has to have a safe place to go . In particular , buildings hosting the most vulnerable schools and hospitals need to have hardened shelters . Communities need to enforce the most basic and inexpensive good building practices so that roofs are attached securely to walls , which are anchored to foundations , so that buildings are more resistant to tornadoes .  Moore in bull ' s eye twice , science may know why  I believe that we are doing a pretty good job at all of this . While the tolls in Moore and Joplin are tragic , most people who lived and worked in even the worst swaths of destruction survived . During the 1999 tornado , for example , more than 400 homes were completely destroyed not just some walls down , but all walls down but only about 40 people died . Many thousands lived in the paths of the 2011 Joplin and 2013 Moore tornadoes , and only a small fraction died .  But we can and should do much better . Tornado deaths can be reduced , if not to zero then still substantially . It will take the continued efforts of scientists , forecasters , builders , community planners and ultimately the people who live in the path of the most intensely destructive phenomenon .  The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Joshua Wurman .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
12009,12010,"Sent Huge Weapons Shipments To Saudi Arabia Weeks Before Yemen Funeral Bombing Without U.S. support there’s no way Saudi coalition could wage the war at this level.” | October 28,   Members of the Higher Council for Civilian Community Organization inspect a destroyed funeral hall as they protest against a deadly Saudi-led airstrike on a funeral hall in Sanaa, Yemen, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2016.  Published in partnership with Shadowproof .  The United States shipped hundreds of millions of dollars in weapons to Saudi Arabia just weeks prior to the Saudi-led coalition’s funeral bombing in Sanaa, Yemen, according to a new analysis of U.S. government data conducted by Shadowproof.  The October 8 bombing killed 140 and wounded over 500. It was widely condemned by human rights groups and exposed U.S. support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen to greater scrutiny.  In response to a query from Shadowproof about the funeral strike, State Department spokesperson Frankie Sturm replied, “We have regularly expressed our concerns to the Saudi-led coalition, and urged them – as we have urged all sides, including the Houthis – to take all feasible measures to mitigate harm to civilians and civilian objects and return to a cessation of hostilities.”  Despite the  government’s purported desire for a “cessation of hostilities” and “concerns” for civilians, Shadowproof’s analysis shows that large quantities of U.S. weapons continue to flow to the Saudi government, impeding a sustained ceasefire and enabling civilian carnage.  In July and August, the U.S. shipped Saudi $8.8 million in bombs, $47.3 million in parts for bombs, 313 guided missiles worth $26 million, one military helicopter worth $15.7 million, and 334 armored fighting vehicles and 19 armored vehicles, which together are worth over $197 million.  From April to July, when peace talks were active, the U.S. shipped $50 million in armored vehicles and $82 million in parts for bombs. Talks broke down in July and were followed by a major increase in coalition air assaults in Yemen.  Following the attack on a funeral, the U.S. government announced it was “ reviewing ” its support for the Saudi coalition; however, as of October 10 , there were no changes to U.S. military support for coalition operations.  A UN-brokered ceasefire implemented in April ushered in a major reduction in fighting. Yet, U.S. weapons shipments continued.  In fact, over the course of President Barack Obama’s administration, it has approved a staggering $115 billion in weapons sales to Saudi Arabia—including a $1.29 billion sale in November 2015, which included over 19,000 bombs and a $1.15 billion sale of tank components, ammunition, and other weapons.  The U.S. government has also provided logistical and intelligence support that has facilitated the Saudi coalition’s carnage.  Given Saudi’s dependence on the U.S. government for military support, it is difficult to overstate the degree of influence the U.S possesses over the Saudi government. For example, Bruce Riedel, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution said in April, “If the United States of America and the United Kingdom tonight told King Salman that this war has to end, it would end tomorrow.”  Kristine Beckerle, who researches Yemen for Human Rights Watch, told Shadowproof, “The Saudi-led coalition’s air campaign in Yemen has been devastating for civilians, hitting marketplaces, factories, homes and hospitals. There is no question  weapons have been used in some of these unlawful attacks, including one of the most deadly. The  should be suspending arms sales to Saudi, until it not only curbs unlawful strikes but also credibly investigates those that have already occurred.”  A survey conducted by the Yemen Data Project found that, from the beginning of the Saudi coalition’s air campaign in Yemen in March 2015, through August of 2016, more than one-third of the coalition’s 8,600 strikes hit non-military targets.  “The coalition is responsible for twice as many civilian casualties as all other forces put together, virtually all as a result of air strikes,”  human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein said back in March.  Nasser Arrabyee, a journalist in Sanaa, told Shadowproof, “In the first weeks of the war the battle for Sanna was over, all the military sites were destroyed, yet the coalition strikes continue on a daily basis, often hitting civilians.”  The U.S. government continues to insist the Saudi coalition isn’t intentionally targeting civilians, but Colette Gadenne, who heads Médecins Sans Frontières’ (MSF) Yemen mission told Shadowproof, “We’ve seen airstrikes hit civilian locations so often. For example, there was a strike on a crowded marketplace in Harad at 8 pm on July 4. It took place after people broke their Ramadan fast. And we only know about the strikes we see directly.”  Three  hospitals, one  mobile clinic, and an  ambulance were attacked by coalition forces.  After the funeral attack, images appeared on social media allegedly showing fragments of a U.S-supplied tail fin for a  guidance kit for a U.S-made Mark 82 500 lb. bomb.  Ali Al-Ahmed, an expert on Saudi Arabia at the Institute for Gulf Affairs and himself a Saudi, told Shadowproof the Saudis indeed target civilians.  “They couldn’t defeat [the Houthis] on the battlefield so they’re killing women and children, bombing schools, to get that result,” Ahmed explained.  Back in 2010, U.S. Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning disclosed a State Department cable from the same year that showed the U.S. government provided “imagery” of the Yemen border to the Saudi government, despite evidence Saudi aircraft were attacking civilians when attacking Houthis in northern Yemen. Assistant Minister of Defense and Aviation Prince Khaled bin Sultan appealed to a U.S. ambassador to give them a Predator drone to help limit civilian casualties.  Another cable from 2009 that was also disclosed by Manning shows the U.S. government approved military assistance for Saudi Arabia or Yemen if aid was not used against Houthis. Since then, the U.S. government has allowed the Saudi Kingdom to pull them into an open-ended war.  With regard to al Qaida, Ahmed noted, “Hundreds of Saudi jets and their allies bombing Yemeni forces have avoided bombing…positions in Yemen of al Qaida.”  “The Saudi air force is really becoming the air force for al-Qaida,” Ahmed said. “The Saudi bombings have helped mostly one group: al-Qaida.”  Ahmed also stressed the bombings fuel “anti-Americanism.” Prior to the war, the Yemeni government cooperated closely with the U.S. in counterterrorism matters.  In a letter to President Obama, 36 members of congress urged him to block the $1.15 billion arms deal announced in August. The letter stated, “Amnesty International has documented at least 33 unlawful airstrikes by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition across Yemen that appear to have deliberately targeted civilians and civilians facilities, such as hospitals, schools, markets, and places of worship. These attacks may amount to war crimes.”  According to a recent report by Reuters, the coalition has hit sites the U.S. government put on a “do not strike” list. The U.S. designated these locations as being vital infrastructure for delivery of food aid and for post-war reconstruction.  The Saudi coalition declared as a target the entire Saada Governorate (measuring 4,000 square miles), which borders Saudi Arabia. It also reportedly used incendiary weapons, white phosphorous, as well as cluster weapons, which are banned by most countries.  Both of these weapons were supplied by the U.S.  The war’s effect on civilians in Yemen is enormous. “The jets overhead scare the children. There is no place people can go to be safe, even hospitals are hit in strikes. The population is traumatized,” Gadenne said.  More than 10,000 civilians have been killed since the Saudi-led coalition began, including more than 1,000 children. More than 80 percent of the population now requires some form of humanitarian assistance for survival.  Beatriz Ochoa from Save the Children told Shadowproof, “The number of children that are severely malnourished has doubled to 370,000 since the beginning of the coalition bombing. 1.6 million women and children under 5 are suffering from acute malnutrition with over 14 million, or roughly half of Yemen’s population, are considered food insecure.”  The coalition imposed a blockade, which has resulted in shortages of medicine and food, as well as price spikes and hoarding of goods.  Recently, there was a reported cholera outbreak, which may exacerbate the already dangerous health crisis.  Another serious concern is unexploded ordnance. “A 16-year-old girl was collecting firewood in Sadaa, and there had been an air strike in the area 3 months prior. An unexploded ordnance went off and she lost a leg,” Gadenne recalled.  Ms. Gadenne said  has seen victims from unexploded ordnance all over the country. Research from Amnesty International found thousands of unexploded munitions in northern Yemen, following a 10-day tour of the region earlier this year.  The dire humanitarian crisis resulting from the war has given rise to a great deal of anger in Yemen, according to Arrabyee. “Yemenis see the war as an American war, as the coalition couldn’t carry out the strikes in Yemen without U.S. support. There is a big campaign saying Americans are the ones killing the Yemenis people.”  William Hartung from the Center for International Policy told Shadowproof the U.S. is directly involved in Yemen, even if it’s not the one dropping the bombs.  “Without U.S. support there’s no way Saudi coalition could wage the war at this level,” Hartung said. “The large weapons deals and mid-flight refueling provided by the U.S. play an important role in Saudi’s ability to conduct strikes in Yemen.” Be Sociable, Share!",fake,news,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
12019,12020,"Trucks carrying supplies to  troops crossed from Pakistan into Afghanistan for the first time in seven months on Thursday after Islamabad agreed to reopen routes , officials said .  The four trucks , under heavy security , crossed the border from Chaman in Pakistan ' s Balochistan province .  Because Afghanistan is landlocked , many supplies for  led troops fighting Islamic militants have to be trucked in from Pakistan .  On Tuesday , Islamabad decided to reopen the crucial supply routes shut down on November 27 , a day after coalition forces mistakenly killed 24 Pakistani troops .  The incident plunged U . S . Pakistan relations to an all time low .  The Pakistani routes offer a shorter and more direct route than the one  has been using since November that went through Russia and other nations , avoiding Pakistan altogether .  It has cost the U . S . 100 million more a month to use the alternative northern routes .  Imran Khan , founder of the Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf ( Movement for Justice ) party , lambasted the decision to reopen the routes , saying it was done without meeting conditions set forth by Parliament .  He also criticized the incumbent government as being a pawn of the United States .  The talks to reopen routes had been stuck on two key issues Pakistan ' s demand to charge more per container shipped across its border , and Pakistan ' s demand that the United States apologize for the friendly fire incident in November 2011 .  Pakistani Taliban issue threats over reopening of  supply routes  On Tuesday , U . S . Secretary of State Hillary Clinton apologized .  "" We are sorry for the losses suffered by the Pakistani military . We are committed to working closely with Pakistan and Afghanistan to prevent this from ever happening again , "" Clinton ' s statement said .  Until her apology , the U . S . government had only expressed regret over the incident , but had not issued a direct apology .  Under Tuesday ' s announcements , Pakistan agreed not to impose any transit fee with the reopened routes , Clinton said in a statement .  The Pakistani route costs about 250 per truck . Pakistan had been seeking 5 , 000 per truck as a condition of reopening the supply lines , which the United States refused to pay .  The U . S . military will now pay Pakistan 1 . 1 billion it owes as part of the deal struck to reopen the  supply lines , according to U . S . officials who had knowledge of the agreement ' s details but weren ' t authorized to speak publicly .  The money is part of a U . S . military program called "" coalition support funds , "" which reimburses the Pakistani military for counterterrorism efforts . The U . S . halted paying the bills from Pakistan as tension rose between the two countries .  The Pentagon will consult with Congress about paying the bills prior to paying Pakistan in full , according to one of the U . S . officials .  Meanwhile , the Pakistani Taliban has threatened to attack  trucks , saying the supplies are used to target its members fighting against occupation in Afghanistan .  Transporters who resume supplies will be "" considered a friend of the U . S . "" and will face the consequences , a spokesman for the militant group said Wednesday .  Taliban have attacked  supplies in the past , and killed drivers and other crew .  U . S . and  secure exit route from Afghanistan  Journalist Ayza Omar contributed to this report .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
12027,12028,"October 28, 2016 at 4:39 am  Apostle Tahar does not withold anything from us. We know what Esau will do, before he does it.  is guiding his Elect through these last days. Stay faithful to TMH. We must pray and not be slack. Although we are one family, remember that our test will be between each member and TMH. Build your faith now for Jacob's Trouble!!",fake,news,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present
12036,12037,"Amazon moved closer to stepping out of cyberspace after signing a lease for space across from the Empire State Building that could be the location for a planned brick and mortar storefront .  It was reported back in October that the online retail corporation was looking to open a physical store in New York City .  On Thursday , Vornado Realty Trust issued a press release stating that Amazon had inked a 17 year lease on a 470 , 000 square foot space near Herald Square .  Offline : Amazon signed a lease for office and retail space across the street from the Empire State Building this week  The 12 story building is currently home to storefronts for clothing brands Express and Mango .  ' We have leased this building primarily as corporate office space and we intend to sublease to other tenants the ground floor retail space , ' Amazon spokesperson Kelly Cheeseman told the Huffington Post in an email .  Amazon did not respond to questions about whether it planned to use the space for its own retail store .  The Wall Street Journal revealed back in October that the company was quietly planning to experiment with a physical storefront in Manhattan .  Speaking with unnamed sources , the Journal reported the planned location would hold a limited inventory and be more like a warehouse than a traditional retail space .  Customers would be able to pick up and return items purchased online , and the location would serve as a distribution center for couriers , according to sources familiar with the plan .  Curbfront : Amazon brought a truck to New York that allowed customers to demo and buy its e readers and tablets  Empire State : The online megastore that has long competed with brick and mortar bookstores and other retailers reportedly plans to move in reverse and open a physical location  Still , at least one person that spoke to the paper stated that plans could change for the Internet retail giant .  Amazon has already tried to bring its brand to consumers in the real world through a mobile retail truck .  The food truck style store sells e readers and tablets , along with Amazon Fire  , and has been spotted in Brooklyn and Manhattan as well as Santa Monica .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
12038,12039,"There had to be at least some credence to the reports about his demise . Alleva and the rest of  ' s administration left Miles twisting in the wind , as speculation mounted that the Texas A M game might be his last as  ' s coach . It wasn ' t until after the Tigers beat the Aggies to end a three game losing streak that Alleva and  chancellor F . King Alexander informed Miles he ' d be returning as the Tigers ' coach next season .  When Miles was asked how he was told the news , he answered in a way we might have expected .  "" It ' s nice to have them come and say the job you ' ve been doing you can continue to do , "" Miles said .  Until Alleva made the announcement about Miles ' future , it sure seemed that he might be coaching his final game at  . He seemed to soak up his surroundings as he and his team made their way from their team buses to Tiger Stadium through the "" Tiger Walk . "" He was serenaded by fans on the team ' s Senior Day festivities during pregame ceremonies , and then , of course , was carried off the field on his players ' shoulders when the game was over .  "" I now know what it ' s like to ride an elephant , "" Miles said . "" It scares you to death , and you just try to grab onto ears . I thought if I fell off the back , I ' d break my neck . If I fell off the front , I ' d bust my nose . ""  Unfortunately , Miles also now knows what it feels like to be a racehorse sent to the glue factory . If a certain faction of  boosters had their way , he would have been fired and replaced by Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher . Alleva and the others did nothing to stop the rampant speculation until late Saturday night .  "" There are probably a couple of guys I ' d like to meet in an alley and have a little street talk with , but I ' m not built that way , "" Miles said .  It was evident the rumors took a toll on his players and probably Miles ' family as well .  "" I ' m a Miles , "" he said . "" I ' ve got clear focus and I ' m not distracted easily . ""  There ' s no question Miles has problems to fix in  ' s program . Since losing to Alabama 21 0 in the  National Championship at the end of the 2011 season , the Tigers have dropped at least three games in each of the past four seasons . They ' re 16 8 in the past two , including a 9 7 mark against  foes .   ' s struggling offense has been the biggest issue . The Tigers have scored 19 points or fewer in each of their past four games . Entering Saturday ,  ranked 105th in  in passing with 182 . 1 yards per game . They ' ve thrown only 12 touchdowns in 11 games , which is 32 fewer than Western Kentucky and 30 fewer than Bowling Green .   ' s inability to develop a quarterback has largely made tailback Leonard Fournette a one man offense . The past month proved that not even Fournette , who set an  single season rushing record with 1 , 741 yards , can do it alone . Against Texas A M , quarterback Brandon Harris completed only 7 of 21 passes for 83 yards with no touchdowns and one interception . It was the fourth time this season he threw for fewer than 100 yards in a game .  Miles hinted Saturday night that changes are coming to  ' s offense . Offensive coordinator Cam Cameron is in the final year of his contract , and Miles might be inclined to reshape his staff on that side of the ball . He stopped short of saying there would be a complete overhaul of his offense .  "" Does the serious overhaul of this offense include Leonard Fournette ? Are we taking away the running game ? "" Miles said . "" There ' s not a serious overhaul because the engine seems to be pretty freakin ' strong . Do we want to consider changes ? You betcha . But I think an overhaul is a bit much . ""  There ' s still time for Miles to turn it around . A couple of years ago , many Oklahoma fans felt Bob Stoops ' brand of football had become stale . Before this season , he hired East Carolina offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley , an "" Air Raid "" disciple , who installed a wide open offense at  . Now the Sooners are Big 12 champs , ranked No . 3 in the country and will probably have a spot in the College Football Playoff .  Wouldn ' t it be less embarrassing and , oh , about 13 . 5 million cheaper to hire an offensive coordinator like  ' s Doug Meacham or Sonny Cumbie or Arizona State ' s Mike Norvell to fix the problems on offense ? Of course , Miles is going to have to swallow his pride a bit and completely turn over his offense to someone else . After the last couple of weeks , he ' s probably seen the writing on the wall , though .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
12042,12043,"The man they call the "" Wizard of Ballydoyle "" has got a master apprentice .  Irish champion trainer Aidan O ' Brien has a reputation as a brilliant tutor of horses , but his most prized protege is now his eldest son , Joseph .  The pair galloped into the history books last season as the first father and son in the role of trainer and jockey to win England ' s Epsom Derby , one of the world ' s most famous flat races , with Camelot .  "" We both discuss what way we ' re going to ride the horse and it doesn ' t always go to plan it usually doesn ' t but when it does it is great . ""  Joseph is lean , rosy cheeked and softly spoken and modest too .  The 20 year old rode his first winner , trained by his father , at Leopardstown in 2009 just days after his 16th birthday .  Since then the O ' Brien father and son combination has claimed high profile victories in England , Ireland , the U . S . and Dubai on celebrated horses including Camelot and St Nicholas Abbey .  "" I suppose Joseph has never known anything else since he was a baby , "" said O ' Brien , surveying the Ballydoyle yard tucked away in the heart of the Irish countryside in County Tipperary .  "" He probably knows how we think better than anybody . He knows when it goes wrong too he ' s the first to admit it . ""  O ' Brien learnt his trade from his own father , a farmer and small scale trainer in County Wexford , Ireland , before becoming a jockey , who dabbled in training on the side .  The 44 year old was Ireland ' s amateur champion jockey but it was his knack of training horses that saw him snapped up by Coolmore , Ireland ' s global breeding and training powerhouse , in 1995 .  He has been Ireland ' s champion trainer since 1998 and British champion trainer four times , guiding great horses such as Giant ' s Causeway , Galileo and High Chapparal .  With such a prestigious brand to protect , not to mention family honor , does O ' Brien treat his son differently ?  "" No , I don ' t think so , "" answered O ' Brien in a straightforward manner . "" He ' s seen it all and heard it all good and bad .  "" It ' s obviously a much closer relationship as we all live together but it ' s more or less the same . ""  Joseph agrees that he is not treated any differently by his father to the other jockeys charged with riding potential winners home .  "" There ' s always a little bit of pressure , "" he explained . "" But I like pressure because when the pressure ' s on it means you ' ll be sensible . ""  Dynasty in safe hands  The pressure just might increase on Joseph at some point in the future .  As well as being his father ' s favored jockey , O ' Brien has named him as his potential successor .  "" I ' d be delighted , "" said O ' Brien . "" He ' d have to be finished riding at that stage but those things are a long way down the road .  "" We ' ll look forward to it when it does happen . ""  At least Joseph does not have to worry about sustaining the O ' Brien dynasty alone .  The 20 year old is the eldest of four children and O ' Brien whose wife Anne Marie was also a trainer already has them all riding out to exercise the horses .  No wonder Ballydoyle has a reputation for breeding future stars of the turf and the training yard .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
12050,12051,"A passenger sitting at the rear of the  Airways flight forced to land in the Hudson River testified Tuesday he climbed over about a dozen rows of seats as he tried to escape through the front of the floating plane .  Capt . Chesley "" Sully "" Sullenberger testifies in Washington about landing in New York ' s Hudson River .  Billy Campbell is the only passenger scheduled to testify before an aviation safety panel chaired by Robert Sumwalt , vice chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board .  Tuesday was the first of three days of hearings , which will try to determine the probable cause of the January 15 accident , he said .  A final determination will be made by the entire  board .  "" I am committed to an impartial and complete investigation of this accident , "" Sumwalt said at the opening .  Also on the board are two deputy directors : John DeLisi from the Office of Aviation Safety and Joseph Kolly from the Office of Research and Engineering .  The plane ' s pilot , Capt . Chesley "" Sully "" Sullenberger , was forced to land the Airbus A320 after both of its engines failed . Officials almost immediately blamed it on birds , probably Canada geese , being sucked into the engines .  Monday , Smithsonian Institution scientists said analysis of feathers found in the engines showed that at least three Canada geese were involved .  All 155 people aboard were safely evacuated after the plane skidded to a stop in the river .  Sullenberger , the hearing ' s first witness , recommended that training in water landings be mandatory for all pilots . Watch Sullenberger describe the river landing  Campbell , who was in seat 25A , a window seat , was asked to detail what happened before and after landing .  He testified he heard a loud explosion about three minutes after takeoff . The plane "" shuddered , "" there was a smell of jet fuel , and the left engine was on fire , he said . One passenger tried to get something from an overhead bin but was ordered to sit down by a flight attendant .  He hoped the plane would make it to an airport , but it became evident they were descending over the river . Watch as gripping plane audio is played during the hearing  "" Captain Sullenberger comes on and says brace for impact , "" Campbell said . "" I knew we were going to crash into the river , because I was near the window . ""  Campbell said that once the plane hit the river , water streamed in from his and other windows , and water from elsewhere began filling the aisle . He said he was unable to dislodge the life vest from under the seat .  Flight attendant Doreen Welsh told passengers in the back that they could not go out the back door and ordered them to "" turn around and go to the front . "" Campbell said he didn ' t know why the door wouldn ' t open .  Once the plane struck the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey , "" I think our biggest fear was how long would the plane stay afloat , "" Campbell said .  When they landed , the pilot lifted the nose of the plane , and water poured into the aisles .  "" I did see the plane submerge we were under water , "" Campbell said . "" Then the plane bounced back but started to lift to the right . "" He said he didn ' t know the left engine was sheared off . He feared they would tip over .  After being told he couldn ' t go out the back door , he began climbing over seats to reach the front . At one point , he helped a woman and child who were trying to flee .  He , Sullenberger and the co pilot got on a rubber raft , but it was tethered to the plane . A crew member from a rescue ferry threw them a knife so they could cut the cord , Campbell said .  Campbell was asked whether he had read the safety card in the seat pocket in front of him , and he said he hadn ' t , because he flies so much . He said that when the pilot told everyone to "" brace for impact , "" he knew what that meant because he ' d seen the order in movies .  "" I think a lot of us are unclear about the definition of that term , "" he said .  A technical panel providing expertise to the board includes Robert Benzon , hearing officer and investigator in charge of the crash . Also in the audience were representatives of the Federal Aviation Administration , the Air Line Pilots Association , the Association of Flight Attendants ,  Airways , Airbus and  International . All were allowed to question the witnesses .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
12089,12090,"Harry Redknapp has claimed ' people with their own agendas ' had a hand in his resignation as  manager , describing the situation as ' a bit of a soap opera ' .  The 68 year old blamed knee problems for his decision to leave the Barclays Premier League strugglers in February .  However , Redknapp told  Sport ' s Football Focus there was more to his decision than health problems .  Ex  boss Harry Redknapp has described the club as ' like a bit of a soap opera ' after quitting in February  Striker Charlie Austin celebrates after scoring in  ' s 3 3 draw with Aston Villa on Tuesday night  He said : ' I always thought I had everyone pulling with me and suddenly I felt some were and some weren ' t . I didn ' t know who was on my side at the end and who wasn ' t .  ' Behind the scenes , I always thought there were one or two people with their own agendas .  ' There was always talk about Tim Sherwood coming in . It was like a bit of a soap opera .  '  was in the paper every day . I ' ve been at lots of other clubs , big clubs as well , where you didn ' t get that . That got on my nerves . That was the big problem for me .  ' As soon as we lost a few games , it would begin . I always thought there was someone mischievous causing it . I ' d never had that before at any club I ' d been at .  Redknapp was aware of constant talk of Tim Sherwood replacing him at Loftus Road earlier in the season  Former West Ham boss Redknapp believes he would have helped  avoid relegation  ' I didn ' t see the teams below us getting the same sort of headlines every other week . It wore me down a little bit . '  Redknapp left the team second from bottom of the table and they are now two points from safety under the leadership of Chris Ramsey .  However , Redknapp , who also claimed he did not fall out with chairman Tony Fernandes because of the club ' s lack of business in the January transfer window , added : ' I felt I ' d have kept them up . '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
12092,12093,"Sean Spicer might be in a little bit of a trouble after an off-camera Wednesday press briefing. Though President* Trump and Spicer himself have been pushing The Donald s baseless conspiracy theory that President Obama tapped the  wires  at Trump Tower, Spicer accidentally admitted they were just making sh*t up. There is no reason that we should   that we have to think that the President is the target of any investigation whatsoever,  Spicy told reporters just minutes after he implied that he was unsure if the President was the  target of a counter-intelligence investigation. I think that s what we need to find out. There s obviously a lot of concern,  Spicer had said. But at the end of the briefing, he was handed a sheet of paper, from which he read his revised answer verbatim.The wiretapping allegations, clearly intended to distract from and detract from any ongoing investigations into Team Trump s connections to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, have become quite uncomfortable for Trump, who demanded that Congress waste time, resources, and effort looking into them, as just like everything else our alleged President says they are a lie   one that is quickly getting out of hand.Last Thursday, Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Sheldon White House (D-RI) sent a letter tp the Justice Department asking for any evidence of Trump s ridiculous claim: We request that the Department of Justice provide us copies of any warrant applications and court orders   redacted as necessary to protect intelligence sources and methods that may be compromised by disclosure, and to protect any ongoing investigations   related to wiretaps of President Trump, the Trump Campaign, or Trump Tower. All I can say is that the country needs an answer to this,  Graham told CNN.  The current President has accused the former President of basically wiretapping his campaign. Unfortunately, this is the norm for Donald Trump. Whenever things get too uncomfortably close to the truth, he starts a political forest fire that distracts the nation long enough for everyone to forget about it or at least to provide Trump sufficient time to figure out how to explain away whatever the current issue is.It is imperative that our elected officials stop falling for this and keep their eyes on what really matters   that we have a President whose staff both during the campaign and during his presidency was caught colluding with a hostile foreign power.Here s the video:Featured image via screengrab",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
12100,12101,"Los Angeles Lindsay Lohan ' s judge apparently is so pleased with how well the actress is complying with her probation requirements in the past six weeks that she ' s giving her more freedom to travel .  "" Ms . Lohan , you ' ve actually done well and done it not only on time but early , "" Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Stephanie Sautner said during a five minute long hearing Wednesday .  Lohan worked 12 days at the county morgue and took part in five psychotherapy sessions over the past month as ordered , Sautner said .  "" The morgue seems to be pleased , as pleased as a morgue can be , "" Sautner said .  The judge offered an incentive for Lohan to finish her monthly community service work early : She can travel freely around the United States after she completes her required 12 morgue shifts between court dates .  If Lohan keeps up her compliance and completes 41 more days at the morgue 12 shifts each month and four sessions with a psychologist per month , the actress will have her supervised probation eased at the end of March .  If she fails , she will serve an additional 270 days behind bars , the judge warned her last month .  "" This is what we really call putting the keys to the jail in the defendant ' s hands , "" Sautner told Lohan .  Lohan was found in violation of her probation last month when she admitted that she failed to comply with Sautner ' s earlier order that she work at a women ' s shelter . Her punishment a 30 day jail sentence translated into just a few hours behind bars because of measures to reduce overcrowding in Los Angeles County jails .  The atmosphere at Wednesday ' s status hearing was much lighter than in any previous appearances before Sautner .  When Lohan ' s attorney , Shawn Holley , asked the judge if Lohan was required to be in court January 17 for the next status hearing , Sautner said , "" If I say no , she won ' t complete everything . I ' m just saying . ""  The judge ' s next comment made Lohan lower her face into her hands , laughing .  "" I think she likes to come here and see me , "" Sautner said . "" I think that ' s a motivation for her . ""  The judge said Lohan ' s trip to Hawaii over the past week was approved by her probation officer because of "" some confusion "" about her travel restrictions .  She is permitted to travel outside California only for holidays and work , she said .  "" She thought your sister ' s birthday was a holiday and said she could go to Hawaii , "" Sautner said . "" I don ' t have a problem with it . ""  Lohan missed her flight back home from her Hawaiian vacation Monday , causing her to miss Tuesday ' s taping of an appearance on "" Ellen . "" The chat with talk show host Ellen DeGeneres was the only planned interview to promote Lohan ' s nude photo spread published this week in Playboy magazine .  The court ordered community service is part of Lohan ' s sentence imposed in May when she pleaded guilty to stealing a necklace from a Venice , California , jewelry store .  Lohan was already on probation for two drunken driving convictions from 2007 .  "" From what I see of you , you need a structure , "" Sautner told Lohan last month , instructing her to return to court each month to show she is complying with the schedule .  Lohan ' s legal woes , which began four years ago with two drunken driving arrests , have been compounded by her failure to attend counseling classes and alcohol and drug test failures .  Her probation is scheduled to end within a year unless Lohan breaks any laws before then . It has been extended several times because of violations , including the failed alcohol and drug tests .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
12107,12108,"Heil Trumpler : Protester throws tomatoes at Trump during Iowa rally  Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump s rallies have long attracted protesters , but this time the candidate s podium was narrowly missed by flying tomatoes .  The tomatoes were thrown by a protester after the real estate magnate referred to Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders as a communist at a Tuesday evening rally in Iowa City , Iowa .  Two tomatoes can be seen flying past the candidate in the very beginning of the following video .  Andrew Joseph Alemao , a 28 year old man , was arrested on the spot for disorderly conduct after throwing the produce at Trump , according to  .  Another protester who was forced out of the gathering was wearing a shirt reading   2016 .  It s unbelievable ! Get him out , Trump said as the man left the rally .  Protesters at the businessman s campaign event had an even heavier presence than usual , prompting the candidate to comment on it .  The reason I like protesters is because the cameras ? I thought cameras were like a thing they couldn t move . But whenever there s a protester , they turn like a pretzel , Trump told the audience . Because it s a negative thought , so they turn . So people see how big our crowds are . So anyone who wants to protest , go ahead , it s fine .  Despite inviting protesters to give him that kind of media coverage , the billionaire was forced to make an early exit ? only 40 minutes into his speech ? due to constant disruptions by protesters .  Though disorderly conduct is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine up to 625 and or imprisonment of up to 30 days in Iowa , Alemao won over the jury in the court of public opinion that is social media .  do I think it was ok for that man to throw a tomato at trump ? No . Do I find it hilarious ? You betta believe it .  Too bad that tomato that was thrown at Trump wasn ' t a bullet . .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past
12109,12110,"Hollywood  Scooby Doo , where are you ? Velma Dinkley , Scooby Doo ' s now ex fiancee is asking that very question today as the most famous celebrity dog in  history rocked Hollywood today by reneging on his engagement and scheduled wedding to Dinkley and announced he will instead exchange vows this coming Saturday in Las Vegas to the most famous runaway bride of all time , Jennifer Wilbanks .  "" Jinkies , Doo ! Come boy ! Would you come back for a scooby snack ? Ruh uh ? How about two scooby snacks ? Row kay ! I love you so much . . . . "" sobbed the spurned braniac , who confessed that she was completely blind sided by Scooby ' s abrupt about face . "" He said he needed to pee so I let him out I didn ' t know he was going to Vegas to meet that nutty street trollop ! What does she have that I don ' t have other than the fact she actually resembles a woman ? ""  Wilbanks shocked the nation recently when she admitted that she skipped out on her wedding because she was confused and had cold feet , but the Swill has learned through reliable sources that not only did Wilbanks plan to go to Las Vegas , but she planned to meet Scooby Doo all along , and when they did , the pee hit the tree and they instantly fell in puppy love .  "" Jennifer has had a lifelong fascination with Scooby Doo I just didn ' t think it was so out of control "" bemoaned her former fianc John Mason . "" Gosh darn I guess I should have seen it coming . ""  Mason , showing obvious signs of fatigue and depression , even gave The Swill the exclusive details on Jennifer ' s three past shoplifting offenses in the 1990 ' s that surfaced recently , which up until now only reported the dollar amounts of the thefts .  "" 1740 was for the limited edition life size Scooby plush toy with Working Wanker , "" wailed Mason . "" We waited in line for 2 days ! She insisted that it sleep between us at night . , and I don ' t need to tell you which way his wanker was facing . The 98 was for the Complete Scooby Doo action figure set at  Schwartz . She made me wear my baggy pants that day to conceal the goods . Damn that was embarrasing when we got caught . And the 37 ? That patent leather Scooby Doo signed dog collar ! Waaah ! Now I know why she made me wear the collar to bed and say "" Scooby Rooby Doo "" every time she asked me if I loved her . She never let me shave the hair on my back either . All the clues were there it was sooooo obvious and I am sooooo stupid . And all those damn Scooby Doo marathons we watched on  . ""  Accordingly to Scooby ' s best man Shaggy Rodgers , Scooby was intrigued with Wilbank ' s e mail request to meet his 1 fan in "" Sin City "" and just planned to sign an autograph or two for her , but after meeting the lithe doe eyed damsel in distress , hearing her teary eyed story of being a cross country stray dog , accepting a two and a half hour belly rub and experiencing Wilbank ' s suppressed sexual energy first paw in an all night "" howl at the moon would you like to see my scooby snatch you ' re incredibly flexible do you lick your privates because you can let ' s do it again doggie style is there any other way what a long tongue you have do you have a cigarette "" session , the couple knew that they were doggone meant for each other .  The couple plans to reunite after Wilbank ' s self imposed stay at an Atlanta Medical Treatment Center to sort things out , and contrary to reports that she will rethink matters and reunite with Mason , Wilbank ' s best friend Sarah West says that will not happen .  "" Jenn just needs some rest "" , West claims , referring to Wilbank ' s return to Vegas , which will be her second Greyhound bus trip to Las Vegas in 2 weeks to meet up with her hirsute hound dog and get married in the 2 , 000 per night Royal Penthouse Suite at the Bellagio . "" She may be confused about a lot of things "" said West , "" but marrying Scooby is a sure thing . I have never seen her this happy . Scooby is the bomb . I heard he ' s got four brothers . I ' d sure like to meet one of them in a dark alley . "" They ' re like the Baldwin brothers ! all of them are so handsome . Did you see Billy in Backdraft ? ""  Sightings of John Mason and Velma Dinkley holding hands at a recent Atlanta Braves home game could not be confirmed .  ",satire,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,present
12112,12113,"Tony Abbott told The Sunday Telegraph : The problem is Islamist extremists regard western civilisation as Satanic and it is determined to do whatever it can to damage us .  Mr Abbott believes that Australia should increase their role in the Syrian crisis and said as long as the Islamic State Caliphate exists it would continue to inspire attacks .  The former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott ( pictured ) has made suggestion that terrorists may have hidden in the recent surplus of refugees flooding Europe s open borders  Mr Abbott posted his sympathies to twitter for the people of Paris which said : The terrible atrocity show the scale of the security challenge we all face .  The former Prime Minister wanted to make it clear that it would be ill advised to leap to the conclusion that the people responsible for this in Paris are recent refugee arrivals .  But stated that : It is absolutely crystal clear that whether they are recent arrivals , whether they are second generation Parisians , the problem of Islamist extremism is severe and it s not going away anytime soon .  In a bid to increase border security among all Western governments , Mr Abbott said it was vital that the firmest possible measures both home and abroad are taken .  That s what the Australian government has done under me and I am sure it s continuing to do it under the new Prime Minister , said Mr Abbott .  Current Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has tried to distance himself from Mr Abbott ' s push for an increased role in Syria and stands behind a political solution to the Syrian crisis .  Australia has made a very significant military commitment to the struggle against Daesh or the so called Islamic State , said Mr Turnbull to The Daily Telegraph .  We are working there with the Iraq government and of course with our allies the United States , the  and others , but ultimately there needs to be a political solution to this absolutely catastrophic situation in Syria , he added .  Malcolm Turnbull had been due to visit Turkey after his trip to Germany  Malcolm Turnbull took to social media to express his thoughts on the attacks in Paris while he was in Germany  Mr Turnbull condemned the horrific terrorist attacks in Paris , France as an attack on worldwide freedom .  Speaking from Berlin on Saturday , Mr Turnbull echoed  President Barack Obama in calling the devastation an attack on all humanity .  ' Yet again we have seen a shocking terrorist attack in Paris . Paris , France , the home of freedom , has been assaulted by terrorists determined to attack and suppress freedom not just in France but throughout the world , ' said Mr Turnbull .  Security levels in Australia will remain the same and Mr Turnbull has assured that security agencies don t believe there s any evidence of impending terror attack in Australia which has stood at high since September last year .  Mr Abbott believes that Australia should increase their role in the Syrian crisis and said as long as the Islamic State Caliphate exists it would continue to inspire attacks  Mr Abbott posted his sympathies to twitter for the people of Paris which said : The terrible atrocity show the scale of the security challenge we all face  ' Protecting Australians , protecting freedom is a global battle . It is a global struggle for freedom against those who seek to oppress it and seek to assert some form of religious tyranny . A threat in the name of God , but is truthfully the work of the devil . '  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
12120,12121,"After coming in a close third at the Iowa caucuses , Florida Senator Marco Rubio has been gaining momentum in New Hampshire . Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum dropped out of the race and endorsed Rubio on Wednesday , and since then , the 44 year old has received additional congressional endorsements , according to Politico .  Since his impressive showing in Iowa , University of Massachusetts and 7News polls have shown Rubio increase from 8 points to 10 points , boosting him from fifth to third place among  candidates . This 25 percent increase in support leaves him behind Ted Cruz ' s 14 points . Donald Trump has remained in the lead with a consistent 38 points . The poll also shows Ohio Gov . John Kasich and former Florida Gov . Jeb Bush tied behind Rubio with 9 percent each . Read more at 7News ,  .  At a packed venue in Laconia , New Hampshire on Wednesday , Rubio told his supporters , "" If I ' m our nominee , we will win , and the Democrats know this . They do not want to run against me . . . They know that if I ' m our nominee , they lose , "" reports  .  Rubio ' s platform has consistently embraced his family ' s immigrant , working class background , framing him as uniquely qualified to unite the  with lower income and and minority communities that typically vote Democrat . Read more at  .  However , his efforts have not gone unchallenged . New Jersey Governor Chris Christie belittled Rubio ' s toughness on Tuesday at an event in Bedford , New Hampshire , dubbing him "" the boy in the bubble . "" Christie took aim at Rubio ' s "" constantly scripted "" campaign and tendency to avoid answering tough questions .  At the same time , Jeb Bush told a town hall meeting in Rindge , New Hampshire that both Rubio and Cruz do not have the "" life experience "" to be president , and questioned whether they had ever sacrificed personal ambition for the public good . Read more at The Washington Post .  Get to know the Republican candidates seeking the nomination for president  Find candidate bios , positions more . . . Click here ?  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
12125,12126,"Hospitals should let more elderly patients die , a top cardiologist has claimed ( file picture )  Hospitals should let more elderly patients die , a top cardiologist has claimed .  Dr James Beattie believes that doctors resuscitate too many older people because society does not see enough death , leaving many people unwilling to accept mortality .  He pointed out that frail pensioners routinely receive hospital medical interventions such as flu jabs which are designed to prolong life , but not necessarily improve it .  The cardiologist said that when it comes to resuscitating the elderly , particularly those with dementia , patients ' quality of life should be given more consideration and more people should be allowed to die .  ' If a person is in hospital , particularly an elderly person with multiple co morbidities , if they have a cardiac arrest it ' s a sign they are in decline , ' he told Radio 4 .  ' It ' s their act of dying and they should not be resuscitated , they should be allowed to die . '  Dr Beattie , who works at the East of England  Foundation Trust in Birmingham , explained that the chance of an elderly person leaving hospital after being resuscitated is around 5 per cent .  But he said the issue was a difficult one because people today are less likely to think and talk about death thanks to advancements in modern medicine , which mean that people are living longer .  ' Society these days is much less familiar with death , ' he said , adding : ' Our great grandparents and to some extent our grandparents grew up with people dying before the days of antibiotics .  ' That ' s denied these days . People died at home . Death is now becoming something in hospitals and care homes , somewhere removed from the family and the home . '  He went on to say : ' We need to make it a more natural expectation . Life is 100 per cent mortality and we need to get used to that . '  Family doctors are taking up valuable consultation time asking patients to sign petitions demanding extra cash for their surgeries , it emerged last night .  Dr James Beattie believes that doctors resuscitate too many older people because society does not see enough death , leaving many people unwilling to accept mortality ( file picture )  The average consultation is just seven minutes long . But despite claiming they often do not have enough time to listen to patients ' problems , some GPs have been using consultations to drum up support for extra funding .  The move follows an email from the Royal College of GPs , which urged practices to get as many patients ' names as possible to bolster their campaign .  Andrew Percy , a Tory member of the Commons health select committee , said : ' It ' s staggering that GPs claim to not have enough time to complete consultations with patients , but they can find time to get patients to sign petitions .  ' I doubt many patients feel comfortable saying no . This is a clear abuse of their position , especially as I suspect that with greater funding would come calls for even greater  salaries . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
12128,12129,"President Barack Obama isn t having second thoughts about bringing Syrian refugees to the U . S . , one of his top aides said Sunday in the wake of deadly terror attacks in Paris linked to  Islamic State , and suggestions that the nation should shut its doors .  Debate over how to contend with millions of people displaced by Syria s civil war has intensified since the Paris mass killings , which have shaken Europe s belief in open borders . Obama in September announced a plan to take in a trickle of those millions 10 , 000 people in the current fiscal year that began Oct . 1 .  No , said Ben Rhodes , deputy national security advisor , said on  News Meet the Press when asked if Obama has any pause about the refugee plan .  trying to determine if any of the Paris assailants entered Europe as asylum seekers from the Middle East . If true , it could undermine the  open door refugee policy of leaders such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and sharpen opposition to Obama s plan .  Rhodes said the U . S . has a ? very careful vetting process for all Syrian refugees , involving the Department of Homeland Security and the National Counterterrorism Center , among others a comment shot down by some Republican lawmakers .  There s virtually no vetting of refugees backgrounds , Representative Peter King of New York said in an interview on Fox News Sunday in which he called the U . S . the main target for Islamic State . We don t know who those people are .  King , a member of the House Intelligence Committee , said the U . S . should absolutely suspend the plan to bring in 10 , 000 Syrian refugees unless the government can show 100 percent that the individuals aren t involved with Islamic State . The U . S . should also boost surveillance of Muslim communities , King said .  Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson , also speaking on Fox News Sunday , said that as chief executive , he would not allow refugees from Syria into the U . S . Bringing people into this country from that area of the world , I think is a huge mistake , he said , suggesting that the U . S . should instead help get them resettled over there .  To bring them here under these circumstances is a suspension of intellect , said Carson .  Other 2016 Republican hopefuls , including former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and Texas Senator Ted Cruz , said the U . S . should allow Christian refugees from Syria .  plan on accepting Syrians , refugees must undergo a 12 to 18 month security screening , meaning new applicants may not be able to enter the country before 2017 .  Rhodes said the U . S . is dealing with people who ve suffered the horrors of war , women and children , orphans . We can t just shut our doors to those people . We need to sort out how to focus on the terrorists that we need to keep out of the country . But I think we do need to do our part to take those refugees who are in need .  Rhodes also appeared on  s This Week , days after Obama taped a segment for the show in which the president said Islamic State , also known as  or  , has been contained . You don t see a systematic march by  across the terrain . What we have not been able to do is completely decapitate their command and control structures , Obama said in an interview conducted before the Paris attacks .  World leaders are now confronting Islamic State s reach far from Iraq and Syria . The U . S . agrees with France that the  attacks in Paris , which killed at least 132 people and injured hundreds more , were an act of war , Rhodes said on  . That s why , frankly , we ve been waging war against  now for over a year .  Rhodes said the U . S . is going to be very vigilant , because we know  has the aspirations to attack the United States as well as our European and other allies and partners . Intelligence suggests there s not a specific , credible threat to the U . S . at this time , he added .  The U . S . will work with France to ramp up airstrikes against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq , Rhodes said . What we ve made clear to the French is we will be shoulder to shoulder with them in this response .  Representative Adam Schiff said what happened in Paris was more than just an intelligence failure .  It s a failure also of a coalition campaign , because we have allowed  to have sanctuary in Syria and Iraq with too much time to plan and plot , too much resources to be directed against us , Schiff , the top Democrat of the House intelligence committee , said on  . Unless that changes strategically , we can expect more attacks like this .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
12133,12134,"If the Republican Party actually took this guy s advice they wouldn t be a party on the verge of extinction.Donald Trump and the  are waging a pathetic effort to reach out to black voters, but a black voter who writes a column for the Charlotte Observer took the Republican Party to task on Tuesday by teaching them a lesson on how they can attract minority voters if they are really serious about getting votes beyond the old white male demographic. Hey, Republican Party. African-American voter here,  Eric Frazier began.  I hear you ve been looking for me, but you re sending out such wildly mixed messages that I m not sure if I should be flattered or furious. Hat No. 2 fits me pretty snugly right now. Here s why.Your national standard-bearer, Donald Trump, is making an explicit appeal for my vote. He came to Charlotte last week and said the Democratic Party plays black voters for suckers while black neighborhoods rot. Trump asked African-Americans what they have to lose by voting for someone new, which Frazier called a  fair question. Too bad the guy asking it ranks as the most racially inflammatory presidential candidate since arch-segregationist George Wallace,  he snapped back.  Instead of making his black-voter sales pitch by talking to us, he s doing it by talking about us to white audiences. That tells me a hell of a lot more than the words on his Teleprompter do. Someone call the burn unit because Trump just got torched.Frazier called Trump out for calling all black people poor when, in fact, 74 percent of African-Americans live above the poverty line. Frazier concedes that a 26 percent poverty rate is still too high, especially when compared to white people, but the statistics clearly show that Trump was wrong to make such a claim. Frazier opined that Trump is only making a pitch to black voters because he is trying to just give  cover to embarrassed white supporters who are sick of answering for his racial provocations. He then pointed out that Republicans in North Carolina, where Trump made his pitch, are working hard to suppress black voters by cutting Sunday voting and early voting, both of which are popular among black communities.Frazier even gave Republicans a quick lesson on how they can truly convince black voters to vote for them. But they probably aren t going to like it. Blacks vote Democrat today because Democrats fought for their votes. The party that once welcomed cross-burning Klansmen did an about-face on civil rights and earned the black vote.Are you fighting to get those votes back? Nope.The path to do so is clear, if you re interested. Embrace affirmative action   and let racist base voters walk. Pass criminal justice reform. Champion black entrepreneurship and the rebuilding of the inner cities. Reach out to churchgoing black families; their traditionalist social values mirror yours.Even viewed through the lens of small-government conservatism, this agenda is do-able.You ll lose old voters. And you ll gain new ones. Just as the Democrats did 50 years ago.In a changing America, you ll be in position to compete for real minority votes, instead of just complaining about imaginary fraudulent ones. To conclude, Frazier told Republicans to stop thinking black people are stupid and to start treating them like a serious voting block who damn well know who and what policies they are voting for. Concerned about black votes this November, GOP?  Frazier asked.  Quit whining. Stop provoking. Start competing. The question is will Republicans take this advice seriously or will they ignore it like they usually do? Because the white conservative base Republicans have been relying on for years is dying off and there are not enough young conservatives to replace them.Winning national elections no longer comes down to who wins the white vote. Donald Trump is seriously courting the old white male demographic, but his alienation of young people, blacks, Hispanics, Muslims, and women have seriously crippled his campaign. It has also crippled the Republican Party down the ticket and could have serious repercussions for the  for many years to come.If Republicans ever want to sit in the White House again, they are going to have to kick out the racists and get back to being the Party of Lincoln. Because right now, Lincoln is spinning in his grave due to the fact that white supremacists have taken over the party and are bragging about it.Black voters definitely do  want to support a political party that is infested and controlled by people who hate them. And pretending that black voters will do exactly that is insulting and is a big reason why Republicans can count on losing the black vote for decades to come if they continue to refuse to change.Featured image via Alex Wong/Getty Images",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
12157,12158,"Posted on November 6, 2016 It seems the more 'connected' people become via technology, the more isolated they become in real life. Credit: Jean Jullien  There is no shortage of artwork depicting the influence technology has had on people and their relationships. The main takeaway from all collections is that while technology is great for numerous reasons, it does have its downsides. Tools, such as the internet, might connect groups of like-minded people, but overused, it may also result in individuals cutting themselves off from real life and, in effect, feeling lonely and isolated.  It’s this reality artist French illustrator Jean Jullien seeks to highlight with his witty illustrations. Best known for creating the “Peace for Paris” symbol which has become a worldwide sign of solidarity with France after the frightful attacks which took place earlier this year, the artist is also well-known for mocking peoples’ obsession with technology .  One only need review the thought-provoking illustrations below to get a sense of what Jullien hopes to convey. While technology is great, nothing can beat genuine, face-to-face interaction with others. After all, life isn’t meant to be lived from behind a phone or a computer screen. #1 Weirdo On The Subway Credit: Jean Jullien",fake,news,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
12159,12160,"For some , the name "" Williamsburg "" conjures images of people wearing tricorner hats and churning butter . For others , the name brings images of people wearing skinny jeans and churning organic butter .  The former are thinking of Colonial Williamsburg , Virginia , a popular family vacation spot whose slogan is "" The Future May Learn from the Past . "" The latter are thinking of Williamsburg , Brooklyn , a popular liberal arts grad landing spot whose slogan could be "" Past : It ' s Me , Not You L8er , the Future . ""  Full throated endorsements of Williamsburg , Brooklyn , are hard to come by . People find it too trendy or played out . Press further , and critiques fall into two categories : 1 ) It used to be cool , but now it ' s filled with fauxhemians : middle class post college kids looking for la vie boheme . 2 ) It ' s Exhibit A in the case against gentrification : Affordable rent brought artists , artists brought poseurs , poseurs and artists made it hospitable for investment bank bachelors , all three groups raised rents and forced out the low income population that lived there in the ' 70s .  All of these complaints are right , of course , just as they would be in many places in New York metro . But they rest on one fundamental truth : People ( whether they ' re your people or not ) find Williamsburg attractive . On a recent visit , after being away for several years , I was reminded of why : It ' s a vibrant little village that punches far above its weight culturally and culinarily . It teems with small businesses , and its streets are abustle , thick with beautiful youth in all manner of pomp .  New Yorkers might be inured to the charms of an "" emerging "" neighborhood , but to a visitor Williamsburg , Brooklyn , can be just as eccentric and strangely charming as that other Williamsburg .  I was there to visit old friends , partially reformed rabble rousers who once raised hell here but are raising a family now instead . They were running behind , so I decided to "" flaneur "" the 10 block walk to their house . I began at Seventh and Bedford Avenue , the gritty heart of the neighborhood , where the L train from Manhattan makes its first stop in Brooklyn . On some evenings , Bedford can feel like Bourbon Street for hipsters a corridor of beer breathed smokers moving from one bar to the next but it being early evening on a Sunday , the debauch o meter was dialed down .  My first stop was Spoonbill and Sugartown , a beloved local bookstore that anchors a boutique mini mall . Browsers clogged the shop , perusing design magazines and scanning book titles . Laptops remained sheathed in shoulder bags as people chicken winged books and skimmed through literary journals . I bought a manual about how to be invisible that was written by a ninja . ( I figured that after I read it I could just slip back into the store and take whatever other book I wanted . )  New Yorkers might take scads of robust independently owned stores in stride , but for Americans who have been chainstored over the past decade , it ' s as much of a sight to behold as an open air museum about colonial times . Spoonbill , like many of the shops in the neighborhood , is among the best in the country in what it does . Same can be said for Main Drag Music , an instrument shop up the street . Same with Mikey ' s Hookup , the local electronics shop . Or the local bike shops . The "" small businessmen "" we hear so much about in election years are thriving in Williamsburg .  When I left Spoonbill , I crossed the street to  wines to pick up a house gift . ( As the childless friend , it is my responsibility to bring the mischief . ) Uva is just one of several small , competent liquor shops that litter the neighborhood . I bought a bottle and crossed the street again to buy socks ( I miscounted when packing for my trip ) at  New York , a men ' s clothing store .  But I could have just as easily ventured to Oak or In God We Trust or Beacon ' s Closet , all smartly curated clothing shops within a few blocks .  Now carrying a ninja book , a bottle of wine and a pair of socks , I crossed the street again to visit Bedford Cheese Shop . At Bedford , you ' re welcome to sample cheese to your partially clogged heart ' s content , so that ' s what I did . When I was done , I handed the clerk the bottle of wine I bought , told her how much I wanted to spend and was given two hunks of dairy wrapped in paper .  A text from my friends they ' re still not ready to receive visitors .  So I forged ahead with my wine , my cheese , my socks and my ninja book in tow . I watched steam come off people ' s heads as they left the Metropolitan Rec Center , an indoor public pool . In addition to the rec center , Williamsburg has decently maintained baseball fields , tennis and bocce courts and a handsome track , the sort of public amenities that many towns can only dream about . They ' re well maintained remnants of a more optimistic time in America . Again , oddly wonderful for an outsider to see .  Once past the Rec Center , a little bar light caught my eye , so . . . I crossed the street yet again .  I found myself in Maison Premiere , a new bar made to look old . Dim lights , bourgie cocktails , mounds of oysters , and within minutes I was behind a drink and slurping the briny insides of cold shells . Looking around the horseshoe bar , I noticed that everyone else seemed to be taking this well appointed , affordable bar in stride . I , on the other hand , was delighted with myself for stumbling across it . ( I shouldn ' t have been Brooklyn has a disproportionate amount of handsome drinking establishments : Hotel Delmano and Night of Joy , for two . )  A burst on my phone reminded me it was time to push off , but before I reached my destination , I made one last stop at a new restaurant ( and there is always a new restaurant here ) named Isa . Stepping inside , I felt like I had entered Northern California . Wood , beards , a menu that looked like a flier for a psychedelic concert . I filed it away for another night .  And then finally I made it to my friends ' apartment , a cozy rent controlled two bedroom in a brownstone . As I unpacked my wine , my cheese , my socks and my ninja book ( none of which cost more than 12 , by the by ) and recounted how I spent my past hour , it occurred to me that there aren ' t many neighborhoods in America where I could have taken that walk .  In less than a mile , I was able to survey a host of small pleasures . I met courteous shop owners who clearly dig their gigs . And I got an eyeful of stylish and attractive folks enjoying life ' s rich pageant . Do I want everywhere like this ? Absolutely not , but I don ' t have to worry about that . Hardly anywhere is like this .  I think people exhausted with Williamsburg forget that . For those who haven ' t been , post colonial Williamsburg is worth a visit , and don ' t worry , you won ' t offend the sensibilities of the cognosceti they ' ve already moved on to Bushwick .  There is only one chain store on the Bedford commercial district it ' s a Duane Reade drugstore that felt compelled to include a microbrew beer bar where locals can refill plastic to go containers just to earn some street cred . The tactic worked a little bit , but locals still prefer the independently owned King ' s Pharmacy across the avenue .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
12164,12165,"The search for area fourth grader Allison Means , who disappeared Friday evening , has entered its fourth boring day , volunteers and law enforcement officials said Monday .  "" We ' ve been combing the woods and meadows near her home for four days now , "" Byrdstown County Sheriff Thomas Heubel said . "" The same woods and meadows combing and more combing . With the possible exception of her parents , no one wants to find this girl more than we do . ""  Daniel and Karen Means contacted Heubel after their daughter didn ' t return from Sather Elementary School Friday afternoon . By nightfall , nearly four dozen initially eager locals volunteered to assist in the search .  "" The first day or two was okay , I guess , "" said Clay Watts , a nearby resident who has been participating in the search since Saturday morning . "" But now it ' s been four days , and she still hasn ' t turned up . The cops arrange us in these straight , long lines , and we advance 10 feet at a time . This goes on for hours . I ' ve never been so bored in my life . Bored , bored , bored , bored , bored . ""  Mail carrier Tonia Stelson came forward Saturday to report that she had seen the girl at approximately 4 p . m . on Friday , about a quarter of a mile from the Means ' house .  "" I ' ve shown about 50 different people exactly where I saw Allison , "" Stelson said . "" How many times can I point to the same stretch of dirt ? It ' s like , what part of ' I think maybe she was wearing a red coat ' don ' t you understand ? ""  Searchers continue to search within a 20 mile radius of the Means ' home , in an area comprising fallow farmland , tall grass , and scrub woodland . Wearied volunteers said they are as frustrated by the unremarkable landscape as they are by the dearth of leads .  "" I ' ve lived here all my life , but you really don ' t realize how dull the area is until you ' ve participated in a search for a missing 9 year old , "" volunteer Shirley Snow said . "" It ' s a shame there are no gently rolling hills or picturesque windmills around here you know , something pleasing to the eye . Besides that ugly abandoned farmhouse , which we ' ve been through six times already , there ' s nothing . ""  Watts and his party of eight searchers have swept several open fields , an intensely dull process that has yielded only burrs , brambles , and insect bites .  "" I know we ' ve been through this area before , "" Watts said . "" I remember that dogwood tree over there with the Coors can in its branches . Why are they deliberately sending us through the same area multiple times ? Just to annoy us ? ""  In spite of the tedious searching , called off only during the darkest hours , not a single clue to Means ' whereabouts has been found . Searchers haven ' t found footprints , scraps of clothing , or anything that might be just a tiny bit interesting , nor have police received any phone tips or substantial informant leads . The lack of progress has only heightened the searchers ' frustration .  Hopes and interest rose briefly Sunday evening , when a search team found a decaying body near an apple orchard . The corpse , however , proved to be that of a small deer .  "" I have to admit , when they announced it was an animal , a few people groaned in disappointment , "" volunteer Drena Biddle said . "" It would have been a shame if we ' d found Allison in that state , but at least the search would be over . ""  "" Oh , look ! "" Watts said . "" There ' s that Coors can again . ""  Sheriff ' s deputies dredged a pond two miles away from the Means ' house Monday , in a long and tedious process that yielded three glass insulators .  "" You used to see them on telephone poles , "" Sheriff ' s Deputy Dean Howarth said . "" See the old Bell Telephone logo molded on them ? Maybe some workers were doing work around here and threw them in the pond , just to get rid of them . You think so ? Hey , I ' m just trying to make conversation here . ""  Their frustration mounting , volunteers have begun to rebel against the rules laid out by search party organizers .  "" I ' ll help out tomorrow , but only if I can bring my Walkman , "" Watts said . "" These damn cicadas are driving me crazy . And I don ' t care if there are women present I ' m not tromping all the way back up to Kickapoo Gas just to piss . It ' s part of life . ""  "" Why wasn ' t I assigned to search near Shoptowne Mall ? "" Snow said . "" Look , it ' s upsetting that Allison hasn ' t been found , and I believe in community spirit and everything . But the bottom line is , I never knew the girl . After searching for three straight days with only four hours of sleep each night look , she ' s dead . Let ' s go home . ""  Heubel said he has notified state police of Means ' disappearance , and that the  will soon join the search .  "" Federal agents are professionally trained to deal with intensely tedious situations like this one , "" Heubel said .  "" Plus , the  has considerable manpower they can send out to tromp around in the woods , which will finally free me up to go back to my new bumper pool table . ""  ",satire,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,fake,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
12180,12181,"Five years ago , Rebecca Francis posed for a photo while lying next to a dead giraffe .  This week , she got threatened for her action .  The trouble started Monday , when comedian Ricky Gervais tweeted the photo with a question .  "" What must ' ve happened to you in your life to make you want to kill a beautiful animal then lie next to it smiling ? "" Gervais wrote .  In the past three days , his tweet has been retweeted almost 30 , 000 times . A number of people insulted and threatened Francis in response to the giraffe photo and others featuring her .  On the website rebeccafrancisweblink , there are photos of Francis with other animals , including a lion , which other Twitterers responded to .  Francis , who has appeared on the  Sports Network outdoor lifestyle show "" Eye of the Hunter "" and was the subject of an interview with Hunting Life in late March , responded in a statement to HuntingLifeweblink on Tuesday , which was posted on its Facebook page .  The death came about , she said , because she was asked by others on an African hunt to "" preserve "" him for the local people .  "" ( The locals ) showed me this beautiful old bull giraffe that was wandering all alone . He had been kicked out of the herd by a younger and stronger bull . He was past his breeding years and very close to death , "" she said . "" They asked me if I would preserve this giraffe by providing all the locals with food and other means of survival . . . . I chose to honor his life by providing others with his uses and I do not regret it for one second . ( The locals ) did not waste a single part of him . I am grateful to be a part of something so good . ""  According to the Giraffe Conservation Foundation , there are about 80 , 000 giraffes in Africa , a decline of 60 , 000 in the past 15 years .  On a website called rebeccafrancisweblink , where the photo is posted , Francis describes herself as a longtime outdoors enthusiast and a fan of bow hunting .  "" I prefer bowhunting , and the animals I have taken with a bow include : a 10 1 2 ft . brown bear , black bear , shiras moose , alaskan moose , dall sheep , stone sheep , desert bighorn ram , rocky mountain bighorn ram , mule deer , whitetail deer , elk , mountain goat , antelope , arapawa ram , kudu , zebra , black wildebeest , giraffe , springbuck , blesbuck , lynx , badger , and squirrel , "" she writes . "" I have also taken many of the same species and more with a rifle . ""  She has achieved the "" Full Curl of North American sheep "" with a bow , according to the Hunting Life interview , and hopes to achieve the "" Super 10 . "" The latter , according to liveoutdoorsweblink , "" entails the taking of one animal from the ten basic North American species : bears , cats , deer , elk , caribou , moose , bison muskox , goat , antelope and sheep . ""  Tom Opre , the producer and co host of "" Eye of the Hunter , "" says she won the first season of "" Extreme Huntress , "" an online offshoot of "" Eye , "" and co hosted a handful of "" Eye "" episodes .  The rebeccafrancisweblink website was apparently last updated in 2013 , though it makes mention of a 2015  series called "" Sheep Shape "" on the Sportsman Channel .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
12206,12207,"It is a boarding pass unlike any other . It ' s a memory of a day that nearly was his last on earth .   Airways passenger Barry Leonard now has the other half of his boarding pass from the fateful flight .  When a FedEx package arrived at Barry Leonard ' s home recently , he had no idea it contained items from his flight that ended up in the Hudson River .  Leonard was seated at the front of  Airways Flight 1549 , and when pilot Chesley "" Sully "" Sullenberger amazingly landed the plane in the river , Leonard left everything he had behind and dove into the frigid water .  He thought all he had left from that January day were the clothes he had on , including a pair of jeans he still wears .  But recently the package with most of his left behind belongings showed up at his Charlotte , North Carolina , home .  "" Everything from the Wall Street Journal of that day to my W 2 form that I didn ' t even realize was in this package , "" he says . "" You know my briefcase that I ' d had for decades , it was all of those things . "" Watch as Leonard brings out the items recovered from the water  "" This is actually the other part of my boarding pass from January 15 . As you can see here January 15 , flight 1549 and my seat number 1C , "" he says .  To help return personal items to its passengers ,  Airways hired Global  , a Texas based company that recovers and restores items from large disasters .  Global  sorted through nearly 30 , 000 items from the flight , cleaning them in a slow , tedious process that often involved freeze drying items to preserve them while they waited to be processed .  Some of the items that were returned to the 150 travelers were unusable after being submerged , especially electronic items like headphones and music players .  But for a lot of folks , personal effects show a little damage but are still good .  Vicki Barnhardt tried on her running shoes , and though they were a little tight at first , she wears them now when she goes jogging in Huntersville , North Carolina .  She got most of her possessions from the plane back a coat , a pair of gloves and her cash are still missing and the items in the boxes seem in pretty good shape .  The flash drives still work , though you can see some "" corrosion "" on them . She also got back a three ring binder , and all her notes are still readable .  Maryann Bruce found her diamonds in the parcel that was returned to her in Cornelius , North Carolina . It brought back memories of the landing in the river and made her thankful to be alive .  "" I just focused on wow , you know , I got all this stuff back , "" she says .  "" I can ' t believe I got all this stuff back , and I ' m here to get the stuff back , versus the alternative where they would ' ve been giving it to my loved ones . I didn ' t relive the anguish I relived the ' Wow , I ' m here to get it . ' ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
12254,12255,"For Donald J. Trump the  star, ratings were made to be embellished. This turns out to be true as well of Donald J. Trump the president. Mr. Trump spent his first weekend in office at war with math. He said on Saturday that his inauguration crowd  —   which photographs showed was dwarfed by Barack Obama’s estimated 1. 8 million in 2009  —   “looked like a million, a million and a half. ” His staff members backed up that claim with what his adviser Kellyanne Conway memorably termed “alternative facts. ” For the political news media, the brazenness was stunning. But those of us who cover television have seen this kind of thing before: the inventions of a celebrity, surrounded by yes men and women, who creates his own reality. We recognize it because, not so long ago, that celebrity was Donald J. Trump. Mr. Trump has a reputation among  reporters for using his own bespoke numbers. In 2015, he came to a Television Critics Association panel for his final season hosting “The Celebrity Apprentice” and declared it “the Number 1 show on television. ” It was not. Publicly available Nielsen ratings flatly proved that. Pressed by reporters, he insisted that it was at least the   show on Monday nights. It was not that either. (It finished the season 67th.) It was a bizarre performance even by the usual   standards of the critics association sessions. “The Apprentice” was, in its first season, a genuine hit. It declined afterward, but hung on as a modest performer. That’s no mean feat. But that wasn’t enough for Mr. Trump. So it wasn’t true for Mr. Trump. Last year, Mr. Trump’s former “Apprentice” publicist, Jim Dowd, was interviewed for the  “Frontline” election documentary “The Choice. ” Mr. Trump, he recalled, would demand that he call up   reporters and tell them, “Number 1 show on television, won its time slot,” even if “we were Number 72. ” (Mr. Dowd died in September.) Mr. Trump has always used an aspirational calculator. As a real estate developer, he built Trump Tower with 58 stories and declared it 68 stories tall. He carried his scorekeeping obsession into his celebrity career. For his 2011 Comedy Central roast, The Huffington Post reported, writers were told not to joke about Mr. Trump being less wealthy than he says he is. He edited a gag that said he lived in a “   penthouse atop my   space station,” raising the square footage to 50, 000. Running for president meant a new set of ways to keep score, and fudge it: The polls  —   rigged, unless they favored him. His rally attendance  —   huge, yet not too huge for him to embellish. And, again, the  ratings, and not just for his own events. On Twitter, two weeks before his inauguration, he taunted Arnold Schwarzenegger, his replacement on “The Celebrity Apprentice,” for getting “‘swamped’ (or destroyed) by comparison to the ratings machine, DJT. ” If you knew all this, then you knew, when you saw the expanses of white space on the National Mall on Friday, that Defcon 1 klaxons were going to be blaring in the command center of Mr. Trump’s ego. He would be made small. His crowds would be smaller than Mr. Obama’s  —   smaller than the Women’s March! It would be in pictures, on TV, where things are the most real of all. It would make him look, in his understanding of the world, like a loser. Donald J. Trump is not a loser. Ergo, it was not true. The smaller turnout for Mr. Trump’s inauguration is actually a decent symbol of his election victory, in which he lost the popular vote by nearly three million votes but won the presidency on the strength of an intense base. To put it again in  terms, Mr. Trump won by   rather than broadcasting. He identified a key demographic in the right markets and successfully targeted it. His margin of victory in the decisive states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin was just over 77, 000 votes combined, around the average audience of the    Universo channel. This is a perfectly valid strategy, in politics and in TV. And in practice, Mr. Trump has embraced the politics of   not just in the campaign but in his inaugural speech, which made no effort to reach beyond his base. But as much as Mr. Trump has adapted to modern media, he is still a    man who came of age in the era of three  networks, when there were no niche hits. Just as he could not be satisfied with the niche success of “The Apprentice,” he seemingly cannot bear being a niche president. It eats at him. He wants to win total viewers, not just the key demo. He doesn’t want to change to achieve that. But he wants the credit. Thus his repeated lie that he would have won the popular vote if not for “millions” who voted illegally. Thus the   inaugural fans he conjured up like extra floors to sell a condo building. Celebrities have support staff dedicated to maintaining their bubbles. (Even Mr. Trump’s bringing staff members to cheer him at events  —   like his first postelection news conference  —   is familiar from the critics association panels. Journalists are professionally forbidden from applauding the celebrities they cover, so network staffers whoop it up to massage their stars’ egos.) Mr. Trump has his press secretary, Sean Spicer, and Ms. Conway, each playing their version of the bulldog Hollywood publicist. Their job is to keep the talent happy. In a news briefing on Monday, Mr. Spicer essentially argued that the   comparisons were accurate, but it was “demoralizing” for the news media to make them. With these enablers around him, don’t expect Mr. Trump to change much. On Sunday, he   that “31 million people watched the Inauguration, 11 million more than the very good ratings from 4 years ago!” Mr. Trump’s  ratings were also about 7 million viewers lower than Mr. Obama’s first inaugural in 2009. Mr. Trump’s tendency to treat truth as negotiable was idiosyncratic in a  star. In a president, it’s disturbing. Alternative facts are what they use in alternatives to democracy. If anything, presidents receive more grades and metrics than candidates do, from approval polls  —   rigged again, apparently  —   to unemployment figures, which Mr. Trump cast doubt on when they were favorable to Mr. Obama. Every sign says that Mr. Trump will respond to these figures exactly as he has in the past: as the  star, up early in the morning, stewing, waiting for the overnight ratings to come in.",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
12258,12259,"An independent research group predicts that cyberwarfare will accompany future military conflicts and is recommending international action to blunt its impact .  Computers can become victims in future military conflicts , a nonprofit group says .  The nonprofit U . S . Cyber Consequences Unit studied the cybertactics used against the country of Georgia during its military conflict with Russia last year . Cyberattacks in August 2008 shut down the Web sites of crucial Georgian government agencies , the media and banks .  "" The Russians have developed a model here that is very effective , "" said Scott Borg , director of   . "" We can expect to see the Russians use it in the future , and other countries as well . ""  The study concludes that the cyberattacks against Georgian targets were carried out by civilians , many of them recruited via social networking forums devoted to dating , hobbies and politics .  "" There was a large scale collaboration on these forums , "" said   ' s chief technical officer , John Bumgarner . "" They were used to recruit potential actors to launch attacks , to collaborate on what types of attacks worked and what types of attacks didn ' t work . They were used to collaborate on how to bypass security controls and share attack codes . ""  As a result , Borg said , Russian sympathizers who were not hackers , and who didn ' t even know much about computers , could participate .  The report says the civilian cyberattackers were aided and supported by Russian organized crime . Although they found no evidence of direct involvement by the Russian government or military , the report concludes that the organizers were tipped off about the timing of Russian military operations .  "" There was a lot of information being passed on , but at what level it was being passed on was hard to say , "" Borg said .  The report says that "" the necessary reconnaissance and the writing of attack scripts had to have been done in advance . . . and suggests that cyber attacks against Georgia had been on the Russian agenda for some time . ""  The hackers did not carry out physically destructive cyberattacks , although they probably had the technical expertise to do so , suggesting that "" someone on the Russian side was exercising considerable restraint , "" the report says .  It also notes that media and communications facilities , which might have been attacked by missiles and bombs in a conventional war , were spared that , "" presumably because they were being effectively shut down by cyberattacks . ""  Because the cybercampaign against Georgia presents a pattern that can be expected in future conflicts , the report says , there is an "" urgent need "" for an international organization to provide risk advisories when preparations for a cybercampaign are detected .  It also says there should be an international cyber response force to provide quick assistance to member countries , advising them on how to thwart an attack and setting up operations to do so .  The report also recommends that every country conduct cyber response exercises , otherwise "" the relevant officials will waste precious time trying to figure out whom they should be contacting and what they should be doing . ""  Bumgarner said that cyberwarfare "" is a global chess game in which citizens , governments and corporations are the pawns . ""  Borg added , "" Right now , the international community has no idea how to deal with this . ""  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
12279,12280,"Super Bowl 50 : Opening Night is ' the weirdest cocktail party you ' ll ever see '  Erik Armstead was at Monday ' s Opening Night of Super Bowl Week at San Jose ' s  Center , but not the way he wanted .  The 49ers defensive tackle who admitted he ' d much rather be there as a player nevertheless was working , as a correspondent for his home area  station  10 in Sacramento .  "" It ' s fun being on the other side of the microphone , "" said the 2015 first round draft choice , who decided to turn the tables and interview the guy who was trying to interview him .  "" Great , "" I said . "" Do you think I ' m going to tell someone your size you ' re doing a bad job ? ""  The Denver Broncos team enters the arena floor at Super Bowl Opening Night at  Center in San Jose , Calif . , on Monday , Feb . 1 , 2016 . ( Josie Lepe Bay Area News Group ) ( Josie Lepe )  He asked a few other questions , and I told him he should really consider using his six foot eight inch , 280 pound size to gain access , looking over to the scrum of reporters in front of Denver Broncos ' quarterback Peyton Manning . He laughed . "" Yeah , I could do that . ""  Monday was the first time the annual  Media Day was held during prime time , and it brought out reporters , fans , and attention grabbers from all over the world .  Players from the Broncos and their opponent , the Carolina Panthers , were there as well , roaming the  Center floor , which looked like the weirdest cocktail party you ' ll ever see . Especially without alcohol .  Some of the highlights away from the football related questions :  Keltie Knight is a reporter from Inside who went to last year ' s Media Day and didn ' t get as much attention as reporters who dressed up like it was Halloween . So she put on a referee ' s jersey , some leather pants , black boots , and was being called "" The Sexy Referee . ""  "" I always think about that Dolly Parton quote , "" she said . "" ' People always think I ' m a dumb blond . I ' m not dumb , and I ' m not blond . You gotta use what your mama gave you . ' I ' ll go by ' sexy referee ' any day . ' ""  T . V . personality Pick Boy , on right , of Nickelodeon  talk to Erin Coscarelli of  network at Super Bowl Opening Night at  Center in San Jose , Calif . , on Monday , Feb . 1 , 2016 . ( Josie Lepe Bay Area News Group ) ( Josie Lepe )  Among the more high profile celebrity reporters were the recently crowned Miss Universe , Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach ( no wonder Steve Harvey didn ' t show up ) , and Michelle Williams , formerly of ' Destiny ' s Child , "" who was reporting for Entertainment Tonight .  Rocky the Colorado Leprechaun was a big hit , dressed in full costume , including pointy ears , in Broncos colors . He ' s been a fixture at Denver games for more than 30 years , and rallied the 30 or so members of the San Francisco Bay Area Broncos Club to the event .  "" This is Broncos Country , he said , clearly for the ears of any Raiders fans in the vicinity .  Asked what he does when he doesn ' t dress up like a sunburned Keebler elf , he replied , "" I chase rainbows , "" before offering a chilling cackle .  Aaron Mats is a  sports reporter in Denver who carried a microphone and asked questions . . . while wearing a bright orange nylon suit that covered his entire body , face included . "" There is some anonymity to this , which allows me to do this . ""  Nickelodeon ' s Pick Boy was there , wearing a mask and gold and black superhero outfit asking players ridiculous questions . "" I ' m pretty much awesome 100 percent of the time , "" he told me . Of course he is .  Max Zielke is from a German television station . And had to yell his questions because he was encased in a giant inflatable football .  We discussed the differences between American and German football , and the only reason American football could possibly be better :  Rocky , the Colorado Leprechaun dances for the media at Super Bowl Opening Night at  Center in San Jose , Calif . , on Monday , Feb . 1 , 2016 . ( Josie Lepe Bay Area News Group ) ( Josie Lepe )  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
12284,12285,"You may not know his name , but anyone who watches movies and television knows the squat , tough faced character actor Charles Durning , who died on Christmas Eve , according to his family .  The 89 year old decorated World War  veteran had an award winning career that spanned 20th Century entertainment , from the burlesque stage and theater to television and film , playing roles as diverse as society itself .  Durning was the gruff father smitten by Dustin Hoffman ' s female impersonation of "" Tootsie , "" the Southern politician dancing on stage with George Clooney ' s Soggy Bottom Boys in "" O Brother , Where Art Thou ? "" and the corrupt cop caught up in the "" big con "" by Paul Newman and Robert Redford in "" The Sting . ""  He won Tony and Golden Globe awards and was nominated for Academy Awards two times as a supporting actor . He also received nine Emmy nominations and was honored in 2007 with a lifetime achievement award from the Screen Actors Guild .  Born in Highland Falls , New York , on February 28 , 1923 , Durning became an actor relatively late .  According to his  Guide biography , Durning left home at age 16 and later enlisted in the Army . Durning landed at Normandy on D Day and fought in the Battle of the Bulge , receiving the Silver Star and three Purple Hearts .  He worked odd jobs that ranged from professional boxing to teaching ballroom dancing to ushering in a burlesque house , where he got his start on stage by once filling in for a comic who failed to show up , the actor often recalled .  He also attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts , where he trained with Jason Robards , Colleen Dewhurst and others .  Some of Durning ' s other best known roles included his Tony winning performance as Big Daddy in "" Cat on a Hot Tin Roof "" , the governor in "" Best Little Whorehouse in Texas "" , a beleaguered police officer in "" Dog Day Afternoon "" and as Doc Hopper , the owner of a frog leg restaurant in "" The Muppet Movie . ""  Durning ' s family , in a statement issued Tuesday , said , "" Not only was Charlie a World War  hero but he was also a hero to his family . Charlie loved Christmas and if he could have chosen a time to pass , he would have chosen this day . ""  People we ' ve lost in 2012 : The lives they lived  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
12294,12295,"As a longtime political operative , I know firsthand how a vote here or a vote there can make a huge difference in a close election . And as Vice President Al Gore ' s former campaign manager , I understand the impact U . S . Supreme Court decisions can have on electoral outcomes .  These two reasons are why I ' m outraged by what ' s going on in Ohio .  This week , the Supreme Court , on the eve of early voting , ruled that efforts by Ohio Republicans to restrict early voting days were acceptable . This gets rid of what ' s called the Golden Week in Ohio the period when voters can register and cast their ballot at the same time .  It ended convenient voting hours , when Ohioans could vote after a long day at work as late as 9 p . m . It also ended voting on one of the two Sundays before Election Day when many folks head to their polling place after church . These have been hallmarks of the Ohio voting system , but the Supreme Court and Republicans have yet again changed the rules in the middle of the game all to create barriers between people and the ballot box .  And unfortunately it ' s not just Ohio where Republicans have doggedly tried to restrict or cut early voting days or hours . In Wisconsin , Gov . Scott Walker and the  have reduced and limited the early voting period , including weekend voting . In North Carolina , the Republican governor and legislature took away a week of early voting . And in Georgia , a  legislator lamented a county ' s move to expand early voting , saying he would "" prefer more educated voters "" over black early voters .  Think this doesn ' t have any real impact ? Think again . In 2012 , a third of voters cast a ballot before Election Day , in person or by mail more than double the rate during the 2000 election . All told , more than 18 million voters cast an early in person ballot when President Obama was re elected .  Voting shouldn ' t be a challenge . It should be as easy and accessible as possible . We shouldn ' t require forms of  that folks don ' t have , we shouldn ' t restrict days or hours that allow working people a chance to both do their job and exercise their democratic right , and we damn well shouldn ' t be throwing up new obstacles midstream .  When obstacles are thrown up , we should have protections for voters . That ' s why I was so frustrated when the Supreme Court last summer gutted the Voting Rights Act in Shelby v . Holder .  The Supreme Court ruled that there ' s no need for national oversight when localities and states with a history of racially discriminatory voting laws make voting rule changes . I ' m not alone with my frustration . A recent poll from Lake Research and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights found that nationally , 69 of the American public favors restoring the  , with only 10 opposing .  Voters of both parties , all races , and every region across the country favor a congressional proposal to restore the Voting Rights Act . I ' m hopeful that Republicans and Democrats will , in the lame duck session after the 2014 elections or in the beginning of the next session of Congress , hammer out legislation that restores oversight and protects voters .  As Democrats , we believe in giving every eligible citizen the opportunity to vote whether it ' s early because they can ' t take off work on Election Day or absentee because they might have plans to be out of town . And we believe this for two reasons . First , when more people vote , Democrats win . That ' s because more Americans agree with us on the big issues and the big questions like who ' s got my back ? But second , it ' s because our democracy is better when more people have skin in the game . Our democracy relies on participation and we ' ve never done better by excluding folks .  If there ' s one thing we can count on , it ' s that the  is going to continue to come up with last minute schemes to make it more complicated , more confusing , or just plain more difficult for honest , hardworking citizens to vote on Election Day or before . It ' s up to us to stop them .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,present
12321,12322,"Former President Carter warned members of Congress on Tuesday that America ' s failure to achieve energy independence is threatening the country ' s national security , undermining its long term potential for economic growth and contributing to global warming .  Former President Carter said Tuesday that the United States must end its energy based vulnerability .  "" Collectively , nothing could be more important than this question of energy , "" Carter said during a rare presidential appearance before a congressional committee .  "" I would guess that our entire status as a leading nation in the world will depend on the role that we play in energy and environment in the future . ""  Carter , who in 1977 famously declared the fight for energy independence to be "" the moral equivalent of war , "" told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that reaching that goal is crucial to ending the country ' s "" vulnerability to possible pressures and blackmail . ""  Right now , he noted , "" whether we admit it or not , we are very careful not to aggravate our major oil suppliers . "" Watch Carter talk about energy and security  He also asserted that more jobs will be gained than lost by transitioning the country away from fossil fuels and toward cleaner , renewable energy sources .  Carter ' s testimony came as Congress continues its consideration of broad reaching energy legislation with the potential to dramatically tighten emissions controls while reshaping America ' s environmental standards .  Among other things , the American Clean Energy and Security Act would create a controversial "" cap and trade "" system establishing steadily declining limits on greenhouse gas emissions over the next four decades .  Under the bill , polluters would be able to buy and sell emissions credits while utilities would be required to generate an increasing amount of power from renewable sources .  Congressional attention to the issue is being driven by President Obama , who , like Carter , has placed energy near the top of his domestic agenda .  Carter suggested that energy reform advocates craft an omnibus proposal that could be considered collectively by Congress in order to minimize "" adverse influence of special interest groups "" opposed to any major changes .  Powerful entrenched interests ultimately helped derail his administration ' s energy agenda , he said .  Carter noted that his administration nevertheless succeeded in reducing net oil imports by 50 percent , from 8 . 6 to 4 . 3 million barrels per day . But after "" a long period of energy complacency , "" he said , daily imports to the United States are now almost 13 million barrels .  America consumes 2 . 5 times more oil than China and 7 . 5 times more than India , he noted . On a per capita basis , the United States consumes 12 times more oil than China and 28 times more than India .  "" Although our rich nation can afford these daily purchases , there is little doubt that , in general terms , we are constrained not to alienate our major oil suppliers , which puts a restraint on our nation ' s foreign policy , "" Carter said .  The former president reminded committee members that , as part of his drive for renewable energy , he had ordered 32 solar panels to be placed on the roof of the White House in 1979 . But the panels were removed "" almost instantaneously after Ronald Reagan moved into the White House , with assurances to the American people that such drastic action would no longer be necessary . ""  Sen . John Kerry , D Massachusetts , opened the hearing by noting that the price of a barrel of oil has fallen 90 below the record high hit in summer 2008 . Unfortunately , Kerry added , the "" political will to take decisive action has dissipated "" as each past energy crisis has subsided .  Carter "" had the courage to tell the truth to Americans and set America on the right path in the 1970s , "" Kerry said . "" Regrettably , the ensuing years saw those efforts unfunded and stripped away . ""  Richard Nixon was the first president to set a goal of energy independence , Kerry noted . Nixon called for that goal to be reached by 1980 .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
12341,12342,"Karachi , Pakistan Do not mistake eight year old Bilal Ahmed ' s skin and bones body , his beguiling smile and his big beaming eyes for weakness .  Bilal changes when he steps into a boxing ring .  When the pint sized Pakistani fighter climbed into a shabby old ring at an outdoor youth center , his smile turned into a stone cold scowl .  At the sound of the bell that marked the start of round one , his tiny fists at the end of his stick like arms turned into pain inflicting projectiles , pounding away at his opponent .  "" I want to hit my opponent , "" says Bilal , minutes before the fight . "" All I think about is winning . ""  Bilal is obsessed with winning because , to him , boxing is more than a sport . It ' s the one chance he has to escape Lyari , one of the poorest , toughest and most dangerous neighborhoods in the sprawling southern port city of Karachi .  Drug and gang violence is rampant here , killing nearly 100 people this year alone .  "" There is shooting at night , "" Bilal says . "" I wake up and go to my mom . When I grow up I ' m going to take my family away from here . ""  But for Lyari ' s boys , the future is often bleak . Many here blame the government for failing to keep neighborhoods safe and a broken school system for robbing children of the chance to succeed .  For decades boxing has given thousands of Lyari ' s kids what the government has not a safe place to grow , learn and chase a dream .  African immigrants brought boxing to Lyari in the 1940s , when Karachi was still part of British ruled India . More than 70 years later , 22 boxing clubs , run by volunteers and private donations , have made this neighborhood Pakistan ' s boxing factory .  "" This is the second Cuba , "" says the head of the local boxing association , Asghar Baloch , referring to the Caribbean nation that has produced some of the best boxers in the world .  "" If these kids weren ' t here , they would be with guns and arms , "" he says . "" If we continue our positive activities , we will get positive results . ""  Positive results at Lyari ' s boxing clubs aren ' t necessarily trophies and victories in the ring . They ' re polite , healthy children who laugh and play , children who finish school .  But on this night it ' s all about winning for Bilal , who ' s taking on a bigger and taller opponent at an important tournament .  His opponent overpowers him in the opening round but Bilal stands his ground .  Round two is too close to call but Bilal wins the third and final round with lightning quick combinations and powerful right hooks .  The referee raises Bilal ' s arm in victory and back comes the big smile on the skinny little kid whose dream for a better life lives on .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
12363,12364,"Here ' s something you don ' t see every day : The 99 demonstrating in support of the 1 . But that ' s exactly what ' s been happening for several weeks all around New England at Market Basket grocery stores .  In 1916 , Athanasios and Efrosini Demoulas , who immigrated to the United States from Greece , opened a grocery store in Lowell , Massachusetts . Almost a century later , the family has expanded it to a chain of 71 supermarkets across Massachusetts , New Hampshire and Maine .  In 2008 , Anthanasios and Efrosini ' s grandson Arthur T . Demoulas was elected president of the Market Basket board . By all accounts , Arthur T . , as he is known , presided over a very successful and happy company . Not only did Market Basket continue to expand and reap profits "" generating 4 billion in revenues in 2012 "" but workers have thrived as well .  Full time clerks start at 12 an hour . Cashiers with experience can earn over 40 , 000 a year . And managers can easily make into the six figures .  Keep in mind that ' s in a nation where the average annual salary for grocery store cashiers is 21 , 370 and the national minimum wage is 7 . 25 per hour .  The company also has a generous retirement plan , matching 15 of annual salary to employee retirement funds . What ' s more , workers up and down the supply chain receive good bonuses throughout the year .  All this and Market Basket is affordable for customers , with prices regularly 10 to 20 lower than competitors . The company is profitable in an industry known for low profit margins , and has given 500 million in dividends to the nine family shareholders over the past decade .  In other words , at a time when corporate executives and wealthy investors regularly try to argue that companies cannot pay workers well and be successful in generating profits , Market Basket has been an impressive and stunning example to the contrary . Market Basket has been a good company all around until recently , when things changed .  So what happened ? Well , the family board switched sides , ousted Arthur T . and installed his cousin Arthur S . Demoulas as president .  One of the first acts under Arthur S . was to distribute 250 million in profits to the nine family shareholders , what a Boston Globe editorial called "" an uncharacteristic act of greed for a firm known for its generous treatment of its workers and concern for price conscious shoppers . ""  There have been other ominous signs that Arthur S . and his allies plan to push profit at all costs at the expense of workers and the values of the company . And so in an unprecedented mobilization , managers and workers have protested at Market Baskets across New England , calling for their beloved  Artie T . to be reinstated .  Last week , more than 6 , 000 Market Basket workers and managers joined in a peaceful march outside the company ' s headquarters in Tewksbury , Massachusetts . If you go to any Market Basket store around New England right now , you ' re likely to find employees and even some customers holding up signs protesting the new executive and supporting the ousted Artie T . Employees are also using social media to get their message out , using hashtags like MarketBasket .  Of course , if you go inside a Market Basket you ' re not likely to find much even the warehouse workers are on strike . These protests aren ' t being organized by unions after all , Market Basket workers aren ' t unionized . They ' re being organized by the employees and managers of the company .  Already , eight managers have been fired for helping lead the protests . But the protests continue . As a result , the company is reportedly losing 1 million a day .  A reporter interviewed one of the Market Basket workers at a protest . "" I have a friend who works at Walmart , "" she said , "" and I asked her , would they ever do this for their  ? "" The woman laughed . But what has become of capitalism in America is not funny : the extreme greed of a few overrunning the best interests of everyone , including workers , communities and a healthy growing economy .  Just like the Occupy Wall Street protesters before them , the Market Basket workers are not protesting against capitalism . They ' re protesting for a certain kind of capitalism , a capitalism that works for owners as well as for workers and communities . It ' s the kind of capitalism that has made Market Basket a successful business for generations , the kind of capitalism that once meant shared prosperity and opportunity in America .  The Market Basket managers and cashiers and bag boys joining in protest aren ' t just holding signs , they ' re also holding the aspirations of the majority of Americans . Those of us concerned about the growing economic inequality in America don ' t want to "" eat the rich "" "" we simply don ' t want the rich to chew up and spit out everyone else .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
12379,12380,"Louis van Gaal admitted that this Manchester United side will have to make significant improvements if they are to challenge at the top of the table despite a morale boosting 2 1 victory at Arsenal which lifted them into the top four .  The Manchester United manager hailed his make shift team , which included a back three of Tyler Blackett , Paddy McNair and Chris Smalling , but said that the opening 25 minutes , in which United looked as though they would be swept aside by Arsenal , was an indication of how much ground they had to make up .  United secured the victory secured through a Kieran Gibbs own goal and a Wayne Rooney strike , but van Gaal said : ' I was not pleased with the way we had played in the first half so I don ' t think it ' s my best victory with United . Of course , it ' s an away game against a top team and we have won .   Scroll down to watch Louis van Gaal speaking after 2 1 victory over Arsenal  Wayne Rooney celebrates after Kieran Gibbs of Arsenal scored an own goal to put Manchester United one up  Louis van Gaal ( second left ) believes his side need to improve if they are to challenge at the top  The Manchester United team celebrate after they went 1 0 up at the Emirates on Saturday evening  ' But I have to say the first 25 minutes we gave the ball so easily away , it ' s not possible for a top team . Arsenal created a lot of chances but fortunately we have a very good goalkeeper in David De Gea and after the first 25 minutes you saw we were coming back in the game .  ' That ' s what I said at half time : when we keep the ball , when we show confidence then we shall create many , many chances . And we created at last three big chances . And twice the pass was easy to give to Di Maria and Rooney and the passes , which were not difficult , were not right . And we have to improve that . '  United keeper David De Gea was man of the match , keeping United in the game at times but even he was urged to improve by van Gaal . ' His quality is on the goal line but he has to improve also in their aspects of the game . When I say that you think that I ' m crazy but I ' m not crazy , believe me .  ' And if Arsenal had score in the first 20 minutes , it would have been another game and then maybe I would have had to respond to all the questions because I had chosen three defenders but now I can laugh .  ' I was convinced before the match I had made the right decision but making the decision before the match is a quality decision , I can say that now . But I can ' t do anything else as I don ' t have so many players . I think the players have done fantastically and Blackett , McNair and Shaw how old are they ? And they play against a top team like Arsenal , who are always changing position . But I was not pleased . '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
12422,12423,"Los Angeles police faced a brief shootout and were led on a     chase through the streets of the San Fernando Valley and southbound along the Interstate 405 Monday night by an armed attempted murder suspect wanted for allegedly shooting his    early Sunday morning. [“The guy shot through the window,” a Los Angeles Police Department officer told Breitbart News. “Eventually, he came out of his car and surrendered. ”  The 405 was still closed on Tuesday morning, the officer said, “because there were shots fired and they have to do a full investigation. It should be open by now. ” Another officer, Jeff Nuttall, told Breitbart News that the 405 was closed for approximately six or seven hours due to an “  shooting. ” “One of our police dogs bit the suspect and he was taken into custody.  I don’t know the exact location of the   shooting, but I do know it was sometime during the pursuit. That’s why it was closed. It was all part of the   shooting investigation. I would say it reopened at around 7 a. m. ” According to  7, the suspect is believed to be Marcos Tulio Flores, 32. He drove a silver Acura. His    is reportedly hospitalized in critical condition. Video footage of the chase shows the suspect constantly slowing his car and then speeding it up as approximately 13 police cars followed him from behind. The entire video of the chase was posted to YouTube:  7 reported that the suspect also threw items out of his windows including clothing. Eventually, the officers administered a  (precision immobilization technique) move on the vehicle, which sent him spinning and immobilizing him. The cop car drove into the back of the driver’s side of the vehicle which sent it spinning and causing the suspect to lose control. Authorities then surrounded the suspect’s vehicle and took him into custody using the help of a  . A series of other   chases have also taken place throughout the Golden State. In December, “a man who appeared to be under the influence of some substance” led police on a wild chase after he “breached a secure area at San Francisco International Airport” and ran onto a tarmac at the busy airport. Just four months prior to that, in San Diego, a Chinese family vacationing in the area led police on a   chase after becoming confused following their failure to yield o a police officer’s sirens after evading a stop. This past July, an “unusual” video of an unidentified   driver racing down the Interstate 880 in Oakland went viral. Follow Adelle Nazarian on Twitter and Periscope @AdelleNaz",true,news,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
12428,12429,"Greg Hardy was late for practice last week and Cowboys covered for him  Greg Hardy s presence caused a stir Sunday . ( Christian Petersen Getty Images )  On Sunday , Greg Hardy raised a ruckus with his presence on the Dallas Cowboys sideline . Last week , though , it was his absence that caused concern .  Hardy was late for practice Thursday and didn t check in with the Cowboys , ? according to the  Network s Ian Rapoport . It took the team most of the morning to find him and it eventually listed ? illness as the reason he did not practice .  On Sunday , Hardy took it upon himself to enter the Cowboys special teams huddle after it had given up a 100 yard touchdown return of a kickoff late in the team s loss to the New York Giants . He slapped the clipboard of coach Rich Bisaccia and , when Dez Bryant attempted to intervene , Hardy started yelling at him in a bizarre scene .  That was just a situation that oftentimes happens on a sideline where guys are trying to encourage and inspire other guys on their team , Garrett told 105 . 3 The Fan on Monday . He was fired up and wanted to make sure that the special teams unit was going to get the job done . Sometimes those things happen . It wasn t exactly the right time and place as we re getting ready to go out on the field . We got that conveyed and communicated and we all moved on .  Maybe they have , but their tone deaf treatment of the situation is cause for concern . Stephen Jones , the owner s son and team s executive vice president , said the Cowboys would consider a long term deal with the defensive end , who is signed only for this season and would become a free agent . He is sure to draw interest , but he brings a growing amount of baggage with him .  Antics ? What antics ? Boys back Hardy  Hardy has played in only two games since serving a four game suspension related to a 2014 domestic violence incident that sidelined him on the exempt commissioner s permission list for the last 15 games of the season . ? In his first comments after his suspension ended , he managed to strike the wrong tone , promising to come out with guns blazing and making an off kilter remark about Gisele Bundchen , Tom Brady s wife , and the attractiveness of quarterback spouses in general . And , in May , he was forced to apologize for attempting to tweet a joke about the Twin Towers .  On Sunday , at least he was keeping his mouth shut , telling reporters no comment at least a half dozen times , knowing that Jerry Jones and the Cowboys would continue to cover for him until this reaches a point when they can t anymore .  After spending most of her career in traditional print sports journalism , Cindy began blogging and tweeting , first as  Redskins editor , and , since August 2010 , at The Early Lead . She also is the social media editor for Sports .  Success ! Check your inbox for details . You might also like :  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
12442,12443,"A report has claimed that more than half of children in the United States qualify for free or low cost school lunches .  The study by the Southern Education Foundation found that 51 per cent of students were from low income families in 2013 .  The publication analyzed National Center for Education Statistics for children who can get subsidized meals and suggests the figure has been gradually rising since the recession in 2008 .  Claims : The study by the Southern Education Foundation found that 51 per cent of students were from low income families in 2013 . Of the states with a majority of low income students , 13 were located in the South , and six in the West  In 40 of the 50 states , low income students made up 40 percent of all public school children on average .  Of the states with a majority of low income students , 13 were located in the South , and six in the West .  The highest concentration came in Mississippi , where 71 percent qualified , followed by New Mexico ( 68 ) and Louisiana ( 65 ) .  Children are qualified for free meals if their family members are already on these benefit programs or if their household income is not more than 135 percent of the poverty level about 32 , 000 for a family of four  To qualify for lowered price meals , their household income must be more than 185 percent of the poverty level or below about 44 , 000 for a family .  The report read : ' For the first time in recent history , a majority of the schoolchildren attending the nation ' s public schools come from low income families .  ' The latest data collected from the states by the National Center for Education Statistics (  ) , evidence that 51 percent of the students across the nation ' s public schools were low income in 2013 .  ' The pattern was spread across the nation . Half or more of the public schoolchildren in 21 states were eligible to receive free or reduced price lunches , a benefit available only to families living in poverty or near poverty in 2013 . 1  Table : The highest concentration came in Mississippi , where 71 percent qualified , followed by New Mexico ( 68 ) and Louisiana ( 65 )  ' In 19 other states , low income students constituted between 40 percent and 49 percent of the states ' public school enrollment . In other words , very high proportions of low income students were evident in four fifths of the 50 states in 2013 . '  Despite the alarming statistics , there are ways the figure may be misleading .  Upper grade children do not participate in the school programs because they don ' t want to eat in the cafeteria .  Furthermore , the Community Eligibility Provision , enacted a couple of years ago , allows certain school districts to offer free meals to everyone without proof of income .  More than 2 , 000 school districts enrolling 6 million students are eligible , and the number is growing quickly . For example , every single child in the Milwaukee Public School system can get free school meals .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
12446,12447,"As Liverpool crashed out of the Capital One Cup on Tuesday evening , a familiar scapegoat emerged .  Mario Balotelli took much of the immediate blame for failing to properly mark Branislav Ivanovic , allowing the Serbian defender a free header from seven yards out .  As Willian prepared to whip in a free kick in the first period of extra time , Balotelli was seen grabbing Ivanovic ' s shirt as Liverpool got in to their defensive shape .  Branislav Ivanovic rises to head Chelsea 1 0 in front against Liverpool on Tuesday night  Ivanovic was initially being marked by Mario Balotelli but lost him to get a free header in the box  A few seconds later , however , Ivanovic had drifted behind his marker and fired in what turned out to be the winning goal in Chelsea ' s 1 0 victory .  But was Balotelli solely to blame ?  Sportsmail columnist and former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher disagrees , instead highlighting faults in Liverpool ' s zonal marking system .  Steven Gerrard , Lucas , Balotelli all line up in front of Chelsea ' s first attacker Ivanovic  As Willian takes his free kick , Ivanovic moves behind his original marker Balotelli  Gerrard and Lucas are marking ' zones ' with no Chelsea players in them due to poor positioning  Balotelli moves forward as Diego Costa goes into his ' zone '  ' It ' s not Mario ' s fault the goal ! In zonal defence you attack the space in front of you ! Costa goes in front of him so he goes with him , ' Carragher wrote on kicca .  ' The fault initially is Gerrard , Lucas Mario should all come back 3 yards so Stevie is in Lucas position etc .  ' As Willian takes it there are 3 Chelsea players between Mario Johnson Skrtel that ' s the problem those 2 are wrong side so there ' s too much space for them to run into . '  Indeed , replays of the goal seem to back up Carragher ' s assertions as Steven Gerrard and Lucas ' s starting position mean Willian ' s ball drifts completely past them into an area where Chelsea ' s players have plenty of room to run in to .  As Liverpool line up to to defend the free kick , Jordan Henderson is marking Diego Costa  But as the ball comes in to the box , Henderson fails to track Costa ' s run  Henderson ' s is left back near the penalty spot , while Costa has moved into Balotelli ' s zone  Balotelli jumps with Costa , leaving Ivanovic with a free header to score  In effect , Gerrard and Lucas were defending ' zones ' they did not need too as Chelsea had no players in or attacking that space . Therefore , as Carragher says , Liverpool ' s line should have moved three yards back .  Balotelli , meanwhile , can be seen stepping forward and challenging Diego Costa as the Chelsea striker moves into his ' zone ' after losing his marker Jordan Henderson .  Had Henderson stayed with Costa then Balotelli may not have had to step forward and may have been better positioned to challenge Ivanovic .  Balotelli must take responsibility for his lack of movement during his brief cameo at Stamford Bridge , but to blame him for the goal is that really fair ?  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
12482,12483,"Wimbledon goalkeeper James Shea would love to follow in Dave Beasant ' s footsteps by making an impact against Liverpool but remarkably admits to not having seen his penalty save from the 1988  Cup final .  Monday will be a special occasion for everybody associated with the Dons , who are in the  Cup third round for the first time since their rebirth in 2002 .  Player trials on Wimbledon Common and Combined Counties League football seems an awful long time ago now , though , with the club chasing promotion from League Two and readying themselves for a mouth watering clash with Liverpool .   Wimbledon keeper James Shea is hoping to emulate Dave Beasant ' s performance against Liverpool  Wimbledon goalkeeper Beasant dives to save John Aldridge ' s penalty in the 1988  Cup final at Wembley  The Kingsmeadow encounter brings with it memories of the most famous day in Wimbledon ' s history , when the Crazy Gang shocked the Merseyside behemoths to win the  Cup .  Lawrie Sanchez scored the decisive goal at Wembley that day , although captain Beasant ' s save from a John Aldridge penalty remains the iconic image one current Wimbledon goalkeeper Shea admits he has yet to see .  ' I haven ' t seen the save but I ' ve heard it is unbelievable , ' he said .  ' I remember ( former  Wimbledon manager ) Dave Anderson telling me about it when I was about to join .  ' He talked me through the whole history of the club and everything , but I haven ' t had the chance to see it yet .  ' I ' ve been meaning to see the Crazy Gang documentary as well , but I don ' t have  Sport . My old man has recorded it for me so I ' ve got to go around his and watch it .  Adebayo Azeez ( left ) holds off York City ' s Marvin McCoy during  Wimbledon ' s  Cup first round win  Former Wimbledon player Neal Ardley will lead Wimbledon out against Liverpool in the  Cup third round  ' I ' ve seen ( other ) videos , I ' ve seen the goal and inside the stadium there are pictures everywhere .  ' It was a great day for them . They weren ' t expected to win and hopefully we can replicate what they done . '  Beasant will be amongst the 4 , 800 crammed into Kingsmeadow on Monday and , given his own career started with non league Edgware Town , he will appreciate Shea ' s journey to  Wimbledon .  The 23 year old came through the ranks at Arsenal , where , alongside the likes of Jack Wilshere , he won the 2009  Youth Cup against Liverpool .  Shea progressed to the first team and was on the bench for five Champions League matches during the 2012 13 season what proved to be his last campaign with the Gunners .  The Islington born goalkeeper was released and dropped into non league with Harrow Borough , leading him to seriously consider a future out of the game .  ( L R ) Jordan Henderson , Lucas Leiva and Steven Gerrard train ahead of their  Cup third round clash  Shea began his career at Arsenal and was an unused substitute in five Champions League matches  He said : ' It was getting to that point when I had to think "" what am I going to do with myself ? ""  ' I didn ' t know . I wasn ' t too sure . All I ever wanted to do was play football and to go into non league it was a shock . '  Thankfully for Shea it all worked out and the goalkeeper calls his time with Harrow the ' best thing ' he has ever done .  The goalkeeper remains thankful to the club and Anderson for helping him get the move back to league football with Wimbledon , for whom he will be the last line of defence against Liverpool ,  ' It ' s going to be a very hard game not just for me , but the whole team , ' Shea said .  ' It is a great game to be a part of . We are in a no lose situation , really . We ' re not expected to win , apart from the pressure we put on ourselves . Hopefully we can put on a show on Monday . '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
12488,12489,"Reuters) - Indonesia has issued new regulations aimed at curbing money laundering and terror-related financing across a broader range of financial service providers, including money changers, credit card issuers and electronic money providers.   The move is part of efforts by Indonesia to bring rules up to international standards and join the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an inter-governmental body fighting money laundering.  Indonesia was taken off an  blacklist two years ago. The new regulations, issued by Bank Indonesia (BI), cover transactions handled by non-bank financial institutions and were made public on its website on Wednesday.   said the new rules balanced a need to contain the risks of money laundering and terrorism-related financial crimes and promoting economic growth. Eny V. Panggabean,  s executive director of payment system regulation, said the rules also addressed  developments in the industry, digital economy and innovations in payments that include a more complex money changer business . The new  regulations cover credit card issuers, electronic money providers, remittance and money transfer companies as well as fintech startups. Service providers now have to have an up-to-date list on alleged militants, radical organizations and individuals linked to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in order to cross check with customers.  They must also assess customer risks depending on the country origin of an incoming transfer or the destination of outgoing transfers, and must not engage with so-called shell banks, which don t have a physical presence in a country where they are incorporated. Companies should report anything suspicious to the financial transactions watchdog. A financial service provider that fails to follow the rules could have its license revoked and directors, commissioners or shareholders banned from the financial services business for five years. A similar regulation was introduced a few months ago by the Financial Services Authority (OJK) for financial conglomerates, banks, insurance companies and other bigger players in the industry. The  rules also elaborated on procedures to handle suspicious transactions. Indonesia was put on an  list of jurisdictions with weak measures to combat money laundering and terrorism financing in 2012. In 2015, the  declared Indonesia off the blacklist  due to progress in improving regulations. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
12500,12501,"Nearly a quarter of British holidaymakers are willing to travel from a remote airport for cheaper flights and endure one or two connections , a survey of 9 , 000 Brits has revealed .  And a third of travellers would be willing to sacrifice refreshments for an entire flight if it meant securing a cheaper fare .  However , despite this , Ryanair which specialises in cheap fares to out of town destinations without any on board frills has been voted the worst airline in the  .  Out of favour : Holidaymakers rank other airlines higher than Ryanair for value for money  When asked to name their favourite , holidaymakers voted for British Airways which topped the poll with nearly a quarter of the vote ( 23 per cent ) , followed by Virgin Atlantic in second place , according to the annual TripAdvisor study .  At the other end of the scale , Ryanair was named Brits ' least favourite airline , with nearly half of all votes polled ( 49 per cent ) compared to just two per cent naming it their favourite airline .  The age of austerity seems to be having an impact on business travel too , with 72 per cent of business travellers having flown on a no frills airline in the last 12 months .  In fact , British business travellers are now less likely to fly exclusively with a full service airline ( 28 per cent ) than British leisure travellers ( 32 per cent ) .  The annual air travel survey by TripAdvisor also revealed that when it comes to finding the cheapest airfare , the travel agent is no longer the go to source for most British travellers .  Best overall : British Airways has been named the  ' s favourite airline in a poll  Fewer than one five say they find the lowest prices using the traditional route , compared to over a third who say they can find the cheapest fares on price comparison sites .  Almost a third of Brits cite their previous experience of flying with an airline as one of the three most important factors when choosing flights .  The survey also revealed that over half of British travellers have experienced flight delays in the last 12 months and , of those , one in six ( 15 per cent ) suffered delays lasting for more than six hours .  Yet despite the high number experiencing delays , only one in ten ( 10 per cent ) chose to claim compensation . However , the good news for travellers is that , for those who did make a claim following a delay , two thirds said they received compensation successfully .  In flight meals : A third of passengers would be happy to ditch food on planes in favour of cheaper fares  Katherine Clark , regional business development director for TripAdvisor Flights , said : ' Flights can make up a significant part of a trip in terms of both cost and experience , the results of this year ' s survey show that price continues to be a concern , with a significant portion of British travellers willing to forgo some comfort for savings . '  The survey also revealed those inflight amenities that British travellers could not do without .  Over three quarters ( 76 per cent ) said that legroom is most important to them , compared to just six per cent naming inflight entertainment options and three per cent naming meal options as most important .  The least favoured inflight amenity was duty free shopping , with less than one per cent of the vote .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
12504,12505,"Almost before the smoke had cleared at Pearl Harbor , he had enlisted to serve his country in the Army Air Forces . He viewed the war in the South Pacific through the bomb sight of a B 24 Liberator as a second lieutenant and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for bravery .  When he got home to Texas , he was eventually elected to Congress and served 34 years , including a term as speaker of the U . S . House of Representatives .  But Jim Wright found out the other day he wasn ' t qualified to vote in the election in his home state .  Wright , who no longer drives at 90 , tried to get a voter card under a new Texas law and was told his expired driver ' s license and university lecturer ' s  were not adequate proof of his identity . A war hero and former congressman had to go home and dig through old files to return with his birth certificate .  Hurrah for the flag of the free ?  Although there has been only one indicted incident of voter fraud in Texas since 2000 , Gov . Rick Perry and the  controlled legislature passed a stringent voter  law .  Perry had argued impersonators jeopardized the sanctity of elections . There had been , however , only four such cases on file with the Texas attorney general from 2008 to 2010 , a brief time span during which 13 million people cast ballots . That data had much to do with the federal courts tossing out the Texas  law as discriminatory against minorities . But a Supreme Court ruling on the Voting Rights Act immediately reinstated the Texas  law which by design was intended to discriminate , as a lower court said .  Texas conservatives and other states pushing voter  laws are facing demographic destinies they cannot avoid . The laws of mathematics might have prompted the laws of discrimination . According to U . S . Census Bureau figures , in 1990 , white children younger than 18 outnumbered Latinos in Texas by 843 , 000 . The 2010 numbers were an almost exact reversal with 995 , 000 more Hispanic kids than whites .  Assuming new Hispanic voters will follow familiar trends and tend to vote for Democrats , the end of the story for the  might just be biology . The average white female in Texas , and the rest of the country , is 41 with a fertility rate of 1 . 9 , according to Census Bureau figures and and the Texas state demographer Lloyd Potter . The Latina female average age , meanwhile , is 25 with a fertility rate of 2 . 7 . No need to be a mathematician to draw that graph .  Women , in fact , are the most likely to be jeopardized by the new Texas law , which requires a government issued photo  to have your name be "" substantially similar "" to how it appears on registration rolls .  Unfortunately , divorces , taking a husband ' s surname , remarriages and retaining maiden names serve to create conflicts between old registrations and current IDs for women . And because younger women don ' t immediately update their government documentation after marriage , a survey by the Brennan Center for Justice indicates about 34 of them won ' t be qualified to vote because their names will not match state records .  Because there ' s no way to measure what doesn ' t happen , we can ' t know how many women simply did not vote in the election this week because they didn ' t have the appropriate photo  .  The political impact of this plot is expected to be disproportionately significant with the gubernatorial candidacy of State Sen . Wendy Davis , which will likely increase turnout of female voters .  Unsurprisingly , Davis , who is divorced , encountered the problem when she went to cast her ballot in the statewide constitutional election , the first to be held under the law . She was allowed to vote after signing an affidavit confirming she was , indeed , a senator and resident of the state .  Davis ' likely  opponent for governor is Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott . His name didn ' t match registration records . His campaign manager said Abbott , too , would have to sign an affidavit .  Abbott , a big supporter of the photo requirement , would not have been able to vote had it not been for Davis passing a last minute amendment to the voter  law that allowed the signing of sworn documents to enable voting when records did not match . Davis , essentially , saved the state ' s attorney general from disenfranchising himself .  And if a law nearly victimizes people with resources and advanced educations , consider its implications for the poor .  Up to a million registered voters in Texas could be without a valid  to be eligible to participate in elections . How many did not show up at the polls November 5 because of worries about IDs ? And Texas isn ' t exactly making it easy to acquire one , especially if you are a minority .  First , identification has to be confirmed with a document such as a birth certificate , which costs 22 in Texas .  The prospective voter can use that to get a driver ' s license but 81 counties out of the state ' s 254 don ' t even have a Department of Motor Vehicle office . Supreme Court testimonies showed that some people would have to drive 250 miles to reach a  facility and that in those counties , Hispanics were twice as likely as whites to be without a vehicle .  It ' s not exactly simple for wage earners in urban areas , either .  There are almost no  offices in the inner cities they are mostly located in suburban areas and only open during work hours . An hourly employee would have to jump a bus out to a  location during lunch hour to get an  . We can assume how often that might happen , which is rarely , especially in a state with almost no viable mass transit .  That ' s why generous Texas lawmakers funded mobile facilities in 20 counties to help people obtain IDs in locations with limited access to state services . Unfortunately , the Department of Public Safety has only issued about 100 , which hasn ' t made much of a dent in hundreds of thousands of registered voters still lacking legal  to vote . And that ' s probably what the legislature and the governor of Texas wanted to happen .  No , that is precisely the outcome they desired .  Texas law continues , however , to respect certain population groups .  In the state Capitol , if you have a concealed carry handgun permit , your gun and you can move right into the building through the security express lane and avoid inspection . That handy little gun card will also get you access to a voting booth , even when a war hero and former U . S . House speaker and potential future governors are temporarily denied .  The kinda , sorta right to vote is still safe in Texas .  The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of James Moore .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
12521,12522,"War and toys : two words rarely associated with one another .  But veteran photographer Brian McCarty is bringing the two together in photography and a documentary film to explore what children in the war zone endure every day .  With simple toys and drawings , the War Toys project explores the daily struggles of Palestinian and Israeli children through their own eyes , with the help of local humanitarian organizations . McCarty , who has used toys in art projects in the past , takes the drawings from children ' s art therapy and recreates some of those scenes with toys and photographs them .  McCarty : It started 14 years ago at an exhibit in Zagreb , after the Croatian war of independence . I chose to do a study of war toys as cultural artifacts , and as a tool for getting perspective on war . But it was in the abstract form it wasn ' t tied into cultural or personal experiences . Over the years I started to see the potential of toys for healing and communication . So War Toys in a nutshell allows children to articulate their experiences of war , occupation , terrorism through a collaborative process . It ' s all based on art therapy and play therapy . I essentially go and interview kids , working with established therapists . You ask them to draw a picture or write a letter , and somehow they express what they ' ve seen , what they feel , what they ' ve heard . And from those drawings , I then go and buy local toys , and recreate at the actual locations , what they ' ve described .  McCarty : I chose the Israeli Palestinian conflict because the region has been in conflict since the dawn of humanity . It is a reflection of the flaws of human nature a place where there is a very definite two sides . It ' s a place ruled by passions and faith . So far I ' ve only been to the West Bank and Israel . I ' ve worked mostly with the Palestinians . Going forward , I want to work with the Israelis . It ' s really important to me that the project is completely neutral . I want to show all sides of the conflict , and show the cost of the conflict from the kids , who are just stuck in the middle of this whole mess .  McCarty : Art therapy is a way to really have a child be in control and express his or her feelings and emotions from a very safe place . I ' ve been working with some amazing art therapists . Art therapy bridges so many gaps . Children are smart . They know what ' s going on , they know what ' s happening they have emotions attached to it all . But their language abilities may not be there , so they can never sit there and tell you , "" This is what happened to me , this is what I feel about it . "" So as a result , their accounts of war aren ' t seen or aren ' t valued . What they draw brings their experience to life , and I try to capture that . Same can be said for play therapy it ' s even harder to quantify . It ' s children in a room playing with toys , and a trained therapist watching how they play with toys , asking questions and getting them to explain what happened . It ' s really the only recognized way to deal with children in  ( post traumatic stress disorder ) situations , war and that sort of thing . We ' ll pick the drawings we can capture in a photograph .  McCarty : In the therapeutic setting , my role is observer . I rely on humanitarian organizations with ongoing art therapy and play therapy programs . It ' s not wise for me to work with the kids directly . In that moment , it would be irresponsible for me to get involved in that way . My biggest fear is to be exploitative , or cause any more harm than these kids have already gone through . It ' s a real danger , and I ' m kind of walking a fine line .  McCarty : Children in the therapeutic process in the art process are generally excited , because they ' re drawing it ' s fun . They rush to grab the pastels and the pieces of paper , and they carve out little spots on the floor , and it ' s adorable . But the drawing can also be disturbing . I watched a little girl coloring in pools of blood . It was hard , it took a lot out of me . After I ' d done some of the photographs , I brought them back to the kids and showed them the drawings they had done next to the photographs that I did , and their reaction was wonderful . The kids loved them , they went crazy for them : "" This is exactly what we ' re feeling , this is wonderful . "" The art , for as painful as it was for me to watch , ( the kids ) were expressing themselves , and able to do so freely . I absolutely saw a release when they were doing the art . One asked . . . "" Why toys ? "" He was offended he asked me why I was shooting toys , and not the reality on the ground ? That gave me the chance to conceptually defend the project to a child . And it was a challenge . I was not expecting it . I was able to say this is my method of communication , this is how I get context and boil down what ' s happening a new way of thinking and seeing . It takes quite a long time for the therapeutic process to really have an effect . But to have someone interested in their perspective , to have someone listening to them and someone who wanted to see what they were drawing , that alone kind of validates humans and makes it better .  McCarty : The most overwhelming experience was just shooting video at the barrier wall just inside of the West Bank at the Kalandia checkpoint . The day that I picked happened to be a day that there was a giant protest . I ' ll never forget a child who drew an account of a shooting by the wall : a little boy being shot in the head . When the boy drew it , you could tell he was really emotional , and he went so far as to cross out the drawing after making it , so I really wanted to do it right . So I went to the wall and set up some toy soldiers , set up a little boy , put down fake blood . Right about then , the protesters showed up en masse , marched on the checkpoint . It was chaos , screaming , running , tear gas . What ' s remarkable to me looking back , my own reaction . I didn ' t acknowledge them , just focused on my own shoot . The project isn ' t about my experiences of war , it ' s about the kids , it ' s about articulating what they felt and what they ' ve seen so my experiences are secondary .  McCarty : It ' s hard to say exactly where I ' ll end up . It depends on funding , of course , but I ' ve thought about Somalia , thought about Afghanistan , I ' ve thought about Iraq , I ' ve thought about Mexico and the drug wars . Really wherever these things are happening and I think that children ' s perspectives are either underserved or unseen . That ' s the motivation for it . My goal for War Toys is to use locally bought toys , to really go to the markets and the places where the children who live there buy their toys , or in some cases , make their toys . But the idea has been to use the toys to reflect socioeconomic conditions . If it ' s a poor neighborhood you ' ll have cheaper toys . Those differences to me just add another layer of commentary to the project .  McCarty : I am definitely still a kid at heart . My house looks like a rich fourth grader lives there . I ' m still a kid . I think through toys . It ' s how I view the world , it ' s how I interact with the world , it ' s how I make sense of the world .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
12546,12547,"Rubio pivots , attacks Clinton after a strong debate showing  Marco Rubio , right , and Jeb Bush tangled during the debate . ( Robyn Beck  Getty Images )  Fresh off a strong debate performance , Sen . Marco Rubio ( R Fla . ) pivoted his attacks to the general election and Hillary Rodham Clinton , in an effort to move beyond the intraparty sniping that characterized Wednesday night ' s debate .  "" Here ' s what I would hate more , "" he told  ' s Chris Cuomo on Thursday morning , "" and that is to wake up on the first Wednesday of November in 2016 to the news that Hillary Clinton has been elected president of the United States . ""  "" Because that means that the next four years are going to be like or worse than the last eight years , and our country can ' t afford that , "" he added .  Wednesday night ' s debate was the moment Rubio needed to emerge from the fray , but the ? task in his morning after victory lap on television ? appearing on six  networks ? ? was to appear presidential , ? and ready to take on Clinton in a general election debate .  A breakout moment for Cruz and Rubio , but will  voters respond ?  As he did on the debate stage , Rubio ? criticized the media and Clinton simultaneously , accusing them of covering up lies about the 2012 attacks against U . S . facilities in Benghazi , Libya .  Sen . Marco Rubio ( R Fla . ) came out swinging during the  debate and had some big applause lines . See his most memorable moments of the third Republican debate . ( Jhaan Elker The Washington Post )  During the congressional hearing on Benghazi "" it was revealed that Hillary Clinton knew early on and was telling her family and telling her friends that the attack on the consulate was by terrorists , al Qaeda like terrorists , "" Rubio said on  .  "" The Clintons are nothing but masters of self preservation , "" he added . "" She was telling her relatives and friends early on that she clearly had doubts . ""  There was "" never a single shred of evidence "" that the attack was caused by a controversial video , an explanation that Clinton and Obama administration officials provided in the days after the attacks .  Clinton called the changing narratives after the attacks a "" fog of war "" moment in her testimony before the hearing . ? But Rubio and other Republicans have accused Clinton and the Obama administration of having political motivations .  "" It furthered a political narrative that the administration had settled on "" ahead of Obama ' s 2012 reelection contest , Rubio said . "" That was a moment when true leadership would have said ' no . ' ""  On both ""  ? This Morning "" and  ' s "" Good Morning America , "" Rubio blasted Clinton for tweeting a  showing her brushing off her shoulder during last week ' s ? House committee hearing about the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi .  "" That was a serious hearing about a serious issue . As far as taking her on if I m our nominee , we re gonna be the party of the future and the Democrats will be exposed as the party of big government ideas from the past , he said on  .  During the third  debate , candidates got feisty with the  moderators . They took aim at the questions asked , at the "" mainstream media "" and at the moderators interrupting their answers . ( Victoria M . Walker The Washington Post )  Rubio also took a swipe ? at  , which televised the debate , saying that the questions submitted by the network ' s moderators weren ' t substantive enough . He said he thought the candidates would talk about issues including taxes and plans to reduce the debt .  "" I thought it was a wasted opportunity and quite frankly that s what made it unfair , not just to the candidates but to the American people , "" he said on  .   candidates tangle with one another ? and  ? in a chaotic debate  Although Rubio challenged the front runner in the Democratic race ? as he ? made the rounds on morning news shows Thursday , he declined to attack his mentor ? and Republican presidential rival Jeb Bush , despite ? striking back at the former Florida governor ? during the debate .  "" I still have tremendous admiration for him both as a person and what he did as governor of Florida , "" he told the "" Today "" show ' s ? Savannah Guthrie . "" I ' m not going to talk bad about Governor Jeb Bush . My campaign is not about him . ""  "" It isn ' t going to change my feelings and my views about him , "" he added .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
12601,12602,"Sectors Thu Dec 3 , 2015 6 : 48pm    Euro jumps above 1 . 07 after  rate cut underwhelms  Euro jumps more than 1 percent after  cuts rate just 10 bps  Market awaits Draghi news conference at 1330   Expansion of asset purchase programme still in question   , Dec 3 The euro jumped more than 1 percent against the dollar on Thursday , rebounding from a 7 1 2 month low , after the European Central Bank cut its interest rate on deposits by just 10 basis points , disappointing some expectations of a sharper move .  In a volatile few minutes around the decision , the euro rose sharply on a report by the Financial Times , later corrected , that the bank had not moved interest rates at all .  After the decision to cut was announced , it surged to as high as 1 . 0742 , its highest in a week .  "" They cut on the low end of expectations , so there ' s some euro short covering and probably some euro buying from neutrals , "" said Stephen Gallo , currency strategist at Canadian bank  in London .  He said he expected the bank might also go easy in expanding its quantitative easing programme at  President Mario Draghi ' s news conference starting at 1330  .  "" Now that they ' ve cut less than expected , I think they ' ll shy away from an aggressive sovereign  add , "" he said . "" Maybe they want to lay off the euro a little bit that ' s my initial reaction . ""  The divergence in monetary policy between the euro and dollar was highlighted anew on Wednesday , when U . S . Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen hinted at a rate hike later this month , saying she was "" looking forward "" to lift off .  Yellen ' s hawkish comments sent the greenback soaring to a 12 1 2 year high against a basket of six major peers , while the single currency slipped to 1 . 0550 , its lowest level since mid April .  Morgan Stanley ' s European head of G10  strategy in London , Ian Stannard , said earlier on Thursday that it would be tricky for Draghi to drive the single currency down straight away . It has already fallen over 7 percent since the  ' s last meeting .  "" We ' ve seen time and time again that Draghi has been able to surprise the market , and if he ' s able to do that today then yes , I think the euro can continue to go lower , "" Stannard said . "" But if he ' s unable to do that , because expectations have just moved so far , there is the potential for a short term rebound . ""  Data released on Wednesday showing U . S . private employers added a larger than expected 217 , 000 jobs in November bode well for Friday ' s non farm payrolls data , easing concerns sparked by a soft U . S . manufacturing data on Tuesday , and further boosting the dollar .  Against the yen , the greenback was flat at 123 . 21 . ( Writing by Patrick Graham editing by Anirban Nag )  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
12603,12604,"From the grim faced Edwardian woman in her patterned dress to the unsmiling visage of photographer Robert Cornelius , the world ' s oldest selfies are a surprisingly joyless bunch .  But while modern selfies are just for fun , for the pioneering posers of the 1800s , photographic self portraits were revolutionary .  Now Mashableweblink has rounded up some of the best and the results are surprisingly impressive .  Stunning : This image , which dates from 1900 , shows a female photographer and her Box Brownie  Along with the woman standing beside her Kodak Box Brownie , there are group shots and even one taken outdoors in what appears to be the Alps .  Other shots include a 1930s effort of a beautifully dressed woman posing with what looks like a trophy and a wonderful close up of a tweed suited gent taken in 1938 .  Like the modern selfie trend , which appeared in the wake of the social media and iPhone revolution , the vintage version was also the result of a technical innovation .  The camera and modern photography began life in 1790 with a basic model created by the  ' s Thomas Wedgwood , which , by 1826 , had been developed into a device resembling modern cameras by French inventor Joseph Nic phore Ni pce .  Originals : Robert Cornelius in his 1839 selfie ( left ) and snapper Terry Fincher in an daring selfie taken in 1966  By 1838 , human beings had made their first appearance on film an event swiftly followed by the first selfie , which was the work of American photographer Robert Cornelius and taken in 1839 .  But the era of the selfie didn ' t truly dawn until 1900 , when Kodak ' s revolutionary Box Brownie Camera appeared on shelves .  Priced at just 1 each , the cardboard device took two inch photos on 117mm roll film and sold in the millions .  The Box Brownie was cheap , easy to use , and even helped to introduce the world to the concept of the snapshot .  And as the image of the Edwardian woman , her Box Brownie poised at waist height , proves , it also helped to popularise the selfie .  Vintage classic : A Fox Photos staff photographer captures his own image in a mirror , circa 1948  Launched in February 1900 , the Kodak Box Brownie was the first mass produced camera .  Easy to use and , at just a dollar each , cheap to buy , it revolutionised the art of photography until then available only to a limited number of very wealthy people .  Made from cardboard and in possession of a simple meniscus lens , it look tiny two inch square photos at the push of a button .  Unlike modern cameras , the viewfinder was perched on the top which meant users had to hold the device at waist height and look down .  Later models included a bakelite version , the Brownie 127 , of which millions were sold between 1952 and 1967 .  There was also a slightly more expensive spin off model , the Beau Brownie , which used a more advanced doublet lens and were smaller than their conventional counterparts .  Although the Box Brownie is no longer in production , many historical examples are still in existence and , if cared for well enough , can still create wonderful photos today .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
12605,12606,"Sudan ' s Deputy Chief Justice recently made the alarming announcement that his government might start training judges to cut off the hands and legs of convicted criminals , if doctors refuse to carry out amputations as punishment .  Abdul Rahman Sharfi said non cooperation over the use of such amputations would be punished .  Adopting a defiant posture , he denied his government had ever stopped the use of one of the most severe forms of "" hudud "" punishments , which are based on an interpretation of Islamic law .  Sharfi revealed that 16 people had been subjected to amputations since 2001 , although the first reported case was that of Adam al Muthna , 30 , whose right hand and left foot were amputated by three doctors on 14 February .  Al Muthna had been found guilty of highway robbery .  The amputation prompted a public outcry , particularly by the Sudanese Doctors ' Union , which complained that doctors were horrified to have to break the Hippocratic Oath to protect patients , and not harm them in order to comply with government orders .  Amputations are just one form of cruel punishment carried out in Sudan .  Since 2005 thousands have been sentenced on counts of adultery , which carries the punishment of flogging , and , in some cases , stoning .  Layla Ibrahim Issa Jumul was 23 years old and the mother of a six month old infant when she was sentenced to death by stoning on counts of adultery by a Sudanese judge last July .  He didn ' t mind that she didn ' t have a lawyer to defend herself , or that she didn ' t understand what "" stoning "" meant .  The second woman to be sentenced to death by stoning in 2012 , she spent two months shackled , alone with her baby , in Omdurman prison , near the capital Khartoum .  Both women were eventually released on appeal , following intense campaigns by Sudanese and international human rights organizations on their behalf .  Others , though , are less fortunate .  Almost every day in Sudan , someone is given 20 to 100 lashes on a court order for minor offenses , and following a summary trial . Many such floggings are carried out in public .  These punishments are cruel , inhuman , degrading and may amount to torture .  They are a clear violation of international human rights law and Sudan ' s own international commitments , notably the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights .  They are highly controversial within Sudan , which explains in part why the authorities have been unable to enforce them systematically . But for those affected , the suffering is real and revolting .  As Sudan reviews its constitution , it is imperative that the authorities respect their international commitments , and address the issue of corporal punishments and the death penalty as a matter of priority .  Such cruel punishments can no longer be tolerated . And laws need to be enforced and respected to put an end to them once and for all .  The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Netsanet Belay .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
12611,12612,"England ' s plans for the Calcutta Cup showdown with Scotland have been undermined by yet another midfield injury as Brad Barritt limped out of Saracens ' win at Wasps on Sunday .  In the 58th minute of the Aviva Premiership encounter , the 28 year old was contesting a high kick but landed awkwardly and his right leg bent backwards as home fly half Andy Goode landed on it .  He was treated on the field before being helped off . Initial indications were that Barritt had suffered a medial ligament strain in his knee , but that early prognosis soon changed .  Brad Barritt , hopeful of an England return against Scotland , limped out of Saracens ' win at Wasps on Sunday  Barritt ' s injury after Andy Goode landed on his leg initially seemed to be to his knee , but was to his ankle  After his side ' s 26 17 comeback win , Saracens ' director of rugby , Mark McCall , said : ' It seems to be his ankle . The knee seems to be okay . We ' re all hopeful it won ' t be too serious .  ' It didn ' t look very good and Brad has been unlucky this season . I ' m sure he ' ll be close to selection for England next weekend , so fingers crossed it ' s not as bad as it looked . '  Barritt was due to join up with the rest of the England squad at their Surrey  on Sunday night and he will face urgent medical assessments on Monday , as the coaches wait to discover if he will be available for Saturday ' s  Six Nations clash with the Scots at Twickenham .  With Luther Burrell of Northampton unable to train last week due to a calf strain , Barritt was seemingly destined for a recall at inside centre , but now his hopes hang in the balance .  Saracens ' director of rugby Mark McCall is hoping Barritt ' s injury isn ' t as bad as it looked  Barritt ( obscured by Goode ) was penalised for this challenge on Goode in the air that caused the injury  Barritt was due for a recall to the England side as Northampton ' s Luther Burrell struggles with a calf strain  The Saracen was an heroic mainstay of England ' s autumn victory over Australia in his last Test appearance , but a calf injury in that game kept him out for a month , then he damaged knee ligaments in his clubs ' European Champions Cup tie against Clermont Auvergne in France .  That untimely setback meant Barritt was unable to retain the national No 12 shirt , as he surely would have done if he had come through that pre championship weekend unscathed .  Stuart Lancaster , England ' s head coach , will hope that if Barritt isn ' t cleared for a return against Scotland , Burrell does recover in time . The alternative option would be to pick Billy Twelvetrees at inside centre , but the Gloucester captain ' s form has been alarmingly inconsistent this season .  If Barritt is fit to play , he is set to rejoin the back line along with Harlequins full back Mike Brown despite Alex Goode ' s superb efforts at No 10 for Saracens yesterday . Up front , Northampton lock Courtney Lawes is expected to come into the second row in place of George Kruis .  England coach Stuart Lancaster ' s plans for Saturday ' s Calcutta Cup clash may have to be rethought  Barritt , here tackling Wasps ' Nathan Hughes , will undergo urgent medical examinations on Monday  Unlucky Barritt has recently recovered from calf and knee ligament injuries before the most recent blow  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
12620,12621,"Even as deficit grew , Texans choice was Hoyer  Even as deficit grew , Texans choice was Hoyer  He had four first half turnovers and you would ve been convinced that he couldn t top that sort of ineptitude even if you later found out he was left handed .  Brian Hoyer had the worst game of his career at the worst time and Texans fans were , understandably , fed up with his performance . The best thing for us in this game was to stick with him .  Hopkins said after the game he was looking forward to working with Hoyer next season . I had named him the starter , and with the game plan and the amount of reps ( backup  ) Brandon ( Weeden ) had gotten during the week , which was basically nil , I thought the right thing to do was to stick with Hoyer .  Said Hoyer : I m the quarterback of this team . You don t put two on him , I feel sorry for you . We ve put a lot of work in this year and as bad as it was going , I wasn t going to come out of that game .  Every year is different , O Brien said . I didn t want to be coming out of that game . He wanted to play a complete game on all three phases , so we took the ball over on defense we protected the ball on offense and we scored on special teams .  Hoyer is under contract for next season , but his roster status seems anything but settled . We wanted to go out there and play our style of football . Every time he played man , I had a completion so I owe it to those guys in the locker room and these coaches to do everything I can to be a better player for next time I step on the field .  Still , the Texans couldn t consistently take advantage of Hopkins skills as the Chiefs rattled Hoyer .  Hopkins caught just six of 11 balls thrown his way for 69 yards in Sunday s loss to the Chiefs . Midway through the fourth quarter , O Brien replaced Hoyer with Ryan Mallett .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
12625,12626,"Spanish neuroscientists claim low alcohol red wine produces more brain activity in ' taste processioning ' areas , then stronger tipples . A stock image is shown  You might imagine that stronger wine would pack more of a punch in the flavour department .  But Spanish neuroscientists claim that red wine with a low alcohol content produces more brain activity in ' taste processioning ' areas , then stronger tipples .  While the low alcohol bottles may not contain more flavour per se , people pay more attention to ' fruity bouquets ' and ' woody notes ' so the wine appears to be tastier .  Neuroscientists led by Ram Frost , of the Basque centre of Cognition , Brain and Language in Donostia San Sebastian , Spain , wrote in their study , published in the journal Plos One : ' Over the last few decades , wine makers have been producing wines with a higher alcohol content , assuming that they are more appreciated by consumers .  ' To test this hypothesis , we used functional magnetic imaging to compare reactions of human subjects to different types of wine , focusing on brain regions critical for flavour processing and food reward . '  They noted that 30 years ago , it was typical for red wines to contain around 12 per cent alcohol , while now quality tipples can be 15 per cent .  This is because wine makers ' seem to assume that strong wines are , on the average , more appreciated by wine consumers , ' Dr Frost said , adding that they seem more intense , which is considered desirable by some foodies .  To reveal that stronger wines aren ' t necessarily better , his team measured the brain activity of 21 volunteers in a fMRI scanner .  During the scan , the volunteers had the enviable task of sipping samples of different red wines where one was low alcohol and another stronger , but they tasted similar .  The researchers measured the brain activity of 21 volunteers in a fMRI scanner while they sipped red wine . They found : Contrary to expectation , significantly greater activation was found for low alcohol than for high alcohol content wines in brain regions that are sensitive to taste intensity , including the insula as well as the cerebellum . An image from the study showing brain activity triggered by wine is shown  ' Contrary to expectation , significantly greater activation was found for low alcohol than for high alcohol content wines in brain regions that are sensitive to taste intensity , including the insula as well as the cerebellum ' , the researchers wrote .  In fact , there was no part of the brain that responded more strongly to the more alcoholic wine , meaning that strong wines ' induce weaker activation relative to the low alcohol content ones ' .  This may be because people paid more attention to the flavours of the less potent wine , even though they are not more flavourful themselves , Discover Magazine reported .  The experts hypothesised : ' The low alcohol content wines induced a greater attentional orienting and exploration of the sensory attributes of wines relatively to high alcohol content wines . '  Wine critics have previously said that New World , or high alcohol wines , often lack the finesse of less potent options , because the alcohol overpowers some of the more subtle aromas and flavours .  ' The findings raise intriguing possibilities for objectively testing hypotheses regarding methods of producing a highly complex product such as wine , ' the researchers wrote .  Wine critics ( stock image ) have previously said that New World , or high alcohol wines often lack the finesse of less potent options , because the alcohol overpowers some of the more subtle aromas and flavours  Dozens of cheap and popular California wines are tainted with dangerously high levels of arsenic , claims a new lawsuit filed this week .  Sutter Home , Korbel , Franzia and Trader Joe ' s Charles Shaw White Zifandel , also known as ' Two Buck Chuck , ' were just a few of the 31 wine brands the lawsuit claimed were unsafe .  Twenty eight California wineries were listed in the complaint , which is asking for a halt in production of the wines in question .  A new lawsuit claims dozens of cheap and popular California Wine , including Franzia and Trader Joe ' s Charles Shaw White Zifandel , are tainted with dangerously high levels of arsenic  The lawsuit was filed by four individual Southern California wine consumers who , according to their attorney Brian Kabateck , had 1 , 306 wines tested at a Denver based laboratory and then confirmed results with two additional laboratories .  Kabateck said 83 wines , almost all of which sell for below 10 a bottle , contained arsenic levels 10 parts per billion above the range considered safe for drinking water .  The Environmental Protection Agency standard for drinking water is 10 parts per billion meaning that the tests allegedly found arsenic levels that were double the federal drinking water standard .  ' This is a very serious public health concern , ' Kabateck said . ' We would hope the wine industry would take these wines off the shelf immediately . '  ' If not voluntarily , we would ask the court to do it . '  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
12644,12645,"From food to makeup , Star Wars stuff is out of this world  Originally published December 10 , 2015 at 6 : 43 pm  The seventh installment in the franchise ( and the first from Disney ) boasts a broader array of branded products than ever , including Chewbacca creamer and Jedi makeup .  Right now , in a store not too far away , there is a galaxy of new merchandise connected to Star Wars : The Force Awakens .  Beyond the usual action figures and apparel , the seventh installment in the space franchise ( and the first from merchandise driven Disney ) boasts a broader array of branded products than ever before : from Chewbacca Coffee Mate creamer ( Wookiees drink coffee ? ) and Star Wars mascara to 400 designer Death Star shoes and a 4 , 000 Millennium Falcon bed .  It s wider and broader and deeper and covers more age ranges and is less gender specific than anything I have ever seen for Star Wars , said Steve Sansweet , Lucasfilm s former director of fan relations and Guinness world record holder for the largest collection of Star Wars memorabilia .  Photo gallery : May the gingerbread be with you at Star Wars village in Seattle  Expanding the universe of Star Wars merchandise internationally was part of Disney s original vision when it acquired Lucasfilm , he said : It was very clear from the front , and they have followed their game plan .  Star Wars toys have always played an important role in how our fans interact with the Saga , Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said when the first Force Awakens collectibles were introduced earlier this year . They ve inspired multiple generations to relive the experience of the movies and to create new adventures all their own . These spectacular Star Wars : The Force Awakens products will continue that tradition .  The result is an amazingly diverse range of branded items , from the unexpected ( light up lightsaber chopsticks ) to the unbelievable ( haute couture Stormtrooper wear ) . International offerings have grown in scope and distinction , too , with local licensees and artisans interpreting the iconic characters for their cultures .  Sansweet recently added some Japanese items to his collection , including soy sauce plates and little kokeshi dolls , which are typical of a small community in Japan , he said . They re usually carved in traditional format of samurai or geisha or something like that , and now there s a whole series of Star Wars ( characters ) .  Retired from Lucasfilm , Sansweet now shares his Star Wars collection with the public through his nonprofit Rancho Obi Wan museum in Petaluma , Calif . , where he offers educational tours and hosts private events , including two weddings .  Here s a look at some of the more unusual items keyed to The Force Awakens , some of which Sansweet has already added to his collection :   : ? Chewbacca isn t the only one with his own Coffee Mate creamer . Darth Vader , C 3PO , R2 D2 and Boba Fett also got the creamer treatment , and each is a different flavor . ( Chewie is spiced latte . ) New York s Ample Hills Creamery introduced two new flavors in Star Wars packaging : The Light Side is marshmallow ice cream with crispy clusters , and The Dark Side is dark chocolate with espresso fudge brownies .  Other branded food items include special General Mills cereal boxes ( one shows the Trix rabbit as Princess Leia ) with plastic droid viewers inside and Kraft macaroni and cheese with pasta in Star Wars shapes .  I m chasing around trying to find bags of Darth Vader apples , Sansweet said . It s crazy ! But it s fun crazy .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
12646,12647,"Slaven Bilic apologised to Arsene Wenger after he was sent off in the final moments of Besiktas ' fiery 0 0 draw with Arsenal in Istanbul .  Bilic was escorted off after complaining to Serbian referee Milorad Mazic during a stormy first leg of this Champions League qualifier at the Ataturk Stadium .  The former West Ham and Everton defender said : ' I have apologised . It was a big game for us , right . I just wasn ' t happy with some of the decisions . He just showed me the way off .   Scroll down to watch post match reaction from Arsene Wenger  Anger : Besiktas manager Slaven Bilic was sent to the stands after losing his temper during the Arsenal game  Lost his cool : But the Croat says he has apologised to Arsene Wenger and the referee for his actions  ' After the game I apologised to him and to Mr Wenger . No hard feelings or whatever . I made a mistake . Maybe I overreacted in that situation when he stopped the game when the ball hit Flamini in the stomach and we were in a good position , two against one .  ' But nothing serious happened in that moment or after the game . I ' m not used to this kind of situation .  ' I had 60 or 70 games with Croatia , but I think this is the second time I ' ve been asked out of the dug out .  ' I don ' t know the rules , but I see no reason for me not to be in the dug out in London , really . If that was a reason , many coaches would be missing from the dug out . '  Paving the way : Bilic shouts instructions from the touchline during the Champions League game  Out : Bilic says the loss of Aaron Ramsey to Arsenal will be key in the second leg   Wenger lauded late Ramsey goal against Palace  Former Chelsea striker Demba Ba had two big chances for Besiktas to win it including a spectacular shot from the kick off but Bilic still believes they can win at the Emirates on Wednesday .  He added : ' We ' ll be ready next week . We ' re going to London not to go shopping in Harrods , but to try to fulfil some would say our dream . I ' d say our task , our plan .  ' Nobody respects Arsenal more than I do , but I wouldn ' t have taken this result before the game . ' We are big time alive , though . I ' m really optimistic . We ' re going to their soil , their stadium , in front of their spectators , but we didn ' t concede . ' We played without our most important player ( Atikba ) Hutchinson , who is very likely to be fit for the second leg .  ' They ' ll be without Ramsey even if they have many great midfield players , but Ramsey is their top man . '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
12650,12651,"Tucson , Arizona Moments after returning from visiting Rep . Gabrielle Giffords at the hospital , the congresswoman ' s six time campaign chairman said Sunday that he is confident that she will survive , though the extent of her recovery remained unclear .  The impact on Giffords ' family has been huge , he said . Asked how her husband , astronuat Mark Kelly , was faring , McNulty said , "" He is a Navy combat fighter and he can take about anything , but this is a terrible experience . ""  Asked about Giffords ' ability to survive a 9mm slug to the head , McNulty said , "" I can only think that God has more important things planned for her in the future . ""  Even as he acknowledged that the motive for the shooting remains unknown , McNulty faulted Giffords ' opponents in last year ' s elections for stirring up emotions in the campaign to an unacceptable level .  "" There were rallies around her office that seemed designed to intimidate her staff , which simply doesn ' t seem very American to me , "" he said , though he added that he never felt threatened .  The rallies were organized by members of the Tea Party around Giffords ' support for President Barack Obama ' s health care bill , he said . "" There was a level of vituperation that no one has ever seen , and there was , you know , the famous incident of people showing up with handguns and losing control of handguns that just fall in the street and brandishing handguns . ""  He added , "" That ' s where the Tea Party , I think , went over the edge . They thought it was fun to talk about using your firearms to solve political problems , and I don ' t think that ' s fun . ""  Tea Party advocates have condemned Saturday ' s shootings .  "" These heinous crimes have no place in America , and they are especially grievous when committed against our elected officials , "" said Amy Kremer , chairman of the Tea Party Express .  "" Spirited debate is desirable in our country , but it only should be the clash of ideas . An attack on anyone for political purposes , if that was a factor in this shooting , is an attack on the democratic process . We join with everyone in vociferously condemning it . ""  McNulty credited Giffords with having a special ability to work from the center with all sides in politics , a strength that served the Democrat well in an overwhelmingly Republican state . "" If you look at the demographics , you would not think that she could get elected , "" he said .  "" The way she inspires people reminds me a little bit of when I worked for Mo Udall ( the former Democratic Arizona congressman ) and the people that worked for Ted Kennedy ( the late Democratic senator from Massachusetts ) people who would walk through a wall for the people they believed in . But , unlike them , she doesn ' t inspire by leading from one of the fringes .  "" She is a genuine centrist and being inspirational from the center is not that easy , but she can do it and she causes people to just simply love her . ""  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
12656,12657,"Topics : Donald Trump ,  primary ,  debate , Elections 2016 , aol on , News , Politics News  For just the briefest of moments during Donald Trump s Screw Fox News rally Thursday night , I almost became a fan .  The rally was supposed to start at 9 p . m . , ? but was running late . So I turned on Fox to see if Trump had pulled a fast one and shown up on the debate stage after all . Jeb Bush was in the middle of one of his trademark babbles , sounding a bit more forceful than he has when he has shared a stage with Trump , though no more coherent . Still , even two or three minutes of watching was enough to see that the whole exercise felt bloodless , just a bunch of middle aged guys in suits and terrible ties competing to paint the most apocalyptic , charred hellscape vision of America under President Obama that they could . To listen to these candidates , you d think the debate was taking place in Immortan Joe s skull bedecked redoubt from Mad Max : Fury Road , while outside in the Iowa winter several thousand rag clad , one toothed desert refugees looked hopefully skyward and prayed for mercy .  Then Trump walked onstage at Drake University a few miles away . The auditorium looked small on the livestream , nothing like the arenas and gyms where thousands have been packing in to see the Fabled Orange Glory on his tour through the reality show he has turned this campaign into .  I thought the tiny venue ? might make the whole event feel small and sad . But it turned out to be the right choice , eventually . First , we had to get through Trump entering to cheers from the assembled veterans ( only veterans could get in , leaving other voters who had lined up for hours in the cold sitting outside ) . He smirked and brought his hands up in a sort of half shrug , as if to say , Who , me ?  Then it was onto a stream of consciousness speech in his usual gibbering style . There were shots at Fox about the debate blow up , with Trump telling the crowd , When you re treated badly , you have to stick up for your rights , as if he was a founding father addressing the Continental Congress , and not some publicity seeking yutz ducking out of answering tough questions from Megyn Kelly . There was the usual blah blah blah about the terrible Iran deal and the wall that Mexico is going to pay for and how much money he has made and all the winning we re going to do when he s president .  Finally he arrived at the ostensible ? purpose ? of the evening , helping the veterans . And here a strange thing happened . After reading off a list of donors and how much money they had given his shady foundation to disburse to veterans groups and announcing he was donating a 1 million of his own money to the cause , Trump seemed to take a step back . He brought up onstage a couple he knows who were also donating a million dollars and let the husband talk to the audience for a few minutes . He brought up Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum and let them both speak . It was probably more exposure than the two sad sack candidates had gotten participating in Fox s undercard debate a couple of hours before .  Then he brought onstage John Wayne Walding , a former Green Beret who lost his leg in a firefight in Afghanistan . While Trump sat down with his family in the front row , Walding began pacing the stage . Sounding nervous and maybe a bit overwhelmed , he went through a long and rambling speech about his upbringing , his military service , his family . He talked about the problem of veterans committing suicide after returning from war , and told those in the auditorium that the best middle finger they could give the Taliban was to live well . ( It s probably uncharitable to point out here that we had invaded their country , but whatever . )  Walding also brought up two other veterans who run an organization dedicated to helping their fellow service members . The men , two burly characters with southern accents like Walding s that made them all sound like soldiers in a Clint Eastwood movie , presented Trump with something they called an honor ring , which they wear on their trigger fingers to honor their deceased brothers and sisters in arms .  And here was where I felt the faint stirring of what can only be described as admiration ? Trump had been offstage and off camera for a good 10 ? or 15 ? minutes . Though his spirit hovered over the whole scene , he had shared the space for long stretches with the less fortunate ? wounded veterans , and also Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum . He had been a gracious host . And assuming the 6 million raised for charity last night actually gets to organizations that will use it to help people ( always dicey in the world of veteran s charities ) , he had done something good for people not named Donald Trump .  Meanwhile down the street , the cast of high strung syphilitic howler monkeys fighting it out to finish second to Trump in Monday s caucuses were taking turns seeing which of them could call Hillary Clinton a liar over Benghazi the most , and threatening to prosecute her over her emails . It all seemed even smaller and pettier than usual .  Then Trump returned to the stage , wearing his new honor ring , and shadow boxed a bit before introducing two of his biggest fans , Diamond and Silk , ? a pair of middle aged African American women who have become YouTube famous as the women who Stump for Trump . They do this routine about voting for Trump as if they are in a Baptist church . To wit :  As I was sitting in my hotel room today thinking bout this great man Donald Trump  And just like that the warm feelings disappeared . We were back to The Screw Fox News Variety Hour , with your host , Donald Trump ! Sponsored by American democracy . May it not be in its final death knell .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
12659,12660,"Sam Allardyce ' s feud with the Senegal national team has intensified with the West Ham boss claiming he does not trust them to look after Diafra Sakho .  Mystery still surrounds the back injury the striker picked up while on international duty last month , even if it is not as severe as first thought .  Allardyce confirmed the 24 year old has a shot of making the West Ham squad for the fixture against Swansea after an earlier diagnosis suggested he would be out until the end of the month .  West Ham manager Sam Allardyce ' s feud with the Senegal national team intensified on Friday  West Ham manager Allardyce claims he does not trust Senegal to look after Diafra Sakho  But Allardyce is still seething at an injury he claimed was not caused by playing or training and says the player was ' mistreated so badly ' .  Allardyce now has a dilemma over whether to stretch his club ' s own medical resources in order to send a chaperone when Sakho rejoins the Senegal side for the African Cup of Nations in January . Asked if he trusted the Senegal medical team with Sakho , Allardyce said : ' I don ' t , is the answer to that .  ' I think that we ' ll have to have a discussion about that later down the line . We may consider sending somebody with them to look after our asset . '  Mystery still surrounds the back injury the striker picked up while on international duty last month  In Sakho ' s absence , Andy Carroll has returned from a run of considerably worse injury problems which have wrecked his time at the club .  On Sunday , Allardyce will get a close view of Wilfried Bony , the prolific striker he opted against signing in 2013 in order to recruit Carroll for 15million .  He said : ' We didn ' t have enough money that year ( to sign Bony as well ) . There is always a risk with any player that comes from abroad . Of course , in Swansea ' s case it has paid off handsomely . '  Allardyce now has a dilemma over whether to send a chaperone when Sakho rejoins the Senegal side  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
12664,12665,"I think it was a driving force for all of these guys back in spring training , knowing that we wanted to get back to that situation and get that one more run , Royals leftfielder Alex Gordon said at a workout in advance of the Series . It s driving me nuts . I kid ( deGrom ) about it . I think the fans like it .  While all are good defensively , Gore basically has had no at bats and no defensive opportunities this postseason . He has traded bad and good start thus far in this postseason and if that trend continues , Volquez is in for a great performance in Game 1 . Despite his poor playoff record , he did pitch six shutout innings in Game 1 of the  , allowing only two hits while striking out five batters .  I ve actually enjoyed pitching on the road in the postseason , he said . Trying to sort through that is part of the fun .  Then again , the Mets never trailed once during their four game sweep of the Cubs in the  Championship Series .  I didn t feel tired out there , said deGrom , who is five years removed from ulnar collateral ligament replacement surgery . I don t know if it was fatigue . It was thought that after the power pitcher reached his 180 innings limit that he would shut down and would not throw a single pitch in the 2015 playoffs .   will carry every game of the World Series with a television broadcast and live streaming option .  We re going to strike people out , said Mets manager Terry Collins . We re hoping that extra rest is going to make a difference tomorrow night . Edinson Volquez often returned home to visit his parents , and said not long ago that they were his biggest supporters while trying to make it in the big leagues . But he was given a spot start in place of injured Dillon Gee before a big crowd in the Subway Series against the Yankees , and deGrom has been a stingy staple in the rotation ever since . The locations were decided via the Royals  6 3 victory at the All Star Game .  What happened in Toronto , happened in Toronto , Cueto said through Grifol . That s over with . We re here in the World Series . The bowling alley is still there , but there s nothing in the back but old bowling balls and old pins there , I think . He outpitched both Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke in Los Angeles , and he ll be the top pitcher in this World Series . Johnny Cueto will start Game 2 and that means he will be slotted for Game 6 if needed . The Royals play a brand of baseball that has certainly worked in the postseason over the last two seasons , but they are running into a buzzsaw with New York s young pitching , and not even the voodoo magic of Ned Yost can defeat dominant pitching when it is right .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
12672,12673,"As expected , Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a rousing speech to Congress , rich in historic imagery and replete with literary references . Yet a speech filled with powerful words is no substitute for a strategy for actually preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon .  As national security adviser Susan Rice told the pro Israel lobbying group  on Monday , "" Precisely because this is such a serious issue , we must weigh the different options before us and choose the best one . Sound bites won ' t stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon . ""  The Obama administration , on the other hand , is making a strong and credible case that the deal it is pursuing would block Iran ' s pathways to developing the fissile material necessary for a bomb and extend the time for Iran to produce enough weapons grade uranium to build a bomb from today ' s estimated three months to at least a year .  Without a deal , Iran would revert to building up its stockpile of nuclear uranium , while the international community would lose the ability to monitor and track Iran ' s activities .  At the top of the list of questions the Prime Minister failed to address is how such a scenario in the wake of "" no deal "" would actually make Israel safer ?  As Rice said : "" Here ' s what ' s likely to happen without a deal . Iran will install and operate advanced centrifuges . Iran will seek to fuel its ( plutonium ) reactor in Arak . Iran will rebuild its uranium stockpile . And , we ' ll lose the unprecedented inspections and transparency we have today . ""  If no deal that the United States and five other powers actually might strike with the Iranians would be acceptable to Netanyahu , how does he propose to deal with the Iranian nuclear threat ?  He spoke about ratcheting up international sanctions against Iran and keeping them in place until Iran ceased regional aggression , sponsorship of terrorism and threatens to annihilate Israel . But years of extraordinarily tough sanctions did not persuade the Iranians to abandon their nuclear program or prevent them moving it forward . Neither did cyberwarfare or a series of assassinations of Iranian scientists .  And if the United States was seen as walking away from a possible agreement , the international sanctions regime would likely crumble , not strengthen . Iranian hard liners who oppose an agreement would be back in the driver ' s seat in Tehran , while those would want to see Iran rejoin the international community would be discredited and sidelined .  It is doubtful that Netanyahu really believes sanctions would end the Iranian nuclear program . That leaves one other option military force . Of course , Israel could order a military strike on Iran any time it chooses , but Israel ' s ability to inflict significant damage on Iran ' s widely dispersed and heavily defended nuclear facilities is limited . When the discussion turns to military action , what is really meant is U . S . military action .  It is understandable that a foreign leader speaking in the U . S . Congress would shy away from openly asking Washington to attack another country , especially after the experience of the 2003 invasion of Iraq , which Netanyahu also lobbied for .  We should recall Netanyahu ' s September 2002 testimony to the House Foreign Affairs Committee , six months before the U . S . assault on Baghdad began , when he said : "" It ' s not a question of whether Iraq ' s regime should be taken out but when should it be taken out it ' s not a question of whether you ' d like to see a regime change in Iran but how to achieve it . ""  Netanyahu may have learned from that experience . He knows that the U . S . public is weary of war and has no appetite for another military adventure in the Middle East . That ' s why he advocates policies that would put the United States on a path to military action without mentioning the words "" military action . ""  This Israeli leader , who faces a tough election back home in two weeks , has mastered the art of policy vagueness . He applied the same strategy to the failed negotiations with the Palestinians last year , declaring he was in favor of a two state solution but never putting forward a detailed proposal for where the border should be drawn or on any other substantive issue for that matter . His biggest demand once again was rhetorical that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state .  This is an Israeli leader who believes in the power of words especially his words . But words are no substitute for a strategy and that ' s where Netanyahu once again failed himself , his country and his audience .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
12691,12692,"The father of George Zimmerman , the man accused of shooting and killing an unarmed black teen , says the teen threatened to kill Zimmerman and then beat him so badly that it forced Zimmerman to shoot him .  "" Trayvon Martin said something to the effect of , ' You ' re going to die now ' or ' You ' re going to die tonight , ' something to that effect , "" Robert Zimmerman told Orlando  station  . "" He continued to beat George . At some point , George pulled his pistol . Did what he did . ""  In the interview Robert Zimmerman , his face obscured because he says he fears for his safety , vehemently defended the shooting , which has caused outrage throughout the nation , moved President Barack Obama to call it a tragedy , and prompted a federal investigation .  Robert Zimmerman told the news station that Martin confronted his son first and pummeled his son continually .  "" He was punched in the nose . His nose was broken , "" Robert Zimmerman said . "" He was knocked to the concrete . Trayvon Martin got on top of him and just started beating him . In the face . In his nose , hitting his head on the concrete . ""  Robert Zimmerman was not there the night of the shooting and did not say during the interview how he knew the details of the altercation .  The elder Zimmerman ' s account was disputed by Martin ' s family attorney and several other legal experts .  A surveillance video taken the night of the incident at police headquarters shows Zimmerman , his hands cuffed , exiting a patrol car .  The video , first broadcast Wednesday by ABCNewsweblink , shows an officer looking at the back of Zimmerman ' s head . The video does not provide a close up of Zimmerman ' s head , but some say it shows Zimmerman did not have significant injuries to his face .  "" The injuries that made it sound as though he really should have been on a stretcher are not apparent in this tape at all , "" said Marcia Clark , the former prosecutor in the O . J . Simpson trial . "" He moves freely . He moves fluidly , not like someone who has just been through a beating in any way , shape or form , someone whose head has been pounded on the pavement as hard as described , someone whose nose was broken and bleeding . That tells you a great deal . ""  Sybrina Fulton , Martin ' s mother , said the video is another strong piece of evidence proving her son was killed unjustly .  "" I believe that this video is the icing on the cake , "" she said . "" This is not the first part of the evidence that they have had . They have had the 911 tapes and they have also have witnesses . This is in addition to what the Sanford Police Department has always had . There is no problem with this case and he needs to be arrested . ""  The 17 year old was shot to death February 26 by George Zimmerman , a neighborhood watch volunteer , as Martin was walking back to his father ' s fiancee ' s house in Sanford , Florida . He was wearing a hoodie and carrying Skittles candy and a can of iced tea he had purchased from a nearby convenience store .  Evolution of the hoodie  Zimmerman says he killed Martin in self defense after the teen attacked him in the gated community . Zimmerman has not been arrested , and authorities have said he has not been charged because there are no grounds to disprove his account of what happened .  The shooting has hit a nerve in the nation , sparked a debate about racial profiling , and ignited protests and calls for Zimmerman ' s arrest .  Spike Lee apologizes for retweet error  Robert Zimmerman said his son is having a hard time dealing with the criticism .  "" I never foresaw so much hate coming from the president , the Congressional Black Caucus , the  . Every organization imaginable is trying to get notoriety or profit from this in some way , "" Robert Zimmerman told  . "" But there ' s so much hate that I have never been involved in hate and George hasn ' t . It ' s really unbelievable . ""  Robert Zimmerman said his son is not racist and race had nothing to do with the incident .  "" He would do anything to help anybody at any time . He ' s colorblind when it comes to any race , "" Robert Zimmerman said .  Tracy Martin , Trayvon Martin ' s father , said Wednesday that the 911 tape shows Zimmerman was profiling his son .  Angela Corey , the special prosecutor assigned to investigate the case , said Tuesday that investigators would look into the allegations that Zimmerman used a racial slur .  Martin , who lived in Miami , was visiting Sanford after receiving a 10 day suspension from school , a family spokesman has said . An empty plastic bag found in his book bag had been determined to contain marijuana residue .  Benjamin Crump , Martin ' s parents ' attorney , said information regarding the suspension was irrelevant and amounts to a smear campaign against the youth .  Florida law allows the use of deadly force anywhere a person feels a reasonable fear of death or serious injury . It has been cited in a number of justifiable homicide cases in Florida .  But as more and more information surfaces , the picture of what happened becomes more complicated .  What the witnesses are saying  Despite the twists and turns in the case , Fulton , Martin ' s mother , says she still has faith in authorities investigating her son ' s case .  "" I feel confident that they ' re going to do a thorough investigation , "" Fulton said . "" We ' re trying to be patient , even though it ' s been over a month . We ' re trying to be patient , and we ' re trying to press on for justice . ""  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past
12698,12699,"The Left s suppression of speech and viewpoints by conservatives has never been more dangerous. Let s hope this new administration is able to reverse this very scary trend. I prayed for the best leader that will turn this country that has become more violent and racist under the Obama administration than ever   into the America I once knew , she wrote in a post that was later deleted. I hate to say it   but the number of African Americans killing one another far outweighs the number of them being killed by whites , she said. ",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
12711,12712,"Hipsters have OKCupid , the devout have ChristianMingle and country folks can now seek out love on the oddly named but 100 percent real FarmersOnlyweblink .  The free dating site boasts an impressive 100 , 000 plus users nationwide and has a wildly popular commercial that has Americans from Biloxi to Bismark spewing the slogan ' City folks just don ' t get it ' every day .  ' I talked to farmers and ranchers all over the country and discovered they all had the same problems , ' revealed founder Jerry Miller . ' They already knew everybody in their immediate areas . '  ' City folks just don ' t get it ' : Jeff Miller was in advertising for the agriculture industry when he founded FarmersOnlyweblink to help spark rural romance  To help spark that rural romance , the Miller started FarmersOnlyweblink all the way back in 2005 .  Since then , the site he created for ' farmers , ranchers and country folks ' has grown by leaps and bounds .  ' There have been countless successful matches and friendships made on the site , ' said Miller , who used his experience in marketing and in speaking with lovelorn countryfolk to help create it .  ' I get thank you emails and phone calls almost daily . In fact , there have been hundreds of marriages since FarmersOnlyweblink began . '  One strange selling point of FarmersOnly is its decidedly non traditional commercial .  ' You don ' t have to be lonely with FarmersOnlyweblink ' : The simple , catchy jingle in the FarmersOnly commercial seems to be working just ask Jeff , Judy and their John Deere tractor  Targeted messaging : FarmersOnlyweblink and its accompanying social media feeds are filled with ads like this one . And if you don ' t see why , well , you ' just don ' t get it '  ' Where ' s Jill , ' brays a talking horse with a twang .  ' She ' s really lonely and out walking the cornfield again , ' replies a concerned farm dog .  The camera pans to forlorn Jill , who paces through the rows of crops she ' s worked so hard to cull from the earth at the expense of her love life .  Elsewhere , some cud chewing cows ponder their farmer ' s chances at romance .  ' Do you think Dave will ever find his true love ? ' asks one . ' Not hanging out with us all day , ' answers another .  After a testimonial from an American Gothic cartoon , the site ' s jingle plays .  American gothic : The site ' s television commercial makes an emotional plea for lonely farm dwellers to put down the hoes and find true love  ' You don ' t have to be lonely . . . at FarmersOnlyweblink '  If the message sounds crude , count yourself among the city folks who just don ' t get it . Meanwhile , the commercial ' s target audience is singing the site ' s praises .  ' My friend was on there and told me about it and I thought it just narrowed it down to a type of person that I would like to spend my life with , ' said Elizabeth from Alabama . ' It was the first dating website I ever tried and Artie was the first guy I ever talked to on the phone . '  Artie was an Ohio transplant living in Colorado . The two began talking more and more in 2012 and the calls eventually led to visits .  ' I feel it narrowed it down some . It ' s an overwhelming experience and when you narrow it down to the type of person you are looking for it helps out a lot , ' Artie said .  Then , this past June , life long Alabama gal Elizabeth packed her bags and flew off to Colorado to be with the love of her life .  ' We give random shout outs to FarmersOnly for making this all possible , ' said Artie . ' Whenever the  or radio is on and a commercial comes on , we stop what we are doing and yell out "" FarmersOnly ! "" At first , people found it odd . But now they know . . . it ' s important ! '  Marital bliss : Happy couple Bill and Tracey found each other on FarmersOnly and were wed in January 2011  Spanning the gulf : Katie met Kevin on FarmersOnly and moved 1 , 000 miles to be with him . They married in July  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
12737,12738,"A man has attempted to rebuild the Berlin Wall in the heart of the town of Bracknell .  Neo Nazi Dave Bell , 63 , insists everybody on the east side of Bracknell should support the newly built wall because it will "" prevent the westies using our laundrette . ""  Dave remarked , "" there ' s always a queue . I was waiting over twenty minutes to dry my pants last weekend . So I thought . . . ' why not build a wall ? ' ""  Unfortunately for Dave , the wall hasn ' t turned out to be as successful as planned . After he pitched his idea to Bracknell Council , they discovered he didn ' t occupy a brick laying license , which is compulsory in the town when attempting to build a wall of any kind . So instead of stacking bricks , Dave has spent five consecutive nights laying out one straight row that is four miles long , but no more than five inches tall .  "" It ' s not having the desired effect "" , explained Dave . "" I had to wait for over forty minutes to wash my socks earlier . ""  The wall has also forced irate fish chip shop owner Bob Page to knock part of it down after he wandered in yesterday morning to find the path of the wall ran directly through his chip fryer .  "" I accepted the wall for most of the day , until my valued customers started complaining of pieces of red ceramic in their food . That really was the last straw "" .  And Mr Bell will have to appear in court charged with manslaughter after 96 year old Doris May tripped over one of the bricks on her way to the post office . She landed in a heap on the floor , breaking her neck in the process .  "" That wasn ' t part of the plan "" insisted Bell .  ",satire,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,negative,past
12741,12742,"She ' s pipped Kim Kardashian and Beyonce to be crowned the best bikini body of the year and her flawless looks are the envy of women worldwide , but that doesn ' t mean Michelle Keegan doesn ' t have her fair share of haters .  The 27 year old , who oozes confidence modelling her new range for Lipsy , has revealed that she often feels scrutinised for her weight and the way she looks .  Speaking to The Express , the star said : ' I do feel under pressure with the way I look . If I lose weight , I ' m too skinny , and if I put a few pounds on people are quick to point it out . You can never win .  Criticism : Michelle Keegan , who this week unveiled her new range for Lipsy , has revealed that she often feels scrutinised for her weight and the way she looks  ' It used to affect me more a few years ago , whereas now if I ' m feeling good in myself that ' s all that matters . '  She revealed that in her role as Tina in Coronation Street , she would often be criticised for her looks but the actress has learned to take it all in her stride .  ' It wasn ' t me , it was the character . When I saw myself on screen I didn ' t think , "" Oh , I look awful . "" A lot of people were slagging me off and mentioning my looks but I didn ' t care . Sometimes it ' s hard but I ' ve learned to rise above it now . '  And Michelle has every reason to be feeling confident . After leaving her Corrie days behind , she has been snapped up to design her debut fashion range and has plenty more exciting acting projects in the pipeline .  Under attack : Michelle said that in her role as Tina in Coronation Street , she would often be criticised for her looks  Not bothered : Speaking about coming under fire for her look in Coronation Street , she said : ' It wasn ' t me , it was the character . When I saw myself on screen I didn ' t think , "" Oh , I look awful . "" Sometimes it ' s hard but I ' ve learned to rise above it now '  The actress this week unveiled her third range for Lipsy and says it aims to reflect the season ' s hottest shapes , fabrics and styles that incorporate both the catwalk trends and her own coveted wardrobe .  The AW14 collection includes reworked classics alongside fresh new designs that have been hand picked by 27 year old Michelle to reflect looks and shapes that she loves and wants to be seen in .  The range is available to buy online now priced between 22 for a top to 95 for a faux fur coat .  Steal her style : Michelle wears the Michelle Keegan long sleeve embellished V neck dress , 80 , available now  Speaking about her latest offering , she said : ' I love winter Christmas is my favourite time of year so I couldn ' t wait to get back into the design room to create some classic winter pieces .  ' This capsule range is a real mix of all of the looks and styles that I love to wear at this time of year and I hope everyone will love them just as much as I do . '  What she wears : The range includes reworked classics that she loves to wear alongside fresh new designs hand picked by the former Coronation Street actress  The actress wears the Michelle Keegan Bardot body , 22 . 00 and embossed pencil skirt , 35  Sexy style : Michelle has included her favourite style , lingerie styled up as partywear , which she teams with teeny shorts in the shoot . Here she wears the Michelle Keegan satin cami , 40  Party girl : She has added her own personal touch to dresses by adding a sexy sheer neckline detail combining lace trims with  panelling . She ' s pictured modelling the Michelle Keegan Flocked Lace Dress , 65  The colour palette is rich and full of black , navy , grey and teal with injections of silver grey and blush pink .  Michelle has included her favourite style , the tuxedo short suit , as well as more feminine lingerie styled up as partywear .  The classic Lipsy shift dress has been given a Michelle twist with a sexy sheer neckline detail combining lace trims with  panelling .  Michelle was keen to include long sleeved dress options so she reworked the  giving it a sweetheart neck and long embellished mesh sleeves .  Jump to it : There ' s lots of jumpsuits , long line kimonos and the cosy knitwear Michelle loves to wrap up in come winter . Michelle wears the Michelle Keegan smart trousers , 42 , with a drape wrap top , also 42  Wrap up warm : This collection includes a huge array of outerwear with everyday coats and glamorous evening jackets . Here she wears the Michelle Keegan  sleeve fur coat 95 . 00  Michelle wears the Michelle Keegan Panel Textured Shift Dress , 55 ( l ) and lace appliqu  dress , 70 ( r )  There ' s also lots of jumpsuits , long line kimonos and the cosy knitwear Michelle loves to wrap up in come winter .  This collection delivers Michelle ' s largest outerwear selection to date with everyday coats and glamorous evening jackets .  Speaking to MailOnline , Michelle said : ' I have been working on it for so long and created collages of my favourite red carpet looks and colours and shapes that I love so it ' s full of things I wear myself .  ' I would describe it as quite minimalist , classic and tailored with a girly edge .  Michelle Keegan mesh trim maxi dress , 85 ( l ) and lace top bandeau jumpsuit , 75 ( r )  Sharing style : Michelle said that fiance Mark Wright is good with his fashion choices and always looks stylish but will ask for her opinion sometimes . she wears the Michelle Keegan V neck lace shift dress , 70  Michelle added : ' I have spent a lot of time over the last few months working closely with the Lipsy design team to make sure that each piece in my collection is something I am excited about wearing .  ' My collection is classic , unfussy and feminine in style , and I can ' t wait for it to hit the high street and see everyone wearing it . '  Speaking about the inspiration behind her range , she cited a certain fashionista as her muse .  ' I love Victoria Beckham ' s style , she is effortlessly chic and looks amazing whenever she steps out . '  Michelle , who loves high street stores Zara , Mango and Topshop because you can get ' value for your money ' also shares style tips with fiance , Mark Wright .  ' He ' s good with his fashion choices and always looks stylish but he will ask for my opinion sometimes , ' she said .  The brunette fashionista added : ' This range is my dream come true and I hope to design for many years to come . '  Excited : Michelle says her collection is classic , unfussy and feminine in style , and she can ' t wait for it to hit the high street and to see everyone wearing it . This long kimono is 48  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
12743,12744,"European Union Offers a Million Debit Cards for Syrian Refugees in Turkey   Breitbart  In an effort to keep more Syrian migrants from flooding into Europe, the European Union (EU) is providing funding for a million debit cards for Syrian refugees in Turkey.  Turkey is currently home to some 3 million Syrian migrants who have been prevented from traveling to Europe thanks to an accord between the  and the Turkish government that went into effect last March.  Life in Turkey for many of the migrants is reportedly very harsh, and their presence has also placed an added economic burden on their host country. To combat both of these problems the  has launched an ambitious aid program of more than $375 million, targeting a million of the neediest Syrians in Turkey.  The debit cards , called the Kizilay card (Turkish for “Red Crescent”), are meant to ease the economic burden on Syrian migrants as well as provide a substantial cash injection into the Turkish economy.  The cards can be used to buy virtually anything—food, medicine or clothing—or redeemed for cash. According to Red Crescent’s Director General Mehmet Gulluoglu, they will allow refugees living outside camps to spend or redeem up to 100 Turkish lira a month, or about $30 for each registered family member.  “They can pay their rents, pay their bills or for food, whatever they need,” Gulluoglu said. “Because it will be certain, it will be concrete and it will be regular support.”  Recipients for the card are being chosen based on need, according to  Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Christos Stylianides.  “They will get monthly cash transfers to the card. And of course they will be able to buy what they need to put bread on the table for their families, to provide a roof for their families, to send their children to school instead of being forced to send them to work,” he said.",fake,news,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
12821,12822,"A former Obama health policy adviser has insisted he wants to be dead by his 75th birthday as the elderly are ' feeble , ineffectual and pathetic '  A former Obama health policy adviser has insisted he wants to be dead by his 75th birthday as the elderly are ' feeble , ineffectual and pathetic . '  Physicist Ezekiel Emanuel , architect of Obamacare and brother of former Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel , claims that longevity often comes at the expense of quality of life and the desire to live longer is ' misguided . '  Writing in the October issue of The Atlantic , he says : ' There is a simple truth that many of us seem to resist : living too long is also a loss .  ' It renders many of us , if not disabled , then faltering and declining , a state that may not be worse than death but is nonetheless deprived .  ' It robs us of our creativity and ability to contribute to work , society , the world .  ' It transforms how people experience us , relate to us , and , most important , remember us .  ' We are no longer remembered as vibrant and engaged but as feeble , ineffectual , even pathetic .  The father of three acknowledges that his desire to die in his seventies does not sit well with his family , especially his daughters , but insists he will not change his mind as his years advance .  He says that if parents live to their nineties , their children must give up their retirement time to look after them and the only time they are free is when their parents die and they are then old themselves .  The 57 year old , a former Obama health policy adviser , says longevity often comes at the expense of quality of life  Emanuel insists in the essay that he is not arguing for euthanasia or assisted suicide at a certain age .  He says that if he was diagnosed with cancer now he would probably have it treated , but when he turns 65 he will have his last colonoscopy and have no screening for prostate cancer at any age .  Emanuel insists that once he turns 75 he will refuse all medical treatment and says he ' die when whatever comes first takes me . '  In the essay , which is published on the website with photos of his family , Emanuel says he will hold a memorial before his death to celebrate his life , but if his survivors want to have one when he has passed away it is not his ' business . '  Emanuel writes : ' Americans seem to be obsessed with exercising , doing mental puzzles , consuming various juice and protein concoctions , sticking to strict diets , and popping vitamins and supplements , all in a valiant effort to cheat death and prolong life as long as possible '  Emanuel , chair of the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the University of Pennsylvania , does acknowledge that sometimes age is not a barrier to creativity .  He cites the case of a prominent health economist who recently celebrated his 90th birthday and continues to be ' brilliant ' , but insists that the man is simply ' an outlier a very rare individual . '  Emanuel blasts the American obsession with ' exercising , doing mental puzzles , consuming various juice and protein concoctions , sticking to strict diets , and popping vitamins ' and says he thinks the mindset is both ' misguided and potentially destructive . '  Emanuel , told  ' s Dr Richard Besser on This Week : ' I look at the data on disability , I look at the data on Alzheimer ' s disease , I look at the data on loss of creativity .  Emanuel ' s brothers are Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel ( seen left with his wife ) and Chicago Mayor Rahm ( right )  ' And 75 seems to be the right moment where the chance of disability , physical disability is low , you ' re still not in the high Alzheimer ' s risk of 30 percent or 50 percent and creativity has sort of come to an end .  Emanuel , the director of the Clinical Bioethics Department at the U . S . National Institutes of Health and head of the Department of Medical Ethics Health Policy at the University of Pennsylvania , helped develop President Obama ' s health care reform law .  Emanuel ' s youngest brother is the president ' s first chief of staff , current Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel .  Their other brother is Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel whose clients have included Rhianna , Justin Timberlake , Ben Affleck and Matt Damon .  The three brothers were raised in Chicago by their father Israeli born pediatrician Benjamin and mother Marsha , a nurse who was a descendant of Russian immigrants .  They also have an adopted sister with cerebral palsy who shuns the limelight .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
12846,12847,"At least 12 airplanes shared the trans Atlantic sky with doomed Air France Flight 447 , but none reported any problems , deepening the mystery surrounding the cause of the plane ' s disappearance .  Image released by the Brazilian Air Force shows oil slicks in the water near a debris site .  Airlines confirmed that at least a dozen aircraft departed roughly at the same time and traversed approximately the same route , but did not report problematic weather conditions . This has led some aviation experts to suggest that technical problems on the airplane might be the main cause of the crash , though they may have combined with weather conditions to create serious problems .  The new information raises more questions than answers about Air France 447 , believed to have plunged into the Atlantic Ocean somewhere between the coasts of Brazil and West Africa on May 31 , presumably killing all 228 aboard . The plane ' s computer system reported a series of technical problems about four hours after takeoff and immediately after entering a large storm system a few hundred miles from the far eastern coast of Brazil .  Severe winds , updrafts and even lightning have been mentioned as possible causes of the crash , potentially triggering a failure of the plane ' s technical systems .  But aviation experts cautioned that weather alone would not normally cause a crash . Planes routinely fly through large storms , using the sensitive radar on board to navigate through specific storm cells . When conditions are severe enough , planes can easily deviate around or above storms , experts say .  In addition to Flight 447 , Air France had four other Paris bound flights that left in the same broad time frame from that part of the world , according to an airline spokesman . One flight left Rio de Janeiro , Brazil , at 4 : 20 p . m . At that same moment , another Air France flight left nearby Sao Paulo . A third Air France flight left Buenos Aires , Argentina , at 5 : 50 p . m . , also heading for Paris . A final Air France flight left Sao Paulo at 7 : 10 p . m . , almost exactly when the doomed flight took off from Rio .  All of these flights took a similar route toward Paris , heading first toward Recife on the east coast of Brazil and then continuing northeast over the Atlantic . None of the other flights experienced anything unusual , the spokesman said . All arrived in Paris the next day , with no significant delays of any kind .  That same evening two Air Iberia flights bound for Madrid , Spain , left Brazil at about the same time as Flight 447 one departed from Rio de Janeiro and another from Sao Paulo , according to officials at Iberia . Those flights also reported no problems .  It was the same story for one British Airways flight and three Air  Brazil flights , all of which flew routes similar to the missing plane .  Although none of the other flights are known to have reported weather problems en route , aviation experts said weather can change suddenly and vary over short distances , so one plane might experience conditions far worse than another .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
12848,12849,"The aim of the advertisement is to portray former Florida Governor Bush as ready to take on the job as commander in chief .  The ad comes after a Muslim couple , who  say were radicalised , killed 14 people in a shooting spree in San Bernardino . Image Source : Youtube screengrab .  Backers of Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush are going on the attack against rivals Donald Trump , Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio in a new  ad that will be broadcast in early voting states .  The ad comes less than a week after a Muslim couple , who the  says were radicalised , killed 14 people in a shooting spree in San Bernardino , California , that heightened fears among Americans about Islamic State militants . Hours after New York billionaire Trump proposed a ban on Muslims entering the United States , Bush ' s SuperPAC , Right to Rise , released an ad that ridiculed Trump as "" impulsive and reckless . ""  The aim of the advertisement is to portray former Florida Governor Bush as ready to take on the job as commander in chief and dismiss some of his chief rivals as ill prepared for the White House . The ad is to be broadcast in the early voting states of Iowa , New Hampshire , South Carolina and Nevada as well as nationally on the Fox News Channel .  Texas Senator Cruz is criticised in the ad for voting in the Senate against a bill that limits the government ' s ability to collect and monitor Americans ' cell phone data . And the ad attacks Florida Senator Rubio for a history of missed votes and attendance at committee hearings in the Senate .  The president ' s Oval Office desk is shown in the ad with the words : "" When the attacks come here , the person behind this desk will have to protect your family . Will he be impulsive and reckless , like Donald Trump ? Will he have voted to dramatically weaken counter terrorism surveillance , like Ted Cruz "" Will he have skipped crucial national security hearings and votes just to campaign , like Marco Rubio ""  The Right to Rise organisation , which began the campaign last summer with more than 100 million to spend , until now has produced television ads playing up Bush ' s record as the chief executive in Florida . The ad reflected a new , combative phase of the campaign as the start of the voting approaches in the race for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination .  Iowa kicks off the race to the November 2016 election on February 1 . Bush , in a tweet on Monday , called Trump ' s proposal to refuse entry to any Muslims to the United States "" unhinged . "" He is trying to fight his way back into a Republican race that has been dominated by Trump for months .  Donald Trump is unhinged . His "" policy "" proposals are not serious .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
12878,12879,"Manny Pacquiao used to regularly knock out Amir Khan in sparring , trainer Freddie Roach has revealed .  The two boxers both trained together at Roach ' s Wild Card gym in Los Angeles and Khan would often end up on the mat as a result of Pacquiao concussive one punch power .  ' Manny frequently put Amir on the floor , knocking him cold four or five times , ' Roach revealed for the first time .  Since those  ' s were inflicted with gloves more thickly padded than those used in actual fights and Pacquiao is as fast as Khan , Roach also poured cold water over the idea of the pair meeting .   Scroll down to watch Freddie Roach : Manny had Khan down four times in training  Amir Khan ' s hopes of fighting Floyd Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao have been dismissed by Freddie Roach  Pacquiao trains at Pedro Antonio Acharon Sports Complex on in General Santos , Philippines  Khan left Freddie Roach ( right ) for Virgil Hunter after losing his two world titles  ' There ' s no point Manny fighting Amir . The reality is that it ' s no big fight , ' said Roach , who will advise Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum against taking Pacquiao to London ' for a non fight ' .  Khan who left Roach to train with Virgil Hunter after losing his world titles in 2012 will fight Devon Alexander in Las Vegas on December 7 .  The Bolton man is hoping victory will then put him at the front of the queue to face Floyd Mayweather next year . Should Mayweather again not take the fight , then Khan has suggested PacMan as an alternative opponent .  Khan has been led to believe that beating Devon Alexander will give him his fight with Mayweather  Pacquiao and Chris Algieri gear up for battle in Macau in front of the glare of the world ' s media   Pacquiao ready to fight ' undefeated ' Algieri  But Roach believes Khan will end up disappointed on both counts as the Mayweather fight will not happen .  Roach said : ' It ' s not going to happen . Floyd knows that Amir ' s speed would trouble him . He is too careful with his choice of opponents to take that risk . '  Pacquiao ' s defends his world welterweight title this weekend against New York ' s undefeated light welter champion Chris Algieri in Macau .  Pacquiao v Algieri will be televised live in Britain on BoxNation late Saturday night .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
12879,12880,"21st Century Wire says Our weekly documentary screening curated by our editorial team at 21WIRE.NOTE: Although this film focuses a lot on the Clinton and Bush presidencies,  this same system has continued and taken to an even higher level of dark arts by the Obama Administration, and the both  s Blair and Cameron governments. This film explores the evolution of propaganda and public relations in the United States, with an emphasis on the  elitist theory of democracy  and the relationship between war, propaganda and class. Includes original interviews with a number of dissident scholars including Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Michael Parenti, Peter Phillips ( Project Censored ), John Stauber (  Watch ), Christopher Simpson ( The Science of Coercion ) and others.      HERESupport our work and Become a Member @ 21WIRE.TV",fake,dataset,validation,Football,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present
12881,12882,"Troubled actress Lindsay Lohan has alerted the world to her thoughts on Brazilian politics , by posting messages on social media in support of presidential candidate Aecio Neves .  The Mean Girls star , who is currently on stage in London ' s West End , said Brazil is a country she adores and claimed Neves can bring ' positive changes ' .  ' I support AecioNeves , for presidential candidature . His platform brings positive changes in Brasil Aecio45  , ' she tweeted yesterday .  Lindsay Lohan has alerted the world to her thoughts on Brazilian politics , by posting messages on social media in support of presidential candidate Aecio Neves , including this Tweet  The Mean Girls star , who is currently on stage in London ' s West End , said Brazil is a country she adores  Neves , a business minded former governor and candidate of the center right Brazilian Social Democracy Party , is currently in a runoff election with President Dilma Rousseff .  Lohan , 28 , also shared the following message on Facebook : ' Brasil needs change and I support Aecio Neves ! He deserves to win the presidency to push forward positive changes and policies for  people of Brasil , a country that I adore . '  According to the International Business Times , Neves , 53 , has been trying to overcome a past reputation as a party loving playboy with a penchant for luxury .  La Nueva Televisora del Sur reported Neves was embrolied in a cocaine scandal last year when a helicopter owned by his company , Agropecuaria Limeira , was seized by federal police with 4 . 5 tons of the drug aboard .  A congressman who is a political ally of Neves , Gustavo Perella , was jailed over the scandal despite claiming that employees of Agropecuaria Limeira took the helicopter without permission .  Neves main pledges in the upcoming election are focused on business , and include tax reform , a scaled back government role in the economy , a floating exchange rate and a boost for investment .  Translated , the caption on the post reads : ' about lindsay ( and any other celeb gringa supporting any party ) '  Another Twitter user shares her thoughts on Lindsay Lohan getting involved in Brazilian politics  Lohan ' s Tweet , which went out to her 8 . 5 million followers has since been deleted , as has the Facebook post . But not before social media commentators shared their opinions on the actress ' dabble in Brazilian politics .  One Tweeted : ' Errrrrrr , Brazilians : to have Lindsay Lohan supporting your candidate is not that great of a marketing move . '  Another posted a picture of one of the characters from Mean Girls who says : ' She doesn ' t even go hear ! ' , to express his views on Lohan getting involved in Brazilian politics .  Aecio Neves , a business minded former governor and candidate of the center right Brazilian Social Democracy Party , is currently in a runoff election with President Dilma Rousseff  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
12886,12887,"Ill . Chicago Bears wide receiver Alshon Jeffery is questionable for Chicago ' s Week 11 matchup versus the Denver Broncos after groin and shoulder injuries kept Jeffery off the practice field for a second consecutive day .  Bears running back Matt Forte ( knee ) and linebacker Pernell McPhee ( knee ) are also questionable for Sunday , but both practiced in limited fashion on Friday .  The Bears ' No . 1 wide receiver , Jeffery has fought injuries seemingly the entire year . He missed a month of the regular season with a pulled hamstring but returned to post three straight 100 yard receiving games ( 147 yards at Detroit , 116 yards vs . Minnesota and 151 yards at San Diego ) before tweaking his groin at practice nine days ago .  Jeffery still played in Chicago ' s win over St . Louis on Sunday , but he was used as a decoy , catching just three balls for 23 yards .  On the year , Jeffery has 36 receptions for 515 yards and two touchdowns in five games .  The Bears will be hard pressed to handle Denver ' s league leading passing defense without Jeffery .  Meanwhile , Forte is pushing hard to come back from an  sprain he suffered on Nov . 1 . The 29 year old tailback leads the Bears with 548 rushing yards and 767 yards from scrimmage and is the top all purpose back in the  since 2008 . Even with rookie tailback Jeremy Langford ' s performance ( 324 all purpose yards and three touchdowns ) the last two weeks , Chicago will be eager to welcome back Forte when he ' s ready .  "" I still have to play it smart , "" Forte said . "" I was talking to our head trainer and coach John Fox about it . We have two games in five days the Bears play at Green Bay on Thanksgiving and so I have to be smart about it . I don ' t know what our plan is right now .  "" But the recovery process is actually going faster than I thought because the last time I had this injury in 2011 it was really four weeks before I started running . This time I started running about a week and a half after I got hurt , even though I just ran straight ahead . Painwise it ' s been a lot better than before , and therefore a quicker recovery . I ' m pretty close . ""  McPhee Chicago ' s top defender with a team high five sacks and seven tackles for loss didn ' t travel to St . Louis last week because of knee soreness but said on Thursday he ' s "" doing good . "" McPhee should be active this weekend barring an unforeseen setback at Saturday ' s walk through practice .  The Bears also listed linebacker Shea McClellin ( knee ) as questionable , though he is expected to play .  Wide receiver Eddie Royal ( knee ) is out for the third consecutive week .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
12895,12896,"When Yo Yo Ma enters a room , everything changes .  Yo Yo Ma ' s new album , "" Songs of Joy and Peace , "" is his first holiday themed record .  His energy and warmth ( he hugs everyone in sight ) and curiosity ( for every question you ask him , he asks two of you ) envelop you like a blanket . He ' s also surprisingly funny .  The world ' s most celebrated cellist introduces himself not as Yo Yo , or Mr Ma , or even Yo Mama ( as you might expect from a wisenheimer ) . Instead , with a hint of mischief and a nod to the everyman celebrity of campaign ' 08 , he offers , "" I ' m Joe the cellist . ""  He adds , "" I get the ' plumb ' jobs . ""  He might be right . Consider Ma ' s latest album , "" Songs of Joy and Peace "" ( Sony ) , the first holiday themed release of his career . Ma describes it as a musical party , a collection of good time collaborations with musical buddies , James Taylor and Diana Krall among them . Watch Yo Yo Ma enjoy time with his friends  "" I asked everybody to bring their favorite piece of music that signified joy to them , "" Ma said . "" And out came all of these fantastic pieces . Many of them I didn ' t know . ""  Krall applies her mellow voice and piano playing to the lighthearted "" You Couldn ' t be Cuter . "" Ma joined Taylor in Taylor ' s Washington , Massachusetts , barn to record George Harrison ' s "" Here Comes the Sun . "" Other guests include vocalists Alison Krauss and Renee Fleming , trumpeter Chris Botti and saxophonist Joshua Redman .  Ma also enlists help from friends who are less mainstream such as the green haired Galician bagpiper Cristina Pato and mandolin player Chris Thiele . Jake Shimabukuro ' s ukulele provides a delightfully plucky counterpoint to Ma ' s soaring cello on the John Lennon Yoko Ono hit "" Happy Xmas ( War is Over ) . ""  Born in Paris to Chinese parents and raised in New York , Ma , 53 , is no stranger to thinking outside the music box . In 1998 he founded the Silk Road Project , a multi cultural exchange designed to help artists and musicians share ideas across borders . His international efforts have earned him the title of United Nations Messenger of Peace .  And to Ma , his extensive travels have earned him comparison to a certain shifty footed children ' s book character .  "" As a musician I ' m kind of nomadic , Waldo like , "" he says . "" I show up in different places , and I ' m witness to unbelievable things . ""  Yo Yo Ma : Well , I think what I loved about the sessions was that there was mutuality , if that ' s a word , of just being open and wanting to do the best thing possible . And so I think everybody just came with an open heart and open mind . . . . The amount of talent that walked through the room was staggering for me . Day after day I thought I could die and go to heaven . . . . Every day was like that . So I feel very , very , very lucky and very grateful to my friends .  Ma : There ' s a part of me that ' s always charging ahead . I ' m the curious kid , always going to the edge . But I have such deep love for the domain that I come from , whether you call it classical music or . . . I don ' t know what you call it these days because it ' s no longer really definable . It ' s coming from a lot of places .  Yes , you ' re right , I had to relax . It was scary . And I think the idea of transcending fear and transcending technique or understanding different frames is part of the adventure . Something ' s scary until you make it familiar and comfortable . I feel so much more a member of the planet community after doing this work for 10 years , because I feel like you can drop me most places and I ' ll be  . I ' ll find out what ' s going on and find a way to participate .  Ma : Oh my goodness . I think there are so many basic ways of behaving that we all have . Guest host relations . . . there ' s no culture that doesn ' t have that . And there ' s almost no culture where there are not stories where people take in strangers . Gift giving is another act that is universal . Certainly caring for one ' s group , a tribal mentality . Sometimes it means putting up firewalls because it ' s dangerous to mingle .  But in today ' s world it seems like we have different groupings . We seem to have a younger generation that actually is much more tribe blind or they ' ve created their own social communities .  So it ' s interesting to live in today ' s world and observe how within urban or rural areas people ' s habits may be changing . And I think culturally speaking I ' m trying to work in such a way that we can actually find more commonality than the differences , especially because often things happen so quickly .  Ma : Yes . I hated that feeling so much . I think we all remember when we were much younger , how slowly time goes . And I think those years often were very boring years . When is summer going to come ? When is Christmas going to come ? Never !  But I think I decided or thought about how I really would love to have an interesting life . I really would like to be involved in things and to understand things , and in some ways you ' ve got to be careful what you wish for because I feel very , very blessed to have such an interesting life and to be able to have little snapshots of lives of people from many different parts of the world .  Ma : Because so much of what I do involves people , being in a place with more trees than people immediately takes me down . I live in Cambridge Massachusetts and so when we go to western Massachusetts and see the mountains and trees , suddenly I ' m totally relaxed and feel fabulous .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
12905,12906,"If you want to call me a hack, you should probably be able to point out at least one thing I said that was demonstrably false. pic.twitter.com/3UCo3z2umH  Dinesh D Souza (@DineshDSouza) March 26, 2017",fake,dataset,validation,American football,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present
12909,12910,"Christopher Nolan has said the sound was mixed in an ' impressionistic way ' in Interstellar  Interstellar director Christopher Nolan has reassured moviegoers that there ' s no need to worry if they find dialogue in his three hour space epic practically inaudible because that is exactly what he intended .  The British director responded to concerns about poor sound quality in the 105 million blockbuster by praising cinemas for presenting the film just the way he wanted .  Audiences have complained about drowned out dialogue and muffled conversations , with an overbearing soundtrack that obscures major plot points .  But what they do not appear to have realized is that they were experiencing the ' impressionistic way ' sound was mixed in the movie .  Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter , Nolan explained that he felt this ' unusual approach ' to the use of sound was right for an ' experimental film ' such as Interstellar .  ' I don ' t agree with the idea that you can only achieve clarity through dialogue , ' he said . ' Clarity of story , clarity of emotions I try to achieve that in a layered way using all the different things at my disposal picture and sound . '  As the space epic took the box office by storm , one commentator Tweeted : '  premiere : can ' t hear 50 of dialogue inc major plot points . baffling sound mix decisions by Chris Nolan . '  Another Twitter user wrote : ' Very difficult to understand dialogue when score swelled in Interstellar at  screening tonight . '  One cinema in Rochester , New York , even went as far as to tape up notices around the box confirming that its equipment was functioning properly and this was how the movie was actually intended to sound .  Nolan told The Hollywood Reporter that he likes to hear how his movies sound in actual cinemas so he makes a point to visit six or seven theatres .  One cinema in Rochester , New York , even went as far as to tape up notices around the box confirming that its equipment was functioning properly and this was how the movie was actually intended to sound  I like to hear it out where people are going to see it , not just in the cocoon of the dub stage , ' he said . That is something I have done for years , because everything we are doing is intended to communicate something to the audience . '  The director continued on to say that the movie theatres he has visited have been doing ' a terrific job in terms of presenting the film in the way I intended ' .  He added : ' Broadly speaking , there is no question when you mix a film in an unconventional way as this , you ' re bound to catch some people off guard , but hopefully people can appreciate the experience for what it ' s intended to be . '  Nolan explained that he felt this ' unusual approach ' to the use of sound was right for an ' experimental film ' such as Interstellar  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
12911,12912,"N . H . ? Still riding a wave of confidence after winning the Iowa Caucuses , Ted Cruz was in rare form Wednesday night as he mocked Donald Trump over everything from losing Iowa to a previous record of liberal policy positions .  Have you noticed Donald doesn t take losing well ? he said at a town hall here . Donald told us every day for a year he was going to win Iowa , win it big , win it yuuuuuge , he said , poking at Trump s speaking style .  I don t think people are interested in temper tantrums , or you could call it a Trumpertantrum , he continued , when asked about a number of criticisms Trump has thrown at him recently , including that his Monday night win in Iowa was fraudulent .  Cruz s comments came hours after his first major escalation of attacks of the day , when he suggested Trump s temperament was so poor that he might be inclined to "" nuke Denmark , "" and Cruz also suggested his young daughters were more mature than Trump .  On Wednesday night , Cruz gloated over a report that former Democratic President Jimmy Carter s comment that he would prefer Trump over Cruz because Trump would be malleable . Cruz said he instructed his team to track down video of those remarks from Carter , who is deeply unpopular among Republicans .  I read the article on my iPhone today , my comment to the team was , if there is video , get the video , I want the video , I m going to pay to air Jimmy Carter s attack on me , he said .  When protesters interrupted Cruz , with some yelling about climate change , Cruz said it appeared that these children attended the Donald Trump style school of debate .  And when he was asked about his wife s ties to Goldman Sachs and an undisclosed loan from the bank in the Senate race , Cruz defended the move and pivoted back to Trump attacks . Heidi and I did something that is very novel and unfamiliar to Donald : we paid it back , he said to applause . We have never declared bankruptcy , we have never stiffed a loan , we have never walked out on a loan , we paid it back .  Cruz said Trump s last financial disclosure form showed he had millions of dollars in loans , and it could literally be billions of dollars he owes .  For him to make this attack , to use a New York term , Cruz said , is the height of chutzpah .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
12912,12913,"A huge controversy in Melbourne this morning as the head of the Australian government is taken into custody for aiding and abetting homeless begging .  Despite Turnbull being especially briefed on the communities hard line attitude to homeless people trying to scam a dollar for a feed , he had stopped and given the poor guy 5 out of compassion .  When Counter Terrorism department Head Mr Coward heard of this he immediately dispatched a special ops team to take him into custody . The Pri Minister languished the night in jail whilst the furor was thoroughly investigated by a team of 673 agents , from 15 different security agencies ( all arguing who was in charge ) .  They are concerned the homeless guy had a cat and they are currently using the Census Linking key to determine if the cat had any unpaid parking fines . Police always took this initial approach as experience dictated many known terrorist had cats with unpaid parking fines .  Other security services were concerned the homeless guy was trying to kidnap the countries leaders whilst others just plain hate homeless people for being homeless and don ' t want anyone giving them money at all . Another different security service said that if it was proven the  had given 5 to a homeless guy he would be guilty of aiding and abetting homelessness which carries a 15 years jail term .  On the more serious rumour of the  committing an act of compassion a yet different security service said if this was true his political career was over and the most likely outcome is both houses of parliament will establish impeachment proceedings .  "" Everyone knows the law down under , kindness only aids and abets terrorism and we have zero tolerance for compassion . Like if you don ' t get it just ask the boat refugees "" , the spokesspinner scoffed .  It appears that the  should know better and his career could well be in the bin .  ",satire,text,validation,US elections,US elections,satire,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
12946,12947,"Georgia Terrorism , a slow economy and rising gas prices are issues that can keep American voters awake at night .  Undecided voters gathered at Emory University , where Dr Drew Westen studies how brains react to messages .  Political strategists know that the most successful candidates are masters at capitalizing on fears such as these , and that can make a huge difference at the polls .  In 1964 , Lyndon Johnson was running for president against conservative Barry Goldwater when his campaign unleashed the "" daisy ad . "" It showed a little girl counting as she plucked a daisy , charmingly mixing up her numbers . Then a baritone voice takes over , counting down to an overwhelming nuclear explosion . It ' s followed with a warning that the stakes are too high not to vote for Johnson .  The ad , which ran only once , was so chilling and effective , analysts say , it helped Johnson win the presidency by one of the widest margins in U . S . history .  Westen , who wrote "" The Political Brain , "" said fear based attack ads are effective because they tap into a voter ' s subconscious .  "" Those kinds of gut level reactions tell us things like , ' I don ' t feel like this person is telling us the truth , ' "" Westen said . "" Unless someone is a really good con man , those reactions are extremely helpful . The conscious brain processes only a tiny percent of information . ""  Westen and his business partner , Joel Weinberger , have created software , through their company ThinkScan , that looks into a voter ' s subconscious . The software does this by measuring people ' s reaction time to certain words after they watch attack ads .  "" If the word is on their mind , if the word was activated , it will slow them down , "" Weinberger said .  Westen predicted that the undecided voters would say they didn ' t like the ads and that the ads had no impact on them . He was right .  The group watched Hillary Clinton ' s "" 3 a . m . "" campaign ad , which was intended to make voters question Barack Obama ' s experience . Viewers said that the ad was fear mongering and that it did not make them think Clinton was a stronger leader than Obama . But the data , Westen said , showed that their brains reacted differently .  Voters had the greatest hesitation with words like "" weak "" and "" lightweight "" during the color test . Westen said this meant the ad made them question Obama ' s readiness .  "" The purpose , too , is to make him seem scary , dangerous . ' You need to be afraid of this guy as president , ' "" Westen said . "" That message unconsciously got through . ""  The undecided voters also watched an ad attacking John McCain for saying the U . S . could be in Iraq for the next 100 years . After watching the ad , the group gave it a thumbs down . But researchers said the data showed that it left them feeling McCain has poor judgment and is too close to President Bush .  The results were identical when the same test was given to a much larger group of 100 voters .  This happens because the ads trigger a response in the part of the brain called the amygdala , which experiences emotions such as fear . When it is aroused , it overrides logic , according to Westen .  Despite the ability of attack ads to affect voters ' subconscious thinking , Westen cautions that fear based ads are risky because they can backfire .  What advice does Westen have for presidential hopefuls ?  "" They should make voters feel inspired by them and worried about their opponent at the same time , "" Westen said . "" It works . ""  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
12952,12953,"Today Network Mary Bowerman ,   Network 9 : 27 a . m .  January 18 , 2016  Historical comments by the great civil rights leader Dr Martin Luther King Jr . Jan . 18 is  Day    In this April 3 , 1968 , file photo , Dr Martin Luther King Jr . makes his last public appearance at the Mason Temple in Memphis , Tenn . The following day King was assassinated on his motel balcony .  Here s a rundown of how Martin Luther King , Jr . , day came to be a federal holiday : ?  Plans were underway to designate a national holiday to honor Martin Luther King , Jr . ? just four days after his assassination . But the holiday didn ' t become a reality until ? more than a decade later .  On April 8 , 1968 , Rep . John Conyers , D Mich . , introduced legislation for a federal holiday , according to The King Center .  The next year , Jan . 15 , 1969 , annual ceremonies commemorating King ' s birthday were launched by the ? Martin Luther King , Jr . ? Memorial Center in Atlanta . They called for nationwide ceremonies and began working to gain support for the holiday .  In the 1970s , support for a national Martin Luther King Jr . holiday grew . Several states , including Illinois , Massachusetts and Connecticut become the first states to enact statewide King holidays , but Congress failed ? to act on a national level , according to the King Center .  "" The campaign to get the holiday started almost immediately after he was killed , and people worked on it for a long time before it happened , said Michael Honey , professor of humanities at ? University of Washington , Tacoma . ? In 1979 , President Jimmy Carter called on Congress to vote on the King Holiday Bill . Not everyone was on board and ? the bill was defeated by five votes in the House in ? November of 1979 .  While the nation recognizes King as an "" icon for democracy "" today , in the 1960s and 70s he was still a controversial figure , according to ? Honey , who wrote ? Going Down Jericho Road : ? The Memphis Strike , Martin Luther King ' s Last Campaign . ?  This was the first holiday around a national figure who is not a president , and who is African American , Honey said . Many in Congress did not want to recognize an African American that was thought of as a troublemaker by some in his day .  Despite years of setbacks , King s widow , Coretta King Scott , continued to fight for approval of the holiday and testified before Congress multiple times .  Coretta Scott King , widow of the Rev . Martin Luther King Jr . , embraces singer Stevie Wonder during a celebration on the steps of the U . S . Capitol Building in Washington , D . C . , Nov . 3 , 1983 .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
12962,12963,"Djerba , Tunisia U . S . military planes headed for Cairo took off from Tunisia Saturday , evacuating Egyptians fleeing the Libyan conflict , a deadly war spurring a massive refugee flight .  Two Marine planes left the airport in the Tunisian island of Djerba with a total of 132 Egyptians on board , the U . S . State Department said .  Two additional Air Force C 130s are en route to Djerba and will take another group of Egyptians home . All four U . S . planes are expected to arrive in Cairo by Saturday night , U . S . officials said .  Two Italian military cargo planes landed at the Djerba airport delivering humanitarian aid .  There are at least 10 other evacuation flights scheduled for Saturday six British , three Spanish and one Italian said Firas Kayal , a spokesman for the United Nations refugee agency .  Nine of the flights are to evacuate Egyptians and the other is for Malians . There are a few thousand Egyptians left in Tunisia awaiting evacuation after more than 40 , 000 were taken home .  Kayal said there are also three ships preparing to evacuate people .  The violence in Libya has generated an exodus out of the North African nation . Almost 200 , 000 people , a majority of them foreign workers , have fled Libya nearly 100 , 000 to Tunisia and a similar number to Egypt according to the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees .  The numbers of people entering Tunisia daily from Libya dropped to 1 , 800 Thursday and Friday and stood at 3 , 000 Saturday . Previously , they averaged 10 , 000 to 15 , 000 people .  Hovig Etyemezian , a field officer for the U . N . refugee agency , attributed the drop in part to fear and the manipulation of the flow of refugees by Libyan authorities .  "" A lot of them were scared from leaving because of the fighting so they were staying in their houses , "" he said Saturday . "" We fear the regime might be blocking refugees from the border . ""  A Sudanese man who crossed into Tunisia said Libyans had been confiscating phones and  cards of people fleeing . He said people are afraid to make the journey because of the fighting and the cost for bus or taxi transport to the border has spiked .  However , he said , Libyans are not stopping traffic toward border .  Raoul Gernali , a Filipino engineer who had been working on a Libyan water project , said Libyan soldiers at the Tunisian border stole his laptop , money and mobile phone .  Because of complications with his group ' s flight home , he and his Filipino colleagues have had to spend three days at the airport .  Many countries , such as India and China , put in place well organized evacuation operations for their citizens . But others , including Egyptians and Bangladeshis , have been left to fend for themselves .  The U . S . State Department said Saturday it would donate 3 million to the International Organization for Migration (  ) as part of a joint U . S .  partnership to help get home thousands of Egyptians and other nationals from Africa , South Asia and Southeast Asia .  Kayal said more than 10 , 000 Bangladeshis are awaiting transport in Tunisia .  Many Bangladeshis have had to walk to the border because their money was stolen by soldiers and they could not pay for transportation costs . One man suffered a heart attack and died , aid officials confirmed .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
12965,12966,"Novak Djokovic wasted little time in breezing through to the second round of the French Open with a straight sets victory over Dutchman Thiemo De Bakker in Paris Monday .  The victory extends Djokovic ' s remarkable winning streak since the start of the year to 38 , four short of the record held by John McEnroe from 1984 .  Djokovic ' s overall winning run , taking in the end of last season , extends to 40 and if he claims the French Open title he will tie Guillermo Villas for the all time record of 46 .  The Serbian took just one hour 32 minutes to claim a 6 2 6 1 6 3 victory on the Philipe Chartrier court at Roland Garros , breaking his young opponent at will with another commanding display .  Djokovic will face either French wild card Benoit Paire or Romania ' s Victor Hanescu for a place in the last 32 .  "" It ' s my favorite grand slam , even though I haven ' t won it yet , "" Djokovic told gathered reporters .  "" I ' ve been playing really well on clay . I ' ve won three tournaments ( on clay ) in the last few weeks , so I ' m trying to build on that confidence , "" he added .  Djokovic won the opening grand slam of the season in Australia and has claimed six other titles , including four Masters events .  Roger Federer joined Djokovic in the second round after he dispatched Spaniard Feliciano Lopez with a 6 3 6 4 7 6 victory in the next match on the main court .  A single break of service in each of the first two sets put the Swiss maestro in command and he closed out the deciding tiebreaker 7 3 to progress .  Federer and Djokovic are on collision course for a semifinal meeting , but the danger in their portion of the draw may well lie with Argentina ' s Juan Martin Del Potro .  The former U . S Open champion won a tight battle with Croat Ivo Karkovic to go through 6 7 6 3 7 5 6 4 after three and a half hours and he could meet Djokovic in the third round .  But sixth seed Tomas Berdych was a first day casualty , crashing out to 31 year old Frenchman Stephane Robert .  Berdych was broken in the 15th game of the fifth and deciding set as Robert pulled off a stunning 3 6 3 6 6 2 6 2 9 7 victory .  Rafael Nadal , under pressure from Djokovic for the No . 1 ranking , opens his bid for a sixth French Open title Tuesday against big serving American John Isner .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
12982,12983,"Tell us Susan what s worse, Iran with a nuclear weapon and billions of dollars to help fund muslim terrorists or Iran with a nuclear weapon and frozen assets? President Obama s National Security Advisor, Susan Rice, told  s Wolf Blitzer on Wednesday that  we should expect  Iran to use the money it gets under sanctions relief for military and even terrorist operations.As part of Obama s nuclear agreement with Iran, tens of billions of dollars frozen as part of the sanctions on Iran will be released over time   provided Iran complies with a list of deadlines outlined in the agreement. What do we think they ll spend that money on? We think, for the most part, they re going to need to spend it on the Iranian people and their economy which has tanked,  she told Blitzer.Of course, murderous regimes like Iran don t generally limit themselves to domestic infrastructure projects and welfare schemes, which Rice quickly acknowledged. But yes, it is real, it is possible, and, in fact, we should expect that some portion of that money would go to the Iranian military and could potentially be used for the kinds of bad behavior that we have seen in the region up until now,  she said.By  bad behavior  Rice is presumably referring to Iran s funding of terrorist organizations, and its expanding military operations throughout areas such as Yemen.Despite the fact that the Obama administration fully expects Iran to use its newly released billions to fund terrorism, Rice told Blitzer those concerns didn t play an important role in negotiations. The goal here, Wolf, was never, and was not designed to prevent them from engaging in bad behavior in the region. They re doing that today,  she said.  The goal is to ensure that they don t have a nuclear weapon, and therefore, when they are engaging in that bad behavior, are that much more dangerous. Rice s acknowledgement of Iran s bad faith might not bother the administration, but it is likely to cause a little concern in congress.After all, Iran s  bad behavior  is a pretty good indication that the murderous regime in Tehran has no intention of cleaning up its act   which makes it somewhat hard to trust they will abide by an Obama sponsored agreement.Via: BizPacReview",fake,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present
12986,12987,"Anderson Cooper only needed a single sentence to put a Trump supporter to shame.During a panel discussion at a Hillary Clinton campaign rally in Philadelphia, which featured a performance by Bruce Springsteen, the  host listened as Trump minions Jeffrey Lord and Kayleigh McEnany whined and complained.Lord got the whine party started by claiming that most people in the crowd at Hillary s rally are only there to see Springsteen while Trump s audience is only at his rallies to see Trump.Lord then shifted to talking about Michelle Obama and how Trump s past statements about grabbing women  by the p*ssy  caused her to get more involved in the election, which Lord claims makes her a hypocrite because she likes Jay-Z and Beyonce. One of the things that got her interested in this all of a sudden was that Access Hollywood tape, in which the P-word was mentioned,  Lord said.  And yet there is Hillary Clinton with Jay-Z who has a song, specifically titled with the P-word. Cooper responded by pointing out that Jay-Z is not running for president. It should also be noted that Jay-Z was not singing about sexually assaulting women, which is exactly what Trump was bragging about on that bus.Still, Lord claimed that Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton are hypocrites, and McEnany agreed. The difference is for Jay-Z to shout these expletives on a stage at a political rally while the Democrats are trying to stand on a moral high ground saying we re better than that and Hillary Clinton is putting out commercials with little girls looking in the mirror,  she said.But Cooper was ready for that and promptly humiliated her by pointing out something that a conservative musician did at a recent Trump rally. Ted Nugent grabbed his package at his concert, didn t he?  Cooper asked as McEnany sat in stunned silence for a couple seconds.Here s the video via VidMe.Trump supporters will literally say anything to criticize Hillary Clinton. Their attacks are nothing more than petty jealousy because their candidate is so embarrassingly bad.But at least we have Anderson Cooper to call them out and smack them down when necessary.Featured Image via screenshot",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
12990,12991,"Florida Authorities cordoned off the home of missing toddler Caylee Anthony ' s grandparents on Thursday , hours after the remains of a small child were found nearby .  Investigators have sealed off the Anthony home , which shows a large Caylee poster .  The sheriff ' s office in Orange County , Florida , said it is seeking a warrant to search the home of George and Cindy Anthony .  Sheriff Kevin Beary said the home has been secured "" pending more investigation . "" The house has the "" possibility of being more of a crime scene later , "" he added .  A child ' s skull was found at about 9 : 30 a . m . by a utility meter reader who alerted authorities , sheriff ' s spokesman Jim Solomons said . Investigators , including those from the Anthony case , rushed to the scene , he added . Watch investigators swarm the scene  The agency has told its lab analysts that the case is top priority , Beary added . "" If they have to work through the weekend , they ' ll work through the weekend . ""  "" Bottom line , it ' s real simple , folks , "" Beary said . "" We ' ve recovered this human skull , it appears to be that of a small child , and now the investigation continues . We ' ve got a lot of lab work to do , a lot of  work to do , a lot of crime scene work to do . We could be here all night . "" Watch the sheriff talk about what needs to be done  Prosecutors have asked police not to disclose many details surrounding the discovery , Beary said .  Caylee Anthony , 3 , has been missing since June in a case that has received national attention . Casey Anthony , the child ' s 22 year old mother , was charged last month with murder and other offenses . She is being held at the Orange County Jail .  The area where the remains were found had been searched as part of the investigation into Caylee ' s disappearance , he said . But the precise spot where a county meter reader found them "" 45 , 50 , 60 feet back "" from the street was flooded at the time of the search .  No clothes were found with the remains , Beary said .  Asked whether the remains could belong to another child , Beary said , "" Not that we know of , but that ' s always a possibility , and that ' s why we ' ve got a lot of work to do on this case still . ""  Earlier , authorities said the Anthony family had been notified of the discovery . The remains were found "" in very close proximity "" to the Anthony home , Solomons said . View a map of where the remains were found  An attorney for Casey Anthony filed legal papers Thursday afternoon seeking a court order to preserve all evidence collected , and to permit the defense to conduct its own forensic testing . A hearing has been scheduled for Friday morning .  In a court hearing earlier Thursday , 9th Circuit Judge Stan Strickland postponed Casey Anthony ' s trial at the request of defense attorney Jose Baez . The attorney said he had not received all the evidence due him from prosecutors and was not ready to proceed with the January 5 trial .  Baez asked Strickland whether the trial could be delayed until March . The judge scheduled a hearing January 15 to consider a new trial date as well as a possible change of venue .  Casey Anthony remains in protective custody and has no contact with other inmates , corrections officials said .  "" She has been seen by a Corrections Health Services psychologist and her status was reviewed , "" officials said in a statement , adding Anthony was under psychological observation which is not the same as suicide watch .  Baez arrived at the jail just before noon Thursday and stayed about an hour and a half , officials said .  Prosecutors said this month that they would not seek the death penalty against Casey Anthony . If convicted of murder , she could be sentenced to life in prison .  Authorities have said Casey Anthony waited about a month before telling her family that Caylee was gone . Cindy Anthony Caylee ' s grandmother and Casey Anthony ' s mother called the Orange County sheriff ' s office July 15 , saying her daughter would not tell her where Caylee was .  When questioned , Casey Anthony gave conflicting statements to police , including some that were later disproved , according to hundreds of documents and investigative reports released in the case .  She claimed that she dropped Caylee off with a baby sitter , but when police checked out her story , they learned that the address Casey Anthony supplied belonged to an apartment that had been vacant for weeks . The woman Casey Anthony named as her baby sitter told police she did not know her .  Investigators have said that cadaver dogs picked up the scent of death in Anthony ' s car , as well as in her parents ' backyard . They also said air quality tests conducted by the  found evidence consistent with human decomposition and chloroform in the car ' s trunk . A neighbor told police Anthony had asked to borrow a shovel .  Also , an analysis of Anthony ' s computer found that she had visited Web sites discussing chloroform and had done Internet searches on missing children , according to information released in the case .  She added , "" They told us they thought it was an accident , and she ' s scared and tried to cover it up . They don ' t feel there ' s a motive . ""  Cindy Anthony stressed that five searches for the girl ' s body have "" come up with nothing . There ' s nothing that they have found that , you know , has given them any evidence that Caylee is no longer with us . ""  The Anthonys said they believe that the girl is still alive and that someone has her , noting several reports of sightings .  Last month , Strickland denied prosecutors ' request to impose a gag order in Anthony ' s case , saying he could not state that continued publicity would pose a threat to her trial or even that a gag order would stem the flood of media attention .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
12994,12995,"Markets Fri Dec 4 , 2015 5 : 19pm   Oil drops after  maintains output despite glut    Oil prices fell on Friday after news that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries was planning to maintain its production near record highs despite depressed prices , as  continued to guard its share of an oversupplied market .  The producer group failed to agree on a new production quota , allowing member countries to continue pumping more than 31 million barrels per day of oil , further swelling a global glut that has depressed oil prices for over a year .   ' s announcement sent ripples through wider markets and dented shares of U . S . energy drillers already suffering from low prices , but losses in oil futures were limited as prices hit support around 40 a barrel .  Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 fell 84 cents , or nearly 2 percent , to settle at 43 , after rising in early trade . The benchmark was within cents of August ' s 6 1 2 year trough .  U . S . crude futures CLc1 fell 1 . 11 , or nearly 2 percent , to settle at 39 . 97 .  "" There was some short covering before the announcement in case there was a production cut . When we found out that wasn t the case , we gave up the gains , "" said Gene McGillian , analyst at Tradition Energy in New York . "" It shifted the market back to fears of oversupply . ""  Saudi Arabia has been under pressure from  ' s poorer members to cut output to bolster prices , which have dropped from over 100 a barrel since June 2014 . But Saudi Arabia has been content to keep production up , which has squeezed profits for producers in non  countries , including the United States .  "" The heavy pressure on non  producers , especially U . S . shale , is going to be kept up , "" said Paul Horsnell , head of commodities research at Standard Chartered .  Energy company shares , including those of U . S . oil major Exxon Mobil Corp (  . N ) and oil service companies Baker Hughes Inc (  . N ) and Halliburton Co (  . N ) fell after the  news . The S P Energy index .  fell on Friday , limiting gains in the wider stock market .  U . S . energy firms this week cut oil rigs for the 13th week in the last 14 , data from Baker Hughes showed .  Goldman Sachs analysts , which expect  production to remain slightly above current output at 31 . 8 million barrels per day in 2016 , said robust supply could help keep prices low until the fourth quarter of next year .  Bullish wagers on U . S . crude oil from hedge funds and other big speculators fell to the lowest level in more than five years , data from the U . S . Commodity Futures Trading Commission (  ) showed .  ( Reporting by Edward McAllister in New York , Amanda Cooper in London Additional reporting by Swetha Gopinath in Singapore Editing by Marguerita Choy , Chizu Nomiyama and David Gregorio )  A woman pumps gas at a station in Falls Church , Virginia December 16 , 2014 .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
13005,13006,"Mesut Ozil salvaged a 2 2 home draw for Real Madrid against Borussia Dortmund in their Champions League Tuesday with a last gasp equalizer .  German champions Dortmund looked set for a famous win in the Bernabeu until Ozil struck , but they still lead the so called "" Group of Champions "" by a point with two matches remaining .  Ajax Amsterdam kept their hopes of qualifying for the last 16 knockout stage alive with a 2 2 draw at English Premier League champions Manchester City , whose slim hopes took a further knock .  City were stunned in their Etihad Stadium as Siem de Jong took advantage of slack defending to score twice in quick succession .  The home side gave themselves renewed hope when Yaya Toure volleyed home to cut the deficit and Sergio Aguero leveled after the break .  City had an goal disallowed for offside and Mario Balotelli ' s penalty appeal on the final whistle was also ignored .  Manager Roberto Mancini confronted the match officials after the incident which leaves his team without a win in four games .  Dortmund , so impressive in the Etihad in a drawn match in the previous round of matches , were again on top form on the road in Madrid .  They took the lead when Marco Reus volleyed an unstoppable shot past Iker Casillas but Pepe leveled for Real with a thumping header .  Just before half time , Dortmund went ahead again as Robert Lewandowski crossed for Mario Goetze to force Alvaro Abeloa to put past his own goalkeeper .  Only a minute was remaining when German international Ozil curled in a free kick to spare Jose Mourinho ' s men a rare home defeat .  Schalke came from two goals behind to earn a 2 2 home draw in Gelsenkirchen with  side Arsenal .  England ' s Theo Walcott and French international Olivier Giroud put the visitors in command at the Veltins Arena with neat strikes in quick succession in the first half .  But Dutch striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar scored a crucial goal for the Royal Blues just before half time to rekindle their hopes , shortly after being denied by a superb save from Vito Mannone .  The home side pressed strongly for the equalizer in the second half and it came as no surprise when Peru striker Jefferson Farfan hammered home their second .  But Arsenal were always dangerous on the break and Walcott was left frustrated at the end as his effort was blocked by Lars Unnerstall .  "" It ' s regrettable that we conceded a goal before the break , then missed a goal with the last chance of the game . They both had a great influence on the result , "" Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger told Sky Sports .  The result leaves Schalke one point clear of Group B ahead of Arsenal .  Olympiakos of Greece are third , one point further back after beating French side Montpellier 3 1 in the other match .  Champions League new boys Malaga sealed their passage to the knockout stage with a 1 1 draw at seven time champions  Milan in Group C .  Eliseu put the Spanish visitors ahead just before half time , but Milan stayed in second place in the section after Pato equalized in the second half .  Delighted Malaga manager Manuel Pellegrini lauded their efforts . "" We didn ' t win , but to come to the San Siro and get a draw is an important victory for us , "" he told  .  Anderlecht moved to within a point of Milan in the battle for the second qualification spot with a 1 0 home win over Zenit St . Petersburg .  Portuguese giants Porto also clinched their qualification from Group A with a goalless draw at Dynamo Kiev in the Ukraine .  Big spending Paris St . Germain are almost certain to join them after thumping Dinamo Zagreb of Croatia 4 0 with goals from Alex , Blaise Matuidi , Jeremy Menez and Guillaume Hoarau .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
13016,13017,"It began with secret texts to untraceable phones . Meetings took place in seedy bars , dark alleys , gas stations . Actual documents came in packages without notes , without return addresses .  You would think the secrets being passed dealt with national security , organized crime or the corruption of high public officials . Nope .  But why all that secrecy ?  Employees of the U . S . Department of Veterans Affairs , from all across the country , told us people who speak out face retaliation that could end their careers and permanently harm their family ' s finances and futures .  Today , the Office of Special Counsel announced details from  whistleblower cases illustrating just how true that fear at the  has become .  The  announced it is now looking into allegations of reprisals against 37 employees from the Department of Veterans Affairs . The  said it has received the complaints from employees at  facilities in 19 states . And the complaints run the gamut from allegations of retaliation for disclosing improper scheduling practices to retaliation for exposing other threats to patient care .  "" Receiving candid information about harmful practices from employees will be critical to the  ' s efforts to identify problems and find solutions , "" said Special Counsel Carolyn Lerner . "" However , employees will not come forward if they fear retaliation . ""  Lerner ' s staff recently blocked disciplinary actions against three  employees after they "" disclosed wrongdoing . "" Lerner ' s staff says the  agreed to hold off on the proposed discipline . This will allow the  to further investigate the reprisal claims , they said .  In the just the past fiscal year , the Office of Special Counsel has fought the punishment of 14  employees who had been retaliated against for being critical of the agency .   doctors scared to talk  One doctor would meet only privately in an unpopular , seedy restaurant where he felt certain no one would recognize him .  Another doctor only met with us and spoke in a dark , outside location where no one could see him .  Another doctor asked us to only speak through a third person intermediary , providing documents that could not be traced but that could be authenticated to provide us reliable sourcing .  Code word : ' Tender Vittles '  Several of the doctors , we were told , had tried to tell administrators of their concerns that patients were being harmed by delays and that some had died or suffered serious injuries .  But we were told those doctors were treated harshly by administrators who did not want to hear of the complaints .  All the doctors confirmed to us that  officials had posted warnings in the hospital ' s halls and elevators that no  employees could speak with the media or divulge details of what went on inside the hospital . The warnings , the doctors said , included details about laws that could be violated and penalties that employees could face , including financial reparations and even jail time , if they were to speak out publicly , and if the hospital suffered financial losses as a result .  In Arizona , more fear and dread  Just like the fear in Columbia and Augusta , the source in Phoenix was scared to trust us .  We were told to meet at a bar in a strip mall 20 miles outside of downtown . No cameras , no notes and the pounding rock music was so loud , it is doubtful even a hidden microphone would have worked . But it was here we heard the entire story of the secret list in Phoenix .  The employee would not allow us to use a name , a position , even a length of service . And we are deliberately leaving out his her gender . The  employee remains scared to this day , but everything said inside the seedy bar has proved to be true .  A fatal wait : Read the original Phoenix story that started it all  The secret list , the destruction and the cover up through intimidation had been in place for more than a year . It wasn ' t secret to anyone inside the Phoenix  . But what this employee was telling us was the other "" not so secret "" secret about what happened to anyone who spoke against the administration .  Sharon Helman , the now ex director of the Phoenix  , had a common retort to any naysayer who complained , we were told :  "" If you don ' t like it here , let me buy you a Seventh Street bus pass . "" The bus stop was right under the sixth floor window of Helman ' s office .  Germaine Claro , a whistleblower who worked under Helman at the Edward Hines Jr .  outside of Chicago , says , "" There ' s a lot of fear , employees are scared to step up when they see things that are negligent . . . ""  Claro says when the news broke in Arizona surrounding secret lists and Helman , no one was surprised .  "" It ' s something that is regular business , nobody is shocked that it ' s in the news , in fact people are relieved that finally people , employees are being heard , that this is a huge problem . ""  We heard the same thing from other whistleblowers as they came forward in Texas and Colorado .  Brave doctor goes on the record  Most of the credit goes to a whistleblower who wasn ' t afraid to speak and speak forcibly .  Dr Sam Foote admitted to us back in April , in his first on camera interview , that the only reason he was coming forward so publicly was because he had finally retired , lined up all his government retirement benefits and felt the  could not retaliate at that stage .  He had blown the whistle on the secret list months before , but no one on the inside reacted . A token investigation in December by the Office of the Inspector General did not end the practice of hiding veterans waiting for care .  Now a report has made it official : The Office of Special Counsel is investigating the great lengths allegedly taken to silence those who would expose a scandal this Department of Veterans Affairs had been successfully hiding for years .  Political Ticker : Senate reaches deal on  bill  Were bonuses tied to  wait times ? Here ' s what we know  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
13032,13033,"Wednesday ' s Morning Email : Obama Calls for Unity in State of the Union  A           "" President Barack Obama put the American people on notice Tuesday night that a dark future awaited American democracy if its citizens didn ' t begin to come together rather than retreat into ethnic or religious corners . "" Check out the top moments from the State of the Union , as well as the full text of Obama ' s speech . Plus here ' s how Obama , and the Republican Party , took aim at Donald Trump last night . Ryan Grim , HuffPost    10 U . S .  "" Iran has released two United States Navy patrol boats and 10 crew members who were described as ' trespassing ' in Iranian waters near a major naval base , state news media reported on Wednesday . ""     .       And the San Diego Chargers have the option of following them there next year . The St . Louis Post Dispatch ' s top sports writer said of the decision : "" feckless thugs of  leave us with just memories . "" Michael McLaughlin and Travis Waldron , HuffPost    9  10        "" ' This attack will kill tourism here , ' one tour guide said . "" Sophia Jones , HuffPost  '       ' S   ' "" You ' d expect that utilities , states , federal agencies would take their jobs seriously and try to protect people rather than deliberately mislead , lie and make up excuses not to protect public health , "" said Dr Mona Hanna Attisha , a Flint pediatrician . Arthur Delaney and Philip Lewis , HuffPost           Clinton broke out the "" magic wand "" phrase to describe rival Bernie Sanders ' goals as unrealistic . The language marks a turning point , as it "" is starting to carry echoes from a similar point in 2008 , when Senator Barack Obama started surging . "" Even lawmakers seemed stumped last night when asked who they thought would be giving the State of the Union address next year .       1 . 5      ? Members of Congress had some fun answering that question last night . Someone could potentially win 1 . 5 billion in the drawing today . HuffPost            Good luck trying to make older versions of your least favorite browser work . TechCrunch   A    ? Try the 100 top grossing movies in history . HuffPost    A  ? You should not be asked these questions in a job interview . HuffPost       A     As an app . On your phone . The Verge         Over the nightmare that is email today . HuffPost  For more from The Huffington Post , download our app for iOS or Android .         "" Hong Kong , said to be the world s largest retail market for ivory , announced that it would be phasing out the sale of legal ivory in the city . "" HuffPost  For more , sign up for the What ' s Working newsletter .  '        ' "" Thank you for teaching me that no matter how many times you fall , you always get back up . "" HuffPost  A look at the "" science of freezing . ""  Sorry , "" Serial "" fans : The popular podcast will now be released every other week .  The top web fonts of the year .  The "" Here To Make Friends "" crew breaks down how The Bachelor is destroying science for everyone this week .  The river that very well may be a "" black hole "" here in the U . S .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
13042,13043,"Los Angeles (AFP)  —   Retired unbeaten boxing champion Floyd Mayweather says that when it comes to a possible   fight with Irish mixed martial arts star Conor McGregor, he is “out of retirement. ”[In a posting on the  website, the    American said he wants to face McGregor, 28, in June.  “For Conor McGregor, I’m coming out of retirement, just to fight Conor McGregor,” Mayweather told FightHype, according to the posting. “Today, I’m officially out of retirement for Conor McGregor. We don’t need to waste no time. We need to make this  …     happen quickly. Let’s get it on in June. ” Mayweather had matched Rocky Marciano’s iconic   unbeaten career record when he walked away from boxing as the welterweight champion in 2015. Speculation of a   fight has intensified in recent months, with the  star saying he is willing to meet McGregor in a boxing ring. McGregor, however, is under contract to the Ultimate Fighting Championship series, which would have to approve any deal for the bout to happen. “I don’t want to hear no more excuses about the money, about the UFC,” Mayweather said. “Sign the paper with the  so you can fight me in June. Simple and plain. Let’s fight in June. If you want to fight, sign the paperwork, let’s do it. ” McGregor is on a break for the impending birth of his first child, a son with his   girlfriend Dee Devlin, who is due to give birth in May.",true,news,validation,Football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
13053,13054,"has stepped up the use of children in its bloody campaign of terror , the United Nations says subjecting them to horrors that include putting price tags on them to sell as slaves .  A report released this week focused on children in Iraq , as well as the responsibility of that nation ' s government for ensuring the safety and security of young civilians in the conflict . But it certainly doesn ' t preclude similar things happening in Syria , where  is also entrenched and also has been blamed for various atrocities .  In reference to Iraq , at least , the U . N . report found that the terrorist group is resorting more and more to brutal acts such as enslaving , raping , beheading , crucifying and burying people alive . Some of those affected are children .  "" We have had reports of children , especially children that are mentally challenged , who have been used as suicide bombers , most probably without them even understanding what has happened or what they have to expect , "" said Renate Winter , an expert with the U . N . Committee on the Rights of the Child .  Some as young as age 8 are getting training to become soldiers , she said .  "" Children of minorities have been captured in places where the so called  has its strength , have been sold in market with tags , price tags on them , have been sold as slaves , "" Winter said .  People of the Yazidi faith which draws from Christianity , Judaism and the ancient monotheistic religion of Zoroastrianism , and which some Muslims consider devil worship have long faced persecution , though by comparison  ' cruelty to them has been extraordinary . Kurdistan Regional Government adviser Nazand Begikhani , for instance , has said Yazidi "" women have been treated like cattle , . . . subjected to physical and sexual violence , including systematic rape and sex slavery . ""  Yazidi children haven ' t fared much better at the hands of  . An earlier U . N . report described how militants rounded up all Yazidi males "" older than 10 years of age at the local school , took them outside the village by pickup trucks , and shot them . ""  The U . N . report , while alarming , isn ' t surprising considering all the accounts of  ' brutality in recent years .  The self proclaimed Islamic State has made a name for itself in its quest to form a vast caliphate governed under a strict version of Sharia law both through its conquests and its savagery .  The savagery was on display again this week with the release of video showing Jordanian pilot Lt . Moath al Kasasbeh being burned to death , the latest example of  not just executing its captives but broadcasting such violence as propaganda .  While there was no response specifically to the U . N . report ,  has in the past attempted to justify atrocities including the enslaving , raping and selling of captives as being done in God ' s name .  The terror group printed a pamphlet last fall , then distributed it in Mosul in December , entitled "" Questions and Answers on Female Slaves and their Freedom . "" It spells out rationales for having sex with prepubescent girls and generally capturing those who are "" nonbelievers , "" i . e . they don ' t subscribe to  ' extreme take on Islam .   : Enslaving , having sex with ' unbelieving ' women , girls is   As such , the  document claims , "" It is permissible to buy , sell or give as a gift female captives and slaves , for they are merely property . ""  The U . N . report wasn ' t just critical of  . It also urged the Iraqi government which , along with neighboring Syria , is fighting the Islamist extremist group to do more to protect children , saying the Iraqi forces are contributing to the problem .  A "" very large number of children "" have been killed and severely injured by airstrikes , shelling and military operations by Iraqi forces , the report said .  Still , it ' s  that is beneath all others involved in the fray when it comes to barbarity .  Not only has the group not apologized for its actions , but it ' s reveled in them . And it ' s used to children to drive home this point .   has featured children as fighters before , calling them the "" cubs of the caliphate "" ( the adult jihadis call each other "" lions "" ) and has encouraged foreign fighters to bring their families .  It has taken over schools to indoctrinate children . Human Rights Watch claims  and other extremist groups "" have specifically recruited children through free schooling campaigns that include weapons training and have given them dangerous tasks , including suicide bombing missions . ""  That children celebrate such violence is horrifying enough , as evidenced by an  video showing a young boy watching al Kasasbeh ' s killing .  He adds , "" All Arab tyrants should also be burned . ""  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,negative,past
13056,13057,"Much of the world has been stunned by the huge increase of migrant deaths in the Mediterranean this year , increasing the number of deaths at sea by a factor of 30 compared to the same time last year . Almost all the deaths have occurred in the perilous central Mediterranean crossing from Libya to Italy .  The flows of migrants across the Mediterranean are unlikely to stop Italian authorities estimate that up to 200 , 000 migrants in Libya are waiting to cross , following 170 , 000 refugees and migrants who arrived in Italy last year . These flows reflect a significant increase in the number of refugees and internally displaced people across the world , with a total estimate of 51 . 2 million people .  The latest sinking has triggered some action in the European Union , which has unveiled a new ten point action plan . The plan includes both deterrent mechanisms , such as efforts to capture and destroy vessels being used by smugglers and a rapid return system , but also an expansion of search and rescue programs and a proposed new voluntary resettlement scheme , though it is reported that this may only provide 5 , 000 spaces .  But some  critics called for much tougher action to deter asylum seekers from making the risky journey . In a column published in the  ' s Sun newspaper just hours before the sinking , Katie Hopkins declared : "" It ' s time to get Australian . Bring on the gunships , force migrants back to their shores and burn the boats . ""  Since then , Australia ' s Prime Minister , Tony Abbott , has also suggested that Europe adopt a tougher approach , saying , "" The only way you can stop the deaths is to stop the people smuggling trade . The only way you can stop the deaths is in fact to stop the boats . . . That ' s why it is so urgent that the countries of Europe adopt very strong policies that will end the people smuggling trade across the Mediterranean . ""  So what would it mean if the  did "" get Australian "" in its approach to asylum seekers ? And could Australia ' s current policy be used as a global solution , or at least one for asylum seekers trying to cross the Mediterranean ?  There were dramatic changes in Australia ' s immigration policy in 2013 , in the final months of the Labor government , led by Kevin Rudd , which have been followed up and taken further by the current Liberal National coalition government , led by Abbott .  In 2013 , with bipartisan support of those two major parties , mainland Australia was legally "" excised "" from the migration zone . It was done so that anyone arriving without a visa by boat would not be processed in Australia .  All people who seek to enter Australia by sea , under the Asylum Legacy Act , are no longer entitled to enter or stay in Australia while their refugee claims are processed . Instead , they can be transported to detention facilities in Papua New Guinea or Nauru . Alternatively , under a recent agreement , they can also agree to move to Cambodia .  Beyond this , the Abbott government has also returned some boats to Indonesia without processing asylum seeker claims and , in two instances , to Sri Lanka following a very brief teleconference interview with the asylum seekers on board . That process was widely condemned by human rights advocates , given ongoing human rights abuses in Sri Lanka .  That shift in policy under successive Labor and now the Liberal National governments in Australia has been chiefly designed as a deterrent : or , to use Tony Abbott ' s slogan , to "" stop the boats "" . So has it worked ?  First , the numbers . If your sole criteria for success is the number of boats arriving in Australia each year , then "" no advantage "" ( meaning no asylum in Australia ) and "" stop the boats "" ( including the turning back of boats in international waters ) has worked . In 2013 , the Australian government reported that 300 boats with approximately 20 , 000 people on board arrived in 2014 , there were 0 .  The current government has argued that its objective was to end the people smuggling trade and this required secrecy concerning the extent of its operations and turn backs . So we do not know how many boats tried to enter Australian waters with asylum seekers .  It also appears that no asylum seekers drowned in Australian waters during the 2013 2014 period . Abbott explained the tactic of secrecy and turn back in the following statement : "" We are in a fierce contest with these people smugglers . And if we were at war , we wouldn ' t be giving out information that is of use to the enemy just because we might have an idle curiosity about it ourselves . ""  If we accept that these responses have worked , the question for Australia ' s government is whether it is sustainable , and whether it alleviating the flow of asylum seekers in the larger Asia Pacific region . In sum , if this policy had to end due to its financial cost , has this policy been a "" solution "" ?  The later years of the Howard administration saw both policy and budget departures from 2001 ' s "" Pacific Solution , "" which first introduced the excision zones and temporary protection visas as deterrents to asylum seekers .  The Rudd government abandoned temporary protection visas altogether but retained the excision zones this occurred in a period of heightened regional instability , leading to an increase of asylum seekers under the Rudd era . The earlier Howard years of deterrence did not provide long term solutions regarding the regional flow of asylum seekers .  At present , in the greater South East Asian region , we may see potential regional pressures finding a way to Australian shores . The drowning of asylum seekers who sought passage via people smugglers appear to have increased , in particular , in the Bay of Bengal . At the same time , the number of asylum seekers attempting to flee within the Asia Pacific region has increased they are just not making it to Australia yet .  On cost alone , it is hard to see Australia ' s approach to asylum seekers working or being affordable in Europe . For Australia , these short term solutions have been extraordinarily expensive .  A 2014 report by the Guardian estimated that the Australian government may have spent as much as A 10 billion ( 7 . 72 billion ) on its detention policies since mid 2007 and that each person in offshore detention costs the government as much as A 440 , 000 ( 343 , 000 ) . For comparison , we estimate that a similar model to respond to the 170 , 000 refugees and migrants who arrived last year in Italy would cost A 75 billion ( 58 . 5 billion ) .  The Australian government ' s ability to "" stop the boats "" or at least keep asylum seekers offshore depends on a number of factors , including tolerance from Indonesia , significant spending devoted to asylum deterrence and weathering international condemnation for violating the human rights of asylum seekers .  The consequences of a policy of no asylum and no refuge in Australia for those who arrived by boat from July 2013 has been asylum seekers placed in situations where they are vulnerable to abuse , as we saw with the death of an Iranian refugee in the Regional Processing Center on Manus Island and sexual and physical assault of asylum seekers held at the Regional Processing Center in Nauru .  The Australian government ' s interception of asylum seekers attempting to reach Australia by boat , and then their relocation to Nauru or Papua New Guinea ( or perhaps Cambodia ) , does not remove or absolve the human rights obligations that Australia has to these populations .  The operation to stop and return the boats , called "" Operation Sovereign Borders "" has been politically tumultuous for Australia ' s relationship with Indonesia . Returning boats to international waters potentially violates Australia ' s obligation to international maritime law push backs to Indonesian waters violates Indonesia ' s sovereignty and has placed people at great risk .  In 2013 and 2014 , the Australian government sought the Sri Lankan government ' s assistance to intercept those attempting to flee , and receive those who had already fled the country , at a time when that government was under investigation by the  Human Rights Council for war crimes and crimes against humanity .  As the situation in Europe illustrates , just because people are not making it to your shoreline to seek asylum does not mean people stop attempting asylum .  In the short term , the "" stop the boats "" approach appears to be working for the Australian government . It is questionable whether this policy is financially or politically sustainable in the long term . It certainly has not ended people smuggling or people ' s attempts to seek asylum in the wider Asia Pacific region .  Nando Sigona argues that the recent tragedy in Italy is not just about how to manage search and rescue operations , but requires consistent and long term engagement with the root causes of refugee flows . This is a message that both the European Union and Australia should heed .  Italy is a good example of the failure of trying to stop asylum seekers with deterrence . The Italian government ended its Mare Nostrum search and rescue program last autumn , which was effective but was also costing the Italian government 9 . 5 million per month . It was replaced by a much smaller European Union run program , Operation Triton , which has a smaller patrol area and a budget of less than a third that of Mare Nostrum .  The  High Commissioner for Human Rights , Zeid Ra ' ad Al Hussein , has noted that this new program is totally inadequate and "" more geared to border control and policing the seas than to saving lives "" .  In Italy , both Mare Nostrum and Operation Triton were stemming an inevitable tide given the political instability in North Africa . The migrants currently in Libya are in a perilous limbo , with a growing civil war having displaced more than 400 , 000 Libyans and with Human Rights Watch noting that the conflict and collapse of government authority has "" eliminated any semblance of law and order from large parts of Libya . ""  Second , such policies have significant legal implications . The Australian High Court has ruled that these policies are legal as long as they take place outside of Australia ' s migration zone , an area that today includes all of Australian territory for the purposes of boat arrivals .  By contrast , the European Court of Human Rights ruled in 2012 that efforts by the Italian government to return migrants intercepted at sea to Libya violated its legal obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights because the migrants "" were under the continuous and exclusive de jure and de facto control of the Italian authorities . ""  This suggests that similar practices to Australia ' s would be illegal under the European Convention .  Copyright 2015 The Conversation . Some rights reserved .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
13087,13088,"4 returning players who could lead Giants to  East title  If what transpires at MetLife Stadium on Sunday is a litmus test against an undefeated , defending Super Bowl champion ? and current Super Bowl favorite ? the Giants might prefer to just slide into their bye week and forgo their game against the Patriots . Why go into a week off in a bad mood ?  We ll be tested , Eli Manning said . We know we re going against a good team . We ll see where we stand . We ve got to play well , we ve got to play smart , and we ve got to put everything together .  If they do all that ? play well , play smart , put everything together ? the Giants might have a shot at upsetting the Patriots , who are 8 0 but have not blown out everyone along the way . They beat the Steelers by seven points , the Bills by eight , the Colts by seven , the Jets by seven . They also have won by 34 , 24 , 29 and 17 .  We re going up against the best team we ve played so far this season , obviously undefeated , said running back Shane Vereen , who helped the Patriots win the Super Bowl last season before signing with the Giants . So it s a great test , a great opportunity .  The Patriots , just as they were in 2007 , are gunning for  posterity . The Giants are trying as hard as they can to stay atop the mediocre  East . They went into the weekend at 5 4 and with a slim lead on the Eagles ( 4 4 ) . Given their tone , their body language and their words , the Giants figure to be loose and excited , realizing winning or losing this game will not determine their season .  When you re playing a team that s this good , it is a measuring stick for you , said coach Tom Coughlin , who is 5 1 in his career against Bill Belichick coached teams , including two Super Bowl victories over the Patriots . But again , there are a lot of games to be played , and what my goal and what we re trying to do here is to try to get better every week , so that we can be at our best when you re talking about the stretch .  Certainly , we have to keep winning . We re too close to the margin , we ve created that for ourselves . The idea is to somehow , someway start to put some wins together . That s what has to happen if you re going to end up having a say in what this is all about .  Patriots  Cameron Fleming Bryan Stork vs . Giants  Jason Pierre Paul  Sound the alarm on the Patriots offensive line . Fill in left tackle Sebastian Vollmer ? starting only because Nate Solder was lost for the season with a torn biceps ? won t play because of a concussion suffered last week . Fleming and Stork were used as emergency left tackles last week vs . the Redskins . Both are second year players , neither had played left tackle in the  . Fleming is a right tackle , Stork is a center . They played really hard , Tom Brady said .  Pierre Paul , in his 2015 debut last week , was on the field for nearly 75 percent of the snaps and got stronger as the game went on .  Rusty , like you would expect him to be , defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo said . He s trying to find his , I don t want to say find his niche , just find his tools , then oil them up and get ready to go .  Tom terrific , mostly : ? Tom Brady s greatness does not extend over into his four career games against the Giants . He is 1 3 in those games , completing 64 percent of his passes for 1 , 240 yards , seven touchdowns and three interceptions . Good numbers , nice numbers , mortal numbers . He has averaged 45 passes per game against the Giants and never has had one of those games where the ball never touches the ground and the scoreboard lights up like a pinball machine .  Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo s Giants defense in Super Bowl  subdued Brady , but eight years later , Spagnuolo says Brady is probably better than ever .  Look it , he s as balanced a quarterback as I ve ever seen , Spagnuolo said . When I watched him , in all the years , I ve never seen a guy sit in the pocket and be as balanced and as calm and mechanically perfect as anybody . Every time I watch him , he does the same thing , it makes it tough . I don t see any weakness , I really don t .  Grand larceny : The Giants are exceptional in just one area on defense ? forcing turnovers . Their giveaway takeaway ratio of plus 12 is the best in the league and their 21 forced turnovers ( 13 interceptions , eight fumbles ) also is the league s highest total . This is not an accident .  You look at tape and you recognize individuals who are vulnerable and you talk about , you pinpoint some things , Coughlin said . Brady has thrown just two interceptions all season , so the Giants are concentrating more on taking it away from his targets .  They hold guys up , they rip the ball out , forced a lot of interceptions this year , Brady said . They ve got a lot of playmakers . I think their scheme really plays a part of that .  Gronk it up : There is a small sample of unknown Giants tight ends hurting the Patriots . A rookie named Kevin Boss had a huge fourth quarter catch and run in Super Bowl  . An undrafted guy named Jake Ballard caught a game winning touchdown pass to stun the Pats in Foxborough , Mass . , in 2011 . Where the Patriots have all world , mega star Rob Gronkowski , the Giants have three undrafted tight ends on their roster ? Larry Donnell , Will Tye and Jerome Cunningham . Donnell , the starter , has a neck injury and is out . Tye ( 10  receptions ) and Cunningham ( three ) are rookies .  It s definitely a chip on our shoulder , we know we re all still here and we can show people it doesn t matter what , we can still get the job done , Tye said . It s a nice little platform we set for ourselves . Whether it s catching the ball or blocking , we definitely feel we can be the best group out there , that s for sure .  Chasing points : The Patriots ? with Brady and Gronkowski , Julian Edelman and a bunch of running backs ? are averaging 34 . 5 points a game . The fewest points they put up in any game this season was the 27 they scored in last week s routine victory over the Redskins . The Giants are allowing 25 points per game . Connect the dots and it is obvious this defense ? starting a different lineup for the 10th time ? is going to have to summon up a tremendous performance to keep the Pats under 30 . You know what that means : The only hope for the Giants is to win in a shootout .  That s our job , Manning said . Our job is to score points . The defense s is to slow their offense down and stop them . Everybody s got a job to do , and hopefully we can go out there and do it well .  What the Giants cannot do is become too caught up with matching Brady and Co .  I would say there are probably some teams that like to do that , offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo said . I think you have to be comfortable in your own skin , your own version .  The Giants don t need to play The Perfect Game , but they need to get some breaks . They need Eli Manning to be sharp , and they need the Patriots to be off their game . It is a lot to ask for . Hunch is Giants will be ahead at some point , but not at the end .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
13136,13137,"Energy stocks lead and early rally as price of crude surges  A trader smiles as he follows prices before the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange , Friday , Jan . 22 , 2016 .  Japan led a rally in Asian stocks Friday , extending a global market rebound fueled by the prospect of more stimulus from the European Central Bank and a bounce in battered oil prices . While the European Central Bank left key interest rates and its 1 . 5 trillion euro ( 1 . 6 trillion ) monetary stimulus program unchanged Thursday , Draghi underscored his willingness to ramp up the program if plummeting oil prices and market toil threaten the continent ' s weak economy .  stocks were poised to open higher .    : The Dow Jones industrial average added 112 points , or 0 . 7 percent , to 15 , 878 as of 10 : 15 a . m . Eastern time . The Standard Poor ' s 500 index rose 30 points , or 1 . 6 percent , to 1 , 898 .  Currently , gas prices in New Orleans are quite low , averaging about 1 . 64 a gallon , compared with 1 . 85 nationally . The contract rose 1 . 18 , or 4 . 2 percent , to close at 29 . 53 a barrel Thursday . The Dow is the lowest it ' s been since August , and the Nasdaq is at its lowest since October 2014 . The Nikkei had its day since September .  crude is down 28 percent in 2016 and is trading at its lowest level since May 2003 . Brent crude , a benchmark for global oils , lost 22 cents to 27 . 66 per barrel in London . But he said prices are down because of a glut in oil supplies , not because demand is collapsing . But companies are still producing a great deal of oil , so tremendous stockpiles have accumulated .  Liu predicted production will keep falling and oil prices will stabilize in the middle of 2016 , then start rising .  When oil prices were high , lots of banks , including some of the biggest on Wall Street , made loans to energy companies to finance drilling in North Dakota , Texas and elsewhere . Banks have lent billions of dollars to energy companies to fund their work , and investors are anxious the banks won ' t get their money back . The company said it will use funds raised to buy its own debt .  Lower oil prices should also bolster Europe ' s fragile recovery , according to economists at Citi . Its stock fell 6 . 52 , or 10 . 4 percent , to 56 . 12 . Markets in Taiwan , Singapore , Thailand and Indonesia also were lower . Japan ' s benchmark index , the Nikkei , entered a bear market . In the final three months of 2015 , most analysts think  growth slowed to an annual rate below 1 percent .  "" It ' s a classic oversold bounce after Draghi ' s comments yesterday and the noise on Japanese stimulus overnight , the question is where do we go from here "" , said Veronika Pechlaner , who helps oversee 10 billion at Ashburton Investments , part of FirstRand Group .  Some investors , however , expect the market to stabilize as stock valuations are reassessed and bargain hunters step up .      : Big tech stocks rallied . Its sales fell about 170 million short of Wall Street forecasts .  Spirit Airlines said its profit margins will be stronger than expected and costs for aircraft rent , maintenance and other items will be smaller .  Bond prices fell . The yield on the 10 year Treasury note rose to 2 . 06 percent .  Analysts estimate that profit for all S P 500 companies in total are on track to be down a recession like 5 . 8 percent for 2015 . But excluding the badly bruised energy sector , earnings are seen growing 1 . 6 percent . While gold is far below its prices from the financial crisis , it ' s up 4 percent in 2016 . Its share price has fallen 25 percent over the past year .    : Gold and copper producer Freeport McMoRan tumbled 39 cents , or 9 . 1 percent , to 3 . 94 . South Korea ' s Kospi gained 1 . 6 percent to 1 , 870 . 80 . The Shanghai Composite Index lost 1 percent .  France ' s  40 added 3 . 1 percent and Germany ' s  rose 2 percent . Britain ' s  100 sank 3 . 5 percent .   : The dollar rose to 117 . 12 yen from 116 . 78 yen .  The price of heating oil climbed 3 . 2 cents , or 3 . 7 percent , to 89 . 8 cents gallon as a winter storm bore down on the East Coast . Its shares gained 1 . 45 , or 3 . 3 percent , to 45 . 87 .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,present
13147,13148,"New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick sat down for an interview that aired Thursday with CNBC’s Suzy Welch and finally shared his thoughts on “ ” in a game of word association.  Welch asked Belichick for the word he associates with “” and the coach responded “ridiculous. ” The  suspended Belichick’s   quarterback Tom Brady for four games in 2016 over the suspicion of deflated footballs from the 2015  Championship Game against the Indianapolis Colts. Welch also asked Belichick for his thoughts on winning. “The goal,” he replied. “There’s no medals for trying. This isn’t like eighth grade where everybody gets a trophy. We’re in a professional sport and it’s competitive to win. That’s what we do. ” Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent",true,news,validation,American football,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,present
13149,13150,"Nine weeks after Angelina Jolie underwent a double mastectomy to prevent cancer , the actress had another surgery to reconstruct her breasts using implants .  "" There have been many advances in this procedure in the last few years , and the results can be beautiful , "" Jolie wrote in her op ed piece for The New York Times .  "" To most women , their breasts are really a part of how they see themselves , "" Youn says . "" When you take it away . . . it ' s like you ' re losing a part of yourself and a part of what you identify with as being a woman . ""  Infographic : Breast reconstruction options  The majority of patients who want to proceed with reconstruction have options available , says Dr Colleen McCarthy , a surgeon at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York . There are two main types to choose from : implants or reconstruction using the patient ' s own tissue .  Some patients have a history of radiation treatments for breast cancer , which may prevent them from receiving implants ( radiation can cause scarring , which makes the skin less flexible ) others don ' t have enough donor tissue available on their body to use in a reconstruction . Otherwise the decision is left up to the patient ' s preference , McCarthy says .  Five reasons we love Angelina Jolie  If the patient chooses to have breast implants , there are usually two procedures involved . The first is done to place a tissue expander under the muscle in the breast cavity . Over the next few months , the expander is injected with saline regularly to stretch the muscle .  "" If you just put an implant into the breast , it ' s basically going to sag because there ' s nothing to hold it up , "" Youn explains .  This option allows the patient to decide what size implants she ' s most comfortable with , McCarthy says .  "" Women who choose implant reconstruction will often choose to go slightly smaller or larger ( than their original breast size ) , depending on how much the skin stretches , "" she says .  Tough choices in fight against breast cancer gene  The second implant surgery involves placing the permanent implant either filled with silicone gel or saline in the enlarged cavity . This procedure generally takes between 1 . 5 and 3 hours , Youn says .  "" It ' s typically easier , less painful and less invasive "" than the second option utilizing the patient ' s own tissue , he says .  Breast implants are not lifelong devices , according to the Food and Drug Administration . A tear in the silicone shell can cause a leak . Saline implants will visibly show the leak by sagging the  recommends silicone gel implant patients get a follow up  every couple of years .  The second option is a more complex surgery and has a longer recovery period . Patients generally choose it because it ' s done in a single procedure and they want a more natural result , McCarthy says . Breasts reconstructed with the patient ' s tissue are softer and will age like a normal breast .  What is the  gene ?  In this procedure , tissue is taken from the patient most often from their abdominal area and moved to the breast . This can be done with muscle or without , and there are several ways to keep blood flowing to the tissue , McCarthy says . These decisions depend on how much tissue and or blood flow is available for the surgeon to work with .  "" Other options include ( taking ) tissue from the back , thigh and buttocks , "" she says .  The Women ' s Health and Cancer Rights Act of 1998 ensures all reconstruction services are covered by insurance . That includes any surgery that needs to be done on the opposite breast to make them symmetrical and any nipple reconstruction procedures .  Almost 80 of patients have nipple reconstruction done following a breast reconstruction surgery , according to the Mayo Clinic .  Youn takes skin from the breast to recreate the nipple . He then sends his patients to a tattoo artist who will fill in the darker color to create the areola .  With both types of breast reconstruction the patient will retain some sensation . But numbness is to be expected afterward , Youn says .  Why more women are choosing double mastectomies  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
13158,13159,"Leave a reply  Mike Adams – My fellow Americans, we are watching history unfold before us with such sound and fury that we are likely to never witness comparable events again in our lifetime. As of today, I am now convinced that the deep state has turned on Hillary Clinton and will unveil damning in the next few days that will end the Clintons’ reign of terror over America and collapse her bid for the presidency.  The mainstream media, of course, will never report this news for the simple reason that they are the propaganda arm of the criminal Clinton cartel. As such, they will lie to the public to the bitter end, even as the Clinton Titanic sinks with all of them on board (in deep, frigid waters, no less, with no more lifeboats to be found).  The so-called “deep state”— the powerful insiders who really run the intelligence services and inner layers of untouchable bureaucracy — has decided Hillary Clinton is too damaged to defend any longer . Even if she were to win by stealing the election, she would be so mired in criminal investigations and political illegitimacy that she would rip the nation to shreds while fighting for her own political survival.  It has now been decided, I believe, that Hillary Clinton will be taken out of power by releasing criminally damaging emails which have long been held by the  and FBI. This will likely happen before the coming weekend. Once that is accomplished, the next goal will be to wait for President Trump to take office, then destroy the U.S. economy through a controlled, global debt collapse so that Trump can be blamed for the near collapse of western economies. (Remember: The deep state isn’t pro-Trump. They’re still all about defending the establishment. But Hillary is one bridge too far for even the statists to stomach…)  Instead of allowing Hillary Clinton to take power and destroy America from the top, in other words, deep state power brokers have reverted to “Plan B” which is to let Trump take the White House, then destroy America through the controlled demolition of its currency and economy. This is simpler than it sounds. Bringing down the debt pyramid of a nation carrying nearly $20 trillion in national debt isn’t exactly rocket science. All they have to do is stand back and stop manipulating the markets and stop printing new money for a few months while raising interest rates. Monetary gravity will do the rest…  In the mean time, Hillary Clinton and a long list of her co-conspirators are going to find themselves charged with obstruction of justice , lying under oath, destruction of evidence, conspiracy, corruption and other serious charges that will lead to serious prison time for many.  The criminal racket of the Clintons is about to implode. The participants will be charged under the  Act for “racketeering” activities, for which ample evidence already exists. A new video from Steve Pieczenik describes some of this  In this video, intelligence insider Steve Pieczenik lays out how high-level intelligence insiders are now working in concert to “reverse the Clinton coup” that’s attempting to take over America and destroy it from within.  Even if you don’t believe Pieczenik — and I fully realize he’s controversial in his own way — this short video is a very important “must watch” explanation to know what people in the intelligence community are doing…“we’ve initiated a counter-coup…”  The Clintons are going to go “full murder” in a last ditch, desperate effort to save themselves  Beware of what may yet unfold in the coming days. Like a cornered wild animal, the Clintons are extremely dangerous when they realize they have nothing to lose by going “full murder” in an attempt to save themselves.  I will not be surprised the least bit if bodies of people in high places start piling up over the next week. Watch for news reports of mysterious car crashes, swimming pool accidents or “natural” deaths involving people like James Comey, who’d better have armed security personnel around him at all times.  Look for desperate measures such as the Clintons attempting to blackmail Obama, Comey or anyone who they think might serve as leverage to save their own skins. We might also see desperate false flag attacks unfold in the next few days, although that’s increasingly unlikely since it seems the Clintons are now on their own (they would need the assistance of Obama to pull off another Sandy Hook, you see). A deal has already been struck with Obama  Most likely, deep state operatives have already struck a deal with Obama to avoid prosecuting him for his own serious crimes as long as he stays out of the way as Hillary Clinton’s head is served up on a platter. This likely explains why Obama is now publicly saying he trusts Comey (and refuses to go to bat for Hillary). There’s no love lost between Obama and the Clintons (remember 2008?).  As all this is going down, the propaganda ministry of the Clinton regime — CNN, NYT, Washington Post, etc. — is going to explode into an all-out “bat-s##t crazy” conspiracy theory phase where they blame the Russians, extraterrestrials, Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster for everything that’s imploding around the Clintons. Mainstream media news reports are going to increasingly sound like sociopathic babble from crazy people grasping at whatever outlandish theories they can invoke. Maybe crop circles were created by the Russians as a secret code to Wikileaks and Donald Trump, eh?  Meanwhile, conspiratorial operatives like George Stephanopoulos fully realize they are probably going to jail for collusion and sedition , so they have nothing left to lose by desperately trying to put Hillary in the White House via any means at their disposal, including totally faking negative news against Donald Trump (which is, of course, the entire news mission of  at this point, a disgraced propaganda network run by anti-American traitors). If the vote is stolen for Hillary Clinton, all hell breaks loose  Should the globalist Soros operators manage to steal the vote, bribe the electoral voters or rig the black box voting machines sufficiently to place Hillary Clinton in the White House, all Hell breaks loose across America : • The  goes into full indictment mode to push criminal charges for the Clinton criminal regime. • Donald Trump launches a massive legal challenge to the election outcome, dispatching an army of lawyers to level a vast assortment of charges involving coordinated voter fraud, the rigging of voting machines, the attempted bribery of Electoral voters and so on. • The U.S. military revs up its plans for an armed military coup to depose Clinton and restore democracy. This one should be especially entertaining to watch unfold if it gets activated… (and yes,  will beg for a short-term military dictatorship as long as they promise to depose Clinton and restore open, fair and free elections). • Armed U.S. citizens prepare for a massive march on Washington to take back their democracy and restore a lawful society where the political elite don’t get away with corruption, fraud and murder. Expect this march to be joined by police officers and federal law enforcement officials of all kinds. • The  likely goes into “full dump” mode to unleash every scrap of damning criminal evidence against Hillary Clinton. This will likely be joined by  assets who already have the goods on the Clintons and their “Lolita Express” pedo joy rides. • Wikileaks, Anonymous and every former  analyst goes into “destroy the Clintons” mode and begins to hack and expose every last shred of email evidence ever possessed by the Clintons and anyone close to them. Anonymous alone has enough technical clout to accomplish this with little or no outside help. (I expect Kim Dotcom to be aiding this entire effort as well, as he rightly holds extreme hatred toward Hillary Clinton… as do we all, come to think of it.) • The establishment Republicans in the U.S. Congress will, as usual, meekly surrender to the democrats, pulls down their britches and bend over to prepare to take it in the rear because that’s what they do best when the going gets tough. Totally useless politicrats like John McCain can’t get their pants around their ankles quickly enough when democrats start accusing them of something. These useless heaps of human baggage will be tossed out of Washington as the revolution unfolds, replaced with individuals who actually honor the U.S. Constitution (like Rep. Louie Gohmert). I root for all groups working to save America and expose the criminal politicians  Bring out the marshmallows and weiners, folks: This is going to be the most bizarre campfire front row seat to U.S. history that anyone has witnessed in over 200 years. Try not to trip and “face plant” into the flames as all this unfolds. It might be a smart idea to have some preparedness supplies at the ready, since no one really knows just how nasty this is all going to get. (And thank God Hillary doesn’t have her fingers on the nuclear launch codes, or she’d probably launch them just to change the narrative…)  As for me, I’m with anybody who’s trying to save America , restore democracy and throw the establishment criminals in prison. Like almost everybody else, I’ve had enough of the lies, the corruption, the media deceptions and the incessant blood sucking parasites in Washington D.C. who are too arrogant and stupid to realize just how much they’re universally despised. The revolution is ON. Anonymous, Wikileaks, Project Veritas, the  and the  have all been activated. There’s no stopping them now, and all the details of all the crimes of the Clintons are about to spill onto the stage of history, dirty deeds and all.  Be warned, you are probably not psychologically prepared for the truth about what the Clintons really are. You will probably vomit.  Source Natural News Nov. 2016 Share this:",fake,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
13192,13193,"The number of confirmed H1N1 flu cases worldwide surpassed 10 , 000 , the World Health Organization said Tuesday .  In the United States , at least 5 , 469 cases of swine flu have been reported .  Commonly known as swine flu , the outbreak has sickened 10 , 176 people and caused at least 80 deaths , mostly in Mexico , the organization said . The actual number of people affected may be higher , as it takes time for national governments to confirm cases and report them to the global body .  In the United States , at least 5 , 469 cases of swine flu have been reported , according to the latest figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . The  has linked six deaths to the outbreak health officials in New York have connected a seventh death a school official to the disease .  Concern about the disease deepened Tuesday , even as authorities have said the outbreak may prove to be less severe than first suspected .  A 44 year old man died Tuesday in suburban St . Louis , Missouri , according to John Shelton of the St . Louis County Health Department . The man , whose name was not released , had been hospitalized for the past few weeks . He had visited Mexico and tests showed he had swine flu , Shelton said . However , the county medical examiner will determine the cause of the man ' s death .  In New York , medical investigators determined that the death of a 16 month old boy in Queens was not linked to the flu . The boy had a fever when his mother brought him to a hospital Monday and he died less than an hour later , drawing attention from investigators .  That death came a day after an assistant principal from New York died after contracting the H1N1 virus . That man Mitchell Wiener had an underlying health condition , said Dr Thomas Frieden , New York City ' s health commissioner and President Barack Obama ' s pick to lead the  .  Wiener died Sunday of complications of the H1N1 virus , hospital and state officials said .  If confirmed by the  , Wiener ' s death would be the seventh linked to swine flu in the United States . The  has confirmed three in Texas , two in Arizona and one in Washington state .  Wiener ' s school is among a handful in New York that temporarily closed at the recommendation of the city ' s Health Department .  Frieden said Sunday that "" with the virus spreading widely , "" closing affected schools "" will make little difference in transmission throughout New York City , but we hope will help slow transmission within the individual school communities . ""  The flu strain , which originated in Mexico , killed dozens of people there , causing U . S . officials to worry that it could take a similar toll north of the border .  So far , however , it has acted similar to typical seasonal influenza , which usually can be treated successfully but can be deadly among the very old , very young and people with pre existing health problems .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
13207,13208,"Switzerland The World Health Organization on Wednesday raised its pandemic alert to 5 , its second highest level , warning of widespread human infection from the swine flu outbreak that originated in Mexico .  Patients wait at a hospital Wednesday in Mexico City . The swine flu outbreak began in Mexico .  Dr Margaret Chan , the U . N . agency ' s director general , said the decision to raise the alert on the 6 point scale indicated that all countries should "" immediately "" activate pandemic preparedness plans .  "" This change to a higher phase of alert is a signal to governments , to ministries of health and other ministries , to the pharm industry and the business community that certain actions now should be taken with increased urgency and at an accelerated pace , "" Chan said .  The announcement came as the number of confirmed cases increased rapidly across the world .  The  and national governments have confirmed 148 cases in nine countries . Most of those cases are in the United States , where the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed 91 cases .  The figures include seven deaths in Mexico and one in the United States . More than 2 , 700 other patients worldwide are believed to be suffering from the virus that government officials call by its technical name , 2009 H1N1 .  The first cases of the virus were detected in Mexico , where health officials suspect swine flu in more than 150 other deaths and roughly 2 , 500 illnesses . As of late Wednesday , 99 cases had been confirmed up from 26 , Mexico ' s health secretary reported . An eighth fatality was also confirmed . iReportweblink : "" Regular life "" in Mexico with masks  The additional cases and fatality were not immediately confirmed by   Researchers do not know how the virus is jumping relatively easily from person to person , or why it ' s affecting what should be society ' s healthiest demographic . Many of the victims who have died in Mexico have been young and otherwise healthy .  The outbreak has prompted Mexican authorities to order about 35 , 000 public venues in Mexico City to shut down and restrict restaurants to serving only take out meals .  All nonessential government offices and private business were ordered to close between May 1 5 , with only skeletal staffing allowed when necessary , Mexico ' s health secretary announced Wednesday .  Mexican officials said it was too soon to determine what kind of economic impact the decision would have on the country .  Germany and Austria became the latest European countries to report swine flu on Wednesday , while the number of cases increased in the United Kingdom and Spain . Peru reported its first case late Wednesday .  Yet Chan reiterated the  ' s recommendation not to close borders or restrict trade in response to the outbreak , saying the world "" is better prepared for an influenza pandemic than at any time "" in history . Watch how the U . S . is preparing for the worst  "" We need to maintain a level of calmness so that we will continue to manage this in a rational manner , "" she said , adding that pork is safe for consumption as long as it is cooked properly .  President Obama downplayed the possibility of closing the U . S . border with Mexico , where the recent occurrence of the deadly virus began .  "" It would be akin to closing the barn door after the horses are out , "" Obama said during his Wednesday evening news conference .  Obama said he ' ll be looking to health officials for guidance on how to handle travel between the two countries .  The 1 . 5 billion Obama requested from Congress to help fight the outbreaks will help health officials monitor and track the virus and replenish the supply of anti viral drugs , he said . Watch President Obama caution Americans on swine flu  Swine influenza , or flu , is a contagious respiratory disease that affects pigs . When the flu spreads person to person , instead of from animals to humans , it can continue to mutate , making it harder to treat or fight , because people have no natural immunity .  Symptoms include fever , runny nose , sore throat , nausea , vomiting and diarrhea .  The  ' s "" Phases of Pandemic Alert , "" which has been in existence for five years , characterizes phase 5 as a human to human spread of the virus into at least two countries in one  region , signaling that a pandemic is imminent .  The highest level , phase 6 , is defined by community level outbreaks in at least one other country in a different  region , according to the agency .  About a quarter of the U . S . stockpile of anti viral drugs will be distributed to states by Sunday , Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said . Watch how U . S . officials are reacting to the virus  U . S . officials also are asking scientists whether additional measures to screen for flu symptoms were needed at U . S . ports of entry , she said . Already , customs officers have asked 49 people to submit to tests for the H1N1 virus , she said . Of those tests , 41 have been negatives and the remaining eight have not yet come back .  Researchers in the United States have already taking steps to crack the genetic code of the virus behind the swine flu outbreak in order to produce a vaccine , U . S . officials said Wednesday .  The U . S . government is distributing 25 percent of its stockpile of antiviral medications Tamiflu and Relenza to all states , Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Wednesday . Health officials stress that the medications are effective only if taken in the early stages of the infection . Learn more about swine flu and how to treat it  The 91 confirmed cases in the United States includes the country ' s first swine flu fatality : a 23 month old child visiting from Mexico who died Monday at a Houston , Texas , hospital .  A U . S . Marine in California is the military ' s first suspected case of swine flu , and three military family members in San Diego have confirmed cases , the  said .  As a precaution , the military is banning travel to Mexico for nonessential personnel .  Mexican officials also said they believe they may have found "" patient zero "" the first case of the global outbreak in the small mountain village of La Gloria .  Edgar Hernandez , 5 , survived the earliest documented case of swine flu . He lives near a pig farm , though experts have not established a connection between that and his illness .  Edgar has managed to bounce back from his symptoms and playfully credits ice cream for helping him feel better .  In the United States , at least 74 elementary , junior high and high schools have closed across the country due to confirmed or probable cases of swine flu , the Department of Education said Wednesday .  Another 30 schools have closed as a precautionary measure , Department of Education spokesman Massie Ritsch said .  Governments around the world are scrambling to prevent further outbreak .  Some countries , such as China and Russia , have banned pork imports from the United States and Mexico , though the  said the disease is not transmitted through eating or preparing pig meat . Several other countries , such as Japan and Indonesia , are using thermographic devices to test the temperature of passengers arriving from Mexico .  Egypt reportedly is considering culling all pigs although there have been no reported cases of swine flu there .  Common seasonal flu kills 250 , 000 to 500 , 000 people every year worldwide , far more than the current outbreak of swine flu . But there is a vaccine for seasonal flu .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
13208,13209,"Reuters) - London s ambulance service said they had treated 11 people, mostly for head and leg injuries, with nine taken to hospital after a car collided with pedestrians near the city s Natural History Museum on Saturday.  We sent multiple resources to the scene, including our hazardous area response team, ambulance crews, paramedics in fast response cars and incident response officers,  Peter McKenna, deputy director of operations, said in a statement.  We have worked closely with other members of the emergency services at the scene, with our priority being to get people to safety and ensure they received the medical help they needed as quickly as possible.  ",true,dataset,validation,Other news2,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
13219,13220,"Sarah Palin went full Looney Tunes on Tuesday and @Midnight host Chris Hardwick knows exactly which character she channeled during her speech.During Wednesday night s episode of the Comedy Central program, Hardwick kicked off the show with footage from Sarah Palin s endorsement of Republican billionaire presidential wannabe Donald Trump.While not denying that her whole speech was a rambling incoherent rant, one particular part of the speech caught Hardwick s attention. Yesterday, Donald Trump received a significant endorsement from feral snow- Sarah Palin,  Hardwick began.  Sadly, no one could really understand it. Hardwick then played a clip on a Vine showing a piece of Palin s crazy speech, the full transcript of which you can read here. How  bout the rest of us? Right wingin , bitter clingin , proud clingers of our guns, our god, and our religions, and our Constitution. Tell us that we re not red enough? Yeah, coming from the establishment. Right. It was an attack on President Obama s past statement about bitter conservatives who cling to their guns and religion, but Hardwick couldn t resist mocking Palin. You betcha!  Hardwick said imitating Palin s voice.  You gosh-darn betcha! What with the flim-flammin , sock-darnin  every kinda woof-wrestlin , moose cobbler coolin  on the windowsill, baseball chuckin , flag-wavers, troop salutin , country lovin  anthem hummers, and no to the gays. But somehow, that nonsense sounds kinda familiar,  Hardwick continued before playing a clip of the gun-slinging mustachioed Looney Tunes character Yosemite Sam throwing a temper tantrum in the same way Palin said her line about right-wingers, which drew laughs from the audience.Hardwick then asked the three comedians standing in front of him to define what  bitter clingin , proud clingers  are. I have no clue but I m sure they re uncomfortable around black people,  James Davis replied, drawing a chuckle from Hardwick.Jen Kirkman ended the segment by saying that it s  a lizard that clings to a tree during a hurricane and blames Mexicans for everything. Here s the video via YouTube:This is an absolutely perfect comparison. It could also be said that Palin and conservatives like her could be compared to Elmer Fudd or Wyle E. Coyote as well. Regardless, Sarah Palin s drunken incoherent rants are comedy gold and Chris Hardwick hit the jackpot.Featured Image: Screenshot",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
13220,13221,"Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has become the latest former Leeds United striker to put himself forward for the vacant manager ' s job .  The Dutchman , who played at Elland Road between 1997 and 1999 , follows Robbie Fowler in expressing an interest .  Leeds are searching for a new manager following the sacking of David Hockaday last month and Hasselbaink , speaking to talkSPORT , played up his credentials .  Hat in the ring : Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has expressed an interest in the vacant Leeds United manager ' s job  Goal machine : Hasselbaink scored 42 goals for Leeds United during his two seasons at the club  He told the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast : ' Leeds United is a wonderful big club where I had two great years . If they want to talk to me , of course I would talk to them .  ' I ' ve got experience , I know I could take the club forward and I know I can take the club back to where they need to go .  ' But what do Leeds United themselves want ? That ' s the most important question . How do they see things ?  ' At the moment there are so many things going on they need to sort out first , or maybe they have already .  ' But if they want to talk to me , of course I would be interested . Who doesn ' t want to manage Leeds United ? It ' s one of the 10 biggest jobs in the country . '  In the frame : Robbie Fowler , who played for Leeds between 2001 and 2003 , is also keen on the job  Brief stay : David Hockaday was sacked as Leeds manager after just six matches in charge  Owner Massimo Cellino returns from a trip to the United States on Thursday and will start to consider applicants .  Hasselbaink , 42 , only has one season of management experience with Belgian second division club Royal Antwerp , though he did have a spell as a coach at Nottingham Forest .  He scored 42 goals in 87 appearances for the Yorkshire club during his two seasons there before moving to Atletico Madrid in Spain .  Fowler , who turned out for Leeds between 2001 and 2003 , has been pushed forward for the vacancy by intermediaries .  Decision time : Owner Massimo Cellino will make a decision on Hockaday ' s replacement in the coming days  Caretaker charge : Neil Redfearn will manage Leeds for their trip to Birmingham this weekend  The former Liverpool striker spent time as a player coach at Muangthong United in Thailand and has been coaching back at Anfield with former favourites Steve McManaman and Rob Jones .  Academy manager Neil Redfearn will be in charge for Saturday ' s Sky Bet Championship trip to Birmingham City and Cellino said he has ' not heard of anyone better to look after the team . '  However , the 49 year old , who is entering his third spell in caretaker charge at the club , is understood to have reservations about taking the job on permanently .  Cellino is keen to appoint a British coach and will be heartened that Steve Clarke , Tony Mowbray and Chris Hughton are among those in contention .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
13242,13243,"Washington A year and a half after deploying National Guard troops to counter illegal immigration on the Southwest border , the Department of Homeland Security and Pentagon told Congress Tuesday they are cutting the number of troops and changing their mission .  The Department of Homeland Security said the change is possible because of a jump in the number of Border Patrol officers in the region , an increase in technology and a drop in apprehensions at the border .  But several lawmakers criticized the move , saying conditions on the Southwest border merit more troops , not fewer .  "" That ' s not success , "" Poe said .  Rep . Lamar Smith , R Texas , agreed .  "" If the Obama administration ' s goal is border security , their actions undermine their objective , "" he said in a written statement . "" We should keep guardsmen on the ground until the Border Patrol can gain operational control of the majority of the U . S . Mexico border . ""  But Rep . Silvestre Reyes , D Texas , supported the drawdown . "" While I appreciate the service of our National Guard forces , requiring them to engage in border law enforcement activity is not cost effective , "" he said in a statement .  The Homeland Security Department said that in the fiscal year ending October 1 , Border Patrol apprehensions of illegal immigrants a key indicator of the amount of illegal immigration decreased to 340 , 252 , down 53 percent since fiscal year 2008 . Since 2004 , the size of the Border Patrol has doubled to 21 , 444 .  In a news release announcing the change , the Department of Homeland Security and the Pentagon did not cite exactly how many troops would be pulled from the border , but said the "" new strategic approach "" will increase border security . That approach includes "" adding a number of new multi purpose aerial assets "" equipped with the "" latest surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities . ""  In addition , the National Guard will provide helicopters and planes to the Border Patrol , "" allowing for faster response capabilities , "" the news release said .  "" I did not understand or get the impression they are going to add any equipment they ' re going to use what they have , "" said Poe , who was briefed on the changes .  The Defense Department budget for the border would drop by half , from 120 million to 60 million , congressional staffers said they were told . Specifics about the ramped up aerial surveillance are still being worked out , the staffers said .  Poe said he plans to fight the change . "" I ' ll ask the president to reconsider and then try to figure a way , bipartisan , to show that this is not a wise move , "" he said .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
13245,13246,"Optimism has repeatedly proved unfounded in the past , so this year , this column is approaching the autumn Tests with a glass half empty outlook when it comes to the hopes of the home nations .  Over the next month , the full might of the southern hemisphere elite will be showcased in London , Cardiff , Dublin and Edinburgh . On nine occasions , they will face British and Irish challenges to their global supremacy and all the indications are that they will once again fly back across the equator with more wins than losses .  So many times in recent years , there has been a heartening sense of the perennial north v south gap narrowing , but it is hard to argue that case this time . The  countries continue to dominate their annual clashes with England , Wales , Ireland and Scotland .  Australia , seen as the weakest of the big three , will be galvanized with Michael Cheika now in charge  The latest Rugby Championship once again delivered standards of intensity and skill which set the competing teams apart from their European rivals . South Africa ' s epic victory over New Zealand was a vivid example of the apparently enduring gulf , while even stricken Australia so nearly raised themselves to sufficient heights to beat the world champions .  As is so often the scenario , the Wallabies arrive on these shores as the perceived weakest link , but with Michael Cheika now in charge they are likely to be galvanised . The All Blacks and Springboks , meanwhile , have exerted a hold over the home nations and even end of season weariness may not be enough to break that cycle .  Where will the northern wins occur ? If the British and Irish finished with a win count of five from their nine clashes with the big three touring teams , it would represent encouraging progress , but the omens are not good .  England ' s injury problems , especially in the front five , will be a problem against a powerful South African side  England have the strongest pedigree when it comes to claiming southern scalps , but they start the autumn with a multitude of injuries , especially in the front five which is bound to be especially telling against the powerful Boks . By then , given the absence of so many leading lights , they may have succumbed to a fourth straight loss to New Zealand in the space of six months .  It is high time for an end to the damaging period of Welsh failure against the  countries , but that will appear as a distant fantasy if they suffer yet another near miss against the Wallabies next Saturday . The Irish have key injuries and they no longer have Brian O ' Driscoll , while a Scotland win over the All Blacks would represent one of the greatest upsets of this or any era .  The head over heart prediction is for England , Ireland and Wales to muster a total of four wins between them . At home , that is not enough . Let ' s hope the glass is fuller than it looks .  England have the strongest pedigree when it comes to claiming southern scalps but have injury problems  Something had to give at Leicester and , sure enough , it has this week , with backs coach Paul Burke leaving the club following a grim 15 3 defeat at the Scarlets . The Tigers have endured a poor start to the season but Burke has been unfortunate to lose his job with the East Midlands side in the midst of a debilitating injury crisis . The Irishman has to operate with a continuously revolving and diminishing cast of fit backs leading to endless reshuffles and a lack of cohesion . At least in the short term , Leicester will fill the void from within . Another Irishman , Geordan Murphy , will take on the role vacated by Burke , after assisting him since retiring as a player . If the man once dubbed the ' George Best of rugby ' by Dean Richards can bring the same unorthodox flair to his coaching as he did to his own game as a free spirit full back , he will transform the Tigers ' attacking game . Yet , he faces a daunting equation resources are diminished , but expectations are not .  Paul Burke can consider himself unlucky to have lost his job as backs coach at Leicester  After Samu Manoa had made his 100th appearance for Northampton last weekend , he was congratulated by club mate Tom Wood on Twitter , as he prepared to return home to America to take on the All Blacks . The flanker no doubt spoke for the entire England squad when he said : ' Good luck next weekend , soften them up for us . ' The  will go toe to toe with the world champions in front of a sell out crowd of 62 , 000 at Soldier Field , Chicago , tomorrow , a week before New Zealand face Stuart Lancaster ' s men at Twickenham . Realistically , the Eagles can ' t hope to beat the Kiwis , but they can throw a spanner in the works by targeting Sonny Bill Williams on his return to union , or shackling Dan Carter when he emerges from the bench for his Test comeback . This fixture is a potentially momentous occasion in the history of  rugby , so the hosts can benefit from it hugely in the long term , but in the short term they could also help Europe ' s leading nations by further slowing the All Black juggernaut .  Saints flanker Samu Manoa had made his 100th appearance for Northampton last weekend  Dan Lydiate is heading home to Wales after the November international window a less than startling development which was confirmed by his Parisian club , Racing Metro . It is likely that he will re surface in Swansea with the Ospreys , on a dual contract with the  . His return home makes sense , as the move across the Channel has been an ill fated exercise . In his pomp , Lydiate is a Lion and a formidable Test player , but he has been under valued by his French employers . Warren Gatland will welcome the blindside flanker back into the Welsh game with open arms , knowing that there is ample time to repair his confidence and restore his game to its peak before next year ' s World Cup .  Last Word It was somehow inevitable . Having ignited the rebellion against the European status quo which led to the creation of the new Champions Cup , Aviva Premiership clubs have suffered in the early stages of the new tournament . After two rounds of matches , the tally of victories for each of the competing leagues is as follows Premiership five , French Top 14 seven and Guinness Pro12 eight . The results will be particularly satisfying in Ireland whose provinces have claimed four wins in six games and Scotland , for whom Glasgow have blazed a trail with back to back successes . In fact , the latter have generated much of the intrigue so far . Their 37 10 , opening weekend demolition of Bath was arguably the most eye catching result to date , while Munster ' s last kick win at Sale delivered the most remarkable drama of the new event ' s initial encounters . Pool stage ' derbies ' may fit in with the heightened meritocracy this year but , as expected , they and the occasionally absurd kick off times are not a positive development .  Dan Lydiate is likely to head to the Ospreys after his time with Parisian club Racing Metro  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past
13254,13255,"His cheek wet with tears , President Obama on Tuesday recalled the children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School . Pablo Martinez Monsivais   President Obama s decision to take executive action on guns kicked up a political ruckus on Tuesday , but don t let that fool you : This is much ado about not very much . Mr Obama deserves credit for doing what little he can on his own to confront rampant gun violence , given Congress abysmal failure to do anything whatsoever . The sad fact , however , is that the president s unilateral authority over control of firearms leaves little room for effective action .  The howls of protests from some arms enthusiasts notwithstanding , nothing announced by a tearful President Obama on Tuesday will change any laws or restrict the rights of law abiding gun owners .  ? ? It will not close the loophole that has allowed millions of guns to be purchased without criminal background checks at gun shows and in online bazaars .  ? ? It does not expand the law in any way because that would require approval from Congress , and that s not going to happen anytime soon . If the horror of schoolchildren massacred at Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012 failed to stir lawmakers into taking some common sense action , we can t imagine what would .  ? ? Even the addition of 200  agents to enforce existing laws ? the most salient aspect of the president s executive action ? is not , alas , a very big deal . The president s action would require a far larger number of agents within the Justice Department agency to produce a real change in sales and firearms transfers , given the number of gun shows and other loopholes . Mr Obama will ask Congress for this manpower increase for the Bureau of Alcohol , Tobacco and Firearms ? a number frozen for decades ? but Congress is unlikely to comply .  This is not to say the president s actions don t matter . Any change for the better is welcome , and that applies to the president s decision to clarify that some gun sellers calling themselves hobbyists ? whose buyers are therefore exempt from criminal background checks ? may , in fact , be in the business of selling those weapons , a different category .  There are a few more aspects of his actions that could also make a difference around the edges , like an attempt to link mental health records with criminal background check data , and faster  processing of background checks .  All of these are commendable steps . They should have been taken earlier . But we doubt that any of this will make a big dent in the epidemic of gun violence that kills tens of thousands of Americans every year . That would require help from a Congress whose majority is paralyzed by fear of the gun lobby . That s why Mr Obama had no choice except to do what he could by executive action .  Poll after poll shows that Americans are totally on board if lawmakers approve more restrictive background check laws . An October Gallup poll found 86 percent of Americans favored a law which would require universal background checks for all gun purchases in the U . S . And still Congress refuses to confront the issue .  As long as lawmakers are more afraid of the gun lobby than they are of the American electorate , don t expect big changes in America s gun laws .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
13280,13281,"For most Americans , mosquitoes are pests whose bites leave behind itchy bumps . But in other parts of the world , mosquitoes carry a disease called malaria that kills more than a million people each year .  Mosquitoes , especially those in Sub Saharan Africa , may transmit malaria to humans .  A new malaria vaccine that ' s about to begin human clinical trials is dependent on mosquitoes a whole lot of them . Bioengineers have been growing millions of mosquitoes in a sterile environment , letting them feed on malaria infected blood , irradiating the bugs , extracting the disease causing parasites and storing them for use in vaccines .  The announcement of the Food and Drug Administration ' s approval for clinical trials comes just days before World Malaria Day , which is Saturday . Check out the World Health Organization ' s site about malaria goals worldwide  The vaccine is unique among other candidates in that it uses the entire parasite and not just parts of it , said Dr Stephen Hoffman , chief executive and scientific officer at Sanaria Inc . , the Maryland based biotechnology firm developing the vaccine .  This technique was first shown to be effective in the 1970s , but the technology didn ' t exist to mass produce it for the millions of people who need it , said Dr Kirsten Lyke , principal investigator in the clinical trial site at the University of Maryland School of Medicine . At that time , people were immunized by being bitten by the irradiated mosquitoes .  "" That is the only effective vaccine that anyone has ever really developed that works and does complete protection , "" said John Dame , chair of Infectious Diseases and Pathology at the University of Florida , who is not involved with the Sanaria trials .  The vaccine takes the same basic approach as standard vaccines in use for diseases such as measles and polio . In those vaccines against viruses , weakened bacteria is injected , creating an immune response without causing illness .  In the Sanaria vaccine , the body recognizes the malaria parasite as a foreign material , Lyke said . It goes to the liver , where a lot of the immune response is generated , but does not develop into a disease because the mosquito was irradiated , she said .  Clinical trials will begin in May , Hoffman said , and will include 80 immunized individuals and 24 controls . About 3 , 000 mosquitoes were used to produce the vaccines for the first clinical trials , he said . If these trials are successful , researchers will initiate trials on adults in Africa , and then children .  Among other vaccines in clinical trials currently , the one that is furthest along is  , S , developed by GlaxoSmithKline  . The company announced in December that this vaccine , based on a recombinant protein that uses part of the malaria parasite , was safely administered to African infants , with an efficacy of 65 percent in a three month follow up .  Both the Sanaria and the GlaxoSmithKline projects receive support from the  Malaria Vaccine Initiative , a program at the nonprofit  established through an initial grant from the Bill Melinda Gates Foundation .  Dame , who used to be involved with the GlaxoSmithKline vaccine , said he would guess the Sanaria vaccine will be more effective , but clinical trials will provide more information . He also noted that mass distribution to developing countries would require appropriate infrastructure , and may be more difficult depending on how long the immunization lasts .  Each year , 350 million to 500 million cases of malaria occur worldwide , according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . Most people who die from the disease are young children in Africa south of the Sahara .  Symptoms of malaria include fever , chills and flu like illness , the  said .  Although preventive measures exist , such as insecticide treated nets and medications , there is no licensed vaccine on the market .  Moreover , effective treatments are largely too expensive for the people who need them in poor countries . The parasite has become resistant to cheaper treatments , Lyke said .  "" Individuals living on 1 or 2 a day can ' t even afford 8 medication , "" Lyke said .  The U . S . military also has a keen interest in a malaria vaccine . The antimalaria drugs available have side effects such as stomach aches , said Dr Tom Richie , director of the Navy component of the U . S . military malaria vaccine program , who provides oversight to the clinical trials .  "" Malaria has been one of the most significant infectious threats to our military personnel when we deploy to tropical areas , "" Richie said .  The disease was the leading cause of casualties in the South Pacific theater during World War  , and also a major problem in the Vietnam War , he said .  There are five species of the malaria parasite known to infect humans . One called Plasmodium falciparum causes the vast majority of cases .  Malaria was eliminated in the United States in 1951 , but there are still cases in the country , mostly from people who acquired it in high risk countries . In 2002 , there were 1 , 337 cases of malaria in the U . S . , and all but five had been acquired abroad .  Hoffman , former head of a U . S . Navy malaria vaccine team , started the Sanaria effort himself in the breakfast room of his house in 2003 . The company now has a more official corporate headquarters in Rockville , Maryland .  "" I thought that the world needed a malaria vaccine , there was no question this was the best way to make one , "" he said .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,present
13310,13311,"1 . A migrant swims as he arrives on the island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey to Greece on an overcrowded inflatable boat . Santi Palacios   2 . The bow of the Leviathan  , a whale watching boat that capsized on Sunday off Vancouver Island , is seen Tuesday , Oct . 27 , near Vargas Island after it was towed from where it sank to a protected spot behind an island , before it is towed ashore for inspection . Chad Hipolito The Canadian Press via   3 . President Barack Obama poses for a selfie taken by veteran star player Abby Wambach as he welcomes the United States Women ' s National Soccer Team to the White House in Washington to honor their victory in the 2015  Women ' s World Cup . Kevin Lamarque Reuters  4 . The Corning Tower at the Empire State Plaza in Albany , N . Y . is shrouded in autumn colors and morning fog . Mike Groll   5 . Children stand at the entrance gate to their house after an earthquake , in Farkhar district of Takhar province , Afghanistan . Stringer afghanistan Reuters  6 . Safia Jaradat , center , Aunt of slain Palestinian Eyad Jaradat , 19 , who was killed by Israeli soldiers during clashes , cries after taking the last look at his body in the family house during his funeral in the West Bank village of Sa ' ir , Hebron . Nasser Nasser   7 . Indian policemen take cover behind a vehicle as Kashmiri protesters throw stones and bricks at them during a protest in Srinagar , Indian controlled Kashmir . Dar Yasin   8 . A Palestinian protester uses a sling to hurl stones towards Israeli troops during clashes near the Jewish settlement of Bet El , near the West Bank city of Ramallah . Mohamad Torokman Reuters  9 . A saddle billed stork casts a shadow as it catches a falling leaf at the zoo in Gelsenkirchen , Germany . Martin Meissner   ",true,text,validation,Football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
13313,13314,"Imagine a world where anyone could be like Tony Stark in the "" Iron Man "" movies manipulating 3 D images in thin air .  That future could be a lot closer than you think .  A Silicon Valley startup called Meta is creating augmented reality glasses that will let you interact with virtual objects in the real world .  "" It elicits this very magical effect where you could literally place holograms on the real world , reach out and touch them with your hands , "" said Meron Gribetz , Meta founder and  .  Gribetz , 28 , is the brains behind the technology . Originally from Israel , he moved to the United States seven years ago to study computer science and neuroscience at Columbia University .  As a student , he began contemplating what the next computer could be .  "" All I knew was that I wanted an infinite computer screen , and I wanted to be able to touch holograms and stick them on parts of the real world , "" he said .  Gribetz launched the company in December 2012 and moved to California with help from Y Combinator , which helps fund and nurture promising tech startups .  He now lives and works with 25 employees in a Los Altos mansion overlooking Silicon Valley and has four other properties where employees sleep at night .  "" We all live together , work together , eat together , "" he said . "" At certain key points of the year we have mattresses lined all around the living room . ""  It ' s not a typical work environment , but what Gribetz is creating is far from ordinary .  He believes Meta glasses could change computing as we know it .  "" The fundamental game changer that we ' re bringing to the table is this application that allows you to take your phone , tablet and soon personal computer and project them in 3 D in your environment when they ' re not actually there , "" he said .  If this happens , it could usher in the next generation of computing using your hands and a pair of glasses . He believes the potential applications are endless .  "" We ' ve had surgeons apply for this because they want to be able to perform surgery while seeing a 3 D  scan , "" Gribetz said . "" We ' ve had architects apply for this because they want to be able to build houses with their hands collaboratively . ""  Eventually , Gribetz says , the glasses could also be used for 3 D Skype sessions .  "" You could actually put on these glasses and see a 3 D render of your mother from all the way across the country in New York sitting on the chair in your room here in California , "" he said .  The first version of the glasses , a developer edition , is selling for around 700 . The glasses are set to be delivered in December , Gribetz said .  Meta is also creating 3 D apps that range from virtual Lego to surgery applications . But soon developers from around the world will have a chance to weigh in .  "" We ' re going to start off by perfecting five or six applications that showcase the differences from other form factors , "" Gribetz said . "" But soon thereafter we ' re going to open this up to developers worldwide , and they ' re going to come up with things that we couldn ' t even imagine . ""  In a demonstration video provided by Meta , a woman uses the glasses to sculpt a virtual vase with her fingers before printing it in 3 D , while others play chess on a virtual board .  So how does the technology work ?  "" The glasses are . . . a two part system . The first is a 3 D output display that ' s built with a stereoscopic pair of see through augmented reality glasses . The 3 D output display allows you to see the holograms in 3 D , "" Gribetz said . "" The 3 D scanner scans your environment and tells the computer where to place the 3 D graphics relative to the user and the world . ""  Unlike Google ' s rival Glass eyewear , which has a smaller screen and is primarily controlled by your voice , Meta glasses could have the potential for an infinite screen controlled by your hands .  "" Google is going to take one category of wearable computing , the notification machine , "" Gribetz said . "" Meta is a graphical solution that ' s going to allow people to build ' Iron Man ' like interfaces and interact with digital information in a much more natural way graphically . ""  Until then , there are some limitations . The first version can only be used indoors . The company also is working on increasing the field of view , improving latency issues and making the glasses smaller and less bulky . Within two years , Gribetz says , the glasses will be as sleek as a pair of Ray Bans .  But stylish specs with built in computer technology do raise the inevitable questions about privacy .  "" I ' m highly concerned with those issues . . . . I have a fundamental belief that when you and I are talking and you ' re recording information about me , I should know about it , "" Gribetz said . "" There will be an  light indicating that you ' re being recorded if that ' s the situation . ""  If Gribetz has his way , hardware like the desktop computer , keyboard and mouse could soon be a thing of the past .  "" We ' re looking to change the way people interact with computers by making them much more natural , "" he said . "" Every application from the 2 D world can enter the 3 D world now . It really represents a huge shift from 2 D computing . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,present
13317,13318,"The cheers back in Wales were drowned out by boos around Murrayfield as Warren Gatland ' s side secured a controversial victory over Scotland to get their  6 Nations back on track .  Following a passionately fought contest , referee Glen Jackson found himself in the firing line after he blew the final whistle with time seemingly still running on the clock .  Scotland skipper Greig Laidlaw was adamant that his team should have been given the chance to take one last kick off and go for the win , following a try from Jon Welsh in the dying moments that narrowed the deficit to just three points .  Wales ' Rhys Webb bursts past Scotland ' s Rob Harley to score a try in the first half in the Six Nations game at Murrayfield  Scotland winger Sean Lamont is brought down by Liam Williams as he tries to get forward  Scotland ' s Blair Cowan receives the loose ball as Alun Wyn Jones ( left ) and Sam Warburton ( right ) close him down for Wales  ' From where I was sitting , there was time to take the kick , ' said Laidlaw . ' Whether we would have gone on to score , that ' s a different matter . The majority of the stadium seemed to feel the same . '  Ironically , Jackson used to play under Scotland coach Vern Cotter during his days as a fly half for New Zealand side Bay of Plenty . But the Kiwi offered no favours to his former boss .  ' I ' m sure others will look at the referee ' s performance and decisions , ' said Cotter . ' We will send something through that will help them ( in their assessment ) . '  The dispute brought a sour end to a fierce contest , with the metronomic boot of Wales full back Leigh Halfpenny ultimately proving the difference after both sides scored two tries apiece . Following an anonymous performance against England in round one , emphasis in the Welsh camp had been on go forward initiative .  It took less than a minute for Jamie Roberts to make his first charge into the No 10 channel , but there was an over eagerness as Jonathan Davies was turned over and Richard Hibbard mis fired at the line out . Wales dominated initial territory and possession , capitalising with a Halfpenny penalty , yet the tables were quickly turned .  Wales ' Dan Biggar comes crashing down after he is taken out in mid air by Scotland ' s Finn Russell  Stuart Hogg breaks away to score the opening try for Scotland at Murrayfield  Wales ' Alwyn Jones and Scotland ' s Ritchie Gray battle for the ball following a line out  Alex Cuthbert was left isolated after a lateral run and he was turned over by fly half Finn Russell . Richie Gray recycled , allowing Stuart Hogg to step on the gas and run under the posts from inside his own half .  His try was converted by Laidlaw , who followed up with a penalty . Wales had been criticised for unnecessary kicking against England but they used the boot more effectively in the Scottish capital . The high ball skills of Halfpenny , Dan Biggar and Liam Williams provided a dangerous attacking weapon and the trio challenged well for up and unders in Scottish territory .  Rhys Webb was pulled down just short after a fine take by Halfpenny , who subsequently had the chance to narrow the deficit with a second penalty . Then Biggar was taken out in mid air by his opposite number , Russell , and Wales took the sting out of Scotland ' s momentum with a penalty while a yellow card came for the Scottish No 10 .  Wales launched a pivotal pitch length counter attack . Cuthbert made the initial surge , Williams kept the move going and sent Webb clear for his second try of the competition . Jonathan Davies joined Russell in the sin bin for a second mid air collision , but Gatland felt the initial incident was far more serious . ' My initial reaction was the first one was red and the second one I am not sure , ' said the Wales coach .  Scotland ' s Alasdair Dickinson is tackled by Wales ' Dan Lydiate  Leigh Halfpenny scored four penalties and two conversions for Wales as part of an assured kicking performance  Rhys Webb breaks away from the base of the scrum for Wales during the Six Nations match at Murrayfield  Wales centre Jonathan Davies takes on Scotland ' s Finn Russelll  Jonathan Davies is brought down by John Beattie in the Six Nations game at Murrayfield  Urged on by the home crowd , Scotland looked to seize the half time initiative but Wales killed off a 13 man driving maul and , after some dazzling footwork , Hogg was denied a certain score following a tackle by the equally brilliant Halfpenny .  With Russell returning to the fold shortly after the break , Laidlaw edged his side back with three points following an excellent turnover by Alex Dunbar on Roberts . The kickers exchanged further penalties , before Williams had a try ruled out just before the hour . Following a rare missed kick by Halfpenny , the Scottish defence was eventually breached . Gatland had kept faith in his Lions and , after his yellow card , Davies went some way to repaying that when he ran a fine line off Biggar . The centre evaded the attention of Matt Scott and stepped inside Hogg to pull his side clear .  Scotland , meanwhile , failed to turn their pressure into points . Laidlaw turned down a kick at goal , while Mark Bennett had a late score chalked off for a forward pass . Welsh crashed over for the last minute score and Russell eventually kicked the conversion , but Scotland were left to rue lost time .  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
13319,13320,"5 things to know about the Syria talks in Vienna  Discussions in the Austrian capital Thursday and Friday are seeking a diplomatic solution to end the Syrian civil war .  5 things to know about the Syria talks in Vienna Discussions in the Austrian capital Thursday and Friday are seeking a diplomatic solution to end the Syrian civil war . Check out this story on USATODAYweblink : http : usat . ly 1MkNaB5  A link has been sent to your friend ' s email address .  A link has been posted to your Facebook feed .  To find out more about Facebook commenting please read the Conversation Guidelines and FAQs  5 things to know about the Syria talks in Vienna  Oren Dorell ,   4 : 53 p . m .  October 29 , 2015  Secretary of State John Kerry is meeting with counterparts from about a dozen countries , including Iran , to find a diplomatic solution to the Syrian war . This is the first time Iran is invited , as talks take place in Vienna on Thursday and Friday .    U . S . Secretary of State John Kerry salutes as he arrives at Vienna ' s Schwechat airport in Austria , Oct . 29 , 2015 . Kerry has arrived for talks on ending the Syrian war with other key nations , including bitter regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia .  Secretary of State John Kerry is meeting ? with counterparts from about a dozen countries , including Iran , to seek a diplomatic solution to end the Syrian civil war .  The fighting , now in its fifth year , has left ? 250 , 000 dead and displaced more than half of Syria s population of 22 million , according to the United Nations . The discussions are taking place in Vienna on Thursday and Friday . ? For the first time , Iran is at the table .  Here are five things you need to know :  Not much in the short term . Kerry said Wednesday ? that finding a solution is not going to be automatic , but that talks may prevent Syria from being destroyed . The U . S . goal is to agree to a process that will lead to a caretaker government , elections ? and an end to Syrian President Bashar ? Assad s rule . Russia and Iran , Assad s main backers , say they agree in principle but they want Assad to play a part in the transition , which many Syrian opposition factions say is unacceptable .  What ' s the format of the talks and who will attend ?  There will be several meetings ? starting Thursday , but the main event is a gathering ? Friday that will be the largest ever on Syria , according to the State Department . About a dozen countries will participate , including , the United States , Russia , Saudi Arabia , Turkey , Iran , Egypt , Qatar , Lebanon ? and France , Britain and Germany . The European Union will also be there . ? Conspicuously absent are representatives of the Syrian government and the Syrian opposition .  Why is it such a big deal that Iran is there ?  Iran is Assad ' s ? biggest supporter . The country s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have sent military advisers ? to organize and coordinate his forces . The guards have sent their own fighters in addition to ? Shiite militias from Iraq and Afghanistan . Hezbollah , Iran ' s Shiite militia in Lebanon , is leading ? ground offensives there . Iran s participation in the talks ? which comes on the heels of a nuclear deal with world powers over the summer ? ? ? is controversial because the Islamic Republic supports terrorists and insurgents across the region . But , Kerry said he hopes that Iran may play a crucial role in finding a political solution that leads to Assad s departure and an end to the war .  Syrians look at a destroyed field hospital in the rebel held area of Douma on the outskirts of Damascus , Syria , Oct . 29 , 2015 . According to local activists more than 10 people died during an airstrike by forces loyal to the Syrian government .  The fighting , now in its fifth year , pits forces loyal to Assad against various rebel groups , including the U . S . backed Free Syrian Army , radicals and al Qaeda affiliates . Assad s main backers are Iran and Russia . Syrian opposition forces are supported by the United States , Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Arab monarchies of the Persian Gulf .  Turkey , which supports some Syrian rebel groups , has also attacked U . S . backed Kurdish militants in Syria . The United States has been conducting airstrikes against Islamic State militants in eastern Syria . And Russia last month began airstrikes in Syria , which the U . S . and other international powers say ? are aimed mostly at anti Assad rebel forces . Russia claims it ' s attacking the Islamic State and other ? terrorists .  The war has left more than 250 , 000 dead and displaced half the country s population , greatly contributing to the European migrant crisis . It ? also created a power vacuum that allowed Islamic State militants to seize large swaths of eastern Syria and western Iraq .  The United States is now fighting the militants ? from the air and last week lost a Special Forces soldier ? on the ground during a successful rescue of Islamic State prisoners in Iraq . With Russia conducting airstrikes against U . S . backed rebels , there is an increased risk of a greater conflict between the two nuclear powers ? over Syria . Also , U . S . policy has been to seek Assad s departure and limit Iran s influence in Syria as well as cut its connection to Hezbollah . Allowing Iran to help design Syria s future could instead result in a stronger Iranian influence across the region .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
13339,13340,"Miami Beach was the stage , renowned chefs prepared the food and a drag queen  set the tunes .  This was the scene at celebrity chef Art Smith ' s massive gay wedding this weekend , where he invited 101 couples to wed in a free ceremony to celebrate a lift on the state ' s ban on same sex marriage .  The wedding was officiated by chef Guy Fieri and the seven tier gold cake was made by Duff Goldman , star of the Food Network reality show Ace of Cakes .  Pictured are 26 of the 101 same sex couples who tied the knot at celebrity chef Art Smith ' s massive Miami Beach wedding in celebration of the lift on Florida ' s gay marriage ban  Smith , a former chef to Oprah Winfrey , said he was inspired by the film 101 Dalmatians more specifically its villain when he decided on the number of couples to invite .  He called Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi , who plans to appeal the legalization ruling and is a staunch opponent against same sex marriage , the state ' s own ' Cruella De Vil ' .  Smith told his guests on the dance floor that he wanted to show the haters ' we ' re proud , we ' re happy , we ' re loud ' with the party  ' She was determined that she was going to prevent equality from coming to Florida , ' Smith said , according to the Associated Press .  ' For a state known for sunshine , it was living in the darkness when it came to  rights and it was important to acknowledge that . '  Smith has been hosting the Big Gay Ice Cream Social in Miami for years in protest to the state ' s same sex marriage ban .  He told his guests on the dance floor that he wanted to show the haters ' we ' re proud , we ' re happy , we ' re loud ' with a party .  The wedding was also personal for Smith . The chef met his partner , Jesus Salgueiro , in Miami 15 years ago while he was out buying flowers for Winfrey ' s home .  They married five years ago on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial .  Friends flew in from California and Indianapolis to see couple Nicole Griffin , 43 , and Stephanie Swanson , 42 , tie the knot .  Swanson told the Associated Press she believed the wedding represented a ' defeat ' for Pam Bondi , who Swanson said had denied them ' for so long ' in her fight against marriage equality .  Seth Anderson and Michael Ferguson had legally wed in a Utah courthouse two years before , but joined the ceremony so they could renew their vows at a proper wedding .  ' We wanted to come and be a part of this and celebrate with all the other people getting married , ' Anderson said .  Fieri officiated the ceremony in honor of his late sister , who was a lesbian .  Fellow Food Network star Goldman also made the wedding ' s massive feast , which included fried chicken , grilled lamb , crab stuffed avocados and empanadas .  Goldman , who is a gay rights advocate , said he wanted to help celebrate and make the new law ' true in every state ' .  Guy Fieri ( left ) officiated the ceremony in honor of his late sister , who was a lesbian . Duff Goldman ( right ) , a gay rights advocate , made the seven tier gold cake and a feast of food for the reception  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
13345,13346,"Tune in to the Alternate Current Radio Network (ACR) for another  broadcast of  The Boiler Room  starting at 6:00   | 8:00   | 9:00   for this special broadcast. Join us for uncensored, uninterruptible talk radio, custom-made for barfly philosophers, misguided moralists, masochists, street corner evangelists, media-maniacs, savants, political animals and otherwise lovable rascals.Join  hosts Hesher and Spore along with Andy Nowicki host of The Nameless Podcast, Jay Dyer Jay s Analysis, Stewart Howe and  regular InfidelPharaoh for the 94th episode of  ROOM. Water the kids, put the plants to bed and get your favorite mead horn ready so you can drop deep into the Boiler Room with the  brain-trust.Please like and share the program and visit our donate page to get involved!Listen to  Boiler Room   Episode #94  on Spreaker.Reference Links:",fake,dataset,validation,World conflict,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present
13350,13351,"The  is on high alert for potential terrorist attacks as the trial of hate preacher Abu Hamza starts later this month .  The first day of the terrorist ' s trial coincides with the beginning of Jewish holiday Passover on April 14 .  Speaking to a conference of Jewish leaders in New York on Tuesday ,  officials said they are aware that the trial may ' inspire ' terrorist acts .  Trial fears : Radical Islamist cleric Abu Hamza , seen in a courtroom drawing with his defense attorney Joshua Dratel last month , is due to stand trial on April 14 , something which has put the  on high alert  A decade after Abu Hamza was first arrested in Britain on a  warrant for terrorism charges , he is finally due to go on trial in Manhattan .  The hook handed cleric is facing allegations that he controlled a global network of jihadists .  This week , Hamza , who was extradited from Britain in 2012 , was described as a ' star ' among terrorists , by Rebecca Weiner , director of intelligence analysis for the  .  ' It is a major priority for us in the next couple of weeks . '  Hate preacher : Abu Hamza , pictured in London in 2004 , was first arrested in Britain on a  warrant for terrorism charges ten years ago , but was not extradited until 2012  Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence John Miller asserted that although the  is on high alert during the trial , there is ' is no specific , credible threat ' at this time .  Last month , Hamza was dubbed a ' terrorist leader of global reach ' by the  government who claims he sent ' lieutenants ' to terror camps worldwide .  Prosecutors have lodged legal papers ahead of his forthcoming trial alleging that : ' The American government will show that the defendant was a terrorist leader of global reach who . . . sent his young lieutenants around the world to engage in terror training . '  Risk : The  fears that Hamza ' s trial , which coincides with the beginning of Jewish holiday Passover on April 14 , may inspire terror acts  The prosecution will say the preacher used Finsbury Park mosque in north London as a recruiting base , not only inspiring jihadists with his hateful sermons , but also allegedly directly providing support to Al Qaeda from Britain .  Court papers show prosecutors consider Hamza so dangerous that they have argued jurors should be given anonymity and an armed guard for their safety .  He faces 11 terrorism charges spanning America , Europe , the Middle East and Asia which go back as far as 1998 .  If convicted , he faces spending the rest of his life in a maximum security  prison .  The trial , scheduled to last six weeks , could prove embarrassing for the British security services and previous governments who allowed the preacher to operate freely for years after he arrived here from Egypt , despite openly giving sermons praising Osama bin Laden in the wake of the 9 11 attacks .  Court papers allege one of his ' lieutenants ' from London was sent to Afghanistan for ' violent jihad training ' and said he was prepared to take part in attacks against American and Jewish targets .  Hamza is separately accused of trying to set up a ' jihad training camp ' in Bly , Oregon where one of his followers is said to have penned a letter to Osama bin Laden saying : ' We love you here . '  Hamza is also charged with involvement in a hostage taking incident in Yemen in 1998 that led to the deaths of three Britons and an Australian .  The preacher was first arrested in Britain in May 2004 on a  extradition warrant and charged with 15 terrorism offences .  In 2006 he was jailed for soliciting murder and stirring up racial hatred .  He was extradited to America in 2012 after a costly and protracted legal battle invoking human rights law .  He denies all the charges .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
13353,13354,"U . S . Masters April 9 12 , 2009  2007 Masters champion Zach Johnson puts the green jacket on 2008 winner Trevor Immelman .  While The Open Championship at St Andrews , Scotland may rival it for history , few would argue that the U . S . Masters tournament is unrivalled in terms of beauty and exclusivity .  Played at the prestigious Augusta National Golf club in the city of Augusta , Georgia , the first "" major "" of the golfing year is a strictly invitational event controlled by the club itself . The top 50 golfers in the official world rankings are all guaranteed an invite .  The dramatic azalea draped course the brainchild of golfing great Bobby Jones provides a tough test for the world ' s elite golfers , particularly since it has been lengthened or "" Tiger proofed "" in recent years .  However the relatively short 12th hole , named Golden Bell , is arguably the most challenging . Jack Nicklaus once called it "" the hardest tournament hole in golf , "" due to the fact that its perilously narrow green is protected in front by Rae ' s Creek , with two sand traps behind it . Misjudge the wind or get your club selection wrong and the ball will most likely end up in the water .  Since Horton Smith won the inaugural Masters title in 1934 , the tournament has become as famous for its traditions as it has for the quality of golf on show . Winners are presented with a green jacket by the defending champion which they are obliged to return to the clubhouse the following year .  Nicklaus , nicknamed the "" Golden Bear , "" became the first golfer to successfully defend his green jacket . He also holds the record for the most titles won at Augusta with six his last coming in 1986 at the age of 46 .  American players currently dominate the competition , following a period in the 1980s and 1990s which saw European players , including Seve Ballesteros and Nick Faldo , win 10 titles in 17 years . Current world number one Tiger Woods has won four times at Augusta since 1997 , while compatriot and rival for top spot , Phil Mickelson , won in 2004 and 2006 . South Africa ' s Trevor Immelman is the current owner of the coveted green jacket . 2008 season in pictures  U . S . Open June 15 21 , 2009  Tiger Woods and his caddie walk up to the 18th green on the Black Course at Bethpage State Park in 2002 .  The second of the four major tournaments , the U . S . Open is hosted by the United States Golf Association (  ) . Since its inaugural event in 1895 at the Newport Golf and Country Club , the event has been staged at a number of different courses . What ' s your favorite tournament ?  It wasn ' t until 1913 that the U . S . Open championship really caught the imagination when a young American amateur , Francis Ouimet , stunned the golf world by defeating famous English professionals , Harry Vardon and Ted Ray , in a playoff .  The format of the tournament has changed several times . The  extended the championship to 72 holes in 1898 , with 36 holes played on each of two days . In 1926 , the format was changed to 18 holes played each of two days , then 36 holes on the third day . In 1965 , the present format of four 18 hole daily rounds was implemented for the first time .  Over the years , much has been made of the way U . S . Open courses have been set up , with incredibly tough pin positions and rough thick enough to require a compass to navigate through . "" Sometimes the players feel the  has gotten a little close to the edge on some holes , "" defending champion Retief Goosen told the  at Pinehurst , North Carolina in 2005 . Two years later , when Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania hosted the tournament , World Golfweblink quoted Tiger Woods as saying "" a 10 handicapper didn ' t stand a chance at breaking 100 "" on a course that boasts over 200 deep bunkers .  Bobby Jones , Jack Nicklaus , Ben Hogan , Willie Anderson and Hale Irwin have all triumphed at the U . S . Open on four occasions , while Woods , who won last year ' s event at Torrey Pines following a dramatic playoff victory over Rocco Mediate , counts three so far among his haul of 14 major titles . The U . S . Open is the only major that requires participants to play off over 18 holes .  This year ' s event at Bethpage State Park ' s Black Course in Farmingdale , New York should be familiar to Woods , as he won here in 2002 . At 7 , 214 yards , the municipally owned Bethpage was the longest U . S . Open course in history . The aptly named Black Course even carries a warning sign about its difficulty on the first tee . In 2002 , American Hale Irwin missed the cut for only the sixth time in 33 Open starts after two torrid rounds of 82 and 81 . "" They can go out and write a new book and title it , ' Massacre at . . . wherever the heck we are , "" U . S . Openweblink quoted him as saying .  It remains to be seen whether the recently injured Tiger can tame the course once again . Watch more about Woods ' comeback  The Open Championship July 16 19 , 2009  Padraig Harrington ( right ) and Greg Norman line up putts during the 2008 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale .  Organized by the R A , which takes its name from Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St . Andrews , Scotland , The ( British ) Open Championship is the oldest of the four major tournaments . It is also the only one held outside of the United States .  First held in October , 1860 , The Open was mostly played in Scotland during its early years . Prestwick Golf Club in Ayrshire was the birthplace of the event , which saw just eight players compete in its inaugural year . A year later the tournament was declared open to the whole world and the event has been known simply as "" The Open "" ever since .  Since the early days , the R A has established a rota of British seaside "" links "" courses to host the event . The major difference between a links course and a parkland course such as Augusta is that it is far less manufactured . Links courses are constructed out of the sandy , windswept coastal terrain , with few "" man made "" additions . Players are faced with thick rough , narrow undulating fairways that snake around dunes , and lightening quick greens . There are far fewer trees and water hazards . When the wind gusts these courses demand the highest level of skill and imagination .  This year ' s tournament will be held on the famous Ailsa course at Turnberry on the west coast of Scotland . With its dramatic views and elevated cliff top holes , the 7 , 200 yard course previously hosted The Open in 1977 , 1986 , 1994 . The winning aggregate scores in 1977 and 1994 rank among the lowest recorded in Open history , largely because the wind wasn ' t blowing as it can .  Current Open champion Padraig Harrington will arrive at Turnberry looking to win the tournament for the third time in as many years . At Carnoustie in 2007 , Harrington became the first Irishman to win The Open since Fred Daly in 1947 . He defended his title the following year at Royal Birkdale , finishing four strokes ahead of England ' s Ian Poulter .  Harrington has a long way to go before matching the great Harry Vardon ' s record of six Open victories between 1896 and 1914 . Surprisingly , U . S . golfers more used to parkland courses have enjoyed great success in the competition in recent years , with 10 wins in 12 years . Tiger Woods , who missed out through injury last year , lifted the Claret Jug in 2000 , 2005 and 2006 .  U . S .  Championship August 10 16 , 2009  Harrington pumps his fist as he sinks a putt to win the 2008 U . S .  Championship at Oakland Hills .  The final major of the year , The  Championship is organized by the Professional Golfers Association of America (  of America ) and is also held at a different course each year .  The brainchild of New York salesman Rodman Wannamaker , the first  Championship was held at Siwanoy Country Club in Bronxville , New York in 1916 the same year the  of America was founded . The winners ' trophy is named after him .  The competition , which was only switched from a matchplay to a strokeplay format in 1958 , does not allow amateurs to compete . It always attracts a world class field , in addition to a number of ordinary club professionals in the United States who can qualify through a national tournament .  This year ' s tournament will be held at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska , Minnesota , the scene of Rich Beem ' s defeat of a charging Tiger Woods in 2002 . Beem , an unknown club professional who also sold car stereos , held off Woods by recording birdies in his final four holes for a 68 that gave him victory by just one shot .  The 7 , 149 yard course is ranked among the top courses in the United States , according to the  . Its signature 16th hole features a wide open fairway that narrows into a long peninsula featuring an elevated green protected by Lake Hazeltine .  This year Padraig Harrington will attempt to defend the trophy , a year after he pulled off a dramatic victory over Spain ' s Sergio Garcia at Oakland Hills . If he succeeds he will become only the second man after Tiger Woods to be back to back  Champion . However , both men lag behind Jack Nicklaus , who won a record equaling fifth U . S .  title in 1980 at Oak Hill , Rochester the hometown of Walter Hagen , the player whose record Nicklaus tied .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
13357,13358,"The  army has demolished thousands of buildings at a  army base in Afghanistan , as the military ends its war in the region .  The demolition is taking place at Bagram airfield , one of the largest  bases in the country , located 50 km north of Kabul .  Bagram has 1 , 800 temporary buildings which have all been destroyed this year , in a bid to stop the Taliban using any of its contents after the troops withdraw .  Rubble : A  soldier walks past a pile of discarded wooden panels and debris nicknamed ' Mount Trashmore ' by the soldiers during ongoing demolition work at Bagram Air Base near Kabul  Demolition : A  Army excavator demolishes a structure at Bagram Air Base , leaving a cloud of dust  Destruction : A wooden structure is pictured with gaping holes in the structure at Bagram Air Base  The  military has already removed much of the power supply , torn out fixtures by hand , and used mechanical diggers to destroy the roofs on buildings at the airfield .  The operation comes as the massive  led fighting force pulls out of the region after more than a decade on the ground fighting the Taliban .  The wooden offices and dormitories being destroyed are a part of buildings that were hurriedly erected at Bagram .  The buildings housed troops who first arrived in the country after 2001 when the  sent an extra 30 , 000 soldiers in the 2010 ' surge ' .  At the height of the war , 130 , 000 international troops were fighting in Afghanistan .  But combat operations will finish at the end of the year and only 12 , 500 soldiers will remain into 2015 on a training and support mission .  War : This chart shows the number of  troops who were deployed to the country and casualties since 2001  ' This is definitely a full time job for us , '  Staff Sergeant Zach Smith , head of one of the demolition teams at Bagram said .  ' Part of the process is removing all the interior rooms and electrical components and separating them so they can be properly disposed of . '  Soldiers wearing yellow hardhats use crowbars and hammers to dismantle the vacated buildings that once housed desks , computers and bunk beds .  The work is fast but painstaking as material is sifted into different components for recycling or disposal , ensuring that no electrical items or other potential bomb making kit can fall into Taliban hands .  ' We absolutely do that in the most environmentally conscious way that we possibly can , ' Smith said .  Digger : A  Army excavator demolishes a structure at the Base , as the  military ends its war in Afghanistan  Air base : A  soldier carries wooden boards out of a structure during ongoing demolition work  Technology : A discarded keyboard is pictured abandoned on the steps of a structure marked for demolition  Work : Local labourers collect pegs and leftover materials from the ground during the exercise  Trash : A  soldier walks past a pile of discarded wooden panels and debris nicknamed ' Mount Trashmore '  ' Whenever there is fuel , oil , batteries , we dispose of those things to ensure that we leave Bagram the way we found it . '  The splintered remains of each building are scooped into dumper trucks that make endless journeys back and forth to a tipping site on the edge of the base .  Dubbed Mount Trash more after Mount Rushmore the  mountain carved into the faces of former presidents the dump is opened to Afghan companies who salvage what they can from the debris .  Lieutenant Wes Vermillion , who oversees the project said : ' Right now we ' ve taken down about 1 , 800 temporary structures that were either living space or offices . '  He said more than 2 , 000 buildings will be destroyed by December , with a final 500 torn down by contractors next year after the  military engineers have left .  But as the base shrinks , it is also a hub for the retrograde operation to remove weapons , equipment and vehicles from Afghanistan as troops draw in from the provinces .  Wire : A  soldier makes sure that he carefully removes barbed wire from a wall  Team work : Other soldiers help to remove barbed wire from a barrier wall during the demolition work  Removal : A  soldier removes barbed wire from a wall at Bagram to make sure the Taliban does not get it  Colonel Stephanie Gradford is behind Bagram ' s adaption to its rapidly changing role .  She said : ' We have a lot of folks coming in from other bases that we ' re sending home '  ' We are retrograding equipment in preparation ( for the  support mission ) and preparing Bagram to be turned over , at some point in the next couple of years , to the Afghans . '  Cargo aircraft loaded with gear and troops wait on the runway to leave the country , while elsewhere Afghan teams scour the site of a demolished canteen , even picking up spare nails left on the ground .  Tidy : A soldier rakes debris into a pile at the Air Base which is located near Kabul and was home to soldiers  Bricks :  soldiers load debris onto a backhoe loader as other soldiers help to create the pile of debris  Material : A soldier drags away a metal panel and plastic from a site at the base  Occupants : The discarded hat of a  soldier is pictured at quarters marked for demolition at Bagram Air Base  Rest : ' This is definitely a full time job , '  Staff Sergeant Zach Smith , head of one of the demolition teams said  Bagram ' s permanent buildings and roads are being kept for the  forces that will still be deployed next year , and then for the Afghan military that will be left to thwart any Taliban resurgence .  In 2001 , about 30 , 000 foreign soldiers and civilians were housed at the former Soviet base , but the number is down to 15 , 000 today and will be cut to 6 , 000  troops next year .  By the end of 2016 , the only  military presence in Afghanistan will be at the embassy in Kabul .  The reality that , after 13 years of war , the  military ' s vast apparatus is on its way out is only just sinking in even for the soldiers themselves , according to Colonel Gradford .  ' They want to see the mission through , so it ' s tough even getting military people to understand that we are changing , ' she said .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
13366,13367,"And the winner is . . . Yale .  That was the selection made Wednesday by Kwasi Enin , the New York high school student accepted by the eight Ivy League schools Harvard , Yale , Brown , Columbia , University of Pennsylvania , Dartmouth , Princeton and Cornell .  He made his pick in style , staging a news conference in the gym of William Floyd High School and delivering the big announcement before teachers and members of the media .  A visit to the New Haven , Connecticut , campus helped him decide .  "" My Bull Dog Days experience last week was incredible , "" he said . "" I met geniuses from all across the world . And everyone there was so friendly and inviting . . . . And I believe that their deep appreciation and love for music , like I have , was very critical for me deciding to go there . ""  His father , Ebenezer , thanked all those at the high school who encouraged his son . "" We are grateful for all the inspiration , "" he said .  "" People think Kwasi is like an angel or somebody who was sheltered . Really , we gave him a lot of freedom , even though at the same time we were very strict with him in terms of academics and the way he behaved . . . . We only pray that going forward he will stay focused and not be distracted . ""  Referring to Kwasi ' s 14 year old sister , Adwoa , their father said : "" I told her , Look , I believe you can do better than him . ""  Enin scored 2250 out of a possible 2400 on his  , placing him in the 98th percentile across the country , according to The College Board . He ' s also ranked 11th in his class at William Floyd High School , a public school on Long Island , according to his principal , Barbara Butler .  Butler said Enin is not only a model academic student , but also plays three instruments for the chamber orchestra , sings in an a cappella group , throws shot put and discus for the high school ' s track and field team , participates in student government and has had a lead role in school plays since the ninth grade .  "" Usually kids are good athletes or good musicians or good actors , but they don ' t have all three and then on top add student government . It ' s a balancing act . He somehow finds time to do it all and then volunteer at a local hospital , "" Butler said .  Butler has been Enin ' s principal for six years in both middle and high school .  "" He is an incredibly modest , humble and respectable person , "" Butler said . "" He is incredibly dedicated and he has his priorities straight . He takes advantage of whatever opportunity he is afforded . ""  Rachel Rubin , the founder of Spark Admissions in Massachusetts , who also previously served on admissions committees at selective universities , said the feat is extremely rare .  "" It ' s quite atypical , "" Rubin said , adding that most students do not apply to all the Ivy League schools .  "" Standardized test scores and good grades will get a student in the door to have their application read , "" Rubin said . "" But it ' s their extracurricular activities , leadership experience , exceptional talents , recommendation letters and personal essays that will move a student from a pile of ' maybes ' to a pile of ' accepted . ' ""  Harvard ' s acceptance rate , among the most selective in the country , was just 5 . 9 for the applicants for the class of 2017 , according to its admissions site .  Enin was also accepted to Duke University and three State University of New York campuses .  Enin admitted all along that he favored Yale .  "" I really liked their sense of family , relationships between undergraduates and professors , and the residential college , "" he said earlier this month . "" They also have a strong biomedical engineering program , which is a wonderful combination of biology and creative tools that doctors and health care professionals can use . ""  Enin added that Yale also has a strong music program , one of his beloved hobbies that he hopes to continue when he isn ' t hitting the books in college .  He hopes to one day pursue medicine , a dream of his that just so happens to align with his parents ' careers .  His parents , who immigrated from Ghana in the late 1980s , are both nurses and pushed Enin to receive the highest grades possible and follow his dreams .  "" Health care is a prominent field that satisfies people beyond finances and edifies people and is about moral development , "" he said .  His advice for future applicants ?  "" Follow your passions in high school and not just follow suit for what you think can get you into these schools , "" he said . "" Develop your outside interests not just academics . ""  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
13375,13376,"A new ' anti lout ' law to stop large mobs of people gathering has been used for the first time to ban 500 boy racers from meeting at a retail park .  The Public Spaces Protection Order , which became law on 20 October , gives town halls sweeping new powers to outlaw any activity which may have a ' detrimental effect ' on the quality of local life .  Initially intended to clamp down on antisocial behaviour such as begging and spitting , council officers can put up signs banning an activity in a specified area , either round the clock or during specific hours .  A new ' anti lout ' law to stop large mobs of people gathering has been used for the first time to ban 500 boy racers from meeting at a retail park in Colchester  Anybody flouting the order will be liable for an on the spot fine , normally ranging from 70 to 100 , issued by a police officer ,  , council worker or private security guard employed by the local Town Hall .  Colchester Council , in Essex , plans to become the first to use the law to make the car park at Turner Rise Retail Park in Colchester the subject of the Public Spaces Protection Order .  It will be the first time the new order has been imposed , and it will outlaw non customers from the car park between 6pm and 6am . It also requires them to leave within 20 minutes .  The move comes after 500 car buffs used the retail park as a meeting place twice in the last seven months , and were accused of revving their engines noisily , playing loud music and doing ' doughnuts ' .  Sgt Lou Middleton , of Colchester Police , said : ' This will make life better for businesses and residents .  Colchester Council , in Essex , plans to become the first to use the law to make the car park at Turner Rise Retail Park in Colchester the subject of the Public Spaces Protection Order  ' We have lots of residents living behind the retail park complaining they are constantly being disturbed by vehicle noise , screeching brakes , loud music and there is always the issue of litter .  ' That is happening periodically and we know they are young people congregating there in cars .  ' When police patrols go we are not finding them doing anything but it is quite clear from the residents it is causing them a disturbance .  ' Those people are not going there to use the businesses , they are going there to socialise . '  The Public Spaces Protection Order , a form of Asbo , bans motorists from entering the car park between 6pm and 6am if the driver or passengers are not customers of the shops or restaurants .  Customers who use a shop or restaurant between 6pm and 6am will have to leave within 20 minutes .  The order also bans burger vans turning up and selling food without permission , which has happened in the past .  Anyone breaching the order will be fined 100 .  The Public Spaces Protection Order , which became law on 20 October , gives town halls sweeping new powers to outlaw any activity which may have a ' detrimental effect ' on the quality of local life  Ministers insist the controversial orders are intended to clamp down on anti social behaviour , such as spitting and aggressive begging .  But the rules have been so widely drawn that councils are also planning to apply them to the likes of ' nuisance parking ' , children playing ball games and parents parking outside schools .  The order is set to come into force in Colchester next month and will be in place for a year . Martin Goss , borough councillor for Colchester ' s Mile End ward , said : ' This gives the police much more power to disperse people .  ' It has been a real collaboration between police , the retail park , ward councillors and the council to take up what has been a real concern for a long time .  ' This is really good news . '  Pizza Hut on Turner Rise Retail Park opens until 10pm or 11pm , seven nights week .  Manager Stephen Hughes said : ' It has been a long time coming .  ' The first time the boy racers came here was okay to an extent but after that it started to happen more regularly and the events got bigger and bigger .  ' The other stores mainly close around 6pm but we are open when the cars are here .  ' The takeaway sales to them are welcome but then no one else can park .  ' We get the loud music and they come in to use the toilet . '  Mr Hughes said when staff had asked the boy racers not to use the toilet if they were not Pizza Hut customers some had become aggressive .  He said : ' They have even used the back of our building as a toilet . A few of the female staff members have gone out there to have a cigarette and they have been urinating . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
13394,13395,"' Thank you , I am two time Golden Globe winner , Jim Carrey , ' he smiled behind an impressively bushy full beard .  ' You know , when I go to sleep at night , I ' m not just a guy going to sleep . I ' m two time Golden Globe winner Jim Carrey going to get some well needed shut eye , ' ? he continued as the audience cracked up .  ' When I dream I don ' t just dream any old dream . I dream about being three time Golden Globe actor Jim Carrey . Because then I would be enough , ' he said , pausing dramatically . ' It would finally be true , and I could stop this terrible search , for what I know ultimately won t fulfill me .  See our full Golden Globes coverage on the winners and highlights of the night ?  On form : After being introduced as ' two time Golden Globe winner Jim Carrey ' , the 53 year old seemed tickled by the title , and appeared to improvise his entire speech to the delight of the crowd  ' But these are important these awards I don t want you just think that just because if you blew up the solar system , you wouldn t be able to find us or any of our solar system from the naked eye . But for us , this is huge . ' ?  Although the orchestra is primed to play off acceptance speeches that drone on too long , they clearly weren ' t prepared for a rambling introduction meaning The Grinch star could get away with as much mic time as he pleased .  When he finally read the winner , he was indeed stunned , which essentially gave away the surprise , as there was only one nominee which had courted controversy by including itself in the comedy category . ?  Owned it : Although the orchestra is primed to play off acceptance speeches that drone on too long , they clearly weren ' t prepared for a rambling introduction meaning The Grinch star could get away with as much mic time as he pleased  ' Wow . You know once I say this , it can t be unsaid , ' he warned the audience . ' You can t not know who the winner is after I say it ' . . . . before unveiling Matt Damon and Ridley Scott ' s very good but not very funny The Martian as the Best Comedy Or Musical .  Carrey himself has been nominated for six Golden Globes in total , and is among the few who have won the Best Actor awards in both Drama and Comedy categories , scooping them back to back in 1998 for The Truman Show and 1999 for Man On The Moon . ?  Although he had been expected to walk the red carpet before the event , Carrey didn ' t show up on screen until his presenting slot , which became his first appearance since the funeral of his 30 year old on off Irish girlfriend in October .  The Make up artist ? committed ? suicide by suspected drug overdose , leaving a note which read : ' Jim , I love you . Please forgive me . I ' m not for this world . ' ?  The actor traveled to her native Tipperary to bury her in the following days , and had not been seen in the public eye since .  Tragic : Although he had been expected to walk the red carpet before the event , Carrey didn ' t show up on screen until his presenting slot , which became his first appearance since the funeral of his 30 year old on off Irish girlfriend Cathriona White ? in October  Best Motion Picture Comedy or Musical : The Martian  Best Actress In A Drama : Brie Larson Room  Best Actor In A Drama : Leonardo DiCaprio The Revenant  Best Actress In A Musical Or Comedy : Jennifer Lawrence Joy  Best Actor In A Musical Or Comedy : ? Matt Damon The Martian  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
13397,13398,"Two members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government reform sent a letter to Gov . Rick Snyder requesting documents regarding the Flint water crisis .  On Friday , Jan . 29 , Maryland Rep . Elijah E . Cummings , the ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform , and U . S . Rep . Brenda Lawrence ( D Southfield ) , the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Interior , sent ? a letter to Snyder requesting the documents .  Snyder ' s office said it has received the letter .  "" The governor remains focused on helping the people of Flint . We have received the letter from Reps . Lawrence and Cummings and will review the request . "" The governor ' s office said in a statement .  The U . S . representatives are requesting documents "" relating to the decision to switch the source of drinking water in the City of Flint and the response to the health crisis that has ensued , "" according to the letter .  "" We need a bipartisan and complete investigation based on a search for the truth no matter who is responsible , "" Cummings said in a statement . "" We must prioritize morality above politics to understand how this crisis happened and how to prevent it in the future . To do that , we must hear from everyone involved , including Governor Snyder , and we must request documents from everyone involved , including the state . ""  The Democrats ' letter comes after ? Snyder was not included from testifying at a hearing scheduled for next Wednesday , Feb . 3 regarding Flint ' s water crisis , according to a news release from the Oversight Committee Democrats Press Office . It also comes after a proposal to send a document request only to the Environmental Protection Agency and not the governor ' s office .  "" We must have a complete hearing that includes all the government agencies and officials involved in this crisis if we are to rebuild the shattered trust of the people of Flint and the American public . To do anything less will only compound the problem and further diminish the public ' s trust in our government , trust that is required for a healthy democracy , "" Lawrence said in a statement . "" That is why I will continue to push for the governor of Michigan to be included in the witness list . I feel strongly that the American people deserve a full accounting of this manmade disaster and that the facts are crucial to ensuring this never happens again . ""  Lawrence originally requested the hearing on Jan . 12 . Lawrence said she asked to hear from Snyder , former Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Director Dan Wyant , Environmental Protection Agency Regional Director Susan Hedman , Hurley Medical Center doctor Mona Hanna Atissha , Flint Mayor Karen Weaver and Virginia Tech Professor Mark Edwards .  Snyder ? signed a 28 million appropriations bill to aid Flint residents with things like filters , school nurses and children ' s ' health assessments at a Michigan Press Association conference on Friday .  The bill is an additional appropriation out of this current fiscal year that allocates money to help address the public health crisis in Flint . That crisis emerged after the city switch drinking water sources in April 2014 and corrosive water running through pipes resulted in lead leaching into the water . An unknown number of children have been exposed .  Snyder explained that lead only stays in blood for 28 days , so children may have been exposed before their blood was tested for lead .  The House and Senate approved the measure unanimously this week . It ' s different than what was originally proposed because an influx of bottled water donations allowed the legislature to shift more money into health assessments for children .  The bill includes 28 million total and 22 million from the state general fund .  Amanda Emery is a police reporter for MLive Flint Journal . Contact her at aemery mliveweblink or 810 285 0792 . Follow her on Twitter or Facebook .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
13400,13401,"A report released Monday by the U . S . Department of Commerce revealed that Americans spend an astonishing 14 trillion a year on countless , usually failed attempts to look cool .  Looking cool , which the report defines as "" the outward projection of an appealing and often enviable image of oneself that others perceive as requiring little to no effort , "" appears to be a nationwide obsession .  "" To put this into perspective , the amount Americans spend on cool looking haircuts is nearly 15 times greater than the total amount spent on cancer research , "" said Eric Gerhardt , noted economist and lead author of the report . "" Whether it ' s name brand sneakers , an all in one espresso maker , or a pair of hip and stylish Ray Ban sunglasses , we devote tremendous resources each year toward our conspicuous attempts at stature enhancement . ""  "" It ' s pretty much an epidemic at this point , "" the 52 year old professor added before pausing momentarily to adjust a small gold earring in his freshly pierced earlobe .  The report found that , in all 50 states , efforts to appear cool accounted for a greater portion of household expenditures than career training , doctor visits , and childcare combined .  In addition , Gerhardt said , even basic necessities such as food , shelter , and water are obtained based on perceived coolness , with people opting to purchase expensive Thai or Ethiopian takeout food , spend more than they can afford on homes with granite countertops , and drink bottled water for no other reason than to impress others .  Despite the many trillions of dollars spent each year , the study found that Americans , as a whole , generally fail miserably at looking cool .  "" Someone like contractor Jerry Ditmas of Akron ,  , for example , who spends as much as 3 , 000 per annum on custom motorcycle accessories , succeeds only in looking like a bigger doofus with each wasted dollar , "" said Gerhardt , adding that the advertising industry , Japanese youths , and dads on vacation account for nearly a quarter of the 14 trillion . "" This is in contrast to , say , musician Lou Reed , who spent just 11 on looking cool in 2009 and remains as cool as they come . ""  According to the report , researchers have isolated a previously unknown personality trait called "" getting it , "" a variable that , while not completely understood , seems to be essential to the achievement of coolness .  "" Those who we found ' get it , ' or who we determined ' know the score , ' succeeded nearly three times as often at looking cool as those who did not , "" Gerhardt said . "" Unfortunately , regardless of how much money Americans spend in desperate attempts to look cool , we concluded that nearly three quarters of the populations falls into the category of ' lame os ' or ' total lame os . ' ""  This worrisome trend extends far beyond just the average citizen , however .  According to the report , a significant percentage of the 14 trillion can be traced back to the highest levels of government , with tax cuts , most defense spending , and a number of major public works such as Mount Rushmore amounting to little more than lawmakers ' attempts to appear cool to constituents .  "" The Cold War was essentially one huge , pathetic trying to look cool race , "" Gerhardt said .  Asked about ways the 14 trillion might be better spent , Professor Ian Thorson , a sociologist at Georgetown University , suggested the funds be used to combat poverty , but acknowledged that donating to charities was not always effective , as even those Americans in need often spend much of the assistance they receive on trying to look cool .  "" The whole thing ends up being a vicious cycle , "" Thorson said . "" The only way this situation will ever be remedied is if people just relax and try to be themselves , you know ? I mean , that ' s cool , man . ""  Added Thorson , "" Right ? ""  Thorson said his current research indicates that true coolness may in fact come from not caring what other people think a finding he hopes to submit to his peers for review before publishing it in a journal admired by students and colleagues alike .  A number of leading economists have already discredited the Commerce Department ' s report , claiming the 10 million study was undertaken for the sole purpose of looking cool by winning a bunch of government funding .  ",satire,text,validation,Football,Economy,satire,satire,True,no,no,negative,past
13401,13402,"Stronger tax receipts and lower borrowing costs helped hand George Osborne a ? 27 billion windfall which the Chancellor used to present a far more generous budget package than MPs and economists had expected in his Autumn Statement .  But his generosity and a change in Whitehall accounting meant that despite the windfall , the Chancellor actually put the Government on course to spend and borrow more than he said he would at the time of his previous Budget .  The ? 27 billion , described by one economist as an early Christmas present , was gifted to the Chancellor by the Office for Budget Responsibility , the independent forecaster of the public finances Mr Osborne set up in 2010 .  The  s relatively gloomy forecasts at previous budget statements had forced Mr Osborne to commit himself to deep and potentially controversial cuts to public spending in order to meet his goal of a Government surplus by the next general election in 2020 .  He chose the second option , spending most of the windfall to take some of the edge off his planned cuts to Whitehall departments and the services they fund .  That decision was criticised by some economists , who noted that the  s projected windfall was based on the assumption that economic growth will stay strong and interest rates extremely low for the rest of the decade .  The  , which is independent of the Treasury , produces forecasts for economic growth , tax and spending , which form the basis of every Budget and Autumn Statement .  The  said that while the prospects for the  economy as a whole had not changed significantly since the Budget , its models predict bigger changes to the outlook for the public finances .  The changes partly reflect stronger than expected revenues from income tax and corporation tax . Some of Mr Osborne s windfall came from a change in the way the  s statistical models for Vat receipts and National Insurance Contributions .  ? Tax calculator : how the changes will affect you  The forecasters also reduced their prediction for the sums the Government will have to spend paying interest on its debts , because the Bank of England has signalled that it will delay increasing Bank rate from its current record low of 0 . 5 per cent .  Lower debt interest payments should save the Government ? 5 billion over five years .  Other technical changes in the way the public finances are counted also weighed in Mr Osborne s favour .  John Hawksworth , chief economist at PwC , a consultancy firm , said : The Chancellor got an early Christmas present from the  .  ? Autumn Statement : everything you need to know   figures show that Mr Osborne could have balanced the budget and eliminated the deficit more quickly if he had not decided to spend the extra money the improved forecast gives him .  If Mr Osborne had stuck to his earlier plans for austerity , including his cut in tax credits , his windfall would have allowed him to come within ? 200 million of a budget surplus in 2018 19 , a year earlier than he had promised .  Instead , his decision not to cut as deeply as he had planned meant that the surplus will not arrive until 2020 21 , and the Government will borrow more than it would have done on his earlier path .  In the July Budget , Mr Osborne set out spending plans that would require him to borrow ? 122 billion over five years .  However , a decision to classify the debts of housing associations as part of the Treasury s balance sheet pushed that total up to ? 137 billion .  The  s improved forecasts for tax receipts and debt payments could have allowed him to reduce that to ? 109 . 5 billion .  But the net effect the Chancellor s policy decisions mean he is now on course to borrow ? 128 billion ? less than his restated borrowing figures from July , but still above what he would have needed to borrow if he had stuck to his earlier policies .  In cash terms , total public spending will rise from ? 757 billion this year to ? 857 billion in 2020 21 . On Mr Osborne ' s previous plans , it had been on course to reach ? 845 billion by the end of the decade .  However , a growing economy will mean that spending as a share of  falls from 39 . 7 per cent to 36 . 5 per cent on the latest projections .  Mr Osborne told MPs that his plans to run a surplus meant he was fixing the roof when the sun is shining , but some experts said he had missed an opportunity to do more .  Mark Littlewood , Director General at the Institute of Economic Affairs , said that Mr Osborne should have cut more deeply to provide the Government with bigger financial reserves in the event that the economy fares worse than expected .  George Osborne has today made a one way bet . His announcements are based on two predictions : continually low interest rates and sustained strong economic growth , making our debt repayments lower than anticipated and tax revenues higher than expected . These are not unrealistic assumptions , but if either go off course , the savings announced today will not go nearly far enough .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
13415,13416,"—   When Wang Ge, a business school student, wakes up, she often asks herself, “What would Ivanka do?” That would be Ivanka Trump, the eldest daughter of President Trump, a woman Ms. Wang has never met but worships. In the United States, Ms. Trump has become a controversial figure, battling persistent questions about business conflicts and criticism for not doing more to moderate her father’s policies toward women. But in China, Ms. Trump is widely adored. Her lavish lifestyle and business acumen resonate with many young professionals who are hungry for fame and fortune in a society that often equates material wealth with success. Ms. Wang keeps photos of Ms. Trump on her iPad. She counsels   friends to read Ms. Trump’s   tips (“Find strength in others” and “Be an optimist”). And she models her day on Ms. Trump’s, waking at 6 a. m. to increase productivity and setting aside at least a   to read. “She’s pretty, she has her own career, she’s hardworking and she has a beautiful family,” said Ms. Wang, 26, a student at Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business in Beijing. “She inspires me. ” While Mr. Trump, who meets President Xi Jinping of China in Florida on Thursday, has bluntly assailed China on issues like trade and North Korea, Ms. Trump has helped soften her father’s volcanic image. She is called a “goddess” on social media. A video of her daughter singing in Chinese went viral, attracting tens of millions of viewers. Working mothers have latched onto Ms. Trump’s brand of    feminism, even if most lack her financial resources, and entrepreneurs have studied her speeches for clues on making successful pitches. Xinhua, the official news agency, weighed in last week, describing Ms. Trump as having an “elegant and poised style. ” “A lot of people think Ivanka is the real president,” said Li Moya, 31, who runs an app for renting venue space in Beijing. “We think she has the brains, not her father. ” Young Chinese women working in sectors like technology and finance have been especially taken by Ms. Trump, whom they see as an elegant symbol of power and ambition. They say they have sought to mimic her tenacity and confidence as they confront chauvinism and stereotypes in the workplace and in family life. Many are also impressed by Ms. Trump’s decision to start her own fashion brand rather than simply focus on the family real estate business. “She’s very independent,” said Wang Jiabao, 28, a reality television producer in Beijing. “She represents what we’re looking for  —   to marry into a decent family, to look good, and to also have your own career. ” Some also believe Ms. Trump embodies Confucian values, pointing to her decision to convert to Judaism for her husband and her steadfast defense of her father, both seen as illustrations of a devotion to family. In China’s   urban centers, Ms. Trump’s tips on leading a balanced life (“Don’t sleep with your BlackBerry next to your bed,” says one) have found a large audience. On messaging apps, young professionals trade translations of her   guides, while working mothers share her advice on carving out time for loved ones. Chinese companies have also tried to profit from Ms. Trump’s popularity, filing hundreds of trademark applications using her name  —   Yi Wan Ka in Chinese  —   on products and services such as shoes, spa treatments, plastic surgery and pottery. Still, Ms. Trump has her critics. Some are skeptical of her father’s policies and disturbed by her decision to join his administration, in which she serves as assistant to the president. Others believe that as a child of privilege she is a poor role model for everyday Chinese people. “She’s trying too hard and pretending too much,” said Shi Yixuan, 22, an administrative staff member at Peking University in Beijing. But many women see recognizable Chinese attributes. “Underneath her image are very traditional values,” said Dai Linjia, a communications consultant. “Her family is almost like a dynasty. ” While her father has threatened a trade war with China and criticized China’s efforts to build outposts in the South China Sea, Ms. Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, have embarked on a charm offensive with the country. It helps that her daughter, Arabella, speaks Chinese, which she began learning from her Chinese nanny. Ms. Trump and Arabella attended a Lunar New Year festival at the Chinese Embassy in Washington in February, an event broadcast on China’s   news. On Tuesday, two days before her father was to meet Mr. Xi, Ms. Trump posted a photo of her younger son, Theodore, playing with wooden blocks emblazoned with Chinese characters. Analysts said Ms. Trump’s popularity could help ease the relationship between China and the United States at a tense time. “Her father is a regular critic of China, so Ivanka’s moves sort of compensate for that,” said Shi Yinhong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing. “The Chinese government will see there are both ugly and positive messages coming out of the U. S. ” Many younger Chinese will be watching this week’s meeting between Mr. Trump and Mr. Xi for signs of Ms. Trump. Ms. Wang, the business school student, said she hoped that Ms. Trump could help improve China’s standing in the United States. “She’s a very good role model,” she said. “I think she can help the two countries grow closer. ”",true,news,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
13427,13428,"Carolina Is Cam s Team , But Their Defense Is No ? Slouch  Filed Under : Cam Newton , Carolina Panthers , Denver Broncos ,  , Super Bowl 50   ,   13 : Cam Newton 1 congratulates teammate Luke Kuechly 59 of the Carolina Panthers after Kuechly made an interception in the 3rd quarter during their game against the Atlanta Falcons at Bank of America Stadium on December 13 , 2015 in Charlotte , North Carolina . ( Photo by Streeter Lecka Getty Images )  The Broncos may be just two years removed from their last Super Bowl appearance , but this is a whole different team than the one that crashed and burned against the Seahawks in New Jersey . Rather than try to outscore teams with an overpowering offense , Denver is now built around its defense , a unit that finished the regular season No . 1 in yards allowed , pass defense and sacks .  And , in another role reversal , they ll be facing a Carolina Panthers team whose greatest strength is their quarterback , presumptive  Cam Newton . One of the league s most electrifying players , Newton is a dual threat both running and passing the ball , and his remarkable season has elevated the play of those around him , a group of players that most experts wrote off in the preseason as either too young and inexperienced or too old and washed up .  So although this Super Bowl , like the one just 24 months ago , will feature a battle between the  s two top seeds , it s a whole different ball game this time around .  Aided by a soft slate of divisional opponents , Panthers finished an  best 15 1 this season and their two playoff games have both been lopsided . Although Seattle was able to claw back late in the game , the Seahawks were outscored 31 0 in the opening half of Carolina s divisional round game . And last week against the high flying Arizona Cardinals , the Panthers were able to force seven turnovers en route to a surprisingly easy 49 15 win .  Everything the Panthers do on offense runs through Cam Newton . That might sound like a given since he takes the snaps , but their ground game also relies on Cam , who finished with 10 rushing touchdowns in the regular season . Newton forces teams to respect him as a rusher , which then opens up the passing game .  Carolina s offense in general is predicated upon their ground game . The veteran running back Jonathan Stewart had a stellar season alongside Fozzy Whittaker , and with Pro Bowler Mike Tolbert , Carolina is one of the few teams that regularly employs a fullback in their scheme . It all adds up to a team that lead the league in rushing attempts and finished second in rushing yards , while scoring a league high 500 points in the regular season .  The scary part is , Carolina is almost as good on defense as offense . Luke Kuechly is possibly the best linebacker in football , a versatile player who is both smart and instinctive . Thomas Davis is nearly his equal , although an arm injury suffered in the  Championship makes his role heading into the Super Bowl uncertain . And cornerback Josh Norman was a first team All Pro this season , with his athleticism and aggressive technique driving opposing receivers literally ? out of their minds . Add in Carolina s formidable pass rush , which has eight sacks in the post season , and the Panthers might have the  s second best defense behind Denver .  Opposing Players to Watch :  Greg Olsen and  Jared Allen  Carolina s pass game is anchored by tight end Greg Olsen , who emerged as Newton s favorite target , especially in the red zone . Olsen tallied over 1 , 100 yards to go with seven touchdowns , and his sure hands and ability to bounce back after a big hit have made him a serious weapon in their passing game .  Broncos fans will remember Jared Allen for his four seasons with the Chiefs , when he was a one man wrecking crew off the end . Allen was traded to the Vikings and played for the Bears last season before being traded to Carolina on Sept . 28 . Allen isn t the player he used to be , but he has always played with passion and he s sure to be fired up for his first Super Bowl appearance , making him a dangerous piece of Carolina s defensive rotation .  There s a simple reason why the Las Vegas books currently have the Panthers favored by six points : Their defense is stifling and their offense is led by the league s best player . Carolina deserves to be the favorites .  As did the Green Bay Packers , who were 11 point favorites before losing to the Broncos in Super Bowl  . Of all the Super Bowls Denver has played in , this one feels most similar to that year , with their veteran quarterback Peyton Manning looking to ( possibly ) end his career on top . And since predicting the future is a fool s game anyway , here goes : As they have all season , Denver stages a late comeback to defeat the Panthers 27 24 in the first Super Bowl ever to go to overtime .  We ll find out on Feb . 7 when Super Bowl 50 kicks off from Levi s Stadium in Santa Clara , California .  Mark Schiff is a freelance writer and music journalist for AXSweblink . In 2013 , his coverage of the Seattle Seahawks ended in heartbreak when they defeated the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl . Now covering his beloved hometown team , his knowledge and passion for pro football has resulted in multiple fantasy football championships . Find him on Twitter at mihilites .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
13430,13431,"The past year saw a mild winter give way to a balmier than normal spring , followed by a sweltering summer and high temperatures that lingered into the fall , all punctuated by extreme drought and intense storms .  Now 2012 is officially in the books as the hottest year on record for the continental United States and the second worst for "" extreme "" weather such as hurricanes , droughts or floods , the U . S . government announced Tuesday .  The year ' s average temperature of 55 . 3 degrees Fahrenheit across the Lower 48 was more than 3 . 2 degrees warmer than the average for the 20th century , the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration reported . That topped the previous record , set in 1998 , by a full degree .  Every state in the contiguous United States saw above average temperatures in 2012 , with 19 of them setting annual records of their own ,  said . Meanwhile , the country faced 11 weather disasters that topped 1 billion in losses each , including a lingering drought that covered 61 of the country at one point .  That drought shriveled crops across the American farm belt , leading to an expected rise in food prices in 2013 , according to the U . S . Agriculture Department . It also turned forests of the mountain West into stands of tinder that exploded into catastrophic wildfires over the summer , scorching millions of acres and destroying hundreds of homes .  Climate change , extreme weather linked  And then there was Superstorm Sandy , a late October post tropical cyclone that killed more than 110 people in the United States and nearly 70 more in the Caribbean and Canada . Damage estimates from the storm run around 80 billion in New York and New Jersey alone .  The report is likely to fuel new concerns over a warming climate . Seven of the 10 hottest years in U . S . records , which date back to 1895 , and four of the hottest five have now occurred since 1990 , according to  figures .  The year also saw Arctic sea ice hit a record low in more than 30 years of satellite observations and studies that found the world ' s major ice sheets have been shrinking at an increasing rate .  Scientists are quick to point out that no single storm can be blamed on climate change , but say a warming world raises the odds of extreme weather .  "" I think unfortunately , 2012 really may well be the new normal , "" said Daniel Lashof , director of the climate and clean air program at the Natural Resources Defense Council , a U . S . environmental group . "" It ' s the kind of year we expect , given the global warming trend is ongoing . ""  The science of global warming is politically controversial but generally accepted as fact by most researchers , who point to heat trapping carbon emissions from the burning of fossil fuels as the major cause .  Lashof ' s group is trying to press the Obama administration to tighten limits on carbon emissions , but he said those steps "" are not going to reduce the threat of extreme weather overnight . ""  "" We need to take greater preparations , anticipating the kind of storms and droughts that we saw are going to continue to be more frequent as we go forward , "" he said .  Wildfires race across Australia  Though parts of the country such as the Pacific Northwest and the Gulf Coast had wetter than average years , average precipitation was nearly 2 . 6 inches below normal the 15th driest since records started being kept in the 1890s , according to  .  The two remaining U . S . states , remote Alaska and Hawaii , saw a mixed picture in 2012 .  Alaska was slightly cooler and wetter than normal , while nearly two thirds of Hawaii ' s island chain faced moderate to exceptional drought conditions by December ,  said .  Science , satellites and superstorms : Preparing for the next big one  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
13453,13454,"From American Eagle to Apple Stores , beacons are popping up everywhere . Are they a shopper ' s best friend or another pesky Big Brother monitoring our every move ?  The square or rectangular devices , smaller than a smartphone , can hang on a wall or be placed on a machine and communicate with your phone via Bluetooth signals .  Accessed through apps you download to your smartphone , beacon technology can do everything from guide you to the correct airport terminal to turn on your coffee maker as you sleepily enter the kitchen . In retail , beacons aim to entice you to spend money .  As you enter a store , your smartphone might light up with a sale alert . Stand in the dress section for a while and a coupon may pop up for something on a nearby hanger .  We ' re watching you : Accessed through apps you download to your smartphone , beacon technology can do everything from guide you to the correct airport terminal to turn on your coffee maker  ' The most important thing a shopper might need to get access to when they go into a store are ratings and reviews , coupons and promotions , ' said Erik McMillan ,  of Shelfbucks , which is working with video game retailer GameStop and others on its beacon marketing .  Beacons give customers that research right there in the store when they have their wallets and are looking to buy .  Macy ' s Inc . has installed beacons in all of its 840 department stores other chains such as Kohl ' s are testing them in some locations .  McMillan likens beacons to the early days of retail websites in the 1990s when ' all of a sudden it got to the point that ' you can ' t not have a website ' . '  He predicts the technology will skyrocket from the 50 , 000 beacons in use now to between 5 million and 10 million next year .  The vast majority of shopping is still done in stores . E commerce is fast growing but accounts for only about 9 percent of total retail sales , according to Forrester Research .  Beacons merge in store shopping with mobile access to information and data shows they work .  Broadcasting : Beacons are relatively low tech devices installed in retail locations . They emit low energy Bluetooth signals to detect an app user ' s location and proximity in real time . The simplicity and functionality of beacons have the potential to be the most effective location aware technology for in store marketing  Between July and September , 30 percent of shoppers who received a ' push ad ' from an in store beacon used that offer to buy something , according to a survey by Swirl , a marketing technology company that has worked with retailers such as Lord Taylor , Hudson ' s Bay , Alex and Ani , Kenneth Cole and Timberland to deploy beacons .  Sixty percent of shoppers opened beacon sent messages , and over half of those surveyed said they would do more holiday shopping at the stores as a result of their beacon experience .  Graham Uffelman , a 45 year old New Yorker , said he bought Bluetooth headphones at Best Buy because of a deal he got via the Shopkick beacon marketing app .  ' The app knew I was in the store and actually suggested a product I wanted , ' he said .  ' The experience was great but also a little unnerving in the sense that the store knew who I was and that I was present in their location . It felt a little Big Brother like . '  And that ' s the challenge . Not everyone is thrilled that a beacon app is monitoring them when they walk around with their cellphone .  Outdoor advertising firm Titan drew such outcry last month when it installed beacons in phone booths in New York the city had to take them out .  Mine of information : Using beacons can provide value to your shoppers ( special offers , product information , ratings and reviews , etc . ) , but the most valuable information is the data the app collects as users engage with it  Eamon Bauman , 24 , an  systems administrator in Wisconsin , said he wouldn ' t let a store ' s app have access to his location even if it meant coupons or deals .  ' It ' s providing retailers too much information about ourselves , ' he said . ' If a retailer really wants to draw me into their store , showing me deals before I get to the mall is a better way . '  Chloe Joslin , 22 , a student in Jonesboro , Arkansas , was taken aback when she drove by a Walgreens and a notification on her phone from the Walgreens app popped up .  ' The app never asked for permission to use location services and to my knowledge I had disabled them from almost every app to avoid such a situation , ' she said .  Because location settings can be different for individual apps , though , it can sometimes be difficult to disable all services . The pop up likely resulted from the phone ' s location setting for nearby store notifications , said Walgreen Co . spokesman Phil Caruso in an email .  He said customers can turn off notifications if they prefer not to receive them . Currently , the drugstore retailer is using beacon technology on a pilot basis in only a very small number of its Duane Reade stores .  Transparency is key , says Rob Murphy , Swirl ' s vice president of marketing .  ' Now it ' s pretty standard if anybody is doing this type of marketing to specifically ask for permission , ' he said . ' You have to request an opt in for location services and in store push notifications . '  ' You can ' t be interruptive or intrusive , you have to be positive and helpful , ' said Alexis Rask , chief revenue officer of Shopkick , whose app is also used by teen retailer American Eagle to provide welcome messages , merchandise tips and styling guidance throughout its nearly 1 , 000 U . S . stores .  That appeals to Dan Reich , 26 , who works in health care in Washington , D . C .  ' I wouldn ' t mind letting a retailer know my location if it meant I ' d receive coupons or benefits when I ' m in the store , ' he said .  ' This type of data is collected when we sign into Facebook or Twitter or any other social media application . I ' m essentially already providing that information , so I might as well get something out of it in the process . '  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
13461,13462,"Everyone has experienced having an advert jingle or catchy slogan stuck in their head .  But a new concept is literally putting adverts straight into people ' s skulls by using ' bone conduction the transfer of sound to the inner ear through the bones of the skull .  Advertising agency  is using a combination of the concept and clever technology to allow individual commuters to hear an advert in a noisy train carriage .  The company is harnessing technology to allow train windows to silently talk to commuters in a new product placement strategy .  Tired commuters resting their heads against train windows in Germany got a surprise when they heard a voice inside their heads  Transmitters send high frequency vibrations to windowpanes allowing commuters resting their head against the glass to hear advertising messages through bone conduction  Tired commuters resting their heads against train windows in Germany got a surprise when they heard a voice inside their heads .  Transmitters on a train route between Munich and North Rhine Westphalia send high frequency vibrations to windowpanes , allowing commuters to hear advertising messages through bone conduction .  The messages cannot be heard by the rest of the train passengers expect the commuter whose head is in direct contact with the window pane .  The sound transmission technology is currently used in some headphone and hearing aids as well as by the military .  A transmitter ( pictured ) sends high frequency vibrations to a windowpane on a train , allowing passengers to hear advertising messages  The messages cannot be heard by the rest of the train passengers expect the commuter whose head is in direct contact with the window pane  Passengers on the train heard an advert promoting Sky Deutschland ' s new mobile app .  The campaign was the brainchild of  in Dusseldorf , which launched the prototypes back in January .  A spokesman from the agency told Mashable : ' Passengers got surprised and enjoyed this new form of advertising ' adding that they had ' highly encouraging first reactions by commuters and our client ' .  There are no immediate plans to roll out talking window panes across Germany ' s train network .  However ,  said that the technology could be used for entertainment as well as advertising so that commuters could listen to music or get transport information by leaning their heads against the glass .  The technology reportedly surprised commuters when it was rolled out on a German train service   said that the technology could also be used for entertainment and informative messages  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
13488,13489,"A tornado swept through parts of Tupelo , Mississippi , on Thursday , damaging trees , power lines and overturning a 18 wheel truck , a law enforcement official said .  iReporter Graham Hancock saw damage Thursday at the Tupelo Furniture Market in Tupelo , Mississippi .  "" Just a little earlier this morning , we began to get reports of damage starting from the west side of Tupelo , "" said Chief Deputy John Hall of the Lee County Sheriff ' s Department .  Hall said the storm moved north across the city to the Mall at Barnes Crossing . Nearby on U . S . 45 , an 18 wheel truck was overturned , he said .  There were no reports of injuries , and Hall said authorities were assessing damages . Watch as a Tupelo resident describes the storm  Jeff Snyder , general manager for the Mall at Barnes Crossing , said the shopping center sustained "" minor property damage . ""  Terry Anderson , executive director of Tupelo Regional Airport , said the facility had minor damage , including some broken windows .  He said the airport was closed for about 10 minutes while the taxiway and runway were cleared . No flights were delayed , he said , and the airport is "" up and running . ""  Mark Waddle , who works at the airport , said he saw the storm form .  "" It was real small at first , "" said Waddle , an employee at the airport ' s Budget Car Rental counter . "" All the clouds were twirling around . ""  Waddle said he watched as the tornado touched down near the airport .  "" It looked like it hit some kind of transformer because the whole sky lit up blue , "" he said . "" Then it kind of blew through the Tupelo airport . . . . It was blowing so hard the trees were touching the ground . ""  Waddle said he was not aware of any significant damage to the airport apart from overturned trash cans and debris in tree branches .  "" All of the people and all the vehicles and everything are fine up here at the airport , "" he said .  Bobbye Jones , who works at the Mississippi Department of Transportation in Tupelo , said the roof blew off the lab at the agency .  She said fallen tree branches also had damaged vehicles outside her office .  "" Everything just got real dark , "" Jones said . .  A tornado watch , which denotes favorable conditions for tornadoes , is in effect until late Thursday afternoon for parts of northwestern Alabama .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
13524,13525,""" There are a lot of things here that are not finished . There are activities in the region that are still sitting on the edge of potential conflict , "" said retired Gen . James Cartwright , former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff .  Paul Bremer , a former envoy to Iraq under President George W . Bush , said President Barack Obama had "" placed a very big bet "" by pulling out troops .  "" The definition of victory actually was given by the president when he made the announcement we were pulling out . He said a democratic Iraq can be a model for the region . That ' s right . That ' s what President Bush also said . And the question is , can a democratic Iraq survive if America pulls out before the job is done ? "" he said .  Another key question , analysts said , is what neighboring Iran will do next .  "" Iran ' s clearly one of the strategic winners out of this . The United States managed to eliminate one of the two arch rivals that Iran faced , and so Iran has gained a much stronger position , "" said Robin Wright , a joint fellow at the U . S . Institute of Peace and the Woodrow Wilson Center .  "" At the same time , "" she added , "" I think that once the United States withdraws , that the historic tensions between Arabs and Persians along the strategic border are likely to resurface , and that the Iranians will have influence with many of the top leaders in . . . Iraq , but it doesn ' t necessarily mean that the Iraqis are going to become the next Iranian province . ""  The last U . S . troops in Iraq crossed the border into Kuwait Sunday , marking the end of an almost nine year war . According to the defense department , 4 , 487 service members were killed in the war more than 30 , 000 were wounded .  It is impossible to know with certainty the number of Iraqis who have died in Iraq since 2003 . But the independent public database Iraq Body Count has compiled reports of more than 150 , 000 between the invasion and October 2010 , with four out of five dead being civilians .  Obama said Monday that the end of the Iraq war means a new chapter in U . S . Iraq relations , with a focus now on a "" normal relationship between sovereign nations . ""  He told visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki that the two nations would build "" a comprehensive partnership "" that includes trade relations , support for building up Iraq ' s democratic capacity and military to military ties aimed at helping Iraq rebuild its air force , which was destroyed in the war against Saddam Hussein ' s regime .  "" Our goal is simply to make sure Iraq succeeds , "" he said .  Debate was raging about the nation ' s political future Sunday , as a political crisis erupted in Baghdad that raised fears of more sectarian strife to come .  Iraqiya , a powerful political bloc that draws support largely from Sunni and more secular Iraqis , said it was boycotting parliament , a move that threatens to shatter Iraq ' s fragile power sharing government .  The political bloc contends that al Maliki is trying to amass dictatorial power , and many believe that the prime minister was simply waiting for the Americans to leave before making his move .  "" These old sectarian divides are in many ways deeper than they were even under Saddam Hussein , and the United States can play a certain kind of role in that , "" Wright said , pointing to the importance of diplomatic involvement even after U . S . troops leave .  Cartwright said U . S . troops may return to Iraq to help train Iraqi forces .  "" It will be interesting to see , "" he said . "" I think the opportunity is there for us to bring forces back in . ""  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
13553,13554,"If you ve ever wondered why suddenly, now, Christian conservatives are making a huge stink over where people go to the bathroom, grab a match and take a look at this attack ad in Texas.Mail piece says @BriscoeCain is  well known  to those who frequent gay bars in Montrose section of Houston #TxLege pic.twitter.com/fqMH682gWz  Scott Braddock (@scottbraddock) May 20, 2016On its face, it looks like a pretty standard below the belt political attack ad. It might make a candidate an asshole and a bigot to spread unfounded rumors that your opponent is gay, but on the next page is where the real insight into the Republican party is: Irony: Mailer against a Hotze-backed candidate, @BriscoeCain, says he should be kept out of men s bathrooms #TxLege pic.twitter.com/wLOzL3nQRY  Scott Braddock (@scottbraddock) May 20, 2016The transgender bathroom laws that are popping up across the country are not specifically about transgender people. Once the Supreme Court ruled that marriage equality was the law of the land, anti-gay bigots had to take their fight elsewhere. Besides, gay marriage might not be so bad if you don t actually have to see people *gasp* holding hands or *I feel faint* kissing. What s a better way to keep people out of the public than to ban them from using public restrooms?If you think this is a bit of a stretch, think about the bathroom laws themselves. Imagine a very masculine looking man, who happened to have been born with a vagina. Do women, who already see predators around every corner, really want to share a bathroom with him? Should a woman, feminine in every way except for what s between her legs, be forced to use the men s room? Of course not. Anti- conservatives don t want them to use the bathroom at all, just like Briscoe Cain s opponent doesn t want him in bathrooms.Yes, this is just one person, but this guy (unfortunately, not a Republican) feels that gay people should have their own bathrooms. You know, separate, but equal.Here are a few more charmers:Keep the freaks, perverts, and Fags out of the bathrooms!! weblink  Lisa Smith (@JuliaKi96952130) May 9, 2016 i m not against gender neutral bathrooms, but can we get a faggot only restroom?For all the fags.  Grant (@DieBABIP) April 28, 2016When you #fags have your own bathrooms fully designed I will support the # community in having them built across the nation> #Deal?  James Perry (@fuzzydeduction) March 25, 2016 Question: Why are fags allowed to use male bathrooms?  Jim Screechie (@WaHeName) October 27, 2014@Holden114 I don t really see why. Gay men can use bathrooms that little boys use. Is there something wrong with that?  Brandt (@UrbanAchievr) May 13, 2016 I remember reading about how people were afraid gay men would rape boys in men s bathrooms. The news media must be covering up those reports  I m fejimanz (@fejimanz) May 9, 2016why are gay men allowed in men bathrooms, they like men, why they in the same bathroom? Now the guys that cut it off, want another bathroom   (@astronaut_____1) May 4, 2016 I propose we also put in bathrooms strictly for lesbians and gay men. Idk like if im peeing and a lesbian just walks in idk man  Cat (@pleasecatcallme) April 26, 2016You hate fighting off unwanted advances? Try being a woman.This is why fags should not share bathrooms with us straight guys ? weblink   Mist (@HolyChanteuse) April 19, 2016Apparently, beaches should also be off limits to gay people: @zekestokes said he s gonna lead a boycott against Myrtle Beach Bc of trans bathrooms. Haha. Like we care. Who wants fags at the beach?  Gator Chomper (@Swampnut) May 3, 2016Ironically, Cain is a Tea Party candidate and he s about as anti-gay as his opponent, Rep. Wayne Smith, 72. Cain is married to a woman. I suppose in most people s eyes, that makes it safe for him to pee.Featured image via Briscoe Cain Facebook page. ",fake,dataset,validation,American football,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
13562,13563,"Queens , New York Kellie Phelan doesn ' t mince words when she looks back at herself five years ago .  "" I was basically a crackhead , "" Phelan said . "" I literally was getting arrested every other week . I got pregnant by a drug dealer . . . . I was seven months pregnant , and I was still smoking crack . ""  When she finally gave birth to her daughter , Phelan was behind bars , serving a 90 day jail sentence for possessing crack cocaine , violating her probation .  It was a wake up call .  "" That was the most traumatizing experience of my life , "" Phelan said . "" To go see my beautiful , healthy baby girl in an orange jumpsuit and handcuffs and shackles . . . I was embarrassed that was the way I brought her into this world .  "" I knew I was changing my life . I just didn ' t know how I was going to change my life . ""  Fortunately , Phelan connected with Hour Children , a nonprofit that reaches out to convicted mothers at five correctional facilities in New York . Now , at 38 , she says she is drug free , has a job she loves and is raising her daughter in an apartment of her own .  "" When you see what ( these women ) can do with support and love and education , it ' s miraculous , really , "" said Sister Teresa Fitzgerald , who founded Hour Children . "" They don ' t believe in a future and are hung up on the mistakes of their life . And life is not about a mistake . We all get a gift of life , and we have to live it . ""  Over the past 25 years , Fitzgerald ' s group has provided life changing assistance to more than 9 , 000 mothers both behind and beyond bars . Its goal is to reintegrate former inmates into society by helping them with common post release stumbling blocks , such as reuniting families and finding safe , affordable housing . It also provides the women with free counseling , education and employment support .  "" Everybody loves children , and they ' re an easy sell , "" Fitzgerald said . "" But the mothers , for many of them , their lives were so horrific growing up , and they didn ' t have what children deserve . They ended up on the negative side of life .  "" If you don ' t get the support and tools , you can ' t give it to your child . . . . It ' s a dead end all around . ""  Hour Children named in part because jailed mothers get only an hour at a time to visit with their children begins counseling women at least three months before their release . Women are referred to the group by corrections workers , or they can reach out directly . Most have family histories of substance abuse , physical abuse , mental illness and other types of trauma , Hour Children says .  According to the New York Department of Corrections , 29 of the state ' s female ex convicts are eventually re arrested . But Hour Children says that for women in its program , that rate drops to 3 .  "" No woman comes out of prison and says ' Gee , I really want to mess up again , ' "" said Fitzgerald , 65 . "" You talk with these women . . . about the skills that they need and the perspective and the possibilities of change . That ' s the key here : that change can happen . ""  Do you know a hero ? Nominations for 2012 Heroes close August 31  Phelan admits she initially had little faith that Hour Children would live up to its promise to meet her upon her release from Rikers Island in New York . But the organization picked up her and her baby and brought them to one of its transitional homes in Long Island City .  "" From the moment I walked through the doors , it was like home , "" Phelan said . "" I knew I was going to be  from that point on . . . .  "" If I hadn ' t found this organization . . . my family would have taken my baby . . . . I ' d be dead , in prison , smoking crack or doing heroin . No doubt about it . ""  In Long Island City , the group maintains several affordable , sober living transitional homes as well as permanent homes and offices . Hour Children also offers affordable day care and after school programs , a food pantry , a community garden , thrift stores and a salon all of which are open to the general public .  These opportunities can mean a great deal , because women leaving prison have limited options . Reuniting with children who ' ve been in foster care can be contingent upon the mother finding income and a stable home , but some ex offenders aren ' t eligible for public housing in New York . And offenders on state work release programs have eight weeks to find work .  "" Employment and housing can be daunting because so many doors are closed to our mothers , "" Fitzgerald said . "" We all know who they are , so they don ' t have to defend the fact that they have been in prison . Women without that help , going out there on their own , have a huge challenge . ""  Fitzgerald knew nothing about the prison population in 1985 , when a fellow nun asked her to escort a young child to Rikers Island so she could visit her mother .  Witnessing the consequences of the forced separation on the child , mother and family moved Fitzgerald to rededicate her life to repairing and strengthening broken bonds . She and four other nuns began taking in children who were born behind bars and raising them until their mothers ' release .  This work continues today , with children regularly placed with Hour Children community members who coordinate regular visitations with moms inside . Each visit an inmate receives offers her greater incentive to make a change .  "" Little steps matter , "" Fitzgerald said . "" They sit in prison , and they can hardly imagine how to get from here to there .  "" Nothing happens in isolation . When you come out and you have a community of support that encourages you to use your time well to make little steps that turn into big steps , you see the hope there . . . . They show each other they can do it . ""  Women applying for housing are required to enroll in the group ' s employment and training program . They must also be willing to comply with sober and communal living restrictions and responsibilities . They ' re welcome for as long as they feel they need support and continue to progress . Some have stayed for a few months , others as long as 15 years .  "" We welcome people in , "" Fitzgerald said . "" When they are here and it ' s clear they are not using the services and progressing , then you can say to them : ' We invited you . If you ' re not utilizing what we offer , you have to move on . ' We hold them to their commitment . ""  The group functions on private donations and small grants and says that more than 60 of its staffers , including Phelan , have come through the program themselves .  Phelan runs the group ' s youth mentoring program . She says that thanks to Fitzgerald , she ' s proud of who she is today .  "" I want people to admire me , and I want to help people the way she ' s helped me , "" Phelan said . "" If I could know I ' d change a life like she changed mine , it gives purpose to the years I ran the streets . . . . It makes it all understandable then . Because God put me through it for a reason . ""  That ' s precisely the dignified spirit that Fitzgerald says carries this population forward .  "" They admit to their mistakes , and I admire that because I know a lot of people on the outside who don ' t , "" she said . "" But they want to move beyond the mistake . And they want to rise up almost from the ashes and say : ' Wow ! Look at me . I can do it . ' ""  Want to get involved ? Check out the Hour Children website at www . hourchildren . org and see how to help .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
13584,13585,"An al Qaeda produced video posted on a website in early July opens with uplifting images of smiling Syrian children and jovial old men listening to speeches delivered by al Qaeda militants .  The video seems startlingly out of place on a website usually devoted to serious young men learning to fire machine guns , bloodshed and graphic images of civilian casualties purportedly caused by U . S . forces in Iraq and Afghanistan .  Instead , the video , featured on a site aligned with al Qaeda , shows a Jordanian member of al Qaeda ' s affiliate in Syria insisting that his group ' s poor image is just a myth propagated by Western media . He says : "" The international channels try to twist the picture and portray the mujahedeen as bloodthirsty , as distanced from the people that they reject the people and don ' t love them . "" As the Jordanian militant speaks , young Syrian boys crowd around him .  Al Qaeda affiliated fighters have set up "" Advocacy Tents "" in Syria ' s largest city , Aleppo , where the jihadists can "" educate the people on our point of view . ""  In another apparent attempt to soften its image , al Qaeda members in Syria held something akin to a town fair . Another al Qaeda video produced in Syria surfaced online in July , this one showing an al Qaeda organized ice cream eating contest in Aleppo .  Around the same time , an Arabic language news outlet , Aleppo News , published a video of a tug of war between members of the two al Qaeda affiliated rebel groups fighting in Syria . In the video , crowds of young boys and older men cheer on the members of al Qaeda .  Al Qaeda and its regional franchises understand they need to try to win the "" heart and minds "" of the local population something they have generally failed to do in the past and something that the leaders of these groups have come to understand is a major problem .  In documents recovered in Osama bin Laden ' s compound in Abbottabad , Pakistan , bin Laden and his top advisers privately criticized the brutal tactics of al Qaeda in Iraq , which had provoked a tribal uprising known as "" the Sunni Awakening "" that almost destroyed al Qaeda ' s Iraqi affiliate in 2006 and 2007 .  Now , al Qaeda in Iraq and in neighboring Syria are experiencing a revival , a revival at least somewhat fueled by al Qaeda learning from some of the mistakes it made during the previous decade in Iraq .  This is significant because al Qaeda ' s Syrian affiliate , al Nusra , is widely considered to be the most effective rebel force fighting the Assad regime , and the group pledged allegiance to the leader of al Qaeda , Ayman al Zawahiri , in April .  But videos of al Qaeda militants playing tug of war or joking with members of the local community are hardly signs of moderation .  Al Qaeda ' s Syrian branch releases lengthy and passionate sermons dedicated to denouncing Shi ' a Muslims as apostates who should be killed .  And although some al Qaeda fighters in Syria might be engaging the public with ice cream , games and conversation , their colleagues in neighboring Iraq continue to launch bloody attacks on civilians .  On Monday , at least 50 people were killed in 15 separate car bomb attacks in Baghdad . Many of those bombings are believed be the work of al Qaeda ' s Iraqi affiliate .  In all likelihood , al Qaeda and its allied groups are doing too little , too late , in their quest to win the public ' s hearts and minds .  The group ' s senior leaders recognized the dangers of killing too many Muslim civilians as far back as 2005 , when Zawahiri reprimanded the founder of al Qaeda in Iraq , Abu Musab al Zarqawi , for alienating the Iraqi people with indiscriminate violence .  And the majority of Muslims around the world reject violence in the name of Islam , particularly in the form of suicide bombings . This is unsurprising , given that al Qaeda ' s violence has primarily claimed Muslim lives .  It will take a lot more than ice cream socials to undo that damage .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
13585,13586,"Noah Baumbach is emerging as an emotionally acute , not to say eviscerating , observer of the middle class intelligentsia , the kind of people who write letters to "" The New York Times "" and might plausibly pop up in a Woody Allen movie .  Unlike the Woodman , Baumbach doesn ' t show his face on screen , but his films are no less personal for that : "" The Squid and the Whale "" was a sometimes wincingly autobiographical account of two boys torn between their divorcing parents , and he ' s not one to deflect an insight with a wisecrack . The cracks just cut deeper . I ' ve rarely experienced an audience recoil from a character as passionately as they did to Nicole Kidman ' s toxically self absorbed writer in "" Margot at the Wedding "" ( maybe her best performance , incidentally ) . These are comedies in the sense that the characters are painfully ridiculous and all too recognizably real but Baumbach sure doesn ' t make it easy for himself , or us .  Roger Greenberg ( Ben Stiller ) is another neurotic narcissist , a middle aged loner who comes back to Los Angeles to house sit while his brother enjoys a long vacation in the Far East . Greenberg ( only his brother calls him Roger ) can feed the family dog , but the truth is that he desperately needs to regroup and recharge after a spell in a mental hospital .  He has one friend , Ivan ( Rhys Ifans ) , who still has time for him and a wider circle of former friends who don ' t . We soon learn that Greenberg used to front a band , but it fell apart after he turned down a recording deal , and he ' s been in New York ever since , under achieving on a permanent basis .  "" I ' m trying to do nothing for a while , "" is how he explains himself to anyone who will listen .  Stiller finds a note of defiance in this pathetic rationalization ( along with his powerlessness , Greenberg has developed an angry streak ) , but it ' s clear to almost everyone how lost he really is . He ' s living in the past , fantasizing about his old girlfriend ( a deftly ironic cameo by Baumbach ' s wife , Jennifer Jason Leigh ) and scarcely able to look after himself , let alone his brother ' s dog .  It ' s hard to believe this hunched misanthrope grew up in sunny California he can barely doggy paddle and always dresses for rain but Stiller knows him inside out . He shows us someone trapped in his own disappointment , flailing and failing .  Then there ' s Florence ( Greta Gerwig ) , his brother ' s personal assistant nanny , a wannabe singer who defaults to doormat status in almost any social exchange . Greenberg throws himself on her with an awkward mixture of condescension and vulnerability , and their fumbling relationship physical but scarcely intimate serves as a kind of love story , or at least the unspoken promise of one .  It ' s crucial to Baumbach ' s strategy that Gerwig ( a mainstay of the new millennial American independent scene ) is ordinarily beautiful , not movie star knockout . Florence is self conscious and unsure of herself , which is why she ' ll drive Greenberg around ( he doesn ' t drive ) even after he ' s walked out on her twice .  Uneventful ( the dog gets sick , and , uh , that ' s about it ) , "" Greenberg "" resembles the kind of films Gerwig has been making ( ""  , "" "" Baghead "" ) , but on a bigger budget and with one of Hollywood ' s most accomplished cinematographers on board ( Harris Savides , whose credits include "" Zodiac "" and "" Milk "" ) . That is , it coalesces around tentative , half formed ideas about how to be a person in the world . "" Greenberg "" shows that young people aren ' t the only ones wondering what they ' re to make of themselves and whether it ' s already too late .  Its best sequence , the climax , is an impromptu house party in which Greenberg finds himself pontificating , stoned , before a bemused audience half his age and at long last manages to accept himself .  It ' s a small victory but worth savoring .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
13592,13593,"100%  Up! was able to easily find evidence about the anti-American, cop-hating, racist who attacked Trump during a rally on Sunday. Either the mainstream media news organizations don t have any investigative journalists working for them, or they prefer to hide the truth about Trump s attacker. We believe the latter is true.An even bigger question is how this radical cop hating, white hating (self-loathing) Bernie Sanders supporter is able to jump on the stage of the  Presidential front-runner, grab him, scuffle with the  Secret Service and only be charged with two misdemeanors? Watch new video that was just released of Tommy DiMassimo rushing to get at Trump on stage here: interviewed Thomas (Tommy) DiMassimo, the man who was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and inducing panic after he rushed the stage at an Ohio Trump rally on Sunday.During the interview,  Tommy  DiMassimo explained to  that he just wanted to take the podium away from the  presidential front-runner to send a message.  never asked him a single quesiton about his past or his support for Bernie Sanders.It s almost as though  was giving Tommy DiMassimo, a Wright State University senior, a platform to express his dissatisfaction with Donald Trump. They wouldn t do that for someone who just committed a crime by rushing the stage of the top  Presidential candidate  would they?weblink is the real truth about the soft-spoken Tommy DiMassimo that appeared in the  video who was worried about Trump being a  bully.  We found these videos on YouTube that were co-written by the Wright State University senior. The name of the video is  Red Black and Blue.  The video appears to be promoting a  Revolution  featuring blacks killing cops and of course, cops killing innocent blacks.*** and  Warning***Here is the first shocking trailer for DiMassimo s movie  Red Black and Blue :weblink is the second violent trailer. The video in its entirety can be found below:weblink are tweets that were sent out by Tommy DiMassimo just prior to the Ohio Trump rally where he rushed the stage. In the first tweet, he talks about becomig a  martyr.  The second tweet talks about getting into a Trump rally and  slapping fire  into Trump. From the Urban dictionary: The art of slapping fire out of a person is to give said person an intense slap that will leave their face red for an extended period of time. That sure sounds a  differnt that the non-violent explanation he gave CNN. The last tweet with the gun and smiley face emoji was sent to fake black guy, Shaun King. You be the judge of what he s trying to say in his tweets below.And of course, the fact that he s a Bernie Sanders supporter should come as no surprise:Folks in OHIOGo vote for Bernie and or Not Trump  il ragazzo (@Younglionking7) March 13, 2016This tweet was posted in Sept, 2015. The most recent tweets (seen above) have all been deleted.DiMassimo posts a picture of a bloodied cop seen in the film on his Facebook page. One of his friends asks in the comment section,  Is that you?  He doesn t respond.This picture was taken from DiMassimo s facebook page advertising his one man show on Wright College campus.Here s DiMassio hanging out with a few sweet boys in the neighborhood:Oh, the irony of DiMassimo looking to the police officer for help when he was concerned about a concealed carrier, after spending the afternoon taunting the Confederate flag supporters, and actually burning a Confederate flag in front of them at a  rally (see below):Open Carry Activist Prepares to Draw Gun on Counterprotester at Yesterday's Confederate Flag Rally in # #p2 #tcot pic.twitter.com/cNuEKHXmF6   (@CSGV) August 2, 2015Hero of the Day burns Confederate flag and waves it at 500 idiots at Stone Mountain. pic.twitter.com/iBzwN3ElcK  Derf Backderf (@DerfBackderf) August 3, 2015Here s a video showing the controversy DiMassio created when standing on an American flag on campus:Here is the video of the actual event. Watch the disrespect this punk has an elderly veteran confronts him:weblink you can stomach it, here is the violent full-edition of the video co-written by Tommy DiMassimo, the  intelligent, bright, college senior :Tommy DiMassimo is sadly, representative of many of the whiny, anti-American students we see supporting Bernie Sanders and a Black Lives Matter terror movement today. Black Lives Matter was created to threaten and intimidate Americans into giving them not equal treatment, but special treatment. Our hateful and divisive President is responsible for the groundswell of support for hate groups like this that are popping up across colleges, universities and large cities across America. The reason they are trying so hard to prevent a Trump presidency is because they fear he will call them out and expose them for their self-serving agenda. Their only hope to keep this radical movement going is to elect Bernie Sanders or Hillary. Trump is the only person who they fear is an obstacle standing in the way of their goal.We ll never know how far Tommy Massimo would have gone if he was allowed to get ahold of Trump on the stage. One thing is clear though, his ridiculous punishment and the special treatment he was given by  will certainly not dissuade the next radical from attempting to harm Trump at one of his public events.Here is a screen grab that shows DiMassimo as one of the co-writers of the  Red Black and Blue  video. Although we can t prove it, given his flair for drama, it is highly likely DiMassimo is one of the actors in the violent cop and white-hating film: ",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,satire,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
13604,13605,"Ben Morgan looks certain to be ruled out of the Six Nations on Sunday after it emerged the England No 8 underwent surgery on his damaged left ankle on Saturday morning .  The Gloucester star , who finished the autumn as England ' s first choice No 8 and was named  man of the series following a string of barnstorming displays , was injured during Friday night ' s Aviva Premiership clash against Saracens and left the field on a stretcher requiring oxygen just after half time .  It is understood the 25 year old was taken to hospital in Gloucester and underwent surgery in the early hours of Saturday morning to repair badly damaged ligaments .  Gloucester ' s Ben Morgan leaves the pitch on a stretcher after he suffered a leg injury in the second half  Morgan is likely to miss the Six Nations for England after having ankle surgery on Saturday morning  He now faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines and , although his World Cup participation is not believed to be under threat , his chances of playing in the Six Nations are ' almost zero ' .  ' Ben went under the knife soon after the game , ' said a source close to the player .  ' We ' re waiting to hear the full extent of the damage but the fact he was sent for surgery so soon after the injury occurred is clearly not a good sign . '  Gloucester director of rugby David Humphreys initially played down fears Morgan had broken his ankle but extensive ankle ligament damage has left England coach Stuart Lancaster needing to look elsewhere for a starting No 8 to face Wales in Cardiff on February 6 .  Gloucester fly half James Hook fires over a last minute penalty to secure victory for the home side  Morgan ( left ) celebrates with Gloucester scrum half Dan Robson after his superb try in the first half  Billy Vunipola ( Saracens ) : Dropped during the autumn series but is back in form .  Nick Easter ( Harlequins ) : Turns 37 this year but continues to deliver .  Thomas Waldrom ( Exeter ) : Has scored nine tries in 12 appearances this season .  James Haskell ( Wasps ) : Powerful ball carrying ability and experience .  Tom Wood ( Northampton ) : Normally on the blindside but a switch to No 8 could provide some spark .  Dave Ewers ( Exeter ) : A possible bolter for selection who has previously been praised by Stuart Lancaster . Uncapped at international level .  Steffon Armitage ( Toulon ) : The  state the France based European Player of the Year will only be picked under ' exceptional circumstances ' .  ' When you see someone coming off on a stretcher it ' s never a good sign , ' Humphreys said . A formal release is expected at some point Sunday .  With Lancaster already sweating on the fitness of first choice centre Manu Tuilagi ( groin ) and tighthead prop Dan Cole ( foot ) , he will have to embark on the final Six Nations campaign before the World Cup without a host of star performers .  England ' s autumn was blighted by injury withdrawals and it looks as if history is repeating itself .  Morgan ' s anticipated withdrawal is hugely significant . With 27 caps now under his belt , the 19 stone powerhouse emerged as one of England ' s most effective forwards during the autumn , scoring three tries while offering scrum ballast and a constant ball carrying threat .  Saracens No 8 Billy Vunipola his most likely replacement has endured a difficult season , suffering back to back concussions either side of the autumn series and struggling to recapture the outstanding form of the past two seasons .  Saracens No 8 Billy Vunipola ( left ) looks set to profit from Morgan ' s injury by reclaiming his England spot  Vunipola is finding some form again after losing confidence and suffering back to back concussions  The 22 year old remains favourite to replace Morgan at the Millennium Stadium but he will need to show an improvement in form during Saracens ' upcoming European Champions Cup clashes with Munster and Clermont Auvergne over the next fortnight . He was subdued again on Friday night , despite insisting he has put his troubled autumn behind him .  ' I am going to make sure I am never again in the position I was in the autumn where I questioned my own ability , ' he said . ' It was a tough time for me . Self doubt started creeping in . I ' d never had that before . '  The rest of England ' s No 8 cupboard is not overly well stocked .  At 36 , Harlequins ' Nick Easter is still a hugely influential Premiership performer while Toulon ' s Steffon Armitage remains one of European rugby ' s outstanding back rowers .  Harlequins ' Nick Easter is another contender for the No 8 role but has never been picked by Stuart Lancaster  Toulon ' s Steffon Armitage ( right ) will only be picked for England in extreme circumstances  But both men appear to be off England ' s radar , with Armitage unavailable due to  policy dictating that only home based players can be picked while Lancaster has not named Easter in a single squad since taking over from Martin Johnson in 2012 .  Exeter ' s Thomas Waldrom could provide similar attributes to Morgan while his heavyweight Exeter team mate Dave Ewers has attracted plenty of attention this season . Wasps captain James Haskell has also enjoyed his best season for a number of years , although he has been starting on the openside flank alongside the hugely impressive Fijian born No 8 Nathan Hughes .  The make up of Lancaster ' s back row has been hotly debated , with many believing captain Chris Robshaw is better suited to the blindside flank , where Tom Wood has struggled in recent months .  But with Morgan apparently one of the few names guaranteed a Six Nations start , his expected absence leaves Lancaster with even more head scratching to do .  Wasps captain James Haskell is enjoying an impressive season but has been playing on the openside flank  Exeter ' s Thomas Waldrom could offer similar attributes to Morgan his team mate Dave Ewers is another player who has attracted plenty of attention this season  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
13605,13606,"Lawless, Crooked Hillary promises to continue with Obama s arrogant, lawless push to flood America with people who have illegally entered our nation Democrat voters. Our nation and our nation s security won t survive another four years of Obama h/t to the brilliant Jon Feere, Legal Policy Analyst at the Center for Immigration Studies.  The  is one of the best sources in America for keeping up with our immigration crisis in America. From Hillary s website:Hillary will:Enact comprehensive immigration reform to create a pathway to citizenship, keep families together, and enable millions of workers to come out of the shadows.Defend President Obama s executive actions to provide deportation relief for DREAMers and parents of Americans and lawful residents, and extend those actions to additional persons with sympathetic cases if Congress refuses to act.Promote naturalization and support immigrant integration. End family detention and close private immigrant detention centers.Hillary s not just advocating for making lawbreakers legal citizens of the United States, she s also planning to bring millions of Muslims from countries who hate us to America, and fast-track them to citizenship:If elected president, Hillary Clinton could permanently resettle close to one million Muslim migrants during the first term of her presidency alone, according to the latest available data from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).Between 2001 and 2013, the U.S. permanently resettled 1.5 million Muslim migrants on green cards. However, under Hillary Clinton s stated proposals, Muslim immigration would grow substantially faster, adding nearly one million Muslim migrants to the U.S. during her first term alone.Based on the most recent available  data, the U.S. permanently resettled roughly 149,000 migrants from predominantly Muslim countries on green cards in 2014. Yet Clinton has said that, as President, she would expand Muslim migration by importing an additional 65,000 Syrian refugees into the United States during the course of a single fiscal year. Clinton has made no indication that she would limit her proposed Syrian refugee program to one year.Clinton s Syrian refugees would come on top of the tens of thousands of refugees the U.S. already admits from Muslim countries.Adding Clinton s 65,000 Syrian refugees to the approximately 149,000 Muslim migrants the U.S. resettled on green cards in the course of one year, means that Clinton could permanently resettle roughly 214,000 Muslim migrants in her first year as President. If Clinton were to continue her Syrian refugee program throughout her Presidency, she could potentially resettle as many as 856,000 during her first term alone.Analysis from the Senate Immigration Subcommittee found that Clinton s plan to expand refugee resettlement could cost U.S. taxpayers over $400 billion.Additionally, once Clinton s Syrian refugees are in the U.S. as green card holders, they will have the ability to bring over their family members through chain migration.With regards to Middle Eastern migration, Clinton s 65,000 Syrian refugees would be added on top of the roughly 96,000 Middle Eastern migrants the U.S. resettled on green cards in a single year. Based on the minimum numbers Clinton has put forth thus far, as President, she could potentially resettle approximately 644,000 Middle Eastern migrants during her first term alone.According to a September 2015 Rasmussen survey, women voters oppose Clinton s Middle Eastern refugee plan by a remarkable 21-to-1 margin. Democrat voters oppose Clinton s refugee plan by a 17-to-1 margin. Most remarkably, 85 percent of black voters oppose Clinton s refugee agenda  with less than one percent of black voters supporting her plan.Yet Clinton s expansion to Muslim migration would be in addition to her expansion for immigration overall.U.S. Census data shows that if a President Hillary Clinton were successful in passing a Gang of Eight-style immigration expansion bill, the U.S. could permanently resettle roughly 9.4 million migrants throughout the nation during her first term alone. This figure does not include the additional 11 million illegal immigrants already here to whom Clinton has promised amnesty and U.S. citizenship.Clinton s desire to expand immigration is shared by  House Speaker Paul Ryan, who leads the pro-Islamic migration wing of the Republican Party.  Breitbart",fake,dataset,validation,World conflict,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
13614,13615,"Word on the street is that Kristen Stewart is telling friends that her guy , Robert Pattinson , was acting strange and had done so before .  Ms . Stewart began by telling friend , Taylor Lautner and he passed it on to others who wanted to help Pattinson get through this . No one informed any reporters about the earlier episode but there were a few present this time that weren ' t there during the last episode .  "" What I got to hear and tell you , you can pay me but no names , please . "" So we told him we usually were good on that promise because we would never get another interview .  Apparently Robert Pattinson had disguised himself and got a job as a waiter at the . . . no , let ' s just say a New York restaurant as a waiter . He would constantly walk around with a pepper shaker and ask if the lady ( usually ) would like some fresh pepper on her salad . '  "" I have no idea why ? It was just like the last time . He lost his job after a couple of nights and then he came back to see Stewart , acting as if nothing had happened . ""  Then we got a surprise . Another friend came up and told us that he  why Pattinson did what he does .  "" Remember , he did this same type of thing only as a bus boy before and that time he was asking about the sea salt ? ""  SSSSsshh ! The other guy stated , "" I told the reporter . . . ""  "" No , it ' s no big thing . This is the lowdown . Pattinson says he gets into these roles he plays and then he thinks being an actor can change a person so much , he was actually going to try something else . Well , he talked to his analyst , he has the same one Woody Allen sometimes sees and the advice was : Go do something else . See how it feels being a car salesman of a waiter and you ' ll get back to wanting to be an actor really soon . ""  Seems like it works . Pattinson , we hear , is acting normal ( for him ) and this also gives us an idea why Woody Allen plays the clarinet so often . It ' s a change .  ",satire,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
13619,13620,"Abdelhamid Abaaoud , a Belgian Isis militant who allegedly co ordinated Friday s attacks , was killed in the raid in the early hours of Wednesday , alongside a female suicide bomber who detonated her vest as police closed in .  French prosecutor confirms Paris attacks ' mastermind ' killed in raid  She was named locally as Abaaoud s cousin , Hasna Aitboulahcen . Although her identity has not been officially announced , the prosecutor s office said today that a handbag containing her passport was found on the floor .  The cause of the second woman s death is unclear but police previously said part of the building had caved in following a lengthy gun battle with police , the suicide bombing and grenades .  A man is arrested by police officers at the site where a raid happened in the city center of Saint Denis , near Paris  Hooded police officers detain a man in Saint Denis , near Paris  Hooded police officers detain a man in Saint Denis , near Paris  Police officers detain a man on the ground inside a shopping mall in Saint Denis  Police officers arrest a man in Saint Denis , a northern suburb of Paris  French police officers storm a church after a raid in Paris suburb Saint Denis  Police officers at work at the site where a raid happened in the city center of Saint Denis  Some people are being transferred to a local hospital near the site of this morning police raid in Saint Denis  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
13636,13637,"She ' s only 23 , but Deepika Padukone is already living a life millions would envy .  From calendar model to Bollywood big time : Deepika Padukone .  The model turned actress was spotted in a music video and then cast in one of the biggest grossing films in Bollywood history . She still only has three movies under her belt , but star status has already been bestowed upon her .  With no family connections to the film industry and not being from Mumbai , Padukone traveled a route to movie stardom millions could only dream of .  After deciding to become a model at the age of 16 , she was picked out of a music video by acclaimed director Farah Khan and cast in her next film opposite Shahrukh Khan . "" Om Shanti Om "" went on to become not only a hit in India , but also gained wider acclaim among western audiences .  Despite her meteoric rise to fame and work on some big budget films she believes she ' s learning the job of being an A list Bollywood actress .  "" I had great debut , a successful film , but after that . . . I would think it ' s quite difficult to choose the right film . You never know what ' s right and what ' s wrong , "" she said .  "" Things for me changed quite overnight , actually . I remember a couple of months before the film release , not too many people knew me . In November 2007 when my film released and immediately after that I had to travel to New York , to Dubai and to London , and suddenly everyone on the streets started recognizing me , especially the Indians . That ' s when I realized that things have changed . ""  With the public attention has come the inevitable media spotlight on her private life . She says she never experienced the "" casting couch "" but is consistently romantically linked with other Bollywood stars , and there were rumors about a relationship with Indian cricketer  Dhoni .  "" As someone who didn ' t know how to deal with it , yes it was really difficult for me initially to read about myself or to read about things that are untrue . But I think slowly you start learning to deal with these things . ""  Padukone ' s father was a professional badminton player , and she played too as a teenager , traveling across the country to compete in tournaments . But by her late teens she decided she wanted to be a model and got the full support of her parents .  "" I had the support of my family . I didn ' t get carried away . I think I was patient enough to wait for the right assignment to come my way . ""  As a model she appeared in commercials and music videos . Since her move into the movie business more commercial endorsements have come her way , but in an industry notorious for its high turnover of starlets she is aware that for actresses there is often a limited shelf life .  "" For me my life now is my work . But I know that at some point I will have to have a life beyond my work . And I know that today there ' s me , tomorrow there will be someone else . Maybe I ' ll be here for 5 years , maybe I ' ll be here for many , many years .  "" I ' m definitely going to work hard and make sure that I can be here for as long as I can , but I ' ll also make sure that people don ' t get bored of me . And . . . yes , let ' s see how it goes . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
13643,13644,"No wonder Manchester United can ' t wait for Wayne Rooney to return in the Manchester derby on Sunday . The Etihad is a particularly happy hunting ground for the England striker with seven of his record 11 derby goals coming there including his last five against City .  So while Manuel Pellegrini ' s men will boast home advantage , the Premier League title and a better team than their neighbours , United ' s players inside the away dressing room will see Rooney and still believe they can win .  Nobody has scored more Manchester derby goals than Rooney 11 in 22 appearances . There will be international talent worth hundreds of millions on show but none is proven in this special fixture than Rooney .  Wayne Rooney will captain Manchester United in Sunday ' s derby after serving a three game suspension  Rooney ( right ) hasn ' t featured for the Red Devils since being sent off against West Ham in September  The 29 year old will return from a three match suspension to wear the captain ' s armband for the first time ever in a Manchester derby and his return can ' t come soon enough for United who have failed to win their last two games without him and are off the pace for a top four finish .  Some of his best moments in a United shirt have come against the emerging enemy from across the city the special atmosphere clearly fires him up .  Most famous of course was his spectacular overhead kick against City in February 2011 , which was voted the best goal of the first 20 years of the Premier League . It was important too the winning goal in a 2 1 United victory at Old Trafford , but it ' s by no means his only derby highlight .  After drawing a blank in his first derby , Rooney sent out a warning to City fans for future years by converting a Gary Neville cross to score in a 2 0 United win at the Etihad in 2005 .  Rooney won the Manchester derby for United in February 2011 with a spectacular overhead kick  The change in City ' s ownership in 2008 was always likely to tilt the balance of power away from United , who had been completely dominant in Manchester before then .  But Rooney more than any other Red seemed to thrive on the challenge .  In the first derby of the "" Abu Dhabi era "" , Rooney scored the only goal at The Etihad in 2008 and United went on to retain the Premier League .  City have become serial trophy winners themselves since then but Rooney has always been the one player they have failed to control .  Rooney ( right ) scored the only goal of the game as United beat City 1 0 at the Etihad in 2008  He followed up his wonder goal in 2011 by scoring four times against City the following year .  He struck twice in an  Cup tie in January and twice more in a Premier League game in December . Ironically , both games at The Etihad ended with United winning 3 2 .  His last derby goal was less celebrated though , a weak consolation in a 4 1 defeat during the dark days of David Moyes .  There were those who thought Louis van Gaal ' s arrival in the summer might be a threat to Rooney . After all Robin van Persie was Van Gaal ' s World Cup captain for Holland .  Rooney scored twice as United beat their local rivals 3 2 in the third round of the  Cup in 2012  The England international was on the scoresheet again as United beat City 3 2 later that year in the league  It hasn ' t worked out like that though . After much deliberation , the new United manager turned to Rooney to be his captain as successor to Nemanja Vidic .  Van Gaal felt United ' s captain should be British and ingrained in the values of the club . Though Rooney is from Liverpool rather than Manchester , he has been at Old Trafford for a decade and set to pass Sir Bobby Charlton ' s all time goalscoring record one day .  A red card against West Ham for kicking Stewart Downing to prevent a counter attack was unwise . But nothing in United ' s results since then has suggested that Rooney won ' t walk straight back into the team as captain and leader .  Falcao has taken time to adjust following his loan move from Monaco and been hit by minor injuries that often accompany a return from a long term injury , his knee .  Rooney ' s last goal in a Manchester derby came in United ' s 4 1 thrashing at the Etihad last season  Juan Mata has failed to convince in a No10 role and was taken off by Van Gaal against Chelsea before United scored the equaliser .  So Rooney is set to face City a foot problem early in the week seems to have been overcome and remains one of the first names on van Gaal ' s team sheet , either up top alongside van Persie or as a No10 behind the Dutchman and Falcao .  Rooney ' s will to win was epitomised by his reaction to losing at City last season . He had just broken the record for derby goals but it was no consolation following a 4 1 loss .  ' Not good enough , ' he said afterwards . ' We have to improve , stop giving these sloppy goals away and capitalise on some of our good play . '  That is exactly what he will be trying to do on Sunday and given his Etihad record , City will be wary .  United boss Louis van Gaal ( right ) will be hoping Rooney can add to his tally of 11 derby goals against City  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
13647,13648,"Hurricane Irene , barreling toward the U . S . East Coast , said today it is very unhappy with its projected path and would like to chart its own course through life that would include college , a good job , and possibly a family .  Irene also apologized for any damage it may do but stressed its direction is not under its control as the hurricane ' s movements are dictated by wind currents and adjacent pressure systems .  "" Ever since I was born , I haven ' t been able to make my own decisions about what I want to do , where I want to go , "" said the storm , currently a dangerous category 3 . "" Everything is dictated for me . That ' s right , dictated , as in dictator .  "" I would like to chart my own path for once . You know , go to school ? Make new friends ? Sleepovers . S ' mores . Shopping . You know , girl stuff . ""  The hurricane hopes to eventually land a good job , "" something outdoors , "" and perhaps even become the first tropical cyclone to raise a family .  "" But let ' s face it , the way things are , I can ' t do that , "" Irene lamented . "" Sometimes I ask myself , Why ? Is it because I ' m a woman ? '  "" No , it ' s because it ' s a hurricane , "" said Bob Engstrom of the U . S . National Weather Service . "" It ' s not a woman , it ' s an extreme meteorological event . ""  "" You ' re an extreme meteorological event , "" Irene responded .  Irene also said it is considering contacting the American Civil Liberties Union to complain about the "" continual invasion of privacy . ""  "" Not only do I not control my future , but I have no private life , "" said Irene . "" My every movement is chronicled , I ' m constantly on television I am literally being stalked by The Weather Channel and these Air Force guys are up in me every minute , probing . Do you have any idea how humiliating that is ?  "" I mean , Hello ' . Does no one believe in romance anymore ? Courtship ? Bring me chocolates . Invite me to dinner . Something . ""  "" Honestly , sometimes I don ' t want to be Hurricane Irene anymore , "" the storm said . "" I just want to be plain old Irene . "" '  ",satire,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,present
13657,13658,"Novak Djokovic edged closer to the semi finals of the  World Tour Finals as the world No 1 cruised to victory against Stan Wawrinka in straight sets .  Despite some early Wawrinka pressure , world No 1 Djokovic proved too strong in the end for his Swiss opponent as he won 6 3 , 6 0 in 65 minutes and extended his unbeaten run indoors to 29 matches .  Djokovic now goes top of Group A but he has not yet qualified for the last four with several different qualification scenarios still possible in the last set of round robin matches .   Scroll down for Novak Djokovic : It was a really amazing performance  Novak Djokovic has edged closer to the  World Tour Finals semis after beating Stan Wawrinka  Djokovic defeated his Swiss opponent 6 3 , 6 0 in 65 minutes at London ' s O2 Arena on Wednesday  The Serbian only requires one set against Tomas Berdych on Friday to guarantee his progress , although he is purely focusing on notching up another win rather than being distracted by any complicated calculations .  Djokovic said : ' Nobody needs to tell me I need to win . I think I know that myself already . I try to win every match I play on . That ' s the kind of approach I will have on Friday . '  This was the pair ' s first meeting since Wawrinka beat Djokovic in an epic five set Australian Open quarter final in January .  And Wawrinka , who went on to win the title in Melbourne , showed some early promising glimpses as he broke defending champion Djokovic in the first game of the match and held for 2 0 with a stunning forehand pass .  Victory for Djokovic means he can end the year as World No 1 if he beats Tomas Berdych on Friday  The last time Wawrinka faced Djokovic he beat him on his way to the Australian Open title in January  However , Djokovic win 16 of the next 17 points from there to go 5 2 ahead and although Wawrinka managed to halt his opponent ' s momentum , Djokovic closed out the opening set on his third set point .  It then took just another 24 minutes to close out the match as Djokovic turned the screw and reeled off six games on the trot , clinching victory in style with a forehand winner down the line .  Djokovc said : ' I definitely didn ' t expect this but hoped that I can , again , play this way and the match result can go this way for me .  However , Djokovic proved too strong for Wawrinka this time as he won the opening set in a convincing manner  Djokovic wrapped up the second set , and the match , 24 minutes later as he bageled Wawrinka 6 0  ' After I lost the first two games , obviously I didn ' t start so great . I thought he played very well the first two games . But again , I wasn ' t frustrated . I kept my calm .  ' After that , it was a really amazing performance . '  Djokovic ' s second round robin victory means that he can also secure the year end world No 1 ranking if he beats Berdych .  Wawrinka plays  Open champion Marin Cilic in the other remaining Group A clash on Friday , with all four players still in with a chance of qualifying for the semis .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
13661,13662,"Brothers Malik and Barack Obama Both up to their ass in the Muslim Brotherhood stink ! No wonder they aren ' t saying much about 50 Christian churches and schools being torched in Egypt  President Obama ' s half brother in Kenya could cause the White House more headaches over new evidence linking him to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and establishing that controversial  supervisor Lois Lerner signed his tax exempt approval letter .  Malik Obama ' s oversight of the Muslim Brotherhood ' s international investments is one reason for the Obama administration ' s support of the Muslim Brotherhood , according to an Egyptian report citing the vice president of the Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt , Tehani al Gebali  In a news report on Egyptian television of a Gebali speech , translated by researcher Walid Shoebat , a former Palestinian Liberation Organization operative , Gebali said she would like "" to inform the American people that their president ' s brother Obama is one of the architects of the major investments of the Muslim Brotherhood . ""  "" We will carry out the law , and the Americans will not stop us , "" she said . "" We need to open the files and begin court sessions .  "" The Obama administration cannot stop us they know that they supported terrorism , "" she continued . "" We will open the files so these nations are exposed , to show how they collaborated with the terrorists . It is for this reason that the American administration fights us . ""  Shoebat said Gebali explained the news is important to Americans who are concerned about their president ' s actions , calling it "" is a gift to the American people , "" implying there were more revelations to come .  In an interview on Egyptian television , Gebali said the cost to Egypt has been great , and she vowed her country will not allow any conspiracy against its people or the Egyptian state . She insisted that pushing Egypt to bankruptcy is unacceptable , because it would plunge her country into a dire state similar to Iraq and Libya .  Shoebat said that if the reports are correct , Turkey appears to play a central role in the alleged conspiracy . He emphasized that Egypt has asserted to the international community that it will not tolerate any attempt to push the country to bankruptcy .  Shoebat ' s blog linked to three "" very credible sources that corroborate the report on Gebali ' s comments .  Shoebat reported in May that Malik Obama is the executive secretary of the Islamic Da ' wa Organization , or  , a group created by the government of Sudan , which is considered by the U . S . State Department to be a terrorist state .  In 2010 , Malik Obama attended an  conference in the Sudanese capital , Khartoum . One of the objectives of the  is to spread Wahhabist Islam across the African continent .  Sudan President Omar Al Bashir supervised the conference . Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court on seven counts related to crimes against humanity .  Shoebat asserted the evidence places Malik Obama "" in bed with terrorists , working in a terrorist state as an official of an organization created by terrorists . ""  ",satire,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
13662,13663,"The  Fundamental Transformation  of America is almost complete. Even Barack Hussein Obama must be surprised by how few hurdles have been placed in his way In less than 24 hours, our leftist  Supreme Court delivered not one, but two sucker punches to the heart of America. The acts of these radical judicial activists will have a dramatic effect on our society and culture in the United States of America.    The Supreme Court declared Friday that same-sex couples have a right to marry anywhere in the United States.Gay and lesbian couples already could marry in 36 states and the District of Columbia. The court s 5-4 ruling means the remaining 14 states, in the South and Midwest, will have to stop enforcing their bans on same-sex marriage.The outcome is the culmination of two decades of Supreme Court litigation over marriage, and gay rights generally. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the majority opinion, just as he did in the court s previous three major gay rights cases dating back to 1996. It came on the anniversary of two of those earlier decisions. No union is more profound than marriage,  Kennedy wrote, joined by the court s four more liberal justices.The four dissenting justices each filed a separate opinion explaining their views. But this court is not a legislature. Whether same-sex marriage is a good idea should be of no concern to us,  Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in dissent. Roberts read a summary of his dissent from the bench, the first time he has done so in nearly 10 years as chief justice.Justice Antonin Scalia said he is not concerned so much about same-sex marriage, but about  this court s threat to American democracy.  Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas also dissented.The ruling will not take effect immediately because the court gives the losing side roughly three weeks to ask for reconsideration. But some state officials and county clerks might decide there is little risk in issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.The cases before the court involved laws from Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee that define marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Those states have not allowed same-sex couples to marry within their borders and they also have refused to recognize valid marriages from elsewhere.Just two years ago, the Supreme Court struck down part of the federal anti-gay marriage law that denied a range of government benefits to legally married same-sex couples.The decision in United States v. Windsor did not address the validity of state marriage bans, but courts across the country, with few exceptions, said its logic compelled them to invalidate state laws that prohibited gay and lesbian couples from marrying.The number of states allowing same-sex marriage has grown rapidly. As recently as October, just over one-third of the states permitted same-sex marriage.There are an estimated 390,000 married same-sex couples in the United States, according to  s Williams Institute, which tracks the demographics of gay and lesbian Americans. Another 70,000 couples living in states that do not currently permit them to wed would get married in the next three years, the institute says. Roughly 1 million same-sex couples, married and unmarried, live together in the United States, the institute says.Via:  News ",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
13671,13672,"Reuters) - The European Parliament will insist on quickly making the deal reached between the European Union and Britain on divorce terms legally binding, worried London may not honor a gentleman s agreement, the parliament s chief Brexit coordinator said. The  and Britain, which is will leave the  in March 2019, agreed last Friday on the divorce terms in three key areas   a financial settlement, citizens  rights and how to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland. The European Commission said on Monday the deal was not legally binding yet, but it regarded it  as a deal between gentlemen  with  the clear understanding that it is fully backed and endorsed by the  government . But Britain s Brexit minister David Davis said on Sunday that the deal, which allows both sides to start talks on a future trade agreement crucial for Britain, was more of a  statement of intent  than a legally binding measure. This caused concern among  officials that London may want to go back on the agreement.   Remarks by David Davis that Phase One deal last week not binding were unhelpful and undermines trust. European Parliament text will now reflect this and insist agreement translated into legal text as soon as possible,  Guy Verhofstadt, who leads the European Parliament Brexit coordination team, tweeted. He said that after Davis s  unacceptable remarks , the European Parliament will ask  leaders meeting on Brexit on Friday to formally make negotiations on a future trade agreement with London conditional on including the agreement so far in full in the treaty on Britain leaving the EU. A draft text which leaders are set to adopt on Friday already states that  negotiations in the second phase can only progress as long as all commitments undertaken during the first phase are respected in full and translated faithfully in legal terms as quickly as possible . ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
13673,13674,"San Diego Geek is chic these days , especially around the San Diego Convention Center . The worlds of Hollywood , video games and comic books collided for four days at the annual International Comic Con 2012 .  Gaming has always played an important role in this pop culture convention .  Several of the larger Hollywood studios Paramount Pictures , 20th Century Fox and Universal Pictures sat out "" the Con "" this year , which opened up more room for the growing number of online series from the likes of YouTube , Hulu and Netflix as well as gaming .  In some instances these worlds collided as Microsoft showcased the talent behind the live action series "" Halo 4 : Forward Unto Dawn . ""  Hollywood also remains infatuated with games as a big screen source of inspiration . Sony Pictures debuted footage from "" Resident Evil : Retribution 3D , "" the fifth film in the successful franchise starring Milla Jovovich .  Capcom creators showed attendees a first look at "" Resident Evil 6 , "" which will hit PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 just a few weeks after the movie opens September 14 .  Open Road Films and Konami Digital Entertainment offered a similar double feature with "" Silent Hill Revelation 3D "" making its movie debut in the main hall while just down the street the game makers showed its interactive cousin , "" Silent Hill : Book of Memories . ""  Walt Disney Animation Studios explored the classic world of arcade games with "" Wreck It Ralph , "" a new computer animated adventure featuring the voices of Sarah Silverman and John C . Reilly . Activision will be releasing games for Nintendo ' s platforms based on this film .  More game publishers used Comic Con to debut brand new titles , even though the show is just a month after the big E3 convention .  But while that trade show is closed to the public , the San Diego shindig allowed game makers to reach the socially active early adopters that Hollywood and other marketers have long coveted by giving them hands on time with some of the biggest games of this year ( and next ) .  Here are five new games worth checking out that debuted at the show :  "" Marvel Heroes "" ( Gazillion Entertainment ,  , Xbox 360 , PlayStation 3 , 2013 )  While Sony Online Entertainment continues to allow gamers to explore the world of Batman , Superman and Wonder Woman with  Universe Online , that popular massively multiplayer online , or  , game only allows fans to play alongside those iconic characters .  "" Marvel Heroes "" is the first licensed comic book  that will allow players to step into the roles of Spider Man , Thor , Hulk , Captain America and a full roster of Marvel superheroes .  In the game world , Doctor Doom has gotten his hands on the Cosmic Cube also known as the "" Tesseract "" in this summer ' s "" The Avengers "" movie . It ' s up to players to save the world .  The game , at least at launch , will focus heavily on New York , complete with Mutant Town , but there will also be locations such as Savage Land . Fans can don their virtual costumes and play with friends starting next year .  "" Spartacus Legends "" ( Ubisoft , Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 , 2013 )  Starz Entertainment has made swords and sandals cool again with Steven DeKnight ' s "" Spartacus ""  series .  Now Ubisoft and developer Kung Fu Factory are bringing the fighting action home in the first console game based in this graphic novel infused bloody world . The game features actors from the show , including Liam McIntyre ( who plays Spartacus ) and Manu Bennett ( who plays Crixus ) .  Fans will also be able to create their own gladiators and fight in the same arenas featured in the series . One catch that ' s sure to pique the interest of fighting fans is that when a warrior has fallen in combat , if the victor decides to vanquish his opponent , that character is dead forever .  That adds a whole new twist to the game ' s online experience as players can build up powerful gladiators , train them and arm them with an assortment of weapons and then see them die in battle . The Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network title will debut in early 2013 in conjunction with the final season of the show , "" Spartacus : War of the Damned . ""  "" The Expendables 2 "" ( Ubisoft , Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 )  Sylvester Stallone returned to Comic Con , which helped generate buzz for the action flick that has become a franchise complete with a new game .  Developer Zoot Fly has worked closely with Stallone to craft an original story that bridges the gap between the two films . This prequel to the August 17 movie sequel from Lionsgate and Millenium Films puts players in control of four characters from the movie Barney Ross ( Stallone ) , Gunner Jensen ( Dolph Lundgren ) , Hale Caesar ( Terry Crews ) and Yin Yang ( Jet Li ) .  The four player co op game sends players on a mission to rescue a kidnapped billionaire . The action blends isometric shooting with vehicle combat in helicopters and tanks across locales such as the Somalian deserts and Burmese jungles .  Each character has a specialty , such as sniper or demolitions expert , as well as a signature kill that players can use , such as Ross ' dual pistols , for an up close offing of an enemy . The game debuts on PlayStation Network on July 31 and hits  and Xbox Live Arcade on August 17 .  "" Fortnite "" ( Epic Games ,  , 2013 )  Epic Games , which also showcased the Xbox 360 exclusive prequel , "" Gears of War : Judgment "" at Comic Con , debuted its first Unreal Engine 4 game , "" Fortnite , "" during a panel .  The gameplay is split into two unique experiences . Players will explore , forage , collaborate and build by day in their own dynamic and expanding world .  Once the sun goes down , they ' ll work together to defend their fortress from zombies and other assorted creatures . The building system has been designed so that players can use scavenged materials to build and renovate structures of varying materials and complexity quickly .  The game , which offers a third person perspective and overhead view of the action , shows off the potential of next generation ( PlayStation 4 and Xbox Next ) visuals by giving gamers a taste of what Unreal Engine 4 can do . The blend of strategy and survival horror serves as something fresh from the game developer best known for its shooters . "" Fortnite "" will be released in 2013 for the  .  "" The Walking Dead "" ( Activision Terminal Reality ,  , Xbox 360 , PlayStation 3 , 2013 )  Fans of  ' s hit show "" The Walking Dead , "" based on Robert Kirkman ' s graphic novel , already have a fun interactive adventure from Telltale Games .  While that episodic horror game is based on the source material , developer Terminal Reality is serving up a prequel to the  series starring popular characters Daryl and Merle Dixon .  Players will contend with "" walkers "" ( zombies ) as they make their way to the supposed safety of Atlanta after an outbreak has left the country overrun with the living dead . The first person action game features Daryl ' s crossbow as well as an assortment of other weapons that players can scavenge as they contend with obstacles living and dead in a brand new adventure .  The Emmy winning series has been able to blend horror with drama , but this game will allow fans to experience this rich universe with an action and horror focus . These walkers are fast and can hunt down players in hordes , which makes for an interesting new game experience for the growing number of fans . Activision unleashes the dead in 2013 .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
13683,13684,"Roger Goodell was cornered by an inept reporter at the notorious Sun Valley , Idaho , Billionaire ' s Club meeting this week . He must be an honorary member , or went as Bob Kraft ' s date .  Oh , crafty old Bob Krafty never misses these social events . It ' s an opportunity to rub shoulders and pick pockets of other bubble headed billionaires .  You have more than sports moguls traipsing around the snowless grounds of a great ski town in mid summer . You have Facebook , Amazon , and other major corporation movers and shakers . Apparently there are few places billionaires can go to take the pulse of their fellow control freaks .  Have they come together to discuss Tom Brady and Delfategate ?  Well , an enterprising reporter there seemed oblivious to other major cultural and political decisions that may be coming out of such a meeting . We may be witnessing how money talks .  However , sports takes precedence over all else . The reporter asked her question of Roger Goodell about the Patriots owner , but had to receive a stagewhisper prompt from one of the other losers among the winners . She couldn ' t recall Kraft ' s name .  Instead , she asked Goodell when he was making a decision on Deflategate and if he discussed it with his good buddy , Bob Kraft , during their perambulations .  Goodell was non plussed , as befits a millionaire among billions .  He tried to be affable , but stopped to throw out a few bon mots to the hoi polloi . He noted that he had not discussed the major scandal of trivial proportions with the owner of the Patriots . He also said , to the mouth watering semi journalists who cover such events , that he could have a decision next week .  How the trivial has become the dominant issue ! Do we think Goodell is hearing that he has made a molehill a mountain big enough for Sun Valley ?  ",satire,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
13688,13689,"RollingStoneweblink ) Cee Lo Green , Blake Shelton , Adam Levine and Christina Aguilera all four coaches of "" The Voice "" joined producer Mark Burnett , host Carson Daly and the show ' s social media maven Christina Milian for a press conference Sunday night at Burnett ' s Malibu home . Looking out at the panoramic view of the Pacific Ocean , Levine quipped , "" So this is what reality  buys you . ""  That , or maybe just knowing what makes for good  . And Burnett and his team have demonstrated a knack for spotting opportunities . Last season there was shock among fans when singer Jesse Campbell , one of the favorites to win the title , was eliminated by coach Christina Aguilera . Even her fellow coaches expressed their disbelief .  This season , which starts September 10th , they ' d be able to do something about it , thanks to a new element called "" the Steal , "" which allows judges to pick up a contestant who ' s been ousted by another coach . Journalists got a sneak peak at a recently taped battle round between two of Green ' s competitors , who each delivered a smoking rendition of Mariah Carey ' s "" Vision of Love . ""  As soon as Green carried out the unenviable task of choosing just one , the other coaches hammered on their buttons and made their pitches to bring the loser onto one of their teams , just like they do in the battle rounds . Judges can only pick two additional team members , which will lead to a new cycle of the show called "" Knockout Rounds , "" where the teams will pare down before beginning the live episodes .  The new opportunity for poaching has added a lot to the show , the coaches told Rolling Stone . "" It ' s nice to throw those elements in to kind of spice things up , "" Levine said . "" Those things definitely help keep it fresh for us . ""  It also adds more pressure , Shelton said . "" There ' s nothing that ' s more nervewracking than knowing , ' Okay , both these singers did really good and I gotta pick one and I know damn good and well one of these other three are gonna steal the person I don ' t pick , ' "" he said . "" There ' s a chance that person may go on and win this and that ' s gonna make me look really stupid . That definitely goes on in your mind . As an artist and somebody on television I have enough of an ego that I don ' t want to look that stupid . I want to look brilliant . ""  Ultimately , though , he recognizes it ' s great for the show and viewers . "" It ' s going to be so exciting for people watching at home , "" Shelton said . "" Here ' s the truth , as much as we want to sit up here and talk about how different this show is , and it is , what people love the most is those damn buttons . People love to see us hit those buttons and somebody ' s life is changed at that moment . This is another way of changing somebody ' s life later on in the show , where they think all hope is lost , they ' re going home , the next thing you know the button gets pushed and they ' re right back in the game again . That ' s pretty exciting . ""  The new components add another element to what Levine , Aguilera and Shelton call "" the best season yet . "" Only Green holds out on that , saying , "" A few memorable things have happened thus far , but season three isn ' t completed yet , so I don ' t know if this is the favorite season yet . ""  For the four coaches , though , the biggest strength of this season is their bond . In the first clip shown at the junket , the four are seen performing the Rolling Stones ' "" Start Me Up , "" and they resembled a band , much more than they did in the combined performances of the first two seasons .  What helped meld them into a tight , family like unit is the way all four work with contestants , Aguilera said . "" Over time we see how each of us react as coaches , giving such heartfelt advice and attention to these up and coming young fresh talents and it ' s so nice to see , "" she said . "" It ' s refreshing because we came into it not wanting to knock anybody down and I think we all respect that . We might take shots at each other , but never the talent . So there ' s just a magic , there ' s a bond there that ' s unbreakable at this point . ""  Shelton concurred , recognizing the quartet is now joined together by the success of the series . "" We ' re always going to be connected to each other through this show , "" he says .  He admitted there have been some rough moments , like any family . "" We ' ve been through a lot of s t with each other , no doubt , "" he said . "" We ' ve had fights , ups and downs and weird moments and f k offs and all that stuff . But all friends go through that I think and you either go through it and you never speak to each other again or you go through it and your relationship is even stronger . We didn ' t have to come back together , but we did , and our relationships are stronger . ""  Levine agreed that the coaches have left the rockiest moments behind them . "" We are getting along better than we ever have and I guess our energies have all congealed and we ' re very , very close at this point , "" he said .  The show will run this year in both the fall and spring seasons , which could result in one or more of the coaches having to take a sabbatical to go on tour . Although Burnett said the coaches have their "" chairs for live , "" the assembled journalists were keen to speculate on who the replacement coaches might be . Green shut down the speculation while nicely summing up the bond among the current four .  "" For me , there ' s nobody comes to mind that can replace my Blake , my Adam and my Christina , "" he said .  See full story at RollingStoneweblink .  Copyright 2011 Rolling Stone .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
13696,13697,"Pardoned but hardly chastened , ex President Richard Nixon defended his administration ' s secrecy and wiretaps in combative testimony before a Watergate grand jury following his resignation , newly released documents reveal .  Archivists released nearly 50 , 000 pages of records and about 45 minutes of audio recordings Thursday , including hundreds of pages of transcripts of Nixon ' s June 1975 testimony . Special prosecutors were still trying to document the breadth of the scandal that had driven him from power nearly a year earlier , while Nixon did his best to defend his presidency .  "" I mean it is your job , and I want the jury and the special prosecutors to kick out of us for wiretapping and for the Plumbers and the rest , because obviously you may have concluded it is wrong , "" Nixon is quoted in one of the transcripts .  "" But I want to say this : That if as a result of the secret negotiations that we have had we have changed the world , which we have if as a result , we have saved American lives , which we did in Vietnam by shortening a war the secret Cambodian bombings saved at least 10 , 000 lives , as I have told you if as a result , we ' ll have made some progress in reducing the threat of nuclear destruction by arms limitation with the Russians and if the other choice is to have what we call total openness , with no security whatever , then the United States is finished as a great power . Maybe a lot of people don ' t care , but I care a great deal . I think all of you care a great deal . ""  The material includes Nixon ' s recollection of one of the most unusual moments of his presidency a pre dawn meeting at the Lincoln Memorial with student demonstrators outraged by his 1970 invasion of Cambodia . Nixon said he realized he could not convince them the move was needed to shorten the Vietnam War , but told them he hoped they would "" give us a hearing on some other issues where we might agree . ""  Nixon left office August 9 , 1974 , as Congress considered whether to impeach him over the Watergate scandal . The debacle began with a bungled burglary of the Democratic National Committee offices by Nixon campaign operatives before the 1972 election .  The investigations that followed led to the exposure of a wide ranging White House plan to sabotage political opponents , efforts to stop leaks by a White House squad known as the "" Plumbers "" and Nixon ' s orders to cover up the effort .  Nixon ' s successor , Gerald Ford , issued him a blanket pardon about a month after the resignation , foreclosing any prospect that the former president would ever face the prison terms many of his aides served .  Nixon dodged questions about the mysterious 18 minute gap in his Oval Office tapes that has fascinated historians for more than three decades , telling prosecutors that he "" practically blew my stack "" when he learned of it . He suggested it happened while his secretary , Rose Mary Woods , was transcribing the tape , but characterized it as an accident .  He mocked others in the White House who suggested other causes as "" amateurs "" and "" clowns . "" He recounted ordering then White House Chief of Staff Alexander Haig to "" find out how this damn thing happened , "" then apologized to the grand jurors for swearing .  "" I am sorry , I wasn ' t supposed to use profanity , "" he said . "" You have enough on the tapes . ""  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
13698,13699,"Reuters) - Mateusz Morawiecki was sworn in as Poland s new prime minister on Monday and European Council President Donald Tusk called on the new leader to pursue European unity. Poland s ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS) is at odds with the  over immigration, logging in an ancient forest and government attempts to control the courts and the media. Critics say the eurosceptic party s policies have subverted democracy and the rule of law. At the same time, acrimony between Tusk and the PiS dates back years. Poland, acting on orders from the PiS boss and long-time Tusk adversary Jaroslaw Kaczynski, was the sole member of the 28  members to vote in March against Tusk s re-election. Morawiecki, 49, replaced Beata Szydlo, who became a deputy prime minister. PiS sacked the popular Szydlo last week in a bid to improve Poland s image abroad and prepare the conservatives for a series of elections. Morawiecki will remain finance minister and economy minister. All other ministers have kept their jobs for now, although some ministerial changes are expected in weeks to come. Morawiecki said his government will continue the work of Szydlo. He is expected to outline his policies on Tuesday. Tusk, a former Polish prime minister before PiS came to power in 2015, said he counts on good cooperation.  Acting for Poland s strong position in the European Union and for the unity of all member states is the need of the moment,  Tusk wrote. Former Polish President Lech Walesa, who is a critic of the PiS said on Twitter:  The circus has stayed the same, only the clowns have changed their roles.  Walesa led protests and strikes that shook communist rule in the 1980s. Szydlo s government was one of the most popular in Poland since the 1989 collapse of communism. It registered around 40 percent approval due to low unemployment, increases in public spending and a focus on traditional Catholic values in public life. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
13706,13707,"The remarkable rise of Yorkshire trainer David O ' Meara continued on Sunday as Move In Time landed the Prix de l ' Abbaye at 25 1 .  The five furlong sprint is always the most likely Group One race booked for export on the glittering Longchamp card but Move In Time had not looked the most likely horse to bag it .  His biggest success had come at Listed level and he spent part of this summer in handicaps . But former jump jockey O ' Meara loves an upset , as he has proved in racking up more than 100 winners in a season for the second time in only his fifth season with a licence .  Daniel Tudhope rides Move In Time ( black cap , pink stars ) to victory in the Prix de I ' Abbaye at Longchamp  Move In Time trainer David O ' Meara ' s star continues to rise with his Prix de I ' Abbaye win no surprise  He said : ' The unique nature of this track suits Move In Time . He has run three times , been beaten half a length , a head and now won . '  Moviesta , trained by Move In Time ' s old handler Bryan Smart and part owned by  boss Harry Redknapp , was beaten half a length having had his run hampered , although not as badly as favourite Sole Power in eighth and Pearl Secret in 14th .  Two more of the seven Group One races were won by British runners . Richard Hannon trained Olympic Glory broke the track record in the Prix de la Foret , while James Fanshawe ' s High Jinx was a neck winner of the Prix du Cadran .  His jockey Ryan Moore had earlier won the Prix Marcel Boussac on Aidan O ' Brien ' s Found , who now disputes favouritism for the 2015 1 , 000 Guineas at 5 1 with Ladbrokes .  O ' Brien ' s National Stakes winner Gleneagles ( Joseph O ' Brien ) passed the post in front in the Prix Jean Luc Lagardere only to be disqualified for hanging and causing interference .  Frankie Dettori rides Olympic Glory to victory in the Prix de La Foret at Longchamp in Paris on Sunday  Aiden O ' Brien ' s Found ( second left ) is ridden to win the Prix Marcel Boussac by Ryan Moore at Longchamp  Joseph O ' Brien rides Gleneagles first past the post but is disqualified for hanging and causing interference  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
13711,13712,"A family missed a wedding in India after they and other passengers had to wait more than 48 hours for a flight at Birmingham Airport .  More than 230 passengers had been due to fly out on Air India on Friday night but discovered their flight had been delayed due to a technical fault . But their frustration turned to misery when they were told their flight had then been cancelled completely .  More than 40 passengers then spent two nights in local hotels waiting for an Air India flight bound for Amritsar via Delhi . The delay meant some will miss a family wedding today , while another family will be unable to attend a funeral .  Sunny Rai , pictured on the far left , missed the wedding of a cousin after Air India cancelled his flight out of Birmingham . Pictured are fellow irate passengers  Sunny Rai , a 26 year old trainee financial adviser from Smethwick , his mother Charanjit Kaur , 50 , and 54 year old father Balkar Singh , were looking forward to attending a cousin ' s wedding .  Instead , the weary family , who had nine suitcases and paid 480 each for their ticket , were still waiting for a flight last night .  Mr Rai said : ' I was at the airport and checked in at 5 . 30pm on Friday and they suspended us there and then . They said there was a technical issue and asked us to ' bear with us ' .  ' We hung around the Air India desk and were then told the flight had been cancelled . ' They told us to board a bus to the Holiday Inn just off the A45 near the airport .  ' It was a full flight , about three or four coaches went to the Holiday Inn . ' I got on the fourth one but some passengers chose to go home . '  After the Friday cancellation the passengers gathered again at 9am the next morning in the lobby of the hotel .  Mr Rai added : ' I found out that the Air India people had come and said they would take 15 people to fly from Heathrow .  The Air India plane was found to have a technical fault on landing at Birmingham Airport which then led to the flight out to India being cancelled  ' They served us lunch and when I came back Air India said there were now 50 seats available to fly from Heathrow and they had enough people . '  Mr Rai went back to Birmingham Airport via taxi and was surprised to learn that some of the passengers had got onto a flight due to leave that evening despite being told there was no space .  He claimed that when they went back to the Holiday Inn they were told that Air India had not paid for a room so they returned to the airport where they were taken to the Novotel Hotel instead .  Mr Rai said : ' It was chaos . There is no way we are going to make it . ' Kam Singh , aged 32 , from Coventry , said his parents had also been travelling to a wedding and had been left stranded .  The Singhs were travelling to India to attend a week long wedding that begins today , but the family feared if they did not get a flight by last night they would miss the start .  Some passengers were stranded at Birmingham Airport for 48 hours , meaning many missed appointments  ' They were meant to fly out on Friday and they were told that a stone had hit the plane there had been some sort of technical fault so the plane could not depart , ' their son claimed .  He said the service they had received from Air India had been inadequate , despite spending 1 , 200 on the flights .  ' Even when they transported people from the airport to the hotel there was no help with luggage , ' he said .  ' My father has got arthritis and he had a heart bypass a few years ago , and he had to lift four cases into the hotel .  ' They were told they were being sent to London for a flight but midway through the journey they were told that plane was now full . '  The Singhs hoped to leave on a flight last night , though they had been warned it too was delayed by six hours until 2am this morning .  An Air India spokesman apologised for the inconvenience . He said around 233 passengers had been affected , with 42 still awaiting a flight late last night .  The spokesman said : ' There was a technical glitch because of which the flight got grounded .  ' Unfortunately the challenge was we didn ' t have any seats on alternate carriers , all other flights were full .  ' So as and when we were given seats on alternate services , we were flying them out .  ' We are really sorry and we sincerely apologise for the inconvenience , but this was an unfortunate situation .  ' Safety is of paramount importance and we cannot take any chances . . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
13734,13735,"The crisp white powder crunches under foot , stacks of crystalline rock sparkle and ' icicles ' glitter from above . No , it ' s not a secluded Alpine cave but a clinic in West London .  The white powder isn ' t snow , it ' s salt . So are the icicles and the rocks piled in the corner . I am standing in the Adalex Clinic ' s recently opened ' salt grotto ' .  The grotto ( actually , it ' s less of a ' grotto ' than just a plain old room with assorted sun loungers ) is the brainchild of Grace Hart , a psychologist .  Magic grotto ? A sceptical Alice Azania Jarvis chills out in the salt cave in West London  She says that such grottos are commonplace in her native Poland , and claims that a spell in its salty confines a typical session lasts an hour and costs 25 offers all manner of health benefits , from relieving asthma to improving blood circulation and lowering blood pressure .  Above all , after an hour in the grotto I should experience , she says , a sense of ' psycho physical comfort ' . Which definitely sounds like a good thing even if I ' m not entirely sure what she means by it .  Actually , quite a lot of what clinic manager Grace says about the health benefits of the salt grotto doesn ' t bear close scrutiny .  ' It ' s about feeling good , mentally and physically , ' she tells me . ' You will feel calm and refreshed , and you won ' t have any anxiety . '  Benefits : Salt is rich in minerals such as iodine , potassium and bromide  The apparently miraculous power of salt is all , she says , down to its ' micro elements ' .  Salt is rich in minerals such as iodine , potassium and bromide . Usually , we get these by eating it but Grace believes we can absorb them by sitting in a room full of the stuff .  ' We are depleted of micro elements because our water is polluted , our diet is bad . But micro elements like bromide have a calming effect on the brain . If you are stressed out , you can become calm in a natural way . '  As well as a new found sense of calm , after an hour in the grotto , she promises , I should feel reinvigorated and healthy .  ' The air is very clean inside the grotto ten times cleaner than normal air , ' she continues . ' Salt is anti fungal and anti bacterial . You start breathing slower and deeper as the salt opens up your bronchial airways . You breathe better and you feel better . '  While it may sound like bunkum (  , it definitely does sound like bunkum ) , in Central and Eastern Europe they have been using salt grottos both natural and artificial for donkey ' s years .  The first was set up 150 years ago after Dr Feliks Boczkowski , a Polish physician from Wieliczka , near Krakow , noted that local salt miners didn ' t suffer from lung diseases . A natural grotto was carved out within the Wieliczka mines themselves , 400 feet underground . It became popular with those suffering respiratory disease , and is still in use today .  Before I ' m allowed into Grace ' s grotto , she hands me a pair of blue plastic shoe covers to protect both the salt and my shoes .  To keep the salt fresh , it is regularly topped up from the stash of enormous 25kg sacks kept in a storage room at the back .  And it definitely is salt . After Grace closes the grotto ' s outer door and leaves me alone , I taste a pinch just to be sure .  The  system in the corner plays a pan pipes version of Just The Way You Are , while angled lamps make the salt look rosy pink , with blotches of blue on the ceiling and orange stripes along the walls .  Believer : Former psychologist Grace Holt says an hour in the salt cave offers all manner of health benefits  It ' s a little like being in a Seventies nightclub . Nevertheless , after 20 minutes in the cave , the promised sense of calm is indeed descending . In fact , I ' m starting to nod off . I ' m seated on a squishy sun lounger and wrapped up in a snuggly blanket which Grace has provided .  Though there are magazines in the waiting room , in the grotto there ' s nothing to do but drift in and out of sleep . Clients are asked to leave their mobile phones behind .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
13737,13738,"Speculation continues to swirl around the potential involvement of violent video games in Adam Lanza ' s rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December . The official investigation has yet to release its report , but consistent accounts indicate Lanza was an enthusiastic player of violent games .  On Monday ,  News raised eyebrows with a report citing unnamed law enforcement sources conjecturing that Lanza was motivated in part by violent video games as well as Norway shooter Anders Breivik . The investigating Connecticut police later said that ' s "" all speculation . ""  According to the Hartford Courant , we know that when the police searched Lanza ' s home after the shooting , they found thousands of dollars ' worth of violent video games . We also know that Lanza ' s mom let him play games while she traveled .  News : Report Sandy Hook shooter tried to emulate Norway massacre  But just because violent video games seemed to have been a part of Lanza ' s life , as with many young men , we cannot jump to conclusions .  The reality is that there is no evidence linking violent games to mass shootings . We tend to return to this particular element , and it ' s interesting to see how quickly people like to latch on to this noncorrelation as if it were truly meaningful . The notion that mass homicides are linked to violent media was debunked as far back as 2002 by the U . S . Secret Service , which found that school shooters didn ' t consume high levels of violent media .  But as a society we tend to focus on video games because it ' s easy to do so . For example , in the recent case of Nehemiah Griego , a 15 year old boy accused of killing his family in New Mexico , the police seemed to have been obsessed with violent games during a press conference . The police representative shifted a reporter ' s question about illegal drugs to video games , the gist of which seemed to be that the boy enjoyed talking about "" Modern Warfare . "" However , other reports suggested the boy ' s access to violent games or television had been restricted by his family .  In the weeks since the Newtown , Connecticut , massacre , there have been a host of high profile crimes committed by older men . William Spengler , 62 , shot and killed two firefighters and apparently killed his sister in New York . Jimmy Lee Dykes , 65 , killed a bus driver and kidnapped a 5 year old boy in Alabama . And Douglas Harmon , 70 , killed two people at a Phoenix law office , police said . These older men don ' t fit the profile of video game players , yet they all did something horrible .  Zakaria : Don ' t blame the video games  Curiously , no one seems interested in investigating the effects of media popular among the elderly . Our attention to video games in the cases of some shootings but not others is what psychologists call confirmation bias , and it creates the illusion of a correlation where there is none .  It ' s worth asking ourselves why we keep returning to video games despite the lack of evidence to support its link to violence . Of course , this kind of association is not new . Some scholars blamed television for the crime wave of the 1970s and ' 80s , which has since vanished . And comic books in the 1950s were blamed by psychiatrists for not only delinquency but homosexuality ( Batman and Robin were secretly gay it seemed . I ' m not making this up ) . In hindsight , these strands of associations look ridiculous , but in the moment they served a purpose .  Opinion :  ' s video game smacks of hypocrisy  Rare though they are , mass shootings often strike at schools , malls , churches , theaters places we all go in places we all live . One of the questions asked repeatedly after the Newtown shooting is why Lanza did what he did .  To say that he was an evil young man who cruelly inflicted suffering on others simply because , in his mind , life had given him the shaft is not satisfying . We want to control the uncontrollable , predict the unpredictable . We want to understand why an impossible to understand event happened and give ourselves some illusion of control . If violent video games were some small but critical component of Lanza ' s motivation , why we could just get rid of such games and make this whole problem go away . It ' s a tempting belief but absolutely wrong .  Tech : After Newtown , shoppers think twice about violent video games  If we could make it legal to regulate violence in games , would that have stopped Lanza or any of the other mass homicides through history ? No , not a one . We should not be distracted from looking for the real contributing factors to societal violence .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
13746,13747,"The wait is over . . . Serial has finally dropped its second season and you won ' t want to miss it  Podcast fans have been living with a Serial shaped hole in their lives for what seems like an eternity , after the explosive first season wrapped up in December 2014 .  The world has since waited patiently for the arrival of season two and , without any warning , Serial dropped the first episode of the second series on Thursday .  Entitled  , the opening instalment introduces the story of ? Bowe Bergdahl , a  soldier who was captured by the Taliban ? after he left his outpost in Afghanistan , and held for nearly five years .  While he was finally released in May 2014 , nobody quite knows how the events of that mysterious night in 2009 unfolded .  Speculation swirled and rumours ran rampant , yet the 29 year old has kept schtum since his return to the States . No press interviews , no television appearance , no words left Bergdahl s mouth Until now .  The soldier is finally speaking out and , with the help of Sarah Koenig and a newly expanded Serial team , will give an insight to the mysterious incident that captured the world s attention .  Oh my oh my oh my ! Serial is back with season two  ! ! An early christmas gift to the world thank you .  Whoa did everyone  me know there was gonna be a new Serial today ? What a tender podcast surprise !      A   .       .  Hello , everyone . We re back , Sarah Koenig wrote on Serial s website .  Our first season was about a murder case few people had heard about . Season Two is a story a gazillion people have heard about .  This story ? it spins out in so many unexpected directions . Because , yes , it s about Bowe Bergdahl and about one strange decision he made , to leave his post .  But it s also about all of the people affected by that decision , and the choices they made . Unlike our story in Season One , this one extends far out into the world . It reaches into swaths of the military , the peace talks to end the war , attempts to rescue other hostages , our Guantanamo policy .  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
13772,13773,"Texas Last week in an operating room in Texas , a wounded American soldier underwent a history making procedure that could help him regrow the finger that was lost to a bomb attack in Baghdad , Iraq , last year .  Army Sgt . Shiloh Harris is wheeled into surgery for the experimental treatment to regrow what ' s left of his finger .  Army Sgt . Shiloh Harris ' doctors applied specially formulated powder to what ' s left of the finger in an effort to do for wounded soldiers what salamanders can do naturally : replace missing body parts .  If it sounds like science fiction , the lead surgeon agreed .  "" It is . But science fiction eventually becomes true , doesn ' t it ? "" asked Dr Steven Wolf of Brooke Army Medical Center .  Harris ' surgery is part of a major medical study of "" regenerative medicine "" being pursued by the Pentagon and several of the nation ' s top medical facilities , including the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and the Cleveland Clinic . Nearly 250 million has been dedicated to the research .  Air Force Tech . Sgt . Israel Del Toro is one of the wounded vets who might one day benefit from this research . He was injured by a bomb in Afghanistan . Both his hands were badly burned . On his left hand , what was left of his fingers fused together .  "" You know , in the beginning , when I first got hurt , I told them , just cut it off . So I can get some function , "" Del Toro said . His doctors did not cut off his injured left arm . And since that injury , advancements in burn and amputation treatment mean he may one day be able to use his fingers again . Watch more on regenerative medicine  A key to the research dedicated to regrowing fingers and other body parts is a powder , nicknamed "" pixie dust "" by some of the people at Brooke . It ' s made from tissue extracted from pigs .  The pixie dust powder itself doesn ' t regrow the missing tissue it tricks the patient ' s body into doing that itself .  All bodies have stem cells . As we are developing in our mothers ' wombs , those stem cells grow our fingers , toes , organs essentially , our whole body . The stem cells stop doing that around birth , but they don ' t go away . The researchers believe that the "" pixie dust "" can put those stem cells back to work growing new body parts .  The powder forms a microscopic "" scaffold "" that attracts stem cells and convinces them to grow into the tissue that used to be there .  "" If it is next to the skin , it will start making skin . If it ' s next to a tendon , it will start making a tendon , and so that ' s the hope , at least in this particular project , that we can grow a finger , "" Wolf said .  It has worked in earlier experiments . "" They have taken a uterus out of a dog , made one in the lab , put it back in and had puppies , "" Wolf said . Researchers have also regrown a human bladder and implanted it in a person , and it is working as nature intended .  Although the technique has incredible promise , doctors will be watching for unexpected side effects as they follow Harris ' recovery . "" It could grow a cancer , "" Wolf said . "" We will be closely monitoring for that to make sure that doesn ' t happen . ""  If the military ' s most badly wounded start benefiting , so will civilians . "" If we can pull this off in missing parts the next step is ,  , can we grow a pancreas ? Can we grow and replace that in a diabetic ? And can we do the same thing with a kidney and can we do the same thing with a heart ? ""  One day , he hopes , people with heart trouble will be told , "" That ' s  . We will just grow you another one . ""  "" That is something that is real science fiction . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
13775,13776,"London , England "" I had to be stitched into those pants , "" Olivia Newton John recalls of the skin tight black trousers she worn in the film "" Grease "" .  That fact will come as no surprise to the millions of people who have watched the iconic scene at the end of the smash hit film musical .  But those trousers , "" made of some sort of shark skin material "" she says , plus a string of memorable songs from the film including "" Summer Nights "" and "" You ' re The One That I Want "" helped propel Olivia Newton John to superstardom which has continued to this day .  The British born actress , who was raised in Australia from the age of five , was already an established singing star having won three Grammy Awards prior to being cast as Sandy Olssen alongside John Travolta ' s Danny Zuko in the 1978 film .  And many of the songs from that era still rank among her favorites in a recording career which has produced over 30 albums including the 1981 double platinum selling "" Physical "" which spawned the single of the same name and a craze for spandex and leg warmers .  "" The songs I did with John Farrar the Australian producer and songwriter are among my favorites . And a lot of those songs , ' Magic ' and ' Suspended in Time ' are on ' Xanadu , ' "" the soundtrack from the 1980 film .  Of her more recent recordings she cites 2006 ' s "" Grace and Gratitude "" as another favorite . "" It was a healing  that was very personal for me , "" she said .  After the runaway success of the early 1980s Newton John was preparing for a comeback in 1992 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer . The diagnosis changed the course of her life forever .  After successfully beating the disease , Newton John talked openly about her experience and became a passionate advocate for early detection and helping other women cope with the disease .  She also has a Website http : www . livweblink which provides information on breast self examination .  "" When I talk to women in my age bracket , they ' re afraid . I understand the fear but if there is something wrong , the earlier you find it , the better chance you have of a healthy outcome , "" she said .  Cancer awareness isn ' t the only cause she lends her name to . Along with her second husband John Easterling , who she married in 2008 , Newton John helps promote education about rainforests .  "" We ' re helping educate the children of the Amazon to realize the importance of the living rainforest so that when the timber and oil companies come in they know to save it . ""  Three decades on from her life changing appearance in "" Grease "" , Newton John is still finding plenty things in her life to become hopelessly devoted to .  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
13777,13778,"Anna Marczuk Franczak , pictured after her arrest , has been jailed for wounding a man by stabbing him at a party in Nelson , Lancashire last year  A Polish woman repeatedly jailed for violence in her home country stabbed and nearly killed a man after moving to Britain unimpeded , a court has heard .  Anna Marczuk Franczak , 39 , served at least three prison stretches in Poland for a series of attacks dating back to 2002 .  But after being released from her most recent sentence in eastern Europe , she moved to Britain and attacked a man with a 30 inch kitchen knife in Nelson , Lancashire .  A judge in Preston has now jailed Marczuk Franczak for two years for the stabbing , whose victim suffered a 10cm deep wound to his chest .  The crown court heard Marczuk Franczak had invited Piotr Kolodziejski and his girlfriend , Magdalena Swistowksa , to her home in Nelson to celebrate the Feast of St Anna last July .  But the celebration quickly sour as Marczuk Franczak became ' melancholy ' , complaining that her husband was still in Poland and a current boyfriend was also away , the court heard .  After a row broke out , Marczuk Franczak armed herself with a 30 inch kitchen knife and stabbed Mr Kolodziejski to the chest .  The knife thrust 10cm downwards from his neck into his chest cavity narrowly missing his vital organs .  Mr Kolodziejski was rushed to hospital and was saved by doctors , being left with a 12 inch scar .  Marczuk Franczak later told police Kolodziejski had started hitting his partner after a few drinks and she had intervened .  She claimed that she had only picked up the knife to defend herself but admitted she had been ' waving it around ' .  She said she later saw blood on the knife but does not know what happened to it . The knife was never recovered .  Mr Kolodziejski said in a statement that the attack had a ' significant impact ' upon him . He said he struggles to zip up his clothing and shave . He also has problems sleeping and has become ' anxious and stressed , paranoid that someone may lunge at him ' , the court heard .  The court heard that Marczuk Franczak has served at least three prison sentences for violence in Poland .  The court heard Marczuk Franczak had served three prison sentences for violence in her native Poland  In 2002 , she was convicted of theft and causing minor bodily injury and received a one year prison sentence .  The following year she was convicted of causing minor bodily injury and received 18 months in prison and got a further 18 months in May 2004 for the same charge .  Marczuk Franczak was jailed for two years this week after she was found guilty of wounding Mr Kolodziejski .  Passing sentence , Judge Andrew Woolman said : ' This incident arose out of a dispute initially between the victim and his girlfriend , he was violent towards his girlfriend .  ' I accept that he was violent towards you and he subjected you to a significant attack which caused extensive bruising to your body . I have seen the photos and I sentence you on the basis that it was the victim who caused the injuries to you .  ' But the jury ' s verdict means that you then picked up a kitchen knife and stabbed him in a downward motion to the neck quite deliberately .  ' The knife went in some 10 cm down towards the chest cavity . Fortunately for him and for you the knife did not touch any vital organs .  ' Nonetheless he is left with a serious wound partly caused by the knife and partly by the surgery and although he started the incident by attacking his girlfriend and you , it is clear that he is still , as a result of what you did to him , has significant problems both with his employment and his general life . '  The attack happened after Marczuk Franczak invited the victim and his girlfriend to her home in Elizabeth , Street , Nelson , Lancashire  The judge added : ' Despite what he has done , you caused that dreadful injury . You are 39 years of age , you have lived in the  for not too long .  ' It ' s clear that you have something of a turbulent life , you have convictions in Poland for violence there are not a lot of details but enough so I am able to conclude that you are no stranger to violence in the past when provoked , perhaps .  ' Your account in the trial was in affect , that the victim sustained his injuries by accident when you were waving the knife around an account which the jury rejected . The injury you have caused is so serious that only an immediate custodial sentence can be justified . '  The Home Office investigates cases of  citizens who commit crimes in Britain before deciding whether to bring deportation proceedings . Offenders who are given a sentence of 12 months or more are usually recommended for deportation .   border controls are dependent on other countries sharing information about their citizens ' criminal pasts with them , a system which has led to many foreign criminals slipping into Britain , including Arnis Zalkalns , the Latvian killer believed to have murdered west London schoolgirl Alice Gross .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
13780,13781,"Petrol service stations will have to comply with new  regulations coming in next year requiring pumps to give out fuel to the exact pound and penny drivers want to put into their tanks . Drivers will have to tap in the exact amount they want to buy  pressing the nozzles to activate the flow of fuel from the pumps into the tanks of their vehicles .  Most petrol and diesel pumps being used in Britain today simply roll up the amount of petrol flowing out from them until drivers stop pressing the triggers of the nozzles . This has often led to drivers seeing the pumps going a penny or two over the amount they ' d intended to put into their tanks .  "" Drivers are not being charged for more fuel than they ' ve taken "" said  spokeswoman Ms . Petra Van de Carr , "" but drivers who ' d intended to buy perhaps ten pounds worth of petrol are then often finding when going to replace the nozzles that the pumps have rolled over that figure to show an extra penny or two . ""  Most drivers will have experienced this annoyance . It is after all difficult to justify how over forty years after man walked on the moon drivers are still unable to stipulate how much petrol they want to have from the pumps before squeezing the trigger of the nozzle . Drivers going to pay for their fuel at the booths in the garage shops will either take ages trying to find the extra penny in their pockets , or as is often the case , the person behind counter will simply let them off and not charge for the extra amount of fuel the customer has taken . This has resulted in many service stations closing down says Ms . Van de Carr .  Ms . Van de Carr also points out that a year or two ago this was usually accidental on the part of drivers , but that nowadays there is a suspicion that with the rising price of petrol more and more drivers are deliberately allowing the pumps to go a penny over an exact pound in the belief they will end up getting a small amount of free petrol .  Though there is concern that the cost to garages of buying and installing the new pumps will then be passed on to drivers , Ms . Van de Carr says the  only passed the new rule after deciding that was unlikely to happen .  "" The new pumps will mean that drivers will no longer be searching in their pockets for the odd penny , and will mean staff won ' t have to keep searching through their tills for 99p . change . This will give them more time to serve customers who are queuing up to pay for the piles of extortionately priced sweets and soft drinks under their arms "" .  Quite so in fact drivers often find themselves lining up waiting to pay for their petrol behind long queues of people who haven ' t put any petrol into their tanks at all !  ",satire,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,fake,satire,True,no,no,positive,present
13806,13807,"Filed Under : Ken Griffey Jr . , Mike Piazza , National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum , New York Mets , Otis Livingston  Mike Piazza speaks at a Hall of Fame news conference in Manhattan on Jan . 7 , 2016 . ( credit : CBS2 )    ( CBSNewYork ) ? ? The mystery ? ? ? if there ever really was one ? ? is over : Mike Piazza will enter baseball s Hall of Fame donning ? a Mets cap .  Piazza , who was elected to the Hall on Wednesday with 83 percent of the vote , revealed Thursday his plaque in Cooperstown will indeed show him as a Met . ? The all time leader in home runs by a catcher ? also spent five full seasons and parts of two others with the Dodgers and had stints with the Marlins , Padres and Athletics .  There had been some confusion ? Thursday morning ? over wording on the ? National Baseball Hall of Fame website ? that led some to believe a decision had ? been made then as to the cap Piazza will wear . A Hall of Fame official , however , told WFANweblink the website was only listing Piazza s primary team ? based on most games played for a franchise ? not his cap designation .  I m going to go in as a New York Met , Piazza said at an afternoon news conference in Manhattan .  Not only did Piazza play more games with the Mets than the Dodgers , he also ? had ? more home runs ( 220 ? vs . ? 177 ) , hits ( 1 , 208 ? vs . ? 896 ) and playoff success ( three series wins vs . none ) in a New York uniform .  Piazza said he cherishes his time with the Dodgers , but I feel the fans here ( in New York ) truly brought me into their family .  Piazza will join Tom Seaver as the only Mets to be enshrined in Cooperstown . Several other former Mets , including Nolan Ryan , Yogi Berra , Willie Mays , Gary Carter , Duke Snider and manager ? Casey Stengel , ? are also in the Hall of Fame , but went in as members of other teams .  Piazza was drafted by the Dodgers in the 62nd round of the 1988 draft ? the 1 , 390th selection overall . The next lowest drafted player to reach the Hall of Fame was John Smotz , who was picked ? 574th in 1985 .  Just shows how great our sports is , that you just need a chance , Piazza said . I was able to sneak into this game , kind of limp in , if you will , and through a lot of hard work and determination , and some luck , some timing , was able to build a pretty good career .  Piazza s dad was good friends with then Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda , so some wondered if the selection was a favor . But Piazza proved the critics wrong with a brilliant career .  The slugger hit 427 home runs , 396 of them as a catcher .  Piazza s most famous home run transcended the sport . He hit a game winning homer at Shea Stadium just 10 days after 9 11 , lifting the emotions of the city .  It s tough because I get emotional thinking back at that week , he said . I mean , anybody knows who was there it s something you can t define . It changed all of our lives , not as a baseball level , but personally for me . I mean , it really put my life in perspective and focused what the important things in life are , and that s family and friends and relationships .  To be , for me , at the right place at the right time and come through , I can only think it comes from above and a lot of people who put wind under my wings . That was a special moment for me .  Kenny Griffey Jr . , who was also elected into the Hall on Wednesday , announced he will wear a Seattle Mariners cap , becoming the first player to do so .  Induction ceremonies will be held in Cooperstown on July 24 .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
13817,13818,"Ryan Shazier up , Mike Munchak down in Steelers win   McCarron , Martavis Bryant get game balls ( 2 : 28 )   Bengals reporter Coley Harvey and  Steelers reporter Jeremy Fowler hand out game balls to Cincinnati ' s  McCarron and Pittsburgh ' s Martavis Bryant after the Steelers ' 18 16 win in Saturday ' s  wild card game . ( 2 : 28 )   A look at the players who were "" up , "" and those who were "" down "" in the Pittsburgh Steelers ' 18 16 win Saturday over the Cincinnati Bengals in an  wild card playoff game .  Ryan Shazier : The linebacker ' s stat line was ridiculous 13 tackles , two for a loss , two pass deflections , two forced fumbles , one fumble recovery . His late game strip of Jeremy Hill changed the contest . He was awesome Saturday .  Martavis Bryant : Responded in a big way to Ben Roethlisberger ' s "" toughen up "" challenge with a ridiculous , gymnastics inspired touchdown catch in the third quarter . He also flipped field position for the Steelers with a 44 yard gain on an end around .  Ryan Shazier ( 50 ) forced and recovered a Jeremy Hill fumble that gave Pittsburgh late life . ?  Ben Roethlisberger : Wasn ' t his flashiest game . His 229 yards was a season low for a game in which he participated in parts of all four quarters . But the veteran quarterback ' s presence on the final drive , fighting through a shoulder injury to get the Steelers downfield methodically , earns him a spot here .  Jarvis Jones : The linebacker ' s strip of Bengals quarterback  McCarron might have been the biggest play of his three year career .  Mike Munchak : He cost the Steelers 15 yards by engaging in a mini scuffle with Bengals defensive back Reggie Nelson on the sideline . The encounter seemed innocuous , but assistant coaches shouldn ' t get penalties .  Ramon Foster : The offensive lineman was part of a good running game but he picked up two penalties of his own , including a 15 yarder for retaliation against a Bengals defender .  Landry Jones : The young quarterback didn ' t give the Steelers much of anything in three series in relief of the injured Roethlisberger , completing 2 of 5 passes for 11 yards and an interception .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
13820,13821,"President Barack Obama says that the last American troops will leave Afghanistan at the end of 2016 . This happens to roughly coincide with the end of his second term in office and also fulfills his campaign promise to wind down America ' s post 9 11 wars .  But is it a wise policy ?  Short answer : Of course not .  One only has to look at the debacle that has unfolded in Iraq after the withdrawal of  troops at the end of 2011 to have a sneak preview of what could take place in an Afghanistan without some kind of residual American presence . Without U . S . forces in the country , there is a strong possibility Afghanistan could host a reinvigorated Taliban allied to a reinvigorated al Qaeda .  Needless to say , this would be a disaster for Afghanistan . But it would also be quite damaging to U . S . interests to have some kind of resurgent al Qaeda in the country where the group trained the hijackers for the 9 11 attacks .  It would also be disastrous for the Democratic Party , should it win the presidency in 2016 , to be the party that "" lost "" Afghanistan . After all , the Democratic Party is viewed by some as weaker on national security than the Republicans and it is inevitable that without some kind of residual American presence in Afghanistan al Qaeda would gain sufficient strength to launch an attack from the Afghan Pakistan border region against American interests .  An easy way for potential Democratic Party presidential candidates such as Hillary Clinton to distinguish their national security policies from Obama ' s would be to say that they are in favor of some kind of long term U . S . military presence in Afghanistan and to argue that it would be needed to avoid an Iraq style outcome there .  Similarly , as the Republican Party starts ramping up for the 2016 campaign , potential candidates such as Jeb Bush can distinguish themselves from the isolationist Rand Paul wing of the party by saying that they are committed to a long term presence in Afghanistan .  This U . S . military presence in Afghanistan doesn ' t have to be a large , nor does it need to play a combat role , but U . S . troops should remain in Afghanistan to advise the Afghan army and provide intelligence support .  Such a long term commitment of several thousand American troops is exactly the kind of force that the Obama administration was forced to deploy to Iraq during the past six months following  ' s lightning advances .  Selling such a long term U . S . military presence in Afghanistan would be pushing against an open door with that nation ' s government . Consider that within 24 hours of being installed , the new Afghan government signed the basing agreement that allows American troops to stay in Afghanistan until December 2016 .  Consider also that the Afghan government has already negotiated a strategic partnership agreement with the United States lasting until 2024 that would provide the framework for a longer term U . S . military presence . Consider also that many Afghans see a relatively small , but long term international troop presence as a guarantor of their stability .  It is also not in Pakistan ' s interests for Afghanistan to fall to the Taliban or be thrust into another civil war . The Pakistanis have seen for themselves repeatedly the folly of allowing the Taliban to flourish on their own soil , most recently in the Taliban attack last month on the army school in Peshawar that killed 132 children .  It is in Pakistan ' s own interest that the Afghan army is able to fight effectively against the Taliban , which is more likely if they continue to have American advisers at their side .  Other regional powers such as the Chinese worry about Chinese Uighur separatists establishing themselves on Afghan soil . The Russians are similarly worried about Islamist terrorist groups located in Afghanistan and so will not stand in the way of a small long term U . S . military presence in Afghanistan as that would dovetail with their own security concerns about the country .  Keeping a relatively small , predominantly U . S . Special Forces , presence in Afghanistan to continue to train the Afghan army past December 2016 is a wise policy that would benefit both Afghans and Americans .  Both the Democratic and Republican parties should adopt such a plan in their platforms as they gear up for the 2016 campaign .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past
13829,13830,"The author William Doyle caused a stir last week with reports about his finding of White House Situation Room recordings of President Ronald Reagan making telephone calls to foreign leaders . The President made these recordings , according to Doyle , to make sure the historical record was accurate .  The conversations are fascinating to hear . In one , Reagan is desperate to apologize to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher for not having informed her about the U . S . invasion of Grenada in 1983 . "" I ' m sorry for any embarrassment we caused you , "" Reagan says . He explains to her that it was nothing personal , but rather a result of his own frustration with the inability to keep secrets in the U . S . political system .  In another tape , we can hear President Reagan trying to persuade Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin to wait on pulling out his military forces from Lebanon until Lebanese troops can be brought in . In a third tape , we hear Syrian President Hafez al Assad angrily waiting for Reagan , who keeps him on hold as he is finishing a horseback ride . The translator simply tells al Assad that the President is on the "" farm . ""  The recordings have caught most people by surprise . Until now most experts thought the last private presidential audio we would hear was of President Richard Nixon , whose infamous recordings became part of the Watergate scandal that resulted in his resignation in 1974 .  The White House tape recordings of John F . Kennedy , Lyndon Johnson and Nixon have offered some of the most riveting and revealing looks that we have into the private world of American politics , where negotiations , confrontations and deliberation have been conducted in closed rooms , outside the public purview .  The tapes provided an unequaled glimpse into the workings of American political power . One of the great tragedies of Watergate for historians and for the public was that because the tapes became part of the evidence that brought down Nixon , presidents were thought to have stopped compiling such historical treasure .  Six presidents secretly recorded meetings and telephone conversations between 1940 and 1973 . They all had different systems . Different presidents used the recording system in different ways , but the result was a close record of these kinds of conversations . The tapes have provided an eye opening treasure trove for historians ( I recently used the Lyndon Johnson tapes as the heart of a forthcoming book on the Great Society ) .  For John F . Kennedy we have been able to hear incredible conversations at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 , when President Kennedy and his advisers wrestled with what to do about the Soviet buildup in Cuba . We hear Kennedy pushing back against hawkish officials who were determined to use force as a solution to the problem .  After the President outlined the challenges the United States faced , Air Force Chief of Staff Curtis LeMay said "" You ' re in a pretty bad fix , Mr President . "" The tapes record the President responding , "" You ' re in there with me . "" We can also hear that the decision making process was much more tumultuous and dynamic than earlier analysts led us to believe .  The Lyndon Johnson tapes cover everything from civil rights to Vietnam to sex scandals . Among them are conversations between Johnson and Richard Russell of Georgia , the most powerful Democrat in the Senate , about the dangers of involvement in Vietnam and questioning whether the war was necessary in 1964 and 1965 .  During one conversation , Russell , who was a Cold War hawk , admits the war "" scares the life out of me . . . . We just got into the thing and there ' s no way out and we ' re just getting pushed forward and forward and forward . "" We can hear Johnson firsthand as he becomes increasingly frustrated with the urban riots in 1967 and understands how they will undermine his political coalition .  Richard Nixon ' s tapes can be shocking , far beyond the expletives . Through these tapes we can hear a truly Machiavellian politician constantly plotting ways to undercut his Democratic opponents and often thinking of policy in the crassest political terms .  One tape provided the shocking revelation that Nixon extended the war in Vietnam until after the 1972 election for political gain . Frustrated with the negotiations over a peace in Vietnam , Nixon tells Secretary of State Henry Kissinger on April 6 , 1971 , that he is willing to unleash brutal military force if necessary .  "" Well , things better start to happen or you know , I ' m you probably don ' t believe me , but I can perfectly turn , I ' m capable of turning right awful hard . I never have in my life . But if I found that there ' s no other way in other words , hell , if you think Cambodia had flower children fighting , we ' ll bomb the goddamn North like it ' s never been bombed . . . we ' ll bomb those bastards , and then let the American people let this country go up in flames . ""  Unfortunately , White House taping became politically toxic after Watergate . Once special assistant Alexander Butterfield revealed the taping system to the Senate Watergate Committee on July 16 , 1973 , from what we know , everything went dark . No longer would presidents record their conversations . No longer would they allow tape recorders into the hidden rooms of the White House .  As scandal politics made every conversation even more dangerous , with congressional investigators , independent prosecutors and reporters looking at everything possible as ammunition in the scorched earth game of politics , from what we know , less and less of anything was recorded .  Even emails became toxic after National Security officials desperately erased electronic correspondence in November 1986 as part of the Iran Contra cover up . There have been frequent reports that presidents since Clinton have been discouraging people in the White House from recording anything for fear that it would be subpoenaed .  The Reagan tapes offer a glimmer of hope that the situation was not so bleak . In the spring there were also reports about the possibility of tapes from the Clinton era .  Perhaps somewhere in the National Archives and presidential libraries there are more recordings than we know of . Given that the presidents we know about had different kinds of recordings from the Oval Office telephone conversations of  to the more limited White House Situation Room tapes of Reagan it is possible that there is more data than we know about , even with George W . Bush and President Obama .  Nor do we know what kind of tapes exist as a result of our new era of intense surveillance . Perhaps the  , for instance , has been amassing more of a presidential archive than we know .  Let ' s hope that the Reagan release creates some pressure on presidents to think again about the costs of going dark . While the appeal of not recording anything is obvious in this age of bitter polarized warfare , the long term costs are immense as they greatly diminish the ability of historians to understand what took place in Washington and to provide Americans with the most accurate understanding of our political past . Indeed , this kind of documentation becomes all that more important as so much of our media coverage of politics is tainted by a partisan lens .  In the end , the most important part of the "" legacy "" of a president has less to do with their approval ratings or the ongoing polls that people conduct , ranking them like top 10 music , but rather with the continual conversation that writers will have as they keep digging into the archival record and putting together a more accurate history of the period .  Without recordings in a political world that often revolves around private conversation , we are always limited in what we can understand . Hopefully the release of the Reagan tapes might provide some impetus to make sure the White House encourages its staff to make the best record possible of their time in Washington .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
13833,13834,"A widow who faked her husband ' s will to cut his daughters out of their share of his 1million estate has been jailed for 21 months despite falling pregnant at the age of 47 .  Legal secretary Dawn Smith drew up the bogus document in her office two years before the death of her wealthy 61 year old husband , Harvey .  In her phony document , she made her and her son sole beneficiaries of the fortune leaving her late husband ' s two daughters distraught and confused as to why they had been cut out .  Jailed : Pregnant widow Dawn Smith was sentenced to 21 months behind bars for faking her husband ' s will to cut his daughters out of his 1million estate  She has since married again to a waiter in the Turkish resort of Marmaris and is now working as a bailiff for a debt company .  Smith has left debts against her late husband ' s name by not settling the 3 , 600 bill for his funeral , police revealed .  She also sold family heirlooms destined for Mr Smith ' s daughters to fund her trips to Turkey .  It emerged she has visited Turkey almost once a month between the death of Mr Smith and her first court appearance in February .  At Teeside Crown Court , Judge John Walford told Smith , of Carmel Road North , Darlington , a suspended sentence was not suitable .  He said : ' If I had only you and your unborn child to consider , I might have been able to consider that option , but in my judgement to do anything other than pass an immediate custodial sentence would be an affront to your step daughters who you so cruelly deceived by your actions . '  Smith admitted drawing up the false will before his death , forging his signature and those of witnesses . She falsely swore an oath that the document was legal .  Judge Walford sentenced her to 21 months , saying : ' I am conscious this will be your first custodial sentence and I cannot ignore the fact that you are pregnant but there will be a sentence of some length to mark the seriousness of this offending . '  Forgery : Dawn Smith , left , drew up the bogus document two years before the death of her wealthy 61 year old husband , Harvey ( right ) in 2012 . She claimed that he wanted her and her son to be given his 1million fortune  Earlier in the sentencing exercise , he questioned the timing of her falling pregnant . It was understood she was 18 weeks pregnant , dating back to her last visit to Turkey , a source said .  The judge said : ' There must be a suspicion , to put it no higher , that she has deliberately become pregnant in order to gain an advantage in the sentencing process . '  Caroline Goodwin , defending , told him : ' It came as a complete and utter shock to her . '  She also read out her client ' s statement of apology telling the court : ' I can never undo the wrong and how do I say I am sorry when words alone are not enough ? '  It is understood that her unborn baby is fathered by her new husband , a Turkish waiter , who was not present in court .  Miss Goodwin said the pregnancy was also a surprise to her partner .  The court heard how Mr Smith ' s family found it very hard to accept that his widow had remarried so soon after his death .  Describing the full ordeal , Mr Smith ' s daughter Karen Harwood , 43 , said : ' I ' ve not even grieved for his death yet as this has been so upsetting .  ' It is hard not knowing what my dad ' s final wishes were . She took that away . '  In a victim impact statement read out in open court , she added : ' After dad died , I welcomed Dawn Smith into our family and took her to see my daughter Alice in a play , four days before she was arrested .  Cut out : The daughters of Harvey Smith , Karen Harwood ( left ) and Zoe Traherne , read a statement outside court today speaking about their horrendous ordeal  ' Because of her actions , it made me think , what have I done to make Dad think this of me ?  ' It made me think why my dad would turn his back on his daughter and his grandchildren for a woman he had known less than a quarter of my life . '  Miss Harwood also spoke of how the family had spent 20 , 000 in court costs trying to contest the will and to clear Mr Smith ' s name of debt .  Astonishingly , as Mr Smith ' s spouse , she is still entitled to his 490 , 000 pension , despite her deceit .  Her father Harvey Smith , who owned an engineering firm , was given an  for services to industry in 1986 .  Smith faked the signatures of her husband , another legal secretary and a solicitor on the bogus document she drew up in 2010 .  After his death in November 2012 , she told his family she didn ' t believe he had a last will and testament .  But she later produced the paperwork back dated to February 2011 which left their 500 , 000 house in Darlington and 420 , 000 pension to her .  It excluded Karen and included explicit instructions that her sister Zoe , 25 , should not receive anything at all .  Her deception was uncovered when a partner at the Darlington law firm of Hewitts , where Smith had worked , thought it suspicious the women were overlooked while Dawn Smith ' s son was included .  Moving on : Smith has since remarried to a Turkish waiter , pictured together , who works in the resort of Marmaris . She sold her late husband ' s family heirlooms in order to pay for trips to Turkey after his death  The lawyer a personal friend of Mr Smith raised concerns and staff spotted basic errors .  One of the supposed witnesses had left the firm at the time they were said to have signed it , and the other had changed offices .  Police were alerted and a handwriting expert concluded that Mr Smith ' s signature was not the same as legitimate ones provided by detectives .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
13850,13851,"A man who claimed to have a bomb while boarding a flight from Slovakia to London Luton airport was allowed to get on the plane by staff who dismissed him as merely being drunk .  The 30 year old was boarding a Whizz Air flight on December 7 when he told security officials that he had ' a bomb and grenades ' in his luggage .  Incredibly , security allowed him to board the plane and it was only when he repeated his claims to the cabin crew that he was removed from the flight because staff refused to fly with him .  The man told security staff at Propad airport in Slovakia that he had ' a bomb and grenades ' in his luggage , but was allowed to board the Whizz Air flight to London Luton airport and dismissed as being drunk  The man , who has not been named , was detained at Poprad Airport in northern Slovakia , which has previously attracted controversy for security breaches .  In January 2010 officials at the airport caused a major security scare after putting a fake explosive device into a man ' s luggage during routine training for sniffer dogs .  The dogs found the device , but after the training had finished authorities forgot to take it out again , and allowed him to board a plane to Dublin , where he was arrested as a suspected terrorist .  The man was only released after Slovakian police admitted what they had done to Irish authorities .  Police spokesman Daniel Dzobanik said : ' During the process of getting onto the plane flying from Poprad to London , the passenger told the stewardess that he carried a bomb .  ' These claims were later found to be untrue . '  Propad airport has previously been in trouble for security breaches after officials accidentally left a fake explosive device in a man ' s bag after using it for training , before allowing him on to a flight  The plane was allowed to continue on its way after the man ' s luggage was removed and he had been arrested .  Officers tested the man and found that he was four times over the legal drink drive limit .  Poprad Airport spokesperson Ivana Herkelova denied they had done anything wrong in allowing the man to board the plane obviously drunk and after having claimed to have been carrying explosives .  The man now faces charges of interfering with public transport by making false threats .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
13866,13867,"The victim of the angry Bernie Sanders supporter has an amazing attitude. It s the civility many of us have come to expect from Trump supporters who ve been unjustly attacked by uncivil and in many cases, unlawful Bernie Sanders supporters. A politically-motivated vandal in Washington State admittedly vandalized a Trump supporter s car, slashing its tires and dumping rotten yogurt through its sun roof, according to a police report filed last Monday.The suspect, named in the report as one Riley M. Silva of Gig Harbour, Washington, confessed his crime to the police. Showing no sign of remorse, he claimed his victim was an  ignorant bigot  and that he  improved the community  by vandalizing the car. According to the report, the culprit became angry after noticing that the car sported a Donald Trump sticker.His full confession to the police, which was originally posted on the blog of lawyer and author Mike Cernovich, reads as follows:I on the 11th day of the 4th month of 2016 did maliciously attack a hate symbol protected by the first amendment. After disabling the vehicle and dumping rotten food into the interior I feel I have improved the community and supported our nation s values by stopping a promoter of hate speech. I do not wish to have ignorant bigots in my town and in a just world the person deserved what was received and the situation is made whole.As America is far from just, I expect the bigot will want to be made whole. With this I declare he is owed nothng. But as the situation is what it is, I intend to make the individual whole provided he cease to promote ignorance and hate. I do not expect the law to recognize damage to tools of hate or fascism. Such things need to be destroyed so good people may remain and become free.The victim, Nathan Elliot, later posted pictures of the damage to his vehicle. In his statement to the police, he said that the damage to the tire alone would cost $500 to repair.Bernie Sanders supporter didn't like my Trump bumper sticker, so he vandalized my personal property. Cool. pic.twitter.com/QghClfl2ak  Nate (@pulsarVision) April 10, 2016The police report describes Riley Silva as a  skinny  white male in his 20s, with long blond hair. The victim saw him while he was in the process of vandalizing his car, at which point he yelled at and ran towards the culprit, who fled in his own vehicle. In the report, Elliot claims that the culprit almost hit two other cars as he drove away from the scene. In addition to vandalizing the victim s car, Silva has been charged with reckless driving. -Breitbart NewsEven though I have amazing @ insurance, all costs will come out of my own pocket. That's a $400 tire by the way.   Nate (@pulsarVision) April 12, 2016USAA Insurance tweeted an awesome reply to Nathan:@pulsarVision We are here to help. Is this a claim related need ? Please  us your full name, claim# if applicable and you phone# . Thank u   (@USAA_help) April 12, 2016UPDATE on Nathan s new tire:@BreitbartNews @Cernovich @DanScavino @realDonaldTrump @Nero Update: new tire came in today  can't tread on me!!! pic.twitter.com/AlVPDLym85  Nate (@pulsarVision) April 16, 2016Nathan has the perfect response to the violent Bernie Sanders supporters:It was only through learning how much others don t like the truth exposed, that I learned for myself how much I crave its very existence.  Nate (@pulsarVision) February 14, 2016",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
13886,13887,"Researchers at the esteemed Brain Injury Research Institute have determined that brain injuries cause mixed martial arts fights .  "" Before starting their careers in fighting , most fighters had chronic traumatic encephalopathy , memory loss and the peculiar desire to smash someone ' s skull in with an elbow , "" explained Dr Julian Bailes , Chairperson of the Institute . "" It is this severe lack of brain function that actually compels them to start  fighting in the first place . ""   scans on the brains of future  fighters reveal a goopy mush of the frontal lobe , which controls reasoning , impulse control , non violent speech and sponsor endorsement .  This news comes too late for fighters like  Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar and his wife Reno Mero .  "" It all started with the accident , "" Mero stated with her husband violently assaulting a pillow in the background . "" Years ago while he was completing his Ph . D in zoology , he was struck in the head by a two by four by his beloved research monkey Frito . That started the slow decline from football , then anthropology , the  and finally  . ""  Other  fighters were delighted by the discovery however . "" At least now I know I wasn ' t born to stand in a cage and get my face smashed in by a giant man ' s knee , "" said welterweight competitor Matthew Riddle . "" I am a victim in all this . ""  The Institute ' s next study will examine why  fans take such a pleasure watching two clearly mentally handicapped men roll around with each other half naked in a strong embrace .  ",satire,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,negative,past
13890,13891,"Miley Cyrus . Robin Thicke . Blake Shelton . New Year ' s Eve 2013 on  looked a lot like the year itself .  Celebs were all over  ringing in 2014 with performances . It wasn ' t a "" Wrecking Ball , "" but Cyrus sang before the ball dropped on "" Dick Clark ' s New Year ' s Rockin ' Eve with Ryan Seacrest "" on  . Clad in a gold sequined outfit and a furry coat , Cyrus joked that "" This is the most clothes I ' ve been in in 2013 . ""  She was joined on the show with Thicke , who also performed , as well as several other musical acts including Icona Pop and Macklemore and Ryan Lewis . "" The View ' s "" Jenny McCarthy co hosted with Seacrest on the show that after more than 40 years has been a New Year ' s Eve institution .  Earlier Seacrest joked that he ' d be watching Cyrus and her crazy antics .  "" This is a ball she cannot touch , "" Seacrest said . "" This one she cannot . She ' s not allowed to . But she can be standing under it when it goes down , when it drops . ""  Over on  , "" The Voice "" judge Blake Shelton teamed up with that show ' s host , Carson Daly , for "" New Year ' s Eve With Carson Daly . "" Shelton was one of the performers joining a roster that included "" American Idol "" judge Mariah Carey .  Before the festivities , Griffin had sent Cooper a topless pic of herself , threatening to also appear that way on the show . While that didn ' t come to pass , she offered plenty of ribbing of her co host , including teasing Cooper that Ryan Seacrest was so rich "" He could come up here and purchase you right now . ""  "" You do realize you ' ll never live up to your mother , right ? "" Griffin told Cooper , referring to his mother , Gloria Vanderbilt . "" I just need to say that . ""  Cooper got off a few zingers of his own , telling Griffin , "" I roll deep . I know Mackelmore . ""  Other networks that also offered programming to ring out 2013 included the Mario Lopez hosted "" New Year ' s Eve Live "" on Fox where rapper J . Cole and Panic ! At the Disco performed and ""  : 106 Party : New Year ' s Eve 2013 "" which featured Trey Songz and  Rocky .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
13894,13895,"It is the romantic moment everyone wants to get just right , so it is no surprise this love struck man enlisted some help to propose to his girlfriend .  The romantic Macedonian , named Ivan , took over a square in the city of Skopje with a whole dancing flash mob to ask for his girlfriend Jana ' s hand in marriage .  And in an ironic twist , it was his choreographer girlfriend herself who taught the dancers their routine .  Jana was told that a Macedonian politician wanted to propose to his girlfriend and was asked to choreograph a routine for the occasion .  But it was only at the end of the flash mob that her boyfriend of four years cam e forward and actually revealed he was the client .  Ivan got the idea as he needed to put together a commercial at the square for a wedding fair so he decided to use the moment to propose .  During the video dozens of talented flash mob dancers are seen dancing in the city ' s main square and after their routine is finished they remove their jackets to reveal t shirts with the question Will you marry me ?  Dancers : The teenage dancers start off their routine ahead of the surprise marriage proposal  Formation : The flash mob dancers move in tandem together at the beginning of their memorable routine  All ages : Young people and young children of all ages were involved in the spectacular performance  Jana smiles and laughs excitedly as the her romantic boyfriend comes forward and actually presents her with a ring .  The choreographer was confused by her boyfriend ' s surprise proposal but in the end she happily says yes .  Large numbers of people are seen cheering , clapping and taking photographs of the couple as they kiss and embrace on the square .  The Bruno Mars ' single Marry You plays poignantly in the background during the memorable video .  Ivan and Jana were married on September 13 .  View : A birds eye view of the flash mob dance in Macedonia Square , Skopje , Macedonia  Energy : The dozens of performers are seen dressed in an array of bright colours  Message : At the end of the performance the flash mob dancers remove their jackets to reveal a message  Yes : The delighted woman says yes as her romantic partner proposes during the flash mob dance  Embrace : The happy couple embrace happily after she says yes  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
13911,13912,"Washington  (  ) The White House found itself with only one can of Campbell ' s Classic Whoop Ass left in its cabinet this Tuesday night . Due to the startling lack of meal planning evinced by the administration , officials were forced to go ahead and eat their last can of Whoop Ass themselves .  President Bush paced the Oval Office and ate standing up . "" I can ' t even find the dinner table , or a spoon , "" he remarked , as his steadfast First Lady reminded him that he still had to "" chew each bite up real good . ""  Historical trends show that the current lack of Whoop Ass in the White House is unprecedented . Even in the year 2000 , when the President was installed at his post not by popular or electoral vote , but by his father ' s friends on the Supreme Court , Whoop Ass levels were detectable around the world at nine billion yee haws per cubic mile .  "" I ' ve got something they call political whoop ass , and I ' m going to make you all eat it , "" the President famously remarked at his first press conference after the contested election .  Whoop Ass levels peaked just after the 9 11 attacks on America in 2001 , when the President announced to the world , "" You ' re either with us , or you ' re eating our Whoop Ass . "" Huge stockpiles of Whoop Ass accumulated as country music singer Toby Keith led a national food drive accompanied by his anthem , "" We ' ll Put A Boot in Your Ass , It ' s the American Way . ""  Throughout the rest of the administration ' s tenure , officials have exercised a tight control on Whoop Ass , reminding citizens of just how much Whoop Ass they could open up before each election cycle ( see 2000 , 2002 , 2004 ) .  The current shortage of Whoop Ass is all the more startling because of past surpluses . "" We just forgot to go shoppin , and that ' s that , "" Mr Bush told reporters in the Rose Garden on Wednesday .  ",satire,text,validation,Other sport,US elections,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
13914,13915,"Charlie Hebdo Cartoonist On Attackers : We ' ll Watch Them Die  The satirical paper ' s director wrote that he wanted to "" bash the heads in of those who dreamed of our deaths . ""  01 06 2016 10 : 05 am  Updated 18 hours ago  The director of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo has issued a sharply worded editorial on the one year anniversary of the attacks on its offices that left 12 people dead , calling out fanatics brutalized by the Quran who sought to silence them for daring to make light of religion .  "" Never have we wanted so badly to bash the heads in of those who dreamed of our deaths , "" wrote Laurent Sourisseau , who goes by Riss .  Thursday marks one year since two al Qaeda linked Islamic militants , Cherif and Said Kouachi , ? stormed the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris before killing several more people at a kosher grocery store . The Kouachi brothers were later killed in a shootout with police .  Charlie Hebdo has a history of spurring controversy by drawing satirical cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad , as well as Christian and Jewish religious figures such as the pope .  Backlash over the cartoons in the form of protests and even a firebomb in the office in 2011 required the paper to put in place more robust security measures for the staff . St phane Charbonnier , who went by Charb , was even assigned his own security guard around the clock . He was killed in last year ' s attack .  "" On January 7 2015 , around 11 : 35am , something strange happened , "" Riss wrote . "" It ' s something we had all thought might happen , but never something we actually prepared for . ""  A cartoon in Charlie Hebdo ' s special edition depicts a militant rolled over by a Charlie Hebdo tank .  Riss added that he ' s in disbelief that religion could lead to the death of journalists in 21st century France , a place he hoped could be defined by laughing and poking fun without being afraid of religious dogma .  Death has been deeply embedded into the magazine ' s history , he continued . First , the publication has nearly suffered an economic death several times , but always managed to keep going .  "" The more the paper could be inventive and funny , "" he said , "" the more we were alive and pushing back against those who sought to dim our lights . ""  Then , on that fateful morning last year , "" after the deafening noise of about 60 shots fired over a period of three minutes in our conference room , a weighted silence settled over the room . . . . This time , Charlie had really died . "" ?  Ironically , the attack represented a revival for the paper . All of France , he said , began reading it after Jan . 7 .  "" They won ' t watch Charlie crumble , "" he concluded . "" It ' s Charlie that will watch them die . ""  Riss ' cover drawing for the special edition of the paper , released Wednesday . It shows a blood spotted religious man toting a rifle . "" The assassin is still out there , "" the caption reads .  Riss also drew the edition ' s cover cartoon , which displays a bearded religious figure hunched over , a rifle slung across his back . Spots of blood dot his arms and legs .  "" One year later , the assassin is still out there , "" the text says .  Surviving staff offered a harrowing account of what they remember from the day of the shooting . It was a regular morning . The staff was reuniting for the first time in the new year , hugging and kissing each other and using greetings like "" morning , asshole ! ""  Coco , one staffer , had left briefly to pick up her daughter from daycare . The Kouachi brothers , spotting her outside the building , called out "" Coco ! "" They grabbed her and demanded that they be let into the office . ?  "" We were in front of the door , I was paralyzed , destroyed inside , they had their  47s slung on their backs , "" she wrote . "" I punched in the code and walked in like a robot . ""  "" The door opened suddenly and , from the corner of my eye , I spotted a masked man . I then heard ' Allahu Akbar ' and next thing I knew , I had taken a bullet , "" Simon , the webmaster , recalled .  A 3 D map of the old Charlie Hebdo offices , showing where each person sat on Jan . 7 , 2015 , when Cherif and Said Kouachi entered and began shooting .  A 3 D representation of the offices , showing where each person was seated when the Kouachi brothers entered , is also part of Wednesday ' s edition .  The newsmagazine released ? 1 million copies , a portion of which are being sold internationally .  A little over one year ago , the magazine was struggling to stay afloat as sales were below 30 , 000 issues per week .  Despite the surge in support and popularity in the wake of the attack , We feel terribly alone , "" ? Charlie Hebdo ' s financial director , Eric Portheault , told the Guardian . "" We hoped that others would do satire too . No one wants to join us in this fight because it s dangerous . You can die doing it . ?  ",true,text,validation,American football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
13919,13920,"Rita McCann still remembers the day when her joy at the prospect of giving birth to her first child turned into sheer terror .  It was December 15th , 1957 when she went into labor at a hospital in Dublin , Ireland . As she floated in and out of consciousness , she remembers being taken into a room with a single bed .  "" I was pulled to the bottom of the bed . My legs were strapped into stirrups . I was nine months pregnant , flat on my back , "" she says . "" I was helpless and I did not know what was going to happen . ""  "" Then I got a local anesthetic and the torture began . ""  As a room full of medical students and doctors looked on , McCann says she could feel the pressure of a scalpel cutting into her . From then on , it was "" just agony , literally agony , "" she recalls . "" I got a cramp down my left side and I could not move at all to get myself any relief . ""  McCann , struggling against the searing pain , couldn ' t see what the surgeon was doing to her . She assumed he was performing a Caesarian section , but he wasn ' t . He was slicing into her pelvis to make way for her baby .  McCann , now 88 , was undergoing a symphysiotomy a procedure seldom used by other industrialized nations by the mid 20th century as Caesarian sections became safer .  Symphysiotomy is a surgical procedure whereby the pubic symphysis the joint that holds the pelvis together is cut in order to widen the birth canal during labor .  Roughly 1 , 500 women in Ireland were subjected to symphysiotomy between the 1940s and 1984 , according to the government .  The procedure can cause chronic pain and "" rupturing of the bladder , "" which can lead to incontinence , according to Irish physiotherapist Jessica O ' Dowd .  In cases where the pubic symphysis is completely severed , patients may get "" earlier onset arthritis and joint degeneration , "" O ' Dowd says . "" The mechanics of your whole lower half of your body are changed because of that joint . ""  McCann says she never consented to the procedure , which she says has left a permanent gap in her pelvis .  The operation amounts to torture , according to survivors who have demanded an official apology from the Irish government and an independent inquiry .  "" Above all , women want the truth about these operations . They have been denied the truth for 40 , 50 , 60 years , "" says Marie O ' Connor , the chairwoman of Survivors of Symphysiotomy ( SoS ) .  A brief filed by the survivors ' group to the U . N . Human Rights Committee recounted some of the mothers ' horrifying experiences under the knife .  "" I just remember being brought into a theatre and the place was packed with people . I wasn ' t told what was happening . . . I was screaming and being restrained , "" recalled Philomena , a pubiotomy patient and SoS member who recalled the birth of her third child in 1959 , at the same hospital where Rita McCann had given birth two years before .  "" I couldn ' t see much except for them sawing . It was excruciating pain , "" she said . "" I was just 27 and I was butchered . ""  Cora , another SoS member , says she was just 17 when doctors performed a pubiotomy ( a procedure related to symphysiotomy ) on her during the birth of her first child in 1972 .  "" I was screaming . It ' s not working , the anesthetic I said , I can feel everything . . . I seen him go and take out a proper hacksaw , like a wood saw . . . a half circle with a straight blade and a handle , "" she said .  "" The blood shot up to the ceiling , up onto his glasses , all over the nurses . . . Then he goes to the table , and gets something like a solder iron and puts it on me , and stopped the bleeding . . . . They told me to push her out . She must have been out before they burnt me . He put the two bones together , there was a burning pain , I knew I was going to die . ""  Campaigners have accused the doctors , who worked primarily in Catholic hospitals , of putting their religious beliefs before the well being of patients .  "" The surgery was an abuse of power , a pre emptive surgical strike against the practice of birth control by obstetricians who disliked Caesarean section , on account of its association with what Archbishop of Dublin Charles McQuaid termed the ' crime of birth prevention , "" O ' Connor wrote in 2012 .  McQuaid was Archbishop of Dublin until 1972 and died the next year .  It notes that Alexander Spain and Arthur Barry the doctors who championed the procedures at Dublin ' s National Maternity Hospital in the 1940s and 50s were "" devout Catholics , serving a predominantly Catholic patient population , and they made no secret of their willing conformity to religious precepts in the treatment of patients . ""  But the report also acknowledged the legal limits on medical practitioners at the time . "" Whatever their personal inclinations or beliefs , doctors practising in Ireland were confined by key legislative limits in relation to family planning and advice , "" the report noted .  The U . N . Human Rights Committee last summer asked Ireland to conduct a "" prompt , independent and thorough "" inquiry into symphiosotomy .  In July , as a result of the government commissioned inquiry , Ireland launched an "" ex gratia "" scheme one that allowed for payment without admission of liability to compensate victims with payments ranging from 50 , 000 to 150 , 000 euros , depending on the severity of the case .  But Marie O ' Connor says the government ' s offer doesn ' t do nearly enough for women who were physically and emotionally crippled by the procedures at state hospitals for decades .  "" That is a sum of money that anybody would get here if they broke a leg at work , "" she says .  "" It seems to us that what the state is trying to do is buy off survivors at the lowest possible cost , "" she says . "" The payment scheme is an ex gratia scheme , which does not meet international human rights standards because it is based on no admission of wrongdoing . "" She says some women are pursuing legal action .  Rita McCann , one of the roughly 300 victims who is still alive , is not among those looking to the courts . And although she didn ' t find out about what had happened to her for decades , she says she has felt the effects of her symphysiotomy since the day it happened .  When McCann left the hospital , she says she could barely walk for the first six months , and she had to move back home to Monaghan in north Ireland so her parents could help raise the baby .  "" To walk or to lift the baby , my back would just go into a spasm , and my legs wouldn ' t work , "" she says . "" Basically you were crawling around holding on . . . and that lasted for a long , long time . ""  As bad as the pain was , McCann claims that she wasn ' t told about the procedure , and says that "" secrecy "" hurt even worse .  "" He was obviously sawing me in half , "" she says . "" Why they couldn ' t come and tell me ? ""  "" It left me feeling guilt and it left me wondering on what effect it would have on my baby later in life . It was having a very bad effect on me so it was bound to have some effect on the baby . ""  "" It never dawned on me that there was an alternative , "" she says . "" But I think I would have taken the Caesarian . ""  Before McCann lost consciousness on that terrifying night at the hospital more than 57 years ago , she recalled the surgeon telling a student , "" When she has a fine baby boy or girl in the morning , she will forget all about it . ""  But she says she can ' t erase the devastating impact of her symphysiotomy . "" It has been a lifetime , "" she says . "" It ' s been a life sentence . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
13938,13939,"Jailed : A judge told Connah Smith she hoped there was something who could be saved inside his mind  Two trainee nurses were tortured for seven hours by a spurned lover who tricked his way into their flat in an attack from a ' horror movie ' .  Gabby Price and Megan Parson were tied up , doused in petrol and had lit matches thrown at them by Connah Smith who asked them how they wanted to die .  He repeatedly stabbed the pair and held Miss Price under water in the bath .  When he finally left the women ' s home , he said : ' Don ' t tell the police , give it a day . I want to have a good night ' s sleep . '  Smith , who watched violent pornography online in the months leading up to the attack in March , was yesterday jailed for life for attempted murder .  Miss Price , 22 , had rejected his advances after they met while working at a supermarket in Brighton , Lewes Crown Court heard .  Smith spent weeks plotting his revenge , searching on the internet for ' what ' s the best way to murder somebody and not get caught ? ' and ' how are most serial killers caught ? ' .  The 20 year old packed a rucksack with a hammer , knives , an imitation gun , a can of petrol , matches and gaffer tape and waited outside Miss Price ' s home .  When she returned from work , he asked to use her toilet before slamming the door behind them both .  He stabbed Miss Price and tied her up before pouncing on her 21 year old flatmate Miss Parson when she arrived two hours later .  Smith told the pair he was going to kill them as he stabbed them in the head , neck and body . He then covered them in petrol and forced them to lie on the bed where he threw lit matches at them .  When the petrol failed to ignite he said : ' Oh , this is not what happens in films . I thought it would be a bigger explosion . '  The pair ' s ordeal ended just before 3am when Miss Parson feigned a miscarriage and begged to be allowed to call an ambulance .  Terrified : Former colleague Gabby Price , 22 ( left ) and her housemate Megan Parson , 20 ( right ) outside court today . Both were tortured by Smith in the home they shared in Brighton and asked how they wanted to die  She later told police : ' It was like a horror movie , like he had watched hundreds of horror movies and he just liked to do it .  ' I kept asking him why and he said it did not matter why . '  Smith ' s father Michael said his son had given no sign of having committed a crime when he arrived at their shared Brighton home in the early hours .  ' He came back that night and he was  . I just think it was like a game and it just got out of hand , ' he said .  Smith ' s father Michael said after the trial : ' I don ' t know why he did it . He came back that night and he was  . I just think it was like a game and it just got out of hand . He blames himself for it and is full of remorse '  ' He blames himself for it and is full of remorse . ' Before his trial , Smith had admitted wounding with intent , false imprisonment and threats to kill .  But he said he did not intend to kill the women , with his defence lawyers arguing in court that his acts were ' consistent with someone who sets out to terrorise , to harm and humiliate ' .  After a five day trial , jurors took barely two hours to convict Smith of two counts of attempted murder . Judge Shani Barnes ruled he should serve a minimum of 15 years .  In a statement after the hearing , Smith ' s victims said : ' Connah Smith is an extremely dangerous man and we are pleased his conviction means that he is unlikely to be able to hurt someone else for the foreseeable future . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
13956,13957,"Anna Soubry judged the George ' s Chapel of Remembrance ' s 50 , 000 a year running costs as an ' inappropriate use of defence resources '  David Cameron has vowed to save the chapel dedicated to heroic Battle of Britain pilots after a public outcry over its threatened closure .  The Mail on Sunday revealed last week how St George ' s Chapel of Remembrance for ' the Few ' faced the axe after Defence Minister Anna Soubry judged that its 50 , 000 a year running costs were an ' inappropriate use of defence resources ' .  But in a dramatic move last week , the Prime Minister pledged to do ' whatever it takes ' to save the chapel at Biggin Hill , Kent , after a furious backlash from Mail on Sunday readers and campaigners .  Built on the site of the former  station which played a key role in the 1940 battle to repel Hitler ' s Luftwaffe the chapel has stood since 1951 as a memorial to all the British airmen who died during the Second World War .  The local airport of Biggin Hill offered to make up the funding shortfall following our report , but Mr Cameron ' s announcement now means the Ministry of Defence will maintain ownership and provide public money for the site .  ' I can absolutely confirm to the House that the chapel will be preserved for future generations , as we have always recognised its importance and its rich heritage , ' he said at Prime Minister ' s Questions .  He added : ' I think it ' s possible that of all the great moments in British history , the Battle of Britain stands out as one of the most important times that there have been .  ' We will protect the chapel and will do all that we can to protect it for future generations . '  His intervention followed an online petition to save the church which gained more than 28 , 000 signatures . Campaigners also took to Twitter to express their anger at Ms Soubry .  In an embarrassing turnaround last Sunday , Ms Soubry retreated from her previous stance , telling one complainant : ' It doesn ' t mean the chapel must close . I ' m working hard to save it . '  On Monday she tweeted that there would be a meeting about the chapel ' s future , and a day later she met local Tory  Jo Johnson , when she again expressed her support for its ' continued preservation ' .  Outcry : Our report last week on the plans to close the chapel , which caused furious backlash from Mail on Sunday readers and campaigners  The Prime Minister ' s announcement was welcomed by Mr Johnson , who has championed the campaign to keep the historic monument open . He described the U turn as a ' triumph ' for the public .  ' We ' re in a very good place and the security of the chapel is secured , ' he said . ' It ' s a great triumph to keep the chapel open , and one The Mail on Sunday has played a huge part in . '  David Cameron has pledged to do ' whatever it takes ' to save the chapel at Biggin Hill , Kent   presenter and local resident Jan Leeming was also pleased with the about turn , but she criticised the MoD for the ' lack of thought ' shown in its initial decision .  ' I welcome Mr Cameron ' s promise and hope he keeps his word , ' she said . ' Apart from anything else , the chapel is iconic a place of peace , beauty and remembrance . Although a modern building , it has an aura of spirituality usually associated with ancient churches . '  In a statement released on Thursday , Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said : ' We have been in discussions with Bromley Council for 18 months and we are pleased that the council wants to create a heritage centre on the site . Subject to agreeing suitable terms to secure the future of the chapel , the garden of remembrance and the car park , we will lease the site on a long term basis to the council for a token rent . '  Approved by Sir Winston Churchill as a ' permanent ' shrine to ' the Few ' of the Second World War , St George ' s was originally built to replace a military chapel destroyed by a fire in 1946 . It is expected to welcome 25 , 000 visitors this year as it commemorates the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain .  The chapel was also threatened with closure in 1989 , when the airfield was closed as an operational  base , but it was later saved because of its historical significance .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
13960,13961,"West Ham have signed Hamilton defender Stephen Hendrie on after the clubs agreed a 1million compensation package .  The Scotland U21 international left back will join in the summer after signing a pre contract agreement with the Hammers .  Hamilton claimed that Reading and Bournemouth were also interested in the former Accies youth player , who was due to be out of contract in the summer .  Stephen Hendrie will join West Ham in the summer after the clubs agreed a compensation package  The move looked to be off last week when Hamilton vice chairman Ronnie McDonald criticised West Ham , however , David Sullivan has smoothed over negotiations .  ' I ' m absolutely buzzing , ' Hendrie confirmed . ' The last few days have been busy , but now that I ' m down here and I ' ve signed , I cannot wait to start in the summer .  ' I ' m thrilled to bits . I can ' t believe that it ' s happened . West Ham is such a massive club with a massive fan base and I just cannot wait to get started . I ' m looking forward to it .  Hendrie , pictured in action against Partick Thistle was also being chased by Bournemouth and Reading  ' I think the Premier League ' s the best league in the world and you want to play at the highest level you possibly can . Since I was a kid I always wanted to play in the Premier League and I ' ve got a fantastic chance to do that now . '  ' I know that the atmosphere is electric at the Boleyn Ground . The fans are brilliant and we ' ve moving to a bigger stadium and it ' ll be even better , so I ' m looking forward to that too . '  ' They ' re big names and everybody knows West Ham up there because of those boys , ' he confirmed .  ' They did extremely well here and everybody knows West Ham because of them and because of how big a club they are . The fan base is brilliant and so is everything else that goes with it . '  The young defender is the latest Hamilton youth product to move south of the border in recent seasons , following the likes of Everton midfielder James McCarthy and Crystal Palace midfielder James McArthur .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
13977,13978,"Twelve people walked into a Colorado movie theater late one July night , expecting to enjoy a special midnight screening of the Batman film , "" The Dark Knight Rises . ""  They didn ' t walk out .  Their deaths and injuries to dozens of others came after a man dressed head to toe in protective tactical gear sprayed the Century 16 theater in Aurora with bullets from an  15 rifle , a 12 gauge shotgun and a . 40 caliber pistol , weapons police discovered at the scene .  On Monday , many grisly details of what happened could be presented in a Colorado court at a preliminary hearing for the shooting suspect , James Holmes .  Now 25 , Holmes faces 166 charges , including murder , attempted murder and weapons offenses , tied to the July 20 rampage .  Bits and pieces emerged from police and witnesses shortly after the massacre . One was that Holmes had colored his hair red and told police he was "" the Joker , "" one of Batman ' s archenemies , according to a federal law enforcement source with detailed knowledge of the investigation .  But much information has been kept under wraps , especially after Arapahoe County District Judge William Sylvester issued a gag order to prevent defense lawyers , prosecutors and law enforcement agencies from disclosing certain information to the media .  That could change after this week ' s hearing , which is expected to last several days .  Prosecutors are expected to call scores of witnesses and outline their evidence in the case . Holmes ' s attorneys , meanwhile , are expected to argue he has "" diminished capacity , "" a term that , according to the Colorado Bar Association , relates to a person ' s ability or inability "" to make adequately considered decisions "" regarding his or her legal representation because of "" mental impairment or for some other reason . ""  After the hearing concludes , Sylvester will determine whether there is enough evidence for Holmes to stand trial .  University releases e mails related to Holmes  While officials and news reports have shed light on Holmes , his motive hasn ' t been spelled out .  He was a doctoral student in the neuroscience program at the Anschutz Medical Campus of the University of Colorado , Denver , in Aurora , until he withdrew a month before being arrested outside the bullet riddled movie theater . Holmes had been a patient of a University of Colorado psychiatrist , according to a court document filed by his lawyers .  What spurred him to rig his apartment in such a way and to later fatally shoot strangers is not clear . Academically , Holmes excelled at the University of California , Riverside , according to Chancellor Timothy P . White .  His only brush with the law in Colorado appears to have been a 2011 summons for speeding from Aurora police .  The horror Holmes allegedly unleashed inside the movie theater has been better documented , thanks to accounts from survivors and law enforcement sources .  After the movie started , the suspect went out a rear exit door , propped it open , gathered weapons , then re entered through the same door , according to a source . He then tossed in a canister before starting to shoot .  Screaming moviegoers scrambled to escape from the gunman , who shot at random as he walked up the theater ' s steps , witnesses said .  It was a scene "" straight out of a horror film , "" said Chris Ramos , who was inside the theater .  "" He was just literally shooting everyone , like hunting season , "" Ramos said .  Holmes surrendered without resistance within seven minutes of the first calls from panicked moviegoers reporting the shooting , Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates said .  Meanwhile , local hospitals found themselves overwhelmed with victims , including one who was just 4 months old . Soon thereafter , 12 families heard the horrifying news that their loved ones were dead .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
13988,13989,"the Golden Globes spread its nominations around , the Hollywood Foreign Press Association swooned hardest for Todd Haynes ' 1950s romance "" Carol , "" which landed a leading five nominations including Best Picture , Drama .  In a widespread field of nominations announced yesterday in Beverly Hills , "" Carol "" solidified its growing Oscar hopes with nods for its two stars , Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara , and for Haynes ' direction . Also surging was Adam McKay ' s finance farce "" The Big Short , "" which earned four nominations , including Best Picture , Comedy , and nods for Steve Carell and Christian Bale .  Also with four nods is Alejandro Inarritu ' s follow up to his Oscar winning "" Birdman , "" the frontier epic "" The Revenant , "" which was nominated for Best Picture , Drama , and Best Actor for Leonardo DiCaprio . A four time Oscar nominee ( and one time Globe winner ) , DiCaprio is gunning for his first Academy Award .  Tied with four is the Aaron Sorkin scripted "" Steve Jobs , "" though it failed to join the Best Picture nominees . Along with "" Carol "" and "" The Revenant , "" they are : "" Mad Max : Fury Road , "" "" Room "" and "" Spotlight . ""  Streaming series from Netflix ( which led television with nine nods ) , Amazon and Hulu dominated the  side of the Globes , which jumped all over the dial . Six shows tied for the most nominations : "" Fargo , "" "" Mr Robot , "" "" Outlander , "" "" Transparent , "" "" American Crime "" and "" Wolf Hall . ""  In an awards season that has so far failed to produce a definite heavyweight , Tom McCarthy ' s acclaimed Boston Globe drama "" Spotlight "" came into the Globe nominations as the Oscar favorite . While it took three top Globe nominations , including Best Director for McCarthy and Best Screenplay , its ensemble cast is failing to stand out from the pack .  After the Screen Actors Guild Awards passed over Michael Keaton and Mark Ruffalo on Wednesday , the Globes did , too . Ruffalo , however , was nominated for Best Actor in a Comedy for his performance as a bipolar father in "" Infinitely Polar Bear . ""  Most of the expected contenders came away with something to show from the Globes , including the scientific space adventure "" The Martian "" ( including nods for star Matt Damon and director Ridley Scott ) , David O . Russell ' s matriarch portrait "" Joy "" ( best picture , comedy and best actress Jennifer Lawrence ) , George Miller ' s apocalyptic romp "" Mad Max : Fury Road "" ( including best director for Miller ) and "" Room , "" the Emma Donoghue novel adaptation starring Brie Larson ( nominated for best actress , drama ) as a captive mother .  Left largely on the outside were Steven Spielberg ' s Cold War thriller "" Bridge of Spies , "" which was only nominated for Mark Rylance ' s supporting performance the Irish immigrant drama "" Brooklyn , "" just nominated for Saoirse Ronan ' s leading performance and "" Straight Outta Compton , "" the popular N . W . A . biopic , which landed nothing the day after the  Awards gave it a Best Ensemble nomination .  Ricky Gervais will return as host for the Globes on Jan . 10 .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
13994,13995,"Former Vice President Dick Cheney said Monday that he does not believe Saddam Hussein was involved in the planning or execution of the September 11 , 2001 , attacks .  Former Vice President Dick Cheney says Saddam Hussein "" provided sanctuary . . . and resources to terrorists . ""  He strongly defended the Bush administration ' s decision to invade Iraq , however , arguing that Hussein ' s previous support for known terrorists was a serious danger after 9 11 .  Cheney , in an appearance at the National Press Club , also said he is intent on speaking out in defense of the Bush administration ' s national security record because "" a clear understanding of policies that worked in protecting the United States is essential . ""  "" I do not believe and have never seen any evidence to confirm that Hussein was involved in 9 11 . We had that reporting for a while , but eventually it turned out not to be true , "" Cheney conceded .  But Hussein was "" somebody who provided sanctuary and safe harbor and resources to terrorists . . . . It is , without question , a fact . ""  Cheney restated his claim that "" there was a relationship between al Qaeda and Iraq that stretched back 10 years . It ' s not something I made up . . . . We know for a fact that Saddam Hussein was a sponsor a state sponsor of terror . It ' s not my judgment . That was the judgment of our intelligence community and State Department . ""  The former vice president said in 2004 that the evidence was "" overwhelming "" that al Qaeda had a relationship with Hussein ' s regime in Iraq , and that media reports suggesting that the commission investigating the 9 11 attacks reached a contradictory conclusion were "" irresponsible . ""  "" There clearly was a relationship . It ' s been testified to . The evidence is overwhelming , "" Cheney said at the time .  "" It goes back to the early ' 90s . It involves a whole series of contacts , high level contacts with Osama bin Laden and Iraqi intelligence officials . ""  On Monday , though , Cheney identified former  Director George Tenet as the "" prime source of information "" on the relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda .  Tenet "" testified , if you go back and check the record , in the fall of 2002 before the Senate Intelligence Committee in open session that there was a relationship , "" Cheney said .  Hussein was captured by U . S . forces in Iraq in December 2003 . In November 2006 , the former Iraqi leader was convicted of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death . He was executed the following December .  Cheney said on June 17 , 2004 that the evidence was "" overwhelming "" that al Qaeda had a relationship with Hussein ' s regime in Iraq , and said media reports suggesting that the 9 11 commission has reached a contradictory conclusion were "" irresponsible . ""  Among other things Monday , Cheney also called the Guantanamo Bay , Cuba , detention center a "" good facility . . . if you are going to be engaged in a world conflict , such as we are , in terms of global war on terrorism . You know , if you don ' t have a place where you can hold these people , the only other option is to kill them . And we don ' t operate that way . "" Watch what Cheney has to say about the detention facility  He reiterated his call for President Obama to declassify documents detailing the results of "" enhanced interrogations "" of high value detainees .  Since Obama has already released memos detailing the interrogation methods , Cheney said , it is important to share the results of those interrogations with the public as well .  "" I would not ordinarily be leading the charge to declassify classified information , otherwise they wouldn ' t call me Darth Vader for nothing , "" Cheney said .  But "" once the Obama administration released the legal memos that gave the opinions that were used to guide the interrogation program , they ' d given away the store . . . . I therefore thought it was important to have the results that were gained from that interrogation program front and center as well . ""  On May 14 , the  rejected the former vice president ' s request to declassify the documents .  spokesman Paul Gimigliano , in a written statement , said the two documents are the subject of pending lawsuits and therefore cannot be declassified .  Cheney said Monday that the memos previously released also were the subject of ongoing lawsuits . He said Obama can release the additional documents with "" the stroke of a pen . ""  On May 21 , Cheney gave a full throated defense of the Bush administration ' s enhanced interrogations of al Qaeda prisoners during an appearance at the conservative American Enterprise Institute .  He has said that the interrogations saved the lives of "" thousands , perhaps hundreds of thousands . "" He called the techniques the Bush administration approved "" legal , essential , justified , successful and the right thing to do . ""  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
13997,13998,"in: Consciousness , Government Corruption , Society , Special Interests ,  News No event in American history (if you ask me) has been more engineered, more anticipated and more built up than the upcoming November 8, 2016 presidential election. Face it. This presidential election season made the truth movement mainstream. Evil and corruption was brought into the light. We’ve observed what a George Soros-like engineered regime breakdown looks and feels like from the inside, our side this time. We had heard and read about all those foreign governments that the  overthrew with their “democracy” tactics using “special forces”, NGO’s, paid-for revolutionaries, activists and in some cases flat out murderous fighters (ISIS, moderate rebels). This time the engineered chaos was happening here in the US. This 2016 election season has been packed with outright exposed corruption, lies, propaganda, murders, stolen primaries, fabricated accusations, distractions, staged debates and much more. We have seen a criminally accused presidential candidate get away with crimes in broad daylight while suspected of suffering from Parkinson’s disease, passing out, having seizures and even being followed around by a creepy doctor with a seizure medication injector. This is the stuff Hollywood films are made of. The list of the insanity goes on and on, right? We’ve witnessed plenty of lies, propaganda and Jerry Springer show-like attacks by the candidates to create just the perfect smokescreen so that Americans are not looking into the events in Aleppo or Mosul much less the Hillary-DNC- mainstream media corruption scandals and revelations. Instead of keeping a close eye on the doings of the  criminal empire, the elite relied on a very in-your-face and increasingly arrogant, defiant and now very busted and discredited mainstream media to push the desired paradigm and reinforce it every which way they can. Actually, this understates the situation. What really happened was that the mainstream media joined forces with the chosen candidate of the ruling oligarchs (Hillary) and together their campaign (the DNC-Hillary-Soros-Moveon.org-Michael Moore-Hollywood-mainstream media complex) has brought us to the ending that truth seekers are now looking ahead to with great anxiety and anticipation. Actually, I’m understating the situation again. All or most Americans (awakened or not) are anticipating and anxiously awaiting the end results of the  presidential elections. The question we should all be asking then is, how did we get here? Oh, and perhaps more importantly, where are we going? And to answer this, one must realize that the ruling elite have plans. They have a lot of money and they have players willing to go along with their plans. Not sure of this? Then please research Sandy Hook or Boston bombing events. Or research many of the crisis actor events of the past few years. That’s right. While they were staging one event after another, too many Americans were too busy and too afraid to call these fake events for what they were. Too many Americans fell for the trick that we were supposed to believe mainstream media “stories” and narratives unless we could “prove” that the account didn’t happen the way mainstream media said it did. In other words, many Americans were tricked into believing that unless proven otherwise, we should  mainstream media. Well here we are in October of 2016 and finally (though it has been common knowledge to many of us for a long while) the illegitimacy of the mainstream media is carved in stone. No longer can it be considered a “conspiracy” by anyone, that mainstream media is corrupt and acts as a tool of psychological terrorism against the public on behalf of the ruling elite. That said, now it is time to confront the fully engineered and long planned ending of this 2016  presidential election. Will staged “ political terrorism “, a term just introduced a couple of weeks ago into the American psyche, be staged as Mike Adams at Natural News is writing about ? Will this “terrorism” or planned “event” mark the beginning of the end of America? If so, what will happen? How will it all go down? Many are now wondering how deep is this web of corruption and how far will the traitors identified before us be willing to go to destroy America? The one thing everyone should accept is that this ending has been planned just like so many “events” of the past several years have been scripted and planned. So today I invite readers to acknowledge this very important singular factor in today’s events. The fact that they are planned. The notion of organic and spontaneous results is something the ruling elite hate. They hate anything that is organic, spontaneous, unpredictable, people-powered, natural and real. They need everything to be controlled, scripted, planned, orchestrated, engineered. Do you see a pattern here? One consciousness longs for freedom, naturalness and spontaneity, the other longs to control, orchestrate, engineer and dictate the ending, like a master would want to control his slave. Understanding this fundamental contrast between the control freak consciousness (think ruling elite) and the free spirited consciousness desiring to simply be free, will allow you to see what’s coming this November 8th 2016. What’s coming is a long awaited day for which the ruling elite have paid a lot of money and hired many people to manipulate and control the ending of. So the real question is, will their operation succeed? Looking at the election day ending from a birds-eye view and seeing how the ruling elite think and operate it is not difficult to see that they too are waiting for that day so that they can implement whatever plan they’ll need based on the materializing reality at that moment. In this (what I’ll call) wait-and-see plan whose execution of plan will either be entirely controlled from the beginning or be an adjusting reaction-based plan to be determined by the emerging reality, we can be sure that at no point will the ruling elite accept an ending that ruins their plan. In other words they will adjust their plan as often and as desperately as possible and necessary to engineer an ending to their liking. This ultimately is all we need to know to plan our (truth seekers and freedom lovers) next move. And our next move should look something like this if you ask me: 1- Have a plan including options for self-sustaining yourself and your loved ones (food, water, shelter and other personal needs) 2- Expect corruption but continue fighting and exposing the perpetrators. Let’s not let one of these traitors (including crisis actors and operatives working for the state) get away with what they have done. 3- Don’t rely  on the internet to keep track of developing events. You might want to write down current event information or better yet print out key articles and documents (proof). Also download important videos don’t assume these videos will always be available on YouTube or the internet. Remember we are entering a much more volatile and intense information war age. The main point is we need to archive the evidence against those criminals who have betrayed America and humanity. 4- Beware of layered psychological operations. Question everything you hear and don’t discount that some “news” is designed for you to hear it (get it?). Unfortunately the controllers have indeed upped the anti when it comes to the information war. In deceptive times like these grabbing on to the principles you believe in become much more important than agreeing with someone on every little nuance about a particular event. Stay oriented and remember who the bad guys are, especially as we see the Hillary-mainstream media complex laughably blaming Russian president Vladimir Putin for all the now-revealed corruption and criminality of the Clintons, the mainstream media, the  and many others. Now is the time to confront the very real and very relevant inherent concepts of truth versus lies, lightness versus darkness, freedom versus slavery and knowledge versus hidden knowledge (the occult) because this, my friends, is what we are dealing with. We (truth seekers) are all in this together. We didn’t ask to be put in this show, it sort of came to us. Perhaps we (awakened humanity) are fulfilling a role that we cannot fully understand. This species we call humans needs some members of it’s kind to save the rest of the species and if you are reading this then you are probably a chosen vessel in this battle for humanity. There is nothing to fear for the ending has surely been scripted. We (like them) will also respond in real-time in the most effective way possible. What we need to do more than anything else is …. (pay attention) … think ahead just like they do. And so today I’m thinking ahead. I have plans for both scenarios (Trump or Hillary declared victory). I have plans for no “political terrorism” and political terrorism, shock or no shock, chaos or no chaos. In my world the problem remains the same until we hold these corrupt ruling elite, their politicians and players all responsible for their criminality and corruption. Plain and simple, the ruling elite must be identified, stopped and held accountable for their crimes against humanity and the  constitution. This is more important than any presidential election. Will a Trump victory make this accountability more possible? Many are hopeful of this but ultimately we must find a way to impose our will on the future and not rely on a politician to do this for us. Finally, I’m reminded of the very last line of the film ‘ The American Dream ‘ when the villain asks “what do you think this is?” and the answer “this is AMERICA!!”. Likewise, let’s remember, this  America, the politically hijacked land that guarantees each and every individual inherent rights which are clearly and indisputably outlined in the  constitution. Will an opportunity present itself for the rule of law to be restored or will the ruling elite have their way? That question will very likely be answered at a time not necessarily coinciding with election night. This is a reminder to all that the battle we face for humanity and truth is continuous and very long term not about one isolated moment or day. Submit your review",fake,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
14001,14002,"Pope Francis said today that he favors the right of gays to marry .  In an interview with Lithuanian newspaper Rausva Plunksna , the leader of the Catholic Church explains that since gays are part of God ' s creation , they deserve the same rights and respect as all human beings .  "" We have learned much about homosexuality in recent years , "" he told a reporter aboard the papal jet . "" We now know that being gay isn ' t a choice , but something one is born with . If our Lord decides that someone should come into this world a certain way , who are we to judge his choice ?  "" And for those who do judge , where exactly in the Bible does it say marriage is reserved for heterosexual relationships ? Is it in the Ten Commandments ? I don ' t see it there . You ' d think if stopping gay marriage were so important Jesus would have mentioned it I don ' t know maybe once in the Bible .  "" The Bible mentions not eating shellfish more than it mentions homosexuality . And yet many anti gay activists including some Catholics are running around eating shrimp and telling others what to do with their lives . I view these people as bigoted and ungodly and I will confront them during my time as pontiff . Who are we to tell anyone who to love ? ""  Pope Francis ascended to the papacy following the resignation of Pope Benedict  earlier this year . Although he had previously been a fierce defender of church doctrine , since becoming pope Francis has hinted at more progressive views on social issues , such as the idea of married priests , female priests and homosexuality .  So far many devout Catholics have welcome ' s Francis ' s overtures , dismissing them as changes in tone rather than substance . But endorsing gay marriage outright may be a step too far for some .  "" The queers have gone too far this time , "" says former Senator Rick Santorum , a prominent Catholic , anti gay politician . "" They ' ve clearly taken control of Pope Francis using some sort of gay mind control . The Catholic Church has a proud 2 , 000 year tradition of intolerance towards homosexuals , and I find it hard to believe our leader would willingly end that impressive achievement . ""  In the interview , however , Francis appeared to be in control of his own thoughts and preemptively counterattacked his critics by calling into question their dedication to the faith .  "" Some people believe that religion is all about getting to heaven , "" he explains . "" These people try to prove to God that they ' re more deserving than others . So they decide to judge entire groups of people minorities , immigrants , single mothers to make themselves look better in God ' s eyes .  "" But the Lord does not look kindly upon such judgement . All human beings are equal before his eyes . And saying ' I am holier than him because he is gay or because he speaks a different language ' this is a strategy that is bound to fail . ""  ",satire,text,validation,Other news2,US elections,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
14002,14003,"President Obama will meet with top congressional leaders from both parties Tuesday to discuss a war in Afghanistan that now appears to be at a potential tipping point .  The meeting on the war comes as the Obama administration conducts a review of its Afghan strategy .  Obama will be joined by , among others , House Speaker Nancy Pelosi , Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid , House Minority Leader John Boehner , Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and the heads of the Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees in the House and Senate , two Democratic officials said .  The meeting comes amid the Obama administration ' s comprehensive review of U . S . strategy in Afghanistan . Several top military leaders and opposition Republicans are pressing Obama to act quickly to increase the present 68 , 000 troop level by as many as 40 , 000 .  "" There ' s no doubt that , particularly on funding , it ' s not going to happen until Congress signs off , "" White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Monday . "" They ' re an important part of this , and the president wants to hear from them . ""  In March , Obama announced a plan to send more than 20 , 000 additional troops to the country to provide security for a national election . That move followed what Obama and others called years of inadequate resources in Afghanistan because of the Bush administration ' s focus on Iraq .  The Obama strategy was based on a counterinsurgency mission intended to defeat terrorists based in Afghanistan while winning local support and helping with development .  "" We need to reverse the current trends , and time does matter , "" McChrystal said last week in a speech in London , England . "" Waiting does not prolong a favorable outcome . This effort will not remain winnable indefinitely . ""  U . S . Defense Secretary Robert Gates , however , appeared to push back Monday against those who are loudly urging a rapid troop increase . It ' s "" important that we get it right , "" he told a U . S . Army audience .  Gates said that it ' s also "" important that all of us . . . provide the best advice to the president candidly but privately . ""  Gen . George Casey , chief of staff of the Army , echoed Gates ' view , telling reporters that he would be sharing his views "" in private "" and that they ' d be "" the second to know . ""  Obama has yet to respond to McChrystal ' s report , prompting opponents to accuse him of indecisiveness and playing politics that puts U . S . soldiers on the ground at risk . Watch more on the debate over the best way forward  National Security Adviser James Jones Jr . on Sunday cited three developments since March that have led the White House to reconsider its overall Afghanistan strategy :  Questions about the legitimacy of Afghan President Hamid Karzai ' s election victory . McChrystal ' s conclusion that the Taliban is stronger than previously thought . Neighboring Pakistan ' s improved efforts to change the overall dynamic of the border region .  Jones said Karzai ' s government "" is going to have to pitch in and do much better "" than it has to improve the governance situation after the elections , widely considered as tainted by vote fraud in some areas .  Some in Obama ' s inner circle , including Vice President Joe Biden , are advocating a counterterrorism approach that focuses on combating al Qaeda through the use of unmanned drones and special forces without involving additional troops .  Others , especially McChrystal , are strongly advocating the broader counterinsurgency approach , which requires a much larger U . S . military footprint in the country . See who has Obama ' s ear on Afghanistan  Sen . John McCain of Arizona and other Senate Republicans as well as other advocates of an increase in troop levels are pushing for McChrystal to testify before Congress about his assessment .  Senate Armed Service Committee Chairman Carl Levin , D Michigan , rejected their request nearly two weeks ago , calling it "" premature . ""  Eight American troops and two Afghan security force members were killed Saturday when militants opened fire on an outpost with rockets , mortars and heavy caliber machine guns , according to an initial U . S . military report on the battle .  The bodies of four of those U . S . soldiers Army Sgt . Joshua Kirk , of South Portland , Maine Specialists Michael Scusa of Villas , New Jersey , and Christopher Griffin , of Kincheloe , Michigan and Pfc . Kevin Thomson , of Reno , Nevada are scheduled to be brought back to the United States on Tuesday , the Pentagon said .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
14021,14022,"For all the complexity of our national complexion , Americans still too often think that white makes right .  Consider a new study of census returns reported on by the Pew Research Center . It showed , apparently , that significant numbers of Hispanics are now identifying as white . The research was presented at the recent Population Association of America meeting .  Some news reports suggested that Hispanics , rather than solidifying a distinct ethnic identity and becoming the driving force of a "" majority minority "" future , might instead try to be just the latest group of immigrants , such as Italians or Jews , to "" become white . ""  Such a shift , if it ' s real , has potentially big implications .  Think about national politics , where the Republican Party plays to a shrinking , aging and increasingly anxious base of white voters . If large numbers of Hispanics were to start thinking of themselves as white , that could alter the calculations and rhetoric of the  .  But it turns out such scenarios are at best premature . What the new research really appears to reveal is just how confused we continue to be about race and how , even amidst this confusion , whiteness remains a dangerously malleable idea that Americans must deal with more candidly .  Let ' s start with the three points of confusion that Pew ' s report on the new research revealed .  First , and most basic , is a statement that has been repeated yet ignored so often that it ' s like the fine print in an ad : "" Hispanics can be of any race . ""  That means there are black , white , even Asian Hispanics . The label "" Hispanic "" meaning , "" with origins or heritage in Spanish speaking countries "" was intended by the census to be a category of linguistic and ethnic heritage , not an official "" race "" of its own .  Yet in recent decades , Hispanics or Latinos have indeed begun to forge a cross cutting identity that can feel like a racial category ( shorthanded as "" brown "" ) and is sometimes set beside the other major blocs of America ' s racial color grid . So Hispanics can be at once a race and not a race . It ' s no wonder that media coverage of Hispanics can be muddled .  The second point of confusion is that the new research did not in fact find a Hispanic flight to whiteness .  What it found was that growing numbers of Hispanics , when told by government forms that they were not a race unto themselves and that they had to choose a race , chose the category called "" white . "" As the study authors noted , this reflected the convolutions and limits of the census forms ( which are to change in 2020 ) at least as much any underlying yearning among Hispanics to be white .  But this brings us to the third point of confusion , which is that to the extent that some Hispanics did in fact want to be seen as white rather than Hispanic , they were using the clumsy language of color to express the subtle reality of class .  An earlier Pew report indicated that the longer their families had been in America , the more likely Hispanics were to check the "" white "" box . This suggests that the way Americans say "" upward mobility for immigrants "" or "" mainstream integration "" is still too often "" becoming white . ""  Indeed , sometimes our national discourse on race proceeds as if it were all about groups of color vying to be acknowledged , while white people sit back and watch . The invention of panethnic categories such as "" Latino "" or "" Asian American , "" categories that take on a racial life of their own , is in part a reaction to the white norming of politics and pop culture . But it ' s also a time tested , all American tradition . For proof , look no further than the invention of the white race itself .  The great waves of immigration in the 19th and 20th centuries to say nothing of the baroque rules of racial categorization in the slaveholding South showed that Americans have always been deviously flexible about deciding who gets to be white . At first the Irish weren ' t , then they were . Same with the Italians and Jews .  In more recent times , Asian Americans who ' ve achieved in visible ways have been granted "" honorary white "" status ( wanted or not ) , while some people of color seeking middle class success have been accused by their co ethnics of "" acting white "" ( whether they thought of it that way or not ) .  The great risk , underscored by the reactions to the new research , is that we go on unthinkingly treating whiteness as the ideal and social baseline of American life .  That ' s harmful because it subordinates people whose backgrounds aren ' t "" white "" and because it stunts the capacity of all people not least poor and working class whites to name and reckon with class divides and inequality .  I propose a better way of talking about what third or fourth generation Hispanics , or ambitious new arrivals in Chinatown , or resilient African American first in the family college students are all doing . They ' re not becoming white . They ' re becoming American .  And to become American is now a more colorful , complex and class bound undertaking than it has ever been . Let ' s learn to see it that way .  Correction : An earlier version of this article misidentified the source of the new research reported on by Pew . It was presented at the Annual Population Association of America meeting .  Share your stories of your modern family  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
14022,14023,"Hillary Clinton faces a 16 point deficit to a challenger almost universally liked by New Hampshire Democratic voters ? from liberals to independents ? while Republican Donald Trump has widened his big lead over rival Texas U . S . Sen . Ted Cruz , a new Franklin Pierce University Boston Herald poll shows .  With just two weeks left and a dwindling number of wavering voters , Trump and Democrat Bernie Sanders , who were laughed off as lightweights a year ago , are now clear favorites to win the pivotal leadoff primary in the Granite State , the poll shows .  Clinton s popularity in New Hampshire is actually dropping while Sanders favorability rating has risen to an almost unheard of 90 percent , according to the Franklin Pierce Herald poll of 408 likely Democratic primary voters .  The former secretary of state now needs to pull off what would be an even unlikelier comeback than in 2008 ? when she overcame a near double digit deficit to then Sen . Barack Obama ? to avert a stunning defeat to her socialist rival , the poll shows .  Her only hope appears to be overtaking Sanders in next Monday s Iowa caucuses and then hoping for his campaign to collapse in New Hampshire , much like another Vermonter ? Howard Dean ? suffered in 2004 .  But Sanders popularity in New Hampshire is so deep and wide ? the poll shows six in 10 Democrats and seven in 10 independents view him very favorably ? that it would take a major meltdown for Clinton to catch him .  Sanders leads Clinton among nearly every demographic group except voters 55 and older , according to the poll .  The former first lady s favorable number among likely Democratic primary voters has dropped from 83 to 74 percent while her unfavorable rating increased from 16 to 24 percent since a December Franklin Pierce Herald poll , when Sanders held just a two point lead .  In the  race , the battle now is for second place behind Trump . The billionaire businessman s favorability has improved since December , helping him increase his lead over Cruz to 19 points , 33 14 percent , according to the poll , which was conducted Jan . 20 24 among 444 likely  primary voters .  Ohio Gov . John Kasich has climbed to third place with 12 percent support , while former Florida Gov . Jeb Bush gets just 9 percent and Florida U . S . Sen . Marco Rubio dropped to 8 percent . New Jersey Gov . Chris Christie also dropped in the last month and now has just 7 percent of the vote , according to the poll .  The new poll gives Trump his highest favorable number yet in New Hampshire ? 58 percent ? while 39 percent of  primary voters view him negatively . Cruz s popularity has dropped in the last month .  Trump s lead is largely due to his wide support from independent voters , Republicans , liberals , moderates and even conservatives , who back him over Cruz by a 35 20 point margin .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
14040,14041,"seeks extra security abroad in wake of Russian jet crash  Britain ' s foreign minister on Sunday said the government would push for higher security at foreign airports in risky areas even if it meant extra delays for passengers .  Britain suspended flights to Sharm el Sheikh after saying it feared a bomb may have brought down a Russian jet shortly after it took off from the Red Sea resort last week , killing 224 people , and that security at the airport was lax .  "" What we ' ve got to do is ensure that . . . Airport security reflects local conditions , "" Philip Hammond told the  on Sunday .  "" Where there ' s a local higher threat , that will mean higher levels of security are required and that may mean additional costs and may mean additional delays at airports . ""  Efforts will be focussed on areas where Islamic State (  ) militants are known to operate if news reports are confirmed that they were behind the crash .  "" If this turns out to be a device planted by an  operative , or by somebody inspired by  , then clearly we will have to look again at the level of security we expect to see in airports in areas where  is active , "" Hammond said .  The decision to suspend flights with immediate effect came after a team of British security experts made an initial security assessment in Sharm el Sheikh , but the government has yet to identify  as the perpetrators .  Around 3 , 300 of the estimated Britons in Sharm el Sheikh have been brought home on jets laid on by airlines in conjunction with the government , and a further 1 , 700 are expected home Sunday , according to Hammond .  "" The ambassador is telling me that the mood in Sharm is generally calm , people understand what is going on , "" he told the  .  "" Many people will want to stay and complete their holiday , "" he added . "" At most people will experience a delay of two or three days .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
14052,14053,"Newcastle ended their 20 game losing run in the Premiership with an enthralling 29 24 victory over Exeter Chiefs at Kingston Park .  Both sides scored three tries each and had their chances to score a four try bonus win in an end to end second half but , after Noah Cato ' s 69th minute score , the Falcons had the edge .  Fittingly , Falcons ' man of the match Ally Hogg ended 10 minutes of almost unbearable tension for the home crowd after Tom Catterick crossed over for a try when he booted the ball into the stand from a scrum right on the Newcastle line to end that losing run .  Newcastle Falcons celebrate emphatically at the final whistle with victory over Exeter Chiefs  Newcastle Falcons players celebrate with the Kingston Park faithful in the South Stand on Sunday  It was a cracking game from the start with the Falcons making a mess of the kick off as the ball rebounded back on the Exeter side and eventually a penalty into the corner saw Thomas Waldrom driven over from the line out .  It was Newcastle who reacted strongest and they launched several penetrating attacks with Hogg , Mark Wilson , Dom Barrow and Alex Tait feeding off Ruki Tipuna ' s darting runs .  Two penalties resulted from the boot of Juan Pablo Socino in the 10th and 12th minutes . But Tipuna then paid the price for trying to run the ball out of defence as he threw a wild pass which saw flanker Ben White snap it up and break through for Exeter ' s second try .  Almost immediately Socino released Hogg down the right and big number eight slipped the ball to Sinoti Sinoti , the winger scoring in the corner to make it 11 10 and then soon afterwards Socino landed a 50 metre penalty to increase the score to 14 10 .  Falcons back rower Ally Hogg put in a man of the match performance against the Exeter Chiefs  Tom Catterick ( right ) celebrates scoring a try with Alex Tait during the Premiership match  It was end to end stuff and when Newcastle made a mess of a line out drive and turned the ball over , Exeter should have scored when they broke away .  But Henry Slade kicked ahead when keeping the ball in hand would have really stretched the Falcons , who were vastly relieved to see the ball run into touch .  The centre made up for his mistake when he scrambled over in the corner right on the stroke of half time after some heavy duty work by the Chiefs forwards and Gareth Steenson ' s conversion hit the bar to send Exeter take a narrow 15 14 lead into the break .  Sinoti ' s typically aggressive run at the start of the second half led to a penalty which Socino banged into the Exeter 22 where the Chiefs infringed at the line out maul and Socino slotted the ball home .  Gareth Steenson ( left ) of Exeter Chiefs is tackled by Adam Powell of Newcastle Falcons  But then three penalties from Steenson in the space of 13 minutes swung then game in Exeter ' s favour .  A careless offside from Tipuna ' s box kick allowed Steenson to kick in the 52nd minute and then the Exeter fly half kicked another five minutes later for handling in the ruck , followed by a third for a scrummage offence in the 65th .  But then Newcastle scored twice in three minutes to stand the game on its head . Adam Powell and Gonzalo Tiesi combined to send in Catterick under the posts before Socino converted to level the scores at 24 24 .  Newcastle swept back through Rob Hawkins ' superb offload to Tait down the left and Cato scored in the corner to make it 29 24 leaving Newcastle in the driving seat as the clock counted down .  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
14061,14062,"Of course, when there s violence in protests, we hear a lot of blame getting thrown around. However, the loudest cries of injustice always seem to come from those who don t believe injustice happens to anybody but them   the nationalist, racist, white supremacist alt-right. Such is the case today with the violence that erupted at the Berkeley protests. The problem is, the alt-right was all over Twitter working to incite violence against the  antifa,  or anti-fascists, whom they ve branded as terrorists.Ignoring for a moment the fact that these guys wouldn t know what actual terrorism is if it bit them, one particular person on Twitter spent much of the last six weeks telling his fellow alt-righters what to carry to Berkeley and how to set it up. They seem to think that attaching flags to sticks will disguise the fact that they re weapons.Check out what one of the  leaders,  named General Deplorable, posted to Twitter:General Deplorable s diagram up there is about how to ensure those sticks always legal, so they can carry them into  battle,  as well as how to put them together so they re harder for  enemies  to pull away from them  in battle. Here are two other tweets that are incitements to violence as well:And this is General Deplorable s Twitter profile pic and info, which actually contradict each other:Here s the thing: This crowd of miscreants calls their flag poles  based sticks.  This is what they really are:This is what #BasedStick means: a flagpole that doubles as an insurrectionist s weapon. #Berkeleyprotests weblink  Marie Walshe (@lacanlune) April 16, 2017The Berkeley Police Department sees these as weapons. In fact, any stick pole, post, or the like that can be used as a bludgeoning tool (along with anything else that can be used as a weapon) are prohibited. To listen to these guys talk on their social media feeds and on their livestreams, though, it s the anti-Trump protesters who started everything, and Berkeley  is horrifically biased. Yet, look at what they confiscated:Here are some of the prohibited items that have already removed from the park today. weblink pic.twitter.com/A70VCxFYEu  Berkeley Police (@berkeleypolice) April 15, 2017The American flags belonged to the alt-right, and the black flags and red and black flags belong to what look like black bloc anarchists. Lately they ve shown up at protests and rallies specifically to cause violence. They re who every  real American  conservative thinks are the  violent liberals,  but they are a minority fringe group which currently lacks broad support.It s not likely that they ll ever change their minds on that, either.13 people were arrested and of course, General Deplorable and others are decrying the arrests and Berkeley  for being biased towards the anti-Trump side, because of course.But they didn t go there to hold a peaceful rally. All of this shows that they went there specifically for violence.Watch a short video of melee below:Demonstrators are punching each other and even using skateboards and helmets as weapons in #Berkeley. weblink pic.twitter.com/7G8hLtsA4I   Bay Area (@nbcbayarea) April 15, 2017Featured image via screen capture from embedded video",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present
14085,14086,"The Department of Veterans Affairs said Wednesday it will apologize to veterans who were mistakenly told they ' d been diagnosed with a fatal neurological condition .  Brent Casey said went into a "" meltdown "" when he got a letter from the  saying , erroneously , that he had  .  Letters were sent August 13 to 1 , 864 veterans and survivors , the  said in a written statement . They were supposed to be sent to veterans with  also known as Lou Gehrig ' s disease to keep them apprised of expanding benefits eligibility .  "" According to the records of the Department of Veterans Affairs (  ) , you have a diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (  ) , "" said the letter , according to the National Gulf War Resource Center . "" This letter tells you about  disability compensation benefits that may be available to you . ""  The  said issued a statement saying it made "" a coding error , and a number of veterans who should not have received this letter did . ""  After hearing from veterans who received the letter but do not have  , the  immediately began reviewing individual claims files for all the recipients to determine who received the letter by mistake , agency spokeswoman Katie Roberts said in the statement . ""  employees are personally contacting these individuals to ensure they understand the letter should not be confused with a medical diagnosis of  , explain why they mistakenly received the letter and express  ' s sincere apologies for the distress caused by this unfortunate and regrettable error . ""  "" It ' s not right for it to happen this way , "" Casey said . "" Regardless if it was the case that I was diagnosed with  , that would be the worst possible way for an organization to let an individual know . ""  Upon receiving the letter , some veterans sought a second opinion outside the  , according to veterans ' service organizations , paying for doctors ' consultations out of their own pockets . The  said it will reimburse those veterans for the costs .  In addition , the  said it is reviewing its notification process to make sure a similar error doesn ' t happen again .  The AmVets service organization is "" encouraged "" by the  ' s response to the situation , and pleased to see they caught the error , said spokesman Ryan Gallucci .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
14093,14094,"Manchester City are on course to comply with  ' s financial fair play rules after cutting their annual losses thanks largely to a big boost in domestic television money and cutting their wage bill .  The club remains loss making , for now , posting an annual deficit of 23million for the 2013 14 season in figures just published . That is half the sum they lost the previous season .  But big increases in  money as well as another leap in commercial revenues , bolstered by keys sponsors including Etihad , mean City are highly unlikely to be adjudged to have fallen foul of  ' s  rules again .  Manchester City have reported record revenues of 346 . 5million for the year ending May 31 , 2014  Last year they were deemed to have broken the  rules as a result of including almost 47m of income in their accounts from sales of intellectual property , 22 . 45m of it to related parties . In laymen ' s terms ,  took a dim view of City conjuring up income that could not be justified in order to attempt to balance their books .  The accounts for 2013 14 notably include zero income from sale of any intellectual property after City vowed as part of their settlement with Uefa not to repeat what they did last year .  Instead City recorded notable rises in all the traditional revenue streams of a football club , with match day income rising from 39 . 6m to 47 . 5m ,   revenue rising to 31 . 3m from 24m , domestic  income soaring to 101 . 9m from 64 . 3m on the back of the Premier League ' s new 5 . 5bn  deals , and commercial income jumping to 165 . 8m from 143m .  City do not disclose the breakdown of where their commercial income comes from , and while large sums are believed to come from the Middle East , where the club ' s owner Sheikh Mansour is based , City are also attempting to diversify their revenue streams via a network of global partners .  The Etihad club now expect to comply with  ' s Financial Fair Play rules  As the club ' s total income rose by 28 per cent to 346 . 5 million , the club ' s biggest single outlay , on wages , fell from 233m in 2012 13 to 205m last season , which equates to ' only ' 561 , 764 per day .  Among the clubs who have declared their financial results for 2013 14 so far , City ' s wage bill now falls from being the biggest in the Premier League to second biggest behind city rivals Manchester United , who had a comparative figure of 214 . 8m last season .  It is not clear , however , whether all the staff who were counted in last year ' s figures are also counted in this year ' s figures or whether some of them have been hived off into a different company for accounting purposes .  Last year ' s accounts showed City had 222 ' football staff ' including players and the latest account shows this has dropped to 112 staff . Overall City ' s staff numbers have inexplicably fallen from 449 people a year ago to 314 in the latest accounts .  City have halved their losses from their 2013 14 Premier League winning season  The most obvious explanation at a time of expansion for City and the opening of an impressive new campus would be that some staff are now paid via a different subsidiary company of Sheikh Mansour ' s global football franchise business of which City is just one arm .  City have confirmed to Sportsmail that the ' missing ' staff are now paid via subsidiary companies and City are billed for their services . The accounts suggest this accounting manoeuvre entirely legal reduced City ' s wage bill by around 10 . 8m year on year .  The other reason the wage bill may have fallen is that last year ' s 233m included pay offs to former manager Roberto Mancini and some coaching staff .  City ' s losses take into account a 16m fine from  for breaking  rules in their last accounting period and the latest numbers should mean that the full 50m initially imposed will not now be imposed two thirds of it was conditional .  Manuel Pellegrini ' s side are second in the Premier League , six points behind leaders Chelsea  City believe they are in good financial shape to break even or even become profitable from the current season onwards .  City ' s chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak says : ' We have moved beyond the period of heavy investment that was required to make the club competitive again , it is commercial growth of the kind we are seeing today that will underpin and support our operations in the future . '  The accounts show City spent a net sum of 38 . 8m on summer transfers including Eliaqium Mangala , even accounting for the sales of Javier Garcia and Jack Rodwell . Mangala ' s transfer fee has repeatedly been reported as 32m but in fact was closer to 40m to three third party owners combined .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
14115,14116,"England ' s 2 1 defeat to Uruguay has left millions depressed , but these images lampooning captain Steven Gerrard and even the Queen might raise a wry smile as they swept across the internet today .  The memes also celebrate Luis Suarez , the destroyer of Roy Hodgson ' s side ' s World Cup hopes , and show the Liverpool striker who scored twice last night as Superman and even with Her Majesty in a headlock .  Others included a dig at Gerrard , whose backheader led to Uruguay ' s second goal , and a Scotland fan celebrating wildly with Uruguayans in Sao Paulo .  Many have been produced by England fans themselves , proving that even on another dark day for the Three Lions , they still have a sense of humour despite more World Cup disappointment .  Here are some of the most popular :  Harsh : Steven Gerrard is depicted as clueless in some virals for heading the ball on to Suarez for his second goal in the crucial group game last night  Royal blue : In this meme the Queen ' s head was superimposed onto the body of a member of the Uruguay coaching staff , making it look as if Suarez has the monarch in a headlock  Drastic measures : In this viral , the Queen looks to gain revenge on Suarez as she drives her Range Rover while holding a gun with a silencer  Uruguay ' s superhero : Luis Suarez depicted as Superman after his amazing recovery and display against England , in which he scored twice  Star : Liverpool fans also got in on the act after Suarez ' s performance , admitting despite England ' s loss they ' just can ' t get enough ' of the striker  He carried it off : Suarez leaving the field on a stretcher after getting cramp but only after he had scored twice and beaten England  The King is back : Suarez returned and stuck the boot into England after missing his country ' s first match when they lost to Costa Rica  What a recovery : This viral showed just how a month ago he was in a wheelchair after knee surgery and last night hammering in two goals in a huge game  Old enemy : A Scotland fan was spotted in the Uruguay end in Sao Paulo during the celebrations , enjoying England ' s nightmare night in Sao Paulo  Saint Luis : Suarez confirmed his status as a national icon in Uruguay with his brace against England , with this Tweet making him a religious icon  End of the world : Suarez left England ' s hopes hanging by a thread , their World Cup destiny very much out of their hands  Start the engine : The Twitter post teased England for their likely early exit from the tournament , which will be confirmed if Italy fail to beat Costa Rica tonight  Awkward : Animated series the Simpsons inspired this post , referencing Suarez ' s return to Liverpool next season where Glen Johnson , Steven Gerrard and other England players play  D ' oh ! England fans realise it is now out of the team ' s hands and will be lending their allegiance to Italy over the next few days , as Homer Simpson suggests  Spectator : Swedish star Zlatan Ibrahimovic , whose team failed to qualify , sat in the stands in Sao Paulo on Thursday night , and inspired this post  Stunned : The reaction of Liverpool fans after Suarez ' s double was compared to South Park characters looking dumbfounded by his performance  Cheeky : Italian striker Mario Balotelli , whose team needs to beat Costa Rica to keep England in the tournament said he wanted a ' kiss on the cheek ' from the Queen if they win  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
14117,14118,"Rafael Nadal ' s coach has criticised the appointment of Gala Leon Garcia as the captain of Spain ' s Davis Cup team .  The Spanish Tennis Federation (  ) handed 40 year old Leon Garcia responsibility for the country ' s Davis Cup team following Carlos Moya ' s decision to step aside last week .  Leon Garcia , the former world number 27 , becomes Spain ' s first female Davis Cup captain and just the fifth in the competition ' s history .  Toni Nadal , uncle and coach of Rafael , sounded puzzled when asked about Gala Leon Garcia ' s appointment  Toni Nadal , Rafael ' s coach and uncle , tells Onda Cero radio ' it is preferable that ( the Davis Cup captain ) is someone with a background in the world of men ' s tennis . '  He says ' the men ' s game isn ' t the same as the women ' s game , on the tactical level . '  Toni Nadal believes Leon ' s appointment could create problems ' at dressing room level ' .  ' I have had zero relations with Gala Leon and I believe Rafa Nadal also zero , he has never mentioned it to me , ' he said .  ' But it doesn ' t matter , I have never spoken to her but that doesn ' t mean anything .  ' It would seem to be more normal if the captain had been someone like Juan Carlos Ferrero , or some ex player of a certain level , which is what has happened recently . '  Former world number one Ferrero , who retired in 2012 , has expressed a desire to captain the team one day .  Leon Garcia , pictured here playing in 2001 , was announced as Spain ' s new Davis Cup captain  Moya quit after five times winners Spain , fielding a weakened team , were relegated from the elite World Group for the first time in 18 years after a playoff loss in Brazil .  The  said in a statement on Monday that Leon Garcia , who quit the tour in 2004 , would take on Moya ' s responsibilities as part of her role in charge of the federation ' s sporting management .  While Toni Nadal sounded unenthusiastic , Leon Garcia received support from Britain ' s two time grand slam champion Andy Murray who broke the mould earlier this year by deciding to employ former French player Amelie Mauresmo as his coach .  ' Congrats to Gala Leon Garcia for becoming first female Spanish Davis Cup captain today . . . hopefully first of many , ' said the Scot on Twitter .  Carlos Moya ( left ) stood down as captain after Spain were relegated from the World Group in Brazil  Moya stood down after less than a year in charge when Spain dropped out of the World Group , citing the unavailability of several top players as one of the factors in his decision .  Nadal did not play in Brazil because of a wrist injury that has sidelined him since Wimbledon . Spain ' s number two David Ferrer was also absent .  The  said full details of Leon Garcia ' s appointment would be disclosed on Tuesday in Seville .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
14122,14123,"A winter storm swept through much of the Northeast Monday , creating slick roads , snarling air travel and stranding thousands of fans trying to head home after the Super Bowl .  Slushy , wet snow is falling in New York , New Jersey and Pennsylvania . Some areas could get 10 inches of snow or more .  The storm had dumped six inches of snow in New York City by midday Monday , Hennen said . With temperatures dipping below freezing Monday night , that could lead to an icy glaze on city streets and sidewalks , he said .  The situation is so bad in New Jersey that Gov . Chris Christie has declared a state of emergency .  "" Today ' s winter storm is expected to produce heavy snow and travel hazards throughout the state , affecting tonight ' s evening commute , "" the governor said in a statement .  He urged people to remain off the roads so that first responders and public safety officials could respond to any emergency situations .  At a news conference Monday afternoon , New York Mayor Bill de Blasio also urged people to stay off the streets .  "" Things are going to be messy today , "" de Blasio said . "" Snow is coming down faster than we can plow it . . . we have a very aggressive plowing operation going on , but the snow is coming down very rapidly . ""  He said the Big Apple is buckling down and preparing aggressively for the three storms expected this week .  There has been one weather related death in New York .  An elderly man was hit by a backhoe pushing snow in front of his Brooklyn home Monday , New York police officials said . The 73 year old victim was rushed to hospital where he later died , police said .  A winter warning is also in effect for Philadelphia , according to the National Weather Service . Boston is under a winter storm watch Tuesday night through Wednesday afternoon .  Brutal weather impacts air travel  The wintry weather grounded air travel just a day after the Super Bowl brought people from across the country to the Northeast .  By 5 p . m .  Monday , more than 1 , 900 flights had been canceled within , into or out of the United States , according to FlightAwareweblink , an online site that tracks flight data . More than 6 , 000 flights were delayed .  The majority of those cancellations have come from LaGuardia , Newark Liberty International , and Philadelphia International airports .  "" Monday morning is one of the busiest times for air travel business travelers pack flights as they start the week , "" Daniel Baker , FlightAware ' s chief executive officer , wrote via e mail .  "" With tens of thousands of Super Bowl fans planning to return home on Monday , there ' s not a lot of available seats to accommodate everyone who was displaced in the wave of canceled flights this morning . ""  Newark , John F . Kennedy International and LaGuardia airports are preparing cots and pillows for travelers who may need them overnight , according to Cheryl Albiez , spokeswoman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey , which operates all three airports .  "" The night will be very short , "" Emond said . "" When you win a Super Bowl for the first time , the night is very , very short . ""  He planned to spend an extra night at his hotel in New York .  Hotel operators in the city said they are bracing for a lot of last minute bookings as guests come back from airports . Many hotels report that guests are extending their stays .  This is the second wintry blast this year for the Northeast . Last month , extreme cold , strong winds and snow pummeled communities from New York to Massachusetts to Maine .  And it ' s not just the Northeast bracing for winter weather .  In the Midwest , an ice storm and significant snow are expected to hit cities such as Oklahoma City , Kansas City , St . Louis , Chicago and Detroit between Monday and Wednesday .  The weather is living up to Punxsutawney Phil ' s predictions . The famed groundhog in Pennsylvania saw his shadow Sunday , on Groundhog Day . If you believe him , that means six more weeks of wintry weather .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
14131,14132,"—   In recent weeks, staff members for Bobby Rush, a Democratic congressman from Illinois, have asked fellow lawmakers to sign a letter opposing a Federal Communications Commission proposal to limit how broadband providers can share users’ personal data. Last month, 60 lawmakers signed a separate letter voicing their objections to an F. C. C. regulation that would open the market for cable television   boxes. What the actions have in common: the financial connections and legwork of cable companies like Comcast. The National Cable  Telecommunications Association, an industry lobbying group, said it had edited the letter shared by Mr. Rush’s staff. Cable industry lobbyists also helped gather the 60 signatures on the    letter nearly all of the lawmakers who signed count cable and telecom companies as top campaign donors, according to federal disclosures. The    activity by cable companies and their industry groups is part of the biggest lobbying push by the $115 billion industry in Washington since 2009, when the government drew up its net neutrality rules. These days, the cable and telecom industries are hiring more lobbyists, issuing warnings that they may sue federal agencies, and making speeches and writing scathing blog posts about policy makers. The trigger? A string of proposed regulations by the F. C. C. that has left cable companies feeling besieged. So far this year, the agency has proposed reforming rules on   boxes so that people can pick any television device to receive cable and online video, which could cut into the industry’s $19. 5 billion in annual    rental fees. The F. C. C. also unveiled broadband privacy rules that would make it harder to collect and share data on users for targeted advertising. And the agency also announced a plan to force cable and telecom companies to lease bandwidth to competitors in certain areas, with potential limits on how much they can charge, curbing revenue for such deals. “The policy blows we are weathering are not modest regulatory corrections,” Michael K. Powell, president of the N. C. T. A. said in a speech last month. “They have been thundering, tectonic shifts. ” The cable companies’ frustration has been compounded by concerns that the F. C. C. proposals punish them but reward tech companies like Google. The    proposal could give those companies access to cable and satellite television programming for their devices and let them track viewer habits for their ad businesses. The broadband privacy rules apply only to cable and telecom companies tech companies are not included. The F. C. C. has largely adopted recommendations from Google on    reforms, the cable and telecom companies said. ATT’s senior vice president for external affairs, Jim Cicconi, has called the plan the “Google proposal. ” The cable companies also said the F. C. C. ’s broadband privacy proposal would be much stronger than any restrictions placed on web companies. So the cable industry has harnessed its vast lobbying resources in Washington to fight back. In the first quarter, cable and telecom companies spent $22 million on lobbying, ranking 11th by industry, according to the OpenSecrets website, run by the Center for Responsive Politics. While the spending did not increase from a year earlier, much of the money has gone toward fighting F. C. C. proposals like the    rules, with nearly $2 million paid just to outside lobbyists in the first quarter to work against the proposal, according to federal disclosures. ATT, Comcast, Verizon and the N. C. T. A. are also practicing softer forms of lobbying  —   such as sponsoring studies and consultants who write   articles  —   that cannot be easily traced, analysts and public interest groups like Free Press, which supports several broadband regulations, say. The industry’s focus has been on helping members of Congress write letters of opposition to the F. C. C. including the critical letter shown by Mr. Rush’s staff. The association said an employee contributed “minor suggestions” to the letter from Mr. Rush. Mr. Rush’s spokeswoman, Debra Johnson, said the N. C. T. A. edits “did not change the substance of the letter” and added that the congressman had a history of standing up for consumer protection issues. Some consultants for cable companies have also criticized the F. C. C. proposals. In March, Henry Waxman, a former Democratic congressman from California, wrote a harsh   in The Hill slamming the    plan, without disclosing that he was a consultant for Comcast and had business ties to the N. C. T. A. Mr. Waxman and other lawmakers who have been critical of the    plan said they were not financially motivated to weigh in on the issue. “I don’t represent clients on issues I don’t believe in,” Mr. Waxman said. The cable industry has also responded with a new lobbying group, the Future of  Coalition, which has been joined by media and movie companies as well as labor unions. The group was formed on the day the F. C. C. announced the    proposal, with a website and statements from companies against the idea. So far, the organization has helped generate 300, 000 comments opposing the    plan through a tool on its website that sends complaints directly to the F. C. C. Timothy Karr, a campaign director for Free Press, said, “There is a huge economy of cable lobbying that is in the dark. ” He added that “lawmakers and think tanks that come out on the side of cable say nothing is quid pro quo, but it’s hard to ignore the financial connections. ” Comcast and  declined to comment on their lobbying activities. The N. C. T. A. declined to comment specifically on lobbying but said the    reform was widely unpopular and was also opposed by networks geared toward minority audiences as well as movie studios and labor unions. “We will continue to work with policy makers, companies, civic groups and other interested stakeholders on ideas to promote investment and innovation in today’s highly competitive marketplace for communications and media services,” said Brian Dietz, a spokesman for the association, which represents Comcast, Charter Communications and Cox Communications. The target of much of the cable industry’s ire is Tom Wheeler, chairman of the F. C. C. Mr. Wheeler has also been joined by President Obama, who  endorsed the    proposal in April. “The White House is intervening in order to direct an outcome that favors one company viewed by many as its political ally,” Mr. Cicconi of  said in a blog post at the time, in a    reference to Google. Google declined to comment. The F. C. C. said its proposals were aimed at creating more competition in the broadband market and protecting consumers. “These proposals are technology neutral and do not target any one company or sector of the telecommunications industry,” said Kim Hart, a spokeswoman for the F. C. C. “Chairman Wheeler’s proposals are about one thing: promoting meaningful competition among service providers so that consumers can have meaningful choices. ”",true,news,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
14134,14135,"Ryder Cup winning captain Paul McGinley will once again lead Rory McIlroy into major competition after being announced as a leader of Ireland ' s Olympic golf team for the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016 .  The 47 year old from Dublin led Europe to Ryder Cup victory at Gleneagles in September and was hailed by McIlroy , the Belfast born world number one who has opted to play for Ireland in Rio .  Following the Ryder Cup success , McIlroy said : ' He has just been the most wonderful captain . I think I speak on behalf of all the 12 players and say he couldn ' t have done anything else . He was fantastic .  Europe captain Paul McGinley is hoisted in the air as his team celebrate their 2014 Ryder Cup victory  McGinley smiles as he speaks to the media at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship earlier this year  ' From the first day we got here , the speeches that he gave , the videos he showed us , the people that he got in to talk to us , the imagery in the team room , it all tied in together .  ' It was all part of the plan , all for the cause of trying to win this Ryder Cup , and he was meticulous in his planning . He left no stone unturned . '  The Olympic Council of Ireland announced 17 leaders , including : McGinley ( golf ) , Kevin Ankrom ( athletics ) , Joseph Hennigan ( boxing ) , Brian Nugent ( cycling ) , Sally Filmer ( gymnastics ) , Mike Heskin ( hockey ) , Peter Banks ( swimming ) .  McGinley ( right ) walks down the fairway with Rory McIlroy ( left ) and Graeme McDowell at the Ryder Cup  Also named were Tom Reidy ( badminton ) , Ike Jacob ( canoeing ) , Jeffrey C McCready ( clay pigeon shooting ) , Triona Connors ( horse sport ) , Ciaran Ward ( judo ) , Lindsey Weedon ( modern pentathlon ) , Morten Espersen ( rowing ) , Gillian McDarby ( rugby sevens ) , James O ' Callaghan ( sailing ) and Chris Kitchen ( triathlon ) .  The leaders are ' the person having the overall responsibility for that sport ' , the Olympic Council of Ireland said .  ' They will also be accountable for their athletes ' performance at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games , under the overall leadership of the Team Ireland chef de Mmssion , Kevin Kilty .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
14148,14149,"Shortly after discovering he had locked himself out of his suburban home , stark naked 43 year old claims adjuster David Ronzo began to deliver a stirring and thought provoking philosophical treatise on the frailty of the human condition to a slowly gathering crowd , deeply moved witnesses reported today .  Following a brief period during which he panicked first running to his locked garage door and then scrambling back to pound frantically on his front door the nude man reportedly stopped , turned to face two confused joggers , and started speaking from his porch in a loud , clear voice . Soon , rapt passersby were steadily thronging his yard .  "" Yes , it ' s true I stand before you naked , exposed to the world completely vulnerable and without recourse , "" the nude man said as he calmly drew himself to his full height and looked purposefully at the gradually expanding crowd of his neighbors . "" But should I feel deeply ashamed at my misfortune ? Should I be the object of your ridicule and derision ? I put it to you , dear people , that on all counts , the answer is emphatically no , I most certainly should not be ! For who among you can argue that I do not now , stripped of all guile and pretense , represent the very essence of what , in truth , lies at the core of our very humanness , be we mighty kings or lowly claims adjusters ? ""  "" I can see it in your faces you know as well as I do that the only real difference between you and I is a gust of wind and the fact that my robe is still in the wash , "" added Ronzo , later emphasizing that being a completely naked man locked outside his home in no way diminished his desire to be loved and understood .  According to those who stopped to hear him speak , Ronzo spent the next 35 minutes mounting an eloquent , heartfelt plea for his own humanity , for the humanity of all people everywhere , and , briefly , for the importance of keeping a spare key hidden somewhere near the front door of one ' s home .  "" Am I frightened ? Do I feel confused , utterly abandoned , and left without a clear path forward ? I would not be so arrogant as to say otherwise , "" Ronzo said as those in the crowd nodded their heads in agreement , with some periodically glimpsing at Ronzo ' s uncovered genitals . "" But please , take a moment to look deep within yourselves and answer me honestly : Do you , the fully clothed , really feel any differently ? Metaphorically speaking , we are from birth accidentally locked out of the safety and warmth of our respective houses , naked to creation , and , for the remainder of our all too brief lives , scared witless at having been thrust into a vast , seemingly indifferent universe of which we comprise a mind bogglingly infinitesimal part and from which we struggle daily and cruelly , at the very end , entirely alone to glean even the simplest fundamental truths . ""  "" Debra ? Debra ? Can you hear me ? I locked myself out of the house and I ' m naked ! Help ! "" Ronzo continued as he jiggled the door handle . "" Debra ! ""  Ronzo reportedly went on to ponder the grim facts of mortality , but concluded his treatise with an uplifting message of faith in the indomitable nature of the human spirit .  Nude Man Who Locked Self Out Of House Delivers Moving Treatise On Human Condition To Slowly Gathering Crowd  Many witnesses later said they were moved to tears when , without pausing in his powerful oration , Ronzo resolutely refused a windbreaker offered to him by a man in the crowd .  "" Please , take a long look and explore the many flaws inherent in the corporeal body reflect for a moment on how quickly our trivial concerns are brushed aside by decay and change , "" Ronzo said as he slowly twirled his pale form before the crowd . "" Indeed , entropy and chaos constantly bear down on us at every second of every day . To think , at one moment you can be on your way to take a nice , hot shower , and the next your front door can slam behind you after you thought you heard the dog trying to get in . But do not take these simple facts as a curse view them as an opportunity , as an affirmation of why it is so important to live , and to live lustily , with fire and passion in your hearts ! So please , go home , hold your loved ones tightly , and take careful stock of those things that are truly important to you . ""  After enthusiastically cheering and applauding Ronzo as he awkwardly climbed through an unlatched window into his den , several neighbors took time to reflect on the nude man ' s sobering yet inspiring disquisition on questions central to the human experience .  "" Here I am , acting all high and mighty with my pants and shirt on , and tomorrow morning I could just as easily be grabbing the paper off the stoop and end up locked outdoors , naked as a jaybird , "" visibly moved crowd member Chris Dawkins said . "" This whole thing really makes you appreciate everything you have , and I know that I for one am not going to take anything for granted anymore . ""  "" That nude man changed my life , "" Dawkins added .  ",satire,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
14161,14162,"Washington Depending on whom you ask , Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid ' s decision to scuttle a controversial assault weapons ban proposal from a broader Democrat backed gun control package is either shrewd strategy or political cowardice .  There ' s a little bit of truth in both perspectives , gun policy advocates say .  "" It ' s not surprising what Sen . Reid did , "" said Daniel Webster , director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research .  The Nevada lawmaker decided not to include the proposed assault weapons ban in gun legislation going to the full Senate for consideration because including it would guarantee the measure would be blocked by a Republican filibuster .  "" I think there ' s justification for such a ban but politically it hits right in the area where we have the biggest divide , "" Webster said .  Senate leader says new weapons ban won ' t pass  The ban on semi automatic firearms modeled after military assault weapons is proposed by Sen . Dianne Feinstein , D California , and fiercely opposed by the National Rifle Association , Republicans and some Democrats . The ban would get fewer than 40 votes , Reid said , far below the threshold needed to defeat a filibuster or pass the Senate . The proposal to update a similar 1994 ban that expired a decade later was one of four measures passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee in response to the Connecticut school massacre in December .  Instead , Feinstein could propose the ban as an amendment to gun legislation on the Senate floor in order to get a vote on it , Reid said .  The other proposals that are part of the gun control package would expand background checks , toughen laws against gun trafficking and straw purchases and design steps to improve school safety .  Lawmakers seem prepared to tackle gun control : ' This one feels different '  But it ' s the assault weapons ban that draws some of the most intense emotion in the wake of last year ' s deadly mass shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School and an Aurora , Colorado , movie theater . Congressional hearings have been filled with tearful testimony , poignant photographs and fiery rhetoric .  They are the type of raw displays likely to spook lawmakers wary of losing votes and tank gun control reform efforts , political experts say .  "" In thinking about what is politically doable , for people who are more in the middle it ' s hardest to do anything that could characterize a politician as casting an anti gun vote , "" Webster said .  Will states go where Congress hasn ' t on gun laws ?  The proposed assault weapons ban enjoys high profile support from the White House , families of victims of some of the nation ' s most deadly shootings and celebrities like filmmaker and progressive activist Michael Moore . Gun rights advocates such as the National Rifle Association , the nation ' s most powerful gun lobby , have stridently criticized the proposal .  President David Keene characterized the measure as a "" feel good proposal "" doomed to fail .  "" If a man with an assault weapon goes into the school where Harry Reid ' s grandchildren go to school tomorrow and kills his grandchildren , would he stand in front of that microphone at 5 o ' clock and say , ' I know how Dianne ( Feinstein ) , you know , had to witness the mayor getting murdered and my grandchildren just got killed today , but you know , we can ' t get it passed because we just don ' t have the votes , ' "" Moore said during the interview .  Reid has found himself in a delicate position as he tries to navigate the desires of many members of his pro gun rights Nevada constituency and the White House and members of his caucus ' intensified push on gun control . As Senate majority leader , Reid has great influence to speed or slow the consideration of legislation on Capitol Hill .  Reid introduces gun violence bill  The nation ' s top Democrat in Congress has faced scrutiny in recent months for his close ties with the  .  Reid twice opposed the assault weapons ban , in 1992 and 2004 , has a B rating by the  for his pro gun rights voting record and since 2008 has received just shy of 8 , 450 from several gun lobbies , according to an analysis of campaign contributions from the Center for Responsive Politics . The  has also previously supported Reid in his primary races .  "" He ' s under incredible pressure right now because he ' s got , as any member of Congress or senator does , he ' s got his own beliefs . He ' s got the views and the demands of his constituents on the one hand and the pressure he faces from party leaders and his president on the other , "" Keene told journalists at a Christian Science Monitor sponsored breakfast in January . "" So where Harry Reid ends up in this debate is anybody ' s guess and I think that ' s one of the guessing games that ' s going on around Washington now . ""  Call to arms for a ' common sense ' gun law  Voters on both sides of the issue are now getting a much clearer picture of where Reid stands and will soon have a better sense of how their own lawmakers measure up , said Richard Feldman , who served as regional political director for the  during its rise to power in the 1980s and is president of a gun rights group , the Independent Firearm Owners Association .  Allowing Feinstein ' s assault weapons ban to stand on its own as a separate amendment "" is going to work out to his benefit , "" Feldman said of Reid ' s choice . "" Having that straight up or down vote will be the most useful vote that gun rights activists and the other side will have to show this is someone who supports you and someone who opposes you . ""  Obama remains committed to assault weapons ban , White House says  Feldman also suggests keeping an eye on which lawmakers offer amendments to strip out portions of the broader gun control bill and the roll call votes on those amendments as well .  In the meantime , some gun control advocates are urging cooler heads as the nation awaits votes on the highly anticipated package of gun related bills .  "" Everybody needs to take a deep breath , "" said Ladd Everitt , a spokesman for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence adding that he feels Reid rightly calculated how to get the broader gun control measure the best chance at success .  "" I ' d rather not fall on my sword , "" Everitt said . "" I ' d rather have a smart package so we can get it to the floor . ""  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
14170,14171,"Bread has become the latest household to be slashed in cost in the supermarket price wars which have reduced milk to cheaper than bottled water .  Branded loaves have now been reduced to as little as 75p and own label bread can be bought for 55p in some stores , according to new research .  Sainsbury ' s has led the battle by reducing the cost of a Hovis loaf to 75p the lowest since prices of bread plummeted to similar levels in 2011 .  The price of loaves of bread has been slashed by supermarkets and has reached lows of 75p for branded loaves and 55p for supermarket own brands in the latest price wars , which last month cut the price of milk  The supermarket dropped 800g Hovis white and wholemeal loaves and 750g Best of Both from 1 and cut nine of its 800g own label loaves from 75p to 55p .  Trade magazine The Grocer said the price cuts come at a particularly bad time for bakers when the supply of wheat with the right levels of protein needed for baking have been tight and prices are expected to remain high until at least August .  Sales of branded and own label breads have also fallen 4 . 5 per cent year on year making business a struggle for bakers .  A milling industry insider told The Grocer : ' With this pressure on margin , bakers won ' t be particularly happy about what is happening with retail pricing . '  According to analysts BrandViewweblink , the bread price cuts mean that Sainsbury ' s currently has the lowest base price for a large branded and standard own label loaf of the big four supermarket chains .  The drop matches the promotional price of Hovis in Waitrose which has been selling the loaves at two for 1 . 50 since mid January . The Grocer said the last time the base price of branded loaves was this low was in 2011 when Kingsmill was 75p .  Sainsbury ' s has led the cuts , dropping the price of white and wholemeal Hovis loaves from 1 to 75p  After Sainsbury ' s , Morrison ' s is the next cheapest with own label 800g loaves priced at 59p each .  Last month supermarket price wars were having a devastating impact on dairy farmers , as the cost of a pint of milk was reduced to just 22p .  Farmers criticised Asda for putting their livelihoods at risk after it reduced the cost of a four pint bottle of milk to 89p . Waitrose and Sainsbury ' s followed close behind with a 1 price tag . The reductions mean milk is now cheaper than bottled water in some circumstances .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
14174,14175,"A primary school teacher accused of restraining a pupil for five minutes by covering him with a giant beanbag and sitting on top of it has been cleared of misconduct .  Philip Meredith , 44 , was said to have trapped the youngster under a beanbag the size of a double bed at Ty Sign Primary School in Risca , Wales , while the pupil shouted ' get off , get off ' , a professional conduct committee hearing was told .  Speaking after the hearing ' s conclusion today , the father of two said he was ' absolutely delighted ' with the result as ' the past three years have been like a living hell ' .  Philip Meredith ( pictured ) has been cleared of misconduct after being accused of restraining a pupil for five minutes by covering him with a giant beanbag and sitting on top of it  Ellen Sheldon , a teaching assistant working in Mr Meredith ' s classroom at the time of the alleged incident , told the hearing how she could see the child named only as ' Pupil A ' ' kicking ' as he tried to free himself .  She reported the incident which allegedly happened on November 17 , 2011 and the following month Mr Meredith was suspended . He was later dismissed .  Appearing before a General Teaching Council for Wales (  ) professional conduct committee in Cardiff , Mr Meredith denied the accusation and was today cleared of eight charges of misconduct .  He also denied bullying and rough handling other pupils allegations brought forward by teaching assistants at the primary school .  It was alleged that he shouted at Pupil A and spoke ' overly loudly ' to him , when it was not necessary or appropriate to do so .  He denied the claim but admitted he has a ' naturally loud voice ' .  After being cleared of eight charges of misconduct while teaching at Ty Sign Primary School in Risca , Wales ( above ) , Mr Meredith said : ' The past three years have been like a living hell '  It was also alleged that he held a second child Pupil B by the front of his shirt and held him on the floor with his face against the carpet .  Speaking during the hearing , Mr Meredith said : ' I recognise that all these allegations are very , very serious and I also recognise that I did not do them . '  Teaching assistant Ellen Sheldon had told the hearing that she saw the beanbag incident saying : ' There was a fight and Pupil A was put in a restraint by Mr Meredith .  ' I didn ' t see how he got under the bag . I could see his feet kicking and he was shouting ' get off , get off ' .  ' I would estimate he was under the bean bag for four to five minutes . '  Sobbing throughout her evidence she told the panel : ' I ' ve never had to deal with anything like this on my life and I never want to deal with it again . It ' s made me feel ill . '  After clearing the teacher of all charges , hearing chairman Gareth Roberts said : ' The facts have not been proven on the balance of probabilities . '  Mr Meredith , from Merthyr Tydfil , said afterwards : ' I ' m absolutely delighted and relieved to have been fully vindicated of all the unfair allegations against me .  ' The past three years have been like a living hell where I have been kept from a career which has been my life . I sincerely hope now to be able to return to teaching . '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
14175,14176,"Barack Obama s reckless desire to open our borders to international criminals will likely result in the most serious security threat our nation will ever face. A group of 15 heavily-armed masked gunmen kicked down the door of a Texas border home and opened fire without warning, in a home invasion that injured a 9-year-old boy and his 33-year-old mother.The assault took place in the morning hours, in a rural home near the border city of Harlingen. The gunmen kicked the door down and began shooting at random as soon as they arrived on the scene, Cameron County Sheriff Omar Lucio said in an interview with Breitbart Texas.The spray of bullets injured the woman and her child, but the woman s husband and other children were not harmed in the shooting, Lucio said. He classified the woman s injuries as minor, but the child remains at a local hospital, where he is listed in stable condition. During the robbery the gunmen yelled out  policia policia  which as we all know is the Spanish word for police,  Lucio said.Preliminary information suggests the robbers attacked the wrong house, as they did not take anything from the property. Sheriff s investigators are still working to identify the gunmen, who are believed to have arrived in at least three vehicles.According to Lucio, the family inside the home is not believed to have any relation to criminal activity, and were simply random victims.As previously reported by Breitbart Texas, home invasions along the Texas border are a different breed of crime, since they often involve gunmen with ties to Mexican drug cartels storming houses to steal drug loads, or abduct human trafficking victims from a rival crew.Via: Breitbart News",fake,dataset,validation,Other news2,Conflict,fake,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
14182,14183,"Washington ,  ( Rotters ) In a surprise announcement early this morning at the White House , President Bush announced that he would be putting forward the nomination of former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has the new  Attorney General to replace disgraced former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales . Belichick was recently found guilty of covertly videotaping opposing team ' s signals after an  investigation , and fined 500 , 000 . Belichick resigned his duties as head coach earlier this morning , and the White House announced that he had received a full presidential pardon . Under pressure from the White House the  had agreed to forgive the fine after the head coach ' s resignation .  "" I seem to have inherited a fairly demoralized group , "" stated Belichick after the president ' s introduction , "" but this team of attorneys has some real talent and I think we can turn them into contenders in pretty short order . ""  The White House refused to disclose terms of Belichick ' s contract , but it is rumored to be in the millions and with a taxpayer funded signing bonus as well .  "" This man understands the need for security and vigilance . "" stated President Bush . "" He ' s got some great ideas on both offense and defense in our ongoing struggle to push our necessary domestic wiretapping policy past the new  rules . What ' s more , Bill is a true Patriot . ""  The White House downplayed concerns over Belichick ' s lack of legal experience stating that this should be viewed as more of an asset .  "" We ' ve got a whole team of young , eager Regent Law School graduates ready to assist Mr Belichick in any way , "" stated White House spokesperson Dana Perino . "" The goal will be to not have him bogged down in the mundane , day to day legalese and management concerns , but to focus on ways to increase homeland security through covert monitoring in all forms . ""  Senate Democrats immediately decried the president ' s appointment vowing to oppose and overthrow it during confirmation hearings . The White House has reportedly offered a counter proposal of three first round primary election picks for the 2008 season , if the Democrats will allow confirmation .  ",satire,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
14200,14201,"Inmates at the prison holding Anders Behring Breivik are demanding that he is released from solitary confinement as they claim it is draining resources .  His isolation demands that the five adjacent cells on his block at Skien prison , 87miles south west of Oslo , remain empty , which fellow prisoners claim is ' preferential treatment ' .  The 36 year old murdered 77 people and injured more than 300 many of them teenagers in 2011 after detonating a bomb in downtown Oslo and carrying out a mass shooting on Utoya Island .  Demands : Inmates serving their time alongside massmurderer Anders Behring Breivik wants him released form solitary confinement as they claim it has led to cutbacks for other prisoners  A representative for the inmates at Skein Prison said the demand to have Breivik released from solitary confinement came after his move to the prison resulted in cutbacks .  ' We are mainly talking about the economics of it . It affects all of the other inmates , ' he told state broadcaster  .  ' He sits there with an entire cellblock to himself while there are austerity measures and cutbacks everywhere . '  However , representatives from the Norwegian prison service said the other prisoners are not affected by Breivik ' s situation , as Skien gets additional funding to detain the mass murderer .  Breivik , a right wing , anti muslim extremist , was sentenced to 21 years ' imprisonment with preventive detention in 2012 .  Pure evil : Breivik murdered 77 people and injured more than 300 many of them teenagers in 2011 after detonating a bomb in downtown Oslo and carrying out a mass shooting on Utoya Island  It the harshest possible prison sentence available under the Norwegian justice system and it is likely he will remain in prison for the rest of his life .  Since his incarceration , Breivik has made increasingly desperate attempts to receive publicity , as well as issuing a number of bizarre demands .  In February , he threatened to go on hunger strike unless prison authorities cave in to a list of demands for better conditions including giving him a PlayStation 3 .  It emerged that he had issued a typed list of 12 demands to authorities at the high security unit in Skien in southeast Norway where he is serving out his sentence .  The demands outlined in a letter sent to the the French national newsagency  included better conditions for his daily walk and the right to communicate more freely with the outside world , which he argues are in line with European rights legislation .  He also demanded that his PlayStation 2 games console be upgraded to a Playstation 3 ' with access to more adult games that I get to choose myself ' .  Held apart from other prisoners since 2011 for security reasons , Breivik argued in the letter sent in November , last year , that he has the right to a wider ' selection of activities ' than other inmates to compensate for his strict isolation .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
14209,14210,"Affluenza Mother Set for Arraignment in Fort Worth  Affluenza Mother Set for Arraignment in Fort Worth  Couch was arraigned Friday morning in Fort Worth .  It s a new development in a case that stunned the country .  Tonya Couch appears at a hearing in a downtown L . A . courtroom on January 5 , 2016 .  A bail hearing is scheduled for 1 : 30 p . m . Monday . Ethan Couch is in a Mexican immigration detention facility and fighting his deportation , Tarrant County officials said .  Couch insists she has done nothing wrong , despite being found in Puerto Villarta with Ethan Couch , who ran after violating probation in the manslaughter deaths of four people and the injury of more after drunk and drugged driving .  If she were to make bond , the judge said he would impose a series of restrictions , including forcing her to wear an ankle monitor .  Tonya Couch spent the night in the Tarrant County Jail after her return to Texas following her extradition , first from Mexico and then California .  On Thursday , officials took Couch to the Tarrant County Lon Evans Correction Center after she arrived at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport on a flight from Los Angeles .  Ethan and Tonya Couch fled the U . S . in mid December and drove to Mexico when he was under investigation for violating probation , but before a warrant was issued .  Earlier the defense attorney filed a motion to have Couch s 1 million bond reduced to 15 , 000 , claiming that the amount of bail set is unreasonable .  Patten later issued a statement criticizing the public manner in which Anderson has handled the case and questioning why he spoke to Couch in court without her attorney present .  But Couch told the judge her belongings , including her passport , were taken by authorities before her arrival to Texas .  The 48 year old was wearing a yellow jumpsuit from the Tarrant County Jail as she stood in front of a judge who read the charge against her . A video surfaced online that showed someone who resembled him at a party where people appeared to drink alcohol .  The Couches are in all of this legal trouble because they fled the United States after Ethan violated his parole .  He nor his mother had any cash to pay the remainder of the bill so he gave the waiter his Rolex watch as a guarantee that he would repay his 345 debt the next day ,  News reported .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
14212,14213,"The British government has begun drawing up secret plans to rebuild Hadrian ' s Wall the wall built by the Roman ' s to keep marauding Scot ' s out of England to prevent starving undocumented Scottish people from entering England .  If Scotland ' s voters choose independence on September 18 , it will mean the breakup of a 307 year old union between England , Wales and Scotland as Great Britain .  Experts fear that Scotland would then become a third world type nation , blighted by drug addicts , unemployment , sectarian violence as well as facing a total meltdown of its financial capabilities .  Many predict a lawless land , populated by rampaging mobs of ginger haired youths , high on crack and sniffing glue .  The plan to rebuild Hadrian ' s Wall is said to be similar in concept and design to the fence that is currently being built at the border between the United States and Mexico .  "" The last thing we need is undocumented illegal immigrants trying to escape poverty , drug gangs , lack of employment , a decaying infrastructure and a corrupt , as well as inexperienced government for a better life in the south , "" said Prime Minister David Cameron , "" We will be setting up checkpoints at the border , ensuring that we stop as many of those attempting to seek a better life in England are stopped . ""  Many Scots , already fearful that their country is doomed if they seek independence , are teaching themselves skills that will help them , should they find themselves illegal and undocumented in England should they manage to escape their dreary starving homeland .  "" I am learning to wait tables , clean cars and mow lawns , "" said Jock ' Wee ' Mactavish , "" I expect I will struggle , I am an engineer by trade , but without papers I will be just another undocumented Scot maybe I could get a cleaning job , of course I would have to learn to speak ' proper ' English , no more of this ' Aye ' and ' och aye tha no ' shit . ""  Other Scots are planning to dye their hair from the traditional ginger and try and tan their pasty skin to try and pass as English , should they need to escape their ' Caledonian Self Created Hell ' .  "" I will have to stop wearing my skirts , "" said one Scottish transvestite , one of millions of Scottish men who like to dress up like little schoolgirls in tartan mini skirts and knee high socks , "" I will stick out like a sore thumb in England . ""  Scotland is home to more men who like to parade around as women than any other country on earth , with 1 in 3 men owning a little skirt , that he wears openly and in secret .  "" I just hope we build the wall in the time , "" sighed one Englishman "" before the starving ' trannys ' realize it is too late . ""  ",satire,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,negative,past
14219,14220,"After watching a comedy special featuring several top comics , 36 year old suburbanite Peter Wisken made a formal announcement Thursday evening regarding his long held belief that he has "" more wit in his left pinky than most comedians do in "" both their funny bones . ""  "" Any entertainer , really , "" clarified the father of three , who went on to lament the industry ' s decline in quality . "" When I was younger , comedy was actually funny . Gallagher . Howie Mandell . The Ernest Films . That stuff was just classic . I don ' t know what happened . ""  Wisken , who describes himself as a member of the "" funny elite , "" has in the past produced several humorous articles for his high school newspaper , The Recess Bell . As well , he attended "" more than two and less than five comedy improvisation classes during his college level business training .  "" I was a great improviser , but people didn ' t get me , "" Wisken said . "" I would just kill these scenes , but nobody was smart enough to laugh properly . I ' m talking choice bits , like acting retarded , or doing an accent . I had a black friend of a friend who would do this thing with his lips , and I thought that was so funny . I ' d do it onstage using this perfect Jamaican accent I learned from Disney s Cool Runnings . But people just weren ' t ready . ""  According to his wife , Stephanie one of Wiskin ' s biggest supporters Wisken is often the center of attention at social gatherings .  "" He just gets going and people love it . They back away to give him room , "" Stephanie said . "" When he gets into his Pakistani cab driver impression , people go ballistic . Not laughing out loud , of course . That ' s bush league comedy . My husband ' s brand of humour is more sophisticated .  Added Stephanie : "" I ' ve seen people leave the party , trying so hard not to crack a smile . ""  To date , Wisken claims he has been unable to pursue a career in comedy due to the financial burden of a mortgage and four dependents . In the foreseeable future , Wiskin believes it is unlikely he will have the opportunity to confirm his opinion that he is , in fact , superior to most professional entertainers .  "" It ' s just not in the cards for me due to other commitments , "" he said . "" Sometimes great talents are not destined to rub shoulders with their equals . ""  However , Wisken believes he can still give back to the community by offering advice to young comedians when necessary . "" Sometimes I ' ll watch an amateur stand up show and think , This is not funny . "" ' And I don ' t have time to stick around and give feedback after , so I ' ll just yell out whether the guy stinks or not , "" Wisken said in regards to his mentoring process . "" Sometimes the comics will pretend to get mad , but it ' s all an act for the rabble . It ' s all part of the biz . ""  Currently , Wisken is focusing on his short game in the sport of golf , which he said is "" actually pretty hard compared to being hilarious , "" and climbing the ladder at his workplace , a customer feedback reporting firm .  "" Sure , I think of great bits all the time , "" Wisken said . "" Just yesterday I thought of changing the lyrics of that Justin Bieber song Baby , Baby , "" ' to Rabies , Rabies . "" ' Whatever , maybe I ' ll develop it , maybe I won ' t . These days I ' m mostly about helping performers get better by telling them what sucks . It ' s a little thing I can do to elevate the art form . It feels good to give back to my peers . ""  ",satire,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,negative,past
14224,14225,"California A woman gave birth on Monday to 800 , 000 , only the second time in history such a large amount has survived more than a few hours without being stolen , doctors said .  The mother gave birth to eight thousand 100 dollar bills and a handful of small change , doctors at Kaiser Permanente Bellflower Medical Center said . The hospital had scheduled a Caesarean section for around 400 , 000 , but doctors were surprised when the full amount came out at 10 : 48 a . m .  "" My eyes were wide , "" Dr Karen Maples said , explaining her reaction to the birth .  Doctors said the money was born nine weeks prematurely , but was in stable condition in the vault beneath the hospital .  Hospital officials would not release any information about the mother , including her name , condition or whether she used fertility drugs . They did , however , say she planned to breast feed anyone willing to give her more money still .  "" She ' s a very strong woman , so she probably will be able to spend all 800 , 000 "" said Dr Mandhir Gupta , a neo cashologist who cared for the wampum .  The mother checked into the hospital in her 23rd week of pregnancy and gave birth seven weeks later . All eight thousand bills will probably remain in the hospital for at least two months and the mother should be released in a week , Maples said .  The world ' s first money birthing occurred in March 1967 in Mexico City , but all the moolah was stolen by bandits within 14 hours , according to Encyclopedia Britanica .  The United States ' first substantial cash birthing took place in Houston in December 1998 . It was three months premature and the denominations at birth ranged from five to fifty dollars . The small change recovered was used in a coffee machine by an errant doctor barely a week after being born . The surviving money currently resides in a San Antonio based mutual fund .  The mother and father , Nkem Chukwu and Iyke Louis Udobi , said they are astonished and grateful their greenbacks continue to accrue substantial interest . Chukwu is even happier to hear another mother successfully accomplished the same feat .  "" It ' s a blessing , truly a blessing , "" Chukwu told The Associated Press . "" We ' ll keep praying for them . ""  Forty six hospital staff and four delivery rooms were used for the latest birth . After each amount was recovered , staff rushed it into another room and waited for the next , the hospital said . But despite weeks of preparation , doctors did not expect such a large amount .  "" It is quite easy to miss a large amount of money when you ' re only anticipating half a million "" said Dr Harold Henry , chief of gynacological rummaging at the hospital . "" Ultrasound doesn ' t show you everything . ""  Doctors said they repeatedly conducted practice sessions on the deliveries and were well prepared . Gupta said the woman was given spinal anesthesia and could hear the money rustling as it came out .  "" When the first wad came out , it was easily 100 , 000 , "" Gupta said . "" That eased the tension in the operating room because the first amount to come out was healthy . ""  Dr Richard Paulson , director of student finances at the University of Southern California , said money born prematurely could face serious risks , including investment problems and currency fluctuation damage . The mother also has an increased risk of ending up on Fox News , Paulson said .  "" It ' s a risky decision to try to have all 800 , 000 , "" said Paulson , who had no role in the delivery . "" I would not recommend it under any circumstances , but I respect a parent ' s decision . ""  The Bellflower medical center is about 17 miles southeast of Los Angeles .  ",satire,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
14228,14229,"Reader ' s Digest ) Brazilians feel the most pressure to lose weight and be thin , according to an international poll .  Eighty three percent of those polled in Brazil said they felt the pressure to be slimmer , followed by India ( 68 percent ) , the U . S . ( 62 percent ) and France ( 55 percent ) , according to the survey , commissioned by Reader ' s Digest for its February issue .  The poll of 16 , 000 people across 16 countries suggests most of us believe too much emphasis is put on being slim . Even so , most have tried to lose weight . And , everywhere , women are significantly more likely than men to feel the pressure .  Russians are the most likely to turn to cigarettes to lose weight ( 23 percent of men and 18 percent of women ) , while Mexicans are most likely to choose a healthier diet or physical exercise .  The poll also shows that France blames the prevalence of fast food in the U . S . for Americans ' growing girths and many Americans agree , with almost three quarters of those polled in the U . S . admitting their eating habits promote obesity .  Meanwhile , 51 percent of married American women wish their husbands were thinner with 47 percent of American husbands wishing the same of their spouses .  According to the World Health Organization , more people in the world now die from being overweight and obese than being underweight . It says there are about 1 . 6 billion overweight or obese people in the world and at least 2 . 5 million deaths are associated with these conditions annually .  "" Although the universal weight struggle is clear from our poll results , obesity is not our collective destiny , "" said Reader ' s Digest  Global Editor in Chief Peggy Northrop .  "" Most cultures have some custom that can keep people lean , from a bottle of mineral water on most restaurant tables in Europe to the downsizing of supersizing portions in the  . There is a huge opportunity to learn from each other how to eat healthy . ""  For more results on the Reader ' s Digest Global Diet Poll and related content , visit the Reader ' s Digest site .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
14238,14239,"As well as visiting the Jurassic Coast and having a photograph next to the cliff which started the first series off , die hard Broachchurch fans can now go one better .   Alec Hardy ' s , played by David Tennant , home in the hit  drama is up for sale .  The tiny wooden blue hut on the banks of the River Brit in West Bay , Dorset , has gone on the market for 275 , 000 as the so called ' Broachchurch effect ' kicks in .  The blue chalet made famous by David Tennant ' s character in Broadchurch has gone on the market for 275k  David Tennant broods : Series producers reportedly hired the chalet for two separate periods of two weeks  Previously let as a holiday chalet for as little as 41 per night , the 100 year old two bed waterfront property has recently been swamped with interest since Broadchurch first aired in 2013 .  It ' s one of four homes built around 1900 next to the River Brit , can only be reached by foot and has the unique position of looking out across the harbour , river and meadows behind .  Series producers reportedly hired the chalet for two separate periods of two weeks while filming the  drama , home to David Tennant ' s brooding lead character .  The hut sits on the bank of the River Brit in Dorset and has been rent out as a holiday let for two years  The owner Abbey Evans ( above ) has listed the property with estate agents Lyme Coast Holidays  When asked about the proposed uplift in price thanks to the show Malcolm Gill , of estate agents Lyme Coast Holidays , said , ' It ' s impossible to quantify but I would say it has probably benefitted from an uplift of between 25 , 000 and 50 , 000 . '  ' We have tried to price it fairly and sensibly without being greedy and I think the owner will be pleasantly surprised to achieve the asking price . '  He may be right to be optimistic as hotel searches to West Bay , Dorset , have seen an increase of 50 per cent , according to research conducted by hotelweblink , and house prices in the picturesque areas have risen by the same amount .  Britbank is described on Lyme Coast Holiday ' s website as a ' very unusual Edwardian seaside home '  Previously let as a holiday chalet for 41 a week , the 100 year old property has been swamped with interest  The blue hut called Britbank is described on Lyme Coast Holiday ' s website as a ' very unusual Edwardian seaside home right on the riverbank of the river Brit and only a few yards from the sandy beach and the iconic hamstone cliff which also featured in the series on location in West Bay ' .  It says that while the chalet has successfully been a holiday let for the past two years the artist and sculptor owner , Abbey Evans , has decided to put it up for sale .  The tiny property was spotted by Chris Chibnall , the creator of Broadchurch , who lives in nearby Bridport  David Tennant and Olivia Colman in character : Chibnall has said chalet ' holds lots if not all of the secrets '  The property was spotted by Chris Chibnall , the creator of Broadchurch , who lives in nearby Bridport , when he was writing the first series in a local caf .  At the time , Tenant ' s character was still being developed and it is thought that much of the second series was then created around the idea of the Jurassic Coast chalet as Tenant ' s base . Chibnall has said the chalet ' holds lots if not all of the secrets ' .  Mr Evans , 60 , bought the chalet in 2000 and said it held wonderful memories for both him and his son .  ' I am sad to let it go and if my circumstances were different , I would try and keep it on , ' he told the Telegraph . ' I had a lot of good times there with my son . His surfboard is still in the roof with lots of old fishing rods . '  ' I just hope the horrible murder won ' t put people off , ' he joked .  As a warning to would be Broadchurch tourists the estate agents note that they are happy to ' arrange a viewing for those that are genuinely interested in acquiring Britbank ' .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
14242,14243,"The hunt is on for the culprits who sprayed four buildings at a Sydney high school with the phrases '  R coming ' and '  beheads ' .  On Wednesday morning , East Hills Boys High School staff contacted police after making the terrifying find .  Staff at East Hills Boys High School made the terrifying find on Wednesday morning  But this is not the first time Panania ' s East Hills Boys High School in Sydney ' s south west has been at the centre of a police investigation .  It followed an incident in June where two students refused to stand up and sing the Australian national anthem , saying they only stood up for ' Allah ' , according to 7News .  The two teenagers were believed to have associations with Hamdi Al Qudsi who was charged last year for recruiting fighters to travel to Syria .  The school located in the suburb of Panania in Sydney ' s south west is no stranger to police investigation  Just weeks ago , Australia Federal Police investigated reports a student had fled to Syria to join jihadists  It also emerged that a person in contact with the Sydney man was also running worship groups inside the school attended by students , which sparked the  Department of Education to re jig its policies .  The graffiti has since been removed by the school as officers from the Bankstown Local Area Command canvassed neighbouring premises on Wednesday , the police spokesman said .  Parents of East Hills Boys High School have spoken out about their concerns .  ' If this is in my son ' s school , it ' s very concerning to me , ' Liz Oddy told 7News .  Vandals also got inside buildings and made threats against Australia on a whiteboard  Another parent Wadad Haidar echoed her comments .  ' It ' s actually scaring all my kids because I ' ve got four of them and they all go to school , ' she said .  Bankstown  ' s Inspector Scott McAlpine urged anyone with information about the incident to contact police , while the school ' s principal , Kevin Elgood , wrote to parents saying their sons ' safety was their ' highest priority ' .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
14249,14250,"Good morning. Here’s what you need to know to start your day in Europe:  • Polls are open in the Netherlands, in the first test for the European far right this year. Stay tuned for live coverage of the elections, starting at 4 p. m. GMT. Prime Minister Mark Rutte has called it “the quarterfinals in trying to prevent the wrong sort of populism from winning. ” Even if populists like Geert Wilders, an   politician, do not prevail, their presence has pushed the agenda of the far right into the spotlight, analysts said. Ahead of next month’s French election, François Fillon, the conservative candidate for president, was charged with embezzlement. _____ • President Trump wrote off $100 million in business losses to reduce his federal taxes in 2005. He paid $38 million in federal income taxes on reported income of $150 million, an effective tax rate of 25 percent, according to the White House. The rare disclosure of his finances   a highly anticipated reveal of his tax forms from that year on a television program on Tuesday night. _____ • The family of Mr. Trump’s    Jared Kushner, is in talks to sell a $400 million stake in a Fifth Avenue skyscraper to a Chinese company that has ties to leading families of the Communist Party. The deal would signal the financial marriage of two politically influential families but also presents the possibility of glaring conflicts of interest. Mr. Kushner is the architect of the first meeting between Mr. Trump and President Xi Jinping of China next month. Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson will arrive in Japan today. He will travel to South Korea and China this week, where he plans to set the priorities for Mr. Xi’s visit  —   the most important yet of Mr. Trump’s presidency. _____ • The European Union’s top court ruled that employers were allowed to ban head scarves and other religious clothing, in a decision that could shape the place of Islam on the Continent.   populism has been on the rise, especially since countries of the bloc admitted over a million migrants and refugees in 2015. Now Turkey, in already tense relations with several European capitals, is hinting at upending a deal that has helped stem the flow of migrants, in what observers see as an empty threat. _____ • Scotland and now Northern Ireland are showing an appetite for independence. Nationalists in both countries have called for referendums just as the British prime minister is preparing to begin talks to exit the European Union. In Scotland, campaigners are wasting no time.   banners have gone up, and donations have started coming in, although the timing of the vote is still uncertain. _____ • Germany has warned Facebook and Twitter that they could face heavy fines if they don’t step up the fight against hate speech. • The   March Madness storm in the northeastern U. S. did not quite live up to its name. But airlines took to widespread flight cancellations,  . • Phones, fitness monitors and even cars can be hacked with sound waves, a team of researchers found. “You can think of it as a musical virus,” one said. • The Federal Reserve is expected to raise its benchmark interest rate, to ward off inflation  —   a course that is in clear tension with Mr. Trump’s stated goal of stoking growth. • Asian markets were down ahead of the decision by the Fed. Here’s a snapshot of global markets. • An oil tanker was hijacked off the Somali coast, in what may be the first major pirate attack in more than five years. [The New York Times] • Poland will seek the extradition of a      who prosecutors say carried out   atrocities in 1944. [The New York Times] • Russia is recruiting cosmonauts for a planned moon landing by 2031. Women are welcome to apply. [Agence  ] • Mr. Trump’s envoy to the Middle East met with Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority. [The New York Times] • More than 250 human skulls were discovered in a mass grave in Mexico, most likely belonging to victims of criminal drug cartels. [The New York Times] • In Hungary, a group of detained asylum seekers went on a hunger strike, demanding to be released, after the country approved harsher rules on refugees this month. [Associated Press] • If you work at a desk, remember to get up often. The benefits are immense. • Recipe of the day: Roasting vegetables is a great way to take advantage of leftover produce. • Africa’s national parks seemed like the perfect place to use drones to fight poachers. But deploying them has not been as easy as conservationists had hoped. • In memoriam: Ed Whitlock, an English marathon runner, among the world’s oldest, died at 86. Amy Krouse Rosenthal, the author whose bittersweet ode to her husband recently appeared in The New York Times, has died. She was 51. • And the world’s oldest golf club in Scotland finally admits women, despite concern from members that they will not be able to continue playing the speedy type of golf that they usually do. Today is a national holiday in Hungary, which honors a   revolution. Tied to the celebration is a poem Hungarian schoolchildren learn by heart. Janos Arany’s “A Walesi Bardok” or “The Bards of Wales” was born of the uprisings that swept across Europe in 1848, known as the Springtime of the Peoples. Mr. Arany joined the fight for independence against the Austrian Empire. The poem, written in 1857, tells the story of bards slaughtered in the 13th century, after the invasion of Wales by King Edward I of England. One verse reads: “In martyrship, with song on lip   Five hundred Welsh bards died   Not one was mov’d to say he lov’d   The tyrant in his pride. ” The rebellious Welsh performers inspired Hungarians, who equated the tyrant king with Franz Joseph, the Austrian emperor. Decades later, the assassination of the heir apparent, Franz Ferdinand, set off World War I and the empire’s demise. This month, Hungary celebrated the 200th anniversary of Arany’s birth. Wales, too, has taken a liking to his poem. As one mayor there put it, “In these days of the ‘Brexit’ situation, it’s good to keep furnishing good relations with our neighbors in Europe. ” _____ Your Morning Briefing is published weekday mornings and updated online. Read the latest edition of the U. S. briefing here and the latest for Asia and Australia here. What would you like to see here? Contact us at europebriefing@nytimes.com.",true,news,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
14263,14264,"Why China ' s Fake Apple Stores are Shutting Down  At 22 , Cheung is already a veteran of China ' s imitation game . A month ago , she was peddling the latest iPhones and accessories in one of several copycat Apple Inc stores along a street of gadget outlets in the southern city of Shenzhen .  She still works at the same store but the counterfeit Apple uniform has gone , and the handsets she now touts are made by local Chinese firm Huawei .  The number of fake Apple stores along the busy street has dwindled by about a third from more than 30 as recently as September when Reuters reporters last visited the area , some replaced by unauthorised stores selling locally branded phones from Huawei , Xiaomi , Meizu and Oppo .  While China remains a crucial growth driver for Apple , the anecdotal evidence from Shenzhen illustrates the economic headwinds the  firm faces in a market that  Tim Cook has said will one day be its biggest .  Apple ' s China sales grew 84 percent in the year through September . But , with China ' s economy growing at its slowest pace in a quarter of a century last year , there are concerns that consumers are tightening their purse strings .  To be sure , copycat outlets represent just a small fraction of Apple ' s sales in China , where it also sells handsets through mobile carriers and its own official stores . But they can be a useful gauge of demand . And the frequency at which these tech shops switch brand loyalty also reflects how fickle Chinese buyers can be , and underscores how fierce competition is in the world ' s largest smartphone market .  Apple is expected to report later on Tuesday that its global iPhone sales rose by just above 1 percent in October December , its slowest growth and far from the double digit growth investors have come to expect .  "" It ' s not as cool as before to have an iPhone , "" said Cai , a 23 year old assistant at one of the remaining copycat Apple stores .  She said sales had about halved from October levels when the iPhone 6s ( Review ) and iPhone 6s Plus debuted in China adding the iPhone had become a "" street cellphone "" , using a Chinese term to describe something that ' s widely available and popular , but lacking in novelty value . "" Using an iPhone is hardly something you can show off to people now , "" she said .  It was unclear if the decline in the number of fake stores might be the result of any pressure by Apple to clamp down on counterfeiting of its brand . Apple China did not immediately respond to requests for comment .  While some Shenzhen shoppers praised the user friendly iPhone for its security and design features , others said they preferred cheaper devices that use Google ' s Android software .  "" I don ' t care about the brand , but it must be on the Android system , "" said designer Wang Li , 26 . "" My last mobile was an iPhone . The system is stable , but I don ' t like it that all the apps have to be downloaded from the App Store . ""  Yang Qingbao , a 31 year old investment bank manager , said "" I think the iPhone has a higher brand value , but it ' s hard to say its performance is better than Huawei . ""  "" I support Chinese brands , "" said Li Hongxuan , a 33 year old translator . "" Huawei is cost effective , though it may not be as good as the iPhone . Its functions are enough for me . ""   Lu , a Taiwan based principal analyst for industry research firm Gartner , said Apple retains its premium image in China , though competition is intense .  "" The threat , or the risk , is first if Samsung can regain its premium image in China with the S7 coming out this year , and secondly , if Chinese brands can improve their brand image to challenge Apple , "" Lu said .  Download the Gadgets 360 app for Android and iOS to stay up to date with the latest tech news , product reviews , and exclusive deals on the popular mobiles .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
14270,14271,"When Charlie Austin left Poole Town to join Swindon in 2009 , a group of 16 fans went to a local bookies and placed a tidy sum on him scoring for England one day .  Jem Racing gave them 50 1 odds , fairly slim for a player who joined a League One side , and they handed over 155 . They look on course for a payout given Austin ' s form for Queens Park Rangers . The 25 year old became the highest scoring Englishman in the Premier League , behind only Sergio Aguero and Diego Costa in the overall chart , after his hat trick against West Bromwich Albion on Saturday took him to 11 goals for the season .  But Austin ' s value to the non League side stretches beyond the 7 , 750 the group are set to receive . Money the club earned from goals and appearances since he left has enabled them to carry out work on their Tatnam ground , essential in winning two promotions .   Scroll down to watch   Charlie Austin scores for Poole Town  Queens Park rangers striker Charlie Austin playing for former club Poole Town in Dorset in 2008 09  Following his hat trick against West Brom , Austin is the top English goal scorer in the Premier League  A young Austin was offered to both Poole and their rivals Wimborne Town but only the former gave him a trial  Directors at Poole knew the add ons they had written into his Swindon transfer could have amounted to nothing had Austin , then 19 , faded into obscurity . He scored 46 goals in 46 games in his first season at the club then 18 in 11 before the move . Coaching staff at Poole noticed improvement when he started training with Bournemouth ahead of his second campaign . Austin netted twice in a 3 0 friendly against them and manager Eddie Howe liked what he saw . But Bournemouth were under a transfer embargo , so Austin trained with their first team and was released to Poole for matches .  That was until Swindon , who had Danny Wilson in charge , beat them to his signature . In a fitting send off , Austin scored five goals in his final Poole game against Portsmouth side Moneyfields , in front of a home crowd of 88 .  ' Swindon didn ' t want to pay a fee , they didn ' t feel they had to , which was insulting , ' Poole commercial director Mark Bumford explained . ' They agreed a deal with add ons for appearance and goal bonuses . He could ' ve disappeared into their reserves , but soon started scoring goals and got into the first team . '  Austin scored a remarkable 64 goals in 57 games while playing for Poole Town  Austin was said to very confident and sure of himself at Poole , where he was well liked by his team mates  Austin headed in his side ' s winner three minutes from the end of normal time to seal the win and his hat trick  Word spread among Poole fans that the club were receiving money every time Austin played 10 games or scored 10 goals for Swindon .  On matchdays they would listen out for how their departed hero was getting on . ' Charlie scored again , Charlie scored again , ' would spread around the ground . They may not have been aware how important the money would be to the club .  At Poole , Austin and his team mates were playing home matches on a school field in the Wessex League the ninth tier of English football . They won the title in his debut campaign and again the following year . Both times they were unable to climb a league due to their ground not being enclosed . Oakdale South Road Middle School now Oakdale Junior School and Poole Borough Council would not allow them to improve it . But the club credit Austin ' s goals for getting the ball rolling . ' After that the council and school allowed us to enclose it , ' Bumford said .  ' Then we started receiving money from the add ons for Charlie and it allowed us to finish work on the ground . We won the league a third season in a row and got promoted . '   striker Austin poses with the match ball after his hat trick against West Brom at Loftus Road  The  striker recently went back to Poole for a fundraising event but did not play for the club  Poole commercial director Mark Bumford in the stand paid for by Austin through transfer add ons  They built a stand , a barrier around the pitch and floodlights . It took them two seasons to win promotion to the Southern Premier League , where they are level with leaders Redditch United but with five games in hand . They spent 260 , 000 from Austin add ons to ensure the ground is the required standard for promotion . ' That ' s the end of the Charlie money , ' Bumford added . ' Tatnam is a different place now . '  It ' s a stroke of luck he played there at all . When his family left Hungerford for Bournemouth , his father , Fred , and grandfather , Ozzy , looked for a team of a similar level to the local club where he was playing . They left messages with Poole and rivals Wimborne Town . Poole take great delight that they offered him a trial and he went on to transform their club , while Wimborne never called them back . ' He was very confident , ' Bumford said . ' He was a bit of a poser and had a swagger about him . But he was popular with team mates and a fans ' favourite . '  In September he returned for a benefit game for former Poole strike partner Andy Culliford , who suffers from motor neurone disease .  His importance at  is such he was unable to play . He has scored more than half their goals this season and , with Roy Hodgson keeping watch , an England call up is surely not far away .  You wouldn ' t bet against it .  Austin joined Poole from Hungerford and was at Kintbury before that , he had impressive records at both  The Premier League striker celebrates scoring for Poole Town back in 2008  Austin applauds the crowds after a game for the Dorset side , who were in the ninth tier at the time   Austin not the only star performer Redknapp  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
14283,14284,"Plimpton, 46, who starred in The Goonies when she was 15, was speaking at a #ShoutYourAbortion event in June in Seattle, but the recent release of online footage of her remarks in which she boasted about her abortion are causing a firestorm on Twitter.Plimpton told the cheering crowd:Seattle has some particular significance for me for lots of reasons. I ve got a lot of family here, some of whom are here in the audience tonight. I also had my first abortion here at the Seattle Planned Parenthood! Yay!Notice I said  first and I don t want Seattle   I don t want you guys to feel insecure, it was my best one. Heads and tails above the rest. If I could Yelp review it, I totally would. And if that doctor s here tonight, I don t remember you at all, I was 19,  she continued as the crowd applauded.  I was 19, but I thank you nonetheless. You probably won t remember because I wasn t that famous then.    Breitbart NewsWATCH this sub-human brag about killing her children: ",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
14297,14298,"It was early in the morning Tuesday when Stan Van Gundy approached his prized center on the flight from Salt Lake City back home .  Andre Drummond has just endured his second straight game without reaching double figures in points or rebounds , a rarity for a guy who pulls double doubles so often his teammates have come to expect it .  While the physical toll had taken over , four games in a six day stretch out west , perhaps more strenuous was the mental part . After setting the single game  record for misses at the free throw line , Drummond followed up the next three games by going a combined 4 for 19 .  "" I was out of it , "" Drummond said . "" I put a lot of pressure on myself with the free throws , and it took me out of my game . ""  Focus on the things you ' re good at like rebounding , put backs and your improving post game .  "" It ' s frustrating and I understand that , "" Van Gundy said . "" I feel for him a little bit in that , but he just needs to go out and do the things he ' s capable of doing really , really well every night . Not let the one thing he ' s struggling with take away from anything else . ""  MLive ' s David Mayo breaks down Pistons ' win over 76ers The Pistons ' small lineup worked well late and with a resurgent Andre Drummond won big .  Consider Wednesday night a 110 97 win over the Philadelphia 76ers before 13 , 712 at The Palace of Auburn Hills redemption .  Not only did Drummond score 25 points and grab 18 rebounds for his 38th double double of the season , he sank seven of his 12 free throw attempts .  "" He ' s an All Star in this league , we all know that , and he ' s been playing great , "" Pistons point guard Reggie Jackson said . "" He just hasn ' t had the best last two games . ""  It was Jackson who led the way with a game high 27 points on 9 of 18 shooting , an important figure because other than he , Drummond and rookie Stanley Johnson , no one else could find the bottom of the basket .   , players on Pistons ' 4th quarter burst , Andre Drummond returning to form Detroit beat the Philadelphia 76ers for a second time this season Wednesday night , 110 97 , despite a slow start and poor perimeter shooting night .  The Pistons shot 42 . 9 percent from the floor thanks to a 36 point fourth quarter , enough for them to pull away from the short handed and struggling 76ers ( 7 40 ) , but it looked concerning for a while .  Detroit ( 25 21 ) scored a season low 12 points in the first quarter , shot 34 . 1 percent in the first half and trailed at half .  "" They played with an extreme pace , "" Johnson said . "" We knew that going in , and Stan made that very , very clear going in , and yet another quarter where we don ' t come out prepared . ""  Johnson , who scored 18 points on 8 of 16 shooting , was referring to the third quarter in which the Pistons surrendered 34 points and found themselves down five , with Van Gundy harkening back to the defensive meltdown in Denver .  But it was the starting group , minus Ersan Ilyasova and with Johnson , who did the heavy lifting and helped Detroit pull away .  Jackson scored 10 of his 27 in the fourth , Johnson added eight , and Drummond was 3 of 4 from the free throw line .  "" He played with much bigger energy tonight , sort of back to himself , "" Van Gundy said . "" When you go 7 for 12 , well , ( expletive ) , if you want to foul a guy that ' s 7 for 12 , we ' re in good shape there . ""  Drummond said he took Wednesday , an off day for the Pistons , to think about what Van Gundy told him on the flight back .  "" Not focus too much on ( the free throws ) , "" Drummond said . "" Just to play hard and help my team win , and the free throws would come .  "" It stuck with me . When I got home , like I said , I just regained my focus and came out strong tonight . ""  Three stalls over in the Pistons ' locker room , Johnson fielded questions about his game and was asked about Drummond .  "" When he has 20 and 20 , I don ' t even notice anymore , "" he said . "" He had 20 and 20 tonight ? ""  When a reporter said Drummond fell two rebounds short , Johnson quipped back .  "" That ' s a random game for him . 30 and 30 , I would be impressed . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
14299,14300,"Police raided the dressing rooms at the Stadium of Light and Sunderland ' s training ground as part of their probe into Adam Johnson .  The 27 year old England international was arrested on March 2 at his 1 . 85million mansion on suspicion of having sex with a 15 year old girl and was bailed until Wednesday .  And Sportsmail can reveal that as part of the probe , officers also turned up at the 49 , 000 capacity Stadium of Light and the 60 acre Academy of Light and scoured both dressing rooms as part of their hunt for evidence .  Adam Johnson , pictured with girlfriend Stacey Flounders , was bailed until March 18 after being arrested  The 27 year old Sunderland winger was arrested on suspicion of having sex with a 15 year old girl  The gates at Johnson ' s 1 . 85million were shut following his arrest earlier this month  Former Manchester City man Johnson has been suspended by Sunderland since his arrest  Police officers raided dressing rooms at Sunderland ' s Stadium of Light as they investigate Johnson  It is also understood that all Sunderland staff were called into meetings following Johnson ' s arrest and warned away from posting anything about it on social media and from speaking to the press .  Johnson , who earns 50 , 000 a week , has been suspended by the struggling Premier League club .  The Black Cats , who are currently facing a battle against relegation , are now without a manager after Gus Poyet was sacked on Monday .  A source said : ' You don ' t expect to see police officers in a dressing room and quite a few people at the club were shocked by it . They were looking for things such as second mobile phones and notes , anything that would help them , really . '  Changing rooms at the club ' s Academy of Light training ground were also scoured by local police  Johnson was released on bail until March 18 and will continue to help police with their inquiries  Peterlee Police Station in County Durham where Johnson was taken after he was arrested  Johnson played 81 minutes of Sunderland ' s 2 0 defeat by Manchester United shortly before being arrested  They added : ' All staff were called into meetings and told in no uncertain terms that they were not to put anything on things like Twitter and Facebook and not to talk to the press about it under any circumstances . '  Johnson , a winger , has been in a relationship with girlfriend Stacey Flounders for three years .  Miss Flounders recently posted photographs of the couple ' s first child , Ayla Sofia , who was born on January 8 . It was unclear if she and her daughter were at home at the time of the player ' s arrest .  He has scored 20 times in 105 games for the club , including the winner at Newcastle in this season ' s Tyne Wear derby .  Johnson , pictured playing against Switzerland in 2011 , has 14 England caps to his name  Sunderland ' s players look lost during their 4 0 home defeat by Aston Villa on Saturday  Born in Sunderland , Johnson signed for the club for 10m from Manchester City in 2012 .  Three unmarked police cars , a police van , several plain clothed officers and a forensics team were seen at Johnson ' s house , close to the quiet hamlet of Castle Eden , as he was questioned at Peterlee police station .  Ex Middlesbrough man Johnson has been bailed until March 18 .  Sunderland were thumped 4 0 at home by fellow strugglers Aston Villa on Saturday with thousands of angry supporters leaving the match before half time with their team already four goals down .  Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
14316,14317,"It might be a bit of a blur to everyone else , but Lionel Messi always seems to keep a clear head even in the most pressurized situations .  And if the football maestro ' s opponents struggle to keep up with him , spare a thought for the sports photographers who have to track his moments of magic .  Mike Hewitt ' s artful image of the Argentina star in action against Mexico at the last World Cup in South Africa captures his dynamism down to a tee .  But it wasn ' t the shot he had expected to walk away with at Johannesburg ' s Soccer City Stadium that evening .  "" I found a position in the stands which I thought might give me a different angle , but a steward took exception to me being there . ""  The  accredited Hewitt protested , stayed put and the game started . Then the police arrived .  "" About 10 of them showed up in full riot gear and said , ' You can ' t stay here . ' I wasn ' t going to argue , so I was escorted down to the pitch where they thought all the photographers should be .  "" I kind of squeezed in late not in a great position and I thought I might as well just go for it . Lionel Messi is playing and if I can get one image of him like this , I ' ll be happy . ""  The image was captured using a technique called panning , where the photographer follows a moving subject during an exposure .  A successful shot will blur the background , giving a sense of movement and speed while keeping the subject , or part of it , in focus .  "" I had a couple of attempts earlier that didn ' t really work a lot of the frames are a complete blur . But then luckily he had a good run down the wing , "" says Hewitt , who is Senior World Cup photographer at leading agency Getty .  "" The key thing you ' re trying to do is freeze the head , and we ' re quite lucky that the ball looks fairly frozen as well . ""  The image was captured using a 400 mm telephoto lens mounted on a monopod , with Hewitt opting for a super slow shutter speed around one eighth of a second compared with 1 , 000th of a second typically used for action shots .  Messi ' s forward leaning , athletic pose is amplified by the disorganized tangle of arms and legs of his straggling opponent .  "" It actually works better in other sports , particularly ones when they ' re on a predictable path like athletics or speed skating , "" Hewitt says of the panning technique .  "" You know they ' re going to be at a particular place and you can try again and again . The nature of football is very zigzag . . . so you don ' t get many of these . ""  Hewitt also turned his lens on Messi ' s national coach during the 2010 tournament , capturing Diego Maradona celebrating the winning goal in his first match in charge at a World Cup finals .  Even more impressively , he took the defining image of the final between the Netherlands and Spain , dropping the shutter at the exact moment Nigel de Jong ' s boot clattered into Xabi Alonso ' s chest .  When he ' s not snapping a match action , the 52 year old is always on the lookout for salable pictures elsewhere .  "" You ' ve always got to have your camera with you just in case . You never know what ' s going to be happening anywhere , "" he says .  A good example was a beautiful shot of kids playing football taken in the week before the 2010 tournament kicked off .  "" We were driving back from Johannesburg when my colleague saw these children playing football in this sort of dirt ditch on the edge of a very large township , "" Hewitt explains .  "" The office and the world media were crying out for an image that showed football in South Africa and I ' d like to think that this one summed it up quite nicely . ""  Another enduring photo has been one Hewitt took two decades ago at the tournament hosted by the U . S .  The image of Brazilian players ' hands clutching the trophy following their penalty shootout victory over Italy in the 1994 final will be instantly recognizable to football fans worldwide .  "" We had exhausted all the team photos of them and I just happened to notice a couple of them trying to get their hands on the trophy , "" Hewitt says .  "" I think a large part of its success is that you ' ve got different ethnic groups holding it you ' ve got white guys and black guys . I think this is Romario and Dunga holding the trophy . ""  "" It ' s probably my biggest selling image . It ' s been used everywhere . You see it on games , books and god knows what ! "" he says .  As Brazil 2014 heads toward its climax in Rio de Janeiro ' s famous Maracana Stadium on Sunday , Hewitt will be pitch side once again , ready for another shot at getting his name onto the front pages .  It ' s what he lives for .  "" This is why we do the job . Not many people find out who took the image but I know and I see it . And the more I see it , the better I like it . ""  Fancy yourself as a photographer ? Send us your best football pics  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
14325,14326,"Just over a month ago , Alan Pardew sat down with Newcastle ' s inner circle to discuss the club ' s targets for the January transfer window . It was a short meeting .  Mike Ashley was content , delighted with his club ' s climb up the table after their failure to register a victory in the Barclays Premier League until they beat Leicester on October 18 .  But Pardew , who was named  manager of the year in 2012 after guiding Newcastle to fifth and the Europa League , is an ambitious man .  Newcastle boss Alan Pardew is expected to be imminently appointed as Crystal Palace ' s new manager  Pardew masterminded Newcastle to a 3 2 Premier League home win against Everton on Sunday  Pardew applauds the home crowd after their victory at St James ' Park against the Toffees  Alan Pardew becomes new Crystal Palace boss as Newcastle United thrash out 2million compensation deal with Eagles  Jamie Redknapp says Pardew ' s move makes sense he is going somewhere he is loved  Jamie Carragher believes Palace will never be as big a club as Newcastle so there must have been a good reason for Pardew to walk  Any manager looking to send their  for the Magpies job must beware  Steve Bruce would jump at the opportunity to manage his boyhood club  Micky Quinn believes Newcastle must appoint a Geordie as their next manager  He wanted to add quality to the team , attracting players with pedigree to St James ' Park in order to have a genuine crack at getting back into the top four . Ashley was having none of it .  As Pardew prepares to start work at Crystal Palace , his biggest beef with his former employers at Newcastle is that he did not get to choose the players . Instead they are scouted by Graham Carr and deposited at their Darsley Park training ground for Pardew to use as he sees fit .  Last summer , for example , a young Argentinian striker by the name of Facundo Ferreyra arrived on loan from Shakhtar Donetsk for the season . Ferreyra , 23 , has yet to play and on Monday one source at the club described him as one of the worst players ever seen at this level .  Two more signings , Karl Darlow and Jamaal Lascelles , arrived in the summer and were immediately sent on loan to Nottingham Forest before Pardew could even assess them .  As the transfer window approaches , Pardew fears Moussa Sissoko , one of the club ' s best players , will be picked off by Arsenal or Paris Saint Germain . Last year , after influential midfielder Yohan Cabaye was sold to  for 19m on January 29 , they lost 11 of their last 14 games in the Premier League . He was wary of a repeat should Sissoko be sold .  On loan striker Facundo Ferreyra is yet to feature this season since joining from Shakhtar Donetsk  The 23 year old has been describes as one of the worst players ever seen at this level by one source  Magpies lost 11 of their last 14 games in the Premier League last term after selling Yohan Cabaye ( left ) to   Cabaye was sold to the French giants for 19million in the 2014 January transfer window  Moussa Sissoko could leave in January after Arsenal and Paris Saint Germain declared an interest  Newcastle ' s manager wants a real input into the teams he sends out in front of some of the most demanding supporters in the country , many of whom have never accepted him .  His appointment reportedly received the backing of only five per cent of fans in a poll at the time , while the SackPardewweblink and P45Due campaigns hurt him more than he will ever let on . Now is the time to make a clean break .  On Monday the manager was at his family home in Surrey , waiting for Ashley to respond from his holiday home in Barbados before he could return home for good .  Despite the tensions at St James ' Park , particularly over transfer strategy , Pardew has an excellent relationship with Ashley .  He appreciated the owner ' s support during their bleak start to the season and was taken by surprise when Ashley made an impromptu visit to the dressing room after that win against Leicester .  Newcastle fans hold up a ' Pardew is a muppet ' banner ahead of their team ' s League clash vs Stoke in April  The Newcastle fans wanted Pardew out after a difficult start to the 2014 15 Premier League campaign  The SackPardewweblink became an infamous protest many unhappy Newcastle supporters this season  Newcastle fans portray Pardew as Pinocchio during their clash at Stoke in September  Now that he has found a way out of the complex eight year Newcastle contract he signed in September 2012 , Pardew will have the backing of Palace ' s four owners .  Although Steve Parish , Stephen Browett , Martin Long and Jeremy Hosking are equal shareholders , Parish is the most prominent . Undoubtedly , though , the appointment of Pardew will meet with the approval of all four . To them it will feel as though he is coming home .  Pardew served Palace with distinction in the Eighties and very early Nineties , scoring the winner in the  Cup semi final against Liverpool in April 1990 .  There is an emotional pull for Pardew , who came through a difficult start to his career at Selhurst Park .  Mark Bright , now the club ' s official ambassador and a sounding board for Parish , knows Pardew well from his own playing days at Palace and will make sure he settles quickly .  Pardew played more than 100 games for Palace during a four year spell at the south London club  Pardew ( No 11 ) scores the winning goal for Palace in the 1990  Cup semi final against Liverpool  Setting aside the size of Newcastle United and the 52 , 000 supporters who watch the team each week at St James ' Park , Pardew and Palace appear to be a good fit .  Since the Eagles takeover in 2010 , Pardew has been on friendly terms with Parish and he is a regular guest in the boardroom when he watches games at Selhurst Park . Parish has been tempted to appoint him on several occasions and he was under consideration again before plumping for Neil Warnock in August .  After Warnock was sacked following the 3 1 defeat against Southampton on Boxing Day , the deal for Pardew began to fall into place . Since then , Ashley has been negotiating Pardew ' s release from his sun lounger in the Caribbean .  Ashley is wary of the upheaval , the inevitable change in atmosphere at a club after a manager leaves on his own terms instead of the owner ' s . It is an unusual situation .  Pardew , who has spent four years at Newcastle , leaves a team ninth in the Premier League table for one fighting against relegation with 19 games left of the season .  His brief is to keep the team in the division , to build on the brilliant work of Tony Pulis .  But now that he is back in south London , the signings must be all down to him .  Tony Pulis ( centre ) worked wonders at Crystal Palace , and it is now up to Pardew to continue his good work  Palace are stepping up their search to replace former boss Neil Warnock and have earmarked Pardew  Newcastle owner Mike Ashley , who is currently in Barbados , will have the final say on Pardew ' s future  Ashley has agreed to reach a compromise with Eagles chief Steve Parish rather than demand the full 5m  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
14331,14332,"Packers get huge win but their weaknesses have been exposed  The Green Bay Packers broke their three game losing streak at just the right time after defeating the Minnesota Vikings , but that doesn t mean that the  North is settled  Captain Munnerlyn ( 24 ) sacks Aaron Rodgers but the Packers still defeated the Vikings Photograph : Bruce Kluckhohn  Today Sports  Last modified on Monday 23 November 2015 04 . 10 ?   The timing couldn t have been better . The Green Bay Packers broke their three game losing steak on Sunday , defeating the Minnesota Vikings 30 13 at  Bank Stadium . The much needed victory increased their record to 7 3 , putting them on top of the  North over their divisional rivals thanks to the head to head tiebreaker .  Clearly relieved after the game , head coach Mike McCarthy praised his entire team , I feel very good about how we played in all three phases . We got back to playing the style of football we like to play .  After struggling the last few games , the Packers put in an impressive group effort on the road to stun a Vikings team poised to take a two game lead over them . Aaron Rodgers threw two touchdowns , Eddie Lacy ran for 100 yards and , most encouragingly , their defense forced six sacks . Safety Morgan Burnett , not Rodgers , provided the defining play of the game , forcing Adrian Peterson to fumble in the fourth quarter , essentially sealing the game .  It didn t , however , seal the division . As much as Sunday s win resulted in a swing in the standings , the regular season could be a battle for the Packers . Their November swoon hasn t left them much wiggle room . They face the Chicago Bears in a matter of days , on Thanksgiving , leaving them little time to rest or prepare . They also have to keep pace with the Vikings , who are also 7 3 and play them again at Green Bay in Week 17 .  This season was supposed to be easier for these Packers . Early on , they looked like a lock to win their division , something they ve done every year since 2011 . At times , it looked like they could sleepwalk their way to the  Championship Game . They were one of a handful of teams that began their season 6 0 before almost inexplicably dropping three straight .  Added to that , the Packers defense is still strictly so so , ranking 21st in the league . Of the Super Bowl contenders , only the Patriots ( 16th ) are giving up anywhere near as many yards ? and they have Tom Brady enjoying a superhuman season . Meanwhile , two teams the Packers may well have to get past to get to the Super Bowl are locking teams down on defense . The Panthers have the fourth best defense in the league and the Cardinals the third . Another  team , the Seahawks , have the second best . The Packers may remember them from last season s playoffs .  Until Sunday , Minnesota were in the midst of a five game winning streak under the improving Teddy Bridgewater . So while the Vikings lost their best chance of taking control of their division , they still are in a much better position than they could have hoped for when they stumbled to a 2 2 start of the season . Unfortunately for them , that path back to the top almost certainly will have to go through Lambeau Field now . Circle your calendars for 3 January .  Don t single us out . At the end of the day , it s the name . Don t worry about the name ? we re players and we work our butts off , too . I m just frustrated with it .  Washington s Jason Hatcher on the officiating in their 44 16 loss to the Carolina Panthers .  After Washington s humiliating loss , Hatcher accused the officials of taking out their dislike of their racially charged nickname on the team itself during the game . Of course , considering the final score , more favorable officiating may not have made much difference in the contest against Cam Newton and the still undefeated Panthers ( who also tweaked the team for its name the day before ) .  Does Hatcher have a point ? Well , unless one roots for Carolina , it s hard to deny that Washington was the victim of some questionable calls early on in the game . It seems like a bit of a stretch that those might have had anything to do with their name , but there have been incidents of referees who have asked out of working Washington games precisely because they found it offensive .  Ultimately though , the main rule of judging officials is Never presume malice in decisions that could be explained away by mere incompetence . It s hard to imagine that there s some sort of conspiracy out there to target Washington , although there is some irony that an employee of a team with a name that many believe to be a racial slur is accusing another group of expressing unfair bias .  346 lbs . That s the weight of Kansas City Chiefs nose tackle Dontari Poe who has surpassed William Refrigerator Perry in the record books , but not in our hearts , as the heaviest player in  history to score a touchdown . The Chiefs went on to crush the San Diego Chargers 33 3 .  Dontari Poe weighs 346 lbs is now , officially : The heaviest player to ever score an offensive touchdown . KCvsSD weblink : t . co ZXBYiqCVT2  Jameis Winston . The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback had a career day at the expense of the Philadelphia Eagles . In the midst of a 45 17 victory , Winston tied an  record for rookie quarterbacks by throwing five touchdown passes in the game . Oh , and along the way he also picked up 246 yards . So , congratulations to Eagles fans who were also Winston owners for your incredibly conflicted victory this weekend . ( Unless you were one of those Philadelphia fans rooting for Chip Kelly to go back to college . )  How did the New England Patriots cheat this week ?  Well , we don t know yet . They re not playing until Monday night , when they face off against the Buffalo Bills . However , there are rumors in New England that , in lieu of reviewing game tape , Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has been binge watching Marvel s Jessica Jones on Netflix trying to learn some tricks by researching main villain Kilgrave s mind control powers .  For the record , there was no mind control or officiating biases that caused Washington to do this on Sunday :  Washington ' s day is off to a stellar start : pic . twitterweblink qap7QeOc4i  ? A horrific season for the Baltimore Ravens continues as quarterback Joe Flacco tore an  and is out for the season . He made his last appearance of the 2015 season memorable , however , completing one final drive to set up a game winning field goal in what ended up being a 16 13 victory over the St Louis Rams .  ? One quarterback exits , another returns . With the return of Tony Romo , the Dallas Cowboys ended their seven game losing streak with a 24 14 win over the Miami Dolphins . The win helped quiet down talk centering around troubled ( and troubling ) defensive end Greg Hardy , whose time on the team might finally be coming to an end .  ? The tallest quarterback in the  made his first start of the season Sunday . The 6ft 8in Brock Osweiler had a successful outing , going 20 for 27 in a 17 15 win over the Chicago Bears in his first game subbing for Peyton Manning . Warning : if Manning is out for an extended period of time , or possibly for good , Osweiler s height will become the new Ryan Fitzpatrick went to Harvard , the piece of trivia that announcers feel obligated to bring up every game he appears in .  ? No , Matt Hasselbeck is still not retired . In fact , the 40 year old has gone 3 0 as the quarterback to the Indianapolis Colts after Sunday s 24 21 win over the Atlanta Falcons . The only shame about this story is that Kevin Costner is far too old to play him in an inspirational  13 film about overcoming adversity . ( Wait , Costner does know that he can t pull off those sports movies any more , right ? )  ? Speaking Of Old Guys Department : 35 year old Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer s career year continued with a thrilling 34 31 comeback win over the Cincinnati Bengals . The Cardinals improved their record to 8 2 while the once undefeated Bengals fell to 8 2 . Don t worry , Andy Dalton , stick around for another eight to 10 years and your time will come .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
14337,14338,"When was the last time being loyal to your boss was a negative, especially when your boss is the POTUS!The White House s new communications director Anthony Scaramucci is being divorced by his wife Deirdre Ball after three years of marriage because of his ruthless mission to get close to President Donald Trump, whom she despises. A source says that while  she liked the nice Wall Street life and their home on Long Island  she did not care for the  insane world of D.C.  and she is tired of his  naked ambition. Another source said the former couple had fought over his loyalty to Trump. The source noted,  Deidre is not a fan of Trump, and she hasn t exactly been on board and supportive of Anthony and his push to get back into the White House. According to reports, Ball donated $5,400 to the congressional campaign of anti-Trump Democrat Kathleen Rice in 2015. But she also donated $10,800 to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker s presidential campaign and $2,700 to Jeb Bush s campaign the same year.Deidre worked as a vice president in investor relations for SkyBridge Capital, the firm Scaramucci founded in 2005 and sold to ascend to the White House. The source said that Scaramucci had been  hell-bent  on claiming his position at the White House after he was originally pegged for a senior role. This ambition was halted by Reince Priebus, Trump s chief of staff. But, after an aggressive campaign, Scaramucci was made communications director by Trump which prompted Sean Spicer to quit.Scaramucci recently gave an incredibly strange interview with the New Yorker, telling reporter Ryan Lizza that he thought Priebus was a  f king paranoid schizophrenic, a paranoiac.  He then added,  I m not Steve Bannon, I am not trying to suck my own c k. He was also noted saying,  I m not trying to build my own brand off the f king strength of the president. I am here to serve the country. Ball went by the Twitter handle @MrsAScaramucci but, according to reports, she deleted her account after her husband was appointed as White House communications director. A friend close to Scaramucci stated that  Anthony is focusing on his children, his work for the president and the American people. There is nothing more important to him. I don t know who Deidre thought she was marrying but anyone who knows Anthony knows he s an ambitious man. Read more: Page Six",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
14339,14340,"In the week since Manny Pacquiao dominated and dismantled Chris Algieri over 12 lop sided rounds in Macau , the clamour for him to fight Floyd Mayweather Jnr has reached unprecedented levels .  Pacquiao stoked the flames by dutifully calling out Mayweather to anyone who would listen and his promoter Bob Arum quickly followed suit , as he had done with gusto in the build up .  The  , whose welterweight and light middleweight titles Mayweather holds , then claimed they will do whatever they can to make the fight despite having ranked the pair as No 1 and No 2 for the last year without installing Pacquiao as Mayweather ' s mandatory challenger .  Floyd Mayweather has been quiet amid speculation over a fight with Manny Pacquiao  Pacquiao ( right ) defeated Chris Algieri to win the  world welterwight title on Saturday night  ' If Mayweather retires without defeating Pacquiao , the question about being the best in the world will linger , ' said president Mauricio Sulaiman .  ' There is no fight in this decade that has been expected for so long . '  Indeed , it is now five years since the fight first captured the imagination after Pacquiao stopped Miguel Cotto in 2009 . Las Vegas bookmakers immediately installed him as the favourite to beat Mayweather .  But rows over drug testing , purse splits and promotional disputes have almost strangled the life out of the so called ' Fight of the Century ' .  Pacquiao knocked Algieri down six times during the fight in Macau , which he won on points  On Thursday , promoter Oscar De La Hoya tweeted : ' I ' m prepared to put up the biggest guarantee in sports history to give the fans The Fight . '  That followed reports in the Philippines that Mayweather would be guaranteed 100million with Pacquiao pocketing 80m were they to finally touch gloves .  But amid all the commotion , one man has remained silent Mayweather himself .  In fact , when he commented on the fight last month , he rubbished comments from his dad and trainer Floyd Snr that the two would finally meet in the ring .  ' Well my father is totally wrong . . . the best thing for Pacquiao to do is be quiet before he really gets exposed , ' he said .  Mayweather ( right ) beat Marcos Maidana in his last fight to take his record to 47 0  ' They ' re bringing up my name to sell tickets . All you ' ve got to do is look at his pay per view numbers that he did on his last couple of fights and look at my numbers . '  And his numbers are certainly impressive .  While Pacquiao managed around 750 , 000 pay per view buys for his rematch with Timothy Bradley , Mayweather regularly hits the million mark .  He was also named the richest sportsman in the world in 2013 by Forbes magazine having earned 105million for just two fights , against Saul ' Canelo ' Alvarez and Marcos Maidana .  Reports in the Philippines stated that Pacquiao would pocket 80m if the pair were to finally touch gloves  He could replicate that over the next 12 months from his final two fights on his Showtime television contract , expected to take place in May and September next year .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
14354,14355,"This nightmare could have all been prevented if America was able to look past their unwarranted white guilt  for one second, and realize they were electing a second rate community agitator, with sealed records and a questionable birth certificate If Donald Trump wins the Republican nomination and defeats likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in November, President Obama will sabotage the economy in his final months in office, predicts talk-radio host Michael Savage. If Trump wins   and I think he will   there will be an economic crash,  Savage told listeners of his nationally syndicated show,  The Savage Nation,  Monday. The reason I say that is not because of his policies, but because of what Obama will do on the way out the door. Savage said that if anyone thinks that a President Trump will be able to easily  turn this huge ship around, you don t know much about navigation in turbulent waters. Wait until you see what happens in the last few months if Trump wins,  Savage said. Wait until you see what that nice guy in the White House does. (Federal Reserve Chairman Janet) Yellen ups interest rates, Obama and his band of unmerry pranksters   Sharpton and company  unleash the mobs,  Savage said.  (George) Soros makes a last-ditch effort to distract Trump and the new Justice Department from currency manipulation and other financial games he may have been playing. Spends tens of millions on social agitation. Obama floods the U.S. with Central Americans, Syrians and Africans, mainly Muslim, mainly young males, and grants pardons to 10,000 more Central American drug dealers,  Savage continued. Let s see what else might these decent Americans do? Release a few more billion pork barrel  green  projects? You can guess! Prior to his remarks about Obama s final days in office, Savage told his listeners he believed Trump would defeat Clinton in a landslide, describing the former secretary of state, senator and first lady as  Fidel Castro in a dress. Savage cited the new Rasmussen poll of likely voters showing Trump with a 41-39 lead over Clinton nationally. And this is only an early poll,  Savage noted on his show Monday.  I said a long time ago that when it comes down to Trump vs. Clinton, he would win by a landslide, 60-40, 59-41, something like that. No matter how many illegal aliens Obama tried to flood into this country, Trump will win by a landslide,  he said.In February, Savage warned that the banking deregulation under the Bill Clinton administration that led to the 2008 recession appears to be on the verge of impacting the economy again. We re being set up for an economic meltdown similar to the one that triggered the Great Depression,  he said.This time, however, Savage continued,  it s going to occur on a global scale, and it s unlikely that we ll be able to recover within even the next several decades, once it happens. For entire story:  ",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
14361,14362,"Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama will travel to Poland and Spain next month to attend the  Summit, including a bilateral meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda to discuss security issues, the White House said on Monday.  Obama will attend his last  summit in Warsaw from July 7 to July 9, the White House said in a statement. He then travels to meet with leaders in Spain, a  ally, from July 9 to July 11, it said. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
14367,14368,"Tatiana Ricardo is a single mother of four children, including two who have special needs. Her days mostly consist of cooking, cleaning, doing laundry and taking the children to and from school. But to Ms. Ricardo, “It’s all worth it. I’d do anything for them. ” Someday, she says, she would like to open her own day care center. Ms. Ricardo, 31, was born in the Dominican Republic. At age 11, she went to live with her mother in the Bronx. While growing up in a different country had its challenges, like being bullied for not being able to speak English at first, it taught Ms. Ricardo how to be strong and independent  —   traits she hopes to pass on to her children. Nashali, 11, is the oldest and loves to dance. Analie, who is 7 and a big fan of the movie “Frozen,” has a learning disability that she has been working to overcome with speech and occupational therapy.    Michael was found to have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (A. D. H. D.) three years ago. And then there is    Xavier, who Ms. Ricardo said is “just a happy kid and always laughing. ” The older children also participate in a local runners’ club, which allows them to channel their energy into something productive. The family’s living situation changed last year after Xavier was born. Ms. Ricardo was able to find an affordable apartment in the Bronx, but it lacked proper furniture. The Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services, a beneficiary agency of   of New York, which is one of the organizations supported by The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund, used $1, 198 in Neediest Cases funds to buy a bunk bed and a dining set. All donations made to the Neediest Cases Fund go to one of eight charities: Brooklyn Community Services Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New York Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens The Children’s Aid Society Community Service Society of New York Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies   of New York and the International Rescue Committee. To help, please make checks payable to The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund and send them to P. O. Box 5193, New York, N. Y. 10087. Donations may be made with a credit card at    or online at nytimes. .",true,news,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
14383,14384,"Murray beats Sousa as father in law hit by medical drama   : World number two Andy Murray beat Portugal ' s Joao Sousa in four sets to reach the Australian Open fourth round on Saturday , apparently unaware of a medical drama involving his father in law on the adjacent court .  The four time finalist wore down the 33rd ranked Sousa to win 6 2 , 3 6 , 6 2 , 6 2 in two hours , 38 minutes , while Nigel Sears , father of his heavily pregnant wife , Kim , needed emergency medical treatment .  Sears who is also the coach of Ana Ivanovic , was treated by medics on a stairway and Ivanovic ' s match with Madison Keys on Rod Laver Arena was suspended for almost an hour before resuming .  The 58 year old was later stretchered away and taken by ambulance to hospital and was said to be in a conscious state .  Murray will play the winner of the all Australian clash between Bernard Tomic and John Millman in the fourth round .  The Scot left the Margaret Court Arena without doing the usual post match on court interview and it was announced he would not be doing a press conference . Witnesses said he was met by his mother Judy upon leaving the court .  He later released some comments about his match , saying he had struggled to put away the tigerish Sousa .  "" I thought I struggled . At the beginning I think he was extremely aggressive , very intense , "" Murray said .  "" It was tricky . I didn ' t feel great , I wasn ' t in a great rhythm and I wasn ' t hitting the ball clean at the start .  "" He was hitting the ball great , close to the lines , and making me do a lot of running .  "" I just tried to keep fighting . At the end I was actually hitting the ball well and felt better at the end . It was good to get through that one . ""  Murray broke Sousa twice to take the opening set , but lost his first set of the tournament as news filtered through of the ongoing drama in the stadium next door .  The world number two asserted command in the third set with two more breaks and then made crucial breaks in the fifth and seventh games to dominate the final set .  Murray hit 41 winners and made 32 unforced errors , but broke Sousa ' s serve six times , while dropping his own serve twice .  Murray won through to the round of 16 in Melbourne for the eighth straight year with the win stretching his record over Sousa to 7 0 .  The Scot is projected to face either David Ferrer or John Isner if he make the quarters and possibly either Milos Raonic or Stan Wawrinka in the semi finals .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
14393,14394,"Some will argue that this is not a national election , others will point at the abstention level close to 49 percent or focus on isolated cases but the first round ' s results of the French regional elections are without ambiguity , this is a huge electoral win for Marine Le Pen ' s party , the Front national or the National Front .  The far right party founded 43 years ago by Marine Le Pen ' s father , Jean Marie Le Pen , obtained according to the first estimation almost 30 percent of the vote against 26 . 5 percent for the union of three parties on the right , les R publicains , The Republicans , Nicolas Sarkosy ' s newly created movement , the MoDem and the  . With less than 23 percent of the votes the Socialist party of French president Fran ? ois Hollande is seriously weakened 17 months before the next presidential election .  Marine Le Pen , candidate in the Nord Pas de Calais Picardie region , came first with 41 percent while her 25 years old niece Marion Mar chal Le Pen , is leading in the Provence Alpes C ? te d ' Azur region with more than 41 percent of the vote . In fact , the National Front is largely leading in six of the 13 French regions .  Such a success , for the 47 year old Marine Le Pen is certainly a loss for the European ideal and a loss for a certain idea of France , a country whose grandeur lies in her openness and in her capacity to be seen from outside as a reference .  However , Marine Le Pen ' s win is not yet synonymous with the complete defeat of the European ideal nor of the constant French quest for progress , she simply won over political opponents who for decades have been unable to create enough jobs in a country with 10 . 6 percent of unemployment and who have been incapable of creating an efficient and autonomous European Union generator of prosperity and security .  The source of Marine Le Pen ' s success is not in the solidity of the arguments she or the 34 year old Florian Philippot , one of the party ' s most visible vice presidents , often aptly present in the media , but it is in the weaknesses of their political opponents who fail to deliver when they are in office and who can not convince anymore when they look for re election .  In the context of a European refugee crisis adding to the general fear of the foreigner and to the Islamophobia , the November 13 terrorist attacks certainly boosted the National Front support but Fran ? ois Hollande ' s reaction to the Daesh massacre in Paris also offered credibility to some of Marine Le Pen ' s credos : recurrent display of emotional patriotism , the return to the national paradigm or the re establishment of the national border .  The noble goals of the COP21 have never formed a momentum able to overcome the simplistic dichotomy which had marked the French mood since November 13 : on one side , the jihadists or the enemies of France , one the other side , the French nation confronting the threat and resisting barbarity . These conditions were conducive for Marine Le Pen ' s political rhetoric to shift from controversial margins to the mainstream .  Obviously , for France ' s and Europe ' s future , it is the 2017 presidential election which will be truly decisive . The December 6 elections show the unprecedented strength of the National Front but it is not too late for other political movements to develop the right strategies to contain and diminish Marine Le Pen ' s influence .  Courageous , creative and wise leaders are in need to stop Marine Le Pen ' s rise , her consolidated presence in the French landscape has become a reality but she might be also one day in a position to transform her fallacies into official governmental policies .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
14397,14398,"—   You could never palm it, flip it or plunk it into a vending machine. But apparently it can be pinched: One of the world’s largest gold coins, a   Canadian monster called the Big Maple Leaf, was stolen overnight from the Bode Museum in Berlin, the police said on Monday. The coin is about 21 inches in diameter and over an inch thick. It has the head of Queen Elizabeth  on one side and a maple leaf on the other. Its face value is 1 million Canadian dollars, or about $750, 000, but by gold content alone, it is worth as much as $4. 5 million at current market prices. And though it weighs about as much as a refrigerator, somehow thieves apparently managed to lug it through the museum and up at least one floor to get it out of a window at the back of the building. The police are still trying to figure out exactly how they did it. The Bode Museum, which sits on Museum Island in the Spree River, is part of the complex belonging to the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, or in German, the Preussischer Kulturbesitz. The local   commuter railway runs across the island along the back of the museum. The burglars seemed to have broken in through a window above the railway tracks during the     hours when the trains pause for the night. The police were alerted to the   at 4 a. m. and think that it took place between 3:20 a. m. and 3:45 a. m. The window, some three to four yards above the tracks, stood ajar and appeared to have been “forcibly opened,” said Winfrid Wenzel, a police spokesman. Officers searching the crime scene found a ladder on the elevated railway’s roadbed, which is near the museum’s back wall. The police declined to give further details, including whether security cameras monitored that window, or whether the museum’s alarm systems had gone off. The Big Maple Leaf had been on display since December 2010, on a floor below the window in its own bulletproof case. It was surrounded by other, smaller gold coins. The bulletproof glass “appeared to have been violently shattered,” Mr. Wenzel said. But the thieves seemed to know what they wanted the smaller gold coins were untouched. Given the coin’s weight, the authorities said they suspected that more than one person was involved. Their theory for now is that the thieves dragged the coin through the museum, out the window and then along the railway track, possibly reaching a park on the opposite bank of the river near the Hackescher Markt, a public square in Berlin that is home to a number of   bars and cafes. The police appealed for clues from anyone who had been in the area at that time. Experts said it would be difficult to sell the stolen coin, but worried that it could be melted down and the gold resold on the open market. The museum is regularly closed on Mondays and is expected to reopen as planned on Tuesday. In addition to paintings, sculptures and other works of art, the museum displays what it says is one of the largest collection of coins and medals in the world, with about 500, 000 objects. The Royal Canadian Mint created its first   coin, in Canadian dollars, as a demonstration in 2007  —   “because we can,” the mint says on its website  —   to draw attention to its series of more modestly sized, if still costly, pure gold coins. But Alex Reeves, a spokesman for the mint, said it decided to produce up to 10 copies of the Big Maple Leaf after being approached by potential buyers. Interest, however, has been limited. Only five have been produced for sale to date the last delivery was made in 2008. “We were satisfied with selling five coins we didn’t expect to sell at all,” Mr. Reeves said. A granite display stand is supplied with the coin when purchased. Mr. Reeves said that the mint, which still has the first coin “safe and sound in our high security vault,” moves it around in a trunk with casters similar to those used by traveling music acts and stage shows. Not included, however, is any sort of theft protection plan. “Customers are responsible for security of their own assets,” Mr. Reeves said.",true,news,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
14404,14405,"Diego Simeone ' s future at Atletico Madrid has been thrown up in the air after the manager hinted he could be ready to leave the club .  The Argentine described himself as ' notoriously impatient ' and insinuated that he wouldn ' t be the sort of boss to stick around for years .  Simeone has been in charge at the Vicente Calderon for three seasons winning the La Liga title and almost clinching the Champions League trophy in May .  Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone has hinted that he could be set to leave the La Liga champions  They were eventually beaten to the continental prize by capital rivals Real in Lisbon and there is a school of thought that the 44 year old has taken the club as far as he can .  Atletico lie four points behind Carlo Ancelotti ' s side as they attempt to retain their crown , but Simeone suggested that he could quit the club .  ' I ' m a spontaneous guy , and spontaneous people are notoriously impatient . I can ' t stay for 10 years at the same club , ' he said on French  .  Saul Niguez celebrates scoring during the 2 0 win at home against Deportivo La Coruna on Sunday  It is quite the about turn , given Simeone told Marca that he was happy with the club only a fortnight ago : ' I feel very good at Atletico . I always want to continue improving , I ' m never satisfied . I don ' t know what the limit of this team is , I will continue looking . '  And the former Lazio and Inter Milan midfielder who is building a reputation as one of the brightest young coaches in Europe also chose to heap praise on Paris Saint Germain .  He added : '  ' s project keeps improving . They are constructing a great team with renowned players . But you have to find players that are conscious of the objective of the club , which is the Champions League . '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
14418,14419,"Staggering demand for computer tablets has seen British shoppers buy one every second as the rush for Christmas gifts goes into overdrive .  Some shops are reporting sales of tablets like the iPad and Google Nexus 7 are up by 1 , 000 per cent from last year , leading retailers to brand 2012 the ' tablet Christmas ' .  The frenzy began last week on Cyber Monday when a tablet was sold every second , and it is forecasted demand will continue to be high during the countdown to Christmas .  Apple will be hoping to come on top of the sales charts again with its iPad Mini  But the California giant faces a battle with rival Google , which launched its Nexus 7 earlier this year  A spokesman for Dixons , which runs Curry ' s and  World , told The Observer : ' We are still looking to sell a tablet every two seconds between now and Christmas .  ' iPads were big last year , but the new devices that have come out this year have really opened up the market to a much wider audience . '  Top of the range tablets are this year being sold between 159 529 , and retailers say a greater choice of products is fueling the sales rush .  Apple is not is as dominant this year as rivals have come out in force to rival its flagship iPad .  The Kindle Fire  , Google Nexus 7 , and the Nook  are proving popular , although retailers say it is too early to say which brand will top the sales chart .  The Kindle Fire  tablet is also proving popular with shoppers in the countdown to Christmas  Sales of the Nook  have contributed to British shoppers buying a new computer tablet once every second  Other firms reported bumper sales . John Lewis saw a 250 per cent year on year rise , and said it expects a further boost in the next fortnight .  Argos said it hopes to sell a million tablets by the end of the year .  ' We definitely believe this will be a tablet Christmas , ' Argos technology trading manager Simon Barry told the paper .  ' We are seeing more and more people wanting "" my "" tablet , rather than "" our "" tablet with multiple devices going into homes . '  He added tablets aimed at children were expected to be popular , including the Nabi , which , according to maker Fuhu , is the ' world ' s first and most powerful tablet made just for kids ' .  It lauched in Britain in October , costing 149 . 99 , rivaling the Innotab 2 , which is priced at 84 . 99 and aimed at four to nine year olds .  Cheaper tablets for adults like the basic CnM Touchpad , priced at 100 , are also expected to sell well .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
14429,14430,"Firefighters had to helplessly watch a home in Maine burn to the ground because they couldn ' t get their fire trucks up the long driveway , which hadn ' t been plowed and was covered in snow .  Fire Captain Glen Kirkpatrick says firefighters were called to the home in Woolwich north of Portland , Maine at about 9pm on Tuesday to find the house with fire shooting from windows .  However the 1 , 500 foot driveway had not been plowed , trapping the trucks about 20 feet in .  Firefighters then walked to the property but could do no more than monitor the fire .  Destroyed : This home in Woolwich , Maine , burned to the ground Tuesday night after the house caught fire and emergency workers couldn ' t access the property , due to an unplowed driveway  Ablaze : It is unclear how the fire started on Tuesday however the owner ' s pet cat and dog were killed  Unplowed : The 1 , 500 foot driveway was covered in snow and had not been plowed , preventing fireighters from accessing the house  The water hoses couldn ' t reach the two story home .  They tried to shovel snow onto the flames but the house was already too consumed .  I would say we were helpless , ' Kirkpatrick confirmed to local station  .  ' First time in 25 years I ' ve ever had that happen . '  Firefighters described the snow on the walking path to the house as ' knee deep ' .  Within about a half hour of crews arriving , the two story house collapsed .  The home ' s lone occupant made it out safely .  Sadly , his pet cat and dog were been killed after getting caught in the blaze .  The pets are believed to have been in the house .  Firefighters were able to save a nearby shed . The cause of the fire is unclear but does not appear suspicious .  ' Keep clear driveways and pathways for Fire ,  , and police officers , ' Kirkpatrick said .  ' We were helpless ' : Fire Caption Glen Kirkpatrick explains what occurred at the Woolwich house yesterday  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
14434,14435,"Putin s approval rating hits new high as Russia s state media sells Syria campaign  In a public opinion survey published Oct . 8 by the independent Levada Center pollster , more than 70 percent of Russians said they backed President Vladimir Putin s decision to launch airstrikes against forces opposed to Syrian President Bashar Assad . ( Associated Press ) more   ? Not so long ago , Russia s state media were dominated by stories about eastern Ukraine s war torn cities and the heroic exploits of Russian backed separatists battling the government in Kiev .  These days , however , Syria s battlefields and the derring do of Russian pilots are the overwhelming focuses of broadcasts by Kremlin run  channels .  From triumphant reports about the liquidation of terrorist training camps to Kremlin friendly analysts praising Moscow s growing international influence , the official media s coverage of Russia s dramatic entry into Syria s more than 4 year old civil war has been decidedly upbeat ? and one more reminder of the Kremlin s ability to dictate the terms of popular debate .  In a public opinion survey published Oct . 8 by the independent Levada Center pollster , more than 70 percent of Russians said they backed President Vladimir Putin s decision to launch airstrikes against forces opposed to Syrian President Bashar Assad .  But the survey also carried warning signals for Mr Putin , who defied Western nations with his risky military campaign in support of his longtime ally .  In the same Levada Center opinion poll , just 14 percent of respondents said they would approve of sending Russian soldiers to fight in Syria . Memories of the Soviet Union s disastrous invasion of Afghanistan , which cost the lives of some 15 , 000 Red Army soldiers , remain fresh . Senior Russian officials , including Mr Putin , have repeatedly pledged that the Kremlin will not commit ground forces to aid Mr Assad .  But analysts say Moscow may be forced to deploy ground troops if its air base at Latakia , in western Syria , comes under attack . Ruslan Pukhov , director of the Moscow based Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies and a member of the Defense Ministry s Public Council , estimates that several hundred Russian elite military troops are already in Syria to protect the base .  Mr Putin has cited the presence of 5 , 000 to 7 , 000 recruits from Russia and other former Soviet republics among the ranks of Islamic State and other Islamist groups in Syria as a reason for Russia s military campaign .  He has also repeatedly employed his trademark tough , crowd pleasing rhetoric against Russia s critics , led by the United States . Late last week , he accused the Obama administration of playing a double game in the Middle East by falsely claiming to back moderate rebel elements in the multilateral civil war .  It s always hard to play a double game : to declare a fight against terrorists , but at the same time try to use some of them to move the pieces on the Middle Eastern chessboard in your own favor , Mr Putin said in an address to a Moscow think tank . There s no need to play with words and split terrorists into moderate and not moderate . I would like to know what the difference is .  The argument has found favor among ordinary Russians , for whom the war in Syria has been presented by state media as a black and white fight between Mr Assad and Islamist terrorists . Most Russians remain unaware that the Syrian civil war began after Mr Assad cracked down on peaceful protesters calling for democratic reform , and that Islamist groups gained a foothold in Syria only well after the civil war had begun .  I m afraid that the Islamic State , these bloodthirsty terrorists , will come to Russia and behead people , Irina Akinfeeva , a senior citizen in Moscow , told The Washington Times . God save Russia .  Public support for Mr Putin s Syria adventure might not be as enthusiastic as the fervent backing for the hybrid war against what state media dubbed a fascist junta in Ukraine , but it isn t too difficult to find passionate approval for the Kremlin s first military campaign outside the former Soviet Union in more than two decades . Shops in central Russia are selling We support Assad T shirts , and social media outlets are full of memes in support of Russia s air force .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
14462,14463,"If Mitt Romney and his former team have the energy to fight Trump s nomination, why didn t they take their fight to Obama when they had the chance? America was begging for Romney fight back,  but he chose to back down from the challenge. Suddenly, he s found the will to take the fight to the  Presidential frontrunner Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump may have a new opponent in the race for the White House   and he s not even running.A cadre of former Mitt Romney aides and advisers, some going back to 2002, have reportedly reunited to take on a new political mission: stopping the seemingly unstoppable freight train known as the Trump campaign. We are united,  said one former Romney aide who did not wish to be identified, according to the Boston Globe. It s a common goal, and not just for Romney people, but for anyone invested in Republicanism, conservatism, and anyone who gives a flying [expletive] about what we re trying to do here. Even if you re not getting paid, this isn t good for anybody,  he said. Fox & Friends Weekend  co-host Tucker Carlson quoted the Boston Globe piece during a telephone interview with Trump Saturday. Well, I m disappointed in Mitt Romney,  Trump replied.  He is the one that s leading it, and he was a failure,  Trump replied.  This is pure Romney trying to get back in  to politics.He called Romney s 2012 presidential run  a disaster,  adding that  Obama won an election that should have been won by the Republicans. Watch the interview, via Fox News.Via: BizPac Review",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
14470,14471,"London John Terry , one of England ' s biggest soccer stars , was found not guilty Friday of racially abusing fellow soccer player Anton Ferdinand , ending a high profile trial in London .  Chief Magistrate Howard Riddle said of Terry : "" No one has been able to show that he is lying . ""  Reading his ruling , Riddle said it was a crucial fact that no one heard what Terry said .  Terry , the Chelsea captain , sat impassively in the courtroom as the verdict was read out at Westminster Magistrates ' Court . It was greeted by cheers from the public gallery .  What ' s your reaction to the verdict ? Have your say on iReport  Riddle said he accepted it was possible that Terry himself thought Ferdinand had accused him of using racial abuse .  But he also said he considered it "" highly unlikely "" that Ferdinand had accused Terry of calling him a "" black c . ""  Terry , who has received strong backing from Chelsea Football Club throughout the trial , left the court without addressing the public or media .  A statement issued on behalf of Terry by his legal team said he had been acquitted of all charges .  "" He did not racially abuse Mr Ferdinand and the court has accepted this . John would like to thank his legal team for their hard work and his family , friends and Chelsea Football Club for their support , "" the statement said .  Chelsea ' s chairman , Bruce Buck , welcomed the verdict , saying : "" We at Chelsea are pleased that John Terry can now put his mind back to football . ""  The football club also said it respects the magistrate ' s decision to clear Terry .  "" We are pleased that John can now focus on football and his preseason preparations with the team , "" it said in a statement on the official Chelsea website .  The English Football Association , which could still open its own disciplinary proceedings against Terry , said it noted the court ' s verdict and would "" now seek to conclude its own enquiries . ""  Alison Saunders , chief crown prosecutor for London , defended the decision to bring the case to trial .  "" The very serious allegation at the heart of this case was one of racial abuse . It was our view that this was not ' banter ' on the football pitch and that the allegation should be judged by a court , "" she said in a prepared statement .  "" The chief magistrate agreed that Mr Terry had a case to answer , but having heard all of the evidence he acquitted Mr Terry of a racially aggravated offense . That is justice being done and we respect the chief magistrate ' s decision . ""  The weeklong trial , during which the normally staid chambers got an earful of shockingly foul language , gripped the British press .  Terry , who was captain of the England national team at the time of the incident , was accused of calling Ferdinand , who plays for Queens Park Rangers , a "" f black c "" as the pair traded insults during a game last October .  Terry did not deny directing a barrage of foul language at Ferdinand and referring to him as "" black , "" but he denied engaging in racist abuse .  He told the court that he was repeating what he mistakenly thought Ferdinand had accused him of saying .  The highly unusual criminal prosecution over words uttered on a soccer field comes as English soccer officials fight to stamp racism out of the sport , with mixed results .  Lord Herman Ouseley , the chairman of  football ' s anti racism campaign , Kick It Out , said it would wait to hear the conclusions of the Football Association with regard to the Terry case .  "" It will be interesting to hear from other organizations this will impact on , from governing bodies to leagues and clubs , and how they deem matters like this to be dealt with in the future , "" he said in a statement .  Terry was stripped of his England captaincy after a preliminary court hearing on the racism charge in February .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
14471,14472,"Los Angeles A "" smoking gun "" e mail allegedly connecting a concert promoter to Michael Jackson ' s death was revealed this week as a judge unsealed documents in the wrongful death lawsuit filed by Jackson ' s mother and children .  The trial next month in Los Angeles could shed new light on the pop icon ' s last days as Dr Conrad Murray , who did not testify at his own involuntary manslaughter trial , and Jackson ' s oldest son Prince , 16 , are on the witness list .  Jackson died two weeks before his "" This Is It "" comeback concerts , organized by  Live , were to have debuted in London in the summer of 2009 . E mails suggested that the promoter was worried about Jackson ' s missed rehearsals and they sought Murray ' s help in getting him ready .  Prince , Paris and Blanket Jackson and their grandmother , Katherine Jackson , contend that  Live ' s pressure on Murray to have Michael Jackson ready for daily rehearsals despite his fragile health led to his death from an overdose of surgical anesthetic .  The judge ruled Wednesday that Jackson lawyers have shown enough evidence that  Live hired and supervised Murray to warrant a jury trial . She also ruled there was evidence to support the Jacksons ' claim that  Live executives could have foreseen that Murray would use dangerous drugs in treating the pop icon .  "" Now that the court has ruled that there is evidence that it was foreseeable that  ' s actions resulted in Michael Jackson ' s death , the Jackson family feels vindicated from the public smear campaign that  has waged against them , "" Jackson lawyer Kevin Boyle said Sunday . "" The truth about what happened to Michael , which  has tried to keep hidden from the public since the day Michael died , is finally emerging . We look forward to the trial where the rest of the story will come to light . ""  A cornerstone of the Jacksons ' case is an e mail  Live Co  Paul Gongaware wrote 11 days before Jackson ' s June 25 , 2009 , death . The e mail to show director Kenny Ortega addressed concerns that Murray had kept Jackson from a rehearsal the day before : "" We want to remind ( Murray ) that it is  , not  , who is paying his salary . We want to remind him what is expected of him . ""  Jackson lawyers , calling it a "" smoking gun , "" argue the e mail is evidence that  Live used Murray ' s fear of losing his 150 , 000 a month job as Jackson ' s personal physician to pressure him to have Jackson ready for rehearsals despite his fragile health .  Ortega , who had worked closely with Jackson on previous tours , sounded a loud warning about his health after Jackson showed up for a rehearsal shivering just over a week before his death . He wrote in an e mail to  Live President Randy Phillips : "" It is like there are two people there . One ( deep inside ) trying to hold on to what he was and still can be and not wanting us to quit him , the other in this weakened and troubled state . I believe we need professional guidance in this matter . ""  Phillips responded with a glowing endorsement of Murray : "" This doctor is extremely successful ( we check everyone out ) and does not need this gig so he is totally unbiased and ethical . ""  Jackson lawyers point to another e mail exchange as evidence that Phillips was directly involved with pressuring Murray to have Jackson at rehearsals . The e mail was sent by  Live tour accountant Timm Woolley to an insurance broker two days before Jackson died : "" Randy Phillips and Dr Murray are responsible for  rehearsal and attendance schedule . ""  Murray told investigators two days after Jackson ' s death that he used the surgical anesthetic propofol every night for two months to help him rest for rehearsals . It was a procedure Jackson demanded , he said . The Los Angeles County coroner ruled that Jackson had died from an overdose of propofol in combination with sedatives . Murray is serving a prison sentence for his involuntary manslaughter conviction .  The lawsuit seeks a judgment against  Live equal to the money Jackson would have earned over the course of his remaining lifetime if he had not died in 2009 . If  Live is found liable , it could cost the company several billion dollars , according to estimates of Jackson ' s income potential .  Live is a subsidiary of  , a global entertainment company that is now for sale with an 8 billion asking price .  Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Yvette Palazuelos , in her ruling rejecting  Live ' s request to have the case thrown out , said she agreed that the Jackson lawyers provided evidence that  Live didn ' t do "" a sufficient background check of Dr Murray , which would have established that Murray was deeply in debt . ""  Jackson ' s previous relationship with Murray , who treated him and his children for minor illnesses in Las Vegas , did not relieve  Live of liability , "" although the fact may be relevant in determining proportional liability and damages , "" she said .  While the  Live lawyers argued the company could not have foreseen that Murray might use dangerous drugs on Jackson in preparation for the tour , Palazuelos said there was evidence that Gongaware had "" previous tour experiences "" with Jackson in which "" tour doctors "" gave "" large amounts of drugs controlled substances to him . "" Gongaware testified in Murray ' s trial that he worked as tour manager for Jackson ' s "" Dangerous "" and "" History "" tours before joining  Live .  The judge cited "" Gongaware ' s general knowledge of the ethical issues surrounding ' tour doctors ' and the practice of administering drugs to performing artists . ""  "" There is a triable issue of fact as to whether it was foreseeable that such a physician under strong financial pressure may compromise his Hippocratic Oath and do what was known by  Live ' s executives to be an unfortunate practice in the entertainment industry for financial gain , "" the judge wrote .  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
14505,14506,You can run but you can t hide ,fake,dataset,validation,American football,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present
14509,14510,"World number one golfer Tiger Woods has become a dad for the second time after wife Elin gave birth to a boy , Charlie Axel , on Sunday .  Elin hands daughter Sam to Tiger after his victory at last year ' s U . S . Open .  The couple already have a daughter Sam Alexis , who was born in June 2007 , and proud dad Tiger announced news of the latest family addition on his official Web site on Monday .  "" Elin and I are thrilled to announce the birth of our son , Charlie Axel Woods , "" said Woods who has been sidelined since knee surgery following his 14th major triumph at the U . S . Open last June .  "" Both Charlie and Elin are doing great and we want to thank everyone for their sincere best wishes and kind thoughts .  "" Sam is very excited to be a big sister and we feel truly blessed to have such a wonderful family . I also want to thank our doctors , nurses and the hospital staff for their personal and professional care .  "" We look forward to introducing Charlie to you at the appropriate time , and again thanks from all of us for your kindness and support . ""  The arrival of Charlie Axel comes as Woods prepares to return to the Tour with his earliest realistic comeback in three weeks at the Accenture World Match Play in Tucson where he would be the defending champion .  However , reports suggest he may wait until the Tour comes to Florida , where he lives , next month .  "" I have no restrictions it ' s just a matter of getting my golf endurance up . I don ' t have my golf stamina back yet , "" he said on his Web site .  "" I am excited about returning to competition . Early on I didn ' t miss golf because I enjoyed staying home with Elin and Sam and I knew I wasn ' t physically able to play .  "" The truth is , I would have embarrassed myself . Now I ' m getting my feel and practice back . It ' s just a matter of playing more on the course .  "" I ' m working hard to get myself back into tournament shape and will return as soon as I ' m ready . ""  Woods position at the top of the world rankings he was 11 points clear at the time of surgery is currently under threat from Spanish star Sergio Garcia who has closed the gap to less than three points .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
14512,14513,"Women are uncomfortable   their boyfriends and husbands, according to a new survey. [According to a report from Refinery 29, young women are uncomfortable navigating a relationship in which they   their significant other. A survey revealed that many American women would be uncomfortable being the breadwinner in a relationship, citing concerns that the responsibility of providing for their partner would be tiring.  When asked how they would feel if they knew right now that they would always be the breadwinner in their current marriages and relationships, words like “tired,” “exhausted,” and that special one, “resentful” turned up over and over again. One woman responded, “It’s stressful. It’s a huge responsibility. I pressure myself to stay in the job I’m at even if I’m unhappy there. ” Another wrote, “I kind of assume this will be the case, just based on our past jobs and  . It makes me feel a little weary sometimes, like I may never get a break, or get to pursue something I might really love, but if I  do something I really loved while making enough money to support us, I would be perfectly fine with that. ” This was a common theme in the responses. Most of these women didn’t mind being the breadwinner as long as they eventually had the option to make less, their partners contributed equally in the household, and it didn’t trap them into jobs they no longer wanted. One commenter on the Refinery 29 article condemned the attitudes of the women who participated in the survey, arguing that at no point was it mentioned that men must have historically experienced similar stress over having to provide for their wives: “The primary revelation of this article seems to be the stress and pressure that results from supporting another individual and a family. It’s curious that no observation is made that this is what men fulfilling this role for hundreds of years prior must have felt. ” That might not be correct. Perhaps one reason husbands tend to earn more than their wives is that they are more comfortable with being the top earning spouse. In 2015, 38 percent of American wives made more than their husbands. This trend is increasing, as less than a quarter of American women   their husbands in 1987. However, research from the University of Chicago revealed that relationships in which wives making even $5, 000 more than their husband annually were more likely to end in divorce. Research from Washington University in St. Louis on marriages in Denmark revealed that wives earning more than their husbands were more likely to take   medications and also more likely to suffer from insomnia. According to a report by The New York Times, most young Americans expect to equally share financial and   responsibilities with their partner. “When young Americans are asked about their family aspirations, large majorities choose equally shared breadwinning and   if the option of   work policies is mentioned. ” This may be, in part, due to the reality that there is a financial advantage for couples in which both partners have an income. Tom Ciccotta is a libertarian who writes about economics and higher education for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter @tciccotta or email him at tciccotta@breitbart.com",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
14515,14516,"Reuters) - House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan urged President Donald Trump on Friday not to rescind an Obama-era program that protects immigrants who entered the United States illegally as children, as more Republicans lined up against the move. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said Trump will announce on Tuesday whether he will end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program, which protects nearly 800,000 young men and women from deportation. It also makes those covered, so-called Dreamers, eligible for work permits. “We love the ‘Dreamers,’” the Republican president, already facing calls from leading business figures and Democrats to preserve the program, told reporters in the Oval Office, without tipping his hand on the decision. Ryan and Senator Orrin Hatch on Friday joined a small but growing number of lawmakers from the party that controls Congress and the White House to speak out against killing DACA, created in 2012 by Democratic former President Barack Obama and long the target of conservative immigration hard-liners. “I actually don’t think he should do that, and I believe that this is something Congress has to fix,” Ryan said in an interview with  radio in his hometown of Janesville, Wisconsin. Ryan said he believes Obama exceeded his authority in creating  by executive order, bypassing Congress, but there now are “people who are in limbo.”  “These are kids who know no other country, who were brought here by their parents and don’t know another home. And so I really do believe that there needs to be a legislative solution. That’s one that we’re working on. And I think we want to give people peace of mind,” Ryan added. Nancy Pelosi, the top House Democrat, said she was “heartened” by Ryan’s comments and asked him to meet with Democratic lawmakers next week to discuss a “comprehensive legislative solution.” Hatch said in a statement rescinding the program would further complicate a U.S. immigration system sorely in need of legislative reform. “Like the president, I’ve long advocated for tougher enforcement of our existing immigration laws. But we also need a workable, permanent solution for individuals who entered our country unlawfully as children through no fault of their own and who have built their lives here. And that solution must come from Congress,” the longest-serving Republican senator added. Tennessee’s Republican attorney general, Herbert Slatery, said his office will not participate in a lawsuit challenging  that is expected to be filed by a group of Republican state attorneys general next week, and urged Congress to pursue a legislative fix. “Many of the  recipients, some of whose records I reviewed, have outstanding accomplishments and laudable ambitions, which if achieved, will be of great benefit and service to our country,” Slatery wrote in a letter to Tennessee’s two Republican U.S. senators. About 200 Dreamers and their supporters turned out on Friday for a rally in downtown Los Angeles to urge national leaders not to end the program.   Among them was Docnary Reyes, 21, who came to the United States from Guatemala with her parents in 1997 when she was a toddler. Before obtaining  in 2014, Reyes had to work under-the-table cleaning apartments, she said. Her work authorization allowed her to obtain a paid internship last year working on a project involving cyanobacteria. The Los Angeles resident will continue her education at the University of California, Davis, to study environmental restoration.  “I feel like I really care about our environment and not enough people do,” Reyes said. Trump made a crackdown on illegal immigrants a centerpiece of his 2016 election campaign and has stepped up deportations since taking office in January. But business leaders say immigrants make important economic contributions and that ending the program would hit economic growth and tax revenue. Leading business figures including Facebook Inc (FB.O)  Mark Zuckerberg have rallied in defense of the program and the Dreamers. Congress under presidents of both parties has been unable to pass comprehensive immigration reform. Spokeswoman Sanders said Trump, who previously has called  illegal, is not taking the decision lightly.  “The president’s priorities on immigration are to create a system that encourages legal immigration and benefits our economy and American workers,” Sanders told a news briefing. Most of the Dreamer immigrants came from Mexico and other Latin American countries. More than 200,000 live in California, while 100,000 are in Texas. New York, Illinois and Florida also have large numbers. What to do about Dreamers has been actively debated within the White House and Trump administration. One senior administration official described the debate as a “tug of war” between factions in favor and against the move.  supporters argue that the people it protects grew up and were educated in the United States and were integrated into American society, with little connection to the countries in which they are citizens. Opponents of the program argue that illegal immigrants take jobs from U.S. citizens.  There are deep divisions in the United States over the fate of roughly 11 million illegal immigrants, most of them Hispanics. Trump as a candidate promised to deport all of them. Undoing  could have political consequences for Trump and his fellow Republicans, further alienating Hispanics, a growing voting bloc in the United States. Trump’s pardon for an Arizona sheriff who critics accused of targeting Hispanics, his planned wall along the U.S.-Mexican border and his comments about Mexico sending “rapists” and drug dealers into the United States already had antagonized many Hispanic Americans. ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
14517,14518,"A Somali soldier looks at Lido beach from the terrace of a restaurant on Jan . 22 , 2016 , following an overnight attack on the beachfront eatery in Mogadishu . ?  A Somali soldier looks at Lido beach from the terrace of a restaurant on Jan . 22 , 2016 , following an overnight attack on the beachfront eatery in Mogadishu . ?  Somalia ' s security forces ended a deadly siege of a beachfront restaurant in the capital , with more than 20 people killed in the attack , a police official said Friday .  The security forces took control of the restaurant just before dawn , said Capt . Mohamed Hussein , speaking from the scene of the attack in Mogadishu .  It was not clear whether Hussein ' s report of more than 20 killed included the assailants . Islamic extremist group al Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack , in a broadcast on its online radio late Thursday .  Volunteers carried bodies from the scene of the attack early Friday .  "" I was intending to go out but suddenly we heard a heavy explosion followed by gunfire . . . . I saw a militant fighter shooting indiscriminately on everybody . Then I locked myself inside a room until we were evacuated peacefully by the security forces , "" said Abdulkadir Mohamed Somow , who had been trapped inside the restaurant .  Blasts and bursts of gunfire could be heard as Somali special forces went from room to room pursuing the al Shabab gunmen who were holed up inside the restaurant .  Hussein , the police official , said the security forces rescued many people who had been trapped inside the restaurant ' s hall , where a party was taking place when the attack started on Thursday .  People carry away a dead body from Lido beach following an overnight attack on a ? beachfront Lido seafood restaurant in Mogadishu .  People carry away a dead body from Lido beach following an overnight attack on a ? beachfront Lido seafood restaurant in Mogadishu .  Witnesses said that gunmen entered the restaurant from the direction of the beach . They shouted "" Allahu akbar , "" the Arabic phrase for "" God is great , "" as they attacked .  "" They randomly fired at people sitting near the beach before entering the restaurant , "" said witness Ahmed Nur , who was strolling along the shoreline when the attack happened .  Al Shabab attacked Kenyan peacekeepers in southwestern Somalia last week . The al Qaida linked group said it had killed about 100 Kenyans and seized weapons and military vehicles . The Kenyan government has given no death toll , but said there were some fatalities .  Despite being pushed out of Somalia ' s major cities and towns , al Shabab continues to launch deadly guerrilla attacks across the Horn of Africa country . African Union troops , government officials and foreigners are frequently targeted .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
14521,14522,"With his comeback movie , Godzilla may actually have performed his swan song for this generation . He reminds us of Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard , coming out of retirement isn ' t part of the best laid plans .  After 64 years and a history of playing more villains than Sydney Greenstreet , the big lizard seems to have missed most of his personal training sessions . He ' s out of shape and just going through the motions . He ' s been hitting the pastry tray more than eating healthy seaweed and sushi .  Bloated and over important , he doesn ' t appear for quite a while in this two hour movie ( talk about supersize ) . The plot has more chaos in it than the string theory that seems to explain why Godzilla has returned from the dead more times than Dracula .  This time there are dozens of Raymond Burr wannabes populating the cast . And , this time the government is covering up a big scandal , the 21st century conceit to explain everything from supermarket shelving to nuclear iguanas .  If you were expecting the Thrilla from Godzilla , "" ' you will be sorely disappointed . Giving his usual one note performance , the dragon lookalike should be basking on one of the Gallapagos Islands at this point in his life , not stomping off and on cities in a huff . Alas , Godzilla seems to have gone the way of the Beat Generation . He ' s on the road show again .  Godzilla isn ' t the only familiar face in this movie . Bryan Cranston , Juliette Binoche , and David Straithairn , lend their talents to the film , but we really thought Godzilla should have peppered the cast with cameos from stars , like a Muppet movie or at least like Sharknado  .  We can only remark that Godzilla makes Mike Tyson look like Larry Olivier .  ",satire,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,negative,past
14539,14540,"A wet Wednesday in Watford and Roy Hodgson stirred in the face of what might prove to be among his toughest tasks of the week : summoning the right amount of enthusiasm while remaining polite about the world ' s worst international team .  Hodgson set about it in brisk fashion , fixing a new target on the horizon for his England players to complete this qualification campaign with a perfect set of 10 wins .  Having emerged triumphant from the first and , on paper , the trickiest fixture , against Switzerland in Basle , why not ? Reaching Euro 2016 is no longer much of an accomplishment for England and that is nobody ' s fault but  ' s .  Jack Wilshere , Alex Oxlade Chamberlain and Raheem Sterling are planning a goal blitz  Roy Hodgson has set his sights on a perfect record from their Euro 2016 qualifiers  San Marino at Wembley on Thursday night will not present a problem . Estonia in Tallinn on Sunday is perhaps a little tougher but should not disturb the plan .  ' There are 10 qualifying matches , ' said Hodgson . ' In the last 10 , we won six and drew four . It would be nice to go through this qualifying campaign unbeaten . If we get two good results , we ' ll set ourselves the target of winning all the games . '  England ' s qualification campaign for the World Cup in Brazil was about as unimpressive as a group topping unbeaten campaign can be . Of the six wins , four were against San Marino and Moldova .  England skipper Wayne Rooney wants to break Sir Bobby Charlton ' s goal record  Hodgson hopes England can continue their perfect start against San Marino at Wembley  It was not until the final two games that a decent team were beaten , when Hodgson ' s side burst into life to finish with wins at home to Montenegro and Poland .  This time , the England boss would like more panache and there were signs of that in Basle last month , when Danny Welbeck scored twice in a new system , with Raheem Sterling playing at the top of a midfield diamond .  The key will be to preserve that momentum over the next two games . ' I ' m looking very much at the movement of our front players and midfielders , which is something we ' ve worked on for a long time , ' said Hodgson .  Danny Welbeck is expected to spearhead England ' s attack following his two goal blast against Switzerland  ' And for the same level of defensive commitment we showed against Switzerland in terms of winning the ball back quickly and sustaining attacks .  ' I ' d be disappointed if the pace of our play dropped enormously because we ' re getting a lot of the ball . I want us to put pressure on ourselves to keep the tempo up .  ' I know the players would like to do that . In football , things don ' t always work out the way you hope . But I ' m very confident that the players will want to give me and the country the performance I expect . '  James Milner hopes England can use their World Cup flop in Brazil as a driving force  Rooney and Hodgson spoke to the press at their Watford base on Wednesday  He swerved the idea that nations with a pedigree as poor as San Marino ' s , alongside Bhutan at the bottom of  ' s rankings , ought to face a pre qualifying round to earn the right to play at this stage of the competition . ' It ' s a question for  , ' said Hodgson . ' But if they play the game properly , it ' s not such a bad thing that there ' s this discrepancy . '  The last time San Marino ' s assortment of computer scientists , interior designers and two professional footballers appeared at Wembley , they did not roll over quite as they were supposed to .  They held out for more than half an hour before conceding from a penalty and goalkeeper Aldo Simoncini clobbered Theo Walcott , forcing him off inside 10 minutes and out of the next game in Poland . England won 5 0 and it was more routine in San Marino , when an own goal was the first of eight .  Hodgson has urged his England troops to play at a high tempo against the part timers  On both occasions , it was the first game in a double header and Hodgson changed six players for the more difficult second game , although neither of the difficult games in question was won . These are the imponderables .  Hodgson reflected on his time in the Europa League at Fulham when he found those he rested from the competition were worse in the next game than those who had played .  So , the England boss insisted there would be ' no wholesale changes ' to the team which performed well in Switzerland . Even so , do not be surprised to see key men replaced after an hour .  An injury to John Stones means there will be at least one change , with Arsenal teenager Calum Chambers expected to start his first senior international . Fabian Delph , who sat out training on Tuesday , was involved again on Wednesday and is available .  San Marino trained at Wembley on Wednesday night ahead of the Group E qualifier  ' We ' re keen to keep the momentum going , ' said Hodgson . ' It ' s important we ' re taking it seriously . Everyone is anxious to play . The players deserve further confidence . We ' ve got to weigh the two things : keeping the team together but also using one of these games as a chance to see someone else play .  ' At management level you never work without fear and every game is important . I don ' t think any of us want a complacent life in football .  ' We want to test ourselves and set ourselves standards . I want this team to grow and to look back in two years ' time saying , "" We ' ve come a long way "" . These two matches are important steps along the way .  Jonjo Shelvey ( left ) will be hoping to win his second England cap on Thursday night  ' The players need to continue showing they have this burning desire to play good football . '  There are also personal motivations , notably for Wayne Rooney , who will win his 98th cap and hopefully move closer to Sir Bobby Charlton ' s goal record .  And for Chambers , if he starts , as well as Nathaniel Clyne , who may win his first cap , and Jonjo Shelvey , who may win his second .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
14542,14543,"Put a bow on the 2015 regular season . Oregon State and Colorado are back in rebuilding mode , Stanford and  are prepping for the Pac 12 championship game and eight other teams are patiently waiting to hear their bowl destinations . We were treated to a true Pac12AfterDark finale with a couple of game winning kicks , a couple of blowouts and a couple of thrillers . This will get you all caught up on the final weekend .  Offensive player of the week : Cal quarterback Jared Goff closed out the year with a bang , leading a comeback over Arizona State by completing 30 of 51 passes for 542 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions . The Bears erased an early 24 3 deficit before Matt Anderson hit a 26 yard field goal as time expired to give Cal a 48 46 win .  Jared Goff ' s performance in a comeback win over Arizona State could be a fine swan song for the Cal quarterback . ?  Defensive player of the week : Needing one last win to reach bowl eligibility , Washington cornerback Sidney Jones helped lead a stout defensive effort for the Huskies in their 45 10 win over Washington State in the Apple Cup . Jones had a 69 yard pick six , one of three defensive scores on the day for the Huskies . He also had six tackles and three pass breakups as the Washington defense forced seven turnovers .  Special teams ' player of the week : Rarely do we give the "" of the week "" accolades to players from losing teams . But Arizona State kicker Zane Gonzalez did all he could to prevent the Sun Devils ' collapse to the Bears . Gonzalez connected on 6 of 6 field goal attempts , which set an  single game record and matched the Pac 12 ' s single game record . He connected on kicks from 21 , 45 , 24 , 31 , 34 and 22 yards .  Team of the week : The  Trojans could open a laundry service with all the times folks on the outside threw in the towel on their season . But after a coaching change ( again ) , injuries across the lines ( again ) , inexplicable inconsistent play ( again ) and an inspiring ability to overcome adversity ( again ) , the Trojans are the Pac 12 South champs . They get another crack at Stanford in the Pac 12 title game , a team that beat them 41 31 back in September .  Trend of the week : There truly is no place like home . After trailing all season , the home teams made one last push in the final week of the season . Heading into Week 13 , road teams held a 25 24 advantage in conference games . But in all five league games , the home team was victorious to give the locals a 29 25 edge on the season . For the record , all six home teams won this week if you include Stanford ' s win over Notre Dame .  Play of the week : There were some big special teams and defensive touchdowns and , per usual , plenty of athleticism on display . But a game winning field goal is clutch . A game winning field goal as time expires is awesome . A game winning field goal as time expires from 45 yards is even better . And game winning field goal as time expires from 45 yards to beat the No . 6 team in the nation and keep the playoff hopes of a conference alive is the play of the week .  Theme of the week : It ' s all about the title game . Stanford and  have a fantastic history of back and forth games , and Saturday ' s championship will hopefully live up to the drama . The obvious sidebar is the future of  interim coach Clay Helton , and whether simply getting to the title game is enough to warrant giving him the full time job . Or does he have to win it ? Also , fun storylines involving the legacies of senior quarterbacks Cody Kessler and Kevin Hogan , plus super sophs Adoree ' Jackson and Christian McCaffrey . This matchup gives us plenty to talk about this week .  Random non football thought of the week : "" Toy Story 3 "" makes me contemplate my own mortality more than any kids movie should .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
14550,14551,"Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz often tells supporters about his Supreme Court win against the federal government in 2008, defending Texas’ right to execute a Mexican man for murder, as evidence of his conservative and anti-establishment credentials. But there is one part of the story that goes untold. The Medellin v. Texas case, decided when Cruz was the state’s solicitor general, set the stage for years of diplomatic tension between the United States and its southern neighbor. Mexico has publicly protested U.S. executions of its citizens over the years, but interviews with diplomats and reviews of official Mexican government communiqués reveal that the turmoil caused by the Medellin case ran deeper, coming up at nearly every meeting between the United States and Mexico and leading to an official protest to the United Nations Security Council in 2014. Given the level of frustration, Cruz’s role in the court battle raises questions about U.S.-Mexico relations if he were to beat billionaire Donald Trump to the Republican nomination and win the U.S. presidential election in November.    “I think relations would be complicated with a President Cruz,” said Sergio Alcocer, who was Mexico’s deputy foreign minister responsible for North America between 2012-2015. Alcocer praised Cruz as intelligent and pragmatic but said the senator was too inflexible on issues like immigration and the death penalty. “Cruz takes certain positions that are very clearly defined. And he’s much more conservative, much more dogmatic than Trump,” Alcocer said. A Cruz campaign official did not respond to requests for comment. In Mexico City, a foreign ministry spokesman said Mexico had no preference among the U.S. presidential candidates and would not comment on the election. In the Medellin case, Cruz defended the death sentence a Texas court imposed on Mexican citizen Jose Ernesto Medellin after he was convicted in 1994 for his role in the gang rape and strangling of two teenage girls in a Houston park.  In 2004, the International Court of Justice of the United Nations ruled that Texas and other states had violated the Vienna Convention by failing to notify Medellin and 50 other Mexicans on death row of their right to contact the Mexican consulate after arrest. President George W. Bush ordered Texas and other states to review the sentences. Cruz argued that, while the United States had submitted to the international court’s decisions, the White House could not implement an international agreement that required states to change their court procedures without action by Congress. The Supreme Court agreed in a 6-3 decision. Winning the case raised Cruz’s profile in conservative circles. He has recently said he would appoint justices who would narrowly interpret the Constitution - as he did in the Medellin case - a crucial talking point in the election following the death of Supreme Court conservative icon Antonin Scalia.  “It was an unusual thing at the time for the state of Texas to be standing up against the president of the United States in front of the Supreme Court, particularly when that president was a Texan and a Republican and the former governor of this state,” Cruz told cheering supporters at a Houston rally in February, one of the many times he has brought up the case. The Supreme Court ruling removed a potential legal barrier to three more executions of Mexican nationals in Texas who had been part of the same international court case as Medellin, even as U.S. allies such as the European Union and Switzerland criticized what they saw as ongoing treaty violations.  Mexico pressed U.S. officials and Congress to follow the international court’s directive and require states to review death sentences where people had been denied consular access. “The issue came up as one of the top few issues (Mexico) raised in almost every bilateral meeting we had,” said Harold Hongju Koh, who was legal adviser to the U.S. State Department from 2009-2013. Alcocer, the former Mexican deputy foreign minister, confirmed the issue of consular access was raised during negotiations on other cross-border issues like the extradition of criminals.  “It’s not resolved, and it’s something that Mexico needs to keep insisting on,” he said in an interview. Mexican officials said both the Bush and Obama administrations had been open to working on the issue. U.S. State Department officials supported consular-access legislation introduced in the Senate, but that was not enough to spur Congress to resolve the issue. Texas executed Medellin in August 2008, five months after the Supreme Court decision, drawing swift criticism from the United Nations court.  Three years later, as Texas prepared to execute another Mexican national who had not received consular access, Mexico’s then-ambassador to the United States, Arturo Sarukhan, wrote to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton saying the action would “seriously jeopardize” cooperation on a range of issues. “It serves neither the United States nor the Mexico-U.S. relationship if the U.S. cannot live up to its treaty obligations,” said the letter, which was reviewed by Reuters.  In 2013, Mexico warned Washington in another letter that the executions of Mexican nationals who had been denied consular access would mean “our whole forward-looking bilateral engagement could be questioned.” A year later the government wrote to the president of the United Nations’ Security Council expressing indignation over the executions of Mexican citizens in violation of the international court directive.  Sarukhan, the former Mexican ambassador, said Mexico had few options to put pressure on the United States without harming cooperation in other areas.  “March 31st marks now 12 years since the decision was rendered and the United States is yet to comply with its international obligations,” the government said in a statement, responding to Reuters questions about the Medellin case and Cruz’s involvement in it. Critics of the Medellin ruling, and Cruz’s boasts about it, say Texas could have simply reviewed the sentences as the international court had asked.     “Texas could have provided that remedy 20 times over in the time that it took to litigate that case up and down through the Texas courts and the Supreme Court,” said Sandra Babcock, a law professor at Cornell University who was one of Medellin’s attorneys. “The long-term damage, the reputational damage to the United States is still ongoing.” But Cruz’s supporters dismiss such criticism. His job as solicitor general was to defend Texas, not to worry about the international implications, they say.  Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a former attorney general who was Cruz’s boss at the time of the Medellin case, introduced the presidential hopeful at the February rally in Houston.  “He fought against the United Nations, the world court and the United States of America itself to defend Texas’ sovereignty,” Abbott said to cheers. ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
14561,14562,"India says border disputes only with China , Pakistan  Last Updated : Friday , December 4 , 2015 05 : 07  New Delhi : While there are no border disputes with Myanmar , Bangladesh and Sri Lanka , such disputes exist with China and Pakistan , Minister of State for External Affairs  Singh said on Thursday .  "" In the eastern sector , China claims approximately 90 , 000 square metres of Indian territory in the state of Arunachal Pradesh , "" Singh stated in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha .  "" Indian territory under the occupation of China in Jammu and Kashmir is approximately 38 , 000 square metres . In addition , under the so called China Pakistan ' Boundary Agreement ' signed between China and Pakistan on March 2 , 1963 , Pakistan illegally ceded 5 , 180 square km of Indian territory in PoK ( Pakistan occupied Kashmir ) to China , "" he said .  The minister said the fact that Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir were integral and inalienable parts of India has been clearly conveyed to the Chinese side on several occasions , including at the highest level .  "" India and China , under the agreement on confidence building measures in the military field along the Line of Actual Control (  ) in the India China border areas , signed in November 1996 and subsequent protocol on modalities for the implementation of confidence building measures in the military field along the  in the India China border areas , signed in April 2005 and Border Defence Cooperation Agreement , signed in October 2013 , are committed to the clarification and confirmation of the  to reach a common understanding of the alignement of the  , "" he said .  According to him , the two sides have agreed to each appoint a special representative to explore the framework for a boundary settlement from the political perspective of the overall bilateral relationship .  "" The 18th round of special representatives ' talks on the India China boundary question was held in New Delhi from March 22 to 24 , 2015 . India and China have established a Working Mechanism on Consultation and Coordination (  ) on India China border affairs to deal with important border affairs related to maintaining peace and tranquility in the India China border areas , "" he said .  "" A meeting of  was held in Beijing on October 8 , 2015 . India and China are committed to resolve bilateral issues through dialogue and peaceful negotiations and in a fair , reasonable and mutually acceptable manner , "" he added .  As for Pakistan , Singh said India was willing to address all outstanding bilateral issues through peaceful means .  "" However , continued support by Pakistan to terrorism directed at us from the territory under Pakistan ' s control has prevented creation of necessary environment . ( Indian ) Government has urged Pakistan on several occasions to fulfill its assurances , given and reiterated at the highest level , to put an end to anti India activities on its soil and territories under its control , "" he stated .  Regarding Nepal , the minister said strip maps covering 98 percent of the India Nepal boundary have been authenticated and initialed in 2007 at the Surveyor General level , "" though they are yet to be signed at the plenipotentiary level "" .  "" Issues relating to the maintenance and management of the India Nepal boundary are discussed in existing bilateral mechanisms at both senior official and working levels , "" he stated .  "" Our unique , centuries old civilizational ties with Nepal , based on shared geography , history , culture , language and religion and characterised by close political relations , wide ranging economic cooperation and deep rooted people to people friendship , have been rejuvenated since May 2014 with sustained interaction at the highest political level , including the prime minister ' s two visits to Nepal in 2014 . ""  Singh also informed the house that the India Nepal Joint Commission was revived at the level of external affairs minister in July 2014 .  "" India continues to maintain close engagement and bilateral exchanges with Nepal , as well as extend all assistance in accordance with the aspirations of the people of Nepal , for peace , stability and socio economic development of the country , "" he stated .  On Bangladesh , the minister said India and Bangladesh shared a 4096 . 7 km border , which was the largest land border that India shared with any of its neighbouring countries .  "" Both countries concluded a Land Boundary Agreement (  ) in 1974 , soon after the independence of Bangladesh , to find a solution to the complex nature of border demarcation , "" he said .  The agreement was implemented in its entirety with the exception of three issues pertaining to ( 1 ) undemarcated land boundary of approximately 6 . 1 km in three sectors , viz . Daikhata 56 ( West Bengal ) , Muhuri river Belonia ( Tripura ) and Lathitila Dumabari ( Assam ) ( 2 ) exchange of 111 enclaves in Bangladesh with 51 Bangladesh enclaves in India and ( 3 ) adverse possessions .  "" During the visit of then prime minister Manmohan Singh to Bangladesh in September 2011 , a protocol to the 1974  was signed which settled these three outstanding issues , "" Singh said .  "" Subsequently , instruments of ratification of the agreement were exchanged on June 6 , 2015 , during Prime Minister Narendra Modi ' s visit to Bangladesh , "" he added .  Download the all new Zee News app for Android and iOS to stay up to date with latest headlines and news stories in Politics , Entertainment , Sports , Technology , Business and much more from India and around the world .  First Published : Friday , December 4 , 2015 05 : 04  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
14569,14570,"Lleyton Hewitt retires from  Tour after being beaten by David Ferrer in straight sets at the Australia Open .  Farewelling with with no regrets , Lleyton Hewitt says he "" left nothing in the locker room "" after his storied 20 year , 878 match professional tennis career came to a close with a sapping second round loss at the Australian Open .  Spanish party pooper David Ferrer ended an era in Australian sport with a 6 2 6 4 6 4 victory over the wounded warrior in a gripping encounter that ended in controversial fashion on Thursday night .  Rod Laver Arena was again packed with the Rafters , Pat and wife Lara , along with countless other tennis luminaries , celebrities and sports stars including triple world surfing champion Mick Fanning .  Australia ' s Lleyton Hewitt leaves the court and waves goodbye to his career with his three children after playing his final Australian Open match .  They ' d been hoping to see the former world No 1 and dual grand slam champion wind back the clock at least one more time .  Lleyton Hewitt waves goodbye to the crowd after losing his second round match at Rod Laver Arena .  But with little care for the occasion , the eighth seeded Ferrer showed his class to put away Hewitt who battled a thigh strain throughout in two hours and 32 minutes .  "" I came out , I gave everything I had like always and left nothing in the locker room , "" Hewitt said .  "" That ' s something I can be proud of . My whole career I ' ve given 100 per cent . I love competing . ""  David Ferrer of Spain ( left ) embraces Lleyton Hewitt at the net following their second round match at the Australian Open , the last of Hewitt ' s career .  Instead , the father of three will turn his attention to his new role as Australia ' s 19th Davis Cup captain and he admitted retirement wouldn ' t sink in for a few days yet .  "" It ' s a weird emotion . Rod Laver Arena , it ' s like a second home for me , "" he said .  Melbourne ' s Rod Laver Arena was a second home for Lleyton Hewitt .  "" I ' m just so lucky to keep having this opportunity 20 years in a row .  "" I just felt like this was the perfect place to finish .  "" I was getting goose bumps out here tonight . ""  Lleyton Hewitt produced 27 winners but also 43 unforced errors in his final match as a professional tennis player .  A part time player for much of the past year since announcing after his second round Open loss in 2015 that this would be his farewell to the sport , Hewitt still dared to dream following his first round triumph over James Duckworth .  "" I want six more , "" the Hall of Famer said before Hunters and Collectors ' Holy Grail was belted out on the sound system during his warm up on Thursday night .  In reality , there was never going to be a fairytale finish for the veteran dream believer .  In an unprecedented 20 straight Open appearances , Hewitt ' s best result will forever remain his epic run to the 2005 final that ended in a four set defeat at the hands of Marat Safin .  He failed to venture beyond the fourth round any other year since becoming the youngest Open qualifier in history at just 15 in 1997 .  Hewitt will nevertheless be remembered and ranked among the modern day greats of Australian tennis , up there with fellow former world No 1s John Newcombe and Rafter and behind only the legend after which the arena where Hewitt made his last stand was named .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
14582,14583,"Recent reports that cats are one of the top threats to  wildlife , killing billions of animals each year , have been dismissed as "" utter crap "" by Baltimore man Brendan Packham .  Researchers had estimated that cats are responsible for the deaths of between 1 . 4 and 3 . 7 billion birds and 6 . 9 20 . 7 billion mammals annually .  "" That is nonsense "" bellowed the portly Packham , who oddly enough only speaks through a megaphone , causing irritation for some and mild headaches for others .  Speaking from his home he said , very loudly , "" That cat on the cartoon , whats his name , Tom , he never catches anything , that mouse , Jerry , always escapes , so does his nephew , you know , the little grey one that comes to stay sometimes , that cat has never killed any animal . ""  Still speaking through his megaphone he continued "" And Sylvester , he never ever hurt anything , despite his efforts he never gets to eat or harm Tweety Pie , despite sometimes covering him with salt and pepper and occasionally putting him in between two slices of bread ""  Indeed Packham claims that cats are more likely to be the victims of violence from other animals and not the predators scientists , researchers and professors will have us believe .  "" The real bastards are bulldogs ! They knock the crap out of cats , especially that one called Butch who absolutely shows no mercy to Tom the cat . Unless Tom is lucky and the mad dog steps on a garden tool which whacks him in the face . From what I have seen , the mice , little birds and dogs are the evil ones . Not the poor cats ! ""  ",satire,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,satire,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
14599,14600,"Stacey Dash has her own opinions amid the controversy stemming from the all white Oscar nominations this year .  The Clueless actress sat down with Fox News ' Fox Friends and not only called the outrage over the Oscars "" ludicrous , "" but she also said African American targeted institutions ? such as  , the Image Awards and holidays honoring black history ? should no longer exist , calling them an unprogressive "" double standard . ""  She explained , "" We have to make up our minds . Either we want to have segregation or integration . And if we don ' t want segregation , then we need to get rid of channels like  and the  Awards and the Image Awards where you ' re only awarded if you ' re Black . If it were the other way around , we would be up in arms . It ' s a double standard . ""   : Jada Pinkett Smith Addresses Academy President After Calling for Oscars Boycott  Later , she added , "" Just like there shouldn ' t be a Black History Month . You know ? We ' re Americans . Period . That ' s it . ""  The show ' s host , Steve Doocy , clarified : "" Are you saying there shouldn ' t be a Black History Month because there isn ' t a white history month ? "" To which Dash replied , "" Exactly . Exactly . ""  After the Internet erupted over her commentary , she took to her blog and stuck to her word , promising she is "" right "" and again reiterating , "" There should be no Black History Month . ""   : David Oyelowo and Idris Elba Speak Out Against Hollywood ' s Diversity Problem  Of course , her controversial remarks shouldn ' t come as much of a surprise . The actress has often made contentious comments in the past . In fact , Dash criticized Patricia Arquette after her much applauded speech about pay inequality at the Oscars in 2015 .  "" I was appalled . I couldn ' t believe it , "" Dash said at the time . "" First of all , Patricia Arquette needs to do her history . In 1963 , Kennedy passed an equal pay law . It ' s still in effect . I didn ' t get the memo that I didn ' t have any rights . ""  A few months later , in April , Dash also told Meredith Vieira she doesn ' t believe that a pay gap exists between the sexes .  "" I feel like it ' s an excuse , "" Dash explained to the audience . "" It ' s the same thing with race , it ' s an excuse . Stop making excuses . "" ?  She continued , "" If there are opportunities , seize them and be prepared for them and be the best if that ' s what it takes . If you have to be extraordinary , then be extraordinary If you want to be pissed off about it , then be pissed off about it and work harder for it . I don ' t think us complaining about it because there is a law passed that we get equal pay . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past
14616,14617,"Trending Articles: Trending Articles: John Podesta Told Cheryl Mills ‘Dump All Those Emails’ on Day News of Clinton’s Private Email Server Broke   Source: Jay Syrmopoulos  Washington, D.C. – In what could prove to be the proverbial nail in the coffin of Hillary Clinton’s presidential ambitions, an email released by WikiLeaks this morning – the 25th batch of emails from Clinton campaign chair John Podesta – reveals potential criminal intent to violate a court order for subpoenaed documents.  John Podesta sent the message only hours after the New York Times reported that Clinton might have violated federal records requirements by using the server, according to the latest batch of Podesta emails released by WikiLeaks.  The email in question , sent by Podesta on March 2, 2015, reveals the Clinton campaign chair directing Cheryl Mills, Hillary’s attorney and Chief of Staff, to destroy emails that had already been subpoenaed.  The email exchange between Podesta and Mills came suspiciously on the same day that news broke regarding Clinton’s use of a private email server.  After news of Clinton’s private email server became public, Podesta wrote to Mills:  “Not to sound like Lanny, but we are going to have to dump all those emails so better to do so sooner than later,” Podesta told Mills.  Mills responded: “Think you just got your new nick name.”  It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out exactly what Podesta meant by “dump” the emails, when taking into account the fact that this was transpiring just as news of the private server was breaking. What this email does is provide insight into the coverup process — and exposes a willful intent to break the law. Additionally, it reveals exactly how swiftly the Clinton camp moved to obscure the truth from both investigators and the public alike.  According to a report by the New York Post :  In December 2014, Hillary Clinton — now the Democratic presidential nominee — turned over about 55,000 pages of work-related email to the State Department, but that fact wasn’t revealed until the Times reported on her use of the private server.  On March 10, 2015 — a week after the Podesta-Mills exchange — Clinton addressed the email scandal, and announced she had deleted about 30,000 personal emails.  The email’s reference to “Lanny” is likely in reference to lawyer Lanny Davis, who served as special counsel to then-President Bill Clinton, as well as spokesperson for the President and the White House on matters regarding campaign-finance investigations and other legal issues.  Interestingly, Zero Hedge reports that a search for Lanny Davis reveals a suspicious exchange between Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook and Podesta from March 8, 2015, just days after the above mentioned exchange in which Mook tells Podesta:  “We gotta zap Lanny out of our universe. Can’t believe he committed her to a private review of her hard drive on TV.”  Hillary’s team was apparently upset that Bill Clinton’s special counsel was engaging in a transparent course of action, and moved to “zap Lanny out of our universe.”  While it isn’t clearly spelled out exactly which emails Podesta is referring to in his email, the fact that he wrote “better do so sooner than later,” on the day news broke publicly regarding Clinton’s email server, strongly indicates that the actions were a responsive measure meant to obscure any investigation into the matter.  Clinton’s entire narrative regarding her private email server has seemingly unraveled, and her methodical plan to strategically impede the State Department/ investigation, by deleting the evidence, is now on full display for the public to see.  Hopefully WikiLeaks’ next upcoming Podesta email dumps can provide even further context to this already damning email. Of course, Hillary’s spin doctors are hard at work thinking up a new narrative to work around this latest revelation regarding the willful attempt by Clinton’s team to usurp a federal investigation.  Mainstream media is trying to censor this information, so please share this story to overcome corporate censorship and to expose the truth!",fake,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
14623,14624,"Fast food and some retail workers in 50 cities around the country are striking today , and have mounted dozens of strikes over the past few months . Their demands are simple : a pay raise to 15 per hour roughly double the federal minimum wage and union recognition .  The "" Fast Food Forward "" movement began in New York City last fall and quickly spread to other cities . In some places it grew to include workers in other low wage jobs besides fast food . Like the earlier Occupy Wall Street protests , this new movement has captured the imagination of millions of Americans angry about the ever widening gap between haves and have nots .  But unlike Occupy , with its youthful base and reliance on new social media , Fast Food Forward was born from a marriage of old fashioned unionism and community organizing . Its protagonists are ordinary workers , many of them black , brown and or female .  They are struggling to support their families on jobs that pay at or close to the legal minimum , with few benefits . Adding insult to injury , full time work is hard to find in the fast food and retail world . But many workers have no other options , since the Great Recession permanently wiped out millions of better paying jobs .  The federal minimum wage dates back to the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act part of  ' s New Deal . But inflation has eaten away at the guarantee it was meant to provide . In today ' s dollars , the minimum wage is worth less now than it was half a century ago .  Meanwhile , what  called "" organized money "" has been on the warpath against another legacy of the New Deal : organized labor . Today only 6 . 6 of private sector workers are union members , less than any time since the early 1930s . That ' s another reason income inequality has soared .  But the labor movement refuses to die . Instead it is struggling to reinvent itself . Fast Food Forward is backed by the giant Service Employees International Union , which boasts more than 2 million members and is known for its creative organizing tactics . Back in the 1990s the union ' s Justice for Janitors campaign lifted standards in another low wage sector , winning union contracts that improved pay and benefits and converted part time building service jobs to full time ones in cities around the country .  As organized money has successfully choked off the traditional road to unionism through the system created by the 1935 National Labor Relations Act under  , unions have turned to strategies from the community organizing tradition . In the case of the fast food strikes , for example , the union partnered with established community based groups like New York Communities for Change .  Similarly the Our Walmart campaign , which led the Black Friday walkouts at the nation ' s largest retailer last November , uses community organizing tactics rather than standard unionization methods .  Both Fast Food Forward and Our Walmart rely on strategies and tactics perfected by the "" worker center "" movement that sprang up starting in the1990s . It includes dozens of community based organizations representing taxi drivers , domestic workers , day laborers , street vendors and others at the bottom of the labor market . Many of these workers are excluded outright from New Deal laws like the  and  , since technically they are not "" employees "" but "" independent contractors . ""  The worker centers have successfully spotlighted the many abuses such workers suffer , and have helped them organize . But as community based groups with shoestring budgets and tiny staffs , the scale of their work has been severely limited . Still , some have managed to form national organizations , like the Restaurant Opportunities Center and the National Domestic Workers Alliance .  One of them the Taxi Workers Alliance , is now formally affiliated with the   , which has developed other partnerships with worker centers in recent years .  If old line labor unions which despite their declining membership , still have relatively deep pockets and political clout keep stepping up their support for such efforts , that could be a real game changer .  That ' s the significance of the fast food walkouts : They could be the embryo of a new labor movement that challenges the power of organized money and the skyrocketing inequality that has made the American middle class an endangered species .  The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Ruth Milkman .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
14664,14665,"As Kenya ' s leading psychiatrist , Frank Njenga has been championing the cause of better mental health care on the east African country and the continent for more than three decades .  He ' s been working tirelessly to bring quality mental health care in a country where mentally disabled people receive little help from the state and face massive stigma from society .  "" It ' s a horrible indictment on what we ' ve done but the truth and reality is that very little has been done systematically and deliberately by government or by ourselves to bring up the level of mental health in this part of the world , "" says Njenga .  In Kenya , an estimated three million , mostly poor , people live with intellectual and mental disabilities , according to  and United Nations figures . At the same time , the ratio of psychiatrists to the population is dismal just one psychiatrist to half a million people .  See also : Kenya ' s mentally ill locked up and forgotten  But Njenga , who is president of the African Association of Psychiatrists , says the problem is even worse in other countries on the continent .  "" It is a major challenge but it is a challenge that is very sadly is spread across the whole of the Africa continent , "" he says Njenga .  "" In fact , Kenya is ironically behind South Africa and perhaps Egypt in the ratios of psychiatrists that are available per population . There are countries in Africa where there is no single psychiatrist to five six million people . ""  This has motivated Njenga to dedicate his life helping mental health patients and raising awareness in a continent where mental disorders are often neglected and described as "" un African "" and belonging to "" people in the West . ""  Njenga , however , discards such claims as "" clear nonsense . ""  "" For as long as you are a self confessed human being you will continue to suffer human conditions of which mental disorders are an integral part , "" he says .  Read also : Namibia ' s ' miracle doctor ' brings gift of sight  Njenga describes Africa as "" truly the traumatized continent "" that ' s been plagued by wars , human suffering and lethal dictatorships .  "" Whether you are looking at Rwanda or southern Sudan or Sierra Leone or  , the number of women and children and adults who have suffered severe trauma is greater than any other continent that I can think of . ""  He underlines the link between good mental health and productivity and calls policy makers to make mental health services a priority in order to help their countries escape poverty .  "" There is no health without mental health and there is no economy , "" says Njenga . "" We are losing far too many men and women to mental illness and therefore to un productivity by not treating them for mental illness . ""  Born in Kenya , Njenga was inspired as a teenager by the work of psychiatrist Frantz Fanon , writer of "" Wretched of the Earth , "" a seminal book that explores identity and the post colonial experience .  From then on , Njenga was convinced he wanted to be a psychiatrist . He went on to study psychology throughout medical school in Kenya before moving to the  for his post graduate studies at the Maudsley Hospital the world ' s oldest psychiatric hospital .  At the end of this studies , however , Njenga chose not to pursue a career in the  but to return to his home country , committed to promoting the cause of better mental health in the continent .  "" I went to the  to come back and to come back as a psychiatrist and to make a difference in my homeland and in my continent . That is the reason I left Kenya and that is the reason I came back , "" he says .  Read also : The Africans giving aid to the world  On his return to Kenya , Njenga embarked on a mission to reduce the social stigma that is attached to going to a psychiatrist or seeing a mental health professional .  In a ground breaking weekly show called "" Frankly Speaking , "" Njenga spoke with his patients on television , putting the spotlight on tough issues such as schizophrenia and substance abuse taboo topics that were usually kept out of public sight .  "" I felt powerful and relaxed I felt at last here I was able to tell it exactly as it was , "" he says . "" Of all the things I have done in this society and community it is the program on television Frankly Speaking because I spoke frankly as my name is and my patients spoke very frankly indeed . ""  In his commitment to providing top notch mental health care , Njenga also helped build a private in patient psychiatric hospital , the first of its kind in Kenya .  He ' s also authored several children ' s books in a bid to build better understanding of mental illness and advocated for an insurance cover for mental health patients as chairman of the largest insurance company in Kenya .  Through awareness and affordable treatment , Njenga has changed how many people in Kenya think about mental health .  "" Today the discussion of mental health issues on this continent is focused and is positive about that I feel proud and privileged , "" he says .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
14668,14669,"After running directly into the grandstands during the Iditarod ' s ceremonial start and veering 55 miles off course late Tuesday to chase a marmot , Siberian husky and rookie sled dog Melvin apologized to his musher and fellow canines Wednesday for making a complete fool of himself in the early stages of the annual 1 , 150 mile race .  "" First Iditarod jitters , I guess , "" the visibly contrite Melvin told reporters Wednesday at the Rainy Pass checkpoint . "" I feel like such a moron . Here I am in the last great race on earth and I ' m blowing it . I mean , 100 times out of 100 , when my musher yells , ' Gee , ' I turn right . But yesterday I go left down an icy slope into a bunch of evergreens and nearly break everyone ' s neck . ""  "" I have to pull it together , "" added the dog , making a point of directly addressing his musher , two time Iditarod champion Lance Mackey . "" I ' m sorry , Lance . I ' m acting like an idiot out there . ""  Melvin has gotten his squad into several embarrassing scrapes thus far , one of which occurred at Willow Lake when , in an effort to find a place to nap , he twirled around three times while still in full harness , fouling his lines and entangling his team in multiple snarls . In addition , as the team was on route to Skwentna , a child spectator threw an imaginary stick over the team , and Melvin chased it 300 miles back to the first checkpoint at Yentna Station .  Melvin ' s most humiliating experience , sources said , was a 20 minute period during which Mackey repeatedly ordered him to mush and the husky merely stood motionless , staring at Finger Lake .  "" You look around and you realize that you are going up against your idols Larry , Bronte , Salem , Handsome , Blue and then it hits you : This is the Iditarod , "" Melvin said . "" It ' s not the Jack Pine 30 or the American Dog Derby . Out here , if you playfully root through your musher ' s sled basket and destroy his heavy parka and extra warm sleeping bag , well , that ' s a mistake that could haunt you the rest of your career . Unfortunately , I ' m learning that the hard way . ""  Melvin later admitted that he was overwhelmed by the pressure of participating in his first Iditarod and consequently had psyched himself out . Bouts of anxiety reportedly led to a stress dream Monday night in which he found himself standing on a calm , ice covered pond for several tranquil minutes before the ice suddenly cracked beneath him .  "" Instantly , I was treading in freezing water , and the more I struggled to get back on land , the faster I sank , "" Melvin said .  As he dreamt , the husky unconsciously gnawed through his team ' s snub line . Consequently , two point dogs and one wheel dog are still missing , and the sled can no longer go around corners .  Just five days into the race , the group is a projected seven days behind the rest of the pack .  "" I ' m too ' in my head ' right now , you know ? I have to remember my training from when I was a pup and just be natural , "" said the dog , adding that despite his most recent failures , he believes he was born for this . "" No more stopping in the middle of a run to find a private place to go to the bathroom . Why would I even do that ? I know I ' m running in the Iditarod , for crying out loud . And I ' m certainly not going to sprint into my teammates ever again , because that means I ' m destroying our neck and tug lines , and I ' m going completely the wrong way . ""  "" I need to stay focused , "" Melvin continued . "" Also , I think I ' m going to go chase that big moose over there . ""  Despite the husky ' s shortcomings , musher Lance Mackey has stated that Melvin will remain in the lead dog position , mainly because Melvin bit the leg of fellow lead dog Sarah . Melvin was quick to point out , however , that at the time of the incident , he was suffering a panic related delusion in which Sarah had transformed into his father , an Alaskan malamute who always told his son he would never amount to anything .  "" It ' s a saying amongst us mushers that the dogs never make mistakes , "" Mackey said . "" But it ' s not my fault that Melvin stops every 45 minutes to furiously dig in the snow . That dog ' s a wreck . ""  Mackey then sighed and added , "" This is a terrible Iditarod . ""  ",satire,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
14674,14675,"Reuters) - Poland is ready to defend its decision in the European Union s top court to refuse to accept migrants from Africa and the Middle East under an  plan to redistribute them, Deputy Foreign Minister Konrad Szymanski said. He spoke after the  executive sued Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic in the European Court of Justice on Thursday for their refusal to host these migrants.  Poland is ready to defend its position in the Court,  Szymanski told state news agency PAP.  No one will lift the duty  of providing public safety from the Polish government.  The government of Poland s right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party has said it will not admit migrants, citing security concerns amid deadly Islamist attacks in western Europe and problems with ascertaining the identify of migrants. The Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday it had signed a deal with the European Investment Bank to give 50 million euros to help countries and territories affected by the migration crisis, mainly Lebanon, Jordan and the West Bank. Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski said that Poland - a country of 38 million - is already hosting migrants as it had issued more than a million work permits for people from neighboring Ukraine last year alone. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
14676,14677,"Hardy wants to prove he can still play , Romo thinks Panthers are  ' s best  It ' s probably fair to say that Greg Hardy has been more trouble than he ' s worth to the Cowboys , but the embattled defensive end will have a chance to ( again ) redeem himself when Dallas hosts Carolina on Thanksgiving . The Panthers are the same the team that drafted Hardy and later released him in the wake of a domestic violence incident that led to a four game suspension .  Tolbert texted w Hardy a few days ago : "" He wants to prove to the Panthers he can still play and it was a mistake to let him go . ""  ? Black Blue Review ( BlackBlueReview ) November 24 , 2015  That would be Mike Tolbert , Panthers fullback , who played with Hardy in Carolina . Also worth noting : The Panthers didn ' t cut Hardy because he couldn ' t play football he does that very well it was because of the domestic violence incident that led the league to suspend him .  Either way , Hardy wasn ' t interested in specifics when talking about his former club .  "" Just a nameless , faceless opponent , "" he said earlier this week , via ESPNweblink . "" Next game . Got to stay focused . ""  Meanwhile , quarterback Tony Romo , who returned last Sunday after a seven game absence to lead the Cowboys to their first win in you guessed it seven games , spoke well of both Hardy and the 10 0 Panthers .  Romo : Hardy has done a good job in the locker room presenting himself as a good teammate .  ? Black Blue Review ( BlackBlueReview ) November 24 , 2015  Romo : I think Carolina is the best team in the  , if not all of football .  ? Black Blue Review ( BlackBlueReview ) November 24 , 2015  Romo also said , "" We understand nobody ' s giving us a chance , "" which isn ' t entirely true Vegas originally had the Cowboys as 2 1 2 point favorites , something Panthers coach Ron Rivera called "" a little disrespectful . ""  Romo admitted  East bias plays into teams like  being favorited in a week like this . His candor today was great and appreciated .  ? Black Blue Review ( BlackBlueReview ) November 24 , 2015  The line has since moved ( Carolina ' s currently favored by 1 1 2 points ) but if Dallas is going to make a run in the  East , it ' s going to have to win on Thanksgiving and keep winning for the rest of the season .  Greg Hardy will face his old team on Thanksgiving . (  )  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
14677,14678,"Click here for all the latest news  Manchester United will pursue Edinson Cavani in the summer after establishing that his club Paris Saint Germain would not countenance a sale this month .  Sir Alex Ferguson is understood to have called his former United centre half Laurent Blanc to check on the Uruguay striker ' s situation and the  coach said they would not listen to bids in this window , but would be willing to discuss the possibility at the end of the season .  It proves how comfortable Moyes is with Ferguson ' s presence that he is utilising his predecessor ' s network of contacts to take the next stage in rebuilding United .  Target man : Paris Saint Germain striker Edinson Cavani has emerged as a summer target for Man United  On the move ? It ' s understood  would be willing to discuss Cavani ' s ( second left ) departure in summer  It ' s good to talk : Sir Alex Ferguson spoke to  boss and former United player Laurent Blanc about Cavani  Moyes was interested in Cavani in the summer but shelved the idea of a bid as he pursued midfielders and a left back . Injuries and form have dictated a world class striker is required though and Cavani ' s dissatisfaction with life in Paris means he is a prime candidate .  That does not mean Moyes wants to offload Wayne Rooney , however .  United are prepared to bite the bullet and let Rooney run down his contract until 2015 if he continues to turn down talks on a new deal . He has worked well with Moyes and the hope is he will be convinced by what the manager looks to bring in in the summer .  Contract rebel ? Man Utd are prepared to let Wayne Rooney ( right ) run down his contract until 2015  Silence : Rooney ' s representatives have so far delayed contract talks with Man Utd officials  Suitor : Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho is a known admirer of Rooney and is expected to bid again for the striker  Chelsea remain keen on Rooney and will bid again for the England striker but United plan to stick to their stance that he is not for sale .  United are interested in Juan Mata but a swap is unlikely . They believe the player would push to move to Old Trafford if a bid was made but , likewise , Chelsea would prefer to sell abroad , if at all . With that in mind United , are continuing to look elsewhere but Moyes is wary of what pressure would fall on the shoulders of any signing that is made now .  Form and morale should be lifted this week by the return of Rooney to the first team squad , while Robin van Persie is back at Carrington today after his weekend trip to Holland .  Final details : Everton expect to finalise Lacina Traore ' s loan move from Monaco to Goodison Park shortly  Difficult deal : Everton have struggled to strike a deal with Standard Liege for Michy Batshuayi ( left )  The presence of  Eindhoven ' s fitness coach Arno Philips in recent weeks has not gone down too well among all sports science staff at United but there is an acceptance that he is a man the player has grown to trust over his career .  Which Premier League defenders were involved in such an angry training ground spat that the mother of one of the youth team players decided to complain to local police ? The players have since settled their differences for now .  Everton hope to wrap up the signing of Lacina Traore on loan from Monaco but are facing an increasingly difficult task to sign No 1 target Michy Batshuayi of Standard Liege .  Roberto Martinez was keen to sign the 20 year old Belgian until Everton were told his 7million clause would have to be paid in full . That has delayed their bid until the summer but an extra complication is that Borussia Dortmund have made a move to sign the striker .  The clubs met in a friendly in La Manga last week and Dortmund officials are ready to pay the asking price . Liege president Roland Duchatelet insists Batshuayi will not be leaving the club this month .  Benfica , as well as Arsenal , have also shown interest . When Batshuayi was asked whether he will play the next five months for Liege , he answered : ' For sure ! '  However , the player himself told Het Laatste Nieuws : ' The Premier League and the Bundesliga are my favourite destinations . Benfica is a big club , but I ' m not really convinced by the Portuguese league . '  Prospect : Arsenal were spotted scouting Lille ' s Pape Souare in their match against St Etienne on Friday  Arsenal scouts were at the Stade Geoffroy Guichard on Friday to watch Lille left back Pape Souare against St Etienne .  The Senegal defender has impressed this season and has scored three goals in 20 Ligue 1 appearances .  Meanwhile , Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says he is not ' particularly interested ' in signing Juventus ' Mirko Vucinic . The 30 year old striker ' s agent was reportedly heading for London on Monday but instead he is expected to join Inter Milan on loan .  Ailing Inter have been frustrated in their attempts to sign Pablo Osvaldo from Southampton and have offered Fredy Guarin to Juventus in a bid to make Vucinic ' s transfer permanent .  Should Guarin stay , Juve may try again for Nani at Manchester United but the 16m price may still beyond their January budget .  In safe hands : Manchester City are considering swooping for Real Madrid goalkeeper Diego Lopez  Manchester City will monitor developments with Real Madrid goalkeeper Diego Lopez . The 32 year old , installed as No 1 ahead of Iker Casillas by Jose Mourinho last year , is wanted by Borussia Dortmund and City may enter the bidding if there is any sign of a sale .  Costel Pantilimon is ready to leave in the summer and Lopez would be perfect competition for Joe Hart .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
14682,14683,"And of course that s followed by a shot of Burfict s finishing move on Steelers receiver Antonio Brown . Which , given that Burfict considers it a wrestling match , makes Pacman s allegation that Brown was faking his injury even more understandable .  The package then cuts to the anguish of Hill , whose fumble set up the drive that resulted in the back to back penalties ( one on Burfict , one on Pacman ) that gave the Steelers the game .  It ends with Steelers coach Mike Tomlin meeting Lewis at the middle of the field saying , I m sorry about that . I ll talk to you later .  The  Films highlight package played on  Network contained not a single image of the uncanny ( and , frankly , not valid ) touchdown catch from Steelers receiver Martavis Bryant , who caught the ball behind his leg , got two feet down , and flipped forward out of the end zone .  If a fight had broken out immediately after the score , then maybe it would have made the cut .  Next on the  morning show came more highlights under the  Replay Game of the Week heading . Think about that one for a second . The Seahawks and Vikings played a subzero game for the ages in Minnesota , featuring plenty of big plays and clean hits and memorable images ? and , ultimately , a devastating miss of a field goal that would have allowed the Vikings to reverse a 31 point blowout from only five weeks before . But the Game of the Week , marketed after the fact with the worst moments of the game not the best , gets more attention .  Here s where I m tempted to say that the  can t have it both ways . But the  is having it both ways , because the  knows that , while it has to act like it doesn t condone thuggish behavior , millions of people love to watch it .  Yeah , that game where one team appeared certain to win the game until their running back fumbled with under 2 minutes left and then the other team drove down the field aided by two 15 yard penalties to kick the game winning field goal with 14 seconds left was pretty boring and shouldn t have been considered for game of the week .  Is this rating uncommon for a playoff game ? I would expect the audience stayed on because it was a close game and not decided until the end .  The  Films highlight package played on  Network contained not a single image of the uncanny ( and , frankly , not valid ) touchdown catch from Steelers receiver Martavis Bryant , who caught the ball behind his leg , got two feet down , and flipped forward out of the end zone  If he caught the ball and got two feet down before flipping out of the end zone , how is it not valid ? Here we go crybabies in 3 . 2 . 1  When Tomlin tripped the raven s kick returner he let the coaches know they should interfere with players . Agree with you on the  having it s cake and eat it .  The one thing that stands out the most when watching clips of the way the game used to be is the hits on the  s .  They were just another player on the field and there was no defenceless rule . Those  s had to be tough as nails , they had no choice .  I guarantee that both games will be in prime time next year .  Burfict , Pacman Jones , and Gillberry are a disgrace to the league .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
14688,14689,"Any team in the Eastern Conference looking to stop LeBron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers from reaching the  Finals again better be prepared to compete at a high level against King James and his talented teammates , particularly Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love .  But the Cavaliers are dealing with some injuries , so all is not lost for hopeful contenders Chicago , Atlanta , Toronto , Miami , and Washington if they can jump on Cleveland early .  Irving could be out until January recovering from surgery on a fractured left kneecap that he suffered in the  Finals . Cavaliers guard Iman Shumpert will also be sidelined until January after surgery on his right wrist .  Meanwhile , James needed an anti inflammatory injection to treat his sore back in the exhibition season .  On the plus side , Love has been playing in exhibition games and will be ready for the season opener Tuesday in Chicago after recovering from surgery to repair a dislocated left shoulder .  Chicago has depth and talent ( Derrick Rose , Pau Gasol , Jimmy Butler , Joakim Noah ) , but the Bulls also have health issues .  Rose suffered a fractured orbital bone next to his left eye early in training camp and will wear a mask to protect it , while Mike Dunleavy is expected to miss the first month of the season after back surgery .  Chicago also has a rookie head coach , Fred Hoiberg . But Hoiberg knows that Steve Kerr ' s Golden State Warriors won the  championship in his maiden voyage as a coach .  The Atlanta Hawks were the  ' s biggest surprise last season , producing the best record in the East ( 60 22 ) .  Still , Atlanta got swept by the Cavaliers in the conference finals , and many doubt that the Hawks can duplicate last season ' s magic .  Miami missed the playoffs last season . But Chris Bosh , who missed 30 games because of blood clots in a lung , is healthy again . Point guard Goran Dragic and rookie Justise Winslow will give the Heat some speed and athleticism .  The wild card remains Dwyane Wade , 33 , who has missed 61 games in the last three seasons because of knee problems . Goran Dragic and rookie Justise Winslow give the Heat some speed and athleticism .  Meanwhile , the Wizards need backcourt stars John Wall and Bradley Beal to carry their team .  So let ' s see who is up to the challenge against the big , bad Cavaliers .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
14691,14692,"Syria announced Tuesday that it is granting "" amnesty "" to protesters accused of committing crimes .  But a report published by the state run news agency seemed to suggest the protesters were not actually being offered amnesty , as in a general pardon , but were having their punishments for alleged crimes decreased .  An announcement on state run television said Syrian President Bashar al Assad issued a decree granting amnesty to protesters arrested for crimes committed before Tuesday .  The amnesty includes "" all of those who belong to various political movements including the Muslim Brotherhood , "" the alert on state  said .  The announcement came after weeks of Syrian officials describing some protesters as "" terrorists "" trying to destabilize the country .  A report Tuesday on the website of  , Syria ' s state news agency , said that in addition to granting general amnesty , Assad ' s decree "" also pardons half penalties for felonies if there was no personal claim . ""  The report says Article 1 of Assad ' s decree grants "" general amnesty for all crimes committed before May 31 , 2011 , according to the following . "" It then lists changes in punishments . The death penalty will be replaced with a "" life sentence of hard labor or long imprisonment sentence according to the crime , "" a life sentence of hard work will be replaced with "" 20 years imprisonment with hard labor , "" and so on .  A call to the Syrian Embassy in Washington for clarification was not immediately returned .   also carried a story Tuesday with the headline : "" Army and security forces arrest members of armed terrorist groups in al Rastan , seize massive amounts of weapons and ammo . ""  The Syrian uprising , part of the so called Arab Spring in which protesters throughout much of the Middle East and North Africa have taken to the streets calling for reforms , has been met with a fierce crackdown by the government .  Roughly 830 people have been killed in the protests , according to the Syrian Human Rights Information Link . That number does not include security personnel whom the Syrian government says died in attacks by "" armed groups . ""  The United States has imposed new sanctions on al Assad and other senior Syrian officials over human rights abuses , freezing any assets held in the country .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
14696,14697,"The students of the historically black Bethune-Cookman University booed the invited commencement speaker, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. They yelled over her speech, they even turned their backs on her. For 25 minutes the students at Bethune Cookman reminded us just how far Obama has divided our nation.A sophomore student at Bethune-Cookman, a historically black university, filmed himself running around with his phone as he yelled for the seniors to stand and rebuke Betsy DeVos during her commencement speech. He implored the graduating seniors to disrupt her speech by yelling and standing with their backs to  DeVos, who bravely persevered through her speech in spite of their embarrassing behavior.The student, who says his name is  Bobbie Luke  and identifies himself as a  StuPid NiGGA  on his Twitter account, was eventually thrown out of the venue by campus security. breathlessly followed the student as he was being thrown out, hoping to get an intelligent response from the student about why he was whipping the graduating seniors into a frenzy over Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos  commencement speech. What they got however, was a big disappointment.Here s the video that was taken by @bobbieluke on his cell phone of the graduating seniors responding to his pleas to disrupt and disrespect their commencement speaker:BCU17. We Salute you all standing up for what is right and blocking out @BetsyDeVosED pic.twitter.com/dRguU6EIYC  The  Roundtable  (@HBCU_Roundtable) May 10, 2017Here s another video taken from the audience that shows Bobbie Luke walking down the aisle encouraging the students to stand with their backs to DeVos :weblink s the video taken by  reporter Nick Valencia that exposes Bobbie Luke s embarrassing attempt to explain why he chose to lead the disrespectful rebuke of Betsy DeVos at the senior s graduation ceremony. When asked by the  reporter what he was standing up for, Luke replied:  I don t like what she said and nothing at the end of the day is going to change my opinion. Basically, if you not, if you not, basically if you let money devalue your morals, I m not trying to hear. That s all I got to say. As Bobbie Luke is walking away, he can be heard saying, I like your suit.  (Bobbie Luke essentially ends the interview  by saying he likes the  reporter s nice [expensive?] suit that was purchased with money, that according to Luke, devalues morals LOL!)One demonstrator escorted out of @BetsyDeVos speech. pic.twitter.com/VmssgmakMR  Nick Valencia (@CNNValencia) May 10, 2017Liberal hack Matt Lauer, host of the Today Show did a story on the disrespectful behavior of the graduates. As usual, Lauer couldn t help himself from attempting to make it look like DeVos was the villain in the story. Listen to the emphasis Lauer places on words and phrases like  controversial  educational secretary. He goes on to say DeVos was  booed , and she  upset  students, and  some  of the graduates students turned the backs on her, and  she  upset the students. Every word this liberal hack, who s posing as a benign host on the Today Show utters is planned in advance of his segments. Hosts like Lauer and Katie Couric are some of the most dangerous people in media today, as they have influenced millions of people who watch them without realizing they ve been pushing a radical agenda for decades, while they smile and pretend to be reporting unbiased news.WATCH: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos booed during commencement speech at Bethune-Cookman University weblink pic.twitter.com/7P55IaILGP   (@TODAYshow) May 11, 2017Bobbie Luke got a lot of support from the students on the campus of Bethune-Cookman on Twitter. He also got support from this  goofy white dude  who was  so happy to see the backlash  gave the rich white devil.  Wow  a white guy railing against a wealthy white woman how self-satisfying, how empowering! @bobbieluke I'm a goofy white dude from Colorado but that made me so happy to see the backlash  gave that rich white devil. My heroes!  Alex Miller (@MCChewRocka) May 11, 2017",fake,dataset,validation,Football,US elections,fake,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
14714,14715,"Reuters) - Highlights of the day for U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on Friday: Trump tweets that he is considering four people, including retired General Keith Kellogg, to serve as national security adviser after being turned down by his first choice to replace ousted Michael Flynn. Trump’s defense secretary, Jim Mattis warns of an “arc of instability” on Europe’s periphery and calls on  allies to contribute their fair share to their collective defense.  Vice President Mike Pence will speak at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, seeking to soothe allies unnerved by Trump’s statements on Russia and  while stressing U.S.commitment to Europe. Republican Senator John McCain breaks with the reassuring message that U.S. officials visiting Germany are seeking to convey on their debut trip to Europe, saying the Trump administration is in disarray.  Trump promises to boost U.S. manufacturing and punish companies for moving jobs overseas during a visit to a South Carolina Boeing Co plant to celebrate the unveiling of its latest Dreamliner jet. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, trying to reassure allies that Washington is not tilting toward Moscow over the Syrian conflict, tells them the United States backs U.N. efforts for a political solution, officials say. After nearly a month in power, Trump has yet to unveil major legislation or publicly endorse bills from others, getting Republicans off to a slow start on sweeping reforms they promised on the campaign trail. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell expects to move soon on legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare and also hopes for bipartisan support on an infrastructure investment program. The White House says there is no plan to utilize the National Guard to round up unauthorized immigrants after the Associated Report said a draft memo discussing that had been circulating within the administration for about two weeks.  The Supreme Court will decide three cases in the coming months that could help or hinder Trump’s efforts to increase border security and accelerate deportations.     The Senate approves Trump’s pick for the Environmental Protection Agency, despite objections of Democrats and green groups worried he will gut the agency, as the administration readies executive orders to ease regulation on drillers and miners. Trump is poised to tap Mike Dubke, a Republican media relations firm owner, to oversee White House communications, media reports say, in a move that could help shore up Trump’s messaging efforts. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
14719,14720,"San Diego police say a 40 year old man died after a border inspector shot him with a stun gun at the nation ' s busiest crossing .  Police said Thursday that the man jumped over a counter and attacked an inspector after being escorted to a separate area for questioning at the San Ysidro port of entry between San Diego and Tijuana , Mexico .  The man used a pedestrian crossing at the port of entry at around 7pm and during secondary inspections , agents realized the man was wanted on a felony charge ,  reports .  Stun Gun : San Diego police say a 40 year old man died after a border inspector shot him with a stun gun at the San Ysidro port of entry between San Diego and Tijuana , Mexico ( photographed is the San Ysidro border crossing )  Busiest ) The man was crossing the border on foot , and authorities stopped him during secondary inspections ( photographed is the San Ysidro port of entry , the nation ' s busiest crossing )  When authorities tried to take him into custody , the man attacked .  ' The male would not comply with the agents ' instructions and had concealed his hands from the view of the agents , ' said homicide Lt . Paul Rorrison , according to Patch .  Officials say they used a Taser to control the man , who is only being identified as a 40 year old male , but soon noticed the man had stopped breathing and was unresponsive .  Authorities attempted  on the man and called for paramedics .  Hospital : The man was taken to the Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center in San Diego where he was pronounced dead  The man was taken to the Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center in San Diego where he was pronounced dead .  Police said he wouldn ' t be identified until his family was contacted .  Four Customs and Border Protection officers suffered moderate injuries and were hospitalized .  Homicide detectives with the San Diego Police Department will investigate the man ' s death and the county ' s medical examiner ' s investigation will determine the cause of death .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
14730,14731,"COMPASSION: This story is a perfect example of how the Left is leaving citizens behind in favor of invaders from other countries. Why are we allowing politicians to have this kind of power? Where are the voices of the citizens who are watching their heritage and centuries of a rich history in their countries being stolen overnight by strangers, many of whom are looking for a better economic situation?A homeless man has been found dead in the centre of Bolzano. The corpse was found by some passers-by in a makeshift bed made from cardboard boxes, alongside the wall of the Hotel Alpi, which is currently being used to house refugees. According to the investigators  initial information, there were no traces of violence on the man s body.Here is a photo of the lobby in the 4-star Hotel Bolzano:Here is an image of the  refugees  who live there. This was taken in July last year, as they were staging a protest about not being given enough milk. Please note the  refugee  with the smart phone and earbuds. The suffering of these refugees can be summed up in this one picture:Via: ANSA.it Trentino AA/s",fake,dataset,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
14736,14737,"A 15 year old north Florida girl who authorities say fatally shot her 16 year old brother after years of abuse at home pleaded no contest on Thursday to felony burglary and will receive probation and counseling .  The girl ' s probation will last until her 19th birthday , and is contingent upon her participation in counseling , and testifying truthfully in the case of her parents , who face felony child abuse charges , Third Circuit State Attorney Jeff Siegmeister said .  ' This child has the best chance at a normal adult life by receiving the therapy and education she needs and residing in the setting of her current foster home , ' he said .  A 15 year old girl ( left ) and her 11 year old sister ( right ) have not been charged with murder after the eldest girl fatally shot her 16 year old brother at their Florida home in January . The eldest will receive probation and counseling  The girl and her 11 year old sister were initially arrested on suspicion of murder after the January 5 shooting in Lake City . No charges were filed against the younger sister .  The names of the members of the family are not being released because of the girls ' ages and because of abuse allegations .  On January 5 , the girls and their three year old sister were left by their parents in the care of their brother . The parents were away on a work related truck drive .  Police say the brother locked the elder sister in her room , but when he fell asleep , she persuaded the 11 year old to let her out so she could shower .  The boy , 16 , was killed by his sister , 15 , on January 5 after she escaped the room her brother had locked her in and shot him in the neck  The older sister asked her younger sister to keep watch as she went outside and cut out the air conditioner of her parents ' locked bedroom window to retrieve a pistol .  The girl asked her younger sister to take their three year old sister and hide in a closet before she shot her brother in the neck as he slept , police said .  The two older girls fled the house , leaving the toddler behind .  They were later found by police outside a Dollar General store after the younger girl called a friend saying she needed a ride .  Documents show that the elder girl suffered years of abuse , including being locked in her bedroom for days regularly with only a blanket and a bucket to use the bathroom .  The longest they kept the girl locked in her room was 20 consecutive days , the father told police .  In the room , police found only a blanket and a bucket filled with urine in the closet , allegedly a punishment because the teenage girl was stealing and talking back .  Letters from the parents asking her why she should be let out of that room were also found in the police investigation .  ' It was learned that ( the 15 year old girl ) has made past attempts at ending her life but neither law enforcement nor ( emergency management services ) was notified , ' police wrote in their January report .  In addition , documents showed that she had been sexually abused by her uncle , who was convicted in 2010 .  The uncle was arrested in December 2010 on sex charges after his wife found a  with movie clips of him and the 15 year old engaged in sexual acts . It had been going on for some time .  According to police documents , his wife reported seeing a video clip of the girl sitting down and a man with his penis out , standing behind her .  He then had oral sex with the underage girl , while she made noises , the wife told police .  The victim later told investigators that she did not want it to happen .  The uncle had told her to ' suck on his thingy ' and that ' they were to be private and not to tell anyone no matter what ' .  The abuse had been going on ' for a long time ' , according to the police report , and the videotaping for about a year .  The parents have been charged with child neglect and failing to supervise . The girls ' mother told police that they often locked the 15 year old girl up when she misbehaved  The uncle was convicted and is on the registered sex offender ' s list .  Authorities also said the children ' s mother had discovered the siblings having sex in 2011 .  The mother reported to police that she heard noises coming from the bedroom and found the teenage boy having sex with his sister , who is a year younger .  The mother told police that she separated the siblings and asked them what happened .  The girl told her mother that she did not want to ' do it ' with her brother but he put pressure on her . She also referenced the earlier abuse by her uncle .  After an investigation by child welfare officials , no one was charged .  Her parents had also removed her from school , documents show .  Siegmeister said all of the family ' s history and circumstances were taken into consideration in the decision not to pursue more serious criminal charges .  ' This case is a tragedy to all those involved : the deceased , the two arrested children , as well as their 3 year old sister who has been separated from them both . Further incarceration . . . serves no deterrent , rehabilitative nor other societal interest , ' he said .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
14755,14756,"Uncle Pat is off his meds again. The crazy host of the Christian Broadcasting Network s decades-long hit show The 700 Club has endorsed Donald Trump. Even though Trump never showed any indication of being a devout Christian prior to his running for the  presidential nomination, Robertson has decided that Trump is the man if you want to vote Christian. In a recent event at Regent University, Robertson gave Trump glowing praise, saying that he  inspires us all.  He also said that Trump is  the most amazing people in the whole country.  Here is the video, via Right Wing Watch:Christian Broadcasting Network reporter David Brody also heaped praise upon Trump, and afterwards, Trump continued his now-familiar anti-immigrant rhetoric to his crowd of rabidly racist supporters. He went went so far as to insist that any policy but his would result in, and I quote, the idea that  every illegal gets an air conditioner. Nevermind the fact that this has never been proposed by anyone who likes the idea of legalized paths to citizenship   it s just plain stupid. The only plan for Trump right now is to promote pure, unabashed hatred toward anyone not straight, white, male, and Christian. Thanks to the  creating this hateful base, it should be no surprise that these are Trump s supporters.Thusly, it is also no surprise that one of those said supporters is hateful television preacher Pat Robertson.Watch another video of this nonsense below:Featured image via video screen capture",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
14759,14760,"Republican presidential candidate , Sen . Marco Rubio , R Fla . talks to the crowd at the Kemp Forum , Saturday , Jan . 9 , 2016 , in Columbia , S . C .  Republican presidential candidate , Sen . Marco Rubio , R Fla . talks to the crowd at the Kemp Forum , Saturday , Jan . 9 , 2016 , in Columbia , S . C .  The rap these days is that Marco Rubio is the presidential candidate most feared by both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump . Well , that ' s what a Rubio  ad says , anyway , but there are objective factors to support the case .  Though he ' s running behind both Trump and Ted Cruz , Rubio ' s a candidate the Republican establishment could get behind . Conventional wisdom would say Trump is too much of a loose cannon and Cruz is too associated with the far right to win a general election . Rubio claims to be the only Republican candidate who can unite all segments of the  : tea party , evangelical and chamber of commerce . He even boasts of appealing to working people who haven ' t voted Republican before .  How is it possible to unite so many factions ? That ' s what I was wondering when Rubio came in last week for the customary editorial board endorsement seeking interview with my newspaper , The Des Moines Register .  Rubio ' s particular skill , it seems , is in reaching conclusions that conservative wings also would , but using mainstream reasoning to get there . And deflecting issues he might have trouble answering to everyone ' s satisfaction . He argues against the U . S . Supreme Court ' s same sex marriage ruling , for example , not on religious grounds but on the basis of states ' rights . So instead of having to build a nonreligious case for why same sex marriage is bad for the nation , he makes one for why a federal court has no standing to strike down states ' laws .  He has gone from supporting to opposing immigration reform , not because of lack of empathy , he would argue . Because of terrorism . "" The immigration issue has been transformed in the past year , "" he said . "" It is primarily a national security issue . "" Left unexplained was how a refugee situation involving fleeing Syrians can be conflated with the fate of 11 million undocumented immigrants from mostly Mexico who are living here .  Working people , declares Rubio emphatically , feel forgotten : "" It ' s been a long time since the Republican Party has talked to a single mother raising two children who is struggling at 15 or 14 or 13 an hour . It ' s been a long time since the Republican Party has had an agenda that talks to students . "" He said the other Republican candidates don ' t even discuss student debt .  Marco Rubio , R Fla . , had a very good week last week , in part because so many of his competitors had a bad one . Jeb Bush ' s unfavorables are up , and he canceled ad buys . Sen . Ted Cruz , R Texas , took Donald Trump ' s bait and was forced to defend his citizenship . On Friday he sounded tone deaf . . .  Sen . Marco Rubio , R Fla . , had a very good week last week , in part because so many of his competitors had a bad one . Jeb Bush ' s unfavorables are up , and he canceled ad buys . Sen . Ted Cruz , R Texas , took Donald Trump ' s bait and was forced to defend his citizenship . On Friday he sounded tone deaf . . .  But Rubio ' s approach seems to be to promote vocational education as an alternative to college ? not exactly the way to upward social mobility , which typically requires a college education . And his example of the single mother struggling at 15 an hour would have been stronger if he used Iowa ' s actual minimum wage of 7 . 25 . But Rubio doesn ' t favor a minimum wage hike . That , he argues , would burden businesses in ways that would be passed on to workers and consumers . And while the senator from Florida speaks poignantly of people whose jobs "" have been replaced by a machine or sent to another country , "" rather than call out the companies that moved in search of cheaper labor , he blames corporate taxes and regulations .  In response to a question about the protesters occupying Oregon public lands , Rubio said , "" You can ' t be lawless no matter what dispute you have with the federal government . "" But , he said , "" The federal government controls far too much land . ""  Barack Obama ' s final State of the Union address consisted of a clear vision and an equally plain , if less explicitly identified , path to reach it . Obama envisions a future powered by democratic pluralism , green energy and a redistribution of power from business owners and the wealthy . . .  President Barack Obama ' s final State of the Union address consisted of a clear vision and an equally plain , if less explicitly identified , path to reach it . Obama envisions a future powered by democratic pluralism , green energy and a redistribution of power from business owners and the wealthy . . .  Or on U . S . race relations : "" I ' m troubled by this narrative that law enforcement is systematically violating the rights of people on a regular basis . . . . I don ' t think the majority of police officers are pulling people over for the fun of it . "" But "" I recognize that . . . predominantly minority communities have terrible relationships with local law enforcement . "" He has even seen it , he said , through the eyes of an African American police officer friend in South Florida who was pulled over multiple times and never given a ticket . But "" I ' m not sure the answer to all these questions is some law . ""  "" The president must recognize that it ' s an issue in this country if a significant percent of American people believe they are being treated unfairly . "" Then he pivoted to a non sequitur about children growing up in broken homes , in substandard housing and failing schools , concluding there are state level solutions to such problems .  Rubio turned philosophical again on the question of tougher gun laws . He opposes President Barack Obama ' s executive order , saying background checks wouldn ' t have prevented the mass killings we ' ve had . Instead , Rubio suggests we ponder : "" What is it in our culture and our society that has led to this uptick in recklessness and disregard for life ? ""   . But a more relevant question might be why , given this trigger happy culture , it is legal , for example , to carry concealed weapons . "" I ' m not sure there ' s a law or a program we can pass that can address the societal breakdown , "" Rubio said .  So that ' s how he does it : Expressing appropriate indignation over the plight of the struggling without suggesting changes that would cost employers anything .  Sounding moderate despite answers that never challenge tea party , evangelical or big business perspectives and changing the subject when it comes too close to requiring that .  You can see why the party might pin its hopes on him . The only question left is , what would he really do if elected ?  Rekha Basu is a columnist for the Des Moines Register . Readers may send her email at rbasu dmregweblink .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
14767,14768,"The U . S . State Department is countering Russian criticism of how American authorities are handling of case of a 3 year old adopted boy who died in Texas .  In West Texas , the Ector County Medical Examiner ' s Office is investigating because of the "" suspicious "" nature of the boy ' s death , investigator Kim Harrington said .  Russian officials Tuesday met with the boy ' s unnamed adoptive parents and his surviving brother , also adopted from Russia , after the State Department coordinated the session through Texas Child Protective Services . U . S . officials said .  Meanwhile , a Russian governor halted the foreign adoption of orphans in his region after the boy ' s death .  "" If we know the facts and they are as the Russians claimed , they have every right to be upset just as we would be upset if an American child was adopted in Russia and the same thing happened . But there shouldn ' t be a rush to judgment when these parents might be in terrible pain over what happened to their son , "" said the State Department official , who requested anonymity to speak candidly about the sensitive issue .  The case of the 3 year old ' s death has aggravated State Department efforts push through more than 500 adoption cases in which American families have already begun the process to adopt a Russian child before Moscow in December passed a law banning adoptions of Russian children by Americans .  That pending law would ban adoptions by Americans ostensibly because of documented cases of abuse by adoptive parents . But others say the Russian move is in retaliation for a U . S . law that places restrictions on Russian human rights abusers .  "" This is a very difficult case for us and the timing couldn ' t be worse , "" the State Department official said . "" We are trying to revolve the rest of these cases , but having a case like this makes it more difficult . ""  Officials said , including the death in Texas , 20 of about 60 , 000 Russian children adopted by Americans in the past two decades have died in the United States .  "" We share one hundred percent the Russian concerns about these cases of death and abuse , "" another senior State Department official said . Acknowledging that 20 Russian children have died with U . S . families , the official added , "" We do not disagree this is unacceptable . ""  State Department officials said they hope to travel to Moscow to discuss the pending adoption cases .  Adoptions halted in one Russian region  The governor of Russia ' s Pskov region is not waiting for the national ban to take effect , and announced Tuesday that all orphan adoptions to foreigners would be temporarily stopped .  "" Another cruel crime against a child was committed in the United States , "" Pskov Gov . Andrey Turchak said .  The boy was born on January 9 , 2010 , and died on January 21 , said Konstantin Dolgov , the Russian Foreign Ministry ' s special representative for human rights .  Dolgov said the child suffered injuries to his head and legs , as well as to his abdomen and internal organs . The wounds , he said , "" could only be caused by strong blows . ""  Authorities in Texas have not released such details . But they have offered some specifics .  The child was found unresponsive at his residence and his mother called 911 , Ector County Forensic Death Investigator Sondra Woolf said . The boy was transported to the emergency room by the fire department , then pronounced dead by an emergency room doctor , she said .  The body has been sent to Fort Worth for an autopsy , and results could take weeks , she added .  Patrick Crimmins , of Texas Child Protective Services , said his office is investigating allegations including physical abuse and neglectful supervision , or neglect .  Sgt . Gary Duesler , a spokesman for the Ector County Sheriff ' s Office , said his office also is investigating . No arrests have been made , and officials are waiting for autopsy results , he said .  Governor wants brother sent back to Russia  The boy ' s death is confirmation of Russia ' s decision to ban U . S . adoptions , the Pskov governor said .  "" We need to do everything and create all necessary conditions for the orphans to find families here in our Pskov region and in Russia , "" he said .  Tuchak said his office is working to bring the brother back to his native Russia , even though the American parents have not been charged with any crime or publicly named .  "" You need to start taking the necessary procedures today , "" Turchak said . The brother "" can ' t stay in the United States . With American legislation , he would be transferred from one hand to another . It ' s an additional trauma for the kid . He ' s not a dog or a cat . ""  Texas Child Protective Services says its top priority is the surviving child or children at the home , Crimmins said .  "" At any time , if we feel the surviving child or children may be at risk , we can remove immediately , "" he said .  A call seeking comment to a number listed for the boy ' s adoptive parents was not immediately returned . A voice message told reporters the parents would have no comment .  In December , Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law the measure that would ban the adoption of Russian children by U . S . families . It is scheduled to take effect in January 2014 .  Americans adopted close to 1 , 000 Russian children last year , according to U . S . State Department figures .  Though the number has been dropping in recent years , Russia remains the third most popular foreign country after China and Ethiopia for U . S . foreign adoptions .  The Russian measure also bars any political activities by nongovernmental organizations receiving funding from the United States , if such activities could affect Russian interests , Russia ' s semiofficial  Novosti news agency said .  And it imposes sanctions on U . S . officials thought to have violated human rights .  The move is widely seen as retaliation for a bill that U . S . President Barack Obama signed into law on December 14 . That law , called the Magnitsky Act , imposes U . S . travel and financial restrictions on human rights abusers in Russia .  The act is named for Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky , who uncovered the largest tax fraud in the country ' s history in the form of rebates claimed by government officials who stole money from the state . Magnitsky was apparently beaten to death in 2009 after a year in a Moscow detention center .  Backers of the Russian bill said American adoptive parents have been abusive , citing what they say are the 20 deaths of adopted Russian children since the 1990s .  The Russian public supported the bill , with 56 of respondents in a poll conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation saying they backed the ban ,  Novosti reported .  In 2010 , an American woman sparked outrage after she sent her adopted son back to Russia alone on a one way flight , saying the boy , then 7 , had violent episodes that made her family fear for its safety .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
14773,14774,"Jade Goody has spoken for the first time about the terrible conditions she has been forced to endure since her death .  Currently stuck in a Travel inn on the M3 , Mrs Goody has no humane sanitation or catering facilities in what she described as nothing but a wooden box .  Problems arose as she was served a judicial order from Kevin Woland as she went to take her up her rightful throne in heaven .  Mr Woland claims he bought her soul for 50p , a claim denied by the Big Brother and Heat magazine celebrity .  Mrs Goody spoke to me through a special medium brought in amid the recent claims .  "" This is not what I was told it was like , I asked for views across eternity and 5 . 000 angels playing Robbie Williams songs , "" the star said .  "" They ' ve shoved me in this , this box , and I ' m being treated no better than a D lister , I don ' t see that actress bird having to be forced to endure such a degrading situation .  "" Don ' t they know who I was , I ' m a bloody celebrity , I want out of here . ""  Mr Woland , said he still has the contract , which was carved in the back of a close associate of Mrs Goody , and would fight his case in the Europe if he had to .  Mr Woland said : She is mine , she knows she ' s mine and she ' s trying to get out of her legal binds , we need her down here with us , or at least until Jim Davidson cashes in his chips . ""  God refused to comment but a close friend said he was livid and would move hell and high water to get her into heaven as he wanted the stars autograph to complete his Big Brother 3 scrap book .  ",satire,text,validation,World conflict,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,negative,past
14777,14778,"New York It has risen floor by floor , gleaming steel beam by steel beam from the scene of what was incomprehensible destruction more than a decade ago .  Now , as 1 World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan stretches closer toward being the tallest building in the United States , it already stands as an icon in its own right .  Punctuating the Manhattan horizon , the once named "" Freedom Tower "" also was once fraught with controversy and costly redesigns . But it ' s soon expected to top off at 1 , 776 feet technically edging out the Willis Tower in Chicago by way of decorative spire affixed to its peak , and replacing the Twin Towers that fell to terrorist attacks on September 11 , 2001 .  "" Everybody takes pride in this building , "" says Marc Becker , deputy general superintendent of the construction firm Tishman . "" Everyone ' s an important piece of the puzzle , whether you ' re an iron worker , whether you ' re a painter , everyone has a job to do . ""  "" We ' re all here to see this through to the end , "" adds Becker .  Crews at the site are gearing up for President Barack Obama ' s visit Thursday to the work in progress which now has reached 104 stories for an update on its upward growth .  The building is expected to open in about a year and a half .  "" We ' re going to have our topping out beam placed on the street "" so that President Obama can sign it , says Mike Pinelli , general superintendent at 1  .  "" It ' s going be the first signature on the topping out beam , "" he adds .  "" It ' s typically signed by everybody on the project at some point and then we ' re going to erect it shortly thereafter to signify the topping out of Tower One . ""  On the 92nd floor , workers can often be seen hanging off beams as they twist steel rods into a lattice framework while blowtorches spray sparks against the upper floors .  Steel beams fall 40 stories at  construction site  Lacking external glass at such heights , the structure is edged by black netting to prevent loose objects from falling into the plaza more than a thousand feet below .  Ground was broken in April 2006 , on a redesign by the architectural firm of Skidmore , Owings and Merrill , with construction starting later that year .  "" The structure itself is a hybrid , "" says Mel Ruffini , Tishman ' s project executive . "" The perimeter is steel , the core is concrete . ""  He calls it "" the strongest concrete we ' ve ever used in New York , maybe in the United States , for an office building . ""  "" The walls are extremely thick , and all of the building supplies , elevators , all the risers , all telecommunications are within that concrete structure inside the building , "" he says .  From the 92nd floor , workers are able to watch planes approach the New York region ' s three major airports , a subtle reminder , they say , of the thousands who died on that September day .  "" Tower One , when it ' s complete , will symbolize everything that was lost in 9 11 , "" Pinelli says . "" It also will symbolize our resiliency as a nation , all the hard work put in by everybody . ""  September 11 memorial debuts in New York  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
14794,14795,"Reuters) - (Note: paragraphs 1, 6 and 19 contain language that may offend some readers) New Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte sought to defuse a row with the United States on Tuesday, voicing regret for calling President Barack Obama a “son of a bitch”, a comment that prompted Washington to call off a bilateral meeting. The tiff between the two allies overshadowed the opening of a summit of East and Southeast Asian nations in Vientiane, Laos. It also soured Obama’s last swing as president through a region he has tried to make a focus of U.S. foreign policy, a strategy widely seen as a response to China’s economic and military muscle-flexing. Diplomats say strains with longtime ally the Philippines could compound Washington’s difficulties in forging a united front with Southeast Asian partners on the geostrategic jostle with Beijing over the South China Sea. Duterte has bristled repeatedly at criticism over his “war on drugs”, which has killed about 2,400 people since he took office two months ago, and on Monday said it would be “rude” for Obama to raise the question of human rights when they met. Such a conversation, Duterte told reporters, would prompt him to curse at Obama, using a Filipino phrase “putang ina” which can mean “son of a bitch” or “son of a whore”. He has previously used the epithet against Pope Francis, although he later apologized, and the U.S. ambassador to the Philippines. After Washington called off Tuesday’s bilateral meeting between Obama and Duterte in response to his latest comment, the Philippines issued two statements expressing regret and also briefed reporters. “President Duterte explained that the press reports that President Obama would ‘lecture’ him on extrajudicial killings led to his strong comments, which in turn elicited concern,” the Philippines government said in a statement. “He regrets that his remarks to the press have caused much controversy,” it added. “He expressed his deep regard and affinity for President Obama and for the enduring partnership between our nations.” Obama’s deputy national security adviser, Ben Rhodes, said the focus on Duterte’s comments leading into the summit had not created a constructive environment for a bilateral meeting. “All of the attention frankly was on those comments, and therefore not on the very substantive agenda that we have with the Philippines,” he told reporters. Officials from both countries said there would be no formal meeting rescheduled in Laos but a short conversation between the two presidents was possible.  Instead of the Duterte meeting, Obama held talks with South Korean President Park Geun-hye, a day after North Korea fired three medium-range missiles into the sea. He urged a full implementation of sanctions against North Korea, adding that the missile test demonstrated the threat that Pyongyang posed. Obama is also likely to hold an unscheduled meeting in Laos with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to discuss North Korea, Rhodes said. He said Washington needed to maintain a sense of urgency within the international community on sanctions against Pyongyang.  Obama, the first sitting U.S. president to visit Laos, said on Tuesday he wanted to address the legacy of U.S. bombing during the Vietnam War. He announced that Washington would provide an additional $90 million over three years to help clear unexploded ordnance, which has killed or wounded over 20,000 people.  But the unusually open tensions between the United States and the Philippines, its former colony, threaten to overshadow the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and East Asia Summits in Laos, which run until Thursday. The 10-member  will also meet leaders of other regional powers: China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, India, Russia and the United States. Duterte won the presidency in May after promising to suppress crime and wipe out the illegal drug trade in a country where the number of methamphetamine users is estimated to be at least 1.3 million in a population of 100 million.  About 900 people linked to drugs have been killed in police operations since July 1 and a further 1,500 have been classified as “deaths under investigation”, a term human rights activists in the Philippines say is a euphemism for extrajudicial killings. Duterte has poured scorn on critics of his uncompromising campaign, usually larding it with curses.  He lambasted the United Nations after it criticized the surge in killings and he turned down a meeting with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the Laos summit. He has accused a senator heading an inquiry into the killings of getting payoffs from drug lords. Manila has been aligned with the United States in its dispute with China over the South China Sea, in which Washington blames Beijing for militarizing a vital global trade route and jeopardizing freedom of movement at sea and in the air. China rejects those accusations and accuses the United States of ratcheting up tensions unnecessarily. China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion of trade moves annually. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have rival claims. An arbitration court in The Hague in July invalidated China’s territorial claims after a case was brought by the Philippines, a ruling Beijing refuses to recognize. Duterte said last month he expected all  members to support the arbitration court’s ruling, but that the Philippines would not raise the issue in Laos. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
14796,14797,"Microsoft ' s latest financials show Surface boom , Mobile collapse  Microsoft has released its latest set of financial results , with overall revenues falling by 10 year on year , but a strong set of figures for its cloud services .  Office commercial products and cloud services revenue rose 5 percent driven by Office 365 revenue growth of almost 70 percent . Net income was 6 . 3 billion , with earnings per share of 78 cents , beating Wall Street analyst expectations of 71 cents . The revenue also fell down , from 26 . 47 billion a year ago , to 23 . 8 billion . This figure was down two percent on the same period past year , but up three percent in "" constant currency "" figures when currency fluctuations are taken into account , Microsoft said .  The most significant decline was a fall in phone revenue of 49 in constant currency .  Its Productivity and Business Processes (  ) business , which includes Office , consumer Office , and Dynamics posted revenue of 6 . 7 billion ( ? 4 . 69 billion ) compared to 6 . 3 billion ( ? 4 . 4 billion ) in revenue last quarter .  Microsoft claimed that Azure revenue grew by 140 per cent in constant currency , "" with revenue from Azure premium services growing by almost three times , year over year "" . "" Our commercial business executed well as our sales teams and partners helped customers realize the value of Microsoft ' s cloud technologies across Azure , Office 365 and  Online "" .  There were a lot of good and bad sides to the results that came out from Microsoft ' s practices .  Chief Executive Satya Nadella has focussed on cloud services and mobile applications on the basis that he will see slower growth in its traditional software business .  "" Intelligent Cloud "" , as Microsoft dubs its division , also covers Windows Server and enterprise software sales , making it hard to pick out just how much Azure made by it , making a direct comparison to  very hard .  Last July , Microsoft introduced Windows 10 , raising some hope in the industry of a rebound in  sales .  Microsoft Surface revenue was up 29 year on year , totalling 1 . 35 billion ( about ? 94m ,  1 . 91bn ) . The company ' s gaming and digital content unit similarly reported positive growth , with monthly active users on its Xbox Live platform rising 30 year on year , to 48 million .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
14814,14815,"Fans around the world have gathered at arenas and record stores , big screens , parks and makeshift shrines , to watch the memorial service of Michael Jackson and pay homage to their idol .  A Michael Jackson fan in Berlin watches footage of the memorial concert .  As thousands of fans joined Jackson ' s family and closest friends at Los Angeles Staples Center arena , millions more followed proceedings on television and online .  Many fans were moved to tears when Jackson ' s daughter Paris Katherine wept as she called the singer "" the best father you could ever imagine . "" Pleitgen added : "" A lot of people got very wet eyes . "" Watch fans gather in Berlin  South African former president Nelson Mandela paid his respects to Jackson in a statement read to the audience at the Los Angeles memorial by singer Smokey Robinson . Watch Smokey Robinson deliver Mandela ' s message .  "" Michael became close to us after he started visiting and performing in South Africa regularly . We grew fond of him and he became a close member of our family . We had great admiration for his talent and that he was able to triumph over tragedy on so many occasions in his life , "" Mandela said . "" We mourn with the millions of families worldwide . ""  In the southern Chinese enclave of Hong Kong , fans carried flowers and Jackson paraphernalia , such as a doll and record , at a memorial . Watch Jackson tributes pour in from around the world  "" I cannot accept  has already left us , and I think we should come here and do something for him and express our feeling to show that we really miss him , "" said one man .  Hundreds of British fans in London braved torrential rain to watch a giant screen outside the city ' s O2 Arena , where Jackson was scheduled to play a series of 50 concerts from July 13 . Many more fans are expected to converge on the venue next Monday to mark what would have been the first of his concert dates . See images of Jackson fans from around the globe  "" I am still in denial , "" said Jenny Keme , 21 . "" We ' re going to stay here to the end of the ceremony even though it ' s pouring . He had such a gentle soul , that ' s what I love most about him . ""  The theater has become a shrine to Jackson , with devoted followers holding vigils and leaving cards and messages at the building ' s entrance .  In Japan , meanwhile , hundreds of fans gathered at a Tower Records store where Jackson twice visited in Tokyo to watch his videos on a big screen . Followers were even offered the chance to take a photograph next to a cast of a footprint left by Jackson when he last visited . Watch fans gather in Tokyo  In a bar in New Delhi , the Jackson memorial gathering was small only a dozen or so people . On the wall of the bar that usually only plays hard rock , Jackson ' s music was blasting , candles were lit underneath two framed pictures of Jackson and customers had written messages saying goodbye . The bar manager said : "" We all grew up with Michael Jackson . Other generations had The Beatles , or Elvis Presley . Michael is our generation . ""  Facebook user Manu Tyagi from India said : "" The first English songs I ever heard in India were  songs . . . grew up with his music . . . and never though we would see him die so soon . He achieved his destiny before he passed to the kingdom of god ! Really hope he rests in peace . He was the best . "" As Jackson ' s coffin casket was carried out of the Staples Center , Facebook user Marika Papazoglou in Greece said : ""  Michael . We love you more . ""  Anouk Lorie contributed to this story  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
14819,14820,"Harvard student Kenisha Jones says she didn ' t cheat , claiming everyone else copied her work and she ' s just an innocent victim  Harvard University administrators are said to be aghast ' at reports that over 125 students plagiarized a final exam , more than 50 percent of the students enrolled in a course entitled "" Political Ethics in the Post Obama Era ' taught by visiting professor enemaitis ( sic ) William Ayers on loan from the University of Chicago .  According to the only conservative professor on staff , Larry Duke ' Johnson , not related to university diversity chancellor Okindo Kente  Johnson ' Johnson , the university ' s best and brightest turned in 125 identical answers to the rhetorical question "" In 2200 pages or less , explain why Republicans continue to use racist attacks against Obamacare to lie , cheat , and steal from the country ' s minorities . ""  The identical essays repeated verbatim , without attribution , Senator Harry Reid , Congress woman Nancy Pelosi ,  Chair person Debbie Wasserman Schultz , Rosie O ' Donnell , Sean Penn and former Florida one term Congressman Alan Grayson .  Professor Larry Johnson , the only non diverse lecturer on staff , denied tenure after claims he was appointed due to affirmative action ' leaving more deserving multi cultural lecturers without a lucrative teaching post at the liberal bastion , claims that he has been notified that his contract will not be renewed due to unverified claims that he was born to working parents who were married for 42 years , and a product of a typical American family who earned their success on their own initiative . ""  In filling charges against the Duke , diversity maven "" Big Johnson Johnson claimed that using the term "" typical American Family ' in his biography is racially insensitive , and his use of the word "" Marriage "" Working and "" Earned were dog whistles ' to indicate his prejudice against minorities .  "" Big Johnson ' also cited Duke ' s 75 contribution to Senator Scott Brown ' s Senate re election campaign against Harvard American Indian minority professor Elizabeth Warren as more evidence of his blatant prejudice . In addition "" Biggie ' cited Brown ' s latest  commercial saying he was going to hold the fort ' against bigger and more wasteful government spending a direct slap against Warren ' s alleged ties to American Indian descendants who were known on occasion to scalp early western settlers who supported free trade but were against illegal Kenyan aliens in Boston selling fire water ' to the natives .  A spokesman from the Harvard Alumni Association said the alleged cheating scandal was just another racist attack against President Obama who never cheated on anything while here at Harvard on a full scholarship as a deserving foreign student . ""  A fact checker ( sic ) from the  confirmed the comment saying , "" there is no record of any of President Obama ' s grades , term papers or application at Harvard . Obviously , with that squeaky clean record he obviously never lied or cheated during his time at the University . "" The Times went on to say they couldn ' t comment on his social life , as that part of his time at Harvard dealt with "" intimate privacy issues and was fully explained in his two heart warming ' autobiographies where he delved into his penetration of white cultural bias and sex practices . ""  The spokesman said the matter was now in the hands of the Ted Kennedy Academic Integrity Committee which he said , "" I ' m sure will disprove all these spurious lies that have emerged just before the election . ""  Efforts to reach  Joe Biden , former  reporter Jaysen Blair , Time Magazine ' s Fareed Zakaria , Gerald Posner of the Daily Beast and  business reporter Zachery Kouwe to discuss similarities in their plagiarism scandals were not returned as of press time .  Ted Kennedy was no longer available to discuss his expulsion from Harvard for having a minority student from Mexico sit in for his Spanish final . Family members say so many dead Kennedy ' s have been dug up and moved , they ' ve lost track of where all the bodies are buried . ""  More dirt as we dig it up .  ",satire,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
14855,14856,"Snyder Appointed Task Force Lays Most Blame For Flint Water Crisis On State ? Agency  Filed Under : Flint Water , Lead Poisoning , Snyder Administration   , Mich . (   ) ? A task force appointed by Gov . Rick Snyder says Michigan s environmental regulatory agency is primarily responsible for the state s failure to ensure safe drinking water for Flint residents .  The Flint Water Advisory Task Force says in a letter to Snyder that the state Department of Environmental Quality must be held accountable for that failure .  Corrosive Flint River water leached lead from service pipes into homes after the city switched last year from Detroit water . Elevated blood lead levels later were found in some children .  Department of Environmental Quality Director Dan Wyant resigned Tuesday and Snyder said in a statement that more changes in ? personnel will be made .  In response to initial findings from the Flint Water Task Force , Gov . Rick Snyder today issued the following statement :  When I became aware that the city of Flint s water showed elevated lead levels and that the state s handling of the situation was being questioned , I requested funding to switch the source back to the Great Lakes Water Authority and appointed an independent task force to identify possible missteps and areas for improvement .  Although , as recently as October the state was still saying that the city s water is treated and the state says it meets federal safety guidelines ,  The task force has done an exceptional job , reviewing stacks of documents and interviewing scores of Flint , Genesee County , state and federal officials . Although the task force s final report is not yet completed , members have made me aware of some interim findings and corrective steps that I have decided to take immediately in order to restore trust in how the state keeps its citizens safe and informed , says Snyder in the statement release by his office .  Task force co chair Ken Sikkema says in the letter that Flint residents were exposed to toxic levels of lead in their water primarily due to a regulatory culture of passive technical compliance .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
14868,14869,"Malala Yousafzai seeks 2 billion to educate Syria children  Malala Yousafzai visits a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan in 2014 .  London : Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai will seek to inspire world leaders at a conference in London ? on Thursday to commit 1 . 98 billion ? this year to give Syrian refugee children access to education .  Heads of state and government and ministers from countries around the world will converge on London for the "" Supporting Syria and the region "" conference , which aims to raise funds for humanitarian crises caused by the Syrian war . ? Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop will be among those attending .  Some 700 , 000 Syrian children living in refugee camps in Jordan and Lebanon and in other Middle Eastern countries are out of school , according to a report issued by the Malala Fund , which campaigns and raises funds ? for educational causes .  Malala Yousafzai waves to the crowd at a press conference at the Library of Birmingham after being announced as a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize , on October 10 , 2014 in Birmingham , England .  "" I have met so many Syrian refugee children , they are still in my mind . I can ' t forget them . The thought that they won ' t be able to go to school in their whole life is completely shocking and I cannot accept it , "" Malala said in a telephone interview .  "" We can still help them , we can still protect them . They are not lost yet . They need schools . They need books . They need teachers . This is the way we can protect the future of Syria . ""  A Pakistani teenage education activist who came to prominence when a Taliban gunman shot her in the head on her school bus in 2012 , Malala continued campaigning on the world stage and in 2014 became the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner .  Now 18 , she lives in Britain but devotes much of her time and energy to the cause of education for Syrian refugee children . An accomplished public speaker who brought a United Nations audience to its feet in a celebrated speech in 2013 , she hopes to make a powerful impact at the London event .  "" I ' m hoping to encourage and inspire world leaders to take action . I ' m not going to wait . We can ' t wait . It needs to happen . ""  She will appear at the London conference alongside 17 year old schoolgirl Muzoon Almellehan , who will be the only young Syrian refugee to address world leaders at the event .  "" Without education we cannot do anything , "" Muzoon said on the same call as Malala .  The pair first met in 2014 at the sprawling Zaatari refugee camp in the Jordanian desert , and were reunited in December last year when Muzoon was resettled in northern England .  "" She is the one that I want people to listen to . Her story is so powerful , it ' s so inspiring . She ' s going to tell world leaders that these children have a right to an education and they must not ignore it , "" said Malala .  The London conference is not limited to education but aims to obtain pledges from countries to meet a range of Syrian humanitarian needs .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
14871,14872,"We re living in such  historic  times I can barely take all the diversity and equality Help us to choose the woman the Obama regime will select to replace Alexander Hamilton on the $10 bill (below). The Treasury Department is preparing to announce that they are putting a woman on the $10 bill, as a source has confirmed what appears to be a premature tweet.Treasury Secretary Jack Lew will announce Thursday that the Bureau of Engraving and Printing will put a woman on the bill as soon as 2020. Via: Weasel ZippersWednesday evening, Nancy Lindborg tweeted:Sec Lew announced 2day historic decision to feature a woman on new 10 dollar bill. About time! Share ideas on who to feature #TheNewTen.  Nancy Lindborg (@nancylindborg) June 17, 2015We have a few guesses as to whom the Obama regime will choose as Alexander Hamilton s replacement:The  honorable  and very alert  Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader GinsburgWhite House puppet master, Valerie JarrettAmerica s first Food Nazi and 5-star vacation MoochAmerica s first transracial, habitual liar and former Spokane,   PresidentAnd finally America s most dishonest presidential candidate ",fake,dataset,validation,Football,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present
14874,14875,"Two lawsuits say the national chapter of the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity allowed a culture of "" violent misogyny "" after an internal email from the Georgia Tech chapter leaked last year instructing fraternity members on how to lure "" rapebait . ""  The lawsuits were filed Thursday in an Atlanta court on behalf of two anonymous women listed as Jane Doe and June Doe alleging they were sexually assaulted in separate incidents in 2012 and 2014 at the Georgia Tech chapter fraternity house based on a fraternity playbook for targeting women .  The Phi Kappa Tau national chapter , the now suspended local chapter and the chapter adviser are named as defendants in both lawsuits .  Simon ' s firm said the same fraternity member was involved in both incidents .  No criminal charges have been filed , the fraternity said .  "" The complaints highlight an offensive email and disturbing statements made in 2013 by chapter members and attempt to somehow link the alleged sexual assaults in 2012 and 2014 to that conduct , "" the fraternity said in a statement .  "" The Fraternity is disappointed that the plaintiffs ' attorney chose to exploit the hypersensitivity of today ' s college environment towards sexual assault by drafting the complaints in a manner that sensationalizes completely inappropriate statements , while at the same time alleging that a Georgia Tech student committed criminal rapes of two different women . ""  Simon , the plaintiffs ' attorney , said , "" I totally agree that the language is salacious , but it ' s the words of their own members . ""  She said the suits were seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages .  Opinion : ' Rapebait ' email reveals dark side of frat culture  The leaked email contained references to using alcohol as a means of sexual persuasion and attracted the attention of online communities and social media sites .  The fraternity member who wrote the email apologized in Georgia Tech ' s student newspaper last year .  Identified only as "" Matthew , "" he said that he was his chapter ' s social chair and that the email was a joke and should never have been written in the first place . Matthew wrote the email but is not the person accused of sexual assault .  "" Misogynistic behavior is everywhere online and unfortunately , my attempt to ridicule it in an immature and outrageous satire backfired terribly and in a manner I mistakenly underestimated , "" he wrote in the Technique , the student newspaper .  The school ' s chapter was disbanded for three years over accusations of sexual assault in March , Georgia Tech said .  Georgia Tech , which wasn ' t named as a defendant in the lawsuits , had no comment on the litigation .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past
14891,14892,"South China Sea : U . S . Sovereignty Challenge Provokes Anger In Beijing  "" The Chinese side expresses its strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition . ""  Posted : 10 27 2015 07 : 28   Edited : 10 27 2015 09 : 30    DigitalGlobe ScapeWare3d Getty Images A U . S . Navy warship sailed past one of China ' s artificial islands in the South China Sea on Tuesday , in a move that challenged Chinese sovereignty and provoked Beijing ' s anger .   (  ) A U . S . Navy warship sailed past one of China ' s artificial islands in the South China Sea on Tuesday , in a challenge to Chinese sovereignty claims that drew an angry protest from Beijing , which said the move damaged U . S . China relations and regional peace .  China ' s Foreign Ministry said authorities monitored and warned the  Lassen as it entered what China claims as a 12 mile ( 21 kilometer ) territorial limit around Subi Reef in the Spratly Islands archipelago , a group of reefs , islets , and atolls where the Philippines has competing claims .  "" The actions of the U . S . warship have threatened China ' s sovereignty and security interests , jeopardized the safety of personnel and facilities on the reefs , and damaged regional peace and stability , "" the ministry said on its website .  "" The Chinese side expresses its strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition , "" the statement said .    Landsat Orbital Horizon Gallo Images Getty Images The move fits a U . S . policy of pushing back against China ' s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea .  The sail past fits a U . S . policy of pushing back against China ' s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea . U . S . ally the Philippines welcomed the move as a way of helping maintain "" a balance of power . ""  Since 2013 , China has accelerated the creation of new outposts by piling sand atop reefs and atolls then adding buildings , ports and airstrips big enough to handle bombers and fighter jets activities seen as an attempt to change the territorial status quo by changing the geography .  Navy officials had said the sail past was necessary to assert the U . S . position that China ' s manmade islands cannot be considered sovereign territory with the right to surrounding territorial waters .  International law permits military vessels the right of "" innocent passage "" in transiting other country ' s seas without notification . China ' s Foreign Ministry , though , labeled the ship ' s actions as illegal .    Landsat Orbital Horizon Gallo Images Getty Images Since 2013 , China has accelerated the creation of new artificial islands activities seen ? as an attempt to change the territorial status quo by changing the geography .  The U . S . says it doesn ' t take a position on sovereignty over the South China Sea but insists on freedom of navigation and overflight . About 30 percent of global trade passes through the South China Sea , which also has rich fishing grounds and a potential wealth of undersea mineral deposits .  China says it respects the right of navigation but has never specified the exact legal status of its maritime claims . China says virtually all of the South China Sea belongs to it , while Brunei , Malaysia , the Philippines , Taiwan and Vietnam claim either parts or all of it .  Beijing ' s response closely mirrored its actions in May when a navy dispatcher warned off a U . S . Navy P8 A Poseidon surveillance aircraft as it flew over Fiery Cross Reef , where China has conducted extensive reclamation work . ?  Cliff Owen Associated Press U . S . ally the Philippines welcomed the move as a way of helping maintain "" a balance of power . ""  A Defense Department official , who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the Lassen ' s movements , said the patrol was completed without incident . A Pentagon spokesman , Navy Cmdr . Bill Urban , declined to comment .  Speaking to foreign correspondents in Manila , Philippine President Benigno Aquino  said he supported the U . S . naval maneuvers as an assertion of freedom of navigation and as a means to balance power in the region .  "" I think expressing support for established norms of international behavior should not be a negative for a country , "" he said . "" I think everybody would welcome a balance of power anywhere in the world . ""  Without identifying China by name , he said "" one regional power "" has been making "" controversial pronouncements "" that must not be left unchallenged .  The Obama administration has long said it will exercise a right to freedom of navigation in any international waters .  "" Make no mistake , the United States will fly , sail and operate wherever international law allows , as we do around the world , and the South China Sea is not and will not be an exception , "" Defense Secretary Ash Carter said earlier this month .  Win McNamee Getty Images "" Make no mistake , the United States will fly , sail and operate wherever international law allows , as we do around the world , and the South China Sea is not and will not be an exception , "" Defense Secretary Ash Carter said earlier in Oct .  The Obama administration has long said it will exercise a right to freedom of navigation in any international waters .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
14892,14893,"Syrian news agency  said the first blast was caused by a vehicle bomb that detonated at a bus station near the shrine .  The Islamic State group claimed responsibility in a statement released on social media .  The U . N . mediated talks that opened Friday are the first global effort for a peaceful settlement in Syria since the last round of U . N . negotiations broke apart in 2014 with little progress .  Meanwhile , U . N . special mediator for Syria Staffan de Mistura made a courtesy visit to a Syrian opposition delegation in their Geneva hotel , his office said .  Talks to end five years of war in Syria got off to a hard start on Sunday , barely averting a boycott by President Bashar al Assad s opponents and clouded by a triple bombing outside Damascus that killed at least 45 people .  As Damascus attempted to recover from the fresh carnage , groups from both sides of the Syrian conflict endeavored to push on after a rocky start to U . N . hosted indirect peace talks in Geneva .  Salim al Muslat , spokesman for the High Negotiations Committee (  ) , the main Syrian opposition group at the Geneva peace talks .  Now , while battlefield dynamics can affect negotiating leverage , in the end there is no military solution to this conflict , Kerry said .  Moscow has objected to two Islamist rebel groups , Jaish al Islam and Ahrar al Sham , taking any part in the talks .  Kerry said that a political resolution in Syria ? beginning with a cease fire and including a political transition based on Security Council resolutions ? would be the most effective way to isolate and weaken the Islamic State while addressing the dire humanitarian conditions in places like Madaya , where starvation is widespread . He says a ceasefire would allow all to focus on defeating the Islamic State group .  We will neither sit down directly with terrorists , nor have dialogue with them , Syrian Information Minister Omar al Zoubi told state  Saturday evening .  A shrine there houses the remains of the daughter of Ali ibn Abi Taleb , the cousin of Prophet Muhammad , whom the Shiite faith considers as successor to the prophet .  The heavily populated area of southern Damascus is a site of pilgrimage for Shi ites from Iran , Lebanon and other parts of the Muslim world . The smoke is still rising from one of the cars on the side of the street , an eyewitness said .  Syrian Ambassador Ibrahim Jaafari , head of the government delegation at Geneva , said the blasts in Damascus just confirmed the link between what the government says are a Saudi led and funded Islamist opposition and terrorism .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
14898,14899,"After months of hints , China announced Friday it will relax its decades long one child policy and abolish labor camps in an effort to improve human rights , the state run Xinhua news agency reported .  Officials had said earlier both controversial policies were under review , but that did not diminish the force of Friday ' s announcement .  The biggest change could be the abolishment of the so called "" re education through labor "" system under which tens of thousands are imprisoned in China without trial .  Set up in 1957 , the system allows the police to detain petty offenders such as thieves , prostitutes and drug addicts in labor camps for up to four years without a trial . China ' s judicial process itself is already controlled by the ruling Communists in a one party regime . In a 2009 report to a United Nations human rights forum , the Chinese government acknowledged 320 such facilities nationwide holding 190 , 000 people . Other estimates have put the number of inmates much higher .  Critics have long accused of the authorities of misusing the camps to silence so called trouble makers , including political dissidents , rights activists and Falun Gong members .  Chinese labor camp inmate tells of true horror of Halloween '  '  As part of the reforms , China said it will reduce the number of crimes subject to the death penalty .  Even those who know little about China have likely heard about its one child policy . China ' s family planning laws require most families living in urban areas to have one child .  The policy will be slightly relaxed so that couples will be allowed to have two children if one of the parents was an only child , Xinhua reported . Currently , both parents must be sole children to be eligible for a second child .  Glut of women at Shanghai ' s marriage market  The one child policy , though applauded by many for slowing down China ' s population growth , has been widely criticized for resulting in forced abortions and hefty fines that are sometimes used to enforce it .  Some critics say the law hurts China ' s elderly , who typically rely on their children for support in old age , and even constrains economic growth as the working age population begins to decline .  Another man , walking through the Beijing metro with his girlfriend , agreed .  "" When I get married , I would prefer having two children as I ' m the only child in my family . My childhood was a bit boring , "" he said .  A third commuter also praised the changes : "" It ' s a great new policy . Raising three kids is a bit stressful , but two are just perfect . ""  The girl with no identity : Being a second child in China  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
14913,14914,"Reuters) - The Israeli branch of the U.S. Republican party began a campaign on Monday to get American voters living in Israel to cast absentee ballots in favor of Donald Trump. According to the Israeli chapter of the Republican party, around 300,000 Americans are eligible to vote in the November presidential elections. They live in Israel or in settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. Marc Zell, the head of Republicans Overseas Israel branch,  said the campaign aimed to rekindle interest in U.S. politics among second- and third-generation citizens, many of whom have children who will be eligible to vote for the first time. “We want to try to attract new voters who perhaps in the past had no special interest in voting in the U.S. elections,” Zell told Reuters. Tzvika Brot, who is heading the campaign, estimated that about three-quarters of American-Israelis would support the Republican party. A Democratic party representative in Israel disputed that estimate, telling Israel Radio the majority of Israeli and U.S. Jewish voters had always preferred the Democrats. A poll of Jewish Israelis conducted in May found 40 percent of respondents backed Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and 31 percent supported Trump. The poll didn’t specify whether those who responded were eligible to vote in the U.S. election. The pro-Trump drive opened at a shopping mall in the central Israeli town of Modiin and will focus on areas with high concentrations of American-Israelis. Brot said he hoped the new votes being sought might help tip the balance in swing states.  Trump, who has accused the administration of President Barack Obama of lacklustre support for Israel, won his party’s nomination for the presidency last month. He has rejected last year’s nuclear deal with Iran and called for more investment in missile defense in Europe. His views, including a vow to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and a proposal to impose a temporary ban on Muslims seeking to enter the country, have polarized the Republican party and caused widespread consternation. Trump has also been criticized for his lack of foreign policy knowledge. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said last month he would put at risk U.S. and world security with his “politics of fear and isolation”. ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
14916,14917,"An Indonesian fisherman has been killed by Komodo dragons after he was attacked while trespassing on a remote island in search of fruit , officials said Tuesday .  Komodo dragons kill their prey with an extremely toxic bite .  "" The fisherman was inside the park when he went looking for sugar apples . The area was forbidden for people to enter as there are a lot of wild dragons , "" Harum said .  Other fisherman took Anwar to a clinic on nearby Flores Island , east of Bali , but he was declared dead on arrival , he added .  Komodo dragons , the world ' s heaviest lizards , can grow up to 3 meters ( 10 feet ) in length and have a toxic bite that they use to kill prey such as buffalo , returning to feast when the animal succumbs to the poison .  Despite their ungainly appearance , the carnivorous reptiles can run as fast as a dog in short bursts , jump up on their hind legs , and kill animals with a blow of their powerful tails .  Attacks on humans are rare , but Monday ' s incident is the latest in a series in which the monster lizards which have forked tongues and fearsome claws have killed or injured people .  Last month a park ranger survived after a Komodo dragon climbed the ladder into his hut and savaged his hand and foot . In 2007 an eight year old boy died after being mauled .  In June last year , a group of divers who were stranded on an island in the national park the dragons ' only natural habitat had to fend off several attacks from the reptiles before they were rescued .  Park rangers also tell the cautionary tale of a Swiss tourist who vanished leaving nothing but a pair of spectacles and a camera after an encounter with the dragons several years ago .  An endangered species , Komodo are believed to number less than 4 , 000 in the wild . Access to their habitat is restricted , but tourists can get permits to see them in the wild within the National Park .  All visitors are accompanied by rangers , about 70 of whom are deployed across the park ' s 60 , 000 hectares of vegetation and 120 , 000 hectares of ocean .  Despite a threat of poachers , Komodo dragon numbers are believed to have stabilized in recent years , bolstered by successful breeding campaigns in captivity .  On Monday , a zoo in Surabaya on the Indonesian island of Java reported the arrival of 32 newborn Komodos after the babies all hatched in the past two weeks , the Jakarta Post reported .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
14926,14927,"Reuters) - Republican officials from 16 U.S. states led by Texas said on Tuesday they have come to the defense of President Donald Trump’s ban on travelers from six Muslim-majority nations, telling the Supreme Court the order did not unconstitutionally single out Muslims and was needed to protect national security. The officials filed a legal brief with the Supreme Court as it mulls whether to take up the Trump administration’s appeal of lower court rulings blocking the travel ban signed by the Republican president on March 6 and let it go into effect. In the states’ brief, filed on Monday, Texas Solicitor General Scott Keller wrote that the executive order does not mention religion at all and distinguishes people based only on nationality. “The executive order therefore is emphatically not a ‘Muslim ban,’” Keller wrote. Keller added that courts should be careful when second-guessing a president’s national security determinations, an argument that echoes the administration’s view that the judiciary should defer to the president on such matters. The brief said the order did not violation the Constitution’s ban on the government favoring or disfavoring any particular religion or its guarantee of due process. The filing came after the administration asked the high court last Thursday to allow the order to take effect. [nL1N1IZ03Q] Aside from Texas, the officials were Republican state attorneys general from Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and West Virginia, as well as Mississippi’s Republican governor. Three Republican attorneys general came from states with Democratic governors: Louisiana, Montana and West Virginia. Most of the states had also backed Trump earlier in the litigation. Many Democratic state officials have opposed the ban in lower courts. The high court is due to review legal papers filed by the ban’s challengers, backed by the American Civil Liberties Union, before acting. The briefs are due on Monday. A key issue before the justices in whether Trump’s comments during the 2016 president campaign, including calling for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States,” can be used as evidence that his order was intended to discriminate against Muslims.  The administration filed emergency applications with the justices seeking to block lower court rulings that went against Trump’s order barring entry for people from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days while the U.S. government implements stricter visa screening. Trump’s order also called for suspending all refugee admissions for 120 days. The move comes after the Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on May 25 upheld a Maryland judge’s ruling blocking the order. [nL1N1IR1FY]  Potentially making it harder for his lawyers to win at the Supreme Court, Trump again commented on the case on Monday, tweeting complaints that his own administration had issued a “watered down, politically correct version” of an earlier order he signed on Jan. 27 that also was blocked by courts. [nL1N1J209L] ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
14936,14937,"A different set of laws apply to illegals in fact, it appears there are no laws that apply to illegals More than 100 convicted criminals who remained in the U.S. despite receiving deportation orders between 2010 and 2014 now face murder charges, according to the agency charged with carrying out such deportations of illegal immigrants.U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement reports that 121 convicted criminals who were never removed from the country face murder charges today.In response, Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., of the Judiciary Committee submitted a letter on June 12 requesting a  multi-departmental response  from Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Secretary of State John Kerry and Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson.In their letter, Grassley and Sessions cite Immigration and Customs Enforcement statistics that show 1,000 of the 36,007 criminally-convicted illegal immigrants released from custody in fiscal year 2013 have been reconvicted of additional crimes.The senators wrote that the murders committed by the 121 convicted criminals  could have been avoided  had they not been released.As a result, Grassley and Sessions are requesting an explanation from the Obama administration officials concerning the government s decision to release the convicted criminals before deportation.The senators also ask for information concerning the future of U.S. initiatives to deport convicted criminals and whether immigration officials are  fully leveraging existing tools and resources to prevent these dangerous outcomes. However, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Sarah Saldana wrote in a recent letter that convicted criminals may be released, even if the convicted individuals face deportation charges.h/t Weasel ZippersVia: The Daily Signal",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,satire,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
14938,14939,"You are here : Home Sanders willing to revise gun liability law  Bernie Sanders speaks to an overflow crowd through a megaphone after a campaign event at the New England College May 27 , 2015 , in Concord , New Hampshire .  It ' s a rare move for Clinton to call Sanders out by name during her prepared remarks , and is yet another sign her campaign is taking the Vermont Senator seriously as the race ratchets up .  Sen . Sanders answered a variety of questions on everything from gun control to Affirmative Action .  Pressed on the issue at a Democratic candidates forum on Monday , Sanders said that he does not think his vote was a mistake , but would consider revising the law to prosecute large gun manufacturers who may know that their guns "" are being distributed to criminal elements "" . He even supported an assault weapons ban .  During a 2016 primary debate , Clinton was asked whether she thought Sanders was "" tough enough on guns "" . "" We do not have the best educated work force "" . Sanders voted for the bill , which ultimately passed .  In addition , Weaver went on to say that gun control regulation is an issue that Clinton has used in previous elections against her rivals . "" It could be that the inevitable candidate for the Democratic nomination may not be so inevitable today "" .  On immigration , O ' Malley believes that the diversity of the United States is eroding , and it requires immediate relief .  The Sanders campaign , however , said in a statement that governors would not be able to circumvent his proposal . "" It ' s the Statue of Liberty "" , he said .  Bernie Sanders said he ' d noticed Hillary Clinton ' s campaign stepping up its attacks on him . "" He has a different plan "" , Clinton said . "" People should come before big money , and we ' re not having this game in our backyard "" .  A question from a Drake University junior was one of the most honest of the evening . I should also note that in the last two days , Clinton has received endorsements from former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords as well as the mother of Trayvon Martin , and both of them cite her position on guns . He asked Clinton if she agrees .  "" If the United States takes the lead in organizing a regional coalition to respond to this crisis , I believe we can make a serious difference "" , Clinton said in a statement .  Thrane , who said her years of activism have left her skeptical of political promises , said investing in minority outreach could pay huge dividends in long term support , but she feels campaigns fail to see that potential .  But on Monday , she widened her health care critique to include Sanders , saying he would "" rip up "" the law and put power in the hands of states . In a Republican primary , Trump would win the votes of 26 of millennials , the survey found , followed by Ben Carson at 11 , a better showing than the retired doctor is now seeing in national polls .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
14961,14962,Brilliant ,fake,dataset,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present
14962,14963,"The lead article in this month ' s Journal of Pediatric Critical Care started with a few simple observations .  "" I had two patients in my  simultaneously , "" said lead author Dr Jessica Kantor . "" Both were hypoplastic left hearts . Both septic . But Carrie pulled through and little Khyrri did not . ""  Collaborator Dr Mitchell Wilson agreed . "" My index cases , so to speak , were newborn twins : Mason and Maddyyssinn . The little girl got an especially rip roaring case of disseminated meningococcemia while her brother did fine . We determined later on that Maddyyssinn had an especially troubling mutation , a tandem repeat where the offensive sequence is duplicated and re inserted , which portends a particularly bad prognosis . ""  Their insights led to collaboration . 10 , 000 charts from across 10 leading pediatric hospitals were analyzed to determine how mutant spellings predict outcomes . And the findings were uniformly chilling : the more mutations the orthography had accumulated , the more aggressive the disease . Among their insights :  Some mutations lead to letter substitutions : say , a letter C becomes a K . Researchers termed these "" nonsense mutations "" since they violate common laws of phonics . Examples include Kourtney or Jacksyn .  Some were called "" inversion mutations "" where the original naming elements were placed backwards , as in Nevaeh or Legna .  A particularly troubling phenomenon was described where the name sucked up phonetic elements from the environment and incorporated it into its own sequence , much like a phage . This usually involved the apostrophe . For example : Ja ' mes or Di ' amonique . ( Editor ' s note : this was not a risk factor for children of Irish or Native Hawai ' ian decent . )  Most insidious of all were the translocations , where two separate name elements were unnaturally combined . Most of these appeared to involve the sound "" ay "" and the ending "" en . "" For example : Zayden , Kaylen , Jayzen , Hayven , or Maysen . )  The letter Y was an independent predictor of mortality .  Ironically the ' dash ' , as in D ah ( Dedasha ) , actually had little effect , but hospital staff , all future teachers , bosses , and anyone reading their name , mispronounced it 100 of the time and on follow up those children typically used their middle name . Most likely why the mutation had little effect .  Drs . Kantor and Wilson are optimistic about the applicability of their study . "" In this era of personalized genomic medicine , it should be easy to develop a predictive score of name mutation rate to apply to all pediatric critical care patients . I hope the Predictive Hospital Outcomes Nursing and Intensivist Critical Score  is soon used at the bedside worldwide . ""   nurse Chantal Jackson is overjoyed to hear the results and will put them into use immediately . "" This study validates what I ' ve been feeling for years . Every morning I check my assignments . If I get a Michael or a Destiny , I think they ' ve got a fighting chance . Mykal or Dystinii , better call palliative care . ""  ",satire,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
14968,14969,"Print  Two weeks before the most outrageous presidential election in history, the stakes for the economic future of our country are high. There is no question that the U.S. economy is in terrible shape and that the policy decisions made in the last ten years have negatively affected everyone who trades, invests, and use the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency. Are voters going to choose free market economic recovery with Trump or global collectivism with Clinton?  The government statistics claim that there are officially 8 million unemployed but the actual unemployment numbers are closer to 16 million people. The reported labor force of almost 156 million in 2000 has shrunk to 152 million today. The reported number of Americans “not in the labor force” is an astonishing 94 million. These are discouraged workers who are no longer counted as unemployed. This explains why this administration’s unemployment numbers are so rosy and low. For up to date numbers, visit the national debt clock here. weblink  Our national debt is astronomical, approaching $20 trillion while  is below $19 trillion. We already owe more than we make in a year in final goods and services. Gross debt to  ratio is 106.38 percent. The U.S. total debt is $67 trillion. However, if we add all the unfunded liabilities such as Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, and Obamacare , the figure jumps much higher.  The federal budget deficit (the difference between taxation and spending) is almost $6 trillion for this year. The more indebted we are to the rest of the world and to each other, the less money will be available for future generations to improve their standard of living and to defend themselves.  There are approximately 119 million U.S. taxpayers and approximately 124 million full-time workers. The biggest part of the revenue from taxation is spent on entitlements. Somehow, Social Security, a fund established with automatic paycheck contributions, has been lumped in with entitlements as if the Social Security fund did not belong to the tax payers but to the government.  Our Congress loves to spend money on entitlements because the recipients vote them back into office. Revenue to  ratio is a positive 35.6 percent but spending to  ratio is a red 36.04 percent.  During the third presidential debate, Hillary Clinton said that she would make sure public college education will be free, that parents will not receive a bill for their children’s college degree, and she will do it by not adding one penny to the national debt.  After fact checking the statement, it turns out to be not true. One source claims that $500 billion will be added to the national debt in the next 10 years while the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimated that “$200 billion will be spent on infrastructure, financial aid for college students, and early childhood education.”  The current student loan debt is $1.4 trillion and growing. There are 50,182,018 public school students who will eventually take advantage of this “free” college offer Hillary Clinton has made. Who is going to pay? Taxpayers, of course, will be saddled with the cost.  Additionally, how is she going to create jobs to employ college graduates if her plan includes raising taxes? Employers create jobs when their taxes are decreased. NAFTA, which was President Bill Clinton’s achievement, has exported many manufacturing jobs overseas. Hillary Clinton supports the highly secretive Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), which would finish off the manufacturing sector in this country, leaving the United States as a service economy.  We now have 12,500,256 manufacturing jobs left in this country. In 2000 we had 19,462,745 manufacturing jobs. There are about 120 million private sector jobs but large companies are pushing for more H-1B visas to import cheap technical labor from India and other foreign nations, leaving seasoned employees out of a job and having to train their replacements. More college graduates living in their parents’ basement will have to work as baristas in coffee shops.  Trump is in favor of school choice and wants to end Common Core. He favors the reintroduction of Vocational and Technical education, as well as making two and four-year college education affordable.  Donald Trump wants to renegotiate  and to withdraw from TPP. He wants to end foreign trade abuses and currency manipulation by China. He wants to repatriate our own companies by reducing corporate taxation significantly and by establishing tariffs to prevent companies from leaving in the first place. He wants to offer middle class tax relief that would help create 25 million jobs. He wants to simplify the tax code.  Trump wants to create jobs by lifting regulatory restrictions on fossil fuel exploration and all mining. He wants to “lift road blocks that prevent the Keystone pipeline from moving forward.”  Trump wants to cancel payments to the United Nations Climate Fund and use the money to fix our water and environmental infrastructure.  Hillary Clinton wants to expand illegal immigration and open borders while Trump wants to cancel federal funding of sanctuary cities that harbor criminal illegal aliens. He will “suspend immigration from terror-prone regions where vetting cannot safely occur.”  He will establish punishments for visa overstays, for repeat criminal offenders, and multiple illegal border crossings. Adamant that he will build the wall with Mexico, Trump promises to remove criminal aliens from the U.S. and to cancel visas to countries that won’t take them back.  Restoring the rule of law, dismantling criminal gangs, establishing a task force on violent crime to help police, cleaning up corruption, and admitting immigrants who have been thoroughly vetted, who want to be a contributing part of our country, should go a long way to begin the process of healing our nation.  Hillary wants to continue President Obama’s policies, including the admittance of many more “refugees” from countries that are inimical to us.  While Hillary wants to develop Obamacare into a one payer system, Trump wants to “repeal and replace” the very costly and unaffordable Affordable Care Act which has made healthcare premiums unaffordable for so many Americans who were forced to drop their insurance and just pay the tax penalty.  Trump favors health savings accounts, letting states manage Medicaid funds, and allowing Americans to buy insurance across state lines. Cutting the red tape at the  is also on his radar. He promises to fix  hospitals and to allow veterans to be treated by their chosen doctor in any private or public hospital.  Will Trump have the opportunity to replace Justice Scalia or will Hillary alter the composition of the Supreme Court, turning it into a bastion of progressivism for generations to come?  Trump promises to expand and strengthen our military, to guard our First and Second Amendments, and to protect our Constitution.  It is time that American hard-earned dollars take care of Americans first instead of providing for the rest of the world to the detriment of poor Americans, redistributing our wealth through schemes that the globalists behind Hillary Clinton have devised. Americans want to have secure borders, sovereignty, one language, self-determination, and economic prosperity through free markets not through collectivism. shares",fake,news,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
14996,14997,"Reuters) - Iraq s parliament voted on Tuesday on  a formula to halt financial transactions  with the Kurdistan region, in retaliation for last week s independence referendum, Iraqi State  said, without specifying if vote was binding on the government. The formula would   preserve the interests  of Kurdish citizens, the channel said, hinting that the measures would target the Kurdish leadership.  The channel gave no further details. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
14998,14999,"Reuters) - China has set a clear direction on reform and opening up to the world and will not deviate from that course, Communist Party spokesman Tuo Zhen said on Tuesday.  Tuo made the remarks at a briefing a day ahead of the opening of the key, twice-a-decade party congress that will see President Xi Jinping map out his ambitions for the country and further tighten his grip on power.  ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
15012,15013,"Reuters) - Two more women came forward on Wednesday with allegations of sexual misconduct against Republican U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore, one accusing him of groping her and the other of forcing a kiss on her when he was 30 and she was about 18. They are the sixth and seventh women to accuse Moore of sexual improprieties since his race for the Alabama Senate seat began. Most were teenagers at the time. Moore, 70, has denied the accusations and said he is the victim of a witch hunt. Gena Richardson told the Washington Post that Moore, then a 30-year-old attorney, had repeatedly asked her for a date in 1977 just before or after she turned 18. Richardson said she finally agreed and went to a movie with Moore, the Post said. In a dark parking lot at a mall in Gadsden, Alabama, Richardson said Moore gave her an unwanted, “forceful” kiss that scared her, the Post reported. Another woman, Tina Johnson, toldweblink, an Alabama news site, that Moore groped her while she was in his Alabama law office on legal business in 1991. Johnson, who was 28 at the time, said she visited Moore’s office with her mother, who had hired Moore in a custody case involving Johnson’s 12-year-old son. Johnson said Moore grabbed her buttocks as she left. “He didn’t pinch it, he grabbed it,” Johnson toldweblink. Reuters was unable to independently verify the allegations from either woman, and Moore’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Five other women have accused Moore of sexual misconduct or of dating them when he was in his 30s and they were teenagers. National Republican Party leaders have responded with demands that he drop out of the Senate race. The Dec. 12 special election will fill the seat vacated by Jeff Sessions when he was named U.S. attorney general last spring. Moore on Wednesday denied the allegations of the first five women to step forward. “We are in the process of investigating these false allegations to determine their origin and motivation,” he said in a statement. Moore also said he believed a message that one of the accusers, Beverly Young Nelson, said he had written in her high school yearbook had been tampered with. Nelson accused Moore of sexually assaulting her when she was 16 and he was in his 30s. Nelson displayed the yearbook message at a news conference in New York, where she made the allegations on Monday. Moore’s campaign on Wednesday demanded that Nelson turn over the yearbook to a neutral custodian so a handwriting expert could examine it. The Alabama state party’s leadership met on Wednesday night to discuss their stance and took no action, news media reported.  Republican leaders in Washington have asked Moore to withdraw from the race and said they are exploring write-in options for the election.  U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has spoken to President Donald Trump and others about the situation. Trump appeared at the White House on Wednesday but did not mention Moore. Under state law, Moore cannot be removed from the ballot. If, however, the state party tells election officials that it wants to withdraw its nominee, or if Moore himself decided to do so, election officials would not certify any votes cast for Moore.  Before the allegations surfaced, Moore, a Christian conservative and former Alabama Supreme Court chief justice, had been heavily favored to defeat Democrat Doug Jones, a former U.S. attorney. But a new poll on Wednesday, released by the Senate Republicans’ campaign arm, had Jones surging to a 12-point lead since the allegations surfaced. A Democratic win in Alabama would be a blow to Trump’s agenda and shift the political outlook for next year’s congressional elections, giving Democrats a stronger shot at wiping out the Republicans’ 52-48 Senate majority. Moore has suggested that McConnell and other establishment Republicans are working with news media to discredit him. The Washington Post first disclosed allegations by four women about their relationships with Moore when they were teenagers, ranging in age from 14 to 18. One of the women said he initiated sexual contact with her when she was 14 and Moore was in his 30s. ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past
15014,15015,"Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter voiced opposition to extending a temporary government funding bill well into next year, saying it would negatively impact the military, including in the fight against Islamic State.  Washington has been operating since Oct. 1 under a stopgap spending bill, known as a “continuing resolution,” to keep most federal programs running. It expires on Dec. 9. House and Senate leaders are negotiating the end date for a new temporary funding bill. “The most problematic shortfalls DoD (Department of Defense) will face in a long-term  (continuing resolution) are in the operations and munitions accounts that fund counterterrorism operations and assistance in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, among other priorities,” Carter wrote in the letter to top Congressional leaders. Carter said the Pentagon had never been under such a situation during a presidential transition, calling it “unprecedented and unacceptable.” ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
15017,15018,"It is the perfect time of year to spot the Aurora Borealis in Iceland . But holidaymakers heading north could be in for a double treat this year thanks to its erupting volcano .  The Bardarbunga eruption began in August , prompting spectacular images of the molten lava .  But one photographer has gone a step further and captured the volcano glowing by night as the Northern Lights put on a celestial display above .  Now holiday company Off The Map Travel , which snapped the spectacular picture , says this could be the perfect winter to catch both the Aurora Borealis and see a volcanic eruption up close .  Jonny Cooper , Northern Lights expert and founder of Off the Map Travel said : ' This is a truly spectacular night time display of colour with the glow of the emerging lava being framed by the Northern Lights . '  ' Although it is unclear how long the volcano will continue to flow , there is a genuine opportunity for those who visit in October to witness this incredible event . '  ' With such a strong start to the year for the Northern Lights , the combination of the eruption and such strong aurora displays may not be seen again for a long time , ' he added .  The company is offering six night trips to take in both the Northern Lights and the glowing volcano from 999 per person .  The Northern Lights collide with the stunning views of an erupting volcano for a once in a lifetime colour display in Iceland   based holiday provider , Off the Map Travel , now offering packages for travellers to experience this gorgeous and rare ! display  A fissure eruption of the Bardabunga volcano was first recorded on the 29th of August , with increasingly bigger eruptions continuing  Pictured : Lava glowing on the snow in Karahnjukar , Iceland , as the Northern Lights brighten the sky  Lava slowly spreads over the arctic desert , while the beautifully lit sky frames the violent red flows  For a limited time only ! At dusk , lava fountains are perfectly juxtaposed against the pink Icelandic sky  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
15018,15019,"But the two countries remain at odds in their approach toward Assad , with Hollande saying the Syrian head of state "" does not have his place in Syria ' s future , "" and Putin stressing that "" the Syrian president ' s fate should be entirely in the hands of the Syrian people . ""  Putin described Assad ' s army as a "" natural ally "" in the fight against  ? an essential force capable of battling the extremist group on the ground . He added that Russia was ready to cooperate with other groups ready to fight  .  Russia has been Assad ' s staunchest ally , and has come under criticism for targeting some rebel groups who are fighting against both  and Assad in Syria ' s multifaceted and complex civil war .  Obama , after meeting with Hollande , had said Russian cooperation in the fight against  would be "" enormously helpful . "" The U . S . has also insisted that a political transition in Syria must lead to Assad ' s departure .  "" We view the U . S . led coalition with respect and stand ready to cooperate with it , "" Putin said . "" We believe that we would better create a single , united coalition as it would be easier , simpler and more efficient to coordinate our work that way . ""  However , he said , "" if our partners aren ' t ready for that ,  , we are ready to work in a different format that is acceptable to our partners . We are ready to cooperate with the U . S . led coalition . ""  Last week , Hollande called for the U . S . and Russia to set aside their policy divisions over Syria and "" fight this terrorist army in a broad , single coalition . "" But his office acknowledges that "" coordination "" sounds like a far more realistic goal .  While pledging closer cooperation , Putin also harshly criticized Washington for failing to prevent the downing of a Russian warplane engaged in airstrikes in Syria by  member Turkey on Tuesday ? an action which underscored the complex military landscape in Syria , where a sprawling cast of countries and rebel groups are engaged on the battlefield and in the skies overhead , sometimes with minimal coordination .  Turkey said it shot down the Russian Su 24 bomber after it flew into its airspace for 17 seconds despite repeated warnings . Putin dismissed the Turkish claim of intrusion and held the U . S . responsible for failing to rein in its ally , saying that Russia had informed the U . S . about its military flights in the area in advance .  Putin denounced the Turkish action , saying it "" thoughtlessly and rudely "" destroyed friendly ties between the two countries . Russia will protect its warplanes from now on with long range S 400 air defense missiles deployed at its air base in Syria , as well as escort fighters and electronic countermeasures , he said .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
15029,15030,"Supporters of ' meninism ' , a controversial movement that opposes feminism , have now begun wearing ' meninist ' T shirts .  The online retailer Teespringweblink has sold 615 shirts bearing the hashtag  at 22 . 99 each .  ' Support the movement by getting yourself the official Meninist shirt . YesAllMen , ' proclaims the product description , seemingly mocking the YesAllWomen hashtag that circulated social media to raise awareness for violence against women in response to misogynistic postings by Elliot Rodger before his deadly rampage in Isla Vista , California , last May .  Controversial : The online retailer Teespringweblink sells two shirts that show support for ' meninism ' , a movement that opposes feminism  Teespring has sold ten shirts in another style , which reads ' I ' m A Meninist . ' , for 15 each . Its description says : ' Show your pride and tell the  you ' re a  ! The official t shirt of MeninistTwitter ! ! '  The Meninist Twitter hashtag began in 2013 as an outlet for men sharing jokes , according to the  , which noted : ' Supporters of the hashtag say it ' s become a channel for men to express the difficulties of being a man in the 21st Century . '  A Meninist Twitter account , which now has more than 600 , 000 followers , posts misogynistic jokes .  Proud : Men who ' ve purchased the T shirts have been sharing photos of themselves sporting them on social media  Not only men : A woman named Paige tweeted a picture of herself wearing one on Friday with the caption : ' Supporting equal rights MeninistTweet meninist '  Last night , the account tweeted : ' Ladies , if you have more followers on Instagram than you do on Twitter it just means dudes like you better when you stfu shut the f k up . '  Men who ' ve purchased the controversial T shirts have been proudly sharing photos of themselves sporting them on social media .  One man , with the handle MeninistAmbassador , tweeted a picture of himself with the caption : ' Loving my new meninist t shirt MeninistTweet . '  And it ' s not only men who are buying the shirts a woman named Paige who appears to support meninism tweeted a picture of herself wearing one on Friday with the caption : ' Supporting equal rights MeninistTweet meninist . '  Backlash : Not surprisingly , parody shirts mocking meninism have surfaced in response to the trend  Spot on spoof : One woman changed one of the shirts to read : ' I ' m a whiny piss baby '  Clever : Another Twitter user Photoshopped a meninist shirt to read ' What does a human boob feel like ? '  Not surprisingly , parody shirts mocking meninism have surfaced in response to the trend , with many poking fun at the shirts ' potential to inhibit the wearers ' dating lives .  Twitter user Kuh Reem created a collage of four men wearing meninist shirts with the caption : ' The "" I ' m never getting laid "" starter pack . '  Dr Happy Knuckles shared a meme that superimposed the statement ' This T shirt will protect me from your vagina ' on an image of a man proudly sporting a meninist shirt .  Another Twitter user Photoshopped a meninist shirt to read ' What does a human boob feel like ? '  And one woman changed one of the shirts to read : ' I ' m a whiny piss baby . '  Parody : Another Twitter user changed one man ' s Meninist shirt to read ' I Think The Friendzone Exists '  Mocking the trend : Twitter user Kuh Reem created a collage of four men wearing meninist shirts with the caption : ' The "" I ' m never getting laid "" starter pack '  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
15039,15040,"Love visual aspect of news ? Enjoy this exclusive slideshows treat !    : Prime Minister Narendra Modi and  chief Mohan Bhagwat cannot be blamed for the  ' s defeat in the Bihar assembly elections , Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Tuesday , dismissing the view that the party had become arrogant .  "" The prime minister can ' t be blamed for the defeat in Bihar . There cannot be arrogance in our party . We can ' t think of becoming arrogant . The prime minister was trying his best to communicate with the people and there is nothing wrong in it , "" Rajnath Singh said in an interaction with the media .  "" Had it been so ( arrogance ) , we would not have won in other states . We lost the polls and we accept the verdict , "" he added .  The home minister also dismissed claims that the loss would reflect on Modi ' s credibility as a leader .  "" It is the  ' s and the  ' s electoral loss , not the  ' s loss as a leader . ""  The Grand Alliance of the Janata Dal United (  U ) , the Rashtriya Janata Dal (  ) and the Congress won a whopping 178 of the 243 assembly seats , while the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies managed to bag just 58 .  He also defended Bhagwat ' s statement on reservation , saying there was "" nothing damaging "" in it .  "" Social equations in Bihar led to the victory of the Grand Alliance . There was nothing damaging in what Bhagwat ji said , "" he said .  "" We got good response from the people during rallies and meetings and there was no sign of the loss , but it was not converted into votes , "" he said .  The home minister also denied any significance presence of the Islamic State terror outfit in India .  "" The presence of the Islamic State group in India is insignificant , "" he said .  On the issue of intolerance , he said : "" The  is the most secular party . ""  On intellectuals returning awards , he said : "" We will take all suggestions very seriously . These people returning awards are intellectuals of the country . We will welcome their suggestions . ""  Stay on top of business news with The Economic Times App . Download it Now !  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
15049,15050,"For a man whose previous nickname was "" the Bulldozer , "" balance might not be thought of as one of South Korean president Lee Myung bak ' s strong points .  Promises of pragmatism and a more balanced society from the new president .  "" My country has undergone rapid industrialization and development , as well as democratization , "" he told Anjali Rao .  "" And throughout this process , I believe some sort of balance has been lost . The gap between the haves and the have nots has widened lately , which I believe must be rectified . ""  It ' s not an unfamiliar sentiment for a politician to express , but Lee ' s journey from childhood poverty to the pinnacle of political life perhaps makes him more qualified than many politicians to relate to his electorate .  For many of his supporters his life reflects the recent history of South Korea itself . Lee Myung bak was born in Osaka , Japan in 1941 during the Japanese occupation of the Korean peninsular and returned to Korea with his parents at the end of the Second World War .  Without any money to pay for his education , he paid his own way through university in Seoul , at one point taking a job as a garbage collector , working during the day , while studying at night . As a student he led protests against the authoritarian government , receiving a caution from police in 1962 .  After graduating he took a job with Hyundai . His hard work and ambition saw that he became its  after just 12 years , at the age of 36 .  It was as a dynamic young  , part of the new generation that was rapidly building South Korea ' s industry and economy in the 1970 ' s and 80 ' s , he gained the nickname "" the Bulldozer "" for his single minded approach and tenacity to drive through difficult projects .  His transition from  to politician came when he became mayor of Seoul in 2002 and undertook one of the city ' most ambitious and popular programs of urban renewal .  He was elected on the promise of transforming the city , ripping out a traffic clogged elevated highway that ran through its center and restoring the Cheonggyecheon stream that had been covered over .  It ' s completion in 2005 led to a blooming example of the growing emphasis on quality of life in a country that had sacrificed economic and industrial growth for all else .  It also propelled him into the international spotlight , with  Magazine naming him one of its Heroes of the Environment in 2007 .  He has not been without his detractors , however , and even after the election there were questions surrounding his ethics . While South Korea has been trying to shed its image of corporate corruption , just four days before his inauguration as president he was cleared of accusations of stock manipulation .  "" Now that I am president , such a culture in the political culture , as well as the corporate culture , must change . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
15063,15064,"Despite the fact that Donald Trump has admitted in the past that he has acted as his own publicist, he and his campaign continue to deny that it was his voice on the recordings. Jake Tapper confronted Trump s campaign manager on the issue and his defense of Trump was sloppy and full of nonsense.On Sunday morning s State of the Union, Tapper played the now infamous tape of Trump impersonating his own  guy, and then asked campaign manager Paul Manafort if the campaign is  seriously claiming that wasn t Mr. Trump?  Manafort stuck to his story but Tapper pressed on and put Manafort on the spot. Tapper said: In 1990 under oath he testified he did use the name John Barron, and in 1991 he told People magazine he did use the name John Miller so this has already been admitted previously. I don t understand why now. Manafort then said,  I don t know those facts to be true or not. I just know that he said it s not him. I believe him.  He then went on in an attempt to change the subject, citing what he said was the lack of importance of the issue: I don t even know the relevance of this frankly. It s 25 years old and they re not dealing with the issues that Trump is trying to focus on today. Jobs, terrorism, immigration problems. These are the issues we should be talking about. Why the media is spending so much time going by 25 years, talking about People magazine on a tape that may or may not be Trump. But Tapper wasn t having it, and he explained the relevance of the story to Manafort. Here s what he said: This issue is here you have a man who in his 40 s allegedly is his own public relations agent, bragging about his exploits with women while married to Ivana Trump, the mother of his three children and speaks to a certain kind of character issue don t you think? Indeed, the character flaws here are tremendous. The lies along with the alleged betrayal of his wife and his disgusting talk about women should all be taken as important issues, especially since Trump is trying to become president. Let s hope it never comes to that scenario.Watch video here onweblinkFeatured image via video screen capture",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
15065,15066,"Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment responsible for television show Sleepy Hollow ' s Season One  release issued an apology today after launching a HeadlessDay promotion campaign on the same day a second U . S . journalist was beheaded by  in Iraq .  Sleepy Hollow released a series of memes with various headless jokes because the show ' s antagonist just so happens to be the Headless Horseman .  The Headless Day promo was emailed to the press shortly after word broke that journalist Steven Sotloff had been beheaded by  militants in Iraq , reports Deadlineweblink  Apologized : Reps for Sleepy Hollow , a show about a Headless Horseman , apologized for launching their Headless Day campaign on the same day journalist Steven Sotloff was beheaded by   Bad Timing : Even though the show ' s antagonist is the Headless Horseman , the timing of their ad campaign couldn ' t be worse  Beheaded : The ad campaign came out on the same day journalist Steve Sotloff ( pictured ) was beheaded  Hairy situation : Though memes like this one were meant to be a joke , the campaign was cancelled because its timing was inappropriate  The promo was also emailed just 14 days after the first American journalist James Foley was beheaded by  .  ' We apologize for the unfortunate timing of our Sleepy Hollow Headless Day announcement . The tragic news of Steven Sotloff ' s death hit the web as the email was being sent .  Our deepest sympathies are with him and his family , and we don ' t take the news lightly . Had we have known this information prior , we would have never released the alert and realize it ' s in poor taste , ' wrote a rep for Sleepy Hollow .  The campaign featuring Headless Horseman jokes has since been pulled , reports  .  ' Does this axe make my head look small ? ' says one meme portraying a cartoon of the headless Horseman holding a large axe .  ' With hair like this , I think I ' d rather be headless , says another meme of a woman with a tousled head of hair .  ' I knew you ' d forget your head if it wasn ' t attached , ' says another .  A rep for the digital marketing agency ThinkJam responsible for the campaign said that  pre approved the memes .  They also said that the campaign HeadlessDay was scheduled in advance to go out yesterday ' as a lighthearted way to celebrate the title . '  They also said it was sent ' to journalists ' they thought ' would enjoy it . '  Related to the show : Even though many deemed the memes ' inappropriate , ' they are related to the show ' s axe wielding Headless Horseman  Not funny : Even though the memes are related to the show , the campaign was cancelled because of the beheading of journalist Steven Sotloff  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
15069,15070,"A man walks into a pet shop . . . and a comedy classic is born .  Monty Python ' s Dead Parrot sketch has been voted the troupe ' s greatest piece of all time .  A man buys a dead parrot and takes it back to complain only to discover the pet shop owner refuses to admit there is anything wrong with the bird .  It hardly sounds funny , but performed by John Cleese and Michael Palin it is regarded by Monty Python fans as one of the greatest comedy sketches of all time .  And it appears the nation agrees .  Monty Python ' s Dead Parrot sketch has been voted the troupe ' s greatest piece of all time  The sketch first aired almost 45 years ago on December 7 , 1969 has topped a poll of 2 , 000 British adults .  People were asked to select their top sketch from a long list of more than 35 Python scenes .  The pet shop scene , which features Cleese as an exasperated customer trying to get his money back from Palin , who is a stubborn pet salesman , was voted the most popular Python moment by 45 per cent .  Second place with 28 per cent went to The Lumberjack Song , which was released as a single in 1975 , while the top three was completed by The Ministry of Silly Walks ( 23 per cent ) a sketch which sees Cleese striding in and out of meetings in a series of government approved walks .  Second place with 28 per cent went to The Lumberjack Song , which was released as a single in 1975  The troupe are currently on stage for their Monty Python Live ( Mostly ) reunion at London ' s O2 arena . The survey has been commissioned to tie in with the last show which will be screened on  channel Gold on Sunday July 20th .  The findings also reveal some regional differences with Londoners the most likely to find Monty Python funny ( 81 per cent ) , compared to those in the North East ( 69 per cent ) .  There was a surge of popularity for the Dead Parrot sketch in the East Midlands with more than half ( 55 per cent ) voting it their top Python moment , compared to the national average of 45 per cent .  The top three was completed by The Ministry of Silly Walks ( 23 per cent ) a sketch which sees Cleese striding in and out of meetings in a series of government approved walks  The Lumberjack Song was particularly popular in Northern Ireland ( 33 per cent ) and Scotland ( 34 per cent ) , compared to the national average of 28 per cent .  Those living in East Anglia ( 28 per cent ) and Wales ( 27 per cent ) were particularly tickled by The Ministry for Silly Walks , compared to the national average of 23 per cent .  The Monty Python troupe announced last November they were reuniting for a one off stage show , but after tickets quickly sold out an extra nine dates were added .  It is the first time in 40 years that members John Cleese , 74 , Terry Gilliam , 73 , Eric Idle , 71 , Terry Jones , 72 , and Michael Palin have appeared together on a  stage .  Palin , 71 , has said the July 20 show will be the last time the five stars work together , adding there were ' absolutely no plans to do any more shows after that ' .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
15070,15071,"Trials of video technology will not be coming to football any time soon after lawmakers rejected the idea for at least the next 12 months .  The Dutch  had wanted to use its system in the Dutch Cup next season but the International  Board meeting in Belfast wants more information before giving the green light .   secretary general Jerome Valcke described the introduction of video technology as the ' biggest decision which would come out of this  ever ' and said that while future discussions were possible , they would not be rushed .  Football ' s lawmakers have rejected the idea of using video technology for 12 months at an  meeting   President Sepp Blatter was among those present at the 129th Annual General Meeting of the   Valcke described the decision to bring in video technology as the ' biggest ever ' and it won ' t be rushed  Football Association chairman Greg Dyke had been keen to push forward live trials but other delegates were more cautious which means it will be at least another year before the go ahead can be given .  The Dutch  presented their data on the top to the English , Scottish , Welsh and Northern Irish FAs but not to  .  While the reception was generally good , Welsh  chief executive Jonathan Ford said : ' We shouldn ' t as  just allow experiments to be conducted willy nilly . '  However , a move to change the ' triple punishment ' has been agreed in principle , so that a player who is sent off for a straight red card for denying a goal scoring chance when conceding a penalty is no longer suspended for the following match .   Chairman Greg Dyke was a supporter of bringing in the trials for video technology straight away  Home Nation Chief Executives and  representatives answer questions from the media in Belfast  Blatter talks with  secretary general Valcke ( centre ) and  president Jim Shaw ( right )  Irish  chief executive Patrick Nelson said that the ' triple punishment ' rules are currently too harsh  Irish  chief executive Patrick Nelson said : '  did agree that this punishment is too harsh and that we must find a solution to the matter .  has tasked  to look into the feasibility of implementing this on a global level . '  Proposals to allow a fourth substitute in extra time , which had been put forward by  , were rejected .  '  remains of the view that three substitutions is adequate , ' said Nelson , but the issue has been referred back to its technical panels for further analysis . '  Goal line technology has already been successfully brought in but it won ' t be joined by video replays . . . yet  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
15092,15093,"In Cuba ' s socialist wonderland even the stray dogs are issued with identification cards and provided with state sponsored accommodation and health care .  More than a dozen state institutions have ' adopted ' a stray dog , which is then issued with an official state identity card bearing its photograph name and where it lives .  Five of the dogs live at Old Havana ' s Museum of Metalwork and regularly patrol the streets after hours . When not patrolling , each of the dogs can be found sleeping underneath the institution ' s grand stairway .  Vladimir the former street dog now lives at the Old Havana Museum of Metalwork in Havana , Cuba  Each of the street dogs is given an official identity badge with its photograph and contact details  Security Guards Dary Valdes , left , and Margarita Garcia , right , enjoy looking after their unusual colleagues  The dogs , Vladimir , Canela , Aparicio , Leon and Carinoso spend the days avoiding the hot Caribbean sun among the museum ' s artworks .  All of the dogs afforded the special status are immune from the attentions of Havana ' s dog catcher .  Yarisbel Perez , who works in one of the historic buildings in Plaza Vieja , in the centre of the old city , said : ' I don ' t like dogs but I ' ve really developed a soft spot in my heart for them . '  Ms Perez and her colleagues are responsible for two dogs , Nina and P9 , who is named after a bus line in the city .  Ms Perez feed her dogs half eaten pork chips and left over chicken and rice from a nearby restaurant .  Ordinarily , all animals are banned from workplaces in Cuba with the exemption of guard dogs .  Nora Garcia , President of the Cuban Association for the Protection of Plants and Animals said the dogs were afforded their special status after a guard was awoken one night by a barking dog who noticed some people were looking to steal an air conditioning unit .  Guard Yarisbel Perez said she did not initially like the dogs but has since developed a soft spot for them  The dogs are afforded special protection from Havana ' s dog catcher because of their security role  Leon , Canela , Vladimir and Aparicio pictured are four of the five dogs at the metalwoork museum  Ms Garcia said : ' There was a public ceremony in which the dog received an award for saving the air conditioners . '  Some security guards adopt the dogs to alleviate the boredom of protecting buildings in a city with little crime .  Victoria Pacheco , who works in the metalwork museum said : ' They don ' t eat bones . They eat cold cuts , mincemeat , hotdogs and liver . '  The animal protection society maintains a list of 21 dogs living in state institutions , including a Communist Party gas station , offices of the Cuban Journalists ' Union and a mechanical workshop of the Ministry of Public Health .  Dalia Garcia , caretaker of a public toilet has taken responsibility for two of the dogs .  ' They stay here and nothing happens to them . Everyone takes care of them , no one hits them . They don ' t bark and they don ' t bite anyone . '  Each of the dogs is provided with free healthcare and accommodation by the state institutions invovled  Dogs without the special name tag face being detained by the dog catcher and possibly destroyed  Other dogs haven ' t been so lucky , including a group snatched by the dogcatcher from Havana ' s University of Arts while their student protectors were home on vacation , Garcia said .  ' They ' re official for us but the state doesn ' t always look so kindly on them , ' she said . ' When they come and say there can ' t be any dogs here , they have to go . '  Similarly sad fates await street dogs who aren ' t chosen for special treatment by state workers , including some of the dogs who wander , matted and skinny , through groups of quasi official dogs on the streets of Old Havana .  ' Sometimes we feel bad and we give them something to eat , ' Perez said . ' But if we start taking care of all of them , it would get to be a zoo around here . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
15096,15097,"Well this is a shocker! The usual leftist slant on The View was put aside for some support for President Trump. Who knew these political hacks could be reasonable and kind to Trump! Whoopi Goldberg took the lead when she gave the three basketball players who were detained by China a tongue lashing Yes, what were they thinking? She surprised everyone when she brought up how they embarrassed the president. No kidding! Whoopi Goldberg and her co-hosts on  s  The View  expressed their astonishment Thursday at the fact that three  freshmen basketball players were accused of shoplifting while on a team trip to China.The players were arrested by Chinese police and only released this week after President Donald Trump asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to intercede. Goldberg said the players embarrassed Trump and the country, but credited the president for helping the players return to the U.S. You embarrassed your families, you embarrassed the country, and you embarrassed the president,  Goldberg said.  Now I m not a big fan of the president, but the fact that he had to call and get your asses out of there is not anything to be proud of or think is cool. If this isn t the stupidest thing a young person has done, particularly if you re over six-feet tall, and black  she continued.",fake,dataset,validation,Other sport,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
15099,15100,"Donald Trump soars to a new high of 41 points more than double his nearest rival  The 69 year old billionaire has upended every coventional rule of campaigning  The Independent Jan 27 , 2016 , 11 . 33    ? Donald Trump has soared to a new high of 41 , according to a new poll .  ? The tycoon s support is more than double that of his nearest rival , Ted Cruz , who trails on 19 .  ? No other Republican candidate makes it out of single digits .    : Less than week before the first proper votes are cast in the 2016 presidential election campaign , Donald Trump has soared to a new high of 41 , according to a new poll .  The national poll by   found that four out of ten Republicans now say they wold back him to be the president . The tycoon ' s support is more than double that of his nearest rival , Ted Cruz , who trails on 19 . No other Republican candidate makes it out of single digits .  Polls taken at this stage in the election cycle can be frustratingly fickle . In previous elections , figures such as Democrat Howard Dean and Republican Newt Gingrich , were far ahead of their rivals , only to see their dreams crushed as the bitterly fought primary season played out .  Yet the normal rules may not apply to Trump . Ever since he formally entered the race on June 16 2015 , he has upended every conventional rule of campaigning .  He has turned his back on political donations , he has sought out controversy at every opportunity , he has been willing to offend various groups from immigrants to Muslims and Muslim and to dismiss all of this with a shrug .  Indeed ,  said that Mr Trump is well ahead of his rivals in a range of subgroups , including both men and women , younger and older voters , white evangelicals , conservatives and both self identified Republicans and independents who lean toward the party .  There are two subgroups where Mr Trump ' s lead is less dominant : college graduates and Tea Party supporters . Even among those groups , however , he remains at the head of the pack . Among those holding degrees , 26 back Trump , 20 support Cruz , and Tea Party supporters split 37 for the reality television star and 34 for senator from Texas .  The poll also finds Mr Trump is widely seen as the candidate with the best chance to win the general election in November . A total of 63 of Republicans believe so , compared to with 16 who see believe Cruz is more electable and 10 who name Rubio .  Trump ' s first real test will come on Monday , when voters in Iowa hold a caucus to select their nominee . An average of polls gives Mr Trump a lead of just six six points ahead of Cruz there , with Rubio on 12 .  The next challenge will be in New Hampshire , where an average of polls puts him on 32 points , far ahead of his nearest , Cruz and Ohio governor John Kasich , who are both on 12 points .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
15113,15114,"London For a moment , the nervous chatter , rustling costumes and jovial jostling came to a standstill .  Silence fell over the 36 , 000 competitors who just minutes earlier had been impatiently rearranging themselves for the start of the London Marathon .  For 30 aching seconds the spring sunshine beat down on their bowed heads , a sea of black ribbons pinned to their chests , as they remembered those who never got a chance to cross the finish line .  It was a deeply tender and haunting image , and unlike anything ever seen in the 32 year history of the race .  Then again , this wasn ' t just another London Marathon .  Six days after Boston ' s Marathon was rocked by the bombing which killed three people and injured more than 180 , the English capital hosted its own premier race .    : Tight security at London Marathon  London is the first international marathon to follow Boston , and the attack which sent thousands of people scrambling in terror down smoldering streets and past upturned stands . It loomed large in the minds of competitors observing the silence ahead of the starting gun .  "" Marathon running is a global sport . It unites runners and supporters on every continent in pursuit of a common challenge and in the spirit of friendship and fellowship , "" event commentator , Geoff Wightman , announced over loudspeakers before the half minute silence .  "" This week the world marathon family was shocked and saddened by the events at the Boston Marathon . In a few moments a whistle will sound and we will join together in silence to remember our friends and colleagues for whom a day of joy turned into a day of sadness . ""   : Boston wheelchair racer in London  Among the runners , there was a humbling sense of how easily the Boston victims could have been themselves . There was also a determination to complete the race as much for their own gratification as for those who couldn ' t .  For every competitor who crossed the finish line , organizers will donate 3 to The One Fund Boston , set up to raise money for victims of the blasts .  Along with the usual whacky costumes a man dressed in an Abraham Lincoln hat and beard earned respect both for his bravery and lunacy were reminders of Boston ' s tragedy .  Almost everyone wore black solidarity ribbons , with many also donning customized t shirts bearing the name "" Boston . ""  Northern Irishman Barry McCann was one such runner . The 27 year old from Belfast was working with his asset management company in Boston last week when the attack rocked the city .  "" Everyone has been so generous sponsoring us . It totally makes you more determined to show them the bombers that terrorism doesn ' t work . ""  Dressed in a stars and stripes t shirt , 62 year old Bill Higgins , from Fullerton , California , fought back tears as he talked about the impact of the Boston bombings on the international racing community .  This was Higgins ' 84th marathon and he said he had been inundated with people offering to sponsor his race .  "" For that many people to be that quiet It was incredible . Wow . ""  Friends John O ' Flynn and John Gately , from Cork in Ireland , have family in Boston and were not planning on competing in London . But then last week ' s bombing changed their minds .  Similarly , British runner Kristen Harrison , 24 , wore a t shirt with the slogan "" For Boston , "" as she prepared to compete in her fifth marathon .  "" When you start hitting that wall , I think it will help to think of them . ""   : Suspects ' uncle tells of familial break  Crowds were out in force as the marathon wound its way past some of London ' s most iconic landmarks such as Tower Bridge , St Paul ' s Cathedral and Westminster , before finishing near Buckingham Palace .  "" The best way for us to react is to push ahead with the marathon , to get people on the streets and to celebrate it as we always do in London and to send a very clear message that we won ' t be cowed by this sort of behavior , "" Sport Minister Hugh Robertson had earlier told the  .  There was also a strong police presence with 40 more officers on duty in the wake of Monday ' s bombings . As an extra security measure , litter bins were also removed from the 42 kilometer route .  This is the city which nine months earlier hosted the Olympic Games without incident , and politicians say it provided the ideal training ground for hosting international sporting events .  At the heart of the competition were ordinary people slogging it out in one of the most grueling races of its kind in the world and all for charity .  As British journalist Marina Hyde wrote this week : "" The Boston bombers served only to remind the world that marathons are something in which we all have a stake . ""  The message , on this sundrenched Sunday , was loud and clear : "" We are in it together . ""  The first woman to cross the finish line was the winner of the Boston Marathon women ' s wheelchair race , U . S . athlete Tatyana McFadden , who repeated her feat at the London Marathon .  The winner of the men ' s wheelchair race was Australia ' s Kurt Fearnley , and the winning runner in the men ' s elite race was Tsegaye Kebede of Ethiopia .  The first placed runner in the elite women ' s event was Priscah Jeptoo of Kenya . Fellow countrywoman Edna Kiplagat came in second .  Lauren Said Moorhouse contributed to this report .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
15150,15151,"Birds of a Feather actress Linda Robson has revealed how her son ' s mental health deteriorated after witnessing the fatal stabbing of his best friend Ben Kinsella .  Louis , now 22 , was holding 16 year old Ben , brother of former EastEnders actress Brooke Kinsella , in his arms when the ambulance arrived after the attack outside a bar in Islington , London , in 2008 .  Now , his mother has opened up on how the death of Ben affected Louis , and how she was told by a doctor that he needed to be sectioned .  Tragedy : Linda Robson ' s son Louis was best friends with Ben Kinsella and present when the 16 year old was stabbed to death in 2008 , an event which sent Louis into a spiral of depression , anxiety and panic attacks  Linda Robson ' s son and Ben Kinsella had been best friends since the age of eight , and it was Louis who called the ambulance and tried to stem the bleeding with his cardigan after Ben was stabbed 11 times outside a bar in Islington six years ago .  ' Eventually they put him in an ambulance . Louis ' s clothes were covered in Ben ' s blood so he had to take them off .  ' Life changed from that day . It never goes away . You think about it all the time .  Louis was diagnosed with depression and dropped out of college , but his best friend ' s death had affected him so profoundly that he began suffering panic attacks .  Long way back : Linda and Louis , pictured on stage with Pauline Quirke , her son Charlie and Lesley Joseph in 2012 , struggled in the years after Ben Kinsella ' s death  Murdered : Ben Kinsella was stabbed to death outside an Islington bar in 2008  In 2013 , Louis began living like ' a recluse ' as his anxiety crippled him and his family .  ' Me or my husband had to be around him all the time , ' Linda told The Mirror .  ' We couldn ' t go out he ' d panic if we weren ' t there . '  A year later , Linda and her husband Mark visited a Harley Street doctor for help handling Louis ' illness , and were told their son needed sectioning .  ' The doctor said Louis needed to be locked up , send away and put on medication for a month . '  Linda and Mark did not take up the offer , and instead sought alternative anxiety therapy for their son , who is now recovered and working on a music career .  Star pupil and promising artist Ben Kinsella was stabbed 11 times in an Islington street after a night out celebrating the end of his GCSEs with a groups of friends , including Louis , in 2008 .  Thee men , Michael Alleyne , Jade Braithwaite , and Juress Kika , all in their late teens at the time of the stabbing , were jailed for the murder .  Ben ' s sister , actress Brooke Kinsella , has since campaigned tirelessly for tougher knife crime sentences since her brother was killed , working as a Government ambassador and helping to set up the Ben Kinsella Trust .  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
15180,15181,"Brussels , Belgium ( FTweblink ) Brussels competition officials have formally cleared the global tie up between British Airways , American Airlines and Spain ' s Iberia as well as giving a green light to the merger between  and Iberia , saying it would not significantly impede competition in Europe .  The moves were welcome by Willie Walsh , chief executive of British Airways . The global alliance still needs a final green light from the  authorities , but Mr Walsh said that the  approval was an "" important and vital step forward "" .  "" The high number of new services on London to  routes since the open skies agreement demonstrates that Heathrow is open . Between us , we have agreed to make available Heathrow slot pairs for our competitors to use on services to the  . This is a pragmatic decision , so that we can get the joint business up and running as soon as possible . The slot commitments provide a further guarantee that there will be no possible loss of competition as a result of our joint business "" , he said .  The move comes after more than a year of analysis . The European Commission first announced that it was looking at the alliance in April last year , along with the rival Star Alliance , which includes United Airlines , Continental Airlines and Lufthansa .  At the time , the commission said that the level of co operation envisaged between  , American and Iberia appeared to be more extensive than among the alliance members generally and stretched to joint management of schedules , capacity and pricing on transatlantic routes , as well as revenue sharing on these routes .  Officials were anxious to find out whether the co operation would generate offsetting consumer benefits .  But in February , officials in Brussels started consulting on concessions the three carriers offered to address potential anti competitive implications of the deal , and in March put these out for public comment a move that signalled likely eventual approval for the deal .  Under the concessions offered by the airlines , seven daily slot pairs will be made available to other carriers . These will comprise three on the London New York route , two on London Boston and one on each of London Miami and London Dallas . This will allow one or more competitors to operate a total of 49 return flights between London and the four  destinations a week . On the London New York pair , the carriers will also provide the competing carrier with slots at New York ' s  airport .  In addition , the three airlines will provide access to their frequent flyer programmes on the relevant routes allow the combining of fares , so that competitors can carry passengers one way on their own planes and back on the alliance ' s flights and conclude special pro rate agreements , making it easier for a passenger to connect from the alliance ' s short haul European flights to a competitor ' s transatlantic flight .  The commitments , which are legally binding , will run for 10 years .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
15184,15185,"A Seattle area couple is in custody for allegedly holding captive and torturing the man ' s 13 year old brother for three months including driving a nail through the boy ' s hand and keeping him in a cellar for days without food , the prosecutor said Wednesday .  Brandon Gunn , 27 , and his wife Viviana , 34 , are in the Kitsap County Jail outside Seattle on 500 , 000 bail each , charged with kidnapping , unlawful imprisonment and four counts of assault , county prosecutor Cami Lewis said .  Brandon ' s brother is from Atlanta and went in May to stay with his brother for the summer , Kitsap County Deputy Sheriff Scott Wilson said .  The alleged torture began as early as May 1 and lasted until the teenager escaped from his brother ' s cellar two weeks ago , according to the prosecutor ' s complaint , filed Tuesday .  Thomas Jones said the family suspected something was wrong months ago when communication ceased , and it tried unsuccessfully to get law enforcement involved early ,  reported .  The attorney for Brandon Gunn , Michele Taylor , was given the case only Wednesday and has not received any discovery documents , said her paralegal , Samantha Badkin . She said they don ' t expect to speak to their client until at least next Tuesday .  A voicemail message for Viviana Gunn ' s attorney , Jeniece Lacross , was not returned late Wednesday .  According to the probable cause certificate filed Monday by the Kitsap County Sheriff ' s Office , the boy was sent to the Gunns ' garage where he was duct taped to a chair with tape over his eyes and mouth , then beaten in the head , torso and legs with a baseball bat and metal bars , losing consciousness at times .  Another time , the couple put the boy ' s hand in a bench vise , tightened it , and drove a nail through the his hand with a hammer , the certificate says . The boy said that time , he could see them doing it .  The Gunns duct taped his hands and hung him from a rafter in the garage , then beat him they also stapled his right palm with a construction stapler , heated a knife and cut him with it , according to the certificate .  The couple forced the boy to stay naked in a portable dog kennel twice for two to three days at a time , with no food or water , the certificate says . He also was forced to stay in the dark cellar for four days , and when he escaped to get food , he was punished by being beaten with a baseball bat , it says .  The boy said the couple called the abuse "" punishment sessions "" for not doing chores or breaking household rules , and that the "" sessions "" would last for two to three hours , according to Deputy Sheriff Wilson .  When the boy escaped , he had been duct taped but managed to escape by moving his hands in front of him , peeling the tape off his mouth , then chewing through the tape binding his hands , Wilson said . He forced open the cellar door and then lived on the streets for two weeks , stealing food when he could , Wilson said .  He was sleeping in a bus shelter on a Navy housing complex last Friday night when two Navy security officers found the boy and saw his injuries , Wilson said . They immediately sent the boy to a hospital where detectives interviewed him .  They saw injuries to the boy ' s head , face , chest , abdomen , back , arms , legs , hands and feet , ranging from fresh open wounds to wounds that were in the process of healing , the certificate of probable cause says .  The doctor also found a broken piece of metal in the boy ' s hand , possibly from the nail .  "" In the first six hours they were able to develop enough probable cause for the arrest of the brother and the brother ' s wife , "" Wilson said . "" they were arrested at 7 a . m . ( Saturday ) at their house . ""  When detectives interviewed Brandon Gunn , he denied abusing the boy , saying only that he gave him a "" whooping "" with a belt on his backside a few times .  Detectives searched the home and found blood stains on the wall , door , bench vise , baseball bat and chair , the certificate of probable cause says . They also found the dog kennel and staple gun , and a strong smell of urine in a corner of the cellar where the boy said he was forced to urinate , it says .  The boy is out of the hospital and living with a foster family , Wilson said .  The Gunns ' next court appearance is scheduled for September 10 in Kitsap County District Court , said Lewis , the prosecutor .  People held captive in Philadelphia  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
15194,15195,"—   For a fifth consecutive night, American warplanes and drones on Monday pummeled suspected Qaeda targets in Yemen as the Pentagon said an earlier attack in the country had killed a former prisoner held at the United States detention center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said an airstrike last Thursday  —   the first night of a larger Pentagon campaign to roll back gains made by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or A. Q. A. P.  —   killed the former detainee, who was using the name Yasir Ali Abdallah al Silmi. While at Guantánamo, he was held as Detainee No. 679 and went by the name Mohammed Tahar, according to military records. Including an airstrike overnight on Monday that Captain Davis said killed seven Qaeda fighters, the United States has conducted more than 40 attacks across central and southern Yemen in the past week. By comparison, the military carried out 41 strikes in all of 2012, the most in a single year against the Qaeda affiliate in Yemen. Soon after taking office, President Trump authorized the   air campaign against the Qaeda branch, one of the deadliest in the world, at the same time he approved the   Special Operations raid in January that left one member of Navy  Team 6 dead and three others wounded. An estimated two dozen civilians were killed in that raid. “It’s a reflection of growing concern about the reconstitution of A. Q. A. P. in Yemen,” Gerald M. Feierstein, a former United States ambassador to Yemen who is now at the Middle East Institute in Washington, said of the flurry of airstrikes. “The key issue is how they identify targets, the fidelity of the intelligence, and the care they take to maintain the standard of near certainty on no collateral damage,” Mr. Feierstein said, referring to civilian casualties. “I don’t know the answer to those questions. ” The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has scheduled a hearing for Thursday on Yemen, the first since the raid in January. Mr. Tahar was imprisoned at Guantánamo Bay from 2002 to 2009. Because Yemen was in chaos at that time, officials were reluctant to repatriate detainees there. But Mr. Tahar was among a small group the Obama administration repatriated in December 2009 as part of an experiment. Later that month, however, after the attempted bombing of a   airliner by Al Qaeda’s Yemen branch, President Barack Obama halted further repatriations to Yemen. Years later, the Obama administration resettled many Yemenis in other countries. Military records show that Mr. Tahar’s brother, who went by the name Ali Abdullah Ahmed, was also a Guantánamo detainee. He was among three detainees who died in June 2006 in what the military said was a coordinated suicide. Captain Davis said that Usayd   whom he described as a “longtime explosives expert who served as the organization’s emir” within Abyan Province, was killed in the same March 2 strike as Mr. Tahar. Yemeni civilians in three provinces where Al Qaeda has strongholds described the American bombing campaign as unrelenting. For three days beginning Friday, American drones and attack planes extensively hit the rugged mountains and valleys in central Baydha Province, where Qaeda military camps have long existed outside the control of the weak central government in Sana, the capital, according to residents reached by phone. “They appear on the sky at nearly the same time and quickly launched heavy fire against Al Qaeda gatherings,” said Nayef, a resident who for security reasons preferred to be identified only by his first name. “The U. S. planes become more aggressive when Al Qaeda militants fire back,” he said. “We can see balls of fire on the sky when the Americans exchange fire with Al Qaeda. ” Abdul Aziz Awadh, a resident of Abyan Province in the south, the birthplace of Yemen’s president, Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, said that an American drone struck a taxi carrying a number of Qaeda militants on Thursday afternoon. “The airstrike completely burned the car and killed at least four Al Qaeda,” he said. “We later learned that they came from Aden to Abyan. The U. S. drone chased them until they passed through a farm and hit them. ”",true,news,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
15196,15197,"Percy von Lipinski figures he flies about 100 , 000 miles a year . He knows he ' s going to see a healthy share of flight delays regardless of where he goes .  A new study says delays will continue to frustrate fliers like this man at Washington ' s Dulles International Airport .  But he especially anticipates them at the larger airports , such as Chicago ' s O ' Hare International "" You can ' t possibly put that many planes there and not have a delay , "" he said and New York ' s John F . Kennedy International . So when he has a choice between two connecting cities , he said he ' ll generally choose the smaller one .  Delays at the larger airports , he said , are compounded by other hassles such as longer distances between terminals .  "" There ' s wear and tear on your travel psyche which bus you need , which terminal you should be at , "" said von Lipinski , a 54 year old Vancouver , British Columbia , resident who owns businesses around the globe . "" By the time you get to your destination , you ' re bound to come up frazzled . ""  Delays contribute to that frustration , and there may be more of it to go around these days .  Though the percentage of delayed U . S . flights has dipped recently because fewer planes are flying during the recession , there ' s been a 20 year trend of increasing delays , and the increases should continue once economic growth returns , a study released Thursday by the Brookings Institution said .  The average length of U . S . flight delays rose from 40 . 9 minutes in 1990 to 56 . 5 minutes in June 2009 , according to the study , "" Expect Delays : An Analysis of Air Travel Trends in the United States . ""  It also found that among delayed flights , the share of those that landed at least two hours late more than doubled from 4 . 3 percent in 1990 to 10 . 1 percent in May 2009 .  And in a 12 month period ending in June 2009 , the majority of delays was concentrated in 26 metropolitan areas , or hub cities , the study said . Of these 26 hub cities , six had worse than average , on time percentages for both arrivals and departures : New York Chicago , Illinois Philadelphia , Pennsylvania Miami , Florida Atlanta , Georgia and San Francisco , California .  The nationwide on time arrival rate was 78 . 9 percent , and the departure rate was similar , study co author Robert Puentes said . New York ' s on time arrival rate , 66 . 3 percent , was worst in the nation , said the study , which analyzed air travel between metro areas rather than airports .  Delays are going to get worse , study co author Adie Tomer said .  "" On time performance has improved recently because the number of people flying is at its lowest point since 9 11 , but as the economy bounces back , air passenger levels will grow , and on time performance will likely resume its decline . ""  The hub cities that did better than the national average for both arrivals and departures were Salt Lake City , Utah Phoenix , Arizona Detroit , Michigan and Washington .  The study said on time performance generally decreases as air travel increases . In 1990 , with more than 400 , 000 domestic passengers nationwide , the country ' s on time flight percentage was just under 80 percent . In 2007 , with nearly 700 , 000 domestic passengers , the on time rate was around 74 percent .  The authors recommend Congress and other authorities use the findings to help decide where to invest in high speed rail projects and other measures to ease airport congestion .  Michael Boyd , president of Colorado aviation consulting firm Boyd International Group , is critical of the recommendation , saying the country could handle the current flight demand and cut delays by improving its air traffic control system .  The old system , he said , is outdated , doesn ' t use all of the sky and directs planes to fly farther and longer than they need to .  "" Instead of saying , ' Let ' s get a system that can handle the traffic , ' Brookings wants to lessen the demand . That ' s a caveman mentality , "" Boyd said .  Deron Lovaas , transportation policy director for the Natural Resources Defense Council , said the study "" hit the nail on the head in terms of the opportunity "" to promote alternative modes of transportation .  "" The planes waste a lot of fuel idling on the tarmac and during takeoff and landing cycles of flight . So the lowest hanging fruit available for reducing emissions beyond changing plane designs and changing the fuel mix in planes is to reduce congestion at airports and to go after short haul flights , where a greater percentage of the flight is made up of takeoff and landing cycles , where most of the emissions are , "" Lovaas said .  Airplane passengers can take steps to cushion the impact of a delay or lower the chance of getting on a delayed flight , Boyd said . Passengers should only choose connection flights that depart at least an hour after their first plane ' s scheduled landing , he said .  Also , he said , people who book a flight just a day or two in advance should look at weather forecasts .  "" If there ' s bad weather in Chicago , don ' t go through Chicago "" if you don ' t have to , Boyd said .  Von Lipinski ' s recommendation , besides trying to avoid busier airports , is to treat airline workers with respect .  "" The agents have a lot of discretion , and they ' re human beings . If you treat them like dirt and are screaming because of a delay , you know what the result is going to be , "" he said . "" If you treat them well , you ' ll probably find they ' ll be willing to help you . ""  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
15208,15209,"Vincent Viola, a billionaire Wall Street trader and President Trump’s nominee for secretary of the Army, abruptly withdrew his name for the post on Friday night after concluding it would be too difficult to untangle himself from his business ties, two government officials said. Mr. Viola is an owner of the Florida Panthers hockey club and a majority shareholder in Virtu Financial and Eastern Air Lines, among a number of other business interests. This week The New York Times reported that Mr. Viola had been negotiating to swap his stake in Eastern Air Lines for a stake in Swift Air, an airline with government subcontracts. If his nomination had continued, he would have faced certain scrutiny for potentially becoming a government official who benefits from federal contracts. The Trump administration did not announce his withdrawal, which was reported earlier on Friday by Bloomberg News, but a senior administration official and a Pentagon official separately confirmed his decision, which the White House accepted Friday. Both officials spoke on the condition of anonymity. Mr. Viola is a 1977 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, and he last served in the Army Reserves at the rank of major. He remained connected to the military through donations to West Point, including to the academy’s Combating Terrorism Center. A former Pentagon official and close friend said Mr. Viola was devastated over having to withdraw from what he described as a lifelong dream job. But the former official said Mr. Viola felt he was unable to sell his interest in some of his holdings because doing so could have destroyed those companies. His decision followed weeks of negotiations between his lawyers and the government as they sought to find a solution. Ultimately, they could not. Mr. Viola has a net worth of almost $1. 8 billion and is a   of Virtu. Virtu had planned to go public in 2014, but pulled the plug on the move because of choppy markets and lingering questions around how   trading firms like Virtu make money. In a regulatory filing at the time, Virtu said regulators were looking into its trading practices. It is not known if this issue played a role in Mr. Viola’s decision to withdraw his name for the Army secretary job, which is a post that requires Senate confirmation. His decision to withdraw comes the same week another of Mr. Trump’s appointees, Anthony Scaramucci, was told he would not get a top job at the White House amid concerns about the recent sale of his company to a large Chinese conglomerate. In an episode unrelated to the finances of Mr. Viola, it was recently revealed that he was involved in an altercation in August: He was accused of punching a concessions worker at a racehorse auction in Saratoga Springs, N. Y. No charges were brought against him. Mr. Viola was one of the first nominations Mr. Trump issued the day he was inaugurated. “Vincent Viola, everybody likes Vincent,” Mr. Trump said just hours after his   as he signed orders nominating his cabinet.",fake,news,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
15230,15231,"California The attorney for Nancy Garrido , charged in the Jaycee Lee Dugard abduction case , expressed concern Wednesday that intense media coverage may prejudice his client ' s ability to get a fair trial .  Phillip Garrido and his wife in 1988 , shortly after his release from jail for rape .  "" That ' s good speculation , but any good prosecutor will tell you that they can ' t prosecute and convict on speculation .  "" The media can do that , but the prosecutor can ' t . "" Watch Maines talk about Nancy Garrido ' s case  Nancy and Phillip Garrido have been charged in connection with the kidnapping and rape of Dugard , 29 , who police say was abducted by the Garridos in 1991 at age 11 . Dugard grew up in a backyard compound of tents and outbuildings , and gave birth to two daughters , now 11 and 15 , fathered by Garrido during her captivity , police said .  The Garridos were arrested last week and have pleaded not guilty . Philip Garrido is a registered sex offender .  Maines said his client has been charged with "" about half "" of the 29 counts against the couple . He said he has discussed "" what she says happened . "" He would not elaborate , citing attorney client privilege . But , he added , he is still "" trying to establish a line of communication "" with his client .  "" We are in the process of formulating any defense that we have , or that we may have , "" he said . "" We are still in the process of investigating this entire thing . ""  Maines said he was not aware of the case before he was appointed by the court to represent Nancy Garrido .  "" I ' m sure you understand that this is a horrendous thing for her , "" Maines said . "" I mean I realize it ' s horrendous for Jaycee and her parents and the children , but my concern right now is that my client get a fair trial . ""  He said that he is still working on getting his client to "" confide in me and talk to me so I can formulate any defense that is available . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
15252,15253,"Whether you ' re a wine connoisseur or malt whisky lover , the state you live in could reveal far more about your drinking habits than you might expect .  Those living in Delaware , Washington and Massachusetts , for instance , are the nation ' s biggest boozers , according to a survey of their tweets .  Overall , Washington D . C . had the most tweets per capita about wine and beer , and they also had the second most tweets about liquor .  In terms of alcohol related tweets , Delaware tops the list , following by D . C , Massachusetts , Nevada and Rhode Island . As a nation , the  enjoyed talking about beer and malt liquor far more than they do about wine  However , when it came to announcing abusive behaviours such as getting drunk or ' crunk ' Washington didn ' t even get into the top five . That unfavourable distinction went to New Jersey .  Meanwhile , the South often portrayed in media as the beer drinking capital of America had only three states that ranked in the top 10 for beer tweets .  In fact , it ' s the only region in the U . S . that prefers hard liquor to beer and malt liquor , according to the survey .  The data was compiled by California based addition helpline , Project Know , who wanted to raise awareness of the  ' drinking problem .  Click on your state to see how much its residents loves alcohol . . .  The research also shows 31 per cent of men drink to get drunk compared to only 21 per cent of women . Age is a factor as well , with 40 per cent of college students reporting they drink to get drunk or ' crunk '  To find out more about drinking habits around the country , the team surveyed more than 1 , 000 people and analysed 450 , 000 tweets about beer , liquor , wine , and drinking .  While regional preferences for alcohol type may vary widely , the phenomenon of alcohol abuse is a nationwide issue  As well as the types of alcohol consumers , the research also shows 31 per cent of men drink to get drunk compared to only 21 per cent of women .  Age is a factor as well , with 40 per cent of college students reporting they drink to get drunk .  Hard liquor is the strongly preferred choice of college students ( 66 per cent ) , but beer is the overall preferred drink of Americans .  The survey also found that 25 per cent of men have taken ' shower beers ' , and 13 per cent of women admit to doing the same .  A ' shower beer ' is better you take into the shower when you ' re in a hurry to go out or want to relax from a long day .  According to the American Council for Drug Education (  ) around 10 to 15 million people in the United States can be classified as alcoholics .  The statistics show that alcohol dependence will affect 17 per cent of men and eight per cent of women at some point in their lives .  The survey discovered that the South often portrayed in media as the beer drinking capital of America had only three states that ranked in the top 10 for beer tweets . In fact , it ' s the only region in the U . S . that prefers hard liquor to beer and malt liquor , according to research  When it came to tweeting about drinking , the residents of the District of Columbia were the most eager to let you know what they were drinking on social media . They had the most tweets per capita in the wine and beer categories , and they had the second most tweets about liquor ( pictured )  The survey also found that 25 per cent of men have taken ' shower beers ' , and 13 per cent of women admit to doing the same . A ' shower beer ' is better you take into the shower when you ' re in a hurry to go out or want to relax from a long day . Delaware topped the list for drinking games , according to Twitter trends  While Washington D . C and Massachusetts may be famous for loving wine , they also are the biggest beer and malt liquor drinkers . On average , there are 41 tweets on the drinks each year for every 100 , 000 residents  The nation ' s wine lovers can be found in Washington , D . C . , Rhode Island , California , Oregon and Massachusetts . Residents of these areas tend to tweet more about their love of wine than anyone else  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
15270,15271,""" Hey dude can you turn your music down ? ""  If anyone says this to you while you ' re wearing your earbuds , take note : You are probably endangering your hearing .  More than one billion teens and young adults are at risk of losing their hearing , according to  ( that ' s the World Health Organization , not the rock band ) .  It ' s not just old folks who suffer hearing loss . Just by listening to music at what you probably think is a normal level , or hanging out in loud bars , nightclubs and music and sporting events , you can permanently damage your hearing .  By analyzing listening habits of 12 to 35 year olds in wealthier countries around the world ,  found nearly 50 of those studied listen to unsafe sound levels on personal audio devices and about 40 are exposed to damaging levels of music and noise at entertainment venues .  It doesn ' t take much time to damage your hearing at a sports bar or nightclub . According to the  , "" exposure to noise levels of 100 dB , which is typical in such venues , is safe for no more than 15 minutes . ""  Once you lose your hearing , it won ' t come back .  Rapper Plan B and Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin know that all too well . They both suffer from tinnitus , hearing loss that causes a permanent and irritating ringing in the ears , because they didn ' t protect their hearing . Now they ' ve joined forces with a British hearing loss association to warn others .  "" I suffer from tinnitus , "" says Plan B on actionhearingloss . org . "" When I first developed it , I thought it was trains rushing by my house as I live near a railway line . It was really loud and an extremely high pitched ringing in my ears . I now have to wear special earplugs when I go to bed to help stop my ears from ringing . ""  "" Looking after your ears is unfortunately something you don ' t think about until there ' s a problem , "" says Martin . "" I ' ve had tinnitus for about 10 years , and since I started protecting my ears , it hasn ' t got any worse ( touch wood ) . But I wish I ' d thought about it earlier . ""  When it comes to personal listening devices , the level of damage you can cause to your ears is directly correlated to how long you listen and how loud the sound . "" Unsafe levels of sounds can be , for example , exposure to in excess of 85dB for eight hours or 100dB for 15 minutes , "" says  .  Eighty five decibels isn ' t all that loud . According to the Palo Alto Medical Foundation , it ' s about the level of city traffic that you ' d heard from inside your car .  Some 360 million of us have already suffered moderate to severe hearing loss , according to the  Health Agency Worldwide . While that number does include factors out of our control , such as aging , genetics , birth defects , infections and disease , about half of all cases were avoidable .  That ' s why  has launched the Make Listening Safe initiative . Part of the campaign is to encourage manufacturers to create audio safety features on devices and then educate consumers on how to use them .  is also calling on governments to create and enforce recreational noise legislation .  "" Parents , teachers and physicians can educate young people about safe listening , while managers of entertainment venues can respect the safe noise levels set by their respective venues , use sound limiters and offer earplugs and ' chill out ' rooms to patrons , "" says  .  In the end , it ' s up to each of us to protect our own hearing . The good news is that it ' s easy to do . When it comes to your personal audio devices , such as your smartphone :  Turn the volume down . Don ' t go above 60 .  Wear noise canceling earbuds , or better yet , headphones .  Take "" listening breaks "" or only listen for just an hour a day  Get an app for that . Download a smartphone app to help monitor safe listening levels .  And the next time you go to a bar , nightclub , sports event or concert , use ear protection . Martin does .  "" Now we always use moulded filter plugs , or in ear monitors , to try and protect our ears , "" says Martin . And his kids never go to a concert without big , noise canceling headphones .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
15281,15282,"Home World Kerry seeks 30pc hike in global aid for refugees  Kerry seeks 30pc hike in global aid for refugees  Al Jubeir said that Iran has been following a hostile policy towards the Arab world  U . S . Secretary of State John Kerry has told the World Economic Forum in Switzerland the Obama administration will seek a major boost in funding and support for the resettlement of refugees .  A senior State Department official said before Kerry ' s arrival in Riyadh that Washington hoped Saudi Arabia would restore diplomatic ties with Iran after Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ' s statement of regret this week over the embassy storming .  Saudi Arabia and its Gulf neighbors have complained of a lack of  engagement in the face of what they see as Iranian meddling in the region .  It had been reported that Iran stood to gain 100 billion from the implementation of the nuclear agreement , in which worldwide sanctions were to be lifted in exchange for Iran rolling back its nuclear program .   : The Saudis alone spend 80 billion a year on defense .  Earlier in the week Kerry disputed the 100 billion figure Iran is expected to get from the deal , insisting , "" They will get about 55 billion over a period of time "" .  "" Limits are not unethical : they help to maintain acceptance within society "" , Gauck told the world ' s political and economic elite gathered at the Swiss mountain resort . He added that there will be consequences for Iran if there is evidence that the funding supported terrorism .  In other words , to buy a bad deal on Iran ' s nuclear program they ' re already building four new nuclear facilities we had to let them have tens of billions of dollars for terrorism because , as the Geico commercial says , "" that ' s what they do "" .  Kerry said corruption is used by extremist groups as a tool to radicalize and recruit youth and , therefore , was no longer a domestic problem but a global one .  Kerry added , however , that if Iran is serious about bolstering its lagging economy , Iran won ' t be able to funnel much of the money in that direction .  His comments came Thursday in response to a complaint lodged by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif ( zah  ' ) , who told The Associated Press in an interview that new  sanctions over Iran ' s ballistic missile testing are "" illegal "" and an example of an American "" addiction to coercion "" .  "" We are quite confident that there is a way to invite the various interested stakeholders that provides for cohesion and the ability to make the process move forward "" , he said .  The Gulf states have sided with the kingdom in its spat with Iran and backed the rebels fighting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Assad , a key ally of the Islamic Republic .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
15284,15285,"Reuters) - Iranian authorities sentenced a member of Iran s nuclear negotiating team to five years in jail, Tasnim news agency reported on Wednesday although it gave no details of the case. Iran reached a nuclear deal with the United States and five other major powers in 2015 that led to the lifting of most of the international sanctions against Iran in return for curbs on its nuclear program. The potential detente with the West has alarmed Iranian hardliners, who have seen a flood of European trade and investment delegations arrive in Tehran to discuss possible deals, according to Iran experts. Reports last year in the Iranian media said a nuclear negotiator with dual nationality had been arrested after being accused of providing sensitive economic information to Iran s enemies. In May, the judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said a member of the negotiating team who was facing espionage charges had been sentenced to a prison term, but added that he could not provide details since the verdict could be appealed.  The case was reviewed in an appeal court and a five-year jail sentence was upheld,  Tasnim quoted an  informed source  as saying on Wednesday but did not name the person. Tasnim reported in July 2016 that a member of the negotiating team who was in charge of banking affairs during the talks had been arrested.  The agency and some other semi-official media named him as Abdolrasul Dori Esfahani with Iranian-Canadian nationality and possibly holding other passports. Security officials have arrested several businessmen, including Iranians holding joint American, European or Canadian citizenship, as part of a crackdown on  Western infiltration . Iran s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in October 2015 detained Siamak Namazi, a businessman in his mid-40s with dual U.S.-Iranian citizenship, while he was visiting family in Tehran. The  in February arrested his 80-year-old father, Baquer Namazi, a former Iranian provincial governor and former  official who also has dual citizenship. Both men were jailed in 2016 for 10 years for spying and cooperating with the U.S. government. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
15290,15291,"Greek singer Demis Roussos , pictured in 2012 , who has died aged 68 in an Athens Hospital following an undisclosed illness  Greek singer Demis Roussos famed for his hits in the seventies and eighties has died aged 68 after suffering from an undisclosed illness .  The Egyptian born performer saw his popularity rise in the 1960s and 70s after joining progressive rock group Aphrodite ' s Child .  He was best known for his hits Forever And Ever and Goodbye as well as providing the soundtrack to the 1977  play Abigail ' s Party . He sold 60 million records worldwide .  Mr Roussos was born in 1946 in Alexandria , Egypt as Artemios Ventouris Roussos to a Greek father and an Egyptian mother of Italian origin .  The family fled to Greece after losing all their possessions during the Suez crisis .  Aged 17 , he began his music career joining a band called The Idols , where he met his future Aphrodite ' s Child band mates .  Aphrodite ' s Child made three hit albums , which enjoyed success across Europe in the late 1960s .  Mr Roussos then went on to enjoy a solo career in the 1970s , with his song Forever And Ever topping the  charts in 1976 .  His other hits included My Friend the Wind , My Reason , Happy To Be On An Island In The Sun and Someday Somewhere .  He made one of his earliest appearances on English language  on the Basil Brush Show and became known as the ' Kaftan King ' following his fondness for the garments .  He was also a regular target for parody , with comics including Freddie Starr and The Grumbleweeds taking aim at him , but was immortalised for many in the Mike Leigh  play Abigail ' s Party .  The scene where Alison Steadman ' s character ' s expressed her devotion to Roussos who she says ' doesn ' t sound ' fat is regularly replayed .  Mr Roussos , whose popularity soared in the 1970s , was known for his love of kaftans , left , and long flowing hair  Mr Roussos pictured alongside Sir Elton John in 1981 . He topped the  charts in 1976 with his song Forever and Ever  Roussos , who died in Athens , said his success in the  was down to the rise of foreign holidays .  He told The Scotsman : ' The reason for my big success in England was the Brits they started wanting to go on holidays , like Spain and Greece .  ' My music came right on time . It was romantic Mediterranean music addressed to all the people who wanted to go on holiday . My music was liked by the people . '  In 1985 , the singer was caught up in a plane hijacking when flight  847 from Athens to Rome was hijacked by members of Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad .  He and his third wife were held as prisoners in Beirut for five days before they were released .  Mr Roussos has struggled with he weight throughout his life and co wrote a book about obesity  Speaking on French radio , fellow singer Nana Mouskouri paid tribute to Mr Roussos , pictured , saying he had a superb voice  Mr Roussos pictured in Paris in December 2005 . He previously said his success in the  was down to the rise of foreign holidays  His last public appearance came in 2013 in Athens , when he was honoured for his life ' s work by receiving a French Legion of Honour medal .  He had been in the private Hygeia Hospital for sometime and died early on Sunday morning .  In a tribute on French radio , fellow singer Nana Mouskouri said : ' He had a superb voice , he traveled in the world . . . he loved what he was doing .  ' He was an artist , a friend . I hope he is in a better world . '  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
15293,15294,"Statins could be used to treat multiple sclerosis (  ) but are being blocked by  red tape , a charity has claimed .  The Multiple Sclerosis Society believes cholesterol busting statins could help treat  but are not prescribed because of strict  rules that prevent drugs being re licensed for conditions other than that for which they were originally designed .  The disease affects nerves in the brain , eyes and spinal cord , often causing patients to lose basic bodily functions .  The Multiple Sclerosis Society believes cholesterol busting statins could help treat   Initial trials conducted show that simvastatin , a drug traditionally prescribed to those suffering from heart disease , could slow the breakdown of the tissues in the brain by 40 per cent .  But the drug is not being given to  sufferers because of laws which prevent old drugs being re licensed .  The patent for simvastatin expired in 2004 and a new licence would be required to make the drug widely available , the charity has said .  The  Society is now asking people to lobby their  to attend the Off patent Drugs Bill reading , which will be held in the House of Commons this Friday .  The bill could help tens of thousands  sufferers currently receiving no effective treatment according to the  Society .  Initial trials conducted show that simvastatin could slow the breakdown of tissues in the brain by 40  The letter to the newspaper has been signed by half a dozen medical experts including five neurologists .  Michelle Mitchell , the charity ' s chief executive , said that denying patients from receiving the medication was ' nonsensical ' and called for MPs to ' cut the red tape ' .  She said : ' In progressive  , symptoms gradually worsen and there are currently no medicines that can slow or stop the accumulation of disability .  ' This can leave people desperate and willing to try anything and we know some even consider unproven therapies or interventions which might be expensive and dangerous .  ' In the example of simvastatin , if phase 3 trials are successful , it would be cruel to tell people we have finally found a drug that might slow the progression of their  but they cannot have it . '  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
15308,15309,"If Tottenham go on to lift the Europa League trophy next May , very few will remember their opening group stage encounter at Partizan Belgrade .  Spurs hustled a goalless draw in Serbia but while it was without major incident on the pitch , the stalemate showed a rather unfamiliar robust performance from the north London outfit one they will likely have to give again on the road to Warsaw .  Attacking has never been a major problem for a Spurs side on a consistent basis , but having the personnel in defence to soak up pressure under a hostile crowd has been found wanting all too often . The recipe was there for disaster in the group stage opener .  Tottenham debutant Federico Fazio ( left ) and his centre half partner Jan Vertonghen were rocks at the back  A brand new defensive partnership in Federico Fazio and Jan Vertonghen , 10 changes and key players being left at home were among the reasons why the 150 Spurs fans which made the journey could have been left fearing the worst when the line ups were announced .  By contrast , the other more audible 90 per cent of the Partizan Stadium were buoyed at hearing the full team confirmations come through the  system and the prospect of facing an under strength opposition .  An interesting Serbian heavy metal take on Rod Stewart ' s ' Sailing ' ( twice ) had already whipped the home crowd into a frenzy in the build up to the game , and the Tottenham players soon knew about it before a ball had even been kicked .  Whether it was playing a pass during the game , or strolling on to take part in the pre match warm up , Spurs were booed , whistled and jeered heavily throughout the night to almost deafening levels .  Regardless of the quality of the opposition Tottenham were up against , they were never going to stroll to an easy three points in this environment . Maybe they could have had a go , and by have a go , I mean record a shot on target .  But for all of Partizan ' s overall control of the game the home side very rarely gave Hugo Lloris any tests to deal with in the Spurs goal .  Hugo Lloris and Vertonghen shake on it after a job well done against Partizan Belgrade in Serbia  There were moments where Tottenham nearly shot themselves in the foot . Debutant Fazio impressed but misjudged a first half header to hand the hosts a chance , while a counter attack near the end of the opening 45 minutes brought a good save from Lloris diving to his far post .  But the combination of Fazio and Vertonghen at centre back had the majority of threats covered throughout the encounter , and gave fans genuine hope they can form a stable partnership at the back in the near future .  A point away from home at Partizan is a positive result for Spurs . Manager Mauricio Pochettino admitted post match he picked a side to win , and even my Red Star Belgrade supporting taxi driver ahead of the match was confident Tottenham would triumph 3 1 ( which if anything rather confirmed my suspicions he just hated Partizan which with a thumbs up and a smile , he acknowledged when I put it to him ) .  Benjamin Stambouli ( right ) , also gave an assured display in difficult circumstances in Belgrade  Much like the Premier League cliche of teams needing to perform on a wet Tuesday night in Stoke to show their worth , in Europe Spurs must be able to grind out results when factors outside their control mean they cannot play their natural high pressing game on playing surfaces smother than a billiard table .  Regardless of the changes made to the squad , Spurs will still be hoping to lift the Europa League trophy more than any other cup competition this term with the additional prize of Champions League football going to the winner .  Drawing 0 0 isn ' t going to make Europe step up and take note . But while Tottenham have always had a Plan A in trying to outscore the other team , this particular stalemate shows that a more defensive Plan B could be just what Spurs need in their locker to go all the way in this competition .  Mauricio Pochettino insisted he picked a Spurs side to win the match but settled for the hard fought draw  Follow all the latest  action on Facebook : UEFAEuropaLeague Twitter : EuropaLeague and at uefaweblink  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
15315,15316,"You are here : Home Trump promises to ' work something out ' on healthcare  Trump promises to ' work something out ' on healthcare  Mr Trump , who leads Texas Sen . What kind of sh t storm will be set off by this utterly non committal collection of syllables which takes absolutely no stand on anything and simply introduces the words Trump , Cruz , Hillary , Obamacare , Bernie and The X Files into the debate ?  During an interview on Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace called out Republican presdential candidate Ted Cruz for lying about Obamacare and President Obama ' s record on jobs . I am so against Obamacare . You know , I have reviewed the syntax on that previous run on sentence six times now , and I am still unable to figure out if it tracks correctly when you read it . But this is the kind of unchecked passion that can come from working very hard to mean next to nothing while trying to find out if everyone will still get all bent out of shape . "" He ' s been proven not immortal , and I think it ' s going to be a very tight three way race in New Hampshire "" . While Trump didn ' t reveal specifics of his health care plan , he acknowledged he wants Americans covered by health care paid for by the government .  When Donald Trump announced last summer that he was running for president , he didn ' t expect to be leading the polls a day ahead of the Iowa caucus , the real estate mogul said this morning on  ' s "" This Week "" .  In this weekend ' s interview with  , Trump insisted he did not support single payer , but he was downright idealistic regarding providing health care and he sounded eerily like the liberals that condemn conservatives for their focus on fiscal responsibility : "" We ' ll work something out "" . "" I want people taken care of "" .  "" If people have no money , we have to help people , but that doesn ' t mean single payer "" . It means we have to help people .  "" We ' re going to work with our hospitals , we ' re going to work with our doctors "" . One of the staples of my speech , you can ask my supporters , it ' s repeal and replace ObamaCare .  For his part , Cruz has gone on the attack against Trump . Maybe he ' s got no heart . "" We can ' t let them die on the sidewalks of  , or the sidewalks of Iowa , or anywhere else "" .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
15317,15318,"Championship Game kickoff times ,  info and betting spreads  Here ' s everything you need to know for sunday ' s games   ,  Championship Game kickoff times ,  info and betting spreads Here ' s everything you need to know for sunday ' s games Check out this story on USATODAYweblink : http : usat . ly 1VcqeKm  A link has been sent to your friend ' s email address .  A link has been posted to your Facebook feed .  To find out more about Facebook commenting please read the Conversation Guidelines and FAQs   ,  Championship Game kickoff times ,  info and betting spreads    Sports 7 : 28 p . m .  January 22 , 2016    Sports ' Tom Pelissero , Lindsay H . Jones and Lorenzo Reyes break down everything you need to know leading up to the game between New England and Denver .   Sports  New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady ( 12 ) throws the ball under pressure from Denver Broncos defensive end Malik Jackson ( 97 ) during the second half at Sports Authority Field at Mile High .  A preview of the  s conference championship action :     ( 13 4 )    ( 13 4 )   : Sunday , 3 : 05 P . M .  ,  ( Jim Nantz , Phil Simms , Tracy Wolfson )  Story lines : The Patriots seek a record ninth Super Bowl trip . The Broncos hope to go an eighth time . New England is 3 3 in road playoff games under coach Bill Belichick and  Tom Brady and 0 2 in Denver . This will be the 17th meeting between Brady and Denver  Peyton Manning . They ve split four playoff meetings , though Manning has a 2 1 edge in championship games . Neither quarterback has beaten the other on the road since 2007 . Brady is hot , intercepted just once in the last five games ( 7 TDs ) . Manning is not , failing to throw a  in his last nine quarters . The Broncos led the  in total defense , pass defense and sacks ( 52 ) , including three of Brady in Denver s Nov . 29 win . The Patriots were 2 for 13 on third downs in that loss . However  Julian Edelman missed the game . The Patriots are 10 0 when he plays this season . Rob Gronkowski ' s eight postseason  catches are a record for tight ends . He ' s scored in his last four playoff games . Manning also missed the previous matchup , when the Broncos rushed for 179 yards . Broncos Pro Bowl  Chris Harris is dealing with a severe shoulder bruise but is probable to play . Denver  Demaryius Thomas caught just one pass despite 13 targets in the Week 12 matchup .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
15318,15319,"Most of us are fully aware that Republican nominee Donald Trump is not only a racist, a misogynist and a bigot, but a complete psychopath and compulsive liar. But what happens when Trump is actually put through a clinical sanity test? Political commentator Keith Olbermann decided to find out.In a courageous attempt to understand the way Trump s disturbed mind works, Olbermann examined Trump using clinical psychology practices, which lead to his conclusion that Trump would not pass any of the  sanity  tests commonly used to identify criminal and antisocial tendencies.Olbermann released his findings on Thursday in Vanity Fair, and the results were not good for the future of America. The particular test Olbermann chose to evaluate Trump was  The Hare Psychopathy Checklist , developed by Canadian criminal psychologist Robert D. Hare, which serves as a kind of triage device to separate the injured from the tripping from the psychopathic. This particular test goes through 20 different personality traits, awarding points for each. Such traits include a grandiose sense of self-worth, pathological lying, lack of empathy, parasitic lifestyle, promiscuous sexual behavior, and a failure to accept responsibility for one s own actions. Just by that small sample of traits alone, you can probably already guess how Trump might have scored.The maximum amount of points you can get is 40, and clinical psychopathy is considered any score 30 or above. Trump scored a whopping 32   making him a certainty for a diagnosis of clinical psychopathy. Olbermann remarked on Trump s mental health: The implications are clear. Our Trumperor s New Clothes media rightly sees the latest Trump  event whatever it is this time as one of the most unbelievable developments in American political history. But the simple mechanics of following, reporting, and writing the proverbial  new high in low  every single day means that they could be missing one overriding truth about the health of the most remarkable presidential candidate since at least 1864. In short, our amateurs  exercise with the very professional Hare Psychopathy Checklist suggests that if you were betting on it, you d probably want to bet that Donald Trump couldn t pass a sanity test open book. If that isn t terrifying, I don t know what is. Trump is the  nominee, and although Clinton will probably wipe the floor with him in the election, the fact that someone as hateful and mentally unstable as Trump has gotten this close to the White House should worry us all.Here s a video from Olbermann, which goes through the test and Trump s results:Featured image via screenshot",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
15320,15321,"South Korea ? As world leaders debated how to punish North Korea s claim of a fourth nuclear test , South Korea retaliated by broadcasting anti Pyongyang propaganda across the rivals tense border Friday on what was believed to be Kim Jong Un s birthday .  North Korea considers such broadcasts to be an act of psychological warfare and likely will have a furious response . Pyongyang is extremely sensitive to any outside criticism of the authoritarian leadership of Kim , the third member of his family to rule the country . When South Korea briefly resumed propaganda broadcasts in August after an 11 year break , Seoul says the two Koreas exchanged artillery fire , followed by threats of war .  South Korea s Yonhap news agency reported that frontline troops , near 11 sites where loudspeakers started blaring propaganda at noon , were on highest alert . Yonhap said Seoul had deployed missiles , artillery and other weapons systems near the border to swiftly deal with any possible North Korean provocation . South Korea s Defense Ministry did not immediately confirm the reports .  The North Korean response could be harsh because of the high emotions surrounding the likely birthday of Kim , who is believed to be in his early 30s . North Korean military forces often compete to show their loyalty to the leader . The North s state media has yet to mention Kim s birthday or South Korea s loudspeaker campaign .  The broadcasts came as world powers sought to find other ways to punish the North for conducting what it said was its first hydrogen bomb test Wednesday .  U . S . Secretary of State John Kerry urged China , the North s only major ally and its biggest aid provider , to end business as usual with North Korea .  Diplomats at a U . N . Security Council emergency session pledged to swiftly pursue new sanctions . For current sanctions and any new penalties to work , better cooperation and stronger implementation from China is seen as key .  South Korean and U . S . military leaders also have discussed the deployment of U . S . strategic assets , Seoul s Defense Ministry said . Officials refused to elaborate , but the assets likely are B 52 bombers , F 22 stealth fighters and nuclear powered submarines .  After North Korea s third nuclear test in 2013 , the U . S . took the unusual step of sending its most powerful warplanes ? B 2 stealth bombers , F 22 stealth fighters and B 52 bombers ? to drills with South Korea in a show of force . B 2 and B 52 bombers are capable of delivering nuclear weapons .  It may take weeks or longer to confirm or refute the North s claim that it successfully tested a hydrogen bomb , which would mark a major and unanticipated advance for its still limited nuclear arsenal . Outside experts are skeptical the blast was a hydrogen bomb , but even a test of an atomic bomb would push North Korea closer to building a nuclear warhead small enough to place on a long range missile .  Late Friday , the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety said a small amount of radioactive elements was found in air samples collected from the peninsula s eastern seas after the blast but the measured amount was too small to determine whether the North had really detonated a nuclear device .  The institute said the level of xenon 133 isotopes found in the samples was similar to levels normally detected at its two radioactive gas detectors on the eastern and western coasts .  official Lee Ki hyeong also noted that other types of xenon isotopes used to confirm nuclear explosions weren t detected .  Lee said the institute will continue to collect and analyze more samples .  British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond had asked South Korea to refrain from the propaganda broadcasts . But South Korea sees K pop and propaganda as quick ways to show its displeasure ? and a guaranteed irritant to the North s sensitive and proud leadership .  The broadcasts include Korean pop songs , world news and weather forecasts as well as criticism of the North s nuclear test , its troubled economy and dire human rights conditions , according to Seoul s Defense Ministry .  Performers on Seoul s propaganda playlist include a female K pop band that rose to fame when its members fell multiple times on stage , a middle aged singer who rose from obscurity last year with a song about living for 100 years and songs by a young female singer ,  , whose sweet , girlish voice might be aimed at North Korean soldiers deployed near the border .  North Koreans are prohibited from listening to K pop , but defectors have said their countrymen enjoy music and other elements of South Korea popular culture that are smuggled into the country on  sticks and DVDs .  Get Today s Headlines from the Globe in your inbox :  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
15326,15327,"Tokyo Japan ' s prime minister vowed to wind down the month long crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant "" at all costs "" Tuesday after his government officially designated the situation there a Chernobyl level nuclear accident .  Prime Minister Naoto Kan said he wants the plant ' s owner , the Tokyo Electric Power Company , to produce a timetable for bringing the disaster to an end , "" and they will be doing that soon . "" And a day after his government warned that thousands more people would need to be evacuated from the surrounding region , he pledged to provide jobs , housing and education for those uprooted by the accident .  Japanese leader invokes  to urge quake recovery  "" The government will not forsake the people who are suffering because of the nuclear accident , "" Kan told reporters in a Tuesday evening news conference .  Japan declared the Fukushima Daiichi crisis a Level 7 event on the international system for rating nuclear accidents Tuesday , putting it on par with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in the former Soviet Union . The top scale designation was based on the massive release of radioactivity since the accident began , particularly in its early days , and classifies Fukushima Daiichi a "" major accident "" requiring long term countermeasures .  "" At all costs , all the reactors and the spent nuclear fuel pools must be brought under control so that we can prevent a further expansion of the damage , "" Kan said .  Analysis : Fukushima and the ' nuclear renaissance ' that wasn ' t  Tokyo Electric ' s president , Masataka Shimizu , issued a new apology for the disaster and the "" enormous anxiety "" it has caused after the Level 7 designation Tuesday .  "" We would like to stabilize the situation as soon as possible , and we are working on the measures and steps to cool the reactors and prevent the spread of nuclear substances , "" he said . "" While continuing to ask for the support and cooperation of the government , the ministries , and the municipalities , we would like to maintain close communication with them , and we will make the utmost effort to bring the situation to an end . ""  Scientists believe the amount of radiation released is only a tenth of what was released at Chernobyl , said Hidehiko Nishiyama , the chief spokesman for Japan ' s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency . But the levels for radioactive iodine and cesium that have been spewed into the air , water and soil around the plant are in the thousands of trillions of bequerels 15 times higher than the threshold for a top scale event , according to figures released by the safety agency Tuesday morning .  The crisis began with the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that devastated northern Japan . The tsunami knocked out the plant ' s cooling systems , leaving operators with no way to keep the three operational reactors from overheating after they shut down .  Interactive explainer : Japan ' s nuclear concerns  Engineers are now pumping hundreds of tons of water a day into the damaged reactors to keep them cool , but Tokyo Electric said long term solutions must wait until it can get the highly contaminated water out of the basements of the units ' turbine plants . In addition , more water is being poured into pools housing spent but still potent fuel rods in units 1 3 as well as unit 4 , which had no fuel in the reactor at the time of the quake .  The work has been complicated over the past five days by a series of powerful aftershocks that have forced workers to clear out of the units and seek shelter .  Monday , Japan ordered new evacuations for towns around the plant , including some outside the 20 and 30 km danger zones drawn in the early days of the accident , and warned others to stand by . But after Tuesday ' s declaration , both Nishiyama and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano tried to draw distinctions between their crisis and Chernobyl .  "" What ' s different here from the Chernobyl accident is that we have not yet seen a direct impact on the health of the people as a result of the nuclear accident , "" said Edano , the Japanese government ' s leading spokesman on the crisis . "" The accident itself is big , but we will make , as our first priority , our utmost effort to avoid any health impact on the people . ""  And Nishiyama said that unlike the Chernobyl disaster , the reactors inside the badly damaged buildings at Fukushima Daiichi remain largely intact , "" although there are some leaks being seen . ""  "" In the case of Chernobyl , the radioactive material release made it very difficult to enter the facility itself , "" he said . "" It had to be left alone for a very long time by itself . But it in the Fukushima Daiichi case , day and night , workers are there trying to salvage the situation . ""  Japan marks 1 month since deadly quake , tsunami  "" There are still a lot of measures to be done , but they have to do it now , "" said Breuer , who has studied the aftereffects of Chernobyl .  Breuer said Greenpeace , which called for evacuations in towns outside the 30 km radius in late March , believes the accident will end up being "" worse than Chernobyl "" because it has occurred in a more densely populated area .  Nishiyama said Tuesday ' s designation was made "" provisionally , "" and that a final level won ' t be set until the disaster is over and a more detailed investigation has been conducted . The previous event level of 5 , equal to the 1979 accident at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania , was also a provisional designation .  Three Mile Island involved a partial meltdown of the radioactive core of one reactor , with only a limited release of radioactivity , according to the U . S . Nuclear Regulatory Commission .  At Chernobyl , an explosion and fire at a nuclear power plant resulted in the permanent evacuation of a 30 km radius around the plant . There were 32 deaths among plant workers and firefighters , mostly due to radiation exposure , and the International Atomic Energy Agency estimates another 4 , 000 will or have died of related cancers .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
15332,15333,"No . 1 Clemson plays No . 2 Alabama in the College Football Playoff national championship on Monday , Jan . 11 in Glendale , Ariz . Get to know the Crimson Tide a little better ahead of its title game showdown .  Alabama is no stranger to the national title game . The Crimson Tide last won it all in 2012 , its third title in four seasons . The school claims 15 national titles , the most of any  program .  Alabama last played Clemson in 2008 , winning 34 10 in the season opener at the Georgia Dome . The Tide held Clemson to just 188 yards of total offense with the Tigers ' lone touchdown coming on a 96 yard opening kickoff return .  Nick Saban has a 99 18 record in nine seasons as Alabama head coach , good for the third most wins in program history behind Paul "" Bear "" Bryant ( 232 ) and Frank Thomas ( 115 ) . His three national titles trail just Bryant , who won six .  Derrick Henry won the 2015 Heisman Trophy , becoming the second Alabama player to win the award after Mark Ingram in 2008 . The running back has rushed for 2 , 061 yards with 25 touchdowns in 14 games , including 75 yards and two touchdowns in the Tide ' s 38 0 win over Michigan State in the Cotton Bowl .  Jake Coker threw for 2 , 775 yards and 19 touchdowns in his first year as a starter . The quarterback has a lot of hardware in his career , winning two  titles and a national championship at Florida State before transferring to Alabama , where he ' s won two  titles .  Coker has a few weapons to utilize at receiver , but the most dangerous has proven to be Calvin Ridley . The 21 year old true freshman caught 83 passes for 1 , 031 yards and seven touchdowns this season . If he can catch at least six passes for 123 yards vs . Clemson , he will be the  leader in both categories .  Linebacker Reggie Ragland took home  defensive player of the year honors in 2015 while leading Nick Saban ' s defense . The 6 2 , 252 pound senior has a team best 97 tackles with 6 ? tackles for loss this season .  Up front , Saban ' s defense has just as much talent , led by junior A ' Shawn Robinson as well as seniors Jarran Reed ( pictured ) and Jonathan Allen . Reed and Robinson guide the Tide ' s nation leading rush defense ( 70 . 79 yards per game ) , while Allen ' s 12 sacks are second best in the nation , just one half fewer than Texas A M ' s Myles Garrett .  ' Bama ' s defense doesn ' t just rely on the guys up front . The secondary held opponents to 186 yards per game through the air , good for No . 18 in the country . Safety Eddie Jackson has emerged as one of the nation ' s best , picking up five interceptions and returning two for touchdowns .  One key for the Crimson Tide will be to maintain control of the game clock to keep Deshaun Watson off the field . Alabama averaged 33 : 51 of possession this season , good for sixth best in the nation .  Subscribe to Newsday s sports newsletter for stories , photos and videos about your favorite New York teams plus national sports news and events .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
15335,15336,"Christopher and Deirdre Culver met four years ago in Newport, R. I. aboard his yacht, through mutual friends. Their courtship was rooted in their love of the sea and of sailing. One sign that they made a good couple was the experience they had sailing together on his yacht in a race. “He’s very calm,” Ms. Culver said. “He thinks of it as a team effort. We win as a team, we lose as a team. ” Both in their 50s and successful in their own careers, the Culvers felt they needed nothing in the way of gifts when they married two years ago at the American Yacht Club in Rye, N. Y. He is the chief executive of the Health Media Network, a technology company. She is a vice president at Brookside Mezzanine Partners, which provides financing to small and   companies. They decided to put just one item on their registry: a link to Sail to Prevail, a charity that teaches disabled children and adults to sail and in the process imparts life skills. The Culvers’ wedding ended up raising enough money to help the group build an endowment, with some money left over for general operating expenses. “It made a major, significant difference,” said Paul Callahan, chief executive of Sail to Prevail. “We’ve got a   budget and it helped seed that comfortably. ” Technology has made it easier for couples, from millennials to older adults, to replace wedding gifts with charitable donations. Given the vast amount of money spent on weddings in the United States each year, this shift could move the charitable needle in a major way. In 2015, 2. 2 million couples married in the United States, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Last year, couples spent, on average, $35, 000 to cover the costs of their big day, according to the annual survey by the Knot, the wedding website, of its membership. Their guests spent, on average, $127 on a gift if they were family members and $99 if they were friends, according to an American Express survey. Wedding planners and philanthropic advisers say the interest in including a charity on a wedding registry has paralleled the growth of internet registries. In essence, when guests can click online boxes for wine glasses, vases, china sets, silverware and silver picture frames, it is just as simple to add a link to a charity of the couple’s choice. “It’s easy for people who don’t have the dream of a registry for gifts in the traditional way,” said Anthony Taccetta, a wedding and event planner in New York. He said he recently worked with one couple who wanted donations to go to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center in New York and raised over $10, 000. Another couple, who had their dog in their wedding, were able to raise more than $15, 000 for the Humane Society of New York. Lindsay McKay, 37, and James Nero, 38, who are to be married in September in Santa Barbara, Calif. are making the rescue dog that brought them together a focus of their wedding. While they are registered at traditional places like   they are also asking people to make donations to a   animal shelter in Los Angeles. Ms. McKay credits the dog she adopted from the shelter with leading her to slow down in her life  —   she’s a Hollywood costume designer  —   and making herself more open to a relationship. Adding a nonprofit organization to a registry is fairly simple. The Culvers simply put a link on their wedding website to Sail to Prevail. Ms. McKay and Mr. Nero broached the idea with their wedding planner, Beth Helmstetter, who about a year ago started a website called the Good Beginning, to ease the process of charitable   for guests and make gifts trackable the way they are in a regular registry for couples. “What is important to couples is they want to be able to thank people for those donations,” said Ms. Helmstetter, who charges 10 percent of the donation for the service. Since it started last year, some 800 couples have used the platform to set up charitable gift registries, including 10 of her client couples, she said. She hopes to reach $500, 000 in donations by next year. Ms. Helmstetter is not alone. Other websites, including Blueprint Registry, SimpleRegistry and JustGive, allow charities to be added to wedding registries. Of course, for many couples, wedding presents give them their start in life. Those sheets, plates and glasses are practical help in setting up their lives together as much as they are nice gifts. But more affluent couples who can afford to buy what they want or older couples who have already accumulated what they need often face the opposite problem: having two of everything. They may even be preparing to downsize. While it might be easy to dismiss these charitable options as just one more request of guests who may already be spending a lot of money traveling to a wedding, the registries have the potential to be effective and to have a positive impact. “I think there’s a growing awareness among millennials that what you do with your whole life should reflect your values,” said Melissa A. Berman, chief executive of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. “Millennials have really pushed this into the forefront. ” For the charities themselves, being given prominent billing on a couple’s wedding day, when their closest friends and family are there, can bring new donors to the cause. “From where I sit, it’s awfully thoughtful and generous,” Mr. Callahan of Sail to Prevail said. “When you do something so special as this at one of the two to three most important days of your life, it sends a message to the people who are close to you. ” Ms. Culver said what made her happiest were the guests who were not sailors and did not know about Sail to Prevail ahead of time. “We got some great bites,” she said. “I wouldn’t care if someone gave $10 or $100. ” Putting a charity on a wedding registry is not without some risk. With some causes, there is the potential to alienate guests. Ms. Berman said making Planned Parenthood the recipient of wedding largess, for example, could risk alienating guests who are opposed to the organization’s mission. “Guests might feel like they’re being told their values are wrong,” she said. “Most people I know who are doing this always offer this as an option. Or they stick to charities everyone is O. K. with or say, ‘some other organization of your choice. ’” If couples still want or need gifts, Mr. Taccetta said, they can incorporate a donation into the party favors. He said he had clients who totaled up what they would spend on party favors  —   generally $5 to $100 per person  —   and made a donation in that amount to their favorite charities. “They just leave a note saying a donation has been made in your name to an organization in lieu of a gift,” he said. “It’s another way to bring a donation into a wedding. ” And it also saves guests from having to cart home a jar full of seashells or other cute but useless mementos.",true,news,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
15340,15341,"In it ' s sporadic and slightly kooky quest for honesty in government , the White House has finally issued Page Four of it ' s Scorecard , an attempt to keep voters informed of the wild and whacky antics of the members of the Bush Administration and their sidekicks :  Tom DeLay :  Mr DeLay , despite winning the Republican primary for his office , has announced his retirement as Representative of Texas ' s 22nd District rather than , as he put it , "" Watching my ass get kicked by some Liberal in November . "" Under indictment in a money laundering probe initiated by Austin prosecutor Ronnie Earle , Mr DeLay has also been accused of illegally soliciting campaign contributions , laundering campaign contributions to influence state legislative races and the improper use of his office to influence various federal agencies . Rebuked by a House Ethics Committee at the end of September 2004 for pressuring a fellow member of the House to switch his vote on a health care bill , Mr DeLay has also been subpoenaed to give information regarding his use of the Federal Aviation Administration to track down a plane owned by a rival Texas Democrat who fled the state rather than allow Mr DeLay to illegally change voting district boundaries to aid his fellow Republicans . An all around good guy who ' ll be missed .  Brian Doyle :  Although he was employed by the Department of Homeland Security , Mr Doyle represents a more personal side of the Administration ' s "" No Child ' s Left Behind "" initiative . Arrested by the  for having sexually explicit conversations with what he assumed was a 14 year old girl in Florida , but who in reality was an  agent , Mr Doyle apparently actually gave the agent posing as the girl his and his employers name and offered the number of his Homeland Security office and cell phones , sent a photograph of himself wearing his official  badge and offered to have Air Force One come to Florida to pick up the girl for a trip to visit his own personal "" Washington Monument "" . According to his lawyer , Mr Doyle is still trying to figure out how they caught him .  Claude Allen :  Mr Allen , until recently George Bush ' s domestic policy advisor , , was arrested in suburban Maryland on charges he stole merchandise from Target and other stores , which brought in him more than 5 , 000 in goods that ranged from a Bose home theater system to 2 . 50 trinkets . Upon hearing of the arrest , Mr Bush expressed shock and dismay , saying , "" I can ' t believe he got caught  ",satire,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,satire,True,no,no,negative,past
15348,15349,"It is regarded as the most probable place in the solar system to host alien life .  And now Jupiter ' s moon Europa has been found to have tectonic activity like Earth .  It is also the first time this specific type of geological activity has been observed in the solar system other than on our planet .  Scientists have found evidence of plate tectonics on Jupiter ' s moon Europa ( pictured ) the first sign of this geologic activity on a solar system world other than Earth , raising hopes that life could one day be found there  Less than a year ago , scientists discovered plumes of water vapour erupting from Jupiter ' s moon ' s south polar region , so it may be possible for a robotic probe to sample Europa ' s liquid water at a distance without landing on it .  The latest find appears to solve a puzzle that has perplexed planetary scientists for years .  Until now , researchers have had visual evidence of Europa ' s icy crust expanding , but they could never find areas where the old crust was being destroyed to make room for the new .  Examining images of the moon taken by Nasa ' s Galileo orbiter in the early 2000s , planetary geologists Simon Kattenhorn of the University of Idaho and Louise Prockter of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland , discovered some unusual geological boundaries .  The surface of Europa is slightly smaller than the Earth ' s moon and is riddled with cracks and ridges . Blocks on the surface are known to have shifted in the same way blocks on either side of the San Andreas Fault move past each other on Earth .  The surface of Europa is slightly smaller than the Earth ' s moon and is riddled with cracks and ridges . Blocks on the surface are known to have shifted in the same way blocks on either side of the San Andreas Fault move past each other on Earth  Europa is the sixth closest moon to Jupiter and the smallest of the four Galilean satellites that belong to the planet .  It was discovered by Galileo Galilei in January 1610 and is named after a Phoenician noblewoman in Greek mythology who was courted by Zeus and became the Queen of Crete .  Europa orbits Jupiter in around three and a half days with an orbital radius of 670 , 900km .  It is slightly smaller than the Earth ' s moon , but at 3 , 100km in diameter it is the sixth largest moon and 15th largest object in the entire solar system .  It is likely to have an outer layer of water , some 100km thick .  The outer layer of the water is believed to be frozen with a liquid ocean underneath .  The moon has plate tectonics like on Earth .  It is one of the smoothest objects in the solar system with few craters on its surface , which is tectonically active and relatively young .  Many parts of Europa ' s surface show evidence of extension , where wide bands up to tens of miles wide formed as the surface ripped apart , and fresh icy material from the underlying shell moved into the newly created gap , a process akin to terrestrial seafloor spreading , according to the study published in the journal Nature Geoscience .  ' We have been puzzled for years as to how all this new terrain could be formed , but we couldn ' t figure out how it was accommodated . We finally think we ' ve found the answer , ' Dr Prockter said .  Scientists studying Europa often reconstruct the moon ' s blocks into their original configuration to get a picture of what the surface looked like before disruption occurred .  It was when they were rearranging the terrain that the two experts discovered that more than 12 , 000 square miles ( nearly 20 , 000 square km ) of the surface in the moon ' s high northern latitudes was missing .  Further evidence suggested that the missing terrain had moved under a second surface plate a scenario commonly seen on Earth at plate tectonic boundaries .  The two scientists said that ice volcanoes on the overriding plate possibly formed through melting and absorption of the slab as it moved below the surface , while a lack of mountains at the subduction zone , implies that material was pushed into the interior rather than crumpled up as the two plates mashed against each other .  The surface of Europa is slightly smaller than the Earth ' s moon and is riddled with cracks and ridges . Blocks on the surface are known to have shifted in the same way blocks on either side of the San Andreas Fault ( pictured in San Luis Obispo in California ) move past each other on Earth  Less than a year ago , scientists discovered plumes of water vapour erupting from the moon ' s south polar region ( illustrated ) , so it may be possible for a robotic probe to sample Europa ' s liquid water at a distance without landing on it  They believe the subducted slab has been absorbed into Europa ' s ice shell which may be up to 20 miles ( about 30 kilometers ) thick rather than diving through it into the moon ' s underlying ocean .  Europa ' s surface is considered to be relatively young at between 40 and 90 millions of years old , which can perhaps now be explained by plate tectonics as older material was destroyed .  Scientists have previously seen evidence of material moving up from under the shell , but until now , no mechanism had been found for moving material back into the shell , and possibly into the large ocean below the ice .  ' Europa may be more Earthlike than we imagined if it has a global plate tectonic system , ' Dr Kattenhorn said .  He told Spaceweblink : ' Earth may not be alone . There may be another body out there that has plate tectonics . And not only that , it ' s ice ! '  There have been various proposals to explore Europa over the years , such as the Cryobot ( pictured ) which would be taken underground by a larger drill before it was then released into the ocean , searching for signs of past or present alien life  ' Not only does this discovery make it one of the most geologically interesting bodies in the solar system , it also implies two way communication between the exterior and interior a way to move material from the surface into the subsurface a process which has significant implications for Europa ' s potential as a habitable world . '  Some scientists said that plate tectonics were essential to how life evolved on Earth . The theory goes that tectonics replenished nutrients and helped to stabilise the Earth ' s climate .  Jupiter ' s moon ' s shell is thought to be 12 to 19 miles ( 20 to 30 kilometres ) thick to subducting plates probably plunge a mile below the surface , so it is unlikely that nutrients from the surface are carried down to the ocean quickly . But Dr Kattenhorn said that this could possibly happen over time .  Nasa has set aside 14 . 6 million ( 25 million ) to design probes that could reveal whether Europa is habitable .  In July , the agency asked scientists to come forward with potential experiments for a Europa probe that could be launched in the 2020s and arrive at the icy satellite within three years of take off .  It said that next year , about 20 proposals will be chosen to receive shares of the 14 . 6 million ( 25 million ) for further study .  The mission is designed to characterise the extent of Europa ' s ocean and its relation to the deeper interior .  It will also look at the ice shell and determine global surface , compositions and chemistry , especially related to whether life could survive in that environment .  Previous scientific findings point to the existence of a liquid water ocean located under the moon ' s icy crust .  This ocean covers Europa entirely and contains more liquid water than all of Earth ' s oceans combined .  Although Europa and Jupiter ' s other moons have been visited by other spacecraft , they were each limited to a single distant flyby of these satellites .  Nasa ' s Galileo spacecraft , launched in 1989 by the space shuttle , was the only mission to make repeated visits to Europa , passing close by the moon fewer than a dozen times .  In December 2013 , Nasa ' s Hubble Space Telescope observed water vapour above the moon ' s frigid south polar region .  This provided the first strong evidence of water plumes erupting off the moon ' s surface , and a spacecraft could even be designed to fly through the plumes to make measurements of the composition of the underground ocean .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
15350,15351,"After many years of speculation , the true nature and orientation of the relationship between two of the entertainment industry ' s most prolific performers is finally known Sesame Street ' s Ernie and Bert are "" jazz hands gay . ""  A number of Gay Rights organizations have heralded the entertainment icons ' bravery for their recent admission just days ago . In a statement released Friday , June 18 , 2004 , Ernie wrote :  "" We ' ve concealed our lives for many years because we feared it would compromise our being able to work in children ' s educational programming . But , when Bert had his bypass last year , I was faced with the knowledge that if he didn ' t make it , after the muppet funeral , the world would have merely acknowledged that he was my buddy . And I would have lost far more than a buddy . I would have lost my soul mate . So , we ' re hear to tell the world we ' re gay and we ' re fabulous . ""  Reaction within the gay community has been mixed . Representatives from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (  ) provided positive feedback following the release , stating , "" You go girl ! "" While critics , including the Bisexual Organization for Ordinary Transsexual Youth (  ) , have denounced both Ernie and Berth for waiting nearly 30 years to come out . '  spokesperson , Gary Laquita ' Brown said , "" I could understand if their gayness was clear , like Siegfried Roy , or like Rosie O ' Donnell , or like Tom Cruise . But they were both acting all macho butch , acting all hetero , not for a few months or a few years , but for 30 damn years . What ' s to hide ? Don ' t hide it honey cause I won ' t ! That ' s why we at  say those bitches are weak ! Ah ' kay ? ! ""  Industry insiders site a possible proponent for Ernie and Bert ' s admission as pre emptive damage control to precede the tell all book due out this fall by former Sesame Street actor and recovering heroin addict , Snuffalufugus . Sources close to Snuffy say readers can expect Snuffy to speak about the clear knowledge on the set of Sesame Street of Ernie and Bert ' s true relationship , that their homosexuality was the reason Kermit The Frog invited neither of them to join his cast of the Muppet Show , and that Kermit was a raging homophobe . Kermit responded to the surfacing allegations in Snuffy ' s book by saying , "" He ' s a crack head elephant . Don ' t listen to him . I love gay people . Some of my best friends are gay . ""  Ernie and Bert have taken a leave of absence from Sesame Street while producers determine their future with the show , in particular , whether they will allow the topic to be depicted on the show .  Political figure , Al Sharpton is quoted as saying , "" Whether or not the show includes Ernie and Bert ' s lifestyle , this is a historical benchmark . They are , after all , the first openly gay muppets since J . Edgar Hoover . Hold on a second , can gay muppets vote ? They can ? Well , hey , have fun fellas . First pack of Trojan ' s ' ribbed ' is on me ! ""  ",satire,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
15356,15357,"There was one particularly bright and shining moment during the recent   debate . It was that moment when Senator Ted Cruz of Texas exposed the depth and breadth of the media ' s agenda to make the Republican race for the White House into a circus . The Senator moved up in the polls and the pundits on both the left and right acknowledged he was the stand out in the debate . The media itself became critical of  as it did appear to be more interested in creating drama than meaningful dialogue to help voters understand the candidates ' positions on the issues .  In their anger over the  debate ,  candidates were ready to sign a joint letter demanding a "" better way "" going forward . The numbers that are supporting such a proposition are shrinking precipitously .  The Huffington Post reports "" Republican presidential candidates John Kasich , Chris Christie and Carly Fiorina made it clear Monday night they will not sign a joint letter to  networks outlining conditions for their participation in upcoming Republican debates . Their decisions followed an announcement from Donald Trump ' s campaign Monday afternoon that the business mogul turned presidential candidate would negotiate independently with the  networks hosting the debates . ""  So what happened to the  revolt ? Reality has finally settled in as those with campaigns that are on life support began to realize they need all the cheap ( or even free ) exposure they can get . Let ' s see , a bakery in Manchester , New Hampshire or a major television audience was the possibility of millions of viewers ? Or how about a church on Sunday morning in Des Moines , Iowa or a major television network audience . For those campaigns on the brink of oblivion , the choice of playing and staying is obvious . However , it is also clear that the rank and file Republicans have had it with the media and consider it the enemy , and aligned to the Democrats themselves . Based on the temperament of average Republicans , fighting the media is about as sexy as it gets . Two of the biggest critics of the media in the  race Trump and Carson have thrived under the scrutiny and criticism of the press . The harsher the reviews , the better their numbers . The rise of Cruz is also linked to his recent and articulate attacks on the press .  This creates a Catch 22 for the minor league candidates that continue to flounder in the single digits be critical of the media and potentially lose your opportunity to grow your audience or maintain a hard line and fall off the radar screen altogether as an also ran .  It appears some of these minor candidates have made their decision . Chris Christie , who was among the most critical of the media , has now said "" Whatever debate they set up , I ' ll show up and I ' ll answer the questions that get asked , If I think it ' s a dumb question like the other night on fantasy football , I ' ll say it ' s a dumb question . I ' m not worried about this nearly as much as the other guys . ""  Meanwhile , Gov . John Kasich of Ohio seems to be dismissing the incident altogether , stating "" I haven ' t really given it any thought . That ' s all process . Other people think about that , I don ' t . "" It is no surprise that Kasich does not get the public zeitgeist as he is one of the most tone deaf of all the candidates . He continues to cite his career politician credentials in an era where Rank Paul ( of Kentucky ) , who has only been in political office since 2011 , is considered "" too experienced "" for the job among today ' s skeptical  voters .  Donald Trump has been calling for minor  candidates to call it quits in order to make the choices clearer for voters . The decision of these candidates on how they will deal with the media might have much to do with how much longer they will be around .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
15357,15358,"Monday , Brittany Friedly underwent surgery to remove a mass on her left ovary . It was a teratoma that contained hair and 7 gnarly teeth . "" When they told me what was in my tummy , I about lost it . "" Brittany told reporters . "" My doctor said this was common but that is just crazy . It gave me the heebie jeebies . I hope cooties didn ' t cause this . ""  Brittany asked to have the teeth after the surgery . "" After I got over the weirdness of having teeth on my ovary , I thought I can make some money off of this . Why not place them under my pillow , and make a few bucks from the Tooth Fairy ? ""  Little did Brittany know that these teratoma teeth would unleash a firestorm . Evidently they were breaking Tooth Fairy protocol established during the plague in 1351 . A week went by without any money exchanged for these teeth under her pillow . "" I started to just put one at a time under my pillow thinking I had too many for that tiny fairy to carry , nothing . A month went by with no money and I had it . I took the Tooth Fairy to court . ""  This unprecedented trial lasted one week . Medical expert after medical expert were brought in to testify . Almost all agreed that the teeth in question came from Brittany ' s body , and that they could be considered "" real teeth . ""  "" No way , we the Tooth Fairies have a contract , a bond , which the tooth must be from the individual and from their dentition , not a teratoma , "" Master Tooth Fairy told reporters outside the courtroom .  "" Plus we only budget twenty teeth per person , these extra seven threw us over the cliff . If we let these teeth get through , everyone will expect teratoma teeth to bring money . ""  More dirty Tooth Fairy laundry is coming out again as old arguments that the Tooth Fairy doesn ' t want discussed , surfaced : "" Why do rich children ' s teeth pay more than poor children ' s teeth ? "" and the well known tooth by tooth pay discrepancies , where one child ' s molar pays 3 . 14 and the next will grant them 1 . 85 !  Cynics wonder why the Tooth Fairy didn ' t just leave a few cents under the pillow and avoid all this terrible press and legal fees . "" It ' s the principle of the situation I want the rules to be clear , "" The Tooth Fairy said .  Verdict : In favor of the Tooth Fairy . Why ? Because it ' s Florida .  ",satire,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,fake,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
15371,15372,"The mother of the Oklahoma beheading suspect has appeared in a video online in which she apologizes to his alleged victims , but insists ' there are two sides to every story ' .  Her son , Alton Alexander Nolen , is set to be charged tomorrow with first degree murder for the killing of Colleen Hufford , 54 , at the Vaughan Foods Facility in Moore on Thursday .  Nolen will also face a charge of assault and battery with a deadly weapon for the stabbing of Traci Johnson , 43 .  In the clip posted on Facebook , Nolen ' s mother Joyce Nolen discusses her son with a sense of disbelief .  ' My heart is just so heavy right now , ' Joyce Nolen said in the video on Saturday . ' That ' s not my son . '  Joyce Nolan ( seen right with Megan Nolen , one of the suspect ' s sisters ) , the mother of the Oklahoma beheading suspect has appeared in a video online in which she apologizes to his victims , but insists ' there are two sides to every story  Nolen ( right ) , is accused of killing Colleen Hufford , 54 , and stabbing Traci Johnson , 43 , ( left ) at the Vaughan Foods facility in Moore on Thursday . ' My heart is just so heavy right now , ' Joyce Nolen said . ' That ' s not my son '  Sitting in a dimly lit room next to Megan Nolen , one of the suspect ' s sisters , she explains that her son was a ' good kid ' .  ' My son was raised up believing in God . That ' s what he believes , ' she said .  ' That ' s not my son . There is two sides to every story and we are only hearing one . '  ' His family , our hearts bleed right now because what they saying Alton has done , ' she said . ' I want to apologize to both families because this is not Alton . '  Hufford , 54 , who had been married for 25 years , had lost her family home in the Moore tornado  The mother also said she is praying that justice will prevail and ' the whole story will come out . '  Megan Nolen insists her brother is a ' great person ' who has never been violent and asks the viewers keep the Nolan family ' in their prayers . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
15374,15375,"Andy Murray will contest his fifth Australian Open men s singles final on Sunday . ( Source :  )     ( 2 ) : U . S . Open 2012 , Wimbledon 2013  A survivor of the 1996 Dunblane School massacre .  A talented all round sportsman , turned down a promising career as a soccer player to focus on tennis , leaving his homeland at 15 to train in Barcelona .  Became the first British player since Greg Rusedski in 1997 to make a grand slam final when he played the 2008 championship decider in New York , losing to Roger Federer in straight sets .  Made the Australian Open final in 2010 , losing to Federer , again in straight sets .  In 2011 , reached the Australian Open final for the second straight year , but lost to Djokovic , also in straight sets .  In 2012 , hired former world number one Ivan Lendl as his coach .  Became the first British man to reach the final at Wimbledon since Bunny Austin in 1938 .  A few weeks later , he avenged the loss when he won the gold medal at the London Olympics .  Beat Djokovic in an epic five set U . S . Open final in 2012 to win his first grand slam title , making him the first British man to win a major title since Fred Perry won the U . S . Open in 1936 .  Lost his second Melbourne Park final to Djokovic in 2013 .  Forced to pull out of the French Open with a back injury . Returned in style at Wimbledon to beat top seed Djokovic 6 4 7 5 6 4 to become first British man to win the Wimbledon singles title since 1936 .  Linked with twice grand slam women s champion Amelie Mauresmo in 2014 after Lendl stood down in March .  Advanced to his fourth Australian Open final in 2015 only to lose to Djokovic in four sets .  Takes 500th tour victory with a 6 4 3 6 6 3 win over South African Kevin Anderson at Miami , becoming the 46th man in the Open Era to reach the mark .  Married long term girlfriend Kim Sears in April 2015 .  Their first child is due next month .  Won first titles on clay , at Madrid and Munich .  Made the semi finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon , losing to Djokovic and Federer respectively before crashing out to Anderson in the fourth round at Flushing Meadows .  Almost single handedly took Britain to the Davis Cup final for the first time since 1978 , then clinched their first title since 1936 with a singles victory against David Goffin .      ( prefix denotes seeding ) : 1st round ? bt Alexander Zverev ( Germany ) 6 1 6 2 6 3 2nd round ? bt Sam Groth ( Australia ) 6 0 6 4 6 1 3rd round ? bt 32 Joao Sousa ( Portugal ) 6 2 3 6 6 2 6 2 4th round ? bt 16 Bernard Tomic ( Australia ) 6 4 6 4 7 6 ( 4 )  ? bt 8 David Ferrer ( Spain ) 6 4 6 4 7 5  ? bt 13 Milos Raonic ( Canada ) 4 6 7 5 6 7 ( 4 ) 6 4 6 2  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
15392,15393,"Reuters) - The Senate’s top Republican broke with President-elect Donald Trump on Monday over whether Russian hacking during the U.S. election merited closer scrutiny, a fissure between Trump and his party that appeared to grow as lawmakers pressed for a special investigation into the matter. The divide raised the possibility of enduring clashes between Trump and Republicans during his presidency over how to handle Russian President Vladimir Putin, a leader long viewed by many in the party as a calculating, untrustworthy foe but whom Trump has repeatedly praised for his leadership. “The Russians are not our friends,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told a news conference. Calls on Sunday by two leading Republican foreign policy voices, Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, to investigate Russia’s hacking were buoyed on Monday by McConnell, who said Russia’s involvement needed further investigation. “Any foreign breach of our cyber security measures is disturbing, and I strongly condemn any such efforts,” McConnell said. “This simply cannot be a partisan issue.” McConnell said it “defies belief” that Republicans would be reluctant to investigate Russian actions. McConnell’s remarks contrasted with those of Trump and his staff, who scoffed at reports that the  had concluded the hacks and leaks of Democratic emails were carried out with the goal of helping Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton. Trump said the conclusion was “ridiculous.” Some lawmakers have called for a special committee to investigate the hacking, but McConnell did not back that idea, saying he has confidence in the Senate Intelligence and Armed Services committees. Cory Gardner, a Republican, said the Russian hacking reflected the need for a permanent committee dedicated to cyber security. It was not clear how the House of Representatives would respond to the hacking and calls for investigations. House committees have not announced plans for hearings, and Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan issued a statement criticizing Russia but blasting what he termed “exploiting the work of our intelligence committee for partisan purposes.” Though congressional Republicans support a probe of Russia’s involvement in the election, they have shied away from agreeing with the CIA’s assessment that the hacks were deliberately carried out to undermine Clinton. “It’s obvious that the Russians hacked into our campaigns,” McCain said Monday in an interview with Reuters. “But there is no information that they were intending to affect the outcome of the election, and that’s why we need a congressional investigation.” Separately on Monday, one Republican and nine Democratic electors led by the daughter of the House Democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi, wrote to James Clapper, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, requesting a briefing on the hacking reports before the Electoral College formally decides the election on Dec. 19. John Podesta, chairman of Clinton’s presidential campaign, said in a statement that the campaign supported the electors’ letter, which raises “very grave issues involving our national security.” Clapper’s office did not respond to a request for comment about the letter.   Charles Schumer, who will be the Senate Democratic leader next year, said he welcomed McConnell’s support for “a deep and thorough bipartisan investigation” with access to all relevant intelligence. Trump and his staff have repeatedly dismissed the reports as “ridiculous,” blaming them on Democrats unhappy that Trump won. “Can you imagine if the election results were the opposite and  tried to play the Russia/ card,” Trump said on Twitter on Monday. “It would be called conspiracy theory!” A second tweet said, “Unless you catch ‘hackers’ in the act, it is very hard to determine who was doing the hacking. Why wasn’t this brought up before election?” White House press secretary Josh Earnest on Monday pointed to a public statement from the intelligence community in early October that concluded the hacking had been authorized by “Russia’s senior-most officials” and was aimed at sowing discord in the U.S. election.  That statement stopped short of alleging that Russia wanted to help Trump. But Earnest suggested on Monday that may have been the intent. “You didn’t need a security clearance to figure out who benefited from malicious Russian cyber activity,” Earnest said.  “The president-elect didn’t call it into question. He called on Russia to hack his opponent. He called on Russia to hack Secretary Clinton.” ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
15396,15397,"JIDDA, Saudi Arabia  —   My father was on the phone from Australia, giving gravely voiced advice on preparing for the hajj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. “Have you paid the dentist?” he asked. “He ruined my teeth!” I shrieked. “No matter, Baba,” he said, using an Arabic endearment. “This is the hajj. You have to clear your debts, even if you don’t think they are fair. ” The hajj is a   pilgrimage of   rites that honor a birth story of Islam, a trek every Muslim is supposed to undertake at least once. It is a spiritual as well as physical journey, and requires preparations in both spheres. So I had to buy new shoes suitable for long days of walking and safe to wear in surging crowds. I was supposed to seek the forgiveness of anyone I have wronged  —   and forgive everybody who had wronged me. And I had to clear my debts. There is a dentist in the West Bank city of Ramallah who badly damaged my teeth this year, costing me thousands of dollars, days of pain and lasting emotional distress. This dentist has sent me nasty notes, threatening to use his “connections” to destroy my reputation if I did not pay him his outstanding bill of about $1, 000. I protested to my father, crying a little. “God will compensate you,” he soothed. “And then when you see that man again, you can raise your head up high and know he has nothing on you. ” Angry and resentful, I paid the dentist. I also made amends with the greedy landlord who refused to return my $2, 650 security deposit. Eventually, I landed here in Jidda, Saudi Arabia, only to find that my suitcase containing my clothes,   reader, computer charger, and contact lenses had been lost, and I had to forgive the luggage handlers, too. For hundreds of years, pilgrims have come to Saudi Arabia to sanctify God in Islam’s holiest site, heeding the command of the Quran: “And proclaim to mankind the hajj. They will come to you on foot, on very lean camel, they will come from every deep and distant mountain highway. ” Today, they also come by bus and aircraft. They traverse between sites in   corridors with lanes for those who are older and disabled. They eat in modern malls nearby, and some pay $2, 700 a night to stay in towering hotels with views of the Haram, the sprawling mosque built around the black,   building known as the Kaaba. Last year, more than 2, 300 people were killed in a crush during the hajj. The pilgrimage has also become a petri dish for disease many return home with a heavy cough Muslims call the “hajj flu. ” I grew up in a observant   Muslim family in Canberra, Australia, and at 15 started wearing the hijab. I prayed regularly, memorized the Quran and sought to study Shariah, Islamic law. But my faith began to shatter in college. I was 20 when I took off my head scarf, feeling I could no longer visibly represent a religion that did not allow women to preach before men, lead them in prayer or serve as witnesses in some judicial matters. Now, at 38, I have a tangled relationship with Islam. It is the bedrock of my values. It informs how I smile at strangers, give to charity and try to be patient with dentists and landlords. But I date, I own a (modest) bikini, and while I still fast during the holy month of Ramadan, I do not exactly adhere to Islam’s other prescriptions. Still, I had always dreamed of doing the hajj. My oldest sister, Marwa, a farmer in rural New South Wales, and I planned to take a year off and walk to the Kaaba, as the great Sufi woman Rabia   did in the eighth century, from Basra, Iraq. It was one of those   items that got kicked back as life happened. Then a few months ago, a colleague suggested that I apply for a journalist visa to cover the hajj. I posed for a fresh passport photo wearing a black head scarf, red lipstick, and a scowl. “Are you a Muslim, sister?” the man at the Saudi Embassy in Jordan asked, looking suspiciously at the photo. “Yes, sir,” I said, pointing to my rather poetic name, Diaa   the Light of Radwa. Radwa is a mountain in Medina, the   city in Islam. The man stamped my passport with the visa. Suddenly, it was real. In the weeks since, I have sometimes found myself crying as I realized I would soon lay my own eyes on the Kaaba, which is empty  —   a reminder that the heart of Islam is the worship of a singular, inimitable God. I am also dreading the crowds, the heat and the logistics, and especially the minder whom the Saudi Ministry of Information assigns to follow journalists everywhere. And I’m anxious about my parents’ expectations. Then there was the matter of footwear. I had been planning to wear hiking boots  —   sturdy, comfortable, and nobody would squash my toes. My mum quickly nixed that notion. “If you wear shoelaces,” she warned in halting English, “men will try grab you as bend over to untie them. ” Mum has undertaken the pilgrimage several times, and said nothing worked better than socks and Crocs  —   easy to slip on and off. Crocs I got. But socks? Because, she explained, people pee everywhere, and you want to avoid stepping in that. Instead, I bought braided leather sandals. And socks. I have taken my sister Arwa’s advice of wearing a long robe with a zipper, instead of buttons, so nobody can rip it open. Per my mother’s instruction, I tailored it to sit above my ankles, so I won’t trip. (It’s much harder for men, who may wear only two seamless white sheets. That’s it. No underwear, nothing. I can’t imagine working like that.) Hijab is of course required I have added an elastic band, so if the scarf slips, I won’t reveal any strands. My brother Saif says people get really angry at women who look immodest. In the bag I will keep clutched to my chest I have a camera, a notepad, an iPhone, disinfectant gel, medicine for diarrhea, and antibiotics. My brother says it’s too dangerous to let my camera or anything else dangle from my neck it could get snagged. “I cannot begin to describe the crowds,” he wrote on our family WhatsApp group. “You will often be stuck in human traffic moving only by the will of people around you, almost like a wave carrying you. ” Saif undertook the hajj four years ago, when he was 31. “You may get shoved out of the way by a burly Turkish woman,” my brother continued. “A man might think it is his   right to pee in front of you. Just be patient and know why you are there in the first place. ” He called a few days later: “Listen, I forgot to tell you something. ” “Do your business before you go anywhere,” my brother said, describing how he once had to wait two or three hours to move perhaps 50 yards to a hotel. “Toilets, toilets, be very conscious of where they are and how you can get there. ” Diarrhea is an   threat. “You might need to find a quick escape route to a bathroom. ” My father chimed in: “Buy your dates in Taif,” a Saudi city near the holy sites. There, he said, “they only cost a couple of dollars a kilo. If you buy them in Mecca or Medina, it’s around $35 a kilo. Everything is more expensive there. ” And then, Arwa, who made the journey in 2004, refocused me. “The spiritual feeling overtakes” these earthly issues, “the people that rip you off, the men that are sexually assaulting people in front of you,” she wrote on WhatsApp. “It takes over all of that. It’s beautiful and unforgettable. ”",true,news,validation,American football,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
15397,15398,"A tip from an acquaintance of one of two convicted murderers who were mistakenly released from prison led to their arrests at a Florida motel , the commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said Sunday .  Charles Walker and Joseph Jenkins were unarmed when they were taken into custody Saturday evening in Panama City , where they were waiting for their ride to arrive from Atlanta , Gerald Bailey said . It was unclear where the men expected to go , he said .  He said a "" close associate "" informed authorities that the men were in the area . Bailey said they were arrested by themselves without incident at the Coconut Grove Motor Inn . They had been in Bay County for only 48 hours , he said .  Walker and Jenkins will be held without bail and make their next court appearances Friday , a Bay County , Florida , judge said Sunday .  He said the two will be held with probable cause for one count each of escape .  There will be more arrests , Bailey predicted .  "" They had to have had help ( after their escape ) and a lot of help to get where they were last night , "" he said .  The state Department of Corrections which mistakenly released the men , though it has insisted it was through no fault of its own said little about the arrests .  Authorities had been searching for Walker and Jenkins , both 34 , after investigators discovered that the motions to reduce their respective sentences and court orders granting the requests had been forged .  Both killers had been convicted and sentenced to life behind bars without the possibility of parole within two years of their crimes .  In September 1998 , Jenkins killed Roscoe Pugh Jr . during a home invasion robbery attempt .  Six months later , Cedric Slater was gunned down on an Orlando street corner shot dead , a jury determined , by Walker .  Jenkins left the prison in North Carrabelle , in the Florida Panhandle , on September 27 , and Walker left on October 8 , according to authorities .  On Saturday , family members of both men denied any knowledge of the escape plans .  The legal looking documents the men used contained bogus reproductions of several key players ' signatures , including those of the Orlando area State Attorney Jeffrey Ashton or the assistant state attorney and Judge Belvin Perry . They bore the seal of the Orange County clerk of court ' s office .  "" They are excellent fakes , "" Perry said .  The judge said his signature is easy to find online on documents related to the high profile trial of Casey Anthony . Anthony was acquitted in the death of her 2 year old daughter , Caylee .  "" People , particularly people with criminal minds , come up with ingenious ways to beat the system , "" Perry said . "" They have nothing but time on their hands to think of things . ""  "" When your name and documents that you ' ve signed are plastered on the Internet for anybody and everybody to see , and someone with basic knowledge can paste and cut your signature , it doesn ' t surprise me that it did happen . It was just a matter of time , "" Perry said . "" It shows that we need to do a little bit more in authentication of documents . ""  Prosecutors learned about what happened after a member of Walker ' s family contacted them , Ashton , the state attorney , said .  An October 8 letter from the Department of Corrections to Slater ' s mother , Evangelina Kearse , notified her a "" court order and amended sentence caused ( Walker ' s ) sentence to expire . ""  "" Please be aware that recent actions causing the release of this offender are beyond our control . Nevertheless , we apologize for the delay in this message , "" it said .  Mike Crews , secretary of the Department of Corrections , said he was confident in the procedure to release prisoners , but "" obviously there was a gap somewhere . ""  From now on , prison officials will be required to check with the judge to make sure a release order is legitimate , he said .  Bailey said there have been two other instances in which inmates attempted to use false documents to gain release , but officials prevented them from escaping .  Both Walker and Jenkins appeared to play by the rules after their release . They went to the Orange County jail to register as felons Jenkins on September 30 , Walker on October 11 as required by law .  Though their releases may have initially seemed legitimate , the two convicts later were classified as escapees .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
15412,15413,"D . C . Buried in the hundreds of pages of the highly anticipated House Benghazi Committee report is something that may not have been seen by the mainstream media outlets at first , but it is quickly gathering momentum in the 24 hour news cycle . On page 269 of the report issued by Rep . Trey Gowdy ' s ( R  ) select committee after roughly two years of investigating is the fact that former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was in fact the infamous "" second gunman on the grassy knoll "" in the assassination of John F . Kennedy .  "" This committee has conducted the most thorough and exhaustive investigation in the history of the world , "" Gowdy told reporters in a press release this morning , "" because we weren ' t going to stop until we got the answers . And if we didn ' t like those answers we would not stop until we had the answers we wanted , even if we had to make them up ourselves . ""  According to the report , even though Ms . Clinton was just 16 years old and would work for Republican Barry Goldwater ' s presidential campaign the following year , Clinton was contacted by Saul Alinsky and a young George Soros . This meeting is when Soros and Alinksy convinced Clinton to help them assassinate John F . Kennedy , because they said that he "" wasn ' t nearly liberal enough "" and that Kennedy had rebuffed their attempts to get him to "" swear allegiance to Communism , Karl Marx , and abortion . ""  "" Ms . Clinton agreed to help them carry out their dastardly deed , "" Gowdy ' s press release says , "" and she was issued a rifle . She was also given an invisibility cloak , the Elder Wand , and the Philosopher ' s Stone , all of which are magical items which she has since used to help obfuscate her role in not only  ' s assassination , but also Vince Foster ' s death and of course Benghazi . ""  The  assassination wasn ' t the only high profile conspiracy theory that was confirmed by Gowdy ' s Benghazi report . On page 145 it is mentioned that an interview "" with a guy who knew a dude who once sold weed to Bill Clinton in college "" revealed that Hillary admitted to "" starting chemtrails "" in 1965 and when the Benghazi investigators finally found and interviewed a talk radio caller who went by the name Chester Cheesecorn they discovered that in 1987 Hillary told friends at a Christmas party she was "" working with George Lucas on a character called Jar Jar Binks for a new Star Track film . ""  "" It ' s unclear whether we can file any charges against Ms . Clinton for any of these high crimes and misdemeanors , "" Gowdy ' s release says , "" except the Jar Jar one . No one likes Jar Jar . Anyone tangentially related to bringing that dildo to life should spend the rest of their natural born lives behind bars . ""  This is a developing story .  Republished from The Political Garbage Chute .  ",satire,text,validation,US elections,US elections,satire,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
15416,15417,"France confirmed for the first time Saturday that Islamist militant Abdelhamid Abou Zeid was killed amid fighting by French forces in northern Mali late last month .  Abou Zeid ' s death in the Ifoghas Mountains had been widely reported but the French government declined to confirm it pending the results of  testing .  The death of one of the major figures in al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb "" marks an important stage in the struggle against terrorism in the Sahel , "" said a statement from the office of French President Francois Hollande .  Report : Al Qaeda kills French hostage held in Mali  Abou Zeid was considered one of the group ' s most ruthless commanders , having seized at least a dozen foreigners for ransom .  The French president ' s office said there was no new information regarding a second man reported to have been killed in the fighting in northern Mali , jihadist commander , Moktar Belmoktar .  testing was also being conducted to confirm his death .  Belmoktar is believed to be behind a large scale attack at an Algerian gas plant in January that left dozens of hostages and militants dead .  At the beginning of this year , Abou Zeid joined other Islamist forces making a push southward toward the capital , Bamako .  But when the Islamist advances prompted a French intervention , he moved to the area around the less accessible city of Kidal , close to the virtually impenetrable Ifoghas Mountains .  French minister : ' Tons ' of Islamists ' heavy weapons found in Mali  French and allied forces , including Malian and Chadian troops , have made significant inroads in recent weeks combating Islamist extremist fighters in Mali .  But fighting continues in the remote northeastern part of the West African nation .  Nearly 50 aerial sorties were flown in the past few days , most of them in the Ifoghas Mountains region and along the Niger river between Gao and Timbuktu , the French Defense Ministry said Thursday .  French ground forces , supported by troops from Chad , have been hunting armed terrorist groups in amongst the valleys of the massif , the ministry said .  French involvement in the conflict began on January 11 , the day after militants said they had seized the city of Konna , east of Diabaly in central Mali , and were poised to advance south toward Bamako , the capital .  In total , 4 , 000 French soldiers are deployed in Mali , according to the French Defense Ministry website , alongside 6 , 300 troops from Chad and the African led International Support Mission to Mali .  Islamist extremists carved out a large haven in northern Mali last year , taking advantage of a chaotic situation after a military coup by the separatist party  .  France using  to identify Islamists killed in Africa  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
15418,15419,"Over the weekend, the white supremacist group, National Policy Institute, held their annual conference in Washington, D.C., and it naturally drew some ire. A panel on Anderson Cooper s show laid into Trump for enabling and emboldening the white supremacist movement, because, let s face it, he has with his hateful rhetoric during his campaign and by being a complete failure at effectively denouncing them.Trump surrogate Kayleigh McEnany, however disagreed, claiming that Trump repeatedly denounced white supremacists and that the  liberal media  repeatedly takes him out of context: President-Elect Trump has repeatedly denounced racists more than any candidate in this race. And if the alt-right thinks that they have a friend in the White House, it s not because of Donald Trump, who s repeatedly denounced racism, it s because of liberal commentators who completely take him out of context, who gloss over the fact that he has called out racism, and mischaracterize his statements like you just did when he said he called Mexican immigrants rapists. That is not what he said. Um, yes it is, but Trump surrogates live in an alternate reality, where his words aren t actually his words   some liberal ventriloquist pretended they were Trump s words.The rest of the panel wasn t having it, though. Journalist Peter Beinart, of Haaretz, shot back at her: With all due respect, I really don t think that s why they think they have a friend. I did not imagine that Donald Trump spent years claiming that Barack Obama was not born in the United States. I didn t make that up. I didn t make up the fact that Donald Trump responded to the San Bernardino attack by calling for a halt to Muslim immigration into the United States.You are the one who, at every turn, has tried to defend the indefensible about this man. Oh, burn! McEnany apparently didn t like that, because she changed tactics and tried to invoke Reagan in a horribly wrong way, given Matt Lews, of The Daily Caller, said Reagan denounced bigotry and racism. She just gave us another demonstration of how Trump lovers have to grasp at any straw there is in order to defend their lord and savior, King Cheeto. She really sounds like a spin artist instead of someone who really understands what s happening.Watch the whole exchange below:Featured image via screen capture from embedded video",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,present
15428,15429,"The harsh criticism of Lenin , who is still revered by communists and many others in Russia , is unusual for Mr Putin , who in the past carefully weighed his comments about the nation ' s history to avoid alienating some voters .  Mr Putin ' s assessment of Lenin ' s role in Russian history during a meeting with pro Kremlin activists in the southern city of Stavropol was markedly more negative than in the past .  He denounced Lenin and his government for brutally murdering Russia ' s last tsar along with all his family and servants , killing thousands of priests and placing a "" time bomb "" under the Russian state by drawing administrative borders along ethnic lines .  As an example of Lenin ' s destructive legacy , Mr Putin pointed at Donbass , the industrial region in eastern Ukraine where a pro Russia separatist rebellion flared up weeks after Russia ' s March 2014 annexation of Ukraine ' s Crimean peninsula .  He said Lenin and his government drew borders between parts of the  , placing Donbass under the Ukrainian jurisdiction to "" increase the percentage of proletariat "" in a move Mr Putin called "" delirious "" .  The criticism of Lenin could be part of his attempt to justify Moscow ' s policy in the Ukrainian crisis , but it also may reflect the Kremlin ' s concern about possible separatist sentiments in some Russian provinces .  Mr Putin was particularly critical of Lenin ' s concept of a federative state with its entities having the right to secede , saying it heavily contributed to the 1991 break up of the Soviet Union . "" It was a time bomb under our state , "" he said , adding that Lenin was wrong in a dispute with Josef Stalin who advocated a unitary state model .  In the past , Mr Putin has denounced Stalin for massive purges that killed millions , but noted his role in defeating the Nazis .  Mr Putin also blasted the Bolsheviks for making Russia suffer defeat by Germany and cede large chunks of territory just months before it lost the First World War . "" We lost to the losing party , a unique case in history , "" Mr Putin said .  He said he sincerely believed in communist ideology when he served in the  , adding that while promises of a fair and just society in the communist ideology "" resembled the Bible quite a lot "" the reality was different .  Comments that are judged to be defamatory , abusive or in bad taste are not acceptable and contributors who consistently fall below certain criteria will be permanently blacklisted . Comments must be concise and to the point . The moderator will not enter into debate with individual contributors and the moderator s decision is final . The comment facility is removed after 48 hours .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past
15445,15446,"Newt Gingrich became the target of his own party ' s ire for calling Sotomayor a racist .   Well , well .  After initially waiting a few nanoseconds to call Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor a racist not to mention advising that she just ought to withdraw from consideration Newt Gingrich has had a sudden change of heart .  Or at least vocabulary .  In the conservative magazine Human Events , he writes on Wednesday : "" My initial reaction was strong and direct perhaps too strong and too direct . . . . Since then , some who want to have an open and honest consideration of Judge Sotomayor ' s fitness to serve on the nation ' s highest court have been critical of my word choice . . . . The word ' racist ' should not have been applied to Judge Sotomayor as a person , even if her words themselves are unacceptable . ""  An apology from Newt ? And one that contains a string of thoughts too long to Twitter ? How can that be ?  It seems as if poor Gingrich found himself the target of his own Republican Party . Some of the more serious folks in the Senate had been trying to figure out what kind of a jurist Sotomayor might be , when Newt and Rush Limbaugh decided to morph into Thelma and Louise .  Their favorite topic ? Sotomayor ' s now infamous statement that , "" I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn ' t lived that life . "" Foolish , yes . Self serving , sure .  But Gingrich and Co . just couldn ' t leave it at that . Personal name calling is just so much more fun and attention getting . So she became a racist ( even a reverse racist ) , in their words .  Not surprisingly , Republican senators trying to figure out a way to mount real questions about her judicial record were appalled . One Senate Republican told me that the  caucus grew increasingly furious at Gingrich ' s grandstanding .  "" People are really angry , "" the senator says . "" Newt and Rush have simply made it far more difficult for Republicans to raise the legitimate issues . They ' re so quick to throw the word racist around , they look ugly , and make us look the same way . ""  And ugly is not a good place to be when you ' ve just resoundingly lost an election with less than one third of the Hispanic vote . If it stays at that level , Republicans will have a hard time winning elections in key red states with growing Hispanic populations .  "" Is calling her names our best talking point ? "" asks  pollster Tony Fabrizio . "" It ' s a symptom of being leaderless it ' s every man for himself these days . "" The point , he says , is not to question whether Sotomayor is qualified to sit on the court . After all , after 17 years on the bench , there ' s no doubt she has the right resume . The right question to ask , Fabrizio rightly argues , is this : How is she going to fill that seat ?  And then there ' s this : Instead of throwing around terms like "" judicial activist , "" why not actually examine her record and look for things that might have some real meaning for the American people ?  In these economic times , the old culture wars arguments against judges as a group of evil doers ready to ' legislate from the bench ' holds much less sway . "" It ' s got to be about a question of fairness when people are suffering economic anxiety , "" says Fabrizio , who looks to the New Haven firefighters case as good fodder for discussion . In that case , the city denied promotions to a largely white group of firefighters after a civil service exam in which none of the black employees who took the test would have been promoted .  "" These people studied for a test , passed it and didn ' t get their promotions , "" Fabrizio says .  And if the high court overturns Sotomayor ' s ruling which some say is likely the decision would only make the case more incendiary . And that ' s a fair discussion to have .  But it should also be held in the context of the judge ' s voluminous record . Tom Goldstein of the respected Scotusblog has done our work for us in examining the firefighters case plus 96 other race related cases Sotomayor ruled on while on the Court of Appeals .  Goldstein ' s findings hardly show the mark of a jurist who is looking for discrimination above all else . The judge and the panel rejected the claim of discrimination 78 times and found it to be accurate in 10 cases . Nine of those cases were decided unanimously . Overall , he calculates , "" Judge Sotomayor rejected discrimination related claims by a margin of roughly 8 to 1 . ""  All in all , Goldstein writes , in an 11 year career on the Second Circuit , the judge "" has participated in roughly 100 panel decisions involving questions of race and has disagreed with her colleagues in those cases . . . a total of four times . ""  Four times ? Is that a legal activist ? A reverse racist ? A racist ? Or even an extremist ? Hardly .  Note to Newt : Need new adjectives .  The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Gloria Borger .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
15453,15454,"London , England Petra Nemcova is a former Victoria ' s Secret supermodel turned philanthropist .  The model set up the foundation after her near death experience in the 2004 Asian tsunami . While Nemcova survived by clinging to a palm tree for eight hours , her long term partner did not .  Petra Nemcova : The first time was to visit my aunt and even if Prague is in the same country as my town , it felt like a real journey . For us it was like going somewhere very special , far away , because under the Communist regime you didn ' t travel that much and Prague was "" wow . ""  I was overwhelmed and amazed by the beauty of Prague and every time I arrive in Prague , even now , I ' m still amazed . The lighting at night the incredible architecture the details the history there was a lot to learn about and a lot to discover . It was a very special experience .  The following time I went to Prague was during my early career in the fashion industry and I was traveling once , twice a week from my town to Prague . I would wake up at 5 . 45 in the morning , take the bus for one hour , then a tram to school . After school I would take a five hour train to Prague . So it was quite intense at that time , but it was a great experience and it taught me a lot about being independent .  Petra Nemcova : Prague is a city of romance , of incredible architecture and history . Some people call it the "" golden city , "" some people say it ' s the heart of Europe although maybe the French don ' t like that very much ! Paris is bigger obviously and a bit more hectic and Prague is smaller and has more of a village y feeling compared to Paris . Prague has more of a calming vibe . It ' s not rush rush rush .  I think when people come here they are surprised by the beauty of Prague and also the vivid colors . I think they may imagine Prague more in gray colors because of the communist association . But since then a lot of reconstruction has been done . Before Prague was shades of grey and black , which was quite mysterious , but now it ' s more happy and pretty .  In five words it ' s historical , inspirational , creative , romantic and beautiful .  Petra Nemcova : Growing up in the Czech Republic at the time Czechoslovakia was a beautiful childhood because I didn ' t understand the whole concept of communism . I was only 11 when communism fell down and when the Velvet Revolution happened . I had a really beautiful childhood . . . I didn ' t have the great luxury things , we had very little and we counted every penny . But our parents gave us something more valuable than money they gave us so much love and that ' s priceless .  We didn ' t get the opportunity to travel all over the world and were able to travel only within the communist countries . So we went around our country to see different castles , little towns and I loved it . So that made us richer . It also made us appreciate nature because we spent every weekend in nature . And the values you learn there are priceless too . You don ' t step on flowers , kick on mushrooms , you really respect nature .  And the value of appreciation came from not having anything and then having a little bit . Having a clementine for Christmas it was an incredible joy and every time I smell a clementine , it brings me back to my childhood .  But it was harder for my parents . Because if you weren ' t part of the system then you didn ' t get a job and an apartment and it would be really difficult for you . My parents had these passports where every time they would go to these communist meetings they would get a stamp and if you didn ' t get enough stamps throughout the year , you would get in trouble .  Petra Nemcova : I lost my partner and physically , my pelvis was broken four times , I was drowning many times throughout the experience . There were hard moments throughout that experience and some sweet ones . Seeing the compassion of other people risking their lives for strangers , there was just a lot of love around in that moment . That ' s what happens actually if you live through disasters , it brings people together , it shows that we are capable of that compassion , but unfortunately it just goes away after some time .  Petra Nemcova : Happy Hearts is a foundation that I established after the tsunami . It helps children improve their lives after natural disasters through educational and sustainable initiatives . We build or rebuild a school , add computer labs inside and then we build businesses to sustain the school . The education is really a key not just for the children to recover faster from the disaster but also to help them , their families and communities get out of poverty . We help over 23 , 000 children a year . We give them hope and not just for them but for their parents and communities . The schools elevate the whole community .  After the tsunami we went to other countries where disasters happened and one of them was in Indonesia . We work with local partners on the ground and have been able to build 33 kindergartens after the 2005 earthquake and that ' s something incredible because it really changed so many lives .  Our other project is in Peru , where there was an earthquake in 2007 and we have a commitment to build three schools a year .  Petra Nemcova : First of all I would take my friends and family and I would walk around and go to the Charles Bridge because that is my favorite place . Then I would stop by some exhibitions of some new artist . And then I would go and sit down for some tea perhaps at the Musical House . In the evening I may go to a typical Czech pub and afterwards for a concert because I really love them they put my mind at ease and inspire me .  Petra Nemcova : Many people know about Kafka and some of the other famous writers . But there is a lot of interest in music here and in different types of art . That ' s perhaps because art was suppressed during communist times and you were only allowed to read certain authors . That ' s why there is such a hunger now for everything that was forbidden . Not just Czech authors but also a lot of American authors because especially anything from U . S . was big taboo and you could not see any movies and you could not listen to any music . I discovered Stevie Wonder seven years ago and I ' m still working on learning and seeing more of the great movies .  Petra Nemcova : I think Prague would be our former president Vaclav Havel . He is a proud person and Prague is a proud city he ' s an artist and Prague is artistic he ' s an achiever and Prague has achieved so much . He is someone people admire , as they do Prague .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
15459,15460,"He was forced to issue a grovelling apology after claiming Wimbledon Ladies Champion Marion Bartoli was ' never going to be a looker ' .  But John Inverdale and the tennis ace will now have to put their differences aside as they will be presenting  ' s coverage of the French Open together .  Miss Bartoli , who retired following her dramatic triumph last year , will join the 56 year old presenter for the two week tournament at Roland Garros , Paris , next Sunday .  Colleagues : John Inverdale will be joined by Wimbledon winner Marion Bartoli during  ' s coverage of the French Open tournament . Inverdale had previously made derogatory comments about the French star  Mr Inverdale will have to be on his best behaviour after his disparaging remarks last year provoked a furious backlash from listeners .  The  was deluged by 674 complaints after the presenter , who anchored the channel ' s coverage of the Wimbledon championships , made the comments during an interview with Radio 5 Live ahead of the women ' s final .  He said : ' I just wonder if her dad , because he has obviously been the most influential person in her life , did say to her when she was 12 , 13 , 14 maybe , "" listen , you are never going to be , you know , a looker .  "" You are never going to be somebody like a ( Maria ) Sharapova , you ' re never going to be 5ft 11in , you ' re never going to be somebody with long legs , so you have to compensate for that . "" '  Mr Inverdale was branded a ' sexist moron ' by listeners , but Miss Bartoli seemed unfazed by his remarks .  Victory : Marion Bartoli holds the Wimbledon trophy after her victory in 2013  Joining the team : Andy Murray ' s former coach Mark Petchey , left and four time Grand Slam winner Jim Courier will also appear on  ' s coverage  The 29 year old said : ' I invite this journalist to come and see me this evening in ball gown and heels , and in my opinion he could change his mind . I am not blonde , yes . Have I dreamt about having a model contract ? No . But have I dreamed about winning Wimbledon ? Absolutely . '  Mr Inverdale said last night Wednesday : ' Both the men ' s and women ' s games are intriguing at the moment , with the old guard being challenged by so much exciting new talent .  ' I know that the team , with Marion as a fantastic addition providing real insight into both the tennis and Roland Garros as a venue , are all looking forward to it enormously . '  The pair will be joined by four time Grand Slam winner Jim Courier , Andy Murray ' s former coach Mark Petchey , Fabrice Santoro , who played in a record 70 Grand Slams , and former British ladies number one Sam Smith .  The tournament will be broadcast on ITV3 and ITV4 .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
15473,15474,"Juan Uribe added to Mets ' World Series roster    , Mo . ? New York Mets infielder Juan Uribe has been added to the team ' s roster for the World Series in place of backup shortstop Matt Reynolds .  Uribe has not appeared in a game since leaving a pinch hitting opportunity on Sept . 25 in Cincinnati with a flare up of a chest injury . He originally suffered cartilage damage five days earlier while diving for a grounder at second base .  Acquired with Kelly Johnson in a trade with the Atlanta Braves on July 24 , Uribe is the lone player on the Mets ' roster to have won a World Series , and the Mets value his presence in the dugout and clubhouse . He earned titles in 2005 with the Chicago White Sox and 2010 with the San Francisco Giants .  "" I can walk through the locker room . I can ' t find anybody who ' s got two World Series rings except him , "" Mets manager Terry Collins said . "" When Ned Yost has to look at the bottom of the lineup card and sees Juan Uribe ' s name , I know that gets his attention . ""  Although Uribe , 36 , hit a modest . 219 in 128 at bats after joining the Mets , he also had six homers and 20 RBIs , including clutch production off the bench .  Collins added that Uribe ' s value goes beyond his on the field performance .  "" In the clubhouse , he ' s exactly what you guys have all heard about , "" Collins said . "" He ' s funny . He ' s upbeat . He never has a bad day . He ' s great with the Latin players . He ' s tremendous with the American players . We thought that was going to be a big benefit to have somebody who ' s been here and has that personality to keep everything a little looser . Everybody thinks this is a pressure packed , tension thing . We need somebody to loosen it up a little bit , and he ' s one of those guys . ""  Reynolds had been added to the roster for Game 3 of the National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers after Ruben Tejada ? fractured a fibula in his right leg on a late slide by Chase Utley the previous game . Reynolds had been bidding to become the second player in  history to make his major league debut in the postseason , joining Mark Kiger in 2006 with the Oakland Athletics . However , Reynolds did not appear in a postseason game in the remainder of the  , or against the Chicago Cubs in the National League Championship Series .  The decision to drop Reynolds leaves the Mets with no bona fide backup shortstop if Flores needs to depart a game . Johnson would be the best alternative , but he is due to start Game 1 of the World Series as the designated hitter .  It is easier to leave Reynolds off the roster in the World Series than in previous rounds . In the  or  , if a player such as Flores needed to be replaced on the roster because of injury , it would make him ineligible for the next round as well . Now , with the Mets in the World Series , Reynolds could be added the day after a potential injury to Flores with no similar repercussion .  Other than subbing Uribe for Reynolds , the Mets ' roster is identical to the  , with left hander Sean Gilmartin claiming the final bullpen spot over right hander Erik Goeddel .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
15475,15476,"' Patriots . . . stand up ! ' Militia occupies  building in Oregon  Militia leader Ammon Bundy and a number of his followers were arrested by the  in Oregon during an armed confrontation Tuesday night that left one militiaman dead .  Bundy and his band of protesters ? who have been occupying a remote wildlife refuge in eastern Oregon since Jan . 2 ? were arrested during a traffic stop along  Highway 395 while on their way to a meeting with locals in the town of John Day .  Shots were fired during the ? arrests , leaving one militia member dead and another wounded .  The Oregonian newspaper identified the slain man as Robert LaVoy Finicum , 55 , the group s spokesman , and said Bundy s brother Ryan was wounded . He was treated at a hospital and released to authorities .  In addition to Ryan , 43 , and Ammon , 40 , authorities arrested Brian Cavalier , 44 , Shawna Cox , 59 , and Ryan Payne , 32 . Two others , Joseph Donald O Shaughnessy , 45 , and Peter Santilli 50 , were arrested in nearby Burns .  Also Tuesday night , Jon Ritz ? heimer , 32 , surrendered to police in Arizona on a conspiracy charge .  Ammon Bundy and the others arrested face federal felony charges of conspiracy to impede the duties of federal officials through the use of force , intimidation or threats , the  said .  The arrests did not end the siege at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge , as other Bundy supporters had stayed behind .  Federal law enforcement officers converged on the refuge after the arrests and were expected to remain at the site throughout the night . It s unclear how many militia members were left .  Ammon and Ryan s father , Cliven Bundy , who was involved in a high profile 2014 standoff with the government over grazing rights in Nevada , told the  Times that the group s detainment would not be in vain .  I have some sons and other people there trying to protect our rights and liberties and freedoms , he said . And now we ve got one killed , and all I can say is , he s sacrificed for a good purpose .  Ammon Bundy s group , seized the headquarters of the refuge as part of a long running dispute over public lands in the West .  The group , calling itself Citizens for Constitutional Freedom , came to the frozen high desert of eastern Oregon to decry what members call onerous federal land restrictions and to object to the prison sentences of two local ranchers convicted of setting fires .  Specifically , the group wanted federal lands turned over to local authorities .  Local and state authorities had criticized the  recently for not taking action against Bundy s group .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
15477,15478,"Former Alaska Gov . Sarah Palin responded angrily on her Facebook page Friday to a verbal attack by   President Richard Trumka where he called her a "" crazy magnet . ""  "" I ' m not sure why he ' s attacking my record when I ' m not the one responsible for the policies resulting in continued mass unemployment and a weak economy , "" Palin shot back . "" Among my ' crimes , ' the union boss cited the fact that I sometimes write notes on my hand ( guilty as charged ! ) that I appear on cable television every once in a while to comment on the news ( it ' s called the First Amendment , Rich ) and that my common sense conservatism makes him laugh . ""  Trumka released the text of the speech before he gave it on Thursday at his organization ' s convention in Alaska . In it he complains that every time Democrats have proposed jobs legislation they have been blocked by "" the most politically motivated Republican minority we have ever seen and I really do mean ever . . .  Then he asks , "" What is this crazy magnet that ' s pulling people to the right ? I mean , look at your former governor . . . ""  "" After she tied herself to John McCain and they lost , she blew off Alaska , "" he said . "" I guess she figured she ' d trade up shoot for a national stage . Alaska was too far from the   spotlight . I bet most of you , on a clear day , can see her hypocrisy from your house . ""  Palin provided her own assessment of Trumka on her Facebook response .  "" Trumka ' s attempts to put himself on the side of the working man and woman would be more convincing if he weren ' t a career union boss who ' s spent most of his life in  , "" the statement on Palin ' s Facebook page said . "" No surprise then that his priorities aren ' t the priorities of the average working man or woman , but of the Beltway power player . ""  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
15481,15482,"Australia captain Ricky Ponting was reprimanded Wednesday by the International Cricket Council (  ) for damaging a television after being dismissed at the World Cup .  Ponting had made 28 in his side ' s match against Zimbabwe at the Gujarat Stadium in Ahmedabad Monday when he was run out attempting a second run .  Clearly angry with himself as he walked off , Ponting reacted with fury when he saw a replay of the incident on a television in the dressing room .  He hurled a piece of his equipment which bounced off his kit bag and hit the corner of the  screen .  Initial reports inaccurately claimed Ponting had smashed up the television with his bat , but the damage he caused did prompt an official complaint from the Gujarat Cricket Association .  "" Ricky knows that his action was in breach of the code , involving a brief moment of frustration , "" said match referee Roshan Mahanama .  He added : "" It was clear that the damage he caused was purely accidental and without malice , he apologized shortly after the incident at the ground and immediately agreed to pay for the damage . ""  Ponting was found to have breached an  rule which relates to "" abuse of cricket equipment or clothing , ground equipment or fixtures and fittings during an international match "" .  Despite the incident , Australia comfortably won their Group A opener by 91 runs as the 36 year old Ponting bids to be the first man to captain a side to three straight World Cu triumphs .  Australia play New Zealand in Nagpur Friday in their second group clash .  In Wednesday ' s action on the field , Pakistan crushed Kenya by 205 runs in Group A , recovering from the loss of two early wickets in Hambantota in Sri Lanka .  Kenya did not assist their cause by conceding 46 extras as Pakistan scored 317 for 7 in their 50 overs with half centuries for Kamran Akmal , Younis Khan , Misbah ul Haq and Umar Akmal .  Captain Shahid Afridi then took five wickets for 16 as Kenya crumbled to 112 all out for a second straight loss after going down by 10 wickets to New Zealand in their opener .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
15482,15483,"Maj . Gen . James Post allegedly told lower ranking officers that talking to members of Congress about the A 10 aircraft was equivalent to treason  The Air Force is probing allegations that a Major General told lower ranking officers that talking to members of Congress about the capabilities of the A 10 attack aircraft is equivalent to treason .  The alleged comment by Maj . Gen . James Post , a prominent leader at the prestigious Air Combat Command , has stirred concern in Congress about the Air Force muzzling officers in violation of their legal rights .  ' This is very serious , to accuse people of treason for communicating with Congress , ' New Hampshire Republican Sen . Kelly Ayotte told General Mark Welsh , the Air Force chief of staff , who testified on Wednesday before the Senate Armed Services Committee .  Post is reported to have said the remarks to Air Force officers attending a recent weapons and tactics conference in Nevada .  He allegedly said that it is their duty to support the service ' s budget priorities by refraining from offering opinions inconsistent with those priorities .  Air Force leaders have proposed retiring the A 10 fleet but Congress has refused , and some inside the Air Force have sided with Congress .  Post ' s alleged comments were first reported by Tony Carr , a retired Air Force officer who writes a blog called ' John Q . Public . '  Carr said he learned of Post ' s comments from a number of officers who were in the audience at the time Post spoke .  He said Post prefaced his remark in the closed door conference by saying , ' If anyone accuses me of saying this , I will deny it ' .  Air Force leaders have proposed retiring the A 10 fleet but Congress has refused , and some inside the Air Force have sided with Congress ( file photo )  Air Force Chief of Staff General Mark Welsh  ( pictured ) testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington on Wednesday as the Air Force investigates allegations that Major General James Post  Post then added : ' Anyone who is passing information to Congress about A 10 capabilities is committing treason . '  ' These comments can be seen as nothing less than an attempt to intimidate subordinates into refraining from exercising their rights to free expression and civic participation , ' Carr wrote .  The Air Force has not disputed that Post made the comment as reported .  New Hampshire Republican Sen . Kelly Ayotte said she was concerned that the Air Force is trying to find out which officers talked to Congress about the A 10  ' We are aware of the concerns surrounding the alleged remarks made by General Post , ' said Captain Andrew Schrag , a spokesman for Air Combat Command , who is in charge of the service ' s combat aircraft .  ' We take this matter very seriously and are fully cooperating with the Secretary of the Air Force Inspector General ' s investigation , ' he added .  Another Air Force spokesman , Maj . Colin Hughes , said the Air Force investigation began January 22 .  In his remarks on Wednesday , Welsh said the Defense Department is overseeing an investigation of the matter by the Air Force inspector general .  He added that he had personally intervened by calling Post after seeing a news report about his alleged comment .  Pressed on the matter by Ayotte , Welsh said he found it ' not at all ' acceptable for a general to make such a comment .  ' I support any airman ' s right to discuss anything that you would like to discuss with them and to give you their honest opinion , ' Welsh said .  ' In this particular case , with the investigation ongoing , my job is to wait until the facts are known , ' he added .  ' It worries me about the climate and the tone that set if members airmen , airwomen are told that they would be committing treason for communicating with us , ' Ayotte said .  Ayotte said she was concerned that the Air Force is quietly trying to find out which officers talked to Congress about the A 10 .  Welsh said he was unaware of any such internal investigation .  ' I would be astonished by that , ' he said , adding , ' I would not condone it . '  It is the ugliest aircraft in the Air Force ' s arsenal .  The A 10 , often called a warthog , was designed to destroy Soviet tanks and troops on the ground .  Officially the Thunderbolt  , it was quickly nicknamed the Warthog for its unusual looks ,  It was specifically designed around its main weapon , a 30mm cannon which fires 4 , 000 rounds a minute .  The plane can fly low and slow , coming down to 50ft to shoot at or drop bombs on enemy positions .  Its top speed is just above 400mph but it can go as slow as 150mph and ' loiter ' for hours above targets making it an effective deterrent as well as an attack plane .  The Warthog is covered in 1 , 200lbs of titanium armor , making it invulnerable to attack from anything but heavy weapons .  Even when hit it is designed to fly home on one engine , with no tailfin and half a wing missing .  On board the single seater the pilot has at his controls the cannon , which is accurate to 4 , 000ft , and fires depleted uranium shells , as well as Maverick air to surface missiles , 500lb free fall bombs , and Hydra air launched rockets .  Despite  attempts to retire the fleet , it is expected to remain in service into the 2020s . At one stage when the Air Force suggested retiring its more than 300 A 10s the Army indicated it would take them over as soldiers are so keen on its close support capabilities .  Air Force leaders have proposed retiring the A 10 fleet but Congress has refused , and some inside the Air Force have sided with Congress  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
15493,15494,"Chatting on your phone drains its battery , but in the future , all this talk time could actually be used to boost its power .  Researchers from Canada have created a chin strap that harvests energy from jaw movements , including chewing and talking .  It is hoped the device could soon be used to power electronic devices , such as hearing aids , cochlear implants , and even phones .  The chin strap , ( setup pictured ) is made from a smart piezoelectric material known as  , which consists of integrated electrodes and adhesive polymer . It produces an electric charge when it stretches , and is subjected to mechanical stress  The strap is made from a smart material known as  .  is a type of piezoelectric material made up of integrated electrodes , and an adhesive polymer matrix .  The material is able to produce an electric charge when it stretches , and is subjected to mechanical stress .  The strap is made from a smart material known as  .   is a type of piezoelectric material made up of integrated electrodes , and an adhesive polymer matrix .  The material is able to produce an electric charge when it stretches and is subjected to mechanical stress .  To ensure maximum performance , the chin strap was fitted snugly to the user , so when the user ' s jaw moved it caused the strap to stretch .  To test the performance of the device , the subject was asked to chew gum for 60 seconds while wearing the head mounted device .  The maximum amount of power that could be harvested from the jaw movements was around 18 microwatts , but researchers claim that a realistic output is closer to 10 microwatts .  This is still just a fraction of the energy used in a typical phone charger , which uses between 10 and 16 watts per day but the strap is still in an experimental phase .  In their study , researchers from Sonomax  Industrial Research Chair in In ear Technologies (  ) in Montreal , Canada , created an energy harvesting strap made from a single layer of  and attached it to a pair of ear muffs using a pair of elastic side straps .  To ensure maximum performance , the chin strap was fitted snugly to the user , so when the user ' s jaw moved it caused the strap to stretch .  To test the performance of the device , the subject was asked to chew gum for 60 seconds while wearing the head mounted device .  The maximum amount of power that could be harvested from the jaw movements was around 18 microwatts , but researchers claim that a realistic output is closer to 10 microwatts .  This is still just a fraction of the energy used in a typical phone charger , which uses between 10 and 16 watts per day but the strap is still in an experimental phase .  The first results of the device ' s performance have been published in  Publishing ' s journal Smart Materials and Structures .  Jaw movements proved to be one of the most promising candidates for generating electricity from human body movements , with researchers estimating that an average of around seven microwatts of power could be generated from chewing during meals alone .  Co author of the study Aidin Delnavaz said : ' Given that the average power available from chewing is around seven microwatts , we still have a long way to go before we perfect the performance of the device .  To ensure maximum performance , the chin strap was fitted snugly to the user , so when the user ' s jaw moved it caused the strap to stretch . The maximum amount of power harvested from the chin strap ( pictured ) was 18 microwatts , but researchers are working on increasing this output significantly  ' The power level we achieved is hardly sufficient for powering electrical devices at the moment however , we can multiply the power output by adding more  layers to the chin strap .  ' For example , 20  layers , with a total thickness of 6mm , would be able to power a 200 microwatts intelligent hearing protector .  ' The only expensive part of the energy harvesting device is the single  layer , which costs around 20 ( 12 ) .  ' Considering the price and short lifetime of batteries , we estimate that a self powered hearing protector based on the proposed chin strap energy harvesting device will start to pay back the investment after three years of use , ' continued Delnavaz .  ' Additionally , the device could substantially decrease the environmental impact of batteries and bring more comfort to users .  ' We will now look at ways to increase the number of piezoelectric elements in the chin strap to supply the power that small electronic devices demand , and also develop an appropriate power management circuit so that a tiny , rechargeable battery can be integrated into the device . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
15513,15514,"White supremacists are celebrating Donald Trump s rise to the top of the Republican Party and  leader David Duke bragged about it on the radio.Speaking with Don Advo this week about Trump s decision to hire Breitbart boss Stephen K. Bannon to be his campaign CEO, Duke, who is a racist former  Grand Wizard, roared his approval of the choice as both Advo and Duke cheered that white supremacists had taken over the GOP, although he lamented that there were still  boll weevils in the cotton.  You know, because cotton is white and boll weevils are black or brown insects. So, something astonishing has happened. We appear to have taken over the Republican Party,  Advo declared to the delight of his Stormfront fans. Well, rank and file, but a lot of those boll weevils are still in those cotton balls, and, uh, the Republican Party may be a European-American populated party, but like a ball of cotton, you can have boll weevils in there that are going to rot it out from the inside,  Duke replied.Here s the audio via Daily Motion. duke alt right by DailyPoliticsDuke has been emboldened so much by Trump s successful seizure of the Republican Party crown that he is now running for the  Senate in Louisiana.Should he win, Republicans would have a unapologetic racist as part of their Senate caucus and would be a strong ally of Donald Trump should he win the presidency. A racist in the White House and a racist in the Senate is probably not exactly what Republicans were planning but that s what they got. And that s because Republicans created the atmosphere that allowed racists like Trump and Duke to rise.White supremacists love Donald Trump, and Duke has supported the Republican nominee throughout his campaign run.Not only does Trump and Duke need to be defeated, the Republican Party needs to be taken back from the racists who took it over. Because right now, Abraham Lincoln is spinning in his grave about what the  has become. The party that ended slavery and fought for civil rights has now become the party of white hoods.Featured image via Houston Chronicle",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
15557,15558,"It has been 25 years since a record turnout of people watched the World Series on television. Nobody saw this win coming, and it was 108 years in the making. However, dreams came true on Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2016, when the Chicago Cubs, crowned the Lords of Windy City, won the World Series. The city of Chicago experienced an epic moment in sports history. A moment, so grand that it would topple the elections for a split second. After the game, crowds went ballistic. Things were just getting warmed up as two million fans relished in the Cubs victory lap around the city. The triumphant tour ended with a rally in Grant Park. However, the lap may have concluded but the Chicago Cubs long awaited success story has yet to be told. The Road to Victory Success did not come overnight. In fact, it started years ago. Before they were the Lords of Windy City, the Cubs played in 11 World Series, overall. Moreover, before they were the Chicago Cubs, they were the Chicago White Stockings, in 1876. West Side Grounds was where the White Stockings did their damage, with multiple victories. Eventually, establishing themselves as one of the new league’s highest-regarded teams. By 1890, they had converted to the Chicago Colts. Nevertheless, they would not remain the Colts for long. Despite the fact, the franchise had ushered in a new dynasty, a name change was underway for the final time. In 1902, they became the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs won four emblems. in a five-year span. from 1905 to 1912. During that time, they won two World Series titles. The Cubs recorded a record 116 victories and the best-winning percentage (.763) in Major League history. However, it would all fall apart due to the alleged Billy Goat curse. Curse of the Billy Goat In 1945, a man named William Sianis, owner of Billy Goat Tavern, supposedly placed “The Curse of the Billy Goat” on the Chicago Cubs. This sports-related curse lasted from 1945 to 2016. The legend began over the odor of his pet goat, Murphy. The myth states that Murphy’s scent was annoying fans. During game four, he was asked to leave Wrigley Field, the 1945 World Series. Livid, Sianis apparently professed, “They ain’t gonna win no more, those Cubs,” which has been understood as an indication the Cubs would not win another World Series or the National League (NL) pennant. Sianis stormed out of the stadium with his goat, and the Cubs lost the 1945 World Series to the Detroit Tigers. Never again, would they see a win, until the 2016 World Series Championship. The Chicago Cubs Drought Before their historic win, the Cubs had to endure almost a century of losses. In 1908, the Chicago Cubs won their last World Series, for the second successive year, against the Detroit Tigers. Even though the Cubs went on to play in seven World Series afterward, they went home with nothing. Instead of wins, there was only the agony of defeat. Nevertheless, this torment turned into the thrill of victory after winning the 2016 World Series, and the 2016 National League Championship Series. The night of Nov. 2, concluded the 108-year World Series championship drought, plus a 71-year National League pennant drought that plagued the Chicago Cubs for over a century. This time period of losses would go down in history as one of the longest by any major American sports team. The Victorious Night All it took was an 8-7, 10-inning triumph over the Cleveland Indians, in an electrifying Game 7, that started Wednesday evening (Nov. 2) and finished promptly, on Thursday before noon (Nov. 3). It was a night to be remembered; every seat at Wrigley Field filled. The stadium, recognized for its ivy-coated brick outfield wall, unusual wind patterns from Lake Michigan, and the iconic red pavilion was the center of the universe that night. Stars like John Travolta and Amy Schumer were at the event. Homeland Security, 1,000 Chicago police officers, and  agents swarmed the place. It was more than a big deal. The Chicago Cubs went out with a bang, ending the season with a 103–58 (.640) record. It would be their first 100-win season since 1935 (100–54, .649) and their best since 1910 (104–50, .675). Additionally, it is the sixth 100-victory season in franchise history. When it was all over, the Cubs won the World Series for the first time since 1908, terminating the infamous 108-year win deficiency and the “curse,” thus, being crowned the Lords of Windy City. By Jomo Merritt Edited by Jeanette Smith Sources: Fox 32: Cubs World Series celebration ranks as 7th largest gathering in human history ESPN: Chicago parties with the Cubs Chicago Tribune: Cubs roster breakdown: Players expected to return, depart for 2017 season Image Courtesy of Arturo Pardavila III’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License Image Courtesy of Erik Drost’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License 2016 World Series , chicago cubs , Cleveland Indians , spot",fake,news,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
15578,15579,"The New Mexico Livestock Board has launched an investigation into a southern New Mexico dairy after an activist working with an animal welfare group recorded secret video showing workers whipping cows with chains and wire cables , kicking and punching the animals , and shocking them with electric prods .  Board officials confirmed the investigation into the practices at the Winchester Dairy near Dexter on Tuesday . They were working on interviewing the activist and tracking down the workers identified in the video .  ' We are investigating it very aggressively . The district attorney is on board and everybody is working hard to make sure we do this right , ' said Shawn Davis , an area supervisor with the livestock board .   :   . Scroll down for video  Disturbing : Animal rights group Mercy for Animal recently released a video showing abuse at a New Mexico dairy farm  Dairy officials have been cooperating since investigators first arrived last Friday , board officials said .  The dairy said in a statement that animal care and well being are central to its operation . As a result , the dairy fired all employees and referred the abusive workers to law enforcement for further review following its own internal investigation .  The dairy also halted milking operations , stopped shipments to all vendors and dispersed thousands of cows to other dairies with strong track records in animal welfare .  In pain : In the video , dairy employees are seen punching , kicking , prodding and whipping the helpless animals at Winchester Dairy in southern New Mexico  Kicked : Winchester Dairy produces milk for Denver based Leprino Foods , a cheese company which supplies Papa John ' s pizza , Stouffer ' s and Hot Pockets  ' We remain committed to the ethical and responsible treatment of the animals and have learned from this incident , ' the dairy said .  It was not immediately clear whether the dairy ' s closure was temporary . Winchester is one of more than 140 family owned dairies in New Mexico , a state that ranks in the top 10 nationally when it comes to milk production . The industry employs about 4 , 200 workers and has a direct economic impact of about 1 billion .  The Los Angeles based animal welfare group Mercy for Animals first sent the video footage to the livestock agency last Thursday . It released a compilation of clips that show the abuse during a news conference Wednesday in Albuquerque .  An activist with Mercy for Animals shot the video while working on the farm in August and September . Aside from the whipping , kicking and punching , the video shows calves being tossed into the back of a truck and cows that can ' t stand being dragged with heavy equipment or lifted with clamps .  Unsettling : The dairy has since issued a statement , saying they have fired all employees and transferred thousands of cows to other dairies with good animal rights track records  Hurtful : At one point in the video , baby calves are carelessly thrown into the back of a truck . The voiceover says many of the males will be killed for veal meat  The group said the abuses uncovered during its investigations of six separate dairies around the country including the New Mexico dairy are all similar .  ' So this isn ' t a matter of a single dairy farm failing to meet industry standards . This is a matter of industry standards allowing for blatant animal abuse , ' said Matt Rice , the group ' s director of investigations . ' That ' s why we ' re calling on the industry to make improvements at all of its facilities to prevent this type of abuse . '  The Dairy Producers of New Mexico in a statement Wednesday said the industry is committed to animal well being .  ' The actions depicted in the video are unacceptable and do not reflect the daily care and comfort that New Mexico dairy farmers and dairy farmers nationwide provide their cows , ' the statement said .  Mercy for Animals is calling on Denver based Leprino Foods , which is supplied by the New Mexico dairy and produces cheese for major pizza chains , to adopt a zero tolerance policy for kicking , punching and shocking cows and require suppliers to provide safe and sanitary environments for the animals .  Leprino Foods said Wednesday it cares about the health and welfare of the animals on the farms that supply the company with milk and that it terminated all shipments from Winchester Dairy .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
15591,15592,"In Flint water crisis , the biggest problem to fix may be trust  The New Economy Why Americans are saving more and spending less  Flint , Mich . , has a massive task to fix a water system tainted by lead . But many residents say the solution needs to go much deeper .  Veronica Kelley , who lives on the west side of Flint , holds up a pipe removed from her home , at a Flint water crisis community forum at Quinn Chapel  church on Saturday in Flint , Mich .  On Monday , Michigan officials began laying out their plans for how they will rectify the water supply disaster in Flint , Mich . , that has exposed thousands of children to lead .  The task is enormous . Contaminated taps citywide need to be replaced , and the lead pipes in Flint s water system need to be addressed . Estimates run into the hundreds of millions of dollars .  Yet perhaps the most difficult problem for the city to repair , experts say , is trust .  Photos of the Day Photos of the Day 02 01  Government only works when there s some level of trust or collaboration from the public , and it seems like there s going to be a lot of tensions going forward , says Eric Scorsone , associate professor and founding director of the Michigan State University (  ) Extension Center for State and Local Government Policy in East Lansing .  Indeed , Flint residents have begun to weigh whether it s worth waiting to see if officials will deliver on promises to clean up not just the city s water , but its methods of leadership .  I had already planned on moving because of the crime , the schools , and the abandoned buildings , one Flint native , James Chad Richardson , told Yahoo News . Then the water is like ,  , wow . How many punches to the head am I gonna take ?  The trouble began in April 2014 , when Flint switched its water source from Detroit s system to the Flint River . The decision came during the tenure of state appointed emergency manager Darnell Earley , who was tasked to enact cost cutting measures to stabilize the city s debt ridden finances .  Residents began complaining about the water s taste and smell almost as soon as the switch took place . But officials began to act only in October 2015 ? after Virginia Tech professor Marc Edwards tested samples of the water and found levels of lead far above the Environmental Protection Agency s recommendations .  But the disaster , and the resulting loss of public trust , could also have a huge socioeconomic impact ? one that other cities ought to learn from , says Glen Daigger , a professor of engineering practice at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor .  The unstable situation in Flint could easily lead real estate prices to drop and new businesses to balk at establishing a presence in the city ? potentially making it even harder for Flint to recover financially , he says .  The cost of a poorly functioning system like Flint s is not just the repairs to the pipes . You really have to think about the situation not so much . . . from a technical perspective , Professor Daigger says . Rather , it s one really of confidence , of people having gone through what the citizens of Flint have been going through .  Quite frankly , confidence has to be restored . . . and restoring confidence has to be founded in fact , so that this community can pick up and start moving forward from a social and economic perspective , he adds .   Gov . Rick Snyder has said the full replacement of the city s pipes is not imminent . But Michigan state authorities have acknowledged the loss of public trust and , in some ways , have begun to move to address it .  The state s Department of Environmental Quality was set to release a plan Monday outlining four rounds of testing . Each round would take about two weeks and is aimed at establishing a base line for lead in Flint s drinking water and identifying where in the city people are being exposed to contaminants , the Detroit Free Press reports .  Also , Michigan Democrats ? noting that the current disaster stems in part from issues related to a state takeover of local operations ? have introduced a bill that would repeal the law that lets the governor appoint an emergency financial manager to take control of a local government s finances . Many Michigan residents appear to support such a repeal .  And on Sunday night , top state officials convened in Flint not only to discuss the lead pipes in the city s water system , but also to come up with programs to strengthen the ailing city s economy , law enforcement , and overall management , according to a separate report by the Free Press .  We know that the state has a credibility issue , Richard Baird , a top aide to Governor Snyder , told the paper . People are just scared to trust and we get that . We are going to think about ways that residents trust us again . Otherwise , all of this could result in people still saying they won t drink the water .  For Professor Scorsone at  , the overhaul needs to take place at multiple levels of government , which suggests the creation of an agency that coordinates efforts between state and local governments .  That would help across the board ? not just in water , but in a lot of other areas , he says . Right now , we have no centralized place to oversee state local interrelationships .  Others are plotting a different route to recovery . As part of a broader effort to hold Michigan s various government entities accountable for their role in the crisis , a group of environment advocates and civil rights organizations have filed a lawsuit in  district court against state and city officials , asking the court to compel the defendants to replace all the lead service lines in the city .  The people of Flint have lost their trust in government . Every single level of government in this case has failed the people , says Anjali Waikar , a staff attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council , which is among the groups that filed the lawsuit . Rebuilding that trust is a long road . That s why we think in this case , we need to have a federal court step in .  Charles Haas , director of the environmental engineering program at Drexel University in Philadelphia , offers both hope and caution for what lies ahead in Flint .  I think technically it s possible to restore the quality of water to Flint , he says . But when you get to the social trust aspect , I m not sure how long it might take .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,US elections,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
15595,15596,"Ireland gave Brian O ' Driscoll a dramatic farewell to international rugby by clinching the Six Nations title with a tense 22 20 victory over France in Paris on Saturday .  The 35 year old center was named man of the match in his record extending 141st appearance at the highest level , as Ireland won the European tournament for the first time since 2009 .  A French victory would have given the title to England , who thrashed Italy 52 11 in Rome earlier Saturday to end Les Bleus ' own hopes .  France , beaten World Cup finalist in 2011 , could have denied the Irish after scoring a controversial 63rd minute try to Dimitri Szarzewski but Jean Marc Doussain missed a routine penalty kick soon after .  The video official missed a knock on by Szarzewski when the hooker touched down , but the home fans were left frustrated when a late match winning score in the corner was ruled out following several  replays for a forward pass by Pascal Pape .  "" It feels great to be a two time Six Nations winner , "" O ' Driscoll said after his team held off the furious French onslaught .  "" So many seconds along the years and so many disappointments it ' s great to finish my career on a high . When I do hang this jersey up on the hook inside it will be with fond memories .  "" It was last leg stuff and I know now why I ' m packing it in because 80 minutes is a long bloody time at international level , particularly with guys like Mathieu Bastereaud running at you it ' s no fun . ""  It was Ireland ' s first win in Paris since 2000 , which was also by a two point margin .  Fly half Johnny Sexton was one of the heroes on this occasion , scoring two of Ireland ' s three tries , but he was stretchered off with 10 minutes to go after being knocked out in a tackle .  The victory margin gave Ireland the title by 10 points on differential from England , who won the two teams ' encounter 13 10 at Twickenham last month .  "" Credit to Ireland they are deserved winners and it ' s a fitting finale and sendoff for Brian O ' Driscoll , a legend of the game whom everyone in this squad respects massively , "" said England head coach Stuart Lancaster .  "" We always knew this was going to be one of the tightest Six Nations and go down to the wire . ""  Wales finished third on differential above France , thrashing Scotland 51 3 in Cardiff .  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
15608,15609,"Gary Hooper recorded his first hat trick in Norwich City colours to steer his side to a comfortable 4 0 win over Championship basement boys Blackpool .  The former Celtic man struck twice in the first half before adding a penalty after the break as the class gap between the two sides was ruthlessly emphasised .  A fourth eventually arrived in injury time courtesy of a superb free kick from Nathan Redmond to round off a thoroughly professional performance from the Canaries .  Gary Hooper recorded his first hat trick in Norwich City colours to steer his side to a 4 0 win over Blackpool  A third win since the arrival of Alex Neil saw Norwich close in on the play off positions , while their opponents remain marooned at the foot of the table after a 10th away defeat of a miserable campaign .  After taking a while to settle , the home side had an early chance to take the lead when Lewis Grabban latched on to a hopeful through ball but he scuffed his shot and Elliot Parish comfortably gathered .  At the other end Blackpool posed the occasional threat with Steve Davies sending a header straight at John Ruddy , but it came as little surprise when Norwich struck after 12 minutes .  Blackpool remain two points adrift at the bottom of the Championship table  Jonny Howson threaded a delightful pass through a square Blackpool defence and Hooper coolly slid the ball home for his sixth goal of the season .  The Canaries suffered a setback when Sebastien Bassong , who was making only his second appearance of the season , hobbled off with a back injury , to be replaced by Michael Turner .  But they continued to put their lowly opponents under pressure and went 2 0 midway through the first half with a beautifully crafted goal . City worked the ball skilfully into the box where Hooper played a delightful one two with Wes Hoolahan before emphatically doubling his tally for the afternoon .  It was nearly 3 0 when a Grabban effort was tipped onto the bar by Parish before Peter Clarke cleared the danger , while the Norwich striker was guilty of a bad miss when he skied Howson ' s inviting cross over from close range .  Norwich City winger Nathan Redmond scored the final goal of the match late on  The Canaries put the game to bed 11 minutes into the second half when Hooper completed his hat trick from the spot .  The penalty was awarded for a clear foul by Clarke on Grabban and Hooper stepped up to send Parish the wrong way for his third goal of the day .  It was now merely a question of how many a dominant Norwich would score against their struggling opponents and it needed an excellent stop from Parish to prevent Grabban from adding another moments later .  As it turned out the hosts rarely threatened after that until Redmond ' s stunning free kick from 25 yards out while it took a superb reflex stop from Ruddy to prevent Davies volleying home a consolation .  Blackpool manager Lee Clark watches on as his team lose at Carrow Road  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
15610,15611,"It may be politically quixotic , but Sen . Dianne Feinstein proceeded undeterred Wednesday in seeking an updated version of the assault weapons ban she sponsored in 1994 that expired a decade later .  At an emotional committee hearing , Feinstein brought together families who lost loved ones to gun violence , police officials and others to call for banning military style weapons from civilian use .  "" It is hard for me to be here today to talk about my deceased son but I have to , "" sobbed Neil Heslin , whose son , Jesse , was one of 20 first graders shot to death in December in a Connecticut school . "" I am his voice . I am not here for the sympathy or a pat on the back . There ' s many people that stayed in the town of Newtown . I am here to speak up for my son . ""  Despite later testimony from witnesses who cited statistics in challenging the effectiveness of tougher gun laws , Feinstein and other supporters said they couldn ' t understand how anyone could argue that the general public has a constitutional right to weapons designed purely to kill as fast and brutally as possible .  "" This is not a class . This is not a case study . People die . That ' s what happens , "" said Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter in arguing that police officers in his city get outgunned by criminals .  "" No one has ever been able to explain why a civilian should have a military style assault weapon for anything , "" he added to applause in the hearing room .  Fierce opposition by the influential National Rifle Association and conservative legislators , including some Democrats , makes it virtually impossible for the kind of ban proposed by Feinstein to win congressional approval .  Instead , the legislative focus has shifted to expanding and strengthening background checks for gun purchases , as well as toughening laws against gun trafficking and so called straw purchases .  At the conclusion of Wednesday ' s Judiciary Committee hearing , Feinstein acknowledged the challenge , saying : "" It ' s an uphill climb . ""  Clearly hoping the emotional scenes of Heslin and other victims of gun violence would generate public pressure on Congress to act , she said victory could be possible "" with a little bit of help from the people of America . ""  President Barack Obama has proposed a package that includes a ban on semi automatic firearms that mimic military assault rifles , as well as limiting ammunition magazines to 10 rounds and requiring background checks on all gun sales to close a loophole for private transactions .  Feinstein is pushing the weapons ban component of legislation the Judiciary Committee will consider in coming weeks . She led the battle for the 1994 assault weapons ban , which ended in 2004 when Congress failed to renew it .  Photos of the Newtown victims filled a poster behind Feinstein as she opened Wednesday ' s hearing by saying a renewed push for an assault weapons ban was necessary "" because the massacre in Newtown was sadly not an anomaly . ""  Citing seven mass shootings in 2012 that included notorious incidents in Aurora , Colorado , and the Connecticut attack , Feinstein said "" we cannot allow the carnage I have described to continue . ""  Her proposal would ban the manufacture or sale of hundreds of semi automatic weapons modeled after military assault rifles , as well as ammunition magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds .  Anticipating arguments by the  and other opponents , Feinstein made clear the proposal only applied to future sales , saying anyone who legally owns one of the weapons targeted could keep it .  In addition , the legislation specifically excludes more than 2 , 000 kinds of shotguns and other firearms designed and used for hunting and sporting purposes , she noted .  A video clip she played showed how legal semi automatic rifles can be easily modified to fire like fully automatic weapons that are banned under current law .  Republican opponents of Feinstein ' s proposal argued that the 1994 ban proved ineffective , citing studies that determined the law had no direct effect in reducing gun violence .  In one of several clashes between legislators and witnesses , conservative Sen . Lindsey Graham of South Carolina challenged Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn over a lack of prosecutions of people who failed to pass background gun checks .  When Graham said the low number of prosecutions showed current laws weren ' t being enforced , Flynn angrily responded that police officers have to prioritize resources and go after armed criminals instead of "" chasing paper , "" such as failed background checks .  "" We don ' t chase paper . We chase people who have guns illegally , "" Flynn said , talking over Graham ' s efforts to stop him .  Another witness , U . S . Attorney John Walsh of Colorado , later responded to a similar argument from conservative Sen . John Cornyn of Texas by saying that "" we go for the worst of the worst . ""  "" The worst of the worst is a bad guy actually using a gun , "" Walsh said , adding that the 1 . 5 million gun sales rejected by a failed background check was "" a record of success "" regardless of how many prosecutions ensued .  Feinstein and other supporters also noted that limits on ammunition magazines would require attackers in mass shootings to reload more frequently , providing more time to stop them .  However , witnesses opposed to limits on weapons contended Feinstein ' s proposal would be open to legal challenge , and would give criminals who acquire weapons illegally an advantage over law abiding gun owners .  Former Rep . Sandy Adams , R Florida , said it was not the time for "" feel good legislation so you can say you did something . ""  "" Taking guns from law abiding citizens while leaving them defenseless against violent criminals , who by their very definition do not abide by the law , is not the answer and it is definitely not the right thing to do , "" she said in her opening statement .  The reference to "" feel good legislation "" drew a rebuke from Sen . Dick Durbin , D Illinois , who told Adams that he was sorry she used the phrase .  "" I don ' t feel good about being here today , "" Durbin said . "" Mr Heslin does not feel good about being here today . ""  Feinstein noted that the 1994 ban was challenged repeatedly in federal courts on multiple grounds , including Second Amendment protections , and survived each time .  In his opening statement , Republican Sen . Chuck Grassley of Iowa conceded that some gun legislation would emerge in the aftermath of the Newtown killings . In particular , he said , new laws would target gun trafficking and straw purchases in which a legal buyer purchases firearms for others who are ineligible .  The Judiciary Committee chairman , Sen . Patrick Leahy of Vermont , was adamant Sunday that expanded background checks would not include provisions to register gun owners . But he said that responsible Americans looking to purchase firearms shouldn ' t fear robust checks .  To Lanae Erickson Hatalsky of Third Way , an independent policy group , what she called "" political reality "" means that Congress will focus more on keeping weapons out of the wrong hands instead of a new weapons ban .  The  and other opponents contend that any limit on private gun ownership violates the constitutional right to bear arms . Even partial steps in that direction , such as prohibiting specific models , are considered a path to potential confiscation or other future elimination of Second Amendment rights , they argue .  In recent decades , the  has led lobbying efforts that shifted the discussion away from stronger gun controls such as an outright ban on handguns and a national registration of gun ownership pushed by top Democrats in the 1980s and 90s to the incremental measures under consideration now .  Erickson Hatalsky , the director of social policy and politics at Third Way , noted examples of the  ' s influence in the last significant gun legislation the Brady Bill of 1993 that required background checks on guns purchased from licensed dealers , followed by the limited assault weapons ban a year later .  While the Brady Bill led to the background check system in use today , the  made sure it didn ' t apply to private sales , such as those at gun shows , she said .   President David Keene has said he expected few substantive changes in law because the emotional reaction to the Newtown shooting would eventually give way to common sense regarding gun rights and the wishes of American gun owners .  His organization keeps a scorecard for each Washington legislator on gun issues , and spends millions on campaign contributions to favored candidates .  In Congress , some influential Democrats join virtually all Republicans in opposing , or at least questioning , a renewed ban on semi automatic weapons like the Bushmaster  15 style rifle used in the Newtown shootings .  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid , who gets high marks from the  for his opposition to past gun control efforts , has indicated support for expanding background checks but refuses to endorse a new weapons ban .  According to Reid , a bill from the Judiciary Committee was unlikely to include an updated weapons ban , but he would allow a vote on the provision during floor debate .  Such a vote would amount to Feinstein ' s last stand on the issue .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
15620,15621,"Their fur flying and their paws stretching out behind them , these clever photos appear to show pet dogs posing in mid air .  German photographer Julia Christe captured the mid leap snaps , which include a range of breeds , among them huskies and Chinese Crested Dogs .  To create the shots , the dogs were dropped onto a mattress by their off camera owners from a low height , with extra drama created via the use of a wind machine .  A puli flies through the air , captured by photographer Julia Christe , 41 , of Tettnang , Germany  An adorable husky shows off its best side ( l ) and a Spitz dog flies through the air ( r )  The project came around after Ms Christe , from Tettnang in Germany , decided she wanted to portray her favourite animal from an new perspective .  Although she never planned to become a pet photographer despite owning two Spanish water dogs herself Ms Christe found herself working on commercial animal shoots and so her passion for pet portraits began .  Her latest project , which saw more than 100 canines visit her Berlin studio , is called Freestyle and includes photos of Boxers , Griffon Nivernais , Bearded Collies and Australian Shepherds among many others .  ' The dogs were dropped by their owners onto a mattress from as low a height as possible , and the impression of flight was enlarged by wind machines , ' explained the 41 year old .  An Afghan hound pulls its best mid air pose for the cameras  An adorable bearded collie ( l ) and a Dachshund flying through the air ( r )  Photographer Julia Christe , 41 , of Tettnang , Germany with one of her beloved dogs  ' Not every dog is born to fly , but some had great talent and became proper shooting stars . Some breeds like greyhounds didn ' t like it as they were afraid of being lifted , but other dogs such as the spaniel had a lot of fun .  ' Some of the dogs had so much fun , we were even able to repeat the jumps . The expression on their faces mostly reflects the surprise of the first flight , and in most cases the first jump provided the best pictures . '  Not everyone likes her work however , with Ms Christe revealing that she has been contacted by animal rights organisations , voicing their fears about the dogs ' welfare .  ' I have various reactions to my pictures , from fascination and astonishment to fears from animal rights activists , ' she added .  Behind the scenes at the photoshoot , this bearded collie prepares to fly  Photographer Julia wanted to capture her favourite animal from an unlikely perspective  This huge Newfoundland dog flies through the air , showing off silky windswept black fur  This tiny Chinese crested dog kicks a leg up for the camera  ' But I really love animals , and so everything was safe , I would never take a chance on them getting hurt .  ' A great deal of technical effort went into creating the photographs , such as getting the light exactly right and being able to capture the rapid movement of the dogs ' coats .  ' I feel the photographs show off both the grace and elegance of the dogs , which makes them appear in a slightly different way than usual . '  A beagle strikes its best pose ( l ) and a Griffon Nivernais ( r ) looking bemused  An adorable English setter looks rather bored as it flied through the air  This springer spaniel ( l ) and mixed breed dog don ' t quite know what ' s going on ( r )  This Australian shepherd shows off its best side on pose  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
15621,15622,"The intentional breach of a levee on the Mississippi River is helping to ease unprecedented flood pressure on other areas , the U . S . Army Corps of Engineers said .  The Ohio River level had dropped about 1 . 7 feet at Cairo , Illinois , since Monday afternoon , before the blast , but that is expected to level off Wednesday .  The breach , created when engineers detonated explosives late Monday night at Birds Point , Missouri , is sending 396 , 000 cubic feet of water per second onto 200 square miles of fertile Missouri farmland .  The water is coursing across a floodway that Missouri Gov . Jay Nixon described as "" literally the most productive part of our continent . ""  Two states grapple with rising floodwaters  Farmer Bryan Feezor said the sight makes you "" sick to your stomach "" as he surveyed his submerged fields .  A second levee blast was conducted Tuesday afternoon at New Madrid , Missouri , and a third is planned Wednesday near Hickman , Kentucky . The second and third blasts , downstream of Birds Point , will allow floodwater to return to the Mississippi River .  While the plan appeared to be working the level of the Ohio River fell where it joins the Mississippi record crests and relentless pressure from millions of gallons of water still threatened communities throughout the Mississippi and Ohio river valleys .  Vicksburg , Mississippi , could see water levels rise 4 feet by Sunday . Authorities told residents of Caruthersville , Missouri , that sandbags may not be enough to control the water .  Corina Jolley , of Sikeston , Missouri , said she grew up in Dorena , Missouri , which she said was being inundated by the breach on the Mississippi River .  A tombstone rests above the remains of her father and uncle , but "" I ' m sure we ' ll never see it again , "" said Jolley , who said residents of the rich farmland will be out of luck , as opposed to those in Cairo , for whom the risk has been lessened by the breaches .  "" Whoever thought it would be this bad ? "" she said .  The situation was especially perilous for a 93 year old woman who was caught in the swollen waters of the Black River near Poplar Bluff , Missouri , where two members of the Missouri National Guard rescued her from a partially submerged car .  "" We weren ' t there to be heroes , "" said Sgt . Tim Bridges . "" We were just doing our jobs . "" Bridges , along with Spc . Junior Bombard , waded through the rushing , muddy waters to ferry the woman to safety .  This "" is the reason why I signed up for the Guard , "" said Spc . Junior Bombard .  The town of Cairo remained under a mandatory evacuation despite the intentional breach , while six other communities were under voluntary evacuation notices , said Patti Thompson , spokeswoman for the Illinois Emergency Management Agency .  "" We ' re definitely not out of the woods yet , "" she said . "" The levees are all very saturated right now and they ' re going to continue to have a lot of pressure on them for several days . ""  Even with the levee breach , the National Weather Service continues to predict record or near record flooding in parts of southern Illinois , southwest Indiana , western Kentucky and Tennessee , southeastern Missouri , northeastern Arkansas , and parts of Mississippi and Louisiana .  Maj . Gen . Michael Walsh , commander of the Corps ' Mississippi River Valley Division , made the decision to order the breach . He warned that without punching a hole in the levee , massive flooding would threaten to inundate communities throughout the Mississippi and Ohio river valleys .  "" There ' s a tremendous amount of pressure on the system , "" he told reporters Tuesday evening . "" The project operated as designed . ""  It was a controversial decision . Missouri officials took the Corps to court over the plan , questioning the agency ' s authority to intentionally breach the levee . The state argued the floodwater would deposit silt on the estimated 130 , 000 acres , and years , along with millions of dollars , would be required to fix the damage .  The U . S . Supreme Court declined to intervene in the case on Sunday , clearing the way for Walsh to blow the levee .  Some Missouri residents were angered by the decision , saying it would destroy their communities and provide questionable benefit . But others felt the decision was for the best .  "" Yeah , we lost . . . acres of farm land here in Missouri , "" said Sikeston , Missouri , resident Patricia Mobely , who recently fled the drought and firestorms of Texas for what she thought would be a more peaceful life in the Midwest . "" But how much more would we have lost if we hadn ' t done it ? ""  "" The sacrifice that these people are making is for the greater good , "" Jim Pogue with the Army Corps of Engineers told  . "" Their sacrifices are going to benefit hundreds of thousands of people all through this region . It ' s not just Cairo . It ' s people all through this part of the country . ""  Walsh called the decision to inundate the farmland and about 100 homes "" heart wrenching . ""  "" I ' ve been involved with flooding for 10 years and it takes a long time to recover from something like this , "" he said .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
15623,15624,"Centre had no inkling of looming economic problems : Modi  Reforms for what ? Is it just to increase the  growth or bring about a transformation in ? the society . We must reform to transform . Secondly , reforms for whom ? To impress a group of experts or reforms that help all citizens to achieve better life . It is basically Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas , the Prime Minister said while elaborating on the financial , institutional , structural and governance reforms undertaken by the Government .  This is the first time that the event has been inaugurated by Prime Minister since the conclave started in 2010 . The theme of the conclave this year is Realising India s  ( Jan Dhan , Aadhar , Mobile ) Vision .  Modi said that the government is working towards ensuring maximum value , empowerment and technological penetration among masses through  trinity .   for me is Just Achieving Maximum ? maximum value , maximum empowerment to people and maximum technological penetration among masses , the Prime Minister said .  Emphasising that reforms are not for better headlines in pink papers , it is for better life for people , the Prime Minister said that the government aims to empower the poor , as empowering the poor is far more effective than empowering poverty alleviating industry .  Further , highlighting achievements of the  government , Modi said that by the Jan Dhan initiative , the government has brought 119 million people in the banking system .  These accounts have almost Rs 26 , 000 crore or 4 billion . Indian banks have been encourage for mobile ATMs . today 36 per cent debit card are RuPay cards . India has tremendous entrepreneur energy and this needs to be harnessed so that we become a nation of job creators rather than seekers , the Prime Minister said .  Under the  scheme , he said that in this most employment intensive sector , banks have provided more than six million loans of Rs 38 , 000 crore or 6 billion to the small business units so far .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
15639,15640,"Join investing to your saving behaviour and see how your money takes a boom  Hillary Clinton ties or trails Republicans in new poll  With less than a month to go before the first nominating contests in the  presidential race , Donald Trump and Ted Cruz lead the Republican pack , while Hillary Clinton has a commanding lead among the Democrats .  With less than a month to go before the first nominating contests in the  presidential race , Donald Trump and Ted Cruz lead the Republican pack , while Hillary Clinton has a commanding lead among the Democrats .  But in hypothetical head to head matchups , Clinton currently ties or trails the Republicans in each of the possible 2016 matchups tested , according to a new Fox News poll .  Real estate mogul and reality  star Trump tops Clinton by three points ( 47 44 percent ) and former Florida governor Jeb Bush ties at 44 percent each .  But Senators Marco Rubio ( 50 41 percent ) and Ted Cruz ( 50 43 percent ) perform best against the presumptive Democratic nominee . Rubio has a nine point advantage and Cruz is up by seven .  Among Republican primary voters , Trump leads with 35 percent . Next is Cruz with 20 percent support . Rubio is third at 13 percent , while retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson is at 10 percent and Bush gets four percent .  Last month , it was Trump 39 percent , Cruz 18 percent , Rubio 11 percent , and Carson 9 percent .  On the Democratic side , former secretary of state Clinton commands 54 percent support for the nomination among Democratic primary voters , far outperforming Vermont senator Bernie Sanders at 39 percent . Former Maryland governor Martin O ' Malley gets 3 percent .  While most Democratic primary voters are satisfied with their candidate choices ( 62 percent ) , many wish they had other options ( 38 percent ) including 42 percent of Sanders supporters , and even 33 percent of Clinton supporters .  If the two current front runners were to prevail as their respective party ' s nominees , voters would watch both with a high degree of suspicion : 62 percent say Clinton is not honest and trustworthy , and 55 percent think the same of Trump .  Democratic primary voters want the next president to be someone "" who knows how to get things done in Washington "" ( 70 percent ) rather than someone "" who is ready to shake things up in Washington "" ( 28 percent ) .  Views among Republican primary voters are more divided : 51 percent get things done vs . 45 percent shake things up .  Trump accused former president Bill Clinton of having a "" terrible record of women abuse . "" Trump claimed that nobody has more respect for women than he does .  Eighty five percent of Democrats think Clinton is more respectful , while 68 percent of Republicans say Trump is including 66 percent of Republican women .  Among independents , 41 percent say Clinton , 34 percent say Trump and another 20 percent think there ' s no difference .  Overall , voters are twice as likely to say Bill Clinton ' s sex scandals have done more to hurt Hillary ' s political career : 46 percent say hurt vs . 21 percent help . Another 29 percent say they haven ' t made a difference .  Men and women are about equally likely to say the scandals have done more to hurt than help .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
15643,15644,"England The killer of "" Harry Potter "" actor Rob Knox has been given four life sentences and told he will be behind bars for at least 20 years .  The parents of Robert Knox read a statement outside the Old Bailey after Karl Bishop was found guilty of his murder .  A judge at the Old Bailey court in central London sentenced 22 year old Karl Bishop on Thursday , the day after he was convicted of the attack on Rob Knox and four of his friends in southeast London last May .  Bishop stabbed them 10 times in less than two minutes , the court heard .  Knox , 18 , had rushed out of the bar after he heard that Bishop had threatened his younger brother Jamie but he ended up being stabbed five times , once in a main artery . He died in hospital later that night .  The judge , Mr Justice Bean , told Bishop : "" You are at present a highly dangerous man , "" the Press Association reported .  "" There is plainly a very significant risk to the public of serious harm caused by your committing further offences of violence .  "" Because you had threatened his younger brother , Rob Knox was among those who tried to disarm you . He paid for his bravery with his life .  "" The truth is that you simply could not care less whether you killed him or not . When you learned that you had killed Rob your only response was to say ' Yeah , sweet . ' ""  Days before the attack , the actor had finished filming on "" Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince , "" due for international release in July , in which he played the role of Marcus Belby . He was set to reprise the part in future "" Harry Potter "" films .  Knox ' s father Colin told mourners at his funeral , including co star Rupert Grint , that his son had been "" living the dream , ""  said .  The Knox family left the court without commenting , but earlier Rob ' s mother Sally said of Bishop : "" Once he ' s got his sentence and he ' s gone , I will not waste my time thinking about him .  "" I just think maybe somebody like him may have some kind of disturbed mind , which may not be due to the life he ' s had , it just may be something in him . ""  Knife crime in Britain is a political hot topic due to a spate of recent killings of mainly young people in major cities .  Prime Minister Gordon Brown has urged tougher sentences for those caught carrying knives . He told the Daily Telegraph last month : "" By carrying a knife you are not only endangering the lives of others , but you are more likely to be killed , or end up in jail .  "" We need to change the way young people think about knives , we need families and communities working together . . . to get this message across and help stamp out knife crime and get weapons off our streets . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
15650,15651,"The leaders of Sudan and South Sudan met Sunday in Ethiopia , attempting to resolve under international pressure issues arising from the latter nation ' s independence just over a year ago .  The creation of South Sudan stemmed from a referendum , agreed to by leaders in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum , in which people in the southern part of the landlocked African nation voted for independence .  South Sudan formally became a new nation in July 2011 , though significant issues with Sudan remain . Chief among them are the demarcation of the border between them , the possible creation of a demilitarized zone and the transportation and processing of oil from South Sudan , which got around 70 of the formerly united country ' s reserves when it became independent .  On Sunday , top officials from the two countries , including South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit and Sudan President Omar al Bashir , met at the Sheraton Hotel in Addis Ababa in an attempt to bridge these differences .  More on Sudan : Wanted president visits Egypt  Speaking from Ethiopia , Sudanese official Badreldin Abdalla said there had been "" progress "" in the talks , which were broken into different "" clusters "" reflecting the specific issues being discussed .  "" They are going to have very substantive meetings to finalize the negotiations , "" Abdalla said .  At the United Nations headquarters in New York , Sudan ' s ambassador to the U . N . , Dafalla Al Haj Yousif , likewise pointed to what he described as "" good progress in all the issues discussed between the two parties . ""  Members of the delegations plan to talk with officials in their respective capitals , then to meet again soon to ideally move even closer to a final resolution , he said .  His South Sudanese counterpart at the United Nations , Francis Nazario , said his nation is committed to reaching an agreement in accordance with a U . N . resolution "" and the African Union roadmap "" which lays out details for a possible final deal , including setting up a demilitarized zone along the two countries ' border .  But Nazario said Sudan was not on board , at least yet .  "" The Republic of South Sudan is concerned that the Sudan negotiating team has not accepted the African Union road map for the purpose of setting up the demilitarized zone , "" he said .  U . S . Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice called Sudan ' s refusal to "" accept . . . the map "" was "" an issue of utmost concern . "" She said the international community is prepared to act to spur the countries to reach a resolution .  "" Our aim is not to propose sanctions , "" Rice said . "" Our purpose is to spur the parties to meet their obligations and to create a foundation for lasting peace . ""  Peter Wittig , Germany ' s U . N . ambassador and the current president of the U . N . Security Council , noted the governments have failed to reach a peace deal in the past but said they cannot afford to let the disagreements linger .  "" Council members shared the view that the suffering of the people . . . requires that both sides act with a sense of urgency , and both parties should not allow technicalities to stand in the way , "" said Wittig .  "" There ' s a great awareness that there ' s not much time left . ""  More on South Sudan : Supermodel ' s homecoming  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
15658,15659,"A 25 year old former math teacher who had sexual contact with two students at a Tacoma high school has been sentenced to six months in jail .  The News Tribune reports that former Lincoln High School teacher Meredith Powell cried and apologized Friday in court .  Pierce County Superior Court Judge Frank Cuthbertson says he believes Powell is remorseful , which is why he suspended all but six months of a five year sentence and ordered her into a sex offender program open to first time offenders .  Prison time : Meredith Powell , 25 , was arrested in February after students came forward accusing her of sending inappropriate texts and engaging in sexual activity  She pleaded guilty to two counts of third degree child rape and one count of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes , all felonies .  Powell cried after her sentencing and told the court she prays every day for the two teenage boys and is heartbroken at the suffering she has caused the boys and their families , reports the News Tribune .  ' I feel like words can ' t even express how sorry I am , ' Powell said . ' I wish I could take back what happened to the students that I failed . Sorry doesn ' t take away anything that happened , but I hope they can move forward with as little impact as possible . '  She told the court that a series of problems , including molestation in her own youth , contributed to her behavior .  The judge , Frank Cuthbertson , said sentencing was difficult because Powell ' s behavior was ' out of character . '  ' This is difficult , this is different , this is not what we usually see , ' the judge told Powell . ' Everything suggests this is out of character for you . But again , you need to understand the severe impact that this has had not just on the victims but on their families . '  The families of the victims were upset by the short jail sentence .  One stormed out and several others cursed .  The attorney for Tacoma Public Schools , Shannon McMinimee , said the district was also disappointed by Powell ' s sentence .  ' Ms . Powell repeatedly talked about letting her students down , ' she said after the hearing . ' The reality is she committed child rape . '  Misconduct : She will serve six months of a five year suspended sentence for engaging in sex acts with two teenage boys  Inappropriate : Powell told police the relationships began when she was intoxicated and sent a text to the students  Powell was arrested in February after being accused of having sexual contact with several students . She later admitted she ' d engaged in sex acts with two boys between the ages of 14 and 16 . Both were students at Lincoln High School .  She told police she had performed sex acts with multiple students , one as young as 15 years old , inside her locked classroom , as well as sending them sexualized pictures of herself .  She resigned and surrendered her teaching certificate shortly after her arrest .  The Lincoln High School teacher from Tacoma , Washington , admitted two counts of rape of a child in the third degree and one count of communication with a minor for immoral purposes in July .  Tacoma Schools representatives said they were grateful she finally admitted to her wrongdoing that ultimately affected students and her colleagues .  Tacoma Schools General Counsel Shannon McMinimee said : ' Ms Powell was well liked by staff and students and they were devastated that she had violated the trust that they had placed with her . '  Powell ' s attorney Wayne Fricke told King5weblink his client has shown remorse over what happened .  ' She was going through a difficult time in her personal life and obviously made a lot of bad choices , regrettable choices , ' said Fricke .  A fourth count of sexual misconduct of a minor was dismissed . She was held without bail until her sentencing on Friday .  Tacoma police initially began investigating Powell after learning that she wrote a letter to one of the boy ' s girlfriends apologizing for ' promiscuous ' and ' unprofessional ' drunken text messages she exchanged with one of the boys .  Powell was arrested and placed on unpaid leave .  Police said Powell began a relationship with the two students who are between the ages of 15 and sixteen in January .  Powell told police the relationships began when she was intoxicated and sent a text to the students , saying they were ' hot ' , following back and forth communication .  Scene : Meredith Powell was accused of engaging in sex acts with students in her classroom here at Lincoln High School in Washington  Powell said she apologized to the students the next morning , and also sent a letter to one of the defendant ' s girlfriends in an attempt to explain what happened .  After interviewing the victims , who said they had sexual contact with Powell behind a lock door in her classroom , police again interviewed Powell .  She then admitted to engaging in a sex act with one of the students and other sex acts with another at different times in late January .  Powell also sent at least one of the victims a Snapchat photo of her in the bathtub .  She told police she knew her actions were wrong , and that she would apologize to the student ' s parents if she could .  Powell was hired by the Tacoma Public School district in September 2012 and was described as an excellent teacher and family oriented .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
15660,15661,"Email   No wonder Bill went elsewhere to fulfill his “sexual addiction,” as Dolly referred to it. After all, what else can you do when you’re married to a stinky woman who doesn’t shower and isn’t attracted to men anyways? Although an affair is never justified, it’s easy to sympathize with Bill on this one. But, I digress.  The bigger point here is what the two are willing to do in order to remain in power. Most people know that you can’t trust Hillary as far as you can throw her – which isn’t very far – so the fact that she has any supporters is beyond baffling at this point. This woman is corrupt and fake to the core. Let’s just hope all of America wakes up to this reality before it’s too late and she can do any more damage than she already has.  Bill and Hillary Clinton just can’t stay out of the spotlight these days, and the most recent leak about them could be the most damaging yet. As it turns out, someone once close to the duo just came forward to share Bill’s revealing nickname for his wife — but the worse comes as their dirty bedroom habits were exposed.  It’s no mystery that Bill Clinton is a sexual deviant, but the most recent account given by the woman who had a 3-decade affair with the man is damning, to say the least. According to an exclusive interview given to Mail Online, Dolly Kyle was behind the scene’s long enough to not only know the two’s darkest secrets but even their dirty sexual habits – and now, she’s telling everyone.  The connection between Dolly and Bill began when she was just 11-years-old. He was about 13-years-old at the time, but Dolly states that there was an immediate attraction, even then. As the years progressed, the two became romantically involved and stayed that way through several of their marriages over the next 30 years.  The real affair began in 1974 just after Dolly divorced her first husband, and although Bill wasn’t married yet, he would be within the year. Although she was never interested in sharing the intimate details of the relationship, she states that she snapped when she heard Hillary recently say that all sexual assault victims have the “right to be believed.”  Knowing full well just what Hillary had done – between the threats and the lies – to the many women who either had an affair with or were sexually assaulted by her husband Bill, Dolly knew she had to do something about it. Unfortunately for Hillary, Dolly is now coming forward with the dirty 2-word nickname Bill husband once called Hillary, among other things.  According to Mail Online, Bill approached Dolly at their high school’s 35-year reunion to talk about “ the warden” – a.k.a. Hillary. Saying he was unhappy with his life and marriage, this was the least significant account Dolly had to share.  In fact, Dolly recalls that Bill mentioned something about having a baby to her. Although she thought he was saying he wanted to have one with her, he was actually talking about Hillary. He wanted to put to bed the rumors that Hillary was a lesbian, even though everyone in their hometown already knew it to be true.  Dolly states that the worst came when she met Hillary for the first time. “In that moment I noticed that the woman emitted an overpowering [body] odor of perspiration and greasy hair. I hoped that I wouldn’t gag when she got in my car,” she said. “The sandal-shod woman with lank, smelly hair stood off to the side and glared at everyone.”  No wonder Bill went elsewhere to fulfill his “sexual addiction,” as Dolly referred to it. After all, what else can you do when you’re married to a stinky woman who doesn’t shower and isn’t attracted to men anyways? Although an affair is never justified, it’s easy to sympathize with Bill on this one. But, I digress.  The bigger point here is what the two are willing to do in order to remain in power. Most people know that you can’t trust Hillary as far as you can throw her – which isn’t very far – so the fact that she has any supporters is beyond baffling at this point. This woman is corrupt and fake to the core. Let’s just hope all of America wakes up to this reality before it’s too late and she can do any more damage than she already has.",fake,news,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
15664,15665,"Conservative activist organization FreedomWorks released a statement expressing support for the Freedom Caucus’s opposition to Speaker Ryan’s “ ” bill. [FreedomWorks issued their statement in the wake of the Freedom Caucus’s press conference with Senators Rand Paul ( ) and Mike Lee ( ) opposing the speaker’s plan to repeal and replace Obamacare.  Jason Pye, director of public policy and legislative affairs for FreedomWorks, said: We support Rep. Jim Jordan and the Freedom Caucus’s decision to introduce repeal only legislation that passed last term. I’m proud of the members who still plan to keep their campaign promises. Unfortunately, some of them were committing fraud against the American people, voting for repeal when they knew Obama wouldn’t sign it. Now they’re supporting a different variety of Obamacare. FreedomWorks is an influential conservative grassroots organization that helped elect many conservative lawmakers. FreedomWorks’ opposition to the current “ ” package might put the bill in jeopardy. Congressmen Jim Jordan ( ) and Mark Meadows ( ) oppose Speaker Ryan’s Obamacare repeal package. Senators Lee and Paul’s opposition to the bill might endanger its chances of passing through the U. S. Senate. Jason Pye said that Republicans should embrace a   solution. “Republicans are supposed to believe in free markets,” he noted. “Obamacare lite does not fit with Republican legislators’ promises, professed principles, or platform. ”",fake,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
15687,15688,"Hillary Clinton texts thousands of supporters during the Republican debate  Hillary Clinton ' s campaign moved up a gear on Wednesday night when she started directly texting Americans with her reactions to the Republican debate  U . S . Secretary of State Hillary Clinton checks her  upon departure in a military C 17 plane from Malta bound for Tripoli , back in October 2011 . ? Photo :    Getty  The previous Republican debate she spent trolling her rivals , mocking them for their policies and suggestions . But for this Republican debate she went one better .  omg texts from Hillary are here ! text  to 47246 pic . twitterweblink mcxuU9zkFO  Hillary Clinton on Wednesday night sent text messages to thousands of followers across the country , sharing her thoughts on the debate in real time . And it was noted that the texts only mentioned one candidate by name : front runner , Ben Carson .  Former Secretary of State and Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton appears before the House Select Committee on Benghazi , on Capitol Hill in Washington  ? Photo :   Text  to 47246 to get live texts from Hillary during the GOPDebate ! pic . twitterweblink eMl4lCpNSP  In an impressive use of technology and a sign of the power and money of her campaign dozens of texts were sent in a first for her White House bid .  HillaryClinton has made better points through text messages than all these people on  ! RisePOTUS Hillary2016 pic . twitterweblink j881jTKhFs  All texts written by Mrs Clinton herself were signed "" H "" .  Over here getting texts from my girl Hillary . She ' s LOLing about this debate . Hillary2016 pic . twitterweblink SUvtdvzmAz  Mrs Clinton ' s campaign is one of the best funded of all presidential candidates .  In addition to her own personal fortune estimated at 100 million between her and her husband she has the backing of a vast , well oiled political machinery with cash totalling 75 million , by September 1 .  It means that , from her New York campaign headquarters , she has the resources to deploy teams of social media campaigners .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
15689,15690,"The United States , Russia and more than a dozen other nations have directed the  to begin a new diplomatic process with Syria ' s government and opposition with the goal of reaching a nationwide ceasefire and political transition .   Secretary of State John Kerry made the announcement at a joint news conference with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov and the  envoy to Syria , Staffan de Mistura .  Mr Kerry made no declarations about the future of Syrian president Bashar al Assad . Russia and Iran back Assad , but the  and its allies want him ousted .  Mr Kerry said the  led process should lead to a new constitution for Syria and internationally supervised elections .  The talks in Vienna came as a barrage of missiles slammed into a crowded suburb of the Syrian capital , killing at least 45 people .  The attack in the Damascus suburb of Douma was a stark reminder of the enormous civilian suffering inside Syria while negotiations take place .  There were conflicting reports about the attack in Douma . The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Co ordination Committees said government forces fired more than 11 missiles at a market . The Observatory said the attack killed 57 people , while the  said at least 40 died .  It was also announced yesterday that the  is to send dozens of special forces soldiers to Syria in the first sustained commitment of  troops on the ground there in the fight against Islamic State .  They will be deployed to northern Syria , where they will "" advise and assist "" Kurdish and Arab forces .  President Obama approved the move yesterday .  special forces have been deployed in Syria before on one off , secretive missions but this will be the first time they have been permanently stationed inside the country .  It marks a significant escalation , which the White House said was "" consistent with the strategy to intensify the battle against Isil "" .  The special forces will work with the Syrian Arab Coalition along the Syrian border , including helping to co ordinate air strikes .  They are not expected to be fighting on the front lines and will provide "" training , assistance and advice "" in the same way  troops are already doing to anti Islamic State forces in Iraq .  A  official said there was "" no intention of engaging in long term , large scale combat operations "" in Syria .  Last week saw the first death of an American serviceman in action in Iraq since 2011 .  Master Sergeant Joshua Wheeler died in a firefight as  special operations soldiers and Kurdish forces freed 70 hostages from an Isil prison near Hawija .  The number of special forces being deployed in Syria will be "" fewer than 50 "" , according to a  official .  In Washington , Mac Thornberry , the chairman of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee , said that an intensified  effort to combat Islamic State militants in Syria was "" long overdue . ""  However , Mr Thornberry , a Republican , said he still sees a lack of what he termed a "" coherent "" strategy from the administration of Democratic President Obama .  "" I do not see a strategy for success rather , it seems the administration is trying to avoid a disaster , while the president runs out the clock , "" he said .  The talks in Vienna had brought together 17 countries with starkly different views of Syria ' s conflict . Mr Kerry , sat alongside Sergei Lavrov , the Russian foreign minister , at the head of the negotiating table . But the countries represented in Vienna are as yet divided over the future of President Assad . The Arab powers , along with America and the West , believe that Assad ' s departure is the essential condition for peace in Syria Russia and Iran , meanwhile , insist that he must stay , at least for a transitional period .  How long such a transition would last and how an election might be held at the end of it will be key issues for the talks in Vienna .  As he arrived in Austria ' s capital , Philip Hammond , the British Foreign Secretary , played down expectations , describing the conference as an "" exploratory discussion "" .  He added : "" We ' re gathered here this morning to see if there is any scope for bridging the gap we know exists between the Russian Iranian position on the one hand and the position of most of the rest of the countries represented on the other . ""  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
15693,15694,"Rob Gronkowski gets into the end zone for a touchdown with Tyvon Branch on defense in the third quarter of New England Patriots game against the Kansas City Chiefs in the  Divisional playoffs at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro on Saturday , January 16 , 2016 .  Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith manages to escape from the clutches of New England Patriots defensive end Chandler Jones and Jerod Mayo in the third quarter of New England Patriots game against the Kansas City Chiefs in the  Divisional playoffs at Gillette Stadium .  New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman goes up and over tight end Rob Gronkowski and a couple of Chiefs in the third quarter of New England Patriots game against the Kansas City Chiefs in the  Divisional playoffs at Gillette Stadium .  Ron Parker takes down wide receiver 80 Danny Amendola in the second quarter of the New England Patriots game against the Kansas City Chiefs in the  Divisional playoffs at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro .  New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman gets sent to the air over Kansas City Chiefs strong safety Ron Parker and free safety Eric Berry in the third quarter of the  Divisional Playoff game at Gillette Stadium .  Julian Edelman makes a catch in the third quarter with 21 Sean Smith on defense in the third quarter of the  Divisional Playoff game at Gillette Stadium .  Wide receiver 80 Danny Amendola hits cornerback 30 Jamell Fleming during the second quarter of the  Divisional Playoff game at Gillette Stadium .  New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski holds up the ball after his touchdown getting knocked down by Kansas City Chiefs defensive back Tyvon Branch during the third quarter of the  Divisional Playoff at Gillette Stadium .  New England Patriots defensive tackle Alan Branch screams out in celebration after stopping the Chiefs during the fourth quarter of the  Divisional Playoff at Gillette Stadium .  Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid and New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick meet up after the  Divisional Playoff at Gillette Stadium on January 16 , 2016 .  Tight end 87 Rob Gronkowski gets congratulations from teammates including 95 Chandler Jones and 88 Scott Chandler after his touchdown during the third quarter of the  Divisional Playoff against the Kansas City Chiefs at Gillette Stadium .  Tom Brady keeps an eye on the end zone as he gets tripped up by 39 Husain Abdullah while running the ball in the second quarter of the  Divisional Playoff against the Kansas City Chiefs at Gillette Stadium on January 16 , 2016 .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
15701,15702,"Disgraced former New York congressman Anthony Weiner will plead guilty to charges that he sent obscene material to a    girl, The New York Times has reported. [Weiner, 52, will enter a guilty plea with the U. S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan on a single charge of sending explicit material to a minor. The girl alleged that he sent her nude photos, shared pornographic videos with her, discussed his “rape fantasies,” and requested that she undress and masturbate during video calls.  The crime carries a sentence of up to 10 years in jail, although it is likely that the sentence will mean Weiner becomes a registered sex offender, although a final determination is yet to be made. Throughout his political career, Weiner, who is married to close Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin, has been embroiled in a number of sexting scandals. The first, exposed in 2011 by the late Andrew Breitbart and dubbed ‘Weinergate,’ led to his resignation from Congress and the issuing of a public apology. Then, in 2013, while running as a candidate for mayor of New York, more photos were published of Weiner sexting another woman under the alias ‘Carlos Danger.’ Despite the revelation, Weiner did not pull out the race and eventually finished fifth with just 4. 9 percent of the vote. Last October, Weiner checked into a sex addiction facility to overcome his urges, although he was reportedly forced to leave early having run out of money to pay for it. Now, Huma Abedin, who last year revealed she was separating from Weiner, is reportedly “working hard” to save the couple’s marriage. According to sources close to the New York Post, Abedin remains “in love” with Weiner, blaming the “pressures of the campaign and presidential race and him drifting off into obscurity” for his latest relapse. You can follow Ben Kew on Facebook, on Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at bkew@breitbart.com",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
15706,15707,"Devoted fans reacted with shock today as it was revealed that the body of Michael Jackson has gone missing .  Emotions ranged from utter disbelief to hopeful optimism as the news spread through cyberspace like a grease fire through a Popeye ' s Chicken franchise .  "" He has arisen ! "" exclaimed one young fan sporting one sequined glove and a poorly sized codpiece . "" It is the ultimate proof that he ' s the Messiah afterall , "" he professed as he moonwalked across the street in celebration .  Unfortunately , it was against the light and he was slightly outside the crosswalk when he was struck by a cross town bus . "" Hell , I thought he was walking the other way , "" the bus driver later confessed .  Others were more cautious . . . and reasonable . . . suspecting that Jackson ' s body was actually stolen . One investigative journalist professes to have uncovered a trail leading all the way to a remote location in Wyoming . According to unnamed sources , Jackson ' s body was spirited away in the dead of night to a renown taxidermist in Wyoming specializing in exotic animals . In a grainy , barely audible video file sent anonymously to the  Times , a man can be observed examining what appears to be a body , pausing to ask , "" So . . . you want me to fix the face while I ' m at it ? ""  Subsequent conversation identified the taxidermist as one Boudreaux Phipps , a specialist in the preservation of large game . Poking the body with the toe of his boot , Boudreaux asked , "" What in  this thing ? I ' ve stuffed a lot of animals in my day . . . hell , I even preserved a Sasquatch last year . . . but I ain ' t never seen nothing like this ! Damn , it ' s ugly ! "" Investigators questioned Mr Phipps a few hours later , but came away with few leads , dismissing him as , "" just a hostile old coot who does good taxidermy . ""  Speculation as to who might want the body of Michael Jackson preserved ranged all the way from Joe Jackson to  . "" Bubbles the Chimp obviously has inside information , but so far , he ' s not talking , "" said a spokesman for the investigation . But , according to one source , whom prefers to remain unidentified , "" Joe Jackson plans to open Neverland as an amusement park and put Michael ' s body on display at the entrance . He wants to put some animatronics in his limbs so he can moonwalk and grab his crotch on the hour . The man ' s a  ! Except for the tiny fact he doesn ' t own Neverland . . . ""  Meanwhile ,  released a statement denying the allegations , saying only , "" We already own the soul of Michael Jackson , so we ' re done with the body . "" With regard to Michael Jackson reportedly returning the Beatles collection to Paul McCartney ,  issued  statement that said simply , "" Nuh Uh ! We own the other 50 of that , too , thank you very much ! ""  P . S . ""     ! ""  Sir Paul McCartney had no comment to either of the  statements other than to say , "" Man , that ' s harsh ! "" Paul did say , however , that he holds no ill will towards Michael for outbidding him for the Beatles collection in the first place . "" Sure , it ' s my music and sure I ' m worth over 4 billion dollars and I ' m debt free and a freaking knight ! But , life is too short to hold a grudge , yesiree ! "" McCartney ' s voice went shrill . But , Sir Paul is not above suspicion in the mysterious disappearance of Jackson ' s body . Showing off a new addition to his house dedicated to the late Michael Jackson , Paul was asked how he ' d like to remember the King of Pop . Paul smirked wickedly , pointed to a lit pedestal next to a skeletal display and remarked , "" Right there , next the bones of the Elephant Man . ""  ",satire,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
15752,15753,"Manchester City defender Vincent Kompany provided a decent reply when Arsenal supporter Piers Morgan offered him a sports cars and money to swap the north west for north London this week . ' These days I play for glory , ' said the Belgian .  As quick witted as it was acerbic , Kompany ' s Tweet made his point . The landscape has shifted in English football over the last five years . You no longer sign for Arsenal if you want to win the Barclays Premier League any time soon .  Even the ever optimistic Kompany will find little glory in his own team ' s predicament at the moment , however , as the City captain does his best to steady a defence currently looking as vulnerable as at any time since Arab money eased his club on to an upwards trajectory six years ago .  Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany failed to deal with the threat of two goal hero Seydou Doumbia  Belgium international Kompany , pictured with  Moscow ' s Alan Dzagoev , struggled against the Russians  Manuel Pellegrini ' s side have not been at their best during this season ' s Champions League campaign  Kompany reflected on his side ' s performance shortly after the final whistle  Football is cyclical , of course . Few things at the really top clubs last forever and City have too many good players in their squad for their current struggles to last . Having said that , they are currently showing few signs of digging themselves out of a defensive slump that threatens to undermine their whole season .  Manchester City have tried to pair Vincent Kompany with a number of centre backs during his time at the club but have had little success .  The likes of Kolo Toure , Joleon Lescott and Stefan Savic have all been given a chance to hold down a starting berth alongside Kompany but have all since moved on to pastures new .  Eliaquim Mangala , who sealed a 32million move to the Etihad during the summer transfer window , had expected to bolster City ' s defensive options but is yet to impress .  There are other issues currently afflicting this City team . Too many of their marquee players are lacking form . They miss a reliable third striker after the departure of Alvaro Negredo on the back of his wife ' s homesickness in the summer .  Nevertheless , the sickness that currently drags them down is undoubtedly their work without the ball , their defending . Even the best attacking teams need a platform on which to work and at the moment City just don ' t have one .  City were as poor as they have been for many years on Wednesday night in that area of the field and there would appear to be a self belief issue .  Confidence that intangible sporting elixir can hide a multitude of sins . Equally , when it leaves you it can turn very good players in to shadows of themselves .  Look , for example , at the two first half goals conceded by Pellgrini ' s team here .  Kompany looked dejected after his side loss 2 1 against Champions League opponents  Moscow  The Manchester City defender was not happy with the performance of referee Tasos Sidiropoulos  Martin Demichelis , pictured , and Eliaquim Mangala have taken it in turns to partner Kompany  The first a free header from a free kick was the type of goal Sunday League defenders would go to the pub and fret about . The second , meanwhile , began with a botched clearance from Gael Clichy and ended with a run from  forward Seydou Doumbia that was just too well timed for the City left back ' s malfunctioning colleagues to do anything about .  There were other horror moments , too .  Between his two goals , Doumbia raced clear on Joe Hart with far too much ease . On that occasion he was let down by a poor first touch and a shot pulled across goal and wide .  Then , shortly after  ' s second goal the talented  midfielder Bebras Natcho turned away from Yaya Toure so effortlessly that it was embarrassing . Luckily for City , he couldn ' t supplement that act with a pass of similar quality .  Let ' s not be too hard on Toure . The City midfielder has had a tough week and scored a sublime free kick equaliser early in the piece . His subsequent sending off as deserved as it was was simply born of frustration .  Former Porto defender Mangala has failed to live up to his 32million price tag  Piers Morgan took to Twitter on Tuesday to ask Kompany if he would join his beloved Arsenal  Morgan then joked he had withdrawn his offer after the Manchester City star ' s performance against   City lost their discipline here . Despite their numerical disadvantage , they could have chased this game down . They had enough quality left on the field . There is a distinct lack of joy about this team at the moment , though , and , it must be said , their manager is showing few signs of finding answers .  We have all watched this group of players often enough over the recent months and years to know what they are really capable of . They can be a pretty fearsome , destructive force . At the moment , though , they look vulnerable and fretful and it is surprising .  Certainly across the back it would help if Pellegrini could field a settled back four and in particular a regular central partnership . Injuries to summer signing Eliaquim Mangala back on the bench against  Moscow and Aleksandar Kolarov have deprived him of that option , though , and for now he must muddle on .  The Champions League looks beyond City already . If things don ' t improve soon , the Premier League will follow suit by the time the Christmas trees go up .   Pellegrini defends City ' s discipline  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
15754,15755,"A PRO-    REINS: Boeing announces $300M employee-related and charitable investment as a result of TaxReform legislation to support our heroes, our homes and our future:#Boeing announces $300M employee-related and charitable investment as a result of #TaxReform legislation to support our heroes, our homes and our future. pic.twitter.com/ZNawbAW7AY  The Boeing Company (@Boeing) December 20, 2017At&T Announces:.@ announces that ""AT&T plans to increase  capital spending $1B and provide $1,000 special bonuses to more than 200,000  employee"" as a result of the Republican tax reform bill. weblink pic.twitter.com/JTrdfBOoLx   Business (@FoxBusiness) December 20, 2017AT&T's full statement: ""With Tax Reform, AT&T Plans to Increase U.S. Capital Spending $1 Billion and Provide $1,000 Special Bonus to more than 200,000 U.S. Employees"" pic.twitter.com/Mjttx3D1gI  Ryan Saavedra   (@RealSaavedra) December 20, 2017MAGA!Together, we are    AGAIN! pic.twitter.com/47k9i4p3J2  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 20, 2017",fake,dataset,validation,American football,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present
15758,15759,""" It ' s been seven years , and a lot has changed , "" Hillary Clinton said Sunday in her first visit to Iowa since the state dealt her presidential campaign a devastating body blow .  But there was a moment in the afternoon when it seemed like not much had .  Roughly 200 credentialed media were gathered in a far corner of the Indianola Balloon Field , the grassy expanse where Sen . Tom Harkin was convening his 37th and final Steak Fry , an annual fundraiser that doubles as a point of entry for ambitious Democrats curious about the Iowa caucuses .  After a 90 minute wait , the press scrum scribblers and photographers alike were herded like cattle through a series of gates and escorted up to a hot smoking grill , waiting to capture the same image : a staged shot of Bill and Hillary Clinton , fresh out of their motorcade , ritualistically flipping steaks with Harkin .  Hillary Clinton stumps for Iowa Democrats , and herself  The Clintons ignored the half hearted shouted questions from reporters "" Mr President , do you eat meat ? "" with practiced ease . They were two football fields away from the nearest voter . Mechanical , distant , heavy handed : The afternoon spectacle felt a lot like Hillary ' s 2008 caucus campaign , a succession of errors that crumbled under the weight of a feuding top heavy staff and the candidate ' s inability to connect with her party ' s grassroots .  And then the head fake and something different .  After a few minutes , the Clintons walked into a nearby barn , out of view . Most of the media swarm gave up and hustled back to the main event , where nearly 7 , 000 Democrats were eating red meat and waiting patiently in the sunshine to hear from two of the most famous people in the world .  A few dozen press were still milling about when the duo re emerged . "" There she is ! "" a television reporter screamed , clamoring for her cameraman .  An early moment of engagement  There she was . Bill , too , walking along a fence and gabbing with a small army of political reporters , a chore that has never come easy for Hillary Clinton , and one she has assiduously avoided since leaving the State Department .  It ' s hardly a shock that the voluble ex President handled a rope line full of reporters with gusto . But the willingness of the more reticent Hillary Clinton to thrust herself into the gaping maw of the hungry press dragon signaled , perhaps , that she and her aides are eager for a fresh start in Iowa , and with the national media , if she runs for president once again . She kept both the state and the press at arm ' s length during her last campaign , with troublesome consequences .  On Sunday , though , she gave it a go an early moment of engagement with the media and voters that revealed an understanding of past mistakes , but also the difficult road ahead if she takes the 2016 plunge .  "" Good to see you ! "" she told the assembled press , surely a half truth . "" My goodness ! You guys having a good time ? Good . We ' re having a good time today . ""  Strutting back and forth , Clinton declared that it was "" fabulous to be back "" in the state . "" I love Iowa , "" she said , smiling as if she were in on a joke . She entertained and swatted away a bombardment of questions , mostly of the unremarkable "" will you run ? "" variety .  "" Does this whet your appetite for another campaign ? "" asked one reporter .  "" We ' re here to help Democrats , "" Clinton responded , offering requisite praise for Iowa ' s Democratic candidates , Senate hopeful Bruce Braley , gubernatorial challenger Jack Hatch and congressional candidate Staci Appel .  This long awaited interaction , so craved by the access starved political press , was short lived . Never quite at ease in these situations , Clinton milled about for five minutes or so , keeping a few feet between herself and the press , before walking back into the secure barn .  The other Clinton now he likes to talk  Bill Clinton , meanwhile , was having at it , holding court with reporters for a good 20 minutes much of it with  host Ed Schultz while his wife , the presumed candidate in waiting , was nowhere in sight .  Bill sidled up with Harkin and held forth with the press on all manner of topics : the ' 92 campaign , the prospect of being a grandparent , the scourge of outside money in political campaigns , the Arkansas and Georgia governor ' s races , a recent visit to Atlanta .  After their futile yelps of "" Last question ! "" and "" We gotta go "" were ignored over and over again , aides finally dragged the former President away .  Then it was time to meet the voters .  Hillary Clinton ' s speech to the sun drenched crowd , more workmanlike than impassioned , was littered with Iowa pleasantries and nods to the last campaign , including her opening line : "" Hello Iowa ! I ' m back ! "" She lavished praise on Harkin and , after a warm up that included nods to her time as Secretary of State and her "" constant grandchild watch , "" urged the audience to get behind Iowa ' s slate of Democratic candidates .  Her biggest applause lines were about women ' s issues equal pay and abortion rights a departure from the 2008 race in which she avoided focusing on her gender and the history making nature of candidacy .  The crowd was firmly in her corner , thanks in large part to the super  "" Ready For Hillary , "" which plastered every nook and cranny of the rural setting with ""  "" signs and bused in an army of volunteers to collect email addresses and phone numbers from arriving Democrats .  Bill Clinton laughingly called the young organizers "" Energizer bunnies . ""  Leading in the polls , but . . .  She leads the early polls here by a wide margin , but there is still fault to be found with Clinton among Iowa Democrats .  Conversations reveal that some of them skew more liberal than Clinton on economic and foreign policy issues . Others want a fresh face and see the 66 year old Clinton as an avatar of the past . And there are those who just say they ' d like to see a competitive race , for the sake of "" the process , "" even if Clinton ultimately wins the nomination .  Maryland Gov . Martin O ' Malley has been welcomed warmly during his three visits to the state this year . Sen . Bernie Sanders , a Vermont socialist threatening to seek the nomination , also drew respectable crowds during a trip here timed to coincide with the Clinton show .  Vice President Joe Biden will be in Des Moines later this week .  Supporters of progressive Massachusetts Sen . Elizabeth Warren , who promises not to run , ran a booth near the entrance and distributed several hundred T shirts and bumper stickers .  Brenda Brink drove down from Ames and decked herself out in "" Ready 4 Warren "" gear , availing herself to any reporter willing to listen .  "" Hillary is fine , she has done her duty , but she doesn ' t inspire me anymore , "" she said . "" She is aligned with the banking industry . But , you know , the Democratic Party is behind her . "" Despite her lament , Brink said she ' d received many a thumbs up during the day .  ' This time , she will make history '  The fields of Indianola , however , were firmly Clinton turf on Sunday .  "" She was wonderful , "" Sue LaPlante , a certified nursing assistant from Des Moines , said after the speech . "" If she runs , she will be the next president . ""  "" Hillary was a good candidate last time , but sometimes it ' s what fate throws at you , and Barack Obama was making history , "" said Irene Hardisty , a 61 year old mortgage finance specialist from Des Moines . "" This time she will make history . ""  Everyone here operative , activist , politician , reporter has a theory about why Clinton finished third in Iowa in 2008 . And there are no shortages of bright ideas about how she can perform better in 2016 . But there is universal agreement from rank and file Democrats that Clinton has to "" touch and feel "" Iowans , listen to them , talk one on one and get outside the security and media bubble that surrounds her everywhere she goes .  She gave that a go , too , working the rope line after her speech for half an hour in the baking sun , signing copies of "" Hard Choices , "" awkwardly posing for selfies and saying thank you to the many people demanding she run for president .  It wasn ' t a perfect show .  At times , as her Secret Service detail and her aide Huma Abedin escorted her along the crowd , she looked like she ' d rather be elsewhere . She ignored questions from not so friendly crowd members who wanted her to comment on the President ' s immigration policy , recovery funds for Superstorm Sandy or the Israeli Palestinian conflict . Then it was back to the motorcade .  But she put in the effort and got her first real taste of what ' s to come if she decides to do this campaign thing all over again .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
15762,15763,"People lay flowers at the school Wednesday .  "" Suddenly there were police standing in front of me and told us to run outside quickly , "" Luisa Santonastaso , 16 , said . "" At first we didn ' t know what to do . So first we went to the class and picked up some of our classmates and ran out .  "" The guy just entered the classroom and started shooting and a friend of mine was panicking so much that she jumped out of a window . I think she broke her arm . She ' s in hospital now . ""  Santonastaso ' s friend was not the only one who jumped , she said .  Dressed in military gear , the gunman identified by police as Tim Kretschmer , 17 killed a total of 15 people in two different towns before he died . Watch more about the shootings  Initial indications are that he shot himself , but police are continuing to investigate , said Erwin Hetger , the regional chief of police .  The rampage in Winnenden , a small town about 20 kilometers ( 12 miles ) northeast of Stuttgart , and spread to neighboring Wendlingen .  As people at Albertville Realschule Winnenden school where Kretschmer used to be a student realized what was happening , many burst into tears , Santonastaso said .  "" Everybody was crying because nobody could really imagine what had just happened . They brought us to the swimming pool hall in Winnenden for security reasons , "" she said .  "" Then all our parents were called because no child was allowed to leave without parents , "" she continued .  At least one parent got awful news when she arrived .  "" One mother came and the teachers had to tell her that her child had been injured or shot dead , and then she cried really hard and fainted , "" Santonastaso said . iReportweblink : Town in shock over shooting  Santonastaso ' s own parents were more fortunate .  "" When I first called to tell them what had happened they wanted to come right away , but I told them that wasn ' t possible because we were being brought to somewhere safe , "" she said . Later , she said : "" My parents and my friend came and we went out with them . Out there it got a bit better . ""  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past
15799,15800,"A woman who caused a horror car crash which killed a four year old ' s parents and left him orphaned was jailed for a year earlier today .  Debra Weston , 41 , admitted losing control of her green Land Rover Discovery and smashing into a family ' s Ford Focus .  Stephen Durber , 30 , and his wife Samantha 27 , who were travelling in the back of the Ford with their son Lucas , died at the scene .  Debra Weston , left , was jailed for a year today after pleading guilty to causing the deaths of Stephen Durber and his wife Samantha in a crash in August 2013 . Mr Durber ' s brother David , right , said justice has been done  Stephen Durber , left , and his wife Samantha , right were killed in the crash and Lucas , centre , was badly hurt  The youngster survived with two broken legs and a head injury .  Witnesses described seeing Weston ' s Discovery swerve towards the wrong side of the road before ' fishtailing ' as she tried to regain control of it .  She suffered a broken ankle and her teenage son who was a passenger suffered a broken leg .  Weston , of Nottingham , pleaded guilty to two counts of causing death by careless driving after the crash on the A47 near Sacrewell Farm , Cambridgeshire , on August 25 2013 .  She was jailed for 12 months and disqualified from driving for three years at Peterborough Crown Court .  Judge Sean Enright said : ' It is clear that Stephen and Samantha were a happy and hard working couple known for their sound principals and sense of fun .  ' They were good parents . Nothing that I can say can capture the essence of this couple and the tragic and enduring loss to their family and son .  ' I hope that no member of the family will hear the sentence I pass today and say well is that the value that society places on our loved ones ?  ' Because it is not . This defendant has pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving not dangerous driving and I am required to consider and apply case law and guidance sanctioned by law .  ' In particular I need to balance the culpability of the defendant , which is low , and the tragic consequences which resulted . '  Stephen ' s brother David Durber who lived near the Peterborough couple , said : ' We believe justice has been served . '  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
15811,15812,"Macmillan Publishing has decided to do "" A Little Something Different "" by crowd sourcing and letting readers pick some of the books it will publish .  The publisher ' s aptly titled Swoon Reads imprint targets readers in the market for a good young adult romance .  Fans of young adult fiction are a passionate community and they know what they like . Jean Feiwel , a veteran of children ' s publishing known for her work with popular series like "" The Baby Sitter ' s Club "" and "" Goosebumps , "" was eager to find a new way to hear what readers want .  After witnessing the success of self published authors like Colleen Hoover and Abbi Glines , Feiwel realized that much of the talent being surfaced by readers wasn ' t reaching her or other publishers through agents . She wanted to establish a direct way for readers and writers to connect with Macmillan and fill the gap .  Two years ago , she put out a call for Macmillan employees to attend a lunch meeting about how Macmillan could find these teen romance stories . Soon , the book version of "" American Idol "" was born , built by volunteers within the company who had a passion for young adult fiction . The Swoon Reads site launched in September 2013 .  Unpublished writers submitted their manuscripts and users read and voted on their favorite stories , using comments and a Swoon index measuring the emotions the stories triggered . Out of the reader favorites , Swoon Read ' s team of editors would award publishing contracts to a few writers each season . Feiwel ' s goal is six books a year from Swoon , selected from the voting pool for spring summer , fall and winter .  While Swoon Reads is focused only on romantic young adult fiction , Macmillan Children ' s Publishing Group President Jon Yaged believes the crowd sourcing model could work for other genres like sci fi , mystery and romance anything with a "" rabid reader base that is engaged and eager to share their opinions . ""  The first book published was Sandy Hall ' s "" A Little Something Different "" in August .  Hall , a librarian who specializes in books for teens , saw Feiwel talking about Swoon and its quest for fresh manuscripts in an interview . As a librarian , Hall had a good idea of what teens were looking for and not finding . One student expressed a desire to read about two characters with parallel lives who can ' t seem to meet .  Hall wondered what the familiar trope might look like if told from multiple perspectives of people who witness the two characters ' missed connections . After a couple of weeks of planning , Hall wrote the story in six days and submitted it to Swoon in November 2013 .  "" I don ' t think I ' ll ever have that kind of magic again , "" she said .  Hall started seeing feedback soon after posting the story and she became obsessed with checking the comments and ranking .  "" There is something to be said about constructive criticism from strangers , because they aren ' t worried about ending the friendship , "" Hall said . "" And what ' s great about Swoon is when a story starts to gain traction , the whole community takes notice . ""  On a snowy day in February , Hall found out she had been awarded a publishing contract . Feiwel said that Hall ' s story connected with Swoon readers and the editorial staff because of its quirky points of view and refreshing lightness .  Hall and other Swoon writers have formed a debut author support group , sharing advice , asking questions and exchanging laughs over email and social media . The group will continue to grow as Swoon publishes more writers .  It ' s exactly the kind of community Feiwel envisioned for Swoon .  "" Writers who are new to writing can get a nurturing community , so that they learn how to write and they are benefiting from being on the site whether they get published or not , "" Feiwel said . "" People are commenting on their work in a constructive way and helping them . ""  Feiwel and her team post writing advice on the Swoon blog to mentor and encourage users on the art of crafting stories . They also want to "" pull back the curtain "" on the publishing industry for writers .  Swoon Reads has hired Lauren Scobell , former consumer marketing director at Nickelodeon , as its director . This enables Feiwel to focus on her imprint , Feiwel and Friends , as well as think more creatively about opportunities for Swoon . In this venture , the publishing industry is learning , too .  "" When we go to edit the books that we ' ve chosen , we gather the reader comments and many times they say things that we haven ' t thought of , "" Feiwel said .  "" They ' re choosing book covers we wouldn ' t have chosen . We are really cultivating a community of writers and readers and we ' re grateful to the readers they ' re doing a lot of the commenting , a lot of the work and expanding the definition of what we know appeals to people . ""  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
15817,15818,"Donald Trump has once again used images of non-American military in a campaign appeal. This time the former reality  star used images of Communist soldiers in a web ad advertising his support of veteran s issues.The men were clearly Communists, as the detail on their medals read  CCCP,  the Russian initials for    The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.Interesting choice for a photo of veterans in this @realDonaldTrump video: weblink pic.twitter.com/PiagKGTP8H  Josh Perry (@MrJoshPerry) January 22, 2016After he was called out for posting the Communist soldiers as Americans, the Trump campaign pulled the video. But here it is.The incident is not the first time Team Trump has tried to pass off foreign soldiers as Americans. In July, Trump tweeted out a photo of himself embedded on the American flag with a photo of soldiers. The problem is, that photo was a picture of German Nazi soldiers. As in the photo of the Communist soldiers, a cursory glance at the picture would have revealed the  eagle logo on the side of their uniforms.As he often has done during the campaign, Trump blamed the photo on a  young intern  and pulled the picture.It was the same excuse he used on Friday when he re-posted a complimentary Twitter image from an account called  White Genocide,  who turned out to be a Trump supporter who also is a backer of the white supremacist movement.Trump s campaign is a cult of personality, built of toadies who appear to have risen in the ranks based on how much they suck up to the former reality  star. Actual competence doesn t seem to matter at all. Even more damning, it doesn t seem to matter to Republican voters, who appear quite fine with giving their support to Trump, even as he can t show the basic respect that is due to members of the U.S. armed services.But then again, that seems to be the mindset of most of the Republican establishment, so perhaps it shouldn t be so surprising or jarring.Featured image via Flickr",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
15830,15831,"University Of Iowa Triggered By Flyers Opposing Anti-White Propaganda University Of Iowa Triggered By Flyers Opposing Anti-White Propaganda By By Reinhard Wolff | redice.tv  Tired of anti-White propaganda in college? If so, you must be a terribly hateful human being. Funny how that works, isn’t it?  Notice how these flyers were said to “target the Latino, Native American, African American and  communities” – despite neglecting to mention them.  The message is clear: The very existence of unapologetic White people is an affront to these anti-White degenerates.  Props to whoever did this.",fake,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present
15849,15850,"abstains from  vote calling for end to Cuban embargo  abstains from  vote calling for end to Cuban embargo By 0 94  The  government abstained from the  vote on a resolution calling for an end to the  economic embargo against Cuba, for the first time in 24 years.  The 193-member General Assembly adopted the resolution with 191 votes in favor on Wednesday. The only other abstention, besides the US, was Israel. The vote is non-binding but it can have political weight.  Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez described the abstention as a “positive step for the future of improving relations between the United States and Cuba,” according to Reuters.  Rodriguez said in September that the embargo cost Cuba $4.6 billion last year, and the full damage over the length of the 50-year embargo was estimated at $125.9 billion.  When it was first announced that the  government would abstain from the vote, the entire General Assembly applauded.  “Abstaining on this resolution does not mean that the United States agrees with all of the policies and practices of the Cuban government. We do not,” Samantha Power the  Ambassador to the United Nations told the General Assembly on Tuesday.  “We are profoundly concerned by the serious human rights violations that the Cuban government continues to commit with impunity against its own people,” she said, according to AP.  The Obama administration began normalizing relations with the Communist-run country in at the end of 2014, easing trade and travel restrictions. On July 20, 2015, diplomatic relations were restored, and embassies in the two countries were reopened.  Lifting the full embargo will take the support of the Republican-run Congress, which remains critical of the administration’s efforts, arguing it offered too many concessions to Cuba and accepted little in return, especially on human rights and the restoration of expropriated property.  Obama made the first visit to Havana by a  president in 88 years in March.  Via  . This piece was reprinted by  Alternative News with permission or license.",fake,news,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
15873,15874,"The belief that a good night ' s sleep boosts memory has been shown in countless tests .  But up until now , direct evidence has been lacking on how exactly sleep strengthens the brains ' neural connections .  Now researchers in New York have , for the first time , provided clear physical evidence that sleep fortifies learning .  A new study has revealed that sleep after learning strengthens connections between brain cells and enhances memory . The finding adds to evidence that a lack of shut eye causes rogue proteins to build up in the eye increasing the risk for Alzheimer ' s disease  The finding adds to research that a lack of shut eye causes rogue proteins to build up in the eye , increasing the risk for Alzheimer ' s disease .  Using a microscope , scientists looked inside the brains of mice to see what happened when they were either asleep , or sleep deprived , after being trained to walk on top of a rotating rod for the first time .  They found learning led to the formation of new dendritic spines tiny structures that project from the end of nerve cells and help pass electric signals from one neuron to another but only in the mice left to sleep .  The study , published in Science , provides the first physical evidence of how sleep helps to consolidate and strengthen new memories .  Brain cells that spark as we digest new information during waking hours , replay during deep sleep . The study reveals hows learning and sleep cause changes in the motor cortex area of the brain ( shown in orange ) a region responsible for voluntary movements  It revealed learning and sleep cause changes in the motor cortex area of the brain , a region responsible for voluntary movements .  Professor Wen Biao Gan , of New York University , said : ' We have known for a long time sleep plays an important role in learning and memory . If you do not sleep well you will not learn well .  ' Here we have shown how sleep helps neurons form very specific connections on dendritic branches that may facilitate long term memory .  ' We also show how different types of learning form synapses on different branches of the same neurons , suggesting that learning causes very specific structural changes in the brain . '  On the cellular level , sleep is anything but restful .  Brain cells that spark as we digest new information during waking hours replay during deep sleep , also known as slow wave sleep .  This is when brain waves slow down and rapid eye movement , as well as dreaming , stops .  Scientists found learning led to the formation of new dendritic spines tiny structures that project from the end of nerve cells and help pass electric signals from one neuron to another . These structures are crucial for improving memory  Bosses should allow staff to take naps at work to boost productivity and creativity , a leading academic has suggested .  Vincent Walsh , professor of human brain research at University College London , also proposed they should be allowed to set their own work times , arriving whenever they want .  We have become obsessed with sleeping only during the night and fail to appreciate the benefits of an afternoon siesta , he told Cheltenham Science Festival .  ' It ' s best to give your brain downtime . I have a nap every afternoon , ' he said .  ' It ' s only since the industrial revolution we have been obsessed with squeezing all our sleep into the night rather than having one or two sleeps through the day . '  The professor said a nap of between 30 and 90 minutes in the afternoon could help companies improve productivity . ' If we want people to be more creative we need people to be able to do less , ' he said .  ' Companies should allow naps in the afternoon . They should get rid of the habit of clocking in and clocking out .  ' Let people come in when they want . If they want to work through the night , let them . '  Scientists have long believed this nocturnal replay helps us form and recall new memories , yet the structural changes underpinning this process have remained poorly understood .  So Dr Gan and colleagues used mice genetically engineered to express a fluorescent protein in neurons to find out exactly what is going on .  A laser scanning microscope illuminated the glowing fluorescent proteins in the motor cortex , allowing the scientists to track and image the growth of dendritic spines before and after the mice learned to balance on a spin rod .  Dr Gan said : ' It is like learning to ride a bike . Once you learn it , you never forget . '  The researchers trained one set of mice to sleep for seven hours and another to stay awake for the same period of time , after both groups practised for 60 minutes .  The mice lacking in sleep experienced significantly less dendritic spine growth than the well rested ones .  Furthermore , the type of task learned determined which dendritic branches spines would grow .  Running forward on the spinning rod , for instance , produced spine growth on different dendritic branches than running backward on it , suggesting learning specific tasks causes specific structural changes in the brain .  Dr Gan said : ' Now we know when we learn something new , a neuron will grow new connections on a specific branch .  ' Imagine a tree that grows leaves on one branch but not another branch . When we learn something new , it is like we are sprouting leaves on a specific branch . '  Finally , the scientists showed that brain cells in the motor cortex that activate when mice learn a task reactivate during slow wave deep sleep . Disrupting this process , they found , prevents dendritic spine growth .  Their findings offer an important insight into the functional role of neuronal replay , the process by which the sleeping brain rehearses tasks learned during the day observed in the motor cortex .  Dr Gan : ' Our data suggest neuronal reactivation during sleep is quite important for growing specific connections within the motor cortex . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
15878,15879,"Economic experts have said it would be impossible to institute single payer relying solely on tax hikes on the wealthy . Sanders camp has argued in response that in the long run , single payer will save the country trillions of currently wasted dollars and would save families money on health insurance costs .  Republicans are thrilled that Clinton s criticisms closely hew to their own critiques of government run health care and create an opening for a topic they d love to dwell on ? her own history on health policy . Clinton s 1993 health plan in many ways was for more prescriptive and complicated than the 2010 Affordable Care Act , which Republicans have depicted as a government takeover of health care and a slippery slope to single payer .  It s ironic that Clinton would attack anyone on single payer when 20 years ago she proposed , not exactly single payer , but something more radical than Obamacare , which was then defeated in a Democratic Congress , said veteran Republican strategist Charlie Black . If I were Sanders , I think I would know how to respond .  Longtime conservative health care analyst Stuart Butler said he appreciated Clinton s efforts to put a price tag on Sanders plan . The Brookings Institution scholar noted that Vermont , Sanders home state and the only one to seriously pursue single payer , abandoned the effort in December 2014 after its Democratic governor decided it would be too costly . The plan would have required a new 11 . 5 percent payroll tax on Vermont businesses and up to a 9 . 5 percent premium tax on individuals .  Single payer is always attractive in the abstract , as it was in the state of Vermont , but when people see the actual costs of it , they drop it , Butler said .  Clinton didn t push single payer during her own effort to extend health coverage during her husband s administration , but advocates who met with her at the time said she was respectful of the idea , while noting its challenging politics .  She is a very smart woman , I doubt she has forgotten , said Steffie Woolhandler , a prominent single payer advocate who met with Clinton in 1994 and called her recent attacks on the plan incredibly disingenuous . Woolhandler said Clinton told her during their 1994 meeting , I get it that single payer would work for everyone and be affordable , but it is not politically feasible .  The Clintons own health plan also politically imploded that year .  As she pushed for its approval , Clinton had warned groups that opposing their plan would spur a tide of populist support for single payer .  I think the momentum for a single payer system will sweep the country , Clinton told Lehman Brothers Health Corp . So for those who think that building on the existing public private system with an employer mandate is radical , I think they are extremely short sighted .  Barack Obama , during the debate over his own reform effort that would become known as Obamacare , ruled out the idea of single payer , saying it would be too disruptive to the existing employer based coverage system . Instead , he pushed for tighter regulation of insurers , combined with expanding Medicaid and subsidizing coverage for millions of Americans .  I recognize that there are lot of people who are passionate ? they look at France or some of these other systems and they say , well , why can ' t we just do that ? Obama said during a July 2009 online town hall . Well , the answer is , is that this is one sixth of our economy , and we ' re not suddenly just going to completely upend the system .  Obamacare ultimately gave Democrats a near universal health care plan ? albeit one filled with compromises that maintain the private insurance system and that still leaves about 30 million people uninsured .  But liberals have long held onto single payer as an aspirational goal ? it s why retired Rep . John Dingell ( D Mich . ) , who helped shaped Obamacare , introduced a single payer bill in Congress every year for more than half a century .  Former Republican House leadership aide John Feehery attributed Clinton s new attacks to a growing sense of desperation as Sanders extends his lead in New Hampshire and closes the gap in Iowa . It seems to me that if you re attacking Bernie for single payer system , you re not really going for the liberal crowd , he said . The other possibility is that she panicking and throwing the kitchen sink at Bernie and trying to hit him with anything she can .  The Clinton campaign said it is focused on defending the coverage gains made under Obamacare , while assuring voters that she absolutely respects single payer supporters .  Our task now is to defend the Affordable Care Act from Republicans , who are persistently voting to repeal it ? as we saw very recently ? and to build on it , said Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon on a press call Wednesday .  Long time health care advocates , who ve battled for decades to expand coverage , are trying to offer Clinton cover on this fight .  I think that it comes more from a strongly held view that a single payer is just not achievable , said Ron Pollack , founding executive director of Families  , a health care advocacy group closely aligned with the White House . She may be thinking : Let s make sure that we don t lose key advances such as extending overage because we are pushing something that is impossible from a political standpoint .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,satire,true,True,no,no,negative,past
15889,15890,"He may not have won a tournament in almost two years , but Tiger Woods can still be a major force in golf according to his new high profile sponsor .  Woods lost some major backers in the wake of the scandal about his marital infidelities , including Tag Heuer . But another high end watch maker , Rolex , has taken on the fallen former world No . 1 .  "" This association pays tribute to the exceptional nature of Tiger Woods and the leading role he plays in forging the sport ' s global appeal . ""  Rolex has a history of linking with golfing greats , including 18 time major champion Jack Nicklaus , Arnold Palmer and Gary Player .  It is the second backing for Woods ' commercial value in two days , with influential business magazine Forbes keeping the 14 time major winner at the top of its "" most valuable athlete "" standings with a brand worth of 55 million . It cited his June deal with Japanese medical group Kowa as evidence that he was far from a spent force .  Woods dropped out of the world ' s top 50 this week ahead of the  Tour ' s fall season Frysweblink Open a minor tournament that he has never played before .  He has not stepped out for an official event since the  Championship in August , but will make his ninth start of an injury plagued season as he warms up for the Presidents Cup in Australia next month having been given a wild card place by U . S . team captain Fred Couples .  "" I ' m excited to be back . I ' ve had good practice sessions at home and am eager to get back under the gun , "" Woods said ahead of the California tournament .  Woods ' website said he shot a course record 10 under par 62 last Saturday at his new home course in Jupiter , Florida the Greg Norman designed Medalist Club .  He will play the opening rounds at CordeValle Golf Club , near San Jose , with 2010 British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa and U . S . amateur Patrick Cantlay on Thursday and Friday .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
15898,15899,"It cannot be denied that African Americans have made tremendous progress and one of the most significant factors that contributed to black success and survival has been our faith in God .  The manifestation of that faith is the religious community , which consists mostly of Christian churches that have produced positive spiritual , social , economic and political results for black America .  The question is whether black churches can continue to be the instruments of empowerment that they historically have been . Perhaps an understanding of the emergence and prominence of the African American church will offer some insight to the potential that these churches still possess .  Eighty seven percent of African Americans report they are affiliated with a particular religious group , and 95 percent of those claim to be Christians , according to the 2007 U . S . Religious Landscape Study conducted by the Pew Research Center .  Belief in God , regular prayer , worship attendance and belief in life after death are some of the core beliefs of a large majority of African Americans . Although the expressions of faith and religious practices might differ , religious faith itself is a constant in black America .  The African American religious experience is a result of a convergence of African culture , biblical hermeneutic and social resistance , woven into institutions .  The common threads among the culturally diverse African slaves in North America were communal living , extended families , cultural leadership and a deeply rooted appreciation for spirituality .  Enslaved Africans were exposed to the literature of the Christian Bible , and they found comfort and direction in the same book that was used to justify their enslavement . Slaves met the indignities and injustices that denied them their humanity with the same resistance that humans throughout history have shown oppression .  Religion in general and Christianity in particular became an answer to the mysteries of the cosmos and a way to cope : Only a belief in an unseen power and a faith in a divine advocate could sustain a people who faced such daunting circumstances .  When the highest court in the land relegates one ' s race to subhuman status as a matter of law which the Supreme Court did in the Dred Scott decision of 1857 people need a source of authenticity for their identity . That source for African Americans was the God of the Bible , who had sent Moses to lead the slaves out of slavery and who had sent his son to preach "" good news to the poor and set the captives free . ""  But that cultural background within Christianity translated into an ecclesiology that not only nurtured the development of the black churches , but also conferred upon black clergy a status that has been akin to royalty .  Although the role of professional clergy in the Protestant church at large was viewed as a vocation , African Americans tended to treat their clergy as more than just employees of the church they were royal tribal leaders for the community . So the separation between the sacred and the secular , the religious and the political , has not been as distinct among African Americans . The clergy had to be advocates for justice , arbiters of internal disputes within the community and managers of sacramental affairs , all in one .  And the churches themselves had to be more than places to learn about and worship God . In a segregated society , church was the place where people fulfilled their human potential , developed their God given talents , made corporate decisions , voted for their officers , owned property , created benevolent societies , raised money for schools and scholarships , celebrated their marriages , blessed their babies , mourned their loved ones ' deaths and even learned how to read .  When states passed laws making it illegal to teach black people to read , many learned in church . Even people with little faith had great respect and admiration for the church , if for no other reason than it was a "" surrogate world "" for black people , as E . Franklin Frazier noted in his book , "" The Negro Church in America , "" in 1963 .  The worship styles , doctrinal distinctions and organizational structures are so diverse that it is really a misnomer to refer to "" the "" black church . Many black churches make up the black religious experience . What is irrefutable is that without a deep and authentic faith and a passion for the institutional development of that faith , African Americans could have never sustained the fortitude necessary to survive and succeed in the American experience .  The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the Rev . DeForest Soaries , Jr .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
15951,15952,"Evan Silva analyzes the Wild Card Matchups and discusses  strategies for this weekend ' s playoff ?  The game total on Chiefs Texans is 40 points with visiting Kansas City favored by 3 . 5 . The Chiefs ' team total is below 22 . . . . As Houston finished the season No . 7 in Football Outsiders ' pass defense  but 13th versus the run , Texans  Romeo Crennel ' s unit is technically more vulnerable on the ground . After appearing to pull ahead of Spencer Ware in Week 16 , Charcandrick West finished the finale against Oakland with a 54 snap rate to Ware ' s 46 and 14 touches to Ware ' s 16 . A second half lead contributed to Ware ' s clock killing usage bump , but he was also more effective ( 16 76 1 ) on the ground than West ( 13 34 ) and remains the favorite for goal line work . West and Ware are best viewed as timeshare backs in what ' s still a sub par matchup . West offers superior big play ability Ware is the better bet for a short score . . . . Houston played shutdown pass defense in the second half of 2015 , holding the following signal callers to weekly fantasy finishes in parentheses : Andy Dalton ( QB24 ) , Drew Brees ( QB19 ) , Tom Brady ( QB13 ) , Blake Bortles ( QB31 ) . The Texans did allow top 12 weeks to Tyrod Taylor ( QB7 ) and Ryan Fitzpatrick ( QB12 ) , however , and they have in common movement ability in and outside the pocket . As does Alex Smith , who ranked fourth among quarterbacks in rushing yards ( 498 ) this season . My expectations remain capped , but Smith ' s scrambling helps his floor as a  punt . I also think his top two pass catchers could be quality plays , which puts me onto Smith a bit .  Smith ' s targets over the last four weeks : Jeremy Maclin 30 Travis Kelce 22 Albert Wilson 20 West , Jason Avant , Demetrius Harris 5 Chris Conley 3 . . . . In playoff  , Maclin is a top shelf receiver play who may go overlooked with more traffic on Antonio Brown , DeAndre Hopkins , A . J . Green , Doug Baldwin , and perhaps even James Jones . The Texans have solid corners in  Johnathan Joseph , slot  Kareem Jackson , and impressive rookie  Kevin Johnson , but they are not immune to allowing wideout production . Allen Robinson went 5 108 at Houston last week , Harry Douglas caught six passes against the Texans the week prior , Donte Moncrief managed 5 51 1 on Houston in Week 15 , Danny Amendola had six catches against them in Week 14 , and Sammy Watkins dropped 3 109 1 on Crennel ' s defense in Week 13 . Seeing more slot usage recently , Maclin could end up running a ton of routes at Jackson while Wilson and Conley work against Joseph and Johnson outside . I think this game lays out well for the Chiefs to aggressively feed Maclin high percentage catches , setting up an attempt at a shot play or two . . . . Kelce figures to be one of the most popular tight ends on the board , particularly among fantasy owners who recall his Week 1 line ( 6 106 2 ) against these same Texans . Houston ended the regular season ranked as the ninth toughest defense versus tight ends in Football Outsiders '  and allowed the ninth fewest receptions to the position . On paper , this is not a favorable matchup . Kelce , of course , has shown the ability to overcome that before .  As 3 . 5 point home dogs versus Kansas City , the Texans ' point total is a tick above 18 points . Only the Vikings have a lower team total in the Wild Card Round . . . . Houston ' s biggest offensive concern is the year ending loss of All Pro  Duane Brown ( torn quad ) combined with the return of Chiefs  Justin Houston from a knee injury that shelved last year ' s  sack leader for the last six games . In response , the Texans ' most sensible approach would be a short passing game designed to get the ball out of Brian Hoyer ' s hands quickly , feeding the Texans ' playmakers and mitigating Kansas City ' s pass rush . While this might bode well for the box score outlook of DeAndre Hopkins , I ' m skeptical Hoyer will put together an efficient game . The Chiefs ' pass defense has been even stingier than Houston ' s , ranking fifth in  after stymieing Matthew Stafford ( QB23 ) , Philip Rivers twice ( QB28 , QB27 ) , and Derek Carr twice ( QB18 , QB23 ) from Week 8 on . Without Brown to protect his blind side , I think there ' s a fair chance Hoyer simply looks overwhelmed in this game . . . . The Chiefs have also played tough run defense , ranking 11th in  and holding opposing running backs to 248 yards and one touchdown on 68 carries ( 3 . 65  ) in the last month . A sustained rushing attack seems unlikely for the Texans , who leaned on grinder back Alfred Blue as a workhorse down the stretch , with committee partners Chris Polk , Jonathan Grimes , and Akeem Hunt taking backseats . If Houston does resort to a high volume passing game , passing down specialist Grimes could conceivably end up leading the unit in touches . Grimes was second in the rotation behind Blue in Weeks 16 and 17 .  Hoyer ' s targets in his Week 17 return from a concussion : DeAndre Hopkins 12 Jaelen Strong 7 Grimes 5 Hunt , Ryan Griffin , Keith Mumphery , Nate Washington , and C . J . Fiedorowicz 3 Polk and Blue 1 . . . . Hopkins will run most of his routes at Chiefs  Sean Smith and rookie  Marcus Peters , who finished 19th and 47th , respectively , in Pro Football Focus ' coverage grades among 118 qualified cornerbacks . Although Smith and Peters form a strong tandem , neither is individually shutdown caliber . With Washington nursing a hip injury and Cecil Shorts battling back from a multi week hamstring strain , only Antonio Brown has a higher target projection than Hopkins among Wild Card receivers . . . . Shorts hasn ' t caught a ball in nearly a month and has topped three catches in a game once since Week 6 . Only in play if Washington sits , Shorts would be a WR3 flex punt with limited upside against steady Chiefs slot corner Ron Parker . . . . Should Washington miss this game , late blooming rookie Strong is the preferred Texans complementary receiver . Strong closed out 2015 with snap rates of 71 and 80 accompanied by target totals of 5 and 7 . The fact that Strong ranked second on the Texans in targets ( 7 ) and receptions ( 6 ) in Hoyer ' s first game back after his concussion bodes well for their rapport . Strong recently earned coach Bill O ' Brien ' s praise for improved conditioning and knowledge of the playbook . Don ' t be surprised if Strong is a significant part of the offense . . . . If Washington does play , fading Houston ' s complementary pass catchers is probably the best approach .  Editor ' s Note : A RotoGrinders member ( and a casual daily fantasy  player at that ) took down the 100 , 000 grand prize in a large field  tournament by using the site ' s free Lineup Builder and Optimizer tool . Learn how he did it , plus pick up some Lineup Builder tips you can use in this weekend ' s Wild Card games .  With a 45 . 5 point total , Steelers Bengals is expected to be the highest scoring game on the Wild Card slate . These teams played to a 33 20 result in Week 14 as A . J . McCarron replaced Andy Dalton ( thumb surgery ) and went 22 of 32 passing for 280 yards , two touchdowns , and two interceptions . McCarron impressed with his pocket composure and efficient delivery down the stretch , but recorded scant fantasy results , posting weekly finishes of QB14 , QB27 , QB21 , and QB19 in the final month . McCarron hasn ' t been a good fantasy passer , the Bengals ' team total is barely above 21 points , and the matchup is mediocre against a Steelers pass defense that finished 2015 ranked 15th in Football Outsiders '  , despite sub par cornerback play . A pass heavy shootout is possible , but ultimately I ' m viewing McCarron is an unappealing fantasy option this week . . . . The Bengals ran Jeremy Hill 15 times in their first meeting with Pittsburgh , but just 7 times in the rematch . Giovani Bernard managed touch totals of 3 and 9 on snap rates of 49 and 64 against the Steelers . I ' d like to say space back Gio makes more sense as the Bengals ' primary runner versus Pittsburgh ' s stout front , but  Hue Jackson has stayed very committed to Hill in McCarron ' s three full games played , feeding Hill touch totals of 19 , 21 , and 18 compared to Bernard ' s 18 , 12 , and 7 . Bernard would offer big upside if we knew for sure he ' d be the feature back , but the roles will most likely be even in a difficult matchup .  McCarron ' s targets since he replaced Dalton : A . J . Green and Marvin Jones 25 Gio 16 Mohamed Sanu and Tyler Kroft 12 Hill 8 Tyler Eifert 4 . . . . Green ' s recent stats versus Pittsburgh ( 6 132 1 , 11 118 1 , 8 82 0 , 11 224 1 ) combined with the Steelers ' porous cornerback play give Green a strong Wild Card outlook , especially in a game where the Bengals are underdogs and may have to pass to move the chains . Football Outsiders has graded Pittsburgh as a bottom six defense in coverage of No . 1 receivers . . . . All the  traffic on Green will result in lowered ownership for Eifert versus a Pittsburgh defense that yielded the sixth most receptions ( 85 ) , 12th most yards ( 883 ) , and ninth most touchdowns ( 8 ) to tight ends this season . Fully healthy after late year brain and neck injuries , Eifert posted a 4 51 1 receiving line in Week 17 and will be all systems go . . . . Jones ' stat lines in McCarron ' s three full games are 4 89 0 , 3 33 0 , and 5 38 0 . Jones played two of them with Eifert inactive , and posted the 89 yard game against San Francisco with Green limited by a back injury . While Jones always offers playmaking potential , his complementary player usage renders Jones a weak fantasy bet , even in plus matchups .  As three point favorites in Cincinnati , Pittsburgh ' s Week 18 total is just above 24 points the highest team total of Wild Card Weekend . . . . With workhorse back DeAngelo Williams ( ankle ) not expected to play , a pass oriented game plan is a virtual certainty on the Steelers ' side . Ben Roethlisberger did struggle from a fantasy standpoint in his two 2015 meetings with the Bengals , posting finishes of QB22 in Week 8 and QB25 in Week 14 . Big Ben moved the offense consistently in the latter game , however , going 30 of 39 for 282 yards and narrowly missing a 24 yard score on which Martavis Bryant could ' ve done a better job positioning to reel in . The Steelers also took their foot off the gas after compiling a 23 7 third quarter lead that grew as big as 33 13 in the fourth frame . Cincinnati finished the year ranked top ten in Football Outsiders ' pass defense  and does not pose an attractive matchup , but for my money Roethlisberger is the best quarterback option on a challenging Wild Card slate . . . . Fitzgerald Toussaint replaced Williams as Pittsburgh ' s lead runner in last Sunday ' s win over Cleveland , logging 12 ineffective touches while dominating snaps after the Williams injury . No . 2 back Jordan Todman was a healthy scratch , but is expected to have some involvement this week . A short yardage option could be  Will Johnson . Toussaint went undrafted in 2014 after running 4 . 53 at 5 foot 9 , 205 at the Michigan Pro Day . He has three career receptions in the  and caught only 31 passes in four college seasons . In their final nine games , the Vontaze Burfict led Bengals held opposing running backs to 555 yards on 159 carries ( 3 . 49  ) . The fact that Toussaint figures to handle double digit touches in a good offense makes him dart throw worthy , but there are more reasons to dislike than like him .  Roethlisberger ' s targets over the last month : Antonio Brown 56 Martavis Bryant 29 Markus Wheaton 28 Heath Miller 25 Williams 16 Darrius Heyward Bey 6 . . . . Brown ' s history is solid not spectacular against Cincinnati relative to his usual production posting receiving lines of 7 87 0 , 6 47 1 , 7 128 1 , and 9 117 0 in four meetings since Paul Guenther took over as Bengals defensive coordinator . Brown still enters this game with target totals of 17 , 11 , 18 , and 10 over his last four games . Although the matchup is short of ideal against stingy  Pacman Jones , Brown is the strongest statistical wideout bet in the Wild Card Round . . . . Bryant ' s paper draw is fantastic versus burnable  Dre Kirkpatrick , but the Bengals held him to 49 scoreless yards in Week 14 , while Roethlisberger seems have to lost trust in Bryant , who dropped the fourth most passes ( 11 ) in the league and failed to perform in Weeks 16 and 17 while playing through nagging injuries . Big Ben ' s public airing of frustration with Bryant did sound like a motivational tactic , aggressively calling out an enormously talented but sometimes enigmatic player the Steelers need to make January noise , especially without DeAngelo . Bryant is a classic boom bust  play at Cincinnati . . . . Miller may be the sneakiest bet for a big game on Pittsburgh ' s side , particularly if you want to proactively bet against slumping Bryant . While Wheaton runs routes at savvy slot  Leon Hall , Miller will take on a Cincinnati defense that allowed the second most catches ( 100 ) and fourth most yards ( 1 , 007 ) in the league to tight ends in 2015 . Miller went 10 66 and 10 105 in these teams ' two regular season meetings .  At 39 . 5 points , the game total on Seahawks Vikings is the lowest of Week 18 . As five point road favorites , Seattle ' s team total is a hair above 22 points . . . . The biggest Wild Card Weekend storyline is the return of Marshawn Lynch from a seven week abdominal injury , which followed recurring calf and hamstring woes that cost Lynch two early season games and parts of others . It ' s fair to speculate Lynch ' s 29 year old body might ' ve refreshed during his time off , and that Lynch could return with "" fresh legs . "" After Lynch averaged 3 . 76 yards per carry and spent the majority of 2015 on the shelf , however , it ' s also fair to wonder if he simply may not have much left . Lynch ' s full week of "" full "" practices bodes well , however , while the Seahawks ' coaching staff has been adamant Lynch will return capable of handling a full workload . The matchup is slightly above average versus a Vikings run defense that ended 2015 ranked 18th in Football Outsiders '  . I ' m not quite comfortable projecting Lynch for over 18 touches , but I do expect him to play well in his opportunities . On a weak running back slate , Lynch is a top two  running back play this week . . . . Minnesota ' s defense held the Bears ' offense to 17 points in Week 15 , the Giants to 17 points in Week 16 , and the Packers to 13 points in Week 17 . With  Harrison Smith and  Anthony Barr back near 100 , and  Linval Joseph ( foot ) expected to return against Seattle , this is not remotely the same defense Russell Wilson shredded for 325 all purpose yards and four touchdowns in Week 13 . My guess is Seattle will score between 20 and 23 points in the rematch . I also wonder if Lynch ' s return could negatively impact the rhythm of Seattle ' s passing game , which finished as hot as any offense down the stretch . It should be noted that the Seahawks are a West Coast team playing in Minnesota at 1 : 05PM  on Sunday .  Wilson ' s targets in the final five weeks of the year : Doug Baldwin 39 Tyler Lockett 32 Jermaine Kearse 25 Cooper Helfet 19 Fred Jackson 18 Luke Willson 8 Chase Coffman 4 . . . . Baldwin is a top six wideout play on a receiver rich Wild Card slate , but there are reasons to believe Lockett might give Minnesota more problems . Whereas Baldwin will often match up with stingy Vikings slot corner Captain Munnerlyn , Lockett will get more work against 37 year old  Terence Newman . Baldwin ' s usage could also take a hit if Lynch is as healthy and ready for a big workload as Seahawks coaches insist , specifically in the red zone . The primary reason for Baldwin ' s late season surge was touchdown scoring . When Seattle and Minnesota played in Week 13 , Baldwin still emerged with a 5 94 2 receiving line and Lockett went 7 90 . While Baldwin remains the favorite to lead Seattle in Week 18 receptions , 4 . 4 flat speedster Lockett provides better odds of ripping off a big play or three . . . . Whereas Baldwin and Lockett both had big games in the Week 13 meeting , Kearse was the odd man out against fast finishing  Xavier Rhodes , goose egging on one target . Kearse is the weakest bet for box score production in Seattle ' s offense this week .  As five point home dogs versus Seattle , the Vikings ' team total is just barely above 17 points . . . . Those who lean heavily on first matchup data to make  lineup decisions will shy away from Adrian Peterson , who managed 18 yards on eight carries when these teams met in Week 13 . Seattle ' s defense held Minnesota ' s running game as a whole to 31 scoreless yards . This is a Vikings offense that finished 2015 fourth in rushing yards per game ( 138 . 2 ) . The strongest pro Peterson argument is that he easily has the highest carry projection on an ugly running back slate and therefore may be worth paying up for just to secure that workload . The anti Peterson arguments are more numerous . My guess is most  players will aim for lower priced backs and pay up for three elite receivers , or two elite receivers plus Jordan Reed . . . . If you ' d prefer to go all in on the Vikings falling behind and thus fade Peterson , give explosive change up back Jerick McKinnon a look . Minnesota began lining up McKinnon at wide receiver in the final three games and he responded with 231 total yards and three touchdowns during that stretch . . . . Teddy Bridgewater ' s play has picked up in recent weeks , but he finished the Week 13 game with a 4 . 2 yards per attempt average and dead last in weekly quarterback scoring against Seattle . I suppose there is some possibility the Vikings change up their approach this week and attack the Seahawks with a quick passing game , in an attempt to catch Pete Carroll ' s defense by surprise . Ultimately , that would indeed be a surprise . The Vikings have been devoutly run committed all season and probably dreamt this week about a game script that allowed them to feed Peterson 25 plus carries . I can ' t get behind Bridgewater as a  option , even in tournaments .  Bridgewater ' s targets over the last month : Stefon Diggs 18 Mike Wallace 17 Jarius Wright 15 McKinnon and Kyle Rudolph 12 Peterson 4 . . . . Although Diggs was not shadowed by Richard Sherman when these teams played in Week 13 , Diggs emerged with a 2 22 0 line on six targets and has failed to clear 60 receiving yards in six consecutive games . Diggs ' recent shortage of production may make it more likely he avoids Sherman ' s shadow in this rematch . The shortage of recent production also makes him a concerning , low floor fantasy bet . . . . Wallace may end up seeing the most of Sherman and hasn ' t hit 50 yards since Week 4 . . . . If the Vikings do change their game plan to become more pass heavy against the Seahawks , Diggs and Rudolph would figure to be the top box score beneficiaries . Rudolph is another extremely low floor dart throw his target totals are 1 , 3 , and 2 in Minnesota ' s last three games but his matchup is good on paper versus a Seattle defense permitting the 13th most yards ( 873 ) and ninth most touchdowns ( 8 ) to tight ends . Rudolph ' s outlook is still probably not entirely dissimilar from that of Richard Rodgers or a true hail mary like Texans  Ryan Griffin . They aren ' t going to rack up receptions and will only help you if they score a touchdown . They ' ll hurt you if they don ' t .  Packers Redskins has a game total of 45 second biggest on the Week 18 slate with host Washington as a one point dog . My guess is Vegas installed Green Bay as a short road favorite almost entirely because the public loves betting on the Packers . Washington has been the superior team . . . . The Redskins ' team total is 22 points , a number I like Washington to exceed on Sunday evening . One of the  ' s hottest quarterbacks down the stretch , Kirk Cousins combined for a 73 completion rate and 11 : 0  to  ratio in Weeks 15 17 . Due to their ground game ineffectiveness , the Redskins embraced a pass based plan of attack in the second half of the season . Cousins cleared 300 passing yards in four of his last five home games , where Washington also performed markedly better as a team . The Packers did finish No . 6 in pass defense  , but their quarterback schedule was one of the easiest in the league . At worst , this is an average matchup for Cousins in a game that will offer shootout potential if Green Bay ' s offense comes to play . . . . The expected unavailability of Matt Jones ( hip ) locks in Alfred Morris as the Redskins ' early down back against the Packers . Passing down specialist Pierre Thomas may be the superior fantasy bet , though . According to Warren Sharp of Sharp Football Analysis , the Redskins threw the ball just 55 of the time in one score games in the first three months of the season . They transitioned to a 65 passing team in one score games in the final month . Thomas appears to have passed Chris Thompson ( shoulder , toe ) , logging 34 of Washington ' s snaps and 19 touches to Thompson ' s 19 and eight touches the last two weeks . Thomas is a sneaky , minimum priced  punt play this week . Thomas could potentially lead the Redskins ' backfield in playing time and touches if Green Bay ' s offense shows up .  The premier tight end play on the Wild Card slate is Jordan Reed against a Packers defense that submitted the 11th most catches ( 81 ) and 12th most touchdowns ( 7 ) to tight ends this season . Reed has been matchup proof , anyway , torching the normally tight end stingy Bears ( 9 120 1 ) , Bills ( 7 84 2 ) , and Eagles ( 9 129 2 ) in the season ' s final month . . . . The fact that top Packers  Sam Shields ( concussion ) didn ' t practice Wednesday and Thursday bodes poorly for his chances of returning in the Wild Card Round , improving DeSean Jackson ' s outlook . Green Bay added  Damarious Randall to Thursday ' s injury report with a groin strain . This game sets up positively for Cousins and in turn his top deep threat . Were Shields healthy , he may have shadowed Jackson in this game . . . . Pierre Garcon scored a touchdown in each of Washington ' s final three regular season games , but he cleared 55 yards in just one of the final eight weeks , and never topped 80 on the season . From the Redskins ' Week 10 demolition of the Saints forward , Garcon averaged just under six targets per game . Garcon is a useful , scrappy  player , but his fantasy outlook is consistently pedestrian with Jackson in the lineup . Still , it is a player like Garcon who showed limited regular season upside and will therefore go low owned but is still long shot capable of hitting big in a plus matchup that could help win a  tournament .  One point road favorites in D . C . , the Packers ' team total is 23 points in the Wild Card Round . . . . The metrics point to a plus draw for Aaron Rodgers against a Redskins pass defense that ended 2015 ranked 19th in Football Outsiders ' pass defense  with the  ' s ninth most touchdown passes allowed ( 30 ) . The recent ineptitude of Green Bay ' s offense is obvious cause for concern , however . Aaron Rodgers ' weekly fantasy finishes to close out the season were QB18 , QB28 , and QB29 as Green Bay managed offensive point totals of 13 ( Minnesota ) , 8 ( Arizona ) , and 23 ( Oakland ) in Weeks 15 17 . Even against a weak Redskins defense , a leap of faith is required to forecast Rodgers for a big box score game . I do like the matchups for Green Bay ' s pass catchers enough that I ' ll certainly have exposure to Rodgers in  tournaments . . . . The Packers ' backfield devolved into a three way  during last Sunday ' s loss to Minnesota , with Eddie Lacy logging 32 of the snaps and James Starks 35 , before John Kuhn surprisingly took over as Green Bay ' s lead back in the fourth quarter . Rodgers seemed to feel most comfortable with Kuhn riding sidesaddle next to him in the shotgun . Kuhn played on each of the Packers ' final 26 offensive snaps . The matchup is good against a sub par Redskins run defense , but the usage distribution could go any which way . Kuhn might actually be the best  gamble considering his minimum cost and penchant for scoring annoying goal line TDs .  Rodgers ' targets in the final month of the season : James Jones 40 Randall Cobb 30 Davante Adams 23 Richard Rodgers 17 Starks 8 Jared Abbrederis 6 Kuhn and Lacy 5 Andrew Quarless 3 . . . . Wide receiver lines allowed by Washington over the last month : 8 173 ( Terrance Williams ) , 5 111 2 ( Sammy Watkins ) , 6 107 1 ( Alshon Jeffery ) , 6 104 1 ( Jordan Matthews ) , 5 52 2 ( Cole Beasley ) . . . . The best matchup on Green Bay ' s side goes to Jones against  Quinton Dunbar , an undrafted rookie who missed Week 17 with a quadriceps injury . In chronological order , these are Jones ' target totals over the last five weeks : 3 , 7 , 9 , 11 , 13 . Jones is the top low cost  receiver play on the board for Wild Card Weekend . . . . Adams is an easy fade against Redskins top corner Bashaud Breeland , whose physical style may render Adams a non factor throughout this one . . . . Cobb will spend Sunday ' s game in the coverage of 31 year old journeyman Will Blackmon , who played surprisingly well at slot corner this season before getting shredded by Matthews in Week 16 and Beasley in Week 17 . Pro Football Focus has charged Blackmon with nearly 60 yards per game and four touchdowns allowed over the past six weeks . Cobb , of course , flopped consistently in prime matchups this season and hasn ' t hit pay dirt since Week 11 . . . . The Redskins gave up 6 58 1 to Jason Witten in Week 17 , 13 122 to Zach Ertz in Week 16 , and 5 85 1 to Bears  Zach Miller in Week 14 . Washington ' s zone heavy defense does not pose a worrisome matchup for enemy tight ends , but  Rodgers ' usage is frustratingly hit or miss with target totals of 8 , 2 , 4 , 3 , 8 in the last five weeks . Rodgers should pay fantasy dividends if he scores a red zone touchdown against the Redskins . He ' ll probably flop if he does not .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
15952,15953,"It ' s bad enough that the recovery from the Great Recession has been slow and uneven . What ' s much worse is that several key indicators were heading in the wrong direction well before it started .  Median income in the U . S . has been stagnant or worse for at least 15 years , even as the big ticket items of college , health care and housing have become more expensive . The middle class has for decades been getting "" hollowed out "" by job loss and wage decreases .  Social mobility the odds that children will do better than their parents is now lower in America than in most European countries , an uncomfortable truth for the land of opportunity . Entrepreneurship is declining ( the amazing recent successes in the tech industry are the exception , not the rule ) , as is the percentage of  getting paid out in wages and benefits .  This dour economic litany has helped give rise to movements of discontent like the tea party on the right and Occupy on the left . It ' s also led to a flood of proposed solutions ranging from a return to the gold standard to confiscatory taxes on high levels of income and wealth .  We don ' t think such radical fiscal or monetary measures are warranted . The main pilings of our economic system are not so rotten that they need to be replaced . What we need instead is to return to excellence at two of our historical strengths : coming up with important innovations and finding ways to include a great many people in our journey of progress .  When it comes to technology , innovation is astonishingly robust these days . Recent digital advances are truly the stuff of science fiction : fully autonomous cars and planes , artificial intelligence systems that can understand and produce human speech , robots for everything from painting cars to milking cows , printers that can make industrial strength 3 D objects and so on .  Technology is racing ahead so quickly , in fact , that it ' s leaving a lot of our institutions , organizations , policies and practices behind . It ' s in these latter areas where we must increase the pace of innovation . The solution is not to slow technology down but instead to speed up the invention of new jobs . That requires unleashing entrepreneurs ' creativity . It also requires a host of other conditions .  Are our regulations keeping up with new companies that let people summon a ride on the fly or rent out a room in their house ?  Are large employers able to look beyond the traditions of resume , transcript and interview when evaluating job candidates and learn how to value alternate signals like performance in a massive open online course ?  Will our primary education system decrease its current emphasis on rote learning and standardized testing and start teaching skills computers don ' t have , such as creativity and problem solving ?  Can we remove the Kafkaesque barriers in place today that prevent so many of the world ' s most talented , tenacious and ambitious people from immigrating to the United States ? Will the government start spending adequately in the areas where we know it pays off , like infrastructure and basic research ?  Too often today , the answers to questions like these are "" no "" or "" not enough . ""  We ' re quickly heading into what we call the second machine age : a time of transformation brought on digital technologies that will be as big a deal as the Industrial Revolution . To succeed in it , we ' ll need to address the questions above and innovate widely and deeply , for two reasons . The first is to maximize this age ' s benefits and bounty . The second , more important reason is to include as many people as possible in both producing its fruits and sharing them .  The greatest flaw with our current path is the fact that a large group is being left out in every important sense . Too many people aren ' t getting the skills and support they need in order to participate in a rapidly changing economy and don ' t feel that they have any stake in a society that ' s being created around them and without them . As a result , many are dropping out of education , of the work force , out of their communities and out of family life .  Whether or not the growing ranks of the unincluded and disaffected ever cause social unrest , they ' re still a deep problem .  America ' s history of assimilation and participation is far from perfect , but it ' s still impressive . It has contributed to a thriving democracy and a large , stable and prosperous middle class , both of which have been the envy of the world . The evidence is mounting , however , that our great successes of inclusion are starting to reverse themselves . We need to harness our unmatched powers of innovation to make sure that this does not happen .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
15980,15981,"Chaos and a lack of communication are common threads among American survivors ' stories of the Costa Concordia sinking , and making it to shore was only the beginning of a long ordeal for passengers trying to get home .  Melissa Goduti of Wallingford , Connecticut , boarded the ship about three hours before it ran aground Friday night , killing at least 11 passengers .  "" I called my husband , not knowing if I ' d see him again , "" she said . "" I thought we were going to die . ""  There were no announcements for a long time , and Goduti and her mother didn ' t see signs directing them toward lifeboats .  "" We were running around trying to ask what floor the lifeboats were on , and all the crew kept saying is , ' you don ' t need them , you ' re fine , everything is fine , we just got hit by a big wave , ' "" Goduti told CTNow .  "" All they kept saying was it ' s a generator issue , just a generator issue and that the boat was floating along and just needed to get stabilized , "" she said .  Nancy Lofaro of New Rochelle , New York , said the crew tried to do what they could , "" but when we asked them , they said they had no information . They just didn ' t have any information to give us . "" Lofaro estimates the first announcement came 30 to 40 minutes after the ship ran aground .  Goduti and her mother feel lucky they found a lifeboat .  "" When our lifeboat dropped , it dropped . It wasn ' t an easy letdown by any means , but at least we got into the water and were safe , which is a lot better than , unfortunately , some people , "" she said .  Costa staff in Lofaro ' s lifeboat were debating who would drive the boat , and they didn ' t seem to know what to do , she said .  Joan Fleser of Duanesburg , New York , seconds that opinion , calling the crew "" inexperienced and untrained . ""  In a letter to passengers , Costa Cruises  Pier Luigi Foschi disputes that assessment : "" The crew of the Costa Concordia acted bravely and swiftly in an extremely difficult situation and succeeded despite the terribly demanding conditions in evacuating more than 4 , 000 people in the shortest possible time : we are proud of our commitment and dedication to your safety . ""  He goes on to outline crew training , safety procedures and regulatory oversight .  Survivors of the disaster say the scene on land was equally chaotic . Fleser said the lifeboat ride to the Tuscan island of Giglio was the last she saw of Costa Cruises employees until she , her husband and daughter reached a hotel in Rome on Saturday .  The people of the island came out in force to help the stranded travelers , and a local priest opened up the church . Fleser and her family stayed at the home of a local family overnight .  "" The people of the island were wonderful , "" Fleser said .  Nancy Lofaro and her husband wandered around on shore , finding a church , a local cafe and a small hotel all packed .  "" There was no organization . There was nobody , and the staff was in shock as much as we were . There were no announcements . We saw Costa people . . . walking around with a bullhorn , not using it , "" Lofaro said .  Fleser and her family were herded onto a ferry to the mainland the morning after the wreck , "" but we had no idea where we were going . ""  Triage doctors , members of the coast guard , the Red Cross and other volunteer organizations met the cruise passengers and took them to a local school , where more local services were provided . Her daughter received a pair of sneakers there because she was still wearing high heels from the night before , Fleser said .  The family then boarded a bus to Rome , where they were dropped off at a hotel .  "" The Marriott had no idea we were coming . All these refugee boat people land on their front door , and they say , ' Who are you ? But we ' ll take care of you , ' "" Fleser said .  There were two Costa cruise representatives at the hotel , "" but every time we asked them if they could do something for us , they said they had no authority , "" she said .  The cruise line did pay for food , the hotel and their airfare home , Fleser said , although they booked them on a flight to Albany , Georgia , instead of Albany , New York a mistake the family discovered in the Atlanta airport .  "" Oh my god , we were just ready to lose it at that point . ""  More than 1 , 100 Costa employees have been working to assist passengers and crew since Friday night , Foschi said in his letter to passengers .  The  of Costa ' s parent company , Carnival Corp . , pledged support to passengers : "" I give my personal assurance that we will take care of each and every one of our guests , crew and their families affected by this tragic event , "" Micky Arison said in a statement .  Before Fleser and her family could make the journey home , they needed new passports to replace those lost on the sinking ship .  The U . S . Embassy ' s response was a big disappointment , Fleser said .  "" Other than getting our temporary passports , they gave us no assistance whatsoever . No food , no clothes , no money , no transportation . They told us to borrow some money , get a cab , come on down . "" A hotel shuttle took Fleser and other Americans to the embassy , she said .  State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the agency arranged with the cruise line to have American passengers transported to a Rome hotel and to the embassy for documents . More than 100 emergency passports have been issued to stranded travelers .  "" We also provided all kinds of advice , telephone contacts to families , helped families create travel funds , provided them with passport photos , warm clothes , there were even a couple of families that needed diapers , "" she said during a State Department briefing Wednesday .  Fleser and her family arrived home shortly after midnight Tuesday . They received a voicemail from Costa saying the family would be reimbursed for the cruise and articles lost on the ship , she said , but the message didn ' t offer details of how those amounts would be determined .  In addition to arranging lodging , transportation and counseling for passengers , Costa will address possessions lost on board and is in the process of refunding cruise fares and costs incurred while on board , the company said in a statement .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
15990,15991,"Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama will raise concerns about Israeli settlement activity in Arab lands during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York on Wednesday, White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said. Rhodes told reporters on Tuesday that the United States has discussed its concerns about Israeli settlements and “the potential viability of a Palestinian state in the face of that settlement activity ... I’m sure President Obama will do so tomorrow as well.” ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
15996,15997,"Porter ,  According to multiple sources , Operation Jade Helm 15 has claimed its first civilian casualty Saturday night just east of Porter , Texas .  Around 7 : 15 p . m . Saturday , Pct . 4 Deputy Constable Buford Gleason and two Montgomery County Sheriff ' s Deputies responded to a suspicious person call at the Wal Mart located at 23561  59 in Porter . Montgomery County dispatch warned deputies a white male wearing a camouflage jacket was seen donning body armor and circling his  , which he also moved several times .  Two heavily armed individuals belonging to a local patriot militia ' group soon arrived on scene to assist law enforcement . Upon their arrival the suspect reportedly took off from the Wal Mart parking lot and a high speed chase ensued .  Burt Williams , leader of Porter Patriots 4 Truth ' ( PP4T ) reports they chased the suspect back to Sunnyvale mobile home park , east of Porter . It was then Burt claims shots were first fired . "" We heard a shot coming from one of the trailers and took cover behind our vehicle . Shortly afterwards I hear across the deputy ' s radio a stand down order given , and sure enough , they told us to go home . ""  It was on their way back towards the Wal Mart on W Ford Rd that Burt ' s pickup truck struck a deer , critically wounding the animal . Seeing the deer in distress , Burt decided a mercy kill was in order . The bullet from Williams '  15 allegedly blasted through the deer ' s brain and ricocheted off the road , striking fellow PP4T member Cledus Reed in the throat , killing him almost instantly .  Burt was arrested and charged with operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated and firing a weapon within city limits . It is unknown at this time if he will face further charges . Released on bail , Williams will appear in court Aug . 3rd .  What exactly happened last night in Porter remains a mystery . Who was the camouflaged man at the Wal Mart who led police on a high speed chase ? Who fired the shot inside the trailer park and why was a stand down order given ? Many are saying this has something to do with Operation Jade Helm , and as of right now , police aren ' t talking . If you have any information regarding last night ' s shooting , please contact Counter Jade Helm  going to law enforcement . The future of the American southwest may depend on it .  This is a developing story  ",satire,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
15999,16000,"Doesn t America already have enough legal citizens who are experts at gaming our system to maximize their benefits? Do we really need to import rapists and violent criminals who have no valid identification or past criminal history, so they can steal from working Americans as well?An Afghan who claimed to be just 12 is revealed to be in his twenties after assaulting his British foster father.The Afghan teen, who had arrived in Britain illegally via Calais, was actually registered as a child but after a dental examination found that he had rotting wisdom teeth, a dentist suggested he was more likely to be an adult.The revelation came after another British carer also reported that she was sexually assaulted by an alleged teen she was looking after.MPs have now called for new rules regarding age assessment for immigrants despite a petition backed by celebrities such as actor Benedict Cumberbatch and Virgin tycoon Richard Branson saying that refugee children should be reunited with their British relatives.If they enter Britain as children, asylum seekers are immediately put into the care of social services which often leaves youngsters separated from their parents for long periods of time.Conservative  for Monmouth David Davies spoke to MailOnline about an attack on one of his female constituents who was looking after the  12-year-old  immigrant.The Afghan was taken in by the Welsh foster family but refused to live by their rules and would skip school and disappear for long periods.He told social services that he wished to move to Bristol but when told he would have to live with a foster family, he became angry and attacked his foster father.It was after the fracas that the man s phone was confiscated and indecent images of children and visits to Jihadi websites were found.Mr Davies said:  They did a dental check on him and discovered that his wisdom teeth were rotting. The dentist said he had to be in at least his 20s but the Home Office strike people down to 16 if they don t know what their age is for certain, so he was listed as 16. Mr Davies said that Britain was being fooled by fraudster immigrants who knew how to play our system. Via:  Daily Mail ",fake,dataset,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
16054,16055,"New figures have revealed that poultry accounts for more than half of all the meat bought in Britain  If you ' re sitting down with the family for a roast chicken with all the trimmings today , you are not alone .  Poultry now accounts for nearly half of all the meat bought in Britain , new figures reveal .  It means an end to our reputation as a red meat eating nation that led the French to nicknaming us ' les rosbifs ' ( the roast beefs ) .  Instead , a steady rise in sales of chicken coupled with a fall for beef , pork and lamb has led to a change in this country ' s daily diet and we now eat 2 . 2 million chickens a day .  Industry figures for shop bought meat show that in March last year chicken accounted for 46 per cent of the total . Ten years ago it made up just a third of meat bought .  If the trend continues , this year chicken will pass the 50 per cent benchmark for the first time , according to the trade body , the British Poultry Council (  ) .  The figures relate to meat bought in shops to be eaten at home rather than restaurant meals , ready meals and takeaways .  Poultry is considered by some experts to be healthier than red meat and it has emerged unscathed from public health scares such as  , foot and mouth and horsemeat contamination .  And with 70 per cent of all chicken in the  being home reared , it also satisfies those who prefer to buy British .  But increasingly , the biggest factor could be the the meat ' s relatively low price , according to retail industry analysts Kantar .  Lamb prices , for instance , have doubled over the same period and beef has gone up by 50 per cent .  The  has even warned that home reared chicken is becoming so popular that the  could run out of space to produce enough birds .  A  spokesman said : ' Poultry prices have only risen very slowly in the last 20 years , way behind other food commodities . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
16060,16061,"We have met the enemy , and he is us . Debate on health care reform has once again become a miserable exhibition of seemingly irreconcilable differences , which President Obama is trying to address in his health care summit .  There is a path forward , and it starts with understanding that waiting for the government to lead an uncertain reform effort isn ' t necessary .  Prepaid integrated health systems like Kaiser Permanente , Geisinger Health System , Group Health Cooperative and HealthPartners are succeeding and innovative . It ' s no coincidence that these organizations are often mentioned when describing health care providers that offer high quality care while staying affordable .  Legislators should encourage such proven successes and make them available to all Americans .  Integrated health systems simply assume responsibility for both the financing and delivery of care , so they try to keep patients healthy and avoid costlier illnesses and hospitalizations down the road . They are more likely to provide preventative care , such as vaccinations and cancer screening .  Basically , the system we are all accustomed to in the United States separates insurance from the provision of care . That is , your doctor and hospital and your health insurance company are different institutions . This pits them against one another , because one wants to cut care whenever possible , while the other wants to provide as much care as possible , with little incentive to keep costs down . Integrated systems are simply both they are either insurance companies who own their own hospitals and hire their own doctors or hospital and physician groups that offer a health plan .  Other innovations routinely seen in integrated systems include digital medical records , direct electronic messaging with providers , instant access to health records and test results , telehealth and home based medical services and affordable access to primary care .  Many people are determined that the United States should emulate the rest of the industrialized world and adopt a publicly subsidized system of universal coverage . Admirers of these foreign systems point to their low costs and accessible primary care services , but they may be surprised to find that successful integrated health systems in this country are organized very similarly to the most admired state sponsored systems found overseas .  Whether taxpayers help fund an institution is not the main factor for success rather , it is the integration between delivery and payment that creates an incentive to provide high value care that keeps members healthy and out of hospitals .  This is the mantra that guides care delivery in both the best performing systems overseas and in prepaid integrated systems in the United States .  Meanwhile , there are , of course , publicly supported health programs in the United States , including Medicare and Medicaid . Yet the same people who lament that a state subsidized health care system would lay an unrelenting path to outright socialism hardly ever call for a dismantling of Medicare .  Whether that ' s because of political expediency or simple hypocrisy can be left to conjecture . What ' s important is that a high performing , state sponsored health institution already operates in the United States the Veterans Health Administration .  Unlike Medicare and Medicaid , however , the  has a tightly integrated health care system that has managed to dramatically improve quality and introduce innovations , all while keeping costs in check .  Killing off all state sponsorship of health care in this country in a shortsighted resistance against progressivism would be a grave mistake . The bottom line is that we ' ve been arguing over the wrong question .  The best health care system isn ' t a matter of private vs . public , or us vs . them . The debate should be about how to foster a system that is organized in a way such that its utmost concern is providing value to its patients .  There is no need to import a foreign system we already have many similar systems in existence . The biggest hurdle is that , despite their advantages , integrated systems only serve about 5 percent of the population .  Entrenched players in the health care industry stand opposed to integrated care . If legislators truly want to make health care better , they will encourage the development of more integrated systems so that everyone has access to multiple options in a competitive marketplace .  Maintaining a vibrant , innovative private sector is critical , but we also can ' t ignore the success of many integrated , publicly subsidized systems abroad . Fostering the growth of our own integrated health systems in the private sector addresses the right question and offers the opportunity for us to have the best system of all .  The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Jason Hwang .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,present
16062,16063,"Pope Benedict ' s speech last week , which the Muslim world took to condemn Islam for violence , set off a whole series of riots , church burnings and the murder of a nun . The Pope , following multiple failed apologies for his words , announced today , that "" to bring peace to himself , "" he has converted to Islam .  The Pope , wearing the simple garb of a pilgrim on his way to Mecca , read his statement from his balcony that faces St . Peter ' s Square . The statement was profound in its simplicity and obvious sincerity .  "" As of today , I am follower of the Allah ' s Greatest Prophet and the Final Messenger , Muhammad , blessed be his holy name , "" said Pope Benedict , formerly Joseph Ratzinger , who has asked to be now called Himar Abdur Rasool al Ahad .  "" I have come to this decision through much prayer and meditation , "" the former Pope continued . "" It is clear that I offended many of the Muslim faith by my ill chosen words , but even more so by my long held beliefs . Finally , after observing the passion of the Muslim believers , I realized Islam is the true way to peace . ""  As church theologians and religious scholars continue to debate the matter , it is not clear if all observant Catholics are now Muslims or still infidels . "" The Pope ' s ex cathedra statements on doctrinal matters are infallible . Thus , it would seem all committed Catholic believers would be required to become Muslim as well , "" said Father Geary O ' Caughlin , a distinguished teacher of moral theology at the Papal University in Rome .  Other religious authorities are not convinced . "" However , it is not clear whether the Pope at the moment of conversion to Islam was still a Catholic and thus still Pope , or already a Muslim and thus just another Muslim imam , whose pronouncements may only be authoritative in matters of spiritual guidance , daily living and suicide bombing , "" said Dr James C . MacIntyre , a Catholic theologian and professor of theological ethics at Marquette University .  Despite the confusion the Pope ' s conversion has caused , it has created at least a bit of clarity . What we do know now , the scholars agree , is the answer to the question "" Is the Pope Catholic ? "" The answer is now clearly no .  Copyright 2006 , Douglas Salguod  ",satire,text,validation,American football,US elections,fake,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
16073,16074,"Reuters) - A bipartisan group of 27 U.S. senators sent a letter to President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday urging him to take a tough line against Russia over what they termed its “military land grab” in Ukraine. The letter, whose 12 Republican and 15 Democratic signatories included some leading foreign policy voices from Trump’s Republican party, was an early sign that lawmakers will publicly assert themselves on international matters where they disagree with his White House. The New York property developer becomes president on Jan. 20. Trump signaled during his campaign that he might take a softer line in dealings with Moscow, repeatedly praising Russian President Vladimir Putin’s leadership. Putin said recently Trump confirmed to him that he was willing to mend ties. “In light of Russia’s continued aggression and repeated refusal to respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereign right to choose its own destiny, we also renew our call for the United States to increase political, economic and military support for Ukraine,” said the letter, led by Senators Richard Durbin, a Democrat, and Rob Portman, a Republican, who are co-chairmen of the Senate Ukraine caucus. In the letter, seen by Reuters before its public release, the senators also said they believe Russia’s annexation of Crimea should not be accepted and the United States should not lift sanctions imposed on Russia for its behavior in eastern Ukraine.  President Barack Obama and Putin have had a challenging relationship, with stark differences over Russia’s actions in Ukraine and Syria. Tensions have risen more with Obama’s Democratic Party in particular over cyber attacks attributed to Russia during the U.S. presidential election.     Among Republican senators who signed the letter were John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Lindsey Graham, head of the appropriations subcommittee that oversees the State Department. A majority of Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, including ranking Democrat Ben Cardin, signed the letter. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on Senate Armed Services, also did so. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
16074,16075,"David Bowie was planning another album and had recorded five new songs before his death , his producer has revealed .  The star had written and demoed the fresh tracks and was anxious to return to the studio for one last time just days before he died from cancer as he thought "" he ' d have a few months , at least "" .  The revelation will prompt speculation among fans that Bowie ' s final recordings could still be released , even after his death on Sunday .  Tony Visconti , Bowie ' s long time friend and producer , said the star called him via FaceTime about a week before his death and with his latest album Blackstar nearing its release to say he wanted to make a final album .  "" At that late stage , he was planning the follow up to Blackstar , "" he told Rolling Stone magazine .  David Bowie released Blackstar just two days before he died from cancer  Although he had known since November that the cancer he was privately suffering was terminal , Bowie still hoped for time to record new music .  Visconti added : "" I was thrilled , and I thought , and he thought , that he ' d have a few months , at least .  "" Obviously , if he ' s excited about doing his next album , he must ' ve thought he had a few more months . ""  David Bowie , pictured with his wife Iman , kept a low profile since his heart attack in 2004 ? Photo :   Meanwhile , reports in the  have claimed that Bowie has already been cremated in New York without any of his family or friends present .  Bowie , who died on Sunday aged 69 , had kept his 18 month cancer battle a secret .  And a friend of the singer in New York ? where Bowie had lived for the past 22 years ? told The Mirror on Wednesday that his cremation had already been carried out .  Bowie reportedly told his loved ones he wanted to go without any fuss and not have a funeral service or public memorial .  "" There is no public or private service or a public memorial . There is nothing , "" a source told the paper .  The star ' s spokesman declined to confirm or deny the report .  David Bowie was one of the world ' s greatest stars ? Photo :   Bowie will be honoured with a tribute at next month ' s Brit Awards , as well as a memorial concert at New York ' s Carnegie Hall on March 31 .  Blackstar , released on January 8 to mark his birthday , looks certain to hold on to the number one spot in the charts on Friday .  It is also likely to be his first number one album in the  .  Bowie ' s death has seen an outpouring of grief from the public and from his friends and colleagues including Madonna , Iggy Pop , Sir Mick Jagger , Tina Turner and Sir Paul McCartney .  A fan takes a picture on her phone of the tribute mural of British singer David Bowie in Brixton ? Photo : Pacific Coast News Barcroft Media  Recording a SiriusXM Town Hall special on Wednesday night in front of a small audience , Sir Elton John broke into a performance of Space Oddity as a tribute to his friend .  He then told moderator David Fricke : "" It ' s so wonderful . We all know how inspiring he is . We all know that his music stands . We don ' t have to say anything about the music it speaks for itself .  "" He was innovative , he was boundary changing , and he danced to his own tune which in any artist is really rare . ""  Mr Fricke added : "" He made two albums without anybody knowing he was making them . He had treatment for his illnesses without anyone knowing or anyone saying anything .  "" And that is the mystique of the man , because we know David Bowie the figure , the singer , the outrageous performer but , actually , we don ' t know anything about him and that ' s the way it should be in music and should be in any art form whatsoever .  "" They don ' t make them like that any more . We ' ve lost a huge , huge talent that influenced so many people . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
16077,16078,"The car ferry that caught fire in the Adriatic Sea killing ten people and injuring dozens more was found to have serious safety flaws during an inspection just 10 days ago .  The Norman Atlantic was examined by the international maritime authority Paris MoU earlier this month and found to have faulty fire doors , too few life rafts and poor emergency lighting .  The vessel , which was operated by Greek shipping company Anek Lines , was also criticized for its plans for how to handle passengers in the event of an emergency raising serious questions over whether the tragedy could have been prevented .  The news comes as Italian officials launch an investigation to establish whether the fire started in one of the many lorries transporting olive oil from Greece to Italy , or if the highly flammable cargo simply added fuel the flames and made the deadly blaze even more intense .  Inspection : The Norman Atlantic ( pictured ) was examined by the international maritime authority Paris MoU just 10 days ago and found to have faulty fire doors , too few life rafts and poor emergency lighting  Details of the Norman Atlantic ' s ' grave failings ' in regard to fire safety were published on Greek and Italian websites this morning , citing a inspection by Paris MoU officials on December 19 .  Six ' deficiencies ' are understood to have been identified relating to emergency lighting , fire doors and ' life saving appliances ' that were deemed not to meet international safety standards .  Officials are believed to have given Anek Lines 15 days to amend the problems but there is not yet any indication as to whether they had been addressed by the time the ferry left Patros in western Greece on its doomed voyage to Ancona in eastern Italy .  Trade unions have been quick to attack Greek shipping operator Anek Lines and Italian shipowner , Visemar Navigation Ltd , claiming corners were cut to increase profits .  Trapped : Passengers , who were travelling from the Greek port of Patras to Ancona , Italy , became trapped on the top decks as gales and choppy seas hampered evacuation efforts  A statement from four trade unions representing Greek shipping crews read : ' Once again , it is proven that shipowners ' hunt for profit overrides the necessary measures for the protection of human life at sea . '  ' As has been revealed behind the tragic shipwreck and fire there are serious failures in sea worthiness of vessels with painful consequences for passengers and ship workers , ' it added .  ' With the fire that broke out in the car decks of the Norman Atlantic the lives of 478 passengers was put at risk , ' the four unions went on to say .  Carlo Visentini , owner of Visemar , fought back however , saying his company had worked alongside the rescue operation and helped save the lives of several hundred people .  An injured passenger is transported to hospital in the Italian port city of Bari after being rescued  In the southern Italian city of Bari , where many of those rescued from the Norman Atlantic were taken for treatment , Judge Giuseppe Volpe this morning opened an investigation into how the disaster occured , raising the possibility that individuals could be charged with ' culpable shipwreck . '  The probe also aims to establish whether the fire could have started in one of the many lorries on board carrying a cargo of olive oil .  Such claims are bound to raise questions over whether the correct procedures were followed to prevent the highly flammable liquid coming in to contact with naked flames , and if there was sufficient equipment was on hand that could have prevented a small fire becoming a deadly blaze .  Trade unions have also raised the suggestion that the vessel may have been overcrowded , and there remains much confusion over exactly how many people were on board the car ferry .  Italian coast guard teams at Brindisi harbour carry the body of on of those who died on board the ferry  This afternoon the Italian authorities said the total death toll for the disaster had risen to ten , adding that they they are checking to see if anyone else might still be missing .  Italy ' s transport minister , Maurizio Lupi , said the total of 427 rescued included all 56 crew members . The original manifest listed 478 passengers and crew , with officials earlier saying they are unable to immediately explain why only 435 individuals had been accounted for .  Lupi said it was premature to speculate on whether people were still missing , but suggested that there might have been some people who reserved a spot on the ferry but did not board .  An official said that among the survivors , there were also people not listed on the manifest , indicating the possibility that some on board were traveling illegally .  Specialist Italian coast guard are continuing to search the interior of the ferry amid flames and heavy rain , and five Greek helicopters , a Greek frigate and another ship are still in the area .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
16110,16111,"Could a massive passenger jet slip past radar , cross international borders and land undetected ?  That ' s a key question investigators are weighing as they continue the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 , which vanished March 8 on a flight from Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia , bound for Beijing .  But experts are divided over whether that could be what happened to the missing Boeing 777 200ER .  Jeffrey Beatty , a security consultant and former  special agent , says someone could have planned a route that avoided radar detection .  "" It certainly is possible to fly through the mountains in that part of the world and not be visible on radar . Also , an experienced pilot , anyone who wanted to go in that direction , could certainly plot out all the known radar locations , and you can easily determine , where are the radar blind spots ? "" he said . "" It ' s the type of things the Americans did when they went into Pakistan to go after Osama bin Laden . ""  Information about the plane ' s path came into sharper focus on Tuesday , when the Thai government released data that bolsters the belief among investigators that the missing jet took a sharp westward turn after communication was lost .  The Thai military was receiving normal flight path and communication data from the jet on its planned route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing until 1 : 22 a . m . , when it disappeared from its radar .  Malaysia says the evidence suggests the plane was deliberately flown off course , turning westward and traveling back over the Malay Peninsula and out into the Indian Ocean .  The Thai data corroborate what the Malaysian military had found earlier that the plane did indeed turn around toward the Strait of Malacca .  But the Thai contact was short lived . "" The unknown aircraft ' s signal was sending out intermittently , on and off , and on and off , "" the spokesman said . The Thai military lost the unknown aircraft ' s signal because of the limits of its military radar , he said .  Satellite signals can confirm plane ' s identity  Malaysian officials said Monday that they were not aware of the Malaysian newspaper ' s report .  "" It does not come from us , "" said Malaysia Airlines  Ahmad Jauhari Yahya .  U . S . officials have said they think it ' s unlikely the plane flew northward over land as it veered off course . If it had , they ' ve said , radar somewhere would have detected it . It ' s also unlikely that the plane was landed at a remote airport , since remote airports aren ' t typically equipped with the long runways that the Boeing jetliner needs , the officials have said .  Key moments in tracking missing airliner  "" It just seems really highly improbable , unless we ' ve been overestimating a lot of other countries ' radar system capabilities , "" said Daniel Rose , an aviation and maritime attorney .  Buck Sexton , a former  officer who ' s now national security editor for TheBlazeweblink , said radar would have detected the plane had it flown over land .  "" This is a bus in the sky . It ' s a lot harder to get under the radar with this kind of thing than I think most people realize , "" he said . "" So really , while the search I know has extended to this vast area stretching up into ( central or south Asia ) , clearly there really should be much more of a search over open water because this is not getting past people ' s radars . ""  It wouldn ' t be easy to avoid radar detection , but some experts say it could be done .  Different countries would likely be using different radar systems , he said , but it ' s unclear how advanced the technology is in many countries .  Whoever was in control in the cockpit , he said , "" really had the ability to map out a route that was given the very best chance of not being detected . ""  One other possibility , he said : The plane could have shadowed another plane so closely that it slipped by radar detection .  Other analysts say that would require so much skill that it would be nearly impossible to pull off without getting caught .  There ' s another possible wrinkle , experts say . Some countries may be hesitant to reveal what they ' ve seen on radar .  "" They want to protect their own capabilities , "" Beatty said . "" Their intelligence services are not going to want to publicize exactly what their capabilities are . ""  Pilots , passengers under scrutiny  Politician : Pilot supported me , but was no hijacker  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
16113,16114,"Democratic debate : Clinton and Sanders clash on guns  Main contenders neck and neck in Iowa two weeks before first nominating election  Bernie Sanders , who Hillary Clinton referred to as a ' pretty reliable vote for the gun lobby ' , defends his record on firearms during the  Democratic Party s fourth live televised debate in South Carolina . Video :   Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders participate in the  News YouTube Democratic Candidates Debate . Photograph :   Leading Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders clashed over guns , healthcare and money in the final debate before the first voters start picking the party s presidential nominee in two weeks .  Mrs Clinton , the party s favourite in national polls , sharpened her tone against Mr Sanders as they met for the Democratic Party s fourth live televised debate from South Carolina ahead of the Iowa caucuses , the inaugural presidential nominating election on February 1st .  Polls show Mr Sanders and the former secretary of state in a dead heat in Iowa , where Mrs Clinton once held a strong advantage . The socialist senator for Vermont has extended his lead in New Hampshire , the second nominating state to vote in a primary on February 9th .  Rising support for Mr Sanders in the first two voting states has put Mrs Clinton on the back foot and set the stage for a more heated debate between the candidates than the three previous encounters .  Martin O Malley , the former governor of Maryland who trails them both by some distance , also participated in the debate .  Mr Sanders , whose policies were the focus of much of the debate , came under fire early on when asked about Mrs Clinton describing him as a pretty reliable vote for the gun lobby and about his reversal to support a bill challenging immunity from lawsuits for gun makers and dealers .  He accused the former first lady of being very disingenuous saying that he has a D minus voting record for the National Rifle Association and that he lost an election in 1988 when he stood up to the gun lobby .  On his most vulnerable front , Mr Sanders was challenged by Mrs Clinton for being soft on guns and for voting for the Charleston loophole that permitted the man accused of killing nine people at a black church in the South Carolina town to buy the gun for the June 2015 attack .  Mrs Clinton jabbed Mr Sanders again on his plan to introduce universal healthcare saying that he wanted to replace Obamacare , the healthcare law that the president fought Republicans hard to pass .  I don t want to see us start over again with a contentious debate . I want us to defend and build on the Affordable Care Act and improve it , she said to applause from the audience at the  hosted debate .  Mr Sanders responded saying that the Clinton camp s claims that he wanted to end existing healthcare programmes was nonsense .  We are not going to tear up the Affordable Care Act . I helped write it . But we are going to move on top of that to a Medicare for all system , he said , defending a policy Mrs Clinton has attacked him repeatedly on .  The self described democratic socialist hurt Mrs Clinton most on her close ties with Wall Street , pointing out that she had received more than 600 , 000 ( ? 550 , 700 ) in speaker fees from Goldman Sachs in one year and questioning whether this would affect her policies on the financial sector .  Can you really reform Wall Street when they are spending millions and millions of dollars on campaign contributions and when they are providing speaker fees to individuals ? Mr Sanders said .  Throughout the debate , Mrs Clinton presented herself as a pragmatic alternative to the idealistic Sanders , trying to undermine the policies of the 74 year old senator and show herself as a more electable contender .  She also cast herself as the natural heir to the Obama administration , defending the president s record and trying to portray Mr Sanders as an opponent of Mr Obama , attempting to drive a wedge between the senator and his progressive supporters who admire the president .  Mrs Clinton highlighted how Mr Sanders had criticised Mr Obama for taking donations from Wall Street and had sought a primary challenger in 2011 to contest the president s re election four years ago .  Mr Sanders listed several moments when he and Mr Obama supported each other . He describing himself and the president as friends , though he admitted that they had some differences of opinion .  Your profusion of comments about your feelings towards President Obama are a little strange given what you said about him in 2011 , Mrs Clinton said in response .  Unlike previous debates , there was less focus on the Republican presidential candidates , except for few notable digs at the party s frontrunner Donald Trump , including over his denial of climate change .  It is beyond my comprehension how we can elect as president of the United States somebody like Trump who believes that climate change is a hoax invented by the Chinese , said Mr Sanders .  Despite Mrs Clinton s attacks , the Vermont senator s forceful responses are likely to have struck a chord with the party s liberal grassroots who have been swept up by his insurgent campaign .  The next Democratic presidential debate takes place in Milwaukee on February 11th , two days after the New Hampshire primary .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
16123,16124,"Michel Platini has raised the spectre of the Heysel disaster and warned of a growing issue of hooligans and political fanatics taking control in football stadiums in Europe .  The  president , who was on the pitch for Juventus at the European Cup final in Brussels 30 years ago when 39 people mainly from the Italian club died after rioting Liverpool fans charged Juve supporters causing a wall to collapse . Platini has called for tougher stadium bans and a European wide sports police force .  Speaking at the  Congress in Vienna , Platini said : ' Europe is seeing a rise in nationalism and extremism the like of which we have not witnessed for a very long time .  Michel Platini wants to see a European sports police force introduced to prevent football hooliganism  ' This insidious trend can also be observed in our stadiums , as football is a reflection of society . Given its popularity , our sport is a barometer for the ills of our continent . And that barometer is pointing to some worrying developments .  ' I therefore renew my call for greater awareness of this issue among the public authorities , so that we can avoid reliving the dark days of a not so distant past a past where hooligans and all manner of fanatics called the shots in certain European stadiums .  ' In recent months , we have all been struck by certain images that I thought were a thing of the past . Some of us experienced that past at first hand . In my case , it was exactly 30 years ago . . . Nobody wants a repeat of such events .  The Heysel disaster took place in 1985 during European Cup Final between Juventus and Liverpool  39 fans were killed when they were crushed to death when Liverpool fans breached the neutral area  Most of the fatalities were Juventus fans and Platini wants to avoid any future incidents like this  ' We need tougher stadium bans at European level and I will say it again the creation of a European sports police force . '  Platini also appeared to have a veiled dig at Sepp Blatter for deciding to run for a fifth term as  president despite having said at the  Congress four years ago that his fourth term would be his last .  Blatter then described himself as the ' captain of the ship in troubled waters bringing in back on the right route ' .  The Italian , who is himself being re elected unopposed for a third term , told  delegates : ' I regard myself as a simple team mate at most your captain . But not the captain of a ship that is being battered by a storm . '  Dynamo Kiev fans clash with riot police during mass fighting in the Olympiyski Stadium in the Europa League  Kiev ' s players were forced to step in and try to calm their fans down which forced the match to be halted  Sept Blatter is preparing to run for a fifth term despite saying that his current one would be his last  Platini ' s printed speech included the words ' clinging to the helm for dear life ' but he dropped that line when he delivered the speech , saying only : ' No . I am simply the captain of a winning team one that wins because it boasts 54 talented presidents and general secretaries who are prepared to play for each other . '  In his speech to the Congress on Tuesday , Blatter made no reference to standing again for  president but once again urged football to resist calls to boycott to the 2018 World Cup in Russia due to its involvement in the civil war in Ukraine .  Blatter said : ' Football shall be united , sport shall be united when it comes to boycotts because boycott has never given any results . We have to pay attention to political interference ' s . The autonomy of sport must be guaranteed . '  Platini has experienced first hand football hooliganism when he was on the pitch for the Heysel disaster  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
16131,16132,"Washington Mitt Romney told an audience of Republican donors in New York on Friday that he is seriously considering a third presidential bid .  Though his loyalists and supportive donors have floated his name as a potential candidate for the better part of a year , Romney himself has been more reticent about mounting another White House bid after his 2008 and 2012 losses .  But Romney ' s outlook has changed in recent weeks , according to people who have spoken with him recently , and he seems to be more serious than ever before .  Romney has kept in close touch with his donors , many of whom have become close friends over two presidential cycles , according to one source close to Romney who was not at the meeting in New York but is familiar with his thinking . Romney hosts an annual retreat each year in Park City for policy discussions and used the two most recent gatherings in 2013 and 2014 to introduce them to potential 2016 presidential candidates including Rand Paul and Chris Christie . ( Jeb Bush was invited to speak last summer , but could not attend because of previous commitments , including his father ' s birthday ) .  Many of Romney ' s New York donors , who are in frequent touch with him , had suggested a lunch or get together when Romney was in New York , which resulted in the meeting with donors on Friday as he was on his way back from Charlie Baker ' s swearing in as the new governor of Massachusetts , this person said .  Former aides to Romney have said that his thinking about the race has evolved over several months , particularly after he had time to reflect on being back on the campaign trail for the midterm races . As former Florida Gov . Jeb Bush has moved toward a bid , many donors had pressed him for a signal about his level of interest .  "" He had not closed his mind on this , and today was the day that he decided to share that with the group of people he was with , "" the source familiar with Romney ' s thinking said . "" His conviction that the country is on the wrong track is very strong . He ' s very concerned with America ' s role in the world . Nothing has changed on that . ""  As far as re entering the field for the Republican nomination , the source said , "" He knows he would have to earn it , he knows no one is handed the nomination , but he ' s giving it some thought . . . . His head hasn ' t changed , I think he was just formalizing it a little bit , "" at the Friday meeting , the source said , to let donors know he was considering a bid more seriously .  Romney ' s comments come in the wake of Jeb Bush ' s stepped up political activity . Bush , Romney and New Jersey Gov . Chris Christie all favorites of the Republican establishment and New York donor community would presumably draw from the same pool of financial backers .  "" I think he is serious , "" said the person at the New York meeting . "" One of the first things he said he said was , ' People ask me , do you want to be president ? Well , yes , I did run twice . ""  Romney said that his wife , Ann , is "" very encouraging "" about 2016 , the source said , but his sons are split about the idea , the source who was in the room said .  The source familiar with Romney ' s thinking also said Ann is "" supportive of it "" if that ' s what Romney wants . "" I don ' t think he would have come to this without talking to his family . ""  At the heart of this , this source adds , is that "" the state of the country hasn ' t settled for him . he won ' t be happy sitting on the sidelines . ""  The former Massachusetts governor told the crowd that a potential campaign would "" have to have a positive message . "" He also said , somewhat obviously , that he "" would run a different campaign from what he ' s run in the past . ""  Romney entertained questions about the rest of the potential 2016 field but had only positive things to say about his would be rivals , the source said .  The news comes after a week chock full of high profile potential Republican presidential candidates taking the first steps toward announcing their candidacy for the 2016 election .  Former Florida Gov . Jeb Bush launched a Leadership  this week , just days after resigning his position on various corporate and nonprofite boards . And former  presidential contender Mike Huckabee quit his show on Fox News last week to give 2016 some serious consideration .  The revelation of Romney ' s overtures to top  donors is yet another addition to the long term game of footsy Romney has played with the media and other Republicans who would like to know whether Romney is in or out though it ' s certainly the most definitive and serious indication that Romney might actually launch a third presidential bid .  Romney was rumored to be through with his presidential ambitions after a grueling 2012 run , but this summer he made several head nods that he was considering .  Romney told the Washington Post this summer that "" we ' ll have to see what happens "" and said in another interview that the chances were very slim but conceded there was nonetheless always a chance .  Gloria Borger contributed to this report .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
16132,16133,"Since Scott Weiland ' s death was announced on Thursday , tributes ? for the former ? Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver frontman have been pouring in .  Particularly moving messages ? were ? recently posted by musicians ? from both hard rock bands .  "" Dear Scott , Let us start by saying thank you for sharing your life with us , ""  rockers ? Dean DeLeo , 54 , Robert DeLeo , 49 , and Eric Kretz , 49 , said in a statement on the band ' s Facebook page on Friday . "" Together we crafted a legacy of music that has given so many people happiness and great memories . The memories are many , and they run deep for us . ""  "" We know amidst the good and the bad you struggled , time and time again , "" they said . "" It ' s what made you who you were . You were gifted beyond words , Scott . Part of that gift was part of your curse . With deep sorrow for you and your family , we are saddened to see you go . All of our love and respect . We will miss you brother , Robert , Eric , Dean . ""   : ? Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver dies at age 48 : His friends and famous fans react   broke up temporarily in 2002 . That year , Weiland helped form Velvet Revolver with ? Guns N ' Roses guitarist Slash , 50 , the band ' s former drummer Matt Sorum , 55 , its bassist Duff McKagan , 51 , and former Wasted Youth ? guitarist Dave Kushner , 49 .  "" We are deeply saddened to learn of the loss of our old friend and bandmate , Scott Weiland , "" the supergroup wrote in a joint statement posted on McKagan and Kushner ' s ? Instagram ? pages ? on Friday . "" We experienced a good chunk of life with Scott , and even in his darkest times , we all had hope and love for him . His artistry will live on , of that , there is no doubt . ? Deepest condolences and sadness are for his children , Noah and Lucy . "" ?  Weiland left Velvet Revolver , best known for the Grammy winning 2004 ? song "" Slither , "" in 2008 and reunited with the supergroup four years later for a benefit concert at the now closed ? House of Blues in West Hollywood . He and  reunited in 2010 and was fired from the band in 2013 .  A year earlier , he concentrated on a solo career and ? fronted a new band , ? The Wildabouts . He was found dead ? while on a tour stop with the group ? in Minnesota on Thursday .  He passed away in his sleep , according to a post published on his official Facebook page . The cause of his death has not been announced . Weiland had battled drug ? and alcohol abuse ? throughout his life .  In addition to his children , Weiland ? is survived of his wife of two years , ? Jamie Wachtel .  "" We all traveled around this world together on tour our band , wives , and kids and we grew to a big family that still remains to this day , "" his former Velvet Revolver bandmates said . "" It ' s just so sad and brutal from any perspective . ? Rest In Peace Scott . ? Slash , Duff , Matt , and Dave . ""  Slash also tweeted ? a personal photo tribute to Weiland , while Kushner posted on his Instagram page a group pic showing the band members looking happy .  "" I love this pic , "" he said . "" It was from the photo shoot we did for our first record . It hangs on the wall of my house to always remember when things were at their best . My life was changed forever then , and is changed once again today . ""  "" Thank you God for my life and thank you Scott Weiland for being a huge part of my life , "" he added . "" Fly on  . ScottWeiland stoneyemplepilots velvetrevolver slash officialduffmckagan bigdrums . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
16135,16136,"The Frisky ) Here are some things that it ' s okay to lie about :  "" I can totally do a headstand in yoga class . ""  1 . The number of sexual partners you ' ve had plus or minus five  2 . That you totally just washed your hands  3 . That the reason for your bags is not , in fact , that you were out late partying but that you were up late reading "" Twilight ""  4 . That you ' re naturally toned  5 . How much you paid for that ( ridiculously cheap ) pair of shoes  6 . How much you paid for that ( ridiculously expensive ) bag  7 . That you ' re not planning on seeing "" Marley Me ""  8 . That your favorite magazine is , duh , The New Yorker  9 . That you can not do a headstand in yoga class  10 . That you made that lasagna yourself  11 . Your height and weight on your driver ' s license  12 . That this is your natural hair color  13 . That you totally read "" The Feminine Mystique "" and it changed your life  14 . That you stayed at work a full hour after your boss left  15 . That you didn ' t just fart right now  16 . That you don ' t know all the lyrics to "" I ' ll Make Love To You "" by Boyz  Men  17 . That of course you floss every day , Dr Smith !  18 . That you never ever , ever look at so and so ' s Facebook page !  19 . That you just love your friend ' s boyfriend husband  20 . That you really adore that pink sweater and thanks so much Grandma !  21 . That you always recycle  22 . That you had only one glass of wine last night not five because that would be excessive  23 . That your current boyfriend is totally the best sex of your life  24 . That you ' re not the jealous type  25 . That you read all sections of the paper , not just the Style and Entertainment sections   2009  , Inc . All Rights Reserved  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
16148,16149,"It s hard to believe that business mogul Donald Trump is not only in the presidential race, but actually  the Republican candidates. Apparently he never saw the White House in his future, either  but clearly something has changed within the last few decades that inspired him to go for it.It just so happens that Trump originally had zero desire to run for President of The United States. Thanks to footage from an hour-long interview with Rona Barrett in 1980, it s been revealed that Trump didn t want to run because he thought it would be  a mean life.  Ironic, yes   but the real kicker comes after that, when Trump says: I also see it that somebody with strong views, and somebody with the kind of views that are maybe a little bit unpopular   which may be right but may be unpopular   wouldn t necessarily have a chance of getting elected against somebody with no great brain but a big smile. This clip was never aired, and it s certainly worth watching now for the ridiculous irony of it all:My, how things have changed over the last 36 years. If only Trump had stayed in this frame of mind throughout his life.For someone who didn t want to live  a mean life , Trump has certainly fulfilled that prophecy   and he hasn t even been elected! Trump has continued to spit out the most vile, racist, offensive rhetoric a presidential campaign has ever seen, and single-handedly continues to divide America even more. He has attacked immigrants, Muslims, women   basically any minority   and encouraged a terrifying brand of hate to wash over America as his supporters become increasingly violent and angry.Trump has even divided the Republican party, and his vulgar tactics continue to threaten its destruction. He s proven that he will go after anyone who threatens his ego, whether it s the President, fellow candidate, a politician, news anchor, etc. He s a bully, a racist, a misogynist and a liar who cannot be trusted with the future of America. He s probably become much of what his younger self didn t want to be, because without a doubt he is the candidate with  no great brain but a big smile. Featured image is a screenshot",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
16172,16173,"The virtual cathedral for one of America ' s most revered cars will reluctantly fill a monster sinkhole that brought it both pain and gain .  The National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green , Kentucky , also said Saturday it and Chevrolet will restore three of the eight vehicles that the 45 foot wide hole swallowed in February , but will leave the remains of the five others too wrecked to fix on display .  "" We really wanted to preserve a portion of the hole so that guests for years to come could see a little bit of what it was like , but after receiving more detailed pricing , the costs outweighs the benefit , "" museum Executive Director Wendell Strode said .  Why was the hole ' s filling ever in doubt ? Visitor traffic since February jumped 70 compared to the same period last year , as people lined up to see not only the brand ' s past but also the newly mangled vehicles and gaping earth , museum spokeswoman Katie Frassinelli said .  But the board learned that preserving part of the hole would cost 1 million more than it would to fill the whole thing . And the effort required to keep it safe eyesores like 35 foot retaining walls and steel beams made preservation even less appealing , Frassinelli said .  "" That ' s no longer a naturally occurring , interesting sinkhole , "" she said .  Frassinelli said the museum isn ' t revealing how much the renovation will cost . The project will start sometime after early November .  The privately funded , not for profit attraction has gone from shock to proudly displaying its own spectacular damage in months .  The ground opened at the museum ' s Skydome section in the early morning of February 12 . Surveillance video showed the hole devouring some of the eight cars that it took down .  The hole was measured at about 45 feet wide , 60 feet long and up to 30 feet deep .  Western Kentucky is cave country , and it turned out a previously undetected cave was under the Skydome , Frassinelli said . Sinkholes pop up regularly in the area , sometimes caused by ground water eroding underground limestone over many years .  After experts examined the cave and determined the rest of the facility was safe , the museum reopened and started letting visitors view the sinkhole behind plexiglass five days after the incident .  By late April , visitors could walk into the Skydome and stand just feet from the hole ' s edge . The museum also brought up the fallen cars some sliced or mashed and put them on display as mangled as they were found .  But on Saturday the museum announced three cars would be restored , including a 2009 ZR1 prototype known as the Blue Devil , among  ' s fastest production cars . Also getting restored : the 1 millionth Corvette produced ( a white 1992 convertible ) , and a 1962 tuxedo black Corvette , which was the oldest to fall .  The others were too damaged . But their remains will continued to be displayed eventually back in the Skydome , where an exhibit will be dedicated to the sinkhole , the museum said .  General Motors will provide nearly 250 , 000 to help recovery efforts , the museum said .  The damage got the attention of gearheads worldwide . Reports estimated the total value of the cars at more than 1 million .  Experts call the Corvette the most collected car in America , and General Motors calls it the "" world ' s longest running , continuously produced passenger car . "" Since the ' Vette ' s 1953 debut , more than 1 . 5 million have rolled off Chevrolet assembly lines . The sleek silhouette has transformed into a pop culture icon across  , films and advertising .  Watch : How the museum has been showcasing the sinkhole  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
16195,16196,"The man accused of using Facebook to lure a teenager to her death confessed the murder to his ex girlfriend , according to testimony she gave in court on Monday .  Kyle Dube , 21 , of Orono , Maine , is accused of using a phony social media account to kidnap 15 year old Nichole Cable , of Glenburn , and kill her in May 2013 .  During an emotional testimony , she added : ' He told me that he strangled her at the end of her road . He said he put duct tape on her mouth , her eyes and on her hands and feet .  Elaborate plot ? Kyle Dube , 21 , ( pictured left in court last week ) allegedly abducted Nichole Cable , 15 , ( right ) in 2013 so that he could stage a rescue and be hailed as a hero . His ex girlfriend has told a court he confessed to killing her and dumping her body in woodland in Bangor , Maine  ' He said he took her clothes off so the police dogs couldn ' t smell her . He said he covered her with sticks and leaves , so they couldn ' t see her from the sky . '  The court heard Mersinger would spend 18 or 19 days out of 21 at the house Dube shared with his parents and a four year old daughter from another relationship .  Mersinger also told the jury that she had met Dube on Facebook , where they began messaging each other . They began dating in November 2012 but her mother didn ' t approve  Prosecutors say  evidence ties Dube to Nichole ' s disappearance . His attorneys say someone else killed the high school sophomore .  Dube is pleading not guilty to abduction and murder , arguing that somebody else committed the crimes .  During a court hearing last week , it was alleged Dube was intending to abduct her then stage a fake rescue so he could be hailed as a hero .  According to the prosecution , the bogus account was traced to his home , his  was found on a hat at the end of Nichole ' s driveway and cell tower records show that he was in the area of Nichole ' s home .  Accused : Prosecutors say Dube , pictured with his attorney during a hearing last Monday , left a hat with his  on it near Nichole ' s home  Defense attorney Wendy Hatch said last Monday that the state rushed to judge Dube , and she argued that someone else had committed the crimes .  ' We are here to show you the state has holes in their case . They have mistakes , big mistakes , ' Hatch told the jury , adding that Dube ' got up the next morning , got dressed , kissed his daughter goodbye and went to work . '  Assistant Attorney General Donald Macomber said Dube ' s  was also found on Cable ' s fingernails , and he had scratches on his face after she disappeared .  He also said Dube alluded to the crime while having an emotional outburst as officers tried to calm him down while he reported to jail for an unrelated traffic offense .  ' Dube responded it was what he had done , that they didn ' t know he had done , that he was worried about , ' Macomber said .  Horrifying : The court heard Dube ( mugshot left ) covered Nichole ' s ( right ) body in leaves so she couldn ' t be seen from the sky and took her clothes off so police dogs couldn ' t smell her  The trial is expected to last two weeks and includes a witness list with more than 80 names .  The case prompted discussions about the appropriate use of social media at the high school she attended in Old Town .  Nichole ' s mother , Kristine Wiley , testified that she knew Dube as a friend of her daughter ' s who came by their house two or three times before her disappearance .  Between tears , she testified that Dube reached out to her with an offer to baby sit her other children after Nichole vanished but before her body was found .  Wiley said Dube first told her he had heard Wiley said he was responsible for Nichole ' s disappearance .  Wiley said she denied the accusation and that Dube then told her ' if I needed anything , call ' and that he would watch her other children for her . She said she never took him up on the offer .  Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
16201,16202,"Reuters) - U.S. Representative Elijah Cummings and President Donald Trump will meet to discuss efforts to lower prescription drug prices on Wednesday, Cummings, the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform’s top Democrat, said in a statement on Tuesday. Trump earlier on Tuesday said he is developing a plan that will encourage competition in the drug industry and bring down prices for medicines. ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
16210,16211,"Rumours that the health of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un is deteriorating continue to grow , with the leader absent from his customary seat as the country convened its rubber stamp parliament .  Seoul officials said the absence from Thursday ' s meeting appeared to be Kim ' s first since he took power after his father Kim Jong Il died in December 2011 .  It has been claimed that Kim has been putting his health at serious risk due to his dangerously high consumption of Emmental cheese .  Weight gain : North Korean leader Kim Jong un got a taste for the cheese while a student in Switzerland and is understood to love it so much that he imports vast quantities despite Western sanctions  The 31 year old North Korean leader got a taste for the cheese while a student in Switzerland and is understood to love it so much that he imports vast quantities , despite Western sanctions .  A unhealthy appetite for Emmental , also known as Swiss cheese , is believed to be a key factor in Kim ' s weight ballooning so much in recent months that he now walks with a limp .  Experts believe Kim may be deliberately gaining weight in order to look more like his grandfather Kim Il sung , who is venerated in North Korea as the nation ' s founder and even now exactly 20 years after his death is still considered the head of state , with the title Eternal President of the Republic .  Kim has not been a presence in state media since attending a Pyongyang concert on September 3 .  There ' s been no discussion of the absence in the authoritarian North ' s media .  Inspiration : Experts believe Kim Jong un may be using his love of Emmental ( left ) to deliberately gain weight in order to look more like his corpulent grandfather late Kim Il sung ( right )  North Korea is not accepting American offers to send a high level envoy to seek the release of three detained Americans , it has been claimed .  Robert King , the U . S . special envoy for North Korean human rights issues , said freeing the detainees could provide a diplomatic opening between the nations , also snared by Pyongyang ' s development of nuclear weapons .  But he said Washington would not give into attempts to ' extort ' political gain from the detentions .  North Korea last week sentenced 24 year old Matthew Miller of Bakersfield , California , to six years hard labor , deepening U . S . concern over the cases .  Miller , who according to the court tore up his visa on arrival in Pyongyang in April , was convicted of entering the country illegally to commit espionage .  Another trial is expected soon for Jeffrey Fowle , of Miamisburg , Ohio , who was arrested in May for leaving a Bible at a sailor ' s club .  North Korea ' s official Korean Central Television says the Supreme People ' s Assembly approved the promotion of Hwang Pyong So as the vice chairman of the country ' s powerful National Defense Commission .  Kim Jong un ' s unhealthy obsession with Emmental has led to him importing vast quantities of the cheese for his own consumption despite millions of North Koreans struggling to find enough to eat .  Malnutrition is widespread and famines often break out in the country , which is still reliant on foreign food aid as a result of economic mismanagement and the loss of Soviet support in the 1990s .  But despite the suffering of his 25 million citizens , Kim continues to gorge on Swiss cheese in such vast quantities that he is waistline is expanding at a dangerously rapid rate , according to the Mirror .  North Koreans who have managed to flee the country believe the weight gain may be deliberate in order to look more like his corpulent late grandfather Kim Il sung .  He established an all pervasive cult of personality around himself after turning North Korea into a oppressive single party socialist state in the early 1980s .  Defector Cho Myung Chul , of the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy , said : ' North Koreans think being fat is good , unlike South Koreans who want to be skinny .  ' There is a high chance Jong un intentionally gained weight to look like Il sung . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
16224,16225,"10/27/16 Rob Kirby | Unspoken Secrets October 27, 2016 Will the media ever publicize the  secrets already released by Julian Assange? Today on TRUNEWS, Rick Wiles details the latest election defining revelations, as WikiLeaks exposes Bill’s generational ‘get rich’ scheme, run through the Clinton Foundation, and the elite's preparations for World War as an October Surprise. Rick also speaks with Rob Kirby, the financial analyst behind Kirby Analytics, regarding the Deutsche Bank’s magical earnings report, and the state of the largest economic bubble in human history.  Today’s Audio Streamcast. Click the audio bar to listen:              Video Platform   Video Management   Video Solutions   Video Player   Right-click to download today’s show to your local device in mp3 format: Streamcast MP3  Email: | Twitter: @EdwardSzall | Facebook: Ed Szall      on Apple and Google Play ! Donate Today! Support  to help build a global news network that provides a credible source for world news  We believe Christians need and deserve their own global news network to keep the worldwide Church informed, and to offer Christians a positive alternative to the anti-Christian bigotry of the mainstream news media How To Listen To   Here on our show pages, there are two ways to listen to TRUNEWS. The first is to use the embedded player on the page. It is the black bar that you see above. Just click the arrow on the player for today’s broadcast. If you prefer to save the program to listen to it later on your  or mobile device, just click the ‘ MP3’ link above to archive that particular streamcast. Streamcast Archives",fake,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present
16226,16227,"Champion cyclist Lance Armstrong faked his battle with cancer in a shocking effort to gain millions in endorsement deals , The Daily Currant can exclusively reveal .  According to a soon to be released report from the U . S Anti Doping Agency (  ) , Armstrong used doping doctors to falsify his medical records fooling sponsors and the public into believing he had recovered from a cancer which had never even existed .  The revelation of the shocking scam was a surprising result of the ongoing investigation into Armstrong ' s alleged doping . The 41 year old Texan has been accused of systemically using performance enhancing drugs for decades , a charge Armstrong denies but has declined to contest in arbitration .  As a result of the charges he has fortified all of his Tour de France titles , lost all of his major sponsorships , and has resigned as president of his charity Livestrong foundation .  The Bigger They Are . . .  Vincent Cassenoix , leader of the  team in charge of the case , explains how they came to uncover the next piece of the Armstrong ' s fraudulent story :  "" The more we looked at his medical records , the more we saw that something just didn ' t add up . He had gone to great effort to hide his pre 1997 records , and when we found them they were only signed by a single doctor , and he wasn ' t even licensed to treat cancer . ""  Cassenoix says Armstrong planned the scam after a benign lump in his testicles was found in 1995 . After that experience Armstrong became convinced that actually having cancer could benefit his career .  The effort came to head in 1996 when Armstrong knew that in order to ease doubts about his condition he needed to fully commit to the cause . He personally performed an at home self orchiectomy to give the appearance of surviving testicular cancer .  A top oncologist from Princeton University Medical School explains Armstrong ' s procedure in layman ' s terms :  "" Basically he cut his own rocks off . He probably used a pocket knife or something . It must have been pretty grizzly . ""  . . . The Harder Their Balls  Reaction to the news has been largely one of disbelief and outrage .  "" I can ' t believe he would do that . , "" says Sarah Putnam of Santa Barbara ,  "" But then again he is a cheater . That ' s the problem with cheating . Once you lose your credibility you can ' t get it back . People will start suspecting you for all sorts of things . ""  Donald Trump , the millionaire socialite and reality  star , says his once ironclad faith in Armstrong has been shaken to the core by the revelation :  "" I ' d do pretty much anything for money , but I ' d never sacrifice the family jewels . That ' s crazy . This guy ' s more of a slimy dirt bag than I am . ""  Not everyone has written Armstrong off , however . Chad Dunham , a 23 year old fan from Eugene ,  says Armstrong will always be a champion in his book :  "" It takes a lot of balls to cut your own nuts off . As far as I ' m concerned he ' s still a hero . ""  ",satire,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,negative,past
16265,16266,"Dozens of children called for freedom , held anti government signs and criticized President Bashar al Assad in at least two Syrian cities on Sunday , a day before al Assad planned to make another speech to the unsettled nation .  In a video posted on YouTube , showing a demonstration the cameraman claims took place Sunday in the Damascus suburb of Kaboon , dozens of mostly young people walk down a street brandishing signs , chanting and in some cases wearing party hats with messages on them . They are joined by a handful of adults , including one man who puts a boy on his shoulders as they march .  Another YouTube video , purportedly from the coastal city of Latakia , shows a group of young boys clapping and voicing anti government sentiments . One boy leads the chants , with no adults visible .  The repeated phrases range from the patriotic "" Long live Syria "" to others targeting Syria ' s leader with slogans like "" Bashar al Assad go away "" and "" The people need the fall of the regime . ""  Middle East , North Africa : Unrest country by country  There was no indication of violence Sunday , unlike what ' s been reported during dozens of other protests that have erupted since the mid March arrest of teens for writing anti government graffiti in Daraa . More than 1 , 100 people may have died in subsequent unrest across Syria , according to the human rights activist group Amnesty International .  Critics have accused forces loyal to al Assad of targeting defenseless demonstrators and hindering outside help for those in need . The Syrian government has consistently blamed the protest casualties on "" armed gangs . ""  Al Assad on Monday afternoon will deliver his third speech in recent months about the situation in Syria , according to the official  news agency .  International pressure against the Damascus government has steadily grown , with calls from political leaders in the United States , Europe and elsewhere criticizing the perceived government clampdown on demonstrators .  Beatrice Megevand Roggo , the Red Cross ' director for the Near East and Middle East , said in an interview posted last month on the group ' s website that a lack of information and access has greatly hindered humanitarian assistance to Syria .  The head of her group , International Committee of the Red Cross President Jakob Kellenberger , will arrive in the Syrian capital on Sunday night , the organization announced via Twitter .  He plans to "" discuss the humanitarian situation "" and the role of the Red Cross with Syrian authorities , the nonprofit group said .  Kellenberger ' s visit comes two days after another high profile activist actress and U . N . goodwill ambassador Angelina Jolie met with Syrian refugees in Turkey and drew attention to the anguish faced by families affected by the violence and reported government crackdown .  The refugees that Jolie visited are living in four camps managed by Turkey and the Turkish Red Crescent , reports the U . N . ' s refugee agency .  "" The people in this camp have fled in fear for their lives , and many told me they were distraught about the safety of loved ones still in Syria , "" Jolie said , according to the U . N . group .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
16267,16268,"Congress voted Monday to cut federal funding for the superconducting monkey collider , a controversial experiment which has cost taxpayers an estimated 7 . 6 billion a year since its creation in 1983 .  The collider , which was to be built within a 45 mile long circular tunnel , would accelerate monkeys to near light speeds before smashing them together . Scientists insist the collider is an important step toward understanding the universe , because no one can yet say for certain what kind of noises monkeys would make if collided at those high speeds .  "" It could be a thump , a splat , or maybe even a sound that hasn ' t yet been heard by human ears , "" said project head Dr Eric Reed Friday , in an impassioned plea to Congress . "" How are we supposed to understand things like the atom or the nature of gravity if we don ' t even know what colliding monkeys sound like ? ""  But Congress , under heavy pressure from the powerful monkey rights lobby , decided that money being spent on the monkey collider would be put to better use in other areas of government . Now , with funding cut off , the future of our nation ' s monkey collision program looks bleak .  Congress began funding the monkey collider in 1983 , after Reed convinced lawmakers that the U . S . was lagging behind the Soviet Union in monkey colliding technology . Funds were quickly allocated so that Reed could spend a week procuring monkeys on Florida ' s beautiful Captiva Island . Though Reed returned with a great tan and a beautiful young fiancee , he reported that there were no monkeys to be found on the sunny Gulf Coast island . Congress funded subsequent trips to the Cayman Islands , Bora Bora and Cancun , but these searches also yielded negative results .  Two years passed without a single monkey being procured , and Congress was close to cutting the project ' s funding . It was then that Reed got the idea to utilize monkeys already being bred in captivity . The Congressional Subcommittee for Scientific Investigation was enthralled by the idea of watching caged monkeys copulate , and increased funding by 40 percent .  With a steady supply of monkeys ensured , construction of the monkey collider began on a scenic Colorado site . Despite environmental pressure , a mountain was levelled to facilitate construction of the seven mile wide complex . Huge underground tunnels were dug , at a cost of billions of dollars and 17 lives . Money left over was used to build resort homes , spas and video arcades for Reed , his colleagues and several Congressmen .  Construction of the collider ' s acceleration mechanism was delayed for years , as scientists couldn ' t decide how to get the monkeys up to smashing speed . Last month , it was finally decided that the collider would employ a system in which the monkeys run through the tunnels chasing holographic projections of bananas . "" Monkeys love bananas , "" Reed said , "" and they ' re willing to run extremely fast to get them . ""  But now it seems the acceleration mechanism may never be built . With the monkey collider placed on indefinite hold , the huge research facility in Colorado lies dormant .  To keep the space from going to waste , Congress Monday voted to convert the empty underground tunnel into a federally funded drag racing track . The track is expected to create hundreds of jobs in the form of pit crews and concessions workers , and will allow President Clinton to impress important foreign dignitaries with America ' s wheelie technology .  Despite this promising alternate plan , most involved with the monkey collider project feel the sudden cuts in funding are inexcusable . "" It is a travesty of science , "" Reed said . "" I remember the joy I felt in college when I would launch monkeys at one another with big rubber bands , and this project would have been even more enlightening . ""  ",satire,text,validation,Football,Conflict,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
16269,16270,"Patriots owner Robert Kraft tells Brian Kilmeade of Fox and Friends about the special friend that Trump was to him and how he went out of his way to help him after his  beloved  wife died,  I m loyal to my friends, I remember who the people are  there when the tough times are there and he did that for me. ""I remember who the people are there when the tough times are there and he did that for me."" -Robert Kraft on his friendship with Pres Trump pic.twitter.com/pQiBWDYCtF   & friends (@foxandfriends) February 3, 2017",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present
16274,16275,"Republican presidential candidates complained about the questions asked during last week ' s debate on  . They ' ve demanded that rules be changed for future debates .  Ben Carson blamed moderators for asking questions designed for the candidates to explain their positions . He called those "" gotcha questions . ""  "" We need a change of format , "" Carson said the day after the debate . "" Debates are supposed to be to ' get to know the candidates , ' what is behind them . What it has turned into is a gotcha . "" ?  Carson doesn ' t know the difference between a first date and a debate .  "" People who want to be president of the United States should be able to answer tough questions , "" Steel said .  On Monday , President Barack Obama needled the  candidates for saying that he had shown weakness in negotiations with Russia and China . But , Obama said , the candidates then whined about questions from  moderators John Harwood , Carl Quintanilla , and Becky Quick .  "" Then it turns out they can ' t handle a bunch of  moderators at the debate . "" Obama said . "" Let me tell you , if you can ' t handle those guys , then I don ' t think the Chinese and the Russians are going to be too worried about you . ""  I wonder how Ted Cruz , Chris Christie , Marco Rubio , or Ben Carson would hold up to the scrutiny of Kathie Lee and Hoda on The Today Show .  Being president is a tough job . If you ' re running for president , you ' ve got to answer tough questions . And yes , sometimes , you have to answer questions you don ' t want to answer .  If not , you should quit , as Jeb Bush threatened , and go do "" really cool things , "" which , in the case of the  candidates , would involve heckling teachers , gays , immigrants , the sick , and the poor .  Democracies depend on the electorate to be informed . The electorate , in turn , depends on the news media to ask questions that reveal the candidates not as they want to be perceived , but as they are .   candidates say we must censor the news media to protect us from a democracy .  Candidates included their demands about ground rules for the remaining debates , the respective campaigns told Fox News but none of the other networks .  What ' s included in the demands ? Perhaps , fact checkers must be banned from the debates . What ' s the point of making up things if the fact checkers are going to correct them ?  The candidates are negotiating about having the rest of the debates on Fox News , which the  has declared a "" sanctuary city . ""  If this happens , candidates won ' t have mainstream journalists or the "" liberal media "" to blame for their dishonesty , cynicism , and demagoguery .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
16275,16276,"The ' cow ' was searched and found to be carrying 175lbs of crack  The Uniformed Division of the Secret Service (  ) was notified by tourists at the White House that a cow was running lose on the South Lawn .  Officers checked and verified the tourists ' observations and called the Secret Service office , the  Department of Agriculture (  ) ,  and the Bureau of Alcohol , Tobacco , Firearms and Explosives (  ) for assistance .  The White House was placed on lockdown , although President Obama and his family are currently vacationing on Martha ' s Vineyard  . A  team ,  Officers , Secret Service Agents ,  Agents and  Agents cornered the wandering cow eating rutabagas in First Lady Michele ' s vegetable garden .  The bovine was determined to be a Mexican cow by a  Biologist and was temporarily sent to a  farm facility in nearby Maryland for quarantine purposes . The question remained as to how did the Mexican cow get onto the White House grounds unseen ? Someone joked that "" President Obama had left the White House Southern Lawn Gate open before going on vacation . ""   Officers and all the other government personnel available were dispatched to thoroughly search the White House grounds for any evidence .  The Chief of the  Detail called in the officers on duty at the front gate of the White House that day and asked who had entered ? Entry logs were checked and only former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton , her aide and a driver entered the White House grounds in a tinted window Suburban  for a meeting . Their credentials were all in order .  One  officer remembered that she thought it strange to have a White House meeting when the president was on vacation . She also noted that Hillary Clinton and her aide were sitting in the darkened back seats of the automobile . Hillary wore her usual pants suit , but her complexion didn ' t look right , as if she were a guy pretending to be a gal . The aide was just an ugly "" cow with lipstick , "" who only mumbled what sounded like moo ! Another  Officer said that only a man and a woman left 20 minutes later , after the guard rotation . Oops !  At that moment the  Biologist rushed into the room with a note he found on the South Lawn that read "" President Obama is the "" laughing stock of the world , so we sent him an illegal immigrant cow . ""  ",satire,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
16276,16277,"calls for adult ratings on films that feature smoking  The organisation says 44 per cent of all Hollywood films , and 36 per cent of films rated for young people in 2014 contained smoking .  Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at tTiffany ' s .  call for adult rating on movies the feature smoking ? Photo : Paramount  Films which contain smoking scenes should be given an adult rating , the World Health Organisation (  ) suggested in a report .  With film awards season in full swing ,  is calling on governments to tackle the use of tobacco products in movies in an effort to prevent the younger generation from taking up the habit .  Transformers : Age of Extinction ? Photo : Paramount Pictures  In its report , published yesterday ,  cites statistics claiming that 44 per cent of all Hollywood films , and 36 per cent of films rated for young people in 2014 contained smoking .  A study of the 15 most commercially successful films in the  between 1989 and 2008 found tobacco in 70 per cent of all films , 92 per cent of which were rated for children aged younger than 18 . Specific brands appeared in 9 per cent of films and was nearly twice as likely to occur in films originating wholly or in part in the  .  With ever tighter restrictions on tobacco advertising , film remains one of the last channels exposing millions of adolescents to smoking imagery without restrictions .  Almost two thirds of top grossing films featured tobacco imagery between 2002 and 2014 . For example , Transformers : Age of Extinction , a 3D science fiction action film based on the popular toys , features a robot that smokes cigars .  That same year , the  Surgeon General reported that adult ratings of future films with smoking would reduce smoking rates among young people in the  by nearly one fifth and avert one million tobacco related deaths among today s children and adolescents .  With ever tighter restrictions on tobacco advertising , film remains one of the last channels exposing millions of adolescents to smoking imagery without restrictions , said Dr Douglas Bettcher ,  s director for the department of prevention of noncommunicable diseases .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
16286,16287,"Reuters) - Mexican Economy Secretary Ildefonso Guajardo said on Tuesday that the North American Free Trade Agreement’s rules of origin can be improved but denied that Mexico was a “back door” for Chinese goods to enter the United States. Speaking in a live interview on CNBC, Guajardo also said he believed there were grounds to believe that  can be renegotiated to benefit the United States, Canada and Mexico. He said, however, that “Plan B” for Mexico would be to revert to World Trade Organization tariff rates for exports to the United States such as the 2.5 percent tariff for passenger cars. “Obviously, (it is) a little bit more expensive, but it’s not the end of the world,” he added. He said that the Chinese content of cars traded between North American countries was very low, about 3 percent, largely using parts that are no longer produced in the region, such as flat panel display screens and other electronic items. “This idea that Mexico is being used as a back door for Chinese imports into the U.S. is not the right one,” he said. Under the current  agreement, motor vehicles must have 62.5 percent North American content, a figure that U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has said is too low and allows for too much content from other regions to benefit from  tariff-free status. Guajardo warned that raising the bar too high on North American content could make the region less competitive. “We can make an effort to strengthen that, no question about it. But if you go too far, you may be shooting yourself in the foot, because you’re losing competitiveness,” he said. Negotiations to modernize the 23-year-old  trade deal are expected to start after Aug. 16, at the conclusion of a U.S. government consultation period with lawmakers, industries and the public. Guajardo also said that he and Ross were close to announcing an agreement on sugar trade between the two countries.  ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
16297,16298,"Published : 11 : 33  , 3 December 2015 Updated : 11 : 34  , 3 December 2015   , Germany (  ) ? The European Central Bank cut a key interest rate and extended its stimulus program to bolster the 19 country eurozone economy ? but the actions underwhelmed investors , who pushed stocks sharply lower .  The main move by the  was to cut the interest rate on deposits from commercial banks from minus 0 . 2 percent to minus 0 . 3 percent .  That is intended to push banks to lend by imposing a penalty on the cash they park at the central bank . Many in the markets , however , had predicted a bigger cut to minus 0 . 4 percent .  President of Euorpean Central Bank Mario Draghi speaks during a press conference following a meeting of the governing council in Frankfurt , Germany , Thursday , Dec . 3 , 2015 . (  Photo Michael Probst )  And alongside other measures ,  President Mario Draghi said the bank will extend the duration of its bond buying program , which aims to make borrowing cheaper for businesses and consumers .  The program , which was due to run at least through September 2016 , is now intended to run until March 2017 or beyond if necessary . Because the monthly cap of 60 billion euros in bond purchases was maintained , that will increase the overall size of the 1 . 1 trillion euro ( 1 . 2 trillion ) program by 360 billion euros .  "" Today ' s decisions were taken in order to secure a return of inflation rates towards levels that are below , but close to , 2 percent and thereby to anchor medium term inflation expectations , "" Draghi told reporters at a news conference .  The  , the chief monetary authority for the countries that use the shared euro currency , also :  ? expanded the kinds of bonds it would buy , to include those issued by regional authorities .  ? said it would re invest principal payments on the bonds it has bought . This is an important step that means the eventual maturing of the bonds will not reduce the level of monetary stimulus over coming months and years .  ? extended its offer of unlimited short term credits to banks through the end of 2017 .  The actions were not enough , however , to satisfy markets , which had expected significantly more .  In frenzied trading , the euro jumped 2 . 4 percent to 1 . 0861 after the  announcements . Earlier in the day , it had been pushing down towards 1 . 05 and there were some predictions it was headed toward 1 . 00 in the coming weeks .  In stock markets , the moves were equally sharp . Having spent most of the day higher , European stock markets plunged . Germany ' s  was down a whopping 3 percent while the  40 in France slid 2 . 6 percent .  "" This has been a huge failure from the  , "" said James Hughes , chief market analyst at  . "" Much more was expected . ""  Draghi said the decisions were not unanimous but that there was a very large majority in favor of the moves . He said the deposit rate cut was "" adequate . ""  "" I don ' t think our communication was wrong , "" he said . "" I think these measures need time to be fully appreciated . ""  Analyst Carsten Brzeski at  DiBa said stimulus skeptics may have had more clout than expected during Thursday ' s meeting of the 25 member governing council . "" The  ' s decision to deliver only a very bare minimum of additional monetary stimulus indicates that the hawks at the  are stronger than many market participants had thought , "" he said .   Board member Jens Weidmann , who also heads Germany ' s national central bank , has spoken out recently , saying that existing measures need time to work and that the outlook for the economy was not that bad .  The  wants to raise annual inflation toward its goal of just under 2 percent as part of its legal mandate to maintain price stability .  Draghi said there are "" continued downside risks "" to the inflation outlook . The  trimmed its forecasts for inflation next year , to 1 percent from 1 . 1 percent previously , and for 2017 to 1 . 6 percent from 1 . 7 percent .  "" The persistence of low inflation rates reflects sizeable economic slack weighing on domestic price pressures and headwinds from the external environment , "" Draghi said .  Low inflation can help consumers by making their euros go farther . But it is a sign of weak demand , and can lead to chronic stagnation if people begin anticipating flat or falling prices in purchasing decisions and wage agreements .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
16309,16310,"A woman put on trial for wearing clothing deemed indecent by Sudanese authorities was jailed Monday for refusing to pay a court ordered fine , her lawyer said .  Sudanese journalist Lubna Ahmed al Hussein was facing 40 lashes for wearing trousers .  Lubna al Hussein had faced 40 lashes for wearing pants deemed too tight and a blouse considered too sheer . The threat of lashes was dropped when a court found her guilty but ordered instead that she pay a fine .  Al Hussein will appeal her verdict in an effort to have the conservative Muslim government ' s decency law declared unconstitutional , Adib said by phone from Khartoum . Watch what outfit brought the charges  "" We intend to file an appeal within the next three days , but we do not know how long it will take the court of appeals to decide on the case , "" Adib said . "" We expect it will happen in the next two to three weeks . ""  He said al Hussein could be in jail for a month unless her verdict is overturned .  Al Hussein , who was arrested in July , pleaded not guilty during her one day trial Monday , he said . She was not allowed to call defense witnesses or present a defense case , he added .  She was sentenced to pay 500 Sudanese pounds ( 209 ) or face a month in prison , starting immediately , the lawyer said .  "" She thinks that she did not have fair trial and a conviction was wrong so she did not want to pay the fine nor let anyone else pay on her behalf , "" Nadib said .  Al Hussein , a journalist who worked in the media department of the United Nations mission in Sudan , resigned from her U . N . position in order to waive her immunity as an international worker and face trial .  A Sudanese official accused "" the West "" of interfering in the case .  Mohammed Khair , the information attach at the Sudan Consulate in Dubai , said the international campaign surrounding the case "" proves the West contributes only toward deepening ( the ) crisis . ""  The human rights organization Amnesty International had previously called for the charges to be dropped .  "" The manner in which this law has been used against women is unacceptable , and the penalty called for by the law up to 40 lashes abhorrent , "" Tawanda Hondora , deputy director of Amnesty International ' s Africa program , said in a statement .  Al Hussein was arrested along with 18 other women on July 3 at a Khartoum restaurant when police burst in and checked women for their clothing .  "" I don ' t think she was targeted specifically , "" Adib said . "" They attack public and private parties and groups . They are called ' morality police ' and she was just a victim of a round up . "" Put your questions to Dutch activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali here  At the time of her arrest , she said , she was wearing pants , a blouse and a hijab , or a headscarf worn by Muslim women .  Scores of protesters gathered outside the courtroom in Khartoum to support al Hussein in early August , when she was last scheduled to be tried .  The demonstrators carried banners and wore headbands with the messages , "" No return to the dark ages "" and "" No to suppressing women . "" Others demanded an amendment to the country ' s public order law that human rights activists say is vague on what constitutes indecent dress .  U . N . Secretary General Ban Ki moon has said he is concerned about al Hussein ' s case .  "" The United Nations will make every effort to ensure that the rights of its staff members are protected , "" Ban said in July . "" The flogging is against the international human rights standards . I call on all parties to live up to their obligations under all relevant international instruments . ""  In addition to the group of lawyers defending her , al Hussein was also represented by two Egyptian defense attorneys , she said .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
16311,16312,"The U . S . military has obtained new video apparently made by those holding the lone American prisoner of war , Army Sgt . Bowe Bergdahl .  He was seized in Afghanistan in June 2009 and is believed held by the Taliban aligned Haqqani network in Pakistan , the official said .  The so called proof of life video , the first of him in nearly three years , has a reference to December 14 , 2013 .  U . S . efforts to free Bergdahl , including negotiating for his release , have so far failed .  "" Sgt . Bowe Bergdahl has been gone far too long , and we continue to call for and work toward his safe and immediate release , "" a Pentagon spokesman said .  Bergdahl strong , well rounded and easy to talk to , friends say  "" We cannot discuss all the details of our efforts , but there should be no doubt that on a daily basis using our military , intelligence and diplomatic tools we work to see Sgt . Bergdahl returned home safely , "" the spokesman said .  His family , who received a letter from him last year via the Red Cross , issued a statement in response to the latest video .  "" As we have done so many times over the past 4 and a half years , we request his captors to release him safely so that our only son can be reunited with his mother and father , "" the statement reads . ""  If see this , continue to remain strong through patience . Your endurance will carry you to the finish line . Breathe ! ""  Bergdahl was 23 when he was captured after finishing a guard shift at a combat outpost in southeastern Paktika province .  The U . S . government acknowledged in May 2012 that it was engaged in talks with the Taliban to free Bergdahl .  The discussions moved in fits and starts because of U . S . concerns that any Taliban prisoners swapped for Bergdahl might be repatriated and allowed to rejoin the fight .  Later that year , however , the White House announced it was willing to send five Taliban prisoners to Qatar in exchange for Bergdahl .  U . S .  ' s dad to Taliban : ' Let there be peace '   and  in Iraq and Afghanistan  ",true,text,validation,American football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
16314,16315,"Fourth seed Elena Dementieva avoided an embarrassing early exit when comeback queen Jelena Dokic ' s French Open hopes were ended by a back injury on Thursday .  Jelena Dokic was left in tears after being forced to retire hurt against Elena Dementieva at the French Open .  Dokic , taking part in her first French Open since 2004 following well documented family problems , won the first set 6 2 and after her first break for treatment broke the 2004 finalist to lead 3 2 in their second round clash .  But the Russian won the next two games as the tearful former world No . 4 was reduced to walking pace before calling it quits .  "" I went for a return and I just went down and couldn ' t get back up , "" she said . "" It ' s very painful and very disappointing because I felt as if I had the match in my hands . ""  Dokic , now ranked 80th after reviving her career with a run to the quarter finals of the Australian Open in January , had won her opening match on Tuesday when she came back from a set down to beat Slovenia ' s Karolina Sprem 3 6 6 1 6 2 .  The 26 year old ' s career had nosedived following her highly publicized split from controversial mentor and father Damir .  Dementieva will next play Australian 30th seed Samantha Stosur , who won her second round match in straight sets against Belgium ' s Yanina Wickmayer .  Earlier on Thursday , the Williams sisters also progressed through to the third round with contrasting victories .  Second seed Serena crushed Virginia Ruano Pascual 6 2 6 0 to set up a clash with another unseeded Spaniard , Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez .  Third seed Venus survived a scare against unseeded Czech Lucie Safarova before completing a match that was halted on Wednesday night due to bad light .  The American saved a match point at 5 4 down in the third set before managing to hold , break her opponent and then serve out to love for a 6 7 ( 5 7 ) 6 2 7 5 success .  Venus , who lost the 2002 final to Serena , will next play Hungarian 29th seed Agnes Szavay .  Fifth seed Jelena Jankovic had no such troubles in beating Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia 6 1 6 2 , setting up a third round clash with unseeded Austrian Jarmila Groth .  Seventh seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova also advanced along with Danish 10th seed Caroline Wozniacki , but 13th seed Marion Bartoli of France made a surprise exit .  The 2007 Wimbledon finalist lost 6 3 7 5 to Tathiana Garbin of Italy , who will next take on unseeded Virginie Razzano of France .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
16317,16318,"An   war has broken out on social media between Alec Baldwin and film producer Dana Brunetti over claims that the actor did not know actress Nikki Reed was underage when she and Baldwin filmed sex scenes for the 2006 movie Mini’s First Time. [Baldwin writes in his new book, Nevertheless, that he didn’t realize Reed was underaged until the end of filming. “When I found out, just as we finished, that she was 17, I flipped out on the producers, who had told me something different,” he writes.  Brunettti fired back at Baldwin on Twitter Tuesday, confirming that the actor “knew Reed was 16, didn’t find out  filming, and did not yell at us. ” Brunettti  —   who has since produced the Twilight and 50 Shades of Grey film franchises  —   further refuted Baldwin’s claims in a interview published Wednesday morning with the Hollywood Reporter. “Of course he totally knew how old she was,” Brunetti told THR. “That’s why there’s no nudity in the movie. He knew before we even cast the movie. I think he’s been method acting Trump too much and he doesn’t know difference between fake news anymore. ” By Wednesday night, the Hollywood   were trading personal insults in what has descended into a very public,   social media war of words. A lengthy Twitter battle broke out between Baldwin and Brunetti, with both stars threatening to bury the other. @TatianaSiegel27 @DanaBrunetti @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am And Hollywood producers like Brunetti never do anything shady or unethical?  —   ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) April 5, 2017,  @ABFalecbaldwin @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am Name something I’ve done shady or unethical, Alec. You lied, face it, admit it and move on. I’m not afraid of bullies like you.  —   Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 5, 2017,  Baldwin challenged Brunetti to release  paperwork required when shooting physical scenes with minors. @DanaBrunetti @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am  rules require releases for scenes involving physical contact with minors. I take you have a copy of that?  —   ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) April 5, 2017,  @ABFalecbaldwin @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am If required, I’m sure there is one. But really, are you going to continue to deny that you didn’t know she was 16?? I’ll bury you.  —   Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 5, 2017,  Baldwin continued to insist that he was unaware of Reed’s age until the end of filming. Brunetti asked Mini’s First Time producer Evan Astrowsky and director Nick Guthe to weigh in. @DanaBrunetti @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am I was told she was 16 by her hairdresser. At the end of the shoot. You’re already buried.  —   ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) April 5, 2017,  @ABFalecbaldwin @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am You’re a fool. She just came off a movie called 13!! Do I need to bring in the other crew to vouch that you knew?? @NickGuthe wanna weigh in,  —   Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 5, 2017,  @DanaBrunetti @ABFalecbaldwin @TatianaSiegel27 @NikkiReed_I_Am 1) Because she was 16 we had to submit storyboards to her parents, agents and managers of all scenes with physical contact.  —   Nick Guthe (@NickGuthe) April 5, 2017,  Baldwin then suggested that Bruneti use the public feud as publicity for his Fifty Shades of Grey. To which Brunetti responded in kind. @DanaBrunetti @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am Look at it as good publicity for that stunning work of yours on 50   GRAY,  —   ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) April 5, 2017,  @ABFalecbaldwin @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am Look at it as good publicity for your book of lies that you have already admitted wasn’t properly vetted.  —   Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 5, 2017,  The battle devolved further into   and the two stars trading attacks involving their personal and professional lives. The problem with Hollywood is they cower to blowhard bullies like @ABFalecbaldwin. He can’t handle when someone like me stands up to him.  —   Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 5, 2017,  @DanaBrunetti No wonder Spacey fired you.  —   ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) April 5, 2017,  @ABFalecbaldwin More lies. No wonder Kim divorced you.  —   Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 5, 2017,  @DanaBrunetti @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am Produce the union required release form and your problems are over. For now.  —   ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) April 5, 2017,  @ABFalecbaldwin @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am Don’t threaten me you douche,  —   Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 5, 2017,  @ABFalecbaldwin @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am As the president of the Film Actors Guild, you should be able to easily access them. #TeamAmerica,  —   Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 5, 2017,  @DanaBrunetti @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am Dana, produce the releases, you Hollywood zombie, and you’re all good,  —   ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) April 5, 2017,  @ABFalecbaldwin @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am I’m sure  has them. Contact them. You’re the one maligning me and will need to defend and retract your lies.  —   Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 5, 2017,  @DanaBrunetti @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am Put down that 50 Shades part 9 script you’re reading and trot on over to SAG! Pronto!  —   ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) April 5, 2017,  @DanaBrunetti @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am Also, u should make a movie of this. Get @NickGuthe to direct. Get those waivers signed, though!  —   ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) April 5, 2017,  @ABFalecbaldwin @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am Don’t be jealous. I may have a part for you in it.  —   Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 5, 2017,  @DanaBrunetti @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am I’m doing @matchgameabc so I don’t have to work w guys like u  …      —   ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) April 5, 2017,  @ABFalecbaldwin @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am @matchgameabc You mean my Oscar nominated films? Nice plug by the way. When are you gonna come out to the 310 with a chain and show us how it’s done?  —   Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 5, 2017,  @DanaBrunetti @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am @matchgameabc Do me 1 favor? Just teach me how to bankrupt a company like Relativity. I want to put it in a screenplay I’m working on. Oh. Get the waiver.  —   ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) April 5, 2017,  @ABFalecbaldwin @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am @matchgameabc Again, you don’t know what you’re talking about. It was  before I got there. What else you got angry man?  —   Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 5, 2017,  @ABFalecbaldwin @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am @matchgameabc The sad truth is I like you, however when slandered ina lie I will call it out. If you were a man you’d admit the truth and own it.  —   Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 5, 2017,  @DanaBrunetti @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am @matchgameabc What else? I present you w the first ever Dan Brunetti award. You know what that’s for  …      —   ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) April 5, 2017,  @ABFalecbaldwin @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am @matchgameabc Please elaborate, douche nozzle.  —   Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 5, 2017,  @ABFalecbaldwin @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am @matchgameabc And again, I suggest you contact your agent @MattDelPiano so he can warn you of the waters you’re wading into.  —   Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 5, 2017,  How have I only gained 12 followers from all of this?  —   Nick Guthe (@NickGuthe) April 6, 2017,  @ @ABFalecbaldwin Best role and acting he’s done in years.  —   Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 6, 2017,    Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter @jeromeehudson",true,news,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
16322,16323,"West Ham have been fined 30 , 000 by the Football Association for failing to control their players in the recent draw at Southampton .  The incident in question occurred after referee Craig Pawson sent off Hammers goalkeeper Adrian just after the hour mark for handling the ball outside of his penalty area .  Although the Spaniard ' s red card was later overturned on appeal , the  has announced the club have been punished for the players ' reaction .  Craig Pawson sends off Adrian ( 13 ) for handball and was subsequently mobbed by West Ham players  ' Following an independent regulatory commission hearing , West Ham United have been fined 30 , 000 after the club admitted an  charge of failing to ensure its players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion , ' a statement on the  ' s official website read .  ' The charge was in relation to an incident which occurred in or around the 61st minute of the game against Southampton on 11 February 2015 . '  Adrian ' s dismissal saw West Ham play with 10 men for the remaining half an hour at St Mary ' s with Sam Allardyce ' s side able to hold on for a 0 0 stalemate .  The Spanish goalkeeper had his red card against Southampton overturned after an appeal was lodged  The goalkeeper dived on the ball outside the area ahead of Sadio Mane ( centre ) and was sent off  Following his sending off a melee ensued with the West Ham players surrounding the referee  Allardyce confirmed immediately after the game that they would appeal the red card and , whilst that proved to be successful , the club have now been hit with a fine for the separate charge .  It is the second time this season the Hammers have been punished for failure to control their players following an incident in a 2 1 defeat at Everton which saw both clubs handed the same charge .  With a derby against local rivals Tottenham on Sunday , West Ham co chairmen David Sullivan and David Gold have issued a letter to fans asking for their behaviour to remain exemplary at White Hart Lane .  Previous matches between the two sides have been tarnished by anti Semitic chants from a minority of West Ham supporters , with Gold and Sullivan calling for travelling fans to be at their best this weekend .  West Ham players show their disbelief at the red card decision which consequently cost the club 30 , 000  ' Sam and the team have been working hard on the training pitch this week to put last week ' s wrongs right and Sunday ' s game offers an exciting opportunity for us to bounce back ( from defeat at West Brom ) , ' they said in a statement on West Ham ' s website .  ' We would also like to remind all fans attending the match at White Hart Lane that they will be acting as ambassadors for West Ham United and their behaviour should reflect the values and standards of our club .  ' Working with the Metropolitan Police , the Club will continue to adopt a zero tolerance policy towards any form of discriminatory behaviour and any fan found to be acting inappropriately including racist , anti Semitic and homophobic behaviour will be punished to the full extent of the law and banned from attending matches .  ' We are rightly proud of our world famous support home and away and we look forward to the famous ' claret and blue army ' once again getting behind the team with all their heart and showing the world that following the Hammers means supporting with pride , passion and respect . '  Sam Allardyce and his side will be hoping that the fans will be on their best behaviour against Tottenham  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
16330,16331,"It sounds like a plot lifted from a sci fi disaster movie .  A Russian scientist has said a Soviet era ballistic missile system dubbed ' Satan ' should be put back into use defending the earth from asteroids .  Senior rocket researcher Sabit Saitgarayev who spoke out after a meteor burst over Russia ' s Ural Mountains earlier this year damaging thousands of buildings said the old 1960s missiles were ideally suited to destroying any potential threats streaking towards the planet from space .  Back in use ? The scientist suggested the old Soviet era SS9  missiles should be put back to work protecting the earth from meteorites  Threat : The researcher said the missiles named Satan by  were well suited to ' fighting suddenly discovered small space objects '  Powerful : The meteor left a 50 foot hole in the frozen surface of a lake as it crashed down in Russia ' s Chelyabinsk region  Mr Saitgarayev , from the State Rocket Design Center , highlighted the havoc caused when the meteor burst over the Urals on February 15 , leaving around 1 , 200 people injured .  It created a sonic boom that shattered windows and damaged thousands of buildings around the city of Chelyabinsk .  ' Well suited ' : The Soviet era missiles could intercept a falling missile with a mere 20 minutes ' warning , Mr Saitgarayev claimed  The researcher said the missiles , which use standard liquid fuel based on hydrazine , were ' well suited ' to fighting ' suddenly discovered small space objects , according to a report on newsweblink . au .  He pointed out that the missiles could be kept poised and ready to launch for up to a decade .  It means a missile could be launched against an approaching asteroid with a mere 20 minutes warning , in contrast to modern missile systems , which require several days of preparation ahead of a launch .  Hurtling from space : The missiles could intercept a meteorite like the one that streaked across the sky over Chelyabinsk in February before it crashed into the earth , the scientist has claimed  Defence : The scientist referred to the meteor that streaked across the skies over Russia ' s Ural Mountains earlier this year , causing sharp explosions  Damage : The exploding meteorite left the roof of this zinc factory in Russia ' s Chelyabinsk region in ruins  Scientists claimed the meteorite that exploded over the Urals was the biggest space rock to hit earth in more than a century .  The enormous meteorite weighed an estimated 100 , 000 tons and measured around 55ft in diameter .  Mr Saitgarayev claimed Satan missiles would be capable of destroying objects with a diameter of up to around 300ft . If equipped with a booster , the 1960s missile would be able to destroy a space object hurtling towards earth while it was still five to six hours away , he said .  Satan missiles can be used for destroying small space objects with a diameter of up to 100 meters threatening the Earth , if the missile is equipped with the third stage . If reequipped with a booster , the missile will be able to destroy space objects five six hours before their collision with the Earth , he said .  ",true,text,validation,American football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
16332,16333,"Are you among those who have been pondering the future of cricket in the wake of the recent spot fixing scandal involving three former members of the Pakistan cricket team ?  Maybe you are concerned about proposals to reduce the amount of teams for the 2015 Cricket World Cup to ten or perhaps you simply want to know more about plans to introduce a Test Championship that would crown a world champion of the five day game .  Here is your chance to put your questions to the man with all the answers , Haroon Lorgat , the chief executive of the International Cricket Council (  ) , which governs the sport internationally .  Cricket plans Test league to crown world champion  Born in South Africa and of Indian descent , Lorgat succeeded Malcolm Speed as head of the  in 2008 .  Trained as a chartered accountant , Lorgat cut his cricketing teeth as an all rounder in South Africa , where he played 76 first class games between 1977 and 1991 .  Dhoni leads India to Cricket World Cup glory  The 50 year old then served as chairman of Western Province Professional Cricket , a national selector and non executive director for Cricket South Africa and chairman of the national selectors for the South African cricket team .  His vast experience in the game is now being put to work at the  , where he is keen to restructure the international game .  Pakistan trio banned by cricket ' s anti corruption body  The  ' s Cricket Committee will be meeting in London this week with such items on the agenda as the possibility of playing Test matches at night under floodlights and the continued progress of the Decision Review System , whereby teams can refer umpiring decisions to a video match official .  The  recently handed out lengthy bans to Pakistani trio Salman Butt , Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir after they were found to have been involved in "" spot fixing "" a practice involving illegal gambling during matches .  So , with plenty going on in the modern game , leave your questions for Haroon Lorgat below .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
16352,16353,"Double world champion Sebastian Vettel suffered a disrupted second practice session ahead of Sunday ' s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix , with McLaren ' s Lewis Hamilton setting the pace on Friday .  Red Bull driver Vettel was back at the track where he claimed the first of his two world championships 12 months ago the youngest driver to achieve the feat but the German spun out on the first corner of the Yas Marina Circuit .  Vettel , who has won 11 of 17 races in 2011 , recovered to rejoin practice with 10 minutes remaining , but finished in sixth position on a track where he has won for the past two years . He ended the day half a second behind Hamilton ' s leading time of one minute 39 . 586 secs .  Hamilton , world champion in 2008 but only fifth overall after a disappointing season , led second placed teammate Jenson Button ahead of Saturday ' s qualifying .  Latest F1 standings after Indian   "" I lost the car on the entrance to turn one , "" Vettel , who clinched the 2011 championship with third place in Japan last month , told the sport ' s official website .  "" I think I was too wide and too far on to the kerb , so I lost the rear and couldn ' t catch the car anymore . I was lucky to get out again at the end of P2 there wasn ' t much damage apart from the front wing . ""  British racer Hamilton was pleased with his form and was confident ahead of this season ' s penultimate race .  "" It was a really positive day for me , "" the 26 year old said . "" The track just got better and better today , so I slowly chipped away at the set up .  "" The tires are behaving well at the last race I had degradation and didn ' t have the pace , so it feels much better this weekend . That ' s a real positive for me .  "" When you come through a Friday without any problems , it definitely makes you feel confident for the rest of the weekend . ""  Button , the 2009 world champion and running second this year , admitted to experimenting during his practice run on a track where passing has traditionally been difficult .  "" I was playing around with overtaking on my long run , "" the 31 year old said . "" But I still reckon it ' ll be difficult to overtake people in the  zones .  "" So I think it ' s going to be a bit of a struggle to make moves stick in the race which means it ' s going to be important to qualify up at the front . It ' s tricky around here , but we made some good progress here this afternoon and evening . ""  Ferrari ' s Fernando Alonso also slid off having spent a short period leading the field . The double world champion eventually came home third ahead of Brazilian teammate Felipe Massa .  Vettel ' s fellow Red Bull driver Mark Webber was fifth fastest , with seven time world champion Michael Schumacher seventh for Mercedes .  The 2011 campaign will finish at the Brazilian Grand Prix in Sao Paulo on November 27 .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
16354,16355,"Following Hillary ' s loss in the New Hampshire primary , the Clinton Campaign has decided to connect with millennial voters by emphasizing that , like them , she is voting for Bernie Sanders .  "" I want young people to understand that I can get behind a political revolution , "" said Hillary while simultaneously crocheting a hemp necklace and kicking around a hacky sack with some campaign volunteers . "" I feel the Bern . There is actually no one who feels the Bern as much as me . Every vote for Bernie is a literal and personal burn . ""  Political analysts are already lauding the strategy with many agreeing that what Hillary will gain in cool , the Sanders campaign will lose . "" Announcing that she ' d vote for another candidate while still in the running demonstrates a generosity of spirit as well as a quiet confidence , plus it will give her a ton of goodwill with the 18 19 year olds who love Bernie stated Paul Harris , a long time political strategist .  "" And most importantly , it makes her look cool . Cooler than being on Snapchat , cooler than being on  , and way cooler than asking people to Bey on Team Hillary ' . ""  Others have suggested that having Hillary announce her support for Bernie may also work to take away some of his credibility . Mackenzie Jordan , a political science major at  believes that "" Hillary allying herself with Bernie , will make Bernie less cool . Because if Hillary would vote for him , what ' s to stop Wall Street from voting for him ? And once Wall Street says they ' re voting for Bernie , he ' s done , son . ""  Of particular concern for the Clinton campaign is the loss of young female voters . When asked about Madeleine Albright and Gloria Steinem ' s rebuke of young women ' s lack of support for her , Hillary responded with a photo of all three of them and the words , "" That moment when your squad talking shit and you like what ? . "" ' . ""  At press time Hillary was seen speaking to the polyamorous community about her experience as a pioneer of the open marriage .  ",satire,text,validation,US elections,US elections,satire,satire,True,no,no,neutral,present
16364,16365,"Eric Holder pitches Hillary Clinton ' s experience in first   ad   ,   26 : U . S . Attorney General Eric Holder speaks at the 44th Annual Congressional Black Caucus legislative conference on September 26 , 2014 in Washington ,  . It was announced recently that Holder will be stepping down from his position , which he has held since the start of the Obama administration in 2009 . ( Photo by T . J . Kirkpatrick Getty Images )  Last Updated Feb 2 , 2016 3 : 20    Former Attorney General Eric Holder is featured in Hillary Clinton ' s first  ad to air in South Carolina for her 2016 presidential campaign .  "" I ' ve known her for almost 25 years , "" Holder said in the 30 second ad . "" This is a woman who ' s fought her whole life for children , to protect civil rights , voting rights and today Hillary is pushing hard for tougher gun laws and police accountability . ""  "" If you want to make sure Republicans don ' t take us backward , help Hillary move us forward , "" he adds .  The ad , which will begin airing this week , is part of the campaign ' s buy in Charleston , Columbia , Greenville Spartanburg and Florence Myrtle Beach .  Holder , the first black attorney general , served in President Obama ' s cabinet with Clinton when she served as secretary of state . Holder resigned from the administration last April and is now a partner at law firm Covington Burling . He officially endorsed Clinton for the Democratic nomination in January .  After a tight race in Monday ' s Iowa caucuses between Clinton and her rival Sen . Bernie Sanders , I Vermont , Clinton has moved on to New Hampshire to prepare for next Tuesday ' s primary .  South Carolina will hold its Democratic primary on Feb . 27 .  According to the latest voter registration numbers on South Carolina ' s Election Commission website , 28 percent of all registered voters in the state are black . Data collected by The New York Times during the 2008 primary showed that 55 percent of the Democratic vote were black voters .  ? 2016  Interactive Inc . All Rights Reserved .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
16389,16390,"Reuters) - President Donald Trump met on Wednesday with Stanford University economist John Taylor in his search for a new chair of the Federal Reserve, a White House official said. Trump was joined for the meeting by Vice President Mike Pence and members of his team helping in his search for a Fed chair, including Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, the official told Reuters. Trump is working from a short list that includes Jerome Powell, a Fed governor, Kevin Warsh, a former Fed governor, his top economic adviser Gary Cohn, and current Fed Chair Janet Yellen, whose term expires in February, sources have said. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
16406,16407,"Facing the biggest crisis of his administration , Rahm Emanuel acknowledges the shooting of Laquan McDonald "" happened on my watch "" .  Mayor Emanuel last week fired his chief of police  Hundreds of demonstrators have taken to Chicago ' s streets demanding the mayor quit over last year ' s killing of a black teenager who was shot 16 times by a police officer .  Mayor ? Rahm Emanuel apologised earlier on Wednesday for the death of Laquan McDonald , promising "" complete and total "" reform to restore trust in the police .  But his conciliatory remarks could not draw a line under two weeks of protests that have rocked the city since a video of the shooting was released .  Marchers blocked the streets near city hall , chanting : "" 16 shots and a cover up ! ""  Mayor Emanuel , who was formerly President Barack Obama ' s chief of staff , is facing the biggest crisis of his administration for his handling of the 17 year old ' s death in October 2014 .  "" I take responsibility for what happened because it happened on my watch , "" he said in Wednesday ' s remarks at a special city council meeting .  "" I ' m sorry , "" the leader of the nation ' s third largest city added .  Mayor Emanuel , who last week fired his chief of police over the case , also lamented the "" code of silence "" that keeps police from reporting misconduct by fellow officers .  He reiterated already announced steps , including a task force to review police accountability , appointing a new head of the agency that handles police misconduct and recruiting a new police superintendent .  "" Nothing , nothing can excuse what happened to Laquan McDonald , "" Mayor Emanuel ? said .  The police squad car video , which the mayor ' s administration had fought against releasing , showed police officer Jason Van Dyke shooting the teenager and continuing to fire after he fell to the ground .  The footage showed that while the teenager was armed with a knife , he was far less threatening than the suspect described in police reports .  The  Justice Department said on Monday it will launch a civil rights investigation into the city ' s police department , examining its use of force , including deadly force , among other issues .  Mayor Emanuel had initially said a federal inquiry would be "" misguided "" , before saying he welcomed such a move .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
16420,16421,"Cristiano Ronaldo scored a late headed winner as Real Madrid stayed a point behind leaders Barcelona in the Spanish title race after a dramatic 3 2 win over Osasuna on Sunday night .  Real had to come from behind twice in the Bernabeu with former World Player of the Year Ronaldo grabbing a double .  Trailing by four points after Barcelona ' s 4 1 win over Villarreal on Saturday , Real made a disastrous start as a poor back pass by Raul Albiol allowed in Carlos Aranda to give Osasuna an early lead .  Ronaldo then came to the rescue for the first time as he equalized with a fine strike from just outside the penalty area , but Real were soon behind again as Krisztian Vadocz struck home Osasuna ' s second .  But with time running out in the first half , Marcelo headed Real level again .  Osasuna refused to lie down and substitute Masoud Soleimani missed the easiest of several chances for the visitors as Real pushed forward for a winner .  The game appeared to be headed for a draw , which would have severely dented Real ' s title hopes with games running out , until Ronaldo popped up to score an 89th minute goal from a cross by Gonzalo Higuain .  A double from Lionel Messi had helped Barca to rebound from their Champions League exit at the hands of Inter Milan to leave them on course to defend their La Liga crown with a fine win over Villarreal .  In other action on Sunday , Alvaro Negredo scored two penalties to give Sevilla a 3 1 win over Atletico Madrid to lift them into the fourth and the final Champions League place .  The match was a forerunner to the Copa del Rey final later this month .  Atletico , who are also in the Europa League final , fell behind to a Luis Fabiano strike after five minutes .  Tiago Cardoso equalized for Atletico who were then undone by Negredo ' s two spot kicks .  A double from substitute Nicola Zigic saw Valencia beat Espanyol 2 0 to keep a tight hold on third place .  Getafe were held goalless by Valladolid and Tenerife beat Racing Santander 2 1 but remain in the drop zone as Malaga drew 1 1 with Sporting Gijon .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
16421,16422,"British rower Katherine Grainger ended her 12 year wait for Olympic glory after winning gold in the women ' s double sculls on Friday .  The 36 year old Scot , partnered by Anna Watkins , punched the air in delight after exorcising the demons of Sydney , Athens and Beijing .  Grainger , who had suffered the agony of being made to settle for silver twice in quadruple sculls and once in the coxless pair , had targeted London 2012 as her final chance of success on the big stage .  "" I am a bride at last , "" she told reporters . "" I did seriously consider what I would do after Beijing . For anyone who was there , Beijing was a really tough result and I wanted to make sure I continued for the right reasons .  "" As soon as I made the decision , there was never a doubt . I have had three fantastic years . ""  The British duo were huge favorites for the race and did not disappoint , powering their way to an incredible 23rd consecutive victory .  Watkins , who won a bronze in Beijing in 2008 , teamed up with Grainger just two years ago .  Since then , the British team have been unbeatable , winning two World Championship titles as well as all three World Cups in 2012 .  "" Just before halfway I knew we had won it , "" said 29 year old Watkins .  "" With the crowd there was no way anything was going to go wrong . We had time to enjoy it , which is more than you can dream of . ""  Their success makes them just the third and fourth British women to win rowing gold at any Olympics , following Thursday ' s triumph by Helen Glover and Heather Stanning in the women ' s pair .  Wiggins makes history as Britain wins first golds at London 2012  Kim Crowe and Brooke Pratley took silver for Australia with Poland ' s Magdalena Fularczyk and Julia Michalska grabbing bronze .  Meanwhile , New Zealand enjoyed a glorious day on the water at Eton Dorney after claiming gold in both the men ' s pair and single sculls .  New Zealand duo Eric Murray and Hamish Bond maintained their three year unbeaten record after tearing through the field .  France ' s Germain Chardin and Dorian Mortelette claimed silver with British duo George Nash and Will Satch taking bronze .  New Zealand ' s Beijing bronze medalist Mahe Drysdale triumphed in the men ' s single sculls after coming home ahead of the Czech Republic ' s 2008 runnerup Ondrej Synek and Great Britain ' s Alan Campbell .  Defending champion Olaf Tufte of Norway could only manage third in the "" B "" final .  In the men ' s quadruple sculls final , world champions Australia were forced to settle for bronze with Germany taking the Olympic title ahead of Croatia .  The German crew of Karl Schulze , Lauritz Schoof , Phillipp Wende and Tim Grohmann led from start to finish to win in a time of 5 minutes , 42 . 48 seconds .  Poland , who won the 2008 gold , finished last .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
16436,16437,"Beijing bureau chief Mike Chinoy , producer Nancy Lane and Moscow bureau chief Steve Hurst  "" It was the first time an upheaval in a previously isolated , distant , inaccessible location suddenly was available on television sets in living rooms and foreign ministries around the world . It was a pivotal moment for television . ""  And it was an accident too . Foreign reporters had flooded Beijing to cover the historic visit of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev . Suddenly , they found themselves covering a very different story .  "" It was unprecedented , "" said Miran . Before that , networks would feed their material from  ( Chinese Central Television ) , who would monitor and censor everything that was sent out .  "" Our own transmission was a scary idea to them , "" said Miran . But he says he thinks the Chinese eventually agreed after much back and forth because , above all , they wanted international coverage of Gorbachev ' s visit .  "" On the first day of the Gorbachev visit , we not only had our own satellite transmission , we also had a live camera overlooking the square , "" said Miran . "" We were really well set up . ""  But the situation was deteriorating rapidly for the Chinese leadership .  Huge groups of students demanding reform had occupied Tiananmen Square and had launched a hunger strike just days before the Soviet leader ' s visit was about to begin .  "" On the day of the big meeting , we waited , and waited , and waited , watching the signal from  , "" said Miran . "" No picture . We called our contact at  to see if there were technical problems . Nope . ""  Miran and Chinoy huddled and decided that although the Chinese had forbidden further transmission from the Gate of Heavenly Peace , the network still had permission to use its portable microwave transmitter .  "" Everywhere you looked , there was a great picture , "" said Miran . "" Soldiers would be on the steps of the Great Hall of the People and students would go up to them , offering flowers or to read to them . There were long staring contests between the armed soldiers and the students . It was riveting television . ""  On the night of May 19 , after the network had gotten word that troops were moving towards Beijing , Shaw and Moscow correspondent Steve Hurst broadcast from Tiananmen Square for several hours in the dark . The students in the square were edgy and had asked them to turn off their lights .  "" I don ' t remember what we were able to show people that night , "" Miran said , "" little flickers of light . ""  "" It was our first big live moment , "" said camerawoman Strand , now director of coverage for international news in Atlanta . "" And it became our signature , what we did very well . ""  The phone rang . It was a woman from Minnesota , a viewer who had been watching the events unfold in China from the comfort and safety of her living room .  "" You ' re doing a great job ' she said to me , "" Miran recalled . "" Everybody ' s watching . And we ' re rooting for you . ""  Daniela Deane was a chief sub editor at the Reuters news agency in Hong Kong during the Tiananmen crisis  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
16451,16452,"Yosemite National Park , California Susan Loesch and Curtis Evans just started settling into their second home in California ' s Sierra foothills a few months ago . Now , they ' re worried it could go up in smoke as a massive wildfire spreads .  Cradling their chihuahua , Cuervo , they prepared to leave the area on Sunday as more than 2 , 800 crew members struggled to corral the sprawling Rim Fire , which had devoured nearly 134 , 000 acres .  "" It ' s scary , "" Loesch said . "" You worry about the firefighters being on the line . . . . It ' s overwhelming . ""  The wildfire , which remained 7 contained , was spreading primarily to the northeast and east and threatened to grow amid extremely dry conditions and hot weather .  After days of battling the blaze , things were looking up on Sunday , said Vickie Wright , a spokeswoman for the U . S . Forest Service .  "" We ' re a long way from complete , "" she said , "" but at least our boots on the ground are getting a better handle on it . ""  A top priority is stopping the fire from spreading further in Yosemite National Park .  Yosemite fire : Blaze spreads to national park  "" The park is a national treasure , "" she said , "" so no matter what it takes , we ' re going to do everything in our power to protect that park . ""  While the Rim Fire had consumed 12 , 000 acres in the northwest section of the park by Saturday , so far it has had little or no direct impact on Yosemite Valley , a popular spot for tourists and home to many of the famous cliffs and waterfalls in the park .  About 4 , 500 structures , many of them vacation homes , were under threat , according to InciWeb , a federal website that collects information from agencies such as the U . S . Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management .  Several helicopters and air tankers were aiding firefighting efforts .  The inferno threatened the Yosemite gateway communities of Groveland and Pine Mountain Lake just outside the Stanislaus National Forest .  The Tuolumne County Sheriff ' s Office , meanwhile , issued evacuation advisories for the town of Tuolumne and nearby Ponderosa Hill , according to InciWeb . It was not clear how many residents were covered by the evacuation advisory .  Authorities say the Rim Fire started on August 17 . The cause is under investigation .  The park typically has 15 , 000 visitors on a busy summer weekend . August sees an influx of visitors from other countries , a few of whom have called to check on conditions .  Still , there ' s little indication so far it ' s keeping many people away .  Ranger programs went on as normal Saturday and campgrounds were full .  "" If somebody cancels , there are 10 people that will take their spot , "" said Gediman .  Yosemite , with hundreds of campground sites and lodging units , had nearly 4 million visitors last year , according to the National Park Service .  What you need to know about wildfires  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
16485,16486,"Share on Facebook Share on Twitter When it comes to taking herbs for medicinal purposes, it seems the mainstream belief is that they are not as effective and not worth taking. While the effectiveness of herbs has not been studied deeply to determine how well they work across the entire population, the same could be said for most pharmaceutical drugs. Much of the time, pharmaceutical drugs attempt to mimic a compound that occurs in nature (herbs), but often bring the risk of side effects in the process. advertisement - learn more Safety is one of the most critical areas of review amongst herbs and drugs. According to stats released by the American Association of Poison Control Centers, no deaths have been reported due to the use and consumption of herbs. [4] However, pharmaceutical drugs and physician prescribed medications kill approximately one million Americans each year. While it is important to note that herbal medicines can be lethal in extreme doses, it appears their safety is much greater than that of pharmaceutical drugs. [2] Interestingly, pharmaceutical drugs are actually adding to the world-wide issue of declining health due to their side effects and encouragement of viral resistance. Antibiotics in particular are adding to the wave of increased viral strength when it comes to certain infections. [3] Herbs, on the other hand, can be a useful tool in fighting infections that have turned into superbugs due to the overuse of antibiotics. It is always useful to perform as much research as possible, or as you see fit, when it comes to both pharmaceutical drugs and herbs prior to taking them. Just as we approach the use of herbs with skepticism, so too should we approach the use of any pharmaceutical drugs with the same discerning eye. Contrary to popular belief, our reluctance to use herbs in Western culture is not a result of their inefficacy. It is because pharmaceutical companies (and those who can benefit from the sale of pharmaceutical drugs) have done a great job of making them seem unsafe and inadequate. Herbs cannot be patented and owned, unlike synthetic drugs, which is why many pharma companies operate the way they do. Seek out the assistance of a naturopathic doctor, traditional Chinese medicine practitioner, ayurveda practioner, or herbologist before you use herbs. Like any medical issue, each illness can have different root causes and it’s always important to understand them before relying on any treatment to solve the entire problem.  Below is a list of herbs that can not only boost lung and respiratory health but can also repair it. Herb information is courtesy of John Summerly who is a nutritionist, herbologist, and homeopathic practitioner. advertisement - learn more 1. Licorice Root – Glycyrrhiza Glabra Licorice is one of the more widely consumed herbs in the world. In Traditional Chinese Medicine it occurs in more formulas than any other single herb because it is thought to harmonize the action of all other herbs. Licorice is very soothing and softens the mucous membranes of the throat and especially the lungs and stomach, and at the same time cleanses any inflamed mucous membrane that needs immune system support . It reduces the irritation in the throat and yet has an expectorant action. It is the saponins (detergent-like action) that loosen the phlegm in the respiratory tract so that the body can expel the mucus. Compounds within this root help relieve bronchial spasms and block the free radical cells that produce the inflammation and tightening of the airways. The compounds also have antibacterial and antiviral effects to them as well, which helps fight off viral and bacterial strains in the body that can cause lung infections. Glycrrhizins and flavonoids can even help prevent lung cancer cells from forming. For people with high blood pressure this should be taken with caution. 2. Coltsfoot – Tussilago Farfara Coltsfoot has been traditionally used by Native Americans for thousands of years to strengthen the lungs. It clears out excess mucus from the lungs and bronchial tubes. It also soothes the mucus membranes in the lungs and has been shown in research to assist with asthma, coughs, bronchitis, and other lung ailments. Coltsfoot is available in dried form for tea or as an alcohol extract known as a tincture. 3. Cannabis The toxic breakdown of therapeutic compounds in cannabis from burning the plant are totally avoided with vaporization. Extracting and inhaling cannabinoid essential oils of the unprocessed plant affords significant mitigation of irritation to the oral cavity that comes from smoking. Cannabis is perhaps one of the most effective anti-cancer plants in the world, shown in study after study to stimulate cannabinoid receptor activation in specific genes and mediate the anti-invasive effect of cannabinoids. Vaporizing cannabis allows the active ingredients to stimulate the body’s natural immune response and significantly reduces the ability of infections to spread. Vaporizing cannabis (especially with very high amounts of cannabinoids) opens up airways and sinuses, acting as a bronchodilator. It is even a proven method for treatment and reversal of asthma. 4. Osha Root – Ligusticum porteri Osha is an herb native to the Rocky Mountain area and has historically been used by the Native Americans for respiratory support. The roots of the plant contain camphor and other compounds which make it one of the best lung-support herbs in America. One of the main benefits of osha root is that it helps increase circulation to the lungs, which makes it easier to take deep breaths. Also, when seasonal sensitivities flare up your sinuses, osha root, which is not an actual antihistamine, produces a similar effect and may help calm respiratory irritation. 5. Thyme – Thymus Thyme is very powerful in the fight against chest congestion. It produces powerful antiseptic essential oils which are classified as naturally antibiotic and anti-fungal. Thyme is well known to zap acne more so than expensive prescription creams, gels, and lotions. Thyme tea has the power to chase away and eliminate bacteria and viruses, so whether your infection is based on one or the other, it will still work. Thyme has been used as a lung remedy since antiquity and is used extensively today to prevent and treat respiratory tract infections and bacterial infection pneumonia. 6. Oregano Although oregano contains the vitamins and nutrients required by the immune system, its primary benefits are owed to its carvacrol and rosmarinic acid content. Both compounds are natural decongestants and histamine reducers that have direct, positive benefits on the respiratory tract and nasal passage airflow. Oil of oregano fights off the dangerous bacteria Staphylococcus aureus better than the most common antibiotic treatments. Oregano has so many health benefits that a bottle of organic oregano oil should be in everyone’s medicine cabinet. 7. Lobelia Inflata Did you know that horses given lobelia are able to breathe more deeply? Its benefits are not limited to equestrians. It has been used as an “asthmador” in Appalachian folk medicine. Lobelia, by some accounts, is thought to be one of the most valuable herbal remedies in existence. Extracts of Lobelia Inflata contain lobeline, which showed positive effects in the treatment of multidrug-resistant tumor cells. Lobelia contains an alkaloid known as lobeline, which thins mucus and breaks up congestion. Additionally, lobelia stimulates the adrenal glands to release epinephrine; in effect, this relaxes the airways and allows for easier breathing. Also, because lobelia helps to relax smooth muscles, it is included in many cough and cold remedies. Lobelia should be part of everyone’s respiratory support protocol! *Use with caution as too much can cause side effects. 8. Elecampane – Inula Helenium Elecampane has been used by Native Americans for many years to clear out excess mucus that impairs lung function. It is known as a natural antibacterial agent for the lungs, helping to lessen infection, particularly for people who are prone to lung infections like bronchitis. Herbal practitioners often recommend one teaspoon of the herb per cup of boiling water, drunk three times daily for two to three weeks. Elecampane is also available in tincture format for ease. 9. Eucalyptus – Eucalyptus Globulus Native to Australia, eucalyptus isn’t just for Koala bears! Aborigines, Germans, and Americans have all used the refreshing aroma of eucalyptus to promote respiratory health and soothe throat irritation. Eucalyptus is a common ingredient in cough lozenges and syrups and its effectiveness is due to a compound called cineole. Cineole has numerous benefits — it’s an expectorant, can ease a cough, fights congestion, and soothes irritated sinus passages. As an added bonus, because eucalyptus contains antioxidants, it supports the immune system during a cold or other illness. 10. Mullein – Verbascum Thapsus Both the flowers and the leaves of the mullein plant are used to make an herbal extract that helps strengthen the lungs. Mullein is used by herbal practitioners to clear excess mucus from the lungs, cleanse the bronchial tubes, and reduce inflammation that is present in the respiratory tract. A tea can be made from one teaspoon of the dried herb to one cup of boiled water. Alternatively, you can take a tincture form of this herb. 11. Lungwort – Pulmonaria officinalis As early as the 1600’s, lungwort has been used to promote lung and respiratory health and clear congestion. Pulmonaria selections come in all kinds so seek a herbologist for direction. Lungwort also contains compounds that are powerfully effective against harmful organisms that affect respiratory health. 12. Chaparral Chaparral, a plant native to the Southwest, has been appreciated by the Native Americans for lung detoxification and respiratory support for many years. Chaparral contains powerful antioxidants that resist irritation, and NDGA, which is known to fight histamine response.  inhibits aerobic and anaerobic glycolysis (the energy-producing ability) of cancer cells. Chaparral is also an herb that fights harmful organisms. The benefits of chaparral are mostly available in a tincture extraction but chaparral tea may support respiratory problems by encouraging an expectorant action to clear airways of mucus. [Source] 13. Sage – Salvia Officinalis Sage’s textured leaves give off a heady aroma, which arises from sage’s essential oils. These oils are the source of the many benefits of sage tea for lung problems and common respiratory ailments. Sage tea is a traditional treatment for sore throats and coughs. The rich aromatic properties arising from sage’s volatile oils of thujone, camphor, terpene, and salvene can be put to use by inhaling sage tea’s vapors to dispel lung disorders and sinusitis. Alternatively, brew a strong pot of sage tea and place it into a bowl or vaporizer. 14. Peppermint – Mentha × Piperita Peppermint and peppermint oil contains menthol — a soothing ingredient known to relax the smooth muscles of the respiratory tract and promote free breathing. Dried peppermint typically contains menthol, menthone, menthyl acetate, menthofuran, and cineol. Peppermint oil also contains small amounts of many additional compounds including limonene, pulegone, caryophyllene, and pinene. Paired with the antihistamine effect of peppermint, menthol is a fantastic decongestant. Many people use therapeutic chest balms and other inhalants that contain menthol to help break up congestion. Additionally, peppermint is an antioxidant and fights harmful organisms. 15. Plantain herb – Plantago major and P. lanceolata Plantain leaf has been used for hundreds of years to ease coughs and soothe irritated mucous membranes. Many of its active constituents show antibacterial and antimicrobial properties, as well as being anti-inflammatory and antitoxic. Clinical trials have found it favorable against cough, cold, and lung irritation. Plantain leaf has an added bonus in that it may help relieve a dry cough by spawning mucus production in the lungs.  Sources:",fake,news,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
16516,16517,"Reuters) - Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam on Thursday endorsed U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida for the Republican party’s presidential nomination. “With Marco standing next to Hillary Clinton on a debate stage, the choice between the future and the past will be clear to every American. Marco has the innovative policy agenda to reclaim the American Dream for all our people, and his conservative ideas will bring the Republican Party – and America – into the future,” Haslam, a popular second-term Republican governor, said in a statement. Rubio and Senator Ted Cruz of Texas have been trailing real estate billionaire Donald Trump in most polls in the race to represent the party in the Nov. 8 presidential election.    (Reporting by Eric Walsh; Editing by Susan Heavey) This article was funded in part by SAP. It was independently created by the Reuters editorial staff.  had no editorial involvement in its creation or production.",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
16528,16529,"Obama s apology tour for the greatest country in the world continues The United States heard widespread concern Monday over excessive use of force by law-enforcement officials against minorities as it faced the U.N. s main human rights body for a review of its record.Washington also faced calls to work toward abolishing the death penalty, push ahead with closing the Guantanamo Bay detention center and ensure effective safeguards against abuses of Internet surveillance. Its appearance before the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva is the second review of the U.S. rights record, following the first in 2010.A string of countries ranging from Malaysia to Mexico pressed the U.S. to redouble efforts to prevent police using excessive force against minorities. Welcome to Mexico. It to likely you ll find any human rights violations here. Oh and here s a prison in Malaysia. Nothing to see here The U.N.Human Rights Council has more pressing issues to deal with like hmmm .maybe their concerned about whether or not the terrorists we re keeping in our Guantanamo Bay Prison have soccer balls that are properly inflated We must rededicate ourselves to ensuring that our civil-rights laws live up to their promise,  Justice Department official James Cadogan told delegates, adding that that is particularly important in the area of police practices and pointing to recent high-profile cases of officers killing unarmed black residents. These events challenge us to do better and to work harder for progress through both dialogue and action,  he said at the session s opening. He added that the government has the authority to prosecute officials who  wilfully use excessive force,  and that criminal charges have been brought against more than 400 law-enforcement officials in the past six years.Several countries, including Brazil and Kenya, voiced concern over the extent of U.S. surveillance in the light of reports about the National Security Agency s activities.David Bitkower, a deputy assistant attorney general, responded that  U.S. intelligence collection programs and activities are subject to stringent and multilayered oversight mechanisms.  He added that the country doesn t collect intelligence to suppress dissent or to give U.S. businesses a competitive advantage, and that there is  extensive and effective oversight to prevent abuse. Faced with widespread calls for a moratorium on executions and a move to scrap the death penalty, Bitkower noted that it is an issue of  extensive debate and controversy  within the U.S. He pointed to  heightened procedural safeguards  for defendants prosecuted for capital offenses.Brig. Gen. Richard Gross, the legal counsel to the chairman of the U.S. joint chiefs of staff, told the council that President Barack Obama has said closing Guantanamo   in which he has been thwarted by Congress   is  a national imperative.  The remaining detainees are detained lawfully, he said.Via:  News",fake,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
16539,16540,"Reuters) - Kenya s election board chairman Wafula Chebukati said on Wednesday ahead of a repeat presidential poll on Oct. 26 that it was  difficult  to guarantee the election would be free and fair. He invited political leaders in the country to discuss impediments to the vote, which was ordered by the Supreme Court on Sept. 1, adding he would not tolerate further threats to board staff.    ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
16554,16555,"GREENSBORO, N. C.  —   A rested Hillary Clinton returned to the campaign trail here on Thursday after three days of recovering at home from pneumonia, and vowed a different approach on the final stretch of the campaign, one more focused on her own positive vision for the country, rather than eviscerating her rival. “I want to close my campaign focused on opportunities for kids and fairness for families,” Mrs. Clinton said after her first rally of her renewed campaign. “I want to give Americans something to vote for, not just against. ” The shift in tone felt striking after Mrs. Clinton had spent months tearing down her Republican opponent, Donald J. Trump. But with less than eight weeks until Election Day and tightening polls showing a majority of voters dislike and distrust her, aides said it was imperative that Mrs. Clinton deliver a more uplifting message. “From now until Nov. 8, everywhere I go I’m going to talk about my ideas for our country,” Mrs. Clinton said. Next week, Mrs. Clinton plans speeches to discuss how she would help young people and improve the economy, weaving in her own background as an advocate for children and as a first lady focused on women and families. That focus was central in her address here at the University of North Carolina, where she took the stage to James Brown’s “I Got You (I Feel Good),” seeming rested and revived, eager to tell the audience that her rare couple of days of downtime allowed her to “reconnect with what this whole campaign is about. ” “I’m running for all mothers and fathers trying to stay healthy so they can be there for their kids, but perhaps most of all, I’m running for those kids,” she said. “Standing up for children has been the work of my life, as a lawyer for the Children’s Defense Fund, as first lady of Arkansas, in the White House. ” With just 54 days until the election, “sitting at home was pretty much the last place I wanted to be,” she said. But she called the time off “a gift. ” Her return to the campaign trail comes as a series of polls suggest a closer race. Mrs. Clinton has faced a more disciplined Mr. Trump and scrutiny over her failure to initially disclose her pneumonia to all but a few close aides. A New York   News poll released on Thursday found her virtually tied with Mr. Trump among likely voters. Asked about the narrowing gap with Mr. Trump on Thursday, Mrs. Clinton said, “I’ve always said this is going to be a tight race. ” On her campaign plane earlier Thursday, a   Mrs. Clinton said she felt fully recovered. “I am doing great,” she said before takeoff in White Plains, N. Y. as she made her way down the aisle. Mrs. Clinton flashed a wide smile at journalists studying her for signs of fatigue or illness and said she was looking forward to getting back into action. And at her rally later, she reflected on her time recuperating. “I talked with some old friends,” she said. “I spent time with our very sweet dogs. The campaign trail doesn’t really encourage reflection, and it’s important to sit with your thoughts every now and then. ” “People like me, we’re lucky,” she added. “When I’m under the weather, I can afford to take a few days off. Millions of Americans can’t. ” Mrs. Clinton offered a rare public glimpse at her   humor, poking fun at herself for her plans that span “38 different policy areas. ” She said, “Like a lot of women, I have a tendency to overprepare. ” Mrs. Clinton did not entirely avoid criticizing Mr. Trump, telling reporters after the event, “We don’t need someone who rushes out a   plan just weeks before an election after decades of ignoring or putting down working moms. ” It was a reference to the child care proposals that Mr. Trump and his daughter Ivanka unveiled this week. The Clinton campaign’s efforts to put forth a kinder, gentler candidate began last week with a speech that Mrs. Clinton delivered in Kansas City, Mo. on her Methodist faith. But the change in tactics hit an unexpected snag on Sunday when Mrs. Clinton abruptly left a ceremony to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Amid intense scrutiny over Mrs. Clinton’s lack of transparency over her initial diagnosis, her physician, Dr. Lisa R. Bardack, later disclosed that Mrs. Clinton had been told she had pneumonia last Friday and that she had been overheated and dehydrated on Sunday. Rather than making her case to the American people, Mrs. Clinton found herself recovering at home as her campaign confronted a series of distractions and dueling doctors’ notes from her and Mr. Trump. And she had to apologize on Saturday after a backlash over remarks she made at a Friday night   in Manhattan in which she said that half of Mr. Trump’s supporters fell into a “basket of deplorables”  —   bigots, essentially, of one sort or the other. On Thursday, Mrs. Clinton, when pressed about her handling of her diagnosis, appeared eager to put the rough patch behind her. “I didn’t want to stop,” she told reporters. “I didn’t want to quit campaigning. I certainly didn’t want to miss the   memorial. ” “It didn’t work out,” she continued. “So I got the antibiotics up and going, got the rest I needed and we’re going on from there. ”",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
16557,16558,"—   Against a backdrop of rising political acrimony, Theresa May, the British prime minister, warned critics on Sunday not to thwart her timetable for withdrawal from the European Union, as she prepared for a standoff with lawmakers that could prompt calls for an early general election here. Mrs. May, who wants to start the formal process of leaving the bloc by the end of March, now has a serious fight on her hands, after several months of facing relatively little challenge over her plans for British withdrawal, known as “Brexit. ” Judges on Britain’s High Court ruled last week that she could not start exit negotiations by invoking Article 50 of the European Union’s treaty without first consulting Parliament, where the government’s majority is slim. The government is appealing the case to the Supreme Court, but if it loses, and then finds itself constrained by lawmakers, the temptation to seek an early general election may become overwhelming for Mrs. May. For now, the government is playing down that prospect. Mrs. May insisted on Sunday that she had a mandate to pursue Britain’s exit without consulting Parliament. In a referendum in June, about 52 percent of voters elected to quit the bloc. “The British people, the majority of the British people, voted to leave the European Union,” Mrs. May said at Heathrow Airport as she left for a trade mission to India. “The government is now getting on with that. ” After the court ruling, however, Mrs. May now knows there is a good chance that she may not be able to do so with the free hand that she wants. So far she has specified almost no detail about her objectives, arguing that she wants to keep her negotiating position as strong as possible. At the heart of the dispute lies an ambiguity inherent in a referendum that asked voters to say whether they wanted to quit the European Union but that did not seek their views on what relationship should replace it. Supporters of Brexit contend that opponents now want to thwart the will of the people as expressed in the referendum. Critics fear that the government has no coherent Brexit strategy, and worry that the country may lurch into a damaging economic rupture with the bloc, which voters did not endorse. On Sunday, Gina Miller, the founder of an investment management firm who was the lead claimant in the legal case against the government, told the  that Mrs. May must take the decision to Parliament “because we do not live in a   dictatorship. ” Ms. Miller said she had faced online death and rape threats over the case. Nigel Farage, the interim leader of the U. K. Independence Party, which campaigned for British withdrawal, warned of protests in the streets if the decision in favor of Brexit was ignored. “Believe you me, if the people in this country think they’re going to be cheated, they’re going to be betrayed, then we will see political anger the likes of which none of us in our lifetimes have ever witnessed in this country,” he said. The court ruling has unleashed an ugly political discourse, with one tabloid newspaper that supported Brexit describing the judges who delivered the verdict as “Enemies of the People. ” While the government has said it defends the independence of the judiciary, it has not rushed to condemn the newspaper coverage, prompting criticism from some senior legal figures. More worrisome for Mrs. May is the parliamentary math should she be forced to take her case for British withdrawal to lawmakers. Last week, David Davis, the secretary of state for exiting the European Union, conceded that if the appeal to the Supreme Court failed, the government would probably have to put forward legislation to trigger Article 50. That could give opponents the possibility to amend it, and tie down its negotiating stance. In an interview with The Sunday Mirror, the leader of the opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, said he would push for Mrs. May to adopt his “Brexit bottom lines. ” “We are not challenging the referendum,” he said. “We are not calling for a second referendum. We’re calling for market access for British industry to Europe. ” The party’s deputy leader, Tom Watson, took a more lenient position. He told the  that Labour was “not going to hold this up,” and that “Article 50 will be triggered when it comes to Westminster. ” Asked about the possibility of a general election, the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, told the  on Sunday that it was “the last thing the government wants”  —   a formulation that does not specifically exclude it happening.",true,news,validation,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
16590,16591,"We use cookies to enhance your visit to our site and to bring you advertisements that might interest you . Read our Privacy and Cookies policies to find out more .  Welcome to the new Independent website . We hope you enjoy it and we value your feedback . Please contact us here .  Russian plane crash : Decision to ground planes made President Sisi s visit uncomfortable ? but he shouldn ' t have been invited at all  The Cameron government chooses to value the solid benefits of trade between nations above the less easily measured effects of cosying up to dictators  Britain ' s Prime Minister David Cameron , right , speaks during a news conference with Egypt ' s President Abdel Fattah al Sisi at 10 Downing Street Reuters  David Cameron standing alongside a foreign ruler with a dire civil rights record is becoming a regular sight . First there was the President of China , Xi Jinping , then President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan , and now Egypt s President Abdel Fattah al Sisi .  Diplomatically , this visit is the most difficult of the three , because of the shadow cast over it by the disaster in the Sinai desert . If British intelligence is correct , and it was a bomb that brought down the Russian Airbus 321 200 on Saturday , killing 224 people , the implications are of profound concern . Airport security has been tightened up across the world since the 11 September 2001 attacks , adding to the expense and stress of air travel , and yet it appears that Isis was able to smuggle a bomb aboard a Russian passenger aircraft before it took off from Sharm el Sheikh . The Foreign Office grounded all planes in and out of the resort on Wednesday , with flights to the  resuming today .  This could not have happened at a trickier time for the diplomats responsible for  relations with Egypt . The tourist trade is vital to Egypt s economy , and Sharm el Sheikh is a favourite destination for British holiday makers . Yet on the very day that President Sisi arrived in London , the British essentially cut off one of Egypt s most valuable sources of income . ?  Though President Sisi was emollient when he appeared alongside David Cameron in Downing Street , behind the scenes the Egyptians are thought to be offended that they were not forewarned of the British decision , and at the implication that they cannot be trusted to handle security at their airport .  Yet for all the diplomatic embarrassment , and the inconvenience to thousands of British tourists now stranded in Sharm el Sheikh , realistically the Government had no choice . If Isis was indeed able to smuggle a bomb into the hold of one aircraft , it can do it again , until whoever is doing it is caught . ?  The catastrophe in the desert relates to another basic question , which is whether David Cameron should be playing host to President Sisi at all . ?  Mr Sisi professes to have brought stability to his nation , after leading a military coup against the democratically elected ? though hardly competent ? government of the Muslim Brotherhood . That claim is highly dubious . Not only was Mr Sisi s place in power cemented on top of the worst massacre in Egypt s recent history , in which up to 1 , 000 Brotherhood supporters were murdered in Rabaa square the extraordinary campaign of repression that continues to this day has swollen the ranks of extremist organisations both within Egypt and outside its borders . Mr Sisi claims that the Brotherhood ? despite its record of decades of peaceful engagement in politics ? is a terrorist organisation . The publication of a British report into whether such allegations hold up , expected to answer ? with an emphatic No , has been delayed for months , allegedly for fear of offending our new allies in the fight against Isis . If such allegations are correct , they betray a shameful level of spinelessness , and make the  too complicit for comfort in Mr Sisi s war on the organisation he deposed from power . ?  The Cameron government chooses to value the solid benefits of trade between nations above the less easily measured effects of cosying up to dictators . This may be good for business , but it is cynical , and likely to backfire in the long term . All the current diplomatic awkwardness could have been avoided by the simple and honourable expedient of not inviting Mr Sisi in the first place .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
16599,16600,"Actor Alan Rickman ' had a slight stroke and was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer '  The Harry Potter star kept his health problems a secret and passed away this week  Thanks for subscribing ! Could not subscribe , try again later  Alan Rickman reportedly had a "" slight stroke "" and was later diagnosed with pancreatic cancer .  The Harry Potter actor passed away yesterday surrounded by family and friends at a London hospital and now more details of his brave battle have emerged .  According to the Mail Online ,  showbiz journalist Roger Friedman claimed that the  winner had a suspected stroke last August and was later told he had the disease .  Writing on Showbiz 411 , he said the star told only a few close friends he had cancer during a visit to New York last month .  He wrote : "" Sources tell me Rickman had pancreatic cancer , and he didn ' t have it very long . After all , he came to New York last June looking fit for the premiere of his movie "" A Little Chaos . "" He stayed all night at the Monkey Bar after party .  "" A month later he ' s seen in wire service photos looking the same from a British festival .  "" But sometime around August , says a friend , he may have suffered a small stroke .  Friedman went on : "" His decline was rapid after that . But Rickman and his wife Rima came to New York in December , and even saw the musical Hamilton . Apparently he let some people in on the secret at that point . ""  The charity Pancreatic Cancer Action said in a statement : "" We were very sad to hear that one of Britain ' s most popular actors , Alan Rickman , passed away after a short battle with pancreatic cancer .  "" Our thoughts are with all his friends and family at this very sad time . ""  The much loved Brit star first shot to stardom in 1988 when he played Hans Gruber , Bruce Willis ' s adversary , in Die Hard .  Rickman won a Golden Globe and an Emmy for  biopic Rasputin , and a  for Robin Hood : Prince of Thieves .  He was  nominated for Michael Collins , Sense and Sensibility and Truly Madly Deeply .  A family statement read : "" The actor and director Alan Rickman has died from cancer at the age of 69 . He was surrounded by family and friends . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
16608,16609,"A woman and three children were killed in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , when a suspected robber fleeing in a car jumped a curb and struck them , police said Thursday .  Four people were killed after a car fleeing police struck a home in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , on Wednesday .  "" He literally cut a tree in half , "" Police Commissioner Charles H . Ramsey said , "" then hit the 1 year old , who was in a stroller . The other individuals were on the front porch of their own home . He struck with such force that it knocked the concrete steps loose . ""  Latoya Smith , 22 , died Thursday from injuries in the crash , which occurred shortly after 7 : 30 p . m . Wednesday in the Fentonville area of north Philadelphia , police Capt . James Clark said .  Smith ' s daughter , Remedy Smith who would have turned 1 on Friday died at the scene , as did Alicia Griffin , 6 , and Gina Rosario , 7 , Clark said .  Video of the scene showed a crumpled silver Pontiac on the sidewalk , pushed up against the front steps of a house and wedged against a tree . Watch police commissioner describe carnage  Donta Cradock , 18 , the alleged driver of the gray Pontiac , faces charges for theft of a motorcycle , the crime that allegedly triggered his flight , police said .  Other charges are pending approval from the district attorney ' s office , police said .  "" We ' re hopeful that it will be four counts of murder , "" Clark said .  Cradock and an alleged accomplice , Ivan Rodriguez , 20 , stole a motorcycle at gunpoint around 7 : 30 p . m . , he said .  Rodriguez fled the scene on the motorcycle , while Cradock drove away in the Pontiac , Clark said .  An unidentified person told a traffic police officer in the area about the alleged robbery and pointed out the Pontiac , he said .  The police officer followed the car and tried to stop it at a traffic light , Clark said .  "" At that point the Pontiac fled at a high rate of speed , "" he said .  The officer followed the vehicle , but lost sight of it , Clark said . The officer was not close enough to chase the car , police said , but eventually came across what Clark called a "" horrific accident . ""  Cradock was thrown from the Pontiac and is in the hospital , Clark said . He said a gun was recovered on the suspect .  Rodriguez was arrested at his home , Clark said , and faces a theft charge .  Both men have "" very extensive criminal histories , "" Ramsey said .  Bench warrants were out on them at the time of their arrest , Clark said .  It was not immediately clear if the two had retained attorneys .  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
16609,16610,"In a new video, a number of Christians living in Iraq expressed their admiration for U. S. President Donald Trump, and their hope that he will make good on promises to assist them and come down hard on the Islamic State. [Asked “What do you think of Donald Trump?” several members of the clergy as well as lay Christians answered that they sensed a positive change after the Obama years, and felt that they were finally being noticed.  Father Immanuel, a Syriac Catholic priest in Mosul, said simply: “I love Trump because he understands this Christian matter in Iraq. ” Archbishop Bashar Warda, the Chaldean Catholic bishop of Erbil, said that he was “really encouraged to see that someone at least is thinking of the Christians and giving, not a priority, but at least attracting attention. ” “For me,” the Archbishop said, “I would say this is probably the first time that an American politician like a president would say, ‘No, there are some people who are dying or are suffering because of their faith and we have to think seriously about that. ’” Though in different words, a common thread running through the responses was the belief that Trump actually cares about persecuted Christians in the Middle East and would do something about it. Yohanna Toways, a Christian refugee from Qaraqosh, said that Christian and Yezidi minorities had actually prayed to God for Donald Trump to win the election. “We have confidence in Trump,” Toways said. “Before he was elected, all the Christians and the Yezidi are praying [for him] to win, all of them, and now that he is the president we have the hope he will be the savior of these minorities by his strong decisions. I think he can help us. ” People also said that Trump offered hope to local Christians, after eight years of a president who did nothing for them. “People here were more than disappointed with Obama, because he did nothing. So the view of Obama was terrible,” said John Neill, a volunteer aid worker for the Archdiocese of Erbil. “I think people here are feeling excited about Trump, that he will do something,” Neill continued. “He stated in his election speech that he would do something about Daesh. That is an indication that he will go further and help the minorities in Iraq to get back their lives. ” “If Trump cannot give them hope, then what hope is there?” he added. Similar sentiments were expressed Father Benedict Kiely, the founder of www. nasarean. org, a Christian aid group that has promoted awareness of Christian persecution in   territory, especially through the spread of the Arabic ن symbol used to mark the homes of Christians. “Many people said in our interviews with them that they had hope because he is a strong man,” he said. “God bless him. Let’s be strong and help these people. He promised during the election I remember specifically to be the president for the Christians. ” “So let’s put it into action,” he said. Follow Thomas D. Williams on Twitter  Follow @tdwilliamsrome",fake,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
16611,16612,"Buy land: They’re not making it anymore. That often repeated adage sounds like good financial advice. But over the long run, it hasn’t been. Despite solid price increases over the last few years, land and homes have actually been disappointing investments. It’s worth considering why. Let’s start by looking at the numbers. The best   data on land in the United States is for farmland, which is valuable in its own right and can also be considered a great reservoir that can be converted to housing and other purposes at opportune times. Over the century from 1915 to 2015, though, the real value of American farmland (deflated by the Consumer Price Index) increased only 3. 1 times, according to the Department of Agriculture. That comes to an average increase of only 1. 1 percent a year  —   and with a growing population, that’s barely enough to keep per capita real land value unchanged. According to my own data (relying on the    U. S. National Home Price Index, which I helped create) real home prices rose even more slowly over the same period  —   a total increase of 1. 8 times, which comes to an average of only 0. 6 percent a year. What all that amounts to is that neither farmland nor housing has been a great place to invest money over the long term. To put this in perspective, note that the real gross domestic product in the United States grew 15. 5 times  —   or, on average, 3. 2 percent a year  —   from 1929, the year official G. D. P. numbers began to be kept, to 2015. That’s a much higher growth rate than for real estate. But why? For home prices, a good part of the answer comes from supply and demand. As prices rise, companies build more houses and the supply floods the market, keeping prices down. The supply response to increasing demand may help explain why real home prices nationwide fell 35 percent from 2006 to 2012 (and even more in some cities). Investment in residential structures in the United States was at   levels as a percentage of G. D. P. just before the price declines. Prices have been rebounding since then  —   and so has construction of new houses. But it is true they aren’t making land anymore. And, in fact, farmland prices have done better than home prices over the last century as well as in the worst years for housing, the years bracketing the recent financial crisis. Real farm property values actually rose 21 percent over the full financial crisis, that is, between 2006 and 2012. For farmland, there was only a small 3 percent drop in real price from 2008 to 2009, which was quickly reversed. Don’t get too excited. They aren’t making land, but because of technological advances collectively called the Green Revolution, there has been something akin to a   supply increase. This   miracle in agricultural science greatly improved crop yields per acre. From the standpoint of farm output, there was no need for new land. This revolution involved the discovery by Fritz Haber of a cheap process to produce ammonia for fertilizer at the beginning of the century and the discovery of new   strains of wheat by Norman E. Borlaug at midcentury. Both men won Nobel Prizes for their work. These innovations permitted multiplication of yields per acre and very likely saved hundreds of millions of lives from starvation worldwide. The effects of this revolution are complicated. One might think that progress that improves yield per acre would put upward pressure on land prices. But that is not necessarily so, if it occurs globally and prevents food price increases that would otherwise earn farmers more revenue. What’s more, the food revolution may be accelerating with changes like   milk from genetically modified yeast and   meat from stem cells, eliminating the need for livestock and their pasture. This could have deleterious effects on farmland prices. Of course, underneath every home is a piece of land. Although that is typically only a bit of former farmland, it is often in an urban or suburban area, where a plot of land tends to cost much more than in the country. Sometimes that little piece of land dominates the value of the home, particularly in dense urban areas. But if we are to understand   trends, we need to realize what land represents, even in Manhattan or Silicon Valley or any booming area. People in such places usually aren’t buying land for its own sake but for the myriad services that housing provides. A home is not just a place to sleep and store clothing and keepsakes. It can be a place that is convenient to a stimulating place of work, good schools and entertainment and, indeed, part of an entire human community. These services have developed enormously over the last 100 years, changing the spatial and geographic dimensions of housing. There are vastly more highways and automobiles, telephones and various electronic connections, enabling people to leave center cities and still obtain the housing services they want. Thus, from a   perspective, these developments relieved a great deal of the upward pressure on home prices in cities. Right now, there are some interesting developments in the supply of housing services that economize even further on urban land. We have recently seen interest in “” which may be little more than 200 square feet but manage to squeeze in a kitchen, a bathroom and an entertainment center. For many people, this tiny space, with its proximity to   people, interesting neighborhoods and restaurants, is preferable to living in a house in a   suburb. Carrying this idea further, keepsakes can be kept in remote storage, maybe deliverable someday, on demand, with driverless cars. Already, rules are being changed in many cities, including New York, allowing the little apartments to be built and to accommodate many more people per acre of city land. These factors could lead to   future demands on valuable urban land. When you add all this together, the slow   pace of farmland and home price increases is not surprising. Nor would it be shocking if this trend continued for the next century, despite price surges over the last few years. A more extreme outcome is also quite plausible. In a hundred years, we might even see much of our former farmland converted back to wildlife preserves. In fact, it’s far from inconceivable that the real price of land could be even lower than it is right now.",true,news,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
16632,16633,"On Monday , a federal court struck down Alabama ' s medically unnecessary law that singles out doctors who provide abortions and requires them to secure admitting privileges at a local hospital . The court called the justification for the law "" exceedingly weak . ""  As an obstetrician gynecologist , I couldn ' t agree more . This decision is an important win for American women and for the practice of medicine .  Let me be clear : We all want women to receive safe medical care . But these laws ( a number of states have adopted them ) do not make women safer . In fact , they have quite the opposite effect , as they will make it harder for women to access medical care , potentially forcing them to seek abortion services later in their pregnancy . These laws also jeopardize women ' s safety by forcing qualified physicians to stop providing abortions for reasons having nothing whatsoever to do with medical safety .  That is why leading medical groups like the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Medical Association oppose them .  Whether a physician who provides abortions has hospital admitting privileges is not a reflection on the physician ' s ability to provide quality abortion care . While hospital privileges in theory should be awarded based on physician competency , they in fact are often denied for reasons unrelated to the physician ' s medical qualifications .  For example , to obtain privileges , hospitals often require physicians to admit a certain number of patients each year . But doctors who provide abortions will likely never admit the minimum number of patients because complications are very , very rare .  Here ' s what is important to remember : Abortion is already extremely safe , and for the vast majority of abortions , hospitals do not need to play a role in the patient ' s care . Abortion has a more than 99 safety record , with a less than 0 . 3 risk of complications that could merit hospital treatment . More than 90 of abortions in the United States are performed in outpatient settings and almost all the complications that do arise can be treated on an outpatient basis .  It ' s one of the safest medical procedures performed in the United States today , period .  In the exceedingly rare event of a complication , women ' s health centers have procedures in place to ensure that a woman gets the care she needs . Admitting privileges or lack thereof don ' t have any effect on a woman ' s ability to receive emergency care if she needs it . In our modern care delivery model , emergency room physicians , hospitalists and hospital staff are trained to identify and treat all these types of patient situations .  Even procedures with much higher rates of complication and mortality , such as colonoscopy , are not subject to these burdensome requirements because it ' s clear that they are not needed to keep patients safe . These baseless restrictions serve solely to prevent qualified , competent physicians from providing safe abortion care to women who need it . To put it simply , there is no medical reason to treat abortion providers any differently than other medical professionals .  As the Alabama court found , the law would have forced all but two health centers in the entire state to stop providing abortions . A similar law in Mississippi would force the last remaining clinic in the state to shut its doors , leaving women in the state with no place to safely end a pregnancy . Similar requirements have devastated women and families in Texas and threaten to close clinics in Oklahoma , Louisiana and Wisconsin .  These laws are clearly not motivated by women ' s safety , but by making access to safe , legal abortion difficult even impossible .  Monday ' s court opinion recognizes that a woman is safest when she can make the decision about abortion with her family in consultation with her doctor , free from political interference . It clears one obstacle in the path of women and their doctors in Alabama . In states across the nation , legislators who truly care about women ' s safety would do well to work to eliminate unfounded restrictions to abortion , instead of continuing to introduce them .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
16647,16648,"Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that it was possible he could be friends with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un one day and that it would be  very, very nice  but he was not sure that it would happen. Asked at a news conference in Vietnam if he could see himself being friends with Kim, Trump said:  That might be a strange thing to happen but it s a possibility.   If it did happen it could be a good thing I can tell you for North Korea, but it could also be good for a lot of other places and be good for the rest the world,  Trump said.   It could be something that could happen. I don t know if it will but it would be very, very nice.  ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
16651,16652,"If you ever find yourself struggling to explain to a foreign friend why the U.S. Congress is so universally reviled, look no further than this bit of political cowardice.In an explosive report by The Hill s Alexander Bolton, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell s office freely and openly admitted that his party s legislative goal for the next 11 months is to do absolutely nothing.Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), seeking to protect his majority in a tough cycle for Republicans, is leaning toward holding back several measures that have bipartisan support but are divisive in his conference.Some of these  divisive  bills that Republicans want to shove under the rug until they win their re-elections? A crucial justice reform bill. A long sought after authorization bill to combat  (Remember when Republicans said they were serious about fighting terrorism? Ha!). A minimum wage increase? Any action on immigration? Nothing. They ll show up to their office to collect their paychecks, hold a few fundraisers, but don t expect them to do their jobs. Not this year.Astoundingly, McConnell s  Do Nothing  strategy is being praised by fellow Republicans. Here s The Hill again: McConnell is smart to wait on issues that divide us until such time as we can achieve a consensus,  said a senior Republican aide.  There s no question that some members want to turn to some things sooner than others. But McConnell s duty is to do what s best for the entire conference. Seems what s best for the conference is to focus on the things that unite us. Yeah, sitting on his hands until they go numb, what a hero.But if cowardice permeates every corner of the Republican Party, it s not without reason. For years Republican politicians have been held hostage by a radical fringe of their base that says any bipartisan cooperation means you aren t a  true  conservative. Just passing a bill to give more support to veterans is considered a  betrayal  to the party if it means working with Democrats. You accomplish exclusively conservative goals or you don t accomplish anything at all.McConnell, with all the backbone of a snail, isn t taking any chances. He ll wait out the election and hope that voters focus on how his party never once compromised with  the enemy,  and not, say, on the fact that they hadn t done their jobs for 12 months.How does he plan to cover his tracks? It s shameless   but kind of clever. McConnell plans to intentionally slow down and string out the dozen annual appropriations bills. Those can be addressed individually and, if time is properly squandered, can go on pretty much indefinitely. By the end of the year, with 12 appropriations bills in hand, he can brag about having done something. Just not very much.When we think about how the election cycle brings out the worst in politicians, we typically picture the attack ads, the rat race, the pettiness. There s another side: The craven attempt to cling onto jobs by a group of people who demonstrably do not deserve them. It means in this crucial year, when the United States faces a ton of major challenges, Americans will be treated to nothing   and all because a few politicians are worried what their most toxic supporters would think if they actually bothered show up to work.Feature image via Gage Skidmore/Flickr ",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
16664,16665,"Reuters) - A top U.S. Republican trade lawmaker on Wednesday questioned the Trump administration’s plans to renegotiate a trade deal with U.S. ally South Korea, as well as the White House’s focus on bilateral trade deals. “I was a little surprised by the announcement on Korea by the president, mainly because that agreement’s worked well for us,” Representative Kevin Brady told Reuters in an interview. The U.S. Trade Representative’s office notified South Korea last week of its intent to negotiate amendments to the pact, calling for talks to start in August. Republican President Donald Trump said in April he planned to renegotiate or terminate what he called a “horrible” trade deal. Since the pact, known as KORUS, went into effect in 2012, the U.S. trade deficit with South Korea has more than doubled to nearly $28 billion last year.  Brady, who chairs the trade- and tax-focused Ways and Means Committee in the House of Representatives, said the United States should be “aggressively stepping into the Asia-Pacific market.” “That’s not an easy task if you’re going to go at trade country-by-country ... This is a question of, do we want American trade values in the world or do we want China’s trade values?” Brady said. Three days after taking office in January, Trump officially withdrew the United States from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, keeping an election campaign promise and emphasizing a preference for bilateral trade deals. Some critics of that move have said it opened a trade policy vacuum in Asia that China would move to fill. “Clearly, this administration believes it can achieve more in the bilaterals. They deserve an opportunity to prove that’s the case,” Brady said. “I think regional agreements, multilateral, work because you can set standards across a broad number of countries.” ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
16687,16688,"Reuters) - A New York City museum has shut down an exhibit protesting U.S. President Donald Trump co-created by actor Shia LaBeouf, saying the installation titled “HEWILLNOTDIVIDE.US” had triggered threats of violence and endangered public safety.  LaBeouf and two artists had set up a live-streaming camera outside the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens on Jan. 20, the day that Trump was inaugurated, and encouraged members of the public to repeat “he will not divide us” into the camera. The exhibit was intended to continue through Trump’s four-year term. LaBeouf was arrested on Jan. 26 after getting into an altercation with a 25-year-old man at the museum, according to police. The actor allegedly pulled the man’s scarf, scratched his face and shoved him, police said. In a statement on Friday, the museum said the camera had “created a serious and ongoing public safety hazard.” “While the installation began constructively, it deteriorated markedly after one of the artists was arrested on the site of the installation and ultimately necessitated this action,” the museum said. “Over the course of the installation, there have been dozens of threats of violence and numerous arrests, such that police felt compelled to be stationed outside the installation 24 hours a day, seven days a week.” The New York City Police Department confirmed it had assigned a foot post to the location 24 hours a day. Police said only one other person had been arrested outside the museum since LaBeouf: a 21-year-old man on Feb. 2 accused of throwing eggs at another person. On Friday morning, the live stream showed the words, “The museum has abandoned us,” in capital letters, an image that LaBeouf shared on Twitter. A message about the project on its website said, “On Feb. 10, 2017, the Museum of the Moving Image abandoned the project. The artists, however, have not.” A representative for LaBeouf did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. ",true,dataset,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
16689,16690,"Hundreds of angry Iraqis demonstrated in the holy Shiite city of Karbala on Thursday , protesting the use of foreign troops in the crackdown against anti government protests in Bahrain .  This week , military forces from the Gulf Cooperation Council including Saudi Arabia arrived in Bahrain to help the kingdom control a wave of anti government protests , prompting the Obama administration and U . N . Secretary General Ban Ki moon to urge council members to act with restraint and to allow the citizens of Bahrain to demonstrate peacefully .  Although Bahrain ' s protesters are making primarily economic and political demands , there is a sectarian dimension : Bahrain ' s population is 70 Shiite the royal family is Sunni , as is the royal family of Saudi Arabia . Saudi Arabia recently has seen small demonstrations among its minority Shiites .  In Karbala , some protesters carried Shiite flags as they condemned the brutal force wielded against Bahrain ' s predominantly Shiite demonstrators . The U . N . human rights chief and Amnesty International issued statements Thursday calling on the Bahraini government to halt the violence against its people .  Some of the Iraqi demonstrators held up banners reading , "" No foreign troops in Bahrain . "" Others shouted , "" Wahhabis ! Leave Bahrain immediately , "" referring to Saudi Arabian troops .  A similar protest was held in Baghdad Thursday , and , during the parliamentary session , Sunni and Shiite lawmakers also condemned the foreign troops being employed in the crackdown .  Sunni Parliamentary Speaker Osama al Nujaifisaid the violence against protesters could "" potentially tear apart the social fabric of the country and in the region . ""  Former Prime Minister Ibrahim al Jaafari , a Shiite , used stronger language during a speech to lawmakers , calling the use of foreign troops in Bahrain a "" flagrant violation . ""  Sunnis make up the majority in the Arab world .  Iraq has seen its own share of clashes over anti government demonstrations this year . Since February , at least 20 Iraqis have been killed and hundreds have been wounded in protests across the country , part of a series of demonstrations that have swept across the Middle East and parts of Africa this year , toppling the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt .  The protests in Iraq demanded economic progress , an end to corruption and basic services and freedoms .  The United Nations expressed its concerns about violence used against protesters across the country . "" While acknowledging the duty incumbent on the Iraqi authorities to ensure law and order in the country , the U . N . in Iraq notes with concern that several instances of human rights violations in relation to the demonstrations have been reported , "" it said in a statement .  "" The reported violations include disproportionate use of force by Iraqi security forces that resulted in the death and injury of a number of citizens restrictions on the media and attacks on media organizations and arrests and detention of , in particular , journalists . ""  The Iraqi government was formed in December , nine months after an inconclusive national election . This is the second elected government in the nearly eight years after a U . S . led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
16702,16703,"Barry Obama ' gets his hat on ' by ' Driving Miss Hillary Crazy ' during her first ride in a rubber band powered automobile .  In a two part announcement sure to impact on the American economy , President Barry Obama first shocked the  automotive world with his new edict demanding all auto manufactures produce fleet economies of 54 . 1  by 2025 , up from the current 27 . 5  .  He added a real bombshell , however , saying that he was splitting up Government Motors , (  ) , still in debt to the American Taxpayer , and now to the Chinese Central Bank after the recent  , into two companies .  The second company will be known as ,  Motors ( Rubber Band Motors ) , which he claimed will revolutionize the industry and help replace sagging sales in  ' s Hybrid LIne headed by the Woefully , and sometimes dangerous to drive , overpriced Chevy Volt .  The President said he has asked Vice President Joe Biden to be the general overseer of the project and the ' go to media guy ' to hype sales , while tapping General Electric  Jeff Immhelt , who also heads his Economic Job Council , to bring the new line of cars on line .  Immhelt says the cars will be powered with first generation rubber band turbine technology developed , patented and wholly owned by the Chinese Government , in conjunction with  as an approved tax exempt end user .  Without getting too technical , Immhelt , who used a series of simplistic scientific charts , showed how an intricately woven number of 64 Rubber bands , 3 . 5 "" long , 1 4 wide , and 1 32 thick , were combined with a series of 117 Rubber Bands , 7 long , 1 16 wide , and 1 32 thick to form the power core .  The ' thrusters ' , as Immhelt called the bands , are melded through the use of ' secret ' thermodynamics and can produce a forward trust capable of moving a 300 lb car from 0 15mph in less than 20 seconds , and can eventually reach speeds of 37 . 5 miles an hour on level ground when ' wound up real tight ' with the kevlar hand crank .  In another thermodynamic breakthrough , Immhelt says that when rubber bands are stretched to their capacity ( wound up ) , they emit heat , solving the winter heating and defrosting problem which took more than a few lives last winter when Chevy Volt batteries ran down during midwestern blizzards stranding motorists .  "" During the hot summer months , "" Immhelt droned , "" thermo dynamics will keep the car cool . As the bands begin to unwind , developing thrust and moving the vehicle , they absorb heat from their surroundings , thereby cooling the driver .  Also on hand for the announcement was Obama ' s Trade Minister to Viet Nam , Jane Fonda , who gleefully held in her hand a signed contract with the Michelin Rubber Plantation in Binh Dong Province to supply all the rare rubber for the bands while yelling , "" Finally , reparations for the Freedom Fighters in our time ! ! ""  During the war the plantation was not only a source of income for the Viet Cong , but served as a staging area for military incursions , immune from attack thanks to an agreement reached between the French and the Johnson administration .  Due to her close relationship with the Viet Cong formed during the war after numerous visits to Hanoi to keep up communist morale selling ' Cong Bonds , ' Fonda was said by Obama to be ' uniquely qualified to undertake this vital mission she ' s the type of gal I ' d like to jump in a fox hole with anytime and she ' s got a cute smile just like Debbie ! "" ( Wasserman Schultz ,  Chair Shrew ) .  Immhelt said , that in keeping with continuing efforts to move American jobs ' off shore in order to be competitive , "" some of the dismantled Chrysler plants decaying in Detroit , and the  Saturn plant shut down by Obama because the non union workers were putting out a better and cheaper car than  , would be moved to some of the outlying districts of rural China where "" folks are willing to work for just about nothing and don ' t drink or get high on the job . ""  According to a spokesman for  Biden , the first model off the line from  will be a one passenger commuter car , available in lime green only , with the pre production model name of "" Ging Wa . ""  Biden said plans for a ' super commuter ' named the "" Dim Sum "" , in honor of Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is next .  Said to be capable of holding the driver , his Ipad , briefcase , a change of underwear and reaching speeds in excess of 49  qualifying it to run in the high speed commuter lanes to be designed by the  Department of Transportation , it is in the final stages of development .  Nancy Pelosi , when she heard the news really got ' wound up ! ' "" See , I told you ! They laughed at me , but I told everybody , we democrats are here to save the world as we know it and just in time too ! ""  Chinese for ""  ""  ",satire,text,validation,Other news1,Economy,fake,satire,True,no,no,positive,present
16703,16704,"Maria Bartiromo and Sandra Smith , moderating the fifth main and undercard Republican debates , respectively , on set at Fox Business Network on Friday , Oct . 6 . Fox Business Network   s Republican presidential debate last week was the little network s moment in the sun , and it was promptly burned to a crisp . Despite pulling in record ratings for the financial channel , everyone from the candidates to the audience to the rest of the press lambasted the event as amateur hour at best and a slapstick disgrace at worst .  This Tuesday , its rival , Fox Business Network , has the opportunity to either put the last debate to shame , or faceplant right next to its competitor when it hosts the fourth  debate . The two networks are in fierce competition : Fox Business , which still trails in the ratings , is a much younger insurgent that cropped up in 2007 to break  s grip on the finance world . ( In an added twist , Fox boss Roger Ailes led  as president before starting Fox News in the mid 1990s . )  Tuesday ' s  showdown will be Fox Business ' first ever debate and likely the most watched moment in its short history . It ' s a chance for Fox Business to finally get sampled by more than ? the roughly ? 100 , 000 viewers ? who watch regularly each day . And to further ? expand its reach , it is planning to stream the debate online . ? It ' s ? also temporarily "" unbundling "" ? next week , meaning ? the channel will be unlocked for cable subscribers across the country who aren ' t in one of the 82 million homes that receive ? Fox Business from their current providers .  To further add to the high stakes network rivalry underlying Tuesday s debate , one of the Fox Business ? moderators is , in fact , a recent transplant from  : Maria Bartiromo , now the host of Fox Business s Maria in the Mornings . She sat onstage with John Harwood four years ago during  s 2012  debate , best known for the moment when Gov . Rick Perry struggled to remember all three agencies of government he would obliterate as president .  Now , Bartiromo , a veteran financial journalist and the first person to ever report live from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange , is playing for the other team after arriving at Fox last year . Along with her colleague Sandra Smith , who will be moderating the undercard debate of low polling backbenchers , she sat down with International Business Times to talk about what went wrong for  and how Fox plans to pull off a non disaster .  For me , I think it was a clear reminder of the reason we do these debates , Bartiromo said . The reason we do these debates is to help the viewer , the voter , better understand the candidates positions on things . And to better distinguish how one plan differs from the next plan .  To me , that was so clearly missed by  , she added .  When asked what went wrong last time , Bartiromo just laughed .  Smith jumped in : These debates really come down to asking the right questions and being prepared and being able to back up the question , she said . It was a subtle dig at  moderator Becky Quick , who last week came at Donald Trump with a pointed question about a quote on his website slamming Sen . Marco Rubio . But when Trump flatly ( and falsely ) denied the charge , Quick was caught off guard , unable to produce the text .  Where did I read this and come up with this ? Quick asked .  I don t know . You people write this stuff , Trump shot back , to encouraging cheers from the crowd .  Bartiromo and Smith are obviously looking to avoid a moment like that at all costs . When a candidate challenges you back , you better be able to look down and have the date , the time and the verbate of what that candidate has said in the past , Smith said .  Bartiromo recalled her dustup with Newt Gingrich back during 2012 s  debate , after the former speaker chafed at one of her questions on healthcare .  I didn t expect him to do that , but I was ready with the facts on Obamacare , she said .  Most notably , the two didn t seem worried about having to corral the shrinking but still rowdy crowd of boisterous and sometimes bizarre candidates onstage . The  debate , while probably satisfying to watch for those over at Fox , was also a warning of what they might expect to deal with once the cameras are rolling inside News Corp .  Fox Business Network ' s debate is on Tuesday , Nov . 10 . ?   People have been asking us : How do you prepare for that ? And I think the only way to prepare for a debate is to make sure you know cold what their plans are , know the follow ups to ask , so that s how you prepare , Bartiromo said . I don t think we can sit here and say , Well , am I prepared for someone to go nuts on me ? ""  To prevent the candidates from talking over the moderators , or each other , Smith said that the debate would have very clear guidelines . When asked what that meant , Smith seemed perplexed .  But this is a field full of contenders that doesn t necessarily respect the authority of the almighty buzzer . While it s true  did not make use of a time limit to cut candidates off ,  and Fox s buzzers didn t prevent the likes of Donald Trump , Ted Cruz , Rand Paul , Mike Huckabee or Chris Christie from going minutes over their time , clamoring for their mics to rebuke one another , or trying to steamroll the moderators into submission .  What re more , as the noisy ? crew of rivals whittles down , each debate takes on higher stakes . This time around , Trump is facing a new threat of dominance from unlikely poll topper Ben Carson , Jeb Bush is fighting the perception of his campaign s fatal decline , and Rand Paul is just on the cusp of being demoted to the kiddie table debate , which is what happened to Christie and Huckabee ? Thursday night . Those hanging by a thread will look to create a "" moment "" during the debate that gives their candidacy a chance , by breaking the rules , bending them ? or just ignoring questions altogether which places additional pressure on the moderators .  When asked if these candidates may not be totally appreciative of the buzzer code , Bartiromo conceded : They may not be .  In the aftermath of the  fiasco , the  candidates attempted to lay down rules to control the editorial direction of future debates . Ted Cruz went further than most , going around saying that any future moderators of a Republican debate should prove that they have voted in a Republican primary . ( A public records search showed that Bartiromo and her co host ? Neil Cavuto been registered Republicans at one time or another . )  Bartiromo and Smith laughed off the idea that they would kowtow to the candidates .  Not happening , Bartiromo . No , no . Of course not .  I love the one who said they want to check on graphics ? she said , laughing . Right . That was Jeb Bush , whose campaign complained that a  graphic listed him as an adviser for Lehman Brothers rather than former governor of Florida . ? Two words , she added . As if .  Look , we re here to facilitate , we re not looking to please the candidates and give them their own produced show , in any way , Bartiromo said . We re a news organization .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
16716,16717,"Iran ' fills Arak nuclear reactor core with concrete '  Image caption The Arak facility will be reconfigured to make it incapable of producing material for a nuclear weapon  Iran has removed the core of its Arak heavy water nuclear reactor and filled it with cement , according to the country ' s Fars news agency .  The fate of the reactor was one of the toughest sticking points in Iran ' s long nuclear negotiations last year .  Under the terms of the deal , Iran agreed the heavy water reactor would be reconfigured so it was not capable of yielding material for a nuclear weapon .  The removal of the core is one of the final steps required by the deal .  It will bring Iran closer to the relief from economic sanctions negotiated in exchange for changes to its nuclear industry .  The negotiations were conducted with the so called P5 1 the  , the  , China , France , Russia , and Germany , and led to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (  ) .  All six nations involved in the negotiations have agreed to participate in the redesign and construction of a modernised reactor at Arak .  Iran denies that any of its nuclear activity is geared at developing weapons , and says the 40 megawatt , heavy water plant at Arak is used to produce isotopes for cancer and other medical treatments .  Behrouz Kamalvandi , the spokesperson for Iran ' s atomic energy agency , told the Etemad newspaper Iran "" has met its commitments under the July nuclear agreement earlier than expected "" .  "" Implementation of  will finish in the next seven days , "" he said .  Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in a speech broadcast live on state television on Monday : "" We are hopeful that the sanctions against Iran will be lifted in the next few days . ""  Under July ' s agreement , the International Atomic Energy Agency will decide when Tehran has complied fully with its obligations .  Uranium enrichment : Iran can operate 5 , 060 first generation centrifuges , configured to enrich uranium to 3 . 67 , a level well below that needed to make an atomic weapon . It can also operate up to 1 , 000 centrifuges at its mountain facility at Fordow but these cannot be used to enrich uranium .  Plutonium production : Iran has agreed to reconfigure its heavy water reactor at Arak , so that it will only produce a tiny amount of plutonium as a by product of power generation , and will not build any more heavy water reactors for 15 years .  Inspections : International monitors will be able to carry out a comprehensive programme of inspection of Iran ' s nuclear facilities .  Sanctions : All  and  energy , economic and financial sanctions , and most  sanctions , will be lifted on the day Iran shows it has complied with the main parts of the deal .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
16733,16734,"The son of the highest ranking  officer ever to be sentenced for espionage was sentenced Tuesday to probation and community service for continuing his jailed father ' s espionage activities , according to the U . S . attorney ' s office in Portland , Oregon .  Nathan Nicholson pleaded guilty last year to helping his father Harold James "" Jim "" Nicholson restart his spying career while the father was serving a 23 year prison sentence . He was sentenced to serve five years on probation and complete 100 hours of community service , Gerri Badden , a spokeswoman for the  attorney in Portland .  The elder Nicholson pleaded guilty in 1997 to spying for Russia , making him the highest ranking  officer imprisoned for espionage . Last month he pleaded guilty to spying for the Russians once again by using his son as an intermediary . He faces sentencing in that case in January , 2010 .  According to court documents , Nathan Nicholson , 26 , cooperated with prosecutors in their case against his father after  agents confronted him about frequent international travel , in which they suspected Nathan Nicholson of meeting with Russian intelligence agents .  During the  questioning , Nicholson , who is a former U . S . Army paratrooper admitted to authorities that he had not gone overseas to visit "" a battle buddy "" as he had claimed previously .  agents then informed Nicholson that lying to them was a federal crime and offered him a chance to change his story , according to one agent ' s testimony .  At that point ,  Special Agent John Cooney testified , Nicholson became more "" forthcoming "" about his meetings with Russians .  Nathan Nicholson told the agents that at his father ' s behest , he made trips to California , Mexico , Peru and Cyprus , where he met with Russian government representatives who gave him payments totaling over 35 , 000 in cash .  During Nathan Nicholson s prison visits to his father , according to court records , "" Harold Nicholson spent a significant amount of time advising defendant on how to conduct himself in a clandestine manner as he traveled to and from various international meeting locations . Harold Nicholson tried to impart his  training to defendant . ""  Prosecutors alleged that the Russians paid the elder Nicholson back pay for his prior espionage activities and for information on how he was caught .  "" The Russian Federation was specifically interested in how Harold Nicholson got caught by the  , "" according to a government sentencing memo filed with the court . It added that the information concerned "" who interrogated him after his arrest and the timing of his transfers as a  Officer prior to his arrest . ""  According to court records , the elder Nicholson and his son put the plot into motion after Nathan Nicholson complained to his father that the family was in a precarious financial situation .  The sentencing memo said that Nathan Nicholson provided crucial help in the prosecution of his father . The elder Nicholson pleaded guilty on the day that his trial was set to have begun last month and who now faces an additional 20 years in prison .  In an October , 2010 , psychological report entered into the court record by prosecutors , Nathan Nicholson took aim at his ex spy father .  "" I wasn t aware of his selfish side , "" Nathan Nicholson said , according to the records . "" I allowed myself to be blind sided . I was like a lobster in a pot , heated slowly until it was too late . ""  ",true,text,validation,American football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
16742,16743,"Seoul , South Korea Three Japanese lawmakers were denied entry at a South Korean airport Monday after they announced they would attempt a visit to an island near disputed territory in what Korea calls the East Sea and Japan calls the Sea of Japan .  The lawmakers arrived at Gimpo International Airport near Seoul at 11 : 20 a . m . but were denied entry by the immigration service , according the Ministry of Justice .  The trio is expected to return to Japan on a later flight , but details were not yet available , the Ministry of Justice said .  The Japanese politicians announced they would visit Ulleung Island adjacent to the disputed Dokdo islets after the two countries clashed over a civilian aircraft running a test flight over the area .  The islets in the sea to the east of Korea , known as Dokdo in Korea and Takeshima in Japan , have been a prickly issue for both countries . Japan has long claimed the islets as its territory , but Seoul said all Korean territory was returned after the country won independence from colonial rule by Japan in 1945 .  The South Korean Foreign Ministry warned Friday that the government would not allow the three politicians to enter the country , saying it cannot guarantee the safety of the lawmakers and that the decision is out of consideration of bilateral relations .  Monday ' s visit is widely viewed as an act of protest by right wing politicians after the two countries clashed over the islets last month .  The Japanese government issued a ban on flying with South Korea ' s flagship airline , advising Japanese officials to refrain from flying with Korean Air in July . Korean Air had conducted a test flight over the islets twice to celebrate the launching of its new aircraft in June .  Seoul demanded Tokyo withdraw the ban , but with no success .  South Koreans view the islets as a source of national pride and have taken various measures to reassert its ownership of the islets . The land is largely uninhabited with only seven registered residents .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
16751,16752,"The sponsor of a top golf tournament in South Korea insists it is safe to go ahead despite two American players pulling out due to security fears .  U . S . Ryder Cup stars Dustin Johnson and Zach Johnson withdrew from the Ballantine ' s Championship Monday , citing concerns over recent tensions between North and South Korea .  "" They have reached this decision following perceived unrest on the Korean Peninsula and can no longer assure their commitment to this year ' s event , "" Ballantine ' s said in a statement on the website of the European Tour , which co sanctions the tournament with the Asian Tour .  Now held at the Blackstone course at Icheon , 60 kilometers south of the capital Seoul , the 2 , 205 , 000 ( 2 . 85 million ) event was the first staged in South Korea in 2008 on the island of Jeju .  "" Ballantine ' s and the European Tour would like to reiterate that the tournament is going ahead as planned with a full field of European , Asian and Korean  Tour members , "" the statement added .  "" Ballantine ' s has been kept fully up to date on relevant issues and the European Tour has also been liaising with key decision makers , including the Foreign Office , who have not warned of any increased risk to those traveling to or within the country .  World No . 30 Zach Johnson , who won the 2007 Masters , said he did not want to take the risk following North Korea ' s recent threats against its neighbor and its move to test missiles and restart its nuclear program .  "" It was one of those things where the women in my life really didn ' t feel like it was necessary for me to go , "" the 37 year old from Iowa told the Des Moines Register , referring to his wife , mother and young daughter .  "" The posture and rhetoric that is taking place right now makes it not worth it . And it probably is just posture and rhetoric . However , I don ' t want to take the chance . ""  World No . 19 Dustin Johnson , who played at the Korean event in 2011 , had similar concerns .  "" I feel bad for the tournament , "" said the 28 year old , whose partner is Paulina Gretzky , the model daughter of ice hockey legend Wayne Gretzky . "" They were gracious and understanding . Hopefully it will work out in the future . ""  The tournament , which starts on Thursday , will feature three former major champions in South Africa ' s world No . 6 Louis Oosthuizen , South Korean veteran Y . E . Yang and Britain ' s Paul Lawrie .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
16763,16764,"Ed Miliband will announce plans for first time buyers to pay no stamp duty on properties worth up to 300 , 000  First time buyers will pay no stamp duty on properties worth up to 300 , 000 and have priority in the sale of new homes under a Labour government , Ed Miliband will say today .  Mr Miliband will say Labour ' s reduction in the rate of stamp duty to zero would benefit nine in ten first time buyers saving them up to 5 , 000 in tax .  Labour claims its tax break which would last three years would be funded by a further squeeze on tax avoidance , higher levies on foreign buyers and cuts in tax relief for landlords who fail to keep properties up to standard .  A Labour government would also change planning law to give first time buyers who have lived in a local authority area for more than three years ' first call ' on up to half of homes built locally .  Labour aides say they would have a two month window in which to buy a home before it was made more generally available in a reform designed to overcome local opposition to housing developments .  The policy announcements Labour ' s most eye catching so far in the campaign are designed to counter Tory plans to expand Help to Buy loans , the right to buy for housing association tenants and to offer 200 , 000 ' starter homes ' , sold at a 20 per cent discount . They are also meant to trump Chancellor George Osborne ' s reforms to stamp duty , announced late last year , which have delivered savings for 98 per cent of homebuyers .  Mr Osborne ' s changes mean there is no stamp duty paid on the first 125 , 000 of a property purchase , 2 per cent between 125 , 000 and 250 , 000 and 5 per cent between 250 , 000 and 925 , 000 . The changes are paid for by big hikes to duty on more expensive properties .  Speaking in Stockton , Co Durham , Mr Miliband will warn of a housing crisis in which a severe lack of homes being built has priced millions out of the property market and left many who want to buy living in private rented accommodation .  The rate of home ownership has slipped to its lowest for 30 years , and buy to let landlords and foreign investors are snapping up properties before others get a chance .  Labour claims it will oversee the construction of a million homes by 2020 and introduce controversial ' use or lose it ' powers ensuring developers build on land rather than hoarding it . Local authorities will be able to levy council tax on sites which remain undeveloped to try to force developers ' hands .  ' There ' s nothing more British than the dream of home ownership , starting out in a place of your own , ' Mr Miliband will say .  Mr Miliband will say Labour ' s reduction in the rate of stamp duty to zero would benefit nine in ten first time buyers saving them up to 5 , 000 in tax  ' But for so many young people today that dream is fading with more people than ever renting when they want to buy , new properties being snapped up before local people get a look in , young families wondering if this country will ever work for them . It is simply too expensive for so many young people to buy a home today , saving up for the deposit , paying the fees and having enough left over for the stamp duty .  ' So we ' re going to act so we can transform the opportunities for young working people in our country . For the first three years of the next Labour government , we will abolish stamp duty for all first time buyers of homes under 300 , 000 . '  Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls insists the party ' s plan for stamp duty is ' fully funded ' .  Eric Pickles , right , said rent control is the most effective way of destroying a city bar bombing it  The stamp duty cut would cost 225million a year . Labour says it would be paid for by tackling tax avoidance by landlords , which  has calculated costs more than 550million each year .  A ' national register of landlords ' will mean this can be cut by at least 20 per cent , generating 100million , Labour claims .  It would also increase tax paid by holding companies that buy  property on behalf of investors and raise stamp duty on buyers from outside the  .  The party would also cut tax relief that rogue landlords get for repairs and upkeep when their properties are not up to standard . Landlords who let furnished properties can claim tax relief even if they are not investing in their property .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
16789,16790,"It ' s enough to make you seasick .  As huge waves crashed against a swaying oil rig , one nearby worker managed to catch the entire harrowing ordeal on camera .  The Borgholm Dolphin installation was filmed amidst the massive swells that were a result of this past weekend ' s severe storm .  An offshore worker captured this harrowing footage of massive waves crashing against an oil rig  The oil rig is stationed in the North Sea , about 145 miles east of Aberdeen .  Filmed by James Eaton , an offshore worker on the nearby Lomond Platform , the storm began on January 10 , but had been known about for some time .  ' The barge pulled off of the The Borgholm Dolphin due to upcoming weather on January 9 , ' James told MailOnline in an email .  ' But one of our colleagues had to move over there .  ' He is usually a bit delicate so we paid extra attention to the storm and how it would affect him . '  The swells were a result of a storm system off the coast of Aberdeen , Scotland , last weekend  The Borgholm Dolphin installation held its ground among the waves in the middle of the North Sea  James Eaton , who filmed the video , did so from the safety of the nearby Lomond Platform  The storm was so severe that power was cut to over 140 , 000 properties in Northern Scotland last week  The weather system was so strong that power was cut to approximately 140 , 000 properties in Northern Scotland at its worst .  ' The storm lasted about two days with big seas , ' the 48 year old Control Room Technician , who has worked offshore for nine years , explained .  ' It hasn ' t really left yet , but there were no injuries .  ' We get a lot of storms this time of year , but never really have a vessel or a flotel near us to see how bad it is , so it ' s a bit unusual . '  Built in 1975 , the Borgholm Dolphin is a platform that measures 108m 61m .  A massive structure , it weighs almost 15 , 000 gross tonnes and is part of the larger Dolphin Drilling fleet , which also includes rigs off the coast of Norway .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
16796,16797,"Anti rape campaigners have slammed a ' terrifying ' website which publishes articles and blog posts by men allegedly condoning the sexual assault of women by their husbands .  Return of The Kings is an American website with more than 6 , 000 monthly subscribers and hundreds of men posting comments beneath articles composed by contributing writers .  Among ' sexist ' articles it has published is one titled Five Lines That Potential Wives Cannot Cross .  Critics have blasted the post as ' amounting to an incitement of rape ' .  ' Terrifying ' : Anti rape campaigners have slammed an article posted online which instructs men to map out ' red lines ' for potential wives  The write defended the section titled ' You don ' t reject me , ever ' as attempting to have ' humour value ' and ' offer advice '  The article , written by a former Australian columnist posting under the pseudonym Hesse Kassel , is a list of five rules the writer says men must impose in a relationship to ensure it succeeds .  Among its guidelines is ' You don ' t reject me , ever ' instructing men never to allow prospective partners to refuse them sex .  ' Under no circumstance can you accept the idea that she gets to choose if or when to satisfy you or choose to sabotage your joint fertility , ' it reads .  ' Only give sex when it suits you . You control the time and frequency of sex , not her .  ' The obvious exception to this is the first time you have sex . Typically she will control the timing of that for obvious reasons .  ' From the second time onward , any poorly reasoned denial is a red flag . '  The article has been slammed as ' terrifying ' and ' misogynistic ' by campaigners shocked that such attitudes exist in modern society ' .  Siobhan Ames Bell , who waived her anonymity after seeing her stepfather jailed for assaulting her to campaign on behalf of rape victims , said the article ' clearly ' condoned rape .  ' Saying something is all part of the thought process . The fact they believe this shows they can act on it .  Siobhan Ames Bell , who was raped by her stepfather , said the article incites sexual attacks  ' These should be monitored . Anybody who acts on these views has commited rape in my eyes .  ' Sex is a choice . When both are not in consent it ' s rape . '  Rape Crisis , the country ' s leading victim support charity , described the views presented in the article as ' terrifying ' .  ' This entire article is terrifying as is the idea that there is any sort of market for this kind of material in the 21st century , ' said Katie Russell .  ' The views expressed throughout are not only deeply outdated but also profoundly misogynistic .  ' The writer unapologetically , aggressively and repeatedly advises men to enslave and dehumanise women .  ' He is incredibly misguided and cynical in his apparent view that only a relationship or marriage based on power , control and abuse can ever endure .  ' Most seriously and alarmingly of all , however , the first on the writer ' s list of ' rules ' amounts to an incitement to rape .  ' Someone who "" refuses to take no for an answer "" from their partner and has sex with her or him anyway is a rapist . '  The writer , who declined to give his real name , defended the article , saying : ' ' The post aims to have some humor value but also include useful advice .  ' It was only my second blog post and I may or may not have achieved that aim .  ' If you read the post carefully you will see that it doesn ' t say that a woman should be forced to comply .  ' It merely says that a man should choose not to marry a woman who displays certain behaviors .  ' The post did not incite , condone or so much as discuss rape , even in jest . '  Almost 700 comments have been posted beneath the article on the website , the majority of which written by internet users claiming to be men and in support of StrongSloth ' s views .  The website , which describes itself as ' a small but vocal collection of men in America today who believe men should be masculine and women should be feminine ' has been criticised in the past for controversial content .  Last November an article titled ' Five reasons to date a girl with an eating disorder ' was accused of trivialising anorexia and bulimia by encouraging men to target sufferers as they ' cost less ' and ' her obsession over her body will improve her overall looks ' .  Return of the Kings declined to comment when approached by MailOnline .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
16798,16799,"Reuters) - Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, whose new party is challenging Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe s ruling bloc in the Oct. 22 national election, said she would  100 percent  not run in the poll, the latest twist in a drama giving voters whiplash. Speculation has persisted that Koike, a former  member and defense minister, would resign to run for a seat in parliament needed to make a bid for the premiership.  I have been saying I will not run for the election from the beginning,  Koike said in an interview with the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Tuesday.  I m 100 percent not running for the election.  She later repeated the comment to reporters.  If Koike does not personally contest this election, then analysts believe she would hope her party positions itself to win the next national poll, and that she gains a voter boost from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.  Abe announced the snap election last week in hopes his Liberal Democratic Party-led coalition would keep its majority in parliament s lower house, where it held a two-thirds  super majority  before the chamber was dissolved. But Koike s new Party of Hope - launched just last week as a  reformist, conservative  alternative to Abe s equally conservative  - has clouded the outlook amid signs voters are disillusioned with Abe after nearly five years in power. Koike s dilemma was whether to run for a seat now and face a backlash from voters for quitting as governor little more than a year since she defied the  to run successfully for the post, or risk letting a shot at the top job slip through her fingers. Some analysts saw her decision not to seek a seat now as a sign Koike thinks her party s momentum is fading.  She must have thought it would not be worthwhile abandoning the post of Tokyo governor to become a head of an opposition,   said Tetsuro Kato, a professor emeritus at Hitotsubashi University. Koike has been getting negative media coverage for saying she would  exclude  candidates who do not agree with her party s policies - a stance seen as barring liberal members of the failed main opposition Democratic Party from joining. Leaders of the Democratic Party - a fractious mix of conservatives and liberals - decided last week it would not run candidates of its own but let members run from Koike s party. Koike s comment was applauded by some as an effort to ensure policy consistency but by others as a dictatorial maneuver.  She s branding a very new party and has to make clear what it stands for, but the danger is that while Abe owned the  arrogance of power  space, she is now vying for some of that,  said Jeffrey Kingston, director of Asian studies at Temple University Japan.  Abe s support rates fell earlier this year due to suspected cronyism scandals and many voters  perception that he had grown complacent and arrogant after nearly five years in office.  His rating later rebounded but dropped again to 37 percent in the latest poll by public broadcaster NHK. Koike s party is insisting those who want to run on its ticket sign a policy pledge, including revising the pacifist constitution and exercising the right of collective self-defense, or militarily aiding allies under attack-defense, a document seen by Reuters showed.  Many liberals balk at those policies. Koike s party on Tuesday unveiled a list of 192 candidates for the lower house election. That compares with 233 seats needed for a simple majority.  The party plans to announce more candidates in the coming days, but a senior party member conceded that it will be a tall order to win a majority.   Although (fielding) 233 candidates is a very high mountain, we would like to finish climbing it. On the other hand, in actuality, it would be considerably difficult for us alone to gain a majority even if we fielded 233,  said Goshi Hosono, a founding member of the party and former environment minister.   Further complicating the outlook, liberals from the Democratic Party launched a Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan. The  could split the opposition vote and help Abe s bloc keep its majority, but by how much is tough to predict.  Koike is tough, she s resilient and she can tap into the fact that Abe s negative ratings are pretty high and a lot of people out there are unhappy with him,  Kingston said. ",true,dataset,validation,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
16817,16818,"By her own admission, Geena Davis is not the norm when it comes to gender disparity onscreen. “I’ve been really lucky to play a lot of important roles in movies, and I got to be really cool things,” she said, ticking off a list that includes a baseball phenomenon (“A League of Their Own”) a pirate captain (“Cutthroat Island”) and, perhaps the coolest of them all, a housewife on the lam in “Thelma and Louise. ” Now she’s Angela Rance, a Chicago hotel manager, wife and mother of two daughters, in Fox’s “The Exorcist,” a retooling of the 1973 horror classic with a debut on Friday. She turns to her priest (Alfonso Herrera) when something in her home seems amiss. By the time “Tubular Bells” plays, you can be sure some heads are going to spin. It’s the kind of tantalizing role that Ms. Davis, now 60, had spent the last decade searching for since “Commander in Chief,” in which she played the first female president of the United States. And she knows it’s rare. In 2007, she founded the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media to study how girls and women are presented onscreen, which she discussed in a phone interview from Los Angeles, where she lives with her husband, daughter and twin sons. These are edited excerpts from that conversation. The pilot is scary, but I hear the show gets even scarier. We’re blown away, because every time we get the next script we’re like, “Oh my God, now what’s happening?” It’s going to get hella scary. [Laughs] There’s evil afoot, and the story grows to be far beyond what happens in our family. Had you seen the original movie? I was scarred for life when it came out. I already had enough problems with ghosts under the bed, ghosts in the closet and believing in every possible superstition. Seeing that added to the pile. Why did you found your gender institute? The impetus was my daughter. I was very aware of the lack of great female characters in film, because I was living it. And when “Thelma and Louise” came out, the reaction was so overwhelming that it made me realize how few opportunities we have for women to feel like that coming out of a movie  —   to feel empowered and inspired by the female characters. I had no clue that children’s media in the 21st century would be wildly imbalanced. And as a mother, I was horrified because what message is that sending to kids from the very beginning if the female characters are narrowly stereotyped or hypersexualized or not even there at all? How do you make your point? I go to meetings at the guilds and networks and studios and production companies and present the research in a private and collegial way. And the reaction is fantastic, because they’re shocked and horrified, and they want to make change. You recently introduced a tool that can measure not only how much time women are onscreen but also how much they speak. What have you learned? Women are not only fewer characters and have fewer lines, but they’re onscreen less when they are speaking than men. In other words, they were cutting to a male or something else when the females were talking  —   enough so that it was noteworthy. Many women said “Thelma and Louise” changed their lives. What about yours? It dramatically changed my life, because that’s what made me so interested in how women are represented onscreen and wanting to help change that. And this is my passion now.",true,news,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
16831,16832,"The son of firebrand Islamist cleric Abu Hamza was leader of a gang who kidnapped a man and tortured him over a 15 , 000 debt .  Tito Ibn Sheikh , 28 , was jailed for 12 years after a jury agreed he ' orchestrated the violence ' inflicted on restaurant worker Hassan Monawwer over three days .  Mr Monawwer was knifed , strangled almost to death and battered with a metal bar and wooden cosh in three separate locations before armed police burst in to save him .  Family values : Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al Masri , whose son Tito Ibn Sheikh was jailed for 12 years for kidnapping and torturing a restaurant worker said to have owed 15 , 000 to his friend  Sheikh , who is one of nine children of Hamza , was convicted last year , but a judge banned reports on his family ties to avoid prejudicing jurors .  But last week after he and an accomplice unsuccessfully appealed their convictions the court lifted the gag allowing him to be named the the circumstances of the case revealed .  Sheikh and friends Adam Abed and Mostafa Dawoud snatched Mr Monawwer in Acton , west London , in 2012 .  They subjected him to an ordeal of violence over 15 , 000 he was said to owe to Abed , the Sun on Sunday reports .  Yet in an effort to extort even more money , the trio told his family they would sell him to another gang unless they came up with 25 , 000 ransom .  Prosecutors said : ' His neck was squeezed so hard he thought his tongue would pop out . '  Scammers : Hamza Mustafa Kamel , Mohamed Kamel Mostafa and Mohssin Ghailan , the three sons of jailed hook handed cleric Abu Hamza who exploited a loophole in the vehicle registration system to steal luxury cars  Hamza , 58 , has nine children six sons , two daughters and a stepson . Five of his sons are now known to have criminal records .  Mohammed Kamel Mostafa , Hamza ' s eldest son , was jailed for plotting to blow up British tourists . He was accused of masterminding a plot to sabotage economic and tourist sites in Yemen in August 1999 , when he was just 17 .  He returned to London in January 2002 after serving three years in prison in the Arab state . Six years later he was jailed again , along with his brother Hamza Mustafa Kamel and their step brother Mohssin Ghailam .  Imran Mostafa was jailed after being convicted of armed robbery and illegal possession of a firearm over a raid on a jewellers in King ' s Lynn , Norfolk .  The trio operated a 1million luxury car scam which involved exploiting a  loophole to steal  , Mercedes and other luxury brand cars , which they then either sold on or used as collateral to make fraudulent loans .  Although they were investigated by anti terror police there was no evidence they used the cash for terrorist purposes . ' They just used the cash to party , ' a source said at the time .  In 2012 , another of Hamza ' s sons , Imran Mostafa , was jailed after being convicted of armed robbery and illegal possession of a firearm over a smash and grab raid on a jewellers in King ' s Lynn , Norfolk .  Hamza himself faces life in jail in the U . S . after he was convicted of 11 terrorism charges . Meanwhile , his second wife Najat Mostafa , 55 , mother of seven of his children , lives in a 1 . 25million five bedroom council house in Shepherd ' s Bush , West London .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
16836,16837,"Beijing duck , steamed dumplings or a glass of green tea : these are the culinary offerings most associated with China . But beer ?  Believe it or not , China is the beer chugging capital of the world . The Chinese public gulped down 59 . 3 billion liters of alcohol in 2012 nearly double the amount quaffed in the U . S . Beer accounted for 84 of that figure , according to market research firm Euromonitor . Yet per capita , Chinese consumption was only about 35 liters annually less than half of the United States , according to Bloomberg and still has enormous room to grow .  That has led to a microbrewery boom in Beijing . "" There ' s a whole slew of places that are about to emerge , "" said Ryan O ' Neal Johnston , owner of Beijing ' s The Drive Thru Bar . "" For anyone interested in anything besides lagers and Tsingtao , it ' s on . ""  Enter Carl Setzer , A 31 year old native of Cleveland , Ohio , who had barely touched alcohol until he was 25 . After college , he landed in Shiyan , Hubei Province where an agency found him work at Dongfeng Motors . Setzer , an  specialist , walked away from his lucrative career and jumped into the microbrewery business because he saw a niche . "" Never let a market that has a requirement go unsupplied , "" said Setzer , who opened Great Leap Brewing in October 2010 .  Last year , Great Leap grossed 225 , 000 with China ' s low operating costs cutting into only about a quarter of that figure .  On a recent Saturday night , the bar ' s open air courtyard and small anteroom in Doujiao Hutong were standing room only as a flustered bartender struggled to keep glasses full . "" The greatest accomplishment is that people come here , "" said Setzer , who recently opened a second location on Xinzhong Street  Expats originally dominated the Beijing microbrewing scene , but that is changing . The clientele has been diversifying rapidly as more Chinese return from stints abroad and with greater levels of disposable income , according to microbrewers .  The growing appeal to locals , however , may have more to do with the product itself . Great Leap infuses traditional Chinese ingredients with time honored brewing techniques . Drinks like the "" Iron Buddha , "" blended with hints of Tieguanyin tea or the "" Cinnamon Rock Ale "" incorporating Chinese "" large bark cinnamon . "" The "" Honey Ma Gold , "" Great Leaps most popular , is infused with the mouth numbing essence of the Sichuan Peppercorn ( huajiao ) . All sell for between 30 and 50  ( 4 . 89 8 . 15 ) a glass .  Success has bred competition . Chandler Jurinka opened Slowboat brewery in February 2012 with distribution to various expat friendly hotels , restaurants and bars , and followed up with the Slowboat Taproom in Dongsibatiao Hutong in December .  "" I ' ve always been someone who recognized and valued quality , "" said Jurinka , a former U . S . Army Sergeant from Washington D . C . Jurinka , 46 , first came to China in 1994 as a student at the University of Nanjing and after an 11 year hiatus bounced around the Chinese start up world before settling into his latest venture with Slowboat .  Offering a more traditional selection of homebrews , Slowboat ' s popular brands are The Captain ' s Pale Ale , Jack Tar Scottish Ale and Imperial Vanilla Stout . Jurinka , too , is looking to capitalize on soaring Chinese demand . But Slowboat uses mostly imported ingredients , catering to the popular belief that foreign food products are superior to domestic .  Microbrews in Beijing are more than just keeping glasses full . Great Leap and Slowboat are both based deep within traditional Beijing residential "" hutong "" neighborhoods and have paid particular attention to adapting their presence seamlessly to locals . "" Strangers in hutongs are never welcome , "" said Setzer . Great Leap maintains a strict midnight closing and even earlier hours in summer and during university exams , while Slowboat made their space ( almost ) completely soundproof . Both men too have married into Chinese families and are currently raising their own .  Community relations is just one of the unique challenges that both face as small business owners in Beijing . Laws and regulations are often ambiguous and Setzer admitted that "" you have to make use of personal connections "" to get things done .  For Slowboat , the biggest challenge came in the form of intellectual property . "" If you ' re not being copied then you ' re not relevant , "" said Jurinka , who said he required "" constant and rapid innovation "" to stay ahead of the curve . Jurinka estimated that eight to 10 new microbreweries were about to emerge . "" Sometimes they come in here and they are taking pictures of the tiles on the wall . ""  At the recent 2013 Beijinger Magazine Reader Bar and Club awards , it was a banner night for Great Leap which swept several categories including "" Bar of the Year , "" "" Best Local Craft Brewing "" and "" Personality of the Year , "" for the famously cantankerous Setzer . Not to be outdone , Slowboat received the "" Best New Bar "" award .  Jurinka , though , said he is focused on the big picture . "" Slowboat is not in competition with any other local brewery , "" he said . "" There are 20 million people in this city and the more local Beijing breweries , the greater the likelihood that there will be a craft beer revolution in Beijing . ""  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
16839,16840,"Recently, Donald Trump s New York campaign co-chair, Carl Paladino, did what Trump fans do best and made some incredibly racist remarks about the President and First Lady. Asked about his wish for Barack Obama by a weekly Buffalo, New York, paper, Paladino explained that he hoped Barack Obama would be caught having sex with a cow and die from Mad Cow Disease. As for Michelle, he explained that he wanted her to  return to being a male  and released in Africa to live among the apes.Naturally, Paladino s racist and hateful rhetoric   the exact sort that is, unfortunately, popular among the Stupid Part of America   didn t exactly make him friends outside of his racist little bubble. In fact, some (almost everyone) had a bit of an issue with the fact that he serves on the Buffalo school board. Words matter, Mr. Paladino,  School Board President Barbara Seals Nevergold said during a meeting intended to oust the Trump-loving bigot.  Our president, the Commander in Chief of this nation for the last eight years, Mrs. Obama, our First Lady, and Mrs. Valerie Jarrett, special presidential council [SIC] are all African-Americans. Among other things, they are accomplished, intelligent, beautiful people and that s not just my opinion. The impact on children of color, especially African-American children is incalculable,  she continued.  How do we encourage them to use their God-given talents to soar, to reach for the stars, when a sitting board member responsible for their education demonstrates such contempt of their role models? Nevergold added that Paladino s unmitigated and hateful, racist and misogynist, rhetoric  has reached a level that is almost guaranteed to adversely impact students of color. Noting that his disgusting behavior  demonstrate such a lack of responsible leadership,  the school board president explained that people from all over the state had shared their views on Paladino s actions. They would like me to tell you,  You re fired,  she said, demanding Paladino s resignation as the room exploded in applause.While Trump fans vigorously defend him, it is impossible for a rational person to believe that Paladino could possibly serve on the school board while simultaneously believing that black people are apes, gorillas, or any other primate conservatives seem to use interchangeably.Paladino, as is expected from any racist coward, skipped the meeting entirely rather than answer for what he has done. Watch her rip him apart below:Featured image via screengrab",fake,dataset,validation,Other news2,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
16856,16857,"General Electric Co . clothes washers and dryers are offered for sale at a Home Depot store Jan . 22 , 2010 , in Chicago , Illinois . Photo : Scott Olson Getty Images  General Electric has neared a deal to sell its appliance business to China ' s Haier , the Wall Street Journal reported . Pictured : General Electric washing machines are displayed at a department store , July 10 , 2008 , in Los Angeles . Photo : David McNew Getty Images   : 2 : 55 a . m .  ? General Electric announced Friday that it has signed an agreement to sell its appliances business to China s Haier Electronics Group for 5 . 4 billion , according to reports . The two companies said that they agreed to form a strategic partnership and the transaction is targeted to close mid 2016 , Bloomberg reported , citing a statement .  The deal has yet to get approval from shareholders and regulators , the statement reportedly said . ? It may be a step for the Chinese company to build up an international network , while its overseas exposure now is still small , Andrew Song , an analyst in Guotai Junan Securities Co . , said before the announcement , according to Bloomberg . It s also likely that they will have more synergy as Haier is developing smart appliances .  General Electric ? is nearing a deal to sell its appliances business for more than 4 billion to China ' s Haier Electronics Group , the Wall Street Journal reported , citing people familiar with the matter . ? Haier outbid other foreign companies for the Louisville , Kentucky , business unit , and a deal could be announced as soon as Friday , the Journal reported .   walked away from a 3 . 3 billion agreement to sell its century old appliances business to Sweden s Electrolux   , which also stands to receive a 175 million breakup fee from Electrolux , had previously told investors that there was huge demand for the appliances business and the company expected to move quickly to find a new buyer .  In July last year , the U . S . Justice Department filed a lawsuit to stop the  Electrolux deal , claiming that it would shoot up the price of appliances by 5 percent , Reuters reported .  In 2008 , Haier reportedly ? held talks with  to buy the U . S . firm s appliance unit , but no deal was reached at the time . In 2010 , a Haier executive said the company did not buy the unit as the ? price was too high , the Journal reported .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
16875,16876,"Roger Federer : Paying players more won ' t stop match fixing  Roger Federer says the issue of match fixing is "" in the player ' s mind "" and can ' t be solved with more prize money alone .  We ' ve heard from much of the tennis world in the wake of Sunday ' s Buzzfeed and  reports of potential match fixing in tennis . It was Roger Federer , though , who may have had the most interesting comment of all .  After his first round match Monday at the Australian Open , he was asked about the plight of the fringe player the guy hanging on around the "" top 100 or 150 "" who doesn ' t make crazy millions in endorsements and prize money , the type presumably most likely to take the financial bait and fix a match . Didn ' t Federer think the problem could be addressed by finding more money to pay those players fighting it out in the lower ranks ?  Federer didn ' t mince words . Via the Australian Open website :    : I completely disagree with you . I think you don ' t understand . It doesn ' t matter how much money you pump into the system , there ' s always going to be people approaching players , or people , any sport . It ' s all a question of money , you know .  It doesn ' t maybe happen at the challengers . It ' s going to happen at the futures . It ' s going to go away if you offer 1 million for every player to play at every tournament ? It ' s not going to change a thing .  Still might be approached . That ' s why I think you ' re wrong there , that more money there is going to solve the issue completely .  I agree we should have more money at futures , challengers , all these levels . But it ' s not going to solve the issue . The issue is elsewhere , in the player ' s mind .  It ' s easy to understand the logic behind the question . Martin Vassallo Arguello an Argentinian player who was involved in a highly suspicious match against Nikolay Davydenko back in 2007 but never charged with any wrongdoing made just 1 . 4 million and change in a pro career that spanned 11 years , according to his  profile page . That ' s about 130 , 000 a year . Consider the expenses of travel , resources and coaching for a tennis player and this Forbes story from 2013 gives you an idea how big a burden that can be and that does not add up to a life of glamour .  There are many more players in that financial class than in that of guys like Federer , Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal . It makes sense , then , to argue that paying more money to this type of player could help reduce the incentive to take bribes from gamblers . Obviously part of the incentive for a guy like Federer not ? to throw a match is tied largely to the money and prestige he can earn without having to risk his reputation .  But Federer is right . Tennis probably can and should pay more to its players especially if it ' s going to continue to accept betting websites as partners but there is a ceiling to how much can be paid , especially at these little known smaller events , that is far too low to ever prevent the potential temptation of taking a shortcut to more .  Earlier this month at the Brisbane International , the total prize money for all men ' s singles players to split was 209 , 030 Australian . First round losers were paid 4 , 085 . That tournament is on the lowest rung of  World Tour events . A step lower , at a Challenger event like those Federer references , first round singles losers received 780 at a recent pre Australian Open tournament . The winner got just under 11 , 000 .  A win at the 2015 U . S . Open made Novak Djokovic just the eighth man ever with at least 10 Grand Slam titles to his name . Take a look back at all of the triumphs .  That ' s a heck of a long way off from Federer ' s in jest proposal of 1 million per player , per tournament . Even a more reasonable standard of , say , 15 , 000 20 , 000 per tournament requires a drastic increase in prize money and still isn ' t nearly enough to eliminate the temptation of match fixing . Djokovic said Monday that he was once offered a whopping 200 , 000 to throw a single match .  Paying more also doesn ' t address the other necessary ingredient to engage in match fixing a disregard for competitive integrity . The desire to compete , win and earn your glory runs antithetical to the shame of intentionally losing for profit . Even if no one ever finds out , you will have to live with the dishonor .  And living with it can be very doable because fixing a tennis match doesn ' t always have to mean losing it . Read the Buzzfeed article ? that started all this and scroll down to the "" Three Ways to Fix A Tennis Match "" graphic . Fixes can potentially be focused on certain sets or even games only . A player could , for instance , win the first set , intentionally throw the second set , then win the third and still be considered to be fixing the match despite winning . You can fix a match and win money without harming the bottom line competitive integrity of a tournament while also making it more difficult for investigators to discover and prove .  This is why , as Federer says , the "" issue is elsewhere , in the player ' s mind . "" If you can convince yourself that match fixing has the right combination of financial gain and manageable risk , while also being able to handle the internal ethical conflicts , you might just do it .  Match fixing is a difficult , if not impossible , problem for tennis to overcome . Even with avid detection systems in place , proving a player ' s complicity is challenging . Players straining just to get by with their meager prize and sponsorship money have little to lose risking a ban from a sport that isn ' t bringing them fame and fortune anyway . But Federer is right that throwing more prize money at players though good and deserved for the players isn ' t a practical strategy for prevention .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
16882,16883,"BlackBerry ' s loss of market share in the U . S . is the stuff of legends . Last fall , it was estimated only about 2 of American phone users were still carrying their BlackBerry mobile with its iconic keypad .  But consider this : sub Saharan Africa is expected to add 175 million new mobile users in just the coming 3 years . That ' s according to the  , which represents the world ' s mobile operators .  "" Mobile has already revolutionized African society and yet demand still continues to grow by almost 50 percent a year , "" said Tom Phillips , Chief Government and Regulatory Affairs Officer ,  .  That could be good news indeed for BlackBerry . Research in Motion , the maker of BlackBerry , estimates it holds a 70 market share in countries like South Africa .  The company ' s new phones , announced this week , are not the ones some of its best customers in emerging markets would like to buy . They ' re too expensive . But Research in Motion which also this week changed its company name to BlackBerry is pledging some of its six new models will address that .  While millions in China , Europe and the U . S . have adopted Android or iOS smartphones with a vengeance , millions more users in emerging markets are enthused about what ' s in store for the new BlackBerry 10 . It ' s the update for what many of them are already using .  They live in countries like Brazil , Malaysia , Nigeria , Kenya and South Africa . They have embraced the BlackBerry for a combination of factors that all point to the different way mobile devices are used .  Unlike their counterparts in Europe and America , the mobile in their pocket is more likely to be their primary link to the internet .  BlackBerry Messenger is the connection that allows these users unlimited conversations without paying charges for  data . While young , brand conscious Chinese may be willing to part with several months ' salary to buy the latest iPhone , African users are looking for more practical ( and cheaper ) connections .  What separates developed countries from their developing counterparts at street level can be summed up in a single word : infrastructure .  Isobel Coleman , senior fellow and Director of the Civil Society , Markets and Democracy Initiative at the Council on Foreign Relations , says mobile technology has proved it can bridge the gap where infrastructure is lacking .  "" It ' s a culture , it ' s an economy , it ' s innovation , education , healthcare , it ' s all of these things , "" says Coleman .  You can take that to the bank . For many Africans , their cell phone account is the first bank account they ' ve ever owned .  In emerging markets , mobile phone banking is growing because of the lack of infrastructure . Fewer bank branches often mean long distances to travel and long lines once you ' ve arrived .  Africans are expected to transfer more than 200 billion per year or 18 of the continent ' s  by 2015 .  Oh , and that keyboard . No matter where you are in the world , there will always be a demand for a keyboard that clicks . The company appears to understand that as BlackBerry 10 models come with both soft keypads and the traditional BlackBerry buttons .  I asked some of my Twitter followers to weigh in on the BlackBerry 10 roll out . While some said Android or Apple ' s iOS were in their future plans , many others expressed continued enthusiasm for the BlackBerry .  Soji , a pianist and teacher in Nigeria tweeted back "" I ' m falling in love with this  . Cheaper to own . ""  From Kuala Lumpur , Amir wrote "" I need a physical keyboard to type while also having a touch screen for photos etc . Security factor also important . ""  Hans Eric from South Africa reinforced the sentiments of many mobile users in emerging markets : "" The cost of data is simply too high without it ( BlackBerry . ) ""  The voices from emerging markets couldn ' t have been clearer . What they expect from BlackBerry 10 is a stronger , longer lasting battery , durability and continued low cost connectivity .   ' s Coleman agrees that BlackBerry ( and anyone else ) trying to win and hold this mobile device sector has to understand how these devices are being used and give the customers what they want .  "" Cheap . Rugged . Not too many bells and whistles . Practical . ""  There is little doubt smartphones are changing the way people use the internet , how they bank , shop and interact socially .  But it ' s worth keeping in perspective that in a world where there are now an estimated 1 billion smartphones , there are 5 billion feature phone users . That ' s a lot of upside growth potential for BlackBerry and all the other players out there .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
16888,16889,"For nearly two decades , ubiquitous access to the Internet has been the elusive dream of technologists , policymakers and ordinary users . But today , the prospect of worldwide , always on and high speed ( or close to it ) Internet communications is in sight , and could become a reality within a decade .  The Internet has become the essential communications medium of our time . For students , Internet access is as crucial as textbooks and blackboards . For workers , it ' s hard to find a job , apply for public benefitsor participate in the global economy without basic connectivity .  Creative solutions to problems such as how to provide efficient health care now assume users will be connected to the Internet , whether they ' re in an underserved neighborhood in Detroit or a remote village in Brazil . That ' s why achieving the goal of ubiquitous and affordable Internet access is more important than ever .  In many cases , Internet access will grow naturally as increased demand and the economics of cheaper connectivity drive existing carriers and upstart providers to do more .  But we also have to find new ways to deliver data . Rather than relying on a single technical breakthrough , we ' ll need a combination of solutions , from mobile broadband and low cost  infrastructure to far out ideas such as drones and balloons .  So , what ' s on the menu ?  Fiber investment and undersea cables : We can expect to see more projects like Google Fiber , which promises to deliver gigabit speeds at reasonable prices , and the construction of massive new undersea cables that dramatically increase the transmission capability of networks .  Cheap smartphones and mobile data plans : These will soon expand the Internet ' s footprint by billions of people , especially in parts of the world where wired networks have not been fully built out .  Cognitive radio technologies : These tools can turn unused and "" junk "" spectrum into wireless superhighways far more powerful than today ' s Wi Fi networks .  Converted pay phones , weather balloons and drones : Engineers are looking at all of these as ways to bridge the "" last mile "" gap in hard to reach areas . With new technology and better use of the airwaves , it may soon be possible to blanket a rural area with high speed wireless connections or enable a school to provide fast Internet access to the surrounding community without digging up the streets .  No matter the technology , a critical piece of this revolution will be the growth of community driven infrastructure . Communities are increasingly defining and building the next generation of Internet deployment to promote access and affordability .  Long before Google Fiber was deployed , Chattanooga , Tennessee , built a gigabit fiber network for city residents and businesses to spur economic development and civic engagement . New York and San Francisco may not compare favorably with Internet speeds in Asia and Europe , but cities like Chattanooga and Lafayette , Louisiana , which have invested in public broadband networks , are increasingly competitive .  Communities from Berlin to Tunisia , Brooklyn and Detroit are also building and operating their own open source , wireless communications infrastructure , customized to meet local needs .  Like the collectives that electrified rural areas of the United States in the 1900s , it is a local , bottom up approach supported by policy frameworks promoting flexibility and grassroots innovation that will be the key path to 21st century Internet access .  What ' s more , these locally controlled networks can improve governance , foster a greater sense of community inclusion and offer more secure communications and greater resilience in the event of disasters like Hurricane Sandy .  Better public policies will expedite progress . So what should governments do ?  Podcast : Make Internet everywhere a reality  Incentivize investment , encourage better use of spectrum , and allow local community build out : Sometimes , governments stand in the way . For example , 20 states in the United States have laws that unbelievably ban cities from investing in their own public networks , prompting the Federal Communications Commission to consider removing these barriers . During the 2015 State of the Union , President Obama also urged the  to do so as part of his broader initiative to promote high speed broadband investment .  Make more spectrum available for unlicensed and innovative uses that support super Wi Fi and community networks : We need to more spectrum to support Americans ' ever growing data consumption habit , but repurposing it all for exclusive use by cellphone carriers makes it harder for creative , local or unexpected solutions to connectivity challenges , which require access to the airwaves to succeed .  Keep costs down to help promote adoption : Cost is a significant barrier to Internet adoption around the world not to mention here in the United States , where four out of five Americans who aren ' t online live below the poverty line which in turn slows down the virtuous cycle of infrastructure investment and innovation . Policies that encourage broadband competition can help bring down the cost of connectivity , which will be a boon to underserved areas .  Anticipate new questions about free expression , governance , and individual choice : The next three billion netizens will come from widely varied political traditions . Their governments may have different ideas about the free flow of information or personal privacy . Clashes over Internet control have garnered attention in Thailand and Iran , but are also emerging around issues like hate speech and public safety from France to India . As the network grows , critical governance questions become ever more important .  The ingredients for universal connectivity exist today . But success requires the right mix of strategic investment , political will and laws that make creative approaches and local solutions possible . The promise of an Internet for everyone won ' t be achieved by one genius , one company , or one policy initiative it will come from people and communities all over the world figuring out what works best for them , and knitting it all together .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,present
16889,16890,"A tiny one bedroom mews property wedged between two homes near Harrods in Knightsbridge is available to rent for more than 3 , 000 a month .  The property , tucked away on a street which was once home to politician John Profumo and music mogul Brian Epstein , has just 447 sq ft of space , which is less than half the  average , and is sandwiched between two neighbouring buildings which tower over it .  Inside , there are just two rooms an open plan 20ft long reception room and kitchen , and the double bedroom with en suite upstairs .  ' Hideaway ' : This tiny one bedroom mews property , which covers just 447 sq ft of space and wedged between two homes near Harrods in Knightsbridge , is available to rent for more than 3 , 000 a month  City living : Inside , there are just two rooms an open plan 20ft long reception room and kitchen , and the double bedroom with en suite upstairs  But despite this , the home , described as a ' luxurious hideaway in the centre of London ' , has been put on the rental market ' at only ' 725 per week .  This works out at 37 , 700 per year , which is almost one and a half times the average  salary and three times the  minimum wage .  It is also located on a mews , which historically would have been staff quarters for people working in nearby mansions . They were also used as stables to house horses .  However , if today ' s working class Londoners earning the living wage of 9 . 15 per hour put everything they took home towards rent , they would still be 435 short of the rent every week .  Sought after : The pint sized pied a terre is located in SW1 , one of London ' s most desirable postcodes in the heart of Knightsbridge  The pint sized pied a terre is located in SW1 , one of London ' s most desirable postcodes , just behind Harvey Nichols in the heart of Knightsbridge .  During World War Two , the mews was completely destroyed after the Germans dropped a V1 bomb on the street .  A new street was rebuilt after the war and is now made homes with an average value of 2million .  Shirley Humphrey , director at Harrods Estates which is marketing the property , said : ' Mews houses have risen from being servant ' s quarters in Victorian times to being some of the most desirable property in London ' s most expensive postcodes .  ' William Mews is located within walking distance of Harrods and provides a luxurious setting to come home to in Knightsbridge .  ' Whether used as main residence or pied a terre , the house offers excellent value for an area steeped in history . '  Pricey : The home , described as a ' luxurious hideaway in the centre of London ' , has been put on the rental market ' at only ' 725 per week  Cost : The annual cost of renting the property works out at 37 , 700 per year , which is almost one and a half times the average  salary and three times the  minimum wage  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
16964,16965,"Louis Susman did admit to a recent guest at his mansion , namely Iran ' s Ahmadinejad who gleefully flushed dollar bills down the guest room toilet as part of a magazine ' s photo op that will appear in Tehran ' s ' Mullah Today Magazine '  Torrents of fermenting crap have oozed into the local water table feeding Regent ' s Park Boating Lake and Queen Mary ' s Rose Garden a royal wetlands conservation trust warned this morning .  The beautiful body of water resembles an anatomically correct diagram of female internal reproductive organs and is home to hundreds of dazzling albeit abandoned Japanese Koi carp worth around a 1 , 000 apiece .  "" It ' s where locals go to rehome their pet fish when downsizing during recessions , "" Outer Circle resident Orville B Niersteiner  told  reporters clamoring for an update on the pollution story .  Sanitation emergency workers said an earlier deluge in May this year had been sourced to tons of festering garbage left over in Winfield House ' s septic tank following a Presidential banquet for Queen Elizabeth and her former Bullingdon Club gang master  David Cameron .  A single , custom built stars n stripes tampon was eventually recovered from inside the soil pipe , its extraordinarily massive circumference a possible clue to the  of whoever was responsible .  The mansion is currently occupied by Louis Susman , ex John Kerry campaign gofer and Barack Obama ' s ' eyes and ears ' in London ' and some would say his ass ' if  Fraud squad sources are to be believed .  By lunchtime today the turdy flotilla had reached ambassadorial proportions and was seen scumming up neighboring properties in the exclusive billionaire enclave .  To be fair Susman ' s predecessor Charles ' Katie ' Holmes Tuttle described by ex London Mayor Ken Livingstone as a chiselling little crook for non payment of the City ' s congestion charge had himself gummed up the works amid accusations of an obsessive penchant for take away curries .  Tuttle later blamed his own predecessor , ex Bush1 2 blind truss bagman William ' Stamps ' Farrish  , for the debacle , claiming the whorseracing aficionado had flushed bits of equine carcass down the Residency pan ' to hide his whorsemeat gobbling tendencies ' .  Yuk !  "" Yeah , but it ' s that Clinton appointee Philip Lader who really takes the biscuit , "" Niersteiner added in his  rant .  "" For four years we had him lording it up like some superannuated Little Rock nabob , entertaining Whitewater cover up lawyers and their champerty hedge fund investors .  "" First time a Hill and Bill sleepover tested the plumbing resulted in the evacuation of nearby Baker Street underground railway station , flooded with shredded state papers about the  ownership of the  Embassy compound in Hanover Square .  "" Guess who ' s pocketing the 10 ' introduction fee ' for the legation ' s proposed new site in Nine Elms ? ? ""  ",satire,text,validation,Other sport,Conflict,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
16993,16994,"Alexis Sanchez has hit the ground running and is proving to be worth every penny of the 32million spent by Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger . But can he really be as good as Thierry Henry ?  With that in mind , Sportsmail asked Arsenal fan Bob Allcock of Just Arsenal to tell us what he makes of the idea . Can Sanchez become as big a legend as Henry ? Let ' s see what Bob thinks .  As the Arsenal and Chile international star Alexis Sanchez grabbed yet another game by the scruff of the neck and shook it mercilessly at the Emirates against Stoke City , he was watched by the last player able to thrill the Arsenal fans in a similar way : Thierry Henry .  The former France international was there with another Gunners legend , Robert Pires , as a guest of the club and I wonder what they made of the latest incredible display by Arsenal ' s new strike star .  They cannot fail to have been impressed with Alexis putting in his usual workload , which any combative central midfield general would be proud of . And that is what really makes him different and suggests to the Arsenal fans that we have finally found a player that can have the same influence as the great man who recently hung up his boots .  Alexis Sanchez celebrates scoring for Arsenal against Stoke City at the Emirates on Sunday  Sanchez , who cost 30m , has hit the ground running since joining Arsenal from Barcelona  Henry used to light up a pitch in the way that very few players can but Alexis has that too , like the incredible run and finish for his second goal against Stoke .  Football fans always love a player who gives their all , but when that player can also do things that nobody else can , he truly becomes something special and we take him to our heart .  As I remember , it took a lot longer for the Arsenal fans to really warm to Henry , although he was younger and was more of a winger or wide forward when Wenger brought him to the Premier League .  With Sanchez , though , it was almost instant because of the effort and dynamism he showed from the very start .  Thierry Henry celebrates scoring in 2012 for Arsenal during his second stint with the north London club  A cutting edge helps , of course , so when he scored the only goal of the two legged play off against Besiktas to book Arsenal another place in the Champions League group stage , another box was ticked off .  Someone suggested on our website a few days ago that Alexis had yet to prove himself for Arsenal against the big teams to really start to be compared with Henry . But they seem to have forgotten his stunning volley that gave us the lead against Manchester City in September .  How about the second goal against Borussia Dortmund in a massive game that kept Arsenal hopes of progressing to the knockout stage alive ?  To suggest that Sanchez does not have a big game mentality is just wrong .  Henry was spotted at the Emirates this week to watch Arsenal face Stoke in the Premier League  Henry and Robert Pires ( right ) watch Arsenal from the stands as the former Gunners visited the Emirates  I cannot think of a player with a better or more consistent attitude and I believe that he would give his all against Real Madrid in a final in the same way he would on an away trip to Doncaster in a rainy  Cup replay , because he loves the game .  And he seems to have found his perfect home with Arsenal , where he does not have to play second fiddle to Lionel Messi and is fully appreciated by his adoring fans .  You can only wonder what the Barca fans now think after seeing him explode on to the Premier League stage , when they used to greet him with lukewarm applause at best .  I firmly believe that Alexis can have the same sort of impact for Arsenal as Henry had . He may not have enough time to break the Frenchman ' s scoring record and he needs to keep producing every season , but without injury problems to stop him and as long as he has the team mates around to back him up , Alexis will be an Arsenal great and will surely lead the Gunners back to glory  Sanchez has been a huge hit and blogger Bob Allcock is backing him to get even bigger  Visit Just Arsenal or follow them on Twitter by clicking here  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
16996,16997,"In the latest twist in the ongoing saga that is the fifth film in the Resident Evil series , Resident Evil : Retribution , half the cast were rushed to hospital in Toronto last night .  "" We were filming a zombie scene , "" said stunt director , Nick Powell . "" The platform they were on tilted , spilling zombies onto the film set floor some fifteen feet down . ""  Paramedics arrived on the scene quickly .  "" It was an horrific site , "" said paramedic Amber Lance with a deliberate pun . "" There was blood , gore and body parts strewn everywhere . ""  It took a team of paramedics twenty minutes to locate the injured people and assess their injuries .  "" There wasn ' t one person on the set that didn ' t look horrifically injured , "" said Lance . "" But thankfully , most of injuries peeled right off . ""  The accident is the latest in a long line of catastrophes that have some claiming that the latest film in the Resident Evil saga is cursed .  "" We had a fire that nearly destroyed our main set , "" said Powell . "" We managed to get the lead actors out before they were injured , but the same wasn ' t true for my pet dog . ""  It ' s not all bad news for the film . The injured zombies were back on the set this morning for more filming , although they needed much less make up .  "" What can I say ? "" asked one zombie , Declan Posed . "" I need the money , and extra work pays well . ""  Additionally , the fire on the set left the backdrop look tortured and destroyed , which was ideal for filming the film ' s last scene .  "" All in all , "" said Powell , "" we ' re not concerned about a curse . ""  ",satire,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,satire,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
17000,17001,"It ' s the staple of almost every kung fu action film ever made : the hero is targeted for revenge after teaching the deadly and closely guarded secrets of the martial art to outsiders and , even worse , foreigners .  But ask Lam Chun fai Sifu the 73 year old practitioner of the 300 year old kung fu style known as Hung Kuen and he will tell you that making the martial art accessible to foreigners is the only way to save it from extinction .  The son of a student to Wong Fei Hung , one of the legends of the fighting style and the subject of countless films , Lam Sifu ( sifu is a Cantonese term that means ' master ' ) says the fighting art may be growing fast overseas , but struggles in the region where it was born .  To counter the decline , he has co authored the world ' s first English language manual on the ancient kung fu style that he has taught for 60 years and has been his family ' s trademark for more than three generations .  Called Hung Kuen Fundamentals : Fok Fu Kuen , the manual outlines scores of moves and stances that were hitherto only taught and transmitted orally .  While there are dozens of fighting styles in kung fu ( the northern styles represented by fast , high kicks and rapid , fluid movements ) , Hung Kuen is a southern Chinese fighting art characterised by strong stances and fast footwork . One practitioner famously destroyed the bamboo planks in a demonstration platform simply by shifting his feet in the ' hard stances ' of Hung Kuen .  Lam Sifu , meanwhile , teaches a steady stream of foreigners the ancient fighting art in the cramped living room of his tiny apartment on the 7th floor of a tenement block in Hong Kong ' s North Point .  In terms of Hong Kong kung fu , it ' s about as traditional as it gets , right down to the name ' Di Dat Clinic ' which translates as ' Hit Fall Clinic ' a name unchanged from the days when kung fu masters , so used to treating the training accidents of their students , were the first stop for neighborhood trauma injuries and broken bones .  Using a spear against his sword wielding son Oscar , Lam Sifu is a blur of threshing weapons amid the armchairs , ornaments and computer printers in his urban home .  "" Training in a small area like this is very good for control , "" he says in a space so cramped it looks like two men having a knife fight in a telephone booth . For his long standing foreign students Hung Kuen teachers from Italy , the Czech Republic and Germany the turn of fighting speed still draws a gasp of admiration .  "" Many students in Italy like traditional kung fu and especially this style which is the origin of the martial art , "" said Massimo Iannaccone , who runs an academy in Rome but perfects the art in Lam Sifu ' s living room on trips to Hong Kong .  Pavel Adamek , who teaches Hung Kuen in Prague , Czech Republic , says his students are drawn as much by the Eastern philosophy associated with the martial art as they are by learning a fighting style .  "" It ' s very popular in the Czech Republic people there are really looking for something more than fighting arts . They want to train their bodies and their minds this style is really very good for that , "" he said .  While there may be more dedicated practitioners overseas than in Hong Kong , Lam Sifu ' s co author Hing Chao , who also studies the Hung Kuen style , said that the form remains a potent cultural symbol in Hong Kong .  "" It ' s rooted in a very specific Hong Kong identity as well , "" Hing said . Both he and Lam Sifu believe the style is so important as a cultural symbol , the government should recognize it as part of Hong Kong ' s intangible cultural heritage .  Hing , who has studied the interaction between the media , entertainment and the martial arts , says that Hollywood sometimes gives a lopsided view of Chinese martial arts , focusing on various personalities such as Ip Man , Bruce Lee ' s famous teacher , to the exclusion of all other equally famous teachers and styles .  Despite this , he says its popularization in film sometimes unconsciously transmits positive aspects of kung fu culture .  "" Besides the fighting , one of the reasons that Bruce Lee has been such a global celebrity until to today is because a lot of messages strike a chord and resonate among the marginalized , "" Hing says .  "" Why would , for instance , a Black African community in the U . S . look on Bruce Lee as a hero ? Because embedded in these films are messages of righteousness . Of someone who is disadvantaged but through dedication to kung fu can become empowered and through his own empowerment help the rest of the community .  "" This is very positive and I would say the Bruce Lee path represents one of the best interactions between film and martial arts it ' s something we don ' t often see these days . ""  While foreigners may be beating a path to the kung fu clinic ' s door , local interest in Hong Kong is only just gaining ground after a long hiatus .  Lam Sifu says modern distractions like videogames are sapping young people of the ability to focus on demanding martial art forms like Hung Kuen which can require learning as many as 300 movements in a single set .  "" These days pupils can ' t stand any hardship . They say practicing is tiring and they give up easily , "" he says .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
17018,17019,"18 photos : Best , worst and weirdest Oscar hosts of all time  Weird : Donald Duck ? We are not making this up . In 1958 , an animated ( and bare bottomed ) Donald Duck co hosted the show with Bob Hope , Jack Lemmon , Rosalind Russell and James Stewart .  18 photos : Best , worst and weirdest Oscar hosts of all time  Weird : Paul Hogan ? In 1987 , "" Crocodile Dundee "" star Paul Hogan co hosted the show along with Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn . Even Hogan has said the experience felt like "" a surreal moment . ""  18 photos : Best , worst and weirdest Oscar hosts of all time  Best : Hugh Jackman ? Hugh Jackman was high energy , classy and charming when he hosted the Oscars in 2009 . Who could have imagined it from Wolverine ?  18 photos : Best , worst and weirdest Oscar hosts of all time  Best : Neil Patrick Harris ? It wasn ' t a slam dunk success , but Neil Patrick Harris had his moments while emceeing the 2015 Academy Awards ceremony . The versatile entertainer came out on stage in his underwear , revealed his fake Oscar "" predictions "" and mocked the nominees ' lack of diversity with jokes about "" the best and the whitest . ""  18 photos : Best , worst and weirdest Oscar hosts of all time  Best : Billy Crystal ? After hosting the Academy Awards nine times from 1990 to 2012 ( he also opened the 2006 Oscars ) , it ' s no secret that Billy Crystal knows how to put on a good show . One of the veteran host ' s most notable skits took place in 1992 . Crystal took the stage wearing a Hannibal Lecter mask because "" The Silence of the Lambs "" was nominated for seven awards . ( The thriller won best picture . )  18 photos : Best , worst and weirdest Oscar hosts of all time  Best : Johnny Carson ? Johnny Carson , the king of late night , hosted the Academy Awards five times between 1979 and 1984 . Carson never failed to make the audience laugh .  18 photos : Best , worst and weirdest Oscar hosts of all time  Best : Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin ? In 2010 , three time host Steve Martin teamed up with his "" It ' s Complicated "" co star Alec Baldwin . The pair earned laughs with their repartee and told some hilarious , lighthearted jokes at the expense of those present .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
17036,17037,"On his Google Plus page , Daniel wrote : Alan Rickman is undoubtedly one of the greatest actors I will ever work with .  He is also one of the most loyal and most supportive people I ve ever met in the film industry .  "" He was so encouraging of me both on set and in the years post Potter . I m pretty sure he came and saw everything I ever did on stage both in London and New York . He didn t have to do that .  Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince ( 2009 ) directed by David Yates  I know other people who ve been friends with him for much much longer than I have and they all say if you call Alan , it doesn t matter where in the world he is or how busy he is with what he s doing , he ll get back to you within a day .  The star , who made his name as the Boy Who Lived , continued : People create perceptions of actors based on the parts they played so it might surprise some people to learn that contrary to some of the sterner ( or downright scary ) characters he played , Alan was extremely kind , generous , self deprecating and funny . And certain things obviously became even funnier when delivered in his unmistakable double bass .  Daniel , 26 , also revealed that he will carry the lessons that Rickman taught him throughout his life .  Working with him at such a formative age was incredibly important and I will carry the lessons he taught me for the rest of my life and career , he wrote .  Film sets and theatre stages are all far poorer for the loss of this great actor and man . ""   Rowling has penned a heartfelt tribute to Alan Rickman following his death aged 69 .  Rickman , who was well known for his role as Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films , passed away in hospital this morning aged 69 .  He had been battling cancer , his family confirmed in a short statement .  Writing on Twitter , author  Rowling said : "" There are no words to express how shocked and devastated I am to hear of Alan Rickman ' s death .  There are no words to express how shocked and devastated I am to hear of Alan Rickman ' s death . He was a magnificent actor a wonderful man .  My thoughts are with Rima and the rest of Alan ' s family . We have all lost a great talent . They have lost part of their hearts .  "" He was a magnificent actor a wonderful man . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
17049,17050,"Fox News  reporter  Jesse Watters and Huffington Post s Washington Bureau Chief Ryan Grim got into a heated confrontation following last night s White House Correspondents  Dinner.The Washington Post reports that punches were thrown as the two  flailed around,  ultimately  upending a table and bumping into several people. While no one seems to have captured the fight on video, Washington Post reporter Dave Weigel managed to get a photo of what looks like Watters getting his ass kicked by Grim.Image credit: screen capture, Dave Weigel via TwitterThe Washington Post reports that the two men were among a group of  attendees who had gathered in a heated tent outside the main party area.The fight broke out after Grim said he recognized Watters as the  ambush journalist,  who  engineered an on-camera confrontation of writer Amanda Terkel, now a HuffPo colleague of Grim. Terkel describes how Watters, an O Reilly Factor correspondent, stalked, ambushed, harassed and accosted her in this Think Progress article.Upon recognizing Watters at the WHCD, Grim decided to give Watters a taste of his own medicine.According to witnesses who spoke with the Washington Post, Grim approached Watters,  whipping out his camera phone and filming him. Grim later posted to Twitter that  ambush guy  didn t take well to being ambushed himself.Image credit: screen capture Ryan Grim, via TwitterOnce the confrontation became physical, a crowd of bystanders intervened to keep the peace.The Washington Post reports that  executive director Sean Spicer stepped in to separate the two men, during what he described as an effort to  stay true to the party venue. The Washington Post reached out to Watters for comment, but did not get a response.They did reach Grim, who was described as  unrepentant. Ambush guy can t take getting ambushed,  he said.  Maybe he should think about his life choices. Image credit: Dave Weigel via Twitter",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
17061,17062,"Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky arrived in Germany after Russian President Vladimir Putin released him Friday following more than 10 years in prison , the German Foreign Ministry said .  In a statement following his release , Khodorkovsky said he asked Putin to pardon him on November 12 , "" and I am glad his decision was positive . "" He further said "" the issue of admission of guilt was not raised "" in the discussion .  He went on to personally thank those who followed his case and supported him and said he was "" constantly thinking of those who continue to remain imprisoned . ""  "" I am very much looking forward to the minute when I will be able to hug my close ones and personally shake hands with all my friends and associates , "" he said . "" I will welcome the opportunity to celebrate this upcoming holiday season with my family . I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year ! ""  U . S . Secretary of State John Kerry welcomed Khodorkovsky ' s release .  "" The United States strongly encourages Russia to pursue reforms that establish a transparent , independent and reliable judicial system that upholds its commitments to human rights , the rule of law and non discrimination , "" Kerry said .  Putin signed an amnesty decree for Khodorkovsky , a former Yukos oil tycoon , earlier in the day .  The signature came a day after Putin announced that he planned to pardon Khodorkovsky .  The oil magnate , who backed an opposition party , had been in prison since 2003 and was convicted in 2005 of tax evasion and fraud . He was due for release in 2014 .  Former German Foreign Minister Hans Dietrich Genscher apparently was involved in the release , saying he met twice with Putin to discuss the case . Genscher also arranged the flight on a private jet from Russia and picked Khodorkovsky up at the airport in Berlin .  Russian tycoon ' s prison sentence cut by two years  Speaking to reporters Thursday , Putin said Khodorkovsky had written a letter appealing for a pardon , citing humanitarian factors .  A statement Thursday on a website set up in support of Khodorkovsky said that it could not confirm plans for a pardon but "" all of his family and supporters would of course be elated to see him finally free after ten years of imprisonment . ""  Putin ' s announcement came a day after Russian lawmakers backed a sweeping amnesty law .  The amnesty , to mark the anniversary of the adoption in 1993 of Russia ' s post Communist constitution , will be applied to thousands of Russian prisoners , the state run  Novosti news agency reported .  It comes at a time when Russia ' s human rights record is in the spotlight , as the country prepares to host the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi in February .  Russia has faced international criticism for its treatment of Khodorkovsky , once Russia ' s richest man , with countries including the United States accusing it of selective prosecution and abuse of the legal system .  He has said his prosecution was part of a Kremlin campaign to destroy him and take control of the company he built from privatization deals of the 1990s .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
17072,17073,"CANNES, France  —   “The BFG,” the latest from Steven Spielberg, is based on the 1982 book of the same title by Roald Dahl. It’s the story of young Sophie (the newcomer Ruby Barnhill) who one night is plucked from her bed by a giant hand. She soon discovers that the hand belongs to the   —   voiced with an ache by Mark Rylance  —   or the Big Friendly Giant. The girl and the giant bond, naturally, and soon enough this funny, creepy, quirky   story turns into an   tale about two lonely souls who set out to vanquish a gang of giant hooligans who snack on “human beans”  —   people. Using a combination of physical sets, performance capture and digital wizardry, Mr. Spielberg creates a visually seamless world that looks startlingly real. “The BFG” is most touchingly an expression of Mr. Spielberg’s movie love, evident in its emphasis on dreams, a lovely interlude involving a kind of shadow play and even in an allusion to a Zoetrope, a protocinematic device that creates the illusion of motion. The film was adapted for the screen by Melissa Mathison, who died in 2015, and remains best known for her screenplay for “E. T. The ” which screened in Cannes in 1982. It was Mr. Spielberg’s second appearance as a director in the festival’s main competition, following “The Sugarland Express” in 1974. (He won the prize for best screenplay that year.) Since then, his appearances at Cannes have been infrequent: “The Color Purple” played out of competition in 1986 (“The BFG” was also shown out of competition) and he served as president of the feature jury in 2013. On Sunday, I spoke with Mr. Spielberg about his new movie, accusations that Dahl was   and what he would change in the film industry, at the Carlton hotel. Here are excerpts: Q. How did the project come to you? A. Kathy Kennedy. She got the rights from the Dahl estate about 9, 10 years ago. And she hired Melissa to write the screenplay. I read Melissa’s script and loved it. There was a lot of work to be done, but it was a wonderful first draft. I got involved in directing it because Melissa and I have been so close all these years we raised our families together practically. And then it was just like old home week again, it was such a familiar feeling being in  —   you can’t call them story meetings, they’re like life jam sessions  —   and out of it sometimes comes an idea that Melissa will write down and it may or may not go into the script. They were very casual, very beautiful sessions. It’s hard being here without her. Q. Was the melding of technology and human beings part of your interest? Not really, because at first I thought we would do it with actors  —   “Darby O’Gill and the Little People” with forced perspective, staging, actors with false eye lines. But then I realized if I shot the movie that way it would be no different from “Tom Thumb,” “Thumbelina,” “Jack and the Beanstalk”  —   it wouldn’t be magical. And I thought that the most important thing I could contribute was to try to create real cinematic magic. Not magic as a result of an audience’s experience but physical, literal alchemy on the screen that was somehow similar to things we’ve seen before but somehow also very different. To do that, I thought, I need all the giants to be creatures. Now, I could certainly make them creatures through prosthetic makeup. But wouldn’t it be wonderful if we had complete freedom that the creatures were done digitally? I felt like we were just on the cusp of inventing soul. That we could really infuse actual, human,   soul [into] an animated character. They had gotten close to it on several movies like “Avatar” and even “Planet of the Apes. ” I didn’t want the technology to subvert Mark’s honest performance. And that was the big risk we took. Would they be able to get Mark’s soul into BFG’s face and body? Mark is 100 percent responsible for his performance. The technology of motion capture with the suit he wears and the dots on his face delivered 80 percent of pure, soulful performance to the animators and the video cameras that recorded his performance from six different angles gave the animators the next 20 percent. Q. At this point, do you feel like there are any new and interesting hurdles for you? “The BFG” was a huge hurdle for me  —   I’d never done a fairy tale before. Every movie I make, there’s a hurdle to it. I look for things that will scare me. Fear is my fuel. I get to the brink of not really knowing what to do and that’s when I get my best ideas. Confidence is my enemy and it always has been. My sequels aren’t as good as my originals because I go onto every sequel I’ve made and I’m too confident. This movie made a   dollars, which justifies the sequel, so I come in like it’s going to be a slam dunk and I wind up making an inferior movie to the one before. I’m talking about “The Lost World” and “Jurassic Park. ” Q. Is it fear of failing, fear of disappointing yourself, your critics, your admirers? What is the fear? It’s a fear of getting lost. And then staying lost in a quagmire of having made a bad choice and now I’m stuck with it for the next 60 days of shooting. I felt that way on “Jaws” only because it was so hard to make, not because I didn’t know how to make it. I was lost. For a movie that became awesomely successful and gave me complete personal creative freedom, I still look back at it and even now say it was my most unhappy time in my life as a filmmaker because whole days would go by and we wouldn’t get a shot. Q.  I want to bring up the question that someone in the press conference asked regarding Roald Dahl [whom some, including a biographer, have said was] an  . Can you enjoy the work and not think about the artist? How do we deal with that? I think that all of us who stand on the shoulders of the giants who began the industry  —   have run into that conundrum when talking about “The Birth of a Nation” and D. W. Griffith and the exaltation of the Ku Klux Klan. Now, I don’t know what I would have done if I’d known this [about Dahl] before “BFG. ” I didn’t research Dahl. That’s no excuse. I was completely enthralled by his writing, by “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” “James and the Giant Peach” and especially “The BFG,” which is my favorite of his books. I read it to my kids. So, my only involvement was interpreting the book. But I said this in the press conference, and I really mean it: For somebody who has proclaimed himself   to be telling stories that just do the opposite, embracing the differences between races and cultures and sizes and language, as Dahl did with “The BFG,” it’s a paradox. Later, when I began asking questions of people who knew Dahl, they told me he liked to say things he didn’t mean just to get a reaction. And that a lot of the   comments he made weren’t things that he fervidly believed, because everybody in his life, basically, his whole support team, was Jewish. And all his comments, which I’ve now read about  —   about bankers, all the     stereotypes we hear from Germany  —   he would say for effect, even if they were horrible things. So, I don’t know. I just admire “The BFG” and I admire his values in that and it’s hard even for me to even believe that somebody who could write something like that could say the terrible things that had been reported. Q. People are complicated. Artists are complicated. Q. In 2013, you and your friend George Lucas were at the University of California and you said some big things about the movie industry.  I still stand by [that]. What I said was that it’s only going to take three or four   to damage the bottom line because these movies are all now costing between $225 and $300 million. If the general public finds another genre  —   maybe some young filmmaker will invent a genre  —   which starts to supplant the superhero movie this thing could happen. It almost happened a couple of summers ago, not to the extent that it hurt Hollywood. But I don’t believe that the superhero genre has the legs of the western genre, I don’t even think it has the legs of the   genre. I think that there’s a firewall between   and superhero  —   I don’t like to mix them because I think it’s sacrilegious. [Laughs.] At the same time, if I had a chance to make a superhero movie, I’d do it because it’s good business to do it right now. If I could find a huge superhero franchise  —   I’ve got one called “Transformers”  —   why not? Q. If it were up to you to restructure the business, the studios, what would you do? How would you fix the studios? I don’t think that the studios need fixing, as long as [they] keep their specialty divisions active and alert to what’s on the market and to what young filmmakers are ready to be given that big break. My only advice  —   and I don’t have a studio, I have a very small company  —   is that there needs to be a good balance of   and movies that are good for the soul, that get us to dwell in the aftertaste of an experience that is so   or out of the box, but three days later we realize that we saw something that might change our lives. The other thing that I’m a huge advocate of  —   and that I have practiced in my own television and movie business  —   is diversification behind the camera. We have a lot of diversification in front of the lens, but we don’t have diversification behind the camera. We don’t have women directors. We have more women directors in television  —   they’re doing great work  —   than we have on soundstages or on location making movies. That needs to change. And I don’t believe in the quota system, either. That’s tokenism. True talent is what we need to judge from, and there is tremendous talent in all those fields of diversity, from gender to race to religion. And a lot of this good work is being done in television. So how do we build a bridge from  to the movies? And how do we build a bridge from those who haven’t been given a break yet? Casting directors go out into the hinterlands and find actors who had no desire to act but are plucked out of school, like Ruby Barnhill, and put in “The BFG. ” Why can’t there be the same effort to find filmmakers?",true,news,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
17076,17077,"Istanbul Turkey ' s fiery prime minister ratcheted up rapidly escalating tensions with Israel on Tuesday , comparing Ankara ' s once close ally in the Middle East to a "" spoiled boy "" and announcing additional sanctions would soon be imposed .  "" We are completely suspending all of these , trade relations , military relations , related with the defense industry , "" Recep Tayyip Erdogan said , according to the semi official Anatolian Agency . "" All of these are completely suspended and other measures will follow this process . ""  Asked to clarify whether this meant Turkey will halt more than 3 billion in bilateral trade , an official in the Turkish prime ministry , speaking on condition of anonymity under government protocol , insisted Erdogan was not referring to trade relations .  "" He was referring to the defense industry , "" the official said . "" Nothing more than the measures that have been announced so far . ""  Last week , Turkey declared it was downgrading relations with Israel , suspending all military agreements between the two countries and giving senior Israeli diplomats less than a week to leave Turkish territory .  "" If the current steps are regarded as ' plan B , ' there will be a ' plan C , ' "" Erdogan said on Tuesday in his first public comments on the matter since Ankara imposed sanctions on Israel .  Erdogan ' s government is incensed that Israel refuses to apologize or pay compensation for eight slain Turks and one Turkish American . The humanitarian workers and activists were shot dead by Israeli commandos in a botched 2010 raid on an aid convoy that was trying to bust Israel ' s sea blockade of Gaza .  But "" Israel does not want to see a further deterioration in the relationship with Turkey , "" said a senior Israeli government official , who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue . "" There have been a number of proposals on the table to prevent a deterioration and unfortunately they have not been successful , but from our point of view a deterioration in the relationship serves neither side ' s interests . ""  Multiple Israeli sources said they are doing what they can to be responsible and reverse the negative dynamic . Some Israeli officials believe the current troubles between the two countries are minor bumps that can be smoothed out with time and the proper diplomacy .  Others believe the deteriorating relationship has little to do with Israel and more to do with a reorientation of Turkish foreign policy towards the Muslim world .  "" This is a process that will continue until the last moment , "" Erdogan said Tuesday , according to Anatolian , when asked about a trip to Gaza . "" We will make the final decision there , talking to our Egyptian friends and brothers . According to that , there may be a trip to Gaza . ""  Despite deteriorating political relations between Jerusalem and Ankara , trade has grown substantially between the two countries over the last year , according to Turkish government statistics .  On Monday , Stanley Fischer , governor of the Bank of Israel , gave a speech in which he highlighted the importance of Israel ' s economic ties with Turkey . He noted that Turkey ' s economy was the largest in the region , with a gross domestic product in excess of 700 billion , and that Turkey is becoming a key player in regional trade .  Turkey is a significant Israeli trading partner , Fischer said , and damage to the trade relationship between the two countries could have serious consequences for Israel .  Yigal Schleifer , Washington based editor at Eurasianet and expert on Turkish Israeli relations , argues the Middle Eastern "" outsider "" status that once drew Turkey and Israel together into an alliance during the 1990s has changed , as Turkey has grown economically and established closer political ties with Arab neighbors .  "" The paths have diverged , "" Schleifer said . "" What you have left is two countries with different visions currently for their position in the region . So Turkey wants to build a more unified region with more open borders that ultimately helps trade and ultimately helps Turkey see itself as a regional leader . Israel sees itself as isolated in the region , increasingly threatened and increasingly concerned with security issues . ""  Prior to the report about Erdogan ' s comments Tuesday , Amos Gilad , a senior Israeli defense official , told Israeli radio that despite the reports , Turkey is not disengaging from Israel . Contrary to what is being reported , he said , the Israeli military attache to Turkey is continuing his work there .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
17079,17080,"Tourists heading to the Vatican who like a tipple will be in good company .  The smallest country in the world comes out on top for consuming the most amount of wine .  Nearly 74 litres of vino are guzzled per person in the Vatican every year about 98 bottles each according to a new infographic .  Beer v wine : The infographic reveals that the Vatican consumes nearly 98 bottles of wine per person  Comparing the popularity of wine and beer around the world in 2013 , the Comparecampweblink graphic reveals overall , drinkers prefer hops to grapes , with 187bn litres of the brew being drunk versus wine ' s 24bn litres or two bottles of beer per one glass of wine .  Andorra came second in the list of the biggest wine drinkers , followed by France , St Pierre Miquelon and Slovenia with the  appearing in 56th place .  And while it may seem as though its the Brits who love a pint , the study reveals the Czech Republic is world ' s biggest beer consumer , with 235 litres of beer drunk per person every year .  Austria , Germany , Estonia and Poland make up the top five with the  in 14th place .  The  came out on top as the world ' s number one wine market , followed by France , Italy , Germany and the  .  Barleywine comes out as the most drunk beer in the world at 15 per cent , followed by stout ( 10 per cent ) , and India Pale Ale ( seven per cent ) .  The best selling wines in the world , based on the amount of cases sold , are Barefoot ( 17 million ) , Gallo ( 15 million ) and Concha y Toro ( 13 . 8 million ) .  The research also revealed that the the most expensive wine sold a bottle of Screaming Eagle Cabernet 1992 fetched nearly 32 , 000 ( 50 , 000 ) at the Napa Valley Wine Auction in 2000 .  Expensive beer on the other hand won ' t break the bank at the relatively reasonable price of 1 , 128 ( 1 , 815 ) for a bottle of The Antarctic Nail Ale .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
17099,17100,"Teenage golf sensation Noh Seung Yul has entered the sport ' s record books as the youngest player to top the Asian Tour ' s money list .  The 19 year old , who won 822 , 361 on his way to becoming the Asian Tour ' s No . 1 , was honored for his achievements at an award ceremony in Thailand following the conclusion of the 2010 season .  As well as claiming the Order of Merit trophy , the South Korean was also named the Players ' Player of the Year , but was unable to accept the accolades in person after having recently undergone corrective eye surgery .  "" I am honored becoming the youngest ever Asian Tour champion in history , "" the world No . 66 said in a video message played at the event .  "" It is also special for me to win the Players ' Player of the Year Award as this is nominated by my fellow professionals . ""  Noh ' s season highlights include victory at the Malaysian Open in March and four other top 10 finishes on the Asian Tour , and he did not miss a halfway cut in all of its events that he played .  He also made the weekend rounds in two of the three major tournaments in which he gained entry , finishing tied for 40th place at the U . S . Open and equal 28th at the  Championship .  "" The Asian Tour has done so much in my career and I am thankful for the opportunities that I have enjoyed since coming through from qualifying school in 2008 , "" he said .  "" My game has become better over the years through the high level of competition and I will continue to represent the tour proudly . ""  Another qualifying school graduate , Rikard Karlberg of Sweden , was named Rookie of the Year after finishing third in the Order of Merit in his debut season .  Japan ' s Tetsuji Hiratsuka finished fifth overall on 333 , 000 after winning Sunday ' s closing tournament , the Black Mountain Masters in Thailand .  The 39 year old claimed his third title this season as he beat young home hope Namchoak Tantipokakul in the first hole of a playoff in Hua Hin .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
17102,17103,"on Saturday condemned the destruction of three sacred tombs in Timbuktu , Mali , by Islamic militants who say they will destroy more .  The tombs , a 15th century shrine to Muslim saints , are part of a World Heritage site in Timbuktu .  The destruction started Friday .  "" The militants broke the doors and wooden gates to the grave and then used the cloth inside to set fire to the tomb , "" said Sankoum Sissoko , a resident in Timbuktu . "" They started chasing people away , telling them they shouldn ' t worship a saint , a human being . ""  He witnessed the attack together with other Timbuktu residents who had come to the tombs to pray .  Timbuktu ' s treasures at risk  "" The Islamists know a lot of people visit the grave on Fridays . That ' s why they attack on those days , "" Sissoko said .   Director General Irina Bokova called for the militants to stop the destruction immediately . The U . N . agency sponsors cultural , scientific , and educational programs to further peaceful relations between nations .  "" Reports that the Mausoleums of Sidi Mahmoud , Sidi Moctar and Alpha Moya have been destroyed is extremely distressing , "" she said . "" There is no justification for such wanton destruction and I call on all parties engaged in the conflict to stop these terrible and irreversible acts , to exercise their responsibility and protect this invaluable cultural heritage for future generations . ""  Timbuktu Muslims on their way to Friday worship at the tombs were stopped and threatened by armed men from Ansar Dine , a militant group that seeks to impose strict Sharia law , Timbuktu Mayor Ousmane Halle said .  "" The Islamists have surrounded he tombs with their cars after chasing people away and at the moment they ' re destroying the mausoleum of Sidi El Moctar , "" Halle said .  According to several witnesses the militants said they wouldn ' t stop until the destruction was complete .  "" Today we will destroy all the mausoleums , "" Ansar Dine representative Sanda Ould Boumama said .  Just on Thursday , the World Heritage Committee had accepted the request of the Malian government to place Timbuktu on  ' s sites in danger .  France , the former colonial power in Mali , also condemned the attack .  "" We call for an end to this violence and this intolerance , "" France said in a statement .  Journalist Katarina Hoije contributed to this report  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
17109,17110,"Why is Jeb Bush attacking Hillary Clinton , not  rivals ?  Crews prepare the venue for the Oct . 28  Republican presidential debate , on Tuesday , inside the Coors Events Center at the University of Colorado in Boulder , Colo .  Say you re Jeb Bush s campaign manager and you re planning to release a political attack ad on the eve of a crucial Republican primary debate . Who do you target ? Donald Trump , who s been bullying you for months ? Marco Rubio , who s emerging as a new hope for the establishment  ? Ben Carson , who s now the leader in crucial Iowa polls ?  Nope , no , and nyet . The Bush campaign on Tuesday dropped a new two minute video aimed squarely at Democratic front runner Hillary Clinton , not a Republican rival .  Yes , the former secretary of State , who Bush won t face unless he recovers to defeat the rest of the  primary field .  Photos of the Day Photos of the day 10 28  Hillary is not a moderate comes up on screen . Then there are quick cuts of punditry and Clinton speeches intended to tie her directly to her former boss and charge that she would be a third term for Barack Obama .  Halfway through , the mood changes and Jeb ! appears on screen . I reject the pessimism of the left that just thinks we have to become more dependent on government , Mr Bush says . Then the ad wraps up with a whirl through of Bush looking energetic , promoting jobs , and saying I know how to do this !  Why is Bush focusing on Clinton , as opposed to his actual immediate threats ?  Probably because he and his advisers calculate that his best chance remains punching up , portraying himself as an equal to the presumptive Democratic nominee and arguing ( implicitly ) that he s the person best positioned to defeat her .  The campaign makes these assertions directly in a Power Point presentation for important donors obtained by The Washington Post . It quotes Quinnipiac University poll numbers to the effect that Bush leads Clinton 44 to 42 percent in a direct match up , and that voters consider the former Florida governor more presidential than the former secretary of State .  Bush s problem is that to this point his electability argument has fallen on unconvinced ears . This is true not just for  voters in general , but also for party elites . He s failed to win the nod as the establishment choice for the nomination .  The data point that really shows this is his lack of endorsements . Primary political endorsements aren t usually advertisements per se ? they re a means for insiders to signal preferences to each other and for party leaders to coalesce around a preferred candidate . In the past , they ve been an accurate predictor of which hopeful will succeed and which will fail .  Right now Bush has 36 endorsement points , according to an analysis by the FiveThirtyEight blog . That puts him in first place in the  race , but only barely . And the real story is that many  figures have yet to throw their weight behind anyone . ?  You know who s winning the endorsement primary ? Hillary Clinton . She s got 385 points in the FiveThirtyEight calculus . That s party dominance .  Maybe Bush can turn his campaign around Wednesday night . It will be interesting to see how much of his time he spends talking about Clinton and Democrats , as opposed to the Republicans who are beating him in the polls .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
17142,17143,"Pakistan to continue efforts for defusing Saudi Iran row   : Pakistan will continue its sincere efforts to de escalate tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran , Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid says .  We started these efforts on our own and would go ahead with them , said the minister while talking to The Nation on Wednesday .  The statement is important as it comes after Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir s denial that Pakistan mediated between Saudi Arabia and Iran amid recent tensions between the two rival countries .  He was quoted as saying a few days ago that some countries had offered to mediate and to convey thoughts and ideas between Riyadh and Tehran , adding that Iran was well aware of what it is expected to do .  There will be no mediation as long as Iran does not respond positively , he said in Manama where he attended the ministerial meeting of the Arab India Cooperation Forum .  Al Jubeir alleged that Iran has been following a hostile policy towards the Arab world that included interference in their domestic affairs , sowing sectarian sedition and supporting terrorism .  He also said that there was strong evidence of Iran s acts of hostility and that Iran was on the list of terrorism sponsoring countries that was drawn up by the United Nations and other states , beside Saudi Arabia .  On January 3 , Saudi Arabia severed its diplomatic relations with Iran when protesters torched the kingdom s embassy in Tehran in reaction to the execution of a prominent Shia leader .  Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif , accompanied by  General Raheel Sharif , had visited Saudi Arabia on January 18 and Iran a day later to bring down the tensions .  During his visit he had met King Salman bin Abdulaziz and President Hassan Rouhani .  At the end of his Tehran visit the prime minister had said that Pakistan s efforts had been appreciated by both sides .  Also , he had said that now Pakistan , Saudi Arabia and Iran would appoint their focal persons to take the process forward .  It is said that so far focal persons have not been nominated .  The information minister was satisfied with the outcome of the prime minister s visit .  He said after the meeting the bitterness on both sides had come down .  The situation is now stable , Senator Pervaiz Rashid said .  Answering a question about Indian government s plan to employ an Israel type highly secured fencing across the border with Pakistan at Azad Kashmir and Punjab sectors , the minister said Pakistan wanted to improve its relations with India to a level where no such measures were required .  The purpose of the proposed fencing is to prevent alleged infiltration from the Pakistani side .  According to a report carried by Times of India , the issue of zero infiltration along the border was discussed in several meetings attended by the top ( Indian ) government functionaries , including Home Minister Rajnath Singh and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval .  In one of these meetings , they discussed if India could adopt an Israel type border guarding mechanism along the western frontier , the newspaper quoted an Indian home ministry official as saying .  India has close defence ties with Israel , which reportedly showed its willingness to share the high tech equipment for border protection .  Israel is hailed to have the best border protection system in the world , and depends more on technology than humans to protect its border .  Efforts are being made for a meeting between the foreign secretaries of Pakistan and India .  There are reports that the meeting will be held in Islamabad in February .  The diplomats of the two countries will work out a schedule and agenda of talks between their senior leaders .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
17176,17177,"What do  leaker Edward Snowden and a red panda at the National Zoo in Washington have in common ? Absolutely nothing . Except that both mysteriously vanished . And both were the subjects of high profile searches at least for a little while , in the case of the panda .  But a little while was all Twitter needed to engage in a flurry of jokes , including the creation of several parody accounts for Rusty , the red panda .  There were a few , tenuous parallels .  Both are male . Both are relatively young Rusty is 1 , Snowden is 30 . And both have connections to China : Red pandas are native to southwestern China while Snowden recently traveled to Hong Kong , off southeastern China .   , perhaps that last one is a bit of a stretch . But social media transcends all boundaries .  InvisibleObama tweeted , "" Somewhere , Edward Snowden is stroking a Red Panda laughing at us all . ""  BCAppelbaum posted , "" Since China won ' t hold on to Snowden , we ' re going to start releasing panda bears . ""  First reported missing at 8 a . m . Monday , Rusty was finally captured around 2 : 30 p . m . about a mile away from his enclosure , zoo officials posted to Facebook .  The zoo had tweeted several facts about Rusty , warning zoo visitors that he is still a wild animal and would bite if cornered or scared . The search began inside the zoo since red pandas are known to be territorial .  For at least a few hours , Rusty ' s whereabouts proved as intriguing to many as Edward Snowden ' s .  Snowden made news recently for releasing information about secret surveillance programs conducted by the National Security Administration . He initially fled to Hong Kong . Russian officials confirmed he had flown to Moscow over the weekend . Although WikiLeaks claims to know his exact location , no one else seems sure . His reserved seat aboard a plane to Cuba was reportedly empty .  The United States has publicly announced it is seeking to extradite Snowden on charges of espionage and theft of government property . No such announcement was made regarding Rusty .  "" Operation Rusty : Washington engages in another frantic search , "" read the headline to the Washington Wire post .  "" Now Putin has a Super Bowl ring , Ed Snowden  a red panda , "" tweeted MicahGrimes . Putin has been accused by the owner of the New England Patriots of taking his Super Bowl ring during a visit .  Although parody accounts have come under fire recently as being unnecessary and lacking humor , RustyThePanda was undeterred . "" Is there bamboo in Ecuador ? "" it asked . Its Twitter bio also included being a fan of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald , who broke the Snowden story . Greenwald , presumably busy with other things , had not tweeted anything panda related at the time of this writing .  Some tweets appeared to confuse red pandas with the black and white giant pandas , also called panda bears . Red pandas look more like a cross between a raccoon and a small fox . Both enjoy a good meal of bamboo , however .  This isn ' t the first escaped zoo animal to inspire an attention getting parody account . In 2011 BronxZoosCobra chronicled the seven day imagined adventures of the escaped snake . That account amassed 187 , 533 followers and still tweets . In response to Rusty ' s escape it on Monday it posted , "" I have an alibi ! ""  The NationalZoo account thanked its fans on Twitter and Facebook for helping recover Rusty . No word if BarackObama will do the same when Snowden is officially located .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
17195,17196,"Is Rory McIlroy saving his best for last ?  The Northern Irishman carded a seven under par second round of 65 at the Australian Open Friday as he bids to end 2013 with a bang .  Former world No . 1 McIlroy has endured a frustrating year , failing to find his best form with his new Nike clubs and slipping to sixth in the world rankings .  But the 24 year old golfer finished the day with nine birdies , and just two bogeys to move to 10 under for the tournament , only two strokes off leader and Australian favorite Adam Scott .  "" Obviously when you come to a tournament where you ' re one of the headline acts or main attractions , you want to live up to that billing I guess , "" McIlroy joked with reporters .  "" For the most part this year I haven ' t wherever I went . So it ' s nice , "" he added . "" It ' s nice to reward the people that invite you down here and look after you so well . ""  The 2013 season has largely slipped by the two time major winner McIlroy , who has struggled to recapture the form which saw him win four  Tour titles and two European Tour titles and the  Championship in 2012 .  In contrast to McIlroy , Scott has enjoyed a stellar 2013 .  The Australian has shot up to No . 2 in the world rankings , thanks in part to his first major triumph at the Masters in April .  The 33 year old shot a course record 62 on Thursday and followed it up with a two under 70 on Friday to move to 12 under for the opening two rounds .  Scott and McIlroy will be paired together for Saturday ' s third round at the Royal Sydney Golf Club .  "" Obviously he ( McIlroy ) is one of the best players in the world , so I ' m going to have to bring my best game and try and match it with him , "" said Scott .  He is aiming to complete the Australian Triple Crown , by adding the Australian Open titles to the Australian  and Australian Masters titles he has already claimed .  Robert Allenby in 2005 is the only player to have won the Australian Masters , Australian  and Australian Open in the same season .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
17197,17198,"Stoke splash out club record fee for Imbula  Stoke have splashed out a club record ? 18 . 3 million ( 26 million ) to sign Porto midfielder Giannelli Imbula , the Premier League club announced on Monday .   Feb 2 , 2016 , 11 . 57     : Stoke have splashed out a club record ? 18 . 3 million ( 26 million ) to sign Porto midfielder Giannelli Imbula , the Premier League club announced on Monday .  Imbula agreed a five and a half year contract with Mark Hughes ' side and the deal was sealed less than half an hour before the official close of the transfer window .  The signing surpasses Stoke ' s previous record of ? 12 million , which they paid to lure Xherdan Shaqiri from Inter Milan last year .  "" Giannelli is a good young player . He has great power , good ability on the ball and a great range of passing and there ' s no doubt he will add to the quality that we already have at the club , "" Hughes told Stoke ' s website .  "" He played against us in pre season and although I was already aware of him , seeing him at first hand resonated with me . ""  Born to Congolese parents in Belgium , Imbula launched his career with French side Guingamp in 2009 and four years later joined Marseille , where he got his first taste of Champions League action .  The 23 year old has represented France at Under 21 and Under 20 levels , but has since expressed his desire to play for Belgium although he is yet to make his senior international debut .  City Chief Executive Tony Scholes added : "" Giannelli is a player we have been trailing for some time and we are delighted to have concluded a deal to sign him .  "" At one stage it looked unlikely that we would be able to get the deal over the line but things accelerated quickly earlier today and Giannelli is really excited about the prospect of playing in the Premier League with us . ""  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
17199,17200,"Intrigue over Manchester United ' s poor injury record this season deepened on Friday night when it emerged that their respected and long serving fitness coach Tony Strudwick is no longer involved in key first team duties .  United manager Louis van Gaal revealed on Friday that he has nine players missing injured ahead of Saturday ' s visit of West Ham United in the Barclays Premier League . Van Gaal has described the crisis as the worst he has ever known .  Now it has emerged that first team fitness expert Strudwick has been moved from his usual role to a job looking after the physical development of the club ' s younger players . It is understood that Van Gaal ' s long serving fitness guru Jos van Dijk is now in control of fitness planning and programming for the club ' s elite stars .  Manchester United fitness coach Tony Strudwick is no longer working with Louis van Gaal ' s first team stars  Strudwick , pictured with Van Gaal , has been told to sharpen up the fitness of Manchester United ' s starlets  Jos van Dijk , pictured on the far left before United ' s win against  , will work with the senior team  Van Dijk , pictured to the right of Patrick Kluivert , was part of Van Gaal ' s Dutch staff at the 2014 World Cup  Strudwick was in charge of things on the club ' s pre season tour of America and was regularly seen working with Wayne Rooney and the rest of the first team on the trip .  Since then , though , the 42 year old has been less visible and sources at Old Trafford confirmed last night that things had changed earlier in the season . Strudwick ' s only involvement with the first team now is some warm up drills before training and some strength work .  He no longer has any involvement with the crucial task of designing and planning training , the vital role he had fulfilled since joining from Blackburn Rovers in 2007 .  There is no suggestion that the decision to move Strudwick is any reflection on his work , rather that Van Gaal in common with many managers merely wished to work with his own man .  However Van Gaal ' s decision represents a risk as not only is Strudwick considered talented enough and experienced enough to work for the  with Roy Hodgson and the England squad , he is liked , trusted and respected by all of the club ' s senior players .  Like our Manchester United Facebook page .  Manchester United centre back Jonny Evans is among a long list of players who are currently out injured  Strudwick , pictured on the far left , travelled to Brazil to work with the England national team  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
17213,17214,"Sprawling online bulletin board Reddit is especially popular with young men , according to a new study . Six percent of all adults on the Internet use Reddit , and it is most popular with men between 18 and 29 15 of whom frequent the site .  The survey was conducted by the Pew Research Center ' s Internet American Life Project , an ongoing effort to study the how Americans ' use of the Internet is evolving and the impact it has on their lives .  In a telephone survey of 2 , 252 adults , Pew found that men were twice as likely as women to use Reddit and that the site ' s popularly dropped significantly with the 50 and older age group .  Reddit : Gifts for men  On the social news site and meme factory , people share links , photos and original content in themed sections , called subreddits . The posts are then voted up or down by the community . The 5 , 360 active subreddits cover a wide range of topics , including politics , corgis , Starcraft , conspiracy theories and parenting .  Reddit co founder urges tech leaders to fight   Recent news events have pushed the site into the spotlight .  Redditors helped uncover pieces of Aurora , Colorado , shooter James Holmes ' online identity . Its boards are being used to organize protests against  privacy violations for the Fourth of July . And after the Boston Marathon bombings , members of the community attempted to do amateur investigating using public photos from the scene .  Should criminal investigations be crowdsourced ?  Multiple people were wrongly identified as suspects by the community , prompting an apology from Reddit ' s general manager .  One of the most popular and visible Reddit features is the Ask Me Anything (  ) question and answer session . It has featured big name actors , politicians , CEOs , an astronaut still in space , and even President Barack Obama .  Launched in 2005 by Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian , Reddit has grown into an influential site with a wide reach . It had more than 70 million visitors in June from 183 different countries , according to the site ' s own stats . Those people visited a staggering 4 . 5 billion pages .  Read more : The Redditor who saved the bunnies  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,present
17215,17216,"What the liberal media wants the ' new ' face of America to look like Aren ' t you  ?  Via the Daily Caller A Christian organization has launched a petition to end the persecution of "" Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson after he declared heterosexual sex to be his favorite kind versus homosexual sex which he claims is prohibited in the Bible .  The petition at IStandWithPhilweblink , which calls for Robertson to be taken off suspension at his show ' s cable network , A E , has gained more than 1 . 2 million signatures as late Thursday . The petition was created by the Christian group Faith Driven Consumer .  Robertson was placed on indefinite hiatus from his hit A E program after telling  , It seems like to me , a vagina as a man would be more desirable than a man ' s anus . That ' s just me There ' s more there ! She ' s got more to offer . I mean , come on dudes ! But hey , sin : It ' s not logical , my man . ""  Q , it should be noted , is a glossy print magazine that still exists and one which Bobby Kennedy once called a "" fag rag . ""  "" Simply put , Phil Robertson is being censored and punished for quoting the Bible , and A E ' s treatment of him is punitive and highly discriminatory , Chris Stone , founder of Faith Driven Consumer , said in a statement . "" Everyday people will not stand for this , they know bullying and violation of religious freedom when they see it . A E ' s actions are censoring Faith Driven Consumers and eliminating them from an entertainment choice that they have overwhelmingly supported . ""  The petition demands that Roberts be immediately re instated at A E and that the network "" formally apologize to him , his family , and the millions of viewers who tune in every week , stand by him , and share his worldview . While the  community may be offended by his opposing viewpoint , your rash , discriminatory , and unfair treatment toward Mr Robertson a recognized symbol of the faith community is a slap in the face to Faith Driven Consumers and everyday Americans alike . ""  Duck Dynasty is a show about a family of duck hunting product barons in Louisiana .   : Fan uproar and negative conservative media coverage , plus about 400 million dollars looking to swirl down the flusher , caused A E to re think their stupid move and re hire Phil Roberston after a two week hiatus .  All patriots  The pink panty crowd from   ",satire,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
17226,17227,"France will limit a U . N . climate summit in Paris starting in two weeks ' time to core negotiations and cancel planned marches and concerts after the attacks that killed 129 people , Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on Monday .  He said no foreign leaders had asked France to postpone the Nov 30 Dec 11 summit , which aims to map out a global accord to limit greenhouse gas emissions , a move which would amount to "" abdicating to the terrorists "" .  But he told  radio that "" a series of demonstrations planned will not take place and it will be reduced to the negotiations . . . a lot of concerts and festivities will be cancelled . ""  Environmental activists are due to meet later on Monday to rethink plans for a march on Nov . 29 , the eve of the summit , that they had hoped would attract perhaps 200 , 000 people to put pressure on governments to cut greenhouse gas emissions .  Mainstream groups say they will respect any bans , decreed under emergency powers in France after the attacks on Friday that France blamed on Islamic State .  French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius , in Turkey for a meeting of the Group of 20 , said many world leaders reaffirmed they would come to the summit .  He quoted some leaders as telling him : "" ' We not only planned to come , but now we have to come , because we have to show to the terrorists that we are not afraid of them . ' ""  Alden Meyer , of the Union of Concerned Scientists , said he did not think the attacks would affect the outcome of the climate conference , which is due to agree a plan to restrict greenhouse gas emissions beyond 2020 .  He noted that the last climate summit , in Copenhagen in 2009 , failed partly because many world leaders were reluctant to commit to a shift from fossil fuels amid the financial crisis .  "" I don ' t see these attacks having any substantial bearing on the substance of the negotiations , as opposed to Copenhagen , for example , where the 2008 2009 global economic crisis did raise doubts about the costs associated with climate action , "" he said .  He and other experts also said the conference may also do more to discuss links between climate change and national security , a theme often stressed by U . S . Secretary of State John Kerry .  In May , for instance , a study in the U . S . journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences said drought and man made climate change may be among the underlying causes of the conflict in Syria .  ( Additional reporting by Nina Chestney writing by Alister Doyle editing by Anna Willard )  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
17229,17230,"When John Lennon remarked in 1966 that the Beatles were then "" more popular than Jesus "" his comments prompted outrage in the United States . But this weekend the Vatican ' s newspaper paid tribute to the band on the 40th anniversary of the release of the "" White Album "" in an article interpreted by some as a papal pardon for Lennon .  John Lennon appears with wife Yoko Ono in 1968 , two years after he made his "" more popular than Jesus "" comments .  Q : Was Lennon surprised by the storm his comment generated ?  A : I think John Lennon was surprised because it had been said in a casual way to a journalist who was a personal friend of his and he had no idea it would cause that sort of controversy . When it did happen he was actually quite frightened because they were about to go off on tour and there were these threats to their lives and a clairvoyant made some predictions that their plane would crash . It was really quite frightening and they wanted to cancel the tour but they knew they couldn ' t . They were under obligation to the tour promoters . And when he made his apology in Chicago , ( the band ' s ) press officer told me that John was actually in tears before he went in to make the apology .  Q : Was his apology sincere ? Watch as Vatican pardons Lennon  A : His apology was very carefully worded . He never said "" I didn ' t mean that "" he kind of said , "" if it was taken that way , that ' s not what I meant , "" but he never actually retracted it . The reason it happened that way , in America particularly , is that people thought the Beatles were getting too big , too proud and it was a way of putting them down and I think people grabbed that opportunity .  Q : Did they care at all what the Vatican newspaper had to say at the time ?  A : I don ' t know that the Beatles had any particular concern about what the Vatican said . I know the Vatican did say something at the time . But by that time , everybody was pitching in with their opinion , and it just kind of gathered pace .  Q : If he were alive , what would he say about his "" rehabilitation ? ""  A : It ' s very hard to say what John Lennon would say now if he knew that the pope had forgiven him or the Catholic Church had forgiven him because on the one hand he wrote to an American evangelist called Oral Roberts and said he had been very sorry . But in a book he said he was very glad that it had happened because it effectively ended the Beatles . Because that tour was so bad that it became the last tour the Beatles ever did . So he thought , "" Thank you Jesus for causing this to happen because you gave me a solo career . ""  Q : How spiritual were the Beatles ?  A : The Beatles started out as atheists and agnostics and I think as everybody knows they became more interested in spiritual things . They went out to India in 1968 and I think in a way the Beatles became a spiritual force themselves . And I think that John actually saw that . He saw Christianity and rock ' n ' roll as competitors . Only three years later , after 1966 , you had the Woodstock festival and you get rock music almost performing a religious function . So I think in a way he was aware of what was happening . The Beatles were almost becoming a religion and exerting a spiritual force over people .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
17242,17243,"Norfolk  doesn ' t have operating track record , investor says  U . S . railroad calls new offer even more uncertain and risky '  Activist investor Bill Ackman ? jumped into ? Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd . s battle to take over Norfolk Southern Corp . , saying the U . Sweblinkpany s chief executive officer lacks the background to turn the railroad around .  Canadian Pacific  Hunter Harrison is the greatest railroader of all time , said Ackman , whose Pershing Square Capital Management owns the largest stake in the Canadian carrier .  It s a real leap of faith for people to assume that all of a sudden , beginning a week or two after the  offer , Norfolk Southern has a plan to improve efficiency , Ackman said in a conference call Tuesday with Canadian Pacific management . Norfolk Southern  ? Jim Squires does not have a proven track record for turning around railroads .  Ackman s comments added a personal note to a fight marked by Norfolk Southern s rejection of two offers from Canadian Pacific , the most recent one on Tuesday . Harrison , 71 , is seeking to build a transcontinental rail network that would reduce the need to switch cars between carriers and test U . S . merger rules rewritten about 15 years ago that ended a flurry of consolidation .  It took Norfolk just 40 minutes to issue a statement Tuesday rejecting the latest terms .  Canadian Pacific s revised , reduced proposal is not only less than what the Norfolk Southern board has already found to be grossly inadequate , it is even more uncertain and risky given the decrease in the cash consideration , Squires said in a statement .  rejected an earlier offer of 46 . 72 in cash and 0 . 348 share of Canadian Pacific .  Ackman said Canadian Pacific would be prepared to reduce the stock component of the offer in favor of cash to get Norfolk Southern s approval and expected to conduct a friendly deal . Harrison said that if a proxy fight was required , so be it . The U . Sweblinkpany s stock fell 5 . 7 percent to 86 . 32 at the close in New York , the biggest one day decline since October 2012 . Canadian Pacific dropped 2 . 5 percent to C 171 . 64 .  A spokesman for Norfolk Southern declined to comment on Ackman s remarks .  Ackman detailed Harrison s track record of improving operations and boosting value of three railroads , including Canadian National Railway Co . and Canadian Pacific , and contrasted that with Squires s career in law and finance . ? Squires , 54 , became  in June after joining the railroad in 1992 and working in various legal , finance and administrative positions .  Ackman said the resistance by Norfolk Southern s board and statements that the merger can t be done follows the same pattern that unfolded before he won a proxy vote to install Harrison as  of Canadian Pacific in 2012 .  To alleviate regulatory concerns , Canadian Pacific said Tuesday it would use a voting trust , allowing shareholders of Norfolk , Virginia based Norfolk Southern to receive cash and shares in a new listed company by May 1 .  Norfolk Southern responded that such a plan was unlikely to gain approval by the U . S . Surface Transportation Board . The railroad on Monday released a report it commissioned from two former heads of the board who said regulators adopted stricter rules in 2001 that require railways to prove there would be a benefit to the public from a proposed merger or trust . The former members , Francis Mulvey and Charles Nottingham , agreed that a trust and a Norfolk Canadian Pacific merger would have a difficult time meeting that standard .  Norfolk Southern also believes that if the new company were domiciled in Canada it could face regulatory issues , given the concerns around U . Sweblinkpanies moving their headquarters to locations with lower tax rates , according to people familiar with the company s thinking who asked not to be identified because the matter is private .  So called inversion deals allow companies to merge with corporations located in countries with a lower tax bracket and move their combined headquarters there to lower their tax bill . The U . S . has a corporate tax rate of 35 percent , the highest in the developed world , and taxes companies on the sales they have abroad .  Canadian Pacific said in a presentation Tuesday that it expected the combined railway company to have a tax rate lower than 30 percent . While not technically an inversion because Norfolk would only retain a minority stake under the proposal , moving its headquarters to Canada would come at a politically charged time .  U . S . lawmakers have opposed such inversion deals after a string of such transactions in recent years , with companies including Burger King Worldwide Inc . and Pfizer Inc . either exploring or executing such deals .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,satire,true,True,no,no,negative,past
17247,17248,"Does your child spend time on social media? Unless they re Amish, you should probably assume they do. My teenage daughter just shared with me one of the most racist, self-loathing articles with me that I have ever seen in print. This is the most hateful, racist articles aimed at shaming young, white Americans that you ve have ever seen. As we took a closer look at students featured in this  Buzzfeed  article, we were stunned by some of the racist postings we found on their social media accounts.I suppose it s okay for Buzzfeed to publish an article with the sole purpose of bashing its young white users, because thanks to Barack and Michelle Obama (the ultimate victims), who have been sowing the seeds of racism, division and hate from the White House, it s perfectly acceptable to trash white Americans. Never mind that Barack Obama is the President of the United States. What black United States President who was elected twice by a majority white nation would still consider himself and his wife victims of racism?  Here are some of the examples we found from the Buzzfeed article titled:  19 School Powerpoint Presentations That Give Zero F*cks  This article, and hundreds more just like it, show up in your children s Snapchat social media feeds, a place where teenagers and young adults frequently go to interact with each other, and where they are constantly bombarded with leftist indoctrination garbage like this: Controversial Tay  appears to be very proud of herself and how she s stirring it up at school, she actually goes as far as to say,  One day I feel like my professors just gon stop letting me do presentations. Hmmm wonder why?One day I feel like my professors just gon stop letting me do presentations pic.twitter.com/gR8oopDqeG  Controversial Tay (@MissTayAmari) November 17, 2016Robin Had the white kids shook  by her presentation. How did she think it was going to make them feel good? Wasn t that exactly the reaction she was going for?I      pic.twitter.com/z8E3VPlkfF  robin (@thyrobin) October 21, 2016Here s Indigo whose got a bucket ready for your  white tears. When the homie comes through with follow up   pic.twitter.com/1LiPsJdxxD  Indigo (@miesh_b) December 14, 2015As an added bonus, we also found this video on Indigo s Twitter account: Watch this disrespectful black teenage girl attack her teacher during class, and twist his words to fit her narrative after he said,  I want [America] to control the borders.  She quickly turns it into a race issue, using his statement about the controlling the borders to suggest he,  doesn t want too many Latinos in our country.  She tells him  because you are white and you are so closed-minded  that he  doesn t accept the truth.  The teacher calls her out on her previous statement that,  white people are in control of everything,  by asking her what color our current President is? Watch how she quickly blames Congress for being white, which apparently makes a black man who holds the highest office in our nation somehow insignificant.  Amazing pic.twitter.com/4feVZv49DH    (@emotioneIIe) November 16, 2016One of the most race-obsessed teachers on social media that I have ever seen, posted this tweet to his Twitter account. He calls himself  Zellie  and this is his Twitter profile: All Black Everything. Teacher. Blogger. Activist. Brother. Son. Contact: zellie.imani@gmail.comDoes anyone wanna take bets about whether or not he would be offended if he saw someone on Twitter saying they were  All White Everything ?In any case, Buzzfeed chose one of his Twitter posts that shows a student telling a group of students if you believe there is diversity,  You re probably a racist. :I'm ready for this workshop.   pic.twitter.com/P0oKfDY8VP  zellie (@zellieimani) November 7, 2015And another post by the race-obsessed teacher made it to Buzzfeed s top 19 most racist social media posts. Here is #7.Oh look white people who  Wanna Be A Nigga!  The teacher  who calls himself  zellie  on Twitter used laughing emoji s when he shared this on Twitter as a way to express to viewers how funny he thought this was:Professors about to stop assigning presentations.   pic.twitter.com/4yulAjeZDx  zellie (@zellieimani) December 18, 2015This user brags about how she s about to shame her fellow students by suggesting,  She about to fry them. #Love it! :Now this one is just plain hilarious! Here s a white student who appears to be giving the presenter his full attention and respect, while this black student (who is the presenter) places  White People Are A Plague To The Planet  on the screen for the entire class to see. Pretty funny huh? You can see why Buzzfeed chose them as their #9 pick:Pretty sure I just got an F on my presentation. pic.twitter.com/7TDprSquuP  Shahem . (@pettyblackboy) May 12, 2016This Buzzfeed article would lead you to believe this is a common theme among black high school students, that white people are a plague. And good for him According to his tweet, this racist clown got an  A  on his racist presentation.  Again, it s really no secret why Buzzfeed chose this tweet. It s their #10:Finessed an A on my presentation   pic.twitter.com/RFR44ExNMW  Shi'Thead (@ExRoyalTy) November 2, 2016And then of course, there s the  White People Are Crazy  slide. This student didn t mention the grade he got. This gem was posted to Tumblr and was Buzzfeed s #11:We re going to end this sickening display of racism at #12. We ve had enough and we re pretty sure you have as well. It doesn t matter what the color of your skin is, this display of hate and racism is unacceptable from any publication. Buzzfeed should be ashamed of themselves for putting this crap out there, and then paying to promote it on a social media sites geared towards teens and young adults.Our final presenter is simply making the point that he is a victim. Can anyone guess who made him a victim? If your skin color is white, we re pretty sure it was you.Jose Lara at Ethnic Studies panel. #EthnicStudiesNow pic.twitter.com/ufX30bn9ZC  Mark Tschaepe (@mdtschaepe) October 30, 2015Radical publications like Buzzfeed are not the only problem. Many of our educators are also indoctrinating our children with the,  all white s are racists  narrative. When are parents going to start taking a stand, and tell the educators at the schools their children attend they are not going to stand by and watch them shame their children? It may be all the rage in high schools and colleges to unfairly accuse white people of racism and hate, but that doesn t mean you, or your kids have to go along with it.For the entire slide show, go to Buzzfeed. Make sure to leave a comment, and let them know how you feel about the garbage they re putting out to your kids disguised as  news.  Teenagers and young adults have a hard enough time dealing with self-image and everyday teenage insecurities. Suicide rates and depression are off the charts for teens. Buzzfeed is just doing their part to pile on, and make your kids feel guilty or ashamed for the color of skin they were born with. ",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,fake,True,no,no,negative,present
17251,17252,"Clock Boy ' s time machine as depicted by the boy ' s father al Hassan who says it ' s parked in their garage right next to the famous clock in a box .  Clock boy ' s Dad took some photo ' s of his son waiting to visit the 72 Virgins near Mohammed ' s out house .  Clock Boy showed reporters a post card that Mohammed gave him in exchange for his glasses . He later said . "" the Prophet was sorta cross eyed and couldn ' t see real well . ""  Clock Boy ( center ) says his time travel trip on a machine he invented was really neat !  Ahmed Mohamed , the Texas youth who was briefly detained Sept . 14 when he brought a clock like device that looked like a bomb in to school , claims he ' s built a Way Back Machine ' that allows time travel .  That claim may prove embarrassing to President Barack Obama , whose science deputy personally invited the boy to an Oct . 19 science fair in the extended White House grounds .  Mohamed was invited to the White House after progressives and the media accepted and broadcast his claim that the arrest was prompted by unreasonable anti Muslim and anti African views supposedly prevalent among cops in Irving .  The youth ' s clock apparatus , which he described as an "" invention , "" was extracted from a commercial clock and then stuffed into a metal looking school box . The clock ' s face could not been seen when the case was closed . If the case was opened , the dismantled clock ' s unshielded 110 volt transformer was hazardous to anyone who put their hands inside the clock box .  Mohammed says his time machine allows record breaking time travel to anywhere in time . He claims he visited dinosaurs walking in what ' s now modern Paris and his recent trip to meet the Prophet Mohammed back in the 7th century where his father visited with 72 Virgins for almost two hours .  "" Today al Hassan the father and his son spoke about their recent time travel trip back to the 7th century where they met Mohammed . al Hassan say ' s the Prophet honored him in tribute to his intelligence and talent and in line with government policy of caring for gifted youngsters .  "" Mohamed told reporters afterwards that he is extremely delighted ' for meeting The Prophet and visiting the 7th Century . He expressed hope that he would have the opportunity to meet again with the Islam ' s spiritual leader and honor him with a new invention and success . '  ",satire,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
17273,17274,"Attack : Lord Judge said the way the Strasbourg based court ordered Britain to follow its instructions was ' a negation of the democratic process '  The European Court of Human Rights is a threat to democracy , a former Lord Chief Justice said yesterday .  Lord Judge said the way the Strasbourg based court ordered Britain to follow its instructions was ' a negation of the democratic process ' .  Strasbourg demands , he said , meant that political decisions were left ' exclusively to a body of unelected judges ' .  And Lord Judge , who retired last year as the most senior judge in England and Wales , said the campaign by the human rights court to impose its will on Parliament ' represents a dramatic and unconstitutional extension of judicial authority ' .  In the strongest attack on Strasbourg made by a leading British legal authority , Lord Judge ' s comments came at a key moment in the political struggle over Europe between the Tories and Ukip and at a time when Strasbourg is pressing the Coalition to heed the court ' s requirement that Britain allows convicted prisoners to vote .  Lord Judge , 73 , has previously made measured criticisms of the court . But in an article for the Bar Council ' s magazine , Counsel , he accused the court and its leaders of trespassing beyond the bounds of Britain ' s constitution and the democratic practices that underpin it .  ' In any country which embraces the principle of democracy , and certainly in the United Kingdom , ultimate authority over constitutional and societal questions is not vested in a body of judges , however wise and distinguished , and even if the system for their appointment is beyond criticism , ' Lord Judge said .  He added that the Human Rights Act did not give Strasbourg the right to impose its rule on Britain .  ' The debates in Parliament show that the suggestion that legislative authority should be given to the Strasbourg court to bind our courts here was expressly rejected , ' he said . ' And if it could not bind our courts , it certainly could not bind Parliament . '  In 2004 , the court backed claims made by axe killer John Hirst and ordered that Britain must overturn centuries of practice and allow at least some convicted prisoners to vote in elections .  Lord Judge noted that the president of the Strasbourg court , Dean Spielmann , has said governments must change their laws when told to do so . ' If he is right , whether or not Parliament agrees , Parliament is bound to enact laws which will bring the decisions of the Strasbourg court into effect .  ' In my view it would be a negation of the democratic process for Members of Parliament to be obliged to vote for a measure with which they disagree . '  Tyrannical : In an article for the Bar Council ' s magazine , Counsel , Lord Judge accused the court and its leaders of trespassing beyond the bounds of Britain ' s constitution and the democratic practices that underpin it  Lord Judge also pointed to a section of the controversial Article Eight of the code , which is supposed to guarantee the right to private and family life and says the right operates only as far as ' is necessary in a democratic society ' .  Lord Judge said : ' If what the President says is correct , what constitutes a necessity in a democratic society is left , in the ultimate analysis , exclusively , to a body of unelected judges , and has been removed from the legislative body elected through ordinary democratic processes .  ' The respect owed by Parliament to the views expressed by that court is embodied in the Human Rights Act itself . But , using the President ' s language , the imposition of those views on Parliament represents a dramatic and unconstitutional extension of judicial authority . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
17283,17284,"Relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran have always been tense at best , with the two countries constantly competing for influence in the Middle East . But despite backing opposite sides in almost every regional conflict over the past decade , the two countries have managed to maintain diplomatic ties .  So it came as a surprise when Riyadh announced on Sunday that it was recalling its diplomats from Iran and cutting off trade and travel .  Analysts disagree about the real motives behind the sudden move . Saudi officials justify their action as a legitimate response to the attacks on the country ' s embassy in Tehran and consulate in Mashad , which were themselves prompted by Saudi Arabia ' s execution of Sheikh Nimr al Nimr , a prominent anti government Shiite cleric and activist .  These attacks are considered a continuation of Iranian regime s aggressive policy in the region , which aims to destabilize the security and stability , and to provoke conflict and wars , Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir said in a press conference .  James B . Smith , former U . S . ambassador to Saudi Arabia , ? dismissed the Kingdom ' s move as little more than a natural reaction to the embassy attack .  If Iran is not willing to accept the bilateral agreement of protecting foreign citizens on their soil and their embassy , it s impossible for Saudi Arabia to continue diplomatic relations , "" Smith told The Huffington Post . I don t think it s a strategic signal this is actually very cut and dry . ""  Fahad Nazer , a former analyst for the Saudi embassy in Washington , described the embassy attacks as the proverbial last straw after years of escalating tensions .  When one looks at the hotspots around the Middle East , whether it is Syria , Iraq , Yemen or Lebanon , they will find that Saudi Arabia and Iran are supporting opposite sides in virtually all of them , said Nazer , who is now an analyst for the intelligence consulting firm  Inc .  But others alleged a more nuanced motive , suggesting that Saudi officials anticipated that the execution of Nimr would spark a backlash in Shiite communities .  A memo leaked to The Independent showed ? that Saudi officials predicted the executions would be met with violence at least at home and ordered security services to exercise maximum precaution in the days following .  It is difficult to see that Saudi Arabia did not know that its decision to execute Nimr would not cause uproar in the region and wouldn t put additional strains on its already tense relations with Iran , ? wrote Trita Parsi , head of the National Iranian American Council , a Washington based advocacy organization .  The embassy siege , Parsi continued , provided Riyadh with the perfect pretext to cut diplomatic ties with Tehran .  Iranians protesting Saudi Arabia ' s ? execution of Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al Nimr on Sunday , in front of the Saudi embassy in Tehran  Riyadh previously halted relations with Iran in 1988 , ? prompted then , as now , by Iranian protesters attacking the Saudi embassy in Tehran . ( That confrontation was sparked by clashes ? between Iranian pilgrims and Saudi police forces in Mecca . )  Relations between the countries have been fraught for decades . What brought them to the recent tipping point is Saudi Arabia ' s perception that the U . S . is warming to Iran at the cost of its support of the Kingdom .  From the Saudi perspective , geopolitical trends in the region have gone against its interests for more than a decade now , Parsi wrote , referring in part , to the 2003 U . S . invasion of Iraq . That invasion replaced Saddam Hussein , once seen as a regional counterweight to Iran , with a Shiite government with close ties to Iran .  On the issue of the Syrian civil war , Saudi Arabia is committed to the ouster of President Bashar Assad . ? Washington is ostensibly on the same side , but the Saudis see the U . S . inching closer to the position of Iran , a key backer of Assad ' s regime .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
17293,17294,"? Just across the canal from the chic cafes , businesses and elegant buildings that define the heart of Belgium s capital is the neighborhood of Molenbeek , a largely Muslim area that has become one of the world s main breeding grounds of violent Islamist extremists .  Belgian police conducted raids in the area Saturday night and early Sunday morning and arrested seven people suspected of knowledge or involvement with the bloody attacks in Paris , which would not be the first time that people from Molenbeek have taken part in international terrorism . A Belgian car used by the attackers led police to Molenbeek , where they arrested one of three brothers a second brother was killed in Paris , and a third is the target of a massive manhunt .  Manhunt underway for Belgian born suicide bomber  The terrible attacks that were directed against us on Friday were prepared abroad by a group of individuals based in Belgium who , as the investigation will show , benefited from accomplices in France , French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said in Paris on Sunday .  There is almost always a link with Molenbeek . That s a gigantic problem of course , Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said on Belgian television Sunday morning . Asked why his government wasn t doing more , he said it has already taken a number of initiatives at the preventive level . But in addition , there needs to be more repression . We re going to work hard on that .  A street in the Molenbeek neighborhood of Brussels , where police staged a raid following the Paris attacks , on Nov . 15 . ( Yves Herman Reuters )  For the casual stroller , there is nothing about Molenbeek that shouts extremism .  It has a busy commercial street , alluring pastry shops , dilapidated car repair joints and corner cafes where , on Sunday , men ( and only men ) watched a soccer game on large screen televisions while sipping tea and coffee . Some down and out residents sat outside the closed doors of a large church , but many of the Moroccans and Turks who emigrated half a century ago have become comfortably middle class , if not wealthy . And thanks to low property values , gentrification has planted its feet along the canal , featuring art lofts , a trendy event space and even a hotel .  What happened during the Paris attacks and how the world responded  People who have studied Molenbeek say that the seeds of violent Islamist extremism were planted long ago .  It doesn t surprise me , because radical and political Islam in Belgium is something that grew up through the years , said Bilal Benyaich , a senior fellow at a think tank called the Itinera Institute and coordinator of studies on radical Islamists there . The fact that many people feel they will never make it , don t stand a chance in society and envy others ? this makes fertile grounds for recruiting .  Benyaich said that the Molenbeek residents receptive to calls to violence are a small minority : Within this minority there is a group that can be activated by propaganda . He said that like other extremists such as Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh , with the right diagnosis in right moment , they can be convinced to commit violence .  Maps : What happened during the Paris attacks and how the world responded View Graphic  Maps : What happened during the Paris attacks and how the world responded  He noted that jihadist cells took root in Brussels in the 1990s . Assailants with ties to Belgium played roles in the assassination of northern Afghan anti Taliban leader Ahmed Shah Massoud , the 2004 Madrid bombings , the Paris shootings at the magazine Charlie Hebdo and the attempt on a high speed train to Paris that was thwarted by young American off duty soldiers . Last year , the country was riveted by the trial of 46 people who were found guilty of belonging to Sharia4Belgium , a group that recruited volunteers to fight in Syria .  Belgium , on a per capita basis , has become the biggest exporter of fighters from Europe to the Islamic State in Syria . Nearly 500 people have left Belgium to fight for the Islamic State . About 130 have come back , 77 have died fighting , and more than 200 remain in Syria .  They emerged from an unusual social clash that has prevented Molenbeek from becoming a Belgian melting pot . Fifty years ago , a wave of immigrants came from Morocco and Turkey . Later , exiles from Libya and Egypt arrived . But in the 1970s , Benyaich said , Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf countries sent funding for rigid religious schools , setting up tension between Wahabbi mosques and the more moderate and largely Moroccan tradition .  Coordinated assault in Paris seems to mark new chapter in terrorism  Today , the neighborhood has more than a dozen mosques , many of them tucked into old buildings . In some cases , more hard line Muslims took over the boards of existing mosques , Benyaich says , and the orientation of some mosques is still in flux .  Benyaich says that the Saudi message has played well to the children of immigrants who were suffering an identity crisis . And now the Islamic State has stepped in and caught on .  Yannick Bochen , who runs a community center in Molenbeek , says the neighborhood has never been treated equally . She said that while new subway stops are drilled underground in other parts of the city , the ones to Molenbeek were built by digging up the streets , which were disrupted for many years .  Bochen says that the violent extremists don t represent Molenbeek . It saddens me that it s Molenbeek again , she said , adding that it only makes it harder to pull the neighborhood up .  I ve been working in this community center for six years , she said , and a lot of people are really sick of this association . Since we heard about this , people are a little bit down about it . For years and years you try to change this over generalized image of this neighborhood .  The latest arrests have dealt that effort a heavy blow .  In Molenbeek , we do not have things under control at this moment , Interior Minister Jan Jambon said on the television talk show De Zevende Dag , or The Seventh Day . There we need to make an extra effort .  While saying that nothing justifies an act of barbarity such as that carried out in Paris , Benyaich also said : Every society gets the radicals that it deserves . We created these monsters . Whether we like them or not , they are still a product of our system .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
17296,17297,"World heavyweight title a shock , but Briton was confident he would dethrone Klitschko   ( Germany ) ? Britain ' s Tyson Fury has vowed to be "" the most charismatic champion since Muhammad Ali "" , after delivering on his promise to dethrone Wladimir Klitschko and become the new world heavyweight boxing champion .  "" I always said what I would do and I delivered . I didn ' t have this confidence for nothing , "" beamed Fury , 27 , after his unanimous points win ended Klitschko ' s run of 19 consecutive defences .  Fury was awarded the fight 115 112 , 115 112 and 116 111 by the judges on Saturday , as Klitschko ' s reign as world champion was finally ended after nine years and six months .  Fury takes Klitschko ' s World Boxing Association (  ) , International Boxing Federation (  ) , International Boxing Organisation (  ) and World Boxing Organisation (  ) belts as the Ukrainian suffered his first defeat since 2004 .  "" I knew all along I could win the fight , "" said Fury , whose corner exploded into celebration once the verdict was announced .  "" I saw in his eyes that he was going to lose this fight . ""  The new champion celebrated his victory by singing Aerosmith ' s Don ' t Want To Miss A Thing in the ring , a rendition he dedicated to his wife , Paris .  "" I felt a lot more love from them ( his fans ) then I felt for him ( Klitschko ) from his , "" added the underdog , who shed 32kg in five months to get into shape for the fight .  "" It was a tough task coming here , that ' s why he ' s avoided me for the last five years .  "" People can say what they want about me , he was hanging on for dear life in that fight all the way through .  "" He ' s been a great champion , but every good dog has its day . This is that start of a new era . I ' ll be the most charismatic champion since Muhammad Ali . ""  This was Fury ' s 25th professional success and he will cash in on the victory , regardless of his fight purse , having bet ? 200 , 000 ( S 425 , 000 ) on himself .  "" Nobody believed he could do it , only me , ( trainer and uncle ) Peter and his brother , "" Tyson ' s father John Fury told the  . "" We ' ve ripped these belts off a super champion . We have changed the world . ""  The fight was a poor display by Klitschko , who finished with cuts to both cheeks while Fury was unmarked .  Fury , at 2 . 06m some eight centimetres taller than his opponent , kept Klitschko at bay , with the champion unable to unleash his lethal right and reduced to jabbing away with his left whenever he managed to get within striking distance and doing little damage .  "" I must admit that Tyson Fury was faster and better , "" Klitschko , whose record now stands at 64 wins and four defeats , told German broadcaster  . "" ( My ) speed was missing , for a big man he is incredibly agile . I didn ' t put the punches in and could not find the right key to open up the fight . ""  The 39 year old said he will "" definitely "" use the option of a rematch , which is in the fight contract .  The bout took place at the second attempt , as the original October date had to be scrapped after Klitschko suffered a calf injury .  A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on November 30 , 2015 , with the headline ' Ali charisma to fuel Fury ' . Print Edition Subscribe  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
17299,17300,"On Wednesday , angry residents of West Point , one of the poorest slums of Liberia , clashed with police when they discovered that the government has quarantined the entire area in an effort to contain the spread of Ebola . This comes on the heels of another incident at West Point a few days ago , when people attacked an Ebola clinic , releasing patients and taking bedding and other items . When the international community heard about the incident , it could not understand such reckless behavior in the face of a deadly outbreak . But living here in Liberia , we understand .  Through my work as a peace activist during the wars of the 1990s and early 2000s , and now as an organizer with communities throughout Liberia , I know how skeptical Liberians feel toward the government and international aid , given prior bad experiences .  The majority of citizens do not trust the government , which they view as corrupt , so they could not believe the whole story about Ebola when it started being told . A friend of mine said , for example , "" Ellen Johnson Sirleaf ( president of Liberia ) and her minister of health want to pocket money , so they have come up with a new tactics to collect money and share . ""  As the months went by , many radio talk show hosts led discussions about Ebola . People from all walks of life in Liberia still denied the existence of Ebola , including many at the waterside , one of the biggest markets in Monrovia , the capital . When I spoke about Ebola , people accused me of working for the government , which was bad enough . But when I showed them my work  , I made the matter even worse . They said that I work for an American non governmental organization , and we all are supporters of Ma Ellen and can ' t see the wrong she is doing .  Now , too late , everyone is talking about the invisible enemy the one you cannot see . I remember during the war days in Liberia , you could get news of where the enemies were coming from and take cover either in the bushes or some other hiding place .  But the Ebola virus is different . I have extended family members who have died from the virus or been quarantined for observation and testing . It is overwhelming to hear of people whom you have spoken to in the past six weeks , who are now dead from a disease that could have been prevented .  9 things to know about Ebola  Liberians are social and community oriented . We greet people with handshakes and hugs , eat together using one bowl , sleep together in one bed and bathe dead bodies to honor them .  Some people are trying to put aside these cultural practices to save lives . I have noticed that a few people have started to wear gloves and long sleeve shirts . Many businesses and homes have buckets with water and bleach for people entering and coming out to wash their hands .  A colleague of mine called and told me about a health administrator whose mother had contracted the Ebola virus . The administrator took his mother to the hospital in Tubmanburg , capital of Bomi County , where my colleague works as a nurse and social worker for people living with   .  My colleague told me that the administrator was in complete denial that his mother had contracted the virus . He broke all the rules that the hospital had put in place : no visitors for people who have shown signs and symptoms of Ebola . Every day , he brought a new family member to visit his sick mother . In the end , his mother died , he died , and so did all seven family members he brought to the hospital to visit .  Another day has come , and I got a call from a friend who is a social worker in one of the closed government hospitals in western Liberia . She said families that have been quarantined in some communities do not have basic food supplies and other items they need . Even though they are not showing symptoms at the moment , they go out to fetch water and food . They go to faraway markets and hand pump water and do not tell others that they have been quarantined for fear of stigma . Another colleague says she took food and water to an Ebola quarantine , but she was turned down and told that no food or drinks were allowed .  Ebola facility in Liberia attacked patients flee  People are scared for a reason : Liberia ' s infrastructure cannot cope with Ebola . With poor health facilities and a low number of health workers , it ' s obvious that the government needed help months ago .  Heath centers are filled with suspected and actual Ebola cases . But the call centers , set up for people wanting help treating Ebola victims , do not answer . This has led to people dumping dead bodies on the streets . Some patients who showed symptoms were abandoned or fled to unknown locations .  Tracing people who have come in contact with sick Ebola patients is a huge task for the Ministry of Health . It has become very difficult to trace people who have moved from one community to another , making it tougher to contain the spread of the virus .  The Ebola crisis is making many people think about what kind of health policies we have in place . Do we need to develop new ones ? Every part of Liberia has been affected : the economy , politics , social and religious life . The economy seems to be dying slowly . Employees from large companies have left Liberia , as have staff members of international non governmental organizations . The biggest iron ore company in Liberia has sent its experts out of the country .  After a decade of international aid to Liberia and the emergence of a democratic government , what are we left with ? Liberia is not strong as it could be . Liberia is suffering during this terrible Ebola outbreak . We need help .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past
17301,17302,"Reuters) - Zimbabwe s parliament has received a motion to impeach President Robert Mugabe after the army seized power last week, Speaker Jacob Mudenda said on Tuesday. Mudenda said parliament would adjourn to a hotel to start the impeachment proceedings against the 93-year-old president, who defied his party s Monday noon deadline to resign. Zimbabwean law says a joint sitting can take place anywhere. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
17308,17309,"Famed drummer Neil Peart has stunned the music world by announcing that he is set to retire in approximately three months , just as soon as he finishes his current drum solo . Peart , a founding member of the Canadian rock band Rush , made the announcement Tuesday during a concert at Toronto ' s Air Canada Centre .  "" There comes a time in every musician ' s life where he has to admit that enough is enough , Peart shouted while simultaneously commencing an epic 12 hour fulcrum roll , "" I ' ve seen the writing on the wall and I think my retirement will probably happen sometime in the next few months , or whenever I wrap up this solo . ""  Peart ' s comments caught many off guard . Fans have already begun buying up Rush merchandise in preparation for the news that Peart ' s face melting drum solo has finally ended and that he will therefore be hanging up his sticks for good . Others have opted to just sit back and enjoy the marathon jackhammer sound Peart is delivering as they witness the swan song of a music legend .  "" I mean when he blasted into the solo two Thursdays ago in the middle of Spirit of Radio , I was like whoa ' we ' re in for something sick here , "" said James Mitchell , a fan in attendance at the now historic concert , "" but then a few weeks later when he grabs the mic during the solo ' s sweet two day long double paradiddle on his multi snare setup to tell us all he was retiring , we were just blown away . I knew then we only had another few precious weeks of blistering machine gun noise before it was official . ""  "" Boom boom ba bats ba bats ba bats ba bats , paratatatataat parrrrrrrrrraatatatatatat ch kts ch kts ch kts tsh tsh tsh , "" interjected Peart touchingly , "" Skiddaboom boom boom skidda tsh skidds tsh dg dg dg dg dg dg   . ""  By Wednesday , Peart had used over 95 of his 360 degree rotating drum kit and had finally begun to slow the tempo . Many in the crowd speculated that the conclusion of a 35 hour xylophone portion signaled that the solo would soon come to an end . However , this was apparently an intentional misdirect by the musician , as he took the lull as an opportunity to lower a second drum kit from the rafters to keep the solo going , all the while thanking fans for their support as he makes his graceful , blistering exit .  "" I mean , he pulls out a frickin ' Djembe . "" enthused Mitchell , "" Who  that ? . ""  The announcement is not without precedent . Van Morrison famously proclaimed that he was both retiring from touring and recommencing touring in the middle of a three week long keyboard solo during an Amsterdam concert . Jam band Phish is still in the midst of a largely improvised farewell version of Run Like an Antelope which was begun three years ago and shows no sign of abating .  "" I ' m going to use these final few months to wrap up my business affairs , deal with some lingering intellectual property issues with the band , maybe pen a few more deeply philosophical songs for the boys to use after I ' m done , and , of course , keep the flow going on this solo and bring it to a real nasty peak , "" Peart continued as he transitioned from a flam tap to a day long exploration of the piccolo snare , "" If I have any regrets it ' ll be not being able to play any more with bandmates Geddy and Alex . Oh and that double ratamacue section I launched into last Friday or Saturday too long . ""  ",satire,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,present
17312,17313,"China and Africa now are facing a rare historic opportunity of cooperation and development , he said , noting China has set its new development prospect in the coming years and the two sides have respective advantages in cooperation .  China , Xi stressed , stands ready to work with African countries to earnestly implement the outcomes of the two day summit of the Forum on China Africa Cooperation (  ) , which will be concluded later Saturday , so as to better achieve common development .  Leaders from Equatorial Guinea , Chad , Senegal , Liberia , Benin , Mauritania , Cote d ' Ivoire , Niger , Cape Verde , Malawi , Guinea Bissau , Zambia , Algeria , the Central African Republic , Sudan , Sierra Leone as well as Burundi attended the group meeting .  The leaders expressed appreciation to China for its valuable contribution to Africa ' s development , stressing that the continuous development of China will further benefit African nations since their cooperation is established on the basis of equality and win win principle .  President Xi ' s initiatives on South South cooperation and China Africa ties meet the need of African countries , they said , noting that they are looking forward to strengthening cooperation with China in areas such as industrialization , agricultural modernization , infrastructure construction , digital economy , regional integration , education , people to people exchanges , peace keeping and security .  The Johannesburg summit , the second of its kind in the 15 year history of the  , has drawn leaders and representatives from China , 50 African countries and the Commission of the African Union here to find a way for stronger China Africa relationship .  On Friday , Xi announced a package of programs to strengthen China Africa cooperation and support Africa ' s development in the coming three years at the opening ceremony , winning waves of applause .  He stressed China ' s adherence to the principle of noninterference in internal affairs of African countries amid enhancing economic ties during his Africa tour , which also took him to Zimbabwe ' s capital Harare and South Africa ' s executive capital Pretoria .  The Chinese president has exchanged views with dozens of African leaders in various forms after his arrival in Johannesburg on Thursday . Following the group meeting he held with 13 African leaders on Friday morning , the group meeting on Saturday morning was the second of its kind on the sidelines of the summit .  Spotlight : Xi ushers in new chapter for China Africa relations   , Dec . 4 ( Xinhua ) A new chapter has been opened for China Africa relations , as Chinese President Xi Jinping announced here Friday visionary action plans and policy principles to set the tone for future China Africa cooperation .  Xi , in a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of a landmark summit of the Forum on China Africa Cooperation (  ) , proposed that his country and Africa lift their relations to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and join hands to usher in a new era of win win cooperation and common development . ? Full story  Xi ' s speech at  summit shows desire to lift ties with Africa Sudanese analysts  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
17339,17340,"Cancer survivor Joe Thompson has slammed Tranmere for not renewing his contract after battling back from the life threatening disease .  The 25 year old was diagnosed with nodular sclerosing Hodgkin ' s lymphoma last October , but was given the all clear in June after completing a course of chemotherapy .  Thompson ' s contract at Prenton Park expired this summer and he was full of anticipation of a fresh deal being offered and reviving his career .  Tranmere exit : Midfielder Joe Thompson , pictured with Ian Goodison , left the club in the summer  Former side : Thompson ended his two year affiliation with Tranmere in the summer  However , the former Rochdale trainee claims he was astonished no one from the club contacted to negotiate a new contract .  ' I ' ve not spoken to any of the decision makers from Tranmere , ' said Thompson . ' I ' ve just spoken to one or two members of the coaching staff .  ' The medical team from the club have been in touch with my doctors throughout my recovery process to check how I ' m doing , but I ' ve not had a call from the manager , the chief executive or anything like that .  ' I ' m disappointed that they have not contacted me or offered me anything . I thought morally , that something would have been done .  ' Even a short term deal for like three months or something , but it ' s football , and you have to move on .  ' The Tranmere fans were brilliant , top class they helped me massively through it all . They gave me loads of support and sent gifts to the club and got involved with my campaign .  ' Together we raised over 20 , 000 for cancer research and I will never forget that they were there during my lowest moments .  ' The club will probably say they paid me in full for a year , when I was of no use to them . But it still leaves a bad taste that I have not had a call from anyone . I feel sad but football and life moves on . I have no enemies at Tranmere , I made good friends there . '  Team effort : Thompson is grateful to his former side for helping him raise over 20 , 000 for cancer research  Grateful : Thompson was delighted with the way he was treated at Tranmere Rovers  Moving on : Thompson is looking forward to playing under Flitcroft at Bury  Thompson announced on his Twitter account over the weekend that he had signed for League Two rivals Bury after taking part in their pre season training camp in the Canary Islands .  Shakers manager , Dave Flitcroft , was sufficiently impressed with his displays to offer the wide man a pay as you play deal .  He added : ' I was in Tenerife for eight days with the guys doing pre season training .  ' It was tough we were doing three sessions a day . But I felt good , the power is coming back .  ' The Bury manager is my old assistant manager from Rochdale and knows me from there . He ' s very ambitious , and wants to go for it and get promoted this year . He wants to play attacking football and I just thought "" I want to be part of that "" .  ' I can ' t thank him and the chairman Stewart Day enough for giving me this opportunity to get my life back on track .  ' The  have been a massive help during this ordeal John Bramhall in particular . I can ' t thank him enough . As has my agent Gary Lloyd , his support has been constant during this nightmare year . Tranmere did say they would speak to the  but they haven ' t .  ' There loss is Bury ' s gain . Life moves on . I couldn ' t sit on the sofa waiting for a call that might not have come . I had to do what ' s best for me and my family . '  Good deal : Bury boss Flitcroft will be delighted with the signing of midfielder Thompson  Tranmere , though , insists they have not been given the opportunity to discuss fresh terms with Thompson and that they have been nothing but supportive through the process , and hinted the delay in sorting a new contract is not their doing .  Speaking last week before their friendly with Everton , Rovers manager Rob Edwards said : ' I have spoken to the chief executive about the current situation with Joe .  ' We are still waiting for the  to come back to us about a meeting we have requested that includes Joe , his agent and the  to talk about Joe ' s future .  ' Once we have the meeting we can move forward , but we want to do everything correctly and professionally .  ' In the meantime we have offered Joe the opportunity to carry out his rehab with us . '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
17347,17348,"Asuncion , Paraguay Paraguay ' s president , a former Roman Catholic bishop , has admitted he is the father of a 10 year old boy , his attorney said .  "" I have just had a meeting with the president . I have received instructions to begin today the paperwork for the recognition of the minor , "" Marcos Farina , the president ' s lawyer , told reporters .  Narcisa de la Cruz , the boy ' s mother , said she met President Fernando Lugo when she came to him for spiritual guidance while he was bishop .  "" Since I was having problems with my husband , I got close to him , "" she said .  She is the fourth woman to claim having a child with the president .  In 2009 , Lugo admitted to fathering a son with one other woman , prompting an opposition senator to call on the Vatican to excommunicate him .  Several days later , another woman came forward , claiming Lugo was her son ' s father . The paternity case for that boy is still pending .  A judge dismissed another paternity case after  testing revealed Lugo was not the father .  De la Cruz said that even though Lugo had not officially recognized the boy , she had been receiving money monthly from him . She said she made the paternity case before the media after she and her son were denied access to the president .  "" Many times he went to ( the president ' s official residence ) , and he was not allowed in . This made him feel very bad . ' Why , ' he said , ' why are so many people entering with him , and I , his son , cannot enter ? ' "" she said .  Many Paraguayan officials have declined to comment on Lugo ' s latest revelation , but some said that the president had done the right thing .  "" What is important , above all , is that sooner or later , he assumed the responsibility of his paternity , "" Health Minister Esperanza Martinez said .  Lugo was made a lay Catholic in 2008 , about the time he assumed the presidency .  The leftist leader is entering the final leg of his term , which ends in August 2013 . The country ' s constitution prohibits him from running for re election .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
17350,17351,"Alan Rickman : J . K . Rowling trusted actor with Harry Potter plot reveal  From irksome villain to romantic comedy lead , we list five of Alan Rickman ' s remarkable film performances .  Before actor Alan Rickman ? finished up playing the role of ? Severus ? Snape in the Harry Potter films , he was told a "" tiny piece of information "" that better helped him understand just how complex the character was .  Rickman , who died on January 14 ? from cancer , played ? many screen roles but became beloved by a new generation for the character of Snape .  "" It helped me think that he was more complicated "" Photo : Warner Bros .  Now , author J . K . Rowling ? has ? told Twitter she revealed the secret of his character to ? Alan Rickman before she had finished writing the series .  The author of the enormous Potter franchise was asked by a fan "" will you tell us the piece of information that you told Alan Rickman about Severus Snape ? Or will that forever be a secret ? ""  Rowling , who regularly reveals things about her characters on Twitter , ? replied that she told Rickman the meaning of the word "" Always "" ? as spoken by him in the context of the movies .  I told Alan what lies behind the word ' always ' . weblink : t . co NHTJ5J6kxb  The famous quote , "" Always "" , refers to a scene in the final book , which ? reveals Snape ' s enduring love for Harry Potter ' s mother , Lily . ?  In 2011 , Rickman discussed how learning this meaning changed his approach to the role .  "" It helped me think that he was more complicated and that the story was not going to be as straight down the line as everybody thought , "" Rickman told ? HitFix .  "" If you remember when I did the first film she ' d only written three or four books , so nobody knew where it was really going except her . And it was important for her that I know something , but she only gave me a tiny piece of information which helped me think it was a more ambiguous route . "" ?  The hint also gave Rickman an edge over everyone on set , including the producers .  "" It was quite amusing , too , because there were times when a director would tell Alan what to do in a scene and he would say something like , ' No I can ' t ? do that ? I know what is going to happen and you don ' t , ' "" ? David Heyman , who produced all eight films films , told the ? Los Angeles Times . ?  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
17362,17363,"Donald Trump once bragged that he had  the best words  but researchers found that his speeches were at an average of about a 7th-grade reading level. Trump generally scored the lowest of all of his rivals. But, Trump being Trump, he s doing it again and bragging about his  beautiful flowing sentences. This week, Trump canceled a much-anticipated press conference on his private business dealings, saying he was too busy nominating Cabinet members, but he was seen meeting with Kanye West. Trump promised to address his conflicts of interest but we suppose meeting with a rapper is more of a priority for the president-elect. Trump has not held a press conference since July 27th even though he blasted Hillary Clinton for not meeting with the press during the campaign.Vox reports that Trump now has a different excuse for not meeting with the press for interviews:The press mangles his  beautiful  sentences, and he has had enough of it, Trump told a crowd in West Allis, Wisconsin, at one of his Victory Tour rallies.Trump literally said that.  For the last month I decided not to do interviews, because they give interviews and they chop up your sentences and cut them short,  he said.  You will have this beautiful flowing sentence where the back of the sentence reverts to the front and they cut the back of the sentence off, and I say I never said that. So, I said, you know what, I am not going to deal with them. They are very dishonest people, I said. Vox had linguists weigh in on Trump s speeches. His speeches are full of non sequiturs,  says Kristin Kobes Du Mez, a Calvin College historian who has done a comparative study of Trump and Clinton s speaking styles. It s a completely different style from nearly any other politician you normally see on a big stage.What s even more peculiar about his remark is that after each incendiary statement he made during his campaign, it was as if his defenders felt the need to step in to say what he really meant. In March, the New York Post said that Trump speaks at a fourth-grade level and suggested he might do that intentionally. We wonder what speaking level Trump is in Russian.Photo by Scott Olson via Getty.",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,present
17368,17369,"posted by Eddie Scientists at Zurich-based  genealogy center, iGENEA, have reconstructed the  profile of King Tut, his father Akhenaten and grandfather Amenhotep III. Researchers discovered that King Tut belonged to a genetic profile group known as haplogroup R1b1a2. More than 50 per cent of all men in Western Europe belong to this genetic group as do up to 70 per cent of British men. But among modern-day Egyptians, less than 1 per cent of residents belong to this haplogroup, according to scientists. King Tut and Europeans share a common ancestor genetically who lived in the Caucasus region, the blue-eyed race spreading out with agricultural about 9,500 years ago. The geneticists were not sure how Tutankhamun’s paternal lineage came to Egypt from its region of origin, though it is clear that technology such as chariots and domesticated horses was introduced from a foreign source. Along with the discovery, researchers made another announcement this week: they will conduct testing to find which modern-day European is the closest living relative of King Tut. “The offer has only been publicized for three days but we have already seen a lot of interest,” Roman Scholz, lead director at the  genealogy center in Zurich, Switzerland.  Dating almost 6,000 years to the Pre-dynastic period of ancient Egypt, this figure is of a man, with a shaven head and a long pointed beard. There is little detail on the figure but what there is, is concentrated on the face, his eyes are inlaid with light green stones and are the most arresting part of the figure. This is already typical of Egyptian art – they are obsessed with the eyes and more attention is usually given to them than almost any other aspect of a person. Louvre, Paris, France. Archaeologists in Egypt have recently unearthed a beautiful 5,000+ year-old wooden statue, complete with gold wrapping paper and precious lapis lazuli stones as striking blue eyes, dated from Egypt’s pre-dynastic era (3,700-3,200 BC), before the age of pharaohs, among the oldest such artifacts ever found to date. source:",fake,news,validation,Other news2,Conflict,satire,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
17391,17392,"While appearing for the first time on the campaign trail with Hillary Clinton in North Carolina, President Obama stood by her side and brought down the house with a resounding endorsement of the presumptive Democratic nominee for president. However, before he spoke, Clinton took to the podium first and delivered yet another speech that showed us that she is more than ready to be the next President of the United States.There was a moment during Clinton s speech, however, that was absolutely pure comedy gold, and a brilliant jab at the presumptive Republican nominee, Donald Trump.You may recall, and if you don t, you should, Trump was one of the lead birthers who made the ridiculous claim President Obama wasn t born in the United States.So, while speaking about the president on stage today, Clinton told everyone that she s  honored to stay with  President Obama, and knows that he s a person  who has never forgotten where he came from.  She then looks directly into the camera and says: And Donald, if you re out there tweeting, it s Hawaii. Haaa! Mic drop. Amazing, simply amazing.However, it can t be lost on us that she made a very real point of reminding us all that Trump once demanded to see the president s birth certificate, so clearly him being racist is not anything new.Watch the hilarious jab from Hillary here:Clinton: Obama  has never forgotten where he came from, and Donald, if you re out there tweeting, it s Hawaii  weblink   Politics (@CNNPolitics) July 5, 2016Featured image via video screen capture",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present
17405,17406,"One person died and another was severely injured after a cliff collapsed on the Pacific Coast north of San Francisco , the National Park Service said .  The two people fell about 70 feet ( 21 meters ) Saturday when part of the Arch Rock overlook at Point Reyes National Seashore gave way .  The day before the collapse , the Point Reyes National Seashore had posted a photo on Facebook of a fissure in the rock structure with a warning to use caution .  "" Visitors using Bear Valley Trail to Arch Rock watch out ! At the very end of the trail , the cliff is breaking away seen here in a photo taken Wednesday , "" the government organization said .  The  said hazardous conditions had been reported to it on March 19 .  "" We posted all kinds of notices up and down that particular trail , which is how probably how 99 of the people who would hike that far would ( go ) , and all around our visitors ' center in Trail Heads , just to warn people of the hazard that was out there , "" Dell ' Osso said .  "" We didn ' t know what could happen and what unfortunately did happen is on Saturday afternoon a large portion of that overlook actually collapsed down onto the beach and partly onto the ocean , "" he said . "" The tragedy is that there were two people that were standing out there who fell with all of that rubble . ""  On Monday , the Marin County Sheriff ' s Office named the deceased as 58 year old Nancy Blum , from California .  It said she had been hiking about 6 : 30 p . m . Saturday "" when a structural collapse of the rock occurred . ""  After emergency personnel reached Blum and her hiking companion , she was flown to Bear Valley Ranger Station , where she was pronounced dead .  The National Park Service and the county coroner ' s office are investigating the cause of Blum ' s death .  "" The cause of death will be pending the completion of toxicology studies , "" the sheriff ' s office said in a statement .  Bluffs along the California coast are known for being unstable , according to the park service . The Arch Rock trail that runs along that part of the coast has been closed until further notice .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
17411,17412,"Rather than making America great again, Donald Trump is making American business owners in Florida go broke.Every time Trump spends the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, it costs taxpayers $3 million. So far, Trump has spent nearly every weekend there since taking office, and the price tag has eclipsed $10 million.If Trump continues taking weekend vacations at his current pace, he ll outspend President Obama s entire eight years of vacation costs in just under a single year.Taxpayers are going to feel the burden of this, but business owners in Palm Beach are especially feeling the pain because Trump s frequent visits are literally going to put them out of business if he doesn t stop.Because of the extra security, businesses in Palm Beach are losing tens of thousands of dollars every weekend. We re basically going broke,  said a spokesperson on behalf of Southern Helicopter when approached for comment by  Nightly News.  We were not expecting him to come down almost every weekend. But that s exactly what Trump is doing.Instead of working for the American people, Trump would rather spend his weekends playing golf and throwing lavish parties, and that is taking a toll on the local economy as taxpayers in Palm Beach County have to pony up $1.7 million for extra security when Trump is in town.And just as Trump stiffs his contractors when he owes them money, Trump is stiffing Palm Beach County after they asked the White House to reimburse the massive costs.Stellar Aviation Group president Jonathan Miller told  that his business is losing $30,000 every weekend when Trump is in town. He fears his business will fold if Trump doesn t halt his trips soon.Here s the video via NBC.This is yet another example of Trump only caring about himself. He is selfishly vacationing every weekend at taxpayer expense and it doesn t matter to him that local business owners are struggling to remain afloat as long as he gets to party and golf. noted that Trump promised to  rarely leave the White House  during the campaign, and pointed out his hypocrisy since he often whined about President Obama s vacations.So Trump is a liar and a hypocrite who is making the local Palm Beach economy suffer.Americans should be outraged by this. How can Trump claim that he is creating jobs when he constant vacations in Palm Beach alone are threatening to cause many people to lose their livelihoods. Trump should be ashamed of himself and America should demand their wasted tax dollars back.Featured image via screenshot",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
17419,17420,"German chancellor Angela Merkel named ' Person of the Year ' by Time  Time magazine hailed German Chancellor Angela Merkel ' s leadership in handling Greece debt and refugee crisis ' s that threatened the European Union in naming her its ' Person of the Year ' .  Time magazine named German Chancellor Angela Merkel its 2015 "" Person of the Year "" on Wednesday ( Thursday  Time ) , noting her resilience and leadership when faced with the refugee crisis and turmoil in the European Union over its currency this year .  In a statement explaining the magazine ' s choice , managing editor Nancy Gibbs said despite crises in the region that caused "" reason to wonder whether Europe could continue to exist , "" Merkel , 61 , emerged as an "" indispensable player . ""  "" For asking more of her country than most politicians would dare , for standing firm against tyranny as well as expedience and for providing steadfast moral leadership in a world where it is in short supply , Angela Merkel is  ' s Person of the Year , "" Gibbs wrote .  Angela Merkel is  s 2015 Person of the Year  weblink : t . co Be7EjFlRS2 pic . twitterweblink 3YLPZJYSlq  In response to the news , Merkel spokesman Steffen Seibert told a government news conference : "" I am sure the chancellor will cherish this as an incentive in her job . ""  Merkel celebrated her 10 year anniversary as chancellor last month , making her the European Union ' s longest serving leader .  For years she was seen as a cautious , risk averse leader who paid close attention to public opinion in formulating policy . But her leadership in the Ukraine crisis last year , her clinching of a deal this summer to keep Greece in the euro zone and her stance in the refugee crisis have changed that view .  In late August , when tens of thousands of migrants fleeing war in the Middle East streamed into Hungary , threatening a humanitarian crisis , Merkel agreed to suspend the European Union ' s asylum rules and allow them to continue into Germany . She declared to skeptical countrymen : "" Wir schaffen das , "" which translates as , "" We can do this . ""  Her "" open door "" stance has led to a fall in support for her conservatives and in her own popularity ratings , which have slid to 54 percent from 75 percent over eight months .  Time also noted her leadership this year in leading the West ' s response to Vladimir Putin ' s "" creeping theft of Ukraine "" and welcoming refugees to Germany despite "" the reflex to slam doors , build walls and trust no one . ""  Merkel topped a short list of finalists that included  Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump , who came in third , and Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi , who was runner up .  She is the first individual woman to hold the title since Corazon Aquino in 1986 , though women have been honoured as part of a group . Last year , a group of Ebola doctors and survivors won the title .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
17427,17428,"A South Florida woman pleaded guilty to two counts of  manslaughter in a wrong way highway crash that killed two 21 year old friends .  Kayla Mendoza , who tweeted ' 2 drunk 2 care ' before the deadly accident , apologized Wednesday to the families of the two victims as she wiped tears from her eyes .  ' I know it ' s long overdue but I just want to tell you all how sorry I am , ' she said .  She continued : ' It breaks my heart that I ' ve broken your hearts . I ' m sorry I caused all this over a stupid mistake . '  ' I know it ' s long overdue but I just want to tell you all how sorry I am ' : Kayla Mendoza dabbed away tears after pleading guilty in court on Wednesday to drunkenly killing two 21 year old friends in November 2013 while behind the wheel  ' It breaks my heart that I ' ve broken your hearts ' : Mendoza pleaded guilty Wednesday to accidentally killing Kaitlyn Ferrante and Marisa Catronio  ' 2 drunk 2 care ' : Mendoza tweeted this message before she drunkenly plowed into the car carrying Kaitlyn Ferrante and Marisa Catronio  The South Florida Sun Sentinel reports Mendoza will be sentenced April 24 .  Authorities say Mendoza was 20 years old and driving without a valid driver ' s license when she ran head on into a car that carried Kaitlyn Ferrante and Marisa Catronio .  Catronio was pronounced dead at the scene around 2am on November 17 , 2013 . Ferrante was taken to hospital but died from her injuries four days later .  The best friends had been heading home to Coral Springs in Miss Ferrante ' s 2012 Toyota Camry after a night out when they were struck by a Hyundai Sonata driven by Mendoza , police said .  Mendoza was heading east in the westbound lanes when she slammed head on into Catronio ' s red Camry driven by Ferrante , west of University Drive .  The two friends were out celebrating Miss Catronio ' s 21st birthday .  Best friends : Best friends Catronio ( right ) and Ferrante ( left ) had been heading home to Coral Springs in Miss Ferrante ' s 2012 Toyota Camry after a night out when they were struck by a Hyundai Sonata driven by Mendoza  In the aftermath of the tragedy , it was revealed that Mendoza was not shy about her drug and alcohol use on her social media accounts .  As well as the ' 2 drunk 2 care ' tweet sent just hours before the crash , she had also referred to herself as the ' Pothead Princess ' and fired off dozens of tweets about being high and rolling joints .  On the night of the incident Mendoza was found to have a blood alcohol level of 0 . 15 , she was just 20 at the time and had been out boozing with co workers from her T Mobile sales job .  After the drinks her manager dropped her off at her car and that is when ' things went black ' , she said . ' I wish there was something I could say to make up for what happened , ' she told Inside Edition last year .  ' But no matter how many ' ' sorrys , ' ' apologies , tears I cry no matter how much I hate myself for what happened , nothing I say will change anything . '  The crash means Mendoza is currently confined to a wheelchair because she is still recovering from injuries of her own .  Gary Catronio , Marisa ' s father , said that Mendoza had ' changed the lives of our family forever . '  ' You took my baby girl , ' he said , according to  Miami . ' You took my baby girl . You took my wife ' s best friend . You made bad decision that night . The right decision was to have a friend drive you home . '  Tragic : The two friends were out celebrating Miss Catronio ' s 21st birthday  Forever changed : Gary Catronio , Marisa ' s father , said that Mendoza had ' changed the lives of our family forever . ' Marisa is pictured right  Christine Ferrante , the mother of Kaitlyn , said : ' I don ' t want her to ever feel the sunshine ever . I want her to stay locked away forever . '  On the night of the crash , 20 year old Mendoza had been drinking at the Tijuana Taxi Company in Coral Springs .  Around 8pm , she tweeted the words ' 2 drunk 2 care ' just hours before climbing into her car and allegedly causing the horrific wrong way crash on the Sawgrass Expressway .  Best friends Catronio and Ferrante had been heading home to Coral Springs in Miss Ferrante ' s 2012 Toyota Camry after a night out when they were struck by a Hyundai Sonata driven by Mendoza , police said .  Mendoza was heading east in the westbound lanes when she slammed head on into Catronio ' s red Camry driven by Ferrante , west of University Drive .  The two friends were out celebrating Miss Catronio ' s 21st birthday  Party girl : Kayla Mendoza , a self proclaimed ' pothead princess ' posted photos of joints on her Twitter account , is allegedly responsible for a wrong way crash that killed two women  ",true,text,validation,Football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
17428,17429,"Los Angeles , California There ' s an innocence to Jessica Biel , she says .  The actress , who has starred in "" The Illusionist "" and "" I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry , "" wanted to tap into her childlike side for "" Planet 51 , "" a new animated film about an Earth astronaut who lands on a faraway planet that has much in common with 1950s America except for the aliens .  Jessica Biel : I think I chose this part because I ' m kind of a kid at heart and I really thought the story was so sweet and fun . . . . I wasn ' t doing anything . I was able to work in town , at home in L . A . , which is so rare .  Biel : Pretty much . Roll in , no hair and makeup . I just always wanted to be a voice in some great movie where some little girl loves my character .  Biel : I never saw them , never met them . I mean , I know Dwayne , I ' ve known Dwayne for a long time . I met Justin before , but I never saw them once . It was such an interesting experience to be there by yourself kind of going through it . But . . . it goes fast . You ' re there , it ' s fast , it ' s fun .  Biel : I play Neera , who is this lovely 16 year old girl . . . . She ' s insecure about boys but also has a sense of confidence for herself , very independent , and is not listening to what the government is saying about this alien the Earthling who ' s landed on her planet .  She is standing up on her own two feet , thinking for herself . . . . So she ' s , you know , she ' s trying to find out who she is as a woman .  Biel : It is . It ' s very hard . I mean , honestly , it ' s just rare to find a story about a woman ' s experience , about a young girl ' s experience . For some reason nobody wants to make those movies .  And it ' s really hard because there are so many talented women and there are not enough projects for everybody to really blossom and explore . So it ' s quite competitive because there ' s a small amount of material .  Biel : I don ' t know what it is . I ' m still trying to decipher that .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
17433,17434,"Oct . 12 ) According to a poll released by the Pew Research Center Monday , Americans "" feel safer "" with Martha Stewart in prison .  "" Martha Stewart is a menace to society , "" said Jolene Lim , a receptionist from Baton Rouge ,  . "" She sold nearly 4 , 000 shares of ImClone on an insider tip , then alleged her innocence in her own magazine . Thank God she ' s behind bars . Now I can sleep soundly at night . ""  Lim added : "" I just couldn ' t ever feel at ease when I knew she was out there obstructing justice and making false statements to federal officials . Even talking about it gives me the shivers . ""  Of the 2 , 500 people polled , 22 percent said they "" felt safer "" and 41 percent said they "" felt extremely relieved "" when Stewart began serving her five month sentence at West Virginia ' s Alderson Prison .  "" When I found out Stewart was behind a 10 foot thick concrete wall , I heaved a huge sigh of relief , "" said Daniel McAllen , a jeweler from Newark ,  . "" If she were on the streets , who knows what sort of business maneuvering she ' d be up to behind closed doors ? ""  "" I have a family to think of , "" McAllen added .  Boston area teacher Helen Greene said she had been "" afraid to leave the house "" before the verdict in Stewart ' s trial was announced .  "" Martha Stewart avoided losses of 45 , 000 by selling that stock , "" Greene said . "" 45 , 000 ! If they didn ' t put her in jail for that , people would ' ve taken to the streets ! Outraged citizens would have broken windows , overturned cars , and set fire to the courthouse . ""  Even citizens who said they were only vaguely familiar with the Stewart case reported feeling safer after her conviction .  "" I don ' t know the technical aspects of it , but I know that Martha Stewart did something with the stock market , "" Chicago welder Marvin Manckowicz said . "" I ' m not sure if she was selling her own stock or someone else ' s , but I do know that everyone said it was wrong . I breathed easier when I found out she wasn ' t going to be doing any more of that again for five months . ""  Of those polled , 62 percent said the five month sentence was inadequate , with 46 percent of those believing that Stewart should have been imprisoned for 10 years or longer , and 3 percent expressing the belief that she should have received a life sentence .  Prosecutor Karen Patton Seymour said that , in addition to the five month prison sentence , Stewart has been sentenced to five months of home confinement and two years of probation .  "" Even after she ' s out of prison , she ' ll be kept under close watch , "" Seymour said . "" No one is going to forget what she did . ""  ",satire,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
17441,17442,"A slaughterhouse worker who stabbed his ex girlfriend ' s male friend to death after wrongly believing the pair were dating has been jailed for 25 years after being convicted of murder .  Jason Taylor , 21 , shared an eight month relationship with Jodie Emery , 26 , but after the pair broke up he became jealous , often going to her house in Preston , Lancashire , to spy on her .  Convinced she was seeing another man he sent the mother of two a text on September 22 last year which said : ' Last chance , otherwise things are going to turn sour , tell me who is there ' .  He then went to Miss Emery ' s home and kicked in the front door . With her two young daughters asleep upstairs he began fighting with friend Adam Wilson , 25 , who she said had been invited over for drinks .  Jason Taylor , 21 ( left ) , is facing life in jail today after he was found guilty of murdering Adam Wilson , 25 , after becoming convinced he was dating his ex girlfriend Jodie Emery , 26 ( right )  During the struggle he used a knife he had bough on a previous holiday with Miss Emery to fatally stab Mr Wilson in the thigh .  During his trial at Preston Crown Court , Taylor tried to claim that that there was no innocent reason for Mr Wilson being in the house , and denied intending to kill him , but a jury took just an hour and a half to decide he was lying .  Today he was handed down a life sentence and told he cannot apply for parole until at least 2040 .  Judge Anthony Russell  told Taylor : ' The victim was someone completely unknown to you and had done you absolutely no harm at all and yet was murdered by you for no other reason other than he happened to be the person at the home of Jody Emery .  ' This was a particularly shocking murder because it was pure chance Adam Wilson was the person who you vented your rage on because you were unable to accept your relationship with Jody Emery was finished .  ' People have to accept that sometimes things go wrong in their lives and relationship do sometimes end . You were not prepared to accept that .  Taylor kicked down Miss Emery ' s front door on September 22 last year , and began fighting with Mr WIlson ( pictured ) , fatally stabbing him in the thigh  ' You persistently badgered her to the extent that you became a nuisance .  ' You were not prepared to let her move along with her life or yours because of your obsessive jealousy . She was perfectly entitled to see other people , it was none of your business if she did so .  ' You murdered this man for no other reason other than he was in a place he was perfectly entitled to be . He had done no wrong . '  The court earlier heard that Taylor , a slaughterhouse worker who spent his days deboning animal carcasses , had been in an eight month relationship with Miss Emery .  The pair had shared a caravan holiday together in Scarborough , but after they returned home Miss Emery secretly terminated a pregnancy . When Taylor found out he flew into a rage and the pair split .  Unable to accept the break up Taylor began texting and calling Miss Emery on a regular basis begging for them to get back together , and often went to her house to watch her , often coming up to look through the windows .  Two days before the murder took place Taylor was at pub the Tardy Gate . When he spotted one of Miss Emery ' s former boyfriends he became angry , smashed a window and tried to punch the man .  Louise Blackwell  said on the day of the killing Taylor texted Miss Emery saying : ' I miss you . Maybe in time you ' ll want to try again ' .  She asked him not to contact her but later that evening he sent her another text saying : ' Can I come for cuddles ? '  Miss Emery responded , ' you being weird then ' , to which he said : ' I ' m not my head is just f . . ked ' and he allegedly rang his mother asking for a knife he bought during his holiday with Miss Emery .  The court heard he was spotted cycling towards her home during which he sent her another text asking her who she was with .  She texted back , ' on my own I keep telling you ' at which point Taylor said : ' last chance otherwise things are going to turn sour , tell me who is there , last chance ' .  Emery replied ' wtf ' and tried to call him three times with no response .  Miss Blackwell added : ' The defendant then arrived at the front door and used considerable force to kick his way through the bottom panel .  ' Once inside the incident starts immediately in the hall between the defendant and Adam Wilson and spilled into the lounge .  ' Miss Emery was trying her best , obviously unsuccessfully to break apart and stop the defendant being able to get at Adam Wilson but it did not stop .  ' All three of them ended up on the sofa in the living room . Adam Wilson was on the bottom , Jodie had got herself between him and the defendant lay on top but she described the repeated blows being struck to Adam Wilson .  During his trial at Preston Crown Court , Taylor ( pictured right ) had tried to claim there was no innocent reason for Mr Wilson to be with Miss Emery , and denied intending to kill him , but a jury ruled otherwise  The court heard that after Miss Emery split from Taylor following an eight month relationship he became jealous , constantly texting and calling her , and often going to her house ( pictured ) to spy on her  ' She did not initially realise there was a knife involved but after a period of time during which blows were being reigned down , the defendant then stood up .  ' At that stage she saw he was armed with that knife , a knife she had seen before which he has bought when they were on holiday in Scarborough . '  Taylor fled the scene and dumped the knife as Miss Emery rang for ambulance .  Mr Wilson was pronounced dead in hospital just an hour later from the 6cm long and 7 . 5cm deep fatal wound which was to the inner right thigh .  Doctors also found cuts on his back , buttocks and legs , and abrasions on the rest of his body that were consistent with a struggle .  On the night of the killing Taylor text Miss Emery saying ' ' ast chance , otherwise things are going to turn sour , tell me who is there ' before kicking in her front door while her two young daughters were asleep upstairs  When Taylor was arrested he said : ' No you are not serious are you , you are joking , he is dead ? He attacked me I have done nothing wrong ' .  Shortly afterward police recovered the black handled and blood stained knife .  In a video interview Miss Emery said Wilson was ' just a friend ' whom she had known for a couple of months .  She said Taylor would turn up at her home and she she believed he would carry on turning up if she did not reply to his messages .  She said : ' Jason had been constantly texting all the time . I made sure I was answering and replying to the phone calls . I didn ' t tell him that I was with anyone because I knew he would not like it . '  In a statement Wilson ' s mother Diane said : ' Adam would have been frightened at time of his death . I ' m so angry at the compete irrationality to understand how someone could do that to my son . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
17448,17449,"Reuters) - The U.S. Senate is expected to vote on a motion to proceed on a Republican tax bill on Wednesday, a Republican lawmaker said, an action that could allow the chamber to vote on whether to adopt the tax-cut legislation as early as Thursday. “Today we have a pretty good vote, motion to proceed on our tax reform,” Senator Dean Heller, a member of the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee, told a news conference. The Senate was due to convene at noon  (1700 GMT). “I’m going to bet that the motion to proceed passes and we’ll be well on our way to give tax reform to the American people as we move forward,” Heller added.  ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
17453,17454,"In Florida , a 64 year old bus driver has been criticized for failing to physically intervene in a three on one fight that took place in July . The bus driver says he was afraid to step in . As a high school teacher , I can ' t blame him .  The adults who work in public schools are outnumbered . When a violent , hormone fueled scene unfolds , it ' s our duty to quell the calamity with every resource we have in the name of safety . But where do we draw the line ?  Early in my teaching career , I was afraid of some of the bigger boys at school , especially one . I could see he carried a great deal of hatred inside for me , for his classmates , for the world . He was tall and muscular he could have been an athlete , but his poor grades , bad attitude and spotty record kept him from playing sports .  One afternoon , as I waited outside my classroom door , I heard a scuffle behind me . The boy I feared and another , smaller boy were shoving each other by my white board . I stepped in , and told them to stop . When they didn ' t , I shouted louder and told another student , my go to helper , to get another teacher . As the shoves turned to punches , rage grew in the larger boy ' s eyes . The other student asked him to stop , but he had thrust his hands around his neck . I tried to pull him free , but the large boy shoved , pressing the other student and my arm against the cinder block wall . I felt trapped and frightened , and thought I might black out . Just then , two male teachers pulled the boys apart and dragged them to the office .  "" Are you  ? "" a third teacher said . "" Look at your hand ! ""  My wrist was red and swollen . It hurt , but not as much as knowing I wasn ' t safe in my own classroom . My neighbor teacher took over my class so that I could go to the office to fill out an incident report . I could barely grip the pen . Two police officers assigned to our school urged me to file assault charges against the boys , but I insisted they just hadn ' t seen me . I wanted to believe that they wouldn ' t hurt me , but I also wondered if the boy would retaliate if the law got involved .  Fortunately , my wrist was only sprained and I returned to work the next day in a cumbersome brace . But I kept wondering , what if the boy had pushed the other one harder ? What if his anger was directed at me ? Suppose it was my head that was smashed against that cinderblock wall ? What if he ' d had a weapon ?  On the other side , what if adrenaline gave me undiscovered strength and I had hurt one of them ? Could their parents sue me ? Would I lose my job ?  Both students were expelled , but the one I ' d been afraid of eventually returned . "" C ' mon , man , "" he ' d scowl when I asked him to hurry along to class . When I saw anger in his eyes , I backed away , and if needed , I asked for help .  Almost a decade later and much wiser , I ' m no longer afraid of my students , but I ' ve made some changes to how I approach fights since then . I shout at students to stop and try to keep the crowd under control from a distance . If available and in working order , I ' ll use a radio or phone to contact administrators or school resource officers . Their appearance usually signals the end of a fight . After all , administrators are the disciplinarians in the school , with more training and higher pay than teachers , bus drivers or janitors . Officers wear badges , carry the pepper spray and , above all , are trained for combat situations .  Of the many classes one must take in order to earn a teaching degree , not one prepares us for the possibility of classroom combat .  Supplemental training in restraints and fight intervention is made available to some teachers , but I and most other teachers I know are mainly qualified to fight ignorance . We ' re the ones who can prevent fights from happening in the first place .  I always ask a student who seems angrier or quieter than usual what ' s wrong , even if , "" nothing , "" is the only answer I receive . I always listen to my students ' seemingly banal chatter because fights seldom break out without some sort of a build up . Many times , one of my students , like a high school Don King , will bring an upcoming brawl to my attention . If fight rumors start to flood the hallways , or even if something seems a little off , it ' s best to bring it to the attention of the administrators or school resource officers . In many cases , students want an adult to intervene before the first fist is thrown .  I ' ve learned that the most responsible action can be protecting yourself so you can care for others . In keeping myself safe , I ' m better able to protect my other students , the innocent bystanders . I have children of my own who need me to be functioning at 100 . I ' m pregnant now , and when school starts in a few weeks , I must first and foremost protect my unborn child .  For all of those reasons and more I will remain a conscientious objector during fights that occur in my classroom . As a parent , I ' d expect the same of my children ' s teachers . I know that , like me , they didn ' t enter their classrooms to be prison guards , and that they ' d prefer to guide children toward higher roads to civility .  Sometimes it just takes a peaceful protest to get them there .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
17468,17469,"New York Arthur Ochs Sulzberger , the influential publisher who transformed The New York Times in his long tenure , has died at age 86 , the newspaper reported Saturday .  Sulzberger died Saturday at his home in Southampton , New York , after a long illness , the paper said , citing his family .  He started in 1963 as both publisher of the paper and chairman and chief executive of The New York Times Company . He left the publisher ' s job in 1992 and the chief executive ' s job in 1997 , handing both reins to his son , the paper reported .  The Sulzberger family has helmed the paper since 1896 , when it was bought by Adolph Ochs , Sulzberger ' s grandfather .  With the family having such a long history at the Times , some staffers felt like part of the family , too .  "" For those of us working at the  , the passing of Arthur O . Sulzberger has the sharp feel of a death in the family , "" wrote Times national correspondent John Schwartz on Twitter .  Jim Roberts , an assistant managing editor at the Times , called the late publisher a "" monumental contributor to journalism . ""  U . S . President Barack Obama said he was saddened by news of Sulzberger ' s death  "" He was a firm believer in the importance of a free and independent press one that isn ' t afraid to seek the truth , hold those in power accountable , and tell the stories that need to be told , "" Obama said in a statement .  When Sulzberger took over the paper in 1963 , the paper was respected and influential , often setting the national agenda , the Times said . But it also had financial troubles .  Under Sulzberger ' s tenure , the Times was transformed into a paper with a national scope , sold on both coasts , and at the heart of a diversified , multibillion dollar media operation that included newspapers , magazines ,  and radio stations , the Times said .  "" Mr Sulzberger ' s insistence on independence was shown in his decision in 1971 to publish a secret government history of the Vietnam War known as the Pentagon Papers , "" Times columnist Clyde Haberman wrote in Saturday ' s obituary . "" It was a defining moment for him and , in the view of many journalists and historians , his finest . ""  The Nixon administration demanded the Times stop its series of articles on the papers , citing national security , but the newspaper refused on First Amendment grounds . It won its case in the U . S . Supreme Court , in a landmark ruling on press freedom .  Sulzberger was also responsible for expanding the newspaper from two sections to four , separating metropolitan and business news and introducing new ones geared toward consumers , the Times said .  The sections were SportsMonday , Science Times , Living , Home and Weekend . They were a gamble , aimed at attracting new readers and advertisers , but they became an instant success and were widely imitated , the Times said .  A billion dollar investment in new printing facilities enabled the paper to have a national edition , regional editions , and the daily use of color photos and graphics , according to the Times .  "" Punch , "" as many called him , remained on the board of directors until his retirement in 2001 .  "" Punch will be sorely missed by his family and his many friends , but we can take some comfort in the fact that his legacy and his abiding belief in the value of quality news and information will always be with us , "" wrote his son , Arthur Sulzberger , Jr .  People we ' ve lost in 2012 : The lives they lived  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
17500,17501,"Obama ' s visit also drew criticism from ? Sen . Marco Rubio ( R Fla . ) who accused the president at a town hall in New Hampshire ? of "" always pitting people against each other . Always . ""  However , Obama was received warmly at the ? Islamic Society of Baltimore , where he noted that ? Jefferson ' s opponents "" tried to stir things by suggesting he was a Muslim , so I was not the first . I ' m in good company . ""  Zainab Chaudry , the council ' s outreach manager in Maryland , said the visit was "" a significant step in the right direction and will hopefully encourage our nation ' s political and religious leaders to join him in pushing back against rising Islamophobia . ""  The visit also generated some self deprecating humor , including this tweet from the author , lawyer and Harvard University scholar Qasim Rashid :  Outside the U . S . , however , the speech had little impact . ?  Many Muslims said there was a disparity between Obama ' s rhetoric and his administration ' s policies in the Middle East and South Asia , which they believe have done little to end the wars in Syria , Iraq , Yemen and Afghanistan .  "" As words , they sound beautiful but U . S . actions are as ugly as they have been , "" said Mohammad Modaser , a 29 year old Kabul resident who works for the Afghan Education Ministry .  "" A lot of Muslims were hopeful when he first took office for better days in the Middle East and Islamic world , "" Modaser said . "" But nothing actually changed . The wars in Palestine , Syria , Iraq and Afghanistan got worse every day . Peace in Afghanistan is still a myth . Muslims ' treatment particularly in the U . S . like second class citizens has not changed . ""  Emran Feroz , an Afghan journalist who runs Drone Memorial , a website that tracks deaths from drone strikes , tweeted : ?  Feroz was apparently referring to U . S . airstrikes in Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan on Monday that local officials said killed more than two dozen people and destroyed a radio station belonging to members of Islamic State , the militant organization based in Iraq and Syria . U . S . officials have confirmed launching two airstrikes but did not specify the targets .  In the Middle East , media outlets devoted little , if any , coverage to Obama ' s speech , which took place late in the night there .  "" I didn ' t even know Obama was visiting a mosque yesterday , "" said Marwan Saied , 47 , a grocer in the Egyptian capital , Cairo .  "" I personally like Obama , he continued . But I don ' t think he did anything dramatic that we as Muslims can see as a major change in U . S . policy toward Muslims and the Middle East . People are still suffering in Palestine , Iraq and Libya , and many people that I personally know are still partly blaming America for that . ""  "" If we ' re serious about freedom of religion ? and I ' m speaking now to my fellow Christians who remain the majority in this country ? we have to understand an attack on one faith is an attack on all our faiths .  In Iran , only the hard line Fars news agency reported on the visit . The brief article took issue with Obama for defending Jews , even while visiting a mosque at a time when Islamaphobia has reached a climax in the U . S .  The news agency appeared to be referring to a section in the speech in which Obama noted that anti Semitism in this country has a sad and long history . The president also said , if we ' re serious about freedom of religion and I ' m speaking now to my fellow Christians who remain the majority in this country we have to understand an attack on one faith is an attack on all our faiths . ""  The response to his remarks was very different in 2009 , when Obama addressed the Muslim world from Cairo University and promised a new beginning in relations with the United States . That speech was broadcast live across the region and was still being discussed weeks later .  These days , people are more preoccupied with issues closer to home , said Mustafa Ellabbad , director of Al Sharq Center for Regional and Strategic Studies in Cairo .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
17513,17514,"Roy Moore is desperate to paint all these child molestation allegations against him as nothing more than a smear campaign   one that the media is busy amplifying for the sole purpose of taking him down. His website roymoore.org even has a form people can fill out asking whether the media has contacted them, and to describe the contact. So of course Twitter got hold of it, and now Moore is getting hilariously trolled.The blank form looks like this:An editor for Viewpoint Magazine tweeted it out, along with his response and a call for people to troll Moore this way. Twitter has responded with gusto:Roy Moore has a snitching page on his site where you can report if the media has contacted you, join me in flooding it with trolling weblink pic.twitter.com/7c6k6WeOHk  Shuja Haider (@shujaxhaider) November 15, 2017pic.twitter.com/UOu2SndGh8  Jack (@jrkisbad) November 15, 2017pic.twitter.com/JrF4Cplgp7     (@bornwithatail_) November 15, 2017pic.twitter.com/xukVyXc4FA  Gen  Christian, patriot ? (@JC_Christian) November 15, 2017My patriotic duty! pic.twitter.com/BbYS3uci58  Dustin (@DustinForAll) November 16, 2017Done. pic.twitter.com/A6kP35oAAr  Jenna Mullins (@JBomb11) November 15, 2017Roy Moore now has in his inbox a complete copy of the Bee Movie script. You re welcome pic.twitter.com/uvyT2W6oa2  Aleksei? (@AlekseiTheWolf) November 16, 2017pic.twitter.com/yhuiBRah8I  Rich ? (@high_light) November 15, 2017i, ms. elizabeth savannah frizzle, am but another victim of the lamestream media weblink pic.twitter.com/kOawxJMlf9  kellen???? (@hellenkeniford) November 15, 2017Flap Turtlepeen reporting in. pic.twitter.com/f5ivYIGSoI  Clarence Wethern (@cwethern) November 15, 2017Sent by Jesus Christ, from lordhelpusall @ weblink pic.twitter.com/BliIXbSfU1  grailsnail (@grailsnail) November 16, 2017How s this? pic.twitter.com/jnrM11CskY  Korey Hosch (@korey_hosch) November 15, 2017It s important to be politically involved. pic.twitter.com/VFAhsThswB  Let s Be Sapid (@LetsBeSapid) November 16, 2017pic.twitter.com/QkWObh598u  patrick? (@Patar4950) November 15, 2017pic.twitter.com/s0hzn9dHxj  Dave ? Jackson (@DerAnwalt83) November 15, 2017thank you for your service pic.twitter.com/zVetXGx4sb  Aaron Eisenberg (@ae53) November 15, 2017sent the entirety of the Unabomber Manifesto pic.twitter.com/JZW4IXkcBa  Chuddy Holly (@blingwads) November 15, 2017Yo, bro. pic.twitter.com/AUEguNerzq  Martin R. Schneider (@SchneidRemarks) November 15, 2017pic.twitter.com/ksgERfBatD  John Anderson (@jtadrum) November 16, 2017pic.twitter.com/jwGK0wUXAm  Luke Brz (@relaxed_hobo) November 15, 2017Sent! pic.twitter.com/2JZ4n5RAY8  Sean Dailey (@deansailey) November 15, 2017Done and done pic.twitter.com/NIMmNyRzSD  garrypl (@garrypl) November 15, 2017pic.twitter.com/ozPQje7Lt9  z1pperintheback (@z1pperintheback) November 16, 2017My goal was to draw them in first. pic.twitter.com/EnGXbUxroM  Alan Onamous (@Listen_Buddy) November 16, 2017Looks like he could stand to make a lot of money here. Seems legit. pic.twitter.com/6pJICdSyHv  John. Just John. (@BlueGuitarPick) November 16, 2017seemed appropriate pic.twitter.com/56RD8xkQW9  Daniel Gu rin-N-Out Burger (@a_p_crowley) November 15, 2017And this one might be among the best:If you would like to troll him a little yourself, click here. Moore clearly doesn t understand the Internet.Featured image via Drew Angerer/Getty Images",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present
17518,17519,"Peter Hedblom overcame a final round charge from fellow Swedish golfer Martin Erlandsson to win the Johnnie Walker Championship by one shot in Scotland on Sunday .  Peter Hedblom went one better than his second placed finish at the  Open last weekend .  Erlandsson had resumed play in 20th place six shots adrift of third round leader Hedblom , but surged up the leaderboard with a sensational 10 under par 62 to set the clubhouse lead on 12 under 276 .  The 35 year old , who was third at Gleneagles two years ago after a closing 66 , birdied seven successive holes from six to 12 .  He had already picked up shots at two of his opening four greens , then also birdied 17 .  Hedblom , however , kept his nerve as he went one better than last weekend , when he lost the Dutch  Open in a play off with England ' s Simon Dyson the fourth time out of four he has been beaten in sudden death .  The 39 year old started birdie bogey birdie , then rattled off four successive birdies before dropping a shot at the 15th hole .  However , he immediately bounced back with a birdie at the par five 16th and parred the last two to take victory , his third on the European Tour following wins in Malaysia and Morocco .  He carded a five under 67 to follow up successive rounds of 68 as he denied world No . 365 Erlandsson a maiden title on the circuit .  Erlandsson is becoming noted as a strong finisher , having closed with a course record 63 at the  Open , where he tied for 15th .  Defending champion Gregory Havret of France closed with 67 to share third place on 278 with former British Open champion Paul Lawrie , who carded 69 after starting the day one shot adrift of Hedblom in second .  The Scot had led the tournament for the first two rounds , in which he did not drop a stroke .  His final round featured an eagle on the par five ninth hole , which followed two birdies , but his title challenge faded with bogeys at 12 and 15 .  Lawrie ' s compatriot Gary Orr was fourth on nine under 279 following a fine 64 , which featured 10 birdies and a double bogey at the par four fifth hole .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
17519,17520,"Miami A Florida sheriff who just arrested 22 men caught in an online undercover operation blames the policies of the Internet sites used by sexual predators .  The investigation , dubbed Operation Last House Call , conducted by the Polk County Sheriff ' s Office , netted 22 men , including a Navy sailor , a software technician with top secret clearance and a National Guardsman . The sheriff ' s office says all the men answered online ads placed by undercover detectives .  "" These men showed up to our undercover location with gifts and clothing for children , along with condoms and sex toys they planned on using when having sex with the children , "" said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd .  "" I wonder if the  of one of these mega companies would have the same attitude if these people were preying on their own children . It ' s all about money , "" he said .  The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children works with many of the electronic service providers , including Internet providers and photo storage sites .  From there , the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children refers the call to the appropriate law enforcement agency .  "" If they become aware of it , they are required to report it , but it doesn ' t require them to take additional steps , "" said Michelle Collins , the vice president of the Exploited Children ' s Division at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children . "" There ' s no requirement for them to monitor or look for child pornography , "" she said .  However , Collins said , the technological explosion has made companies more proactive .  "" There ' s a lot of progress over the past 10 years . . . but much more needs to be done , "" she said .  One of those apprehended in Florida was a Navy sailor from Virginia Beach , Virginia , who allegedly came to an undercover location to teach a woman ' s 11 year old daughter to have sex in a "" coming of age ceremony . ""  Another man , from Germantown , Maryland , is a software technician with top secret clearance for a U . S . government contractor . According to the Sheriff ' s Office , this man allegedly responded to a fictitious ad hoping to have sex with what he thought was a man ' s 10 year old stepdaughter .  "" We saw men soliciting our undercover detectives to have sex with children within minutes of initiating online chats with them . Their behavior is despicable , "" Judd said .  The operation took place between April 18 and Sunday . Four of the suspects traveled to Florida from Maryland , Virginia , Texas and Missouri .  One man , an 18 year old who allegedly thought he was going to meet a 13 year old girl was being handcuffed Saturday when he allegedly told detectives , "" My mom ' s gonna kill me . . . and tomorrow ' s Mother ' s Day . ""  The Sheriff ' s Office says that after suspects answered their ads , they then continued their dialogue via email , online chats and text messages . The suspects agreed to come to Polk County to an undercover location , when they were arrested .  Judd says their behavior is horrible , but so is that of the companies , which enable predators to hunt down kids .  "" They either don ' t care or are in total denial , and that really concerns me , "" Judd said .  "" It tells me that they have no moral bounds or moral responsibility or are concerned about kids . ""  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
17527,17528,"Tamara Hardingham Gill for Metro . co . uk Wednesday 20 Jan 2016 4 : 50 pm  Lupita Nyong o is having her say on the Oscars lack of diversity row ( Picture : Getty Images )  The lack of diversity among this year s Oscar nominations has led many stars to speak of their disappointment .  Jada Pinkett Smith has confirmed that she ll be boycotting the Academy Awards ceremony next month and Selma star David Oyelowo says it s unforgivable that all 20 nominees in the acting categories are white .  And now Lupita Nyong o , who won an Oscar in 2014 for her role in 12 Years A Slave , has joined the debate .  The 32 year old actress has posted a message on her Instagram account saying that she stands with her peers who are calling for change .  A photo posted by Lupita Nyong ' o ( lupitanyongo ) on  I am disappointed by the lack of inclusion in this year s Academy Awards nominations , she wrote .  It has me thinking about unconscious prejudice and what merits prestige in our culture .  The Awards should not dictate the terms of art in our modern society , but rather be a diverse reflection of the best of what our art has has to offer today .  Jada Pinkett Smith and David Oyelowo have spoken out on the issue ( Picture : Getty Images  )  I stand with my peers who are calling for change in expanding the stories that are told and recognition of the people who tell them .  Lupita also included a quote from African American novelist James Baldwin , Not everything that is faced can be changed . But nothing can be changed until it is faced .  George Clooney , Idris Elba , Whoopi Goldberg and Spike Lee have also spoken out on the issue an Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs recently released a statement saying that the organisation is taking dramatic steps to alter the makeup of our membership .  The only nom Straight Outta Compton received acknowledged its white writers ( Picture : Universal )  Will Smith and Idris are among the non white actors who missed out on Oscar noms this year , despite receiving recognition at other awards shows .  The movie Creed , which was directed by Ryan Coogler and starred Michael B . Jordan , who are both black , only received one nomination which was Sylvester Stallone s for best supporting actor .  Meanwhile the much praised N . W . A biopic Straight Outta Compton was nominated for best screenplay ? which acknowledged its white writers , Andrea Berkoff and Jonathan Herman .  Watch a clip of Lupita Nyong o winning best supporting actress in 2014 :  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
17554,17555,"The United States called on China to end "" business as usual "" with its ally North Korea after Pyongyang defied world powers by saying it had tested a hydrogen bomb , while South Korea prepared to retaliate by broadcasting propaganda across the border .  South Korea , which has grown increasingly close to China in recent years , said its foreign minister would speak with his Chinese counterpart later on Friday ( Jan 8 ) .   Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday he had made clear in a phone call with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that China ' s approach to North Korea has not succeeded .  "" China had a particular approach that it wanted to make , that we agreed and respected to give them space to implement that , "" Kerry told reporters . "" Today in my conversation with the Chinese I made it very clear that has not worked and we cannot continue business as usual . ""  China is the North ' s main economic and diplomatic backer , although relations between the two Cold War allies have cooled in recent years .  China ' s foreign ministry said after the call with Kerry that Beijing was willing to communicate with all parties , including the United States .  "" Wang Yi stressed that China has staunchly dedicated itself to the goal of the peninsula ' s decentralization and to maintaining peace and stability on the peninsula , "" the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a short statement .  South Korea ' s foreign ministry had requested a phone call with Wang since directly after North Korea announced on Wednesday it had tested a hydrogen bomb , the South ' s Yonhap News Agency said . However , the call had been delayed due to China ' s "" internal scheduling "" , it said , citing an unnamed official .  South Korea ' s propaganda broadcasts by loudspeaker across the heavily militarized border , known to infuriate the leadership of isolated North Korea , were due to begin at noon local time ( 11am , Singapore time ) on Friday .  The last time Seoul deployed the speakers , in retaliation for a landmine blast in August that wounded two South Korean soldiers , it led to an armed standoff and exchange of artillery fire .  South Korea heightened military readiness to its highest level at locations near the loudspeakers , and Seoul vowed to retaliate against any attack on the speakers .  The South Korean city of Paju , which sits along the border with North Korea , suspended tours of the Demilitarized Zone (  ) at the military ' s request .  Seoul had also raised South Korea ' s cyber security alert level . Yonhap also reported that North Korea had boosted troop deployments and raised its surveillance of the South .  Wednesday ' s test angered both the United States and China , which was not given prior notice , although the U . S . government and weapons experts doubt Pyongyang ' s assertion that the device it exploded was a hydrogen bomb .  The vast majority of North Korea ' s business dealings are with China , which bought 90 percent of the isolated country ' s exports in 2013 , according to data compiled by South Korea ' s International Trade Association .  Kerry said he and Wang agreed to work closely to determine what measures could be taken given increasing concerns about the nuclear test . He said America has a "" firm and continued commitment to regional security and global nonproliferation "" .  The Global Times , an influential tabloid published by China ' s ruling Communist Party ' s official People ' s Daily , said in an editorial it was unfair to expect China alone to bring about change in Pyongyang .  "" There is no hope to put an end to the North Korean nuclear conundrum if the U . S . , South Korea and Japan do not change their policies toward Pyongyang . Solely depending on Beijing ' s pressure to force the North to give up its nuclear plan is an illusion , "" it said .  "" The China North Korea relationship should not be dragged into antagonism . Beijing has participated in previous sanctions on the North . Whether China will take tougher measures hinges on the decision of the  Security Council , "" it said .  U . S . Republicans and Democrats in the House of Representatives could join forces in a rare display of unity to further tighten sanctions on North Korea .  Nancy Pelosi , the House Democratic leader , told reporters that Democrats would support a North Korea bill likely to be brought for a vote by Republicans next week . A congressional source said it was expected as soon as Monday .  The House measure would target banks facilitating North Korea ' s nuclear program and authorize freezing of U . S . assets of those directly linked to illicit North Korean activities . It would also penalise those involved in business providing North Korea with hard currency .  It was unclear how more sanctions would deter North Korea , which has conducted four nuclear tests since 2006 while paying little heed to international pressure .  The United States and its ally South Korea are limited in their military response . Washington sent a pair of nuclear capable B 2 stealth bombers on a sortie over South Korea in a show of force after North Korea last tested a nuclear device in 2013 . North Korea responded then by threatening a nuclear strike on the United States .  A South Korean military official told Reuters that Seoul and Washington had discussed the deployment of U . S . strategic assets on the divided Korean peninsula , but declined to give further details . Media reports said those assets could include B 2 and B 52 bombers , and a nuclear powered submarine .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
17568,17569,"Every other day there seems to be a new mass shooting. It s barely over a month since the massacre in Las Vegas and we now have the deadliest mass shooting to take place in a house of worship. A gunman opened fire on a church in the tiny town of Sutherland, Texas, and at least 27 people are dead, including children and including the shooter.This is a developing story, but at the time of this posting law enforcement had not yet released information on the shooter other than the fact that he was killed. They also aren t reporting a possible motive   they say right now the shooter s motive is unclear. Regardless, Donald Trump has already responded to it on Twitter:May God be w/ the people of Sutherland Springs, Texas. The  & law enforcement are on the scene. I am monitoring the situation from Japan.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 5, 2017That response is that of a classic racist, and here s why: As soon as we heard about the killing in New York City at the hands of someone shouting  Allahu Akbar,  Trump s first response was this:In NYC, looks like another attack by a very sick and deranged person. Law enforcement is following this closely.    U.S.A.!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2017We must not allow  to return, or enter, our country after defeating them in the Middle East and elsewhere. Enough!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2017THEN he sent his condolences to New York City, and after he did that he went on another rant about Islamic terrorism:I have just ordered Homeland Security to step up our already Extreme Vetting Program. Being politically correct is fine, but not for this!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 1, 2017The terrorist came into our country through what is called the  Diversity Visa Lottery Program,  a Chuck Schumer beauty. I want merit based.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 1, 2017We are fighting hard for Merit Based immigration, no more Democrat Lottery Systems. We must get  tougher (and smarter). @foxandfriends  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 1, 2017CHAIN  must end now! Some people come in, and they bring their whole family with them, who can be truly evil.  ACCEPTABLE! pic.twitter.com/PQGeTTdRtX  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 1, 2017The United States will be immediately implementing much tougher Extreme Vetting Procedures. The safety of our citizens comes first!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 2, 2017NYC terrorist was happy as he asked to hang  flag in his hospital room. He killed 8 people, badly injured 12.    PENALTY!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 2, 2017Would love to send the  terrorist to Guantanamo but statistically that process takes much longer than going through the Federal system  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 2, 2017 There is also something appropriate about keeping him in the home of the horrible crime he committed. Should move fast.  PENALTY!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 2, 2017We ll wait with bated breath for him to demand reviews of all our gun laws in the wake of this shooting. If it turns out this was an angry white guy with a gun, like it was in Las Vegas and like it has been in multiple other mass shootings of this nature, we won t hear anything else except more  thoughts and prayers.  That s ironic considering these people were already in church and were presumably people of prayer.Featured image via Mark Wilson/Getty Images",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
17584,17585,"Vulgar comments , some laced with racial epithets . A physical attack . Threats to him and his family .  All of this and more stretched out over a season and a half proved too much for Jonathan Martin , 24 , to bear , which is why he left the Miami Dolphins last week , his lawyer said .  "" Jonathan endured harassment that went far beyond the traditional locker room hazing , "" the attorney , David Cornwell , said in a prepared statement . "" . . . These facts are not in dispute . ""  The comments , through the intermediary , break a silence from the offensive lineman who walked out after an incident in the team ' s cafeteria and hasn ' t been back since , according to Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin .  Days later , Miami suspended Richie Incognito , 30 , for conduct detrimental to the team . Rumors and news stories flew quickly in the days to come , including a well publicized voice mail in which Incognito reportedly calls Martin a racial epithet and threatens his life .  Richie Incognito , Jonathan Martin , and the  ' s future  Some also questioned the toughness of Martin , a Stanford University graduate who was in his second  season , especially as it came out that he might be seeking help for emotional issues .  But Cornwell stressed : "" Jonathan Martin ' s toughness is not an issue . ""  "" Jonathan started every game with the Miami Dolphins since he was drafted in 2012 , "" he said of the second round draft pick . "" At Stanford , he was the anchor for Jim Harbaugh ' s ' smash mouth ' brand of football and he protected ( then Stanford , now Indianapolis Colts quarterback ) Andrew Luck ' s blind side .  "" The issue is Jonathan ' s treatment by his teammates . ""  Cornwell then outlined some of that treatment , including Martin ' s reaction to it .  Martin tried "" to befriend . . . teammates who subjected him to the abuse with the hope that doing so would end the harassment "" something that Cornwell called "" a textbook reaction of victims of bullying . ""  It didn ' t work , the lawyer said . Instead , there was more taunting , "" a malicious physical attack on him by a teammate and daily vulgar comments , "" and a threat of a group sexual assault against Martin ' s sister .  "" Eventually , Jonathan made a difficult choice , "" Cornwell said of Martin leaving the Dolphins . "" . . . Jonathan looks forward to getting back to playing football . In the meantime , he will cooperate fully with the  investigation . ""  Dolphins quarterback : Richie Incognito saw Jonathan Martin as ' little brother '  Martin on leave Incognito suspended  That investigation is one part of the still evolving saga centered on Martin and Incognito , plus more generally on the Dolphins team and the culture in  locker rooms .  Commissioner Roger Goodell has tapped veteran lawyer Ted Wells who participated in a 2012 investigation of alleged sexual abuse at Syracuse and one that led to the change this year in who heads the  players union to lead the  ' s investigation .  Cornwell , Martin ' s lawyer , also has a lengthy background in sports and law . That includes five years working for the  , being part of a top sports agency and serving as a top official for the Upper Deck trading card and memorabilia company .  Besides continuing to work in the Gordon Rees law firm ' s Sports , Media and Entertainment division out of Atlanta , Cornwell is also the executive director of the  Coaches Association , which represents "" the interests of nearly 500 assistant coaches , "" according to his official profile .  His client , Martin , is still on the Dolphins roster .  Incognito is the lone player suspended as a result of this ordeal , though Cornwell ' s statement alleges multiple players mistreated Martin .  Incognito has a history of run ins . They include a much reported suspension from the University of Nebraska football team and his release by the  ' s St . Louis Rams in December 2009 after an in game argument with then head coach Steve Spagnuolo .  More recently , in 2012 , a volunteer at a golf tournament accused Incognito of inappropriately touching her with a golf club , according to a newly disclosed police report .  Richie Incognito , Jonathan Martin , and the  ' s future  Teammates : Martin , Incognito seemed close  Cornwell ' s comments about Martin seeking out friendships with some of his alleged tormenters didn ' t come from nowhere . Rather , it is an apparent explanation for why a man would appear friendly with the same people who were allegedly abusing him .  Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill said Wednesday that Incognito considered Martin a "" little brother "" one who "" messed with him but . . . was the first one to have his back in any situation . ""  And the closeness appeared to be mutual .  "" I think if you had asked Jon Martin a week before who his best friend on the team was , he would have said Richie Incognito , "" Tannehill said .  On the field , Incognito would be "" the first guy to stand up for Jonathan , "" the quarterback said . And "" outside of football , who was together ? Richie and Jonathan . ""  Describing Martin as a quiet guy who made a few jokes but was mostly business , Tannehill said "" there were no warning signs "" that something like this which he called "" mind blowing "" was happening .  Tyson Clabo , another member of Miami ' s offensive line , similarly said he saw Incognito and Martin as buddies , not bully and victim .  "" They hung out together , "" Clabo said . "" They did a lot of stuff together . So if ( Martin ) had a problem with the way that ( Incognito ) was treating him , he had a funny way of showing it . ""  Dolphins owner Stephen Ross has publicly insisted that the team takes "" this situation seriously "" and that he is "" committed to creating a professional ( work ) environment . ""  And Philbin , the club ' s coach , says he ' s ready to implement change if the  investigation finds his staff at fault .  "" If this review reveals anything that needs to be corrected , "" he said , "" we will take all necessary measures to fix it , to ensure that this doesn ' t happen again . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
17590,17591,"A longtime Clinton ally and donor has a theory about black Republicans: They re like the Jewish guards in concentration camps who tried to save their own skins by helping the Nazis kill Jews. In a hidden-camera video released Wednesday by Project Veritas Action, author and academic Benjamin R. Barber compared black Republicans to the  Sonderkommandos  during a Sept. 19 fundraiser for North Carolina Senate candidate Deborah Ross. He described the Sonderkommandos as  Jewish guards who in effect helped murder Jews in the camps so they could live a little longer.   So there were even Jews who were helping the Nazis murder Jews. So blacks who are helping the other side are seriously f***ed in the head,  said Mr. Barber in undercover footage. Mr. Barber, a Rutgers University professor emeritus and City University of New York senior research scholar, isn t some fringe figure: He served as an informal consultant on civic affairs to President Bill Clinton, wrote a book about the Clinton administration, and donated to Hillary Clinton s presidential bids in 2008 and 2016.Read more: WT",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
17591,17592,"In the battle of the search engines Google is the undisputed king , but Apple could be aiming to take its crown .  A job listing has appeared on the tech giant ' s official recruitment site that is advertising for an Engineering Project Manager in its Apple Search division to develop ' a search platform supporting hundreds of millions of users . '  This has fuelled speculation from last year that Apple is aiming to launch a standalone search tool across iPhones , iPads and Macs .  A job listing has appeared on the tech giant ' s official recruitment site that is advertising for an Engineering Project Manager to develop ' a search platform supporting hundreds of millions of users . ' This has fuelled speculation that Apple is aiming to launch a standalone search tool across iPhones , iPads and Macs  The listing was posted on 2 February and said : ' Apple seeks a technical , driven and creative program manager to manage backend operations projects for a search platform .  ' Program managers in our team focus on complex technical issues and are expected to analyse data to provide an in depth evaluation of variable factors . '  Back in 2010 , analysts at Piper Jaffray claimed there was a 70 per cent chance Apple would launch its own mobile search engine by 2015 .  Google ' s deal as the default search engine on Safari ( pictured ) expires this year . Apple could replace it with Yahoo or Bing , or develop its own tool  In November , Apple Insider reported that a so called web crawling bot had been spotted on Apple ' s servers .  This could be the start of developing its own search engine , but may also simply be used to boost its local and built in search options .  For example ,  X Yosemite ' s Spotlight Search tool scours the desktop , but also the web , maps and Wikipedia .  The rumours were bolstered in November when reports claimed Apple was looking to ditch Google as its default search engine on its Safari browser .  Google has been the default engine on Safari for the past five years , but the deal is due to expire this year .  Although this could see Microsoft ' s Bing or Yahoo taking its place , the tech giant could also be working on developing a search engine of its own .  Both Yahoo and Microsoft have already started canvassing Apple about becoming the default engine on iOS devices and Macs , according to The Information ' s Amir Efrati .  Mr Efrati said Apple is likely to base the decision on the ' quality of the product as much as the potential money made from search ads . '  Google reportedly paid Apple 82 million ( 52 million ) in 2009 , and 1 billion ( 636 million ) last year for the partnership .  Firefox ditched Google as its default search engine last year . From the start of December , people using the browser in the  were switched to Yahoo . Search engines make money from partnerships by sending traffic to their servers , and profiting from ad revenue . A proprietary Apple engine could be used as an extra income  As of 9 January , Apple ' s Safari browser is the third most used web browser in the world , behind Google ' s Chrome and Microsoft ' s Internet Explorer . It has overtaken Firefox and is now used by by 15 . 2 of the market  Search engines make money from such partnerships by sending traffic to their servers , and profiting from ad revenue .  After a decade , Mozilla announced in November it was ending its partnership with Google as the default option for Firefox web searches .  From the start of December , people using the browser in the  were switched to Yahoo .  In Russia , Firefox is using local search engine Yandex , and Baidu continues to be the default search engine in China .  Mozilla said the  will remain unaffected , for the time being .  Firefox is an open source browser that was launched by California based Mozilla in 2002 .  As of 9 January , it is the fourth most used web browser in the world , behind Google ' s Chrome , Microsoft ' s Internet Explorer , and Safari .  Apple ' s Safari is used by 15 . 2 per cent of the market , compared to Firefox ' s 15 . 1 per cent .  But Apple has been distancing itself from its rival for sometime .  When it launched iOS 7 , the default search engine for Siri was Microsoft ' s Bing , for example .  Yahoo was the default weather app until Apple launched iOS 8 , at which point it was replaced by the Weather Channel .  Apple also replaced Google Maps with its own proprietary service , and stopped pre installing Google owned YouTube on devices .  Within Apple Maps , local searches are made using services such as Yelp .  In 2013 , Re code reported Yahoo was ' aggressively ' working to increase revenue and the focus was to become the default on Apple products .  Firefox signed a deal with Yahoo last year to replace Google as the default search option although users can revert back in Settings .  Five years ago , Yahoo signed a deal with Microsoft to have Bing to carry out behind the scenes indexing of online content .  Yahoo and Microsoft agreed to split ad revenue under terms of the 10 year search deal , which let Yahoo focus on customising query results for users .  Yahoo boss Marissa Mayer has repeatedly stressed that Yahoo remains devoted to the search market that the company pioneered , but which Google eventually dominated .  Even if Apple does replace Google as its default engine , users are expected to be able to revert back , or select an alternative in the browser ' s settings .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
17602,17603,"Calif . Scientists at Leland Stanford Junior University announced today a discovery that may explain why so many Thanksgiving dinners go downhill so fast and end so unpleasantly .  The research team ' s biologists and chemists determined that yams ( Dioscorea species ) which are often very mistakenly called sweetpotatoes ( Ipomoea batatas ) contain a precursor to truth serum ( sodium pentothal ) . This chemical ( sodium quattrothal ) reacts with agents in the toasted marshmallows , a sweet confection of a spongy consistency traditionally used as a topping on holiday yam sidedish preparations . In the heat of an oven , the chemicals in each combine to form the complete truth serum molecule .  When consumed in sufficient quantities , a generous second helping is usually enough , the sodium pentothal takes effect . The honest comments then follow . These moments of candidness , say social scientists who observed over 200 Thanksgiving dinners in their natural setting , lead directly to the sticky messes that followed .  "" Every dinner we observed ended when Uncle Pete stormed out of the house , after Cousin Suzanne told a story about that summer at Grandma ' s house , and the ' wellhouse incident ' , "" said Stanford ' s noted social psychologist , Professor Philip Zimbardo . This happened consistently when candid yams were served but never , during any of the almost 100 family holiday dinners observed , when sweetpotato casserole was served instead .  Nutritionists say that though the two vegetables are visually similar , the yam has more natural sugar ( and , thus , calories ) and less vitamin A and C ( both antioxidants ) . So , sweetpotatoes are the better choice nutritionally and socially .  A social environmental impact study of cost of candid yam sidedishes ( as compared to a baseline of sweetpotato casserole ) showed that candid yams have social costs of 6 . 6 billion per year in the U . S . alone . Obesity and its attendant medical woes , such as diabetes and heart disease , caused 1 . 6 billion of these costs . The bigger costs , heretofore unmeasured , related to domestic violence ( including number of police calls , days in jail and prison , and criminal court costs ) amounted to 2 . 2 billion per year . But , in a finding that surprised even the multi disciplinary research team , the costs of civil litigation amounted to 2 . 8 billion per year . Many of these costs had not been noted before as they are lagged , often by years , and so didn ' t appear in the more typical short term study .  The team ' s legal expert Stephen B . Gruber said the obvious libel and divorce suits were a factor , the biggest impacts came from previously unnoted contentious will caveats and the extended time that estates stayed open in the candid yam families .  "" Among the candid yam families , many estates with larger pools of heirs were completely drained of their resources before the multiple suits , claims , caveats and counterclaims were settled , "" said attorney Gruber .  In the end , in most cases only the lawyers got any money , said Gruber .  Earlier family studies research had attributed holiday discord to excess consumption of alcoholic beverages , especially mulled wine , spiked eggnog and , among families of Scandavian descent , gl gg . However , these ethyl based theories were never fully accepted as they failed to account for the holiday blowups among  members and conservative Baptists . Candid yams , the Stanford team pointed out , do .  According to noted food historian , Waverly Root , the historic shift from sweetpotatoes to yams in confectionary desserts and sidedishes pre dates the meteoric rise in non personal injury lawsuits by the same 8 to 10 year lag found in the Stanford study .  Copyright 2006 , Douglas Salguod  ",satire,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
17610,17611,"For a player to succeed in the high pressured , multi million dollar world of professional golf they must marry their special talent to an unshakable sense of determination .  That shouldn ' t be a problem for U . S .  Tour rookie Erik Compton .  After two heart transplants , the 32 year old American has finally earned the chance to compete on the Tour , fulfilling a destiny that had seemed a distant dream .  "" I couldn ' t believe it when I made the  Tour I ' ve had to fight for everything my entire life , so you think , ' Did that really happen ? ' ""  Compton had been toiling on the second tier Nationwide Tour , but victory at the Mexico Open helped him finish 13th on the money list and secured his place for 2012 alongside stars such as Phil Mickelson , Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy .  "" I got sick right after that tournament , I ended up in hospital , and the doctors put me on a lot of medication that ' s when it sunk in and I realized what I ' d accomplished . ""  RoboPutt : Rise of the golfing machines ?  Compton was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy at the age of nine , a condition that limits the heart ' s capacity to pump blood , and had his first transplant three years later .  Heavy medication restricted a sport obsessed kid who was once bigger and faster than most of his peers , stunting his growth . But as he got stronger in his teens , his love for golf flourished .  By 1998 Compton was ranked as the top junior in the United States , competing against and beating the likes of 2008 Masters champion Trevor Immelman and current world number six Adam Scott .  But bad health still dogged his progress , and even caused him to pass out during an early attempt at the  Tour ' s qualifying school . After appearing in the Walker Cup , a team event between the best amateurs from the U . S . and Europe , he turned pro .  Despite taking the order of merit on the Canadian Tour in 2004 , and winning an event in Morocco in 2005 , Compton was far from fulfilling his potential when his health began to deteriorate again in 2007 .  Fit again Stricker scores win in Hawaii  He was on course to make the cut at an event in Idaho , until a hook out of bounds on a closing hole resulted in him taking a nine shots and a making early exit from the tournament .  As fate would have it , it was one of his worst shots that saved his life .  "" I wouldn ' t be alive if I had made that cut , "" he said . "" The only reason I survived was because I was close enough to drive to the hospital when I felt a heart attack coming on and they put in a stent immediately . ""  Compton ' s heart attack known as a "" widowmaker "" because few survive its intensity forced another anxious period spent waiting for a donor .  "" Obviously , it put things in perspective , all I wanted to do was stay alive , "" he explained . "" I was sitting in a chair , coughing up blood I couldn ' t breathe at night . I thought maybe I ' ll just have a house and live a quiet life .  "" I never really enjoyed life until after a few weeks , the heart was shutting down , I couldn ' t sleep . Just doing simple things , lying down on couch watching  , I would instantly start coughing up blood . ""  Surviving one heart transplant , let alone two , is a feat to be proud of , but Compton says it took less than a week after surgery for his mind to turn to swinging a club again .  Incredibly , just five months later he made a return to competitive action , tying for 60th at the Children ' s Miracle Network Classic on the  Tour a high pressure elite circuit where millions of dollars are at stake every weekend .  His courage , and talent , propelled him into the limelight . "" The surgeons thought I was crazy , "" he laughed .  "" I slowly picked up my swing I wasn ' t as strong as I am now but I figured out a way to get it done . I have a gift to be able to play sport and have the co ordination to do it , so I ' ve been blessed that way not so blessed in other things . ""  Compton ' s desire to fulfill his dream of qualifying for a  Tour card helped to energize his recovery , as did the birth of his first child another miracle given that doctors had been unsure if he ' d be able to have kids due to the medication he has taken all his life .  He gradually regained full power but did have to seek special dispensation from the authorities to use a golf cart to get round the course , and to be absolved from their drug testing process , due to the medication that was vital for his survival .  "" I got some letters from Ireland saying I was compromising the integrity of the game by using a cart and that Ben Hogan never would have done that ! My goal was not to use it but , hey , there may be one day I have to use it again . ""  In 2009 Compton received the Ben Hogan Award , for courage , presented to him by golfing legend Jack Nicklaus , and after two steady seasons he clinched his  Tour place with that momentous win in Mexico .  "" The whole of last season was tough , I was playing but I wasn ' t 100 , "" he said ahead of Thursday ' s opening round at the Sony Open . "" This year coming up I ' m really excited playing on the Tour I ' ve played a lot of events in the past but now I ' m healthy and I can handle a lot of it .  "" The only issue I have is trying to capitalize 100 for me , is maybe 65 70 for someone else , so when I have a cold or I ' m not feeling the best it ' s hard to compete at a high level .  "" My body has taken a hit over the years , I don ' t know the difference because I feel pretty strong , but that ' s the stuff I deal with on a day to day basis . My immune system is lower so I catch more colds and it takes me longer to fight them off but I ' m used to that . ""  Compton ' s inspirational journey is sure to make even more headlines now that he will be playing side by side with the best golfers on the planet every week .  "" I just try to live my own life and make the best out of what I can if that inspires others then that ' s great . But I ' m just trying to live my life the best I can , "" he said .  "" I think the message is more powerful than the game itself because it can touch everybody . I enjoy speaking my message to those who understand and get life , I don ' t enjoy telling it to people who don ' t understand .  "" Golf has given me a reason to get out of my bed , so it ' s been very important . I ' m very blessed to have a passion and ability . Golf has kept me alive , there ' s no doubt about it . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
17613,17614,"A herd of elephants slap a layer of thick mud and dust over their skin in the same way as we apply sun block .  And with the baking hot African sun baring down on them , and a lack of rainfall , these elephants at the Etosha National Park in Namibia wasted no time in covering themselves up .  The ' dust bath ' is part of a daily routine that elephants practice after a morning bathe . The thick mud layer helps keep their body temperature down and acts as a parasite deterrent .  An elephant tosses a trunk full of dirt onto its head , to help cool off under the baking hot African sun  The ' dust bath ' is part of a daily routine that elephants practice after a morning bathe  A cloud of dust forms around the elephant , as it uses its trunk to scoop of the rain deprived soil  Photographer Peter Delaney found the elephants leaving a nearby waterhole and then captured them applying their all natural sunblock .  Mr Delaney , from Avoca in County Wicklow , Ireland , followed the elephants after they had spent the morning bathing and drinking at a waterhole .  The 47 year old wanted to ' create images that are unique and captures the essence of my subject ' .  And it was a ' frustrating week ' , waiting for the perfect opportunity to capture the iconic animals .  Photographer Peter Delaney tracked the elephants , after they spent the morning bathing at a waterhole  He said : ' But on my last day all the elements needed for these images came together .  ' The image where the four metre tall , four ton heavy elephant raised his trunk filled with the red Kalahari dust and in one fluid movement sprayed his forehead is my favourite . '  The grassland dominates the national park where elephants roam along with ostriches , giraffes , antelope and lions .  Normally a slight red in colour , the pale yellow grass indicates just how parched the soil is outside of the seasonal rain .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
17616,17617,"Australian health workers could soon be on their way to help fight against Ebola in west Africa .  The federal government has reportedly reached a deal with Britain that gives it confidence to help send Australian workers .  The prime minister ' s office did not confirm the report but said the government is considering discussions it has had with partners , in particular the United Kingdom and United States , about the evolving situation , including measures to treat health workers .  Medical workers in protective suits working in the patient area of an Ebola treatment center in Conakry , Guinea , 13 October 2014  Staff load component of an Ebola treatment center on to an aid plane bound for Sierra Leone . The Australian government has reportedly reached a deal that would allows it to send workers to west Africa  ' The government is considering these discussions and how it might best contribute further to the response , ' a spokesman said on Tuesday .  Up until now it has been reluctant to send health workers to Ebola affected areas , arguing there is no way to get them home safely if they catch the virus .  They have been negotiating to set up evacuation plans with various countries .  Fairfax Media has reported it has sealed a deal and the government will announce an agreement with a British field hospital in Sierra Leone , and that Britain has agreed to treat Australian volunteers as if they were their own .  Up until now it has been reluctant to send health workers to Ebola affected areas , arguing there is no way to get them home safely if they catch the virus , but the reported plan would allow the evacuation of infected Australian health workers through various countries  Infected Australian workers would be evacuated to Britain or possibly access treatment in Germany , Fairfax says .  The  says it has been told cabinet ' s National Security Committee had decided to assist volunteers who want to travel to Ebola hotspots in Sierra Leone .  Labor has argued the best way to fight Ebola is at its source in west Africa .  ' I would be delighted to see Australia increase its efforts , ' Labor foreign affairs spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek told  on Tuesday .  ' That includes our government supporting Australian health workers willing and able to go to help on the ground . '  Australian Medical Association president Brian Owler said he would welcome the news , if it proved to be true .  He said there are many doctors and nurses keen to do this work and who understood the risks involved .  Healthcare workers load a man , center , onto a ambulance as he is suspected of suffering from the Ebola virus in Kenema , Sierra Leone . Ebola has killed almost 5000 people so far and the World Health Organisation has recorded more than 13 , 000 cases  ' It says a lot about the courage and commitment of doctors and nurses to their fellow man that they do put themselves in harm ' s way to go and do this incredibly important work , ' Professor Owler told  .  Ebola has killed almost 5000 people so far and the World Health Organisation has recorded more than 13 , 000 cases but says the real number of infections and deaths could be much higher .  Australia has enhanced border screening of people arriving from west African countries .  The government says it ' s ready to deal with any confirmed Ebola cases here or in the region .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
17631,17632,"Cruz makes case to Iowa Republicans he ' s most ' consistent conservative '  Ted Cruz hit the campaign trail following Thursday night ' s debate .  Cruz makes case to Iowa Republicans he ' s most ' consistent conservative ' Ted Cruz hit the campaign trail following Thursday night ' s debate . Check out this story on USATODAYweblink : http : usat . ly 1SOrK7E  A link has been sent to your friend ' s email address .  A link has been posted to your Facebook feed .  To find out more about Facebook commenting please read the Conversation Guidelines and FAQs  Cruz makes case to Iowa Republicans he ' s most ' consistent conservative '  David Jackson ,   4 : 33 p . m .  January 29 , 2016  Ted Cruz waits to speak in Ringsted , Iowa , on Jan . 29 , 2016 .   , Iowa ? Starting the last phase of a tour of all 99 counties in Iowa , Ted Cruz said Friday he will do whatever he can to make the case that he is the most "" consistent conservative "" in the Republican ? race .  "" This has been an incredible journey , "" Cruz told reporters before speaking with voters at a restaurant in the rural hamlet of Fenton in Kossuth County . ? ? "" But it all comes down to these last 77 hours . ""  Locked in a tight battle with Donald Trump , Cruz declined to second guess his decision not to directly attack Trump during the Thursday night debate that the businessman boycotted . Cruz did tell the reporters that the debate provided "" a very clear moment for the voters of Iowa to assess the candidates , "" and Trump disrespected those voters by not showing up .  Invited to respond to Trump ' s attacks on him , Cruz said , "" I like Donald . He ' s welcome to say whatever he likes . ""  The Texas senator also dismissed criticism of his debate performance , including The Des Moines Register headline that said he had a "" rough night . ""  "" At the end of the day , I don ' t worry about the approval or the disapproval of the media , "" Cruz said .  Looking ahead to Monday ' s caucuses , Cruz also declined to discuss "" process questions "" like ad strategy . ? "" At this point , "" he said , "" it ' s all about turnout . ""  At an earlier stop in nearby ? Ringsted ? also with a population of less than 500 ? ? Cruz had ? little to say about the previous night ' s debate ? and made ? appeals to his base of religious voters .  "" This is now your time , "" ? Cruz told the crowd packed into a small diner in rural northwest Iowa .  In a string of appearances in the area , the Texas senator stuck with his basic stump speech , promising to roll back Obama executive orders on Immigration and health care , strip federal funding from Planned Parenthood , promote religious freedom , and void the Iranian nuclear deal .  "" There is an awakening that is sweeping our country , "" Cruz told another largely supportive crowd at a community college library in Emmetsburg .  Cruz generally had a much easier day than during the ? Thursday debate in which Republican rivals like Marco Rubio pounded him over alleged inconsistencies in his record on issues like immigration and trade .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
17655,17656,"Holding aloft a box of unclaimed coats , wallets , and in line skates labeled "" Cincinnati , "" Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt announced Monday that the federal government is no longer responsible for personal items lost or stolen within U . S . borders .  "" Effective immediately , the U . S . will not be held accountable for anything that happens to citizens ' eyeglasses , baseball caps , Walkmans , outdoor grills , or Chevy Impalas or any other items that are misplaced , broken , or stolen on U . S . premises , "" Babbitt said . "" Your personal effects are your own responsibility , folks . ""  According to Babbitt , the warning "" Please Watch Your Belongings At All Times . . . Thank You ! "" will be printed on all future Social Security cards . In addition , more than 50 , 000 signs reminding citizens of the government ' s immunity from liability will be posted at border crossings and international airports , as well as along federal highways .  "" The government cannot and should not be expected to do everything for the American public , "" Babbitt said . "" In the past , we tried to hold items found lying around the U . S . for at least 30 days . Unfortunately , it was creating all sorts of havoc . People were claiming items that weren ' t theirs , pleading to be let in to look for keys and purses after the government ' s 5 p . m . closing time , and demanding reimbursement for lost articles . ""  Added Babbitt : "" If anyone has a complaint about our new policy , they ' re more than welcome to fill out a citizen comment card . ""  Jan Murphy , a Hastings ,  , bakery shop owner , is among the 3 . 5 million Americans to file a compensation claim for personal items stolen within U . S . borders since Jan . 1 .  "" While visiting a friend in Florida in late March , my camera was swiped right out of my car , "" said Murphy , who plans to sue the federal government if she isn ' t reimbursed the camera ' s 195 cost . "" This shows gross negligence on the part of the U . S . government , to be unaware of what ' s happening right on its own property . As a taxpaying customer of this country , I think I have the right to expect a certain basic level of security and precautionary measures on the part of management . ""  The new no liability measure is not without precedent . In July 1998 , the Department of Health and Human Services introduced a "" No Shirt , No Shoes , No Social Services "" policy . Last November , signs were posted in all U . S . Capitol bathrooms reading , "" Elected Officials Are Required To Wash Hands Before Returning To Work . ""  As a result of the new policy , more than 1 , 500 federal lost and found centers will be closed and 72 , 000 workers laid off .  "" I ' ve had people accuse me of mishandling or losing their belongings , or even stealing them , "" said Gordon Townsell , a newly unemployed lost leather goods clerk . "" Some guy can ' t find his gloves , and suddenly it ' s my fault . Hey , I ' m not the one who left them on a table smack dab in the middle of Connecticut . ""  According to Townsell , citizens are becoming increasingly careless with their possessions as they become ever more reliant on the federal government for services .  "" You wouldn ' t believe some of the stuff people leave behind in this country , "" Babbitt said . "" Along with about 400 , 000 umbrellas and some of these are 40 or 50 umbrellas we ' re expected to hold on to some guy ' s speedboat found off the coast of Miami until he finally notices it ' s missing ? The United States government is not your mother . ""  ",satire,text,validation,Football,Conflict,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
17661,17662,"Salem Middle School eighth grader Jeremy Royce , 15 , was detained and questioned by police officials for more than three hours Monday in connection with a string of brutal masturbatings in the Salem area .  "" While no arrest has yet been made in the case , "" said Salem police chief Samuel Harper , "" at this time , Mr Royce very much appears to be our prime suspect . ""  Ever since it began in March 1997 , the string of horrific masturbatings has shaken this tiny farming community in southern Indiana . In the past month alone , some 31 kleenex , three socks , and one baseball cap have been found badly masturbated , some beyond recognition .  According to Harper , Royce became the chief suspect following the discovery of a kleenex on the side of his bed identical to one found in a Salem Public Library men ' s room stall and two others found in the second floor boys ' bathroom at Salem Middle School . Like the items previously found , the kleenexes appeared to have been severely masturbated .  A subsequent search of Royce ' s sock drawer uncovered a number of items that may have been used in the crimes , including a 1982 "" Sex In Cinema "" issue of Playboy featuring Barbi Benton a November 1991 issue of Gent and a picture of ninth grader Susie Sherwood from the 1997 Salem Middle School yearbook .  "" The person who perpetrated these crimes is a deeply disturbed individual , one with no regard for human decency whatsoever , "" Harper said . "" Whoever committed these acts deserves to be put away for a long , long time . ""  Royce has strenuously denied all charges , claiming to have been "" at orchestra practice "" at the time of the masturbatings .  ",satire,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,fake,satire,True,no,no,negative,past
17670,17671,"Kobe Bryant will make his final appearance in his hometown when the Los Angeles Lakers visit the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday . Bryant , who announced on Sunday that he would be retiring at the end of the season , played his high school basketball at Lower Merion High School in suburban Philadelphia .  "" This season is all I have left to give , Bryant wrote on the Players Tribune website before scoring 13 points on 4 of 20 shooting in a 107 103 loss at home to the Indiana Pacers on Sunday . My heart can take the pounding . My mind can handle the grind but my body knows it ' s time to say goodbye . The future Hall of Famer is shooting 30 . 5 percent from the field this season . Bryant and the Lakers have a good chance to snap their six game slide against the 76ers , who extended their record losing streak to 28 overall and 18 straight to begin this season with a 92 84 setback at Memphis on Sunday . That marked the fifth straight loss by single digits for Philadelphia , which held a 76 71 lead with under eight minutes to play against the Grizzlies before letting it slip away .   : 7 p . m .  ,  SportsNet ( Los Angeles ) ,  Philadelphia     ( 2 14 ) : Bryant won five  titles with Los Angeles but is looking at another losing campaign with the once proud franchise , which has only the 76ers below it in the  . "" Finally , I just had to just accept the fact that I don ' t want to do this anymore , and I ' m  with that , Bryant said after the loss to the Pacers . Once I accepted that , then it became time to just let everybody know . Bryant nailed a 3 pointer to pull Los Angeles within one point with 11 seconds left but airballed another attempt five seconds later in the latest loss .    76ERS ( 0 18 ) : Philadelphia tied the 2009 10 New Jersey Nets for the worst start to a season in  history with Sunday s setback but wrapped up a road trip that saw it take several steps in the right direction . The 76ers were in each of the last five games down the stretch and Robert Covington emerged as a go to player in that stretch by averaging 18 points , eight rebounds and 5 . 2 steals . Covington had seven steals in Memphis on Sunday but also committed eight turnovers .  1 . 76ers F C Nerlens Noel ( sore right knee ) sat out the last two games and is day to day .  2 . Los Angeles G Jordan Clarkson scored at least 19 points in three of the last four games .  3 . Philadelphia took both meetings last season but Bryant missed each matchup after right shoulder surgery .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
17683,17684,"Warsaw , Ohio Seth Rice is a 2 year old boy full of energy , curiosity and emotions . Watching him play with his toys , you don ' t notice any of the emotional toll that having a parent deploy can take on a little boy .  Let alone having both parents deploy , for nearly seven months simultaneously .  But that ' s what Seth ' s parents did , choosing to deploy to Afghanistan together , rather than have one stay home with Seth while the other deployed .  That decision may be hard for some parents to fathom , but for the Rices it was the best option .  "" It was very difficult , "" Marine Staff Sgt . Jeff Rice said in an interview from Camp Leatherneck , where he and his wife are based .  "" It took a lot of back and forth discussions , "" Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chat Rice said .  Part of what made the decision less difficult was Seth ' s age .  "" We were thinking that a 2 year old wouldn ' t remember too much of us being gone than if we had to do it when he was 7 , when he ' d remember the whole thing , "" Jeff explained .  Still , the day they left was hard for them . "" It was a very difficult day . Just wanted to hold him , told him we loved him , and that we ' d be home soon , even though he didn ' t understand that , "" Jeff said .  Chat couldn ' t put it into words : "" I don ' t think a mother could ever describe that feeling , leaving your son . ""  The genesis of the idea came from previous deployments , when Chat would came back from the war zone and Jeff had to leave a few weeks later .  "" She deployed to Iraq in 2004 and then as soon as she came back I deployed to Iraq in 2005 shortly after . It was about two weeks that we got to hang out together . It was very hard , because you try to catch up in those two weeks . ""  So when new orders came , they decided they wanted more time together as a couple , and that that meant leaving their 2 year old in the States .  But that difficult decision was made much easier by Jeff ' s parents .  "" They asked us if we would be willing to keep Seth and of course that was a no brainer , we said yes , "" said Jamie Rice , Seth ' s grandfather .  "" I ' m just thankful that we ' ve been able to be there , and spend time with him and see him a lot more than what we would have before , "" Pam Rice , Jeff ' s mother , said . "" It ' s just been a blessing . ""  Seth and his parents live in Southern California , and most of his relatives on his father ' s side live in Ohio . So for the last seven months he ' s gotten to know that side of his family .  But perhaps the true saving grace for Jeff and Chat is a software application that wasn ' t even around when the war started in Afghanistan , the video chatting program Skype . The first time Jeff deployed to war , he wrote home only a few times .  Now , with high speed internet connections , he and Chat can call home and see Seth and he can see them .  But since he ' s just 2 , Seth is not the ideal video chatter yet .  Instead of talking to his parents on the computer , he ' ll play with balloons or his basketball . He even puts the basketball in front of the computer screen with his mother and father on it and ask them to shoot .  Jeff said these video chats are important to helping them cope .  "" It ' s huge , because no matter how rough your day goes , we get to see our little son . . . takes all the worries and everything away , "" Jeff said . "" It really boosts your morale . . . being able to see him grow day by day , and hearing the new words he learned to say and showing you everything he learned . ""  Having the ability to communicate so easily with the home front can be a double edged sword for deployed troops , said Kelly Hruska of the National Military Family Association .  Hruska cites her own experience , as the wife of a soldier who deployed to Iraq but was frustrated when their daughter refused to Skype with him , avoiding the sessions .  "" ' Why doesn ' t she want to talk with me ? ' "" Kelly recalls her husband asking .  "" It was after a few months that we finally realized that her way of coping with the deployment was out of sight , out of mind . And that by talking to him on the phone , by Skyping with him it was just a reminder that he wasn ' t there and it was hard on her . ""  Technology also means troops can ' t immerse themselves in war , like they used to . For some , it means dealing with problems at home that previously would be out of sight , out of mind .  Jeff and Chat are expected to return to Southern California on Thursday , and that ' s when this difficult choice pays off . Instead of just a couple of weeks together , the Rice family will have months and months without much concern that either parent or both will have to head off to war again .  Perhaps the only regrets on that day will be from Seth ' s grandparents . "" We ' re already dreading letting him go back because we ' re gonna miss him , so I can ' t imagine how his parents feel , "" Jamie said . "" It would just be devastating , I think . ""  Chris Lawrence contributed to this report .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
17685,17686,"A wildlife photographer has captured amazing photos of polar bears who appear to be doing their own rendition of the waltz or playing a game of patty cake .  The massive bears went paw to paw while standing on their hind legs on the frozen tundra in Churchill , Manitoba , on the southern edge of Canada ' s Arctic .  While it looks like the juvenile males were practising fancy footwork they were actually play fighting as a horde of camera happy tourists looked on .  These polar bears aren ' t ballroom dancing they are play fighting in front of tourists in the northern town of Churchill , Manitoba in Canada  The amusing moment was captured by tourist Alex Berger , 28 , while he visited the town on the western shore of Hudson Bay , which bills itself as the Polar Bear Capital of the World .  He was travelling in a Tundra Buddy , a custom built coach designed to transport tourists across the frozen ground , when the two bears appeared .  The encounter lasted for around 30 minutes before the animals went their separate ways .  Alex , from Copenhagen , Denmark , said : ' On the third day of the trip the tour bus pulled up and we saw a group of bears play fighting with each other .  Photographer Alex Berger , from Copenhagen , Denmark , said the bears wrestled for 30 minutes before going their separate ways  ' Two of the bears , who I believe were juvenile males , started coming closer to us and then stopped about 30 feet away .  ' They then began playing fighting again but from some angles it almost looked like they were ballroom dancing .  ' They did this for about 20 minutes before eventually walking away and giving each other some space .  ' Although polar bears like to play fight it is very easy for them to overheat so they don ' t have these battles for very long at a time . '  Tourists snapped photos from the safety of a Tundra Buggy , a custom built coach designed to transport tourists across the frozen tundra  He added : ' Part of me was concerned that after travelling all that way I may only see one bear lying down or something , but I was amazed to photograph something like this . It was fantastic . '  Polar bears are the world ' s largest land predators and they migrate to Northern Manitoba every autumn to wait for ice to form on the sea .  They spend many months of the year at sea and they prey mainly on seals but will also devour animal carcasses and fish .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
17692,17693,"A pregnant woman sentenced to jail time for a  conviction involving the death of her friend will be allowed to stay out of prison until the birth of her baby .  Sarah Courtney , 34 , from Orrington , Maine , was sentenced to ten years in prison after pleading no contest to manslaughter and aggravated criminal operating under the influence of intoxicants .  She was driving her  in Hampden last year when she missed a curve and crashed the vehicle . Her friend Sarah Eason , 28 , was sitting in the passenger seat and died as a result of the crash .  Sarah Courtney , 34 , from Orrington , Maine , was sentenced to ten years in prison after pleading no contest to manslaughter and aggravated criminal operating under the influence of intoxicants  The women had been visiting bars in Bangor and Brewer just before the crash .  Courtney was sentenced to ten years in prison , with all but two and a half suspended , followed by four years probation for manslaughter .  But she will not have to enter prison until March 1 on account of the fact she is expected to give birth to a baby girl next month .  Courtney ' s due date is November 22 but her daughter is expected to be delivered earlier due to gestational diabetes . She remains free on 2 , 000 bail .  The prosecution said that although they thought the plea agreement was fair , he opposed a stay longer than 42 days , the maternity leave granted to female members of the military .  Mary Lynne Eason of Brewer , the victim ' s mother , told the judge that ' since the crash , my life has become a nightmare from which I will never wake up ' .  According to prosecutors , Courtney , who is now eight months pregnant , was nearly twice over the legal alcohol limit at the time of the crash . She is expected to give birth next month and will enter prison in March  She said that because of her daughter ' s death she could no longer work and was struggling emotionally and economically .  The mother added that Courtney ' s ' continued refusal to accept responsibility reveals a lot about her character ' and urged the judge to impose ' a longer sentence to send a stronger message to the community so no other mother has to stand here ' .  Just before being sentenced , Courtney apologized to her friend ' s family .  ' My sorrow and remorse is overwhelming , ' she said .  Courtney was driving along this stretch or road in Hampden when she missed a curve and crashed . Her friend Sarah Eason , 28 , was sitting in the passenger seat and died as a result of the crash  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
17704,17705,"The House of Representatives passed legislation Thursday to try to recoup bonuses paid to Wall Street executives with taxpayer money .  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House members Wednesday announce tax proposals affecting bonuses .  The measure passed , 328 93 most Democrats supported the measure , while Republicans were sharply divided .  A two thirds majority among all members voting was required for passage .  The measure would tax individuals on any bonuses received in 2009 from companies getting 5 billion or more in money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program , or  . Bonuses for people with incomes over 250 , 000 would be taxed at a 90 percent rate .  "" Today ' s vote rightly reflects the outrage that so many feel over the lavish bonuses that  provided its employees at the expense of the taxpayers who have kept this failed company afloat , "" President Obama said . "" I look forward to receiving a final product that will serve as a strong signal to the executives who run these firms that such compensation will not be tolerated . ""  The measure now moves to the Senate , which is considering a bill to tax retention bonuses paid to executives of companies that received federal bailout money .  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Thursday failed to get that bill passed by unanimous consent when Republican Whip Jon Kyl objected .  Kyl wants "" to understand the root and cause of what happened here before we haphazardly rush and approve what we think is the remedy , "" his spokesman Ryan Patmintra said .  House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel , D New York , told reporters Wednesday , "" We can ' t have any concept of we ' re getting even , but we must have a concept that we ' re trying to show that Congress . . . cannot tolerate that . ""  The vote comes one day after  chief executive Edward Liddy testified before Congress that he has asked employees of the bailed out insurer who took home more than 100 , 000 in bonuses to return at least half .  Liddy , saying he knew that the public ' s patience is "" wearing thin , "" said some employees have decided on their own to return their entire bonuses to the company .  More than 165 million has been slated for bonuses to  ' s senior executives the federal government rescued the company from financial ruin with more than 170 billion in taxpayer assistance .  Referring to the  executives who received bonuses , Rangel said , "" I don ' t think these are the type of people to whom you can make an appeal to equity and justice . I don ' t think they really know the difference . I don ' t really think they ' ve had life experience to allow them to believe the pain that they ' ve caused for millions of Americans . ""  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi , D California , said the bill was necessitated by the poor judgment shown by firms receiving bailout money .  "" We must stabilize the financial system in order to strengthen our economy and create jobs , "" she said . "" We must also protect the American taxpayer from executives who would use their companies ' second chances as opportunities for private gain .  "" Because they could not use sound judgment in the use of taxpayer funds , these  executives will pay the Treasury in the form of this tax . ""  A similar proposal in the Senate would attempt to recoup bonuses by taxing both individuals and companies , but Rangel said House leaders decided against penalizing companies because they could simply ask for more taxpayer money .  Earlier Wednesday , President Obama also lashed out at the bonuses given to  executives , calling them "" outrageous . ""  "" People are right to be angry . I am angry . . . . People are rightly outraged about these particular bonuses , "" he said .  "" But just as outrageous is the culture that these bonuses are a symptom of , that has existed for far too long a situation where excess greed , excess compensation , excess risk taking have all made us vulnerable and left us holding the bag . ""  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
17705,17706,"Barack only needs to find the closest mirror to understand where the increase in racism and distrust in our over-reaching government originated. He is without a doubt, the most divisive President in the history of the United States of America. Dividing our nation will be his legacy President Barack Obama accused  right wing  talk radio and cable channels like Fox News of angering white people in America about the economy, arguing that it was actually doing really well under his administration.During his speech, Obama decried Republicans who campaigned on stopping  welfare queens  complaining about  makers and takers  and even referred to Mitt Romney s 47 percent comment. Their basic message is anti-government, anti-immigrant, anti-trade, and let s face it   it s anti-change,  Obama said, accusing them of lying just to oppose him. What they are saying just isn t true,  he said, before launching his own attempt at  mythbusting  narratives from conservative media.Obama complained that people failed to recognize that he was succeeding in improving the economy, cutting the deficit, and cutting spending. It s the story that is broadcast every day on some cable news stations, on right wing radio it s pumped into cars and bars and  halls all across America and right here in Elkhart,  he said.  If you re hearing that story all the time, you start believing it. It s no wonder people start thinking big government is the problem. Because of conservative radio, Obama argued,  White Americans think that reverse discrimination is as big a problem as discrimination against minorities. Obama argued they were wrong, since black unemployment was still twice as high as white unemployment and Hispanic women earned 55 cents for every dollar earned by a white man. Obama warned voters against listening to Trump s political argument. The one thing I can promise you is if we turn against each other based on divisions of race and religion if we fall for a bunch of okey-doke just because it sounds funny or the tweets are provocative, then we re not going to build on the progress we started. At one point, Obama stuttered repeatedly when speaking about Trump.Our President without a teleprompter:weblink made his speech at Elkhart, Indiana, where a majority of voters in the county voted against him in the 2012 presidential election. One person in the crowd shouted  one more time!  suggesting that she wanted Obama to run again for office.  No I can t do that,  Obama said.  The Constitution prohibits it but more importantly Michelle prohibits it.  Via: Breitbart News",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
17722,17723,"After a hugely successful exhibit in New York and the installation to be in Los Angeles starting December 17th , the Islamic State (  ) has agreed to surrender if the  icon apartment tours the Middle East .   member Sherif Al quasar told Al Jazeera , "" We love that show ! The wacky neighbor Kramer , we can all relate to that .  "" The Soup Nazi episode is my favorite . ""  The surrender condition was voted on by  members and they agreed , Seinfeld : The Apartment art exhibit would be worth stopping the bloodshed and murder .  The  asked the Seinfeld exhibitors permission to use their installation in the surrender agreement to which  agreed .  Each  member will be allowed to hang ' in Jerry ' s apartment for 1 hour . Several top  leaders will also receive a signed headshot of Julia Louis Dreyfus .  Raise Your Enthusiasm  Co creator of the Seinfeld show , Larry David , was excited his show was bringing peace to the Middle East . "" Who would have thought a show created by two Jews about nothing would bring down a Muslim extremist group . I mean , that ' s pretty , pretty , pretty good . ""  Asked if David would attend the exhibit in Baghdad he replied , "" Uhh , I don ' t think so . All that sand everywhere . The sun . No , it ' s not for me . What is that , a 20 hour flight ? Maybe next time .  "" I ' ve seen the show ' s set before , do I really need to travel halfway around the world to see it again ? Seven years working on it was enough for me . ""  ",satire,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,fake,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
17723,17724,"One need look no further than the Nielsen Top 25 to see that funny fare is doing some serious damage this fall  season .  Led by "" Two and a Half Men "" on  and featuring no less than three newcomers  ' "" 2 Broke Girls , "" Fox ' s "" New Girl "" and  ' s "" Last Man Standing "" sitcoms have dominated the Top 10 scripted programs in the weekly rankings ( based on delivery of the advertiser coveted 18 49 demographic ) .  "" It ' s been a while since that ' s been the case , "" says Kelly Kahl , senior executive vice president of  Primetime . "" At the end of the day , it does seem like there is some sort of groundswell right now . ""   claims five of eight highly ranked sitcoms . The network ' s three other hits are "" How I Met Your Mother , "" "" Big Bang Theory , "" and "" Mike and Molly . "" "" New Girl , "" "" Last Man Standing "" ( which debuted to 13 million viewers ) and  ' s Emmy adorned "" Modern Family "" round out the crowd . "" People forget sometimes that comedies are supposed to be fun , but a lot of the comedies are bringing the funny this fall , "" Kahl says . "" And when you do that , the audience is there for it . ""  The audience also has been there for cable comedies , with  ' s "" Curb Your Enthusiasm "" and  ' s "" It ' s Always Sunny in Philadelphia "" coming off all time highs , even in their eighth and seventh seasons , respectively .  TVLine : Hit series poised to kill off major character  Perhaps the biggest surprise of the fall is Fox ' s "" New Girl , "" which not only bowed to strong numbers but also built on its lead in , the buzz worthy "" Glee . "" That performance , which has continued throughout the newbie ' s run , even caught the ratings crunchers at Fox a bit by surprise .  "" Did we think we were going to get those numbers ? No , "" says Preston Beckman , Fox ' s executive vice president for strategic program planning and research . "" But we had a lot of positive signs . ""  Beckman says pilot testing indicated "" New Girl "" would be a potential four quadrant hit , meaning one that played well to audiences young and old , male and female . While preseason tracking put consumer awareness of the Zooey Deschanel fronted comedy at expected levels , Beckman says , "" The intent to view was consistently high . We knew we had a show here . ""  TVLine :  worth watching tonight  Beckman , who was at  during "" Friends "" fever , sees "" New Girl "" sharing  with that piece of Must See  . When creating an identifiable cast of characters , "" You either want to be those people , you are those people , or you remember being those people and if you can hit everybody , you have success , "" he says . "" That ' s what ' New Girl ' is . ""  Asked how it is that "" New Girl "" is even growing out of "" Glee , "" Beckman cites a good fit between the shows , as well as the 9 p . m . hour ' s older skewing competition ( reality juggernaut "" Dancing With the Stars "" included ) . To a 12 34 demographic that is ripe for the picking , Deschanel and friends offer "" a real alternative , "" he says .  Much can also be attributed to star power . Both "" 2 Broke Girls , "" starring wisecracking Kat Dennings and bubbly newcomer Beth Behrs , and "" New Girl "" have the "" sort of appealing characters the audiences love , ""  ' Kahl says . "" I don ' t think there ' s been a female lead sitcom in a while much less two that featured young , energetic characters . ""  TVLine : Spoilers on ' Glee , ' ' Gossip Girl , ' ' Bones , ' ' Vampire Diaries , ' '  , ' ' Castle ' and more !  At  , the good news expands to its older comedies . "" How I Met Your Mother , "" which leads into "" 2 Broke Girls "" on Monday nights , "" has kind of come out of nowhere "" to gain 30 in the demographic versus a year ago , Kahl says . Likewise , "" Two and a Half Men ' s "" performance netting more than 15 million total viewers at last count , despite replacing one of its leads , Charlie Sheen , with Ashton Kutcher "" is not something anybody could have forecast , "" Kahl says , "" and even ' Big Bang Theory ' is up "" on Thursdays .  One perspective Kahl offers on the trend is that in an era of bloated reality shows "" that are now two hours in length , "" with a half hour sitcom "" you get your laughs and you ' re done , and that is very appealing . ""  Speaking of unscripted programs , expanded editions of "" The X Factor "" coupled with Fox ' s commitment to post season Major League Baseball coverage led the network to pull its shiny "" New Girl "" off the schedule until November 1 .  Beckman has been down this road before , and to those who question the tactic , he says , "" You ' re thinking about this moment , when we have to think about a strategy for the whole year . "" So while some grumble at the breakout hit ' s brief  status , his attitude is this : better now than later .  "" I get into interesting discussions with my bosses about this , where I say , ' If you ' re telling me to put ( new episodes ) on now , you ' re going to flip out in January or March when I ' ve run out , "" he says with a laugh . "" It becomes choose your poison . ""  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
17748,17749,"Vatican court rejects journalist ' s bid to drop leaks charges  2015 11 24T08 : 20 : 41Z 2015 11 24T10 : 30 : 06Z Vatican court rejects journalist ' s bid to drop leaks chargesThe Associated Press The Associated Press  Italian journalists Gianluigi Nuzzi , left , and Emiliano Fittipaldi , leave the Vatican City from the Perugino gate , Tuesday , Nov . 24 , 2015 . The two Italian journalists who wrote books detailing Vatican mismanagement faced trial on Tuesday in a Vatican courtroom along with three people accused of leaking them the information in a case that has drawn scorn from media watchdogs . In the background , the dome of St . Peter ' s Basilica . (  Photo Gregorio Borgia )    (  ) ? A Vatican tribunal on Tuesday rejected a journalist ' s request to dismiss charges against him for publishing confidential documents as a trial opened in the Holy See ' s latest leaks scandal .  Journalists Emiliano Fittipaldi and Gianluigi Nuzzi are accused of having published books about Vatican waste , greed and mismanagement that were based in part on confidential Holy See documents . Alongside them in the courtroom Tuesday were three people , including a high ranking Vatican monsignor , accused of leaking them the information .  The trial opened amid appeals by media watchdog groups , including the Committee to Protect Journalists , Reporters Without Borders and the  , for the Vatican to drop the charges against the reporters , on the grounds that a free press is a fundamental human right .  The hearing was held in the intimate courtroom of the Vatican ' s criminal tribunal , decorated with a photo of Pope Francis facing the defendants and a crucifix behind the bench .  After the charges were read out , Fittipaldi asked to approach the bench and read out a statement to the four judges , saying he decided to show up out of respect for the court even though in Italy he would never have been accused of the charges he faces , much less put on trial .  He noted that he ' s not accused of publishing anything false or defamatory , merely news ? "" an activity that is protected and guaranteed by the Italian constitution , by the European Convention on Human Rights and by the Universal Declaration on Human Rights . ""  Fittipaldi ' s book "" Avarice , "" and Nuzzi ' s book "" Merchants in the Temple , "" both published earlier this month , detail waste and mismanagement in the Vatican administration , the greed of some cardinals and bishops and the resistance Pope Francis is facing in trying to clean it up .  Both books were based on documents produced by a reform commission Francis appointed to get a handle on the Vatican ' s financial holdings and propose reforms so that more money could be given to the poor .  The three other people on trial were affiliated with the commission : Monsignor Angelo Lucio Vallejo Balda was its No . 2 Francesca Chaouqui was a member and outside public relations expert and Nicola Maio was Balda ' s assistant .  All three are accused of forming a criminal organization and of procuring and leaking confidential documents . Nuzzi and Fittipaldi are accused of publishing those documents and of "" soliciting and exercising pressure , above all on Vallejo Balda , to obtain the documents and other reserved news , "" according to prosecutors .  In his statement , Fittipaldi said the accusations against him were so vague that he couldn ' t defend himself against them , noting that prosecutors haven ' t even spelled out which documents he ' s alleged to have obtained illicitly .  His lawyer , Lucia Musso , issued a formal motion to dismiss the charges against him on those grounds .  Contesting Fittipaldi ' s motion , Assistant Prosecutor Roberto Zannotti said freedom of the press wasn ' t on trial but rather the "" illicit behavior "" of the journalists in obtaining the information .  After some 45 minutes of deliberations , the president of the tribunal , Judge Giuseppe Della Torre , rejected Fittipaldi ' s motion . The trial resumes Monday with testimony from the defendants .  The two journalists have described the trial as "" Kafka esque "" given that they only saw the court file a few hours before trial began . Nuzzi said he only met his lawyer on Tuesday morning for the first time . The five were indicted Friday .  "" In Italy , we ' re slow with justice , but here maybe we ' re a bit too quick , "" Nuzzi quipped to reporters during a break in the hearing .  The two reporters face up to eight years in prison if convicted . Since Fittipaldi and Nuzzi are Italian citizens , any sentence would presumably involve an extradition request . Both have said they believed no Italian judge would extradite them given the free speech protections journalists enjoy in Italy .  The journalists deny the pressure accusation but acknowledge that they , like all journalists , obtained information and published it . Chaouqui has denied wrongdoing and was allowed to avoid detention after she cooperated with investigators . Vallejo Balda , who is in Vatican detention , and Maio haven ' t responded publicly to the accusations .  Vallejo Balda told reporters he was doing "" very well "" and felt "" protected "" inside the Vatican cell . As the secretary of the reform commission , he made some enemies in seeking to get a handle on the true value of the Vatican ' s financial holdings .  The Vatican in 2013 criminalized the leaking of confidential information and publishing news from that information after Nuzzi wrote a blockbuster book detailing the corruption , intrigue and petty turf battles that bedevil parts of the Vatican . Some say the scandal had a role in Pope Benedict  ' s decision to resign .  Copyright 2015 The Associated Press . All rights reserved . This material may not be published , broadcast , rewritten or redistributed .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
17760,17761,"A team of zoo keepers in Sydney channelled their animal instincts and hammed it up in front of the camera in a series of pictures that have gone viral .  The tongue in cheek snaps of staff at Symbio Wildlife Park in Helensburgh , about 50kms south of Sydney , have found their way into news feeds and timelines across the globe .  The first picture was of four keepers mimicking a quarter of marmoset monkeys , and has now expanded to include recreations of their favourite kangaroo , koala and tiger poses .  Staff at Symbio Wildlife Park in Helensburgh ,  , strike their favourite animal poses .  Staff at the family operated wildlife park said the idea came after a recent visit from Socceroo star and Asian Cup hero Tim Cahill .  ' Our keepers have had some fun re enacting some of our favourite animal ' perfectly timed photos ' at the park , ' a spokesman said .  Staff at the family operated wildlife park said the idea came after a recent visit from Socceroos star and Asian Cup hero Tim Cahill .  After the football star swung by the park , general manager Matt Radnidge set about bringing the snaps to life .  A Symbio Wildlife Park spokesman said the pictures have provided the park with priceless exposure .  General manager Matt Radnidge helped staff members bring their photo ideas to life .  A Symbio Wildlife Park spokesman said the pictures have provided the park with priceless exposure .  The first picture was of four keepers mimicking a quarter of marmoset monkeys , and has now expanded to include recreations of their favourite kangaroo , koala and tiger poses .  The photos have received more than 5000 likes on social media , and have even generated a ' tribute ' picture from the Forever Wild Exotic Animal Sanctuary in California ,  .  ' Our keepers have had some fun re enacting some of our favourite animal ' perfectly timed photos ' at the park , ' the spokesman said .  ' And the photos have sure been a hit with the public worldwide . '  The photos have received more than 5000 likes on social media , and have even generated a ' tribute ' picture from the Forever Wild Exotic Animal Sanctuary in California ,  .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,present
17763,17764,"The Washington Post reported late last week that there is growing acceptance among Republicans , including the Washington and financial elite , that Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are the two candidates most likely to become the party s nominee . And as a result ,  power brokers and financiers are now trying to cozy up to Trump in various ways .  Spencer Zwick , the national finance chairman for Mitt Romney s 2012 campaign , told the Post , A lot of donors are trying to figure their way into Trump s orbit . There is a growing feeling among many that he may be the guy , so people are certainly seeing if they can find a home over there .  The Hill reported this morning on a similar dynamic unfolding within the  donor class , which is quietly coming around to the idea of Trump as the Republican nominee .  While many major Republican donors still cannot abide the idea of Trump as their party s 2016 standard bearer ? and some remain flat out in denial about the strength of his candidacy ? interviews with  business owners and CEOs in six states suggest shifting attitudes toward the controversial billionaire .  The article quoted a California based hotel developer saying , A lot of my friends have really come around and are now saying they are going to support him . These are corporate leaders .  The  of a Connecticut based security company added , Early on , many of my friends and associates , who have supported establishment candidates in the past , spoke of Trump as a joke . They have recently changed their tune .  Obviously we re dealing with anecdotal evidence with reports like these , but the sheer volume of the evidence is getting harder to ignore . New York s Jon Chait highlighted related data points this morning showing signs of a party reconciling itself to Trump .  The Wall Street Journal editorial page , which once savaged him mercilessly as a mobbed up , un conservative demagogue , has changed its tune ( Mr Trump is a better politician than we ever imagined , and he is becoming a better candidate . ) . Right wing commentator Erick Erickson laments that many conservatives who don t like Trump don t want to burn bridges by going after him Rupert Murdoch has gone from calling him an embarrassment to praising Trump s alleged crossover appeal . George W . Bush s press secretary Ari Fleischer , who lacerated Trump as toxic , now calls him the likely nominee , as does former party chairman Michael Steele .  We talked on Friday about some related points . ? National Review s Rich Lowry noted this week , for example , that from his conversations , the  establishment s mood on Trump is moving from fear loathing to resignation rationalization . (  s Chris Hayes added ? soon after that he s heard the same thing . )  Slate s Jamelle Bouie added , I nstead of brushing Trump aside , Republican elites are learning to love the Donald and accept him as a potential nominee , or at least a candidate they can work with .  This isn t to say that Trump is some kind of lock . He s not , and assumptions can change quickly once voters actually start showing up and registering their preferences .  But there s no denying the fact that the tenor and direction of the Republican conversation is fundamentally different than it was just a couple of months ago . It s tempting to think , at this stage , the  donor class and its allies would be scrambling , in hair on fire desperation , to bolster a rival like Ted Cruz in order to prevent Trump s success .  There s nothing to suggest anything close to this is actually happening .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
17764,17765,"Mojave , California Billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson on Monday unveiled the winged rocket his company developed to give paying customers a brief taste of space .  The first flight in 2011 after 18 months of testing will launch from a spaceport under construction in New Mexico , Branson said .  Another aircraft will carry the 60 foot long SpaceShipTwo to 60 , 000 feet above the Earth , where "" they will drop away and they will then go to 2 , 000 miles per hour in 10 seconds , where they get propelled into space , "" Branson said .  Its hybrid rocket motor still under development will reach a suborbital altitude high enough to reach the edges of space and weightlessness , according to Branson .  "" Once in space , passengers will unbuckle their seats , "" he said . "" There are enormous windows , which no spacecraft has had before , for them to look back at the Earth . They can float around and become astronauts . ""  The cabin , which seats six paying passengers , is 90 inches nearly 8 feet in diameter , which provides "" lots of room for zero G fun , "" Branson ' s Web site said .  The first voyage will carry Branson , his wife , mother and children , the entrepreneur said . "" Actually , that ' s my mum on the side a younger version of my mum on the side of the spaceship , "" he said .  After just a few minutes of space tourism , SpaceShipTwo will glide back to Earth , landing where it began the trip in New Mexico , he said .  About 80 , 000 people have placed their names on the waiting list for seats on SpaceShipTwo and its successors .  "" What we want to be able to do is bring space travel down to a price range where hundreds of thousands of people would be able to experience space , and they never dreamed that they could , "" Branson said .  He said he hopes the technology will lead to a new form of Earth travel , jetting people across oceans and continents faster through suborbital routes .  "" We would love at some stage , obviously subject to government approval , to take the engineers and start looking at shrinking the world , "" Branson said .  The spacecraft was based on the technology and carbon composite construction developed for SpaceShipOne , which won the Ansari X Prize in 2004 for the first privately funded human flight to the edge of space .  The reusable spacecraft is a joint effort by aviation designer Burt Rutan ' s Scaled Composites and Virgin Galactic , a space tourism venture that is a subsidiary of Branson ' s Virgin Group .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
17780,17781,"President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement Thursday marked a decisive win for Chief Strategist Stephen K. Bannon and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, as reported by the New York Times. [From the Times: advertisement",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
17800,17801,"BOGOTÁ, Colombia  —   A Colombian peace deal that the president and the country’s largest rebel group had signed just days before was defeated in a referendum on Sunday, leaving the fate of a   war suddenly uncertain. A narrow margin divided the    vote, with 50. 2 percent of Colombians rejecting the peace deal and 49. 8 percent voting in favor, the government said. The result was a deep embarrassment for President Juan Manuel Santos. Just last week, Mr. Santos had joined arms with leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or the FARC, who apologized on national television during a signing ceremony. The surprise surge by the “no” vote  —   nearly all major polls had indicated resounding approval  —   left the country in a dazed uncertainty not seen since Britain voted in June to leave the European Union. And it left the future of rebels who had planned to rejoin Colombia as civilians  —   indeed, the future of the war itself, which both sides had declared over  —   unknown. Both sides vowed they would not go back to fighting. Mr. Santos, who appeared humbled by the vote on television on Sunday, said the   that his government had signed with the  would remain in effect. He added that he would soon “convene all political groups,” especially those against the deal, “to open spaces for dialogue and determine how we will go ahead. ” Rodrigo Londoño, the  leader, who was preparing to return to Colombia after four years of negotiations in Havana, said he, too, was not interested in more war. “The  reiterates its disposition to use only words as a weapon to build toward the future,” he said in a statement. “With today’s result, we know that our challenge as a political party is even greater and requires more effort to build a stable and lasting peace. ” The question voters were asked was simple: “Do you support the final agreement to end the conflict and construct a stable and enduring peace?” But it was one that had divided this country for generations, as successive governments fought what seemed to be a war without an end and the Marxist  rebels dug into the forest for a hopeless insurgency. To many Colombians who had endured years of kidnappings and killings by the rebels, the agreement was too lenient. It would have allowed most    fighters to start lives as normal citizens, and rebel leaders to receive reduced sentences for war crimes. “There’s no justice in this accord,” said Roosevelt Pulgarin, 32, a music teacher who cast his ballot against the agreement on a rainy day at an elementary school in Bogotá, the capital. “If ‘no’ wins, we won’t have peace, but at least we won’t give the country away to the guerrillas. We need better negotiations. ” María Fernanda González, 39, an administrator at a telecommunications company who voted against the deal, said she simply did not trust the FARC. “Why didn’t they turn in their arms and tell the world what happened to the people they kidnapped, as a gesture during the talks?” she asked. Her household seemed to reflect the deep divides in Colombia, with her husband, Carlos Gallon, 42, an engineer, voting for the deal. Mr. Gallon said the country had no choice but to stop fighting. But still, he admitted, “I understand why she is voting no. ” The referendum result overturned a timetable intended to end the  insurgency within months. The rebels had agreed to immediately abandon their battle camps for 28 “concentration zones” throughout the country, where over the next six months they would hand over their weapons to United Nations teams. Under the agreement,    fighters were expected to be granted amnesty. Those suspected of being involved in war crimes would be judged in special tribunals with reduced sentences, many of which were expected to involve years of community service work, like removing land mines once planted by the FARC. On Sunday, the government said it had sent negotiators to Havana to begin discussing the next steps with the rebels. After the president’s statement that he was reaching out to opposition leaders in the Colombian Congress like former President Álvaro Uribe, experts predicted a potentially tortured process in which Mr. Uribe and others would seek harsher punishments for  members, especially those who had participated in the drug trade. “Everyone has said, including those who sided ‘no,’ that they could renegotiate the deal, but obviously that would have political challenges,” said César Rodríguez, the director of the Center for Law, Justice and Society, a nongovernmental organization in Colombia focusing on legal issues. “It was a small majority, but a valid majority, and that has consequences. ” On Sunday night, politicians who had strongly opposed the deal were already signaling that it was time to negotiate more stringent terms with the rebels. “We want to redo the process,” said Francisco Santos, a vice president under Mr. Uribe, who was against the deal but supports an eventual peace with the FARC. “In democracy, sometimes you win, but sometimes you lose. ” The war left brutal scars in Colombia. About 220, 000 people were killed in the fighting, and six million were displaced. An untold number of women were raped by fighters, and children were given Kalashnikov rifles and forced into battle. Unable to put down the insurgency, the government turned in the countryside to paramilitary groups run by men who became regional warlords. The state seemed swept aside in the fighting. In the end, the war lasted so long that it might have been difficult for many Colombians to forgive the FARC. “The adults that were born before the war now number very few,” said Juan Gabriel Vásquez, a novelist who voted for the deal. “As a society, we are a massive case of   stress, because we have grown up in the midst of fear, of anxiety, of the noise of war. ” Many people lost because of the outcome. Among them was President Santos, who had staked his legacy on the peace deal and had been rumored as a possible contender for the Nobel Peace Prize.  members, who had been on the run in the jungle for decades, saw their hopes of rejoining Colombia as political leaders, including 10 seats in Congress, suddenly dashed for the time being. Perhaps the biggest winner on Sunday was Mr. Uribe, the former president, and the Colombian far right, which had vowed to defeat the deal at the ballot box. Mr. Uribe had argued that the agreement was too lenient on the rebels, who he said should be prosecuted as murderers and drug traffickers. “Peace is exciting, the Havana agreement disappointing,” Mr. Uribe wrote on Twitter on Sunday after casting his “no” vote. In the end, a small majority of Colombians agreed with him.",true,news,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
17802,17803,"Ohio Governor John Kasich: Dreamers didn t choose to come here, but they made the best of it. We should welcome them   Ohio welcomes them Dreamers didn t choose to come here, but they made the best of it. We should welcome them   Ohio welcomes them. pic.twitter.com/gZKgsnIcgb  John Kasich (@JohnKasich) September 6, 2017Cleveland 19 reported:Ohio s outspoken Republican governor on Wednesday blasted President Donald Trump s decision to begin dismantling the Obama-era program protecting young immigrants brought into the country illegally.On   This Morning,  Gov. John Kasich said  putting kids, young people who are contributors in jeopardy  isn t the American way. This is not the America that we all love. This is a melting pot,  Kasich said.  And, by the way, if the Dreamers want to go somewhere and live? Come to Ohio. We want all the immigrants to come to Ohio, because we know how much they contribute to America. Kasich, a 2016 presidential rival, was reacting to Trump s plan to reject all new applications to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, and formally rescind the program.[ ]Kasich, the grandson of Czech and Croatian immigrants, observed on CBS:  I wouldn t be in America if it wasn t for immigration. Who knows? Maybe I d be the president of Croatia. Read more: Cleveleand 19",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present
17820,17821,"Donald Trump has not even taken office yet and Republicans are already launching a full-scale war on women s rights.Emboldened by the thought that Trump will only appoint anti-choice judges to the Supreme Court, Ohio Republicans tacked an amendment on a child abuse bill banning abortion six weeks after conception.Known as a fetal heartbeat measure, the amendment would be the most extreme anti-abortion law in the nation if Governor John Kasich signs it.Most women don t even know they are pregnant by the time six weeks passes, which means they would be forced to carry unwanted pregnancies to term. And that includes women who are raped since the amendment did not include an exemption for rape and incest.Ohio Senate President Keith Faber said his party made the move because Donald Trump won the election. A new president, new Supreme Court appointees change the dynamic, and there was consensus in our caucus to move forward,  Faber said.If Trump is able to replace deceased Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court, not much would change from when he was alive since Scalia was anti-choice himself. However, if Trump gets to replace a liberal like Ruth Bader Ginsburg, it could tip the scales and pave the way for a ruling that destroys Roe v. Wade, which ruled abortion constitutional by a 7-2 margin in 1973.In addition to the fetal heartbeat portion of the amendment, doctors would be imprisoned for performing an abortion after six weeks, which also flies in the face of the Supreme Court decision in Roe, which barred states from outlawing abortion until fetal viability around 22 to 24 weeks of pregnancy.Donald Trump is already a disaster for women s rights and reproductive health and he hasn t even taken office yet. And you can bet that other red states are going to be emboldened by his election as well so we will see more fetal heartbeat bills or worse over the next four years.Featured Image: Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
17835,17836,"Reuters) - The Palestinian cause will stay alive among Arabs until the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, the Syrian president s office said on Wednesday in response to U.S. President Donald Trump s Jerusalem decision.   The future of Jerusalem is not determined by a state or a president but is determined by its history and by the will and determination in the Palestinian cause,  President Bashar al-Assad s office said on an official social media feed.  ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
17836,17837,"Retired Army Gen . John Shalikashvili , who rose from being an Army draftee to serving as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff , has died of complications from a stroke , his executive assistant said Saturday . He was 75 .  Shalikashvili died Saturday at Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma , Washington , according to assistant Rachel McLain .  An open memorial service will be held on August 6 at the Tacoma Convention Center . A funeral will be held at a later date at Arlington National Cemetery .  Born in Poland in 1936 , Shalikashvili became the first foreign born chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1993 . He held the post until his retirement in 1997 , serving under former President Bill Clinton , who awarded Shalikashvili the Presidential Medal of Freedom .  Prior to that , he was  ' s 10th supreme allied commander in Europe .  "" The United States has lost a genuine soldier statesman whose extraordinary life represented the promise of America and the limitless possibilities that are open to those who choose to serve it , "" President Barack Obama said in a statement . "" From his arrival in the United States as a 16 year old Polish immigrant after the Second World War , to a young man who learned English from John Wayne movies , to his rise to the highest ranks of our military , Shali ' s life was an ' only in America ' story . ""  Shalikashvili was drafted into the Army in 1958 and rose through the ranks , serving in Vietnam from 1968 to 1969 and heading up the 1991 international relief operation that airlifted food to and provided protection for the Kurds in northern Iraq .  Obama said the general forged closer ties with Russia and improved the quality of life of U . S . service members and their families .  Shalikashvili was granted U . S . citizenship after his family immigrated to Peoria , Illinois , from southern Germany , where they had sought refuge after the 1944 Warsaw Uprising in Poland .  Shalikashvili suffered a stroke in 2004 , but continued to work in several capacities .  Most recently , he was in the news because of his support for a repeal of "" don ' t ask , don ' t tell , "" the ban of gays and lesbians serving openly in the U . S . military . He also had served as a visiting professor at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University .  The retired general is survived by his wife , Joan their son , Brant and other family members .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
17837,17838,"Satellite broadcast provider DirecTV has been inundated with new subscribers following Monday ' s introduction of  ShutOut , a special new sports entertainment package that allows customers to miss 100 percent of National Hockey League programming .  For a one time sign up charge of 49 . 99 and a 7 . 99 monthly fee , DirecTV viewers can completely ignore games from all 30  teams , not merely those matchups that are already blacked out in their area due to low ticket sales .  "" We ' ve been working on this for a while now , and I think I speak for everyone in our Sports department when I say we couldn ' t be happier with the results , "" DirecTV programming director Ryan Sanford said . "" Now , with  ShutOut , people can enjoy all 1 , 230 professional hockey games each year the way they were meant to be enjoyed : by not seeing them at all . ""  According to DirecTV , the package also denies viewers access to the  preseason , the playoffs , and the Stanley Cup Finals at no extra charge . For an additional fee , viewers in certain smaller , hockey obsessed markets such as North Dakota and Boston can also opt to have college hockey removed from the programming menu .  "" Fifty bucks to watch a total of zero hockey games for a whole year is a complete no brainer , "" said Montclair ,  resident and new DirecTV customer Anne Walsch , who bought  ShutOut as an anniversary present for her husband , Bob , a Philadelphia native who grew up in Flyers country and claims he "" never , ever want s to see even a single second of hockey "" again . "" I was happy to see I didn ' t have to pay extra to have hockey games eliminated from my premium channels as well . It ' s a really well thought out package . ""  DirecTV began promoting  ShutOut as part of their overall sports programming in late September , advertising it heavily during football , basketball , and baseball games and  races in order to build excitement for the service before the hockey season began in early October . According to Sanford , there was initial disappointment when customers heard that ShutOut would not be ready for the season opener .  "" We weren ' t trying to increase demand or anything like that , "" said Sanford , who noted that DirecTV customers who signed up for ShutOut received a refund for any early  games they had been unable to ignore . "" It simply wasn ' t ready . Test market viewers sometimes still caught a glimpse of hockey while changing channels , and we hadn ' t yet figured out a way to reliably block  highlights from being shown on sports news shows . But we ' re very happy with the way it turned out . ""  Sanford claimed the early success of the package was due in no small part to the decision to advertise it heavily during the  opening weekend with a combination of television spots , sponsored segments , and on ice advertising .  "" There were some fans who didn ' t appreciate that very much , ""  commissioner Gary Bettman said . "" But it was the largest advertising buy we had . Frankly , between that and the licensing and rebroadcasting money they pay to not show our games , it ' s the best thing that ' s happened to the league in years . ""  As of Wednesday ,  ShutOut was DirecTV ' s most popular new product . Sports bars are impatiently waiting the introduction of  ShutOutPro , which will allow proprietors to block hockey games on up to 28 televisions at a time . A solid 68 percent of new subscribers list the ability to block out hockey as their primary reason for choosing DirecTV . The company is considering making the package the foundation of a new deluxe sports programming bundle that would give viewers the ability to block not just the  , but  and the  as well .  "" I have Time Warner right now , and I ' m always going over to my buddy Dave ' s place to ignore hockey , "" Brooklyn ,  resident Carlos Uselmann said . "" Avoiding hockey makes DirecTV so much better than regular cable that it ' s almost ridiculous . If they let me avoid other sports on demand , I ' d sign up tomorrow . ""  ",satire,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,fake,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
17858,17859,"A young Israeli soldier was killed as part of a macabre bargaining ploy , the Israeli military said Sunday .  The Palestinian who killed him knew the soldier , and wanted to use the body to secure the release of the Palestinian ' s brother , who is in prison for involvement in terror attacks , the Israel Defense Forces said .  Sgt . Tomer Hazan , 20 , went missing Friday . Concerned , his family phoned police .  Soon , Israeli authorities brought in Nadal Amer , a 42 year old Palestinian from the West Bank village of Beit Amin , for questioning , the  said .  The two men had once worked at the same restaurant .  "" Amer confessed to leading the soldier to an open area , where he murdered the soldier and concealed his body in a water well , "" the  said in a statement .  Amer said he wanted to trade Hazan ' s body for his brother ' s freedom , the statement said .  In 2003 , Amer ' s brother began serving a lengthy prison sentence for "" involvement in several terror attacks . ""  Amer led Israeli troops to the body north of the village of Siniria , according to the  .  "" Additional detentions of individuals suspected for involvement in the incident are anticipated , "" the  said .  A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted that the prime minister spoke to Hazan ' s family , saying , "" This crime proves that the fight against terror never stops . ""  "" This is a horrific terrorist attack carried out by one murderer trying to free another , ""  spokesman Lt . Col . Peter Lerner said in a statement . "" The  will continue to battle the agents of evil wherever they are , to safeguard the Israeli way of life . ""  But the Israeli paper Ma ' ariv quoted Amer ' s mother as saying , "" I still don ' t believe he did it . He was a good kid who got mixed up in stupid things . ""  Ma ' ariv also published a statement from the head of Beit Amin , Taki Omar , emphasizing his community ' s ties with its Jewish neighbors and condemning the killing .  "" The village must not be given a bad name because of one crazy person , "" Omar said .  In a separate incident , an Israeli soldier died after he was hit by hostile gunfire in Hebron , the  said Sunday . The soldier was participating in "" routine activities defending the Jewish Neighborhood of Hebron and approximately 11 , 000 civilians visiting the area during the holiday of Sukkot "" when he was hit , the  said .  The wounded soldier later died at a hospital in Israel . The  launched a search for the attackers and movement in the vicinity of the shooting was restricted , the  said .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
17874,17875,"Russia ' s Lavrov Denies Offering Asylum to Syria ' s Bashar Assad  Russia has not asked Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down , nor has it offered him political asylum if he quits , Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday .  The denial came as the Kremlin ' s top diplomat faced questions from reporters about Moscow ' s international relations , including its role in Syria peace talks and the Ukraine conflict .  Asked about reports that Russia had demanded Assad stand down in exchange for asylum , Lavrov responded : "" In both cases , the answer is : ' No ' . This is untrue . . . No one asked about political asylum , and no one offered anything of the kind . ""  Copy this code to your website or blog  In opening remarks , Lavrov pledged that Russia would continue to pursue an "" independent "" foreign policy and said Russia ' s military intervention had brought a "" clearer picture "" to Syria ' s civil war .  "" We have helped to break the trend in the country and narrow the area controlled by terrorists , "" he said , referring to armed opposition groups backed by the West .  He also called for Kurds to be invited to forthcoming peace talks on Syria , calling their absence "" unfair . ""  Sergei Lavrov called for a reset in relations with Washington .     "" How can one talk about political reforms in Syria while ignoring the main Kurdish political party ? If we fail to invite this group it will be a grave mistake , "" Lavrov said . "" It is unacceptable to play to the hand of the single member of the  Security Council that decided to leave the Kurds behind . ""  Without naming countries , he said it was "" capricious "" that some parties in the peace talks had refused to negotiate , and criticized demands ? made by countries including the U . S . ? that Assad stand down as part of any deal .  "" When there are attempts to put conditions for collective fight against terrorism , conditions that are irrelevant , such as ' if you agree to a regime change , for example , in Syria , then we will for real begin to fight terrorism collectively ' . . . that is , I believe , the biggest mistake , "" Lavrov said .  He also called for a new "" reset "" in relations between Russia and the United States , which plunged after the Ukraine crisis , but said there was no question of returning Crimea to Kiev control .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
17883,17884,"Osh , Kyrgyzstan The first U . N . aid plane arrived Wednesday in Uzbekistan to help the thousands of people who have fled ethnic clashes in neighboring Kyrgyzstan , officials with a U . N . Refugee agency said Wednesday .  The cargo plane carrying about 800 lightweight tents will add to a growing effort to try and aid the estimated 100 , 000 people who have fled fighting in Kyrgyzstan for refugee camps in Uzbekistan . Several countries , including the United States , Germany and Russia , also have sent aid .  The International Committee of the Red Cross has said tens of thousands more people are displaced within Kyrgyzstan and the scope of the humanitarian crisis is "" immense . ""  U . N . Secretary General Ban Ki moon called Uzbekistan ' s President Islam Karimov from London on Wednesday , thanking Karimov for his help with the humanitarian situation , according to a statement from Ban ' s office . The secretary general promised assistance to affected people in southern Kyrgystan and those seeking refuge in Uzbekistan , and said he intended to consult with key members of the U . N . Security Council upon his return to New York later Wednesday .  Relative calm continued in Osh , Kyrgyzstan ' s second largest city , Wednesday . But still sporadic gunfire could be heard .  The Central Asian nation ' s news agency 24 . kg reported that the death toll had risen to 179 , a number that some observers discounted as low . Kyrgyzstan ' s interim government had declared Wednesday a day of mourning for families of the many killed and thousands wounded in the violence that started last week .  The government had sent extra security forces into Osh and Jalal Abad , the hardest hit cities , on Tuesday to help calm the situation . The  says it was able to visit the main detention center in Osh Wednesday for the first time since the crisis started and has delivered food provided by the World Food Program to around 1 , 000 detainees .  The  says it has 3 , 000 metric tons ( about 6 . 6 million pounds ) of food mainly wheat flour and oil in ready for distribution in Kyrgyzstan . The  says that ' s enough to feed 87 , 000 people for two months and as long as its personnel can get safe and unimpeded access to those in need , they ' re prepared to bring the food .  However , the  says transporting aid from the Kyrgyz capital , Bishkek , is difficult , because the roads aren ' t safe and commercial trucking companies are reluctant to risk their vehicles .  The pressing issue for many aid groups Wednesday was trying to deal with refugee camps that were overwhelmed with refugees . The  is particularly concerned with hygiene , "" with many people drinking from irrigation ditches and reports of spreading dysentery , ""  Anna Nelson said .  The clashes are part of the most serious outbreak of ethnic violence in the former Soviet republic since 1990 , when hundreds of people died in skirmishes between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz in Osh .  It was not clear what sparked the violence , which came weeks after bloody protests removed Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiev from office . Colville said there ' s a strong consensus in the Kyrgyz government that this wasn ' t a spontaneous interethnic clash , but one that was orchestrated and deliberately provocative .  "" It ' s very hard to confirm anything for sure , but cross checking seems to indicate a planned , provocative act . The Kyrgyz government is naming names , but  is not in a position to name names or point fingers , "" said Colville .  In recent days , more than 100 , 000 ethnic Uzbeks have fled the clashes with ethnic Kyrgyz , into camps in Uzbekistan , according to Uzbekistan ' s Foreign Ministry .  The flow of people was so overwhelming that Uzbekistan had close some of its border crossing areas leaving many standing at the border on the Kyrgyzstan side of a barbed wire fence .  Many ethnic Uzbeks that have remained in Kyrgyzstan have had to hide out in abandoned buildings .  Red Cross workers came across one mosque outside Jalal Abad where an estimated 6 , 000 frightened people have gathered for safety .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
17884,17885,"Twenty two years later , she has a name .  The little girl known only as "" Baby Hope , "" whose abused and decomposed body was found in an ice chest by the side of a New York roadway in 1991 , is 4 year old Anjelica Castillo , New York police announced Saturday .  Police also announced the arrest of the man they say killed Anjelica and dumped her body along the Henry Hudson Parkway . The man , Conrado Juarez , 52 , is the girl ' s cousin . He has been charged with murder .  Detectives from the New York Police Department ' s Cold Case Apprehension Squad never stopped searching for answers in the case . Each year , on the anniversary of the July 23 , 1991 , discovery of her body , they would canvass nearby neighborhoods , handing out fliers and asking people for information .  Who was the girl ? Who was her family ? Who killed her ?  It was an anonymous tip called in after the latest canvass in July that helped crack the case , Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said . It led detectives to Anjelica ' s sister , now an adult from there , they identified the woman believed to be the girl ' s mother , he said .  "" That individual ' s actions were the catalyst for this most recent lead , "" Kelly said , referring to Juarez ' s arrest . He is Anjelica ' s cousin on her father ' s side .  Police arrested Juarez after questioning him near the Manhattan restaurant where he worked as a dishwasher , Kelly said . He was expressionless as police led him in handcuffs past reporters .  Juarez admitted to the crime Saturday morning , Kelly said .  "" Today ,  investigators have given young Anjelica her due justice , "" said Chief of Detectives Phil Pulaski .  Construction workers found the body of Anjelica who was never reported missing bound and in a garbage bag , hidden under some soda cans inside a blue and white cooler . She had been smothered and sexually molested , and her body was so badly decomposed that several sketches were made to suggest what she looked like .  Two years after she was found , the girl was laid to rest in a donated plot , buried in a white dress bought by a detective ' s wife , with a tombstone paid for by detectives . "" Because we care "" is the inscription at the bottom of the tombstone , Pulaski said .  Juarez , who was 30 at the time of the crime , said he went to an apartment in Queens shared by seven of his relatives and saw Anjelica in the hallway , Kelly said . Juarez told police he smothered her with a pillow while raping her .  When the girl went motionless , Juarez told police , he summoned his sister from another room . It was the sister who told Juarez to get rid of the body and who provided the cooler , Kelly said . He then "" folded the girl in half , "" tied her , placed her in a garbage bag inside the cooler and placed soda cans on top of her body , said New York Assistant District Attorney Melissa Mourges during Juaraez ' s arraignment Saturday night .  Juarez and his sister hailed a cab to Manhattan , dropped the cooler off in a wooded area near the parkway , and then went their separate ways , authorities said .  The sister , Balvena Juarez Ramirez , is deceased , Kelly said .  Retired Det . Jerry Giorgio , who worked on the case from the start , said he was "" elated "" at news of the arrest .  "" You know the expression , ' I ' m on cloud nine ' ? Well , that ' s where I am right now , "" Giorgio told reporters .  Changes in forensic science also helped propel the investigation , Kelly said . The girl ' s body was exhumed in 2006 , and a  profile was built in 2011 . Earlier this month the office of the chief medical examiner made a  match between the girl and her mother .  From there , investigators constructed a family tree , and the trail led them to Juarez , Kelly said .  Kelly praised the "" phenomenal persistence "" of the detectives who originally worked on the case and those now working with the cold case squad . "" They were unrelenting , "" he said .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
17892,17893,"Griffey was one of the game ' s greats based on his talent and his production . He could hit for average and power , plus he played Gold Glove defense in centerfield . But he became an icon because he could do all that with so much style . Ranked No . 1 on his style list ? His backward cap .  That ' s why when Griffey is enshrined in Cooperstown come July with Mike Piazza , that backward hat should be too . It should be right there , on his plaque , as the perfect way to remember the player that ushered in a new generation of the game . ?  Yes , this is a radical idea . No , it probably won ' t happen ( for a number of reasons and we ' ll get to those ) . But there are two indelible images of Ken Griffey Jr . One is that home run follow through . Majestic to this day . The other is The Kid with the backward cap . ?  If you think traditionalists didn ' t like Griffey wearing his cap backward in  , you can be sure they ' d fume at the idea of it on his Cooperstown plaque . The Hall of Fame isn ' t the most progressive institution in this land , so it ' s hard to imagine the decision makers there even entertaining such a notion .  There ' s another reason even Griffey might say the backward cap is a bad idea : He stands to be the first player inducted into Cooperstown in a Seattle Mariners cap . Other Mariners have made it ? Randy Johnson last year , for instance ? but they ' ve worn other caps . ? All parties involved will be happy to see the Mariners finally get on a Hall of Fame plaque .  Related : ? Ken Griffey Jr . , Mike Piazza elected to Baseball Hall of Fame  Still , the memory that many of us will have of Griffey involves that cap turned to the back . Heck , it ' s why some fans who grew up in the ' 90s started wearing their caps backward to begin with . It ' s a part of his legacy that ? like his dash home in the 1995 playoffs or slamming into the Kingdome wall to make a catch ? we won ' t forget .  Even if it ' s not on his Hall of Fame plaque , Griffey should stand up on the stage on induction weekend and turn his cap around for us one more time . If some people don ' t like it , so what . ? To Griffey ' s fans , it would be a reminder that we ' d never seen a player like him before .  Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports . Have a tip ? Email him at mikeozstew yahooweblink or follow him on Twitter ! Follow MikeOz  ",true,text,validation,Football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
17899,17900,"Senior MPs , lawyers and campaigners yesterday called for an end to the bail system which can leave someone languishing on police bail for months without being charged .  They said the use of pre charge bail was a ' perversion of justice ' which has left more than 70 , 000 on police bail as suspects without knowing if they will ever be charged .  Pre charge bail was introduced in 1984 under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act to allow police to put restrictions on individuals before they have enough evidence to charge .  Comedian Jim Davidson ( left ) spent eight months on bail before being told he would face no charges over separate sex abuse allegations and broadcaster Paul Gambaccini ( right ) was on bail for nearly a year  Among those who have been left in limbo by the system have been broadcaster Paul Gambaccini , on bail for nearly a year before being told there would be no action against him , and comedian Freddie Starr , 19 months on bail before the case against him was dropped . Both were arrested under the Operation Yewtree sex abuse inquiry .  Comedian Jim Davidson spent eight months on bail before being told he would face no charges over separate sex abuse allegations .  Last week former Sun journalist Clodagh Hartley was cleared by an Old Bailey jury of making unlawful payments to a tax official after spending two and a half years awaiting trial , 12 months of them on pre charge bail .  A letter signed by 25 figures , including one of the country ' s most senior judges and a cross party group of MPs , called for Home Secretary Teresa May to change the law to limit pre charge bail .  Comedian Freddie Starr was bailed for 19 months before the case against him was dropped  They say police should not be able to put someone on bail without charge for more than 28 days without applying to a magistrate for an extension .  The signatories included former Appeal Judge and President of the Family Division Lady Elizabeth Butler Sloss Tory MPs David Davis , Dominic Raab , Nigel Evans and Sir Edward Garnier LibDem  John Hemming and peer Brian Paddick and Labour peer and civil rights lawyer Baroness Helena Kennedy .  Other supporters included campaigner Peter Tatchell prison reformer Frances Crook Green  Caroline Lucas and military author Andy McNab .  Mr McNab said : ' The police can hold people on pre charge bail forever . The mental and physical effects can be huge . I know a lot of people who have suffered from post traumatic stress disorder . This can be even more stressful than the effects of war .  ' Soldiers are trained to take action . If you are in operations you are in control . But in this situation you can ' t take any action . You just have to sit there waiting . It is madness . If the police want more than 28 days they should go to a judge to ask for it . If someone has done something wrong then they should be charged and if they are guilty then they should be punished . But to be left dangling is just wrong . '  The letter says it is a scandal that 72 , 000 people are on pre charge bail and more than 5 , 000 of them have been on bail for more than six months .  Mrs May opened a question over pre charge bail in October when she told the College of Policing conference that the Government would consider a statutory time limit .  The longest time anyone is thought to have been held on pre charge bail is three and a half years while the Metropolitan Police delayed a decision to bring charges .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
17904,17905,"Washington Depending on who is talking , the Tea Party movement is either an extremist force dividing Republicans or a group of disgruntled taxpayers setting the government on a proper course .  The conservative political force has shaken up this year ' s congressional elections , backing candidates who defeated Republican incumbents and other mainstream  candidates in primaries across the country .  Sal Russo , chief strategist for the Tea Party Express the most organized and visible of the movement ' s factions told the  program "" Face the Nation "" that his group is a political action committee comprising members limited to donations of up to 5 , 000 with no corporate contributions allowed .  "" We ' re the purest form of democracy , I think , in the Tea Party movement , in the sense that when we want to do something , we don ' t have any money to start with , we have to send an e mail out to our people and say , ' Hey , we think Sharron Angle is going to be a great candidate in Nevada , and do you want to get behind her ? ' "" Russo said Sunday .  The end result , he said , would be the election of candidates "" willing to stand up for more responsible fiscal policy in Washington . ""  "" We ' ve turned the political system on its head , "" Russo said . "" And what ' s done that is that millions of Americans , who , many of them , had been sitting out the political process , have gotten involved in the campaigns . ""  Republican primary victories by Tea Party backed nominees over mainstream contenders such as Alaska Sen . Lisa Murkowski and nine term Delaware Rep . Mike Castle end up giving Democratic contenders a chance to win previously out of reach races in November , he said .  "" When the Tea Party becomes the gatekeeper of a Republican primary , we end up with contests we never dreamed of , "" Durbin said . "" Who would have guessed that today we would be taking an honest look at Alaska , Delaware , and Kentucky , where we clearly have races where the Democrats can win ? ""  Durbin also cited Florida , where Republican Marco Rubio ' s Senate candidacy with Tea Party support caused Gov . Charlie Crist to wage an independent campaign , throwing the race into what Durbin called "" turmoil . ""  "" I think that shows the Tea Party position is too extreme for most voters , and I think we ' re going to do well in those states , "" Durbin said . "" People have to ask themselves , is this what we really want in the United States Senate ? ""  Rubio , interviewed on the  program , said he and the Tea Party movement reflected the "" sentiment in mainstream America that Washington is broken . ""  "" We don ' t want to change America , "" he said in reference to President Barack Obama ' s 2008 campaign theme and agenda . "" We want to fix things that are wrong in America . ""  He advocated bedrock conservative positions , including a balanced budget amendment to the U . S . Constitution , banning congressional earmarks and imposing term limits on Congress members .  However , his stance was more moderate on an issue important to the crucial senior citizen population in Florida reforming Social Security to ensure its future solvency .  Rubio said benefits for current retirees or those close to retirement should remain fixed , and the system must survive for the younger and future generations without bankrupting the country .  "" We ' re going to have to accept there are going to be some changes , "" he said , mentioning a possible future increase in the retirement age for eligibility .  Also on the program , another Tea Party backed nominee Colorado Republican Senate candidate Ken Buck expressed similar conservative credentials .  "" I see myself as part of a group of candidates who have been elected in this country because of frustration with what ' s happening in Washington , D . C . , "" Buck said .  "" We ' re going there not to be part of the establishment , not to be part of what we consider the problem in Washington , D . C . , but to get there and to reduce spending , to promote ideas like a balanced budget amendment and term limits and ideas that have been talked about for a while , "" he said .  The Tea Party backed candidates interviewed Sunday made no mention of the "" Pledge to America "" document released last week by House Republicans as a proposal for how they would govern if in power .  Democrats criticized the economic focused program that includes reduced spending , lower taxes and other bedrock  positions as a rehash of failed past policies .  In an editorial Saturday , the New York Times called the document "" a bid to co opt the Tea Party by a Republican leadership that wants to sound insurrectionist but is the same old Washington elite . ""  "" Not only are the players the same , the policies are the same , "" the editorial said . "" Just more tax cuts for the rich and more deficit spending . We find it hard to believe that even the most disaffected voters will be taken in . ""  Conservative Rep . Mike Pence of Indiana told the  program "" Meet the Press "" that the "" Pledge to America "" represented a return to Republican roots .  "" Republicans didn ' t just lose our majority in 2006 , we lost our way , "" Pence said . "" We walked away from the principles of fiscal discipline and reform that minted our governing majority back in 1980 and again in 1994 . And the American people walked away from us . ""  Conceding that the proposals in the document are "" not necessarily new , "" Pence said it represented a commitment to "" important first steps in this Congress to steer our national government back to "" basic principles and practices .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
17916,17917,"Kuwait , Iraq say  will not cut crude output alone    : Love visual aspect of news ? Enjoy this exclusive slideshows treat !    : The Kuwaiti and Iraqi oil ministers said on Tuesday that  will not cut production unless producers outside the cartel do the same , despite the plunge in crude prices .  ""  cannot cut its production unless there is a similar reduction by producers outside  , "" Kuwait ' s acting oil minister , Anas al Saleh , told reporters on the sidelines of an oil conference .  "" I don ' t see any logic in  cutting production while non  ( countries ) don ' t cut , "" Saleh said .  Iraqi Oil Minister Adel Abdulmahdi said Baghdad was "" ready to cooperate "" on cutting production to raise oil prices , but only if non  producers did so as well .  The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has refused to cut production despite a drop in oil prices to 13 year lows .  Led by Gulf producers , the cartel is refusing to reduce crude output as it seeks to drive less competitive players , including  shale producers , out of the market .  Oil prices rose above 30 a barrel on Tuesday after a brief dip as the market was beset with worries about the global supply glut .  The Iraqi minister told the conference that at the current crude price , the majority of producers are selling oil at lower than the cost price .  He warned that if the energy crisis continues for a long time , prices could rebound strongly .  "" If the energy crisis continues for a long period and investments drop , the price rebound will be sudden and strong , "" Abdulmahdi said .  "" The problem will become that of demand rather than oversupply . ""  The minister said that the price of oil is expected to rise gradually to around 50 a barrel in the second half of this year .  Nizar al Adsani ,  of national oil firm Kuwait Petroleum Corp . , said investment in global exploration and production dropped 20 percent in 2015 from 850 billion the previous year .  It is projected to drop 18 percent more this year , Adsani said .  Stay on top of business news with The Economic Times App . Download it Now !  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
17920,17921,"Wouldn t it be great if the Obama administration came out with something regarding the terror risk revealed by the FBI? officials sent out a memo warning of terrorist attacks at Super Bowl 50 that could take out the entire fiber-optics system that feeds the arena. If the fiber-optic cables get cut, it impacts financial institutions, impacts Silicon Valley,  said retired assistant Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Harp, to  5.  It impacts a lot of infrastructure in that area. The  said it hadn t received a specific threat about the Super Bowl. But agents also said they ve identified several danger zones outside the stadium they re going to protect as well,  News reported. It s the lone wolf,  Harp said.  It s the individual who is self-radicalized that creates a problem that you can t detect. There s only so much the  can do with regard to surveillance within the guidelines of the Constitution. If someone were to use a drone to disperse something,  he said,  News reported,  it could be a potentially hazardous situation. Given that his beloved Chicago Bears were pretty much out of contention on the first week of the regular season, President Barack Obama hasn t really paid that much attention to the Super Bowl. That doesn t mean other people aren t, though   including the savages of the Islamic State group.An  bulletin claimed there was a significant threat to this year s Super Bowl 50   being held on Feb. 7 at Levi s Stadium in Santa Clara, California   from terrorist groups. There s going to be law enforcement secreted around the stadium that you are not going to see or know about. They are there,  retired  Assistant Special Agent In Charge Jeffrey Harp told reporters. If the fiber optic cables get cut, it impacts financial institutions, impacts Silicon Valley, it impacts a lot of infrastructure in that area,  Harp added.Several attacks have already been carried out against fiber optic systems in the Bay Area, disrupting Silicon Valley s extensive tech industry. None of those crimes have been solved.Via: WNDVia: Conservative Tribune",fake,dataset,validation,American football,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
17922,17923,"Tax rises and benefit cuts passed by the Coalition have cost the average household 1 , 127 a year with the poorest families with children the hardest hit , a new report has revealed .  While the richest 10 per cent have lost the most in cash terms , poor parents have lost the most as a percentage of their income , the Institute for Fiscal Studies said .  Middle earners and the very rich have escaped ' remarkably unscathed ' from the Government ' s austerity programme with those without children actually gaining financially from the changes , largely due to increases in the threshold for paying income tax , said the  .  The richest 10 per cent have lost the most in cash terms since 2010 , the Institute for Fiscal Studies said  But poor parents have lost the most as a percentage of their income , the respected economic think tank said  Pensioners were ' relatively unaffected ' on average , as their gains from the ' triple lock ' on the state pension were largely offset by the hike in  .  Labour said the findings were proof of a ' clear betrayal ' by David Cameron of his promise to lead the most family friendly Government ever .  Looking at these changes , the poorest households lost around 4 per cent of their incomes , compared with around 3 . 5 per cent for the next poorest tenth , between 2 . 5 per cent and zero for middle income households and a loss of about 2 . 5 per cent for the richest .  The  found that families with four or more children lost 6 . 9 per cent of their income as a result of the tax and benefit changes under study an average 2 , 941 compared with a loss of 4 . 5 per cent for three child families , 3 . 5 per cent for those with two children , 2 . 6 per cent for those with one and 0 . 4 per cent for childless households .  Non working lone parents were the worst hit household type , losing about 1 , 837 a year from the changes under study , though the  said the average loss was skewed upwards by a small number of households affected by measures such as the benefits cap and national caps on local housing allowance rates .  Hardest hit region was Greater London , where households lost an average 1 , 042 , followed by the South East , West Midlands and North West .  James Browne , a senior research economist at  and co author of the report said : ' Whichever way you cut it , low income households with children and the very richest households have lost out significantly from the changes as a percentage of their incomes .  ' Increases in the tax free personal allowance have played an important role in protecting middle income working age households meaning that those without children have actually gained overall . '  The hardest hit region is Greater London , where households have lost an average 1 , 042 a year , followed by the South East , West Midlands and North West  The Chancellor George Osborne has introduced tax rises and benefit cuts costing the average family more than 1 , 000 a year  Labour Treasury spokeswoman Cathy Jamieson said : ' This report shows that tax and benefit changes under this Government have left households 1 , 127 a year worse off on average .  ' Families with children have been hit hardest of all by David Cameron ' s choices a clear betrayal of his promise to lead the most family friendly government ever .  ' For all the Government ' s claims , this report shows that they have raised tax by over 13 . 5 billion a year . And for millions of working people the rise in  and cuts to things like tax credits have more than offset changes to the personal allowance .  ' The Tories are now promising to cut tax credits again for millions of working families and refusing to rule out another  rise to pay for their unfunded promises . It ' s clear working people can ' t afford five more years of this Government .  ' Labour ' s economic plan will ensure we earn our way to rising living standards for all and balance the books in a fairer way . We will reverse this Government ' s 3 billion a year tax cut for the top 1 per cent of earners and help 24 million working people with a lower 10p starting rate of tax . '  A Treasury spokeswoman said : ' Today ' s report from the  confirms that the richest have lost the most from the Government ' s changes to taxes and welfare .  ' Treasury analysis has shown throughout the Parliament that the richest 10 per cent of households have made the largest contribution to reducing the deficit .  ' The Treasury presents the most complete , rigorous and detailed record of the impact of this Government ' s policies on households . At the Autumn Statement this confirmed that the richest 20 per cent of households will contribute more to reducing the deficit than the remaining 80 per cent put together .  ' Fairness is at the heart of our approach to reducing the deficit . Our analysis shows how our commitment to fairness is not a matter of rhetoric : it is reflected in the policy choices we have made .  '  income inequality is now lower than when this Government came into office and the recovery is being felt across the country . But the only sustainable way to raise living standards for all is to keep working through the plan that is securing a better future across the country . '  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
17924,17925,"Reuters) - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen threatened on Monday that the main opposition party would be dissolved if it continues to back detained leader Kem Sokha, who has been charged with treason over an alleged plot to gain power with U.S. support. Kem Sokha was arrested on Sept. 3 and is the only serious election rival to Hun Sen, a 65-year-old former Khmer Rouge commander. Western countries have criticized the arrest, which marked a an escalation in a crackdown on critics ahead of a poll next year that could pose the toughest electoral challenge Hun Sen has faced in more than 30 years of rule.  The opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) said it would continue to support Kem Sokha as leader and threatened to boycott the election if he is not freed. Speaking at a graduation ceremony in Phnom Penh, Hun Sen warned that the  s stand could mean  the dissolution of the party .  If the political party continues to blockade and defend this traitor, it means the party is also a traitor so there is no time to let this party operate in Cambodia s democratic process anymore,  Hun Sen said. Parliamentarians from the  went to the prison where Kem Sokha is being held to demand his release. They said his arrest was illegal because he should have been protected by parliamentary immunity.  The party president Kem Sokha is the  president now and will be in the future,  one of his deputies, Mu Sochua, said outside the prison, adding that his release was an essential condition to allow a free and fair election.  We can t participate in an election that isn t free and fair,  she said. The opposition party boycotted a parliamentary vote on whether Kem Sokha should be prosecuted. It would not have been able to block approval as Hun Sen s Cambodian People s Party (CPP) holds a majority, and the motion in favor of prosecuting was passed unopposed. It was unclear whether that effectively overrode Kem Sokha s right to claim parliamentary immunity. The evidence presented against Kem Sokha so far is a video recorded in 2013 in which he discusses a strategy to win power with the help of unspecified Americans.  His lawyers have dismissed the evidence as nonsense and said he was only discussing election strategy. Western countries and human rights groups have condemned the arrest of Kem Sokha and raised doubts as to whether next year s election can be fair, given the crackdown on the opposition, activists and independent media.   However Hun Sen s main ally, China, has said it supports Cambodia s efforts to preserve its own security. Hun Sen was due to visit Beijing on Monday. He said he was going to ask for more aid for Cambodia s health sector. (Story refiles to correct opposition party acronym to  in later references.) ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
17931,17932,"Cameron describes Calais jungle as bunch of migrants  But Cameron was not interested in their humanity ? lumping them , their stories and their suffering into a bunch , mere fodder for his jokes . On the day he commemorated Holocaust Memorial Day one couldn t help but wonder whether , if Cameron had been around in the 1930s , he would have laughed about a bunch of Jews .  It was remarkable , even though we already knew Cameron s views on migration : last year he called those trying to gain entry to Britain a swarm of people ? another attempt to dehumanise . And in response to the refugee crisis across Europe , and the public horror over the death of two year old Alan Kurdi , he approved only a miserly 4 , 000 entries per year .  Muslims seem a particular target of his divisive and alienating language  Muslims seem a particular target of his divisive and alienating language . Today s comments come a week after Cameron s ill judged threats to deport female Muslim migrants if they don t master the English language , and on the day his chief schools inspector warned that schools may be failed if they allow girls to wear face veils . This will have the effect of alienating many staff and pupils , said an  spokesman . Andrew Clapham , an expert on school inspection , said : There is no credible evidence base to suggest that wearing a piece of clothing on one s head has an impact on intellectual or academic ability . But already the damage has been done : an issue that affects a tiny fraction of Muslim girls , has become headline news . Indeed ,  Radio 5 Live chose it as their main phone in debate today , creating the impression that it s a large scale problem .  At a meeting of the Policy Exchange thinktank on Monday , the  s integration tsar Louise Casey blamed multicultural Britain , and political correctness , for the abuse of women ? as if abuse never happened in the  before Muslims arrived . Or maybe she believes , like Cameron does , that Muslim women are traditionally submissive .  The national press , as ever , is keen to fuel these stories : Casey was given a column in the Sun based on her speech and the Times ran a news report quoting Trevor Phillips comments at the same Policy Exchange meeting , headlined : Muslims are not like us , race equality chief says . In fact , most of what Phillips said was commendable : Part of the integration process is for the rest of us to grasp that people aren t going to change their views simply because we are constantly telling them that basically they should be like us . The headline writers instead chose more divisive words .  Related : This black woman s anti Muslim rant shows how deep British racism goes Joseph Harker  Cameron s dog whistles matter . They may appear to be mere words ? jokes or slips of the tongue but they set the parameters and the tone of the debate . We could call this trickle down hate . So if he makes a bold statement about the niqab , or some other aspect of multicultural Britain , it will go to the top of the news agenda , even if it s in actual fact insignificant or completely wrong ? as in the so called Trojan Horse scandal in Birmingham schools , which a parliamentary committee inquiry ruled to be groundless .  When , last year , two black passengers in separate incidents launched into a tirade of abuse against Muslims travelling on a bus , it was not just their race and the ferocity of the attacks that was alarming , but the fact they could recite so many Islamophobic tropes ? from grooming , to terrorism , to  , to forced marriage . All important issues , of course , but all had been reported as if they undermine Islam itself and its billion followers , rather than being stories of individual wrongdoing .  And today we saw another consequence of this , with a rise in hate crimes on British railways ? up 37 in five years . This confirms a trend seen last year , when there was a 43 increase in religious hate crime , and a 15 rise in race hate over the previous 12 months .  Cameron speaks his entourage pushes further the media responds and on the streets , the abuse and attacks kick off . Sadly , Cameron and the Tories seem to believe that the answer to a broken nation is to break it some more .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
17935,17936,"American ' s John Isner returns the ball to Switzerland ' s Roger Federer during their third round match of the  Masters tennis tournament at the Paris Bercy Arena , in Paris , France , Thursday , Nov . 5 , 2015 . (  Photo Michel Euler )  Roger Federer finally cracked under the unrelenting serve of John Isner , losing 7 6 ( 3 ) , 3 6 , 7 6 ( 5 ) to the American in the third round of the Paris Masters on Thursday .  The 17 time Grand Slam champion looked like he might grind out a win , saving all six break points and fighting back from 6 2 down in the decisive tiebreaker . But the Swiss star s resistance ended when Isner ? who had 27 aces in the match ? hit a looping serve to Federer s backhand on his next match point .  It s tough going out of a tournament without losing your serve , but that s what happened , the third seeded Federer said . I m not sure what I could have done differently .  The 13th seeded Isner called it one of the top five wins of his career , made even more special against his tennis idol .  He s an incredible player , obviously . My favorite player and the greatest of all time , my opinion , Isner said . It was a huge win for me . I m very proud .  Fourteen time major winner Rafael Nadal , seeded seventh , almost followed Federer through the exit door , saving a match point in a 4 6 , 7 6 ( 6 ) , 6 2 win against 11th seeded Kevin Anderson of South Africa . (  )  Graduation rates rising ? College athletes continue to graduate at record rates . The most recent data collected by the  shows an all time high 86 percent of athletes from the 2008 09 freshmen class earned degrees within six years . That s up 2 percentage points from last year s record .  The four year number also improved by a percentage point to 83 percent , breaking last year s record . (  )  10th prep player dies ? A 17 year old football player at a rural Kansas high school died after collapsing Tuesday during a playoff game . According to the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research , Luke Schemm is the 10th high school football player to die this year .  Schemm collapsed after scoring on a two point conversion . He was airlifted to a hospital in Denver , which is about 220 miles from the western Kansas school , but was taken off life support . ( Washington Post )  Women dominate nominees ? All three nominees for the U . S . Olympic Team of the Year award are women s teams .  The world champion bobsled and water polo teams and the World Cup champion soccer team are the nominees in the voting , which is open to fans from Thursday through Nov . 20 . (  )  Copyright 2015 stltodayweblink . All rights reserved . This material may not be published , broadcast , rewritten or redistributed .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
17938,17939,"A top  has lost a costly legal battle over the sale of a 3 . 6million country manor after pulling out of the deal when he discovered the property was riddled with dry rot and rising damp .  Leading barrister William Griffiths  and his wife Angela thought they had found their dream home when they viewed Laughton Manor in Lewes , East Sussex , in 2010 .  They exchanged contracts with owner Alan Hardy on April Fools ' Day in 2011 but were hauled before the courts after refusing to pay for the property because they were concerned about rising damp , wet and dry rot and timber decay .  They have now lost a lengthy legal battle in London ' s High Court and face a 385 , 000 bill after a judge ruled they had breached the contract by trying to rescind the agreement .  William Griffiths  and his wife Angela ( together left ) have been successfully sued by Alan Hardy ( right ) after they pulled out of buying Laughton Manor in East Sussex for 3 . 6million after exchanging contracts  Mr and Mrs Griffiths had originally agreed to buy Laughton Manor , in East Sussex ( pictured ) , for 3 . 6million , but later pulled out after receiving the results of a survey which said it was ' riddled with damp and dry rot '  The issue began when Mr Griffiths , 66 , an ' eminent ' planning and property lawyer , and his wife exchanged contracts on the multi million pound property with bricklaying tycoon Mr Hardy , 56 , before seeking any professional advice on the mansion ' s condition .  A survey later revealed evidence of penetrating and rising damp , as well as wet and dry rot and signs of timber decay , the High Court heard .  In light of the survey , Mr and Mrs Griffiths , who had wanted a home in ' pristine ' condition , refused to stump up the balance of a 10 per cent deposit .  However , Mr Hardy and his wife , Juliet , responded by tearing up the contract and refusing to refund the 150 , 000 deposit the Griffiths had already paid .  The couples ended up in court where Judge Amanda Tipples  today handed a resounding victory to Mr and Mrs Hardy .  The Griffiths not only forfeited their 150 , 000 deposit , but were ordered to pay Mr and Mrs Hardy 235 , 000 damages for breach of contract .  The main reception room at Laughton Manor , which was built in the mid 19th Century by Sir James Duke Bart  Mr and Mrs Griffiths claimed that a survey revealed the 150 year old property was badly affected by damp  In a final blow to the  , Judge Tipples found that Mr Griffiths made a better advocate than a witness .  Having appeared on his feet in court countless times , the barrister ' found it difficult to simply answer the question put ' .  He ' could not resist arguing his case ' from the witness box , the judge said , before adding : ' I prefer the evidence of Mr Hardy to that of Mr Griffiths ' .  Mr Griffiths earlier told the court that he ' tended to leave these things to his wife ' .  However , he agreed that he was ' much keener ' on Laughton Manor than she was .  The couple insisted in court that they had been the victims of ' reckless misrepresentation ' .  The master bedroom in the 3 . 6million country manor , in East Sussex , which has a total of 30 rooms  The spacious kitchen of Laughton Manor ( left ) and the marbled floor as you enter the building ( right )  They claimed devout church goer Mr Hardy and his 55 year old wife had gravely misled them about the mansion ' s condition .  They also complained that Mr and Mrs Hardy had made ' excessive and unreasonable demands ' .  The couple also said they had discovered to their ' horror ' that a small but ' extremely significant ' plot of land had been sold off from the grounds .  However , Judge Tipples accepted Mr Hardy ' s ' careful ' evidence that he had never had the house surveyed and was unaware of any damp problem .  Exonerating the Hardys , the judge said they had an ' unconditional right ' to cancel the contract when Mr and Mrs Griffiths failed to pay the balance of the deposit or complete on time .  The Hardys were entitled to pocket the deposit , to re sell the mansion to someone else and to sue the Griffiths for damages , she ruled .  The house was on the market for 4 . 5million and Mr and Mrs Griffiths had agreed to buy it for 3 . 6million  The manor also boasts a helicopter pad ( pictured ) as well as gym , cinema , 12 acre garden and staff quarters  A surveyor ' s report indicated that there was ' extensive rising damp , dry rot and timber decay ' in the property  Laughton Manor was originally built between 1760 and 1780 although it is unknown how much of the original building remains .  It was bought by Sir James Duke Bart , a Lord Mayor and Sheriff of London in the 1840s .  He was a close friend of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and admired their summer residence of Osborne House , which also has a similar Italian style tower to Laughton Manor .  The Duke ' s family lived in the property for more than 70 years and it was sold in 1911 to a private buyer .  In 1930 it was bought by the Ministry of Health , who used it as an office until the 1990s .  It was then bought over and restored to its former glory by a private owner .  Jonathan Seitler  , for Mr and Mrs Hardy , earlier pointed out that the contract contained a ' common ' clause used in conveyancing , whereby the  and his wife agreed to accept and pay for the property based on its state of repair at the time of signing .  They had viewed the property several times , once with an architect , but had signed the contract on April 1 , 2011 , the day after agreeing the 3 . 6million price .  They had done so without first obtaining a survey report , which did not arrive until a month later , the court heard .  Mr Seitler added : ' The vendor is a lay person in matters of law . . . the purchaser is an eminent  with property expertise .  ' The property was accepted in the physical state it was in at the time of contract and you can ' t go back on that .  ' If it is damp , it is accepted with damp ' .  The 30 room mansion is set in 12 acres of countryside and its architecture has been compared to that of Queen Victoria ' s much loved summer home , Osborne House on the Isle of Wight .  It was built by Queen Victoria ' s friend , Sir James Duke Bart , in the mid 19th Century .  It is believed that Laughton Manor has since been sold to another purchaser for the same 3 . 6million price tag .  Mr Hardy now lives in Lewes with his wife , manages a church , and has business interests valued at 17m .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
17942,17943,"Last March , when the people of America were drooling at the thought of winning a record 656 million Mega Millions jackpot , we poured an icy bucket of mathematical reality over your head : You weren ' t going to win .  And you didn ' t . Three winning tickets were sold , but you weren ' t involved . It was never going to happen . As we wrote then , you stood a better chance at hitting two consecutive holes in one than winning that jackpot .  How winning could change your life  Now , with a record 550 million Powerball jackpot up for grabs Wednesday , we figured it was a great time to , once again , dash your dreams . We know , we know someone will win at least a share of the prize , if not Wednesday , then in some subsequent drawing . But it won ' t be you .  Why you keep playing the lottery  The chance of a ticket winning a Powerball jackpot is 1 in 175 , 223 , 510 ( slightly better than the chance of winning a Mega Millions jackpot , which is 1 in 175 , 711 , 536 ) . Here are a few unlikely scenarios that , we ' re sorry to say , are much more likely than you taking home this jackpot .  From the Harvard School of Public Health :  Dying from a bee sting : 1 in 6 . 1 million .  Dying from a lightning strike : 1 in 3 million .  From U . S . Hole in One , which insures golf prizes for holes in one :  An amateur golfer making a hole in one on a par 3 hole : 1 in 12 , 500 .  A golfer hitting a hole in one on consecutive par 3 holes : 1 in about 156 million .  From a 2011 State Farm study on collisions between vehicles and deer :  Hitting a deer with a vehicle in Hawaii , the state where State Farm says deer vehicle collisions are least likely : 1 in 6 , 267 .  From the National Weather Service :  Being struck by lightning over an 80 year lifetime : 1 in 10 , 000 .  From the Florida Museum of Natural History , based on U . S . beach injury statistics :  Drowning and other beach related fatalities : 1 in 2 million .  Being attacked by a shark : 1 in 11 . 5 million .  But if you did win . . .  What do you think about your chances of winning on Wednesday ? Weigh in below , or on Twitter using whataretheodds .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
17950,17951,"When there is talk of your father (and probable lover) and his campaign manager skipping hand-in-hand though a field of daisies with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, it s probably not a good idea to hang out with someone who is rumored to be his girlfriend   but that s exactly what Ivanka Trump just did. People Magazine is reporting that  daddy s little girl  and Putin s likely lady friend, alleged Chinese spy Wendi Deng Murdoch (yes, she was also married to Fox News overlord Rupert Murdoch), were spotted over the weekend enjoying scenic Dubrovnik, Croatia, in Eastern Europe.Sight seeing with @wendimurdoch in DubrovnikA photo posted by Ivanka Trump (@ivankatrump) on Aug 14, 2016 at 8:04am PDTFor years, rumors swirled that Murdoch s ex and Trump s pal Putin were dating   ever since the two elites divorced their wives in 2013 and 2014. The Kremlin has not confirmed nor denied the relationship, and Deng flat-out denied the accusations last month, years after they became public, but anonymous sources within the Kremlin confirmed the  serious  relationship. Via  Weekly:Reports of the pair have been floating around for years, ever since their respective divorces in 2014 and 2013.One insider close to the powerful leader tells Us Weekly the relationship is  serious. But given Trump s decision to practically hump Putin s leg and his (and his current campaign chair s) confirmed financial ties to Putin and his allies, it would be a wise decision for Ivanka Trump to avoid even the appearance of impropriety because of her heavy involvement in daddy s campaign. Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets,  Trump s son, Donald Jr., told a real estate conference in 2008, the Washington Post reports.  We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia. Trump s reliance on Russian money to turn anything resembling a profit may explain why he repeatedly praises the Russian leader, even denying that he invaded the Ukraine despite reality proving him wrong in a 10-second Google search. The Post explains Trump s relationship with Putin:The dynamic illustrates the extent to which Trump s worldview has been formed through the lens of commerce rather than the think tanks, government deliberations and international diplomatic conferences that typically shape the foreign policy positions of presidential candidates.It also reflects Trump s willingness to see world leaders through his own personal connections. In a Republican Party in which an ability to stand up to Putin has been seen as a test of toughness, Trump s relationship with the Russian leader is instead one of mutual flattery. Putin said in December that Trump was a  colorful and talented  person, a compliment that Trump said at the time was an  honor. The back-and-forth has continued. In a mid-June rally, Trump cited those comments as the reason he will not reject the Russian leader.  A guy calls me a genius, and I m going to renounce?  Trump said.  I m not going to renounce him.  The next day in St. Petersburg, Putin again called Trump a  colorful person  and said he welcomed Trump s proposal for a  full-scale resumption  of U.S.-Russia ties.On the campaign trail, Trump has called for a new partnership with Moscow, overhauling NATO, the allied military force seen as the chief protector of pro-Western nations near Russia. And Trump has surrounded himself with a team of advisers who have had financial ties to Russia.If the numerous reports regarding a down-low Putin/Murdoch relationship are true, and it seems they are, this could create gigantic problems for Trump as he continues his routine of supporting Russia in all things. After all, a discreet vacation in Croatia would be a great time to discuss bigger plans  like Trump s call on Russia to hack Hillary Clinton for him.If Deng s weak response years after the relationship was rumored to have begun and only after it began to get more press is true, if she has  never met  Putin as she says   well, to use Trump s words,  some people say Featured image via People Magazine/The Guardian",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present
17955,17956,"Some of the worst flooding the mid South has seen in decades is thought to be responsible for at least 11 deaths in Tennessee , the Nashville and state emergency management offices said Sunday .  Five of the deaths were in Davidson County , which encompasses Nashville , according to the Nashville mayor ' s Office of Emergency Management .  The rains have closed interstate highways , displaced thousands from their homes , prompted evacuations of hotels and nursing homes and turned city streets and parking lots into raging rivers .  Parts of the state have been drenched with up to 20 inches of rain , with more expected .  iReport : Experiencing the Tennessee floods ? Send photos , video  On Sunday night , multiple vehicles were trapped by water on Interstate 40 with water rising around them and with authorities working since the afternoon to get to the cars , according to the Office of Emergency Management .  Authorities have recovered bodies from a flooded house in Nashville and from an upside down vehicle floating on a flooded road , among other places , the mayor ' s office said in a release Sunday night .  Two young men who ' d gone tubing on a flooded creek on Sunday evening were missing , the mayor ' s office said .  Also on Sunday night , authorities were working to evacuate more than 500 residents from the MetroCenter in north Nashville .  "" All of our major creeks and the Cumberland River are near flood level , if not at flood level , "" Nashville Mayor Karl Dean said at a press conference Sunday , referring to the waterway that bisects Nashville . "" The ground is entirely saturated , and the rain continues to fall . There ' s nowhere for the water to go . ""  The western two thirds of Tennessee has seen between 6 and 20 inches of rain since Saturday , with flooding spreading to Kentucky on Sunday .  In Nashville alone , more than 600 people were rescued from the water this weekend , Dean said .  Dean said Sunday that more rain has fallen in Nashville in the last 24 hours than has ever been recorded in the city .  Video : Nashville resident captures ' practically a class two rapids ' on her neighborhood streets  "" We are still at this point in rescue stage and will be until the water begins to subside , "" he said .  Dean urged residents to stay home Sunday and , if they could , to skip work on Monday , when Nashville schools will be closed and public transportation will be suspended .  Two of the three temporary shelters which can each house 200 people opened by the Nashville mayor ' s office had reached capacity by Sunday evening . The Red Cross reported approximately 400 people in 22 shelters throughout Tennessee .  The floods shut down parts of interstates 24 , 40 and 65 around Nashville on Saturday and Sunday .  The floods left 36 , 000 houses around Nashville without power on Sunday , while all Davidson County residents were asked to use water for essential purposes only after flooding closed one of the city ' s water treatment plants .  Flooding also led to the evacuation of three area nursing homes , affecting more than 250 patients , Dean said .  Opryland Hotel expected to lose power Sunday night and staffers planned to ask their guests to evacuate , according to Janel Lacey , a spokeswoman for the Nashville mayor ' s office .  While some streams around Nashville were starting to recede on Sunday , the U . S . Army Corps of Engineers was planning to release dammed upstream water Sunday night , which could cause more flooding around Nashville , city emergency management chief Stephen Halford said .  The water needed to be released to keep the Army Corps equipment safe , Halford said .  The National Weather Service issued a civil emergency message Sunday to central and western Tennessee , telling people to stay off roads because too many are closed and people are getting stranded .  The weather service also issued a flood emergency Sunday for much of central Kentucky where tens of thousands were trying to get home after this weekend ' s Kentucky Derby and in south central Indiana .  In Louisville , Kentucky , the National Turnpike and Gene Snyder Freeway were closed on Sunday .  In addition to flooding fatalities , one Tennessean died over the weekend in a tornado in Hardeman County , the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency said Sunday .  The mayor ' s Office of Emergency Management in Nashville announced Sunday night that it had confirmed five fatalities in Davidson County which encompasses Nashville thought to be flood related .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
17958,17959,"Spokespersons for Twilight and Harry Potter teen movie idols , Robert Pattinson , Kristen Stewart , Daniel Radcliffe , Emma Watson and Rupert Grint today moved extremely quickly to quash rumours that the famous fivesome had met a tragic demise in a car accident somewhere on I81 , near Columbus , Ohio .  "" As far as I ' m aware , "" one representative announced . "" All five are alive and well , and haven ' t , to the best of my knowledge been anywhere near Columbus , Ohio . Let alone been involved in a fatal accident . It ' s my opinion that there are some very sick puppies out there who will say just about anything to sell newspapers . This kind of thing is best ignored . ""  Inside sources later revealed that Pattinson , Stewart , Radcliffe , Watson and Grint had all pretty much got up out of bed as usual this morning , and that none had been anywhere near Columbus , Ohio .  Although a source close to Rupert Grint revealed that the actor actually admitted that his hair doesn ' t look quite as ginger when he steps out of the shower , although this hasn ' t yet been verified .  A spokesman for the Ohio State Police said that she had no information whatsoever regarding a tragic car accident on I81 near Columbus , Ohio , and that she had no reason at all to believe that Robert Pattinson , Kristen Stewart , Daniel Radcliffe , Emma Watson , or Rupert Grint had been involved in a tragic car accident on I81 near Columbus , Ohio .  In related news , chicken breasts are on special offer at Wal Mart in Columbus Ohio and are currently on sale for 3 . 95 for two .  More when the  woman makes it up .  ",satire,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
17990,17991,"Pope Francis rang in his first Christmas at the Vatican with a Christmas Eve Mass preaching a message of love and forgiveness .  "" On this night , let us share the joy of the Gospel . God loves us . He so loves us that he gave us his son to be our brother , to be light in our darkness . To us the Lord repeats , ' Do not be afraid , ' . . . And I , too , repeat , do not be afraid , ' "" the Pope said .  "" Our Father is patient . He loves us , he gives us Jesus to guide us on the way which leads to the promised land . Jesus is the light who brightened the darkness . Our Father forgives always . He is our peace and light . ""  He called on the throngs gathered at St . Peter ' s Basilica on Tuesday to cast aside hatred .  "" God is light and in him there is no darkness at all . Yet on the part of the people , there are times of both light and darkness , fidelity and infidelity , obedience and rebellion , times of being a pilgrim people , and times of being a people adrift , "" the Pope said . "" In our personal history , too , there are both bright and dark moments , lights and shadows . If we love God and our brothers and sisters , we walk in the light . But if our heart is closed , if we are dominated by pride , deceit , self seeking , then darkness falls within us , and around us . Whoever hates his brother writes the Apostle John is in the darkness he walks in the darkness , and does not know the way to go , because the darkness has blinded his eyes . ""  "" We want to share this special moment with a person who is a beloved person , and we appreciate all he ' s doing , "" one woman said .  Nine months into his papacy , much has been made of the Pope ' s reforms , among them more scrutiny at the Vatican bank , changes to the church ' s bureaucratic structure , and a commission to deal with the abuse of minors .  And while this year ' s Christmas liturgy remains the same , experts say we should expect the unexpected .  "" He tends to be a surprise , because he does things that are normal , but are very abnormal in terms of the papacy , "" said Gerard O ' Connell , a Vatican analyst . "" He brought three homeless men into where he is living to have breakfast with him on his birthday . . . . I suspect we will see something else again over the Christmas period . ""  The festivities began on Saturday , with the Pope ' s Christmas message to the Curia . He urged the church ' s governing body to avoid gossip and to focus on service .  And then he practiced what he preached , spending three hours at a local hospital bringing Christmas cheer to sick children .  There were a record number of requests to attend this year ' s Christmas Eve Mass .  On Christmas Day , tens of thousands of pilgrims are expected to flood St . Peter ' s Square to hear his message to the world .  "" People are listening to him , because he ' s speaking in a language that ' s not Vaticanese , "" O ' Connell said . "" He ' s speaking the language of ordinary people . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18020,18021,"Mogadishu , Somalia The death toll of a twin car bombing at a hotel in Mogadishu rose to 11 Thursday , with many of the victims security force members , a police spokesman said . At least 40 other people were injured .  "" The death toll has hit 11 people , including three attackers and five security personnel , while the rest were civilians , "" said Gen . Mohamed Yusuf Omar Madale , a Somali police spokesman .  At least four people were killed in the first attack Wednesday , Madale said . A half hour later , another car bomb exploded just few meters from the scene of the first blast , killing at least seven people , mostly security officers .  Police official Yusuf Ali said Wednesday that the first suicide car bomb exploded outside the main gate of the Jazeera Palace Hotel , and the second blast came as first responders began gathering to evacuate the injured .  At the time of the Mogadishu blasts , there were several senior members of the Somali government inside the hotel . It is believed the injured guards were part of the government officials ' security detail .  Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed condemned the attack Wednesday night .  "" The terrorists started 2014 as they finished 2013 with indiscriminate violence killings . Will only serve to unite Somalia against them , "" his official Twitter account said .  A statement posted to a website associated with the Al Shabaab terrorist network Thursday morning reads : "" The mujahideen forces carried out the attacks and they will intensify their attacks against the government of Somalia and the African Union troops in the country . ""  Last month , another bombing at a hotel in the capital left five people dead and at least 15 wounded , a government spokesman said .  A car bomb went off on November 8 outside Hotel Makkah Al Mukarama in central Mogadishu , Abdikarim Hussein Guled , the African country ' s interior and national security minister , told local media .  Those killed included Abdulkadir Ali , the Somali government ' s former acting envoy to Britain better known as "" Dhub , "" said Abdirahman Omar Osman , a presidential representative .  Other Somali violence has been traced to Al Shabaab , an al Qaeda linked organization that the U . S . government calls a terrorist group and that was behind the deadly siege this fall of a Nairobi , Kenya , shopping mall .  A U . S . military drone strike in southern Somalia in late October killed two suspected Al Shabaab members , U . S . officials said . And a recent joint raid by Kenyan and Somali forces killed at least 30 people believed to be part of that group .  In September 2012 , Somalia ' s new president , Hassan Sheikh Mohamud , escaped an apparent assassination attempt at the Jazeera Palace Hotel , just two days after being selected as the troubled country ' s new leader .  According to a presidential media officer and several journalists at the scene , early indications are that the attack was carried out by two suicide bombers who set off explosives at the gates of the hotel , where the president was having high level meetings .  At least four Somali government soldiers and one African Union soldier were killed in that attack , according to journalists at the scene .  The Jazeera Palace Hotel is near Mogadishu airport and it is frequented by government officials and diplomats .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
18032,18033,"Browns hire Hue Jackson : Who could be Jackson ' s defensive coordinator ?  An immediate task for Hue Jackson will be filling out his staff especially his offernsive and defensive coordinators . As an offensive minded coach , he ' ll need a strong defensive coordinator , who will have a tall task . Regardless of 3 4 or 4 3 scheme , the Browns need to fix a unit that finished No . 27 in yards allowed per game , No . 29 in scoring and No . 30 against the run . Here are a few potential candidates to keep an eye on .  Carrier and Jackson have worked together twice when Jackson was the offensive coordinator with the Ravens in 2008 09 , and again in Cincinnati the last two seasons . Carrier has never been a defensive coordinator , but has been a defensive backs coach with the Ravens and Bengals , and spent two seasons with the Jets as a defensive line coach . Cincinnati ' s defense allowed the second fewest points in the  in 2015 .  Former Minnesota Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier , shown speaking at the 2013  Combine in Indianapolis . ( Photo by Michael Conroy , Associated Press )  Leslie Frazier , former Tampa Bay  , former Minnesota head coach  A former Vikings head coach , Frazier spent the last two seasons as the Buccaneers ' defensive coordinator under Lovie Smith . Frazier will not stay with Tampa Bay this season . Frazier was a defensive coordinator in Cincinnati ( 2003 04 ) and Minnesota ( 2007 10 ) before being named head coach of the Vikings . He was 21 32 1 as head coach , but led the Vikings to the playoffs in 2012 . Since he became the Vikings '  in 2007 , only once has his defense been in the bottom half of the league against the run .  Hayes has coached Cincinnati ' s defensive line for the past 13 seasons . In his time , Hayes has helped develop Carlos Dunlap , Geno Atkins and Michael Johnson . The Bengals defense finished No . 10 in the league this season with 42 sacks . All but 4 . 5 of those sacks came from defensive linemen .  Former San Francisco head coach Mike Nolan , right , speaking with assistant Mike Singletary during a game in 2008 . ( Photo by Jeff Chiu , Associated Press )  Mike Nolan , former San Diego  coach , former San Francisco head coach  Nolan has been a defensive coordinator for seven teams , most recently with the Atlanta Falcons from 2012 14 . Nolan coached the Chargers linebackers in 2015 , but stepped down on Tuesday . He has had eight defenses finish in the top 10 in scoring defense and five finish top 10 in rush defense .  He has only been in the  for three seasons as the Cardinals ' defensive backs coach . Rapone has helped develop several of Arizona ' s talented DBs including Tyrann Mathieu , Deone Bucannon and Tony Jefferson . Arizona , which ran a 3 4 defense in 2015 , finished No . 8 in passing yards allowed and No . 7 in scoring defense .  Jim Schwartz , shown here as the Detroit head coach in 2009 during a game in Seattle . ( Photo by Elaine Thompson , Associated Press )  Jim Schwartz , former Buffalo  , former Detroit head coach  Despite taking a year off of coaching to be a consultant for  officials , Schwartz has plenty of experience . He coordinated the Tennessee Titans ' defense for eight seasons before taking the head coach position in Detroit from 2009 13 . He was most recently the defensive coordinator with Buffalo in 2014 when the Bills finished fourth in scoring defense , third in takeaways and third in passing defense . Schwartz was also a personnel scout with the Browns from 1993 95 .  Waufle has never been a defensive coordinator , but he has been a defensive line coach for three teams , including two stints with the Oakland Raiders . He was a  coach with the New York Giants from 2004 09 and helped grow a defensive line featuring Michael Strahan , Osi Unemyiora and Justin Tuck which was key to the Giants ' win in Super Bowl  against New England . Waufle has coached the  in St . Louis since 2012 and helped develop multiple young linemen , including Robert Quinn , Chris Long and Aaron Donald .  Comment on "" Who could be Hue Jackson ' s defensive coordinator with Cleveland Browns ? ""  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18038,18039,"The first genetically modified meat and fish could be approved this summer .  Authorities in the  are expected to grant approval to Aquabounty salmon , which has been modified to grow twice as fast as normal salmon .  And experts trying to combat world hunger are calling on the British Government to back the use of  farm animals on the dinner table here .  Approved : U . S . authorities have given the go ahead for salmon that grow twice as fast as normal fish , paving the way for the Government to back the use of them here  The push into  meat could see the production of giant pigs , hens that have only female chicks and cattle made disease resistant using genes from baboons .  But the move will alarm critics of the use of  technology who are still battling to block the expansion of genetically modified crops .  Earlier breakthrough : Dolly the cloned sheep , which was developed by the Roslin Institute  Professor Helen Sang ,  animal expert at the Roslin Institute where Dolly the sheep was cloned insisted fears surrounding ' Frankenstein ' foods can be overcome .  Roslin scientists yesterday called on the Government to support the spread of  into farm animals but admit there will need to be a change in attitude among British families and retailers .  They say a new technique of gene editing allows precise changes to be made in animals destined to be eaten .  Professor Sang said : ' This is a very exciting time . We have  animals that have qualities you can ' t achieve through conventional animal breeding .  ' The problem with  is that it is seen as mumbo jumbo magic . But if people can understand what the aims are and what we are trying to achieve then they are much more comfortable .  ' It is an issue for us that the supermarkets decided many years ago not to sell  food . They will have to change what they do , which will be a challenge for them . Food production is an international business and so  animals may become acceptable in other countries before it is accepted here . '  The  is expected to approve Aquabounty salmon in the next few weeks . It is produced by inserting a growth hormone gene and another gene taken from the eel like ocean pout . The fish would be sterile and raised in vast tanks on land rather than in sea cages . Bruce Whitelaw , professor of animal biotechnology at Roslin , said the main priorities of animal breeding companies are to create disease resistant animals and manipulate the gender of offspring .  But Chinese scientists are also working on creating bigger , faster growing food animals , he said .  Dr Helen Wallace of GeneWatch , which campaigns to ensure any use of  is in the public interest , warned : '  fish escapes could pose a serious threat to wild salmon populations . ' An  move to allow the use of  animals and insects modified to help destroy crop pests ' amounts to engineering whole ecosystems , and no one knows the consequences of this , ' she said .  Pete Riley , of the  Freeze campaign , said : ' We can see no advantages from  animals in either food production , pest control or disease control .  ' We know from in breeding using conventional methods that this causes huge genetic problems which impact on the health and welfare of farmed animals . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,present
18043,18044,"My commitment to the cause of stopping the exploitation of children was born from a humbling experience . In 2002 , I witnessed the horrors of human trafficking as we rescued three trembling girls living on the impoverished streets of India . Preventing these girls from falling prey to this horrendous crime was a personal awakening .  That was more than a decade ago . Since then , I knew my foundation must shed a light on this taboo subject . Education has been our pillar from the outset . In 2004 , we launched People for Children , our principal project , to provide education and solutions for international efforts to eliminate child trafficking .  This unscrupulous market which consists of 27 million victims worldwide , according to the 2011 Trafficking in Persons Report generates up to 32 billion annually , an amount rivaling that of the trafficking of arms and drugs . Of the 27 million ,  estimates that 1 . 2 million are children who are trafficked every year to work as forced labor , in the commercial sex industry , in prostitution and in other forms of slavery .  The statistics are staggering . Many contest them because the crimes are hidden . But numbers don ' t matter : Preventing one or 200 children from traffickers validates our mission .  No one should be exploited and deprived of his or her freedom .  We believe every child has the right to be a child . As a young public charity , we have discovered we are not alone in this fight . We have been privileged to partner with groups such as  , Habitat for Humanity , The Protection Project at Johns Hopkins University , the University of Puerto Rico , Save the Children ,  Foundation , The InterAmerican Development Bank , The Trafficking In Persons Office ,  , Doral Bank and Microsoft .  We joined forces with the InterAmerican Development Bank and the International Organization for Migration to launch Call and Live , the first regional campaign to combat human trafficking in the Americas . Lives were saved . We received thousands of phone calls through our hot line and were able to help launch hundreds of investigations in five countries .  Unfortunately , atrocities committed against children have reached epidemic proportions on the Internet . To prevent these crimes , we launched Navega Protegido . org , an online bilingual child safety website , that provides tools to protect children from pornography and sexual exploitation .  More recently , we published "" Human Trafficking in Puerto Rico : An Invisible Challenge "" in alliance with the University of Puerto Rico and The Protection Project . The pioneering investigation documents that too many minors in Puerto Rico are at risk of becoming exploited as sex slaves , as slave labor or used in pornography .  Such findings led us to focus on the development of creative solutions . We are developing our first Child Development and Prevention Center in Puerto Rico to serve as a safe haven for children and young people . We aim to transform their lives through a holistic approach .  Children and young people do not have a sufficiently loud voice in our society . To help change this , we continue to strengthen People for Children by redoubling our investigation and awareness campaigns . Our objective is to galvanize a movement to prevent this scourge .  Addressing such an abominable crime on a global scale is a daunting challenge . We need to tackle it one life at a time . I am convinced that small triumphs over a long period of time will eventually result in the type of social justice we must all strive for .  Human trafficking has no place in our world today .  The opinions in this commentary are solely those of Ricky Martin .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18060,18061,"Miami Dolphins ( 3 3 , 3 3  ) at New England Patriots ( 6 0 , 3 1 2 )  Thursday morning line at Westgate SuperBook : New England 8 , 50 . 5 .  :   ? As of late Wednesday night , 71 percent of money bet at William Hill ' s Nevada sportsbook was on the Patriots .  Pick the winner of each  game each week , against the spread or straight up , and compete to win 4 , 000 in prizes !  ? Westgate SuperBook assistant manager Ed Salmons reported heavy public action on the Patriots on Wednesday , both on the side and teasers . ? New England opened as a 7 . 5 point favorite at most books . The line quickly was bet up to minus 8 . Las Vegas sportsbook operator  Technology has moved up to New England minus 8 ( 115 ) as of Thursday morning . ? The Dolphins are 2 0 straight up and  under interim coach Dan Campbell , with wins over the Tennessee Titans and Houston Texans . The Titans and Texans are a combined 3 10 . ? New England has won 12 of the past 14 meetings with the Dolphins , but Miami did beat the Patriots 33 20 last September .  Wondering which side to take ? Check out PickCenter and do your research before making that critical decision . PickCenter  ? The Patriots are banged up and dressed just 18 offensive players in last week ' s win over the Jets . ? Both Patriots Dolphins games last season went over the total , averaging 53 . 5 points per game . ? As of late Wednesday night , 91 percent of money bet at William Hill was on over 51 . ? The Patriots have scored at least 30 points in five straight games . ? After a blustery day in Foxborough , winds are expected to calm slightly , to around 15 mph . Temperatures will dip into the 50s . No precipitation is expected during the game . ? The Patriots are 77 60 5  at home under coach Bill Belichick . ? Belichick is 15 19 2  coming off a bye week . ? Since 2003 , the Patriots are 134 96  in  Tom Brady ' s starts . ? The Dolphins are 26 27  in  Ryan Tannehill ' s starts .  Statistical information from BetLabsSportsweblink on SportsInsights and Spreadapediaweblink were used in this article .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
18071,18072,"Reuters) - The White House is very close to naming its nominees for the top U.S. securities regulator, a senior official said on Friday, which could lead the current three-member Securities and Exchange Commission to reach its full five-member complement in the near future. The official said there are currently nominees in the “pipeline” and undergoing the security clearance review that typically takes two months. The senior White House official spoke on condition of anonymity. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
18078,18079,"Reuters) - The lead Brexit negotiator for the European Parliament, Guy Verhofstadt, said on Thursday that a Brexit withdrawal agreement could be reached with Britain.  That s the assumption that I have and it is towards that that we work,  Verhofstadt said after a speech to students at the London School of Economics.  And that a withdrawal agreement be done in March 2019 means that there has to be an agreement in fact in October or November because then the agreement will go to the European Parliament and we need four or five months,  he said.  ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
18089,18090,"It appears that when it comes to lunch on the hoof us Brits are looking for something a little more exotic than a supermarket meal deal .  It has been revealed by Allegra Foodservice that half the country are buying street food at least once a week as becomes the country ' s biggest culinary trend .  One in five of us are making it a regular habit and are visiting our favourite food truck up to three times in one week .  Street food is increasing in popularity as office workers search for something more exciting than a meal deal  Jaded by cheese sandwiches and Cornish pasties it appears we ' re after something with a bit more flavour , with the top selling foods being Mexican , Chinese and Thai followed by Indian , British and Italian .  Rather than opting for a bargain hot dog from a greasy food van we are prepared to fork out a fair bit for a tastier lunch , with 64 per cent of punters willing to pay more than a fiver a pop on fresh wraps , noodles or rice .  The trend for on the go cuisine is particularly popular in areas with high concentrations of office workers where street stalls and mobile food centres are popping up .  Our favourite food on the go is Mexican and we are willing to pay more than 5 a pop for it !  Allegra strategy director Simon Stenning , told trade journal Morning Advertiser that it was the tasty yet affordable approach that was gaining street food its popularity .  ' The economy is getting better but we still don ' t have more money in our pockets so people are willing to spend more bur for great value , which is what street food is perceived as . '  Richard Johnson , founder of British Street Food said that it gives us something to look forward to in the office .  ' Our lives have become very internal and when we do break away from our laptops , phones and tablets we want an authentic community experience . '  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
18096,18097,"You might have expected a tub thumping final State Of The Union , but he ' s more than happy to leave the bragging to Donald Trump .  Eight years ago millions of Americans were captivated by Barack Obama ' s message of hope and change . He ' d struggle to deny that many of them simply don ' t feel he ' s delivered .  With that lack of support in mind you might have expected a tub thumping final State Of The Union address bulging with boasts about his achievements in office . But he s clearly more than happy to leave the bragging to Donald Trump .  Warnings against Trumpism peppered his speech culminating in a direct attack : "" When politicians insult Muslims that s not telling it like it is . It ' s just wrong . It diminishes us in the eyes of the world .  "" The world will look to us to help solve problems and our answer needs to be more than tough talk or calls to carpet bomb , "" he said , in a swipe at the other leading Republican Presidential hopeful , Ted Cruz .  He answered Republican claims that his feeble leadership has diminished America s standing in the world : "" The United States of America is the most powerful nation on Earth . Period . It ' s not even close . ""  Gallery : Obama Delivers Final State Of Union Speech   President Barack Obama delivers his final State of the Union address  But any tough talk was eclipsed by a contemplative tone at times it felt more like a lecture from the world ' s leading professor of American studies .  He allowed himself a rare moment of public self doubt , outlining how his time in office could have been improved : "" It ' s one of the few regrets of my presidency that the rancour and suspicion between the parties has gotten worse instead of better , "" he said .  Indeed , the scars of seven years of partisan scraps with Congressional Republicans were clear to see . This was a President wanting the last word . He chided America s lawmakers for not passing legislation on  , for focussing on re election and fundraising and for too readily accepting a dysfunctional political system .  Arguably , the political stagnation in Washington which has dogged Obama s years in office has created the bedrock for the anti establishment Presidential campaigns of Cruz and Trump . You don t have to accept politics as usual , is the motif of both of their campaigns . It s a message that is resonating .  Play video "" Obama State Of The Union Highlights ""  And now the political establishment is rattled . South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley was chosen to give the official Republican response to Obama ' s address . She used her speech to warn against the allure of the "" siren call of the angriest voices "" .  "" Some people think you have to be the loudest voice in the room to make a difference , "" she said , with a note of alarm in her voice .  Obama concluded his address saying that America needs to change how it does its politics .  It may already have done so just not how he might have wanted .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18098,18099,"Reuters) - Illinois’ Republican governor has launched an unusual attack ad in his re-election campaign that features three neighboring governors crediting their states’ job gains to Illinois taxes crafted by a state House Democratic leader. Illinois Republican Governor Bruce Rauner, who kicked off his 2018 re-election campaign this week, saw his first term marred by a political impasse that left Illinois without a budget for two years before lawmakers overrode his veto this summer to raise taxes.     Governors in the new ad include Missouri’s Eric Greitens, Wisconsin’s Scott Walker and Indiana’s Eric Holcomb - all Republicans like Rauner - thanking Rauner’s political foil, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, for blocking reforms, raising taxes and sending jobs to their states. “Hoosiers love you, Mike Madigan,” Holcomb said in the ad. Among the Democrats whom Rauner, a wealthy businessman, could face after a March primary are J.B. Pritzker, an heir to the Hyatt Hotels Corp fortune, and Chris Kennedy, son of the late U.S. Senator Robert Kennedy.        The governor’s race in the fifth-largest state is expected to rank among the most expensive in the country. Experts who follow elections said the ad was unusual. “This is creative since it uses  governors from surrounding states to shift the blame for Illinois’ woes from Rauner to a Democratic leader,” University of Virginia political science professor Larry Sabato said.  “Voters usually hold their governor responsible for the state of the state,” he added.  While it is not unusual for governors to make appearances for other campaigns, they tend to take a more positive approach, highlighting an incumbent’s achievements, said Dick Simpson, a political science professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.     While the ad may resonate with rural, conservative voters, it also comes as Illinois and other states seek to attractweblink’s $5 billion second headquarters. Simpson said highlighting how Illinois policies hurt the state is “probably not helpful.”     Madigan dismissed the ad in a statement, calling it a “race to the bottom being led by his role models from states where middle-class wages are a fraction of what they are in Illinois.”     Rauner has feuded with Democrats, who control the state legislature, over his insistence a state budget be tied to policy demands that would weaken unions, impose legislative term limits and freeze property taxes.     He also has angered conservatives by signing a bill to expand state-funded coverage of abortions. Political scientists said he faces a tough re-election bid in a state often carried by the Democratic candidate in presidential elections. Spending on the race could top $150 million, a rarity, said Sarah Brune, executive director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform. ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18103,18104,"A former Miami Dolphins player apparently lived up to his old  team ' s name and says he swam nine miles in the ocean to shore after falling off his boat .  Fighting back tears , Rob Konrad , 38 , recounted an incredible story Monday at a press conference in Plantation , Florida . He said he swam through cold water in the Atlantic Ocean for about 16 hours , alternating between the breast stroke and backstroke . Jellyfish stung him , and he was once circled by a shark , he said .  Appearing healthy , his wife sitting next to him , Konrad told reporters that , treading water in the moments after falling off his boat Wednesday off the South Florida coast , he knew how improbable his survival was .  He had read about what happens to the body under such circumstances . He figured that he had maybe three hours before hypothermia set in .  It might take him more than 10 hours , at best , to get to shore . But he told himself he would make it .  "" I ' ve got two beautiful daughters , "" he said , his eyes watering . "" I was hitting shore . ""  Konrad said he departed alone in his 36 foot Grady White boat from Deerfield Beach , Florida , at about 10 : 30 a . m . Wednesday and went about nine miles offshore . He set the boat on autopilot for 5 mph and started to fish . He said he hooked a fish around 1 p . m . and while trying to reel it in , a huge wave smashed into the boat and he lost his footing and fell overboard . The boat was moving east , he said , toward the Bahamas .  He wasn ' t wearing a flotation device and didn ' t see any other boats around .  "" I quickly realized I was in a real bad situation , "" he recounted . "" I made a decision that I was going to start swimming toward shore , west . ""  Over the next 16 hours , he said he had two opportunities to be rescued .  He saw a recreational fishing vessel . He was floating about 50 yards from it and tried to swim closer , but no one spotted or heard him .  A little later , a U . S . Coast Guard helicopter circled and shined its light on him , he recounted .  "" They had come right over the top of me , "" he said . But the helicopter flew away .  "" That was a difficult time . I realized at that point in time . . . I was on my own . ""  Down to his underwear , Konrad alternated between breast stroke and backstroke , mustering the strength to keep swimming .  He made it through the night , and managed to coach himself to remain calm despite seeing "" glowing "" creatures in the water .  When he heard waves crashing against the shore , he told himself : "" At that point , you can ' t not make it ? ""  At around 4 : 30 a . m . Thursday , Konrad said he hit the shore in Palm Beach . He was shivering uncontrollably so he curled into a ball and tried to warm himself up .  He had trouble walking but eventually made his way to a home where a security guard was working . The guard notified that Palm Beach Police Department , according to a department report .  Konrad was taken to the hospital , where he said he was treated for hypothermia , severe dehydration and rhabdomyolysis , the breakdown of muscle tissue .  Konrad ' s remarkable experience has wowed distance swimmers .  Sid Cassidy , a nationally renowned distance swimmer , has swum the 22 mile course around Atlantic City , New Jersey , five times . He ' s trained in the same waters in South Florida where Konrad fought against the odds .  "" If you ' re a good swimmer and you ' re faced with an emergency , you could be capable of doing what he did , "" Cassidy said .  The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said it is investigating the boat incident .  Normally swimming a mile in the ocean could take 20 to 30 minutes if a person is very fit , Cassidy said . Most professional swimmers don ' t attempt that many miles without help from a team providing hydration and nutrition .  Konrad is the  of Alterna Financial , a South Florida financial services company . A fullback , he played at Syracuse University and was drafted by the Dolphins in the second round of the 1999  Draft . He played his entire pro career for the Dolphins 82 games , according to Pro Football Referenceweblink . He was released from his contract in 2005 .  "" I can ' t imagine that swimming isn ' t part of his typical workout , "" Cassidy said .  Konrad said he judged which direction to swim by looking at the sun during the day and the stars at night .  But even if Konrad knew which direction to start swimming , he ' d have to contend with constant saltwater in his eyes , intense muscle fatigue , wind and , of course , current , noted Bruce Wigo , president and  of the International Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale .  "" From the salt alone , you ' d have a tongue the size of a baseball , "" said Wigo .  It makes sense that Konrad stripped down in the water to lessen the drag , Wigo added .  A former pro athlete like Konrad knows what it takes to push past pain , Cassidy surmised . He would know how to focus and to stay calm , too .  Sitting next to her husband Monday , Tammy Konrad said he has always been the kind of guy who never gives up .  "" Rob is a very powerful human being , "" she said . "" He set his mind on something and he does go after it . ""  Diana Nyad : Rob Konrad ' s amazing swim for survival  ",true,text,validation,American football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18122,18123,"Debbie Gallagher , 36 , suffered devastating head injuries and died after accident while pregnant  A seven months pregnant mother who fell down the stairs in a catastrophic accident died a day after her baby girl was born by an emergency Caesarean section .  Debbie Gallagher was rushed to hospital after her partner Mike Faultless heard a bang and found her lying unconscious at their home in Chelmsley Wood , West Midlands .  Doctors battled to save the 36 year old , who had suffered a devastating head injury , thought to have been caused by striking the bannister , and her baby .  Daisy was delivered two months early on July 25 , 2013 , weighing 4lb 15oz , but tragically her mother could not be saved and died from her injuries the next day .  Mr Faultless , a Land Rover engineer , was left to bring up their baby daughter and his two step children following the accident last year .  He said : ' Daisy is such a beautiful little girl and I am so proud of her . I know Debbie would have been so proud too .  ' It was such a terrible time . There was the elation of seeing your little girl come into the world and then , just a day later , seeing the woman you love pass away . '  Mr Faultless , 40 , said he went into shock when he saw his Ms Gallagher , who had worked as a stock controller at the Leisure Box in Birmingham , lying at the bottom of the stairs .  He said : ' We had gone to bed saying how happy we were . Then there was a loud bang from downstairs that woke me up .  ' I shouted down for Debbie but I got no answer . I got up to find her and saw a figure lying at the bottom of the stairs .  ' I raced down to her and found blood coming from behind her ear . I was in total panic and shock . '  Mr Faultless has received support from Ms Gallagher ' s friends in caring for Daisy as well as her other children , nine year old Bradley and Hanna , 17 , who she previously adopted .  He added : ' Debbie was a fun loving woman who was happiest when having a party and dancing with family and friends .  Debbie Gallagher ( left ) and partner Mike Faultless ( right ) holding daughter Daisy , and nine year old Bradley  ' She was a wonderful partner and mother and we planned to spend the rest of our lives together . '  Since her death , friends and family have raised almost 4 , 000 in her memory , which will be donated to the Intensive Care Unit at University Hospital in Coventry where she was treated .  Her father James Gallagher , his partner Lynn and her sister in law Rachael Faultless Hodgson have been organising a number of events to raise money for the unit , including a sponsored walk and a 60s night .  The money donated to the hospital will be used to fund new equipment and facilities to enhance the care of  patients .  Mike Faultless holds baby daughter Daisy . The family have raised 4 , 000 for the Intensive Care Unit at University Hospital in Coventry in memory of Daisy ' s mother Debbie  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18154,18155,"Manager Manuel Pellegrini insists that Manchester City have not jeopardised their  Cup ambitions by flying back from Abu Dhabi just 21 hours before Saturday ' s fourth round clash with Middlesbrough at the Etihad .  City delayed their return from a warm weather training trip until Friday night but Pellegrini believes there is no danger of his players suffering jet lag from the seven hour flight .  They will head straight for the club ' s training base to prepare for Saturday ' s 3pm kick off .  Manager Manuel Pellegrini and his players arrived back in Manchester at about 8pm on Friday night  David Silva and Vincent Kompany headed straight to the club ' s training base to prepare for Saturday ' s game  The City manager said : ' We have prepared for it and we will arrive back at the City Football Academy and have our prematch meeting there .  ' We analysed this before we decided to come to Abu Dhabi . There is just four hours ' difference , which we gain , so we don ' t have any jet lag . I don ' t think we will have any problems . ' We came here to have a break pellegrini and do a different kind of work . It has been very useful for the team . I hope when we return we will see the benefit . '  Pellegrini was furious at the way City , then  Cup holders , went out of the competition at home to Wigan last season and has warned his players to be on their guard against their Championship opponents .  Manuel Pellegrini insists that his players are fit and raring to go for the  Cup clash with Middlesbrough  Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany shows off his skills at the club ' s training camp in Abu Dhabi  James Milner lines up a cross against Hamburg defender Johan Djourou ( right ) in a mid season friendly  Middlesbrough are managed by Aitor Karanka , who joined Real Madrid as assistant coach following Pellegrini ' s sacking at the Bernabeu in 2010 .  ' I expect a very good game , ' said Pellegrini . ' Middlesbrough are in a very good position in the Championship and working with a very good manager .  ' I know him well and I am sure that if we don ' t play with 100 per cent intensity and concentration we are going to have problems to qualify to the next stage . '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
18166,18167,"Francis O ' Neill had ' no comprehension ' that he had beaten his wife of 40 years Monica , 73 , ( pictured ) who was found dead in the hallway of their home in Malvern , Worcestershire  A dementia sufferer who had no idea he had battered his wife to death and still asks for her daily has been detained indefinitely .  Francis O ' Neill had ' no comprehension ' that he had beaten his wife of 40 years Monica , 73 , who was found dead in the hallway of their home in Malvern , Worcestershire .  The grandmother was found with 65 injuries , including broken ribs , a blunt blow to the head and a broken tooth .  Worcester Crown Court heart that Mr O ' Neill , a grandfather of four , appeared confused and bewildered after approaching neighbours for help at 11 . 45pm on January 20 last year .  Police were called to the couple ' s home , where they found Mrs O ' Neill ' s body in the hallway .  A post mortem recorded her death was caused by extensive injuries to her head and body .  Mr O ' Neill , who had been married to his wife for more than 40 years , was initially arrested on suspicion of murder but was deemed unfit to stand trial because of his illness .  He was subsequently tried under the Criminal Procedure ( Insanity ) Act 1964 and was found to have killed Mrs O ' Neill by a special verdict by a jury last November .  The former merchant seaman was ordered to be detained in a secure hospital at Worcester Crown Court on Monday .  Judge Robert Juckes  also ruled that further restrictions for public safety under section 41 of the Mental Health Act should be put in place if his release is ever considered .  He said Mr O ' Neill had never ' appreciated what he had done ' and said he still asks about his wife even now .  Paying tribute to Mrs O ' Neill after the hearing , her family described her as a ' proud grandmother , devoted mother and loving wife ' , who volunteered at the  shop at Worcestershire Royal Hospital .  Her three children Sinead O ' Neill , Martin O ' Neill and Katherine Letchford added : ' If our mum ruled the world it would be spring all year round .  ' She was born on a Good Friday and loved to see the daffodils and crocuses coming out , knowing her birthday was just round the corner .  ' ( She was a ) proud grandmother , devoted mother , loving wife , good neighbour , trusted confidante , loyal friend . '  The court heard Mr O ' Neill , known by his second name Brian , had suffered from significant dementia for a number of years and it was getting progressively worse .  At an earlier hearing , prosecutor Gareth Walters said the couple ' s neighbours Brian and Carol Holt were awoken by Mr O ' Neill asking them how to contact 999 .  Mr O ' Neill seemed ' quite unaware ' of what had happened but had an injury to the knuckle of his right hand , which continued to swell .  The grandmother was found with 65 injuries , including broken ribs , a blunt blow to the head and a broken tooth . Worcester Crown Court heart that Mr O ' Neill , a grandfather of four , appeared confused and bewildered after approaching neighbours for help at 11 . 45pm on January 20 last year  He claimed he had left her watching  , saw her asleep and then shook her to try to wake her .  Police found him ' confused and bewildered ' and after being assessed as having dementia , he was not interviewed by officers .  Neighbour Brian Holt told the court : ' Brian seemed completely oblivious to what happened . He was concerned about where his house keys were .  ' I still can ' t believe what has happened . They were a very loving , happy couple . '  In her statement , Carol Holt said : ' Mrs O ' Neill was a lovely lady and had a good relationship with her husband , who referred to her as "" The Commander "" , and she did everything for him . '  Forensic pathologist Dr Nicholas Hunt added : ' Mrs O ' Neill died from multiple injuries , including a blunt injury to her head .  ' Some of her injuries may have been accidental or through a fall down stairs but others were consistent with blows from a fist or defensive wounds as she tried to protect herself . '  Detective Inspector Andrew Price , from West Mercia Police , said : ' This is a particularly tragic case for all concerned .  ' I am satisfied with the decision of the jury and feel the sentence was appropriate given the defendants continuing mental health issues .  ' My thoughts are with Monica O ' Neill ' s family at this difficult time . '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
18167,18168,"Michael Gove was yesterday embroiled in a new war of words over showing Blackadder in schools with one of the programme ' s stars .  Sir Tony Robinson , asked to weigh in to the row over whether the  comedy should be used in lessons about the First World War , branded Mr Gove ' very silly ' .  The actor , who played the hapless Baldrick in the long running series , refused to accept Mr Gove ' s claims that it would feed pupils ' left wing myths ' about the 1914 18 conflict .  Sir Tony Robinson , asked to weigh in to the row over whether the  comedy should be used in lessons about the First World War , branded Mr Gove ' very silly '  Writing in the Mail last week , Mr Gove said : ' The conflict has , for many , been seen through the fictional prism of dramas such as Oh ! What a Lovely War , The Monocled Mutineer and Blackadder as misbegotten shambles a series of catastrophic mistakes perpetrated by an out of touch elite . Even to this day there are left wing academics all too happy to feed those myths . '  He said this portrayal served to belittle Britain ' s role in what was a ' just war ' to combat German aggression . The troops who fought and died showed ' patriotism , honour and courage ' , he said .  But yesterday Labour ' s education spokesman , Tristram Hunt , a historian , called Mr Gove ' s article ' shocking stuff ' .  And Sir Tony , a prominent member of the Labour Party who once sat on its national executive , said : ' I think Mr Gove has just made a very silly mistake . It is not that Blackadder teaches children about World War One .  When imaginative teachers bring it in , it ' s simply another teaching tool .  ' They probably take them over to Flanders to have a look at the sights out there , have them marching around the playground , read the poems of Wilfred Owen to them . And one of the things that they ' ll do is show them Blackadder . '  He told Sky News : ' To make this mistake , to categorise teachers who would introduce something like Blackadder as left wing and introducing left wing propaganda , is particularly unhelpful and irresponsible from a minister of education . It ' s just another example of slagging off teachers . '  A spokesman for Mr Gove hit back , saying : ' Tony Robinson is wrong . Michael wasn ' t attacking teachers , he was attacking the myths perpetuated in Blackadder and elsewhere .  ' Michael thinks it is important not to denigrate the patriotism , honour and courage demonstrated by ordinary British soldiers in the First World War . '  Blackadder Goes Forth is set in the trenches of the Western front in 1917 , and focuses on the increasingly desperate attempts of Captain Blackadder , played by Rowan Atkinson , to avoid the action .  Speaking ahead of the centenary of the outbreak  of the Great War Mr Gove said only ' undergraduate cynics ' would say  soldiers had fought in vain  He receives little help from his sidekick Private Baldrick .  In his article Mr Gove , who has been defended by some historians , said the effect of such programmes is that ' our understanding of the war has been overlaid by misunderstandings and misrepresentations which reflect an at best ambiguous attitude to this country and at worst an unhappy compulsion on the part of some to denigrate virtues such as patriotism , honour and courage ' .  Britain is preparing to commemorate the centenary of the outbreak of the war in a series of events costing 50million .  Labour ' s Mr Hunt claimed in The Observer that the Government was using the centenary to ' rewrite the historical record and sow political division ' and accused the Tories of being ' crass ' .  He added : ' Whether you agree or disagree , after the deaths of 15million people during the war , attempting to position 1918 as a simplistic , nationalistic triumph seems equally foolhardy not least because the very same tensions re emerged to such deadly effect in 1939 . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past
18207,18208,"Manchester City ' s unbeaten Premier League run came to an end on Monday as Chelsea blew the English title race wide open with a 2 1 victory at home to their 10 man opponents .  City traveled to London seeking to re establish a five point lead over local rivals Manchester United , and made the perfect start when Mario Balotelli scored in just the second minute .  But Raul Meireles equalized in the pouring rain on 34 , and the visitors had defender Gael Clichy sent off for second booking just before the hour mark .  Substitute Frank Lampard then condemned Roberto Mancini ' s men to a first defeat in 15 league games with an 83rd minute penalty that lifted Chelsea up to third place above London rivals Tottenham on goal difference .  Is Mancini the right man for Manchester City ?  "" The Chelsea players after the game were really happy to beat us . That shows we are a top team at this moment and that all the teams want to beat us , and this is important for us , "" manager Mancini said .  "" We worked well up to now and now we should continue . I hope that we can go another 14 games without losing . ""  City went into the game having been eliminated from the European Champions League at the group stage despite beating Bayern Munich in Wednesday ' s final game .  Balotelli was caught breaking a club curfew before this match , but the Italy striker showed his undoubted on field class with the opening goal his 11th this season .  Sergio Aguero showed great skill to turn inside Chelsea captain John Terry and thread a perfect pass for the 21 year old , who held off Branislav Ivanovic and coolly slotted past goalkeeper Petr Cech for his eighth in the league .  Chelsea ' s Anelka to join Chinese club  City could have had a 14th minute penalty when Jose Bosingwa appeared to bring down David Silva , but the referee decided otherwise in a decision which manager Mancini later said was the turning point in the match .  Chelsea went through to the last 16 of the Champions League last week with an emphatic win over Valencia which relieved the pressure on manager Andre Villas Boas .  However , he was on the defensive after that victory and accused the media of unfair treatment being unhappy with criticism of the form that left Chelsea 10 points adrift of City going into Monday ' s match .  The return to form shown against the Spaniards continued as young striker Daniel Sturridge gathered a superb long pass from Terry and raced past Clichy down the left before cutting back to Meireles , and the Portugal midfielder volleyed the equalizer .  Clichy ' s night ended in the 58th minute when the France international fouled Brazil midfielder Ramires , and Chelsea made full use of their extra man .  Etherington double ends Tottenham ' s winning run  The 22 year old Sturridge , who made his England debut last month , fired in a left foot shot that struck the raised arm of City defender Joleon Lescott .  Veteran midfielder Lampard , who sat out last Tuesday ' s European game and this time came on to replace Meireles in the 73rd minute , stepped up and smashed the resulting penalty past England goalkeeper Joe Hart .  "" I went out and missed a penalty a few weeks ago and the next one is always hard to take , "" he said .  "" You ' ve got to be big enough and stand up and take them , and they ' re the moments . I was very relieved when it hit the back of the net . ""  The defeat means City can lose the lead on Sunday when United travel to Queens Park Rangers in the early match , then Mancini ' s side face another big test against in form Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium later that day .  Chelsea joined Tottenham on 31 points , having played one more game ahead of their clash on December 22 which follows Saturday ' s trip to lowly Wigan  "" Our objective was to shorten the distance to the leaders today , and we managed to do exactly that , but we don ' t take extra flavor from being the first team to beat them , "" Villas Boas said .  "" We needed to do our job to get our challenge back on track , and I think it ' s pretty much alive now . ""  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18212,18213,"The girl the Taliban wanted dead has not only survived but was able to walk out of the hospital last week . But other highly publicized , vicious attacks on women and girls have not had such triumphant outcomes .  Malala Yousafzai ' s ordeal is not over yet : Doctors say the 15 year old campaigner for girls ' education , whom gunmen shot in the head as she rode a school bus in Pakistan , will be readmitted in late January or early February for more cranial reconstructive surgery .  She left the hospital just days after gunmen attacked a van in Pakistan ' s Swabi District , less than an hour from the capital , and killed six women and one man who worked at a children ' s community center . Five of the dead were teachers two were health care workers . The center , a charity , offered a school for girls and vaccinations for polio , among other diseases , along with maternal health treatment .  Yet another attack unfolded around the time of Malala ' s release . India is reeling from the death of a woman who dreamed of becoming a doctor . Brutally gang raped , mutilated and thrown from a bus , the physiotherapy student later died in a Singapore hospital . Her name was not made public in India , but her cause electrified the nation . Her father , who sold family land to move his family to Delhi from rural India to help his daughter realize her education dreams , is left heartbroken .  "" She wanted to be a doctor and said it was only a matter of a few years and that when she was a doctor ( all our suffering ) , it will end , ' "" her father told the  . "" I remember asking her once , ' Who are all your friends ? ' She replied , ' Dad , it ' s only my books I am friends with . ' ""  What all of these attacks have in common , along with their brutality , is that they are attempts at extinguishing the talent and potential of women or half of the population . In a world that needs every doctor it can find , every educator and politician who is willing to tackle the status quo , these young women offered a glimpse at a brighter future in which all can contribute .  No less than investment oracle Warren Buffett made that very case recently , referring to the United States , which has seen its share of less brutal attempts to hold women back .  "" What a waste of human talent 50 of the talent of the country we pushed off in a corner for almost 200 years , "" he said in an interview with Melinda Gates . "" It is one of the things that makes me optimistic about the future we are getting to the point we are starting to realize we need to use 100 of our talent it makes me very optimistic , but we still have a way to go . ""  His words echoed those of the World Economic Forum in its annual Gender Gap Report .  "" The key for the future of any country and any institution is the capability to develop , retain and attract the best talent , "" the report said . "" Empowering and educating girls and women and leveraging their talent and leadership fully in the global economy , politics and society are thus fundamental elements of succeeding and prospering in an ever more competitive world . ""  Until now these horrific attacks on women and girls , attacks I have written about concerning Afghanistan , have been seen as shameful and isolated incidents . But they are a shared loss in a globalized world .  These young women and their legacies Malala , who will continue her fight , and the others , who will not are on the front lines of deciding what our world looks like . Will young women who speak out on the need for education be stopped or celebrated ? Will girls who dream of becoming doctors stay alive long enough to do so ? And when will we realize that their battle is one shared by everyone who dreams of a safer , more stable , more prosperous world in which more people have a stake ? Perhaps Buffett ' s words will help enlist more fighters in the cause . Because the economic and human rights stakes are high .  Increasingly the world is recognizing the value and the contributions of girls and women . But progress is slow while violence is tolerated . And as the attacks in Pakistan show , educating girls remains a potentially deadly line of work .  "" They wanted to kill her , "" said her father not long after gunmen shot his daughter . "" But she fell temporarily . She will rise again . She will stand again . "" He was right .  The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Gayle Tzemach Lemmon .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18239,18240,"Jody Cundy recognises the clock is ticking as he bids for Paralympic gold four years on from his notorious explosion at London 2012 .  Cundy was favourite for victory in the London 2012 C4 C5 one kilometre time trial at the Olympic Velodrome , only for his Games to end in an explosive rant at officials .  Race commissaries deemed rider failure to be the result of a start gate issue Cundy argued it was faulty , but his protests were dismissed .  It was a seminal moment of the Paralympics , when the watching public realised Paralympians are athletes first and foremost .  Joy Cundy is aiming for gold at the Rio 2016 Olympics after his dramatic disappointment at London 2012  Now Cundy , a five time Paralympic champion swimmer and cyclist , is going for gold at the Rio Games in 2016 , with the Paracycling Track World Championships , which begin on Thursday , a key indicator .  The 36 year old from Wisbech , Cambridgeshire said : ' I ' ve always got that missed gold in London that ' s always playing on the back of my mind .  ' That helps me get up in the morning , continue training and make sure we put all the wrongs to right when we get to Rio .  ' I seem to be still getting faster and in training I ' m in better form than I was prior to London .  ' I ' m not getting any younger , but I ' m good enough to keep going through to Rio .  ' Apeldoorn ' s going to be the first checkpoint to see if I ' m on target . '  Race commissaries deemed rider failure to be the result of a start gate issue however Cundy disagreed  Cundy , favourite for gold before his false start in the 1km time trial , shows his outrage after his exit  Cundy acknowledges Tokyo 2020 , when he will be 41 , may be four years too far and Rio may be his last chance .  He added : ' I keep thinking I ' m new to the sport , but I joined the squad in 2006 . This is my eighth year on the team .  ' I ' ve nearly had as many years on the cycling team as I had on the swimming team .  ' It ' s certainly getting harder with each year I do it . '  Yet Cundy is still making improvements .  Despite being hospitalised to intensive care last November with a swollen epiglottis , Cundy bounced back to post a sea level personal best in his favoured kilo event at the Newport International event in January .  Cundy aims to put his blow up in the Olympic Velodrome behind him at the Paracycling Track World Championships , which begin in the Netherlands on Thursday  The track in Apeldoorn , Holland which hosts this week ' s competition is not known for being fast , though , so returning with the world champion ' s rainbow jersey is the primary objective .  Cundy is held back by a team official after the   Cundy added : ' It ' s about winning the world title and performing as well as I can against my main competitors . '  Cundy , a C4 athlete who is a below knee amputee , races against riders with a lesser impairment than his own in Paralympic competition .  The times posted are factored , but Cundy wants to be quicker than all of his C4 and C5 rivals in Rio .  ' On the factors they ' ve currently got it ' s about a 0 . 6 or 0 . 8 ( of a second ) advantage I ' ve got , ' he added .  ' But I ' d rather win on time , be faster on time , that way there ' s no doubts . '  Cundy is joined in the team by 11 time Paralympic champion Dame Sarah Storey , who is defending two world titles .  Neil Fachie and his pilot Pete Mitchell are also defending their one kilometre time trial tandem title , while Commonwealth Games winning pair Sophie Thornhill and Helen Scott are in partnership in the women ' s tandem events .  Crystal Lane , Lora Turnham ( piloted by Lauryn Therin ) and World Championships debutants Megan Giglia , Steve Bate ( piloted by Adam Duggleby ) , Louis Rolfe and Jaco van Gass complete the team .  Britain topped the medal table at the 2014 event in Aguascalientes , Mexico , winning 10 medals , seven of them gold .  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18254,18255,"From Poundland to Poundstretcher , Poundworld and 99p Stores , they seem to be mushrooming .  Poundland the trailblazer now has 460 stores in the  . And where Poundland leads , it seems others follow . Each of the variously named discount stores offers its own unique combination of household goods , supermarket fare , beauty products , homeware , and car accessories .  So , do they all sell the same products ? And just how do they keep their prices so low ?  Bags of bargains : Tessa with her shopping from Poundland  The chain was founded in 1990 by Steve Smith and his father , Keith , in Burton on Trent . After changing hands numerous times , it ' s now the biggest bargain basement chain in Europe .  A typical shop contains more than 3 , 000 different products with a wealth of brand names including Heinz , Pepsi , Nivea , Thorntons and Simple .  Of its 4 . 5 million savvy shoppers , one in five is a middle class professional .  Poundland says it keeps its prices low by trading directly with major brands .  It either shrinks the size of products or strikes a deal with suppliers to get knock down prices because of the volume of stock it sells .     ? Huge aisles and clear signs make shopping easy , despite the fact that the Poundland I visit in upmarket Winchester really does sell everything from Horrid Henry children ' s books to Kellogg ' s Corn Flakes .  It ' s bristling with helpful staff you could almost be in John Lewis .  There are students ogling the hairdye and nail varnishes , pensioners comparing the price of tinned soups and over in the party section I ' m stunned to see the vicar ' s wife grabbing armloads of treats for her five year old ' s forthcoming party .  A steal : Tessa picked up armloads of vitamins at bargain prices    : Health and beauty . Poundland is Britain ' s largest seller of batteries no surprise when you think that an average four pack of AAAs costs 2 . 35 .  Other top sellers include umbrellas ( 2 . 5 million were sold last year ) , and Toblerone ( 5 . 5 million bars in 2013 ) . It ' s branching out into chilled food you can buy a box of ten eggs or a 160g pack of Danish salami .  But it ' s in the healthcare section that you ' ll find extraordinary bargains . I picked up armloads of vitamins at a steal .  For example , 90 vitamin D tablets cost 5 . 10 at Boots . I bought 60 here for 1 . They are exactly the same strength , with each tablet containing 200 per cent of my  ( recommended daily amount . ) .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
18258,18259,"China money rates lower for week , central bank injects funds amid yuan depreciation    : Love visual aspect of news ? Enjoy this exclusive slideshows treat !   : China ' s primary money rates fell on Friday and were lower for the week after the central bank injected liquidity through open market operations , offseting capital outflows arising from the yuan ' s recent depreciation .  The volume weighted average rate of the benchmark seven day repo traded in the interbank market , considered the best indicator of general liquidity in China , was 2 . 2895 percent , down 4 . 06 basis points from the previous day ' s closing average rate , and down 3 . 50 basis points for week .  The overnight rate fell 18 . 25 basis point for the week to 1 . 9358 , while the 14 day repo declined 17 . 15 basis points for the week to 2 . 8200 percent .  "" Overnight repos are in great demand , "" said a trader at a Chinese commercial bank in Shanghai . "" But the central bank conducted large injections this week , improving market liquidity . ""  The People ' s Bank of China (  ) injected a net 190 billion yuan ( 28 . 8 billion ) into the market this week , the largest net weekly injection since the first week in February 2015 .  The central bank also said on Monday it had extended 135 million yuan of loans to local financial institutions under a standing lending facility (  ) in December , along with 100 billion yuan ( 15 . 3 billion ) in loans to 13 financial institutions under a medium term lending facility (  ) .  Still , traders showed concerns that interbank liquidity may tighten , given the yuan ' s weakness in foreign exchange market of late .  "" What really matters was the central bank ' s intervention in the forex market , selling dollars and buying back the yuan , draining yuan liquidity . ""  Traders ' concerns were underpinned by a record drop in China ' s foreign exchange reserves in December , falling by 107 . 9 billion from the previous month .  The dramatic drop in forex reserves added to worries about growing capital outflows and market expectations on more easing movements . The  has spent billions of dollars buying yuan over recent months to defend the exchange rate , but has failed to stabilise market sentiment , traders said .  The Chinese currency had lost more than 1 percent against the dollar this week by midday , partly triggering a domestic stock market slump of over 10 percent at the same time .  Stay on top of business news with The Economic Times App . Download it Now !   ' T MISSany stories , follow us on Twitter Follow  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
18270,18271,"New York As weekend temperatures soared over 90 degrees Fahrenheit , New York City saw a sudden increase in shootings , with 26 people felled by bullets in 72 hours seven fatally .  "" When we have hot temperatures , we see that the crime rate seems to go up , "" New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Monday .  But Bloomberg emphasized that for the year , shootings are down in the city 127 since January 1 , which is 40 less than the same period in 2012 .  "" One shooting is one too many , but last week we had the fewest shootings in a decade , including this weekend ' s shootings , "" Bloomberg noted .  A professor says the heat index and the crime rate can connect .  "" Lifestyle differences exist between cold weather and warm weather , "" says James Alan Fox , a professor of Criminology , Law and Public Policy at Northeastern University in Boston .  Fox has conducted research on the possible connection between temperature and crime . His findings illustrate how these lifestyle differences can contribute to varying levels of violent crime .  "" In cold weather , particularly in blizzards , people stay indoors , and the violent crime rate is lower . When the weather is warm , people are interacting more with others , be they friends , family , or strangers , so there are increased opportunities for conflict , "" Fox says .  Fox says this trend continues except when it gets incredibly hot , so unbearable that even criminals become lethargic .  "" When it gets to be in the high 90s , especially over 100 degrees , people just go indoors and look for air conditioning , "" Fox said .  However , drawing any conclusions about this past weekend may be premature , says Professor Jon M . Shane , assistant professor in the Department of Law , Police Science , and Criminal Justice Administration at John Jay Criminal College .  "" I would not put too much emphasis on a single spike in weather and the uptick shootings , "" Shane said . "" The reality is that you do not have enough information from this single episode to conclude that hot weather is related to increases in crime specifically shootings , in this case . ""  In November 2012 , New York City logged a record breaking "" murder free Monday "" when there was not a single reported slaying , stabbing , shooting or knifing in any of the five boroughs , according to the New York Police Department .  "" It is unusual in a city of 8 million people , but we never read that much into one day , "" said Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne , who said it was the "" first time in memory "" that the city had such a lull in violent crime .  At the close of 2012 , Bloomberg hailed New York City the "" safest big city in America , "" giving the  credit .  "" The fact that the safest big city in America is safer than ever is a testament to the hard work and determination of the men and women who put their lives on the line for us every day and it also reflects our commitment to doing everything possible to stop gun violence , "" Bloomberg said .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18290,18291,"Reuters) - Sunday’s massacre in Las Vegas spurred a ritual-like response from U.S. politicians following the mass shootings that have left a trail of victims across the country: Democrats renewed demands for tougher gun laws while Republicans offered up prayers but showed no signs of supporting such legislation. One day after the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, which left at least 59 people dead and over 500 injured, House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican, said in a statement on Monday: “The whole country stands united in our shock, in our condolences and in our prayers.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, also a Republican, led his chamber in a moment of silence following the “devastating” massacre and urged “national mourning” and prayer. Democrats were not falling in line. “Thoughts & prayers are  enough. Not when more moms & dads will bury kids this week, & more sons & daughters will grow up without parents,” Senator Elizabeth Warren said in a morning tweet. Senator Chris Murphy, whose home state of Connecticut was the scene of a mass shooting in 2012 that killed 20 6-year-olds and six adults, was blunter. “It’s time for Congress to get off its ass and do something,” Murphy said in a statement.  Murphy said he would introduce a new background check bill and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi also urged passage of legislation toughening checks on gun sales. The Connecticut tragedy sparked serious negotiations in Congress on tighter gun laws, including tougher background checks for gun buyers. But the effort failed in 2013 amid strong opposition from gun groups such as the National Rifle Association. Subsequent mass shootings have brought a similar call for Congress to act on tougher gun laws, only to see Republicans and some Democrats balk at what they see as infringements on the right to bear arms embedded in the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders, asked whether President Donald Trump might now favor tighter gun laws, told reporters: “I think that’s something that we can talk about in the coming days and see what that looks like moving forward.” She said the administration would not want laws created that would fail to “stop these types of things from happening.” Nevada’s two U.S. senators, Republican Dean Heller and Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto, on Monday both issued statements offering prayers to victims and thanks to first responders, but neither mentioned anything about gun laws. Ryan, when asked in an interview last month with the Associated Press about steps to diminish gun violence, said many mass shootings were at the hands of people with mental illnesses and said Congress needed to ensure that federal funds were available to address such illnesses. “But if you’re saying that this Republican Congress is going to infringe upon Second Amendment rights, we’re not going to do that,” he said. The House, however, recently passed a massive funding bill for next year that would cut $306 million from the government’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration. Democrats on Monday wrote to Ryan asking that he stop from further consideration a bill before the House that would make it easier to buy gun silencers, something that gun control advocates oppose. Supporters argue the bill would protect more gun users from damage to their hearing. Senate Democrats were holding the floor into the evening on Monday to talk about the Las Vegas massacre and the need for gun controls. One California politician offered another possible path forward. Gavin Newsom, the state’s current lieutenant governor and a candidate for governor in the 2018 election, suggested that California act on its own. “We are heartbroken that we can’t pass commonsense gun laws in our nation,” Newsom said in a statement. “If the Republican leadership of Congress and this president continue with their moral and intellectual abandon, California has and must continue to chart the path of rationality.”  California has already acted on gun control, with voters last November approving a proposition outlawing possession of ammo magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. As has been the case following past mass shootings in the United States, the Las Vegas murders raised expectations of brisk gun sales by people who fear that gun control laws will be become stricter, driving up the shares of gun makers.  American Outdoor Brands rose 3.2 percent while Sturm Ruger & Co rose 3.5 percent. That followed a trend seen following the June 12, 2016 shooting at an Orlando, Florida, nightclub, when American Outdoor gained 7 percent and Ruger jumped 8.5 percent.  #GunControlNow was among the top trending hashtags on Twitter in the United States on Monday. ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
18291,18292,"Not running India Pakistan talks , they need to solve their issues together :  State Dept  India ? India Pakistan ? NewsTracker ? Pakistan ?  ?  Washington : ? ? The  is not running or convening any talks between India and Pakistan with respect to counter terrorism , a State Department official has said welcoming the latest series of talks between the two South Asian countries to resolve their bilateral issues .  India and Pakistan need to work on their issues on their own says  State Dept .   "" We are not running any or convening any talks between India and Pakistan with respect to counter terrorism . We strongly and still believe that the best solution is for the two countries to work out these issues together , "" State Department Spokesman John Kirby yesterday told reporters at his daily news conference .  "" These are common threats they both face , so I ' m not aware of any effort by the United States to lead or convene some sort of effort , "" he said in response to a question . The  , he said , welcomes report of the meeting between Indian and Pakistani officials .  "" We support any and all positive steps India and Pakistan can take to reduce the tensions , to engage in dialogue , forge closer relations . The normalisation of relations between those two countries is vital not only to them but to the region , so we once again encourage this kind of dialogue , "" Kirby said .  "" As I ' ve said before , I mean , these are issues that are best worked out between the two of them by the two of them , "" he said in response to another question . Kirby said terrorism poses a serious threat to the countries in the region and this has been an important issue of conversation with officials of these nations .  "" We view the terrorist threat in that part of the world to be one shared by everybody , and including the United States , which is why we ' ve worked so hard in Afghanistan , which is why we still work so hard on a relationship with Pakistan , "" he said .  "" We know that the spying between Afghanistan and Pakistan still remains a safe haven and a real source of sustenance for various terrorist groups , and it ' s something we ' re going to continue to work at bilaterally , multilaterally in the region , "" he said .  "" But specifically between India and Pakistan , we continue to believe that this is these are issues which , frankly , should encourage both sides to continue to want to work closer and stronger together bilaterally to solve it , because it is a common threat to both of them , "" Kirby said .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
18295,18296,"England will provide a clue to their one day strategy for their forthcoming seven match series in Sri Lanka when they omit Alex Hales from their top three in Friday ' s warm up game against Sri Lanka A in Colombo .  The 25 year old Nottinghamshire opener , who is currently third in the  ' s Twenty20 world rankings , has been touted by many as a potential match winner at next year ' s 50 over World Cup in Australia and New Zealand .  But England are set instead to go in to their tour opener with a top three of captain Alastair Cook , Moeen Ali and Ian Bell leaving them open once more to the accusation that their approach to one day cricket is simply too conservative to challenge the world ' s best sides .  Alex Hales , pictured during a nets session in Colombo , will not be part of England ' s top three against Sri Lanka  Nottinghamshire opener Hales is currently ranked third in the  ' s Twenty20 world rankings  Hales has played just four one day internationals , all against India at the end of the summer , when he made only 92 runs at a strike rate of 68 , with a top score of 42 .  But four games is hardly a scientific sample , and many still remember his breath taking unbeaten 116 from 64 balls to dispatch the Sri Lankans during the World Twenty20 earlier this year in Bangladesh . As one six after another flew into the Chittagong night sky , it seemed England had unearthed a world beater for both forms of limited overs cricket .  In his next match against Sri Lanka another Twenty20 game at The Oval in May he top scored with 66 from 41 balls , with no other England batsman reaching 30 . It is fair to say he is the one England player the Sri Lankans truly fear .  Yet coach Peter Moores and Cook took note of Hales ' s struggles against the tight line served up by India ' s opening bowlers in August and September , and have also borne in mind the spin option provided by Ali in a part of the world where slow bowlers need little encouragement .  Coach Peter Moores , pictured during a nets session on Thursday , could be accused of being too conservative  Captain Alastair Cook ( right ) will make up part of England ' s top three with Moeen Ali and Ian Bell  Even so , for those looking for signs that England will embrace an aggression first approach as they seek to avoid a sixth successive World Cup flop , the news that Hales is not being given a licence to thrill at the top of the order will feel dispiriting .  At a training session at the Nondescripts Cricket Club in Colombo today , Moores said : ' We ' re trying to move to be a more positive side , with both bat and ball , take every opportunity to score runs and put pressure on the opposition .  ' It ' s not a simple process to say "" I ' m going to walk out and whack it "" .  ' We saw that in that India game , when Rohit Sharma who made 264 against Sri Lanka at Kolkata started slowly , and then suddenly found freedom and played beautifully .  Ali ( left ) and Bell ( right ) will complete England ' s top three in Friday ' s warm up match against Sri Lanka A  ' We ' ve got to do that . It ' s not actually complicated . You ' ve just got to find your way of doing it as an individual , and a team . '  With only two warm up games scheduled before Wednesday ' s first one day international here in Colombo , it looks as if Hales ' s best hope will be for Bell to fail twice .  It is not the ideal sentiment at the start of a tour which England hope will provide them with a platform to shock the world in Australia and New Zealand .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
18297,18298,"Back in June, on Facebook, Donald Trump called on Hillary Clinton to return millions of dollars the Clinton Foundation received in donations from Saudi Arabia: Crooked Hillary says we must call on Saudi Arabia and other countries to stop funding hate. I am calling on her to immediately return the $25 million plus she got from them for the Clinton Foundation! For months now the right has used the Saudi donations as definitive  proof  that Clinton is beholden to oppressive regimes, and isn t serious about protecting women s rights and  rights.But while the right is hailing their newfound champion of women s rights and gay rights, maybe they should take a look at how much money he s taken from the Saudi government   personally   and how he allowed Osama Bin Laden s brother to live in the famous Trump Tower.Had Hillary Clinton allowed a Bin Laden such private access, the right wing media would have a field day. But since it s Donald Trump, he gets a free pass.According to a new expos  by The Daily News, Trump has received over $5.7 million dollars from the Saudi government after selling  sold the 45th floor of Trump World Tower to the Kingdom. Since 2001, the government has had to pay the Trump Organization $85,585 for building amenities a year.Before the payoff of real estate, Trump also allowed Osama Bin Laden s half-brother, Shafiq Bin Laden, to live in the apartment for four months in 1986.Perhaps Trump can follow his own example and can go ahead and give the $5.7 million back to the Saudi government, and explain why he allowed the brother of the world s most dangerous and wanted terrorist to live at his crowning achievement.How is Trump going to hold the Saudi government accountable when they have direct ownership in his business? Trump has already hinted that he would not step down from the Trump organization, raising high levels of potential conflicts of interest for the United States government.But let s keep pretending Hillary Clinton hasn t done anything for women and  people because Donald Trump has such a great track record when it comes to equality.Featured image via Joe Freso/Getty Images",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
18302,18303,"Jockey Tom Cannon will be on board The Giant Bolster again when the David Bridgwater trained gelding attempts to win the Betbright Cup Chase at Cheltenham on Saturday for a second year running .  Cannon rode The Giant Bolster for the first time when the partnership finished just over 14 lengths behind Silviniaco Conti in the Betfair Chase at Haydock in December .  Bridgwater said of his chaser : ' His first run ( this season ) at Wetherby was rubbish but his second run at Haydock was brilliant and Tom gave him a lovely ride .  Tom Cannon ( right , above ) , pictured riding Itoldyou in January , will be on board The Giant Bolster on Saturday as he attempts to win the Betbright Cup Chase  ' He is a very promising young jockey and it is the plan for him to ride on Saturday .  ' The Giant Bolster will definitely have a visor on . We might put a hood on as well , depending if it ' s cold or not , just to keep his ears warm ! '  Twelve months ago The Giant Bolster beat Rocky Creek seven lengths in the Grade Two contest , formerly known as the Argento Chase , before going on to finish third in the Cheltenham Gold Cup .  Tom Scudamore is the jockey most associated with The Giant Bolster having ridden him in 14 of his 32 starts as well as being placed in the last three runnings of the Cheltenham Gold Cup .  Tom Scudamore ( above ) , pictured riding Brook , will be more than likely riding Dynaste this weekend  This weekend , however , Scudamore looks like being needed for King George  Chase runner up Dynaste , trained by his boss David Pipe .  Writing on his website , Pipe said : ' He has pleased me at home and has come out of his King George run very well .  ' We will be keeping a close eye on the weather and hoping that the temperatures keep up ahead of the weekend ' s action .  ' Should he participate , the result will give us yet more information on which to base his Cheltenham Festival target . '  David Pipe , trainer of Dynaste , is all smiles during the Exeter Racecourse on Monday  Saturday ' s race is run over nearly three and a quarter miles and Dynaste was successful at last year ' s Cheltenham Festival in the two mile five furlong Ryanair Chase .  Others Betbright Cup Chase entries include Hennessy Gold Cup hero Many Clouds and Holywell , who is also entered in the Cleeve Hurdle on the same card .  Smad Place , runner up in the  Chase last year , Black Thunder , Theatre Guide and Double Ross completing the possibles .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18308,18309,"After announcing a new tour , the two Brothers Gibb , Robin and Barry have stated to an inside source that teenage singer , Justin Bieber may join them any day now to record a new studio album .  "" This is a dream come true for me "" , stated Bieber . "" My voice will go perfectly with the two BeeGees as I ' ve already been practicing with their voice recordings that they sent me . ""  Reminded that he was hotter than the BeeGees , Bieber shook his head no .  "" I may be on top today but what about five years from now ? People have a way of dropping out of sight once their teen fans get older . The BeeGees are a respected group by everyone in the music business . Outside of the Beatles , I would pick them as the best of their time and they have never really faded . To record with Barry and Robin will be great . ""  Bieber also stated that all a person had to do was mention his name to anyone over thirty and then compare that reaction to mentioning "" Justin Bieber "" to teens .  "" Anyone over 30 knows very little about me . But they sure have heard of the BeeGees ! ""  Meanwhile , Barry and Robin Gibb stated that they really needed a third voice and Justin ' s range would suit their new songs on the album .  "" We are getting ready to tour and will do a few new songs but most people want the classics . But we can do that pretty well . What we needed is the right voice for the album we have been working on since we stopped touring "" , stated Barry .  "" It really looks like this is a great deal for both "" , stated one rock critic .  Meanwhile , Bieber has a tour to do on his own before school .  ",satire,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,present
18314,18315,"Disgraced : Florida osteopath Dr Daniel McBath has died of a heart attack two months after he was banned from treating female patients in light of allegations of sexual abuse and professional misconduct  A Florida doctor accused of repeatedly drugging at least three female patients with cocaine and sedatives and sexually assaulting them , has died while vacationing in Tennessee , his family said .  Dr Daniel McBath , an osteopath from Dade City had his license restricted by the state in December for ' egregious and predatory ' behavior involving three women .  McBath , 53 , who was forced to close his practice following the allegations , died from a heart attack in the early hours of Monday morning .  Don McBath said his brother had been determined to fight ' clear his name ' but said that the allegations ' were too much . '  ' There ' s not a person on this earth who could handle the pressure he was faced with . He was never arrested , never any hearings . It was nothing but allegations , and it weighed on him . he told the Pasco Tribune .  Don McBath said that several of his brother ' s former friends ' ostracized ' him after news broke about the allegations , which were investigated by the Dade City Police Department and Florida Department of Law Enforcement .  ' These allegations have existed , some of them for a long time , and no arrests were ever made , ' Don McBath said .  ' I wonder why ? Probably because there ' s no evidence . It was sad to see people he thought were his friends turn their back on him .  ' He was totally distraught over this stuff . And it all boiled down to money people wanting settlements and stuff like that . '  McBath is survived by his wife , two daughters and a son .  The physician allegedly assaulted some of the victims at his McBath Medical Center at 23933 17th Street in Dade City  Under an emergency order issued by the Department of Health , McBath was prevented from treating female patients at his McBath Medical Center at 23933 17th Street in Dade City in December .  According to the 34 page order signed by State Surgeon General John Armstrong and cited by  , McBath repeatedly drugged and sexually assaulted a patient with a history of abuse between June 2009 and January 2014 .  The doctor diagnosed the victim with obesity , even though at the time the 5 foot 7 woman a weighed only 135lbs .  He later diagnosed the woman with hormonal imbalance , chronic pain , anxiety and fatigue ' without any supporting medical justification , ' the order states , and prescribed her a cocktail of Adderall , Xanax , hydrocodone and B 12 shots .  On at least one occasion , McBath allegedly injected a white liquid into the patient ' s vagina , telling her it would give her a stronger sex drive .  In the course of her treatment , the 35 year old woman came to McBath ' s house and he instructed her to put on his wife ' s clothes , which she refused to do .  Family man : McBath is survived by his wife , Brenda ( left ) , and his son and two daughters  The doctor and patient drank alcohol and used cocaine . The order states the woman then passed out and later woke up in McBath ' s bed .  With the woman slipping in and out of consciousness , McBath injected her with an unknown substance in her vagina and then proceeded to have sex with her , along with another man who was at the house , the document claims .  Identified only as Mr  ' in the order , the man allegedly had vaginal , oral and anal sex with the woman . McBath later also penetrated her with his hand , causing her to bleed profusely .  On another occasion , McBath allegedly asked the patient to rub her privates with a cigar . Months later , the doctor took a photo of the woman ' s vagina without her consent , the order states .  In July 2004 , McBath ' s then 26 year old intern reported an incident during which the married doctor came over to her house to teach her how to perform a varicose vain removal procedure .  Betrayal of trust : McBath , pictured left and right with his wife , was accused of drugging a 26 year old intern and exposing himself to her before she lost consciousnesses . He later said they had ' made love '  Both of them drank beer and McBath gave the intern two blue pills telling her it was an antibiotic .  The medicine made the woman feel woozy , which McBath claimed was a reaction to the antibiotic .  While McBath was performing a ' chiropractic manipulation ' on his employee , the order states he rolled her on her back , took her face in his hands and told her he had ' wanted to do this since the second day of work . '  The well respected doctor then started kissing her on her mouth and breasts despite her protestations , according to the order , before exposing his erect penis and asking her if she ' wanted some of this . ' The intern then lost consciousness .  She came to on McBath ' s couch sometime later and was told by the doctor that they had ' made love , ' the order states .  The 26 year old found her neck to be covered in ' love bites ' and later tested positive for a sedative .  ' Egregious ' : The doctor allegedly drugged and sexually assaulted a 35 year old woman with a history of abuse between June 2009 and January 2014 after misdiagnosing her with obesity  The most recent incident involving Dr McBath dates to April of last year when he allegedly gave his long time patient a shot for a suspected urinary tract infection , which caused her to pass out .  The 32 year old woman , who has been McBath ' s patient since age 14 , woke up on his couch four hours later . She too tested positive for the same sedative as the intern .  When the patient reported the incident to police , detectives had her call McBath to talk to him about what happened between them , with officers listening in on their conversation .  McBath allegedly told the woman that they did not have sex and instructed her not to talk about this to anyone .  McBath , who has a wife and two grown children , has not been charged with any crime pending an investigation by the local sheriff ' s department .  When contacted by Tampa Bay Times for a comment on the allegations , the doctor has denied the patients ' claims , calling them ' pathetic ' and saying they were the result of retaliation , but he would not say for what .  ' Dr McBath demonstrated predatory behavior , ' the emergency order in the case concludes . ' The number of patients that have reported the sexual misconduct and administration of substances without consent indicates that Dr McBath ' s conduct will continue . '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
18315,18316,"A newborn boy blinded by a hunter ' s stray bullet that shot through his living room window has returned home .  Shayne Iverson from Clarksburg , Pennsylvania , spent more than two months at the Children ' s Hospital of Pittsburgh and underwent numerous surgeries following the near fatal incident .  But on Wednesday , his mother Stefanie ' s 31st birthday , doctors gave him the all clear .  Recovery : Shayne Iverson , who was blinded by a hunter ' s stray bullet that shot through his living room window at six days old , has returned home in time for his first Christmas  His father , 42 year old Jeremie Iverson , told the The Pittsburgh Tribune Review that the infant is doing well .  He and his wife haven ' t been able to work since the accident happened on September 25 .  They have also been fitting in hospital visits around caring for their other two children , nine year old son Caden and Gabi , aged two .  Shayne was six days old when he was accidentally shot in the head by a deer hunter in late September .  Around the clock care : The infant spent more than two months at the Children ' s Hospital of Pittsburgh and underwent numerous surgeries following the near fatal incident  Touch and go : Doctors removed a blood clot to prevent his brain from swelling and battled to save his vision  At the time his father was cuddling him on the couch at home . It was around 7pm .  After he was helicoptered to hospital , doctors removed a blood clot to prevent his brain from swelling and battled to save his vision with no joy .  They said Shayne likely survived the shooting because the bullet that hit his head exited through his eye socket rather than hitting his brain .  Although the two month old no longer requires around the clock care he will need to return to hospital for future surgeries .  His father , who works as a carpenter , said their home is filled with medical equipment , medications and ' boxes and boxes of medical supplies . '  The Iverson family have set up a GoFundMe page where they released a picture of baby Shayne with his big brother Caden , nine , and two year old sister Gabi when he was a day old  Mother Stefanie Iverson ( pictured with her newborn son ) said that her son Shayne ' s life was spared when the bullet exited through his eye socket  Jeremie Iverson and his wife Stefanie haven ' t been able to work since their son was accidentally shot  Indiana County District Attorney Pat Dougherty has said the hunter had an agricultural deer control permit .  No charges have been filed , though investigators have continued to review whether game regulations or other laws were violated .  The hunter was reportedly 300 yards from the home and using a 308 hunting rifle on private farm opposite the Iversons ' home .  Almost 18 , 000 dollars has been donated by well wishers towards the baby ' s medical costs after his aunt set up a GoFundMe page .  In a heartfelt note to The Ellen DeGeneres Show announcing Shayne ' s return home this week , his great uncle , Jim Coughlin , thanked people for their generosity .  He concluded : ' Although Shayne is no longer able to see with his eyes , he has reminded us that real sight comes from the heart . '  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18319,18320,"William "" Kyle "" Carpenter lost most of his jaw and an eye when he fell on a grenade to shield a fellow Marine from the blast . His body shattered , one lung collapsed , the Marine lance corporal was nearly given up for dead after that 2010 Afghanistan firefight .  Then he spent 2 years in a hospital as doctors worked to rebuild his body . But if you think he ' s bitter , think again .  "" I look back and I ' m actually very appreciative I had those two and a half years , because those years put things in perspective more than a whole lifetime of things could if I wasn ' t there , "" Carpenter said , according to the Marine Corps .  On Monday , the White House announced he would become the eighth living veteran of U . Sweblinkbat in Iraq and Afghanistan to receive the Medal of Honor , the nation ' s highest military award .  He ' ll receive the medal on June 19 , the White House said .  Carpenter was wounded in Helmand province , Afghanistan , on November 21 , 2010 , while serving as a machine gunner , according to the White House .  Carpenter and another Marine were manning a rooftop position during a firefight with Taliban insurgents when a hand grenade landed nearby , the Marine Corps said .  According to the Marine Corps , Carpenter rushed toward the grenade and his body took most of the blast . The other Marine , Lance Cpl . Nicholas Eufrazio , also was injured .  In a Defense Department video , Carpenter said he had to be revived while being evacuated by helicopter from the battle and was labeled dead on arrival at a field hospital . He later nearly died again at Walter Reed Army Medical Center , he said .  "" The enemy killed me . I came back , ran a marathon , completed a mud run and jumped from a plane . I won ' t ever quit . I am just getting started , "" he said in the video .  Carpenter , medically retired from the Marine Corps last year as a corporal , is now a student at the University of South Carolina in Columbia , the White House said .  After braving gunfire to save comrades , Army vet gets highest U . S . military honor  ",true,text,validation,American football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18323,18324,"Univ . of California joins Bill Gates ' clean energy coalition   In this Oct . 27 , 2015 file photo , Janet Napolitano , president of the University of California , speaks at Carbon Neutrality Initiative at the University of California , San Diego . The University of California announced Sunday , Nov . 29 , 2015 , it has pledged 1 billion over the next five years toward research and development of clean energy technology to fight climate change as part of a coalition led by Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates . Lenny Ignelzi , File  Photo   In this Sept . 27 , 2015 file photo , Bill Gates , philanthropist and co founder of Microsoft , participates in a session at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York City . The University of California announced Sunday , Nov . 29 , 2015 , it has pledged 1 billion over the next five years toward research and development of clean energy technology to fight climate change as part of a coalition led by Bill Gates . Mark Lennihan , File  Photo  The University of California announced Sunday it is joining a coalition led by Microsoft founder Bill Gates that will invest in the research and development of clean energy technology to fight climate change .   is the sole institutional investor to join 27 private sector members of Gates ' Breakthrough Energy Coalition , which will be unveiled in Paris on Monday .  "" The University of California , with its 10 campuses and three national energy labs , is home to some of the best climate scientists in the world and as a public research institution we take the imperative to solve global climate change very seriously , ""  President Janet Napolitano said .  The university said in a statement that it will help the coalition explore how it can best participate in early stage investments .   said it will also invest alongside other members of the coalition . The university last year pledged 1 billion in investments in clean energy innovation over the next five years . It also promised an additional 250 million to fund early stage ideas emerging from the  ecosystem .  Members of the coalition come from 10 countries , including the United States , India and China , and include billionaire George Soros , Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal .  "" The  system ? with its world leading campuses and labs ? produces the kinds of groundbreaking technologies that will help define a global energy future that is cheaper , more reliable , and does not contribute to climate change , "" Gates said .   officials say global warming could be slowed dramatically by reducing greenhouse gases such as methane emissions by 50 percent and black carbon by 90 percent over the next 15 years . The wealthiest need to cut back dramatically , while green energy needs to be made more available to the poorest 3 billion people , according to a plan by  researchers to be presented at the U . N . ' s climate change conference in Paris .  Napolitano said the university system is on track to meet its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2025 .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18333,18334,"CareerBuilderweblink ) As the year draws to a close , it ' s not the promise of a new year that brings us the most joy . No , it ' s the chance to reflect on the past year ' s most memorable work stories that gives us the most delight . This year ' s selection of workplace tales ranges from ingenious to inspiring to just plain weird , but they all left their own special mark on pop culture .  So without further ado , we present you with our roundup of the weirdest and most notable work stories of 2011 .  1 . His "" winning "" remarks caused him to lose his job  Over the past several years , actor Charlie Sheen has made headlines for his destructive behavior , short lived marriages and alleged substance abuse . Yet despite the steady drum of rumors and allegations , he continued to show up and dutifully film his  show , "" Two and a Half Men . "" That is until he had his meltdown . While the seedlings of chaos began to sprout at the end of 2010 , things took a turn for the worse in early January , when he was rushed to the hospital for "" stomach pains . "" From there , Sheen became the center of media attention , making news for his bizarre behavior , crazy rants and admittedly addictive catch phrases . There was constant speculation over whether the show would drop him , and he was eventually fired after blasting the show ' s creator . While Sheen has since cleaned up his act , those few months of insanity are ones we won ' t soon forget . Source : People  2 . Rubik ' s cube expert , prom king and other ways to stand out in your cover letter  There ' s no shortage of advice on how to develop an effective cover letter , but job seeker Roanald took some of that advice to the extreme . Yes , a cover letter should be attention grabbing , but using profanity and listing one of his qualities as honorable because he is "" the son of a librarian and a Capricorn "" may be pushing it . Needless to say it ' s an entertaining read , and it impressed the cover letter ' s recipients ( Chicago bar The Aviary ) enough to get him a job . Source : The Huffington Post  3 . The homeless man with that "" golden voice ""  What started as a videotaped interview of a homeless man by Columbus ( Ohio ) Dispatch videographer Doral Chenoweth soon turned into a widespread Internet sensation . The man in the video , Ted Williams , had a voice any radio or  announcer would kill for . In fact , earlier in his life , before falling on hard times , he ' d attended school for voice acting and did some work in radio . After the video went viral , Williams began receiving job offers and even appeared on  ' s "" Today . "" Yet the sudden media attention was too much for him to bear , and he reverted to drinking and other destructive behavior . While the hoopla has since died down , the homeless man with the silky smooth voice won ' t soon be forgotten . Source : The Columbus Dispatch  4 . Playing around on the Internet really can get you a job  Sure , you ' ve been told to "" follow your dreams "" and "" do something you love , "" but it ' s never really that easy , right ? For one Philadelphia native , it was . The Philadelphia 76ers launched a voting contest to name the team ' s new mascot but didn ' t use social media to promote it . So self described "" social media sponge "" Jerry Rizzo took it upon himself to create Twitter handles for the three mascot finalists . At first , the team shied away from the extra social media help , asking Rizzo to hand over the Twitter handles and back away from Twitter . But the  soon realized there was a real opportunity to grow the team ' s social media presence , and ultimately offered Rizzo a social media position with the team . He gladly accepted . Source : Mashable  5 . A cop who didn ' t want to be late  Miami police officer Fausto Lopez led other officers on a high speed chase , all in the name of getting to work on time . While Lopez ' s dedication to punctuality is appreciated , one can only assume his employer would have preferred he arrive 20 minutes late over getting arrested . Source : The Huffington Post  6 . Oops i ( Phone ) did it again  In last year ' s roundup of notable workplace stories , we included the tale of the iPhone 4 prototype that went missing after its owner left it at a bar . Clearly no lessons were learned from that gaffe , because another Apple employee made the same mistake with the iPhone 5 prototype , losing it at a Mexican restaurant . And at least the iPhone 4 was sold for the worthy amount of 5 , 000 . Allegedly the iPhone 5 archetype raked in a measly 200 on Craigslist . Hopefully the next iPhone iteration will be kept under lock and key . Source :   7 . Gossiping about your co workers ? Use personal email  We ' ve all had those days when we ' ve needed to vent to a fellow co worker . But doing so continuously , and over company email , may not be the best move . Three Iowa employees learned that lesson the hard way after their boss discovered thousands of their gossipy interoffice emails . Within these emails , the employees in question trashed their co workers and expressed their general disgust for their jobs . After the disparaging emails were exposed , the employees were fired for "" excessive use of the commission ' s computer system for emails of a personal nature . "" So the next time you need to let off steam about your workplace , stick to doing so via your personal email account . Source : MoxieBird  8 . The wrong way to engage employees  Finding fun and creative ways to engage employees is a good thing , right ? Not if that includes hosting a contest to guess the next employee to get the boot . The owner of a chain of Iowa convenience stores did just that , encouraging employees to predict the next cashier to be fired for a chance to win a whopping 10 in cash . Do you think any of the employees guessed themselves as the next victim ? Source : On Deadline  There you have it your 2011 workplace year in review . Here ' s to hoping 2012 brings even more crazy workplace tales . I have a feeling we won ' t be disappointed .  copy CareerBuilderweblink 2011 . All rights reserved . The information contained in this article may not be published , broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18338,18339,"Chris Martin is set to join Jennifer Lawrence in London at the world premiere of her new film Mockingjay on Monday night , MailOnline has been told .  The Coldplay frontman , 37 who reportedly split from the stunning Oscar winner late last month will accompany the actress to the event , but will  join her on the red carpet .  Instead , a film source said he will do his ' usual , fly under the radar thing that he used to do with Gwyneth Paltrow ' .  The singer is expected at the premiere of the latest Hunger Games movie days after it was reported that Jennifer had dumped him .  Is it back on ? Chris Martin looked contemplative in  on Tuesday . Sources say that while Jennifer Lawrence is being ' uncharacteristically quiet ' , the Coldplay frontman will join her in London on Monday night  However , the actress was seen arriving his Malibu home on October 27 just hours after news broke that the couple had split for what was described as a ' heart to heart ' with Martin .  She returned three nights later , on Thursday , October 30 , and is believed to have been with Martin since the weekend .  And a source said : ' They ' ve mostly been holed up at Chris ' s house , and there were rumors that they were at one of Jen ' s regular haunts , Chateau Marmont , earlier in the week .  ' Jennifer hasn ' t been talking about it she ' s been uncharacteristically quiet about the whole thing .  ' Chris is meant to be going with her to London to the Hunger Games world premiere . But he won ' t make a public appearance . '  Coldplay have an art exhibition to benefit the Kids Company charity and European promotion for their Ghost Stories Blu Ray , so their plans dovetail neatly .  It is , the source admitted , a far cry from last week , when Jen was ' adamant it was all over ' , adding : ' But she tends to move on fast in these matters .  ' Her personal life seems to be in flux , but she ' s not letting all that is happening affect her promotional duties for Mockingjay . '  Stunning : Although her love life is in ' flux ' , Jennifer has a grueling six week promo stint for Mockingjay ahead of her  Message : Jennifer Lawrence appeared in  on October 24 grasping an umbrella emblazoned with a one finger salute  As MailOnline told last week , Jennifer is about to embark on a six week promotional tour but ' intense ' Martin was keen to spend all this time with her .  A friend said : ' There was a discrepancy between how they viewed their relationship , she ' s so easy going and he ' s quite intense . '  Indeed , Jennifer is said to have left Martin ' completely blindsided ' by calling off their four month romance , as the friend said : ' Jen is contractually obliged for the next six weeks to promote Mockingjay and she just couldn ' t see how it was going to work . '  After London , Jennifer will fly to New York and on to Los Angeles before embarking on a huge promo tour in Asia for Mockingjay . Chris won ' t join her for the Asian leg , but will see her while she ' s in London and  .  Heroic : Jennifer Lawrence returns as teen favorite Katniss Everdeen , the heroine from the Hunger Games trilogy  Co star : JLaw appears opposite Hollywood hunk Liam Hemsworth in the Hunger Games movies  The pair went out separately on Friday , with Jennifer ' having a great time ' at Justin Timberlake and Jennifer Biel ' s Halloween party , while Martin went trick or treating in Malibu with his ex wife Gwyneth Paltrow and their children Apple , 10 , and Moses , eight .  On Saturday , Jennifer was spotted driving to Martin ' s Malibu house again .  Although one source told People that the pair have indeed split , another insider says they remain an item , adding : ' They ' re very much together .  ' He ' s very much into her and they ' re still seeing each other . '  Together , still : Sources say Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Martin are still together despite reports last week that she had dumped him  Spokespeople for Jennifer and Martin have so far declined to comment .  As for reports that Jennifer was upset by Martin ' s continuing closeness to his ex wife , an insider told People : ' She doesn ' t give a s t about Gwyneth and Chris ' s relationship , ' adding that the star thinks the reports are ' hilarious ' .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18339,18340,"The goals just keep flowing for Lionel Messi , who on Sunday surpassed soccer legend Pele ' s mark of 75 in a calendar year to help Barcelona bounce back from a rare defeat .  The Argentina star netted twice in the 4 2 win at Mallorca that kept the Catalans three points clear in Spain ' s La Liga , leaving him just nine short of Gerd Muller ' s all time record .  The 25 year old , who became a first time father earlier this month , was able to put a bit more enthusiasm into his new thumb sucking celebration than when he scored late in the shock midweek Champions League loss to Scottish side Celtic .  "" Leo continually breaks records . His goal tally is spectacular , "" said Barca manager Tito Vilanova , who has yet to experience a domestic league defeat after his first 11 matches in charge , equaling the best start to a season set by Real Madrid .  "" It takes other great players seven or eight seasons to score the amount of goals he scores in one season . Also , some of his goals are absolute beauties . ""  Read blog : Is loyalty Barca ' s biggest strength ?  Messi has now scored 64 goals for his club and 12 for his country this year , from just 59 matches overall .  Pele managed 75 from 53 as a 17 year old in 1958 , helping Brazil to win the World Cup for the first of a record five times .  Muller , a World Cup winner in 1974 , surpassed Pele ' s record in a year that West Germany won the European Championship .  Messi has yet to win a senior title with Argentina , though he won Olympic gold with the under 23 side in 2008 .  He has nine matches left this year to catch Muller six in La Liga , two in the Champions League and one in the Spanish Cup .  His two goals against Malaga gave him 15 in the league this season , three clear of his big rival Cristiano Ronaldo who scored the opener in Real Madrid ' s 2 1 win on a waterlogged pitch at Levante in Sunday ' s late match .  Ronaldo , switched to a central attacking role with Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuain out injured , suffered an early blow above the eye and was taken off at halftime .  The Portugal captain is now Real ' s seventh highest league scorer with 124 goals since his arrival from Manchester United in 2009 in a world record 130 million transfer .  Levante leveled in the second half through Angel Rodriguez , but 20 year old Alvaro Morata headed an 84th minute winner with his first touch of the ball on his debut to keep Jose Mourinho ' s third placed defending champions eight points behind Barcelona .  Real inflicted Levante ' s first home defeat this season , hitting the crossbar twice and missing a penalty by Xabi Alonso , whose late freekick set up substitute Morata ' s winner .  Atletico Madrid retained second place after beating Getafe 2 0 .  Adrian Lopez scored a first half opener after his initial attempt was saved , while Arda Turan ' s second half effort was allowed to stand despite a clear handball in the buildup .  In Italy , Inter Milan failed to reduce Juventus ' four point lead after suffering a surprise 3 2 defeat at Atalanta .  Veteran striker German Denis netted in the 60th and 67th minutes to put the home side 3 1 ahead , while Inter reduced the deficit through his fellow Argentine Rodrigo Palacio before Atalanta substitute Facundo Parra was sent off in time added on .  Napoli stayed third with a 4 2 win at Genoa , while fourth placed Fiorentina won 3 1 away to troubled 2010 11 Serie A champions  Milan .  Milan ' s sixth defeat in 12 league games left last season ' s runners up in 13th place , with coach Massimiliano Allegri ' s future increasingly in doubt .  Lazio consolidated fifth place with a 3 2 win in the capital derby against Roma , as both teams had a player sent off .  In Germany , Bayer Leverkusen missed the chance to go above fourth placed champions Borussia Dortmund after losing 3 1 to third bottom Wolfsburg .  Leverkusen stayed a point above Hanover , who won 4 2 at Stuttgart .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18355,18356,"Last year , during a Warriors exhibition game against the Lakers , Kobe Bryant got all up in Stephen Curry ' s grill .  Apparently tired of Curry ' s lighting up the Lakers , Bryant swiped and slapped at the Warriors point guard . It was some aggressive defense for a preseason game , but Kobe was sending a message . Curry stumbled a bit under the pressure but gathered himself and sent a message right back . He buried a deep 3 pointer right in Bryant ' s grill .  On the way back down court , Kobe smiled and patted Curry on the backside . It was sign of respect from an  legend . Bryant , one of the game ' s great assassins , was acknowledging that Curry , too , was cut from that cloth .  Golden State Warriors ' Stephen Curry ( 30 ) shares words with Los Angeles Lakers ' Kobe Bryant ( 24 ) at the end of the game at Oracle Arena in Oakland , Calif . on Saturday , Dec . 22 , 2012 . Los Angeles defeated Golden State 118 115 in overtime . ( Jose Carlos Fajardo Staff ) (    )  Kobe comes to Oracle Arena on Tuesday , possibly the last trip for the oft injured 37 year old . He is no longer the Black Mamba a nickname he gave himself to highlight his mentality . But Bryant ' s spirit certainly lives on in Curry .  "" It ' s weird because it ' s the same edge and killer instinct in him , "" said Warriors interim coach Luke Walton , who won two titles with Bryant . "" But it ' s completely different as far as the manner about it . ""  Kobe built a legacy on his competitive drive . His desire , and ability , to own his opponent drew comparisons to Michael Jordan . LeBron James was criticized for not having Kobe ' s "" killer instinct . ""  Curry has it . His competitiveness is becoming the stuff of legend . His showmanship , his clutchness , the way he goes for the jugular on the court , makes him worthy of replacing Bryant as the  ' s top hit man .  Kobe scowled after big shots . He talked trash , on the court and in interviews . He took delight in humiliating his foes . He was unapologetic about his intentions .  Curry , on the other hand , smiles after big shots . Instead of talking trash , he has fun with gestures , crowd interactions and inside jokes with his teammates . His intentions are to have fun and put on a good show .  "" Kobe will tell you , ' I ' m about to kill you , ' "" Draymond Green said , explaining the difference . "" Steph won ' t tell you . He ' s just going to kill you . ""  Kobe rubbed people the wrong way with his persona . He even clashed with teammates . And sometimes his special instinct got in the way of the team ' s success .  Curry is also fine with being used as a decoy and letting his teammates do the finishing . He taps into his killer instinct because his team needs it .   ,   22 : Stephen Curry 30 of the Golden State Warriors celebrates a three point basket against the Denver Nuggets at Pepsi Center on November 22 , 2015 in Denver , Colorado . The Warriors defeated the Nuggets 118 105 to start the season 15 0 .    : User expressly acknowledges and agrees that , by downloading and or using this photograph , User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement . ( Photo by Doug Pensinger Getty Images ) ( Doug Pensinger )  "" I like to be competitive , "" Curry said . "" So I have a little mean streak when it comes to playing well . That ' s all part of the emotions of the game . I ' m competitive . I like winning . ""  We love Kobe because he is shameless about his superiority . He is the big bad wolf , proudly and boldly , which appeals to ego in us all .  He is beloved by his teammates , largely because of his humility even as his stardom has taken off . He is a media darling because he is accessible and kind . Fans gravitate toward him , even outside the Bay Area . His boyish looks , wholesome image and adorable family make him likable .  But he has the same mission as Kobe . And he ' s just as good at carrying it out .  "" Steph , you can see when he gets it , and he wants it , which is the exact same as Kobe , "" Walton said . "" They just go about it in a different way . But he ' s got that killer instinct in him . He wants to put that team away . ""  The Warriors ' pursuit of the record for most wins to start a season might ' ve been in danger if the old Kobe were coming to town . He would love nothing more than to shut up all the hype about the Warriors .  But that ' s not that great of a concern . Kobe ' s days as the league ' s chief assassin are over . Curry has taken that mantle .  Read Marcus Thompson  ' s blog at blogs . mercurynewsweblink thompson . Contact him at mthomps2 bayareanewsgroupweblink . Follow him on Twitter at twitterweblink ThompsonScribe .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18360,18361,"KOKOMO, Indiana (Reuters) - The lettering is crude, scrawled in black spray paint on the sidewalk in front of Karen Peters’ neatly kept home in the quiet, working class neighborhood where she’s lived most of her life. But the contempt is clear.     “ Bitch.”     The racially charged graffiti appeared in mid-October on cars, homes and telephone poles in the small city of Kokomo, Indiana. Many victims, like Peters, were African American, though some were not. Many also had lawn signs for Democratic candidates in this week’s presidential election, and the signs at several homes were painted over with the Ku Klux Klan’s notorious initials.     “I think it’s a political thing; it’s getting out of hand,” said Peters, who believes the heated tenor of the presidential campaign – and especially the aggressive, nativist rhetoric of Republican candidate Donald Trump – has emboldened extremists.     “When you have (candidates) saying ignorant things, maybe other people think it’s ok to do this stuff, and that’s pretty doggone sad ... It seems like our country is going backwards.”     Police have no suspects in the attacks. Democrats, including the mayor and local party officials, believe they were politically motivated. Local Republicans are skeptical, suggesting the damage is the work of ignorant hooligans with no place in the party.          Across the United States, the inflammatory and confrontational tone of political rhetoric is creeping into public discourse and polarizing the electorate.     It’s hard to quantify the impact; there is no national data that tracks politically motivated crimes or incendiary speech.  However, the percentage of voters who believe insulting political opponents is “sometimes fair game” has climbed over the campaign season, from 30 percent in March to 43 percent in October, according to surveys by the non-partisan Pew Research Center. A majority of voters for both parties have “very unfavorable” views of the other party – a first since Pew began asking the question in 1992 – and trust in government is hovering near all-time lows. “These indicators reflect inter-group tensions that can translate into everything from coarse discourse or low levels of aggression all the way up to extremist acts,” said Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University.      While much of the venom has been aimed at immigrants, African Americans and other groups typically aligned with Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, Republicans also have faced vitriol and hostility. Much of the debate over extremism has focused on the so-called Alt-Right, a loose-knit movement of white nationalists, anti-Semites and immigration foes that has emerged from the political shadows to align itself with the Trump campaign.      Trump’s vows to build a wall on the Mexican border, deport millions of illegal immigrants and scrutinize Muslims for ties to terrorism have energized the Alt-Right community.  Such rhetoric has helped legitimize the Alt-Right’s concerns about an erosion of the country’s white, Christian majority, said Michael Hill, a self-described white supremacist, anti-Semite and xenophobe who heads the League of the South, a “Southern Nationalist” group dedicated to creating an independent “white man’s land.”     “The general political climate that sort of surrounds his campaign has been very fruitful, not only for us, but for other right-wing groups,” Hill said.     Similar nationalist undercurrents have stirred other countries, from Russia to Japan to Britain. Last summer, as Britain’s debate over leaving the European Union reached a fever pitch, Jo Cox, a pro- lawmaker, was shot and stabbed in the street. Murder suspect Thomas Mair proclaimed “death to traitors, freedom for Britain.”     In the United States, reports of hostile political displays, vandalism and violence are cropping up regularly.  In Mississippi, a black church was burned and painted with “Vote Trump.” In North Carolina, a county Republican office was set ablaze last month and a nearby building spray painted with “Nazi Republicans leave town.” In Ohio, a truck load of manure was dumped at a Democratic campaign office. In Utah, a man displaying Trump yard signs found  graffiti on his car. In Wisconsin, a fan at a college football game wore a President Barack Obama mask with a noose on his neck.  Neither the Trump nor the Clinton campaigns responded to requests for comment.     Trump’s positions are consistent with the Alt-Right goal of “slowing the dispossession of whites,” said Jared Taylor, a white nationalist whose website, American Renaissance, is a movement favorite. But the media is over-hyping his support within the Alt-Right “in an attempt to discredit him,” Taylor added.     Trump has been criticized by both Democrats and some Republicans for being slow to condemn the more extreme elements of the political right. But when a leading  newspaper ran a pro-Trump story on its front page last week, his campaign immediately issued a statement rejecting the “repulsive” article.     Taylor, Hill and other Alt-Right figures say they don’t advocate or condone vandalism or violence. They dismiss the notion that their rhetoric constitutes hate speech, arguing that their vilification by the left is far more hateful.     Left-wing extremists do have a history of aggressive confrontation with people or groups seen as fascist or racist, says Heidi Beirich, of the Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization that monitors extremist movements. “There’s usually more violence from the anti-racists than the racists,” she said. The free speech provisions of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment grant broad protections for inflammatory rhetoric. But state and federal statutes do give law enforcement agencies authority to investigate and prosecute “hate crimes” motivated by bias against a race, ethnicity, religion, disability or sexual orientation.     A 6 percent increase in hate crimes documented last year by the California State University researchers showed relatively little underlying change in attacks against most minority groups. But crimes against Muslims rose 86 percent. Some who study and work in the political arena believe there has been a general erosion in civility that began long before the start of the current presidential race. Craig Dunn, Republican party chairman for Howard County, Indiana, which includes Kokomo, says that a minority of extreme voices are being amplified over the Internet and social media, fueling “a general breakdown in civility.”     Local officials worry about how their community is being affected. “The atmosphere is “more volatile, there’s more tension,” said Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight, a Democrat. The graffiti attacks were deeply troubling, he adds. “I don’t remember anything like this ever happening here.” Monica Fowler, 43, who had “KKK” sprayed on her Democratic yard signs, is struggling with the attacks. “It’s okay to disagree,” she says. “But if what you’re doing is going to scare or harm another person, how dare you.” (This story corrects in the ninth paragraph to state that trust, not distrust, in government is near all-time lows Note: paragraph 2 contains language that may offend some readers) ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
18377,18378,"Hometown boy Jimmy Walker held his nerve to close out victory at the Valero Texas Open at  San Antonio .  The Ryder Cup player added to his Sony Open title this season and three  Tour victories in 2014 as a closing 70 maintained his four shot overnight lead .  Jordan Spieth was second on seven under , having perhaps left his run too late before finishing with four birdies in the last five holes .  Jimmy Walker poses with the Valero Texas Open trophy after recording a four shot win  Walker took the trophy at his hometown tournament and now has six wins since the start of 2014  Walker went into his final round with four shot lead and managed to preserve his advantage  Walker birdied the par five second when he laid up short of the green , pitched on and holed a straight eight foot putt though he gave the shot back at the fourth .  Another bogey at the seventh was off set as he pitched stone dead from an awkward bunker stance at the next , and he birdied 10 as well before dropping a shot at 12 .  Playing partner Spieth made a late bid to exert some pressure with birdies at the 14th via a 45 foot putt and 15th and when his tee shot at the showpiece 16th spun back out of the fringe , there was scope for Walker to crack .  Instead , the San Antonio resident struck a lovely pin high tee shot and read the left to right break to perfection on the ensuing 16 foot putt .  His birdie was matched by Spieth but the four shot margin remained and despite a poor tee shot , Walker also birdied the penultimate hole with a good putt from 18 feet .  Spieth did likewise and both parred the last to leave Walker as the tour ' s first repeat winner this season .  He told  : ' It ' s at home and it ' s cool , you can feel support of friends , family and fans . It doesn ' t happen often , to win in your home town .  ' It played hard today , sometimes it ' s hard to make pars . I wasn ' t putting very good but I finally got the putting stroke smoothed out and holed a couple .  ' And Jordan . . . holy cow ! I ' ll be having nightmares about that guy ! '  Spieth ' s efforts mean he has now finished in the top seven in eight of his last 10 starts .  Walker , meanwhile , is building momentum for the Masters in two weeks ' time and he said : ' I like Augusta .  Walker adds the Valero Texas Open to the Sony Open title which he has already won this season  Jordan Spieth finished as runner up , despite carding four birdies on the last five holes  Spieth said he found it hard to make par at times on the course but was Walker ' s closest challenger  ' All this keeps adding momentum and confidence and I ' m excited to go . I ' ll head over tomorrow and take another look at it . '  Billy Horschel , the third player in the group , finished third outright at four under .  Chesson Hadley birdied the last hole to finish joint fourth with Daniel Summerhays at three under .  Several players went into the tournament with hopes of breaking into the world ' s top 50 and qualifying for the Masters , but none were able to produce the finish they required .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18389,18390,"The crane operator facing charges over a deadly building collapse was denied bail Sunday .  A Philadelphia judge refused to allow Sean Benschop , 42 , to leave jail .  Wednesday ' s building collapse in downtown Philadelphia left six dead and 13 people injured .  Benschop , who maintains his innocence , turned himself in Saturday .  "" My client is being made the scapegoat in this situation , "" said Daine Grey , Benschop ' s attorney .  "" The victims here aren ' t just those who died and their families . My client is a victim as well . He ' s currently being looked at as the cause of everybody ' s pain , but that just isn ' t the case . ""  Grey told reporters Saturday that while his client feels "" extremely sympathetic and remorseful , "" he is not guilty .  Pennsylvania court records indicate Benschop , who also went by the alias Kary Roberts , has been arrested multiple times in the past two decades . Many of the related charges related to alleged firearms violations and theft were withdrawn , dismissed or resulted in not guilty verdicts , though he was found guilty in the mid 1990s on drug charges .  Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter blamed Benschop ' s "" reckless and irresponsible behavior "" for the building collapse and said Saturday he hopes that Benschop faces "" the harshest level of charges . . . and he is punished accordingly . ""  "" Justice will only be served if Sean Benschop receives a sentence that buries him in a jailhouse forever , just like his victims were buried on Wednesday , "" Nutter said .  Nutter is pressing for answers from two property owners who hired Benschop to operate heavy machinery , saying that , along with Benschop , they "" bear the ultimate and sole responsibility for this tragedy . ""  Benschop allegedly was working a crane to tear down a vacant building in downtown Philadelphia when a four story wall collapsed onto a Salvation Army thrift store , causing an ominous rumble followed by panic on the streets .  Afterward , searchers climbed over shards of wood , concrete and rebar looking for survivors , such as a 61 year old woman pulled alive from the rubble early Thursday .  The first lawsuit against him was filed that same day , by attorneys for a 54 year old woman pulled from the rubble by a firefighter .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
18391,18392,"Claims : Deanna Micoley has made the sensational allegation that Rosie O ' Donnell knew her decision making was impaired by her heroin problem and therefore was unable to agree to giving up her newborn daughter for adoption in 1997  The biological mother of Rosie O ' Donnell ' s eldest daughter has claimed the controversial comedian took advantage of her drug addiction to ' steal ' her newborn child away from her .  In an explosive interview , Deanna Micoley , 37 , says ex The View host Rosie , 53 , should not have been able to take her girl because O ' Donnell knew she signed off on the adoption while high on heroin .  Speaking to the National Enquirer , Deanna accuses O ' Donnell of stealing her baby girl who is now 17 and claims that she is back in contact with her daughter who now hates the multi millionaire .  ' I believe Rosie O ' Donnell knew that I was in no condition to sign away my parental rights to my daughter , ' said Deanna to the Enquirer .  ' She did the worst thing one woman can do to another woman take her child ! '  According to Deanna , she was unhappily married when she gave birth in August 1997 to a little girl she named Kayla .  She allegedly claims that two months after the birth her husband fed her heroin and forced her to put Kayla up for adoption .  ' I may not have been the best mother back then , ' said Deanna to the National Enquirer .  ' I did drugs and I have a criminal record because of it . But surely I didn ' t deserve to have my baby stolen from me . '  Now recovered from her drug fight and living in Wisconsin , she has re married and is the mother of four children .  However , she is insistent that what she wants most is to welcome home her first child .  ' Rosie O ' Donnell stole my baby , but I don ' t want her money . I just want my daughter back . '  Mother and superstar : Rosie O ' Donnell , center , and her children Parker and Chelsea arrive at the opening night performance of the Broadway musical ' American Idiot ' in New York in 2010  Deanna was stunned to reconnect with the daughter she claims she was forced to give up in November , when Chelsea managed to find Micoley ' s father her biological grandfather .  O ' Donnell ' s publicist Cindi Berger said that her client absolutely legally adopted Chelsea from the non profit Children of the World in New Jersey in 1997 .  ' The agency never would have accepted the baby if the birth mother was under the influence , ' said Berger .  ' There are notarized adoption papers signed by the birth mother and father that were accepted by both the adoption agency and the court .  ( My client ) ' Is unbearably proud of Chelsea and has encouraged and supported Chelsea ' s desire to communicate with her birth mother . How disappointing that Chelsea ' s birth mother would go public with this personal story without ever having met Rosie . '  ' Chelsea told him that she was his granddaughter , ' said Deanna to the National Enquirer .  ' He called me and broke the news . It was the moment I ' d been waiting and praying for the last 17 years I ' d found my precious daughter . '  Over the past few months , Deanna and Chelsea have been in contact through Facebook and text .  It was during these exchanges that Chelsea allegedly revealed she is having problems with her adoptive mother .  ' Chelsea has told me she had issues with Rosie , ' said Deanna to the Enquirer .  ' I believe Rosie has abandoned her . Since about the age of 12 , Rosie basically shipped off Chelsea to different boarding schools . '  When asked why she was given up for adoption , Deanna said she told Chelsea the truth .  ' I said her daddy wasn ' t a good person and she was basically given up to an adoption agency , ' said Micoley .  Family ties : The resemblance between Chelsea as a young girl and her half sister ( seen right in a picture from Deann ' s Facebook page ) is undeniable  Together : In an undated photo , Blake and Chelsea appear with their adoptive mother Rosie O ' Donnell on a balcony  Deanna also claims that O ' Donnell is trying to turn her adopted daughter against her biological mom .  The Emmy award winning comedian allegedly wrote a message to Deanna saying that her fame was ' superhuman ' and that caused her daughter to feel ' overlooked ' sometimes .  ' Rosie even hired someone to dig up my criminal record and gave it to Chelsea , ' said Deanna to the Enquirer .  Deanna also shared some of the exchanges she has been having with O ' Donnell .  In them O ' Donnell refutes the adoption was a sham and asks her to stop claiming otherwise .  "" It was all legal . Like it or not . Now stop . ""  Deanna claims they had exchanges in which O ' Donnell referenced paying for her and her husband ' s living expenses and even bought them a  .  These revelations are just the latest bombshell to hit O ' Donnell and her checkered family history .  The outspoken  and adoption advocate first adopted son Parker in 1995 as a single mother . She then adopted Chelsea in 1997 .  She produced a  documentary special called A Family is a Family is a Family five years ago which examined the growth in non traditional families and societies changing perception of the family unit .  In the early 00s , O ' Donnell and partner Kellie Carpenter fostered a child who they hoped to adopt .  However , at the time , Florida ' s law prohibited gay couples from adopting which deeply affected her views on the process across the country .  Family picture : Before her split from Michelle Rounds ( pictured left ) Rosie O ' Donnell posed for this picture with Chelsea ( bottom left ) , Vivienne ( center ) and Blake ( right ) and posted it to Instagram  In 1999 she adopted her son Blake with her partner Kelli Carpenter who also gave birth to their daughter , Vivienne via  in 2002 .  The couple married in 2004 and split in 2007 .  O ' Donnell adopted her fifth child , Dakota in 2013 , together with her second wife , Michelle Rounds .  They split recently just before O ' Donnell left The View , just four months after rejoining the cast .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
18393,18394,"Grilling of Hillary Clinton proved House Benghazi panel to be a show trial  Long ordeal yielded nothing Americans didn t already know about Libya deaths  Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton testifies on Capitol Hill on Thursday before the House Benghazi Committee . Evan Vucci   For 17 months , to the tune of 4 . 7 million , Republicans on the House Select Committee on Benghazi have been promising the nation that the hounding of Hillary Clinton was something more than a waste of tax money and a partisan fishing expedition .  On Thursday , they put her on the stand for their big reveal .  The 11 hour marathon grilling of the former secretary of state ? and current Democratic frontrunner for the White House ? yielded nothing that Americans didn t already know about the Sept . 11 , 2012 , attacks in Libya that claimed the lives of Ambassador J . Christopher Stevens and three colleagues .  That wasn t surprising : There have already been multiple congressional and other hearings into the tragic incident , with nine published reports and hundreds of pages of findings and recommendations .  Even the  controlled House Intelligence Committee concluded , after a two year investigation , that , though security in Benghazi was insufficient , there was no wrongdoing by the Obama administration , and the  and military acted properly .  So it is now time to disband this costly farce of a committee . Even as political theater , it hasn t worked .  What did raise an eyebrow was how obviously uninterested the Republicans were in learning from Benghazi , in what might be done to make U . S . embassies safer , for instance , or to stop government shutdowns from threatening funding for security .  Though Ms . Clinton spoke of them , compellingly , the committee scarcely mentioned those who died besides Stevens ? information officer Sean Smith and Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods , former U . S . Navy SEALs working as  contractors .  Instead , the name Republicans kept raising , weirdly , was that of Sidney Blumenthal , the liberal political operative and Ms . Clinton defender .  Turns out Mr Blumenthal sent the secretary of state emails sharing tidbits he d heard about Libya and mean thoughts on conservative leaders . This is like learning that U . S . Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and former Vice President Dick Cheney used to go duck hunting together . So what ?  Enough is enough . It is clear at this point that , as House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy blurted to Fox News Sean Hannity last month in an unguarded moment , this committee was about making Ms . Clinton untrustable and about driving down her poll numbers .  Rep . Trey Gowdy , the committee s Republican chairman , has had a year and a half to take his shot . Committee member after committee member loaded up against Ms . Clinton , only to be shot down by facts .  And for all the stacks of emails and audiovisual aids and hours of testimony the committee generated on Thursday , nothing showed Benghazi to be anything but a terrible failure of security and intelligence in the midst of chaos .  And nothing showed Ms . Clinton to be in any way personally to blame for it .  It s time to disband this costly farce of a committee . Even as political theater , it hasn t worked . As with Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards , another accomplished woman hauled before Congress this season for another show trial , the hectoring of Ms . Clinton didn t raise doubt as much it as raised money ? on both sides .  The hearing had an unexpected result : It ended up being a campaign plus for the suddenly rejuvenated Ms . Clinton , fresh from her strong debate showing .  On Thursday , hour by hour , cool response after collected answer , Ms . Clinton only seemed more trustable .  This editorial was first published in the Sacramento Bee , a McClatchy newspaper .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
18396,18397,""" There is absolutely no truth to that terrible rumor that I have that thing that people say I have "" , the senator stated at a late afternoon press conference .  The senator abruptly ended the press conference so he could meet and greet his supporters . He approached an attractive blond woman sitting next to him .  "" Hi , I ' m John McCain "" , the senator greeted the woman .  "" Yea , I know . I ' m Meghan McCain . Your daughter "" , the blond woman replied .  Campaign staffers claim that McCain is in excellent mental health and the simple wear and tear of the campaign trail is making him tired .  "" He will be sharp as a tack in the morning "" , said campaign council Trevor Potter . "" He just needs rest "" .  Some doctors claim that McCain seems to be suffering the effects of ' sundowning ' , a condition defined as late day confusion caused by dementia . Others doctors claim that Mcain is acting as any man of his years would considering the amount of stress he ' s under .  "" It ' s not Alzheimer ' s or dementia "" , said Dr Suzanne Connolly , McCain ' s personal physician . "" He ' s simply suffering some mild  from his days as a  in Vietnam . Even if he does have some mild form of dementia , that shouldn ' t prevent him from carrying out his duties as president "" .  Before McCain made his exit he walked into the ladies room and urinated on the floor , much to the embarrassment of the women standing there .  "" I meant to do that "" , McCain claimed .  ",satire,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
18404,18405,"They had earned a trophy and a promising title shot , but there was an appropriate lack of rejoicing by England on Saturday night . Wastefulness is no cause for euphoria .  The Calcutta Cup had been retained , but the limitations of the opposition meant that was never in real doubt , despite considerable Scottish tenacity and occasional artistry .  Stuart Lancaster , his assistants and his squad know that the standards they reached at Twickenham will not suffice against the leading rugby nations .  England beat Scotland but they haven ' t shown enough to convince yet during the Six Nations  Defeating Scotland earned Chris Robshaw and his men a trophy , but they didn ' t do enough  The England squad smile for the cameras having defeated Scotland 25 13 to win the Calcutta Cup  1st minute : George Ford sends Luther Burrell clear but he ignores Anthony Watson in space on the right and the door slams shut .  13th minute : Ben Youngs frees Mike Brown but the full back minus a boot is chased down by Stuart Hogg close to the posts .  15th minute : The pack drive a scrum towards the Scottish line but Billy Vunipola is unable to pick up and touch down .  17th minute : Jack Nowell storms clear with two team mates on either side but goes it alone , slips and cannot offload the ball .  31st minute : Burrell bursts through and sends Watson scorching to the line , but the ' try ' is ruled out ny Romain Poite for a forward pass .  54th minute : Rampant England swarm into the visitors ' 22 but the attempted offload by Geoff Parling is pinched by Blair Cowan .  56th minute : Replacement hooker Tom Youngs makes a dazzling midfield charge but it comes to nothing as his pass flies between two supporting runners .  58th minute : Watson breaks from a ruck to the opposition 22 but runs away from Burrell and cannot release the centre to score .  62nd minute : Brown blasts over the Scottish 22 to score , but the ' try ' is disallowed due to another forward pass in the build up this time by James Haskell .  While the Red Rose is now planted at the top of the  Six Nations table , even shambolic France may be no push overs in the tournament finale at Twickenham next Saturday if there is not a sharp up turn in English precision .  ' If you look at the All Blacks , when they create a line break they usually end up scoring , ' said Lancaster .  ' We created 12 line breaks , which is a huge positive because I haven ' t seen any team pull Scotland apart like that , but to only come away with three tries is frustrating . I think the players know that . '  They most certainly do . Ben Youngs was named man of the match for his efforts at scrum half , but he appeared underwhelmed by the manner of the victory .  ' We got what we wanted in terms of the result , but the scoreline should have been better , ' he admitted .  There is a recurring concern for England . Composure or a lack of it .  They mustered plenty in Cardiff to turn the tide against Wales , but too often in tight games there are failures of decision making or execution .  The tone was set on Saturday by Luther Burrell , who didn ' t manage to pass to the unmarked Anthony Watson on the Scottish 22 . Put him in a Northampton shirt and the centre would surely make the pass and create the try . Yet , on this high profile occasion , the chance was squandered .  A similar error of judgment by Jonny May against Italy cost the Gloucester wing his place in the match day squad , but Burrell is likely to escape the same fate due to the absence of injured Brad Barritt and reservations about Billy Twelvetrees .  George Ford got England off to a perfect start in the second half but the first half will have worried them  Exeter wing Jack Nowell crosses over to score England ' s third try and send them top of the Six Nations table  The Saints player was not the sole offender , with Jack Nowell at fault for ignoring support more than once . It may seem churlish to criticise the Exeter wing , who was dynamic and dangerous , but England urgently need a clinical edge .  ' It ' s that composure after the line break , ' said Lancaster . ' It was good on some occasions because we scored three good tries , but there were also missing elements and we need to fix those for next week . '  Jonathan Joseph continued his purple patch by touching down for the fourth time in as many games . But he was left irritated by the hosts ' profligate streak , too .  ' We made costly errors in the red zone in their 22 which let them off the hook , ' said the Bath centre . ' We are creating those opportunities , now it ' s just a matter of finishing them . '  England must not over state their satisfaction at mere creation alone . On the one hand , Wales ' victory over Ireland was a source of great English joy , as it leaves Lancaster ' s team with it all in their favour in the three way tussle for the championship title .  But with the bigger picture in mind , the red shirted defensive heroism in Cardiff rammed home the need for England to become more ruthless . Soon . On the latest evidence , their closest World Cup Pool A rivals won ' t be line break fodder in the way Scotland so often were .  No other country can match the All Blacks ' ability to expose and seize the jugular , but Lancaster will be painfully aware that his team cannot rely on a torrent of attacking possession .  When England are equalled or trumped up front as was the case against Ireland they will require an executioner ' s instinct .  At least it was evident in one man on Saturday . George Ford wielded the conductor ' s baton with staggering assurance for a 21 year old . He invariably took the right option while going through his wide ranging repertoire in helping to conjure the tries by Joseph and Nowell . He added one himself when the fractured Scottish defence opened up in front of him .  Tom Youngs ( centre ) leads an England breakaway as Lancaster ' s side returned to the Six Nations summit  Anthony Watson runs clear but England repeatedly failed to take their chances at Twickenham on Saturday  Mike Brown was one of the better performers but England spurned too many opportunities at Twickenham  Ben Youngs hands off a tackle but the man of the match wasn ' t happy with his team ' s overall performance  Joseph , his club mate at Bath , said : ' I have played with George since Under 18s and he has always been that kind of player who thrives under pressure and more or less always delivers . He has been outstanding for us in the Six Nations . '  Five days from now , England can win the title using their home advantage and the benefit of playing last and by preying on simmering French doubts . But if ' Le Crunch ' turns out to be a tense duel after all , they also need others to follow Ford ' s lead by finding the mental conviction to make the right calls .  The wastefulness can ' t go on , or next time there may not be a trophy to soften the inquest .  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
18406,18407,"A stray cat has become a local celebrity after it sneaked into a shop at an airport in far eastern Russia and helped itself to expensive fish and squid .  Despite being caught red handed by staff at Vladivostok International Airport , the tabby cat continued its feast and didn ' t seem to care that she was being recorded on a cellphone camera .  The furry intruder was eventually removed from the closed shop ' s showcase fridge and given a proper home thanks to her newfound fame .  The tabby cat rips into vacuum sealed packages in a refrigerator at a fish shop at Vladivostok ' s airport  While it was an amusing sight , as much as 700 worth of seafood ( approximately 1 , 100 ) was eaten or thrown in the bin as a result of the hungry cat ' s feast at a shop called Fish Island .  The ravenous feline ate through vacuum sealed packages of smoked fish and squid , according to staff .  A shop assistant told Russia ' s Ria Novosti agency : ' The cat made its way inside the counter , and ate and nibbled the goods , scratched and wrecked the packaging around the squid and dried fish . '  As much as 700 worth of seafood ( approximately 1 , 100 ) was eaten by the cat or thrown in the bin  The airport said  showed the cat sneaking into the shop while it was open , but staff didn ' t know she was there and locked her inside when they went home for the day .  It turned out to be a costly loss for the shop , which had to throw all of the fridge ' s contents in the bin and sanitise the appliance before restocking it with more seafood .  The cat has become a local celebrity as many residents of Vladivostok offered to adopt her .  The cat was given to an ice hockey club and named Matroskin after an adventurous cartoon character  She has been gifted to Admiral Vladivostok , a professional ice hockey club in the Kontinental Hockey League .  The cat has become the team ' s official mascot .  They named her Matroskin after an adventurous feline character from the famous Soviet cartoon Three from Prostokvashino .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18408,18409,"wants to celebrate the season without Christmas. This commercial wants the holiday to be about anything but    We wanted to lift people up and remind them that ordinary people can make a difference. Our message focuses on the spirit of the holidays, people coming together and celebrating what is good and right with the world what unites us, instead of what divides us.  ",fake,dataset,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present
18409,18410,"If you love Jessie ' s message about gun control you ' ll really like his message about fidelity , honesty , and freedom of speech .  The Reverends Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton secretly met with President Obama in the Oval Office at the White House . The Reverends came to explain to the president that his gun control approach to reducing black on black and drug related crimes in the inner cities of Baltimore  , Chicago  , New York ,  and Washington  is not working .  Gun free zones , gun free businesses , safe passage zones for kids to go to school and laws preventing law abiding citizens from owning guns are unacceptable . Besides these approaches are not working . Candlelight vigils , snitching on the gangs and gun buyback programs also don ' t seem to stop crime in the inner city . Criminals will always have access to illegal weapons , no matter how many federal , state and local laws are passed !  During the 1900 ' s to the 1960 ' s the Ku Klux Klan (  ) threatened Afro Americans and other minorities in not just the South , but also in other parts of the  . What if the people threatened by the  would have had firearms to defend themselves ? A different outcome may have occurred earlier in  history .  The Reverends made a proposal that instead of discouraging gun ownership in the inner cities of Baltimore  , Chicago  , New York ,  and Washington  local police should be training checked out law abiding citizens in the use of firearms . Specifically legal M 16 Assault Rifles were suggested for their communities . Community residents know who the bad guys are and should make it known that they will shoot back if threatened by these individuals or gangs . This is prudent vigilance not vigilantism !  The president said he would think about the Reverends proposal , but was more inclined to create an  sponsored "" Elliot Ness and the Untouchables type organization like existed during the "" Prohibition Era . "" However , the Reverends meeting proposal was leaked to the media by White House Press Secretary Jay Carney , prior to his leaving that post .  The Honorable liberal Democratic Mayors of Baltimore  , Chicago  , New York ,  and Washington  Stephanie Rawlings Blake , Rahm Emanuel , Bill de Blasio and Vincent C . Gray , respectively , all had a hissy fit ! So did their respective chiefs of police .  The Reverends said not to worry , as the M 16 Assault Rifles and ammunition would only be sold by a chain of Jess and Al ' s Gun Shops Inc . The new business venture is being financed by former Democratic , Republican , Independent New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg !  ",satire,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
18412,18413,"World No . 3 Kim Clijsters remains on course to win a second consecutive grand slam singles title after overcoming a challenge from Agnieszka Radwanska to reach the semifinals of the Australian Open .  The U . S . Open champion battled past 12th seed Radwanska of Poland 6 3 7 6 ( 7 4 ) in Wednesday ' s quarterfinal to reach the last four in Melbourne for the sixth time in her career .  The Belgian third seed will face world No . 2 Vera Zvonareva on Thursday for a place in the final a repeat of September ' s title clash at Flushing Meadows .  Zvonareva , runner up at the last two grand slams after also losing to Serena Williams in the Wimbledon final , took just over an hour to dispatch of Czech 25th seed Petra Kvitova 6 2 6 4 .  Top 10 moments of the Australian Open first week  The Russian second seed was full of praise for her 20 year old Czech opponent , who knocked out home favorite and world number five Sam Stosur on her way to her second grand slam quarterfinal , matching her feat at Wimbledon in 2010 .  "" At 6 2 3 0 I was trying to keep playing the same way I was playing , but she really lifted her game , "" the 26 year old Zvonareva told reporters .  "" She ' s a very good player . She took that opportunity , that little chance I gave her , and used it to get back into the match . I ' m happy with the way I handled the situation during those moments , though . ""  Clijsters , meanwhile , faced arguably her toughest test so far in world No . 14 Radwanska , who was playing in her first tournament for three months following a foot injury .  But despite losing a 4 1 lead in the first set and going down a break of serve early in the second , the more experienced Clijsters closed out the match to make the semifinals in Australia for the first time since her brief period of retirement from the game in 2008 .  "" I felt a little bit tired and heavy out there today , but I fought well and stayed really focused , and tried not to lose too much energy on getting frustrated , "" the mother of one told the official  Tour website .  The 27 year old admitted that she would have to improve in order to add the Australian Open title to the three grand slam singles crowns she has already won in New York in 2005 , 2009 and 2010 .  "" Everything has to be better . The serving , the returning , the unforced errors everything . But I ' m in the semifinals and I don ' t feel I ' ve played my best tennis , so that ' s a good thing , "" she said .  "" I ' m hanging in there . Sometimes it ' s more of an achievement than winning your matches very easily . ""  In Thursday ' s other semifinal , world number one Caroline Wozniacki will play Chinese ninth seed Li Na after the pair both won their quarterfinal matches on Tuesday .  Denmark ' s Wozniacki is attempting to claim her first major title , while Na who also reached the last four in Melbourne last year hopes to become the first woman from her country to reach a grand slam final .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18428,18429,"Facebook is relaxing its rules for teenagers . The 13 to 17 year old set now has the option to share photos , updates and comments with the general public on Facebook . That means strangers , and companies collecting data for advertisers and marketing companies , will be able to see select posts . Teenagers will also be able to turn on the Follow feature for their profiles , which would allow anyone they ' re not friends with to see their public posts in the main news feed .  The changes will take effect immediately , the company announced in a blog post . The new setting might help Facebook compete against other social networks that skew younger , and having public data on teens will also help the company appeal to advertisers .  The social network is trying to balance the less strict settings with two other privacy protections . When new underage users sign up for a Facebook account , their posts will be shown to a more limited audience by default only to friends instead of friends of friends . If a teen decides to change the setting to Public , she or he will see a pair of pop up warnings explaining what "" public "" means . One warns they could end up "" getting friend requests and messages from people they don ' t know personally . "" Default settings for existing teens with profiles won ' t change or affect past posts .  Privacy ? Forget it , we ' re all celebrities online now  Facebook has been around for more than nine years and stopped being a hip place for kids long ago when it was invaded by parents , grandparents and advertisers . It has 1 . 2 billion users . Even as it expands to all ages , the company has to work to hang on to the coveted teen demographic .  In a recent Pew study , teens reported "" waning enthusiasm "" for the social network , citing the presence of adults and drama . The site has become too important to typical teen life to abandon , so 94 of teens on social media have a Facebook account , and the average teen user has 300 friends .  Other social networks such as Twitter , Tumblr and Last . fm don ' t prevent teens from posting publicly . However , if someone under 18 wanted to bypass the setting on Facebook before today , they could easily lie about their age when signing up for an account . Children under 13 are not officially allowed to sign up for a Facebook account , though they can skirt the rules in the same way . When someone underage does sign up for an account , Facebook assumes they have the permission of at least one guardian but does not verify it in any way .  Young people and social media : Docs examine pitfalls  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
18434,18435,"Hey parents are you  woke  yet? A high school in North Carolina confiscated student yearbooks after one of the students quoted President Trump as her senior quote.The Charlotte Observer reports administrators at Richmond Early College High School, a public high school in Hamlet, found several quotes, including a quote by the president, to be inappropriate.One of the allegedly offensive quotes, according to Richmond County school district spokeswoman Ashley-Michelle Thublin, was Trump s pledge to  build that wall. In a statement on the Richmond County Schools website and the Richmond County Schools Facebook page, the district said the yearbooks had  errors and inappropriate comments.  The district also said  we do not and will not tolerate inappropriate conduct toward any of our students : ",fake,dataset,validation,Other news2,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
18438,18439,"A British couple face being stranded in Spain for at least three months after their baby boy was born 12 weeks prematurely during a family holiday .  Karla Hornby said she thought she was going to die when she gave birth to baby Freddie , weighing just 2lbs , by emergency caesarean section while on holiday in Benidorm with her partner Jordan Jackson .  The couple have now been told they will have to stay in Spain for at least three months while Freddie builds up his strength . But Mr Jackson , 21 , a soldier in the army ' s Royal Logistics corps , who has served in Afghanistan , is meant to report back for service tomorrow .  Stranded : Karla Hornby and Jordan Jackson are facing the prospect of spending three months in Spain while their baby boy Freddie builds up his strength . Ms Hornby also has a daughter Charlie , seven ( pictured )  Premature : Freddie weighed just 2lbs after being born by emergency caesarean section while on holiday in Benidorm . His mother has spoken of her surprise after suddenly going into labour 12 weeks prematurely  The pair had travelled to the Spanish resort for a final relaxing break before Ms Hornby was due to give birth in three months ' time .  Ms Hornby , who is already a mum to seven year old Charlie , had been cleared to fly by medical staff but was given a surprise when she suddenly went into labour .  The 29 year old said : ' On Saturday we were relaxing by the pool when my waters suddenly broke I was in complete and utter shock . '  She was taken to hospital , where doctors found that she was already 2cm dilated and transferred her to a bigger hospital .  ' Jordan wasn ' t allowed in the ambulance with me and the staff didn ' t speak any English so I had no idea what was going on my contractions were getting stronger , ' Ms Hornby added .  Costly trip : Freddie ' s family from Bolton , Greater Manchester , have so far been able to use insurance to pay for medical costs but they are now facing the prospect of supporting themselves in Spain for three months  Shocked : Ms Hornby thought she was going to die when she gave birth three months prematurely  ' In hospital I was bleeding heavily it was the scariest thing that has ever happened to me .  ' I had one big contraction and bled heavily , so they rushed me to theatre I was shaking and I couldn ' t breathe , I thought I was going to die . '  An emergency c section was performed but the couple weren ' t able to see Freddie until the following evening .  She said : ' I couldn ' t stop crying , I was so relieved that he was  but he just looked so small I was desperate to pick him up . '  The family from Bolton , Greater Manchester , have been able to use insurance to pay for medical costs but have already had to pay 1 , 000 for a hotel .  They are now facing the prospect of supporting themselves in Spain for at least three months as Freddie gains the strength needed to fly home .  Their family and friends are doing everything they can to raise money to help and a funding website has already raised more than 900 .  Mr Jackson ' s mother , Vickie Cunliffe , said : ' It has been so frightening for everyone we are just trying to think of as many ways as possible to raise money to help them . '  Ms Hornby ' s best friend Lisa Johnston said : ' We just want as many people as possible to get in touch and do what they can to help them survive over there . '  To donate to the funding page , visit www . gofundmeweblink st3kxfk  Katie Amos , 30 , with her fianc Lee Johnston , 29 , and their son Dax . The couple ' s baby boy arrived unexpectedly after Ms Amos went into labour prematurely while the pair were sightseeing in New York  The case of little Freddie is not the first time a premature baby born abroad has left a couple stranded .  Earlier this year fellow British couple Katie Amos , 30 , and fianc Lee Johnston , 29 , got stuck in New York with a 130 , 000 medical bill after their baby son was born 11 weeks prematurely while they were on a four day getaway .  The couple welcomed son Dax unexpectedly after Ms Amos went into labour while sightseeing in the Big Apple .  The pair , whose son weighed just 3lbs , were told by doctors the newborn was not able to fly back to the family home in Burgh le Marsh , Lincolnshire , until March .  American doctors said the pair ' s medical bills would reach 130 , 000 ( 200 , 000 ) , leaving the couple stranded overseas with limited clothes and money .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18447,18448,"Volkswagen executives on Wednesday ? signaled that the cost of the automaker ' s emissions scandal will mushroom but indicated that the company can absorb the blow .  New Volkswagen  Matthias Mueller , speaking to American reporters in a conference call , pledged to overhaul the company ' s operations , expose wrongdoers and chart a new global strategy .  His statements came amid signs that the company ' s core business is weathering the crisis despite an avalanche of negative publicity and investigations into the company ' s acknowledgment that it installed software on up to 11 million vehicles worldwide ? to cheat emissions regulations .  Mueller acknowledged that the 7 . 3 ? billion in provisions that ? Volkswagen set aside in the third quarter to address the costs of the scandal will cover only fixes . That figure ? does not include the cost of penalties and potential customer compensation , executives said .  That means the bill for the scandal could technically escalate to more than 25 billion if the U . S . Environmental Protection Agency levies its maximum 18 billion ? fine against the world ' s second largest automaker . Plus , the company it being hit by class action lawsuits that could cost even more .  The company declined to offer a specific estimate for the total bill of the scandal . It will be ? "" enormous , but manageable , "" the company ' s new financial chief , Frank Witter , told reporters .  Volkswagen swung to a 1 . 8 billion loss for the third quarter , officials said Wednesday . ? A net loss was an ? almost unthinkable possibility until the  exposed the scandal on Sept . 18 , but investors were relieved that the company said its underlying sales and profitability remain strong .  Sanford Bernstein analyst ? Max Warburton ? ? ? whose assessments of the European auto industry carry significant weight among investors ? ? ? said in a research note that Volkswagen ' s 6 . 2 operating profit margin was better than expected and that there appears to be no long term effect on the company ' s operating earnings .  But he still blasted ? Volkswagen for confusing statements about the emissions scandal and said it seems clear the company does not have a good sense for how much the scandal will cost .  "" To be kind , we could conclude that  is following the ' stop digging ' ? section of the crisis management handbook ? ? ? and that it is not going to say much in public until it agrees a plan with regulators on both sides of the Atlantic , "" Warburton wrote . "" A harsher interpretation would be that  still ? doesn ' t seem to understand the magnitude of its problems , still doesn ' t have a clear idea of how to fix them and is slightly ' in denial ' about it all . ""  Mueller said the company is examining the future of every vehicle model in its lineup and will overhaul its corporate strategy .  Mueller , new to the role after the ouster of longtime  Martin Winterkorn , acknowledged that "" the  ? does not usually participate in quarterly earnings calls , "" but described his participation as "" imperative to share my view of the situation and the key priorities we have set ourselves . ""  He apologized to U . S . shareholders of Volkswagen , who "" have had to endure considerable pain , for which we are deeply sorry . ""  The company ' s stock rose 4 to 109 . 35 in Germany ? as investors clung to the strong operating performance and signs that customers aren ' t abandoning the company . The shares have still lost ? more half of their value from their 52 week high .  Volkswagen owners can check database to see if their car is affected  ? ? Pledged to leave "" no stone unturned to find out what exactly happened and to ensure nothing like this happens again . ""  The company has hired law firm Jones Day to probe its handling of the matter and is also facing numerous other investigations , including a U . S . Justice Department criminal probe .  "" We will be ruthless in punishing those involved and we will be comprehensive in learning from it so that something like this never happens again , "" Mueller said .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18459,18460,"It was just a week ago that Tom Coughlin resigned as head coach of the New York Giants . And while it may feel as though it ' s been longer than that , the process of hiring Coughlin ' s replacement still likely has a ways to go before it ' s complete . They ' re not done interviewing candidates yet , and owner John Mara has to be in Houston on Tuesday and Wednesday for the special owners ' meeting that will decide on Los Angeles relocation . So while the Giants ' coaching search could wrap up this week and they would prefer it did , there ' s no guarantee it will .  That said , here ' s an update on where things stand , based on the conversations I ' ve had in the past few days with people connected with the search :  The Giants interviewed former Bills coach Doug Marrone on Saturday . He appears to be a strong candidate , possibly even a front runner , as there are some involved with the search who seem focused on finding a coach with previous  head coaching experience . The Giants consider Marrone a program builder based on his work in the college ranks at Syracuse and their belief that he had the Bills on the right track before taking a 4 million buyout last year after the team was sold . Buffalo was 9 7 in 2014 , Marrone ' s second season there . That is the only winning season the Bills have had since 2004 and just their second since the turn of the century .  The New York Giants will interview former Falcons head coach Mike Smith on Monday . ?  They will interview former Falcons head coach Mike Smith on Monday . Smith was 67 51 ( counting playoffs ) in seven years as coach of the Falcons from 2008 14 , including 13 3 records in 2010 and 2012 . He is 56 years old , so only five years older than Marrone , and he ' s well liked and respected around the league . Smith had a rough final two seasons in Atlanta and earned some measure of negative fame for some high profile game management blunders , but he may look a lot like Coughlin looked to the Giants when they hired him in 2004 .  The other candidates who have interviewed are Giants offensive and defensive coordinators Ben McAdoo and Steve Spagnuolo , Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin and former Bears offensive coordinator Adam Gase , who was hired as head coach of the Miami Dolphins on Saturday and is therefore and obviously off the table . Of that group , McAdoo appears to have the best chance of landing the job , due to his work with the Giants the past two years and the success quarterback Eli Manning has had since McAdoo ' s been there . But McAdoo is only 38 , has no head coaching experience and has only been a coordinator for these past two years . Current Giants players and coaches say positive things when asked off the record about McAdoo . He ' s intelligent , works hard and could be a rising star .  For those reasons , McAdoo appears to be a strong candidate for the Philadelphia Eagles ' vacant head coaching job as well . I ' m told the Eagles , who were interviewing Kansas City offensive coordinator Doug Pederson on Sunday , were impressed with McAdoo when they interviewed him last week and that he ' s under serious consideration there . The Giants would have to be very confident in their own choice if they were to let McAdoo go to a division rival .  Speaking of the Eagles , they ' ll be talking today with Coughlin himself . Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie called Coughlin last week and asked if they could talk . Coughlin , who still wants to coach , agreed , and the Giants ( who still hold Coughlin ' s rights because he resigned ) granted the Eagles permission to talk to him . You can ' t rule out the possibility of Coughlin moving down the Turnpike to Philly , but the people to whom I ' ve spoken about this believe the Eagles will go younger and more progressive at head coach and are talking to Coughlin mainly to pick his brain and ask him about McAdoo , whom they ' re seriously considering .  One intriguing name who hasn ' t shown up on the Giants ' interview schedule yet but still could is Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson . He interviewed with the Browns and 49ers on Sunday and could be snatched up before the Giants can interview him . But I have been told that the Giants are interested in speaking with Jackson . They just haven ' t reached out to the Bengals yet to secure permission .  At this point , I ' d be surprised if the next head coach wasn ' t someone from this list . I ' d expect the Giants to have this wrapped up within the next week . But that ' s just my feeling on the subject based on my reporting , and you can ' t rule out the idea that a new name or two will surface or that the process will take longer than they want it to take .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
18462,18463,"Published : 15 : 09  , 28 October 2015 Updated : 15 : 09  , 28 October 2015  Walgreens Boots Alliance said Wednesday its 17 . 2 billion takeover of Rite Aid would not diminish competition because of the growing importance of mail order sales and other rivals to retail pharmacies .  Walgreens Boots chief executive Stefano Pessina highlighted this type of competition in remarks that appeared to foreshadow the company ' s potential arguments to  antitrust regulators . Big box chains like Wal Mart and supermarkets have become big players in selling prescription drugs .  "" Think of the mail order , think of the people in specialized ( drugs ) , "" Pessina said in an earnings conference call .  Walgreens Boots Alliance says its 17 . 2 billion takeover of Rite Aid would not diminish competition because of the growing importance of mail order sales and other rivals to retail pharmacies ? Spencer Platt ( Getty  File )  "" We are in an environment where there is a lot of competition , "" Pessina said . "" And the fact that we put together two companies will not reduce the competition . ""  The merger , announced after markets closed Tuesday , would create a strong rival to market leader  Health , combining Walgreens Boots ' s 13 , 100 stores in a dozen countries with Rite Aid ' s 4 , 600 stores in the  .  The stock declines also came after Walgreens Boots announced early Wednesday it was suspending its share repurchase program to finance the deal and slightly trimmed its 2016 earnings forecast .  Walgreens Boots reported annual earnings for fiscal 2015 of 4 . 2 billion , compared with 1 . 9 billion for 2014 . Sales rose 35 . 4 percent to 103 . 4 billion in 2015 , the first year since Walgreens acquired the British chain Boots .  Questions about the regulatory reception of the Rite Aid deal dominated the earnings conference call .  Pessina declined to comment extensively on regulatory risk , or to offer an estimate of the number of retail store divestitures that might be required .  "" It is very difficult for us to make public comments , "" he said . "" When we have public authorities , it is better for us not to interfere at all . ""  Analysts said the deal will boost Walgreens Boots ' s bargaining leverage with insurers over prescription reimbursement rates .  But Pessina downplayed this motivation , telling analysts the impetus of the deal was to boost operating efficiencies and broaden its reach in the  market .  "" We are not thinking of really improving our position with the payers because at the end of the day we are in an environment where the margins are decreasing , "" he said .  Daniel Crane , a professor at the University of Michigan specializing in antitrust law , said the regulatory analysis will rest on whether officials see retail drugstores as a distinct market from other types of stores that sell drugs .  If regulators at the Federal Trade Commission reject Walgreens Boots ' s argument , "" then it ' s going to be a merger to duopoly in many places and the  is not going to like that , "" Crane said .  "" My guess is this is going to be a tough sell , "" Crane said . "" It ' s not going to be a rubber stamp . ""  Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
18464,18465,"Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee passed a spending bill on Thursday evening that includes $10 million to help fund the United Nations’ climate change body that oversees the Paris Climate Agreement, despite President Donald Trump’s decision to stop funding it. The 30-member Senate panel, which allocates federal funds to various government agencies and organizations, approved a $51 billion spending bill for the State Department and foreign operations, which included an amendment to continue funding the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change as well as the scientific body the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The amendment passed even though the 2018 budget proposal that Trump, a Republican, introduced earlier this year eliminated support of any mechanism to finance climate change projects in developing countries and organizations. The United States is still a party to the 1992 UNFCCC, which oversees the Paris agreement, although Trump announced in June that he would withdraw the nation from the global climate pact and cease funding the Green Climate Fund, which supports clean energy and climate adaptation projects in vulnerable countries.  The United States has usually contributed to around 20 percent of the  budget. Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon, the amendment’s author, said on Twitter on Thursday: “Despite @RealDonaldTrump’s dangerous #ParisAgreement decision & unwillingness to act, we can & will fight back to combat #climatedisruption.” The amendment passed 16-14. Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee voted in favor, as did all committee Democrats except for West Virginia’s Joe Manchin.  Although the United States announced it would no longer be a party to the Paris Climate Agreement, a pact that nearly 200 countries approved in 2015 to combat global warming, it has said it will continue to observe the ongoing negotiations. In a diplomatic cable that Reuters obtained last month, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said U.S. diplomats should sidestep questions from foreign governments on how the United States plans re-engage in the global Paris climate agreement. The cable also said diplomats should make clear that the United States wants to help other countries use fossil fuels, which have been linked to global warming. [L1N1KU0UP] ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18465,18466,"England  prosecutors may charge the parents of paralyzed rugby player Daniel James with helping their son end his life .  James , center , traveled from the  to Switzerland to commit suicide . He was 23 .  James , 23 , from Sinton Green in western England was paralyzed from the chest down in March 2007 when a rugby scrum collapsed on top of him during match practice , dislocating his spine .  Worcestershire Coroner ' s Service , which is conducing an inquest into the circumstances of his death , states on its Web site that James died on September 12 after he "" traveled to Switzerland with a view to ending his own life . He was admitted to a clinic where he died . "" The inquest was adjourned on September 19 for reports . What do you think about assisted suicide ?   police said they questioned two people in a criminal investigation of the case . Prosecutors said Thursday they plan to review the police investigation before deciding whether to prosecute anyone .  The case has renewed debate about assisted suicide in the  , where those found guilty of helping someone kill themselves face up to 14 years in prison .  Switzerland , along with Belgium , Luxembourg and the Netherlands , are the only European countries where authorities will not prosecute those who assist with suicide .  Many in the  have voiced support for Mark and Julie James , who flew to the Swiss clinic with their son . Watch the debate on assisted suicide  Mark Roebuck , uncle to Daniel , described the injury on a Web site for the Dan James Trust , which he set up to help his nephew ' s recovery .  "" He dislocated his C6 C7 vertebrae , trapping his spinal cord and becoming a tetraplegic in a split second , "" Roebuck wrote . "" This means that Dan ( had ) lost the complete use of his body from the chest down . ""  James , regained some use of his fingers , Roebuck wrote , but that was the extent of his recovery .  Roebuck wrote this month that his nephew had died in an assisted suicide . "" His death was an extremely sad loss , "" his parents said in a statement , "" but was no doubt a welcome relief from the prison he felt his body had become . ""  In a statement last week James ' parents paid tribute to their son and said that he had attempted to kill himself several times already .  They added that their son , "" an intelligent young man of sound mind , "" had never come to terms with his condition and was "" not prepared to live what he felt was a second class existence "" .  Matt Hampson , an English rugby player who was also paralyzed from the neck down with an almost identical spinal injury in 2005 , now runs a rugby Web site that supports a charity for children with spinal injuries .  Hampson said he met with James briefly last year to share his experience of living with paralysis . But James ' suicide , he says , was a personal choice that only James and his family can fully understand , adding : "" Who am I to judge what he did ? ""  "" You either get on with it or you die , "" added Hampson , who played for the England Under 21 team . "" I kind of see my role as getting on with my life to show people that , just because I ' ve had this catastrophic injury , that doesn ' t mean I can ' t do things . I don ' t think my life is worse . It ' s a lot better in some ways . ""  Debbie Purdy , a 45 year old who suffers from multiple sclerosis , says she wants the option of assisted suicide if her pain one day becomes intolerable . Purdy has a case before the High Court to clarify the law .  "" I just want clarity so I know whether or not my husband Omar will be prosecuted or questioned by the police if I decide to travel abroad and he accompanies me , "" Purdy writes on the Web site for Dignity in Dying , a British group that advocates for "" patient choice at the end of life . ""  Dignity in Dying says the law in England and Wales is unclear regarding assisted suicide . Although no one has been prosecuted for accompanying a family member abroad for the procedure , the group says , some relatives have faced police questioning .  "" I want to know what the law considers to be assisting a suicide , "" Purdy writes . "" Is Omar open to prosecution if he helps me into a taxi to the airport , or books my flights ? ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
18466,18467,"Following heavy defeats at Tikrit in Iraq and the appalling costly siege of Kobane , Islamic State have launched their own social media rules to censor coverage on its recent defeats .  The image of the rules began to circulate on social media , two weeks after Islamic State was forced to abandon the Iraqi city of Tikrit .  With  propaganda team releasing endless sets of dull publicity photos from life inside Iraq and Syria , the senior commanders appear keen to eradicate any hint of problems within the group ' s territory .  The media crackdown appears to be an attempt by  senior commanders to eradicate any knowledge of the extremist group ' s defeats or internal problems .  Some  supporters on social media appear to be exasperated by the apparent leaking of information and discussions of the defeat at Tikrit .  Specific details like the manufacturing of new weapons and any pictures of  fighters , have been deemed by  as a breach of online security .  Perhaps the strangest and most unclear rule reads : ' The stupendous spread of Mujahideen along a specific locations ' It appears unknown what the extremist group meant by ' the stupendous spread of mujahideen . '  Whilst it remains unknown how Islamic State will manage to enforce these rules , the jihadi group has previously struggled to keep any control of its fighters and supporters on social media .  One exasperated  supporter wrote : ' Brothers , please stop posting news about anything in Tirkit or Ramadi walla . You are doing more harm to the mujahideen than good . Fear Allah . '  Some of the rules , particularly regarding the publishing information on the location of fighters and the use of tactics , appears to come after a series of calamitous social media errors by some fighters .  Islamic State fighter Mark Taylor , originally from New Zealand , shot to fame after accidentally tweeting his location whilst fighting in Syria .  Taylor forgot to turn off the geo locator setting on his account , allowing intelligence services to successfully track his every movement . He even managed to give away where he was living in al Tabaqah , south west Raqqa .  Known as Ali Al Farsi , 19 year old Ali Kalantar ' s death was first tweeted by Halane , under the nom de guerre , Umm Jafar al Britaniyah .  British terror twin Zahra Halane ( left ) and Kiwi fighter Mark Taylor ( right ) , have both been criticised by  supporters for giving away information on fighters and locations .  Islamic State commander fear that with the deadly coalition air strikes decimating their ranks , such lapses in security is proving costly .  In particular female jihadis have been criticized by fellow  supporters for their loose lipped attitude on social media . One of the British terror twins , Zahra Halane , has previously broken the rules by announcing the death of her husband on social media .  Known as Ali Al Farsi , 19 year old Ali Kalantar ' s death was first tweeted by Halane , under the nom de guerre , Umm Jafar al Britaniyah . Halane quickly deleted the tweets but not before a screenshot had sent them viral .  Islamic State propaganda remains highly important to their strategy for recruitment and legitimacy .  media continue to churn out endless propaganda photos from inside  territory .  Islamic State fighters have recently made worrying gains near the Iraqi city of Ramadi , Anbar province . Shiite paramilitary groups and other reinforcements are reportedly heading to Ramadi to provide support against the  threat .  New propaganda photos from Anbar province claim that  were warmly welcomed as they entered a nearby town near Ramadi .  Islamic State continue to launch new offensives , targeting the strategic Iraqi oil fields at Baiji and the city of Ramadi in Anbar province .  Islamic State continue to launch new offensives , targeting the strategic Iraqi oil fields at Baiji and the city of Ramadi in Anbar province .  Using suicide bombers to destroy the surrounding fence , Islamic State fighters have been managed to fight their way inside the oil field compound in Salahuddin province .  Parts of the oil fields have frequently changed hands between the Iraqi army and militants from Islamic State . Due to its remote desert location , it has proved to be a difficult base to maintain .  Newly published photos and a brief video shows dozens of  fighters celebrating inside the oil field ' s facilities .  It remains unknown how long they will manage to hold out before the Baghdad forces re take it .  Using suicide bombers to destroy the surrounding fence , Islamic State fighters have been managed to fight their way inside the oil field compound  Situated in Salahuddin province , the Baiji oil fields has long been seen as a key stategic target for Islamic State . it remains unknown how long they will manage to hold out before the Baghdad forces re take it .  Newly published photos and a brief video shows dozens of  fighters celebrating inside the oil fields facilities .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
18489,18490,"Brazil Blames Zika Virus for Devastating Birth Defects  Evidence is growing that Zika virus may cause a catastrophic birth defect called microcephaly , which often results in mental retardation .  Zika , a mosquito borne virus , has been spreading across Latin America and the Caribbean recently . It prompted U . S . health officials to consider issuing a travel warning . Evidence shows that it may cause microcephaly in newborns , which can result in mental retardation .  Above , Angelica Pereira , left , holds her daughter Luiza as she sits with her husband Dejailson Arruda at their home in Santa Cruz do Capibaribe , Pernambuco state , Brazil , on Dec . 23 , 2015 . Luiza was born in October with microcephaly .  Above , Dejailson Arruda holds his daughter Luiza at their house in Santa Cruz do Capibaribe on Dec . 23 , 2015 .  Angelica Pereira , right , comforts her daughter Luiza as she waits for their appointment with a neurologist at the Mestre Vitalino Hospital in Caruaru , Pernambuco state , Brazil on Dec . 22 , 2015 .  A neurologist measures Luiza ' s head on Dec . 22 . When she was born , Luiza ' s head was just 11 . 4 inches ( 29 centimeters ) in diameter , more than an inch ( 3 centimeters ) below the range defined as healthy by doctors .  In November , Brazilian researchers reported the Zika virus genome had been found in amniotic fluid samples from two women whose fetuses were diagnosed with microcephaly by ultrasound exams . Researchers also found the Zika virus present in brain tissue of a newborn with microcephaly .  Above , 5 year old Elenilson holds a notebook as he plays next to his 2 month old brother Jose Wesley in their house in Poco Fundo , Pernambuco state , Brazil . Their mother , Solange Ferreira had never heard of microcephaly before her youngest son was diagnosed a couple of days after his birth .  10 year old Elison carries his brother Jose Wesley in their house in Poco Fundo on Dec . 23 , 2015 .  Elison , left , watches as his mother Solange Ferreira bathes Jose Wesley in a bucket in their house . Ferreira says Jose Wesley enjoys being in the water , she places him in the bucket several times a day to calm him .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18496,18497,"A national company , referred to by Wall Street as Hosni Mubarek of tax preparation retailers , has found yet another way to never settle for less , divert profits away from shareholders , and violate the disabled ' s civil right in one fell swoop , after paying a 20 , 000 civil penalty and 5 , 000 in damages to settle a suit filed under the Americans With Disabilities Act by an employee who is deaf , the Justice Department said Monday .  The settlement requires the tax preparation company to furnish appropriate auxiliary aids , including a sign language interpreter , when necessary to give people hard of hearing equal opportunity .  The settlement falls just short of actually ordering the company to stop offering "" Violating Employees ' Rights "" as an upper level course for corporate employees and certain field leaders .  "" While we believe that no employee deserves ' reasonable accommodation ' , we will follow the order of the court , "" someone wrote for the company ' s  to read aloud . "" We will reaffirm our desire not to get sued anymore by you people , so , as soon as you people stop bringing your stupid dogs into our offices , we will find a way to accommodate your particular retardation , not only at our tax preparation offices in San Antonio , where the complaint originated , but in our 47 remaining offices , and at our Bank , now with one ( 1 ) convenient location nationwide . ""  The  ordered the company to develop policies on effective communication with people hard of hearing and post the policy on its website , among other things .  ""          ,    ,      ,                 , "" their website now reads .  ""    ,      ,       ,         ? ""  ",satire,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
18499,18500,"Reuters) - Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta was sworn in for second, five-year term on Tuesday, ending months of political turmoil in the east African nation. Kenyatta won a repeat presidential election on Oct. 26 after opposition leader Raila Odinga boycotted the vote, citing concerns over fairness. Police prevented opposition leaders from holding a rival gathering on Tuesday.  ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
18538,18539,"Packers Redskins Key Matchup : Packers DBs vs . Kirk Cousins ' targets  192 of 257 for 2 , 170 yards , 16 touchdowns and 2 interceptions .  That ' s Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins ' stat line in home games this season . It works out to a 74 . 7 completion percentage , 8 . 4 yards per attempt , an an absurd 117 . 0 passer rating .  Before you go right on assuming that Cousins will have another monster game in Washington ' s wild card playoff matchup with the Packers , though , consider this : 29th , 8th , 14th , 26th , 32nd , 28th , 17th , 18th .  That ' s where each of Washington ' s home opponents ranked in pass defense this season , per Football Outsiders '  ( Defense adjusted Value Over Average , which adjusts performance for down , distance , and opponent ) . That means , on average , Cousins was facing a pass defense that ranked in the bottom third of the league when he compiled those marvelous statistics .  The Green Bay Packers are not that kind of pass defense . The Packers ranked 6th in pass defense  on the year . They pressured the opposing quarterback on 39 . 2 percent of drop backs , per tracking from Pro Football Focus , the 5th highest rate in the league . They allowed the 4th lowest completion percentage in the  , the 6th fewest touchdowns , and the 7th lowest passer rating . They also picked off the 9th most passes of any team . They present a far different level of challenge for Cousins than he has faced in most of his other home contests .  Working against the Packers , though , is that they will almost definitely be without No . 1 corner Sam Shields on Sunday . Shields suffered a concussion against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 14 and hasn ' t played since . He was listed as doubtful on the team ' s Friday injury report and isn ' t expected to play .  In his absence , it ' s likely that Green Bay will use its two rookie corners Damarious Randall and Quinten Rollins on the outside against DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon , with Casey Heyward manning Jamison Crowder in the slot . Randall seems likely to match up with Jackson and Rollins with Garcon ( for the most part , at least Green Bay doesn ' t always shadow for the whole game , even when they use shadows in that game ) , based on the way Green Bay has played similar matchups over the last few weeks . Randall stuck with Amari Cooper while Rollins tracked the thicker and not quite as shifty Michael Crabtree when the Packers played Oakland in Week 15 , for example .  Jackson , of course , is Cousins ' primary deep threat . Despite playing in only 10 games ( and I don ' t think he even got in the field for the 10th game he was active ) , he led Washington ' s receivers in targets thrown 20 plus yards down the field with 17 , per Pro Football Focus . He hauled in 10 of those passes for 392 yards and 4 touchdowns . His 58 . 8 percent catch rate on those passes was third best in the league . He ' s dangerous . If you let him get behind you , you ' re toast , so long as Cousins can put the ball on target .  Crowder is Washington ' s possession receiver in the slot . He ran 76 . 4 percent of his routes from the slot this season , per  , his 41 slot catches tied with Anquan Boldin for 9th most in the  , and his 77 . 4 percent catch rate on passes to the slot was the 4th best in the league . Heyward allowed 42 catches for 450 yards in the slot this year , per the same tracking , but he ' s been much better over the last four or five weeks of the season , which is more in line with his previously established level of play .  The most intriguing matchup on this side of the ball might not have anything to do with the wide receivers and corners , though . Instead , the fun will be in seeing how the rest of Green Bay ' s pass defenders deal with Washington tight end Jordan Reed . The Packers ranked 4th in  against tight ends this season , but has Washington coach Jay Gruden said this week , "" They haven ' t seen a tight end like Jordan . He ' s different , he ' s a different animal . ""  Reed caught 87 passes for 952 yards and 11 touchdowns this year , totals which ranked 2nd , 5th , and 2nd in the  among tight ends . His 76 . 3 percent catch rate led the 28 tight ends that were targeted at least 50 times . He can line up in line , in the slot , or out wide and do the same type of damage . Cousins is not shy about getting him the ball anywhere on the field . He ' s always been a nightmare for defenses to deal with when healthy , and this year , he finally stayed healthy long enough to be a monster .  The Packers will use a combination of bodies against him , including not limited to safeties Ha Ha Clinton Dix , Morgan Burnett , and Micah Hyde . Their linebackers will surely bump him when he comes off the line of scrimmage and they ' ll drop into his zones , too . It ' ll be a full team effort , and it ' ll take every member of that group playing at the top of his game to fully shut him down .  Can Kirk Cousins and Jordan Reed do damage against Green Bay ? (  )  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18546,18547,"Reuters) - U.S. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi on Thursday said she expects legislation to help tackle Puerto Rico’s ongoing financial crisis to come soon and that lawmakers will hopefully act on it quickly. “We should have a bill pretty soon. And I think the Republicans are acting in good faith on this,” Pelosi, the chamber’s minority leader, told reporters. The U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to leave for a recess on Wednesday. “It would be my hope that we would see something before we leave here, that would be marked up as soon as we come back and then taken to the floor and ... sent to the Senate,” she added. ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
18578,18579,"Port au Prince , Haiti In patches across the Haitian capital , many earthquake survivors are not waiting for an international clearing and rebuilding effort to begin . They are pulling out shovels , wood and cement to slowly repair and rebuild themselves .  "" This is what we have to do now , "" Jean Fritznel St . Claire said as he hammered away at huge , fallen slabs of a Digicel office building , breaking them into chunks to be shoveled into a truck and taken away . Digicel is a telecommunications company .  St . Claire and three friends working with him at Digicel expected the company to pay them for their hard labor , but the group insists that they and others who stayed in the earthquake zone are eager to start clearing rubble and building what they can .  "" The people who left Port au Prince have no hope , "" he said , his face dripping with sweat . "" We have hope . So we ' re here . ""  Elsewhere in Port au Prince , businesses and families repaired cinderblock walls and pounded new beams into fractured roofs . One work crew near the airport replaced several broken sewer pipes that were part of a system set up for their neighborhood .  But this individual rebuilding alarms teams of engineers studying the damage in Haiti after the 7 . 0 magnitude earthquake January 12 .  "" It worries me , "" said Reginald Desroches , a Haitian American engineer from Georgia Tech who is part of a volunteer assessment team working with the United Nations ' mission in Haiti .  Desroches and his crew say many Haitians are using broken pieces of buildings as construction material , including the metal rebar , or reinforcement bars , that critically strengthen concrete but now lie twisted and bent in the rubble . That makes the bars weak and potentially unsafe .  But Haitians are turning to what ' s available even though the materials might be deemed unsafe to rebuild structures that ultimately may be declared unsound .  "" This is a problem , "" fellow engineer Jean Philippe Simon said . "" These things can just collapse all over again . ""  Indeed , the Digicel building where St . Claire is working contains massive cracks , is missing a two story wall and leans over the area he ' s cleaning up .  Asked if he ' s worried that the place could collapse , undermining his backbreaking work , St . Claire responds , "" We can ' t control that . That is up to God . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,present
18580,18581,"Adults who watched a lot of television when they were children are more likely to be overweight , new research has found .  For every extra hour a child spends watching  each day , their weight in adulthood increases by about half a pound .  The researchers believe this could be  because when children are watching television their hands are free so  they are able to eat whatever they want meaning they form bad habits .  Adults who watched a lot of television when they were children are more likely to be overweight  ' The weight of the evidence is pretty strong that television viewing is related to unhealthy changes in weight among youth , ' Jennifer Falbe , who led the research at the Harvard School of Public Health , in Boston , said .  She added : ' It ' s important for parents to be aware of all the potentially obesogenic screens that they should really be limiting in their children ' s lives . '  The researchers used data from a long term study of children who filled in surveys every other year .  The surveys included questions about their height and weight as well as how much time they spent watching  and playing computer games .  Out of about 4 , 300 girls in the study , 17 per cent were overweight or obese . Of the 3 , 500 boys , 24 per cent were above a healthy weight .  For every extra hour a child spends watching  each day , their weight in adulthood increases by about half a pound  From one survey to the next , each one hour increase in children ' s daily  watching was tied to an increase of about 0 . 1 points on the body mass index (  ) scale .  Dr Mark Tremblay , director of Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research at the Children ' s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute in Ottawa , Canada , told Reuters Health : ' When children watch  there is more purposeful , deliberate exposure to eating options , commercials that come on that might cue you to go off to the pantry and grab a cookie or a soft drink .  ' Typically your hands are free when you ' re watching  , so should that temptation capture you , you ' re able to sit there and munch on whether it ' s a healthy or an unhealthy snack . '  Dr Tremblay , who was not involved in the study , added that even playing computer games could be better than watching  as it makes children a little bit more active and distracted from eating .  Many parents believe their children are getting a reasonable amount of recreational screen time , Dr Tremblay said .  But he added that most U . S . and Canadian children exceed the recommended two hour maximum per day .  ' We don ' t pay attention to the fact that it ' s half an hour here , half an hour there , an hour here , an hour there , ' Dr Tremblay said .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,present
18581,18582,"The Northern Territory is renowned for throwing up some mind boggling moments but when ranger Paul O ' Neill heard birds making a racket inside the Nitmiluk National Park , he went to investigate .  And what he found was one of those double take moments , he looked as a large python wrapped itself around and began devouring a wallaby .  The  Parks and Wildlife ranger quickly began to document the amazing scene on camera as the snake began swallowing the marsupial .  Amazing images of a python wrapped around and swallowing a wallaby in the Northern Territory  Ranger Paul O ' Neill began documenting the moment while on his rounds in the Nitmiluk National Park  The Nitmiluk gorge site is some 30 kilometres from the heart of Katherine and 310 kilometres south of Darwin .  In the photos , the snake is first seen wrapping itself tightly around the marsupial to suffocate it .  It then unhinges its jaw and starts working its mouth around its prey .  The mean feat is further exaggerated by the shape of wallaby ' s body jutting out while it is inside the snake ' s stomach .  The python has all but devoured the marsupial but park officials say it could take up to seven days before it is fully digested  In the photos , the snake is first seen wrapping itself tightly around the marsupial to suffocate it  The Nitmiluk gorge site is some 30 kilometres from the heart of Katherine and 310 kilometres south of Darwin  Greg Smith , from the Territory Wildlife Park , told  New s ' that wallaby would take about five to seven days to digest completely '  Greg Smith , from the Territory Wildlife Park , told  News ' that wallaby would take about five to seven days to digest completely and the snake would go and hide for at least a month ' .  ' Some snakes will start looking for food even if they are overweight and have just eaten , but on average that meal would be sufficient to sustain that snake for at least three months , "" he said .  A python can survive on prey like a wallaby of this size for up to three months  The mean feat is further exaggerated by the shape of wallaby ' s body jutting out while it is inside the snake ' s stomach  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18583,18584,"The question may have been lost in translation , but a visibly angry Secretary of State Hillary Clinton bluntly told a town hall meeting in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday , "" I will you tell you my opinion , I ' m not going to channel my husband . ""  Hillary Clinton became visibly angry after a translator asked what Bill Clinton would think regarding an issue .  The unscripted moment happened as Clinton spoke to students at a Congolese university in Kinshasa , the Congo capital .  A male student rose to ask a question about Chinese financial contracts with Congo .  The student asked Clinton what President Obama would think of the deal , but pool reporters in the room said the translator made a mistake , posing the question as what would Bill Clinton think .  Clinton looked surprised when she first heard the translation in the headset , and then sharply replied , "" You want me to tell you what my husband thinks ? My husband is not the secretary of state , I am . You ask my opinion . I will tell you my opinion I ' m not going to channel my husband . "" Watch Clinton react to question  At the State Department , Assistant Secretary P . J . Crowley said the question she heard "" struck a nerve , "" that her opinion on the matter was apparently of less interest than that of her husband , the former president .  "" The secretary of state is going to Goma Tuesday , to draw attention to the plight of women who are victims of rape as a weapon of war "" in Congo , Crowley said .  "" She did react to what she heard , "" Crowley explained , but regardless that the interpreter may have gotten it wrong , "" you can ' t separate the question from the setting . ""  He said "" If Africa , if Congo is going to advance , women have to play a more significant role . She was in the setting of a town hall , and the questioner was interested in what two men thought , not the secretary of state . ""  Crowley , who has just returned to Washington after traveling with Clinton during the first part of her trip to Africa , said the State Department has not yet reviewed recordings of the original question , in French , to learn whether the student clearly intended the question to refer to Obama , not former President Clinton .  "" She did talk with the student afterward , and they seemed to have reached an understanding , "" Crowley said .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18587,18588,"If you have not yet heard, another Nazi got  punched.  Noted racist and anti-Semitic conservative radio host Michael Savage was leaving a San Fransisco Bay area restaurant on Tuesday night when a man approached him and began making fun of his strangely appropriate legal last name,  Weiner. It is unclear what happened next   the  attacker  says that Savage shoved him first while Savage says the opposite, but in the end, the pro-Trump radio host ended up on the ground. Savage says that another man attempted to intervene, but was punched in the face by the unnamed  attacker.  According to Savage s story, he was able to get up while being  attacked  and help the man who had just gotten punched while simultaneously calling the police and his lawyer (quite a feat while he is the victim of a vicious attack, huh?).Both men, neither of whom were hurt in the scuffle, stayed at the scene to give statements to police. Savage s lawyer says that he is investigating if a  hate crime  was committed because Savage s hateful views may have contributed to the attack.But if you listen to conservatives tell the story, Savage was viciously beaten by a hateful and violent liberal (the  attacker s  political affiliation is unknown) who refuses to tolerate right-wing viewpoints like that people in Chicago are  ghetto slime,  that non-white nations are  Turd-World  countries, that Jewish people are  hook-nosed,  and other views regularly espoused by the terrible people who support Donald Trump.One rabid Trump supporter, James Stachowiak   you may remember him as the guy who made headlines when he said that black protesters (especially women and children) should be shot  in the backs  and that Hillary Clinton s place is in front of a  firing squad    says that Savage was  beaten and bloodied  in this  attack.  His solution, of course, is a bloodbath. Well people, I have the solution if you re approached by a group of people like they did to Mike Savage,  Stachowiak says in the video he filmed while driving. He then fumbles around in his pants for a moment and pulls out a gun   once again, while driving.  And here s my solution. It s time to start capping these bastards,  Stachowiak says.  Lethal force, people. Lethal force. Prepare to kill in defense of your free speech and the way you believe. Every one of the people who attacked Mike Savage needs to be hunted down and taken out vigilante-style,  Stachowiak says.  That s right, I m condoning the killing of the people who attacked Mike Savage. While violence is never the answer, let s put this in context: a single person allegedly shoved Mr. Savage, so Stachowiak thinks the solution is to round up a posse and murder him (the single individual that Mr. Stachowiak says was a gang of violent liberals).This is the mindset of the common Trump supporter: shoot first, whether it s warranted or not, because no liberal life is more valuable than whatever passes for dignity to these folks. Watch Stachowiak s violent threats below:Featured image via screengrab",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,satire,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
18590,18591,"According to an entertainment insider , porn star Rachel Oberlin and model Natalie Kenly simultaneously blew their breast implants while performing a sex act on Charlie Sheen at his Beverly Hills mansion Tuesday .  The insider , a friend of Charlie ' s who had just come over to visit for the day , claims he heard screams of "" Winning ! "" "" Winning "" coming from Sheen ' s upstairs bedroom and then he heard what sounded like "" two large pops . ""  "" I swear , they were like cannons goin off in there ! ""  When the friend rushed into the bedroom , he found a naked Kenly straddled on Sheen in the famed cowgirl position .  "" They were crying and there was this plasma lookin ' stuff everywhere , "" the source continued . "" I immediately noticed two things :  1 . Their breasts had shrunk from Christy Canyons to Betty Whites .  2 . Charlie was wasted outta his mind . He was barely coherent , and he had on nothing but a "" Screw Warner Bros T shirt . ""  The friend immediately called 911 and the girls were taken to nearby Cedars Sinai Medical Center .  Sadly , their breasts had shriveled up too much to be saved . The girls are expected to recover though .  Sheen eventually returned our calls about the incident Wednesday morning , saying , "" They ' re fine ! These broads are my little angels ! They ' ll be back hot and cooking in no time ! ""  When asked about the rumor he is planning a major sex orgy including Brittney Spears , Ozzy Osbourne and Eddie Long , the Atlanta pastor sued by two former parishioners on molestation charges , the former "" Two and A Half Men star "" responded with "" No comment , "" and a sly wink .  ",satire,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,fake,satire,True,no,no,negative,past
18607,18608,"This time , it can be blamed on a no win lease that gave the Rams ? an out if the Edward Jones Dome wasn t deemed in the top one quarter of the facilities in the league .  While Stan Kroenke relocates the franchise to Inglewood , California , with plans for a lavish stadium , it s back to the bricks for the task force ? which has a 1 billion plan and fancy artists renderings for a riverfront stadium that could also house an  franchise , but no prospective tenants .  The task force said the decision concludes a flawed process and said it planned no news events the rest of the week .  Dave Peacock , co head of task force , said in an impromptu conference call that the process was more contemplated and contrived than I realized and that it appeared St . Louis never had a chance .  We had aimed for a target , hit it , and they said , No , the target is over here . '  Peacock concluded : This is a byproduct of an owner who just didn t want to be here .  Attorney Bob Blitz , the other co head of the task force , did not rule out legal action .  For now , the city that Kroenke harshly criticized for a lagging economy and has long been dissed as a baseball town is left with two professional teams .  I thought the crowds were very good when I was here , said Dick Vermeil , who coached the Greatest Show on Turf team to the franchise s lone Super Bowl title in the 1999 season . They were unbelievable when we turned the team around , and they were good when we were not going good .  During the Devils Blues  telecast Tuesday night , St . Louis announcer John Kelly said simply , Very disappointing news .  Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said St . Louis was a tremendous sports town .  Historically , you put something out there people are proud of , they show up , Mozeliak said .  State and civic leaders who banded together in an effort to keep the Rams ? in town are feeling jilted .  The  and Stan Kroenke have displayed a callous disregard for the St . Louis area and its loyal football fans , St . Louis County Executive Steve Stenger said in a statement .  Mayor Francis Slay said the  ignored the facts and fans who supported the team through far more downs than ups .  Gov . Jay Nixon called the vote to approve the move a clear deviation from the  s guidelines .  It is troubling that the league would allow for the relocation of a team when a home market has worked in good faith and presented a strong and viable proposal , Nixon added .  Fans echoed those sentiments after ponying up for personal seat licenses and season tickets without a winning record to show for the last dozen years . At Tuesday night s Blues game , the fans made derogatory chants about Kroenke .  Brian King was 6 years old when the Rams ? arrived in 1995 and his father purchased season tickets . Until last year one of the family cars was a 93 van that had a Rams ? tire cover on the back and Rams ? magnets on the doors .  ",true,text,validation,Football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
18639,18640,"After spending 125 days traveling over 8 , 000 nautical miles , the Plastiki is preparing to reach Sydney , its final destination , on Sunday .  The Plastiki ' s arrival in Sydney will not , however , be the 60 foot catamaran ' s first time to reach Australian soil . Winter storms producing near hurricane strength winds forced the vessel and its crew to take refuge in Mooloolaba , Queensland on Monday .  Originally , the crew had hoped to land in Coffs Harbour , south from Mooloolaba , before heading to Sydney . After waiting out the bad weather , the Plastiki took off from its unexpected first port of call in Australia early Friday morning with hopes to reach Sydney in the next two days .  Brutal winter storms in the Tasman Sea made the leg from New Caledonia the most challenging . One night winds gusting over 60 knots surprised the crew , leaving them battling to prevent the mast buckling and losing the sail for eight hours .  "" I ' ve always been apprehensive of the Tasman Sea and this was my own worst nightmare come to fruition , "" said Plastiki ' s expedition leader , David de Rothschild .  Co skipper of the boat , Dave Thomson called the waves some of "" the biggest you ' re likely to see . ""  Once in Sydney , the Plastiki will be harbored at the Australian National Maritime Museum . It will remain on display for a month as crew members hold special events aimed at raising awareness of plastic waste in the ocean . The general public will also have the opportunity to visit the vessel during an open day .  Made of approximately 12 , 500 reclaimed plastic bottles and engineered using the most sustainable methods possible , the Plastiki is meant to be used as a platform upon which solutions to the myriad of environmental problems can be found .  Particularly , the Plastiki is hoping to raise awareness about single use consumer products that are filling landfills and the sea .  The Plastiki has faced several challenges since departing from San Francisco in March . Engineering problems unique to a craft made of plastic water bottles forced the catamaran to make unscheduled stops , as has unpredictable weather .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18640,18641,"says Les Miles to stay Tigers beat Texas A M 19 7    , La . (  ) Les Miles rode across the Tiger Stadium field on the shoulders of his players while fans chanted his name .  It would have been quite a send off , except  ' s administration doesn ' t want him going anywhere after all .  Minutes after  closed the regular season with a 19 7 victory over Texas A M , athletic director Joe Alleva said Miles will remain the coach . The announcement capped more than a week of speculation that Miles was on the verge of losing his job after his first three game losing streak in his 11 years at  .  ' ' I ' m looking forward to working with Coach Miles as he leads this team to a bowl game and another great recruiting class , ' ' Alleva said as Miles ' wife , Kathy , and their four children looked on . ' ' Les and I have talked . We have talked about this program and we are committed together to working to win and compete at the highest level . ' '   ' s administration had allowed speculation about Miles ' status to fester by refusing to comment on the matter last week , but Alleva stressed that he was only following his policy of waiting until after the season to comment on a coach ' s future .  Indeed , Miles said he did not know for sure whether he ' d just coached his last game on the home sideline of Death Valley until after the game . He said  President F . King Alexander informed him first , followed by Alleva .  ' ' We ' re a talented football team . We seemed to undershoot our mark this year , ' ' Miles said . ' ' I agree with Joe . Winning championships is something Joe wants to work toward fully and I ' m right with him . It ' s not enough to win occasionally . You have to win all the time . I get that . ' '   players didn ' t find out until word began circulating about Alleva ' s announcement . Tigers senior right tackle Vadal Alexander said he found out when he got a text from his parents and just smiled .  Victory over Texas A M ( 8 4 , 4 4 ) did not come easily for the Tigers ( 8 3 , 5 3 ) , who trailed until Derrius Guice ' s 50 yard scoring run in the third quarter .  Leonard Fournette ran for 159 yards and a touchdown . He finished the game owning  ' s single season rushing record at 1 , 741 yards , surpassing the mark of 1 , 686 yards set by Charles Alexander in 1977 .  ' ' It has been hard , not just with ( speculation about ) coach Miles , but with us having lost the last three games , ' ' Fournette said . ' ' These last three weeks will help this team grow and help us grow in life . I can say this has been one of the longest three weeks in my life . It was hard for everybody . ' '  Kyle Allen passed for 161 yards and one touchdown for the Aggies , but had a pass intercepted by Donte Jackson inside the final 2 minutes , all but sealing  ' s victory .  Aggies coach Kevin Sumlin said his team ' s turnovers and problems protecting Allen tipped the game in  ' s favor .  ' ' It is kind of hard when the quarterback can ' t set his feet and move the ball down field , ' ' Sumlin said . ' '  played very well on defense . ' '  As the game ended , fans chanted , ' ' Keep Les Miles ! Keep Les Miles ! ' '  Throughout game day , Miles ' biggest fans made sure they were seen and heard .  During the ' ' Tiger Walk , ' ' from the team busses to the stadium , Miles was greeted like a hero as he waved to the crowd , at times pausing and turning around as if to soak it all in . Many fans held up signs expressing support for the embattled coach , some urging  to give him at least one more season .  Inside Death Valley before kickoff , the crowd roared when Miles was introduce during Senior Day ceremonies . The coach tipped his trademark baseball cap to acknowledge the crowd , raising the volume a little more .  Miles overall record improved to 111 32 .  could have had a nine win regular season if not for lightning canceling the season opener against heavy underdog McNeese State .  Yet , some of the very aspects of  ' s game that have bothered Miles ' critics showed up again .  There were a handful of pre snap penalties and the passing game was largely ineffective . Brandon Harris was 7 of 21 for 83 yards , no touchdowns and an interception . A number of his passes sailed over intended receivers or skipped off the grass short of their mark . Most of his receptions came on check downs to running backs , including a critical third down swing pass to Fournette for a 17 yard gain that sustained the Tigers ' final scoring drive .  It didn ' t help that kicker Trent Domingue , who ' d missed only one field goal all season coming in , missed three against the Aggies .  When the Tigers finally produced a big play to take a 13 7 lead , it came on Guice ' s long run .  The Aggies , who led 7 6 at halftime , scored their lone  on Allen ' s 8 yard , third down pass over the middle to Ricky Seals Jones .  The Aggies squandered a chance to widen their lead when Allen was sacked and stripped by Kendell Beckwith on the  13 , with the Tigers ' Devon Godchaux recovering .  This corrects an earlier version of story to show team was on three game losing streak .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18645,18646,"Authorities in some Afghan prisons are torturing detainees into confessions , using methods that meet the international definition of torture , according to a new U . N . report .  The practices documented "" are among the most serious human rights violations under international law , are crimes under Afghan law and are strictly prohibited under both Afghan and international law , "" the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (  ) says in the report .  "" Detainees described experiencing torture in the form of suspension ( being hung by the wrists from chains or other devices attached to the wall , ceiling , iron bars or other fixtures for lengthy periods ) and beatings , especially with rubber hoses , electric cables or wires or wooden sticks and most frequently on the soles of the feet . Electric shock , twisting and wrenching of detainees ' genitals , stress positions including forced standing , removal of toenails and threatened sexual abuse were among other forms of torture that detainees reported .  "" Routine blindfolding and hooding and denial of access to medical care in some facilities were also reported .  documented one death in government custody due to torture in April 2011 , the report says .  The report contains quotes from various prisoners , not identified by name , describing their experiences in detail .  The report comes from interviews with 379 pre trial detainees and convicted prisoners at facilities operated by different branches of the Afghan government between October 2010 and August 2011 .  The Afghanistan government responded that the report "" is to some extent not close to reality "" and "" not entirely in compliance with the facts . ""  "" Torture methods such as electric shock , threat of rape , twisting of sexual organs etc . are methods that are absolutely non existent in the  ( National Directorate of Security ) , "" the government said .  But the government added that the report may help draw attention to needed improvements .  "" Despite their cruel and barbaric acts , "" terrorists are being treated "" humanely and in accordance with the law , "" the Afghan government said , in a response included in the  report . "" Beginning from their arrest and investigation to the final verdict of the court they are treated in accordance with the Islamic and humanitarian norms . ""   said officials with Afghanistan ' s National Directorate of Security "" systematically tortured detainees in a number of detention facilities across Afghanistan . Torture does not appear to have been practiced systematically in each  facility  observed . ""  ""  ' s detention observation report found compelling evidence that 125 detainees ( 46 ) of the 273 detainees interviewed who had been in  detention experienced interrogation techniques at the hands of  officials that constituted torture , "" the report said . Nearly all the detained reported that the abuse was during interrogations and aimed at obtaining a confession or information . "" In almost every case ,  officials stopped the use of torture once detainees confessed to the crime of which they were accused or provided the requested information . ""  Torture was used on some children under 18 , the report said .   recommended that the  and the police take immediate steps to prevent torture and allow regular , unhindered access for independent monitors . The report also called on the government and the supreme court to take action .  Countries with troops in Afghanistan should suspended transfer of detainees to facilities "" where credible allegations or reports of torture and ill treatment have been made pending a full assessment , "" the report said .  Canada and the United Kingdom ceased transfers of detainees to facilities in Kandahar and Kabul at various times based on reports of torture and ill treatment , the report said . And in July of this year , the United States and  ' S International Security Assistance Force stopped transferring detainees to authorities in certain areas based on reports of consistent torture and mistreatment , the report said .   took steps to ensure that the information it collected was credible , the report said . It "" rigorously analyzed patterns of allegations in the aggregate and at specific facilities which permitted conclusions to be drawn about abusive practices . . . and suggested fabricated accounts were uncommon . ""  "" The nationwide pattern of allegations is inconsistent with a substantial proportion of detainees interviewed having been trained before their detention in what lies to tell about their treatment if detained . ""  In its response , the government said it "" is committed to observe the whole enforced laws of the country international human rights treaties the Convention against Torture and approved articles and put to use all its efforts towards their realizations . ""  It added , "" Maybe there are deficiencies with a country stricken by war and a wave of suicide attacks and other terroristic crimes , we do not claim perfection and that we are doing things 100 in accordance with how things should be . Some of these deficiencies , however , are due to a lack of experience within our staff and their lack of access to proving equipments and facilities and in part due to isolated incidents of individual violations . We are happy that this report also testifies in a part that torture did not take place in a systematic manner in all  headquarters . ""  It also noted that organizers of attacks use children in their plots , and that "" most of the anti government elements do not hold  cards which makes it challenging for  to identify underage individuals . . . Once it is confirmed that the arrested person is underage ,  immediately transfers him her either to the Juvenile Rehabilitation Centre or Juvenile Prosecution Office to investigate the case . ""  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
18648,18649,"Why would you ever leave vacation days on the table ?  When it comes to taking enough time off from work to have a real vacation , workers in the United States and Asia Pacific countries still need work channeling their inner Griswold .  Given about 15 vacation days in the past year , U . S . workers took 14 and left one day unused , according to Expediaweblink ' s 2014 Vacation Deprivation study , released Thursday . That ' s actually better than last year ' s results , when U . S . workers used only 12 of their 14 allotted days .  Workers blame their work schedules ( 19 ) , a desire to use the days in the following year ( 18 ) , finances ( 18 ) and difficulty coordinating the time off ( 16 ) .  The annual study of vacation habits of more than 7 , 800 employed adults across 24 countries in Asia , Europe , North America and South America found significant differences in the ways residents of different countries handle their vacation time .  Many residents of Asian countries are truly committed to work over vacation . They earned an average of 19 days off , and took only 14 . Thai workers got a measly 11 vacation days but only took 10 . But South Korean workers left more than half of their vacation days on the table , taking only 7 of 15 available days off in the past year .  The United Arab Emirates was the outlier , with its workers earning and taking an average of 30 days off annually .  Americans taking fewest vacation days in four decades  Europeans certainly have more opportunities to go on vacation , the survey shows . Europeans get 28 days per year on average , nearly double the vacation time of their holiday deprived peers in North America and the Asia Pacific region . ( Residents of Denmark , France , Germany , and Spain get 30 days , and they use them all . Lucky folks . )  Having the most vacation days earned and used did not lead to a more peaceful state of mind , however .  Those  workers with an entire month off ? Some 73 of  respondents report feeling "" very or somewhat vacation deprived , "" the highest percentage in the survey . Some 75 of workers in the United Kingdom reported feeling deprived because they don ' t get enough vacation ( 26 days ) .  In contrast , only 38 of Mexican workers with half the number of days off reported feeling "" very or somewhat "" deprived . And they don ' t get a European sized bundle of vacation : Mexicans received an average of about 15 days off but only took 12 days .  This study was conducted on behalf of Expedia by Northstar , a global consulting firm .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18649,18650,"Ralph Verdi has been working for nearly 30 hours .  You won ' t hear him complain . He says yes and no ma ' am when a reporter stops him to ask him a question , even though he ' s helping lead the rescue effort of three New Jersey towns that are drowning .  Verdi works for the police in Little Ferry , a town of about 10 , 000 people that was flooded Tuesday as water kicked up by Sandy barreled over a natural berm .  It took only about 30 minutes for Moonachie , a town of about 2 , 700 residents in Bergen County along the Hackensack River , to be nearly 6 feet under water . It ' s also bad in another town , Carlstadt .  Superstorm Sandy ' s toll : Mounting deaths , historic destruction , stranded residents  The surge floated rail cars onto the New Jersey Turnpike as railways were littered with trees and power lines . There are houses in the middle of Route 35 , and much of FunTown Amusement Pier in Seaside Park is washed out .  A woman waved and shouted for help from her front porch as rescuers scrambled to save people in Bergen County . Hundreds of people have been whisked from rising water in their homes , many who climbed into boats that have navigated the murky water .  Some wore pajamas and were barefoot . Mothers carried diaper bags and crying kids . Thousands more remain stranded , local officials said , in as much as 6 feet of water .  "" We ' re in search and rescue mode , "" said Jeanne Baratta , chief of staff to the Bergen County executive .  There are some reported injuries , but no one has learned of any deaths , Baratta said .  Gov . Chris Christie was as blunt as he ' s ever been .  Christie told reporters that he didn ' t "" give a damn "" about the presidential election , which will happen in a week . He said his only concern was making sure New Jersey residents were safe .  Sandy ' s devastation is "" beyond anything I thought I ' d ever see , "" he said . "" The level of devastation at the Jersey Shore is unthinkable . ""  New Jersey officials are "" nowhere near "" allowing many residents to return to their homes in flooded areas , Christie said .  Chris Christie : Jersey Shore devastation ' unthinkable '  He plans to fly Tuesday to visit one of the most ravaged towns , but it ' s unclear if there will be a place for the plane to land due to all the damage .  Christie also said that every rail line in the state has been severely damaged .  The governor added he ' s confident that President Barack Obama and the federal government will work with New Jersey and that the state will rebuild . Obama will tour damaged areas of the state Wednesday , the White House said .  While Christie spoke , rescuers in Moonachie charged up to second floors of homes , with helicopters hovering overhead .  State police and the National Guard are helping . Rescue workers from Virginia are expected to arrive Tuesday afternoon , said Baratta , the Bergen County official .  "" The rescue workers they ' re phenomenal , "" she said . "" They ' re pulling together . ""  Google maps Sandy flooding , power outages  In an instant , water started rushing into their home . They didn ' t bother to pack anything up but yelled for each other and struggled out the door .  Back in Moonachie , The Bergen Record spoke with Jan Gulino , who lives in a trailer park . She was among about 100 people at the Bergen County Technical High School shelter . She said she was watching  at 1 a . m . when neighbors knocked on her door to tell her that her car was in deep water .  Together , they managed to push the car to higher ground . A rescue crew arrived and ordered her out of her house because there was kerosene in the water .  So Gulino grabbed her boxer , Max , and got on a boat , along with six neighbors . She was taken by truck , then bus , to the high school .  She ' s just happy to be with Max . "" I wasn ' t going to go anywhere , "" she told the paper , "" without him . ""  How you can help  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18651,18652,"Tom Brady has been nearly unstoppable in the fourth quarter . (  )  3 . This could actually be a defensive battle  Key stat : The Patriots have the league ' s No . 1 run defense and entered Week 11 ranked second in football with 30 sacks , while the Bills have given up 17 or fewer points a league best five times .  All this talk so far has been about Brady ' s  caliber numbers and Taylor breaking out within Buffalo ' s revamped offense , but the truth is both of these teams are pretty superb defensively .  In fact , entering Week 11 , only the Bengals , Vikings and Broncos had allowed fewer points per game than the Pats ( 18 . 8 ) . New England also has the league ' s fourth highest sack rate ( 7 . 8 ) and has surrendered a league low 88 . 0 rushing yards per game .  Of course , it ' s easy to succeed in those last two areas when your offense is spotting you big leads . But rate based stats don ' t lie quite as easily as cumulative stats , and only nine defenses have posted stronger opposing yards per attempt averages .  Besides , five of New England ' s nine victories have come by a single score , so it ' s not as though they ' ve been running away with every game . Keyed by  sack leader Chandler Jones , who along with Dont ' a Hightower and Jamie Collins leads one of the best front sevens in football , this unit is legit .  On the flip side , the Bills defense doesn ' t rank as highly as it did during a dominant 2014 campaign , but the talent is still there and they ' ve been getting better after surrendering 40 points to the Pats in Week 2 . Since then , Buffalo has allowed 17 or fewer points four times .  These two defenses have given up only eight 40 yard plays combined ( five for Buffalo , three for New England ) , which places them in the top 10 and well ahead of the league average of 9 . 0 per team .  I know these teams combined for 72 points in Week 2 , but don ' t look for an encore of that shootout in Week 11 .  4 . Pats could frequently use backs as receivers  Key stat : When defending against running backs in the passing game , Buffalo ' s Football Outsiders  ( Defense adjusted Value Over Average ) of 33 . 7 percent ranks dead last in the  .  The Bills have surrendered an average of 54 . 1 receiving yards per game to opposing backs , which is bad but not terrible . The reason their  is so bad is because they ' ve had trouble with some non traditional pass catching backs and have given up some particularly big plays to backs in the passing game .  Three of the six longest completions against Buffalo this season have come from running backs , with Rashad Jennings scoring on a 51 yard catch in Week 4 , Dion Lewis picking up a 40 yarder when these teams met in Week 2 and Chris Ivory gaining 36 yards on a pass and run last week .  Lamar Miller of the Dolphins also had three catches that picked up 20 plus yards against them in Week 9 ( 39 percent of Miller ' s receiving yards this season have come against Buffalo ) and Giovani Bernard had a 23 yarder in Week 6 .  That ' s seven big passing plays involving running backs , four of which came in the last two weeks .  New England won ' t have Lewis Monday night , but that might not stop the Patriots from aggressively attempting to expose that potential defensive flaw in a unit that is stout everywhere else , especially considering they ' re far from healthy elsewhere without Edelman and left tackle Nate Solder .  LeGarrette Blount did have a pair of catches last week , but that might also mean some opportunities for James White , who had four grabs against Jacksonville and three against the Jets .  LeGarrette Blount could see more targets in the passing game than usual . (  )  Key stat : Since the start of 2013 , the Patriots have won 23 of 24 home games in the regular season and playoffs , with the only loss coming in a meaningless tilt that saw them rest Brady and other key starters .   ' s best home teams since the start of 2009  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
18676,18677,"Reuters) - U.S. intelligence agencies provided advanced warning to Russia about a major terrorist plot in St. Petersburg, allowing Moscow to thwart an attack that could have killed  large numbers of people,  the White House said on Sunday.  President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia called President Donald J. Trump today to thank him for the advanced warning the United States intelligence agencies provided to Russia concerning a major terror plot in Saint Petersburg, Russia,  the White House said in a statement. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
18682,18683,"Another human dream was crushed by the uncompromising forces of reality Monday , when the restaurant day job of 29 year old former aspiring cartoonist Mark Seversen officially became his actual job .  "" After four years of washing dishes to support my drawing projects , I ' ve made the transition to washing dishes to support myself , "" Seversen told reporters after punching out at the end of his shift at Tres Caf . "" Let ' s face it , this is it . This is my job . I ' ll never forget that moment when I transformed from an aspiring underground cartoonist into a non aspiring restaurant worker . ""  In 1999 , Seversen was hired as a kitchen crewmember at Tres Caf . Later that year , he began to self publish his monthly photocopied mini comic Dishdog Days , in which he chronicled the daily trials of an underemployed college dropout who works at a restaurant while pursuing his dream of cartooning .  In 2000 , Seversen distributed 12 full sized , color issues of his comic , launched a Dishdog Days web site , and received a 75 cent an hour raise .  After the initial wave of progress , Seversen said financial problems and "" general sloth "" interrupted his publication schedule .  "" While I was at work , I ' d think about what I wanted to draw , "" Seversen said . "" But once I got home , I just wanted to watch television . ""  By August 2002 , Seversen ' s comic was coming out once every four months .  Tres Caf waiter Neil Julian , 19 , said he believes he was present when Seversen finally had the crushing realization that he was , first and foremost , a restaurant worker .  "" Mark was in back cleaning out the storage shed when I went out for a cigarette break , "" Julian said . "" He said he was the only one who ever cleaned it out , but that he sorta didn ' t mind , because then no one messed with his system . ""  Julian continued : "" Then he said he should put something about the shed into his next comic , because it was one of those little things from life : He ' d been cleaning out this same shed every month for four years . He said he really needed some material , because he hadn ' t put out a new issue in almost six months . At that point , he got real quiet and stared into the shed for about a minute . I figure that was when it hit him . ""  Sources close to Seversen said his surrender was inevitable .  "" I ' m not surprised , "" Seversen ' s roommate Matt Cook , 26 , said . "" Mark has had that look of defeat in his eyes lately , like when our friend Ray Landry accepted the assistant manager position at Video Hut six months after he finished his fourth screenplay . Or when my girlfriend stopped telling people she was going to design shoes and started telling them she sold shoes at the Younkers in the Southgate mall . ""  In spite of the initial moment of melancholic catatonia , Seversen said he was relieved that the transition from day job to real job was complete .  "" When I was younger , my attitude was ' Never give in , ' "" Seversen said . "" Nowadays , my attitude is ' Get real , dumbass . ' If I have any advice for all the young aspiring painters , novelists , and rock musicians out there , it ' s probably that they should quit following their dreams before they rack up a lot of credit card debt . The sooner you accept your real job , the sooner you can start to build up seniority and get on board with the pension plan . ""  Experts familiar with the "" day job real job "" paradigm shift agree .  "" Seversen has just made the most important decision of a non artist ' s life , "" said Gregory Gund , author of Aw , Who ' m I Kidding Here ? and Learning To Let Go Of The Things That Sustain You . "" We all have to face the music sooner or later . You think I wanted to write crappy self help novels and speak about them at low rent seminars in the conference rooms of cheap chain hotels ? ""  Gund continued : "" I ' ll never forget the day I traded in my bass amp for a dot matrix printer . I sat in the bathtub for about two hours that day , staring at the reflection of my receding hairline in the cold water . Sometimes , I wish I ' d plugged that amp in and hauled it into the tub with me . But , hey , we can ' t all be the next Geddy Lee , right ? ""  ",satire,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
18696,18697,"Political consensus was hard to find at last month ' s Rio 20 Earth Summit but there was at least one group speaking with unity on the planet ' s environmental and economic future .  Hundreds of activists gathered on the city ' s Copacabana Beach to make a simple demand of their elected leaders and representatives : Commit to ending fossil fuel subsidies , now .  More than a million people around the world including actor Robert Redford and comedian Stephen Fry were quick to lend their support by backing endfossilfuelsubsidies , an affiliated online campaign .  But as the summit came to a close it became clear that no new enforceable commitments on the issue were to be included in the final version of the Rio agreement text .  For those behind the protest however , the widespread exposure and support afforded the oft ignored subject ensured their efforts still represented a success .  See also : Was Rio 20 a failure of political leadership ?  "" This all falls into changing our energy usage patterns , which I believe is the pre eminent challenge of the 21st century , "" says Steve Kretzmann , founder of Oil Change International , an environmental advocacy group that backs the endfossilfuelsubsidies campaign .  "" The first place to start is to stop putting public money towards fossil fuels , "" he adds .  "" This is not because anybody has it in for the fossil fuel industry . What we ' re talking about is what the public ' s money actually should support . ""  Estimates as to how much this support equates to vary from study to study , as do methods and standards for calculation .  The International Energy Agency (  ) reported that internationally 409 billion worth of government money flowed into the coffers of the fossil fuel industry in consumption subsidies ( designed to make fuel more affordable and accessible to the consumer ) in 2010 .  A separate study from the U . S . Natural Resources Defense Council estimates that global fossil fuel subsidies will reach 775 billion this year when producer subsidies ( designed to facilitate greater fuel production ) are added on .  However Kretzmann believes these figures may only be the tip of the iceberg and could actually top 1 trillion every year .  He says there is often a lack of transparency in how some governments report the incentives , with many transferred as hard to calculate tax credits .  Kretzmann similarly laments the comparatively sparse investment in renewable energy subsidies ( which stood at 66 billion in 2010 according to the  ) as a wasted opportunity to create less polluting energy sources whilst encouraging growth in the green economy .  "" At the end of the day , not only is this bad policy but its also bad economics , "" he says .  "" Long term , renewables are a better option for the environment and the economy . There are multiple studies that show how much more labor intensive renewables are and how they create more jobs per unit of energy created . ""  See also : Who ' s funding green energy  However others are more cautious about the consequences that an about turn in energy policy could create .  "" In certain countries and situations , subsidies are essential to peoples way of life , "" says Dan Kish the deputy vice president of policy at the Institute for Energy Research , a Washington D . C . based organization that advocates free market energy policies .  Any alteration to this arrangement could cause prices to balloon , weakening development and in the worst case scenario leading to social unrest , he adds .  Kish points out that a large proportion of subsidies are in fact designed to keep fuel prices artificially low , enabling consumers in some of the world ' s poorest regions access to basic energy products .  "" At the G20 they are calling for the end of fossil fuels subsidies but what they are really talking about is the developing world , "" he says .  "" If you want a pejorative to describe the situation . . . what we ' ve got is a bunch of rich countries whose people have used energy to become rich assigning blame for subsidies on those countries that are poorer . ""  See also : The problem with fossil fuel subsidies  Kish also believes that renewables still can ' t compete with traditional energy sources in terms of their cost effectiveness , accessibility and energy output .  "" The only fair way to look at subsidies is to analyze the subsidy per unit of energy produced . On that score the numbers are incredibly slanted against renewables , "" he says .  "" Just because you can make energy from something doesn ' t mean that it makes sense competitively or economically . ""  Effective and efficient energy policy in the long term , Kish explains , would see individual countries pursue the sources of energy that are most accessible and affordable to them , be they renewable or fossil fuel .  "" The best energy policy is that which makes energy as cheap , reliable and abundant as possible for the most people so that economies can grow , "" he says .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18708,18709,"Reuters) - The Senate on Wednesday voted to confirm President Donald Trump’s pick to head the Interior Department, Rep. Ryan Zinke of coal producing Montana, as the White House takes steps to boost fossil fuel output from federal lands.  The Senate voted 68 to 31, with several Democrats joining Republicans in support of Zinke, an hunter and angler, who supported energy development as a one-term congressman. ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
18715,18716,"Distractions especially talking with passengers and using cellphones play a far greater role in car crashes involving teen drivers than has been previously understood , according to compelling new evidence cited by safety researchers .  The  Foundation for Traffic Safety analyzed nearly 1 , 700 videos that capture the actions of teen drivers in the moments before a crash .  It found that distractions were a factor in nearly 60per cent of moderate to severe crashes . That ' s four times the rate in many previous official estimates that were based on police reports .  The study is unusual because researchers rarely have access to crash videos that clearly show what drivers were doing in the seconds before impact as well as what was happening on the road .   was able to examine more than 6 , 842 videos from cameras mounted in vehicles , showing both the driver and the simultaneous view out the windshield .  The foundation got the videos from Lytx Inc . , which offers programs that use video to coach drivers in improving their behavior and reducing collisions . Crashes or hard braking events were captured in 1 , 691 of the videos .  They show driver distraction was a factor in 58per cent of crashes , especially accidents in which vehicles ran off the road or had rear end collisions .  The most common forms of distraction were talking or otherwise engaging with passengers and using a cellphone , including talking , texting and reviewing messages .  Caught on camera : A teen driver loses control of her vehicle after she was driving distracted  Finding the source of the problem : The  Foundation for Traffic Safety analyzed nearly 1 , 700 videos that capture the actions of teen drivers in the moments before a crash  Other forms of distraction observed in the videos included drivers looking away from the road at something inside the vehicle , ten per cent looking at something outside the vehicle other than the road ahead , nine per cent singing or moving to music , eight percent grooming , six percent and reaching for an object , six per cent .  In one video released by  , a teenage boy is seen trying to navigate a turn on a rain slicked road with one hand on the wheel and a cellphone held to his ear in the other hand .  The most common forms of distraction leading up to a crash by a teen driver included :  Interacting with other passengers : 15 percent of crashes  Cell phone use : 12 percent of crashes  Looking at something in the vehicle : 10 percent of crashes  Looking at something outside the vehicle : 9 percent of crashes  Singing moving to music : 8 percent of crashes  Grooming : 6 percent of crashes  Reaching for an object : 6 percent of crashes  The car crosses a lane of traffic and runs off the road , stopping just short of railroad tracks that run parallel to the road .  In another video , a driver on a lonely two lane road at night is shown looking down at an electronic device , apparently texting .  While his eyes are off the road , the car crosses the opposite lane , leaves the road and appears about to strike a mailbox .  One teen driver is captured braking hard at the last moment to avoid slamming into the back of an  stopped or slowed in traffic ahead .  Just a moment before , the girl had turned her attention to another girl in the front passenger seat in an animated conversation . The camera shows the shock on the girls ' faces as they suddenly realize a crash is imminent .  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has previously estimated that distraction of all kinds is a factor in only 14per cent of all teen driver crashes .  The videos provide ' indisputable evidence that teen drivers are distracted in a much greater percentage of crashes than we previously realized , ' said Peter Kissinger , the foundation ' s president and  .  Past research has shown that teens with multiple passengers in the car are more likely to have accidents .  Eyes down : The most common forms of distraction were talking or otherwise engaging with passengers and using a cellphone , including talking , texting and reviewing messages  New findings : The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has previously estimated that distraction of all kinds is a factor in only 14per cent of all teen driver crashes  The opposite is the case for adults for older drivers , having a passenger with an extra set of eyes on the road can make driving safer .  Teen drivers using cellphones had their eyes off the road for an average of 4 . 1 seconds out of the final six seconds leading up to a crash , the  study found .  Researchers also measured reaction times in rear end crashes and found that teen drivers using cellphones failed to react more than half of the time before the impact , meaning they crashed without braking or steering away .   and other traffic safety groups who previewed the findings said the study shows states should review their licensing requirements to restrict the number of passengers in cars driven by teens and change their laws to prohibit cellphone use by teen drivers .  Proof : The videos provide ' indisputable evidence that teen drivers are distracted in a much greater percentage of crashes than we previously realized , ' said Peter Kissinger , the foundation ' s president and   High numbers : About 963 , 000 drivers age 16 to 19 were involved in police reported crashes in the U . S . in 2013 , the most recent year for available data  ' The findings of the  Report confirm what safety groups have suspected for a long time distraction is more severe and more common in teen driver crashes than previously found in government data , ' said Jackie Gillan , president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety .   said it also recommends that parents teach teens about the dangers of cellphone use and restrict passengers during the learning to drive process .  Teen drivers have the highest crash rate of any age group .  About 963 , 000 drivers age 16 to 19 were involved in police reported crashes in the U . S . in 2013 , the most recent year for available data .  These crashes resulted in 383 , 000 injuries and 2 , 865 deaths .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
18723,18724,"Cricket Australia has trademarked the term "" 63 not out "" in an attempt to prevent people cashing in on the death of its Test batsman Phillip Hughes .  The 25 year old Hughes died after being hit on the head by a ball in a domestic match in Sydney last month .  He had reached the score of 63 runs when the tragic accident occurred .  His untimely death stunned the sporting world and the scheduled first Test between Australia and India in Adelaide had to be postponed as his teammates struggled to cope with their grief at his passing .  Tributes on social media initially centered around a campaign putyourbatsout on Twitter as thousands of people photographed cricket bats in unusual places to mark their respect for Hughes .  But 63 not out also became an iconic symbol of the batsman ' s life and when the first Test eventually took place , spectators were asked to stand for 63 seconds of applause before the start .  Australian players reaching that score during their innings also marked its significance with gestures and many in the crowd wore T shirts or held up signs with 63 not out featured .  However , cricket authorities in Australia and Hughes ' representatives have become concerned about the volume of unlicensed memorabilia , mostly clothing and stickers , and the use of online auction sites to promote the various offerings .  Cricket Australia said the agreement was purely "" defensive "" to prevent others trying to exploit Hughes ' memory .  "" There was some evidence of that starting , "" it added .  The entire Australia India series has been played out with continuous reminders of Hughes . The Australian team is wearing shirts with the number 408 stitched in .  Hughes was the 408th player to represent his country in Test matches , the highest level of international cricket .  Australia ' s players , especially those closest to Hughes , have also produced inspired performances against India , taking a 2 0 lead and dominating the Third Test which started on Boxing Day in Melbourne .  Stand in captain Steve Smith reached his Test best 192 on Saturday as the home team posted a formidable first innings of 530 .  He was supported by innings from Brad Haddin ( 55 ) , Mitchell Johnson ( 28 ) and Ryan Harris ( 74 ) as Australia scored quickly against the Indian bowling attack .  India fought back to reach 108 for one wicket by the close , but its chancing of winning the match and attempting to square the four match series is effectively over .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18729,18730,"Anyone struggling to decide on a venue for their upcoming nuptials , take note .  American couple Cheetah Platt , 30 , and Rhiann Woodyard , 32 , have come up with the ultimate way to celebrate their love : by getting married in as many places around the world as they can in just under 90 days .  The adventurous pair first came up with the globe trotting plan after getting engaged last year and finding themselves unable to come up with one specific theme or idea for the big day .  Cheetah Platt , ( left ) 30 , and Rhiann Woodyard ( right ) 32 , from Los Angeles , have decided to get married in 12 countries around the world  The couple is currently in Chiang Mai , Thailand ( pictured ) after getting married in Spain , Ireland , Kenya , Egypt , Morocco and India  Woodyard and Platt will continue on from Thailand to Singapore , then heading to Australia and Fiji before heading home to the   Their round the world adventure first began on February 8 , when they packed two big backpacks and headed to Bogota , Colombia .  During their three month journey , the couple hope to visit 11 countries to have 38 wedding ceremonies in 83 days .  Platt and Woodyard , who live in Los Angeles , admit that they did look for a traditional venue in their hometown , but nothing felt special and many they saw were simply outside of their price range .  ' A lot of women spend a whole lot of time and stress and money on their one day and then it ' s over , ' Woodyard told Buzzfeed .  ' I love that I get to marry Platt over and over again .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
18736,18737,"Far too many people don t understand the awesome simplicity of the Republican war on women. They try to analyze the underlying causes; blame some on religion, some on chauvinism. Overthinking is a strictly Democratic problem. To the good ol  white boys club of the GOP, women are just inferior creatures in need of nurturing: weak and restrained; helpless at best. Yeah, sadly it really is just that simple to figure out why their war exists. They have no respect for their mothers. Ouch   OK, that was harsh. Republicans, in general, find women to be beneath them. Republican women depend on their men because their fathers told them to, just like their mothers told them to just pull the Republican lever and vote the straight ticket.Naturally when the time came to review the guidelines for selective service, Republicans went bonkers. It seems women have always been exempted from the draft because they weren t allowed to be in combat roles and the draft is for extreme-case national emergencies where combat would be likely. Things have changed. Women are now allowed in not some but  combat roles if they can pass the training the same as a man. Two women made national headlines as the first members of the Army Rangers earlier this year, they probably would have gladly signed up at 18 for the draft we haven t used since we stopped sending kids off to be slaughtered in Vietnam in 1973.Republicans still can t reconcile. Rep Duncan Hunter (R-CA) told The Hill: The draft is there to get more people to rip the enemy s throats out. I don t want to see my daughters put in a place where they have to get drafted. You mean you wouldn t want to see your daughters treated as equals among their peers. You wouldn t want to witness how incredibly strong any human being can be when put into extraordinary circumstances. You want them at home, right next to your sons, watching the horrors of war turned into a game show on Fox News. It s difficult as a father to imagine your daughters trotting off to war. It s just as difficult to imagine my son going. Hunter was right. The draft is there for extreme situations to get more people to rip the enemy s throat out. Do we just keep searching through the men and eliminate half the population s prospective ability to do just that? I don t know if these old men have been paying attention, but women aren t the delicate flowers they once were in the stone age when they were kids.The amendment passed the Armed Services Committee and moves forward to the house floor where a bunch more men will debate how awful it would be for their daughters to fight for their country and their freedom while they happily send the sons of the poor and working class and anyone who commits a misdemeanor who has a penis. There are a ton of exemptions available for people to be excluded from the draft, and certainly motherhood would be one. Don t worry, Republicans, there won t be moms pushing strollers across battlefields just yet.Featured image from Daniel Bendji/Getty Images",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
18753,18754,"Some Season Ticket Holders Want Lottery Transparency From The ? Broncos   ( CBS4 ) ? The secondary market for Super Bowl tickets is on fire , and season ticket holders are not pleased with the organization after very few reported winning the ticket Lottery .  They started calling last night , We won the lottery ! We won the lottery ! Or , the other people ( say ) , We want to go to the game ! So it was just crazy , Candy Lewis said .  Lewis runs A Lewis Tickets , a small operation that prides itself on only selling season ticket holders tickets on the secondary market . Monday afternoon prices on websites were around 4 , 000 .  Candy Lewis with A Lewis Tickets fielding phone calls on Monday ( credit :  )  Face value you re looking at 850 plus per ticket with some service fees . It can get very expensive , Lewis said about the cheapest ticket available to lottery winners .  Those who won the lottery have until Tuesday night at 5 p . m . to pay the Broncos and then will pick up the tickets on Wednesday at 9 a . m . Lewis says after the giveaway on Wednesday the secondary market will stabilize .  They re very special folks that won the lottery because we ve heard from a ton this morning that said , We didn t win , Lewis said .  CBS4 heard from season ticket holders who found out about lottery results for the first time by email just a few hours after the  Championship ended . The Broncos told CBS4 they have 23 , 000 season ticket accounts .  A percentage of our limited ticket allotment was distributed to season ticket holders by a computer generated lottery system weighted by season ticket tenure , said a statement to CBS4 .  My father bought the tickets back in 1961 , said Douglas Pooley . The email says you re not lucky enough but if you go to PrimeSports , our official partner , you can buy packages starting at 4 , 000 and up .  Douglas Pooley in interviewed by CBS4 s Jeff Todd ( credit :  )  Pooley said he doesn t know any other season ticket holders that won the lottery . He wants transparency from the organization .  It s estimated the organization was given about 12 , 000 tickets by the  . The Broncos told CBS4 , We don t have the number of tickets provided to our season ticket holders but it s a percentage of our total allotment as required by the  .  Jeff Todd joined the CBS4 team in 2011 covering the Western Slope in the Mountain Newsroom . Since 2015 he s been working across the Front Range in the Denver Headquarters . Follow him on Twitter CBS4Jeff .  ",true,text,validation,American football,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18764,18765,"Michael Bloomberg mulls presidential run on heels of Trump surge  The former New York mayor reportedly weighing run as an independent and has set an early March deadline for making a final decision  Michael Bloomberg has directed advisers to draw up plans for an independent campaign , a repeat of the exploratory moves the billionaire made in 2008 . Photograph : Spencer Platt Getty Images  Last modified on Saturday 23 January 2016 15 . 58 ?   Former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg is reportedly weighing a third party presidential bid in the light of missteps by Hillary Clinton s campaign , the surge in support for Bernie Sanders , and the unanticipated rise of Donald Trump in the Republican party .  Related : Trump and Sanders lead two headed insurgency against establishment  Bloomberg has directed advisers to draw up plans for an independent campaign , according to the New York Times , a repeat of the exploratory moves the billionaire and former Salomon Brothers trader made in 2008 . At that time , Bloomberg concluded he could not win . Sources familiar with his thinking confirmed the report about his plans to the Associated Press and Reuters .  However , he has recently indicated to Times sources that he is willing to spend at least 1bn of his 37bn fortune on a campaign ? should the indications of a win are positive .  Last summer , aides told the Guardian of a similar plan but said that it had gained little traction and had been shelved .  Bloomberg , 73 , has set a deadline for making a final decision in early March , according to the report . The deadline would put his decision close to the cut off for an independent candidate to qualify for the ballots in all 50 states .  Rumors about a Bloomberg campaign have swirled for years , most prominently when he wound down his third term as mayor of New York . He switched his party affiliation from Republican to independent in 2007 .  In December , Bloomberg , who is known to rely highly on data to make policy decisions , commissioned a poll to gauge support for him against Trump and Clinton . Another poll is due after the New Hampshire primary on 9 February .  Early plans for a campaign include presenting himself as a bipartisan problem solver in a series of policy speeches and a massive  advertising campaign . A member of Bloomberg s advisory team told the paper the former mayor believes voters want a non ideological , bipartisan , results oriented vision that is not being offered in the race to date .  An independent candidate has never won the presidency , though they have shaped elections for their rivals . In 1912 former president Theodore Roosevelt ran a popular campaign but split the votes of progressives and Republicans , helping Democrat Woodrow Wilson to victory .  Related : Clinton recalls past New Hampshire success as battle with Sanders wears on  In private , Bloomberg has vented his frustration with the current candidates , according to the report , and expressed the view that a Sanders Trump match up would present a clear opportunity for a third party candidate . In 2012 , he endorsed Barack Obama , and sources told the Associated Press that Bloomberg has a cordial relationship with Clinton despite his doubts about her campaign s strength .  Bloomberg has apparently described Clinton as a flawed politician whose campaign is in jeopardy from the continuing investigation into emails on her home computer server while she served as secretary of state .  Former Democratic National Committee chairman Edward Rendell , told the paper a Bloomberg candidacy would be competitive in the event that wild card candidates like Trump and Sanders prevail in the primaries .  Bloomberg s success , he said , rests on the not impossible but somewhat unlikely circumstance of either Donald Trump or Ted Cruz versus Bernie Sanders . But he also predicted Bloomberg would not enter the race if Clinton , despite shifting to the left , wins the Democratic nomination .  Mike s not going to go on a suicide mission , he said .  But there are already fears that a Bloomberg insurgency would likely damage a Democrat candidate more than a Republican .  Last weekend , Trump described Bloomberg as friend and a great guy . Bloomberg , who e stablished strict gun control as one of his mayoral policy positions , has not returned the compliment . He is said to find Trump s positions on immigration unpalateable .  Aides also told the paper any decision would not be dependent on Clinton s fortunes alone but the fact is Hillary Clinton is behind in Iowa and New Hampshire . That should scare a lot of people ? and it does .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
18765,18766,"We use cookies to enhance your visit to our site and to bring you advertisements that might interest you . Read our Privacy and Cookies policies to find out more .   : Cardinals and Panthers lie in wait as play off party begins  The  post season starts today with ? momentum invaluable for those aiming ? for Super Bowl 50 . But the shadow of the ? two best teams , Arizona and Carolina , ? looms large . Rupert Cornwell reports ? from Washington on the state of a nation  Cam Newton , of the Carolina Panthers , celebrates after victory over Tampa Bay last Sunday . His team have been sensational this season and could win their first Super Bowl Getty  Maybe this is the year when justice is done in the National Football League . Not justice as in court battles over traumatic brain injury , or in the headline making extra curricular crimes and misdemeanours of certain players ? but justice on the field . In other words , could 2016 see the Carolina Panthers or the Arizona Cardinals win their first Super Bowl ?  Today the  play offs begin with the wild card round , the start of the road to Super Bowl 50 ( rather than the usual Roman numeral , L , in keeping with the sport s gladiatorial leanings ) , to be held in Santa Clara , California , on 7 February . As the two top seeds in their conference , neither the Panthers nor the Cardinals will be in action this weekend , each rewarded with a bye to next weekend s divisional round . ?  Never , but never , underestimate wild cards in the  post season . They may only be the two next best teams in each conference battling the two division champions with the least impressive records . But competitive parity has been a key to the  s emergence as the dominating force in American pro sport . The last 10 Super Bowls have produced eight different winners ? and three of them have been wild cards , even though they ve first had to win three games on the road to get there .  But the shadow of the Cardinals and the Panthers lies over proceedings . They had the two best records in the league , and by common consent are its two best teams . The Panthers , led by inspirational quarterback Cam Newton , had a prodigious 15 and 1 regular season , perfect until the penultimate Sunday . Newton combines the throwing and rushing games as few before him . In 2015 , he registered a career best 45 touchdowns ( 35 passing , 10 rushing ) , and had three games with five touchdown passes .  Did I expect this ? I got to be honest , no , Panthers general manager Dave Gettleman told reporters this week . Did I envision us playing well ? Before the season started I felt it was our strongest roster ever . But 15 and 1 ? There s only been seven teams that have ever been 15 and 1 . Did I envision this ? No .   Week 17 : Vikings beat Packers to title Manning returns  The Cardinals , although they had a marginally inferior record of 13 and 3 , may be an even stronger all round unit . Their quarterback Carson Palmer is 36 , but he too has just had his best ever season after coming off major injury . And Arizona s defense rates as among the most impermeable in the  , despite a 36 6 thrashing in the final game at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks .  And like the Panthers , they re more than due . Carolina has been around only since 1995 , but has consistently been one of the best recent expansion teams , winning the  crown in 2004 before losing the Super Bowl to the New England Patriots . As for the Cardinals , they are America s oldest professional football team , founded in 1898 . But they haven t won an  title of any kind since 1947 , let alone a glitzy modern Super Bowl .  All of which has rather eclipsed what s been happening in the  . Tom Brady and the Patriots started the season 10 and 0 , seemingly hell bent on having Commissioner Roger Goodell s head on a plate after the Deflategate imbroglio ? which , of course , didn t stop New England winning the Super Bowl , but did lead to a controversial ( and subsequently overturned ) four game suspension for the league s pin up quarterback .  Then injuries to key players took their toll , and the Patriots lost four of their last six games , allowing the Denver Broncos , with an identical 12 and 4 record , to claim the top seed spot . But the Broncos have their own quarterback dramas , revolving around Brady s great rival , Peyton Manning .  This surely must be the 39 year old Manning s last hurrah . He did overtake Brett Favre s  passing record in 2015 , but otherwise it was his worst regular season . He was injured , then benched , then hit by performance enhancing drug allegations ( which he vehemently denies ) . But midway through the Broncos final game , with his team trailing , Manning was summoned back , and led Denver to a vital win .  But for arguably the two greatest quarterbacks of their era , a fairy tale ending in Santa Clara is unlikely . Neither the Broncos nor Patriots are playing well , and the play offs are all about momentum . The Pittsburgh Steelers ? never to be counted out ? have it , as they go into tonight s game against Cincinnati . So do the Kansas City Chiefs , winners of 10 games straight after a 1 and 5 start to the season , who face the Houston Texans .  Over in the  , it s a similar story . The wild card Seahawks appeared in the last two Super Bowls , winning it all in 2014 , before narrowly losing to the Patriots last year . This time they picked up after a spotty start , delivering that trouncing to Arizona on the final Sunday . Now they re everyone s dark horse pick to go all the way .  And so to the Washington Redskins , long the  s most dysfunctional franchise , they of the Name That Must Be Changed . But , miraculously , things settled down in mid season . The team found a more than decent quarterback in Kirk Cousins , won the woefully bad  East , and tomorrow face off at home against the wild card Green Bay Packers .  ? The Packers have the peerless Aaron Rodgers , but if momentum means anything , the Redskins could well win . If so , the capital of the free world will briefly go crazy . But victory means a trip to either Carolina or Arizona in the divisional round ? and , surely , lights out .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
18768,18769,"Will death of  propagandist ' Jihadi John ' be a blow to recruitment ?  Britain ' s Prime Minister David Cameron makes a statement about the death of Islamic State militant Mohammed Emwazi , known as ' Jihadi John , ' at Downing Street in London , Friday .  The United States military has said it s "" reasonably certain "" it has killed Jihadi John , the masked , British , Islamic State (  , also called  ) militant who was featured in violent propaganda videos murdering Western aid workers and journalists .  According to  Army Col . Steven Warren , a  drone strike targeted a vehicle in Syria believed to be transporting Mohammed Emwazi popularly known as "" Jihadi ? John "" Thursday night . ?  The  military has not confirmed whether or not Mr Emwazi had died in the airstrikes . In the past the Pentagon has claimed to have killed militants who turned out to be alive .  Photos of the Day Photos of the Day 11 13  Mr Emwazi , a well educated , middle class computer programmer born in Kuwait and raised in London , joined  in 2013 . He became well known after he appeared in videos showing the murders of  journalists Steven Sotloff ? and ? James Foley , ? and a number of other Western hostages .  British Prime Minister David Cameron spoke at a press conference early Friday and said it was "" the right thing to do . ""  "" We cannot yet be certain if the strike was successful . I ' ve always said we would do whatever it takes to track him down , we ' ve been working with the United States around the clock , "" Cameron said .  On Twitter , a Syrian activist group called ? Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently , said a missile hit Emwazi ' s car directly in front of an  court in Raqqa .  Opinions differ over the Pentagon ' s method of killing key figures of Islamist terror groups in counterterrorism operations using drone strikes . Critics of the strategy say that the deaths have done little to stop the spread of islamist groups and their control of territories in Middle East and Africa .  As The Christian Science Monitor previously reported , a ? study ? on terrorism ? leadership ? vacuums shows that that decapitation strikes may result in more violence against civilians "" Leadership deficits promote terrorism by empowering lower level members of the organization , who have stronger incentives to harm civilians , "" Max Abrahms , an assistant professor of political science at Northeastern University and co author of the study , wrote ? in a blog post . ?  For Emwazi , the Islamic State ' s best known propagandist , his death would be a significant step in the anti  fight for the West given his part in recruiting efforts and the terror group ' s overall public image , according to  .  "" Since  has used propaganda and its ' winner ' image to lure new adherents , when its propaganda figure is killed that makes it look more like a loser , more like the tide may be turning against it , "" Richard Clarke , a former counter terrorism advisor to the White House told  News .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
18777,18778,"Reuters) - A ban on travel by U.S. passport holders to North Korea will take effect on Sept. 1 and Americans in the country should leave  before that date, the U.S. State Department said on Wednesday. Journalists and humanitarian workers may apply for exceptions to the ban, the department said in a public notice. The U.S. government last month said it would bar Americans from traveling to North Korea due to the risk of “long-term detention” there. The ban comes at a time of heightened tensions between the United States and North Korea, which has been working to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the United States. North Korea will become the only country to which Americans are banned from traveling. American student Otto Warmbier, sentenced last year to 15 years’ hard labor in North Korea, returned to the United States in a coma on June 13 after being released on humanitarian grounds, and died June 19. The circumstances surrounding his death are not clear, including why he fell into a coma. North Korea has said through its state media that Warmbier’s death was “a mystery” and dismissed accusations that he had died as a result of torture and beating in captivity. The State Department issued a notice in the Federal Register on Wednesday declaring U.S. passports invalid for travel to, in or through North Korea. The restriction takes effect in 30 days, and applies for one year unless extended or revoked by the secretary of state. “Persons currently in North Korea on a U.S. passport should depart North Korea before the travel restriction enters into effect on Friday, September 1, 2017,” the department said in a statement.   Professional reporters or journalists, representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross or the American Red Cross traveling on official missions, those traveling to North Korea for “compelling humanitarian considerations” and those whose requests are “in the national interest” may ask for a special validation of their passports in order to travel to the country, the State Department said.  North Korea is currently holding two Korean-American academics and a missionary, a Canadian pastor and three South Korean nationals who were doing missionary work. Japan says North Korea has also detained at least several dozen of its nationals. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
18796,18797,"Venezuela ' s authoritarian president Hugo Chavez is a villain out of a Batman movie : buffoonish and sinister in equal measure .  Sunday ' s vote result powerfully exposes both sides of his clown prince system of rule .  Read more : Survivor and Venezuela ' s long serving president  For weeks before the vote , Chavez signaled a willingness to surrender power , should the result go against him . On Election Day itself , he gave the Venezuelan newspaper El Universal a quote indicating he foresaw the possibility of defeat .  "" Let ' s get ready to recognize the results , whatever they are , "" he said . .  And yet just a few hours later , Venezuela ' s Election Agency showed Chavez winning massively , by nearly 10 percentage points . Is the result legitimate ? That ' s hard to say . Venezuela has not invited any international election observers since 2006 and anomalies have been observed in past votes , especially the 2004 referendum to recall Chavez from the presidency  Yet it should also be said : In Venezuela , the most important forms of vote fraud happen well before Election Day .  First , the Chavez regime systematically controls and manipulates the mass media , especially television . Francisco Toro , founder of the indispensable Caracas Chronicle blog writes in the New Republic :  "" Three minutes per day per broadcast outlet . That ' s how much advertising each candidate is allowed in Venezuela in the weeks leading up to a presidential election . That ' s six 30 second spots , no more . To long suffering  watchers in U . S . battleground states , that must sound like paradise . There ' s a catch , though . While each candidate ' s campaign is allowed no more than three minutes , the government can run as many ' institutional ' ads as it wants to promote its work . And in Ch vez era Venezuela , such ads are generally indistinguishable from the official campaign ads , down to using designed to look alike logos . ""  Apart from campaign ads , however , the president himself can commandeer as much  time as he wishes , although in the case of the long winded Chavez , such appearances may not be vote winners . More relevant to the success of the president ' s messaging is the regime ' s habit of seizing  stations that broadcast journalism of which the authorities disapprove .  Along with state media control goes massive government vote buying .  News : Six more years with Chavez  The Los Angeles Times reports : "" Chavez in recent months has solidified his support base with massive giveaway programs , including one that aims to build 200 , 000 housing units for Venezuela ' s poor . Another , called Mi Casa Bien Equipada , or My Well Equipped House , has donated Chinese made household appliances to tens of thousands of poor families . ""  The use of state oil funds for this kind of electioneering is driving Venezuela ' s budget deficit for the year to the astounding level of 20 of  , an incredible figure for an oil exporting economy at a time of very high oil prices . ( Context : The U . S . budget deficits that have so alarmed people during the Obama years never reached as much as 9 of  . )  Venezuelan politics is distorted most of all by a pervasive mood of threat .  I visited Venezuela in 2010 . My visit began with a briefing at the U . S . Embassy . "" You ' ve been to Afghanistan ? "" Yes . "" You ' ve been to Iraq ? "" Yes . "" Well , congratulations . This is the most dangerous place you ' ve ever been . ""  Venezuala , with a population smaller than Canada ' s , suffers more homicides than the United States . Robberies at gunpoint "" express kidnappings "" as they are called are regular occurrences in middle class neighborhoods . And if middle class neighborhoods evince any disaffection from the regime , they lose what little police protection they have , or even discover the police suddenly abetting and aiding the criminals that prey upon their community .  Property is seized . Businesses are arbitrarily nationalized . Conversations are eavesdropped upon . The Internet is policed , at least to the best of the ( very limited ) ability of Venezuela ' s not very competent security forces .  Hugo Chavez has laid Venezuela ' s economy to waste . One of the world ' s great energy producers must turn its streetlamps off at night . One of the world ' s wealthiest exporters cannot afford to import enough food . One of the world ' s energy superpowers is seeing its production slowly dwindle away because of chronic under investment in the oil fields and the loss of access to technology as foreign companies are harassed and expropriated .  Did Venezuela vote for more of the same ? Chavez does have a militant populist constituency , and it ' s not impossible that the final result does reflect what the voters actually did . But then , Vladimir Putin wins elections , too , and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won at least one . It is not elections alone that make a free society and a free society is what Venezuela long ago ceased to be .  The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of David Frum .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18803,18804,"embed . show title date ""  outsiders lead the pack , 10 26 15 , 5 : 20   ""  Ben Carson rides unconventional campaign to the top of the polls  Dr Ben Carson did the seemingly un doable on Tuesday : He unseated Donald Trump from the top slot of a national poll . And he did it while on a break from campaigning to promote a book . ?  The election s most unlikely candidate ? a retired pediatric neurosurgeon who emerged on the national stage just two years ago with a speech at a National Prayer Breakfast that went viral ? is also running a campaign that s not afraid to break convention . ?  Tuesday s polling high , which follows several Iowa surveys that also show Carson leading , comes after months of a ? quiet climb up the polling ranks , boosted by soft spoken debate performances . Carson s fundraising shows similar strength : this summer , he raised ? more money than any other Republican running . The ? 20 . 77 million ? haul came largely from small donors , with an average donation of just 51 .  It s as much of a campaign as it is a book tour , one fan , Leslie Healy told  while waiting in line for Carson to sign a copy of the book she d purchased specially to attend the signing at a Costco in Austin . Healy and others at the event identified themselves as campaign volunteers , when in fact they appear to be volunteers for the super  supporting Carson , the 2016 Committee , which was ? out in force at book tour stops across the state .  Super  volunteers rallied fans behind Carson s campaign and distributed materials advertising Carson s stance on the issues from an  emblazoned with the candidate s face . They canvassed hours long lines gathering signatures and many seemed unaware of the law separating the campaign from the super  , or even which group they were volunteering for .  In Waco , a fan told  he gave the candidate a 500 campaign donation during a signing . Asked about how he was straddling the line between politics and business , Carson said he doesn t open the items fans give him at campaigns .  Carson is hardly the only Republican candidate to rely on a supportive super  for much of the work that used to be done by a campaign . Right to Rise , a super  backing Jeb Bush , ? looks set ? to provide much of his Iowa field operation . But while many super PACs are run by former advisers to the campaigns and other political pros , Carson s was launched by genuine fans .  Indeed , the 2016 Committee ? which is also known as Run , Ben , Run ? helped draft Carson to run for office , operating as the National Draft Ben Carson for President Committee and launching shortly after the now famous Prayer Breakfast speech .  Run , Ben , Run is about as independent as they get , Carson campaign Communications Director Doug Watts told  . Later that week , the 2016 Campaign merged with a super  launched by a former Carson aide , which may bring a bit of the campaign s blessing to the operation .  But Carson seemed to acknowledge that the book tour ? with the opportunities it offers to meet and greet fans and talk about his vision for the country ? doesn t exactly hurt his campaign . This is a book signing , but virtually everything you do in a presidential campaign is construed as a campaign event , he said at one stop .   : On Carson s book tour , politics and business are blurred  Carson s campaign says the super  does sometimes confuse supporters , but that it s just a byproduct of his unusual , grassroots driven candidacy . ?  It is confusing , but it is what happens with an organization that started a year and a half before we did , Watts said of the super  that helped draft Carson .  Strategists seem to agree there s a valuable synergy for Carson . It gives him a break from having to answer all of these questions ,  strategist Susan Del Percio told  . He still gets to have events and meet people but he s doing it under his terms .  Carson also has gotten away with controversial comments that might sink other candidates . Recently , he s suggested that gun control helped lead to the Holocaust , has compared abortion to slavery , and has said Muslims aren t qualified to be president . In response , ? Carson has blamed the media for misconstruing his words , and stressed that his views are complex and not intended to offend . ?  The remarks don t seem to have alienated his supporters .  There s something about him that when things like that are said , I guess I take it with a grain of salt , one fan told  News recently .  When he flubs policy ? which he s done before on foreign policy and debt ? Carson ? stresses that he ll surround himself with experts who can best handle the issues and lead the team , not micromanage the issues . ?  And Carson s campaign argues they re building their own grassroots network , noting that they have just as many campaign co chairs as the super  in Iowa .  Watts said they re not working on some traditional elements of campaigning , like trying to earn endorsements , while focusing on digital engagement instead .  A lot of that is unseen from a the traditional point of view . ? You can t see funny hats on people online , Watts added .  Carson is well known for doing routine Facebook chats to his more than 4 . 3 million followers , a number that surged during the last debate much to the campaign s delight .  Ben Carson has a way of connecting to voters and his fundraising is very interesting , Del Percio said . How he s raised it has also been a campaign tool . They use their fundraising tools as a means of voter contact .  Carson s not the only political outsider running a nontraditional campaign , either : Trump has focused heavily on media interviews , phoning in to show after show to build buzz .  filings show that despite his vow to self fund heavily , he s spent very little of his fortune , relying rather on donors money . Trump s campaign manager said the campaign is efficient organization with a business mind set . Carly Fiorina is also running a thrifty , bare bones campaign while allowing her super  to take care of much of the ground game operation , event staffing , and advance work campaigns usually do . Fiorina herself has quickly dismissed the idea that her  is too involved .  For all three candidates , their appeal is based firmly in their outsider status .  None of these folks you ve mentioned have trained or been told or been handled for years , if not decades , on how to win political campaigns , Del Percio added . That in and of itself is working for them because people want an outsider .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18810,18811,"Ready or not America , Nina Davuluri is the new girl next door .  "" I have always viewed Miss America as the girl next door , "" Davuluri said . "" But the girl next door is evolving , as the diversity of America evolves . She ' s not who she was 10 years ago , and she ' s not going to be the same person come 10 years down the road . ""  The fact that her win Sunday spurred a torrent of racist reactions online many along the lines that she doesn ' t represent what the United States is didn ' t surprise Davuluri . She ' d experienced it on a smaller scale when she became the first Miss New York of Indian descent .  Davuluri sees it as her mission to tackle such stereotypes head on . It ' s why the daughter of two Indian born parents has a pageant platform of "" celebrating diversity through cultural competence . ""  "" I wanted to be the first Indian Miss America , to be that symbol of a new face for the organization , "" she said Wednesday . "" And to let younger girls know that regardless of race , their socioeconomic status , their religion that anyone can become not only Miss America , but anything . ""  Still , it would be understandable if Davuluri was taken aback by tweets claiming she wasn ' t sufficiently American or was a terrorist . Yet she ' s been more heartened by all those that rallied around her .  "" For one negative tweet , I received dozens of positive tweets and support from not only Indians , but the American people across the country and . . . the world for that matter , "" the Fayetteville , New York , native said . "" It ' s been such an honor . ""  And while some criticize the pageant circuit for putting looks above all else , Davuluri said she ' s thankful it helped her earn 25 , 000 in scholarships to study cognitive science at the University of Michigan . She will have another 60 , 000 to apply to her medical school tuition 50 , 000 from her Miss America win and 10 , 000 from Miss New York . This is all part of the more than 45 million in cash and scholarships the pageant organization gives out .  Yes , Davuluri admits , good looks are a part of the equation . Contestants do strut around in swimsuits , after all , and they are judged as they walk in evening gowns . Davuluri says "" that ' s reality , "" as is the 10 minute interview with judges that people don ' t see on  .  And Davuluri couldn ' t be happier with the reality she ' s now living as a groundbreaker , and a talking point , in a country addressing its cultural diversity .  As she says : "" I am living my American dream . ""  Miss America , Julie Chen and the beauty of choice  Opinion : A thank you note to a new kind of Miss America  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18811,18812,"Japanese raider Orfevre failed in his bid to become the first non European trained winner of the Prix de l ' Arc de Triomphe when he was denied by home grown outsider Solemia at Longchamp Sunday .  After a huge last to first move , Orfevre was dramatically run down in the final strides by Solemia to give jockey Olivier Peslier his fourth win in the race , breaking thousands of Japanese hearts in the process .  Orfevre , already a Triple Crown winner in his home country , looked to be pulling clear of the field as they entered the home straight .  But four year old filly Solemia responded to her jockey to run down Orfevre , ridden by four time champion jockey Christophe Soumillon , winning by a head .  Although not considered among the favorites heading in to the Longchamp showpiece , Solemia ' s victory maintains the successful recent record of fillies in this race .  Last year ' s winner , Danedream , was also a filly .  Thousands of Japanese fans and more than 100 accredited journalists from the country had descended on Paris to witness arguably their best chance at capturing the Arc since Deep Impact in 2006 .  Racing mad Japan has long had designs on Europe ' s most prestigious race , having sent their first runner to Longchamp in 1969 .  Japanese Horse of the Year Orfevre was widely considered among the favorites for this year ' s edition , despite being drawn in the unfavorable stall 18 the widest possible berth .  Widely considered Europe ' s most prestigious all age race , this year ' s running was notable for its high profile absentees .  First Ed Dunlop ' s tough filly Snow Fairy , third in this race in 2011 , was ruled out after suffering a slight injury in training .  Then defending champion Danedream was sensationally scratched after an outbreak of swamp fever at her training center in Germany .  Although Danedream herself is completely healthy , German veterinary authorities immediately slapped a travel ban on all horses entering or leaving the facility , meaning she was unable to make the trip to Paris .  With Frankel , rated the best horse in the world , also opting to sit this one out , it appeared to leave the field wide open for Orfevre , who had previously demonstrated form over the mile and a half distance , as well as a devastating turn of foot .  Outside of the duel for first place , Masterstroke , ridden by French jockey Mikael Barzalona , finished third .  The Aiden O ' Brien trained Camelot , ridden by Godolphin jockey Frankie Dettori , never factored and finished down the field in seventh place .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
18820,18821,"A three storey scaffolding tower toppled over sideways and trapped a passer by as high winds buffeted a city centre today .  The woman , believed to be in her 50s , escaped with just minor injuries after dozens of people came to her rescue while she was pinned to the street in Leicester .  The newsagent whose scaffolding collapsed said the trapped woman was saved by his van breaking the metal poles ' fall and the toppling structure also hit a passing bus .  Narrow escape : A woman was trapped under this three storey scaffolding tower when it toppled over today in high winds in Leicester city centre . It was only up to repair damage from a previous fire at the same shop  Police , paramedics and firefighters were all called to the scene and the road was cordoned off .  Harj Khera , 41 , was behind the counter when a customer told him a board had fallen into the road .  ' The next minute it all came down , ' he said . ' The woman was underneath the whole thing .  ' My van was parked outside the shop and the scaffolding landed mostly on the van . Otherwise it would have been a lot worse . The van saved her really .  ' It ' s right in the city centre so within seconds there were 20 or 30 people clambering over the boards to get her out . She looked  , just shocked .  ' The scaffolding was only up because we had a fire not too long ago and the damage was being repaired .  Harj Khera , 41 , said : ' Within seconds there were 20 or 30 people clambering over the boards to get her out '  ' We ' re the luckiest shop in Leicester . At least nothing else can happen to us now . '  He added the street always suffers from high winds because it has tall buildings which channel the flow of air .  Eyewitness Sarah Webb , 29 , said : ' There was an almighty crash with scaffolding coming down on a bus and cars . There was metal and wood all across the road .  ' There was a woman trapped underneath it all but she was moving and talking .  ' A fireman said it looked like the wind had caught the scaffolding and brought it all down .  ' It ' s a very busy road with lots of people walking about . It ' s lucky more people weren ' t hurt . '  Probe : Building inspectors and the Health and Safety Executive examined the structure , which also hit a bus  Council building inspectors and staff from the Health and Safety Executive were at the scene .  A Leicestershire Police spokesman said : ' We were called at 11 . 30am to a report of some scaffolding that had collapsed in Charles Street in Leicester .  ' An officer along with the fire and ambulance services were at the scene , the road was closed for a short time and one woman was injured in the incident . '  The Met Office warned there would be gale force winds today and tomorrow as it issued an amber weather warning for snow in northern England and Scotland .  The snowfall prompted travel disruption and health fears across large parts of the country , with temperatures expected to plunge as far as minus 10C and reports of hail storms in Cambridge .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18832,18833,"Andy Cannon , 23 , ( pictured with girlfriend Redeana Hammill ) was sexually abused by his adoptive gay parents but his complaints to social workers were ignored  A boy sexually abused by his adoptive father and his gay partner was labelled an ' unruly child ' by social workers who ignored his complaints for years , a damning report has revealed .  They sent Andy Cannon , now 23 , back to the couple ' s home despite his protests of abuse , praising the gay man who adopted him as a ' very caring parent ' .  The report accuses Wakefield social services , in Yorkshire , of ' folly and gross misjudgment ' . Mr Cannon , who was wrongly diagnosed with mental disorders and prescribed anti psychotic drugs , believes he would have been listened to sooner if his adoptive father wasn ' t gay .  The case ended last year , after half a decade of legal wrangling , when a court ordered a 25 , 000 compensation payment to Mr Cannon .  Mr Cannon , who now has two children with girlfriend Redeana Hammill , was adopted by David Cannon in 1997 .  He and his mother , Elaine Moss , repeatedly complained to social workers about the abuse . In 2004 , he was returned to Cannon ' s care nine days after running away and making a complaint about him .  Cannon , 54 , and his 31 year old partner John Scarfe were each jailed for 30 months in May 2006 for inciting sexual activity with a child .  Mr Cannon said : ' I believe if my adoptive dad was in a heterosexual relationship then my complaints would have been listened to earlier .  ' It seems the council didn ' t want to be seen as victimising gay people they would rather look politically correct and let them get away with it to avoid any repercussions .  Jailed : David Cannon was convicted for 30 months for inciting sexual activity with a child  Guilty : David Cannon ' s partner John Scarfe was also jailed for abusing Andy Cannon  ' The council should have been there to prevent this from happening but they would rather just sweep it under the carpet . ' The report , conducted for Dewsbury County Court by a child welfare specialist , detailed how Cannon was allowed to adopt the boy , despite his mother accusing him of abuse at the time .  A social worker failed to report the allegations to a family court and instead called Cannon ' a very caring parent who considered his children ' s needs ' .  Mr Cannon , who has waived his right to anonymity , said : ' When I told social workers they didn ' t believe me . When I got home from school , if my dad was wound up by something I would pay for it with a beating . Then later on he would sexually abuse me .  ' I never really had nightmares because I completely switched off from it all although I get nightmares now . I let it happen and thought that one of two things would happen . Either I ' d manage to get away or they ' d kill me . '  Wakefield council has apologised to Mr Cannon . A spokesman said : ' We are working with Andy to make sure that in making this apology we deal with all the concerns he has raised . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18874,18875,""" Beware the fury of the patient man . "" John Dryden  In January , 1956 , Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser was pledging to take over Palestine . In the United States , a "" sensational new  Victor Star , "" just days away from cracking the music charts with his first hit , "" Heartbreak Hotel , "" was touring with Hank Snow and the stars of Grand Old Opry . Norma Jeane Mortenson was preparing to change her name .  Also that month , a fresh faced U . S . senator gave Richard Nixon an autographed copy of his second book , "" Profiles in Courage "" .  In that best seller , John F . Kennedy applauded leaders with the courage to represent "" the actual sentiments of the silent majority of their constituents in opposition to the screams of a vocal minority . "" That "" silent majority "" was a constituency neither Nixon nor the country would forget : Fifty six years later , Mitt Romney is counting on it to win the presidency .  Nixon could have thanked Kennedy ' s hardcover for one of his many resurrections . His appeal to the "" silent majority "" turned around his political fortunes , driving his approval ratings from the mid 50s to more than 80 .  Opinion : Both parties have a huge race problem  His pivotal speech contrasted a "" vocal minority "" of idealistic but impractical , young , anti Vietnam protestors , cultural elites and intellectuals with their stodgy parents , older , blue collar , working class Americans . Until Nixon drew the silent majority from the shadows , their simmering outrage at the left ' s lack of respect for time tested American values was undetected .  Political historian Teddy White characterized the split between "" what the silent people think "" and what the country ' s "" more important thinkers think . "" He wrote , "" Never have America ' s leading cultural media , its university thinkers , its influence makers been more intrigued by experiment and change but in no election have the mute masses more completely separated themselves from such leadership and thinking . ""  At least , until today .  By some measures , little has changed since the seminal year of 1969 . Marilyn Monroe remains a powerful symbol of fragile , sexual romanticism . The Arab world still lusts for the Palestinian territory . Elvis is making more money than ever . And we are still fighting the Vietnam War .  The division between Nixon ' s silent majority , on one hand , and , on the other , Democrat leaning young voters , Hollywood stars , academia , the music industry , fashionistas , and news media elites has never repaired itself .  In the "" The Conquest of Cool , "" Thomas Frank chronicled how the social ferment of the 60 ' s not only failed to overthrow establishment culture , but was absorbed by it . The counter culture of the 60s revolution turned into the "" Me Generation "" of the 80s . They settled into entitled consumerism , grew fat and became today ' s establishment .  Now the counterculture defines itself by the brands it wears , not the institutions it protests . Being different today requires the latest IPhone and a vanilla , extra shot latte . The counter culture wears a Nike swoosh , not a tie died shirt .  The Axis of Cool , born in protest against the war that has defined all future wars , has become a culture of locust like consumption . It devours public and private resources . It remains allied against the previous generation ' s antiquated ethos of self discipline , personal responsibility and moderation .  Over five decades , the counterculture became our culture . It expanded its home within the Democratic Party , finding its identity challenging the quaint social norms of tragically uncool Republicans .  We are an easy cultural target . We are suspicious of all cutting edge music , abstract art , avant garde style and trendy thought . We advocate unimaginative self restraint and standards we often fail to meet and we get no credit for trying . Our imperfections are labeled hypocritical , not human . Hip America is more fun . And in 2008 , it found its leader , the coolest president ever .  President Obama hangs out with movie stars , makes no decisions without consulting the academic elite and sings like Al Green . Obama is the president of cool America .  To oppose him , where did Republicans turn ?  We chose the strait laced personification of everything Obama is not . We made ourselves even more dated .  Mitt Romney is the chaperone to be eluded at every prom . He ' s common sense parental advice , not counter intuitive academic insight . He has stepped down , fresh and perfect , from a Norman Rockwell painting .  As Ashley Parker notes in the New York Times , an emotional outburst from the proper Romney is limited to saying "" the heck with it . "" Even my own daughter writes that Romney ' s "" tendency to say ' shoot ' and ' darn it ' tells us he ' s from another generation . ""  Being terminally uncool , however , may be the secret of Romney ' s success .  Nixon ' s majority was silent a long time , until aroused by Obama , whose self admitted superiority led him to denigrate their bitter attachment to their values .  They slept , this quiet group of Americans who worked hard , paid their taxes and played by the rules , until awakened by a president who violated their core ethic of responsibility , telling them the cure for too much debt is even more debt .  They are mature . They are responsible . And now they are frightened . They worry that everything they ' ve worked for is being consumed , leaving only a bare orchard of fruitless trees and leafless branches .  They have heard an alarm . And now they stand to defend what is plain and boring and true . They rise to tell us their values , like the lines on the side of the road , are there for a purpose . They are there to keep us straight .  Now it is the silent majority who takes to the streets in protest of their government ' s fiscal fantasies . They are adults , rising to say that their country ' s time honored values are not luxuries we can discard , but obligations that must be met .  Their children , who think themselves the first generation with the mental capacity to understand the world ' s problems , stare at them . They confuse their parent ' s civility with softness . They are baffled to hear that success requires self discipline not just self indulgence , good intentions and intellect .  Polls say this race is tied . The president of cool is suddenly in a tight race against America ' s most uncool parent . Are the "" mute masses "" Nixon aroused still a majority ? Early turnout and absentee voting data from the Republican National Committee indicates that  vote totals are up over 2 from 2008 while Democrat totals are down 6 .  pollsters report Republicans are heading into 2012 with a significant advantage in voter interest and intensity .  No drama Obama has got the cool . All Romney has is the fury of the patient man .  If he wins , Romney could make being uncool , cool again .  The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Alex Castellanos .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
18885,18886,"Reuters) - The United States on Saturday redoubled its longstanding demand that Germany and other European countries spend more on defense, saying their failure to meet NATO’s 2 percent military spending target was eroding the foundation of the Atlantic alliance. “When even one ally fails to do their part, it undermines all of our ability to come to each other’s aid,” U.S. Vice President Mike Pence told the Munich Security Conference, even as he assured  allies of Washington’s unwavering support. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said Germany remained committed to reaching the  target, but that it would be hard to boost its defense budget quickly by the 25 billion euros  ($26.5 billion) that would be required. Germany now spends about 1.2 percent of gross domestic product on the military. He called for a broader approach that also addressed security risks such as climate change, and said Germany should get credit for the 30 to 40 billion euros it is spending to integrate over a million refugees, many of whom were displaced as a result of failed military interventions of the past. “We are taking these people in and integrating them and preventing them going to other parts of the world as ‘freedom fighters’,” Gabriel said.  Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told the conference that Europe needed to better integrate its fragmented defense industry, but that this remained a political challenge for countries seeking to protect their own industries and jobs.  Industry Commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska told a closed-door session that “we must progressively build a defense union in Europe”, according to one of those present.  militaries operate 19 types of armored infantry fighting vehicles, compared with one in the United States, while 25 billion euros of defense spending are wasted every year, according to European Commission data. Gabriel also questioned the wisdom of pegging the  military spending target to gross domestic product, noting that Greece met the goal, but was having trouble paying its pensions. French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault told the conference that it was important to focus increased spending on equipment needs, rather than military pensions. “The question is not funding  or changing budgets, but how Europe can ... improve its deployability without creating a European army,” he said. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
18890,18891,"Shocks were at a premium as 2014 World Cup qualifying kicked off in Europe Friday but Portugal were given a fright before beating minnows Luxembourg 2 1 in their opener in Group F .  It needed a Cristiano Ronaldo equalizer in the first half to cancel out Daniel Da Mota ' s 14th minute opener for the hosts .  Helder Postiga hit the winner just before the hour mark as they kept pace with Russia , who earlier beat Northern Ireland 2 0 in Moscow .  Of the big guns , England were the most comprehensive winners , beating Moldova 5 0 in Chisinau with Frank Lampard scoring a first half double and Jermain Defoe adding the other .  James Milner and Leighton Baines were on target after the break as Roy Hodgson ' s team took an early advantage in Group H with Montenegro and Poland sharing four goals in the other match in the qualifying section .  Germany were made to work hard by the Faroe Islands whose goalkeeper Gunnar Nielsen made a series of fine saves .  The home side only led 1 0 at halftime in Hannover , but a second half double from Real Madrid star Mesut Ozil gave them a more comfortable 3 0 advantage by the final whistle .  Republic of Ireland were the other winners on the night in Group C as two late goals from Robbie Keane , with a penalty , and Kevin Doyle gave them a fortunate 2 1 win in Kazakhstan .  Euro 2012 runners up Italy were grateful for a 2 2 draw in Bulgaria in Group , falling behind to a long range strike from Stanislav Manolev .  Italy hit back in the Vasil Levski Stadium in Sofia with a pair of goals from their Argentine born striker Pablo Osvaldo .  But Gerogi Milanov finished off a fine move to give the home side a deserved point .  France made a winning start in the tough looking Group I which also features reigning World and European champions Spain , who sat out the opening round of fixtures .  Didier Deschamps ' new charges emerged 1 0 winners in Finland with Abou Diaby first half strike proving the difference .  New Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris made a fine late save to keep out the hosts .  The Netherlands had Manchester United ' s Robin van Persie on target as they beat Turkey 2 0 in a heavyweight clash to start Group D .  Group A favorites Belgium , packed with big money English Premier League signings , made a solid start to their campaign with a 2 0 win over Wales , who had James Collins sent off in the first half .  Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany headed them in front before the break with Tottenham ' s Jan Vertonghen sealing the three points in Cardiff .  Bosnia Herzegovina secured the biggest win of the night in Liechtenstein as Vedad Ibisevic and Edin Dzeko scored hat tricks in an 8 1 romp .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18897,18898,"A fraternity at the University of Pennsylvania has been accused of racism after including a black blow up sex doll in their annual Christmas card .  The picture meant to send holiday greetings from the Phi Delta Theta fraternity sparked outrage when recipients spotted the black doll among the overwhelmingly white group of young men .  The Phi Delta Theta fraternity has now been forced to apologise for the Christmas card , saying that there was ' no justification for this act of poor judgement ' .  Accused : The Phi Delta Theta fraternity at University of Pennsylvania have apologised for including a black blow up sex doll in their annual Christmas card  The picture was posted on the Phi Delta Theta ' s Facebook and shows 29 young University of Pennsylvania students posing in what appears to be a lounge room .  Among the young smiling men with their arms on each other ' s shoulders is a plastic blow up sex doll .  According to fraternity brothers , the doll was a ' Beyonc sex toy ' that had been bought as a ' gag gift ' for Secret Santa , and had been included in the photograph with no intention of causing offense .  Shortly after the picture was posted on Facebook , several organisations on and off campus , including the university ' s chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People , accused the fraternity of racism .  The picture has now been removed from the fraternity ' s page and all activities have been suspended while Phi Delta Theta ' s parent organisation investigates the incident .  Apology : The fraternity said the doll had been included as a joke with no intention of causing offense  Bow down : The fraternity claim the plastic toy was a ' Beyonc sex doll ' , but that the doll ' bore no resemblance to the artist beyond skin color adding to its offensive nature '  Several organisations on University of Pennsylvania ' s campus , including the university ' s chapter of the  , accused the fraternity of racism  Phi Delta Theta added that ' the absence of racial motivation is no justification for this act of poor judgement and the decision not to include a sex toy in a holiday picture should have been an easy one . '  ' Phi Delta Theta is a values based organization and the lack of judgment associated with this image indicates a disconnect from those same values . '  This is the latest racist controversy surrounding sororities and fraternities at American universities .  Last week , a sorority girl at the University of Maryland posed for a photograph with a racist birthday cake made of alcohol bottles that reads , ' s a n d ' on her 21st birthday .  The photo from Delta Gamma Sorority was posted online to Instagram along with an offensive hashtag comment that featured the ' n word . '  Delta Gamma posted a grovelling apology on their Facebook page , saying the sorority ' is a dynamic organization committed to diversity and does not discriminate on the basis of race , religious affiliation , color , creed , national origin , sexual orientation , marital status or physical disability . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
18906,18907,"Jeremy Clarkson won ' t have his contract renewed as host of "" Top Gear "" after he apparently busted his producer ' s lip and verbally abused him , the  announced Wednesday .  Clarkson , who hosted one of the most watched television shows in the world , was suspended on March 10 after what the British broadcaster previously described as a "" fracas "" with producer Oisin Tymon on March 4 .  Wednesday , the  released the findings of an internal investigation into the incident .  Ken MacQuarrie , who conducted the investigation , said Tymon had been "" subject to an unprovoked physical and verbal attack by Jeremy Clarkson "" at a hotel in North Yorkshire after a day of filming . "" During the physical attack Oisin Tymon was struck , resulting in swelling and bleeding to his lip , "" he said .  The physical attack was halted after about 30 seconds by the intervention of a witness , MacQuarrie said , but Clarkson continued to use "" derogatory and abusive language "" for a sustained period of time . MacQuarrie said Clarkson made a number of attempts to apologize over subsequent days and had reported the incident to  management .   Director General Tony Hall issued a statement announcing Clarkson was being dropped .  "" A member of staff who is a completely innocent party took himself to Accident and Emergency after a physical altercation accompanied by sustained and prolonged verbal abuse of an extreme nature . For me a line has been crossed , "" he said . "" I know how popular the program is and I also know that this decision will divide opinion . ""  "" Top Gear , "" fronted by Clarkson , James May and Richard Hammond , has made a name for itself globally with risky stunts and a brand of blokish humor that often toes the line and regularly steps over it .  Clarkson is determinedly anti politically correct on the topics he rails about , both on the show and in his newspaper and magazine columns .  In his statement , Hall referenced the  ' s diversity , saying it was "" a broad church . ""  "" We need distinctive and different voices but they cannot come at any price . Common to all at the  have to be standards of decency and respect , "" he said .  North Yorkshire police issued a statement Wednesday saying they had asked for the  ' s report on the incident . "" The information will be assessed appropriately and action will be taken by North Yorkshire Police where necessary , "" they said .  On March 10 , the  announced that "" Top Gear ' s "" March 15 episode had been pulled and this week it canceled four live "" Top Gear "" shows scheduled for next week in Stavanger , Norway . However , it said the programs would be rescheduled and that all other live dates would "" run as scheduled . ""  Hall said the  would "" look to renew ' Top Gear ' for 2016 "" and that he had asked  controller Kim Shillinglaw to "" look at how we put out the last programs in the current series . ""  After his suspension by the  , Clarkson changed his Twitter profile to "" I am probably a presenter on the BBC2 motoring show , Top Gear . "" On Wednesday , the wording became past tense : "" I used to be a presenter on the BBC2 motoring show , Top Gear . ""  Co host Richard Hammond tweeted : "" Gutted at such a sad end to an era . We ' re all three of us idiots in our different ways but it ' s been an incredible ride together . ""  Fans had earlier expressed outrage at the  decision to suspend Clarkson .  Even media baron Rupert Murdoch commented on speculation that Clarkson would be sacked , posting a tweet Tuesday night in which he described the presenter as a "" funny man with great expertise . ""  An online petition to have Clarkson reinstated has been signed by more than a million people . Fewer than 10 , 000 people signed a counterpetition calling for him to be fired .  Last week , a fan dressed as the "" Stig "" the anonymous racing car test driver who was once a regular feature of the show drove to the  ' s London headquarters in an armored tank to present the "" Bring Back Clarkson "" petition .  Clarkson later thanked his supporters in a tweet shared more than 22 , 000 times .  According to the  website , Clarkson is credited with changing the face of modern motoring journalism . It also adds : "" Terrifyingly , he might just be the most influential man in motoring . ""  Clarkson has been at the helm of the program since 1998 , and for more than a decade has fronted the relaunched version with Hammond and May . The trio ' s long distance challenges in a mix of elite and sometimes barely roadworthy vehicles has earned the program cult status .  In 2013 , Guinness World Records named "" Top Gear "" the world ' s most widely watched factual program , with an estimated 350 million global viewers . The show is sold to 214 territories worldwide . Local versions have been made in the United States , China , Russia , Australia and South Korea .  While Clarkson ' s abrasive style has proven popular with viewers , his on and off air comments have earned him a reputation as a politically incorrect maverick who often walks a fine line between humor and offense .  Last year , he apologized profusely after being accused of mumbling the n word in a clip that wasn ' t aired .  "" I ' d actually used the word I was trying to obscure . I was mortified by this , horrified . It is a word I loathe , "" Clarkson said in video statement posted online .  He ' s been accused on other occasions of racism , including characterizing Mexicans as "" lazy and feckless "" and using the word "" slope "" over footage of an Asian man crossing a bridge during a "" Top Gear "" special in Myanmar . Producer Andy Wilman later apologized , calling it a "" light hearted word play joke , "" and saying that the team was not aware that it was offensive to Asians .  Clarkson later brushed off the incident , saying the rant was meant "" in jest "" and was designed to increase bids for the prize being auctioned one last lap of the "" Top Gear "" race track .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past
18928,18929,"Imagine you are sitting in your office simply doing your job and a nasty e mail pops into your inbox accusing you of being a fraud . You go online and find that some bloggers have written virulent posts about you . That night , you ' re at home with your family watching the news and a talking head is lambasting you by name . Later , a powerful politician demands all your e mails from your former employer .  It sounds surreal . But it all happened to me .  What was my offense ? I worked on climate change research that indicated the world is a lot warmer today than it was in the past . Because that research caught the public ' s attention when it was released in 1998 , I became one of dozens of climate researchers who have been systematically targeted by a well funded anti science campaign .  Ironically , as these attacks have grown , the scientific facts have become ever clearer . Climate scientists know the world is warming and human activity particularly burning coal and oil is the primary driver . The idea of addressing climate change threatens some people in the fossil fuel industry . And a vocal minority of corporate interests and their ideological allies are spending a lot of money to hijack the public debate about climate change .  I call all this the "" scientization "" of politics . Attacks on science and scientists are an effort to advance a political agenda , not an effort to better understand science or the risks it uncovers . The tobacco industry did it when scientists linked cigarettes to cancer . The lead industry tried to discredit a scientist who found that lead exposure hurt children ' s cognitive abilities .  Now , it ' s climate scientists ' turn .  In the most infamous episode , somebody stole thousands of e mails and documents from leading climate researchers , including me . They cherry picked key phrases from the e mails and published them out of context , like a black and white political attack ad with ominous music . Fossil fuel industry funded groups gleefully spread the e mails online and badgered the mainstream media into covering the "" controversy "" they had manufactured .  It was no accident that this happened on the eve of a major international climate change meeting . Saudi Arabia , the world ' s largest exporter of oil , was the first to call for an investigation .  The dozen independent investigations that did follow all of which exonerated the scientists got much less media coverage than the original nonscandal . Last year , the inspector general of the National Science Foundation found the charges against me were all baseless and reaffirmed mainstream climate science .  Larger political factors helped sink the climate change talks . But the stolen e mail "" scandal "" has lived on . Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli ( also a candidate for governor ) cited it in his demand from my former employer the University of Virginia for all my documents and e mails dating back several years .  On March 2 , the Virginia Supreme Court ruled in our favor a Pyrrhic victory considering all of the money and resources wasted that could have been invested , for example , in measures to protect Virginia ' s coastline from the damaging effects of the sea level rise it is already seeing .  These attacks have prompted me to tell my own story in a new book , "" The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars : Dispatches from the Front Lines . "" Before it even came out , a coal industry front group ran radio advertisements condemning my employer , Penn State , for allowing me to speak on my own campus . Later , a former tobacco industry apologist offered 500 to anyone who would ask me a challenging question at another talk and provide him with video .  This is a silly and indeed , dangerous way to have a climate change debate in this country . What keeps climate scientists working away in our labs and in the field , is that we keep uncovering more evidence of how climate change will impact our planet and our lives .  In the face of these attacks , scientists are doing more to speak out , forming a Climate Science Rapid Response Team to connect scientists with journalists and a Climate Science Legal Defense Fund to help scientists defray legal costs . Groups like the Union of Concerned Scientists are redoubling their efforts to defend scientists and advance public understanding of climate change . And scientific societies are starting to do more to help their members deal with the poisonous political environment around climate change .  I first tackled climate science as a graduate student in theoretical physics , looking around for a topic that would be worthy of a lifetime ' s work . Attacked both professionally and personally , I became a reluctant public figure in the climate wars . And now , as the father of a 6 year old girl , I want to make sure the planet we leave her is at least as beautiful and healthy as the one we grew up on . At the very least , our nation ' s political and business leaders deserve to have a debate about her future that is grounded in reality .  My daughter , and all of our children , deserve no less .  The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Michael Mann .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18938,18939,"Running has always been an enigma to me . It seems so simple : Lace up your sneakers , crank up the music and head out the door .  It comes so easy to some people , but it never has to me .  Growing up , I tried to be a runner . At an early age , I was diagnosed with exercise induced asthma . This is an inflammation and constriction of the bronchi in the lungs that occurs after a few minutes of strenuous or aerobic activity . I was prescribed various inhalers to control the condition , and they seemed to decrease the asthma , but it never completely stopped .  It was annoying , it was embarrassing , and it caused me to avoid most exercises , especially running .  It was an excuse . I am not a runner . . .  Make your workout go by faster  I decided to start playing tennis in middle school . While I always had great bursts of speed on the court , the off season running workouts killed me . Still , I could control my asthma , and my tennis skills slowly improved .  Then my next nemesis arrived . I discovered a nasty pain called shin splints , from pounding those hard courts day after day . This condition is also called medial tibial stress syndrome and is caused by a combination of factors that put stress on the lower leg , causing some very uncomfortable pain in my shins and cramping in my calves when running .  The pain , or rather the threat of the pain , kept me from running long distances , so I stopped .  It was an excuse . I am not a runner . . .  Fast forward to later in life . I wanted to try to run again . After some research and a visit to my local running shop , I discovered a compression strap for my calf that could help my shin splints , and it worked !  T shirt tales : The athlete I used to be  So off to run I went . All was going great : I was gaining endurance while managing to control the asthma and the shin splints . Then I started to get a sharp pain just in front of my heel on the bottom of my foot .  This pain occurred right after my running workouts , and it was even worse the next morning . My doctor diagnosed me with plantar fasciitis in my left foot . This is an incredibly painful inflammation of the connective tissue ( the plantar fascia ) that stretches from your heel to your toes . With this pain , I had found my newest nemesis .  I tried to run through the pain , but even walking during the day became painful , so I stopped running altogether . There are many treatments for helping manage this pain , from special socks that stretch the tissue to cortisone injections that help the inflammation . I found an orthotic shoe insert that helped to stretch the plantar fascia , and slowly , the pain went away .  ' Too fat to do a lot of things '  But once again , the threat of pain kept me from running .  It was an excuse . I am not a runner . . .  Fast forward to today . I ' ve developed a love of endurance sports and an admiration for the amazing athletes who compete in them , from runners to cyclists to triathletes . I ' ve always wanted to participate , but the fear of pain or asthma has always kept me on the sidelines .  I know that my pain is manageable and my fear is irrational . I want to run .  Getting fit for the family I love  We all have hurdles in life , some great and some small , that try to prevent us from doing the things we want to do . My mantra had become "" I am not a runner , "" but it was just an excuse . This excuse no longer stops me .  My minor injuries and pains are nothing compared with the hardships many people face every day . My pain and anxiety are manageable , and I am no longer afraid .  Perspective is a wonderful thing , and when I think of all of the amazing people in my life who have overcome much larger hurdles than those that have stopped me in the past , I am motivated . I keep moving , knowing that if they can overcome their obstacles , I can overcome mine .  My running workouts aren ' t breaking any endurance records , and I don ' t move that fast , but I keep moving . I lace up my sneakers and crank up my music , and I keep running because my pain is temporary .  I am not a runner . . .  !  Follow Stacy on Twitter TriHardStacy  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
18945,18946,"Saying he could hardly believe how much the young man had changed over the past eight years , a visibly sentimental  counterterrorism agent fondly recalled Tuesday watching 20 year old Muslim American Omar Haddad grow up .  While speaking with reporters , Special Agent David Tierney repeatedly paused to marvel at how quickly the time had slipped by , striking a bittersweet tone as he described what it had been like to see the young Muslim boy mature and come into his own as he studied for his classes , made friends , played on the school baseball team , and prayed at his local mosque every Friday .  "" Sometimes it feels like it was just yesterday that I was watching little 12 year old Omar get on the bus and head off to seventh grade , but I guess time really flies , "" said the  agent , expressing amazement at how a middle schooler who had seemed so shy when talking to girls on the phone could become so confident and self assured in his conversations as an adult . "" God , I remember seeing him on his first date , just this scrawny teenager at a 7 p . m . showing of Captain America trying to work up the courage to put his arm around a girl . Look at him now handsome , popular , and getting straights A ' s in his junior year at Michigan Tech . ""  "" And to think we ' ve been right there with him every step of the way , "" Tierney added .  As he looked through an immense collection of photos and videos from the boy ' s youth , the agent reported that watching Haddad grow up had been stressful at times , particularly during a brief period in 2011 when it appeared the young man was falling in with a bad crowd . But just a year or two later , he said , Haddad ' s priorities had changed significantly , and Tierney was soon traveling around the country as the boy toured prospective colleges .  "" I ' ll never forget how nervous he was on his first day of high school so were we , of course , "" said Tierney , recalling in detail the apprehension on Haddad ' s face and the brand new Jansport backpack slung over his shoulder as he walked into school that day . "" But his teenage years went pretty smoothly , all things considered . Sure , sometimes he would stay out a little late , which would cause us to worry , but he never went anywhere he wasn ' t supposed to . Omar was the kind of kid who would always finish his homework before he would hang out with friends or goof around online . ""  "" I suppose he would ' ve been pretty mad if he ' d found out we were reading his texts and snooping around his favorite websites , "" he continued . "" But you need to know what they ' re getting up to , especially at that age . It ' s just your job . ""  After letting out a sigh and asking himself where the time had gone , Tierney confirmed he would continue to keep an eye on the young man as he made his way in the adult world . The 13 year veteran of the  ' s counterterrorism division added that , whatever Haddad chose to do with his life , he was sure it would be a success .  "" I just wish I could say as much for his younger brother , "" Tierney said . "" We ' re definitely going to have to get a lot more involved with that kid . ""  ",satire,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
18955,18956,"Australian Open : Isner among men ' s top seeds to roll into fourth round  John Isner was among the top seeds to advance on Saturday at the Australian Open . ( Twitter AustralianOpen )  For all of the upsets on the women ' s side of the draw , the men ' s draw continues to go pretty much according to plan . The early matches on Saturday in Melbourne , Australia saw No . 4 Stan Wawrinka , No . 8 David Ferrer , No . 10 John Isner and No . 13 Milos Raonic all roll into the fourth round with relative ease .  Wawrinka dispatched Russian Lukas Rosol in a 6 2 , 6 3 , 7 6 straight set victory to move on to the fourth round and notch his 400th career  World Tour win . The Swiss star used his big serve to bully past Rosol , winning 80 percent of his first serve points and hitting 18 aces in the match . Wawrinka had 45 winners to just 23 errors in a strong performance and will face Raonic in an intriguing fourth round match .  Raonic also dominated in his match , taking out No . 21 Viktor Troicki 6 2 , 6 3 , 6 4 . The big hitting Canadian had 14 aces and won 89 percent of his first serves , which he got in 69 percent of the time . He had a clean performance and will test Wawrinka with his power . Wawrinka leads the all time series 4 0 , although the two have never met in a Grand Slam event .  Top American John Isner powered past No . 18 Feliciano Lopez in a four set match ( 6 7 , 7 6 , 6 2 , 6 4 ) . Isner blasted 44 aces to just one double fault in a masterful serving performance . He got 77 percent of his first serves in and won 79 percent of those points . Isner will take on No . 8 David Ferrer in the fourth round .  Ferrer cruised to a straight set victory as well , beating American Steve Johnson 6 1 , 6 4 , 6 4 . The Spaniard was terrific at the net and returning serve , winning 22 of 24 net points in the match and 44 percent of his return points . Ferrer ' s return skills will be tested by the massive serves of Isner in the fourth round . His ability to find break chances against Isner will be the difference in that match .  So far in the tournament only three top seeds have gone down : No . 5 Rafael Nadal in the first round , No . 11 Kevin Anderson in the first round and No . 12 Marin Cilic in the third round .  The rest of the top 16 , pending No . 2 Andy Murray and No . 16 Bernard Tomic ' s matches late on Saturday , have all made it to the fourth round .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18966,18967,"Murray leads Britain to first crown in 79 years   , Nov . ? 30 ( Xinhuanet ) Great Britain was just one win away from its first Davis Cup title in almost eight decades . Team  ' s ace Andy Murray would be taking the court against world number 16 David Goffin . The Scot had already won two matches in the final thus far , one in singles , and another in doubles with his brother Jamie , and a third would clinch the title Britain ' s first in 79 years .  And the Scot who voted for Independence would get out to a quick lead in the opener , stretching for this return that turns into a winner as he takes the set 6 3 .  The second would be much closer and Goffin would be able to take a 5 4 lead as he uses the serve and volley to win this point .  Murray would get a late break , and be in front 6 5 , and has set point , and is on the defensive running around the baseline , and whips a forehand cross court that Goffin cannot get to giving him the frame 7 5 and a 2 set lead .  The Belgian would not go quietly knowing a loss would hand the title to the Brits , and he is able to dictate play and whips a backhand down the line .  But Murray would get a vital break in the seventh game , facing triple break point Goffin hits long , giving the world number two an opening .  A couple games later , the two time major winner is on match point , but it is Goffin that is the aggressor on this point his heavy groundstrokes keep Murray rooted to the baseline , and should have won the point , but the Scot makes an incredible return to keep the rally alive , and when Goffin can ' t put the point away , the world number two lobs the Belgian for the winner taking the victory and claiming the title for Great Britain their first in 79 years .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18980,18981,"Reuters) - President Emmanuel Macron called for changes to France s food chain on Wednesday to ensure that farmers, who have been hit by squeezed margins and a retail price war, are paid fairly. Macron said he supported a new type of contract, based on farmers  production costs, which would require stronger producer organizations and a change in legislation. The changes are part of a wide field-to-fork review promised by Macron during his presidential campaign as he sought to appease farmers, an important constituency in French politics, who have also complained of excessive red tape. Last year a third of farmers earned less than 350 euros ($403) a month, the Agricultural Mutual Assistance Association (MSA) said, a third of the net minimum wage. Macron endorsed a proposal from the workshops to create a reversed contract starting from farmers, to food processors and to retailers. This would ensure a better spread of added value along the chain.  We should allow farmers not to rely on subsidies anymore and therefore ensure than they be paid a fair amount for their work,  Macron told farmers and food industry players at the Rungis food market near Paris. Prices are currently defined by buyers tempted to pressure prices, leaving many farmers unable to cover their costs. Answering a proposal by a majority of French retailers to raise the minimum prices they can charge on products, a move which they say could benefit those lower down the supply chain, Macron said he would limit it to food products and only favor if each sector proposes organization plans by year-end. Macron s office said on Tuesday he had delayed until the end of the year his decision on retailers  proposal as he sought guarantees it will meet his promise to boost farm income and food quality while minimizing retail inflation.  Raising the threshold of resale at a loss without asking for any effort, no accompaniment, no transformation, is a form of blank cheque,  he added.  Company and industry representatives, unions, non-governmental organizations and officials, gathered at the so-called Food Convention since the summer to discuss topics ranging from food quality to farm income and export strategy. A second phase will start next week with debates focusing on healthy, safe and sustainable food and will last until year-end. ($1 = 0.8449 euros) ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
18988,18989,"Chicago Kain Colter actually got this idea sitting in a college classroom at Northwestern University .  The 21 year old quarterback , soon to graduate with a degree in psychology , is taking the day off from training for the  draft to take the stand at a National Labor Relations Board hearing today and testify against his own university and on behalf of fellow football players .  The goal : an attempt to revolutionize the way collegiate athletes are treated .  Colter , with the help of a team of lawyers and the National College Players Association , is leading an effort to unionize the Northwestern football team .  Backed by the overwhelming majority of the team , Colter will kick off a days long hearing before the National Labor Relations Board in Chicago .  "" Student athletes don ' t have a voice , "" Colter said at a press conference last month . "" They don ' t have a seat at the table . The current model resembles a dictatorship with the  putting rules and regulations on students without their input . ""  A union would certainly change that . It would put the athletes in a position to bargain , to demand things that college athletes have never had before like stipends , continuing medical coverage after graduation , more concussion testing and even a portion of the profits of the multibillion dollar windfall created by college football and basketball .  Never before have current players been so vocal in standing up for themselves . It ' s a bold move , given the incredibly controlling nature of collegiate athletics .  "" These guys at Northwestern are really an inspiration , not just to other football and basketball players and athletes , but these are young men standing together , 70 to 80 guys and they ' re taking on a multibillion industry because they know it ' s the right thing to do , "" said Ramogi Huma , president of the  , which last season organized the All Players United wristband protest in support of  reform at Georgia Tech , Northwestern and the University of Georgia .  "" If they win , it immediately sets a standard , "" Huma said .  Colter came to Huma with this idea last year , and Huma has been helping him with resources to see it through . If they win , it could have a huge effect on the structure of the  .  Despite some quiet resistence at Georgia and Georgia Tech against the players who participated in the All Players United wristband protest in September , Northwestern leaders have been vocally supportive of the leadership exhibited by the team . They don ' t , however , agree with the idea .  At the  hearing , it ' s expected to present a handful of experts who will argue that college sports are not a commercial venue .  "" Northwestern teaches its students to be leaders and independent thinkers , "" a lengthy statement says , in part . But it continues "" we believe that a collective bargaining process at Northwestern would not advance the discussion of these topics . . . . Our student athletes are not employees , but students . ""  The  , which is not a party to the case , also put out a statement opposing the move .  "" This union backed attempt to turn student athletes into employees undermines the purpose of college : an education , "" said Donald Remy , the  ' s chief legal officer , in a statement . "" Student athletes are not employees , and their participation in college sports is voluntary . ""  A seat at the table  So , could it work ?  New York University labor law professor Richard Epstein said it could , but he cautions that it may take away what fans like about college sports .  With unions come bargaining , the potential for strikes and lack of stability . Imagine pickets instead of rivalry games , he said .  "" It ' s just very difficult to be confident that if you try to put this on the opposite side of the  , it ' s going to improve things , "" he said . However , he does think they have a shot at winning this fight .  recently settled a case with graduate students who argued they were both students and employees of the university and deserved rights .  But even if the athletes at Northwestern succeed , it could be years before they see any change , and it ' s unclear how it would affect other teams .  It ' s very likely the players who took the risk to stand up and say something will never see the benefits . The hearing that starts Tuesday is expected to last through the week . The judge has a month to make a decision , and appeals , which could take years to hash out , may potentially go all the way to the U . S . Supreme Court .  "" Comprehensive reform will always be elusive unless players have a seat at the table , just like the  , just like the  , "" Huma said .  There ' s been growing support for  reform , mostly because of former  basketball player Ed O ' Bannon suing the  for rights to his own likeness .  And of course there ' s long been a debate about whether the for profit sport athletes deserve a cut of the money they generate .  Lost in that , though , are stories like former Northwestern player Jeff Yarbrough . When he was recruited in 2003 , he was among the top six fastest teens in the state of Illinois . But he fractured both legs during his college career and doctors had to put metal rods and screws in both shins . He ' s in so much pain , he can barely run . He ' s only 27 years old .  "" I ' m like a 45 year old man . I can ' t move , "" he said .  Huma said most people don ' t know that the  doesn ' t even mandate that colleges cover the cost of medical expenses for current players , and there ' s no help at all for former ones .  Each year , 30 million is generated by Northwestern football , Huma said , "" yet ( players ) have no guarantee that medical costs will be covered . ""  Yarbrough wants to have the rods removed from his legs , but the procedure could cost him 20 , 000 to 30 , 000 in out of pocket expenses , money he doesn ' t have to spare working as a teacher in Chicago .  "" I definitely feel a little let down by the  in regards to football , "" Yarbrough said . "" It ' s not like other sports . There are concussions that occur . If there was protection for players after they graduate that would be a great deal . ""  Then he lights up , and says , "" I ' m really proud of the guys at Northwestern for taking this stand . ""  Watch The Lead with Jake Tapper weekdays at 4pm  . For the latest on The Lead with Jake Tapper click here .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
18993,18994,"Fraping , or the act of logging onto somebody else ' s Facebook account and posting something inordinately witty as their status , has finally reached the mobile age .  "" In the past , people would be around at a friends house , and they would see the laptop open and logged into Facebook , then add a witty comment , "" said Facebook Fraping Expert , Stacy Tupdate . "" Normally , they would ' out ' the Facebook owner by admitting to be gay . In fact , that ' s all anybody puts . ""  Now , with the advent of Smart Phones and Facebook apps , people are logged into Facebook all the time on their phones .  "" We ' re seeing cases of people being Fraped while in the pub , "" said Tupdate . "" They ' ll go to the bar to get a particularly complicated order . By the time that they get back , their Facebook Status has announced that they ' re really gay . ""  With it now being so easy for people to be Fraped by their mobile device , the frapists are getting more inventive .  "" I saw one fraping that announced that they were not only gay , "" Said Tupdate , "" but also that they were going to Thailand to have everything lopped off . ""  As well as changing the status of people ' s Facebook profile , Frapists are having a good look through those pictures marked as private . Particularly embarrassing ones are then been marked as visible to everyone and anyone . This is particularly malicious as most people don ' t periodically check the privacy settings on embarrassing photos .  "" I found this particularly fun , "" said Tupdate . "" When somebody has marked the picture of them at a 1970s disco as completely private , and suddenly , it ' s their profile picture , that ' s hilarious . ""  However , Tupdate has pointed out the serious side to this .  "" Any kind of Fraping is a form of cyberbullying , "" she said with a frown . "" It is to be frowned upon . If you see a friend ' s phone unlocked on the table , don ' t load Facebook and have a good luck through it before changing the profile picture and status . Be a friend and leave it where it is . ""  Occasionally , it back fires on the Frapist . "" We had one case , "" said Tupdate , "" where the Frapist was looking through for a good profile picture , only to discover his best friend had a picture of him wearing a little white frock at the Manchester Pride festival . So be careful . ""  ",satire,text,validation,World conflict,Sports/Other,fake,satire,True,no,no,positive,present
19017,19018,"Russia aims to clinch 21bn in export deals with Iran  Moscow is hoping to cement its strengthening relationship with Tehran by clinching industrial export deals of more than 21bn , as it prepares to send one of its biggest trade delegations to Iran next month .  Ilya Tarasenko , new president of Sukhoi Civil Aircraft , said the company was in advanced talks to sell 100 Sukhoi regional passenger superjets to Iran . We are in talks and are ready to ship the order should the sanctions be lifted , said Mr Tarasenko .  International sanctions on Iran are expected to be gradually lifted in the next months following the nuclear accord struck with world powers .  The talks on the Sukhoi superjets , which can seat about 80 people , come as Denis Manturov , Russia s Minister of Trade and Industry , will head a group of companies operating in the civil and defence sectors , including Gazprom , Russian Helicopters , United Aircraft Corporation , the maker of Sukhoi jets , in mid December . Rostec , Russia s biggest defence conglomerate , said the focus would mainly be on civil exports in areas such as aerospace , infrastructure and energy , although Russia s defence companies are also eyeing up the potential of the Iranian market when sanctions are finally lifted .  President Vladimir Putin travels to Iran for the first time in eight years on Monday in an attempt to strengthen political and economic ties between the two countries , which have found common cause in the fight against Sunni insurgent groups in Syria . Russia was also one of the key players in the negotiations over Iran s nuclear programme . This month it also announced it had signed a contract to start deliveries of S 300 surface to air missile systems to Iran by the end of 2016 .  Among the companies hoping to clinch big export deals at next month s trade fair is Russian Helicopters , which is looking to increase sales of serially produced civilian helicopters in Iran and others countries of the Middle East , it said .  Alexander Mikheev , chief executive of Russian Helicopter , was in Tehran last week with Dmitry Rogozin , deputy prime minister in charge of the defence industry , to lay the groundwork for Mr Putin s visit and for further deals at the trade fair .  Trade delegations are almost a weekly affair in Tehran now that the country has agreed constraints on its nuclear programme with global powers . George Osborne ,  chancellor , has said he wants to take what might be Britain s biggest ever trade delegation to Iran next year .  The attraction is not only Iran s vast oil and gas reserves but an economy that is forecast to grow rapidly once economic sanctions are lifted . According to some estimates Iran is set to contribute nearly as much as Italy to global growth in the next decade , roughly 270bn .  Russia s energy minister recently told reporters that trade with Iran ? which totalled 1 . 6bn last year ? could rise to 10bn in the near future . His comments were made to reporters at a meeting of the Russian Iranian Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation .  Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2015 . You may share using our article tools .  Please don ' t cut articles from FTweblink and redistribute by email or post to the web .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
19022,19023,"The Cincinnati Bengals are looking to break a 25 year playoff drought , but it will likely be with a backup quarterback . The Pittsburgh Steelers stand in their way in what has become a fierce rivalry this season . ?  The two matchups between  North foes this season looked more like the epic Ravens Steelers slugfests of years past pregame skirmishes , ferocious hits , and lots of trash talking . The bad blood will undoubtedly carry over into Saturday ' s showdown in Cincinnati Steelers offensive tackle Marcus Gilbert asked for a rematch with the Bengals for Christmas , while linebacker Vontaze Burfict said this week that he "" hates Pittsburgh . ""  Burfict has been at the center of the conflict after his tackle in Week 8 ended the season of star running back Le ' Veon Bell . He also drew a fine for three separate incidents in the Week 14 sequel , one of which was a low hit at Ben Roethlisberger ' s knees that had the quarterback steaming . ?  Can the Bengals end their string of four straight first round exits or will the Steelers move on ? Here are three keys to the game for both the Steelers and Bengals :  Can you beat the Crowd ' s Line ? Submit your final score prediction below . Good luck !  With the Bengals will likely protecting against the deep ball , Ben Roethlisberger should look to explot mismatches underneath against their linebackers . Antonio Brown is a supreme route runner and should be able to find space over the middle and whoever the running back is should get some free releases underneath with the linebackers also backed up some to prevent big plays . Reserve Jordan Todman could be a sleeper out of the backfield . ?  Martavis Bryant needs to bring his ' A ' game after being a nonfactor the past two weeks . Roethlisberger ran into some issues last week by locking onto Brown too often , resulting in two interceptions . Bryant was challenged this week by Roethlisbeger to "" toughen up "" because he knows how badly the second year receiver is needed this week . Bryant ' s ability to stretch the field will open things up for the rest of the passing game , but he needs to make the catches that have eluded him the past month .  The Bengals right tackle has allowed 19 pressures in the seven games since returning to the lineup in Week 11 , per Pro Football Focus . With the rock solid Andrew Whitworth on the opposite side , the Steelers would be wise to get after Smith with a combination of Cameron Heyward and Bud Dupree with a few stunts mixed in to add a layer of confusion . ?  The Ravens did a tremendous job holding Antonio Brown and the Steelers ' passing game in check in Week 16 by playing a lot of bump and run on the outside with two deep safeties . Dre Kirkpatrick and Adam Jones need to duplicate the effort by being physical with Brown and Bryant . ? Doing so will disrupt Roethlisberger ' s timing with his receivers and hopefully lead to some turnovers as it did in Baltimore .  Blitz pickups could be an issue for a Steelers offense that may be without running back DeAngelo Williams due to a foot injury . If he is unable to go , the Bengals should overwhelm his inexperienced backups with blitzes from all angles . Even if Williams does play , he may not be as effective in pass protection with his injured foot . ?  McCarron and the Bengals need to keep the chains moving and to keep the powerful Steelers offense on the sideline as much as possible . The best way to do that is to pound out some yards with Jeremy Hill to get into manageable down and distance situations on third down . Over the last three weeks , opposing teams have had the most success running behind their right guard against Pittsburgh , so Kevin Zeitler should expect a busy day . ?  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
19031,19032,"Billionaire casino mogul James Packer has been declared unwelcome in Sri Lanka , with the country ' s new Prime Minister announcing that the Australian should not ' come to the country in this lifetime ' .  The strong backlash from the Sri Lanka ' s new government come after Packer withdrew from long standing plans to build a 350 million luxury resort in the country ' s ' commercial capital ' , Colombo .  Packer scrapped his development plans in the wake of the government ' s ban on new casinos .  Unphased : Australian billionaire James Packer ( right ) grins during a press conference at the newly opened City of Dreams mega casino in Manila on February 2 , 2015 after the announcement by Sri Lanka ' s Prime Minister . Packer is pictured with his co chairman Lawrence Ho  Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena ( right ) and Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe ( left ) pose for photographers following the swearing in ceremony of the new Cabinet in Colombo on January 12  A woman past an advertising board at the proposed site for a resort and casino complex by Australia ' s Crown Resorts Ltd in Colombo January 29  ' Packer says he will not come . Who asked you to come ? ' Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said in a statement .  ' Please don ' t come not in this lifetime . '  Sri Lanka ' s new government blocked three casinos approved by the former administration , among them Australian gaming mogul James Packer ' s Crown Resorts Ltd .  Packer is unwilling to construct the resort without a casino and has also been deterred by the incoming government ' s choice to revoke tax concessions which had been approved under a former regime .  Packer scrapped his development plans in the wake of the government ' s ban on new casinos as he is unwilling to construct the resort without a gaming venue  Packer ' s much hyped Barangaroo development in Sydney is also under construction  The previous government , then led by president Mahinda Rajapaksa , had plans to turn Colombo into a regional gaming hub in the hope of boosting tourism .  However , on Thursday the government revoked the 5 per cent tax rate that had been granted to Mr Packer .  The deal would have seen Packer save up to 1bn in 10 year tax breaks .  Mr Packer ' s project had been approved in December 2013 but construction was yet to commence .  President Maithripala Sirisena was elected on January 8 this year and appointed Prime Minister Wickremesinghe on January 9 .  During their election campaigntook a firm anti gaming stance .  As a result , they received strong support , particularly from the Buddhist monks who have great influence in the country and have been vocal in their opposition of casinos .  Today Packer was seemingly unphased by the announcement , grinning widely a press conference at the newly opened City of Dreams mega casino in Manila on February 2 , 2015 .  Six gleaming golden towers surrounding a giant egg shaped dome opened as the Philippines ' newest playground for the obscenely rich on February 2 , dwarfing the capital ' s vast slums .  Packer ( far right ) speaks next to a video screen showing Hollywood legends Robert de Niro , Martin Scorcese and Leonardo DiCaprio ( during a press conference at the newly opened City of Dreams mega casino  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
19032,19033,"This attention seeking seal just wants to play !  A new video , with footage captured using a camera mounted on a surfboard , shows an adorable seal climbing all over the surfers and their boards in Lacanau , France .  What started off as a normal morning on the water for Bertrand Chaussade and his friends , was quickly hijacked by the small animal , nicknamed ' You , ' who was also eager to hang ten .  Attention seeking seal named You just wants to play with a bunch of French surfers in Lacanau  The animal climbed onto Bertrand Chaussade board , after burrowing under his hands for a pat  In just a few minutes , You had made himself at home on top of Bertrand ' s surfboard .  Each time he attempted to paddle out , You would pop his head out of the water again and attempt to climb on the board or even Bertrand himself .  Although he attempts to remove the animal , eventually Bertrand relents and allows the cute little guy to sit with him .  On the rare moment that Bertrand could get the animal off the board , he was able to catch a wave or two  As soon as he sat back down , however , the attention loving animal was quickly right back by his side  ' He played with us for the whole morning , ' Bertrand later wrote online  ' He played with us for the whole morning , ' Bertrand later wrote online .  ' He would climb on my board , ask for strokes and push me over .  ' It was like playing with a little dog it was a very playful and loving animal .  ' It was a beautiful encounter and a magical moment ! '  The entire adventure was recorded by a camera mounted to the front of Bertrand ' s surfboard  ' It was like playing with a little dog it was a very playful and loving animal , ' the man said of You  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
19057,19058,"Anger over Mirror article saying Charlie Sheen deserves painful death  British  and  charity the Terence Higgins Trust says that the most common way for  to be passed on is through unprotected vaginal or anal sex . ?   can also be passed on through shared intravenous needles or from mother to baby during childbirth , or as a result of breastfeeding . ?  The risk of passing  to a baby during labour can now be as low as 1 per cent ? if precautions are taken .  Practicing safe sex can protect against the spread of  and other sexually transmitted diseases .  There s still no cure for  but advances in medicine over the last thirty years now mean that it is no longer a condition that has to be life limiting .  Treatments for  and  works by reducing the amount of the  virus in the body and strengthening the immune system . ?  Antiretroviral therapy (  ) involves using a combination of medicines , taken daily , to prevent the virus from multiplying . They can t kill the virus but can prevent the progression to  . A combination of drugs is used because the virus can adapt and become resistant to drug treatments .  Patients who are receiving  require regular blood test monitoring . These tests check how much virus is detectable . The aim of treatment is to achieve an undetectable viral load .  People who are on effective  treatment , and have an undetectable viral load , are non infectious . ?  World Aids Day 2015 around the world in pictures  World Aids Day 2015 around the world in pictures  Indian  volunteers light candles in the shape of a ribbon during an awareness rally on the eve of World Aids Day in Agartala , the capital of northeastern state of Tripura , India  Government health workers wear masks as they display a streamer during a World Aids Day celebration in Manila , Philippines  Filipino women wear colourful costumes during a World Aids Day celebration in Manila  Indonesian students hold a rally to increase awareness of  and  at a university in Surabaya  An Indian college student poses alongside placards during an event at a local hospital to raise awareness about  on the occasion of World Aids Day  People Living with   (  ) lie on the street during a protest demanding the revival of focus on India ' s  programme which has been on the decline in the past few years , in New Delhi  A red ribbon placed at the Puerta de Alcala in Madrid , Spain , by the Collective of Lesbians , Gays , Transexuals and Bisexuals of Madrid (  )  South Korean middle school students hold umbrellas as they form a giant red ribbon during a ceremony to mark World  Day in Seoul  Pakistani people hold placards as they attend a rally to create awareness in Peshawar  People who believe they may have been at risk of  infection can take medication to prevent the  virus from multiplying in the body . ?  To be effective , post exposure prophylaxis or  must be taken with 72 hours of coming into contact with the virus .  Who to tell about a  positive diagnosis ?  Aside from the medical aspects of  and  , there is still much stigma that exists around the diagnosis . It was only 30 years ago that fearsome national  adverts told us there was a danger that is a threat to us all and don t die of ignorance .  It can be very difficult for  positive patients to feel able to disclose their diagnosis . Knowing who to tell and how to tell someone can be a difficult process . Support is available for patients via their  or charities such as Terence Higgins Trust . Support groups are also available for patients . ?  It is a criminal offense to knowingly pass on the virus , as well as other STIs , without first disclosing your diagnosis to your partner . ?  Dr Alexandra Phelan is an   and member of the Pharmacy2u . co . uk Online Doctor Service team  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
19058,19059,"Tehran His wife advised him not to go . His friends said it was too dangerous . But in 2011 veteran American football coach Dan Gaspar ignored the warnings and traveled to the Islamic Republic of Iran Washington ' s longtime political nemesis to help Iran ' s national football team qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil .  "" Sports is my life , "" said Gaspar . "" When I came to Iran it didn ' t have anything to do with political reasons . My personality is one of adventure and curiosity . I wanted to experience a culture in a part of the world I had never been to . ""  The goalkeeping coach ' s journey to Iran is the latest chapter in an international career that ' s taken the 58 year old from the amateur football leagues in the U . S . state of Connecticut where he was born to the football capitals of the world .  The Portuguese American ' s resume includes stints with Major League Soccer ' s   MetroStars and the Portuguese national team featuring megastar Cristiano Ronaldo which qualified for the 2010 World Cup .  In 2011 , Gaspar ' s friend and former colleague Carlos Queiroz was named head of coach of Iran ' s national football team . Soon after , Queiroz invited Gaspar to join the coaching staff in Iran .  At the time , the Iranian government was locked in a bitter political feud with Washington . Iran regularly called the U . S . "" The Great Satan "" .  U . S . politicians frequently described Iran as a rogue nation led by a radical regime , secretly building a nuclear bomb .  When discussing Washington ' s conflict with Tehran , U . S . President Barack Obama said that "" all options are on the table "" , suggesting an attack against Iran was not out of the question .  Despite the ominous climate Gaspar accepted the offer a decision his wife wasn ' t quite comfortable with .  "" She was shocked , "" Gaspar said . "" She was concerned as most family members were . ""  Gaspar admits he had concerns too .  "" When we first arrived , we didn ' t know how to behave and how to react , "" he said .  During his first few months Gaspar didn ' t socialize much and rarely left his apartment , except for trips to football practice .  But Gaspar says he steadily started feeling comfortable .  He says he learned his impressions of Iran , created mostly by the media , didn ' t quite match reality .  "" When you listen to the news and you read the news , you see things . Sometimes during commercials I step off my couch and look out of the balcony and it ' s not what I am seeing , it ' s not what I am reading , it ' s not what I am hearing . ""  Gaspar says what he has observed during his stay in Iran is a nation full of generous people who love their country , their food and their football team .  One of his most memorable moments was meeting former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad .  "" He walked on to the pitch and asked everyone to sit down , and then he himself sat down on the grass , "" Gaspar said . "" I thought it was interesting how he put himself on the same level as everyone else . At the end of the day I saw him as another human being . ""  In recent months , Gaspar ' s stay in Iran has coincided with a push by Tehran to improve relations with Washington , as moderate President Hassan Rouhani tries to settle Iran ' s nuclear dispute with the west .  "" Right now more than ever there seems to be a lot of hope and optimism and a sense of energy that things will get better , "" says Gaspar . "" For me I believe in peace , and , if peace is an end result , then that ' s best for the world . ""  But the highlight of Gaspar ' s Iranian adventure came on the night of June 18 , when Iran ' s national football team recorded a 1 0 win over South Korea to qualify for the World Cup for only the fourth time .  The win sparked frenzied celebrations on the field and in the streets of Tehran .  "" There were a lot of tears , a lot of hugging . You can ' t describe it . Only a few privileged people have the opportunity to climb the mountain and go to the big dance in Brazil in 2014 . ""  Gaspar says his only disappointment that night was not being able to share the win with his wife and family back in America .  His contract in Iran runs through World Cup in Brazil next June and July . He says his focus is to help Iran impress at the tournament and then return to America with some remarkable memories .  "" If I would ' ve listened to the experts , and my friends , and family , I would have never been here in Iran . It ' s been part of my life for three years and the memories will last a lifetime . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
19086,19087,"Authorities have discovered the remains of an infant in the backyard of a Long Island home after child protective officials were sent this week to check on the welfare of a 6 year old .  While they did not positively identify the recovered infant , New York State Police said Saturday that the woman who lives in the home told investigators that the death of one of her children had not been reported . The boy , named Justin Kowalczik , would now be around 3 years old .  "" This interview also revealed a possible location of Justin ' s remains , "" police said of their talks with Heather Kowalczik .  Colorado : Police catch break in missing girl case  Based on the interview , authorities obtained a warrant to search the family ' s property .  "" It is absolutely a suspicious death , "" New York State Police Major Patrick Regan told reporters , saying authorities "" believe the child was there since approximately July of 2010 . ""  The woman ' s boyfriend was identified by police in a news release as "" a person of interest "" in the case . A state police spokesman could not be reached Saturday for further comment . No charges have been filed .  "" The Medical Examiners Office is conducting their investigation and the State Police are waiting for the confirmation of the identity and cause of death of the remains found , "" police said in the news release .  The couple lived together in a two story house in Farmingdale , a Long Island community about 35 miles east of New York City .  According to police , they "" parented "" the 6 year old child whom Suffolk County Child Protective Services employees had gone to check on earlier this week .  It was during that investigation that authorities learned Justin Kowalczik , who was born in 2009 , "" was unaccounted for . ""  Meanwhile , a 9 year old child of Heather Kowalczik and her boyfriend was briefly sought by authorities after he didn ' t show up for school Friday . Authorities said the boy ' s father had driven off with him . Both were later found , state police said .  Campus officer kills naked freshman  5 charged over alleged teacher student relationships  Judge in video beating wants job back  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
19095,19096,"N . C . The debate over which  powerhouse , the Carolina Panthers or the Arizona Cardinals , is the best team in the  has been one of the predominant narratives for much of the season .  It also has been debated whether Panthers quarterback Cam Newton or Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer is the  of the league .  Sunday s  Championship Game at Carolina ' s Bank of America Stadium sets up to be a classic .  It pits the teams with the two best records Carolina is 16 1 , Arizona 14 3 and the quarterbacks who figure to finish high in the  voting .  It pits the league s No . 1 scoring team ( Carolina , 31 . 2 points per game ) against the league ' s No . 2 scoring team ( Arizona , 30 . 6  ) . It pits the league s No . 5 defense ( Arizona ) against the league ' s No . 6 defense ( Carolina ) .  The only thing more fitting would be if this were the Super Bowl .   Nation reporters David Newton ( Panthers ) and Josh Weinfuss ( Cardinals ) are here to break this one down :  Cam Newton and Carson Palmer are both candidates for the   award this season . ?  Newton : Josh , I read that some of the Cardinals were looking forward to a rematch with the Seahawks . Do they look at the Panthers as the easier matchup ?  Weinfuss : I don t get the sense they think the Panthers are the easier matchup . Rather , I think they looked at playing the Seahawks as an opportunity to get even with a team that embarrassed them a few weeks ago . The Cardinals are obviously more familiar with the Seahawks , playing them twice per season , so I think that also had a lot to do with their comments . The Cardinals haven t faced the Panthers since last season ' s playoffs . We all know how that game turned out , but both teams were quite different then . From talking to the Cardinals , they know the Panthers present a unique set of challenges , especially with Newton behind center .  David , how different are the Panthers from a year ago , and how has Newton matured the most ?  Newton : There goes that maturity line again . It seems everyone outside of Carolina believes Newton s improvement has more to do with maturing than simply growing and developing as a quarterback . Some people still focus on him sulking under a towel during a loss three years ago .  As for the first part of your question , the Panthers aren t significantly different . But they are significantly better . Newton and offensive coordinator Mike Shula have a full grasp of what this zone read offense can be . That s why players such as wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr . , who was almost invisible with the Cardinals last season , looked like a Pro Bowler with 10 touchdown catches . Newton also is healthier than he has ever been that s why you ve seen him run at a record pace . But mostly Newton is seeing things like blitzes better than ever . He s making smart decisions . He has become a complete quarterback perhaps the most dangerous quarterback in the  because he can beat you in so many ways .  While we re on quarterbacks , you ve been touting Palmer as the league  for most of the season . I ve been saying the award should go to Newton . Who would you rather have ?  Weinfuss : Great question , and hard to answer . Despite Newton having more postseason experience than Palmer , neither has played in a conference championship game . On the one hand , I d say Palmer because he s older and more experienced . When the pressure is on , he s a quarterback who comes through in the clutch just look at how he led Arizona to an incredible overtime win over Green Bay last weekend . On the other hand , Newton is such a freak physically that I d want him to lead me to the Super Bowl . He s so dynamic and so dangerous he can run like a tailback but then throw a spot on dart down the field . Overall I d side with Palmer and not because I cover him , either . This is the type of game where nerves will be running high and whoever makes the biggest plays late will win . Palmer has proven he s more capable of that .  The Cardinals need to worry about stopping one player and one player only to stamp their ticket to the Super Bowl : Super Cam . Just how good is he , and how tough is he to stop ?  Newton : Because we re in the presidential debate season , let me address something you said before answering your questions . You re saying Palmer will be cooler under fire because he s older and more experienced ? I don t buy that . Newton has been on the big stage before , leading Auburn to a 14 0 record and national championship . He loves the spotlight . He lives for these moments . I don t see nerves being a factor .  Now for your questions . Newton is incredibly tough to stop because his offensive line is playing at a high level , allowing him to use his legs and arm to maximum efficiency . His confidence is at an all time high . The best game plan for stopping him might be to load up on the run and dare him to beat you with his arm . He can do that , but Carolina thrives on balance , ending the season with 27 consecutive regular season games with at least 100 yards rushing . Make Newton one dimensional and see what happens .  Speaking of game plans , what happened to Arizona s running game against Green Bay , and what will that mean if the Cardinals can t run against the league s fourth ranked run defense ?  Weinfuss : If the Cardinals can t run against the Panthers , they ll start throwing the ball . A lot . Against Green Bay , Arizona threw 14 times in the first half , compared to 24 times in the first half . Coach Bruce Arians said the Cardinals have been getting their butts kicked up front in the run game . If the running game gets stuffed early , I wouldn t be surprised if Arizona just abandons it and goes for the win in the air . They have the weapons . Palmer had the best season of his career , and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald has been revitalized .  Arians raved about the interior of the Panthers ' defensive line , but there are people who believe Carolina linebacker Luke Kuechly belongs in the  conversation . Where is this defense s strengths ?  Newton : Kuechly should be considered for  Defensive  . He s playing better now than he did in 2013 , when he won the award . The front seven is as good as any in the  for two reasons well , actually four reasons . Kawann Short and Star Lotulelei at defensive tackle , and Kuechly and Thomas Davis at linebacker . Short is playing better than any tackle in the league if he can create the pressure he s been getting , it will be tough for Palmer to step up in the pocket and make clean throws . There are no two better linebackers than Kuechly and Davis .  I ll give you that Palmer and his receivers have been spectacular . But the Panthers have faced and beaten Aaron Rodgers , Russell Wilson , Andrew Luck ( when he was healthy ) , Drew Brees and Eli Manning this year . They ve given up some yards , sure , but they ' ve survived . The difference is the secondary isn t as strong with cornerback Robert McClain and nickel corner Cortland Finnegan , who weren t on the roster most of the season , starting for injured players . Regardless , this should be a classic .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
19104,19105,"London , England A crowd of students marched through central London on Wednesday , disrupting traffic and shouting slogans in a protest against an increase in university tuition .  Students also protested in other cities across Britain , including Leeds , Cambridge and Birmingham . Police said there had been 15 arrests in London and one each in Oxford and Glasgow , Scotland .  Three of the arrests happened after students filled Whitehall , the street that runs from Trafalgar Square past the prime minister ' s residence toward Parliament . Police penned the protesters in at either end to try to limit criminal damage , and a line of police in fluorescent yellow vests kept the students from reaching Parliament Square .  Solomon , the president of the University of London student union , said police had been containing them for five hours as of 6 p . m . ( 1 p . m .  ) .  "" Obviously , people are starting to get angry now . Everyone is really hungry , "" she said .  But she thought the demonstration was a success . She estimated 20 , 000 to 25 , 000 people had turned out .  Police said they could not give an estimate of the size of the London crowd .  "" Students are starting to self organize , "" Solomon said . "" If we can get 25 , 000 on the streets with no major organization , it ' s a sign of things to come . ""  British universities should not follow the American model , where students have to pay large tuition fees and seek loans or grants themselves if they can ' t pay , she argued . That excludes poor people from higher education , she said .  Students held signs saying "" Stop Education Cuts , "" "" Education not Segregation "" and "" Unite and Fight . ""  They managed to break into a police van inside the containment area in Whitehall after smashing the windshield , spray painting the sides and trying to topple it . Other students stood in their way and tried to stop them .  Some students set off firecrackers in the crowd .  Otherwise , unrest did not appear to reach the level seen during similar protests two weeks ago , when protesters invaded the building holding the headquarters of the Conservative Party .  The students are angry about government plans to allow universities to charge as much as 9 , 000 pounds ( about 14 , 200 ) a year in tuition fees , a substantial rise from the current cap of 3 , 000 pounds ( about 4 , 700 ) .  The government wants to raise the fees and scrap some subsidies for university students as it tries to cut a massive budget deficit .  Defenders of the plan say universities will not necessarily charge the maximum they ' re allowed to , but education experts have disputed that .  In the protests two weeks ago , students spray painted anarchy symbols , broke windows and set off flares at the Conservative headquarters before being forced out .  Some set fires and shot off firecrackers outside the building .  That violence marred what was otherwise a largely peaceful protest . The National Union of Students said 50 , 000 demonstrators were on the streets in that protest .  Two officers were injured in the London activities , London ' s Metropolitan Police said . A female officer broke her hand and a male officer suffered leg injuries , police said .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
19118,19119,"By Chris “Kikila” Perrin In what can only be described as a case that defies the idea of freedom of the press,  News reported... ",fake,news,validation,American football,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
19122,19123,"—   Among the   bureaucrats of the European Union, it is an article of faith that the bloc always emerges stronger from a crisis. The idealistic founders who six decades ago dreamed of stitching warring nations into a peaceful whole knew the path would be bumpy. But always, the union wobbled forward. Now the dream of an integrated and   Europe could sink into the English Channel on Thursday, when British voters decide whether to abandon the bloc. To the   establishment, this latest crisis is considered a peculiarly British affair, in which the villains are opportunistic politicians steering voters toward a delusional,   mistake. That may be. But if Britain does leave, the European Union can also blame its own handling of the crises of the past decade  —   the tribulations of the euro, the debt standoff with Greece and a flawed approach to migration. Each time, the bloc rammed through ugly,   fixes that only inflamed the angry nationalism now spreading across the Continent and Britain. The result was almost a decade of ad hoc crisis management that even many admirers agree has left the European Union badly wounded and its reputation badly damaged. Idealism has given way to disillusionment. The bloc’s elite technocrats are often perceived as out of touch, while European institutions are not fully equipped to address problems like unemployment and economic stagnation. Political solidarity is dissolving into regional divisions of east and west, north and south. The economic implications of a British exit, the   Brexit, are potentially staggering, but many experts agree that regardless of how the British vote, politics across Europe must change. The structure of the euro currency zone is still considered fragile. The bloc’s   economic policy has meant nearly a decade lost in much of   southern Europe, which is still struggling to recover from its economic crisis. “We cannot continue with the status quo,” said Enrico Letta, a former Italian prime minister. “We have to move forward. ” Politics in Europe, as in the United States, have gotten ugly and mean.     parties are gaining strength in Poland, Hungary, Austria, France and Germany. That same nasty tenor has infused the British campaign with hostility and xenophobia toward immigrants. The killing on Thursday of Jo Cox, a member of Parliament who had campaigned for remaining in the union, shocked all of Britain. “It is not very easy being English at the moment,” said Simon Tilford, deputy director of the Center for European Reform in London. “Grim stuff. ” Mr. Tilford falls into an interesting camp: He has long been an outspoken critic of the European Union’s handling of its currency woes, yet he strongly supports Britain’s remaining in the bloc. The benefits far outweigh the disadvantages, he argues, even as he realizes that policy failures by the European Union have helped legitimize the arguments of some who want to leave. “It has made it easier for them to portray the E. U. as a failure,” he said. “Lots of people have become euroskeptics in Britain because they are so angry at what has happened in the eurozone in recent years. ” During the 1990s, Britain was already a member of the European Union and was considering whether to drop its currency, the pound, and join the zone of countries adopting the bloc’s new currency, the euro. (Today, 19 of the 28 countries in the European Union share the euro.) But a crisis in the financial markets in 1992 effectively settled the matter as Britain decided not to join other countries changing to the euro. Those skeptical of using a common currency to drive closer integration in Europe have always argued that joining the euro system would limit policy flexibility, such as the ability to devalue the national currency during economic downturns or use deficit spending to encourage growth. And they said problems would inevitably arise because of the stark economic differences among the countries sharing the currency. Each proved true. The economic crisis in   plunged the bloc into a cycle of crises from which it still has not recovered. The disparities among eurozone countries were exposed, and to save the currency, northern countries led by Germany bailed out their desperate southern counterparts. The eurozone became divided between debtors and creditors rather than equal partners. The   solution of austerity economics inflicted heavy punishment on countries like Greece. And Britain, outside the euro, recovered more quickly from the 2008 crisis than did most members of the currency group. The politics also shifted: Germany, the bloc’s economic powerhouse, steadily accrued more political power inside European Union institutions. Resentment gradually followed, especially in Greece, the weakest and most indebted member of the eurozone. Populist anger erupted in January 2015 when Greek voters swept aside the country’s political establishment and elected as prime minister a radical leftist, Alexis Tsipras. Mr. Tsipras promised to end austerity, write down Greek debt and change Europe by leading a clash of ideas against the   consensus. It was political theater, and the Greeks would badly misplay their hand. But what followed was a clash of cultures, not ideas: Union officials refused to budge on Greece’s debt obligations, and after months of negotiation and brinkmanship, Greece nearly collapsed into bankruptcy before acceding to demands from Brussels. The Greek standoff was a demonstration not just of European Union power politics, but also of the bloc’s penchant for muddling through. The bloc agreed on a new bailout package for Greece that most analysts regard as a stopgap solution. Greece’s debt is now higher than before, and analysts warn that another euro crisis could still occur. “There is a lot of criticism of the German way of handling the eurozone,” said Daniela Schwarzer, the director of the Europe Program for the German Marshall Fund in Berlin. “That bleeds into the perception that the European Union is not functioning properly. ” It is this perceived ineffectiveness of mainstream political parties at the European and national levels that has emboldened populist or   parties from the left and the right. Last year,   parties seized on the migration crisis  —   with its images of hundreds of thousands of refugees pouring through Europe  —   to provoke public anxiety. Led by Hungary, some countries began erecting fences to block migrants despite the European Union system of open borders. European leaders struggled to mount a coherent response, and Chancellor Angela Merkel’s popularity plummeted after she opened Germany to Syrian refugees. She has since tightened restrictions and championed a controversial deal with Turkey that has sharply reduced the migrant flow into the Continent. In the British referendum,   forces have sought to drive support for the campaign to leave the union by depicting the Continent as being under invasion from migrants. A campaign poster unveiled last week by Nigel Farage, the U. K. Independence Party leader, showed a parade of   migrants. It was pilloried as blatant xenophobia. But it is little different from the propaganda of   politicians in Hungary or Poland. Should it remain in the bloc, Britain could emerge as a powerful force, with more clout to force the changes that most analysts believe are necessary. Even among top officials, there is a growing recognition that Europe’s political mainstream has misjudged the public appetite for rapid European integration. “The specter of a breakup is haunting Europe,” warned Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, which comprises the heads of state of the bloc’s members. “We need to understand the necessity of the historical moment. ” It is easy to forget that the European Union is an audacious political experiment to wash away the antagonisms of World War  and build a new Europe. Unity required putting aside the ancient rivalry between France and Germany, and binding together countries with different languages, cultures and economies. Generations growing up between the 1980s and the 2000s saw how an expanding Europe brought tangible benefits  —   borderless travel, job and educational mobility within the bloc, rising prosperity. Poorly governed countries came under pressure from Brussels to improve. But as the bloc expanded,   also became more unwieldy. Frictions inevitably arose, and old resentments between member states were never fully scrubbed away. Tensions also increased between European institutions and national governments over sovereignty. This has meant little political space for the deep reforms  —   and possible further integration of political powers  —   that some advocates say are needed in Brussels. Many analysts say that even if Britain remains in the bloc, the likelihood of the union’s undertaking significant political reforms is slim until after the national elections in France and Germany in 2017. Doing something bold in Brussels before then could spur an electoral backlash. So the European Union will wait to see what Britain does, and then, possibly, wait some more. “What has happened to you, the Europe of humanism, the champion of human rights, democracy and freedom?” Pope Francis asked last month during his acceptance speech for the Charlemagne Prize, awarded for service toward European unification. He added, “What has happened to you, Europe, the mother of peoples and nations, the mother of great men and women who upheld, and even sacrificed their lives for, the dignity of their brothers and sisters?”",true,news,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
19123,19124,"Scientists have created a map of the matter in a segment of the universe , which could reveal how the universe came to be .  The incredible ' pencil beam ' shows the distribution of the cosmic web across a slice of the sky 10 . 8 billion years ago .  Amazingly it accurately predicts where galaxies will appear and it could help us understand the evolution of the universe , both into the past and the future .  Researchers led by the Max Planck Institute of Astronomy in Germany have observed a ' pencil beam ' of the universe ' s cosmic web . This animation shows the slice of the night sky seen by the team . Denser regions of matter are bright , while the darker regions show the ' voids ' between galaxies  The research was led by Dr Khee Gan Lee from the Max Planck Institute of Astronomy in Germany .  The three dimensional map shows the ' adolescent ' universe as it appeared just three billion years after the Big Bang , which occurred about 13 . 8 billion years ago .  Using a technique similar to an X ray computer tomographic (  ) scan used in medicine , the researchers revealed the dense grid of light from background galaxies .  The snippet we see here , though , merely predicts where galaxies will appear based on the density of matter and dark matter in certain areas of the universe the cosmic web before galaxies formed .  ' The cosmic web is a nickname for the way in which matter is distributed on the largest scales of millions of light years , ' explains Dr Lee to MailOnline .  ' This pattern has been seen in the nearby universe when astronomers plot the positions of a large numbers of galaxies .  ' In the nearby universe , we see the galaxies arranged along the web like filaments that intersect in ' galaxy clusters ' .  However , at greater distances it becomes progressively harder to measure large numbers of galaxy positions to do this kind of mapping , therefore our '  scan ' instead uses the imprint of hydrogen gas , which also traces matter , to map out the cosmic web in 3D .  ' The structures in our map represent the cosmic web at a much earlier stage of its growth , when the universe was merely a quarter its current age . '  This is made possible as the light from background galaxies passes through hydrogen gas in the universe .  In the map the lighter areas show regions of high density matter where galaxies would ultimately form , while the black regions show ' voids ' the space between galaxies .  The astronomers used the Keck I telescope at the W . M . Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea , Hawaii to make the map .  In total they managed to observe the segment of space for four hours , although they had been hoping for longer .  However that was enough time to create the three dimensional section of the universe almost 11 billion light years away .  Speaking to MailOnline , Dr Xavier Prochaska from the University of California Santa Cruz , who was part of the research team , commented on the significance of the 3D map .  ' At the top level it ' s a test of our current theory of cosmology , ' he tells MailOnline .  ' It shows us how the universe forms over cosmic time . '  He described the segment as a ' pinhole through the universe ' or a ' pencil beam ' showing its grand history .  Lead researcher Dr Lee , meanwhile , adds : ' This is the first time people have used light to map the universe in such a way in 3D .  ' They have used it in the past , but previously it has always been to study the cosmic web in 1D , directionally along the line of sight . '  The segment , seen here , was 100 million light years in length , 2 . 5 million light years wide and six million light years tall . It was made using the Keck I observatory and peering further and further into space . The results reveal the density of matter in this region of the universe , with brighter regions containing more  The snippet of the universe seen here was taken 10 . 8 billion years ago , and predicts where galaxies will appear based on the density of matter and dark matter in certain areas the cosmic web . This is made possible as the light from background galaxies passes through hydrogen gas in the universe  The astronomers used the Keck I telescope at the W . M . Keck Observatory ( shown ) on Mauna Kea , Hawaii to make the map . In total they managed to observe the segment of space for four hours , although they had been hoping for longer . In December this year they will attempt to make longer observations  This is also the first time the cosmic web has been mapped at such a vast distance .  Since observing to such immense distances is also looking back in time , the map reveals the early stages of cosmic structure formation when the universe was only a quarter of its current age .  This was during an era when the galaxies were undergoing a major ' growth spurt ' .  The map provides a tantalising glimpse of giant structures extending across millions of light years , and paves the way for more extensive studies that should reveal not only the structure of the cosmic web , but also details of how it works .  This includes the ways that gas moved around the web into galaxies , providing the raw material for the growth of galaxies through the formation of stars and planets .  Dr Lee explains that the map should be able to predict the existence of these galaxies and perhaps even some too small to see by other methods .  And he also says it could help us understand the physics that govern galaxy formation , and even understand the future of the universe .  ' An understanding of the past will help us better predict the future of the universe , ' he says .  The researchers add they will be hoping to repeat the experiment later this year , possibly in December , and map an even larger segment of the universe .  This is the first time the cosmic web has been mapped ( shown ) at such a vast distance . Since observing to such immense distances is also looking back in time , the map reveals the early stages of cosmic structure formation when the universe was only a quarter of its current age  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
19125,19126,"On the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii many have been remembering all those who lost their lives on that fateful day. It was what brought the United States into  and the date, as  said, will live  in infamy. Yet, as most treat December 7, as a solemn day, Newt Gingrich just tweeted out what sounded like praise for what the Japanese did to us that dreadful day.Gingrich tweeted out: 75 years ago the Japanese displayed professional brilliance and technological power launching surprises from Hawaii to the Philippines. 75 years ago the Japanese displayed professional brilliance and technological power launching surprises from Hawaii to the Philippines  Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) December 7, 2016 Professional brilliance and technological power launching surprises ?? Really? That s what Gingrich thinks of when he think of the attacks on Pearl Harbor. How the Japanese surprised attacked us?2.403 Americans died during the attack at Pearl Harbor, with 1,178 wounded.Gingrich thinks that is  professional brilliance ?This tweet is absolutely disrespectful to all those who lost their lives and their families. There really couldn t be a more weird and awkward tweet to put out on the day we remember Pearl Harbor.And while relations with Japan have since been mended, we must never think what they did that day was at all  brilliant. For goodness sake, someone please take away Gingrich s Twitter privileges. He clearly is out of his mind, much like his pal Donald Trump.Featured Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
19127,19128,"Accidents happen , said the Supreme Court , but the criminal penalties can still be tough , at least for one "" bungling bank robber . ""  The case involved Christopher Michael Dean , arrested after he and a partner robbed a bank five years ago .  By a 7 2 vote , the justices ruled Wednesday that the sentencing for a felon who accidentally fired a gun during a crime should be the same as if he had fired intentionally .  The case involved Christopher Michael Dean , arrested after he and a partner robbed a Rome , Georgia , bank five years ago .  The masked Dean had waved a gun and ordered patrons and staff to get down . While grabbing bills in one hand , the gun he was carrying in his other hand went off . The bullet hit a partition , and no one was injured .  After the shot , Dean cursed and immediately ran out of the bank . Witnesses later testified he seemed surprised the weapon had gone off .  Dean was charged in federal court and admitted committing the robbery . His sentence included a mandatory 10 year prison term for "" discharging "" a weapon during a crime . He appealed , saying the sentencing enhancement required proof that he intended to discharge the firearm , and his actions were accidental .  But in his majority opinion , Chief Justice John Roberts said federal law "" does not require that the discharge be done knowingly or intentionally . ""  In what has become a regular feature of his writing , the 54 year old chief justice displayed a sense of creativity and sly humor in his conclusions . He openly called Dean the "" bungling bank robber "" and quoted one patron ' s reaction to the bank gunshot : "" Melissa in the lobby popped up and said , ' Oh , my God , has he shot Nora ? ' "" Nora turned out to be all right .  Justice John Paul Stevens dissented in the case , noting , "" Accidents happen , but they seldom give rise to criminal liability . Indeed , if they cause no harm they seldom give rise to any liability . The court nevertheless holds that petitioner is subject to a mandatory additional sentence a species of criminal liability for an accident that caused no harm . ""  He was supported by Justice Stephen Breyer .  Roberts , however , saved the best for last in his bench remarks , when summarizing the ruling . "" An individual who brings a loaded weapon to commit a crime runs the risk that the gun will discharge accidentally , "" he said .  "" Those criminals wishing to avoid the penalty for an inadvertent discharge can lock or unload the firearm , handle it with care during the underlying violent or drug trafficking crime , leave the gun at home , or best yet avoid committing the felony in the first place , "" Roberts wrote  That brought barely contained laughter in the audience of several hundred gathered in the courtroom .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
19135,19136,"The World Trade Centre , the Sky Tower and San Francisco City Hall light up blue , white and red . Photos Twitter Chris Loufte  Auckland ' s Sky Tower has tonight lit up in the colours of the French flag to show solidarity with Paris in the wake of today ' s terrorist attacks .  It ' s joined a host of iconic buildings around the world to be illuminated in blue , white and red .  New Zealand ' s hearts are with you tonight and the days to come France Prayers4Paris ? ? ? ? ? ? Auckland sky tower lit up pic . twitterweblink FKkg24CCqj  SkyCity chief executive Nigel Morrison said he was "" appalled by the atrocities "" that occurred in Paris and the gesture was a mark of sympathy and respect for the French people .  "" I ' m sure all of Auckland and New Zealand stands beside France tonight . Lighting the Sky Tower in the colours of the tricolore is one small way to show we care , "" Mr Morrison  The Sky Tower is one of many major buildings and monuments around the world changing colour today .  The Eiffel Tower has gone dark in memory of the attack victims .  The last time the Eiffel Tower was dark was for 9 11 . pic . twitterweblink QWyRnYRI63  Locally , Auckland Museum has also lit up in blue , white and red .  The spire of New York ' s One World Trade Centre was also lit in blue , white and red , as was Wembley Stadium , the London Eye and National Gallery in England , City Hall in Rome and the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro .  The Sydney Opera House is also expected to follow suit this evening .  The Sky Tower will remain blue , white and red until Monday .  Auckland Council and Mayor Len Brown have expressed their sympathy for the people of Paris after today ' s terror attacks .  In a statement this evening on behalf of the city the mayor and councillors offered its sympathy and support to Parisians .  "" They Mayor and Auckland Council , on behalf of the people of Auckland , expresses its sympathy for the people of Paris following the events of the last 24 hours , "" it read .  The entire world is lit up by the colours of France to show solidarity with victims of Paris attack PrayForParis pic . twitterweblink QEXYq4yATL  ? Farhan Khan Virk ( FarhanKVirk ) November 14 , 2015  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,present
19141,19142,"State Department officials should serve where they are needed even in war torn Iraq , U . S . Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday .  U . S . Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says that "" people need to serve where they are needed . ""  Rice was responding to foreign service officers ' objections to the possibility of "" directed assignments "" in Iraq . The issue has caused an uproar in the State Department , resulting in a contentious town hall style meeting Wednesday .  The new directives would be needed if enough qualified foreign service officers don ' t step forward to fill open positions at the U . S . Embassy in Baghdad .  If the State Department enforces directed assignments , it will be the first time since the Vietnam War era .  One official called the order to serve in Iraq "" a potential death sentence "" during the town meeting .  The State Department already has begun notifying about 200 people considered prime candidates . Those chosen will be given 10 days to respond , according to last week ' s announcement . Unless they have a valid medical reason to refuse , those who decline could face dismissal , it said .  Wednesday ' s heated meeting was replayed on an internal State Department television channel in Washington several times and talked about widely .  Some at the hourlong meeting questioned why they were not told of the policy change directly , learning about it instead from news organizations last week . Watch the diplomats exchange angry words  "" I just have no respect for the whole process because you ' ve demonstrated a lack of respect for your own colleagues , "" said foreign service officer Jack Croddy .  "" Thank you for that comment . It ' s full of inaccuracies , but that ' s  , "" Harry Thomas Jr . , director general of the foreign service , shot back .  Others pointed out the risks of such assignments , considering the dangers of a war zone , lack of security and regular rocket attacks on U . S . personnel .  Rice , who did not attend the meeting , tried to calm things down Friday by underscoring the State Department ' s attempts to do "" everything that we can to try and protect our diplomats . ""  However , she said , "" This is one of the highest priority tasks of the United States , and we ' re going to meet our obligations . ""  Speaking to reporters en route to Turkey and the Mideast , she said , "" I don ' t know if we will have direct assignments or not , but we are one foreign service , and people need to serve where they are needed . ""  The secretary sent out a cable to State Department employees worldwide encouraging them to serve in Iraq .  "" This year U . S . Ambassador Ryan Crocker has identified the need for additional positions to more effectively accomplish our mission in Iraq , "" Rice said in the cable .  Rice said she has decided to go forward with the identification of officers to serve , "" should it prove necessary to direct assignments . ""  "" Should others step forward , as some already have , we will fill these new jobs as we have before with volunteers . However , regardless of how the jobs may be filled , they must be filled , "" she said .  Rice earlier said reports that the State Department was finding it hard to coax foreign service employees into Iraq "" couldn ' t be further from the truth . ""  The assignments are new positions . Fifteen people have stepped forward to volunteer for Iraq service since the new policy was announced October 26 , department spokesman Sean McCormack said .  McCormack rejected comments by Rep . Duncan Hunter , R California , that State Department employees are "" nervous Nellies "" and that wounded U . S . military veterans should be asked to fill the Iraq vacancies .  McCormack said until now the State Department has been successful in filling jobs in Iraq with volunteers . Since 2003 , more than 1 , 500 personnel have volunteered to go to Iraq , he said . But with the expansion of the staff in Iraq this year , 58 spots were left open .  "" They are serving in dangerous and challenging places , "" he said . "" We have a lot of brave people who are stepping up to the plate in Anbar and Basra and Baghdad and Kabul and a lot of other places that are not necessarily in the headlines . ""  State Department employees have been killed in Iraq , but McCormack could not say how many . E mail to a friend  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
19145,19146,"Reuters) - A U.S. consulate worker detained by Turkish authorities last week saw his lawyer on Friday.  We had the necessary meeting with my client,  lawyer Halit Akalp told Turkish television channels as he left a jail complex at Silivri, west of Istanbul.  There were no restrictions on our meeting.  Metin Topuz was arrested over alleged links to the network of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused by Ankara of orchestrating last year s coup attempt. His arrest sparked a dispute between the  allies and suspension of visa services. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
19149,19150,"That Explains The Sudden Interest For Hillary On College Campuses The  media  has been hiding Hillary s tiny crowds for over a year and suddenly, when she goes to a college town they    report  crowds of 10,000+.Manufactured crowds for a lying corrupt presidential candidate. Hillary Rotten Clinton is truly running the worst and most crooked Democrat campaign ever Dear Hillary Clinton's campaign,Please stop sending me e-mails, I don't actually like you, I'm only going to your event for extra credit.  Annastasia (@Anna_Hindley_) October 8, 2016College professors giving extra credit to students who attend Rotten Hillary rallies. pic.twitter.com/fiapMRDInp  Mike Cernovich   (@Cernovich) October 11, 2016",fake,dataset,validation,American football,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
19151,19152,"Donald J. Trump said on Tuesday that he had no intention of pressing for an investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server or the financial operations of her family’s foundation, dropping the “lock her up” pledge that became a rallying cry for his campaign for the White House. Mr. Trump, who branded his rival “Crooked Hillary” and said she would go to jail if he were president, said in an interview with reporters and editors at The New York Times that he was no longer interested in pursuing Mrs. Clinton, in part because he wanted to heal the wounds of a divisive campaign. “I don’t want to hurt the Clintons, I really don’t,” Mr. Trump said during the interview. “She went through a lot and suffered greatly in many different ways, and I am not looking to hurt them at all. The campaign was vicious. ” His reversal on prosecuting Mrs. Clinton was particularly striking given the outsize role the issue played during the presidential campaign, in which her use of a private email server as secretary of state became a prominent theme, and one she has blamed for her loss to Mr. Trump. Mr. Trump said he wanted to “move forward” from the subject. Without elaborating, he said that “we’ll have people that do things,” perhaps a reference to the F. B. I. or Republicans who might continue to press for prosecutions in the email or foundation cases. But the   made clear that he would not seek to pursue an investigation himself nor make it a priority after he assumes office. The decision angered some of his most fervent supporters, who immediately criticized his seeming change of heart. “Broken Promise,” blared the headline on Breitbart News, a conservative news site that has strongly backed Mr. Trump. “It’s not something that I feel very strongly about,” Mr. Trump said at The Times, unlike health care or immigration. “This has been a very painful period of time. ” Clinton aides did not respond to a request for comment about Mr. Trump’s remarks. During their second debate, Mr. Trump turned to Mrs. Clinton and vowed, “If I win, I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation, because there’s never been so many lies, so much deception. ” After Mr. Trump’s turnaround on Tuesday, the conservative commentator Ann Coulter, one of his staunchest supporters during the campaign, suggested on Twitter that Mr. Trump was overstepping his role. “Whoa! I thought we elected @realDonaldTrump president,” she wrote. “Did we make him the FBI,  DOJ? His job is to pick those guys, not do their jobs. ” Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, a conservative advocacy group that has been a relentless critic of Mrs. Clinton, said on Tuesday that it would be a mistake for Mr. Trump to drop the threat of appointing a special counsel to look into her email use. Mr. Fitton said that although the F. B. I. had already investigated the matter twice, that inquiry was flawed. His group has gained access to thousands of pages of Mrs. Clinton’s State Department emails through lawsuits and is pressing its case in court even after her defeat. Representative Jason Chaffetz, a Utah Republican who leads the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said last week on Fox News that his committee would continue to investigate the matter as well because “we’ve got to get to the truth. ” Mr. Chaffetz’s office said on Tuesday he was unavailable for comment about Mr. Trump’s statements. Although the F. B. I. ’s email investigation is closed, the agency still has an open inquiry into the Clinton Foundation. That inquiry began after the 2015 publication of “Clinton Cash,” a book by Peter Schweizer that asserted that some foreign entities had given money to the foundation in return for State Department favors when Mrs. Clinton was there. The Clintons have denied the assertions. The F. B. I. and Justice Department conduct their criminal investigations largely independently from the White House, so Mr. Trump cannot tell agents to close their cases. A president ordering the F. B. I. to stop a politically sensitive case would be a major scandal. “It does seem like an extraordinary breach of protocol for him to get involved in that decision,” Glen A. Kopp, a former federal prosecutor in New York, said of the  . “I know of no recent circumstances when the president ordered an attorney general not to pursue a criminal matter. ” If, as president, Mr. Trump were to order the F. B. I. director, James B. Comey, to close the foundation inquiry, Mr. Comey could choose to rebuff him. F. B. I. directors are given   terms to insulate them from political pressure, but the president still has the power to fire a director, as President Bill Clinton did with William S. Sessions in 1993 after a Justice Department investigation uncovered ethical abuses by Mr. Sessions. In an interview last week with  News’s “60 Minutes,” Mr. Trump said he had not yet decided whether to dismiss Mr. Comey over his handling of the Clinton email investigation, saying the director “may have had very good reasons for doing what he did. ” As a practical matter, though, Mr. Trump’s remarks will probably have little impact. The investigation into Mrs. Clinton’s emails is already closed and, while the one into her family’s foundation remains open, senior F. B. I. officials and career Justice Department officials have said there is little evidence justifying moving forward with a case. When the case comes up for review, senior agents and prosecutors may decide to shut it down, but it will not be because of Mr. Trump’s remarks. While the  ’s decision is likely to frustrate investigators at the F. B. I. who are fiercely protective of their independence to follow the facts they uncover, some legal experts applauded Mr. Trump’s decision to not pursue investigations into Mrs. Clinton’s emails or her family foundation. Rory K. Little, a professor at the University of California Hastings College of the Law, said he was inclined to support both moves by Mr. Trump. A decision to shut down an investigation, he said, “is not out of step with constitutional constraints,” as the Constitution gives the president the power to issue pardons for federal crimes.",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
19162,19163,"A 13 year old boy has committed suicide after enduring years of bullying for being small , his devastated family and friends have revealed .  The bullies tormented Johnathon Short Scaff over his slight stature he weighed just 89 pounds and even told him to kill himself the day before his death , his best friend said .  On Wednesday , the teenager was found hanged in his bedroom at his family ' s Scioto County , Ohio home by his older sister .  His mother , Trisha Howard Scaff , said her son , who had often tried to hide that he ' d been bullied , had been his usual friendly , smiley self just an hour earlier .  Loss : Jonathon Short Scaff , 13 , was found dead in his bedroom last week after enduring years of bullying  ' I got home from work that morning , and he rushed out to the van , and even opened up the van door for me , ' she told  . ' He said , "" Hey Mom . How was your first day at work ? "" Not an hour later is when we found him . '  She said that he had been bullied for years over his height and had taken his concerns to the principal of Minford Middle School , where he was a student . But nothing changed , she said .  ' People made fun of him for being so little all through school , ' says Trisha . ' But last year is when it starting going pretty far . '  His best friend , Jordan Fyffe , said Johnathon was picked on for not being able to keep up with sports players at school . He said he witnessed the bullies taunting Johnathon just a day before his death .  Devastated : His mother Trisha said he had been smiling and polite just an hour before he took his life  Family : The bullies reportedly targeted Johnathon , pictured with his mother and sisters , for being small  ' When I heard , "" Go kill yourself , "" I turned to Scaff , and asked , "" Did those guys just tell you to go kill yourself ? "" ' Fyffe said . ' He looked at me and teared up , because he knew what was happening .  ' I asked , "" Are you alright ? "" He said , "" yes . I ' m tough . I ' ll get through this . "" I said , "" Yes , you are "" . '  After football practice , he waited for Johnathon , he told  .  ' He came back up with a bunch of bruises and a cut beneath his eye , ' Fyffe recounted . ' He started crying and I asked him , "" Are you alright ? "" He said , "" ' I ' ll be fine "" . '  The school district has refused to comment .  The Scioto County Sheriff is conducting an investigation on the death , and Jordan and Johnathon ' s sister have been questioned about the bullying . An autopsy is also being carried out .  Heartbroken : His devastated mother , Trisha Scaff , said that the school had failed to stop the bullies  At a loss : His best friend , Jordan Fyffe , said he had heard bullies telling Johnathon to kill himself a day before his death and that his friend had become emotional but promised him he ' d be okay  ' Bottom line is , this bullying has got to stop , and these schools have got to take it more serious , ' his mother said .  On Facebook she said she hoped that the bullies would be dealt with appropriately .  His parents now plan on moving to another home , his mother said .  For confidential support in the U . S . , call the National suicide Prevention Line on 1 800 273 825 . In the U . K . , contact the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90 or visit a local Samaritans branch , see www . samaritans . org for details .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
19167,19168,"The sports landscape is littered with failed professional football leagues, such is the dominance of the N. F. L. Yet the sports agent Don Yee, who represents New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, thinks he may have found a model that will work: a league for   to    players who skip college to play professionally right away. Most fledgling leagues, like the defunct U. F. L. or the X. F. L. had rosters filled with castoffs who had gone undrafted out of college or who had bounced around pro teams. The quality of play was uneven, while games often overlapped with the N. F. L. and N. C. A. A. calendars, making it hard to gain attention. Yee and his investment group see their new Pacific Pro Football league, which is expected to start in summer 2018, as more of a development league filled with players who want to immediately start playing a   game while getting a paycheck, rather than risking injury on a college team and receiving no compensation. “Most other leagues usually took players who were deemed not good enough for the N. F. L. ,” Yee said. “We’re now trying to go to the head of the line at the buffet instead of getting the   ones. ” Despite the long odds of success, Yee is not the only person trying to get a football league off the ground. In April, a new spring league will roll out in West Virginia, where players “who may have been overlooked by the N. F. L. C. F. L. and other professional leagues” can pay $350 to showcase their talents in a   season, the league’s website says. The N. F. L. also has toyed with starting a developmental league. In October, Commissioner Roger Goodell said the team owners had discussed the idea of working with 300 to 400 players to make them “ready to play as quickly as possible,” though nothing concrete emerged from the discussions. Other leagues already employ teenagers who skip college. Major League Baseball clubs draft young players and send them to their academies or minor league affiliates. Many N. H. L. teams have players as young as 18 on their rosters. Players can join N. B. A. teams if they are 19 and a year removed from high school. (In 2001, the N. B. A. started its own development league, where the players can be 18.) N. F. L. teams can draft only players who are three years removed from their high school class’s graduation, a rule the league said is intended to protect younger, less physically developed players. “The physical, mental and emotional demands of our sport would make it almost impossible for someone to have success in the N. F. L. at an earlier age,” said Brian McCarthy, a league spokesman. Richard Lapchick, the director of the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, or Tides, said that the N. F. L. had an incentive not to undercut college football, which he said was a “great feeder system. ” Even with an alternate league, college football, where players get scholarships but are not paid, would remain a strong draw for high school players because of the potential exposure, he said. He added that requiring athletes to spend more time in college makes it more likely that they will be prepared for life in the N. F. L. and after they retire from the game. “I don’t know how broad the interest in academic development is by the pro leagues, but someone who has a broader range of interests has a more balanced life and has the potential to be a better athlete,” he said. Yee acknowledged that his venture was risky, something his advisers have echoed. Fans already have a lot of options for watching college and professional football, and just paying for the necessary training facilities and transportation could be enough to bankrupt a new league. “I’ve danced with at least three of these groups before, but money was always what killed them,” said Jim Steeg, who is an unpaid adviser to Yee and ran the Super Bowl for the N. F. L. for decades. Steeg estimated that between $5 million and $7 million would be needed to cover the costs of each team for one season, along with a comparable sum to run the league office. Still, Steeg was encouraged that Yee was starting small and aiming for a unique pool of players, and that he had already received funding from an “angel” investor. Yee said he hoped to attract enough money in the next phase of   to cover the cost of a first season. The league would have four teams based in Southern California, both to reduce expenses and because the region has so many young players. The league would have a   schedule plus playoffs, and finish before the college season begins. Players would be paid an average of $50, 000 in salary and benefits, including workers’ compensation, a 401( k) plan and free community college tuition. Yee wants to partner with companies in the area to create internships for the players to prepare them for when their football days are over. In addition to Steeg, Yee said he was being advised by, among others, the former N. F. L. coach Mike Shanahan Mike Pereira, who was in charge of officiating for the N. F. L. and the  analyst Adam Schefter. Ed McCaffrey, a former Denver Broncos wide receiver, is a  . Having enough money to get a league off the ground is one challenge. Finding a way to publicize it is another. With television already cluttered with dozens of games each week, the chances of a new league finding space on a widely distributed cable network are remote. Yee said that internet giants like Amazon and Netflix were looking for sports content to distribute. It is far from clear, however, whether one of those companies will pay Yee’s league to show games.",true,news,validation,Other sport,Economy,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
19172,19173,"A surprise appearance by WikiLeaks . org founder Julian Assange at the  Global conference in Oxford , England , has cast new light on the activities of the site and its mysterious leader .  Assange ' s site , which released video of a U . S . air strike in Iraq that killed a dozen civilians , claims to have revealed more classified intelligence documents than the rest of the world ' s media combined .  Explaining during his appearance Friday why WikiLeaks has been keeping a lower profile since releasing the video , Assange said it was working on raising funds and strengthening its technical infrastructure to handle more traffic while accumulating "" an enormous quantity of whistle blower disclosures . ""  He later told reporters that "" there are many things which are very explosive . ""  Assange , 39 , said the site operates from several countries , including Sweden and Belgium , where laws provide more protection for its disclosures .  He said he canceled plans to travel to the United States for three public appearances , citing what he described as indications that U . S . officials might not follow the "" rule of law "" in dealing with him . He also mentioned advice from investigative journalist Seymour Hersh to be cautious . He said U . S . officials have since adopted a more "" reasonable "" stance .   Global is an annual conference hosted by the nonprofit organization  , named after the three subjects it first began discussing in the 1980s : technology , entertainment and design . It has expanded its scope in the years since and its website now hosts more than 700 talks on a wide range of topics .  Learn more about speakers at the  Global conference  In an onstage discussion with  curator Chris Anderson , Assange was asked whether is was true he had attended 37 schools as a child . He explained it was a consequence of two things : his parents were in the movie business and were later "" on the run from a cult . "" Assange said he became a "" journalist activist "" in his teenage years and was prosecuted for it .  According to political magazine Mother Jones : "" As a teenager in Melbourne , he belonged to a hacker collective called the International Subversives . He eventually pled guilty to 24 counts of breaking into Australian government and commercial websites to test their security gaps , but was released on bond for good behavior . ""  Asked about his core values , Assange said , "" Capable , generous men do not create victims , they nurture victims , "" attributing the thought to his father and others .  "" I ' m a combative person , so I ' m not actually so big on the nurture , but there is another way of nurturing victims , which is to police perpetrators of crimes . And so that is something that has been in my character for a long time . ""  Read more about Assange and his site  Assange said the organization gets material from whistle blowers in a variety of ways including postal mail . He said WikiLeaks vets it , releases it to the public and then defends itself against "" political or legal attack . "" He said the organization rarely knows the identity of the source of the leak .  "" If we find out at some stage , we destroy that information as soon as possible , "" he said .  Pfc . Bradley E . Manning , 22 , of Potomac , Maryland , has been charged with eight violations of the U . S . Criminal Code for allegedly illegally transferring classified data , including the video that wound up on WikiLeaks . He has been accused of "" wrongfully introducing a classified video of a military operation filmed at or near Baghdad , Iraq "" around July 12 , 2007 , "" onto his personal computer , a nonsecure information system . ""  Watch the video of the airstrike  Assange said at a news conference after his appearance Friday that Manning "" is a political prisoner being held in the nation of Kuwait , effectively keeping him away from the press and effective legal representation . ""  He said WikiLeaks is providing legal assistance to Manning without saying whether he was the source of the video .  "" Obviously , we cannot pick and choose , "" said Assange , adding the site has to defend everyone who faces serious charges as a result of material posted on WikiLeaks .  The video shows aerial footage of an attack by a U . S . Apache helicopter that killed civilians , including two journalists from the Reuters news service . WikiLeaks posted it in April . The site said the video "" clearly shows the unprovoked slaying of a wounded Reuters employee and his rescuers . ""  U . S . military authorities have warned that the publication of classified documents on WikiLeaks could aid in the planning of terrorist attacks and harm national security .  Assange denied reports that WikiLeaks had received hundreds of thousands of classified U . S . cables in addition to the Iraq video . He said the site would have released the cables if it had received them .  Some information , such as private medical records , should be kept secret , Assange said , but he did not extend that view to classified documents . The fact that governments spend money to keep such information secret , Assange said , is a good indication that releasing the information can achieve reform .  Anderson asked the audience for a show of hands as to whether he was a hero or a dangerous troublemaker . The vast majority signaled that they viewed him as a hero .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
19192,19193,"Anyone suspected of being a potential sex offender could have their internet use curbed and be banned from spending time with children without ever being convicted of an offence .  Sexual Risk Orders will be handed to anyone who ' poses a risk of sexual harm ' in Britain or overseas and will last for at least two years .  Ministers said it was vital to making it easier for police to monitor sex offenders and would mean the  has some of the toughest powers in the world .  Monitoring : Anyone suspected of posing a risk of sexual harm could have their internet use curbed or be banned from being left alone with under 16s ( file picture )  Under the new regime police or National Crime Agency (  ) officers will be able to apply to the magistrates ' courts for a new Sexual Risk Order aimed at limiting the activities of individuals who they judge to be a risk but have not charged with an offence .  A range of restrictions can be applied to individuals under the powers , such as limiting their internet use , stopping them from being alone with a child under 16 or preventing travel abroad .  And breaching the order could see a person jailed for up to five years .  Policing and criminal justice minister Damian Green said : ' The  has some of the toughest powers in the world to deal with sex offenders .  Warning : Home Office minister Damian Green said Britain would have some of the toughest powers in the world to deal with sex offenders  ' Today , we are going even further by giving police and National Crime Agency officers the power to place greater restrictions on any person they judge to be a risk .  ' Our proposals support the Childhood Lost campaign to tighten the law on sex offenders and make it easier for police to monitor them .  ' This is part of ongoing work by the Home Office led national group to look at how the police and other agencies can better identify and deal with sexual offending , ensuring victims are at the heart of the criminal justice system . '  The proposals , tabled in the Antisocial Behaviour , Crime and Policing Bill , also include a new Sexual Harm Prevention Order which can be applied to anyone convicted or cautioned for a sexual or violent offence , including where offences are committed overseas .  The Sexual Harm Prevention Order lasts a minimum of five years and has no maximum duration , while the Sexual Risk Order lasts a minimum of two years and has no maximum duration .  Both orders will have a lower risk requirement and their remit will be wider , meaning foreign travel restrictions can be applied .  The new measures replace orders that can currently be imposed on sex offenders who have been convicted , cautioned , warned or reprimanded for an offence or those who pose a risk .  Individuals will be able to appeal against the order and the police or the person concerned are able to apply for the order to be varied , renewed or discharged .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
19203,19204,"Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton had a couple of really enthusiastic supporters show up at her Buena Park, California rally on Wednesday. In fact, they were so enthusiastic she had to stop her security team from throwing them out of the event because they decided to remove their shirts.As security moved to escort the shirtless men out of her rally, one of them yelled,  Hillary, they re kicking us out because we don t have our shirts on. They re making us leave because we don t have shirts on.  A laughing Clinton responded by asking security to stop and saying: Well, you know what? As long as they don t take anything else off. You know, you gotta make split decisions that s what leadership is all about. We are a big diverse country. OK, where was I? I gotta admit, it is a little distracting standing up here looking at them. So I m gonna look over this way, and I m gonna look over that way. I m gonna look back there. It was a great moment for Clinton to show off the sense of humor a lot of people do not realize she has. The right wing often accuses her of being an Ice Queen, but she is actually very funny. Her response also highlighted the vast differences between her campaign and that of Republican nominee Donald Trump. The  candidate s rallies are filled with violence and hate, while Clinton s is filled with positivity. It s like night and day.Watch:Featured image via video screenshot",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
19215,19216,"Total revenue rose to 5 . 84 billion from 3 . 85 billion a year earlier , with ad revenue increasing 56 . 8 percent to 5 . 64 billion in the holiday shopping period , when spending on advertising typically spikes .  Facebook s highlights from Q4 . ( Source : Mark Zuckerberg Facebook post )  Excluding some items , the company earned 79 cents per share . Analysts on average had expected earnings of 68 cents per share and revenue of 5 . 37 billion , according to Thomson Reuters I B E S .  Apart from focusing on mobile , Facebook has been ramping up spending on what it calls big bets , including virtual reality , artificial intelligence and drones to connect the remotest parts of the world to the Internet .  Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg , who returned from two months of paternity leave on Monday , has said virtual reality represents the next major computing platform .  In January , Facebook began taking orders for a consumer version of the Oculus Rift , a head mounted virtual reality unit .  The company has also begun monetizing some of its other units , such as photo sharing app Instagram , which surpassed 400 million users last year and began selling ads in September .  Facebook said mobile ads accounted for 80 percent of total ad revenue in the quarter , compared with about 78 percent in the third quarter and 69 percent a year earlier .  It s much stronger ad growth than we were expecting , said Ken Sena , an analyst at Evercore  .  Facebook s service is not available for users in China but it can sell ads to companies there .  It signifies the importance of what they re providing to advertisers , he said . They re making big investments and evidenced by their quarterly performance it seems to be working .  The company , which has the world s most popular smartphone app , has also been benefiting from a surge in video views that has attracted advertising dollars .  Facebook said it had 1 . 59 billion monthly active users as of December 31 , up 14 percent from the end of 2014 . Of those , 1 . 44 billion used the service on mobile devices , an increase of 21 percent .  Analysts had expected the company to report 1 . 58 billion monthly active users , with 1 . 43 billion accessing the service through smartphones and tablets , according to market research firm FactSet StreetAccount .  Up to Wednesday s close at 94 . 45 , Facebook s stock had risen nearly 25 percent in the past 12 months .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
19226,19227,"Terror attacks may impact parallel events of Paris climate summit  The author has posted comments on this article  Vishwa Mohan ,  Nov 14 , 2015 , 08 . 57PM   Pedestrians walk in front of posters for the forthcoming  21 World Climate Summit in Paris , France , November 2 , 2015 . The upcoming conference of the 2015 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (  21 ) will start in Paris on November 30 , 2015 .  Philippe Wojazer    : The Paris terror attack will not affect the forthcoming climate summit per se in the French capital where heads of states governments will assemble on November 30 to give a political momentum to the crucial climate negotiations , but it may impact the events which are to be organized outside the conference venue or the ' side ' events within the premises .  The biggest casualty is expected to be the ' People ' s climate march ' which is to take place on November 29 a day before the inauguration of the November 30 December 11 climate summit . Thousands of people are expected to take part in the march .  It is expected that the event , participated by concerned citizens and NGOs to sensitize the world leaders for arriving at an effective climate deal to save the earth , will be scaled down due to many security related restrictions . The incident may also affect the ' side ' events and exhibits that will be organized in parallel with the negotiations .  Though the global NGOs have , so far , not got any official communication in this regard from the host country , their representatives in India apprehend such a move in the wake of the terror attack .  "" Ensuring security to thousands , marching on the streets , will not be an easy task for the government . At the same time , French government would like to send a strong message to the attackers that it is not shaken by such cowardly and gruesome acts "" , said Harjeet Singh , International climate policy manager at ActionAid .  Other civil society members who are supposed to take part in the events outside or at the COP21 ( 21st Conference of Parties ) venue too have similar views . "" The incident will certainly impact the external mobilization for the People ' s climate march and any other side events . Such events may not be cancelled but certainly be scaled down from security point of view "" , said Sanjay Vashist , director of the Climate Action Network (  ) , South Asia .  Top world leaders including India ' s Prime Minister Narendra Modi ,  president Barack Obama , Chinese president Xi Jinping and German chancellor Angela Merkel , will participate in the inaugurals of the summit which is expected to sign a global climate deal after 11 days of final round of negotiations on December 11 .  Though the climate conference is being held annually for the past over 20 years , the forthcoming summit in Paris has been attracting lot of attention because the world is expected to arrive at a global climate deal at COP21 . The deal will ensure post 2020 actions by countries to cut carbon emissions and prepare the world to fight the impacts of climate change .  Although the host country must have prepared to ensure full security to the mega event of that scale , the terror attack exposed its preparedness . It will now push France to scale up the security substantially which may see many restrictions for the people coming from outside .  The Paris 2015  climate change conference will host a large number of events and exhibits ( called side events ) in parallel with the negotiations . ' Side ' events and exhibits are platforms for observer organizations ( NGOs ) that have limited speaking opportunities in the formal negotiations , to engage with Parties ( countries ) and other participants for knowledge sharing , capacity building , networking and exploring actionable options for meeting the climate challenge .  According to the  , a number of side events in Paris will be clustered around thematic days , including a Farmers ' Day , a Young and Future Generations Day and a Gender Day .  Stay updated on the go with Times of India News App . Click here to download it for your device .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
19231,19232,"Jose Mourinho reignited talk of a campaign against Chelsea , even after taking a huge step towards the Barclays Premier League title on Saturday .  Eden Hazard ' s first half goal gave the league leaders a 1 0 win over Manchester United , but there was controversy when United were denied a late penalty .  Ander Herrera went over under the challenge of Gary Cahill but referee Mike Dean adjudged the Spaniard to have dived .  Manchester United midfielder Ander Herrera knocks the ball past Chelsea defender Gary Cahill inside the box  Herrera sticks out right leg to make contact with Cahill before falling to the ground and appealing for penalty  Cahill and Herrera go head to head after the United man was penalised for diving late on at Stamford Bridge  Replays showed some contact between the two players during stoppage time but Herrera looked to have moved his leg to provoke a collison .  And Mourinho took the opportunity to pick at an old wound in his long running feud with Sky Sports .  ' I am happy that it was not a Chelsea player , ' he said . ' If it was a Chelsea player , in this moment on Sky it would be "" somebody ' s crimes , cheating , the champions of the team without fair play "" and this kind of things . '  Mourinho was angered earlier this season when Sky used the headline ' Diego Costa crimes ' in their analysis of Chelsea ' s Capital One Cup semi final win over Liverpool in January .  Jose Mourinho reignited talk of a campaign against Cheslea after saying the incident will be forgotten because it is a Manchester United player  Chelsea forward Eden Hazard ( second from left ) slots the ball past Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea to open the scoring  Hazard wheels away to celebrate his 13th Premier League goal of the season as De Gea slowly rises to his feet after conceding  Costa was later suspended for a stamp on Martin Skrtel and the Chelsea manager saw Sky ' s coverage as contribution to the player ' s three game ban .  He also hinted in his pre match press conference that Chelsea were disliked and abused because they were making the Premier League ' boring ' by leading from start to finish .  ' Because it ' s a Man United player tomorrow nobody remembers , ' Mourinho added .  ' The conspiracy doesn ' t go on , I ' m happy it ' s not a Chelsea player . '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
19287,19288,"investigating clash at Ole Miss game allegedly between officer , fan  Last Updated Nov 23 , 2015 10 : 24     , Miss . A New Albany police officer has been suspended with pay during an investigation about whether he punched a spectator at Saturday ' s Ole Miss  football game .  The New Albany Police Department did not release the name of the officer , who worked part time to help the University of Mississippi Police Department provide security at the game , the Oxford Eagle reported .  Holly Barnes posted a video of her husband Chris Barnes to social media after he was allegedly punched at an Ole Miss game by a police officer .  University Police Chief Tim Potts said in a news release Monday that his department asked the  to conduct an independent investigation of the incident , which was caught on a cellphone video and posted to Facebook .  The video , which appeared to be shot from several seats away , showed an officer punching a man who was standing in the bleachers near other Ole Miss fans . Because of announcements and music played over the loudspeakers at Vaught Hemingway Stadium , the video does not capture what was said between multiple officers and the man who was punched .  My husband , a two time Veteran of the  Army National Guard , was wrongfully assaulted on campus during the Ole Miss vs . . .  Posted by Holly Barnes on ? Sunday , November 22 , 2015  "" We do not tolerate violent behavior on our campus , and our request for an independent  investigation should make it clear that we are taking this situation very seriously , "" Potts said .   affiliate  reports that Holly Barnes posted the video on social media saying that her husband , who is a two time veteran , was hit twice in the face and then arrested by a police officer .  Barnes says he posted bail four hours later and was taken to the hospital where he was diagnosed with a concussion , fractures to his orbital wall and maxillary sinus and contusions to the tissues of his eyes .  According to Barnes , the officers thought he did something that someone a few rows up did and blamed him and his friends .  Jason Pack , spokesman for the  in Mississippi , said in a statement that agents are in touch with university police . Pack said they will review the incident and consult with the U . S . attorney about "" the appropriate course of action . ""  ? 2015  Interactive Inc . All Rights Reserved . This material may not be published , broadcast , rewritten , or redistributed . The Associated Press contributed to this report .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
19295,19296,"Michael Phelps claimed his third gold of the world swimming championships in Shanghai Saturday but then admitted he was short of peak fitness .  The American superstar won the 100m butterfly ahead of Poland ' s Konrad Czerniak and compatriot Tyler McGill in 50 . 71 seconds .  It was his sixth medal of the meet in his return to China where he took an unprecedented eight gold medal tally in the 2008 Beijing Olympics .  Phelps , who has been overshadowed by teammate Ryan Lochte in Shanghai , said he would be looking to improve with next year ' s Olympics in London his target .  "" I ' m not in the right shape physically . I want to be faster . It ' s a tough race , "" Phelps told  .  In other action Saturday , controversial Brazilian star Cesar Cielo earned his second sprint title in the men ' s 50m freestyle with a winning time of 21 . 52 seconds .  Olympic champion Cesar was only cleared to compete in the championships when a special hearing of the Court of Arbitration in Sport let him off with a warning after he tested positive for a banned diuretic in May .  His appearance at the championships has drawn criticism for fellow swimmers and Cielo admitted it had taken its toll .  "" For now , it ' s a big relief for me . I ' ve had a crazy month and it ' s good to finish with a gold , "" he told  .  "" I think that shows a lot of mental control . I think I became a more mature person . Even though I ' m 24 , I feel like I ' m 44 right now . It was definitely the biggest challenge of my life . ""  Missy Franklin of the United States , who is only 16 , showed she will be a force at the London Games with another two gold medals .  Franklin took the women ' s 200m backstroke from Australian Belinda Hocking and then helped the U . S win their first 4x100m medley in more than a decade .  Britain ' s double gold medal winner from the Beijing Games , Rebecca Adlington took her first world title as she edged out Lotte Friis of Denmark in the final length of a thrilling women ' s 800m freestyle with America ' s Kate Ziegler third .  Dutch swimmer Inge Dekker was an upset winner of the women ' s 50m butterfly to claim her first individual world title .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
19303,19304,"Reuters) - Republican Senator Rand Paul, a fiscal hawk who has sometimes opposed his party’s spending plans, said on Monday he planned to vote for the U.S. Senate tax bill and urged his colleagues to do the same. Paul, writing in a Fox News online opinion piece, said that while the bill was not perfect and he would “prefer a larger cut,” he planned to support the measure because it achieved some of his goals, and he could push for more changes next year. “This tax bill is a true test for my colleagues,” wrote Paul, who represents Kentucky. “I’m not getting everything I want — far from it. But I’ve been immersed in this process. I’ve fought for and received major changes for the better — and I plan to vote for this bill as it stands right now.”  President Donald Trump, also a Republican, had set a goal of signing a sweeping tax overhaul into law before the end of 2017. About a half-dozen lawmakers have voiced concerns about provisions including a nearly $1.5 trillion addition to the federal deficit, the treatment of small businesses and the potential impact on health insurances costs for people with medical conditions.  Senate Republicans hope to pass their bill as early as Thursday. With only a 52-48 majority in the 100-seat Senate, and Democrats unlikely to vote for the measure, they can lose support from no more than two members of their own ranks.   With the clock ticking, Trump was set to meet top Senate Republican tax writers at the White House as the administration considered policy tweaks to make the bill more palatable to potential Republican holdouts.  ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
19318,19319,"embed . show title date "" Mets and Royals face off tonight in World Series , 10 27 15 , 2 : 32   ""  Answers to your questions about the 2015 World Series  On Tuesday night , the New York Mets will take on the Kansas City Royals in Game 1 of the 2015 World Series .  According to Google , these are the top questions related to the baseball championship . Are you asking the same ? questions ? We ve got you covered .  Grounds crew prepare Citi Field for the Major League Baseball World Series between the New York Mets and the Kansas City Royals , Oct . 27 , 2015 , in New York . ?  The World Series starts Tuesday , October 27 at 8 : 07 p . m .  in Kansas City , Missouri .  The two teams competing are the New York Mets , representing the National League , and the Kansas City Royals , representing the American League .  3 . Who won the World Series last year ?  Last year , the San Francisco Giants beat the Kansas City Royals in seven games , winning their t hird World Series in five seasons . This will be the second consecutive World Series for the Royals .  4 . Who is favored to win the World Series ?  According to OddSharkweblink , the Vegas odds are dead even heading into game 1 . ?  5 . ? When was the last time the Mets won the World Series ?  The last time the Mets won the World Series was in 1986 when they defeated the Boston Red Sox in seven games . The series is widely remembered for one of the most memorable plays in baseball history when in game 6 , a slow ground ball hit by the Mets Mookie Wilson bounced through Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner s legs , allowing the winning run to score and the Mets to avoid elimination . The Mets then clinched the series with an 8 5 victory in Game 7 .  The Mets play at Citi Field in Flushing Meadows in the New York City borough of Queens .  7 . How many home runs has Daniel Murphy hit in the postseason ?  The Mets star infielder has hit seven home runs this postseason , becoming the first player to homer in six consecutive playoff games . ( Carlos Beltran previously held the record of five with the Houston Astros in 2004 . ) His seven home runs in a postseason also put him in a four way tie for fourth in baseball history . If he were to hit two more home runs , he will have the most home runs in a single postseason in baseball history , overtaking Barry Bonds , Nelson Cruz and Carlos Beltran .  8 . Why do the Royals have home field advantage in the World Series ?  The Royals have home field advantage in the World Series because the American League won the All Star Game . In 2003 , former  commissioner Bud Selig made the rule stating that home field advantage in the World Series would go to the team that won that year s All Star Game .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
19350,19351,"Ending energy poverty is central to my vision of a resurgent Africa .  I am an entrepreneur one born , raised , and educated in Africa , creating businesses that span the continent . I have experienced how lack of reliable power has constrained human potential and stifled economic growth . Currently , 589 million of my fellow Africans have no access to electricity and many millions more lack reliable access . This holds back education , drives up the cost of business , and negatively impacts healthcare .  We are a continent of entrepreneurs , some of the smartest in the world . But how many aspiring business people can really succeed , and create critical jobs , if they do not have light or the cost of electricity is more than 55 of the operating costs of their business ?  Last week I joined officials from the U . S . agencies ,  ,  and  , along with representatives from American corporations  and Symbion Power , in testifying before the U . S . Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the progress of President Obama ' s Power Africa initiative . The program , launched last July , has set a goal of generating 10 , 000  of additional power in the next five years , and targets an initial six countries , my home country Nigeria included . Power Africa calls for 7 billion in U . S . financial support and has already leveraged an additional 9 billion in private sector commitments .  Recognizing the centrality of power to Africa ' s ability to sustain its own development , Congress is now looking to enact legislation that would ensure that the Presidential initiative defines the future of U . S . engagement on the continent . The House Foreign relations Committee last month passed the Electrify Africa Act which seeks to double the target of new generation capacity to 20 , 000  . The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is expected to introduce its own legislation in the coming weeks . In both houses of Congress there is broad based bipartisan support .  Power Africa has already served to focus the American private sector on Africa as the new frontier for energy investment and has encouraged African countries not selected as Power Africa countries to undertake reforms of their regulatory structures , so as to participate in future power deals and partnerships .  My own company , Heirs Holdings , through our subsidiary , Transcorp , committed to invest up to 2 . 5 billion to generate 2 , 000MW of electricity over five years , 20 of the U . S government ' s initial goal . Our first transaction has been the Ughelli power plant in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria .  The initial investment in the Transcorp Ughelli plant was 300 million . When we first took over the plant in November 2013 , its power output was less than 160MW today , that has been more than doubled . We project that Ughelli power plant will be generating 725MW by the end of this year . We are also partnering with Symbion Power and  on a 1000  expansion costing 1 billion  .  We are on track to fulfill our commitment to Power Africa and we will be producing the equivalent of almost half of the current total output in Nigeria . In 2015 , we will begin plans to generate power in other West and East African countries .  The program also has allowed African businesses to show to the world that they can be equal partners in the process . We are bringing capital and know how , creating genuine partnerships , which benefits all sides . I coined the term "" Africapitalism "" to describe our approach to business our belief that long term investment in key sectors , like in power , can create economic prosperity and social wealth , benefiting investors and Africa ' s development future .  Yet Power Africa must be viewed by the administration and Congress as only a start . The initiative is valued at 7 billion and Africa ' s power infrastructure needs are estimated to be 300 billion . So there is more that we all need to do .  Congress should pass legislation before the end of this Congress to secure the expansion of access to electricity in Africa as a development and foreign policy priority . Given the long term nature of investments in the power sector , these policies must by codified so that they carry over to the next Administration and the next Congress . Like the Africa Growth and Opportunities Act more than a decade ago , such legislation would lay the foundation for a new U . S . Africa relationship : one based on partnership for mutual economic benefit and the empowerment of the private sector .  The U . S . Government should also continue to encourage policy reforms by African governments and institutions . There is no amount of capital investment or entrepreneurial zeal that will provide affordable and sustainable access to electricity for Africa ' s one billion people , without the full buy in and energetic support of African governments .  Congress should also make engagement with the African private sector a priority in oversight and new policy making . Public private partnerships are critical to developing the African continent , particularly in the power sector . It is important to recognize the revolution that has taken place in the African private sector a sea change in terms of innovation , know how and governance values . Corporate Africa has taken up the challenge .  We have a long way to go , but like all long journeys , the journey to infrastructure sufficiency begins with the first step or , in this case , the first 300 million . We believe that the Power Africa initiative , which places Africans as partners in their own development , will help the continent to emerge as a strong player in the global economy and we are confident that history will remember those who played a role in making it happen .    : The ' Africapitalist ' powering Africa    : Can Africa unlock its solar potential ?  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
19355,19356,""" I struggled for weeks trying to figure out how tell you that I had been diagnosed with breast cancer and was leaving to have surgery , "" Sambolin said in a posting to her Facebook page Tuesday . "" Then , Angelina Jolie shares her story of a double mastectomy and gives me strength and an opening . ""  Jolie announced in a New York Times op ed published Tuesday that she had undergone double mastectomy surgery after learning she has an elevated risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer .  During her "" Early Start "" appearance , Sambolin said the decision to opt for a mastectomy was a difficult one , but was made easier by reading Jolie ' s perspective .  "" She said I feel empowered , that I ' m in a strong choice that in no way diminishes my femininity , "" Sambolin said . "" You know , it ' s nice to hear somebody else talk about it and have that support of a lot of women around you . ""  "" At the end of the day , I need to have peace of mind , "" she added . "" I need to sleep at night . I have two kids that are my world , like any woman , and it ' s what you think about . So I thought for me , this would be the best decision moving forward so I could feel confident that it ' s not something that I ' m going to have to deal with that much more in the future . ""  Sambolin is scheduled to have the surgery on May 28 , she told viewers . She said she is opting for surgery similar to Jolie ' s .  She said she has a history of fibrocystic breast tissue , which made making a diagnosis difficult , and said early detection through regular mammograms was key for her .  "" I didn ' t mess around . I went when I was supposed to go , and I followed it diligently , "" she said .  Dozens of people expressed support for Sambolin on her Facebook page .  "" You are an amazing and strong woman and I know you will beat this ! "" Facebook user Jennifer Majerus posted .  "" Praying for you Z ! , "" Facebook user Charles Barnes posted to her page . "" I know you will overcome this challenge ! ""  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
19369,19370,"Apple breaks more profit records , but it comes with a warning  Apple has reported the largest single quarter profit in corporate history , but is predicting the first ever decline in iPhone sales later this year .  The California based technology giant posted a profit for the quarter ending December 26 of 18 . 4 billion  dollars ( ? 12 . 8bn ) , having sold 74 . 8 million iPhones in the three month period .  However , there was iPhone sales growth of just 0 . 4 , the slowest rate in the history of the Apple smartphone , and a huge drop compared to the 46 growth in sales in the same quarter last year .  But the company s performance was still enough to break the profit record set this time last year , with sales up 56 on the last quarter too .  Apple chief Tim Cook said : Our team delivered Apple s biggest quarter ever , thanks to the world s most innovative products and all time record sales of iPhone , Apple Watch and Apple  .  The growth of our Services business accelerated during the quarter to produce record results , and our installed base recently crossed a major milestone of one billion active devices .  All analyst eyes were also on Apple s guidance for the next quarter , and the company confirmed rumours that it would suggest a drop in revenue ? offering guidance that revenue for the second quarter of 2016 would be between 50 and 53 billion  dollars ( ? 35 37bn ) , down from 58 billion ( ? 40bn ) in the same quarter last year .  The results also revealed that Apple sold just over 16 million iPads , as well as 5 . 3 million Macs .  Luca Maestri , Apple s finance officer added : Our record sales and strong margins drove all time records for net income and  in spite of a very difficult macroeconomic environment .  We generated operating cash flow of 27 . 5 billion  dollars ( ? 19bn ) during the quarter , and returned over 9 billion  dollars ( ? 6 . 2bn ) to investors through share repurchases and dividends . We have now completed 153 billion dollars ( ? 106bn ) of our 200 billion dollar ( ? 139bn ) capital return programme .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
19384,19385,"A teacher in New Jersey who assigned her third grade class to write ' get well ' letters to a sick inmate convicted of killing a Philadelphia police officer was suspended Friday , the school superintendent said .  Orange School Superintendent Ronald Lee said in a statement that school administrators ' vehemently deny ' any knowledge of Marilyn Zuniga ' s assignment .  Preliminary inquiries found that Zuniga did not seek approval from administrators nor were parents notified , Lee said .  The letters were delivered to Mumia Abu Jamal in prison following his hospitalization last month for what his family said was treatment for complications from diabetes .  Suspended : Marilyn Zuniga ( left ) , a teacher at Forest Street School in Orange , New Jersey ( right ) , controversially had her third graders write letters to Mumia Abu Jamal and then sent them to the cop killer as he was recovering in hospital from collapsing in prison . She has now been suspended without pay , pending an investigation  Ill : Mumia ' s supporters say photos of the prison journalist released this week by his wife show how ill and frail he is . Untreated diabetes is said to be the reason for Abu Jama ' s hospitalization last week , but he has since been released  The former Black Panther is serving life behind bars for the 1981 murder of white Philadelphia police Officer Daniel Faulkner .  His conviction was upheld through years of appeals , but he has gained international support for his claim that he is the victim of a racist justice system .  A supporter and history professor at Baruch College , Johanna Fernandez , brought him the letters .  She posted on her Facebook page that ' he chuckled as he read excerpts from these touching letters ' .  Abu Jamal was released from a hospital in Pottsville , Pennsylvania , on April 1 , and returned to the prison , she said .  The school district was closed for spring break and the superintendent said a full investigation would begin when classes resume on Monday .  Zuniga will remain suspended without pay until the investigation is completed , the superintendent said .  Additional action could be taken by the school board once the investigation is finished .  An email The Associated Press sent Zuniga seeking comment was not immediately returned .  A second batch of students , from the the Philadelphia Student Union , also sent Abu Jama letters .  ' Get well soon ' : Third graders in Orange , New Jersey , and high school students in the Philadelphia Student Union have sent Mumia Abu Jamal letters wishing him well after he was hospitalized last week  Delivery : Johanna Fernandez ( right ) , a professor of history at Baruch College , delivered Mumia Abu Jamal a batch of letters from two different schools in hospital . He is pictured here also with ( from left ) Abdu Jon and Pam Africa  ' We shared a touching moment with Mumia in an effort to raise his spirits , ' Fernandez reported .  ' Two teachers delivered letters to us that their students had written to Mumia . '  ' It had been a long time since we had seen Mumia smile . '  A picture of some of the letters appeared online , however it is unclear what they actually said .  However the fact they were written and then presented to Abu Jamal has infuriated many .  Richard Costello , political coordinator for the Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police , said the letters set a dangerous example .  ' I think it ' s both alarming and outrageous that any teacher would use a group of innocent seven year olds to promote a twisted agenda glorifying murder , glorifying hatred and glorifying violence , ' Costello told Fox News .  ' He shot ( the officer ) in the back and then as the officer lay slumped against a wall helpless he leaned over and shot him between the eyes .  ' When he was in the hospital he actually bragged about it . '  Costello said all the teachers involved in the letter writing campaign should be fired .  ' Furthermore all the parents who have children in that school system need to reevaluate that involvement , because these children are now placed in danger by the very people charged with their education , ' Costello said .  ' They are being used as tools in someone ' s twisted agenda . '  Hospitalized : Convicted cop killer Mumia Abu Jamal was placed in the critical care unit of a Pennsylvania hospital last week after collapsing in prison  Costello has previously described Abu Jamal as ' the devil ' .  Abu Jamal is thought to have collapsed in prison due to high blood sugar levels .  Attorney Bret Grote with the Pittsburgh based Abolitionist Law Center said last week that his client was placed in the critical care unit of Schuylkill Medical Center in Pottsville , Pennsylvania .  Grote says neither he nor Abu Jamal ' s brother , Keith Cook , had been allowed in to see him .  ' We ' re concerned , about as concerned as it gets , about Mumia ' s health , ' Grote told the Philadelphia Inquirer .  A Pennsylvania Department of Corrections official also declined to provide details .  A spokesman for Pottsville ' s Schuylkill Medical Center says he had no information about Abu Jamal .  ' We never discuss an inmate ' s medical condition , ' deputy press secretary Susan Bensinger told the Inquirer .  Mumia ' s hospitalization was revealed Monday when a group of his friends arrived to the State Correctional Institution at Mahanoy for a visit and were informed by prison staff that he wasn ' t there .  While Grote and others had permission with the prison to visit Mumia , the hospital had not yet cleared them .  Grote said he hoped the matter would be cleared up by Tuesday .  Abu Jamal is a former Black Panther serving life in prison for the 1981 murder of white Philadelphia police Officer Daniel Faulkner .  Treated : Lawyers with Pittsburgh based Abolitionist Law Center say prison officials told them Mumia was being treated last week at Pottsville ' s Schuylkill Medical Center ( pictured ) . He has since been released  His conviction was upheld through years of appeals , but he has gained international support for his claim that he ' s the victim of a racist justice system .  Mumia ' s death sentence was overturned in 2012 .  Abu Jamal supporters include celebrities like Whoopi Goldberg , and many hail him as a revolutionary .  Abu Jamal has written several books , hosted his own radio show and even has a street named after him in France .  Mumia Abu Jamal ( left ) is a former Black Panther serving life in prison for the 1981 murder of white Philadelphia police Officer Daniel Faulkner ( right ) . His conviction was upheld through years of appeals , but his death sentence was converted to life in prison in 2012  ",true,text,validation,American football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
19388,19389,"Sarah Palin claimed today that Jesus Christ celebrated Easter during his time on Earth .  In an interview with Fox and Friends this morning , the former Alaska governor promoted her new book about the left ' s "" war on Christmas "" and argued that all Christian holidays should return to the traditional versions practiced by Jesus .  "" It makes me so gosh darn angry , "" Palin explained . "" The liberal left in this country has targeted Christian holidays and is trying to secularize them right out of existence .  "" When Jesus celebrated Easter with his disciples there were no Easter bunnies or egg hunts . There were no Easter sales at department stores or parades in the street . Easter was a special time of prayer and Christian activism .  "" Jesus would gather all the townspeople around and would listen to their stories about the meaning of Easter in their lives . Then he would teach them how to love one another , how to protest Roman abortion clinics and how to properly convert homosexuals .  "" You can ' t even do things like that these days without getting called out by some wacko left wing human rights group . Christians had more freedom under Roman rule than we do now in our own country ! We need to return Easter back to the way it was when Jesus was alive . ""  Easter is a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after he was crucified by the Romans in the 1st century A . D . It is the most important holiday for Eastern and Orthodox Christians , and also has great significance in the West .  Because Easter is a celebration of Jesus ' s resurrection from the dead , it is highly unlikely that he celebrated the holiday before his death . Its first recorded instance is sometime in the mid 2nd century . This seemingly obvious fact was not lost on the Fox and Friends team , who instantly challenged Palin ' s assertions .  "" Sarah , you know that we love you , "" started co host Brian Kilmeade . "" I can understand if you think Christian holidays have become too secular and you want to return to the days of the early church . But you have to know that Jesus never celebrated Easter right ? I mean you have to know that . What do you think Easter celebrates ? ""  "" Well , Brian , Easter celebrates , you know , sticking it to all the liberal lefties out there who want to be taking our guns and our freedom , "" Palin responded . "" It celebrates the rights of the unborn and the right to religious freedom , to not have government come in and tell you who to believe in and who not to . . . ""  "" It celebrates the death and resurrection of Jesus , "" Kilmeade interrupted . "" It celebrates his death and resurrection from the dead . Now Sarah , tell me how can Jesus celebrate his own death before he died ? ""  Palin stared blankly into the screen for about 15 seconds , before co host Elisabeth Hasselbeck cut to commercial .  ",satire,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
19391,19392,"The National Football League believes the Adrian Peterson child punishment case has an important ripple effect , but his lawyer insists Commissioner Roger Goodell is making the Minnesota Vikings running back a scapegoat .   executive vice president and general counsel Jeff Pash on Wednesday defended Goodell ' s decision to suspend Peterson for at least the rest of the season for an ' incident of abusive discipline ' on his 4 year old son .  Pash told  Radio the  had a responsibility to players ' unfairly tarnished by the misconduct of a few , ' and to the fight against domestic abuse .  Peterson pleaded no contest in a Texas courtroom earlier this month to a misdemeanor assault charge  Peterson gives his son Adrian Jr . a kiss following an  football training camp practice in August  ' One thing that Commissioner Goodell is absolutely committed to is to upholding not only the reputation of the league but the reputation of the thousands of men who play in the league and who are good , hard working , decent , law abiding citizens , ' Pash said .  Rusty Hardin , who represented Peterson in the Texas criminal case over injuries his son sustained from discipline he administered , said Peterson ' s no contest plea to a misdemeanor assault charge did not rise to domestic abuse .  ' A father believed he had the right to discipline his children . He made a mistake . In unintended consequences , his son was hurt , ' Hardin said earlier on Wednesday to  Radio .  According to the Houston Police Department , these are injuries Peterson allegedly inflicted on his son .  ' He pled to a court and accepted punishment and wanted to resume his career , and now the  has decided they ' re going to be the arbiter of what ' s appropriate discipline for a child and whether a person is or is not feeling significant remorse . '  Peterson , originally charged with a felony , was ordered to pay a 4 , 000 fine by the court and perform community service .  In an open letter to Peterson , Goodell said Peterson had ' shown no meaningful remorse . '  ' They looked bad in the earlier things with Ray Rice , ' Hardin said about the domestic abuse case by the former Baltimore Ravens running back captured by hotel security cameras .  Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson ( left ) is tackled by Chicago Bears safety Chris Conte  ' They handled things badly publicly and now they just decided to make Adrian the scapegoat for all their past failings . '  Hardin said Goodell was ' hypocritically self righteous about Adrian not showing sufficient remorse . Who in does he think he is ? '  Pash said reaction to the Rice case had galvanized the  into action .  ' We ' re not prepared right now to hold ourselves up as the paragon for all of society , ' Pash said . ' But we do think that the  has a role to play . We can set a good example . '  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
19397,19398,"Hate crime : Island Nettles was beaten into a coma by a Facebook friend who only moments earlier realized she was born a man  The mother of a man accused of beating a transgender woman to death is said to have forced her son ' s friend to confess to the crime , according to police sources .  The victim , 21 year old Islan Nettles , died Thursday in a Harlem , New York , hospital after being taken off life support five days following the attack .  Nettles was pronounced brain dead after being beaten on the street by one of her Facebook friends , 20 year old Paris Wilson .  Wilson ' s mother has now been accused of taking one of his friends to a police precinct , where she made him confess to the crime and claim he was too drunk to remember anything about it .  A source told the New York Post : ' She brought this innocent kid in to the 32nd Precinct and he confessed . '  But the friend did not match witnesses ' accounts of the killer ' s description , prompting police to dismiss his ' confession ' .  According to Nettles ' family , the victim had two Facebook profiles one using her birth name Vaughn Nettles and another ' female ' profile .  Wilson was friends with Nettles on her female profile .  When she ran into Wilson near a police precinct on Eighth Avenue and 147th Street in Harlem , he started flirting with her .  But his male friends were quick to inform him that Nettles was born a man .  Angered at being embarrassed in front of his friends , Wilson started to beat up Nettles while his friends verbally harassed her .  The attack happened at an intersection off of Eighth Avenue in Harlem near a police precinct . Hate crimes against the gay community in New York have seen a dramatic increase this year  ' He deserves to rot ' : Nettles ' mother Delores says she hopes Wilson will spend the rest of his life in prison  Wilson , a rising senior at Buffalo  State University , wouldn ' t let up on Nettles , issuing blow after blow  even after she hit her head on the pavement .  Nettles ' friends informed cops , but Nettles was already unconscious by the time they arrived and broke up the fight .  According to the criminal complaint , witnesses say Nettles was found passed out on the ground with a swollen shut eye and blood on her face .  After the attack , Nettles was hospitalized , slipped into a coma and later died .  The witness eventually told detectives about the anti gay remarks after initially leaving them out of the criminal report and the hate crimes task force took over the investigation .  Wilson was charged on a misdemeanor assault charge , but now that Nettles has died and her death ruled a homicide , he will likely face murder charges . He was released on 2 , 000 bail .  Delores Nettles , the victim ' s mother , hopes that her daughter ' s killer will spend the rest of his life in jail .  Now , she and the rest of the victim ' s family are planning for Islan ' s funeral .  ' I accepted him no matter what because I loved him at the end of the day , ' she said . ' My son was a beautiful woman . '  Murdered : Nettles died at Harlem Hospital after being ruled brain dead and taken off life support . Her attacker will likely face murder charges now that her death has been ruled a homicide  The attack on Nettles was the latest in a spate of bias incidents this year in New York and a total of 68 have been reported so far this year , showing a significant increase from the 54 that were reported in all of last year .  The bias attacks this year range from yelled slurs to the May killing of a 32 year old gay man in Greenwich Village . Police stepped up patrols this summer in response .  In May , police said Mark Carson , 32 , was first taunted with homophobic slurs , then shot in the head in Greenwich Village , not far from the site of 1969 riots that helped give rise to the gay rights movement .  A suspect was arrested on a charge of murder as a hate crime . The killing , and other bias attacks , sparked a summer protest attended by thousands .  Some of the other bias incidents this summer included an assault last week where two men were attacked in Chelsea .  Christine Quinn , the city ' s first openly gay City Council speaker and a mayoral candidate , denounced the most recent attack .  ' An attack against one person , or one community , is an assault against all New Yorkers , ' she said in a joint statement with other council members .  ' We ask all New Yorkers to come together , to embrace our differences and to denounce hate violence . '  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
19398,19399,"Northampton secured maximum points from a 38 15 European Rugby Champions Cup demolition of Treviso in Italy .  Scores from Samu Manoa , Alex Waller , Ben Foden , Luther Burrell , George Pisi and a penalty try ensured it was a job well done by Jim Mallinder ' s side against their struggling Pool Five rivals .  Saints number eight Manoa opened the scoring after nine minutes when he finished off a patient build up by forcing his way over from close range .  Northampton ' s Ben Foden touches down for his side ' s third try of the game against Treviso in Italy  Samu Manoa ( centre ) of Saints celebrates after scoring a try during the comfortable win  It was a fifth try of the season for the United States international , who is expected to join French champions Toulon in the summer .  Outside half Stephen Myler added the conversion to give Saints a solid early lead .  A change of referee due to an injury to Peter Fitzgibbon delayed the game for several minutes and he was replaced by Leo Colgan .  Former Worcester and Wasps outside half Joe Carlisle then got Treviso on the scoreboard with a penalty .  Treviso lost lock Francesco Minto to the sin bin when he tackled Sam Dickinson in an offside position and Saints immediately grabbed a second try .  Northampton ' s Luther Burrell scores Saints ' fourth try as they take maximum points  Northampton and Treviso players scum during the European Champions Cup match  Myler kicked the penalty to touch and the Saints ' eight were too strong for the Treviso pack , with prop Waller almost powering his way over .  The visitors secured the bonus point within nine minutes of the restart with two quick scores from Foden and Burrell .  The latter was the provider in the first try with a superb pass to set Foden free and he produced a smart finish , with Myler kicking the difficult conversion .  Almost immediately , Saints went over for their first try after excellent work by Tom Stephenson and Jamie Elliot allowed Burrell to finish .  Saints players celebrate after marching to a comfortable victory against Treviso  Treviso did get back into the contest when fly half Carlisle sent a long pass to wing Ludovico Nitoglia to go over in the corner .  Saints ' fifth was a penalty try when Treviso popped up at the scrum and the home side went down to 14 men for the second time when replacement Romulo Acosta was shown a yellow card .  Treviso did , however , manage a second try when the impressive Carlisle intercepted Stephenson ' s pass and raced home from 60 metres .  But there was still time for Saints to get their sixth when replacement Pisi touched down with two minutes to go .  ",true,text,validation,American football,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
19439,19440,"Pope Francis has told members of the Italian Mafia they will be welcomed by the Roman Catholic church if they repent their sins and give up organised crime .  The Pontiff told an audience of pilgrims and anti crime activists at the Vatican that they would be free to join the church , if they promised to stop ' serving the cause of evil ' .  Many of those gathered to hear the Pope had come from the diocese of Cassano allo Jonio in the southern Calabria region , home to the ' Ndrangheta , the mainland Italy equivalent of the Sicilian Mafia .  Pope Francis arrives for a special audience at the Vatican with pilgrims and anti crime activists from the southern Calabria region , home to the Italian Mafia  He told his audience : ' Open your hearts to the Lord . The Lord is waiting for you and the Church will welcome you if your willingness to serve good is clear and public as your choice to serve evil was . '  Last June , Pope Francis travelled to Calabria , where he accused organised crime groups of practicing ' the adoration of evil ' and said Mafia members had excommunicated themselves from the Church by their actions .  His visit to the region last year came after he promised to meet the father of a three year old toddler , Nicola ' Coco ' Campolongo who was shot dead alongside his grandfather in the town of Cassano allo Ionio .  The murders were apparent mafia assassinations over money and the discovery of their bodies in a burnt out Fiat Punto sent shockwaves through Italy .  The Pope greets a baby at the Vatican as he arrived to address an audience . He told them that the Italian Mafia will be welcomed by the Roman Catholic church if they repent their sins and give up organised crime  Pope Francis told the audience : ' Open your hearts to the Lord . The Lord is waiting for you and the Church will welcome you if your willingness to serve good is clear and public as your choice to serve evil was '  During his visit to Castrovillari prison , the Pontiff met Coco ' s father , who was serving time in prison alongside the toddler ' s mother for drug crimes when their son was killed .  It was here that he also denounced the ' Ndrangheta for what he called its ' adoration of evil and contempt for the common good . '  ' Those who go down the evil path , as the Mafiosi do , are not in communion with God . They are excommunicated , ' he warned .  The Pontiff told pilgrims and tourists in St Peter ' s Square that he and his top aides would be starting a spiritual renewal retreat until Friday in Arricia , a suburb of Rome .  The ' Ndrangheta , which makes most of its money from drug trafficking , has spread from Calabria to northern Europe and North America .  A 2013 study by Demoskopia , an economic and social research institute , estimated the ' Ndrangheta ' s annual turnover at some 53 billion euros in 30 countries , equivalent to about 3 . 5 percent of Italy ' s total official economic output .  It has been much harder for investigators to combat than the Sicilian Mafia because its structure is more lateral than hierarchical and its tightly knit families are harder to penetrate .  Last month 163 people were arrested in a major police crackdown on the ' Ndrangheta with 1 , 300lb of drugs also seized .  Italian police arrest members of the notorious ' Ndrangheta mafia gang said to be the most powerful crime organisation in the country  The Pope ' s message to the mafia comes as he announced he would be leaving the Vatican for a few days alongside his advisers to work .  He said he would be ' correcting the many defects that we all have . '  The Pontiff told tens of thousands of pilgrims and tourists in St Peter ' s Square that he and his top aides would be starting a spiritual renewal retreat .  Until Friday morning , they will spend time listening to reflections , meditating and praying in Ariccia , a suburb of Rome .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,present
19498,19499,"Why Giants fans should be extra thankful while watching the Lions ( and Eric Ebron ) vs . Eagles  Detroit Lions tight end Eric Ebron has struggled his first two seasons in the  . ( Paul Sancya  Photo )  Sitting around , watching football on Thanksgiving 2015 , Giants ? fans should be extra thankful , and not because the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys ? two of the Thanksgiving Day participants ? aren ' t very good . That ' s a bonus for the race to win one of the  ' s worst divisions this year .  The real reason Giants fans should give thanks while they are watching the early game between the Eagles and Detroit Lions is they can thank their lucky stars wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr . is on their roster instead of Lions tight end Eric Ebron . Beckham is one of the  ' s biggest stars . Ebron is struggling to catch the football . Both were considered top prospects in the 2014  Draft . ?  Just days before last year ' s draft , Ebron was the popular choice ? for many with the Giants selecting 12th overall . He ended up as the 10th overall selection by the Lions .  Ultimately , there was never really a chance ? Ebron , a Newark native , would be the Giants ' choice . They saw his Pro Day workout and film littered with drops . General manager Jerry Reese and vice president of player evaluation Marc Ross ( who is in charge of the draft ) didn ' t have Ebron with a high enough grade to warrant a Top 12 pick .  The Giants had Beckham ( understandably ) ranked ? very high . ? He was somewhere alongside wide receivers Sammy Watkins and Mike Evans , and ahead of offensive linemen Taylor Lewan and Zack Martin . ?  It appears they were right . Beckham has more yards receiving in his last three games ( 339 ) than Ebron has this year ( 248 ) . Ebron is also among the league leaders with five drops , and his 11 . 6 drop percentage is the second most for any receiver with more than 30 targets . ?  "" Just going through a minor phase , "" Ebron said , according to the Detroit Free Press . "" Ain ' t going to last long . ( Shoot ) , it ' s going to end this week . ""  Maybe . Or maybe not . Dropped passes have always been the knock on Ebron . It was a problem in college games , in workouts and now in  contests . What suggests it will suddenly end ? Uh , nothing . ?  Beckham is clearly the better player . He ' s among the  ' s most explosive playmakers , and demands the attention of multiple opponents on a weekly basis . Ebron is just another name on the Lions roster . ?  For that , the Giants and their fans should be thankful the front office and scouting department was high on Beckham . Otherwise who knows where this organization would be right now if things had fallen differently last year . ?     , Ep . 32 : Coughlin ' s clock management , Cruz ' s lost season and post bye predictions  As we look ahead to the Giants ' remaining schedule , we touch on a variety of topics following yet another blown lead turned tough loss . Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or Stitcher .  Jordan Raanan may be reached at jraanan njadvancemediaweblink . Follow him on Twitter JordanRaanan . Find NJweblink Giants on Facebook .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
19522,19523,"2 Reminders to Ignore the ""Trump is Doomed"" Polls    We've recently had two object lessons in the worthlessness of the ""Trump is Doomed"" polling saga. A few days ago, the media was loudly trumpeting that Hillary's victory was inevitable, that the polls were in and she was going to ignore Trump and focus on building her administration and winning downticket races. And then, just like last time around, the numbers turned around again.  I was recently asked to predict the race. I answered that the one thing I could predict is that the media will claim a landslide for Hillary right before the election. That much is very likely.  It's in the media's interest to spread  by promoting polls that predict not just a Hillary win, but a landslide, creating the perception that voting is useless. The more Republicans feel that the outcome is futile, the less likely they will be to go out and vote. But the scandal polling numbers have a history of rebounding. This remains a challenging and very unusual election.  The premature panic we've seen in some circles is unhealthy. We shouldn't completely ignore poll numbers, but neither should we treat them as inevitable.  We've had two major lessons in why that's short sighted.",fake,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
19542,19543,"Ore . A game of "" Open Carry Grab Ass "" turned deadly today , after a member of the self proclaimed Oregon militia was shot in the right buttock by his own gun .  "" We were passing the time , just horsing around , "" said militia member ' Patriot X , ' "" and down around the back 40 a gunshot goes off . We all thought it was the feds finally coming in to ' Waco ' us , so of course we all jump down and assume defensive positions to guard the perimeter . ""  What followed was silence , broken by the muffled screams of the injured party , Patriot "" Jimmy Doe . ""  "" I got shot in the ass , "" Doe grimaced . "" I got shot in the ass ! ""  "" One of our soldiers is down ! "" shouted Patriot X . "" Bring it on ! Bring it on ! ""  After several more tense moments of silence , Doe confessed through gritted teeth , "" It was my gun ! It shot me in the ass ! Somebody grabbed me hard , and it shot me in my ass ! ""  "" Contrary to what you may have read in the social medias , "" says Patriot X , "" we were playing Open Carry Touch Football , not Open Carry Grab Ass . The teams were "" pants "" and "" no pants "" because it was too cold for "" shirts "" and "" skins , "" and of course we keep our guns locked , loaded , and strapped on at all times . ""  "" Those people calling it Grab Ass ? "" asked Patriot X . "" Just liberal media types who don ' t love freedom . Or America . Or football . Somebody just touched Jimmy too hard down there is what happened , and he just shot off . Anyway , they wouldn ' t be calling it Grab Ass if we had remembered to bring a football . ""  "" When you ' re guarding America ' s freedoms , the first thing on your mind isn ' t what to pack , "" said Patriot X . "" Shoot , all I remembered to stuff in my backpack was a couple pairs of socks , and a Sarah Palin poster to remind us all what we ' re fighting for ! ""  "" This ain ' t all fun and games , "" said Jimmy Doe from his sickbed . "" I ' ve lost a lot of blood and a piece of ass . Some of us have lost our jobs , and sacrificed our disability benefits ! This is serious , son ! "" he added , before losing consciousness .  Jimmy Doe received first aid , and is expected to make a full recovery .  ",satire,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
19555,19556,"Word is spreading that Charlie Sheen could be back on British  screens as he is set to appear on the new instalment of Celebrity Big Brother on Channel 5 .  However , a term in his rather lucrative contract states that Channel 5 must rename the show to ' The Charlie Sheen Show ' , otherwise he will return to the United States and continue doing whatever it was he was doing before .  Channel 5 are more than happy to bend over backwards for Charlie Sheen and rename the show in his honour , yet they have insisted that Sheen must constantly be making a fool of himself and doing things that only Charlie Sheen would do .  "" Seeing as he will inevitably be doing all the things that will make the highlight shows , we might aswell avoid the middle man and just name the show after him , provided he intends on being the biggest twat the show has ever seen . ""  Sheens ' agents have confirmed that this won ' t be a problem .  "" Charlie gets up to all sorts of weird things on a daily basis . It ' s these sorts of actions that have turned many people to view Charlie as a sort of God and we ' re hoping that his appearance on The Charlie Sheen Show will catapult him as a hero to all . ""  Sheen ' s personal life has been well documented recently and he is hopes that The Charlie Sheen Show will shake off the public opinion that he is a drugged up , porn star romper .  Sheen said , "" I ' m bi winning every day . If I bi win this program , I can just set my gear to go and let loose . ""  The former 2 And A Half Men star has signed a deal worth 6 million , which he is hoping to spend on magic beans once he returns to the United States .  ",satire,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,present
19557,19558,"Yahoo eyes billboard that can spy on drivers inside their cars   Source: Silicon Beat  Yahoo, under fire over this week’s revelation that it helped the federal government spy on its users, has applied for two related patents describing a camera-equipped billboard that can spy on drivers.  The patent applications, submitted in March 2015 and made public by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Thursday, describe a billboard that has sensors including cameras, microphones and even retina scanners built in or positioned nearby.  “Image or video data may be processed to determine whether any individuals looked directly at the advertising content (e.g., using image recognition and/or eye tracking techniques),” said the patent documents , which use much of the same language in describing the technology.  Verbal reactions by passersby could be collected via microphones. “Audio data captured by one or more microphones may be processed using speech recognition techniques to identify keywords relating to the advertising that are spoken by members of the audience,” the documents said. “Image data or motion/proximity sensor data may be processed to determine whether any members of the audience paused or slowed down near the advertising content, from which it may be inferred that the pause or slowing was in response to the advertising content.”",fake,news,validation,US elections,Economy,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present
19566,19567,"A former female jail worker in Washington County , Oregon , has been sentenced to more than four years in prison for repeatedly having sex with a convicted rapist in a supply closet .  Ex Washington County Jail staffer Jill Curry , 39 , cried in court on Monday as she read out a statement in which she claimed that Jang Li Delgado Galban , a 25 year old gang member housed in the jail ' s maximum security unit , had seduced her .  Judge Charles Bailey was less than convinced by Curry ' s tears . ' I find that stupid and ludicrous , ' he said .  Ex Washington County Jail staffer Jill Curry , 39 , cried in court on Monday as she was sentenced to more than four years in prison for repeatedly having sex with an inmate in a supply closet  Curry had claimed that Jang Li Delgado Galban , a 25 year old gang member housed in the jail ' s maximum security unit , had seduced her  Curry , who is married to a sheriff ' s deputy , had pleaded guilty last month to custodial sexual misconduct and other charges stemming from her contact with Delgado Galban .  Authorities said the sexual misconduct occurred while a deputy was at lunch , when Curry , a civilian jail services technician , was alone in the unit ' s control room , reports The Oregonian .  Curry pushed a button to unlock the inmate ' s cell and the pair would then meet in a supply closet to have sexual relations . This occurred 13 times , said prosecutor Jeff Lesowski .  A probation officer who conducted a pre sentencing investigation had recommended a prison sentence of less than two years , which the defense asked the judge to impose .  Judge Bailey went above the state ' s recommendation and sentenced Curry to four years and two months in prison .  The Multnomah County Sheriff ' s Office first started their investigation into Curry ' s actions on July 8 , 2014 , when someone called into the professional standards unit to report the jail services technician .  A probation officer who conducted a pre sentencing investigation had recommended a prison sentence of less than two years for Curry , but Judge Charles Bailey went above the state ' s recommendation and sentenced Curry to four years and two months in prison  Curry was placed on administrative leave that day , pending a criminal investigation .  She had been working in the sheriff ' s office since October 2004 , serving different parts of the jail including booking , inmate units and the control center .  After her arrest , Curry was booked into the Washington County Jail and held on 120 , 000 bond .  An article published in The Oregonian in 2010 said that in December 2009 , Delgado Galban , then 20 years old , allegedly broke into a woman ' s apartment in Hillsboro and raped her .  The suspect later agreed to a plea deal , as part of which he admitted to one count of burglary with the intent to commit rape in exchange for having the rape charges dropped .  In the wake of the scandal , the Washington County Jail has added surveillance cameras and beefed up security throughout the facility to prevent anything like this from happening again  In December 2010 , Delgado Galban was sentenced to three years and eight months in prison , and ordered to register as a sex offender upon his release .  But according to sheriff ' s officials , he failed to meet the conditions of the plea agreement , which landed him behind bars in the Washington County Jail where he encountered Curry .  In the wake of the scandal , the Washington County Jail has added surveillance cameras and beefed up security throughout the facility to prevent anything like this from happening again .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
19568,19569,"Not even Mike Brown could find a way through , nor could Marland Yarde or Danny Care . Harlequins simply could not unlock the door . It was a ruthless lock out another triumph for the Wolf pack .  Saracens ' fabled defence left their London rivals without a point in front of their own supporters at The Twickenham Stoop last Friday night , while accumulating 39 of their own in a stunning Aviva Premiership mis match . It was the latest herculean feat founded on Paul Gustard ' s succinct instructions to the players , as they prepare to go into ' monster ' mode .  ' "" Go get ' em "" that ' s the message , ' he said . ' "" Go get ' em be aggressive "" . People are confrontational in attack , so to counter that we have to be confrontational in defence . Rugby is a physical game of chess you are fighting for space and territory . The task for a defence is to take space away from an attack , put them under pressure then hopefully you get turn overs .  Paul Gustard , defence and forwards coach for Saracens , is interviewed by Sportsmail ' s Chris Foy  Paul Gustard was a confrontational flanker at Leicester Tigers , London Irish and Saracens  Richard Wigglesworth breaks free with the ball during the London derby between Harlequins and Saracens  ' The whole principle is , "" Go get ' em , we want the ball back "" . In defence , the system requires clarity of thought because you need to make good decisions . But when the collision happens , you have to release the monster you have to get angry and be physical to knock that person back . '  Saracens are a team who can win big games even when they have very little possession , such is their ability to soak up long spells of pressure . It was evident against Quins and notably last season in their Heineken Cup quarter final victory over Ulster in Belfast . Their defence is founded on aggressive intent on a collective mind set and work rate but Gustard has elevated the whole concept by giving it an identity of its own .  ' The idea of the "" Wolf pack "" just came out in a team meeting one day , in quite an organic way , ' he said . ' We were talking about wanting to go out and hunt them , go out and get them , hunt them like a pack , and it just came into my head , "" hunt them like a pack of wolves "" .  ' I quite liked it and spoke with the boys about wolf howling it was quite a vibrant meeting , as you can imagine ! We decided to roll with it and I had some T shirts knocked up . In the first year they said "" raised by wolves "" , next year we were "" born to be wild "" and next year it was "" hungry like the wolf "" . It has continued and it is an easy thing for the boys to talk about . '  Harlequins suffered an emphatic 39 0 defeat to Sarcacens on Friday night as Charlie Hodgson ran riot  Chris Ashton of Saracens crosses the line to score against Harlequins at the Twickenham Stoop  Innovation is something Saracens pride themselves on and it extends to coaching methods as well as a broader club out look . Last year , Gustard brought a pair of wolves into training , which caught the players off guard and certainly grabbed their attention . There may be similar stunts in the offing as he said : ' We haven ' t had any animals in for a while but we ' ll try to amend that maybe ! We were talking about a few ideas the other day . It ' s never dull here it ' s never dull at all . '  While the pack mentality relies on a unified will to chase , tackle , pressurise and hold the line , there are those at the heart of it who make it all tick as defensive leaders . Gustard pinpoints three key men Jacques Burger and Will Fraser the two abrasive openside flankers and Brad Barritt .  The England centre leads Saracens at London Irish on Saturday and the defence guru delivered an emphatic endorsement of his worth to the club , in the knowledge that his virtues are sometimes overlooked in the endless debate about the best midfield combination for the national team . ' For me , unequivocally , Brad Barritt is the best centre in England bar none , ' he said . ' He should be one of the first names down on an England team sheet .  ' We are very lucky to have him . He has an unbelievably low error rate , he is incredibly physical as a ball carrier and he is the best defensive centre in Europe I don ' t think there is much debate about that .  England and Saracens No 8 Billy Vunipola is tackled by Harlequins hooker Joe Gray  England skipper Chris Robshaw of Harlequins is tackled by Richard Barrington of Saracens  ' Not only is he a good defender , he is effective over the ball and gets us some key turn overs , and his attacking game has grown . He ' s got good , soft hands and puts in some deft little kicks , but that goes unnoticed because he has been pigeon holed as not being a ball player , which I think is unfair . '  In his own playing days , Gustard was an energetic , confrontational flanker at Leicester , London Irish and Saracens . He has taken his on field persona into his work as a coach , to great effect . In June last year , he fulfilled a temporary role in Stuart Lancaster ' s England set up , while Andy Farrell was on Lions duty in Australia . It was a clear sign of his rising status and at some point , he would welcome a more permanent opportunity at Test level .  ' I was very fortunate that Stuart asked me to do it and that Saracens allowed me that opportunity , ' he said . ' I had a great time . It was a challenge working with different players from different backgrounds , with different wants and needs , and difficult foibles and idiosyncrasies .  ' We did a good job , we got the players buying into what we were doing and we got the first series win in Argentina . I loved it and down the road , of course I would love it if that opportunity presented itself again , but at the moment they have a great coaching group .  ' At some stage I might get that chance but if it ' s not with England , who knows ? It might be with another country , or I might be head coach somewhere , or I might still be at Saracens , doing what we are doing . '  What they are doing today is trying to guard against any complacency after ' nilling ' Harlequins . That shouldn ' t be a significant danger because Irish beat them at Allianz Park last season and in Reading the season before , so the Exiles have proved more adept than most at breaking free from the Wolf pack ' s suffocating grip .  Gustard remembers every try his side concede in forensic detail . They pain him . He wants to stop them , so he will send Barritt and Co out at the Madejski Stadium with those same simple but effective orders . ' Go get ' em ' .  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
19574,19575,"Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers laid down the law to his players during Friday ' s training session ahead of his side ' s Premier League encounter against Arsenal .  The Reds go into their home match against the Gunners on the back of a comfortable 3 1 Capital One Cup win against Bournemouth .  However , Rodgers will not be resting on his laurels after the midweek victory as the Liverpool boss will be keen for his side to get back to winning ways in the Premier League .  Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers barked out instructions to his players during Friday ' s training session  Rodgers lays down the law to his Liverpool players ahead of their upcoming match against Arsenal  Rodgers will be keen for his side to bounce back from their Premier League defeat against Manchester United  Liverpool fell to a 3 0 defeat at rivals Manchester United last weekend and the Northern Irishman knows a win against Arsenal could go a long way to lifting the pressure .  Rodgers heaped praise on Raheem Sterling ahead of his side ' s match on Sunday . The England forward enjoyed one of his finest games in a Liverpool shirt when Arsenal fell to a humiliating 5 1 defeat at Anfield .  ' Raheem is an outstanding talent , ' Rodgers said . ' It is incredible the stick that the kid has received . He has been outstanding for us , wherever he has played . ( On Sunday ) we will do what is in the best interests of the team . '  When asked about Mario Balotelli ' s one game ban from the  , Rodgers said : ' We accept the ban so it is fairly clear . He is here as a footballer player and is trying to become a better player . '  Rodgers also said he was disappointed at losing out on ' brilliant ' Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez but was keen to stress he was focused on helping his players prepare for the showdown with the Gunners .  ' He is a world class player , ' Rodgers said .  ' He was identified as somebody who could come here and be perfect for us . He is a brilliant footballer with outstanding quality and a great work rate . Arsenal are a top side with top players , but the focus will be on ourselves . '  Rodgers looks Liverpool centre back Martin Skrtel in the eye before shaking his hand  Rodgers also greeted Mamadou Sakho as he aimed to get his players in the right frame of mind for their match against Arsenal  Liverpool boss Rodgers talks tactics with midfielder Jordan Henderson at Melwood training ground  Liverpool quartet Kolo Toure , Brad Jones , Skrtel and Sakho listen to Rodgers ' instructions  Toure replaced injured team mate Glen Johnson in the 26th minute against Manchester United  Liverpool will be without Mario Balotelli for the game against Arsenal as the striker is serving a one match suspension  Italy forward Balotelli has been hit with a 25 , 000 fine for breaking the  ' s social media rules  Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard will have been disappointed with his side ' s 3 0 defeat against rivals Manchester United  Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet , who was dropped for his side ' s match against Manchester United , saves a shot in training  Reds midfielder Lucas will be hoping to keep his place in Rodgers ' starting line up after playing the full 90 minutes against Bournemouth  Liverpool defender Alberto Moreno competes for the ball against goalkeeper Mignolet  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
19587,19588,"Reuters) - Indonesian police shot dead two men suspected of burning down a police station complex in a jihadist-inspired attack after they fired at them with bows and arrows, officials said on Monday. All the main buildings at the police headquarters in Dharmasraya regency in West Sumatra were burned to the ground in Sunday s attack. There were no casualties.   We are investigating links between the fire and the two terrorists who were killed,  said national police spokesman Rikwanto, adding that a jihadist message was found scrawled on a piece of paper on one of the suspects.     He added that firefighters had found two suspects near the complex and reported them to police. The suspects tried to shoot at police with bows and arrows and were shot dead. Police and police buildings have been the primary targets for militants in Indonesia for many years, because of a sustained crackdown by the anti-terrorism force on home-grown radicals. Detachment 88 - known locally as  Densus 88  - has managed to stamp out or weaken many radical Islamist networks. But the world s largest Muslim-majority nation has seen a recent resurgence in radicalism, inspired largely by Islamic State. A series of small-scale attacks since early 2016 have been linked to Islamic State, which is believed to have thousands of sympathizers in Indonesia.  ",true,dataset,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
19596,19597,"Reuters) - Islamic State claimed responsibility for a suicide attack that took place on Monday targeting the Nahrawan area southeast of Baghdad, the group s Amaq news agency said. The Sunni militant group said it had killed 35 members of Shi ite paramilitaries known as Popular Mobilisation Forces but the Interior Ministry had earlier said the attack targeted civilians and did not provide official casualty figures. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
19605,19606,"It took years to get through an increase in the fee airline passengers pay for airport screening and other government run aspects of aviation security .  It takes effect this summer but now already President Barack Obama wants those who travel by air to pick up even more of the security tab .  For more than a decade , the so called 9 11 fee has been 2 . 50 for a one way ticket or 5 with one or more connections . On a typical round trip flight with connections , the maximum was 10 .  Under a bipartisan budget deal signed into law by Obama in January , passengers will pay 5 . 60 one way , regardless of connections , beginning July 1 . That brings a round trip fee to 11 . 20 .  Now Obama is proposing to raise the fee to 6 for a one way trip , or 12 for the typical round trip .  The increase , the administration says , will make the fees "" more closely reflect the costs of passenger screening and other aviation security services . ""  The security fee currently brings in about 1 . 7 billion a year in revenue .  By law , the first 250 million is set aside for a fund that provides airport facility modifications and certain security equipment , according to the House Budget Committee .  The remaining amount goes to the Transportation Security Administration , but covers only about 30 percent of the agency ' s aviation related security costs .  Under the current budget plan , the higher fee will raise that number to about 43 percent of the total cost .  It is unclear what percentage of the total cost will be covered if the 6 fee becomes standard . But it ' s also unclear what parts of Obama ' s budget proposals will be adopted , if any .  The Bush and Obama administrations sought for years to raise the fee without success , making the request a staple of annual budget proposals .  They were resisted by key lawmakers and the airlines , who consider aviation security a national security priority that government should cover .  But Republicans slowly warmed to the idea of a fee increase as a way to cut government spending in an era of fiscal austerity .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
19609,19610,"Yemen ' s government has laid out ceasefire terms to Houthi Shiite rebels fighting in the country ' s north , Yemen ' s official news agency reported Thursday .  Yemeni security forces have been fighting against rebels in the north and south .  According to  , the government ' s demands include removing check points , ending banditry and destructive acts , handing over all military equipment and weapons and offering information on the fate of six kidnapped Europeans who disappeared in June .  The announcement of cease fire conditions by Yemen ' s Supreme Security Committee comes only days after Yemeni forces began an offensive against the Houthi rebels in the northern mountainous province of Saada , which is on the Yemeni border with Saudi Arabia .  It follows one day after a state of emergency was declared in all regions of Saada Province by the Saada Local Council .  The English language Yemen Post reported Wednesday that , according to local sources from Sa ' ada , "" army forces and fighter aircrafts launched a massive attack on Houthi leader Abdul Malik Al Houthi ' s headquarters in Saada province . ""  Thursday , citing official sources , Yemen Post reported that , over a five year period of sporadic battles between Yemeni forces and Houthi rebels , over 1 , 000 government soldiers have died and over 6 , 000 have been injured .  According to Yemen Post , "" it is said that thousands of civilians and Houthi ' s followers died in the same period , but the real number is unspecified . ""  Yemen ' s government and Houthi rebels have been involved in intermittent fighting since 2004 . The conflict is believed to be both separatist over who will have power in the area and sectarian whether Shia Islam will dominate even though the majority of Yemenis are Sunni .  Yemen ' s President Ali Abdullah Saleh is also faced with a separatist movement in the country ' s south and a growing threat from al Qaeda .  Al Qaeda ' s presence in Yemen has been a growing concern for the United States . In late July , Gen . David Petraeus ,  Commander , and an accompanying delegation , flew to Yemen and met with Saleh . According to  , one of the topics of discussion was how to better combat terrorism .  Nine foreigners were abducted in June while apparently on a picnic in Saada Province . The bodies of three of them , a South Korean teacher and two German nurses were discovered . Five Germans , including three children and a Briton , are still missing and their status is unknown .  It is still unclear who is behind the kidnapping . Initial official statements said the group was apparently seized by Houthi rebels . However , Yemen ' s news agency later reported Houthi rebels accused drug cartels of abducting the group and killing the three . In addition ,  said a spokesman for the rebels accused regional tribes of being behind the kidnappings and slayings .  The incident was the latest in a string of kidnappings of foreign workers in Yemen this year . All of the previous hostages had been released unharmed , including 24 medical workers seized in Yemen ' s Amran province .  In March , four South Korean tourists were killed in the city of Al Shibam when a bomb exploded as they were taking pictures .  In January , two female Belgian tourists and a Yemeni driver were killed by gunmen while the three were traveling in a convoy in Al Shibam .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
19613,19614,"The literary world is abuzz with the news of author George R . R . Martin ' s latest surprising move . Sources close to Martin revealed that the author plans to release early copies of his much anticipated novel , The Winds of Winter , to 100 lucky fans .  The Winds of Winter , the sixth installment in Martin ' s wildly popular high fantasy series , a Song of Ice and Fire , is not expected to hit shelves until 2016 . The author is notorious for lengthy delays between book releases , and his fans have a history of ill concealed impatience but it would seem that Mr Martin has been goaded into action at long last .  The as yet unfinished manuscript will be wirelessly delivered to 100 very lucky fans sometime this June . No one is yet aware of the identity of the favored few , nor were any known sources privy to the process by which these fans were chosen . It is thought that the hundred recipients will likely have been selected from among the author ' s plethora of fan clubs .  When asked why George R . R . Martin is considering such a unique maneuver , one of his publicists said that the author is "" sick unto death of all the whining "" . His followers , at times , have become almost violent in their demands for more tales from the Seven Kingdoms . It is hoped by Martin ' s team that this tactic will at least soothe the most aggressive of the bunch rather like tossing one red , juicy steak to a massive pack of hungry lions .  Despite Martin ' s annoyance , it would seem that these fans will also serve as honorary proof readers . After reviewing the first draft of the novel , they will be able to offer their advice and input before the book goes to print . This way , if the "" proof readers "" are upset with the fate of a character , or greatly dislike parts of the plot , changes can be made before it ' s too late . Chances are , if these specially selected fans aren ' t satisfied with the product , the majority of Martin ' s devotees won ' t be , either .  Many fans , mainly those in the unlucky majority who will not receive a copy of the first draft , have expressed their hopes of this manuscript being leaked on the internet . Unfortunately , there is no such possibility . Along with the copy of the unfinished novel comes a lengthy non disclosure agreement which will be enforced to the fullest extent of the law .  The vast majority of Martin ' s readers will have to wait until next year to find out what happens to beloved characters like Jon Snow , Sam Tarley and Danaerys Targaryen . For those fans who just can ' t wait , there is a silver lining : it would seem that the popular  series , Game of Thrones , is on track to outpace its written counterpart by its next season .  ",satire,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
19621,19622,"Hong Kong , China Hong Kong lawmakers resumed debate Wednesday on a bill that may result in the region ' s first statutory minimum wage .  The Minimum Wage Bill is a controversial piece of legislation that lawmakers hope will protect the most vulnerable workers in Hong Kong , one of the few places in the world without any sort of minimum wage law .  The debate is set to take two to three days .  A recent government survey showed that around half a million workers in Hong Kong earn less than 4 an hour . These include low skilled workers from the catering , retail , and cleaning industries .  According to Man Hon Poon , a policy researcher at the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Union , the lack of legal protection for workers has led to serious exploitation .  "" Workers in restaurants have to work for 12 hours or even 14 hours a day to earn a living , "" he said . "" They cannot even go to the cinema . ""  Legislator Tommy Cheung , however , claims that the government should not interfere with the free market economy , which he says has served Hong Kong well in the past . A minimum wage could deter investors and lead to increased unemployment , said Cheung , who represents the catering industry .  "" There is one fear within the industry , that they would have to close down , "" he said . "" When you see a closure , everyone loses out . ""  The government first proposed the current bill in 2008 following a failed attempt at a voluntary minimum wage . Labor unions , however , have been lobbying for a minimum wage since 1998 , following the Asian financial crisis .  The rate of the minimum wage has also been under great debate . Trade unions have been demanding a minimum wage of 4 while employer groups have been asking for 3 per hour .  If the bill passes this week , the rate of the minimum wage will be set by the Minimum Wage Commission , a consortium of trade union members , employers and scholars , in the coming months .  Once the chief executive approves the rate , employers will have six months to implement the law .  The Hong Kong government estimates that the earliest the minimum wage law may take effect is May 2011 .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
19628,19629,"Email  I realize that this headline must sound extremely bizarre, but in this article I will explain why this could actually happen. We have just learned that the  has obtained a search warrant that will enable the agency to examine approximately 650,000 emails that are sitting on electronic devices owned by Huma Abedin and her estranged husband Anthony Weiner. Now that the  is going through these emails, it is unlikely but still possible that a decision about whether or not to charge Hillary Clinton with a crime could be made by November 8th. Of course the most likely scenario is that Hillary Clinton will not be indicted before election day and that Americans will be voting with this scandal hanging ominously over the Clinton campaign. But if the  does quickly take action, it is possible that Hillary Clinton could be forced from the race before election day, and that would require the Democrats to come up with a new candidate.  In fact, there are already calls in the mainstream media for Clinton to willingly remove herself from the race. For example, the following comes from a Chicago Tribune article entitled “ Democrats should ask Clinton to step aside “…  So what should the Democrats do now?  If ruling Democrats hold themselves to the high moral standards they impose on the people they govern, they would follow a simple process:  They would demand that Mrs. Clinton step down, immediately, and let her vice presidential nominee, Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, stand in her place.  Democrats should say, honestly, that with a new criminal investigation going on into events around her home-brew email server from the time she was secretary of state, having Clinton anywhere near the White House is just not a good idea.  But what the author of that article does not understand is that Tim Kaine would not automatically take her place if Clinton steps down before the election. In a previous article , I included a quote from a U.S. News & World Report article that explained what would happen if Hillary Clinton was removed from the Democratic ticket for some reason prior to November 8th…  If Clinton were to fall off the ticket, Democratic National Committee members would gather to vote on a replacement.  members acted as superdelegates during this year’s primary and overwhelmingly backed Clinton over boat-rocking socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.   spokesman Mark Paustenbach says there currently are 445 committee members – a number that changes over time and is guided by the group’s bylaws, which give membership to specific officeholders and party leaders and hold 200 spots for selection by states, along with an optional 75 slots  members can choose to fill.  But the party rules for replacing a presidential nominee merely specify that a majority of members must be present at a special meeting called by the committee chairman. The meeting would follow procedures set by the  Rules and Bylaws Committee and proxy voting would not be allowed.  So if this email scandal forced Hillary Clinton to exit the race at the last minute, a majority of the members of the Democratic National Committee would gather to select a new nominee.  Who would they choose?  Let’s take a look at the top five options…  #1 Tim Kaine  He would seem to be an obvious choice since he is Hillary Clinton’s running mate. But to win a national campaign you need to have name recognition, and most Americans outside of the state of Virginia have very little familiarity with him.  And at this point he has proven to have very little popularity on the campaign trail. In fact, attendance at many of his rallies in key swing states can be measured in the dozens.  So to me it seems unlikely that the  would select Kaine as the replacement nominee.  #2 Joe Biden  Vice-President Joe Biden has far more name recognition than Tim Kaine does, and in recent days he has been touting how he believes that he would have actually won the nomination if he would have decided to run …  Vice President Joe Biden said in a recent interview that he believed he could have beat former secretary of state Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination had he pursued it.  Biden was asked in an interview with  Saturday if news that the  was re-opening their criminal probe into Clinton’s use of a private email server while secretary of state made him second-guess his decision last year not to run.  But according to the vice president, the short answer is “no.” The only thing that kept him from running, Biden said, was the recent death of his son, Beau.  Unfortunately for Biden, he suffers from many of the same things that Kaine does.  Biden is boring, he is not very good on the campaign trail, and he doesn’t have the sort of charisma that would motivate people to go to the polls in large numbers.  Biden would probably represent the “safest” choice for the Democrats, but he might not be a winning choice.  #3 Bernie Sanders  Bernie Sanders would seem to be a logical choice since he was the runner-up to Hillary Clinton, but the truth is that there are a lot of things working against Bernie Sanders.  First of all, he does not have any real loyalty to the Democrats. He has previously operated as an independent, and he expressed a desire to return to independent status once the campaign was over.  Secondly, the Democratic establishment very much dislikes him, and that plays a huge role in decisions such as this.  Thirdly, Democratic insiders fear that he would be “another McGovern” and would get absolutely wiped out in a general election.  So even though he is very popular with the radical left, it appears that Sanders would be the least likely choice on this list.  #4 Elizabeth Warren  Elizabeth Warren would be very popular with the “Bernie Sanders” wing of the party, and she would enable the party to replace Hillary Clinton with another woman.  So she is definitely a possibility.  But she does lack name recognition, and just like Sanders there would be concern that the Republicans would frame her candidacy as “another McGovern” because of her far left policies.  #5 Michelle Obama  One recent survey found that 67 percent of all Democrats would rather have a third term for Obama than a first term for Hillary Clinton.  And these days Barack Obama’s approval rating is running anywhere from +9 to +11.  So the thought of another Obama in the White House is not as far-fetched as you might think.  Michelle Obama has better name recognition than anyone else on this list, and she is generally very well-liked by the American people. And she has received a tremendous amount of praise for her work on the campaign trail recently. For instance, her recent speech in New Hampshire was lauded as “the most influential speech of the 2016 campaign” in a recent  article entitled “ In this campaign, Michelle Obama became more than just another political voice “…  The speech, amplified by timing and met with an enthusiastic response, cemented Obama’s place as a star of the presidential race and put a defining stroke not just on how women view Trump, but also on herself as a voice of moral authority. Three months before leaving the White House, she already is among the ranks of public figures who transcend politics and title.  “When you rise to a level like that, you see how much weight your words carry,” said Anita McBride, former chief of staff to Laura Bush and executive in residence at the School of Public Affairs at American University. “We know she didn’t like politics. But she was impassioned by the language that was used, and she feels compelled to speak out. People listen to her.”  If I were the Democrats, Michelle Obama is the one that I would select if a replacement nominee was needed, because she would give them the very best chance of winning against Donald Trump.  Of course the Obamas are just as radical as Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, but the American people have become quite comfortable with them at this point.  And I certainly hope that Michelle Obama does not become the nominee if Hillary Clinton has to step aside, because Donald Trump would have an exceedingly difficult time defeating her.  In the final analysis, none of this is probably going to matter anyway because it is unlikely that the  will move quickly enough to force Hillary Clinton out before election day, but there is still a small chance that it could actually happen.  And if it does happen, it is going to turn politics in America completely upside down.  Take a look at the future of America: The Beginning of the End and then prepare Don't forget to Like Freedom Outpost on Facebook , Google Plus , & Twitter . You can also get Freedom Outpost delivered to your Amazon Kindle device here .",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
19635,19636,"Reuters) - In September 2014, Gilberto Velasquez, a 38-year-old house painter from El Salvador, received life-changing news: The U.S. government had decided to shelve its deportation action against him.  The move was part of a policy change initiated by then-President Barack Obama in 2011 to pull back from deporting immigrants who had formed deep ties in the United States and whom the government considered no threat to public safety. Instead, the administration would prioritize illegal immigrants who had committed serious crimes.  Last month, things changed again for the painter, who has lived in the United States illegally since 2005 and has a U.S.-born child. He received news that the government wanted to put his deportation case back on the court calendar, citing another shift in priorities, this time by President Donald Trump.  The Trump administration has moved to reopen the cases of hundreds of illegal immigrants who, like Velasquez, had been given a reprieve from deportation, according to government data and court documents reviewed by Reuters and interviews with immigration lawyers.  Trump signaled in January that he planned to dramatically widen the net of illegal immigrants targeted for deportation, but his administration has not publicized its efforts to reopen immigration cases.  It represents one of the first concrete examples of the crackdown promised by Trump and is likely to stir fears among tens of thousands of illegal immigrants who thought they were safe from deportation.  While cases were reopened during the Obama administration as well, it was generally only if an immigrant had committed a serious crime, immigration attorneys say. The Trump administration has sharply increased the number of cases it is asking the courts to reopen, and its targets appear to include at least some people who have not committed any crimes since their cases were closed.  Between March 1 and May 31, prosecutors moved to reopen 1,329 cases, according to a Reuters' analysis of data from the Executive Office of Immigration Review, or EOIR. The Obama administration filed 430 similar motions during the same period in 2016.   Jennifer Elzea, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, confirmed the agency was now filing motions with immigration courts to reopen cases where illegal immigrants had “since been arrested for or convicted of a crime.”  It is not possible to tell from the  data how many of the cases the Trump administration is seeking to reopen involve immigrants who committed crimes after their cases were closed.  Attorneys interviewed by Reuters say indeed some of the cases being reopened are because immigrants were arrested for serious crimes, but they are also seeing cases involving people who haven’t committed crimes or who were cited for minor violations, like traffic tickets.  “This is a sea change, said attorney David Leopold, former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. “Before, if someone did something after the case was closed out that showed that person was a threat, then it would be reopened. Now they are opening cases just because they want to deport people.”  Elzea said the agency reviews cases, “to see if the basis for prosecutorial discretion is still appropriate.”  After Obama announced his shift toward targeting illegal immigrants who had committed serious crimes, prosecutors embraced their new discretion to close cases.  Between January 2012 and Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, the government shelved some 81,000 cases, according to Reuters’ data analysis. These so-called “administrative closures” did not extend full legal status to those whose cases were closed, but they did remove the threat of imminent deportation.  Trump signed an executive order overturning the Obama-era policy on Jan. 25. Under the new guidelines, while criminals remain the highest priority for deportation, anyone in the country illegally is a potential target.  In cases reviewed by Reuters, the administration explicitly cited Trump's executive order in 30 separate motions as a reason to put the immigrant back on the court docket. (For a link to an excerpted document: tmsnrt.rs/2sI6aby)  Since immigration cases aren’t generally public, Reuters was able to review only cases made available by attorneys.  In the 32 reopened cases examined by Reuters:  —22 involved immigrants who, according to their attorneys, had not been in trouble with the law since their cases were closed.  —Two of the cases involved serious crimes committed after their cases were closed: domestic violence and driving under the influence.  —At least six of the cases involved minor infractions, including speeding after having unpaid traffic tickets, or driving without a valid license, according to the attorneys.  In Velasquez’s case, for example, he was cited for driving without a license in Tennessee, where illegal immigrants cannot get licenses, he said.  “I respect the law and just dedicate myself to my work,” he said. “I don’t understand why this is happening.”  Motions to reopen closed cases have been filed in 32 states, with the highest numbers in California, Florida and Virginia, according to Reuters’ review of  data. The bulk of the examples reviewed by Reuters were two dozen motions sent over the span of a couple days by the New Orleans  office.  Sally Joyner, an immigration attorney in Memphis, Tennessee said one of her Central American clients, who crossed the border with her children in 2013, was allowed to stay in the United States after the government filed a motion to close her case in December 2015.  Since crossing the border, the woman has not been arrested or had trouble with law enforcement, said Joyner, who asked that her client’s name not be used because of the pending legal action.  Nevertheless, on March 29,  filed a two-page motion to reopen the case against the woman and her children. When Joyner queried ICE, an official said the agency had been notified that her client had a criminal history in El Salvador, according to documents seen by Reuters.  The woman had been arrested for selling pumpkin seeds as an unauthorized street vendor. Government documents show U.S. authorities knew about the arrest before her case was closed.  Dana Marks, president of the National Association of Immigration Judges, said that revisiting previously closed matters will add to a record backlog of 580,000 pending immigration cases.  “If we have to go back and review all of those decisions that were already made, it clearly generates more work,” she said. “It’s a judicial do-over.”  ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
19636,19637,"A Mississippi man is lucky to be alive after a lawn mower shot a three and a half inch metal wire up his nose and into his head .  Bill Parker , 34 , of Gulfport was mowing his lawn while at his family home last Sunday when he thought a rock hit him in the face not realizing it was actually a metal fence wire .  Dr Timothy Haffey , who removed the wire which was as thick as a heavy duty nail , said that it miraculously dodged all of Parker ' s important nerves and arteries .  Bill Parker , 34 , of Gulfport was mowing his lawn on April 19 when the rusty metal wire entered his left nostril and was lodged in his sinus cavity ( above the  scan showing the wire inside Parker ' s head )  Parker ( left ) thought a rock had struck him in the face but after going to Memorial Hospital a scan revealed it was a three and a half inch metal fence wire  ' It threw me back a little bit and it hurt real bad , ' Parker told the Sun Herald . ' I felt my face but I didn ' t feel any disfiguring or anything . I saw blood , so I knew I got a bloody nose . '  After nearly 15 minutes following the incident , he and his fiancee Katie Heggins decided for him to go to Memorial Hospital for treatment .  A  scan revealed the metal wire had been shot up his left nostril and was lodged in Parker ' s sinus cavity beneath his eye socket and next to his jaw hinge .  ' Had it gone straight up his nose at the rate it was traveling , it could have gone inside his brain , ' Heggins told the Sun Herald .  Dr Haffey removed the wire with a simple sinus surgery which took 20 minutes and entailed making an incision on Parker ' s upper lip .  ' It was about a nine centimeter long , rusty piece of metal that went all the way up to his skull base , and it pretty much dodged everything , ' Dr Haffey told the Sun Herald . ' Once the scan showed that , my job was pretty easy . '  ' He shouldn ' t have any long term effects , ' he added . ' Basically , it was a sinus surgery . The problem is this was a rusty piece of metal . '  Dr Timothy Haffey removed the wire in a 20 minute sinus surgery ( left the wire being removed from Parker ' s nose ) . Dr Haffey made an incision on Parker ' s upper lip during the surgery ( pictured right the incision )  The rusty wire ( above the wire after it was removed during surgery ) dodged all of Parker ' s important nerves and arteries , according to Dr Haffey  Following the surgery , Parker shared on Facebook that he was grateful to be alive as he retold his account of what happened the day before .  ' Just woke up at memorial hospital . Much of yesterday is kind of a blur and lots of it i just don ' t remember , ' he wrote .  ' Always wear protective gear for your face when cutting grass ! ! ! I thought a rock or something flew out and hit me , it felt like getting shot in the face .  ' Cat scan determined it to be a metallic object in my sinus cavity . '  Parker ( above ) is taking antibiotics to prevent infection and said he plans to find someone else to mow his lawn  ' I ' m grateful to be alive . Several doctors were completely amazed at what had happened to me and stressed how lucky I really am , ' he continued .  ' The metal had somehow made its way through a tangle of really important nerves and arteries and finally rested about a millimeter from both carotid artery and my jugular vein .  ' Guess it just wasnt my time yet . '  The metal wire was sent to a pathology lab and Parker is taking antibiotics to prevent infection .  He was back at work by Wednesday , albeit a little bruised . He said this Sunday , he plans to relax with his fiancee and seven month old daughter Sophia and find someone else to mow his lawn .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
19649,19650,"Reuters) - Republican officials on Friday defended the process for selecting delegates who will choose the party’s presidential nominee, denying a barrage of accusations from front-runner Donald Trump that it is a rigged system aimed at subverting him.Front-runner Trump has skewered the party during the past week because of rules he has lambasted as “crooked” and said the Republican National Committee “should be ashamed of themselves.” The New York billionaire moved from his preferred platforms of Twitter and television interviews to a Wall Street Journal opinion piece on Friday to air his views on the delegate-selection rules, which vary from state to state. “What we are seeing now is not a proper use of the rules, but a flagrant abuse of the rules,” Trump wrote. The  has stood by its process and the friction between party officials and Trump has increased all week. Without mentioning Trump by name, the party released a statement on Friday outlining the delegate selection process in states with upcoming contests - plans it said have been in place since October. “The rules surrounding the delegate selection have been clearly laid out in every state and territory and while each state is different, each process is easy to understand for those willing to learn it,” the party statement said. “It ultimately falls on the campaigns to be up to speed on these delegate rules.”  Chairman Reince Priebus emphasized each state writes its own rules.  “The complaining that goes on is something that I think probably distracts from what we really need to do, which is come together as Republicans,” Priebus said on NBC’s “Today” program. Trump is leading among the three Republicans seeking the party’s nomination for the Nov. 8 election to oppose either former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton or U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders on the Democratic side. The real estate mogul must win 1,237 delegates to clinch the nomination before the party’s July 18-21 convention in Cleveland. U.S. Senator Ted Cruz is trying to block Trump from reaching that number on the first round of ballot voting in hopes of triggering a contested convention. That could allow Cruz, Ohio Governor John Kasich or another last-minute entrant to win the Republican nominee. Trump has blasted such a scenario. “The political insiders have had their way for a long time,” he said in the Journal, posted online Thursday. “Let 2016 be remembered as the year the American people finally got theirs.” ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
19681,19682,"KABUL, Afghanistan  —   Around 20 guests gathered in a dusty corner of northern Afghanistan on Sunday night to break bread in celebration of a miraculous truce: the coming together of two bitter enemies who had been on opposite sides of the war. The centerpiece of the meal was roasted goat, a sacrifice by a father offered upon the return of his son, for that was what was happening. Just three months before, the host, Abdul Basir, a government militia commander, had fired his rifle in the dark of the night at his son Said Muhammad, a hardened Taliban fighter, and was sad not to have killed him. Now, after trying several times to fulfill their vows to kill each other, the father and son were embracing and exchanging garlands of plastic flowers in the northern province of Faryab, where their battle had played out. “He was my son  —   but he had been a coward out there fighting me,” said Mr. Basir, a lanky, cleanshaven commander in his 40s who has known little but combat since he was 15. Several of his children and five of his brothers serve in his militia. “Now I am very happy that he has returned to us. I hugged him and I said, ‘No matter what you did, you are my son. ’” It was an extraordinary twist, and perhaps not the last, in a story about how Afghan families have been fodder for a perpetual war, framed by grand ideologies but more truly depicted in misery and loss. Suddenly, a new chapter was starting. The celebratory feast was cut short as Mr. Basir’s outposts came under Taliban fire, seemingly in retaliation for Mr. Muhammad’s switching sides and bringing with him a couple of his comrades, as well as precious weapons and ammunition. In a telephone interview, Mr. Basir proudly described how he and his son hurried to the fight together, with Mr. Muhammad turning his gun against his old comrades. Since then, multiple interviews with both father and son, as well as relatives and officials in Faryab Province, detailed the family’s ordeal. For much of his life, Mr. Basir has been a commander in the northern militia of Abdul Rashid Dostum, a former warlord who now serves as Afghanistan’s vice president while continuing to draw accusations of human rights abuses. Mr. Basir crossed paths with the man who would turn his son against him in the 1990s, while the Taliban were in power. That man, Mawlawi Said Hafiz, was a Taliban military commander in Faryab Province, and Mr. Basir was a militia commander fighting him on behalf of Mr. Dostum. After the 2001 American invasion, Mr. Basir gained the upper hand, but he forgave Mawlawi Hafiz on the condition that he give up his links to the Taliban. Mr. Basir said he made Mawlawi Hafiz the imam of a village mosque, having the congregants pay him a tithe of wheat for his salary. Mr. Basir himself tried to take up a civilian life, though he maintained his cache of weapons and ammunition. Mawlawi Hafiz was keeping his powder dry, too. He secretly maintained his links to the Taliban and rose to become a senior judge for the insurgents’ shadow government in Faryab. After the Taliban grew stronger in the province in recent years, Mawlawi Hafiz was in a position to exact revenge. First, he recruited Mr. Basir’s teenage son. Mr. Muhammad stole thousands of his father’s bullets, more than 40 magazines and a Kalashnikov rifle, and joined the Taliban. “The mullahs told us: ‘Your father is an infidel  —   he is supported by the Americans. You should come join our jihad,’” Mr. Muhammad recalled. “I had decided to kill him. ” More than three years ago, Mr. Muhammad arrived at home with two pistols, set to gun down his father. But other villagers had tipped off Mr. Basir, who overpowered him. “I wanted to kill him right there, but my relatives said: ‘Let him be. He is your son,’” Mr. Basir recalled. “I let him live, and convinced him not to return to the Taliban but join the army. ” Mr. Muhammad enlisted and joined an army unit sent to the eastern province of Paktia. But his loyalties had remained with the Taliban. Every month, he said, he would send his salary of about $202 to the Taliban, depositing it into an insurgent account. Back home, Mr. Basir said, he found out about the arrangement and warned Mr. Muhammad’s superiors to be on watch in case the young man tried to surrender a post to the insurgents. But then Mawlawi Hafiz’s Taliban came directly for Mr. Basir. He was arrested, and only narrowly avoided execution. He and his second wife and children fled their home, in the Qaisar District of Faryab. “We paid money for his release, and all of us left the area,” said Mr. Basir’s brother Said Abdul Rahim. “But Taliban continued to burn our five houses and cut down our trees. Then Basir decided to fight them. ” When Mr. Muhammad returned from his army base in the east last year, he went straight to Mawlawi Hafiz in Faryab and rejoined the Taliban there. As Mr. Muhammad was making his way back to Faryab, Mr. Basir learned of his son’s plans and set up ambushes. Mr. Muhammad managed to avoid the traps, but Mr. Basir had made it his mission to kill his son. “It is up to God, but I think his blood is legitimate for me,” Mr. Basir told The New York Times in May, after an unsuccessful raid to kill his son. In the middle of the night, Mr. Basir’s men had surrounded their ancestral home village of Zyaratgah, which remained under Taliban control. “My mother came and said someone had shot the dog,” Mr. Muhammad said about that night. “I picked up the weapon and fired a couple times, but realized they had me surrounded. ” Mr. Muhammad flung himself out a window and ran into the orchards. Mr. Basir shot some rounds, chased him in vain and then left when other Taliban arrived to drive off the attack. At the heart of the blood feud, the women of the family were caught on opposite sides  —   especially Mr. Muhammad’s mother, Mr. Basir’s first wife. She remains in Taliban territory, and could not be reached by telephone this week for comment. Mr. Rahim, Mr. Basir’s brother, suggested that she was potentially a factor in Mr. Muhammad’s joining the Taliban. “Basir’s wife has complained that he married another woman and did not take care of her,” Mr. Rahim said. “So she convinced her son to join the Taliban. ” Mr. Basir insists that his first wife is not angry with him. “Such things happen,” he said. “But I love that wife of mine  —   she has put up with a lot. ” Mr. Muhammad said: “My mother was on both sides. Sometimes she was on my side, sometimes on my father’s side. ” Mr. Basir could not say what finally changed his mind about his son since trying to ambush him in May. In the months since, he began reaching out to try to persuade Mr. Muhammad to return. The men’s reunion was secured by shuttle diplomacy, with relatives going back and forth between the two. They sought to convince Mr. Muhammad that he was, in effect, burning his own property  —   seeking to destroy the orchards and home he stood to inherit. Mr. Muhammad said he had slowly realized that the Taliban were not the holy warriors they had portrayed themselves to be. Top commanders were getting payments, and none was trickling down to fighters like him. “I told Muhammad: ‘Your father is a serious enemy of the Taliban. If the father is an enemy, the son cannot be a friend,’” said Said Qayum, one of Mr. Basir’s cousins who served as a  . For now, Mr. Muhammad is fighting on his father’s side. Still, some in the family and their home district remain skeptical that someone who was once so determined to kill his own father, and who barely survived his father’s gunfire, could put it all behind him. What if he is an infiltrator? Mr. Basir said he had no doubts. “I believe him now  —   he was ignorant. My friends there told him that your father has killed 300 to 400 Taliban, they will kill you eventually. They will not leave you alive,” Mr. Basir said. “I told him, ‘I want to get you married. ’” When asked about that plan, Mr. Muhammad  —   who years ago explicitly chose the Taliban rather than bow to his family’s pressure to marry  —   had only a hesitant answer: “It’s not clear now  —   I can’t say if I will marry. ”",true,news,validation,American football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
19695,19696,"Nov 6, 2016 Axel Tillmann Opinion  There are plenty of talented Russians working in U.S. tech companies. Such partnerships are sure to create wealth and be beneficial for both countries.  Russians have a high chance of succeeding in Silicon Valley if they surround themselves with others whose talents complement their own. Photo: Theory and Practice  Although it may come as a surprise to many, Russians have long had a presence in the U.S., particularly in Silicon Valley . It’s a mistake, especially for businesspeople, to trust the picture politicians and the media paint of Russia. Many Russian  companies view Silicon Valley as the promised land, and many Russians have much to contribute here.  Most Russians arrive in the U.S. with a strong education and a different way of looking at the world that enables them to “design” products. I speak from experience. In one of my startups, I partnered with a Russian named Vladimir who quietly worked away in his office. Occasionally he would get up from his chair and step to a white board to sketch out his design plans. Eventually there would be the sound of his keyboard clicking as he produced on his screen what he had designed in his mind. Eventually we created a great product. There are plenty of Vladimirs working away in U.S. tech companies. Recommended: "" Russians in America: How to find success in Silicon Valley ""  In other cases, whole Russian companies have found success in the U.S. market. One company worth highlighting is Kaspersky Lab . The Moscow-based firm was a dark horse in the software security business, up against such competition as McAfee and Symantec. Yet today, Kaspersky’s market share is in the top eight of all vendors in the sector, and it is twice the size of McAfee’s. Kaspersky is an important case study in what it takes to be truly successful in the market. The company had a great product, but what made the firm successful was its brilliant go-to-market strategy, crafted in cooperation with North American market managers.  Wisely, Kaspersky’s leadership chose to tap experts in the local market to craft the company’s strategy rather than trying to do it by themselves. I’m not ashamed to admit that as a German immigrant, I started down the path of launching a product with a limited sense of marketing skills, believing in The Field of Dreams theory, “if we build it, they will come.” Unfortunately, that’s just not so. After a long and painful journey of my own, I finally came around to seeing the benefits of hiring professionals who know how to play the game, but this required that I make a change in my way of thinking.  I have met many talented Russians during the last five years and they are hungry to succeed; but most need the same kind of awakening I had in order to create their own success stories. Not everyone will become Google co-founder Sergey Brin, or even Birger Steen, who created the extremely successful software platform Parallels, but the opportunity to be a success is available to all who can combine their love for technological achievements with excellence in marketing and sales. Here are few more examples of innovators with Russian who have found that success: Valentin Gapontsev ( Photonics), Yuri Milner (investor), Stepan Pachikov (Evernote), David Yan (ABBYY).  Silicon Valley is truly a magical place, and anyone who comes to work here learns quickly that the main advantage of the Valley is the network that exists. Russians have a high chance of succeeding in Silicon Valley if they surround themselves with others whose talents complement their own. One way to do this is to join a networking organization. Two of the larger networking organizations for Russian entrepreneurs and developers are  (American Business Association of Russian Speaking Processionals) and the Global Technology Symposium, led by the legendary Alexandra Johnson.  While current geopolitics is encouraging Russian entrepreneurs to take another look at China , culturally Russians are closer to the U.S. mentality . In the long-term, Russia and Russians have little to gain from China. What interests do the Chinese have in helping Russia develop a culture of innovation? Chinese companies have a clear track record of observing the ideas and the scientific research of others, and then reverse engineering it to create their own products.  I encourage investors to embrace Russian entrepreneurs and help them find a U.S. partner. Only if we encourage this free entrepreneurial spirit can we stop the long-standing intellectual brain drain that Russia has experienced for so many years.  Let’s work together to make some money.  The opinion of the author may not necessarily reflect the position of Russia Direct or its staff.  The article was initially published in Russia Direct’s special project “ U.S.-Russia Shared Frontiers ."" Tags: ",fake,news,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
19732,19733,"Friends and family of a teenage boy killed at a music festival have made dozens of t shirts and wristbands in tribute to the 16 year old .  Liam Taylor died after he went to a two day electronic music festival in Coventry , over the weekend .  Tributes have been posted in memory of the teenager , who is described by friends as ' lovely ' on social media sites  Emily Vicary wrote on Twitter '  Liam Taylor . You were a lovely lad and will be missed .  Liam Taylor , 16 , has been described as ' lovely ' by family and friends following his death at a music festival  ' Thoughts are with your family . '  Nathan Peet wrote '  Liam Taylor , far too young to be taken away from your family and friends ,  ' .  Olivia Grace added : '  Liam Taylor , taken far too young heaven has gained yet another angel ' .  Jordan Farmer said : ' Looking forward to seeing you again one day lad , will see you when I get there sleep tight bro love you . '  His friends gathered over the weekend to make banners , t shirts and wrist bands in his memory .  The teenager , a pupil at Deyes High in Maghull , Merseyside , is understood to have travelled to Outbreak festival with a group of friends and died at the Ricoh arena in Coventry , where it was being held , on Sunday morning .  The teenager was a popular Merseyside pupil and died at Outbreak festival , held at the Ricoh Arena , Coventry  The two day festival took place on Friday and Saturday , with acts finishing their sets as late as 6am on Sunday morning .  Mr Taylor ' s death follows that of Alisha Bartolini , 18 , of Wigan , was found dead at her halls of residence in Liverpool after a themed night out , also during the Halloween weekend .  A spokeswoman for West Midlands Police confirmed emergency services were called to the Ricoh Arena at 5 . 41am on November 2 , to help a 16 year old male .  She said he was taken by ambulance to University Hospital Coventry , where he was pronounced dead and there were no suspicious circumstances .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
19735,19736,"China has expressed "" strong dissatisfaction "" with a U . S . statement urging the government to free protesters imprisoned after the 1989 crackdown near Tiananmen Square .  At a daily Ministry of Foreign Affairs briefing , spokesman Liu Weimin accused the U . S . government of making baseless allegations and interfering with China ' s internal affairs .  "" The U . S . side has been ignoring the facts and issuing such statements year after year , making baseless accusations against the Chinese government and arbitrarily interfering with China ' s internal affairs . The Chinese side expresses strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition to such acts , "" he said .  The U . S . statement came as pro democracy activists marked 23 years since Chinese soldiers followed orders to open fire on unnarmed civilians near Tiananmen Square .  Official Chinese government figures put the number of dead at 241 , including soldiers , with 7 , 000 injured . Rights group say the number of dead was likely to be in the thousands .  The U . S . State Department issued its remarks on the eve of the anniversary , saying the United Statements "" joins the international community in remembering the tragic loss of innocent lives . ""  "" We encourage the Chinese government to release all those still serving sentences for their participation in the demonstrations to provide a full public accounting of those killed , detained or missing and to end the continued harassment of demonstration participants and their families , "" the statement said .  Human Rights Watch estimates about a dozen Chinese citizens are still imprisoned over the June 1989 protests .  The U . S . statement added : "" We renew our call for China to protect the universal human rights of all its citizens release those who have been wrongfully detained , prosecuted , incarcerated , forcibly disappeared , or placed under house arrest and end the ongoing harassment of human rights activists and their families . ""  The statement came just weeks after relations between the United States and China were strained over Chen Guangcheng , the blind human rights activist who escaped house arrest and sought refuge in the U . S .  Now studying law at a university in New York , Chen claims he and his family suffered "" beyond imagination "" at the hands of local officials during 18 months of house arrest in his village of Dongshigu in Shandong . Before that , he was imprisoned for four years for "" damaging property and organizing a mob to disturb traffic "" after campaigning to win more rights for village residents .  Chen weighed in on the June 4 anniversary by writing a message to be read to the tens of thousands of people expected to gather Monday in Victoria Park in Hong Kong .  "" This Democracy Movement deserves universal approval , "" he said in the statement . "" We ask that its requests be treated appropriately . We do not desire revenge but we want to completely reveal the truth . We are in favor of tolerance , but against forgetfulness . People who are forgetful have no future , "" he said .  Chen is one of a number of activists who have been imprisoned or are currently detained for campaigning for human rights or religious freedom in Communist led China .  In the days leading up to June 4 , many known pro democracy activists were said to have been detained as a pre emptive measure to prevent dissent .  "" Many of my friends and fellow freedom fighters have been under house arrest . Especially in the last week or so , many were confined under soft detention without any freedom of movement , "" said Bob Fu , the founder of Christian human rights group ChinaAid who was student protest leader back in 1989 .  "" It was a tragic massacre for simply the students exercising the peaceful protest for demanding reform and anti corruption and freedom in China , "" he said .  While Tiananmen Square has become the focal point for the events of June 4 , 1989 , most of the casualties occurred outside the square . In the lead up to that fatal day , protests had spread beyond Beijing to cities including Shanghai , Chengdu and Guangzhou . And while students initiated the push for greater freedom , their cause was taken up by a broader section of society .  In China , there was no mention of the June 4 anniversary in local newspapers on Monday . No comments on China ' s version of Twitter , Weibo , referred outright to the anniversary . Some users were said to be trying to evade government censors by referring to "" May 35th . ""  Others posted photos rather than messages , which were re posted with the term ""  . "" One user posted a photo of a candle with the words : "" At this moment , on the other end of the dark night , a country is celebrating their queen ' s 60 anniversaries as Monarch . We , on the other side of the earth however , are not allowed to light the candles . ""  This year , for the first time , the Hong Kong commemorations will include Chinese activist Fang Zheng , a former student activist who lost both legs when he was run over by a tank in the streets off Tiananmen Square .  He spoke about his experiences while visiting a temporary museum dedicated to the crackdown in Hong Kong , a special admininstrative region of China .  "" A row of tanks , three in a row , came towards us . . . . I don ' t know whether other students encountered the tanks before me , I could have been the first one , "" he said .  "" There were students in front of me as well and the tanks rushed towards us . ""  On the anniversary , Amnesty International also issued a statement again calling for the government to hold an "" open and independent inquiry into the events of 1989 . ""  The rights group paid tribute to Ya Weilin , the 73 year old father of student who was shot and killed in the 1989 crackdown .  Amnesty said Ya and his wife Zhang Zhenxia spent 20 years campaigning for the government to make amends for those killed in the 1989 demonstration .  In a note written just before his death , Ya complained of the government ' s refusal to hear his grievances about his son ' s death , and therefore said he would "" fight with his death . ""  Ya was later found hanged in a garage below his home .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
19755,19756,"Foreign tourists wounded by militants hotel in Egypt  One assailant killed by security forces Two men attacked at resort s outdoor restaurant  Egyptian security services outside the entrance to the Bella Vista Hotel in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada , Egypt . Photograph :   Two suspected militants have stabbed and wounded three foreign tourists at a hotel in the Egyptian Red Sea resort city of Hurghada .  Security forces opened fire at the two assailants , killing one and seriously wounding the other , the interior ministry said .  It said two men armed with knives had entered the hotel s outdoor restaurant at the front of the building and attacked the tourists .  All three wounded tourists , two Austrians and a Swede , were taken to hospital , where one was treated and discharged , the statement said . There was no word on the condition of the other two .  Security officials had initially said the attackers wounded two tourists , a Dane and a German , but such discrepancies are common in the immediate aftermath of terror attacks .  The attack came just hours after the local affiliate of the Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack a day earlier on a hotel in Cairo near the Giza Pyramids . No one was hurt in the Thursday attack .  Egypt has been battling an insurgency by Islamic militants led by the Islamic State s affiliate . The insurgency has been focused in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula but has frequently spilled over into the mainland since the ousting in 2013 of the Islamist president Mohammed Morsi .  The Hurghada attack is a dangerous precedent since Egypt s Red Sea resorts have done better than elsewhere in the country in withering the slump suffered by the vital tourism sector in the five years of turmoil since a popular uprising toppled longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak .  Thursday s attack was also significant in that it targeted a hotel in Cairo , a heavily policed city , at a time when security appeared to improve in recent months after a series of disruptive bomb attacks .  Egypt s tourist industry was decimated after the downing of a Russian passenger plane over Sinai in October . The local Islamic State affiliate has claimed it downed the aircraft with a bomb . All 224 people on board were killed in the crash , mostly Russian tourists .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
19770,19771,"Weapons ' Probably ' Used in Yemen Amid Alleged Saudi War Crimes  The British government has been accused of potentially being complicit in alleged Saudi war crimes after a  Foreign Office (  ) minister admitted that Saudi forces were "" probably "" using British made weapons as part of the country ' s intervention in Yemen .  When asked on ? the issue during ? a parliamentary debate on ? the matter , foreign office minister Tobias Ellwood said :  "" I can probably confirm that they British manufactured arms probably have been used .  "" We sell arms to ? Saudi Arabia ? ? they are using weapons systems which we then sell . The more pertinent question is are they being used responsibly or not and that is the more important question and we need to ? make sure they are used in ? that responsible matter . ""   ? ?  minister Tobias Ellwood is ' far too relaxed ' as ? civilians die in Yemen weblink : t . co jTWPSsG1ja pic . twitterweblink 1JK269jck2  ? ? AmnestyUK Media Team ( NewsFromAmnesty ) October 23 , 2015 ?  The response sparked a backlash from ? Amnesty International ?  Director Kate Allen , who said the government was "" far too relaxed about ? the horrible civilian death toll in ? Yemen "" and called on ? London to ? ensure that its weapons weren ' t being used to ? carry out ? war crimes .  "" The government has previously said that it simply relies on ? Saudi Arabia ' s ' assurances ' over ? the proper use of ?  supplied weapons by ? its forces in ? Yemen , but ? how can this ever be good enough ? ""  "" Mr Ellwood only needs to ? read our recent report on ? Yemen ? ? with ? its evidence of ? the reckless nature of ? the Saudi led coalition ' s bombing campaign in ? Yemen ? ? to ? set off ? the alarm bells . ""  "" Instead of ? sitting back and hoping for ? the best over ? Saudi Arabia ' s use of ? our weaponry in ? the blood drenched conflict in ? Yemen , he Mr Ellwood should be suspending all further arms exports to ? Saudi Arabia and announcing an urgent investigation into ? whether  arms have been killing civilians in ? their hundreds in ? Yemen . ""   recently released a scathing report on ? the actions of ? the Saudi led coalition in ? Yemen , accusing Riyadh ' s forces of ? having an "" appalling disregard for ? civilian lives "" while claiming to ? have secured significant evidence that war crimes were committed as ? part of ? the ongoing military assault .  ? Tobias Ellwood  ( Tobias Ellwood ) October 7 , 2015  Saudi destroying everything in Yemen today Tobias Ellwood was in ? favour of ?  supplies of ? weapons YemenDebate weblink : t . co 2zaFguJwfU  This comes after ? the  Foreign Office was heavily criticized by ? a House of ? Commons Select Committee for ? admitting that human rights had slipped behind ? securing trade deals in ? its order of ? priorities .  In Money They Trust ?  ' Turns Blind Eye ' to Saudi Human Rights Record to Sell Arms  The committee , chaired by ? Conservative  Crispin Blunt , said it was "" disturbed "" by ? the government ' s admission that human rights had been downgraded , and blamed a lack of ? funding to ? the  as ? a contributing factor to ? the situation .  Blunt agreed with ? the sentiments of ? David Mepham , the  Director of ?  Human Rights Watch who said that reducing the priority of ? human rights would damage the  ' s international reputation .  "" This unwillingness to ? fully champion rights and fundamental freedoms runs counter to ? the best traditions in ? this country ' s history and weakens the  ' s global standing and influence , "" he said .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
19776,19777,"All 224 passengers and crew were killed when the plane crashed in the desert on the way to St . Petersburg , Russia . Egypt and Russia have yet to formally announce the cause of the disaster .  Both countries dismissed as premature U . S . and British assessments last week that a bomb likely was responsible .  Foreign airlines canceled a wave of flights to Egypt ' s Red Sea resorts following the crash . After initially signaling normal air traffic would proceed , Russia late last week canceled holiday flights into Sharm al Sheikh .  Over the weekend , Russia mounted an airlift to repatriate thousands of Russian vacationers who had been stranded in Sinai after regular flights were canceled .  Within days of the crash , U . S . and British government sources were suggesting that intercepted communications chatter indicated that the plane had been brought down by a bomb .  The Islamic State ' s local affiliate , which calls itself the Sinai Province of the Islamic State , claimed responsibility for the crash , and indicated it was in retaliation for Russia ' s military intervention in the Syrian civil war .  The group has been fighting the Egyptian army in the Sinai , most of which is a closed military zone , in a conflict that human rights groups say has claimed thousands of civilian lives .  A U . S . government source said on Monday that neither Russia nor Egypt has accepted an offer from the  to assist them in investigating the crash .  The  has offered "" forensic assistance "" and other unspecified services to both Russia and Egypt ,  spokesman Joshua Campbell said .  The possibility that Islamic State operatives were able to infiltrate Sharm al Sheikh Airport and plant a bomb aboard a commercial aircraft has heightened worries among U . S . officials about the danger posed by the group ' s Sinai branch . "" It has elevated concern , "" said a U . S . official , who requested anonymity in order to discuss the issue .  The U . S . official said that a leading theory is that an airport worker may have planted the suspected bomb aboard the Russian plane .  U . S . flag air carriers for years have avoided flying into or out of Sharm al Sheikh airport because of longstanding worries about security at the facility , U . S . officials said . Because no U . S . airlines fly there , the officials said , the U . S . Transportation Security Administration has not recently evaluated security at the airport . ?  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
19780,19781,"Claims : Dr Katherine Rake leads the Family and Parenting Institute  Only one in six people in Britain think they live as part of a traditional family , according to claims by a new think tank yesterday .  Apparently , only a small minority come from ' traditional nuclear families ' with married parents and two or more children , the Centre for the Modern Family said .  Its report said the traditional family is out of date and that the Government should consider ways to support alternative family forms that are adopted by the majority .  But the group ' s research and findings were criticised by analysts who said that according to official statistics , six out of ten of all families with children are led by two married parents .  Family researcher and author Jill Kirby said : ' A large majority of couples are still married .  ' By painting the traditional family as a tiny minority this report is giving a false picture of life in Britain . It makes one wonder what their agenda is .  ' Their data is absurdly fixed . It is at odds with the official data on the family . '  And one of the panel of experts that drew up the report , financed by the Scottish Widows insurance group , acknowledged that the low figure thrown up by its research was connected to the way the questions were framed .  The report comes at a key moment for Government policy on the family , with a gap appearing to widen between supporters of ministers such as Iain Duncan Smith who would like to see the tax and benefit system changed to support married couples , and those who believe state support for marriage should take a low priority .  Traditional family ? Apparently only a small minority come from ' traditional nuclear families ' with married parents and two or more children ( posed by models )  David Cameron ' s latest pledge is to extend the full title of marriage to same sex couples who , at present , can become civil partners but do not have the right to call themselves married .  The Centre for the Modern Family produced its findings from research that involved ' in depth interviews ' with an unspecified group of people and a phone survey of 3 , 000 people carried out by the Futures Company .  The research was then examined by a panel that included Scottish Widows chairman Lord Leitch , a Labour donor who advised Tony Blair and retained close links with Gordon Brown ' s administration , and Dr Katherine Rake , who leads the Family and Parenting Institute , a state funded quango .  The report said that ' just 16 per cent of people define themselves as part of a ' traditional ' family of two married parents living together with two or more children ' .  Lord Leitch said : ' What is striking about our new research is how quickly new family structures and our attitudes towards them have changed in the past few decades .  David Cameron ' s latest pledge is to extend the full title of marriage to same sex couples  ' So quickly , in fact , we suspect society has failed to keep up with the dramatic changes we are seeing in family life across the  .  ' By society , I mean Government and public policy . But I also mean companies , charities and our public services . '  The report said : ' The majority of people feel their family is unrepresented by politicians , the media and advertising , with 52 per cent claiming the Government does not take their family set up into account .  ' The findings indicate family structures are becoming increasingly diverse . A quarter of all couples are childless , and one in five lives alone .  As a result of this , half of the population believe society is out of date in its view of the family .  ' In addition to married mums and dads with two or more children , Britons are increasingly likely to describe single parent , same sex , or unmarried couples as "" proper "" families . '  But Professor Cary Cooper of Lancaster University , one of the centre ' s panel , acknowledged that the findings on numbers of traditional families have been influenced by the research methods used .  ' The 16 per cent is connected to the way they phrased it , ' he said .  ' We did not assume that 16 per cent of people were married with kids . I would be stunned if that were the case . They are doing it on the basis of 2 . 4 kids . '  The latest official figures on family structure were published by the Office for National Statistics in April .  They show that 60 per cent of families living with children aged 16 and under , or under 18 if still at school , are headed by married parents .  If all families defined as all couples , including same sex couples and couples who are childless or whose children have grown up , together with single parent families are counted , married families make up 68 per cent of the total .  The figures apply to 2010 and were gathered from the  Labour Force Survey , which covers 60 , 000 homes .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
19782,19783,"Cliven Bundy : Ranchers , don t give up on the armed wildlife refuge protest  His son has been arrested alongside 10 others and one rancher has been killed by police , but Cliven Bundy does not want to give up ?  Cliven Bundy has broken his silence and vowed for the stand off between ranchers and federal land management to continue Getty  Cliven Bundy has called for the remaining four ranchers occupying a wildlife refuge in Oregon to stand their ground against federal authorities , despite his son s plea for the ranchers to back down after he and 10 others were ? arrested .  Mr Bundy had previously distanced himself from the armed stand off between ranchers and federal authorities , which started on 2 January , although he was engaged in a similar stand off in 2014 . He wrote a letter to Harney County Sheriff David Ward , Oregon Governor Kate Brown and President Obama on Monday .  Oregon ranchers use a self appointed ' judge ' to implement own laws  This is notice that We the People of Harney County and also We the People of the citizens of the United States               , the letter stated , as reported by New York Daily News .  His son Ammon Bundy was arrested on 26 January and made a plea for his fellow comrades to leave the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in Burns , Oregon .  On the same day of Ammon Bundy s arrest , police shot and killed Arizona rancher Robert LaVoy Finicum .  Now there are just four people at the refuge and are surrounded by authorities , as reported by New York Daily News . On Monday hundreds of people went to the courthouse in Burns to both support and protest against the remaining ranchers and the man who was killed .  The ranchers at the refuge include a married couple , Sandy and Sean Anderson , alongside David Fry and Jeff Banta .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
19786,19787,"I couldn ' t wait to get out of Bournemouth , even though I loved the place . It was a holiday town , a place that would send you to sleep rather than drive you forward . Maybe it was the sea air everything always manana .  Then along came Eddie Howe .  His team are anything but a team to send you to sleep . They are dynamic , full of hungry players , with a point to prove . I can tell you now that wide player Matt Ritchie is a contender for my ' 10 to watch ' for next season he is dynamite .  Eddie Howe raises his arms in triumph after Bournemouth sealed Premier League promotion  ( Left right ) Brett Pitman , Yann Kermorgant , Howe , Andrew Surman and Callum Wilson celebrate  Howe is the man who has got them buzzing . Gary Lineker asked if we have found ' the English Special One ' , but Eddie is not the Special One . He is the Different One .  Watch Eddie on the touchline and you will see he is the opposite to Mourinho . Eddie is peaceful during a game , relaxed , quiet and controlled . His extrovert assistant , Jason Tindall , provides the instructions and the demands , with Eddie making his feelings known in a calm and gentle fashion .  Obviously the Barclays Premier League will bring different demands for this young man , who is still only 37 .  Bournemouth ' s players slide along the turf in delight after their dream came true on Monday night  We got to know each other after my dad signed him for Portsmouth in 2002 . He played only twice because of a knee injury that was similar to one that cost me my career . It eventually finished him , too , and while you don ' t want to make friends through the same devastating injury , I am glad I got to know him .  Some people you meet you can see are destined to be successful . He was always one of them . My dad liked him instantly and had a soft spot for him . I always thought my dad would be the king of Bournemouth , for their  Cup giantkilling of holders Manchester United in 1984 and their promotion success when he took them into what is now the Championship . But Eddie has blown away those achievements .  Lots of clubs will be admiring his progress and while he didn ' t enjoy his experience at Burnley when he left Bournemouth in 2011 , that won ' t stop others casting an eye in his direction .  Marc Pugh ( left ) , Ryan Fraser and Harry Arter ( right ) toast the 3 0 win over Bolton that secured promotion  And why not ? He is impressive . He has a good eye for talent , makes big calls , plays young players , is forward thinking , ambitious and looks the part he is a chairman ' s dream .  He will crave the opportunity to manage in the Premier League and will enjoy recruiting new talent . Bournemouth is a good place to bring up a family and he has also made it a good place to play . It is very different from the leaking stands and muddy pitch at Dean Court that I left behind .  My childhood there was a big part of my life , cleaning Luther Blissett ' s boots , training with Tony Pulis , Ian Bishop and Gerry Peyton and receiving my schooling in a football environment . But the away end had no roof and the old boys used to sit on wooden benches with cushions that they would throw at you when you were having a poor game .  Jamie Redknapp believes Howe was destined for success as soon as got to know him in 2002  Leaving for Liverpool at 17 , I couldn ' t get away fast enough . But now I can ' t wait to get back there next season . I would never have thought all four of my clubs Bournemouth , Liverpool , Spurs and Southampton would be in the same league .  Eddie Howe is the reason for that . I wonder if we are seeing an England manager in the making here .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
19788,19789,"Reuters) - The U.S. Department of the Interior said on Monday it has rescinded an Obama-era rule that reformed how energy companies value sales of oil, gas and coal extracted from federal and tribal land to protect taxpayers because it caused “confusion and uncertainty” for energy companies. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said the department’s newly formed royalty policy committee would propose alternatives to the rule and “remain committed to collecting every dollar due.” “Repealing the valuation rule provides a clean slate to create workable valuation regulations,” Zinke said in a statement.  The valuation rule was proposed by former Interior Secretary Sally Jewell last year to close a loophole that enabled companies to dodge royalty payments when mining on taxpayer-owned public land. It required energy companies to pay royalties on sales to the first unaffiliated customer, known as an arm’s-length sale, as the fuel moves to market. A Reuters investigation found in 2012 that coal companies were using affiliated brokers to settle royalty payments on exports to Asia at much lower domestic prices. Zinke said the valuation rule had increased costs for coal, oil and gas companies, which hampered production on federal lands, “making us rely more and more on foreign imports of oil and gas.”  Industry stakeholders and trade associations filed three lawsuits challenging the Obama-era rule. Meanwhile, the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, a taxpayer watchdog group, found that taxpayers missed out on nearly $30 billion in revenues over three decades because of the loophole. The repeal of the valuation Rule was published in the Federal Register on Aug. 7 and will become effective on Sept. 6. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
19799,19800,"What to Watch on Tuesday at the Australian Open  Australia ' s Lleyton Hewitt reacts during Kids Tennis Day , an exhibition event on Rod Laver Arena ahead of the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne , Australia , Saturday , Jan . 16 , 2016 . (  Photo Vincent Thian )   , Australia (  ) Day Two at the Australian Open features a two time former champion with a renewed spring in her step , a hard luck former finalist ( times four ) and a national hero who could be making his final appearance as a player in his native Australia .  Victoria Azarenka , who won the Brisbane International title to open the year , is in her best form since capturing back to back Australian Open titles in 2012 and 2013 . She plays Alison Van Uytvanck in the last match on Rod Laver Arena on Tuesday evening .  Second seeded Andy Murray , who has lost all four finals he ' s contested , takes on Alexander Zverev in the second match at Margaret Court Arena . Rafael Nadal has a tough first round match against fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in the last afternoon match at Rod Laver .  Lleyton Hewitt , a two time major champion who will retire after this tournament , opens the night program on the center court . The closest he came to winning his national championship was in 2005 , when he lost to Marat Safin in the final .  Hewitt , who has already been named as Australia ' s Davis Cup captain , takes on countryman and fellow wild card entry James Duckworth .  Here are some things to watch on Tuesday :     : Azarenka appeared to be rarity among the title contenders in the first weeks of the season , staying healthy while Serena Williams had to pull out of the Hopman Cup with left knee inflammation , followed by the Brisbane International withdrawals of No . 2 Simona Halep , No . 3 Garbine Muguruza and No . 5 Maria Sharapova . ' ' I feel good . Feeling excited , ' ' the former No . 1 ranked Azarenka said . She ' s never played Van Uytvanck , and when asked if she knew much about her opponent , she said : ' ' Not very much . I think I saw a little bit of her play last year . But I will definitely have a little bit more information closer to the match . ' '     : It ' s just as well Murray won the 2012 U . S . Open , and Wimbledon the following year , ending seven decade streaks of no British man winning a the major title . He helped then helped Britain win the Davis Cup last year , its first team title in 79 years . At Melbourne Park , he ' s not had as much luck he ' s zero for 4 in the final . He begins his quest for final No . 5 on Tuesday against Zverev , whom he beat just two weeks ago at the Hopman Cup in Perth in the first meeting between the pair . But Murray and the 1 . 98 meter ( 6 6 ) Zverev have practiced together in the past . ' ' It will be a tough match , ' ' Murray said . ' ' He serves well . For a big guy , moves pretty well . . . obviously improving all the time . ' '   ' S   : Nadal last played fellow lefthander Verdasco in the Australian Open semifinals in 2009 , when he prevailed in five sets in 5 hours , 14 minutes , then went on to win the title two days later . ' ' Not a lucky first round , I think , for me . For him either , ' ' Nadal says . ' ' Will be a tough match . ' ' Asked to reflect on the 2009 result , Nadal said : ' ' Obvious that that match gave me the chance to win the only Australian Open that I won . That was an unforgettable memory for me . ' ' Nadal holds a big advantage in head to head matches , having won 14 of 16 meetings between the pair .   ' S  ? Hewitt has never played countryman Duckworth on the  Tour , but could soon have him on his Davis Cup team , possibly as soon as March against the United States in the first World Group round in Melbourne . In the meantime , he ' s a bit unsure how he feels about the possibility that Tuesday night could be his last as a player before a large crowd . ' ' To tell you the truth , I don ' t know how it feels . . . a tad strange , but I ' m trying to soak it up as much as possible , ' ' Hewitt said . ' ' I guess it ' s different in the fact that if you do go out then , yes , it is the end . But you got to try to block that out as much as possible . You could go through all the same emotions again two days later , as well . ' ' If Hewitt gets past Duckworth , he could face No . 8 seeded David Ferrer in the second round .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
19835,19836,"DAY: The One Reason Why Every Christian And Jew In America Should Vote For Donald Trump The Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 is a public law of the United States passed by the 104th Congress on October 23, 1995. It was passed for the purposes of initiating and funding the relocation of the Embassy of the United States in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.   8, 2016 Jerusalem will be the portal through which God administers His Justice to a depraved world. Jerusalem will be His “burdensome stone” with which He judges the world.  “The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD.” Proverbs 16:33 (KJV)  As Americans who love this country, it is absolutely crystal-clear who we should vote for. Only one candidate’s campaign slogan is Make America Great Again, only one candidate says that they will # DrainThe Swamp . I think you get the idea. But you can be a patriotic America and not be a Christian, right? Trump: It’s Time To Drain The Swamp In Washington, D.C – Five-Point Plan For Ethics Reform So is the a compelling, overarching reason why a Bible believing Christian should vote for Donald Trump? Yes, there is  Donald Trump has made as part of his platform a promise to move the American Embassy from its current location in Tel Aviv to its new location in Jerusalem. In fact, it was signed into law in 1995, read this:  The Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 is a public law of the United States passed by the 104th Congress on October 23, 1995. It was passed for the purposes of initiating and funding the relocation of the Embassy of the United States in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem , no later than May 31, 1999, and attempted to withhold 50 percent of the funds appropriated to the State Department specifically for “Acquisition and Maintenance of Buildings Abroad” as allocated in fiscal year 1999 until the United States Embassy in Jerusalem had officially opened. The act also called for Jerusalem to remain an undivided city and for it to be recognized as the capital of the State of Israel. Israel’s declared capital is Jerusalem, but this is not internationally recognized, pending final status talks in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict . The United States has withheld recognition of the city as Israel’s capital. The proposed law was adopted by the Senate (93–5),and the House (374–37).  Contained in the Jerusalem Embassy Act is a prophecy bombshell , perhaps when you skimmed through it just now you missed so let me break it out for you, ready?  “…called for Jerusalem to remain an undivided city and for it to be recognized as the capital of the State of Israel.  Now please pause at this juncture and think about what that means for a Bible believer. Do you know why the Palestinians have, for 20 years, refused to accept the so-called Two State Solution ? Because the Two State Solution does not give Jerusalem to Palestine, it gives it to its rightful owner, Israel. The Battle of Armageddon will be fought over who will gain control of, not just Israel in general, but the rights to Jerusalem in particular! The word “Jerusalem” appears 811 times in your King James Bible, think that God places a lot of importance on it?  “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.” Zechariah 12:2 (KJV)  God says if you go against His city of Jerusalem that it will mean “lights out” for you. Jerusalem will be the portal through which God administers His Justice to a depraved world. Jerusalem will be His “burdensome stone” with which He judges the world.  “And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.” Zechariah 12:3 (KJV)  PRESENTS: Donald Trump, Jerusalem and Bible Prophecy  We just launched a YouTube channel for Bible teaching and prophecy, and here is our very first video of our radio show on Donald Trump and Jerusalem. Please subscribe to our YouTube channel by clicking here , thank you!  Bible believers, let’s be honest. God is not really so much concerned with any election in any nation so much as He is with His nation of Israel and its capital city of Jerusalem. That’s where God’s passion is, that’s where His heart is. Genesis says that if you want God’s blessing, then bless His nation of Israel and bless His chosen people, the Jews.  “And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” Genesis 12:3 (KJV) Christian, do you need a reason from the Bible to vote for Donald Trump?  I just gave you two, very powerful and very Biblical reasons to vote for Donald Trump. He will move the  Embassy to Jerusalem, and he will love Israel and God will bless us for that. Now, get up, put your “big boy” and “big girl” pants on, and go out and vote .  Not for the “lesser of two evils” as some erroneously assert, but for the only candidate that will fulfill Bible prophecy    Donald J. Trump.",fake,news,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,fake,True,no,no,positive,present
19842,19843,"A hitch hiker in New Zealand has been taken on a wild ride he won ' t forget after being picked up by a man who then led police on a high speed pursuit .  Police say the vehicle was seen speeding near Opua , Northland in New Zealand Saturday afternoon before a high speed chase commenced .  But the New Zealand Herald reported the driver , who reached speeds of up to 150 kilometres an hour , did decide to make one stop , he dropped off the hitch hiker before he continued evading police and his car then caught on fire .  A speeding driver is expected to face court Monday after he took police on a high speed chase near Opua , Northland . During the chase he stopped to let a hitch hiker out before resuming the pursuit  A hitch hiker in New Zealand has been taken on a wild ride he won ' t forget after being picked up by a man who then led police on a high speed pursuit . Luckily the driver stopped to let him out before continuing the pursuit and his car caught on fire  During the pursuit , it was reported the driver pulled the car to the side of the road and let out his passenger , before proceeding to again reach speed of up to 150 kilometres an hour .  The pursuit came to an abrupt end when the vehicle caught on fire and drove into scrub before the driver got out and fled on foot .  The New Zealand Herald reported there was suspicion the vehicle may have been used to manufacture methamphetamine but fire crews found that wasn ' t true when they extinguished it .  Police were soon able to track down the driver and arrest him and it ' s expected he ' ll face court on Monday .  But it hasn ' t been the only tale of a hitch hiker in New Zealand caught up in a high speed pursuit .  Last year a Finnish backpacker was picked up by a man who then led police on two pursuits in a stolen car .  A hitch hiker was fortunate enough to be let out of a vehicle that had engaged in a high speed pursuit with police Saturday afternoon  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
19844,19845,"There was a time when singer actress LeAnn Rimes was considered as clean cut as they come .  LeAnn Rimes , at the 2009 Lollapalooza Music Festival , is being spotted with Eddie Cibrian .  Once hailed as a country music ing nue , she first captivated fans as a 13 year old with a mature beyond her years voice and a poised stage presence .  After selling millions of records and amassing Billboard Music Awards and Grammys , Rimes was often held up as an example of a child star who managed to avoid the pitfalls of fame and emerge with a successful career and a happy marriage .  Then rumors surfaced that she was allegedly having an affair with actor Eddie Cibrian .  Now the two have both separated from their respective spouses and the ensuing scandal has cast a shadow over Rimes ' wholesome , good girl image .  "" I kind of feel like the public ' s perception is changing towards her , "" said Lindsay Powers , staff editor for Us Weekly . "" She hadn ' t even announced her divorce yet and here she was on a beach in Cabo San Lucas , wearing a little bikini with Eddie Cibrian rubbing suntan lotion all over her . She ' s like flaunting their relationship while her husband is piecing together his life in New York City on his own . ""  Such relationship woes among celebrities are as old as Hollywood itself .  Stories of celebrity hookups on movie sets , be it Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in the 1960s or Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in the 21st century , are the stuff of which tabloid dreams are made .  But Rimes , who married former dancer Dean Sheremet in 2002 when she was 19 and he 21 , seemed an unlikely candidate to star in such a drama .  Unlike other young celebrity couples , Rimes and Sheremet were unlikely tabloid targets , choosing to live quietly and often being captured smiling and embracing on the red carpet .  The pair appeared devoted to each other and seemed to take a swipe at critics of their young love when they reportedly held a "" seven year itch "" party to toast their union .  In her book , "" What I Cannot Change , "" Rimes wrote glowingly of her spouse .  "" My husband , Dean , has changed my heart and life in more ways than I can ever imagine , "" she wrote . "" We met in Los Angeles when I was hosting the Academy of Country Music Awards . It was almost an instant attraction . ""  Rumors began swirling about the singer and ""  : Miami "" actor Eddie Cibrian after they co starred in the Lifetime movie "" Northern Lights . ""  During an interview with Matt Lauer in April on the "" Today "" show , Rimes sidestepped questioning about her relationship with Cibrian .  "" I refuse to discuss tabloid rumors , "" Rimes said . "" I ' ve grown up in the press my entire life . I think people are fascinated by my personal life , and I totally get it . ""  Soon after , Cibrian ' s wife and mother of his two young sons , Brandi Glanville , was quoted as demanding Rimes leave her husband alone .  Now , Glanville is being as vocal about the breakup of her and Cibrian ' s marriage .  She told  in August that she sensed her husband was attracted to Rimes after double dating with the singer and Sheremet .  Rimes and Cibrian have been seen publicly golfing , vacationing and attending a concert . She announced on her Web site that she and Sheremet were ending their marriage .  Jonathan L . Bernstein , president of Bernstein Crisis Management Inc . , said fans are often very forgiving of stars for their bad behavior .  "" The public is very tolerant of a wide range of behaviors from celebrities , "" said Bernstein . "" To the extent the public truly expected her to be someone with a clean cut image , she may lose some fans there . ""  "" On the other hand , there are some people who like celebrities who lead racy , unpredictable lives , so she could gain fans at the same time . ""  Bernstein , the author of "" Keeping the Wolves at Bay A Media Training Manual , "" said , "" Everybody wants to read the juicy gossip , "" but Rimes could mitigate potential damage to her career if she is real and does "" not pretend to be one thing and then be the other . ""  "" People like watching real life soap operas , "" he said . "" Ultimately , if people love Rimes ' singing , they are going to come to her concerts . ""  Us Weekly ' s Powers said Rimes and Cibrian ' s situation mirrors that of actress Tori Spelling and her husband , Dean McDermott .  Like Rimes and Cibrian , Spelling and McDermott were both married to others when they met on the set of a Lifetime movie in 2005 .  Spelling and McDermott divorced their spouses , married and now are the parents of two children and stars of their own reality show on Oxygen network .  As was the case with fans who rallied around Jennifer Aniston because they believed she had been wronged by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie , Powers said she believes Rimes ' estranged husband , Sheremet , will emerge the winner of public sympathy .  "" Celebrity history will show that people tend to feel bad for the person who is scorned , "" Powers said . "" I think people are always going to feel bad for Sheremet with the fact that LeAnn not only left him after seven years of marriage , but ran off with this man she met on the set of her movie . ""  Leslie Litzenberger of Santa Clara , California , has run the fan site Leannfansweblink since 1995 and said the singer has a supportive fan base . All of the media surrounding Rimes has not decreased her admiration for the singer , Litzenberger said .  "" The recent stories don ' t at all change how I feel about LeAnn , "" Litzenberger said . "" What has happened is between them . I love the person that she is and tabloid stories with quotes from supposed "" friends "" are not going to change that . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
19859,19860,"Republicans in Congress are fond of calling Obamacare a death spiral of escalating costs and declining coverage. But their replacement plan could make those problems even worse. Tuesday, the morning after two House committees released legislation that would replace the Affordable Care Act with the American Health Care Act, the plan received a tepid, even hostile reaction from many outside conservative groups and Republicans in Congress. The bill does less than many conservatives had hoped to open up the market for health insurance. And it still offers the kind of subsidies to   people that they see as too generous. Mike Lee, a conservative senator from Utah, described the bill as “not the Obamacare repeal bill we’ve been waiting for. ” (It perhaps goes without saying that it has been universally panned by Democrats.) And here’s why. Republicans are constrained by their small majority in the Senate. Instead of passing a normal piece of legislation that could change the Affordable Care Act’s many insurance regulations, they are limited to changes that can be accomplished through a technical budgetary maneuver, a reconciliation bill. The result is likely to be higher prices for insurance, and fewer people with the ability to buy it. ”The individual market seems less stable under this bill than under the Affordable Care Act,” said Larry Levitt, a senior vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health research group. “This bill comes across as a bit of a Frankenstein health bill because of the legislative strategy that’s being used. ” Many conservative legislators would prefer a reprise of a 2015 bill that would have simply swept away much of Obamacare. But the current bill’s drafters have felt political pressure from President Trump and their constituents to preserve some of the health law’s coverage gains. Their efforts to preserve popular parts of the law and work within the special budget rules have led to the uneasy mix of policies in the bill. The bill keeps many of the Affordable Care Act’s rules for insurance companies that Republicans have decried for raising costs. Here’s what stays. ■ The health law’s rule that insurance companies must sell polices to the healthy and the sick at the same price. ■ Its rule that insurance companies can’t limit the benefits they pay out in a year or a lifetime. ■ Its requirements that all plans cover 10 categories of benefits, including preventive health services without a   rehabilitation services and maternity care. ■ The law’s caps on how much customers can be asked to pay for health care through deductibles and  . Those are popular provisions they tend to make insurance coverage comprehensive but also somewhat costly. (The main reason that health insurance plans are expensive, of course, is because medical care is expensive, and the bill doesn’t do anything about that either.) Because they all stay, the rest of the policy changes are built atop a chassis of health insurance products that cost what today’s plans cost. The bill effectively slashes subsidies that help many   people buy insurance, starting in 2020. A    earning $20, 000 in Lincoln, Neb. currently gets a subsidy of $18, 470 to help her buy insurance, with extra subsidies to help her pay deductibles and   according to calculations made by Kaiser. Under the new legislation, she would get a subsidy of $4, 000, and no help with cost sharing. The bill also does away with Obamacare’s requirement that people have insurance or pay a fine. That provision is unpopular, but it is seen as an important incentive for healthy people to buy insurance every year. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that eliminating that provision would lead to premiums that are 20 to 25 percent higher, even without any cuts in subsidies. As a counterweight, the bill does some things that would tend to stabilize prices. It gives states a big pot of money to help keep markets working. It allows insurance companies to charge higher prices to old customers and less to younger ones. That is not so good for our hypothetical    in Nebraska, but might help lure some healthy    into the market who don’t buy insurance now. It also creates a new kind of financial incentive to buy insurance: People with a lapse in insurance coverage of more than a couple of months would have to pay a 30 percent higher price for their insurance when they   the market. Advocates say this provision would get people to stay insured when they are healthy so they can afford coverage later. But some critics think it could backfire, since only sick people would be willing to pay the extra fee, which might not be enough to cover the extra cost of their care. “The people who are going to take this gamble are going to be the healthiest,” said Craig Garthwaite, the director of the health program at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. “The only time you are going to get them into the market is if they get sick. ” Insurers have been vague so far on how they feel about this mix of policies. And the Congressional Budget Office, Washington’s official scorekeeper, has not weighed in with estimates of how many people would be covered or what the bill would cost the federal government. But several health policy experts have said they believe the policy changes could result in the loss of health insurance for 10 million Americans or more. Joe Antos, a scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said he sees some good ideas in the health bill, but estimated that it would cost 10 to 15 million people their insurance over the coming decade: “It can’t be a cohesive whole, because the things that can’t be in a reconciliation bill aren’t here. ”",true,news,validation,World conflict,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past
19865,19866,"Don likely to be formally arrested by   Raj Shekhar Raj Shekhar ,  Nov 6 , 2015 , 03 . 12    I will fight against Dawood till end : Rajan    : After a brief detention in Bali , underworld don Chotta Rajan left for India in a special aircraft on Thursday evening after documentation and other formalities were concluded in relatively quick time , indicating urgent behind the scene diplomatic spade work .  "" Mai Khush hoon , apni dharti maa ke pass ja raha hoon ( I am happy , I am going to my motherland ) , "" said Rajan , who seemed the worse for the wear in Indonesian detention , before boarding the flight which is scheduled to bring him to Delhi by early Friday morning .  Rajan is going to be lodged at the  headquarters located in Lodhi colony in south Delhi . He is likely to be formally arrested by  , which will be the probing agency for cases registered against him , and produced before a magistrate . Delhi Police is also likely to hand over their cases registered against Rajan and his men to  on Friday .  The  headquarter has been turned into a fortress with a four layer security ? comprising commandos from  and special cell along with the para military . The details were finalized in a closed door meeting on Tuesday .  Rajan was arrested on October 25 in a dramatic operation as he got off a flight from Australia . he was travelling on the assumed identity of Mohan Kumar . The Bali police have maintained they were acting on a red corner notice from Interpol and a tip off from Australian police .  The aircraft that is bringing Rajan back to India has  commandos apart from a senior intelligence officer and an Indian Interpol officer . The security is in the wake of threat inputs assessed by agencies . The initial arrangements did not kick off due to a volcanic eruption followed by mild tremors which caused the airspace over Bali and its airport to remain unsuitable for flght for nearly two days .  Bulletproof vehicles and multi tier security comprising special forces remained with Rajan from the Polda Bali detention centre till the aircraft . Yanuari Insan , Senior Interpol officer ( Jakarta ) handed him over to his Indian counterpart . All of Chotta Rajan ' s belongings , including his laptop and a mobile phone , were handed over to Interpol India .  Stay updated on the go with Times of India News App . Click here to download it for your device .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
19866,19867,"Parentingweblink ) Last night I sat down to watch the Oscar red carpet with my 6 year old daughter Kaia .  She played dress up with her American Girl doll while I followed the commentary on Twitter . "" Look , Mommy ! Julie ' s all ready for the red carpet , "" she exclaimed , showing off the updo she created for her doll .  She watched with mild interest until the moment we ' d been waiting for arrived : Nine year old Quvenzhan Wallis appeared in a frenzy of flashing camera lights with her mom and sister in tow . "" Look , Mommy , there she is ! Look at her purse ! It ' s a puppy ! "" Kaia jumped up and down . "" I want one of those ! ""  Parentingweblink : The best moments of the 2013 Oscars  What a moment ! I wanted my daughter to see a little girl , just like her , walking the red carpet among the most talented women in Hollywood . Quvenzhan did not disappoint . She was sassy and confident while talking to reporters . And she was dressed in a perfectly age appropriate Armani gown that she chose because "" it ' s sparkly ! ""  Her mom looked on , proud as can be . I had a tear in my eye . "" Do you know that she ' s going to play Annie in the new movie ? "" I asked . Kaia ' s smile was so big . "" Wow , Mommy ! She ' s the luckiest girl in the world ! ""  I have been a huge fan of Quvenzhan from the moment I saw the trailer for "" Beasts of the Southern Wild . "" She made the movie when she was only six years old and earned herself a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her performance . She deserves a standing ovation from us .  Instead , last night , on her special night , she was subjected to the most distasteful showing of adult "" humor "" I have ever seen . It started with a "" joke "" by Oscar host Seth MacFarlane about how it will be "" sixteen years before she ' s too old "" for George Clooney , but sadly it didn ' t stop there . The popular satire site The Onion tweeted the following to its more than 4 million followers during the show last night :  "" Everyone else seems afraid to say it , but that Quvenzhan Wallis is kind of a , right ? "" ( If you want to see the actual tweet , it ' s here . )  As if it wasn ' t bad enough that she was sexualized in front of her peers during what was undoubtedly the most exciting night of her life , but to be further humiliated on a social networking site and called one of the most degrading terms that can be used toward women is reprehensible . The Onion is a site known for its sarcasm and although I ' m sure they didn ' t mean it , does that make it better ? Am I supposed to laugh at the absurdity of the statement ? Am I supposed to look at my daughter and think , wow , it would be really really funny and smart if someone jokingly called her the c word ? How ironic .  Parentingweblink : Celebrity baby bumps on the red carpet  Many online have tried to make this a race issue . Saying she was singled out because she ' s a young black girl . I hope that ' s not the case . To me , this has less to do with race and everything to do with the fact that we have stopped respecting the innocence of our children . We ' ve become so desensitized by the "" Toddlers and Tiaras "" culture that we take hurtful aim at those who epitomize childhood as much as the fluffy puppy purses they carry on the red carpet .  Imagine what went through Quvenzhan ' s mother ' s mind when someone pulled her aside last night to tell her what happened . Did her stomach bottom out like mine did ? Did she look at her daughter with a tear in her eye and think why ? Why tonight ? What is wrong with this world ?  I want my little girl to know she can do anything she sets her mind to . She can be herself , silly purse and all , and star in whatever version of life she desires . Kaia went to sleep last night clutching her American Girl doll tight , updo still in place , as I imagine Q did with her puppy purse . Both , I am sure , completely unaware of the storm brewing online in defense of little girls like them . In defense of their innocence . When our children take their turn in the spotlight , they have the right to leave it unscathed .  It ' s our job as adults to protect them .  Parentingweblink : What really happens when dad ' s in charge  I wish the headlines today were different . I wish we lived in a world where Quvenzhan could wake up this morning and search the internet with her mama to find herself on our best dressed lists . To see celebrities like Oprah and Beyonc , her biggest fans , rave about her .  Instead her family must hide the horrible truth from her the truth that our media took a cheap shot at someone too small to stand up for herself or to even know what the word she was called means .  The way we treat our kids is no laughing matter . Quvenzhan Wallis is a lot of things . She is smart . She is sassy . She is talented . She is beautiful . And she is a child . She is not the c word . But thanks to the insensitive staffer at The Onion who decided to tweet and then recant the vulgar comment , this incident too is one of the ways she ' ll be remembered .  Parentingweblink : The best books to read with your kids  As chief executive Steve Hannah of the Onion wrote in his apology this morning , "" Miss Wallis , you are young and talented and deserve better . All of us at The Onion are deeply sorry . ""  We all are , little girl . So , so sorry .  Get 2   of Parenting magazine Subscribe Now ! !  Copyright 2011 The Parenting Group . All rights reserved . Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
19869,19870,"B b b but that doesn t happen in America does it? A Henry Ford Hospital emergency room doctor has been arrested and charged in connection to performing female genital mutilation on young girls.Jumana Nagarwala, 44, of Northville Michigan is accused of performing female genital mutilation on underage girls.According to a criminal complaint, Nagarwala performed the procedure on girls ages six to eight years old at a medical clinic in Livonia.Some of the children were brought from out of state for the illegal procedure. Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is considered the complete removal or partial removal of the clitoris, known as a clitoridectomy.  is internationally recognized as a violation of the human rights of women and girls.The investigation revealed that in one particular case, a 7-year-old was brought by her family from Minnesota. An investigation into phone records revealed their location. The child was interviewed on April 10. She stated that she was brought to Detroit for  special girls trip. The child victim also stated that she said she had to go to the doctor  to get the germs out.  Upon a medical exam on April 11, a doctor determined that the child s genitals had been altered or removed. The child identified Dr. Nagarwala as the doctor who performed the procedure.Some consider  as a religious and cultural practice. The purpose of this illegal practice is to suppress female sexuality in order to reduce sexual pleasure.In the criminal affidavit, Nagarwala performed  on girls who were approximately 7 years old at the time at a clinic in Livonia. According to the complaint, despite her oath to care for her patients, Dr. Nagarwala is alleged to have performed horrifying acts of brutality on the most vulnerable victims,  said Acting Assistant Attorney General Blanco.  The Department of Justice is committed to stopping female genital mutilation in this country, and will use the full power of the law to ensure that no girls suffer such physical and emotional abuse. Female genital mutilation constitutes a particularly brutal form of violence against women and girls. It is also a serious federal felony in the United States. The practice has no place in modern society and those who perform  on minors will be held accountable under federal law,  stated Acting United States Attorney Daniel Lemisch. The allegations detailed in today s criminal complaint are disturbing. The FBI, along with its law enforcement partners, are committed to doing whatever necessary to bring an end to this barbaric practice and to ensure no additional children fall victim to this procedure , said Special Agent in Charge David Gelios.Via     ",fake,dataset,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
19886,19887,"—   The world’s leading antidoping officials on Monday called for Russia to be barred from this summer’s Rio Games after a damning report confirmed a Russian  ’s claims of   cheating at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. The request by antidoping officials was extraordinary, if not unprecedented, in the history of the Olympics. President Vladimir V. Putin responded defiantly as the possibility emerged that the Russian flag would not appear at the opening ceremony on Aug. 5 in Rio de Janeiro. While announcing that the Russian sports officials named in the report would be “temporarily suspended,” Mr. Putin on Monday asked for “fuller, more objective information that is based on facts. ” “Today we see a dangerous relapse of politics intruding into sports,” he said in a statement. Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov, Russia’s former antidoping lab director, told The New York Times in May that he covered up the use of   drugs by Russian Olympians at the Sochi Games, and that he did so under orders from the government and with the aid of Russia’s intelligence service. In a report of nearly 100 pages, Richard McLaren, a Canadian lawyer retained by the World   Agency to investigate Dr. Rodchenkov’s claims, presented proof that a   doping program was executed during the Sochi Olympics, and well before and afterward. With evidence dating to 2011, the report said athletes were given cocktails of   drugs, and incriminating urine samples were routinely covered up. Beyond interviews, the report was informed by forensic evidence, metadata and emails retrieved from computer hard drives. The investigative team gained access to 95 doping samples of Russian athletes from Sochi that had been stored in Switzerland 11 were chosen at random for analysis. All of them showed signs of tampering, the report said, including scratches on the inside of the bottle caps and abnormal levels of table salt in urine, which Dr. Rodchenkov said he added to make certain recorded chemistry measurements of the tainted and clean samples matched. Investigators confirmed that a man identified as a member of Russia’s intelligence service  —   Evgeny Blokhin, with whom Dr. Rodchenkov conducted the covert overnight   operation in a storage closet at Sochi  —   had a security badge to access the Sochi lab. That security clearance identified him as a sewage and pipes engineer, the inquiry found. The International Olympic Committee, which has the sole authority to ban an entire national delegation, called the actions outlined in the report a “shocking and unprecedented attack on the integrity of sport,” pledging to pursue “the toughest possible sanctions available against any individual or organization implicated. ” Top Olympic executives were next due to meet in Rio, two days before the Olympics begin on Aug. 5, but the I. O. C. said Monday that it had scheduled a meeting for Tuesday to discuss “provisional measures and sanctions. ” Officials are now under intense pressure from antidoping officials and athletes to bring stiff sanctions against Russia, less than three weeks before the Games begin. Discussing his findings in an interview in a Toronto hotel ballroom, Mr. McLaren said that the conclusions of his   inquiry met   standards. He confirmed that his team had communicated with the United States Department of Justice, which in May opened its own inquiry into Russian doping. Mr. McLaren said his inquiry had established “beyond a reasonable doubt” that Russia’s ministry of sport, its antidoping organization and the country’s federal security service were involved in an elaborate cheating scheme that stretched far beyond what had been alleged. “The surprise result of the Sochi investigation was the revelation of the extent of State oversight and directed control of the Moscow laboratory in processing, and covering up urine samples of Russian athletes from virtually all sports before and after the Sochi Games,” Mr. McLaren wrote in the report. The evidence showed that the subversion of doping controls had occurred in 30 sports, including 20 Olympic summer sports and Paralympic sports. Craig Reedie, the president of the global antidoping organization that commissioned the report, was not present at the Toronto announcement, but in a statement he expressed concern that, in addition to the Sochi Games, there was a “serious manipulation of the doping control process” at the 2013 track and field world championships in Moscow and the 2013 World University Games in Kazan, with additional measures to circumvent doping controls at the 2012 London Games. Dr. Rodchenkov said he created a mixture of steroids and liquor  —   known as “the Duchess” cocktail among Russian sports officials, according to the report  —   that was provided to athletes ahead of competition. That combination promoted speedy absorption of the drugs, to minimize the period of time during which they could be detected. “In the face of such evidence of   subversion of antidoping processes,” Mr. Reedie said on Monday, “ insists upon imposition of the most serious consequences to protect clean athletes from the scourge of doping in sport. ” Mr. Reedie, who is also an executive board member of the Olympic organization, noted that the Russian Olympic Committee was not untainted by the findings, and that cheating had extended to “all sport disciplines whose urine samples were being analyzed by the Moscow lab. ” Some sports officials spoke up in defense of Russia on Monday, articulating the hope that “all countries and athletes will be present” at the Games, as Brazilian sports minister Leonardo Picciani said. The International Olympic Committee has defended the integrity of the Russian Olympic Committee in recent weeks. But some of the key actors in the government scheme who were named in the report also had Olympic committee roles. Russian officials emphatically dismissed Dr. Rodchenkov’s claims after they were published in May. Still, Russia’s track and field team was banned last month from competing at the Games by the International Association of Athletics Federations, the sport’s governing body, after Mr. McLaren had privately given a preliminary report on his investigation. Russia is contesting the track and field ban with the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland, and the hearing is expected to take place on Tuesday. “This is not just about what we in North America call track and field and what others in the world call athletics,” Mr. McLaren said, confirming Dr. Rodchenkov’s claims that cheating pervaded Russian sport  —   affecting results at both the Winter and Summer Olympics and leaving   who have finished behind Russian athletes with questions. Mr. McLaren said in the report that he had not had enough time to identify athletes who might have benefited from manipulated test results. The antidoping agency said it was interested in commissioning further investigation, provided the funding was available. The report identified several Russian officials who had engaged in sophisticated planning dating back years. Lead among them was Yuri Nagornykh, Russia’s deputy minister of sport and a Russian Olympic Committee executive, who had denied the accusations after The Times’s report last spring. Mr. McLaren’s report also named Irina Rodionova, the deputy director of the center of sports preparation of national teams of Russia, confirming that Ms. Rodionova provided Dr. Rodchenkov with information on which anonymous, coded urine samples belonged to each athlete, and thus informing whose urine he swapped into each bottle. The antidoping adviser to Russia’s sports minister, Natalia Zhelanova, was also identified as a key liaison in the scheme “as early as 2012,” having sent emails about covering up drug positives from her government account, the inquiry found. Asked about the allegations last week in Moscow, Ms. Zhelanova denied wrongdoing. But about Ms. Rodionova’s involvement, she said: “That doesn’t surprise me,” while insisting that the work of Ms. Rodionova was independent of the sports ministry. She gestured toward the offices of Ms. Rodionova, steps from the sports ministry’s palatial yellow headquarters and sharing a courtyard where cars are parked. After hearing Mr. McLaren’s remarks on Monday, Paul Melia, Canada’s top antidoping officer, said the only appropriate response was to keep the Russian flag from flying in Rio. “I was anticipating the worst,” he said. “Yet when I listen to the evidence, I’m shocked and devastated. ” Nearing the end of a day filled with   reaction to his report, Mr. McLaren said he been skeptical of the allegations two months earlier. “Some of it was described in a way I thought was fanciful and couldn’t happen,” he said, referring to the hole in the wall through which Dr. Rodchenkov said urine bottles had been passed starting around midnight each night. “Now I know it did happen. ” Dr. Rodchenkov remains in the United States but has declined interview requests as government investigations into Russian doping continue. Bryan Fogel, a filmmaker who has been collaborating with Dr. Rodchenkov on a documentary about doping and who facilitated his travel from Moscow to Los Angeles last fall, said he felt vindicated. “He knows he was telling the truth, so the report’s conclusions were not a surprise,” Mr. Fogel said. “The relevant authorities now have all of his evidence. ” Ahead of Rio, the impact of that evidence is continuing. “The Olympic brand is under intense scrutiny,” Mr. Melia said. “This is a seminal time. ”",true,news,validation,Other news2,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
19896,19897,"Real Madrid will face arch rivals Barcelona in the final of the Spanish Cup after both teams won the second legs of their semifinals on Wednesday .  Barcelona progressed first with a 3 0 win at struggling Almeria which sealed an 8 0 aggregate victory to surpass Athletic Bilbao ' s 34 final appearances .  Real then knocked out defending champions Sevilla with a 2 0 home win to extend their record to 37 finals , having taken a 1 0 advantage into the match .  Coach Jose Mourinho has the chance to end Real ' s 17 year trophy drought in the Copa del Rey as Madrid face Barca twice in the space of a week in April .  The final on April 20 comes just three days after the second scheduled La Liga "" Clasico "" between the two teams this season at the Santiago Bernabeu .  Real went down 5 0 in the first meeting at the Camp Nou on November 29 , and trail Barcelona by seven points in the league after Sunday ' s defeat by Osasuna .  But Mourinho ' s men bounced back to beat 10 man Sevilla with second half goals from Mesut Ozil and new signing Emmanuel Adebayor .  Real winger Angel Di Maria hit the post in the fifth minute , but Ozil finally broke the deadlock with eight to play as he rounded goalkeeper Jari Varas after a defense splitting pass from fellow Germany midfielder Sami Khedira .  Sevilla had defender Sergio Sanchez sent off soon after for his second booking after a challenge on substitute Adebayor , who marked his home debut with a goal in the fourth minute of time added on .  ' Cocky ' Ronaldo ridiculed by ' the Rifle '  The Togo international , signed on loan until the end of this season from English club Manchester City , controlled a cross from fellow replacement Lassana Diarra on his chest and smashed a volley into the net .  While Real can boast 17 cup wins and 19 runner up finishes , Barcelona will be seeking to extend the Catalan club ' s record of 25 triumphs , with the last coming in 2009 against Bilbao .  With key players such as Lionel Messi , Andres Iniesta , Xavi , Gerard Pique and Pedro Rodriguez all rested at Almeria , Barca still cruised with goals from Adriano , Thiago Alcantara and Ibrahim Afellay .  Brazilian defender Adriano scored his first goal for the club in the 34th minute after cutting in from the left flank to slot home , while 10 minutes after halftime 19 year old Thiago headed in a cross from the right by Dani Alves .  Dutch midfielder Ifellay then scored his first goal since joining from  Eindhoven at the start of last month in the 65th minute to kill off Almeria , who reached the last four for the first time .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
19922,19923,"Dylan Might Have Gone Electric, But That Doesn't Cut It With Today's Teens.  New York,  - After being announced as the winner of the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize for groovy songs, sources close to legendary songwriter, Bob Dylan, say that all he really wants is a surfboard trophy from the Teen Choice Awards.  ""Mr. Dylan couldn't care less about the Nobel Peace Prize,"" told a music industry rep, who is close with the singer. ""That's why he hasn't said anything about it. He'll probably just use the million dollars that comes with the medal to wipe his ass with. What he really wants, is to join the elite ranks of musicology, and take his place along side band's like New Kids and Wrong Direction.""  But the teens we talked to on the streets of New York say that it's very unlikely that one of America's most beloved icons will ever achieve his lofty goals. His music, somehow, just doesn't resonate with them, the way it did for their great-grandparents. ""The answer isn't blowing in the wind anymore, Bob,"" snorted fourteen-year-old, Jackson Drake, while repeatedly trying to land an annoying skateboard flip. ""You can just Google any answer you want now. Somebody should tell him that. Oh, and a man playing the tambourine... that's totally gay. Nobody wants to hear a song about that, either. Write a song about exploding hover-boards, or getting zonked on bath-salts, then you've got something!"" explained our youth, who surmised that a man would have to walk down about 30 roads... before you can call him a man.  Editor's Note: After Jackson skated away, we did Google the answer, and found out that the actual number was 43. So there you go Bob Dylan. Make Paul Blake's  ",fake,news,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
19948,19949,"Email  “The Arizona market is the poster child for the problems the [ObamaCare] exchanges are experiencing nationally,” Milliman Inc. actuary Tom Snook told the Wall Street Journal .  It would be difficult to argue with Snook’s contention. While individual-insurance premiums are rising by an average of 25 percent across the country next year, Arizona’s premiums are set to grow by double or triple that, with some locales experiencing rate hikes topping 100 percent. Meanwhile, for all intents and purposes, Arizonans have but one insurance carrier from whom to purchase coverage, and one county nearly ended up with no carriers at all.  It wasn’t supposed to turn out like this. Arizona was originally the poster child for the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) success. The first year the  exchanges opened for business, the state had eight insurers offering a wide variety of plans at low prices, in part because of an expectation that the federal government would bail them out if they suffered losses. “A 2013 Society of Actuaries report suggested that the Arizona individual-insurance market could more than double, growing to 570,681 consumers, with more than 80% of them buying through the exchange,” wrote the Journal . “The health-care costs of the newer customer base would be around 22% higher than the old one, it suggested.”  Instead, as has been the case throughout the nation, Americans made health-insurance decisions based on their own needs rather than following the best-laid plans of politicians and bureaucrats. Those with pre-existing conditions took advantage of the ACA’s mandates that insurers cover them at rates comparable to those of their healthy neighbors, while those neighbors balked at buying coverage that was more expensive and less generous than they desired. The result: Enrollment fell well below expectations, with only 203,000 people buying exchange plans this year, while the cost of covering those enrollees was vastly greater than expected — “around 250% higher on average than individual members before the health law,” Jeff Stelnik, senior vice president of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, told the Journal .  To make matters worse, the bailouts never came through. The federal risk-corridor program was supposed to transfer profits from successful insurers to unsuccessful ones, but so few insurers made money on the exchanges that the program could only cover 12.6 percent of losses. Congress refused to make up the difference from general revenues.  In Arizona, as elsewhere, this could only have one outcome: fewer insurers and higher premiums. Although the number of insurers increased to 11 in 2015, it returned to eight last year. Insurers were forced to raise rates each year — Blue Cross Blue Shield hiked premiums by 35 percent in 2014 — but it still wasn’t enough to break even, let alone turn a profit. The state’s ObamaCare co-op went under in 2015, and major insurers began pulling out of the state en masse this year. UnitedHealth Group and Aetna left entirely. Blue Cross Blue Shield and Health Net both announced they would exit the exchanges in Maricopa County, home of Phoenix, and Pinal County. That, in turn, would have left Pinal County without a single exchange insurer; but “after state and federal regulators ‘expressed their concern for Pinal residents,’” Blue Cross decided to remain in Pinal County after all, Stelnik told the Journal .  For 2017, every Arizona county will have only one insurer on its exchange, save for Pima County, home to Tucson, which will have two. However, according to the New York Times , only Health Net is offering a full range of plans in Pima County, while Blue Cross is solely selling catastrophic plans for people under 30. Considering that the  also allows people to remain on their parents’ insurance until age 26, it seems likely that few will take advantage of Blue Cross’s offer.  “There are no choices, really, for anybody in Maricopa County,” Phoenix resident Ken Hoag told the Arizona Republic . “The lack of choice is like having empty shelves (and) no food in a third-world country. Do I live in Cuba?”  Of course, with mounting losses and no competition, it’s hardly surprising that premiums for individual plans are skyrocketing. Blue Cross Blue Shield is raising its rates by an average of 51 percent, Health Net an average of 75 percent. In Phoenix, premiums are going up a whopping 145 percent. Republic columnist Laurie Roberts notes that a typical 27-year-old Arizonan “buying the second lowest ‘silver plan’ will see premiums soar by 116 percent. If that 27 year old makes $35,000 a year, he’ll pay nearly 10 percent of his gross income for insurance even with an Obamacare subsidy. If he makes over $47,000, he’ll pay a jaw dropping $422 a month for insurance, up from $196 this year.”  That subsidy, as usual, is the ace ObamaCare supporters always have up their sleeve. The rate hikes, while huge, aren’t so bad because the subsidies will cover most of the extra cost, they argue. “That may be so,” Roberts observed, “but how sustainable is a system in which insurance premiums rise by 116 percent in a year? Or even 25 percent a year?”  Besides, subsidies don’t cover all the added expense. Hoag’s wife had to buy a new plan for 2017 because her old one is being discontinued. While her new plan’s benefits are comparable to those of her old plan, she is going to be stuck for an extra $50 a month in premiums despite her subsidy.  And what of Arizonans who earn too much money to qualify for subsidies? For them, the Times admits, “the price increases will be excruciating.” The paper cites one example: Leslie Rycroft of Scottsdale, who works in human resources, is paying $1,100 a month this year for a United Healthcare plan that has a $13,000 deductible for her family of four. Their income was a little too high to qualify for a subsidy, she said. When she looked at her options on HealthCare.gov last week, she said she was “absolutely horrified” to see only one insurer, Health Net, offering plans that started at $2,200 a month. “It’s beyond ridiculous,” she said. “All of a sudden you are paying $26,000 a year,” Ms. Rycroft said, “just for catastrophic health insurance.”  Thus, the Grand Canyon State has the unfortunate distinction of serving as the latest example of the great chasm between progressives’ pipe dreams and reality. As always, though, ordinary Americans, not the politicians who created this monster, are the ones suffering as a result. Is it any wonder that over half of Americans tell pollsters they disapprove of ObamaCare, and the number who say it has hurt them continues to rise?  The only wonder is that politicians, who normally live and die by opinion polls, haven’t done anything to address their concerns. Perhaps the upcoming elections will change that, but don’t hold your breath. Should you pass out and injure yourself, you might not be able to afford the medical bills with your ObamaCare-approved insurance — if you can even pay the premium. Please review our Comment Policy before posting a comment  Thank you for joining the discussion at The New American. We value our readers and encourage their participation, but in order to ensure a positive experience for our readership, we have a few guidelines for commenting on articles. If your post does not follow our policy, it will be deleted.  No profanity, racial slurs, direct threats, or threatening language.  No product advertisements.  Please post comments in English.  Please keep your comments on topic with the article. If you wish to comment on another subject, you may search for a relevant article and join or start a discussion there.",fake,news,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
19960,19961,"A Rabbit that lived on McDonald ' s new salad menu is to sue the American Multinational for making him obese . Ryan McRabbit , a vegetarian from Dublin ' s posh southside was thrilled with the introduction of the new healthy option menu at his local McDonalds .  Having eaten organic vegtables his whole life , he decided to give the new healthy option a go .  However , after thirty days of non stop McDonalds , McRabbit is feeling the after effects . I used to weigh in at a healthy 8lbs , but since I started eating at the golden arches , my weight has quadrupled in the last month .  McDonalds has changed my life , I ' m lethargic , find it difficult to concentrate and worst of all I find it difficult to get it up with the Mrs , and you know how we rabbits like to copulate . If I ever get my hands on Ronald McDonald , I ' m going to sit on the bastard !  A spokesman for McDonalds rubbished McRabbit ' s claim . ' Customers should remember that everything should be consumed in moderation , including the healthy options menu , frankly McRabbit has clearly over indulged , and we reject his claims absolutely ' .  McRabbit visited his Solicitor at Complete Scheister Ltd , a well known Dublin law firm , yesterday . Pleadings were lodged in the Dublin Circuit Court citing McDonalds and Ronald McDonald as co defendants .  Mr McRabbit ' s solicitor , Dick Van Camp told the press that they are going to fight McDonalds tooth and nail . Plainly all rabbits should take McDonalds with a pinch of salt , my clients life has been destroyed and we ' re not happy about it one bit . Last year this firm took a case against McDonalds when a chimpanzee choked on a McVeg burger , we ' re ready to fight  ",satire,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
19966,19967,"Email  The National Guard, no less.  Mohamad Bailor Jalloh later said he would like to carry out an attack in the style of Fort Hood mass murdering Muslim Nidal Hasan . He also praised Mohammad Youssef Abdulazeez, who killed five U.S. service members in Chattanooga, Tenn., last year. And Jalloh wanted to assassinate “someone known for organizing contests for cartoons of the prophet Muhammad.”  “Ex-National Guard member pleads guilty to terror charge,”  , October 27, 2016:  ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A former National Guard soldier from Virginia has pleaded guilty to a terrorism charge after admitting that he traveled to Africa and boarded a truck to join the Islamic State group before ultimately bailing out.  Twenty-seven-year-old Mohamed Jalloh, of Sterling, was arrested in July after a sting operation in which he discussed launching a Fort Hood-style attack. At a plea hearing Thursday in federal court, new details emerged showing Jalloh made contact with the Islamic State before the government became aware of him.  Jalloh, a naturalized U.S. citizen, admitted Thursday that he traveled to his native Sierra Leone last year and connected with an Islamic State facilitator. While he backed out of traveling to join the Islamic State in Libya, he gave hundreds of dollars to support recruits.  Article posted with permission from Pamela Geller . Don't forget to Like Freedom Outpost on Facebook , Google Plus , & Twitter . You can also get Freedom Outpost delivered to your Amazon Kindle device here . shares",fake,news,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
19969,19970,"World Agence France Presse Updated : January 28 , 2016 02 : 09    presidential nominations process in Iowa , Republican frontrunner Donald Trump is dominating the airwaves . ( File Photo )  Des Moines , United States : ? With five days to go before the first vote in the  presidential nominations process in Iowa , Republican frontrunner Donald Trump is dominating the airwaves . His approval rating has never been higher .  And the celebrity billionaire has left the Republican Party dumbfounded with his announcement that he will not participate in Thursday ' s nationally televised debate in Des Moines hosted by Fox News , with which the tycoon is feuding .  All eyes are on the heartland state , where the 12 Republican candidates and three Democratic hopefuls including Hillary Clinton are vying for bragging rights and the lead in the primary race heading to subsequent votes in New Hampshire , South Carolina and Nevada .  But as they all grapple for air time , newspaper column inches or social media mentions , it is the Trump juggernaut that continues to hog the spotlight with his political antics .  He dropped a bombshell late Tuesday , saying he would skip the Fox News debate .  "" Mr Trump knows a bad deal when he sees one , "" his campaign team said in a statement after Fox took the unprecedented step of mocking Trump for asking his Twitter followers to weigh in on whether or not he should attend the debate .  Fox and its chief executive Roger Ailes "" think they can toy with him , but Mr Trump doesn ' t play games , "" the campaign said .  Fox shot back that it would not give in to "" terrorizations "" from the Trump team , after it accused Trump ' s campaign manager of threatening Fox News host and debate moderator Megyn Kelly .  Trump has a genuine battle on his hands in Iowa with ultra conservative Senator Ted Cruz , his nearest  rival who trails by about five points in the RealClearPolitics average of recent Iowa polls .  Nationally it is a different story . A new   poll of Republican voters has Trump doubling up on Cruz , 41 percent to 19 percent , with more than two thirds of Republicans saying they believe the billionaire will seize the party ' s presidential nomination .  Senator Marco Rubio is a distant third , at eight percent , followed by retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson at six percent and former Florida governor Jeb Bush at five percent .  Cruz offered a remarkably candid assessment of Trump ' s surge , warning evangelical pastors in Iowa Monday that if Trump manages to win Iowa and then New Hampshire , he could prove "" unstoppable . ""  It will be Cruz , however , who takes center stage Thursday with six other Republicans in Des Moines without Trump , who will leave a glaring vacuum .  Cruz hit out at his rival , saying on the Mark Levin radio show that "" Donald Trump is now afraid to appear on the debate stage "" and that his absence would show disrespect for Iowa voters .  Rival Chris Christie , the governor of New Jersey , said Trump ' s snub would prove a mistake .  "" Anytime you get a podium and a microphone , and 15 to 20 million people watching in an election campaign , you should take it , "" Christie told Boston Herald Radio on Wednesday .  "" I ' m glad he ' s not coming , from my perspective . It ' s more time for the rest of us on the stage . ""  He also said Trump ' s thin skinned reaction to criticism only "" makes people call into question his judgment . ""  Several key Republicans recently endorsed Cruz , including former Texas governor and onetime presidential rival Rick Perry and Family Research Council president Tony Perkins , who said , "" Ted is a constitutional conservative who will fight for faith , family and freedom . ""  Trump picked up top shelf endorsements , too , including that of 2008 vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin and evangelical leader Jerry Falwell Jr , president of the Liberty University .  In 2012 , about six in 10 Iowa caucus voters identified as evangelicals .  Story First Published : January 28 , 2016 02 : 09   ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
19993,19994,"The imagined inventions of Victorian era French novelist Albert Robida may be coming closer to reality .  Who , you ask ? Robida was an illustrator and writer for popular science fiction magazines , and is sometimes compared to Jules Verne . In his 1890 novel "" Le Vingtieme siecle . La vie electrique , "" he described something called a "" telephonoscope . ""  Since then , we ' ve seen telephonoscopes basically videophones in everything from "" The Jetsons "" to "" Blade Runner . "" What we haven ' t seen is the videophone in our living rooms .  That may finally be changing .  The common use of videophones could happen through three technologies that separately aren ' t exactly considered bleeding edge today : high speed Internet , a television , and Skype . Samsung says it will put the VoIP calling service Skype as an application on its televisions , allowing phone calls to be made on camera right from a couch , just like Jane Jetson talking into her  set . The Samsung Skype enabled  follows similar announcements from Panasonic and  at the Consumer Electronics Show in January .  The models will range from to 1 , 200 to 2 , 000 for Panasonic ' s set . Samsung and  have not yet announced how much they will charge .  The Skype on  application should work similarly on all three models , which in turn should closely mimic the version of the application that many people use to make free  to  calls , or for a fee ,  to landline .  Skype accounts are free to set up and can be activated using the  ' s remote control right on the screen . The video calls will also be free , as will voice calls between Skype users .  Using Skype to call traditional landline and mobile phones is a few cents per minute . Calls can be answered while watching a program , but it ' s not yet possible to both talk and continue to watch uninterrupted .  By the time these models actually hit stores in late spring there should be three  makers offering Skype on their TVs . And not just any three  makers , but the world ' s largest overall ( Samsung sells practically one of every five TVs sold ) , the leader in plasmas ( Panasonic ) , and  , which is close behind Samsung , selling 15 percent of all TVs .  While Robida wrote about the idea ,  T did the most to advance the idea from the pages of Victorian sci fi to actuality . Unfortunately its 1960s videophone system , known as the Picturephone , was a bust . Few ever signed up for the service because you had to reserve call times and pay a whopping 16 per minute .  The idea , however , was at least on the right track : making videophones accessible to normal folk . Today teleconferencing is a common tool for companies to put employees in different locations virtually , if not physically , in the same conference room .  But the high cost of the fancy systems from companies like Cisco and Hewlett Packard doesn ' t make them consumer friendly . Cisco also announced at  it would be offering a home version of its telepresence software sometime this year , and did not yet mention a price .  Videophones for the home have never really caught on in the way they have at businesses . Even versions of the concept built into a corded telephone didn ' t really generate much excitement . Usually this was a small screen attached to a phone base station and conversations had to take place wherever the phone was plugged in , which tended to be places like a dresser or a kitchen counter .  Video calls today can be made online . They ' re easy and cheap , and of course don ' t require the purchase of an pricey new  . A computer with a built in Webcam and a voice over  service like Skype or a chat application like Yahoo Messenger usually suffice , but it is still an activity that ' s attached to a computer , and therefore going to be intimidating to people who either don ' t like or have trouble with technology .  TVs are far more accessible though . Now with major companies like Samsung , Panasonic , and  pushing the idea of the  as videophone , the concept does at least have the chance to catch on .  Consumer surveys show that people are beginning to buy Internet connected TVs , which allow not just Skype calls , but also other activities on the  that are normally confined to the computer .  That includes accessing Internet radio and video streaming from services like Pandora and Netflix , and social sites like Twitter , Facebook , and Flickr .  A survey of 800 U . S . consumers who bought TVs in January found that 27 . 5 percent of them have connected their new sets to the Internet , either through the  itself or via an external device such as a game console or digital video box , according to iSuppli . And of those , almost 42 percent recently purchased a Web connected  .  And Skype likely won ' t be a brand new concept to a lot of those new  owners . Skype already has over 521 million registered accounts , so there ' s a built in audience who is already signed up and knows how to use it .  But the quality may not be what some people expect , says DisplaySearch analyst Paul Gagnon .  "" Teleconferencing is inherently kind of a low quality experience , especially in a consumer home . On a computer it works  , but blown up to the size of the  , I wasn ' t terribly impressed with some of the demos at  , "" he said .  And quality aside , even in terms of logistics , there ' s a lot to consider . Even with an Internet connected  , you still need a decent Internet connection , and for a two way video call , you have to have people on the other end with the same set up . In other words , "" it ' s really early , "" Gagnon said .  Time will tell if videophones are just a fad or about to become an integral part of the modern idea of the "" connected living room . "" The tools are there , but it ' s entirely possible that people don ' t want to use their TVs like that .  Either way , even if the latest incarnation of Robida ' s telephonoscope doesn ' t gain widespread acceptance , he still has a decent track record for his prognostications . Other things he predicted in the same 1890 novel ? The use of submarines , helicopters , and biological warfare .  2010  Interactive Inc . All rights reserved .  , CNETweblink and the  logo are registered trademarks of  Interactive Inc . Used by permission .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
20000,20001,"The #NeverTrump movement from sane Republicans who know what an absolute disaster a Donald Trump presidency would be for both their party and this nation and world is all but dead. The spineless morons at the top of the  leadership, including House Speaker Paul Ryan and the #2 Republican Mitch McConnell, along with many others, have lined up behind the orange monster like obedient toy soldiers, despite the fact that Trump becomes more outrageous and embarrassing by the day. However, there is one veteran Republican who is still staunchly #NeverTrump  longtime  consultant Rick Wilson.Wilson took to his twitter account to slam his own party s leadership over their endorsement of Trump, and it was absolutely glorious. He even gave Trump a new name    Cheeto Jesus    and ripped his colleagues a new one in the best way possible.1/ How the actual fuck does anyone at the  have standing to act shocked that Trump is not doing the basics of campaigning?  Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) June 16, 20162/ You can't elide over his utter dipshittery. No matter how much you try to act surprised, you own this. You're covered in his stench.  Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) June 16, 20163/ History will be so cruel to you.  Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) June 16, 20164/ Your off the record sniping and grumbling is no substitute for moral courage. That's so DC.  Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) June 16, 20165/ You won't escape the stain. It's like a big, visible ""No Ragrets"" chest tat that will mark your careers forever.  Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) June 16, 20166/ Go public. Man up. Show courage. Say what's in your hearts; he's insane. He's poison. He's doomed. He's killing the Party.  Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) June 16, 20167/ None of you are good enough to spin the unspinnable ratfuck that is Trump. None of you can say, ""I was just following orders.""  Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) June 16, 20168/ This weekend, people were lined up hundreds deep to give blood to the victims of Orlando. Your Cheeto Jesus was praising himself.  Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) June 16, 20169/ There is no better Trump. There is not Presidential Trump. He is a vile stain on the this Republic.  Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) June 16, 201610/ Your resumes will always read ""Worked for a batshit crazy crypto-fascist who destroyed the GOP""  Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) June 16, 2016And there you have it. Trump continues to cause massive division within the  and the  at large, despite  chairman Reince Priebus s claims to the contrary. Rick Wilson is right. Go ahead,  leadership. Stay on the Trump Train. But remember   you lie down with Cheeto Jesus, and his stain lies with you forever. Either do the right thing, or listen to the sounds of the death knells for all of your careers.Featured image via Andrew Burton/Getty Images",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,present
20018,20019,"Adele  going on tour in 2016 as she announces  and Europe dates  Published : 08 : 14  , 26 November 2015 Updated : 18 : 29  , 26 November 2015  Adele has revealed that she will be going on tour throughout the  , Ireland and Europe in 2016 .  In a video posted on her Instagram page on Thursday , the 27 year old star confessed that she had been ' bluffing ' about not going on tour .  It will be the first time the British singer has toured in five years , following her 2011 Adele Live series of concerts following the release of her second album 21 .  She  touring ! Adele has revealed she ' ll be touring in 2016 , after previously denying that she would be and confessing that she finds it ' lonely ' , revealing the news on Instagram  In the video clip , the star opens up by saying : ' Hello , it ' s me , Adele God , I can ' t even say that anymore ! '  She falls about into laughter as she realises it ' s very similar to the lyrics of her mega hit single Hello .  But she regains her composure and continues : ' I have been bluffing this whole time and I am so relieved to finally tell you that I am , of course coming on tour , and I can ' t wait to see all of you there . So see you all very very soon ! '  She ' s a  ! In the video clip , the star opens up by saying : ' Hello , it ' s me , Adele God , I can ' t even say that anymore ! ' before descending into giggles ?  Stunner : The clip was filmed in front of a map of Europe , and also saw her wearing the very same chic printed green dress and patterned scarf combination she wore during an appearance on The Today Show ?  15th , 16th , 18th and 19th : London , O2 Arena  The clip was filmed in front of a map of Europe , and also saw her wearing the very same chic printed green dress and patterned scarf combination she wore during an appearance on The Today Show in New York on Wednesday .   advance tickets are set to go on sale for the tour for those subscribed to her website entitled Adele Live 2016 on December 1 at 9am , while advance tickets for European dates will be available to purchase on December 2 .  There have yet not been dates announced for the United States or the rest of the world . ?  The short social media clip has sent her fans into an excited frenzy , as many will finally get the chance to Adele live while she tours her new album , 25 . ?  wa11fl0wer said : ' Oh my God . . . . There ' s an actual Adele tour I ' m on the brink of tears on this train . '  While television presenter KirstieMAllsopp added : ' I will sell my soul for an Adele tour tickets . ' ?  Loving it : The short social media clip has sent her fans into an excited frenzy , including television presenter Kirstie Allsopp ?  In demand :  advance tickets are set to go on sale for the tour for those subscribed to her website entitled Adele Live 2016 on December 1 at 9am ?  Let ' s hope there will be more : There have yet not been dates announced for the United States or the rest of the world ?  Look blooming beautiful in a floral print dress by Burberry  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
20022,20023,"Image caption Alan Rickman as Prof Snape in the Harry Potter films  Acclaimed British actor Alan Rickman has died at the age of 69 . His family has said that he had been ill with cancer .  Friends and fans have been sharing their tributes on social media and with the  . Here is a selection of them .  Jean Verdel Alexander says : "" I painted this originally in 2009 , because I ' m a huge Harry Potter fan and also a huge Alan Rickman fan . I first noticed him as the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood , and I was immediately hooked . ""  Fans have gone to great lengths to show their loyalty to the actor  Sarah Wilkinson has had this tattoo of Rickman character Prof Snape ' s coat of arms put on her arm , she says : "" My life wouldn ' t be the same with Alan Rickman ' s influence . I ' m so heartbroken . ""  Juliana , who lives in Buenos Aires says : "" I saved up for a year , quit my job , got on a plane all by myself and flew to New York just to see him on Broadway . After the show , he came over to us . He thanked me for coming and for the support . That was just my dream come true . ""  Christina Klein Bissett , in Edinburgh , writes : "" I had the enormous pleasure to interview Alan several times as a journalist . When I spilled some red wine on my dress during an interview , he just took me by the hand and across the street to a really nice store to buy a new one for me . ""  Image caption Jen Avery with Alan Rickman in 2008  Jen Avery shared this photo and told us : "" This is such terrible news . I met Alan Rickman when we were at the premiere of the movie Bottle Shock in New York , 2008 . He was very humble and quiet . He was very kind to all of his fans , and he patiently greeted each and every one . ""  David Mckeown writes : "" I once sold Alan a magic trick when I worked in Hamleys Toy Shop . I thought he was a wizard already ! ""  Isadora Fitzgerald , of Cork , writes : "" I met Alan Rickman as a runner for the King ' s Head Theatre in Islington . I asked him if he wanted a cup of tea , and he very gruffly said , ' Yes . ' When I handed the tea to him , he looked directly at me and said , ' I am awfully sorry , my dear , but I have a terrible cold ! ' I was shocked he had the kindness to apologise to me when I was only a runner . ""  Image caption Cory Hayslip shared this photo of Alan Rickman outside a New York theatre in December 2011 .  Robert Leather writes : "" I once knocked Alan Rickman on his back when I swung open the doors of Nottingham Royal Theatre and caught him mid stride . When I recognised him and shouted out , ' Oh my god ! You ' re Alan Rickman ! ' he just gave me that look and then started laughing . He was one of the nicest people I ' ve ever met , even more so given I assaulted him with a door ! ""  Ginger Wright , in Alabama , shared this photo . She told us : "" This was outside the stage door at the Golden Theatre in Manhattan . My sister and I saw him perform in Seminar , and he was amazing . He had tonnes of fans waiting for autographs , and he took the time to sign everything . It was a wonderful experience . ""  Tributes from around the world have been emailed to the   Samm McEwan , of Detroit , writes "" Alan Rickman was dearly beloved here in America . His type of humour pulled characters together in a very real way . Alan ' s more serious roles touched my heart in countless ways , what range . He will be sorely missed , we ' ll never forget you , Alan , thanks for all of your memorable characters . R . I . P . ""  Mirzad , of Belgarde , writes : "" In a dark , dark Serbia , just a few years after the war , I received a call from my cousin in France telling me about a movie I ought to see . I tried downloading it with my dial up internet , but it didn ' t work . I waited months to see it in a cinema . That was the best decision of my childhood Harry Potter and the Philosopher ' s Stone ! Snape taught me back then that things are usually not what they seem , that great causes demand great sacrifices and , finally , that the good ones will love you to the very end , after all that time . Always . ""  Misaki Nagabuchi , in Japan , says : "" I ' m deeply shocked , terribly sad a big loss . When I was younger , I saw him in Sense and Sensibility . It didn ' t take a long moment to fall in love with him and his acting talent . His films made my life much better . My life has been always with him . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
20024,20025,"Hackers penetrated the Kremlin government ' s security system today breaking into premier Dmitry Medvedev ' s Twitter account to announce he was quitting .  The incident sparked a rush of web humour directed by Russians against rulers seen by many as authoritarian but who are rarely criticised in the mainstream media .  ' I ' m resigning , ' read Medvedev ' s Twitter feed .  Hackers penetrated the Kremlin government ' s security system today breaking into premier Dmitry Medvedev ' s Twitter account to announce he was quitting  ' I ' m resigning , ' read Medvedev ' s microblog . ' Ashamed of the actions of the government . Excuse me '  ' Ashamed of the actions of the government . Excuse me . '  The ex president ' s press service rushed out a statement that the announcement was a fake .  ' The Tweet on his resignation is false . We ' re working on the problem . '  President Vladimir Putin ' s press secretary had initially seemed less sure . ' I don ' t have any information , but I ' m pretty sure that this was a hacker , ' he said .  The embarrassing security lapse came as Medvedev is due today to join Putin in Crimea , annexed from Ukraine in March .  The embarrassing security lapse came as Dmitry Medvedev is due today to join Putin in Crimea , annexed from Ukraine in March  The stream of fake Tweets attacked a speech by Putin in Yalta as well as Kremlin policies in general as the country is hit by Western sanctions over Ukraine .  ' Do you think that in Yalta today will say something important ? I doubt . Now sitting here and thinking what the for ? '  ' Crimea isn ' t ours . Please retweet , ' said one .  Another said : ' We can return to the ' 80s . It is sad . If this the goal of my colleagues in the Kremlin , it is achieved . '  Russian citizens ' should not suffer because of problems in the perception of common sense among the top leadership of the country ' , the tweets continued .  Another using the name by which Putin would have been known as a child said : ' I wanted to say for a long time . Vova you are not right ! '  Yet another criticised a regulation Medvedev signed into force which will require users to register , including providing their passport information , to use public Wi Fi sites .  ' Despite our initiative certain network hooligans don ' t give a damn about network access by passport . '  His account was in the control of hackers for almost an hour before a flood of fake Tweets was halted and the offending comments deleted .  The Tweets mirrored the language of a blast from minister Sergei Belyakov recently fired over his comments about the Kremlin ' s pension policies .  But in a series of ripostes web users highlighted the rumoured strained relations between Putin and his premier , and indulged in mockery of their leaders .  ' Dmitry Medvedev ' s twitter was hacked by Vladimir Putin . They just pull each other ' s leg like that , ' said Spisok Debilov .  President Vladimir Putin ' s ( pictured ) press secretary had initially seemed less sure . ' I don ' t have any information , but I ' m pretty sure that this was a hacker , ' he said  Miroslav Zheltikov wrote : ' Actually hacking Medvedev ' s twitter account is a test . Everyone , who re Tweeted will be executed in a couple of hours . '  Rtz said : ' Medvedev ' s twitter wasn ' t hacked . Dima just forgot to take his pills in the morning . Everyone in charge of it was fired already . '  Zone1508 posted : ' In the rest of the world when politicians ' accounts are hacked some nonsense starts to appear only in Russia the truth that everyone was waiting for . '  Medvedev ' s surname derives from the Russian word ' bear ' and Anton Pokhilyak joked : ' The circus with the bear is over . That ' s all folks . '  Corcoran wrote : ' The Russian prime minister probably can ' t believe it . He ' s finally going viral on twitter . '  Nikolay Polozov : ' Medvedev was hacked .  , now twitter will be forbidden for sure . '  Local resident Alexander Avdyukhin inspects the damage in his destroyed house after shelling in Donetsk  A convoy of white trucks with humanitarian aid is seen about 28 kilometres from the the Ukrainian border  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
20027,20028,"Miracles are coming early this holiday season as medical and nursing students across the nation are diagnosing family and friends with life threatening conditions . Every year , the nation ' s top students migrate back home for the holidays where they generously offer free medical council and recommendations to those who ask for it , and even those who don ' t .  Crazy Aunt Kirsten of Kingman ,  was devastated to find out that she may have a rare condition called a Pancoast tumor . "" I was mixing the mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving dinner and mentioned that my arm was starting to hurt . That ' s when my nephew , a second year medical student , said that I might have a french toast tumor in my chest that is dissolving my arm nerves . ""  While an actual doctor assures the she has absolutely nothing to worry about , she still has her concerns . "" I ' m just glad that my nephew caught this before it became too serious . ""  Not everyone , however , is grateful to receive these unsolicited medical evaluations . Vicky Raflugian , a second year nursing student , states that her cousin of the same age "" definitely is bipolar "" citing such evidence such as promiscuous behavior .  "" She practically slept with every guy in town , even Tommy Patane ! She knows I used to date Tommy in high school ! "" Vicky offered a concurrent diagnosis of acromegaly after making the observation that "" she isn ' t even that hot ! ""  Sources within the Raflugian household state that tensions between the two reached peak tensions when Vicky stated a poor prognosis for her more attractive cousin . "" She has like a major problem . She seriously needs to be on medication or something . ""  The most impressive story from this Thanksgiving season comes all the way from Michigan . Fourth year medical student , emergency medicine bound Wallace Stiller , saved his entire family from certain death . "" My family had just come inside from making snowmen outside and I noticed that all of their faces were a little red . Obviously this was due to a carbon monoxide leak . ""  He evacuated his family and they enjoyed Thanksgiving at a nearby Burger King , safe from the toxic gas that may or may not have invaded their home . Wallace ' s father , who was recently diagnosed with Pompe disease , stated , "" I ' m so proud of Wallace for saving our family once again . Who knows how the carbon monoxide would have reacted with my wife ' s Brugada syndrome . ""  This isn ' t the first time that medical and nursing students have saved lives , just ask Charlie Richie of Virginia Medical School who just last year saved the life of an elderly woman on a flight home for Christmas . "" When the flight attendant asked if there was a doctor on board , I knew I had to act . "" Charles made his way up to an elderly woman complaining of back pain , past an  who was in the middle of taking a thorough social history . Charles believed the woman to be having a heart attack and requested the plane to be grounded .  "" I remember hearing one of my attendings say that heart attacks can have atypical presentations in older women , so when the old lady told me she was having right sided flank pain , I knew exactly what was wrong . "" Once landed , the woman was rushed to the hospital and discovered to have a chronic kidney stone . The pilot praised Charlie ' s resolve and confidence stating , "" I was really hoping to deliver the 132 passengers home in time for Christmas , but when a 3rd year medical student says to land the plane , you land the plane . ""  All of this comes at the heels of last week ' s astonishing story describing another 2nd year nursing student who just finished her psychiatry rotation who self diagnosed herself as "" must be having  because she really can ' t stand having a messy apartment . ""  ",satire,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,fake,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
20043,20044,"Sobbing Gemma Collins begs Jonathan Cheban to stay as he leaves the Celebrity Big Brother house  The former  star made Kim Kardashian ' s  promise that he would have a sleepover with her because she ' s having trouble living life without him  Gemma Collins broke down and begged Jonathan Cheban to stay in the Celebrity Big Brother house as he made his exit .  The former  star who ' s made no secret of her desires to become British besties with Kim Kardashian ' s  took his leaving a little bit too personally .  Earlier in the show , Jonathan told Gemma that he was leaving and going to pack his case , and asked her to help him .  The  told the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star that she thinks it s the right time for him to leave the house , but begs him to stay in touch .  Luckily for Gemma , Jonathan agreed and told her that he would totally be in Essex eating with her , as long as she picks him up .  "" Yes ! You don t know me ! I ll be in Essex eating , every time I come to London you come and pick me up ! "" he said .  In the diary room , Jonathan is talking to Big Brother : My time here has now expired . I m not really into fighting , Tiffany is insane !  "" It s getting down and dirty and there s a bad vibe in the house . I felt so bad putting Nancy in incarceration it felt like I sent my mum !  He continues he doesn t want to get anxious or claustrophobic , and feels like it s time for him to go .  Jonathan gathers some of the housemates to say goodbye and that starts Gemma off sobbing : Can t you just stay ?  Non nonsense Jonathan told her to stop it and that he would see them all when they get out and then he departs after hugging Nancy Dell ' Olio .  Jonathan then left the Celebrity Big Brother house , shouting : I m going to miss you guys ! I ll be watching !  Meanwhile , Gemma sat in the garden sobbing about his exit .  Speaking to Big Brother , Jonathan said : Honestly , this has been the literally the best experience I ve ever had ! I didn t think I d survive the first night .  "" These people are so amazing ! I love each and every one of them , and I can t wait to see them afterwards ! I m leaving with no problems with anyone , and that s how I wanted to leave .  "" It s definitely bitter sweet . Thank you and goodbye .  However , while Jonathan left on a high note , it doesn ' t look like Gemma ' s going to be getting over her chance to meet Kim Kardashian any time soon .  I don t know what life in the house will be like without him , something has died inside me , "" she told Big Brother .  "" There are so amazing people in here I will now get to spend time with other people in the house . No one will ever replace him , I loved him the most . ""  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
20077,20078,"After Israel ' s Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv beat Spain ' s Real Madrid in the Euroleague basketball finals Sunday , some people on Twitter responded with vile anti Semitic tweets .  "" Now I understand Hitler and his hate for Jews , "" one tweet read . That user removed the tweet and is now apologizing profusely , tweeting that his "" empty words "" were a joke and that he never meant to offend .  Another hateful tweet said the Maccabi team would hit the showers after the game , "" but in the gas chamber , I hope . ""  That user appears to have removed his as well . He also retweeted an op ed from the Spanish newspaper El Pais arguing that while concern about hateful tweets makes sense , such offenses should not be considered illegal .  But to some leaders of Jewish communities in Spain , these and numerous other tweets crossed a legal line .  Various Jewish groups have come together to file a legal complaint calling for the offenders to be punished .  "" To send a message to Spain that this is not  , "" Benguigui said .  It ' s not that the groups want these people incarcerated , he said . But they want some kind of sentence . "" There is a problem with anti Semitism in Spain . I want them to fix this problem , "" he said .  He pointed to a recent global study published by the Anti Defamation League that found one in four adults worldwide are "" deeply infected with anti Semitic attitudes . "" In Spain , the study found , 29 of the adult population believed most of the anti Semitic stereotypes in the survey the third highest number in Western Europe after Greece at 69 and France at 37 .  ' Unprecedented ' global study finds 1 in 4 adults anti Semitic  European nations don ' t have the same freedom of expression protections that the United States does . "" When you cross a line , you face a problem , "" said Benguigui .  Unclear how many anti Semitic tweets  Many of the offensive tweets used a hashtag that included an expletive followed by "" judios , "" which means Jews . A software program found about 17 , 500 such tweets at the point that the Jewish groups complained , Benguigui said .  When hashtags trend that are offensive against any group , it ' s often due to a mix of people saying offensive things and those calling out the offensive messages . The same happened this week in France with the hashtag "" MerciHitlerPour3945 , "" thanking Hitler for World War  .  Groups want Twitter users  ' d  Benguigui said his and other groups have identified five of the offending Twitter users . And he wants more of them identified . It ' s an issue Twitter has faced repeatedly in recent years .  With more than 500 million tweets a day , "" we rely on our users to report content "" that violates rules , the statement said . To report any tweet , a user can open it , click "" More , "" and then "" Report Tweet . "" A real person ends up reviewing it .  On its site called "" Transparency Report , "" Twitter lists information requests from governments , removal requests and copyright notices . The company also works with different countries to provide information within different legal systems , and posts its moves at the website chillingeffects . org .  Benguigui sees this effort as a sign of what Jewish people in Spain have been going through . "" We ' ve been hidden for many years , "" he said . "" We didn ' t want to appear , didn ' t want to make noise . ""  He cites the Inquisition , which began in the 1400s and was not officially abolished until the 19th century .  "" It ' s time to say , ' We are home , we have equal rights , we have the same opportunities as everyone , ' "" Benguigui said . "" We need to educate people . ""  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
20086,20087,"Double mastectomy : Angelina Jolie opted for pre emptive surgery after discovering it would virtually eliminate her high risk of breast cancer  Sophie Graham understands better than most the heartbreak behind Angelina Jolie ' s double mastectomy .  Jolie opted for pre emptive surgery after discovering it would virtually eliminate her high risk of breast cancer due to a faulty BRCA1 gene the same gene linked to her mother ' s death from ovarian cancer at 57 .  The film star also plans to have her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed to reduce her higher risk of ovarian cancer .  And just this week it was revealed that the star ' s aunt had died of breast cancer , aged 61 .  Debbie Martin , the sister of Jolie ' s mother , also carried the faulty BRCA1 gene .  Sophie , 39 , has the same faulty gene . The occupational psychologist from West London was , like Jolie , given frightening odds of developing these gynaecological cancers .  She was tested for the faulty gene nine years ago after her mother , who had ovarian cancer , was found to carry it . Her mother died a few months after she took the test .  But Sophie agonises over whether to have her breasts and ovaries removed .  ' I ' m not convinced that having a double mastectomy will make a real difference to my health prospects , given the effectiveness of breast screening , ' says the mother of a three year old girl .  ' But I feel that getting rid of my ovaries is critical , mainly because ovarian cancer is hard to detect and treat , and it will also have a preventative impact on breast cancer . Yet it ' s terrifying as it will propel me into an early menopause , with everything that involves . '  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
20120,20121,"Europe is likely not going to be a top destination for families with young daughters, and they have no one to blame but themselves for this idiocy. Political correctness will be the death of Europe as we know it. Do Americans have the fortitude to stop the bleeding here, before the invasion of foreigners on our soil is officially out of control?  asylum seeker who  chillingly  raped a 21-year-old devout Christian woman next to a church was starting a 10 year jail sentence today.Eritrean-born Mebrehtom Abrha, 25, stalked the vulnerable virgin for 10 minutes as she walked through Liverpool city centre to her boyfriend s house at 6am last July 19.Liverpool Crown Court heard he dragged her off the pavement and into a grassy area before raping her twice in a harrowing four-minute ordeal.The terrifying attack left the devout Christian  angry at God  and fearing she had contracted HIV, an appalled judge was told.Abrha, who lived in Liverpool before fleeing to Birmingham, was arrested following a  Crimewatch appeal on October 12.Today he started an extended sentence of 10 years  imprisonment with a further five years on licence as his victim told the court:  I felt ashamed, dirty and unclean. Going to church has always been in an important part of my life but since the attack I was not able to go to church for many months. I was angry at God and I was angry at myself for feeling this way. The victim also admitted the attack caused her to end her relationship with her boyfriend, adding:  I have lost any desire to do anything in my life. I feel terrified in the shower. I get the feeling that someone is going to get me and I start to panic. The victim   who cannot be named for legal reasons   had been out clubbing on Saturday July 18 last year and agreed to meet her boyfriend the following morning.Prosecutor David McLachlan told the court she could not get a taxi so opted to walk the mile-and-a-half route.Despite warnings to not cut through the park from her boyfriend, she did   and was confronted by the East African man who dragged her off into a wooded area nearby.He then subjected her to a horrific attack, ripping open her dress before raping her and  chillingly  walking away.Afterwards the woman   covered in dirt and with injuries to her back and neck   ran to her boyfriend s house and he raised the alarm.Michael O Brien, defending Abhra, read out part of a letter of apology from his client, which went:  This was an un-Christian act and I did a horrible thing to this woman. I ask for forgiveness. Ahbra was granted asylum for five years in June 2014 after claiming he was forced to flee his native country after being conscripted to the Eritrean army aged 18.Ahbra, who has no previous convictions and spoke through a Tigrignan interpreter, claimed he had no memory of the attack as he was too inebriated.Ahbra held his hand to his eyes as David Aubrey  sentenced him before he made the sign of the cross as he was led down in to custody.Judge Aubrey told him:  You watched her, you followed her, pursued her, threatened her and raped her before, somewhat chillingly, walking away calmly. I cannot ignore the tragic irony of this case that you attacked her next to a church. Afterwards Merseyside Police Det Insp Terry Davies said: There is no doubt that this had had a significant impact on his young victim, who will now have to live with this for the rest of her life. Via: Express UK",fake,dataset,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,satire,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
20130,20131,"Scott Asheton , who co founded and played drums for the influential proto punk band the Stooges , has died . He was 64 .  The death was disclosed by singer Iggy Pop , who formed the band with Asheton , Scott ' s brother Ron and Dave Alexander in 1967 .  "" My dear friend Scott Asheton passed away last night , "" Pop wrote Sunday on Facebook , not mentioning the cause of death .  "" Scott was a great artist , I have never heard anyone play the drums with more meaning than Scott Asheton . He was like my brother . He and Ron have left a huge legacy to the world . ""  Ron Asheton died in 2009 .  The Stooges were punk well before punk rock came along . At a time when even hard rock bands were putting forth a little peace and love , the Stooges were brash , forthright and polarizing , relying on the brute force of power chords and Pop ' s peanut butter smearing antics to establish a core of followers .  "" Taking their cue from the over amplified pounding of British blues , the primal raunch of American garage rock , and the psychedelic rock ( as well as the audience baiting ) of the Doors , the Stooges were raw , immediate , and vulgar , "" Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote on Allmusicweblink .  "" When I did that , they played differently . Ron and Scott started playing really furiously , and we were rocking , "" he recalled .  Iggy Pop roars with a renewed ' Power '  The Ann Arbor , Michigan formed band ' s first two albums , "" The Stooges "" ( 1969 ) and "" Fun House "" ( 1970 ) , exemplified their sound . The songs were deliberately basic two and three chord sledgehammers with titles such as "" No Fun , "" "" Dirt "" and "" I Wanna Be Your Dog . ""  The band wasn ' t immune to its own behavior . The albums didn ' t sell , and drug abuse took its toll . After "" Raw Power , "" the Stooges broke up , and Scott Asheton joined several other bands . The Stooges reunited in 2003 and released a fourth album in 2007 .  The Stooges were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010 .  Social media responded to Asheton ' s death .  "" Deeply ( saddened ) by the loss of my mate ScottAsheton , "" wrote photographer Mick Rock on Twitter , who was very much a part of the ' 70s scene .  "" We all lost a hell of a drummer today . Scott Asheton of the Stooges is gone . MC5 , Lou Reed , Iggy . . . These bands changed me and changed music , "" tweeted actor Linden Ashby .  Asheton is survived by his wife , Liz , and a daughter , Leanna .  People we ' ve lost in 2014  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
20135,20136,"0 комментариев 0 поделились Фото:   Однако глава правительства Сербии Александр Вучич отказался комментировать сообщения о высланных россиянах. ""Не все в вашем вопросе неверно, одна часть не точна. Я не хотел вам отвечать не только по той причине, которую уже назвал, но и еще из-за одной вещи — потому, что об этих делах я говорить не имею права по закону"", — сказал Вучич белградскому телеканалу N1.  Новость о депортации российских граждан совпала с неожиданным приездом в Белград секретаря Совбеза РФ Николая Патрушева. Сербские эксперты убеждены, что главная цель визита — обсуждение ситуации в Черногории. Как сообщает ""Коммерсантъ"", ссылаясь на близких к правительству Сербии источников, Белград не заинтересован в таком скандале, но и не хочет быть заподозренным в причастности к неким ""террористическим акциям"".  Во время своего визита Николай Патрушев встретился со всем руководством республики: 26 октября — с президентом Томиславом Николичем и главой МИДа Ивицей Дачичем, а 27 октября — с премьером Александром Вучичем. Все переговоры прошли в строго закрытом режиме. В самом начале визита было официально объявлено, что Патрушев предложил сербским властям подписать меморандум о взаимопонимании в области безопасности, который создал бы постоянный канал связи между Москвой и Белградом в этой сфере.  Однако профессор факультета безопасности Белградского университета Зоран Драгишич уверен, что визит связан с тем, что произошло в соседней Черногории, где власти объявили о предотвращении террористических акций в день выборов. Этой же точки зрения придерживается сербский военный эксперт Александр Радич. Источник ""Ъ"" близкий к правительству Сербии считает, что ""российский гость наверняка хотел бы прояснить наши шаги по сотрудничеству с Черногорией в расследовании активности групп, готовивших беспорядки в Подгорице 16 октября"".  Напомним, 16 октября в Черногории состоялись парламентские выборы . В день голосования Власти страны объявили о задержании 20 граждан Сербии по подозрению в подготовке теракта и путча. По предварительным данным, группа планировала напасть на собравшихся перед зданием парламента граждан и полицейских, занять помещения скупщины с целью провозгласить победу одной из политических партий, лишить свободы премьер-министра Черногории. Утверждается, что лидером организации был экс-начальник жандармерии Сербии Братислав ""Бато"" Дикич.  Спустя несколько дней сербский премьер Вучич сообщил, что службы безопасности страны задержали ряд лиц, организовавших слежку за премьером Черногории.  Напомним, на парламентских выборах в Черногории победила прозападная Демократическая партия социалистов (ДПС) премьер-министра Мило Джукановича.  Как рассказал ранее Pravda.Ru специалист Института европейских исследований Стеван Гайич, ""даже если бы оппозиция признала выборы, разница между оппозицией и пронатовской партией Джукановича — только в одном или двух депутатах. Так что Джуканович далеко не победил. Джуканович провел эти выборы в атмосфере государственного переворота, во время выборов были выключены Viber и WhatsApp. Оппозиция впервые за 27 лет сказала: хватит, не будем больше признавать нелегитимные выборы, потому что одним и тем же образом Джуканович приобретает власть из года в год и уже 27 лет он находится практически в режиме абсолютного диктатора страны"".  Можно предполагать, что и сообщения о подготовке ""террористических актов"" могут быть частью политической борьбы в Черногории - с учетом того, что от власти Мило Джуканович отказываться явно не собирается.    Спешка к ""европейскому будущему"": Черногория в НАТО Поделиться:",fake,news,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
20141,20142,"Before It's News) This article highlights the dysfunction of MNsure. While it isn’t surprising, it’s still aggravating. The story starts by saying “Rep. Roz Peterson, R-Lakeville, said at a Monday news conference that a constituent had contacted her after receiving a voter registration form from MNsure, the state-run health insurance exchange, even though the person in question is […] Continue reading MNsure caught wasting time . . . → Read More: MNsure caught wasting time",fake,news,validation,Other news1,Economy,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
20148,20149,"Prime Minister ' s Questions should be shown live on  in a prime time slot , Nick Clegg has claimed as he railed against the ' ridiculous ' spectacle of MPs hollering at each other each week .  The Lib Dem leader said voters should be able to send in questions to be answered by the Prime Minister as he called for an end to the ban on MPs calling each other by their names .  In an extraordinary attack on parliamentary tradition , Mr Clegg condemned the ' highly aggressive , macho , chest beating , testosterone driven ' charade which is deeply off putting to the public .  Nick Clegg backed a Mumsnet petition calling for PMQs to be moved to an evening time slot so it can be watched live by more people  Mr Clegg warned that each failure to change the way Parliament is run , including party funding and electing the House of Lords , is ' another nail in the coffin of public interest in participation in politics ' .  Senior politicians have repeatedly tried to alter the way the Commons is run , with David Cameron , Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband all vowing soon after becoming leader to change the culture of Prime Minister ' s Questions .  But attempts to end the heckling and insults rarely last long , despite repeated warnings that the public are put off by it .  Asked what he would like to change about the Commons ' culture , Mr Clegg replied : ' Pretty well everything . I just despair sometimes about just how totally out of step with modern life politics generally appears and , certainly , in the House of Commons . '  Mr Cameron and Mr Miliband go head to head at noon every Wednesday , meaning few people who work ever watch the clashes live .  Mr Clegg backed a Mumsnet petition calling for PMQs to be overhauled and made more accessible .  ' I think it ' s brilliant basically saying , ' When is Prime Minister ' s Questions is going to be , a ) scheduled to the time when people below the 65 watch it ? When is it actually going to allow other people to ask questions ?  ' When is it going to become less of this kind of Punch and Judy formula ? '  The Deputy Prime Minister said he had tried and failed to make changes to the House of Lords and party funding  Mr Clegg told a Q A with Mumsnet : ' It ' s just ridiculous . You can ' t even call people by their name . You can ' t even address people like human beings .  ' And so the whole thing is in a language which wasn ' t used since 1867 and in a kind of highly aggressive , sort of , macho , chest beating , testosterone driven idiom which is deeply off putting to to any normal person . '  Under Commons rules , MPs cannot refer to each other by name , but their constituency .  It means Mr Clegg is known as ' the Right Honorable member for Sheffield Hallam ' .  MPs must also speak through the chair , so instead of telling an opponent ' you are wrong ' , they must say ' he is wrong ' .  MailOnline last year revealed details of letters sent to Commons Speaker John Bercow about behaviour at PMQs .  MPs were branded them ' morons ' , ' t ts ' , ' braying donkeys ' and a throwback to the 19th century .  David Cameron and Ed Miliband go head to head at noon every Wednesday , meaning few people who work ever watch the clashes live  MailOnline last year revealed details of letters sent to Commons Speaker John Bercow about behaviour at PMQs , branding MPs ' morons ' , ' t ts ' , ' braying donkeys ' and a throwback to the 19th century .  Mr Clegg said he had tried and failed to modernise Parliament . ' I couldn ' t even manage to persuade the powers that be to introduce a smidgen of democracy into the House of Lords or even change the rules by which parties were funded .  ' My own view is that every time the Westminster establishment fails to reform itself , whether it ' s on how Prime Minister Questions are conducted , how parties are funded , whether you let voters in to decide who ' s in the House of Lords every time they do that , there is just another nail in the coffin of public interest in participation in politics . '  He said the failure to back change will ' only make the later crises which will come in public confidence in politics all the worse . '  Meanwhile , Commons Speaker John Bercow last night urged MPs to complete the ' revolution ' in Parliament triggered by the expenses scandal five years ago .  In a speech at Westminster , Mr Bercow said that reforms passed after the public outcry over MPs ' expense claims had had a ' transformative ' effect on the work of the House .  He highlighted in particular select committees , which had adopted a more confident , ' gladiatorial ' approach since their members were elected in a secret ballot of party colleagues , with the chairmen elected by the whole House , rather than chosen by party whips .  He suggested they should go further , extending the system of ' confirmation ' hearings for important public appointments , following up their reports more vigorously and employing in house researchers .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
20154,20155,"Tim Peake : Chichester school gives send off to astronaut  Media captionPupils at Chichester High School cheered on as former pupil Tim Peake began his journey  Pupils and teachers at astronaut Tim Peake ' s old school gathered excitedly to watch televised coverage of their ex student heading into space .  About 100 pupils saw the live launch , shown at the Tim Peake Conference Centre at Chichester High School , as others watched around the school .  Physics teacher Mike Gouldstone , who taught Mr Peake , said pupils were "" jumping up and down with excitement "" .  "" It ' s a great day for the school and a great day for Tim , "" he said .  Speaking about "" Major Tim ' s "" time at the school between 1982 and 1988 Mr Gouldstone said : "" Tim was very engaging and very interested in getting involved with experiments . ""  Image caption Mike Gouldstone taught Tim Peake physics at Chichester High School  He added : "" I know the school is proud . Personally , I feel quite humble , having had the privilege of teaching such a great star as Tim .  "" I put a lot down to his parents and those around him . I just shared a bit about the laws of physics with him . ""  Phil Trowl , who was a school friend of 43 year old Mr Peake , said the astronaut ' s home town of Westbourne was "" buzzing with excitement "" at the prospect of him reaching the International Space Station .  Eight year old Rufus Knight , a pupil at Oakwood School near Chichester , met Tim Peake at the Science Museum in London .  Rufus asked him : "" . . . Have you thought about whether Father Christmas will deliver your presents ? ""  Mr Peake said he thought it was unlikely his presents would be delivered by reindeer , but he said he would "" look out the window for any activity "" .  Tim Peake in space : Want to know more ?  Tim Peake live : Launch day live video and updates  Special report page : For the latest news , analysis and video  Video : How the view from space affects your mind  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
20167,20168,"Kenya A high level Kenyan delegation has agreed with the International Criminal Court to set up a tribunal by July 2010 to prosecute those who instigated last year ' s devastating post election violence .  Residents of a Nairobi slum shout during clashes between two rival groups in January 2008 .  Failing that , the government in Kenya will refer the case to the court ' s prosecutor to take over . The delegation , in a signed agreement with chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo , also agreed to provide the court with a report on the current status of investigations and prosecutions so it can carry out "" preliminary examinations "" of the case .  The violence that erupted in Kenya following a disputed election in December 2007 nearly tore apart an African country once considered an island of peace in an otherwise troubled region that includes Somalia .  Nearly 1 , 500 people were killed and hundreds of thousands displaced after the re election of Mwai Kibaki . The opposition , led by Raila Odinga , and many independent observers , said the vote had been rigged .  Under pressure from abroad and the region , former U . N . Secretary General Kofi Annan helped hammer out an agreement that led to a coalition government of all major political parties .  A key part of the deal was the forming of a tribunal to investigate and prosecute the leaders responsible for the violence .  Annan promised to hand over a list of suspects to the court , should the Kenyan government not form a tribunal . He gave August as a deadline . The court ' s agreement with Kenya now gives the government breathing room .  A U . N . special investigator , in a report issued in June , called for the resignation of top Kenyan officials and sweeping changes in the country ' s security forces to end reported unlawful killings by police nationwide .  The report called for the resignation of Kenya ' s attorney general and the immediate replacement of the police commissioner . It also said Kibaki should publicly acknowledge his commitment to ending unlawful killings by police .  The Kenya government expressed its "" deep displeasure "" and "" grave concern "" with the report , saying it impinged on the country ' s sovereignty .  The U . N . investigator also advocated creating an independent civilian police oversight body , and said the International Criminal Court should investigate violence after the 2007 election . He urged the government to create a witness protection program as well .  Many analysts who follow Kenya think the next general election in 2012 has a significant chance of descending into violence , should key government reforms not be put in place .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
20180,20181,"After being crucified on pregame shows , Tom Brady resurrected .  The rabble had come to bury the Patriots and the evil left undone by Bill Belichick . To the utter dismay of undefeated Bengals everywhere , the worm turned .  Yes , the deader than a doornail Patriots stood up in the coffin and demanded blood from their shocked fans .  With predictions to be cremated by the Boston sports media and radio blabmasters , the Patriots made the media look like a 1929 Stock Market Crash dummy . Tonight the Pats resembled Bigfoot with his tootsie on the accelerator pedal .  Instead of calling Ghost Hunters to Foxboro to find the lost Patriot spirit , Tom ' s team might be the team to play in Tombstone the Town too Tough to Die , but they did not need a tombstone or epitaph on this night .  Fans had been looking for their best black duds and a map to the funeral pyre . After all , Tom Brady wanted to take is act elsewhere , hating to play for the dreaded emasculator , Bill Belichick .  Yes , you guessed it . The Patriots uncovered the spread and then some . Prognosticators put their Tarot cards up for sale on eBay .  It was like Mr Peabody brought the Wayback Machine to Foxboro and out stepped the youthful Tom Brady .  The road to the Super Bowl looked like a shortcut through Foxboro at least on this night .  You can shut out the New York Jets this week , but you can no longer think the Patriots are their twin . Rex Ryan will not have a  with more panache than Brady this year .  The Jimmy Replacement Fan Club skulked back to the place known as oblivion . There ' s be no quarterback controversy this season .  Once again Bill Belichick looked like Stephen Hawking , and the Big Bang Theory meant fans jumped back on the bandwagon faster than you can say Last Hurrah ' .  ",satire,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
20193,20194,"One of the strangest right wing conspiracies is that Barack Obama is not really a Christian . It ' s strange because the President has missed few opportunities to inject Christianity into his rhetoric to an extent that really ought to irritate his more radical liberal allies . Yet all his talk about being "" brought to Christ "" has done little to bring conservatives to him .  On the contrary , this week they responded to Obama ' s remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast with righteous anger . The President used the occasion to warn against the distortion of faith for the sake of promoting violence .  Few would disagree with that , but Obama upped the stakes by reminding the audience that Christians could be just as guilty of this as Islamists name dropping the Crusades , Inquisition and Jim Crow as examples . The President urged listeners to recognize the role that doubt can play in faith , embracing humility and rejecting the idea that "" somehow we alone are in possession of the truth . ""  "" The President ' s comments this morning at the prayer breakfast are the most offensive I ' ve ever heard a president make in my lifetime , "" said Jim Gilmore , former Republican governor of Virginia . "" Barack Obama is not , in any meaningful way , a Christian , "" wrote Erick Erickson at RedStateweblink . "" Christ himself is truth . When we possess Christ , we possess truth . The President is a moral relativist . ""  I am reminded of The Onion ' s reporting of an imaginary speech in which Obama urges the Democratic Party to "" destroy Jesus and usher in a new age of liberal darkness that shall reign o ' er the Earth for a thousand years . ""  No , Obama is not the anti Christ . But conservative Christian skepticism about his religion is justifiable . From the perspective of the religious right , his faith is contradicted by his policies : How can a Christian support same sex marriage or say "" Thank you , Planned Parenthood . God bless you "" when it is an organization that provides abortion services ?  If his rejection of natural law infuriates Catholics , some conservatives have identified a lack of commitment to the principle of American exceptionalism and , therefore , to its associated dream of building "" a shining city upon a hill . "" If you believe that God intervenes directly in the lives of individuals and nations ( as did Benjamin Franklin ) , then the blessings enjoyed by the United States are not an accident but providence .  Hence , Barack Obama ' s suggestion earlier in his presidency that exceptionalism is not necessarily exceptional to America , validates the accusation that , in the words of Gilmore , he "" does not believe in America or the values we all share . "" Just as controversial are the President ' s claims that one does not necessarily achieve salvation through Christ alone ( that there is more than one "" path to grace "" ) or that Christianity is stained by some sort of historical sin of political manipulation .  But if Barack Obama contradicts one faith tradition in America , he is in tune with another . There is a modernist , post ' 60s brand of Christianity that places an emphasis upon man as broken and in need of healing . This is a difficult process because , I and others would argue , that part of our "" broken state "" involves being disconnected from God , and it ' s this disconnection that leads to sin .  Said the President at the breakfast : "" We should assume humbly that we ' re confused and don ' t always know what we ' re doing and we ' re staggering and stumbling towards God , and have some humility in that process . ""  By acknowledging what we don ' t know about God and focusing upon improving our human relationships here on Earth , says the modernist Christian , we become fuller human beings and fuller Christians . Perhaps we can be redeemed through social action , while our understanding of the truth begins by acknowledging that we weren ' t born with ownership of it . Maybe it ' s  to be gay ? Maybe Allah is just another way of saying "" God "" ?  Back in 2004 , State Sen . Obama explained , "" I ' m suspicious of too much certainty in the pursuit of understanding just because I think people are limited in their understanding . ""  This take on faith dominates in English Anglicanism and its American Episcopalian branch . Personally , I don ' t much like it . As a Catholic , I believe that the truth is contained in the Bible and is lived through communion in the Catholic Church and all this talk of humility is navel gazing in a world crying out for the Good News : that Jesus has died for its sins and offers a shot at heaven for those willing to trust in him .  I also think that politically empowering this brand of Christianity has not always been best for the United States , either . Barack Obama ' s rejection of American exceptionalism is reasonable and sometimes has helped avoid reckless intervention . But it has also reduced the United States ' self confidence and weakened the ability of the West to provide moral leadership .  The cost is counted in the caliphates that flourish in Nigeria and the Middle East places where an appeal to humility is a nice idea but never going to catch on . While the Judeo Christian West is busy being modest , its Islamist enemies brim with self assurance .  But I wouldn ' t deny that Obama is a Christian , belongs to a valid and probably growing strain of Christianity , and that he is in fact one of the most interesting religious thinkers to inhabit the White House for a very long time .  The challenge faced by conservatives is surely not to brand him un American but rather to answer his specific points in a manner that asserts that our brand of Christianity is just as compassionate and intellectually rigorous . Among Christians , surely , humility is a blessing .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
20218,20219,"Trang Thuy ' Tina ' Nguyen , 37 , died in hospital Tuesday after being hit by a falling wooden plank . She was scheduled to get married in July  A 37 year old woman killed in Manhattan ' s West Village by a piece of plywood that was blown out of luxury condo development in 40mph winds wore a wedding dress to her funeral .  Trang Thuy ' Tina ' Nguyen , who was killed in a freak accident on St Patrick ' s Day , was scheduled to get married in July .  About 200 friends and family members gathered in a Philadelphia church on Saturday to say goodbye to the Manhattan real estate broker .  Groomsmen appeared to be wearing matching formal clothes as well .  The plywood came from new construction The Greenwich Lane a 200 unit development in five buildings and five townhouses that stands on what was once the site of St . Vincent ' s Hospital .   7 reports the woman was on her cell phone as she passed the entrance to a parking lot entrance , when the four by eight foot sheet of plywood , separated from the security fence across the street .  Nguyen ' s fiance Alex Beitler expressed his love for his fiancee at the funeral service , which took place at St . Thomas Aquinas Church . He had proposed to her at the top of the Eiffel Tower .  Alex Beitler ( front left ) and other men carry his fiance Tina Nguyen ' s casket out of the Philadelphia church after the funeral service on Saturday  Beitler looks at the hearse as friends comfort him . Friends and family members , including groomsmen and bridesmaids , wore to Nguyen ' s funeral what they would have worn to the couple ' s wedding in July  Rev . Hugh Shields said the ' loss is so great ' and that he was ' touched by the number of broken hearts ' in the church .  Nazeela Khan , who was one of Nguyen ' s bridesmaids said that her friend was the most kind hearted and giving person she knew .  During his eulogy , Shields held up a wooden cross carried by a dozen people , claiming that the loss of Nguyen should be carried ' the way these figures are carrying this cross ' .  ' It is the thought of death that makes life worth living , ' he said .  City officials closed West Village construction site after Nguyen ' s death after the Buildings Department cited 11 serious code violations in the last three years .  The unfinished development has apartments starting at 3 . 65million and is already nearly sold out .  Part of the property is now home to the most expensive apartment ever sold in Greenwich Village .  According to  Curbed : ' The south penthouse at 155 West 11th Street , the new construction tower that ' s part of the Greenwich Lane complex , entered contract for 45 million , a price that will set a new neighborhood price record when it closes . '  The four by eight foot sheet of plywood blew out of The Greenwich Lane , a luxury condo development , during 40mph winds  It said that ' safety on and around our jobsites is always our number one priority ' .  Bill and Eric Rudin , owners of developer West Village Residences , issued their own somber statement .  ' What happened is tragic and devastating , ' they said . ' We extend our deepest condolences to the family . '  Nguyen ' s family asked for donations to the Children ' s Hospital in Philadelphia to honor her death .  ' We grieve that we will not see her walk down the aisle to marry her perfect mate , Alex , ' her family said in a statement . ' The world is a dimmer place without her . '  The Greenwich Lane is a 200 unit development in five buildings and five townhouses that stands on what was once the site of St . Vincent ' s Hospital ( pictured )  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
20226,20227,"Los Angeles Victoria Principal fears the proposed expansion of offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and Arctic Ocean could lead to another disastrous oil spill like the one that devastated the U . S . Gulf coast last year .  The "" Dallas "" actress is making an "" extremely generous six figure donations "" to two organizations that lobby against increased offshore oil exploration and for tougher rules for oil companies , those groups said Tuesday .  "" Waiting until a disaster happens is waiting until it ' s too late , "" Principal said in Tuesday ' s announcement .  It is second time Principal has made major donations to both Oceana and the Natural Resource Defense Council . The first was in the summer of 2010 when her money helped put an underwater robot off Florida ' s Gulf Coast to detect any encroaching oil from the  oil disaster .  "" The strategy and campaign must begin now , in order to achieve success and prevent further devastation from increased offshore drilling and by imposing tougher standards and having improved safeguards firmly in place , "" Principal said . "" I hope others will join me at this crucial juncture in the future of our oceans and our planet . ""  Oceana and the  said they would use Principal ' s newest donation in the campaign to prevent drilling off the U . S . Atlantic and Pacific Coasts , as well as the campaign to "" require critical scientific assessments and demonstrated oil spill response capability in the Arctic before allowing additional leasing . ""  "" Americans watched in horror and disbelief as millions of gallons of oil spewed into the Gulf of Mexico during the  disaster nearly two years ago , ""  President Frances Beinecke said . "" If we ' ve learned anything from this tragedy , it ' s that we must not allow it to happen again . ""  Principal ' s second donation is key to continuing the fight to protect American coastlines "" in the wake of the disastrous Gulf oil spill , and now on the heels of the Obama Administration ' s 5 year drilling plan , "" Oceana  Andrew Sharpless said .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
20227,20228,"Germany ' s build up to Euro 2012 suffered a setback Saturday with a 5 3 defeat to Switzerland in Basel .  It was the first time the Swiss , who did not qualify for this summer ' s tournament , had beaten Germany in an international since 1956 .  German coach Joachim Loew fielded an understrength team as he rested eight Bayern Munich players who were involved in the Champions League final defeat to Chelsea last weekend .  But the performance of their understudies will do little to inspire confidence , with goalkeeper Ter Stegen having a forgettable error strewn match as the Germans lost for the second time in a row .  Having gone through Euro qualifying unbeaten , they were beaten by France 2 1 in their last friendly in February .  Swiss striker Eren Derdiyok , who plays in the Bundesliga , scored a hat trick and put his team 2 0 ahead with two first half goals in three minutes .  Both goals were laid on by strike partner Tranquillo Barnettas before defender Mats Hummels pulled one back for Germany just before halftime with a header from a Mesut Ozil cross .  But Derdiyok made it 3 1 after 50 minutes , again from a Barnettas assist .  Andre Schuerrle cut the lead to give Germany some hope before Andre Lichtsteiner made it 4 2 in the 67th minute . Marco Reus added the third for the Germans five minutes later but Admir Mehmedi sealed victory for the Swiss and made it 5 3 late on .  "" We didn ' t expect a result like this and we cannot be satisfied by it , "" Loew told  .  Meanwhile , Spain warmed up for a defense of their European title with a 2 0 friendly win over Serbia in a friendly played in Switzerland .  Coach Vicente del Bosque was also forced to field a second string line up with many of his players involved in Friday ' s Copa del Rey final between Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao .  Atletico Madrid ' s Adrian Lopez , a second half substitute , headed the 2010 World Cup winners in front in the 64th minute .  He was then pulled down by Serbia captain Branislav Ivanovic to earn a 75th minute penalty , converted by Santi Cazorla .  Spain announce their 23 man squad for Poland and the Ukraine Sunday .  Portugal , captained by Cristiano Ronaldo , were held to a disappointing 0 0 draw by Macedonia in Leiria .  Their group rivals in the Euro finals , Denmark , were beaten 3 1 by a young Brazil side , who are preparing for the London Olympics , in a friendly in Hamburg .  Porto striker Hulk scored twice with Denmark ' s Niki Zimling turning an Oscar cross into his own net for the other goal .  Nicklas Bendtner pulled a goal back for the well beaten Danes .  The Netherlands also went down to a friendly defeat , losing 2 1 at home to Bulgaria .  Arsenal ' s Robin van Persie gave the Dutch a 45th minute lead but Bulgaria , who did not make Euro 2012 , equalized four minutes into the second half with an Ivelin Popov penalty after Rafael van der Vaart had hand balled .  Bulgaria striker Ilijan Mizanski grabbed a shock winner in the second minute of injury time as the home side pushed forward and were caught on the break .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
20249,20250,"Burnley striker Sam Vokes is inching ever closer to a first team Christmas comeback , boss Sean Dyche has said .  The 25 year old Wales international was pivotal in last season ' s promotion , scoring 21 goals , but has been sidelined since March after rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee against Leicester .  Clarets manager Dyche has so far been unable to pair Vokes with Danny Ings , a partnership which yielded 47 goals for him last year , but that day could come around the festive period .  Burnley striker Sam Vokes has been out since March after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament  Vokes has played two full development squad games in recent weeks and , with another pencilled in on Monday against Blackpool , his return appears imminent .  ' Vokesy is on his way back , ' said Dyche , whose men face Tottenham this weekend .  ' He got another 90 minutes in the other day so he ' s right at the end of his transition back into the main first team squad . We ' re really pleased with that and he ' s pleased with that .  ' In the grand scheme of things he ' s not had four full games . If you ' d finished one season and gone into the next you roughly have a three month window and during that transition back into playing again you probably have a 45 , 75 and minimum of three 90 minutes . That ' s with normal shut down .  ' He ' s had eight and a half months out and we ' ve got to be mindful of that when you ' re talking about true fitness and true ability to play in the first team .  But Burnley manager Sean Dyche believes Vokes can return for his side during the Christmas fixtures  ' He ' s going well , he ' s feeling good and we ' re really happy with that at this stage . He ' s getting closer . '  After a lengthy nine month absence , Dyche completely understands that Vokes is itching to be involved in first team affairs again as soon as possible .  ' It ' s a long haul , ' said the ex Watford manager .  ' I had a few long term injuries and it ' s difficult . You want to be involved all of the time and you know you can ' t be .  ' There ' s a lot of individual work , a lot of loneliness . Luckily here , because of the environment we ' ve got , you ' re almost stumbling across people .  ' He ' s never felt like he ' s not involved in it because there ' s always some of the players around , the staff around .  ' But true involvement is playing and I ' m pleased for him that he ' s back at least playing and now it ' s moving on to the first team . '  However , there is certainly no guarantee Vokes picks up where he left off alongside England Under 21 international Ings in Burnley ' s attack .  Vokes ( centre ) formed a formidable partnership with Danny Ings ( right ) as Burnley won promotion last season  Ashley Barnes ' goal against Southampton last time out moved the east Lancashire club out of the bottom three and was also the second time this season he has grabbed an important winner .  Dyche , though , welcomes having such selection headaches .  ' That ' s a dilemma any manager wants , ' he conceded .  ' A lot was made about the financial side but we wanted a group that was demanding of each other with real true competition . I feel we ' ve definitely got that .  ' Where it can take us , we ' ll see . But we like the demand that ' s in the group and Vokesy will only add to that . '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
20274,20275,"Adele , James Bay , Years and Years lead  nominations  British singers Adele and James Bay , together with pop electronica trio Years and Years , led the running for this year ' s BRITs on Thursday , earning four nominations each at Britain ' s top music awards .   : British singers Adele and James Bay , together with pop electronica trio Years and Years , led the running for this year ' s BRITs on Thursday , earning four nominations each at Britain ' s top music awards .  Adele who has stormed charts worldwide with her album "" 25 "" , received nods for British female solo artist and MasterCard British album of the year .  In the British female solo artist category , she faces Jess Glynne , Laura Marling , Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine as well as late singer Amy Winehouse .  Adele ' s hit single "" Hello "" will also compete for British single and British artist video of the year .  British breakthrough act competitors Years and Years and singer songwriter Bay are also in the running for British single with "" King "" and "" Hold Back the River "" respectively .  Bay also faces Adele in the album category for "" Chaos and the Calm "" alongside Coldplay ' s "" A Head Full of Dreams "" , Florence and the Machine ' s "" How Big , How Blue , How Beautiful "" and producer Jamie xx ' s "" In Colour "" .  He is also up for British Male Solo Artist , a group also including Jamie xx ,  Calvin Harris and producer Mark Ronson .  Years and Years won a nomination for British group alongside Coldplay , Blur , indie rockers Foals and boyband One Direction .  That song , which featured on the "" Fifty Shades of Grey "" soundtrack , is also in the running for British single .  Pop star Justin Bieber , hip hop artist Kendrick Lamar and rapper The Weeknd are among those nominated for international male solo artist while American pop singers Ariana Grande and Meghan Trainor and Australian Courtney Barnett are included in the running for the female version of the award .  Eagles of Death Metal , who were on stage at the Bataclan when the Paris concert hall was attacked in November , got a nod for international group alongside Irish veterans U2 , rockers Alabama Shakes , Tame Impala and electronic music group Major Lazer .  The  Awards , which will feature performances from Adele , Coldplay and Bieber , will be held in London on Feb . 24 .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,present
20275,20276,"Scientists from the University of Wollongong are designing ultra durable condoms they claim could feel even better than nothing at all .  The contraceptive is made with hydrogel , a strong and flexible solid which can be made to feel and act like human tissue .  The groundbreaking design will eventually offer functions like self lubrication , topical drug delivery , and even electric conductivity , dramatically changing the capacity of male contraception , reports Science Alert .  Scientists from the University of Wollongong are designing ultra durable condoms they claim could feel even better than nothing at all  The contraceptive is made with hydrogel , a strong and flexible solid which can be made to feel and act like human tissue  The Australian team behind the design , led by materials scientist Robert Gorkin , won a grant for a next generation condom in 2013 , giving them access to  100 , 000 to use on research .  ' Our original idea was just to try to prove that an original material could replace latex , ' Mr Gorkin said .  ' We were starting from scratch , we had an idea that these new materials would have the same properties as rubber with a nicer feel , but we weren ' t sure if they had the right properties for a condom . '  ' The early indications are that the materials are strong enough and actually do prevent against the transfer of small biological molecules , ' he said .  Robert Gorkin , the leader of the research team responsible for the design , said : ' If you make them so pleasurable that people can ' t wait to put them on , then more people will use them '  The team won a grant for a next generation condom in 2013 , giving them access to  100 , 000 to use on research  Hydrogel has been around for decades , but it has risen to prominence in recent years , after being used in prosthetics for the likes of eye implants and blood vessels .  The researchers now plan to partner with Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne to conduct biometric testing to measure the bodies response to the material .  ' We ' ll be able to look at brain activity to see whether it really feels better than latex , ' said Gorkin .  ' If you make them so pleasurable that people can ' t wait to put them on , then more people will use them , and we can hopefully stop the spread of disease . It ' s as simple as that . '  Hydrogel ( pictured ) has been around for decades , but it has risen to prominence in recent years , after being used in prosthetics for the likes of eye implants and blood vessels  The researchers plan to conduct biometric testing to measure the bodies response to the material  Gorkin is hoping to design the product to accommodate for the around the cultural and social needs for birth control .  ' It ' s a branding exercise as much as a scientific one , ' said Gorkin . ' A material alone can ' t change the way we look at sex , but we believe it can definitely help . '  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
20278,20279,"21st Century Wire says Our weekly documentary film curated by the editorial team at 21WIRE.The following is Part 1 of a 5 part series which deals with the Deep State Shining a Light on Black Operations: This 5-part documentary is a great expose on the national surveillance state that has arisen over the last 50-100 years. Manipulating elections, overthrowing foreign governments, and secret assassinations are just a few of the heinous acts committed in the name of national security. Now that Edward Snowden has blown the lid off of the  s Prism snooping program, this film series is even more important and relevant.This film takes a very informative and provocative look into the illegal and covert operations of the Central Intelligence Agency (C.I.A.). It lays out the historical foundations of the modern surveillance state.       21WIRE    &  A MEMBER@ 21WIRE.TV",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,Conflict,satire,fake,True,no,no,positive,present
20288,20289,"Back under observation : Authorities admit they lost panhandler Michael Lively in Dallas after the homeless man was potentially exposed to Ebola while riding in the same ambulance as Thomas Eric Duncan , the man who brought Ebola to America  A homeless man who added to the panic in Dallas after officials let him get away after he potentially came into contact with Ebola infected bodily fluids was back under observation Sunday evening .  Michael Lively , who was the first person to ride in the ambulance that carried U . S . Ebola patient zero to the hospital , was taken to the psych ward of Parkland Hospital following a city wide search by rattled Dallas police .  Police are working to obtain a court order to hold Lively at the hospital , against his will if necessary .  Authorities had monitored him a day earlier but want to take his temperature regularly to make sure he doesn ' t have a fever , a possible symptom of Ebola infection .  Losing track of Lively was just the latest mistake by authorities in Texas , who have come in for heavy criticism over their handling of the Ebola outbreak .  Lucky for Texas , Lively is not sick and not showing any symptoms of the disease .  Texas public health officials say there is ' zero chance ' the homeless man spread Ebola to anyone else even if he became infected with it .  Centers for Disease Control Director Thomas Friedan sought to reassure a jittery public during a press conference from Atlanta , police in Dallas combed the streets in search of Lively , who rode in the same ambulance that transported Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan to the hospital .  It is possible that Lively came into contact with Duncan ' s Ebola infected bodily fluids during that ride .  The  is currently monitoring 48 people in Dallas who may have come into contact with Duncan while he was contagious with the deadly disease .  Clean up : Members of the Cleaning Guys Haz Mat clean up company are seen as they sanitize the apartment where Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan was staying before being admitted to a hospital on October 5  Precautions : Hazardous material cleaners spray disinfectant on their personal protective equipment after working in the apartment  Getting a peak : Neighbors watch as members of the Cleaning Guys Haz Mat clean up company are seen as they sanitize the apartment where Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan was staying before being admitted to a hospital  Contamination : Ebola is transmitted by contact with bodily fluids of an infected person . Duncan was reportedly sweating profusely and vomiting when he was taken to the hospital in an ambulance that picked up Michael Lively next  Ebola can manifest in a patient any time up to 21 days after exposure . A patient is not contagious until symptoms begin to emerge .  Lively is rated as ' low risk ' for infection by authorities , but officials were still desperate to monitor him .  At a press conference on Sunday ,  Director Thomas Friedan declared : ' There ' s no doubt that we can stop Ebola in this country . '  Ebola is transmitted by contact with bodily fluids of an infected person . Duncan was reportedly sweating profusely and vomiting when he was taken to the hospital .  He said that of the 48 people at risk for becoming infect with Ebola , just ten are considered high risk . Three of them are the family members that Duncan stayed with in a Dallas apartment and seven are healthcare workers who came into contact with him while he was contagious .  Unlucky number : The ambulance from Dallas Fire Rescue station 37 that carried infected patient Thomas Eric Duncan picked up at least one passenger being being fully decontaminated . That passenger , a homeless man , is now missing  Projecting calm : Dr Thomas Friedan , the director of the  , said health officials in Dallas are successfully containing the Ebola outbreak there  Just arrived : This pictured , obtained exclusively by MailOnline , shows Duncan minutes after he stepped off a plane in Dallas and was greeted by family members  He noted that none of the people being monitored has shown any signs of being ill .  On Saturday , Texas Presbyterian Hospital announced that Duncan ' s health had declined and that he is now in critical condition and ' fighting for his life ' against the disease .  Duncan is not receiving any experimental drugs to fight the Ebola because officials fear his body could not handle the medication in his current unstable condition . Instead , doctors are giving him ' supportive care , '  News reports .  Supplies of ZMapp , the miracle drug that cured two American Ebola patients and a British nurse , have run out . Drug makers are working to produce more , but the process takes months .  Friedan said today that he will brief President Barack Obama on the outbreak tomorrow and that officials are considering stepping up checks at airports to help prevent infected patients from entering the country .  Currently , travelers from West African nations are checked for fever and questioned about their contact with Ebola patients at their departure airports , but are not formally screened before being allowed to enter the U . S .  Duncan allegedly lied to airport officials and told them he had not been in contact with anyone infected with Ebola before flying out of Monrovia , Liberia , last month .  Fears : Officers hand out facemasks at Newark Liberty Airport today , where it was feared a passenger had Ebola . It later turned out he did not  Relocated : Two of Duncan ' s relatives who were quarantined inside the apartment are seen leaving and being moved to another , undisclosed location  Friedan stood by the screening procedures , pointing out today that 77 people have been prevented from getting on planes in West Africa thanks to the efforts of airport officials who were trained by the  .  Despite the calm and collected image that the  and Texas Department of State Health Services today , doctors and public health officials have repeatedly fumbled when confronted with the virus .  When Duncan first went to the hospital with a high fever on September 25 , he was given antibiotics and sent home despite revealing that he had recently been in Ebola stricken Liberia . He was not diagnosed with the disease until his girlfriend called an ambulance on September 28 .  The ambulance transported at least one other person before being taken out of service .  Then , after the the case of Ebola was confirmed , family members and friends who had contact with Duncan said they were left to go about their daily routines without contact from the  or local health officials .  Four days after the Ebola diagnosis , Duncan ' s girlfriend revealed that his sweat stained sheets were still on his bed and that no one from the  or health department had been by to collect his belongings .  It was not until Friday that a cleaning crew finally arrived to remove the infectious items and clean the apartment .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
20291,20292,"The John D . and Catherine T . MacArthur Foundation went on a wild endowment binge last weekend , recklessly giving away more than 170 million in grants and fellowships in a 48 hour span .  "" We got pretty out of control there with the endowing , "" said foundation president Jonathon Fanton , icing down his check writing hand while recovering Monday . "" It started Friday afternoon , when Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Lyn Hutton suggested we give a grant to the Foundation for Urban Renewal for their tireless efforts to rebuild America ' s struggling inner cities . Then , Treasurer Marc Yanchura said Save Our Cities was doing even better work , so we threw them on the pile , too . Things kind of snowballed from there , and by 4 a . m . , we ' d given 81 million in grants to 16 different groups . I think we even gave a few million to rival philanthropic organization Pew Charitable Trusts . ""  After a brief pause Saturday afternoon , the endowing resumed . The generous support of nonprofit activities in the arts and culture , education , the environment , health and human services , and public policy continued deep into the night .  "" Saturday , around 3 p . m . , we all went out for breakfast . Over eggs and Bloody Marys , we talked about the night before and how crazy we ' d gotten , "" Fanton said . "" But when the sun went down that night , we started right back up again with the endowing . Mostly to public radio networks under the General Program , but also 20 or 30 theater companies and a shitload of  fellowships . Half the people who ' ve ever appeared on Sesame Street are MacArthur Fellows now . ""  While the bulk of the money went to groups falling under the foundation ' s Program on Human and Community Development , a considerable portion went to less noble causes , including the 3 2 1 Contact Preservation Society and the Recumbent Bicycling Hall Of Fame .  "" At the time , it felt like the right thing to do , "" Fanton said of the binge . "" It wasn ' t until we woke up Sunday morning that we were like , ' Holy shit . . . how much did we endow this weekend ? ' ""  According to Vice Chairman Elizabeth McCormack , the endowment binge is a result of the foundation ' s low self esteem .  "" It seems like the only time we feel good is when we ' re awarding endowments , "" McCormack said . "" The pain and pressures of the outside world vanish , and it ' s as though you and the beneficiary are all that exist . That ' s a tough high to come down from . Deep down , we knew it was reckless , but we kept making rationalizations like , ' Well , the Program on Global Security and Sustainability is of heightened importance during this crossroads moment in world history . ' ""  McCormack ' s concern was echoed by experts in the field of grant writing .  "" When the stress of operating a charitable foundation gets to be too much , the urge to endow often takes control , overriding all logic and common sense , "" said Martin Wingreen , author of Giving Their All : The Secret Shame Of Compulsive Philanthropy . "" Under the sway of such an intense sensation , the grant giver just can ' t resist funding every non profit in sight . ""  Acknowledging that his group "" has a problem , "" Fanton pledged that the foundation ' s Board of Directors would seek endowment counseling and join a philanthropy addiction support group .  "" After hearing about our endowment binge , the chair of the Andrew W . Mellon Foundation gave me a really encouraging phone call , saying they ' d gone through the same thing in the ' 80s , "" Fanton said . "" He said they eventually learned not just to think about world betterment , but also to take time for themselves , and that was their turning point . Now , they ' re a solvent and robust organization again . I really needed to hear that . ""  "" As a charitable foundation , we can do a lot of good in the world , "" Fanton added . "" We just need to make sure not to do too much good at once . ""  ",satire,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
20315,20316,"Reuters) - Militant group Islamic State claimed responsibility for a car bomb attack outside the offices of the Yemeni finance ministry in the southern port city of Aden, the group s news agency Amaq said on Wednesday.   Hospital officials said at least two people were killed in the explosion.  ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
20322,20323,"To find out more about Facebook commenting please read the Conversation Guidelines and FAQs  Bengals make case as finishers by squeezing Steelers  Lorenzo Reyes ,   4 : 38 p . m .  November 1 , 2015  Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton ( 14 ) runs the ball as Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Bud Dupree ( 48 ) chases during the first quarter at Heinz Field .   ? Maybe it s not the same old Cincinnati Bengals , after all .  Cincinnati marched into Pittsburgh Sunday and defeated the Steelers , 13 10 , extending their grasp on the  North . That the victory came against Pittsburgh , who entered Sunday with an 8 2 record against Cincinnati dating back to 2010 , and that the team had to battle back to grab the lead in the final minutes sends a big statement to the rest of the league .  Those continuing to expect the Bengals to stumble will have to keep waiting .  Not only did the Bengals ( 7 0 ) take a huge step toward locking up a playoff spot this season with Sunday s win , but they also took a leap ? ahead in ? the battle for home field advantage in the  .  The New England Patriots ( 7 0 ) and Denver ? Broncos ( 6 0 ) are the other two undefeated teams in the conference , so it was essential for Cincinnati to keep pace . If the Bengals want to be considered legitimate contenders in the  , a game like Sunday s , against a divisional opponent that has dominated the series , is one they needed to have .  And because the Bengals carry a reputation of being regular season All Stars , but falling flat in the playoffs , playing in Cincinnati in January could help the Bengals finally get over that hump .  Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton completed 23 of his 38 passes for 231 yards with one touchdown but two interceptions .  The game winning score came on a nine yard slant to receiver A . J . Green with fewer than three minutes left to play in the game . It was an excellent way to bounce back from a devastating interception earlier in the quarter that came inside the red zone .  The Steelers ( 4 4 ) , meanwhile , lost in more ways than one .   Week 8 injuries : Steve Smith suffers season ending torn Achilles  Running back Le Veon Bell was forced out of the game with a right knee injury . The team announced that Bell left the stadium for further evaluation after his knee was twisted awkwardly on a tackle in the second quarter .  Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger , who had missed the past four games with a sprained left knee , struggled in his first start back . He completed 28 of his 45 passes for 262 yards ? with one touchdown and three interceptions .  Though it was not initially clear how much time Bell might miss , a prolonged absence could be a significant blow to the team s playoff aspirations .  The Steelers enter leg two of their three game home stand next week when the Oakland Raiders come to town . The Bengals , meanwhile , return home to face the Cleveland Browns on a short week for the Thursday night game .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,present
20335,20336,"This paved the way for resumption of the debate during which opposition parties like  ( M ) and Congress attacked the government , alleging that intolerance had increased since the  government came .   hit back by saying that incidents , which were being projected by the opposition as examples of ' intolerance ' , had been taking place in the country for decades . Its member Meenakshi Lekhi also cited Home Ministry figures to insist that incidents of communal violence had come since  came to power .  Earlier , the ruling and the opposition sides locked horns after Salim alleged that Singh was quoted by the magazine as having made the ' Hindu leader ' remark after Narendra Modi became Prime Minister last year . Citing the magazine , Salim said Singh had made the remark at an internal meeting of  .  Singh vehemently denied it and said he was never hurt so much in his Parliamentary career as he was on Monday .  "" Mohd Salim levelled a serious allegation against me . He should say when and where I made such a statement or apologise . . . . A Home Minister who makes such a statement has no moral right to be the Home Minister . I speak after weighing every word . . . People know Rajnath Singh can never make such a statement , "" Singh said .  When some  members questioned whether he was present when such a reported comment was made , the  ( M ) member said , "" I don ' t have such misfortune to attend  meeting . ""  Members in the treasury benches , including Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Pratap Rudy , demanded that Salim withdraw his remark till the Speaker takes a view by examining all sides , including authenticity of the report .  At this point , Rudy said it would be difficult to run the House till he withdraws his comments . The Speaker asked Salim to agree to this but he declined . He , however , told the Speaker that the remarks may not be made part of the record till she verifies it .  Salim insisted that he was not levelling any allegation nor wanted to cast any aspersion on Singh but was only quoting from a reputed weekly . He said neither the Home Minister nor the government has ever denied the report .  At the same time , Salim acknowledged that it was the Home Minister who was among the first from the government to speak against Dadri lynching incident .  B Mahtab (  ) sided with the treasury benches and quoted the Rule book to say that an allegation against a minister or member cannot be made without giving prior notice .  Saugata Roy , whose party  is a bitter of  ( M ) , however , batted for Salim by citing another rule .  Amid the uproar , Salim walked to the Lok Sabha Secretary General and authenticated the article containing Singh ' s alleged remarks .  When the  members demanded withdrawal of the remarks by Salim , he said he had only quoted from an article in a publication . In a way , he said , he has helped the minister as the Intelligence Bureau and police should have told him about this earlier as the issue was dated November 16 .  The Speaker told the member that she was keeping his remarks out of records till she examined them .  After repeated adjournments , the Speaker announced that the portion related to the allegation had been expunged as no prior notice had been given by Salim .  As the debate resumed , Salim alleged that ' intolerance ' was on the rise and the government had failed to check this . To press his point , he referred to returning of awards by writers , artist , film makers etc .  "" In the name of religion , atrocities are being committed and the government is keep silent instead of taking strong action against killing of minorities , dalit and rationlists , "" alleged the  ( M ) member who had given notice for a debate on the subject .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
20336,20337,"Roberto Mart nez rages at Manchester City s second goal in win over Everton  ? Everton manager angry that goal was allowed despite ball going out of play  ? Manuel Pellegrini frets over Kevin De Bruyne injury after striker is carried off  Roberto Mart nez says Manchester City s controversial second goal has prevented Everton reaching the Capital One Cup final .  Last modified on Thursday 28 January 2016 06 . 49 ?   An angry Roberto Mart nez said Manchester City s second goal should have been disallowed and that it prevented Everton from reaching the Capital One Cup final after their 4 3 aggregate defeat .  Everton were drawing 1 1 at the Etihad Stadium in the semi final second leg and leading 3 2 on aggregate when Kevin De Bruyne , who later suffered a knee injury that could rule him out for a lengthy period , scored to level the tie .  Related : Sergio Ag ero heads Manchester City past Everton to Capital One Cup final  The ball was clearly out of play when Raheem Sterling crossed yet De Bruyne s goal was allowed to stand by the referee , Martin Atkinson . City went on to reach Wembley thanks to Sergio Ag ero s late headed winner while Mart nez was left wondering if technology may be needed to ensure such decisions are called correctly .  You have to respect the referees , Mart nez said . They have the toughest job in football but certain decision are clear cut . It is a major blow ending our chances to get through .  Everton held a 2 1 lead from the opening leg , and Ross Barkley opened the scoring before Fernandinho began City s comeback in the first half .  That second goal too much affected the outcome of the semi final , Mart nez said . It s a very hurtful way of not making the final step . The second is a key moment , the momentum changes and then we have to take risks .  Asked if technology is required , Mart nez said : My question is do we need it to get that call right ? If yes , we acknowledge it . Errors will be made but when you talk of calls being offside or the ball out of play my question is do we expect the calls right ? If the answer is yes we are wasting our time not bringing technology in . You don t go to Wembley because of that . It is not professional enough . I would expect a Premier League linesman to get that call right . If they can t spot that ? I would expect them to make sure that call is right .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
20343,20344,"This is the best explanation of why Obama and the Democrat party are fighting so hard to keep the  State Department s Refugee Resettlement program going strong.  Please share this with everyone who s been wondering why the Democrats are so eager to bring Muslim immigrants from countries who hate us, to America, while leaving Christian refugees from the same countries behind. To hell with terrorism, the Democrats want to win even if it s at the expense of our national security Looks like my old stomping grounds in Montana are heating up. People there are not taking Obama s plan to force refugees on them lying down. There was a protest in Missoula, Montana recently over that very issue. It is just one of many battles brewing out there in small town America.Small towns in the sparsely populated parts of America are the perfect place to relocate these refugees. Especially, if your agenda includes politically terraforming the country. The West is historically conservative in their politics. Many are Republicans and Libertarians. Even the Democrats hearken back to an earlier time when they were more conservative in nature. Obama and the Democrats can t have that. They need to have an entire country willing to submit to Marxist diktats. They need areas seeded with those who will vote Democrat and ensure that they stay in power no matter what.And it s not just voting demographics that are pushing this move either. I personally believe that there is a warped logic to all of this. That if Islam can be made the predominant religion in America, people will be more easily controlled. That s insane of course and won t work, but there you have it. Instead, Shariah law will be implemented and you will see the same atrocities occurring in Europe happen here. The big difference being, that at least for now, Americans are armed and will use those weapons to protect their neighbors, loved ones and country.Of the 237 Syrian refugees admitted to the U.S. since the attacks in Paris just one has been a Christian. The rest have been Muslims. News reports that according to data from the State Department Refugee Processing Center, since the November 13 attacks the U.S. has admitted 236 Sunni Muslim refugees from Syria and a single Christian   a Greek Orthodox refugee.Bringing in the refugees also moves forward the Cloward and Piven strategy to overwhelm the system so it will collapse and cause chaos in the streets. These people want to tear the system apart, so they can replace it with something truly heinous. The Obama administration will never admit that this is the plan, but can you honestly look at what is going on today and tell me it isn t? Our borders are wide open. We are not vetting anyone to speak of and security here in the  is worse than before 9/11.Communities in states such as Idaho, Montana, North Dakota and Kansas are being infused with Muslim refugees even though they are not wanted by the residents or the local law enforcement. The feds and their leaders are not giving them a choice. Wyoming is the only state currently not participating in the program, but even the governor there wants to jump in it. Living in large cities would be too costly for the refugees and more can be accomplished with seeding them across the plains. In a small town, they can turn everything to their advantage in short order. Since many of our larger cities are already flooded with immigrants from south of the border and from Muslim nations, in many respects they have at least partially fallen to the ploy already. This is the fundamental transformation of America in play. South Carolina, Idaho, Minnesota, North Dakota and Michigan are vigorously fighting against this program and Obama s  change .The same entitlements, jobs, lodging and freebies will be given to these refugees in small town America. But that will mean taking more and more away from locals in these same communities. These immigrants bring crime and disease with them. As crime rises, people will leave which will hasten the take over of these towns. At least that is what Obama and his friends hope for. I pray that people dig in and decide to stay and fight if they can.We haven t learned a damned thing from watching what is going on over in Europe. How do you justify the rapefugees in Germany and Sweden, who treat rape as game for a large number of players at a given event? How can you ignore the violence, the murders, the depravity that is the Ummah? What s wrong with these people? Do money and power mean so much to them that they don t care that they are selling America out to a hellish nightmare movement? Imagine your wives, daughters, mothers, neighbors  little children  subjected to these beasts. What would you do?For entire story: Trevor Loudon ",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
20346,20347,""" Glitch "" delayed departure of American prisoners from Iran   ( Reuters ) The departure of three American prisoners from Tehran , released as part of a swap following the lifting of sanctions on Iran was at least partly delayed by a "" temporary misunderstanding "" about whether two relatives were on the plane .  There had been expectations that they would leave on Saturday , while the final round of talks on sanctions were taking place . But the Swiss plane carrying Jason Rezaian , the Washington Post ' s Tehran bureau chief , Saeed Abedini , a pastor from Idaho and Amir Hekmati , a former Marine from Flint , Michigan as well as some of their family members did not leave until Sunday morning .  It had been reported when the plane took off that Nosratollah Khosravi Roodsari , about whom little is known , was on board . But a senior U . S . official later said he was not traveling with the other released prisoners .  It was not immediately clear whether he opted to stay in Iran or depart separately or whether this uncertainty had in any way contributed to the delay . An earlier State Department statement said "" those who wished to depart Iran have left . ""  A fifth prisoner , American student Matthew Trevithick , left Iran on Saturday under a separate arrangement .  U . S . Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters after landing in Washington early on Sunday from talks in Vienna that the delay in the departure of the prisoners was in part due to a "" temporary misunderstanding "" about whether Rezaian ' s mother , Mary , and his wife , Yeganeh Salehi , also a journalist , were on the plane , as had been agreed . They were later confirmed as being on the plane .  Mary Rezaian was in Tehran pressing for her son ' s release .  Kerry said he raised the issue with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif in Vienna during final talks on Iran ' s compliance under the nuclear deal , a step that was necessary for the lifting of U . S . and other sanctions against Tehran .  "" I told Javad ( Zarif ) , look she ' s on the list and is part of the agreement . He said absolutely , and he assigned four people to it and got onto it immediately , "" said Kerry . "" Before I left last night and got onto the plane , we had complete clarity that she was going to leave , no issue , it just was a glitch . These things happen . ""  Kerry said the release of the prisoners followed months of meetings with Zarif and between other senior U . S . officials and Iranian officials on the sidelines of nuclear talks , which began in earnest in 2013 .  "" It was very complicated because there were lots of different pieces at stake and moving parts , "" said Kerry , referring to months of dual track negotiations with Iran on its nuclear program , while also trying to secure the release of the prisoners .  During nearly a dozen meetings to discuss a possible prisoner swap , Kerry said he urged their release on humanitarian grounds although he worried that the prisoner release could be complicated by Iranian politics .  "" I constantly reminded him ( Zarif ) . . . look I ' m really uncomfortable sitting here negotiating . . . these are people , this is a humanitarian effort , and we believe they have been convicted wrongly , "" recalled Kerry , adding :  "" I knew we were going to get there sometime but I couldn ' t tell if it was going to get super complicated by ( another agency ) and political dynamics into the mix . ""  Kerry said the whereabouts of Robert Levinson , a former  agent and  agent , who disappeared in Iran since 2007 , was also part of the prisoner agreement with the Iranians .  U . S . officials have believed for several years that Levinson died in captivity . Iranian officials had repeatedly denied any knowledge of his disappearance or whereabouts .  "" He is specifically mentioned by name in the agreement and there is an agreement to specifically cooperate to find him , "" said Kerry . "" We have gone to other countries , we have involved other people , there have been all kinds of clues that have come in and they have even followed up on , "" Kerry said .  "" With the cooperation of the Iranians we are making our very best effort to get information regarding him . ""  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
20349,20350,"A flood of aggressive ' demon shrimp ' could wipe out native species in Britain as they spread through waterways across the country .  The shrimp , which kill and eat indigenous breeds , come from eastern Europe are thought to have been carried here in pools of water aboard large ships .  Experts have warned of the ' major threat ' which the animals , just 1cm long , present to native ecosystems .  Aggressive : The so called demon shrimp could wipe out stocks of native shrimp in some British waterways  Some scientists have warned that the shrimp could also spread diseases that could ravage other waterlife and change the character of entire ecosystems .  An Environment Agency spokesman said : ' Invasive shrimp such as this species present a major threat to the ecology of our rivers and lakes . We have a real battle on our hands to control their spread .  ' These demon shrimp have been introduced into lakes in east Europe as fish food but they eat nearly anything .  ' It ' s difficult to say exactly what the long term financial impact would be but , for example , they do eat mayflies and that will impact fly fishing .  ' We also classify rivers by ecological status and these shrimp could alter a river ' s status meaning we could have to invest money restoring ecosystems . '  Dr Alex Ford , a marine scientist from the University of Portsmouth , is investigating alongside the agency , and warned of the potential for ' demon parasites ' clinging to the shrimps ' bodies to damage British ecosystems .  Predatory : The shrimp kill and eat their native equivalents , and could also carry fatal parasites  Dr Ford , from the university ' s Institute of Marine Sciences , said : ' They are out eating and out competing our native shrimp and changing the species dynamic in our rivers and lakes .  ' As soon as one species is depleted , it can affect the whole food chain with potentially catastrophic results .  ' One of the main reasons why invasive species are successful is the escape from predators , parasites and disease in their native habitats .  ' We are looking at whether these demon shrimp carry ' demon parasites ' , which could also affect our native species that won ' t have any immunity .  ' There is a very real bio security threat of spreading disease and parasites in native populations without acquired resistance . '  Demon shrimp can be found living underneath stones in rivers and have been replacing and mating with other amphipods .  It ' s not the first time a new species has taken over British waters .  American Signal Crayfish were introduced in the 1970s and have since eaten their way through British waterways feasting on plants , invertebrates and small fish .  The six inch long crayfish , which live for up to 12 years , carry a fungus which kills native crayfish , a protected species .  As a result , the Environment Agency has ruled that all non native crayfish caught in British waters are to be destroyed .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,present
20357,20358,"A mother who set up a website for her murdered daughter ended up being stalked by an internet crank who travelled half way around the world to declare his love , a court heard .  Karen Downes , 48 , started the site in memory of her 14 year old daughter Charlene , who vanished ten years ago after being groomed by a child sex gang .  But the court heard it led to her striking up a friendship with New Zealander Mark Bailey .  Horror : Karen Downes , left , the mother of murdered teenager Charlene , right , has been stalked by a man who was obsessed with her  He then became so besotted that he saved up enough cash to travel to Britain , before demanding that Mrs Downes leave her husband and family to ' be with me and nobody else ' .  When she refused , he attacked her and pulled her hair during a confrontation earlier this month .  Bailey , 27 , was given a six month restraining order and fined 75 , plus a 20 victims surcharge , at Blackpool Magistrates ' Court .  Last night , Mrs Downes spoke of how the incident had left her terrified . ' He wanted to see me but got me trapped in an alleyway , ' she said . ' I became frightened and started to scream . He could have had a knife or anything and he was threatening me . He had shown an interest in my website the Charlene case and it snowballed from there .  ' When he told me he was coming over here I thought it would not happen .  ' I was surprised when he arrived but he wanted me to leave my family and control me , but that was never going to happen . '  Mrs Downes ' s daughter disappeared in Blackpool in November 2003 . Police believe her body was put in a mincing machine and made into kebabs and burgers sold from a takeaway in the town .  Case : Charlene ' s disappearance was linked to this kebab shop in Blackpool , whose owners were put on trial for her murder although the case against them collapsed  Although two business partners were later tried for her murder , they were acquitted and no one has ever been held responsible .  After setting up the site dedicated to her daughter and the investigation , Mrs Downes chatted to Bailey online for 12 months , Neil Cheesbrough , prosecuting , told the court . The New Zealander then arrived at the seaside resort seven months ago . He claimed he and Mrs Downes were lovers , but she denied they were having a sexual relationship .  The court was told that Mrs Downes ended their ' affair ' earlier this month and police warned Bailey not to harass her .  But two days later , the pair met in Cookson Street in the town . When they started arguing , he grabbed her hair , which was tied in a bun .  Gary McAnulty , defending , said his client believed he was in a genuine relationship with Mrs Downes and had moved from New Zealand to allow it to flourish .  The lawyer added : ' It was slightly bizarre because Mrs Downes is married and lives with her husband . After being warned by police he arranged to meet her to discuss matters and said he loved her .  ' I have had to explain to him she wants nothing more to do with him . It is a sad end . '  Police believe Charlene fell victim to child sex gangs , centred on takeaway restaurants in Blackpool , at the age of 12 . They claim she was sexually abused by as many as 100 men in the run up to her death .  In 2007 , Iyad Albattikhi and Mohammed Reveshi were tried for murdering Charlene but a jury failed to reach a verdict and a retrial collapsed . They later received six figure compensation sums for false imprisonment .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
20369,20370,"Diego Simeone and Carlo Ancelotti both hailed Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Jan Oblak , who made a string of excellent saves to keep Real Madrid at bay .  The Champions League quarter final first leg clash at the Vicente Calderon finished goalless and that was largely thanks to an outstanding performance from the Slovenian goalkeeper .  He made a phenomenal save to deny Gareth Bale in the fourth minute and another fantastic stop kept James Rodriguez from opening the scoring in the first half .  Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Jan Oblak denies Gareth Bale an early goal at the Vicente Calderon on Tuesday  Oblak gets down low to keep out a shot from Real Madrid ' s James Rodriguez in the second half  ' They are one of the best teams in the world at defending . Oblak did a great job , ' said Real Madrid boss Ancelotti .  ' I think , above all in the first half we deserved more than 0 0 . Real Madrid ' s first half was fantastic , we played very well , with personality .  ' The second half was different because they pressured us more and we had difficulty keeping possession .  ' The result was not good , but we have gained confidence from that game , from what the team showed . The result is the best of the ' worst ' results .  ' They are little details , we had opportunities and everyone did great work in attack , but we didn ' t finish well . We have to repeat this performance in the Bernabeu next Wednesday .  Carlo Ancelotti wants his side to repeat their performance at the Bernabeu next week despite failing to win  Cristiano Ronaldo is thwarted in his attempt to open the scoring against rivals Atletico Madrid  ' After this game there is still no favourite . It ' s as it was before we started . We have to repeat the game we played in the first 45 minutes . With two draws , you can still go through . '  Simeone was also impressed with the performance of Real Madrid in the first half , but more so with that of his goalkeeper .  ' In the first half the opponents were good . Oblak was great , especially for Bale ' s chance .  ' And the best thing was the reaction we had . Any other team that had been damaged as we were in the first half would have ended up conceding .  ' But the game became much closer to what we had imagined at the start . '  Simeone also did not want to put the blame on Sergio Ramos for an incident which saw Mario Mandzukic left with a bloodied face .  Sergio Ramos ( left ) catches Mario Mandzukic with his elbow , cutting the Atletico striker ' s face  Diego Simone refused to blame Ramos for the clash , insisting that the Real defender didn ' t mean it  The two players clashed when challenging for the ball and Ramos ' elbow caught the Croatian forward .  ' Mandzukic had a hard game and competed against Ramos and Varane who are extraordinary players , ' said Simeone .  ' The hit with Ramos happened without him meaning to , so let ' s speak nothing more of it . '  The teams meet again on Wednesday April 22 , and Simeone , whose side have not lost to Ancelotti ' s in any of the seven clashes this season , is convinced that it will be a great game .  ' We will go there with the idea of playing as well as we can , ' he said . ' It will be a different game . It will be the classic game that we all like to play . '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
20371,20372,"A U . N . special investigator called for the resignation of top Kenyan officials and sweeping changes in the country ' s security forces to end reported widespread killings by police across the African nation .  The report urged President Mwai Kibaki to publicly acknowledge his commitment to ending the killings .  "" The special rapporteur concluded that police in Kenya frequently execute individuals and that a climate of impunity prevails , "" Philip Alston said in a report a recently submitted to the U . N . Human Rights Council in Geneva .  "" Most troubling is the existence of police death squads operating on the orders of senior police officials and charged with eliminating suspected leaders and members of criminal organizations . ""  The report calls for the resignation of Kenya ' s attorney general and the immediate replacement of the police commissioner . It also says Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki should publicly acknowledge his commitment to ending unlawful killings by the police .  The Kenyan government expressed its "" deep displeasure "" with the report , questioning the special investigator ' s "" approach , conduct and method of work . ""  "" The government expresses grave concern regarding the allegations contained in the report by the special rapporteur , "" said Alfred Mutua , a spokesman for the Kenyan government . "" His questioning of the very basis of the Kenyan state and , in particular , its institutions is totally unacceptable and impinges on Kenya ' s sovereignty . ""  Alston also accused government security forces of torturing and killing hundreds of men in a March 2008 crackdown on a militia in the Mt . Elgon district , in western Kenya . And he said there was compelling evidence that what he called police death squads were operating in Nairobi and Central Province with a mandate to "" exterminate "" suspected Mungiki gang members .  "" These are not "" rogue "" squads , but police who are acting on the explicit orders of their superiors , "" he said .  The Mungiki militia , which is loyal to Kibaki ' s Kikuyu tribe , began as a religious sect , but over the years has morphed into a gang that runs protection rackets particularly in the slums .  The U . N . investigator suggested Kibaki acknowledge the alleged police killings and commit to stop them . He also advocated creating an independent civilian police oversight body , and said the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court should investigate violence after the 2007 election . He urged the government to create a witness protection program as well .  Alston , who investigates human rights problems around the world for the United Nations , traveled to Kenya at the government ' s invitation . He stayed for 10 days in mid February while 100 interviews were conducted in the U . N . member nation .  There is hope for Kenya despite his criticism , Alston said .  "" While the existing situation is bad , it is far from intractable , "" the report says . "" If it so chooses , Kenya can significantly reduce the prevalence of unlawful killings . ""  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
20402,20403,"A woman who says she was raped by top defense lawyer and longtime Al Sharpton ally Sanford Rubenstein was slipped pot cookies , the unnamed woman ' s lawyer said .  The accusation came after toxicology results revealed Thursday that the woman tested negative for drugs following the incident , further complicating her lawyer ' s attempts to have Rubenstein charged .  The accuser , who is an executive at the National Action Network , claims she was raped by Rubenstein , a high flying New York attorney , in his penthouse apartment last month after the Reverend Sharpton ' s star studded birthday party .  Accused : High flying defense lawyer Sanford Rubenstein has been accused of raping a worker for Al Sharpton ' s National Action Network following the Reverend ' s birthday party last month  Once close : Rubenstein , pictured above with Sharpton , met his accuser at the Reverend ' s birthday party at the Four Seasons restaurant in Manhattan on October 1 . Sharpton has since distanced himself from Rubenstein  The woman ' s attorney told the New York Post that his client does not use any drugs , therefor the fact she tested positive for marijuana implicates Rubenstein .  ' Any positive test for narcotics in the system of the victim only supports the belief that she was drugged , ' attorneys Keith White and Kenneth Montgomery said in a statement to the Post .  ' Our client was in her attacker ' s home just days before the test and it would be consistent with her ingesting something at her attacker ' s home where Mr Rubenstein gave the victim cookies . '  Lawyers for the woman claim she woke up in the apartment feeling ' foggy ' , covered in bruises and surrounded by bloody condoms .  However , a toxicology report on her blood which was taken one week after the October 2 incident came back clean , subsequently switching the investigation to whether the woman voluntarily or involuntarily consumed alcohol .  ' If she voluntarily drank alcohol , it ' s hard to prove rape , or rather , to charge him with rape , ' a police source told The New York Post .  The woman ' s lawyers Kenneth J . Montgomery and Keith White deny this occurred .  They also say the drug test does not hinder their case .  Investigation :  officers are pictured above removing bags of evidence from Rubenstein ' s apartment . They hauled away bedding , a mattress and a sex toy  ' The results of any toxicology is of no consequence considering the victim ' s injuries , statement and lack of consent , ' one lawyer told The Post .  Rubenstein claims what happened between the two was consensual .  He has not been charged with a crime .  On October 3 , the day after the alleged incident , the woman a Brooklyn mother went to the hospital suffering from vaginal bleeding and bruising .  Her lawyers claim she later used a rape kit and that the results were consistent with sexual assault .  They demanded Rubenstein at least be charged with third degree rape .  The alleged attack took place after Sharpton ' s 60th birthday party at the Four Seasons restaurant , which was attended by New York mayor Bill de Blasio , Governor Andrew Cuomo , singer Aretha Franklin and director Spike Lee  Rubenstein and his alleged victim met at the party and went home to his Upper East Side apartment along with a third person , who later left .  After the allegations surfaced ,  detectives searched the attorney ' s 7 million penthouse apartment on East 63rd Street in Manhattan and reportedly collected ' biological evidence ' .  Allegations : Rubenstein has maintained the encounter was consensual . He is pictured above with a former client , one time Playboy playmate Stephanie Adams  Denial : Rubenstein ' s own defense lawyer , Benjamin Brafman , said a letter about the alleged victim ' s injuries is ' offensive and patently false '  Cops also hauled away bedding , a mattress and a sex toy .  Rubenstein is a well known society figure in New York and has fought high profile cases linked to the National Action Network , often over the actions of the  .  Sharpton has also found himself drawn into commenting on the accusations , telling a crowd : ' I don ' t care how close we are if he ' s wrong , he ' s wrong . '  He said : ' We do not justify disrespecting women . Doesn ' t mean you ' re guilty , but it does mean if you are , ain ' t no place for that in our community .  The district attorney ' s office told the Times the case was being investigated , and declined to comment further .  Rubenstein ' s lawyer , Benjamin Brafman , rebutted the letter , saying that ' all evidence to date points to consensual sex between two consenting adults , who were both active and awake throughout . '  Brafman described the letter as ' offensive and patently false . '  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
20431,20432,"—   When Prime Minister Matteo Renzi of Italy visited the White House in October for a state dinner, he made a commitment to President Obama: Italy, which resettled a Yemeni detainee from Guantánamo Bay last summer, would take one more person on the transfer list. But before the deal was completed, Mr. Renzi resigned. So a day after his successor, Paolo Gentiloni, formed a government on Dec. 14, Secretary of State John Kerry called to congratulate Mr. Gentiloni  —   and to urge him to follow through on the commitment, according to an official familiar with the negotiations. Mr. Gentiloni agreed, leading a rush to finalize the details and paperwork. The effort was part of a burst of urgent,   diplomatic talks aimed at moving as many as possible of Guantánamo’s 22 prisoners who are recommended for transfer. By law, the Pentagon must notify Congress 30 days before a transfer, so the deadline to set in motion deals before the end of the Obama administration was Monday. By late in the day, officials said, the administration had agreed to tell Congress that it intended to transfer 17 or 18 of the 59 remaining detainees at the prison they would go to Italy, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. If all goes as planned, that will leave 41 or 42 prisoners in Guantánamo for Donald J. Trump’s administration. Mr. Trump has vowed to keep the prison operating and “load it up with some bad dudes. ” Obama administration officials agreed to speak about the transfers on the condition of anonymity to discuss diplomatic talks and congressional notifications that are not public. Elisa Massimino, the president of Human Rights First, said that even though it appears likely that failing to fulfill his vow to close the Guantánamo prison will be part of Mr. Obama’s legacy, it was still “incredibly important” that his administration did not let up on the effort to get out those men who were deemed transferable, if security conditions could be met, after a   review. “In terms of gradations of immorality, holding people for years who we have no national security interest in detaining is unconscionable,” she said. “This is not just about a campaign promise. ” The Bush administration brought about 780 men to Guantánamo after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, saying that it could hold Qaeda suspects there in indefinite wartime detention without trial  —   a move that the Supreme Court eventually approved  —   and that it could disregard the Geneva Conventions in how it treated them, which the court rejected. President George W. Bush started trying to close the prison in his second term and bequeathed 242 detainees to Mr. Obama. If the proposed transfers go through, the 41 or 42 prisoners Mr. Trump would inherit include 10 men who were charged or convicted in the military commissions and 27 who have not been charged but are deemed too dangerous to release. The latter group includes a few people accused of links to significant attacks, like the 2002 nightclub bombings in Bali, Indonesia, but for whom   evidence is thin, and others who are not linked to any attack but who, officials believe, remain committed to Islamist militancy. That would leave the last four or five men on the transfer list. They include an Algerian, a Moroccan and a Tunisian whom the administration was reluctant to repatriate for reasons having to do with their home countries, officials said, and a stateless Rohingya man whom no country offered a home. All have been imprisoned for nearly 15 years. While a   board put the first two on the transfer list only recently, a 2009 task force had put the latter two on the transfer list seven years ago. Their fates are now uncertain. It is not clear whether Mr. Trump will refuse to transfer any remaining detainees  —   a step many Republicans denounced whenever Mr. Obama did it  —   or continue to use the   review boards that periodically consider moving detainees onto the transfer list. Obama officials credit that review process for a drop in the recidivism rate among former detainees. Of   transfers, 35 percent are confirmed or suspected of   in militancy of   transfers, the combined figure is 12 percent, according to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Matthew G. Olsen, the former National Counterterrorism Center director who led the task force in 2009 that initially reviewed and recommended what to do with each of the   detainees, said nearly eliminating the transfer list was a major accomplishment. “There is a humanitarian imperative not to detain people who can be safely transferred to their home country or to another country, and much of what we have seen over the past few years has been continued detention for many such people,” he said. Most who would be transferred next month are Yemenis. Because conditions in Yemen are chaotic, the Bush and the Obama administrations were reluctant to repatriate Yemeni detainees, so they stayed behind as others from more stable countries went home. The Obama administration did not try to resettle them in its first term, hoping Yemen would stabilize. It finally gave up and began resettling Yemenis in late 2014. The final push, according to officials familiar with internal deliberations, traces back to May 14, 2015, when Mr. Obama met at Camp David with leaders of the six Gulf Cooperation Council nations  —   including Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates  —   and obtained political commitments to help resettle Yemeni detainees. At the time, there were 57 men on the transfer list, about 49 of whom were Yemenis. Then, that July, several events helped set the conditions to turn such talk into transfers. First, the administration appointed Lee Wolosky to fill the vacancy as the State Department special envoy for Guantánamo closure, a role that had been open for six months his Pentagon counterpart was Paul Lewis. Then, Mr. Wolosky met with Susan E. Rice, the national security adviser, and they developed a plan to speed up the process by imposing a   deadline on the Pentagon to act on any proposal. Under law, the secretary of defense must approve any transfer both Chuck Hagel, the former secretary, and Ashton B. Carter, who took over in early 2015, went through periods when they were slow to act. Later that month, at a National Security Council Principals Committee meeting, the White House presented Mr. Carter with a memo imposing the deadline. According to several witnesses, he reacted angrily. But the Pentagon soon began moving more swiftly, including by starting its review of proposals without waiting for other agencies to sign off first, officials said. At the time, Mr. Kerry was in Europe completing the Iran nuclear deal. After he returned, he called Mr. Wolosky into his office and they agreed to make sustained diplomatic engagement on transfers a priority. Mr. Wolosky also obtained the authority to offer assistance to defray resettlement during negotiations, in the range of $100, 000, out of a Pentagon contingency fund without waiting for permission, officials said. Those events set the stage for the final push. Some detainees went to Europe, but the largest batches went to the Gulf nations, which the administration  —   attracted by the idea of sending Yemenis to a place with a shared language and capable internal security agencies  —   repeatedly asked for more help. In an interview, Mr. Wolosky said that even if Mr. Trump fills the prison back up, he does not consider his efforts to have been in vain “because detainees are not fungible. ” “Looking at these cases on an individualized basis was the right thing to do legally and morally,” he said. “A number of detainees the United States government unanimously decided years ago it no longer needed to detain were finally and responsibly released from U. S. custody. That is irreversible, regardless of what policy the next administration pursues. ”",true,news,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
20435,20436,"Eric Cantona and Vinnie Jones cracked it , but will Daniel Sturridge ? The Liverpool striker has admitted he fancies dabbling in the movie business once his football career comes to an end .  The England forward has been enjoying the company of supermodels and designers at London Fashion Week , while also recently appearing in his first professional shoot for Esquire magazine .  The former Manchester City and Chelsea forward ' s poses are a start but Sturridge recognises he has a long way to go if he is to fit into Hollywood .   Scroll down for Brendan Rodgers on amicable England talks over Sturridge  Daniel Sturridge has admitted going into acting is something he ' d give serious consideration to when he eventually retires from football  Sturridge , who recently took part in a shoot with Esquire , has revealed he loved drama class at school  The Liverpool striker features in November ' s edition of Esquire magazine  Sturridge scores against Southampton in the opening game of this season ' s Premier League campaign  ' There is an expectation that if you do a sport , any sport , you should never have a life outside of that , he said . ' People expect you to just train , play , train . But that ' s not me .  David Beckham Golden balls has appeared in all three Goal movies .  Pele The Brazilian legend has featured in the likes of Escape to Victory and A Minor Miracle .  Eric Cantona The former Manchester United and Leeds striker has featured in the likes of Elizabeth and Looking for Eric . He also features in new release You and the Night .  Vinnie Jones Football ' s hard man has featured in the likes of ' Mean Machine ' and ' X Men : The Last Stand ' .  Ian Wright The former Arsenal legend featured in Sun of the Black Gun in 2011 .  ' I loved drama class at school . I never took it seriously as I was playing football . But maybe when I retire , I ' ll have a dabble . '  As controversy surrounds his imminent return from a thigh injury and subsequent absence from Roy Hodgson ' s latest England squad , the 25 year old will be seen modelling jackets in the magazine ' s November issue .  While many may disagree , Sturridge insisted that not all footballer ' s are badly dressed as he praised some of his teammate ' s style credentials .  ' Hendo ( Jordan Henderson ) dresses quite well . ( Mamadou ) Sakho is very dressy , he ' ll show up for training in a smart shirt and shoes , though I think that ' s a Parisian thing . Brad Jones has a go . Loves a blazer , Brad Jones . . . ' he said .  As the national team prepare for Euro 2016 qualifiers against San Marino and Estonia without their first choice centre forward , Sturridge reflected on England ' s ill fated World Cup campaign in Brazil .  ' Obviously , it was disappointing . But I lived one of my dreams : I scored a goal at the World Cup . I feel that I gave a good account of myself . '  Sturridge has missed Liverpool ' s last six games after picking up a thigh injury on international duty  Daniel Sturridge realised his dream of scoring at the World Cup after netting against Italy  The Liverpool forward has already tasted the limelight in front of the screens featuring in Subway adverts prior to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil .  The England striker is all smiles after featuring in Subway adverts prior to the 2014 World Cup  The November issue of Esquire magazine will be on sale from Friday October 3   to read the full Daniel Sturridge interview  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
20440,20441,"Rylan Clark  Channel 5 ' s decision to air Tiffany Pollard ' s David Gest death confusion  The  host said that it was a "" reality show "" and there would have been nothing else to air on for the day ' s episode  Rylan Clark has defended the  ' s decision to air the moment Tiffany Pollard mistakenly thought David Gest had died , saying that as a reality show it had to be broadcast .  During the episode of Celebrity Big Brother , bosses informed Angie Bowie of ex husband David Bowie ' s death , just moments later she confided in fellow housemate Tiffany , who misheard and thought she was talking about Gest , who had earlier complained of feeling unwell .  In shocking scenes , Tiffany screamed so loudly housemates outside were genuinely concerned for the  star .  Speaking on This Morning , Rylan said he had seen the episode earlier in the day and as he watched it thought Tiffany "" must have been a big Bowie fan "" .  Rylan gives the lowdown on  ' s Bowie death mix up  But realising Tiffany ' s mistake and then witnessing the fallout on social media from the airing of the scenes , the host said : "" A lot of people were saying on Twitter that it was distasteful for Big Brother to show this .  "" But with all due respect , what happened is terrible news when anyone dies . But that was , as you ' ve now seen that was the whole day in that house .  "" That was played out what this misunderstanding was , there would have been nothing to show . ""  Rylan and Phil agreed that it made good   Presenter Phillip Schofield agreed , adding : "" Big Brother is about the lives of people who have been thrown together and their days within that house .  Read more : Celebrity Big Brother ' s Tiffany Pollard didn ' t know who David Bowie was claims Jonathan Cheban  "" If their days revolve around a moment like that , which was the most gripping television to watch , then what sort of show have you got ? ""  "" If you ' re that outraged all we can do is apologise , but at the same time it is a reality show , "" Rylan said of the reaction .  Celebrity Big Brother 2016 Angie and Tiffany  Tiffany became hysterical when she believed an unwell David Gest had passed but then began laughing when she realised her mistake .  Read more : Tiffany Pollard  after foul mouthed attack on Angie Bowie over David Gest death confusion in   Her  housemates called for Tiffany to leave the house when she refused to apologise for causing mass panic and then screaming abuse at her fellow celebrities .  "" I ' m not apologising to that old b , "" she screamed before turning on the other housemates and the crying Angie by shouting : "" F you ! ""  "" F this . F this , "" she shouted as Big Brother called her into the diary room urgently over her breakdown .  Tiffany refused to apologise to Angie over her behaviour , and then insisted that she wouldn ' t leave the house .  This Morning is on weekdays ,  at 10 . 30am  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
20442,20443,"You can tell Manchester United are on the brink of being very special again . How ? Easy people have started clutching at straws just lately , desperate to criticise Louis van Gaal ' s side .  After Wayne Rooney was sent off against West Ham earlier this season a Twitter rumour started that the Manchester United and England captain had got himself red carded deliberately because he had a private plane waiting , and he needed to depart early for some sort of celebrity social event that evening .  Another rumour started that Rooney had fallen out with Robin van Persie , and that ' s why they weren ' t playing well together for United .  Wayne Rooney lashed out at Stewart Downing at Old Trafford to earn himself an early bath  Rooney was shown the a red card for kicking out at Downing but United held on to beat West Ham 2 1  Rumours that Rooney and Robin van Persie ( centre ) had fallen out were quickly dispelled  Well I was at Old Trafford that day when United beat the Hammers 2 1 , and at around 6pm , long after the final whistle , both Rooney and van Persie were suited up , on the pitch , playing football with their children and seemingly having a great time together .  So that killed both of those nonsense rumours at once .  It ' s interesting that people seem desperate to criticise and bring down Manchester United .  Another example : I ' m forever being told that Radamel Falcao was a bad signing . If United had paid 50m for him and given him a six year contract then the critics might have a point . But his injury record isn ' t great so that ' s why United only signed him on loan a shrewd move .  Despite not arriving at the club until the World Cup was over , and despite an injury list that would leave Florence Nightingale in pieces , Van Gaal put together a team that faltered for the first couple of months of the season , but entertained us royally in flashes .  Radamel Falcao has played a bit part role since joining United on loan from Monaco this summer  Falcao has struggled with injury and sat out the Manchester derby last month which United lost 1 0  It was never going to be smooth . Think about the wreckage of last season . Backroom staff decimated , morale low , players left , others struggled for confidence and form , and United were awful to watch .  I always speak to fans when I go to games up and down the country , and the general consensus at United is that this season , despite a few poor results , the football under van Gaal is a significant improvement from last season , and the fans are happy with that .  There are two results that United ' s critics seem to be living off the 5 3 defeat at Leicester and the 4 0 reverse at  Dons .  United were brilliant at Leicester until an inexplicable decision from Mark Clattenburg gave Leicester a penalty and United crumbled . But people read way too much into that game they even said it showed Leicester will be fine in the Premier League this season . As I write this they are bottom and haven ' t won a game since they beat United . The problems United suffered that day are easily rectified , but critics were too quick to forget how spectacular the football was that took them into a 3 1 lead .  United slumped to defeat against  Dons in the Capital One Cup with an experimental side  Louis van Gaal used the  Dons defeat to analyse his side and subsequently , three senior players left  Jamie Vardy turns away to celebrate after putting Leicester 4 3 up against United earlier in the season  But until they collapsed , United played well against Leicester with Angel di Maria scoring this stunner  As for the defeat in Milton Keynes , of the five senior players who started that game , three have left ( Javier Hernandez , Danny Welbeck and Shinji Kagawa ) and Anderson hasn ' t started a game since . It was a game van Gaal used to find out more about some of his senior professionals . He probably wasn ' t expecting such a beating , but the Capital One Cup wasn ' t high on his priority list this season .  So United now find themselves in the top four despite so many people saying they have wasted a load of money and are poor .  The worrying thing for the United haters is that they keep improving . I ' m sure there will be dips and they will come unstuck in some matches but just take a look at the last two games .  Van Gaal totally out coached Arsene Wenger with a game plan that earned three points at Arsenal , and then destroyed inferior opposition with some breathtaking football against Hull .  Wayne Rooney and Angel di Maria are in brilliant form Michael Carrick ' s control and passing are being trusted again David de Gea is currently the best keeper in the Premier League .  United look to have turned the corner and were impressive in their narrow victory over Arsenal  Rooney was on target on Saturday as United strolled to victory over Hull at Old Trafford  With even more improvement , and maybe more signings to come in January , the Premier League has a lot to fear from Manchester United .  Van Gaal is a man who looks you in the eye when he talks to you and answers your questions . His press conferences are informative and entertaining he speaks to the fans through the media , which is exactly what should happen . I admire his sincerity .  And I even like the way he approached his criticism of the festive schedule in England . He said it isn ' t good for players who have families , but then added : ' I have to adapt , and I shall adapt . '  As much as the United haters loved last season , they are beginning to dislike this campaign , with United showing signs they are on their way back .  They are a joy to watch at times , and if they can get the injury list down and add consistency to their undoubted quality , Van Gaal may be on the brink of producing something extra special at Old Trafford .  This manager is even making Chris Smalling look good , so anything is possible .  Even Chris Smalling , who has had his struggles at United , has improved under the guidance of Van Gaal  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
20452,20453,"In an extensive feature in the Hollywood Reporter,  Worldwide president Jeff Zucker revealed his ambitious plans to take his cable news empire into the digital domain and beyond. [From the Hollywood Reporter:  “Did you enjoy that?” asks Jeff Zucker as he walks into his   office at CNN’s Manhattan headquarters. By that, Zucker means President Donald Trump’s chaotic   press conference Feb. 16 from the East Room of the White House, which had just finished up. In addition to claiming that his administration is running like a “  machine” despite   scandals and dustups, the president continued his assault on the news media that, a week later, would result in  and others being banned from a daily briefing. “I watch CNN,” said Trump. “The tone is such hatred. ” Zucker, whose network has thrived of late despite (or, more likely, in part because of) its status as presidential punching bag, seems to have enjoyed that. By the time I join Zucker in his modest office, Jake Tapper and Wolf Blitzer are offering a recap from the anchor desk in Washington. We watch it on the largest of the 11 screens mounted on the wall opposite Zucker’s desk. “It was unhinged it was wild,” says Tapper. Then  contributor and Trump loyalist Jeffrey Lord appears via Skype to offer a counter from Trump land. “I’ve been listening to you, and I think we saw two different press conferences,” says Lord. “He was relaxed, he was funny, he was on point. ”   …     Zucker, known throughout the industry as a masterful poacher of talent, has been relentless in his search for original voices to augment the success of Bourdain and others. In the fall, in the heat of the presidential campaign, he hired away BuzzFeed’s entire   KFile team, which had broken several major stories, including Trump’s appearance in a   Playboy video. In January, that team had the scoop on former Fox News personality Monica Crowley’s brushes with plagiarism, which torpedoed her nomination to a top National Security Council post. Another recent addition is comedian and social commentator W. Kamau Bell, whose show United Shades of America premiered last spring on  (the debut episode had Bell interviewing hooded  members). Bell, who will launch a new series on the Great Big Story platform this summer, notes that while Trump may dismiss the network as fake news, the standards and practices apparatus at  holds even his show to a high bar: “We can’t just say random facts. They’re like, ‘Where did you get that from?’ So the pressure to make things smarter is always a good pressure, and I’ll take care of the making things funnier part. ”   …     Read the full story at the Hollywood Reporter.",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
20458,20459,"The race card thing is getting old fast The Austin County Sheriff s Office released the dash camera video of a July 14 traffic stop of State Representative Garnet Coleman Tuesday to refute claims Coleman made last week about being disrespected and treated  like a child. Coleman, as the chair of the Committee on County Affairs, held a hearing last Thursday in Austin as the first public inquiry into the arrest and death of Sandra Bland in Waller County. In that hearing, Coleman recounted his own history of being pulled over in traffic stops and gave this account of an I-10 traffic stop that happened just two weeks ago. He talked to me like I was a child,  he said of the sheriff s deputy who pulled him over for speeding.  He was so rude and nasty. Even when he found out I was a legislator, he became more rude and nasty. And I didn t understand why this guy was continuing to go on and on and treat me like a child. And basically like I m saying is treat me like a boy. I want to be very clear about that,  Coleman said in the committee hearing.  Via: Breaking 911KHOU    The Texas Municipal Police Association, the Harris County Deputies Organization, the Houston Police Officers  Union and the Dallas Police Union all issued demands for Coleman to apologize for his  fabrication  of the events in the traffic stop. Sheriff Brandes asked Coleman to apologize for his remarks about the sheriff s deputy. Instead, Coleman seemed to double down on the race card  boy  word. They may not have [thought it was rude],  Coleman told KHOU.  But they weren t sitting in my seat. And, if you know the history of my people, you know that being treated like a child or a boy is not something that we accept very well. The Houston Police Officers Union (HPOU) issued a strong rebuke to Coleman.  Our organization has supported Representative Coleman during his tenure in the Texas Legislature, however, since Representative Coleman refuses to own up to the fact that his statements in committee regarding the stop were in fact not true and completely out of line, we have no choice but to discontinue our support of him. Via: Weasel Zippers Black Democratic Texas State Rep Claims  Mistreatment  By Police During Traffic Stop, Video Shows Anything But",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
20464,20465,"British intelligence agencies have ' more blind spots ' when monitoring potential terrorist threats than five years ago , the country ' s top anti terror police officer has said .  Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner Mark Rowley said the revelations by former  data analyst Edward Snowden and advances in technology left counter terrorism detectives at Scotland Yard operating on a ' shaky platform ' .  It comes after three men appeared in court yesterday over an alleged terrorist plot , following a police operation three days before Remembrance Day .  Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner Mark Rowley warned that Britain ' s intelligence agencies have ' more blind spots ' than at any time for five years  Mr Rowley , head of counter terrorism for the Association of Chief Police Officers ( Acpo ) , told the Times : ' We are less capable and have more blind spots than we had five years ago . '  ' Since the Snowden episode and with technology developments our intelligence picture is less good than it was both domestic and international and that makes operations harder to run . '  He also suggested powers to relocate terrorism suspects would make a ' big difference ' after shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper called for them to be reintroduced in the Commons this week .  ' If you have significant information that somebody is a terrorist risk and despite all your best efforts you cannot build a case to put them in prison really the state has two choices : either to say we ' ll accept that risk or put in measures where you have some controls around people .  ' It ' s a political decision , but our experience is that for people in many of the situations we deal with the ability to relocate would make a big difference . '  Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures ( Tpims ) were introduced under the coalition government to replace the previous Labour government ' s control orders , which did include relocation powers .  British jihadists fighting for  pose an increasing threat to the  , intelligence services believe  Fugitive whistleblower Edward Snowden , in hiding in Russia , leaked details of British and American spy techniques  Labour frontbencher Ms Cooper claimed that Theresa May ' s introduction of Tpims is failing to manage the risk of terror suspects after it was reported that a 26 year old man fled the  in the back of a lorry apparently bound for Syria or Iraq .  The Home Secretary replied that the Government would be looking at Tpims in the new Counter Terrorism Bill , which she was bringing forward .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
20467,20468,"Authorities have charged a man with being a stowaway after he allegedly took a flight from New York to Los Angeles , even though he didn ' t have a proper boarding pass and was not on the flight manifest .  It wasn ' t until after Virgin America Flight 415 took off from John F . Kennedy International Airport on Friday that the airline discovered the man , identified as Olajide Oluwaseun Noibi , wasn ' t supposed to be on the flight , according to an  affidavit .  The flight crew became aware of him when two passengers complained about his odor ,  spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said .  He was seated toward the front of the plane , in seat 3E , according to the affidavit .  But authorities did not arrest Noibi on Friday . They arrested him this week , on Wednesday , when he returned to Los Angeles International Airport and tried to fraudulently board a Delta flight bound for Atlanta , according to the  . Officials found he was carrying numerous boarding passes , none in his name , the  said .  Eimiller said the  did detain Noibi when the flight from New York landed in Los Angeles . Agents investigated to see if he or his luggage posed any immediate threat . They then released him , Eimiller said .  The  is not saying what investigative steps it may have taken in the following days , nor whether it knew Noibi would appear for the Delta flight . The  affidavit says an agent was at the Delta departure gate when Noibi arrived .  "" We are investigating his motivation , and whether it was anything beyond not wanting to pay for a ticket , "" Eimiller said .  Authorities are also looking to see whether Noibi has used aliases or multiple addresses , she said .  Noibi appeared in court Wednesday , where his case was continued . He is expected back in U . S . District Court on Friday , Eimiller said .  However , the incident has raised questions about airline security and how someone could get through security and board a plane without a valid ticket and proper documentation .  Transportation Security Administration spokesman Greg Soule issued a statement saying , "" Every passenger that passes through security checkpoints is subject to many layers of security including thorough physical screening at the checkpoint .  ' s review of this matter indicates that the passenger went through screening . It is important to note that this passenger was subject to the same physical screening at the checkpoint as other passengers . ""  In an updated statement Thursday , the agency said its "" initial review of this matter indicates the officer reviewing the passenger ' s travel documents did not identify that the passenger was traveling with improper travel documents . ""  Rep . Peter King , R New York , the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee , sent a letter Thursday to  Director John Pistole asking for a briefing by July 8 "" on the immediate measures  is taking to address these recent failures and any disciplinary action being taken against the travel document checker "" at Kennedy airport .  King also called for an audit of the performance by all personnel who check travel documents , adding that almost a decade after the September 11 , 2001 , terrorist attacks , "" failures of this kind should be a thing of the distant past . ""  A Virgin America spokeswoman said the airline "" maintains security and other screening systems in place to prevent such an occurrence however , in this case it appears staff may have missed an alert when the passenger presented a boarding pass from a prior flight . ""  After discovering that Noibi should not have been on the flight , the crew kept him "" under surveillance , but at no time felt there was any threat to the security of the flight , "" the statement said , adding that the man slept for most of the flight .  "" We take security matters very seriously and are reviewing our training to ensure that this anomaly does not occur again , "" spokeswoman Patricia Condon said .  Noibi is from Nigeria and is a U . S . citizen , Eimiller said . Public records show he is 24 years old .  When flying to Los Angeles last week , Noibi was questioned by a flight attendant . He produced a boarding pass from a different date that was not in his name ,  Special Agent Kevin Hogg said in the affidavit .  The man whose name was on the boarding pass told Hogg that his boarding pass had disappeared from his back pocket after he took the subway to the airport last Thursday , the day before the flight Noibi was on , according to the affidavit .  It was not clear how Noibi got to the gate for the flight at  .  Noibi said he has a U . S . passport that had been stolen and that he had his Nigerian passport at home , Hogg wrote in the affidavit .  Federal law states that being a stowaway on board a flight is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison .  A flight attendant noticed that Noibi was "" occupying a seat that the other attendants said was supposed to be empty , "" the affidavit says . When the attendant , Satoshi Saito , asked to see his boarding pass , Noibi responded that it was in his bag in an overhead bin , the affidavit said .  After the bag was retrieved , Noibi reached in and handed Saito a boarding pass , which had a different date . Noibi said he had missed the flight the day before .  Saito then brought the boarding pass to the captain , who instructed Saito to request further  .  "" At that point , Noibi did not want to talk with Saito and was hesitant . Eventually Noibi produced a University of Michigan identification card with his photo and his full name . Saito took the identification card to the captain , who observed that the names did not match and the date was wrong on the boarding pass . The flight crew noted that Noibi was not on the flight manifest . ""  It is not clear what Noibi did for several days in Los Angeles , but he later told authorities he was recruiting people for his software business .  The University of Michigan website lists someone by that name as affiliated with an electrical engineering program . University spokeswoman Kelly Cunningham said Noibi was enrolled at the College of Engineering from 2004 through the fall of 2006 , but is not a current student , and there is no record of his graduation .  Cunningham said she could not comment on the circumstances of his leaving the university , nor whether he had ever had problems while at the university .  A page on the website LinkedIn for someone with Noibi ' s name lists him as "" president ,  and co founder "" of a company and links to its website . The site says the company is in Lagos , Nigeria .  A man who answered the phone listed for the company and gave his name only as "" Timi "" said Noibi does some consulting for the company .  The LinkedIn page also links to his Facebook account . A message sent to that account was not immediately returned .  On Wednesday , Hogg wrote in his affidavit , he was with an officer from Customs and Border Protection when Noibi approached the Delta departure gate counter at  for a flight to Atlanta . Noibi showed a Delta agent "" a portion of a green boarding pass , "" but the agent told him the ticket was for the previous day and was not a valid boarding pass for the flight .  Noibi insisted that he had been told he could go to the gate for the flight , the affidavit said .  When Hogg approached Noibi and read him his Miranda rights , Noibi acknowledged that he had not paid for his flight to Los Angeles .  He also said he spent the night at  in the secure portion of the airport , the affidavit said . "" Noibi claimed he was able to go through passenger screening by obtaining a seat pass and displaying his University of Michigan identification and a police report that his passport had been stolen . ""  Authorities found he had two boarding passes in his pocket and more than 10 in his two bags . "" Noibi did not have any boarding passes in his own name , "" the affidavit said .   spokeswoman Eimiller said the  has not determined how he came into possession of the boarding passes .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
20471,20472,"Donald Trump wasn t the only presidential candidate whose campaign was boosted by officials of a former Soviet bloc country.Ukrainian government officials tried to help Hillary Clinton and undermine Trump by publicly questioning his fitness for office. They also disseminated documents implicating a top Trump aide in corruption and suggested they were investigating the matter, only to back away after the election. And they helped Clinton s allies research damaging information on Trump and his advisers, a Politico investigation found.A Ukrainian-American operative who was consulting for the Democratic National Committee met with top officials in the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington in an effort to expose ties between Trump, top campaign aide Paul Manafort and Russia, according to people with direct knowledge of the situation.The Ukrainian efforts had an impact in the race, helping to force Manafort s resignation and advancing the narrative that Trump s campaign was deeply connected to Ukraine s foe to the east, Russia. But they were far less concerted or centrally directed than Russia s alleged hacking and dissemination of Democratic emails.The Ukrainian antipathy for Trump s team   and alignment with Clinton s   can be traced back to late 2013. That s when the country s president, Viktor Yanukovych, whom Manafort had been advising, abruptly backed out of a European Union pact linked to anti-corruption reforms. Instead, Yanukovych entered into a multibillion-dollar bailout agreement with Russia, sparking protests across Ukraine and prompting Yanukovych to flee the country to Russia under Putin s protection.In the ensuing crisis, Russian troops moved into the Ukrainian territory of Crimea, and Manafort dropped off the radar.Manafort s work for Yanukovych caught the attention of a veteran Democratic operative named Alexandra Chalupa, who had worked in the White House Office of Public Liaison during the Clinton administration. Chalupa went on to work as a staffer, then as a consultant, for Democratic National Committee. The  paid her $412,000 from 2004 to June 2016, according to Federal Election Commission records, though she also was paid by other clients during that time, including Democratic campaigns and the  s arm for engaging expatriate Democrats around the world.A daughter of Ukrainian immigrants who maintains strong ties to the Ukrainian-American diaspora and the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, Chalupa, a lawyer by training, in 2014 was doing pro bono work for another client interested in the Ukrainian crisis and began researching Manafort s role in Yanukovych s rise, as well as his ties to the pro-Russian oligarchs who funded Yanukovych s political party.In an interview this month, Chalupa told Politico she had developed a network of sources in Kiev and Washington, including investigative journalists, government officials and private intelligence operatives. While her consulting work at the  this past election cycle centered on mobilizing ethnic communities   including Ukrainian-Americans   she said that, when Trump s unlikely presidential campaign began surging in late 2015, she began focusing more on the research, and expanded it to include Trump s ties to Russia, as well.She occasionally shared her findings with officials from the  and Clinton s campaign, Chalupa said. In January 2016   months before Manafort had taken any role in Trump s campaign   Chalupa told a senior  official that, when it came to Trump s campaign,  I felt there was a Russia connection,  Chalupa recalled.  And that, if there was, that we can expect Paul Manafort to be involved in this election,  said Chalupa, who at the time also was warning leaders in the Ukrainian-American community that Manafort was  Putin s political brain for manipulating U.S. foreign policy and elections.   POLITICONow Ukraine President Poroshenko is scrambling to repair the damage:Russia s meddling has sparked outrage from the American body politic. The U.S. intelligence community undertook the rare move of publicizing its findings on the matter, and President Barack Obama took several steps to officially retaliate, while members of Congress continue pushing for more investigations into the hacking and a harder line against Russia, which was already viewed in Washington as America s leading foreign adversary.Ukraine, on the other hand, has traditionally enjoyed strong relations with U.S. administrations. Its officials worry that could change under Trump, whose team has privately expressed sentiments ranging from ambivalence to deep skepticism about Poroshenko s regime, while sounding unusually friendly notes about Putin s regime.Poroshenko is scrambling to alter that dynamic, recently signing a $50,000-a-month contract with a well-connected GOP-linked Washington lobbying firm to set up meetings with U.S. government officials  to strengthen U.S.-Ukrainian relations. Revelations about Ukraine s anti-Trump efforts could further set back those efforts. Things seem to be going from bad to worse for Ukraine,  said David A. Merkel, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council who helped oversee U.S. relations with Russia and Ukraine while working in George W. Bush s State Department and National Security Council.Merkel, who has served as an election observer in Ukrainian presidential elections dating back to 1993, noted there s some irony in Ukraine and Russia taking opposite sides in the 2016 presidential race, given that past Ukrainian elections were widely viewed in Washington s foreign policy community as proxy wars between the U.S. and Russia. Now, it seems that a U.S. election may have been seen as a surrogate battle by those in Kiev and Moscow,  Merkel said. Politico",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
20481,20482,"The jockeying for power in the incoming administration of   Donald J. Trump and on Capitol Hill is exposing frayed nerves and lingering anger  —   but also the seeds of new leadership in both parties. He may not yet have nominated a single cabinet member, or sent emissaries to the federal agencies, or held a news conference as   but Mr. Trump does have a presidential inaugural committee lined up. And it includes some serious money. The Trump transition named its inaugural committee leadership team on Tuesday evening, headed by Thomas Barrack Jr. a private equity titan. Other members include the financier Lewis M. Eisenberg the casino magnate Sheldon Adelson (one of the largest political donors on earth) Gail Icahn, the wife of the investor Carl Icahn Woody Johnson, owner of the N. F. L. ’s New York Jets the hedge fund manager Anthony Scaramucci the Texas businessmen Ray Washburne and Roy Bailey and the luxury casino tycoon Steve Wynn. The congratulatory visits keep on coming. Marla Maples, Mr. Trump’s second wife, was spotted entering Trump Tower around 4 p. m. on Tuesday. She was in the building for nearly 25 minutes and waved to journalists and pedestrians as she left. Mr. Trump and Ms. Maples divorced in 1999 and remain on good terms. And speaking of reconciliations, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas stopped by as well. Senator John McCain issued a blunt warning on Tuesday to   Trump and his emerging foreign policy team: Don’t try another “reset” with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. During the campaign, Mr. Trump described Mr. Putin as a strong leader and suggested that the United States and Russia might join forces in fighting the Islamic State. Mr. Putin congratulated Mr. Trump on his election in a phone call on Monday and discussed working together to combat terrorism and resolve the crisis in Syria, according to the Kremlin’s account. That was too much for Mr. McCain, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, who cautioned the incoming administration not to be taken in by “a former K. G. B. agent. ” “The Obama administration’s last attempt at resetting relations with Russia culminated in Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and military intervention in the Middle East,” Mr. McCain, the newly   Arizona Republican, said in a statement. “At the very least, the price of another ‘reset’ would be complicity in Putin and Assad’s butchery of the Syrian people,” he added. “This is an unacceptable price for a great nation. When America has been at its greatest, it is when we have stood on the side of those fighting tyranny. That is where we must stand again. ” Rebekah Mercer, the scion of a powerful family of conservative donors and a member of Mr. Trump’s executive transition committee, has had little success in her mission to solicit names and résumés for potential administration posts, according to a person familiar with her outreach efforts. Ms. Mercer, 42, the daughter of the New York investor Robert Mercer, has told Republican operatives and members of previous administrations that she was having trouble finding takers for posts at the under secretary level and below. She also made it clear that the transition team was more than a month behind schedule and on a tight timeline, the person said. The Mercer family has invested tens of millions of dollars in conservative causes and is considered especially close to Stephen K. Bannon, the chairman of Mr. Trump’s campaign who was named as his senior presidential adviser. Mr. Mercer reportedly invested $10 million in Breitbart, the   news site previously run by Mr. Bannon. Mr. Trump’s campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, also previously oversaw a “super PAC” financed by the Mercer family. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the outgoing minority leader, took to the Senate floor Thursday with a slew of stories about bullied children, racist attacks, and   acts, unholstered to bash Mr. Trump, his new hobby. “His election sparked a wave of hate crime across America. This is a simple statement of fact,” Mr. Reid said before imploring Democrats to stand as a force against Mr. Trump. Representative Steve Stivers of Ohio was named the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, the party’s campaign arm for House candidates, succeeding Representative Greg Walden of Oregon. In a statement, Speaker Paul D. Ryan called Mr. Stivers “a talented leader. ” Eliot A. Cohen, who wrote one of the “Never Trump” pieces this year that called Mr. Trump’s view of American power and influence in the world “wildly inconsistent and unmoored in principle,” said in an interview on Tuesday that a Trump transition aide had asked him for recommendations for the national security team. But when Mr. Cohen, a former national security official in George W. Bush’s administration, suggested the caveat that many foreign policy hands would enlist only if there were credible people leading national security agencies and departments, he said he received a vituperative email in response. The tone of the email surprised him, he said, expressing a level of vengefulness at odds with an administration that is trying to fill important national security positions with qualified people. “They think of these jobs as lollipops,” Mr. Cohen said. “I think we’re on the verge of a crisis here. ” With John Bolton, the former United Nations ambassador, emerging as a finalist for a senior national security post, even secretary of state, Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, said on Tuesday that he would do “whatever I can” to block him. Such opposition is improving the stock of Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, to lead the State Department, but Mr. Paul is not so sure about him either, citing Mr. Giuliani’s “worrisome ties to foreign governments” on CNN. The floating of Mr. Bolton as one of Mr. Trump’s contenders for secretary of state has baffled members of both parties, because his hawkish foreign policy worldview is so at odds with Mr. Trump’s campaign pitch for less military engagement in the world. That is one area in which Mr. Paul, one of Mr. Trump’s rivals in the race for the Republican nomination, said he agreed with the  . “I can’t imagine supporting anyone who hasn’t learned the lesson of the last 20 years,” Mr. Paul said of Mr. Bolton, who was ambassador to the United Nations for George W. Bush during the escalation of the war in Iraq. Mr. Paul called Mr. Bolton “unrepentant. ” Matthew Freedman, the chief executive at Global Impact, a consulting firm, was removed from his post overseeing the National Security Council transition after questions emerged about his lobbying ties. According to a former federal government official, Mr. Freedman had been using his Global Impact email to conduct official transition business. The official said that transition members were advised to use only their ptt. gov email, and that use of a business email was counter to transition policy. Mr. Freedman has worked as a security consultant for decades, after a brief career with the federal government working for the National Security Council and the Agency for International Development. He started as a foreign government lobbyist in the 1980s, when he joined a company then led by Paul Manafort, Mr. Trump’s former campaign chairman, taking up prominent international clients, such as government officials from Nigeria and Argentina, and the dictator Ferdinand Marcos from the Philippines. Reached by phone, Mr. Freedman declined to comment Tuesday. Vice   Mike Pence and Rick Dearborn, a Trump campaign staff member who is close to Mr. Trump’s    Jared Kushner, are going over the transition staffing list to make a “very concerted effort to clear house of any lobbyists,” said one transition official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. This means others beyond Mr. Freedman will likely be purged as well. Carl Icahn, a business magnate who is close to the   tipped his hand on Twitter: Steven Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs financier and hedge fund founder, seems to have an inside track to be Treasury secretary and Wilbur Ross, a billionaire investor and turnaround artist, could be Commerce secretary. Mr. Mnuchin, Mr. Trump’s national campaign finance chairman, does seem to have big plans. Spotted entering Trump Tower on Tuesday, he told reporters, “We’re working on the economic plan with the transition, making sure we get the biggest tax bill passed, the biggest tax changes since Reagan, so a lot of exciting things in the first 100 days of the Trump presidency. ” Mr. Trump has called for deep tax cuts for people at all income levels, consolidation of tax brackets, higher standard tax deductions, the elimination of the death tax and lower corporate tax rates. He has also called for ending “special interest loopholes” and he has said he wants to end the “carried interest” provision that benefits private equity groups. The estimated cost to the treasury of those plans is more than $5 trillion over 10 years. To put that in perspective, George W. Bush’s tax cuts in 2001  —   the largest in history  —   were a wee $1. 35 trillion over a decade. Ben Carson spent months trying to persuade voters to elect him president, but, according to his spokesman, he does not think he is qualified to run a federal agency in the Trump administration. According to the spokesman, Armstrong Williams, who is also Mr. Carson’s business manager, Mr. Trump offered the retired neurosurgeon a “buffet” of job options as a reward for being a loyal ally after dropping out of the race for the Republican nomination. “The   said, ‘Ben, tell me whatever you want to run, it will be yours,’” Mr. Williams recounted. But Mr. Carson has no experience running large enterprises, Mr. Williams said, and did not think it would be a wise move to start in the new administration. Mr. Carson had been discussed as a candidate to lead the Department of Health and Human Services or the Department of Education, or to be surgeon general. “He’d be like a fish out of water,” Mr. Williams said. Amid rising calls for change in Democratic leadership, House Democrats decided in a   meeting on Tuesday to postpone their leadership elections until Nov. 30. After last week’s bruising loss, there have been rumblings among some Democrats that perhaps a new leader should replace Representative Nancy Pelosi of California in the role she has held since 2003. Some members have urged Representative Tim Ryan of Ohio to run, and he is considering it, his office said Monday. Mr. Ryan, a former football player from the Youngstown area, is in stark contrast with Ms. Pelosi, an affluent scion of a Baltimore political family long ensconced in San Francisco, one of the country’s most liberal bastions.",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
20489,20490,"Survivor : Ruby Graupera Cassimiro , 40 , lived through a usually fatal birth complication when her daughter was delivered by cesarean  A new mother whose heart stopped beating after a rare complication while giving birth miraculously survived 45 minutes with no pulse .  Ruby Graupera Cassimiro , 40 , was saved by ' divine providence ' after her cesarean section went badly wrong .  Amniotic fluid from her womb got into her bloodstream and had stopped her heart beating which is usually fatal .  Doctors at the Boca Raton Regional Hospital in Florida , were just about to pronounce Graupera Cassimiro dead when her heart restarted for no obvious reason .  The complication came just after she gave birth to a healthy daughter , Taily , who is now two and a half weeks old .  Grauper Cassimiro passed out for three hours while medics battle to bring her back . They assumed they had failed , and called her family into the operation room to declare her death officially .  Her family had already been told there was nothing more that could be done .  But the mother of two , who works in human resources , defied expectations in the September 23 ordeal , and , even more stunningly , suffered no brain damage other other ill effects .  She is now at home and caring for her child . This week she returned to the hospital to thank the medics who helped save her .  At the reunion , she said : ' I don ' t know why I was given this opportunity but I ' m very grateful for it .  ' God had the right people in the right place ' , she told the Sun Sentinel .  ' Picture of health ' : Graupera Cassimiro is shown above with her daughter Taily at the Boca Raton Regional Hospital  Grauper Cassimiro was awake and talking to her family after her ' unremarkable ' cesarean when she suddenly passed out .  Medical workers used shock paddles and chest compressions throughout the emergency to try to restore heart beat and circulation while she was unconscious .  Despite a three hour fight to save her , when Grauper Cassimiro ' s pulse gave out , doctors thought she would surely die , and had told her distraught family as much when she pulled through .  A hospital spokesman said : ' She essentially spontaneously resuscitated when we were about to call the time of death . '  ' Today she is the picture of health . '  Doctors had no immediate explanation for her survival . The spokesman called her survival ' divine providence . '  ' Divine providence ' : Medics at the Boca Raton Regional Hospital in Florida say they don ' t know why she lived  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
20492,20493,"The Ballon d ' Or may be the most prestigious individual prize a footballer can win , but a deeper look at the voting leaves a feeling of bemusement and frustration .  Cristiano Ronaldo may have quite rightly been voted the world ' s best player on Monday night his second consecutive win and third overall and gushed about Lionel Messi , hailing his great rival for helping him become a better player .  But the Real Madrid superstar could not bring himself to include Messi in his top three players in the world , instead choosing to opt for team mates Sergio Ramos , Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema .  Cristiano Ronaldo ( left ) and Lionel Messi did not deem each other in the world ' s best three players  Ronaldo and Messi ( right ) spoke positively about each other after the former was crowned the winner  Ronaldo beat Messi to the award as he was crowned the 2014 Ballon d ' Or winner after a stellar 12 months   president Sepp Blatter congratulated Ronaldo on winning the award at the ceremony  Ronaldo celebrated with his son Cristiano Jnr on stage after winning the  Ballon d ' Or 2014  ",true,text,validation,Football,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
20513,20514,"Reuters) - Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump posted a two-point lead over his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Tuesday, the first time he has been ahead since early May.  Trump’s gains came as he accepted his party’s nomination to the Nov. 8 ballot at the four-day Republican National Convention in Cleveland last week, and as Clinton’s nomination in Philadelphia this week was marred by party divisions and the resignation of a top party official.    REUTERS:  Musk sees 'modest' capital raise for Tesla's next strategic turn Clinton makes history with Democratic nomination for president Breakingviews: Hillary Clinton’s one percent dilemma gets more awkward The July 22-26 poll found that 39 percent of likely voters supported Trump, 37 percent supported Clinton and 24 percent would vote for neither. The poll had a credibility interval of 4 percentage points, meaning that the two candidates should be considered about even in support.  Clinton held a three-point lead on Friday, which was also within the credibility interval.  Clinton has solidly led Trump in the poll throughout most of the 2016 presidential race. The only times that Trump has matched her level of support were when the Republican Party appeared to be roughly aligned with his campaign.  In early May, Trump briefly pulled even with Clinton after his remaining rivals for the party nomination dropped out of the running. He held a 0.3 percentage point lead over Clinton on May 9, the last time he was nominally ahead.  Trump fell back in the poll as he feuded with party bosses over comments he made about Hispanics, Muslims and immigrants, but he rebounded this month as his candidacy took the national spotlight at the Cleveland convention.  The Democratic party is hoping for a similar boost during its convention this week in Philadelphia, but the confab had a rough start: the Wikileaks website released emails on Friday that enraged many voters who had supported Clinton’s rival for the nomination, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, showing that party officials had looked for ways to undermine his candidacy.  The chair of the Democratic National Committee, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, announced her resignation afterward.  On Monday, some speakers at the Democratic convention were booed by Sanders supporters, and hundreds of protesters took to the streets to protest Clinton’s candidacy.  Presidential candidates usually get a boost in popularity following their party conventions.  In 2012, Republican nominee Mitt Romney jumped by 5 percentage points to pull about even with President Barack Obama after the Republican convention. After the Democrats held their convention, Obama then rose by a few percentage points and again pulled ahead.  The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online in English with about 962 likely voters.  ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
20526,20527,""" We all just dropped to the floor . When the music stopped , there was this haunting silence in between gunfire and I could see blood on the floor . ""  The Bataclan already had a storied history , opening its doors on Paris ' Right Bank in 1865 . French crooner Maurice Chevalier of "" Gigi "" fame enjoyed some of his earliest successes there , before it was converted into a movie theater , devastated by fire and resurrected as a concert hall again in the mid 1980s .  Friday ' s headliner was a California band whose music is far less harsh than its name , described by a co founder as a mix of bluegrass slide guitar , stripper drum beats and Canned Heat style vocals .  As the Eagles of Death Metal performed , at about 9 : 40 p . m . , a black Volkswagen Polo drew up and parked outside the Bataclan , French officials said .  Three occupants emerged from the vehicle , armed with automatic weapons and wearing belts packed with extremely volatile explosives . They entered the club apparently unnoticed amid the high decibel music , and opened fire at the crowd .  Julien Pearce , a journalist at Europe 1 radio , also thought the pop pop noises were a harmless part of the act .  "" Then I looked back and saw the assailants . . . who were coming toward us with assault rifles and were randomly firing into the crowd , "" he said on Europe 1 . "" We immediately got on the ground to protect ourselves , to be less exposed . ""  The Bataclan had become one of the targets of the deadliest violence to hit the French capital since World War  .  That same evening outside the France Germany soccer match in Paris ' northern suburbs , a pair of suicide bombers had already detonated their explosives , and another would blow himself up on Boulevard Voltaire , a thoroughfare in eastern Paris near the Bataclan .  The coordinated attack included volleys of Kalashnikov fire at Parisians and others who thronged bars and restaurants on an unseasonably balmy November night .  In all , at least 129 people were killed and 350 injured . France ' s leaders have said their country is now at war .  In claiming responsibility for the attacks , the Islamic State group said the Bataclan had expressly been targeted for its "" hundreds of pagans gathered for a concert of prostitution and vice . ""  The gunmen in the concert hall were "" were very calm , very methodical , very slow , "" John Leader , 46 , told Australia Broadcasting Corp . after escaping with his 12 year old son . Two of the men worked together , one aiming and shooting while the other covered him .  "" They weren ' t in there shooting like in an American movie , "" Leader said . "" It was finding a target and then shooting , and then finding the next target and then shooting . ""  After several minutes of lying still on the Bataclan ' s floor , Pearce and people around him decided to move as the gunmen paused to reload .  "" We needed to get out of this hell , to try something , at least , "" he said . "" Bullets started to fly again in our direction so we ran , crawled and got into a tiny dark room next to the stage . ""  "" There was no exit , so we were just in another trap , less exposed , but still a trap , "" he said .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
20541,20542,"It only seems like fiction when your police are dumb and our political leaders are dumber .  On the Trump legal front , we watched as the Attorney General of New York on  today discussed the "" facts "" of the Trump University case .  For years the media has suffered legal folks begging off that they cannot discuss a case while active in the process . The people of New York have elected an imbecile to head their legal protection . By talking about a case in litigation , he has broken the First Commandment of law .  All Trump has to do to get rid of that case is now subpoena the New York  himself as he has  made himself a witness as he has spoken about contested matters of material fact .  That will kill the entire case as the  of  will not want to be disbarred for inserting himself as a witness into the case . well , nobody ' s perfect , but this maroon is sitting on his law degree .  And , your police continue to be vigilant to a point . With the  Simpson case back on  in a miniseries , some retired officer in Los Angeles revealed he had the murder weapon , heretofore lost evidence .  The cop should go to jail for withholding evidence from the defense . Is this at the time  ' s civil case was going on ? This Knife could if fact show someone else did it . Whether this cop was off duty or not he was in fact a member of the force at the time ,  has a big problem here . This actually supports the  dream team tag line that the  withheld and planted evidence .  Whether it actually is , or not ,  has beaten that rap . If the knife is genuine and does not have his  or fingerprints , then he was truly innocent . It ' s only taken 22 years and bad judgment on the behalf of police .  So , we have our problems being compounded by the forces of law and order . They have learned their legalese from watching bad  shows , or they slept through the coursework to earn a bogus degree .  It was never this bad for Jerry Orbach when he took down the bad guys every week on Law and Order .  ",satire,text,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
20546,20547,"Several potential Republican presidential contenders are heading to Las Vegas this week , hoping to hit the jackpot . And that ' s before they hit the casinos .  They hope the political payoff will come in appearances before some of the party ' s most influential donors attending the Republican Jewish Coalition annual spring meeting .  Former Florida Gov . Jeb Bush and current Govs . Chris Christie of New Jersey , Scott Walker of Wisconsin and John Kasich of Ohio will speak before the group , which seeks to promote Jewish causes among Republicans .  Many of the nation ' s leading Republican fundraisers and donors are part of the organization . Some donors estimate about a third of the party ' s most important fundraisers are active in the coalition , so it ' s a major audience for the possible presidential candidates attending .  Bush is getting a lot of attention because he has been tapped to speak at a private ,  dinner with major financiers on Thursday night giving him top billing for the event and a major platform as he considers whether to seek the party ' s nomination . While he has said he won ' t make a decision until the end of this year and won ' t engage in further talk about the subject , Bush has recently picked up the pace with his political schedule , appearing in the past two weeks at fundraisers for Sen . Lamar Alexander , R Tennessee , and Govs . Susana Martinez , R New Mexico , and Brian Sandoval , R Nevada , both running for re election , as well as at an event for House Republicans helping him build a network of supporters if he needs one .  Bush , who served as Florida ' s governor from 1999 to 2007 , is liked by many in this key group . During his tenure , and his father ' s and brother ' s time in the White House , they built good relations with the American Jewish community .  Jeb Bush , Hillary Clinton together again to talk education  Many eyes on Christie as well  Christie , who speaks on Saturday , is also known to many in this group .  "" People are going to want to have the hallway conversations . . . private meetings "" to discuss where the controversy stands , the donor said .  A different major party fundraiser said that Christie so far has emerged fine among many of the donors , who like his political accomplishments and policies .  "" I don ' t think in the long term this will harm him , "" the fundraiser said .  As Christie travels around the country raising millions as head of the Republican Governors Association , he is building up support among the donor class .  Besides their public appearances at the meeting , Christie , Kasich and Walker all can be expected to have smaller individual sessions with some influential attendees .  Christie : Bridge scandal doesn ' t change anything about 2016  Will Adelson tip his hand ?  The host for the weekend activities is Republican mega donor Sheldon Adelson , owner of the Venetian Casino where the meeting is taking place , and active in the Republican Jewish Coalition . Adelson and his wife gave 93 million to various groups and candidates in the 2012 election cycle , according to the Center for Responsive Politics , making them the biggest individuals financiers of outside groups .  The Thursday dinner will be at the airport hangar Adelson uses .  While candidates and groups would love to have his support , several  donors said they doubt Adelson will tip his hand any time soon . One said he is "" very hard to uncover . . . he likes to support existing groups with real structure . ""  Adelson did support the super  Winning Our Future that backed former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in 2012 because of his pro Israel stance , a majority priority for Adelson .  Besides Adelson , some of the more influential Republican fundraisers include businessman Lewis Eisenberg , former ambassador Sam Fox , former Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman , and former ambassador Mel Sembler .  Santorum ' very open ' to another presidential run  All over the place  Unlike four years ago where most of these donors ended up supporting Mitt Romney , this go around is expected to be much different .  "" You still have the donor groups all over the place , "" said one of the fundraisers while also emphasizing just how early in this process things stand .  The amount of activity by the field of possible 2016 contenders reaching out to prospective financial backers is at about the same pace it was four years ago , several of those interviewed said . What is different , they said , is that the field at this stage appears to be shaping up to be much stronger than last time around meaning the battle for support among these key supporters will likely be intense .  "" I think the difference is in the quality of the candidates , "" the fundraiser said .  One of the most active Republicans considering a White House bid has been Sen . Rand Paul of Kentucky , who has met with donors and who has been working to broaden his appeal beyond his father ' s libertarian base .  Desire to break glass ceiling big part of aura around Clinton  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
20552,20553,"Police and neighbors were searching for three young Michigan boys Saturday who have been missing since their father claimed he dropped them off with a woman before trying to kill himself a day earlier .  The father survived his suicide attempt and is being cared for in a mental health facility , said Morenci , Michigan , Police Chief Larry Weeks on Saturday .  But Michigan authorities do not know what has happened to his boys 5 year old Tanner Skelton , 7 year old Alexander William Skelton and 9 year old Andrew Skelton prompting them to issue an Amber Alert on Friday .  Weeks said that the boys ' father , John Skelton , told police that he dropped the boys off Friday morning with a woman he identified as Joann Taylor in part to ensure they didn ' t see him while and after he tried to commit suicide .  John Skelton told police that the woman , whom he allegedly met on the internet , was supposed to drop the boys off at their home in Morenci , a southern Michigan town of about 2 , 400 people about 40 miles west northwest of Toledo , around 3 p . m . Friday .  But the boys never went home and , Weeks added , authorities still aren ' t sure if John Skelton ' s story including Joann Taylor ' s existence is true or a fabrication .  "" We have not been able to locate a Joann Taylor or confirm that she even exists , "" Weeks told reporters Saturday evening .  The last non family member saw the boys at 5 p . m . on Thursday , according to the chief .  Their mother , Tanya , has been with police "" virtually the entire day "" on Saturday , answering questions and serving as what Weeks called a "" valuable resource at this time . ""  Weeks said Tanya Skelton had "" contact with someone alleging to be Joann , "" adding only that this communication was not necessarily by phone or in person .  According to the Amber Alert , Taylor may have been from Jackson or Hillsdale counties and may be driving a silver van . Still , Weeks reiterated that they have yet to confirm she is real and , if so , if she is with the boys .  "" We just hope they ' re somewhere safe and warm playing video games , "" volunteer Carol Garcia told  .  But authorities thus far have offered few tips pointing community members to places where the young Skeltons might be .  "" We understand their drive and desire to be out there , "" said Weeks . "" The fact is , I cannot tell the community there ' s a specific location they should be searching . ""  The alert notes that Tanner is 3 feet , 6 inches tall , has strawberry blond hair , has blue eyes and weighs about 40 pounds . Alexander is 3 feet , 9 inches tall , has brown hair and eyes , weighs about 45 pounds and has scars on his hairline and chin . The oldest brother , Andrew , is 4 feet , 1 inch tall , has brown hair and eyes and weighs roughly 57 pounds .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
20560,20561,"Reuters) - The Trump administration on Friday dropped a lawsuit accusing North Carolina of discriminating against  residents after the state replaced its “bathroom bill”, although a key civil liberties group vowed to keep fighting the new law in court. In a two-sentence court filing the Justice Department said it had dropped its lawsuit, filed last year by the Obama administration, because the North Carolina legislature had replaced it with a new law called House Bill 142. The filing marks the first significant move in a complicated legal battle challenging the state’s nondiscrimination laws since the replacement of the original law, known as House Bill 2 or more commonly as the “bathroom bill.” House Bill 2’s most controversial provision was the requirement that in state-run buildings transgender people use the bathrooms, changing rooms and showers that corresponded to the sex on their birth certificates rather than their gender identity. A number of businesses and sports leagues boycotted North Carolina because they saw the year-old law as discriminatory against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. Civil liberties groups also protested the move. The American Civil Liberties Union, the  of North Carolina, and Lambda Legal filed a lawsuit challenging the law in March of last year. That was followed in May by the Justice Department’s own suit against House Bill 2. James Esseks, the ACLU’s  Project Director said the new law is flawed because it keeps a ban on cities and counties from creating their own nondiscriminatory ordinaces until 2020 and relegates to the state legislature the power to regulate bathroom access. The legislature has purposefully not taken any action to define access, he said. House Bill 142 “leaves transgender people in limbo and that’s intentional,” Esseks said. “This does not fix the problem. It creates confusion.” Esseks said his group planned to amend their lawsuit soon to challenge the new bill.  ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
20568,20569,"Ted Cruz wins praise in Heritage Action presidential report  I would say the politics of it would be very , very , different if a bunch of lawyers or bankers were crossing the Rio Grande ? or if a bunch of people with journalism degrees were coming over and driving down . . . more  Sen . Ted Cruz of Texas received positive marks in a report from the conservative advocacy group Heritage Action for America on Monday , receiving praise on items ranging from limited government to national security .  In the group s inaugural Presidential Platform Review , Mr Cruz receives praise across the board in the areas of growth , opportunity , civil society , limited government , favoritism and national security .  The influential group also wrote in the report that Mr Cruz has been willing to pay a political price for taking on government favoritism , pointing to his opposition to the Export Import bank in the recent fight over the bank .  The group had been one of the leading proponents of the 2013 bid to defund Obamacare , which led to a partial shutdown of the federal government , and Mr Cruz became the face of the fight in the U . S . Senate .  Americans are looking for a president who can speak to the real anxieties they re facing , not simply manage the status quo in Washington , said Heritage Action  Michael Needham . They want someone that will fight the well connected special interests and advance policies that work for everyone . Fortunately , conservatives have a deep and visionary field to choose from in this Opportunity for All , Favoritism to None primary .  The group didn t endorse any particular candidate in the report . In addition to Mr Cruz , the group rated former Florida Gov . Jeb Bush , retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson , New Jersey Gov . Chris Christie , former Hewlett Packard  Carly Fiorina , former Arkansas Gov . Mike Huckabee , Louisiana Gov . Bobby Jindal , Ohio Gov . John Kasich , Sen . Rand Paul of Kentucky , Sen . Marco Rubio of Florida , former Sen . Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and businessman Donald Trump .  The report offered praise for the other candidates in some areas , but gave them more mixed reviews .  Mr Trump and Mr Carson have been the early front runners in public polling on the 2016  race . The report offered measured praise for Mr Trump s tax plan , but hit his past statements on trade tariffs and his support of eminent domain , among other things .  On Mr Carson , the report said he recognizes the importance of a robust civil society , but that elements of his history as a doctor stand in contrast to the pro life views he talks about on the campaign trail , noting indirect involvement in a research project involving fetal issues .  It also says Mr Carson has not sufficiently articulated a plan to defend America s national security .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
20572,20573,"The official said , "" We ' ve been using all means to identify the person . "" That includes voice analysis and analyzing metadata from the video as well as other methods , according to the second U . S . official . The official declined to elaborate on what those other methods were .  "" We ' re putting a great deal into the search , "" Westmacott said at the time , referring to the use of sophisticated technology to analyze the man ' s voice .  The subject is believed tied to a group of extremists based in London , the officials said .  agents have been working with British authorities to nail down who the subject is , a priority for both governments .  The same U . S . official said the United Kingdom has investigative interest because the masked man is believed to be a British citizen who traveled overseas to engage in conflict . The United States has investigative interest because he killed an American .  Authorities are still trying to determine the identity of the militant speaking in the video of American journalist Steven Sotloff and determine if it is the same person in the Foley video , according to one of the officials . The source said "" it ' s too premature "" to know with any certainty just one week since the video of Sotloff ' s death was published .  The source said British and American authorities would work together to find the masked man , who is believed to be in Syria .  "" This person is in an environment that ' s highly dangerous . He could meet his demise on the battlefield , "" the official said , though the sources did not rule out bringing the suspect back for trial in British or American court .  Foley disappeared on November 22 , 2012 , in northwest Syria , near the border with Turkey . At the time of his disappearance , he was working for the U . S . based online news outlet GlobalPost . The video of his beheading was posted to YouTube on August 19 . Sotloff disappeared while reporting from Syria in August 2013 . The video of his death was posted September 2 .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
20622,20623,"NationalReport Local Marijuana addicts in one small high Sierra , California , town have nick named some ""  "" ( Killer Green Bud ) the "" Deadly Dank , "" after the chemically altered Marijuana resulted in the first recorded fatal overdose of  ( tetrahydrocannabinol ) A compound , C21H30O2 , obtained from cannabis or made synthetically and is the primary intoxicant in marijuana and hashish , according to El Dorado County Coroner , Dr Janet R . Gruber , PhD , whose findings have been confirmed by California Medical Examiner , Dr Shanti Chopra , M . D .  Dr Chopra spoke to reporters in Sacramento this morning and said , "" People need to understand that this particular strain of cannabis was not naturally grown like the cannabis you find in a medical marijuana outlet . This strain was grown using a chemical process that accelerates  production on the plant as it grows . It is the first time we have seen  levels as high as 45 from cannabis . ""  According to several medical marijuana outlets I checked with , the typical  content for their top shelf high grade cannabis is between 22 26 . According to Wikipedia , "" There has never been a documented human fatality solely from overdosing on tetrahydrocannabinol or cannabis in its natural form , though the synthetic  pill "" Marinol "" was cited by the  as being responsible for 4 deaths between January 1 , 1997 and June 30 , 2005 . "" You can read the government report on these Marinol related fatalities at the follow link : http : www . oregon . gov Pharmacy Imports Marijuana Public DeathsFromMarijuanaV17FDAdrugs . pdf  Clearly based on this report and the latest results coming in from California , Marinol the synthetically produced  kills , and with Marijuana on the street with a  content as high as 45 proponents can no longer claim Marijuana has never resulted in a single fatality .  Lawmakers will now need to address this latest issue in states that permit the medicinal , or recreational use of Marijuana . In El Dorado County authorities have recovered the marijuana bud that claimed the life of the yet unidentified Pollock Pines resident whose identity has not been released .  A spokesman for the sheriff ' s department said in addition to recovering the killer bud , they have identified the grower and have seized several other strains of the fatal drug from his grow operation also located in Pollock Pines .  Authorities have released some images of the toxic Marijuana and have identified the grower as , Randall J . Lang , 36 , of Pollock Pines . Though no criminal charges have been filed authorities do want to talk with Lang whose where a bouts have remained a mystery since shortly after the fatality was reported in local news two days ago . The investigation is ongoing and charges against Lang are expected to be filed before the end of this week .  Ronald J . Lang Has Been Identified as the Grower , he Remains at Large  ",satire,text,validation,Football,Conflict,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
20658,20659,"Celtic striker Anthony Stokes is a 1 . 5million transfer target for Championship club Cardiff City .  The Republic of Ireland striker scored the Parkhead club ' s winning goal in Saturday ' s 1 0 victory over Motherwell his seventh strike of the season .  A first choice pick under Ronny Deila on the left wing , the 26 year old signed a new three year deal back in October 2013 .  Anthony Stokes has scored seven times in 24 appearances for Celtic so far this season  Stokes ( centre ) celebrates after scoring the only goal of the game for Celtic against Motherwell on Saturday  Struggling for goals and creativity , however , Cardiff are interested in luring Stokes back to English league football , where he started his career with Arsenal and spent three seasons at Sunderland .  Ninth in the English Championship and two points off the play off places , the Welsh club want to bolster their promotion hopes with new attacking options in next month ' s transfer window .  ' If we can add a couple to the group , things will be a lot better , ' admitted City manager Russell Slade before Saturday ' s 0 0 draw with Rotherham .  ' We ' re going in the right direction but I think there ' s lots of work still to be done and a lot of improvement still to come from the group that we ' ve got . '  Stokes has secured three league title medals and two Scottish Cup medals , scoring 73 goals in 151 domestic appearances and two goals in Europe . He could be one of a number of January departures from Celtic , with Kris Commons , Leigh Griffiths and Beram Kayal also assessing their options .  26 year old Stokes is the target of a 1 . 5million bid from Championship side Cardiff  He has been a first choice pick under Ronny Deila ( pictured ) on the left wing this season  Meanwhile , Stokes has heaped praise on Celtic ' s defence following their performance against Motherwell in the weekend ' s victory .  Most of the post match attention focused on the champions ' attacking play but the Irishman was keen to highlight the contribution of the backline , particularly Efe Ambrose , who has returned to the side in recent weeks following Jason Denayer ' s injury .  ' Efe has come in and done very well , ' Stokes told the club ' s website . ' Obviously Jason has a niggle at the minute but we have that quality in the squad if someone is injured or is lacking form , someone can step in and take their place and Efe has been outstanding .  At present , Kenwyne Jones is Cardiff ' s top scorer with six goals one less than Stokes has scored  Stokes ( right ) fires the ball home to put Celtic 1 0 up against Motherwell on Saturday afternoon  ' They have been doing very well . We have been strong at the back and Craig Gordon has been immense since coming in . ' We have momentum at the minute , winning games and we ' re keeping clean sheets as well . '  Celtic ' s win over the Steelmen was their seventh successive league victory and Stokes insists they are determined to continue their form over the rest of the festive period . We always go out with the mentality of trying to win every game , ' he said . ' Confidence is high at the minute and momentum is good and we will try to take our chances .  ' We haven ' t set a target . We just want to pick up three points in every game . We are on a good run at the minute and we want to maintain that . '  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
20659,20660,"Three police officers enjoyed the hospitality laid on by Arsenal star Mesut Ozil less than 24 hours after the midfielder was subject to an investigation by their force .  Ozil , who is due to play for Germany in Sunday ' s World Cup final , became a police suspect following an alleged assault .   Scroll down to watch Mesut Ozil on Arsenal  Cup victory parade  The freebie : Detective Sergeant Simon Jones ( left ) and Mesut Ozil ( second left ) in the player ' s box at the Emirates with a youth , an unidentified fan and Detective Constable Helen Nicolson ( far right ) , who was not involved in the investigation  Applause : Detective Constable Dean Sliney with Ozil  Two of the officers in the box had been sent to take a statement from Ozil . .  They accepted an invitation to a Premier League match against Sunderland on February 22 in North London the following afternoon and the third detective came along too .  On Friday , after the Mail showed its evidence to Scotland Yard , the Met began an inquiry and said the officers would be questioned under criminal caution .  Freelance photographer Lee Essex dialled 999 on February 21 claiming Ozil had driven his Porsche into him , knocking his arm with a wing mirror .  Police and an ambulance attended the scene , near the footballer ' s North London mansion .  The next day , two of the detectives investigating the case said to be ' avid Arsenal fans ' and a female colleague were treated to seats in Ozil ' s private box at the Emirates .  Police later announced that after ' careful consideration ' no action would be taken .  Ozil , who starred in Germany ' s extraordinary 7 1 drubbing of Brazil in Tuesday ' s Word Cup semi final , was not playing in the match because of an injury , so was in his box with the officers to watch his team beat the Black Cats 4 1 .  Detective Sergeant Simon Jones and Detective Constable Dean Sliney were joined by Detective Constable Helen Nicolson , who was photographed grinning as she shook hands with Ozil .  Officers accepting hospitality from a suspect raises serious questions for the Met .  Mr Essex , 60 , claims Ozil drove at him as he was on the pavement trying to take photographs of the German near his six bedroom 7million mansion . He says the car ' s wing mirror hit his arm .  Ozil disputes this . His spokesman claims the photographer chased and hit Ozil ' s car . The detectives were called in to trace Ozil and are understood to have taken a statement from him .  On March 28 , Mr Essex received a letter from the Met saying no further action would be taken . Met chiefs are said to be ' fuming ' over the revelations involving the officers .  A source said : ' This is stupidity rather than corruption . Their very appearance at this match while an investigation is ongoing will draw the Met into disrepute .  Out of here : Helen Nicolson was photographed grinning as she shook hands with Ozil  Probe : Football superstar Ozil on the night of the incident . Freelance photographer Lee Essex dialled 999 claiming Ozil had driven his Porsche into him , knocking his arm with a wing mirror  ' We have rules and procedures in place so this thing doesn ' t happen . They ' ve not been corrupt and the investigation was handled way above them , but they ' ve allowed this perception to compromise them .  ' It ' s their naivety and stupidity that is the problem and the Met is taking this extremely seriously . It doesn ' t look good . '  Scotland Yard said the officers had been investigated following a complaint from a colleague in February .  A spokesman said : ' In February , officers in Haringey received a complaint from a member of  staff concerning the attendance of a detective sergeant and two detective constables at a football match on Saturday , February 22 .  Pals : Germany ' s midfielder Sami Khedira ( right ) chats with Ozil during a training session in Santo Andre  ' The matter was reported to the Met ' s Directorate of Professional Standards (  ) who are investigating the allegations .  ' The Independent Police Complaints Commission were informed and are supervising the investigation .  ' The officers are due to be interviewed under caution by detectives from the  . The investigation is ongoing .  ' On Friday , February 21 , police attended a road in North London where a member of the public reported he had been in collision with a vehicle and had sustained minor injuries .  ' Following a review of the evidence by the Met Prosecutions , Traffic Evidential Review and Case Management Services , which found no independent evidence , a decision to take no further action was made on March 28 . Both parties were advised . '  Tthere was no comment from Ozil on Friday night . Arsenal said it was a ' private matter ' .  Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
20686,20687,"Former secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton remained a hot search tops for Google during Sunday night ' s Democratic presidential debate ? but some of the questions people were asking won ' t please her campaign .  The top trending questions on Hillary , according to Google Trends , was : ' Will Hillary Clinton get prosecuted ? '  Number 3 was : ' What did Hillary Clinton do that is illegal ? '   ,   ? Hillary Clinton is still a topic on everyone ' s minds , but for all the wrong reasons , according to a Google Trends analysis      : Americans most want to know whether Clinton will be prosecuted criminally    : Anti Clinton protesters gathered Sunday night near the Democratic debate site in Charleston , South Carolina  Questions asked about Clinton ' s two on stage rivals told a different story .  And about the also ran former Maryland governor who has played the role of Greek Chorus in the debates so far , the most burning question was ' Why is Martin O ' Malley running for President ? '  Google senior marketing manager Daniel Sieberg went on the air during the debate broadcast to analyze the results , linking the tough questions about Clinton to scandals linked with an ongoing terror probe .  ' With Hillary Clinton we see things like , "" Will Hillary Clinton get prosecuted ? "" ? questions around the Benghazi hearings , ' Sieberg said . ?       : Bernie Sanders is catching so much fire that Google users want to know why he ' s ' so popular '     : Sanders ' attacks have drawn Clinton into the open where she has hammered him as a policy flip flopper and a coddler of the gun lobby  Google reported that searches about Sanders dominated the night almost uniformly from start to finish .  Overall , he was the most searched Democratic candidate Sunday night in 38 out of 50 U . S . states .  Clinton was tops in just 12 states , all in the northern Great Plains and in the deep South .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
20691,20692,"Prince Harry is set to receive 10million of his mother ' s fortune on his 30th birthday next month .  The inheritance , stipulated in the will of his mother Diana , Princess of Wales , is the same as that received by his older brother Prince William on his 30th birthday in 2012 .  However , the total amount he will receive is expected to be more than that of his brother due to the accumulated interest in the past two years .  The money comes from a trust fund bequeathed to her two sons at the time of her death in 1997 .  In her original will , drawn up in 1993 , the princess had stipulated that both princes would be entitled to their entire share of the capital on reaching 25 .  Prince Harry will receive a large inheritance from his mother ' s estate on his birthday in two weeks time  Prince William also received 10million inheritance on his 30th birthday two years ago , but his brother is expected to receive more due to the accumulated interest  But details of the will were changed by a variation order granted by the High Court on December 19 , 1997 three months after her premature death in a Paris car crash .  Her estate comprised stocks and shares , jewellery , cash from her 17million divorce settlement , dresses and other personal belongings at her Kensington Palace apartment .  Diana stipulated that it would be held in trust to be shared equally between her two sons , even though William will inherit income from the Duchy of Cornwall estate when he becomes Prince of Wales .  Prince Harry , who in recent months broke up with his girlfriend Cressida Bonas and turns 30 on September 15 , currently earns 38 , 847 a year as an Army captain .  The hard partying prince currently lives a stone ' s throw from his childhood home , at Nottingham Cottage , a two bedroom house with its own front garden opposite Kate and William ' s Apartment 1A in Kensington Palace .  The inheritance payout is just part of a series of items and a fortune which is handed over to the princes once they both turn 30 .  Her now famous wedding dress , which has been in the possession of her brother Earl Spencer since her death , will also be transferred into their possession .  Diana pictured wearing the wedding dress on her wedding day with the Prince of Wales in 1981  Lord Spencer said her will stated the  dress and a number of other dresses and belongings were to be ' looked  after ' by him until both the boys turned 30 .  The dress has recently been the centrepiece of the exhibition Diana : A Celebration .  For two months every year it was held at Althorp , the family ' s Northamptonshire estate . For the rest of the year the exhibition moved from country to country .  It was most recently displayed at the Cincinnati Museum Center in America .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
20703,20704,"Governor ' s office says there ' s no timeframe for safe water , says they hope to review water test results in ? 2 3 months . ?   ,  ? Gov . Rick Snyder told a radio show he hopes city residents will have safe water in 2 3 months , but his staff said there is still no timetable on restoring Flint ' s drinking water .  The governor made the statement while speaking with Detroit News conservative Editorial Page Editor Nolan Finley Friday , Jan . 29 , on   , according to the News .  However , Snyder ' s Press Secretary , Dave Murray , said the administration has no timeline for when the city ' s water system will be safe to drink again without filters .  "" Gov . Snyder has said that he is relying on the experts , such as professor Marc Edwards , to determine when the water is again safe to drink , "" Murray said . "" There is no set timetable . The experts , not the calendar , will make that determination . ""  Edwards , a professor from Virginia Tech , is the water expert who first warned Flint River water was highly corrosive , causing lead to leach into the drinking water supply .  Flint Mayor Karen Weaver announced earlier this week that Edwards was been retained by the city to monitor the city ' s water testing efforts . He was also tagged to serve on the governor ' s Water Interagency Coordinating Committee .  The 17 member committee will be asked to "" make recommendations regarding the health and welfare of people exposed to lead , study Flint ' s water infrastructure and determine potential upgrades , review Flint Water Task Force recommendations , and establish ways to improve communication between local and state government , "" Snyder said in an earlier announcement .  The committee met for the first time this week .  The city is currently in the national spotlight after elevated blood levels were discovered in some Flint children after the city changed its water source from Lake Huron water purchased from the Detroit water system to the Flint River in April 2014 , a decision made while the city was being run by a state appointed emergency manager .  State regulators never required that the river water be treated to make it less corrosive , causing lead from plumbing and pipes to leach into the water supply .  Even though the city reconnected to the Detroit water system in October , local officials have advised Flint resident not to drink city water unless they are using a lead clearing filter .  Snyder is expected to sign a 28 million state appropriation ? today to help combat the city ' s water problem .  The Synder administration requested a supplemental appropriation for the current fiscal year that would use 22 million in state money plus some federal money to direct 28 million to address immediate in Flint . It allocates state funding to six department and would enable the state to increase National Guard efforts , increase nurses in schools and replace fixtures in some public places .  Nearly 16 million of the funding would go to provide emergency bottled water , filters and other services . The bill also includes 5 . 8 million to aid the city in ? the loss of revenue ? from unpaid water bills and testing .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
20710,20711,"Copy this code to your website or blog  Appearing on  ' s "" Meet the Press , "" Rubio was asked what he would have done as president to bring the hostages back safely .  He repeatedly insisted that , "" we would have gotten them home . ""  "" It will be like Ronald Reagan , where as soon as he took office , the hostages were released from Iran , "" Rubio said .  "" We would have given them sanctions , crippling sanctions . . . there would have never even been a discussion on these deals until they were released . Iran needs more from us than we need from them . We need to remind ourselves of that , "" he said .  "" This is hostage taking . . . and it ' s created an incentive for more people to do this in the future , "" said Rubio re : Iran prisoner swap .  Republican candidate Sen . Rand Paul , R Ky . , had a more optimistic view of the nuclear deal and the release of the prisoners from Iran .  "" I ' m very thankful to have the folks coming home from Iran , "" Paul said , adding that he personally had worked to get Christian preacher Saeed Abedini freed .  "" Our hope is this is a thawing in relations with Iran and is going to become a better behaved and more civilized Iran , "" Paul said of the implementation of the nuclear deal . "" But I think it ' s going to take continued vigilance on the foreign relations committee and we ' re continuing to watch to try to make sure that they are adhering to the nuclear agreement . ""  On the Democratic side of the 2016 race , Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders also weighed in on the news in separate interviews .  Clinton recalled her time in the Obama Administration , saying , "" I ' m very proud of the role that I played in getting us to the point where we could negotiate the agreement that puts a lid on Iran ' s nuclear weapons program . ""  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
20713,20714,"For years , China has talked about promoting "" green growth . "" But this probably isn ' t what they had in mind .  For the seventh year in a row , monstrous quantities of green algae known as enteromorpha prolifera have sprouted in the coastal waters near Qingdao , China . But this year ' s growth , covering 28 , 900 square kilometers ( 11 , 158 square miles ) , is the biggest outbreak ever recorded , state run news agency Xinhua reported . The previous record was 13 , 000 square kilometers ( 5019 square miles ) in 2008 .  Swimmers and beachgoers were pictured frolicking among the stringy piles of slime , while bulldozers attempted to scoop it away .  Chinese officials have blamed past algae outbreaks on unusually warm seas . Dr Christopher Bolch , an algae expert at the University of Tasmania , says the explanation doesn ' t hold water .  "" You may get faster growth rates with higher temperatures , but you can ' t get such large amounts of biomass without access to nutrients , "" he explained .  According to Bolch , massive algae blooms feed off of high levels of nitrites and phosphates in the water , which typically comes from agricultural waste , industrial pollution , or human sewage from highly populated areas .  Enteromorpha is "" fairly benign , "" said Bolch , but can harm marine ecosystems . Algae blocks sunlight from reaching aquatic life , reduces oxygen levels , and emits bacteria when the algae dies and rots .  Similar but more dangerous types of aquatic growths , such as phytobacteria or dinoflagellates , can produce harmful toxins and posion people . "" They should consider themselves quite lucky that it ' s not one of those , "" said Bolch .  Chinese state media reported that the seaweed began proliferating on June 5 , and that local governments had "" taken measures "" to minimize the impact to marine ecosystems . Officials reported that they had removed around 7 , 335 tons of algae .  Bolch said enteromorpha typically does not cause health problems in humans , but "" large concentrations of anything can be problematic . ""  There could be a risk of skin inflammation , said Bolch . "" If you were stupid enough to go in , I wouldn ' t go in naked . ""  In 2012 : Melting Arctic ' blooms ' with algae  ",true,text,validation,American football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
20728,20729,"The  serial killer is helping to write a book about his heinous crimes because he believes people need to know how a criminal mind works .  Dennis Rader , 69 , is currently serving 10 consecutive life sentences for 10 murders in Wichita , Kansas , between 1974 and 1991 .  He earned the moniker  killer as details emerged that he consistently ' bound ' , ' tortured ' , then ' killed ' his victims none of which his wife knew about until he was charged .  Book deal :  killer Dennis Rader , 69 , revealed he has been working on a book with a professor about his mind . He was dubbed  because he bound , tortured and killed his 10 murder victims from 1974 to 1991  Letter : In a handwritten message dated 29 September , Rader revealed the news himself  Now , the father of two and former church leader has vowed to claims he plans to help the families monetarily by assisting a University of Pennsylvania professor on a book studying his mind .  In a handwritten open letter from his cell in El Dorado Correctional Facility , Kansas , Rader revealed the news .  ' The main reason for the book idea , is to help the  ' s ( Victims Fund ) monetarily wise something I had hoped for years , to help them and in a way to pay my debt to them , ' Rader wrote , according to Kansas News .  ' I can never replace their love ones , my deeds too ' dark ' to understand , the book or movies , etc . is the only way to help them .  ' I mean to burn no bridges and hope some day to open up .  ' People like me , need to be under stood , so the criminal professional field , can better under stand , the criminal mind . That would be my way helping debt to society . '  He adds that he cannot say very much because he is barred from making or fueling profits from his crimes , but he knows the book is ' close to a deal ' .  Inspired : The new movie A Good Marriage that hit theaters yesterday was inspired by Rader lying to his wife  Victims : These pictures show eight of his victims , ranging in age from 21 to 62 , in Wichita , Kansas  Following his arrest , several of the victims ' relatives sued Rader , and secured a settlement that agreed he can never profit from his crimes or coverage of them .  The non fiction book will not be sensationalist , author Katherine Ramsland insists , and Rader will not profit from it .  ' I ' m trying to make this a serious effort that will have some benefit for people who study this kind of crime , ' she said .  That work involved correspondence with Rader , she explained .  His words come after his daughter broke the family ' s nine year silence to condemn a film by Stephen King allegedly inspired by Rader ' s secrets , as his wife never knew about the murders .  Kerri Rawson , has said King is ' exploiting ' the people her father killed and her own family with his new film , A Good Marriage .  Dispute : Rader ' s 36 year old daughter Kerri Rawson ( right ) broke the family ' s nine year silence to condemn author Stephen King ( left ) for his book and film that she claims exploits the victims ' families and her family  The movie , which hit theaters on October 3 , is about a woman who is unaware her husband is a serial killer .  It is based on a short story the author wrote in 2010 , which he then adapted for the screen .  While promoting the film , King has said on programs like The View that he was inspired by the  killer when he came up with the idea for the story , about a man whose own family was unaware of the horrible atrocities he had committed .  Rawson , 36 , and her family were also unaware her father was a killer .  ' He ' s exploiting my father ' s 10 victims and their families , ' Rawson told the The Kansas City Star .  She then said of her father , ' He is not worth all the books and the news stories and all the attention . '  Rader responded in his letter : ' I ' m sorry my daughter is upset , I would be too . '  He added that his wife Paula did not know about the crimes , adding : ' The family knew nothing about my ' Dark Deeds . ' I carried that secret until the day I was arrested . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
20730,20731,"Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel won a fourth term in office in a German national election on Sept. 24, but a fractured vote that brings the far-right into parliament means she is trying to work out a three-way coalition untested at federal level. The new alliance would compromise Merkel s conservative bloc - her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) - along with the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) and environmentalist Greens. Such a three-way tie-up is called a  Jamaica  coalition in reference to the three parties  colors: black, yellow and green, which match those of the Jamaican flag. To secure a coalition agreement, the unlikely allies must overcome differences on a range of issues including immigration policy, Europe, tax and the environment. Following are coalition-related remarks from senior officials:  I advise calm. A way will be found.    With good will on all sides, it is possible. But it is not easy.   I consider such an alliance to be very difficult. In any case, we will enter seriously into talks with the Greens and FDP. Whether this can be successful is strongly dependent on the flexibility of the Greens.   We will conduct these discussions responsibly.   After the years of a  grand coalition  and voters  clear rejection of it ... Jamaica could mean a new, fresh wind for Germany. Maybe it s even a little bit sexy.   The number of refugees coming to us has to be reduced.  On disagreement between Merkel s  and Bavarian  over a cap on migrants:   I am sure we will come to a common position.   On an Oct. 8 meeting between the  and  to discuss a common position before any exploratory talks with  or Greens:  I don t expect clarity to be achieved in one meeting. It is not about where to put a comma, this is about fundamentals.  He described the  s demand for a cap on refugees as  non-negotiable . In separate comments:  We have to make sure that a year like 2015 is not repeated. The integrative capacity of our country has an upper limit.   We are against a rigid upper limit on the admission of asylum seekers. But we must talk about a limit to the integration capacity of our country.   There can be no upper limit.   We should not focus on red lines, but rather on common horizons.  (French President Emmanuel) Macron is a godsend. More cooperation in crime fighting, the military, asylum, energy and digital is within reach.  In separate comments:  We need there to be a way to leave the euro without having to leave the European Union.  Conservative Wolfgang Schaeuble has agreed to relinquish the post of finance minister to become president of parliament, clearing the way for another party to take the key ministry.  It would be fine to have a Green finance minister who cuts the tax burden on the middle classes.  In separate comments:  The uptake of new debts must still be ruled out. (Tax) relief and investments must be made possible in another way.   In case the  becomes part of the government, a new fiscal policy will be of central importance.  ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
20731,20732,"Tehran Iranian  aired images Thursday of what it says is a U . S . stealth drone that went down in Iran last week , an apparently intact  170 drone propped on a pedestal and triumphantly displayed .  "" Military experts are well aware how precious the technological information of this drone is , "" said Brig . Gen . Amir Ali Hajizadeh , commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Aerospace Forces , according to the semi official Fars News Agency .  There was disagreement among Pentagon officials about whether the drone in the video is real . Military and intelligence officials were analyzing the Iran television footage .  One U . S . official said right now the U . S . can ' t be certain it ' s the real stealth drone , because U . S . personnel don ' t have access to it . But he added there ' s no reason to think it ' s a fake .  However , a second senior U . S . military official said that a big question is to how the drone could have remained virtually intact given the high altitude it is believed to have crashed from .  Earlier Thursday , a Pentagon spokesman said the video is being examined .  "" We ' ve seen the imagery . There are folks that are looking at it , "" Capt . John Kirby told a news conference .  He and his fellow spokesman , George Little , would not comment further on whether the drone is the one that the U . S . military said went missing . They did say that the missing U . S . drone had not been recovered .  Pike pointed out that the wings in the picture droop down , whereas in most pictures of such a drone the wings are higher than the center , which is good for stability  Bill Sweetman , an aviation analyst , said the craft appears to be the  170 and it looks real to him .  If the drone came down in what he called a flat spin or what is known as a falling leaf departure , the plane would be pretty much intact , but the belly would be badly scraped . He said all of the electronics inside would most likely be in one piece .  Sweetman doubts the Iranians hacked into the system and took control of the aircraft . It is much more likely it crashed by itself since "" that ' s what drones do . ""  And the condition also suggests it was not shot down but was a system failure . There are no burn marks from a fire , no holes and no outward damage . Sweetman noticed a dent along the leading edge but doesn ' t know what that necessarily means .  "" It ' s fairly clear here from the pictures that the outer wings have been separated . The question is , did that happen in the accident or ( did they take ) them off to move the aircraft , "" Sweatman said .  The  and the Pentagon would not comment on the latest development .  A senior U . S . official with direct access to the assessment about what happened to the unmanned aircraft said it was tasked to fly over western Afghanistan and look for insurgent activity , with no directive either to fly into Iran or spy on Iran from Afghan airspace .  A U . S . satellite quickly pinpointed the downed drone , which apparently sustained significant damage , the senior official said .  Aired by the official Press  network , the video Thursday showed different angles of the unmanned aircraft . It had been flying over the eastern town of Kashmar when it went down , the network said .  "" Recently , our collected intelligence and precise electronic monitoring revealed that this aircraft intended to infiltrate our country ' s airspace for spying missions , "" Hajizadeh said .  "" After it entered the eastern parts of the country , this aircraft fell into the trap of our armed forces and was downed in Iran with minimum damage . ""  Hajizadeh said the plane ' s wingspan "" is around 26 meters ( 85 feet ) . "" It is 4 . 5 meters ( 14 feet , 9 inches ) long , 1 . 84 meters ( 6 feet ) tall and "" is equipped with highly advanced surveillance , data gathering , electronic communication and radar systems , "" he said .  Hajizadeh said B 2 and F 35 planes have used the technology found in the aircraft , which is guided via satellite link and land stations in Afghanistan and the United States .  "" As far as its platform and coating are concerned , this kind of plane has been designed to evade radar systems and from the viewpoint of technology it is amongst the most recent types of advanced aircraft used by the U . S . , "" Hajizadeh said .  The official Islamic Republic News Agency and Fars said Iran ' s Foreign Ministry summoned the Swiss ambassador to Iran , who received an official reprimand for the U . S . actions . Switzerland represents U . S . interests in Iran , which doesn ' t have diplomatic relations with the United States .  Iran demanded U . S . reparations for the act , which it says is "" against every international law and regulation , as well as contrary to the region ' s peace and security , "" Fars said .  Meanwhile , Iran ' s U . N . ambassador said in a letter Thursday to the world body that the drone flew 250 kilometers ( 150 miles ) into Iranian territory "" to the northern region of the city of Tabas . ""  The letter from Ambasador Mohammad Khazaee to U . N . Secretary Genera Ban Ki moon and the heads of the General Assembly and Security Council did not specify how the drone ended up in the hands of the Iranians , saying only it "" faced prompt and forceful action "" by the armed forces .  "" My government emphasizes that this blatant and unprovoked air violation by the United States government is tantamount to an act of hostility against the Islamic Republic of Iran in clear contravention of international law , in particular , the basic tenets of the United Nations Charter , "" Khazaee ' s letter said .  He called for U . N . condemnation of U . S . "" acts of aggression , "" as well as "" clear and effective measures to be taken to put an end to these dangerous and unlawful acts in line with the United Nations ' responsibilities to maintain international and regional peace and security . ""  Shirzad Bozorgmehr , Chris Lawrence , Adam Levine , Barbara Starr , Jennifer Rizzo , Tim Lister , Pam Benson and Joe Sterling contributed to this report .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
20745,20746,"Reuters) - The Republican National Committee asked the charity of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s family on Monday to produce all correspondence its staff had with the U.S. State Department while Clinton served as America’s most senior diplomat.  Clinton’s campaign to win the Nov. 8 presidential election has been dogged by criticism that donors to the Clinton Foundation may have expected special favors from the U.S. government in return. She says donors to the global charity receive no preferential treatment.     “The Clinton Foundation can play a vital role in filling important gaps in the public record by demonstrating its commitment to transparency and making public all correspondence its officials had with the State Department during Secretary Clinton’s tenure,” Reince Priebus, the  chairman, said in a letter to the foundation’s president, Donna Shalala.  The  provided a copy of the letter to reporters.      Spokesmen for Clinton and the foundation, which is known for its work to widen access to  medicines in developing countries, did not respond to a request for comment. Some emails have already emerged that show Clinton Foundation officials seeking meetings with Clinton and other diplomats on behalf of supporters who have made large donations to the foundation.  Foundation officials also sought other favors, including help with visa issues or urging the government to hire certain people, emails show. Spokesmen for Clinton have noted that in several cases the requests from foundation officials were unsuccessful. Thousands more emails from Clinton’s tenure are still in the process of being released as public records. Their release was delayed in part because of Clinton’s decision to use an unauthorized private email server for her work without informing record-keeping officials.  In his letter, Priebus said the foundation’s own records have “the unique ability” to establish whether donors received special treatment.     Clinton promised President Barack Obama that her family’s charities would annually disclose all their donors and seek prior approval from the State Department for any additional money given by foreign governments when Obama made her his most senior diplomat in 2009. The charities said last year they failed to comply with the promises, blaming oversights. The foundation has said it will no longer accept foreign or corporate funding for at least some of its work if Clinton is elected. Her daughter, Chelsea Clinton, will remain on the board. ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
20765,20766,"When I was a lieutenant colonel on active duty, I supervised an officer in the U.S. Air Force who was (and is) an Iraqi-American. He came to the  as a boy after President George H.W. Bush’s call to the Shia to revolt against Saddam in the aftermath of Desert Storm, which was ruthlessly suppressed by Saddam as Bush and company did nothing. As an Iraqi-American in uniform, he served as an interpreter attached to the 101st Airborne in Iraq in 2004, if memory serves–dangerous times indeed for  troops in Iraq. He wrote to me, rightly outraged, after Ben Carson made his anti-Muslim comments back in September of 2015 during the presidential primary season. It made him so sad, so angry, as a  Air Force veteran and as a Muslim-American to hear such ignorance, such bias, such Islamophobia. And it made me angry as well.  So many Muslim-Americans have served this country with distinction, troops like Navy veteran Nate Terani, who has written an eloquent article atweblink on the prejudice he faced as an Iranian-American. Terani is doing his best to fight a new enemy, Islamophobia, the irrational fear of Islam fed by the unhinged rhetoric of candidates like Ben Carson and Donald Trump. Here is how Terani puts it in his article : In Iran, theocratic fundamentalists sowed division and hatred of outsiders–of Westerners, Christians, and other religious minorities. Here in America, the right wing seems to have stolen passages directly from their playbook as it spreads hatred of immigrants, particularly Muslim ones. This form of nationalistic bigotry–Islamophobia–threatens the heart of our nation. When I chose to serve in the military, I did so to protect what I viewed as our sacred foundational values of liberty, equality, and democracy. Now, 20 years later, I’ve joined forces with fellow veterans to again fight for those sacred values, this time right here at home.  As America builds walls and weapons and wages war all over the globe, as our leaders look outward for enemies, we’re forgetting the enemy within America, the enemy that is a much more serious threat to our national security. That enemy, which exists right here in America’s heartland, is ignorance, hatred, fear, aggression, compounded by a cowardly desire to “get even” and to “make America great again” by ostracizing other Americans who are considered “different” and “untrustworthy.” But spreading fear and bigotry is not a way to national security; it’s a way to national insanity. Islamophobia, like all other irrational fears, must be fought and defeated. William J. Astore is a retired lieutenant colonel (USAF). He taught history for fifteen years at military and civilian schools and blogs at Bracing Views . He can be reached at wastore@pct.edu . Reprinted from Bracing Views with the author’s permission.  ",fake,news,validation,US elections,US elections,satire,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
20786,20787,"A pregnant mother who thought she was expecting a small seven pound baby ended up giving birth to a daughter who tipped the scales at huge 14 pounds .  Alisha Hernandez of Alamosa in southern Colarado went into labor on Monday and gave birth to Mia Yasmin Garcia by caesarean section at the San Luis Valley Hospital .  But Miss Hernandez and midwives who helped deliver the baby were shocked when baby Mia arrived looking a lot larger than they first thought she would be .  Mia Yasmin Garcia shortly after being born by cesarean section who shocked hospital staff when she weighed in at almost fourteen pounds  Alisha Hernandez of Alamosa in southern Colarado went into labor on Monday and ended up giving birth to Mia Yasmin Garcia by caesarean section at the San Luis Valley Hospital  After being weighed it was revealed that the newborn tipped the scales at 13 pounds , 13 ounces and measuring 22 inches long  Her father Francisco Garcia said : ' They ' re all shocked that they ' re seeing a baby like that . Even in the San Luis Valley , they were like whoa ! They opened their eyes like they ' ve never seen a baby like that '  And after being weighed it was revealed that the newborn tipped the scales at 13 pounds , 13 ounces and measuring 22 inches long .  Her father Francisco Garcia told 9News : ' They ' re all shocked that they ' re seeing a baby like that . Even in the San Luis Valley , they were like whoa ! They opened their eyes like they ' ve never seen a baby like that .  The nurse , she was shocked . She ' s like "" Come here ! Come here ! Come here ! "" I went and I ' m like , what happened ? She ' s like , well check out this ! I checked it , and it was 13 pounds and 13 ounces . '  But Miss Hernandez and midwives who helped deliver the baby were shocked when baby Mia arrived looking a lot larger than they first thought she would be  Shortly after her birth , baby Mia was flown to a Denver area hospital after suffering from low glucose levels and having trouble breathing  Mr Garcia explained that all of the couple ' s other children were all born at normal weights and even the combined weight of their twins at birth was lower than Mia  Doctors hope Mia can join her parents and four older sisters Britney , Ximena , Yulissa and Yuliana at home within the next week  Mr Garcia explained that all of the couple ' s other children were all born at normal weights and even the combined weight of their twins at birth was lower than Mia .  He also added that the newborn would be the couple ' s last child together , even though they had ' tried their best ' to have a boy .  Shortly after her birth , baby Mia was flown to a Denver area hospital after suffering from low glucose levels and having trouble breathing .  Baby Mia ' s weight shocked midwives and her parents when she was born at the San Luis Valley Hospital in Colarado , pictured  But doctors hope she can join her parents and four older sisters Britney , Ximena , Yulissa and Yuliana at home within the next week .  Last year , a mother in Utah also gave birth to a 14lb baby boy , who was dubbed America ' s biggest baby of 2013 .  Joel Brandon Jr . , nicknamed J . J . , was born by caesarean section at Timpanogos Regional Hospital in Orem , weighing in at 14 pounds and measuring 22 inches long .  His mother , Sara Brandon , said she was stunned by how big J . J . was when she delivered him at 38 and a half weeks , as a previous ultrasound predicted he was going to be 11 pounds .  Baby Joel Brandon Junior , who was born last year weighing 14 pounds , the same as baby Mia , in Utah . He is pictured with his mother Sara  The largest baby ever recorded was born in Canada to mother Anna Bates in 1879 , a boy weighing 23lb 12oz , who died 11 hours later .  In 2005 a Brazilian woman gave birth to a 17lb baby boy named Admilton dos Santos .  He was mother Francisca ' s fifth child and it is thought that his size was caused by gestational diabetes .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
20787,20788,"One of Donald Trump s latest conspiracy theories he s been spreading far and wide about his opponent Hillary Clinton is that she s on drugs and there should be a drug test before the next debate.Of course, he s likely saying this, because as per usual, anything said about him he turns around to say about Hillary. He s a master projector and this  drug test  poppycock is no different. He s been sniffing constantly through the debates, and many have asked if he may be on cocaine or something else.When White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest was just asked about a potential drug test, he said: You re telling me that the candidate who snorted his way through the first two debates is accusing the other candidate of taking drugs? That s a curious development in the campaign. Watch for yourself here:.@PressSec on Trump's call for candidate drug test: Trump ""snorted his way through the first two debates "" weblink   (@politico) October 17, 2016Of course, when pressed if he was insinuated Trump was on drugs, Earnest said he was joking.However, one does wonder why Trump keeps sniffing. Is he sick? Does he lack stamina? Is he taking drugs to stay awake? Who s really to know, but since Trump did raise the question of drug tests, maybe we should find out. Maybe he s saying it to deflect because everyone has been questioning him.See, two can play at this conspiracy theory game.How about we stick to the issues? Or the fact that Trump is still deflecting from his lack of showing his taxes. You know someone has something to hide when they can t answer questions and choose to make lame claims about their opponent.Good on Earnest for laughing it off, as we all should.Featured image via video screen capture   Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
20808,20809,"Gina Rodriguez can attest that winning a Golden Globe isn ' t a golden ticket to a perfect life .  "" People think you hit some kind of success and then , boom , everything unfolds for you . But that ' s completely untrue , "" the Jane the Virgin star tells  in this week ' s issue . "" You have to work twice as hard because now everyone ' s , like , ' Yo ! You got this award . You better get up on it ! ' ""  And Rodriguez , 31 , has certainly been getting "" up on it . ""  In addition to Jane , the actress has multiple films slated to be released in 2016 including Deepwater Horizon with Mark Wahlberg , Kurt Russell and Kate Hudson .    : Our World ' s Most Beautiful Stars React to Nice Internet Comments about Themselves  But Rodriguez admits that a lot in her personal life has gotten more complicated since her big win last January .  Relationships and friendships have gotten a little more difficult , "" says Rodriguez , who split from boyfriend Henri Esteve earlier this year . "" You have to keep a real and honest and clear passageway with everybody in your life . You can ' t allow the yes men to get in your head because the hype can be scary . ""  ? For more from Rodriguez , pick up the latest issue of  , on newsstands Friday  Keeping Rodriguez grounded is her work with causes that things that really make her "" heart tick , "" like the upcoming Mo ? t Moment Film Festival , which will allow young filmmakers to submit 30 to 60 second films for the chance to win a 25 , 000 grant .  "" The Hollywood Foreign Press Association changed my life . They found me in my little corner of all this television madness . I love that they are giving me the chance to give back and find a young filmmaker who has been in their own little nook , "" says Rodriguez , who will serve as a judge at the festival to the celebrate the champagne brand ' s 25th anniversary at the Golden Globes . "" Plus , I love champagne . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
20818,20819,"was ready to promote Orgeron pending the outcome of a final home game against  .  The Trojans cost Orgeron the gig by losing , 35 14 .   players got it right this time for Clay Helton , who went from interim to permanent whatever that means in college football on Monday , two days after an inspiring 40 21 win over the Bruins .  The only part of the hire that was surprising was the timing , with Athletic Director Pat Haden making the call independent of what happens in Saturday ' s Pac 12 championship game against Stanford .  The move angered some Trojans fans who wanted the school to make a bold outside hire of a big name with head coaching experience . Also not happy is the radio talk show host who reported that  was ready to open the bank for a mega hire , so long as everyone kept it quiet .   played it safe , but will it be sorry ?  Helton is a fine choice because he brings stability and sanity to a program , and players , who need it . He is a high character , low key model of temperance .  Helton clearly won over the locker room and has the respect of the freshmen and their elders .  Senior quarterback Cody Kessler got emotional about Helton after Saturday ' s game .  "" That man is special , "" Kessler said . "" No matter what happens , if we win 10 games or lose , he is going to stay the same . He is very real . That ' s why we love him . I know it ' s not my decision what happens with the coach next year , but we want to do everything we can to give him the opportunity to be the permanent head coach . ""  It didn ' t hurt that the Helton hiring was encouraged Sunday by Los Angeles Times columnist Bill Plaschke , which gives the coach some media cover .  Players almost always want the interim coach hired because a regime change is difficult .  Short term , the hiring should inspire  against Stanford , which is possibly playing for a spot in the four team national playoff .  Promoting coaches from within is hit and miss . Ohio State did it with Luke Fickell after it fired Jim Tressel . It was not good , but it led to the grand slam hiring of Urban Meyer , which was tremendous .  Hiring the right coach is everything in college football . There is a big difference between Fickell and Meyer .  Miami promoted Larry Coker after Butch Davis fled for the  . Coker took the players that Davis recruited and won the 2001 national title but couldn ' t sustain the momentum over time .  However , sometimes continuity pays off . Tom Osborne won three national titles after following Bob Devaney at Nebraska .  Oregon ' s handoff from Rich Brooks to Mike Bellotti to Chip Kelly to Mark Helfrich was successful , and David Shaw has kept Stanford in contention after the departure of Jim Harbaugh .  Dabo Swinney , who has Clemson undefeated and ranked No . 1 in the polls , was coaching wide receivers when , in the span of two months during the fall of 2008 , he was promoted to interim head coach and then hired permanently .  It even worked at  , when the school hired former longtime assistant John Robinson to replace John McKay .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
20822,20823,"Watch Jill Stein explain why she s working to force a recount in 3 states that used to be Democrat strongholds:weblink Ms. Stein starts in her answers during the  interview in the video above,  Why would anyone not want to count the votes, and to be sure that they were counted accurately? What we know is that there were lots of hacks taking place around this election.   Much of the equipment used is not only open to hacks, it basically invites hacks and malfeasance, tampering, human error, etc.  Here are 10 reasons this is a horrible idea:1) The votes were counted with integrity. The real experts do not believe a recount is needed. As described by the Detroit Free Press, The report says the scientists believe they have identified a questionable trend of Clinton performing worse in Wisconsin counties that relied on electronic voting machines, compared to paper ballots and optical scanners. It wasn t clear from the reports why Michigan and Pennsylvania were reportedly cited by the scientists.Chris Thomas, the longtime director of Michigan s Bureau of Elections, said Michigan doesn t use the electronic voting machines identified in the report as being the sources of potential hacking. We are an entire paper and optical scan state,  Thomas told the Free PressWednesday.  Nothing is connected to the Internet. 2) There s zero proof of any actual hacking, malware or illegal tampering with any votes in any of these states. The examples given in the report are hypothetical possibilities that were discussed well before the election, with known equipment limitations before this election took place. In Stein s own words:  Let me be very clear: We do not have evidence of fraud,  Stein says.  We do not have smoking guns. What we do have is an election that was surrounded by hacking. 3) Are politics the real motivation? If this recount were truly about the election s integrity and improving public confidence in the process, why not include recounts in New Hampshire and Nevada   which were states that Clinton won with very narrow margins? In New Hampshire, Clinton won by 2,700 votes  which is the smallest margin of victory in any state. In Nevada, the Hillary Clinton margin of victory was 26,000 votes  far less than the Trump margin of victory in Pennsylvania.4) The threshold for a recount will likely not be reached in Pennsylvania. There would need to be evidence of widespread voter fraud for a court-ordered recount in PA. For example,  A candidate can t actually file for a vote recount under Pennsylvania law. Instead, they would have to challenge a county board regarding its vote computations, and a state appeals judge would have to rule that a statewide recount is necessary. That means the Clinton campaign (or in this case Ms. Stein s team) would either have to request a recount by petition in every voting district or present a prima facie case showing voter fraud. (Prima facie is a lower threshold than beyond a reasonable doubt. A judge would just have to rule that fraud probably occurred in order to call for a recount.) However, Jill Stein said she does not have evidence of fraud.Further, as the article explains,  What should be most troubling for Clinton supporters who want her to ask for a Pennsylvania recount is that in the past, these recounts have yielded a shift of just a couple hundred votes, certainly not enough to overturn anything in Pennsylvania. Clinton s team would have to rely on proving massive voter fraud enough for a Pennsylvania court to rule the entire state invalid   an unprecedented and nearly impossible feat.5) People are giving millions of dollars to a cause that is a waste of their money, based upon many flawed assumptions, and some hopes and dreams that are unrealistic. No doubt these people want Hillary Clinton to win, and they see this as a longshot possibility. However, they are being deceived and misled based on generalities about election hacking risks that were known for many months prior to the election.Just because emails were hacked from Hillary Clinton s server or other emails accounts were hacked that related to the election does not in any way prove that voting machines were hacked or counts were tampered with in any state. To give false hope to these people is similar to collecting money to promise a white Christmas to the children in Miami. Some are even calling this a scam, although I would not go that far. This website points out:Then there is the fine print that will allow Stein s campaign to keep all of the money even if no recounts are done:We cannot guarantee a recount will happen in any of these states we are targeting. We can only pledge we will demand recounts in those states. If we raise more than what s needed, the surplus will also go toward election integrity efforts and to promote voting system reform.6) These recounts set up a dangerous precedent for future elections and potentially for many other areas of life where anyone can question any numbers based upon the view  maybe there was a hack  somewhere, somehow.  Almost any data can be questioned using this type of superficial analysis. The thinking goes along the lines,  if we turn over enough rocks, we re bound to find something, right? Yes   one fear is that this actually gives all cybersecurity pros a bad name if/when  experts  make these type of claims with huge caveats which create numerous opportunities to deny responsibility. Is our new threshold a  potential for hacking?  If we use that litmus test in other areas of life, what can be excluded?Or, in J. Alex Halderman s own words,  Were this year s deviations from pre-election polls the results of a cyberattack? Probably not. I believe the most likely explanation is that the polls were systematically wrong, rather than that the election was hacked. My reaction: Really? In that case, why did you go public? If I were to use that logic in any of my many cybersecurity roles regarding security incidents in government, I would be fired or at least sent back to reexamine the specific details before going public. Might this just be a  stunt for these people to get more attention?7) The states involved have extensive certification processes and procedures which were followed. As I said back on Nov. 5, before we knew the election outcomes and when Hillary Clinton was leading in most of the polls, we should trust the vote for many reasons. I still believe this  unless specific facts show otherwise. Anyone who clams fraud or other election problems needs to come forward with real evidence. Polls being wrong is not evidence of election fraud.8) A recount will  improve integrity or confidence in this election, as Jill Stein is claiming. Imagine if this process does move forward and a recount is begun in one more or states. Numerous global reporters will rush to the state(s) involved to watch the process unfold on live TV. While (hopefully) the coverage will not be quite as intense and exhausting as the Florida recount of 2000, the focus will dominate the news for weeks. We will hear assorted experts offer theories, opinions and select facts regarding what is going on and what they expect to happen next and if Hillary Clinton could actually become our next president and not Donald Trump. Rabbit trails will be followed.I suspect that this extensive scrutiny may actually lower, not raise, the level of confidence in these elections  with no change in the overall outcome of the winner.9) Government resources will be diverted. Time energy, money, will be taken away from other government projects. Assuming the actual cost of the effort is paid by the money raised by Stein, government staff will still be required to be pulled off of other meaningful projects and priorities to complete the recount process. Just the coordination and project management will be immense, and there will an untold number of related impacts.As this article explains, the cost for paper ballot recounts in each precinct in Michigan will be $125 for Stein. Do you really think this total process can be completely done for $125 per precinct, with all government costs included? I think that extra money and time spent will come from somewhere else in government.10) The country will not move on to the important process of uniting, moving forward and focusing on governing with our next president of the United States. This effort is a major distraction and brings on more uncertainty at a time that we don t need it as a nation. Many on the right claim this recount effort is just coming from sore losers who can t admit defeat. I m not so sure, but whether you agree with that analysis or not, there is no doubt that these recounts will extend the election uncertainty for longer and fuel more anger.Final ThoughtsThe U.S. Department of Homeland Security under the Obama administration was helping state election teams in at least 46 states, and they have not come out and even implied any hacking of voter machines occurred. Don t you think that they would have raised red flags by now if they expected wrongdoing?Meanwhile, Jill Stein has every legal right to request these recounts, but that does not make it a smart (or the right) thing to do. These recounts will not have the results she is claiming.Worse than that, naming the Russians or pointing to (unknown) hackers as the reason for the recounts will open up governments to a plethora of current and future problems. We are witnessing a sad close to the 2016 presidential election, which is being driven by hypothetical hacking scenarios based on the lie that if pollsters didn t get the results they expected, someone must have been hacked.Finally, there is no doubt that all states need improvements to the voting machines used and the processes followed to count the votes. These improvements should begin immediately for upcoming elections in 2017 and beyond. Audits as described by Wired magazine make sense moving forward.Nevertheless, cybersecurity pros must be extra careful how often they cry  hacked,  and never throw in a  maybe  or  perhaps  to cover their tracks and deny accountability later.For entire story: Government Technology",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present
20825,20826,"Pentagon Retreats on Enlistment Bonus Collection Efforts October 26, 2016 Pentagon Retreats on Enlistment Bonus Collection Efforts  Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Wednesday ordered a suspension in efforts to seek repayment of thousands of enlistment bonuses and tuition assistance mistakenly paid to members of the California National Guard.  ""While some soldiers knew or should have known they were ineligible for benefits they were claiming, many others did not,"" Carter, who is in Europe meeting with U.S. allies, said in a statement.  ""This process has dragged on too long, for too many service members,"" he said. ""Too many cases have languished without action. That's unfair to service members and to taxpayers.""  Last week the Los Angeles Times reported that about 10,000 California National Guard troops had been ordered to repay enlistment bonuses - some of more than $15,000 - that were improperly given to them. The newspaper said audits revealed the California Guard had overpaid troops in order to entice them to join and meet enlistment targets more than a decade ago.  Senior Defense Department officials have been told to assess the bonus situation and establish a ""streamlined, centralized process"" by the start of next year, Carter said in the statement.  ""The objective will be to complete the decision-making process on all cases as soon as possible - and no later than July 1,"" he said.  The issue has caused outrage in Congress. Members from both parties have called on the Pentagon to drop efforts to reclaim the bonuses.  House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said on Fox News on Tuesday that if the Pentagon did not drop the effort to reclaim re-enlistment bonuses, lawmakers would move legislation on the issue. Article by Doc Burkhart , Vice-President, General Manager and co-host of  with Rick Wiles Got a news tip? Email us at Help support the ministry of  with your one-time or monthly gift of financial support.   !     APP!  HERE!  ",fake,news,validation,World conflict,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
20857,20858,"U . S . Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday the Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation into the massive oil spill spreading through the Gulf of Mexico .  Holder said the investigation , which began "" some weeks ago , "" would be comprehensive and aggressive . He promised that the federal officials will prosecute anyone who broke the law .  "" We have begun both a criminal as well as a civil investigation as is our obligation under the law , "" Holder said . "" We have what we think is a sufficient case to have begun a criminal investigation . ""  Holder emphasized that the investigation will cover all aspects of the oil spill , including the deaths of 11 workers in the April 20 explosion and fire on the Deepwater Horizon rig that started the leak .  He refused to name any potential targets of the investigation , saying , "" I don ' t want to unnecessarily cast aspersions . "" However , Holder said "" nothing is off the table "" in the probe , and he cited false statements as one of several potential targets of criminal charges .  "" This disaster is nothing less than a tragedy , "" Holder said . "" As our review expands in the days ahead , we will be meticulous , we will be comprehensive , and we will be aggressive . We will not rest until justice is done . ""  Holder stressed that "" anyone found responsible for this spill ( must be ) held accountable . That means enforcing the appropriate civil and if warranted , criminal authorities to the full extent of the law . ""  Among other things , Holder said Justice Department lawyers are examining possible violations of the Clean Water Act and the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 . He also said prosecutors are looking into potential violations of the Migratory Bird Treaty and Endangered Species Acts , which provide penalties for injury and death to wildlife .   responded in a statement that it "" will cooperate with any inquiry the Department of Justice will undertake , just as we are doing in response to the other inquires that are already ongoing . ""  Holder made the announcement during a visit to the Gulf to survey the  oil spill and meet with state attorneys general and federal prosecutors from Louisiana , Alabama and Mississippi , according to the Justice Department .  Last month , a group of senators including Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Sen . Barbara Boxer , D California sent Holder a letter expressing concerns "" about the truthfulness and accuracy of statements submitted by  to the government in its initial exploration plan for the site . "" They asked the attorney general to investigate possible criminal and civil wrongdoing .  In a reply to that letter last week , a Justice Department official refused to say whether a criminal investigation had begun .  "" The Department of Justice will take all necessary and appropriate steps to ensure that those responsible for this tragic series of events are held fully accountable , "" Assistant Attorney General Ronald Welch wrote .  Holder said last month the Justice Department would "" ensure that  is held liable . ""  Boxer issued a statement Monday praising the criminal probe .  "" In preparation for the Environment Committee ' s hearings on the oil spill , it became clear that  ' s assurances that they could respond effectively to a serious spill at this site were totally at odds with reality , "" Boxer said in the statement . "" What is happening in the Gulf eleven people dead , and an entire ecosystem and the jobs that depend on it at risk justifies a thorough criminal investigation . ""  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
20864,20865,"Taliban storm airport complex in southern Afghan city Kandahar  An Afghan security man stands guard at a police station after clashes between the Afghan police and Taliban militants in the city of Kandahar , Afghanistan . (  Photo )  Taliban militants stormed the airport complex in Afghanistan s southern Kandahar city on Tuesday , triggering gunfights and explosions as a conference kicked off in Pakistan with hopes of reviving peace talks with the insurgents .  There were no immediate reports of casualties from the attack , the second major assault in a span of 24 hours in the city recognised as the birthplace of the Taliban , although several passengers were trapped in an airport terminal .  Taliban gunmen were targeting residential blocks housing government employees and the joint Afghan  military base at the airport , said Samim Khpalwak , a spokesman for the Kandahar provincial governor .  Several insurgents managed to breach the first gate of the complex , he told  , as the battles raged .  They have taken up position in a school inside the complex .  Local residents , who were told to hunker down in their homes , reported piercing explosions and a booming volley of gunfire .  Mohammad Mohsin Sultani , the military spokesman in Kandahar , said Afghan troops were engaged in a heavy firefight to beat back the attackers , although their exact numbers were unclear .  Some passengers were left trapped inside the civilian terminal , far from the fighting in the sprawling complex , when their commercial flight to India was suspended , Kandahar airport director Ahmadullah Faizi told  .  The Taliban are ramping up attacks on government and foreign targets despite the onset of the harsh winter season , when the fighting usually winds down .  Tuesday s attack comes after days of fevered speculation about the fate of Taliban Mullah Akhtar Mansour following reports that he was critically wounded in an internal firefight .  The Taliban claimed responsibility for the Kandahar attack , which comes on the eve of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani s high profile visit to Islamabad for the Heart of Asia regional conference .  A number of martyrdom seekers armed with heavy and light weapons entered Kandahar airbase undetected and have begun engaging the large number of foreign invaders and their hirelings inside , the Islamist group said on their website .  Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid on Twitter claimed that 150 Afghan and foreign soldiers had been killed in the fierce fighting .  The insurgents are regularly known to exaggerate battlefield claims .  Ghani s willingness to visit longtime regional nemesis Pakistan for the conference , despite a spike in cross border tensions , has signalled a renewed push to jumpstart peace talks with the Taliban .  It has become a familiar pattern . Whenever there is talk about peace talks , the Taliban launch big attacks , Kabul based military analyst Atiqullah Amarkhil told  .  It shows that either they want to scuttle efforts towards talks or want big concessions before they reach the negotiating table .  Pakistan , which has historically supported the Afghan Taliban and wields considerable influence over the insurgents , hosted a milestone first round of peace negotiations in July .  But the talks soon stalled when the Taliban belatedly confirmed the death of their longtime leader Mullah Omar .  Tuesday s brazen raid comes after days of frantic conjecture about the fate of Mansour following reports that he was shot in a firefight with his own commanders in Pakistan .  The Taliban released an audio message Saturday , purportedly from Mansour , vehemently rejecting reports of any shootout as enemy propaganda .  Ghani also said Monday that there was no evidence to prove that Mansour is dead after multiple insurgent sources cast doubt on the authenticity of the Taliban audio message .  The Islamists denials have fallen on sceptical ears , however , especially after they kept the death of longtime chief Mullah Omar secret for two years .  The Taliban , which formally split for the first time last month , had appeared anxious to quell speculation about Mansour s death . Rumours of his demise could potentially intensify the power struggle within the insurgent movement .  Mansour s group has seen a resurgence in recent months , opening new battlefronts across the country with Afghan forces struggling to rein in the expanding insurgency .  They briefly captured the strategic northern city of Kunduz in September in their most spectacular victory in 14 years .  Two Taliban suicide bombers raided a Kandahar police station on Monday , triggering an all night firefight with police officers . Both attackers were killed in the gun battle , in which three officials were wounded .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
20871,20872,"Modi ' s best bet on  is his predecessor hopes Manmohan will be able to convince Congress leadership  Monday , 30 November 2015 7 : 10am  Place : New Delhi Agency : dna From the print edition   hopes Manmohan will be able to convince Congress leaders and get the Bill passed  After the tea break , it ' s time to read the tea leaves . ? Will Prime Minister Narendra Modi get the backing of the Congress in passing the Goods and Services Tax (  ) Bill in Parliament or not ? Though Modi reached out to the Opposition over a cup of tea on Friday , the bad taste of politics still lingers . ? Modi , who is in Paris on Monday ( today ) for the Climate Summit , is betting on his predecessor Manmohan Singh to swing around the Congress and ensure the passage of the Bill .  But the Congress is in no mood to forget the past . "" He ( Modi ) has humiliated us on foreign soil . That was not prime ministerial . . . , "" senior spokesman Anand Sharma said . During the meeting at the Prime Minister ' s residence , finance minister Arun Jaitley is understood to have explained to Gandhi and Singh the government ' s position on the three changes the Opposition was seeking . The Congress sought a week ' s time to reply . Modi told Singh that the government was ready to talk anytime . And government sources said the ball is in the Congress court .  In the Congress court , an intense debate has started . Some leaders , close to vice president Rahul Gandhi , argue that there is no point in working out a compromise formula by sacrificing the party ' s three non negotiable issues . Modi is pinning his hopes on Singh as it was the latter who made the Friday meeting with Gandhi possible . Modi had sought the good offices of Singh at an event in the Rashtrapati Bhavan recently . ?  The government expects that Singh ' s equations with Gandhi and with consumer states like Bihar and West Bengal , led by  ( U ) and Trinamul Congress (  ) , respectively , backing the legislation , the Congress may ultimately fall in line . The government is also ready to explore some "" face savers "" for the Opposition party , provided the Congress shows some flexibility , sources said .  Congress insiders say that much of the government ' s conciliatory tones will be judged on Monday , when the issue of intolerance that dominated the two day special debate on Constitution will be in focus again in the Lok Sabha . A call attention notice of  ( M ) ' s P Karunakaran and Congress ' K C Venugopal has been listed for discussing "" situation arising out of incidents of intolerance in the country . "" A similar notice by  ( M ) leader Sitaram Yechuri is awaiting admission in the Rajya Sabha , where Opposition parties are mulling to censure the government , through a resolution .  The government has agreed for a discussion on intolerance , an issue dear to the Opposition . It appears that the Congress seems more interested in the "" intolerance debate , "" sources said . The government ' s readiness to debate "" intolerance "" in both Houses of Parliament may prevent disruption , but the Congress says it hasn ' t softened its stance on key issues .  "" We don ' t call it intolerance . Our notice is to discuss the orchestrated campaign to create an atmosphere of fear and intimidation and the assault on constitutional rights and also how senior ministers humiliated top intellectuals , historians and scientists of the country . That is not merely intolerance , "" said a Congress leader in the Rajya Sabha .  "" We want the  to be pro industry , pro trade and pro consumer . We have also asked the government to discuss our proposals and get back to us . We hope there will be more structured meetings , "" said another senior Congress leader .  Asked if the Prime Minister ' s speech in the Lok Sabha had helped reduced some bitterness , senior Congress spokesman Anand Sharma said that Modi had humiliated us on foreign soil . But he said that the  has ultimately realised that parliamentary democracy "" can ' t be run by diktat and sermon , and , has therefore , tried to reach out "" .  The party says it will also watch Modi ' s speeches in Paris . "" He repeatedly said India received no respect before he came ( to power ) and that previous governments had done nothing . Yesterday , he turned his own speeches upside down and gave credit to previous governments . Does he really think people ' s memory is that short ? "" said Congress leader Shakeel Ahmed .  Congress leader Digvijaya Singh also questioned the Prime Minister ' s memory . "" He should either accept that he was trying to fool the people of India or he has a habit of telling lies , "" he said .  Looks like a tea break won ' t break ice so fast .  1 . An 18 cap on  in the constitutional amendment itself .  ( The government feels that this would restrict future flexibility in making changes as it would require the approval of both Houses of Parliament by a two thirds majority . Also , in emergency situations , like war or other eventualities , it would create a problem ) .  2 . Revoking of powers to states to impose a 1 tax on supply of goods , over and above the  rate  3 . An independent redressal mechanism to resolve issues that may arise between states or between the Centre and states  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
20872,20873,"Trump s spokeswoman Katrina Pierson isn t known for being the brightest crayon in the box. She once went on air wearing a necklace made of bullets to show how committed the Trump campaign is to upholding the second amendment at all costs, for instance. Well, she s back now, and this time she is defending her crazy boss and his even crazier supporters and their violent tendencies.Chances are, these days, if there s a Donald Trump rally, there is violence. So, of course, when being interviewed, Pierson and other workers on the Trump campaign are asked to denounce this behavior. Of course, they never do, though. On Sunday, Pierson appeared on Fox and was asked about the escalating violence at Trump rallies. Host Jeannine Pirro wondered aloud if the entire Trump show   the violence the protests, all of it   were anarchy, or perhaps some kind of game to get a specific candidate nominated. Pierson s response was predictably stupid: I think a lot of it is anarchy, but I think more importantly this is organized chaos. They are trying to create a public perception of violence to scare people [away from] supporting Mr. Trump. She then went on to make the ridiculous assertion that conservative values have been absent in the community  since the days of  favorite Ronald Reagan, and ever since it has been a free for all for the militant left in this political [sic] correct society where it s okay for them to use violence as an intimidation tactic or just yell  racist  or  Hitler  to smear someone s character. Pirro then hit Pierson with something she can t stand: facts (shocking, coming from a Fox host, I know). She reminded the spokeswoman that there were no protests and no violence at the rallies and speeches of the other  presidential hopefuls. Pierson chose to ignore this and say: You have people like MoveOn.org and Black Lives Matter and some of these anarchy groups, that s all they do is look for fights. They ve been provoking people all over the country long before Mr. Trump entered this race. Pierson went on to give the ominous warning that Trump s supporters would only be emboldened by those who try to plot to stop him from getting the  2016 nomination, saying: This is the American people having a head-on collision with the truth, which is that the Democratic side is not on the side of the people, and the militant left is their army. And what we re seeing now is that people supporting Mr. Trump, they re not afraid. They re going to go out there and they re going to fight for American values and American families because that s who needs to come first. This woman is just another example of how ridiculous   but also dangerous   Trump, his supporters, and his campaign are. They are to be stopped at all costs.Watch the video below, via Raw Story:Featured image via video screen capture",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present
20887,20888,"Rafale jet deal on right track , however unlikely to be signed in current trip , says French President Francois Hollande  ' The Rafale is a major project for India and France . It will pave the way for an unprecedented industrial and technological cooperation , including ' Make in India ' , for the next 40 years , ' said ? French President Francois Holland .  Depite that the Rs 60 , 000 crore Rafale jets deal is on the "" right track "" , French President Francois Hollande indicated today that it is unlikely to be signed during his current visit to India . Hollande will today commence his three day India visit from Chandigarh where he , along with Prime Minister  Narendra Modi , will attend a business summit and visit various landmarks .  "" The Rafale is a major project for India and France . It will pave the way for an unprecedented industrial and technological cooperation , including ' Make in India ' , for the next 40 years . Agreeing on the technicalities of this arrangement obviously takes time , but we are on the right track "" , Hollande told  in an interview ahead of his visit beginning today .  He also noted that Indo French cooperation in defence "" is part of our strategic partnership . It is based on trust , a very strong trust between both our countries . ""  India and France are in negotiations for 36 Rafale fighter jets in fly away conditions since the announcement for the deal was made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April during his visit to France .  However , the deal is yet to be sealed as both sides are still negotiating the price which is estimated to be about Rs 60 , 000 crore . A high level team from France is here and carrying out last minute negotiations .  Hollande said the focus that he foresees is mostly in three domains .  "" Highlight will be terrorism in view of the situation we are in at present , state of emergency , military operations in Syria , Iraq and in Africa . Situation in India , "" he said .  "" I congratulate  Narendra Modi for his diplomacy reflecting both a sense of proportion and a strong determination . India and France are united in their determination to act together against terrorism , "" said Hollande .  Answering a question on Pathankot terror strike and that most of the terror attacks in India emanate from Pakistan , Hollande said , "" France strongly condemned the attack on Pathankot . India is fully justified to ask for justice against perpetrators . ""  "" India and France are confronted with similar threats : we are attacked by murderers who pretend to act on religious basis . Their real objective is widespread hate . They want to undermine our democratic values and our way of life . India and France are united in their determination to act together against terrorism "" , the French President said in a written interview .  Observing that solidarity between France and India was natural , Hollande said , "" I would like to thank once again President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Modi for their messages after the Daesh attacks in Paris in November . French people have also been very touched by the numerous gestures of friendship received from all over India .  "" We engage constantly with India . The Indo French working group on counter terrorism met just after the Paris attacks in November 2015 . That was the best answer to show our determination in front of jihadism , "" he said .  Hollande , who will be the Chief Guest at India ' s Republic Day parade on Tuesday during his second State visit to India , also appreciated Prime Minister Modi "" for his diplomacy reflecting both a sense of proportion and a strong determination . He recently took important steps to engage in a dialogue with the political leadership in Pakistan . ""  Accompanied by a high level delegation , the French President and Modi will hold extensive talks here tomorrow during which ways to strengthen cooperation in counter terror , security , civil nuclear energy and trade will figure prominently .  "" I also come to India to strengthen our relationship in several areas : defence , space and civil nuclear energy . As well as education , research , culture . Our cooperation on the fight against climate change and on clean energies has taken on an unprecedented importance , "" he said while identifying railways , smart cities , food security , higher education and cinema as areas where the two countries can further cooperate .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
20906,20907,"One long , brutal year has passed since the Syrian people launched their revolution , demanding an end to the dictatorship of President Bashar al Assad . Since then , the regime has killed at least 8 , 000 people , according to the U . N . , and it has sent the rest of the world a quiet but blunt message : You are fools .  Fools because much of the world fell for , and even participated in , al Assad ' s manipulative , decade long game in which he portrayed himself as a modernizer and reformer .  But now we know what al Assad really thought about reform . In his own , ultramodern shorthand :  .  From the day he came to power in 2000 , al Assad , a London educated ophthalmologist , has used the media and massaged the egos of politicians to put forth the fiction that he would bring freedom and openness to Syria . But the charade started to come apart one year ago .  If the massacres committed by Syrian forces on his behalf had not provided enough proof that the image was all fake , a new trove of private e mails confirms just how far Western observers had missed the mark when they judged the lanky doctor turned dictator as one of the good guys .  The Guardian obtained 3 , 000 e mails from private accounts used by the president , under the address sam alshahbaweblink , and his wife , Asma , as ak alshahbaweblink .  The Guardian says the e mails , which were provided by a Syrian opposition source , are verified as real by many of its correspondents . They confirm that Bashar and his stylish , British born wife are keenly tuned into the modern world . They shop extravagantly online and consume mass market cultural fare such as Harry Potter , "" America ' s Got Talent "" and country music .  Their e mail discussions about shoes , jewelry , chandeliers and fondue pots , along with ideas about how to put down the uprising and how to spin the events for foreign audiences , occurred between June and February , as forces loyal to al Assad slaughtered thousands of mostly unarmed protesters .  In one e mail , al Assad laughs at democratic reforms . When his wife tells him she ' ll come home early one day , he quips , "" This is the best reform any country can have that u told me where will you be , we are going to adopt it instead of the rubbish laws of parties , elections , media . . . ""  Al Assad joked with Hadeel al Ali , one of his media consultants , while Arab League monitors were in Syria seeking to bring an end to the carnage . Al Assad ridiculed the mission , sending al Ali a YouTube parody of the violence that uses children ' s toys . "" Check out this video , "" he wrote . She responded with , "" Hahahahahahaha ,  ! ! ! ""  If there is any hint that al Assad has any misgivings about the human cost of his political survival , it comes in an e mail that attaches an iTunes download of a country song by Blake Shelton , with the lyrics written out for Asma : "" I ' ve been a walking heartache I ' ve made a mess of me The person that I ' ve been lately Ain ' t who I wanna be . ""  Al Assad and his wife have been deftly playing international public opinion from the beginning . A Washington Post article in April 2000 , a few weeks before he became president , describes him as "" soft spoken and congenial , a fan of Faith Hill and Phil Collins . . . mapping his own path by trying to address the social and economic demands of the next generation . "" Two months later , The New York Times explained that "" thanks to an orchestrated campaign in the state news media to credit him with fighting corruption and promoting a more open economy , Dr Assad also is seen as a beacon of hope for a new , more relaxed Syria . ""  The image held for years , even if the reforms never quite arrived . In 2005 , the Bush administration withdrew the American ambassador to Syria , and European countries froze relations with Damascus for its role in the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri .  But the Obama administration and many in the Washington establishment and in Europe still believed that al Assad was a closet reformer . As recently as April , Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said members of both parties "" believe he ' s a reformer . "" And Sen . John Kerry , who has met al Assad about half a dozen times , said he expected that al Assad would enact meaningful reforms .  Over the years , al Assad ' s wife , Asma , cast a spell on the media . In February 2011 , Vogue magazine published a glowing spread about the fashionable first lady entitled "" A Rose in the Desert . "" The article explained that "" In Syria , power is hereditary "" but called the al Assads "" wildly democratic . ""  Asma has always been key element of the propaganda effort . Former Bush administration official Flynt Leverett praised al Assad , saying , "" I think who a man marries says a good deal about him . "" The first lady , he said , "" is going to bring exposure to absolute world class standards and practices in the globalized economy of the 21st century . ""  Clearly , Bashar and Asma al Assad are creatures of the modern world . They watch YouTube videos , shop online and use secret e mail pseudonyms . I bet they ' re buying the latest iPads . But those in the West who believed that their modernity meant they would bring democratic reform got it all wrong .  What their experience in the West taught them was not a love of democracy and human rights . Instead , it showed them how to manipulate the media and how to create an image that would let them rule by the old fashioned ways of dictatorship : by imprisoning and killing opponents . Anyone who believed otherwise was taken for a fool .  The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Frida Ghitis .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
20913,20914,"Washington While administrations come and go , and power in Congress teeters between political parties , one thing remains constant in the lives of Washington , D . C . ' s , elite : the power lunch .  Between noon and 2 p . m . , brokers meet to clinch deals , with the emphasis more on power than on lunch .  Just steps from Capitol Hill , Charlie Palmer is one of the places to see and be seen at lunchtime . Depending on the week , the modern American steakhouse serves between 70 and 80 congressmen and between 20 and 30 senators .  "" I ' d bet we ' ve had every member of Congress and every senator in the restaurant at some point , "" says Matt Hill , executive chef for the famed eatery .  It ' s not just the proximity to Capitol Hill that draws Washington ' s elite to Charlie Palmer . The restaurant has several private dining areas including a rooftop with scenic views of the city and an executive chef who prides himself on serving homemade , inventive fare .  "" We do anything , we ' ve got senators from Hawaii that come in , and they ask for Hawaiian hors d ' oeurves , we ' ve got , you know , people from Texas that ask for things from Texas , "" Hill says . "" So , we can really vary the menu , and it makes it interesting for me to try to come up with new ideas . ""  Thirty seven years ago , Tommy Jacomo moved to Washington with his brother and built The Palm with his bare hands . Now , as executive director of the famed power spot , Jacomo is known by Washington ' s elite as the keeper of the keys to The Palm . Everyone knows him .  "" It ' s pretty frightening , yeah , you can ' t even walk down the street sometimes , Jacomo said . "" People say , ' Hey , Tommy ! Put me down for two at 12 : 30 , ' and I don ' t even know who they are . ""  The Palm has hosted every president from Richard Nixon to Bill Clinton . President Obama has yet to make a visit .  But it ' s not just presidents who visit The Palm . White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has frequented the restaurant since the Clinton administration . Cabinet secretaries including Madeleine Albright , administration officials , senators and representatives , Supreme Court justices , the city ' s top lobbyists , lawyers , strategists and media elites are all regulars at the Dupont Circle steakhouse .  And if you become a regular , you get your picture on the wall .  "" People used to think when we first opened up that we had all the portraits of Republicans on one side and all the portraits of Democrats on the other side , "" Jacomo said . "" It ' s not really as much thought behind it . It just goes up , it ' s good customers , loyal customers , famous people , infamous people , and I decide where I want to put them when I get the chance , "" he joked , pointing out the minimal space left on the wall .  While steakhouses remain a favorite , not all power restaurants dish out filet mignon . Steps from the White House are three of Washington ' s oldest power spots : The Oval Room , which serves up American fare Bombay Club , which is Indian and Old Ebbitt Grille , which also specializes in American cuisine .  Cafe Milano , in Georgetown , and The Monocle and Johnny ' s Half Shell , on Capitol Hill , also remain abuzz with some of the most prominent people in Washington .  Italian restaurant Posto on 14th Street has become a favorite among younger administration staffers because of its laid back atmosphere and expansive dining room . Posto ' s sister restaurant Tosca , owned by Paolo Sacco , has kept D . C . ' s top lobbyists and politicians coming back since it opened in 2001 . Not only known for the power scene and homemade Italian cuisine , Tosca has set itself apart from others by having some of the most attentive waitstaff in the city .  Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia , known by friends as a big foodie , has dined at Tosca , as have Emanuel and Obama adviser David Axelrod . The Washington Post reported that former Sen . Tom Daschle convinced then freshman Sen . Obama to run for president at the Italian eatery .  The newest member of the Supreme Court , Justice Sonia Sotomayor , is known by friends as a "" very adventurous diner . "" She is a fan of Lebanese Taverna , in Woodley Park , which serves up Middle Eastern fare .  Serving up inventive sushi dishes like a fish and chips roll , or wasabi guacamole with wonton chips ,  in Penn Quarter has established itself as a newcomer to the power scene , along with its neighbors Rasika and Oyamel all reported to have recently hosted first lady Michelle Obama .  "" One of the things that ' s been sort of fun to watch over the course of this year is the Obamas have eaten out in a wide variety of places , "" says Garrett Graff , editor of Washingtonian magazine . "" You ' ve seen them come and get burgers up here on the Hill , you ' ve seen them go out for burgers in Virginia , you ' ve also seen them go out to some of the nicest restaurants in the city , like Citronelle and Blue Duck Tavern , where they went this fall for their anniversary dinner . But then you see Barack eating on his own he ' s going to a place like Ben ' s Chili Bowl or he ' s going to a place like Ray ' s Hell Burger . ""  Graff points out one top restaurant at which the Obamas have yet to dine .  "" They still haven ' t been to what is widely considered to be the city ' s best restaurant , which is a small Greek place near Dupont Circle called Komi , "" Graff said . "" But one of the challenges with a place like Komi is that it ' s very small and books up far in advance , so it might be hard for the Obamas to sort of drop in there like they ' ve been dropping in at a lot of these other restaurants . ""  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
20915,20916,"Despite years of putting up with underperforming teachers , overcrowded classrooms , and a gradually deteriorating educational experience , American students reluctantly announced Tuesday that they would be giving the nation ' s public school system yet another chance this fall .  Saying they would "" probably kick themselves later "" for deciding to enroll once more in a system that has let them down time and time again , millions of American children agreed to put up with their schools ' insufficient funding and lack of adequate arts and science programs in hopes that administrators might finally start providing a nurturing , or at least tolerable , environment in which to learn .  "" I know I ' ve been burned many times in the past by our nation ' s educational infrastructure , but if they promise to change , I ' d be willing to give them another shot , "" said sixth grader Gregory Jacobs , whose Norfolk ,  area middle school recently cut more than 15 members of its teaching staff . "" Yes , I realize they say every year that it ' s going to get better and it never does , but my future is at stake here , so I guess I ' m just hoping our schools will finally live up to their promise . ""  "" I don ' t know , maybe I ' m being na ve by expecting things to change , "" Jacobs added . "" But is hoping for improved overall scholastic quality really such an outrageous expectation ? ""  Admitting they were a little reluctant to put their faith in the same flawed bureaucracy that , for decades now , has failed to close the ever widening achievement gap and cannot fix painfully apparent budget inadequacies , the nation ' s K through 12 pupils told reporters that what eventually sealed their decision to return to school was a deep , unshakable faith that the richest , most powerful country in the world would be able to meet the highest global standards for education .  While U . S . students have granted the public school system another in a long series of chances to prove itself , they were quick to issue a list of demands they hoped politicians , administrators , and educators would be able to meet in the coming year .  "" Look , if we ' re going to come back , I would personally like to see some guarantees from these officials that indicate they really are committed to making these schools work , "" said Elizabeth Gray , a third grader at the overcrowded Thaddeus T . Barker Elementary School in Brooklyn . "" I ' m talking new equipment and resources , better trained teachers , smaller classrooms , more one on one interaction with students , and higher achievement standards , as well as improved models for accountability . ""  "" Also , we ' re going to need to see the American student ' s international ranking in mathematics go up from 32th to at least 26th , "" continued Gray , adding that the implementation of a new strategy to get the number of high school dropouts down from 1 . 2 million annually to an even 1 million would be a "" terrific start . "" "" These are things my classmates and I have wanted from day one , and I would like the reassurance of administrators that they are achievable . ""  In a final plea to school boards across the country , the nation ' s students said that when they begin showing up to class in the coming month , they really hope they haven ' t once more placed their futures in the hands of inept administrators who are "" just going to make children look like fools for trusting them again . ""  Grateful for another opportunity to amend its past administrative blunders , the Department of Education was quick to promise it wouldn ' t let students down this time and would do all it could not to mess everything up again .  "" We want to thank all of our students for this vote of confidence , "" Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a special televised press conference . "" We are seriously going to work harder than ever before this year and make some real changes . I promise . Students will not regret giving us this chance . ""  "" That being said , funding is a little tight right now , so try to keep your expectations within reason , "" Duncan added .  ",satire,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
20919,20920,"Arnold Prieto was executed in Texas on Wednesday night for his role in a 1993 triple murder  A Texas man has been executed by lethal injection for a triple murder committed in 1993 .  Arnold Prieto ' s execution started at 6 . 11pm on Wednesday and he was pronounced dead 20 minutes later after a lethal dose of pentobarbital began flowing into his veins .  Asked by the warden if he had a final statement , Prieto replied : ' There are no endings , only beginnings . Love y ' all . See you soon . '  As the lethal injection started , Prieto said ' I can smell it . . . . . . . Whoa ' before he took several sharp breaths and then all movement stopped .  Texas has stopped the tradition of offering a last meal and so Prieto had the prison meal of barbecue chopped beef , carrots pinto beans with a choice of tea or water .  Prieto was barely out of his teens when he and two friends , brothers Jesse and Guadalupe Hernandez , murdered Rodolfo Rodriguez , 72 , his wife , Virginia , 62 , and Paula Moran , 90 , whom Rodolfo and Virginia cared for at their home .  Up until his death Prieto had maintained his innocence in the deaths of Virginia and Moran , although he had admitted to killing Rodolfo by stabbing the man to death with a screwdriver .  The Houston Chronicle reports that in a statement to police after the murders , Prieto admitted that the boys had been doing cocaine on the night before the murders , and that it was Guadalupe ' s idea to drive to the Rodriguez home and kill the three in order to steal 10 , 000 he believed they had for a check cashing business they ran from their home .  When they arrived at the home in the middle of the night , Virginia made the boys a breakfast of tortillas and eggs , and after they finished eating Prieto claims Guadalupe stabbed the woman to death with a screwdriver .  After that , Prieto stabbed Rodolfo to death and and Jesse killed Moran .  They left with some jewelry and 300 in cash , and were eventually apprehended when a ring belonging to Prieto was found at the scene of the crime .  Jesse was just 16 years old at the time and is serving a life sentence , having been too young to be eligible for the death penalty .  He had told police that Prieto was responsible for all of the killings .  Guadalupe , who even police identified as the mastermind behind the murders , eventually had all charges against him dropped and served no time behind bars .  Prieto was offered a plea deal of life in prison if he testified against the other two men , but he refused to do so .  ' As you can see , the cards are stacked up against me , ' wrote Prieto recently on the popular death penalty blog Minutes Before Six .  ' Nothing new really , since they have been stacked from the very beginning . Where is the dangerous killer and monster ( jurors ) foresaw ? ? ? Maybe the crystal ball was cloudy during those days or maybe they did not shake the ball hard enough . '  No late appeals were filed in the courts to try to halt his punishment .  Prieto spurned a plea deal for a sentence of less than life in prison if he would testify against one of his companions .  ' There was a way out , ' one of Prieto ' s trial lawyers , Michael Bernard , recalled last week . ' We just couldn ' t get there . '  This will be the first death by lethal injection in Texas this year , with two more scheduled for next week .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
20951,20952,"The parents of a missing Missouri girl have refused to be interviewed separately by authorities , Kansas City police said Wednesday .  But the attorney representing Jeremy Irwin and Deborah Bradley , parents of 11 month old Lisa Irwin , said the couple is not opposed to separate interviews , but do not want what police requested an unrestricted interview with no attorneys present .  "" Being questioned separately is not the issue , "" said attorney Cyndy Short . She said the couple has been cooperative and has previously been interviewed separately as well as together . They don ' t mind being interviewed separately as long as the detectives are fair , open minded and non accusatory , she said .  Lisa was reported missing about 4 a . m . October 4 , after her father , Jeremy Irwin , arrived home from work to find the door unlocked , the lights on and a window that had been tampered with . The girl ' s mother , Deborah Bradley , said she last saw Lisa at 6 : 40 p . m . the night before .  Kansas City police Capt . Steve Young said Tuesday investigators had planned to conduct the separate parent interviews , but said Wednesday the couple had declined . Young said he did not dispute reports that the family had cooperated and answered questions , but the police department detectives still had unanswered questions .  Meanwhile , Lisa ' s half brothers , who were in the family ' s home the night she disappeared , will be re interviewed by authorities on Friday , Kansas City police said Wednesday .  The boys will be interviewed by a "" child services specialist trained to interview kids , "" Young said . The interview will be non confrontational , he said , and a police officer won ' t even be in the room .  "" Not an interrogation , "" he said . "" They are kids , after all . ""  The boys are 8 and 6 , Short said . Young said they were previously interviewed just after Lisa disappeared , both for under an hour .  Details were being worked out for a re interview of the boys , Short said .  Bradley said in an  interview last week that she was drunk the night Lisa disappeared and that she had last seen the baby about four hours earlier than initially reported .  The couple said in the same interview they had refused to let authorities re interview Lisa ' s older brothers .  "" They said they heard noises ( the night Lisa disappeared ) , "" Bradley said . "" I don ' t know if that was before we went to sleep or after . "" She said she had not talked to her sons about it because she was reluctant to put them through "" anything else . ""  "" Lisa was the little girl that was going to hold this family together , "" Short said , adding the child was wanted , looked forward to and "" well loved . ""  Asked about Bradley ' s admission that she was drinking the night Lisa vanished , Short said Bradley did what a lot of parents do when their children are in bed shared some drinks with a friend . "" It ' s just not that unusual until your life gets turned upside down , "" she said .  Authorities had expressed frustration early in the investigation after Lisa ' s parents stopped cooperating with investigators , Young had said . However , a family spokeswoman attributed the frustration to "" miscommunication , "" and meetings with the toddler ' s parents resumed shortly afterward .  A cadaver dog searching the family ' s Kansas City home indicated a positive "" hit "" for the scent of a body , according to documents released Friday .  On that information , Short said that law enforcement typically begins such investigations inside the home , then if warranted the probe moves outside the family . "" We don ' t know exactly what happened here , so we need to keep broadening the investigation , "" she said , adding she is hopeful that the investigation is going in that direction .  Between 30 and 50 investigators , including police and  personnel , were involved in the search as of Tuesday , the Kansas City Police Department said . Some 900 tips had been received by investigators , the department said .  Surveillance video surfaced over the weekend from a  gas station less than two miles from the family ' s home , showing an unidentified person walking along the road about 2 : 15 a . m . October 4 . The station ' s manager , Anuj Arora , said it ' s unusual to see anyone walking at that time of night in the area .  On what Lisa ' s parents believe happened to their daughter , Short said , "" They don ' t know . I mean , someone came into their home in the middle of the night and took their beloved child away from them . . . They are stumped . "" She said the couple has provided a wealth of information to police , including the names of people who have had access to their home .  Lisa ' s parents want people to continue looking for the child , she said . "" We are praying and hoping . Hope is alive for us . ""  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
20952,20953,"The distinctive patterns on butterfly wings really do help protect the insects by mimicking the eyes of predators .  While scientists have long suspected the role played by eye spots found on the wings of many butterflies were an example of mimicry , it has never been clearly tested .  Recently researchers suggested that the eye spots may simply scare away predators by confusing them or overloading their senses .  Owl butterflies ( left ) have eye spots that mimic those of pigmy owls ( right ) to scare off predators like great tits . While scientists have long suspected the role played by eye spots found on the wings of many butterflies were an example of mimicry , it has never been clearly tested  But a new piece of research by biologists at Jyv skyl University in Finland claims to have settled the debate .  They say that eye spots on the wings of butterflies do in fact mimic the eyes of larger and more threatening species , like owls .  Having bright colours and distinguishing features is a common way for insects to scare away predators like birds .  Often they help to lure them away from vital body parts or confuse them .  However , this only works on predators that hunt using sight while bats tend to be immune to such devices .  Now scientists have found that a moth has an unusual evolutionary adaptation that allows it to confuse the ultrasound used by bats .  The luna moth has two tails that extend for more than an inch beyond its body .  Scientists in the  showed that these appendages produce a confusing acoustic signature in the bats echolocation .  It makes the bats target the end of the tails rather than the moth itself .  This helps to keep other birds that might normally eat the insects away .  The team were finally able to test the theory by showing great tits pictures of owl butterflies that had been digitally altered , and watching their reaction .  Images where the eye spots had been removed from the butterfly wings did not stop the birds from snatching a mealworm snack below the picture .  However , when pictures that had not been digitally altered flashed on the screen , the birds were more weary .  And the researchers found the butterfly eye spots may even be more terrifying to the great tits than the real animal they are mimicking .  When shown pictures of a pygmy owl with its eyes open the tits reacted strongly and kept away , but their reaction was not as strong as with the butterfly markings .  Writing in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B , Dr Johanna Mappes and her colleagues said : ' In this study , the presumed model owl eyes and the mimic eyespots appeared to elicit similar reactions both in terms of response type interest versus aversion and its intensity startle versus flee adding support to the eye mimicry hypothesis .  The researchers flashed up digitally manipulated images of an owls face and the owl butterfly to see how great tits reacted . In some images they removed the owls eyes ( far left ) or removed the eye spots ( far right )  Eye spots are a common feature on butterfly wings , like the Bycyclus anyana butterfly above , but scientists have been divided over whether they were intended to mimic other predators or simply confuse predators  ' Predator prey interactions in nature often involve dynamic encounters between the partners , and eye spots are more likely to appear suddenly in front of the predator .  ' Their intimidating effect has been proved to increase when they are revealed abruptly .  ' We therefore conclude that it is unlikely that the adaptive value of eye spots is due to sensory or information overload caused by the conspicuousness of colour pattern . '  The researchers conducted their experiments by placing wild captured great tits into a cage where the floor had been fitted with a computer monitor .  The birds were offered a dead mealworm and as they approached an image was flashed up on the computer screen .  Images of owl eyes caused the birds to be startled , flee and in some cases give off alarm calls . but images of owls without eyes did not produce the same reaction .  Atlas moths ( above ) have colourful patterns on their wings that are thought to mimic the head of a cobra  A cobra poses a far greater threat to a predator than an Atlas moth and so by mimicking the reptile with the patterns on its wings the moth is able to scare off potential hunters that might make it a tasty snack  However when the birds were shown images of the owl butterfly , they were also scared away .  If the irises of the eye spots were removed , or the eye spots removed altogether , then they were scared away far less often .  Many species of butterfly have eye spots as part of the pattern on their wings .  The Atlas butterfly , for example , has a pattern that looks like the head of a cobra .  Some entomologists have also claimed that the Eyed hawk moth look like the head of a fox when viewed from the front .  In one extreme example of mimicry , the caterpillar of the Eastern tiger swallowtail looks like a snake and spits a foul smelling chemical to keep away predators .  Last year scientists at Oregon State University looked at the butterfly Bycyclus anyana and showed that it varies the intensity of its eye spots depending on the season .  They claimed bright colours in the rainy season allowed the butterfly to confuse the dominant predators preying mantids while duller colours in the dry season helped them hide from birds .  Some entomologists claim the eyed hawk moth looks like the face of a fox or dog from the front  The wing patterns of the eyed hawk moth is said to resemble the dark nose and the light coloured eyes of a fox  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
20964,20965,"As our time in Sumatra drew to a close , I knew our biggest challenge still lay ahead . We had to answer one simple question for the millions of people who won ' t have the opportunity to travel to this amazing part of the world and see what we ' d seen with their own eyes : "" Why does it matter to me ? ""  Read more : Can family farming make poverty history ?  Whether it ' s rainforest destruction in Sumatra or melting polar icecaps , I ' ll be the first to admit that it ' s hard to see ourselves in challenges or events that feel so far removed , so exotic compared to our daily realities of mortgages , jobs , family and information overload . It may be hard to recognize at first .  However , we are connected to these faraway places and events in ways that firmly bind our futures together .  The deforestation and species loss in Sumatra is a perfect example . At a very basic level , the Sumatra rainforest is part of a ring of forests along the equator known as lungs of the world soaking up the carbon we produce and giving us precious oxygen .  Ironically , due to burning and clearing of these vital forests Indonesia now accounts for over a third of the total global carbon emissions from deforestation and land degradations .  Not surprising when you consider between 1985 and 2007 , the island of Sumatra alone lost 12 million hectares of natural forest , a 48 loss in 22 years . Many see the impact of this imbalance and others like it in increasing extreme weather globally , rising sea levels , shifting wildlife habitats and crop patterns , tropical diseases moving into new areas , even regional political instability around the world .  Watch now : Planting a million trees a year  Ground zero for the global fight against deforestation , Sumatra is the only place in the world where tigers , elephants , rhinos and orangutans co exist . These native species are quickly disappearing as their habitat is lost to palm oil estates and pulp for paper plantations , as the plantations ' roads give poachers ever better access to wildlife ' s last hiding places , and as some are poisoned by managers angry about elephants feeding in their plantations .  Indigenous communities don ' t fare much better as they are being displaced together with their forests .  Again , you may ask what ' s the connection ? Biodiversity is the natural way that the earth manages its own sustainability . The more diverse the variety of species , the more healthy the ecosystem and the easier it can withstand spreading threats like disease or carbon destroying fires .  Once again fires have been burning in Sumatra this summer June and August have seen some of the worst fires in years blanketing the island and neighboring Singapore and Malaysia . But  did not record fires in healthy forests . They remained standing , stopping the flames ' onslaught , continuing to produce the oxygen we so desperately need .  Read more : Restoring the ocean to health  The connection for many of us to this imperiled paradise is even more direct . From toilet tissue and plywood to lipstick , detergent and margarine , and even condoms , many ordinary household products are routinely produced using raw materials sourced from plantations that have replaced Sumatra ' s rainforests .  The good news is that with such a direct connection , we have in in our power to create change with simple choices in the products we buy and use .  Fortunately organizations like World Wildlife Fund (  ) are fighting this global crisis . They recently launched a campaign to focus on one of the most pristine and threatened parts of Sumatra : Thirty Hills , a spectacular landscape I was fortunate to visit with  during my Sumatran odyssey . Find out more at www . Save30Hills . org and sign their change . org petition .  It ' s one of the most important habitats of the critically endangered Sumatran tiger , along with orangutans , elephants and the indigenous Talang Mamak and Orang Rimba people . . . . check it out .  In my mind there are many reasons , some we encounter every day , why what happens in Sumatra should matter to each of us . When you watch "" Expedition : Sumatra "" , I hope the beauty of this special place amazes you , I hope you are outraged by its destruction , but most of all , I hope you understand the power each of us has to change its future .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
20967,20968,"Cowboys release  Brandon Weeden ,  Christine Michael  The Brandon Weeden era has come to an end in Dallas .   , Texas (  ) The Dallas Cowboys waived quarterback Brandon Weeden and running back Christine Michael on Tuesday with the possibility of Tony Romo ' s return this weekend after missing seven games with a broken collarbone .  Weeden went 0 3 filling in for Romo and Matt Cassel was 0 4 . It ' s the longest slide by Dallas since the team lost the last seven games of 1989 to finish 1 15 the year owner Jerry Jones bought the team and hired coach Jimmy Johnson out of the college ranks at Miami .  The Cowboys also waived cornerback Corey White and running back Christine Michael . White was acquired off waivers from New Orleans in the offseason , and Dallas traded a late round pick to Seattle for Michael the first week of the season .  The dumping of Michael leaves Dallas with two rookie backups to Darren McFadden with two career carries combined both by Rod Smith for Seattle before he was waived by the Seahawks last month .  Trey Williams , an undrafted free agent out of Texas A M , was signed off Washington ' s practice squad on Nov . 4 .  Weeden got the first three starts after Romo ' s injury , but didn ' t present much of a threat down the field . He was replaced by Cassel after a 30 6 loss to New England that was the Cowboys ' first game without a touchdown in four years .  Cassel stays as Romo ' s backup even though Dallas twice went without a touchdown in his four losses , which dropped his career record to 33 42 . He threw three interceptions in his first start and had a critical pick 6 despite playing well in a loss to Philadelphia .  Executive vice president of personnel Stephen Jones said on his radio show this week that backup quarterback was "" obviously something we ' re going to have to address "" in the offseason .  Jones suggested the team would consider spending more after Weeden entered the season as the backup on a base salary of just 660 , 000 .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
20975,20976,"England From today , travelers visiting the United States under the Visa Waiver Program (  ) risk being detained at airports and sent home if they don ' t comply with new U . S . immigration rules .  Thousands of travelers risk being detained and sent home from U . S . airports and ports .  The introduction of the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (  ) means visitors from 27  countries including most of Western Europe , New Zealand , Japan and Australia must now register their details online at least three days before departure .   which came into effect today replaces the written green I 94 form and allows travelers under the  to enter the U . S . without a visa and stay for up to 90 days .  The measure is designed to tighten security and make it harder for terrorists who are citizens of the participating countries to easily obtain entry to the U . S .  Critics fear the new rule will be an inconvenience for business travelers and the British Foreign Office is concerned that travelers who have not heard about the new rules may be caught out .  A British Foreign Office report on travel trends for 2009 predicted that 13 percent of British travelers are more likely to visit the States now Barack Obama has been elected . "" The consequences of not registering through  could therefore be far reaching , "" says the Foreign Office .  The U . S . Department of Homeland Security has assured travelers that the system can handle last minute and emergency requests .   has been operating on a voluntary basis since 1 August 2008 and is compulsory from 12 January 2009 .  Applications can be made at any time , even if travelers have no specific travel plans . If itineraries change , information can be easily updated on the  Web site .  Once travelers are authorized , they can travel for up to two years or until their passport expires , whichever comes first .  Passengers must submit the same information that is currently required in the I 94 immigration form . This includes biographical data , travel information as well as questions regarding communicable diseases , arrests and convictions .  Registration is possible through the U . S . government  Web site . In most cases , eligibility for travel will be approved immediately .  Applicants who receive an "" Authorization Pending "" response will need to check the Web site for updates . Applicants whose  applications are denied will be referred to Travel . State . Gov for information on how to apply for a visa .   does not change the rules for citizens from countries that require visas .  That no longer includes travelers from the Czech Republic , Estonia , Hungary , Latvia , Lithuania , the Republic of Korea , and the Slovak Republic they joined the  in November , 2008 . Malta became a member the following month .  Travelers are advised that  does not guarantee entry into the United States . The final decision rests with the immigration official at the port of entry .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
20978,20979,"In response to a lack of communication from both the publisher and developer about For Honor‘s most pressing issues, members of the game’s community are planning a boycott of the game on April 3, 2017. [Organized by Reddit community member “jbaayoun,” the For Honor gameplay blackout will begin at 5  and last for a minimum of 24 hours. Players are protesting the game’s ongoing balance issues, some so grievous that tournament organizers have been forced to ban at least one class from competitive play.  The participants are seeking greater transparency from the game’s developer and publisher around issues that have plagued the title since release. First, they want clearer communication between Ubisoft and For Honor fans. This should include a more informative version of the ongoing “Warrior’s Den” livestreams that the developers have been promoting. Second, they want a clearly defined roadmap for the game’s future. If players are going to stick around for the literal years needed to fully unlock the game’s content, they want a plan of future content that will give them a good reason to do so. Third, boycotters want a solution to the aforementioned glacial pace of earning the game’s “Steel” currency to make the grind for unlocking content a bit less punishing. Finally, players want to see a solution for the game’s ongoing matchmaking woes. Of note, Ubisoft has recently posted patch notes in the official forums that address a few of the game’s issues, including a sizeable boost to Steel income. It’s a welcome first step to addressing one problem among many in a game that is robbed of its potential for greatness by clumsy execution. Will a community boycott draw the publishing giant’s attention to make a difference? We’ll find out on April 3rd, unless either the publisher or development team deign to respond sooner. Follow Nate Church @Get2Church on Twitter for the latest news in gaming and technology, and snarky opinions on both.",fake,news,validation,US elections,Economy,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
21012,21013,"No other suspects have been arrested , but Bowdich speculated that the investigation might lead to accomplices who helped the couple , ? who had amassed guns , thousands of rounds of ammunitions and pipe bombs .  A Facebook executive says Malik praised the leader of the Islamic State group in a post at 11 a . m . Wednesday , when the couple was believed to have stormed a San Bernardino social service center and opened fire .  The remarkable disclosure about the online activities of Malik provided the first significant details suggesting a motive for her participation with her husband in the shooting . ? It s unclear if her allegiance meant she somehow influenced Farook to carry out the attack , Bowditch said .  Malik was a Pakistani woman who came to the U . S . in 2014 on a fiancee visa before Farook married her in California . They had a 6 month old daughter .  A U . S . official said Malik expressed "" admiration "" for the extremist group ' s leader on Facebook under an alias account and said there was no sign that anyone affiliated with the Islamic State group communicated back to her and no signs of any operational instructions being conveyed to her . This official spoke on condition of anonymity because this person was not authorized to discuss case details by name .  The discovery of crushed cellphones in a trash can allegedly belonging to Farook and Malik could perhaps answer persistent questions about the attack , Bowditch said .  We do hope that the digital fingerprints left by these two individuals will take us to their motivation , Bowditch said .  The press conference followed a surreal scene at Malik and Farook s Redlands , California , apartment . Reporters , photographers and camera people had rummaged through closets and examined personal belongings after the  restored control of the property to the landlord . Allowed inside by the landlord , an  journalist showed the driver s license and other personal information of Farook s mother . Cameras also showed photos of children .  It s unusual for the media to have access to a suspect s home , but the  said their investigation had been complete there . A garage where Malik and Farook allegedly stored weapons and ammunition remained off limits .  Farook , 28 , had no criminal record and was not under scrutiny by local or federal law enforcement before the attacks . Friends knew him by his quick smile , his devotion to Islam and his earnest talk about cars he would restore .  They didn ' t know the man authorities say was busy with his wife building homemade bombs and stockpiling thousands of rounds of ammunition for a commando style assault Wednesday on a holiday party of his co workers that killed 14 and injured 21 .  "" This was a person who was successful , who had a good job , a good income , a wife and a family . What was he missing in his life ? "" asked Nizaam Ali , who worshipped with Farook at a mosque in San Bernardino ? the city east of Los Angeles where Farook killed and died .  Authorities say that the couple sprayed as many as 75 rounds into the room before fleeing . They died four hours later and 2 miles away during a furious gunbattle with police .  The pair had more than 1 , 600 bullets when they were killed . Police said they also had 12 pipe bombs , tools to make more explosives , and well over 4 , 500 rounds of ammunition at home .  Police Lt . Mike Madden , one of the first officers to reach the room at the social services center , where Farook ' s colleagues from San Bernardino County ' s public health department had gathered , said the carnage was unspeakable , the scene overwhelming : the smell of gunpowder , the wails of the injured , the blood , fire sprinklers pumping and fire alarms blaring . All in a room with a Christmas tree and decorations on every table .  The dead ranged in age from 26 to 60 . Among the 21 injured were two police officers hurt during the manhunt , authorities said . Two of the wounded remained in critical condition Thursday .  Nearly all the dead and wounded were county employees .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
21014,21015,"J K ? ?  ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? , ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  Last Updated : Thursday , January 7 , 2016 13 : 41  ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? : ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 79 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? : ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? , ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? : ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? , ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  ? ? ? ? ? 24 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? , ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 48 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? , ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? , ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? , ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? : ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? : ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 87 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 28 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 25 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 15 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 12 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  First Published : Thursday , January 7 , 2016 08 : 48  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
21019,21020,"' Leave us alone ' ? people in Oregon town tired of standoff  Nicholas K . Geranios and Martha Bellisle , Associated Press 2 : 21 a . m .  January 31 , 2016  An officer with the Oregon State Police moves a cone to establish a roadblock along one of the routes to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County , Ore . , on Jan . 28 , 2016 .   , Ore . (  ) ? People who live in Burns , the small high desert town near a wildlife refuge that has been occupied by an armed group for a month , say they are sick of the disruption to their lives .  "" We just want to go back to the way we were , "" Barbara Ormond , who owns a quilt store in downtown Burns , said Saturday . "" We want everyone to leave us alone . ""  Four people occupying an Oregon wildlife refuge held their position Saturday and posted live videos describing their situation and reiterating their demand that they be allowed to leave with being arrested . The jailed group ' s leader , Ammon Bundy , and 10 others who were arrested earlier in the week remained in custody . Through his lawyer , Bundy on Saturday again called on the remaining occupiers to leave .  Protesters stand in front of the Harney County Courthouse in Burns , Ore . , on Jan . 29 , 2016 .  The  has said it ' s trying to resolve the situation peacefully .  While the standoff that originated over federal land use policies has led to filled up hotels and restaurants as police , protesters and media have flocked to the area , locals say the conflict is upsetting and pitting neighbor against neighbor .  "" It ' s tearing the community apart , "" said Bonnie Angleton , who owns a gift shop downtown . "" I care about the people who live here . ""  Kate Marsh , an artist in town , said many residents work for the government , while others have their livelihoods depend on government agencies . "" There is some dissension in the community , "" Marsh said .  Authorities say Bundy , the leader of the group that seized the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge , and others used the social media and other platforms to summon recruits to join their takeover .  Court documents against the 11 occupiers under arrest show  agents have scrutinized social media postings , interviews and online talk shows that have been made during the standoff that began Jan . 2 .  Bundy and several other jailed leaders appeared Friday in federal court in Portland , where a judge denied their release . U . S . Magistrate Judge Stacie Beckerman said Bundy , his brother Ryan Bundy and Ryan Payne pose a danger to the community , and she is concerned they would not follow orders to return to Oregon for criminal proceedings .  The only woman arrested so far in the standoff , Shawna Cox , will be allowed to go home while her case makes its way through the court system . But Beckerman said that won ' t happen until after the armed occupation ends .  Ammon Bundy ' s lawyer , Lissa Casey , said her client is not aligned with those remaining at the refuge near Burns and he wants to go back to his family .  Bundy and his followers took over the refuge to demand that the federal government turn public lands over to local control . They have complained about what they say are onerous federal rules governing grazing and mining rights across the West .  Court documents detail some of the evidence against the occupiers . The charges against the defendants say the refuge ' s 16 employees have been prevented from reporting to work because of threats of violence .  A criminal complaint filed earlier this week makes reference to an online video that showed Bundy saying the group planned to stay for several years . He called on people to "" come out here and stand , "" adding : "" We need you to bring your arms . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
21022,21023,"' Santa ' s sleigh ' will be visible in sky this Christmas Eve as International Space Station passes over   This Christmas Eve , look up to the sky and you might just spot something magical  Thanks for subscribing ! Could not subscribe , try again later  It might not look quite like this , but will surely bring a smile to little faces  Trying to bring the magic of Christmas to life ? This year we can all get a helping hand in this department from  !  If your little ones are beginning to doubt Santa ' s existence , tell them to look up this Christmas Eve and weather permitting they will see his ' sleigh ' passing overhead .  Pssst , we ' ll let you in on a little secret . . . It ' s not really Santa and Rudolph , but the astronauts on the International Space Station passing over the  .  The  is the largest man made object in space and is bigger than a football pitch . It reflects the sun ' s light as it passes overhead and so appears as a giant , star like object moving across the night sky .  But on Christmas Eve , it can definitely pass for Father Christmas ' sleigh on his way to drop presents off to good girls and boys in the neighbourhood .  It ' s not the most sleigh like structure close up but the kids will never know !  What are your tips to make Christmas magical for kids ? Let us know using the form below or on our Mirror Mums Facebook page .  According to Virtual Astronomer , this year the  will pass over the  in the late afternoon , rising in the west at 4 . 42pm , passing low in the sky and setting in the south east at 4 . 50pm .  Just keep your fingers crossed for cloudless skies . . .  Here ' s a guide to spotting the  from Twitter ' s resident amateur astronomer , VirtualAstro .  "" When the  passes over it will appear as an incredibly bright star like object or plane without flashing lights moving across the sky , it can be at times the brightest object in the night sky second to the Moon .  "" As the station rises ( from a westerly direction ) it usually gets brighter but can be a challenge to spot at first . Make sure you have checked where it will rise from . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,present
21039,21040,"A Texas inmate in a wheelchair , who escaped on foot from two armed guards as he was being transferred between prisons , is now on the U . S . Marshals ' list of the 15 most wanted fugitives .  Arcade Comeaux Jr . , 49 , "" produced a weapon and fired upon two correctional officers , took them hostage and forced them to drive to Baytown , Texas , "" the U . S . Marshals Service said in a statement .  He then put the officers in the back of the van and took their weapons and one of their uniforms , the statement said .  Comeaux was serving three life sentences for aggravated sexual assault and two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon . He escaped Monday during transport from Huntsville , Texas , to Stiles , Texas .  The 6 foot , 200 pound man was shackled and in a wheelchair , "" which he had claimed was needed for mobility , "" Michelle Lyons , director of public information for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in Huntsville , said in a statement .  About 45 minutes into the trip , as they were driving through Conroe , 40 minutes north of Houston , the prisoner pulled out a pistol and ordered the guards to drive south to Baytown , east of Houston .  He fired once , but hit no one during the escape about 9 a . m . , officials said .  Law enforcement officers found the unharmed officers an hour later .  Comeaux was being transferred so he could be near John Sealy Hospital in Galveston for treatment of the supposed paralysis he had suffered during a reported stroke , officials said .  At least 16 , 000 in reward money has been offered for information leading to Comeaux ' s rearrest and a task force of more than 100 investigators is searching for him , focusing on the Houston area , where he grew up and has family .  His escape has led the man who oversees Texas ' criminal justice system to call for a shakeup of the prison system .  "" I just think enough ' s enough , "" said Sen . John Whitmire , the Texas Democrat from Houston who is chairman of the state Senate ' s Criminal Justice Committee .  Whitmire said the guards had failed to pat down Comeaux while he was in his wheelchair and before they began the trip .  "" Sure enough , he has a firearm , "" he said . "" The question is , are there others ( in the prison system ) ? I think you have to assume that there are until you find out differently . ""  So far this year , more than 900 cell phones have been confiscated from the 112 locations that house the state ' s 158 , 000 prisoners . "" It ' s pretty rampant , "" he said .  "" I want the director to come forward and tell us what it ' s going to take "" to solve the problem , he said .  John Moriarty , inspector general of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice , said such lapses are highly unusual in the state ' s penal system . "" We have no open gun investigations other than this one , "" he said . "" The last one was several years ago . ""  Texas Department of Criminal Justice Executive Director Brad Livingston , who has been in the job since 2005 , did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment .  ",true,text,validation,Football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
21043,21044,"Donald Trump is a serial liar and that probably explains his dislike for fact-checkers. Donald has viciously targeted the media and his supporters respond by frequently referring to reporters as the  enemy.   While giving a speech at an airport in Sanford, Florida, Trump went after fact-checkers. These fact-checkers, they ll check facts with me and I m like, like, 99-per-cent right, and they ll say,  And therefore he lied,    Trump said.  Oh boy, these people are bad. What a group of people we have. What a group of dishonest scum we have, I m telling you. He literally called fact-checkers  scum. Daniel Dale, a Washington correspondent for the Toronto Star, fact checks Donald and the paper produces a list almost daily of Trump s lies.Dale noted on Twitter that Trump  said 35 false things yesterday. Donald Trump said 35 false things yesterday. #TrumpCheck pic.twitter.com/EwfYFEDFx9  Daniel Dale (@ddale8) October 26, 2016His following tweet reads,  Donald Trump s 35 false claims on Tuesday follows his record-tying 37 false claims on Monday. Donald Trump s 35 false claims on Tuesday follows his record-tying 37 false claims on Monday.  Daniel Dale (@ddale8) October 26, 2016The day before Trump s speech in which he blasted fact-checkers,  the Star counted 37 false claims from the  presidential nominee.That tied the record he set at the third and final presidential debate, which he claimed every poll showed him winning, which was, of course, not at all true.The paper admits that  there are grains of truth in some of his false claims  but  most are flat wrong. The list includes Trump s regurgitated rhetoric on Hillary Clinton s emails. Trump claimed the deletion of emails was such an expensive process,  however, a free software program was used.He said  nobody  has asked her running mate, Tim Kaine, about comments her aides made about Catholics in hacked emails, though Kaine has been asked on national television. He bragged, for at least the second time, that he had won 42 states in the Republican primary, though it was 36 states.Watch: There is a massive imbalance in the frequency of dishonesty.  @DDale8 says Trump lies a lot more than Clinton weblink  Reliable Sources (@ReliableSources) October 30, 2016The paper fact-checked the three presidential debates.  Trump said 104 false things. In contrast, Clinton said 13. You have a candidate who is frequently saying 20 false things in a day, up to 37 on some days,  Dale said.At the rally in Florida, Trump called journalists  a bunch of phony low-lifes.  Trump s assault on the First Amendment has been vicious. In August, Trump pointed at  s Katy Tur. What a lie. Katy Tur. What a lie it was,  Trump said, pointing at her from the stage.  Third. Rate. Reporter. Remember that. After that, the Secret Service had to escort her to her car. And now it s fact-checkers who are being targeted.Photo by Chip Somodevilla via Getty.",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
21054,21055,Its a work of  to prove His EXISTENCE.We must pray for our sins.Praise JEHOVAH!!!!,fake,news,validation,Other news2,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present
21061,21062,"Fox news further infuriated Trump by joking about his request for advice on social media . Photo Getty  Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump isn ' t backing down from his threat to boycott this week ' s  debate , where candidates have the opportunity to make their closing arguments before voting begins in Monday ' s Iowa caucuses .  Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said in a pair of television interviews Wednesday that Trump , a billionaire businessman , "" knows when to walk away from a bad deal . ""  "" They think they can toy with Mr Trump , "" Lewandowski said of Fox News on  ' s Morning Joe . "" Mr Trump doesn ' t play games . ""  The decision comes after a showdown between the network and  candidate over who should moderate Thursday night ' s debate . Trump has been in a feud with Fox News host and scheduled debate moderator Megyn Kelly since the first Republican primary debate , when Kelly took Trump to task over derogatory statements he ' d made in the past aimed at women .  While Trump has threatened to skip debates in the past and not gone through with the threat , a sarcastic statement from Fox appeared to push him over the edge .  The statement put out yesterday by FoxNews was a disgrace to good broadcasting and journalism . Who would ever say something so nasty dumb  ? Donald J . Trump ( realDonaldTrump ) January 27 , 2016  That statement said the leaders of Iran and Russia "" both intend to treat Donald Trump unfairly when they meet with him if he becomes president "" and that "" Trump has his own secret plan to replace the Cabinet with his Twitter followers to see if he should even go to those meetings . ""  Trump , who has called Kelly a "" lightweight "" and biased , told reporters at an Iowa press conference Wednesday night that he would be holding a fundraising event in Iowa at the same time as the debate to benefit veterans and wounded soldiers instead .  I refuse to call Megyn Kelly a bimbo , because that would not be politically correct . Instead I will only call her a lightweight reporter !  ? Donald J . Trump ( realDonaldTrump ) January 27 , 2016  While Fox questioned how "" Iowans are going to feel about him walking away from them at the last minute , "" Lewandowski said the decision shows Trump is a leader who "" understands when a bad deal is in front of him and is ready to walk away from a bad deal , something that this country should be able to do . ""  "" At the end of the day , "" he added on  , "" Mr Trump is going to have the last laugh . ""  Get the news delivered straight to your inbox  Receive the day s news , sport and entertainment in our daily email newsletter  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
21072,21073,"production companies will be offered tax breaks to make children ' s programmes in the  under plans being studied by George Osborne .  The Chancellor revealed he is looking ' very seriously ' at the idea , which would aim to ensure a new generation of hit shows are British made , to follow in the oddly shaped footsteps of the Teletubbies and the Tweenies .  There are fears that other countries are more attractive to make children ' s programming , seeing British talent move overseas .  The industry argues that tax breaks are needed for children ' s  to ensure a new generation of hit shows are British made , to follow in the oddly shaped footsteps of the Teletubbies  Mr Osborne used his 2012 Budget to announce a major boost for British drama , unveiling what was quickly dubbed a ' Downton Abbey tax break ' .  Homegrown  productions were given discounts of between 20 and 25 per cent on their corporation tax bill , to encourage more high end drama to be made in the  . Now Mr Osborne has revealed he could extend it to children ' s  as well .  Speaking at the launch for the Creative Industries Federation , the chancellor said : ' I am looking very seriously to see if I can look to expand tax credits to children ' s television and also look at it for orchestras .  ' It ' s not the pounds and pence you deliver . What you do is express who we are as a society , as a community and you give voice to the people within those communities . . . all of this is an expression of who we are as human beings , ' he added , according to the  . ' It is a human endeavour in its own right . '  Chancellor George Osborne revealed he is looking ' very seriously ' at offering tax credits to children ' s  and orchestras  An announcement on new tax breaks for the arts could be announced next week in the Chancellor ' s Autumn Statement .  It follows a campaign by Pact , the trade association for the  ' s independent  production companies , calling for tax credits offered to film , high end television and animation to be given to children ' s  .  John McVay , Chief Executive at Pact , has said : ' Nowhere in the world does better kids '  than the  . Time and time again , British  producers have created the most successful , innovative and creative programmes for children .  ' From a commercial perspective , it is time that children ' s  was recognised in the same echelon of television production as our finest drama . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
21085,21086,"If Monday ' s inauguration displayed the gushing , ceremonial aspect of American democracy , Wednesday revealed its more sober and confrontational side a Senate committee hearing . The hearing was Secretary of State Hillary Clinton vs . the Republicans on the painful subject of Benghazi , Libya .  After a lot of anger from the senators and a surprising amount of emotion from Clinton , the final score was a draw . But some Republicans did better than others , and Clinton probably emerges with a healthier reputation than the administration that she ' s leaving . Moreover , the debate throws up some tantalizing "" what ifs "" about 2016 . Is America ready for Hillary Clinton vs . Rand Paul ?  To take Clinton first , it ' s remarkable how much her role as secretary of state has transformed her .  Five things we learned from the Benghazi hearings  To conservatives , she was once the Lady Macbeth of liberalism the feminist power behind Bill Clinton ' s throne whose every utterance seemed calculated to upset the right . Her book "" It Takes a Village "" was greeted like a manifesto of anti American collectivism so much so that Rick Santorum felt compelled to pen a response called "" It Takes a Family . "" But secretaries of state often find themselves elevated from partisan politics in to the heavenly realm of "" national interest "" ( think Henry Kissinger or Colin Powell ) , and therein Clinton has redefined herself as a competent and admirable public servant .  Consider John McCain ' s first words at the Senate hearing : "" We thank you for your outstanding and dedicated service to this nation and . . . all over the world where I travel , you are viewed with admiration and respect . "" Given her extraordinary hard work and efforts to advance the rights of women and children , she has certainly earned that respect . It ' s found in ample supply at home , too . According to Gallup , the former controversialist is now America ' s "" most admired woman . ""  But even if Clinton did get through the hearing with her reputation intact , that doesn ' t mean that Benghazi doesn ' t leave scars on the administration . The critical and most electric round of questioning was started by Sen . Ron Johnson , R Wisconsin . He demanded to know why Clinton didn ' t try to find out what was really happening on the ground sooner and why the administration persisted so long in refusing to label the Benghazi incident a "" terrorist attack . ""  Opinion : Benghazi blame game is useless  Clinton ' s defense was similar to Obama ' s during the presidential election : something went wrong , we didn ' t want to interfere with ground operations and it took a long time to gather the intelligence to know what really happened .  But Clinton lost her cool and summed up that position in a breathtakingly callous phrase : "" What difference , at this point , does it make ? It is our job to figure out what happened and do everything we can to prevent it from ever happening again , senator . "" All the difference in the world , I would imagine , to the relatives of the personnel who died .  This rare loss of composure perhaps underlines the weakness of the administration ' s case .  The White House seems to think as John Hayward at the Conservative website Human Events puts it bluntly "" the game ends when they say the magic phrase ' I take responsibility , ' and they win . "" But it does not .  Part of "" learning "" from the attack on the U . S . Consulate in Benghazi is admitting the basic errors that were made and providing the public with a clearer narrative of what really happened . But all we have at the moment are a catalog of errors that make up a very confusing story .  It ' s obvious that the political situation in Libya is not more stable since Moammar Gadhafi was removed from office ( just ask any Algerian ) , that insufficient security was provided at the consulate , that the administration fumbled its explanation of what occurred on September 11 , 2012 , that the rescue operation was delayed and that the  had some shadowy role to play in the whole mess . Clinton ' s assurance that "" I do feel responsible "" is not reason enough to stop asking these questions and just move on .  Who then made the best case for the prosecution from the Republican side ?  Given that Sen . Marco Rubio of Florida was participating , it felt at moments like an audition for 2016 and Rubio ' s staff put the video of his questions up on his website with remarkable speed .  Clinton lays out daunting security challenges in North Africa  But the most impressive performance by far was from Rand Paul . He delivered a cool , withering statement that climaxed in this devastating paragraph ( and you have to watch it to get the full effect ) : "" I ' m glad that you ' re accepting responsibility . I think ultimately with your leaving that you accept the culpability for the worst tragedy since 9 11 . And I really mean that . Had I been president and found you did not read the cables from Benghazi and from Ambassador ( Christopher ) Stevens , I would have relieved you of your post . I think it ' s inexcusable . ""  This performance might be and should be remembered well by the Republican base when the primary campaign of 2016 starts . Ever since the last president election , Rand Paul hasn ' t set a foot wrong . From his bridge building visit to Israel to his opposition to the fiscal cliff deal , he seems well placed to become the tea party candidate .  And what an unusually satisfying choice Clinton vs . Paul would be .  It would be a genuine contest between big government liberalism and small government conservatism : Clinton ' s internationalism and support for welfare programs vs . Paul ' s anti interventionism and opposition to pork .  The question of who could win such an unusual contest is difficult to answer . The Paul family has a tradition of winning votes from Democrats , but Clinton ' s new respectability could also pull votes away from the Republicans . One Kentucky poll found that in a head to head contest , she ' d even beat Rand in his home state of Kentucky .  It would be a campaign that any elections scholar would relish .  The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Timothy Stanley .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
21087,21088,"Reuters) - A Senate committee approved on Thursday President Barack Obama’s pick to lead U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan. Lieutenant General John Nicholson’s approval by the Senate Armed Services Committee came during a hearing with the outgoing U.S.commander in Afghanistan, General John Campbell. Nicholson said in testimony to the committee last week that he aimed to review a plan that would cut American troop levels by nearly half by the start of next year, as he acknowledged deteriorating security in the country. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
21141,21142,"There have been times during Matthew Stafford ' s career when he has run for game winning or game changing touchdowns .  Rarely , though , are those plays called in those situations for the Detroit Lions quarterback . Typically they happen off a scramble or like against Dallas in 2013 off a decision Stafford makes on his own . It s why offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter s decision to call a quarterback draw in the fourth quarter of the Lions 18 13 win over the Oakland Raiders on Sunday was quite surprising .  The play was brilliantly designed , especially since Stafford doesn t have many designed runs called in the playbook and isn t known for his ability to scramble .  The Lions using more shotgun and pistol under Cooter than under former offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi lined up in a shotgun empty set from the 5 yard line . They had Calvin Johnson lined up solo on the right side of the formation .  On the left of Stafford and the offensive line , four pass catchers were lined up in a diamond formation . Lance Moore was at the top of the diamond , with Golden Tate and blocking tight end Brandon Pettigrew on the corners of the diamond . In the back was running back Ameer Abdullah .  All were potential receiving options for Stafford but were unneeded .  Matthew Stafford ' s 5 yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter Sunday gave the Lions a 16 13 lead they would not relinquish . ?  Stafford took the snap from center Travis Swanson and none of the receivers appeared to run a route . Moore , Pettigrew and Tate engaged with their defenders . Johnson went out about a yard before blocking . The only real potential as a receiver on the play was Abdullah , who turned and flashed for a quick pass .  So the run was an option and the preferred one .  Yeah , it s part of it , Stafford said . There are a couple options on that play . Can throw the ball a couple different places or I can run it . Decided to run it and it worked .  Stafford saw the attention paid to the bunch formation on the left . He noticed Oakland safety Charles Woodson shading toward Johnson a logical thought considering the Lions like to throw a fade to Johnson in the end zone when they get in the red zone .  So a running play out of the formation left the Raiders a bit surprised .  Somewhat , Raiders linebacker Khalil Mack said . For the most part , study film . You have four wide , you think they re going to throw it to Calvin Johnson on the back end , but you have to be ready for the draw .  It left Stafford with four and a half guys in the box , really pretty good numbers to run the ball . Stafford almost immediately pulled it down and started to run . He had a path down the middle of the field between the seams and only two Oakland players waiting for him at the goal line .  Stafford had an escort on the play right guard Larry Warford had released and run ahead of Stafford . Warford made contact with Oakland linebacker Ben Heeney and Woodson , allowing Stafford to dive over Warford for the touchdown , which gave the Lions a 16 13 lead .  I m just making sure I don t screw it up at that point , Stafford said . Glad it worked . Got in there and scored .  It was Stafford s 12th career rushing touchdown and first since Week 4 of the 2014 season .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
21145,21146,"An online campaign in support of a former U . S . Marine arrested for attempting to security check his pistol while visiting the Empire State Building is bringing new attention and a fair amount of scrutiny to one of the nation ' s toughest gun control laws .  Ryan Jerome , 28 , was charged with criminal possession of his . 45 caliber Ruger while visiting the famous New York landmark during a September vacation with his girlfriend . Jerome has a license to carry the weapon from his home state of Indiana , but New Yorks state gun laws do not recognize out of state permits .  With his case still pending , Jerome could face up to three and a half years in jail .  Jerome ' s attorney says its clear his client , who does not have a criminal record , wasn ' t attempting anything nefarious because Jerome approached security on his own to tell the guards about his weapon .  But the law prohibits anyone with certain exceptions such as law enforcement officers from carrying a firearm in the state unless that person specifically has a New York state issued permit .  Jerome spent two days in a jail cell before he could make bail .  "" I was in utter disbelief , I was in shock , "" said Jerome .  His arrest is one amid a series of similar instances that have some questioning whether New York state ' s strict gun laws , which aim to protect public safety , are unnecessarily targeting law abiding citizens .  "" We just don ' t believe , as I believe most don ' t think , that he should be prosecuted under such a stringent statute which is clearly designed to get the so called bad guys , "" said Jerome ' s attorney , Mark Bederow .  Fellow Marines , on a website called leatherneckweblink are rallying to Jerome ' s side and have begun a letter writing campaign .  David Bruce says he ' s been sending the letters to New York City law enforcement officials .  "" We ' re asking that Ryan Jerome ' s case be moved from the prosecution file to dismissed file it ' s as simple as that , "" Bruce said .  Jerome attempted to check New York ' s gun laws on his cell phone , but his lawyer says Jerome "" made a mistake , "" when he read the information .  Other gun toting tourists have also found themselves in similar situations  Tea party activist Mark Meckler , who according to the Transportation Security Administration legally checked his unloaded California registered pistol in a locked box during a preflight check in at New York ' s LaGuardia airport , was arrested at the airport in December .  Authorities say in Meckler ' s case , the original charge was reduced to a violation and a fine .  Last month , a Tennessee medical student was arrested at the 9 11 memorial after trying to check her gun she will go to court in March .  The head of a prominent New York City gun control group sympathizes with Jerome , but says the gun laws should not change .  As for Jerome , his fate is in the hands of the Manhattan district attorney .  Its unclear what prosecutors will do with this case  "" All of our laws allow prosecutors to carefully evaluate the facts and circumstances unique to each case , and exercise discretion in cases where justice dictates leniency , "" said Erin M . Duggan , director of communications for the district attorney ' s office .  She added , "" New York state has enacted rational gun laws for one very simple reason : to protect everyone visiting , living , or working in New York . ""  Jerome is expected to be back in court in March .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
21157,21158,"Redmond ,  Microsoft tycoon Bill Gates plans to make everyone connected to his software , his internet providers , his self driving vehicles "" if and when "" he is elected President of the United States , Gates announced in launching his 2016 presidential bid this morning .  Gates , who is seeking the Democratic nomination currently coveted by such party luminaries as Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders , wants to make the United States the  the "" Microsoft States of America "" .  Under his plan , all schools , businesses , government offices and private homes would have access to personal computers , Windows software such as Office 2013 and Microsoft Word , Microsoft self driving vehicles , smartphones and X Boxes . If elected , Gates would supply Microsoft and  products to developing countries and enemies such as North Korea and the Gates added .  "" When Kim Jong Un ( the current Supreme Leader of North Korea ) starts downloading internet porn , makes friends on Facebook and Pinterest and buys a couple of hotels from Donald Trump through Craigslist , he ' ll see the magic of internet and Microsoft and the Microsoft States will have a new friend in Asia , "" Gates explained . "" And we could win over 1 . 3  converts to the Microsoft way in the People ' s Republic of China , by supplying them with Microsoft and  products . ""  Gates ' ideas for domestic policy are no less ambitious . He says that his computers and technologies would be used to replace teachers and other professions , eliminate poverty , provide people the right to vote , drive vehicles , make housework and homework "" a thing of the past "" and give human beings unlimited leisure time . "" It won ' t just be the Microsoft States of America "" , explained Gates . "" It will be ' The World According to Gates ' . ""  To achieve that goal , Gates said he would fund his campaign himself , by providing Microsoft products to all Democratic delegates during the primary caucus phase of the 2016 election . A source close to Gates said the products would only work if the delegates were pledged to Gates and his supporters , and added that other candidates ' websites , software and computers would also be hacked and sabotaged . Gates would not comment on that rumor .  Gates did confirm , however , that the nation ' s capital would be in Washington Redmond , Washington that is . "" All of the federal departments , Congress and the Supreme Court would be located to our campus here in Washington State , "" Gates explained . "" We have the technology on the Sammamish River that they don ' t have on the Potomac . We have the know here on Lake Washington that they don ' t on the Eastern Seaboard . ""  ",satire,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,present
21161,21162,"Jan 18 , 03 : 52 pm Govt has earned Rs11b from petrol price reduction : Imran Khan  Saudi Arabia s foreign affairs minister urges Britain to respect the kingdom s use of the death penalty  Saudi Arabia s foreign minister has urged Britain to respect his country s use of the death penalty , two weeks after the oil rich kingdom executed 47 people in one day . ?  Adel al Jubeir , responding to a question over the kingdom s terrible image problem , put to him by Channel 4 News Jonathan Rugman , said : Well on this issue we have a fundamental difference . In your country , you do no execute people , we respect it . In our country the death penalty is part of our laws and you have to respect this as it is the law , part of the law , in the United States and other countries .  He added : With regards to the perception of Saudi Arabia among the British public , this is a problem we need to work on . We have not been good at explaining ourselves , we have not done a good job at reaching out to the British media or to the British public or to the British institutions , academic institutions , think thanks and so forth . ?  We maybe not have been as communicative as we should be .  The foreign minister s comments come after international outcry over the Saudi kingdom s execution of 47 prisoners in one day earlier this month . Among those put to death was the prominent Shia cleric and dissident Sheikh Nimr al Nimr who was a vocal supporter of the mass anti government protests that flared up in the kingdom s oil rich Eastern Province in 2011 . ?  Amnesty International said the Saudi authorities had demonstrated utter disregard for human rights . Philip Luther , director of Amnesty s Middle East and North Africa programme , added : The killing of Sheikh Nimr al Nimr in particular suggests they are also using the death penalty in the name of counter terror to settle scores and crush dissidents . ?  He added : Carrying out a death sentence when there are serious questions about the fairness of the trial is a monstrous and irreversible justice .  According to several groups that monitor the death penalty worldwide , the kingdom executed 157 people in 2015 , with beheadings reaching their highest level in two decades . Saudi Arabia , however , does not release annual tallies , though it does announce individual executions in state media throughout the year .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
21162,21163,"The Government ' s inquiry into historic child abuse should be scrapped and started again , a leading member of the panel overseeing the investigation has told MPs .  Ben Emmerson  , the leading lawyer advising the inquiry , said the Home Secretary needed to disband it and set up a new investigation with statutory powers to compel people to give evidence .  He said the abuse inquiry had been undermined by internal leaks by a leading member of the panel and could no longer do its job .  Mr Emerson ' s remarks comes six months after the Home Secretary Theresa May first announced the inquiry .  Home Affairs Select Committee chairman Keith Vaz published information leaked by the child abuse inquiry  But it has been beset by problems and has been without a chairman since November after Fiona Woolf resigned over links to the late Tory peer Lord Brittan , whose handling of abuse claims in the 1980s has been questioned .  Predecessor Baroness Butler Sloss had resigned four months earlier , also over her links with establishment figures .  Mr Emmerson was last week accused of ' bullying ' child abuse survivor Sharon Evans , who sits on the inquiry board .  Mrs Evans told MPs on the Home Affairs Select Committee last Tuesday that Mr Emmerson was ' overstepping the mark with advice and rewriting of letters ' .  The allegations prompted the chair of the committee , Keith Vaz , to summon the barrister to answer questions on his role in the inquiry .  Speaking this afternoon , Mr Emmerson said panel members ' letters ' were not my responsibility ' , and accused Ms Evans of publishing ' misleading statements that have had an impact on the work of the inquiry ' .  Ben Emmerson  , the leading lawyer advising the inquiry , said the Home Secretary needed to disband it and set up a new investigation because information had been leaked  Member of the Independent panel inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse Sharon Evans has been accused of leaking information  He also claimed his fellow panel member was behind the ' leaking ' of a Home Office letter sent to panel members on December 15 .  In a frank exchange between Mr Emmerson and the committee chair , the human rights lawyer accused Ms Evans of a ' breach of confidentiality ' , describing the row as a ' terrible distraction from the really crucial and vitally important work that the panel has been trying to do in difficult circumstances ' .  In earlier responses to Ms Evans accusations , the remaining members of the inquiry said they had ' full confidence in the integrity , advice and impartiality ' of the lawyer in his role as ' facilitator ' while a new chair is appointed .  Mr Emmerson also rejected claims that he had ' intimidated ' Ms Evans as ' entirely baseless ' and ' unfounded ' .  The government inquiry into child abuse has been without a chairman since November after Fiona Woolf resigned over links to the late Tory peer Lord Brittan ( above )  Fiona Woolf ( left ) resigned as committee chair becoming the second inquiry head chosen by Theresa May ( right ) to step down  The leaked letter last week revealed that the Home Secretary Theresa May was considering disbanding the panel .  Mrs May could set up a new inquiry panel under statutory terms . In a letter to the panel members , she said : ' I am currently considering these options and I appreciate this has implications for members of the panel . '  Mrs Emmerson said it is his assessment that the panel cannot do its work because of Evans conduct .  Although she is a survivor herself , what she has done has not served the interests of survivors , he said .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
21174,21175,"Today , Katie Meyler might be meeting with Google executives or maybe giving a talk at the United Nations about girls ' education , poverty or Ebola . But just a few months ago , she was on the front lines fighting the Ebola epidemic in Liberia .  "" I think anybody that has any feelings for the countries in West Africa that were hit was feeling helpless , "" Meyler said .  Meyler had spent the last nine years of her life in Liberia setting up the More Than Me Academy , a tuition free school for at risk Liberian girls . While she was on summer break last year , visiting her family in the United States , her mind kept going back to Liberia and the Ebola outbreak . She couldn ' t sit idle as her neighbors , friends and students were fighting for their lives .  Meyler , who is not a medical professional , flew back to the front lines of a global epidemic , the last place most Americans wanted to be during the outbreak .  Back in Liberia , Meyler quickly realized that fighting Ebola would be more complicated than administering medical care . With dozens of aid organizations descending on the country , few of them had a history or relationship with it .  Meyler saw an opportunity to leverage her relationship with the community of West Point , the slum in which her school is located . Her ability to speak the Liberian English dialect facilitated logistics .  "" The people knew what was needed , "" Meyler said . "" They knew what to do . They just didn ' t have the resources . ""  Her organization met with community leaders and they decided more ambulances were needed . In some instances , it took up to four days for an ambulance to show up . Meyler was able to bring in four ambulances and coordinate with the fathers of her students , who responded to calls by driving the ambulances .  Meyler and community leaders identified what was most needed and then came up with steps to meet those needs , said Meyler . Next , they formed a group of active case finders , people who would go door to door in the poorest parts of West Point , looking for anyone that had fallen ill . Once a sick person was identified , a nursing team was dispatched to determine the next steps and treatment .  The hardest part for Meyler , who often describes herself as a "" big kid , "" was seeing children abandoned and orphaned by Ebola . According to  , 16 , 600 children have lost one or both parents to Ebola in Guinea , Liberia and Sierra Leone . Meyler ' s school turned one of its guesthouses into Hope 21 , a place to quarantine children suspected of having the Ebola virus .  During the good times and the bad , Meyler took to Instagram to post photos and her thoughts . For nearly 100 , 000 of her followers , her Instagram became a window into the battle against Ebola .  Social media have played a major role in the success of Meyler ' s organization since its inception nine years ago . To launch More Than Me , she did everything from fund raising on MySpace to participating in clinical research studies . In 2012 , the group was awarded a 1 million grant from JPMorgan Chase ' s American Giving Awards , after Facebook users voted for the organization .  Long before Meyler became an Ebola fighter , she grew up in a working class family from New Jersey . She always felt underprivileged , until she became involved in community service . That ' s when she decided to dedicate her life to helping people .  Meyler has since won a number of awards and has been recognized for her work in Liberia . She was one of the Ebola fighters honored as Time ' s Person of the Year in 2014 .  "" I ' m not the same person that I was before Ebola hit , "" said Meyler .  Reflecting on the months she spent fighting Ebola , she said , "" The people on the front lines that were risking their lives were the people who were fighting for their own lives , who were fighting for their children ' s lives . ""  Now it is about learning to live with Ebola , said Meyler , whose school has dozens of students who are Ebola orphans and survivors .  Meyler continues to focus on girls and education in Liberia , meeting with tech giants and innovative education labs to come up with ways to better serve her students at More Than Me .  ",true,text,validation,American football,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
21207,21208,"Before the world reaches a conclusion as to the outcome of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 , it ' s important to understand that the details are far too limited for drawing a parallel to Malaysia Flight 370 .  Implying that the airplane disappeared suggests it vanished into thin air . At this point , the Airbus A 320 has simply not been found , but the search is in its infancy compared with the months of searching since Malaysia Airline ' s Boeing 777 went missing in March .  A crucial difference in the Flight 8501 event is that the airplane had been in constant radar contact , at least from the information provided thus far . Radar data from air traffic control can provide tracking data that will indicate the flight path , altitude and direction the A320 200 followed . This will assist in more accurately defining the search area . With Malaysia 370 , radar data was sketchy satellite data has been the primary source in determining the track and thus the search area .  Although it appears AirAsia 8501 flew through a large area of convective weather , this fact might have been a contributing cause and not the only cause of the event .  No matter how obvious it might appear , airplane incidents and accidents generally involve more than one factor . Any good accident investigator will tell you that it is important not to focus on one theory until all the facts have been ascertained .  So what could have occurred ?  No doubt , the crew was attempting to circumnavigate thunderstorm cells through the use of sophisticated on board weather radar . On occasion , deviating around storm activity becomes a matter of determining the path that has a lower probability of turbulence encounters .  Airline pilots always attempt complete avoidance , steering a wide berth around thunderstorms . Unfortunately , route restrictions , other aircraft traffic and altitude constraints sometimes prevent our flights from deviating as far as we ' d like . This isn ' t to say we jeopardize safety , only that we might not be able to provide the most comfortable conditions for flying .  Experience dictates much of the decision process that airline pilots use to deviate around convective weather . Operation of the radar itself can be an art with respect to adjusting the tilt angle and intensity the antenna reflects on the display screen . Although airliners are structurally designed to withstand turbulence , intentional flight into a thunderstorm is never an option .  And let ' s not be misled by the reported request of Flight 8501 asking air traffic control for a higher altitude . This request may not have been an indication of a problem . Oftentimes , a request for a higher altitude is to provide a smoother ride . Yes , it is possible to "" top "" a thunderstorm cell , but most airline pilots attempt to turn away from the weather because turbulence can still be encountered above a building storm cell .  But there may be other contributing factors to the possible loss of AirAsia Flight 8501 .  Investigators will want to know whether the pitot tubes that provide airspeed data to the cockpit computer systems froze as a result of a heater failure , similar to the circumstances with Air France Flight 447 . Erroneous airspeed data would send confusing information to the instrument panel displays . Because of the confusing information , pilots would have difficulty reacting .  It is also possible that the airplane flew through heavy precipitation , flaming out both engines . Although the A320 is designed to continue flying without engine power , being able to control it at high altitude would be a challenge , especially in turbulent conditions .  If the airplane flew to the limits of its capabilities in regard to altitude , the difference between maximum airspeed and its lowest airspeed would have been a very small margin . Perhaps a high altitude stall occurred and the airplane never recovered .  Regardless of any speculation , it is much too early for theories . For the moment , I am keeping my fingers crossed that a search and rescue operation will find survivors . Bigger miracles have occurred .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
21208,21209,"Court filing offers rare peek at finances of Android  Photo illustration of Google apps are shown on an Apple iphone 5 in Encinitas . Photo : Reuters  ( Page 1 of 2 )      1 billion in 2014 to keep its search bar on the iPhone , Bloomberg reported , citing a transcript of court proceedings related to a copyright lawsuit filed by Oracle Corp  , gives Apple a percentage of the revenue it generates through the iPhone but details of the arrangement have never been made public .  In a portion of the document reviewed by Reuters , an Oracle attorney also claimed that Android had generated revenue of about 31 billion and profit of 22 billion since its release .  While the transcript did not give a date , the first commercial version of Android was released in September 2008 .  "" Assuming Android has only generated material revenue since 2010 , then these figures would constitute about 10 percent of Google ' s revenue and 15 percent of its gross profit since that time , "" Atlantic Equities analyst James Cordwell told Reuters .  "" This makes sense given mobile is probably about 40 percent of Google ' s revenue today , having ramped up from close to zero over the last 5 6 years , with this split between iOS and Android , "" Cordwell added .  Both revelations offer a rare peek into the financial details of Android , a critical product for Google as users shift their search efforts from desktop PCs to mobile devices .  When Oracle ' s attorney discussed details about Google ' s relationship with Apple at the Jan . 14 hearing , Google ' s attorney objected and argued that information should be sealed . Five days later , U . S . Magistrate Judge Donna Ryu denied Google ' s request .  Google asked Ryu to reconsider her ruling on Thursday , which has not yet been decided . However , a copy of the transcript became available at the courthouse on Thursday .  The court removed it from public view a few hours after posting it as a Reuters reporter was reviewing it , presumably to allow Google to litigate its request to rehear the secrecy issue .  ( Page 1 of 2 )      ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
21214,21215,"Cavaliers new coach Tyronn Lue to handle East All Stars  Cavaliers new coach Tyronn Lue to handle East All Stars  Former Nebraska Cornhuskers point guard Tyronn Lue , now the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers , will coach the Eastern Conference in the 2016  All Star Game .  In accordance to National Basketball Association rules it isn t huge , headline grabbing news but when putting it in perspective , Lue being named the Eastern All Star coach is a decision that many will disagree with .  Unless the objective was hiring Lue to appease a superstar , it makes little sense to retain Blatt through a 30 11 start , only to fire him , as Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy appropriately noted last week . Which , to be fair , is a 67 percent winning percentage , which is impressive , but it s still kind of odd . I ve just never seen being a first place team and getting one guy in . They were coming off an  Finals loss , one suffered while Love and Irving were sidelined with injury . We got exhausted . I just don t think we re in good enough shape right now to play in the style that we want to play .  Though James 23 . 0 points per game over the last two is below his season average , his shooting has been exceptionally accurate , going 18 of 23 in those contests . Cleveland , at 32 12 , leads the East by 2 . 5 games .  The Suns committed turnovers on four of their first five possessions in the quarter and went scoreless for the first three minutes of the second half , allowing the Cavs to open a 17 point lead .  With the Warriors Steve Kerr ineligible because he coached previous year and Luke Walton not receiving official credit for the team s early success , Popovich earned the nod as West coach for the fourth time . I ve said that all along , especially at the forward position .  James added , We re playing at a faster tempo , and me , I love running . They wouldn t have fired Blatt if LeBron endorsed him . It s not a lot of guys comfort zone , but I think for us to be successful , that s the way we ve got to play .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
21224,21225,"In light of a renewed  investigation into Hillary Clinton’s secret email server , Clinton urged voters to rush to the polls and vote for her ASAP.  “I would urge everybody to get out and vote early in all the states that have early voting ,” Clinton said during a short 3 minute press conference Friday, noting she believes her email scandals have already been “factored in” in voters’ minds.  From  :  REPORTER: You have 11 days to go. What would you say to a voter who right now will be seeing you and hearing what you’re saying, saying I didn’t trust her before. I don’t trust her anymore right now. And they’re heading to the ballot box tomorrow.   CLINTON: You know, I think people a long time ago made up their minds about the e-mails. I think that’s factored in to what people think and now they are choosing a president. So I would urge everybody to get out and vote early in all the states that have early voting because I think Americans want a president who can lead our country and get the economy working for everyone, not just those at the top and who can bring our country together. I offer that I can do that. And I’m very confident that the American people know that and we’re going to continue to discuss what’s at stake in this election because I believe that it’s one of the most consequential elections ever.  Courtesy of Information Liberation Don't forget to follow the D.C. Clothesline on Facebook and Twitter.  help spread the word by sharing our articles on your favorite social networks. Share this:",fake,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present
21239,21240,"Today’s Kelly Lawler falsely branded Breitbart Senior Editor  as a “white nationalist” and “racist,” while also claiming that he is a part of the “ ” movement, a claim  has repeatedly rebutted over the past few months. [In her article “Leslie Jones speaks out after harasser Yiannopoulos lands book deal,” Lawler branded  with numerous false labels, while also claiming that  sent “racist” abuse to actress Leslie Jones despite a complete lack of evidence to support these claims.  “After white nationalist and   poster boy Milo Yiannopoulos landed a massive book deal with a reported $250, 000 advance, publisher Simon  Schuster has come under harsh criticism from those concerned that a book will elevate the voice of the notorious Breitbart editor,” wrote Lawler. “Yiannopoulos made headlines earlier this year when he was permanently banned from Twitter for organizing a targeted racist and sexist harassment campaign against Ghostbusters [2016] and Saturday Night Live star Leslie Jones. ” Lawler, who previously worked for  and interned with Democratic congressman Patrick Murphy, is not the only journalist to have made false and unjust claims against MILO, with the New Yorker also falsely claiming that  led a “racist online harassment campaign against the comedian Leslie Jones. ” As previously reported by Breitbart News, Jones had already been engaging with Twitter trolls for hours before ever interacting with MILO. “If at first you don’t succeed (because you’re work is terrible) play the victim,” said  in reference to Jones on Twitter. “Everyone gets hate mail FFS. ” Breitbart’s Allum Bokhari also wrote on the issue, adding, “In other words,  has been permanently banned for little more than criticism, mild insults, and mockery. Meanwhile, [Breitbart’s] Jerome Hudson’s abuser, who repeatedly called the black reporter a ‘coon,‘ is still on the platform. ”  has also sparred with various white nationalist and fringe sections of the right, so much so that white supremacist site The Daily Stormer waged a “war” against him.   icon Richard Spencer has also dispelled claims that  is a part of the   stating simply that “Milo is not a part of the ” during a debate. Many white nationalists have also branded  a “  kike faggot,” declaring their distaste for him. Popular   outlet “The Right Stuff” also bluntly declared in an article that “Milo isn’t one of us,” while   “leading thought leader of ” Paul Town also rejected claims that  is anything close to a white nationalist or in a member of the   movement, branding him a “cultural libertarian. ” During numerous interviews,  has declared that he is not a member of the   nor a white nationalist —   a label, which he adds, many white nationalists are proud to associate with, however the media has frequently attempted to pin him to the movement.  Numerous celebrities and media figures have thrown public tantrums over MILO’s upcoming book release Dangerous, including Sarah Silverman, Judd Apatow, and Perez Hilton. Despite threats from the left to boycott publisher Simon and Schuster, the   version of Dangerous by  became the number one bestselling book on Amazon just a day after being announced and over two months before being released.  is available to   now via Amazon, in hardcover and Kindle editions. And yes,  is reading the audiobook version himself!  Charlie Nash is a reporter for Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington or like his page at Facebook.",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
21266,21267,"Charges of rebellion will be leveled against many of those arrested during martial law in the southern Philippines declared in the aftermath of last month ' s massacre of 57 civilians , the nation ' s justice secretary said .  Martial law went into effect Friday night in the province of Maguindanao to impose peace following the politically motivated massacre , said army spokesman Lt . Col . Romeo Brawner Jr . He added that Congress would have to approve any extension beyond 60 days .  Police and military reports of armed men massing in Maguindanao would lead to charges of rebellion , Devanadera said , according to   .  Signs indicated that "" violence was imminent , "" said Brig . Gen . Gaudencio Pangilinan , operations chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines , the affiliate reported .  The armed men were supporters of the politically powerful Ampatuan family , which has been implicated in the massacre , Pangilinan said .  At least six members of the Ampatuan family have been arrested , including Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr . , according to   . Ampatuan , whose father is governor of Maguindanao , has been accused of directing the killings and has been charged with 25 counts of murder .  One of the massacre victims implicated members of the Ampatuan family before she died , the affiliate reported .  The military was looking at arresting at least 100 people tied to the massacre ,   reported . The Philippine military is investigating its own forces in connection with the case as well , Brawner said .  Asked why martial law was imposed 12 days after the killings , Cabangbang said authorities "" were trying to build a case , a tight case "" against suspects .  "" But it is taking long to build a case , so I think the government gave us a free hand in arresting those who are suspects , and allowed us to search , even without warrant . So we really need this declaration of state of martial law . ""  The president was to submit a written report to Congress on Sunday evening , justifying her declaration of martial law , the Department of Justice said , according to the state run Philippine News Agency .  Political debate had flared over how soon Congress needed to convene after the declaration of martial law , as required by the Constitution .  The House of Representatives and the Senate might jointly convene on Tuesday to discuss the president ' s report , House Speaker Prospero Nograles said Sunday , according to the Philippine News Agency .  Violence in the run up to elections is not uncommon in the country . The Maguindanao massacre , however , is the worst politically motivated violence in recent Philippine history , according to state media .  The victims included the wife and sister of political candidate Ismael "" Toto "" Mangudadatu , who had sent the women to file paperwork allowing him to run for governor of Maguindanao . He said he had received threats from allies of Gov . Andal Ampatuan Sr . , the father of the accused mayor , saying he would be kidnapped if he filed the papers himself .  Ampatuan Sr . has been taken into custody in the massacre , but was hospitalized after taking ill .  Witnesses and local officials say the killings were an attempt to block Mangudadatu from challenging the younger Ampatuan a longtime ally of the Philippine president and a known warlord in the May gubernatorial election .  A dozen journalists who had accompanied the women were also killed in the massacre .  Group : Philippines most dangerous country for journalists  Suspicion fell on Ampatuan after a government construction vehicle was found at the hastily dug mass grave that held the bodies of the massacre victims .  Maguindanao is part of an autonomous region in predominantly Muslim Mindanao , which was set up in the 1990s to quell armed uprisings by people seeking an independent Muslim homeland in the predominantly Christian Asian nation .  ",true,text,validation,American football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
21313,21314,"With a demon baby Jesus , skeletal wise men and the carcass of a lamb , a zombie themed nativity scene caused quite a stir when it was unveiled in Ohio earlier this month .  And now its creator , Jasen Dixon , has been ordered to kill the ten foot by ten foot structure because it violates local property maintenance codes .  The Cincinnati resident has been given until December 26 to dismantle the display otherwise he will be slapped with a 1 , 000 fine .  Gruesome : Zombie themed nativity scene caused quite a stir when it was unveiled in Ohio earlier this month  Underfire : Now its creator , Jasen Dixon , has been ordered to kill the ten foot by ten foot structure because it violates local property maintenance codes  Officials in Ohio ' s Sycamore Township said they received two anonymous complaints about the placement of the zombie nativity .  Regulations in the area state that structures located in a front or side yard should not occupy more than 35per cent of the area , and should be three feet from the street and six feet from the house .  Dixon , who manages a haunted attraction in Indiana , unveiled his unconventional creation three weeks ago .  He said he made the models for the zombie Mary and three wise men and borrowed props to make the Joseph and Jesus zombie figures .  Red alert : Officials in Ohio ' s Sycamore Township said they received two anonymous complaints about the placement of the zombie nativity  All coming down : The Cincinnati resident has been given until December 26 to dismantle the display otherwise he will be slapped with a 1 , 000 fine  Source of inspiration : As Dixon also manages the 13 Rooms of Doom haunted house in Indiana , he had access to plenty of props  The baby Jesus is pale with totally white eyes , while the other life sized figures are partly skeletal .  Dixon said despite some backlash , many people approve of the display , which is lit by red and green lights .  A Facebook page he made for it has attracted 200 ' likes . '  He said that at around 2am on Tuesday , he discovered three women in his front yard taking selfies with the display in the pouring rain .  ' I never suspected it to be this big , ' Dixon said .  Greg Bickford , the township administrator , said the citation has nothing to do with the irreverent content of the display , which he called ' comical . '  Rather it is to do with the size and location .  Not for children : A lamb ' s carcass lays in the hay  Sight for sore eyes : Dixon said his father and neighbors aren ' t fans of the zombie scene  ' We ' re complaint driven , ' Bickford said , when asked if other displays had been cited this season .  ' If we were to drive up and down every single street and try to find violations , we ' d never get off a street . '  Dixon , who has lived in the neighborhood for 15 years and never received any other notices , was also cited for junk and debris on his property that he said was never an issue before .  He said he is still considering what to do with the manger scene by the township ' s Friday deadline , the day after Christmas .  ' I haven ' t decided , ' he said . ' I don ' t really know what ' s going to happen . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
21326,21327,"When Make A Wish Foundation approached Peter Srsich , a stage four cancer patient , offering to make a dream of his come true , the 17 year old boy had an unusual request : he wanted to meet the pope .  Two years later , the Colorado teen is in remission and he has credited his encounter with Benedict  with helping him beat the cancer .  Srsich , a devout Catholic who is now studying for priesthood , is well aware that his cancer was cured thanks to decades of medical research and his doctors ' extensive training but he believes that meeting the former pontiff in Rome has restored his faith and gave him strength to fight for his life .  Fateful meeting : In May 2012 , Peter Srsich , 17 , a stage four cancer patient , got to meet with Pope Benedict  , who unexpectedly placed his hand on the exact spot where his tumor was to offer him a blessing  Humble offering : Unlike other people in line to meet the pontiff who came bearing costly presents , Peter handed the pope a simple wristband with the words ' Praying for Peter ' that a friend had made for him  For Peter , the harrowing ordeal started in 2011 with a simple cough . When the lanky 6 foot 6 lacrosse player returned from a canoe trip in July of that year , he felt overwhelmed with the kind of fatigue that he had never experienced before ,  News reported .  The family suspected that the boy came down with pneumonia , but the reality was much more terrifying : doctors discovered a softball sized mass in his left lung that was pressing on his heart . The tumor was diagnosed as a stage four cancer .  Luckily for Peter , he was young , strong and very athletic , giving him a good chance for survival .  What followed was six months of grueling cancer treatment , which included seven rounds of chemotherapy that left the teenager completely bald .  Srsich ' s diagnosis and treatment had another impact on the boy : it plunged him into depression and made him question why all this was happening to him .  But the 17 year old still found comfort in his faith . Knowing that he was devout , a friend created 1 , 200 lime green wristbands with the words ' Praying for Peter ' on them , along with Srsich ' s favorite Biblical passage , Romans 8 : 28 .  Out of the blue : For Peter , an athletic 17 year old , it all started with a cough and a feeling of overwhelming fatigue , which turned out to be stage four cancer  Harrowing ordeal : Srsich ( far left ) had to go through seven rounds of chemotherapy , which left him completely bald . His younger brother ( center ) and dad shaved their heads to support him  Three months into his treatment , Srsich was approached by the Make a Wish Foundation a charity that grants wishes to children suffering from life threatening illnesses .  Peter ' s dream was an unusual one : the 17 year old high school student wanted to go to Rome and see the pope in person .  Trooper : The 17 year old was treated with powerful drugs that plunged him into depression , but Peter fought on  ' I would have been perfectly fine if I just got a tour of the Vatican , ' he later said  The Italian branch of Make A Wish helped organize the 14 , 000 trip , covering the cost of plane tickets , accommodations , meals and spending expenses .  ' After meeting Peter , there was no doubt in my mind it was his true wish and it was going to play an important role in what he wants to do career wise , ' said his gift coordinator LuAnn Griffin .  On a sunny day in May 2012 , Peter , his parents and 15 year old brother , Johnny , filed into St Peter ' s Square in the Vatican to hear Pope Benedict  address the multinational audience in five languages .  Afterwards , Peter and his family were invited to queue up before the pope along with a number of high dignities .  Srsich was concerned : everyone else in line waiting to speak to the pontiff came bearing expensive gifts , but he only had a lime green rubber wristband to offer the leader of the Catholic church .  Finally , his turn was up to meet the pope . Towering over the diminutive pontiff , Peter told him that he had cancer and asked him for a blessing . And then something unexpected happened .  ' He looked at me and said , "" Oh , you speak English ? "" and put his hand on my chest right where the tumor had been , even though I had not mentioned it to him , ' Peter recalled . ' The blessing is usually on the head . '  Special moment : Even though Peter ( second right ) ended up missing most of his senior year of high school , he made it to his prom and was voted homecoming king  In February 2013 , less than a year after the fateful encounter , Pope Benedict resigned due to his declining health and was replaced by Pope Francis I .  These days , . Peter Srsich says he feels ' wonderful . ' He currently attends Regis University , a Jesuit college in Denver . His goal is to be ordained as a priest in about eight years .  With his cancer on the ropes , the 19 year old is also back to playing lacrosse and practicing taekwondo .  Dream come true : When Peter ( second left ) , pictured , with his mother , father and younger brother , was approach by the Make A Wish Foundation , he asked to travel to Rome with his family and meet the pope  Although some Christian groups have latched on to Peter ' s recovery story , proclaiming it a miracle , Srsich does not see it quite that way .  ' Chemo helped me fight the cancer . Make A Wish helped me fight the chemo , ' he told  . ' Knowing the pope was in my future helped me get through that , and in a small , non miraculous way , helped cure my cancer . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
21345,21346,"A Manhattan investment banker has resigned from his 7 million a year job after his estranged wife made explosive allegations about cocaine binges and forced group sex during their messy , bitter divorce and custody battle over their two daughters .  Sage Kelly , who ran the profitable healthcare banking business for Jefferies Group , is stepping down to ' focus on his family , ' Bloomberg reports .  The sensational public claims by his estranged wife Christina Kelly led Jefferies Group to drug test the entire healthcare banking department .  Bitter divorce : Sage Kelly has stepped down from his job where he reportedly made 7million a year after the shocking by his estranged wife Christina  The company even made reference to the scandal when releasing its quarterly earnings report on Tuesday noting that ' unusual publicity ' hadn ' t hurt business , according to Bloomberg .  Mr Kelly , 42 , has been on leave from the company since October when Mrs Kelly made shocking allegations in court documents that he coerced her to have sex with a prospective client after a night of heavy drinking and snorting cocaine .  The raucous account of the night which has been denied by Mr Kelly , as well as the other executive Mrs Kelly named includes a drug addled foursome in which the other executive ' s girlfriend showed off her new breast implants . The night ended with the Kellys partner swapping with the other executive and Mrs Kelly having sex with the prospective client , she claimed in her lawsuit .  Mrs Kelly claims she felt coerced into having sex with the other executive that night and played the dutiful wife in the hopes that it would win her husband a big client .  Mr and Mrs Kelly agreed last month to share custody of their two daughter and settled the divorce for a massive sum  Mrs Kelly eventually sent out a statement praising her husband as a ' great father ' and apologizing for the allegations she made  Mr Kelly had won full custody of the couple ' s two daughters after he showed a judge hidden camera footage of his wife doing cocaine and argued that she was an unfit parent .  He also cited her 2010 crash and drunk driving arrest in the Hamptons in which one of the couple ' s daughters was in the back seat .  That prompted Mrs Kelly , 39 , fired back with a series of shocking charges against her husband .  In addition to the alleged group sex , Mrs Kelly claimed that her husband had drug parties with major players from the New York banking world . She alleges he binged on drugs including : Molly , ketamine , magic mushrooms , ecstasy and heroin .  Mr Kelly denied all allegations his wife made in the divorce proceedings .  The two settled in November a month after Mrs Kelly filed the explosive divorce claims for a massive sum and agreed to split custody of  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
21371,21372,"A 12 . 76 carat pink diamond has been unearthed in an Australian mine , the largest ever found in the country .  Christened as the Argyle Pink Jubilee , the diamond was found in mining giant Rio Tinto ' s Argyle diamond mine in Western Australia ' s East Kimberly region . The Argyle mine is the world ' s largest producer of pink diamonds , with Rio Tinto reporting that the mine generates more than 90 of the global market supply .  "" A diamond of this caliber is unprecedented it has taken 26 years of Argyle production to unearth this stone , and we may never see one like this again , "" said Argyle Pink Diamonds Manager Josephine Johnson in a statement .  Rio Tinto expects that after two months of assessment and planning , it will take ten days to cut and polish the diamond into a single stone . The finished stone will be offered for sale during the company ' s annual Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender later this year .  According to Australia ' s Herald Sun , the diamond will be worth at least  1 . 07 million .  However , it is premature to judge the stone ' s significance at this point , according to Sotheby ' s Asia department head of jewelry , Chin Yeow Quek .  "" It is hard to judge a stone in the rough . It really depends on how large the rock will be polished downed to , "" he said , explaining that diamonds tend to lose at least 50 of their weight during the polishing process . "" It also depends on the intensity of color and clarity , "" he added .  He cited as a benchmark the 24 . 78 carat fancy intense pink diamond sold by Sotheby ' s Geneva office in November , 2010 for more than  46 million , which set the world ' s auction record for any diamond and jewel at  1 . 86 million per carat .  Natural pink diamonds are considered one of the most valuable types of diamonds , and are typically found in museums , fine auction houses , and on the hands of royalty . The company said the Argyle Pink Jubilee is in a similar light pink color to the 24 carat Williamson Pink that Britain ' s Queen Elizabeth  received as a wedding gift .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
21376,21377,"Travel Leisure ) Try finding a hotel mystery shopper willing to dish on one of their stays . Ask them to reveal the dirt on the unkempt suite , the coquette of a concierge , or the wilted flower that sullied the room service tray . You can ' t .  According to the Mystery Shopping Providers Association (  ) there are some 30 , 000 of them in the U . S . , hired by luxury hotel brands to check in anonymously and judge mercilessly . But like a  agent or the rare hair stylist who ' ll keep your secrets , gossip is not in the mystery shopper ' s after hours repertoire . Even if they don ' t name names , everything they unearth is strictly confidential .  Perhaps it ' s to be expected in an industry where everyone , from the booking agent to the bellhop , is famously discreet . If loose lips sink ships , a too revealing mystery shopper could certainly submerge an hotelier or two . Thankfully , Stephanie Perrone Goldstein , vice president of sales marketing for the New York based Coyle Hospitality ( whose clients include Starwood Hotels and Resorts and Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group ) , produced a nine year veteran willing to answer a few questions .  Travel Leisure : Best hotels in New York City  The catch : we would speak by phone , with Goldstein playing watchdog , and the mystery shopper would remain nameless and description less more incognito than Brangelina on holiday .  Even by phone , the woman radiated confidence . She ' d completed over 500 mystery shops in luxury hotels on four continents , and her voice came through the wires sternly , as if she ' d been in upper management a day too long . She works as an independent contractor ( paid by the job ) . What she looks for at each hotel varies from client to client some brands maintain a checklist of ten things to look for upon arrival , others more than 80 .  "" I pack a measuring tape , because a few hotels want me to get down to the nitty gritty , "" she says . "" Is the radius of light emitted from the lamp exact ? Is the paint on the walls in a particular palette ? ""  5 Tour de France alternatives  Occasionally , she ' ll check in as the most obnoxious breed of hotel guest : the road weary whiner .  "" I ' ll call the front desk and say the room smells like smoke even when it doesn ' t , just to see how they ' ll respond , "" she says . Fake outs are staged and executed thoroughly she ' ll go as far as to empty the batteries from the remote and grumble about the fritzy T . V . , or unhook the chain from the toilet to time how long it takes the staff to fix it . It ' s an exacting art . After she checks out , her report is written up , fact checked by Coyle , and delivered back to the client in a matter of weeks .  Travel Leisure It List : The best new hotels 2012  "" My goal , honestly , is to get hotels to provide the highest possible level of service , "" she says . "" When I return to these properties personally and I do , if they ' re great I get such satisfaction seeing that . ""  In the era of Yelp and TripAdvisor , when travelers can report anything at all to the Googling masses , trustworthy accounts are more important than ever to hoteliers . Coyle isn ' t alone in providing unbiased evaluations to luxury brands that clamor for it .  27 must sees on earth  Zachary Conen , senior vice president of sales and marketing at  Worldwide , a mystery shopping firm based in Pennsylvania , says they maintain a stable of 120 full time consultants who travel 42 weeks out of the year . They too are tight lipped , but happy to tell you their standards , which alter depending on the client . Is there a seasonally appropriate fruit at the front desk ? Did you get a call from the concierge within thirty minutes of check in ? Are the amenities Gilchrist Soames and perfectly arranged ?  Competition for the positions is fierce : you ' re required to have three years of management experience in the hospitality industry , excellent written and interpersonal skills , and a credit line of up to 7 , 500 presumably for booking your travel , which is reimbursed in its entirety .  Once you ' re hired , there are other hurdles ( namely , weeks of training at  University , learning the intricacies of each luxury brand . ) The coursework is hush hush , of course , but it may be among the cushiest of educational experiences on the planet . One can picture these people lazing about in hotel robes , fawning over thread count quantities and proper lobby manner with equal zeal .  Travel Leisure : America ' s best cities for singles  The concept of sending in a ringer to report back is nothing new . Mystery shopping began in the 1930s with three men touring the country , staking out Woolworth ' s and Kresge ' s ( now Kmart ) department stores . It gained traction during the civil rights era , when the government hired black and white "" customers "" to investigate the compliance , and the prolific lack thereof , to desegregation laws in restaurants and corner stores alike . Today it ' s a 1 . 5 billion a year production , a large chunk of which is travel based .  "" In the late 1980s , Hilton was among the first luxury hotel brands to utilize the service , "" says Mike Bare , co owner and president of Bare International and one of the original founders of the  . Three decades later , it ' s common practice among hotel brands around the world . ( Proof :  recently opened a satellite office in busy Singapore . ) And soon enough , its taciturn nature may be over .  "" You ' ll see the secretive side of mystery shopping change it ' s becoming a vestige of the past , "" says Jeff Gurtman , a former executive at both Coyle and  and now vice president of brand strategy for Dana Communications , a hospitality marketing agency .  The wealth of online reviews has reignited the idea that the customer ' s feedback is not only important , but critical to success . Starwood recently announced that it ' s allowing guest commentary , both good and bad , on its own websites and more and more guests are leaving feedback directly on Facebook .  "" Hoteliers read online reviews thoroughly , "" Gurtman says . "" If they notice a trend there that speaks to a problem , they have mystery shoppers to go in and test it with surgical precision . ""  Essentially , they ' re hiring people to complain so you never have to . And in the thoughtfulness driven economy of high end hotels , that might be the most considerate act of all .  Planning a getaway ? Don ' t miss Travel Leisure ' s guide to the World ' s Best Hotels  Copyright 2012 American Express Publishing Corporation . All rights reserved .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
21386,21387,"Nigel Farage is set to appear alongside some to the United States ' most high profile conservative politicians at a conference in Washington tomorrow .  The Ukip leader will address activists immediately after the darling of the Tea Party movement Sarah Palin .  The annual Conservative Political Action Conference is attended by leading Republican politicians as well as gun activists , anti abortion campaigners and evangelical Christians .  Nigel Farage , who has developed a cult following in the States after regular  appearances on Fox News , will address the annual Conservative Political Action Conference tonight  Visitors to the summit are sometimes handed plastic foetuses by activists to show their opposition to abortion .  Tea Party supporters who favour a dramatic reduction in the size of the State also walk the halls in uniforms from the 18th century American Revolutionary War .  But the Ukip leader , who has developed a cult following in the States after regular  appearances on Fox News , defended his decision to appear at the conference .  He said : ' There are parts of the American Conservative movement that I get on well with and other parts not so well with . ' We have learned quite a lot from some of them in terms of campaigning techniques , many of which we put into use in Rochester .  ' Some of the very hard line religious stuff is not where I ' m going with politics and I often find myself disagreeing about interventionist foreign policies . '  Mr Farage is expected to tell the gathered activists that unless they reclaim the Republican Party they ' might have to do a Ukip ' and break off .  The Ukip leader will share a stage with the darling of the Tea Party movement Sarah Palin and a host of gun activists and anti abortion campaigners  Former Vice President Dick Cheney , centre , accepts a rifle from National Rifle Association chiefs Kayne Robinson ( right ) and Wayne LaPierre ( left ) . Mr LaPierre will attend the conference alongside Mr Farage  The Ukip leader has been given a super star build up for the annual gathering at the Gaylord National Resort in Maryland , near Washington  .   agents promoting the event have described him as a ' political tour de force ' who has ' emerged as a serious and viable candidate who can run England in the near future ' .  Mr Farage will appear after Mrs Palin , the former Alaska governor who rose to prominence after being chosen as Senator John McCain ' s running mate in the 2008 Presidential race against Barack Obama .  The Ukip leader will also rub shoulders with Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker a frontrunner for the Republican Presidential nomination next year who wants to ' prioritise ' the end of universal healthcare introduce by President Obama .  Mr Farage will also be joined by Wayne LaPierre , the head of the pro gun National Rifle Association .  Speaking after one of the recent multiple killings in the  , Mr LaPierre said : ' The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun . '  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
21394,21395,"A 21 year old ' Breaking Bad ' fan has been caught with a methamphetamine lab in his home and he was sporting a T shirt from the popular show when he was busted .  Acting on a tip , police raided the suburban Chicago home of Daniel Kowalski at around about 6 : 45 p . m . Monday , according to a statement from the Cook County Sheriff ' s office .  Officers found glass beakers , burners , chemicals , and instructional materials for making controlled substances in the La Grange Highlands property , the statement said .  Los Pollos : Daniel Kowalski , pictured , has been caught with a methamphetamine lab in his home and he was sporting a T shirt , pictured , from the popular show when he was busted  Equipment : Officers found glass beakers , burners , chemicals , and instructional materials for making controlled substances , pictured , in the La Grange Highlands property  However , they said Kowalski wasn ' t cooking when they conducted the search .  Twelve jars of psychedelic mushrooms were also recovered .  Kowalski was wearing a ' Los Pollos Hermanos ' T shirt as he was taken into custody and when his mug shot was taken . Los Pollos is the chicken restaurant owned by Gustavo ' Gus ' Fring , Walter White ' s boss . The restaurant acts as a front for Gus ' meth dealing ventures .  Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart confirmed Kowalski ' s attire on Twitter Wednesday .  ' For those asking , Daniel Kowalski was actually wearing a Los Pollos  shirt at the time of arrest , ' he tweeted .  One clever follower responded , ' TomDart Los Pollos  Kowalski "" Better call Saul . "" '  Saul is the ethically dubious lawyer on the hit show .  Second time : This was the second time in less than a year a meth lab , pictured , was found in Kowalski ' s home  Charges : Kowalski has been charged with two counts of possession of a controlled substance , possession of methamphetamine manufacturing materials , and possession of methamphetamine precursors , and a misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia  Dismantled : An Illinois State Police Clandestine Lab removal team responded and removed the chemicals and lab from the property in the La Grange Highlands area , pictured  Sheriff spokeswoman Sophia Ansari added to the Chicago Tribune : ' He obviously knows something about the show . '  According to the police statement this was the second time in less than a year a meth lab was found in Kowalski ' s home .  He has been charged with two counts of possession of a controlled substance , possession of methamphetamine manufacturing materials , and possession of methamphetamine precursors , and a misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia .  An Illinois State Police Clandestine Lab removal team responded and removed the chemicals and lab .  Restaurant : Los Pollos Hermanos , pictured , is the chicken restaurant owned by Gustavo ' Gus ' Fring , Walter White ' s boss in Breaking Bad  Breaking Bad : Walt and Jesse are seen during a tense meeting inside the restaurant during the show  Inspired by art : Gus , center , uses the Los Pollos restaurant as a front for his multimillion dollar meth business  Mushrooms : Twelve jars of psychedelic mushrooms , pictured , were also recovered  Two other men were in the home during Monday ' s search and were taken into custody but released without charges , police said .  Kowalski was scheduled to appear Wednesday for a bond hearing at the Bridgeview Courthouse , according to the sheriff ' s office .  The 21 year old ' s previous run in with authorities was in July 2013 when police found a suspected meth lab in the property .  He was ordered to home confinement after his arrest and had to wear an electronic monitor .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
21410,21411,"A brain dead two year old Brooklyn girl ' s organs will not be donated after a family dispute kept her on life support .  A New York Organ Donor Network spokeswoman tells The New York Times that organ and tissue donation ' can only occur when there is agreement amongst family members ' .  The parents of Thaiya Spruill Smith were in disagreement over whether to donate her organs after the toddler was declared brain dead on Friday .  Police say her stepfather violently shook her , resulting in injuries that proved fatal .  Tragic : Thaiya Spruill Smith , two , was taken off life support on Saturday after suffering a brain hemorrhage . Her organs will not be donated following a family dispute , the New York Organ Donor Network has confirmed  David Adams has so far been charged with assault , but prosecutors say the charges will be upgraded .  On Monday , a judge ordered Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center to keep the child on life support for at least another day to keep her organs alive until the girl ' s parents resolved their dispute .  Her mother , Teoka Spruill , 24 , wanted her organs donated the father , Terrell Smith , 26 , objected .  ' She was born with that , she ' s going to be buried with that , her body , her eyes it ' s what makes her her , ' Smith told the New York Times from Thaiya ' s hospital bed in Brookdale Hospital , New York .  ' My daughter was born with that , and she ' s going to lie down with the same thing . '  Speaking separately , Spruill told the paper : ' I just think it would be a blessing for someone else ' s family . '  There will be an autopsy on Thaiya ' s body as her death is the subject of a criminal investigation .  Her death certificate will state Friday as her date of death , regardless .  The parental dispute is reportedly the latest in a series spanning Thaiya ' s lifetime , as Smith claims he made repeated attempts to save her from Adams , who he claims was abusive .  The two year old was rushed to Brookdale Hospital in Brooklyn , New York , shortly before 7am on Thursday after her mother noticed she was struggling to breathe .  Despite numerous operations , doctors concluded Thaiya ' s injuries were too severe to overcome and she was taken off life support .  It has since emerged that Thaiya may have been the victim of months of abuse at the hands of her stepfather that was investigated by New York City social services .  Relatives have made emotional tributes to the ' smart ' and ' sweet ' girl as her mother ' s husband David Adams , 25 , appeared in court charged with inflicting the fatal wounds .  Anger : Her father Terrell Smith says she was being systematically abused by her mother ' s new husband  ' Thai , she was like the sweetest little girl ever , like you wouldn ' t have problems with her ever , ' Shayne Smith , Thaiya ' s uncle , told Time Warner Cable .  ' She was very smart very , very smart . '  According to court documents , Adams admitted to shaking Thaiya when questioned .  And police sources say there are records of a similar shaking incident in the household last month .  Adams , who married Thaiya ' s mother in March , wept before prosecutors in court as they told him the two year old had died .  ' He was shocked . He was very , very upset , ' defense attorney Joseph Sieger told the New York Post .  Smith said social services took custody of the little girl for a week while they investigated Adams for abuse .  She was returned and the case was dropped , he said .  The  has refused to confirm or deny Smith ' s claims due to confidentiality restrictions .  Paramedics were called to the home in the Brownsville area of Brooklyn shortly before 7am on Thursday .  According to Smith , she had already had the injuries for days .  Spruill , Thaiya ' s mother , is the half sister of Tiona Rodriguez , who was caught carrying her dead baby son in a plastic bag in Victoria ' s Secret last year , then aged 17 .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
21412,21413,"Los Angeles A Los Angeles judge ordered doctors to resume water , nutrition and medication infusions for Casey Kasem on Monday .  The decision came during a hearing in which a lawyer for the iconic radio host ' s wife accused Kasem ' s daughter of denying food , water and medication to her father to hasten his death .  Monday ' s hearing was the latest in a series of court battles over control of health decisions for Kasem , 82 . He suffers from Lewy body dementia , which has no cure , according to court documents .  The retired "" American Top 40 "" host is in critical condition at St . Anthony Hospital in Kitsap County , Washington , where his wife , Jean Kasem , took him last month amid the legal dispute with her stepchildren .  Kasem ' s children hope family will put aside dispute in his last moments  Kasem "" won ' t be with us much longer , "" Danny Deraney , the representative for daughter Kerri Kasem , said Friday .  Jean Kasem ' s lawyer Steve Haney called Kerri Kasem "" a godless woman "" after Monday ' s hearing , referring to his contention that she is a member of the Church of Scientology .  Deraney denies that Kerri Kasem has ever been a Scientologist , adding , "" She loves studying religions . Jean picked out the most controversial one to distract from what ' s really going on . ""  Haney told reporters outside the courthouse that Kerri Kasem ' s motive for speeding up her father ' s death was financial .  "" She ' s in a pretty serious economic situation that would be dramatically improved as the result of her father ' s death , "" Haney said . She "" could cash in immediately "" on her share of a 2 million life insurance policy when he dies , he said .  Kerri Kasem was in Washington with her father Monday and not at the hearing , but her lawyer defended her . "" I think Kerri has conducted herself in a way that demonstrates she ' s solely concerned about the health of her father , "" attorney Troy Martin said .  Martin attacked Jean Kasem for ignoring court orders and removing her husband from a Los Angeles nursing home "" where he had no bedsores , where he had no infections , and took him on a road trip , over a thousand miles , to a place that wasn ' t his home , and didn ' t give him proper medical care . ""  Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Daniel Murphy will reconsider at a hearing Friday who should make medical decisions for Kasem : his daughter , wife or a neutral party . He ordered Kasem ' s court appointed lawyer to travel to Washington to assess his medical condition and try to communicate with him .  "" He ' s not a vegetable . He can communicate , "" his wife ' s lawyer told Murphy . But the daughter ' s attorney told the judge that was false .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
21427,21428,"A voter fills out a ballot at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School in Forest , Va . , on election day , Nov . 3 , 2015 .  While most Americans may have been focused on the 2016 presidential election ? still more than a year away ? many of the races and ballot issues voted ? on across ? the country ? on Tuesday ? could very well have wide ranging policy implications in 2016 .  Here s a look at what went down and what it means for next year .  1 . A Medicaid expansion litmus test . ? Republican tea party favorite Matt Bevin beat Democrat Jack Conway to win the governor s race in Kentucky .  Tea Party Republican Matt Bevin was elected as governor in Kentucky . This win sets up what could be the biggest partisan political battle over Obamacare . Fmr . Secretary of Transportation Ray Lahood sits down with  s Andrea Mitchell to discuss .  facebook twitter embed like save share group discuss  A big part of Bevin s outsider campaign was his promise to undo the Medicaid expansion of President Obama s Affordable Care Act ? affecting 400 , 000 Kentucky residents already on the program . Conway , meanwhile , promised to continue expanding the state s program .  This could be a litmus test for national Republicans , especially some presidential candidates , who have long clamored to repeal or replace Obamacare . Will Bevin s vow to replace the expansion with another program using a federal waiver be a success ? And will there be political blowback ? Time will tell . ?  2 . Bad news for  rights . ? Houston , Texas , voters rejected a measure that would have protected gay and transgender people from discrimination . Proposition 1 , known as Houston s equal rights ordinance , promised to protect people from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity ? in employment , housing , and public accommodations .  Opponents successfully used scare tactics to argue that the measure would allow male sex predators to use women s restrooms , even as proponents pointed out the measure doesn t change existing laws banning indecent exposure and assaults .  The biggest takeaway is that trans equality has a long way to go to catch up to marriage equality , even in a city as diverse as Houston , America s fourth largest metropolis .  And the issue isn t going away . Congress is considering the Equality Act , which would expand the 1964 Civil Rights Act to protect people from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in workplace , housing and in public accommodation .  3 . Marijuana advocates get their buzz killed . ? Voters in Ohio rejected a ballot initiative that would have legalized recreational and medical use of marijuana . Opponents successfully railed against a controversial provision that would have allowed commercial cultivation on only 10 farms ? and benefit just a small number of investors .  Ohio is a major presidential swing state , and ? Tuesday s ? vote was considered a bellwether for the marijuana legalization movement . However , polls show the majority of Americans back legal marijuana use . ?  4 . Bad news for Hillary ? ? In Virginia , Democrats tried ? and failed ? to capture control of the state Senate . The Dems only needed one seat to flip the state Senate from red to blue , giving Democratic Gov . Terry McAuliffe the strength he needs ( even with a  majority in the House of Delegates ) to help advance his agenda on a number of issues , including Medicaid expansion and gun control .  The 2016 implication ? McAuliffe is a close ally of Democratic presidential front runner Hillary Clinton , and many politicos argued that flipping the Senate and McAuliffe being able to push his legislative agenda would have helped him deliver the purple state of Virginia to Clinton in 2016 .  5 . A ( small ) win for raising the minimum wage . ? Voters in Tacoma , Washington , voted to raise the city s minimum wage to 12 ( phased in over two years ) instead of another measure to immediately increase pay to 15 , which would have been one of the highest minimum wages in the country .  When talking about his economic policy , Donald Trump says I think have a low minimum wage is not a bad thing for this country . He also says if he becomes president he will make the U . Sweblinkpetitive again .  facebook twitter embed like save share group discuss  The federal minimum wage has already been a big issue on the 2016 campaign trail , especially because cities have higher minimum wages than the existing 7 . 25 federal rate , and because there have been labor fueled , progressive rallies nationwide for higher wages .  Clinton has said she wants to raise the federal minimum wage to 12 , while her Democratic challenger , Sen . Bernie Sanders , has called for 15 an hour . Most Republican candidates , meanwhile , ? have said they don t think now is the time for a federal wage hike .  6 . Campaign finance reform gains ground . ? Voters in Maine approved a measure to limit the influence of special interest money in state elections .  The measure increases public funding for candidates to as much as 3 million ( as opposed to the existing 2 million ) , giving those running for office an incentive to use that money instead of money from special interest groups . The law also strengthens disclosure rules and penalties for those who violate campaign finance laws .   : ? A viewer s guide to the next year in presidential politics  The move could boost efforts around the country to reduce the influence of money in politics , especially in the wake of the Supreme Court s 2010 Citizens United decision , which allows super PACs to accept unlimited donations from wealthy individuals and corporations .  7 . A sharing economy victory . ? Voters in San Francisco , California , shot down a measure that would have imposed regulations on short term rentals , affecting companies like Airbnb .  Proposition F would have limited the number of nights a unit can be rented annually to 75 . Proponents argued companies like Airbnb ( which spent millions in hopes of defeating the measure ) made the lack of affordable housing worse as units were being treated like hotel rooms .  The whole issue of the so called sharing economy has become a major talking point in the 2016 presidential campaign , with candidates trying to strike a balance between embracing new technology while also protecting American workers . Republicans , in particular , have been quick to embrace sharing economy companies like Uber , which they see as vastly preferable , market based solutions to union run taxi cartels . Democrats tend to argue that the gig economy hurts workers .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
21430,21431,"Almost 20 years ago , Bill Watterson walked away from "" Calvin Hobbes "" the wildly popular comic strip he created and illustrated from 1985 until 1995 .  Fans of the mischievous 6 year old boy and his sardonic stuffed tiger have been left wanting more ever since .  For the time being , they can at least take comfort in some cameo work released this week .  Stephan Pastis writes "" Pearls Before Swine , "" which chronicles the lives of its main characters Pig , Rat , Zebra and Goat , and the dreaded Crocs . He ' s also a big Watterson fan . Last spring he attempted to reach the notoriously reclusive comics legend via e mail , to no avail .  Undeterred , Pastis included a "" Calvin Hobbes "" reference in his next strip .  In it , Pastis approaches a woman at a bar and uses his profession to impress a female patron . When the woman asks which strip he draws , Pastis says "" Ever heard of ' Calvin and Hobbes ? ' "" The two end up in bed , a thought bubble above Pastis ' head says : "" That was wrong . ""  Shortly after that , much to Pastis ' surprise , Watterson replied . "" Just getting an email from Bill Watterson is one of the most mind blowing , surreal experiences I have ever had . Bill Watterson really exists ? And he sends email ? And he ' s communicating with me ? "" Pastis wrote on his blog .  Not only was Pastis in communication with him Watterson wanted to collaborate . The two decided that Watterson would contribute panels to three "" Pearls "" cartoons .  The series of strips ran nationally this week with the premise that a small girl named ' Libby ' ( or ' Lib ' ) would stand in for Pastis .  According to Pastis ' blog , ' Lib ' is "" a precocious second grader who thought my art was crap "" and is really a cheeky inside joke . ( Hint : ' Lib ' is almost ' Bill ' spelled backward ) .  In the first of the three strips , ' Lib ' draws two crocodiles eating Pastis .  The second strip is more reminiscent of Watterson ' s "" Calvin Hobbes "" days and features a "" Martian robot attack "" that could be seen as nod to Calvin ' s alter ego Spaceman Spiff .  The third ends with Pastis asking Lib if she ' ll draw his comic forever . "" Nah . The art form ' s dying , "" she responds .  According to Pastis , having the legendary Watterson draw his strip is like working with "" the Bigfoot of cartooning "" rare , and the highlight of his career .  Millions of fans feel exactly the same way . Many took to Twitter guessing correctly that Watterson was the guest comic .  Now if only we could get hold of a transmogrifier to turn this into the comeback "" Calvin Hobbes "" fans have been longing for .  How ' Calvin and Hobbes ' met ' Pearls Before Swine '  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
21431,21432,"Turkey  accuses Russia of wanting ' ethnic cleansing ' in Syria  Image caption Ahmet Davutoglu ' s comments represent a new escalation of Turkey Russia tension  Turkey ' s prime minister has accused Russia of attempting "" ethnic cleansing "" with its air strikes in northern Syria .  Ahmet Davutoglu said Russia ' s campaign had targeted Turkmen and Sunni communities around the Latakia region .  Relations between Ankara and Moscow have plummeted since Turkey shot down a Russian warplane on the Syrian border .  President Vladimir Putin has asked  specialists to help analyse the flight recorder in a phone conversation with  David Cameron , the Kremlin says .  Turkey insists that its F 16 fighters shot down the Russian Su 24 on 24 November because the bomber had trespassed into its airspace . Russia denies this .  Image caption Russian planes have been bombing Syria since September  "" Russia is trying to make ethnic cleansing in the northern Latakia region to force out all Turkmen and Sunni populations who do not have good relations with the Syrian regime , "" Mr Davutoglu told reporters in Istanbul on Wednesday .  He said Russian air strikes were "" strengthening "" the so called Islamic State (  ) group in Syria .  Russia says its bombers are attacking  and other jihadist groups in Syria , helping the government forces of President Bashar al Assad .  However , Western analysts and Syrian rebel sources say most of the Russian bombing has targeted anti Assad groups who are not jihadists .  Appearing on television with the orange metal box from the Su 24 , President Putin said the recorder it contained would help prove the Russian jet ' s flight path and position .  Image caption Russian Defence Minister Shoigu ( right ) showed President Vladimir Putin a flight recorder from the downed Russian Su 24 bomber  "" Whatever we learn won ' t change our attitude to what the Turkish authorities did , "" he said .  "" We used to treat Turkey not only as our friend but also as an ally in the fight against terrorism . Nobody expected this low , treacherous stab in the back . ""  In a statement on Wednesday , the Kremlin said Mr Putin had discussed the conflict in Syria with Mr Cameron .  It said the two leaders had talked of ways to co operate in the fight against  militants and other terrorist groups .  The  joined the  led air strikes against  in Syria last week .  The Kremlin statement said that Mr Cameron had "" expressed his condolences over the destruction of Russia ' s fighter plane in Syria "" .  "" Mr Putin invited British specialists to take part in decoding the data from the downed Su 24 plane ' s flight recorders , "" it added .  Russia has announced wide ranging sanctions against Turkey a Nato member because of the border clash , including an import ban on Turkish fruit , vegetables and some other foods .  Russians can no longer go on package holidays to Turkey until this month the top foreign destination for Russian tourists .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past
21438,21439,"After North Korea s most recent missile launch, the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong Un claimed he had  finally realized the great historic cause of completing the state nuclear force.   Defense Secretary James Mattis claimed that North Korea now has the ability to hit  everywhere in the world. Meanwhile, the New York Times is blaming the Trump administration for starving the North Koreans, after placing stricter sanctions on the rogue nation.The left-leaning New York Times bizarrely claimed this week that the decades-long famine plaguing North Korea is not the fault of its brutal communist regime, but most likely due to American interference and foreign policy, saying the  hunger is devastating. And it s our fault. The article, published over the weekend, lays the blame of millions of starved and tortured North Koreans at the feet of the American administration, saying the  and its allies have  crippled  Kim Jong Un s ability to feed his own people. Led by the United States, the international community is crippling North Korea s economy,  writes the author.  In August and September, the United Nations Security Council passed resolutions banning exports of coal, iron, lead, seafood and textiles and limiting the import of crude oil and refined petroleum products. The United States, Japan and South Korea have each imposed bilateral sanctions on Pyongyang to further isolate the country. We are trying to inflict pain on the North Korean regime to stop the development of nuclear weapons and missiles. That s understandable. But in the process, we are also punishing the most vulnerable citizens and shackling the ability of humanitarian agencies to deliver aid to them,  the author adds.North Korea s massive food shortages date back to the 1990s when dictator Kim Jong Il s regime was incapable of handling droughts and other natural disasters that cut dwindling food supplies by over 30%.  weblink ",fake,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
21441,21442,"Please note: Story contains strong language in final paragraph) (Reuters) - Republican Maine Governor Paul LePage on Monday sued the state’s Democratic attorney general, contending she had abused her power by joining legal opposition to early moves by President Donald Trump that LePage’s office supported. LePage, a fiery conservative now in his second term, challenged Attorney General Janet Mills for joining a legal brief opposing Trump’s executive order banning immigration from a half-dozen majority Muslim countries. The governor said he supported Trump’s order, which has been blocked by courts and which the White House says is necessary to protect national security. “It is no secret that Attorney General Mills and I have differing political views, but that is not the issue,” LePage said in a statement. “The problem is she has publicly denounced court cases which the executive branch has requested to join and subsequently refuses to provide legal representation for the state.” He said Mills had refused to represent the state in other cases where she disagreed with LePage’s political position and prevented his office from filing its own brief in support of Trump, a charge that Mills denied. “Instead of signing onto another party’s brief at no cost to the taxpayers, however, or hiring a lawyer to draft his own brief, the governor has wasted state resources by hiring a lawyer to file a frivolous lawsuit, complaining that he cannot do exactly what we have told him he can do,” Mills said in a statement. Maine is the only one of the 50 U.S. states where the attorney general is elected by the state legislature, rather than elected by voters or appointed by the governor.      The nation’s 22 Democratic attorneys general emerged in the first months of the Trump administration as a major opposition force to his policies, successfully suing to block his executive orders on travel and also challenging environmental policy moves. Maine is one of eight U.S. states that have a Republican governor and a Democratic attorney general, setting the stage for the conflict that resulted in Monday’s lawsuit, filed in Kennebec County Superior Court. LePage was first elected to office in 2010 on a wave of Tea Party support and was re-elected in 2014. Both victories came in three-way races.  He was an early supporter of Trump and came under intense public pressure last year after calling a Democratic lawmaker a “little son-of-a-bitch, socialist cocksucker,” in a voicemail message that was widely circulated. ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
21445,21446,"Dirty facilities on holiday is the main reason behind why Britons write negative holiday reviews yet one in four of us fail to mention it while at the resort .  Accommodation that was ' not as advertised ' and ' poor location ' are other key reasons that lead us to take to review sites in anger .  The survey by Schofields Holiday Home Insurance also revealed that whilst 37 per cent of Britons who had a good experience on holiday left a positive review , 69 per cent of those who had a bad experience left a negative review .  A quarter of Britons who aren ' t satisfied with their room say they don ' t bother to complain at the time  The survey set out to reveal the reasons why Britons leave bad reviews after going on holiday and discover whether people are more likely to leave good or bad reviews .  A total of 2 , 172  citizens completed the survey , all of whom were aged 18 or over and had been on at least one holiday ( either in the  or abroad ) within the last 12 months .  There was an even ratio of male and female respondents .  Initially , respondents were asked ' Have you ever had a good holiday ? ' , to which 87 per cent stated that they had .  Finding out your hotel was ' not what was advertised ' leads many to leave a negative review on a website  When asked if they had subsequently left a positive review after a good holiday , 37 per cent stated that they had . By comparison , of the 43 per cent of respondents who stated they had experienced a ' bad holiday ' , more than two thirds had left a negative review , suggesting that reviews are more likely to be left after a negative experience than a positive one .  All respondents who had left a negative review were asked where they had posted their review , with the option to select as many options as they wanted .  Three quarters said they left the review with the ' booking agents websites , ' followed by 68 per cent who used ' social media ' and 56 per cent who posted comments on an ' independent travel advice site ' .  Some hotel nightmares include this toilet that is missing its seat and an extremely dirty bathtub  These respondents were then asked if they had tried to address the problem ( s ) whilst on holiday by making a complaint , to which 26 per cent stated that they had not taken any measures to raise the issues during their holiday and potentially improve the circumstance during the time .  Source : Schofields Holiday Home Insurance  Phil Schofield of Schofields Holiday Home Insurance said : ' It ' s really important to raise your concerns if you can and give the holiday provider a chance to put it right , if you have the opportunity .  ' They might be able to change your accommodation or even upgrade you in order to make sure you have a good time .  ' Most providers , from accommodation to catering , don ' t want you to have a rubbish time and they definitely won ' t want you to leave a bad review .  ' It ' s interesting to see the top reasons why people complain . They are all really good reasons , in all fairness , and they are things that can ruin a holiday .  ' We would strongly advise that holidaymakers do their research before booking anything check out the reviews that are already there before believing glossy pages or slick websites . '  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
21449,21450,""" As wide as possible cooperation . . . should happen at the latest tomorrow evening , "" said Evangelos Venizelos , head of the Pasok Party , which placed third .  The center right New Democracy Party took first place in the vote . Its candidate , Antonis Samaras , has three days to cobble together a government .  "" There should be government of national salvation with as many parties as possible , "" Samaras told reporters .  Democratic Party of the Left ' s leader , Fotis Kouvelis , held talks Monday that the New Democracy leader described as "" constructive . "" The party ' s platform has supported the bailouts while seeking to renegotiate the terms .  With almost all ballots counted , New Democracy had won nearly 30 of the vote , the Interior Ministry said . That gives the party 129 seats in the country ' s 300 seat parliament , forcing it to seek other coalition members from the fragmented field to form a majority .  Alexis Tsipras , the leader of the leftist Syriza party , which came in second , met with Samaras but said Monday he would not back a coalition .  "" History and the people will judge them by their results , "" Tsipras said of the parties backing the existing bailout deal with the creditors who are keeping Greece afloat . "" Shortly we will be vindicated . ""  What will Greek elections mean for the country ' s future ?  He said his party ' s nearly 27 showing had forced Greek leaders to realize the bailout is "" nonviable , "" and said Syriza would press as a member of the opposition for the bailouts to be scrapped .  Syriza , which campaigned against the terms of the bailout , got 71 seats .  Pasok , which long dominated Greek politics , won 33 . Four smaller parties took fewer than two dozen seats each .  The vote was widely seen as a referendum on whether Greece should remain in the euro , the currency used by 325 million people across 17 countries in Europe . The possibility of a "" no "" vote roiled world markets , with some analysts warning that the collapse of the euro would cost 1 trillion .  Asian markets reacted positively to the election results , while European and U . S . markets were mixed .  Samaras said he would build a government of "" parties that believe in the nation ' s European orientation , that believe in the euro . ""  But he acknowledged that government budget cuts forced on the country by international lenders have caused suffering among Greeks .  A wild election weekend for Greece , France and Egypt  The new government will have to make changes "" in order for the Greek people to escape the torturous reality of unemployment and unbelievable difficulties that every Greek family faces today , "" Samaras said after meeting with the president .  He faces a new round of coalition talks , six weeks after a previous election that failed to produce a government .  International bailouts have kept Greece from defaulting in the face of an ongoing recession and low tax revenue , but lenders have demanded hugely unpopular government budget cuts in exchange .  Eurozone finance ministers praised the election results , "" which should allow for the formation of a government that will carry the support of the electorate to bring Greece back on a path of sustainable growth . ""  Some observers had predicted that efforts to renegotiate the bailout could lead to a run on Greek banks and deeper misery .  The future of Europe : 3 scenarios  "" What ' s very clear is the Greeks today voted , including those that voted for Syriza , in favor of the euro and the European Union , "" Doukas said . He predicted that Greece could negotiate better terms with its creditors , who understand "" that you can only squeeze so much so fast out of a country and out of its people . ""  Greeks have been suffering under painful austerity measures , high unemployment and a long running recession .  The country must identify additional budget cuts by the end of June to be considered compliant with the terms of its bailout .  German Chancellor Angela Merkel , Europe ' s powerful advocate for balancing budgets to build a strong basis for economic growth , had urged Greeks not to walk away from the international loan deals .  "" We will stick to the agreements . That is the basis on which Europe will prosper , "" she said Saturday .  As economic crisis bites , Greece ' s children pay the price  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
21451,21452,""" I felt a massive cold chill through my body and saw my leg completely missing . ""  That was the moment Joany Badenhort ' s life changed , and looking back at the gruesome facts it ' s hard to believe it was for the better .  But when the 19 year old snowboarder lines up at the start gate in the mountains above Sochi , less than a decade later , she will be counting her blessings .  "" I totally think it ' s a blessing and , if I got the option to get the leg back , the negative of having one leg as opposed to the positives of this , it would be an easy choice . I ' d stick with one leg . ""  It was a typical sunny South African day when the idyllic world of a 10 year old girl turned into a nightmare .  She ' d been playing with her brothers on the family farm , felt thirsty and went to get a drink of water . The outdoor pump appeared to be broken , so she went to see her father , who was with a farm hand trying to fix another piece of machinery .  She arrived just as "" that stupid machine "" was switched back on .  It ' s not the pain she remembers instantly , nor the sheer volume of blood that pumped out of her body , or even her family ' s remarkably calm reactions .  "" I couldn ' t feel anything , not even the water that my mum gave me to drink . I couldn ' t feel my fingers or people carrying me back to the house or touching me , "" Badenhorst recalls .  "" But after half an hour , it was like my nervous system switched back on . I started crying as you can imagine , the pain was beyond anything I ' d ever felt . ""  Her plight , though , was in danger of getting infinitely worse . There was no option of an ambulance or nearby hospital a rescue helicopter was unable to make it there .  Eventually , a mercy flight was commandeered and landed nearby .  The plane was so small it could only fit the two medical staff and Badenhorst on board . Her family had to make a five hour journey by road to Johannesburg , unsure how their only daughter was faring in the skies overhead .  "" I didn ' t go to sleep until I was knocked out on the plane , "" she recalls . "" But just before that I remember one of them saying , ' She ' s never going to make it with these injuries . ' That ' s a harsh thing for a 10 year old who ' s just lost her leg to hear . ""  That was far from the end of her journey .  The family moved to Australia four years after the accident , partly because of a good job offer for her dad , partly to ensure a safer life for the four children , and partly to ensure better medical care and a prosthetic limb for Joany .  Badenhorst has not been back home to visit the rest of her family in the intervening five years , and she misses many aspects of life in South Africa .  But she has embraced Australian culture first taking up athletics before a chance encounter led to her switching to snow sports .  Showing off on high heels to "" prove a point "" to her prosthetic specialist , she caught the attention of Peter Higgins Australia ' s Disabled WinterSports snowboarding coach .  Higgins , who was aware of her athletics background in the 100 meters , javelin and high jump , spotted something in the teenager that he felt lent itself to Paralympic aspirations .  "" He really took a big risk on me but I think it will pay off , "" she says .  On Friday Badenhorst will compete in para snowboard cross as the first woman to represent Australia at the Winter Paralympics .  "" When I started , I was rubbish , "" she says . "" I fell over so many times I think I lost a few brain cells .  "" But now when you ' re going fast on good snow , it feels like you ' re gliding mid air . You don ' t really feel the turns . It ' s the most freeing aspect , and there ' s nothing else I know that gets close to it . It ' s like you ' re flying . ""  While she is thankful to many people for helping her get to Sochi , one name stands out in her list .  Jan Kemp did not know Badenhorst nor her wider family , but was so touched by her plight that he came to visit her every day in hospital .  The first time he arrived with a dusty Valentine ' s Day present to give to her , and was only allowed to visit when cagey hospital staff acquiesced at Badenhorst ' s insistence .  "" It turns out he had a daughter who died in a cycling accident a couple of days before Valentine ' s Day , "" she explains .  "" He and his daughter were both in the same cycling race . He finished but she got hit by a truck and died , and he never got to give the Valentine ' s Day present to her . ""  Each week he would return to visit , usually giving her flowers picked from the hospital garden , and the pair remain in contact to this day .  It was a long road to recovery for Badenhorst it took a year before she could walk again after the accident .  "" How could I not have got better with amazing support like that ? There was just someone there for me every day , "" she says .  "" A lot of people are interested to know what it ' s like to be leg less . I was so young , so I don ' t really remember what it was like to walk with two legs , so I don ' t miss something I don ' t really remember . ""  The fact that she has entertained a snowy sporting career seems remarkable , having grown up in two countries so renowned for their warm climates .  "" I never imagined I ' d be at the Paralympics . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
21468,21469,"The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee on Wednesday cautioned the United States against engaging with Iran in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria .  His comments came just minutes before the committee began hearing testimony from Secretary of State John Kerry on the administration ' s plan to combat  .  Obama , Kerry : No U . S . troops will be sent into combat  Kerry said Monday in Paris that the U . S . would be open to having talks with Iran on how to deal with the group .  But Menendez said he has "" a problem "" with directly cooperating with Iran "" because Iran has different goals than we have . "" He added the country has a history of creating "" sectarian divisions of Iraq "" and is "" is one of the patrons of ( Bashar al ) Assad "" and his regime in Syria .  "" I don ' t get how we engage with Iran in this context other than to realize that they ' re in the theater for their own interests , "" the New Jersey Democrat said .  Pelosi stands firm against ground troops before Syrian funding  President Barack Obama said Wednesday the international community and a coalition of at least 40 nations will degrade and defeat the group , which is bent on forming a caliphate from Syria to Iraq , in which strict Islamic law , or Sharia , governs all aspects of life .  The House is set to vote on a measure Wednesday to authorize the arming and training of Syrian rebels to help fight  . It is expected to get folded into a bill to fund the government , meaning Congress won ' t vote for it as a stand alone measure .  Bash asked Menendez if he thinks that ' s a "" cowardly "" way to approach the situation , as it makes it easier for lawmakers up for re election to not have to be on the record on a tough vote .  "" I get it . And I ' m and I ' m ready and willing to I voted for a year ago , on this very same committee , to do exactly what we ' re doing , maybe for different purposes at the time , it was to defeat Assad , "" he said . "" I ' m ready to cast that vote independently or as part of the ( funding measure ) myself . ""  Menendez said he also thinks Congress will authorize the use of military force in the region but he didn ' t indicate the vote would come before the midterm elections .  "" It has nothing to do with the election , "" he said . "" This is all about getting it right , not getting it fast . I don ' t want to have another 2001 or 2003 authorization for the use of military force that has been used 13 years later in four different parts of the world . I don ' t want to give an open ended blank check to this or any other president . ""  Ahead of Kerry ' s testimony Menendez said he wants to hear "" specifics "" about the plan to defeat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria .  "" I am convinced we are at war with  , "" he said , adding that he wants to know what "" resources "" the U . S . will use and "" who is playing what senior role "" in the effort .  President Obama ' s top general said Tuesday it ' s not out of the realm of possibility if the situation requires it that the Pentagon would call for sending ground troops into Iraq to fight the terror group .  On Wednesday , Obama reiterated there would be no U . S . ground troops engaging in combat in Iraq . He told service members at U . S . Central Command in Florida that troops "" do not and will not have a combat mission "" to battle  .   has slaughtered swaths of people in both countries , and has beheaded two American journalists and a British aid worker it held in captivity .  "" We must be clear eyed "" about the risk in engaging in a fight against  , Menendez said in his opening remarks shortly after speaking with Bash .  "" I want to hear what success looks like in Syria and Iraq after fighting comes to an end , "" the senator said .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
21473,21474,"Storm : Cardinal Peter Turkson has faced a backlash after blaming gay priests for the clerical abuse crisis  The African cardinal widely tipped to be the first black pope in modern history faced a firestorm of criticism last night after he laid the blame for clerical sex abuse crises at the feet of gay priests .  Cardinal Peter Turkson , who comes from Ghana , told an American journalist that similar sex scandals would never convulse churches in Africa because the culture was inimical to homosexuality .  ' African traditional systems kind of protect or have protected its population against this tendency , ' he told Christiane Amanpour of  .  ' Because in several communities , in several cultures in Africa homosexuality or for that matter any affair between two sexes of the same kind , are not countenanced in our society , ' he continued .  ' So that cultural taboo , that tradition has been there , ' said Cardinal Turkson , 64 . ' It has served to keep it out . '  As the head of a major Vatican department the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace Cardinal Turkson is ranked as the 5 2 second favourite to take the papal crown when a Conclave of Cardinals meets next month to elect a successor to Pope Benedict  , who announced his abdication last week on the grounds of ill health  Catholics throughout the African continent and the developing world are praying that he will be chosen ahead of the Italian Cardinal Angelo Scola , the Archbishop of Milan , who Paddy Power has made its 9 4 favourite .  But his public comments blaming homosexual priests in for the sexual abuse of many hundreds of children in Europe , the United States and Australia mean his election would be severely criticised in the West .  Ruth Hunt , Stonewall director of public affairs , was among those to swiftly condemn his remarks .  ' Cardinal Turkson ' s comments show a surprisingly callous disregard for the human rights of millions of people worldwide , ' she told the Times .  The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests accused the cardinal of hiding behind a ' weak shield ' .  Outgoing : Cardinal Turkson is favourite to replace Pope Benedict  , pictured , who announced he will be standing down at the end of the month  A spokesman said : ' We hear less about clergy sex crimes and cover ups in Africa for the same reasons we do throughout the developing world there tends to be lesser funding for law enforcement , less vigorous civil justice systems , less independent journalism , and an even greater power and wealth difference between church officials and their congregants . '  But one  psychiatrist who has researched the field of clerical sex abuse agreed with the cardinal that homosexual abuse of adolescent males rather than paedophile attacks on children characterised the problem .  Tipped : Italian cardinal Angelo Scola Is favourite to take over from Benedict   ' I would say he is correct , ' said the doctor , who asked not to be named in fear of reprisals including the loss of his job .  ' Where the research has been done for example in the United States and Australia in the region of 80 per cent of the victims of sex abuse by priests are adolescent males rather than children . '  Pope Benedict  has been careful to avoid publicly demonising gay priests over the crisis , focusing instead on meeting and apologising to victims .  Very soon into his pontificate , however , he tightened up the Church ' s recruitment rules to make it nearly impossible for gay men to enter seminaries as trainee priests .  In a possible further indication of the Vatican thinking , one of his most senior cardinals also laid the blame for the abuse crisis squarely at the feet of gay priests .  Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone , the Vatican Secretary of State and the 5 1 third favourite to succeed Benedict  said that some psychiatrists had found a relationship between homosexuality and paedophilia .  ' That is the problem , ' he said .  Amid the backlash , the Catholic Bishops ' Conference of England and Wales issued a statement contradicting the cardinal by arguing that ' there is no empirical data which concludes that sexual orientation is connected to child sexual abuse ' .  Cardinal Turkson is no stranger to controversy , having offended Muslims last year by accusing them of turning Europe into an Islamic continent .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
21489,21490,"How about a world where we have murderers but no murders ? The police still chase down criminals who commit murder , we have trials , juries who judge , and justice is handed out . . . but no one dies .  With many forms of cybercrime and hacking , we can just decide , as a society , to take away much of the damage before it happens . Imagine if the hackers had stolen intimate pictures from Jennifer Lawrence , and we all just agreed that , "" She didn ' t want us to see these pictures , so we ' re not going to look . ""  We don ' t have a right to her body . If you were over at Jennifer ' s house , and she left the room to get you a shortbread cookie and cup of decaffeinated tea ( this is my fantasy ) , you wouldn ' t take that opportunity to search for nude pictures on her computer .  If she wanted to change her shirt before you went out to see Dylan together ( still my fantasy ) , and she asked you to turn her back while she did that , even if you were a bit tempted to peek , you wouldn ' t . You ' re a good person and you would respect her wishes .  If you were visiting Amy Pascal , and she left the room to get . . . um , let ' s say a nice fig filled cookie and some hot chocolate , I don ' t think you would open up her computer and read her company emails to see if you could find something that you could use against her .  You just wouldn ' t do that . I don ' t even want to know what people are saying behind my back about me , let alone about someone else .  If you follow that same morality , if you simply think that people have a right to privacy and that you don ' t want to see what people don ' t want you to see , well , there would still be hacking crimes . . . but the victims would suffer less .  I ' ve been seriously blackmailed . I ' ve had all the information on my computer fall into the criminal hands and the criminal ask for money to not publish that information . Yup , there were sex pictures of me and somehow my criminal thought that me naked was as valuable as Jennifer Lawrence naked .  My criminal was a f g idiot . There was nothing on my drive that would have really done any damage to my career . It really wouldn ' t have even embarrassed me that much , but I was still freaked by a bad guy looking at my stuff . My criminal was busted and stopped and the information never got out , but it was still yucky .  Jennifer Lawrence and Sony are all going to feel violated and the crime is still real , but we , as a society , can make much of the damage go away . We don ' t need reporters to team up with the criminals to help them do the damage .  The crime is newsworthy , but not the content . It is not our right to see pictures and emails that the owners didn ' t want us to see . We have no right to stolen goods . Even if someone else stole it first , stealing is still wrong .  We can ' t stop any damage a murder causes just by not reporting it and not looking , but we can do that with hacking .  Let ' s do that . If someone doesn ' t want us to see something , let ' s not look . Let ' s not help criminals .  The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Penn Jillette .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
21522,21523,"French President Francois Hollande has said that the nearly Rs 60 , 000 crore Rafale jets deal is on the right track but technicalities will take time .  The Rafale is a major project for India and France . It will pave the way for an unprecedented industrial and technological cooperation , including Make in India , for the next 40 years .  Agreeing on the technicalities of this arrangement obviously takes time , but we are on the right track , Hollande told  in an interview ahead of his visit beginning on Sunday .  Hollande , who is the chief guest at the Republic Day parade this year , began his three day India visit on Sunday from Chandigarh where he , along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi , will attend a business summit and visit various landmarks .  He also noted that Indo French cooperation in defence is part of our strategic partnership . It is based on trust , a very strong trust between both our countries .  India and France are in negotiations for 36 Rafale fighter jets in fly away conditions since the announcement for the deal was made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April during his visit to France .  However , the deal is yet to be sealed as both sides are still negotiating the price which is estimated to be about Rs 60 , 000 crore .   had reported last week that negotiations between India and France on closing the deal for 36 Rafale multi role fighters have entered their last , hectic phase . Both the countries are seeking simultaneous inking of the Inter Government Agreement (  ) and Commercial Contract during President Hollande s visit .  But going by Hollande s interview to  , it will have to be seen whether the deal will be signed during Hollande s visit .  The French president also said that India s demand for action by Pakistan against the perpetrators of the Pathankot terror attack is justified .  France strongly condemned the attack on Pathankot . India is fully justified to ask for justice against perpetrators .  India and France are confronted with similar threats : we are attacked by murderers who pretend to act on religious basis . Their real objective is widespread hate . They want to undermine our democratic values and our way of life . India and France are united in their determination to act together against terrorism , the French President said in a written interview to  .  Observing that solidarity between France and India was natural , Hollande said , I would like to thank once again President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Modi for their messages after the Daesh attacks in Paris in November . French people have also been very touched by the numerous gestures of friendship received from all over India .  We engage constantly with India . The Indo French working group on counter terrorism met just after the Paris attacks in November 2015 . That was the best answer to show our determination in front of jihadism , he said .  A police official gets ready for cavalcade rehearsal outside Rock Garden ahead of the French President and Indian Prime Minister s visit in Chandigarh on Saturday , January 23 , 2016 . ( Gurminder Singh  Photo )  Hollande , who will be the Chief Guest at India s Republic Day parade on Tuesday during his second State visit to India , also appreciated Prime Minister Modi for his diplomacy reflecting both a sense of proportion and a strong determination . He recently took important steps to engage in a dialogue with the political leadership in Pakistan .  Accompanied by a high powered delegation , Hollande landed at Chandigarh Air Force Station at around 1 pm . The French president is accompanied by a high powered delegation , including six ministers .  I also come to India to strengthen our relationship in several areas : defence , space and civil nuclear energy . As well as education , research , culture . Our cooperation on the fight against climate change and on clean energies has taken on an unprecedented importance , he said while identifying railways , smart cities , food security , higher education and cinema as areas where the two countries can further cooperate .  A heavy posse of security personnel from Punjab , Haryana , the Union Territory of Chandigarh and para military  jawans have been deployed in strength at all vital installations in Chandigarh .  Early morning checks were also carried out at the entry and exit points of the city . Proper barricading has been put in place , while posters are also dotting the routes welcoming the two dignitaries .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
21538,21539,"Durham , North Carolina President Obama ' s nomination of Loretta Lynch to become the country ' s first African American woman attorney general is a historic pick . Her confirmation , however , is now taking on new historical relevance as her wait for a confirmation vote by the full Senate drags into its sixth month .  The period between the Senate Judiciary Committee ' s vote to confirm and the full Senate vote which in Lynch ' s case has not been scheduled has lasted longer for her than for any attorney general nominee in recent history . By the time the Senate returns from Easter recess on Monday , it ' ll have been longer than the eight previous nominees for the job combined .  Lynch , currently the U . S . attorney for the Eastern District of New York , cleared the committee February 26 by a vote of 12 8 , with Republican Sens . Orrin Hatch of Utah , Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Jeff Flake of Arizona joining Democrats in sending the nomination to the full Senate .  Obama nominated Lynch to replace Attorney General Eric Holder on November 8 , after Holder had announced plans to leave the post weeks earlier .  Hundreds of miles from Washington , longtime residents of Durham , North Carolina , were beaming with pride . Lynch ' s family moved to the city when she was a child . Her parents , married for 60 years , still live there . They watched the announcement on television  "" That was encouraging but I knew then that we had a fight on our hands , "" said Lynch ' s father , the Rev . Lorenzo Lynch . "" I ' ve been in politics most of my life . I know that nothing is certain , and I know that nothing is easy . ""  Lorenzo Lynch , 82 , is a retired Baptist preacher and was active in the civil rights movement of the 1960s . He ran , unsuccessfully , for mayor of Durham in 1973 .  For the next round of his daughter ' s "" fight , "" he traveled to Washington in late January to attend his daughter ' s confirmation hearing before the Judiciary Committee .  "" I heard a lot at that hearing that I ' ve heard since childhood . That is the presupposition of the mindset , "" Lorenzo Lynch said . "" The dual system or the dual treatment . ""  When asked to provide specific examples , Lorenzo Lynch deferred to the state branch of the  and E . Lavonia Allison , a Durham activist who has known Loretta Lynch since the family moved to Durham .  "" I don ' t want to think about the epidermis , but some people are thinking that way , "" Allison said , suggesting that Lynch ' s confirmation vote has been delayed because Lynch is African American .  "" When it has taken so long , when it has been so different from any other person who has been nominated . . . how else can we interpret that it is so different ? "" Allison said .  In March , Rep . G . K . Butterfield , D North Carolina , chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus , said , "" I think race certainly can be considered as a major factor in the reason for this delay , but it ' s also the irrationality of the new Republicans . ""  Sen . Dick Durbin , D Illinois , evoked imagery of the segregated South in criticism of Republicans , saying Lynch had been "" asked to sit in the back of the bus when it comes to the Senate calendar . ""  Durbin was harshly criticized by Arizona ' s Sen . John McCain .  "" I deeply regret that the senator from Illinois chose to come here yesterday and question the integrity and motivation , mine and my Republican colleagues , "" McCain said on the Senate floor . "" It was offensive and unnecessary , and I think he owes this body , Ms . Lynch and all Americans an apology , "" McCain added .  "" I thought he should be commended , "" Lorenzo Lynch said . "" I think that ' s a poetic description of what has happened and poetry , like most language , is limited but it does have wings . . . to carry a point . ""  Giuliani pushes for Lynch confirmation  Senate Republicans adamantly deny the delay in scheduling a vote on Lynch ' s nomination is because she is African American .  Many point out that Lynch , if confirmed , will be replacing the country ' s first African American attorney general who was confirmed by an overwhelming margin .  Instead , Republicans and Democrats say the delay is part of an ongoing partisan battle . For some , it ' s part of a fight over a human trafficking bill that has stalled in the Senate . For others , the delay is retaliation for President Obama ' s 2014 executive actions on immigration .  On the eve of Holder ' s announcement of his plans to leave the Department of Justice , the political number crunchers at FiveThirtyEightweblink predicted that whoever the President nominated would "" likely face at least a moderately tough confirmation hearing in the Senate . ""  Some of Lynch ' s supporters across North Carolina have organized to convince the state ' s two Republican senators to support Lynch ' s confirmation . In March , several dozen North Carolina women , led by the  , traveled to Washington to meet with their senators , Richard Burr and Thom Tillis .  Reportedly , the meeting lasted nearly an hour and was very cordial .  At a news conference at the Washington Press Club , the group blasted the senators for opposing the nomination .  "" Senator Burr and Senator Tillis , it is time for you to act like you have some sense . It ' s past time . You have embarrassed the state of North Carolina , "" Allison said after the meeting .  For their part , Burr and Tillis released a statement after the meeting : "" While we remain concerned with Ms . Lynch ' s stated desire to lead the Department of Justice in the same manner as Eric Holder and will not be supporting her nomination , we are grateful that the group came to Washington to talk about this issue and exchange ideas .  Weeks later , the  organized protests outside the senators ' offices in Raleigh , Charlotte and Wilmington .  "" I think there is a much deeper analysis , "" said North Carolina  Branch President Rev . William Barber  . "" I believe if she had been Clarence Thomas , she would have been confirmed . ""  "" Because of her courage , her character and her commitment to the law and to the enforcement of the laws of this land , particularly the 14th and 15th amendments to the Constitution , and because her consciousness was shaped in the crucible of the civil rights movement that is what they fear , "" Barber said .  Obama turns up the heat on Loretta Lynch confirmation ' limbo '  Lorenzo Lynch says he carried his daughter to several civil rights marches on his shoulders . He admits that he did not think that much of the recent progress of African Americans was possible when he was fighting for equal rights .  Now , his small living room is filled with stacks of loosely organized newspaper stories about his daughter ' s nomination and photos of his visit to the White House .  Lynch admits that he ' s never told his only daughter that he ' s proud of her , although he ' s sure she knows it . He plans to change that , soon , regardless of the outcome of her pending nomination .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
21542,21543,"A former Marine who stole a fire truck while naked and used it to kill a pedestrian has been found not guilty by reason of insanity .  Kalvin Hunt , 28 , from South Carolina , was told of the verdict at Beaufort County Courthouse on Thursday before being remanded to a secure state mental health facility .  Three qualified psychiatric forensic psychiatrists had analyzed his behavior linked to the 2012 incident , and ruled at that time he was ' not capable of controlling himself . '  Former Marine : Kalvin Hunt , 28 , from South Carolina who stole a fire truck while naked and used it to kill a pedestrian , has been found not guilty by reason of insanity  Hunt will now remain in care until he regains his sanity .  If he is ever recommended for release there will have to be a new hearing .  On February 24 2012 Hunt fled naked from a Naval Hospital in Beaufort where he was undergoing a mental evaluation and stole a Port Royal fire truck that was responding to a medical call at a nearby apartment complex .  He then struck and killed 28 year old Justin Nicholas Miller before crashing into woods .  Along with murder , he was charged with six counts of hit and run with injuries , two counts of resisting , grand larceny and assault and battery in the first degree .  Following his arrest , he was dishonorably discharged from the Marines .  Prosecutors said Hunt ' s mother was concerned about his mental state at the time and was trying to get him help from the Veterans Administration .  Flashback : Hunt joined the Marine in 2003 Over the years he served at six different military bases and spent about seven months in Iraq earning various good conduct medals  Hunt joined the Marine in 2003 . Over the years he served at six different military bases and spent about seven months in Iraq earning various good conduct medals .  However , according to military officials , he was dismissed from the services in April 2011 after a court martial in which he was found guilty of assault , communicating a threat , resisting arrest , and other charges .  It was from this point that his behavior appeared to spiral out of control .  Defense attorney Cory Fleming called it one of the saddest cases he has ever seen .  ' We felt like this is where we were going from the beginning , ' Fleming said of the insanity plea .  ' It ' s heartbreaking , and I hope now Kalvin can get the treatment he needs . '  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
21544,21545,"The Philadelphia Eagles and Detroit Lions both served up Thanksgiving Day routs to move atop their divisions while the Seattle Seahawks boosted their playoff hopes with a commanding win on Thursday .  The Lions served up the day ' s first course by mauling the Chicago Bears 34 17 before the Eagles thumped the Dallas Cowboys 33 10 in Texas .  The defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks ( 8 4 ) capped the tasty triple header with a 19 3 win over San Francisco to move within a game of the  West leading Arizona Cardinals and leave the 49ers in danger of falling out of the play off chase .  Russell Wilson ( left ) and Richard Sherman ( right ) enjoy a Thanksgiving turkey after Seattle ' s win at the 49ers  Sherman helped a dominant Seattle Seahawks defence effort in their 19 3 victory in San Francisco  As expected the game between the two West Coast rivals was a bruising battle from the start that featured two of the league ' s hardest hitting teams .  The Seahawks ' top ranked defence lived up to its fierce reputation by limiting the 49ers to 164 total yards of offence and a 40 yard Phil Dawson field goal .  An interception by Seattle ' s All Pro cornerback Richard Sherman set up the game ' s only touchdown , Russell Wilson hitting Robert Turbin with 13 yard strike while Steven Hauschka handled the rest of scoring with four field goals .  The Detroit Lions began the Thanksgiving day programme with a win over the Chicago Bears  Joique Bell dives over the top for a Detroit Lions touchdown at Ford Field  ' It ' s a huge game to win , on their turf it is pretty tough to do , ' said Wilson , who completed 15 passes for 236 yards . ' One game at a time , we know there are a lot of great teams to play ,  is not easy to win against , we are excited about the opportunity , championship mindset we ' ll see what happens . '  Dallas and Philadelphia came into the game as co leaders of the  East but when time expired it was the Eagles alone atop the division after quarterback Mark Sanchez ran for a touchdown and threw for another while LeSean McCoy rumbled for 159 yards and a score .  The Eagles took control early with Sanchez diving in from two yards out to cap an impressive opening drive before hooking up with Jordan Matthews on a 27 yard touchdown strike on their next possession for a 14 0 first quarter lead .  Calvin Johnson catches a touchdown pass from Matt Stafford in the second quarter  Fans in Detroit wear turkeys on their heads while watching the game to celebrate Thanksgiving  DeMarco Murray , the  ' s leading rusher , put Dallas on the scoreboard when he dove over from the one early in the second but the Eagles would answer with three Cody Parkey field goals to take a 23 7 advantage into the intermission .  Dallas converted a LeSean McCoy fumble into a short Dan Bailey field goal early in the third quarter but on the next possession McCoy made up for his drop by racing 38 yards for a touchdown to put Eagles up 30 10 .  ' It is a team win , that ' s all it ' s about , ' said McCoy , praising his offensive line . ' We ' ve been criticized all year , all the doubters , but no matter who is in there they give 110 percent and that ' s what it is about .  LeSean McCoy ' s rushing effort led the Philadelphia Eagles to a huge win over the Dallas Cowboys  Pitbull ( right ) and Neyo perform during half time on Thanksgiving Day in Texas  Tony Romo struggles to avoid being sacked by the Philadelphia Eagles defence  Sherman picks off a pass from San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick aimed for Steve Johnson  ' It doesn ' t matter what anybody says , it ' s all about what goes on in the locker room . '  The Lions ( 8 4 ) , who entered their game tied with the Seahawks and 49ers for the final  Conference playoff berth , are now joint top in the  North with the Green Bay Packers .  Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford completed 34 of 45 passes for 390 yards and two touchdown passes to Calvin Johnson to put the Lions in position to secure their first playoff berth since the  ' s 2011 season .  Trailing 14 3 after the first quarter , Stafford threw two second quarter touchdowns to Calvin Johnson sandwiched around a one yard run from Joique Bell , his first of two scores on the day , that gave Detroit the lead for good .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
21552,21553,"Two friends who claim to have captured vision of an Australian Bigfoot say they ' convinced ' the elusive creature to appear on film by offering him a feast of apples .  The grainy early morning video , shot in South Queensland on March 29 , has sent an online community of Bigfoot hunters into a spin after the friends who filmed it claimed the clip is evidence of the mysterious Yowie a mythical creature rumoured to roam the Aussie bush .  Jason Heal and Jason Dunn , self described ' Yowie searchers ' , posted the vision to their YouTube account on April 5 and dubbed the strange creature with glowing eyes ' The Morning Visitor ' .  Proof ? Aussie mates Jason Heal and Jason Dunn say this is evidence of a Yowie in south Queensland  ' We ' d been throwing him a few extra apples since he was willing to appear on camera , ' Jason Heal told MailOnline .  ' I ' m somebody who believes in appreciation in life and if he ' s showing himself , we appreciate the fact .  ' We even left a few apples without the camera and said "" you can have the apples but we don ' t get the prize . "" '  He said the Yowie first appeared the Thursday afternoon before their early morning video by waving its ' black hairy arm ' in front of the lens ' to see if it ' s going to set the camera off or not ' .  Mystery male : The two friends are convinced the Yowie was a male  Mr Heal said he and his partner have spent thousands of dollars hunting Yowies in the Australian bush and described the furry humanoids as ' very intelligent creatures ' .  Their video has so far been watched more than 9 , 000 times . It is just the latest in a string of clips that have garnered the pair more than 1 million views on YouTube and inspired an article on the Cryptozoology News website .  ' Even though the creature on the video certainly resembles a sloth , these animals are not native to any region of Australia and they are illegal to have as pets , ' the article reads .  Fruit lover : The two Jasons claim they lured the creature onto camera with a bunch of apples  ' The possibility of the video showing a big unidentified ape remains open . '  But readers are not so sure with many voicing their skepticism over the infrared vision , filmed at 3 : 27am .  ' That ' s a really neat o mask that guy is wearing ! ' said Ira Shlamazel .  ' Maybe if you moved the camera a little further away it wouldn ' t be so obvious . '  User The Flinx joked : ' 1990 called , they want their hoax back ' .  Michael Bachman , editor of Cryptozoology News , told MailOnline : ' At this point we have no idea whether the video is real or a hoax , but it has certainly captivated some viewers . '  Passion : Jason Heal ( left ) and Jason Dunn say they would hunt Yowies ' full time ' if they could afford it  The mixed opinion has angered the two Jasons who said they have invested time and money in their hunt for evidence of Australia ' s answer to the Sasquatch .  ' Everyone ' s going crazy , saying it ' s a hoax , like we ' re putting lamps on our head , ' said Mr Heal .  ' You give them something real and they all turn around and say it ' s fake . . . we know they exist , we ' ve done enough research . '  The duo do have a number of fans online . Paul Davies wrote : ' Excellent capture you guys fair play , all that time out in the bush has certainly paid off . '  Yowies have long been part of Australian folklore , with rumoured sightings dating back to the 18th century .  Internet sleuths often swap tales of encounters with the strange ape like creatures who are said to stroll around the outback .  Clues : The friends have traveled ' thousands of kilometres ' in search of the mystery creatures  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
21570,21571,"Premier League matches will be staged abroad within two years , Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins has claimed .  The move has been discussed by Premier League chairmen at their most recent meeting but no firm plans have been drawn up .  Club chairmen believe they could cash in on interest overseas Manchester United have drawn huge crowds on their tours of the United States and the Far East but plans for a 39th game were dropped in 2008 following widespread opposition , including from  and  .  Liverpool ' s Sebastian Coates ( left ) and Manchester City ' s Stevan Jovetic contest possession during the teams ' meeting at the Yankee Stadium in New York for a pre season friendly match earlier this summer  Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins believes overseas Premier League game are inevitable  Jenkins , speaking at a fans ' forum with his comments reported on www . walesonline . co . uk , said : ' I think it is inevitable it is going to happen .  ' While we may not be 100 per cent about it , as passionate football supporters just watching football as we have , it ' s going to be a big change .  ' The other side of that is we have got to make sure we are on the bandwagon with them or we are going to get left behind otherwise .  ' There ' s definitely going to be a run of games played abroad in 12 months or two years .  ' Whatever happens with the changes in the Premier League , we have got to be finishing high enough to be part of it .  Manchester United won the pre season International Champions Cup while touring the United States , with Darren Fletcher ( left ) and Wayne Rooney posing with the trophy following a 3 1 win over Liverpool  A  record crowd of 109 , 318 watched Manchester United take on Real Madrid inside the Michigan Stadium  ' That ' s where it ' s going to be and where the money is .  ' It ' s a sad reflection of where football is but unless we are part of that , it ' s inevitable we are going to fall behind .  ' We have got to make sure , whether we like it or not , we are on board with it . '  The Premier League is not alone in looking to hold games abroad Italy ' s Serie A chief confirmed on Tuesday that the Italian Super Cup clash between Juventus and Napoli will be played in Doha , Qatar on December 22 , while the French Super Cup clash has taken place away from France for the last six years .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
21575,21576,"Freddo Frog has shrunk from 15g to 12g  Cadbury is cutting the size of its beloved Freddo Frogs by 20 per cent but keeping the recommend retail price the same .  The miniature chocolate amphibians , which weighed a plump 20g two years ago before they dropped to 15g , will now weigh just 12g .  The shrinking of one of Australia ' s most popular children ' s chocolates was not widely announced but was in fact spotted by a shop owner who stocks the treats , the Herald Sun reports .  Cadbury ' s spokesman Julian Polachek said : ' We ' re making a change to the size of the product because of manufacturing cost increases that we can no longer absorb . '  The Freddo ' s downsize is just the latest product to feel the pinch in the declining confectionery world .  In February , chocolate lovers expressed their anger after Cadbury announced plans to reduce the size of their family blocks by ' one row ' in a cost cutting deal .  The best selling blocks dropped from 220 grams to 200 grams .  The Australasia managing director for Mondelez International , Cadbury ' s parent company , Amanda Banfield told the Financial Review : ' Clearly any chocolate lover is going to be a bit disappointed . '  Anticipating a backlash , Ms Banfield explained the company had decided the shrink the family block because of ' unprecedented cost headwinds ' .  She blamed the increased price of ingredients and rising packaging costs for the change .  Cadbury still recommends the blocks are sold for 4 . 99 a price which won ' t increase or decrease but Ms Banfield highlighted that shops set the prices that they choose to sell the products at in store .  Cadbury ' s parent company ' s profit before tax rose 46 per cent from 87 million to 127 million in 2013 .  Thousands of angry chocolate fans complained about the change on Cadbury ' s Facebook page .  Creator of the Freddo Frog , Harry Melbourne , who thought up the idea of the chocolate frog named Freddo when he was an 18 year old . He died aged 94 in 2007  Cadbury have reduced the size of their family block of Dairy Milk by one row of chocolate  Tony Abbott carefully pours chocolate into a mould during a visit to the Cadbury chocolate factory in Hobart  Rebecca Isaako wrote : ' You turned a 127 million dollar profit last financial year . This is complete utter baloney ! '  Kyria Economidis said : ' What do you take us for ? You guys are thieves , you want to cut it down and charge us the same ? You are plain greedy . '  ' Good bye Cadbury it has been a fun ride , but when you make it not worth it and unaffordable and then lie pffft not worth wasting my money how much would it cost to change the size of the chocolate with new moulds smaller packaging lots of money I would assume . I ' ll just wait for the tim tams to go on sale , ' Kirsty Logan commented .  Nestle has sliced its Killer Python lolly in half in a bid to help Australians better manage their health  Cadbury chocolate produced for the Australian market is made in Claremont in Tasmania .  A statement on the company ' s website read : ' Confectionery companies around the world are feeling the squeeze of increasing costs . At Cadbury , we ' re feeling it too . We ' ve reached a point where we can no longer absorb these increasing costs into the price of our chocolate blocks . '  In October last year , Cadbury rival Nestle sliced its Killer Python lolly in half in an apparent bid to help Australians better manage their health .  The new ' treat size ' Allen ' s Killer Python measures 21cm instead of 32 . 5cm and weighs 24g instead of 47g .  Nestle has also reduced the size of Smarties ' fun size ' boxes from 20g to 16g .  The move is part of Nestle ' s efforts to help Australians improve their health by controlling the amount of food they eat ' especially treats ' .  The company said the Killer Pythons still have the same ' recipe , taste and stretchiness ' but the new size cuts the lolly ' s kilojoules from 630 to 336 , meaning a 10 year old can run it off in 30 minutes instead of one hour .  Customers have expressed their outrage over the move but Nestle ' s General Manager of Confectionery , Martin Brown , said it was the ' right thing to do ' .  Nestle has also reduced the size of Smarties ' fun size ' boxes from 20g to 16g  The new ' treat size ' Allen ' s Killer Python measures 21cm instead of 32 . 5cm  ' I can understand why there will be some disappointed Python fans , it ' s a short term sacrifice because it will upset customers and we ' ll sell less Pythons but it ' s the right thing to do for ongoing trust .  ' This is a really important initiative for a product primarily eaten by kids , getting it at the right portion . '  When Red Rock Deli chips dropped 20 grams from their packets the prize remained the same  The company said the new treat size Killer Pythons bags are the same price as the old ones , but have gone up in weight , so customers will be getting more lolly snakes in smaller portion sizes .  The recommended retail price on individual Killer Pythons will be halved from 1 to 50 cents .  In the past manufacturers have been called out for slashing product sizes while keeping the same packing and price .  Red Rock Deli Style potato chips were shrunk by 20 grams .  And Choice spotted Oat Crisp Honey cereal packets were reduced by 14 per cent while maintaining similar packaging and that the price per 100 grams increased by 10 per cent .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
21579,21580,"Japan ' s Naomi Osaka celebrates winning the first set during her second round match against Ukraine ' s Elina Svitolina at the Australian Open tennis tournament at Melbourne Park , Australia , January 21 , 2016 .  Japan ' s Naomi Osaka hits a shot during her second round match against Ukraine ' s Elina Svitolina at the Australian Open tennis tournament at Melbourne Park , Australia , January 21 , 2016 .   Dwelling too much on her achievement of reaching the Australian Open third round might "" freak out "" Japanese qualifier Naomi Osaka , so the teenager would much rather focus on taking down twice former champion Victoria Azarenka .  The 127th ranked Osaka , appearing in the main draw of a grand slam for the first time , underlined her exciting potential with a 6 4 6 4 defeat of 18th seed Elina Svitolina on Show Court Two on Thursday .  The 18 year old , who is based in the United States but competes for her mother ' s country , was still giddy by her achievement when she faced reporters post match at Melbourne Park .  "" Yeah , I ' m pretty happy right now , "" she said .  "" I just wanted to qualify . That ' s all I was expecting .  "" But I don ' t really like thinking about it too much because it freaks me out . ""  A clash against 2012 and 2013 champion Azarenka now looms and the Belarusian has been in red hot form .  Azarenka thrashed both her opponents in the opening rounds , dropping only three games , and is on a seven match winning streak .  But the idea of being intimidated by her opponent ' s impressive credentials was lost on Osaka , who hopes to meet the former world number one on center court .  "" I never feel pressure from playing someone that ' s supposed to be like better than me , sort of , "" she said .  "" I ' m just going to go in there happy and hopefully try to pull off an upset .  "" I don ' t know . I feel like there ' s something wrong with me because I don ' t get excited or anything that much .  Osaka , whose father is of Haitian heritage , won the inaugural  Rising Stars Invitational in Singapore last year and made a splash in 2014 by defeating Australian former U . S . Open champion Sam Stosur at Stanford , her main draw debut at a  event .  Although having lived in the United States since she was a toddler , Osaka ' s development has caused excitement in Japan , and she gave ecstatic fans from the country a bow after beating Svitolina .  "" Yeah , it ' s the only part of my Japanese side , "" she said of the gesture .  "" Kind of because there were a lot of people cheering for me , and I kind of wanted to show how grateful I was .  "" I always think that they ' re surprised that I ' m Japanese . So the fact that there was like Japanese flags and stuff , it was , like , really touching . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
21586,21587,"Boateng ' s injury means the defender will join fellow long term casualties Franck Ribery , Mario Gotze and Mehdi Benatia in the stands . Saturday is also likely to come too early for Rafinha and Sven Ulreich to have a spot on the bench .  Possible ? Bayern Munich ? starting  : Neuer Lahm , Martinez , Badstuber , Alaba Alonso , Thiago Coman , Muller , Costa Lewandowski  Hoffenheim have a nearly full squad on hand to take on Bayern , with Kai Herdling the only expected absentee .  Possible ? Hoffenheim ? starting  : ? Baumann Kaderabek , Schar , Sule , Kim Strobl , Hamad , Rudy Volland , Vargas , Schmid  Bayern will need to play aggressively to keep pressure off their now rather fragile center backs , and all of their attackers will be worth a look during Sunday ' s action . From the supremely quick Kinglsey Coman to the mesmerizing dribbler Douglas Costa to deadly finishers Lewandowski and Thomas Muller , Bayern have a devastating array of options up front .  Hoffenheim will likely spend much of the match defending , and the performance of center backs Fabian Schar and Niklas Sule will be critical . On the other hand , when they do get the ball , Volland is the man to watch the Germany international has good technique and can be clinical in front of goal .  Lewandowski was Bayern ' s trump card when Bayern last faced Hoffenheim , turning home a last gasp winner . And he could well be the decisive factor again this Saturday the Poland international was in brilliant form throughout the fall campaign and emerged , according to many accounts , as the world ' s best striker .  Despite Hoffenheim ' s woeful form , Sule is regarded as one of Germany ' s brightest prospects in central defense . A torn cruciate ligament set him back in his development , but the towering defender has strength , size and skill in the tackle . He ' ll need to have a great game to keep Lewandowski quiet , though . ?  Volland put Hoffe ahead of Bayern in August , and if the village side are to score in Sunday ' s match , he ' ll more likely than not have a role in the goal . The 23 year old has become a figurehead at his club and will be looked towards for inspiration in a very difficult fixture .  Although Volland will roam around the attack , Badstuber will more probably come up against him more than any other Bayern defender . The center back has spent much of the last three years and counting injured , and much will be expected from him with Boateng absent . Sunday ' s match will be a good test of his preparedness for the tough games to come .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
21609,21610,"The festive period has been an enjoyable time for Chelsea after they ended the year top of the Premier League , but for one player there was cause for celebration for an entirely different reason .  Midfielder Cesc Fabregas took to social media to express his delight at the news he would become a father for a second time , and posted a picture online of an ultrasound depicting the outline of baby girl .  He said : ' Another princess on the way . . . ! ! Well done my baby . '  Cesc Fabregas posted this photo online depicting a ultrasound from his girlfriend  Fabregas moved back to the Premier League during the summer , signing for Jose Mourinho ' s Chelsea  Fabregas with his partner Daniella Semaan , who has two children from a previous relationship  The former Barcelona man already has one daughter , Lia , with his long term girlfriend  The club also tweeted about the revelation , saying : ' Congratulations cesc4official on your fantastic family news . '  The former Barcelona and Arsenal man already has a daughter , Lia , born in 2013 , with long term partner Daniella Semaan although she has two other children from a previous partner .  Fabregas has excelled since returning to the Premier League in a 27million summer deal , scoring twice and providing 14 assists for new club Chelsea .  The 27 year old has also scored twice and provided three assists for Jose Mourinho ' s men in the Champions League .  With the possibility of picking up his first ever Premier League medal , 2015 is promising to be a memorable year for Fabregas .  Lionel Messi ' s partner Antonella Roccuzzo ( left ) and Semaan hang out together in London  Fabregas and Semaan when the latter was pregnant with their first child back in 2013  Fabregas with former Arsenal team mate Thierry Henry watching the New York Knicks and Milwaukee Bucks  Fabregas and Henry were joined by Didier Drogba and a host of other stars at the O2 Arena in London  Fabregas tussles with Newcastle midfielder Jack Colback during their Premier League clash  Manchester City midfielder Frank Lampard evades his Chelsea successor during their 1 1 draw  ",true,text,validation,Football,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
21617,21618,"Dallas Cowboys running back Darren McFadden ? is dealing with a ? strained groin . However , he is ready to play . ?  McFadden was not listed among the Cowboys ' ? inactive ? players and is available to play against the Miami Dolphins .  Per ? David Moore ? of the ? Dallas Morning News , ? McFadden said he "" feels good , "" ? adding that he was held out of Thursday ' s practice as a precaution .  Mike Fisher of 105 . 3 The Fan reported McFadden was on the practice field . ?  The former Arkansas star is in his first season with the Cowboys . A first round pick ( fourth overall ) in 2008 , McFadden came to Dallas after a disappointing seven year stint with the Oakland Raiders . A combination of injuries and ineffectiveness has limited him to one 1 , 000 yard season , which came all the way back in 2010 .  McFadden has missed three or more games in six seasons , with a total of 29 DNPs for his career to date . He has only topped 200 carries in his career twice and has scored more than five rushing touchdowns once , which are demerits rooted in his inability to stay healthy . While he was largely effective for his first couple of seasons , the last three proved the myriad issues were starting to catch up .  After averaging 4 . 8 yards per carry in his first four seasons , McFadden has been well below the 4 . 0 clip in the last three and sits at 3 . 8 this year . He ' s failed to break a run longer than 30 yards since 2012 , ? devolving into a plodding player who gains ground in three yard chunks . ? ?  Still , the Cowboys desperately need him on the field . McFadden has been surprisingly effective since earning the starting job , posting two 100 yard games despite the Cowboys ' trouble at quarterback . With Tony Romo due back from injury in Week 11 , Dallas could be as close to full strength as it ' s been all season .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
21627,21628,Don t you wish every political ad could be retweaked like this! This video is one to share because it takes every comment and refutes it with facts. You ll love it! ,fake,dataset,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present
21629,21630,"Mo . ? Jeurys Familia s air of invincibility dissipated Tuesday night before the Mets pulled a disappearing act in extra innings .  In a big whiff , after the Royals appeared to hand over the keys to the kingdom , the Mets watched Eric Hosmer deliver a sacrifice fly in the 14th inning against Bartolo Colon , sending the  champions to a 5 4 loss in Game 1 of the World Series at Kauffman Stadium .  David Wright s throwing error on Alcides Escobar s grounder leading off the 14th put the winning run on base before Ben Zobrist singled and Lorenzo Cain was intentionally walked . Hosmer then hit a fly ball to medium deep right that Curtis Granderson snagged and made a desperate throw home , but too late , ending a game that lasted 5 hours , 9 minutes .  It seemed like a rollercoaster ride for sure , said Wright , whose Mets had a five game postseason winning streak snapped . Both teams were just relentless . I think they were a little more relentless .  It seemed like they put pressure on us every inning in extra innings .  After hitting a home run in a record six straight postseason games , Daniel Murphy was held without one on a night the Mets went scoreless over the final six innings . Former Mets pitcher Chris Young frustrated his old team with three innings of scoreless relief for the victory .  We didn t have a lot of opportunities , but we had a few shots , manager Terry Collins said . We got the lead and we lost it , we came back and got the lead again , and we know their bullpen is really good . And of course Chris Young was outstanding at the end of the game .  Alex Gordon resuscitated the Royals in the ninth with a solo blast against Familia that cleared the center field fence and made it 4 4 . The blown save was Familia s first since July 30 in the rain against the Padres at Citi Field . The Mets traded for Yoenis Cespedes the following day and began their magical run to the  pennant .  This is a game everyone knows when you make a mistake you re going to pay for it , Familia said . But tomorrow is another day .  Juan Lagares nine pitch at bat that culminated with a two out single against Kelvin Herrera set the stage for the Mets to score the go ahead run in the eighth . Lagares stole second and scored when Hosmer misplayed Flores chopper in a Buckner esque moment .  After pitching five strong innings , Matt Harvey wilted in the sixth , when he allowed two runs . Overall , the right hander surrendered three earned runs on five hits with two walks and two strikeouts over 80 pitches .  According to inside edgeweblink , Harvey used his fastball just 37 . 5 percent of the time , the lowest such figure of his career . The Royals were the best team in the majors this season against 95 mph plus fastballs .  Escobar became the first player to hit an inside the park homer in the World Series since the Athletics Mule Haas in 1929 when he circled the bases on Harvey s first pitch of the night . Escobar hit a fly to left center that hit Cespedes right leg in stride and rolled toward the outfield fence . Escobar , the  of the  , never hesitated and scored standing up .  As I ran up to the ball I looked at Conforto and by the time I looked back up I lost the ball , Cespedes said .  But Cespedes indicated he never called for the ball .  Conforto thought he heard Yo call for it , Collins said . He did what he s supposed to do and that s let him have it .  After the Mets had grabbed a 3 1 lead in the sixth , Moustakas  single off Harvey in the bottom of the inning tied it 3 3 . Cain , who had singled and stole second , scored the tying run after Hosmer s sacrifice fly had sliced the Mets lead to 3 2 .  Cespedes sprinted home from third base on Conforto s fly to left in the sixth to give the Mets a 3 1 lead . Cespedes and Lucas Duda singled in succession to begin the inning before Conforto brought in the run . Mike Moustakas diving stop and recovery to throw out Flores denied the Mets at least an additional run in the inning .  Edinson Volquez , whose father passed away in the Dominican Republic earlier in the day ? the right hander was not told about the situation until after the game ? allowed three earned runs on six hits with one walk and three strikeouts over six innings for the Royals .  Granderson s first homer this postseason , a solo blast in the fifth , gave the Mets a 2 1 lead . Volquez missed high with a fastball that Granderson crushed into the right field bullpen .  After a roughly five minute delay in the fourth , when umpires convened to access the availability of instant replay ?  s television transmission was lost ? Moustakas was retired on a long fly to right and Wright made a highlight reel leaping grab to rob Salvador Perez of a hit . The broadcast resumed on  s international feed , allowing both teams availability to instant replay .  Travis d Arnaud s infield  single in the fourth ? the Mets third hit in the inning ? tied it 1 1 . Murphy singled leading off the Mets first hit against Volquez and Duda beat the shift with a one out single . D Arnaud then hit a chopper off third baseman Moustakas glove to score the run . But Volquez retired Conforto and Flores to avoid further damage .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
21630,21631,"Competitors on May The Best House Win the popular Channel 4 programme in which four houseproud people judge one another ' s homes generally abide by an unwritten rule . It states that when the show is over , all agree it was a fair contest and the winners deserve the 1 , 000 prize .  But nothing would persuade Robert and Lisa Foden , from near Warrington in Cheshire , to agree . Lisa , 34 , who appeared on the show on May 20 last year , says they lost only because ' the two people who won gave everyone else rubbish marks ' .  This may sound like sour grapes , but given the effort and ingenuity that went into the couple ' s extraordinary Bond themed home , filled with high tech luxuries 007 would be proud of , their angst is understandable .  Robert and Lisa Foden filled their Cheshire home with high tech luxuries that James Bond would be proud of  Robert , 54 , a builder and developer , bought the building that stood on the site an unprepossessing office block shortly before the couple got together in 2009 . He didn ' t give much thought to it before they set off on a two year , round the world trip , so it was in Majorca that he finally sketched plans for a wildly futuristic home .  ' I had seen some wonderful modern houses when I lived in Jersey a few years back , ' he says , leading the way up the drive as the electric gates shut behind us .  ' I ' d also seen showpiece new homes like Thunderbirds and Bowie in Sandbanks , Dorset , where all the football stars live , so I had a general idea of what I wanted . '  Irish slate and European oak in the exterior walls give a hint of opulence , but it is when you cross the threshold that you see what this house is all about .  Couple ( pictured , Lisa ) spent less than 1million building the house and are confident a buyer will snap up the property for its asking price of 1 . 45million  A spiral staircase twirls upwards , and mirrors in the style of the James Bond logo , etched with Welcome To Moonacre ( a play on Bond film Moonraker ) , create an 007 vibe .  We turn into the kitchen , with its white central island and enormous units Robert bought for 35 , 000 at a Grand Designs show . Then he leads us into the drawing room .  The high tech house is called Moonacre , a play on the Bond film Moonraker which starred Roger Moore as 007  ' Seeing the old offices was surreal , ' he says . ' Pens were left on the tables , coffee cups were half drunk , jackets had been left on the chairs there were even personal files left behind . It was like taking over the Marie Celeste . '  Upstairs , the master bedroom has everything but a Bond girl in situ , while the children ' s rooms for Daisy May , one , and Frankie , two lead on to a terrace enclosed by unbreakable glass .  But the room where you can most easily see Bond relaxing with a shaken not stirred cocktail is the nightclub . With a karaoke machine , kitchen , disco lights and wood burning fireplace , this room attracted the most attention on May The Best House Win .  Mention of it brings a Bond villain smile to Robert ' s lips .  ' It was funny , ' he says . ' Lisa must have spent two grand on entertaining the crew and competitors . She hired a white grand piano , brought in cocktail waiters and caterers , the lot . The prize was half that , and then she came third behind a terrace house and a man whose house was a kind of Santa ' s grotto . '  Nevertheless , creating this 7 , 000 sq ft home has been a shrewd investment . Robert picked up the site ' for a song ' and spent less than 1 , 000 , 000 on the build .  One offer of the full asking price of 1 , 450 , 000 has fallen through , but he is sure it won ' t take long to find a buyer for his Bond fantasy house with its gardens and acre of paddocks .  ' Since the recession , the Government has encouraged people to build on brownfield sites , ' he says .  ' There are still lots of unused office blocks . Just go for it . '  Moonacre is for sale at 1 , 450 , 000 with jackson stops . co . uk , 01625 540340 .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
21644,21645,"BASE, Japan (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump, who arrived in Japan on Sunday, said he spoke with the king of Saudi Arabia about listing national oil company Saudi Aramco’s shares in New York and that “they will consider using U.S. exchanges”. The remarks were made aboard Air Force One en route to Japan, where Trump kicks off a 12-day Asian trip during which North Korea is expected to top the agenda in meetings with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and other leaders. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
21649,21650,"At least 50 people were killed during an attack by Islamist militant group Boko Haram near Nigeria ' s north eastern city of Maiduguri , the army and local residents say .  At least 50 people killed in Boko Haram attack  Attack was multi pronged , involving shootings , arson and suicide bombings  Hit and run attacks have become more common recently in Nigeria  The remains of a dozen victims were burnt beyond recognition in the attack when militants opened fire on residents , set fire to houses and targeted a crowd with suicide bombers , security and medical officials said .  A Reuters reporter has put the death toll as high as 65 after counting bodies at a hospital morgue .  A Nigerian military spokesman , Colonel Mustapha Ankas , said Boko Haram militants attacked the community of Dalori , about 5 kilometres east of Maiduguri in Borno state .  It was the third attack this week suspected to have been carried out by the insurgent group ? and the most deadly .  Since it started losing control of territory , Boko Haram has reverted to hit and run attacks on villages as well as suicide bombings on places of worship or markets .  In neighbouring Adamawa state , a suicide bomber believed to be a Boko Haram militant killed about 10 people on Friday and at least 12 were killed on Wednesday in an attack on the Borno state village of Chibok , where over 200 schoolgirls were abducted in 2014 .  Colonel Ankas said insurgents entered Dalori in two cars and on motorcycles and opened fire on residents and burned down houses .  "" While people were running for their dear lives . . . three female suicide bombers attempted to make their way into the crowd . . . and subsequently got blown up , "" he said without providing a casualty figure .  An official of the state emergency agency who was at the scene said there were 12 bodies burnt beyond recognition .  "" We can ' t even pick those ones , they were seriously burnt , "" said the official , who declined to be named .  Borno state capital Maiduguri was struck by several bombs at the end of December that killed at least 48 people .  The state is the heartland of the seven year insurgency that seeks to establish an Islamist state .  Over 2 million people have been displaced and thousands killed .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
21655,21656,"The oil and gas industry ' s injection of wastewater deep into the Earth is "" a likely contributing factor "" to the 50 increase in Oklahoma earthquakes since October , the U . S . Geological Survey said .  The jump in temblors significantly increases the chance for a damaging quake 5 . 5 magnitude or greater in the Great Plains state , the federal agency said .  "" As a result of the increased number of small and moderate shocks , the likelihood of future , damaging earthquakes has increased for central and north central Oklahoma , "" the  said Monday .  The increase in earthquakes "" do not seem to be due to typical , random fluctuations in natural seismicity rates , "" a recent  statistical analysis found .  Rather , a finding by the  and the Oklahoma Geological Survey "" indicates that a likely contributing factor to the increase in earthquakes is wastewater disposal by injection into deep geologic formations , "" the  said .  The Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association , however , urged a wait and see approach in judging the  ' s assertions .  "" Because crude oil and natural gas is produced in 70 of Oklahoma ' s 77 counties , any seismic activity within the state is likely to occur near oil and natural gas activity . The  and the oil and gas industry as a whole support the continued study of Oklahoma ' s increased seismic activity , but a rush to judgment provides no clear understanding of the causes , "" the industry group said .  Between last October and April 14 , the state experienced 183 quakes of magnitude 3 . 0 or greater , the  and Oklahoma Geological Survey said . That is an increase from the state ' s long term average from 1978 to 2008 of only two magnitude 3 . 0 or larger quakes per year .  "" The water injection can increase underground pressures , lubricate faults and cause earthquakes a process known as injection induced seismicity , "" the  said . "" Much of this wastewater is a byproduct of oil and gas production and is routinely disposed of by injection into wells specifically designed and approved for this purpose . ""  To better gauge the increased quakes , the  and Oklahoma officials have added monitoring stations , which now stand at 15 permanent facilities and 17 temporary stations , the agency said .  In 2012 : Debate over fracking , quakes get louder  What you need to know about earthquakes  Measuring the magnitude of earthquakes  The place where two earthquakes hit every hour  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
21699,21700,"A black New Jersey man is suing his former employer Benjamin Moore for discrimination after he says the paint company named two brown paint tones after him .  Clinton Tucker ' s suit claims he was given the boot in March after he repeatedly complained about the colors Tucker Chocolate and Clinton Brown .  Tucker alleges one of the colors was a part of the company ' s Williamsburg Collection , a project he helped market .  Racist ? A former black Benjamin Moore employee in New Jersey is suing the paint giant for racial discrimination after he was fired for complaining about two paint colors that he says were named after him  ' Despite Tucker ' s repeated complaints and protestations to  management about these appallingly racial color names , no action was ever taken by Benjamin Moore to change the names of these colors , ' reads the suit .  The color remained on the Benjamin Moore website as of Sunday , where its description suggests the name has its origin in Colonial Williamsburg .  ' Capturing the 1798 color requested by St . George Tucker for his home facing Courthouse Green , this deep brown is classic and understated , ' reads the site .  Regardless of its purported beginnings , ' being a black man named Clinton Tucker , the plaintiff found this color name to be extremely racially offensive '  Do you see it ? The Benjamin Moore website claims that Tucker Chocolate , from the Williamsburg Collection the plaintiff helped to market , has its origins in this home in Colonial Williamsburg  What ' s more , ' when this was mentioned at a meeting with at least eight people including his supervisor , this was met with awkward silence . '  It was part of what the plaintiff is claiming was a culture of racial insensitivity and even outright aversion .  ' In addition ,  has a color called Clinton Brown , ' reads the suit . ' A  employee pointed this out to the plaintiff and thought it was funny . '  The suit notes that Benjamin Moore also has a paint color called Confederate Red ' offensively described by Benjamin Moore as a "" timeless and enduring classic . "" '  Tucker believes that he was denied opportunities to advance because of his race ' despite spending countless hours in the office ' and that his ' two white , blonde haired and blue eyed subordinates ' remained at the company after his termination .  Tucker is seeking damages for discrimination , retaliation and a hostile work environment .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
21709,21710,"A Maryland man believed to have shot and stabbed his wife and three young children to death before killing himself with a shotgun was having money problems and left a note saying he suffered from "" psychological issues , "" authorities said .  Five people , including three young children , were found dead in this house in Middletown , Maryland .  Christopher Wood , 34 , may have slashed at least some of his family members in the killings and used a small caliber handgun on others , Frederick County Sheriff Charles Jenkins said .  He was found dead of an apparently self inflicted shotgun wound at the foot of the bed where the bodies of his wife and 2 year old daughter lay , the sheriff said .  Wood ' s sons were 5 and 4 years old , authorities said . His wife , Francie Billotti Wood , was 33 .  The boys were found in their beds in a single bedroom , the sheriff said . Authorities did not release the names of the children .  "" These are horrific incidents , "" said Jenkins , who said he couldn ' t remember another homicide in the past 20 years in Middletown , a one stoplight town northwest of Baltimore . "" No one should ever have to be exposed to this . ""  "" There is some indication in at least one of the notes that there might have been some psychological issues with Mr Wood , "" Jenkins said .  There was "" a mention of some medication "" in that note , according to the sheriff .  Jenkins said the sheriff ' s office had no record of domestic violence or other family disputes at the Wood ' s home .  He said investigators also have learned of money problems for Wood , a salesman for  Railroad .  "" We are aware there were some , maybe , debt problems some financial problems , "" Jenkins said .  Cpl . Jennifer Bailey said deputies went to the home shortly after 9 a . m . after Mrs Wood ' s father called . Her family had not seen the Woods for about a day and her father forced his way into the locked home , finding the bodies , according to Jenkins .  Authorities said a shotgun was found next to Christopher Wood ' s body and a . 25 caliber handgun was found in a "" container "" in the kitchen . The sheriff said other weapons that could have been used to stab and cut the victims were found , but he did not say what those weapons were . Watch sheriff ' s department ' s statement  Francie Wood ' s family were longtime residents of the Middletown area . Her brother had recently retired from a career as a sheriff ' s deputy , Jenkins said .  The family had moved to town from Florida about four months ago .  "" We ' re all in shock , "" said the Rev . Kevin Farmer , the family ' s minister at Holy Family Catholic Church . "" This was a family , though they hadn ' t been with us very long , they are an integral part of our community . "" Watch views from the crime scene  He said the road the Woods lived on is a shortcut to the church and he would often see the children while riding a scooter he uses when the weather is good .  "" They would always stop and wave and get big eyes as the scooter came by , "" he said . "" They were very happy kids . ""  Jenkins said autopsies will be performed on the bodies over the next few days and that it could be weeks before the results are ready to be released .  "" There is some indication in at least one of the notes that there might have been some psychological issues with Mr Wood , "" Jenkins said .  Cpl . Jennifer Bailey said deputies went to the home shortly after 9 a . m . after Mrs Wood ' s father called . The family had not been seen for several days , Bailey said .  Authorities said several weapons , including a shotgun , were found inside the home .  Christopher Wood had been an employee of  Railroad , Jenkins said . He said the sheriff ' s office had no record of domestic violence or other family disputes at the Woods ' home .  "" In my entire career , just about 20 years , this is probably the worst tragedy I ' ve ever been a part of or ever seen in Frederick County , "" Jenkins said .  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
21719,21720,"Kenya Heavy rains triggered by El Nino weather patterns could potentially prove devastating for east African nations that have been water starved for months , the United Nations has warned .  A Turkana boy holds an empty cup in a village in northwestern Kenya .  Kenya , Somalia , Tanzania and Uganda are facing mudslides , crop destruction , waterborne diseases and disrupted road networks , the U . N . Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Friday . Djibouti , Eritrea and Ethiopia could also be affected .  The effects of flooding are expected to be exacerbated because so much greenery has disappeared in the drought .  "" More than 23 million people in pastoral , agricultural and suburban communities , as well as internally displaced people and refugees in the region , are reeling from the impact of water and food shortages , pasture scarcity , conflict and insecurity , "" said John Holmes , the under secretary general for humanitarian affairs who is coordinating emergency relief operations .  "" While we cannot prevent these climatic shocks , we certainly can mitigate their disastrous effects through forward planning and the right funding from the donor community , "" he said .  Uganda , hit by El Nino a decade ago , is planning to apply some of the lessons learned this time around , said Fred Opolot , a government spokesman .  "" The government has allocated funds and resources to areas that will be affected , "" he said . "" Our disaster preparedness department is using press briefings , among other ways , to inform the public . ""  Though the department is not very well funded , he said , the government is working with groups such as the United Nations and international aid agencies to prepare for floods .  "" It is a multifaceted effort . . . we want to ensure citizens are sensitized to the dangers of El Nino and things such as bridges are in good condition . ""  The rainy season begins in the Horn of Africa in mid October and runs through the end of the year . Meteorologists have forecasted that this year ' s rains will be more intense than usual because of the El Nino phenomenon , caused by a rise in temperature in the Pacific and Indian oceans .  Aid agencies are already buckling under the weight of helping millions of people who have suffered through months of failed crops , drought and erratic rains caused by climate change .  In Somalia , 450 , 000 people in the Juba and Shabelle river basins could suffer , the United Nations estimates . In neighboring Kenya , some 750 , 000 people 150 , 000 of whom are refugees could be affected .  The Turkana , a pastoral tribe in northeastern Kenya , is already reeling from a severe drought that has left scores of people dead and remains of skeletal cows strewn across the flat , arid land . The remote region has no access to resources , making it especially vulnerable to natural disasters such as floods .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
21728,21729,"When an ad for Wicked comes on in the middle of The Wiz pic . twitterweblink 2HI8yTuGK0  Who are the Rockets going to fire for this one ?  Lee Jenkins writing about LeBron is a must read . . . How the Wizards small ball style is hurting the team . . . This Stephen A . Smith rant on the Warriors is particularly , uh , interesting . . . The 10 sides to Kobe Bryant . . . You should be reading Jeremy Woo s power rankings every week . . . ? How Kawhi Leonard could become the next Kobe Bryant . . . Inside Stephen Curry s insane stats .  After scoring 28 points in a win over the Thunder , Dwyane Wade admitted his sons make fun of him for not dunking anymore . Wade told Rachel Nichols he told his kids to YouTube him if they want to see some of the old , high flying Wade . With that , here ' s the best Dwyane Wade highlight video :  Craig Sager and Gregg Popovich shared a heartwarming moment last night , which was great . But I want more from Sager s suit here . This is shockingly conservative for Sages . Where s the color ? Where s the flair ? I want every Craig Sager suit to be like Kanye West ' s All of the Lights music video : I need a disclaimer about potential health effects before looking at it .  Off the court only . This week , a portion of a conversation with acclaimed  senior writer Lee Jenkins . Yeah , this is way longer than one question .  Rohan Nadkarni : How did LeBron ? tell you he was going back to Cleveland ? Was he just like , Hey , it s Cleveland ?  Lee Jenkins : I had a sense . Looking back , I should have known . He wouldn ' t have done an interview with me if he was going back to Miami . When I went to see him that day , I did have a sense . I kind of asked him a leading question about what Ohio means to him . That kind of got him talking about what he was going to do . It was a calculated risk but a pretty safe risk .   : Did you allow yourself to have a reaction ?   : Not really . You have a confined amount of time . I was trying to get ( the most ) out of him . In the moment , I wasn t sure if this would be the first time people would be hearing about this . Other people were reporting it . In that moment , I was trying to make sure I got out of him the why . I wanted to understand where his head was .   : You are very gracious on Twitter . I remember the first time I shared one of your stories and you thanked me , I thought I was really special but then I saw you thanked literally everyone .   : How do you find the time to thank everyone who compliments you ?   : To be honest , I don ' t have that many followers . A lot of the ones I do have , I don ' t make a lot of funny quips , I don ' t break much news . Most of the people who follow me follow me to read my stories . I ' m kind of blown away that they would take the time to read these really long stories . Shoot , it ' s the least I could do . I wouldn ' t really know another way . ?   : As a Miami native , ? I ' ll never be able to forgive you for the LeBron letter .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
21743,21744,"Carl Froch : James DeGale won t find it easy against Lucian Bute in his world title ? fight  Simon Osborn for Metro . co . uk Saturday 28 Nov 2015 5 : 03 pm  James DeGale , left , and Lucian Bute face each other at the weigh in ( Picture :  )  Carl Froch says James DeGale is in a no win situation ahead of his world title defence against Lucian Bute tonight .  The Londoner defends his  world super middleweight belt at the Centre Videotron in Quebec City , Canada , for the first time in the early hours of Sunday morning .  And Froch , who famously beat Bute in 2012 , says anything other than a resounding victory for DeGale will be considered a failure ? regardless of how difficult a fight it is .  Bute was one of my best wins , said the Cobra . No one expected me to win and I absolutely destroyed him .  He s not been the same since and I think that will be a problem for DeGale . It s a bit of a no win situation for him as if he struggles he ll get lots of stick .  Carl Froch of Britain battered Lucian Bute in 2012 ( Picture : Getty Images )  However , Froch says he does not expect it to be an easy night for DeGale and has warned the 2008 Olympic gold medallist that he cannot expect to blitz the Romanian in the same way he did in Nottingham .  He s facing an ex world champion on his home turf , he added . The only reason he would have agreed to do that is because he is being paid a lot of money .  I m not sure he can try and copy my tactics against Bute . I was always going to jump all over him from the first to the last bell but I don t think DeGale can do that as he is not as physically strong as me .  He s had a few stamina issues in the past too so he ll need to pace himself .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
21773,21774,"A link has been posted to your Facebook feed .  It was minus 15 degrees at Lambeau Field , the day the Packers defeated the Cowboys 21 17 in the 1967  Championship Game . It ' s one of the most memorable games in  history , simply known as "" The Ice Bowl "" . ?  A play that needs no explanation . 1981  Championship Game . Cowboys 49ers . Joe Montana to Dwight Clark . "" The Catch "" . 49ers win 28 27 . A dynasty was born , altering the course of  history . ?  With the Broncos 98 yards away from the end zone , John Elway proceeded to lead his team on what has simply become known as "" The Drive "" , tying the 1986  Championship game with a touchdown pass to Mark Jackson with 37 seconds remaining . Then , in overtime , Denver went on to score the game winning field goal , defeating the Browns 23 20 . ?  The 1995  Championship Game came down to one of the most memorable Hail Mary plays in  history . Colts quarterback Jim Harbaugh heaved one for the end zone , where it was almost caught by Aaron Bailey but ultimately fell incomplete , giving the Steelers a 20 16 win . ?  Vikings kicker Gary Anderson hadn ' t missed a field goal all season , until his 38 yarder sailed wide left in the final minutes of regulation . Then , in overtime , the Falcons ' Morten Andersen nailed a 38 yarder for the game winner , giving the Falcons a dramatic 30 27 win in the 1998  Championship Game . ?  The 49ers had their chance to come away winners in the 2013  Championship Game until Colin Kaepernick challenged Richard Sherman . A drive that started on San Francisco ' s own 22 yard line ended when , on first down from Seattle ' s 18 , Kaepernick went for Michael Crabtree in the end zone . He was covered by Sherman , who tipped the pass back to linebacker Malcolm Smith , who made the game sealing interception . Ball game . Seahawks 23 , 49ers 17 . ?  Five Matt Bahr field goales , including the game winner as time expired , denied the 49ers an opportunity to three peat as the Giants won 15 13 in the 1990  Championship Game . ?  The 1992  Championship Game was a changing of the guard of sorts as the Cowboys went into Candlestick Park and defeated the 49ers 30 20 to advance ( and ultimately win ) Super Bowl     17 : Running back Emmitt Smith 22 of the Dallas Cowboys hustles for yards during the 1992  Conference Championship game against the San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park on January 17 , 1993 in San Francisco , California . The Cowboys won 30 20 . ( Photo by George Rose Getty Images ) Via MerlinFTP Drop ?  Eric Bienmy had every reason to be thrilled after the Chargers ' final defensive stand to hold on for a stunning 17 13 win over the Steelers on the road in the 1994  Championship Game . ?  The 2006  Championship Game was the game that Peyton Manning finally got the monkey off his back as the Colts came back to defeat the Patriots 38 34 in one of the greatest conference title games of all time . ?  The final pass for Brett Favre as a Packer at Lambeau Field was a costly interception in overtime . From there , the Giants ' Lawrence Tynes hit a 47 yard game winning field goal , giving New York an improbable 23 20 win in the frigid 2007  Championship Game . ?  In the 2009  Championship Game , Vikings quarterback Brett Favre threw a costly interception in the closing seconds of regulation deep into Saints territory . Then , in overtime , Garrett Hartley hit this game winning 40 yard field goal for a 31 28 win , sending New Orleans to its first Super Bowl in franchise history .    24 : Kicker Garrett Hartley 5 of the New Orleans Saints celebrates with teammates David Thomas 85 , Zach Strief 64 and Mark Brunell 11 after kicking a 40 yard game winning field goal in overtime against the Minnesota Vikings during the  Championship Game at the Louisiana Superdome on January 24 , 2010 in New Orleans , Louisiana . ( Photo by Jed Jacobsohn Getty Images )   : 95653900   : 53900MH079  Champions ?  Already in regulation of the 2011  Championship Game , Kyle Williams had inadvertently let the ball graze his leg on a punt , which was recovered by the Giants and led to a touchdown for New York . Lightning struck twice , however , as in overtime Williams fumbled another punt , recovered by the Giants , leading to the game winning field goal . A terrible day for Williams and the 49ers . ?  First , Lee Evans couldn ' t hold on to the potential game winning touchdown . And then this : Billy Cundiff couldn ' t send the game into overtime by missing a 32 yard field goal attempt , giving the Patriots a 23 20 win in the 2011  Championship Game . Heartbreak all around for the Ravens .   :  41392  Champ 1 22 2012 1 22 12 6 : 09 : 46  Foxboro ,  New England Patriots host the Baltimore Ravens in the  Championship Game . Baltimore Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff ( 7 ) misses the game tying field goal to ensure the win for the Pats Photo by Robert Deutsch ,   Staff Via MerlinFTP Drop ?  After an improbable conclusion to regulation in which the Seattle Seahawks overcame a 19 7 deficit with 4 minutes remaining to send the 2014  Championship Game into overtime , Russell Wilson hit Jermaine Kearse for a 35 yard touchdown on the first drive to five the Seahawks a 28 22 win over the Green Bay Packers . ?  In an unexpected low scoring affair , the only touchdown of the 1999  Championship Game was this catch late in the fourth quarter by Ricky Proehl . From there , the Rams managed to hold on for an 11 6 win in the 1999  Championship Game . ?  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
21785,21786,"Whoa! We asked the question yesterday in more of a tongue-and-cheek manner. That was before we saw the serious question that had just been asked of Hillary by reporters. Like everyone else who saw the video, we assumed someone had said something humorous that caused her to behave like she was having seizure. But after watching the actual question that was asked, just prior to what truly does appear to be some sort of seizure, we re having second thoughts about Hillary  acting  out.Watch the only Presidential candidate who travels with a full-time physician having what appears to be some sort of seizure You be the judge ",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
21792,21793,"The confidential package backed by Washington and formally presented to Congress on Tuesday leaves open the possibility that Bush will be able to enrich his vocabulary on his own soil , U . S . and European officials said .  That package , along with a promise of U . S . assistance for an after school program , is conditioned on the president suspending his current work until the U . S . International School Agency determines with confidence that the program is achievable . U . S . officials said Bush would also need to satisfy the U . N . Security Council that he is not seeking a third term election , a benchmark that White House officials believe could take years , if not decades , to achieve .  Speaking privately , a senior official said that the offer appeared to have much worthy of consideration , although he qualified his remark with "" it ' s like trying to herd cats , the wheels still turning , but the hamster is dead "" . Another official who did not wanted to be identified but wanted to be on record said "" He ' s dumber than a door knob , bless his heart . ""  In private discussions among the United States and its allies , Germany had suggested that Bush could be allowed to continue , under strict U . N . monitoring , its current vocabulary enrichment research while negotiations commenced . But the administration , as well as the governments of France and Britain , disagreed , arguing that Bush must suspend the program until suspicions regarding its true nature are cleared up .  The president ' s feeling on the subject and to some extent the German ' s insistence to allow the program to continue could be best surmised in the following exchange with German reporter Kai Diekmann on May 5 , 2006 :  "" Finally , the desk , where we ' ll have our picture taken in front of is nine other Presidents used it . This was given to us by Queen Victoria in the 1870s , I think it was . President Roosevelt put the door in so people would not know he was in a wheelchair . John Kennedy put his head out the door . "" Showing the desk where he intends on doing his homework .  "" That ' s called , ' A Charge To Keep , ' based upon a religious hymn . The hymn talks about serving God . The president ' s job is never to promote a religion . "" Showing his favorite book .  "" That ' s George Washington , the first president , of course . The interesting thing about him is that I read three three or four books about him last year . Isn ' t that interesting ? "" Showing his interest in  history .  "" I can look you in the eye and tell you I feel I ' ve tried to solve the problem diplomatically to the max , and would have committed knowing what I know today . "" Speaking to himself , not realizing that the German reporter had had enough .  "" We want to develop defenses that are capable of defending ourselves and defenses capable of defending others "" Shouting to the reporter while the German delegation attempted to rescue the reporter .  "" We are basically now saying that over the long haul , if the program restores confidence , that this Bush regime can have enrichment at home , "" said one U . S . official , who spoke on condition of anonymity . "" But they have to answer every concern given all that points to diminish brain capacity . ""  ",satire,text,validation,World conflict,US elections,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
21813,21814,"Such is the strength of Manchester City ' s squad this season , even the most expensive defender in the Premier League , 32million Eliaquim Mangala , acknowledges he isn ' t guaranteed a regular starting place .  Mangala will miss out when the champions kick off their title defence against Newcastle United having only arrived at the club from Porto on Monday .  But even when fully up to speed , the Frenchman faces competition from club captain Vincent Kompany and World Cup finalist Martin Demichelis in the centre of defence . Matija Nastasic , 21 , has already won 13 caps for Serbia .  Transfer : French defender Eliaquim Mangala joined Manchester City for 32m from Porto  ' Guarantees don ' t exist , what really counts is how I play in training sessions and games when I get the chance . Everybody in the squad wants to play and you can only put 11 players in the side , ' said Mangala .  ' The only thing you can do as a player is make your own guarantees by doing well in training and giving the manager a difficult decision . There are plenty of games this season and I am sure I will get my chance . '  Pellegrini has added Mangala , goalkeeper Willy Caballero , right back Bacary Sagna and midfielders Fernando , Frank Lampard and Bruno Zuculini to a squad already good enough to win the league .  He now has two top quality players for every position which means he can choose between England No1 Joe Hart and Caballero in goal , or Stevan Jovetic , Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero up front .  The canny Chilean even has the resources to rest some of his World Cup stars for their Premier League opener in the north east .  Competition : Managala faces stiff competition if he wants to partner Vincent Kompany in defence  Pellegrini had seven of his players from Argentina , Brazil , France and Belgium reach the knockout stages in Brazil . Some of them , like Kompany , may be asked to face Newcastle after last Sunday ' s 3 0 defeat in the Community Shield but not all .  ' The most important thing is for players to have the rest that they need particularly between one season and the next , ' said the City boss , who will be wary of throwing in Aguero after his muscular problems last season .  ' Most summers you have the World Cup or European Championship or Copa America , it is very difficult . That ' s why I think players have so many injuries . Not only in our team , in every team .  ' If I put all the World Cup players in together , maybe after 50 minutes they would not continue . We will try to make a mix . Of the eight who arrived late to pre season , we will see which of them are in the right condition to play . '  New boys : Bacary Sagna and Eliaquim Mangala train for Manchester City  Pressure : The 23 year old says he isn ' t worried about his price tag as he didn ' t set it  Mangala glimpsed the size of his new club on Thursday evening when he joined his team mates at a glamorous event called City Live , in which 5 , 000 fans turned up to see the new signings and hear a musical set from legendary Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr .  The 23 year old isn ' t daunted by the size of his price tag which eclipses the record amount paid by Manchester United for Rio Ferdinand in 2002 .  ' The price wasn ' t set by me and it ' s something I don ' t pay attention to . If you can ' t live with that sort of pressure , football isn ' t the job for you . Stay at home and do another type of job , ' he said .  ' I ' m here because it ' s a chance to play alongside other quality players . From a career development point of view and to progress as a player , City were the club for me . '  Right move : Mangala said that Manchester City were the perfect club for him after leaving Porto  He is setting his targets high , and not just domestically . ' As current champions , the first thing is to hold onto that title . And the big picture for City has always been to try and ultimately win the Champions League , so I think it has to remain a big target for us . '  Mangala thinks he will be fit enough to fight for a place by the end of the month .  Today , some of the scrutiny will be on the dug outs following a bust up last season between manager Alan Pardew and Pellegrini . The Newcastle boss apologised for swearing at his counterpart and was later banned after headbutting David Meyler of Hull City .  International : Eliaquim Mangala comforts Antoine Griezmann after they lost to Germany at the World Cup  Pellegrini bears no grudge and says he personally finds it helpful to stay calm after being more hotheaded earlier in his career as a player .  ' The most important thing is to be winning the game , not to be fighting with other managers , ' he said .  ' I think if you are not calm , you are nervous , then you are not in the right mood at the right time .  ' I was another character when I was younger . More explosive and wanting to fight with other players .  ' After I finished my career as a player and started as a manager , I realised you must talk to all the other players in a calm way . '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
21814,21815,"Henry Kissinger becomes member of the Russian Academy of Sciences October 28, 2016  u.s.-russia relations ,  Daily , science Henry Kissinger. Source: Kremlin.ru  The ex-U.S. Secretary of State and Nobel Peace Prize winner Henry Kissinger has just been accepted as a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences alongside six other foreign Nobel Prize winners. One member of the Academy, Boris Chetverushkin, commented on the results of the voting in the academy.  “Kissinger, Henry Alfred,” Chetverushkin announced the name of the ex-State Secretary of the U.S. amongst chosen academics at the Academy. Kissinger received the title at the Academy because of his research into global problems.  In addition to Kissinger, the Academy also invited other Nobel Prize winners to join its ranks: Serge Haroche and Martinus Veltman, winners of the Nobel Prize in Physics; Rogers Kornberg, Jean-Pierre Sauvage and Dan Schechtman, winners in Chemistry; and Kenneth Joseph Arrow, winner in Economics. Kissinger was the former U.S. Secretary of State and Assistant to the President for National Security. He is considered one of the initiators of the policy of ‘détente’ between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, and in 1973 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.",fake,news,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
21837,21838,"Holy Safari :  Simpson wants to host a television show as he travels the world interviewing religious ideologues and luminaries such as the Pope   Simpson ' s religious rebirth behind bars has seen him counsel fellow inmates and convert a white supremacist to Christianity and now he wants to take his show on the road for television .  Simpson , 66 , has always been religious , but his five years behind bars have given him time to focus on religion and have brought him closer to God , MailOnline has learned . Expecting to be out of prison by Christmas , he plans to host a tv show called ' Holy Safari , ' according to his promoter .  The former  great now spends his time reading multiple versions of the Bible , even the Quran , and giving advice to and converting fellow inmates , promoter Norman Pardo told MailOnline before comparing ' The Juice ' to a prophet .  Originally reported by the National Enquirer , Mr Simpson has become very religious behind bars . As a decision on the appeal of his armed robbery and kidnapping convictions nears , the groundwork is being laid for a return to the spotlight .  ' He ' s always been religious inside of the prison , ' Mr Pardo said . ' He helps people who can ' t find their way . '  One of those people was a cellmate of  ' s the first year he was locked up , Mr Pardo boasted .  A white supremacist , Mr Simpson was able to convert the man to Christianity , one of many converts during ' The Juice ' s time in the pokey .  A message left with a Nevada Department of Corrections spokesperson seeking comment on Mr Simpson ' s religious activities behind bars was not immediately returned .  The footballer ' s awakening hasn ' t happened since he was in prison , he has always been religious according to Mr Pardo . The promoter said he has known Mr Simpson since the late 1990s .  Upbeat : O . J . Simpson ( R ) smiles at the end of an evidentiary hearing in Clark County District Court on May 17  ' Most people just think of him as a murderer because they don ' t know the other side , ' he added .  ' Holy Safari , ' a television show in development that was weeks commencing production before Mr Simpson was sent to the slammer , is Mr Simpson ' s likely destination , Mr Pardo said .  The gregarious promoter kept in touch with the Hall of Famer while he was in prison , even visiting a few times .  Initially slated to go on a now defunct television station , the show will feature  traveling the world exploring local ideologies and interviewing religious leaders including the Pope , according to Mr Pardo .  The promoter even insists that religious people are behind the project .  ' There ' s a lot of religious people who are behind this , ' he said . ' They feel if  found the lord , it ' s important . '  Out by Christmas : Mr Pardo and Mr Simpson ' s attorneys are confident he will be out in time to celebrate the holiday  Despite what will likely be a negative reaction to putting the former Buffalo Bills running back on television , Mr Pardo insists Mr Simpson is the best man for the job .  ' Most all networks need ratings , and  is the hottest rated thing you ' re gonna get , ' he boasted .  Comparing Mr Simpson to Job , Mr Pardo said the footballer is the best person for the message of God .  ' This man has had everyone taken from him this is the man that can be the evangelist . '  ' Nobody could have been through as much as him and kept their faith , ' Mr Pardo continued .  Characterized by Ozzie Fumo , an attorney for Mr Simpson , as a ' hanger on ' trying to profit off  ' s name , Mr Pardo countered that he has never made a cent off the former  star in the 20 years he has known him .  ' I have nothing to gain , I ' ve never made a dollar off  , ' said Mr Pardo . ' When I took  on tour , I paid all the bills for all the limos and all that . '  ' I could tell you more about  Simpson than those attorneys would ever know , ' Mr Pardo continued . ' I spent 20 years with him in limos , on buses , at his home , him at my home I even went to graduations . '  No networks have expressed interest in the show as of yet , but Mr Pardo chalks that up to the reformed running back still being behind bars .  He insists that  Simpson going to jail is actually an advantage in pitching the the project to networks .  ' It ' d have to be the guy on the bottom , and you can ' t get much farther from the bottom than  right now . '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
21838,21839,"Sean O ' Brien remains in contention to end an injury plagued 14 months by making a comeback for the Irish Wolfhounds against England Saxons .  O ' Brien has not featured for Ireland since damaging his shoulder in the 24 22 autumn Test defeat to New Zealand in November 2013 .  The 27 year old was closing in on a playing return after surgery when an infection forced a second operation on the same shoulder .  Sean O ' Brien ( left ) has not played for Ireland since the 24 22 defeat to New Zealand in November 2013  O ' Brien could yet face the Saxons in Cork on Friday night , while Ireland remain confident both Conor Murray and Eoin Reddan will be fit to open the Six Nations in Italy on February 7 .  ' Sean trained fully today ( Tuesday ) , trained last week in Leinster and has taken part in all the sessions , ' said Irish Wolfhounds coach Richie Murphy .  ' There is a possibility that he will be available this week . '  While flanker O ' Brien could still feature in Cork , his Leinster team mate Cian Healy ' s chances now appear remote .  Ireland scrum halves Conor Murray ( left ) and Eoin Reddan are both expected to be fit for the Italy clash  The destructive loosehead prop has battled hamstring problems since September , but like O ' Brien , is targeting a Test return during the Six Nations .  British and Irish Lions scrum half Murray continues to battle disc problems in his neck , but Ireland ' s skills coach Murphy still tipped him to feature at the Stadio Flaminio on Saturday week .  Leinster half back Reddan damaged knee ligaments in Saturday ' s 20 20 Champions Cup draw at Wasps , but Ireland bosses now believe his injury is not as severe as anticipated .  ' Both guys look like they ' ll be fit , ' said Murphy of Murray and Reddan ' s chances of facing Italy .  ' Eoin ' s knee injury is not as bad as first feared , in the last 24 hours he ' s seen a massive improvement .  ' We are hoping that both of those guys will be ready for next week and if they ' re not it opens up an opportunity for Isaac Boss and Kieron Marmion to come in .  ' Cian ( Healy is a little further behind Sean ( O ' Brien ) , but is doing pretty well . '  Leinster loosehead prop Cian Healy has been battling hamstring problems since September  Murphy revealed Ireland expect Lions fly half Johnny Sexton to be available for the second round of Six Nations action against France in Dublin on February 14 .  Sexton is forced to sit out the Italy clash while he completes a 12 week stand down period enforced by club Racing Metro after four concussions in 12 months .  Sexton ' s absence leaves Leinster ' s Ian Madigan and Munster ' s Ian Keatley vying for the starting berth in Rome , with Paddy Jackson also sidelined after elbow surgery .  Murphy hinted that Madigan may be handed the fly half reins for Friday ' s Wolfhounds match , having featured mainly at centre for Leinster this term .  ' He is very nearly ready to go , ' said Murphy of Sexton .  ' Obviously he picked up that injury in France so his club looked after that .  Ireland fly half Jonathan Sexton is expected to return in time for the game against France at the Aviva Stadium  ' He ' s not taking contacts , he can ' t take contact until the three months is up and that would be the week of the French match .  ' Until that time it looks like he is going to be out , but he trained today , did all the handling stuff , all the non contact training and all the fitness work , so he ' s looking very fit and very fresh .  ' You ' d fancy that because he ' s been doing all the handling , all the kicking , all that kind of stuff , the contact stuff will fall into place that week . '  Murphy admitted Madigan not featuring regularly at fly half is ' definitely an issue ' for Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt .  The 25 year old may now start at 10 against the Saxons to ease him through to the Six Nations opener in Rome .  ' It ' s definitely an issue , ' said Murphy of Madigan ' s limited club time at fly half .  ' When he has played there this year he has been pretty good .  ' Joe ( Schmidt ) will have to make a decision on that later in the week .  ' The Saxons match might be an opportunity for Ian Madigan to get a little bit of game time at 10 .  ' Ian Keatley has played loads of rugby at 10 we kind of know where he is . '  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
21843,21844,"Two passengers aboard a flight in China have been jailed after opening the plane ' s emergency exit doors in protest at a lengthy delay .  China Eastern Airlines flight MU2036 travelling from Chengdu to Beijing was already seven hours behind schedule at 3 : 45am on Saturday morning because of snow when crew began to de ice the plane at the Kunming airport .  Passengers were initially told the flight , scheduled to take off at 8 . 45pm , was being delayed until 11pm . However , the plane was only cleared for take off around 3 . 17am , according to local news sources .  The plane was taxiing on the runway when a man named reportedly opened three emergency exits  Two passengers aboard a Chinese Eastern Airlines flight in China have been jailed after opening the emergency exit doors in protest at a lengthy delay  Passengers were said to have become angry when the plane ' s ventilation system was turned off for 30 minutes during de icing work to prevent fumes from entering the cabin .  Although the co pilot had been dispatched to explain , passengers remained irate even after the plane left the gate and members of a tour group started arguing with the crew , according to police .  The plane was taxiing on the runway when a man named as Mr Zhou reportedly opened three emergency exits to prevent the plane from taking off and forcing it to return to the gate .  According to state broadcaster China Central Television , a total of 25 passengers out of the 153 onboard all part of a single tour group were held for questioning while the rest continued on to Beijing aboard a separate flight .  The plane was taxiing on the runway when a man named as Mr Zhou reportedly opened three emergency exits to prevent the plane from taking off and forcing it to return to the gate  Kunming police said in an online statement that Mr Zhou and a tour guide named Li have been placed under 15 day ' administrative detention ' for opening the doors .  An investigation has been launched and the names of all those found to have been involved would be placed on a ' national uncivilised traveller record ' , administration spokesman Zhang Jilin said in a statement .  Names can remain on such lists for up to 18 months , during which travel agencies can decide whether or not to accept them on trips .  China ' s fast growing air travel market is the world ' s second biggest , but heavy traffic and tight military control of airspace have given it the world ' s worst record for flight delays .  Kunming police said in an online statement that Mr Zhou and a tour guide named Li have been placed under 15 day ' administrative detention ' for opening the doors  China Eastern Airlines flight MU2036 travelling from Chengdu to Beijing was already seven hours behind schedule at 3 : 45am on Saturday morning because of snow  Cancellations , delays and service complaints spark frequent incidents of air rage at airports and aboard flights , including those to and from foreign destinations .  Brawls between passengers and attacks on crew are often filmed and posted online .  Saturday ' s incident was the latest in a growing number of air rage cases involving Chinese travellers .  Last month , a China bound Thai AirAsia flight was forced to return to Bangkok after a female Chinese passenger threw hot water on a flight attendant amid a heated argument between her boyfriend and the cabin crew over service .  The plane ' s ventilation system had been turned off for 30 minutes during de icing work to prevent fumes from entering the cabin  Also in December , a brawl involving three women erupted on a Chinese flight from to Chongqing to Hong Kong yesterday when two of them complained to a mother that her baby was making too much noise .  Days later , a passenger on a Xiamen Air flight from Hangzhou to Chengdu yanked open a door shortly before take off to ' get some fresh air ' .  Last year the government released a lengthy list of do ' s and don ' ts aimed at turning Chinese travellers into ' civilized tourists ' .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
21857,21858,"The French Foreign Ministry and a top African Union official have denounced a military coup in the west African nation of Niger .  The ministry said France "" condemns all taking of power by nonconstitutional means "" and calls on people in Niger "" to show responsibility in the interest of the country , "" which gained its independence from France in 1960 .  Jean Ping , the chairman of the 53 nation African Union , meanwhile , called for a quick return of "" constitutional order "" and said the organization is ready to help facilitate the process .  He said he had been following developments in the nation with concern after a Niger military official announced the constitution had been suspended .  President Mamadou Tandja is said to be detained in a military camp .  The violence may have been prompted by a collapse of talks between the government and the opposition over a recent referendum allowing the president to hold power indefinitely , according to the United Nations , which also called for a quick resolution .  French journalist Diallo Doudacar said the situation in Niger was calm Friday .  "" The children are going to school , the shops are open , "" he said .  A "" demonstration of joy "" in support of the military was held Friday afternoon , Doudacar said .  "" The people are very happy , "" he said . "" The coup ends a nine month debate that blocked out all other subjects . We have gone through so many coups that it doesn ' t really affect us anymore . ""  Ping condemned the coup .  "" The chairperson of the commission stresses that the relevant  instruments systematically condemn any unconstitutional change and , accordingly , he condemns the seizure of power by force that took place in Niger , "" said a statement from his office .  "" The secretary general has called on the stakeholders in Niger to swiftly revert to constitutional order in the settlement of the political crisis , "" said a statement from U . N . Secretary General Ban Ki moon .  Thursday ' s order to suspend the constitution was attributed to the Superior Council for the Restoration of Democracy . It also suspended all institutions , urged citizens to remain calm and called for support from the international community .  Dana Palade , a spokeswoman for World Vision , who is in the capital , Niamey , said gunfire rang out in the streets Thursday . The French Embassy also reported hearing intermittent gunfire near the palace .  Tensions have flared in Niger recently . Tandja , in office since December 1999 , had been trying to stay in power beyond the time mandated by the constitution .  "" That may well have been . . . an act on his behalf that precipitated the act today , "" P . J . Crowley , assistant U . S . secretary of state , said Thursday .  The United States does not condone violence , but "" clearly we think this underscores that Niger needs to move ahead with the elections and the formation of a new government , "" Crowley said .  Niger , one of the poorest countries in Africa , has about 8 percent of the world ' s uranium . It has had lucrative uranium contracts , particularly with China .  The west African nation has a population of about 15 million and lies between the Sahara Desert and Nigeria .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
21861,21862,"The uproar at the University of Notre Dame over Vice President Mike Pence’s upcoming commencement address has escalated, as students are now claiming that his presence on campus will make them feel “unsafe. ”[Seniors Imanne Mondane and Jourdyhn Williams have started a whiteboard message campaign to express their concern over the selection of Mike Pence as the university’s commencement speaker. Over the past week, Mondane and Williams have taken photographs of students with quotations from Pence that the two seniors feel are “racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic. ”  “For me personally, [Pence] represents the larger Trump administration,” Senior Immane Mondane told The Observer, the   newspaper of the University of Notre Dame and the nearby St. Mary’s College.  “His administration represents something, and for many people on our campus, it makes them feel unsafe to have someone who openly is offensive but also demeaning of their humanity and of their life and of their identity. ” “I know that during his time as governor of Indiana and also during his campaign trail, along with Trump, he has made offensive statements towards minority groups that affect me, like women and ” Williams claimed. Williams argues that the selection of Pence as the university’s commencement speaker contradicts with the school’s Catholic mission. “I feel that is offensive to such a large population here at Notre Dame, and I also believe it goes against certain Catholic Social Teaching, which is something the University likes to broadcast that it stands behind, but it picks and chooses when it wants to stand behind them,” Williams complained. Encouragingly, Mondane has organized a discussion on her concerns and has invited students of all political persuasions to attend and voice their opinions. “We’re going to have a   discussion in the weeks to come,” Mondane said. “Everyone is welcome to the discussion, and we’re going to have an event and advertise, but we really want to get the voices there who may not agree with us and who may take issue with what we’re doing. We both have an equal platform, and we’re on an equal playing field where one narrative isn’t totally dominant of the other. ” Tom Ciccotta is a libertarian who writes about economics and higher education for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter @tciccotta or email him at tciccotta@breitbart.com",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
21869,21870,"Transcript for Index :  Rams Moving Back to L . A .  Maturity index tonight at an update now on that deadly house fire we told you about in Cleveland a family of four dead the roof gone and tonight . Authorities now ruling it was arson . The investigation does continue and who started it . The very personal warning tonight being read by hundreds of thousands now from the called student had a lot trips from Nevada who ended up in a coma after binge drinking . Writing quote I didn ' t realize the importance of drinking responsibly until I was waking up from a coma . Her honest hosts now viewed by more than 350000 . People . The  is moving back to Los Angeles fans celebrating the rams returned to  next season leaving Saint Louis though for  . They called  home until 1994 . Lead also giving the San Diego Chargers the choice of moving to  well .  This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100 accurate .  Now Playing :  Votes to Relocate St . Louis Rams to Los Angeles  Now Playing : Italian Police Closing in on a Suspect in the Death of American Artist  Now Playing : Index :  Rams Moving Back to L . A .  Now Playing : Car Sales in America Coming off a Record Year  Now Playing : Lead Found in Tap Water in Flint , Michigan  Now Playing : Race Tightening Between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton  Now Playing : President Obama ' s Last State of the Union Gets Unexpected Response From Some Republicans  Now Playing : Wall Street in a Freefall as Stocks Tank  Now Playing : Bracing for the First Blast of Snow : Fast Moving Winter Storm Makes for Treacherous Traveling  Now Playing : Hillary Clinton Campaign May Be in Trouble  Now Playing : President Obama Will Address  Threat in His Final State of the Union  Now Playing : Tracing the Final Stops of the American Artist Who Was Murdered in Italy  Now Playing : New Photos of ' El Chapo ' Moments After He Was Captured  Now Playing : Index : Two Types of Children ' s Cough Syrup Recalled  Now Playing : 10 Killed in New Deadly Attack in Turkey  Now Playing : Powerball Jackpot Reaches an Astounding 1 . 5 Billion  Now Playing : Donald Trump Demands Ted Cruz Address His Birthplace Issue  ",true,text,validation,American football,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
21880,21881,"England striker Wayne Rooney is expected to be fit for the World Cup in South Africa despite suffering another injury setback on club duty with Manchester United on Sunday .  The 24 year old , who last month was sidelined with ankle damage , went off with a recurrence of his recent groin problem 13 minutes from the end of United ' s 4 0 victory over Stoke .  He was unable to score , finishing his European season with 34 goals and missing out on the Premier League ' s golden boot award to Chelsea ' s Didier Drogba , who netted a hat trick in the 8 0 victory over Wigan that ended United ' s three year grip on the title .  England coach Fabio Capello will name his provisional 30 man squad for South Africa on Tuesday , and United were quick to dispel any fears that Rooney might be not fit for his second World Cup finals appearance .  "" He should be okay , "" assistant manager Mike Phelan told the  Press Association . "" All the phone calls and all the worries we can dispel straight away .  "" He should be fine . It is just a precaution and he will be looking forward to his World Cup . ""  Marcello Lippi , coach of world champions Italy , will also name his preliminary squad on Tuesday .  Veteran striker Francesco Totti ' s chances of being called out of international retirement were seriously damaged by his red card in the Italian Cup final defeat by Inter Milan last Wednesday .  The 33 year old redeemed himself with two goals on Sunday as second placed Roma kept the Serie A title race going into the final round of the season , but on Monday he was handed a four match Italian Cup ban for his controversial challenge on Inter striker Mario Balotelli .  Balotelli , who said Totti had abused him , was also given a one match suspension along with Inter teammate Cristian Chivu for separate incidents .  Totti won the last of his 58 international caps in the 2006 World Cup final win over France , which ended Lippi ' s first stint in charge , and made himself unavailable a year after that .  Totti ' s Roma strike partner Luca Toni also faces an anxious wait to see if he will be included in Lippi ' s squad .  German media reported on Monday that his parent club Bayern Munich do not want him back despite having a contract until the end of next season , while Italian paper Gazzetta dello Sport said Roma president Rosella Sensi was unwilling to extend his stay .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
21881,21882,"manager Harry Redknapp is not to blame for the team ' s position at the bottom of the Premier League , according to Rangers midfielder Adel Taarabt .  Redknapp ' s side were beaten 2 0 by West Ham on Sunday meaning the team have taken just four points from their opening seven league games .   ' s defeat was compounded by a sluggish display that has placed added scrutiny on Redknapp and his ability to motivate his under performing players .  Adel Taarabt said Harry Redknapp is not to blame for  ' s poor form after their defeat to West Ham  ' It is easy to blame the manager when you lose but the players have to step up , ' said Taarabt , who came on for 24 minutes at Upton Park but is yet to start a match this season .  ' The manager can change tactics , tell us what he wants , but when we go on the pitch it is the players who perform .  ' It is disappointing , we are bottom of the league .  ' If we keep clean sheets we can win games , but at the moment we are not doing that so it is hard for us . '   were relegated under Redknapp during his first season in charge and could be again this season  Redknapp said his players ' fitness was not up to scratch after the West Ham defeat , with a number of his squad still regaining sharpness after injury .  Taarabt has been struggling with an ankle problem since the summer and the talented Moroccan is still trying to re establish himself at Loftus Road after a permanent move to  Milan break down in the summer .  ' I was in the middle of a transfer and it did not happen for whatever reason , ' Taarabt said .  ' It was difficult for me because I thought I was moving . In the end it did not happen , so I am now and have to work hard to get back in the team and help  win games .  The talented Moroccan midfielder , who was on loan at  Milan last year , said the players were to blame  ' These two weeks for the international break will help me get to 100 per cent . I did not have a very good pre season and I need games . Hopefully my ankle will be fine , it is not a big injury . '  Taarabt scored four goals in 14 league appearances while on loan at Milan last season and the 25 year old admits he had hoped to sign permanently for the Italian giants in the summer .  ' I had a taste of something different last year , playing in the Champions League at a big club while on loan at  Milan , ' Taarabt said .  ' That is why I wanted to move . Not because I do want to be at  , because it was a big opportunity for me .  ' Do not forget that this club has helped me a lot . I am one of the longest serving players here now , and I still love the club . It will always be in my heart . I am very concentrated on  and giving my best . '   lost 2 0 to the Hammers , Nedum Onuoha scored an own goal before Diafra Sakho sealed the result  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
21886,21887,"Director Chen Kaige ' s films often examine the close ties of love , passion and friendship , but his own relationship with his artist and filmmaker father is one that has informed much of his life and colored his work .  Chen Kaige captures the pains and passions of relationships on the silver screen .  As a 14 year old red guard during the Cultural Revolution , Chen denounced his father for creating subversive art . While his father forgave him , Chen has found it hard to truly forgive himself .  Chen has already touched upon such a significant moment in his personal life in his award winning 1993 film , "" Farewell My Concubine . "" It brought him international acclaim and a host of accolades , including Cannes Film Festival ' s Palme D ' or .  Like "" Farewell My Concubine , "" Chen ' s latest film , "" Forever Enthralled "" ( "" Mei Lanfang "" in Mandarin ) , once again delves into the world of Beijing opera , and it has proven to be a hit in China since its release in cinemas in December .  However , capturing the Cultural Revolution remains one of Chen ' s ambitions not only to explore the circumstances that colored the relationship with his father but an exploration of a crucial time in Chinese history .  "" I hope that my generation of directors or writers could do something to tell people the truth , to tell people what really happened at that time why a young son of a film director , you know , could denounce his own father , like I did . I was still shocked , "" he said .  Now 56 years old , Chen studied at the Beijing Film Academy , directing his first feature film "" Yellow Earth "" in 1984 .  After the success of "" Farewell My Concubine , "" he eventually took up the offer to direct a Hollywood film in 2002 "" Killing Me Softly , "" with Heather Graham and Joseph Fiennes .  While failing to impress the critics or register a hit at the box office , Chen remains sanguine about the experience .  "" I think I ' ve learnt a lot from that . Although I fully understand why audiences didn ' t really enjoy that film that much .  "" In the industrial system of Hollywood people don ' t really care if you ' re making a good film or not . People care about whether the film can make money . It ' s a completely different thing , you know . Quite honestly , I wasn ' t very comfortable to do films that way , "" said Chen .  Chen will continue to make films in China and finds the country ' s recent transformation as significant as earlier periods of change during his lifetime .  "" I ask myself whether it ' s a progress or we ' re just going back to where we not necessarily need to be . I don ' t know . I mean , I ' m not trying to say anything politically . But I feel if you look at the very beginning of Charles Dickens ' novel , ' A Tale of Two Cities , ' ' It was the best times , it was the worst times . . . ' this is the simple answer , "" he said .  Time will tell if today ' s China will be part of Chen ' s cinematic sweep in the future .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
21907,21908,"A minority will gamble legally at Nevada ' s casinos but most will make friendly , if often illegal , wagers at their workplace , corner bar or Super Bowl house party . Even those careful with a dollar often plunk down 10 for a square in the office pool .  "" A lot of people bet on only one game the entire season , and this is the one , "" said Jay Kornegay , director of the sports book at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort Casino .  They ' ll bet not only on which team will win this year ' s game at Levi ' s Stadium in Santa Clara , Calif . , but on a myriad of other scenarios related to the big event ? maybe the pregame coin toss or how long it takes to sing the national anthem .  Add it up and Americans will spend at least 4 . 2 billion betting on the Super Bowl this year , the American Gaming Assn . , a casino trade group , estimated last week .  It ' s widely agreed that no other single U . S . sporting event commands such betting , and the sports website Pregameweblink estimates that more than half of adult Americans will have some money at risk on Sunday ' s game .  Using the gaming association ' s estimate , the Super Bowl bets legally placed at Nevada ' s casinos amount to a mere 2 . 8 of the total wagered nationwide , most of which is private and unlicensed .  See the most read stories this hour Read the story  "" No one can say with pinpoint accuracy "" how much is bet , he said .  Except at Nevada ' s casinos , where regulators keep a close eye on the action . Gamblers placed 116 million in bets on the Super Bowl last year through the casinos ' sports books , according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board .  The New England Patriots defeated the Seattle Seahawks in that game , 28 24 . But untold millions of dollars changed hands among bettors in the final minute when , just as Seattle appeared set to score the go ahead touchdown , New England ' s Malcolm Butler intercepted a pass to preserve the Patriots ' victory .    for the free California Inc . business newsletter  The amount wagered in Nevada last year was down 3 from the record 119 . 4 million bet on the Super Bowl in 2014 . But the betting volume generally has increased in recent years in step with the U . S . economy ' s improvement from the severe recession .  Super Bowl gambling at the Nevada sports books has more than doubled in the last 22 years . The figure was 54 . 5 million in 1994 when the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Buffalo Bills , 30 13 .  That ' s not surprising because the Super Bowl itself "" has become so much of a social and cultural event for Americans , "" said David Schwartz , director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada Las Vegas .  A record 114 . 4 million Americans watched last year ' s game , and "" there ' s just a sense of the atmosphere around it , it ' s almost like a holiday , "" Schwartz said .  Just as many people watch the game mainly to see the new  commercials , placing a bet also is widely considered part of the festivities , he said .  But for those betting at Nevada ' s casinos , wagering on sports generally has one of the lowest winning percentages compared with other forms of gambling , gaming board figures show .  Sports ' winning percentage was 5 . 8 last year , compared with 18 for roulette and 12 for blackjack . Even slot machines , with an average winning percentage of 6 . 4 , have a better payout than sports .  ",true,text,validation,American football,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
21917,21918,"Reuters) - Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives forged ahead on Tuesday with legislation to reshape the federal tax code, while a top credit-ratings agency said the bill would balloon the budget deficit and give only a temporary boost to the economy. As the House tax committee weighed amendments to a bill that Democrats have blasted as a give-away to corporations and the rich, the Washington tax reform debate was fast shifting to the Senate, where Republicans hold only a slim majority. Senate Republicans are expected to unveil their own tax bill at the end of the week, and early indications suggest it could differ significantly from the House legislation. The House is aiming to vote on its bill next week, a senior Republican said. Tax reform has been a priority for President Donald Trump, who says it will stimulate economic growth. But Republicans have yet to score a major legislative accomplishment since Trump took office in January, even though the party controls both chambers of Congress as well as the White House. Trump made another pitch for Democratic support on Capitol Hill, where his top aides met with about a dozen Senate Democrats and Trump himself phoned in from his Asia trip. “He said, ‘Look … I want to do it in a bipartisan way,’” Senator Joe Donnelly told reporters.  Fitch Ratings predicted that a Republican tax plan would win passage in both chambers, but did not see it offering long-term benefits. “Such reform would deliver a modest and temporary spur to growth. ... However, it will lead to wider fiscal deficits and add significantly to U.S. government debt,” Fitch said, revising up its medium-term U.S. government debt forecast. The U.S. national debt now exceeds $20 trillion. Republicans once firmly opposed adding to the debt, but their emphasis has changed. Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) said the House bill would add nearly $1.5 trillion to the national debt from 2018 through 2027. Trump and congressional Republicans say the proposed tax cuts would boost economic growth enough to generate new revenues that would offset the tax cuts. Few economists agree. The House bill slashes tax rates for large corporations, small businesses and wealthy Americans, while sharply reducing or eliminating tax breaks that benefit many middle-class Americans such as deductions for state and local taxes, college tuition and home mortgage interest.  estimates that the House bill could raise taxes on as many as 38 million people who earn between $20,000 and $40,000 per year, beginning in 2023. House Republicans, who have an overwhelming majority, drafted their bill in secret, ignoring Democrats.  But the House bill is unlikely to be taken up in the Senate, where Republicans have a 52-48 seat majority and they need to pay heed to moderates within their own ranks as well as Democrats, lobbyists and analysts said. Two conservative Republican senators, Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, have already voiced concern that the House tax bill could raise taxes on some middle-class Americans.   The Senate bill could delay the proposed corporate tax cut by one year, may not allow any deductions for local property taxes, and may not collapse the current seven individual brackets to the four proposed by the House, according to the Washington Post.  Republican leaders have pushed for the House to vote on the tax bill before the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday on Nov. 23. “My donors are basically saying, get it done or don’t ever call me again,” Republican Representative Chris Collins said.         U.S. tax legislation must begin in the House. “We’ll bring it to the floor next week,” House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady told Fox News. In party-line votes on Tuesday, Brady’s tax committee voted down eight Democratic amendments that would have preserved or expanded tax breaks for the middle class, nullified the tax legislation if it increased the deficit in future years and maintained taxes on foreign profits of U.S. corporations. Brady offered a sweeping amendment on Monday that tweaked at least half a dozen provisions of the 425-page bill.  One related to carried interest income, a share of an investment fund’s profits paid out to the fund’s general partners and which represents a large portion of many fund managers’ incomes. Carried interest currently is taxed at the capital gains rate, which is substantially lower than the personal income tax rate for higher earners. Brady’s amendment would lengthen to more than three years from one the time period assets must be held in order to be eligible for the capital gains tax rate. The amendment would also reduce the amount of carried-interest income eligible for the lower rate. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
21934,21935,"writes to governor , Mehbooba Mufti may be sworn in as first J K  today  J K ? Jammu and Kashmir ? Mehbooba Mufti ? Mufti Mohammed Sayeed ? NewsTracker ?  Vohra ?  ?  Srinagar : Ruling  president Mehbooba Mufti is set to be the first woman Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir , succeeding her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed who passed away on Thursday , with party MLAs unanimously electing her as their leader and writing to Governor  Vohra in this regard .  A party delegation met the Governor at Raj Bhavan here and handed over the letter which says that the  legislators back the 56 year old Mehbooba to take over as the 13th Chief Minister of the state , a senior  leader said .  He said the selection of Mehbooba , a Lok Sabha member , as the leader of 28 member  Legislature party was a unanimous decision .  The party leader , however , did not specify the date or time for her swearing in .  "" It will follow in due course of time as we are still in the process of performing last rites of our beloved leader , "" the  leader told   However ,  reported that she was likely to be sworn in as his successor on Thursday evening .  Senior party leaders , Muzaffar Hussain Beigh and Altaf Bukhari have handed over a letter to Governor , N . N . Vohra through which the  has nominated Mehbooba Mufti as the leader of its legislature party in the state .  "" The letter has requested the governor to administer oath of office to Ms Mehbooba today ( Thursday ) evening after the last rites of Mufti Sayeed are completed , ""  sources told  .  The governor can now decide to administer the oath of office to Mehbooba Mufti as the acting chief minister and ask her to prove her majority on the floor of the assembly within 15 days .  Mehbooba Mufti is presently a member of the Lok Sabha from the state ' s Anantnag as per constitutional norms , will have to either get elected to the assembly within six months or get nominated to the legislative council within the same period .  Once sworn in , she would be the first woman chief minister of country ' s only Muslim majority state .  Earlier ,  , which is the coalition partner in the state government , left it to  to choose its nominee for the post of Chief Minister .  "" As the  has left it to the  to select its Chief Ministerial nominee , decks seem to have been cleared for Mehbooba to become the first woman chief minister of the state , "" the  leader said .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
21937,21938,"American citizens should be more concerned about the Left and the leftist media s attempt to  the brutal truth about Sharia in America, than a billboard that gives readers an opportunity to learn the truth.In a state that doesn t tolerate any discussion of what the massive influx of Somali refugees has done to their neighborhoods and schools, this billboard will likely be a hot topic in Minnesota. Recently, the Minnesota Governor told his constituents to  Leave the state  if they don t like the massive influx off Muslims. Watch the   HERE. [Video]A billboard of a woman in a niqab went up on I-94 in Rogers at the beginning of June, prompting calls to the sign company from the public. Copy was added to the billboard in July, which now reads  Should America Fear Sharia? The billboard is sponsored by the Center for Security Policy, a Washington, D.C. based national security think tank. The site shouldamericafearsharia.org consists mostly of links to videos discussing different topics about Islam and Islamic extremism.The billboard was contracted out by the Center with Franklin Outdoor Advertising, a billboard company in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The billboard went up the beginning of June,  Franklin salesperson Chris Barta said,  Last Friday we switched it out and put up the one with the website. The website advertisement billboard will be up from July 1st through the end of the month when the advertisement contract expires.The Center for Security Policy s website contains articles and videos on national security threats of Islamic terrorism.In the wake of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, the Center s executive vice president Jim Hanson called the attack,  completely in keeping with totalitarian Islamic code called Shariah. Franklin Outdoor Advertising received a number of calls from the public regarding the billboard according to Barta, mostly in June when there was no text accompanying the image on the sign.  AlphaNewsh/t Refugee Resettlement Watch",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present
21942,21943,"Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” interim chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee Donna Brazile said   Donald Trump has “enormous,” opportunity to find common ground with Democrats in Washington, D. C.  Brazile said, “If it’s ‘my way or the highway,’ what you’re going to see again is another round of gridlock in Washington, D. C. You’re going to see retribution and retaliation. He has an enormous opportunity as every president in the first 100 days to show that, you know, he’s eager to find common ground, to meet with, you know, Democrats, Chuck Schumer. I mean Chuck Schumer knows Donald Trump, both New Yorkers. Have him over for breakfast, have him over for afternoon tea and see if you can find some common ground. ” (  The Hill) Follow Pam Key On Twitter @pamkeyNEN",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
21947,21948,"The playoff gods were kinder to the Seattle Seahawks in their first playoff game since the Malcolm Butler Super Bowl disaster . They were far less forgiving , in turn , to the Minnesota Vikings .  The Vikings were about to take the lead in the waning seconds of a defensive grinder in the bitter cold over the Seahawks , lining up for a 27 yard field goal ? ? shorter than an extra point ? that almost certainly would have delivered a home win . But kicker Blair Walsh , who had made all three of his field goal tries in the game to that point , botched the kick .  replays showed that for the second try of the game , the ball s laces were facing toward the kicker , held by Jeff Locke , which is a no no .  The first one earlier in the game didn t hurt . This one did , and the Seahawks escaped with an improbable 10 9 victory . Walsh had been 33 of 34 in his career on tries shorter than 30 yards prior to this kick .  The game turned in a little less than two minutes in the fourth quarter after the Vikings had dominated most of the game and were sitting on a 9 0 lead . Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson , who had played relatively poorly to that point , made a heroic recovery of a bad snap and hit receiver Tyler Lockett for a 35 yard gain that set up the only touchdown of the game .  On the ensuing possession , Vikings running back Adrian Peterson fumbled , giving the ball back to the Seahawks , who took the lead midway through the fourth quarter on a Steven Hauschka field goal that would provide the winning margin .  That didn t look to be the case when the Vikings took over in the final 102 seconds , driving from their own 19 yard line to the Seahawks 9 . But then Walsh badly missed to the left on the poorly held kick , and the Seahawks advanced . They ' ll face the Carolina Panthers , a team they lost to earlier this season in the final minute , in the divisional round of the playoffs next Sunday .  It was the Seahawks ' third bizarre and thrilling playoff game in a row . The Seahawks rallied from 16 points down in the fourth quarter to beat the Green Bay Packers in overtime in the  title game last season . They blew a 10 point fourth quarter lead in the Super Bowl loss as Butler picked off Wilson at the goal line in the final minute . And now this .  Yes , the game was cold ? historically cold even ? ? and it did appear to have an effect on the contest . At minus 6 degrees and 25 below for the wind chill , it registered as the coldest game in Vikings history ? a record that might stand a long time in Minnesota , anyway ? and the third coldest in  history behind the Ice Bowl in 1967 and the Freezer Bowl in 1982 .  On the Seahawks first drive , punter Jon Ryan couldn t handle a low snap and was forced to run , gaining only 4 yards on 4th and 7 well into Seattle territory . So the Vikings got the ball in business on the 29 yard line but bogged down inside the 10 yard line and settled for a Walsh field goal to open the scoring with a 3 0 Vikings lead .  The kicking game was flawed early , with punts not hanging in the air long and the ball not traveling far . The Seahawks had a fruitless series midway through the second quarter , driving to the Minnesota 25 yard line but not coming away with points . A loss of three on the ground and a delay of game convinced Pete Carroll to go for it on 4th and 13 , and Wilson s throw to Fred Jackson ? eight yards short of the sticks ? ? didn t get it done , resulting in a turnover on downs .  On their final possession of the first half , the Seahawks started a promising drive spurred by a 41 yard pass interference call against Vikings cornerback Xavier Rhodes . But they stalled at the Minnesota 38 , after three Wilson incompletions . This time , the Seahawks opted to punt instead of going for it , and the first half ended with a 3 0 Vikings edge .  On the Seahawks opening drive of the second half , they once more moved into Minnesota territory just outside field goal range and once more went for it on fourth down . Wilson was flushed out of the pocket and threw back against his body to little used tight end Chase Coffman . The throw was off target and it tipped into the hands of Vikings rookie corner Trae Waynes , who returned it to midfield .  While Wilson was struggling , his Vikings counterpart ? Teddy Bridgewater ? ? played with poise , if not producing modest statistics , but making more things happen . After a roughing the quarterback foul by Cliff Avril , Bridgewater connected on two passes and helped set up another Walsh field goal and a 6 0 lead midway through the third quarter .  Back to back sacks on Wilson on the ensuing drive ? with the Vikings rushing four both times ? ? backed up the Seahawks well into their own zone . They punted from their own 5 , and a horse collar tackle on the return had the Vikings back in business again quickly in Seattle territory .  Even though the Vikings struggled to get much going in the run game all day ( 28 rushes , 58 yards ) , they stuck with it . On the drive , they ran the ball five times for 15 yards with three different players and worked the ball into field goal range , where Walsh connected again ? ? a 9 0 lead heading into the fourth quarter .  This field goal almost was blocked by Richard Sherman . The Vikings ' previous kick had the laces pointed right at Walsh as he kicked it . Even with less than perfect execution , the Vikings were quietly dominating the game at this point .  But they settled for field goals and the Seahawks were not done yet . Wilson broke out of his slump to make magic . After a shotgun snap went high and through his hands , Wilson recovered the ball , gathered himself and found a wide open Lockett for 35 yards down to the Minnesota 4 . Two plays later , Wilson hit Doug Baldwin ? covered by third string corner Josh Robinson , in the game because of injuries ? ? for the touchdown , cutting the Vikings lead to 9 7 .  Then , momentum swung even more the Seahawks way . Peterson took a swing pass 10 yards for a would be first down , but Seahawks safety Kam Chancellor ripped the ball out , recovered by nose tackle Athyba Rubin at the Minnesota 40 . It was Peterson s eighth fumble of the season ? or ninth , if you count one that was negated by penalty ? ? and his second in the fourth quarter in the past two months .  After converting a big third down pass to Jermaine Kearse to the 29 , the Seahawks had to settle for a Hauschka field goal , but it gave them their first lead of the game at 10 9 with 8 : 09 remaining .  The Vikings had to punt on their next possession , and the Seahawks had a chance to grind the clock . But a questionable play call and execution on a 3rd and 1 play with 4 : 33 left had Wilson throwing incomplete on a throwback ? ? why ? ? and the ball almost being intercepted , to boot , with safety Andrew Sendejo unable to make the play on the errant throw .  After the teams traded punts , the Vikings took over on their own 39 with 1 : 42 left . Tight end Kyle Rudolph hadn t caught a ball all game to that point , but he drew a huge pass interference against Chancellor and then beat him for a massive 24 yard catch on an out route down to the Seattle 18 .  Peterson hung onto the ball for three timeout burning runs to set up the game winning try , but Walsh hooked it badly , evoking memories of Gary Anderson ' s famous late game miss in the 1998 season  championship game . There was less at stake in this game , but the Vikings ' history of brutal playoff losses has a new chapter .  Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports . Have a tip ? Email him at edholm yahoo incweblink or follow him on Twitter ! Follow Eric Edholm  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
21948,21949,"On a very full train this morning , the governor accidentally took a seat in Amtrak s notorious quiet vehicle , Christie spokeswoman Samantha Smith said . I would be just as overjoyed if Hillary Clinton were tossed out for breaking the car s rules . Hell , I d have the identical reaction if Pope Francis did what Christie did . I am inspired by a Republican candidate , but not to take the kind of action they may want .   : October . 25 , 3 : 40 p . m . : A member of Chris Christie s team tells Mashable the governor was not yelling or traveling with secret service .  But those of us who are do or die  enthusiasts are willing to endure the mockery of our city brethren or even of our fellow commuters who don t understand its allure .  On Sunday night , for instance , I boarded a Northeast Regional at New York Penn Station , headed for the quiet vehicle , and sat down next to someone who had boarded before me .  Not so much on public transit , where commuters said cell phones have made trains into everyone s high decibel gab fest .  Amtrak makes no exceptions for talking in the quiet vehicle . This went on for five 10 minutes till the conductor , prompted by passenger complaints , requested him to cease utilizing his cellular phone or go away the automobile . He then moved into another auto to finish his business .  New Jersey Governor ( and flagging 2016 presidential candidate ) Chris Christie was caught speaking loudly in one of Amtrak s Quiet Cars on Sunday .  Smith also apologized on behalf of Christie to the passengers of the Amtrak Acela train that he may have offended , the Daily Mail United Kingdom reported . This is the quiet auto ? He sighed and told the person on the phone he had to go , grabbed his smoothie and muttered to his security staffer as they walked to another vehicle .  So why is this specific train vehicle so treasured ?  In such environs , Amtrak rules that passengers are asked to limit conversation and speak in subdued tones .  Phone calls are not allowed . And you don t know what it means to be quiet .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
21951,21952,"As further details emerge from the Panama Papers leak , rock band Van Halen have now been linked to the scandal .  In a statement , the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists confirmed the band had avoided taxation on record and concert sales for years , simply taking the money and running , in hot shoes which were burning down the avenue .  When reached for comment , singer David Lee Roth and guitarist Eddie Van Halen went ahead and jumped to issue differing views on the subject .  "" I mean it ' s obvious I ' m responsible , "" claimed Eddie . "" David always liked to sing and dance but he never had an real gift for creative embezzlement . The man made money on cover songs , for god ' s sake . ""  Roth countered : "" You think we could have profited from all that tax evasion without my charisma ? Look , Eddie is a virtuoso he ' s given me the best years of my life in the band , and the best savings of my life with investments in his friend ' s company Shred Holdings . But you don ' t have to try so hard all the time , you know ?  Roth then swiveled his hips , spun , and shimmied out of the interview room , singing "" I ' ve got it bad , got it bad , got it bad I ' m hot for  . ""  Former lead singer Sammy Hagar denied involvement , claiming he had removed his funds from the offshore investment due to Eddie Van Halen ' s obsessive control over how the money would be handled .  When asked if the band would attempt to make amends or cover the tracks of their secretive tax evasion , they all agreed that at this point it was too late : they had the feelin ' , power steerin ' , pistons poppin ' ain ' t no stoppin ' now .  ",satire,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
21958,21959,"For months now, the right and some on the left have been politicizing the fact that Hillary Clinton, like virtually all people who have been in positions of power, gets paid to speak for large audiences. Clinton earns large paychecks for the speaking engagements   around $200k a piece, much of which has been donated to the Clinton Foundation. So why doesn t anyone talk about the fact that Donald Trump made far more in speaking fees for a company that is essentially a pyramid scheme?Well, to be fair, the right-wing Daily Caller is talking about it.Trump s presidential financial disclosure, which was released on Wednesday by the Federal Election Commission, shows that he has been paid $450,000 each for three speeches given on behalf of  Inc., a North Carolina-based  multi-level marketing  company. The celebrity and real estate billionaire spoke most recently at  s annual convention which was held in Charlotte in February.Trump first became involved with  in 2006. In 2009 and 2011, company executives appeared on the mogul s  reality show,  Celebrity Apprentice.  During one of those episodes, a video phone  was selling was a featured product.Like all multilevel marketing companies,  (American Communications Network) is more about recruiting people   people who have to pay $499 just for the privilege of selling products plus an annual fee and training expenses. That s all kind of standard, but Robert Fitzpatrick, who runs the website called Pyramid Scheme Alert, says  is one of the worst. They don t seem to care about sales at all, but they do care about offering false hope and Trump is part of that.I ll let this video tell you more:Here s another:There are negative reviews all over the internet about ACN. While they have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, that s only after the Bureau had to field 203 complaints over the last three years.It s doubtful Trump cares. Trump sells his name to anything that might give him a profit. Trump University should be enough to show that Trump is a scam artist and a fraudster. The fact that Trump chose to get in bed with a Multilevel Marketing Company with dubious, at best, ethics, says all we need to know about the man who could be president.Featured image via Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images.",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
21960,21961,"They were mocked as ' jackasses ' for revealing how they had been ' exiled ' from the United States to Italy ' s most exclusive resort .  Malu Custer Edwards and her husband Micky Hurley were formally cleared of trafficking their child minder to the  and forcing her to work in slave like conditions .  But during a family sailing holiday around the Mediterranean , their visas were rescinded and the family have been stuck in Portofino on the Italian Riviera ever since .  Now as they face Christmas away from their Upper East Side home and an ongoing legal tussle , mother of four Malu has told Mail Online of her despair after being denied entry to the country where she grew up .  Stranded : Socialites Malu Custer Edwards , 29 , left , and Micky Hurley , 35 , right , are not allowed to return to New York from Italy despite being cleared of abusing their nanny  ' Distress ' : The couple and their four children are stuck in Portofino , north Italy  The 30 year old said it was ' heart breaking ' for the couple to tell the children they weren ' t going to get home for the holidays .  She said : ' My eldest son asked for no presents for Christmas . Instead he made a card saying all he wanted for Christmas was to go back to New York , as a family . '  The couple ' s elder children Rex , Malu and Olympia , have now missed the first semester of the school year and the Hurleys have been forced to enroll them in an Italian school ' to distract them ' and ' give them some normality in their lives ' .  Malu , who was born in Chile into a prominent family , grew up in New York until , at the age of 19 , she fell pregnant with Rex and moved with Micky to her native country .  But after she gained a place at the prestigious Parsons School of Design in 2011 the family relocated to the Manhattan ' s Upper East Side . Micky and the three elder children had permission to live there because of Malu ' s student visa while their youngest was born in the States and is a  citizen .  The family were accompanied by a nanny , Felicitas del Carmen Villanueva Garcia , whom they had hired through an agency in Chile . But with three months she had left .  Two years later she accused the couple of taking her passport , locking her in their apartment , not giving her enough food while they dined out at Manhattan ' s trendiest restaurants and allowing their children to beat her .  The Hurleys denied the charges but were ordered to pay around 6 , 000 in backpay .  In the surrounding publicity a series of unpleasant emails between Micky and a photographer who had worked with him emerged , creating the impression of an over privileged snob . In one email Micky allegedly tormented his former collaborator with the fact that he was the great grandson of a seamstress . ' If you were reborn a million times your grandmother would never be a Baroness like mine . '  Hurley claims his grandmother was born an aristocrat in Ireland , although his exact lineage is unclear .  ' Abuse ' : Custer Edwards claims the pair have been receiving hate mail in the wake of the dismissed lawsuit  But Malu insists their home life in New York was ' very simple ' and says she and her husband divided the chores and had no any help around the house after the nanny left .  This summer as the case dragged on and with the stress of proving their innocence weighing on them the couple accepted an invitation to stay on a friend ' s boat sailing along the French and Italian coast .  Since Malu hadn ' t left the  for two years , their visas had expired , but she believed renewing them was a formality and she claims she had all the paper work in order .  The lawsuit was not yet resolved but as it was a civil suit it shouldn ' t have had any bearing on the decision , Malu says .  But when she went to pick up the passports the first thing they did was stamp them with denials as she looked on in horror .  On a peninsula in the Ligurian Sea , Portofino is Italy ' s most exclusive and glamorous resort .  It is where Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton romanced in the 1961 as she took a break from filming Cleopatra , and its main hotel , the Splendido , offers stunning views , lavish fine dining and the chance to bump into A list guests .  The resort itself has hosted everyone from Winston Churchill to Rihanna , drawn by its scenery and climate .  Christmas is low season but it compares favorably to New York for climate .  Today it is mostly sunny and 50F compared to a rainy Manhattan where the temperature is 39F  The officials would not explain the problem but gave her a code that corresponded to the stated reason for refusal .  It was only afterwards that she discovered the visa was refused on grounds of the ' human trafficking ' claims made against her by the nanny .  She remembered : ' I was in a complete state of shock . I lived in the  from the age of one until I was 19 . Never could I have imagined that this would happen .  ' It was horrible . I felt like I had been judged without having been found guilty . '  She said it ' broke her heart ' to tell the family . ' One more way the lawsuit ruined our lives . '  Things went from bad to worse . Within 24 hours of the decision her husband was hospitalized and operated on for a collapsed lung .  Malu describes this time as ' the most difficult experience of our lives ' .  But after two weeks Micky was allowed to go ' home ' , which was by then , a friend ' s house , a former chapel near Portofino .  And on December 9 they were officially cleared of all charges brought by the nanny .  ' We cried tears of joy and relief ' she said .  However it will be impossible to forget the ' suffering we went through because of all the lies , ' she said .  But the ramifications of the lawsuit that ' ruined our lives ' are still with them as they have not so far been granted permission for a reconsideration of their immigration ban .  ' All those false allegations were deemed baseless and thrown out of court . . . it was all a lie , but the repercussions of this lawsuit seem endless , ' she said .  With Christmas here it is particularly tough . ' The children miss their friends , their toys , belongings . '  The Hurleys will be having a ' simple ' family Christmas she said . ' We will give the children their gifts , we will go to mass in family . We will continue to pray that this wrong be righted .  Friends and family cannot believe the injustice , she said . ' It makes no sense to anyone looking from the outside in . Well , it doesn ' t make sense to us either and we are living it . '  ' We want to leave all this nightmare behind us , and get back to  , where we have a right to be , adding , ' Our bags are packed . We are ready to go . '  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
21972,21973,"It can be said that Donald Trump was less than pleased that he came in second to Ted Cruz in the Iowa Caucus. However, that s putting it mildly. From his expressionless concession speech, to his next day blame game, to his temper tantrum against Cruz, he s been pretty much a loose cannon.Although, leave it to Jimmy Fallon to show Trump s true reaction to coming in second place that likely happened in a dream on Trump s flight from Iowa to New Hampshire. On Wednesday s edition of the Tonight Show, Fallon donned the infamous Trump wig and did his spot-on impersonation once again to have Trump declare he s  the winner and champion   of second place. He then tells everyone,  In case you re wondering, the  J  stands for genius.  Then after declaring victory, he says: It s just like children say: First is the worst, second is the best, third is the one with the hairy chest . Marco Rubio get that taken care of. I wouldn t want your hair to make you look ridiculous. Fallon then goes through how many wonderful things in life have the number two in them or come in twos, thus making him equally as spectacular. Of course.He ends by telling everyone: From now on, when you think Donald Trump, I want you to think  No. 2  So watch out New Hampshire, because the deuce is loose. And it s true, Trump often does appear to be a giant piece of sh*t more often than not, so it fits.It will definitely be interesting to see what happens in New Hampshire after their primary vote next week. Will Trump still be the champion of second place? Or will he be able to finally declare a true victory? We ll just have to wait and see. Video/Featured image from YouTube",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,Economy,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present
21977,21978,"Alan Titchmarsh has been dropped as the face of the  ' s coverage of The Chelsea Flower Show . The announcement comes six months after criticism of his hosting while also being being a face of Waitrose , one of the show ' s sponsors  For 30 years , he has helped educate green fingered enthusiasts on everything from their Orchids to their Azaleas .  But the  yesterday announced that Alan Titchmarsh will no longer present their coverage of the Chelsea Flower Show just six months after the star became embroiled in a sponsorship row .  The 64 year old is being replaced by Gardeners ' World host Monty Don and newsreader Sophie Raworth who unlike the majority of Chelsea presenters is not a gardening expert as part of a revamp of the corporation ' s coverage .  Titchmarsh has presented the long running event , which has become a horticultural highlight with viewers , since 1983 .  However , the  came under fire in May this year after it emerged he had been allowed to front the coverage on BBC1 and BBC2 while also being the face of Waitrose , a sponsor at the event .  The supermarket ' s exhibit of  produce featuring fruit , vegetables , flowers and plants on sale in its stores won a gold medal at the event this year .  Titchmarsh has a lucrative deal to promote the supermarket chain ' s gardening range .  Last year the  banned three presenters Joe Swift , Chris Beardshaw and Andy Sturgeon who had all designed Chelsea gardens , from covering the event because of ' conflict of interest ' concerns .  Swift was dropped from the main evening programme after he designed a show garden for  chain Homebase , while Beardshaw and Sturgeon were not allowed on screen until the winners of their category had been announced .  Diarmuid Gavin was dropped by the  from its 2006 Chelsea coverage after appearing in a commercial for compost company Westland .  And in 1976 , Percy Thrower was axed by the  from his job presenting Gardener ' s World for appearing in an  weedkiller advert .  After Titchmarsh was allowed to continue  in his role , critics claimed that the corporation had one rule for its  best known presenters and another for lesser lights .  Gardeners ' World host Monty Don , left , and newsreader Sophie Raworth , right , will front the corporation ' s coverage of the popular flower show in 2014  The Chelsea Flower Show had been Titchmarsh ' s last major commitment for the  , and his departure effectively ends a lengthy association .  A  spokeswoman said : ' The way the Chelsea coverage will be presented across the  has changed for 2014 , and Alan decided to step away from next year ' s show . '  Titchmarsh said : ' I really enjoyed my 30 years of presenting Chelsea Flower Show coverage for the  and wish the new team every success . '  The presenter , who began his broadcasting career as a horticulture expert on Nationwide , left his role as anchor of BBC2 ' s Gardeners ' World in 2002 , which had been filmed in his own garden .  Between 1997 and 2002 he hosed  programme Ground Force , which at its peak pulled in 12 million viewers .  But he has increasingly turned his attentions away from the  and now has an afternoon  chat show and hosts a series on Classic  .  Miss Raworth said : ' I am delighted and honoured to be a part of the Chelsea 2014 team . I grew up in a family of very keen gardeners so know something about the joys and sheer hard work that go in to creating such beautiful places . '  Titchmarsh has proved hugely popular with viewers and in in 2007 he was named as one of the 100 greatest sex symbols in a  poll .  His Madame Tussauds waxwork was once revealed to be ' one of the most fondled ' , and apparently gets kissed so often that lipstick has to be washed from the face of the waxwork twice a week .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
21978,21979,"People who owe their lives to the Affordable Care Act ripped Donald Trump a new one on Wednesday for referring to them as victims of the healthcare program.Only one day after sticking his foot in his mouth by bragging about himself and attacking one of our allies instead of honoring those who died on D-Day 73 years ago, Trump decided to do it again while announcing a visit to Ohio.Trump declared that he would be meeting with  Obamacare victims,  which immediately pissed off all the people who rely on the Affordable Care Act.Getting ready to leave for Cincinnati, in the   of OHIO, to meet with ObamaCare victims and talk Healthcare & also Infrastructure!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 7, 2017Obamacare and the Affordable Care Act are the same program and even conservatives rely on it. The program has saved lives and given tens of millions of Americans access to health insurance that they previously could not afford.Trump has repeatedly tried to strip healthcare away from millions of Americans by pushing for repeal of the law and his administration has been chipping away at the Affordable Care Act to make it weaker so that Trump can sit on his ass and tweet about how the program is  failing. Those who have insurance thanks to Obamacare were quick to jump down Trump s throat and reminded him that s he s the one who is victimizing people.Obamacare victims? That s rich coming from someone who is pushing hard to yank 23M citizens off of healthcare.  Adam Best (@adamcbest) June 7, 2017You are sabotaging Obamacare and don t care about the collateral damage. You, Donald Trump, are creating those victims.  Adam Best (@adamcbest) June 7, 2017You are so wrong. Obamacare saved my mother s life. She had breast cancer, was discriminated against most of her life by insurance co s.  Adam Best (@adamcbest) June 7, 2017Ohio just lost Anthem thanks to Trumpcare. These are Trumpcare victims. Even our  Gov opposes Trumpcare. Obamacare helped 100,000s here  David Pepper (@DavidPepper) June 7, 2017How about you talk about how your charity and that of your son Eric cheated donors out of helping cancer patients?  Jeremy Greenfield (@jdgreenfield) June 7, 2017The insurance companies are explicitly blaming Trump for market troubles:weblink  Windhorse (@Windhorse_1) June 7, 2017Mr. President I have Crohn s Disease.  ObamaCare  for me is great insurance coverage on par with anything I ve had in group, not a  victim  Don Kramer (@DonKramerATL) June 7, 2017Too bad you don t care about the people that will lose their insurance under RyanCare. You just want the tax cut. Sad.  Dave Hogg ? (@Stareagle) June 7, 2017You are a liar and are going to kill more people than help. RESIGN.  Robin (@puppymnkey) June 7, 2017Victims? Like my mom who had cancer and only got covered because of Obamacare?  Alexandra Jamieson (@deliciousalex) June 7, 2017Actually, they are soon-to-be victims of wealthcare pushed by you and your heartless and vampiric oligarchs.  Geesubay (@geesubay) June 7, 2017Hey as*hole, I m an Obama care victim. U know what it did for me? Saved my life which is more than I can say about your proposed death panel  Karen Hunter (@Kalamity_K) June 7, 2017If Donald Trump gets his way, Obamacare will be repealed and millions of Americans, including many conservatives, will lose their healthcare. At that moment, millions of Americans really will be victims. But they won t be victims of Obamacare, they ll be victims of Trumpcare.Featured Image: Win McNamee/Getty Images",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
21994,21995,"Lucan Battison was suspended from a New Zealand Catholic school after he refused to cut his long curly hair but he can keep his hairstyle after winning his fight in the high court today  A student has won his High Court battle to keep his hair long after he was suspended from school because he looked ' unruly ' .  Lucan Battison , 16 , was sent home last month from St . John ' s College , in Hastings , New Zealand , for not adhering to the rule that states students must keep their hair ' short , tidy , off their collars and out of their eyes ' .  Principal Paul Melloy told Lucan he could return once he had his hair cut but the student argued his naturally curly hair would look ' boofy ' if cropped and he was prepared to wear it tied back in order to comply with the school ' s standards .  But New Zealand High Court Judge David Collins ruled that Lucan ' s actions did not warrant suspension as his conduct was not harmful to his fellow students .  He also said the school had not provided enough clarity on the hair rules to ensure students complied with them .  When the case began , the teen ' s lawyer , Jol Bates , likened Lucan to Martin Luther King Jr for standing up for his rights .  Judge Collins made a point of commenting on Lucan ' s character , noting he received a civil bravery award in March for participating in the rescue of two young women who nearly drowned in dangerous ocean conditions .  After St John ' s College student ( right ) was suspended by principal Paul Melloy the matter was taken to the High Court at Wellington for a judicial review . The teenager is pictured with his lawyer Jol Bates ( left ) on Monday  He also mentioned that Lucan represented St . John ' s in rugby and loved attending the school , in part because ' his faith was important to him ' .  Meanwhile , although the school did not approve of Lucan ' s hairstyle , it described him as a ' nice young man ' .  Judge Collins said that one of Lucan ' s lawyers had tried to provide the school board ' s disciplinary committee with statements from two hairdressers , one of whom said Lucan ' s hair was already short and would ' look like "" an untidy afro ' ' if it was cut shorter , ' but that the committee apparently chose not to accept the testimony .  Parents Troy Battison and Tania Doidge said in a statement that their son had never broken the rules because his bun kept his hair off his collar and out of his eyes .  ' In 2014 , when girls ' hair lengths at school aren ' t questioned , why should the rules be different for boys ? ' his parents said . ' The criticism we have received as parents has been hurtful and unnecessary . '  In a statement issued by the school , Mr Melloy said the school was naturally disappointed about the decision made in Wellington .  ' The Board of Trustees are taking time to consider the judgment made by Justice Collins in terms of its impact , both on our school and on other schools , ' it said .  Mr Bates said his client was standing up for his basic human rights , challenging authority and following in the footsteps of Martin Luther King Jr  Mr Bates said Lucan had been sporting the same hairstyle since he became a student at the Catholic college three years ago  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
21997,21998,"Reuters) - The influential Catalan business lobby Cercle d Economia said on Wednesday it was extremely worried by the prospect of Catalonia declaring independence from Spain and called for leaders from both sides to start talks.  Such a declaration would plunge the country into an extraordinarily complex situation with unknown, but very serious consequences,  the lobby said in a statement.  The lobby also condemned violence on Sunday, saying Catalan-Spanish relationships had deteriorated as a consequence, after Spanish riot police were seen beating Catalans attempting to cast a ballot in a vote the government had said was illegal. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
21998,21999,"Two Chicago voters , John and Mary Q . Public , are just taking a well deserved break  An unrepentant Rahm Emanuel , seemingly denied his rightful ascension to the Chicago mayoral throne , claims that his write in candidacy will trump any legal proclamations to the contrary saying , "" The will of the people , both dead and alive will prevail on election day ! ""  Emanuel ' s quest to be crowned as Chicago Mayor was apparently derailed yesterday when the Appellate court ruled he was ineligible to be on the ballot as he did not meet the residency requirement thereby causing Emanuel to revert to form throwing a 4 letter hysterical fit and promising to have all his attorneys , the judges , and his opponents ' sleep with the fishes ! ""  Opponents of the former ballet dancer , mossad agent ,  Senator and White House Chief of Chaff ( sic ) said his army of supporters , backed with almost 12m in campaign ' donations , ' have scoured all the local cemeteries and vital statistic bureaus to find another 600 thousand voters to back his run for the gold .  "" We thought Daley had found the last of the ghost voters "" said a supporter of Carol Mosely Brown , considered a ' dark horse ' candidate who had only raised 460k and managed 21 of the vote in a recent poll leading up to the February 22 election , "" but he ' s managed to dig up dead people that haven ' t even been reported diseased let alone buried ! ""  Election officials are still trying to figure out the nightmare scenario of the write in ballot . Concerns have been raised about Emanuel ' s paid constituents not being able to spell his name right , which could cause a 4 month stale mate on posting election results similar to what happened in Alaska with the Miller Murkowsky election where initially all of Murkowsky ' s votes were tossed out since no one could spell her name .  Spending some of his 12m war chest , Emanuel ' s election team recently conducted a survey on the name matter , and the results were conclusive , and not very encouraging to his campaign .  A random selection on the streets of Chicago asking folks to transcribe the write in candidate ' s name produced 99 . 9 incorrect spellings or total incomprehension of the question .  Some of the responses proved quite revealing with the most popular being : "" Ram Obama "" , "" Say What ? ' "" , "" Who Dat ? "" , "" Voodoo Boy "" , "" Hymie Guy , "" "" What Election ? ""  Retiring mayor Richard Daley told reporters this morning , after the elaborate hoax to get Rahm the job imploded , "" Hey , I ' m here if youse guys need me . Dad would like it if the Daleys continue to rule the family the old fashioned way , hey , we earned it ! ""  ",satire,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,present
22007,22008,"Their table, their rules. That’s just how it was. 1. Check off all the rules your friend insisted on playing by: If the ball touches the floor, you’ve got to throw away the floor. If you lost by more than five, you had to eat your paddle but you could use sauce. If you lost by more than 10, you had to eat your paddle with no sauce. A twin is only allowed to play against their twin. If the ball bounces off of the table but the dog picks it up, runs outside, trades it for another ball with the dog next door, and spits it back on the table, that’s inbounds. If your opponent accidentally hits it wrong because he’s focusing too hard on being a good host, the point is a redo. You’re not allowed to mention anything more fun than ping-pong. If the ball gets too close to you, you’re allowed to swat it away with your paddle. If you win the point in ping-pong, you win the point for real. Whoever gets to point 18 first gets to crack the ball a little and peek inside it. Serves only. If one player falls asleep during the point, they lose, but if both players fall asleep, the point continues in the dream. You have to win by one more point than the rules say you do. If the president knows about the game, both players lose. Get results Results for How Many Of These Unofficial Ping-Pong Rules Did Your Best Friend Insist On Using Growing Up? Your Best Friend Insisted On A Lot Of Unofficial Ping-Pong Rules! Your best friend was an uncompromising tyrant of the ping-pong table, insisting on a full array of rules every time you went over to their house to play. It didn't matter if you just wanted to play normally. Your best friend was going to have a whole list of rules to abide by, and if you didn't like them, you could get out. Eventually, the two of you drifted apart. Sometimes you wonder if your best friend still insists on all those rules, all these years later. Share Your Results",fake,news,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present
22012,22013,"Donald Trump told a critical biographer and guest of billionaire David Koch to leave his West Palm Beach golf course on New Year’s Eve, forcing Koch to leave with him. [Trump’s gesture was another slight against the    “free trade” billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, who opposed Trump during the Republican primary season and refused to help him during the general election. It also signals Trump will not necessarily play nice with the  political establishment and Beltway right.  The Kochs swooped in during the Tea Party revolt in 2010, training amateur political activists and trying to channel populist energy against the Obama administration into supporting the   alliance that wanted more cheap labor and lesser sentences for drug traffickers, under the umbrella term of “smaller government. ” But the “grassroots army  …     was not controllable,” as one former Koch staffer lamented, and the Kochs appeared curiously unwilling to make any concessions to Americans who wanted populist, nationalist policies, and relief from the relentlessly eroding forces of mass immigration and globalization. A majority of voters —   some of whom saw more demographic change take place in their communities than many countries saw in a millennia —  want immigration slashed in half or reduced to zero. Trump captured that energy and it propelled him to the White House, much to the Kochs’ and their network’s chagrin. The Kochs wanted candidates amenable to their will, and Trump didn’t fit the bill. They considered him a distraction before he rocketed to first in the polls, and even toyed with the idea of spending tens of millions of dollars to attack him. Trump mocked the Kochs while on the campaign trail, calling their preferred candidates “puppets” enacting their donors’ agenda: I really like the Koch Brothers (members of my P. B. Club) but I don’t want their money or anything else from them. Cannot influence Trump!  —   Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 30, 2015,  I wish good luck to all of the Republican candidates that traveled to California to beg for money etc. from the Koch Brothers. Puppets?  —   Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 2, 2015,  While I hear the Koch brothers are in big financial trouble (oil) word is they have chosen little Marco Rubio, the lightweight from Florida,  —   Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 28, 2016,  Little Marco Rubio, the lightweight no show Senator from Florida, is set to be the ”puppet” of the special interest Koch brothers. WATCH!  —   Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 28, 2016,  I turned down a meeting with Charles and David Koch. Much better for them to meet with the puppets of politics, they will do much better!  —   Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 30, 2016,  Koch’s guest: Harry Hurt III, who authored the 1993 book, Lost Tycoon: The Many Lives of Donald J. Trump, which stated Ivana Trump accused her   of “raping” her in a sworn deposition during their divorce. In a Facebook post published on the same day, Hurt recounted the incident in third person: Donald Trump personally booted the author of an unflattering biography off Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach on Friday. Harry Hurt III, who penned the 1993 biography, Lost Tycoon: The Many Lives of Donald J. Trump, had come to play with billionaire industrialist David. H. Koch, a Trump club member, and two other golfers. Hurt, who has a scratch handicap and plays in colorful knickers, walked over to Trump on the practice range prior to his group’s assigned tee time, only to suffer a tongue lashing from the  . “I said, ‘Congratulations, sir,’ and shook his hand,” Hurt recalls. “Trump said, ‘You were rough on me, Harry. Really rough. That shit you wrote. ’” Hurt says he looked Trump in the eye, and said, “It’s all true,” to which Trump rejoined, “Not in the way you wrote it. ” Among the juicy tidbits in Hurt’s tome was Ivana Trump’s allegation in a sworn deposition that Trump had “raped” her during their divorce battle. Trump told Hurt it was “inappropriate” for him to play at the club, and had his security detail escort Hurt, Koch, and their playing partners to the parking lot. “David [Koch] was appalled,” says Hurt. “He branded Trump ‘petty’ and vulgar.’ We played Emerald Dunes instead, which is a much, much better golf course than Trump International. ” Accusing Trump of “raping” his ex wife, Ivana Trump, was a false media accusation arising early in the Republican primaries —  and a weapon the Democratic Party planned to use in the general election after Fox News’ Megyn Kelly and the Daily Beast “rushed it on air” and into print, using Hurt’s book, before bothering to check with Ivana about its truth. It backfired spectacularly when Ivana slammed the allegations and endorsed her   for president. ““I have recently read some comments attributed to me from nearly 30 years ago at a time of very high tension during my divorce from Donald. The story is totally without merit,” she said in a July 2015 statement. “Donald and I are the best of friends and together have raised three children that we love and are very proud of. I have nothing but fondness for Donald and wish him the best of luck on his campaign. Incidentally, I think he would make an incredible president. ” Breathless media coverage of the New Years’ Eve encounter between Trump, Koch, and his guest framed it as Trump having little tolerance for criticism: Nearly every headline focused on the biographer and his critical book, not Koch. Read Politico’s report, including more from Hurt and a transition official’s account, here.",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
22013,22014,"It is an over the top and extravagant house that would not look out of place at a theme park .  But for Teresa and husband Giuseppe ' Joe ' Giudice , their dream home is quickly turning into a nightmare as the pair face charges of financial fraud over the property .  In newly released stills from the Bravo show The Real Housewives of New Jersey , Teresa ' s lavish home has been revealed in all its opulent glory .  Gaudy : This marble floor hallway and double staircase with have cost the Giudice family a pretty penny  Teresa is seen posing in her daughter Audriana ' s room which features an animated self portrait titled ' Mama Teresa ' .  The gaudy dining room includes a giant low hung chandelier which certainly wouldn ' t have come cheap .  But perhaps the most costly sight of all is the hallways in the property which features marble flooring and a double staircase .  Over the top : Teresa poses by some graffiti artwork on her daughter Audriana ' s bedroom wall in the mansion  Living in a fantasy : The Giudice ' s dream home could soon turn into a nightmare for the family   : Teresa ' s daughters rooms come complete with a Bratz dolls style color scheme and graffiti artwork  Yesterday it was revealed that Teresa and her husband Joe had been released on a combined 1million bail after making initial court appearances Tuesday on federal fraud charges .  Mother of four Teresa broke her silence on her official Twitter account on Wednesday to talk about the case .  ' Thank you all so so much for your love and support . It means the world to me and my family , ' adding : ' I wish I could hug you all right now . '  The couple have been ordered to surrender their passports and to confine their travels to New Jersey and New York . Joe Giudice could be deported to Italy if convicted because he is not a U . S . citizen .  Teresa , 41 , and her 43 year old husband had toned down their usual flamboyant look to wear differing shades of slate suit , the reality  queen even had her famous hair slicked back into a sensible ponytail as she walked into Martin Luther King Jr . courthouse in Newark , New Jersey .  Grand : The kitchen area also boasts a marble to breakfast bar in the plush mansion  Splashing out : The ' gather often , greet many ' mantra written on the walls suggest Teresa and Joe loved to entertain guests at the home  Gaudy : The dining area boasts a huge chandelier which will have not come cheap for the couple  Small graces : It seems the New Jersey native at least saves on prices when it comes to food , filling up the family freezer with inexpensive frozen goods  The couple were charged in a 39 count indictment Monday with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud , bank fraud , making false statements on loan applications and bankruptcy fraud .  They are accused of exaggerating their income while applying for loans before their  show debuted in 2009 , then hiding their fortunes in a bankruptcy filing after their first season aired .  Authorities allege the couple submitted fraudulent mortgage and other loan applications from 2001 to 2008 , a year before their show debuted on Bravo . Prosecutors said the couple submitted fake W 2s , tax returns and bank account information to lenders .  Serious trouble : Teresa and Joe , who have posted 1 million bail , are facing 50 years in prison if convicted on 39 counts of various forms of fraud  In a statement , Teresa said she supports her husband and wants to resolve the charges as soon as possible .  ' I am committed to my family and intend to maintain our lives in the best way possible , which includes continuing my career , ' she said .  In their 2009 bankruptcy filing , the couple said they were 11 million in debt . They stated their monthly take home pay was 16 , 583 , but 10 , 000 was from ' monthly assistance from family members ' and Bravo income .  Proud home owner : Teresa certainly takes pride in the appearance of herself and her opulent home in New Jersey  Happier times : There appears to have been no expense spared on the home of Teresa and husband Joe Giudice  It also said they owed 2 . 2 million in mortgages , 13 , 000 to Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom and nearly 12 , 000 to a fertility clinic .  The most serious charges the couple face , bank fraud and loan application fraud , carry a maximum potential penalty of 30 years in prison and a 1 million fine .  If convicted , they could face a maximum sentence of more 50 years in prison .  Serious : The couple are accused of exaggerating their income while applying for loans before their  show debuted in 2009 , then hiding their fortunes in a bankruptcy filing after their first season aired  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
22015,22016,"Antalya : The two day G20 Summit at the picturesque Turkish coastal resort town is being attended by more than 13 , 000 delegates from as many as 26 countries and seven international organisations .  Top global leaders , including  President Barack Obama , Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi , who have congregated here for the Summit are being provided security by over 12 , 000 personnel .  Watch : Cats invade G20 Summit in Turkey during  transmission  As many as 20 hotels , including the Main Summit Meeting Salon and the International Press Centre , have been booked for the international delegates attending the G20 Summit . Five hotels for Turkish delegations have also been booked , according to G20 Antalya statistics .  In addition to eight medical motorcycles in the region , 68 ambulances have been kept in readiness for any eventuality .  Some 13 , 000 delegates and 3 , 000 journalists from across the world have converged here for the 10th G 20 Summit , being held at the Regnum Carya Hotel Convention Centre in the Belek town of Antalya ' s Serik district . Besides , there is a strong army of 40 , 000 support staff to assist the delegates .  The heightened security measures , including over 12 , 000 security personnel , drone detection equipment , 350 mobile cameras with licence plate recording and face recognition systems , follow the audacious terror attacks in Paris on Friday night .  French President Francois Hollande had to cancel his visit at the last moment following the deadly terror attack in Paris , which killed 129 people , leaving over 352 injured .  German Chancellor Angela Merkel , Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping , Saudi Arabia ' s King Salman and  Managing Director Christine Lagarde , among others , are attending the Summit .  Besides Modi , India is being represented by  Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya , Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar and Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das .  The G 20 brings the 19 largest economic powers and the  together , representing 85 percent of the world ' s economy , 75 percent of trades and two thirds of the world ' s population .  First Published : Monday , November 16 , 2015 15 : 25  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
22021,22022,"Reuters) - Turkey s Justice Ministry said on Tuesday it had canceled a planned study visit to the United States due to the widening diplomatic row between the countries over the issuing of visas. Local media earlier reported that U.S. authorities had rejected visa requests from members of the delegation, but the Justice Ministry said it had taken the initiative and canceled the trip.  Due to the recent visa crisis between the two countries, the visit was canceled by our Ministry,  it said in a statement, adding that there were no visa applications to be rejected. The delegation had planned a study visit to the United States, at the invitation of U.S. authorities, between Oct. 29 and Nov. 4, the ministry said. The pro-government Daily Sabah newspaper said the delegation had planned to study the U.S. penal system and visit American prisons.  Washington this month stopped issuing visas at its missions in Turkey, citing safety concerns for its staff following the arrest of two U.S. consular staff, both Turkish nationals.  The crisis has weighed on the lira currency and alarmed some investors. On Tuesday, a group of leading Turkish and U.S. businesses urged both governments to resolve the dispute. In May, a translator at the U.S. consulate in the southern province of Adana was arrested and, more recently, a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) worker was detained in Istanbul. Both are accused of links to last year  failed coup. The U.S. embassy has said the accusations are baseless. Turkish police want to question a third worker based in Istanbul. His wife and daughter were detained over alleged links to the network of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, blamed by Ankara for orchestrating the abortive putsch. They were later released. Turkey has been angered by what it sees as U.S. reluctance to hand over the cleric Gulen, who has lived in Pennsylvania since 1999. U.S. officials have said its courts require sufficient evidence to order his extradition Gulen denies any involvement in the failed coup. More than 150,000 people in the police, civil service and private sector have been sacked or suspended from their jobs in the crackdown that followed the failed putsch. Some 50,000 have been detained.  Rights groups and Turkey s Western allies have expressed concern that Turkey using the coup as a pretext to quash dissent. Ankara says the measures are necessary, given the extent of the security threat it faces.   Turkey has also been enraged by Washington s support for the Syrian Kurdish  militia in the fight against Islamic State. Turkey regards the  as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
22039,22040,"A Mayfair casino will not have to pay top poker player Phil Ivey 7 . 7million in winnings after a High Court judge ruled his ' edge sorting ' technique amounted to cheating .  The 38 year old American had sued Crockfords Club over a version of baccarat known as Punto Banco which he played at the London casino over two days in August 2012 .  After four sessions , Ivey was told the money would be wired to him and he left for the United States , but it never arrived , although his stake money of 1million was returned .  Losing hand : A Mayfair casino will not have to pay top poker player Phil Ivey 7 . 7million in winnings after a High Court judge ruled his ' edge sorting ' technique amounted to cheating  Genting Casinos  , which owns more than 40 casinos in the  including Crockfords , had argued that the technique of ' edge sorting ' which Ivey used which aims to provide the customer with an element of ' first card advantage ' was not a legitimate strategy and that the casino had no liability to him .  Edge sorting involves observing minute details on the reverses of patterned cards , enabling the punter to identify their suit and number .  Those with sharp enough vision can eventually overcome the ' house edge ' , particularly if a croupier is tricked into altering the position of the deck .  Its lawyers told Mr Justice Mitting that Ivey ' s conduct defeated the essential premise of the game of baccarat so there was no gaming contract or constituted cheating .  They said their croupier was tricked into helping Ivey ' edge sort ' after he pretended to be a highly superstitious player with obsessive rituals .  He successfully convinced staff to let him play repeatedly with a single pack of cards , claiming he believed it was ' lucky ' .  But the deck had a pattern suited to the ' edge reading ' con , the court heard .  Ivey ' s counsel , Richard Spearman  , had told the court that edge sorting involved nothing more than using information that was available to any player simply from viewing the backs of the cards which the casino chose to use and making requests of the casino which it could accept or refuse as to the manner in which play was conducted .  Legal action : The 38 year old American had sued Crockfords Club over a version of baccarat known as Punto Banco which he played at the London casino over two days in August 2012  How to win : The technique of ' edge sorting ' which Ivey used aims to provide the customer with an element of ' first card advantage '   IVey lives in Las Vegas , has won the Poker World series ten times , and is described on their website as ' arguably the best poker player in the world ' .  The casino ' s counsel , Christopher Pymont  , said that Ivey was not a well known advantage player at the time of his visit but was , in their eyes , an old  customer and they trusted him accordingly .  It argued that edge sorting was not a widely known or practised way of playing baccarat in the  .  Ivey , who was accompanied at Crockfords by another professional gambler , Cheung Yin Sun , who introduced him to edge sorting , said cheating was anathema to advantage players like him .  Champion : Ivey lives in Las Vegas and is described on the World Series of Poker website as ' arguably the best poker player in the world '  ' We observe the unwritten doctrine : how do I find a legal way to beat the house ? Any method that could amount to cheating would breach the doctrine and cause you to be ostracised by your fellow players we are all very careful to stay the right side of the line and we discuss advantage play strategies at length . '  He said he was very angry when he heard the casino would not be paying out his winnings : ' I was upset as I had played an honest game and won fairly .  ' My integrity is infinitely more important to me than a big win , which is why I have brought these proceedings to demonstrate that I have been unjustly treated . '  A spokesman for Crockfords said today : ' Crockfords is pleased with the judgment of the High Court today supporting its defence of a claim by Mr Ivey .  ' It is our policy not to discuss our clients ' affairs in public and we very much regret that proceedings were brought against us . We attach the greatest importance to our exemplary reputation for fair , honest and professional conduct and today ' s ruling vindicates the steps we have taken in this matter . '  Speaking through a spokesman today , Mr Ivey said : ' I am obviously disappointed with this judge ' s decision . As I said in court , it is not my nature to cheat and I would never do anything to risk my reputation .  ' I am pleased that the judge acknowledged in court that I was a truthful witness .  ' I believe that what we did was a legitimate strategy and we did nothing more than exploit Crockfords ' failures to take proper steps to protect themselves against a player of my ability .  ' Clearly today the judge did not agree . '  Lawyers for Mr Ivey were refused permission to appeal although they can renew their application to the Court of Appeal directly .  Ananthema : Ivey , who was accompanied at Crockfords by another professional gambler , Cheung Yin Sun ( right ) , who introduced him to edge sorting , said cheating was anathema to advantage players like him  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
22055,22056,"An eight year old girl has died after contracting an E . coli infection but health officials have stressed it is not part of an outbreak .  The child was from East Ayrshire in Scotland and had contracted the E . coli O157 strain .  She was treated in the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow but sadly died .  Tragic : The child was from East Ayrshire in Scotland . She was treated in the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow , pictured , but sadly died   Ayrshire and Arran said it has not identified the source of the infection but it does not believe the case is part of an outbreak .  Dr Jane Cooper , consultant in public health medicine said : ' Our thoughts are with the family during this very difficult time .  ' Sometimes it is possible to identify a particular source of E . coli O157 infection . An outbreak may occur if a number of people are exposed to the same source .  '  Ayrshire Arran is satisfied that this case is not part of an outbreak , and has not identified a particular source which might represent a risk to others .  ' E . coli O157 infection is very easily picked up and sometimes investigations cannot identify either a particular source , or any way in which the risk of infection could have been avoided . '  Symptoms normally develop after ingesting contaminated foods or liquids or having been in contact with infected animals .  Sad : The child was from East Ayrshire in Scotland and had contracted the E . coli O157 strain . This if a file picture of E coli  Infected cases often develop a fever leading to sickness and diarrhoea .  The health board has issued precautions which can be taken to reduce the risk of infection , including washing hands after contact with possible sources such as raw food and milk and animal faeces .  The girl ' s death comes after another case of Legionnaires ' disease has been confirmed in Stoke on Trent following an outbreak in the city thought to be linked to a hot tub .  The Health Protection Agency said the latest case brings the total to 21 .  The patient , who is being treated at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire , is a man in his 70s .  Two patients being treated for the disease since the spate of illnesses began in the middle of July have died .  Outbreak : Another case of Legionnaires ' disease has been confirmed in Stoke on Trent . a man in his 70s is being treated at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire , pictured  An  spokeswoman said : ' This new case is not unexpected .  ' It can take up to two weeks following exposure for people to develop symptoms of Legionnaires ' disease and a further few days before they might see their  . '  A spokesman for University Hospital of North Staffordshire said : ' Three patients remain in hospital and all are in a stable or improving condition . '  It was revealed earlier this month that the probable cause of the outbreak was a hot tub at  Warehouse in the city after samples were found to have an unusual strain of legionella bacteria , which matched that of the strain taken from patients with the illness .  Dr Sue Ibbotson , regional director of  West Midlands , said the organisation has taken detailed histories from those with Legionnaires ' and the majority of confirmed cases visited the warehouse in the two weeks before they fell ill .  The samples from the hot tub at  Warehouse in City Road , Fenton , were confirmed by the Health Protection Agency ' s specialist laboratory in Colindale as being the unusual strain legionella bacteria .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
22058,22059,Paul Joseph Watson is the bomb! He makes the greatest videos and cuts through the bull to get to the truth. Here s a great example of why America is the best: ,fake,dataset,validation,American football,Economy,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present
22072,22073,"Much to his son Paul ' s chagrin , minister Donald Genzler takes every possible opportunity to proudly inform members of Faith United Presbyterian Church that the 16 year old is still a virgin , "" unspoiled by sins of the flesh , "" sources reported Tuesday .  "" As it says in the second book of Timothy , ' Now flee from youthful lusts , and pursue righteousness , faith , love , and peace with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart , ' "" said Genzler from the pulpit Sunday . "" Young people , I urge you to stand tall against the temptation of premarital sex , just as my own son Paul has done . ""  Seated in the third row , a mortified Paul slid low in the pew and buried his face in his hymnal , hoping not to be spotted .  "" It ' s not easy to grow up in this confusing world , where everyone tells you to ' just do it , ' "" said Genzler , continuing his sermon . "" You teenagers out there should know that not everyone ' s ' doing it . ' My son Paul is not ' doing it . ' ""  After barely looking up through the remainder of the sermon , Paul fled the church the moment the service ended , taking the side exit and making a beeline for the family minivan .  Genzler has made a habit of touting his unhappily virginal son as a symbol of chastity .  "" It is not an easy road to virtue , but it is one that holds infinite returns , "" said Genzler during a recent Bible study session . "" I have seen my own son making the courageous choice of remaining abstinent while so many of his peers choose to turn their young bodies into vessels of immorality . ""  Impressed and inspired by Paul ' s sanctity , members of the congregation have taken to lavishing him with praise at every turn . Last weekend , during an outing to the mall with some friends , Paul was approached by parishioners Roberta and Albert Voss .  "" Hello , Paul ! "" said Roberta before the humiliated teen could conceal himself within his group of friends . "" It was nice to hear what your father was saying about you on Sunday . Keep up the good work . ""  "" Remember , Albert ? "" Roberta continued . "" Reverend Genzler was saying Paul ' s still a virgin . Isn ' t that wonderful ? ""  Genzler said he wishes every parent would feel comfortable discussing sex openly with their children .  "" A lot of parents have no idea the pressure today ' s teens are under , "" Genzler said . "" Kids today need strong guidance . See , I talk about these matters with my children , but not every parent does . That ' s why I like to discuss Paul ' s virginity in sermons , at youth groups , on retreats , at church dinners . . . whenever possible . He ' s a living example of the power of self respect and self love . ""  During a June 12 catechism class , Genzler addressed his son along with 18 of his classmates , many of whom Paul sees every day at school .  "" I know it ' s easy to become adrift in today ' s sea of sexually explicit imagery , "" Genzler said . "" It ' s on the  , it ' s in the magazines , it ' s on the album covers . But do not let it drive you to a life of vice . I ' ve seen what my son Paul faces , and if he can resist it , so can the rest of you folks . ""  Added Genzler : "" Some of your peers will try to tell you that it ' s ' cool ' to break the rules . Well , my son doesn ' t . And he ' s cool . . . very cool . ""  Genzler has even attempted to enlist his son ' s help in educating his fellow teens . In addition to asking him to speak on virginity at a youth seminar this summer an offer Paul declined Genzler has encouraged his son to start a teen abstinence group at his high school .  "" Well , I ' m going to be pretty busy with marching band this year , so I don ' t think I can , "" Paul told his father . "" Then there ' s getting ready for the junior prom you know , if I can find someone willing to go with me . ""  ",satire,text,validation,World conflict,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
22082,22083,"James Sherwood , 27 , has spent the best part of the last year and a half recovering from an accident that left him in an induced coma with severe brain injury .  At about 2 am on March 9 , 2013 , Sherwood was hit by a taxi while crossing the road to the Marrickville train station in Sydney ' s Inner West . He doesn ' t remember anything from that point on but knows from hospital staff that a stranger came to his aid .  Now , he is looking for that ' guardian angel ' but all he knows is that her name starts with ' M ' .  ' It could be Melissa or Melanie maybe , ' says Sherwood . ' I really just want to let her know that the person she helped that night is alive . I hope to meet her one day just to say thank you . '  ' I just want to thank her ' ' : James Sherwood is looking for the woman who saved his life more than a year after he was hit by a taxi at a pedestrian crossing in Marrickville in Sydney ' s Inner West  ' When I came into Emergency , the ambulance guys told my mum there was a woman who gave me first aid they mentioned  then the last thing she said was that she was going to go and clean herself up because she had my blood all over her . '  ' We know that she made calls to the hospital in the days following but her details were lost in the stress and the paperwork . '  The accident that night crushed Sherwood ' s upper boy , left him with a collapsed lung , a fractured skull and traumatic brain injury . Sherwood says he had been working late on a short film and was on his way home after dinner with friends . He was looking down at his mobile phone when he walked out onto the pedestrian crossing and was hit by the taxi .  The road to recovery , he says , has been a long and strange one . He came out of the coma with a ' very weird ' accent and it was a few months before he had a ' functioning memory ' again . He still has problems with short term memory like recalling people ' s names .  ' I ' m covered in post it notes a lot at the moment , ' says Sherwood .  ' A brain injury it ' s like tampering with your soul , it ' s who you are and it has changed me , ' he says . ' It has probably made me a lot more positive a person . The smaller things that come up in life , I wouldn ' t have been so forgiving about them before or seen the good in hard situations . '  The taxi driver was never charged .  ' Induced Into the Void ' : A self portrait by James Sherwood  Sherwood was hit by a taxi when he stepped onto a pedestrian crossing on Illawarra Road in Marrickville in the early hours of March 9 , 2013  As well as his life , Sherwood says he owes a large part of his miraculous recovery to the stranger .  ' Just knowing that there was someone like her out there has helped me through this year it ' s given me faith to pull through , ' he said , adding that it is only now that he has ' had the brain power ' to be able to start properly looking for her .  Two weeks ago , he launched a community art project which he hopes will help him find ' M ' , as well as raise awareness about using mobile phones when crossing the road .  The project , called ' Look Out ( For Each Other ) , ' will involve street and public art around Marrickville and Sydney ' s Inner West from the end of December .  But Sherwood is also appealing to the public to help him find ' M ' through a new Facebook page ' Finding my Hero ' . His story was picked up by Sydney ' s popular ' Humans of Newtown ' blog and Facebook page and Sherwood says he ' s touched by the hundreds of responses that have already come in from people he doesn ' t know .  ' Bits and pieces ' of information have started coming through , he says , but he ' s still looking for his saviour that night .  ' If she ' s in Sydney , word will have to reach her pretty soon ! '  The incident occurred on March 9 2013 , about 1 . 50am on Illawarra Rd , Marrickville .  James Sherwood is launching a public art project in Sydney ' s Inner West which he hopes will raise awareness about using mobile phones when crossing the road , as well as find the woman who saved him after his accident in Marrickville in 2013  ' The doctors said they were surprised I could use my eyebrows again , let alone talk and walk out of there , ' says Sherwood , pictured with some of the artwork he made during his recovery  Sherwood says he is touched by the amount of positive support from the community through Facebook pages like the popular ' Humans of Newtown '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
22089,22090,"They might not have been quite as intimidating as Mitchell Johnson but Eoin Morgan found himself facing two more formidable opponents on his welcome to New Zealand in a Maori warrior and the Mayor of Wellington .  After England appeared to get cold feet on their big Valentine ' s Day date with Australia they were greeted more warmly here in the New Zealand capital even though the local English mayor was clearly batting for the opposition .  Celia Wade Brown , born in West London but a Wellington resident for more than 30 years , firstly welcomed England captain ' Eoin Rogers ' and then said : ' Don ' t be fooled by the accent I ' m supporting New Zealand on Friday . '  England ' s Ian Bell of England takes part in an official Maori welcome in Wellington  England captain Eion Morgan recieves a traditional Maori welcome in Wellington  Morgan accepts the Wero challenge during an official Maori  Morgan accepts the Wero in Wellington ahead of England ' s game with co hosts New Zealand  Morgan and the England team arrived in New Zealand ahead of their second game in the World Cup  After the ceremonial welcome Chris Woakes and Stuart Broad were greeted by a baby  The slip of the tongue from the Green Party politician followed Morgan being met with a scary looking Maori challenge , which he accepted immaculately while maintaining eye contact with the warrior throughout , before England were given an official Powhiri , a traditional and far more friendly welcome .  Now all Morgan has to do is end a run of four ducks in five innings when England face the other co hosts , a New Zealand team who are almost as frightening as Australia even though they had a jittery win over Scotland .  Still , rubbing noses with a host of dignitaries in New Zealand is far more agreeable than coming face to face with opening World Cup opponents who appear to be playing a completely different one day game to England .  Steven Finn bowls as coach Peter Moores , James Anderson and Stuart Broad look on during an England nets  England coach Moores talks with the team before an England nets session at Basin Reserve  Ian Bell throws the ball during an England nets session  England , for now , can forget all about an Australian team who have beaten them four times already on this trip to extend their mastery over the old enemy that was firmly established on the Ashes tour over a year ago .  But life could well be just as difficult for Morgan not Rogers when they meet a New Zealand side who had a nervous encounter of their own with Scotland in Dunedin today before winning by three wickets in a low scoring game .  The captain is clearly discovering just how tricky leading England in a big tournament can be .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
22103,22104,"Yeah you know the Obama regime is serious about taking down  when they send in 60 Syrian rebels and leave them unprotected against the Assad regime.  Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) went straight for the jugular in questioning Defense Secretary Ash Carter at a Tuesday Senate hearing on the Obama administration s strategy against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.McCain criticized President Obama s comments at the Pentagon on Monday citing recent progress against  as delusional, and he ripped Carter over the Pentagon s slowness in training Syrian rebels.He said  overall is gaining territory in Iraq and Syria and that there is  no compelling reason  to believe the administration s strategy is going to succeed in limiting the group. McCain disparaged the Pentagon for failing to provide military support to the few Syrian rebels it is training after Carter said the military would decide how to provide support once they are in the field. Via: The HillSenator John McCain: And is it true that with these people that you are training and equipping to fight in Syria that they re only there to fight  and not Bashar Assad? Is that true? Defense Secretary Carter: Ah..we re uh..yes, we are telling them to uh uh that we  arming and uh .training them uh in the first instance, to go after  and not uh..the Assad regime and that is our priority.  McCain:So, in other words if they are barrel bombed by Bashar Assad, they are not Carter: No I think we have  obligation to them once they re inserted in the field. Again, we don t expect them to be McCain: Is that to defend them against barrel bombing?Carter: Well that decision will be made when we introduce fighters into the field.McCain: That s a small comfort to those people you re recruiting right now that that decision will be made later on.Is that fair to these young men to say: We are sending you in to fight  only, and by the way, we will decide on the policy whether to defend you if you are barrel bombed?Carter: They know that we will provide support to them. Exactly what kind of support McCain: Does that mean you will defend them against Bashar Assad s barrel bombing?McCain s final question: So you re recruiting them, but not telling them that you ll defend them because you haven t made a decision yet? And yet you want to train them quickly and send them in?",fake,dataset,validation,World conflict,US elections,satire,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
22119,22120,"World Agence France Presse Updated : January 28 , 2016 23 : 04   American Airlines in offering refunds for expecting mothers with flights booked to Latin America .  Santiago , Chile : ? Two Latin American airlines , including the region ' s largest , will offer refunds to pregnant women booked for travel to areas infected with the Zika virus , blamed for causing severe birth defects , officials said Thursday .  Chilean Brazilian airline Latam , the region ' s biggest , will refund or rebook expecting mothers with tickets to any of 22 countries or territories with outbreaks of the mosquito borne virus , while Chilean company Sky will refund pregnant women with tickets to Brazil , the hardest hit country .  The airlines join  carriers Delta and American Airlines in offering refunds for expecting mothers with flights booked to Latin America , where health officials say Zika is linked to a surge in babies born with microcephaly , or abnormally small heads .  Latam will allow pregnant women and their travel companions already in a Zika infected area to advance their return dates free of charge , while those who have not yet started their trips will be allowed to request a refund or a destination change , paying only the difference in fare , it said Wednesday in a statement .  Sky , which flies to Brazil , Argentina and Peru , has adopted a similar policy for clients booked to Brazil , spokesman David Fuentes told  Thursday .  The announcements came as World Health Organization chief Margaret Chan warned Zika was spreading "" explosively "" in the Americas and the  said the region should expect three million to four million cases of the disease .  In Brazil , cases of microcephaly have surged from 163 a year on average to more than 3 , 718 suspected cases since the outbreak , according to the health ministry .  Fears that Zika is causing the potentially fatal birth defect have prompted Colombia , Ecuador , El Salvador , Jamaica and Puerto Rico to warn women not to get pregnant , while the  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has advised pregnant women against traveling to affected countries .  Story First Published : January 28 , 2016 23 : 04   ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
22132,22133,"Cairo A pipeline that supplies gas from Egypt to Israel exploded Monday in the northern Sinai Peninsula near Bir el Adb , an Egyptian security official said .  The explosion appears to be an act of sabotage , said Gen . Saleh al Masri , the head of security in Egypt ' s northern Sinai Peninsula .  "" It is an act of sabotage , but the army and members of Egyptian Natural Gas Company are on the scene trying to understand what happened , "" al Masri said .  The explosion has shut off the flow of gas to Israel and Jordan , said Ayman Jahin , a general manager at the gas company .  It is the third such attack on Egyptian pipeline infrastructure since the toppling of Hosni Mubarak ' s government earlier in the year . The first two attacks resulted in a halt in the flow of gas to Israel , which receives about 40 of its natural gas from Egypt .  He said flames could be seen shooting into the sky hours after the explosion . Firefighters were working to contain the fire , he said .  Delivery of Egyptian gas to Israel came to a halt after an April attack on a pipeline in the Sinai Peninsula . The flow of gas through the pipeline to Israel was restored in early June .  In February , a gas pipeline in El Arish that sent natural gas to Jordan was set on fire , shutting off the flow of gas to not only Israel but but Syria , Jordan and Lebanon as well .  The issue of gas sales to Israel has become highly controversial in Egypt with various allegations circulating that Israel received below market prices for the gas and that Egyptian government officials enriched themselves on the deal .  The Israeli government and Israeli investors in the pipeline have categorically denied below market pricing for the gas and last month one of the major investors released a statement expressing public frustration that the Egyptian government was not moving more quickly to get the gas flowing again and threatened to pursue legal action .  The pipeline between Egypt and Israel became operational in 2008 and the arrangement represents one of the major economic agreements between the two countries .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
22141,22142,"Paul Merson has launched a scathing attack on Arsenal after they threw away a three goal lead to draw 3 3 with Anderlecht in the Champions League .  Speaking on Sky Sports after the match , former Arsenal midfielder Merson did not hold back in his analysis , slamming the team ' s overly offensive tactics at 3 0 up .  On 11 separate occasions he slammed the current side as ' tactically clueless ' and berated the mental weakness of the Gunners players .   Scroll down to watch Paul Merson slam Arsenal  Aaron Ramsey ( centre ) looks disappointed after Arsenal conceded their third goal in the 90th minute  Paul Merson ( right ) , pictured alongside Arsene Wenger , was critical of his former manager ' s tactics  ' If I ' m being honest , I think they ' re tactically clueless . That ' s an honest opinion . How you can be 3 0 up and be attacking ? This is not the first time it ' s happened , this happens a lot of times . It ' s absolutely clueless .  ' The manager has got to get a message on . You ' re playing with international footballers . These are not little kids , they ' ve played in World Cups , a lot of Premier League games .  ' They ' re all bombing forward . Surely something in your head , if you know football , you say , "" Right , lets stop here , lets have two banks of four , two up front , and we ' ll go from there . Let them break us down . "" As football knowledge , it ' s clueless , absolutely clueless . '  The Anderlecht players celebrate the draw with their fans at full time at the Emirates  Merson , pictured in action for Arsenal , was incensed at his former side ' s failure to take three points  Arsenal went 3 0 up through goals from captain Mikel Arteta , Alexis Sanchez and Alex Oxlade Chamberlain , but the Gunners could not hold on as Aleksandar Mitrovic stole a point for the away side in added time .  Arteta was also critical of his side ' s performance , as Arsenal slipped to five points off the top of Group D . Borussia Dortmund travel to the Emirates in the next round of fixtures , where only three points will do for the Gunners if they are to top the group .  Like our Arsenal Facebook page .  Ramsey lays head in the turf , dejected , during Arsenal ' s disappointing second half performance on Tuesday   Anderlecht players delighted with Arsenal comeback  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
22187,22188,"The Republican candidate for Senate in North Carolina brought in a foreign policy and national security heavyweight , a week after his opponent Sen . Kay Hagan ' s Armed Services Committee attendance record became a lightning rod in the contentious race .  Sen . John McCain joined state House Speaker Thom Tillis on the campaign trail Thursday in an effort to boost the Republican nominee ' s national security credo in a race where the fight against  has become a top campaign issue .  As both candidates criticized President Barack Obama ' s strategy in Iraq , McCain praised Tillis an "" experienced , talented , proven leader , "" the Raleigh based News Observer reported .  And McCain , who is also a member of the Armed Services Committee , gave weight to attacks against Hagan for missing more than half of all the committee ' s public hearings in the last two years , as well as one classified briefing on  and other national security threats with the Director of National Intelligence , which she missed for a fundraiser in New York .  "" We hold hearings so that we can be better informed and when she doesn ' t show up , obviously , it indicates that she ' s not well informed "" McCain said according to the Associated Press . "" These are very , very serious times , and Sen . Hagan wasn ' t there . ""  Hagan ' s campaign has pushed back since Tillis and outside allies slammed Hagan in ads for missing the crucial briefing , asserting the Senator attended 98 of the committee ' s votes .  Hagan ' s camp has also fought back with an ad of its own , knocking Tillis for his own uninspiring attendance record in the state legislature , where he played hooky several times to fundraise for his campaign .  Tillis beat back those accusations on a call with reporters last week saying , "" Quite honestly , if I had anything approaching the seriousness of the threat of  , I would have canceled anything I was doing . ""  McCain ' s presence next to Tillis , this time at an event with a veterans ' group , also served to deflect criticism that the North Carolina Republican has offered few specifics for how he would confront the  threat .  McCain has been one of the most vocal critics of the Obama administration ' s strategy for confronting  , particularly the White House ' s public claim that the U . S . will not put American boots on the ground and that it can still defeat  .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
22190,22191,"Darren Humphries , 37 , was jailed for eight weeks for throwing chocolate mini eggs at his estranged wife  An angry husband who assaulted his estranged wife by pelting her in the face with chocolate mini eggs has been jailed for eight weeks .  Darren Humphries , 37 , began throwing Cadbury Mini Eggs at wife Claire , 31 , after drunkenly losing his temper on March 3 .  Magistrates heard he flipped when his partner of 14 years refused to allow him into her home to see their two children .  Humphries forced the door open and grabbed his wife by the jaw causing her to fall back into the house .  He then picked up a packet of the chocolate treats which had been bought for Easter and began throwing individual eggs at her head .  JPs were told Mrs Humphries managed to call police and her husband was arrested at the property in Windermere Drive , Worcester .  On Monday he was jailed for eight weeks at Worcester Magistrates Court after pleading guilty to assault by beating and using violence to secure entry to a premise .  Humphries , of no fixed abode , launched a tirade of abuse and expletives directed at magistrates when the sentence was announced .  Sentencing , chair of the bench , Sue Dowty , said : ' There were lots of aggravating factors .  ' The location of the offence , the fact it was domestic violence , you were in drink and it was carried out in front of your children . '  The court heard in a separate incident Humphries damaged his estranged wife ' s car by throwing wheelie bins at the vehicle on February 23 .  Prosecutor Mark Soper said the defendant had launched the bins after Mrs Humphries had refused to let him sleep inside her Volkswagen Golf .  He told the court : ' The couple have been separated since February 2014 after 14 years together they have two children , a 10 year old boy and an 8 year old girl .  ' It seems Mr Humphries became mentally unwell and his wife decided the relationship should end .  ' He had become very difficult to live with , using drugs and alcohol to self medicate .  Worcester Magistrates Court heard Humphries flipped when his partner of 14 years refused to allow him into her home to see their two children and began throwing Cadbury Mini Eggs after drunkenly losing his temper  ' This led to abusive and violent behaviour towards her and left her in fear of him .  ' During the first incident he went to the home address . He was in drink and asked to be allowed to sleep in her car , but she did not allow him .  ' He threw wheelie bins at the car and was arrested and charged with that offence .  ' In the next incident he forced the door open and grabbed his wife by the jawbone causing her to fall into the house . '  Mr Soper added : ' He was shouting at her and eventually released her , causing her further distress because she was in fear of him .  ' Then he started throwing Cadbury Mini Eggs at her .  ' She managed to call the police and the matters were admitted in interview . '  Rob Macrory , defending , said : ' This behaviour is born totally out of frustration .  ' He was driven by the emotion of wanting to see his children and he is generally so fed up in life .  ' There are mental health difficulties but he does not believe he has a problem with alcohol .  ' I would ask the court to consider that there were not extensive injuries to the victim and he only has a very short record . '  Magistrates also imposed a restraining order preventing Humphries from contacting his estranged wife either ' directly or indirectly . '  He was ordered to pay a victim surcharge of 85 .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
22193,22194,"Reuters) - The head of the Democratic Party resigned on Sunday amid a furor over embarrassing leaked emails, hoping to head off a growing rebellion by Bernie Sanders supporters on the eve of the convention to nominate Hillary Clinton for the White House. Lingering bitterness from the heated primary campaign between Clinton and Sanders erupted after more than 19,000 Democratic National Committee emails, leaked on Friday, confirmed Sanders’ frequent charge that the party played favorites in the race. In a statement,  Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz said the best way for the party to accomplish its goal of putting Clinton in the White House was for her to step aside after the convention. Sanders had demanded earlier in the day that Wasserman Schultz resign. The furor was a blow to a party keen on projecting stability in contrast to the volatility of Republican candidate Donald Trump, who was formally nominated at a raucous convention in Cleveland last week. It also overshadowed preparations in Philadelphia for Clinton’s coronation as the nominee to face Trump in the Nov. 8 presidential election. She will be the first woman nominated for president by a major U.S. political party.  The four-day Democratic convention will open on Monday. In some good news for Clinton, The New York Times reported that businessman and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg will endorse her in a prime-time speech on Monday, saying she will be the best choice for moderate voters in 2016. The cache of emails leaked on Friday by the WikiLeaks website disclosed that  officials explored ways to undermine Sanders’ insurgent presidential campaign, including raising questions about whether Sanders, who is Jewish, was really an atheist. Sanders said Wasserman Schultz, a U.S. representative from Florida, had made the right decision for the future of the Democratic Party. “The party leadership must also always remain impartial in the presidential nominating process, something which did not occur in the 2016 race,” he said. The Clinton camp questioned whether Russians may have had a hand in the hack attack on the party’s emails and were interested in helping Trump, who has exchanged words of praise with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “What’s disturbing to us is that experts are telling us that Russian state actors broke into the DNC, stole these emails and other experts are now saying that Russians are releasing these emails for the purpose of helping Donald Trump,” Clinton campaign chairman Robby Mook said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort said the Clinton camp was trying to distract from its party discord ahead of the convention. “What’s in those emails show that it was a clearly rigged system, that Bernie Sanders ... never had a chance,” Manafort said on ABC.  Clinton, 68, a former secretary of state, and Sanders, 74, an independent U.S. senator from Vermont who ran for president as a Democrat, waged a bruising months-long battle for the nomination. Branding himself a democratic socialist, Sanders galvanized young and liberal voters with his calls to rein in Wall Street and eradicate income inequality.    But Sanders repeatedly voiced frustration with a  and party establishment he felt was stacked against him, and the resentment from Sanders and his supporters threatened to disrupt the convention. “I’m not shocked but I’m disappointed,” Sanders said of the emails earlier on Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” The emails showed  officials pondering various ways to undercut Sanders. Brad Marshall, the DNC’s chief financial officer, apologized on Facebook on Saturday for an email in which he discussed how some voters in upcoming nominating contests in Kentucky and West Virginia would reject an atheist. “He had skated on saying he has a Jewish heritage,” Marshall wrote in a May 5 email to three top  officials. No names were mentioned, but Sanders was the only Jewish candidate. “I think I read he is an atheist. This could make several points difference with my peeps. My Southern Baptist peeps would draw a big difference between a Jew and an atheist.” Clinton told CBS’s “60 Minutes” in an interview that aired on Sunday that she had not read any of the emails but it was “wrong and unacceptable” to bring religion into the political process. The emails angered many Sanders supporters who were already dismayed by Clinton’s choice on Friday of low-key U.S. Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia as her vice presidential running mate. Kaine, 58, who could appeal to independents and moderates, has never been aligned with party liberals. Sanders, who has endorsed Clinton and will speak on her behalf to the convention on Monday, said he would have preferred she pick U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, a favorite of the party’s liberal wing, as her No. 2. “I have known Tim Kaine for a number of years. ... Tim is a very, very smart guy. He is a very nice guy,” Sanders said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”  “He is more conservative than I am. Would I have preferred to see somebody like an Elizabeth Warren selected by Secretary Clinton? Yes, I would have,” he said.  Carrying pitchforks meant to portray Clinton as the devil, hundreds of Sanders supporters took to the streets of Philadelphia earlier on Sunday to say they felt betrayed by the DNC. “It just validated everything we thought, everything we believed to be true, that this was completely rigged right from the beginning, and that you know it was really about what they were doing everything to set it up so she would win,” Sanders supporter Gwen Sperling said.  Vice Chairwoman Donna Brazile will serve as interim chair through the election, the  said on Twitter. ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
22194,22195,"The National Park Service is investigating reports of graffiti and other vandalism in at least 10 National Park sites throughout the western United States .  One move that could get the vandal caught ? Showcasing their "" artwork "" on social media .  Photos have surfaced in online hiking forums of what appears to be a woman painting graffiti in scenic locales . The art includes colorful images of faces in profile and is signed with the phrase "" Creepytings 2014 . "" Images of the graffiti were apparently posted on Instagram .  Park Service officials declined to discuss cases still under investigation but a representative posted on Reddit looking for more photographic examples of the graffiti . Redditors are rallying to help . And other social media outlets aren ' t so quiet .  Don ' t make these stupid travel mistakes  A California hiking website , Calipidder , first reported seeing social media posts about one person ' s paintings on National Park land . That led Modern Hiker to post several pictures of paintings that it said are by the roaming vandal .  The National Park Service would not name any potential suspects .  "" While we can ' t discuss details of a case under investigation , we take the issue of vandalism seriously , "" said the park service , in a statement . "" National parks exist to preserve and protect our nation ' s natural , cultural and historic heritage for both current and future generations . Vandalism is a violation of the law and it also damages and sometimes destroys often irreplaceable treasures that belong to all Americans . ""  Naturalists and hiking enthusiasts are taking to the web to decry the defacement of National Park land .  Someone has even launched a WhiteHouse . gov petition encouraging officials to throw the book at the alleged vandal for violations of federal law .  "" There are forums for artistic expression in national parks because national parks inspire artistic creativity . These images are outside that forum and outside the law , "" the National Park Service said in a statement .  Visiting national parks could cost more  Calling the graffiti in question art is too kind , says art critic Ariella Budick . "" This is appalling worse than graffiti , "" says Budick , art critic for the Financial Times . "" I ' m not impressed by the art , but frankly , even it were Leonardo it would be wrong . ""  The affected parks are Yosemite National Park , California Death Valley National Park , California Crater Lake National Park , Oregon Zion National Park and Canyonlands National Park , both in Utah . There may be additional damage , which has yet to be confirmed , in Grand Canyon National Park , Arizona Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park and Joshua Tree National Park , both in California Rocky Mountain National Park , Colorado Bryce National Park , Utah .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
22198,22199,"Washington President Obama proposed nearly doubling the child care tax credit for middle class families Monday , the latest administration initiative meant to reassure Americans nervous about the slow pace of the economic recovery .  The proposal is one of five new recommendations from the president ' s Middle Class Task Force , which was established one year ago this week .  It comes as an increasingly populist White House struggles to regain the political advantage among swing independent voters who have flocked to the  in recent elections in Massachusetts , New Jersey and Virginia .  "" The middle class has been under assault for a long time , "" Obama said in remarks delivered near the White House .  "" None of these steps alone will solve all the challenges facing the middle class , "" he said . "" But hopefully , they will re establish some of the security that ' s slipped away in recent years . ""  Specifically , Obama will push to increase the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit rate from 20 percent to 35 percent for families making under 85 , 000 a year . Families making from 85 , 000 to 115 , 000 also would see an increase in their tax credit , the statement said .  At the same time , lower income families would receive a 1 . 6 billion increase in child care funding , the largest one year increase in two decades .  In addition , the White House will propose limiting federal student loan payments to 10 percent of a student ' s income above a basic living allowance .  The administration also will push for the creation of a system of automatic workplace individual retirement accounts , requiring all employers to give workers the option of enrolling in a direct deposit  .  The "" saver ' s tax credit "" would be expanded , with a government match of 50 percent of the first 1 , 000 of contributions for families making 65 , 000 or less .  Fourth , the White House will propose expanding tax credits to match retirement savings , while also enacting new safeguards to protect retirement savings .  Fifth , the administration will push to expand federal support for families caring for elderly relatives , "" helping them manage their multiple responsibilities and allowing seniors to live in the community for as long as possible , "" a White House official said .  Since its establishment , the Middle Class Task Force has held 11 meetings around the country and at the White House , according to the statement .  All five task force recommendations will be included in Obama ' s proposed fiscal year 2011 budget , which is set to be unveiled February 1 . The president is also widely expected to stress middle class economic themes in Wednesday ' s State of the Union address .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
22200,22201,"Reuters) - Former  Director James Comey said on Thursday that he gave a memo describing his conversations with U.S. President Donald Trump to a “close friend” and told him to share its contents with a reporter, a revelation that sparked sharp criticism from Trump’s lawyer. In testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee, Comey said he wanted to get his account of his conversations with Trump into the public sphere in the hope it would prompt the appointment of a special counsel, as later occurred, to oversee the investigation into Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential election. The conversations included one in which Comey said he believed Trump had pressured him in February to drop a probe into former national security adviser Michael Flynn as part of the broader Russia investigation. Comey said he had asked “a close friend” who was a Columbia Law School professor to get his story out after Trump fired him as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on May 9. Daniel Richman, a professor of criminal law at Columbia, confirmed to Reuters he was the person referred to in Comey’s testimony. Richman, who is listed as an adviser to Comey in his official biography on the school’s website, did not respond to further requests for comments. During his time in office, Trump has raged against the press and its use of anonymous sources.  Following Comey’s testimony, Trump’s personal lawyer, Marc Kasowitz sharply criticized Comey for leaking what he called “privileged communications” between the president and the then- director. He tried to link Comey with others in the government who he said had selectively and illegally leaked classified information to undermine the administration and suggested that Comey might have broken the law. It would be up to the appropriate authorities to determine whether the leak should be investigated, Kasowitz said. Comey could not be reached for immediate comment.  Some legal experts said Comey’s actions did not run afoul of the law. Faiza Patel, co-director of public policy group Brennan Center for Justice, noted that Comey testified that he was careful to avoid putting classified information in memos memorializing his conversations with Trump. Other experts said Kasowitz’s claim that Comey leaked “privileged” information was off the mark, citing the fact that Trump previously had disclosed details about his interactions with Comey. To leak his memo, Comey chose someone who has publicly defended him in the past, including his handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails. A 1984 graduate of Yale Law School, Richman clerked for the U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. He served as chief appellate attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan from 1987 to 1992, when Comey was also a prosecutor in that office. Richman went on to join the faculty of Fordham University School of Law and moved to Columbia in 2007. He has also served as a consultant to the U.S. Justice and Treasury departments on criminal matters and on advisory committees to former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and New York state Governor Eliot Spitzer. After Comey’s testimony, a surge of Web searches for Richman appeared to overwhelm the Columbia Law School’s website. “Columbia Law’s site is down at the moment. We are working on a solution. Stay tuned,” the school said in a posting on Twitter. ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
22207,22208,"Everybody knows a standard part of visiting a doctor involves sitting in the waiting room , thumbing through a terrible magazine , usually completely out of date and grubby with fingerprints .  One doctor was so sick of hearing patients complaining that the reading material he provided was dull and old , he decided to get to the bottom of the matter .  His research uncovered an uncomfortable truth : pilfering patients were to blame .  His supposedly sick patients were stealing all the newer , gossipy reads in the waiting room and leaving only the older , more dry publications .  In fact , he worked out that magazine theft could cost practices in the  a whopping 12 . 6 million a year , assuming that each magazine costs 3 . 20 on average .  A doctor carried out an investigation to find out why patients complained there were only old and dull magazines in his waiting room . He found half the magazines placed there in a month were stolen , equating to 12 . 6 million a year across all the practices in the   Professor Bruce Arroll , the beady eyed doctor leading the research , said he carried out the study because he was flummoxed as to why patients kept complaining about the lack of up to date magazines in his waiting room , when he knew current copies had been ordered .  Writing in the  , he describes his confusion : ' The reason for this phenomenon was clearly a burning research question , given the number of times that patients had complained . '  His initial , internet based research , revealed no results .  He said : ' We searched Medline , Google Scholar , and grey literature for studies on missing magazines and on waiting rooms , but despite finding information on the design of waiting rooms , satisfaction with service based on the waiting room experience , and other waiting room related topics , there was nothing on the disappearance of magazines .  ' Evidence for the absence of up to date magazines was lacking and many of the articles that did mention magazines in waiting rooms said they were mainly old , consistent with our experience .  He added : ' Quantification of this phenomenon was urgently needed . '  After hypothesizing that either practice staff only put out the old magazines or they put out reasonably recent ones and these disappeared , he designed a study to settle the matter .  Using his own office in Auckland , New Zealand , as a testing ground , he stocked the waiting area with a plethora of publications , old and new , gossipy and serious .  The clinic staff were asked to leave the magazines alone , warned ' any failure to comply could result in the death penalty ' .  ' This warning was given to ensure that everybody understood the serious nature of the study , ' Professoe Arrol said .  Gossip magazines with five or more celebrity photos on the cover were stolen 15 times faster than more serious publications  The 87 magazines were put out in three piles and marked with a unique number .  Twice a week the principal investigator came into work half an hour early to record missing magazines .  After 31 days , almost half ( 47 per cent ) of the original 87 magazines had disappeared , the equivalent to 1 . 32 a day .  All but one of the 27 ' gossipy ' magazines those that had five or more photos of celebrities on the front cover had disappeared .  Within this group , 15 magazines were defined as ' most gossipy ' as they had ten or more photographs of celebrities on the cover . They all went missing .  Worried about litigation from publishers , the doctors did not reveal the names of magazines defined as ' gossipy ' .  Of the 19 ' non gossipy ' magazines ( four Time magazines and 15 of the Economist ) , none had disappeared .  In order to cut costs , the researchers said serious magazines like Time and the Economist should be layed out , as they were not stolen  Gossip magazines disappeared nearly 15 times faster than non gossipy ones , it was revealed .  The researchers also noted current magazines were more likely to go missing than older ones , with 60 per cent of the magazines stolen less than two months old .  The researchers worked out that if they extrapolate their findings to the 8 , 000 practices in Britain , each month 12 . 6 million disappears from general practices assuming each magazine costs an average of 3 . 20 .  These are ' resources that could be better used for healthcare , ' they said .  They concluded that ' practices should consider using old copies of the Economist and Time magazine as a first step towards saving costs . '  They said they hope their research might trigger the development of a ' find my magazine ' app .  Future research could also examine how receptionists cope in a waiting room without gossipy magazines , they added .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
22245,22246,"Capt . Derek Herrera wanted to remain on active duty after a sniper ' s bullet in Afghanistan left him paralyzed two years ago .  Now he plans to retire from the Marine Corps , but not before walking across a stage with robotic leg braces to receive a Bronze Star .  Herrera will be honored Friday at Camp Pendleton , north of San Diego , in a ceremony that will also mark his medical retirement after 8 years in the military .  Derek Herrera , a paraplegic U . S . Marine , stands upright using ReWalk , an exoskeleton using motors and braces for upright walking  Herrera will be honored Friday at Camp Pendleton , north of San Diego , in a ceremony that will also mark his medical retirement after 8 years in the military  Herrera has vowed to retire while standing , like he did when he joined the Marine Corps .  ' I could easily go and roll up in my wheelchair , but for me it ' s a mental and emotional goal that I set for myself : to stand up and walk out of the Marine Corps , ' said Herrera , who was the first American to purchase the ReWalk system recently approved by the Federal Drug Administration .  The special operations officer is being honored with the Bronze Star for his actions on June 14 , 2012 , when the patrol he was leading came under heavy fire in Afghanistan .  Herrera continued coordinating efforts while receiving treatment for his own spinal injury and collapsed left lung .  ' The bravery and fortitude he displayed inspired his men to heroic feats as they valiantly fought to save the lives of their wounded team members and repel the enemy assault , ' wrote Maj . Gen . M . A . Clark in recommending Herrera be recognized with a Bronze Star .  Herrera and Maura Herrera walks onstage at 2014 Stand Up For Heroes at Madison Square Garden at Madison Square Garden on November 5 , 2014 in New York City  The special operations officer is being honored with the Bronze Star for his actions on June 14 , 2012 , when the patrol he was leading came under heavy fire in Afghanistan  Left paralyzed from the chest down , the 30 year old Marine sought to be allowed to remain on active duty and also has pushed himself to get back to walking .  His last day on active duty is Nov . 30 .  The ReWalk system functions like an exoskeleton for people paralyzed from the waist down , allowing them to stand and walk with assistance from a caretaker .  The ReWalk system functions like an exoskeleton for people paralyzed from the waist down , allowing them to stand and walk with assistance from a caretaker  A harness around the patient ' s waist and shoulders keeps the suit in place , and a backpack holds the computer and rechargeable battery  The device consists of leg braces with motion sensors and motorized joints that respond to subtle changes in upper body movement and shifts in balance .  A harness around the patient ' s waist and shoulders keeps the suit in place , and a backpack holds the computer and rechargeable battery .  Crutches are used for stability , and the  requires an assistant be nearby . Herrera ' s wife assists him .  Crutches are used for stability , and the  requires an assistant be nearby . Herrera ' s wife assists him  The  Foundation , a charitable fund for members of the Marine Corps Special Operations Command , raised the money for Herrera to buy the 69 , 500 device .  Herrera is working on a master ' s degree in business administration at the University of California Los Angeles and plans to start his own business .  ' Every day is a choice to live , love , inspire , honor the fallen , make the world a better place and walk in the footsteps of giants , ' Herrera wrote in a Thanksgiving holiday column published by  San Diego in 2013 .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
22250,22251,"In a move intended to dispel criticism over his Vietnam era military record , President Bush announced Monday that he will spend the weekend at the Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls ,  , to make up his missed National Guard service .  "" My fellow Americans , let ' s put an end to this controversy , "" Bush said . "" This weekend , I ' ll take two days off from leading the greatest nation in the world , go down to Texas , and do drills with the Texas Air National Guard , if that ' ll make you happy . I can ' t imagine anything more important for me to do than sets of push ups with a bunch of enlisted Guardsmen . ""  Added Bush : "" Don ' t let me forget to ask Cheney to fill in for me as leader of the free world . Because I ' ll be busy spit shining flight boots . ""  Critics claim records show that Bush was not seen by his direct military superiors from May 1972 to June 1973 . The controversy , which first arose during Bush ' s Texas gubernatorial bid in 1994 , resurfaced Jan . 17 , when filmmaker Michael Moore called Bush a "" deserter "" at a rally for Democratic candidate Wesley Clark .  Although the White House has tried to prove that Bush fulfilled his obligations by releasing torn payroll records and evidence of a dental check up , many remain unconvinced . Critics have said Bush ' s reluctance to release his entire military file indicates that he ' s hiding something .  "" Go ahead and wave your dusty stacks of papers , call names , and point fingers , "" Bush said . "" I ' m just going to have to be the bigger man . ""  Bush , whose approval numbers have declined in recent weeks , said the accusations were false , but that he was willing to do "" whatever it takes to please everybody "" so that he "" can return to the business of governing the country . ""  "" I had to cancel dozens of appointments with cabinet members , congressional leaders , and foreign dignitaries , "" Bush said . "" All that stuff ' s going to have to wait , since this 30 year old story is apparently a pressing national concern , or something . ""  White House communications director Dan Bartlett appeared on  with Wolf Blitzer to defend the president .  "" Others want to focus on talk , but President Bush is focused on action , "" Bartlett said . "" George Bush , whose chief priority is keeping our country safe in a post September 11 world , believes that going down there and making up a couple days ' service is the best way to finally put this issue to rest . ""  Retired Army Gen . John Wilcox warned Bush that his service in Alabama might have unexpected consequences .  "" Once he gets there , he ' s an enlisted man like anybody else , "" Wilcox said . "" A lot of other National Guard and Army reservists thought they were just signing up for some tame domestic training and ended up in Iraq or Afghanistan . The president is taking a real risk here . For his sake and the sake of the nation , I hope he doesn ' t get shipped out . ""  At a press conference Monday afternoon , a reporter asked White House press secretary Scott McClellan why Bush wasn ' t making up his time in Alabama , where critics say he failed to report for drills during the entire time he was working on a family friend ' s U . S . Senate campaign .  "" Well , the president is familiar with the base in Texas , so he chose to do his service there , "" McClellan said . "" Why would he go to some random base in Alabama that he ' s never even been to before ? I mean let me start over . He did serve at the Alabama base , but we felt it would be easier to accommodate travel to a base that was closer to his ranch in Crawford . Case closed . ""  ",satire,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
22264,22265,"California authorities have surrounded a wanted parolee accused of shooting federal and local officers , hitting three and wounding one more with shrapnel fragments , police said .  After that initial shooting , Samuel Duran ran and hopped fences in a Roseville neighborhood as members of various law enforcement agencies converged on the scene , police said .  Authorities located him at an otherwise unoccupied house in Roseville , which is 20 miles northeast of Sacramento .  "" I know he ' s pinned down , "" Roseville police Lt . Cal Walstad said .  Duran has been sought by authorities "" for the last couple of weeks , "" according to Walstad , who did not detail what crimes the suspect had been tied to .  After determining where he was in Roseville , local police and a special agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement ' s Homeland Security Investigations unit went there Friday afternoon .  According to Walstad , "" once they made contact with him , shots were exchanged . ""  The  special agent was shot in the leg and transported to a local hospital , the police spokesman said . He was reported to be stable and alert a few hours later , said  spokeswoman Virginia Kice .  The suspect ran , firing at times and jumping fences .  Three Roseville police officers ended up wounded at a third shooting site . One was struck in the jaw , one was hit in the shoulder , and the third wounded by bullet fragments , according to Walstad .  One of the Roseville officers was in serious condition , while the other two were stable , he said . Chief Daniel Hahn added later Friday that none of the injuries to the officers , all of them men and veterans of the department , are considered life threatening .  Authorities from multiple agencies quickly converged on the scene looking for Duran , who Walstad said had an "" assault type weapon . ""  Neighbors were asked not to leave their houses , but they were never evacuated . The scene was later considered "" contained "" even though police hadn ' t said they knew exactly where the suspect was .  Now that they do , he ' s being surrounded by law enforcement . Hostage negotiations are on site as well , though it ' s not believed that the suspect has taken any hostages .  Authorities are talking to the suspect by telephone , Walstad said .  "" ( Police ) keep repeating , ' We have the house surrounded . Come out with your hands up , ' "" Jim Stewart , the neighbor who invited Bell in , said Friday night . "" They ' ve been doing this for hours now . ""  Placer County Sheriff Edward Bonner described the situation as "" incredibly dangerous , "" while expressing confidence it ' ll be resolved as well as possible .  "" This is a very tough day , "" Bonner said . "" It ' s unsettling for all us no one is immune to this sort of tragedy and criminality . But here it is .  "" But I ' ll tell you what , "" he added . "" We have a great community of law enforcement that is going to deal with this . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
22265,22266,"Posted on October 28, 2016 by Daisy Luther  Let’s talk about Wikileaks .  First of all, the organization was founded by Julian Assange back in 2006. Their website explains what they are all about:  “WikiLeaks specializes in the analysis and publication of large datasets of censored or otherwise restricted official materials involving war, spying, and corruption. It has so far published more than 10 million documents and associated analyses.”  In the 11 years that they’ve been publishing documents, they have not been disproven a single time. Their record for authentication is perfect. (Learn more here and here .)  So this means that a person would be pretty silly to disregard anything in the reams of information about Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Party, the Clinton Foundation, and the political shenanigans that would put the Machiavellis to shame.  Here are 21 of the most important things that have come out about Hillary Clinton, that unfortunately, no one is reporting on in the mainstream. In the interest of brevity, each topic has a link to an article that goes deeper into the leak. (In no particular order.) John Podesta, the chairman of the Clinton campaign had a nice cozy dinner with Peter Kadzik, one of the top officials in the Department of Justice…the day after the Benghazi hearing . Kadzik’s son also asked for a job on the Clinton campaign, and, the icing on the corruption cupcake? Kadzik led the effort to nominate Loretta Lynch, who famously met with Bill Clinton on her private plane right before Hillary’s interrogation about Emailgate. ( source ) We all knew that the Clinton Foundation was just a way for the Clinton family to launder money, and now there’s proof. Zero Hedge writes, “…today’s Wikileaks dump included that memo which reveals, for the first time, the precise financial flows between the Clinton Foundation, Band’s firm Teneo Consulting, and the Clinton family’s private business endeavors.” A pundit called this leak “The Rosetta Stone of the Clinton Foundation,” meaning that with this document, all of their shady financial dealings could be unraveled and translated. ( source ) Clinton is unable to speak for very long without a podium to lean on . Numerous leaked emails reference how certain interviews have to be kept short because she’d be without one. And this article references a very interesting reason why this may be the case – surprisingly it isn’t related to her health. ( source ) The leaks also show that Clinton intends to do her best to restrict the Second Amendment. Brian Fallon, the national press secretary for the Clinton campaign, wrote, “ Circling back around on guns as a follow up to the Friday morning discussion: the Today show has indicated they definitely plan to ask bout guns, and so to have the discussion be more of a news event than her previous times discussing guns, we are going to background reporters tonight on a few of the specific proposals she would support as President – universal background checks of course, but also closing the gun show loophole by executive order and imposing manufacturer liability .” According to an analysis on The Daily Sheeple, “Imposing manufacturer liability means that after Sandy Hook, Bushmaster and Remington Arms would have been prosecuted for having a hand in the murder of children and school staff members for firearms that were legally sold.” ( source ) The campaign was concerned that the sexual escapades of Bill Clinton could be likened to those of another disgraced celebrity, Bill Cosby . Political operative Ron Klain sent an urgent email saying that Hillary should anticipate the following questions, ” How is what Bill Clinton did different from what Bill Cosby did? Is his conduct relevant to your campaign? You said every woman should be believed. Why not the women who accused him? Will you apologize to the women who were wrongly smeared by your husband and his allies?” ( source ) Clinton’s campaign deliberately leaked an embarrassing photo of a swimsuit-clad Bernie Sanders to the press, ironically insinuating that it was proof he was bought off by Wall Street. Perez Hilton wrote, “ Bernie Sanders lounges at elite Martha’s Vineyard pool, summer 2015 after helping raise money from Wall Street lobbyists .” ( source ) Clinton admitted she is out of touch with the middle class in a speech to Goldman-Black Rock in 2014. “And I am not taking a position on any policy, but I do think there is a growing sense of anxiety and even anger in the country over the feeling that the game is rigged. And I never had that feeling when I was growing up. Never. I mean, were there really rich people, of course there were. My father loved to complain about big business and big government, but we had a solid middle class upbringing. We had good public schools. We had accessible health care. We had our little, you know, one-family house that, you know, he saved up his money, didn’t believe in mortgages. So I lived that. And now, obviously, I’m kind of far removed because the life I’ve lived and the economic, you know, fortunes that my husband and I now enjoy , but I haven’t forgotten it.” ( source ) She made this rather  remark at a 2013 paid speech to Brazilian bank Banco Itau: “ My dream is a hemispheric common market, with open trade and open borders , some time in the future with energy that is as green and sustainable as we can get it, powering growth and opportunity for every person in the hemisphere.” ( source ) In a leak of yet another paid speech, this time to the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago in 2013, Clinton said that Jordan and Turkey “ can’t possibly vet all those refugees so they don’t know if, you know, jihadists are coming in along with legitimate refugees.” Meanwhile, if Clinton has her way , we will be warmly welcoming 65,000 refugees a year, which makes Obama’s 10,000 a year look like small potatoes. ( source ) Clinton blackmailed the Chinese by telling them that the  would base missiles in the region if they didn’t exert some control over North Korean aggression. “ So China, come on. You either control them or we’re going to have to defend against them ,” she purportedly told the audience at a Goldman Sachs conference in June 2013. ( source ) In May 2015, Clinton was no longer Secretary of State but was ready to announce she was running for President when she was invited to attend a summit in Morrocco. The implication from the leaked emails was that a $12 million “donation” from the king of Morocco was dependent on Clinton attending the summit. Human Abedin, usually loyal to her boss, had concerns . “ If  was not part of it, meeting was a non-starter. She created this mess and she knows it. Her presence was a condition for the Moroccans to proceed so there is no going back on this,” Abedin wrote to Robbie Mook in a November 2014 email. Incidentally, Clinton didn’t attend. Bill and Chelsea went instead and the $12 million donation was not forthcoming. (source ) Podesta attacked Clinton’s primary election rival Bernie Sanders for criticizing the Paris climate change agreement. “ Can you believe that doofus Bernie attacked it? ” said Podesta. ( source ) Clinton told a Goldman Sachs conference she would like to intervene secretly in Syria . “ My view was you intervene as covertly as is possible for Americans to intervene,” she told employees of the bank in South Carolina, which had paid her about $225,000 to give a speech. “We used to be much better at this than we are now. Now, you know, everybody can’t help themselves. They have to go out and tell their friendly reporters and somebody else: Look what we’re doing and I want credit for it. ” (source ) There is indeed a definite link between the Clinton campaign and what  is allowed to say. The campaign has colluded directly with media spokespersons that read like a Who’s Who in American Media : Dan Merica from CNN, Haim Saban of Univision, John Harwood of  and the  Times, Rebecca Quick of CNBC, Maggie Haberman of  Times and Politico, John Harris of Politico, Donna Brazile formerly of CNN, Roland Martin of TV-One, Marjorie Pritchard of The Boston Globe, and Louise Mensch of Heat Street. ( source ) As everyone knows, the  deliberately screwed Bernie Sanders out of the nomination ( Bonus: Wikileaks also released some of the DNC’s voicemails on the topic ). There are emails that prove who is actually pulling HRC’s puppet strings and that puppeteer is George Soros . The shadow government is not just a conspiracy theory – it really exists and Hillary’s job is to keep George Soros happy. ( source ) Excerpts from her speeches to Wall Street read like a guide to two-faced treachery. In them, she clearly points out that sometimes you “need” to lie. “If everybody’s watching, you know, all of the back room discussions and the deals, you know, then people get a little nervous, to say the least. So, you need both a public and a private position.” ( source ) Wikileaks emails show that back when she still worked for  and before she became an employee of the Clinton campaign, Donna Brazile gave Hillary the questions in advance for her “impromptu”  Town Hall questions. ( source ) The campaign got to “approve” articles in influential publications like  Times, HuffPo, CNN, NBC, CBS, NYT, MSNBC, and Politico, showing a massive collusion with the mainstream media, who has hounded Trump relentlessly in an effort to distract from HRC’s abysmal candidacy. ( source ) Through the treasure trove of Wikileaks emails, we can gain an accurate picture of how Hillary really feels about us all (spoiler: basket of deplorables, basement dwellers and right wing conspirators) ( source ) President Obama knew the whole time that her emails were not coming from the secure State Department server. Cheryl Mills wrote to John Podesta, “ W e need to clean this up – he has emails from her – they do not say state.gov .” You see, Obama’s emails all have to be from”whitelisted”addresses. So someone, somewhere, added her nonsecure email to his whitelist. ( source )  And finally, here’s the real reason that treacherous shrew is involved in politics. And let me tell you, it isn’t because she yearns to make things better for anyone but herself. (emphasis mine.)  At the Goldman Sachs Builders and Innovators Summit, Clinton responded to a question from chief executive Lloyd Blankfein, who quipped that you “go to Washington” to “make a small fortune.” Clinton agreed with the comment and complained about ethics rules that require officials to divest from certain assets before entering government. “ There is such a bias against people who have led successful and/or complicated lives, ” Clinton said. ( source ) Together, we cannot be ignored. I am on a mission between now and the Presidential Election on November 8th and I hope that you will join me. I am going to work day and night to provide the coverage that the mainstream media is not. It isn’t until we combine all of our voices that we can make people listen to the scandals, the rigging, and the corruption, not only in this election but in the system in general. Please join your voice with mine by liking, sharing, and spreading the word. Together, we cannot be ignored. Together, we are an army. Courtesy of Daisy Luther Don't forget to follow the D.C. Clothesline on Facebook and Twitter.  help spread the word by sharing our articles on your favorite social networks. Share this:",fake,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
22279,22280,"Charles Darwin argued that animals can express emotions with their face and body , like humans do .  Now researchers have found that rats can recognise pain the faces of their fellow rodents .  The study suggests that as well as expressing their emotional state , the pained faces of rats may have a ' communicative function ' .  They may even use expressions to warn other rats of danger or ask for help .  Researchers have found that rats can recognise pain the faces of their fellow rodents . Researchers based at different institutions in Tokyo , noted that rats flatten their ears , narrow their eyes and puff up their cheeks when they are in pain ( shown in the images on the right ) an observation in previous studies  Researchers based at different institutions in Tokyo , noted that rats flatten their ears , narrow their eyes and puff up their cheeks when they are in pain an observation in previous studies .  The experts wanted to find out whether the rodents do this as a reflex reaction , or to communicate their discomfort to others .  They found that Long Evans rats can read pain on other animal ' s faces and use the information to makes decisions , Popular Science reported .  The scientists first took photographs of rats who were in pain and others with neutral expressions .  To test the rodents ' response to rats ' pained expressions , they showed them the photos in a specially made cage , to test whether they responded to the face , rather than the smell of another animal , for example .  The rats chosen are described as ' naive ' in the study , published in the journal Royal Society Open Science , and were between eight and 12 months old .  Individuals were put into a cage composed of three interconnecting rooms , one of which had images of a rat in pain , which had been given an electric shock .  To test the rodent ' s response to rats ' pained expressions , they showed them the photos in a specially made cage ( pictured ) . They found that rats spent less time in the room showing rodents in pain , than they did in the other compartment showing rats with neutral facial expressions  Male mice sing to woo females , scientists claim .  They also change their tune depending on whether she is within sight or not .  The females , meanwhile , seem to like some of the songs more than others .  In a quirky study that could shed help shed light on autism and other conditions that involve difficulties in communication , researchers from Duke University in North Carolina studied male mice that were either placed in a cage with a female or one with just her scent .  Special equipment was used to record and analyse their squeaks , which are so high pitched that people can ' t hear them .  This revealed that they sang one song when they could simply smell a female and another one when they could see her .  When they could merely smell a potential mate , they belted out an extremely shrill and complex song , perhaps in an attempt to make themselves known .  But when she was within sight , they serenaded her more softly .  These songs also had a more simple structure and were longer .  They entered one by one through a central compartment without any images on the walls and made their way to a compartment off the central room with pictures of pained rats on the walls and another offshoot room with photos of happier rats on the walls .  Each rat was allowed to wander freely around the cage for 10 minutes while the researchers recorded how long it spent in each room .  They found that rats spent more time in the rooms where they didn ' t have to confront the image of a rat in pain .  ' the rats stayed longer in the compartment with the images of neutral expressions than in that with the images of pain expressions , ' the study says .  ' This indicates that the rats were able to discriminate the category of emotional expression . '  On average , they spent one minute less in the pain room , than the compartment showing a rat with a neutral expression .  While the scientists didn ' t say that the study suggests mice can empathise , they believe that their facial expressions have evolved to communicate pain .  They wrote : ' emotional expression in rodents , rather than just a mere "" expression "" of emotional states , might have a communicative function . '  ' The emotional expression of pain might have an adaptive function for both the expresser and receiver , such as emitting a warning signal or promoting carer behaviour from the receiver , ' they hypothesised .  Previous studies have shown that several kinds of primates make faces and can discriminate between different expressions .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
22295,22296,"Is ' The Revenant ' the best performance of Leonardo DiCaprio ' s career ?   , Ohio ? The ? results of Sunday night ' s Golden Globes ceremony has everyone wondering if Alejandro G . Inarritu ' s "" The Revenant "" is now the frontrunner for Best Picture at the Academy Awards .  That remains up for debate . But there is one near certainty when it comes to "" The Revenant "" ? Leonardo DiCaprio should and probably will win his first Academy Award for Best Actor .  Despite having been nominated five times for the film industry ' s top honor ( that includes once as a producer ) , DiCaprio has come up empty handed . It certainly hasn ' t been for a lack for trying .  Since his Oscar nominated breakthrough in 1994 ' s "" What ' s Eating Gilbert Grape , "" DiCaprio has delivered more than a dozen award caliber performances . Sometimes he ' s been snubbed ( No Oscar nomination for "" Titanic "" or "" Django Unchained "" ) . Other times , he ' s lost to stiff competition ( His stellar performance in "" The Aviator "" finished second to Jamie Foxx ' s tour de force in "" Ray "" ) .  Debating the best performance of DiCaprio ' s career , perhaps the one that should have earned him an Oscar , is tough . Many will tell you it was his role as Howard Hughes in "" The Aviator . "" And I think he was more deserving than Tommy Lee Jones ( "" The Fugitive "" ) for Best Supporting Actor in 1994 . But I also think that award should have went to Ralph Fiennes in "" Schindler ' s List . ""  Prior to the year ' s nominations , I assumed DiCaprio was a shoe in for Best Supporting Actor for "" Django Unchained . "" But voters preferred Chistoph Waltz , whose role in that film felt more like a lead performance .  DiCaprio did deserve more consideration for films like "" The Departed , "" "" Catch Me If You Can "" and "" Shutter Island . "" And time will tell if his high wire act as Jordan Belfort in "" The Wolf of Wall Street "" holds up better than Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey in "" Dallas Buyers Club . ""  The entire debate over DiCaprio ' s impeccable career makes his performance in "" The Revenant "" all the more impressive . There ' s really no debating DiCaprio as the frontrunner for Best Actor this year . His performance as fur trapper Hugh Glass makes every other potential nominee seem like a distant second .  In any other year , Michael Fassbender ( "" Steve Jobs "" ) , Eddie Redmayne ( "" The Danish Girl "" ) or Johnny Depp ( "" Black Mass "" ) would be clear favorites . But the physicality of DiCaprio ' s performance is unmatched .  He didn ' t lose or gain a ton of weight . Nor does he play a well known historical figure . What DiCaprio does is far more impactful .  He makes you feel Glass ' struggle with every inch of his body . You ' ll likely marvel at the movie ' s bear attack scene , a marvel of  work . Yet , it would be nothing without DiCaprio ' s willingness to throw is body around to painful measures .  He barely has few lines in the film and spends much of it crawling through the snow . Yet , you can ' t take your eyes off him . "" The Revenant "" is an endurance test DiCaprio carries you through .  There ' s a scene in which the exhausted actor looks directly at the camera . It ' s as if he ' s telling the viewer , "" We did it . ""  "" The Revenant "" is not just the best performance of DiCaprio ' s career . It ' s one of the greatest acting achievements of the last 15 years .  For my money , it ' s up there with Mickey Rourke ' s work in "" The Wrestler "" and Heath Ledger ' s uncanny portrayal of the Joker in "" The Dark Knight "" as one of the three best male acting performances in recent memory .  When DiCaprio takes the stage at the Academy Awards in Hollywood on Feb . 28 , you can call it a career achievement award . Yet , had he never acted a day in his life prior to "" The Revenant , "" he ' d still be the obvious choice .  Cleveland ' s a big league foodie town and we ' ve got the news and reviews you need to navigate all of the area ' s dining out options , plus a growing collection of essential dining guides .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
22301,22302,"Donald Trump just got his ass handed to him by Chrissy Teigen.On Thursday, Trump responded to reports that his team is desperate for A-list celebrities to perform at his inauguration because none of them want to be there.The so-called  A  list celebrities are all wanting tixs to the inauguration, but look what they did for Hillary, NOTHING. I want the PEOPLE!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2016Trump is literally pretending that all A-list celebrities actually do want to be there, but he wants us to believe that he is the one rejecting them. It s really pathetic.Well, model Chrissy Teigen thinks it s pathetic, too, and she had no problem slamming Trump for it on Twitter.Hi   we are people. You are our president too. I don t want you to be, but u are. Also we  know you are dying without the approval, dear weblink  christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 23, 2016But have fun with  Buttcrack spinning the hot shit and Lil Banana dropping bars at your inauguration weblink  christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 23, 2016Teigen is not wrong. Celebrities are people, too.Of course, Trump supporters attacked Teigen and her husband John Legend and she had no problem mocking them either.Apparently, many have been telling her that she isn t an A-list celebrity. So, she set them straight.I just have floods of people saying I am not a-list. I thought it was obvious I was talking about john but nothing is obvious to deplorables  christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 23, 2016And just for the record, Teigen may not be an A-list celebrity but she s an A-list human being.One Trump supporter attacked her husband s education.  mistake.John went to the same University as the Donald, silly billy. Only difference was John went at the young age of 16 ? weblink  christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 23, 2016One Trump supporter even sent Teigen a threat.Retweeting for reference, just in case! weblink  christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 23, 2016Donald Trump and his supporters are truly pathetic and deplorable.Featured Image: Twitter/Flickr",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,present
22314,22315,"Three bombings , including an attack on an elementary school , killed at least 19 people and wounded at least 167 in Iraq Sunday .  A number of sectarian attacks killed dozens and wounded many more in the country Saturday .  The United Nations ' envoy called on the "" political , religious and civil leaders "" to take action to stop the "" accelerated surge in violence and bloodshed . ""  The first explosion killed 12 people most of them police officers at the police station , officials said . A second blast followed seconds later near an elementary school , wounding 137 people mostly children , the officials said .  On Saturday , 51 people were killed and 107 others were wounded in a suicide attack that targeted Shiite pilgrims in northeastern Baghdad , police said .  The bomber , wearing an explosive vest , detonated among Shiite pilgrims near the al Amma bridge in the Sunni al Adhamiya neighborhood . The victims were among thousands of Shiite pilgrims heading to the al Kadhimiya neighborhood of northwestern Baghdad to commemorate the death of Mohammed al Jawad , the ninth of the 12 imams in Shiism .  In a separate incident in the town of Balad in the north , at least 12 people were killed and 32 others were wounded when a car bomb exploded Saturday evening outside a coffee shop , police said .  The town , which is predominantly Shiite , is located in Salaheddin province some 90 kilometers ( 56 miles ) north of Baghdad and has been the site of previous violence .  On Saturday morning , gunmen fatally shot a television reporter and a cameraman who were working for al Sharqiya , a private , pro Sunni television station that is often critical of the Shiite led government . The incident occurred in central Mosul in northern Iraq , police said .  "" In the aftermath of yet another series of bloody attacks that indiscriminately hit pilgrims , school children , journalists , as well as ordinary citizens trying to go about their daily lives , the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General for Iraq , Mr Nickolay Mladenov called on political , religious and civil leaders to work together with the security forces and take joint action to halt the accelerated surge in violence and bloodshed , "" the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq said in a statement Sunday .  "" It is their responsibility to ensure that pilgrims can practice their religious duties , that school children can attend their classes , that journalists can exercise their professional duties , and that ordinary citizens can live a normal life , in an environment free of fear and violence , "" Mladenov said .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
22318,22319,"weblink They pretend Trump’s win is a victory for bigots, instead of a defeat for the aristocracy (‘Wall Street’, ‘The Establishment’, or America’s billionaires and their agents such as lobbyists and the leading politicians). However, a close look at the evidence shows Huffington Post to be wrong: Trump’s win was overwhelmingly driven by Americans’ repudiation of the aristocracy itself (such as, for example, repudiation of the Institute that runs Huffington Post’s neoconservative international edition, World Post , the Berggruen Institute (including Eric Schmidt , Lawrence Summers , Fareed Zakaria , Arianna Huffington, Nicholas Berggruen , Ernesto Zedillo , Carl Bildt, Niall Ferguson, and Joseph Nye , all being proponents of Obama’s building war against Russia — such as : “To confront Putin, Europe will have to make changes that will be deeply controversial on a continent long committed to environmentalism and marked by an aversion to the use of force”). And, as far as global warming is concerned, which is a real problem about Trump, it’s also very much and demonstrably — not merely in words — a real problem about Hillary too (and one that outside the context of the Presidential campaign has even been courageously reported by some of HuffPo’s own reporters ), but HuffPo and other Democratic Party propagandists pretend there’s reason to believe that Trump’s actions would be even worse than hers have been, and HuffPo’s readers thus end up being little else than Democratic Party suckers who feel satisfied in their ‘news’ reading to soak up what is almost entirely Democratic Party propaganda, which means the propaganda emanating out of the White House whenever a Democrat resides there — sort of like a Democratic Party version of the Republican Party’s Fox ‘News’. The aristocracy ( all of it, both its Republican and its Democratic Party branches) continue their campaign, and expect to crush their opposition — the public (of all parties). And that’s what a close look at the evidence shows explains Trump’s win — not bigotry on the part of the American public. Bigotry is a huge problem in every society, but especially amongst the aristocracy, who love to pretend that it’s mainly a problem ‘down below’ — so that they can continue to exploit the public while claiming to be superior to it. That’s the Big Lie, which Obama and the Clintons — and Huffington Post — promote and get paid very well to promote. Their campaign never ends. Only the personnel do.",fake,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
22324,22325,"Thanks to Obama s open border policy and a recent agreement with Costa Rica (where these Cubans were waiting), we re bringing in thousands of Cubans. Once again, our open borders president and our  are in cahoots with Central America in screwing the American people who ll be footing the bill for this. What the local article below doesn t tell you is that the Cubans are being assisted by the feds which only promotes more and more Cubans to come to the U.S. Hey, didn t we just normalize relations with Cuba so things are supposed to be just peachy there now, right?              AMERICA?Central American nations have agreed to let stranded Cubans be airlifted and then bussed into America. Why not send them home? Well, it s because of yet another stupid policy to accept Cubans who ve made it to dry land from Cuba. Do we really need to keep this stupid policy in place? We re just making it more appealing for more and more Cubans to come to America. Heck, we re even providing transportation for them! Crazy!This is just more lawlessness from the Obama administration thinking nothing of bringing even more people to take care of. Unreal!Central American nations have reached an agreement to allow several thousand Cuban migrants stranded in Costa Rica for over a month to continue their journey towards the United States.The migrants will be airlifted to El Salvador and put on buses, which will take them to the US. American legislation gives Cuban migrants preferential treatment. If they arrive at the  border by land they are allowed to enter the country and apply for residency. Those who are intercepted at sea are sent back, under the special immigration policy known as  wet foot, dry foot .Read more: !00%  Up!The activity at the Hidalgo International Bridge continues. For 40 years, Jose Angel Rodriguez has made his living driving a cab.He said he s seeing more Cubans crossing the port of entry.  They get here every night, in the morning, and at night they get here. They go to Laredo, too,  Rodriguez said.Rodriguez remembered taking a few to a hotel or store. It gets busier each week that passes by.Down the road from the bridge were a handful of 15-passenger vans. They had Florida license plates. Giovanni Acosta is one of them. In Cuba, there s nothing. There s no freedom. We came from Cuba because the pressure that we have there,  Giovanni Acosta said.Acosta said he s waiting for his wife to come to the bridge so he can take her back to Miami. She s taking the same track as he once did.  I did the same path, like all the Cubans did. I came from Ecuador. I walked for 27 days on the road,  he said.Congressman Henry Cuellar s office said Cuban refugees are coming to Laredo s Point of Entry every day and the numbers are increasing. They re coming from Central America through Mexico to the border.Acosta s van can take more than just his family. He said he can help the Cuban refugees, but his goal is to pick up his family, to bring them safely back home. 5  spoke to U.S. Customs and Border Protection to see if they were prepared for the influx. They released a statement that said in part,  U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is prepared to process the expected increase in Cubans applying for admission at South Texas ports of entry.  officers will process Cuban nationals in accordance with established procedures as expeditiously as possible while maintaining requirements and standards for individuals in our care. Via: krgv",fake,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
22338,22339,"Manuel Pellegrini should be given the chance to turn things around at Manchester City next season , according to Gary Neville .  The former Manchester United defender has been critical of Pellegrini ' s side in recent weeks as the reigning Premier League champions have seen their chances of retaining the crown slip following a dismal run of form and results .  But , despite the Chilean being the favourite with many bookmakers to be the next managerial casualty and Jurgen Klopp available in the summer after announcing he is to leave Borussia Dortmund , it is understood City chiefs are not entertaining the idea of replacing Pellegrini at present .  Manuel Pellegrini should be ' able to correct the things that have gone wrong ' , according to Gary Neville  And Neville , talking at a Budweiser Dream Goal event in Regent ' s Park , believes keeping faith in Pellegrini would bring some much needed stability to the Etihad Stadium .  ' I hope they don ' t change manager , ' Neville said .  ' I hope that Manuel Pellegrini stays at Man City and I hope he is able to correct the things that have gone wrong in the last four months .  ' He used the term "" garbage "" in recent weeks when discussing City ' s form and four wins in 15 games for a club like Man City is not right and I hope he stays to correct the performances and can complete the job . '  Manchester City were humiliated by rivals United on Sunday as they lost 4 2 at Old Trafford  A 4 2 derby defeat to United last weekend leaves City fourth in the table , with qualification for next season ' s Champions League not yet assured .  Just six wins since the turn of the year has seen the club drop out of the  Cup to Middlesbrough and come up short against Barcelona in Europe for the second season in succession .  Neville feels some work on the side in the summer is required but reckons the type of wholesale changes being suggested may not be the way to go .  ' I don ' t rule anything out in football you don ' t make wild predictions , ' he said when asked if the current City team will struggle to get back to their best .  But Sky Sports pundit Neville has backed Pellegrini and says only minor changes need to happen this summer  ' These players aren ' t finished , this team aren ' t finished . There needs to be some renovation to their house the people there know that , they don ' t need me to tell them .  ' I have spoken a lot about City over the past months . I have praised them over the last three or four years and rightly so . Some of the football I have seen them play in that time has been the best and their players have been outstanding .  ' They have come to a time now where they have dropped below the standard they have set . They have set a standard I have watched , commentated on and been asked to speak about . I have enjoyed when I have watched them . But now , I ' m not enjoying watching them . '  The Premier League holders sit fourth in the league , 12 points adrift of Chelsea after two straight losses  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
22376,22377,"To all outward appearances , "" Kevin "" is a typical Southern state governor . He enjoys vetoing bills , attending ribbon cutting ceremonies , and hanging out with friends . But the recent suspension of lethal injections in 10 states has put Kevin ' s political life in serious jeopardy . Unable to wait for the U . S . Supreme Court to determine whether the practice constitutes cruel and unusual punishment , Kevin , like many young governors who find themselves saddled with an unwanted death row inmate , has been forced to take desperate action and obtain an illegal back alley lethal injection .  "" It was awful , "" said Kevin , who still suffers from nightmares after witnessing the prisoner die in horrible agony without any anesthesia . "" We did it on an old card table . All the equipment was really rusty and dirty . I just closed my eyes and prayed for it to be over . ""  "" I had my whole political career ahead of me , "" Kevin continued through tears . "" If I didn ' t do it , the voters would have left me . I couldn ' t see any other way . ""  Lethal injection has long been a polarizing issue and , according to proponents of the banned procedure , Kevin ' s story is becoming all too common . Dr Daniel Blecker , a professor at the University of California , Berkeley , School of Law , and expert on capital punishment , said that the illegal back alley execution trend will only intensify if the ban is upheld .  "" Every day more and more governors find themselves in dank basements or filthy garages with a retinue of prison guards and a convicted killer , "" said Blecker , referring to testimony he has gathered from more than a dozen politicians who have participated in illegal lethal injections . "" In extreme cases , the inexperienced executioners will inject the prisoners with cheap , common household poisons , such as oven cleaner and bleach , instead of the suggested sodium thiopental , Pavulon , and potassium chloride cocktail that a state licensed executioner would use . ""  Blecker also cited reports of back alley injections performed so hastily that no last meal was provided .  "" The reality of the situation is that you can ' t legislate lethal injections away , "" Blecker said . "" If governors can ' t inhumanely execute prisoners legally in prisons , they ' re going to turn elsewhere for the procedure . More often than not with tragic results . ""  Since early last year , a growing number of states have indefinitely postponed the termination of prisoners by lethal injection until the Supreme Court rules on the matter . According to a recent study conducted by the U . S . Department of Justice , an estimated 14 inmates have been killed monthly by botched illegal injections since the ban took effect , compared with an average of 12 killed each month in successful illegal executions .  Karen Walton , a therapist who counsels distraught governors following traumatic illegal lethal injections , said that pressure from constituents and the stigma of being seen as soft on crime often contribute to the politicians ' desperation .  "" Many of these poor gentlemen find themselves in situations like this again and again , "" Walton said . "" I ' ve even heard stories of governors performing crude , life threatening euthanasia themselves . ""  Proponents of the ban , however , have dismissed cases such as Kevin ' s as isolated incidences . Some anti lethal injection advocates believe that removing the option of legal lethal injections will force state politicians to consider alternatives for dealing with death row inmates , such as life imprisonment , rehabilitation , or the gas chamber .  "" Governors have consistently abused state sponsored euthanasia , using it as a sort of barbaric crime control method , "" said Lillith Tinsely , a spokesperson for Amnesty International , the organization responsible for convincing the Supreme Court to reexamine lethal injection . "" Ethically , the procedure should only be used as a last resort , such as in the case of rapists or convicts who have committed incest . Otherwise lethal injection is murder , any way you look at it . ""  Regardless of the outcome of the Supreme Court inquiry and the continued debate over how a life on death row should end , it is in some ways too late for politicians like Kevin who will be forced to live forever with the memory of standing in a windowless , dimly lit room as a serial killer draws his last tortured breath .  "" What did I do to deserve this ? "" Kevin said , choking back sobs . "" I can ' t eat , I can barely sleep at night . Sometimes I feel like just ending it all . I don ' t know how I ' m ever going to go through this again next Thursday . ""  ",satire,text,validation,Other sport,Conflict,satire,satire,True,no,no,negative,past
22378,22379,"Real Madrid ' s Spanish title defense lurched to a new low on Saturday , as Kaka was sent off in a 0 0 draw at bottom club Osasuna .  The result means Jose Mourinho ' s third placed team could fall 18 points behind Barcelona if the La Liga leaders win at Malaga on Sunday , while city rivals Atletico Madrid can move seven clear of Real by beating Zaragoza .  With top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo ending a run of 60 consecutive league appearances due to suspension , Real looked woefully short of attacking ideas despite the return of striker Gonzalo Higuain .  Kaka came on for winger Angel Di Maria just before an hour was played , but the 2007 world player of the year was booked twice within 18 minutes to leave his side a man short .  The Brazilian ' s first yellow card came for jumping with an arm raised and the second was for stopping the home players taking a quick free kick , resulting in his first red for Real since signing from  Milan for a reported 100 million in 2009 .  Mourinho also brought on striker Karim Benzema and Mesut Ozil for Higuain and Luka Modric , but Real ' s best chance was ruled out for offside .  Los Blancos have now won only six of the last 12 matches in all competitions , and Mourinho ' s future at the nine time European titleholders may hinge on next month ' s Champions League last 16 clash with Ronaldo ' s former club Manchester United .  His team have already lost seven times this season two more defeats than the whole of the 2011 12 campaign and all of them have been away from home .  "" I liked the team ' s attitude , I have no criticism . Lots of players had great matches , like Albiol and Coentrao , who haven ' t played for a while and they performed very well in a very demanding match , "" said Mourinho , who was also without suspended defender Sergio Ramos .  "" I never talk about the missing players . We have had players injured for a month or two and I ' ve never talked about them . We also have players suspended and I have not used that as an excuse . ""  However , he hinted that his players were struggling to deal with the big points deficit they face in the title race .  "" The explanation begins on the first match day and since then things have happened that I do not want to talk about , "" said Mourinho .  "" After that , when the gap is big , one team plays without pressure and the other one feels like that they can ' t close the gap and there are motivational issues . ""  Iker Casillas retained his place in goal , having been handed a second chance alter an injury to his replacement Adan , but Mourinho would not guarantee that the Spain captain would stay in the team for Tuesday ' s Spanish Cup quarterfinal first leg against Valencia .  "" He hardly touched the ball against Osasuna , but it can be said that in these two matches the team has been good defensively and he has been part of the team ' s defensive play . It is too early to say whether he will play against Valencia . ""  Valencia moved up to seventh in the table after beating Sevilla 2 0 , with both goals coming from Spain striker Roberto Soldado .  Soldado netted twice from corners to take his tally to 11 in La Liga this season to put his team above Levante on goal difference , while Sevilla stayed 12th .  Earlier , Espanyol moved out of the bottom three with a 1 0 win at home to Celta Vigo , as Sergio Garcia scored a first half winner .  Real Mallorca stayed just above the bottom three after a 3 1 defeat at mid table Valladolid , whose German winger Patrick Ebert celebrated his return from injury with two goals .  In Italy , Inter Milan moved up to third place with a 2 0 win at home to lowly Pescara .  Argentine forward Rodrigo Palacio scored in the first half and then set up Colombian Freddy Guarin nine minutes after halftime to leave Inter six points behind leaders Juventus , who host mid table Atalanta on Sunday .  Bologna moved five points clear of the relegation zone with a 4 0 win at home to Chievo , as former Italy striker Alberto Gilardino scored twice .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past
22379,22380,"Clemson defensive end Shaq Lawson made it through six plays against Oklahoma in the College Football Playoff semifinals before his left knee told him he was done . He limped to the sideline , draped a towel over his head and watched his teammates carry on without him .  Each of them embodied his style : physical , relentless and overpowering , working in concert to completely shut down the Sooners and their dynamic running duo . After Clemson won and secured its spot in the  National Championship Presented by  T , Lawson stood on the field and took on all comers , welcoming any and all questions .  Lawson continued on , calling out Oklahoma defensive end Charles Tapper . "" I got tired of hearing them talk , "" he said . "" If you ' re going to talk , you ' ve got to back your game up . That ' s something they didn ' t do . ""  In addition to disrupting opposing offenses , Shaw Lawson helps Clemson by getting teammates such as Christian Wilkins , right , fired up . ?  He held court this way , unleashing a verbal barrage he usually reserves for in game smack talk . When he could not let his game do the talking for him , he needed another outlet .  But those who know Lawson understand he is a man who has never really been conventional . He declared his intentions for the  draft last month to a television reporter in Houston simply because he was asked and wanted to tell the truth .  He loves to practice , smiling and joking all the way through .  He is even unafraid to take down defensive coordinator Brent Venables .  "" It ' s been awesome to learn how he approaches every day , the intensity he plays with , the way he comes to practice , "" said true freshman Austin Bryant , who replaced Lawson against the Sooners . "" He just loves to play , and to be able to watch him from afar and for him to guide me along , it will pay dividends in the future . ""  Lawson grew up near Clemson in Central , South Carolina , working the concession stands at football games when he was around 12 . He ' d then sneak down to the field to try to get gloves from the players . His dad and uncle played college basketball , so Lawson dreamed of playing basketball , too .  He played both sports in high school , but football would be his ticket to college .  "" He was the best kept secret around , "" Daniel High coach Randy Robinson said . "" He didn ' t run to all the combines , or try to get the stars with the Internet guys . He wreaked havoc . He was unblockable . I couldn ' t believe someone that big was that explosive out of the stance . His first step is amazing . ""  What ' s more , Lawson was the most likable guy in school . "" A big teddy bear with our teachers , "" Robinson said .  And one of the funniest players Robinson has ever coached .  "" He could crack a joke in a middle of a play , or tell an offensive lineman , ' You can ' t block me , ' "" Robinson said . "" He would tell the quarterbacks he was going to be there before they got the play off . ""  But Lawson endured personal heartache , too . His father died during Lawson ' s junior year in high school , and soon Lawson reconsidered his priorities . Robinson said Lawson had a much bigger purpose and a drive after losing his father , determined to play in his honor .  It just took a little longer to get to Clemson than anybody anticipated . Lawson was forced to make a pit stop at Hargrave Military Academy in 2012 . There , he and his teammates had to trudge up a rocky dirt hill , past a graveyard to get to the football fields . That was only one of the many challenges he faced .  "" It makes you a better person , a better man , gives you structure in life , "" Lawson said . "" I ' m glad I got to go to Hargrave . If I had come to Clemson right out of high school , there would probably be a different change in me . ""  Hargrave taught Lawson many things , but two stand out above the others : patience and discipline . He would need both sitting behind All American Vic Beasley the past two seasons . But anybody who watched Lawson play as a backup knew this would be his breakout season .  It turned out that way , as Lawson earned All American honors after leading the nation with 23 . 5 tackles for loss . Lawson ranks No . 11 on Mel Kiper Jr . ' s latest Big Board for the 2016  draft .  But the biggest game in his career is left . What chance does Lawson have at being effective playing on one good knee ?  Coach Dabo Swinney remains "" very optimistic "" Lawson will play . Will 10 days ' rest be enough for Lawson to dominate the way he did in the first 13 games this season ?  He obviously is a huge part of the game plan on defense and the biggest matchup advantage the Tigers have , even with supremely talented teammates around him . But Clemson also needs Lawson ' s spirit , leadership and influence .  "" He may have more fun playing football than anybody who ' s going to play Monday night , "" Robinson said .  That part of his game has proven to be an asset , too .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
22381,22382,"Reuters) - Six police were wounded and one killed in shootings that police alleged on Monday were carried out by a separatist group that aims to disrupt operations at the Grasberg copper and gold mine in Indonesia s eastern-most province of Papua.  Four of the shootings took place on Monday, while police were already investigating incidents that occurred over the weekend, including the fatal shooting of an officer in Timika on Sunday afternoon.  The armed group police say is behind the shootings has up to 30  separatist  members led by a man named Sabinus Waker.  The group has carried out earlier shootings in the mine area as well, Papua Police spokesman Suryadi Diaz told Reuters.       It s clear they want to disrupt operations at Freeport,  Diaz said.  Diaz said the group is  demanding justice  from the local unit of Freeport-McMoRan Inc, which operates the Grasberg mine, although it was not clear what that might entail.   Freeport is rich (and) has a big company. The population are poor,  Diaz said. It was not immediately possible to contact Waker, and it is not known if the group that police say is led by him has a spokesman or other representative.  A spokesman for Freeport s Indonesian unit said the recent shootings have had no impact on output from Grasberg, the world s second-biggest copper mine, but he declined to comment further.  Pro-independence rebels in Papua have waged a low-level conflict for decades, raising major concerns over security at Grasberg. Between 2009 and 2015, shootings within the mine project area killed 20 people and wounded 59.  To protect workers and infrastructure, Freeport contributed $21 million toward government-provided security in 2015.  Freeport has been grappling with labor problems at Grasberg and a lengthy dispute with Indonesia over rights to the giant mine that has cost both sides hundreds of millions of dollars.  ",true,dataset,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
22394,22395,"Fight Inflammation with These 9 Vitamins and Minerals (And where to get them) weblink  By Twain Yobra  Posted Monday, October 31, 2016 at 12:42pm   Vitamins and minerals play vital roles in the body. And one of their most important role is fighting inflammation. And this can reduce risk of diseases like arthritis, heart disease and so on.  Here are 9 anti-inflammatory vitamin and minerals you should include in your diet.  1. Vitamin E  This antioxidant will fight inflammation. You can get vitamin E from natural sources seeds and nuts like almonds, peanuts and so on. Avocado and spinach are also great sources.  2. Magnesium  Research shows that magnesium will keep you relaxed, increases energy, improves heart health and much more. Unfortunately most people are magnesium deficient. Good food sources of magnesium include beans, nuts, leafy greens, whole wheat bread, carrots, and meat.  3. Vitamin B  Low levels of B vitamins increase risk of inflammation. Natural sources include broccoli, kale, cauliflower, bell pepper, chicken, tuna and chickpeas.  4. Glutathione  This antioxidant will definitely fight inflammation. You can get it from garlic, apples, tomatoes, apples, grapefruit and avocado.  5. Vitamin C  Vitamin C is known to strengthening the immune system, reducing toxicity and even fights cancer. Lemon water, tomatoes, and oranges are great sources of vitamin C.  6. Vitamin D  Vitamin D deficiency plus poor nutrition can lead to chronic inflammation. Sunlight is the most popular sources of vitamin D, other sources including avocado, spinach, seeds and nuts.  7. Vitamin K  Vitamin K prevents the body from heart disease, osteoporosis. Get vitamin K eggs, liver, cabbage, cauliflower, spinach and kale.  8. Coenzyme Q10  This antioxidant has anti-inflammatory properties. You can get it from natural sources like olive oil, walnuts, peanuts, spinach, mackerel, beef liver, and sardines.  9. Vitamin A  Vitamin A protects the body against free radicals. You can increase levels of vitamin A by eating carrots, broccoli, sweet potato, kale, collard greens, cantaloupe, dandelion, and spinach.  For more information on eating healthy and staying fit, download your  3 Weeks Flat Stomach Guide to help you improve your health and physique. And like our Facebook page . You might also like…",fake,news,validation,Other news2,Conflict,satire,fake,True,no,no,positive,present
22412,22413,"Eagles Of Death Metal in emotional return to Bataclan  Members of Eagles of Death Metal pay their respects to 89 victims who died in the attack on the Bataclan while the band were playing (  )  The Eagles Of Death Metal and U2 on stage in Paris ( U2  )  Eagles Of Death Metal have shed tears at the Bataclan theatre in Paris where scores of their fans were gunned down in the November 13 terror attacks .  The  rock band visited the concert venue now a shrine to the dead to lay flowers less than a month on from the indiscriminate atrocities .  They embraced one another as they read messages in silence , fighting to contain their emotions .  Frontman Jesse Hughes wiped away tears before speaking briefly to thank the small group of fans at the site , also there to pay their own personal tributes .  The band made the emotional visit after a surprise return to Paris when they joined U2 on stage for an encore on Monday night , belting out the Patti Smith anthem People Have The Power .  Eighty nine people were killed in the Bataclan out of a total of 130 murdered in bars , cafes and restaurants in the unprecedented shootings .  The California band escaped the carnage by hiding in a dressing room backstage in the Bataclan and later told how they want to return to Paris to finish their performance .  After Monday ' s gig they joined U2 and friends , family and the tour team for a private gathering in a top hotel .  In a Facebook post , the band thanked the Irish stars and said they had "" reminded us that the bad guys never take a day off , and therefore we rock ' n rollers cannot either . . . and we never will "" .  They paid tribute to "" everyone in the world who continues to prove that love , joy and music will always overcome terror and evil "" .  The front of the Bataclan and neighbouring streets have become a focal point for people to express their sorrow and disgust at the terrorist attacks .  During the concert U2 added a poignant mark of respect to the victims of the attacks with a huge display of the French tricolour and the names of those who died on a screen in the centre of the AccorHotels Arena .  In a video interview with Vice News last week , Hughes said he ' ' cannot wait ' ' to get back to Paris .  He said : ' ' I want to be the first band to play in the Bataclan when it opens back up , because I was there when it went silent for a minute . ' '  Co founder Josh Homme said : ' ' We don ' t really have a choice . We have to finish the tour . ""  Comments that are judged to be defamatory , abusive or in bad taste are not acceptable and contributors who consistently fall below certain criteria will be permanently blacklisted . Comments must be concise and to the point . The moderator will not enter into debate with individual contributors and the moderator s decision is final . The comment facility is removed after 48 hours .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
22444,22445,"In the first interview since her engagement to Prince William , presumptive Queen Consort Kate Middleton said today she looks forward to becoming a full fledged member of the British royal family by going insane .  "" I know what the people expect of a royal , "" the 28 year old Kate told  News . "" I ' m happy and stable now , but I plan on being dysfunctional and psychotic and possibly even sleeping with the Horse Guard before the wedding next summer . ""  "" She ' ll be one of us , "" William added .  To that end , the future Princess of Wales said she was grateful that family assistance was close at hand . "" I ' ve got my new brother in law Harry , who dresses like a Nazi , "" she said . "" I ' ve got my father in law , Prince Charles , who collects toilet seats and wants to be a tampon . And Prince Philip and Princess Michael have been teaching me how to make random racist comments and then laugh eerily about it . ""  Although the wedding announcement came this week , the two were engaged in October while on holiday . Sitting side by side , Kate and William recalled the moment fondly .  "" It was quite romantic , "" she said . "" We were in Africa , and he pulled out this gigantic ring and said , Kate , marry me and I ' ll make you the craziest woman in the world . "" '  "" She didn ' t answer right away , "" William interjected , "" And I remember thinking , Oh God , is she up for it ? Will she say yes ? Will she say no ? Will she stuff the ring up her nose and play Jerusalem ' on her armpits for an hour ? '  Fortunately , William said , Kate stuffed the ring up her nose and played Jerusalem ' on her armpits for an hour .  "" It was magical . I immediately called Gran ( Queen Elizabeth ) to tell her , but she was taking a bubble bath with the Corgis . ""  Kate ' s response in Africa was spontaneous , but she admitted she knew the day was coming . "" Of course I ' d already been preparing to join the family , learning offensive words for Pakistanis , making erotic mobile calls to the gardeners , and getting my slippers to have an argument . That last one is my own . ""  Although part of the House of Windsor , Kate said it was important that she "" be her own nutter , "" explaining : "" I want to take my time , maybe study what some of my new ancestors did . I mean , Henry  beheaded his wives . The first Elizabeth apparently slept with a horse  "" Never proven , "" William interrupted .  "" Yes , but look at ( Charles ' wife ) Camilla . Your family is obviously attracted to them . ""  Now matter what path to bedlam she takes , however , Palace observers say Kate will have to contend with the elephant in the rubber room : Princess Diana . Will Kate , in other words , be a reincarnation of "" The People ' s Psychotic Princess ?  "" I don ' t think anyone is trying to make Kate fill Diana ' s straight jacket , "" said Daily Mail reporter Jonathan Risley . "" Diana was bulimic and suicidal and had Charles . As for Kate , it ' s too soon . I don ' t think she knows what kind of crazy she ' s going to be , but most important , I don ' t think we in media know what kind of crazy we ' re going to make her out to be . ""  ",satire,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
22472,22473,"After months of questions and pressure from whistle blowers , academic reform groups , the public and members of Congress , the  has decided to reopen its investigation into The University of North Carolina over its so called paper class scandal .  Willingham ' s job was to help athletes who weren ' t quite ready academically for the work required at  at Chapel Hill , one of the country ' s top public universities . She said she learned about the fake classes through her work .  Even though many athletes were enrolled in those paper classes , the  had previously decided the scandal was not an athletic one , and did not sanction the university . That left a lot of unanswered questions and prompted Rep . Tony Cardenas , D California , to write a letter to  President Mark Emmert demanding answers .  Willingham said she was not interviewed by the  during its first investigation . On Monday , she said the  had lost credibility by not investigating the issue . Now , she said , the  shouldn ' t focus on punishment : "" Instead , they should focus on how to use the  example to reform the entire system . ""  Several athletes have also said publicly that they were forced to major in Afro American studies by athletic staff .  For years , and after several internal investigations ,  said a single professor , Julius Nyang ' oro , knew about the fake classes . Until now , the  stood behind the university on that claim .  Then , earlier this year , after a flurry of national reporting ,  commissioned yet another investigation , this time by former Homeland Security Secretary Ken Wainstein .  Wainstein has received 1 . 5 million e mails and documents , interviewed more than 30 employees , and acquired athlete transcripts going back to the 1980s in his investigation .  While he is not giving updates , he did tell the  board at a meeting recently that his team has gotten "" extremely valuable "" information from people who have reached out to help the investigation .  Among those cooperating , he said , is Nyang ' oro .  Nyang ' oro was indicted on a fraud charge in December , but Orange County District Attorney Jim Woodall said recently that he is considering dropping the charge because Nyang ' oro has been so cooperative .  "" Even though it ' s a noncriminal investigation , that is more important than this , "" Woodall said , referring to Wainstein ' s review .  "" The money is paid back already , "" Woodall said . "" This was more of an academic scandal than any kind of criminal issue . . . . In the criminal probe what we ' re left with is one low level nonviolent felony for a person never in trouble before in his life . ""   said it directed Wainstein to share what he finds with the  , and both  and the  said that it was the cooperation from "" additional people "" that prompted the  investigation to be re opened .  Cardenas ' office has received a response from the  . A spokesman for his office said it is still going through the response .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
22479,22480,"London With her lashings of butter and flirtations with the camera , celebrity chef Nigella Lawson has charmed her many fans by turning everyday cooking into a more sensual experience .  As she ' s licked her fingers while talking viewers through her recipes , she has earned nicknames such as "" domestic goddess "" and the "" queen of food porn "" in the British media .  But her successful cooking career has not been mirrored in her recent personal life . Her 10 year marriage to millionaire art collector Charles Saatchi collapsed after photos of the couple having an argument at a restaurant emerged in June .  In the photos which were splashed across the front pages of national newspapers at the time Saatchi has his hand around Lawson ' s throat . Saatchi accepted a police caution for assault , and the couple announced they would divorce soon after .  Since then , the trial of the couple ' s two former personal assistants who were cleared Friday of defrauding Lawson and Saatchi of hundreds of thousands of pounds has gripped the media .  This has mainly been thanks to revelations of drug use by Lawson and insights into her troubled marriage to Saatchi .  During the trial , the two former assistants , Italian sisters Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo told the court they believed the celebrity chef repeatedly used drugs .  Saatchi had said in an e mail that Lawson had used drugs regularly , but in his testimony before the court last month , he backed off that claim .  The court heard that none of the witnesses had seen her take drugs .  In her own testimony , Lawson , 53 , confirmed she had taken cocaine half a dozen times , during two periods of her life , and used cannabis in the past .  But she denied being a habitual user , saying , "" I did not have a drug problem , I had a life problem . ""  ' I am not a chef '  Her admission of limited drug use may cause some surprise because of Lawson ' s connections with the British political establishment .  Born in London , she is the daughter of Nigel Lawson , a former Conservative Party British chancellor of the exchequer , or finance minister .  Her brother Dominic was formerly editor of The Spectator , a British conservative political magazine .  In the 1980s , before Lawson married him , Saatchi ran Saatchi Saatchi , a leading global advertising agency , with his brother . Its campaigns included the promotion of the Conservative Party under then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher .  After studying at Oxford University , the celebrity chef began her career in publishing before moving into media , writing restaurant columns .  She met her first husband , John Diamond , while working at the Sunday Times newspaper . The couple had two children . In 2001 , Diamond died after a battle with throat cancer .  Lawson went on to contribute to various  newspapers before writing books .  In 1998 , she brought out "" How to Eat , "" in which she stated how food was an early love .  "" I am not a chef . I am not even a trained or professional cook . My qualification is as an eater , "" she wrote .  Her second book "" How to Be a Domestic Goddess , "" in which she taught readers how to feel just like that while baking muffins or cakes came out two years later and won her the British Book Award for Author of the Year .  Lawson went on to release a string of other successful cookbooks and host numerous cooking television shows , such as "" Nigella Bites "" in Britain . In the United States , she ' s been a judge on the  show "" The Taste , "" which is due to air its second season starting in January .  She also launched a successful kitchenware line and once oversaw a lunch menu for former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and former U . S . President George W . Bush .  Lawson lists her recipes on her website and posts them on her Twitter account .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
22482,22483,"Members of the Irish rock band U2 , Bono , David Howell Evans and Adam Clayton , lay flowers at a tribute to the victims of the Paris terror attacks , outside the Bataclan theatre .  The majority of victims slain and wounded during Friday s massacre were music fans enjoying an Eagles of Death Metal at the historic venue , the U2 frontman pointed out to an Irish radio station .  If you think about it , the majority of victims last night are music fans , Bono told  2  . This is the first direct hit on music that we ve had in this so called War on Terror , or whatever it s called .  Investigators inspect a shooting victim outside the Bataclan concert hall after Friday s attack .  The venue was recently sold by a Jewish family threatened in the past for hosting pro Israel events .  The theater s lush history spans 150 years of vaudeville , cinema and modern entertainment . A Jewish family of Tunisian descent acquired the historic venue nearly 40 years ago before selling off the Bataclan in September , according to Israeli reports .  We re devastated because we knew everyone who worked there , former co owner Pascal LaLoux told Israel s Channel 2 after learning of the attack from a former employee who called amid the gunfire .  View Gallery World reacts to Paris terror attacks  The sale was spurred by LaLoux s brother , Joel , who moved to Israel , the Jewish Telegraph Agency reported .  The family s ownership apparently put the Bataclan on the radar for terrorists as early as 2007 ? because its organizers hosted a concert in support of Israel border guards , Le Figaro wrote in 2011 .  A French terrorist with ties to a Gaza Strip based group , the Army of Islam , allegedly confessed to planning an attack against the Bataclan because the owners are Jews .  A French policeman walks with a blood covered victim near the Bataclan concert hall following attacks in Paris on Friday night .  While the eight suicide bombers associated with the Islamic States did not explain their motive in targeting the Bataclan during Friday s horrific slaughter , the assault was essentially an attack on the soul of the city , another member of the LaLoux family anonymously told the New York Times .  The scattered bombings in central Paris reverberated through the entertainment industry s stake in France after it claimed 129 lives inside the Bataclan and during a string of bombings outside a soccer game and at nearby restaurants .   90                  The Foo Fighters ended their world tour early after the Paris massacre . They would have performed in Bercy . ?  The deadly theater rampage started with a hail of gunfire at the Eagles of Death Metal concert . In video , fans were witnessed hanging out of the Bataclan ' s windows as gunfire erupted inside .  Concertgoers fled the venue dragging their friends to safety , leaving a trail of blood . The suicide bombers then detonated their explosive vests ? killing a total of 89 at the venue .  French authorities canceled large gatherings throughout Paris including the U2 concert , that would have been streamed to  , fearing another attack .  Fencing blocks the entrance to the Bataclan venue Saturday morning after a night of violence killed 89 people at the historic music ? hall .  The group was rushed back to their hotel during a rehearsal as the attacks unfolded . Bono was left shaken by Friday s events as he watched the news from a Paris hotel . He and his bandmate later paid tribute to the victims by leaving flowers at a growing memorial site outside the Bataclan .  He understands why French authorities would cancel U2 ' s performance in the wake of the attacks . ?  It s very upsetting , Bono added . These are our people . This could be me at a show , you at a show , in that venue . It s a very recognizable situation for you and for me and the coldblooded aspect of this slaughter is deeply disturbing and that s what I can t get out of my head .  A concert in Bercy would have brought members of the Foo Fighters to the French stage Sunday , but the Paris massacre nixed that plan and their world tour . The Dave Grohl led group made the decision to end its concerts in Bercy , Turin , Lyon and Barcelona in the wake of Friday s bloodshed .  It is with profound sadness and heartfelt concern for everyone in Paris that we have been forced to announce the cancellation of the rest of our tour , the band wrote in a statement Saturday . In light of this senseless violence , the closing of borders , and international mourning , we can ' t continue right now . There is no other way to say it . This is crazy and it sucks .  Pop singer Madonna battled a decision to go forward with a Saturday night in Stockholm , deciding ultimately to perform and tribute to France by singing "" La Vie En Rose "" with an acoustic guitar . ?  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
22484,22485,"It ' s a tired , boring , not very funny joke to make about the Oklahoma City Thunder .  "" They sure are a lot better when Kevin Durant plays . ""  It ' s an obvious thing to say , like water is wet or Cinnamon Toast Crunch is the best cereal ever ( it is ) . But often that critical fact gets passed over when assessing the Thunder and their perceived stumble during the past year .  Heat rookie Winslow ' locked in ' ? ? for Durant , LeBron tasks  For most rookies , defending Kevin Durant and LeBron James in consecutive games might be intimidating , but Justise Winslow views it as an opportunity .  Last season , Durant missed 55 games because of three different surgeries on his right foot , and a sprained ankle . The Thunder went 27 28 in those games . This season , he ' s missed six games because of a hamstring strain . The Thunder went 3 3 in those . In the past 39 games they ' ve played with Durant dating back to last season , they ' re 26 13 . Without , 30 31 .  The Thunder definitely are a lot better when Durant plays .  It ' s difficult to evaluate a team after just 18 games , especially one working in a new head coach and a somewhat refurbished roster . Eighteen games is 22 percent of the season , not even a quarter of the way through the full 82 . Eighteen games is only one complete month , with four and a half more to go .  But the Thunder , a tried and true title contender by basically any measure , are sitting at a disappointing 11 7 through those 18 games , and don ' t seem to have many buying them as a threat anymore .  With Durant , though , they ' re 8 4 . They beat the San Antonio Spurs on opening night , obliterated the Utah Jazz on the road in his return and have won by an average margin of 8 . 6 points when he ' s played . Their four losses were all by six or less and except for the first two , all their wins have been by double digits .  So the question isn ' t really if Durant makes the Thunder good . We know that one . The question is if he makes them good enough ?  Without Durant , the Thunder are no better than mediocre , despite the abundance of talent on the team . ?  With a mediocre first month ( still good for third in the West , though ) combined with a forgettable 2014 15 season , the Thunder have slipped from a lot of radars , falling a tier below the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs in the West . They ' re currently on a 50 win pace , which would ' ve landed them as a seven seed a season ago . That ' s not good enough for a team as loaded as they are .  And for all the triple doubles and bombastic play by Russell Westbrook , the Thunder are merely a decent to pretty decent team when he ' s running the show solo . What makes them special is the two headed superbeast that overwhelms and overpowers opponents .  In the past five seasons , the Thunder have the second best regular season winning percentage in the league , have won more playoff series than anyone except San Antonio and Miami , and have been to more conference finals than anyone but those two . The West has been run by the Thunder and Spurs the past five seasons until the Warriors kicked down the door .  And the Thunder believe if not for injuries to Durant and Serge Ibaka to end last season , things might still be different . Before Durant was ruled out for good and it appeared  was headed for a 1 vs 8 showdown for the ages against the Warriors , those within the Thunder organization felt they had matchup advantages and were positioned to pull the upset . They pointed to last January when the Thunder beat the Warriors 127 115 . Durant had 36 . Westbrook had a 17 15 16 triple double . Ibaka had 27 .  "" The West runs through the Bay Area , and the Thunder have a lot more catching up to do than just in the standings . The Warriors are a complete , refined juggernaut . The Thunder are a top heavy , semi flawed team in development . ""  That was then , though , because the Warriors haven ' t slowed down . The Thunder already are eight games back of first in the West , and probably can cross off having homecourt in a series against Golden State already . The West runs through the Bay Area , and the Thunder have a lot more catching up to do than just in the standings . The Warriors are a complete , refined juggernaut . The Thunder are a top heavy , semi flawed team in development .  Once an elite defensive team , the Thunder are a nightly toss up , ranking 16th in defensive efficiency . They turn the ball over with alarming regularity . Their second unit , supposedly a strength , is irritatingly inconsistent . With Westbrook and Durant on the floor , they obliterate opponents , outscoring them by 17 . 0 points per 100 possessions . In lineups without them , though , the Thunder are outscored by 6 . 5 per 100 .  Durant ' s impact is far reaching , but beyond the scoring , the creating and uncanny clutch time shot making , he changes the Thunder defensively . For whatever reason , Durant has rarely been regarded as a high level defender , but the Thunder are considerably better with him on the floor ( 3 . 5 points per 100 this season , 4 . 8 last season ) . One key area he impacts : small ball . With so many teams eager to play stretch players at the 4 and 5 , the Thunder are at the mercy of mismatching without Durant . With him , they ' re one of the best small balling teams in the business . Without , they ' re scrambled , playing someone out of position or leaving two unequipped big men on the floor together .  Then there ' s just the simplicity of Durant . For all the talk of Billy Donovan ' s offensive reform , system tweaks , ball movement and spacing , Durant has this thing he does where he breaks down the fourth wall and scores . Against the Brooklyn Nets last week , it was Durant dribbling up the floor after a rebound and canning a straightaway 3 to give the Thunder a fourth quarter lead . There were no passes on the possession , no play called . But it was three points in a big moment that only required the ball to touch No . 35 ' s hands somewhere in the gym .  Durant not only takes the Thunder to a higher level , he also masks their deficiencies . That is the superstar luxury , the reason nearly the entire league is trying to maneuver to grab his attention next summer .  Take away LeBron James from the Cavaliers and they go 1 7 , like they did last season during his two week sabbatical . The Spurs went 9 9 last season without Kawhi Leonard . The Warriors were 0 2 last season without Curry . The Pacers are 12 5 after going 38 44 last season playing mostly without Paul George . It ' s no big secret , but it is often overlooked : To be a great team , you kind of need a great player .  The Thunder don ' t deny they ' re a work in progress , and while preaching patience can often be a word just to buy enough time to hopefully have things sort themselves out , they ' ve only played 12 games as a fully operational unit . They ' ve slipped from the elites , but they aren ' t entirely bothered by perceptions . Especially in December .  Are the Thunder still a contender ? Well , that depends . Is Kevin Durant playing ?  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
22487,22488,"Andre Drummond ' s awful free throw shooting hasn ' t been the problem for the Detroit Pistons . It ' s been his relative lack of rebounding , according to coach Stan Van Gundy .  The league ' s top rebounder as well as its worst foul shooter might be hitting the glass harder when the visiting Pistons try to avoid a third straight loss Monday night against the Brooklyn Nets .  Drummond averages 15 . 0 rebounds and is shooting 34 . 7 percent at the line . Opponents are fouling him with more regularity , and he has made 3 of 17 free throws in back to back defeats .  Van Gundy , though , is more annoyed at Drummond ' s 20 rebounds in those games , with 12 in Saturday ' s 111 107 defeat at Toronto . That effort came on the heels of Drummond being held to eight or fewer for the third time in four games in a 114 106 loss to Cleveland the night before .  ' ' It starts with Andre ' s not dominating on the boards . He ' s just not , ' ' Van Gundy said . ' ' He had eight last night ( against Cleveland ) , he ' s not dominating on the boards and it starts there . ""  The coach believes the foul shooting is getting inside the first time All Star ' s head .  "" His focus , everybody else ' s focus , has gone to free throw shooting instead of to the fact that he needs to be a dominant rebounder , "" Van Gundy told the Pistons ' official website . "" I don ' t think his head ' s where it needs to be right now . ""  Detroit ( 25 23 ) was outrebounded 45 39 as it played Saturday without Ersan Ilyasova , who was out with a groin injury and is second on the team with 5 . 6 rebounds per game . His replacement , Anthony Tolliver , grabbed two boards .  The Pistons are 22 10 when they outrebound opponents .  Another issue is Reggie Jackson averaging 14 . 0 points in the last two games , well below his season mark of 19 . 1 .  Drummond will have to keep a body on Brook Lopez , who has four straight double doubles for the Nets . Lopez has totaled 61 points , 22 rebounds and six blocks in his last two games , crediting teammates for his strong production .  "" I think we ' ve just been playing looser and looser as a group , "" Lopez said . "" We ' re all kind of getting into a confident zone of playing together and trusting each other . ""  Brooklyn ( 12 36 ) has lost three straight and 13 of 15 after Saturday ' s 105 103 defeat at New Orleans . The Nets are 2 9 under interim coach Tony Brown .  The club is encouraged despite those woes , pointing to a victory over Oklahoma City last weekend that preceded close losses to Miami and the Pelicans .  "" It seems like every game Brook and ( Thaddeus Young ) pretty much been a constant but we ' ve had other guys step up and play big minutes and make big shots or just make big plays period , "" said forward Joe Johnson , the Eastern Conference ' s worst qualifying shooter at a career low 39 . 4 percent .  The Nets have won three straight at home over the Pistons . The teams have split two overall meetings in 2015 16 .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
22499,22500,"One in six roads are still in poor condition despite more potholes being filled in , with more than 12 billion needed to sort out repairs , a new study has revealed .  Emergency funding by the Government after last year ' s floods helped drive a 33 increase in pothole repairs , but there has been no reduction in the amount needed to bring the network in England and Wales up to scratch , said a report .  The Asphalt Industry Alliance (  ) said 12 . 16billion was needed to get the local road network back into ' reasonable ' condition , adding that money spent on filling 2 . 7 million potholes in the past year had been ' wasted ' .  The estimated time it would take to clear the backlog of repairs has increased by a year to 13 years , said the report .  One in six roads are still in poor condition despite more potholes being filled in , with more than 12 billion needed to sort out repairs , a new study has revealed  The annual survey also found a ' dramatic ' increase in the amount paid in compensation to motorists in England , doubling to more than 20 million outside London .  The staffing costs to local authorities for processing claims increased to almost 18 million , equivalent to 225 hours per month per authority , it was found .  Alan Mackenzie , chairman of the  , said : ' The Government ' s emergency funding for pothole and flood repair following last year ' s wet winter has clearly contributed to the trends reported in this year ' s survey .  ' Essentially , the money spent on filling the 2 . 7 million potholes reported is wasted it is inefficient and short term in its effectiveness .  ' So , while we understand that the Department for Transport is promoting permanent repairs , the point remains that money would be better spent preventing potholes forming in the first place .  ' The 6 billion of funding pledged between 2015 and 2021 is welcome , and hopefully will be confirmed by an incoming government .  But the truth is that although it sounds like a big investment , it will only be enough for local authorities to tread water and it will do nothing to tackle the backlog or prevent continuing deterioration . '  Peter Box , transport spokesman at the Local Government Association , said : ' Councils fixed more potholes than ever before last year one every 15 seconds despite spiralling multi million pound compensation costs and funding cuts .  The estimated time it would take to clear the backlog of repairs has increased by a year to 13 years , a new report claims  ' It is hugely frustrating yet unsurprising that , despite our best efforts , we have not been able to make a dent in the 12 billion roads repair backlog . Patching up our crumbling road network is simply not the answer to tackle the roads crisis we face as a country .  ' Councils need billions , not millions , to bring our roads up to scratch . Every mile of motorways and trunk roads will receive 1 . 4 million funding over the next six years compared with 31 , 000 per mile for local roads .  This makes little sense given the Government ' s own traffic projections predict an increase in local traffic of more than 40 by 2040 . '  Professor Stephen Glaister , director of the  Foundation , said : ' Back in 2010 the top transport priority amongst voters was filling in the potholes .  Five years later and an  Foundation poll shows fixing our roads and pavements remains the public ' s number one concern .  ' The extra chunks of cash spent on road maintenance over the last parliament have been welcome but with a record number of cars on the road , rising traffic volume and routine resurfacing work taking place only half as frequently as in the 1980s , this issue is unlikely to slip far down the list of things people want ministers to tackle . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
22512,22513,"A lifesaving vaccine against meningitis has not yet been introduced because the  has failed to agree a price  A lifesaving vaccine against meningitis B could be given to babies for just 20 a dose but it has yet to be introduced because the  has failed to agree a price after nine months of negotiations .  Bexsero , the first jab to protect against the leading cause of life threatening bacterial meningitis , was recommended for all infants as part of a national immunisation programme in March 2014 .  The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation said approval was subject to a cost effective price being agreed between the manufacturer and the Department of Health , with talks beginning in July 2014 .  The maximum price being considered under negotiations is around 20 a significant saving compared with GlaxoSmithKline ' s ' list price ' of 75 .  Children need three doses in the first year of life , making the maximum final bill for the 700 , 000 born each year in England and Wales 42million .  GPs are also paid a 7 . 50 fee for each dose administered . Campaigners have warned the lack of urgency from health officials is costing lives .  Meningitis B can kill a healthy child within hours of the first symptoms . Since the vaccine was licensed two years ago there have been 1 , 130 cases , of which at least 452 people died or suffered disabilities .  Chris Head , chief executive of the Meningitis Research Foundation , said : ' These price negotiations have been ongoing since July 2014 .  ' Meanwhile babies and children continue to die or suffer devastating injury , with lifelong costs to the government of someone seriously disabled from the disease ranging from 3million to 4 . 5million . '  Earlier this week Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said he wanted to introduce the vaccine on the  as soon as possible but his hands will be tied by General Election ' purdah ' after the middle of next week .  A Department of Health spokesman said : ' We are very clear that we want to see this vaccine introduced as soon as possible to help protect children from this devastating disease but only at a price that represents good value for money for the  . '  Bexsero is the first jab to protect against the leading cause of life threatening bacterial meningitis  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
22580,22581,"More Americans are forsaking the hustle and bustle of New York for the wacky shore of the Sunshine State .  Florida has overtaken New York as the third most populous state in the United States , the Census Bureau has revealed .  Figures released Tuesday show that Florida has at least 19 . 9 million residents . The number is likely higher because the Census uses the population as of July 1 to create its estimate .  Hello , sunshine : The Census Bureau announced on Tuesday that Florida had overtaken New York as the third largest  state  New York had 19 . 7 million residents .  Florida added almost 300 , 000 new residents from 2013 to 2014 , or a little more than 800 new residents a day . By contrast , New York grew by only 51 , 000 over that time period .  Florida likely reached the milestone sometime last spring , but it wasn ' t official until the Census said so .  An Associated Press analysis earlier this year showed that ex New Yorkers represented about 1 in 10 new Florida residents . Migrants from other countries made up about a quarter of Florida ' s new residents .  Florida has a way to go before it catches up with California and Texas , the largest and second largest states . California has 38 . 8 million residents Texas has 27 million residents .  The other states rounding out the 10 largest in the nation are : Illinois , Pennsylvania , Ohio , Georgia , North Carolina and Michigan . North Carolina slipped by Michigan for the ninth spot on the list .  Six states saw population declines : Illinois , West Virginia , Connecticut , New Mexico , Alaska and Vermont .  Fueled by an energy boom , North Dakota was the fastest growing state in the nation , even though it is still the fourth least populous state in the union . Its population increased 2 . 2 percent and now stands at 739 , 000 . The other fastest growing states from 2013 to 2014 were Nevada and Texas , which both had population increases of 1 . 7 percent .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
22592,22593,"Reuters) - If the U.S. Supreme Court in the coming days decides a high-profile immigration case in favor of the Obama administration, the ruling could have an unexpected beneficiary: Republican presidential contender Donald Trump.   The Obama administration is asking the high court to revive its 2014 proposal to protect up to 4 million people from deportation, a plan that was blocked by lower courts. The court could rule that a president has broad authority to interpret and enforce federal immigration law.  Such a ruling would allow Obama to implement his signature executive action on immigration, aimed at the parents of U.S. citizens’ children, before he leaves office. It could also help Trump, who has put forth his own sweeping and controversial plans on immigration ahead of the Nov. 8 election. “To the extent the court has language about the president’s wide authority in immigration law generally, that would certainly strengthen Trump’s hand.” said Stephen Yale-Loehr, an immigration law expert at Cornell Law School. The Supreme Court’s ruling will come at a key phase in the presidential election cycle, with candidates Trump and his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton trading jabs over immigration policy following the mass shooting in a Orlando nightclub in which a gunman killed 49 people.  Trump has proposed curbing immigration from countries with a history of terrorism, blocking the entry of Muslims and deporting the estimated 11 million people in the United States who entered the country illegally.  If he wins the race for the White House, Trump might need to invoke his own executive authority - as happened with Obama - if the U.S. Congress does not approve his proposals, which have sparked outrage at home and abroad. The current case is unlikely to provide any support for Trump’s  proposal to bar Muslims, which legal experts say would face other legal hurdles because it targets people on the basis of religion. But legal experts say it could help Trump if he seeks to block entry from certain countries under a provision of immigration law that gives the president the power to suspend entry of noncitizens whose entry “would be detrimental to the interests of the United States.”  That provision has previously only been used block entry of small groups of people, such as officials linked with foreign governments hostile to the United States. Applying it to entire countries could prompt a similar lawsuit to the one filed against Obama. Clinton could also seize on an Obama victory in the case, but her own immigration proposals are more modest. She has said that absent action by Congress to reform the system entirely, she would keep Obama’s program in place and seek to expand on it. Under the U.S. Constitution, Congress passes laws and the executive branch enforces them. In the immigration context, Congress has traditionally given the president considerable leeway to interpret how to implement the laws. The high court, evenly split 4-4 between liberals and conservatives following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February, could decide the case on narrower grounds than the broad question of executive power.  It could avoid touching on immigration law at all by finding that the states challenging Obama’s proposal did not have legal standing to sue. The court could also split 4-4, which would leave in place the lower court decision blocking the plan but without setting any legal precedent.     U.S. presidents generally have discretion to enforce immigration law, but the plan’s challengers said Obama exceeded the limits of his authority by setting up a program that would allow millions to gain temporary legal status and work permits.  Critics say his plan was unlawful in part because it effectively granted relief from deportation to a much bigger class of people than had ever benefited from any similar programs in the past. Texas and 25 other states who filed suit said it was an unconstitutional abuse of power. Obama’s lawyers told the Supreme Court that Obama was acting within the government’s exercise of prosecutorial discretion to decide who to deport. ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
22598,22599,"Tumbling oil prices are boon for consumers , but  energy sector layoffs , bankruptcies loom  The price of crude oil has dropped 17 percent since the beginning of the year , reaching a 12 year low of 30 a barrel . That s good news for  consumers , but the oil industry is ordering layoffs , and shale companies could be on the verge of bankruptcy .  On Tuesday , the price of crude oil fell another 3 percent to 30 . 44 a barrel , according ? to The Associated Press .  All you can do is forecast direction , and the direction of price is still down , Larry Goldstein of the Energy Policy Research Foundation , who predicted a decline in oil in 2014 , told the  .  World oil markets are seeing a historic supply glut as production has increased in the United States , largely due to drilling techniques such as fracking and horizontal drilling . Additionally , the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (  ) has continued to wage a price war it began in 2014 with low cost producers in the  and elsewhere through unabated production . The glut has also been caused by falling demand for oil due to China s slowing economy .  The starting point is the oversupply in the world market and the battle for market share among exporters , said Daniel Yergin , an energy expert and vice chairman of the  consulting firm , according ? to the Washington Post . But the oil price is also being pounded down by the geopolitical rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran in the Middle East , and the imminent return of Iranian oil under the nuclear agreement , and , at the same time , by increasingly big worries about the Chinese economy .  Earlier on Tuesday , Nigeria s oil minister said that some  countries had requested an emergency meeting to consider supply cuts , Reuters reported . The idea , however , was later rejected by the United Arab Emirates , sending prices tumbling .  I don t think it s fair to ask  to unilaterally cut production , said  Energy Minister Suhail Mohammed Al Mazrouei , adding that  s strategy is working , ? according to  .  Many  countries are still making money at 30 a barrel , but others are losing . Nigeria s production costs are estimated at about 31 a barrel , for example .  Oil prices fell to levels they haven ' t seen since you were rocking out to Norah Jones and Nelly in 2003 . weblink : t . co f7toQTPsbi  Lower prices in the  are leading to lower prices for gasoline , diesel , jet fuel and heating oil , giving drivers , shippers , and many businesses a big break on fuel costs . The national average retail price of gasoline is currently 1 . 96 a gallon . For the average  household , this means savings amounting to more than 700 a year , according ? to the Energy Information Administration .  However , since oil is paid for in dollars , a simultaneous appreciation in  currency has made oil more expensive elsewhere around the world , fueling the slump further . The macroeconomic effects of falling oil prices vary by country and over time , but importing countries such as China , Japan , and the  tend to gain , while exporting nations such as Russia , Saudi Arabia , and Venezuela lose , as their governments revenues are squeezed .  Oil prices at 30 bend nations , but which ones could break ? weblink : t . co 9s0Q9XV6ga pic . twitterweblink neydJVpFoN  ? Wall Street Journal (  ) January 12 , 2016  Airliners , as big users of jet fuel , have been recording record profits , while shippers and other businesses are also saving from cheaper energy . For  companies , less expensive fuel leads to more capital investment and more hiring .  However , falling oil prices reduce the profitability of oil extraction which , in turn , impacts drilling activity . In the early part of last year , the  rig count was down 850 from the year before , while about 17 , 000 oil and gas workers in the  lost their jobs in 2015 . When adding the oilfield support jobs lost in refineries and petrochemicals , the actual number of related layoffs grew to about 87 , 000 , according ? to Michael Planet , an economist at the Dallas Fed .  Why low oil prices are bad news weblink : t . co FT6bO74KtS pic . twitterweblink W0rynaHQyL  The Dallas Fed said this could adversely affect employment in eight states : Alaska , Louisiana , North Dakota , New Mexico , Oklahoma , Texas , West Virginia , and Wyoming , while putting a squeeze on their budgets . Alaska derives 80 percent of its tax revenue from oil and gas , and North Dakota nearly 50 percent .  On Monday ,  reported that half of the shale gas drillers could go bankrupt , since fracking is more expensive than extracting gas through conventional wells .  Half of the current producers have no legitimate right to be in a business where the price forecast even in a recovery is going to be between , say , 50 , 60 . They need 70 oil to survive , Fadel Gheit , senior oil and gas analyst at Oppenheimer Co , told  .  Oil gas zombies on the rise as  oil production set to decline through 2016 weblink : t . co W7OynYEZuR pic . twitterweblink NUBGNkicNw  On Tuesday ,  announced it will cut 4 , 000 of its approximately 24 , 000 worldwide positions in its exploration and production units this year . That s in addition to the roughly 4 , 000 jobs that the company cut last year , when it trimmed its work force to about 80 , 000 .  We have to make sure we have a competitive and sustainable business , David Nicholas , a company spokesman , told ? The New York Times . External market conditions are getting tougher .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
22614,22615,"David Moyes has been counted out of one of the plum jobs waiting to be filled at the end of the season .  Bayer Leverkusen would have been the perfect fit for relaunching the 50 year old Scot ' s managerial career after the shock of being sacked just 10 months into his Old Trafford tenure .  They are on the look out for a new boss after firing former Liverpool defender Sami Hyypia earlier this month and are on course for a Champions League place . Additionally , Moyes spoke of his wish to manage a top German side in a recent interview .  But Sportsmail understands Leverkusen ' s board have ruled him out on grounds of price and profile .  Ruled out : David Moyes is too expensive to be considered for the Bayer Leverkusen job  They want a younger coach in the mould of Borussia Dortmund ' s Jurgen Klopp and are unwilling to pay any more than 1 . 2million a year for the right man . The initial response from the Bay Arena is that Moyes like former Chelsea boss Roberto Di Matteo , who also briefly came under consideration would be too expensive after earning 5m a year at United .  They are also unconvinced that Moyes , who turns 51 on Friday , fits into the category of coach they are looking for after making a policy decision to try and unearth the next Klopp and setting their sights on three targets .  One of the trio , 40 year old Thomas Tuchel , has already ruled himself out after declaring he intends spending at least one more season at Mainz , where he took over in August , 2009 and reeled off seven straight wins at the start of the 2010 11 season , including a victory at Bayern Munich .  But Red Bull Salzburg ' s Roger Schmidt and Augsburg ' s 39 year old coach Markus Weinzierl are still in the frame and look to be locked in a straight fight to succeed Hyypia .  Sacked : Sami Hyypia ( centre ) was ousted by Bayer Leverkusen earlier this month  Down and out : Hyypia was sacked but Leverkusen are on course for a Champions League spot  Click here to see David Moyes ' job options  Weinzierl ' s stock has been steadily rising and reached new heights recently when his unfancied team beat Bayern to end the European champions ' remarkable 53 game unbeaten run , while Schmidt has suffered only six defeats in 47 games as Salzburg boss and has just steered them to the Austrian title by finishing an incredible 24 points ahead of Rapid Vienna .  News that Leverkusen are currently looking no further than those two may well come as a disappointment to Moyes , who admitted in an interview with France Football just 16 months ago : ' I always had the hope of being a coach abroad , ' he said .  Straight fight : Roger Schmidt ( left ) and Markus Weinzierl are in the frame to replace Hyypia at Leverkusen  ' If I had the choice , I would probably go to Germany , in part because they have a mentality there that is similar to mine but also because I am fascinated by what happens in German football . They seem to have found a way of producing young players . '  Unfortunately for Moyes , they also seem to have found a way of producing young coaches , and Leverkusen are closing in on two of the brightest , rather than venturing further afield , for their next managerial appointment .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
22615,22616,"John Greig , the man officially recognised as the greatest living Ranger , fell victim to a harsh , brutal truth when the curtain fell on his managerial career .  Greig was is a Rangers icon . He captained club and country . He led the Ibrox club to a European trophy and holds the record for league appearances , playing 496 games and scoring 120 goals while playing primarily in defence .  He captured three domestic trebles , was Scotland ' s Player of the Year twice and received an  for services to football in 1977 .  John Greig ( left ) was Scotland captain in 1967 for their famous victory over England at Wembley Stadium  Greig was sacked by Rangers , so Ally McCoist ( left ) knows that no one is safe from the chop  Yet , in the end , none of this could protect him from the unsentimental realities of managing Rangers .  Greig won two Scottish Cups and two League Cups . But in October 1983 , with Dundee United champions and Aberdeen having triumphed in Europe , he was unceremoniously sacked .  Ally McCoist knows this period of Ibrox history well . A Greig signing , he lived and breathed it . At times his own survival , in the early days at least , was seat of the pants stuff .  McCoist knows more than most that no one not even the greatest living Ranger is safe from the sack .  He admitted as much after a 3 1 home defeat to Hibernian last month . That result left Hearts six points clear at the top of the Championship . A gap which has remained stubbornly hard to bridge in the weeks since .  McCoist applauds the Rangers fans at the end of a match earlier this season  Greig is such an Ibrox legend that he has a statue in his honour outside the stadium  ' I don ' t think anyone is bombproof , ' said McCoist then . ' I wouldn ' t sit here for a minute and say I ' m bombproof . I ' m still wearing the flak jacket but nobody is bombproof . '  For that reason Saturday ' s league meeting with Hearts already has the look of a defining day for the current manager .  McCoist would be as close as anyone to Greig in the affections of the fans . But Mike Ashley , the new power on the throne , is no Rangers supporter .  The Ibrox manager already agreed to slash his salary in half but must still subscribe to the Sports Direct ethos . Value for money . Or else .  A Rangers victory would reduce the lead of the Tynecastle club to three points and rank as one of the most important , critical victories of a managerial career which , so far , has been patchy and open to scrutiny .  Former Rangers and Hearts striker Kevin Kyle expressed a commonly held view when he tipped a doggedly consistent Hearts side , free of off field strife , to take all three points .  ' The pressure is all on Rangers but I have to fancy Hearts , ' said Kyle . ' They have shown consistency since the season started . They ' re the team full of confidence . '  McCoist ( left ) jokes with his assistant manager Kenny McDowall during training at Murray Park  McCoist looks on as his Rangers side played a pre season friendly agaisnt Derby County in August  If he ' s right , the margin at the top of the table becomes an awkward nine points . Their finances precarious and predicated on returning to the Premiership as soon as possible , the chances of Rangers doing so at the first time of asking would diminish .  McCoist ' s position , bluntly , would come under intense scrutiny . Amidst widespread assumptions Rangers can ' t afford to pay off the one year rolling contract of their manager if they were to dispense with him , a new question would arise . Could they possibly afford to keep him ?  McCoist , an eternal optimist , believes he is the man for the job and has been here before . He knows the score .  ' You are only as good as your last pass here , ' he told the club website . ' I probably know the club better than most and it goes with the territory .  ' The one thing about being a Rangers player and being involved with Rangers is that there is always the next game to make amends for a disappointment . '  The evidence they can do so is patchy . An eight game run of steady , improving results suggested this was a team turning a corner at the right time .  Greig scored the winning goal for Scotland against Italy in a World Cup 1966 Qualifying encounter  McCoist ( left ) shakes the hand of Kris Boyd as he is substituted  Yet last weekend ' s 1 1 draw with Alloa , a dismal affair , prompted fury in a crowd of almost 30 , 000 . Amidst an ongoing off field circus , a never ending procession of furious , arcane statements issued by a cast list of unreliable , largely discredited characters , the level of support has remained a modern marvel .  The people continue to turn up despite a fresh call this week from former director Dave King for supporters to starve out the current board .  Amongst those who do stay away , the football being played is often cited as a factor .  The status of McCoist the player with supporters will never be damaged . In 15 spectacular years , he was top scorer in nine of them . The club ' s all time highest scorer with 355 goals in 581 games , he played through the nine in a row era . But as manager the jury remains out .  His wit and personality makes McCoist a popular figure . Turning on the man does not come easy to supporters . Taking pot shots at Santa would be preferable to some .  ' Ally has a lot of credit in the bank left over from his playing days , ' confirmed Drew Roberton of the Rangers Supporters Association .  ' He left us with an awful lot of great memories and those won ' t be erased . But it ' s sad that a dream job for him has come along in these circumstances . '  Such circumstances are clear enough . The off field travails of Rangers are an ongoing soap opera . McCoist has risked criticism for publicly backing the chief executives who have come and gone , lining their pockets en route , but retains a level of gratitude for his actions when the club lurched into administration in 2012 .  ' I think , during very difficult times , he has kept the club afloat and he deserves enormous credit for the way he has done that , ' added Roberton .  ' I believe that the vast majority of fans are grateful for the way Ally conducted himself during that period .  ' He steered the club through some difficult years . He was the finger in the dyke at that time .  ' He was left with a club which , for a spell , was a rudderless ship for a few months . '  Reporters who flocked to Murray Park that February week still recall the McCoist ' s car shuttling in and out of the training ground ' s wrought iron gates for meetings with administrators .  Most football managers , mercifully , will be spared the nonsense he has had to involved himself with . His job description has often gone far beyond standard terms and conditions .  A transfer embargo and dismal finances made free transfers a must . Even so , wages of 7 , 000 for some top team players in the lower reaches of the  struck many as a poor use of resources .  McCoist justified the cost by setting his sights on taking Rangers back to the top as quickly as possible . Player expense has not been the biggest problem . But there would still be irony in Hearts another club mired in financial turmoil beating the Glasgow giants back to the top with a team of kids .  ' With Hearts being six points in front , I think it ' s fair to say the game is perhaps more significant to Rangers than it is to them , ' observed Roberton .  For Ally McCoist , a man defined by his Rangers achievements , its significance can hardly be overstated .  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
22630,22631,"De Kennedy a Obama, más de medio siglo de debates en  (vídeos) Sin embargo, posteriormente se descubrió que 91.000 eran completamente inocentes. También la Secretaría de Florida informó posteriormente que entre los electores del Estado había 59.019 encarcelados, 17.000 fallecidos y 27.000 personas que habían votado más de una vez. Ya era tarde, pues George W. Bush superó al candidato demócrata Al Gore por 537 votos que dieron la victoria final al Partido Republicano. El fraude había sido consumado. Tampoco todo había sido limpio en las elecciones presidenciales de Barack Obama en 2008, según los observadores republicanos y la investigación realizada por la CNN. Resulta que el candidato Obama recibió el apoyo de la Community Organization for Reform Now (ACORN), que funciona en 100 ciudades en  y tiene unos 500.000 miembros dedicados al apoyo a los más necesitados. Los investigadores llegaron a la conclusión que  registró a miles de personas para que votasen por Obama, muchos de cuales estaban muertos, no existían o tenían una dirección falsa. ✒Opinión: La guerra sucia en las elecciones norteamericanas – lee más en: weblink pic.twitter.com/pA834GOc1P — Sputnik Mundo (@SputnikMundo) 19 de octubre de 2016  ​El 'think tank' Pew Research Center, con sede en Washington, encontró también irregularidades en las elecciones en el 2012, en las cuales fue elegido Barack Obama. Resultó que cada octavo votante registrado no podía emitir su voto. En aquel entonces, más de 1,5 millones de votantes muertos 'depositaron' su voto y unos 2,75 millones de habitantes participaron dos veces en la votación. Tomando en cuenta todos estos antecedentes históricos, no son nada extrañas o exageradas las sospechas del actual candidato republicano Donald Trump de que las elecciones del próximo 8 de noviembre puedan ser fraudulentas, especialmente en Chicago, Filadelfia o Saint Louis. También Trump está sospechando que los 51 millones de ciudadanos norteamericanos no registrados (24% de los potenciales votantes) podrían ser utilizados para el robo de votos. © REUTERS/ Dave Kaup El sistema quiere imponer a Hillary en la Presidencia Recientemente la organización Project Veritas Action, cuya misión es ""investigar y exponer la corrupción, deshonestidad, fraudes"", dirigida por el activista conservador James E. O'Keefe III, lanzó el tercer vídeo sobre el fraude electoral confirmando la participación de Hillary Clinton. En el primer vídeo, se muestra cómo los organizadores de la campaña de Clinton están usando la violencia para desacreditar los mítines y reuniones de los partidarios de Trump. En el segundo vídeo, se expone paso por paso la estrategia del Partido Demócrata para lograr el fraude electoral a favor de Hillary que en general habían usado los demócratas durante los últimos 50 años. Finalmente, en el tercer documento filmado se presentan las comunicaciones electrónicas entre Clinton, la Convención Nacional Demócrata y la  American Unites for Change para organizar eventos políticos desacreditando a Trump. También la táctica de ensuciar al candidato rival no es nada nueva para los demócratas. La penúltima vez la usaron contra Mitt Romney en 2012, cuando los medios globalizados lo presentaron como un 'racista diabólico', un 'sexista brutal' que quiere que las mujeres retornen a la sumisión de los años 50, 'viejo homofóbico' etc. Entonces los actuales insultos a Trump, como 'estúpido', 'ignorante', 'racista', 'sexista' o 'delincuente sexual', 'vicioso' es parte del juego electoral incorporado por los medios de comunicación globalizados y corporativos para la promoción del candidato seleccionado por el Sistema o el establishment y la destrucción de su contrincante, que no satisface en este momento las necesidades y las aspiraciones de aquel 1% de los dueños de América. © REUTERS/ Brian Snyder Donald Trump, el bufón útil del Sistema Norteamericano De allí surge el dilema. Ambos candidatos, tanto Hillary como Donald han sido lanzados al ruedo electoral por el sistema con el propósito inicial de utilizar a Trump para facilitar la victoria de Clinton. Sin embargo, los propósitos del sistema podrían variarse debido a la dinámica de la campaña electoral, surgimiento de cambios geopolíticos en el mundo o las condiciones económicas tanto internas como externas y la flexibilidad de adaptación de cada candidato a las nuevas necesidades políticas y las expectativas del momento. Lo que está absolutamente claro es que los dos candidatos trabajan para el mismo 1%, es decir, para el sistema. Lea más: WikiLeaks revela que un periodista sugirió al jefe de campaña de Clinton ""sacrificar"" a Trump  Basta revisar la actitud de los Rothschild hacia ambos candidatos. En mayo del 2016, Lynn Forester de Rothschild ofreció una cena de 100.000 dólares por persona para recolectar fondos para Hillary Clinton. A la vez, el hombre de confianza de la familia Rothschild, el multimillonario Wilbur Ross organizó un 'lunch' que costaba 25,000 dólares el plato para apoyar al candidato Trump. La familia Rockefeller se considera la creadora de Hillary Clinton como una lideresa política. Judicial Watch publicó un memorándum de 1993 de John David Rockefeller  a Hillary Clinton donde expone los detalles de la Reforma de Salud que posteriormente Hillary Clinton intentó poner en práctica infructuosamente. © REUTERS/ Joe Skipper Donald Trump el candidato Frankenstein de los republicanos A la vez, la familia Rockefeller ayudó a Donald Trump, según el periodista Baxter Dmitry (News, US), a comprar en 1987 el 93% de las acciones del casino Resorts International, creado a comienzos de 1950. El periodista Andrew St. George reveló en 'The Spotlight' (30 de octubre 1978) que Resorts International fue controlado por los hombres de las familias Rockefeller y Rothschild y administrado por los agentes de la  y Mossad que, en los años 60, usaban el dinero lavado para financiar la lucha contra la Cuba de Fidel Castro. Tema: Normalización de las relaciones entre Cuba y   En fin, todo esto demuestra que tanto Donald Trump como Hillary Clinton trabajan para el sistema o como se dice popularmente en EEUU, para los 'bad guys'. El problema ahora consiste en seleccionar al líder más útil actualmente para el establishment norteamericano. El discurso internacional de Hillary, apodada 'The Queen of War and Chaos' está aparentemente cargado de amenazas de guerra. Ella misma se da cuenta de que Estados Unidos no está preparado para una confrontación con Rusia y China. La carta de 88 generales en retiro apoyando a Trump está demostrando que los militares prefieren el tono más moderado, aunque no menos belicoso que el de Hillary. — Sputnik Mundo (@SputnikMundo) 5 de octubre de 2016  ​El candidato republicano declaró recientemente: ""Bajo mi administración pondremos fin a la débil política exterior de los últimos ocho años, reconstruiremos nuestras Fuerzas Armadas, le daremos a nuestros soldados reglas de combate claras"". Y en una reunión en Phoenix, Trump aclaró, para que nadie se hiciera ilusiones de su aparente pacifismo: ""Yo soy más militarista que todos los que están reunidos en la esta sala"". Hillary Clinton está amenazando a Venezuela y Donald Trump ya anunció en un mitin en Miami, adoptando la postura de Benito Mussolini, que acabaría con la dictadura de Castro en Cuba y con la de Maduro en Venezuela. También prometió apoyar a ""todos los pueblos oprimidos en el hemisferio"", lo que sería una referencia a los ecuatorianos y bolivianos en la interpretación tanto de Hillary como de Donald. Capitana Clinton vs. Iron Trump: debate presidencial al estilo Marvel En resumidas cuentas, como dicen los árabes, los dos candidatos representan el mismo caballo con diferente montura. Las promesas de Trump de revisar los tratados de libre comercio y hacer regresar el trabajo manufacturero e industrial a Norteamérica representan una demagogia, pues todos los tratados están regidos por las leyes internacionales que no se pueden cambiar fácilmente. Para la construcción del muro adicional con México se necesitaría una fuerte inversión, de la cual no dispone la Reserva Federal y México, en su turno, no aportaría ni un centavo. Tampoco le conviene a Washington la salida de  de la OTAN, pues la Unión Europea se acercaría inmediatamente a Rusia, que le aseguraría su seguridad energética.",fake,news,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present
22642,22643,"With two minutes left in the third quarter , Cam Newton was racing toward the Arizona end zone . A touchdown would put the Carolina Panthers up by 27 points in the  championship and effectively slam the door on the last dying embers of the Arizona Cardinals season .  Newton could have run the ball in , edging around teammate Ryan Kalil s block on either the left or the right . Instead , Newton decided the best way in was over . He leaped straight up over Kalil , flipping forward to land on his back in the end zone . Game effectively over .  Flying in Cam s wake , the Carolina Panthers throttled the Cardinals 49 15 , booking their first trip to the Super Bowl in more than a decade . The Panthers will face Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50 , a generational quarterback matchup that will launch a thousand fiery takes about what a real quarterback ought to be .  ? If there remain any doubters of Newton s ability , this game ? the most important of Newton s pro career , the most important he d played since winning a national championship at Auburn ? should have satisfied them . Newton was simply exceptional , orchestrating an offense that showed no weakness on the ground or in the air , passing near or far . Newton completed 19 of 28 passes for 335 yards , throwing two touchdowns and rushing for two more . Seven receivers caught a pass from Newton , capped by Corey Brown s 86 yard touchdown that closed the first quarter .  Slideshow : Wild fans of the Conference title games .  Two key players for Carolina s defense , safety Roman Harper and linebacker Thomas Davis , left the game in the first half with injuries and did not return . It didn t much matter . Carolina isolated Arizona s scoring plays , burying each of the Cardinals touchdowns in teal and black touchdowns .  Newton is now in line for that rarest of feats : a national championship and a Super Bowl , a Heisman and an  . The Broncos still stand in his way , but the way the Panthers played on Sunday night , the entire  Pro Bowl team might be an underdog .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
22666,22667,"A pride of lions had far from an easy meal when they chose to eat porcupine for lunch , with one unlucky cub getting the point loud and clear .  The pride spotted two of the spiky creatures in the Kalahari Desert in South Africa and decided the slow moving rodents were fair game .  One porcupine certainly dented the pride of one cub , when the big cat was left with one of its quills stuck through its nose .  Getting the point : A lion cub tries to remove a porcupine ' s quill from its nose after trying to eat the rodent for lunch in the South African desert  Dragging it out : The cub winches in pain and closes both eyes as it uses its paws to try and pull the quill from out of its nostril  Now how are we going to eat this ? The pride watch the slow moving rodent walk into view and ponder their next move  Time to strike : One of the cubs circles the porcupine and looks for the chance to strike , while the others appear to have already lost interest  But the porcupines victory was short lived , with the pride ' s alpha male later devouring both rodents .  The encounter was captured by Philip Eglise . He said the lion pride initially consisted of five cubs and two adult females . The group attacked the two porcupines who managed to hold them off for around 15 minutes .  The 38 year old of Kilndown , Kent , said the porcupines quills ' are an exceptionally effective defence ' . He said rather than firing the quills , porcupines rush backwards into the faces of their attackers which ' causes the quills to become detached ' .  He said : ' This can cause very serious injuries or infections which predators can die from .  ' This happened a couple of times during this particular encounter , and the after effects of one such attack can be seen where one of the cubs is attempting to remove a quill from its nose .  ' The cub continued to paw at its nose for some time afterwards it would have surely been very painful . '  Mr Eglise said eventually the porcupines retreated into a bush , which he expected would ' save them ' .  Get it out ! The cub looks in pain as it seeks assistance from another member of the pride to get the quill out of its nose  Why did you do that ? The cub , who has now removed the quill , looks forlorn as stares at the porcupine , perhaps seeking sympathy  Bush retreat : The porcupines fled to the bushes where photographer Philip Eglise , who captured these pictures , assuming they would be safe  Check mate ! The alpha male then swooped in and ate both porcupines the lion is pictured above licking its lips after eating them  But the pride male then arrived and killed them both .  Mr Eglise said : ' Sometimes nature feels horribly cruel and unfair to our modern sanitised lives , and to witness such a scene is always emotional .  ' To see two such plucky animals , massively smaller and outnumbered by their attackers , was genuinely difficult to watch and I was hoping the porcupines ' strong defence would eventually win the day . '  Most lions now live in eastern and southern Africa , and their numbers there are rapidly decreasing .  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
22688,22689,"Nick Kasa finds home with Broncos just before Super Bowl  2016 01 29T02 : 35 : 21Z 2016 01 29T11 : 00 : 07Z Nick Kasa finds home with Broncos just before Super BowlThe Associated Press The Associated Press   In this Nov . 17 , 2012 , file photo , Colorado tight end Nick Kasa watches from the sideline as Colorado trails Washington during an  college football game in Boulder , Colo . Kasa was signed to the Denver Broncos practice squad Monday , Jan . 25 , 2016 , after tight end Dan Light was waived from the team as it heads to Super Bowl 50 . (  Photo David Zalubowski , File )   , Colo . (  ) ? Last Sunday , Nick Kasa was like any other fan of the Denver Broncos .  On Super Bowl Sunday , he ' ll be one of the Denver Broncos .  The tight end , out of football since the spring , got a phone call while sitting in the stands last weekend , watching the Broncos beat New England in the  title game .  He dropped his phone and cracked the screen ? that ' s another story ? but when he finally restored his service , he learned the Broncos wanted to sign him to the practice squad to help them get ready for the Super Bowl against Carolina .  "" It ' s been pretty crazy . Kind of indescribable , "" said Kasa , who was signed Monday and would have to be activated from the practice squad in order to play in the game . "" These guys have been working hard toward this for a long time . For me to come in at the end here , is just kind of an out of the ordinary event . I ' m honored to be here and ready to do whatever I can to help . ""  That includes playing the part of Panthers tight end Greg Olsen in practice . He ' s been studying film of the Pro Bowl tight end to give Denver ' s top ranked defense an accurate portrayal .  "" My role is to be the best Greg Olsen that I can , "" said Kasa , who went to high school in Broomfield , Colorado , and played at the University of Colorado . "" I didn ' t see this coming . I thought the season was drawing to an end . I was ready to move on to the next year . Surprised me with this call . I ' m ready to go . ""  Kasa was drafted in the sixth round by Oakland in 2013 , and played in all 16 games his rookie season . The only catch of his career was in the final week of that season , when he hauled in a 9 yard  pass against , fittingly enough , the Broncos .  He missed 2014 after being placed on injured reserve with a torn  . Last spring , the Raiders let him go and he ' s been looking for an  job ever since .  To stay in tip top tight end shape , Kasa worked out just a few blocks away from Denver ' s practice facility .  "" Still pretty much the same start to my day , "" Kasa cracked .  Only now he ' s making around 6 , 600 per week on the practice squad and will be going with the team to Santa Clara , California , for the big game . He gets Super Bowl tickets , too , even if he won ' t be suiting up .  "" It ' s a freaking dream come true , for sure , "" the 25 year old Kasa said . "" I don ' t know how to describe it . . . . It ' s just good to be here . I don ' t want to distract from this team at all . They ' ve been working hard for a long time . ""  To think , he initially missed a call he ' s been waiting so long to receive . While attending the  championship game , the phone dropped out of his hand and the screen broke . As he was taking in Denver ' s 20 18 win over Tom Brady and the Patriots , the team was trying to get in touch with him .  It wasn ' t until the next day , when he picked up a new phone , that he saw the messages .  "" I was freaking out , for sure , "" Kasa said . "" But got it all turned around in enough time and made it over here . Now , I ' m just on to however I can help . ""    website : http : www . pro32 . ap . org and   Twitter feed : http : www . twitterweblink    Copyright 2016 The Associated Press . All rights reserved . This material may not be published , broadcast , rewritten or redistributed .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
22692,22693,"The under fire taxi app Uber is to be automatically installed onto Android phones sold by network operator Sprint .  New customers that join the  carrier this month will also get 20 ( 13 ) of free credit to use for their first journey as part of the deal .  It is the latest move by the San Francisco based firm to attract customers , and counteract a number of negative headlines that have dogged the app in recent months .  Sprint customers will now have taxi app Uber automatically installed onto their Android devices . Customers who join the  based carrier this month will also get 20 ( 13 ) of free credit to use for their first journey as part of the deal with the San Francisco based app  ' We believe having access to safe , reliable and affordable transportation via your mobile phone is important , ' the company said in a statement .  ' That ' s why we are now offering Uber pre loaded on the home screen of most of our new Android devices . '  Any difference in fares over 20 ( 13 ) are paid for by the user , and any unused fare under this amount is forfeited .  This is not the first time Uber has used high profile partnerships with big tech firms to push its service earlier in the year Uber announced a similar partnership with mobile carrier  T .  Users can also order an Uber driver from within Google Maps app .  Uber is a taxi service app that has gained global popularity due to its ease of use . For example , it lets users track cars on a map , and rate drivers straight from the app .  The company has enjoyed global success since its launch in San Francisco in 2009 , having expanded its service to 140  cities and 45 countries worldwide .  But the service has attracted unwanted headlines recently , being banned from Spain following accusations it has been side stepping regulations .  Elsewhere , an Uber driver has been accused of raping a customer in Delhi , leading to the service also being suspended in India .  Last month , one of its executives allegedly used the app ' s ' God mode ' to track the location of a Buzzfeed journalist .  And earlier this year , Uber attracted the ire of London taxi drivers who protested the service , claiming it was stealing their business and bypassing licensing .  Last month , Uber partnered with Spotify so customers can listen to their own music when they call a car .  When they get into the car , they select a special Uber playlist , or one of their own , and have it play through the car ' s speakers if the driver has opted in .  Uber is a taxi service app that has gained global popularity due to its ease of use .  For example , it lets users track cars on a map , and rate drivers straight from the app .  The company has enjoyed global success since its launch in San Francisco in 2009 , having expanded its service to 140  cities and 45 countries worldwide .  And it said last week it was valued at 25 . 5billion ( 40 billion ) , a double in market value in six months .  But the service has recently attracted unwanted headlines , after being banned from Spain and India after a reported rape by one of its drivers in Delhi , and accusations it has been side stepping regulations .  Last month , one of its executives allegedly used the app ' s ' God mode ' to track the location of a Buzzfeed journalist .  Sprint has not yet announced which phones will come with Uber embedded into the home screen .  Phone manufacturers and network operators have been criticised in the past for adding ' bloatware ' to devices .  This is not the first time Uber has used high profile partnerships with big tech firms to push its service earlier in the year Uber announced a similar partnership with mobile carrier  T . Last month , Uber also partnered with Spotify so customers can listen to their own music when they call a car ( pictured )  Samsung , in particular , came under fire earlier this year for preloading its handsets with its own apps that can leave customers with just half the amount of advertised storage on flagship models .  Researchers found that the so called ' bloatware ' is rarely used by consumers , with many spending just seconds on the apps before deciding to use downloaded apps instead .  Samsung supplies everything from chat to password apps , some pre installed with the device and the remaining accessible via Google Play and Samsung App stores .  Users who don ' t want the Uber app will be able to remove it from their device .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,present
22705,22706,"As the district director of physical education and health literacy for Miami Dade County Public Schools , Jayne Greenberg ' s annual budget is 0 .  That ' s right 0 .  It ' s almost unbelievable when you know the statistics that one in six U . S . children are obese , that nearly one third are overweight , and that these rates are even higher for Hispanic children ( of whom Miami has a high population ) .  But Greenberg doesn ' t despair . "" I ' ve been in my position since 1995 I ' ve never had a budget , "" she says . "" It ' s always been up to me to find my own money . ""  She has also found a way to encourage students to sign up for gym class again .  Miami Dade County Public Schools is one of nine regional finalists in the Active Schools Acceleration Project ' s first annual Innovation Competition .  is an initiative started by ChildObesity180 . org , an organization dedicated to reversing the trend in childhood obesity .  The requirements were simple : Schools had to show a way they were encouraging students to move throughout the day . The school ' s program had to be creative , include all fitness levels and be easy to duplicate in other districts .  "" We know there ' s so much good work going to get our kids up and moving every single day all across this country , "" first lady Michelle Obama says in the competition ' s introduction video . "" So we want to find the most effective ways that people are increasing physical activity for kids , and then help those ideas grow to scale so that they can help even more children . ""  More than 30 judges evaluated the hundreds of applications .  Nine regional finalists were announced Tuesday each will receive 25 , 000 to invest in physical activity programs . Two national winners will be announced in Washington on June 13 . They will be given 100 , 000 and ChildObesity180 will work to expand their programs across the country .  In Miami , only one semester of physical education is required for high school students , and middle school students can have a parent waive the regular class . That means a child could go from fifth grade to 12th grade without ever working up a sweat .  Greenberg ' s solution was Fit Tech Wellness Labs . With grant money , she converted classrooms in her local high schools into minigyms . These labs contain traverse climbing walls , gaming stationary bikes and virtual group fitness instructors .  "" That ' s this generation ' s world , "" she says . "" I knew that to engage students in becoming more physically active I had to incorporate that technology . ""  It worked high school students started enrolling voluntarily and lost an average of 8 pounds a semester . Greenberg moved the program down into the middle schools , then the elementary schools . The kids loved it .  "" I like the ' Dance Dance Revolution ' ( game ) , "" fifth grader Taylor Wood says . "" Even though you don ' t think about it you ' re actually exercising . ""  Physical activity is a learned behavior , says one of the competition ' s judges , Avery Faigenbaum , a professor of health and exercise science at The College of New Jersey .  "" In primary school we teach kids how to read and we teach kids how to write . We also have to teach kids how to move , "" he says . "" If we expose children to these environments that are rich in opportunities to be physically active , they ' re going to be more physically active as adults . ""  Faigenbaum rated highly the programs that incorporated movement into minibreaks throughout the school day . "" Many people look at this from the neck down , and they look at all the physical benefits . But when we ' re talking about kids in school , we also have to look at the neck up . Kids who are engaged in physical activity are better learners . ""  Another finalist , the Healthy Schools , Healthy Families ' "" Just Move "" program in New York and New Jersey , added five minute breaks into students ' daily routine while addressing another obstacle in the fight to add physical activity in schools : how to avoid taking away classroom time .  The "" Just Move "" program uses exercise flashcards that are linked to a grade ' s curriculum . In kindergarten , kids practice counting to 20 while doing jumping jacks . In fifth grade , they learn the difference between perpendicular and parallel lines while doing squats or talk about camels while doing the camel yoga pose .  "" We had a much greater buy in ( from teachers ) because it fits with what they already have to do , "" says Andrea Brekke , the Healthy Schools , Healthy Families program manager .  Often , childhood obesity is attributed to a "" toxic environment , "" filled with endless hours of computer use and video game playing .  But as Greenberg showed , technology can help in the fight against fat . "" The Walking Classroom "" podcast program where students listen to lectures while strolling outside and the online social game Sqord from Chapel Hill , North Carolina , were also winners in the  competition .  While technology doesn ' t change the physical environment by adding trails or gyms , it can make a positive impact , says competition judge Joan Dorn , branch chief for physical activity and health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .  "" Technology ( ideas ) . . . change the social environment by incorporating the notion of getting physical activity throughout the day , "" says Dorn . "" They change the environment by changing the culture and the way of thinking . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
22710,22711,"Tonya Couch will plead not guilty , according to her attorney  A Texas judge set a bond hearing for Couch for Monday last week her bond was set at 1 million  The so called affluenza teen ' s mom is charged with hindering the apprehension of a felon  Weeks after she and her son went missing , sparking an international search , Tonya Couch is back where she started : Tarrant County , Texas .  That ' s where the mother of so called affluenza teen Ethan Couch is set to face a charge of hindering the apprehension of a felon .  She arrived in Texas Thursday , two days after a Los Angeles judge approved her extradition and more than a week after Mexican authorities detained her with her son in a Pacific resort town .  Couch was arraigned Friday morning in Fort Worth . Her attorney was not present , but arrived at the courthouse later .  Stephanie Patton , Couch ' s attorney , said that she and her client met with the judge behind closed doors after the arraignment .  Couch will plead not guilty , Patton said , but did not enter a formal plea at Friday ' s arraignment .  A judge set a bond hearing for her on Monday morning . At that time , he will consider reducing the bond amount , which was set at 1 million .  If she were to make bond , the judge said he would impose a series of restrictions , including forcing her to wear an ankle monitor .  Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson spoke with Couch .  "" I believe she expressed a slight bit of displeasure about her accommodations , "" Anderson said . "" I explained to her this is a jail , not a resort . ""  Tonya Couch was booked into jail in Tarrant County , Texas , on Thursday .  The mother ' s return to Texas is the latest twist in a controversial case that drew national attention .  Before he went to Mexico , Ethan Couch was on probation for killing four people in a 2013 drunken driving accident when he was 16 . At the time , many were outraged that a judge sentenced him to probation instead of jail time , slamming his now notorious "" affluenza "" defense : Trial testimony suggested he was too rich and spoiled to understand the consequences of his actions .  In mid December , a warrant was issued for Couch , who ' s now 18 , to be taken into custody after his probation officer couldn ' t reach him . He appeared to have dropped off the radar after a video emerged that allegedly showed him at a party where alcohol was consumed .  He had been ordered to stay away from drugs and alcohol for the duration of his probation .  The teen ' s disappearance reignited controversy over the case and renewed calls for him and his mother to be held accountable .  Tonya Couch returned to the United States last week and had been in the custody of the Los Angeles police . This week a judge there approved her extradition to Texas .  Sheriff Anderson , who accompanied deputies as they took her from the airport to jail Thursday , described the mother as "" cooperative , polite ( and ) appreciative of the way she ' d been treated so far . ""  "" While the public may not like what she did , may not agree with what she did , or may have strong feelings against what she did , make no mistake Tonya did not violate any law of the state of Texas and she is eager to have her day in court , "" attorney Stephanie Patten said in a statement last week .  Ethan Couch is still in Mexico when he returns to the United States depends in large part on whether he decides to contest his deportation . Last week a Mexican judge granted the teen a temporary stay halting deportation proceedings .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
22717,22718,"Mark another awkward milestone in President Obama s foreign policy : The United States of America has kind of , sort of backed into combat operations in Syria and Iraq .  Friday came the announcement , first via an unnamed senior U . S . official , that a small contingent of Special Forces , likely less than 50 , is headed to Syria .  In a display of rhetorical gymnastics for the history books , the official told  News that the move will be described as a shift but not a change in U . S . strategy against  .  New boots on the ground engagements , including covert ones , may well be militarily necessary to beat back gains made by the Islamic State and its allies , themselves made possible in no small part by American fecklessness . On the fly tactical adjustments are crucial in any campaign , and  is a nimble foe .  But this ? an ankle in the water , following repeated insistence from the President that the U . S . is absolutely not getting wet , as it were , in either country ? telegraphs confusion to Americans and the country s allies .  One cannot help but conclude that strategically , the commander in chief is making this up as he goes .  The G . I . s will advise and assist opposition forces . But the boundaries of such a role can quickly evaporate on the battlefield .  You don t have to reach back to Vietnam for such a lesson . Last week , an American serviceman advisor in Iraq was cut down in a firefight with  , during an attempt to free hostages .  Even as the nation learned of Joshua Wheeler s death , the White House maintained that national policy had not changed . Defense Secretary Ashton Carter painfully parsed by saying that while of course Wheeler had died in combat , forces had not assumed a combat role .  Carter later added , There are American troops in combat every day . Oh .  Such admissions should be affirmative and articulated openly ? and by the President himself . They ought not be spurted out begrudgingly by underlings under pressure .  Obama is chafing in a crate of his own construction .  Without condition or equivocation , he said last year : American combat troops are not going to be fighting in Iraq again . American forces will not be returning to combat in Iraq , but we will help Iraqis as they take the fight to terrorists who threaten the Iraqi people , the region and American interests as well .  He added this year : As I ve said before , I m convinced that the United States should not get dragged back into another prolonged ground war in the Middle East . That s not in our national security interest and it s not necessary for us to defeat  .  In 2013 , while calling for additional American action in Syria ? having drawn a red line that he later would ignore ? Obama said : Many of you have asked , won t this put us on a slippery slope to another war ? . . . My answer is simple : I will not put American boots on the ground in Syria .  American boots , meet Syrian ground . We know all about the fog of war . This is a fog of strategy .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
22727,22728,"Ever hopped in a taxi and sat in traffic for hours whilst pedestrians and cyclists sailed past your window ? If so , you may wondered whether you ' re part of the problem and not the solution . As public transport networks continue to improve in many African cities , taxis remain a common mode of getting around .  But for Neil du Preez , there must be a better way . The South African entrepreneur has developed Mellowcabs electric three wheeled vehicles designed for eco friendly and efficient transportation in urban areas .  Neil du Preez : The departure point was when I learned 80 of all urban trips are less than four kilometers . Globally , taxi rides are fairly short and it ' s really inefficient to use a traditional taxi for these journeys . Efficiencies that can come with a small vehicle are enormous and passenger savings would be enormous .  NdP : We built eight prototype cars and did a lot of testing we tested brakes , lights , everything . After the test , we basically wanted to re design the entire vehicle and took the prototypes off the road . We are now at the stage of building chassis and want to be on South African roads in the first quarter of 2015 .  NdP : We already have demand from advertisers for 60 vehicles in the Western Cape The South African province where Cape Town is located . After that , we will focus on Gauteng province South Africa ' s province where Johannesburg and Pretoria are located .  Beyond that a big mobile phone company in Nigeria is interested too and we are considering an initial focus on Lagos . But this could go beyond Africa too . We have had talks about a project in Washington  and other cities in  .  NdP : We have developed ultra rigid roll cage , safety belts and proximity sensors for the vehicles and some will be fitted with doors . I also recognize there are some security issues in South Africa . In very slow moving traffic , there is a risk of bag snatching . Passengers will be able to use lockable baggage areas underneath the seat to keep property safe . And we are also looking at some vehicles to be fitted with a  camera .  NdP : The goal is to make each ride 15 20 rand ( less than 2 ) per ride , irrespective of distance traveled . We want a Mellowcab ride to be way , way cheaper than traditional taxis . Normal taxis in South Africa are 8Rand per kilometer in a flagged ride , plus 15 rand for "" flag fall . "" I recently took a 15 kilometer taxi ride north of Cape Town , and it cost 370 rand ( 33 ) . We want Mellowcab to be much cheaper for the passenger and for the operator too . Passengers will be able to pay cash or through an app .  NdP : All drivers will be permanently employed staff there ' s more than enough people looking for quality work around here . I want to build up a team of really strong drivers . We ' re putting successful drivers through a formal tour guide training course , which will benefit not only us , but ideally develop them into small business owners later on . We ' re also equipping them with communication and client interaction courses . What we ' re also thinking of doing is transferring ownership of the vehicles to the drivers after a period of successful operation . . . enabling them to become semi owner drivers .  NdP : At the moment , the South African government is not involved . They have promised to get involved in the future , but I ' m not sure I want that . At the moment , the funding comes from a South African venture capital fund , and I own the majority of the shares . There is one other investor it ' s been almost three years of playing around with different transport ideas .  NdP : As far as Africa goes , South Africa is ideal we have good infrastructure and good internet connectivity . But we should all start thinking outside of Africa . There ' s quite a lot of demand outside of South Africa for South African products . Traditionally , there was a very old school mindset South Africa was a very isolated market . Now things are happening , a lot of good opportunities and focus on startups .  NdP : The South African government could get much more involved in developing entrepreneurs . I ' d love them to get more involved particularly with funding . There is funding available for entrepreneurs , but it ' s practically impossible . It ' s really difficult to access the funding from South African government .  Read this : Bike tour gives taste of township life  More from African Start Up  Monique Todd contributed to this story  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
22741,22742,"Actress and human rights activist Angelina Jolie says President Donald Trump’s executive order temporarily suspending the U. S. Refugee Admissions Program is like “playing with fire” and will “worsen” America’s war against terrorists. [“Shutting our door to refugees or discriminating among them is not our way, and does not make us safer,” Jolie wrote in an   published Thursday in the New York Times. “Acting out of fear is not our way. Targeting the weakest does not show strength. ”  Jolie, who serves as special envoy of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, says “the lesson of the years we have spent fighting terrorism since Sept. 11 is that every time we depart from our values we worsen the very problem we are trying to contain. ” President Trump’s order suspended the U. S. Refugee Admissions Program for 120 days and bars refugees from failed terror   coming into the United States during that period. A review of the refugee vetting process is now underway. While never mentioning Trump’s name, Jolie rebukes the president’s refuge order calling it a departure from “our country’s history of giving shelter to the most vulnerable people. Americans have shed blood to defend the idea that human rights transcend culture, geography, ethnicity and religion. ” While acknowledging Trump’s pledge to protect America from its enemies around the world, Jolie says the president’s action “must be measured and should be based on facts, not fear. ” “If we send a message that it is acceptable to close the door to refugees, or to discriminate among them on the basis of religion, we are playing with fire. We are lighting a fuse that will burn across continents, inviting the very instability we seek to protect ourselves against,” the Academy Award winner writes. Last May, Jolie criticized Trump after he proposed his plan to temporarily halt entry for nationals from countries fraught with terror. “To me, America is built on people from around the world coming together for freedoms, especially freedom of religion,” Jolie said. “So it’s hard to hear this is coming from someone who is pressing to be an American president” While the Maleficent star continues to condemn Trump’s policies, her father actor John Voight is a fierce supporter. Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter @jeromeehudson",true,news,validation,US elections,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
22746,22747,"Los Angeles Katherine Jackson doesn ' t celebrate Mother ' s Day or birthdays for religious reasons .  But Michael Jackson ' s mother , who turns 81 on May 4 , said she does believe in the tradition of sending flowers to a loved one .  "" It means love , ' I was thinking about you today , so I ' m sending you these flowers , ' "" Jackson said . "" Sometimes when you might be feeling down and you get some flowers , it perks you up . ""  "" Flowers make me feel happy , "" she said .  While Jackson was eager to talk about flowers her favorites are red and yellow roses she was reluctant to speak on the record about what has made her feel sad lately .  Perhaps she would have the strength later to talk about her differences with the men who now control her late son ' s estate or the upcoming trial of the doctor charged in his death , but not yet , Jackson said .  She dreads sitting in court for Dr Conrad Murray ' s involuntary manslaughter trial , which is set to last two months starting May 9 , she said .  But she will be there , listening to testimony about how her son died . The judge has already ruled that prosecutors can show photographs from his autopsy .  "" A mother ' s job is never done , "" Jackson said .  With the camera turned off , her frustration with the news media ' s coverage of the singer ' s life and death and of her family emerged .  For example , Katherine and Joe Jackson have sometimes been described as estranged . But after 61 years of marriage , they are still a couple in love , she said .  Her husband spends most of his time at the Las Vegas home given to them by daughter Janet Jackson , but it ' s not unusual for her to drive across the desert to spend a few days with her husband .  Joe Jackson often travels to Los Angeles to stay with his wife .  They sit together in court , sometimes holding hands .  She recently moved from the Encino mansion that was the Jackson family home for four decades and into a newly built mansion on a hilltop in Calabasas . Although the Hayvenhurst home is being remodeled , she hinted that she ' s not moving back .  With the camera turned back on , Jackson , who raised nine children and is now caring for Michael Jackson ' s three children , shared advice about motherhood .  She called it "" the most important thing in the world . ""  "" One thing about mothers they have to really be there for their children when they need her , "" she said . "" They should be there at all times and know where your children are at all times . You must make your ' yes ' mean ' yes ' and let your ' no ' mean ' no . ' That ' s really the way to bring your children up . ""  It ' s the mother who holds the family together , she said .  "" Yes , she ' s the glue that keeps the family going , "" Jackson said .  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
22747,22748,"Matt Dolloff s Monday Morning Skate recaps the past weekend in the National Hockey League , from the head of a hockey nut ,  high school superstar , and staunch Bruins loyalist .   (  ) ? The first edition of the Monday Morning Skate comes with no real game action to report since we re coming off All Star weekend . But that doesn t mean there is any shortage of stories going on around the ice .  The biggest story , by far , of the All Star Game , was enforcer John Scott , whom internet trolls jokingly voted into the game and inadvertently set off a chain of events that resulted in a surreal celebration of goons that dragged through the entire weekend . Scott scored two goals ( he has five in his whole career ) and won All Star Game  , the cherry on top of a farce sundae that amused a lot of fans but enraged those who rail against fighters and their dwindling place in the game .  Here s what else John Scott and others did over the weekend that was in the   ? The league extended commissioner Gary Bettman through 2022 , according to  s Michael Farber . If not for a certain fire haired fellow in the  , Bettman would be easily the worst commissioner in professional sports , which makes this extension a head scratcher . But the end of the 2021 22 season is when the current Collective Bargaining Agreement expires , so this could just be the beginning of the end of Bettman s rocky tenure as commish .  ? 19 year old Dylan Larkin of the Detroit Red Wings , Michigan native and frontrunner for the Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Year , broke the record in the fastest skater competition . The record was previously held by Mike Gartner , who set it at the 1996 All Star Game in Boston ? six months before Larkin was born . Larkin may have obliterated the record if he didn t slip and almost fall on the last turn , but he broke it anyway . The kid can fly and he s yet another young stud that makes the future bright for Team U . S . A . at the Olympics .  ?  deputy commissioner Bill Daly says the league has not yet closed its investigation of Patrick Kane and his alleged sexual assault . We have to satisfy ourselves with the facts , Daly said . Interesting that the league hasn t given up , even though Kane s accuser and the district attorney have .  ? Speaking of Kane , in the All Star Game he scored a goal and dropped the gloves with Scott as a goof . He entered the All Star break still scoring at a significantly higher rate than every other player in the league , making himself the frontrunner for the Hart Trophy as league  .  ? NHLweblink announced a redesigned website and app , which launched Monday morning .  Gamecenter has been updated and rebranded as  . tv , which will allow fans to watch all games all the time in high quality . We ll see how the new app goes , but it s about time the league redesigned that lumbering clunker of a website .  ? P . K . Subban continued to make it hard for anyone in Boston to dislike him as he dressed up like 43 year old Jaromir Jagr , complete with mullet , and scored in the shootout competition . As expected , he finished it off with the famous Jagr salute .  ? The Bruins Patrice Bergeron struggled a bit in the accuracy shooting contest ? at least , when compared to winner John Tavares . It s hard for someone like Bergeron to show what he does best ( lock down defense , impeccable instincts ) in a setting like the skills competition . It s a style over substance scenario .  ? Anaheim Ducks goalie John Gibson showed why he s one of the best young netminders in the league with this ridiculous save on Tyler Seguin in the All Star Game . And all of the goalies , under siege by three superstar players at all times , showed how exciting the game could be if they had their pad size reduced and actually had to , you know , make saves .  Matt Dolloff is a writer for CBSBostonSportsweblink . His opinions do not necessarily reflect that of  or 98 . 5 The Sports Hub . Follow him on Twitter mattdolloff and email him at mdolloff 985thesportshubweblink .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
22762,22763,"The above video includes highlights from Lillard ' s last outing , in which he posted 30 points , six rebounds and a career high 13 assists against the Lakers . ? He knocked down seven three pointers in his last two games while averaging 54 . 5 fantasy points in the process .  Unlike Curry , Lillard is a good bet to see plenty of court time ? the Blazers guard has played at least 37 minutes in eight straight contests . ? Per Odds Shark , Portland is a two point underdog to Chicago , so Lillard will likely be on the floor until the final buzzer .  If Derrick Rose suits up for the Bulls , it ' ll be his first action since spraining his ankle last week . ? Regardless , Lillard will get to face either backup point guard Kirk Hinrich or Rose , who may not be 100 percent .   Avery Bradley , Boston Celtics ( 5 , 500 ) at Atlanta Hawks  Avery Bradley has been on fire since he returned five games ago from a calf strain . ? As the Boston Herald ' s Mark Murphy noted , Bradley set a new career high for three pointers during the Celtics ' loss in Brooklyn Sunday :  Not that he cared about it in light of the result , but Bradley ' s seven 3 pointers are a career high .  Bradley went 7 of 14 from deep that evening and is 16 of 31 over his last five games , a . 516 shooting percentage . ? The 24 year old is averaging 3 . 2 three pointers a night in that span and has scored at least 25 DraftKings points on each occasion .  Starting in place of the injured Marcus Smart , Bradley logged a season high 40 minutes Sunday . ? With Smart out for a while , Bradley ' s outstanding fantasy production should continue . ? His price is on the rise , but he ' s still a bargain at 5 , 500 .   Thabo Sefolosha , Atlanta Hawks ( 4 , 000 ) vs . Boston Celtics  Thabo Sefolosha got his first start of 2015 16 Saturday , putting up 13 points , five rebounds , one assist and one steal in 30 minutes . ? His 23 . 25  points were a season high . ? It was only the third game this year in which Sefolosha logged 24 minutes or more . ? However , he totaled over 20 fantasy points in each of them .  In Atlanta ' s previous matchup with Boston , Sefolosha performed well when given the opportunity , scoring 10 points on 5 of 8 shooting :  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
22772,22773,"Iran, where the thought police will always have a job: Not only will we not grant foreigners the permission to inspect our military sites, we will not even give them permission to think about such a subject. A spokesman for Iran s nuclear agency has once again rejected calls to grant  access to military sites, continuing a war of words on the issue that began Sunday.Press  reports that Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), gave an interview Monday in which he stated that demands for access to Iran s military sites were  not practical and acceptable.  According to Press TV, his statement was a response to a claim U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz made earlier in the day.During an interview with Bloomberg News earlier Monday, Secretary Moniz said,  We expect to have anywhere, anytime access  within Iran. That statement appears to match the contents of the U.S. fact sheet published three weeks ago. The fact sheet states,  Iran will be required to grant access to the  to investigate suspicious sites or allegations of a covert enrichment facility, conversion facility, centrifuge production facility, or yellowcake production facility anywhere in the country. Secretary Moniz s statement about access  anywhere, anytime  was itself an apparent response to a blunt statement Sunday by Brigadier General Hossein Salami. According to Press TV, General Salami gave an interview to Fars News in which he stated,  Not only will we not grant foreigners the permission to inspect our military sites, we will not even give them permission to think about such a subject.  In case that was not clear enough, Gen. Salami added,  They will not even be permitted to inspect the most normal military site in their dreams. General Salami is not the first high ranking Iranian to deny the  will get access to Iran s military sites under the proposed deal. Nearly two weeks ago, Iran s Defense Minister said any inspection of Iran s military sites was  a red line  and added that no  inspection of any kind from such facilities would be accepted.  Ayatollah Khamenei backed up that stance the next day. spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi who said military site inspections were not  acceptable was reportedly awaiting a nuclear delegation from Russia to discuss the construction of two new nuclear power plants in Iran next year.Via: Breitbart News",fake,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,satire,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present
22791,22792,"Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will tell leaders on a five-nation Asia tour the world is  running out of time  on North Korea s nuclear crisis and that he will give his strategy to isolate Pyongyang a few months before making adjustments, a top aide said on Thursday. Trump leaves on Friday for Hawaii, the first stop en route to Asia where he will visit Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines. It will be the longest Asia tour by an American president in more than 25 years. His goal will be to increase international support for an  effort to deprive North Korea of resources as leverage to coerce it to give up nuclear weapons.  The president recognizes that we re running out of time (to deal with North Korea) and will ask all nations to do more,  White House national security adviser H.R. McMaster told reporters at a briefing. As part of the U.S. effort to push China, North Korea s neighbor and main trading partner, to put more pressure on Pyongyang, the U.S. Treasury issued a formal ruling on Thursday cutting off from the U.S. financial system a Chinese bank it accused of laundering money for North Korean concerns. In June, the Treasury Department declared the Bank of Dandong a  primary money laundering concern  for serving as a gateway for North Korea to access the U.S. and international financial systems despite U.S. and U.N. sanctions. [nL1N1JQ1I4]  South Korea s spy agency told lawmakers on Thursday that North Korea may be planning a new missile test, after brisk activity was spotted at its research facilities. [L4N1N83MN] The U.S. military is keeping a close eye on North Korea, which conducted its last missile test on Sept. 15 and its sixth and largest nuclear test on Sept. 3. Two Guam-based U.S. B-1B bombers flew through South Korean airspace and over the country s Pilsung Range in an exercise on Thursday, the U.S. Air Force said. [nL2N1N827P]  The bilateral continuous bomber presence mission was planned in advance ... and was not in response to any current event,  the Air Force said in a statement. McMaster said Trump would urge countries with the most influence over Pyongyang to  convince its leaders that the pursuit of nuclear weapons is a dead end  and that it must denuclearize.  And he will remind friend and foe alike that the United States stands ready to defend itself and our allies using the full range of our capabilities,  said McMaster. China will be perhaps Trump s most critical stop in Asia. There he will ask Chinese President Xi Jinping to do more to rein in North Korea. Senior U.S. officials say China considers North Korea a strategic asset and is reluctant to cut off resources to Pyongyang for fear of triggering a refugee wave. McMaster said Trump, who has approved a variety of sanctions against North Korea, is at the beginning of his drive for Pyongyang to give up nuclear weapons. Trump has warned he would  totally destroy  North Korea if it threatened the United States or its allies.  I think we have to be a little patient here for at least a few months to see what more we and others can do, including China,  said McMaster.  I don t think we need to reassess our strategy now. I think we have to give it a couple of months, a few months, and then see what adjustments we might need to make.  Trump is expected to press Xi to reduce oil exports to North Korea and coal imports from Pyongyang and limit financial transactions. The Chinese leader is newly ascendant after consolidating power at a Communist Party congress. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
22825,22826,"They didn ' t know the man authorities say was busy with his wife , Tashfeen Malik , building homemade bombs and stockpiling thousands of rounds of ammunition for a commando style assault Wednesday on a holiday party of his co workers that killed 14 and injured 21 .  "" This was a person who was successful , who had a good job , a good income , a wife and a family . What was he missing in his life ? "" asked Nizaam Ali , who worshipped with Farook at a mosque in San Bernardino the city east of Los Angeles where Farook killed and died .  This undated photo provided by the California Department of Motor Vehicles shows Syed Rizwan Farook who has been named as the shooting suspect in the San Bernardino shootings . Farook communicated with individuals who were under  scrutiny in connection with a terrorism investigation . But the official said the contact was with "" people who weren ' t significant players on our radar , "" dated back some time , and there was no immediate indication of any "" surge "" in communication ahead of the shooting . ( California Department of Motor Vehicles via  ) (  )  As authorities identified the deceased and details about Farook ' s life began to take shape , the question of what motivated the slaughter remained unanswered .  The  was investigating the shootings as a potential act of terrorism but reached no firm conclusions Thursday , said a U . S . official briefed on the probe . Separately , a U . S . intelligence official said Farook had been in contact with known Islamic extremists on social media . Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly .  At the same time , law enforcement officials from local police to Attorney General Loretta Lynch cautioned it could have been work related rage . Or a twisted hybrid of religion and personal vendetta .  Farook had no criminal record and was not under scrutiny by local or federal law enforcement before the attacks .  Authorities say that the couple sprayed as many as 75 rounds into the room before fleeing . They died four hours later and 2 miles away during a furious gunbattle with police .  The pair had more than 1 , 600 bullets when they were killed . Police said they also had 12 pipe bombs , tools to make more explosives , and well over 4 , 500 rounds of ammunition at home .  Police Lt . Mike Madden , one of the first officers to reach the room at the social services center , where Farook ' s colleagues from San Bernardino County ' s public health department had gathered , said the carnage was unspeakable , the scene overwhelming : the smell of gunpowder , the wails of the injured , the blood , fire sprinklers pumping and fire alarms blaring . All in a room with a Christmas tree and decorations on every table .  The dead ranged in age from 26 to 60 . Among the 21 injured were two police officers hurt during the manhunt , authorities said . Two of the wounded remained in critical condition Thursday .  Nearly all the dead and wounded were county employees .  They were remembered Thursday night as several thousand mourners gathered at a local ballpark for a candlelight and prayer vigil with leaders of several religions paying them tribute . Mayor Carey Davis urged people to "" dedicate and commit ourselves to strengthen our families to overcome . "" The names of the dead were read and participants sang "" God Bless America . ""  Syed Rizwan Farook was born in Chicago on June 14 , 1987 , to parents born in Pakistan . He was raised in Southern California .  In July 2010 , he was hired as a seasonal public employee and served until December of that year , according to a work history supplied by the county . In January 2012 , he was rehired as a trainee environmental health specialist before being promoted two years later . Among his job duties was inspecting restaurants .  The soft spoken Farook was known to pray every day at San Bernardino ' s Dar Al Uloom Al Islamiyah mosque . That is where Nizaam Ali and his brother Rahemaan Ali met Farook .  The last time Rahemaan Ali saw his friend was three weeks ago , when Farook abruptly stopped coming to pray . Rahemaan Ali said Farook seemed happy and his usual self . Both brothers said they never saw anything to make them think Farook was violent .  They remember when Farook announced that he would be getting married , saying he had met his future wife online and that she was Pakistani . Farook told the brothers that he traveled to Mecca in Saudi Arabia last summer .  They said he was gone about a month before returning to the U . S . with his wife . Malik arrived on a K 1 visa for fianc es and with a Pakistani passport in July 2014 , authorities said .  The two were married on Aug . 16 , 2014 , in nearby Riverside County , according to their marriage license . Both listed their religion as Muslim . The couple had a 6 month old daughter who they dropped with relatives Wednesday morning before the shooting .  Farhan Khan , Farook ' s brother in law , told  News that he had started the legal process to adopt the girl . He described Farook as a ' bad person , ' but said he was not radical .  Patrick Baccari , who sat at the same table as Farook at the employee party , recalled he was short on words and inclined to talk about cars , not religion .  However , a friend of a man killed in the rampage said Farook had a heated conversation about Islam two weeks before the attack .  Kuuleme Stephens said she happened to call Nicholas Thalasinos while her friend was talking with Farook at work . She said Thalasinos , a Messianic Jew who was passionately pro Israel , told her Farook "" doesn ' t agree that Islam is not a peaceful religion . "" Stephens said Farook replied that Americans don ' t understand Islam .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
22826,22827,"Carly Fiorina slams Hillary Clinton on economy ahead of  debate  Carly Fiorina speaks to supporters at the Take Back America Presidential Forum in Greenville , S . C . , in this Sept . 18 , 2015 , file photo . (  Photo Richard Shiro , File ) more  Ahead of Wednesday s  presidential debate in Colorado , former Hewlett Packard  Carly Fiorina is honing her sights on Democratic presidential front runner Hillary Rodham Clinton s claims about the economy .  In a Wall Street Journal piece with the headline Hillary Clinton Flunks Economics , Mrs Fiorina questions Mrs Clinton s claim during the first Democratic presidential debate earlier this month that the economy does better with a Democrat in the White House .  Whose economy is she talking about ? Mrs Fiorina wrote . The middle class has shrunk under the Obama administration . According to government figures and industry analyses , median income households have lost nearly 1 , 300 after inflation , while the prices of food , health care and college tuition have risen almost twice as fast as inflation .  Mrs Fiorina also writes that while Mrs Clinton touts her gender to bolster her campaign , 92 percent of the jobs lost during Mr Obama s first term ? when Mrs Clinton was secretary of state ? belonged to women .  She also pointed out that unemployment for African Americans is almost twice as high as the national average , while the achievement gap between black and white students has stagnated and remains far too wide .  But maybe those aren t the Americans Mrs Clinton is talking about , she wrote . People at the top seem to be doing just fine under the policies she extols .  Mrs Fiorina said that under the 2010 Dodd Frank financial reform law , too big to fail banks just got bigger and small businesses are being crushed by new rules and regulations .  Hillary Clinton talks a good game against crony capitalism , large banks and income inequality , Mrs Fiorina writes . She just doesn t mention that all three have flourished during the Obama years .  Wednesday s debate , hosted by  , will largely focus on issues related to the economy . Mrs Fiorina parlayed a strong performance in August s undercard  debate in Cleveland into higher poll numbers and a spot on the main stage in the second debate last month in California and another spot on the main stage at the third debate on Wednesday .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
22832,22833,"IFR) - The investigative arm of Congress has decided that  bank guidelines on leveraged lending are subject to Congressional review, clearing the way for them to possibly be overturned. After months of consideration, the  Government Accountability Office said the guidelines amount to a formal rule that Congress can review. In the wake of the last financial crisis, banking regulators recommended against banks making loans to companies with a debt-to-earnings ratio greater than six times or that are unable to pay down debt quickly. Critics charge those guidelines have hindered bank loans to business, and that they usurp the powers of the legislature to make law.   In March,  Senator Pat Toomey asked the  to decide if they were actual rules, which unlike guidelines can be potentially voted down under the 1996 Congressional Review Act. “It is a rule subject to the requirements of the CRA,” the  said in a letter to Toomey on Thursday.  The Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency - the main  bank regulators - announced the guidelines in 2013. In a speech earlier this year, Toomey was critical of the “huge increase in the regulatory powers and authorities [granted] to various agencies,” including their use of guidance to help shape policy. “These kind of actions have the power of a rule-making ... just to say they really have the power of law, but they exist outside the traditional rule-making.” Participants in the finance industry say any lending that flouts the guidelines risks inviting the scrutiny - or worse - of the authorities. Yet many argue the guidelines are too opaque and too broad, while some business sectors are better able than others to cope with higher leverage multiples. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
22834,22835,"—   About five decades since the surge in modern feminism, it is unlikely that most women  —   in the United States, at least  —   would have anticipated the current political climate in which gender equality remains almost as elusive as ever and    rights are under siege. What is more, a man criticized by many for his treatment of women will be sworn in as president of the United States on Friday. And in 2016, a woman still could not be elected to the job. After the gamut of emotions engendered by Hillary Clinton’s surprising loss to Donald J. Trump, women are once more confronting the big questions that have long enveloped the feminist quest. Put bluntly, is it sexism or the system that has so far prevented a woman from becoming president of the United States? And what lessons might be drawn from Europe, or places further afield, that could help an American woman get to the top one day? As members of the global elite gather this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, gender issues in politics and beyond will be hotly debated. If the fight for women’s rights has taught activists one thing, it is that simple questions have complex answers. Melanne Verveer, executive director of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security and former ambassador at large for global women’s issues under President Obama, said that “to just look at this election through the gender lens is not to understand it fully. ” Though many women saw Mrs. Clinton, a former senator and secretary of state, as the most qualified candidate, other women felt no tug to help one of their own shatter a glass ceiling and instead “reached a conclusion that they might be better off with a change,” Ms. Verveer said. “I think people would like to think there has to be one good explanation,” said Shauna Lani Shames, an assistant professor of political science at Rutgers   in New Jersey. “But there is not. It’s many. ” What she called the “deeply ingrained sexism” of a country fond of cowboy myths and tales of the Wild West is one. There are others. For starters, look at how the United States chooses candidates. “Selection is mostly about people ” Dr. Shames said. “You have to   as a candidate, and often win a primary before the party will take note of you. ” Just the expense and time away from family involved turn many women off, leaving a smaller pipeline. Even the basic act of asking for money  —   essential to any political bid in the United States  —   hurts women more, she argued: “Women hate it more than men do. Men tend to be in social circles where they can raise more money. ” Mrs. Clinton was criticized last summer when her annual sojourn in the wealthy enclaves of the Hamptons became studded with  . (Mr. Trump made his own round of   there, to perhaps less attention.) In Europe, women can work their way up the ladder of their party, which tends to have a distinct ideological identity and is often subsidized by government funds from which all legal parties can benefit. In addition, Dr. Shames said, research has shown that the proportional representation that is a cornerstone of many European political systems is far more likely to get women elected to national legislatures. Europeans have also been much readier to adopt quotas to bolster women’s part in politics. Americans steeped in individualism have been reluctant to legislate in this way. “The concept of quotas in the U. S. as you know, is antithetical to the American position and possibly the myth that holds that everyone pulls themselves up by their bootstraps,” said Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers. Of course, Europeans have not always proved able to use quotas to the full advantage for women. In France, for example, where law dictates that 40 percent of candidates be female, parties, particularly conservative ones, have often preferred to pay fines rather than find the mandated number of women. Joanna Maycock is secretary general of the European Women’s Lobby, which brings together about 2, 500 women’s groups from each of the 28 European Union nations, and from neighbors like Norway and aspiring members like Turkey and Serbia. She said she detected a change in attitudes since Mrs. Clinton’s defeat that starkly highlighted the quirks of the American system, in particular the Electoral College. (The college affirmed Mr. Trump’s ascension to the presidency despite his loss of the popular vote.) Ms. Maycock cited a   workshop at the end of November that brought together about 25 American and European activists examining how to get more women into politics. “When we planned it, we thought we would be celebrating Hillary’s success,” she said. Instead, the meeting reflected “the shock of Trump. ” “A lot of the American participants were so horrified and shocked, there was a big difference,” she said, a readiness to explore other methods and reinforce the need to train women in public speaking,   and building networks. Ms. Walsh’s center at Rutgers runs nonpartisan campaign training in New Jersey and assists in such training in 17 other states. She reported a “dramatic increase” in women’s signing up. “Women are seeking a way to have a voice,” Ms. Walsh said. “This election has made citizens  —   men and women  —   see things through the gender blend. ” She added that women “can have an enormous impact on their lives, families, identities” and that “they can’t sit on the sidelines they have to figure out a way to get engaged. ” In modern Europe, the trail to the top was blazed by the somewhat unlikely figure of Margaret Thatcher, who was the first woman elected as prime minister in Britain in 1979. (Theresa May is now the second, with the tough task of negotiating the country’s exit from the European Union.) Mrs. Thatcher had no outright feminist agenda and stood accused of fomenting social hardship with her conservative policies and iron will, for instance, to break Britain’s trade unions. Close to 40 years later, similar policies of austerity are associated with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, often called the world’s most powerful woman after 11 years in office. Her unwillingness to loosen Europe’s purse strings while Germany, Europe’s No. 1 economy, benefits substantially from the euro currency, makes her anything but a heroine in many feminist eyes. “The obsession with austerity across Europe has been really bad,” Ms. Maycock said. It hits women doubly, she argued, cutting public service jobs often held by women and leaving them bereft of the infrastructure  —   care for children and seniors, for instance  —   that enables them to work. Over the past decade, Ms. Maycock contended, austerity has been a big brake on women’s empowerment. “We’ve actually stopped progressing, more or less,” she said, citing a gender inequality index compiled by her group that showed 51. 5 percent progress toward full equality 10 years ago, compared with 52. 5 percent now. In general, she said, European countries with quotas tend to show an effect once the female membership of legislatures passes   she said. Over all in Europe, women account for about   of legislators, she said. The range is large: In Poland, for instance, a female prime minister, Beata Szydlo, is among 27 percent of female lawmakers in the lower house of Parliament after the 2015 elections introduced a quota system. But the upper house, which has no such mechanism, is only 13 percent women. Norway, one of the first European countries to adopt quotas, has had two female prime ministers and a female defense minister, mandates 40 percent female board membership in business. Ms. Maycock pointed to recently elected female mayors in Paris, Barcelona, Madrid and Rome as more examples of women’s getting power where it matters. But in the United States, Dr. Shames said, women are far more likely to be city council members than mayors and state legislators than governors. On both sides of the Atlantic, women still have important territory to take: While France has had a female defense minister, and Germany currently has one  —   Ursula von der Leyen, a married mother of seven  —   neither Britain nor the United States has entrusted defense to a woman. American finance, too, has remained firmly in the hands of men, on Wall Street as at the Treasury. And 2016 shocked many not just with Mrs. Clinton’s defeat  —   but with the triumph of Mr. Trump, despite accusations of misogyny, and with the murder of Jo Cox, a Labour Party legislator, who was stabbed by a man reportedly shouting “Britain First” days before the country voted to leave the European Union, which Ms. Cox opposed. In democracies from Australia through the United States and Europe, the thin pipeline of women ready to step up to the top in politics (and business) is an added cause for concern. In the United States, there are just five female governors right now, and 21 women in the Senate, Ms. Walsh said. “The bench is very small, and the potential pool of candidates is really very small,” she said, noting that most modern presidents (if not Mr. Trump) have been governors or senators first. That makes it doubly significant that more women are expressing an interest in entering politics after Mrs. Clinton’s defeat, she said.",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
22835,22836,"On Saturday, President Obama officially declared that the Flint water crisis is now a federal emergency. The President s action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in Genesee County,  reads a statement from FEMA.Just two days ago, Michigan s Republican governor, Rick Snyder, requested that President Obama declare the Flint water crisis a federal emergency.In April 2014, Flint s emergency manager forced the city to switch from using Detroit s water system to using the Flint River for water. The decision to do so was touted as a means to cut costs for the city. It turned out to be a disaster.There is an unusual amount of salt in the Flint River. The river is also extremely contaminated. So when the salt began to corrode the pipes of Flint s water system, lead leaked into people s drinking water. One study found the pipe corrosion problem could have been solved for as little as $100 a day. Now it is estimated that it will cost up to $1.5 billion dollars to fix Flint s water system.The statement from  goes on to say that: Emergency protective measures, limited to direct federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent federal funding. This emergency assistance is to provide water, water filters, water filter cartridges, water test kits, and other necessary related items for a period of no more than 90 days. This is great news for the city of Flint. The people of Flint are almost completely reliant on bottled water and emergency water stations. The National Guard and other governmental bodies, along with grassroots community groups, have been tasked with providing the residents of Flint those emergency water supplies. Now, they will receive funding and coordination from FEMA, which should alleviate some of the burden.Featured Image Credit:By The White House [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons",fake,dataset,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
22844,22845,""" Petrochemical had a challenging year in 2015 and have lost their cost advantage versus international players and we expect 2016 ' s net income to decline , "" said a note from Riyadh based  Capital .  Traders also bought back speculative stocks which slumped on Sunday , triggered by margin calls . Emaar Economic City and Knowledge Economic City , mid tier stocks , each soared more than 7 . 0 percent .  Yanbu Cement , a pure play on the kingdom ' s construction sector , jumped 7 . 1 percent after releasing its fourth quarter earnings on Sunday . Net income rose 8 . 3 percent from a year earlier , according to a bourse filing .  "" We believe the 8 . 3 percent year on year growth in net income is attributed mainly to higher sales volumes coming from a low base because 2014 ' s fourth quarter was hampered by the changes in the labour market and the lower demand due to the Hajj season , "" said a note by  Capital .  High inventory levels and continued demand slowdown led larger cement companies to offer sales discounts in 2015 . "" We believe Yanbu Cement offered an average discount of 7 percent to its product in 2015 , "" the note added .  Worries over an economic slowdown in China soured sentiment on other Gulf markets . Dubai slid 1 . 1 percent as initial gains fizzled out . Emaar Properties fell 1 . 6 percent .  Arabtec rose 3 . 5 percent after Abu Dhabi ' s Aldar Properties awarded the builder a 2 billion dirham ( 544 . 5 million ) for 1 , 017 luxury villas in the United Arab Emirates capital .  Blue chip lenders dragged Abu Dhabi ' s bourse 1 . 4 percent lower , with First Gulf Bank (  ) and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (  ) leading the sector ' s decline , each falling more than 3 . 0 percent .  Standard Poor ' s said it expects negative earnings growth for banks in the United Arab Emirates in 2016 and a lacklustre performance in 2017 .  "" We believe the uncertainty about how long oil prices will remain weak will force businesses and government to adopt a conservative stance , which will weaken spending for infrastructure and private sector investments , and rein in bank lending , "" S P added .  Analysts tended to agree . "" Non performing loans are likely to rise and will deter banks from making new loans and borrowers from seeking additional credit , "" said a note from Dubai based Japanese financial firm Nomura .  Qatar ' s index slid 0 . 02 percent closing at 9 , 699 points , off the intra day low of 9 , 599 points . Top losers included Qatar Insurance and real estate developer Ezdan Holding Group , retreating 3 . 3 and 2 . 0 percent respectively .  In Egypt , Cairo ' s main benchmark declined 2 . 2 percent as volumes picked up , intensifying losses across the board .  Investment bank  Hermes and foreign investor favourite Commercial International Bank (  ) fell 9 . 5 and 3 . 9 percent respectively .  Foreign and non Egyptian Arab traders were net sellers in the market , bourse data showed .  The index jumped 1 . 4 percent to 6 , 177 points .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
22850,22851,"Posted on October 27, 2016 by Carl Herman  “It is no use trying to escape their (Empire’s) arrogance by submission or good behavior. Robbers of the world, having by universal plunder exhausted the land, their drive is greed. If the enemy be rich, they are rapacious; if poor, they lust for domination. Neither rule of the East nor West can satisfy them. Alone among men, they crave with equal eagerness poverty and riches. To plunder, slaughter, seize with false pretenses, they give the lying name ‘empire.’ And where nothing remains but a desert, they call that ‘peace.’ ” – Tacitus, The Agricola and the Germania (analyses here , here ). Tacitus wrote ~ 100 AD, a century into empire. Emperors proclaimed to the public that their government still upheld the highest ideals of their Republic, claiming expanding empire was only and always in “self-defense.”  “One Love! Let’s get together and feel all right. Hear the children cryin’ Hear the children cryin’ (One Heart! )” ~ Bob Marley, One Love  language warning: Socrates and I speak in the same direct language that caused his execution for “corrupting the young.”  Socrates: Carl!  Carl: Soc! (bro hug)  S: How may I be of service? (genuine smile)  C: I just want to talk with an honest person, bro. We last talked 6 months ago . I don’t know if I have anything new to say, but I want to talk with someone who can hear.  S: I’ll try. What about?  C: We’re finishing a so-called “election” season that’s “jumped the shark” (and here ) with the Left-wing candidate a proven criminal, and Right-wing candidate a depraved Roman Emperor wanna-be . These are Left and Right arms of one illegal rogue state  empire , of course.  S: Of course.  C: So I keep feeling that we have to be near an endgame, Soc. We have to be, given the open floodgates of evidence about s much criminal activity by the .01% centered in war , looting , and lying .  I mean, really, how much longer can this go on?!  S: (smiling) Are you asking me, or just pausing for dramatic effect?  C: I’m asking if you have any answers.  S: (shrugs) I went through a 27-year civil war after almost 50 years of Athenian “leaders” concentrating an empire under their dominion. As we discussed in some detail , Athen’s “love of freedom” and spin that foreign barbarians “hate us for our freedoms” was total inversion of the facts because “freedom” was only meant for us, and not anyone else. Everyone else had to pay tribute or face military invasion.  This hypocrisy in my time produced civil war. Those of us voicing the facts were insufficient to prevent it, or stop it once started. (Pauses to look intensely into my eyes)  So you tell me: how much longer could your struggle go on?  C: Fuck.  I really don’t want a civil war.  S: Fuck, indeed. If it comes, maybe you’ll be lucky. Maybe it won’t last 27 years.  C: Fuck.  S: But I do have a brighter perspective. I mean, how many of the non-sheeple would care to talk with me if all I ever did is leave them discouraged? (chuckles) Who would converse with Socrates if those who did were asked, ‘Hey, how did your conversation with Socrates go?’ and the responses were all disheartened, ‘Fuck!’ (laughs)  C: Alright, go. What’s the higher light?  S: You already know it. You tell me.  C: Ok, you’re right. Maybe my being on Earth is all about growth, truth, and service, and I have to exercise real-world Faith to the One Life. It’s my job as a guest on this planet to harmonize in service to the Goddess ’ plan for Earth. Those of us who are relative beacons of light are isolated by design, obviously, by the facts of our relative leadership and lack of response from the public.  (smile) At least I haven’t been voted by my peers for execution, as you were, Soc, for standing for truth.  S: Not yet, anyway. If you had taken other pathways, you would have been assassinated by your oligarchs, such as Martin King , President Kennedy , and others .  C: (sigh) I guess I don’t really have anything new to discuss. I just want to win this game. End the empire. Have truth and love.  It’s been a long war, bro.  S: Indeed it has. Longer than you know.  C: So much bullshit .  S: Only bullshit. Any truth has been co-opted, controlled, and used to mask the empire. The only reason I’m allowed onto your history pages is pretense that humanity lives on a planet operated from ideals of virtue.  It’s the same with religious ideals of love.  C: I’m ready to win.  S: So was I.  C: (sigh) Alright. So another day in the empire. Ok. Fine. Real-world exercise of Faith. The Goddess has more evolution to oversee with love and wisdom before we see a breakthrough. I can embrace that.  It’s really stupid to argue with reality.  Really stupid.  S: (smiling) Apparently, yes.  We have to work with what we have, assuredly. There is no other option.  C: We discussed in our previous conversations linked for readers below that the  today compares to your empire in Athens, and the case that perhaps, just maybe, the  is on the verge of breakthrough for Truth and Love.  S: Perhaps my history can allow perspective on your world of the present, and encourage Americans today to best use their voice and virtue for a brighter path than the civil war we endured.  Certainly for all interested, this consideration is worthy of investing time and attention. History is literally all we know, and what drives our understanding of the present. History is what informs our direction for building the future.  America’s history is at war between an awakening We the People and a deeply evil .01% committed to undisclosed vicious empire.  Your history could devolve into civil war. (chuckles) As would-be Emperor Trump might say: “Sad.”  C: (shaking my head, slight smile). Ok, I gotta’ go to work. Another day in the empire. My vote still stands to planetary management for full fucking truth in a breakthrough. I like a potential trend with revealing e-mails, but want a breakthrough that causes arrests of our .01% leaders in elegant endgame.  S: Yes, and I’d like to fly, breath underwater swimming like a dolphin, and have daily dinner parties with wine, music and women!  C: (mock agreement) Me, too!  Ok, our wants aren’t our best guides, necessarily.  I do have to go to work. Back to “earning a living.”  S: Make the most of it. It’s your given area of self-expression.  C: I promise. I’ll lead by example of my best good-faith expression and experience of virtue.  Another day.  S: Perhaps just another day. Perhaps you can’t imagine what’s coming.  C: Human limitations. I’ll work with what I see.  S: That’s all I concluded was possible. That’s all I got for wisdom. I didn’t teach anything other than look for yourself what’s right there in front of you to see. Listen to your small voice within for your best call of virtue.  Step-by-step, my brother. In all empathy, live your Faith that you’re loved and guided more than you’re able to imagine.  (bro hug)  We’ll do our best.  “Interview” series:",fake,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
22863,22864,"CROSSING, Turkey (Reuters) - Turkey s President Tayyip Erdogan threatened to impose sanctions against Kurdish northern Iraq over a planned independence vote, piling economic pressure on Kurdish authorities after Turkish troops deployed near the main commercial border crossing. Turkey, home to the largest Kurdish population in the region, has warned that any breakup of neighboring Iraq or Syria could lead to a global conflict, and is due to prepare a formal response on Friday, three days before the referendum. Erdogan said the Turkish cabinet and security council would discuss Ankara s options. They will  put forward their own stance on what kind of sanctions we can impose, or if we will,  he told reporters in New York, according to Anadolu news agency.  But these will not be ordinary,  Erdogan said. Iraqi Kurdish authorities have defied growing international pressure to call off the vote, which Iraq s neighbors fear will fuel unrest among their own Kurdish populations. Western allies say it could detract from the fight against Islamic State. On Monday, the Turkish army launched a highly visible military drill near the Habur border crossing, which military sources said was due to last until Sept. 26, a day after the planned referendum. Around 100 tanks and military vehicles, backed by rocket launchers and radar, deployed in open farmlands near the frontier, guns pointed south toward the Kurdish mountains. The military buildup hit the Turkish lira, which weakened on Tuesday beyond 3.500 to the dollar, before recovering on Wednesday to around 3.465. But it has so far had little impact on lines of trucks queuing to cross into territory controlled by the Kurdish Regional Government in north Iraq. Turkey, for years the  s main link to the outside world, has built strong trade ties with the semi-autonomous region which exports hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil per day through Turkey to international markets.  Russian oil major Rosneft will also invest in pipelines to export gas to Turkey and Europe. Erdogan did not spell out what sanctions Turkey might be considering, but truck drivers waiting at Habur on Wednesday said they feared for their livelihoods if cross-border trade, crucial to the local economy, dries up.  I have four kids, I am 35-years-old, and there is neither a job nor a factory in the region,  said tanker driver Abdurrahman Yakti, who carries crude oil from Iraq to Turkey s Iskenderun Rafinery in the southeastern province of Hatay.   We are stuck with this job. If this gate closes this would be our doom.  Ferhat, who has transported dry cargo across the border for 10 years, said closing Habur would paralyze Turkey s southeast.  It would not affect only people like me who work for 1,500 lira ($430 per month), but also the businessmen. We bring crude oil from Iraq, but just as many trucks are carrying goods from Istanbul and all around Turkey to Iraq,  he said. The show of military force at the border and the threat of sanctions reflects the depth of concern in Turkey that Monday s referendum could embolden the outlawed Kurdish PKK, which has waged a three-decade insurgency in Turkey s southeast since 1984. The Turkish air force frequently strikes against  units operating from the mountains of northern Iraq, and limited detachments of Turkish infantry have made forays across the frontier in the past. Turkey stationed troops in Bashiqa near Mosul, ignoring protests from Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, ahead of the military campaign to drive Islamic State out of the northern Iraqi city.  Ankara also sees itself as protector of Iraq s Turkmen ethnic minority, with particular focus on the oil city of Kirkuk which Kurds seized in 2014 as Iraqi troops retreated in the face of Islamic State advances. Erdogan said Kurdish determination to hold the referendum disregarded Turkey s support for  leadership until now.  We will announce our final thoughts on the issue with the cabinet meeting and national security council decision,  Erdogan said.  I think it would be better if they saw this.  ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
22864,22865,"Rupert Grint joined his Harry Potter co stars Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson in paying homage , saying he felt "" so privileged "" to have worked with him .  "" Even though he has gone I will always hear his voice , "" he continued a reference to the actor ' s distinctive and much imitated baritone .  The Die Hard and Robin Hood : Prince of Thieves star has also been remembered by Rada ' s Edward Kemp as "" hugely loved and highly regarded "" .  Kemp , director of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art , told  Breakfast its London base had been "" in an intense state of grief "" following Thursday ' s announcement .  Rickman studied at Rada from 1972 to 1974 before going on to work with the Royal Shakespeare Company in such plays as Les Liaisons Dangereuses .  Gregory Doran , the  ' s artistic director , praised his "" forensic intelligence , precision and brilliant comic timing "" as well as his "" integrity and generosity "" .  The cast of the current London production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses led by actress Janet McTeer paid their own on stage tribute after their final curtain call on Thursday .  Image caption Jackman ' s photo shows he and Rickman with actors Taron Egerton and Christopher Walken  Hugh Jackman posted a picture of himself with his "" dear friend "" on Twitter , while Cher remembered him as a "" Brilliant Actor "" who would ""  B   "" .  Flowers and tributes have also been left at King ' s Cross station in London at the area designated "" Platform 9 ? "" , after the Harry Potter books and films .   actor Neil Patrick Harris said he was "" stunned "" to hear of Rickman ' s passing , describing his Tony winning performance on Broadway in Noel Coward ' s Private Lives as "" a master class "" .  Sigourney Weaver also expressed disbelief at the news , saying her Galaxy Quest co star had "" infused every character he played "" with his "" enormous strength of character "" .  Media captionKate Winslet and Alan Rickman discuss A Little Chaos in April 2015  "" Alan Rickman was an actor ' s actor courageous , generous , witty surprising , "" tweeted Susan Sarandon . "" When he laughed he lit up a room . ""  Author Kathy Lette , meanwhile , described her late "" pal "" as "" dear , loving , loyal and kind , "" adding that she preferred to think of him "" wearing Harry Potter ' s invisibility cloak "" rather than deceased .  In a statement released on Thursday , Rickman ' s family said he had "" died from cancer at the age of 69 . . . surrounded by family and friends . ""  It was recently revealed that he and his long term partner , Rima Horton , had married in secret last year .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
22871,22872,"Umfrage:  würde enorm an Zustimmung gewinnen, wenn  kanadische Cannabis-Standards übernehmen müsste Brüssel (dpo) - Das könnte die Wende im Streit um  bedeuten: Einer neuen Umfrage zufolge würde die Zustimmung der EU-Bevölkerung für das Freihandelsabkommen mit einem Schlag auf bisher unerreichte Werte steigen, wenn der Vertrag die Europäische Union dazu zwingen würde, beim Umgang mit Cannabis kanadische Standards zu übernehmen. Denn was viele CETA-Kritiker hierzulande nicht bedenken: Die kanadische Regierung unter Premierminister Justin Trudeau bereitet zurzeit eine vollkommene Freigabe von Marihuana und anderen berauschenden Hanfprodukten vor . Schon jetzt wird der Besitz und Konsum dieser Rauschmittel in der Praxis nicht verfolgt. Kommt das ""Gebt das Hanf frei!""-Handelsabkommen? Sollte  zur Folge haben, dass auch die  Cannabis legalisieren müsste, wäre plötzlich ein Großteil der europäischen Bevölkerung für das Zustandekommen des Abkommens. ""Rund 78 Prozent aller Europäer würden dann dafür plädieren,  unter dieser Voraussetzung so schnell wie möglich zu unterzeichnen"", sagte Dr. Martin Heumann von der Universität Wien, der die Umfrage unter mehr als 12.000 EU-Bürgern koordinierte. ""Und zwar am besten noch diese Woche, bevor die letzten Brösel aufgebraucht sind und sie sich um völlig überteuerten Nachschub auf dem Schwarzmarkt kümmern müssen."" Einzige Ausnahme: Während die Zustimmung für  unter dieser Voraussetzung überall sonst sprunghaft anstieg, ließ sich bei Umfrageteilnehmern aus den Niederlanden kein messbarer Unterschied feststellen. Ersten Schätzungen zufolge dürfte das Handelsvolumen an Cannabisprodukten zwischen der  und Kanada innerhalb kürzester Zeit um etwa 21.000.000.000 Prozent steigen (aktuell: 50 Euro monatlich, weil Sandro Keller aus Dörmagen sein Haschisch aus unerfindlichen Gründen aus Quebec bezieht) belaufen. Derzeit werde geprüft, wieviel Gramm Marihuana auf ein Containerschiff dieser Klasse passen: Letztlich hätte eine Legalisierung wohl auch für Brüssel entscheidende Vorteile. Heumann: ""Sobald die neue Drogenpolitik greift, werden die Bürger auch die negativen Folgen von  zufrieden grinsend ertragen. Das kann jedem EU-Politiker nur genehm sein!"" pfg, ssi, dan; Foto [M]: Shutterstock Artikel teilen:",fake,news,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present
22874,22875,"Trump has been on a 48-hour freak out with the hosts of  s  Morning Joe  and his clear incoherence has everyone from mental health experts to average Americans once again concerned that the president is seriously mentally ill. The evidence that our president is indeed mentally unfit for office is circumstantial but persuasive   and Trump keeps digging the hole deeper.Most people would agree that a man who can t stop himself from fabricating a rumor of a bleeding facelift to publicly attack the host of a cable show he doesn t like is unfit for office. In normal times, that alone would be grounds for invoking the 25th Amendment s clause on the president s mental capacity. For Trump, that s only the tip of the iceberg, the latest in a seemingly unending string of incidents that should raise serious concerns.The White House seems to be painfully aware that the questions swirling around his stability are undermining the credibility of his role as president. Consequently, and for the first time in U.S. history, the White House has to run with the narrative that you cannot question the president s mental health. Trump is sane because they say he is sane and shut up about it.Just hours after Trump got into a public fight with the hosts of  Morning Joe  on Twitter while he watched the show live, Kellyanne Conway went on  s  Good Morning America  to say it was unpatriotic to ever question whether Trump has lost his mind. Even while he continues to provide evidence that he has had some sort of mental breakdown.After summarizing an (incomplete) list of the things Trump has been called online, Kellyanne said: It doesn t help the American people to have a president covered in this light. I m sorry. It s neither productive nor patriotic. The toxicity is over the top. In short, Kellyanne wants us to believe Trump is the victim in all of this. Meanwhile, he continues to play the part of the bully.Worth remembering: Trump s favorite network, Fox News, once aired Glenn Beck claiming Obama hated white people. Its star anchor, Sean Hannity, repeatedly accused Obama of being a pathological  narcissist.  And its resident mental health  expert,  repeatedly diagnosed both Barack and Michelle Obama with various pathologies, including once saying Michelle needed to lose weight. None of that irrational hatred or vitriol caused Obama to live-tweet a rant about Fox News hosts or personally smear them on social media.But then, Obama wasn t mentally ill, so why would he?Featured image via YouTube",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
22877,22878,"Mashable )  artist Banksy , he of the guerilla techniques and ever increasing popularity , is about to be unceremoniously identified to the highest bidder in an eBay auction , which ends Wednesday .  At press time , the winning bidder is offering one slim dollar shy of a million . Bidding started at 3 , 000 the auction has had 38 bids .  In the listing , the seller states , "" I have uncovered Banksy ' s identity by matching up the prices of his sold pieces to corresponding tax records . I will reveal no more details . . . I give you 100 assurance that it is most certainly the full name of the street artist known as ' Banksy . ' ""  The seller also says that eBay had previously terminated his auction because he was selling an intangible good the seller is now technically offering for auction a piece of paper containing Banksy ' s legal name .  The party offering Banksy ' s identity is hardly a power seller , having a fairly sparse but mostly positive record that dates back to 2001 .  At this time , we have no way of determining whether the winning bidder is being taken to the cleaners to the tune of 1 million or whether the seller is legitimately peddling an exclusive glimpse into the identity of a public figure who clearly wants to be anything but public .  However , we read on the artist ' s website that not all Banksy work that is sold necessarily corresponds to the artist himself .  "" Banksy neither produces or profits from the sale of greeting cards , mugs or photo canvases of his work , "" the site reads . "" He is not represented by any of the commercial galleries that sell his paintings secondhand . ""  Banksy gained a bit of stateside exposure in October 2010 when he directed an opening sequence for "" The Simpsons . ""  What do you think of this auction ? Would you want to know Banksy ' s identity , or do you think he deserves to live privately and relatively anonymously ? Let us know your thoughts in the comments .  2011 MASHABLEweblink . All rights reserved .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
22889,22890,"European Factors to Watch European shares seen falling sharply at open   Jan 7 European shares were expected to fall sharply at the open on Thursday , after China accelerated the depreciation of the yuan , sending currencies across the region reeling and domestic stock markets tumbling .  Financial spreadbetters expected Britain ' s  100 to open down by 77 79 points , or 1 . 3 percent lower .  Germany ' s  was seen down by 170 179 points , or 1 . 7 1 . 8 percent lower , while France ' s  was seen down by 64 67 points , or 1 . 4 1 . 5 percent lower .  China ' s stock markets were suspended for the rest of the day less than half an hour after opening as a new circuit breaking mechanism was tripped for the second time this week .  Singapore based aircraft leasing company  Aviation Pte ordered 30 Airbus Group A320 narrow body jets at the end of December as it ramps up its fleet ahead of a 3 billion initial public offering in Hong Kong .  Air France  and its French network Air France both made an operating profit in 2015 , top company officials said on Wednesday .  An insecticide widely used on cotton plants and citrus groves can harm bees that come into contact with those crops under certain conditions , the U . S . Environmental Protection Agency said on Wednesday . Bayer CropScience , Syngenta  and other firms that produce or sell neonic products have said mite infestations and other factors are to blame for bee deaths .  British new car registrations hit an all time high last year , two sources told Reuters citing preliminary industry data , helped by rising consumer confidence , the strength of the pound and cheap car loans .  Workers at British insurer Legal General have voted for industrial action over the threatened closure of a regional office , trade union Unite said on Wednesday , their first such move since the 1970s .  The U . K . ' s financial watchdog is investigating possible manipulation of the British government bond market by traders at Lloyds Banking Group , according to people familiar with the matter , The Wall Street Journal reported . ( on . wsjweblink 1ON9f2C )  Reinsurance prices fell at the start of 2016 and are expected to remain under pressure in the coming months , though the pace of decline is moderating , reinsurance brokers said .  Monsanto Chief Executive Hugh Grant said recent attempts to re engage Syngenta about a potential takeover have been difficult since the Swiss agrochemical company shot down a proposed 45 billion deal last year .  He told analysts on an earnings call on Wednesday that company executives still believe there is "" a significant opportunity "" for integration between the two companies , and given tougher market conditions there is a greater need to figure out what those opportunities might be . "" We haven ' t seen much progress on that front , "" he added .  The German automaker assumes it will have to buy back about 115 , 000 cars in the United States as a result of the emissions scandal , Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported .  Audi aims to increase the share of electric cars to a quarter of its U . S . deliveries by about 2026 as the luxury brand steps up efforts to improve battery technology , the head of its U . S . operations said on Wednesday .    Asia shares slump as China sets yuan lower , triggers circuit breaker   Wall St drops to 3 month low China , energy weigh Tokyo ' s Nikkei share average closes down 2 . 33 pct  Yields fall as low inflation outlook hints at dovish Fed  Yen surges , Aussie hit hard as yuan slide quickens  Flight to safety sends gold to 9 wk high as stocks slump  London copper falls on demand concerns as Chinese equities plunge Global oil prices hit 11 year low on China market turmoil , storage overhang ( Reporting by Sudip Kar Gupta )  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
22894,22895,"Welcome to Camp Cruz , the temporary home for an army of volunteers from around the country who have traveled to this snowbound state at their own expense . Their mission : to do all they can to push the first term Republican senator over the finish line when Iowa holds the first presidential nominating contest in the nation on Feb . 1 .   : ? Get the best from our political teams delivered daily  Iowa is close to a must win for the Texas senator in his battle with businessman turned reality television star Donald Trump . Cruz s campaign believes that this passionate horde of followers who have uprooted their lives to stump for him could produce the margin of victory in a tight race .  We just felt really compelled to come up here and work for Sen . Cruz because we believe our country s in really bad trouble , said Lisa Barry , 53 . We re working till we drop .  Barry and her husband hired an aide to care for their disabled daughter for a week so they could drive 11 hours from their Port Neches , Texas , home , and campaign for Cruz . It is hard to put into words the dedication and the passion these volunteers have , and I think it is hard to quantify how big an impact they will have on this race , said Bryan English , Cruz s Iowa director .  A schedule is posted on a doorway at "" Camp Cruz "" in Des Moines , where volunteers from around the country are living at an old college dormitory .  A schedule is posted on a doorway at "" Camp Cruz "" in Des Moines , where volunteers from around the country are living at an old college dormitory .  The Barrys , like all the volunteers , paid for their travel to Iowa , their meals and other expenses . They work 12 hours per day , every day . Volunteers typically approach 100 to 200 homes daily when walking precincts , and reach several hundred households when they re pulling a phone bank shift .  Some decided that wasn t enough , and started rising early to wave Cruz for president placards during the early morning rush hour before their morning prayers .  The living quarters in the three story brick building that houses the volunteers are spartan ? there are 48 twin beds and a handful of air mattresses . Volunteers have tried to spruce up their surroundings by tacking red , white and blue crepe paper to the hallway ceilings , pictures of Cruz and his family to their doors , and American flags and balloons throughout .  The campaign plans to open a second dorm in Iowa this week , and then additional facilities in the next two voting states , New Hampshire and South Carolina .  Many volunteers are from Texas and unfamiliar with Iowa s winter climes .  Obviously the snow and the cold is a whole lot different than what we re used to . We knocked on doors on Monday , and when we started , it was 2 degrees , so my eyelashes actually froze , Lisa Barry said .  She said Iowans have been welcoming and several invited her inside their homes to warm up . I think our dedication and our zeal has meant a lot to the people in Iowa , she said .  The Barrys didn t even put up a lawn sign during the last presidential election , but thought ? they had to go all out for Cruz . He reminds them of Ronald Reagan .  He ticks all the boxes . He s a Godly man . He s a true blue conservative . And then to see him standing in the Senate and fighting for our conservative values , it s just been inspiring , Lisa Barry said .  The Cruz crew quickly formed a community . On Christmas , the volunteers shared a holiday meal , and on New Year s Eve they went bowling . Every Sunday , they go to church together before heading to campaign headquarters in Urbandale .  Volunteers with cars shuttle those without transportation to the grocery store and the pharmacy . After a long day of making phone calls or walking precincts , most volunteers head immediately to bed after they return to the dorm . Those who stay awake past 9 p . m . play dominoes or watch movies on computers .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
22899,22900,"After repeated rude and crass outbursts at the stand up comedians performing on stage local man Ronny Waldston was removed from the Chuckle Hut mainstage and forcibly sat at the improvisational comedy show taking place in the basement .  "" We politely asked the guest to be considerate to our performers , "" said manager Eric Miller . "" Once it became clear he would not be quiet , we decided he no longer deserved the privilege of watching people tell jokes that were pre planned and well crafted . ""  "" Also , frankly , the audience for the improv troupe was a little light and they needed someone to call out suggestions for the next game , "" Miller added .  Shortly after Waldston was placed into the show , a longform improv showcase by group the Merry Magdalenes called "" Let ' s Get Biblical ! , "" employees could hear him banging on the walls and begging to be let out before he , like the rest of the audience , went completely quiet .  Afterwards Waldston appeared quite shocked by the ordeal  "" I thought it would be funny to yell out my dick ' when they asked for a location , but then they actually acted out an entire scene set in my dick and there was absolutely nothing funny about it . Especially when they called me on stage and made me play Party Quirks with them . ""  Waldston also expressed both regret and outrage over the entire incident .  "" I know I shouldn ' t have yelled at the female comic to show me her tits . I understand that now . But I didn ' t deserve no one deserves to have to sit there and watch 4 people do bad German accents because they are playing German tourists wandering around the city . Nothing even happened . That was the whole scene and it lasted 15 minutes . ""  At press time the Merry Magdalenes were all pretty happy with how the show went .  ",satire,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
22900,22901,"A man ' s threatening tirade on board a Sydney bound Virgin flight which forced the plane to turn back to Perth has cost him almost 60 , 000 .  But the embarrassing debacle on July 9 doesn ' t seem to have bothered Brenden James Tume too much as he has posted a  news report about his antics as the cover photo on his Facebook profile like a badge of honour .  The 23 year old father of two appeared in Perth Magistrates Court on Thursday , pleading guilty to two offences related to his aggressive outburst , while under the influence of alcohol and cannabis , which has cost him 48 , 500 in reparations for the distressing disruption and a 10 , 000 fine .  Brenden James Tume posted the  news report about his antics as the cover photo on his Facebook profile like a badge of honour  The plane left Perth at 5pm on July 9 but returned two hours later when Tume woke up during the flight and became abusive towards crew members .  ' Stop talking s about me , ' he repeatedly said to the flight staff .  ' You have got my f ing wallet . '  The court heard Tume shook his fists and threw magazines around with children seated nearby .  He then went on to threaten staff saying : ' I will get you . I will cause a stir and bring this plane down . '  The court heard Virgin suffered a significant financial loss for fuel and to accommodate passengers for the night because a curfew prevented it from arranging another plane .  The father of two , with a third on the way , was under the influence of alcohol and cannabis while on the flight  The 23 year old has to cough up almost 60 , 000 for his disruptive antics which forced the plane back to Perth  Tume , a father of two with a third child on the way , was disorientated when he woke up during the flight , the court heard .  His lawyer submitted that there was no forethought in his actions and the incident was not an accurate reflection of his character .  Chief Magistrate Steven Heath said people expected to fly safely and Tume ' s selfish act had caused distress to many people .  ' Your behaviour on this occasion under the influence of whatever was completely inappropriate and irrational , ' he said .  Tume must pay reparation costs of 48 , 568 . 90 and was also ordered to pay court costs of 94 . 30 .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past
22908,22909,"Speaking from the White House , Obama on Sunday hailed the "" historic progress through diplomacy , "" long the centerpiece of his foreign policy vision , instead of another war in the Middle East .  Three of the American detainees ? Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian , former U . S . Marine Amir Hekmati and pastor Saeed Abedini ? arrived in Germany en route to a U . S . military hospital . They will return home after medical evaluations .  The fourth , Nosratollah Khosravi Roodsari , opted to remain in Iran , officials said .  The Islamic Republic released the prisoners in exchange for pardons or charges dropped against seven Iranians ? six of whom hold dual U . S . citizenship ? serving time for or accused of sanctions violations in the United States . A fifth American , student Matthew Trevithick , who had been detained in Iran for roughly 40 days , was released separately .  For all the celebrations , the timing of the deal , finalized hours after Saturday night ' s U . N . confirmation that Iran made good on pledges to significantly back away from atomic bomb making capacity , suggested that the Americans possibly were used as pawns by the Iranian government to win long sought economic relief , as critics allege .  The International Atomic Energy Agency ' s declaration unlocked some 100 billion in frozen Iranian assets overseas , and potentially even greater economic benefits through suspended oil , trade and financial sanctions by the U . S . and European Union .  Critics of Obama ' s Iran policy at home and abroad pounced on the details of the prisoner exchange and the new economic opportunities being afforded Tehran while it still supports Syrian President Bashar Assad ' s government and the militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah .  "" This deal is a problematic deal , and it reflects a pattern we have seen in the Obama administration over and over again of negotiating with terrorists , and making deals and trades that endanger U . S . safety and security , "" Texas Sen . Ted Cruz , a  presidential candidate , said on "" Fox News Sunday . ""  Nevertheless , the back to back breakthroughs reflected painstaking diplomacy by Kerry and administration officials .  The efforts were beset by several hitches , including the detention of 10 U . S . sailors by Iran last week in the Persian Gulf and U . S . plans in late December to impose new sanctions on Iran for ballistic missile testing .  The sailors were released after Kerry ' s intervention with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif . The sanctions were delayed until Sunday , after the U . S . detainees left Iran .  U . S . and Iranian officials hashed out the prisoner exchange over 11 or 12 meetings over a process that took a little longer than a year , sprouting from the even longer set of talks that led to last July ' s landmark nuclear accord .  Just before Zarif announced the final pact with his  counterpart Frederica Mogherini , Kerry raised the issue of the detained Americans .  A photograph of Kerry speaking with Zarif and Iranian President Hasan Rouhani ' s brother , Hossein Fereydoun , captured the moment .  Things progressed significantly by November , when Iran was included for the first time in a meeting in Vienna on Syria ' s civil war . Kerry and Zarif met there to discuss the prisoners .  "" We actually shook hands thinking we had an agreement , "" Kerry said . "" I thought it was done . ""  But the deal bogged down in Tehran and never went through .  "" So we went back to work , "" Kerry told reporters on his plane back to Washington late Saturday .  He described the negotiations as difficult , especially as the Iranians made what he said were unacceptable demands . Kerry said the United States made clear it wouldn ' t release an accused murderer or narcotics offender .  "" For a long time , this didn ' t move because of the people they were asking for , "" Kerry recalled . "" We said , ' No , and no , and no . ' ""  "" And believe me , it ' s hard when somebody says to you , ' Hey , you give us this guy , we let them all out . ' And you have to say no . And you know you ' re keeping people in a not very nice place for the next whatever number of months , "" he said .  "" But there have to be an enforcement of our principles and our standards here . And in the end , we came out in the right place on that . ""  "" In the end , the president made the call , "" he said .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
22909,22910,"Go to Article  President Barack Obama has been campaigning hard for the woman who is supposedly going to extend his legacy four more years. The only problem with stumping for Hillary Clinton, however, is she’s not exactly a candidate easy to get too enthused about.  ",fake,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present
22913,22914,"The warning led the U . S . State Department to issue a global travel alert Friday , warning al Qaeda may launch attacks in the Middle East , North Africa and beyond in coming weeks . The U . S . government also was preparing to close 22 embassies and consulates in the region Sunday as a precaution .  The chatter among al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula operatives had gone on for weeks but increased in the last few days , the officials said .  Taken together with a warning from Yemeni officials , the United States took the extraordinary step of shutting down embassies and issuing travel warnings , said the officials , who spoke on condition of anonymity .  While the specific target is uncertain , U . S . officials are deeply worried about a possible attack against the U . S . Embassy in Yemen occurring through Tuesday , the officials said .  The warnings also come as news has surfaced that al Qaeda ' s leader , Ayman al Zawahiri , has appointed the head of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula , Nasser al Wahishi , as his overall general manager of the terror network , Seth Jones of the Rand Corporation said .  With al Zawahiri , the man who succeeded Osama bin Laden , and al Wahishi linked , the United States may be taking a cautious but necessary approach by closing the embassies , Jones said .  But as with so much in the intelligence world , there is disagreement over what may really be happening .  Yemeni intelligence agencies alerted authorities of the threat two days ago , when the Yemeni president was in Washington , said the official , who spoke on condition of anonymity .  Britain , France and Germany said their embassies in Sanaa would also be closed on Sunday and Monday over security concerns .  The  Foreign Office warned its citizens Friday against all travel to Yemen , and it strongly urged British nationals to leave now . "" If you don ' t leave the country now while commercial carriers are still flying it is extremely unlikely that the British government will be able to evacuate you or provide consular assistance , "" according to the Foreign Office warning .  The steps showed heightened security concerns about intelligence that indicates a potential attack in Yemen .  According to three sources , the United States has information al Qaeda in Yemen was in the final stages of planning for an unspecified attack .  "" The threat appears much worse than it has in a long time , "" the Yemeni official said .  Yemen has tightened security across the country , deploying security forces at all major government institutions , foreign embassies , foreign residential compounds and international organizations , the official said .  According to the Yemeni official , recent U . S . drone attacks may generate reprisals .  "" We take these threats seriously , especially since al Qaeda has been dealt many blows over the last few days , "" the official said .  In 2011 , al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula operatives filmed buildings linked to U . S . personnel in Sanaa , according to a source who has seen the video .  Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula operatives filmed video of the building , which is near the U . S . embassy in Sanaa , and the U . S . personnel who were in it , the source told Cruickshank .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
22919,22920,"Thierry Henry says he wants to manage Arsenal one day . He talks of getting his badges and qualifications . In the meantime , he is working for Sky .  ' I have to be able to make sure I have everything on board to be able to go back , ' he says .  What , a nice set of exams ? Why would Arsenal appoint a novice to steer them through the difficult task of succeeding Arsene Wenger ?  Thierry Henry may be an Arsenal legend but he needs to prove himself as a manager , not a pundit  By joining Sky , while doing his coaching badges , Henry has weakened his chances of managing his old club  Arsene Wenger signed the French forward in 1999 , but it seems unlikely he will be replaced by Henry  We saw what happened at Manchester United when Sir Alex Ferguson stepped down and what was needed to replace him : one of Europe ' s most experienced elite coaches , Louis van Gaal .  How can Henry prove Arsenal worthy from his Sky studio ? Jamie Carragher talks a good game , too but the guys at Fenway are not about to ditch Brendan Rodgers for him , no matter how many badges he has . Ultimately , the test is to get out there and do it at academy level , youth level , in the lower leagues , as an assistant .  A former Highbury hero , Patrick Vieira , is doing just this at Manchester City , and if Henry was genuinely on the road to being Arsenal manager , his first appearance before the Sky cameras would involve having a microphone poked up his nose by Geoff Shreeves .  Henry is Arsenal ' s all time leading goalscorer , and has been invited to come back to the club as a coach  Wenger has been under pressure this season , but is likely to see out the rest of his contract at Arsenal  David Moyes showed what can happen when a club legend is not replaced by one of Europe ' s top coaches  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
22939,22940,"Reuters) - Two prominent U.S. Democratic senators are raising questions about President Donald Trump’s special adviser, Carl Icahn, asking in a letter on Thursday if the activist investor is attempting to persuade the government to lift its “too big to fail” tag from insurer American International Group. On Friday, the Financial Stability Oversight Council, comprising the chiefs of U.S. financial regulatory agencies, will discuss AIG’s designation as a “systemically important financial institution,” commonly known as one that is “too big to fail.” In an agenda for the meeting, the council did not say which institution it will discuss.  However, there are only two non-banks designated as so large and interconnected that they would ruin the financial system if they failed -  and Prudential Insurance (PRU.N). The labels trigger stricter oversight and greater capital requirements. Trump has ordered a review of the designation process, currently at the heart of a lawsuit involving MetLife Inc. (MET.N), which many expect will lead his administration to rescind the current designations to try to lighten regulation it considers burdensome.  In a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Sheldon Whitehouse said Icahn has retained “his massive business interests” while advising Trump on regulation, including his sizable investment in  (AIG.N).   company received a $182 billion taxpayer bailout during the 2007-09 financial crisis, which prompted Congress to call for the designations of non-banks in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law as systemically important. Icahn owned a 4.95 percent stake in  as of March 31. Concerned about compliance costs, Icahn had publicly pressed  to shrink, and tried to convince the  that  no longer qualified for the label. Recently though, after  sold some assets and appointed a new chief executive, Icahn has not pushed the issue further.      Senators Warren and Whitehouse also noted Icahn met with one current  member, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Jay Clayton, after Clayton was nominated for the position. “Given Mr. Icahn’s recent modification of his position on the breakup of AIG, and his past interactions with administration officials, we write to seek assurances that Mr. Icahn has not provided input on or received information on the pending  decision on AIG’s  status,” they said. The two senators asked about any  measures to ensure  individuals with an interest in its decisions do not inappropriately influence its members. They also asked if any members are subject to recusal on  because of interactions with Icahn, and about any staff-level conversations regarding Icahn’s investments.  declined to comment, and the White House and Treasury did not respond to requests for comment. ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
22950,22951,"Written by Adam Dick   It is common in presidential campaigns for surrogates to speak at events or take part in media interviews where they vouch for a presidential candidate. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has many such surrogates, including her former presidential primary opponent Bernie Sanders, her husband and former United State President Bill Clinton, and First Lady Michelle Obama. Hillary Clinton’s campaign, as is typical of presidential campaigns, also uses Clinton’s vice presidential running mate Tim Kaine as a surrogate. What is unusual is that Bill Weld, the vice presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party, has also joined the ranks of Clinton surrogates. Weld, interviewed Tuesday at  by Rachel Maddow, said that he was on her show “to vouch for Hillary Clinton.” And vouch for Clinton he did throughout the interview. Asked by Maddow if people should vote for the Libertarian presidential ticket in states where there appears to be a close race between Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump, Weld answered that Weld fears “for the country” if Trump is elected, that Trump is “stirring up envy and resentment and even hatred,” and that Trump threatens  foreign policy and the nation’s “position in the world at large.” Weld did not say “vote for Clinton,” but it is easy for viewers of the interview to fill in those blanks. Not satisfied with Weld’s implicit call for voters to support Clinton, Maddow pushed for more explicit direction from Weld. And Weld obliged. Asked why a person would vote for the Libertarian ticket headed by presidential nominee Gary Johnson in a state with a close Clinton versus Trump race, Weld answered that he has “a lot to say” about Clinton to such voters who choose not to vote Libertarian. Weld proceeded praising Clinton who he says he has known for 40 years and has worked with professionally. “I know her well personally; I know her to be a person of high moral character, a reliable person, and an honest person, however so much Mr. Trump may rant and rave to the contrary,” Weld continued. In contrast, Weld, in the interview, argued that Trump behaves like a bully and cannot “competently manage the office of the presidency.” Narrowing in more on Weld’s vote recommendation, Maddow proceeded to ask Weld the following question: “Do you honestly believe that Gary Johnson would be a better president than Hillary Clinton?” Breaking from expectations based on the history of American vice presidential nominees, Weld did not say that the head of his presidential ticket would be the best choice for president and then launch into a list of reasons. Instead, Weld gave lukewarm praise for Johnson while sidestepping the direct question. “I think he’d be capable of being a good chief executive and, yes, a commander-in-chief” said Weld regarding Johnson. Weld then returned in his answer to his focus on how Clinton is a much better choice for voters than is Trump, asserting that a President Trump would bring “chaos to the country” while a President Clinton would bring a “very businesslike and capable and competent approach to our affairs.” Included in Weld’s defense of Clinton is his declaration during the interview that people should “just ignore,” because “there is nothing there,” the Friday disclosure by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James B. Comey that the  has reopened its investigation of Clinton for mishandling classified information. Maddow then questioned Weld regarding whether his opinion on the matter conflicts with a press release in which Johnson starts off saying, as quoted by Maddow, “The newest revelations about Hillary Clinton demonstrate why America should be scared of both Clinton and Trump.” Asked by Maddow if Weld agrees with the press release , Weld confirmed that he does not. Weld then immediately proceeded in his answer to list “a number of substantive issues” on which he disagrees with Johnson — something Weld did not do in regard to Clinton. Weld’s divergence from the expected message of a Libertarian Party vice presidential nominee should not be too surprising. On May 19, the day after Johnson declared his preference that the Libertarian National Convention delegates choose Weld for the vice presidential slot, Jesse Walker, writing at Reason, pointed to Weld’s “anti-libertarian positions” on both domestic and foreign issues before concluding “if I wanted to elect an Iraq hawk for gun control, I could vote for Hillary Clinton.” Several months later Weld has come out in the open to effectively answer Walker with a resounding “Hear, hear!” Since his nomination at the Libertarian National Convention, Weld has continued to endorse positions contrary to the Libertarian Party platform and libertarian ideas. These positions include outlawing people listed on the  government’s so-called terror watch lists from buying guns and nominating far-from-libertarian individuals to the  Supreme Court. Weld has also been busy promoting Clinton during his time as the Libertarian vice presidential nominee, though maybe never before so brazenly as in his interview this week with Maddow. In September, for example, Weld declared in an  interview that he thinks “very highly” of Clinton and that he is “not sure anybody’s more qualified than Hillary Clinton to be president of the United States.” Then, last week, Weld issued a statement , directed to people who are undecided between voting for Clinton or Trump, that goes on and on about how terrible Trump is but neglects to suggest voting for the Libertarian ticket. Weld appears to have been in the tank for Clinton for quite a while. A curious observer would have to wonder if Weld has supported Clinton’s election since before his nomination at the Libertarian National Convention. With so many Republican establishment individuals opposing Trump and even jumping to support Clinton, it is not far-fetched to think an effort would be made to put a Clinton supporter on the Libertarian presidential ticket. Indeed, David French, who Bill Kristol was once promoting as a potential independent presidential candidate to foil Trump, wrote a National Review article expressing his desire that the Libertarian National Convention delegates nominate a presidential candidate that anti-Trump Republicans could support. French suggested that Johnson may be alright in the top spot on the ticket, though French also expressed some reservations. Weld might very much satisfy many such “Never Trumpers” by using his platform as the vice presidential nominee to encourage people to vote for Clinton. Watch Weld’s interview with Maddow, in three segments, here: Copyright © 2016 by RonPaul Institute. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit and a live link are given.",fake,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
22954,22955,"Pennsylvania A Pennsylvania judge refused to dismiss a sexual assault case against Bill Cosby on Wednesday , setting the stage for the first criminal prosecution of the once celebrated comedian , who has for years denied allegations of assault by dozens of women .  The decision was a loss for the 78 year old entertainer , who for decades was beloved by U . S . television audiences for his family friendly brand of humor .  Cosby ' s attorneys had tried to convince Pennsylvania Common Pleas Court Judge Steven O ' Neill that their client could not be prosecuted due to an agreement reached with a former Montgomery Country district attorney more than a decade ago . They never produced a written agreement to that effect .  I hereby find no basis to grant the relief requested by Cosby ' s lawyers , O ' Neill said at the end of a two day hearing in suburban Philadelphia .  A Cosby spokesman said the decision would be appealed .  Prosecutors in Los Angeles County last month decided not to charge Cosby over two alleged cases of sexual assault dating to 1965 and 2008 .  Cosby , who has repeatedly denied wrongdoing , sat still and silent through Wednesday ' s court hearing and offered no visible reaction to O ' Neill ' s early evening decision . He could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison if convicted .  Prosecutors and defence lawyers left court without speaking to reporters .  Cosby ' s attorneys had called former Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor as their primary witness . Castor testified that he had agreed not to prosecute Cosby in 2005 to clear the way for him to testify in a civil suit brought by alleged victim Andrea Constand , now 44 , who has said Cosby plied her with alcohol and drugs before raping her .  I was hopeful that I had made Ms . Constand a millionaire . Castor testified on Tuesday . Cosby ' s top lawyer , John Schmitt , testified on Wednesday that he would not have allowed Cosby to give the deposition if he had believed prosecution was possible .  Cosby told the court at the time that he gave Constand what he described as an anti allergy pill before a sexual encounter he maintained was consensual .  Defense attorneys on Tuesday presented a 2005 press release from Castor ' s office that they said amounted to an agreement not to prosecute Cosby .  But current Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele attacked the idea that Cosby ' s lawyers would allow a deal that was never spelled out in a formal non prosecution agreement and contended such a deal would not have legal force .  A secret agreement that permits a wealthy defendant to buy his way out of a criminal case isn ' t right , he said .  The judge set a March 8 preliminary hearing for prosecutors to begin to discuss their evidence against Cosby .  Karen Polesir , a leader of the Philadelphia arm of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests , a group that advocates for victims of sexual abuse , praised the judge ' s decision .  This is a significant step forward for victims of sexual violence , she said . We hope this victory will encourage other prosecutors and police to pursue older rape cases .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
22994,22995,"—   With the   of “Moana” over the holiday weekend, the reinvigorated Walt Disney Animation Studios cemented its status as  ’s reigning powerhouse for   films. “Moana,” one of the   wide releases of the year, collected about $81. 1 million at domestic theaters over the   holiday weekend, enough to rank as the   Thanksgiving opening on record, behind only “Frozen,” which took in $93. 6 million for Disney in 2013. (Disney Animation Studios and its corporate sibling, Pixar, now hold the top six spots on that Thanksgiving records list.) Costing at least $300 million to make and market worldwide, “Moana” took in an additional $16. 3 million in limited overseas release, including in China, where the response was muted. “Moana,” which navigated various controversies en route to theaters, including one over an   Halloween   and one over an oversize male character, is a   musical   Miranda, the virtuoso behind the Broadway smash “Hamilton,” contributed to the score. After a fallow period in the 2000s, when Pixar reigned supreme, Disney Animation Studios has delivered one successful original film after another, including “Tangled,” “Frozen,” “  Ralph” and, earlier this year, “Zootopia. ” Pixar, lately focused more intently on sequels, has recently had an uneven track record with originals, finding a blockbuster in “Inside Out” but fizzling with “The Good Dinosaur. ” Among other new   offerings, Robert Zemeckis’s period spy drama, “Allied” (Paramount) did the best, collecting about $18 million, according to comScore, which compiles box office data. Had the film not cost a hefty $85 million to make  —   not including marketing expenses  —   that sales total would have been fine. As it is, “Allied,” which drew soft reviews, will likely go down as another misfire for Mr. Zemeckis and Paramount. The studio is counting on foreign audiences to pick up the slack in partial overseas release, “Allied,” starring Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard, took in $9. 4 million. “Bad Santa 2” (Broad Green) fared poorly. Costing an estimated $26 million to make, it sold about $9 million in tickets. The original “Bad Santa,” now considered a crude comedy classic, arrived to $22 million in Thanksgiving ticket sales in 2003, after adjusting for inflation. Bombing outright was Warren Beatty’s “Rules Don’t Apply,” a romantic comedic drama set in the late 1950s. Independently financed for $27 million and distributed by 20th Century Fox, “Rules Don’t Apply” collected a breathtakingly bad $2. 2 million for the   period. The movie likely suffered from mixed reviews, Mr. Beatty’s   absence from movie screens and   marketing materials that failed to make the film seem relevant to contemporary  . Even so, it was a strong weekend over all for Hollywood, as a broad array of movies, including the   arrival of the Weinstein Company’s “Lion,” and sizzling holdovers, including “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” generated wide audience interest. For the year to date, total ticket sales in North America stand at $10. 1 billion, a 4. 5 percent increase from the same period a year ago.",fake,news,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
22995,22996,"Environmental campaign group Greenpeace has called for people to join a "" global day of solidarity "" Saturday for 30 people detained and charged with piracy by Russia as they protested Arctic drilling last month .  Russian authorities made the arrests after two of the activists left the Greenpeace icebreaker Arctic Sunrise and tried to climb the side of an oil platform owned by the Russian energy giant Gazprom in the Barents Sea .  Greenpeace has condemned the Russian action , saying its activists were taking part in a peaceful protest against the "" slow but unrelenting destruction of the Arctic . ""  The group has called on supporters around the world to stage candlelight vigils Saturday , holding signs saying "" Free the Arctic 30 , "" to highlight the plight of those detained .  All 30 people aboard the ship , including 28 activists and two freelance journalists from at least 18 countries , were charged last week with piracy .  Meanwhile , the government in the Netherlands where the Arctic Sunrise is registered wrote to the Dutch parliament Friday to say it has launched legal action aimed at freeing the 30 under the  Convention of the Law of the Sea .  "" With regard to its detention of the ship , Russia invokes its authority to ensure safety at sea in the vicinity of the oil platform , "" Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans wrote . "" The Netherlands agrees on the importance of safety at sea , but in this case we contest the lawfulness of detaining the ship and its crew . ""  The "" arbitral procedure "" it has filed focuses "" on what the Netherlands views as the unlawfulness of boarding and detaining the ship and on our demand for the release of the ship and its crew , "" it said .  "" Under this procedure the Netherlands can in two weeks , if insufficient progress has been made , request the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea to prescribe provisional measures for the release of the ship and its crew . ""  This would not interfere with Russia ' s ability to pursue criminal proceedings against the 30 people , Timmermans said .  Two of those detained are Dutch nationals , both of whom are receiving consular assistance .  The defendants also include Americans Peter Wilcox , who is the captain of the Arctic Sunrise , and Dmitry Litvinov , who Greenpeace says also holds Swedish citizenship .  Greenpeace ship captain defies orders , Russians resort to towing  The other detainees are from Argentina , Australia , Brazil , Canada , Denmark , Britain , New Zealand , Ukraine , Russia , France , Italy , Turkey , Finland , Switzerland , Poland , the United States and Sweden , the group said .  None of those charged last week pleaded guilty , Russia ' s Investigative Committee said . If convicted , they could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison .  Lawyers acting on Greenpeace ' s behalf have filed appeals in court seeking the defendants ' release , Greenpeace said Thursday .  Greenpeace International ' s General Counsel Jasper Teulings said Friday he welcomed the Dutch government ' s "" strong stance in support of the rule of law and the right to peacefully protest . Russian officials will now be called to explain their actions before an international court of law , where it will be unable to justify these absurd piracy allegations . ""  Russian authorities accuse the defendants of trying to commandeer the platform .  The authorities and Gazprom also say the activists endangered the lives of the company ' s employees and that their action could have led to an environmental disaster .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
23015,23016,"Crimea declares state of emergency after power lines attacked  Explosions on Friday and Sunday cut off electricity supply from Ukraine , forcing Russian annexed peninsula to rely on generators  Alec Luhn in Moscow , and agencies in Kiev  Last modified on Sunday 22 November 2015 17 . 00 ?   Almost 2 million Crimeans were left without power and in darkness at the weekend after unknown saboteurs blew up power lines to the peninsula , underscoring its continued dependence on Ukraine despite its annexation by Russia last year .  A state of emergency was declared after four pylons that transmit power to Crimea were blown up on Friday and Saturday night . Russia s energy ministry scrambled to restore electricity to cities using generators , but the majority of people on the peninsula remained powerless on Saturday night .  Cable and mobile internet stopped working , though there was still mobile phone coverage , and water supplies to high rise buildings halted .  The attacks threaten to complicate still volatile relations between Moscow and Kiev after 18 months of on off conflict over territory in the east of Ukraine . Crimea was annexed by Russia in 2014 after an armed but bloodless intervention , but the territory s status remains precarious because of its reliance on Ukraine .  The Crimean prime minister , Sergei Aksyonov , called the destruction of the electricity supply a terrorist act . No one will bring Crimeans to their knees , we won t allow for negotiations , he said . We won t let anyone speak to us in the language of blackmail .  The Crimean prosecutor general , Natalya Poklonskaya , said a criminal case would opened over the destruction of the power lines across the de facto border with Ukraine , the  Novosti news agency reported .  All their methods , all their doings fall under the action of a punishable crime , she said . Monday has been declared a holiday in Crimea due to the power situation .  The four pylons were first attacked on Friday in Ukraine s Kherson region . Explosions downed two lines and damaged the other two . Early on Sunday another explosion cut all power to Crimea . The identity of the attackers was unclear .  After the first attack on Friday , Ukrenergo , Ukraine s state run energy company , posted pictures of a downed pylon and one with a hole blown through it . The head of the anti narcotics department of Ukraine s interior ministry , Ilya Kiva , who was at the scene , wrote on Facebook : The pylons have just been blown up ! ! !  On Saturday , the pylons were the scene of violent clashes between activists from the Right Sector nationalist movement and paramilitary police , Ukrainian media reported . Ukrainian nationalists have long been agitating for an energy blockade of Crimea to exert pressure on the former Ukrainian territory .  Russian state media reported that the energy ministry had offered to help fix the lines but was rejected by the Ukrainian authorities , who said they could fix the problem themselves . The emergencies ministry has created a team of 3 , 000 employees and 1 , 000 pieces of equipment to facilitate daily living in Crimea , the deputy head , Alexander Chupriyan , said . He warned that the power outage could continue for a long time .  Mikhail Sheremet , first deputy premier of Crimea , said the peninsula could only supply half its power needs at most using diesel generators and renewable sources such as wind and solar power , the Tass state news agency reported . Crimea experienced several total power cuts last winter , attributed by the authorities to repairs and technical problems but seen by residents as deliberate pressure from Ukraine .  Russia plans to build two power stations in Crimea that would burn gas piped from the mainland , but these are still at the planning stage . Officials said there was enough fuel to keep the gas and diesel powered generators running .  Crimea provides only 30 of its own energy , according to the regional government , and depends on Ukraine for much of its electricity supplies .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
23022,23023,"Fred Berretta was aboard  Airways Flight 1549 bound for Charlotte , North Carolina , when he heard a loud bang and the plane shook .  The New York Fire Department rescued passengers from the downed plane in the Hudson River .  "" We were still on ascent , and the engine blew out , "" he said . "" The pilot turned around and made a line for the river . ""  Passenger Alberto Panero said that immediately , he smelled smoke .  "" All of a sudden , the captain came on and said brace for a landing , and that ' s when we knew we were going down , "" he said .  The Airbus A320 , carrying Panero and more than 150 other passengers and crew , crash landed in the Hudson River on Thursday after taking off from LaGuardia Airport in New York . Watch Jeff Kolodjay describe the crash  "" We knew there wasn ' t a lot of time because we were quite close to the ground , and it felt as though the descent was somewhat rapid , "" said Berretta , who said he was sitting in seat 16A . Watch Berretta describe the landing  As the plane headed down toward the river , the cabin was mostly silent , he said .  "" After he told us prepare for impact , it was pretty evident we were not going to make the runway . ""  At first , it felt like the plane was gliding , Berretta said , as if no engines were working .  "" People started praying , and there was a lot of silence , and the realization that we were going in was really hard to take in at that moment , "" he said .  As the plane started to go down , some passengers shouted to those in exit rows to be prepared to quickly open the doors .  Berretta spent that time contemplating the chances of surviving a water crash .  "" I think that it certainly went through my mind that this probably very much could be it , "" he said .  Then the plane hit the water . Panero said the impact felt like a car crash .  Some said that as the plane hit , there were extremely loud noises .  "" The plane was jockeying about , spinning a bit , "" Berretta said .  "" Then all of a sudden , it was ' Get out , get out now , ' "" Panero said .  Jeff Kolodjay was sitting in seat 22A right next to the engine believed to have caused the plane to go down .  "" The plane started filling with water pretty quick , "" he said . "" It was scary . There was a lady with her baby on my left hand shoulder , and she was crawling over the seats . ""  Upon impact , passengers left behind their coats and luggage . They grabbed life vests and seat cushions and headed toward the exits .  "" It seemed like it lasted an eternity , "" Berretta said .  When the plane began to sink , some passengers began to panic , Panero said . Watch Panero describe what he saw and heard  "" But there was a couple of people who kind of took charge and just started yelling to calm down , just to get everybody out , "" he said . "" Once people realized that we were going to be  , everybody kind of calmed down and just tried to get out of the plane to safety . ""  Passengers began to group themselves on the wings to stay out of the frigid water .  When they were safely out of the plane , Berretta said , there was one more moment of fear .  "" Our raft was tethered to the plane , and we worried we might go down with the plane , "" he said . "" But we were able to get a knife off a rescue boat and cut the tether . ""  More than anything , passengers wanted to thank the crew . As Berretta exited the plane , he said that besides a few passengers remaining , the crew and pilot stayed behind to make sure everyone was out .  "" I think the pilot , he did a great job , "" Berretta said . "" I think it was as good of a landing as you can make in a river . ""  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
23034,23035,"Anders Larsen , known within Louisville hipster circles as the bassist for Superfly Snuka and a contributing music reviewer for the underground ' zine Gun Shy , spent several hours Monday over explaining why he was at Jefferson Mall over the weekend .  "" You know I normally wouldn ' t be caught dead in some corporate suburban hellhole like that , "" the 24 year old Larsen told friends at Jack ' s Wax , an independent record store he frequents . "" But I was out near Jefferson Mall because I had to get a new air filter for my car , and they ' re about five bucks cheaper at that Crown Auto over there . Then , I got to thinking how my dad ' s birthday ' s coming up , and I should probably get him something . I figured I ' d try the mall , since it ' s got tons of the kind of stupid crap he likes . ""  "" I can ' t believe I actually set foot in that place , "" added Larsen , posting a flyer for his band ' s upcoming gig in the Jack ' s Wax window . "" If not for my dad and his dorko taste , I wouldn ' t have gone within 50 miles of that den of lameness . ""  After briefly browsing B . Dalton , The Sunglass Hut , and Camelot Music for something for his father , Larsen said he became so disgusted with "" the unbelievable mainstream ness of it all "" that he couldn ' t bring himself to spend money at any of the stores . Giving up on finding a gift , Larsen decided to explore some of the mall ' s other outlets , "" just as a joke . ""  He eventually wound up buying himself a silver chain pocket watch , a purchase he spent nearly 20 minutes justifying to his fellow scenesters .  "" I was walking around , just laughing my ass off at all the stores , when I decided to go into this place called The Wild Side , which is pretty much the lamest of them all , "" Larsen said . "" It had all these ' leather ' biker jackets that were made out of plastic , not to mention all this other cheesy , wanna be punk stuff . You know , poseur shit for the suburban rebel . ""  "" But then , just as I was about to end my ' walk on The Wild Side , ' I saw in a display case this German silver pocket watch , which , by some miracle , was actually kind of cool , "" Larsen continued . "" Plus , it was on clearance for really cheap . Honestly , though , I only got it because I needed a new watch . I think my other one ' s about to break . It ' s been running really slow . Otherwise , I never would have given a penny to those losers . ""  While at the mall , Larsen also purchased a stainless steel coffee thermos from Williams Sonoma , a copy of Star Wars : Episode One "" because the movie was so bad , it ' s hilarious , "" and the Playstation game Ape Escape , which Larsen says is impossible to find used .  According to Rick Caras , Larsen ' s roommate and bandmate , this is not the first time he has over explained a brush with mainstream culture .  "" Last week , I noticed a Kid Rock  on Anders ' shelf , and I was like , ' Anders , you own a Kid Rock  ? "" Caras said . "" Well , I got this 20 minute saga about how he bought it for his little brother , who ' s into that kind of rap metal junk , but his brother already had it , so he was going to return it . But then he ended up opening it , just to hear that one stupid ' Bawitdaba ' song that he heard on  once not that he ever listens to that ' shitty ass corporate rock station , ' but he happened to be in a gas station when it came on and became ' entranced by its profound patheticness . ' ""  Among the other items Larsen has over explained recently : how he knows who Keri Russell is , why he ate at Bennigan ' s , what he is doing with an Entertainment Weekly subscription , and why he saw the movie Keeping The Faith .  ",satire,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
23036,23037,"Washington Shortly after Kathleen Sebelius was tapped to carry out President Barack Obama ' s signature health care reform effort , the head of Health and Human Services found herself in the crosshairs of Republicans determined to repeal the law .  The two term Kansas governor turned Obamacare chief defender is resigning as health secretary . She ' s leaving after a problem plagued rollout of HealthCare . gov , the federal website portal critical to the law ' s implementation , but with the administration taking a victory lap after unexpectedly reaching and then exceeding its sign up target of 7 million .  Obamacare hits 7 . 5 million sign ups , Sebelius says  A tweet by David Axelrod , former senior adviser to Obama , perhaps best sums up the tension Sebelius faced as she tried to navigate implementing the controversial law familiar as Obamacare .  "" When all is said and done , Sebelius has lots to be proud of including the surprisingly strong finish on exchange signups after a rocky start , "" Axelrod wrote .  "" They want the message to be : blame Sebelius with the problems with Obamacare especially as they go into a midterm election where this is going to be a big issue . I think that ' s a little unfair to her . ""  It wasn ' t always this way .  She once was seen as a Democratic Party rising star when she was tapped to deliver the Democratic response to President George W . Bush ' s final State of the Union address .  She was the Midwestern girl whose political blood ran blue but flourished in a red state . Her father was a former Democratic governor of Ohio .  She was a fan of  and college sports , running and the Rolling Stones . She ran for the governor ' s office with promises to improve government efficiency and create a more business friendly climate within the state .  She navigated a judicial order to boost school spending during a time when her state was facing one of its worst budget crises since the Great Depression .  She was also able to help lead the state to an economic recovery and lower unemployment , according to the state ' s website at the time .  In 2008 , Newsweek magazine called her "" one to watch "" and Time magazine dubbed her one of four "" rising stars from the heartland , "" and put on the short list as one of the country ' s five best governors .  Democratic blogger Markos Moulitsas in 2006 predicted on his Daily Kos Web site that Sebelius would be on the shortlist for vice president on the party ' s ticket . He also gave her kudos for wooing frustrated Kansas Republicans .  She wasn ' t Obama ' s first choice to head Health and Human Services Sen . Tom Daschle of South Dakota was forced to withdraw over a controversy with his tax records and questions about work some considered lobbying .  It was hoped that her background as someone who worked across the aisle could help Obama as he set about the herculean task of health care reform .  Despite an initial controversy over what she called "" unintentional errors "" in tax returns and pushback from both pro life and pro choice advocates , she sailed through Senate confirmation on a 65 31 vote .   senator : Sebelius the ' laughingstock of America '  As the Affordable Care Act neared implementation , she faced increasing scrutiny from Republican members of Congress who wanted to forestall Obamacare ' s momentum .  That pressure and criticism only increased after the mandate became law in 2010 without Republican support .  She , her agency and the administration faced blistering criticism about the law ' s legality challenges that were decided by the Supreme Court .  She was routinely grilled at congressional hearings about whether the law could be implemented on time , was financially sustainable and if the administration would hit enrollment targets . And she was hammered in hearings over the Web portal ' s disastrous roll out in October .   chief : President didn ' t know of Obamacare website woes beforehand  There were calls for her resignation from a number of House Republicans and several senators amid the HealthCare . gov debacle .  Obamacare enrollment eventually exceeded its target of 7 million but not without a last minute surge in the days before the deadline in March .  And senior administration officials say Sebelius told the President last month that it would reach its goal and that would be a good time for her to go .  The Obama official said Sebelius ' decision to leave had little to do with the initial uproar over the website .  A White House official praised her overseeing "" one of the most consequential initiatives of this administration "" as well as her efforts to "" improve children ' s health , expand mental health care , reduce racial and ethnic disparities , bring us closer to the first  free generation and promote women ' s health . ""  Republicans paid her backhanded compliments .  "" She had an impossible task : nobody can make Obamacare work , "" House Majority Leader Eric Cantor tweeted .  Obama acknowledged the botched rollout of the enrollment website under Sebelius ' watch .  "" She ' s got bumps . I ' ve got bumps , bruises , "" he said on Friday . But "" the final score speaks for itself . ""  But some see the administration ' s handling of Sebelius ' departure as damning with faint praise .  "" I mean , this is one of those classic Washington dances where the administration praises the person but the at the same time you want the message to sort of suddenly be that we weren ' t so happy with what she did and this and we couldn ' t of course get rid of her when the website was a disaster , right , "" Lizza said .  Members of her party back in her home state told the Kansas City Star they were stunned by Sebelius ' move but could well understand her motivation .  "" I think she has had the toughest job in Washington over the past four years , "" Jim Slattery , a former congressman and U . S . Senate candidate , told the paper . "" She has done a good job under the worst possible circumstances you can imagine . ""  Sebelius told the Star in an interview on Thursday that she always knew she would not "" be here to turn out the lights in 2017 . ""  During Friday ' s event , where Obama also nominated her successor , Sebelius stood next to the President .  And she described her time as health secretary as "" the most meaningful work I ' ve ever been a part of . ""  She leaves the job in May .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
23039,23040,"Michelle Rhee says she runs at 100 miles per hour . As the chancellor of one of the nation ' s lowest performing school districts , she says she has no choice too much bureaucracy to cut through , too many problems to fix after decades of neglect .  Michelle Rhee says a sense of urgency has been missing for years in the District of Columbia ' s schools .  Rhee closed 23 schools in her first year as the head of the District of Columbia ' s public schools , fired 36 principals and cut 15 percent about 121 jobs from the central office staff . And she ' s making no apologies .  "" We are always going to put the best interests of kids above the rights , privileges and priorities of adults . "" Watch fighting for "" radical changes ""  Rhee said "" radical "" changes are needed because only 12 percent of the District ' s eighth graders are proficient in reading and just 8 percent are proficient in math , but was quick to add that they ' re already seeing improvement . She highlighted gains in elementary reading and secondary level math and reading in the past year that outstripped all of the four prior years put together .  An annual report card by Education Week , a newspaper that follows the nation ' s education system , earlier this year ranked the District ' s school system last , giving it a D overall and an F for student achievement in kindergarten through 12th grade . Those grades were based on data prior to Rhee ' s arrival .  "" We need to see radical changes because the outcomes for kids that are happening right now are robbing them of their futures , "" said Rhee , a Democrat who supports President Bush ' s landmark education law known as No Child Left Behind . Watch Rhee describe telling employee : "" You need to find another job ""  "" We have scores of kids in this city who don ' t have the advocates that they need in their lives who are able to maneuver and jockey through the public school system . And we can ' t allow those children to languish in classrooms where teachers are not performing . ""  Her plan is ambitious : To completely transform the District ' s system within eight years for its 50 , 000 children . The plan focuses on top down accountability , quantitative results like standardized test scores and , ultimately , working to close what she describes as "" the achievement gap between wealthy white kids and poor minority kids . ""  "" I think it ' s absolutely possible within an eight year period , "" she said . Watch D . C . schools need "" urgency ""  Rhee , who is Korean American , is operating in a largely African American district . It is a district where 57 percent of the students qualify for the free or reduced lunch program . Rhee said when she first arrived on the job in 2007 she first heard whispers of : "" She ' s not from D . C . , she ' s not African American : Is she going to be able to relate to students and their families ? ""  "" I think that all dissipated quite quickly after I started getting out into the community and talking to people , "" said Rhee , a 38 year old mother of two children attending local public schools . "" I think one of the things that comes across very clearly is the fact that I ' m very passionate about this work . I ' m very focused on it . ""  But her plan to turn the failing school district on its head has met protest every step of the way , even from teachers .  "" I think the people who view her aggressive actions as a positive thing , I think they are missing the boat because if it results in more chaos and more dysfunction , it ' s not the solution that we need , "" said Kerry Sylvia , a teacher at Cardozo Senior High School in her ninth year .  Sylvia says the District has seen far too many superintendents over the years and fears Rhee is just another in the long list of those who come in touting their reforms and then leave .  She does offer praise for Rhee holding teachers and administrators accountable for their lack of performance . However , she doesn ' t always care for Rhee ' s style , saying Rhee makes it seem like "" there ' s a lot of lazy teachers . ""  "" She ' s pitting adults against children . She couches things in terms of ' I ' m not here to keep jobs for adults . I ' m not here to keep people ' s paychecks . I am here for the children , ' "" Sylvia said . "" Well , guess what ? I ' m here for the children too . ""  Before taking on her current role , Rhee founded The New Teacher Project , a non profit organization that recruits quality teachers to high poverty schools . Rhee holds a master ' s degree in public policy from Harvard University .  One of the most controversial programs Rhee has introduced is a joint venture between D . C . schools and Harvard that pays middle school students cash up to 100 a month for good behavior and attendance .  Rhee says such pilot programs have worked in other cities . She says the District ' s students have far too many bad incentives on the streets , from hustling to drug dealing , and need something to keep them focused .  "" We ' re preparing them to understand that if you do the right thing , then good things will happen to you , "" Rhee said .  Some in the District are skeptical , including Clarence Cherry , a fourth generation Washingtonian and father of five . He calls the cash and Rhee ' s overall direction misguided and reckless .  "" It ' s a very dangerous game that she ' s playing with , "" he said .  But Cherry added , "" I want to give her an opportunity to prove to me as a parent that she genuinely . . . is here for the kids . ""  Others are fervent supporters of the new superintendent . Dr Waheedah Shakoor , another teacher at Cardozo , has been in the District since 1979 . He says he ' s been stunned at the amount of change that ' s happened in just one year under Rhee , from freshly painted walls to improved athletic facilities .  "" Things that we ' ve been asking for for many , many years have come to fruition within just the last 12 months , "" Shakoor said .  Rhee is an appointee of Mayor Adrian Fenty , who has backed her every move .  "" I had the highest expectations of Michelle Rhee when she came into the job . She has exceeded every expectation , "" Fenty said . "" When you have a system that ' s been as underperforming as the District of Columbia public schools , you need to shake things up . ""  Rhee says she ' ll continue to shake things , working at break neck speed to improve the education and opportunity for her students and urban students across the country as fast as she can .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
23040,23041,"Iraqi  vows to expel  after deadly shopping centre attack  People gather at the scene in the aftermath of a car bomb explosion in commercial area of New Baghdad (  )  Iraq ' s prime minister has vowed to continue the fight against Islamic State (  ) militants , a day after the group launched a suicide attack on a shopping centre , killing 18 people .  Touring the bombed shopping centre in eastern New Baghdad on Tuesday , Haider al Abadi described the attack as a "" desperate attempt "" by militants after they lost control of the key western city of Ramadi , the capital of Anbar province .  Mr Abadi said that Iraq ' s government will "" spare no efforts "" in expelling  forces from the country .  Gunmen stormed the shopping centre on Monday after setting off a car bomb and launching a suicide attack at the entrance .  Iraqi forces later surrounded the building , landing troops on the roof before clashing with attackers inside , killing two gunmen and arresting four .  About 50 people were wounded in the attack .  Shortly afterwards , an apparent  statement posted online said militants targeted an area where many Shiite Muslims are known to gather and warned of "" worse "" to come .  Later , a suicide attack targeted a cafe in the town of Muqdadiyah , about 60 miles north of Baghdad in Diyala province , killing at least 24 people and wounding 52 , and in a crowded area in south east Baghdad , a car bomb explosion killed at least five people and wounded 12 others .  Iraq is going through its worst crisis since the 2011 withdrawal of  troops . In summer 2014 ,  blitzed across large areas of the country ' s north and west , capturing Iraq ' s second largest city of Mosul and the majority of the western Anbar province .  Last month , the group suffered a major defeat when Iraqi forces drove the extremists out of the western city of Ramadi , the capital of the sprawling Anbar province . Islamic State still controls much of northern and western Iraq .  Baghdad has been almost quiet over the past few months , except for a few small attacks with bombs and assaults targeting Iraqi forces and government officials .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
23048,23049,"Reuters) - The top risk to U.S. growth would come if U.S. President-elect Donald Trump keeps his protectionist promises, according to a Reuters poll that shows economists have not joined in the market exuberance since the shock November vote. For most of his campaign and after the election, Trump vowed to make sweeping changes to U.S. trade and immigration policy, threatened to impose steep tariffs on Chinese imports and proposed hefty tax cuts. While financial markets have retreated in the past week and hopes of a sudden spurt in inflation have faded, U.S. 10-year Treasury yields are still up more than 25 percent since Election Day, and stocks have hit record highs. Still, more than two-thirds of the 70 respondents to the question in the Reuters survey taken over the past week said Trump’s protectionist policies were the biggest threat to the world’s largest economy this year. “There is no question that near the top of the list of downside risks is the potential for more follow-through on the anti-free trade rhetoric,” said Jim O’Sullivan of High Frequency Economics. “I am kind of assuming that the (incoming) administration will be practical on this,” said O’Sullivan, the top forecaster of U.S. economic data in Reuters polls for 2016, the second year in a row he achieved that distinction. The strong dollar, which hit a 14-year high early this month and is up close to 6 percent since Trump was elected, poses an additional near-term risk.  Worries around the globe over Trump’s confrontational style and a strengthening dollar are likely to be key themes among political and business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this week. Sweeping tax cuts for businesses and individuals, and the prospect of some infrastructure spending, have also not brightened prospects for U.S. economic growth, which Trump has said he aimed to boost to 3.5 percent. More than 80 percent of respondents said “no” when asked if now was the right time for such aggressive tax cuts, with the economy close to full employment. The unemployment rate was 4.7 percent in December. The latest poll estimated growth slowed to 2.2 percent in the fourth quarter from 3.5 percent in the third quarter. Through 2017, economists predicted the economy would expand at an annual rate of 2.1 percent to 2.5 percent each quarter, just 0.1 percentage point higher than the previous estimate. The full-year median was 2.3 percent. The most optimistic growth forecast for any point in 2017 was 4.1 percent, far short of the post-financial crisis peak of 5.6 percent hit in the fourth quarter of 2009. “Obviously people have been assuming the growth-sapping parts (protectionist measures) are not followed through, but they may have run ahead of themselves in predicting how much stimulus will be enacted and how much growth will be boosted,” said O’Sullivan, who was also the most optimistic on growth among the top forecasters. A little fewer than one-third of the respondents, including three of the top 10 U.S. economy forecasters in Reuters polls last year, upgraded their 2017 growth outlooks in the latest poll. Many of them, like O’Sullivan, said it was mainly on the assumption Trump would not follow through on his restrictive trade agenda and instead focus on boosting growth through fiscal measures. While those projected growth rates may be considered healthy for the economy at such a late stage of the recovery cycle, they could do little to boost inflation much beyond the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent target. Inflation pressure is more likely to come from a round of retaliatory tariffs if Trump’s protectionist agenda becomes a global reality. Even though pay growth is forecast to average 3.0 percent this year, up from 2.8 percent in December’s poll, the Fed’s preferred gauge of inflation, the Core  Price Index, will probably average 1.8 percent in 2017 and 2.0 percent in 2018, unchanged from the last poll. Fed policymakers recently warned that with the economy close to full employment, an expansive fiscal policy could lead to faster rate hikes than currently priced in, pushing the U.S. dollar higher. “If the unemployment rate falls some more, it is going to add to upward pressure on wages and inflation and reinforce the case for Fed tightening,” O’Sullivan said. The wider poll of over 100 economists, including 17 large banks that transact directly with the Fed, showed rates would remain unchanged at 0.50 percent to 0.75 percent until the second quarter, when a 25-basis-point hike is likely. A follow-up increase is expected in the fourth quarter, taking the Fed funds rate to a range of 1.00 percent to 1.25 percent. Fourteen economists, however, forecast a hike by March. (For other stories from the poll) ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
23051,23052,"Loot Skywalker : A bidder paid a record breaking 7 , 000 for a Star Wars collectable an original 1980 Palitoy Empire Strikes Back medical droid  The force was strong in one bidder when they paid a record breaking 7 , 000 for a Star Wars collectable .  Lot 1035 , an original 1980 Palitoy Empire Strikes Back medical droid , was originally valued at 50 to 70 .  But as the bids started rolling in at Vectis Auctions , Thornaby , it sold to an unnamed bidder for 7 , 000 a world record for the model at 100 times the asking price .  Vectis Auctions spokeswoman Louise Harker said : ' When we first received the items we didn ' t expect them to do as well as they did .  ' The Star Wars items made up the the first 50 lots and it just went through the roof .  ' The room was pretty full , a couple of people were bidding it out against each other , the same person bought quite a few of the big lots . '  Original Star Wars toys have been known to fetch high prices and a number of factors can push the price higher still .  Ms Harker said : ' We are seeing that the  and film related items , such as Star Wars are becoming increasingly popular .  ' The condition of the lots is a key factor in gaining prices such as these , the un punched card , the condition of the card itself , the bubble which the figure is contained within and of course the all important factory seal .  ' This figure is not one I ' ve ever heard of , sometimes all it takes is for two collectors to be missing one figure from their collection to push up the value . '  An Empire Strikes Back Imperial Commander figure at the same auction also broke a world record for its model when it fetched 3 , 000 while a Darth Vader action figure sold for 2 , 520 .  Loot Skywalker : A bidder paid a record breaking 7 , 000 for a Star Wars collectable an original 1980 Palitoy Empire Strikes Back medical droid  The droid featured in the Empire Strikes Back at the secret Rebel Echo Base ( pictured here ) on the planet Hoth . Here is C 3PO with a new friend  The sale of the items left one person in particular with an unlikely windfall .  Ms Harker said : ' I have spoken to the vendor who was extremely shocked . These items all came from the same collection , the vendor had no preconceptions about what they would fetch and was delighted with the pre sale estimates given .  ' He was pleasantly surprised by the final price realised for his items . '  Currently listed on eBay there is a lot with a buy it now price of 120 titled Star Wars 1980 Vintage    7 Medical Droid .  Also on eBay , in 2012 a lot that included all 1 , 950 loose figures was sold for 11 , 500 .  In the film ,  7 was stationed in the Rebels ' secret Echo Base on the ice planet of Hoth . He assisted both human and droid medics in the Echo Base medical lab .  The droid ' s ability to use its twenty retractable manipulator arms simultaneously proved useful to an understaffed medical bay . After the loss of Yavin Base , the Alliance used any outmoded equipment they could find .  This droid was certainly classed as outmoded but proved invaluable for its sophisticated medical , diagnostic and procedural programming .  Although this droid was capable of speech , its speech synthesizer card was missing .   7 assisted 2 1B on Hoth after Luke Skywalker was attacked by a wampa . The droids built up a good rapport with one another , and had worked together for more than a year .  Despite this , 2 1B would often state his superiority over his medical assistant , due to his egotistical droid personality .   7 and 2 1B escaped Hoth aboard the  75 medium transport Bright Hope , the last transport to leave the planet .  After the bounty hunters 4  and Zuckuss rescued the passengers of the Bright Hope , including the two medical droids ,  7 was reassigned to the EF76 Nebulon B escort frigate Redemption .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
23062,23063,"Gov . Chris Christie blames union money for Republican losses  Last updated : Friday , November 6 , 2015 , 5 : 58    , N . H . (  ) Gov . Chris Christie blames money spent by unions and timing a midterm election in his second term for  losses in New Jersey ' s Assembly election this week , but says he did everything he could to help state Republicans .  While campaigning in New Hampshire on Friday for the Republican presidential nomination , Christie told reporters there was nothing he could do to overcome the millions of dollars spent by a group backed by the state ' s teachers union and the fact that incumbents in the same party as the governor always lose seats in the governor ' s second term .  Democrats gained at least three seats in the Assembly to increase their majority , and a Democrat is in the lead to take a fourth seat pending final election results .  "" The unions in our state decided that they were going to spend millions and millions of dollars , so I think the combination of the second term for a governor , which is always one that loses seats , and the huge way we got outspent , I think , are the two things that contributed the most to it , and there ' s nothing I could do about either of those things , "" Christie said .  Democrats , who have controlled the chamber for more than a decade , were helped by General Majority  , largely funded by allies of the state ' s biggest teachers union .  Democrats knocked two Republicans out of office in central New Jersey ' s 11th District putting Democrats in control for the first time in more than a decade and also took a seat away from the  in southern New Jersey ' s 1st District .  Democrat Andrew Zwicker is in the lead to defeat incumbent Republican Assemblywoman Donna Simon , pending the final counting of provisional ballots .  If Zwicker holds on to win , Democrats will hold 52 of the 80 seats in the Assembly next year . Democrats also control the state Senate .  Christie said he raised money for candidates and campaign committees , including the Republican incumbents in the 11th District .  "" The only thing I feel badly about is those individuals members who lost , because they ' re really good folks and they ' ve been great friends and allies of mine over the course of my governorship , and I feel badly for them , "" he said . "" But I did everything they asked me to do . ""  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
23070,23071,"Reuters) - China has told the United States that it warned Pyongyang it would impose “sanctions actions on their own” against North Korea should it carry out another nuclear test, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Thursday. Tillerson, speaking on Fox News, also said U.S. intelligence reports suggest that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was “not crazy,” indicating he might be a rational actor who could be negotiated with as the international community seeks to rein in Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs. Tillerson’s comments suggest that efforts by President Donald Trump, who held a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping earlier this month, may have yielded China’s toughest threat yet to take action against its defiant neighbor and ally, North Korea. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
23073,23074,"Bing ! It ' s Phil Connors , hysterically played by Bill Murray .  "" What if there is no tomorrow ? There wasn ' t one today ! ""  Such is life for Bill Murray ' s character in "" Groundhog Day , "" Harold Ramis ' classic 1993 comedy about a sarcastic Pittsburgh weatherman forced to relive a miserable Feb . 2 over and over and over again .  With Tuesday being that day ? the real life Punxsutawney Phil predicted an early spring ? here are the five funniest scenes from the the surprising classic :  Murray ' s Phil Connors despises everything about Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney , Pa . , a small town he sees as being filled with simple minded people clinging to hokey traditions .  He dreads covering the annual event , and in another of his countless broadcasts after getting trapped there , he looks into the camera and holds nothing back .  With no explanation for why Feb . 2 keeps recurring for him , Phil is left trying to find answers on his own , and in the process realizes the various ways he can twist the circumstances to his advantage .  After spending one day to get some biographical information from a pretty woman , he uses it the next day to get her attention , and once he ' s in he lets his charm take it from there .  While he has a good time with Nancy , Phil is more seriously interested in Rita , the idealistic producer played by Andie MacDowell who doesn ' t see a whole lot of substance in her reporter .  View Gallery ' Groundhog Day ' : Where are they now ?  Between all of his failed suicide attempts and everything he learns about the people of Punxsutawney , Phil comes to what seems to be the only logical conclusion .  If he ' s immortal and omniscient ( at least in these parts ) , he must be a god , a theory he tries to explain to Rita while letting her in on his secret ? and unknowingly beginning his road to redemption .  As amusing as Sonny and Cher playing on the radio every morning is , the best recurring bit in the movie is the annoying presence of Ned Ryerson , Phil ' s former high school classmate who now sells insurance .  Phil has zero interest in chatting with him the first time they meet , and then it gets better . Phil pushes , kisses and even punches the pestering geek in a series of hysterical scenes .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
23075,23076,"striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has posted a photo of him and Ronaldo , who he has described as ' the best player of all time ' .  The Brazilian striker was a guest of former French president Nikolas Sarkozy at  ' s clash with Nice on Saturday .  The Ligue 1 champions won 1 0 courtesy of a first half penalty from their Swedish talisman , and Ronaldo headed down to the changing rooms after the game to congratulate the 33 year old .  Former Brazilian international Ronaldo with  talisman Zlatan Ibrahimovic after the game against Nice  Ibrahimovic celebrates after scoring a the only goal of the game on Saturday as  beat Nice  Ibrahimovic then posted a photo of the pair online and wrote : ' This was the best thing that happened last night . The best player of all times , Ronaldo . The Phenomenon . '  The two strikers have followed similar paths in their careers , with both having played for Inter Milan ,  Milan and Barcelona . Both players also rose to prominence while playing in the Eredivisie .  Ibrahimovic isn ' t known for his modesty but , when it comes to Ronaldo , the former Malmo youth player is more than willing to concede the Brazilian is the better player .  In an interview with Sports illustrated , he said : ' The best opponent of my career ? I ' ve played against many , many good players , so I don ' t know who to keep .  ' But I would say Ronaldo , ' El Fenomeno ' . Why ? Because he was my idol and because , as a football player , he was complete .  ' There will never , in my view , be a better player than him . '  Both players enjoyed hugely successful spells with Serie A club Inter Milan , both then left for La Liga  after returning from spells in La Liga both of the forwards ended up playing for  Milan  Both played for Spanish giants Barcelona , although the Brazilian will remember his time there more fondly   Plenty of years left in Zlatan yet Blanc  ",true,text,validation,Football,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
23082,23083,"Derry , New Hampshire The war over women arrived in New Hampshire this week in the form of a press release .  "" New Shaheen Campaign Ad Highlights Scott Brown ' s Anti Choice Record and Extreme Bill He Introduced , "" reporters were informed Tuesday morning by email , just hours before Sen . Jeanne Shaheen was to host a women ' s themed campaign event in Derry .  Shaheen ' s ad is a brutal one particularly against someone who is a self proclaimed "" pro choice independent Republican . "" In ominous tones , the ad reveals that when he was a state legislator in Massachusetts , the state Brown used to live in and later represented in the U . S . Senate , he backed a bill that would "" force women considering abortion to look at color photographs of developing fetuses . ""  Though Democrats in tough races nationwide have been running on women ' s issues for the better part of a year , the message had not taken center stage in New Hampshire ' s Senate race until this week . The shift foreshadows what could be a rough and tumble end to election season in this typically tranquil New England state .  Brown is less vulnerable to the "" war on women "" attack than other down the line conservative Republicans one reason the issue is only now surfacing in the race . Beyond his pro choice stance , he has broken with his party by supporting the Violence Against Women Act and funding for Planned Parenthood .  But Shaheen ' s new offensive struck a nerve , forcing Brown to throw together a slapdash press conference to respond to her "" despicable attacks . "" He was thrown off message on a day when he was supposed to be talking about foreign policy and tying Shaheen to President Obama and his in the dumps poll numbers . The next morning , Brown went up with a defensive television ad stressing his support for abortion rights and accusing the senator of running a "" smear campaign . ""  Shaheen , a cunning , no holds barred campaigner despite her pleasant demeanor , is leaving nothing to chance as she clings to a steady single digit lead in a treacherous political environment for Democrats .  In the latest poll of the race this week , from  and the University of New Hampshire , Shaheen led Brown by 6 points , but she was topping out at 47 : the under 50 danger zone for any incumbent . But she has a healthy 15 point advantage among likely women voters , and is doing everything she can to keep it that way .  "" You get the sense this race could turn at just a moment ' s notice , "" said James Pindell , the always on political director at Manchester television station  . Pindell was joining me for a slice of pepperoni at Romano ' s Pizza in Derry for this week ' s episode of "" Hambycast . ""  "" The race seems to be primed for that , "" Pindell said . "" It gets all the attention in this state . This state has got four major races . We have two congressional races and a competitive governor ' s race . But all people talk about is Shaheen and Brown , every single day . ""  At her lone campaign event Tuesday , inside a Derry based food incubator called Creative Chef Kitchens , Shaheen rattled through a laundry list of female focused issues she supports "" equal pay , access to contraception , abortion rights "" as a small crowd of women nodded in approval .  The message was heavy handed and impossible to miss , but Shaheen put an exclamation point on it just in case : "" Scott Brown , "" she said , "" is being disingenuous when he says he is pro choice . ""  Reporters surrounded her after her appearance . One asked her why she waited until October to thrust women ' s issues into the campaign , using "" probably the most negative ad of the campaign . ""  Shaheen has highlighted the topic before , memorably in July , after Brown hid in a restaurant bathroom when a reporter asked him about the Supreme Court ' s controversial decision in Burwell vs . Hobby Lobby that allowed corporations to deny birth control coverage in their insurance plans .  But her campaign had not put money behind a television ad on women ' s health before , particularly such a blistering one .  "" I think this is something that we planned to talk about all along , "" Shaheen responded . "" I think access to health care , access to reproductive choice is critical to women . I ' ve worked on it my entire career . This is an issue that is important to women and families . Ninety nine percent of women use contraceptives at some point in their lives . ""  Then I asked Shaheen about Brown ' s topic of choice : President Obama , whose disapproval ratings in New Hampshire approach 60 . What is it about him , exactly , that Democrats are so wary of ?  Shaheen would rather not talk about Obama , which is why Brown spent their first one on one debate on Monday reminding voters that the senator has voted with the president "" 99 of the time . ""  It ' s one reason he has seized on the ascendancy of  , the terrorist group roiling Syria and Iraq , and border security . National security is becoming a winning talking point , Republican operatives here argue , claiming it scores points among the very women Shaheen is trying to keep in her fold .  "" There is a leadership void , "" Brown said at an event Tuesday in Derry , where he was joined by Florida Sen . Marco Rubio , a foreign policy hawk and potential presidential candidate in 2016 . "" Our allies don ' t trust us , and our foes don ' t fear or respect us . ""  Like Republican candidates across the country , Brown wants the race to be about national issues . Shaheen does not , so she brings up another sore point for Brown : his decision to sell his home in Massachusetts last year and move to the Granite State to run for Senate . Brown is not exactly a carpetbagger he ' s long owned property in New Hampshire and many thousands of people have moved here from somewhere else thanks to the low tax rates "" but it ' s still a reliable campaign jab .  "" This race is not about President Obama , "" Shaheen said . "" This race is about Scott Brown and me . I know that Scott Brown would like to be running against the President , because he has not done anything in New Hampshire , he doesn ' t have a history here , he just moved here . I have spent my entire professional life here in New Hampshire . ""  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
23088,23089,"Warriors ' Walton is Western Coach of the Month , despite official 0 0 record  Steve Kerr showed his sense of humor remained intact after he wasn ' t the one named  Western Conference Coach of the Month .  "" I thought for sure I was going to get it since I get all the wins , "" Kerr joked Tuesday by phone .  Luke Walton , who is officially 0 0 as Warriors interim coach , won the award after leading Golden State to a 19 0 record . Kerr said he didn ' t expect the team to be undefeated at this point , but that he knew Walton was capable in the role despite a lack of head coaching experience .  "" I think he had the right temperament , "" Kerr said . "" He ' s very similar to me .  "" He ' s really made for it . Nothing rattles him . ""  Said Walton : "" It ' s nice to be playing so well and winning games , knowing that he doesn ' t have to stress any extra on the team and can focus on getting healthy . ""  Earlier Tuesday , the  announced that it would not change its rule that credits Kerr , who is on an extended of leave of absence after two offseason back operations , with the team ' s 19 victories along with future wins and losses .  In a statement , the league said : "" The head coach of record is credited with team wins and losses . Steve Kerr remains the head coach of record for the Golden State Warriors and is credited with those results . Additionally , any team head coach , interim head coach or acting head coach is eligible to be recognized with league coaching awards . Therefore , Warriors interim head coach Luke Walton is eligible for  Coach of the Month . ""  After winning the award , Walton credited the Warriors ' talented players just as Kerr did .  "" Either that , or I ' m a really good coach to have zero wins and win Coach of the Month , "" Walton joked .  Said Kerr : "" Neither he or I really deserve a ton of credit . ""  Kerr was happy Walton garnered recognition and said the award belonged to his entire staff . As far as the coaching record , both coaches said they didn ' t care who got the credit .  Kerr after telling ESPNweblink last week that getting credit for all the wins instead of Walton was "" the dumbest thing I ' ve ever heard "" seemed to reconsider his position .  He said he hadn ' t realized at the time that had the league changed its policy , former Warriors coach Don Nelson might not be considered the record holder for most all time coaching wins . Nelson is credited with 1 , 335 wins , but some of them came during the 2004 05 season while he dealt with health issues and Avery Johnson stepped in for the time being . Lenny Wilkens finished with 1 , 332 wins .  "" I could see where the league would have a real problem on their hands , "" Kerr said .  The league in recent days took another look at the rule in the wake of Walton ' s success . Ultimately , it clarified that the standing coach would get credit for wins and losses while the interim could receive awards .  The  had a similar situation in 2012 when Chuck Pagano began the season as Indianapolis Colts coach before leaving after four games to undergo treatment for leukemia . Bruce Arians took over as the interim coach and led the Colts to the playoffs .  Indianapolis ' 11 5 record 9 3 under Arians was credited to Pagano . Arians won Associated Press coach of the year honors .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
23095,23096,"A defender of the Confederate flag who says the flag is  about race says: I m gonna tell you one thing, I ain t sitting down; this ll just make me walk taller. One man has been arrested after a fight over the Confederate flag in front of the South Carolina Statehouse.The brawl started about 7:15 p.m. Monday when about a dozen vehicles with Confederate flag supporters pulled up in front of the Statehouse and stopped in the middle of the street, Public Safety Department spokeswoman Sherri Iacobelli said in a statement. About 10 of the flag supporters clashed with about 30 people who were on the Statehouse grounds protesting the flag, the statement said. The blood on my face, the blood in my teeth, the blood on my hands is no comparison to the Southern blood that runs through my veins,  Joe Linder told  News.Linder, who was hit during the fight, supports the Confederate flag and says  racism has no part  in it. I m gonna tell you one thing, I ain t sitting down; this ll just make me walk taller,  he told  News.About 50 officers responded and contained the clash, including officers from the Bureau of Protective Services assigned to the Statehouse, as well as Columbia police, University of South Carolina officers and the South Carolina Highway Patrol. Two blocks of the street in front of the Statehouse was closed for a brief time during the disturbance. Sydney Baldwin told  News the fight began when someone took his flag.  I jumped out of my truck,  Baldwin said.  That was all I did, was grab my flag and I got hit in the side.  Nicholas Thompson, 25, of Irmo, South Carolina, has been charged with disorderly conduct. It wasn t clear if he has an attorney. The Confederate flag has been a focus of protests since the fatal shooting of nine people at a historic black church in Charleston on June 17. Public Safety Director Leroy Smith told reporters it was unfortunate that Columbia had a fight when there have been no problems reported in Charleston, where the shooting occurred. The suspect in the Charleston shooting, Dylann Storm Roof, appears in a number of photographs online with the Confederate flag, prompting calls for removal of the flag from in front of the Statehouse. South Carolina lawmakers are expected next week to consider proposals to take the flag down and move it to a museum. The flag has flown at the Statehouse since the 1960s. It was removed from the Statehouse dome and placed at a Confederate Soldier Monument in front of the Statehouse in 2000.Via: Atlanta  Local",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present
23106,23107,"Planned Parenthood official says Colorado gunman opposed abortion  The head of the Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic where a gunman killed three people and injured nine others said in a statement Saturday that the man held anti abortion views .  We are learning that eyewitnesses confirm that the man who will be charged with the tragic and senseless shooting that resulted in the deaths of three people and injures to nine others at Planned Parenthood s health center in Colorado Springs was motivated by opposition to safe and legal abortion , Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountain  Vicki Cowart said .  This is an appalling act of violence targeting access to health care and terrorizing skilled and dedicated health care professionals .  A law enforcement official also told the Associated Press that Richard Lewis Dear , 57 , made a no more baby parts remark following his arrest in the deadly rampage Friday . The official told  he couldn t elaborate about the comment and spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak publicly about the ongoing investigation .  The attack thrust the clinic to the center of the ongoing debate over Planned Parenthood , which was reignited in July when anti abortion activists released undercover video they said showed the organization s personnel negotiating the sale of fetal organs .  The anti abortion activists , part of a group called the Center for Medical Progress , denounced the "" barbaric killing spree in Colorado Springs by a violent madman "" and offered prayers for the dead and wounded and for their families .  Cowart also said Saturday that Dear "" broke in "" to the clinic but didn ' t get past a locked door leading to the main part of the facility .  Cowart said there was no armed security on Friday when Dear launched his attack but she defended the level of security in place at the time , saying people going to a health clinic shouldn ' t have to walk through metal detectors .  Attorney General Loretta Lynch also said Saturday that Friday s attack at the clinic was a crime against women receiving health care services . She also said it was a clear attack against Americans right to safety and against law enforcement seeking to protect and serve .  She expressed her thoughts and prayers to the shooting victims , including police officer Garrett Swasey , who was killed in the line of duty . Lynch said Swasey gave his life in order to keep others safe .  Dear , a North Carolina native , surrendered to police after a five hour standoff . Dear was seen wearing a trench coat and carrying a rifle when he stormed the clinic .  Those who knew Dear told the  Saturday e seemed to have few religious or political leanings . He also was described as a longer who lived in a mountain cabin in the North Carolina woods without electricity or running water .  "" If you talked to him , nothing with him was very cognitive topics all over place , "" said James Russell , who lives a few hundred feet from Dear in Black Mountain . A cross made of twigs hung Saturday on the wall of Dear ' s pale yellow shack .  Neighbors of Dear s in North Carolina said the man kept mostly to himself and Russell said that two topics he never heard Dear talk about during his ramblings were religion or abortion .  Dear ' s cabin is a half mile up a curvy dirt road about 15 miles west of Asheville , N . C . He also had a trailer in the nearby town of Swannanoa .  Other neighbors knew Dear but didn ' t want to give their names because they said they were fearful he might retaliate , the Associated Press reported .  In the small town of Hartsel , Colorado , about 60 miles west of Colorado Springs , about a dozen police vehicles and fire trucks were parked outside a small white trailer belonging to Dear located on a sprawling swath of land . Property records indicate Dear purchased the land about a year ago .  A law enforcement official said authorities searched the trailer Saturday but found no explosives . The official , who has direct knowledge of the case , said authorities also talked with a woman who was living in the trailer . The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak publicly about the ongoing investigation .  Dear was in jail Saturday on what officials said were "" administrative holds . "" Charges apparently won ' t be lodged until he appears in court Monday .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
23111,23112,"The Latest : Kei Nishikori wins match at Australian Open  Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany makes a return to Kei Nishikori of Japan during their first round match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne , Australia , Monday , Jan . 18 , 2016 . (  Photo Rick Rycroft )  Kei Nishikori has become the first of the seeded men ' s players to advance to the second round of the Australian Open .  The seventh seeded Nishikori , who reached the quarterfinals last year , beat Philipp Kohlschreiber 6 4 , 6 3 , 6 3 without facing a break point Monday .  Nishikori struggled with a series of injuries last year , but said he was feeling sharp after his first match in Melbourne .  ' ' It ' s great to finish in three sets , especially against Philipp . He ' s always tough to play , ' ' Nishikori said . ' ' The body is feeling pretty good . I had a good preparation . ' '  Kohlschreiber , ranked No . 34 , was the highest ranked of the men ' s players who were unseeded at the tournament .   chairman Chris Kermode and the Tennis Integrity United have rejected news reports that match fixing has gone unchecked in the sport .  In reports published on the morning the Australian Open began , the  and BuzzFeed News said secret files exposed evidence of widespread suspected match fixing at the top level of world tennis . The report said that in the last decade 16 players all at some stage ranked in the top 50 have been repeatedly flagged to the integrity unit .  The reports say the players it doesn ' t identify them or say whether they were involved in singles or doubles were allowed to continue competing .  At a news conference at Melbourne Park on Monday , Kermode said officials ' ' absolutely reject any suggestion that evidence of match fixing has been suppressed for any reason , or isn ' t being investigated . ' '  Nigel Willerton , head of the Tennis Integrity Unit which was formed in 2008 as a joint initiative of the International Tennis Federation , the  , the  and the Grand Slam Board , says ' ' it would be unprofessional for me to comment on if any players here are being monitored . ' '  Two time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova has the distinction of winning the first completed match at the 2016 Australian Open , avenging a loss to Luksika Kumkhum from two years ago .  Kvitova beat the Thai qualifier 6 3 , 6 1 . In 2014 , Kumkhum beat Kvitova in three sets to send the then sixth ranked player out of the tournament .  Serving to stay in the match Monday , Kumkhum saved two match points before double faulting in the breezy conditions on Rod Laver Arena to hand Kvirotva the match in 70 minutes .  Kvitova won her Wimbledon titles in 2011 and 2014 . Her best performance at the Australian Open is a semifinal berth in 2012 .  Under sunny skies and a temperature of 30 Celsius ( 86 Fahrenheit ) , two time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova has begun play in her first round match against Luksika Kumkhum of Thailand , the first match on the center court at the Australian Open .  Over on Hisense Arena , 2014 U . S . Open finalist Kei Nishikori of Japan is playing Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany .  Later matches on Rod Laver Arena involve the defending champions Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic . Williams , who just missed a calendar year Grand Slam last year by losing in the semifinals at the U . S . Open , plays Camila Giorgi of Italy , followed by Djokovic ' s match against Chung Hyeon of South Korea .  An International Tennis Federation spokesman at the Australian Open says the Tennis Integrity Unit plans to issue a statement on Monday in reaction to reports over match fixing in the sport .  The  and BuzzFeed News says secret files exposed evidence of widespread suspected match fixing at the top level of world tennis . The report said that in the last decade , 16 players who have been ranked in the top 50 have been repeatedly flagged to the integrity unit .  The reports say the players it doesn ' t identify the players or say whether they were involved in singles or doubles were allowed to continue competing .  The Tennis Integrity Unit was formed in 2008 as a joint initiative of the  , the  , the  and the Grand Slam Board .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
23116,23117,"By Gordon Duff, Senior Editor on October 30, 2016 Constitutional Crisis:  used prohibited  domestic terror warrant in Clinton-Weiner email search …by Gordon Duff, with Ian Greenhalgh , Editors – Veterans Today  In a surprise announcement, the Department of Justice just admitted that there was no legal authorization in place to access email accounts of Hillary Clinton aide, Huma Abedin, estranged wife of accused sex offender former Congressman Anthony Weiner.  The government admitted that no warrant had been requested and that discussions to seek a warrant had not yet begun, making the letter  Director James Comey wrote to Congress on Friday a potentially criminal act, if it can be proven that Comey was aware of this fact and of the actions of his subordinates in “planting” Clinton emails on Weiner’s laptop.[14]  (CNN)Justice Department and  officials are working to secure approval that would allow the  to conduct a full search of top Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin’s newly discovered emails, sources familiar with the discussions told CNN.  Government lawyers haven’t yet approached Abedin’s lawyers to seek an agreement to conduct the search. Sources earlier told  that those discussions had begun, but the law enforcement officials now say they have not.[14]   Director James Comey is under assault for what is being perceived as more than simply partisan behavior. Former presidential advisor, Lanny Davis writes for The Hill:  “Comey as  director — an investigative agency, not a prosecution agency — (does not) have any authority to send a report to Congress in the middle of an investigation about the past or present subject of an investigation. He appears to be in violation of the limits on his authority as  director by disclosing investigation information — or possible investigation information — directly to Congress with obtaining permission from the attorney general or someone else delegated authority by her. His decision to reveal the results of an ongoing investigation, before a published criminal indictment, violates due process principles and pre-indictment secrecy rules and guidelines of the Justice Department.”[16]  Through court challenges to  search tactics under  and other counter-terror legislation, accessing “cloud” based emails and either representing them as “found” in a warranted search of a hard drive or in “syncing” a computer to place emails on a drive under a warranted search, clear prohibitions have been established.[Addendum I]  In this case, with no warrant in place at all, there are no possible interpretations of  actions that could be consistent with admissibility.  In what has been seen by most a the long expected “October Surprise,” the highly controversial letter written by  Director James Comer, something more far reaching has developed, a constitutional crisis that may well exceed that of Watergate or even Iran/Contra. Like the Federal Reserve, the  itself lacks a clear constitutional authority. There is no mention of nor authorization given, in the constitution, for a national police force. In fact, the Constitution, in the 10th Amendment ratified in 1791 states:  “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”[12] More often than not, this has been ignored, a “stepchild” of the Bill of Rights. Here, however, the FBI, created initially as the “sex police”[11], created to enforce the Mann Act[13], has assumed not only “powers not granted” under the constitution, but has exponentially expanded its reach, well beyond constitutional limitations on rights of privacy and against unreasonable search and seizure, assailed by laws like the Patriot Acts.”  Behind the current controversy, that of an  director being accused of interfering in an election and acting against policy, procedure and advice of the Attorney General, is something more. The  has crossed into the area of possible criminality, violating clear cut Federal Court restrictions, not only through an illegal search but by actually planting evidence and then channeling misleading information into the press with a clear intent to subvert constitutional authority.  Another issue is the kind of language Comey has been using to mollify critics who have kept a flurry of investigations going and who have subjected him to hostile interrogation for endless hours in front of highly partisan committees. Colonel Jim Hanke (ret), former  attache to Israel and ranking  military intelligence planner commented on the nature of Comey’s assertions of Hillary’s classified emails:  “Take the text of any of the emails we have seen. Anything here could have been said in a press conference or on a television interview and, in those formats, would not have been considered classified. There would have been fallout, for sure, not from disclosing policy or in endangering operations, real issues that get high level classification. Hillary’s emails, were they made public, and there was reason to expect this might well happen, are revealing and reflect on her personal judgement and, at times, demonstrate a lack of grasp, particularly when it comes to Russia or Syria. These are issues of public confidence, not criminality nor are they areas of real security classification.  Conversely, what we have seen Comey do may well rise to the level of something serious, certainly he undermines the  and attacks the American system of government. As to what his intent was or to what laws apply, this is not my area of expertise but I would like to think that criminal code could deal with this kind of threat.”  One additional consideration to put into the mix is Wikileaks. During recent weeks while Wikileaks has released two dozen batches of emails, the Clinton campaign has mirrored earlier charges made against Wikileaks by former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinsky, that Wikileaks “sexes up” and even fabricates documents that are, according to Brzezinsky, when speaking to Judy Woodruff of National Public Radio, “seeded” into a virtual deluge of material.  The  used  (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) powers when it downloaded and “synced” Clinton emails into former Congressman Anthony Weiner’s computers, according to legal experts.[1,4,6,7] The  knowingly violated the law in applying terror statutes when they illegally expanded their search into Weiner’s computers and downloaded emails from a 3rd party account. With only days before an election, the term “October Surprise” has never been more applicable.  The question people are asking is; “Why did Director Comey choose to ignore legal advice and, more importantly, was he aware that he was upsetting an American presidential election based on a pattern of criminal-level misconduct by his own agency?”  The  lied when it claimed the it found Clinton emails when it searched Anthony Weiner’s computer. Sources now tell  that the  in fact “synced” the email account of Weiner’s estranged wife, Huma, downloading the emails “from the cloud” and falsely claiming they were discovered as part of a legal search warrant. However, there is no case law supporting the expansion of such warrants to spouses or others whose email accounts may be accessible through devices but were not stored on hard drives and not by any stretch of the imagination, legally accessed under any possible search warrant tied to Weiner’s sexual indiscretions.  What did in fact happen here was planting of evidence, by the FBI, illegally accessing a “cloud based” email account not included in a search warrant and downloading to a hard drive that was included in a warrant. This is a common FBI/ practice used in terror investigations, making use of a single warrant to follow cloud accounts for multiple users.  In an article in today’s Washington Post, the issue of how the  found emails that should not been on Weiner’s computer were brought to light.  “Top Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin has told people she is unsure how her emails could have ended up on a device she viewed as her husband’s computer, the seizure of which has reignited the Clinton email investigation, according to a person familiar with the investigation and civil litigation over the matter.  The person, who would not discuss the case unless granted anonymity, said Abedin was not a regular user of the computer, and even when she agreed to turn over emails to the State Department for federal records purposes, her lawyers did not search it for materials, not believing any of her messages to be there.  That could be a significant oversight if Abedin’s work messages were indeed on the computer of her estranged husband, former congressman Anthony Weiner, who is under investigation for allegedly exchanging lewd messages with a 15-year-old girl. So far, it is unclear what — if any — new, work-related messages were found by authorities. The person said the  had not contacted Abedin about its latest discovery, and she was unsure what the bureau had discovered.”[8]  There is no evidence, of yet, that Director Comey was aware the “evidence” he took to congress was illegally planted on Weiner’s computer but Comey was aware of the practice. Typically, the  search warrants used can give access to cloud based emails as outlined below by  Special Agent James M. Cauthen:  “An alternative is for the investigator to search in the same manner as the user would—with the computer turned on and connected to the data. In this example, the investigator needs access to the subject’s computer with the relational database software and connection to the cloud. The investigator could consider combining two search warrants—one on the computer owner for the location being searched under Rule 41 and one on the cloud provider under §2703 for the content to which the computer is connected.  With this approach, the investigator will need to understand how to operate database software and make queries. These queries must comply with the search warrant. The investigator must conduct the search carefully as actions taken on a live system will change the data on the computer. Using this method, it may be possible to obtain a single search warrant combining the provisions of Rule 41 and §2703; however, it should be noted that there is no case law yet on implementing this strategy.” [7]  In light of the controversy over the handling of this issue by  Director Comey, an article in The New Yorker, dated October 28, 2016 cuts to the director’s state of mind. From that article:  ( The Borowitz Report )—James Comey, the embattled director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, presided over a special ceremony on Friday evening to commend the brave F.B.I. agents who had to touch Anthony Weiner’s computer. In awarding the commendations to the agents, whom Comey called “the bravest men and women this country has to offer,” the F.B.I. director criticized the political uproar that he said had overshadowed “their selfless acts of heroism.” “These agents have performed far and beyond the call of duty,” a visibly angry Comey said. “I know we’re eleven days away from an election and tensions are running high, but we shouldn’t let that subtract in any way from what these brave agents did with their own hands.” “Who among us could look at ourselves in the mirror and say, ‘I have what it takes to touch Anthony Weiner’s computer ’?” Comey asked. “I know I sure as hell couldn’t.”[15] A common way to hide ones train in Washington is to wrap whatever the smell is “in a bloody flag” or to hand out medals for heroism. This is “deception 101” and Comey wasn’t in the least bit coy about using his agents, who may be steeped in ethical or even criminal complicity, in that same “bloody flag” theatrics.  The Clinton/Weiner connection may well be an abuse of expanded counter-terrorism powers the  assumed during the Bush era. However, in 2008, these powers were curtailed by a Federal court decision. [Addendum I] From the New York Times, April 19, 2016:  “ — A federal judge has rejected a legal challenge to rules permitting F.B.I. agents, when working on domestic criminal cases, to search emails written by Americans that the government has intercepted without a warrant in the name of gathering foreign intelligence.  In an 80-page opinion that was issued in November and remained classified until being made public on Tuesday, Judge Thomas F. Hogan, the chief judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, ruled that what critics call “backdoor searches” of messages by the F.B.I.comply with both the Constitution and the  Amendments Act. That 2008 statute legalized a form of the government’s once-secret warrantless surveillance program.”[9]  There has been considerable controversy involving the FBI’s illegal expansion of search warrants in criminal cases. With the expanded powers under the Bush administration’s Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, covering the use of broad “single warrant” powers in domestic terrorism cases, the  has on numerous occasions misused  powers in criminal investigations.  This has been brought before the Federal Courts in 2008 [Addendum I] and the  should well consider itself forewarned not to attempt to apply questionable expanded powers under  legislation intended to apply to terror threats. That  was applied here, knowing a court challenge would take far too long to correct the damage, in this case a “rigged” presidential election, as claimed by Clinton campaign advisor, John Podesta. References:  [1] Elena Kagan: Supreme Court Hasn’t “Gotten to” Email ,  News, August 21, 2013.  [2] Josiah Dykstra, “Seizing Electronic Evidence from Cloud Computing Environments,” in Cybercrime and Cloud Forensics: Applications for Investigation Processes , ed. K. Ruan (Hershey, PA:  Global, 2013).  [3] Tony Sammes and Brian Jenkinson, Forensic Computing: A Practitioner’s Guide , (London, UK: Springer-Verlag, 2000). Forensics was developed on the idea of copying data from a hard disk drive that was turned off or dead. Live recovery involves changes to the contents of a computer’s storage space, 18 U.S.C. §2510(15). Therefore, it is essential that someone competent to give testimony performs it, showing that the continuity and integrity of the evidence has been preserved.  [4] U.S. Department of Justice, Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, Criminal Division, Searching and Seizing Computers and Obtaining Electronic Evidence in Criminal Investigations 3d ed., (Washington, D.C.: Office of Legal Education, Executive Office for United States Attorneys, 2009), 84. Although the courts have not directly addressed the matter, the language of Rule 41 combined with the Supreme Court’s interpretation of “property” may limit computer searches to data that physically resides in the district in which the warrant was issued.  [5] For legal purposes, there are two classes of cloud providers: those who provide “electronic communication services,” and those who provide “remote computing service.” See 18 U.S.C. §2510(15) and 18 U.S.C. §2711(2) respectively.  [6] United States v. Gorshkov , 2001  1024026 (May 23, 2001). In this case, the defendants moved to suppress the evidence, but the motion was denied. Nonetheless, the investigator was charged with hacking by foreign authorities who requested that the investigator be extradited for trial. U.S. authorities have not complied.",fake,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
23124,23125,"First case of tropical zika virus linked to serious birth defect found in Texas  Experts deeply concerned about spread of mosquito borne disease in  after Texas woman contracted virus in El Salvador , where zika has become epidemic  Aedes aegypti mosquitos are a carrier of the zika virus , which is connected to cases of microcephaly in some countries in Central and South America . Photograph : Patrice Coppee  Getty Images  Last modified on Wednesday 13 January 2016 14 . 22 ?   A little known mosquito borne tropical virus that scientists believe could be connected to a serious birth defect reached the mainland United States this week , one of what is expected to be an increasing number of cases .  Officials in Harris County , Texas , said that a middle aged woman who had traveled to El Salvador was diagnosed with zika virus , after she developed a rash , fever and joint pain .  Experts told the Guardian that the case is deeply concerning , because of the possibility that local mosquitoes could contract the disease along the American Gulf coast , where the subtropical climate could be conducive to the disease s spread .  For every case that s been picked up there might be a dozen more across the state of Texas , or maybe 100 more that we re not diagnosing , said Dr Peter Hotez , dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine , an expert on subtropical virology , at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas .  Health officials in Harris County , which already boasts robust mosquito monitoring programs , said the disease is so new that no rapid test for mosquitoes is currently available , and one isn t expected for several months . The officials also did not know how long after infection a patient may be able to transmit the disease to local mosquitoes .  Dr Umair A Shah , executive director of the Harris County department of public health , said , It s probably not a case of if we get zika in our native mosquitoes , it s probably a case of when we get zika in our native mosquitoes .  Zika is a subtropical virus transmitted by the Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes , part of a group of diseases known as arboviruses , short for arthropod borne viruses .  The virus was first recognized in Uganda in the Zika forest in the 1940s . Though it causes fever , rash and joint pain , it is was not considered a menace until a connection between microcephaly and zika was discovered in Brazil .  Virologists said zika has already reached epidemic proportions in El Salvador , where doctors were able to isolate the virus in some children suffering from microcephaly .  We re deeply concerned about the zika starting a transmission cycle here in south Texas , said Dr Nikos Vasilakis , an arbovirus researcher at University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston . Not long ago , dengue and yellow fever were endemic in the area , in Houston , Galveston Both the climate conditions and human density exist to allow circulation of the virus , Vasilakis said , naming related viruses .  What we re looking at now in Brazil is the avalanche . In the clinics we see anywhere from 10 to 15 cases a day of microcephaly , said Vasilakis . Last year , we ve seen about 3 , 000 cases of microcephaly , which is an extremely , extremely sad condition .  But little is known about zika and its connection to microcephaly . The  reported that some samples from children born with microcephaly tested positive for zika , while several did not .  Although we don t have a direct connection yet , we have a lot of indirect evidence , and some direct right now , to point that zika is responsible for that , said Vasilakis . Nevertheless , the  recommends pregnant women avoid being bitten by mosquitoes , as did Harris County , though the county purposely omitted the disease s possible connection to microcephaly in a press release .  The Gulf coast is uniquely vulnerable to arboviruses because we have at least three different species of mosquitoes that transmit arboviruses , said Hotez . The other is the subtropical climate , and the third ? the one that people don t typically appreciate ? is poverty .  When you go into the poor areas of Houston , you see absent screens , absent air conditioners , and tires along the side of the road filled with water , an ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes , Hotez said . It looks like the global health movie you show medical students .  Once a little known virus , epidemiologists are now working feverishly to determine from where and how the virus came to Brazil , and how it came to be so easily spread . Some scientists theorized that it was introduced to Brazil during the 2014 World Cup in Rio , while others believe that the disease was introduced from French Polynesia or Chile s Easter Island .  This is quite a large epidemic , so another question is how did this get so big so fast ? And no one has the answer , said Hotez . There s nothing really published , most of what we re going on are World Health Organization alerts .  Hotez suspects that a genetic mutation in the virus may be behind its more recent rapid spread , but frustratingly , scientists don t have any conclusive answers .  Zika is a very obscure virus , Hotez said . Up to 2007 there were less than 20 documented cases of zika infection in humans . After 2007 , in south east Asia , Micronesia , we started seeing the first reports of large human epidemics , so we don t really know what is happening We don t really know why this is happening , why the global spread is taking place that fast .  Both Hotez and Vasilakis recommend intense surveillance to stop the disease from spreading within the  , and that a vaccine should be developed .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
23125,23126,"? ? ? Against Trump ? ? ? : Enemy within attacks , says Trump clueless on H1B visas , ' will trample America underfoot '  by Nikhila Natarajan ? Jan 22 , 2016 22 : 49   AgainstTrump ? Cruz ? H1Bvisa ? Iowa ? Iowacaucus ? NationalReview ?  ? TheySaidIt ? Trump ?  New York : Which gasbag is worse ? Donald Trump or Ted Cruz ?  Prominent conservative heavyweights are grappling with the prospect of which motor mouth will dent their brand less as the bitter battle between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz escalates .  Hardline conservative media is saying The Donald must be stopped Reuters  While the two go at each other to over who is the phoniest ? ? ? outsider ? ? ? candidate , the enemy within is striking back at Republican frontrunners days ahead of the first presidential nominating contests in Iowa and New Hampshire .  The most influential right leaning media is pulling out all stops with stinging attacks against the so far unstoppable Trump . The week before the Iowa causus , National Review is dedicating a special issue of its magazine yelling out for a hard stop to Trump . The magazine also calls out The Donald ? ? ? s misplaced views on the H1B visa , saying ? ? ? he ( Trump ) clearly had no idea what ? ? ? s in the plan . ? ? ?  National Review calls him "" astoundingly ignorant , "" a "" charlatan , "" a "" glib egomaniac "" and plain "" crazy "" and express revulsion at the prospect of President Trump .  Their views reflect the panic that Trump has set off within a Republican establishment deeply at odds with the celebrity billionaire ' s angry , populist message which is relentlessly drawing top poll numbers .  Rich Lowry , the editor of National Review has unleashed 22 of the country ? ? ? s leading conservatives on this special , slamming close to 9000 words onto  voters ahead of the crucial Iowa caucus .  In a teaser ahead of the full blown ? ? ? Against Trump ? ? ? issue , the editors have written a one pager saying ? ? ? Trump seems unaware that a major contribution of his own written immigration plan is to question the economic impact of legal immigration and to call for reform of the H 1B ? ? visa program . Indeed , in one Republican debate he clearly had no idea what ? ? ? s in that plan and advocated increased legal immigration , which is completely at odds with it . These are not the meanderings of someone with well informed , deeply held views on the topic . ? ? ?  The magazine tweeted the cover picture late Thursday night .  ? ? National Review (  ) January 22 , 2016  Trump , of course , responded , in his signature genre : ' Good , bad , stupid ! ' or ' I have money , you don ? ? ? t , so you don ? ? ? t count ' .  National Review is a failing publication that has lost it ' s way . It ' s circulation is way down w its influence being at an all time low . Sad !  ? ? Donald J . Trump ( realDonaldTrump ) January 22 , 2016  ? ? ? Donald Trump is a menace to American conservatism who would take the work of generations and trample it underfoot on behalf of a populism as heedless and crude as The Donald himself , ? ? ? the magazine said in an editorial accompanying the manifesto , titled ? ? ? Against Trump . ? ? ?  "" Trump is a philosophically unmoored political opportunist who would trash the broad conservative ideological consensus within the  in favor of a free floating populism with strong man overtones , ? ? ? the editorial reads .  This comes at a time when 5 in 10 Americans think Trump will make a ? ? ? poor or terrible ? ? ? president , according to a brand new Pew study . Only 12 think Trump would be an average president . But that does not mean Americans regards any of his competitors better ? ? they think most of them are equally sketchy .  Of nine candidates included in the survey , far more voters say each would make a ? ? ? terrible ? ? ? than ? ? ? great ? ? ? president , says Pew .  Polarising figures on both the Republican and Democrat sides have polarised voters too .  Sarah Palin ditched Cruz for Trump and split the evangelical vote in two . As social media erupted with ? ? ? The Farce Awakens ? ? ? , Palin put a match to a Republican revolt already on the boil .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
23132,23133,"When Sam Faiers stepped into the Celebrity Big Brother house last week , she showcased a toned new figure in a flattering white jumpsuit .  The  star lost a staggering 23lbs in the build up the the Channel 5 show but not without hard work .  The 23 year old , who reveals she piled on weight by comforting eating when in a relationship , has lost almost two stone on a gruelling diet and exercise regime .  Sam has slimmed from 10st 2lbs at her  peak to 8st 7lbs losing three inches off her waist and shrinking from a  size 10 to a size 8 .  She ' s the biggest loser ! Sam Faiers slimmed from 10st 2lbs to 8st 7lbs losing three inches off her waist and shrinking from a size 10 to a size 8 in preparation for her appearance in Celebrity Big Brother  Revealing new bikini pictures taken just before she went into Big Brother , Sam said she had piled on the pounds when she was with former boyfriend Joey Essex because she enjoyed the ' comfort ' of being in a relationship .  In an interview with Heat magazine , Sam said : ' He was super skinny and could eat what he wanted and not put on any weight .  As she was : Sam , pictured ( L ) in March 2012 and ( R ) entering the house on Friday , said she comfort ate when she was in a relationship with Joey Essex and decided to lose weight after seeing bikini shots of herself  ' It was completely different for me because the weight does quickly show on me . I ' ve always had chubby cheeks and when I put on weight , it goes to my face , neck and tummy . My face goes a bit puffy . '  She revealed the trigger point that sparked her new healthier regime was the split with Joey and some bikini pictures of her taken in Marbella in the summer .  She said : ' I looked so horrible and didn ' t feel comfortable about my body at all . I remember seeing one picture of me eating a cheese sandwich and I just cried . I thought : "" I want to lose that tummy . "" I feel like I let myself go a little bit .  ' It happens when you are in a relationship they do make you put on weight . I was very comfortable in a relationship and I guess that affected my weight .  ' We ' d both eat the same things and I ' d end up putting on weight and he wouldn ' t .  Comfort : Sam said she and Joey ( pictured together , left ) would eat lots of takeaways but he ' d never put on weight . She was speaking in an interview with Heat magazine , out now  ' My weak points were Chinese takeaways particularly my favourite chicken chow mein and crisps and biscuits . I could easily have three digestive biscuits with a cup of tea . '  Sam ' s heartache diet combined no carbs , little alcohol and punishing interval training three times a week with her personal trainer . She switched to healthier meals such as porridge , chicken salads and prawn stir fries .  And she has also cut out all that damaging snacking by taking Forza Supplements ' Raspberry K2 diet pills .  The 5ft 6in star said : ' If I start reaching for the biscuit tin or the crisps , I just take one of the Forza K2 capsules and it satisfies my craving . They give me that little bit of extra help in getting in shape they are like a diet in a bottle .  Popular housemate : Sam is 7 2 second favourite to win Celebrity Big Brother behind Made In Chelsea star Ollie Locke whose odds are 7 4  ' They are great when you are feeling a bit peckish in the hour before lunch or in the middle of the afternoon . '  Sam recently voted Best Bikini Body is thrilled with her new figure .  Speaking just before she went on Big Brother , Sam said : ' I just feel so much better and have lots more energy . I guess there are some good bits about being single !  ' I didn ' t need to lose a lot of weight I just needed to tone up my body and put a bit of muscle on . I ' ll always be a curvy girl and I will never be skinny . I am quite happy with that . '  But her waist isn ' t the only thing that has shrunk . Sam has revealed how her boobs have got smaller since losing the weight , shrinking from 32DD to a 32C .  Sam is 7 2 second favourite to win Celebrity Big Brother behind Made In Chelsea star Ollie Locke whose odds are 7 4 .  No Carbs not just before Marbs but any time at all . No potatoes , bread and pastaCut back on the booze I ditched drinking my favourite Sauvignon Blanc  in favour of gin or vodka with slimline tonic . No more shots like  Sambuca they are just full of sugarAttack the snacks no more crisps of biscuits . If I have a snack attack , I take a Forza diet pillTakeaway the takeaways I ' ve quit my favourite Chinese food in favour of low fat mealsThree sessions a week of interval training with a personal trainer  Before weight loss After weight lossWeight : 10st 2lbs ( 64kg ) 8st 7lbs ( 54kg ) Dress size : 10 8Waist : 28 inches ( 70cm ) 25 inches ( 65cm ) Bust : 32DD 32C  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
23156,23157,"BERLIN/ (Reuters) - Germany is on guard against any last-minute meddling in  Sunday s election but experts have seen only isolated attempts to swing votes during the campaign. There are also no signs that fake news will affect the outcome of the election, which Chancellor Angela Merkel s Christian Democrats are expected to win. The broadly clean bill of health from political experts and social media watchers is in contrast to the U.S. and French presidential elections of the past 12 months, in which Russia was accused of trying to influence the outcome. (For a graphic on German federal elections click tmsnrt.rs/2h0NqCT)   People generally aren t expecting a huge amount of digital meddling because in the end it didn t work in France, and it s just too closely associated with Russia. It would hurt them (Russia),  said Sergey Lagodinsky, a lawyer and researcher with a Green Party-connected think tank in Berlin. The sharing of false or misleading headlines and mass posting by automated social media  bots  have had little influence in Germany s quiet campaign, government officials and political experts say. And an Oxford University study concluded this week that far less fake news was being spread in Germany than in the United States before the 2016 presidential election. Concern had been raised in Germany by the accusations of Russian meddling in last year s U.S. presidential election to prevent Democrat Hilary Clinton winning and in this year s French presidential election, in which eventual winner Emmanuel Macron s team complained his campaign was targeted by a  massive and coordinated  hacking operation. Russia has denied meddling in foreign elections. FAR-     Germany s biggest political parties, worried about the impact of a hack that stole politicians  data in 2015, agreed this year not to exploit any information that might be leaked as a result of a cyber attack, and not to use bots. Social media watchers spotted a small-scale effort late in the campaign by Russian accounts on Twitter to amplify a call by German far-right activists for their supporters to volunteer as observers at polls to prevent possible voting fraud. The far-right call for election monitors centered on a site with a tiny following called wahlbeobachtung.de, which features demands for a recount if many invalid ballots are found. It was retweeted by a Russian  bot-for-hire  169 times in recent days, fake news tracking site Digital Forensic Research Labs said. The site, run by EinProzent (One Percent), an anti-immigrant, anti-Merkel  patriotic citizens  network , has drawn just 305 Facebook users to sign up as monitors so far. German voters will cast votes at some 88,000 polling stations. Of 1 million tweets tracked by the Oxford group in the first 10 days of September, 30 percent were tied to the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD), far outweighing support shown for the party in polls: it is running at around 10 percent. That puts the AfD on track to enter parliament for the first time as the third largest party.  Facebook Germany spokesman Klaus Gorny said the company was keeping a close eye on abuse while sticking to its principles of allowing free speech.  He said there was no doubt that right-wing postings, some of them quite offensive, had increased, but Facebook was only removing content that was illegal.   There are certainly things that are completely off, but they re not illegal,  he said.  ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
23157,23158,"Fifty people have been arrested in connection with this week ' s killing of a Christian couple who were beaten and pushed into a burning kiln in eastern Pakistan , a police official said Thursday .  Investigators believe the 50 were part of a mob that killed the couple Tuesday after the pair were accused of desecrating the Quran , said Bin Yameen , a police official in the Kasur District in Punjab province .  Police said the attack in the village of Kot Radha Kishan came after a local mullah declared the couple were guilty of blasphemy .  The mob allegedly marched to the couple ' s home , broke down their door , dragged them outside , beat them and threw them into the brick kiln where they both worked .  Police officials identified the woman as Shyman Bibi Urf Shamar , and her husband as Sajjad Nasir Zurjah Nazir Nasir . The village is about 60 kilometers ( 37 miles ) southwest of Lahore , the capital of Punjab .  The province ' s government will pay the couple ' s family 5 million Pakistani rupees about 49 , 000 as compensation for their deaths , the province ' s chief minister , Shahbaz Sharif , said in a news release .  The government also will give the family 10 acres of land , Sharif said .  Desecration of the Quran is punishable by death or life imprisonment under Pakistan ' s anti blasphemy law .  Human rights groups have long urged the country to repeal the law , arguing that it has led to discrimination , persecution and murder .  Woman takes blasphemy law to Pakistan ' s highest court  The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said it sent a team to the village , and that the team "" did not come across any evidence of desecration of the Holy Quran . ""  The commission said that the couple had three young children two sons and a daughter and also indicated that the slain woman was pregnant .  Pakistan ' s anti blasphemy law often is used to settle personal vendettas , rights groups say , and people accused of the committing the crime are frequently targeted by mob violence .  That , according to the  , appeared to be the situation in Kot Radha Kishan , and that the incident stemmed with a dispute over money the kiln ' s owners said the couple owed them .  An accusation that the couple had desecrated the Quran "" was spread to nearby villages and announcements ( were ) made through mosque loudspeakers , "" the  said .  The mob that went to the kiln was estimated at around 500 people , the rights group said , citing local police .  The  said its team learned that four policemen went to the kiln to demand that the couple be handed over for protection from the mob , but that the owners "" instructed their employees not to hand the couple over and the policemen were also beaten up . ""  The kiln ' s owners were among those arrested , the rights group said , quoting police .  Pakistani newlyweds decapitated by bride ' s family in honor killing  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
23176,23177,"Tune in to the Alternate Current Radio Network (ACR) for another  broadcast of  The Boiler Room  starting at 6:00   | 8:00   | 9:00   for this special broadcast. Join us for uncensored, uninterruptible talk radio, custom-made for barfly philosophers, misguided moralists, masochists, street corner evangelists, media-maniacs, savants, political animals and otherwise lovable rascals.Join  hosts Hesher and Spore along with Andy Nowicki of Alt Right Blogspot, Stewart Howe, Randy J (both of 21st Century Wire), Daniel Spaulding of Soul of the East, Jay Dyer, author of Esoteric Hollywood and other Boiler regulars if we can drag them out of their deep state research for the 87th episode of  ROOM. Water the plants, put the kids to bed and get your favorite snuggy out so you can drop deep into the Boiler Room with the  brain-trust.Please like and share the program and visit our donate page to get involved!    A   ZONE!            ENJOY! Listen to  Boiler Room #87  on Spreaker.Reference Links:",fake,dataset,validation,World conflict,Sports/Other,fake,fake,True,no,no,positive,present
23193,23194,"The screen star wore her hair pulled back in a messy bun and showcased her natural beauty by going make up free .  She paired her low key sweatpants with some matching flip flops and donned a pair of Aviator shades and some wooden beaded bangles for extra glamour .  Casual outing : The ? 49 year old actress was rocking low key sweatpants and a baggy T shirt ?  Treat yourself : Halle was loading up on napkins and sauces as she purchases some hotdogs  Halle who also has a daughter , Nahla , from her previous relationship with Gabriel Aubry was spotted loading up on toppings as she purchased some hotdogs to snack on .  The Oscar winning star blended in with the crowd in her casual look , seeming every inch the doting mother as she fussed over little Maceo . ?  Halle previously revealed her son was her ' miracle ' baby and explained that her seven year old daughter Nahla ' s prayers might have had something to do with it .  Blending in : Halle went make up free and wore her hair up in a messy bun , hiding behind Aviator shades  Family time : The star has been making the most of time with her family since her  show Extant was axed  Making memories : The Oscar winning actress took plenty of snaps on her phone to remember the day ?  She said during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show : ' I didn ' t think it was possible to have another baby and I thought for sure I had a need to never get married again . So I ' ve learned never to say never . '  ' Nahla prayed and prayed for like a year and a half for a baby and a bunk bed , and she got both of those things .  ' Only her prayers could have done this . I didn ' t think it was possible at my age , honestly . '  Miracle baby : Halle previously revealed Maceo was her ' miracle ' baby and she wasn ' t expected to have another child  Radiant : The stunning star was beaming as she strolled along beside her son and partner ?  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
23198,23199,"This is why American kids who are graduating from schools where tuition is over $60,000 per year can t find a job America s elite colleges offer plenty of ridiculous courses. Many are taught by hilariously leftist professors straight out of central casting. Other classes transcend politics and exist on their own fabulous plane of stupidity. Many of them cost a ton of money.For The Daily Caller s list of pathetic college classes for 2015, the course descriptions are reprinted here exactly as they appear in the colleges  course manuals.Cornell University, Physical Education: Tree Climbing.  Whether you are a rain forest canopy researcher, an arborist, or just a kid at heart, everyone loves to climb trees. Recall the excitement and your sense of adventure when you first crawled into the branches to look inside a bird s nest. Then you swung from limb to limb without a thought of ropes and harnesses. But what about that big tree down the street you always wanted to climb, but couldn t reach the first branch? Cornell Outdoor Education s Tree Climbing course will teach you how to get up into the canopy of any tree, to move around, even to climb from one tree to another without touching the ground. This course will teach you how to use ropes and technical climbing gear to reach the top of any tree, to move around, and even to climb from tree to tree without returning to the ground. All equipment is included in the course fee.  Total cost for a year at Cornell: $64,164.Brown University, English: On Being Bored.  This course explores texts/films that represent and formally express states of non-productivity or non-desire. Beginning with the Enlightenment and romantic periods, we will reflect on narratives with neither progress nor plot, characters that resist characterization, and poems that deny assertion and revelation. Authors include: Kleist, Kant, Rousseau, Coleridge, de Quincey, Keats, Blanchot, Levinas, Beckett, Ashbery, Schuyler.  Total cost for a year at Brown: $65,380.University of Pennsylvania, English: Wasting Time On The Internet.  We spend our lives in front of screens, mostly wasting time: checking social media, watching cat videos, chatting, and shopping. What if these activities   clicking, SMSing, status-updating, and random surfing   were used as raw material for creating compelling and emotional works of literature? Could we reconstruct our autobiography using only Facebook? Could we write a great novella by plundering our Twitter feed? Could we reframe the internet as the greatest poem ever written? Using our laptops and a wifi connection as our only materials, this class will focus on the alchemical recuperation of aimless surfing into substantial works of literature. Students will be required to stare at the screen for three hours, only interacting through chat rooms, bots, social media and listservs. To bolster our practice, we ll explore the long history of the recuperation of boredom and time-wasting through critical texts about affect theory, ASMR, situationism and everyday life by thinkers such as Guy Debord, Mary Kelly Erving Goffman, Betty Friedan, Raymond Williams, John Cage, Georges Perec, Michel de Certeau, Henri Lefevbre, Trin Minh-ha, Stuart Hall, Sianne Ngai, Siegfried Kracauer and others. Distraction, multi-tasking, and aimless drifting is mandatory.  Total cost for a year at Penn: $66,800.Oberlin College, Contemporary American Studies: How to Win a Beauty Pageant: Race, Gender, Culture, and U.S. National Identity.  This course examines  beauty pageants from the 1920s to the present. Our aim will be to analyze pageantry as a unique site for the interplay of race,gender, class, sexuality, and nation. We will learn about cultural studies methodology, including close reading, cultural history, critical discourse analysis, and ethnography, and use those methods to understand the changing identity of the  over time. This course includes a field visit to a pageant in Ohio.  Total cost for a year at Oberlin: $66,174.Occidental College, Critical Theory & Social Justice: Stupidity.  Stupidity is neither ignorance nor organicity, but rather, a corollary of knowing and an element of normalcy, the double of intelligence rather than its opposite. It is an artifact of our nature as finite beings and one of the most powerful determinants of human destiny. Stupidity is always the name of the Other, and it is the sign of the feminine. This course in Critical Psychology follows the work of Friedrich Nietzsche, Gilles Deleuze, and most recently, Avital Ronell, in a philosophical examination of those operations and technologies that we conduct in order to render ourselves uncomprehending. Stupidity, which has been evicted from the philosophical premises and dumbed down by psychometric psychology, has returned in the postmodern discourse against Nation, Self, and Truth and makes itself felt in political life ranging from the presidency to Beavis and Butthead.  Total cost for a year at Occidental: $63,194.Pitzer College, Asian American Studies: Tattoos, Piercing, and Body Adornment.  This course Introduces students to various body modification practices, with particular focus on regional developments in Asia, Pacific, and America. Key issues include: identity and community formation, agency, power, and social control; colonialism and post-colonialism; cultural property and appropriation; global circulations of bodies, aesthetics, and labor.  Total cost for a year at Pitzer: $63,880.Rutgers University New Brunswick, Women s and Gender Studies: Women, Culture, and Society: Pop Culture Politics.  In this class we will analyze mainstream U.S. media and discuss everything Pop Culture from memes to advertising, music videos,  shows, news, sports and reality TV: What are we being told to believe? We will talk about ideas as trivialized (and political) as sex, love, war and freedom; and we will explore how the field of gender studies can transform our understandings of knowledge, power, history and -ultimately- what we ve come to call society. Yup! You guessed it. This will not be your everyday class. There will be no papers and no final, so active participation is key. We will read a little and watch lots of media  for example, check out Beyonc s awesome video Grown Woman,  s 2014 Super Bowl Commercial, and Shit Girls Say to inquire what it means to stop for a minute, look around, and ask  why.  Total cost for a year at Rutgers for New Jersey residents: $29,875.Georgia State University, English: Kanye Versus Everbody! [sic]  Kanye West has been talking your head off. Over the past several years especially, the variously prolific rapper has been waxing poetic, making a series of public proclamations and postulations regarding aspects of his own aesthetic genius and the plight of the black creative mind today all while tussling with paparazzi (literally and figuratively) in an effort to be accurately understood. The designer and defender of his own celebrity, Kanye expresses an intellectual stance and an extreme sense of agency that arguably exemplify the critical perspective of our latest generation of public thinkers. But where does this conversation about cultural production and artistic temperament actually begin? And where is the discourse heading?  Total cost for a year at Georgia State for Georgia residents: $24,448.University of Iowa, American Studies: The American Vacation.  Vacations are more serious events than you might think. One hundred years ago a vacation might have been beyond your grasp   now we take them for granted. Explore Coney Island, Atlantic City, Lake Okoboji, Yellowstone, Disney World and more.  Total cost for a year at Georgia State for Iowa residents: $21,010.Skidmore College, Sociology: The Sociology of Miley Cyrus: Race, Class, Gender, and Media (Summer 2014).  From Disney tween to twerking machine, Miley Cyrus has grown up in the public eye, trying on and discarding very different identities onscreen and off. She provides rich examples for analyzing aspects of intersectional identities and media representation, including: The rise of the Disney Princess; gender stratification and the hyper-commodification of childhood; transitions to Disney stars as they age (see Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and more); Allies and appropriation; uses of culture across race, class, and gender; bisexuality, queerness and the female body. Ongoing media frenzy focused on Miley Cyrus s public image, music and body highlights the ways in which intersectional identities are shaped by pop culture and mass media. In this special topics course, we will explore core issues of intersectionality theory, looking at race, class, and gender, as well as issues of taking feminist critique of media, using Miley as a lens though which to explore sociological thinking about identity entertainment, media, and fame.  Total cost for a year at Skidmore: $62,042.And of course, no college experience would be complete without exploring the benefits of having an abortion:University of California, San Francisco, Online course: Abortion: Quality Care and Public Health Implications.  In this six-week course, over twenty faculty from various institutions and multiple disciplines will place abortion within the context of public health and fill in the gaps left by its exclusion from mainstream curricula in health professions. Each week s lectures will incorporate the stories of women who seek abortion in order to better portray abortion significance and rationale. Other topics will include a brief history of abortion, the clinical aspects of medication and procedural abortions in and after the first trimester, an overview of patient-centered abortion-care, the basics of abortion counseling, the professional obligations of health care practitioners to ensure that women have access to safe abortion care, and the maze of restrictions that make safe abortion care inaccessible to many women. In addition to video lectures, there will be weekly quizzes, peer assessments, and optional additional content and reading for learners who want to explore the topic further.  This course is an online course from Coursera.For entire list: Daily Caller ",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present
23200,23201,"Pope Benedict  ' s spokesman has denied the pontiff will resign over the arrest of his butler on suspicion of leaking confidential documents , the Vatican press office said Thursday .  During a Wednesday meeting with journalists to answer questions about the situation , the Rev . Frederico Lombardi said the "" hypothesis "" advanced by some media outlets that the pope would resign are "" baseless creations of some journalists , which have no foundation in reality . ""  Butler Paolo Gabriele , 46 , was arrested last week and accused of illegal possession of confidential documents . Lombardi said Wednesday that Gabriele has met with his attorneys , "" who will probably request monitored surveillance or house arrest for their client . ""  Gabriele , one of only a handful of people with access to the pontiff ' s private desk , has been charged with aggravated theft for allegedly stealing private documents , Lombardi said earlier . He is suspected of leaking the papers to an Italian journalist .  The Vatican has said confidential documents were found in Gabriele ' s apartment in Vatican territory .  But Lombardi said Wednesday that media reports that said packets of documents , prepared for sending to specific people , were found in Gabriele ' s home were unfounded . Material found in Gabriele ' s possession is being studied and catalogued , he said .  "" It seems to me , "" Lombardi said , "" that there is a line of desire for truth and clarity , a desire for transparency that , although it will take time , continues forward . I thus honestly believe that we are trying to handle this new situation : We are seeking the truth and trying to objectively understand what may have happened . ""  The investigation , he said , is still in its preliminary stages .  Last month , the Vatican gave Cardinal Julian Herranz a "" pontifical mandate "" to uncover the source of hundreds of personal letters and confidential documents given to Gianluigi Nuzzi , an Italian journalist and author of "" Sua Santita , "" a book that translates to "" His Holiness "" and includes the documents .  He said the source worked inside the Vatican but would not reveal details , including the source ' s gender , age and whether or not they were clergy . He said this week that he had not been questioned in connection with Gabriele ' s arrest .  The Vatican called publication of Nuzzi ' s book "" criminal "" when it was released in Italian this month .  A top Roman Catholic Church official , Archbishop Angelo Becciu , told the Vatican ' s official newspaper Wednesday the theft of the documents was "" an immoral act of unprecedented gravity "" and a "" despicable abuse of the relationship of trust that exists between Benedict  and those who turn to him . "" With the leaks , he said , the pope ' s very ministry "" has come under attack . ""  But observers say the scandal lifts the lid on a secret power struggle going on behind the closed doors of the Catholic Church . The alleged documents leak , along with the firing of the head of the Vatican Bank , are aimed at weakening the authority of the pope ' s second in command , they say .  Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone , the Vatican ' s secretary of state , is involved in a power struggle with his predecessor , the observers said . "" The reason for this fight is that the secretary of state will have a strong influence over the next conclave which will choose the next pope , "" said Giacomo Galeazzi , a journalist at the Italian daily La Stampa .  Cardinal Angelo Sodano , secretary of state to the late John Paul  , is trying to sideline Bertone and put one of his own proteges in place before Benedict dies , he said . "" The leaks will end when Bertone is out as secretary of state , "" Galeazzi said .  When he became Vatican secretary of state , Bertone "" did what normally happens , "" said the Rev . Thomas Reese , author of "" Inside the Vatican . "" "" He brought in his team , the people he likes , the people he trusts , and put them in key positions in the Vatican . ""  "" There are people who had hitched their star to the previous secretary of state , who thought by now they would become an archbishop or a cardinal , and they didn ' t , "" Reese said . "" These people are unhappy and don ' t like Bertone . ""  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
23206,23207,"London ( Associated Mess ) : A full complement of the House of Mountbatten is expected to attend this week ' s memorial service at St Adolf ' s up the Creek parish church for the suicided Opus Dei banker Gianmario Roveraro who chainsawed himself to death in Italy last week after failing to raise the cash to spring jailed holocaust denier David Irving out of a Viennese slammer .  Roveraro ' s body was discovered beneath a bridge 30km from Gorgonzola and the local coroner has noted that the deceased had been chopped into pieces "" with the surgical precision of a deeply depressed suicidal maniac "" .  Members of the Mountbatten clan including Charles , Pretender to the Throne , are reported to be cutting short their glamorous boating tour of the Scottish Western Isles to attend the ceremony , which is being conducted by Pope Ratzinger ' s official envoy to the Dead Sea Mr Gerry Adams .  The requiem rite will mirror the ceremony last used for ' God ' s Banker ' Roberto Calvi whose suicided remains were also found under a bridge following a tiff with fellow Opus Dei bank robbers responsible for the 1982 collapse of the Vatican Bank .  Downing Street will be represented at the ceremony by the Prime Monster ' s wife Cherry Bush  who is said to be ' inconsolable ' since the news of Roveraro ' s demise broke last week and her bank manager refused to top up her overdraft facilities on Austrian held bank accounts normally reserved for credit card transactions accruing on the family ' s holiday trips in the summer .  The House of Lords will be sending their representative Lord Levy to the ceremony , always assuming he will not be detained on other matters relating by inspectors of the Metropolitan Police ' s Serious and Organised Crime Squad , which interviewed him last week on charges of running a racket with the  in the sale of honours .  Meanwhile , a spokesman for Opus Dei ' s sister organisation the  ' s Hellfire Club confirmed that Robert Maxwell ' s sons Kevin and Ian would be representing them at the service , just as they had done at Calvi ' s memorial back in ' 82 .  And the Home Office has confirmed that the Yorkshire Ripper has asked his solicitor for compassionate leave to attend the requiem so that a truly representative cross section of  organised crime can pay its last respects to the man who took the blame in Gorgonzola last week .  ",satire,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,neutral,past
23207,23208,"Even though not all the states in the Democratic Primary have been accounted for, the Clinton campaign is feeling pretty confident as a surrogate reveals they are ready to take on Donald Trump in the general election.Their method? Release hell on the Donald Trump campaign with their copious amount of  opposition research.  David Brock, who spoke to Politico reporters, said:We [Democrats] can knock Trump Tower down to the sub-basement. American Bridge is building a database of all the regular people, from unpaid vendors to harassed tenants to defrauded students at Trump University, who got screwed over for one reason only: they took Trump at his word.American Bridge, as Brock refers to, is a group of private progressive donors who funnel money to Clinton s campaign through their PAC, and have apparently been collecting data and research on Trump since the summer of 2015. According to Brock, they have discovered a multitude of issues that Republicans missed when vetting the frontrunner. They also claim they have discovered  harmful information  that the media too has missed.What could be worse than what the media already knows? How much worse can he get after being exposed as a sexist, racist, xenophobic, bombastic, sensationalist fraud? Apparently that isn t enough to turn off voters, Brock warns. Instead, Democrats need to  be cautious, saying beating Trump will  not be a cakewalk,  but is possible if they paint him as  a danger to the Constitution, a menace to democracy, and a threat to the nation as a whole. Considering he s all three, this might be a cakewalk for Democrats. And what s even better is that American Bridge is as meticulous as Clinton herself, and has collected equally damaging evidence on rival Ted Cruz, should he squeak out a win at the Republican National Convention.As Brock puts it, should it come to it, this campaign will be a  bare-knuckles  campaign for the White House. And who better to come out swinging than Clinton? Featured image by Eric Thayer/Getty Images",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
23264,23265,"The final regular season game of 2013 for the Patriots was a rain drenched epic at Foxboro . B . J . Thomas should have sung a tune at halftime .  With monsoon conditions at the end of December instead of snow and ice , we were drawn to another famous Patriot who said , "" Apres moi , le deluge . "" We are not sure if that was Bill Belichick  or Tom Brady  .  The rain came down in buckets with an occasional dog chasing a cat . Mostly a Buffalo Bill chased his tail .  We were reminded of the inglorious climax to Road to Perdition with Tom Hanks , machine guns , and heavy rain .  This time the Buffalo Bills were on the road to Perdition with Tom Brady , his guns , and heavy running attack .  Not since the Rains of Ranchipur have we felt so waterlogged . We could only pray that Julian Edelman was wearing his drip dry uniform and Pampers .  Yes , if Katharine Hepburn were still living in New England , we ' d say she ' d called on Rainmaker Burt Lancaster to bring on the deluge . Gillette Stadium started to look like the site of the Johnstown Flood around halftime .  The Patriot running backs Ridley and Blount seemed to cascade down the field as if they were on the Columbia River rapids before hydro power dammed up the river of no return .  Suffice it to say : the Bills looked like the "" Wreck of the Hesperus as the season ended . The Patriots looked like that they had booked passage on Noah ' s Ark with a stop at Met Life Stadium in New York sometime forty days and forty nights hence .  Tom and Julian looked like Tom and Dustin in matching outfits for Rain Man . This time there were no idiot savants on the field , but the stands seemed filled with people with dousing rods , pointing to a bye week victory .  ",satire,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,fake,satire,True,no,no,positive,past
23265,23266,"John Scott surprises Patrick Kane with big bodycheck in All Star Game ( Video )   ? Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane received a neutral zone pass in the  All Star Game and then quickly found himself on the ice of Bridgestone Arena after a monstrous body check by enforcer John Scott .  Kane said the play wasn t scripted , but really his Central Division teammates had something else in mind in their 20 minute game against the Pacific Division All Stars .  I mean , don t tell Kaner this , but Central Division rivals set him up for a ( suicide ) pass , said Dallas Stars forward Jamie Benn . John Scott did his part .  After the play , Scott was stopped on a breakaway by Nashville Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne . Kane then scored on Los Angeles Kings netminder Jonathan Quick and quickly engaged in a fake fight with Scott . The two were teammates with the Blackhawks for two seasons , and have a bit of a friendship . Scott , a 6 foot 8 enforcer was voted into the  s All Star Game due to a viral internet campaign .  I don t know if he was expecting me to drop them with him . It was a fun little moment , Kane said .  Kane seemed shocked that Scott delivered such a forceful check . Hitting is generally frowned upon in an All Star Game . Before the contest there were questions as to whether the hulking Scott could tone down his physicality for the 3 on 3 contest in Nashville .  That was unexpected , Kane said . I don t know if I expected too much hitting in the All Star Game , let alone 3 on 3 in the All Star game , so he caught me off guard there .  Though the hit was surprising Kane believed how it played out will turn into one of the more memorable moments from the game .  It caught me off guard a bit for sure , Kane said . I think the whole sequence with him hitting me and going down on a breakaway and getting the shot and me going back the other way and scoring a goal and then the fight after will be something pretty cool for people to play over and over again .  The whole weekend Kane was booed lustily by the Bridgestone Arena crowd . He was ready for it in the Saturday skills competition , but figured it would be toned down for Sunday s game with him playing on the same team with the hometown Predators . It wasn t . ?  Fans hadn t forgotten all the divisional battles between the Blackhawks and the Predators .  The two teams have faced off in the playoffs twice with Chicago winning both times in six games .  They booed me all weekend . I don t think they like the Blackhawks here , Kane said . I didn t expect it . Usually when we re here you don t really hear too many boos when you touch the puck or anything like that . Playing with the Predators and on the Central Division team I thought they d be cheering for us but still got booed when I touched the puck . I guess that s how it is .  Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports . Have a tip ? Email him at puckdaddyblog yahooweblink or follow him on Twitter ! Follow joshuacooper  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
23274,23275,"The infrared activity could mean there was a bomb on board or an engine exploded , according to two unnamed  officials .   satellites picked up heat around a Russian passenger plane before it crashed in Egypt and killed all 224 people on board , two unnamed  officials have said .  One of the officials , who both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk about the information publicly , said they had ruled out a missile strike as a possible cause because neither a launch nor an engine burn had been detected .  They said the infrared activity could mean many things , including that there was a bomb on board or that an engine exploded because of a malfunction .  Aviation analyst Paul Beaver said the heat detected "" indicates that there was a catastrophic explosion or disintegration of the airplane "" , but does not reveal what caused it . ?  Some experts have suggested a bomb was the most likely cause of the crash , while others have pointed to a 2001 incident in which the Metrojet plane damaged its tail during landing .  Militants from the Islamic State linked Sinai Province have claimed responsibility , but the group has not provided further evidence and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi has dismissed the claim as "" propaganda "" .  It comes as investigators prepare to start examining the black boxes retrieved from the crash site in the Sinai Peninsula .  The Russian aircraft ' s cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder are expected to shed light on what caused ? Flight  9268 , which was travelling from Sharm el Sheikh to the Russian city of St Petersburg on Saturday , to break up near cruising altitude .  Luggage and other belongings of passengers from a crashed Russian plane are pictured at the site of the disaster in Egypt  Egypt ' s Civil Aviation Minister Hossam Kamal said a committee of international investigators will conclude its field inspection at the crash site on Tuesday before starting work on the black boxes .  Mr Kamal said it would "" take some time "" to produce the final report and that the committee "" has all the tools and experts to deal with the investigation "" .  Bosses from Russian airline Kogalymavia , which owns the Metrojet brand , have insisted only "" some kind of impact "" could have caused the disaster .  Egypt ' s civil aviation ministry said on Tuesday there were no facts at this stage to substantiate assertions that the plane broke up in mid air .  Spokesman Mohamed Rahmi confirmed that no distress call was received before the plane went down .  Alex Smirnov ? of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said 140 bodies and more than 100 body parts were taken to St Petersburg on Monday and Tuesday and that a third plane was set to bring more remains later on Tuesday .  Gallery : Pictures Emerge Of Russian Tourists Killed In Sinai Plane Tragedy  Families have so far identified 19 of the victims .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
23278,23279,"The city of New York has been paying 200 , 000 to store a homeless woman ' s possessions , even though it would have been cheaper to have rented her an apartment .  Andrea Logan ' s things have been locked up since she lost her Upper East Side apartment in 2006 after a debilitating stroke .  Ever since , the city has been picked up the tab at the cost of New York taxpayers .  New York state law requires it to cover storage expenses for homeless people .  The city of New York has been paying 200 , 000 to store Andrea Logan ' s belongings . The 54 year old former model has been homeless for eight years and suffered a stroke just before things took a turn for the worse  Logan , 54 , had 11 storage units stuffed full of belongings ranging from ' hundreds of cartons of books , ' as well as furniture , appliances and women ' s clothing , in the years after her stroke .  According to the New York Post , officials didn ' t notice the huge tab until it reached 3 , 585 a month last year .  For the same kind of money , a one bedroom duplex in Greenwich Village could easily be rented or a large two bedroom apartment on the Upper East Side .  Cumulatively , Logan ' s storage units total more than 1 , 000 sq feet which is more than a number of Manhattan apartments .  After the extortionate spending came to light , the city refused to fund the rent any longer , prompting her to sue in Manhattan Supreme Court .  Now Logan has agreed to have a clear out and cut down belongings so that they fit into just three storage units at a facility in The Bronx for 1 , 297 a month .  State law mandates that the city pay for storing furniture and personal belongings for homeless people ' so long as eligibility for public assistance continues and so long as the circumstances necessitating the storage continue to exist . '  Logan ran an antiques business before the stroke left her legally blind , however she does not know the value of all of the items she has stashed away .  ' There ' s so much stuff that I wouldn ' t even know where to begin , ' she told The Post .  ' The most critical and valuable things are the irreplaceable items documents from medical malpractice and personal injury cases , personal family documents , photographs and mementos . '  Whilst the city is continuing to pay her way when it comes to storage , the former model says she hasn ' t lived in a city shelter for four years and is now staying with friends or even squatting in abandoned buildings .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
23284,23285,"Tomi Lahren literally thinks the beating of a white teen in Chicago is the equivalent of nine black churchgoers who were  in Charleston, South Carolina.In yet another example of racism and how right-wingers sabotage themselves, conservative darling Tomi Lahren lost her shit over a hate crime that was committed in Chicago this week by four black assailants.The four suspects kidnapped and tortured a white disabled man and streamed the crime on Facebook Live.But while her anger is understandable and shared by a vast majority of Americans, including Black Lives Matter and President Obama, Lahren went several steps too far by comparing the beating to the killing of nine black parishioners who were shot to death by white supremacist Dylann Roof. Chicago police aren t sure if it was politically motivated,  Lahren claimed.  Are you freaking kidding me? This is the definition of a hate crime, and these four sick individuals deserve a seat on death row right next to Dylann Roof. And Lahren totally lost all credibility right there with that single statement. In her mind, a white teen who lived through a beating is worth nine black people who were murdered. Basically, she is saying one white life is worth nine black lives. And the white teen survived. Plus, she thinks the four black suspects should be sentenced to death. Again, while their actions are horrible, we don t sentence people to death for committing assault. Nor do we sentence people to death for kidnapping. If they had murdered the victim, Lahren would have a case for putting the death penalty on the table. But they didn t.Then Lahren went on to question parenting in inner cities, which is her code for black people. Times like these, we have to wonder, where are the parents? Not just (Wednesday), but when these four were growing up? Because the breakdown of the American family has left young people   especially in the inner cities   with no role models. That s why they turn to celebrities and rap stars who chant  eff Trump  for guidance and leadership. Seriously, only racists like Lahren push these stereotypes about black people. And then she whined and claimed that if the disabled man had been black and the suspects were white it would have been a bigger story. If the race roles were reversed here, can you imagine the coverage? The race of the assailants would be plastered on every headline from here to Timbuktu, but if it doesn t fit the race-baiting agenda of the left and their cohorts in the mainstream, it doesn t quite get the same attention. If this thing wasn t paraded on Facebook Live, the mainstream would have likely diluted, dismissed or outright ignored it,  she said.  If it bleeds, it leads   but only if it s the right color, huh? Except the media widely covered this story across the nation and both President Obama and Black Lives Matter even condemned the actions of these four individuals.Here s the video via Facebook.Predictably, the racists were quick to chime in with their own comments.The bottom line here is that these four suspects should be punished for their crimes, which are inexcusable and indefensible. But Lahren should not have compared this incident to the mass shooting in Charleston. A brutal beating is nowhere near as bad a crime as nine counts of murder. She should apologize for that and to the families of the victims she just insulted.Featured image via screenshot",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
23293,23294,"For months , Hillary Clinton ' s campaign played it relatively cool with Bernie Sanders .  With the clock ticking toward Iowa and New Hampshire and her poll numbers on the wane in those early states , Clinton and her staffers are blitzing the talk shows and Twitter , hammering the Vermont senator on everything from guns to health care to taxes to sheer electability ? all at a furious pace that almost rivals Donald Trump ' s .  Clinton played notoriously hard to get during the first phase of her campaign ? so much so that it was considered breaking news when she agreed to a sit down interview with  .  But over the past 10 days , she has appeared no fewer than nine times on five major networks ?  ,  ,  ,  and  , including live three morning show appearances Wednesday . The former secretary of state has averaged one interview a day since Friday , Jan . 8 , when she called into  s "" Hardball . "" Three days earlier , she also appeared in an extensive sit down interview with Hardball host Chris Matthews . And the appearances don t seem to be slowing down : She ll appear on  ' s The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon "" and sit down with  ' s Rachel Maddow on Thursday , all at the same time her campaign looks to get a boost amid sagging poll numbers .  Before the crack of dawn on Wednesday , Clinton rose to assure George Stephanopoulos on  ' s "" Good Morning America "" in person that she was not concerned ? that , despite Bernie Sanders ' blazing poll numbers , despite the fact that he overtook her in Iowa and opened up a comfortable double digit lead in New Hampshire , despite the fact Sanders hours earlier had disputed her daughter Chelsea ' s assertion that he wanted to scrap Obamacare entirely , despite the fact that the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary are mere weeks away , the Clinton campaign is not sweating the challenge . And then she appeared on  ' s "" Today "" with Savannah Guthrie , again rejecting the notion that her campaign is suddenly feeling pressure from Sanders . An hour later , Clinton fielded similar questions from the co hosts of ""  This Morning . ""  Clinton insisted that her stepped up operational tempo was always the plan , that she doesn ' t pay attention to polls and is "" not nervous at all "" about Sanders ' recent surge .  But with the glow of magnanimity surrounding Sanders ' "" damn emails "" debate moment from October largely faded , both campaigns have sharpened their attacks . In the past , Sanders would speak of his plans to reform Wall Street in broad terms that only hinted at his differences with his primary opponent , while Clinton branded herself as a "" practical "" progressive who could get things done in Washington . Not anymore : Over the last week , Clinton and her surrogates have assailed Sanders ' ideas in increasingly pugilistic terms .  On Monday , she rang the opening bell , saying it was time for a "" spirited debate "" over their policy differences and warning that Sanders ' plans would mean "" ripping up Obamacare and starting over . "" "" If that ' s the kind of revolution he ' s talking about , I am worried , folks , "" she added . "" I think that would be a big problem . ""  On Tuesday , she told an Iowa crowd that the time had come to "" get real "" about the candidates and their differences . In New Hampshire , meanwhile , Chelsea Clinton was assailing Sanders ' health care plan as one that could potentially undo the Affordable Care Act because it would give too much influence to governors , a majority of which are Republican .  Then on Wednesday morning , when the Vermont senator ' s campaign released his plan to pay for his economic agenda , Clinton ' s campaign was ready with a coordinated Twitter assault . The message : Sanders isn ' t being honest about how he ' ll fund his expensive plans , especially his 15 trillion call for single payer health care , a figure that a top Sanders policy adviser did not dispute to The Wall Street Journal in September .  Clinton ' s spokesman Brian Fallon quickly tweeted , "" He left out the 15 trillion proposal that requires across the board tax increases on working families ? Go figure . "" "" If you listen hard , you can almost hear senior campaign strategist Tad Devine yelling at poor senior policy advisor Warren Gunnels on phone abt why it ' s so hard to find new way to get 15T , "" Fallon continued in another message .  "" Can ' t level with the American people that 15 trillion for health care would mean a tax increase across the board , "" campaign chairman John Podesta chimed in .  Deputy communications director Christina Reynolds accused Sanders of "" misleading voters "" about his "" 15 trillion hole . "" "" Not what he ' s promised , "" she tweeted , noting that Sanders was backing away from a pledge to release the details of his health care plan before Feb . 1 . "" And not what Iowa caucus goers deserve . ""  Devine initially declined to respond , letting stand spokesman Michael Briggs ' statement that the Clinton campaign was "" engaging in false and misleading attacks "" instead of clarifying how she intended to pay for her own proposals .  The Sanders campaign then put out another statement later Wednesday afternoon , with Briggs accusing Clinton of flip flopping and engaging in the same tactics she once ascribed to Karl Rove , namely her proclamation in 2008 to primary opponent Barack Obama that Democrats attacking each other on universal health care "" undermines core Democratic values "" and gives "" aid and comfort "" to the special interests and "" their allies in the Republican Party . ""  The Sanders campaign didn ' t stop there ? it then began playing up an old photograph from Clinton through Twitter and email . In the 1993 photo Clinton and Sanders are talking , and Clinton has written the note "" To Bernie Sanders with thanks for your commitment to real health care access for all Americans and best wishes Hillary Rodham Clinton 1993 . "" The email came with the subject line "" Happy Days . ""  "" You know , I ve been laying out very specific policies for months now , "" she said on Wednesday , "" and telling people how I would pay for them . I m asking that Senator Sanders does the same thing . We need to move now from generalization to specifics so people can see what the differences are . That s what I ve always planned to do , and that is what I m doing . ""  At the same time , Clinton has been lowering expectations about her ability to win Iowa and New Hampshire , where Sanders leads her by 5 and 14 percentage points , respectively , according to the most recent Quinnipiac University polls .  I m gonna do everything I can to win as big a margin as possible in the caucus , then go to the primary , but this is a national campaign , Clinton told  ' s Alisyn Camerota on Tuesday . Remember , I campaigned all the way into June last time , and I have always thought that given the unpredictability and the changes in people s concerns going into this election , that we wouldn t know exactly how the outcome would be for a couple of cycles of these primaries and caucuses .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
23298,23299,"Holy Cow !  Ad Rubs It In Before Final Voting in Bihar  Bihar Written by Alok Pandey Updated : November 04 , 2015 19 : 02   Patna : ? A day before Bihar votes in the fifth and final phase of the assembly elections , the state woke up this morning to a prominent ad in newspapers featuring a woman hugging a cow and an attack on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on his "" silence "" over statements made by his allies on beef .  The ad , issued by the Bharatiya Janata Party , asks why Mr Kumar has not acted on "" repeated insults "" to the cow by his allies . "" Stop vote bank politics and explain whether you endorse these statements , "" the ad says , before listing three comments made by Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad and others .  In each , the word beef has been highlighted in red .  A furious anti  ' Grand Alliance ' has complained to the Election Commission . ""  ' s ads show how insecure they are . . . such comments , ads haven ' t appeared in the last 40 years . . . If the election process isn ' t fair , people will lose faith in democracy , "" said  Tyagi of Nitish Kumar ' s Janata Dal ( United ) .  The Election Commission has now asked all parties to not publish any political ads in papers tomorrow without its clearance .  Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal shared the ad on Twitter and said , "" Have these ads in Bihar been given by  ' s fringe elements ? Or by  top brass ? ""  Senior  Bihar leader Sushil Modi wondered what was wrong with "" seeking answers from Nitish Kumar , "" and said , "" They ( grand alliance ) stoked the beef issue in Bihar . ""  "" Don ' t Hindus eat beef too ? It is the poor who are forced to eat beef . People eat ( beef ) outside the country too . What difference does it make ? "" Lalu Prasad had said soon after a Muslim man was killed by a mob over rumours of beef eating and cow slaughter in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh .  The  immediately launched an aggressive campaign around the remark , with Prime Minister Narendra Modi repeatedly attacking Lalu Prasad in election speeches .  Bihar has already voted in four phases in what is seen as a very close contest . The fifth phase tomorrow will see voting in 57 constituencies . Votes will be counted on Sunday , November 8 for all 243 seats .  Story First Published : November 04 , 2015 09 : 50   ",true,text,validation,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
23299,23300,"It has been announced that the traditional King James Bible is to be revised into a modern day language "" Bible App , "" available for i Pads , I Phones and Android for 89p .  Its aim is to get young people interested in mainstream traditional religious belief , and this drastic action is being taken due to plummeting church attendances by people under the age of 60 . This joint venture between the Church of England and The Vatican , they hope , will result in getting millions more "" bums on seats "" at Sunday services .  In the same way that the current bible is made up of stories that were hundreds of years old before been written , then the revised new version will add modern day scenario ' s to replace the stuffy , dull stories from the off putting original .  Its a gamble for the "" big two "" but a spokesman for the Vatican ' s accountants handling the switchover said , "" If this comes off , it could make the churches some serious wonga . Imagine all those new customers flocking to church every week , it could pull in millions . It could be that big , we might even have to get Goldman Sachs to sort out our tax affairs ""  In a bid to make the change happen , both sides have hired top rappers in a 4 . 5m contract to turn church attendances around , by translating the old bible into modern day speak .  "" The rap stars have a three year contract , yeh , to rewrite all of da current bible gubbins to a bang tidy 21st century standard , and I mean  of that stuff , even that weird shit with the dead guy that runs around after been dead for a bit . . . Larry Zeus , or some shit like that , well him "" the Vatican ' s hip hop spokesman announced .  At the time of going to press we were only able to obtain a leaked memo outlining a revised version of how a story from the good book , would translate into modern day language for the app .  The famous bible quote that had been modernised was "" Do unto others as you would have others do unto you . "" Matthew 7 : 12 , has been amended to read "" So I was like Bro , do you want someone to do that to you huh ? , then dont yo be doing that to them yer hear , or some bitch gonna slap yo sorry bad ass one day "" .  More when we get it .  ",satire,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,present
23310,23311,"Ohio ? Catching the ball off the backboard and slamming it home on an opponent , like LeBron James did last night , seems pretty fun .  Answering questions about coaches getting fired on his watch , as James did in the morning , seems less so .  James and the Cavs enjoyed themselves against the Phoenix Suns , dunking , running , and defending their way to a 115 93 victory . James only needed eight shots to reach 21 points . He didn ' t play in the fourth quarter his shot total was the second lowest of his career ( he reached 21 on seven field goals and 7 of 7 free throws ) .  Twice in the third quarter , James was on the receiving end of alley oops from J . R . Smith ? once on the aforementioned backboard pass and later in the period on a lob .  Since new coach Tyronn Lue took over Saturday , he ' s been talking about getting the Cavs to have more fun . What ' s implied , of course , is they weren ' t enjoying themselves under coach David Blatt , even though they won 30 of 41 games with him this season before he was fired .  For the first time in the Lue era , what the Cavs displayed on the court could reasonably be construed as fun . As in , James getting caught dancing to Rick James ' "" Super Freak "" on the Jumbotron during his fourth quarter off ? that kind of fun .  "" We want so much out of each other , and you get yourself into trouble when you think about the wrong things instead of just appreciating this game and appreciating your teammates that you have , "" James said . "" So , ( Lue ) is preaching it and it ' s hitting home all of us . ""  If onlookers ? all across the globe are giving James and his teammates the stink eye for freezing out Blatt ( not fun ) , then there are two ways to make it go away :  In addition to wanting his players to lighten up , Lue has also been preaching playing at a quicker pace . Rather than pounding the ball in isolation in the halfcourt , James and Kyrie Irving can utilize their considerable rim attacking abilities more in the open court .  Cleveland ' s pace ? or more commonly known as the statistic virtually every Cleveland basketball writer , this one included , has been obsessing over for the past week ? was only 93 . 04 possessions per 48 minutes last night . That ' s slow .  LeBron James needed just eight shots to get to 21 points on Wednesday night . NBAweblink ?  But the Cavs tallied 19 fast break points , they registered 12 steals , and were able to push the ball off their defense . James ' stats ? 7 of 8 from the field , 7 of 7 from the line ? reflect those pushes .  "" LeBron had 21 points on eight shots , so he ' s getting out in transition , "" Lue said . "" He got five or six layups tonight , which takes a lot of pressure off of him in the half court sets , so that ' s good for us . ""  James registered a game high nine of the Cavs ' 34 assists . He seemed to be aware of his low number of shots , and that it was among his lowest attempt games in his 13 year career .  James also , without hesitation , cited the only other game he ' s shot at least . 875 from the field during a game ? nearly three years ago against Charlotte ( Feb . 4 , 2013 ) when he was 13 of 14 ( . 929 ) from the field and 5 of 6 from the line .  It was a good , fun memory for him to hold on to .  "" It don ' t matter to me , all I care is to win , "" he said . "" It was a very efficient night for myself but the ball was moving and it doesn ' t matter who is shooting or taking shots . It ' s about how we ' re getting the ball moving from side to side and do we feel involved and feel comfortable . ""  James needs just 15 points to become the 17th player in history with 26 , 000 career points , and is just four assists from passing Derek Harper ( 6 , 577 ) for 20th in  history in that category .  Both milestones could come Friday in Detroit , which , presumably , would be fun for him .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
23320,23321,"The Electoral College should tell Donald Trump and his deplorable supporters to go f*ck themselves.The Electoral College convenes on December 19th to cast their votes for president. And it will only take 38 of them to cast their votes against Trump to prevent him from taking office.You see, while we have an election every year consisting of electoral votes and the popular vote, all 538 from all 50 states are constitutionally required to have the final say on who becomes president. As Alexander Hamilton explained in the Federalist Papers, the Electoral College is the last line of defense to choose a person who is  To an eminent degree, endowed with the requisite qualifications  to be President of the United States.And that is why millions of Americans are pleading with the Electoral College to exercise their power and vote against Donald Trump.Of course, Trump supporters are trying to bully and threaten the electors to make sure our country gets destroyed. In fact, an elector in Texas reports that Trump supporters threatened to rape and murder his family if he doesn t vote the way they want him to vote.Christopher Suprun shared the grisly threat with his fellow elector Art Sisneros, who shared the threat with Texas Monthly. You vote for Trump or we rape your wife and daughters with a knife before we kill you,  the threat reads.  Do as told or face consequences. Sisneros explained that he has also been receiving threats from Trump supporters. The Trump supporters and the people on the right thought that I absolutely had to vote for Trump, and to do otherwise was some kind of treasonous act,  he said.Except that Sisneros can vote for whomever he pleases when December 19th rolled around, and that is getting easier to figure out since left-wing groups are reportedly encouraging the electors to choose anyone but Trump, even if it s not Hillary Clinton.Right-wingers and Trump supporters, on the other hand, are being downright scary and are acting like the electors are required to vote for Trump. They were far more aggressive and far more nasty,  Sisneros said.  I received a lot of threats. I just didn t think it would do any good to share them or make a big deal out of them. There were several nasty ones to vote for Trump, or else. Some of them were pretty vague like,  We re going to hunt you down,  that kind of stuff. Some were like,  We re going to find out where you work and come after you. Frankly, threats like these ought to immediately disqualify Trump from office. After all, he and his supporters are the ones threatening the electors with dire consequences. This should really make it easy for the electors to reject Trump outright. He is a danger to our democracy and his cabinet picks are a threat to our government and democratic institution. Trump is even a danger to our continued survival as a free people considering Russia interfered with our election and helped Trump win so Putin can have a puppet in the White House.The Electoral College has a chance to do what they were designed to do and that is making sure that a demagogue and con artist is prevented from holding the highest office in the land. So the electors need to have courage to save our nation. Rejecting Trump is the right thing to do.Featured Image: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,present
23329,23330,"Muslims , the other community : Other views What people are saying about religious bigotry . Check out this story on USATODAYweblink : http : usat . ly 1QwYtvR  A link has been sent to your friend ' s email address .  A link has been posted to your Facebook feed .  To find out more about Facebook commenting please read the Conversation Guidelines and FAQs    7 : 48 p . m .  December 9 , 2015  Muslims rally at the White House on Dec . 6 , 2015 .  Julia Kingsley and Jon Healey , ? Los Angeles Times : It does not help the American Muslim community that San Bernardino shooter Tashfeen Malik pledged allegiance to Islamic State on Facebook . . . . It is hard not to other a whole community that is seen as the source of terrorism worldwide . In fact , this makes it quite easy for politicians to build a solid fortress around the Muslim community in the name of safety and trust .  Ron A . Y . Rich , ? Canada Free Press :  recruits people from all over to kill as many innocent civilians as possible throughout the world as well as in the United States . The Japanese did not recruit people from all over the world to murder innocent people all over the world . Franklin Roosevelt and his fellow liberals did not allow many Jews into the United States who were escaping the Holocaust , even when they were on ships , such as the St . Louis , that reached the American shores . There is no evidence that Jews ever made threats to massacre people at random in the United States . . . . All Jews were targeted for extermination by the Nazis not all Arabs are targeted for extermination by  .  Majida Rashid , ? The Washington Post : The media paint a very selective picture of us . . . . As a Muslim woman and an American citizen , I m supposedly living in a free country , but how can I be free when my country is afraid of me ? At the airport , I am always taken aside for questioning and a special body search . I feel humiliated and embarrassed , especially when I am traveling with white colleagues who pass through security without any extra scrutiny . I feel violated and insignificant , like a piece of furniture that needs to be inspected from all sides before shipping .  Siddique Malik , ? The ( Louisville ) Courier Journal : Many American Muslims have it wrong : They think if they just condemn terrorism , they can absolve themselves of the responsibility of rectifying the ideological perversion that collectively afflicts Muslims and is terrorism s root cause . . . . I have no illusion that the much needed serious debate aimed at Islamic reformation will occur among Muslims anytime soon . It can only materialize if it s triggered by American society at large . . . . Because true freedom of speech exists only in America , this debate can only happen in America .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
23340,23341,"Bob Sinclair has spent the past six years building a house to live in with his wife Sheryl but his local council says he has less than a week left to knock it down .  Mr Sinclair , 66 , built part of the two storey home in Elizabeth Park , north of Adelaide , with wood instead of the steel that the council had originally approved .  He tried and failed to get his changes approved and as a result the Environment , Resources and Development Court found in favour of Playford Council during a June hearing and ordered that the entire structure be demolished before next Tuesday .  Bob Sinclair has less than a week to knock down his house in Elizabeth Park , north of Adelaide  Mr Sinclair , 66 , has spent the past six years building it to live in with his wife Sheryl  ' The best we can get is an extension on the demolition order . '  The block of land was originally purchased in 2006 by Mr Sinclair ' s daughter Vanessa Sinclair Benke , but Mr Sinclair started building the house for him and his wife to live in .  ' My daughter was looking for an investment property , ' he said .  ' We would have been paying the mortgage as the rent on the house . '  Mr Sinclair first lodged a development application in June 2006 , and council approved a two storey steel framed dwelling and garage in January 2007 .  Work commenced in January 2008 , and under the development approval work was required to be substantially completed by 11 January 2010 , or else the approval would lapse .  Mr Sinclair built part of the two storey home with wood instead of steel and the council is forcing him to knock it down because he didn ' t get approval  Mr Sinclair said the price of steel went ' through the roof ' after his first application and would have cost an extra 40 , 000 so he used timber instead , the Northern Messenger reported .  In July 2011 a neighbour complained to council about inadequately secured roof sheeting on the partially built house which was flapping in the wind and making noise .  The council ' s building surveyor investigated the complaint and found a number of defects in relation to the timber framing , gang nails leaving rafters and weather damage to the timber framing and flooring .  It was then that he also discovered the framing had been built with timber not steel .  Mr Sinclair was told in a letter he must lodge another development application seeking approval in relation to the timber framing in order to continue construction .  On 26 April 2012 , Mr Sinclair submitted a further development application and ' development plan consent ' was granted on 5 November 2012 .  The block of land was originally purchased in 2006 by Mr Sinclair ' s daughter Vanessa Sinclair Benke , but Mr Sinclair started building the house for him and his wife to live in  Before he could recommence construction , Mr Sinclair also required ' building rules consent ' for the same development .  No building rules consent had been obtained by November 2013 , so an extension of time was granted .  Mr Sinclair submitted building rule consent from private building certifiers Katnich Dodd in April 2014 , but the council did not issue approval , saying his submission did not match the previous development application .  On June 5 the council filed an application with the court for a demolition order , which was granted on June 27 .  ' Eventually I got my building consent approval and the council withheld it and put on a demolition order , ' he said .  Playford Council has been contacted for comment .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past
23348,23349,"According to the New York Times, outlet stores T.J. Maxx and Marshalls have instructed their employees to throw away signs for Ivanka Trump s clothing line, and hang her clothes so that they mix in with other lines.The instruction was to eliminate special displays for the merchandise,  not to remove it from the sales floor,  said Doreen Thompson, a spokeswoman for the  Companies, the retailers  parent corporation. We offer a rapidly changing selection of merchandise for our customers, and brands are featured based on a number of factors,  she said.The company did not respond to the New York Times query as to whether or not this kind of handling of product was normal, but one employee came forward and told the paper that after several years of being employed with the stores, she had not been instructed to do this before. -The BlazeTJ Maxx and Marshalls corporate headquarters are located in the very liberal city of Farmington, MA.In the 2016 general election, 75 percent of the 39,722 registered voters in Farmington participated in the presidential election.Of those voters, 20,277 voted for Clinton, with 7,031 for Trump. So it should come as no surprise that the people making the decisions on behalf of the stores would send such an outrageous message to their employees that appears to be intended to harm Ivanka Trump s clothing line. For many shoppers like myself, these new developments as they relate to the trashing of Ivanka Trump s clothing and accessory brand really puts a crimp in my shopping patterns at some of my favorite stores, which include Norstrom and  Maxx and the  Maxx owned Home Goods store. Gone are the days when these kinds of corporate decisions are made and kept under the radar. Trump has an army of exceptionally loyal supporters who are willing to defend him and his lovely family, even if it means we have to do our shopping elsewhere.In a  Today article,  Maxx  Ernie Herrman noted,  We are extremely pleased that our comp store sales growth was almost entirely driven by customer traffic.  Your companies recent decision to trash Ivanka Trump s brand in your store may change that Mr. Herrman Here s a letter to TJMaxx  from a leftist in  that was published in the local Mountain Times newspaper. Editors note: the following is an open letter to Ernie Herrman,  and president of TJMaxxDear Mr. Herrman,I am writing to tell you that I have stopped shopping in TJMaxx stores since the election in November of 2016. That is when I became aware that you carry Ivanka accessories. I m sure that you have not missed my 100 or so dollars a month that I would usually spend at your store. But I have missed shopping with you. This is probably hurting me more than it is you. But the real hurt is what is being delivered to our nation by Trump.Let me be very clear: The objective of boycotting is not to destroy your business or to cause job losses. The objective is to send a direct message to you, the CEO, to your Board of Directors, and your stockholders that your merchandising choice regarding Ivanka brand goods needs to change.I know that public pressure and consumer spending has a big effect on markets and policy. Just this week, the  of Uber resigned from Trump s Economic Advisory Council. Uber profited from continuing service at  airport last weekend when all the  cabs boycotted the airport in a show of support for the protesters. Consequently, 200,000 customers deleted their Uber accounts. The  decided it wasn t economically advantageous to be aligned with the Trump administration.Recently, the retailers:weblink, Neiman Marcus, and Nordstrom s all cancelled their Ivanka fashion and jewellery line because of public outcry and customer boycotts of their stores.In a consumer based economy, our money has power. So I am asking you to cancel your merchandising of Ivanka accessories. Please let me know as soon as possible when you have done this, so that I can resume shopping at my favorite TJMaxx store.In the meantime, I am going to donate the $100.00 I would have spent at your establishment this month to the ACLU, so that green card holders, immigrants and refugees seeking to enter the  can have some legal representation.Sincerely and respectfully, Your Once Loyal Customer,Candy Jones, Rutland ",fake,dataset,validation,Other news1,Economy,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
23371,23372,"A California judge harshly criticized for giving what many say is a   sentence to a former Stanford student convicted of sexual assault has been bombarded by threats of violence against him and his family, an official said on Tuesday. The judge, Aaron Persky, 54, on Thursday sentenced the former student, Brock Allen Turner, 20, to six months in jail for three felony counts: intent to commit rape, sexual penetration with a foreign object of an intoxicated person and sexual penetration with a foreign object of an unconscious person. Threatening phone calls have flooded into the Santa Clara County Superior Court since then, said Gary Goodman, a supervising attorney for the county public defender’s office. “People have been calling the court and leaving messages, and if someone answers, they say, ‘Tell your judge he can go to hell, and I hope his kids get raped and he rots in hell,’ ” said Mr. Goodman, who has defended the judge. “He’s getting threats over this, him and his family, from all over the country. Is that right?” Here is what we know about the jurist. • A former corporate lawyer and former criminal prosecutor who was appointed to the Santa Clara County Superior Court by Gov. Gray Davis in 2003, according to the Santa Clara County Bar Association. The judge is up for election this year but is running unopposed. • A Stanford alumnus. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the university, he was the captain of the men’s lacrosse team, according to a 2002 article in The Stanford Daily. • While campaigning for a judgeship in 2002, he wrote a biography for the League of Women Voters of California that championed his work as a prosecutor in cases involving violent sex crimes and hate crimes. “I focus on the prosecution of sexually violent predators, working to keep the most dangerous sex offenders in custody in mental hospitals,” he wrote. If elected, he said, his top priorities would be “honesty and integrity” and “equal access to justice for all. ” (He lost the election and was later appointed to the bench.) • He said he served as a member of the executive committee of the Support Network for Battered Women and the Santa Clara County Network for a   Community. • The judge handed down a   sentence and three years probation to Mr. Turner, a champion swimmer convicted in March of attacking the    woman behind a Dumpster on campus in 2015. The victim, who was not a Stanford student, had attended a fraternity party. Two graduate students riding past the Kappa Alpha fraternity house witnessed the assault and intervened to stop it one chased and tackled Mr. Turner when he fled. “We saw that she was not moving, while he was moving a lot,” one of the students, Carl Frederik Arndt, told the Swedish news outlet Expressen on Tuesday. “She was unconscious the entire time,” Mr. Arndt also told  News. “The guy ran away, and my friend Peter chased after him. ” • The case attracted national attention on Friday after BuzzFeed published a powerful   courtroom statement by the victim, who detailed the horror of that night and asserted that male and class privilege had irrevocably marred the trial and the sentencing. “When the policeman arrived and interviewed the evil Swede who tackled you, he was crying so hard he couldn’t speak because of what he’d seen,” she wrote. She called the students who held her attacker until the police arrived her “heroes. ” But of Mr. Turner, she said: “You took away my worth, my privacy, my energy, my time, my intimacy, my confidence, my own voice, until today. The damage is done no one can undo it. ” Her letter was also released by Santa Clara County. • The furor grew after Michele Dauber, a Stanford law professor and sociologist, tweeted a statement by the defendant’s father complaining that his son’s life had been ruined for “20 minutes of action. ” • Judge Persky was also excoriated for his comments about the defendant. In citing factors he weighed in the sentencing, The Guardian reported, the judge said Mr. Turner had “less moral culpability” for his actions because he was intoxicated, and he had “no significant record of prior criminal offenses. ” The judge also appeared to suggest that the jail sentence might be an “antidote” to the anxiety the former student may have suffered from the intense media attention. He told the courtroom, according to reports: “A prison sentence would have a severe impact on him. I think he will not be a danger to others. ” And seeming to accept the defendant’s account (Mr. Turner said the victim consented) the judge said: “I take him at his word that subjectively that’s his version of his events.   …     I’m not convinced that his lack of complete acquiescence to the verdict should count against him. ” Because of his conviction, Mr. Turner must register as a sex offender. In his courtroom statement, obtained by The New York Times, he cited the university’s “party culture” and drinking as factors in the sexual assault. • Besides a flood of critical comments online against the judge, Professor Dauber, a friend of the victim’s family, said that she was part of an organization seeking to recall him. She said because the judge had no opponent and will be “automatically  ” in November, the recall campaign was the only way to remove him. (Judge Persky won his race in the California primary Tuesday.) She said his ruling had made female college students unsafe and cited what she called the judge’s misapplication of the law in taking Mr. Turner’s age, academic achievement and alcohol consumption into consideration. “If you’re going to declare that a   perpetrator is an unusual case, then you’re saying to women on college campuses that they don’t deserve the full protection of the law in the state of California,” the professor said. • A Change. org petition backing the judge’s removal had collected more than 400, 000 signatures by Tuesday. In order to successfully remove the judge, the recall campaign said it would need the signatures of at least 20 percent of the votes cast in November in Santa Clara County. • On Tuesday, lawmakers weighed in: Senator Claire McCaskill, Democrat of Missouri, who prosecuted sexual assault cases as a lawyer, said the sentence didn’t appear to provide adequate punishment, according to The Hill. “Typically, that would be considered an inappropriate sentence,” she said. The office of Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Democrat of New York, said that a “short sentence sends the wrong message. ” (The senators have lobbied fellow legislators to change how the military handles sexual assault cases.) • The Stanford Daily said the judge’s decision had outraged campus groups. Students were being urged to join a demonstration during the traditional university graduation procession that kicks off commencement on Sunday. • The Santa Clara County district attorney, Jeff Rosen, whose office tried the Stanford rape case, said in a statement on Monday, “While I strongly disagree with the sentence that Judge Persky issued in the Brock Turner case, I do not believe he should be removed from his judgeship. ” • Molly O’Neal, the Santa Clara County public defender, said she was “alarmed by the hysteria” surrounding Mr. Turner’s sentence. “The judge is required under California law to consider certain mitigating and aggravating factors,” she said, including past criminal records and the presence of alcohol. “We need to be very careful we’re not hanging judges out to dry based on one decision, especially because he is considered to be a fair and   judge,” she said. • Mr. Goodman, the deputy public defender, said he had worked with the judge for three decades and denounced the proposed recall. He said Judge Persky was “an exceptional jurist” who had accurately followed the relevant rules and statutes and formulated the sentence in consultation with the probation department. “You have to judge a case on its merits only,” Mr. Goodman said. “The narrative on social media is ‘We have to judge this case as part of the larger social issue of campus sexual abuse,’ but as a judge, he is not allowed to do that. ” He rejected the argument that race or social class had played any role in Mr. Turner’s sentence. “People say it’s because he’s a Stanford kid and he’s rich and the judge played lacrosse. No, it’s not done that way. It can’t be done that way,” Mr. Goodman added. “It would have been the exact same result for a person of color. ”",true,news,validation,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
23407,23408,"Viewing several episodes of your favourite  show in one session is bad for your health , researchers claim .  A study has found that binge watching series such as Game Of Thrones , Breaking Bad or Broadchurch is linked to depression and loneliness .  People who suffer from low moods are more likely to spend hours or days viewing multiple episodes of their favourite programme online or on  box set .  But by doing so they could neglect work , relationships and even their family .  Danger : Marathon  sessions , known as binge watching , may actually be a sign of poor metal health  The researchers from the University of Texas at Austin said that binge watching should no longer be considered a ' harmless addiction ' and that people should think twice before settling in for a long session in front of the  .  They studied 316 people aged 18 to 29 , asking how often they watched  and how often they experienced negative emotions such as loneliness and depression .  The findings showed a direct link . The worse somebody felt , the more likely they were to watch a lot of  in an apparent attempt to avoid their low mood .  The team ' s full results will be presented at the Conference of the International Communication Association in Puerto Rico in May .  However lead researcher Yoon Hi Sung said that the findings should be a wake up call .  ' Even though some people argue that binge watching is a harmless addiction , findings from our study suggest that binge watching should no longer be viewed this way , ' she said .  ' Physical fatigue and problems such as obesity and other health problems are related to binge watching and they are a cause for concern .  When binge watching becomes rampant , viewers may start to neglect their work and their relationships with others .  ' Even though people know they should not , they have difficulty resisting the desire to watch episodes continuously . '  Fears : The more lonely and depressed people were , the more likely they were to binge watch presumably to ' block out ' their negative feelings , the U . S . researchers suggest  Millions of viewers in Britain own boxed sets or subscribe to services such as Netflix that give unlimited online access to films and  shows .  When an episode from a series ends on Netflix , it automatically starts screening the next episode after 15 seconds .  In 2013 it made House Of Cards available all in one go online , rather than releasing an episode a week .  Netflix has more than 3million  subscribers one household in ten according to  industry analysts  . Amazon Prime Instant Video has more than 1 . 2million while Sky has 10million viewers .  A survey conducted by Netflix defined ' binge viewing ' as watching 2 . 3 episodes in one go . However many watch more than that .  In one study a  student reported watching 49 episodes of Lost in two weeks an average of 3 . 5 episodes per day .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past
23416,23417,"Reuters) - Britain accused Russia on Thursday of carrying out a  thinly veiled political attack  on the head of the world s chemical weapons watchdog, escalating a row over the agency s investigation into toxic attacks in Syria. The comments, made during a session at the Hague-based Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW),  were the latest sign of deep political division at the body over the Syrian conflict. In an Oct. 26 report the U.N.- investigation team blamed the Syrian government for an April 4 attack using the banned nerve agent sarin in the opposition-held town of Khan Sheikhoun, killing around 80 people. The Syrian government has denied using chemical weapons and Moscow rejected the findings. The mechanism was established in 2015 by the U.N. Security Council to identify individuals, organizations or governments responsible for chemical attacks in Syria. Its mandate expires on Nov. 17, but its work is incomplete. Moscow is poised to veto efforts by Britain, France, Germany and the United States to extend the mandate. U.S. representative Kenneth Ward told delegates at a meeting of the  s 41-member executive council that they were fighting for the future of the Chemical Weapons Convention, the watchdog s founding treaty.  There can be no doubt that since 2013, Syria has engaged in a grotesque and calculated campaign of chemical weapons use,  he said.  Russia continues to deny the truth and, instead, collaborates with the Assad regime.  A draft Russian-Iranian proposal circulated at the  and seen by Reuters called for a new investigation, to be based on samples taken from the attack site. The Syrian government itself has already presented samples from the scene to the investigation team, which tested positive for sarin.  It is a thinly veiled political attack on the professional integrity of the director general,  the British delegation said in a statement, referring to the  s outgoing Turkish head, Ahmet Uzumcu.  It seeks to undermine the capability and competence of the (OPCW).  The Russian delegation at the  could not be reached for comment. Syria joined the  after a sarin attack on Aug. 21, 2013, killed hundreds of people in Ghouta, a district on the outskirts of Damascus. It has said it declared and destroyed all its chemical stockpile, but chemical attacks continue in the country s civil war. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
23419,23420,"The new coach has felt our pain already . Just last Saturday night , in fact .   , Ohio ? Only once before Hue Jackson was hired Wednesday did the Browns not play Empowerment Ball with career coordinators .  That was in 2009 with Eric Mangini . He had gone 10 6 and 9 7 in two of his three seasons as head coach of the New York Jets and a more Browns like 4 12 in between .  The fan base here was not excited about Mangini , although he had a better track record than Jackson ' s 8 8 season in 2010 as the Oakland Raiders ' head coach and a better coaching pedigree as an apple from the Bill Belichick ? tree .  In Oakland , Jackson rode running back Darren McFadden to a dramatic improvement in offense . That sounds good until you realize McFadden also had much better credentials than any incumbent running back into whose belly the Browns ' quarterback , whoever he may be , shoves the ball .  Most recently with the Cincinnati Bengals as offensive coordinator , Jackson got some of the credit for quarterback Andy Dalton ' s great improvement . The Bengals , who in the 1990s were as bereft of hope and cluelessly off course as the Browns of today , have made the playoffs for five straight years , failing to win a single playoff game .  Last Saturday night , Vontez Burfict turned into a werewolf late in the game , producing a loss in the last seconds to Pittsburgh that was so galling it could serve as Jackson ' s initiation rite into the deep , rich "" Believe It or Browns "" defeats .  If anybody with the Bengals came off looking good after their 18 16 loss to Pittsburgh , it was Jackson ' s offensive unit . Backup quarterback A . J . McCarron , of whom little was expected , almost orchestrated a comeback from a 15 point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter .  Now Jackson comes to the Browns , the team that rolls out the Welcome mat for other  North teams , the team without a villain such as Burfict or James Harrison ( Steelers ) or , formerly anyway , Ray Lewis ( Ravens ) , the team with only a place holder ( Josh McCown ) and Peter Pan ( Johnny Manziel , who will never grow up ) at quarterback .  The Browns are also the one division team that doesn ' t have a playoff quarterback , whether sidelined by injuries ( Joe Flacco , Ravens ) reduced to wounded , sidearmed swing passes and glorified handoffs ( Ben Roethlisberger , Steelers ) or more than adequate , at least in the regular season ( Dalton ) .  It ' s unclear how Jackson will meld with owner Jimmy Haslam ' s somewhat eccentric organizational plan , or how the analytics trend , of which so much has been made , will affect the coach . They were not deal breakers , though .  In fact , the swift resolution either shows that everyone is on the same page . Or that no one has learned any lessons since the previous owner , Randy Lerner , developed his man crush on Mangini to the exclusion of every other candidate .  Either way , Jackson won ' t face immediate pressure to win a playoff game here , as he did as the frustration grew on the Ohio riverbank . Mediocre will be a big step up from 3 13 . Stopping the jokes will be what credibility looks like elsewhere .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
23423,23424,"Sarah Deen for Metro . co . uk Monday 11 Jan 2016 9 : 11 am  Jennifer Lawrence calls out a reporter for not looking up from his phone . GoldenGlobes backstage weblink : t . co NYWOvZszTC  Jennifer Lawrence ticked off a journalist who was looking at his phone during her press conference at the Golden Globes .  The actress had just picked up a Globe for her performance in Joy , and was taking questions from journalists .  One reporter , who spoke with a strong accent , began to ask his question when Lawrence told him to live in the now .  She said : You can t just live your life behind your phone bro . You can t do that , you ve gotta live in the now .  It s not known exactly what the reporter was doing , or whether J Law was aware he might have been reading a question from his phone .  It drew a laugh from the crowd , however others weren t so impressed and made their feelings known on Twitter .  One person who watched the clip tweeted : Wow , Jennifer . You re so cool and sassy . So edgy . Sorry English isn t the first language for everyone .  Another said : Culturally incompetent Jennifer Lawrence misconstrues foreign reporter s actions and misunderstands his question .  I understand it may have come across as rude but we all know Jen and know she never means to be mean a fan tweeted .  A further comment read : She s joking you can hear it from the tone of her voice . If she wanted to humiliate him she would say other things .  Brown Saraah I understand it may have come across as rude but we all know Jen and know she never means to be mean . ? ? ?  briancruze usa Brown Saraah I don ' t think she meant it to be rude . She probably didn ' t even realize that  The Golden Globes took place in Los Angeles on Sunday night , with the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio , Kate Winslet , Taraji P Henson and Matt Damon taking home trophies .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
23427,23428,"' Turkey good example of West s duplicity towards  '  John Wight has written for newspapers and websites across the world , including the Independent , Morning Star , Huffington Post , Counterpunch , London Progressive Journal , and Foreign Policy Journal . He is also a regular commentator on  and  Radio . He wrote a memoir of the five years he spent in Hollywood , where he worked in the movie industry prior to becoming a full time and activist and organizer with the  antiwar movement post 9 11 . The book is titled Dreams That Die and is published by Zero Books . John is currently working on a book exploring the role of the West in the Arab Spring . You can follow him on Twitter JohnWight1  A Su 34 multifunctional strike bomber of the Russian Aerospace Force takes off from the Hemeimeem Air Base in the Syrian province of Latakia . ? Dmitriy Vinogradov Sputnik  In shooting down a Russian jet operating over Syria , Turkey s nefarious role in the Syrian conflict has intensified . It also presents a damning indictment of the West ' s seriousness in confronting extremism and terrorism .  In the aftermath of the spate of  atrocities ? first the downing of the Russian passenger plane , Metrojet Flight 7K9268 over the Sinai at the end of October , killing all 224 on board , followed by the killing of 43 civilians in Beirut in a suicide bomb attack , and most recently the slaughter of 130 people in Paris in multiple suicide bombings and shootings ? we now know who is serious about confronting this medieval death cult and who is not .  Turkey is a key culprit in this regard . A murky relationship has long existed between Ankara ,  , al Nusra , and other jihadi groups operating in Syria . Indeed , on the most basic level , without their ability to pass back and forth across the Turkish border at will , those groups could not have operated as easily and effectively as they had until Russia intervened .  However , according to a report by David L Phillips of Columbia University , Turkey s support for extremist groups operating in Syria , including  has been even more extensive than previously thought . Drawing on a wide variety of sources , Phillips reveals that the Turkish government , a member of  and a key Western ally , has been involved in helping  with recruitment , training , and has provided it with intelligence and safe havens and sanctuary . Most recently it has been exposed as a major customer for stolen Syrian oil , supplied by the terrorist group .  Perhaps the most damning evidence contained in the report when it comes to Turkey s role , is in relation to its actions and inaction when it came to the siege of the Kurdish town of Kobani on the Syrian Turkish border in September and October of 2014 .  As Phillips reveals : Anwar Moslem , Mayor of Kobani , said on September 19 , 2014 : Based on the intelligence we got two days before the breakout of the current war , trains full of forces and ammunition , which were passing by north of Kobani , had an hour and ten to twenty minute long stops in these villages : Salib Qaran , Gire Sor , Moshrefat Ezzo . There is evidence , witnesses , and videos about this . Why is  strong only in Kobani ' s east ? Why is it not strong either in its south or west ? Since these trains stopped in villages located in the east of Kobani , we guess they had brought ammunition and additional force for the  . In the second article on September 30 , 2014 , a  delegation visited Kobani , where locals claimed that everything from the clothes  militants wear to their guns comes from Turkey .  The world will never forget how , during the siege of Kobani , as its Kurdish defenders mounted a heroic defense of the town against thousands of  fighters , armed with tanks and artillery , Turkish tanks and troops sat just over the border and did nothing to intervene .  President Erdogan and his government has undeniably been a key in the destabilization of Syria , doing its utmost to foment regime change . As with the Saudis and other Gulf monarchies , before Russia s intervention Turkey was hovering over Syria as a vulture hovers over a dying animal , waiting for it to perish before descending to feed on its carcass .  The fact that Turkey remains a key Western ally exposes the moral high ground from which Washington and its allies have lectured Russia over its role in Syria as nothing more than a dung heap of hypocrisy .  If the West was serious about confronting terrorism , was serious about returning stability to a region it has helped to set on fire , it would reconsider its close ties to both Turkey and the Saudis , whose governments between them have been wading in the river of blood they have helped shed these past four years . Turkey s claim that the Russian military aircraft it shot down had encroached on its airspace and ignored multiple warnings should be treated with the credibility it deserves , especially when we recall that prior to Russia s participation in the conflict , Turkey s violation of Syrian airspace and the Syrian border was happening on a regular basis .  With Russia s presence in Syria has put paid to Erdogan s objective of toppling the Syrian government , we begin to discern its efforts to enlist the support of  in putting pressure on Russia to desist . It also helps to explain why the West continues to refuse President Putin s call for cooperation and unity in the effort to eradicate  and other extremist groups massacring and slaughtering their way across the country , with the intention of turning it into a mass grave .  In the wake of the recent spate of  atrocities unleashed against Russian , Lebanese , and French civilians , the grounds for refusing to enter such an alliance are as indefensible as Turkey s role in the conflict and its most recent action in shooting down a Russian aircraft .  As the man said : Those who sow the wind shall reap the whirlwind .  The statements , views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of  .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
23440,23441,"Ken Starr, who until just last year was president of Baylor University, is looking to land in the Trump administration, according to reports. [A report now says that Starr is in the running for a job at the Department of State as an    for international religious freedom, according to Foreign Policy magazine.  Indeed, the magazine found a source that said the job is Starr’s “if he wants it. ” Starr lost his job at Baylor last year amid an investigation into sexual abuse charges against several of the school’s football players. As the sex charges grew, Starr eventually resigned his position leading the college. According to a school newspaper report on Starr’s resignation, Baylor removed Starr because he refused to act on several reported rapes going back as far as 2009, a year before he even assumed office. Of course, Ken Starr most famously headed up the independent investigation into President Bill Clinton in the 1990s. Starr investigated the death of Clinton operative Vince Foster, looked into the Clintons’ shady investment dealings, and led the inquiry into Bill Clinton’s sexual harassment of White House aide Monica Lewinsky. Starr’s investigations eventually led to Bill Clinton’s impeachment in the House of Representatives. The Senate did not convict Clinton, and he was able to complete his presidency. Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.",true,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
23444,23445,"Disgruntled tourists are taking to TripAdvisor to slam an extinct volcano that overlooks the centre of Edinburgh for not having wifi , gift shops or enough places to sit .  With a rating of 4 . 5 the natural beauty has been voted the top attraction in Scotland ' s capital after more than 4 , 500 user reviews on the travel website .  But there are some sightseers who aren ' t happy that the windswept peak doesn ' t offer an internet connection for their devices or benches to sit on while enjoying the breath taking views .  One visitor wrote a one star review on TripAdvisor after visiting Arthur ' s Seat and finding no wifi connection  One of the one star reviews of the famous hill lashes out at the absence of any seat at the top ' for photographs ' .  In a TripAdvisor review , one of the visitors wrote : ' Despite the great views after a strenuous walk , what really lets this place down is the lack of amenities .  No gift shop , no free wifi . Nowhere to sit unless you want to sit on the floor . The user added : ' Could really do with something like a Tesco Express up there so you could buy snacks and things , probably a Starbucks too for a sit down and a coffee ' .  Another , who climbed the ancient 822ft slope , added : ' It was too high and at the top no seat .  ' With the name Arthur ' s Seat we had expected a chair for photographs . '  With a rating of 4 . 5 the extinct volcano overlooking Edinburgh has been voted the city ' s top attraction  One reviewer said that the signage was not clear , and added : ' It ' s sad that there is nowhere to buy any food or drink and not even a small gift shop to buy a postcard . '  Another visitor added : ' But beware of the dogs . People let their dogs run wild up here . It ruins the whole place .  ' Lots of runners and walkers going round the path that rotates the whole hill , but as I say , dogs attack and ruin the whole place . '  Despite a handful of negative reviews , Arthur ' s Seat tops TripAdvisor ' s list of must see Edinburgh attractions with the website awarding it a 2014 certificate of excellence .  Angus Miller of Geowalks , which leads walking tours around the landmark , said he was ' not surprised ' the attraction was top rated and accused those laying into it of being ' spoon fed ' .  He said : ' I suppose if you have that kind of mentality you do expect just to be able to pick up a coffee and go to the toilet .  One visitor who climbed the peak said ' with the name Arthur ' s Seat we had expected a chair for photographs '  Another user complained that ' there is nowhere to buy any food or drink ' or a postcard ' atop the peak  ' But it ' s actually a wild area within the city . A lot of people go up there in city shoes as well , and the paths are quite rough .  ' People expect a city walk , but it ' s wild land . Obviously people are used to being spoon fed . '  He added : ' I sometimes get people getting confused on tours . I had some guys from Newcastle , and one pointed to Fife and asked if it was Wales .  ' But I ' m not surprised that it ' s top rated it does seem to be the one thing that people coming to Edinburgh feel the need to do . People seem to be really enthusiastic about it .  "" It ' s such a contrast from the busy streets . It ' s amazing the views and the scenery . '  TripAdvisor has awarded a 2014 certificate of excellence to Arthur ' s Seat thanks to favourable reviews  A visitor to Edinburgh Castle wrote on the website that he has ' seen more impressive stuff at Disneyland '  Martin Gray , ranger and visitor services manager for Historic Scotland , which looks after Arthur ' s Seat , said he was ' delighted ' visitors had rated the attraction so highly .  He added : ' In regards to some of the more unusual comments whilst we are keen to receive feedback , it is after all a mountain and we would ask any potential visitors to prepare for it as so that they can safely enjoy the wildness of this most special of Edinburgh landmarks . '  Arthur ' s Seat was just one of a number of Edinburgh landmarks to face tourists ' wrath .  The Scott Monument on Princes Street was deemed ' too high ' and ' a dizzying harrowing experience ' .  And a visitor to Edinburgh Castle described its 500 year old crown jewels as ' a paltry crown and the Stone of Destiny ' , adding : ' I have seen more impressive stuff at Disneyland ' .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
23468,23469,"Hundreds of payday lenders will be wiped out by tougher rules designed to protect customers , experts have predicted .  It comes as Wonga , the  ' s biggest payday loans firm , today revealed it racked up a 37 . 3million loss last year following a significant reduction in  consumer lending while it attempts to clean up its tarnished image . Revenues declined to 217 . 2million in the period , down by almost 100million .  Wonga ' s executive chairman Andy Haste said : ' We know it will take time to repair our reputation and gain an accepted place in the financial services industry , but we ' re determined to deliver on our plans and serve our customers in the right way . '  Hundreds of payday lenders , such as Wonga , will be wiped out by tougher rules designed to protect customers , experts have predicted  The City watchdog has forecast that just three or four payday lenders out of 400 will be left standing following the introduction of the rules in January .  They include a daily interest cap of 0 . 8 per cent and stricter affordability checks to ensure customers can repay loans .  The true picture should become clearer later this year , as the Financial Conduct Authority (  ) attempts to weed out dodgy firms .  Payday lenders have all had to apply for a license to trade and will learn in the coming months whether they have been successful .  Robin Savage , an analyst from investment bank Canaccord Genuity described some of the tactics used by payday lenders such as extending loan terms and adding interest to customers who cannot afford to repay as ' evil ' .  He said : ' If firms can ' t do proper checks and find customers that can repay them then they do not deserve to survive . '  Wonga , has become a lightning rod for public fury over payday lenders .  Last year it took a 35million hit from writing off debts worth 220million owed by more than 300 , 000 customers .  It was also ordered to pay 2 . 6million in compensation after sending fake legal letters between 2008 and 2010 to 45 , 000 customers who had fallen behind on their repayments .  The City watchdog has forecast that just three or four payday lenders out of 400 will be left standing following the introduction of the rules in January ( file picture )  A charge of almost 20million will be incurred by the firm to cover compensation as well as legal and administrative costs .  Wonga has been accused of trying to lure youngsters to take out payday loans with its controversial puppet adverts .  Its new chairman Andy Haste brought in to clean up the business has ditched the adverts and admitted that it will be smaller and less profitable under the new regime .  The cap on the cost of loans has reduced Wonga ' s annual interest rate from 5 , 853per cent to 1 , 509 per cent since the changes were enforced in January .  This will not be reflected in the figures released today , which cover last year .  But the losses will include redundancy pay outs , as Wonga is halving its  workforce , with the loss of 325 jobs .  Today ' s figures showed a slump in customers , after Wonga stricter affordability checks in October ahead of changes enforced by the  in January .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
23471,23472,"Dubai  Plumbing News The shit has been running non stop down hill in this mega pseudo Disney Land for the Mega Rich and "" Look I ' m Famous "" crowd with announcements that billions of gallons of raw sewerage is being pumped directly into the ocean and then washed up on the beaches !  Sewerage haulers , responsible for taking tourists ' waste to the  treatment plant miles away , where long lines of waiting trucks could take all day to take just one dump , have found a convenient short cut : dump the waste into storm water run off drains !  British tourists said the stink , along with the sodden toilet paper littering the beach is a real turn off , "" We don ' t even think about having sex out here anymore , "" said Madge Featherstork , from Yeoville , "" it ' s a real turnoff , and to think we paid L1500 for this "" Fly Frig "" package we saw on line ! ""  Modeen Abdullah Armadj , owner of one of the independent transport haulers was tracked down as he was unloading a week ' s worth of waste from the Cloud ' n Heaven motel chain . Driving a  army surplus 18 wheel tanker , with Arabic scrolling on the side , he said the pay was so little , and the ride so far , and the wait so long , it was "" just easier "" to dump his load in the convenient and already engineered drainage pipes . He said he had no idea where the shit went , saying "" only Allah knows . . . and I trust his judgement ! ""  Modeen pointed proudly to his truck , saying he had saved 24 years in order to buy it and go into business for himself , and proudly offered a business card with the same Arabic lettering that was on the truck . When asked for a translation he said proudly , "" Your Shit Is My Bread and Butter "" , which also appears on his web site and MyFace advertisement , literally translated .  When O ' Bama ' s ambassador showed up unexpectedly , there was some heated discussion over copyright laws when Mr Gore got the translation from Modeen ' s truck , Gore implying that he had stolen it from his  Daddy designed web page that has turned him some 100B .  Gore said the sights and smells where a real problem and threatened world peace in the region . "" I can ' t wait to tell Barry and see Hillary ' s face when he turns this shit over to her ! ""  Meanwhile the Dubai chamber of commerce was in an uproar demanding an immediate cleanup . Near a heart attack the chamber president screamed , "" you ' d better get this shit out of here before Sir Duncan Whitehead hears about it , or we ' ll never hear the end of it ! ""  ",satire,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,satire,True,no,no,negative,past
23487,23488,"This year s American Music Awards may have awarded the best musicians in the country , but it did not fail to show support to France as Celine Dion offered a special tribute performance .  During the show , which aired on Sunday , Dion sang the French song Hymne L Amour by Edith Piaf , to show the event s support for the victims of the Paris attacks on Nov . 13 .  Celine Dion , 47 , was introduced on stage by actor and band vocalist Jared Leto . At the start of her song , a picture of the Eiffel Tower and Paris was projected behind her .  heartwarming chilling tear jerking celinedion captivated the world with her beautiful tribute to Paris . pic . twitterweblink P9n9hJW0Ay  An orchestra backed up Dion s voice to add more emotion to the love song . A slideshow of Paris popular destinations were also shown , as well as images of people mourning the 129 victims of the terrorist attack .  Several people broke down in tears while Dion sang the 1950s classic . Some of the couples held their significant others tightly , while others were trying to suppress their emotions while watching the performance .  Some of the lines in the song include Dans le ciel plus de problems Mon amour crois tu qu on s aime Dieu r unit ceux qui s aiment , which can be translated to No more problems my love , do you believe that we love each other God , reunite those who love each other . Celine Dion received a rousing applause after the performance .  Meanwhile , Leto said that his band , 30 Seconds to Mars , has also performed at the Bataclan concert hall in Paris , where gunmen killed 89 people . During the fateful night , rock band Eagles of Death Metal was having a concert . We played a show at one of our favorite venues , the Bataclan . What a difference a day makes , Leto said .  With a moving speech , JaredLeto introduces a very special AMAs performance by celinedion . weblink : t . co Q4CRvbav5v ? AMAs ( TheAMAs ) November 23 , 2015  His short speech about the incident also included a call for peace . He said that the entire world matters and that peace is possible .  Piaf reportedly wrote Hymn L Amour for boxer Marcel Cerdan , with whom she was madly in love . She first performed the song in New York in 1949 .  Unfortunately , Cerdan was killed in a plane crash a month later while he was about to visit Piaf . He was aboard a Lockheed L 749 Constellation bound for New York , when the plane crashed into Monte Redondo .  The tragic incident only gave the song more meaning to Piaf and Cerdan s fans .  Celine Dion Sang The Edith Piaf Original Hymne l amour  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
23492,23493,"Double heartbreak for Celine Dion as her brother dies just two days after her husband  The singer just lost Ren Ang lil to the disease , and now her brother Daniel has also sadly passed away  Thanks for subscribing ! Could not subscribe , try again later  Celine Dion ' s brother has died from cancer just two days after the singer ' s husband also passed away from the disease .  Daniel Dion ' s death was confirmed to Mirror Celebs by her publicist .  News emerged yesterday that Daniel , 59 , was facing a serious cancer battle .  Her sister Claudette told the Le Journal de Montreal : "" He was ready and he no longer suffers . It was serene . ""  Celine ' s husband , Ren Ang lil , lost his battle with cancer on Thursday aged 73 .  "" All of us at  and at Caesars Palace have Celine and her children in our thoughts and prayers . ""  Rene Angelil , 73 , passed away this morning as his home in Las Vegas after a long and courageous battle against cancer . The family requests that their privacy be respected at the moment more details will be provided at a later time , "" his representative told People in a statement .  The 47 year old singer who returned to her residency in August after taking a year off to care for her spouse is tentatively scheduled to return to the venue on February 23 .  Celine previously revealed how it was her spirituality that has helped her to cope during her spouse s health struggles .  Speaking to Taste of Life magazine , Celine who was raised a Roman Catholic revealed : "" Life is not always perfect . You have to deal with it . Whatever life imposes sickness , or whatever , you don ' t have a choice . This is life , this is nature .  Read more : Celine Dion performs heartbreaking tribute to desperately ill husband  "" But you do have the choice on how you ' re going to go through this . And if you don ' t have spirituality you ' re going to fall apart before things happen . I am very spiritual .  "" I believe in myself , I believe in my family , and I ' m positive . Through this , you show your children how to deal with things , and how to be strong . ""  Ren was first diagnosed with throat cancer in April 1998 but made a full recovery from the illness before contracting it again in December 2013 .  The pair first met when Celine was just 12 years old and began dating when she was 19 and he was 45 .  They tied the knot at the Basilica Notre Dame in Montreal , Quebec , on 17 December 1994 before renewing their wedding vows in Las Vegas in 2000 .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
23496,23497,"Leave it to Shia LaBeouf to give one of the strangest or most creative interviews of all time .  For a recent sitdown with Dazed and Confused magazine , the actor performance artist decided that he didn ' t want to use words to communicate and instead let his eyes do all the talking .  The result is an hour long video in which LaBeouf and his interviewer , Aimee Cliff , sit and stare at each other in near silence . ( No words are exchanged , but there is some awkward laughter . )  According to Cliff , this was all LaBeouf ' s idea . He reached out to the Dazed writer in September , and the two soon struck up an email correspondence . In a series of exchanges , they cover topics including metamodernism , faith , cynicism and even a claim by LaBeouf that he was sexually assaulted during a performance art exhibit this year .  After a bit of back and forth , LaBeouf agreed to do what he calls "" the interview . ""  "" I like the idea that we meet in person with a go pro photographic record but no interview , "" the actor wrote in one of his emails to Cliff . "" we just look into each others eyes for an hour , connect on a soul level and film that as the interview and keep the words online so we will will both have go pro cameras strapped to our heads for the full hour and the footage will be presented raw as a split screen and you can use it on the Dazed video site . ""  Indeed , the full video is now up and ready for viewing .   from R nkk Turner on Vimeo .  By doing it this way , "" I ' m present in the magazine only in words obtained digitally and online I ' m present only through a mute physical presence , "" LaBeouf concluded . "" ( A ) nd the reality of my self lies somewhere between and beyond the two it ' s thoroughly metamodern I think . ""  While the video shows LaBeouf and Cliff in their staring competition , their emails are overflowing with language . At one point , LaBeouf opens up about his IAmSorry performance art exhibit from this year , when he encouraged visitors to come and view him one on one in a small room .  Before seeing him , visitors were encouraged to pick up an item from a table of "" implements , "" which included things like a "" Transformers "" toy , a whip ( he starred in 2008 ' s "" Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull "" ) , Hershey ' s kisses , a bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey , a bottle of cologne , pliers and a ukelele .  Once they stepped into the room with LaBeouf , they would sit across a table from the actor , who was wearing a paper bag over his head that read , "" I     . ""  LaBeouf has said that the art exhibit didn ' t go the way he anticipated he thought people were going to be rude or mean , but once they were face to face with him , there were more often displays of humanity .  "" I went from being a celebrity or object to a fellow human , "" LaBeouf said in his email exchange with Dazed . "" ( I ) t happened in less than a second for some for others they needed to take the bag off but it usually happened and by ' it ' i mean connection it was a very human encounter once it was 2 people in a room . ""  The title of the project was a genuine reflection of how he felt at the time , LaBeouf continued .  "" i was broken it wasn ' t manipulation i was heartbroken and people I ' ve never met before came in and loved on me and with me some for multiple days some would come in hold my hand and cry with me some would come in and tell me to ' figure it out ' to ' be a man ' in the end i felt cared for however it came it was beautiful it blew me away I ' ve never experienced love like that , empathy humanity , understanding ""  Not every encounter was as exemplary in its kindness , though . There was one visitor whom LaBeouf alleges sexually assaulted him .  "" one woman who came with her boyfriend who was out side the door when this happened whipped my legs for 10 minutes and then striped my clothing and proceeded to rape me then walked out with her lipstick smudged to her awaiting boyfriend who i image was quite hurt by it ""  Not to mention LaBeouf ' s girlfriend , who he said was in line to view his exhibition the same day this event happened .  "" it really hurt her as well as i guess the news of it traveled through the line she was only about 25 people back when she came in she asked for an ( explanation ) and i couldn ' t speak so we both sat with this unexplained trauma silently it was painful the hardest part of the show ""  LaBeouf ' s had a hard year overall , including legal trouble . In June , he was charged with disorderly conduct , harassment and criminal trespass after being accused of drunken and disruptive behavior in a Broadway venue . He spent a little time in jail , but the charges were settled on the grounds that LaBeouf would continue seeking treatment for alcohol addiction .  But with projects like IAmSorry , LaBeouf said he ' s seeking a sense of purpose .  "" Im finding my self through these projects , "" he explained to Dazed . "" im exploring . ""  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
23542,23543,"Donald Trump has agreed to host "" Saturday Night Live "" on Nov . 7 . He hosted previously in 2004 . ?  Donald Trump has agreed to host "" Saturday Night Live "" on Nov . 7 . He hosted previously in 2004 . ?  Live from New York ? it ' s a dust up over Donald Trump ' s appearance on "" Saturday Night Live ""  Of course it is . Donald Trump is a walking , talking ratings magnet ? just ask him ? and "" Saturday Night Live "" could sure use a bump .  The first three  presidential debates , starring Trump , have set records for Fox News ( 24 million viewers ) ,  ( 23 million ) and  ( 14 million , despite going head to head with a World Series game ) .  This week will be Trump ' s second time hosting "" Saturday Night Live . "" The first was in 2004 , when his reality show , "" The Apprentice , "" was winding up its first season , but his opening monologue ( chicagotribuneweblink trumpsnl ) could be recycled almost without edits for 2015 :  "" It ' s great to be here at ' Saturday Night Live . ' But I ' ll be completely honest , it ' s better for ' Saturday Night Live ' that I ' m here . Nobody ' s bigger than me , nobody ' s better than me . I ' m a ratings machine ! ""  Back then , Trump ' s most famous public utterance was "" You ' re fired . "" This year there ' s no telling what Trump will say ( or tweet ) . He ' s called his critics liars , losers and worse . He ' s engaged in a coarse public feud with Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly . This week , he retweeted a photo of rival Jeb Bush next to a swastika . It ' s hard to imagine that even Trump believes half the things he says , but he ' s right about one thing : He is ratings gold .  Hillary Rodham Clinton , and lend an ear to the troubles of a presidential candidate .  The front runner for the Democratic nomination appeared on the season opener of "" Saturday Night Live "" as a wise bartender named Val who pours a drink or two for , ahem , Hillary Clinton ( played by ""  "" . . .  Set ' em up , Hillary Rodham Clinton , and lend an ear to the troubles of a presidential candidate .  The front runner for the Democratic nomination appeared on the season opener of "" Saturday Night Live "" as a wise bartender named Val who pours a drink or two for , ahem , Hillary Clinton ( played by ""  "" . . .  This week , as some  candidates groused about the moderators in the  debate and demanded changes in the format for the rest of the schedule , Trump mused modestly on Twitter : "" No complaints but how many people would be watching these really dumb but record setting debates if I wasn ' t in them ? Interesting question ! ""  Not everyone is looking forward to watching Trump on the 30 Rock stage . Dozens of Hispanic organizations protested outside the studio Wednesday , and nearly a half million people have signed online petitions calling for  to cancel Trump ' s appearance .  They say Trump disqualified himself with his inflammatory rants against Mexican immigrants , characterizing them as rapists and drug traffickers . In June , those remarks caused  ? home to "" Saturday Night Live "" ? to sever its business ties with Trump , including refusing to air the Miss  and Miss Universe pageants .  The Republican presidential candidates were infuriated by last week ' s   debate . They felt the tone was hostile , the questions were gotcha and the whole thing reeked of liberal media bias . As a result , the candidates have joined forces to craft a new debate format , one that will better and . . .  The Republican presidential candidates were infuriated by last week ' s  debate . They felt the tone was hostile , the questions were gotcha and the whole thing reeked of liberal media bias . As a result , the candidates have joined forces to craft a new debate format , one that will better and . . .  "" Did I miss an apology ? "" U . S . Rep . Luis Gutierrez , D Chicago , said after the Congressional Hispanic Caucus called on  to "" disinvite "" Trump from ""  . "" Welcoming him back to the show "" legitimizes Trump ' s hateful views and rewards his hate speech , "" the National Hispanic Media Coalition said .  Count us among the many who do not find Trump ' s remarks about immigrants funny . But Trump himself ? There ' s so much to lampoon . His hair , his ego , his romantic life . The skit about his Twitter feed practically writes itself : One of the richest men in the world stares at his iPhone all day , retweeting every kudo and punching out angry replies to his critics . Moron ! Lightweight !  Sketch comedy doesn ' t legitimize its subjects , it skewers them . Ask Sarah Palin . Or Hillary Clinton . Sure , they came across as good sports for withstanding ""  ' s "" caustic mockery . But it ' s hard to see how that helped their political aspirations .  It did wonders for Tina Fey and Amy Poehler , though . Trump could be the best thing that ' s ever happened to Taran Killam , whose challenge is to parody the over the top candidate . Good luck with that .  Trump knows why he ' s hosting ""  "" this week and Rand Paul , for example , is not : "" It ' s called ratings . ""  That ' s how "" Saturday Night Live "" picks the people who host the show . Let ' s not confuse it with how America picks its president .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
23559,23560,"The West African country of Senegal has closed its borders with Guinea over fears that the Ebola outbreak could spread , according to the Senegalese Interior Ministry . The closure includes any aircraft and ships traveling to Senegal from Guinea , Sierra Leone or Liberia .  Senegal is located to the northwest of Guinea , which as of August 20 had 579 suspected Ebola cases , according to the World Health Organization .  Sierra Leone and Liberia border Guinea to the southwest . Those three nations have been the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak .  So far , 2 , 473 suspected cases have been reported to  from those three countries and Nigeria . Nigeria now has a total of four Ebola patients under treatment at an isolation ward , bringing the total number of reported cases in the country to 14 , officials said .  More than half of the patients in the outbreak have died . It ' s the largest Ebola outbreak on record .  And still ,  says , the numbers don ' t tell the whole picture .  "" The magnitude of the Ebola outbreak , especially in Liberia and Sierra Leone , has been underestimated for a number of reasons , "" the organization said in a statement Friday . "" Many families hide infected loved ones in their homes .  "" Others deny that a patient has Ebola and believe that care in an isolation ward viewed as an incubator of the disease will lead to infection and certain death . Most fear the stigma and social rejection that come to patients and families when a diagnosis of Ebola is confirmed . ""  Corpses in these countries are being buried without determining cause of death ,  says . Medical staff cannot keep up with the current demand , especially with the limited supplies they have on hand .  "" In some areas , most notably Monrovia , virtually all health services have shut down , ""  says . "" Fear keeps patients out and causes medical staff to flee . ""  Senegal is not the first country to close its border during the outbreak . President Ellen Sirleaf has shut most of Liberia ' s borders to contain the virus . The few points of entry that are still open are testing people passing through for Ebola . Guinea and Sierra Leone have done the same . Kenya , South Africa and others in the region are also limiting travel to and from the area .  In its first statement on the Ebola outbreak , the African Union this week expressed its "" deep concern at the current situation , and its full solidarity and support to the countries affected by this epidemic . ""  At its meeting in Addis Ababa , Ethiopia , the group of African nations authorized the "" immediate deployment of an  led Military and Civilian Humanitarian Mission , comprising medical doctors , nurses and other medical and paramedical personnel , as well as military personnel , as required for the effectiveness and protection of the Mission . ""  Medecins Sans Frontieres , also known as Doctors Without Borders , describes Ebola as "" one of the world ' s most deadly diseases . "" The virus is highly infectious , and is transmitted through bodily fluids such as blood , sweat and feces .  Two to 21 days after a person is infected , symptoms such as fever , muscle pain and a sore throat appear . The fever then progresses to vomiting and diarrhea , difficulty breathing , impaired organ function and internal bleeding . Ebola hemorrhagic fever can be deadly in up to 90 of cases , though the current outbreak ' s mortality rate has been around 50 .  Ebola virus : 9 things to know  Meanwhile , the disease ' s infectious nature has health officials around the globe on high alert . But so far , any suspected cases outside the four West African countries affected by the outbreak have turned out to be false alarms .  Test results on a patient in California this week were negative for the deadly virus , according to the state ' s health department . Similar cases in New York , Ireland , Abu Dhabi and the Philippines have also tested negative for Ebola .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
23578,23579,"The U . S . Department of Justice ' s Criminal Division is paying 544 , 000 for a shiny new LinkedIn profile , in the wake of a partial government shutdown that followed a top Democrat ' s assurance that ' the cupboard is bare , there ' s no more cuts to make . '  While Congress was wrangling in December over how many billions to trim from future budgets , Washington bureaucrats were spending like teenagers with their first credit cards .  According to the ' Google for government ' website FedBizOpps . gov , the federal government has issued more than 1 , 300 procurement contracts since the beginning of December , including six figure outlays for valet parking , portable toilets , expensive lamps , and special boxes to ship fruit flies from one government facility to another .  The  Criminal Division will soon have a new LinkedIn page complete with an easier way to attract job seekers who could presumably find USAjobs . gov if they were motivated  Anchors aweigh ! Marines will be able to go anywhere literally now that the government has requisitioned an expensive set of porta potties  ' More awesome , less suck ' the firm contracted to publish the government ' s flagship environmental science journal is a specialist in social media targeting female consumers  The LinkedIn contract , first reported in the Washington Free Beacon , includes ' Work With Us ' banner ads and ' gold ' level user pages commonly purchased by private companies , all designed to drive job seekers to Attorney General Eric Holder ' s law enforcement agency .  The  provided its contractor , the Reston , Virginia based Carahsoft Technology Corporation , with a not so helpful table of prices for LinkedIn ' s services , in which all the costs were listed as 0 .  The agency contracting officer responsible for the award did not respond to a request for an explanation .  Uncle Sam is also busily spending on other projects , from portable toilets to valet parking .  The Department of Veterans Affairs green lighted 450 , 000 for valet parking at  Palo Alto Health Care System buildings in California .  Broken Xerox machines at the Department of Labor will keep cranking this year , thanks to a 252 , 000 copier repair contract with a Minneola , New York company .  Did you know the federal government operates a fruit fly production facility in Hawaii ? Now you do  Your 284 , 000 tax dollars at work : It ' s reassuring to know that fruit flies are shipped in boxes labelled ' live insects , ' judging from this customized cardboard box  When the Department of Labor ' s copiers go on the fritz , they don ' t have anyone in house who can fix them so here come the contractors !  The Bureau of Prisons is spending 68 , 000 on disposable , biodegradable food trays to feed inmates .  The Treasury Department ' s Bureau of Printing and Engraving must be shredding a lot of worn out currency , judging from the 791 , 000 contract it issued last month for hauling away trash and recyclables in Texas .  Which lamps will the Department of the Navy buy ? The 498 , 000 purchase order doesn ' t say  And the Department of Agriculture has agreed to spend more than 284 , 000 on an order for 5 , 400 shipping boxes to send fruit flies across the country from one facility to another .  ' Each box consists of one ( 1 ) Fruit Fly Shipper , one ( 1 ) Fruit Fly Shipper Liner , two ( 2 ) Fruit Fly Scored Pads , two ( 2 ) Level Stands , two ( 2 ) Level Separators , and one ( 1 ) Top Level Separator , ' according to the contract . '  The finished boxes are to be delivered to the government ' s ' fruit fly production facility ' in Waimanalo , Hawaii .  In California , the Department of the Navy is set to pay 409 , 000 for portable toilets at the Marine Air Ground Task Force Training Command in the town of Twentynine Palms .  The contract is 106 pages long .  The same agency is spending 498 , 000 on lamps , and sending 196 , 000 to Lockheed Martin for ' 8GB flash memory ' thumb drives and other computer parts .  The most expensive contract among those MailOnline flagged from December was an 11 million outlay from the  for a company to publish Environmental Health Perspectives , the agency ' s academic journal .  Arrive for that x ray in style : The Veterans Affairs Department will shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars for valet parking attendants at California hospitals  How much does a recruitment ad on LinkedIn cost ? Don ' t ask the Justice Department it appears to think they ' re free  Federal prisoners are eating off of these disposable and biodegradable food trays instead of something that can be washed and reused judging from one 68 , 000 contract  The Michigan company that won the contract , Brogan Partners Advertising Consultancy , advertises itself online as an expert in social media marketing to women with the tagline , ' More awesome , less suck . '  Environmental Health Perspectives was accused in 2012 of participating in a human experimentation study that exposed 41 people to airborne particles that the  says can cause death just hours after exposure .  One subject was taken to the hospital after experiencing hart trouble during the experiment .  The journal also caused a stir in 2012 when it published a widely mocked study claiming that fluoride in drinking water was poisoning children ' s nervous systems .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,fake,satire,True,no,no,neutral,present
23603,23604,"Thank goodnesss Jeff Sessions is moving on finding out what went on behind the scenes to acquire  warrants. In other words, what was  said in order to get the judge to approve the  warrant to spy:We can start with why law enforcement officials who submitted the application failed to note that the Clinton campaign and  funded the dossier. The application does note that the dossier was put together by a  U.S. person  with political motivations, but Republicans have argued that the application should have been more specific.Via Daily Caller: Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Sunday that the Department of Justice is investigating whether the  submitted accurate information about the infamous Steele dossier in order to obtain a surveillance warrant against former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. Are you, sir, investigating the fact that the  used the dossier to get a wiretap against Trump associates and they did not tell the  court that the Democrats and Hillary Clinton paid for the dossier?  Maria Bartiromo, the host of Fox News   Sunday Morning Futures,  asked Sessions. Let me tell you, every  warrant based on facts submitted to that court have to be accurate,  he replied.Keep reading ",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present
23623,23624,"Republican Rep . Ron Paul of Texas called on voters to back a third party candidate for president Wednesday , rejecting his party ' s nominee and offering equally harsh words for the Democratic candidate .  Paul , who unsuccessfully sought the Republican presidential nomination this year , told supporters at the National Press Club in Washington that he is not endorsing  nominee Sen . John McCain or Democratic nominee Sen . Barack Obama .  Instead , Paul will give his seal of approval to four candidates : Green Party nominee Cynthia McKinney , Libertarian Party nominee Bob Barr , independent candidate Ralph Nader and Constitution Party candidate Chuck Baldwin .  Paul said he ' s supporting the third party candidates because the two major parties and media had "" colluded "" to avoid discussing issues and falsely presenting the difference between McCain and Obama as real .  "" I ' ve come to the conclusion , after having spent many years in politics , is that our presidential elections turn out to be more of a charade than anything else , and I think that is true today . It is a charade , "" he said .  Paul offered an open endorsement to the four candidates because each signed onto a policy statement that calls for "" balancing budgets , bring troops home , personal liberties and investigating the Federal Reserve , "" an aide to the congressman said .  Paul said a strong showing by the third party candidates would express the public ' s frustration with the current system .  "" I have no doubt that the majority is on our side , "" Paul added , citing public opinion polls . "" We represent the majority of the American people . ""  Paul said that he had received a call from the McCain campaign Tuesday asking for his endorsement . Paul ' s response : "" I don ' t like the idea of getting 2 to 3 million people Paul supporters angry at me . ""  McCain ' s aides argued that the Texas Republican should endorse McCain because he would do a "" little less harm "" than Obama , Paul said , but "" we just don ' t need to do that anymore . ""  "" If you ever get to the point where you believe the two parties are essentially the same , if the majority is outside of the establishment , it ' s not very democratic . The process is not working , "" Paul said .  Paul attacked Obama , saying , "" He ' s not for change , "" and the congressman argued that his efforts would help the Republican Party .  "" If the Republican side realized what I ' m trying to do , they should be funding me , "" Paul said .  Paul failed in his bid for the Republican nomination , but he found a large , diverse audience for his anti war and anti tax messages .  The Texas congressman ' s campaign was fueled by an on line , grass roots fundraising operation . Throughout the campaign , Paul supporters called on others to join the "" Ron Paul Revolution . ""  At the Republican National Convention last week in St . Paul , Minnesota , Paul supporters threw their own party in Minneapolis . iReportweblink : See Ron Paul signs raised high at the "" counter convention ""  Paul , who said he entered the presidential race reluctantly , told the roaring audience , "" I lost my skepticism . I hope you lost your apathy . ""  "" I did not want to run people ' s lives . I did not want to run the economy and I did not want to run the world . I didn ' t have the authority to do it , and I didn ' t have the Constitution behind me to do it , "" Paul said . Read more on Paul ' s rally  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
23628,23629,"Ankara , Turkey A top Turkish official apologized for the "" police aggression "" that fueled nationwide protests against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as trade unions threw their weight behind the demonstrations Tuesday .  The 240 , 000 member  confederation of public sector workers called for a two day strike to protest what it called the "" fascism "" of Erdogan ' s ruling Justice and Development Party . The protests began over plans to replace an Istanbul park with a new development , but spread nationwide after a heavy handed crackdown by police .  After chaotic scenes in the streets Monday that continued late into the night and sent tear gas wafting through the air , the situation was relatively calm Tuesday in Istanbul ' s Taksim Square , near the park where the protest movement began , and in the capital Ankara .  Riot police around Ankara ' s central Kizilay Square brought in armored vehicles topped with water cannon in a show of force Tuesday evening , but the demonstrations throughout the day were calm .  The protests have morphed into larger complaints against Erdogan , who has led Turkey for 10 years . His critics call him paternalistic and authoritarian , accusing him of accumulating more and more power and growing less tolerant of dissent . In Istanbul , the crowds have been chanting "" Tayyip resign "" referring to Erdogan and "" shoulder to shoulder against fascism . ""  What ' s driving unrest and protests in Turkey ?  Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc apologized Tuesday "" for the police aggression against our citizens who were involved in the initial protests and acted with environmental concern , "" Turkey ' s semiofficial Anadolu news agency reported . He said security forces had been ordered to only use gas in self defense .  "" They are doing a hard job . When they are executing their jobs , they may sometimes use extraordinary , even excessive , use of force . But they wait in a passive mode unless something comes from the other side , "" Arinc said .  And he added , "" I don ' t think we owe an apology to those who caused destruction on the streets and who interfered with people ' s freedom . ""  The Turkish Medical Association said that at least 3 , 195 people were injured in clashes Sunday and Monday , with 26 in serious or critical condition . Most of the injuries were in Istanbul .  Read more : Turkish protesters decry ' unprecedented violence '  One protester , Mehmet Ayvalitas , died of his injuries , the medical association said . And the governor of Hatay in southeastern Turkey said that a 22 year old man , Abdulah Comert , was killed with a firearm by unknown people during demonstrations late Monday , Anadolu reported .  Erdogan ' s opponents appear determined to continue the demonstrations despite the prime minister ' s comment Monday that he expects the situation to return to normal "" within a few days . "" Erdogan , who left the country Monday on a four day trip to North Africa , has responded by dismissing the demonstrations as the work of "" extreme elements "" and marginal groups .  "" My smart citizens will recognize this , then they will give them the right lesson , "" he said Monday .  The protests began after plans were made to raze Gezi Park , the last green space in central Istanbul , and replace it with a replica of 19th century Ottoman barracks . The development would contain a shopping mall .  Despite economic boom , Erdogan targeted by protests  What began as a sit in by a handful of angry residents quickly grew into a larger protest . Riot police moved in , using tear gas and pepper spray . Protesters responded by hurling bottles , setting up barricades , blocking bulldozers and burning trash in the middle of the street .  Then , outraged by the behavior of security forces , demonstrators began attacking police .  The protests have spread to 67 of Turkey ' s 81 provinces , according to Anadolu . While Erdogan has maintained a defiant tone , Turkish President Abdullah Gul sounded a conciliatory note Monday , saying "" the messages sent in good faith have been received . ""  Opinion : Is Turkey on the verge of a meltdown ?  Hugh Pope , a senior Turkey analyst with the International Crisis Group , called the protests "" completely unprecedented "" and said Erdogan was caught off guard . Most demonstrators , Pope said , are "" overwhelmingly ordinary people "" who simply want their voices heard .  "" However , there are other demonstrators who are somewhat more opportunistic in the left wing factions who normally don ' t get much in the way of airtime in Turkey and are camped on Taksim Square , "" Pope said .  Erdogan has defiantly praised his government ' s accomplishments in overseeing a decade of strong economic growth in Turkey . His party has won the past three elections , most recently securing 49 . 95 of the vote in 2011 .  "" What you have is essentially a large group of Turks who feel alienated from this government , in power for 10 years , "" said Richard Haass , a Middle East analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington .  "" It ' s increasingly a one party country . All the politics happen within it . The opposition is weak , divided , feckless , "" he said . "" You have a lot of people in Turkey who feel both alienated and intimidated by the government , and this is the way they decided to push back . ""  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
23629,23630,"Proper hygiene can go a long way in helping to prevent easily-treatable diseases and viruses. Credit: EcoSoap Bank  Thanks to a college student’s inquisitive thinking and passionate followthrough, thousands of Cambodians have been saved from contracting easily-treatable diseases and viruses. It began when student Samir Lakhani traveled to Cambodia and witnessed first-hand the amount of suffering that results from Cambodians not having access to something most people take for granted: soap.  GoodNewsNetwork relays that Lakhani visited Cambodia to help build fish ponds with an  called Trailblazer Cambodia Organization. While he was there for the summer, he witnessed a mother washing her child with laundry detergent. Because few people have soap – as it is considered an expensive luxury, it is not unusual for Khmers to rub their bodies in ash or use harsh cleaning supplies like the mother and her child did.  Distraught by this reality, the inspiring activist began to ponder solutions to the conundrum. Before long, the Pittsburgh University student realized that Siem Reap – a popular tourist hotspot which hosts over 2 million visitors a year – is home to over 500 hotels and guesthouses. Surely, he thought, their waste could be recycled into others’ benefit. After working on the problem long enough, he finally developed a formula for sanitizing and recycling hotel soap bars that would otherwise be tossed in the trash.  After returning to the U.S. and obtaining his degree in environmental studies, Samir began crowdfunding for his idea to create an Eco-Soap Bank organization. Two years later, he had gained corporate sponsorship and the vision he intentioned was realized!  Since the project took off, over 650,000 Cambodians have been provided with clean bars of soap. 30 workers are now employed by the company Lakhani founded. In addition to selling the company’s eco-friendly products as a source of income, they serve as “hygiene ambassadors” to bring soap to local schools and educate the populace on the importance of proper hand-washing techniques.  Thanks to this student’s ingenuity, thousands of Cambodian lives have likely been saved.What are your thoughts? Please comment below and share this news!  This article ( College Student Collects Unused Hotel Soap, Saves Thousands of Cambodians From Disease ) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author andweblink  Do you like our independent & investigative news? Then please check these two settings on Facebook to guarantee you don't miss our posts:",fake,news,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
23644,23645,"The brother of murdered British aid worker Alan Henning has called on David Cameron to send troops to hunt down the Islamic State (  ) militants responsible for his death .  Reg Henning said the brutal Islamist group were ' monsters ' and ground forces were needed to find them .  In a  interview he said that the Henning family had been in a ' living nightmare ' and condemned the Government for preventing them from speaking out about his brother ' s capture .  Alan Henning poses for a friend as they wait to cross the Turkish border . Not long after the photo was taken , he was kidnapped by  terrorists . He believed that he would be freed but last week the Islamic State posted a video of his beheading  A video showing the murder of the 47 year old former taxi driver from Salford who was kidnapped on Boxing Day last year at Al Dana , Syria by  militants was posted on the internet by the group .  Reg Henning claimed that it might have made a difference if the family had been allowed to speak out earlier about his capture , rather than only being able to break their silence when he first appeared in an  video last month .  He told the  : ' It ' s been a living nightmare . We ' ve had to keep it quiet for nine months , we ' ve been gagged by the Government and the Foreign Office not to say a thing . For the last three weeks I ' ve hardly slept , I ' ve felt sick , physically sick .  Kindly : Alan Henning cuddles a child after travelling thousands of miles to deliver aid to Syria  ' We were told not to discuss it , virtually we were gagged for nine months , couldn ' t say a thing to anybody . It was just done on a need to know basis which , basically , was immediate family . '  Asked how that made him feel he said : ' I think it ' s disgusting because , if we had been able to talk , and voice our opinions , I think the Government may have stood up and listened more . '  He added : ' We ' ve seen the campaign that Alan ' s generated now , all the ribbons round Eccles and everything . If this was done six months ago it could have done more good . '   jets have been bombing  targets in Iraq , but Mr Henning said that would not be enough to defeat  .  Alan Henning is shown being filmed by the  last year helping to prepare a convoy of humanitarian supplies for Syrian refugees  March 2013 : Alan Henning took unpaid leave from his job as a cabbie to deliver relief supplies to Syrians  ' You ' re not going to find them by dropping a few bombs in Iraq , ' he said .  ' We need send ground forces in to find out where these monsters are the sooner we do it the sooner the killing stops . '  But he backed the Government ' s policy of not paying ransoms to secure the release of hostages held by  .  He said that ' by giving them more money you are giving them the opportunity to purchase more arms and weapons and that would just increase the problem because they would be in the position to snatch more hostages ' .  Mr Henning , who described his brother ' s killers as ' barbaric ' , said he hoped that Mr Cameron ' stands by his word ' to hunt down those responsible .  In a message to the Prime Minister , Mr Henning said he wanted those responsible for his brother ' s death to be brought back to the  to stand trial .  A candlelit vigil held in Eccles Park near Alan Henning ' s home in Eccles , Manchester  He said : ' Go and find them , bring them to justice , bring them over here , let us try them . '  In the emotional interview , Mr Henning said that his brother had ' captured the hearts of the public and he did not deserve to die ' .  He added : ' I just remember his happy smiling face and the picture in the media where he is holding the young child will be my lasting image of Alan . '  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past
23645,23646,"DETROIT/ (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s administration will unveil revised self-driving guidelines within the next few months, the head of the U.S. Transportation Department said on Monday, responding to automakers’ calls for regulations that will eliminate barriers and allow autonomous vehicles on the road. “The pressure is mounting for the federal government to do something” about autonomous vehicles, U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said on Monday in Detroit. However, Chao told reporters the federal government should be careful before setting binding rules to govern autonomous vehicles. “We don’t want rules that impede future technological advances,” Chao said. Chao was not specific about what her department’s proposals would include, or how they would differ from policy guidance proposed by the Obama administration. Companies including Alphabet Inc’s self-driving car Waymo unit, General Motors Co, Ford Motor Co, Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL], Tesla Inc and other are aggressively pursuing automated vehicle technologies. “We need a more concrete regulatory framework,” Ken Washington, chief technology officer of Ford, said in Detroit. Automakers could use a clear set of rules to certify on their own that an autonomous vehicle is safe, as they can now with conventional vehicles, Washington said.   Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr said at a forum in Washington he feels “quite confident” that the hardware and software will be ready by 2021 for self-driving cars. But other big issues loom. “Things like ethics,” Ford said, saying does the vehicle opt to save 10 pedestrians or the driver. Individual automakers cannot program separate ethics software for self-driving cars but must work together as an industry, Ford said.  Ron Medford, Waymo’s director of safety, said in Detroit he expected autonomous cars would appear first in “managed fleet operations,” not as vehicles sold to individuals.  Chao, in remarks prepared for delivery in Detroit, said the new rules would support industry innovation and aim to encourage “new entrants and ideas that deliver safer vehicles.” Automakers have met with Chao on several occasions in recent months and urged her to make changes to Obama-era automated vehicle rules.  Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee have also been working on a package of legislation to make it easier to get self-driving cars on the road. A U.S. Senate committee is also planning a new hearing this month on self-driving cars. The Obama guidelines called on automakers to voluntarily submit details of self-driving vehicle systems to regulators in a 15-point “safety assessment” and urge states to defer to the federal government on most vehicle regulations. Automakers have raised numerous concerns about the guidance, including that it requires them to turn over significant data, could delay testing by months and lead to states making the voluntary guidelines mandatory. ",true,dataset,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
23652,23653,"Harry Kane turned to social media on Thursday , full of emotion after England manager Roy Hodgson called him up for the first time .  The Tottenham striker talked of ' pride ' and ' honour ' on Twitter after being named in the squad for the Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania next Friday and the friendly in Italy four days later .  Kane , who has scored 26 goals for Tottenham this season , merits his place alongside England captain Wayne Rooney , Daniel Sturridge and Danny Welbeck . Liverpool ' s Raheem Sterling is also in the squad but a niggling toe injury could see him play against Lithuania and sit out the Italy clash .  Scroll down for full squad  Harry Kane celebrates after scoring for Tottenham Hotspur against Arsenal at White Hart Lane last month  Kane rounds  goalkeeper Rob Green to score Spurs ' second goal at Loftus Road on March 7  ' The whole country is excited to see Harry Kane , ' said Hodgson . ' His rise has been fantastic . He deserves his chance . He hasn ' t been in the squad before , but he has to show he belongs . ' Beyond that , poor Kane discovered what it is really like to be a senior international when he was immediately caught in a club versus country row .  First the background . The lure of the Aussie dollar has seen Tottenham agree to play Sydney  on May 30 , six days after the final game of the Premier League season .  That same weekend , the England squad meet to prepare for a friendly against the Republic of Ireland on June 7 in Dublin , followed by the Euro 2016 qualifier in Slovenia on June 14 . There is also a possibility that Kane , a regular in Gareth Southgate ' s Under 21 squad , will be selected for the European Championship starting on June 17 .  ' Playing for England at Under 21 level is more important than a friendly in Australia and I would be hypocritical if I didn ' t give that answer , ' said Hodgson .  ' This business about being tired he ' s played quite a lot of games but he ' s not played any more than Wayne Rooney , Jordan Henderson , Joe Hart , Gary Cahill and lots of other players .  ' If he needs a rest there ' s a great opportunity when the season ends , before our Under 21s get together . You can ' t expect me to say , "" Oh no , I understand he will play in Australia and be resting when the Under 21s pitch up "" . '  Kane celebrates after scoring for England U21 against Croatia in a Euro 2015 qualifier last year  Still , Tottenham were adamant on Thursday that Kane will travel to Australia to fulfil the Sydney fixture .  Kane , 21 , has played 42 times for Spurs this season and his goals in three competitions Premier League , Europa League and Capital One Cup have earned him international recognition .  Inevitably , boss Mauricio Pochettino would prefer the potential  Player of the Year to put his feet up this summer . There is a fear of burn out .  ' We will speak ( with Hodgson ) . It ' s a good chance to speak because England train here , ' said Pochettino after England ' s squad of 24 was announced .  ' We always try to find what is best for the player . We need to understand every position , but we have a good relationship and after that ( talks with Hodgson ) we will take a decision . '  As for Kane , he is concerned only with proving himself to the England manager .  ' I ' ll be aiming to compete and get myself in the team , ' he said . ' There are a lot of great players there and I haven ' t had time to think about what ' s happened but I ' m enjoying every minute and want it to continue . '  Beyond the Kane situation , Hodgson had to attend to some general housekeeping at Wembley on Thursday , such as the knockout blow Phil Bardsley seemed to land on his pal Rooney at the captain ' s Cheshire home last month .  Hodgson said he had no view on the incident , which was revealed last weekend in a Sunday newspaper . ' You will have to guess whether I am concerned but Wayne ' s celebration against Tottenham was one way to take the sting out of the situation , ' said Hodgson .  On Monday , when the squad meet at St George ' s Park , it will be the first time Hodgson has seen them since November . He had hoped to meet the players at a dinner in January but club managers were against the idea .  England manager Roy Hodgson takes his seat before announcing his squad at Wembley on Thursday  Instead , Hodgson recorded a video message which was sent to the squad via England ' s video analyst Andy Scoulding and was downloaded on to their iPads . ' I don ' t want to do the Sherlock Holmes bit to find out who has and who hasn ' t watched it , ' said Hodgson . ' I did an introduction to each video and then Gary Neville and Ray Lewington talked over the actual clips .  ' It will break the ice that can develop when the last game was in November and your next one is in March .  ' Whether they found it a worthwhile exercise , I don ' t know . If it ' s not , then it ' s an awful lot of work to do for nothing . '  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
23657,23658,"Cliven Bundy is picking up his family ' s fight .  The Nevada rancher ? known for his 2014 standoff with the federal government over grazing rights ? wants protesters in Oregon to continue their occupation of a federal wildlife refuge , despite his son Ammon ' s pleas for the militia members to leave .  Bundy sent a certified letter to Harney County Sheriff David Ward , as well as Oregon Gov . Kate Brown and President Obama Monday .  "" This is notice that We the People of Harney County and also We the People of the citizens of the United States               , "" the letter states .  Militia members have identified the Malhaur National Wildlife Refuge as the Harney County Resource Center during their occupation of the facility , which began more than a month ago .  Rancher Cliven Bundy is calling for protesters in Oregon to stand their ground .  Ammon Bundy has repeatedly urged the four people remaining at the refuge to go home after his Jan . 26 arrest .  But the father is defying his son ' s orders .  "" What this is saying is that Cliven Bundy is taking control of things , "" Cliven Bundy told the Guardian from his Nevada ranch . "" If we don ' t retain it , then we ' ve lost everything that we ' ve done in the last two months . We ' re not gonna give up . ""  Cliven Bundy ' s declaration comes as a federal judge considers whether Ammon Bundy should remain in jail .  Ammon Bundy , 40 , was scheduled to appear in court Tuesday for a pretrial motion in which his lawyers planned to challenge a judge ' s order to keep him in custody .  Cliven Bundy sent a letter to government officials declaring that the armed militia would not be backing down .  That hearing was canceled after Bundy ' s attorneys asked to withdraw their challenge .  "" Mr Bundy requests this in order to gather further evidence of his statements and actions encouraging a peaceful protest and civil disobedience , "" his attorneys wrote in a motion .  A rescheduled time for the hearing has not been announced .  U . S . District Court Judge Michael W . Mosman is expected to also consider the potential release of another member of the armed group , Joseph O ' Shaughnessy .    ,              Ammon Bundy and Lavoy Finicum speak at a press conference outside of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon on Jan . 11 .  Bundy and James O ' Shaughnessy are among 11 people arrested in connection with the standoff that began Jan . 2 , when the group called federal land restrictions burdensome and demanded the government turn over public lands to local control . Only one , Shawna Cox , has left jail .  Bundy was arrested Jan . 26 during a traffic stop , where police shot and killed Arizona rancher Robert "" LaVoy "" Finicum during a confrontation .  Four people remain at the refuge , surrounded by authorities . On Monday , hundreds of people gathered outside the courthouse in Burns , Oregon , both to protest and support the armed occupation .  People upset over Finicum ' s killing held signs and chanted at the Harney County Courthouse . They want federal officials to leave the area .  Another large group staged a rally at the courthouse in support of law enforcement and government officials . They too held signs and shouted , "" Stand down , leave our town . ""  Ammon Bundy , right , has called for protesters to leave the refuge following his Jan . 26 arrest .  The holdouts at the Oregon refuge include David Fry , who has posted updates to the YouTube channel "" DefendYourBase , "" which the group has used frequently to release information . Fry has said the four want assurances they won ' t be arrested and demand pardons for everyone involved .  The other holdouts are Jeff Banta and married couple Sandy Anderson and Sean Anderson .  Those already arrested face a felony conspiracy charge of using intimidation to prevent federal employees from their work at the refuge .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
23670,23671,"Love Him or Hate Him Love Him or Hate Him By 52  The U.S. Elections: The Latest Crack in the System  The 2016 U.S. presidential elections are unprecedented: I don’t believe we have ever witnessed before a campaign year so toxic, so dangerously divisive and full of ad hominem attacks. Both camps have vilified the opposition and their followers, creating a schism in society. There has been no rational dialogue on the issues that truly concern the American public.  Instead, we have witnessed personal insults and petty attacks, rumors and gossip. At this point, as a result of this catastrophic campaign, the public will not vote in favor of the candidate they agree with the most or the one they like, but against the one they hate!  In this article, we do not focus on comparisons between Clinton and Trump; enough has been said and written about the candidates themselves. Here, we look at their supporters – the crowd behind the candidates, those that will in fact shape American policy making in the coming four years.  Hillary Clinton: The Establishment Remains in Control  Current Prices on popular forms of Gold Bullion  The most important and formidable group within those backing Clinton belong to the upper echelon of society: Wall Street’s movers and shakers, big business, the top of the political pyramid and the servants and profiteers of the public sector. In one word: the establishment.  Clinton’s support base includes therefore practically everyone who profits from government regulations and government corruption – they have everything to lose if Hillary doesn’t win. It is the same group that advocates and leads the political correctness movement ; they are those state-bred and fed intellectuals who poison the university campus and mass media circus with their belief that they can transform the U.S. into a “utopia”.  In reality, this “utopia” will be created through intense centralization, endless wars and plundering, only to create a totalitarian government where the political elite enforces its will and instructs the public on how to live a happy life, which only benefits the top strata of society that designed it in the first place. Years ago, Jewish American philosopher Hannah Arendt summarized the toxic impact of political correctness as follows:  “There is no thought process without freedom. To deprive man of his liberty is to deprive him of his own ideas, and if one is not allowed to think, only subjugation and slavery remain.”  This can only be achieved through a strong foothold on the centralized state and its propaganda engine, the mass media, operating under the doctrine of Edward Bernays, the father of propaganda, better known as public relations.  Then there’s the other extreme of Clinton’s supporters: the artificially created underprivileged minorities. These groups have come to depend on the state for support and protection, which has also made it easy for the state to indoctrinate them and reset their mindset to its advantage.  Those are the people who have fallen in the trap of thinking that only the state can provide them with what they need for a good life, when in reality it only disempowered them. The globalist Clinton herself accuses Trump of “populism”, casting “nationalism” in a negative light, but she is actually the one promising free lunches for everyone: lenient immigration laws, higher minimum wages, universal healthcare, etc.  Clinton also preaches against income inequality and condemns Wall Street greed in her speeches, while her campaign cashes in from Wall Street’s finest:  Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs. Under those circumstances… what can you possibly do? Ms. Clinton’s top five donors are Citigroup, Goldman Sachs,  Piper,  Morgan, Morgan Stanley. Somehow we don’t think Wall Street has reason to fear her much. Cartoon by Cataslino  Trump – the Greatest Politically Incorrect Shock in Decades?  Whenever people are forced by the government to accept and pay for things they do not want, the outcome is discontent and opposition, typically suppressed and downplayed by the mainstream media in accordance with the state’s agenda of political correctness. This further escalates the situation and things often take unpleasant turns, including the fostering of racist and bigoted subsections that we see within the Trump voting base.  But they are not the majority, not by long shot! One might get this impression, because the mainstream media tend to focus exclusively on this sub-set of supporters through footage and interviews at Trump rallies, because they are considered “interesting” material; after all, they say outrageously horrible things and are therefore great for  sensationalism.  What does Donald Trump stand for? From my perspective, for anything and everything! He stands for everyone who is sick and tired of the current system and the political elite who have grown out of touch with ordinary American citizens. You will find them among the working class, small business owners, and the segment of society that used to be known as the middle class before the crisis; they all harbor grievances against the establishment.  These are people who understand that the slogan “the Union and the Constitution forever” has been under attack and downgraded to nothing more than an empty phrase by the power elite and the Deep State. We see first hand how the Patriot Act directly violates not only the first amendment’s guarantee of free speech, but also the fourth and fifth amendments, thereby tearing apart the very foundation of a country once based on respect for civil liberties.  There is no doubt that the second amendment will be crushed under Clinton as well, “regulating to extinction” the natural right to self-defense and personal sovereignty. We must never forget that we are born with inherent rights, that can neither be granted nor taken away from us by the State. As Judge Napolitano once put it:  “Natural law teaches that our freedoms are pre-political and come from our humanity and not from the government. As our humanity is ultimately divine in origin, the government, even by majority vote, cannot morally take natural rights away from us. A natural right is an area of individual human behavior – like thought, speech, worship, travel, self-defense, privacy, ownership and use of property, consensual personal intimacy – immune from government interference and for the exercise of which we don’t need the government’s permission.”  Even though polls suggest that Trump is trailing nationally, they probably underestimate exactly how big the Trump wave is, and it is significant: between 74% and 83% of Republicans said they will support him (according to polls conducted between Oct 9 th -11 th ). But there is also the silent majority that has been present at his rallies. This silent majority does not necessarily consist of Trump fans, but they do not want to see the country falling into the abyss of state centralization and political correctness.  They want to discontinue the economic system that has taken them from bad to worse – they are the American version of the European anti-establishment movement. They are well aware of Trump’s coarse character and crude remarks, but feel they can overlook that, for the sake of his main strategic advantage: Trump’s promise that he does not want America to be controlled by the establishment anymore.  A Tale of Two Hatreds  “Politics is like sausage being made. It is unsavory, and it always has been that way, but we usually end up where we need to be. But if everybody’s watching… then people get a little nervous, to say the least. So, you need both a public and a private position.” Hillary Clinton, National Multi-Housing Council, April 2013  One key reason behind the peoples’ hostility towards Clinton is that she personally embodies the hypocrisy and the hubris of the U.S. federal government itself: a government that maims and kills millions with its war on terror, it arms and supports murderous regimes and ideological fanatics and it is known to deploy chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. And yet, it somehow pretends to hold the moral high ground and lectures others on human rights.  Just as America is an “exceptional” country, for which normal standards don’t apply, Clinton is its “exceptional” candidate. She accuses her opponent of populism, when her own platform is entirely based on crowd-pleasing promises.  She calls Trump’s policies fascistic while her own would put the final nail on the coffin of free speech. She claims to stand up for the little guy, while she funds her campaign with Wall Street money. She positions herself as the defender of minorities’ and women’s rights, while her Foundation accepts donations from the most oppressive regimes on the planet.  At the same time, the American electorate also feels hostility for Trump; that hate is not equivalent though, as few would argue he is trying to hide who he is. The reason why so many dislike him is very different, and it has to do with the identity he projects. He is the ultimate “anti-intellectual”.  Of course the term “intellectual” is quite broad these days, and many intellectuals dislike Trump solely because of what it would say about who they are (in the eyes of their like-minded peers). But these people share a common denominator: they are educated beyond their intelligence and critically depend on repeating what other “intellectual” people say, as they feel (consciously or not) their ignorance would be exposed if they dared to express an original idea. Trump’s world, according to a recent  cartoon. The statist intelligentsia certainly feels threatened by Trump. Cartoon by Chappatte  The Day After: The Legacy of a Bitter Campaign Year  Unfortunately, whoever wins, the nation will pay a price for this “divide and conquer” rhetoric. Americans today are too polarized and the tensions that are brewing in the background will not just go away the day after the election: racial and social divisions, as well as the split caused by the choice between a planned vs. a free market economy, a big or a small government.  Under Trump, we can only hope that America will be given time to heal and to overcome these divisions. Free speech is key: Society can only heal if it returns to a culture of debate with a willingness to agree to disagree.  From what we know from modern American history, we shouldn’t be surprised that the financial markets appear to prefer Hillary over Trump. Wall Street, the bankers and the military industrial complex are expected to continue to thrive under President Clinton. The establishment will live on. Right now the establishment is seemingly pushing for war against Russia and Clinton is undeniably on board with this aggressive narrative.  And then we have Trump, who is certainly far from perfect. His objectification of women, his comments about Muslims and minorities, his crass demeanor: All these have made it very hard for him to find support for his genuine policy points.  Even if the actual net effect of his policies were to benefit women, he won’t get them on his side by calling them pigs – there is a difference between free speech and just being plain rude, uncivil and vulgar. We may disagree with his infamous “wall” with Mexico and demands for “a new budget to rebuild our depleted military” (which makes him no different from Clinton). But he is an outsider, a businessman, and most importantly, a crack in system!  He challenges the status quo, and that’s why the status quo attacks him, by trying to ridicule both him and his voters, by painting them as extremists, or as ignorant and racist. The question is, why don’t we just let Trump be Trump?  As he himself said: “It is so nice that the shackles have been taken off me and I can now fight for America the way I want to!”. Consider the boldness of this statement – regardless of whether one agrees with him, he stands confidently for his principles and ideas, even against his own party’s leaders (many of which have withdrawn their support). This is a clear projection of power and independence; it says that no one can dictate their demands to him. It says that he is unafraid to speak his mind.  I say, we should trust his followers. It seems clear that most Trump voters are striving to defend the essence of the constitution and its original intent – to be the basis of a free society. And for me as a believer in civil rights and sovereignty, this is enough to give him or let me rather say, his voters, the benefit of the doubt.",fake,news,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,fake,True,no,no,neutral,past
23681,23682,"A Hong Kong court on Monday said it would wait for psychological reports on a British banker who has been charged with the gruesome killings of two Indonesian women at his apartment .  Prosecutors have requested the assessments of Rurik Jutting , a 29 year old former employee of Bank of America Merrill Lynch , to establish whether he is fit to enter a plea to the two counts of murder he faces .  In a court appearance last week , Jutting didn ' t enter a plea to the charges .  On Monday , the court adjourned the case until November 24 to allow time for the psychological reports to be carried out .  The grisly deaths of the two women shocked many residents of Hong Kong , where the violent crime rate is low for a city of its size .  Body found in suitcase  Jutting is accused of killing Sumarti Ningsih , 25 , whose decomposing body was discovered inside a suitcase on the balcony of his high rise apartment in the Wan Chai district of Hong Kong .  The other woman , Seneng Mujiasih , 29 , was found on the floor of the one bedroom apartment with her throat slashed .  Police say Jutting called them to the apartment early on November 1 . They say Mujiasih had been killed that day , and Ningish five days earlier .  Sumarti ' s father has called for his daughter ' s killer to be executed , but Hong Kong doesn ' t impose the death penalty .  ' Just an ordinary woman '  The two victims ' bodies are expected to be sent back to Indonesia on Tuesday , according to the Asian Migrants ' Coordinating Body .  The Indonesian Consulate in Hong Kong wasn ' t immediately available for comment on the repatriation of the women ' s remains .  Around 200 people attended a vigil for the women Sunday in the city .  "" Sumarti Ningsih is just an ordinary woman from Indonesia , "" said a woman named Jumiati , who identified herself as the victim ' s cousin .  "" Like me and many others , she was forced to work abroad to feed her poor family and make her dream come true , "" Jumiati said in a statement .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
23702,23703,"Saying they are very close to casting all the principal parts for the nationwide stage production of Guys And Dolls , White House officials announced Monday that a second round of auditions will be held this Thursday , and that the show ' s director , President Barack Obama , is still looking for the perfect person to fill the lead role of Nathan Detroit .  An early cast list posted on the front door of the Capitol Building Sunday revealed that while Obama left the space next to Detroit ' s name blank , the part of Sister Sarah Brown has gone to 40 year old claims adjuster Erin Daniels of Birmingham ,  , and that Benny Southstreet will be played by Canton ,  retiree Paul Burnsworth .  The role of Nicely Nicely Johnson will be portrayed by Chief Justice John Roberts , who reportedly turned out to be "" quite the little tap dancer "" and wowed Obama with his rendition of "" Sit Down , You ' re Rockin ' The Boat . ""  "" I would like to thank the 110 million Americans who came out for the first round of auditions , and urge them to remember that , if they were not called back , there ' s still plenty of room in the chorus for anyone who wants to get involved , and I ' m casting extra gamblers and Hot Box Dolls , too "" said the president , who is staging the two act musical with assistant director Gen . David Petraeus , stage manager Austan Goolsbee , and pit conductor and attorney general Eric Holder . "" Also , the role of Nathan Detroit is still wide open . We need a really strong Nathan . He pretty much carries the show . ""  "" For those of you who are interested , please bring 16 bars of music , preferably from Nathan ' s first big number , ' The Oldest Established , ' "" added Obama , saying he wants to see how well the actors sell the songs . "" Show choreographer Hillary Clinton will be doing her own callback for ' The Crapshooters ' Dance , ' so if you are on her list , wear something comfortable and be prepared to move . Okay ? ""  Though Obama reportedly told his creative team that he knew he had his Miss Adelaide the moment Iowa resident Amy Williams opened her mouth to sing "" A Bushel And A Peck , "" and that 45 year old real estate agent Dale Evans was "" born to play Sky Masterson , "" casting Nathan has been much more challenging .  Obama , who has heard more than 8 million Americans sing for the part , stressed to reporters that his Nathan should be feckless as well as charming , within driving distance of Washington , able to hit a high F , and available to rehearse five nights a week .  "" I ' m not going to settle for to my lead role , "" Obama was overheard saying after being urged to cast Rep . Barney Frank ( D  ) in the part . "" Max Harrison didn ' t have any chemistry with Adelaide , and Nathan Lane was okay , but nothing special . ""  "" Look , I ' m confident that ' Adelaide ' s Lament ' and ' Take Back Your Mink ' will be showstoppers , but the second act duet won ' t carry the same emotional or comedic heft without a standout Nathan . "" Obama added . "" The audience needs to connect with him immediately . ""  The production which runs May 26 to 29 , with a preview performance for the Hagerstown ,  Rotary Club marks the revival of a tradition started in 1935 by President Franklin D . Roosevelt , who not only directed Anything Goes , but starred as America ' s No . 13 most wanted gangster , Moonface Martin . Past highlights include teacher Linda Miller ' s portrayal of Julie Jordan in the 1945 production of Carousel , and Defense Secretary Robert McNamara leaving audiences in stitches as J . Pierrepont Finch in Lyndon Johnson ' s How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying .  The tradition stopped abruptly in 1991 when President George H . W . Bush directed a shockingly graphic revival of the musical Hair .  If Obama is to breathe new life into the institution and private comments about his desire to put up A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum next year indicate that he does sources said the president needs to find his leading man by Thursday .  "" We ' ll probably have auditioners read the scene where Nathan tries to convince the owner of the Biltmore Garage to let him have his craps game there , "" props master and set builder Gen . Norman Schwarzkopf told reporters . "" The president says that scene really encapsulates Nathan , but if he doesn ' t find what he ' s looking for , it could be a long night . ""  At press time , Obama was reportedly in the White House figuring how he was going to block the large ensemble number "" Havana "" when he overheard Vice President Joe Biden singing "" Luck Be A Lady "" with perfect pitch .  ",satire,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,fake,satire,True,no,no,positive,present
23703,23704,"While Real Madrid signed Gareth Bale in the summer ' s highest profile football transfer and added several other big names , Manchester United fans were left largely underwhelmed by the Premier League champion ' s moves in the off season .  They might be even more disappointed after learning how much United made in its last fiscal year and therefore had to spend .  The record 20 time league winner in England self described as "" one of the most popular and successful sports teams in the world "" announced record revenues of 580 million for the year ended June 30 , 2013 and said commercial revenues soared to a record 244 million .  It left executive vice chairman Ed Woodward , who replaced David Gill in the United hierarchy , to declare on United ' s website : "" It has been a little over a year since our  ( initial public offering ) and in that time we have delivered on our targets and objectives .  "" Our commercial business continues to be a very powerful engine of growth enabling the team to continue to be successful . ""  But United , in its first season without legendary manager Alex Ferguson , was largely quiet under new boss David Moyes and Woodward as it defends its Premier League title , signing just Marouane Fellaini and relatively unknown Uruguayan Guillermo Varela .  United was linked with Cristiano Ronaldo , Cesc Fabregas , Ander Herrera and Leighton Baines who all stayed put with their current clubs .  "" It ' s been pretty disappointing , "" said Andy Green , a United supporter who tweets about football finances . "" I don ' t think it ' s Moyes ' fault . He gives his targets to the club . I don ' t think he should be held accountable at all . ""  Meanwhile , city rival Manchester City bought four key players prior to August , Chelsea swooped for the likes of Samuel Eto ' o and Willian and Arsenal smashed its transfer record by purchasing Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid for more than 65 million .  Tottenham splashed out on more than half a dozen stars , attempting to make up for the loss of Bale .  "" United ' s commercial acumen isn ' t of value because it doesn ' t lead to a bigger stadium , lower ticket prices or better players , "" said Green . "" You have all these commercial deals but it ' s no benefit to the football club . ""  United has made a lukewarm start to the league season , winning two of its four games , although it began its Champions League campaign with a win Tuesday against Bayer Leverkusen .  United is "" delighted to have David Moyes lead our football team into a new and exciting chapter , "" Woodward said . "" We look forward to a successful 2013 14 , both on and off the pitch . ""  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
23709,23710,"The best and worst dressed on the Golden Globes red carpet  Ricky Gervais was back as court jester at the 73rd annual Golden Globes ? and the ceremony started off with a surprise , as Kate Winslet won for her role in the Aaron Sorkin biopic Steve Jobs .  What an incredible year for women in film , said Winslet , who beat out Jane Fonda for Youth , Jennifer Jason Leigh for The Hateful Eight and Helen Mirren for Trumbo .  As she accepted her trophy , she added she was extremely surprised and overwhelmed .  Gervais kept the humor topical , starting the show by skewering Sean Penn for his ill advised interview with druglord El Chapo .  I am going to do this monologue and then go into hiding , Gervais said during the opening monologue . Not even Sean Penn will find me .  Maura Tierney took home the award for best supporting actress in a miniseries or  movie , for her role in The Affair .  The actress was dumbstruck by the award and stumbled through her acceptance speech .  Gervais , the creator of  s The Office , insisted that he would play nice but instead stuck to his usual acerbic jokes that mock the Hollywood elite sitting in the audience before him .  What a year she s had . She became a role model for trans people everywhere , Gervais said of former Olympian Caitlyn Jenner .  She didn t do a lot for women drivers . But you can t have everything , can you ? he added , referring to a fatal car accident Jenner was involved in last February .  Some of the stunners on the red carpet included Alicia Vikander , who sported an elegant white gown as she remained hopeful for her nomination for best supporting actress for the film Ex Machina and best actress in a drama for The Danish Girl .  The 40 year old Telenova actress Eva Longoria was ready to present an award in her Georges Hobeika dress with floral embroidery on the hips .  Blindspot star Jaimie Alexander was wearing a long green and black gown but needed some adhesive to cover her tattoos .  A little bit of eye makeup , this and that , and lots of tape , Alexander told E ! s Giuliana Rancic . I can t go anywhere without adhesive .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
23716,23717,"Fifa s secretary general J r ? me Valcke faces nine year ban  ? Ethics committee concludes report into Valcke s activities  ? Recommends fine of ? 67 , 500 in addition to ban  J r ? me Valcke , Sepp Blatter s former right hand man , could follow the president in being handed a hefty suspension . Photograph : Steffen Schmidt   Last modified on Tuesday 5 January 2016 19 . 45 ?   J r ? me Valcke , the former right hand man to the banned Fifa president Sepp Blatter , is facing a possible nine year suspension from football after Fifa s investigators said he had violated nine counts of its ethics code .  The head of the investigatory arm of Fifa s ethics committee , Cornel Borb ly , recommended the nine year ban and a 100 , 000 Swiss francs ( ? 67 , 500 ) fine as it passed the case to the adjudicatory arm , headed by the German judge Hans Joachim Eckert , for a final decision .  Last month Blatter and Michel Platini , the Uefa president who was his heir apparent , were banned from football for eight years by Fifa s ethics committee following an investigation into a ? 1 . 35m disloyal payment . Both men protested their innocence and said they would appeal .  Valcke , the former secretary general , a key Fifa figure since he returned for his second spell at the organisation in 2007 , was placed on indefinite leave in September after he was implicated in a scheme to sell World Cup tickets above face value and share in the profits . The plan was never enacted and Valcke denied the allegations .  The Frenchman was later provisionally suspended for 90 days while Fifa s ethics committee looked into the case , along with claims he facilitated a 10m ( ? 6 . 8m ) payment from the South African  to an account controlled by the disgraced former Fifa vice president Jack Warner . Valcke s New York based lawyers Kramer Levin said in a statement that the Frenchman had done absolutely nothing wrong .  The statement said : The investigatory chamber of the Fifa ethics committee has chosen to ignore J r ? me Valcke s exemplary conduct and extraordinary contributions during his long tenure as secretary general . Today s press release is nothing more than a self serving public relations effort to wrongly attack Mr Valcke in a desperate attempt to try to prove that Fifa can police itself . Mr Valcke did absolutely nothing wrong as any independent and fair review of the facts would establish .  It is also understood the Fifa ethics committee has been examining allegations relating to Valcke s expenses and , among other things , his use of a private jet .  In a statement , the Fifa ethics committee said : The chairman of the investigatory chamber recommended imposing a sanction of a nine year ban and a fine of 100 , 000 Swiss francs on Mr Valcke for alleged violation of the general rules of conduct , loyalty , confidentiality , duty of disclosure , cooperation and reporting , conflicts of interest , offering and accepting gifts and other benefits , and general obligation to collaborate .  Until a formal decision is taken by the adjudicatory chamber of the ethics committee , Mr Valcke is presumed innocent .  Valcke s 90 day suspension from all football related activities ends at midnight on Tuesday but a 45 day extension has been requested by Borb ly .  Valcke had become a pivotal figure in Blatter s administration , responsible for negotiating many of Fifa s commercial and broadcasting deals . He quickly became indispensable to Blatter when he joined in 2003 as head of marketing and  .  In 2006 , he left Fifa under cloud after being criticised by a New York judge for lying during contract negotiations with Mastercard but returned less than a year later as secretary general . Since then , he has delivered World Cups in South Africa and Brazil and been entrusted with shifting the Qatar 2022 World Cup to winter .  But Valcke s position became increasingly untenable in the fallout from the February raids in Zurich that precipitated Fifa s near collapse and the indictment of 35 football officials in the  on charges including money laundering , racketeering and tax evasion .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
23741,23742,"- Germans have rejected the government policy of welcoming hordes of violent Muslims, particularly following the New Years sex attacks in Cologne and elsewhere . < The Anti-Woman Candidate Running for President?—That Would Be the Democrat Hillary Clinton > November 7, 2016, 9:41 am    Hillary Clinton has always defined herself as fundamentally a feminist who cares about women’s rights and safety. But her behavior has revealed quite the opposite, in particular her pledge to increase immigration of unscreenable Syrians and other Muslims into this country by more than 500 percent .  Adding to a growing population of culturally misogynous Muslims is dangerous for American women’s safety and well-being. Look at the problems Europe has had with Islamic rapefugees since the borders were opened by Chancellor Angela Merkel.  What possible reason is there for Muslim immigration at all? As a group, they are remarkably resistant to assimilation. The architect of modern Singapore , the late Lee Kuan Yew, remarked , “I think we were progressing very nicely until the surge of Islam came … I would say today, we can integrate all religions and races except Islam.”  In another questionable choice, Hillary’s closest aide for 20 years has been Huma Abedin, a daughter of Muslim Brotherhood activists who herself worked at a pro-sharia (aka misogynous) magazine. Huma will likely be a major player in a Clinton2 White House — if she is not in jail . Is she a long-time sleeper agent of sharia , disguised by stylish clothes and a wacky marriage to a pervert congressman ? The mainstream media is strangely uncurious about diverse Democrats.  More recently we have learned that the Clinton Foundation has sucked up many millions of dollars from the worst sharia holes on earth, where women are treated not like second-class citizens, but like property.  Author of Clinton Cash Peter Schweizer appeared on Fox News Saturday, and the list above of skanky contributors to the crime family foundation comes from that interview.  Below is a spare audio file of the interview:  weblink   CARLSON: Peter Schweizer — he’s the author of Clinton Cash and inspired the investigation the  is now doing in the first place. He’s been interviewed multiple times by the Bureau. It’s great to see you this morning, so tell us how can she have received a million dollars from a foreign country — it just seems so out of bounds. What are the details?   SCHWEIZER: Yeah, it’s completely out of bounds. When Hillary Clinton became Secretary of State, as a condition of taking that job, Tucker, they agreed to do a number of things: have complete transparency, disclosing donors, donations from foreign governments had to have pre-approval. In this case that didn’t happen, they didn’t disclose it and now this is multiple violations in this regard. So you have Qatar, at a time when the Arab Spring is taking place, they’re very anxious about what  position is going to be, giving a million dollars to the Clinton Foundation and the Clinton Foundation not disclosing that, as they had agreed to do.  CARLSON: They’re not required or they were not required by law to do that? I mean this was just a sort of gentlemen’s agreement she made?  SCHWEIZER: Well it was a written agreement with Barack Obama, to his credit, Barack Obama said in order for you to be Secretary of State, you need to do this. Hillary Clinton also said to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during her confirmation hearings there would be complete transparency, so they failed to live up with it, and the problem is, Tucker, of course they’re making promises now that there’s not going to be any more foreign money, Bill’s not going to give speeches. We got to take that with a grain of salt, or a grain of sand actually, in a way because they have not lived up to their previous commitments, and there’s no expectation that they would now.  CARLSON: Just to put this in context, I want to put a graphic on the screen of some of the money that the Clinton Foundation has taken from foreign governments, so one to five [million dollars] from Qatar, Saudi 10 to 25 million, Kuwait up to 10,  up to five, Brunei up to five, Oman up to five, Algeria up to half a million. I mean, among many other things you notice, these are all countries in which women don’t have a Western understanding of civil rights. If she’s president, how is she going to deal with these countries, knowing that she owes something to them?  SCHWEIZER: That’s right, Tucker; add on top of that the speaking fees, the millions of dollars and money from these same governments that ended up in the Clintons pockets. Look I mean this is a huge problem and as much as the Clintons want to say that this money was given with no strings attached, I think we all know that governments like Saudi Arabia don’t give money away for nothing; they expect something in return.  Does anyone think the Clintons won’t even more wealthy if they are allowed to sell the White House and America off for their own profit once again?",fake,news,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
23764,23765,"After a swelling tide of protests, the president of Yale announced on Saturday that the university would change the name of a residential college commemorating John C. Calhoun, the   white supremacist statesman from South Carolina. The college will be renamed for Grace Murray Hopper, a trailblazing computer scientist and Navy rear admiral who received a master’s degree and a doctorate from Yale. The decision was a stark reversal of the university’s decision last spring to maintain the name despite broad opposition. Though the president, Peter Salovey, said that he was still “concerned about erasing history,” he said that “these are exceptional circumstances. ” “I made this decision because I think it is the right thing to do on principle,” Mr. Salovey said on a conference call with reporters. “John C. Calhoun’s principles, his legacy as an ardent supporter of slavery as a positive good, are at odds with this university. ” Mr. Salovey and the other members of the Yale Corporation, the university’s governing body, made their decision after an advisory committee unanimously recommended the renaming. The school is still determining when exactly the change will be carried out, but Mr. Salovey said it would be by fall at the latest. Students reacted with joy to a change many said was long overdue. “There’s a huge sense of relief and celebration,” said Rianna   21, a senior from Ann Arbor, Mich. who was involved in the protests. “Students of color have been fighting for this change for decades and it’s hard to believe this day is finally here. ” Online, some students found inspiration in a quotation from Ms. Hopper, who died in 1992. “Humans are allergic to change,” she once said. “They love to say, ‘We’ve always done it this way.’ I try to fight that. ” Calhoun, the nation’s seventh vice president, attended Yale and was its valedictorian. The name of the college incited controversy almost as soon as it opened in 1933. Many black students staged demonstrations and referred to the college, which was decorated with depictions of slaves carrying bales of cotton, as the “Calhoun Plantation. ” Opposition may have peaked in 2015, after the massacre of nine worshipers at a black church in Charleston. The killings, by an avowed white supremacist, prompted protests that led to the removal of the Confederate battle flag outside the South Carolina Statehouse and elsewhere. Yale was seized that fall by a series of demonstrations from students, faculty and alumni who objected to the Calhoun name, as well as to what they saw as a larger climate of racial inequality on campus. Many universities, domestic and abroad, have faced similar pressure in recent years to eradicate names and symbols of racism and colonialism on campus. That resistance notwithstanding, Mr. Salovey announced last April that Yale would preserve the Calhoun name. At the same time, he revealed that the university’s two new residential colleges would be named for Benjamin Franklin and Anna Pauline Murray. The honoring of Ms. Murray, a legal scholar and civil rights activist who graduated from Yale Law School in 1965, was widely hailed as the first such distinction bestowed on either a woman or an  . But the selection of Franklin, who was once a slaveholder himself, was derided by many students, particularly after it became clear that he was chosen in deference to a suggestion by Charles B. Johnson, a businessman who donated $250 million for the new buildings  —   the largest gift in the school’s history. Addressing a related concern, the school also decided then that the leaders of the residential colleges would no longer use the title “master,” and would instead be called “heads of college,” a recognition of the discomfort many students felt toward the previous honorific’s evocation of slavery. The Calhoun and Franklin decisions reignited protests from student activists, who held a “renaming ceremony” in front of the college in which they called it “the college formerly known as Calhoun. ” At a town   meeting soon after, students showered Mr. Salovey with fake $1 million bills, a protest against what they saw as the university prioritizing its financial interests over their concerns. The dissent did not come only from students. Over the summer, a black dishwasher in Calhoun smashed a stained glass windowpane that depicted slaves working on a plantation, because he said he found the image degrading. And on Friday, four demonstrators protesting the Calhoun name were arrested for blocking the street. Still, despite their delight about the renaming, many students hope that the university will continue to move beyond symbolism to address more pressing issues of racial inequality on campus, like the dearth of black faculty members. During the fall 2015 protests, the university announced that it was committing $50 million to a   initiative to confront the fact that less than 3 percent of its arts and sciences faculty is black. But since that time, several prominent black professors have left the university. About 11 percent of Yale’s roughly 5, 400 undergraduates identify themselves as black or  . “This is definitely a victory, but we’re not done fighting,” Ms.   said. “It’s our job to keep pushing Yale in the right direction. ”",true,news,validation,Other news1,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
23788,23789,"Dozens of women and at least five children were arrested on Saturday after demonstrations were held in two Saudi cities , Riyadh and Buraida , according to human rights activists . The women were demanding the release of relatives they say have been held for years without access to lawyers or a trial , the activists said .  "" They are asking the authorities to either take these prisoners to court , "" said Al Qahtani , "" or set them free . ""  In the capital city of Riyadh , one activist who was part of the demonstration said it was held outside a building that houses one of the country ' s government backed human rights groups .  The activist , who requested anonymity for fear for her safety , said she had to quickly flee the scene to avoid arrest . About 50 women demonstrated there , and at least two of them had been arrested as police tried to disperse the crowd , she said .  "" They went out there today to ask that their relatives be freed , "" said the activist . "" They have been in prison for a long time and have had no lawyer and no trial . ""  According to two other activists , three of the women arrested in Riyadh were the wife and daughter and granddaughter of Suleiman al Rashudi , a political activist who was arrested in December after giving a lecture in which he said protests were permitted in Islam .  Al Rashudi previously spent five years in detention and was found guilty last year of , among other things , financing terrorism , incitement against the king and attempting to seize power .  One amateur video purportedly shot at the scene shows women , some who brought their children , chanting , "" The people call for the liberation of the prisons . ""  In Buraida , the provincial capital of deeply conservative Qassim Province , activists say at least 26 women protested and were arrested outside the city ' s Board of Grievances on Saturday the scene of a similar protest in early January .  Many of the women brought their children , who they say were also arrested .  "" I demonstrated for the release of my husband , Abdulmalek Al Muqdin , "" explained Um Abdullah , "" who has been in jail without charge for 12 years . ""  According to Um Abdullah , whose son was detained alongside her , the police told her and the other women that they would be released if they signed a piece of paper that would compel them to show up at any government office if summoned to do so , but the women refused to do so .  One amateur video posted online purports to show several of the women , and some of the children , in the back of a police bus after having been detained . In the video , the women express solidarity with the political prisoners in Saudi Arabia .  In early January , a small group of women held a demonstration in the same part of Buraida , calling for the release of detained family members . Their arrest , a short time later , caused great outrage and sparked several days of small protests in various cities .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
23802,23803,"Bayern Munich sacked coach Louis van Gaal Sunday after poor results threatened their participation in next season ' s Champions League .  The Dutchman was due to step down at the end of the season , but the board of the Bavarian giants held an emergency meeting after their disappointing 1 1 draw against Nuremberg Saturday and took the decision to replace him immediately .  A statement on the club ' s official website said the decision had been taken in the "" interests of the club as a whole . ""  It added that the draw meant Bayern had slipped back into fourth place in the Bundesliga "" increasing the danger of the club failing to hit its minimum target for the season , the chance of qualifying for the  Champions League . ""  Van Gaal , 59 , was informed of his sacking on return from Nuremberg . His assistants Frans Hoek , Jos van Dijk and Max Reckers have also been relieved of their duties .  Andries Jonker has been placed in temporary charge until the end of the season .  Van Gaal took Bayern to the domestic double last season and they lost in the final of the Champions League to Inter Milan .  But their form in the German league this season has been poor , trailing runaway leaders Borussia Dortmund , while defeat to Inter in their Champions League last 16 clash last month ended their hopes of silverware .  Currently in fourth , Bayern need to finish in the top two to gain automatic entry into the Champions League next season , with third place going into the final qualifying round .  Bayern chairman Karl Heinz Rummenigge told  that they had been considering the decision to sack van Gaal for weeks .  "" It is true we have taken a short term decision but there has been dissatisfaction I have to make this clear for weeks , "" he said .  "" At the end of the day , it is the responsibility of the club to do everything we can to get third place .  "" In terms of the decision , we simply didn ' t have an alternative . ""  Bayer Leverkusen ' s coach Jupp Heynckes has already been announced as Bayern ' s head coach for next season .  His current side cut Borussia Dortmund ' s lead at the top of the Bundesliga to just five points Sunday as they came from behind to seal a 2 1 home win over relegation battlers St Pauli .  Dortmund were held to a 1 1 draw at Hamburg Saturday , but second placed Leverkusen fell behind until Germany striker Stefan Kiessling equalized before Lars Bender scored the crucial winner .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
23820,23821,"Cancer Agency Under Fire for withholding ‘carcinogenic glyphosate’ Documents     The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), facing criticism over its classification of carcinogens, has reportedly been advising its scientific experts not to publish internal research data on its 2015 report on “probably carcinogenic” glyphosate.  The  urged its scientists not to publish research documents on its 2015 weedkiller glyphosate review, according to Reuters. The agency told Reuters on Tuesday that it tried to protect the study from “external interference,” as well as protect its intellectual rights, since it was “the sole owner of such materials.”  The scientists had been asked earlier to release all the documentation on the 2015 report under  freedom of information laws.  The groundbreaking review, published in March 2015 by the  – a semi-autonomous agency of the World Health Organization (WHO) – labeled the glyphosate herbicide as “probably carcinogenic to humans.” Glyphosate is a key ingredient of Monsanto’s flagship weedkiller well-known under the trade name ‘Roundup.’ It is one of the most heavily used herbicides in the world and is designed to go along with genetically-modified “Roundup Ready” crops, also produced by Monsanto.  The IARC’s report caused problems for both the notorious agrochemical giant and the agency itself.  The report sparked a heated debate around the use of Roundup, and caused several  countries – including France, Sweden, and the Netherlands – to object to the renewal of the glyphosate’s  license. The vote on prolonging the glyphosate license for 15 years failed several times in June 2016, but the license was temporarily extended for 18 months during last hours before its expiration.  The controversial report has seemingly made the  a target for attacks from multiple directions, and raised scientific, legal, and financial questions.  Various critics, including those in the chemical industry, said the IARC’s evaluations are fuel for “unnecessary health scares,” since the  allegedly studies the potentially harmful substance itself, and not a “typical human” exposure to it. It remained unclear whether the critics urged a  body to test the potentially carcinogenic chemical on humans.  The critics also brought up other controversial statements from the IARC, over whether such things as mobile phones, coffee, red meat, and processed meat could cause cancer.  The agency defended its methods as scientifically sound and “widely respected for their scientific rigor, standardized and transparent process and…freedom from conflicts of interest.” Numerous freedom of information requests by the Energy & Environment Legal Institute (E&E Legal), a  conservative advocacy group, have since been turned down with this reasoning.  E&E Legal told Reuters that it is pushing a legal challenge over whether the documents in question belong to the  or to the  federal and state institutions where some of the experts work. Basically, it’s being decided whether the IARC, as part of the WHO, is truly independent and free from “conflicts of interest.”  According to Reuters, officials from the  National Institutes of Health (NIH) will be questioned by a congressional committee about why American taxpayers fund the cancer agency, which faces much criticism over its allegedly faulty classification of carcinogens.  “IARC’s standards and determinations for classifying substances as carcinogenic, and therefore cancer-causing, appear inconsistent with other scientific research, and have generated much controversy and alarm,” a letter from  Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz to  director Francis Collins states, as quoted by Reuters.  The Oversight Committee demanded a full disclosure of  funding of the IARC, and even money spent in relation to the cancer agency’s activities.   opponents from scientific circles vowed to provide their data on the matter. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which believes glyphosate is “unlikely pose a carcinogenic hazard to humans,” promised to release its raw data on the subject as part of its “commitment to open risk assessment.” The food safety watchdog made this statement in late September, and still has to deliver the promised information. Share This Article...",fake,news,validation,US elections,Conflict,satire,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
23831,23832,"Russell Crowe ' s grungy beard presumably as well as other elements of Noah drew in 44 million this weekend , perching it atop a Mount Ararat of box office receipts with a moderately impressive sum by any measurement ( including cubits ) .  Darren Aronofsky ' s Biblical bonanza took the No . 1 spot , knocking all the films from last week ' s Top 5 down one slot . The theologically loose adaptation fared better than the last time Crowe went gallivanting around in a tunic , in 2010 s Robin Hood . ( That period epic only made 36 million in its first weekend . ) However , there wasn ' t exactly a rainbow at the end of the storm , considering audiences gave Noah a "" C "" CinemaScore rating .  The Divergent Games : City of Bones er , Divergent couldn ' t quite muster enough  fandom or non reader interest to push its to date take over the 100 million mark . The fantasy drama sits comfortably in a distant second with 26 . 5 million for the weekend , making for a grand total of 95 . 3 million . With a reported budget of 85 million , this certainly isn ' t a dystopian scenario for the proposed trilogy , but it is less than half of what both films in The Hunger Games series had made by the end of their second weekends .  In third place , Muppets Most Wanted slipped only 33 percent from its opening weekend to 11 . 4 million , bringing its total up to 33 . 2 million . The film a sequel to the 2011 reboot of the beloved Jim Henson characters isn ' t performing quite as strongly as its predecessor , but as Kermit knows , it ain ' t easy making green . The other family friendly film on offer , DreamWorks Animation ' s Mr Peabody and Sherman , followed up in fourth with 9 . 5 million .  Putting Judeo Christian based films both on the top and bottom of this weekend ' s Top 5 , the pro deity tract God ' s Not Dead found an additional 9 . 1 million in the collection plate this Sunday , bringing it to more than 22 million all together . Ah nold ' s drug bust thriller Sabotage , on the other hand , seems to have been forsaken , belly flopping into seventh place with only 5 . 3 million pretty dismal for a movie with so much supposed star power .  Here ' s the Top 5 :  1 ) Noah 44 million  2 ) Divergent 26 . 5 million  3 ) Muppets Most Wanted 11 . 4 million  4 ) Mr Peabody and Sherman 9 . 5 million  5 ) God ' s Not Dead 9 . 1 million  See the original story at EWweblink .    to Try 2   issues of Entertainment Weekly  2011 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc . All rights reserved .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
23855,23856,"Aung San Suu Kyi casts her ballot Photograph :  Reuters  The military drafted constitution banning Aung San Suu Kyi from being president won t stop her wielding power , the  leader told the  .  In her full interview with Fergal Keane she said : I ll make all the decisions .  Under the constitution anyone with foreign children is barred from becoming president , in a clause seen as the military s attempt to stop her taking power . But Suu Kyi , who has two British sons , suggested she would still be Myanmar s leader .  Asked what she meant by stating last week that she would be above the president , Suu Kyi said : If I m required to field a president who meets the requirements of section F of the constitution , alright then we ll find one . But that won t stop me making all the decisions as the leader of the winning party .  Asked if she planned to be president in all but name , she said It s a name only , and after laughing added : A rose by any other name .  She conceded that Myanmar s constitution , which guarantees the military 25 of seats and several key ministries , could be described as democracy on a leash , but she said Sunday s election was the beginning of a process .  She added that a National League for Democracy government would not be vengeful towards the military officials who have ordered human rights abuses . We are not going in for vengeance . We are not going in for a series of Nuremberg trials or anything like that . But people must change their ways . It doesn t mean we will simply let people get away with what they have been doing for the last 50 years , she said .  Here s a roundup of where thing currently stand :  The  has announced its unofficial victory in the election with 82 of seats in the lower and upper houses of parliament , based on results it has counted so far . It says the  has won 271 of the 330 seats in the lower house , and 135 of 168 in the upper house . It needs 329 seats in both houses to secure victory .  A senior member of the military backed  appeared to concede . Kyi Win said : Our  lost completely . The  has won . Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has to take responsibility now we congratulate them anyway . President Thein Sein is reported to be ready to congratulate Aung San Suu Kyi after the official results are confirmed .  Channel News Asia has broadcast that post election interview with Aung San Suu Kyi in which she signals that the  intends to govern by bypassing the president .  The appointed president will have no authority when her party is able to form the government , she said . She added :  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
23861,23862,"Reuters) - British police arrested a second man over the bombing of a London commuter train on Friday that injured 30 people and the security services lowered the threat level for an attack from its highest setting. The 21-year-old man was detained under Britain s terrorism laws in the west London suburb of Hounslow just before midnight on Saturday, London police said in a statement. Police earlier arrested an 18-year-old man in the departure lounge of Dover port in what they called a  significant  step and then raided a property in Sunbury-on-Thames, a town near London and about four miles (six km) from Hounslow. The home-made bomb shot flames through a packed carriage at west London s Parsons Green Tube station during the Friday morning rush hour but apparently failed to detonate fully. Islamic State claimed responsibility, as it has for other attacks in Britain this year, including two in London and one at a concert by American singer Ariana Grande in Manchester in May. Interior minister Amber Rudd said on Sunday the second arrest showed it was not a lone-wolf attack but there was no evidence Islamic State was involved. She said the threat level had been lowered to  severe  from  critical , meaning another attack was highly likely rather than expected imminently.  It is inevitable that so-called Islamic State, or Daesh, will reach in and try to claim responsibility. We have no evidence to suggest that yet,  Rudd told the BBC.  But as this unfolds, and as the police do their investigations, we will make sure that we find out exactly how he was radicalized, if we can.  Police said on Sunday they were searching a home in Stanwell in the county of Surrey near the perimeter of London s Heathrow Airport, in connection with the Hounslow arrest. Police continued to search the house in Sunbury nearby but said there were no safety risks to local residents. Local media said the home belongs to a couple who have fostered hundreds of children, including refugees. The  said the couple, 88-year-old Ronald Jones and Penelope Jones, 71, had been honored by Queen Elizabeth for their work with children. The bomb struck as passengers were traveling toward the center of the British capital. Some suffered burns and others were hurt in a stampede to escape. Health officials said none was thought to be in a serious condition. Prime Minister Theresa May put Britain on its highest security level late on Friday and soldiers and armed police were deployed to strategic locations such as nuclear power plants. On Saturday, armed police patrolled the streets near government departments in Westminster and guarded Premier League soccer grounds hosting matches. The last time Britain was put on  critical  alert was after a suicide bomber killed 22 people at the Ariana Grande concert. On that occasion, the threat level remained at critical for four days while police established whether the bomber had worked alone or with others. Prior to that it had not been triggered since 2007. ",true,dataset,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
23868,23869,"Vladimir Putin last night pointed to Russia ' s nuclear arsenal and warned the West : ' It ' s best not to mess with us ' on Ukraine .  In a menacing intervention , the Russian president denied Nato , British and American reports that Russian forces are operating in eastern Ukraine .  And he warned the West against any attempt to support Ukraine in its efforts to defeat Russian separatists . Speaking at a pro Kremlin youth camp near Moscow , he said : ' Russia ' s partners . . . should understand it ' s best not to mess with us .  Ukrainian servicemen use a brief lull in the conflict to make running repairs on their heavy armour  Mechanics have field striped part of the engine and drive components to keep the vehicle running  Ukraine has appealed to the West for supplies of modern weaponry to help repel any Russian advance  ' Thank God , I think no one is thinking of unleashing a large scale conflict with Russia . I want to remind you that Russia is one of the leading nuclear powers . '  Mr Putin also launched an astonishing verbal assault on the Ukrainian government , comparing it to the Nazis and saying its actions in the east of the country ' sadly reminds me of the events of the Second World War , when German fascist . . . occupiers surrounded our cities ' .  Russia is one of five countries which has nuclear weapons as a signatory to the Non Proliferation Treaty . Mr Putin has the second largest stockpile of warheads in the world 4 , 300 according to the latest estimates from the Federation of American Scientists .  Of those , approximately 1 , 600 are long range land and sea based ballistic missiles .  Nato believes that there are at least 1 , 000 Russian troops now actively engaged in the conflict  Ukrainian army fires during fighting between militants and Ukrainian forces in Donetsk region . Nato said that it believes that well more than 1 , 000 regular Russian troops are fighting in Ukraine  The  has an estimated 4 , 765 , Britain has 225 , France 300 and China 250 . Of other counties thought to have nuclear weapons India , Pakistan and Israel are thought to have fewer than 100 and North Korea fewer than ten .  British intelligence believes Russia has made a significant incursion into Ukraine , involving at least 1 , 000 regular troops fighting alongside pro Russian militias on the ground .  British sources said Russia had supplied 100 battle tanks , 80 armoured personnel carriers , 500 anti tank weapons and 100 artillery pieces to separatists .  Residents of Mariupol dig trenches and make fortifications with sandbags as they help Ukrainian troops in organising their defence on the outskirts of the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol  An Ukrainian soldier digs a trench on the outskirts of the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol today . Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen urged Russia to halt its ' illegal ' military actions in Ukraine  Ukrainian servicemen repair a part of their  inside a military camp in Donetsk  A Ukrainian serviceman sits on a tank while speaking on the phone inside a military camp in Donetsk  Ukraine ' s Ambassador at Large Oleksandr Scherba appealed to the West for military help . ' We want the West to understand Ukraine is fighting Europe ' s war , ' he said .  ' There is only one thing that separates your people driving to their jobs and a full relapse into a Cold War and that is young Ukrainian volunteer soldiers . ' Government sources said David Cameron would press for tough new sanctions on Russia at a summit of  leaders in Brussels today . But military intervention is not being contemplated .  The crisis in Ukraine is also now set to dominate next week ' s Nato summit in Newport , south Wales .  A Ukrainian serviceman walks past a pile of shells stored inside a hole inside a military camp in Donetsk  Rest : Ukrainian servicemen rest at their military camp near the eastern Ukrainian city of Debalcevo , in Ukraine . Mr Putin today asked pro Moscow rebels to open a ' humanitarian corridor ' to allow Ukrainian soldier who remain hemmed in to the region to go home  Proof : Kiev said Putin ' s edict proved that separatists were under Kremlin control  Ukraine yesterday said it was seeking Nato membership a request the military alliance said it would treat ' respectfully ' .  Nato accused Russia of a ' blatant violation ' of Ukraine ' s sovereignty , saying the crisis ' defies all diplomatic efforts for a peaceful solution ' . On Thursday the alliance released satellite photos of Russian self propelled artillery units moving inside Ukraine last week .  Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen yesterday said that ' despite hollow denials ' , it was now clear that Russian forces had illegally crossed Ukraine ' s border .  Put to work : Prisoners of war , who are Ukrainian servicemen captured by pro Russian separatists , clean a street in Snizhne in the Donetsk region  Held captive : Captured pro Ukrainian fighter sits in a garage at the Novoazovsk border crossing point , in eastern Ukraine  Mercy : In a statement issued through the Kremlin today , the Russian president told the separatists to open up a ' humanitarian corridor ' in eastern Ukraine to avoid the ' senseless deaths ' of trapped Ukrainian troops  German foreign minister Frank Walter Steinmeier said : ' All our hopes of de escalation have been disappointed and the situation is showing signs that it is now out of control . '  Polish foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski said : ' If it looks like a war , sounds like a war and kills like a war , it is a war . ' Sweden ' s foreign minister Carl Bildt warned : ' This is the second invasion of Ukraine in a year . We have to call a spade a spade and stop playing around . '  Meanwhile , heavily armed pro Russia separatists held firm control of the strategic coastal town of Novoazovsk yesterday .  At least half a dozen tanks were seen in the town of about 12 , 000 people , bearing the flags of Novorossiya , the ' state ' proclaimed by rebels in two eastern Ukraine regions .  None of the tanks bore Russian markings , but ready made meals seen nearby had markings showing they were Russian army issue .  Digging in : Civilians dig trenches and make fortifications with sandbags as they assist Ukrainian troops in organising their defence on the outskirts of the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol  Battle weary : Armed Ukrainian servicemen comb the area after being shot at by pro Russian militants at their checkpoint near the small city of Dzerzhynsk , in the Donetsk region  Mercy : In a statement issued through the Kremlin today , Russian president Putin told the separatists to open up a ' humanitarian corridor ' through which to release trapped enemy troops to ' avoid senseless deaths '  A woman rides on the back of a truck holding a flag of Novorossiya , a union between the ' Donetsk People ' s Republic and ' Lugansk People ' s Republic ' . If implemented , that plan would leave Kiev with no Black Sea coastline  ' Plain to see ' : He spoke as President Barack Obama said it was ' plain for the world to see ' that Russian forces are now fighting inside Ukraine  This map shows how ' New Russia ' , now eastern Ukraine , was once part of the Russian Empire  The word ' Novorossiya ' literally means ' New Russia ' an imperial era term for southern Ukraine , when it was part of the Russian Empire .  It is now a term used by Russia ultra nationalists who want to re conquer the area .  The region was seized by imperial Russia at the end of the 18th century from the Ottoman Empire and remained under its control until the October Revolution and the collapse of the empire in November 1917 .  The term implies a giant semi circle of Ukraine encompassing Kharkiv , Lugansk , Donetsk , Mykolaiv , Kherson , and Odessa .  If implemented , that plan would leave Kiev with no Black Sea coastline .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
23885,23886,"Call it a false memory . A trick of the mind . Or a "" misremembrance . ""  Television anchor Brian Williams isn ' t the first person to be embarrassed by claiming a remembrance that , well , never really happened .  Recent history shows how several famous figures suffered what one expert labels a false "" flashbulb "" memory .  Astrophysicist and television host Neil deGrasse Tyson , a protege of the late Carl Sagan , claimed he heard President George W . Bush make a remark intended to highlight divisions between Judeo Christian Americans and fundamentalist Muslims .  Tyson ' s assertion is still published on the webpage of the Hayden Planetarium , which he runs .  "" After the 9 11 attacks , when President George W . Bush , in a speech aimed at distinguishing the U . S . from the Muslim fundamentalists , said , ' Our God is the God who named the stars . ' The problem is two thirds of all the stars that have names , have Arabic names . I don ' t think he knew this . This would confound the point that he was making , "" Tyson said in a 2008 speech .  Fact checkers found Tyson ' s recollection to be wrong , and The New York Times even published an opinion piece in December 2014 by two psychology professors about the Tyson incident and "" Why Our Memory Fails Us . ""  "" In his post 9 11 speech , Mr Bush actually said , ' The enemy of America is not our many Muslim friends , ' and he said nothing about the stars , "" wrote professors Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons .  "" Mr Bush had indeed once said something like what Dr Tyson remembered in 2003 Mr Bush said , in tribute to the astronauts lost in the Columbia space shuttle explosion , that ' the same creator who names the stars also knows the names of the seven souls we mourn today . ' ' '  Tyson later published an explanation and an apology on his Facebook page . He noted how "" blogosphere headlines "" carried "" accusations of me being a compulsive liar and a fabricator . ""  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
23899,23900,"Paranoid schizophrenic Leslie Gadsby , who killed his father after being freed because a hospital mental health ward was full , went on to stab his mother to death inside his secure unit  A paranoid schizophrenic who killed his father after being freed because a hospital mental health ward was full went on to stab his mother to death inside his secure unit .  An independent report into Edna Gadsby ' s death found that both she and her taxi driver son Leslie were ' seriously failed ' by mental health professionals at Mersey Care  trust .  After suffering paranoid hallucinations Gadbsy , now 42 , was admitted to a hospital mental health unit in 2003 but there were no beds available , leaving him free to bludgeon his father Arthur to death with a hammer in their family kitchen in Gateacre , Liverpool , just two days later .  He was given a conditional discharge following his father ' s death , but while he was living at the secure Scott Clinic mental health centre in Stoneycroft in 2010 he stabbed Mrs Gadsby , 70 , in the throat before going downstairs to chat to social workers about Scrabble .  The damning report compiled by a panel of doctors and mental health experts outlined multiple failings by the Mersey Care  Trust and independent charity Imagine , who ran the facility in Tuebrook .  Among the failings listed in the report were that Mrs Gadsby was found dead inside his flat which was supposed to be a ' 24 hour mental health facility ' , and that she had been placed in ' unmitigated risk '  Gadsby was first diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2003 , and admitted to hospital shortly afterwards .  However , officials were unable to find a bed for him until two days later .  When a carer called to organise picking him up to take him to hospital , a police officer answered and said he had killed his father by bludgeoning him with a hammer in the kitchen of the family home .  He received a conditional discharge two years after the killing of his father , but the report found that mental health workers ' did not recognise the level of risk he posed to himself and others ' , and told him to move to a more independent flat in 2010 .  Just days later , his mother came to visit the flat , where she was was brutally stabbed . Gadsby later returned to the family home to set it alight .  Following his release on conditional discharge , Gadsby was meant to be monitored 24 hours a day and contact with his mother was supposed to be carefully supervised .  However , the report found that ' unacceptable ' planning failures ' in effect left Mr Gadsby to regulate his own activities and set his own boundaries . '  The report said this damning ' failing of duty of care ' left the seriously ill man with no safety net strong enough to ensure his safety , or the safety of his mother .  While Gadsby was living at a secure Scott Clinic mental health centre in Stoneycroft in 2010 he stabbed Edna Gadsby , 70 , in the throat before going downstairs to chat to social workers about Scrabble  He had even tried to mutilate himself with a broken toothbrush while under watch , thinking that it was his testosterone that had made him aggressive .  Investigators ruled that had Gadsby been ' subject to robust supervision ' the risk of him killing his mother would have been ' substantially reduced ' .  They admitted that there was a serious causal link between lack of care and treatment , and the death of Mrs Gadsby .  The 400 page document also found there was no system to detect a relapse in his mental state , meaning that officials consistently reported back that he was doing well and recommended moving him to a more independent flat .  The Gadsby family were even forced to make their own arrangements to protect Mrs Gadsby after officials failed to manage his release making ' no effort ' to educate or support them .  The damning report into failings by the Mersey Care  Trust and independent charity Imagine , who ran the Scott Clinic facility in Tuebrook found that :  Gadsby was said to have a ' loving relationship with both his parents ' and worked for 10 years as a taxi driver in Liverpool before being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia .  After the death of her husband , long suffering Mrs Gadsby , who was also seriously wounded , told officers she ' felt it would have been better if her son had killed her too ' .  But she continued to visit her son and tried to rebuild a relationship with him despite protests from concerned family members who told her ' she should have locked him up and throw away the key . '  Gadsby ' s uncle even contacted officials to express his concern that Gadsby was on bail and might try and approach his mother , but social workers had said he was ' happy and relaxed ' .  Meanwhile , Gadsby had made a secret trip to the house of an ex girlfriend , appearing at her door wearing just a pair of tights over his underwear and offering her a cheque for 7 , 800 , which the report said was a classic sign of relapse for his condition .  He had failed to take his anti psychotic medication properly for years , and had never been offered Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (  ) a key road to recovery for thousands of mental health patients .  Just five months after brutally killing his father after an argument over money , his risk of aggression and violence was deemed ' low ' by carers , despite him suffering ' paranoid ideas about his neighbours and members of his family . '  Gadsby also thought people could read his thoughts and were monitoring his movements on a daily basis leaving him wary of authority and scared of being sectioned .  Following his discharge to the Scott Clinic in late 2006 , a social worker noted that he ' still presents a risk in keeping things to himself and letting them build up until it ' s too late . '  The report concluded that it was hoped it would hightlight failings from the tragic case and put measures in place to stop any future incidents after Gadsby and his family were left with ' no support ' to help develop strategies to cope with his illness , leaving him ' vulnerable to relapse ' .  Mersey Care has vowed to improve care for mentally ill patients after the ' devastating report ' .  The investigation recommended that the Scott Clinic should have a system where workers are aware if patients have guests , and that the staff flat should be moved to the ground floor .  At the time of Mrs Gadsby ' s death , her son ' s flat was on the ground floor , with staff upstairs .  The report also recommend that injured family members of mentally ill people be provided with a ' support package ' , as well as improved communication throughout .  ' It ' s a devastating report , it ' s devastating for the Gadsby family and it ' s devastating for me as a nurse , ' said Ray Walker , Executive Director of Nursing and Social Care for Mersey Care  Trust .  ' What ' s important in these situations is to find out how you can learn from those mistakes and ensure those things don ' t happen again .  ' We were aware of some of the findings coming out of the independent report , which means we were able to implement some changes some time ago and we ' re actioning on a number of fronts and have been able to progress in a number of things , like better team working and better risk assessment .  ' It ' s been a very difficult lesson for us to learn , but it ' s provided us with an opportunity to help us going forward .  ' It really is a matter of a number of things that come together at the same time , it was a cumulative effect of a number of failings .  ' Not to minimise those failings , they were important things , but actually it was all together that those problems resulted in the death .  ' It ' s been over five years , and the director of patient safety has remained in contact with the family . They ' ve conducted themselves in a very respectful manner , and the family have been very dignified throughout the process and they want to make sure this kind of thing doesn ' t happen again and we support them in that .  ' This has been devastating for me personally as a nurse , and devastating for me personally . This kind of thing stays with you for a career .  ' It changes the way you practice , and what ' s important is that you learn those lessons and the people involved in this have learnt those lessons very sharply . '  The Trust also hopes to improve its risk assessment programme when patients are moved within facilities , after Gadsby was recommended for a move despite telling carers on at least two occasions that he felt uncomfortable doing so .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
23904,23905,"The Great Australian Sex Census has revealed that half of Aussies have shared a nude selfie and one in three people have made a sex tape  Aussies prove to be a raunchy bunch according to the latest sex census , which revealed that half of Australians have shared a nude snap and one in three people have recorded themselves in the act .  The Great Australian Sex Census knows no boundaries when it comes to asking intimate questions , inquiring about everything from fetishes and masturbation to penis sizes , and even wandering eyes .  According to this year ' s results , the survey found that the majority of Australians admit they would jump into bed with someone as early as the first date .  When asked ' how many dates do you have with a person before you have sex with them ? ' , 29 per cent of respondents answered only one , the answer being the most common one given by males .  Women proved to be the more conservative gender when meeting a possible partner , most saying they generally required ' three or more ' dates before sharing their bed , the response receiving 26 . 5 per cent of votes .  The promiscuous revelations continued when respondents were asked how many people they have had sexual intercourse with over their entire lifetime .  Surprisingly , the answer ' 21 or more ' came a close second with 26 . 3 per cent of votes .  It only just missed out on the top spot , which went to the answer ' 1 5 ' partners , by 1 . 1 per cent .  Clearly embracing the age of technology , one in every two Australians fessed up to having sent someone a naked photo of themselves via their mobile with more women than men having sent a nude selfie , at 52 . 2 per cent compared to 44 . 8 percent .  Sex tapes were also not out of the question with 30 . 3 per cent of people having already made one and a further 18 . 7 per cent of people admitting it ' s on their to do list .  In the fetishes category , threesomes were on 25 . 9 per cent of people ' s bucket lists , while ' rough sex ' was the most commonly recorded fetish more popular among women whom more than 19 per cent of respondents put before  and role play .  In terms of turn offs , fake boobs received a scathing reception , with more than half of respondents admitting they actually turned them off .  When asked ' how many dates do you have with a person before you have sex with them ? ' , 29 per cent of respondents answered only one  The survey also reinforced some of the bedroom ' s gender stereotypes , including that the majority of women ' find it extremely difficult and often do not orgasm ' , admitted by 20 . 5 per cent of females .  In contrast , more than 60 per cent of male respondents said they often had an orgasm within five minutes or longer .  It was only fitting then , that more than one third of females were found to have faked an orgasm , while more than 70 per cent of males never have .  Where each genders ' minds wander during masturbation also proved to vary , with 39 per cent of men admitting they think of porn while women largely answered that they think about their partner .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
23906,23907,"Burlington , Vermont Residents of Vermont know their work is cut out for them as they struggle for normalcy after enduring the wrath of Irene .  The landlocked rural state saw fast moving floods spawned by the storm swarm towns from Brattleboro to Woodstock .  "" It ' s heartbreaking to see your home and home state destroyed and seeing places and landmarks that you can recognize even from early childhood now destroyed by flooding , "" said Ryan Ritter who lives in Rutland near the state ' s border with New York .  There was no way in or out of his town , the 20 year old Ritter said .  The story was much the same in the southern town of Wilmington . Cut off on several sides , the Vermont National Guard had to travel through neighboring Massachusetts to get rescue crews to the small , cut off community .  "" Irene hit us hard . A lot of businesses were destroyed . Loss of property roads , bridges , homes washed away , "" said Rachel Lazelle . "" It is going to take a long time to rebuild . ""  On Tuesday , Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate planned to tour flooded communities in the state . A day earlier , President Barack Obama signed a disaster declaration , allowing federal aid to the state .  "" It ' s just devastating , "" Gov . Peter Shumlin said Monday . "" Whole communities under water , businesses , homes , obviously roads and bridges , rail transportation infrastructure , "" he said . "" We ' re tough folks up here but Irene . . . really hit us hard . ""  Three deaths had been confirmed as a result of the storm .  Hundreds of people remained trapped in communities cut off by raging floodwaters that washed out or otherwise damaged 263 roads and bridges , Shumlin said . Exactly how many were stranded remained unclear , he said , because it ' s difficult to get into many communities .  The governor described conditions as "" probably the toughest flooding that we ' ve seen in the state of Vermont in our history . ""  Normally tranquil streams poured through city streets and thrashed against buildings and bridges , including some of the state ' s iconic covered bridges . Four to six of the covered bridges were destroyed in the flooding , officials said .  Even the state emergency management headquarters in Waterbury was flooded , forcing officials to evacuate to Burlington , about 20 miles away .  Many areas of the state remained under flood watches and warnings early Tuesday , with the National Weather Service reporting continued record flooding in some locations .  Unlike many states , Vermont did not order or suggest evacuations . Many of the state ' s towns are in lowlands and there are few large areas of dry land , so large scale evacuations are impractical , Shumlin said .  Marc Leibowitz , a New Yorker , knew the threat Irene posed for his home state . But he didn ' t think he ' d feel its effects in Vermont where his friends and family had arrived over the weekend for his wedding .  "" My friends were telling me , ' This is awesome ! You got us out of New York for the weekend , "" Leibowitz said .  Now , they are stranded in Pittsfield in central Vermont , with no roads to get them out .  "" We are making the best of things , "" he said . But he is also keeping an eye on the calendar and his fingers crossed .  He is really looking forward to his honeymoon Thursday .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
23916,23917,"Murder of Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko was probably approved by President Vladimir Putin , a  inquiry has concluded .  Mr Litvinenko was poisoned with tea in 2006 , and the detailed public inquiry has found that Mr Putin is likely to have signed off on the poisoning of the former  agent , in part due to personal antagonism between the pair , it said .  Retired High Court Judge Sir Robert Owen , who conducted the inquiry , wrote that he was sure that two former Russian officials poisoned the 44 year old at a London hotel with highly radioactive polonium 210 .  The  operation to kill Mr Litvinenko was probably approved by Mr Patrushev and also by President Putin , Sir Robert Owen wrote . Nikolai Patrushev was head of the  in 2006 .  Both men who poisoned Litvinenko , according to the report ? former  and  employee Andrei Lugovoi and former Russian army officer Dmitri Kovtun ? deny killing him .  Owen said Mr Lugovoi and Mr Kovtun were probably acting under the direction of Moscow s  intelligence service .  Former  spy Alexander Litvinenko , photographed at his home in London in 2002 . Source :   Three weeks before Mr Litvinenko died in agony , he pointed the finger at the Russian president for ordering his murder . He said : You may succeed in silencing one man but the howl of protest from around the world will reverberate , Mr Putin , in your ears for the rest of your life .  Speaking outside London s High Court , Litvinenko s wife , Marina Litvinenko , said she was pleased that the words my husband spoke on his deathbed when he accused Mr Putin have been proved by an English court .  In a statement , Mrs Litvinenko urged the  government to expel all Russian intelligence operatives and impose economic sanctions on Moscow , according to  .  Russian Foreign Ministry said the inquiry was politicised , adding it had not been transparent .  It said : We regret that the purely criminal case was politicised and overshadowed the general atmosphere of bilateral relations .  Marina Litvinenko , widow of Russian former spy Alexander Litvinenko , and her son Anatoly Litvinenko , arrive at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London on January 21 , 2016 . Source :   It was almost a decade ago that Litvinenko , then working for British intelligence agency M16 , drank tea laced with polonium 210 at the Millennium hotel . Traces of the rare , virtually undetectable poison were later found around London , at great risk to others .  Litvinenko s widow Marina has since claimed her late husband was killed in 2006 because he was investigating alleged ties between Putin and the Russian mafia . She told the public inquiry into his death that her husband had accused Putin of being a paedophile .  He had fled his home country in 1999 after accusing the  agency ( successor to the  ) of a murder plot .  Oligarch Boris Berezovsky , the target of that alleged plot , was found dead at his home in Britain in 2013 .  A Spanish source linked to the case told the Times of London that Litvinenko was the only person connected to the Russian secret service willing to testify to links between Putin s administration and the alleged head of a national crime syndicate .  He had given four hours of testimony on those claims to Madrid authorities in June 2006 , just five months before his death , the newspaper reported . He called Putin s Russia a mafia state .  In November , after he was poisoned , he told detectives from his hospital bed that he had given a public speech in which he accused Putin of having his friend , Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya , killed the month before . She was far from the only critic of the Russian leader to meet a grisly end .  Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely to have signed off the poisoning of Mr Litvinenko , a public inquiry finds . Source :   Litvinenko had been drinking tea at the Millennium hotel with former Kremlin bodyguard Andrei Lugovoi on the day he was poisoned , but Russia refused demands by British prosecutors in 2006 to extradite him .  Lugovoi is now a member of the Russian parliament , in the far right nationalist  party .  Responding to the report , Lugovoi , said the accusations against him were absurd , the Russian news agency Interfax was quoted as saying .  As we expected , there were no surprises , he said .  The results of the investigation made public today yet again confirm London s anti Russian position , its blinkeredness and the unwillingness of the English to establish the true reason of Litvinenko s death .  Kovtun , now a businessman in Russia , said he would not comment on the report until he got more information about its contents , Interfax reported .  London s Metropolitan Police said the investigation into the cold and calculated murder of Mr Litvinenko remained ongoing .  An insight into the workings of Vladimir Putin and his brutal response to Khodorkovsky a man arrested and destroyed for challenging the president .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,satire,true,True,no,no,negative,past
23947,23948,"U . N . inspectors returned to Syria on Wednesday to look into at least a half dozen claims of chemical weapons use some allegedly by the regime , others allegedly by rebels .  The team has already confirmed the August 21 use of chemical warfare near Damascus but did not explicitly say who was responsible . According to U . S . estimates , that attack left more than 1 , 400 people dead .  Russia has basically agreed to the points , but "" small issues "" remain to be decided , the source said .  The deal could still fall apart .  According to the source , the three premises are : 1 . Accountability for attacks on August 21 2 . Binding and enforceable language for measures against Syria in case of violations in the disarmament regime or the use of chemical weapons 3 . The council will remain seized of the matter , meaning that further discussion will be expedited .  The resolution would not authorize automatic use of force if Syria is said to be in violation , as was previously sought by the United States , the source said .  Among their tasks , investigators will try to figure out if chemical weapons were used in the northern city of Khan al Asal in March . State run media blamed rebels for the attack , which it said killed 25 people and injured more than 110 others . Syrian rebels , meanwhile , accused government forces of a chemical weapons attack on the rural Damascus suburb of Ateibeh .  Syrian rebels reject interim government , embrace Sharia  But the inspectors face a litany of challenges , like trying to find physical and forensic evidence from more than six months ago .  Then there ' s the security situation . During the inspectors ' last visit , mortar shells landed near their hotel in Damascus , and their convoy came under fire while en route to a scene .  And just like their investigation into the August 21 attack , the inspectors will only try to determine whether chemical weapons were used during this trip , not who was responsible .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
23950,23951,"VANQUISHED, Part 1: America as an Israeli Colony About  This is the website of Lasha Darkmoon, an anglo-American academic with higher degrees in Classics who lives and works in England. You can read more about Darkmoon here . Subscribe to our Newsletter Subscribe to get important new posts and other updates via our occasional newsletter. Meta",fake,news,validation,World conflict,Economy,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present
23952,23953,"HARBOR, Md./ (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said he would make a massive budget request for one of the “greatest military buildups in American history” on Friday in a feisty, campaign-style speech extolling robust nationalism to eager conservative activists. Trump used remarks to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), an organization that gave him one of his first platforms in his improbable journey to the U.S. presidency, to defend his unabashed “America first” policies. Ahead of a nationally televised speech to Congress on Tuesday, Trump outlined plans for strengthening the U.S. military, already the world’s most powerful fighting force, and other initiatives such as tax reform and regulatory rollback. He offered few specifics on any initiatives, including the budget request that is likely to face a harsh reality on Capitol Hill: At a time when he wants to slash taxes for Americans, funding a major military buildup without spending cuts elsewhere would add substantially to the U.S. budget deficit. Trump said he would aim to upgrade the military in both offensive and defensive capabilities, with a massive spending request to Congress that would make the country’s defense “bigger and better and stronger than ever before.” “And, hopefully, we’ll never have to use it, but nobody is going to mess with us. Nobody. It will be one of the greatest military buildups in American history,” Trump said. Appealing to people on welfare to go to work and pledging to follow through on his vow to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border, Trump drew rounds of applause from the large gathering of conservatives, many of them wearing hats emblazoned with the president’s campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.” His speech was heavy on the nationalist overtones from his campaign last year, focusing on promises to boost U.S. economic growth by retooling international trade deals, cracking down on immigration and boosting energy production. Trump is looking to put behind him a rocky first month in office. An executive order he signed aimed at banning U.S. entry by people from seven Muslim-majority countries became embroiled in the courts and he had to fire his national security adviser, Michael Flynn, for Russian contacts before Trump took office. With the federal budget still running a large deficit, Trump will have to fight to get higher military spending through Congress. In his speech, he complained about spending caps put in place on the defense budget dating back to 2011. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Trump’s proposed budget for this year “will be very clear” on how to fund the military spending increase. Trump also heaped criticism on what he called purveyors of “fake news,” seeking to clarify a recent tweet in which he said some in the U.S. news media should be considered an “enemy of the people.” He said his main beef was the media’s use of anonymous sources. “They shouldn’t be allowed to use sources unless they use somebody’s name. Let their name be out there,” Trump said. His comments came on the same day  reported that White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus asked  Deputy Director Andrew McCabe to deny a Feb. 14 report in the New York Times that said Trump’s presidential campaign advisers had been in frequent contact with Russian intelligence officers. The request came after McCabe told him privately the report was wrong. A senior administration official said on Friday that  Director James Comey told Priebus later that the story was not accurate. Priebus asked if the Federal Bureau of Investigation could set the record straight, but Comey said the bureau could not comment, the official said. Trump has repeatedly chosen to make news media criticism a focus of his public remarks since taking office on Jan. 20. The speech allowed Trump to put his stamp firmly on the conservative political movement, even as some activists fretted that his immigration and trade policies go too far.  With Trump in the White House and Republicans holding majorities in both houses of Congress,  and the thousands of conservative activists who flock to the event each year from across the country are seeing their political influence rising. ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
23958,23959,"Manchester United fans are used to dramatic finishes , but not against Stoke City at Old Trafford .  Alex Ferguson ' s recently published autobiography maybe full of tales of derring do against more illustrious opposition , but these are wildly different days at United at present .  United were a goal down inside five minutes when Jonny Evans attempted clearance rebounded off Peter Crouch and past David De Gea .  Robin van Persie calmed United nerves with an equalizer two minutes before the break but the relief was short lived when Marko Arnautovic restored Stoke ' s lead moments later with a well executed free kick .  And that ' s how it stayed until the 78th minute before Wayne Rooney came to the rescue with a header to bring United level before Javier Hernandez scored the winner two minutes later .  Read more : Russian racism furore is latest headache for   The 3 2 win eases the pressure on David Moyes and keeps United , who have 14 points from nine matches , in touching distance of the league leaders Arsenal .  Arsene Wenger ' s side dispatched bottom of the table Crystal Palace 2 0 at Selhurst Park in the day ' s early kick off .  The Premier League newboys , who are currently without a manager after Ian Holloway ' s resignation in midweek , were on equal terms after a competitive first half but Mikel Arteta ' s 47th minute penalty gave the away side a deserved lead .  The Spanish international was later red carded for a professional foul on former Gunners forward Marouane Chamakh , but Arsenal made sure of the three points when Olivier Giroud headed in Aaron Ramsey ' s deftly chipped cross .  The win keeps Arsene Wenger ' s side two points clear at the top of the table with 22 points from nine games .  Liverpool move up to second after thrashing West Bromwich Albion 4 1 at Anfield . Luis Suarez got the Merseysiders off to a flier with goals in the 12th minute and 17th minute before completing his hat trick 10 minutes after the break .  James Morrison pulled one back for West Brom when he converted from the penalty spot in the 66th minute , but hopes of a comeback were extinguished 11 minutes later when Daniel Sturridge scored a delightful fourth , chipping the ball over goalkeeper Boaz Myhill .  Everton ' s superb early season continued with 2 0 away win against Aston Villa . Romelu Lukaku scored his fifth goal of the season in the 68th minute before Leon Osman doubled the lead 13 minutes later .  The Toffees ' fifth win in six league games sees them leapfrog Chelsea to go fourth .  Jose Mourniho ' s men can return to second in the table if they beat Manchester City at Stamford Bridge on Sunday .  Southampton ' s good form also continued with a comfortable 2 0 win over Fulham at St Mary ' s Stadium .  First half goals from Rickie Lambert and Jay Rodriguez lift Southampton to third in the table . Mauricio Pochettino ' s side have the best defensive record in the league with only three goals conceded in nine matches .  Norwich City and Cardiff City drew 0 0 in the other league fixture played Saturday .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
23964,23965,"Framingham , Massachusetts If Sarah Sellers ' warnings had been taken seriously 10 years ago , 12 people might be alive today .  Sellers , a pharmacist and expert on the sterile compounding of drugs , testified to Congress in 2003 about non sterile conditions she ' d witnessed .  "" Professional standards for sterile compounding have not been consistently applied , "" she told the Senate Committee on Health , Education , Labor , and Pensions . "" The absence of federal compounding regulations has created vulnerability in our gold standard system for pharmaceutical regulation . ""  Nearly 10 years later , there are still no federal sterility guidelines for compounding pharmacies that make and distribute drugs all over the country .  Now , 137 cases and 12 fatalities nationwide are blamed on a rare , noncontagious form of meningitis linked to contaminated steroid injections made by the Massachusetts based New England Compounding Center .  The latest death to be connected to the outbreak was that of a 70 year old man who died in Florida in July , prior to the discovery of the contamination .  Tennessee is the hardest hit state , with 39 infections and six deaths , according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . Three deaths occurred in Michigan and one each in Maryland and Virginia , the  said .  Patients contracted the deadly meningitis after being injected in their spines with a preservative free steroid called methylprednisolone acetate that was contaminated by a fungus . The steroid is used to treat pain and inflammation .  As many as 13 , 000 people may have received the medicine between May 21 and September 24 , the  said .  The New England Compounding Center announced Wednesday it has established a recall operations center to manage the removal of all its products from circulation . Last week , the pharmacy voluntarily surrendered its license to operate until the Food and Drug Administration ' s investigation into the contamination is complete .  Health officials say 75 medical facilities in 23 states received the contaminated steroid injections from  .  At least two lawmakers are introducing bills to strengthen the  ' s oversight of compounding pharmacies .  "" Unfortunately , compounding pharmacies are a 19th century service operating in a 21st century industry , and we need to update and strengthen the rules that govern these operations so that patients can safely benefit from the unique service they offer , "" Rep . Edward Markey , D Massachusetts , said in a statement . "" I look forward to working with my colleagues to introduce this legislation and to ensure  has the authority it needs to oversee these pharmacies and protect patients . ""  Meningitis outbreak : Your questions answered  Rep . Rosa DeLauro , D Connecticut , vowed similar action . "" This outbreak and the corresponding recall of products from the New England Compounding Center expose dramatic gaps in our drug safety standards that create an unnecessary risk to the public health , "" she wrote in a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius .  While compounding pharmacies were intended to create customized medications for specific patients , some "" have evolved into large scale operations that produce sizeable quantities of some drugs , "" she wrote . "" For example , cases in the current outbreak are spread across nine states and more than 17 , 500 doses of the potentially contaminated drug were shipped to 23 states . At the same time , the  lacks clear authority for ensuring the safety of these products and last updated its guidance for ( the ) industry in 2002 . ""  The  has been working on new guidelines since at least 2006 , but the effort is "" still in progress , ""  spokeswoman Erica Jefferson said .  Currently , the  does not have jurisdiction over compounding pharmacies until there is a problem .  officials say they have been fighting to change that for more than 20 years .  The compounding pharmacy industry has challenged those efforts , and courts have ruled that individual state health departments are in charge .  "" These facilities are inspected upon initial licensure and in response to complaints , "" said Alec Loftus of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health .  One woman ' s fight for compounding pharmacy guidelines  Massachusetts requires compound pharmacies to be licensed by the state board , but does not require accreditation . That ' s a voluntary process that only 162 out of 3 , 000 compounding facilities have obtained , according to the Pharmacy Compounding Accreditation Board .  If the site had been accredited , officials would have examined the facilities and considered whether there are concerns about the site sharing space with a garbage facility , Gupta said .  "" Our investigation into  and the outbreak with our partners in Massachusetts are ongoing , so I can ' t comment directly on how this factors in , "" said Jefferson , the  spokeswoman .  There is no law that specifies a minimum proximity between a compounding pharmacy and other establishments .  The Massachusetts Department of Public Health has warned the  multiple times since 2002 about unsanitary conditions at its facility .  Statutory and regulatory requirements stipulate that compounding can be done only on receipt of a patient specific prescription , Dr Madeleine Biondolillo , director of the department ' s Bureau of Healthcare Safety and Quality , told reporters Wednesday .  Asked if there had been a violation , she said some organizations may have operated contrary to the licensing regulations , but that is part of the investigation .  Compounding pharmacies were originally created for doctors or pharmacists to make small amounts of custom medications for example , adding flavored syrup to a cough medicine , or creating a smaller dose for an individual patient if it ' s not created commercially .  They ' ve grown into a much larger business . Pharmacy compounding accounts for 37 million prescription drugs in the United States each year .  Some compounders ship thousands of custom drugs all over the country .  is licensed to distribute to surgery centers and pain clinics in 50 states .  Nearly 10 of drugs administered in the United States come from compound pharmacies , according to a 2003 Government Accountability Office report .  Meningitis is an inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord . It is usually caused by an infection , frequently with bacteria or a virus , but it can also be caused by less common pathogens , such as fungi in this case , according to the  .  Fungal meningitis is very rare and , unlike viral and bacterial meningitis , is not contagious .  In addition to typical meningitis symptoms like headache , fever , nausea and stiffness of the neck , people with fungal meningitis may also experience confusion , dizziness and discomfort from bright lights . Patients might just have one or two of these symptoms , the  says .  Health officials say any patients who received an injection at one of the facilities beginning May 21 and who began showing symptoms between one and three weeks after being injected should see their doctor right away .  The earlier a patient gets treatment , the more likely he or she will survive .  Patients are treated with anti fungal medication , which is given intravenously , so patients have to be admitted to the hospital , the  said . Patients may need to be treated for months .  The  is urging anyone who has experienced problems following an injection with the  product to report it to MedWatch , the  ' s voluntary reporting program , by phone at 1 800  1088 or online at www . fda . gov medwatch report . htm .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
23976,23977,"Phil Neville made his first cup of coffee for Sportsmail ' s chief sports reporter Matt Lawton as the pair sat down to talk about his time coaching at Manchester United , life as a commentator and more .  Former Manchester United and England star Phil Neville has failed to tackle a single piece of housework during his 15 year marriage , his wife has revealed .  The football pundit , who has just made his first cup of coffee at the age of 37 , has no idea where the ironing board is kept and would not know how to turn on an oven .  ' All his talent is in his toes , that ' s for certain , ' a remarkably sanguine Julie Neville said .  Phil Neville , pictured during his playing days at Manchester United ( left ) , poked fun at himself on Twitter  Neville ' s wife Julie also revealed that her husband has never used a mop , vacuum or dishwasher  With news of his relaxed attitude to housework floating around social media , Neville took the opportunity to poke fun at himself on Twitter .  The former Everton utility man tweeted an image of himself with a vacuum cleaner , a mop and a variety of cleaning products , along with the caption : ' Time to get started . . . . . . nescafe ' .  Neville , who played 59 times for England and won six Premier League titles with United , first hinted at his lack of skill around the house on  Radio 5 at the weekend .  He said he ' sprinted into the kitchen ' and phoned his wife to ask ' how do I make a cup of coffee ' after the Sportsmail ' s chief sports reporter Matt Lawton asked for one during an interview at the couple ' s 3 . 6million Cheshire home .  Ex Everton midfielder Neville , pictured on Match of the Day , is now a pundit and commentator with the   The Neville couple , pictured left in 2000 and right in 2003 , have been together for 18 years  The father of two later told how he made it with a ' kettle two little scoops of coffee ' , and laughed : ' I ' ve lived in a bubble all my life . '  His wife then revealed in a separate radio interview that he had never used a vacuum cleaner , mop , dishwasher or washing machine .  And on Monday , when asked if he had any redeeming talents around the house such as putting the rubbish out or mowing the lawn , she said he did neither .  She added : ' Ironing ? Oh gosh no , he wouldn ' t even know where we keep the ironing board He wouldn ' t know how to turn an oven on .  Neville , pictured posing for an interview with Sportsmail , made his first cup of coffee for our man Matt Lawton  Neville celebrates during Manchester United ' s Champions League game against Bayern Munich last season  ' I ' ve never known anything else and I ' m super domestic so I don ' t really mind . Phil is an amazing father and husband just not domesticated in any way . '  Speaking about her husband ' s first attempt to make a cup of coffee , the 39 year old said : ' If you ' d seen it you would not have thought it was classed as a coffee . I didn ' t taste it , but it didn ' t look good . '  But Sportsmail ' s Lawton was more generous , saying : ' For a first go , it was very good . '  As for Neville , he has insisted he would ' never drink the stuff ' anyway but confirmed that he has made tea .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
23984,23985,"Kerry : No connection between nuclear deal and releases 02 : 18  But after U . S . Navy vessels "" regrettably , inadvertently "" drifted into Iranian waters , per Kerry , and the 10 sailors were taken by Iranians last Tuesday , Iran ' s military released footage of the troops with their hands behind their heads at gunpoint .  Though the sailors were released within 24 hours , the footage was inflammatory .  "" I was very angry . I was very , very frustrated and angry that that was released , "" Kerry told John Berman on  ' s "" New Day . "" "" I raised it immediately with the Iranians . It was not put out by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the government directly , it was put out I think by the military over there , the ( Revolutionary Guard ) , who is opposed to what we are doing . ""  Also on Monday , the Navy released more information about how the incident , which lasted about 15 hours , played out .  As the footage showed , the soldiers were held at gunpoint on the ship by Iranian troops . The Navy said the troops were also under machine gunpoint from more Iranian troops on the responding ships .  No fire was exchanged during the incident , but there was what the Navy categorized as as "" verbal exchange . ""   : Iran prisoner swap : How 14 months of secret diplomacy ended in a deal  The Navy also said that everything from its ships was accounted for after the incident except for two  cards removed from satellite phones .  As was known , the two Navy vessels were traveling together through the Persian Gulf with a scheduled refueling stop along the way . The vessels ended up in Iranian waters and one began to report engine trouble , though it ' s still not clear how they came to be there .  At 9 : 10 a . m .  , the Navy Central Command was informed the ships were being questioned by the Iranians . Roughly 20 minutes later , communications began to deteriorate and were lost altogether 15 minutes after that .  The U . S . began to put together a rescue mission and broadcast their plans in Farsi over open channels to signal to parties in the area .  After three and a half hours , the Navy received word from the Iranians that the sailors were in custody and "" safe and healthy . ""  They were released at 3 : 43 a . m .  , when it was already daylight in Iran .  Kerry said Monday that only because of the recent negotiations with Iran was he able to rapidly secure the sailors ' release .  "" The challenge is , three or four years ago , we wouldn ' t have known who to call . . . and it could have grown into a major kind of hostage confrontation the way it had previously , "" Kerry said . The progress "" could not have happened were we not building on this path with respect to the nuclear program , "" he added .  He would not divulge what he said to his counterparts about the sailors but stressed that he was firm .  "" I ' m not going to discuss what I said or didn ' t say , but suffice it to say I made it crystal clear how serious this was , it was imperative to get it solved . . . and within hours we had an agreement , "" Kerry said .  In a separate interview with Wolf Blitzer , Kerry dismissed concerns that Saudi Arabia might seek to buy a nuclear weapon to balance the deck with Iran .  "" You can ' t just buy a bomb and transfer it , "" Kerry told Blitzer .  "" There ' s all kinds of ( nonproliferation treaty , or  ) consequences , "" Kerry continued . "" I mean , there are huge implications of that . And Saudi Arabia knows , I believe , that that is not going to make them safer , nor is it going to be easy , because the very things that Iran went through , they would then be subject to with respect to  and inspection and so forth . ""  Kerry also addressed the missing American Robert Levinson , a former  agent who disappeared in Iran in 2007 .  The secretary repeatedly wouldn ' t answer a direct question from Blitzer about whether the U . S . believes Levinson is alive , but said officials have not stopped pursuing Iranians ' help in locating his trail .  "" Bob Levinson is very , very much a part of our negotiation , very much a part of every conversation we have had with the Iranians , "" Kerry said . "" We do not have evidence at this point as to whether he is . . . . We are tracing every lead . ""  Kerry said he knows how difficult the process must be for Levinson ' s family , especially now seeing other Americans held in Iran coming home .  "" We are trying to find out where he is and what the circumstances are , "" Kerry said . "" We are proceeding as if he is ( alive ) , we want him to be , we hope he is . We don ' t have capacity at this point to draw any kinds of conclusions , but we are working on it and the Iranians are cooperating . ""  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
23993,23994,"LONDON, (Reuters) - Two influential U.S. Congressmen have asked the World Health Organization’s cancer agency to get ready to testify about its work assessing if substances cause cancer, citing concerns about its “scientific integrity”. Their letter to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), seen by Reuters and sent on Wednesday, is part of ongoing investigations by two Congressional committees into  that were fueled by the agency’s review of glyphosate, the primary ingredient of Monsanto Co’s weedkiller Roundup. A letter to  director Chris Wild from the Republican chairmen of the House Committee on Science and the Subcommittee on Environment said they are “concerned about the scientific integrity” of IARC’s “monograph” program, which assesses whether various substances can cause cancer in people. IARC, a semi-autonomous part of the  based in Lyon, France, has in recent years assessed whether substances as diverse as coffee, mobile phones and processed meat cause cancer - reports that have all caused controversy. A spokeswoman for  said she could not immediately comment on whether the letter had been received.  says its methods are scientifically sound and its monographs are “widely respected for their scientific rigor, standardized and transparent process and ... freedom from conflicts of interest”.    In a second letter seen by Reuters, the Congressmen, Lamar Smith and Andy Biggs, expressed concern that IARC’s assessment meetings, deliberations and drafts are not made public.  “It is an affront to scientific integrity to keep ‘confidential’ a scientific process that directly influences policy and individual taxpayers,” Smith and Biggs wrote.   “With United States’ taxpayer dollars funding (part of the monograph program), it is this (Science) Committee’s duty to ensure sound science and transparency within the agency.” Citing data from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), the letter to Wild said that since 1985,  has received more than $48 million from NIH, more than $22 million of which went to the monographs program. It added that Smith’s Committee on Science, Space and Technology may soon hold a hearing to receive testimony from  on how it conducts its reviews. It asked Wild to provide “names and contact information of IARC-affiliated individuals who would serve as potential witnesses for this hearing”. The second letter, sent on Wednesday to acting U.S. Health Secretary Eric Hargan, asked his department to provide “all documents and communications between or among members of the  monograph program and any research institutes or agencies within HHS.” In this letter, the lawmakers said their aim was to understand the extent to which the taxpayer-funded National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Institutes of Health are involved with IARC’s monograph process. This is “to ensure scientific integrity and an honest use of taxpayer dollars”, the letter said.  In an assessment in 2015 that put it at odds with many government regulators, including those in the United States, Europe and Japan,  classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic”.          A Reuters investigation in October found that a draft of a key section of IARC’s assessment of glyphosate underwent significant changes before the report was made public. Reuters also reported in June on how the chairman of the  glyphosate panel was aware of new data showing no link between the weed-killer and cancer in humans, but the agency did not take it into account because it had not been published. The Congressional committee letters cited these Reuters investigations as well as other media reports, saying they revealed “troubling evidence” about the way  operates. In the letters, Smith and Biggs asked  to respond by Nov. 8, and the department of Health and Human Services to respond by Nov. 15. ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
24005,24006,"Three years ago , the U . S . Armed Forces struggled with a serious recruiting crisis , a crisis that evaporated temporarily only when the economy slumped . As it recovers and our population continues to age , the Armed Forces will face yet another challenge in recruiting the high quality people needed for the modern military .  For that reason , the Department of Defense identified the  Act as a smart way to expand the pool of eligible candidates for enlistment .  The Development , Relief and Education of Alien Minors (  ) Act is a bipartisan bill that would provide a path to legal residence for undocumented young people who were brought to the United States as children . The conditions : They must graduate from high school , demonstrate good moral character , and to keep their legal status complete at least two years of higher education or at least two years service in the U . S . military .  Without the relief of the  Act , the future of these American educated young people is bleak .  About 65 , 000 such eligible students graduate from U . S . high schools each year , but upon graduation , these young people , who include honor roll students , star athletes and junior  members , hit a wall .  Instead of advancing to college or the military and later repaying the investment that taxpayers made in their education , they live in fear of being discovered by the Department of Homeland Security and deported to their "" home "" country , even if it is a country they cannot remember and where they have no friends , family or support .  Two potential  Act students are David Cho , a senior honors student at the University of California , Los Angeles , and Cesar Vargas , a third year law student at the City University of New York .  Cho , who dreams of joining the Air Force after graduation , is at the top of his class and has lived in the United States since he was 9 years old .  Vargas has lived here since he was 5 and wants to be a military lawyer after graduation . David and Cesar are exactly the kind of recruits the military needs : self motivated and eager to defend the country they love . Without the  Act , both will be deported .  Bill Carr , former acting deputy undersecretary of defense for military personnel , has called the  Act "" very appealing "" to the military because it applies to the "" cream of the crop "" of students .  Potential  Act beneficiaries like David and Cesar are a military recruiter ' s dream candidates for enlistment , even if they have no legal status . They are Americanized , having lived in the United States for at least five years , unlike the newly lawful permanent residents whom the military currently enlists .   Act beneficiaries have no adult period of residence in a foreign country , making it easier to perform background checks for security clearance . They often speak both English and another language fluently . Many have participated in Junior  in high school . They do not have criminal records or other evidence of bad character . They have graduated from a U . S . high school .  If approved as  Act beneficiaries , they will have passed rigorous criminal background and security checks from  . They will have "" conditional lawful residence , "" which is recognized under current military recruiting regulations . Thus , the military will not have to change its regulations or process their enlistments differently from other recruits . Finally , they will be motivated to serve the United States so as to be given a chance to stay here .  Opponents of the  Act call it a "" sugar coated "" amnesty that rewards lawbreakers . To them , the best solution to the problem of illegal residents who are also high achieving students with dreams of serving in the military is deportation , even though that would massively benefit their countries of birth while depriving the United States of their talents .  Instead of wearing our uniforms , these recruits could be recruited to work for foreign governments , foreign militaries and foreign intelligence agencies . At a time when we are focused on protecting our borders and quashing threats to our national security , it seems unwise to export thousands of American educated and American acculturated young people to militaries other than our own .  The House and Senate are poised to consider the  Act during the current lame duck session of Congress . The vote presents an opportunity for our lawmakers to increase military recruitment , enhance U . S . national security and help high achieving young people at the same time . I strongly urge members of Congress to pass this long overdue measure .  The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Margaret Stock .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
24011,24012,"Rubio campaigns with brother to talk about veterans  Republican presidential candidate , Sen . Marco Rubio , R Fla . , addresses supporters at the Oakland County International Airport , Wednesday , Dec . 9 , 2015 , in Waterford Township , Mich . Carlos Osorio  Photo  Marco Rubio is using a real life example to talk about his commitment to the Department of Veterans Affairs ? his big brother .  The Republican presidential candidate and Florida senator will appear in Iowa Thursday with his brother Mario , an army veteran . It ' ll be his first time on the 2016 campaign trail for Mario Rubio .  Rubio will offer his plans to reform a system plagued by long delays for those seeking care and allegations of falsified records , according to his prepared remarks . As a prime example , Rubio will point to his brother , who served in the Army from 1968 through 1971 , and has been waiting on dental work for a service related injury .  "" He ' s had to file a claim and wait for a hearing , which could take anywhere from 18 months to three years . Meanwhile , he ' s stuck waiting for the procedures he needs , "" Rubio says in his prepared remarks . "" Mario is going through the exact same bureaucratic nightmare every other veteran in his situation has to go through . And like so many of them , he will tell you how confusing it has been , how even the forms he has to fill out seem almost intentionally complicated . ""  Rubio said his brother was injured during training and taken to a dentist but the visit was never officially recorded . So far , the  has not provided work he needs today .  Rubio is seeking more transparency and accountability at Veterans Affairs , promising to get rid of underperforming workers and provide more public oversight . He would also make it easier for veterans to seek private care .  Mario Rubio , 65 , lives in Jacksonville , Florida where he works for the city .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
24031,24032,"? Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson topped Democrat Hillary Clinton in a new Michigan poll .  The survey of 600 active and likely voters , conducted in late October by   of Lansing , tested potential general election match ups between the top two national polling leaders in each party .  Carson , a Detroit native and retired neurosurgeon , led Clinton by six percentage points . He won support from 46 percent of respondents , compared to her 40 percent . Another 14 percent of respondents were undecided .  Voters may not know Carson ' s policy positions very well at this point in the election cycle , according to   President Bernie Porn , who attributed his strong polling numbers to his mannerism , style and soft spoken bluntness .  "" I think they ' re intrigued by his demeanor , in terms of his quiet presence , in contrast to the bombastic approach and presentation by many of the other candidates , "" he said . "" So I think he is a contrast . ""  The poll is another show of strength for Carson , who has emerged as an unlikely frontrunner for the  nomination despite modest debate performances and a series of controversial statements . Carson trailed only Clinton in Michigan fundraising numbers last quarter but received more than twice as many contributions , many of them small , suggesting big support in the grassroots .   : Clinton , Carson top Michigan fundraising race See how much each presidential candidate raised  Clinton , the former First Lady and Secretary of State , topped Republican businessman Donald Trump in another head to head polling matchup . She received support from 46 percent of respondents , compared to 38 percent for Trump , with 16 percent undecided .  Clinton ' s favorability ratings rose from 32 percent in August to 40 percent in the new poll . Conversely , her unfavorability ratings dropped from 55 percent to 52 percent , and Porn said she was polling better among the Democratic base .  Trump , meanwhile , saw his favorability ratings drop from 32 percent to 29 percent . Sixty percent of respondents said they had a unfavorable opinion of Trump , the worst mark among any of the four candidates tested .  Bernie Sanders , the Vermont Senator and Democratic socialist , topped Trump 48 percent to 36 percent in a head to head poll question . Carson led Sanders 45 percent to 36 percent .  Carson had a 42 percent favorability rating and a 30 percent unfavorability rating , the best marks in the poll , but 22 percent of respondents either refused to answer or were undecided , suggesting he is not yet well known by all voters .  "" Trump was getting some of the same reaction from voters "" early in the cycle , said Porn , "" but it would appear they are now studying up on him . His negatives have really gone up . ""  Jonathan Oosting is a Capitol reporter for MLive Media Group . Email him , find him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
24033,24034,"A student has informed campus colleagues that he is a member of their university by wearing a jacket with his institution ' s name emblazoned on the back .  "" I just wanted to reassure everyone in my classes that I do indeed go to this establishment and not any other university , college or high school , "" said Blake Smyth , a second year development studies student at Queen ' s . "" This is why I invested 240 in this leather jacket . ""  Smyth ' s efforts seemed to pay off when he strutted his new fashion around the bookstore , the Grant Hall and along University Avenue catching public attention .  "" Hey , I think that guy goes to Queen ' s too . "" exclaimed fellow student Marie Lynne Schoobert after seeing Smyth . "" That ' s really great to see another Queen ' s student on Queen ' s campus because I go to Queen ' s as suggested by the letters on my sweatpants . ""  Despite many students reaffirming their university identity with fashion , there are some that do not regularly don any clothing with the prestigious institution ' s name on it . There have also been reports of individuals wearing clothing that identifies with universities kingsother than Queen ' s .  "" I once saw a man on campus wearing a Harvard t shirt Smyth explained while shaking his head in disgust . "" Was it some type of sick joke ? Is he being ironic because Queen ' s is known as the Harvard of the North ' ? Or does he actually study at Harvard ?  Smyth will keep wearing his jacket everywhere he goes to make it clear that he isn ' t a 60 year old local Kingstonian .  ",satire,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,present
24040,24041,"Alhambra , California At first , the pool builder thought his Bobcat bulldozer struck garbage as he dug a hole in a residential backyard . After all , in the older neighborhoods of San Marino , California , people used to bury their garbage .  But the plastic bag didn ' t contain trash .  Jose Perez , operating the Bobcat with his father as a co worker , asked his dad what was inside . His father grabbed an 18 inch piece of reinforcement bar to poke around .  "" He looked inside it , and he mouthed to me that there were bones in it , "" Perez testified Wednesday in a Los Angeles County court . "" He thought it was a dog , but it didn ' t look like a dog .  "" I told him to drop it , and he did , "" Perez continued . "" It was a human skull . ""  As the prosecution witness referred to the plastic bag and the pool digging project in a photograph on a big screen in court , defendant Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter , in a blue jail jumpsuit , stared intently at the scene where prosecutors accuse him of murdering a man in 1985 .  The skull was found nine years later , on May 5 , 1994 , Perez testified .  The testimony was evidence that Los Angeles County prosecutors began presenting during a preliminary hearing for the German born Gerhartsreiter , who has garnered renown for impersonating a Rockefeller and inspiring a movie about the caper . He is now accused of killing a Southern California man who has been missing since the mid 1980s .  Frank Sheridan , a forensic pathologist , testified the skull suffered at least one blow to the forehead and at least two blows to the right side . The several fractures were made at or about the time of death , said Sheridan , who is also the medical examiner of San Bernardino County in California .  The shape of two fractures also indicated an object with a curved surface , such as a baseball bat , was used to deliver the blows , Sheridan said under questioning by a prosecutor .  "" This individual was alive when these fractures occurred , "" said Sheridan , who examined a reconstructed version of the skull . In his career , he has performed 8 , 000 autopsies , he said .  "" There ' s a lot of force involved in these blows , "" Sheridan added . "" Each one of them would have rendered the person unconscious .  "" The injuries we ' re talking about here would have very clearly been fatal in the absence of medical care , and they could have been fatal even with medical care , "" he said .  At the pool construction site , investigators eventually found nearly the entire skeleton of a man whose height was between 5 feet 4 inches and 5 feet 7 1 2 inches , testified Judith Daye , a physical anthropologist who worked for the Los Angeles County ' s coroner office and reviewed the bones at the site .  The missing bones included a kneecap , four fingers and a few toes , a common occurrence with buried remains , "" especially the hands and feet because the bones are very small , "" Daye testified .  Many discovered bones were inside clothing that was wrapped in plastic , such as the pelvis inside jeans and the upper torso bones inside a shirt , Daye testified .  The preliminary hearing , to determine whether Gerhartsreiter should be bound over for trial , is expected to last six days , said Sandi Gibbons , a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney ' s Office .  Gerhartsreiter , 50 , is accused of killing John Sohus , who was 27 at the time of his 1985 disappearance . His mother once owned the San Marino home where the remains were found .  During the Wednesday hearing , Los Angeles County Judge Jared Moses rejected a defense request that Gerhartsreiter be referred to as "" Mr Rockefeller "" in court . The defense attorney said he and other attorneys on the team knew Gerhartsreiter as "" Mr Rockefeller . ""  But the judge said : "" I get individuals in court who have a number of akas , "" a police term meaning "" also known as , "" but "" I have never seen a circumstance in court where a person is referred to by one of his akas . ""  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
24072,24073,"N . H . ? Has Donald Trump ' s call to temporarily ban all Muslim immigration ? to the U . S . finally given Gov . ? Chris Christie the opening he needs to become the 2016 Republican ? presidential nominee ?  If the controversial businessman finally dips in the polls ? ? or if he ? eventually decides to exit the race if the going gets rough ? ? pollsters and  strategists agree that Christie is well positioned to benefit . ?  "" Trump ' s not growing , and everyone else is , "" said Patrick Murray , the director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute . "" Rubio is up . Cruz is up . Christie , up . Meanwhile , ( Trump ' s ) floor and ceiling are getting closer together . ""  Larry Sabato , director of the Institute of Politics at the University of Virginia , said there is a limit to Trump ' s support , and "" whatever it is , that still leaves a large majority of the  open to eventually coalescing around someone else . ""  Though still far behind , the governor is second to Trump in the latest  poll in first primary state New Hampshire , where he is spending lots of time and is pounding his national security message in light of the recent terrorist attacks .   : Christie : ' Every place in America is a target ' for terror  David Paleologos , the director of polling at the Suffolk University Political Research Center in Boston notes that as of mid November , Trump supporters gave Christie some of the highest favorability ratings of any  candidate running for president .  "" Christie ' s favorability among Trump voters is 55 percent favorable and 38 percent unfavorable , "" explained Paleologos . "" That ' s even higher favorability than Christie has statewide "" in New Hampshire .  Top  pollster Frank Luntz said he doesn ' t think "" the Trump voters go away if Trump does . ""  "" I think the two candidates who benefit most would be Cruz and Christie , "" he said . "" Cruz because of policy , Christie because he has the leadership style and at that Trump voters are looking for . I don ' t know what wins policy or attributes but they both would rise if Trump falls . ""  That potential windfall has forced Christie to strike a difficult balance of repudiating Trump ' s xenophobic stance while actively trying to court the Trump voters who seem to support it .  Gov . Chris Christie greets supporters and voters after a Wolfesboro , N . H . town hall meeting on December 11 , 2015 . Christie is now in second place in the Granite State , trailing only Donald Trump , albeit by a wide margin . ( Claude Brodesser Akner  Advance Media ) Claude Brodesser Akner  Advance Media for NJweblink ?  On Monday , the governor called Trump ' s ban on Muslim immigration "" ridiculous "" and "" the kind of thing that people say when they have no experience and don ' t know what they ' re talking about . But by Wednesday , Christie was defending Trump supporters , saying "" folks who who are criticizing Donald Trump for what he said . . . they shouldn ' t be attacking the people who support Donald Trump . ""  Doug Gross , a former chief of staff to Iowa Gov . Terry Branstad and the 2002  nominee for governor of that state , agrees that Trump is "" capped out and his numbers will go down , "" but says who make gains as a result remains to be seen .  "" I do think Cruz will benefit because he ' ll get some of the Tea Party types who want to burn it all down , "" said Gross , now a partner at the Des Moines law office of BrownWinnick . "" But the mainstream wing of the party doesn ' t really have a candidate . ""  Gross notes that while Christie ' s "" style is tough and that ' s helpful , "" stealing away Trump voters who don ' t go to Cruz "" is not automatic by any means . ""  Steve Schmidt , who oversaw day to day operations of 2008  nominee U . S . Sen . John McCain ' s campaign , said Christie would first "" have to be the dominant candidate from the establishment wing , "" but if he can last that long , could easily vacuum up Trump supporters .  "" What ' s driving Trump ' s ballot strength is that he ' s viewed as a strong leader , "" Schmidt said . "" Christie has every capacity to position himself as a strong leader and offer up a virtue that is opposite to Obama ' s perceived character . ""  Others , like Mitt Romney ' s 2012 media adviser , Jim Bognet , is more bullish on Christie than Cruz when it comes to getting Trump ' s supporters .  "" There ' s something to be said about them being more attracted to Christie , because Trump ' s support is almost uniformly distributed across the political spectrum , "" said Bognet . "" I don ' t think Cruz is the heir to the ( Trump ) throne , because I don ' t think his supporters are motivated by ideology . ""  So while Christie clearly has a path , it ' s a winding one that carries a lot of open questions ? ? including whether a Christie campaign can last long enough to take advantage of a Trump fall . ?  "" I know people want to believe that Trump is going to fall , "" said Dave Carney , a longtime adviser to former Gov . Rick Perry of Texas and President George H . W . Bush who ' s now a  strategist based in New Hampshire . "" But there ' s no guarantee that he has to fall . ""  Carney ' s thinking was also echoed this week by the satirical website The Onion , which reacted to Trump ' s ban on Muslim immigration with ? a mock story that carried the headline , "" ' This Will Be The End Of Trump ' s Campaign , ' Says Increasingly Nervous Man For Seventh Time This Year . ""  "" With Trump ' s dominance and so many other candidates on the board , everyone ' s playing three dimensional chess , not checkers , "" Sabato said . "" You can ' t pick the bones clean until there ' s a carcass . ""  ",true,text,validation,US elections,US elections,satire,true,True,no,no,positive,past
24074,24075,"Tune in to the Alternate Current Radio Network (ACR) for another  broadcast of  The Boiler Room  starting at 6   | 9   every Wednesday. Join us for uncensored, uninterruptible talk radio, custom-made for barfly philosophers, misguided moralists, masochists, street corner evangelists, media-maniacs, savants, political animals and otherwise lovable rascals.Join  hosts Hesher, & Spore along with Randy J of 21Wire, Andy Nowicki from Alt Right Blogspot and Daniel Spaulding of Soul of the East and Jay Dyer from Jays Analysis. Tonight the Boiler Gang brings the internet show with a bubbling cauldron of media, politics, comedy and the bones of baby dolls. If you want to participate, bring something interesting to throw into the boiler Join us in the    chat room.    A   ZONE!           ENJOY!   LINKS:",fake,dataset,validation,World conflict,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present
24116,24117,"Police say they can ' t yet rule out terrorism as motive  Two suspects , one man and one woman , killed by police  Police said they can t yet rule out terrorism in a mass shooting that left 14 people dead and 17 wounded at a social services center Wednesday in San Bernardino , California .  Police Chief Jarrod Burguan ? in a late night press conference identified the suspects as Syed Rizwan Farook , a 28 year old U . S . born county employee , and Tashteen Malik , 27 , believed to be his wife or girlfriend . Both fled the scene in a dark  and were later killed by police in a daytime gun battle with as many as 21 officers in a residential neighborhood nearby .  The rampage , the deadliest since a 2013 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School ? in Connecticut claimed 26 lives , unfolded about 11 a . m . local time in the Inland Regional Center , which serves people with developmental disabilities . Government buildings , schools and nearby businesses were locked down for hours as police searched for the suspects .  Farook , who had been employed by San Bernardino County for five years , most recently as a environmental specialist , worked with some of the victims who were attending a meeting , possibly a holiday party , in the auditorium where the shooting occurred . The room is often rented out for events . The pair opened fire ? using rapid fire rifles and ? were dressed in assault style clothing , possibly after Farook left the meeting early in an angry state , Burguan said .  Based on what we have seen , based on how they were equipped , there had to have been some sort of planning , he said . I don t think they ran home , put on this kind of tactical clothes and came back on the spur of the moment .  Farhan Khan , Farook s brother in law , spoke earlier at a press conference hosted by the Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American Islamic Relations and the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California . Why would he do something like this ? he said . I have absolutely no idea . I am shocked myself .  The  and Bureau of Alcohol , Tobacco , Firearms and Explosives were assisting in the investigation into the incident in ? the city , which is ? about 60 miles ( 97 kilometers ) east of Los Angeles . Burguan said police were reasonably confident that there were just two shooters not three as reported earlier but that there was a third person in custody who may be related to the incident .  We don t have a motive at this point , Burguan said . We have not ruled out terrorism .  Officers secured the center after detonating what they believed to be three explosive devices inside , Burguan said . Officials said they didn t know if Farook had a criminal record or whether he was the subject of any workplace disciplinary action .  Terry Petit s daughter works at the center , and she texted him that she was hiding in the building after hearing gunshots , ? the Associated Press reported . Petit choked back tears as he read the texts for reporters outside the center : People shot . In the office waiting for cops . Pray for us .  Police officers secure the scene where a mass shooting occurred at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino , California , on Dec . 2 .  Marcos Aguilera s wife was in the building when the gunfire erupted , the wire service reported . He said a shooter entered the building next to his wife s office and opened fire .  They locked themselves in her office . They saw bodies on the floor , Aguilera told   , adding that his wife escaped unharmed .  The Inland Regional Center employs 670 people who provide services to more than 30 , 000 people , according to its Facebook page . Just Tuesday , the center posted on Twitter a video of their holiday party , which shows workers dancing with the disabled , many of them in wheelchairs , to Kool The Gang s Celebration .  The shooting in San Bernardino was the second mass attack in less than a week and came as authorities continue to probe the motivations of Robert Dear , the 57 year old who is in custody after the Nov . 27 shooting of three and wounding of nine in a clinic run by the Planned Parenthood women s health group in Colorado Springs , Colorado .  We should never think that this is something that just happens in the ordinary course of events , because it doesn t happen with the same frequency in other countries , President Barack Obama told  on Wednesday .  Obama has spoken at least 15 times following mass shootings in the U . S .  We should come together in a bipartisan basis at every level of government to make these rare as opposed to normal , he told  .  San Bernardino , a city of about 215 , 000 people , is a former factory town set at the foot of the San Bernardino Mountains that s fallen on hard times . It serves as a warehousing and logistics center for goods shipped to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach .  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
24125,24126,"AMATRICE, Italy  —   As relatives of the missing and the dead tearfully made their way to the makeshift morgue here in Amatrice,   rescuers worked Thursday in sweaty shifts, hoping to find people still alive under the remains of buildings destroyed by the earthquake in central Italy. Excavation machines moved rubble onto trucks to clear the streets of this quiet mountain town on Thursday, even as two strong aftershocks  —   among more than 400 since the 6.  earthquake struck at 3:36 a. m. on Wednesday  —   jolted Amatrice again. One volunteer who was flown in by helicopter as part of a United Nations    team, Alessandro Dalvit, and his dog Muttley found 16 bodies, including those of an    boy and his parents. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven  —   dead, morti,” Mr. Dalvit said, showing photographs on his cellphone, ending with an image of a row of coffins. “At least you are able to give the bodies back to their families. ” As of Friday morning, the death toll stood at 267, including victims from towns like Amatrice and Accumoli, both in the Lazio region, and the village of Arquata del Tronto, in the neighboring Marche region. The figure could rise again, given that some people remain unaccounted for. “For this phase, it’s important that we continue to dig through the rubble and also offer assistance to the population, providing beds, and food, and letting them know that they’re not alone,” Nicola Zingaretti, the president of the Lazio Region, said as he walked briskly through the Amatrice neighborhood where various emergency coordination operations had been set up. “In tragedy there is complete solidarity. ” The number of missing in Amatrice remained unclear on Thursday, as local residents wondered aloud about tourists and seasonal workers, mostly from Romania, who arrive during the busy summer months. Romanian officials confirmed that five of their citizens had died in the quake, that four had been injured and that 11 others were missing. Two Spaniards also died, Italian officials said. Speaking from Rome, Immacolata Postiglione, who runs the emergency unit at the Civil Protection Department, said that 215 people had been rescued from the wreckage of the earthquake. At least 264 people had been hospitalized, the Health Ministry said. In Saletta, another town damaged by the quake, Adriana Ciocchetti, a homemaker and a grandmother from Pagliano, near Frosinone, said she had not known what to expect when she arrived as a volunteer for the Italian Red Cross. “In cases like this, you just go,” Ms. Ciocchetti said. But the work was heartbreaking, she said. One woman she comforted on Wednesday had lost her family. “I was looking at a crushed house and said out loud, ‘I hope no one lived there,’ and a woman turned and said, ‘That’s where my daughter and grandchildren lived,’” Ms. Ciocchetti said. “People are so disoriented that many don’t even really realize what’s happened. ” The Italian Red Cross was one of the first organizations to arrive in Amatrice. “Within two hours of the quake we were ready to move,” said Ignazio Schintu, the organization’s emergency manager. By Wednesday evening, the Red Cross  —   with about 400 workers and volunteers  —   had set up medical services, emergency kitchens, washroom facilities and tents. On Thursday, they were setting up a base camp on an athletic field in Amatrice for the workers assisting those left homeless and now living in tents. “Our psychologists are here to assist them,” Mr. Schintu said. “Many earthquake victims don’t want to sleep under any sort of covering, even a tent. ” “People have to get over this first moment,” though the two strong aftershocks felt on Thursday “certainly don’t make it easier,” he said. Just outside the town, a camp for 250 homeless survivors was being set up by Anpas, one of the dozens of volunteer associations that rushed to the quake area. Tents, for eight to 12 people each, were being prepared for their arrival. Though temporary in nature, for some, they could become home for months. Some Amatrice residents found themselves pressed into service as emergency workers, like the Rev. Savino D’Amelio, a parish priest, who helped guide to safety 27 people from his retirement home shortly after the quake hit. “There were three of us, moving wheelchairs,” Father D’Amelio said, still shaken. “We got them all out without a scratch. ” “Now we’re trying to help people, ease the desperation of those who lost children and teenagers,” he said. “I hope our strength holds out. ” Across Amatrice, volunteers collected clothing, blankets, toiletries and food donated by people and institutions throughout Italy. “We’ve seen incredible solidarity, closeness, love, help from all of Italy,” with even the country’s struggling municipalities offering funds, said Giancarlo Carloni, the town’s deputy mayor. “It makes me proud to be an Italian. ” Outside the temporary morgue in Amatrice, a small crowd of residents waited for names of the dead to be called. Some sobbed, while others clutched at one another for support. “The identification has to be done right away  —   it’s hot,” Mr. Carloni said. Fabrizio Curcio, the chief of Italy’s Civil Protection Department, praised the “great generosity” and “positive enthusiasm” on the part of the rescue workers and volunteers who had raced to the earthquake zone. But, he said, some volunteers will be asked to go home. “We are many, and only those who are necessary must remain,” he said. Those residents who could leave Amatrice, now a ghost town, did so, finding refuge with relatives or at second homes on the seaside, said Mr. Carloni, the deputy mayor, who spent the night with his wife in their car. His house was standing, he said, but she was afraid to stay in it. Bishop Domenico Pompili of the nearby town of Rieti and the Rev. Fabrizio Borrello, a priest from the town, came to Amatrice on Thursday to offer spiritual comfort to the survivors and bless the bodies in the morgue. “There were a lot of them,” Father Borrello said. “But there are still many people missing,” including many families, so “there is no one to come and identify them. ” Efforts to find survivors in the rubble continued throughout the day, “but the probabilities are about down to zero,” said one officer with Italy’s Finance Police who declined to give his name because he was not authorized to speak to the news media. Mauro Bellavita, a volunteer who came to Amatrice with four other volunteers from the town of Acquapendente, said he was not ready to give up. “Hope is the last thing to die,” he said.",true,news,validation,Football,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
24128,24129,"United Airlines on Tuesday faced a spiraling crisis from videos showing a passenger being dragged off an airplane, as consumers threatened a boycott of the airline and lawmakers called for an investigation. By the afternoon, after more than a day of changing statements, United’s chief executive apologized and promised a review of its policies. “No one should ever be mistreated this way,” Oscar Munoz, the company’s chief executive, said in a statement. But the videos had already cast an unwelcome light not just on United, but on the airline industry’s efforts to maximize profits. As companies push to make money from baggage fees, seat reservations and other services that were once included with a basic plane ticket, the videos added the potential for an even harsher indignity: sitting in a seat with a ticket and getting physically ejected from the airplane. The passenger, Dr. David Dao, was identified late Tuesday in a statement from his lawyers, who said he was undergoing treatment in a   hospital for his injuries. Some videos had showed him with a bloody face. On social media, the firestorm swept around the world. Chinese social media users accused United, which does a lot of business in the country, of racism by targeting Dr. Dao, who appeared to be Asian. In the United States, customers showed pictures of their United loyalty or credit cards cut into pieces. And lawmakers called for an investigation. “The last thing a paying airline passenger should expect is a physical altercation with law enforcement personnel after boarding, especially one that could likely have been avoided,” the four top leaders of the Senate commerce committee said in a letter on Tuesday to Mr. Munoz. The disturbing images of a passenger being violently ejected from an airplane by security officers rippled across a consolidating industry. Today, four major airlines account for about 80 percent of domestic air travel. In recent years, as the consolidation has increased, passengers have been forced into a host of policies that ding their wallet and their comfort. But social media has proved to be a powerful outlet for complaints. United drew quick criticism for its initial response to the Sunday evening incident, with many people calling it tone deaf. On Monday, when Mr. Munoz apologized for having to “  these customers,” the internet saw that as a joke. “Nice to know ‘ ’ on United now means ‘drag you violently out of your seat,’” one woman posted on Twitter. A few hours later, United seemed to go on the offensive when it circulated a letter in which Mr. Munoz appeared to blame Dr. Dao, saying he “defied” the officers. Finally, on Tuesday afternoon, the airline changed course again, with Mr. Munoz saying that United would take “full responsibility” for the situation. “Better late than never, but the sentiment certainly rings a bit hollow when it follows two previous failures and 36 hours of intense public pressure,” said Jeremy   a principal at the corporate public relations firm Group Gordon. “The        apology isn’t generally a winning strategy. ” For United and Mr. Munoz, who just last month was named Communicator of the Year by  Week, a trade publication, the videos have turned into a crisis. They come on the heels of another incident about two weeks ago in which the airline was forced to defend itself about what some saw as a sexist policy after it barred two teenage girls wearing leggings from a flight. “It’s fair to say that if  Week was choosing its Communicator of the Year now, we would not be awarding it to Oscar Munoz,” the trade publication said on Tuesday. After tumbling during the day, United’s stock ended Tuesday down 1. 13 percent. Perhaps more than anything, the videos hit a nerve because they highlighted the ability of airlines to remove paying customers when the companies overbook flights. Tina Stringer, a   United customer from Chicago, was in New Orleans on vacation when the video surfaced. Before boarding her return flight on Tuesday, she said, “I was just praying that nothing bad would happen. ” Happily, her flight back to O’Hare International Airport was uneventful. But the video made an impression  —   so much so that she pulled up news coverage of the incident on her cellphone while waiting for her cousin to pick her up. “I think it was kind of scary,” said Ms. Stringer, 45, “because innocent people are just trying to get where they want. ” Ken Lewandowski, 63, of Crystal Lake, Ill. who had just flown home from Florida on United, had also seen the video. “There was a better way to do it,” he said. United, on Tuesday, appeared to backtrack from prior statements that the flight with Dr. Dao aboard  —   heading from O’Hare in Chicago to Louisville, Ky.  —   was overbooked. Instead, Megan McCarthy, a spokeswoman for United, said the flight was full and then crew members, who were scheduled to operate a flight Monday morning from Louisville to Newark, N. J. needed seats on the plane. If the crew members had not been allowed to board, Ms. McCarthy said, the Monday morning flight would have been canceled. Still, it is not uncommon for airlines to overbook, or sell more tickets than they have seats. At that point, they try to get people to voluntarily change their plans  —   or, if there are no takers, force them to change. The odds of actually being booted from a flight involuntarily are quite low. Last year, airlines involuntarily bumped about 40, 600 people, a fraction of the roughly 660 million passengers who flew, according to data from the Department of Transportation. About 434, 000 people voluntarily gave their seats up for compensation. Airlines have oversold flights for decades, expecting several people not to show up for a flight. It is a strategy that ensures a full plane and maximizes profits for airlines. Typically, airlines begin bargaining with passengers at the gate, offering travel vouchers of $400 to $600. In the United States, compensation maxes out at $1, 350, but experts say the reward offers rarely get that high. While the Transportation Department said it was investigating whether the airline complied with rules regarding overbooking, it noted that each airline sets its own system and procedures for deciding whom to bump. United said it would review its overbooking policies. Many politicians also called for the rules to be reviewed. In addition to their letter to Mr. Munoz, leaders of the Senate’s commerce committee, John Thune, Bill Nelson, Roy Blunt and Maria Cantwell, also demanded a full accounting of the incident from the Chicago Department of Aviation. Some airlines choose to bump the passengers who paid the lowest fares, while some choose the last passengers to check in. The Department of Transportation requires airlines to give involuntarily bumped passengers “a written statement describing their rights and explaining how the carrier decides who gets on an oversold flight and who doesn’t,” according to its consumer guide. Although most airlines do not like to discuss how many involuntary customers they bump, Gil West, the chief operating officer of Delta, did just that in a December 2015 presentation to investors and analysts. “This is probably the most painful customer experience you could ever have, right?” Mr. West said. “You paid for your ticket, you show up at the gate,” and the airline says you cannot fly. United’s website says that when the airline cannot find volunteers, it will “deny boarding to passengers in accordance with our written policy on boarding priority. ” Ms. McCarthy would not share the written policy. She said its agents follow a protocol for determining who will be selected, aiming to avoid families traveling together and unaccompanied minors. United also tends to protect people with connecting flights, those with mileage status through frequent flier or credit card programs, fare buckets and “a whole number of things,” she said. Ms. McCarthy said the protocol was followed on Dr. Dao’s flight. Three passengers got off the plane. But Dr. Dao did not give up his seat, and he was forcibly removed  —   dragged down the airplane aisle, his glasses askew, face bloodied  —   by several security officers. One of the officers has been placed on leave, according to the authorities. Crisis communications experts criticized United’s initial response to the event. There are “countless metrics you could look at to justify the cost of a higher compensation offer for those passengers on that plane,” said Mr.   pointing to the price of crisis management, the loss in stock value, the potential for lost business and even the time of Mr. Munoz, who makes at least $1. 2 million a year. Other corporations also chimed in. Emirates posted a short video to Twitter, criticizing Mr. Munoz for a snide remark he had made about Emirates and pointing out its customer satisfaction accolades. The Twitter account for   said on Monday night that “volunteer” means “someone who does something without being forced to do it. ” “We recognize that our response yesterday did not reflect the gravity of the situation,” Ms. McCarthy said. “And for that we also apologize. Our focus now is looking ahead and making this right. ”",true,news,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
24153,24154,"? ? ? Hamilton : Ridley vs . Alexander . ? Alabama will have to throw some to win , and that means it has to find Ridley , and that means Alexander is likely to be nearby . It ' ll be fascinating to see how Ridley , the freshman stud with 83 catches in his debut season , holds up against Alexander , one of the best cover corners in the nation ? and one of the most talkative as well . Can Alexander get in Ridley ' s space , not to mention his head ?  Schnell : Gallman vs . Alabama linebacker Reggie Ragland . ? Can one of the top linebackers in the country contain Clemson ' s rush attack and put more pressure on Watson to beat Bama with his legs and arm ? ?  Ellis : Clemson O line vs . Alabama D line . ? Tigers linemen Eric Mac Lain described this matchup as a "" clash of the titans . "" Can Clemson move the ball effectively against one of the best defensive fronts we ' ve seen in years ?  Niesen : Ridley vs . Alexander . ? I can ' t wait to see how Alexander does covering Ridley , Alabama ' s standout freshman receiver . Ridley broke Amari Cooper ' s freshman receiving record this season , and he ' s one of the most exciting young players in college football . Alexander is no slouch , either he was named first team all  , and in the Orange Bowl , he held Oklahoma ' s top receiver , Sterling Shepard , to just 87 yards .  Glicksman : Ridley vs . Alexander . ? It s hard to understate how pivotal Ridley has been to Alabama s run to the title game . The true freshman from Coconut Creek , Fla . , came to the Crimson Tide as the top rated receiver recruit in the nation and has somehow exceeded the hype : His 1 , 031 receiving yards to date are more than both Cooper ( 1 , 000 ) and Julio Jones ( 924 ) racked up during their debut seasons at Alabama . Alexander , meanwhile , is a former five star prospect in his own right who was named first team All  this year . The guy who gets the best of this matchup could go a long way toward determining the outcome of the game .  Becht : Ridley vs . Alexander . ? Michigan State kept Henry in check ( 20 carries for 75 yards ) but didn ' t have the secondary to capitalize as Ridley torched the Spartans for 138 yards and two touchdowns . Clemson ' s front seven is capable of causing similar problems for Henry . The Tigers allowed 3 . 7 yards per rush this year and smothered Oklahoma ' s ground game . If Clemson forces Alabama to move the ball through the air , it ' ll be on Alexander to contain the true freshman Ridley . Alexander shut down an even better big play receiver in Notre Dame ' s Will Fuller earlier this year . If he can do the same to Ridley , the Crimson Tide may have few weapons to rely on .  Baumgaertner : Ridley vs . Alexander . ? If Ridley matches up with Alexander , then two of the nation s best at their respective positions will square off for all of us to enjoy . Alexander is quick , physical and really loud as he demonstrated in the semifinal . ( He yapped at an Oklahoma assistant coach and then at Sterling Shepard . For some reason he left out the mascot . ) If Alabama chooses to throw early in order to preserve Henry for later in the game , these two should put on an entertaining show .  Johnson : Ridley vs . Alexander . ? Ridley has emerged as a dangerous No . 1 receiver for Alabama a season after Crimson Tide watched the Biletnikoff Award winning Cooper depart for the  . But Ridley could have a hard time breaking free for big plays if he spends most of the game trying to escape Alexander , a redshirt sophomore who was named first team All  and whom ProFootballFocus rated one of the top  prospects in the playoff .  Estes : Ridley vs . Alexander . ? Ridley blew open the Cotton Bowl with a career best performance , but Michigan State s secondary was the weakest part of its team . Going up against Alexander is a different story . The two should have quite the battle whenever they re matched up with each other Monday night .  Clemson defense must play its best game vs . Derrick Henry , Jake Coker  Sports Illustrated executive editor B . J . Schecter and senior writer Pete Thamel discuss what the Clemson Tigers need to do on defense to defeat the Alabama Crimson Tide .  Which under the radar player could make a huge impact ?  Staples : Alabama running back Kenyan Drake . ? Drake is as close to healthy as possible after dealing with a litany of injuries . The Tigers are good enough in the front seven to slow Derrick Henry , but if the Tide can hit a few big gains using Drake on the edge , it could loosen things up for Henry or for the passing game .  Thamel : Alabama punter  Scott . ? The sophomore struggled early this season after having a monster freshman season , when he averaged 48 . 0 yards per punt . Since Alabama ' s game against Arkansas on Oct . 10 , Scott has recaptured that form and level of productivity . I suspect this will be a lower scoring game and Scott will have a big impact on field position .  Hamilton : Alabama linebacker Ryan Anderson . ? Anderson has the third most tackles for loss on Alabama ' s defense ( 11 . 5 ) and is tied for the team lead in quarterback hurries with 10 . So to call the junior linebacker under the radar is a little misleading , but he doesn ' t get the attention that stars like Ragland and A ' Shawn Robinson enjoy . Anderson was a terror against a good Michigan State offensive line in the Cotton Bowl , and if he can disrupt Watson enough , Clemson might have nowhere to turn .  Schnell : Clemson wide receiver Hunter Renfrow . ? I ' m all about rooting for players you ' ve written about , so I ' ll take this time to plug Clemson walk on receiver Hunter Renfrow , who ' s bringing pride to all 68 of his cousins ( seriously ) with his postseason play . Renfrow caught four passes for 59 yards in the Orange Bowl , including a 35 yard touchdown reception . Could he be the difference Monday night ?  Ellis : Gallman . ? Clemson ' s running back set a program single season record with 1 , 482 rushing yards this season , but no one is talking about him . If Gallman can form an effective one two punch with Watson , this Tigers offense will be very hard to stop .  Niesen : Alabama cornerback Cyrus Jones . ? I think Jones still counts as being under the radar , even though he was selected as the Cotton Bowl ' s Most Outstanding Defensive Player last week . So much of the attention paid to Alabama ' s defense this season focused on its line ? rightfully so ? that Jones and the rest of the team ' s defensive backfield seemed at times overlooked . Jones put together an impressive season as a leader in an Alabama secondary that greatly improved from a year ago .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,present
24159,24160,"Not only is Donald Trump ' s call for banning all Muslims from entering the U . S . being widely condemned . It is also a losing campaign strategy , even if it has given him a consistent polling lead so far .  As Vox ' s Andrew Prokop reminds us , Trump thrives on media attention . Yes , many inflammatory things he has said find some support among Republican voters . But a lot of pronouncements , whether outrageous or mainstream , could find some support and lots of candidates are willing to make them . What moved Trump to the top of the polls and keeps him there is his utter dominance of the information environment . He ' s the only candidate most Republicans are hearing about .  Looking just at nightly network news , Trump has received about 33 times as much coverage as Ted Cruz has so far this year . Thus it ' s more surprising that Cruz is still relatively close in the polls than that Trump leads in them .  Poll respondents rarely choose a candidate they ' ve never heard of or have heard little about . So for most Republican voters , the choice they ' ve been asked to make is more a referendum on Trump than a choice among several Republican contenders .  The challenge for Trump is that he ' s in a Red Queen race : As time goes on , he has to do more and more to get the same amount of attention .  Back in the summer , when most Republican presidential candidates were occupied by the "" invisible primary "" competition for the support of major party actors , Trump ' s ability to dominate the media was relatively easy : Most candidates weren ' t focused on the public side of the campaign at that point .  When the debates began , this started to change . Trump typically lost a little steam after each of those events because they generated publicity for the other candidates . But he has proved skilled at moving the spotlight back to himself , quickly rebounding in the polls to about 30 percent or so in Republican trial heats .  As the primaries and caucuses draw nearer , the ground is shifting . It was no surprise that an Iowa poll is showing Trump falling behind . Voters there are being exposed to a more balanced flow of information . Other candidates are running  ads , raising their profiles , and the campaigns are contacting people directly . Thus Trump has resorted to what the Australian political strategist Lynton Crosby has called the "" dead cat ploy "" to divert attention , throw a dead cat on the table .  After the voting starts , the press will start to treat those candidates considered to have a chance as more or less equals . Even if Trump does well in Iowa and New Hampshire , he ' ll be only one among a small number of serious candidates . He may still get the most attention , but it won ' t be 33 to 1 .  To keep the attention on him , his antics have to be wilder and wilder . Each time he goes over the top he risks losing some supporters , and solidifies the opposition of Republicans who were initially inclined to oppose him .  It ' s a perfect strategy to produce early polling leads . When it comes to winning nominations , however , it ' s a loser .  Jonathan Bernstein is a Bloomberg View columnist covering U . S . politics .  For more columns from Bloomberg View , visit http : www . bloombergweblink view  ",true,text,validation,US elections,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
24164,24165,"0 комментариев 0 поделились Фото: АР  В журнале Advanced Functional Materials, сотрудники Кембриджского университета и Пекинского технологического института рассказали, что принцип работы аккумулятора напоминает функционирование тонкого кишечника человека.  Разработка заключается в том, что серосодержащий катод отделен от электролита специальной мембраной, которая по структуре напоминает волокна, находящиеся в тонкой кишке. Этот слой из волокон оксида цинка способен захватывать фрагменты активного вещества и присоединять их к проводящей решетке. Что и позволяет использовать повторно материалы аккумулятора, которые ранее были подвергнуты разрушению.  ""Удельная энергия литий-серной батареи превосходит в пять раз удельную энергию литий-ионной, которая используется в большинстве портативных устройств"", - рассказал автор исследования Дэн Чжао.  Однако, по его словам, новая разработка пока не способна пройти через большое количество циклов зарядки-разрядки.  Напомним, первые телефоны использовали никель-кадмиевые (Ni-Cd) аккумуляторы. Но несмотря на свои плюсы вроде большого ресурса и высокой токоотдачи, они обладали низкой удельной емкостью (45-65 Втч/кг).  Эти причины заставили отказаться от Ni-Cd-аккумуляторов в пользу никель-металл-гидридных (Ni-MH) батарей. Они меньше подвержены эффекту памяти и имеют большую удельную емкость (60-72 Втч/кг). Однако срок хранения таких аккумуляторов примерно 200-500 циклов.  Далее изобрели литий-ионный аккумулятор (Li-Ion), который остается остается одними из самых распространенных. Он имеет удельную емкость до 240 Втч/кг, что в несколько раз больше, чем у предшественников. Срок службы составляет более 600 циклов. Популярностью также обладают литий-полимерный аккумулятор (Li-Po). Эти аккумуляторы появились более 20 лет назад и до сих пор используются в смартфонах.  Одной из самых последних разработок стали литий-серные (Li-S) аккумуляторы. Их энергоемкость вдвое превышает литий-ионных, также они выдерживают хороший срок службы (1,5 тыс. циклов заряда). Однако необходимость доработки и тестов в условиях влажности и температуры пока не дают выйти Li-S-аккумуляторам на рынок.  Читайте последние новости Pravda.Ru на сегодня Полезные советы от Сноудена: Как защитить себя от слежки и прослушки Поделиться:",fake,news,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,past
24175,24176,"What you probably missed in the Mets ' loss to the Kansas City Royals in Game 5 of the World Series    ? Here ' s what you might have missed in the Mets ' 7 2 loss to the Royals in Game 5 as Kansas City clinched its first World Series win since 1985 on Sunday night .     : According to  , the Royals became the first team to win three games in a single World Series in which they trailed in the eighth inning or later .      : The Royals outscored the Mets , 16 1 , after the sixth inning in the World Series .   : As Mets sulk , Paul Rudd parties with Royals   : Before the World Series , lights out Mets closer Jeurys Familia hadn ' t blown a save since July 30 . He became the first closer to ever blow three in a single World Series .      : The Royals knew just why they believed Lucas Duda would "" screw it up "" and make a bad throw that would let them tie it up in the ninth inning .     : Matt Harvey was at 102 pitches going into the ninth inning with a 2 0 lead . Manager Terry Collins could easily have decided to pull Harvey from the game and insert closer Jeurys Familia . In fact , it seemed pitching coach Dan Werthen even told Harvey his night was done . But Harvey told Collins there ' s "" no way "" he should take him out , and Collins relented . . . and later regretted it .  Maybe just maybe Harvey should of let Collins do  job . I get your a competitor but let the manager  .  weblink : t . co pY8xQXJns1     : Yoenis Cespedes ' injury might have been a bigger deal if the Mets had won and his availability had become a question for Game 6 . But they didn ' t win , and the fact he took a foul ball off the left knee cap , fell like he was shot and was taken out of the game in the sixth inning might go forgotten .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
24191,24192,"A major Ebola outbreak may have gone unreported in a remote region of Sierra Leone , according to the the World Health Organization (  ) , whose officials found scores of bodies piled up in a hospital earlier this week .  ' They uncovered a grim scene , ' the  health agency said in statement after making the discovery in the remote diamond mining region of Kono . ' In 11 days , two teams buried 87 bodies . '  Among the dead were a nurse , ambulance driver and janitor who had previously been drafted in to remove bodies as they piled up , they added .  Officials from the World Health Organisation fear another outbreak of the Ebola Virus in the remote Kono region of Sierra Leone . Health workers discovered scores of bodies piled up at the region ' s only hospital  Workers prepare disinfectants outside the house of a person suspected to have died of the Ebola virus near Freetown , Sierra Leone . Health teams recently buried 87 bodies in just 11 days in the Kono region  The Kono region has now been on lockdown by the Sierra Leone government as it bids to battle the disease . The district had reported 119 cases among its 350 , 000 inhabitants before December 9 but officials fear the numbers will be far worse  The area has now been put on a two week lockdown by the country ' s government .  ' Our team met heroic doctors and nurses at their wits end , exhausted burial teams and lab techs , all doing the best they could , but they simply ran out of resources and were overrun with gravely ill people , ' said Dr Olu Olushayo , an official in  ' s response Ebola team .  Officially the Kono district had reported 119 cases among its 350 , 000 inhabitants before December 9 , but some have expressed concern that the figures have massively underrepresented the size of the outbreak in the region .  In just five days leading up to the  team ' s arrival , 25 people died in a makeshift , cordoned off section in the area ' s only hospital .  Bodies are a frightening source of contagion as the devastating virus carries its heaviest load right after death .   officials also discovered that villages scattered across eight of the area ' s 15 chiefdoms had also been hit by the disease .  ' We are only seeing the ears of the hippo , ' said Dr Amara Jambai , Sierra Leone ' s Director of Disease Prevention and Control , using a local proverb equated to ' the tip of the iceberg . '  Sierra Leone authorities said they ordered a two week ' lockdown ' in the region until December 23 , in hope of containing transmission of the virus .  While people will be able to move within the Kono region , officials said no one will be allowed to leave .  The West African nation recently overtook neighbouring Liberia for the highest number of Ebola cases , recording 7 , 897 since the epidemic was first identified earlier this year .  ' For tireless acts of courage and mercy , ' Time announced Ebola fighters as their ' Person of the Year 2014 '  However , Liberia has registered 3 , 177 deaths , considerably more than the 1 , 768 marked in Sierra Leone , raising concerns that many fatalities have not been reflected in the figures .  Quoted by  , the country ' s health minister Abu Bakarr said it was difficult to put an exact figure on the death toll , explaining that his country was only counting deaths from laboratory confirmed Ebola cases .  ' They are adding suspected cases , so that is causing the discrepancies in the results . We are going by the textbook , ' he said .  The current Ebola epidemic is the worst on record and has killed 6 , 388 people out of 17 , 942 cases in Guinea , Liberia and Sierra Leone according to  data .  The death toll continues to grow , fuelled principally by new infections in Sierra Leone .  News of the latest outbreak comes just days after medics battling the disease were recognized as Time magazine ' s Person of the Year  Announcing the prestigious title , editor Nancy Gibbs said : ' The rest of the world can sleep at night because a group of men and women are willing to stand and fight . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
24208,24209,"After refusing to read the manual for his new Dell laptop , local senior James Hoffmann achieved a state of nirvana while screaming profanities at the electronic device .  "" At first I thought that my dad was angrier than I ' d ever seen him , "" said James ' son , Corey . "" Then I realized he ' d gone so far past angry that he ' d come around the other side , and entered into a condition of perfect and omnibenevolent oneness with the universe . ""  Sources inside the family say that Hoffman continues to curse , but now does so in such a way as to mirror the flawless symmetry and reflexivity of the cosmos .  "" Corey is absolutely right , that clown piece of stinking horse from which blossoms the licker mother lotus flower . "" said Hoffman , floating and glowing slightly . "" I now appreciate that that which is transient and that which eats eternally are one and the same , you s . ""  Several monks from the international Buddhist community have begun gathering at the household to meet with the enlightened being . Sources say they are being made to wait three days and install Windows 8 on a desktop before being granted an audience .  "" There are many ways to achieve enlightenment . "" said Tibetan monk Longchepa . "" Some meditate beneath a tree , some listen to the sound of a cricket ' s chirp . Now James has done it with his filthy piece of computer . ""  Members of the Hoffman family say that there is yet more wisdom to be found within their household .  "" Man . "" Corey said . "" If these monks think pop cussing at his computer is something , then they are going to themselves when he has to go carpet shopping with Mom in a month . ""  ",satire,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,fake,satire,True,no,no,positive,present
24214,24215,"Cruel : Natalie Armitage ( pictured ) , 20 , admitted four animal welfare charges when she appeared before magistrates  A pet owner has been banned from keeping animals after she starved her cat so badly he broke into a hamster ' s cage and ate the animal inside .  Jeffrey the cat was only allowed to drink water from the toilet and eat stale dog biscuits so in desperation he mauled the rodent , a court heard .  Natalie Armitage , 20 , has admitted four animal welfare charges and has been banned from keeping animals for five years .  Calderdale Magistrates Court heard that  inspectors repeatedly called at her address in Todmorden , West Yorkshire , in October last year because of welfare concerns .  The police were called to gain access to the house , which was in darkness .  ' In the living room the hamster cage was broken into pieces and there was no sign of the hamster , ' said Tanya Forrest , prosecuting .  Eventually , Armitage answered the door to an inspector and was asked ' where is the hamster ? ' to which she replied : ' I think the cat has eaten it . '  Ms Forrest said : ' I think that is evidenced by the cage the cat broke into it .  ' Regrettably , the consequence was the hamster met its fate . '  Armitage , who was not represented , said she went to Crewe for dental treatment but her son was taken ill and she was away longer than expected .  She had fallen out with her mum and sister and had no one to access the property .  Armitage said she thought she was away for around six nights .  Hungry : Jeffrey the cat ( pictured ) was so starved of suitable food and water that he destroyed the cage of the terrified animal and gobbled him up , a court heard  Scene : The  found that the hamster ' s cage had been broken open so the cat could find a meal  Chairman of the bench , Andrew Entwistle , told her : ' You left the cat for longer than you like to admit . The cat did suffer . The hamster is no more . '  The charges she admitted covered not providing a suitable environment for Jeffrey , not ensuring his need for a suitable diet including water , failing to protect Jeffrey from pain , suffering , injury and disease , and not protecting the hamster from pain , suffering , injury and disease .  Armitage , who is on benefits , was fined 50 with 200 costs and a 15 pounds victim surcharge , and was disqualified from keeping animals for five years .  A deprivation order was made to take Jeffrey , currently in boarding , off her .  Carnage : Jeffrey was only able to crink toilet water and eat dry dog biscuits , but he is now re homed  After the case , an  spokesperson said : ' This is a very sad situation for both the cat and the hamster . Both were left to fend for themselves for nearly a whole week .  ' It is not the cat ' s fault that he found himself drawn , through hunger , to seek out his only option for sustenance . But on the other hand , one can only imagine the hamster ' s terror as his cage was broken apart .  ' It is an offence to leave your pets without arranging for their basic welfare needs to be taken care of . '  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
24218,24219,"In an attempt to ensure a new cash flow for the provincial government , Premier Kathleen Wynne has implemented a new policy forcing Ontarians to have two alcoholic beverages at all times .  "" Since all drink purchases will go through the  at some point , this new policy will make billions for the province , "" said Wynne . "" That ' s money that we can use to improve infrastructure and create jobs . ""  "" The fringe benefit is that alcohol seems to make people forget about the Hydro One sale , P3 hospitals , and pretty much everything else , "" added the Premier .  Visitors will also be expected to conform to the law . At the border , non residents will be given a short cocktail menu from which they must choose a drink containing at least of 2 shots of 80 proof liquor . If this doesn ' t appeal , they may instead choose to get a pint of beer , only 3 when purchased with a pound of wings , or a glass of the house red .  "" The minimum is there for your benefit , "" said Wynne , sipping an Old Fashioned . "" Timmins is a lot more fun with a bit of a buzz going . ""  Most Ontarians view the loosening up legislation as the long awaited legal acknowledgment of every human being ' s right to party .  "" I ' m six deep right now , baby . "" said Dr Peter Morris , while performing an appendectomy . "" It ' s a minimum not a maximum ! Woooooo . ""  Critics of the bill have pointed to the financial burden that would be placed on the healthcare system due to an expected rise in drunk driving . However , experts say that the concern is unfounded .  "" Listen , drunk driving isn ' t going to be a problem . Think about it : when everyone is drunk , no one is drunk , "" said  commissioner Vince Hawkes . "" That ' ll make more sense after your fourth highball . ""  At press time , Kathleen Wynne had introduced a weekly "" Ladies Night after being informed the province was at risk of becoming a total sausage fest .  ",satire,text,validation,World conflict,Sports/Other,true,satire,True,no,no,positive,present
24223,24224,"A series of 30 year old television interviews doesn ' t sound like promising movie material .  Frank Langella gives "" a heavyweight performance "" as Richard Nixon , says Tom Charity .  What ' s more , those who have watched all 20 plus hours of the David Frost Richard Nixon conversations , which form the center of "" Frost Nixon , "" recently report that they ' re overwhelmingly dry and dull , with the ex president ably stonewalling questions that were not to his liking and indulging in elaborate self justification on those that were .  Of course , that ' s not what we remember . On the last day of 12 interview sessions , as had been agreed , British journalist Frost finally broached Watergate . This was always going to be the make or break moment . And to everyone ' s astonishment , it was Nixon who broke .  Those fascinatingly unexpurgated five minutes of presidential floundering in the spring of 1977 weighed more than all the hours of explication that preceded them . At last , Tricky Dick admitted misdeeds not illegality as such , because , he claimed , the president cannot break the law . That exchange made Frost ' s reputation and sealed Nixon ' s public ignominy . ( Some would argue that today such a sentiment is official government policy . )  Can you build a movie on five revelatory minutes ? If you ' re Peter Morgan , the answer is yes . The British playwright and screenwriter has a thing about mismatched power couples : the relationships between Tony Blair and Elizabeth  in "" The Queen "" a young Scottish medic and Ugandan President Idi Amin in "" The Last King of Scotland "" and between Anne Boleyn and Henry  in "" The Other Boleyn Girl , "" to name just his most recent credits .  Morgan seems both awed and appalled by these power mongers , locked in the solitary confinement that political leadership entails though his instinct is always to bring them down to earth , to find some common ground , however fleeting it may be .  Interviews often are described as a courtship or seduction , but this one was more of a cross examination . "" A duel , "" Nixon calls it . In a sense it ' s the trial he never faced . The entire country would be his jury .  Much of the movie is designed to show us how the self appointed prosecutor was ill equipped for the task at hand : a playboy British comedian turned  chat show host Down Under , more accustomed to trading quips with the Bee Gees than grilling presidents . Frost was a lightweight that ' s one of the reasons Nixon and his people agreed to the interview . ( There were 600 , 000 more a landmark in checkbook journalism that director Ron Howard doesn ' t lose much sleep over . )  Neither actor goes for a full on impersonation . Michael Sheen Tony Blair in "" The Queen "" actually dials down Frost ' s distinctive nasal drone , but suggests how this congenial suck up coasted on his blow dried charm , rakish sideburns and unrealistic self confidence . Frost may be out of his depth , but he ' s not about to let it cramp his style he ' s delighted when the ex president admires his slip on Italian shoes .  As Nixon , Frank Langella ( like Sheen a holdover from the award winning Broadway production ) is suitably hunched and guttural , but more patrician and less jowly , than the real McCoy . Even so , it ' s a heavyweight performance . This Nixon is full of pride and fury , cerebral and rigorous but fatally hungry for exoneration , or , failing that ( though he never quite admits it ) , forgiveness .  Brash and brazen in comparison with "" The Queen , "" Morgan ' s script doesn ' t stop explaining itself and talking itself up , though what it all boils down to is rather less than meets the eye . At one point , a drunken wake up call from Nixon finally kicks Frost into doing some hard journalism , but this a figment of the screenwriter ' s overly tidy creative imagination . iReportweblink : Share reviews of ' Frost Nixon '  But Morgan is rock solid when it comes to structure . It ' s a compelling account , shrewdly bolstered with lively actors in both corners of the ring : Sam Rockwell , Matthew Macfadyen , Rebecca Hall and Oliver Platt in Frost ' s camp Toby Jones and Kevin Bacon attending to the president . Jones steals his every scene as the bald germophobe and legendary agent Swifty Lazar , a neat counterpoint to his turn as Karl Rove in "" W . ""  "" Frost Nixon "" doesn ' t have much to say about the disgraced president that Oliver Stone , for one , hasn ' t already explored in more depth , but by the last taping , in its glib and reductionist way , it works like a charm . Or better yet , like television . Which , finally , is a compliment .  "" Frost Nixon "" runs 122 minutes and is rated R . For Entertainment Weekly ' s take , click here .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
24238,24239,"Sizing up the magnitude of Mexico ' s obesity problem is as simple as visiting a clothing manufacturer . At Arush , a clothing factory in Mexico City , the changing demand has modified production . Buyers , including Mexican giant retailers like Soriana and Liverpool , are increasingly asking for "" large "" and "" extra large "" sizes , which have all but replaced production of "" small "" and "" medium . ""  Designer Adriana Moreno , who works at Arush , said they ' re simply adapting to Mexico ' s new reality : an explosion of overweight and obese people , mostly in the last three decades . "" In our market , I can tell you we ' ve had a 50 growth in sales of large and extra large sizes in the last three years , "" Moreno said .  According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development , 69 . 5 of the Mexican population aged 15 and older is overweight or obese . This is the highest rate in the world , even higher than in the United States which historically had the highest rate and the United Kingdom , which has the highest in Europe .  The Mexican government launched a campaign last year urging people to exercise , drink more water , and eat fruits and vegetables . President Felipe Calder n said that "" since 1980 , the percentage of overweight or obese Mexicans has tripled . ""  The problem starts early : 4 . 5 million children between the ages of 5 and 11 are already overweight . Many school districts have banned junk food in their facilities , but it ' s readily available right outside , much to the chagrin of parents . "" You can see how many stands there are outside . And they ' re all selling junk food ! I think they should also control what they sell out here , "" Daniela Pi a said as she waited for her child outside a grammar school in Mexico City ' s Doctores neighborhood .  Adela Garcia , a stay at home mother , said parental responsibility plays a vital role in solving the problem . "" It really starts at home , "" she said . "" We as parents have to take that kind of food away from children so that they eat healthier . ""  Mexico ' s Institute for Public Health reports that the number of overweight or obese school aged children increased from 18 . 4 in 1999 to 26 . 2 in 2006 . It also says that diabetes of which obesity is a contributing factor has become the No . 1 cause of death in Mexico .  Other statistics provided by the institute are very telling . Mexicans drink 160 . 1 liters ( 42 . 3 gallons ) of soft drinks per year . The institute also says that school aged children get at least a fifth of their calories from drinks with a high content of sugar and other sweeteners .  "" We trust that the public interest will prevail over private interests and that the federal government will do , under the law , everything possible so that our proposals are quickly implemented , "" the institute says . Their proposals include increasing physical activity in schools and improving nutrition guidelines .  Back at the clothes factory , Adriana Moreno is faced with a challenge : pleasing people in spite of their size . "" It ' s a very demanding market , very demanding . People are always trying to look good , not seem so overweight . They look for a beautiful garment , a good design that doesn ' t make them look heavier than they really are , "" Moreno said .  The war on drugs has killed 30 , 000 people in the last four years , and violence is front page news in major newspapers across Mexico . But obesity , excess weight and their related health problems claim almost five times more lives than the war against drug cartels . According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development , individual prevention programs could avoid as many as 47 , 000 deaths from chronic diseases every year .  Mexico ' s Health Ministry reports that obesity and excess weight cost the country 5 . 5 billion in expenses associated with treating people with diabetes , high cholesterol , high blood pressure and heart disease .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
24244,24245,"Having booked their flights and secured their hotels, travelers often consider rental cars among the last of their   tasks, making the unprepared more vulnerable to the    of industry fees. “Our number one advice for renters is to do their homework,” said David Solomito, vice president of marketing for North America at Kayak. “For most people, rental cars are the least considered part of trip. ” As technology has changed travel  —   consider toll roads, which often do not have manned tollbooths any longer  —   so it has the rules of the road when it comes to renting cars. “It’s not dramatic in terms of what companies are charging in fees, it’s just that there’s more of them,” said Rick Garlick, who leads the global travel and hospitality practice at J. D. Power, which conducts consumer surveys, including an annual survey on car rental satisfaction (for the third year running, Enterprise has ranked highest). “Ancillary fees, as with airlines, are how the companies retain profitability,” he said. There are a number of ways to save money on rental cars, including renting from a location that’s not at an airport, which Kayak says will save you an average of 11 percent. But there are several charges that tend to nip renters’ wallets after they return their cars that can be avoided or reduced with a little forethought. Assuming you haven’t purchased any refueling options when you signed the contract, rental car agencies require renters to return the car with the same amount of gas as when they departed, which usually means full. But the mileage range between topping off the tank and reaching the return facility is a gray area. “At Hertz, we do not have a mileage restriction. We simply ask that customers refuel to the same level they started with,” wrote Lauren Luster, communications manager with Hertz, in an email. This lack of definition is open to exploitation both from drivers who refuel miles away and from agencies. I recently returned a car to Avis in Miami after refueling a block from the airport return terminal, only to find a “fuel service” charge of $16. 07 on my bill. An Avis employee redacted it when I objected. A spokeswoman for Avis said the company has about 40, 000 “connected” cars, which measure fuel levels when exiting and   the rental facility. “We carefully monitor the system and work closely with car manufacturers, so the likelihood that the technology in the vehicle malfunctioned is slim,” wrote Alice Pereira, an Avis spokeswoman, in an email. Industry experts advise making a mental note of the closest gas station when you drive away from the rental facility. “Cars aren’t getting smarter, we need to be,” said Lauren Fix, an author and automotive writer also known as the Car Coach. “If you have a receipt to prove you refilled, they will usually refund the fee. Any pushback, I ask for a manager. ” Drivers are responsible for paying their own tolls, but a shift to electronic tolling has made it harder for renters to avoid the fees charged by agencies as manned booths have disappeared from many routes. Most agencies provide electronic transponders that allow convenient access to toll roads. But once they are triggered by a tollgate, the devices initiate a daily rental fee, often regardless of whether it is used each day. These fees are in addition to the actual tolls, so that while you may only incur a few dollars in tolls driving from Miami to Key West, you will pay somewhere between $2. 95 a day for the device at Payless Car Rental to $4. 95 a day with Hertz. These fees are usually capped. Avis charges a maximum of $19. 75 per rental month Hertz charges $24. 75 maximum per rental agreement and Payless charges $14. 75 maximum for each rental period. Enterprise, National and Alamo car rentals offer the use of automatic tolling for $3. 95 per day it is used, with a maximum charge of $19. 75 for the rental term. Car rental companies stress that drivers can pay cash (when the option exists) avoid toll roads or bring their own electronic transponders from home. Not all electronic passes are linked, however. The   can be used in most Northeastern and   states and a few in the Midwest, extending from Maine down to North Carolina and west to Illinois. An   may be used in various vehicles as long as they are in the same class as your car, so forget using it if you rent a  . Some toll roads in California will allow drivers to register a credit card to the rental car license plate and have the tolls charged automatically. Many consumers assume that an early rental return will spare them the fee remaining for the balance of the contract. That doesn’t take into account the lost revenue that the rental car company incurs. “It messes with their inventory and planning,” said Mr. Solomito of Kayak. “Returning a car early is considered breaking the contract. ” How early is early depends on the company, but generally anything less than 24 hours before the return date requires payment of the full amount. If earlier, Dollar Rent A Car, for example, will only charge for the days used and add a $25 charge, according to the company website, “to compensate us in part for our inability to rent your vehicle during the remaining time we have reserved for your use. ” Late returns generally trigger fees. And like airline rebooking, any changes may result in a different rate than the one originally agreed to. Hertz encourages customers to call its Rental Extensions department. They may be subject to a $10   fee, through renters can avoid the fee if they change a return date when they pick up the car. If they don’t call, however, they can be subject to a fee of $12 a day, up to a maximum of $60, in addition to daily rental charges. Parking or traffic tickets are the driver’s responsibility. But if ever there were a financial incentive to driving carefully, it’s in a rental car, where ticket fees may come with a service charge from the rental company. These penalties are usually detailed in the terms and conditions of the rental contract. Avis’s contract says offenses will be charged back to the renter’s credit card, and the company may impose a $30 administration fee to cover the cost of notifying the renter of the infraction by sending copies of the notices. Payless charges a $50 fee per violation. “What the big print giveth, the little print taketh away,” Ms. Fix said. “You have to be aware. ”",true,news,validation,Other news1,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
24257,24258,"Posted on October 29, 2016 by Sean Adl-Tabatabai in Sci/Environment // 0 Comments  People from Melanesia contain traces of  belonging to an unknown species, according to an exciting new computer analysis.  Scientists say that Melanesians, people from a region in the South Pacific, contain  of an unknown human species in their genetic makeup.  Ryan Bohlender told the annual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics that the  was very unlikely to be Neanderthal or Denisovan – but is likely a third, unknown “human” relative. weblink reports:  “ We’re missing a population, or we’re misunderstanding something about the relationships ,” Ryan Bohlender, a statistical geneticist from the University of Texas, told Tina Hesman Saey at Science News . Alien DNA? People from the Pacific Islands carry  from a third, unknown “human” relative  Bohlender and his team have been investigating the percentages of extincthominid  that modern humans still carry today, and say they’ve found discrepancies in previous analyses that suggest our mingling with Neanderthals and Denisovans isn’t the whole story.  It’s thought that between 100,000 and 60,000 years ago, our early ancestors migrated out of Africa, and first made contact with other hominid species living on the Eurasian landmass.  This contact left a mark on our species that can still be found today, with Europeans and Asians carrying distinct genetic variants of Neanderthal  in their own genomes.  And that’s not all they’ve given us.  Earlier this year, researchers investigated certain genetic variants that people of European descent inherited from Neanderthals, and found that they’re associated with several health problems, including a slightly increased risk of depression, heart attack, and a number of skin disorders.  And a separate study published earlier this month found evidence that modern genital warts – otherwise known as the human papillomavirus (HPV) – were sexually transmitted to Homo sapiens after our ancestors slept with Neanderthals and Denisovans once they left Africa.  While our relationship with Neanderthals has been widely researched, how we interacted with the Denisovans – the distant cousins of Neanderthals – is less clear.  The problem is that Neanderthals are well represented in the fossil record, with many remains having been uncovered across Europe and Asia, but all we have of the Denisovans is a lone finger bone and a couple of teeth that were found in a Siberian cave in 2008.  Using a new computer model to figure out the amount of Neanderthal and Denisovan  carried by modern humans, Bohlender and his colleague found that Europeans and Chinese people carry a similar amount of Neanderthal DNA: about 2.8 percent.  That result is pretty similar to previous studies have estimated that Europeans and Asians carry, on average, between 1.5 and 4 percent Neanderthal DNA.  But when they got to Denisovan DNA, things were a bit more complicated, particularly when it came to modern populations living in Melanesia – a region of the South Pacific that includes Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, West Papua, and the Maluku Islands.  As Hesman Saey explains for Science News : “Europeans have no hint of Denisovan ancestry, and people in China have a tiny amount – 0.1 percent, according to Bohlender’s calculations. But 2.74 percent of the  in people in Papua New Guinea comes from Neanderthals. And Bohlender estimates the amount of Denisovan  in Melanesians is about 1.11 percent, not the 3 to 6 percent estimated by other researchers. While investigating the Denisovan discrepancy, Bohlender and colleagues came to the conclusion that a third group of hominids may have bred with the ancestors of Melanesians.”  “Human history is a lot more complicated than we thought it was,” he told her .",fake,news,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present
24263,24264,"By Lambert Strether of Corrente .  TPP/TTIP/  TPP: A Podesta mail where Nikki Budzinski, Labor Outreach Director, discusses Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson: “I have received four calls from labor about a district meeting that Congresswoman Johnson (a  public supporter) held in Dallas, Texas where she discussed TPP. She claimed in the meeting that she speaks with  2-3 times a week and that she was told by the Secretary that the only reason she opposes  is to get ‘labor off her back’ and that once she is elected President she will reverse position. I have worked with our Western Political Director Jessica Meija, and she has connected with the Congresswoman’s  to clarify the inaccuracy of what she said and push back on her comments. This was not helpful with labor. [ Wikileaks (attachment)]. “Inaccuracy.” Of course, of course.  TPP: “[Our Revolution,] the progressive group founded by Sen. Bernie Sanders has begun a targeted campaign to sway at least five House Democrats to oppose the  in hopes it could change the outcome of a ratification vote — and it’s getting some results” [ Politico ]. “Our Revolution, which Sanders formed in late August to support liberal candidates, has set its sights on at least five other fence-sitting lawmakers. In a vote that’s expected to have razor-thin margins, plundering just a few Democratic votes the White House hoped to gain could make all the difference. The target list includes Reps. Seth Moulton (Mass.), Ed Perlmutter (Colo.), Beto O’Rourke (Texas), Derek Kilmer (Wash.), and Pennsylvania state Rep. Dwight Evans.”  TPP: “In Thursday, Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers published a report warning that if the  isn’t passed, a China-backed trade agreement will takes its place. That could put U.S. manufacturers at a disadvantage when they try to sell to customers in Japan and other Asian nations. The report argues that if China’s Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership goes into effect, at least 35 U.S. industries as diverse as plastics, fishing and footwear will be at risk of increased competition from China in the Japanese market” [ FiveThirtyEight ]. So they’ve settled on this messaging, now? And: “[I]f Clinton wins, Obama might be able to put together a coalition of Republicans and trade-friendly Democrats* to support the treaty. In other words,  isn’t dead yet.” * Especially those looking for jobs on K Street.  TPP: “”If  is not passed and  is enacted, which is what all these countries say they are planning to do, then U.S. businesses would face a direct loss of competitive position,” said Jason Furman, the chair of the Council of Economic Advisers” [ Reuters ]. “This would displace U.S. goods and be worse than simply maintaining the trade status quo, Furman said. The study identifies 35 industrial sectors employing 4.7 million people with $5.3 billion in sales to Japan that would face such a disadvantage.”  TPP: “Japan’s ruling parties push  through committee after opposition walkout” [ Nikkei Asian Review ]. “The next hurdle for the trade deal is a vote during a plenary session of the House of Representatives, expected early next week. It will then be sent to the Diet’s upper house, the House of Councillors.”  TPP: “Working-class U.S. residents already lose about $1,800 annually because wages have been depressed by global competition on labor rates, according to the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute.  would deepen this problem” [ Detroit Free Press ]. I know the cheap goods are supposed to make up for this, but when your jobs and and what you can afford to buy are both crapified….  2016  Days until: 3!  Corruption  “Two former Christie administration insiders charged in a bizarre scheme of political retaliation against a mayor who refused to endorse the governor for re-election were found guilty Friday on all counts in the long-running Bridgegate saga” [ Newark Star-Ledger ]. “‘In keeping with the disgrace that was this trial, one of the things the U.S. Attorney’s Office should be ashamed of is where it decided to draw the line on who to charge and who not to charge,’ Baroni’s attorney Michael] Baldassare said. ‘… They should have had belief in their own case to charge powerful people, and they did not.” Hmm. I wonder which “powerful people” Baldassare has in mind?  Our Famously Free Press  “Behind all the Times’ fawning profiles of Clinton — and the denigrating pieces not only on Trump but also Democratic challenger Bernie Sanders — was a cozy understanding between Times reporters and the Clinton campaign, WikiLeaks has shown us, that getting Clinton elected is something of a collaborative effort” [ MarketWatch ]. “Editors at the Times, the Washington Post and elsewhere justify this hostility because they have determined that Trump is an existential threat to democracy and the worst presidential nominee in history and can’t be treated as an ordinary candidate. So why do the polls show the worst nominee ever running neck-and-neck with the candidate President Barack Obama has praised as the most qualified person ever to run for president? Do these editors know something that tens of millions of American voters are missing? Whose job is it really to decide what poses a threat to our democracy — a handful of editors in the corporate media or the voters?”  The Voters  New Hampshire : Clinton 44%, Trump 44%, Johnson 5% ( UMass Lowell )  Iowa : Trump 44%, Clinton 41%, Johnson 5% (  Research )  Virginia : Clinton 45%, Trump 38%, Johnson 5% ( Roanoke College )  Georgia : Trump 48%, Clinton 46%, Johnson 4% ( Landmark )  Missouri : Trump 52%, Clinton 41% (  )  New Hampshire : Clinton 48%, Trump 43% (  )  Nevada : Clinton 48%, Trump 45% (  )  Wisconsin : Clinton 48%, Trump 41% (  )  Pennsylvania : Clinton 48%, Trump 44% (  )  North Carolina : Clinton 49%, Trump 47% (  )  Wisconsin : Clinton 44%, Trump 38%, Johnson 7% ( Loras College )  If I plug all the states where Clinton is ahead into the New York Times “paths to victory” calculator , Clinton wins — even if Trump wins Florida. Of course, last I checked,  was dead even, not Clinton up 4, and I don’t have the chops to assess how good any of these polls are.  “Trump is finishing the race the way many Republicans wished he could have run it from the start: fiercely on message and on offense” [ RealClearPolitics ]. “Trump has largely adhered to his teleprompters and resisted controversial tweets this week. As Clinton campaigned a few days ago with Alicia Machado, the former Miss Universe winner with whom Trump has infamously feuded, the  nominee focused primarily on higher costs for Obamacare and the revived  investigation into emails pertinent to Clinton’s private server. The campaign believes those issues bolster his closing argument that Clinton is corrupt and a vestige of old politics, while he says he’s an agent of change.”  “Our polling data suggests that the missing whites aren’t exactly conservative populists who support Mr. Trump. They’re just dissatisfied: They don’t like their candidate, and they don’t like the other party’s candidate much either” [ New York Times ]. “The registered white missing Democrats, for instance, support Mrs. Clinton by only 61 percent to 19 percent. The missing registered white Republicans support Mr. Trump by only 69 to 13.”  “Election Update: Why Clinton’s Position Is Worse Than Obama’s” [Nate Silver, FiveThirtyEight ]. “In the table below, I’ve run a head-to-head comparison showing how many electoral votes each candidate was projected to have at various margins of victory or defeat. For instance, Obama had a lead in states (and congressional districts) totaling 332 electoral votes in our final 2012 forecast. Clinton leads in states totaling only 272 electoral votes, just two more than the minimum she needs to win the Electoral College.” In brief, Clinton is stronger than Obama among highly educated voters in states that she would win anyhow , and weaker among white voters without college degrees in states that are close.  War Drums  “The U.S. government believes hackers from Russia or elsewhere may try to undermine next week’s presidential election and is mounting an unprecedented effort to counter their cyber meddling, American officials told  News. The effort is being coordinated by the White House and the Department of Homeland Security, but reaches across the government to include the CIA, the National Security Agency and other elements of the Defense Department, current and former officials say” [  ]. ” Officials are alert for any attempts to create Election Day chaos, and say steps are being taken to prepare for worst-case scenarios, including a cyber-attack that shuts down part of the power grid or the internet. But what is more likely, multiple U.S. officials say, is a lower-level effort by hackers from Russia or elsewhere to peddle misinformation by manipulating Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms. For example, officials fear an 11th hour release of fake documents implicating one of the candidates in an explosive scandal without time for the news media to fact check it.  The Trail  “With Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump breathtakingly close in polls of key states, analysts are beginning to factor in the possibility of recounts that would delay the outcome” [ MarketWatch ]. “Bear in mind that a candidate would have limited time to contest the vote. This year, the Electoral College is due to meet on Dec. 19. By law, electors meet on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December.” A recount would make Florida 2000 look like a walk in the park, especially because Clinton, bless her heart, is unlikely to let herself be rolled, unlike Gore.  Michigan: “Hillary Clinton is hanging onto a narrow 4-point lead over Donald Trump in Michigan heading into the last weekend before Tuesday’s election, with a new Free Press poll showing clear momentum for the Republican nominee in a state that several weeks ago was believed all but decided for the Democrat” [ Detroit Free Press ]. ” [T]he number of undecided voters — 13% — remains extraordinarily high for this late in an election cycle, speaking to the high unfavorable marks voters give both major party candidates.” Normally, I’d say a 4% lead is a lot, but those undecideds. Wowsers.  Realignment  “Who Broke Politics?” [Paul Krugman, New York Times ]. “So how did all our political norms get destroyed? Hint: It started long before Donald Trump. On one side….” Hint: You will read to the end of the column without finding the “On the other side” that “on one side” sets up. I mean, it wasn’t mean Republicans who prevented Obama from throwing the banksters in jail, was it?  “America and the Abyss” [Andrew Sullivan, New York Magazine ]. Of course, if Trump really were a fascist, the Democratic Establishment would fight him tooth and nail. Right?  “Donald Trump didn’t break one of our two great and ancestral political parties. He won the nomination because the Republican Party was already broken, and those responsible for the party, the elected officials and thinkers, didn’t know. Now they do” [Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal , “Democracy’s Majesty and 2016’s Indignity”]. “Soon they will begin that stage of political mourning known as the symposia process. They’ll discuss how to repair, renew, keep the party together. Or the party will, over the next few cycles, split apart… The Democratic Party and its lobbyist/think-tank/journalistic establishment in Washington have long looked to me to be dominated by people devoted mostly to getting themselves in the best professional position and their kids into Sidwell Friends School. They want to be part of the web, the arrangement. They want to have connections, associates, a tong. They want to be wired in. They don’t want to be I.F. Stone, alone, reading the fine print of obscure government documents. And Clintonism—for years the biggest web, the securest source of money, a real tong with enforcers and reward-dispensers—has long been a sound route to all of this. You may have to bend rules to be part of it, accept unsavory deals and characters, but it is warm and cozy in there.” And:  One thing I saw this year was that sincere conservatives wholly opposed to socialism had real respect for Bernie Sanders because they saw his sincerity. He wasn’t part of the web and they honored him for it.  I never thought I’d find myself writing this, but for punditry I’ll take Nooners over Krugman’s hackery or Sullivan’s hysterical ranting. It’s been quite a year.  Democrat Email Hairball  “The Podesta Emails Part 29” [ Wikileaks ].  “[A] meeting between  and  at a critical time” [ Reddit (aliteralmind)]. From Podesta email drop #28. One of those timeline things that does make you go, hmm. Particularly the genesis of the meeting in previous meeting between Podesta and White House chief of staff Denis McDonough in an “offsite” Starbucks near the White House. If I were Putin, I’d have that Starbucks wired to the gills.  “What the WikiLeaks emails tell us about Hillary Clinton’s campaign (and what they don’t)” [ Los Angeles Times ]. Death of a thousand cuts.  “The real Clinton email scandal is that a bullshit story has dominated the campaign” [Matt Yglesias, Vox ]. Oh, Matty.  Stats Watch  Employment Situation, October 2016: Unemployment Rate – Level (4.9 %); Participation Rate – level (62.8%) [ Econoday ]. “Solid payroll growth is not the whole story of the October employment report. Average hourly earnings are rising, up an outsized 0.4 percent in the month with the year-on-year rate, at 2.8 percent, suddenly near 3.0 percent and at its recovery peak… The unemployment rate is down 1 tenth to 4.9 percent and, for some, is already signaling full employment for the labor market.But negatives are scarce in this report, where strength is emphatically underscored by the unexpected acceleration in average hourly earnings which further includes an upward revision to September. Today’s report marks a solid opening to fourth-quarter data and will raise talk of a wage-inflation flashpoint…” Gotta take the punchbowl away from lower orders! But: ” The number of persons working part time for economic reasons was essentially unchanged in October. This level suggests slack still in the labor market” [ Calculated Risk ]. Moreover: “t’s also worth noting that the standard measure of unemployment — now at 5 percent — doesn’t capture the lingering weakness in the market seen in the broader U6 measure, which includes discouraged workers, other workers marginally attached to the labor force and those in temporary jobs because they can’t get full-time work. The conventional unemployment measure is a hair below its mean from 2003-7, which is 5.2 percent. The broader U6, however, at 9.7 percent is higher than its 2003-7 mean of 9.1 percent. This is just another sign that there’s still slack in the labor market.” [ Bloomberg ]. And: “Should we believe the employment numbers in this report? There is little evidence of political bias in past election cycles” [ Econintersect ]. “To sum this report up – employment is continuing to tread water – growing little better than the theoretical working population growth. However, note that the household survey removed 43,000 to the workforce (which is the reason the unemployment rate declined). There was really nothing good or nothing really terrible – although manufacturing declined. The year-over-year rate of growth significantly declined this month.” Again, the Econoday summary is just a little too breathless for this Maine bear.  International Trade, September 2016: “A decline in imports helped pull down the nation’s trade gap sharply in September, to $36.4 billion from a revised $40.5 billion in August. Imports, reflecting declines for capital goods and also consumer goods, fell 1.1 percent while exports, showing an especially strong gain for capital goods, rose 0.6 percent” [ Econoday ]. “Declining imports are a plus for the  calculation but are not signals of strength for domestic demand, whether business demand for capital goods or business expectations for consumer imports ahead of the holidays.” And: “Declining imports are a plus for the  calculation but are not signals of strength for domestic demand, whether business demand for capital goods or business expectations for consumer imports ahead of the holidays” [ Econintersect ].  Jobless Claims: “However, comparing initial claims today with the past is the proverbial apples to oranges. An important fact in looking at claims data is that vastly fewer people today are eligible for unemployment benefits. In other words, the number of unemployed people who can’t receive jobless benefits — and thus are not in the initial claims data — has risen relative to those who have unemployment insurance” [ Bloomberg ]. As Mosler has been saying.  Housing: “Residential remodeling has recovered to 38% of the peak it attained prior to the Great Recession. New residential construction, on the other hand, is only at 17% of the peak” [ Econintersect ].  Retail: “The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has just announced that Samsung is having to recall its top-load washing machines due to a risk of impact injuries. The exact hazard listed was that the washing machine top can unexpectedly detach from the washing machine chassis during use, posing a risk of injury from impact” [ 247 Wall Street ]. “What matters here is that this will not be a cheap recall. You can drive a smartphone back to the store or mail it in cheaply. Have you ever tried moving a washing machine, or just dealing with getting a technician out to deliver or fix one? And the size of this recall is huge — about 2.8 million total units!” Korea is really having its troubles, isn’t it? Samsung is a failing national champion, Hanjin went bankrupt, and there’s a ginormous scandal with their President.  Shipping: “In August, the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) reported its first quarterly volume decline for the first time after 25 straight quarters of growth. Earlier this week, marked its second straight quarterly volume decline, officially extending more of an unwelcome streak” [ Logistics Management ]. “Total third quarter intermodal volume movements—at 4,348,634—were off 4.6 percent annually, following a 6.1 percent second quarter decline at 4,271,162. The first quarter of 2016 saw volumes rise 2.0 percent annually. … Like recent quarters, domestic containers were the lone metric to see an increase.”  Shipping: “Orders for heavy-duty commercial trucks in North America plummeted 46% in October from the same month last year, providing a grim outlook for truck manufacturers in the coming year” [ Wall Street Journal , “Truck Orders Tumbled 46% in October “]. “In an analyst note Thursday, Stifel said the October order total was the weakest since 2009, falling well below expectations. “October orders are critical as they represent the traditional start to the order season for trucks to be produced the next year,” the report said.”  Shipping: “After four days [!!!] firefighters have finally managed to douse the terrible tanker blaze that killed many workers at a shipbreaking site in Gadani, Pakistan. Rescue work inside the hull of the Indonesian ship cannot start however as the steel plates are still too hot” [ Splash 247 ]. “While there are now 21 confirmed dead, the eventual death toll could hit triple figures with many unaccounted for inside the hull of the ship and a number of the 60 workers sent to hospital deemed to have such severe burns that they are unlikely to survive.” The human cost of excess capacity.  The Bezzle: “GoPro’s forward statements are not believable, in light of its recent performance, and management’s ability to forecast. It is also essentially a one-product company, and that product does not sell very well” [ 247 Wall Street ].  The Bezzle: “the app economy may have passed its peak.  Insights analyzed the company descriptions of thousands of startup companies receiving  funding for the first time between 2010 and today, scanning for buzzwords that describe the companies’ field of focus. While ‘app] is still the keyword that shows up in the most company descriptions, the share of startups working with apps in some way has declined for three straight years” [ Econintersect ]. “Looking at the terms with the largest increase in mentions in startup company descriptions between 2010 and 2016 possibly allows us to glimpse into the future and gives us an idea of what the next big thing might be. According to  Insights’ analysis, these terms are ‘virtual reality’, ‘machine learning’ and ‘natural language.'” I think reality is quite virtual enough already, thank you.  The Fed: “Central bank independence ‘comes from an understanding of the macroeconomic policy problem that is not relevant to current times,’ Summers said in a speech at the International Monetary Fund” [ MarketWatch ]. “During the question-and-answer session, Summers said he did not think that entitlement reform should be on the immediate agenda for the next administration. He said that policy makers should focus solely on accelerating growth. If they are successful in sparking demand, the long-run debt-to- ratio will be sustainable, he said. If policy makers fail, it will not be.”  Today’s Fear & Greed Index: 17 Fear (previous close: 18, Fear) [  ]. One week ago: 46 (Neutral). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed). Last updated Nov 3 at 11:31am. Still waiting for single digits.  Corruption  “Prosecutors in the Singapore trial of a former  banker said this week the defendant and other former employees of the Swiss bank helped launder up to $2.3 billion looted from the Malaysia sovereign wealth fund 1MDB” [  Blog ] and “Two former executives of a Singapore-based defense contractor have been extradited to the United States in the massive bribes-for-secrets scandal that has rocked the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Command” [  Blog ]. Wait, what? I thought Singapore was supposed to be squeaky clean?  Standing Rock and #NoDAPL  “ IT: Journalist shot with rubber bullet while conducting interview at Standing Rock protests” [ New York Daily News ]. The journalist says “officer,” but it’s not clear to me whether “officer” means “cop” or “mercenary.”  Gaia  “The average U.S. family destroys a football field’s worth of Arctic sea ice every 30 years” [ Science ]. “If both the linear relationship and current emission trends hold into the future, the study suggests the Arctic will be ice free by 2045—far sooner than some climate models predict. The study suggests that those models are underestimating how warm the Arctic has already become and how fast that melting will proceed.”  Guillotine Watch  “In the seven years since, terror threats in Europe and political uncertainty from Britain to the U.S. have helped make [New Zealand] — a day by air away from New York or London — a popular bolthole for the mega wealthy” [ Bloomberg ]. Great. Cut the undersea cables, and they might as well be on Mars.  Class Warfare  “Instacart workers are earning a lot less money after changes to the company’s pay structure — changes  Apoorva Mehta told BuzzFeed News are necessary for the company’s continued growth, but that hundreds of vocal Instacart shoppers say are threatening their livelihoods. According to a Buzzfeed News analysis of 15 workers’ pay stubs, shifts that once earned shoppers $100 or more in 4–8 hours have dropped closer to $60 to $80 for similar shifts. These shoppers estimate their earnings have fallen by around 30% so far” [ Buzzfeed ]. Should have filed this under The Bezzle, maybe. Yet another Silicon Valley darling whose valuation depends on screwing over working people. Oh, and this is good:  The vast majority of shoppers who spoke with BuzzFeed News for this article asked to remain anonymous out of concern that their accounts would be deactivated for speaking with the press; Instacart said it has never deactivated workers for speaking publicly about their experience with the company.  Yikes!  “The case for social insurance begins with the recognition that capitalist economies are subject to boom-and-bust cycles. With a managed, socialist economy, business cycles are much less severe (though they can’t be eliminated entirely, for example, in years when agricultural production is unexpectedly low due to the weather) because the government manages production and employment. But these economies tend to grow slower than capitalist economies, and they often have substantial inefficiencies in the way resources and labor are used” [Mark Thoma,  ].  “”What Makes Scandinavia Different?” [ Jacobin ]. “The only way to get “Scandinavian levels” of redistribution and social protection is to start building powerful popular movements capable of advancing this agenda.”  News of the Wired  “Before Irv Teibel, listening to nature meant leaving the house. Here’s the story of the man who brought the rain, thunder, and crickets to your stereo, one satisfied, relaxed customer at a time” [ Pitchfork ].  “The People’s Code” [ code.gov ]. We’ve got the U.S. Digital Service, but not a National Health Service. Seems odd.  * * *  Readers, feel free to contact me with (a) links, and even better (b) sources I should curate regularly, and (c) to find out how to send me images of plants. Vegetables are fine! Fungi are deemed to be honorary plants! See the previous Water Cooler (with plant) here . And here’s today’s plant (b1whois):  That tree is a little ecosystem in itself…  Readers, Water Cooler is a standalone entity, not supported by the very successful Naked Capitalism fundraiser just past. Now, I understand you may feel tapped out, but when and if you are able, please use the dropdown to choose your contribution, and then click the hat! Your tip will be welcome today, and indeed any day. Water Cooler will not exist without your continued help. Donate",fake,news,validation,US elections,Economy,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
24272,24273,"Wilshere has begun running again following surgery on a fractured fibula and , after not playing all season , there is now hope that he could be available within a month . England play Holland and Germany at the end of March .  Wilshere has yest to play a single game for Arsenal this season  Wenger had said on Friday that it usually takes six weeks to recover full fitness after starting to run again but he clearly hopes that the timescale will be reduced . He is looking good ? I had a short chat with Roy Hodgson about him and reassured him that he is progressing well , said Wenger . I m cautious but I will say four weeks .  There is concern , though , over Tomas Rosicky who injured his thigh during his comeback match in the  Cup on Saturday . The only problem we have is that we lost Rosicky through injury , said Wenger . He has a thigh problem . How deep the problem is we don t know , he has a scan today and we will know much more tonight .  Tomas Rosicky returned at the weekend , before picking up a new injury  Meanwhile , Wenger has said he has no intention of making a bid for John Terry , the Chelsea captain , after the veteran centre back announced on Sunday that he would leave Stamford Bridge at the end of the season .  Terry , 36 , revealed that he would not be offered a new contract at the club , but the Frenchman said he will not be joining up with former team mate Petr Cech at the Emirates next season .  Asked if he had any interest in signing Terry , Wenger said : "" No , because he is at the end of his career and he has spent his career at Chelsea . If he wants to play longer , I am sure he will play for Chelsea .  "" Loyalty works two ways . I always consider that I ' m paid for my commitment to the club and I ' m well paid so once it is over the club owes me nothing and I have to get on with my life and find another way .  "" I do not expect a reward because it is part of my contract . ""  Ars ne Wenger has said John terry will not be reunited with Petr Cech at Arsenal  Wenger believes the player has shown more than enough in his time with Chelsea to suggest he has a bright future on and off the field .  "" He was not only a great player , he certainly still is , but he was also a great coach on the pitch , "" he added .  "" I saw him here once at London Colney playing with the under 21s and the way he coached the team as a player was absolutely marvellous .  "" He was a real leader and he had a great career as well , let ' s not forget that . That ' s never a coincidence . The guys who last such a long time have something special .  Terry is expected to leave Chelsea at the end of the season  "" He was the symbol of cohesion inside Chelsea ' s club because him , Frank Lampard , Didier Drogba and Cech were the players who carried the club ' s values for long periods . When you lose players like that you ' re always in danger .  "" I see a coaching career in his future , certainly . He will remain in football , I ' m sure . ""  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,past
24276,24277,"Refused : Sue Smith , above with guide dog Sonny , was left feeling ' embarrassed ' after Shahzad Ahmad told her that he could not accept her fare  A taxi driver has been fined 1 , 000 after he refused to pick up a blind woman who was standing in the pouring rain because she had a guide dog .  Shahzad Ahmad , 32 , told Sue Smith that he could not accept her fare because his vehicle wasn ' t big enough to fit five year old Labrador Sonny even though he was driving a six seater people carrier .  Ms Smith left feeling ' scared ' and ' embarrassed ' when Ahmad drove away , leaving her and Sonny to be soaked on the street , Birmingham Magistrates Court heard .  The 50 year old had phoned taxi firm T . C . Cars after visiting the headquarters of Action for Blind People in Birmingham on March 27 .  But she was stunned when Mr Ahmad arrived and told her that he could not take her with Sonny .  She was left ' embarrassed ' and ' disorientated ' in the street for 20 minutes as she tried to find her way back into the building she had just left .  Ms Smith said that the incident has ' dented her confidence ' and has left her scared to get into a taxi .  It is an offence for a taxi driver not to take a blind person and their guide dog unless they have a medical exemption certificate for an allergy .  Ahmad was found guilty in his absence of breaching the Equality Act 2010 at Birmingham Magistrates Court on Wednesday .  He was fined 1 , 000 , ordered to pay court costs of 1 , 000 and a victim surcharge of 100 .  On Thursday , Ms Smith , who lives with long term partner , Colin , 50 , said : ' I was so angry and scared . It was horrible .  ' It was pouring with rain and if I hadn ' t been going to the Action for the Blind building I would have just been stranded in the city centre . God knows what I would have done .  ' I have been on antidepressants since and I ' m scared to get a taxi now . It has really dented my confidence .  ' He just kept saying "" no , no , no "" even though I told him it was illegal . He was very rude and just drove off . '  Ahmad , from Birmingham , has since been sacked by taxi firm and now faces losing his license .  Denied : Ms Smith said that the incident has ' dented her confidence ' and has left her scared to get into a taxi . She said that Ahmad had told her that his six seater car was not big enough to fit Sonny , pictured  Fined : Ahmad was found guilty in his absence of breaching the Equality Act 2010 at Birmingham Magistrates Court , pictured . He was fined 1 , 000 , ordered to pay court costs of 1 , 000 and a victim surcharge of 100  John Kington , promotions manager at T . C . Cars , said : ' We acted swiftly and sharply as we do not tolerate this kind of behaviour at all .  ' He was sacked straight away . Accommodating guide dogs is a requirement we are happy to meet and will continue to meet in future . '  Sue Bushell , from the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association , added : ' Some drivers may have a fear of dogs but it is a legal requirement . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
24277,24278,"South Australian police are rewarding 100 , 000 to anyone who has any information leading to the man wanted after shots were fired during a bank robbery .  The man armed with a firearm entered the Bank South Australia branch on Melrose Street at 11 . 40am on Thursday , September 4 and demanded money before he fled the scene with cash .  Police have sent out 1000 letters to residents living in Mount Pleasant , a town north of the Adelaide Hills region to help investigate the incident .  Police have sent out 1000 letters to residents living in Mount Pleasant to help investigate the armed robbery  The letter highlights the award on offer for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the man responsible for a series of bank robberies in the Adelaide Hills .  It is the third time the bank has been targeted , with police saying there are striking similarities between the robbery and 10 others between 2004 and 2009 .  Detectives said there were similarities between the recent incident and prior robberies carried out by the man known as the Bicycle Bandit .  ' While there is a striking resemblance between this month ' s robbery and the Bicycle Bandit , we remain open minded about who may have carried out this crime , ' Detective Superintendent Peter Harvey said .  ' While we understand the community will speculate on whether the Bicycle Bandit was responsible , we ' ll be following up every line of enquiry and every piece of evidence , no matter where it takes us .  ' Someone is bound to have seen something that can assist the investigation . This was a brazen robbery were shots were fired . It is extremely lucky no one was injured , ' he said .  It is the third time the bank has been targeted , with police saying there are striking similarities between the robbery and 10 others between 2004 and 2009  The man armed with a firearm entered the Bank South Australia branch on Melrose Street at 11 . 40am on Thursday , September 4 and demanded money before he fled the scene with cash  A  image of the Bicycle Bandit captured on a security camera during a previous robbery  The man wanted for the robbery is described as Caucasian , tanned complexion and about 180 centimetres tall , solid build and was wearing a black jacket and pants during the robbery .  He was armed with a rifle , wearing a balaclava and carrying a duffle bag and is believed to have left in a silver four wheel drive vehicle .  Police from the Serious and Organised Crime Branch will continue to investigate and a police operations vehicle will be in the area on Thursday .  Anyone who may have seen or heard something related to this crime are urged to come forward and notify police immediately or call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
24280,24281,"A schoolteacher who narrowly avoided a prison sentence for seducing one of her pupils has told a court she is ' fully co operating ' with social workers after her ' ten days of madness ' .  Married Bernadette Smith , 35 , escaped a jail sentence after she was convicted of kissing and cuddling 16 year old schoolboy Gary Ralston at his home in Cowie , Stirlingshire , and at a park in Falkirk .  The mother of three , who was sacked from her position at Bannockburn High School in Stirling over the incident , said she kept a tiny vest top on and did not have sex with the boy when she stayed over at his house in September last year .  Married Bernadette Smith , 35 , ( pictured outside court left ) escaped a jail sentence after she was convicted of kissing and cuddling 16 year old Gary Ralston ( right ) at his home in Stirlingshire and at a park in Falkirk  At a review hearing at Stirling Sheriff Court today , Smith ( pictured outside with friends ) was said to be ' fully co operating ' with the case management process and was told she wasn ' t required to attend court again  She admitted her wrongdoing in February and was sentenced to a two year supervision order and ordered to sign the sex offenders ' register .  Today , she appeared at Stirling Sheriff Court , for a community payback order review , and told the judge she was putting her life back in order after the scandal .  The court was given a report prepared by officials responsible for her supervision and her lawyer , Alistair Milne , said she was fully co operating .  He said : ' The report is , in my submission , fully favourable , and there is a clear recommendation to allow the order to run its course .  ' There has been a full level of co operation on her part . '  Smith , of Denny , Stirlingshire , who appeared in the dock today wearing a black and grey skirt , a black top and high heeled ankle boots , avoided jail in February after Sheriff Robertson told her that her conduct was at the lesser end of the scale for the type of sex offence with which she was charged .  At the time , the court heard how she told police and colleagues that she was ' in love ' with Gary , who she had taught and also given after school tuition .  The affair started in Smith ' s classroom when she confessed her feelings to 16 year old Gary and the pair later went to the park and kissed . That night , she went to his house and stayed over but did not have sex with him  The 16 year old schoolboy ( pictured in his bedroom ) later said Smith was his favourite teacher and that he ' couldn ' t believe she was with me ' . He said ' a lot of the boys fancied her ' and said : ' She did me no harm '  The court had heard how the affair started in Smith ' s classroom where she confessed her feelings to the boy , who has since waived his anonymity , before the pair went to a park and had their first kiss .  That night , Smith visited the house Gary shared with his father , Richard , and she and the schoolboy spent the night together in Gary ' s bed .  The pair were caught after Gary ' s grandmother found out and told the school , which suspended Smith immediately . At the time , Gary ' s father admitted to being ' a bit ' proud of his son for catching the teacher ' s eye .  Prosecutor Ann Orr said : ' She admitted she met him on two occasions outside school and kissed him on the mouth and neck .  ' She also admitted meeting at his home and told his father about her feelings and she stayed overnight in the boy ' s bedroom and that she had been wearing her jeans and a bra .  ' She said during the interview that she loved the boy and they both wanted to be together . '  Smith had claimed in court that her behaviour was sparked over her husband Brian ' s continued deceit over an affair .  The English and history teacher claimed she started her affair after trying to be a ' positive influence ' on Gary and said it evolved after she poured her heart out to him about her problems at home .  Sentencing her , Sheriff Robertson told her : ' Some of course may say that had it not been detected it could have led to more serious activity towards the other end of the scale , but that is speculation .  ' You have lost your reputation , your job and your career , and your marriage is at an end .  ' You have caused distress to your immediate family , and with the media attention that this case has attracted , I suspect that your humiliation is complete . '  Smith , 35 , blamed her husband Brian ' s ( together above ) continued deceit as the reason for her behaviour  Gary ' s father ( above ) admitted to being ' a bit ' proud of his son for catching the attractive teacher ' s eye ( right )  In light of the incident , Smith was struck off by General Teaching Council for Scotland .  After pleading guilty , Gary said Smith was always his favourite teacher and added : ' A lot of the boys fancied her . I couldn ' t believe she was with me .  ' It was the last thing I expected . She said she thought she was going crazy but couldn ' t help the way she was feeling .  ' She did me no harm and I ' m fine .  ' Looking back , I wish it hadn ' t happened . It was exciting but it wasn ' t worth it not for her anyway . '  During today ' s review hearing , Sheriff Wyllie Robertson said the order could now continue without any further court appearances .  He told Smith : ' The purpose of this review was to ensure that there has been full and complete engagement with the order and I ' m reassured in the terms of the report that you are participating fully in the case management process .  ' I will allow the order to continue without any further review . '  Smith was sacked from her position at Bannockburn High School in Stirling ( pictured ) over the incident  ",true,text,validation,American football,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
24283,24284,"The powerful explosion tore through a quiet residential neighborhood and rained smoldering auto parts down on houses a block away .  Blast Afghan shopkeeper watches from a broken window of his shop near the site of suicide auto bomb attack in Kabul , Afghanistan , earlier this week .  An explosion struck the Afghan capital of Kabul on Friday evening , killing two people and wounding 19 , officials from Afghanistan s Interior Ministry said .  The Taliban militant group claimed responsibility for the bombing , saying that westerners were the main target . On Monday , a auto bomb killed one person near the Kabul airport .  The insurgent movement says it is not interested in new talks so long as foreign troops remain in Afghanistan .  Diplomatic efforts have also been stepped up for an end to the deadlock in the peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban .  The attack comes a day after Afghanistan announced four way talks in Pakistan , aimed at jump starting peace negotiations with the resurgent Taliban .  The standoff in the northern Balkh province began on Sunday night when the attackers first tried to storm the consulate , and then made their way into the adjacent building .  Shopkeeper Ahmed Massoud s cousin , a guard at the Afghan owned restaurant , was killed as the bomber detonated his suicide vest when he stopped to frisk him .  Most of the victims in Friday s attack were believed to be civilians who lived near the restaurant . Le Jardin did not .  The incident came about two years after a high profile suicide attack on a Lebanese restaurant in the city killed 21 people , including 13 foreigners , four of whom were United Nations staff members . Local media reported that the restaurant is frequently visited by expats .  Ruchi Kumar , a journalist in Kabul , told the  that the Le Jardin restaurant is well guarded , with several heavy metal doors and security checks .  The explosion happened in Qala e Fatullah neighbourhood of Kabul city .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
24292,24293,"Almost a fifth of us are so demanding we expect hourly contact from our other halves , a new study has revealed .  And nearly a third of Brits ( 30 per cent ) say they become ' very angry ' if they get ignored by a friend or partner .  But research released today indicates that more than half of people ( 53 per cent ) are more upset and angry when ignored by a business .  Nearly a third of Brits say they become ' very angry ' if they get ignored by a friend or partner ( file picture )  The new study , carried out be Energy supplier E .  , shows how we now value similar attributes in both business and personal relationships with trust topping the list of qualities we look for .  It found the most important attributes for maintaining strong relationships with friends and partners are are trust ( 71 per cent ) , loyalty ( 55 per cent ) and humour ( 47 per cent ) .  Meanwhile the attributes people see as most important when it comes to companies are trust ( 60 per cent ) , honesty ( 53 per cent ) and loyalty ( 42 per cent ) .  The study indicated how communication is a huge factor with both personal and business relationships .  Almost a quarter ( 22 per cent ) feel poor communication is the cause of previous relationship breakdowns .  One in six Brits ( 16 per cent ) even expect hourly contact from their other halves .  And despite almost a third ( 29 per cent ) frequently changing their romantic relationships , almost half ( 40 per cent ) have stayed with their energy supplier for five years or more .  More than half of people ( 53 per cent ) are more upset and angry when ignored by a business ( file picture )  The study also showed the companies and businesses people feel strong ties to .  When it comes to business relationships , water companies ( 2 per cent ) are the organisations we are least likely to feel strong ties to .  This is closely followed by councils ( 3 per cent ) and energy providers ( 4 per cent ) .  Supermarkets ( 18 per cent ) , banks ( 16 per cent ) and sports teams ( 15 per cent ) are the organisations we have the strongest relationships with .  Dr Lynda Shaw , Psychologist and Relationship Expert , said : ' When forming any type of relationship , trust is crucial whether it ' s with a romantic interest , hairdresser or an energy company .  ' Trust stimulates the hormone oxytocin in the brain and this enhances trust .  This wonderful feedback loop aids bonding and loyalty .  ' It is however , also known to strengthen social memories which means that when we ' re let down by those in whom we ' ve placed our trust , the effect is amplified .  ' That ' s why it ' s so important to gain trust and keep it . '  Fiona Stark , Corporate Affairs Director at E .  , said : ' Our research shows that trust is the most important trait in both personal and business relationships .  ' Distrust is the most frequent cause of relationships breaking down . '  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
24294,24295,"She calls herself an artist , writer , chef , poet , stylist and philanthropist .  The wife of her 80 year old boyfriend ( or ex boyfriend ) calls her a mistress and a gold digger .  And now V . Stiviano , the woman who was a regular courtside presence at Los Angeles Clippers games next to owner Donald Sterling , is attracting more attention than the players .  Audio recordings that surfaced over the weekend purportedly depict an argument between Stiviano and Sterling . If authentic , the recordings seem to reflect Sterling ' s embarrassment and frustration with Stiviano over her associating with African Americans at Clippers games and posting such pictures on her Instagram account .  Here ' s what we know about Stiviano .  1 . She ' s the target of a lawsuit  Just last month , Sterling ' s wife filed a lawsuit against Stiviano , accusing her having an affair with the billionaire team owner .  In the complaint , Rochelle Sterling accuses Stiviano of targeting extremely wealthy older men . The suit claims that Donald Sterling used the couple ' s money to buy Stiviano a Ferrari , two Bentleys and a Range Rover .  Stiviano also took over a 1 . 8 million duplex through fraud and received about 250 , 000 in cash from Sterling , the court document claims .  Stiviano fought back , saying in another court document that there was nothing wrong with Donald Sterling giving her gifts . She also said she never took advantage of the Clippers owner , who made much of his fortune in real estate .  2 . Stiviano herself is of mixed race  In the audio recording on  , the woman reminds the man that she is of "" mixed "" race and part black .  In another part of the recording she says she is "" black and Mexican . ""  3 . She says she ' s not the one who leaked the tape  Stiviano ' s lawyer , Mac E . Nehoray , said Stiviano was not the one who publicized the conversation .  "" This office understands that the currently released audio tape of approximately 15 minutes is a portion of approximately one ( 1 ) hour of overall audio recording of Mr Donald T . Sterling and Ms . Stiviano , and is in fact legitimate , "" Nehoray said in a news release . "" Ms . Stiviano did not release the tape ( s ) to any news media . ""  4 . She ' s staying mum   reporter Greg Mills saw Stiviano walk down a staircase from her duplex in Beverly Grove , California , but she darted back up the stairs when she saw him .  5 . Stiviano loves photos of herself  Just take a look at her Instagram account .  By Monday morning , the number of Stiviano ' s Instagram followers had skyrocketed to 137 , 000 .  Many of Stiviano ' s photos feature her posing in front of Clippers banners or wearing a bikini . She also has several photos of men wearing baseball caps that read "" V . Stiviano . ""  "" One day I will look back at Instagram say , ' I ' ve been there I ' ve done that . ' I do it all . Artist , Lover , Writer , Chef , Poet , Stylist , Philanthropist , "" Stiviano ' s Instagram bio says .  The man alleged to be Sterling in the conversation takes particular exception to one photo he says the woman posted on Instagram . It was a photo of her and basketball legend Earvin "" Magic "" Johnson .  "" In your lousy f ing Instagrams , you don ' t have to have yourself with walking with black people , "" the man says .  "" If it ' s white people , it ' s  ? "" she responds . "" If it was Larry Bird , would it make a difference ? ""  The website  said the conversation reportedly took place on April 9 .  One day later , Stiviano posted a photo of a wedding gown on Instagram .  "" I    ? "" she wrote , adding hashtags such as "" beautiful amazing grace lover modern day marriage to myself weddingdress justforfun . ""  ""    , "" she added .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
24302,24303,"Another stunning cover-up for #Unfit Hillary by her most committed media cheerleader One week ago, board-certified medicine specialist,  personality and  employee Dr. Drew Pinsky broke the mold of conformity, when he said that he is  gravely concerned  about presidential candidate Hillary Clinton s health, pointing out that treatment she is receiving could be the result of her bizarre behaviors.Appearing on  s McIntyre in the Morning, Pinsky said he and his colleague Dr. Robert Huizenga became  gravely concerned .not just about her health but her health care,  after analyzing what medical records on Hillary had been released. Pinsky pointed out that after Clinton fainted and fell in late 2012, she suffered from a  transverse sinus thrombosis,  an  exceedingly rare clot  that  virtually guarantees somebody has something wrong with their coagulation system.   What s wrong with her coagulation system, has that been evaluated?  asked Dr. Drew.Pinsky described the situation as  bizarre,  and said that Hillary s medical condition was  dangerous  and  concerning . Dr. Drew also went on to add that it was a sign of  brain damage  when Hillary had to wear prism glasses after her fall. Just as stunning as Pinsky s assessment which promptly went viral and led to the immediate takedown of the original interview webpage by KABC- radio, was that it came from an employee of HLN, which is part of the pro-Clinton  network.As such it is probably not surprising that earlier today, just one week later,  executive vice president Ken Jautz announced Thursday that  Dr. Drew and I have mutually agreed to air the final episode of his show on September 22.    Zero Hedge ",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,true,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
24313,24314,"Judging by the car park at the American University of Dubai students here are not going to struggle with making ends meet .  A Rolls Royce , a Ferrari and a black Aston Martin , which wouldn ' t look out of place in a Bond film , line the student car park row after row .  The gallery of supercars was taken by student Meeka Nasser who wanted to show the world the array of models on show at the university .  A Bentley which cost more than 100 , 000 is parked at the American University of Dubai  No expense spared : Why not rock up to class in this gold coloured Rolls Royce  A red Ferrari fit for a superstar or a student at the American University of Dubai  He said : ' I attend the American University of Dubai and the cars that students drive here are just ludicrous .  ' If I was back home in Canada my car would be considered nice , but here nobody looks twice at it .  ' These pictures were taken in the span of a couple days and only in one of the parking lots of the school , so this isn ' t even close to all of the nice cars at the school .  ' Because Cayennes and Range Rovers are a dime a dozen here , I only included a few of them in the album .  Not your average ride home : A Porsche Cayenne which retails at about 49 , 000 which was left in the student car park  High life : A 2013 Bentley Continental  similar to this would set you back more than 100 , 000  A Lamborghini Gallardo  570 4 Superleggera worth more than 160 , 000 belongs to one of the rich students at the American University of Dubai  Sporty : A red Mercedes C63 which belongs to a student at the American University of Dubai  ' Keep in mind , almost all of the students are between 18 and 24 years old , as the graduate programe is pretty tiny here .  ' The students that drive the insanely expensive cars ( Rolls Royces and Bentleys etc . ) are usually local ( Emirati ) for those wondering . '  The American University in Dubai is a private university which was founded in 1995 .  It offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees and a Certificate in Middle Eastern Studies .  Many of us dream of owning a Mercedes like this but we ' ll have to wait to win the Lottery  Competition : This Rolls Royce is parked next to Maserati both of which would set you back more than 100 , 000  Luxury : A white Maserati worth more about 120 , 000 is owned by a student at the the American University of Dubai  Another world : A gold Audi R8 which have a starting retail price of about 92 , 710  Side by side : Porsche Cayenne  worth about 70 , 000 and a Ferrari parked next to each other at the American University of Dubia  A white Audi R8 which retails now from about 90 , 000 left in the car park at the American University of Dubai  Nice wheels : An Aston Martin Vantage S and a Mercedes parked side by side at the American University of Dubai  Souped up : While most dream of one day owning a car like this , a student drove this black Audi R8 to university  Petrol heads : A Mercedes  which could have set the owner back more than 150 , 000  A Dodge Challenger which costs about 16 , 121 is one of the less expensive models on the site but still looks the part  One lucky student at the American University of Dubai gets to drive this silver Bentley to class everyday  Life of luxury : A Mercedes ML63 which costs more than 80 , 000 to buy at the American University of Dubai  Slick : A red Chevrolet which comes with a price tag of more than 30 , 000  Pocket money : A red Nissan  Skyline would set you back more than 60 , 000 affordable for this student  Unique : The bonnet of this super car parked at the university features the flag of United Arab Emirates  Excessive : A Ford F 150 pick up truck which cost up to 40 , 000 on the road parked at the university  Expensive taste : A white  parked at the American University of Dubai  Not your bog standard ride to school : A red Ferrari at the American University of Dubai  A blue Audi R8 which start from 92 , 710 is owned by a student at the American University of Dubai  Student living ? A Mercedes G Wagon which has a starting price of around 82 , 945  While most students can ' t afford a tin of baked beans this student drove to university in a Rolls Royce  Range Rover : This could be a snap of a Russian oligarch convention but it is at the American University of Dubai  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
24314,24315,"Pope travels to Central African Republic with message of peace Reuters  Africa ? Christianity ? France ? Islam ? United States ?   Pope Francis was due on Sunday to the begin the final leg of his first African trip in Central African Republic where he will deliver a message of reconciliation and peace to a nation racked by years of violence between Muslims and Christians .  The visit to the former French colony will be the pontiff ' s first trip to a combat zone and his arrival is being welcomed by both majority Christians and the Muslim minority , who hope his presence can foster renewed dialogue and ease the violence .  The capital Bangui has seen a surge in clashes that have left at least 100 people dead since late September , according to Human Rights Watch , and security has been ramped up ahead of the papal visit .  France , which has around 900 soldiers deployed in Central African Republic , warned the Vatican earlier this month that the visit could be risky , and the pope ' s exact itinerary has remained uncertain even in the final days before his arrival .  Gabriel Ouamale , 33 , who sells souvenirs , including t shirts and umbrellas bearing the pope ' s image , in front of Bangui ' s cathedral , said sales have only picked up in the past week .  "" There were people who doubted , who said he couldn ' t come due to the situation in the country . But the people now know he ' s coming , "" he said .  Hundreds of thousands of the city ' s residents are expected to turn out to greet Francis .  Others will brave rebel and militia checkpoints to travel to Bangui from the rest of the country , and believers from neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo will cross the Ubangi River in pirogues to catch a glimpse of the pope .  General Bala Keita ,  ' S force commander , said the mission aimed to head off any potential spoilers among the city ' s armed groups and had carried out operations to improve the security situation as much as possible .  "" We have brought banditry and attacks on civilians to the lowest level possible , but Bangui is not secure . That ' s a fact , "" he said .  This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto feed .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Conflict,fake,true,True,no,no,positive,present
24316,24317,"police have arrested 660 suspected pedophiles including doctors , teachers and scout leaders in a six month operation spanning the country , the National Crime Agency said Wednesday .  The operation which targeted people accessing indecent images of children online involved 45 police forces across England , Wales , Scotland and Northern Ireland .  More than 400 children across the United Kingdom have been protected from harm as a result , the National Crime Agency said in a statement .  Thirty nine of the suspects were registered sex offenders , the statement said , meaning the vast majority were not previously known to police . Their number also included social care workers and former police officers .  The operation was kept under wraps until Wednesday to protect children and gather evidence against the accused , the statement said .  The National Crime Agency is not revealing the methods used to track down the suspects because it hopes to deploy them again in the future .  The charges brought so far range from possession of indecent images of children to serious sexual assault , it said . Many suspects have yet to be charged in the case .  "" This is the first time the  has had the capability to coordinate a single targeted operation of this nature , "" said Phil Gormley , the agency ' s deputy director general .  "" Our aim was to protect children who were victims of , or might be at risk of , sexual exploitation . A child is victimized not only when they are abused and an image is taken . They are re victimized every time that image is viewed by someone . ""  Some of those who start by looking at indecent images online go on to abuse children directly , he said , so arresting them now may prevent them from crossing that line .  The operation comes amid wide public concern over the issue of sexual abuse of children in the United Kingdom .  Children ' s  entertainer Rolf Harris was sentenced this month to five years and nine months in prison for a string of indecent assaults against women and girls .  His trial came in the wake of shocking revelations of predatory sexual behavior by the late  host Jimmy Savile against vulnerable children and adults .  The publicity around those high profile cases appears to have encouraged others to come forward with allegations of abuse .  Chief Constable Simon Bailey said the majority of police forces in England and Wales are dealing with an "" unprecedented increase "" in reports of sexual abuse of children .  "" Forces are investigating exploitation of children and young people by groups and gangs , non recent abuse including large scale investigations into abuse in institutions over many years and sexual abuse by parents and family members , "" he said .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
24346,24347,"Brett Rossi is reportedly suing her ex fianc e Charlie Sheen . Pictured : Rossi at the  Music Matters Grammy Showcase in Beverly Hills , California , Feb . 6 , 2015 . Getty  Charlie Sheen is facing a lawsuit from his ex fianc e ? Brett Rossi . Although Rossi has kept quiet on social media since her former beau came clean about his  positive diagnosis , new reports claim that the model and adult film star is ? suing her ex after he bullied her into getting an abortion .   reports that Rossi is suing the Anger Management actor because he pressured her to get an abortion after she got pregnant in March 2014 . According to Rossi , Sheen never revealed his  status to her . She says she had unprotected sex with him five times before learning he was  positive . Rossi said that she only discovered his health condition after finding his ? medication . She allegedly became pregnant after the discovery , and claims that Sheen told her that she d give birth to a retarded child .  That s not the only claim in Rossi s lawsuit . Rossi says Sheen was violent with her during their relationship .  Rossi has not commented on the lawsuit or Sheen s  status , but she did take to twitter on Thursday to take a stand against violence .  I will no longer allow fear to keep me from having a voice . I am a survivor NoViolenceAgainstWomen  Sheen and Rossi , whose real ? name is ? Scottine Ross , got engaged on Valentine s Day 2014 but their relationship ended just eight months later . Sheen s publicist , Jeff Ballard , released a statement announcing that the two were calling things off .  Scotty and I had a great year together and we traveled the world and crossed a lot of things off our bucket list , Sheen said in a statement to Us Weekly . She s a terrific gal , but we ve mutually decided to go our separate ways and to not spend the rest of our lives together .  A couple of months later Rossi took to Twitter to vent about her relationship with Sheen and claimed at the time that the truth would be revealed . Radar Online also obtained video footage of Rossi accusing the actor of abuse , as well as attempting to pay her 100 , 000 .  ",true,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
24362,24363,"Brigitte Bardot ' s animal rights charity has offered to help send two alcoholic Russian bears to rehab after they became addicted to beer because customers were allowed to buy them drinks .  A court ordered the bears to be confiscated from the restaurant in Sochi , in south western Russia ' s Krasnodar Krai region , after they were found lying in a filthy cage surrounded by rubbish .  But Russian zoos refused to take the bears on because of their addiction , which made them bad tempered .  Finally , British animal welfare organisation Big Hearts Foundation stepped forward and with backing from the Brigitte Bardot Fund it is hoped the bears will soon be on their way to a bear park in Romania which will treat them for their addiction .  The two alcoholic bears were confiscated from a restaurant in the city of Sochi , Russia , after they were found lying in this filthy cage ( pictured ) surrounded by rubbish . Patrons regularly bought them beer for ' fun '  The alcoholic bears are believed to have lived in the squalid cage at the back of a restaurant for 20 years  The restaurant owner , Dzheniks Uzaroshvili , has rejected the suggestion that it was cruel to give the bears alcohol , and said : ' Beer is good for the bears because of the Sochi climate . '  The court heard the bears often had a spotlight unexpectedly shone on them on them as people laughed at their reaction .  According to evidence given in court the spotlight was the reason one of the bears was virtually blind .  Anna Kogan , from the British Big Hearts Foundation , said that the bears had been served alcohol to entertain guests in a cage at the back of the restaurant for around 20 years .  A British animal charity became involved in re homing the bears after zoos refused to take them on  Dzheniks Uzaroshvili ( pictured ) the restaurant owner , denied it was cruel to give the bears alcohol  Alcoholic bears suffer in the same way as humans including unpredictable tempers and withdrawal symptoms  The alcoholic bears , which are currently going cold turkey , will now be moved to a huge Bear Park in Romania  Ms Kogan said : ' The problem is that they are alcoholics , and it is even more difficult to wean bears off alcohol than is with human beings . '  Experts said that alcoholic bears suffer all the same problems that humans do , including unpredictable tempers and the withdrawal symptoms that a human being might expect .  Vets say with proper care the bears will be able to beat their addiction ,  After a lengthy appeal the British charity won backing from the Brigitte Bardot foundation and a new home has now been found .  Prosecutors decided to confiscate the bears after 500 activists protested outside the restaurant in 2012  The alcoholic bears , which are currently going cold turkey , will now be moved to a huge Bear Park in Romania .  But first they must be confiscated from the restaurant , where they remain , and moved to the Romanian port of Constanta by funds paid for by the Brigitte Bardot foundation .  They will then be sent to the Bear Park in central Transylvania , just 20 miles from the city of Brasov .  The sanctuary has offered to re home the bears and provide them with treatment for their alcohol problems .  However , Ms Kogan says they are still looking for a company to transport the bears which they cannot do until the Russian authorities act on the court order and confiscate them .  She said today : ' The bears are still with the restaurant owner .  ' The Ministry of Natural Resources , which is the body that has to take them away , is taking their time with acting on this decision as there is no where in Sochi to put them temporarily .  ' There is a home for these bears in a rehabilitation centre in Romania .  ' Big Hearts Foundation and others are happy to organise the move when the authorities start cooperating with us on document preparation and veterinary assessments of the animals . '  The sanctuary is home to around 70 bears who have been mistreated and have spent years in captivity .  Prosecutors decided to confiscate the bears after 500 activists protested outside the restaurant in 2012 .  Anna Kogan ( pictured ) from the British Big Hearts Foundation , led the appeal to find the bears a new home  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
24374,24375,"News Bulletin A common swift.  A new study has revealed that a small bird known as the common swift can fly for 10 months without landing. The study in the  journal Current Biology has confirmed an old hypothesis that these birds spend most of their lives in the air.  Scientists believe the birds which stop while flying does so only for a moment, and spent 99.5 percent of the 10 months in the air. They save energy during the day by sliding in upward currents of warm air.  It’s still unclear how the birds sleep during the time. But researchers believe they might catch a few winks when they fly to high heights. Loading ...",fake,news,validation,Other news2,Conflict,true,fake,True,no,no,positive,present
24385,24386,"The Latest : No . 3 Muguruza wins at Australian Open  Garbine Muguruza of Spain celebrates after defeating Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium in their second round match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne , Australia , Thursday , Jan . 21 , 2016 . (  Photo Aaron Favila )   , Australia (  ) The latest from the Australian Open on Thursday ( all times local ) :  Third seeded Garbine Muguruza had a 6 4 , 6 2 win over Kirsten Flipkens to reach the third round of the Australian Open for the third straight year .  Muguruza , who lost last year ' s Wimbledon final to Serena Williams , made it to the fourth round in 2014 and 2015 at Melbourne Park . Last year , Williams beat the Venezuelan born Spaniard in the fourth round here .  Muguruza will next play Barbora Strycova , who beat American Vania King 7 6 ( 5 ) , 6 4 .  John Isner is back in the third round at Melbourne Park for the fifth time in seven years following a 6 3 , 7 6 ( 5 ) , 7 6 ( 2 ) win over Marcel Granollers of Spain .  The 10th seeded Isner had 20 aces and 53 winners in the match , and also won 33 of his 44 approaches to net .  He was one of eight Americans through to the second round at the Australian Open the most since 2008 . Four other Americans are playing their second round matches on Thursday .  Isner has only been past the third round once before in Melbourne . He faces the winner of the match between Spain ' s Feliciano Lopez and Guido Pella of Argentina .  Isner lost to Lopez in the third round in 2012 .  Ana Ivanovic has advanced to the third round at Melbourne Park following a 6 3 , 6 3 win over qualifier Anastasija Sevastova in a match that was suspended when a spectator fell on the stairs at Rod Laver Arena .  Ivanovic was up a service break and leading 4 3 in the first set when medical personnel rushed to the woman ' s aid in the upper level of the 15 , 000 seat stadium . Tournament organizers said the woman was treated in the stadium before taken away on a stretcher for observation and further treatment .  Play was suspended on Rod Laver Arena early Thursday when a spectator fell on a stairwell in the upper level of the 15 , 000 seat stadium .  Former French Open champion Ana Ivanovic was up a service break and leading qualifier Anastasija Sevastova 4 3 in the first set of their third round match when play was stopped to allow medical personnel to come to the aid of the spectator . No other details were immediately available .  When play resumed after a half hour delay , Ivanovic held serve for a 5 3 lead .  Misty rain has briefly delayed the start of play on outdoor courts at the Australian Open .  Play has begun on the three main stadiums with roofs at Melbourne Park , including the opening match on Rod Laver Arena between 2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic and qualifier Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia .  Margaret Court Arena was hosting an all French third round match Thursday between Gael Monfils and Nicolas Mahut , while American John Isner , the 10th seed player , took on Marcel Granollers of Spain at Hisense Arena .  Andy Murray was set to open night play at Margaret Court Arena against Australian Sam Groth , while Lleyton Hewitt was to play David Ferrer in what could be the Australian veteran ' s last match before retiring .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
24404,24405,"It has been three years since the President of Venezuela Hugo Chavez received his first Apple Mac Book Pro and one and a half years since he has been trying to learn how to use Twitter .  Chavez enjoys the Apple experience immensely because the computer is very user friendly and has enough memory to save a lot of Hollywood movies . The ' online business ' and the Twitter website in particular , was a bit tough even for a guerrilla like Hugo .  One cabinet member told us that he couldn ' t seem to get over the fact that Twitter is an American product that is widely lauded twice as better as the phone invention . Although , he doesn ' t prefer email much because he continues to get spam including random emails from Nigeria , he always chose to believe that the Apple Company was Canadian .  It ' s no surprise though to members of President ' s Hugo Chavez cabinet that Hugo was not internet savvy . He likes speaking off the cuff and resents writing anything down . But he also was scammed out of some money too .  Chavez once sent a money order over to a man he thought was a family member of his trapped in a Nigerian airport that was mugged and needed to buy a plane ticket to go to New York . Usually , Chavez resists but it was his cousin ' s best friend who was ' like a brother ' to Hugo .  Even though he hasn ' t heard from him since , he thought one day he would find him on Twitter and ' go guerrilla on him ' alongside of getting his fifty thousand dollars back . Hugo tried Facebook but didn ' t like it because Facebook asks way too many questions about who he was and changes settings annoyingly often .  In fact , it was his great , great grandchild who helped President Chavez set up his Twitter account and help post his first ever message , "" I hate the United States of America , still . "" Unfortunately , his great , great grandchild started the baseball season and didn ' t have time to show his great , great grandfather how to post Tweet pictures .  Since that first post , there have been no other posts but a large increase in followers . Most of them Central Intelligence Agents .  ",satire,text,validation,Other news1,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
24405,24406,"Is it time for Chip Kelly to go ?  "" You know , we ' ve got to get it fixed , "" he said . "" There ' s not a whole lot to say after that . That ' s two weeks in a row . ""  Actually it ' s twice in the same week , since this stinker against the Lions came just four days after a similar beating from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field .  "" Everything , everybody , we ' ll look at all of it , "" Davis said . "" There ' s not much to say here . I do believe in the group of men we have . I believe we ' ll get it shoot , I said it last week get it corrected , and we will . The guys are fighting . I have to put them in better position . It ' s going to take all of us to get out of the hole . All of us got into the hole , all of us will get out of the hole . We just have to keep fighting . ""  The hole is an abyss . The Eagles have surrendered 90 points in their last two games , and the defense can be excused only for the seven that came as a result of a Mark Sanchez interception against Tampa Bay . Detroit ' s Matthew Stafford matched the five touchdown passes thrown four days earlier by the Bucs ' Jameis Winston , and the Lions , who came into the game with the  ' s worst rushing offense , put up more than 100 yards on the ground for only the third time this season .  "" In two weeks , it has not looked like it has to look , and we ' ve got to fix it , "" Davis said .  That ' s a convenient way to look at the Eagles ' defensive shortcomings , but not an entirely accurate one . This was a team that was gashed for 204 rushing yards in a game at Carolina that started the current stretch of four losses in five games . The 411 yards Dallas put up with Matt Cassel at quarterback represented the second highest total by the Cowboys during Tony Romo ' s absence . And , of course , when the Eagles needed late game stops in Atlanta and Washington earlier this season , the defense came up short .  Davis stood by his players , and his players and head coach stood by him after the Eagles lost their third straight game . Asked whether Davis would remain his defensive coordinator , Chip Kelly responded with one word : "" Yes . ""  Linebacker Connor Barwin said the defense ' s problems are more about execution than scheme , while safety Malcolm Jenkins allowed that both things are a problem .  "" I think it ' s a combination of both , "" Jenkins said . "" I think it ' s players not making plays . . . and I think some play calls are tougher than others . But I don ' t think you can look at one thing and say that ' s the reason . It has been the same calls that were working earlier in the season . ""  Barwin noted that the Lions have recovered from a 1 7 start to win three in a row because they have started executing better on offense . He neglected to mention that they also conducted an extensive in season housecleaning , starting with the ouster of their offensive coordinator after Week 7 , then the firing of their team president and general manager the following week .  "" I wouldn ' t like anything like that to happen , "" Barwin said .  According to the head coach , it ' s not going to happen . It ' s impossible to say how much blame for the defensive failures belongs to Davis and how much belongs to the players . There was a legitimate excuse for Calvin Johnson ' s three touchdown day . When veteran cornerback Nolan Carroll went out with a season ending broken ankle early in the second quarter , it left rookie Eric Rowe to cover the Lions ' star receiver quite a bit . School was in , and Johnson taught Rowe some lessons on how to catch the football in the end zone .  You could argue that Davis should have done a better job helping the rookie . The defensive coordinator insisted he tried everything . A lot of times when nothing is working , teams like to try someone else . Kelly is more to blame for this mess than Davis , but assistants are often shown the door before their bosses .  "" Not at all , "" Davis said when asked whether he had concerns about his job security . "" I ' ve been through a lot of  seasons . I know all of the risks and all of the scenarios out there , and I ' m going to put my head down and work like I always have . Nothing will change here . ""  Something , of course , needs to change , and even though Kelly is saying the position of defensive coordinator is not one of them , it would not be shocking if Bill Davis was the first to pay the price for the growing stench of this team .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,negative,past
24453,24454,"A pair of hungry thieves got a little more than they bargained for when police spotted them eating quiche in a cafe that had closed for the day .  Upon realising they had been caught red handed , the two men armed themselves with knives and had to be talked out of the 50 seater Cafe Marshalls in Berwick upon Tweed by police negotiators .  They eventually gave themselves up after five hours and were arrested for aggravated burglary .  Angela Marshall , who runs the cafe with her husband Howard , went to the scene at 1am on Monday when she heard about the stand off and was told that they just wanted some flan .  Hungry : The thieves broke into Cafe Marshalls , in the early hours of Monday in an apparent attempt to steal some quiche sparking a five hour stand off with police  The men were eventually brought out of the cafe and arrested at 6am .  Mrs Marshall said : ' Apparently they were hungry and wanted some quiche . There was a little bit of money in the till , but I think they just wanted food and then it got out of hand .  ' It obviously must be very good quiche . '  Shocked : Howard and Angela Marshall who own the leisure shop where Cafe Marshalls is based  According to Mrs Marshall , there was around 15 police cars surrounding the store when she arrived shortly after 1am .  She said : ' There was negotiators and all sorts . They had riot gear on and Tasers .  ' From what I can gather the men had smashed a window and climbed through it . The police were driving past and saw two lads in the cafe and called back up .  ' But when they saw the police they grabbed some knives and started threatening them .  ' They were in there a long time and they trashed the cafe . '  Northumbria Police confirmed that two men , aged 21 and 20 have been arrested on suspicion of aggravated burglary .  A force spokesman said : ' The two men were armed with knives , refused to come out of the premises and threatened police .  ' After speaking with officers two men , aged 21 and 20 , were arrested on suspicion of aggravated burglary . No one was injured during the incident . '  Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article .  ",true,text,validation,Other news2,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
24454,24455,"John Guidetti has seemingly distanced himself from a longer stay at Celtic by telling Dutch media he wants to return to Feyenoord ' perhaps as soon as possible ' .  The Swede scored 20 goals when on loan in Rotterdam in the 2011 12 season and remains hugely popular with Feyenoord fans .  Guidetti , who made the comment in an interview with  Rijnmond , will become a free agent at the end of the season when his loan at Parkhead from Manchester City expires .  John Guidetti has scored twice in his last four appearances , raising his tally to 13 overall for the Hoops  The 22 year old striker placed talks about a permanent deal in Glasgow on hold in January as he endured a long scoreless run . Guidetti has since scored twice in his last four appearances raising his tally to 13 overall but it remains to be seen whether Celtic will put forward a lucrative contract offer to try to persuade him to stay . French giants Marseille and Southampton have also been linked with interest in the striker .  Meanwhile , Ronny Deila claims he wants Craig Gordon to stay with Celtic for the remainder of his career .  The Parkhead boss has already spoken with chief executive Peter Lawwell about the possibility of a new contract for the keeper , who signed a two year deal when he joined the club last summer .  Gordon ' s excellent performances since then have been key to Celtic ' s progress under Deila and brought the 32 year old firmly back into contention to be Scotland ' s No1 .  Guidetti ( left ) goes down under pressure from Danilo D ' Ambrosio during Celtic ' s clash against Inter Milan  According to reports in England , they have also attracted the attention of Chelsea , who have apparently included his name on a list of candidates to be back up to Thibaut Courtois next season .  Deila , though , is keen for the former 9million man to remain in his squad for as long as possible .  ' He ' s a great goalkeeper and a man we want to keep at the club , ' insisted the Norwegian . ' We will do everything to keep him here . I understand why other clubs are looking at him because he ' s had a fantastic season . Myself and Peter have already talked about this . It ' s also about what Craig wants and hopefully he wants to stay here and be with Celtic . '  Gordon ' s acquisition on a free transfer was one of the best bargains of recent time in Scottish football .  Asked what value he would now place on the ex Hearts and Sunderland man , Deila replied : ' I can ' t sell him . I don ' t want to . I want him here for the rest of his career . '  Celtic boss Ronny Deila wants Craig Gordon ( above ) to remain at Parkhead for the remainder of his career  On the prospect of Gordon signing up for life on the Chelsea bench after coming through two years of injury anguish and rekindling his career at Celtic , Deila said : ' It would be a shame but I don ' t think he wants to do that he wants to play football until the end of his career .  ' It ' s a rumour and we will see what ' s in it . There will be clubs interested if he wants to go , but we want to keep him .  ' He ' s performed great and without him we wouldn ' t have gone through the group stage ( in the Europa League ) . '  Gordon will again form Celtic ' s last line of defence as they seek to open up a nine point Premiership lead with victory over St Johnstone on Wednesday night . Emilio Izaguirre and Kris Commons are , however , sidelined with knocks .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
24466,24467,"Chelsea winger Mohamed Salah ' s loan move to Fiorentina has been confirmed until the end of the season .  Salah follows Andre Schurrle out of Stamford Bridge , despite only arriving at the club from Basle last January .  The 22 year old has struggled to make an impression under manager Jose Mourinho , making just three Premier League appearances and failing to score in any competition .  Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah ( centre ) is leaving Chelsea on loan after only 12 months at the club  Salah made only three Premier League appearances under Jose Mourinho  The Egyptian forward will now spend the rest of the campaign in Serie A with La Viola , who sold Juan Cuadrado to the Blues just a matter of hours earlier for a fee of 26 . 8million .  Chelsea made the 26 year old their primary target for the January transfer window and the Colombia international has now completed his move , penning a four and a half year deal .  Cuadrado joins Chelsea for an initial fee of 23 . 3million , which will rise to just shy of 27million with bonuses .  He said : ' I am very happy and thankful for this opportunity I ' ve been given . This is a great club and honestly it is like a dream to join the Chelsea family and to know that the manager believes in me . I ' m happy .  Juan Cuadrado has moved in the opposite direction after completing a 26 . 8m move to Stamford Bridge  Cuadrado took to Instagram after his signing was confirmed to thank God for making his dream come true  World Cup star Cuadrado has penned a four and a half year deal and has come to win things  ' It ' s really going to be brilliant to work with one of the best coaches in the world . I think he ' s going to make me grow into a better player .  ' We are a big club so we want win important things . winning the league championship is the most important thing , I think .  ' Chelsea have big players so we want to win big things . '  Cuadrado ' s move has been funded by the sale of Andre Schurrle ( left ) to Wolfsburg  ",true,text,validation,Football,Economy,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
24476,24477,"Turning points can be obvious . In the Patriots 27 20 victory over the Chiefs in the  Divisional playoff game on Saturday , a fumble by running back Knile Davis ended a promising Kansas City possession to open the second half .  The Patriots took the gift and turned it into a touchdown drive and a 21 6 lead .  Another wasn t a single mistake , but a collective failure .  Early in the second quarter , a Frankie Hammond Jr . , 19 yard punt return gave the Chiefs , who were trailing 7 3 , superb field position at the Patriots 36 .  But three plays lost 1 yard and the Chiefs punted it right back . Buoyed by their defense , the Patriots went on a 98 yard touchdown drive .  We didn t do anything with that field position , Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith said . You ve got to be able to take advantage of that when it comes . You don t know when you re going to get that kind of field position , right on the fringe of field goal range .  Yeah , looking back , certainly a missed opportunity there .  The Chiefs battled all season long , winning 11 games in a row before falling 27 20 at New England in the divisional round of the  playoffs . They took the loss hard but are optimistic about the future .  Safety Eric Berry , playing in the final year of his contract , was asked if he d like to return to the Chiefs .  Obviously , Berry said . This is family . At the same time we will sit down and talk about it when we talk about it , but right now I m just thankful for my teammates , my coaches and everybody that has something to do with me going back on the field this year .  Berry figures to be leading contender for  Comeback Player of the Year , returning this season after conquering his battle with Hodgkin lymphoma .  The Chiefs Jamell Fleming took a shot from the Patriots punt coverage man Danny Amendola that seemed close to a helmet to helmet blow . Fleming looked to down a punt near the goal line when Amendola blocked him off the ball .  Dustin Colquitt is one of the best , especially at the pooch play , Fleming said . All I have to do is go find the ball . Of course , they know that , too . That s why he did what he did .  Outside linebacker Dezman Moses and fullback Anthony Sherman quickly got in Amendola s face until order was restored .  Everybody knows ? their fans knew it was a cheap shot , Fleming said . That was horrible , and we all knew that . I m just mad that we lost the game , I m not really worried about the hit or anything like that .  One of the game s story lines was the matchup of tight ends : Rob Gronkowski and Travis Kelce .  With two touchdowns among his seven receptions for 83 yards , Gronk won the statistical battle . Kelce finished with six receptions for 23 yards .  They threw a lot at us , switched it up a bit , Kelce said . There was some bracketing , some double coverage , some stuff at the beginning of the play where you just jam the guy at the line .  There was almost a little drama during the coin toss , when the Chiefs ? as the visiting team ? called tails . The coin landed tails , but the official said New England won the toss . He quickly corrected the error , however , and the Chiefs opted to defer .  Chiefs linebacker Tamba Hali says Saturday ' s playoff loss at New England won ' t be his last game with Kansas City .  ",true,text,validation,American football,US elections,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
24486,24487,"Iran confirms it will attend international talks over Syria ' s future  Discussions in Vienna this week will be first time Tehran has attended an international summit on the conflict  Smoke plumes ascend in Jobar , eastern Damascus , after reported Syrian regime bombings on rebel positions . Photograph : Ammar Suleiman  Getty Images  Last modified on Wednesday 28 October 2015 10 . 06 ?   Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and three of his deputies will attend international talks over Syria s future in Vienna later this week .  It will be the first time that Tehran , the main regional backer of Syrian president Bashar al Assad , has attended an international summit on the four year long war . Tehran admits that its Revolutionary Guard officers are on the ground in Syria in an advisory role , but denies the presence of any combat troops in the country .  About a dozen participants are expected in total . It was not clear if any invitations had been issued to either the Syrian government or the opposition , though neither side was present at the last talks in Vienna .  Iran s foreign minister , Mohammad Javad Zarif . The core talks are scheduled to take place on Friday . Photograph : Ebrahim Noroozi   Hossein Amir Abdollahian , a deputy Iranian foreign minister , told Iranian state  : We believe the solution for Syria is a political solution . Americans and foreign players in Syria have no choice but to accept the realities in Syria . Assad . . . has the necessary readiness for talks with insurgents who are committed to a political path .  The talks are an expansion of discussions held last week in Vienna between the  , Russia , Turkey and Saudi Arabia that did not reach any substantive conclusion . The core talks are to take place in Vienna on Friday , but diplomats expect preparatory or bilateral meetings in the Austrian capital from late on Thursday .  The Syrian National Coalition , a political opposition group based in Turkey and supported by western powers , said Iran s participation in the talks would undermine the political process . Iran has only one project : to keep Assad in power . . . they don t believe in the principle of the talks , the coalition s vice president , Hisham Marwa , told Reuters .  Tehran s invitation came after the  declared it was ready to engage with Iran if it might help halt Syria s civil war . Nearly two years ago , a similar offer for Iran to attend an earlier round of talks in Geneva was hastily rescinded by the  secretary general , Ban Ki moon , after fierce opposition from the  , Britain and Syrian opposition groups . But continued bloodshed and diplomatic stalemate have combined with a worsening refugee crisis and recent Russian military intervention to put pressure on the international community to find a fresh approach to ending the war .  The Iranian presence is a possible sign that separate talks on Iran s nuclear programme have succeeded in unlocking some of the most intractable fixed positions in the Middle East .  Russia and Iran say Assad must be part of any transition and that the Syrian people will decide who governs them . The  has said it could tolerate Assad during a short transition period , but that he would then have to exit the political stage .  All previous international efforts have failed to stop the war , now in its fifth year , with over 250 , 000 dead and millions displaced by the conflict . Since last month , Russia has launched hundreds of air strikes targeting what it says are Islamic State and other terrorist groups . The Obama administration , Nato and others say most of the bombs are landing on moderate rebel militias , some backed by the  .  Meanwhile , violence continues to rage between Syria s rebel groups and Isis , and in the Kurdish region in northern Syria , even drawing in Turkey .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,present
24489,24490,"Hibs have confirmed the club is in ' complex negotiations ' over a restructuring of its 5 . 5million debt .  The Easter Road outfit insisted that talk of a ' total ' debt write off was ' not based on fact ' and was ' speculative ' but it is understood discussions between the club , the holding company and the bank centre on significantly reducing Hibs ' arrears .  As the Easter Road club announced a later than usual annual general meeting date , however , chief executive Leeann Dempster insisted a deal to place the club in the black is not close .  Hibernian chief executive Leeann Dempster says a deal to put the club in the black is not close  Normally held in November , the club  will now take place on January 28 to allow talks between Hibs , the club ' s bank and  Holdings to continue to take place on debt restructuring .   Holdings are Sir Tom Farmer ' s company , through which the Kwik Fit chief executive owns the Easter Road club . The 74 year old tycoon bought Hibs in 1990 to avoid a hostile takeover bid by ex Hearts chief Wallace Mercer .  In a brief statement issued on Tuesday night on the club website , chief executive Dempster confirmed talks have been ongoing ' for some time ' and ' have focused on the club ' s long term future ' .  She added : ' Discussions have taken place involving the club ,  Holdings and the bank . We have decided to hold the  slightly later than usual in order to allow these talks to be concluded . The outcome will be reflected in the board ' s plans for the future which we will present at the  and talk in detail to our supporters . '  The club ' s relegation under Terry Butcher sparked a year of fan unrest at Easter Road  In the last set of published club accounts , up to July 2013 , Hibs ' net debt stood at 5 . 5m . But  Holdings Ltd boast substantial assets in the form of Easter Road and the club ' s East Mains training centre .  The Hibs debt restructuring talks come at the end of a year of fan unrest sparked by the club ' s dismal relegation under Terry Butcher . The backlash led to supporter consortium BuyHibs being formed to try to raise cash to launch a buyout not dissimilar to the way The Foundation of Hearts ( FoH ) are funding their takeover of the Tynecastle club aided by the wealth of  tycoon Ann Budge .  In their brief statement , the club added : ' Hibernian  today announced that the  for shareholders will take place on January 28 . This will allow complex negotiations between the club , the holding company and the bank to be concluded .  ' The talks have been ongoing for some time , and have focused on the club ' s long term future . Media reports of a total debt write off are not based on fact , and are speculative . '  Dempster and chairman Rod Petrie have seen Hibs struggle on the pitch in the Scottish Championship  A debt free Hibs would clearly be more attractive should Farmer wish to sell his 90 per cent share but he has maintained his stance that any new owners would have to be ' right ' for the club .  Having rescued the Easter Road outfit from the clutches of an unwanted takeover by Hearts ' Wallace Mercer and the brink of receivership in 1990 , Farmer has talked of saving the club for the local community and is said to be keen to leave a ' legacy ' .  Whether this includes selling his stake remains to be seen but one report yesterday put Edinburgh born businessman Richard Skellett in pole position to take over the club should the 74 year old Farmer wish to sell up .  The  and chairman of Allied Worldwide , an  managed services company based in High Wycombe near London , Skellett is said to have been involved in discussions with Hibs for the last two years and was pictured at Easter Road for the Edinburgh derby against Hearts in October .  In February this year , Dundee United announced they had cleared their 3m bank debts in a restructuring deal . Then in March , Kilmarnock had 9 . 4m cleared from the club ' s liabilities . And last month , Aberdeen revealed that a 14 . 5m debt to Willie and Elaine Donald had been wiped from the club ' s ledger .  ",true,text,validation,Other sport,Sports/Other,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
24491,24492,"A Royal Navy engineer is sailing to Africa as part of Britain ' s ebola task force just days after learning the virus has killed eight members of his family and infected a further six .  Christian Blango , 28 , from South London , is on a mission to Sierra Leone after hearing that ebola had spread through his family ' s village .  The Mail on Sunday can reveal that Blango turned down an offer of compassionate leave after he told Navy top brass of the deaths .  Mercy mission : Christian Blango , 28 , from South London , is heading to Sierra Leone after hearing that ebola had spread through his family ' s village . The Royal Navy engineer is sailing as part of Britain ' s ebola task force  Naval airman Blango said : ' This is personal now and the deaths in my family have made me even more determined to help people suffering with ebola .  ' Even my commander asked me not to go because of my family circumstances but I still wanted to go and help . I am proud to do my part and to contribute to the vital humanitarian work .  ' I was aware of the ebola situation in Sierra Leone but it never occurred to me it would affect my own family . I was prepared to go before I knew that my family was involved but knowing that has made me even more determined .  ' I just want to help , not only because of my family , although that has made me more passionate . '  At sea :  Argus is expected to remain in Sierra Leone for six months , where it will deliver food and medical supplies to remote areas of the country  He told his father : ' Somebody has got to do something about it and I ' m very pleased we have decided to provide aid . Sierra Leone does not have the infrastructure needed to cope and it would be a disaster for the country if we didn ' t help . It is an honour for me to play a part . '  Blango joined the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (  ) in 2009 after obtaining an engineering degree from the University of Greenwich . He is currently sailing to Sierra Leone aboard British hospital ship  Argus .  His job on board is to service and maintain three Merlin helicopters which , once the vessel arrives off the coast of the country ' s capital Freetown this week , will deliver food and medical supplies to remote areas .  Blango was able to speak to his parents from Gibraltar last week while the ship docked to allow vehicles to be driven aboard . He told his father , Columba , that he was in a good mood after being granted shore leave and finding a McDonald ' s restaurant near the docks .  Last night 58 year old Columba Blango , a former Mayor of Southwark , in South East London , said : ' Christian joined the Royal Navy for the purpose of humanity .  ' He loves it and he knows he is doing the right thing now , and he considered it his duty to serve his nation .  ' His mother and I are very proud of him . When we ' ve spoken to him we ' ve tried not to ask him too much about his ebola mission but he seems very positive about what he ' s doing . After the terrible family news I was surprised he was emotionally ready to go but he is and I am encouraging him every step of the way . '  Christian Blango was born and raised in Britain but visited his extended family in Sierra Leone as a 17 year old .  On September 11 , three of his cousins living in the village of Moyamba Junction , situated 100 miles east of Freetown , began displaying symptoms of the virus .  The following day rescue workers from the charity Medecins Sans Frontieres took swabs which led to them being diagnosed with ebola . They subsequently died .  Victims : On September 11 , three of Blango ' s cousins living in the village of Moyamba Junction , situated 100 miles east of Freetown , began displaying symptoms of the virus . Above , health workers in Sierra Leone  Then on September 17 , two more cousins were diagnosed and later lost their lives .  Since then a further nine of his cousins have contracted ebola . Of these , three have died and six are receiving medical treatment .  The 28 , 000 ton  Argus set sail for Sierra Leone ten days ago . Once she arrives , she is likely to spend up to six months there .  Last night , the Ministry of Defence declined to comment .  More than 10 , 000 people have been infected with ebola , according to figures released yesterday by the World Health Organisation (  ) .  Of those , 4 , 922 people have died , the  said . The ebola epidemic in West Africa is the largest ever outbreak of the disease with a rapidly rising death toll in Guinea , Liberia and Sierra Leone .  There have also been cases in three other West African countries , Spain and the United States .  The  health agency said yesterday the number of confirmed , probable and suspected cases has risen to 10 , 141 , with about 200 new cases since the last report , four days ago . But even those figures are likely to be an underestimate , the  has warned , as many in the hardest hit countries have been unable , or too frightened , to seek medical care . A shortage of labs capable of handling potentially infected blood samples has also made the virus hard to track .  It comes as authorities in Mali confirmed the death of the country ' s first ebola patient , a two year old girl who had arrived from Guinea .  And the governors of New Jersey and New York have ordered a mandatory , 21 day quarantine of all medical workers and other arriving airline passengers who have had contact with victims in West Africa .  ",true,text,validation,World conflict,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,positive,past
24507,24508,"JAKARTA/ISLAMABAD/ (Reuters) - Many Muslims around the world expressed dismay on Wednesday at Donald Trump’s election as U.S. president, saying they feared it might raise tensions between the West and Islam and contribute to radicalization. While Egypt’s president made an early congratulatory call to Trump, ordinary Muslims were worried that his victory would be a propaganda gift to jihadist groups. Others were apprehensive that the president-elect will implement campaign pledges to clamp down on Muslims entering the United States. “Trump has espoused highly inflammatory rhetoric against Muslims. Voters there will expect him to fulfill his promises. That makes me worry about the impact on Muslims in the U.S. and in the rest of the world,” said Yenny Wahid, a prominent mainstream Muslim figure in Indonesia.      The world’s 1.6 billion Muslims follow a multitude of sects and schools of thought, constitute a majority of the population in countries as varied as Indonesia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Senegal and Albania, and hold a vast array of political views. Yet Trump’s previous comments about Muslims, that those from abroad should be barred entry or intensely scrutinized beforehand, and the presence of vocal anti-Islam activists among his supporters, has alarmed many. During a bitter election campaign, Trump also attacked his opponents for what he characterized as their denial about the threat posed by militant Islam, which he said was “coming to our shores”, adding that he would quickly form a commission on it. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was the first world leader to congratulate Trump on the phone, Sisi’s office said. Many other Egyptians also welcomed his victory, saying his opponent Hillary Clinton’s record in office had won her few friends in the most populous Arab country. Clinton, Secretary of State during the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings, is unpopular with many Egyptians. Many of those who backed the revolt saw her as a long-standing supporter of Hosni Mubarak, the autocrat they toppled from power. But elsewhere, other Muslims saw Trump as a hostile figure. “Whatever happens to America affects everybody and with all these promises of doom by Trump to the blacks, to the Muslims, the minority, so it’s not something we’re happy about,” said Ganiu Olukanga, a Muslim resident of the Nigerian capital Lagos.              Some Muslims, including Wahid, said they feared his election as president might encourage a view that the United States held enmity for Muslims and that this would hinder efforts in Islam to counter radicalization.  “Trump’s victory will be an enormous gift to a failing jihadist movement, that will have now have a renewed rallying cry,” said Ammar Rashid, an academic and member of Pakistan’s Awami Workers Party on Twitter.  “If jihadi ideology has a source of sustenance, it is the image of the  as the evil anti-Muslim crusader. They will milk Trump’s win dry,” he added.  In jihadist social media forums, militants said Trump’s election had merely revealed the true position of the United States toward Muslims. “The masks have slipped,” one wrote.  But some other Muslims were more hopeful, including Umer Daudzai, former Afghan minister of interior, citing the record of Ronald Reagan who was U.S. president from 1981-89. “Ronald Reagan ended the Cold War. I hope Donald Trump will end all wars and become hero of peace in the world,” he told Reuters.  Among some officials, there were also expressions of concern but the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the body that represents Muslim states, issued no statement early on Wednesday.  In Indonesia, the most populous Muslim nation, an official from the faith’s top clerical body there said Trump’s election could create new tension between the United States and the Islamic world.      Trump had made “negative, cynical” comments about Muslims in the past, Din Syamsuddin, a senior official at the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), told reporters in Jakarta. “He had forgotten that many Americans are immigrants.”     Saudi Arabia, a U.S. ally that is both birthplace of Islam and home to its holiest places, issued a statement that it had congratulated Trump on his election win without making further comment.  However, Awad al-Qirni, one of its most popular clerics with a Twitter following of two million, said in a social media post after the election - but without referring to Trump directly - that “America declines into collapse” and that “its internal crisis will grow severely”.  In Pakistan, Sherry Rehman, a senator and former ambassador to Washington, said Trump’s proposal last year to bar Muslims from entering the U.S. had disturbed many.  “Pakistan obviously cannot rule out engaging with whomever America elects but his anti-Muslim rhetoric may cast a shadow on relations in times of uncertainty,” he told Reuters on Wednesday.  And in Bangladesh, a government official who asked not to be named said: “I can’t think what awaits us. Donald Trump was talking about fighting against Muslims. Are we going to see more wars?” Among private citizens in Dhaka, some said they hoped the pressure of office would temper Trump’s views.  “It is just unbelievable and I am a bit tense. I hope there will be a difference between Donald Trump and President Donald Trump. President Trump will be more mature than individual Trump,” Asif Iqbal, a private sector employee, said.  ",true,dataset,validation,US elections,Conflict,true,true,True,no,no,neutral,past
24509,24510,"host Judy Woodroof asked Hillary if she believed President Trump is racist? Hillary pauses for effect and then delivers her very scripted answer to Woodruff:  Here s what I believe, I believe that he has given a lot of encouragement and rhetorical support to the Ku Klux Klan, he accepted the support of David Duke. Hillary knowingly pushed the lie that Trump accepted the support of  member David Duke. It s the same lie she s been peddling since Trump became her opponent in the presidential race, even though she knows there isn t one shred of evidence or proof to back up her sick claim. Her answer to Woodruff is nothing more than a lame attempt to pin Trump a false allegation on our sitting President while deflecting from the truth about her  ties to the KKK. Watch Hillary attempt to paint President Trump as a  racist .When President Trump was dropping out of the Reform Party primary in 2000, he clearly condemned David Duke during an interview with Matt Lauer.When pressed by Matt Lauer on why he saw the Reform Party as self-destructing, Trump commented: Well, you ve got David Duke just joined, a bigot, a racist, a problem, I mean, this is not exactly the people you want in your party. Watch Trump s 2000 interview with Lauer here:What Hillary Clinton didn t mention to Judy Woodruff during her interview, was that her presidential campaign received more than $20,000 in donations contributed by members of the Ku Klux Klan. Vocativ reported that a prominent member of the hate group Will Quigg of the California Grand Dragon for the Loyal White Knights said,  For the KKK, Clinton is our choice . Mr. Quigg, the leader of the Klan s California chapter, announced last month that he had abandoned supporting Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump in lieu of backing his likely Democratic opponent. The Klansman claims that members have raised more than $20,000 for Mrs. Clinton and have donated it anonymously to her campaign.  She is friends with the Klan,  Mr. Quigg told Vocativ.  A lot of people don t realize that. Hillary never made any secret of her love and admiration for her  mentor,  the late Klan leader Democrat Senator, Robert Byrd.In a video uploaded to the State Department s official YouTube page on June 28, 2010, Clinton commemorated late Sen. Byrd by saying,  Today our country has lost a true American original, my friend and mentor Robert C. Byrd. ",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,fake,True,no,no,negative,past
24522,24523,"Fraud : Derek Snelling , pictured outside court today , withdrew up to 38 , 000 from bank accounts belonging to his late mother , Ellen , and used the money to go on a string of exotic holidays  A son has admitted to stealing more than 30 , 000 from his late 93 year old mother after she accused him of taking the money in a police interview recorded before her death .  Derek Snelling withdrew up to 38 , 000 from bank accounts belonging to his mother , Ellen , and used the money to go on a string of exotic holidays .  He originally denied the fraud charges against him but changed his plea after watching the video of his mother on the second day of his trial at Exeter Crown Court .  During the police interview , Mrs Snelling , who died just months after the police interview in 2013 , said she wanted ' wring his bloomin ' neck ' after finding out what he had done .  Snelling , from Hartland , Devon , stole his mother ' s money over a six year period between 2007 and 2013 , prosecutor James Taghdissian told the court .  The 67 year old , who lived off a state pension and disability allowance , became the signatory on his mother ' s accounts in order to pay bills and withdraw her pension for her .  His actions came to light when his own children became suspicious over him taking a string of holidays and a Caribbean cruise when he had been declared bankrupt in 2005 .  Two of his daughters , Shelley Cornish and Glenda Pengilly , took their grandmother to her bank and discovered sums of money had been taken .  They later found that Snelling had also taken money from accounts set up by Ellen Snelling for her grandchildren and great grandchildren to pay off his overdraft  Snelling , who has moved to Wickford , Essex , since his arrest , denied four counts of fraud but changed his plea on the second day of his trial .  He took between 30 , 000 and 38 , 000 from his mother and smaller amounts totalling less than 1 , 000 from his grandchildren .  Mrs Snelling was interviewed by police in April 2013 and died in September the same year .  In the taped interview , she said Snelling was ' paying all the bills for her and he had all her money and went to the Post Office to withdraw her pension ' .  The court heard she did not spend much money because of her age and allowed her son to handle her affairs .  Mr Taghdissian said : ' He was spending large sums of money and living beyond his means . '  He said there was no dispute that Snelling was responsible for the transactions and ' his children did not approve of him being the signatory ' .  Admission : Snelling originally denied the fraud charges against him but changed his plea after watching the video of his mother on the second day of his trial at Exeter Crown Court , pictured . He will be sentenced later  He said Snelling and his partner , now his wife , went on foreign holidays and a Caribbean cruise and ' the only way he was going to do it was by stealing his mother ' s money ' .  And the prosecutor said when he was no longer signatory on his mother ' s accounts her spending went down .  Snelling said in police interviews that his mother ' s memory was poor and he said he had repaid money to her and that holidays to Tunisia and Lanzarote had been paid by his wife .  The court heard he admitted putting 4 , 000 of his mum ' s money into ' someone else ' s name ' and told one of his daughters it would be his if she died .  He produced two undated notes which claimed that his mother had given him 1 , 500 as a present and another saying she had consented to let him have her money .  Mr Taghdissian said : ' He was using his mother ' s money as his own . '  Snelling denied four charges of fraud but changed his plea after his mum had given her video evidence .  John Dyer , defending , asked for the case to be adjourned so prosecution and defence could agree a figure for how much was stolen , which he said would be below 38 , 000 .  Snelling will be sentenced later .  ",true,text,validation,Football,Sports/Other,fake,true,True,no,no,negative,past
24529,24530,"The tide is turning and the Democrats are losing passionate black voters to Donald Trump. Minorities are watching jobs and benefits  going to foreigners that should be going to Americans first. This kind of rhetoric doesn t bode well for the Democrat party. We taking back America. We taking back America. I stand for him [Trump]. They (illegal aliens and refugees)  We don t got no jobs.We got babies too. I got a little girl. I can t hardly support her. No,no, no. But the foreigners driving around in new cars. They ve got the jobs. Obama has failed us. It s time for someone to make a stand. Obama has let me down. I voted for him twice and he broke my heart. We need Donald Trump. Obama has failed. He let us down. We don t have nobody fighting for us. We gotta fight for Obama I mean for Donald Trump not no damn Obama.  I m sick of him [Obama]. I got tricked. I got bamboozled twice. Not gonna do it to me anymore, because Donald Trump s the man. He s [Trump] gonna take care of our veterans. He s gonna take care of our military. He s gonna take care of our babies. They talk about  black and white?'  That s a lie! We built this country together. I love blacks too. Of course I m with blacks. But I gotta keep it real. I m an American not no terrorist. Obama won t even call them  terrorists.  If you fly a plane into a building. If you blow yourself up and the American people you are a terrorist!  White little babies and black little babies don t have food to eat, but you [Obama] gives away $150 billion! ",fake,dataset,validation,US elections,US elections,fake,fake,True,no,no,neutral,present
24537,24538,"Hornets have killed dozens of people in China and injured more than 1 , 500 with their powerful venomous sting .  The Asian giant hornet , known scientifically as Vespa mandarinia , carries a venom that destroys red blood cells , which can result in kidney failure and death , said Justin O . Schmidt , an entomologist at the Southwest Biological Institute in Tucson , Arizona .  But perhaps a bigger problem than the toxicity of the venom is allergy , Schmidt says . Some people are naturally more allergic to stinging insects than others a sting can trigger a deadly anaphylactic reaction , which may involve airway closure or cardiac arrest .  Since July , hornet attacks have killed 42 people and injured 1 , 675 people in three cities in Shaanxi province , according to the local government . Among those attacked , 206 are receiving treatment in hospitals .  What are these hornets ?  In person , the Asian giant hornet , which is the largest hornet species in the world , looks like "" the wasp analog of a pit bull "" with "" a face that looks like you just can ' t reason with it , "" said Christopher K . Starr , professor of entomology at University of West Indes in Trinidad Tobago .  These hornets are found throughout East and Southeast Asia , in countries such as in China , Korea , Japan , India and Nepal .  And they ' re big . The giant hornet extends about 3 . 5 to 3 . 9 centimeters in length ( 1 . 4 to 1 . 5 inches ) , roughly the size of a human thumb , and it has black tooth used for burrowing , according to an animal database at the University of Michigan . The queens are even bigger , with bodies that can grow longer than 5 centimeters ( 2 inches ) .  The species feed their young the larvae of other insects and use their mandibles to sever the limbs and heads of their prey .  The giant hornets are attracted to human sweat , alcohol and sweet flavors and smells . They are especially sensitive to when animals or people run , according to Xinhua .  Every breeding season , the giant hornets produce an average of 1 , 000 to 2 , 000 offspring , Schmidt said . They feast on other insects such as wasps and bees , launching coordinated attacks on the hives of their prey .  Most hornet hives or nests are tucked away in secluded places , such as tree hollows or even underground .  "" It ' s very difficult to prevent the attacks , because hornet nests are usually in hidden sites , "" said Shunichi Makino , director general of the Hokkaido Research Center for Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute in Japan .  Asian giant hornets and other terrifying creatures  What is the human impact ?  Over the summer and early fall , hornets have invaded schools full of children and descended upon unsuspecting farm workers in China .  One of them is Mu Conghui , who was attacked in Ankang City while looking after her millet crop .  "" The hornets were horrifying , "" she told Xinhua , the Chinese state run news agency . "" They hit right at my head and covered my legs . All of a sudden , I was stung , and I couldn ' t move .  "" Even now , my legs are covered with sting holes . ""  Two months , 13 dialysis treatments and 200 stitches later , Mu still remains hospitalized and unable to move her legs .  Makino , who specializes in entomology , warned that the sting from an Asian giant hornet was severe compared with those of other insects .  The influx of venom to the human body can cause allergic reactions and multiple organ failure , leading to death . Patients like Mu have been receiving dialysis to remove the toxins from their bodies . In photos , patients bore deep , dark craters scattered across their limbs , the size of bullet wounds .  Dr Wang Xue , director of the intensive care unit at First Affiliated Hospital of Xi ' an Jiaotong University and an expert of the provincial hornet sting treatment guidance unit , warned in a Shaanxi government release that hornets tend to be aggressive and more active during September and October , their breeding season . The hornets do not go into hibernation until December , according to local government authorities .  Local authorities have deployed thousands of police officers and locals to destroy the hives . About 710 hives have been removed and at least 7 million yuan ( about 1 . 1 million U . S . ) sent to areas affected by hornets , according to a government press release .  Why so many attacks now ?  The spate of attacks could be caused by the unusually dry weather in the area , authorities say . The arid environment makes it easier for hornets to breed . Urbanization could also be a contributing factor , as humans move into hornets ' habitats .  Some experts cited in Xinhua stated additional factors such as increased vegetation and a decrease in the hornets ' enemies , such as spiders and birds , because of ecological changes .  In other words , it ' s a good season for the hornet population , which makes it a bad season for people who encounter them .  The provincial government of Shaanxi has warned residents to wear long sleeves when outdoors and not to attempt to drive the swarms away or remove the hives .  Japan is familiar with Asian giant hornet stings , too . About 30 to 50 deaths are reported each year in Japan from such attacks , according to Japanese studies . Most of the deaths are due to allergies to the venom , Makino said .  The giant hornets are also destructive to western honeybees . Research in Japan suggests that tens of thousands of honeybee hives are damaged by the giant hornets each year .  How to protect yourself  People run into trouble when these hornets form a nest : a basketball shaped nest that looks like it ' s made of gray paper , sometimes under an eave , Schmidt said . If you disturb one of these , or happen to whack a tree that has a nest in it , the hornets may respond as if they ' re under attack .  Humans can get themselves in danger by reacting poorly to these large hornets . If you see a nest or a hive , just avoid it , Schmidt says . If one of them buzzes around you , don ' t panic .  "" Don ' t flap or scream or freak out , "" he advised . "" Just calmly walk away . ""  One victim told local media this month that "" the more you run , the more they want to chase you . "" Some victims described being chased about 200 meters ( 656 feet ) by a swarm .  An area of research that hasn ' t been explored is how many people get stung by these hornets while taking down a nest in order to use the larvae as fish bait , or even to eat . The larvae do not have venom , Schmidt explained . But in general , people should not tamper with these nests .  As powerful as their sting can be , it is highly unlikely that these hornets would travel all the way to the United States to find a new home , Schmidt said , or in the United Kingdom for that matter . To go to Western Europe , they ' d have to cross some "" nasty deserts "" to which they are not adapted .  As deadly as live adult giant hornets can be , some people don ' t shy away from them altogether .  There is a sports drink in Japan called  that incorporates amino acids derived from hornets .  In Taiwan , where the giant hornet is known as the "" tiger head , "" the insect is sometimes used in alcoholic drinks , Starr said , the idea being that "" the essence of this great big strong hornet will go out into the booze , and when you drink it , you ' ll become strong . ""  That ' s one way to get a buzz .  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